For most of us there are moments that stand out . Having been a child right after WWII when prejudices were still raw, I can’t help but be sensitive to what could prevent anything like another holocaust. So it is perhaps to be expected that when a professor spoke about how to prevent future holocausts I listened and still remember his thoughts. Leo Kuper had been an associate of Nelson Mandela and when Mandela decided to go into the bush as a means to protect himself against encroaching South African authorities, Kuper who was also on the same list to be arrested, or banned, or Continue reading “The Professional Press and the Public Interest”
Category: Freedom
Trump’s Victory and Trump’s Ideas
In this era of fake news, it’s even more important to think clearly. That’s why this Los Angeles Times Article on how Hollywood is trying to adjust to a Trump presidency, made me wonder how much we do. I write this not so much as an example of how to think clearly, but as one to question some of the things we read. In this case the issue is not being pro or con Mr. Trump, but of more correctly interpreting the meaning of his victory. The article read, ” –but his defeat of Hillary Clinton was a stinging repudiation of the political correctness, diversity and liberalism celebrated by much of the entertainment business at a time of bitter arguments over the nation’s ideals.” Placed in context of a few facts, how can that be? How can his Continue reading “Trump’s Victory and Trump’s Ideas”
Gun Ownership–A New Picture
A new survey jointly conducted by public health researchers at Harvard and Northeastern Universities gives a fuller and edifying picture of gun ownership in the US. There are, says the survey whose results were first published in The Guardian, 265 m guns in the US, which is more than one for every adult. Here is the intriguing statistic, 133 m of these guns are in the hands of 3% of US adults. This suggests an average of 17 guns per super gun owner. The US gun stock has increased by Continue reading “Gun Ownership–A New Picture”
Human Trafficking: From Nigeria to Paris
Benin City is not on most of our radars, not in the news. In the south of Nigeria, it is not a priority for the Nigerian government which is busy with Boko Haram in the north. It makes it easy for traffickers who prey on the girls who live around there particularly in the rural areas near the city. They are well- organized groups, who prey on the poverty and the need for young girls—some as young as 12—to seek education and a better life. They are promised that in Paris that is what they will find, and “mamas” guide them through the process. They know that they will have Continue reading “Human Trafficking: From Nigeria to Paris”