Day: 6 March 2022

A summary of all the most interesting stories that have appeared about politicians’ efforts to control the virus – and other acts of hubris and folly – not just in Britain, but around the world.

by Dr. James Alexander Mock-up of a pretend Time Magazine cover I In order to be sceptical about war we need both philosophy and history. In relation to politics, history is the study of the world in terms of an imperative to recognise fluctuations in power through time, and philosophy is the study of the world in terms of an imperative now to think, speak and act well. Philosophy wants us to be ruled by law, and history suggests that we will always be ruled by power. History indicates to the sceptic, therefore, that war is always with us, while philosophy indicates that it should be with us as little as possible. Peace is an ironic matter for the historian, and an earnest matter for the philosopher. To be sceptical is to occupy a balanced position between these two extremes. No one should have a policy of eliminating war; for the only way to eliminate it would be by another form of war. There is no such thing as perpetual peace. And yet no one should have a policy of accepting war. There should be no such thing as perpetual war. What is war? War is a consequence of the desire to solve a problem by dissolving it: that is, specifically, by destroying the people who appear to be responsible ...

Boris Johnson is facing political pressure on all sides to re-examine the U.K.'s military spending levels as ex-minister Lord Frost led Tory demands for an increase in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

The 30-mile-long People's Convoy is circling the Washington D.C. Beltway in protest at "unconstitutional" coronavirus restrictions, such as mask and vaccine mandates.

Nigel Farage is launching a political movement to campaign for a referendum on Boris Johnson's controversial Net Zero policy to decarbonise the economy by 2050.

This week's data from the UKHSA show infection risk still much higher in the vaccinated, and while deaths have been declining sharply in the unvaccinated, this isn't the case in the vaccinated.