As natural disasters and wars rip apart societies, and as large-scale modernization projects, urbanization, and transnational migration bring about sudden dislocations, the endurance of cultural beliefs, values, practices, and knowledge, and their transmission across generations have become significant concerns.

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Why can't we fix them so they last longer, or even rip them apart and start again, if we want to?

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Often nasty court fights that rip families apart.

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Ms. SAMUELS: Well, that's the thing that's so interesting to me for her to get on TV and sort of, you know, rip Eddie apart when it's like, well, clearly, your choice in men is not necessarily the best anyway.

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With other bidders dropping out early on, Softbank's only rival was Cerberus Capital Management, an American vulture fund that wanted to rip the bank apart, sell or securitise what it could and float the rest.

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If left to run, that crunch will eventually rip the currency area apart.

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Though it all but destroyed de Havilland, the disaster gave the industry crucial insights into how metal fatigue can rip an aircraft suddenly apart.

ECONOMIST: Aircraft fatigue

Players like Jayasuriya, Gilchrist, Lara and Tendulkar are so versatile that they have the patience to score a double or triple century in the five-day game, yet they can rip a bowling attack apart in the one-day format.

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