Y.S. Stephen - Reader | Casual Observer

Killing Lions is a unique book with insights for young men regardless of their beliefs, upbringing and culture. In ancient Kenya, a young Masai man has to kill a lion as a rite of passage into manhood. That is the tradition. The authors of  Killing Lions  notice there is no equivalent of this in the modern western world. They lament the lack of a symbolic activity to build up young men's confidence as they enter into the adult world, especially in the area of work and marriage. Killing Lions is written by a father and his son. Together John and Sam Eldredge examine the problems associated with being a young in today’s world, the lack of guidance, myriad of temptations, non-existent work ethic, and a society that promises them much but delivering little or nothing. Killing Lions  relays the conversations between a father and his son over a period of time – from college until shortly after his marriage, it seems.  The son asks searching questions about l...

 The statement below was allegedly made by Emil Freireich , one of the pioneers of Modern Oncology, to his students about drugs he helped concoct to make cancer patients better. “One of the consultants at the clinical center was a man named Max Wintrobe,” Freireich said. “He was world-famous because he wrote the first textbook of hematology, and he had written a review of the current state of the treatment of leukemia in children. I have a quotation from him that I show my students to this day. It says, ‘These drugs cause more harm than good because they just prolong the agony. The patients all die anyway. The drugs make them worse, so you shouldn’t use them.’ This was the world’s authority." Gladwell , M (2013): David and Goliath : Underdogs, Misfits and the Art of Battling Giants; Allen Lane . When an authority tells you whatever you are doing is wrong, they are usually right. Most times, that is. But there are few times when they get it wrong. One of the gifts I person...

Paul Verhaeghe wrote in the The Guardian this week that “an economic system that rewards psychopathic personality traits has changed our ethics and our personalities”. Thus he began his attack on neoliberalism and it’s offspring – selfishness, materialism,  and cruelty. Paul Verhaeghe’s write-up is a type of article that doesn’t get written often and I recommend a read. However on the issue of neoliberalism, think of it: if you base your economy and  way of life on something similar to strong-eat-weak pseudo-freedom  style of thinking, what do you get? Animals. No surprise there. What About Me?: Jane Hedley-Prôle, Paul Verhaeghe: Books ISBN : 1922247375 ISBN-13 : 9781922247377 @Original Background Photo by Devianteles