Economics, economics, economics. That’s what the 2010 UK election was about, and it seems to be the main thrust of the American one. Unemployment and job figures are the battlefield. Gross Domestic Product and AA+ credit ratings are the weapons. The Federal Reserve might be a potential ally, and the […]

Trigger warnings: rape, sexual assault, child abuse, victim blaming. I hate it when people say “It’s time to talk about x”; “It’s time we sat down and had a serious discussion about y”; “It’s time the two sides stopped squabbling and hammered out their differences over z”. Especially if they’re […]

One of the memorable refrains from the film Forrest Gump is “for no particular reason”. Tom Hanks’ character seems to have little understanding of consequence or causation. Gump runs America coast to coast for no particular reason, Mark David Chapman kills John Lennon for no particular reason. Forrest’s take on […]

I wrote this some months ago, then almost let it slide because it was almost not relevant. Then this headline happened: Mail Online: Married couples tax break ‘in next budget’ to try and appease Tory backbenchers over gay marriage And this one: Terrorgraph: Ministers preparing tax breaks for married couples […]

The United Kingdom, or at least parts of it, faces two potential referenda in the near future. The Scots will vote on whether to remain part of the UK in Autumn 2014. Whatever country is left is set to be offered a referendum on European Union membership after the next […]

This year’s Oxford and Cambridge interviews are going on as we speak. Thousands of nervous teenagers will be chatting away, hundreds of dons will be nodding sagely. And guess what? Most of those kids will be rejected. It’s simple maths. There are far more applicants than there are places. This […]

Mohammed Mursi has recently given himself sweeping powers, leading to international condemnation for being a ‘New Pharaoh’, a potential despot even worse than Hosni Mubarack. There’s serious protesting again in Tahrir Square, and opposition growing against Mursi’s police. International powers are preparing to condemn the development.   After all, everyone remembers […]

  My initial impression was that Nickelback were simply terrible. This is an impression virtually everyone I know shares, and is often recreated by radio DJs, internet campaigns such as “I bet this pickle can get more likes than Nickelback” (the pickle won), and Detroit’s efforts not to let the […]