Right Round the Houses (No 29)

WELCOME back to Right Round the Houses, the weekly feature where the nation’s columnists have their say – while we wonder just why it is we put up with them . . .

Gut feeling about a dud story

HERE’S a question for the pub quiz fanatics out there: What’s the capacity of the human stomach?

Icy blasts from experts in warm offices

IN comfortable offices where the temperature hovers at 76F and the aroma of fresh coffee hangs in the air like the scent of hay on a May breeze, men and women who have never held a shovel in their hands are furiously hammering keyboards and pouring bile on the people who keep this country moving

Right Round the Houses (No 16)

WELCOME to the weekly feature where the nation’s commentators launch themselves into the skies of controversy – then flutter back to base like superjumbos with leaky gaskets . . .

A Telter Home – by Siegfried Sassoon

BASED on a headline in the Independent, October 4, 2010:

Right round the houses (No 11)

ED MILIBAND is the main topic of conversation this week as our columnists flock together like a bunch of plump Herdwick gimmers to bleat with one voice. There are exceptions. Julia Hartley-Brewer, for instance, brings us news of a phenomenon called global warming, which surely proves once and for all that the Sunday Express leads the world with its breathtakingly astute news-gathering capabilities . . .

Full of beans – the raising of Lazarat

MOVING on from recipes for road-kill squirrels in the Daily Telegraph, the Independent develops the theme with a story about a dead rat that was found in a tin of baked beans. Not very nice, but these things happen. What makes this story that little bit special is this paragraph:

The braised tortoise with cavalo nero, please

THE Independent has a report about an archaeological discovery in Galilee, northern Israel. Scientists excavating a cave have discovered the remains of a 12,000-year-old feast, thought to be the first indication of humans fostering community spirit. Apparently, three wild cattle and 71 tortoises were cooked and consumed. The Indy tells us:

A tale of two headlines

FROM the Daily Telegraph and the Independent, August 16, 2010:

Right round the houses (No 4)

WELCOME to our weekly glimpse into the murky world of the newspaper columnist, where we stroll into the garden of sanity, lift the flagstone of reality, and gaze wide-eyed at the wriggly things beneath . . .