If we lived in a world without nuclear weapons, we could enter the war and probably achieve a decisive victory over Russia. But that *isn’t* the world we live in. And we have to make plans based on reality.
Studies show that the benefits of closing schools are marginal at best. But the costs are very real. It’s no wonder that even erstwhile members of Independent SAGE are admitting they get this one wrong.
Before ‘The Science’ flipped in the spring of 2020, the consensus among Western epidemiologists was that community masking doesn’t work. A new Spanish study strongly supports the pre-Covid conventional wisdom.
One of the most startling facts of the pandemic is that, between January of 2020 and June of 2021, Sweden had negative excess mortality – the country’s age-standardised mortality rate was below the five-year average.
Back in 2015, John Mearsheimer, said: "The West is leading Ukraine down the primrose path and the end result is that Ukraine is going to get wrecked". Quite prophetic, no? But now students are trying to cancel him.
Remarkably, a Guardian article looking at violations of democratic values in Europe during the pandemic has claimed, "Belgium was the only western country where people’s freedoms were moderately violated”.
Looking at excess mortality for the EU-27, the peak in November of 2021 – after the vaccine rollout and three previous waves – was higher than the peak in April of 2021 – when the population was immunologically naive.
The West’s response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine seems to have been slapped together on the fly amidst a storm of social media outrage. And it could have a number of serious unintended consequences.
Those who dismiss the "NATO argument" claim we must uphold the principle of national sovereignty. But the West doesn't uphold this principle itself. So why didn't we accept reality, and follow Mearsheimer's proposal?
Being sceptical of the mainstream narrative on Ukraine in no way implies that you support Putin. It’s about acknowledging geopolitical realities, and minimising the risk of catastrophic outcomes like nuclear war.
© 2026 Skeptics Ltd.
