199. DOES SANTA EXIST? - A Christmas Inquiry

“I pointed out that while their ‘evidence’ certainly seemed to point to the idea that none of them were being given gifts from Santa - at least not on the Christmases in question - it did not completely remove the possibility that Santa Claus might still exist…“

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197. ASSISTED DYING - A Reasonable Adjustment to Make

“one could even call it a ‘reasonable adjustment’ to ensure one’s universal ability to end one’s own life is not unfairly denied to people just because of a physical disability (a protected characteristic under UK law). Not allowing assisted suicide is discriminatory to those of us without the physical capability for killing ourselves.“

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194. SHOULD THE STATE CARE ABOUT PRIVATE SCHOOLS? - On the Meaning of Independence

“the conversation around VAT on independent schools being a conversation purely based around money, costs and affordability, instead of it being a serious public conversation around education and what a good education should look like is a conversation that fails to address what really ails the current state school system and what the advantages of going to, or working in, the independent sector actually are. “

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193. THE WRONG CHOICE - Why Voting for Trump is More Than Just A Choice I Disagree With

“Sometimes, when given a completely free choice, to choose any other way but one can be so self-sabotaging that there really is no choice at all. The 2024 US election is one such case. Whoever wins, we lose, but if Trump wins, what we lose is so significant we may never be able to win again.“

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191. WRESTLING WITH DONALD TRUMP - Why We Ignore The Wrestling Connection at Our Peril

"Trump is undoubtedly a monster.  Trump is a massive threat to the kind of democracy that all Americans should hold dear.  But he is using the playbook of professional wrestling to win the White House once again and is therefore a monster we are responsible for keeping alive so long as we continue to not take the influence of professional wrestling on politics seriously."

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189. THE GHOST IN THE MACHINE - Still Haunting AI

"if these AI machines were conscious then we would effectively be using them as our slaves; they do not have a choice in the matter and are also not getting paid. This raises important questions on the morality of the use of AI" A student writes on AI and slavery...

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187. SHOUT OUT TO CHILDLESS CAT PEOPLE - Why I Still Don't Want Kids

"In the wake of this summer’s comments from Donald Trump’s vice-presidential running mate, J.D. Vance, about ‘childless cat ladies’ (and as a US citizen who is registered to vote in November and will be voting for Kamala Harris…who actually does have step-children) I thought it might be worth reviewing the sound reasons for my own decision not to have children and defending the decision of others who have done likewise..."

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186. TO LOVE AND HATE PHILOSOPHY - What is really needed to think deeply?

"Philosophy is all about fine distinctions, and it is a fundamental error to conflate philosophy itself itself with its professional cousin. There is no logical reason the philosophy produced by a primary school student cannot reach conclusions just as profound and perception-changing as the philosophy produced by a professional academic."

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185. THE TONE OF OUR OPPRESSION - On Why This Anarchist Votes

“It is because I am an anarchist, that I will still be voting within a system I don’t believe in for whatever limited, but vital, changes I can bring within that system, to make life better for those it oppresses the most…“

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184. NOT CONVINCED BY POLITICAL ARGUMENT - On the UK General Election 2024

“We are changed in our political views when new ideas or arguments confront us in our every-day, non-political, life.  Often these ‘arguments’ are experiential rather than logical: something seen, heard, witnessed or experienced first hand which have no formal logical structure but imprint some deep shift in values nevertheless. We change our minds because we are changed.  Not because we are convinced by arguments.“

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