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The BFD Word of the Day

The BFD Word of the Day

The word for today is… impediment (noun): 1 : something that impedes especially : an impairment (such as a stutter or a lisp) that interferes with the proper articulation of speech 2 : a bar or hindrance (such as lack of sufficient age) to a lawful marriage Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology :Impediment comes

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The BFD Word of the Day

The BFD Word of the Day

The word for today is… gruntle (verb): : to put in a good humour Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology :The verb disgruntle, which has been around since 1682, means “to make ill-humoured or discontented.” The prefix dis- often means “to do the opposite of,” so people might naturally assume that if there

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The BFD Word of the Day

The BFD Word of the Day

The word for today is… boycott (verb): : to engage in a concerted refusal to have dealings with (a person, a store, an organization, etc.) usually to express disapproval or to force acceptance of certain conditions Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology :In the 1870s, Irish farmers faced an agricultural crisis that threatened

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The BFD Word of the Day

The BFD Word of the Day

The word for today is… defile (verb,noun,verb): verb 1 : to make unclean or impure: such as:- a : to corrupt the purity or perfection of b : to violate the chastity or virginity of c : to make physically unclean especially with something unpleasant or contaminating d : to violate the

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The BFD Word of the Day

The BFD Word of the Day

The word for today is… peculiar (adjective, noun): adjective 1 : characteristic of only one person, group, or thing 2 : different from the usual or normal: a : special, particular b : odd, curious c : eccentric, unusual noun : something exempt from ordinary jurisdiction, especially a church or parish exempt from the jurisdiction of

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Why Does Love Feel Magical?

Why Does Love Feel Magical?

Benjamin Kaveladze University of California, Irvine Jonathan Schooler University of California Santa Barbara Oliver Sng University of California, Irvine Benji Kaveladze is a PhD student in Psychological Science at UC Irvine studying the roles of online communities and technologies in well-being. He works with Dr. Stephen Schueller and the Connected

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When Intelligence Is Stupid

When Intelligence Is Stupid

R.J. Snell mercatornet.com R.J. Snell is Editor-in-Chief of Public Discourse and Director of Academic Programs at the Witherspoon Institute. Previously, he was for many years Professor of Philosophy and Director of the Philosophy Program at Eastern University and the Templeton Honors College, where he founded and directed

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The BFD Word of the Day

The BFD Word of the Day

The word for today is… sepulchre (noun, verb): noun 1 : a place of burial : tomb 2 : a receptacle for religious relics especially in an altar verb 1 archaic : to place in or as if in a sepulchre : bury 2 archaic : to serve as a sepulchre for Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology

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The BFD Word of the Day

The BFD Word of the Day

The word for today is… genteel (adjective): 1a : having an aristocratic quality or flavor : stylish b : of or relating to the gentry or upper class c : elegant or graceful in manner, appearance, or shape d : free from vulgarity or rudeness : polite 2a : maintaining or striving to maintain the appearance of

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white and black camera on tripod

Surveillance Is Pervasive: Yes, You Are Being Watched

Peter Krapp University of California, Irvine Peter Krapp is professor of Film & Media Studies, Informatics, English and Music at the University of California, Irvine. The US has the largest number of surveillance cameras per person in the world. Cameras are omnipresent on city streets and in hotels, restaurants, malls

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The BFD Word of the Day

The BFD Word of the Day

The word for today is… volition (noun): 1 : the power of choosing or determining : will 2 : an act of making a choice or decision Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology :When you do something of your own volition, you do it voluntarily, which makes sense—both volition and voluntary ultimately come from

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Unborn Babies Grimace at Taste of Kale

Unborn Babies Grimace at Taste of Kale

righttolife.org.uk Researchers have captured the facial expressions of unborn babies tasting food for the first time, finding that they smile when they taste carrot and grimace when they taste kale. Published in the journal Psychological Science, scientists from the Durham University asked 100 pregnant women to swallow capsules

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The BFD Word of the Day

The BFD Word of the Day

The word for today is… exorbitant (adjective): 1 : not coming within the scope of the law 2 : exceeding the customary or appropriate limits in intensity, quality, amount, or size Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology :The first use of “exorbitant” in English was “wandering or deviating from the normal or ordinary course.

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The BFD Word of the Day

The BFD Word of the Day

The word for today is… cloying (noun): : disgusting or distasteful by reason of excess, also excessively sweet or sentimental Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology :Cloying comes from the verb cloy, which had among its earliest uses the meaning (to quote the Oxford English Dictionary) “to render [a gun] useless by driving

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books on white wooden table

Empathy or Division? On the Science and Politics Of Storytelling

Claire Corbett University of Technology Sydney Writers can’t always be trusted when they talk about the power and importance of story. We have a vested interest and can get sentimental, promoting the immense power of story, of narrative, as inherently benign. Even when a writer is famously sceptical of

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Fall of Rome

Are We Falling as Rome Did?

Julie Ponesse brownstone.org Dr. Julie Ponesse is a professor of ethics who has taught at Ontario’s Huron University College for 20 years. She was placed on leave and banned from accessing her campus due to the vaccine mandate. She presented at the The Faith and Democracy Series on

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