DECONSTRUCTING "REFUGEES WELCOME" (VIDEO)

"Refugees welcome," so goes the vapid and vague catchphrase of those fronting for open borders and multiculturalism. But what does this seemingly friendly-sounding slogan really imply, and what lies behind it? Why is "Refugees welcome" a 'thing,' but say, "Citizens Welcome" ISN'T a "thing'?

POLITICS AND THE ART OF DOUBLING DOWN

by Alex Kirillov

I am going to preface this essay by admitting that I haven’t gambled in a very long time, and for some reason when I initially thought of the “doubling down” metaphor I only had a nebulous idea that it applied to card games. So, after typing this sentence I googled it and found that it relates, exclusively, to blackjack. I assume I’m in the minority of people who were unaware of this, however, there are lots of expressions we are carelessly using without any real knowledge of their etymological and, in the case of “double down,” metonymic origins.

WHAT PHIL ROBERTSON SHOULD HAVE SAID

by Andy Nowicki

Phil Robertson, the embattled patriarch of TV reality show Duck Dynasty, recently committed the tactical error of being sincere and forthcoming.

A smart, articulate, clever man, the backwoods multimillionaire business mogul nevertheless badly squandered what could have proved to be an opportunity to exercise Christ’s injunction to be “innocent as a dove, but shrewd as a serpent.”