Author: James Friend

Some people enter politics with a genuine desire to promote the interests of the people. Others no doubt do so with the goal of furthering their own personal goals. A few enter the political arena with no ambition of achieving power, but throw their hat into the ring as a protest against what they see…

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Two-hundred years ago the average human life was short, brutal, and lasted for just 37 years. In developed countries the standard of living has improved dramatically, and that figure has risen to a much healthier 79 years. It’s estimated that almost half a million people in the world are now aged 100 or more, and…

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Hitler and his National Socialist Party weren’t the first to use propaganda in pursuit of their goals. In World War One, both the British and the Germans fabricated atrocities and attempted to portray the enemy as inhuman beasts.  However, these efforts were amateurish compared to the ruthless efficiency of the propaganda machine created by the…

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The Roman Empire was the greatest empire the ancient world had ever seen. At its height it covered 2.2 million square miles and claimed dominion over more than 60 million people. It was an empire forged through blood, conquest, and almost constant warfare. The Romans admired and celebrated their own great military commanders, but they…

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Mammoths are amongst the most iconic of beasts. The huge mammals roamed the Earth for millions of years, before finally slipping into the oblivion of extinction just a few thousand years ago. Now, however, scientists believe we may have the tools to bring them back from the dead. Almost perfectly preserved specimens retrieved from the…

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Actions have consequences. Unfortunately, those consequences are not always entirely welcome, intended, or predictable. There are numerous examples of governments, organizations, and even individuals acting with good intentions, only for their efforts to backfire catastrophically. Sometimes the cure can be worse than the disease, as these examples of the law of unintended consequences demonstrate. 10.…

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World War Two was fought on a colossal scale. Battles could last for months and involve millions of combatants. Major gains were rarely made without a vast expenditure of manpower and resources. However, there were rare occasions where a few men accomplished extraordinary things. With the advantage of surprise, preparation, and no small amount of…

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Since the first modern homo sapiens emerged some 50,000 years ago, it’s estimated that 107 billion human beings have at one time or another lived on planet Earth. The overwhelmingly vast majority of these people have been forgotten by history, but there are a very few individuals whose names and achievements will echo through the…

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Fake news has become something of a hot topic in recent months. So much so that Collins dictionary even announced “fake news” as their word of the year for 2017. The Western democracies can at least boast a comparatively good record when it comes to freedom of the press. Journalists can expect to do their job…

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When Vladimir Lenin died in 1924, his charismatic henchman Leon Trotsky seemed to be his most obvious successor. Instead it was Joseph Stalin, a man once described by Trotsky as a “dull grey blur” and a “nonentity” who had, by 1929, vanquished his political rivals and seized power for himself. The self-proclaimed man of steel…

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Climate change skeptics might make a lot of noise, but the scientific consensus on the matter is pretty unassailable. 97% of climate scientists agree that climate change is an on-going man-made phenomenon. No one knows exactly how serious the problem will become, but there are plenty of reasons why you should be concerned. 10. We’ll…

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When Robert Oppenheimer witnessed the world’s first nuclear explosion, he uttered the now infamous words, “Now I am become death, destroyer of worlds.” The weapon he had helped to devise would be deployed against Japan in 1945, playing a major part in bringing World War II to a close but at a terrible cost. As war…

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By the time Japan surrendered on September 2, 1945, World War II had claimed 60 million lives and many of the world’s great cities. Each of the combatant nations had spent staggering amounts of money designing and building powerful weapons, and we’re here to look at some of the most influential. They may not be…

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Parasites may not be popular, but they are successful. Every organism has at least one parasite that thrives on it — or in it. They make up the majority of species on the planet and can be animals, crustaceans, insects, bacteria or plants, and some parasites even have parasites of their own. There 10 are…

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In May 1932 Amelia Earhart became the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic. This feat, along with her mysterious disappearance over the Pacific Ocean in 1937, made her one of the most famous names in aviation history. But there are other, less well known, pioneering female aviators who also led colourful, dangerous, and…

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