Psychic fails test, BBC focuses on bullshit excuses

If you’re a skeptic then I guess the following story isn’t really news, nevertheless the way its been written up by the BBC is well worth noting: A scientific experiment has found that two mediums were unable to demonstrate that they had special psychic powers. The test by […]

Beverley Milf Cop

So I’ve got the TV on in the background and up pops a trailer for a new American cop show on one of the cable channels. I’m not really paying attention, so I don’t catch the name of the show or even the channel its on but what […]

Much ado about very little at the Sunday Telegraph

According to the Sunday Telegraph, the Information Commissioner has issued a new ruling in relation to the publication of information relating to MPs’ expenses claims: The Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (Ipsa), which oversees expenses payments, has been told it must disclose the receipts handed in by MPs to […]

You did a fine job, @IainDale

I’ve had my disagreements with Iain Dale over the years but I have to commend him for his handling, here, of a very difficult situation: One call on Iain Dale’s phone-in show on LBC last week stopped me in my tracks. The washing up had to wait. When […]

I Get Spam Email

When you’ve been online for as long as I have it’s easy to fell that you’ve pretty much seen it all, particularly when it comes to spam, but the email that’s just landed in my mailbox is a new one even for me. Greetings. Thank you very much […]

Has web blocking cut Pirate Bay traffic by 75%

The Music Industry’s propaganda war against BitTorrent continues apace with the news that that the BPI is heading back to the courts to seek orders for ISP-level blocks against three more torrent search websites: The UK’s major internet service providers have been asked to block three more file-sharing […]

MPs’ expenses scam inspired by 80’s sitcom?

You’ll have to forgive me for veering into Political Scrapbook territory but no soon as I heard that a number of MPs have been bypassing the new rules, which prevent them claiming mortgage payments on expenses, by renting their second homes to each other, I had the uncanny […]

You have nothing to fear but fear itself (and breast cancer)

So far this week, we’ve had several examples of how not to write about abortion, so now we might as well top the week off with an object lesson in how not to write about breast cancer courtesy of Melanie McFadyean. For anyone diagnosed with cancer, anything but […]

Why ‘pleb’ actually matters

So the Andrew Mitchell road-show keeps rumbling along with any signs of coming to a resolution and yet the more I read of the political exchanges and media coverage the more it seems to me that those involved in keeping this issue going have lost sight of the […]

So what has Mehdi Hasan actually learned?

Is is bravery or masochism that’s prompted Medhi Hasan to jump straight back into the fire by regaling the world with his list of “10 Things I Learned From Debating Abortion On Twitter“? Who knows for sure, but as the article is up at HuffPo I suppose the […]