Visitor warning
The Netherlands Casper Thomas: Jeremy Paxman states that in Amsterdam ‘young people on bicycles exercise a particular tyranny’. Being one of these alleged tyrants, I would like to remind Paxman and your readers about the law of the land: tyranny by bike in the form of loud bell ringing or dangerously whooshing past you is exercised only upon those who do not understand that pedestrians should stick to the sidewalk. In fact Amsterdam suffers from tyranny by visitors who seem to think that all roads are laid out for them.
FT Weekend
Notes on a portrait
Derbyshire Derek Brumhead: The photograph of Churchill chosen for the new plastic five-pound note in Britain was taken in 1941 by the famous portrait photographer Yousuf Karsh. Churchill, as ever, was chomping on a cigar and refused to remove it. Karsh stepped forward and politely plucked it out of Churchill’s mouth before taking the photograph. The result was probably the most famous image of Churchill in a grumpy mood.
The Times
Capital Idea
Doveridge John Rattigan: The observation that the full stop is becoming redundant in social media reminds me of the Victorian public school headmaster cecil reddie of abbootshome school who campaigned vigorously for the abolition of capital letters and the unnecessary use of punctuation especially commas although he still felt the need for the occasional full stop.
The Daily Telegraph
