Rabbit Ripper of the Ruhr
Francis Sedgemore, Wednesday 9 July 2008
Here is today’s top news story:
I’ve just been listening to The World at One lunchtime news programme on BBC Radio 4, which included a bizarre discussion about the parliamentary performance of various politicians. Labour’s admittedly dull deputy leader Harriet Harman was criticised for her flat jokes, and the stage skills of MPs were compared and contrasted as if we were talking about the relative merits of television stand-up comedians or dramatic actors.
For goodness sake, darlings, they are politicians, not drama queens. I know we’re nearing the silly season, but there is real news out there worth reporting. Rabbits of the Ruhr are being stalked by a serial killer, England took bronze in the World Wife-Carrying Championships*, Iran is sabre-rattling with a new missile test and threats to torch Tel Aviv, and Gordon Brown is getting well ’ard with Zimbabwe. The sophistication and efficacy of British politicians’ wit, and the extent of their thespian and rhetorical skills, are neither here nor there.
*Hat tip: Norm
Feed the writer! 
Wednesday 9 July 2008 at 20:39 GMT
The rabbit ripper story is alarming, not only because such sadists do often move onto humans, but ‘cos of the postulated use of Google Earth. I found my place and was *terrified* to see me cleaning my bicycle.
Wednesday 9 July 2008 at 20:54 GMT
Yes, it is alarming, and I thought long and hard before mentioning it in such flippant terms. But there is something about the way in which the story was reported. As for Google Earth, there shouldn’t be a problem with satellite imagery, where the resolution is around 15 metres per pixel. With orthophotography from aircraft the resolution is considerably higher, but if this is kept below a few tens of centimetres there should be little to worry about. Street View, on the other hand…
Wednesday 9 July 2008 at 21:01 GMT
Are you perhaps worried that Will is plotting your destruction with the aid of Google Earth, as he sits there stroking his white cat, and taking another slug from a bottle of Tesco-branded scotch?
Wednesday 9 July 2008 at 21:13 GMT
Sod Will, a leading Edinburgh antisemite John Wight asked me for a snog this week on HP.
Wednesday 9 July 2008 at 21:31 GMT
Isn’t that par for the course at Harry’s Place?
Wednesday 9 July 2008 at 21:52 GMT
He was such a honey.