SelwynDuke.com

Who Abuse Women More, Liberal or Conservative Men?

By Selwyn Duke

"Is that all you got, George?” “You punch like a sissy,” Muhammad Ali said, taunting George Foreman during their 1974 heavyweight title fight. Little did anyone know, however, that Ali’s words were stinging women like a bee, making violence against them more likely. That’s a theory, anyway, disgorged by football commentator James Brown on CBS’ 9/11 pre-game show while addressing the Ray Rice domestic violence incident.

As most now know, Rice was seen on a February 15 Atlantic City hotel surveillance video striking his then-fiancée, Janay Palmer, knocking her unconscious. These actions, not surprisingly, earned him an indefinite suspension by the National Football League.

They’ve also brought to light the indefinite suspension of common sense in America. And perhaps the most ridiculous reaction to the Rice incident was Brown’s aforementioned remedy, which, he said, involves “an ongoing, comprehensive education of men about what healthy, respectful manhood is all about.” He then continued, “Our language is important. For instance, when a guy says, ‘You throw the ball like a girl,’ or, ‘you're a little sissy,’ it reflects an attitude that devalues women. And attitudes will eventually manifest in some fashion.”

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U.K. May Make Psychological Abuse, Humiliation Jailable Offenses

By Selwyn Duke

Polygamy may still be illegal in most of the West, but, increasingly, marriages today often include more than just two members: husband, wife — and Big Brother. The latest example is a proposal in the United Kingdom that would make actions such as “bullying” and withholding money in intimate relationships jailable offenses. Writes the Telegraph’s David Barrett:

Husbands who keep their wives downtrodden could face prison under new plans set out by the Government today.

Theresa May, the Home Secretary, published proposals for a new offence of “domestic abuse” that would criminalise men or women who bully, cause psychological harm or deny money to their partners.

 

The law would make the worst cases of non-violent “controlling behaviour” a jailable offence.

Exact terms of the offence are yet to be defined, but it could involve humiliating, frightening or intimidating a partner, keeping them away from friends or family or restricting their access to money.

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This Is the Article That Will Never be Published

By Selwyn Duke

As you may know, the world will end today at 6 p.m.

Or, that’s the prediction at least by 89-year-old California preacher Harold Camping.

Camping had forecast the Earth’s demise before, in 1994, and thus joined a list of errant end-of-worlders that goes back to biblical times and beyond.

Of course, whether you believe in the End Times in the Christian sense or not, you probably know that one of these days Camping, or one of his doomsayer descendants, will likely be right. The collision of two collapsed stars a thousand light years away could yield gamma-ray bursts that would irradiate the Earth into oblivion, and if a “rogue” black hole, which roams about, happened our way, it would act as a big vacuum cleaner/trash compactor that would suck us in and never spit us out. For a slightly more mundane end, our Sun will eventually become a supernova and incinerate us in the blink of an eye. And, even if we should escape this fate by venturing out into space, we’re told that the Universe, which is now expanding, will reverse that process and start contractions that result not in birth, but death.

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Buddy Parenting

By Selwyn Duke

It seems that the more parents treat their children like friends, the more unfriendly the world becomes.

While at a recreational facility the other day, I overheard a mother call her six-year-old son “bud.” No, I don’t think that was his name and he wasn’t a beer. Rather, the woman was exhibiting what, at least in my area (NY), has become a meme: addressing your child as “buddy.” “Buddy” used to just be a relationship descriptive and a generic, if sometimes snarky, way of addressing strangers (again, at least in NY). Now it’s a stranger way of addressing loved ones. It has also become maddeningly common. Right now I’m thinking of two families to which I’m close, and, in each case, one or both of the parents thus address their child.

Now, I realize that criticizing people’s parenting is a hazardous endeavor and that some reading this have gotten caught up in our “buddy system.” So I’ll be gentle and not start this with a New Yawk “Listen, buddy....” In turn, I ask that you hear me out.

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Big Brother: France to Ban “Psychological Violence” in Marriages

He said, she said? If she said he said the wrong thing, what he said won’t mean anything.

By Selwyn Duke

We’ve all heard of hate-speech laws. Well, now France will become the first country to enact rudeness-speech laws, making it a crime to commit “psychological violence” within a relationship. In other words, if Pierre and Angelique get into a shouting match and Petey happens to drop a comment about Angie’s weight, the gendarmes could come a knockin’. The Daily Mail reports, writing, “The new law, which would also apply to co-habiting couples, would see people getting criminal records for insulting their loved ones during domestic arguments.”

I’m not sure how thoroughly this will be enforced, but couldn’t such a law place about 95 percent of all couples behind bars?

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Sites That Help Married People Cheat

By Selwyn Duke

There's a lot of trash on the Internet, but I cannot think of too much that's worse than what I read about today: Websites that facilitate adultery.

The Culture of Death

By Selwyn Duke

There is a news story today about women who will not have babies because they don't want to contribute to the strain on the environment.  The piece mentions an environmental charity worker named Toni Vernelli who said,

"Having children is selfish. It's all about maintaining your genetic line at the expense of the planet."