Showing 1 - 10 of 18
The last word on weird book titles
Roger Crutchley, Published on 14/12/2025
» Being somewhat old-fashioned I still love browsing in bookshops. It provides a brief escape to a completely different world, both relaxing and therapeutic. Alas it is a pleasure future generations are unlikely to experience as these days bookshops are something of an endangered species.
The amazing paddy fields of England
Roger Crutchley, Published on 05/10/2025
» Important news from Blighty. Rice has been grown for the first time in Britain in the Fens of Cambridgeshire. Apparently this is a result of an unusually hot summer. For a project that had once been dismissed as a joke it's quite an achievement. Let's hope the notoriously fickle English weather doesn't spoil it all. It will probably start snowing tomorrow.
When Labubu dolls transform into a protest symbol
Oped, Jackie Mansky, Published on 17/09/2025
» I was surprised to see Labubus, the mega-popular toy monsters with Puck-like grins, staring at me in the crowd at anti-ICE demonstrations in Los Angeles in June.
Protectionism will not protect
Oped, Winnie Byanyima & Michael Marmot, Published on 16/05/2025
» As many Global North countries turn inwards, foreign assistance has become an easy target. The decimation of the US Agency for International Development (USAID) has dominated headlines, but the United Kingdom and many European countries have also cut their foreign-aid budgets. Policymakers in these countries view this spending as a form of charity and think that bolstering their economic and military might can deliver more benefits for more people.
Wipe out scammers
Oped, Postbag, Published on 15/02/2025
» Re: "Chinese-led scam gangs leave Payathongzu", and "Police tighten screws on call centre gangs", (BP, Feb 13).
The numbers game
News, Postbag, Published on 23/05/2021
» Re: "Govt rolls out three vaccine channels," (BP, May 21).
Fears of a brain drain
Life, Suwitcha Chaiyong, Published on 17/05/2021
» A couple of weeks ago, the Facebook forum "Let's Move Abroad" was established and it grew rapidly to 500,000 members within three days. The founder of the forum, Pooh, said in an interview with The Standard that he runs many restaurants in Thailand that have all suffered financially due to the pandemic. He wants to expand his business to other countries so he established the forum to get information from people who have experience working and living abroad. The forum, which provides both positive and negative information about being an immigrant, includes how to study languages, what kinds of jobs are available, how to prepare visas and apply for jobs. Even though Pooh supports the youth protest movement, the forum does not aim to tackle political issues but focus on information regarding how to settle down in developed countries.
When steamrollers saved the day
Oped, Roger Crutchley, Published on 06/12/2020
» In recent street confrontations in Bangkok the police have regularly used buses as barricades against the protesters, hopefully letting any dozing passengers off first. People tend to fall asleep on buses and might get a bit of a fright waking up in the midst of a street showdown.
Tackle entrenched inequalities to end epidemics
News, Winnie Byanyima, Published on 07/07/2020
» Like the HIV epidemic before it, Covid-19 is exploiting the extreme inequalities between countries and within them among disadvantaged and vulnerable communities. I am proud that decades of experience in responding to HIV are being used in the fight against the coronavirus and that activists all over the world are working hard to make sure that the disruption to HIV services is minimised.
Bookshelves behind the talking heads
News, Roger Crutchley, Published on 05/07/2020
» One result of the coronavirus is that the majority of news interviews on television are coming from people's homes, whether they be professional broadcasters, celebrities or the general public. They tend to get a bit tedious after a while and it is easy to find yourself examining the backdrop. This is invariably a bookshelf or a couple of weird paintings that are often far more interesting than what the person is actually saying.