All posts filed under: Society & Culture

Taylor Swift is on the wrong side of history

November 13, 2014
by wesley
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Books & Entertainment / Economics / Society & Culture

The digital age has caused a lot of upset in the music business. In 2001, major record labels won a lawsuit agains Napster, arguing rightly that the music file-sharing service had infringed on the rights of artists by allowing fans to download music for free without license. It was an awkward moment, as all sorts of tactics were experimented with to stop fans from copying music. Enter: Apple’s iTunes store and iPod. The Apple solution provided a system that could adapt to […]

Houston schools should keep their names/mascots

September 16, 2014
by wesley
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Houston / Political Commentary / Society & Culture

Back in April, the Houston Independent School District unveiled four new high school mascots after their previous names were deemed too “culturally insensitive.” The offending mascots included the Indians, the Redskins, the Warriors and the Rebels. The argument that these names are somehow discriminatory is absurd. School mascots are chosen because they’re awesome—something to emulate and admire. Students take the identity of the mascot upon themselves: “we’re the Indians!” But there are plenty of people for whom protesting […]

These aren’t your mother’s civil rights: mob mentality and the end of free speech

May 13, 2014
by wesley
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Political Commentary / Society & Culture

Within one month, the nation saw the ousting of two public figures for their stances on religion and race. Those behind the ousting claim they are championing the cause of civil rights in the 21st century. But something is amiss, and it is profoundly disturbing. Way back in 2008, Mozilla Founder/CEO and JavaScript creator Brendan Eich made what was apparently a horrible, life-changing mistake: he financially supported an initiative (Proposition 8) to protect traditional marriage in […]