This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/mar/17/workshy-william-getting-flak-i-hear-russias-in-need-of-cosmonauts

The article has changed 2 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 0 Version 1
'Workshy' Wills is getting flak – I hear Russia's in need of cosmonauts 'Workshy' Wills is getting flak – I hear Russia's in need of cosmonauts
(about 1 hour later)
MondayMonday
Prince William is getting a lot of flak for going on a lads’ ski trip to Verbier, though the headlines of “Don’t you have a proper job to go to?” appear to have been mainly an excuse for newspapers to print pictures of the prince drinking and dancing in nightclubs. Not least because the simple fact is that he doesn’t have a proper job to go to. That’s the whole point of him. Most of us encounter a sense of existential futility at some point, but few have it embedded in our job description. He’s basically twiddling his thumbs waiting for his granny and his father to die. It’s almost enough to make a member of the royal family turn republican.Prince William is getting a lot of flak for going on a lads’ ski trip to Verbier, though the headlines of “Don’t you have a proper job to go to?” appear to have been mainly an excuse for newspapers to print pictures of the prince drinking and dancing in nightclubs. Not least because the simple fact is that he doesn’t have a proper job to go to. That’s the whole point of him. Most of us encounter a sense of existential futility at some point, but few have it embedded in our job description. He’s basically twiddling his thumbs waiting for his granny and his father to die. It’s almost enough to make a member of the royal family turn republican.
TuesdayTuesday
I’ve often wondered how all those people whose lives were improved by the excellence of the medical staff at the Mid-Staffs hospital must feel when they read about that hospital’s many failures. Just recently I got a message from my psychiatrist – one of the many mental health professionals who have helped to keep me near enough sane over the years – to say that they were no longer working with a certain hospital as the risk of damage to their reputation was too high. In their opinion, the hospital was being badly run and patients weren’t being given the appropriate treatment. This left me with mixed feelings as I had been a patient at that very hospital and my memories of it are all good. I’ve no idea how the hospital was being run behind the scenes, but I was treated with nothing but kindness, consideration and expertise. It’s not going too far to say that my four-week stay there transformed my life. Possibly even saved it. Maybe I was even luckier than I thought. I’ve often wondered how all those people whose lives were improved by the excellence of the medical staff at the Mid Staffs hospital must feel when they read about that hospital’s many failures. Just recently I got a message from my psychiatrist – one of the many mental health professionals who have helped to keep me near enough sane over the years – to say that they were no longer working with a certain hospital as the risk of damage to their reputation was too high. In their opinion, the hospital was being badly run and patients weren’t being given the appropriate treatment. This left me with mixed feelings as I had been a patient at that very hospital and my memories of it are all good. I’ve no idea how the hospital was being run behind the scenes, but I was treated with nothing but kindness, consideration and expertise. It’s not going too far to say that my four-week stay there transformed my life. Possibly even saved it. Maybe I was even luckier than I thought.
WednesdayWednesday
The publication of Donald Trump’s tax return from 2005 rather leaves me cold. One return from 12 years ago proves next to nothing about the president’s probity. I’d be much more interested in what his returns from the last five years look like and I’d guess the real dirt might be found in the returns of the four companies that were forced to file for bankruptcy. Far from being a financial genius, it’s been estimated that Trump would have been richer investing the money he inherited in a Dow Jones tracker fund than in his property empire. For deeper insights into the real nature of Trump’s business and tax affairs, try reading Sidney Blumenthal’s essay A Short History of the Trump Family in this week’s London Review of Books. Blumenthal writes: “The true-life Donald J Trump story has more to do with what Scott Fitzgerald called ‘foul dust’ than with ideas or ideology. Reckoning with Trump means descending into the place that made him. What he represents, above all, is the triumph of an underworld of predators, hustlers, mobsters, clubhouse politicians and tabloid sleaze that festered in a corner of New York City, a vindication of his mentor, the Mafia lawyer Roy Cohn, a figure unknown to the vast majority of enthusiasts who jammed Trump’s rallies and hailed him as the authentic ‘voice of the people’.”The publication of Donald Trump’s tax return from 2005 rather leaves me cold. One return from 12 years ago proves next to nothing about the president’s probity. I’d be much more interested in what his returns from the last five years look like and I’d guess the real dirt might be found in the returns of the four companies that were forced to file for bankruptcy. Far from being a financial genius, it’s been estimated that Trump would have been richer investing the money he inherited in a Dow Jones tracker fund than in his property empire. For deeper insights into the real nature of Trump’s business and tax affairs, try reading Sidney Blumenthal’s essay A Short History of the Trump Family in this week’s London Review of Books. Blumenthal writes: “The true-life Donald J Trump story has more to do with what Scott Fitzgerald called ‘foul dust’ than with ideas or ideology. Reckoning with Trump means descending into the place that made him. What he represents, above all, is the triumph of an underworld of predators, hustlers, mobsters, clubhouse politicians and tabloid sleaze that festered in a corner of New York City, a vindication of his mentor, the Mafia lawyer Roy Cohn, a figure unknown to the vast majority of enthusiasts who jammed Trump’s rallies and hailed him as the authentic ‘voice of the people’.”
