The jokes of Prince Philip

Prince Philip in 2006 by Michael Gwyther Jones.

Under new "equality" legislation originally dreamt up by Harriet Harman but pushed through by the present government, it will be possible for an individual in certain situations to sue for "third party harassment" caused by jokes or banter.

The fate of churches

Derelict church near Ashford, Kent, jwfairley, 2008.

If it were possible to measure such things as the happiness or self-assurance of a nation, and if such records had been kept in Britain for the last fifty years or so, the resulting downward graphs would, I'm sure, closely match the graph of church attendance over the same period.

Terriers

Terrier by Stephen Parker.

Almost every morning in my local park a large, heavy-set man can be seen walking his three curly-haired, black terriers. The dogs, who look almost identical, all have pretty-girl names and are probably sisters, if not triplets. It is difficult to keep a straight face when he calls out to them, but keep it you must, because by the look of him he could (and possibly would) punish you for so much as a titter.

Why are they there?

Linda Norgrove, 1974-2010.

The full facts surrounding the tragedy of 36-year-old Scottish aid worker Linda Norgrove, abducted in Afghanistan's Kunar province and killed during a rescue attempt last Friday night by US special forces, have yet to emerge. That the US military were willing to mount such a dangerous operation to try and rescue her tells us something about how potentially damaging such kidnappings are to coalition public relations.