For almost 300 years, the limits of enquiry, debate, and culture, grew ever wider.  The Pope’s ability to shut down debate with cries of ‘heresy’ never recovered after taking the wrong side against Galileo Gallilei (the earth rotates around the sun, not the other way around).  Karl Popper’s

(Part 2 of 2, follows 'Asylum, Humanity, & Fairness' ) Although the starting point for international allocation of refugees is a fair geographic distribution , there are several arguments for going further. Even where we don’t accept an argument as obliging us to accept more refugees, it may be a factor in

Part 1 of 2 If some congenial neoland offered anyone who touched their shore a mansion with swimming pool, and £250,000 per year, most British people would risk a 25mile boat trip and would not care that it was technically illegal. Outrage at the small boats is pointless. We

I loved Overreach, a brilliant summary of the Ukraine war by Owen Matthews https://harpercollins.co.uk/products/overreach-the-inside-story-of-putins-war-against-ukraine-owen-matthews?variant=40103885635662 .   His conclusion that no side can win outright military victory, and that the end will be via a negotiated peace, seems compelling.   The possibility that large parts of the

Would you want an innocent person to face a trial presided over by a judge who gets a bonus based on how close his court gets to an 85% conviction rate? Or a guilty person to face a trial with the Judge having a target conviction rate of 25%? Judges

Growing up in the 1970s, during the Cold War, with the threat of nuclear Armageddon, and when a colour TV or a fridge freezer was a luxury, a comforting certainty was that ‘we’ (the UK and America) were ‘the good guys’.  Our opponents, the Soviet Union, like the SS three

The foundation of progress and liberty “Sir, I have never been so insulted in all my life” “Come now madam, with a face like that you must have been.” It is easy to see causing, or not causing, offence as simply an extension of good manners.  Easy, but entirely wrong.

Originally posted on Facebook 10 Sep 2021 Self iD seems like an inclusive and kind way to give a break to a small group of people who have a tough gig, and can probably do with a bit of help as they undertake a journey that is far harder than

Originally posted on Facebook 11 Jul 2020 It is convenient to regard slavery as an historical issue, which ended when the seceding confederate states were conquered by Lincoln’s republicans. But that comfortable yankee fiction is belied by some W-D family anecdotes, or a quick glance at parts of the