Many of us would be tempted to think that business leaders are rational, intelligent and swayed by good reason and their own business interests. But apparently not. A survey of UK businesses has revealed the secret to winning clients and clinching deals. Is it good service? No Is it a ...
Read MoreGraham in the Papers: Road Racing Debate
I wrote last week in defence of motorcycle road racing after Robert Dunlop, a road racing legend, died at Northern Ireland’s North-West 200 event. Belfast Telegraph columnist Barry White commented “I join the clamour for a [circuit event] to overtake road racing. Bikes are too fast and too deadly to ...
Read MoreWeird Wednesdays: Dear God, I’m a Bit Nervous
Dear God. How should pupils be taught to cope with the pressure and stress of examinations? The most recent and most novel suggestion comes from the Church of England: pray your way to a stress free examination season. To this end the Church has published prayers that nervous pupils can ...
Read MoreThought for the Week: The Vice of Health and Safety
Robert Dunlop, from Ballymoney Northern Ireland, was one of the best motorcycle road racers in the world. I say “was” because he no longer “is,” after dying in a practice lap for Northern Ireland’s top racing event – the “North West 200.” After hitting around 150 miles-per-hour a technical fault ...
Read MoreAltruism versus Egoism: a Battle Call
Christian Aid is one of those horrible organisations with an implied claim to moral superiority over us lesser mortals, pontificating how the rest of us should live our lives. Of course, they’re entitled to do so, after all isn’t God on their side? Bring on the Inquisition. This week this ...
Read MoreWeird Wednesdays: Sticks and Stones May Break My Bones But Performance Art Will Never Harm Me
Michael Stone. If you’re from outside Northern Ireland that name will probably mean very little to you. But to those versed in Northern Ireland’s rather murky past that name will conjure up images of one of the most notorious terrorist episodes of “the troubles.” In 1988 a man few had ...
Read MoreThought for the Week: The Vice of Infringing Privacy
Only a few weeks ago no-one knew who Josef Fritzl was, except, obviously, his friends, family and neighbours. But now we all know Josef Fritzl, or least we all know he is an Austrian who locked his daughter up for years and fathered 6 or 7 kids by her without ...
Read MoreAnd Now for Something Completely Shit…
A combination of re-decorating, tidying, and assembling flat-pack furniture has prevented me from writing my usual articles this week. It’ll be business as usual next week, but for now I thought I go for some light relief for you all to enjoy at the end of a hard week’s work. ...
Read MoreWeird Wednesdays: More Pies for the Porky Prisoner!
Meet Broderick Lloyd Laswell. Broderick has been an inmate in an Arkansas prison for eight months. Like most prisoners he is isn’t entirely content. Now, we might imagine all manner of complaints that an inmate might have about their prison: like being there at all when they are “innocent†(nudge-nudge-wink-wink) ...
Read MoreThought for the Week – The Vice of Blood Transfusions?
There are issues over which libertarians disagree: abortion, capital punishment, roads, and children being amongst the things that can set brother against brother in a fight of biblical proportions. And sometimes it might look like libertarian ideals clash. Libertarians believe in religious freedom. This is simply an extension of the ...
Read MoreFreedom: Heavenly?
For libertarians freedom is central: to act in whatever way we so desire as long as we do not infringe the fundamental rights – to life and property – of other people. Choosing to act one way or another requires freedom of the will: which means, contrary to determinism, that ...
Read MoreWeird Wednesdays: The Art of the Put-Down
There’s nothing quite like a good put-down. For a polemicist the put-down is a vital tool of the trade, and can win hearts and minds just as well as a good argument: putting both together can amount to a powerful tool of persuasion. Some might regard put-downs as nothing other ...
Read MoreThought for the Week: The Vice of Creationism-versus-Evolution
There’s something about the creationism-versus-evolution debate that makes me want to poke my own eyes out just so I have something to throw at the opposing sides. A plague on both their houses! Now, let me clarify my view that the basic theory of evolution is generally correct. I’m not ...
Read MorePolly’s Going Crackers
Earlier this week I was amazed to discover that I had never written about the BBC licence fee, and I immediately remedied that. To keep with the theme of plugging gaps in my blogging catalogue I also discovered I have never written a critique of anything written by Guardian columnist ...
Read MoreWeird Wednesdays – Coffee so Good it’s Shit
Coke from a glass bottle poured into a cup full of ice: beverage heaven. I reckon my teeth will be falling out long before time due to a serious addiction to Coca Cola. For me there’s only one beverage that compares: a well brewed coffee. At the moment I’m enjoying ...
Read MoreThought for the Week – The Vice of the BBC
I was amazed to discover from my blog back-catalogue that I have never written about the television licence fee, quite an oddity given how much it pisses me off. For those of you who live outside Great Britain you may well be amazed to discover that we must pay a ...
Read MoreBrown on Brownies
Sometimes I wish members of parliament would smoke cannabis more often. It would be great if we could sit down and watch the news one day to hear the words, “well folks, we’ll rejoin the presentation of the Budget just as soon as the Chancellor stops his bout of uncontrollable ...
Read MoreWeird Wednesday – We’re Not Seahorses
It’s the nightmare of many men: being pregnant and giving birth. According to some commentators that very fear was played on by the series of Alien films, in which people would get infected and have baby aliens bursting from their bodies. Seemingly some men have maternal instincts. But I guess ...
Read MoreThought for the Week – The Vice of Social Etiquette
Would you give up your seat on a city bus for an elderly person? A pregnant woman? Someone with a load of shopping bags? A disabled person? I would do pregnant women. Well, when I say “do” I wouldn’t literally “do” them there and then on a city bus, but ...
Read MoreKeeping it in the Family
Tom and Stephanie sat on the grass in the Minneapolis sunshine, gazing lovingly into each others eyes. They were always glad of the short time they could spend together away from their spouses and kids. Tom regarded his family life as being “in a life I don’t want to be ...
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