Okay, I admit it, I don’t get the point of another national lockdown, even as a short sharp shock via a circuit break. People will remember that we went into the first lockdown with the hope that it would be exactly that, a short sharp shock over 3 or 4 weeks and over by Easter.… Continue reading Why are people still obsessing about national lock downs and circuit breaks?
Category: Opinion
Keir and Boris … stop the party politics over COVID
It didn’t take long for our politicians to step into the gutter over the pandemic did it. We’ve had cheap stunts like “Eat Out to Help” from the chancellor and we have had Boris insulting the Labour leader as Captain Hindsight whilst refusing to give serious answers to questions and treating scrutiny as a nuisance.… Continue reading Keir and Boris … stop the party politics over COVID
The death of public discourse
The other day, I wrote about this tweet and video clip Steve Kneale also managed to get himself into a bit of a twitter storm due to his comments on the clip. He has written about it here and here. One thing stands out for me though and it is this. As Steve rightly notes… Continue reading The death of public discourse
Death, sympathy and Distinguishing – Is Donald Trump equivalent to Bin Laden?
Have a watch of this video clip. I wonder if you can spot the mistakes that Ash Sarker makes in her response. Sarkar’s argument is that she sympathises with those who have been celebrating Donald Trump’s illness and wishing for his death for three reasons. That we use black humour to cope with tragic situations… Continue reading Death, sympathy and Distinguishing – Is Donald Trump equivalent to Bin Laden?
Praying for Donald Trump and Boris Johnson -when it is okay to qualify and prefix
In my article about praying for Donald Trump (and other politicians), as well as dealing with why we shouldn’t wish others dead, I also warned against the temptation to preface our prayers and best wishes with words along the lines of “although I disagree with..” Steve Kneale makes a similar point here and in an… Continue reading Praying for Donald Trump and Boris Johnson -when it is okay to qualify and prefix
On wishing politicians dead
On wishing someone else dead “We should rejoice that this dictator is dead” said the preacher, to audible gasps from the congregation. “My daughter prayed that he would die at our family prayer time yesterday, and it has happened.” He then went on to explain his reasoning. The dictator could either die to himself and… Continue reading On wishing politicians dead
How to be a devil’s advocate
To be honest I’d rather that people wouldn’t. The Devil seems to be perfectly capable of being his own advocate and has a whole following of supporters genuinely willing to advocate for him. Furthermore, too often, it seems to me that “I’m just playing devil’s advocate” is what someone says when their argument has been… Continue reading How to be a devil’s advocate
We can’t have “British Values” if we want to be truly democratic, tolerant and pluralistic
What does it mean to be British? If we think about it carefully, there are only two things that make you British. You were either born here or you have been given British citizenship. Now, there may be some things that at a certain level unite us together. There is a common language and a… Continue reading We can’t have “British Values” if we want to be truly democratic, tolerant and pluralistic
How we respond to asylum policies is likely to depend on our presuppositions
Steve Kneale has argued here that we need a different type of blue-skies thinking to get to grips with the issue of asylum. He helpfully identifies a number of problems with the current situation and some of the suggested solutions. He then goes on to make some of his own recommendations. The challenge with responding… Continue reading How we respond to asylum policies is likely to depend on our presuppositions
Why we might not need the vaccine to be fully rolled out to get back to normal
This article comes with all the usual and hopefully obvious caveats and disclaimers. I’m not a doctor, epidemiologist or anything medical. So, these are the musings of an ordinary citizen and arm chair critic. However, sometimes it takes the ordinary citizen, the amateur if you like to raise observations that might get missed. That’s why… Continue reading Why we might not need the vaccine to be fully rolled out to get back to normal
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