I have never shown much enthusiasm for the royal family, and the latest royal wedding was no exception. However, having not seen English royalty on television for such a long time, I decided to watch the royal wedding like you listen to background music, occasionally paying attention to the television set, whilst doing other things. […]
Morality
French Ambulance Service Mocks Dying Caller
On 29th December, 2017, Naomi Musenga, aged 22, was alone at home, in the French town of Strasbourg. She found the strength to call Strasbourg’s ambulance service, despite suffering from severe stomach pain, and bleeding. “I’m going to die,” she said, to which the operator replied, “You’ll definitely die one day, like everyone else.” This […]
- Psychology
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Left In The Cold – The Freeze Response And Rape Victims
You are probably aware of the so-called “fight-flight response”, also known as the “acute stress response”. It is a biological reaction to a stimulus perceived as an imminent threat to survival. The response is carried out by the autonomic nervous system – a control system that acts largely unconsciously and regulates heart rate, digestion, respiratory rate, pupillary response, urination, and sexual […]
- Science
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Artificial Intelligence And Human Stupidity
If you had to choose between being shot by a human or a robot, what would be your choice? By choosing the human, you are probably gambling on the odd chance that a human might show compassion, when looking into your eyes. Robots, if programmed to kill, would show no such compassion. Your only chance […]
Theresa May Is Undermining Citizens’ Rights
During her recent visit to China, Theresa May has trampled on EU citizens’ rights, as well as evading the question of human rights in China. She has hardly the time to recover from jet-lag, before playing host to Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, world champion in human rights. Does Theresa May really believe in […]
Would You Accept A Transgender Person As Your Secretary?
Erratum – I have been correctly told – “correctly”, because that’s the way it is (is it the way it should be?) – that the word “transgender” without the term “person”, should not be used. It is deemed to be insulting, in the eyes of transgender persons. If you think about it, my unintentional misuse of […]
Feminism Never Killed Anybody
I recently wrote a post on “The Neon Demon”, a 2016 horror film that I watched on my movie pay-channel. My main thought was that Nicolas Refn, who directed the film, had cast the female characters with such masculine bias, that they were literally transgendered into men. I got the following Facebook response that really intrigued […]
“Beauty Isn’t Everything, It’s The Only Thing.”
Horror films are really not my genre, but I do admit that if the storyline is good, and the special effects not too distasteful, they can make for compelling viewing. With aspiring model, Jesse, moving to Los Angeles, and getting gobbled up by predatory beauties, Nicolas Refn’s 2016 film, “The Neon Demon”, certainly underscores my […]
Sexism And The City – Nature Or Nurture?
Men are afraid that women will laugh at them. Women are afraid that men will kill them. – Margaret Atwood The last time I said anything remotely qualified as sexist, was in 1980, in a Chinese restaurant in the West-End of London. The chopsticks were hygienically wrapped in a beautiful red paper sleeve, decorated with Chinese […]
Facebook Is No Longer Michel Foucault’s “Heterotopia”
The Missing Comma It started with the sharing of a tweet in a Facebook group. There followed a heated discussion between those, like myself, who thought that the tweet had more than an undertone of racial prejudice and white supremacy, and those who didn’t. I don’t recall that the person who posted […]