I offer this letter from a British student to illustrate the fact that the British handling of covid 19 is just as chaotic as that of the US: To The Independent I am a third-year physiology student at Manchester Metropolitan University. Like all students, we were encouraged to return to university for the start of …
Nearly two-thirds of childless single British adults aged 20-34 have either never left the family home, or have moved back into it, according to new research into the “boomerang” generation. There are now an estimated 3.5 million young single adults living with their parents in the UK, a third more than a decade ago. (The …
One major sticking point is the EU’s insistence on curbing the UK’s right to support local industries. State intervention may once have been anathema to true Tories, but Covid has “legitimised a more activist state” and the PM is sold on the idea of a new and vigorous industrial policy. He won’t give in easily …
The wealthiest 1% of the world’s population were responsible for the emission of more than twice as much carbon dioxide as the poorer half of the world between 1990 and 2015, according to Oxfam and the Stockholm Environment Institute. Carbon dioxide emissions rose by 60% over the 25 year period, but the increase in emissions …
“Lockdown was good for me,” says David Hockney. Holed up in his farmhouse in Normandy, with no visitors to distract him, the artist was able to devote himself entirely to his work. He has drawn the fires in his grate, pears ripening in orchards and even droplets of rain on his window. “I don’t think …
Across Europe, there is alarm not just about what happens on election day in the US, but about American democracy itself. Fewer than one in 10 think the US election will be free and fair. Yet large numbers of Europeans confess they don’t know whether Biden would be good for the world. Perhaps Trump’s legacy …
Every tech company with voice-activated computer assistants like Amazon’s Alexa and Apple’s Siri, Microsoft’s Cortana and Google Assistant promises to protect privacy. But it turns out that Apple has been allowing its Siri voice assistant to transmit highly personal recordings of people without their knowledge as part of a project that transcribed portions of Siri …
If the past few weeks have taught us anything, it’s that stupidity spreads a lot faster than the virus ever could.
Four years ago, according to the Pew Research Center, 52% of Catholics voted for Trump, compared with 44% for Hillary Clinton. And with Biden himself being Catholic, you might expect a change in proportion of Catholic voting. But now this Catholic vote has got a whole lot more interesting. Recently, Pope Francis travelled to Assisi …
Talking about a literal interpretation of the Constitution as written: the Constitution refers to State militias needing to bear arms, not individuals. It was a matter of States rights and local public defense. The Founders didn’t have in mind allowing every Tom, Dick and Harry to bear arms willy-nilly, endangering harmless citizens. We have departed …
In response to the Covid-19 pandemic, Washington has initiated its largest spending binge in history. In the process, you might assume that the unparalleled spread of the disease would have led to a little rethinking when it came to all the trillions of dollars Congress has given the Pentagon in these years that have in …
Continue reading ‘Covid-19 Means Good Times for the Pentagon’ »
To The Times As a young person who has the misfortune of entering the job market during this crisis, one of the things I’m looking at when applying for jobs is the companies’ attitudes toward home working – unusually, I am looking for companies that are encouraging employees to return to the office. From my …
“Falsum etiam est verum quod constituit superior”. False becomes true when the boss decides it is. (Syrus, Maxims). My comment: One of the most important gifts a good education gives you is critical thinking. (When did you last hear tell about this concept?). To be able to read a newspaper article by a writer you …
Britain is “descending into a cultural war zone”, said Leo McKinstry in the Daily Express. “Bombarded with continual accusations of bigotry and bias”, our institutions are “surrendering to the woke fanatics”. The BBC decreed that “Rule, Britannia!” and “Land of Hope and Glory”would be played, but not sung at the Last Night of the Proms, …
Theypeddle fear here; They peddle fear of terrorists and sudden death; They peddle fear of rapists and angry drivers; They peddle fear of government and paying tax; Of deer ticks, butter, sugar, fat, untested drugs; Of unknown visitors and dark-skinned men; Of invasion, war and sudden death; Of gunmen holding up cashiers; Of bombs in …
Here is a problem no one has thought about (you read it first on Epicurus Today): We will soon see Amy Coney Barratt on the Supreme Court. Ms. Barrett is a member of extreme and exotic christian group who “speak in tongues”. In the last 80 years I have failed to discover in which “tongues” …
Drumbeats of Doom France has a new political buzzword: “ensauvagement”, meaning “descent into savagery”. Marine Le Pen, leader of the far-right National Rally party, has long used it to depict a country she claims is under siege by criminal violence she blames on immigration. And, after a spate of violent incidents this summer, the term …
“Dives sum, si non redo eis quibus debeo” (Plautus, Curculio, 377) Translation: “I am a rich man as long as I don’t pay my creditors”. Comment: Who do we know who fits this bill? No prizes for guessing! Meanwhile, once upon a time I ran a company in London. There were three large and prominent …
Seeing the same doctor doesn’t just give the comfort of a familiar face – it might save your life. An analysis reveals that 18 of 22 studies from nine nations with varying health systems found that people who saw the same doctor over time had lower death rates (BMJ Open, doi.org/crmj). The studies used different …
Continue reading ‘People who keep seeing the same doctor have lower death rates’ »
Two 80 year old men, Mike and Joe, have been friends all of their lives. Joe was dying and Mike visited him every day. One day Mike says ” Joe, we both loved our rugby all our lives, and we played together on saturdays for many years. Please do me favour, when you get to …
From time to time I post information on Epicureanism and what it stands for: Epicureanism is a system of philosophy based on the teachings of Epicurus, founded around 307 B.C. It teaches that the greatest good is to seek modest pleasures in order to attain a state of tranquillity, freedom from fear (“ataraxia”) and absence …
Ürümqi, China The World Uyghur Congress, a group of exiles monitoring the plight of the Muslim minority group in China’s Xinjiang province, has pointed to evidence that Uighur forced labour was used to keep Chinese factory production running at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic earlier this year. Uighurs were packed into blacked-out trains and …
Arson,looting and street protests are a volatile enough combination in themselves. But what made the runrest in Kenosha, Wisconsin, and other US cities even more incendiary is the growing presence of armed vigilantes. These self-styled militia, or “civilian patrols”, claim to be helping keep the peace, yet their arrival simply makes violence more likely. Witness …
Continue reading ‘If you are not concerned about vigilantes you should be’ »
The Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (Cares) Act, the 2 trillion dollar bill passed last March, granted forgivable loans to “qualifying businesses and non- profits”. The Small Business Administration, which administered part of the Act, declared (but tried to keep it secret) that houses of worship and religious private schools qualified under the Act, …
The Strangler Fig tree. at The Moorings, Islamorada: Were you a harmless, nameless tree, just standing there Motionless and proud, your boughs spread wide, The product of a hundred fruitful summers, Surviving the convulsions of Caribbean hurricanes, Cold fronts and brisk north winds, You might neither notice nor much care about The arrival, perching quietly, of …
Continue reading ‘A Poem about a Tree, now destroyed by a hurricane’ »