ThursdayThursday
As a boy growing up in the 60s, I was fascinated by the space race. I even kept scrap books of newspaper photographs from all the Apollo missions and I remember being allowed to stay up to watch Neil Armstrong step on the moon. But never once did I dream of being an astronaut. My appetite for being propelled into space in flimsy – sometimes dangerous – craft to spend several months feeling cold, lonely and frightened is non-existent. For years, I’ve worn my cowardice as a badge of shame, so I’m delighted to discover that so many young Russians feel the same way that Roscosmos, the Russian space agency, is having to advertise for more recruits. For any Russians interested, applicants must be under 35, have feet under size 11 and relevant work experience.As a boy growing up in the 60s, I was fascinated by the space race. I even kept scrap books of newspaper photographs from all the Apollo missions and I remember being allowed to stay up to watch Neil Armstrong step on the moon. But never once did I dream of being an astronaut. My appetite for being propelled into space in flimsy – sometimes dangerous – craft to spend several months feeling cold, lonely and frightened is non-existent. For years, I’ve worn my cowardice as a badge of shame, so I’m delighted to discover that so many young Russians feel the same way that Roscosmos, the Russian space agency, is having to advertise for more recruits. For any Russians interested, applicants must be under 35, have feet under size 11 and relevant work experience.
FridayFriday
As George Osborne prepares to keep pushing the “northern powerhouse” from the offices of the London Evening Standard, while still fitting in a career as full-time MP and £650,000-a-year consultant for BlackRock – the gig economy is getting to everyone these days – staff at the news organisation might be wondering what changes lie in store. Nothing, they hope, as dangerous as one of the jobs I was given when I freelanced there in the 1990s. “I’ve got a great idea, John,” the features editor said to me over the phone during one stiflingly hot summer. “Why don’t you go to some of the most dangerous areas of London and stop all those cars that have loud sound systems that can be heard all down the street and ask them to turn their music down?” I replied that one very good reason for not doing it was that I might get killed. “Great,” she replied. “That would make the feature even better. Do you really think you can manage to get yourself hurt?” I agreed to do it – the Evening Standard paid very well – and headed off to Brixton with a photographer in tow where I studiously ignored all the most terrifying looking drivers whose cars were thudding with heavy bass. Eventually I plucked up courage to speak to one less intimidating driver at the traffic lights, who told me to fuck off. I told him I would be only too happy to. Not my finest hour.As George Osborne prepares to keep pushing the “northern powerhouse” from the offices of the London Evening Standard, while still fitting in a career as full-time MP and £650,000-a-year consultant for BlackRock – the gig economy is getting to everyone these days – staff at the news organisation might be wondering what changes lie in store. Nothing, they hope, as dangerous as one of the jobs I was given when I freelanced there in the 1990s. “I’ve got a great idea, John,” the features editor said to me over the phone during one stiflingly hot summer. “Why don’t you go to some of the most dangerous areas of London and stop all those cars that have loud sound systems that can be heard all down the street and ask them to turn their music down?” I replied that one very good reason for not doing it was that I might get killed. “Great,” she replied. “That would make the feature even better. Do you really think you can manage to get yourself hurt?” I agreed to do it – the Evening Standard paid very well – and headed off to Brixton with a photographer in tow where I studiously ignored all the most terrifying looking drivers whose cars were thudding with heavy bass. Eventually I plucked up courage to speak to one less intimidating driver at the traffic lights, who told me to fuck off. I told him I would be only too happy to. Not my finest hour.
Digested week, digestedDigested week, digested
NICs, elections expenses, Scotland. Where’s Labour? NICs, election expenses, Scotland. Where’s Labour?