Category: Culture
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By Selwyn Duke In 1968, British politician Enoch Powell warned that the U.K.’s immigration policies were akin to “watching a nation busily engaged in heaping up its own funeral pyre.” They would ensure the demographic transformation of British cities, he predicted. He later warned of “civil war,” too. In reaction, Powell was expelled from the…
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By Selwyn Duke Here’s a point to ponder: Silicon Valley tech executives, including those from Apple and Google, have sometimes opted to send their own children to explicitly low-tech schools. Some also have raised their kids tech-free or with strictly limited screen time. These are people, too, who know technology as a baker does bread. Given this,…
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By Selwyn Duke “Plato is my friend,” ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle reputedly said, “but truth is a greater friend.” This was echoed two millennia later by English scientist Isaac Newton. “Plato is my friend, Aristotle is my friend,” he said, “but truth is a greater friend.” And today many might say “Plato is my friend,…
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By Selwyn Duke “The dog is man’s best friend” the saying goes. Why, we humans argue about most everything, notes website History and Headlines. “If there is one thing most people agree on, though, it is dogs,” it continues. “How can you not love them?” Maybe one Nerdeen Kiswani can answer that question. After all, Kiswani,…
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By Selwyn Duke Whether or not the pen really “is mightier than the sword,” as Sir Edward Bulwer-Lytton wrote, words can move mountains. As with music, they have charms that can soothe or incense — or inspire opposition to the powerful. So it’s no surprise that the powerful want to control words via censorship. Enter Western Europe,…
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By Selwyn Duke Interestingly, the very first “leftist” revolution provided the very first case of a leftist revolution eating its own. That is, Maximilien Robespierre, the French Revolution’s main author, was opposed to the death penalty while seeking power. He then wantonly killed opponents upon attaining it — and finally began murdering former allies. (He…
