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Are we so dumbed down that we miss the obvious?
I'd say we were dumbing down, if the phrase itself didn't seem so dumb. But there's no doubt that we are. Study after study shows that modern society is getting ever more stupid with each passing year.
How devolution has dragged us all back to the Dark Ages
Perverse. Outrageous. Shameful. Embarrassing. These are just some of the words used by free speech campaigners to describe Stormont's so-far unexplained decision to opt out of the new Defamation Bill, which passed into UK law last month.
Telling our story is not the same as creating a shrine
Commemoration is not the same as veneration. Telling a story – if it is an honest, rounded and impartial narrative – is not the same as building a shrine.
Thatcher death celebration a grave mistake - pathetic, undignified and pointless
Is there any more futile gesture than dancing on someone's grave?
If this was the best on offer I would hate to see the worst
Exactly 14 days after the Good Friday Agreement, my daughter was born. This year, this month, she turns 15. And so does that longed-for settlement.
Terri's punks, warts and all, show true spirit of the city
Shouting loudly about how world-class everything is in Northern Ireland – world-class golf courses, world-class restaurants, world-class colleges, world-class museum experiences: you name it, we're the world-beaters – leaves us with a problem.
Why bother having a child if you are going to dump it off in daycare baby farm?
It's not the sort of thing that a self-declared feminist is supposed to say, but I'm going to say it anyway: why bother having a child if you're going to plonk him or her in full-time daycare from when they're knee-high to a grasshopper?
Time to banish perpetually offended elements in society
It's the day when the world turns a particularly lurid shade of emerald.
Whole truth on perception is that there really isn't one
Perception is a funny thing, isn't it? It changes all the time, depending on whom you're talking to and where you're standing.
Stormont's pregnant pause on abortion law is shameful
Here's a question for the women of Northern Ireland. Who is in charge of your body? Who controls what happens to it, who determines its destiny? Is it you, the person that inhabits it? Or is it Paul Givan of the DUP?
Media's fifty shades of grey old men is massive turn-off
The media is no country for old women. We know this. The real snaggle-toothed old hags have virtually no chance of a look-in and even the ones who pluck the hairs out of their warts and zap their wrinkles with Botox face eventual extermination.
Do we have the stomach to finally change how we eat?
There's nothing more tempting than the smell of a home-made lasagne cooking in the oven. Finally, it's ready, you sit down and take a great, big bite of pasta, cheese sauce and meaty, delicious... horse?
Why making money from a violent past troubles me
Why is murder so entertaining? If a man walks into a cinema and guns down a slew of people, as American student James Holmes did last summer, the world reels with horror.
Even those we call bigots deserve to have their say
Sometimes I dread opening my e-mail inbox. It's a bit like lifting the lid on a bin: you never know what reeking horrors you might find in there.
Girls face moral curfew as rapists act with impunity
Here we go again. And again. And again. Whose fault is it when a woman gets raped? Her own? Or the perpetrator's?
Don’t let thought police curtail our free speech
What do transsexuals, loyalists and the Tweenies have in common? This is not some kind of sick joke, though I admit it's crying out for an ingenious punchline, possibly involving an outsize Union flag bra. Answers on a postcard please.
We need brave leaders who place truth above tribalism
It's normal to feel embarrassed when you come from Northern Ireland. You get used to the sensation of lingering shame.
We must not fly off handle over flag at city Cenotaph
There's nothing like a full-blown riot — masked youths, burning cars and flying missiles — to really make you feel the fear. It stirs up the old, familiar lurch of dread in the pit of your stomach, the kind you used to experience when you heard a bomb go off.
A rare triumph for beauty over the bureaucratic beast
So the oldest, tallest street tree in Belfast has been saved from the axe — for now, at least.
Shadows of the few cannot cast rest of us in darkness
Sour time, sour place. So this is how our big year ended: in a tourist coach smashed up by masked men; shops, bars and restaurants standing empty; mob rule on the streets; democracy denied.
Facebook too old, say teens
Twitter booming as social media destination
In pictures: UK Soap Awards
In Pictures: North West 200
In Pictures: Balmoral Show
Nice-but-dull Kate's annoying baby bump pose
FHM's sexiest women - Kunis knocks Tulisa off her perch
Latest News
Woolwich: Police shoot two men after soldier is beheaded in London street
A soldier was murdered by two suspected Islamists yesterday who attempted to behead and disembowel him as he left a barracks, in the first deadly attack in Britain since the 2005 London bombings.
Crews rescue boy wedged in chimney
A teenager had to be rescued by the fire service after falling down a chimney.
Rubber duck becomes a dog's dinner
A mobile phone, a rubber duck and a £20 note have all ended up inside dogs' stomachs, according to a new survey.
Latest Sport
Wade scoops unique award double new
Christian Wade was "shocked and humbled" to learn he had gone one better than Jonny Wilkinson by scooping a unique double at the Rugby Players' Association awards.
Former Manchester United defender Brian Greenhoff dies, aged 60
Former Manchester United and England defender Brian Greenhoff has died, aged 60.
Tindall ready to use experience
Mike Tindall is relishing the chance to test his experience against Gloucester's youth when he lines up for the Barbarians against England on Sunday.
Latest Showbiz
Yakoob: Girls tougher than boys
Apprentice reject Uzma Yakoob has said it was far more stressful being on the women's team than working with the men.
Stones' Micks reunited in the park
The Rolling Stones' return to Hyde Park will see them team up with former guitarist Mick Taylor, but there will be no reappearance of the white dress Mick Jagger wore at the original 1969 gig because he has lost it.
Graham: I'll miss playing stripper
The Hangover III star Heather Graham says she will miss playing sexy stripper Jade because the excitement makes up for her "boring" real life.
