Tag: Society
-
Stayin’ Alert
In the UK, the Government has decided to ‘update and broaden’ the message in the battle against the coronavirus. Stay Alert, Control the Virus, Save Lives. You might very well interpret that as broadening the range of options for their exit from a predicament that is becoming more increasingly more hazardous by the day. Indeed,…
-
They’ll Mete Again
VE Day – the hearty 75-year commemoration of the obliteration of fascism in Europe. We’ll be celebrating under lockdown because being outside without a reasonable excuse is now a criminal offence. Irony level 10. Naturally, that erosion of liberty will be steadfastly defended as ‘essential support for the NHS’. Mind you, the Nazis could justify…
-
Back Peddling
The contagion forges ahead. Not the virus but that sinking feeling of whoops. When all the restrictions and lockdowns were hurriedly ushered in, the knee-jerking was not based on any holistic facts that aggregated with any degree of comfort Even now – at the peak if we are to accept this assessment from the UK…
-
The Opium of the Peephole
In recent decades, it’s been said that we’ve been losing our religion. But now with the coronabug, we’ve found a new one. The NHS. It embodies the values of Christianity without troubling the epistemological concerns of non-believers. It has its own martyrs who will suffer for us, yet it’s about devotion in practice with tangible…
-
Brass Tax
High-profile personalities and organisations – among them Premier League football clubs – have been slated for partaking in the furlough scheme. They can, apparently, afford to pay their own way out of the current crisis. Now, hang on a minute, let’s get down to the brass tacks. But first, a disclaimer. This isn’t about the…
-
Clap Doubt
The 8pm clap from Westminster Bridge on Thursday. Flashing blue lamps from rows of emergency vehicles and officers standing shoulder to shoulder mingling with the assembled crowds to offer their own tribute to the NHS. The Police Commissioner was leading the throbbing mass to boot. And at a stroke, we witnessed the most public flouting…
-
Musical Jeers
Another day, another piece of interference from Europe. Usually, we have to endure the hollow soundbites of ‘Renew the Union’ or some such tosh syntax fabricated to lay fresh rails for the chemin de fer du gravy. This time, however, it was different. The missive came from Angela Merkel who, while not everybody’s Tasse Tee,…
-
Fastest Finger First
A new mini-series about the Ingrams who finessed their way to the jackpot on Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? is being screened in the UK. With an accomplice, they blagged their way to the jackpot through a series of coughs (correct answers) and nose blows (incorrect answers). It all unfolded on 9th and 10th…
-
Cringe Hell
I remember when the TV series Grange Hill hit UK TV screens in 1978. The series caused controversy for its true-to-life, gritty portrayal of UK comprehensive school life, which differed from the idealised depictions of earlier such programmes. It got a right caning, and people wanted it banned and canned, but it stayed the course…
-
Enough Rope
After a fluffy savaging from Ireland’s Taoiseach Leo Varadkar this week, the EU has spluttered into action (of sorts). Yes, dear Leo is still clinging to power, courtesy of COVID-19 and a level of incompetence in Irish politics that makes the new UK Labour Shadow Cabinet seem like a brains trust. Deliciously ironic when you…
maxfrances.com 