Revenge

Revenge - and not so sweet! Jack Straw's decision not to release a dying Ronnie Biggs on parole is a disgrace and shows how far the politicians can be out of step with reality. When assessing Biggs' suitability for

Six of the Best

Getting the best out of Britain. Time to go to bat for the away team. Every bus/train/pub conversation will inevitably turn to the credit crunch and listening to the “we're doomed” brigade launch into a “bring back

Animal Farm

Sunday Times Blunders? Wandering around all day, mostly in a daze, I get these great ideas for a blog. Then I forget them when I get busy doing something else. I'm sure I had three this week and then promptly

Name Theory

Up the Chavs! My theory of names reflecting that those unfortunates who are saddled at infancy with a moniker which ensures - in a self-fulfilling prophesy kind of way – that they will be blighted in later life has gained

Go Bama

Hail to the Chief I'm quite proud of myself. I have refrained from commenting on the American Presidential election throughout. With the election over and imminent arrival of Barack Obama in the White House, I thought it

The Mother of All Parliaments

Gorbals Mick The amusement caused by the discomfort of the Speaker in allowing the Police to roam freely throughout the Palace of Westminster searching for God knows what is only a partial hoot when compared to all the

Acts of God

Baby P - who's to blame? An important part of our culture has disappeared. Exactly when, I'm not sure; but it now seems no longer possible to attribute disasters to that convient catch-all category of Acts of God. No.

November 12th

What a bumper news day![:$] Every page of the EDP has a story worth commenting on. And, here they are: Page one Banner headline, How Could It Happen Again - 17 month old baby murdered by parent and others? Social

A Darker Shade of Pale

To be?  We already are! I'm sure I have seen Steve Jones on TV. I'm sure he is the “expert” regularly trotted out when matters concerning genetics are hot topics. He is, according to the Times, “The leading geneticist

A Modest Proposal Concerning Percentages

Cherry-Pie Maths First a confession: my mathematical ability is legendarily non-existent. An example: since I distinctly remember being taught that addition and multiplication are similar processes and subtraction is

Diss, Diss, Diss - lexia

Reading? I compulsively sort out my papers. I find it relaxing. I take a pile of papers on my desk and go through them methodically and, maybe, find one or two I can throw away. Lest I be accused of some un-natural

Cross of Gold

Our brows are being well and truly pressed! I have mentioned three time very recently to some supposedly educated folks the famous “Cross of Gold” speech. I thought everyone knew about it. As usual, I was wrong. I am indebted

Donnie Hartman

The Good Die Young. Cyberspace is a strange world filled with unexpected and unknown thrills, excitement and, in many cases, disappointments. I'm not a great surfer, either on the board, on the skate or on the

V8 Milk Trucks

And Italian Restaurants My Dad was a milkman. For more than 40 years he was a milkman. What drove him mad were the folks who "cut him up". He took it very personally. He simply could not see that a slow-moving milk

China

Strangely out of touch? Somewhere along the way I got lost. Or, the world has gone one way and I went the other – rather like the road less travelled. The media is now and has been for some time deluging us