Showing 1 - 10 of 923
Musk's Starship: If it sounds too good to be true...
News, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 06/12/2025
» Elon Musk promised to build a spaceship that would put people and cargo into Earth orbit at one-hundredth of the current cost per kilo and even enable human beings to create a colony on Mars. A great many people were seduced by the idea, including me.
Trickery in the land of tavern trivia
Published on 23/11/2025
» The world of pub quizzes was shaken in Britain recently when a team at The Barking Dog pub in Manchester was kicked out for cheating. Although disputes may occasionally occur in such quizzes it doesn't usually come down to such strong disciplinary action. However the team involved was believed to be clearly in breach of trivia etiquette.
Socialism's novel brand of nomenclature
Oped, Published on 18/11/2025
» On Nov 9, 1989, the Berlin Wall collapsed. On a very ordinary night, thousands of East Germans started crossing the dividing barrier between the communist East and capitalist West Berlin after the East German regime had suddenly opened tightly controlled border crossings. In a matter of hours, history was made. Throngs of people soon swamped the Wall and then started smashing the hated communist barrier into concrete rubble.
How a bad Trump edit became a global controversy
Oped, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 14/11/2025
» I have spent thousands of hours sitting alongside video editors working on productions quite similar to the Panorama documentary that has landed the British Broadcasting Corporation with the threat of a billion-dollar libel suit by Donald Trump. I think I know what happened.
Keeping in step with ballroom moves
Roger Crutchley, Published on 02/11/2025
» The most entertaining news of the week was the response to President Donald Trump's demolition of the East Wing of the White House so he can build a "big, beautiful ballroom". It is probably fair to say it prompted a "mixed reaction" -- many being totally horrified.
Wall Street risks shorting freedom in HK
Oped, Published on 31/10/2025
» In early November, Wall Street's big guns will head to Hong Kong for a global financial summit, dining at the Palace Museum (featuring Chinese imperial works on loan from Beijing) before meeting at the nearby Rosewood Hotel -- one of the city's swankiest. There, the top brass from Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan and another 100 financial firms will enjoy delicious food and breathtaking views as Hong Kong's leaders pitch them on the profits to be made in the former British colony.
China expands grip on wind energy
News, Published on 30/10/2025
» European governments seeking to expand offshore wind power are increasingly wary of Chinese companies' involvement. Countering China's dominance will be time-consuming and expensive, but political pressure and national security concerns may give the region little choice.
An intriguing case of daylight robbery
Published on 26/10/2025
» You can't beat a good old fashioned diamond heist to make media headlines around the world. Even better when it involves an iconic institution like the Louvre museum in Paris home of the much loved Mona Lisa.
Trump squeezes India over Russian oil
News, Published on 24/10/2025
» Donald Trump is putting more pressure on India to slash its Russian oil purchases. This could deprive Moscow of vital revenue, but it will mostly just push more Russian oil into an increasingly large shadow market. The US president said on Wednesday that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has pledged to stop buying oil from Russia, an agreement India has yet to confirm.
The time I really put my foot in it
Oped, Roger Crutchley, Published on 19/10/2025
» A half-hearted spring-cleaning session at home during the week came to a welcome halt when I unearthed a couple of my father's wartime RAF books under a pile of disintegrating paperbacks. The Air Ministry books, published more than 80 years ago, always serve as a reminder of when as a kid I made a faux pas of embarrassing proportions.