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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.
In pictures: UK Soap Awards
New suspects in Maddie probe
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
Harry Potter edition fetches £150k new
A first edition of the first Harry Potter book, personally annotated by JK Rowling, has sold for £150,000 at auction.
'World class' rocker Bolder dies new
Uriah Heep and Spiders From Mars bassist Trevor Bolder has died following a battle with cancer, his band said. He was 62.
Army experts blow up old grenade new
Army bomb experts have carried out a controlled explosion on a grenade dating back to the early 20th century.
Latest Sport
Stoke confirm Pulis exit new
Tony Pulis' seven-year reign as Stoke manager has come to an end after he and the club agreed to part company by mutual consent.
Corbisiero looking to make his mark new
Alex Corbisiero is desperate to put an injury-ravaged season behind him and reassert his position as England's first-choice loosehead prop in the upcoming fixtures against the Barbarians and Argentina.
Lion O'Brien healing quickly new
British and Irish Lions flanker Sean O'Brien could yet play for Leinster in Saturday's RaboDirect PRO12 final after making rapid progress in his recovery from a knee injury.
Latest Showbiz
'World class' rocker Bolder dies new
Bolder joined David Bowie's backing band in 1971, appearing on classic albums including Hunky Dory and Aladdin Sane. He went on to join Uriah Heep five years later and only stopped playing with the band a few months ago, due to his poor health.
Two films bring Italy to Cannes new
La dolce vita has arrived in Cannes thanks to a pair of films set in Italy exploring lives of affluent ennui.
Dame Judi proud of Bomber Boys role new
Dame Judi Dench described herself as being "very proud" to be the first patron of a new campaign to preserve the Bomber Command Memorial for generations to come.
