Shropshire arson turns into murder

By Calvin Palmer
Every amateur detective in the United Kingdom, from the budding Miss Marples to the aspiring Inspector Lynleys, is studying the latest newspaper reports about the blaze at the Shropshire mansion and the disappearance of the owner, millionaire businessman Christopher Foster, his wife and 15-year-old daughter.
 
Police are now conducting a murder investigation.  One of the [...]

Nobody expects the Republicans!

By Calvin Palmer
When it flashed across the news Web sites that John McCain had chosen Palin as his running-mate in the forthcoming presidential election, my first thought was one of surprise.  Michael Palin had never really struck me as Republican material but with an educational background of Shrewsbury School and Brasenose College, Oxford, perhaps he [...]

No smoke without fire

By Calvin Palmer
A millionaire, his wife and 15-year-old daughter are missing after arson destroyed their ₤1.2 million mansion in the English countryside.  It sounds like the synopsis of a novel by mystery writer P.D. James but, at times, life imitates art.
 
On Tuesday, fire swept through the Shropshire home of businessman Christopher Foster, aged 50.  Foster, [...]

Mexico court upholds abortion law

By Calvin Palmer
The Supreme Court in Mexico appears to have taken a sensible decision today in deciding to uphold the law passed by Mexico City to permit abortions during the first 12 weeks of pregnancy.
 
It is also a brave move in a country that is staunchly Roman Catholic and whose president, Felipe Calderon is a [...]

M.D.’s ego feeds on hot dog attack

By Calvin Palmer
It never fails to amaze me how any wacko manages to hold center stage in America but they do.  I guess it goes to prove just what a freedom-loving democracy the country is.  Of course, it is not just any old wacko who is permitted by the mainstream media to hold forth on [...]

Orangina ad too juicy for UK viewers

By Calvin Palmer
A soft drink ad aired in the UK has had TV viewers, a children’s charity and equal rights groups all fizzing with anger.
 
The TV ad for Orangina features gyrating hips, bottles erupting from between thighs and shooting the effervescent liquid over bikini-clad breasts, as well as other sexual imagery.
 
Before you all start racing [...]

Fox News provokes right reaction

By Calvin Palmer
The Democratic National Convention has opened in Denver and protesters have been drawn to it like moths to a flame.  Their mood is anti-war and already parallels are being drawn between this convention and the infamous Democratic Convention of 1968 in Chicago.
 
Forty years ago, America was similarly involved in an armed conflict in [...]

Beijing leaves a rich legacy

By Calvin Palmer
What do we do now?  For the past 16 days, the Olympic Games in Beijing have gripped TV audiences across the world.  People have marveled at the amazing feats of honest human endeavor; the levels of speed, endurance, grace and agility that the human body is capable of.  I include myself among the [...]

Times-Union lags behind on ceremony

By Calvin Palmer
Timing is everything.  In the fiercely competitive world of the media, it is critical.  I have seen night editors fired for not carrying a late-breaking news story.  A newspaper can look decidedly amateurish if it misses out on a story that all the other papers are carrying the next day.
 
Jacksonville’s newspaper, The Florida Times-Union, [...]

Jamaica’s day of triumph and disaster

By Calvin Palmer
Usain Bolt and the Jamaica 4×100m men’s relay team yesterday powered their way to Olympic gold at Beijing and set a new world record.
 
To everybody’s surprise, Bolt ran the third leg and handed the baton to Asafa Powell who stormed to the finishing line a good 10 meters clear of second place Trinidad [...]