Category: First Thursday Archive

The collapse of the Soviet system in 1990 created a vacuum filled with illusions of Western “victory”.  “Liberal democracy” (with free-market capitalism) was now “the only game in town”.  The Russian economy was re-organised under Yegor Gaidar (and western “support”), with drastic consequences, including oligarchs buying up formerly state-owned industries.  But the present century has…

Rishi Sunak’s proposal to grant more licenses for oil and gas development, in the light of all the debate about Global Warming and Fossil Fuels, was our first topic of discussion.  The world demand for oil and gas is higher now than it was half a century ago-  production was nearly 2.5 million tons in…

Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 the Wesley Church Centre in Chester has opened its doors on Saturday afternoons offering a place of welcome to some of the many Ukrainian refugees, mainly women and children, hosted by families in the area through the government supported schemes.  Two Ukrainian women already resident in the…

Summary of the discussion The destructiveness and death toll of the recent Turkey/Syria earthquake contrasts with some other earthquakes, eg in Japan, where the severity was as high (or higher) but the building collapse and death toll were far less.  The evidence appears to be that however good Turkish building regulations were, the monitoring and…

Church attendances, as we know, have declined over the last half a century or more- in fact they had been failing to keep pace with population growth since soon after 1900.  The temptation for the Church is either to try to be “up-to-date” (forgetting that “if you marry the Spirit of the Age you become…

“What is Advent about?” asked John Bell in a radio broadcast sermon on Advent Sunday (November 27th).  Is it a time for Christmas preparations (mainly in the shops), or a time for asking “What is God up to?”  That might be a good question at a time when many young people are deciding not to…

We had seen a review of “Climate Restoration”, by Peter Fiekowski and Carole Douglis, published this year by Rivertowns Books, New York.  This argues that even if the world achieves Carbon-Zero by 2050 so much damage will have been done that serious restoration will need to happen. Will that argument be used as an excuse…

We discussed Adolf Hitler’s notion of leadership- the “Führerprinzip”, wielding absolute authority over the people.  In many ways this was a replacement for the role of the Kaiser, who had been forced to abdicate in 1918- with the distinction that monarchy had been something handed down by “ancient” history, tradition, and God.  By contrast Hitler…

We noted that the Pen Green Early Years Centre in Corby, Northamptonshire, had faced a severe cut in its funding, which has only partially been avoided:  Influential Pen Green children’s centre saved from closure after council U-turn | Early years education | The Guardian.  Pen Green Centre has had a well-deserved reputation for excellent work…

On a recent walk north of the Arctic Circle the temperature reached 28 degrees.  Further evidence, if anyone needed it, of global climate change, and happening fastest in the polar regions.  A visitor from Pakistan speaking at a conference spoke of temperatures there of well over 40 degrees.  “You’ve made a good choice to come…