By Selwyn Duke

A “Persian flaw” was originally a flaw purposely included in a handmade carpet because, the thinking was, only God could aspire to perfection. ’Tis true, too, that perfection is not a thing of this world. Given this, you may wonder why I write in my title that conservatives must stop issuing disclaimers to the effect of, “We all know our country is not perfect.” Well, consider a little analogy:

Imagine you were giving a speech in honor of your mother and opened with, “Now, we all know my mother’s not perfect.” Might there not be some stunned silence? Is it possible some listeners might view you as a bad child? Moreover, if your mother heard your disclaimer, mightn’t she be hurt?

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By Selwyn Duke

There’s a multitude of disparities between the sexes, with probably more than 50 percent of them favoring women. Examples would be how 92 percent of workplace deaths involve men, female fashion models being paid notably more than their male counterparts, and women being more likely than men to attend and graduate from college. This isn’t good enough for the social engineers, though: Any disparity favoring men, even in the tiniest little corner of any field, must be highlighted and eradicated under the pretext of “equality.”

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By Selwyn Duke

“Nine out of ten of what we call new ideas are simply old mistakes,” noted G.K. Chesterton a century ago. This is brought to mind by the modern obsession with “new ideas,” typified by Joe Biden’s implicit touting of them during his State of the Union address.

The issue “isn't how old we are; it’s how old our ideas are,” he said Thursday evening. He’s right, too.

And, usually, the “older” the ideas, the better.

There’s an irony to Biden’s appeal: He doesn’t want to be dismissed out of hand over age.

But he does want ideas dismissed out of hand over age.

(Though there’s a contradiction within this contradiction. More on that momentarily.)

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By Selwyn Duke

More than 10 years ago already, former plug-in advocate and car designer Ozzie Zehner wrote his essay “Unclean at Any Speed,” in which he warned that electric vehicles (EVs) pollute more than gasoline-powered ones (those with internal combustion engines, or ICE). Now, with a resurfaced study backing up this assertion, a question is raised: Is the greenest thing about EVs the cash being made by those pushing them?

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By Selwyn Duke

In the run-up to and during the Rwandan genocide in 1994, Hutu extremists on radio would call the targeted group, the Tutsis, “cockroaches.” This makes it even more notable that, it has emerged, a Biden administration media official posted derogatory remarks about whites on the internet — this included calling them “snow roaches.”

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By Selwyn Duke

Did clothing brand The North Face just show its true face? Some may thus wonder with news that the company is offering a 20 percent discount on its products. But there’s a catch:

You must take an hour-long online “racial inclusion” course. If you then “pass” a multiple-choice quiz — which includes topics such as “white privilege” — you’re rewarded with a voucher for the discount.

Another catch is that you must be in Britain; if you live anywhere else, The North Face isn’t interested in “enlightening” you, apparently.

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By Selwyn Duke

Perhaps this is where the lamentably not-endangered species known as the Western capon just says “Yes, dear!” and the higher-T crowd doesn’t notice, busy as it is earning and building and being taxed. To wit: A new government report highlights an increase in ACL (anterior cruciate ligament) injuries among female soccer players. It lays blame for them, too — squarely on, you guessed it, men.

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By Selwyn Duke

“Each person shall have a right to clean air and water, and a healthful environment,” reads the “green amendment” to the New York State Constitution. Seventy percent of Empire State voters cast ballots in November 2021 supporting the measure, too, and it’s not hard understanding why. Such a “right” sounds so innocuous, so common-sense oriented, so unarguable; besides, the first time most voters heard about the proposal was in the voting booth. But, warns one critic, such constitutional provisions are “a real wolf in sheep’s clothing.”

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By Selwyn Duke

Between 2007 and 2017, the suicide rate nearly tripled — for children ages 10-14. No, that’s not a typo, but a tragedy. It’s also yet another reason to worry about our civilization’s cultural and moral trajectory. For the reality is that while Americans try hard to make sure their kids are safer, happier, healthier, and kinder than ever, their efforts are backfiring.

Commenting on this Tuesday, Power Line’s John Hinderaker posted a picture (below) that’s certainly worth a thousand words.

The below was a playground in 1912, long before we became a bubble-wrap society. Kids weren't as "safe" — but they were far safer from moral hazards and were happier. pic.twitter.com/yQkldiKJLA

— SL Duke (@SelwynLDuke) March 2, 2024

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If you encouraged this kind of activity today, someone would call the cops, Hinderaker then pointed out. Even when he grew up in the ’50s and ’60s in a small South Dakota town, there was a striking degree of a certain kind of freedom. “Kids played, almost always without parents having anything to do with it,” Hinderaker explained. “In some ways, you could say our parents were strict. On the other hand, they rarely had any idea what we were doing. As long as we were home for dinner at six, we were good.”

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By Selwyn Duke

Prejudice about prejudice is nothing new. For example, the “conventional” wisdom in 2008 held that Barack Obama’s race might be an impediment to his presidential ambitions, and a poll did show that six percent of Americans were less likely to vote for him because of his race. Yet the same poll found that nine percent of Americans were more likely to support him because of his race. And now there’s another story illustrating the difference between real and “feel”:

A major study has found that it is men, not women, who suffer workplace discrimination.

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