There is a fundamental economic illiteracy about British politics that contradicts the idea that Lady Thatcher brought about a revolution in attitudes in this country. Profit is still too often a dirty word. Just as it is still almost universally... — read the rest

Good stuff from Barbara Ellen: Alternatively, maybe it is time to acknowledge a bizarre cultural shift. That far from being a nation of politically correct scaredy-cats, we have all gone too far in the other direction, becoming so kneejerk anti-PC... — read the rest

I think I may have found the best website on the internet: spEak You’re bRanes. It is: [a] collection of ignorance, narcissism, stupidity, hypocrisy and bad grammar. All the comments quoted were found on the BBC "Have Your Say" site.... — read the rest

"A bum-legged old man and a drunk... that all you got?" "That's what I've got." This line from Rio Bravo (reviewed here) came to mind when watching 24 hours in the life of Today. Radio 4's flagship news programme routinely... — read the rest

The perceptive leader in this week's Economist, on Gordon Brown (via the Spectator blog): Britain is not being overtly misgoverned, and nobody else in Labour is promising anything radically different. And Mr Brown may yet improve. To do so, he... — read the rest

It's not as easy as it looks. That's Evan Davis, after his first week as a presenter on the Today programme. Not wishing to be churlish [we'll leave that to John Humphrys — ed, chortling], someone should explain to Evan... — read the rest

Having praised the Sun on child poverty, it's only right that same newspaper should be damned for its general coverage of human rights. For example: — 100,000 Sun readers voted to re-introduce the death penalty — 35,000 readers vote to... — read the rest

Not having sex seems to be the thing lately [not even lately... remember Bill Clinton? — ed]. In yesterday's Observer, there was an article highlighting how Ashley Cole had paid women to sign declarations that they didn't have sex with... — read the rest

Reader, arbitrary constant is no fan of television. As a medium for conveying entertainment that requires little-to-no engagement from those wishing to be entertained, requesting as it does only passive acknowledgement of its contents, and yet maintaining an often central... — read the rest

This month's Prospect magazine is an especially good one. Here are some personal highlights (some links require a subscription): — Better bequests. Making the case for inheritance tax... but by having it skip a generation. — Masters of disgrace. Looking... — read the rest

I was just thinking. Can I claim sex discrimination against a company, because I don't get maternity pay because I'm a male. No? This doesn't sound any different to saying that a woman can claim discrimination because she's more junior... — read the rest

What you see is what you get. — Louise Lear, BBC weather person, with probably the most useless weather forecast I have ever heard. In other news, everything you see on the television isn't real. Oh, hang on — I... — read the rest

In his speech, Jeremy Paxman discusses trust in the television media. Somehow, in the discussion around trust, newspapers have managed to be missed out — perhaps it is because everyone knows newspapers have nothing in the way of real accountability... — read the rest

There was an amusing story in the newspaper this week: a man was arrested for using someone's unsecured internet connection whilst sitting on their garden wall. This reminds me of a story of a friend (and I mean an actual... — read the rest

The "quotation of the week" has lapsed on arbitrary constant. This post aims to re-introduce it with the following long quotation from Raymond Chandler's The Long Good-bye: There's a peculiar thing about money[.] In large quantities it tends to have... — read the rest

Would you be saying this, Mr Blair, if we supported your war in Iraq? That's the headline of yesterday's Independent, after Tony Blair singled out the newspaper for the way in which opinion and fact are mingled in its reporting... — read the rest

Whilst on the subject of the Cutty Sark, I eventually got out of bed, did the usual routine and made my way to work safe in the knowledge that what would await me on the bbc would include, at the... — read the rest

I am not in the habit of waking up at 06:00, for I am not a "morning person". This particular morning, however, saw me awake at that hour, though for a minute I wasn't quite sure if I was awake... — read the rest

As highlighted in a recent issue of Prospect magazine, and noted in passing by me, everyone is going on about this "J-curve" book that a chap called Ian Bremmer has written. In it, Bremmer argues that you lose stability in... — read the rest

I was pleased to see Stef argue, in the del.icio.us links column to the right, for the banning of freesheet newspapers in London, on the back of a Council's decision to do the same. Stef's exact words were: Shame it... — read the rest

Which organisation might the following contributors to the bbc's Have Your Say (yes, I know) be describing? [It] is far to [sic] pro-government and unaccountable to the people who pay [for it] - the public. It does not allow anywhere... — read the rest

Typical: you wait months for the next instalment in this feature, and two come along at once! Today's expert speaking in a field totally unrelated to their field of expertise is Richard Branson. The entrepreneur is annoyed that a takeover... — read the rest

I'm no fan of the British Broadcasting Corporation (bbc), and neither am I a conspiracy theorist about its political leanings. I have detected, however, on previous occasions — like others — a noticable bias in its coverage of particular events.... — read the rest

Some time ago, news was delivered on progress made in two of the seven million-dollar questions posed by the Clay Institute: the Riemann hypothesis and the Poincaré conjecture — the second of which looks like it has now been solved.... — read the rest

A topologist is one who doesn't know the difference between a doughnut and a coffee cup. — John Kelley The recent news concerning Grigory Perelman, the aloof Russian mathematician who has solved the Poincaré conjecture but turned down both the... — read the rest

A syllogism is defined as a formal deductive argument made up of a major premise, a minor premise and a conclusion which follows the two. For example: All men are mortal [the major premise] and Socrates is a man [minor... — read the rest

No stranger to mangling his words, George W. Bush shocked the world yesterday by making a statement many thought was to the point and without obfuscation: The irony is, what they really need to do is to get Syria to... — read the rest

The letters page of The Sun isn't normally a cause for celebration. However, today's "txt" of one Andy Kerr of Essex to this most cherished of British newspapers surprised me with its style, wit and insight:The Church [sic] wants us... — read the rest

A bit late with this one, but I wanted to note the launch of the Guardian's Comment is Free blog. Aesthetically, the design of the site is great. It's a bit hard to navigate around, though, and that great big... — read the rest

Following a busy and long weekend of work, arbitrary constant returns to discover that "wigs may be trimmed from judges' and barristers' kit" because their headgear is seen as creating a fusty and outdated image. The cause for concern extends... — read the rest

It was finally admitted today that Wembley won't be finished in time for the FA Cup final in May. That's disappointing, but nothing to get much worked up over. I mean, these things happen and it's not related — in... — read the rest

Private Eye isn't the sort of publication to let anyone off the hook. And it's not known for letting something drop, either, which is especially great news if you've been following the difficulties of the Liberal Democrats of the last... — read the rest

Spotted in last week's Rise supplement in the Guardian:Will my passion for ultimate frisbee look good on my CV? I'm in my second year and my free time at university so far has been spent socialising and playing ultimate frisbee.... — read the rest

Offered with no comment, here is a recent letter from that poor excuse for a newspaper, the Metro:For the past few weeks, my horoscope (Taurus) has predicted nothing but doom and gloom. Seeing as these things are complete fiction anyway,... — read the rest

The letters page of the Metro always cheers me up of a morning. Why? Let's look at a prime example from today's "newspaper" to see:So Liverpool chief executive Rick Parry is "staggered" that his manager and players were not honoured... — read the rest

Plenty of news concerning Roy Carroll's serious clanger for Manchester United against Tottenham Hotspur two nights ago. It's all very well talking about introducing a "fifth" official and instantaneous camera evidence &c. into the game, though all that would do... — read the rest

I enjoy Simon Carr in the Independent on Sunday review every week as I enjoy his sketch every weekday during parliament. The her outdoors/him indoors feature was moved to the end of the section during the Sindy's redesign a few... — read the rest