Posted inCulture & Entertainment
What Christmas means to me
Apologies for the lack of updates recently, but I've been busy with work and other personal matters, which has meant I haven't had much free time to write about some…
Posted inMedia & Propaganda Observations
SWNS – the click-bait news factory?
This piece sort of follows on from two articles I wrote last year where I lamented the quality of local news websites which have become nothing more than never-ending streams…
Posted inMedia & Propaganda Observations
“The Dispatch” – New news for Birmingham!
You'll often hear me complaining about the quality of local news websites, in particular my local Birmingham Mail. So I was pleased to discover that a new online title is…
Are You Consumed by Fear?
Your ancestors lived in a world about which they understood very little. They should have been consumed by fear. Fear of the unknown. Fear of being eaten alive. Fear of…
Are food delivery companies facilitating illegal immigration?
I came across this brief story in the Express & Star the other day and it asks more questions than are posed. A food delivery worker has been arrested for…
Posted inCrime & Corruption Observations
Woman gets conned in ‘prize draw scam’
Something I'm seeing a lot of recently on social media are posts advertising all sorts of 'prize draws', where you can enter and have a chance of 'winning' all manner…
Posted inMedia & Propaganda Observations
BBC’s ‘disinformation reporter’ accused of, erm, misinformation
Oh dear! Marianna Spring, 'specialist disinformation correspondent' for the BBC, and part of the BBC Verify team, has been accused of lying on her CV in order to get a…
Posted inCrime & Corruption Observations Politics
Did Common Purpose bring down Birmingham City Council?
On 5th September 2023, news broke that Birmingham City Council was effectively 'bankrupt'. Birmingham City Council has admitted 'defeat' in its efforts to manage its financial crisis in-house - and…
Posted inCulture & Entertainment Observations
The online marketplace parasites and how to beat them
I work in ecommerce, and our company has been selling online for around ten years now. A couple of recent news stories about online marketplaces disturbed me, so I thought…
Posted inCrime & Corruption Observations
A very crooked development…
Black Country folk awoke this morning in shock to the news that the iconic former pub "The Crooked House" had been set ablaze late last night. For many people elsewhere,…