Here are some thoughts, called “The Decent Life” from the philosopher Emperor. Honour and revere the gods*, treat human beings as they deserve, be tolerant with others and strict with yourself. Remember, nothing belongs to you but your flesh and blood – nothing else is under your control. 5.33 Make sure you remain straightforward, upright, …
Across the world, from India and Turkey, to Hungary and the US, a tide of religious zealotry is on the rise. Britain – ignoring the hardline anti-abortion views of Jacob Rees-Mogg – seems one of the few places to have escaped the trend: the British Social Attitudes survey shows that for the first time non-believers …
The following is not about modern life or politics, or even Epicureanism. But read it and you will wonder at the genius of Shakespeare all over again: “If you cannot understand my argument, and declare “It’s Greek to me”, you are quoting Shakespeare; if you claim to be more sinned against than sinning, you are …
The statistics on deaths caused by medical error in the United States are very troublesome: Heart disease: 614,348 Cancer: 591,699 Medical error: 251,454 Respiratory disease: 147,101 Accidents: 136,053 Strokes: 133,103 Alzheimers: 93,541 Flu/pneumonia: 55,227 Kidney disease: 48,146 Suicide: 42,773 (Figures from John Hopkins University, National Center for Health Statistics amd BMJ, published in the Washington …
From Liz Berry, Lydbrook, Gloucestershire, UK Peter Byrne points out that no classic intervention strategy to combat radicalisation seems to work and that the UK parliament’s human rights committee reported that the nation’s Prevent strategy may actually make matters worse. Suggested countermeasures were to encourage community engagement; to break down stereotypes, rehumanising collaborators; and encouraging …
