Posts by swsweb

Was it only the beginning of March that some of us were laughing off this dreadful virus? Lots of jokes were doing the rounds via the internet and most people were carrying on as normal. What a difference a couple of weeks makes. Now it is no laughing matter. There is stockpiling, social distancing, escaping…

How would you feel if someone in a position to know told you that you were “emotionally unstable” or diagnosed you with a “borderline personality disorder (BPD)”? The first diagnosis might bring on a feeling of indignation … “How dare you! Who are you to judge me so?” while the second – if you’ve heard…

I was going to write something non-contentious for this blog but then I read about Labour leadership contender Rebecca Long Bailey’s aim to “stamp out” transphobia. Soon afterwards came the judge’s ruling on “hate speech” in which Mr Justice Julian Knowles warned Britain is heading towards an Orwellian society if it isn’t careful. His warning…

A much-admired journalist has become the latest to be scalped via the Twitter vocalites. He said “ABC”, his follower interpreted this as “XYZ”, retweeted the post – with his own interpretation – and the flash mob formed. Within a very short time, the newscaster fell on his own sword (forgive the excessive metaphors, I seem…

New year. New hopes. New resolutions. Most of us make them, even if we don’t declare them out loud. There’s something about a new collective start that brings this inner determination to do something afresh. I read the following in a newsletter from London-based Lidgates, organic butcher to the discerning. “Babylonians made promises to their…

So that’s it. It’s over. A general election – effectively a second referendum without actually naming the “R” word – and Brexit, whether we like it or not. I’m not going to talk about that last part; opinion is probably still sharply divided. What I am going to say is I’m glad a democratic decision…

We’re entering the year’s prime-time spending period with shops and online outlets doing their best to persuade us to buy anything and everything, whether we want it or not. There’s nothing new about this. We are part of a capitalist world that depends on people spending their hard-earned cash on items they may soon decide…