Peter Rhodes on smart shoelaces, avoiding vaccinations and the courage of cops using Tasers
COFFEE-shaming. A reader reports ordering a meal in a coffee bar and getting an Italian lesson thrown in. He asked for a latte., pronouncing it "lattee" which prompted the barista to ask haughtily: "Would that be a lartay?" Having made his point, the barista then produced the meal bill and asked for: "Free firty-free, please" which made my reader feel much better.
SO why are so many kids not taught to pronounce the TH sound? I suspect they come from families where "this" is "viss" and "there" is "vare," and are taught by teachers who don't think it's their job to correct a child's pronunciation. There may be reverse snobbery at work, with "this" and "that" being regarded as posh. Any forts?
MEANWHILE, another skill once taught at Mother's apron strings has been taken over by computers. Nike has launched a range of trainers that tighten on your foot with the help of a smartphone app. So no more wasted minutes showing your kids how to tie their laces. At this rate parents will soon be totally freed from parenting. Oh, brave new world.
ONE of the greatest threats to global health is "vaccine hesitancy," the refusal of people to accept vaccines, according to a report by the World Health Organisation. No surprises there. In parts of the developing world, vaccination programmes are denounced by religious maniacs and conspiracy theorists. But today's vaccine-resistance movements are springing up in developed countries, including Italy and Finland, spurred by social media. Some years ago I was doing research in the archives of English newspapers published around 1900. The fear that new-fangled injections would weaken our race and undermine our liberty was commonplace even back then. Throughout history, we seem hard-wired to believe we know better than the experts. Pride - still a deadly sin.
AFTER this week's incident involving a machete-wielding suspect on the platform at Tulse Hill station, we should give thanks not only for the Taser, the stun-gun that defused the situation in a nano-second, but the officers who use them. How many of us would dare stand their ground and pit a little yellow electronic pistol against 18 inches of razor-edged steel?
THERESA May has been insulted and denounced by hundreds of MPs but she is not universally hated. She's not an easy person to warm to, yet many people admire her persistence and principle over Brexit. It is a rarely mentioned fact that this week, during her darkest hour in Parliament, the latest polls showed the Tories six points ahead of Labour. Jeremy Corbyn says he is desperate for a general election. He should be careful what he wishes for.
A BRONZE hippopotamus weighing a ton has been stolen from a garden-statue centre in Kent. A police spokesman urges people to “keep their eyes open and report anything suspicious”. This may be casting the net a bit wide. What they presumably mean is anything suspicious involving a one-ton bronze hippo.
