Showing 1 - 9 of 9
Not even the penguins were spared
Roger Crutchley, Published on 28/12/2025
» Well, we've just about slithered our way through the Year of the Snake. Suffice to say, 2025 wasn't much fun. At least the previous year we had the "Happy Hippo" which kept us vaguely amused in a daft sort of way.
All barked out
Oped, Postbag, Published on 14/05/2025
» Re: "Dogged logic", (PostBag, May 12) & "Oh, for a quiet street", (PostBag, May 11).
Please don't blame it on the penguins
Roger Crutchley, Published on 13/04/2025
» There has been quite a fallout from Mr Trump's Tariffs, from which even penguins and seals were not spared. So much for Happy Feet. As one American commentator observed with tongue firmly in cheek "the penguins have been ripping us off for years."
The art of rolling out the red carpet
Roger Crutchley, Published on 23/06/2024
» Russian President Vladimir Putin appeared to enjoy the red carpet treatment he received in the North Korean capital of Pyongyang this week. Over the years the Russian leader will have become quite familiar with walking on such plush carpets, but one wonders if he knows why they are red.
The rise of consumer cryptocurrency
News, Steve Kaczynski and Scott Duke Kominers, Published on 26/02/2024
» Since its inception with the launch of Bitcoin in 2008, blockchain technology has gone through numerous cycles of public attention. Over time, growing interest and investment in the best-known cryptocurrencies has led to greater acceptance, as highlighted by the US Securities and Exchange Commission's approval of a spot Bitcoin ETF (exchange-traded fund) in January. While blockchains and their associated "crypto" assets have yet to be adopted by a truly broad base of consumers, that is starting to change, owing to a shift in how these technologies are being used.
Urgent reforms needed to protect bird numbers
News, Peter Singer & David S Wilcove, Published on 28/12/2021
» Birds are found worldwide, in many different environments, from penguins in Antarctica to pigeons in Trafalgar Square, and from the familiar sparrows on our lawns to the great albatrosses who spend years at sea without ever touching land. There are more than 10,000 species totalling many billions of wild individuals. To this we must add the tens of billions of birds we raise for their meat or eggs, and others we keep as pets.
Things are warming up in Death Valley
News, Roger Crutchley, Published on 23/08/2020
» The other day I was sitting in the garden fighting another losing battle with the cryptic crossword, but the afternoon heat was taking its toll -- it was the standard 34ºC -- and when several blobs of sweat landed on No.4 down, it felt prudent to admit defeat and retreat indoors.
How about a social-digital solution to automation?
News, Nicholas Agar, Published on 06/03/2019
» Nowadays, one struggles to think of any jobs that will still be available for our children when they grow up. Panicked parents are increasingly trying to anticipate the next big digital thing, so that they can give their kids a leg-up over all the other humans whose jobs will soon be automated. Accountants and radiographers are already doomed, but surely the developers perfecting driverless cars or adding new features to Facebook are safe, right?
Order in the House, Mr Speaker
News, Roger Crutchley, Published on 03/02/2019
» Watching the live debates from the British House of Commons recently has been far more entertaining than anything else on television. It's a wonderful mix of drama, oratorical outrage, brazen showboating and dark comedy, not always intended. It is spontaneous theatre -- the Washington Post called it a "dramedy".