Speaking about clichè

Toby Litt
The Italian Job
The Guardian, Saturday 24 January 2009 (Review inset)

I happen to have read the book. I happen to disagree on many points of this review, however that is not the point.

The article is introduced by the following lines (I quote): "Toby Litt has fun with a novelist who delights in cliché and coincidence".

Toby Litt underlines the use of clichès in the novel but his review's title is just the millionth time the famous movie has been used to refer to something conceived or implemented in Italy. I say, if you have to pick on something, at least try and refrain to do the same thing it the title of your piece(*).



(*) I know the authors, often, do not pick the titles themselves, still I think a little coherence is lacking there

Read more...

Stating the obvious

Julian Glover
Britain loses faith in economy
The Guardian, Wednesday 14 January 2009

I decided to save this clipping (form today's front page) because it is a proof that statistics when not used with a pinch of salt are as as informative as the prediction of the outcome of a coin toss (er...).

A big survey carried out worldwide concluded the following, as reported in the article linked above:

1) "confidence in the banking system appears lower in Britain - 4.2 out of 10 - than in bankrupt Iceland, which polled 4.6". Now, in order to assess that people worldwide and, particular in Britain, do not trust banks, we needed a survey
2) "Not surprisingly, pessimism about personal finances is greatest in Iceland, and lowest in fast-growing economies such as India". At least the author said not surprisingly. Do we really need statistics to say that the average Icelandic who is about to lose a lifetime's savings in the banks meltdown up there is not really willing to look on the bright side? Or that the average Indian, on one of the poorest wages worldwide is not really positive he is going to become rich in the next couple of months?

I leave the rest of the amazing results to your curiosity

Read more...