Ideology of Power

The deaths of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile as a result of police shootings in Louisiana and Minnesota respectively has violently refocused the scrutiny of the press upon the issue of police brutality. The inflammatory nature of the situation has been greatly exacerbated by its racial element: both dead men were black, and both deaths have been broadcasted across social media as irrefutable truth of white supremacist elements in government. Activists emphasize the uncanny similarities of both situations in which white police officers 'murder' black men in situations that could ostensibly be construed as misunderstandings. Indeed it seems a 'race war' is brewing, with armed, white police officers apparently abusing the authority invested into them by the state to kill innocent civilians. Nowhere is the backlash of the situation more apparent than in Dallas, where two snipers had engaged in a shootout with officers, killing five and injuring many more; the race issu...

An 800-page report and $7 million later, the House Select Committee on Benghazi has found no new evidence on the circumstances of the attack: more importantly for the Republicans, they are no closer to indicting Hillary Clinton or diminishing her presidential prospects. This is telling, given that this has amounted to being, according to David M. Herszenhorn, perhaps one of the most 'bitterly partisan congressional investigations in history'. The committee was led by South Carolina Republican Trey Gowdy, who among other things accused Hillary Clinton, then Secretary of State, and the Obama Administration of purposefully withholding evidence and stymieing earlier investigations into the culpability of the Defense Department, Central Intelligence Agency and State Department in their failure to protect the personnel stationed at the outpost. Taken in its entirety however, the report does precious little to substantiate accusations of negligence on the part of Clinton; it presents ...

Training The beginner fitness-aspirant is usually greatly motivated, focusing on his objectives with admirable single-mindedness. Whatever the case may be, this initial enthusiasm never lasts for long, eventually being submerged by tedious workloads and distracting relationships. Consistent effort always leads to greater success and achievement than does obsession interspersed by periodic withdrawals, in life as in fitness. Dogged focus and supreme exertion hardly works if it fizzles out after a short time. To this end, it is recommended to follow an already established program rather than specially designing a personal workout plan – at least initially. This saves time and energy, allowing one not only to jump straight to what matters but also to become used to the routine of fitness and health.

Frederick the Great (1712-1786) (also Frederick II and the King of Prussia from 1740 to 1786) perhaps epitomized the 'Great Men' of history, whose force of personality and charisma left lasting impression on the German legacy. Possessed of a mysterious character whose true nature cannot be fully discerned from his writings, Frederick was a loquacious yet mysterious persona. Frederick harbored personal animus toward his militaristic, controlling father (Frederick William), not least because of the trauma he suffered under his care. The conflict between controlling father and wayward son was a recurring theme in the story of succession of the Hohenzollern family. Yet even in light of the perennial tensions between Hohenzollern monarch and Crown Prince, according to the renown historian Christopher Clark, ‘never had the struggle between father and son been waged with such emotional and psychological intensity’.