I am so used to lamentation – my own, that is – that I know that I am sometimes inclined to overlook how much better certain things have become of late years. We notice deterioration; we take improvement for granted the moment they have occurred. Among the things that have improved in the London Underground. I spent most of my … [Read on]
The Rt Rev Mark Davies, Roman Catholic Bishop of Shrewsbury, recently warned that Christians could be treated as extremists and that Christians could become the focus of anti-extremist policies. He said this based on the counter terrorist measures being introduced following events leading to deaths at the hands of Islamist extremists in Manchester and London. Peaceful Christians who happen to … [Read on]
In my twenty-seven years of teaching, I have always been doubtful of the “progress” of education, especially that of higher education, which makes me, for all intents, a heretic. I have seen the latest trends in teaching methodology and testing come and go and be repeated for decades, none of them improving student learning. Despite these efforts, most of which … [Read on]
I was sitting on a bench at the side of the custody office in a police station one night trying to look as if I was minding my own business when a suspect who had just been arrested was brought in. ‘Take that hat off,’ barked the custody sergeant as he began the process of taking the man’s details. ‘It’s … [Read on]
I work in a care home for the former residents of our old asylums. Men and women who do not speak, but spend their days staring at their hands and screaming, men and women who wear nappies, or colostomy bags, who perform fast and rigid rocking motions, or persist in standing up, sitting down, violently flailing their arms, even when … [Read on]
A metastasis of apartment blocks, the ubiquitous design differentiated merely by an exterior paint job. Cranes mark where another few degrees of vista will be obscured. Just when it seems every possible gap has been filled, magically another site is cleared and the pile-driving resumes. Parsimoniously-sized flats for the urban dweller, cheaply constructed with a narrow balcony overlooking the railway line. … [Read on]
One wonders what future historians will write about Saudi Arabia. Will there even be a future historians, or at least Western historians? Saudi Arabia has already changed the world enormously and will continue to do so – perhaps it might even oversee the downfall of Christian civilisation. There are recent signs Saudi might be moderating, but this may be simple … [Read on]
A few weeks ago my wife and I flew from Cork to London. The plane took off on time, the flight was without incident, the advanced electronics of the airliner brushed aside a gale at Stansted allowing it to land smoothly. A bendy bus was immediately at the aircraft steps and in half an hour we were on a fast … [Read on]
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