A surveillance society

The US government is compiling dossiers on regular travellers, including the contents of their luggage. An investigative tool, the Department of Homeland Security calls it. I am, regrettably, a regular traveller to that nest of Islamists, Britain. In the interests of full disclosure, let me list some of the items I invariably travel with, so …

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The biology of political orientation

“Liberals and conservatives not only have different views of the world – their brains process information differently,” reports The Week (September 28th, 2007). In a scientific study New York psychologist David Amodio, reporting in Scientific American, showed in brain scans that liberals showed more activity in the anterior cingulated cortex, an area of the brain …

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Epicureanism misconstrued

Google for Epicureans and you find a host of websites talking about food and over-indulgence. You can’t blame the people – they have been brain-washed by centuries of propaganda.   Epicureanism means living simply and prudently, with self-control and moderation.  It means  seeking simple pleasures, those that satisfy natural and necessary desires, chief of which are …

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