DEI, Sex Trafficking and the Perfect Victim

Gershon Ben Keren

Mon 24th Mar 2025

To parody Orwell’s Animal Farm, “All victims are equal, but some are more equal than others.” E.g., we tend to have more sympathy for children who have been victimized than we do for adults etc. This may be because we believe that adults, through their “informed” decisions, whilst not directly blamable, may be somewhat responsible for being victimized e.g., if they hadn’t been drinking it wouldn’t have happened etc., and/or they had the means to prevent being victimized e.g., if only she’d fought back, it wouldn’t have happened etc. Even statements regarding victims of crime, like “that would never happen...Click To Read More

Trebuchets & Roundhouse Kicks

Gershon Ben Keren

Mon 17th Mar 2025

It may be because I’m British that I’m very interested in medieval history. Perhaps because school trips often involved going to various castles – “if you want to know what the weakest part of a castle is, it’s the gift shop”, as Bill Bailey put it. I think to small children, castles are representative of safe spaces i.e., once you are behind the walls, the gates shut, the portcullis down, and the drawbridge lifted, you feel safe etc. If the castle has a moat, you know siege towers and ladders will be ineffective, and nobody will be able to tunnel...Click To Read More

Firearm Ownership: Rights & Responsibilities

Gershon Ben Keren

Mon 10th Mar 2025

Full disclosure, I’m a Brit who grew up and lived in the UK. When I was 36 – in 2008 – I moved to the US. I remember when legislation, in the UK was passed (1997), that severely restricted who could own a firearm and that instituted relatively harsh penalties for illegal ownership (even if the firearm wasn’t used in a crime) N.B., this didn’t result in an increase in crime, and it probably had little effect on the fall in the crime-rate that happened subsequently. I served in the military so I’m familiar and comfortable around firearms. I’m not...Click To Read More

Working Memory & Self-Defense

Gershon Ben Keren

Mon 3rd Mar 2025

I’ve parachuted just once. I hate flying but I hated jumping out of a plane even more; that’s why I’ve only ever done it once. I wouldn’t say I was relaxed but I made sure not to be panicking and to simply keep going over the procedure of the jump in my head. I wasn’t as our instructor – someone who I guessed loved parachuting as he’d made it his profession – going to take the time to “enjoy” it whilst I was up there. My goal was simply to get back to the ground, though not as fast as...Click To Read More