Never read any of his books but he spoke marvellously on 1 Giant Leap about life and music.  His most famous book, Slaughterhouse 5, was based on his war experience of being a prisoner in Dresden on the night in 1945 when Allied bombing raids flattened the city, creating a firestorm that killed an estimated…

by Dan Plesch.  Good title, but disappointingly not much humour. a) Control the corporations by removing limited liability.  Limited liability means that if your company gets sued, you can only lose what you paid.  It was intended to encourage enterprise, but of course what it means is that companies chance a lot and never really…

Seen as the tragic end to a nationalist, popular campaign but of course it wasn't.  Bonnie Prince Charlie was lucky to win at Prestonpans, overestimated his strength ever after.  His supporters were Catholics or Episcopalians and deeply conservative, plus he was funded by France – so no one south of the Tay wanted anything to…

View from lounge More 70s country house than a cottage, but hey, there's a fire and a swing seat on the porch, plus a view down to the loch. Gorgeous weather.  Tobermory/Ballamory from kids' perspective, with Connolly-esque commentary by bus drivers. Tobermory Tesco's in Oban many, many times.  Nice cafe at the back of the…

Lunar eclipse (March 3rd 2007) Originally uploaded by broadcasterTR. Saw this on the way home from Stirling, fabulously clear sky, and a murky pink moon.

Great tour under a blue sky with Catherine and Marissa braving the bitter wind . The woman who first set up a barrow at the Barras bought the land to enlarge the market – now a millionairess. Fountain at the People's Palace – Royal Doulton Marble staircase at the City Chambers – the only one…

“…Based on these data, the hypothesis “Love is never having to say you’re sorry” appears to be true. “Love does not require apology. Marriage, on the other hand, requires apology, punctuality, sobriety, fidelity, fiscal responsibility, and possibly additional, as yet unidentified, qualities.” from Science Creative Quarterly

3 intense days in a board room over.  But it feels like our life has just changed gear.We first talked to Lesley, who volunteered in an orphanage in Peru a few years ago and now wants to adopt a child from there although she has no partner of her own.  Later we met fellow Queen's…

…is basically maintaining the respect of your social circle.  I instinctively feel a longing for its nostalgic Britishness, the idea of acting beyond one's own interests.  It still is an important force in the Middle East, and the Far East ("face"). But actually, it's very closely related to machismo – think of the synonym, Virtue…

Racist hate crimes are treated more seriously than homophobic ones The Scottish Executive set up a Working Group on Hate Crime in 2004 to consider the most appropriate response to crime based on hatred of social groups. However the Executive then rejected the Working Group's clear recommendation to extend the definition of hate crimes to…