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From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
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The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Necessity, so the saying goes, is the mother of all invention. Think the wheel, the printing press and the internal combustion engine, to name but three breakthroughs in human advancement which prove the theory. Doubtlessly, one day we will go to Mars, and beyond.
Back to the present, however, and humanity’s latest achievement – the “selfie stick” – leaves a little more to be desired. No longer are people content to take photographs of famous buildings and mementoes; it now seems obligatory that the taker of the picture must also appear alongside whichever well-known landmark they happen to be visiting.
At the Mezquita, Cordoba’s magnificent cathedral, there are throngs of tourists who rightly make the journey to see what is surely one of Europe’s most impressive buildings.
But rather than wandering listlessly through the arches of the old mosque, pondering the final days of the city’s Islamic past, or trying to grapple with the fact that it has been a place of worship since 784, a good number of visitors seem satisfied with a photo (via stick) of themselves in front of the altar of the cathedral. If you happen to be behind a group of selfie-stickers, you can end up waiting a while. It goes to show that there are many bends in the river that is progress.
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