[Back to Ukraine]
We had another discussion about Ukraine last night (17 April 2025, for the record), and we can't see any plausible way to end the war, either by military or political means. Our suspicions about US surveillance seem to have been confirmed, as within hours of our discussion, the White House starts to admit that they can't see a way forward and are planning to pull out of the 'peace…
[Back to Healthcare]
Almost everybody agrees that the UK National Health Service (NHS) is in need of radical reform, so let's start to spell out what that reform might look like. Other countries manage to deliver prompt and effective healthcare: it's not impossible. But we have to want to do it, and we have to believe it is possible.
For a…
[Back to Social Challenges]
Okay, the title is clumsy: demographics are the details of a group of people, so they always relate to one population or another. When you consider the demographics of a population, you are often looking to see how they change with time.
When I was growing up in the 1960s and 1970s, apart from the constant threat of nuclear war, most people…
[Back to Ukraine]
On the campaign trail, Trump promised to end the Ukraine war within 24 hours of taking office. This was clearly never going to happen but, as I said (probably, far too often), ending the war was one promise I believed he was able to keep.
The war is an utter disaster for both Ukraine and Russia. Ukraine has lost (to date) around 20% of her previous territory, and is being…
[Back to Social Theory]
In January this year, I attended the Holocaust Memorial Commemoration in City Hall. As usual, it was well attended. Also as usual, good people gave powerful talks: they told us about several stories of survival, and of the work being done to ensure that the worst genocide in history is not forgotten.…
[Back to Improving Ourselves]
What do we do when other people do not do what we want them to do? What follows are some thoughts which may be helpful. They were originally written for a friend, in June 1993, but I suspect that not much has changed since then.
Conflict, in its various forms, is a normal part of life: people do not always do what…
[Back to Christianity]
When talking about a religion or belief system, please be particularly careful to ensure that any comments are fair and helpful.
(This was initially written in 2018, thinking back to a conversation in the Summer of 2017. The aim was to summarise some key points in four pages. You can also…
[Back to Christianity]
When talking about a religion or belief system, please be particularly careful to ensure that any comments are fair and helpful.
This article is part of the 'Ground Up' project.
The unity of the…
[Back to Politics]
Where does power lie in the modern world? We need to know. Quite often, we need to know in order to survive, to navigate the ever-changing challenges life throws at us. And we need to know if we want to change the world, to make it a better place.
We probably need to distinguish at the outset between power and influence. Power is the…
[Back to Christianity]
When talking about a religion or belief system, please be particularly careful to ensure that any comments are fair and helpful.
(A printable version of this article is available…
