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I have always had more dread of a pen, a bottle of ink, and a sheet of paper than of a sword or pistol. - Alexandre Dumas
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[:en]Candace Owens, Black Lives Matter and liberal views of racism[:]
23/04/2018
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| Politics

There is a major issue highlighted in the social confusion arising from this lady that is not being addressed. One of the core challenges of  Black America intellectual debates is its unwillingness to follow the argument strictly.  Focussing on the apparent conclusion it accepts or discards an argument accordingly. This tends to lead to discussions that are dialogues of the deaf. There is an important point that Candace makes and which is by no means exclusive to her that…

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[:en]Trevor Manuel at Winnie Mandela ‘s funeral – great hypocrisy[:]
05/04/2018
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| Politics

Trevor Manuel made a rabble rousing speech at Winnie Mandela’s funeral. His heart went out to the poor and outcasts of South Africa and he did not hesitate to point figures and mention names. It is not normal to use someone else’s funeral to launch one’s own new political agenda,having previously announced his retirement from politics.(Note 1) It dishonours the dead. Winnie’s funeral should have been about her not about Trevor Manuel’s  new political ambitions. He mentions her name…

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[:en]’ Young Guns’ at Sulger-Buel Lovell Gallery[:]
03/03/2018
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| arts

  This was a show curated by Andrew Lamprecht at the Sulger-Buel Gallery. I had met Christian Sulger-Buel earlier in 2017 at the Contemporary African Art Fair at Somerset House in  October 2017, and he invited me to the Gallery opening on 28 Feb 18.  Despite the horrendous weather I felt I should go. Christian warmly welcomed me and many others who came. It was  an enormous opportunity to bridge generation gaps as many of these young guns had  no…

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[:en]Gallery opening – Royal Photographic Society[:]
03/03/2018
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An interesting evening at Royal Photographic Society  International Photography Exhibition 160 awards   1 March. Because of the weather we are fewer people than normal but it was fun.  These photographs were enticing and captured the imagination. Each series  spoke to some emotional story and conveyed the extra-odinary power of simple photographs. Nothing fancy nothing photoshopped, just demonstrating the power of seeing. Many of those who attended lived nearby and were unlike myself and a few others not members of…

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[:en]Shami Chakrabarti & On Women[:]
20/02/2018
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Went to a Prospect Book Club Event (Monday 19 Feb 18) –  Shami Chakrabarti was speaking about her  views on feminism et al  as part of her book launch of her book ‘On Women’. I have always found Chakrabarti to be a earnest and well meaning lady. She runs on her judgement and sense of fairness  rather than any deep analytic thought. In many ways she arrives at admirable positions: that the rights of women should not be seen…

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[:en]Angus Deaton on US poverty – E pur si muove! [:]
17/02/2018
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| General, Policy

It is certainly welcome news to be able to write a positive follow up. Without mentioning either Adam Smith or neo-classical economics by name, Deaton  has put a huge dagger into their backs in an op-ed article in New York Times (Note 1).  He categorically states ‘…it is time to stop thinking that only non-Americans are truly poor.’ Trickle down and work incentives simply do not prevent extreme poverty and if they do not prevent it in US they…

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[:en]Ferrari Exhibition – Design Museum, London[:de]Ferrari Exhibition – Design Museum, London[:]
03/02/2018
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Off to Ferrari Exhibition with my son at the Design Museum (3 Feb 18)  … This is a rather stunning exhibition which traces the history of Enzo Ferrari’s life and works with exhibits from many different periods. Its  a pity that the history provided is  so strongly ‘purified’ as the omitted incidents (Note 1)  would have added flesh to the legend. For example, not a word is mention about how Mussolini forced the company to produce machine parts during…

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[:en]‘The Economist’ – purveyors of Fake News and false information.[:]
21/01/2018
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| Politics

What can one say? The Economist is a major journal that has been going since 1843 and has this to say about itself: ‘A recent editor, Rupert Pennant-Rea, once described The Economist as “a Friday viewspaper, where the readers, with higher than average incomes, better than average minds but with less than average time, can test their opinions against ours. We try to tell the world about the world, to persuade the expert and reach the amateur, with an…

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[:en]Trump, New York Times & Dean Baquet – the missing interview[:]
14/01/2018
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| Politics, Uncategorized

A well known rule that most journalists seek to comply with  is that the journalist should not become the story or part of the story. However should there not sometimes in exceptional circumstances be an exception? I am thinking of Trump comments about ‘s****hole countries’ and the implication that people from such countries including Haiti have nothing to offer US. As some will know Dean Baquet, executive editor of the New York Times, is of Haitian parentage. Would it…

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[:en]Scott Adams, CNN and apologies for racism[:]
13/01/2018
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| Policy

There has been quite a bit of fallout from Trump’s recent remarks referring to Haiti and African  countries as ‘s****holes’. (Note 3 Trump’s ‘shithole’ comment is his new rock bottom – CNNPolitics) Recently Scott Adams was on CNN today, 13 Jan 2018, explaining that Trump is unlikely to be a racist because years ago on a TV show  he said he would choose Oprah as VP if he ever ran for President. This is a silent and deadly distortion…

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