Not a Sugar Daddy
Cardiff University Craig Currie: Although it is unusual to condone an increase in indirect taxation, the Chancellor of the exchequer must be congratulated on the introduction of a tax on sugary soft drinks. There are perfectly good, lower calorie alternatives. Consumption of sugar is a direct, long-term health hazard. Actions taken at the macro policy level, such as smoking bans and seatbelt legislation, are the only measures that actually work. Softly-softly health messages simply do not work at a population level.
The Times
Oh Wodehouse!
Buckhing hamshire David Ferguson: Novelist P.G. Wodehouse was no lover of the exclamation mark. In a letter to a friend in 1928, he wrote: “Don’t you think the tragedy of an author’s life is the passion printers have for exclamation marks? They love to shove them in every second sentence. I have just been reading Piccadilly Jim, of which I didn’t correct proofs, being in New York, and the book is bristling with them. Specimen sentence: ‘But wait a minute! I don’t get this!’ It gives an impression of febrile excitement which spoils the whole run of the dialogue.”
The Daily Telegraph
Gone Too Far?
Bristol Dr Bob Turvey: I am currently thinking of buying a new car. One of the features I have come across is an ‘air-conditioned glovebox’. The rough state of my gloves suggests that they probably do not need this much attention.
The Daily Telegraph
