In a saner world, the news that government-appointed bodies are now paying millions to communicate with the Government which appointed them, and are employing former government employees to do so would cause surprise, perhaps even outrage. Today, the idiocy and...
Read moreThose looking for a snapshot of modern army life, which is rather more accurate than the gung-ho recruiting ads on TV, might usefully consider the misadventures of Lance-Bombardier Kerry Fletcher of the 40th Regiment, Royal Artillery. The first woman to...
Read moreWhen even the film industry begins to worry about our ability to concentrate, it is time to start worrying. Identifying what he calls a "snack-culture sensibility", David Kirkpatrick, the former president of Paramount Pictures, has announced a joint venture with...
Read moreThe celebrities-in-a-wood show is back on TV. A Page Three girl has eaten a kangaroo's testicle and was worried, rather touchingly, that she might become pregnant. The show is a sort of annual ritual which follows a predictable routine –...
Read moreWith slightly unfortunate timing, that great annual carnival of caring and tears, Children in Need night, has been followed in short order by a survey revealing that the British have distinctly ambivalent feelings towards children. Commissioned by the Barnardo's charity,...
Read moreThe great blubbing debate has just moved to a new, decisive phase, with those of us who hold that crying in public is almost always a form of showing off in danger of being swept away on a tide of...
Read moreFor the nation's ever-growing band of shockaholics, there have been some satisfying moments of outrage over the past few days. Bill Oddie shocked viewers by including a footage of a dead squirrel on a nature programme. The head of BBC...
Read moreThese are hard times for the old-fashioned, money-making operations that were all the rage until a few months ago. It is now a time of doubt and questions for investors. Is the business plan sound? What effect will it have...
Read moreIt is as if we need to be afraid of one thing or another in order to feel alive Three years ago, the Chief Medical Officer announced that a great pandemic was "a biological inevitability". Now the writer Mark Honigsbaum...
Read moreThey are usually polite. They introduce themselves by their first names, and address you by yours. They assure you at every opportunity that they are there to help you. Then they take you into a nightmare world where all normal...
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