Why do I get so excited when Andy Murray wins at tennis? An accident of birth means that he was born less than 20 miles from me, so does his success somehow validate me, and other Scots? I may actually have more in common with other sportsmen and women, but location of origin is usually...
Throughout the ages, there has been a long history of segregation of the people we share a planet with. In most instances there is an accompanying ”plausible” explanation, where we are told that certain people, of differing cultures, sex, ethnicity, race or religion need to be kept apart. We are all aware of the effects...
I write as a non-American, but one who has watched, consumed and responded to American culture and it’s far reaching effect on my world. Firstly, forget all the clichés which are usually trotted out about being divided by a common language. Just as Scots experience the culture of England, our nearest neighbour, so do we...
What a huge pile of stinking, sloppy steaming turds we are being served, on the subject of employee contracts at the moment! It’s been common, in recent times, to hear people bemoan the lack of spelling, grammar, and correct use of English in public discourse. We laugh, when we receive a badly written CV. We...
I am a feminist, if only because many women don’t think it’s important enough to bother about. Let me qualify that; I am for complete equality, in all practical regards, and against illogical inequality. I grew up in a house with three sisters, and my mum earned more than my dad. In the early years...
I was going to compose my thoughts here on the Leveson Enquiry, and the present state of the British Press. The so-called Third Estate has almost literally gotten away with murder, and is only now being called to account. I gave up writing, when I heard Marcus Brigstocke’s brilliant piece about it on The Now...
“This piece of software will quite literally blow your mind!” Really? I don’t think so. I am a literalist. Almost everything I do is driven by logic. I grew up playing with Mecanno, Airfix and home electronics sets. I have three sisters, who are all expert in giving and reading hints, undertones, inferences and covert...
Or ”How the media has eroded our right to be stupid” You might think my analogy is a little obscure, but bear with me. You may have noticed earlier this year, that there has been a flurry of marches held worldwide, called Slut-Walks. Mostly attended by scantily clad women, reclaiming the right to wear whatever...
As this story has been rumbling for several years now, we shouldn’t be surprised at the recent outrageous revelations regarding the indefensible, criminal and morally corrupt behaviour of this country’s fourth estate, and in particular that of journalists and editors within the News of The World and The Sun. I shan’t bother detailing the immense...
Let me ask you this. If the Conservative and Labour parties are so diametrically opposed, how can anyone vote for one of those parties, and later on vote for the other? Could it really be true that people in the United Kingdom are so fickle that they change from being in favour of the business...
