Author: Max Frances
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Base Graft
We’ve had backstops, level playing fields, hard & soft Brexits and a veritable shower of various other petals of EU word-confetti. The UK has of course added its own: oven-ready, Canada-Plus and Australian terms. All of them designed to label something that their patrons never progress to articulate beyond a one-liner. And now, there is…
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Jibber Jabber
This week, I received my very first flu jab, which was unexpectedly painless. In fact, I was so euphoric afterwards, I logged on and purchased £5k worth of Microsoft licences. In all seriousness though, it is a toughie to comprehend that one of the primary anti-vax rationales is a conspiracy theory that we are all…
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Far Cycle
If there is one concession to be made in these so-called EU negotiations, it is that both sides have an act that they could take on the road. What a masterclass in double-speak and spin-tastic melodrama. Both camps have known for years how this was all going to play out, and it has been one…
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No Kneed
This week, some footballers ‘took the knee’ and people in the crowd booed. The sweet FA is apparently investigating and has ‘asked both clubs for their observations’. Here’s my observation for the FA grandees – they should start dealing with the nailed-on cases of racism that they routinely bottle rather than pandering to high-profile, super-woke…
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Abstained Character
Now, I do get the concept of abstention. It is a signal to express disdain for both options of a Hobson’s choice. In other contexts, it is a luxury; a risk-free gesture when a vote one way or another changes nothing. It is used as a ploy to avoid confrontation with opposing, warring factions, but…
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Rolling Over
Hats off to the Chancellor of the checkered party for his rescue planning – that £280 billion package should keep us going until about next Wednesday with a Government that has, unabashed, gone full crony. Even Albanian mobsters are growing concerned that London is reflecting badly on them. But whatever news conference claptrap is trotted…
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Cheato Jesus
In a week when Cheeto Jesus offered the first hint that he might give up the spectre of his presidency, Cheato Jesus in Argentina gave up the ghost. There will be much penned about the life and times of Diego Maradona, typically juxtaposing the genius and villain motifs. But the infamous Hand of God was…
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False Positive
We have come to realise that online connectivity made the world a smaller place, but it is becoming more of a stretch to see social media as a positive? That is not so say that it has no advantageous features, but to me, it’s been long merrily frankensteining. The overriding challenge is that the pace…
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Slacking Off
Ever wondered why the struggle for autism rights is like pushing water uphill with a fork? Look no further than the scorched-earth, slacktivist absolutism of self-centred, butthurt, keyboard warriors. I found this out when I had the temerity to question the vitriolic criticism of a film that none of the froth-mouthed slogan-jockeys had even watched.…
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The Wrong Notes
When Aussie singer/songwriter Sia produced her film Music, she probably hadn’t anticipated the unmitigated shitstorm from disability activists who have blasted her as ‘ableist‘. The reason? The film centres on an autistic teenager, and shock horror, the actor cast in the lead role is not autistic. And apparently, a non-autistic producer is exercising undue privilege…
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