Lifestyle topics
A woman struggles to park a car. A man seems unable to change a nappy. Adverts portraying the sexes in a stereotyped way can be very irritating, says Tom Welsh. But it’s one thing to think they’re crass and outdated, quite another to prohibit them. Yet that’s what the UK’s advertising watchdog plans to do. …
Care of the Husband’s Person On 8 April 2010 the London Review of Books reviewed a 14th Century Parisian book of household management called The Good Wife’s Guide: A Medieval Household Book. This is a compendium of medieval lore which aimed to instruct young wives how to be good, efficient, and obedient. The following is …
The other day I commented on scanners in shops, the fact that they almost encourage shop-lifting, and the cavalier attitude of companies to “wastage” (or non-payment for goods by customers). Why do retailers shrug their shoulders? 1. The purchase of scanners shows up on the balance sheet as depreciation, and the government has decreed that it …
I am in the local CVS, one of the many near-monopolies, retailing everything from pharmaceuticals to fizzy drink. I have bought some milk, and scan the carton, cost $2.67. A total of $38.97 shows up on the screen. While accustomed to price gouging this is, nevertheless, mildly surprising. I find one of the few, increasingly elusive, staff. …
An official British report has found that grades at more than 80% of universities have inflated beyond a level attributable to rising standards. Last year, 18% of students who got CCD or below at A level graduated with a first; 50% of students at Surrey University got a first; at Bristol, UCL and Durham, 2:2 …
Continue reading ‘Brief update on British university grade inflation’ »
