Modal Title

Who needs The Simpsons when the really funny stuff is happening out there on the Democratic campaign trail practically every day? The restraint that Hillary Clinton and Barrack Obama had been demonstrating initially evaporated once the fight started in earnest. The moment Hillary realised that Barack was getting in the lead she let it rip; and Obama, obviously, hit back. The mudslinging began in earnest with both contenders going for each other’s throats. At one point it got so bad [...]

I never thought I would say this but it would probably be better for everyone if Ken Livingstone stayd on as London’s Mayor after the election on May 1. This is very hard for me to admit because I have always been a fierce critic of Mr Livingstone and I honestly thought that he was the worst possible choice for the Mayor of London. I even seriously contemplated offering my help to any worthwhile candidate who would be willing to [...]

It is impressive, is it not? I am talking about the scale of the disaster at British Airways’ showcase stable, Terminal 5 at Heathrow airport. Flights are cancelled, baggage goes astray, passengers are kept in the dark, walkways break down. The list is endless. If the Richter scale system applied to corporate disasters as well as earthquakes the chaos at Terminal 5 would probably be up there close to the top mark level. As a result British Airways’ image suffers, [...]

Dan Majestic writes: So how do you think the French President Sarkozy’s wife, Carla Bruni, fared on her first international outing as France’s first lady? I mean the recent state visit to Britain; how do you think it went for her? Or were you more preoccupied with the nitty-gritty stuff of power politics to be bothered with Carla? Well, I can tell you that the general feeling is that she is rather sweet and charming, has a nice smile and [...]

The challenge to Chinese rule in Tibet has come as a rude shock and caused bewilderment and confusion in Beijing. President Hu Jintao and his ruling elite are divided about how to respond to the crisis. They cannot afford to lose face; if they are perceived to be weak, they could trigger more protests elsewhere, and if they use brute force they could jeopardise the jewel in their crown: the Olympics. It is a new type of crisis scenario for [...]

Adam Lovejoy writes: What’s wrong with mobile phone companies? Why on earth do they have to spread their networks over every bloody place in the world? Now they’re getting ready to launch their operations in the air. Very soon anyone using commercial flights would be able to make calls on their mobiles. One of the last bastions of peace and quiet would be violated by loudmouthed vandals who simply can’t keep their traps shut for anything longer than a minute. [...]

It’s been a nerve wrecking time for British Petroleum or, rather for its Moscow based joint venture in Russia which goes under the name of BP-TNK, TNK standing for Tyumen Oil Company. It’s a big joint venture, by the way. It has been created in 2003 with a lot of pomp and ceremony and President Vladimir Putin and then Prime Minister Tony Blair were the two main guarantors of its wonderful future. The group has about 8 billion barrels of [...]

Adam Lovejoy writes: Embarrassing, wasn’t it? I mean the football friendly between England and France in Paris on Wednesday, March 26. There was David ‘goldenballs’ Beckham, pretending to play football to get his hundredth cap for England, and there was Victoria ‘useless collection of body parts’ Beckham, cheering him when we were all finally spared that pathetic spectacle and he was substituted. Why on earth did Fabio Capello chose Beckham to play that night? We’ll never know the answer to [...]

There are many things in TV news programmes that I find baffling. Why, for example, do presenters and correspondents often use phrases like ‘gang culture’ or ‘drug culture’ or ‘gun culture’ and ‘knife culture’? What the hell does this mean? Does ‘gang culture’ imply that groups of cultured gangsters go about lecturing people on the streets, stealing books from libraries and going to museums and theatres in between robberies? And what about ‘drug culture’? Is it about drug dealers selling [...]

The BBC’s top management has been saying, for the last 13 years especially, while it was sucking up to Labour, that the Corporation was always impartial in its coverage of the news and in its programming as a whole. I’ve always wondered how on earth the BBC top brass have been managing to keep a straight gace while talking bullshit. The BBC has always been left-wing, because it has always been funded by the public, so it knew it could [...]