Comment

The Diary

  • A positive negative

    A GLASGOW businessman tells us that writing negative references for former employees is no longer allowed at his company, for fear of being sued.

    Ken Smith
  • That's pasta joke

    VEGETARIANS – it's not right to make fun of them, but that doesn't stop folk from trying.

    Ken Smith
  • Have a heart, ref

    DEMONSTRATING that you're never too old for sport, the Scottish Masters over-80s squash final was held at Bridge of Allan Sports Club, where Alex Hamilton prevailed over his regular playing partner Andy Jack.

    Ken Smith
  • Smashing fun

    A READER taking a brisk winter's walk around an East Kilbride park heard a little boy ask his mother why there were coins in a pretend wishing well there.

    Ken Smith
  • Fare's fair

    MATT Vallance in Ayrshire tells us about the teenage couple who made jaws drop on a Stagecoach bus by getting on board with a baby and asking for "two half singles to Kilmarnock".

    Ken Smith
  • True love

    WE asked for examples of the romantic Scotsman.

    Ken Smith
  • Trunk call

    RETIRED police officer Stephen Pender was receiving treatment from a physio for a back injury when he was told to balance on a giant exercise ball with his hands and knees.

    Ken Smith
  • Money matters

    AS Rangers stare administration in the face, a fan of the club in a Glasgow office had to endure his Celtic-minded colleagues singing a favoured Rangers song, but with the words slightly changed.

    Ken Smith

Tom Shields On...

  • referendum crackers

    AS part of the merry banter in the independence stakes, Alex Salmond described Sir Malcolm Rifkind and Lord Forsyth of Poll Tax as the "Bourbons of Scottish politics".

  • dial a tenner

    THERE is a new app for the smart phone which, technology experts tell us, will transform the business of settling a restaurant bill when nobody has any change.

  • socio economics

    Some FC Barcelona fans asked me at the weekend (in between watching the best team in the world thrash Valencia 5-1) what's going on with Rangers de Glasgow.

  • Olympic fast lanes

    There is a stir about who will be going fast at the London Olympics.

  • Pure ned brilliant

    SCOTLAND'S "ned culture" cost businesses £740 million last year, according to insurance company More Than.

  • bar for bigots

    Scottish publicans have asked the Government to define what qualifies as football-related bigotry under the Offensive Behaviour Act.

  • over 80

    There are now more than a million drivers over the age of 80 on Britain's roads.

  • half-hearted Valentines

    You may have heard Willie Nelson's sad love song Always on My Mind.

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  • Reform that just isn't working

    The reforms to the benefits system instigated by the Coalition Government are the most far-reaching in a generation.

  • The right to know and a culture of obstruction

    It is to the great credit of Rab Wilson, a former psychiatric nurse, that, despite being derided as vexatious and suspended from his job, he continued to seek reports of serious incidents from his employers, Ayrshire and Arran Health Board, for five years.

  • Women bear the biggest burden

    WOMEN are the hidden victims of Scotland's stagnating economy and without urgent action that situation is going to get a lot worse.

Letters

To write to The Herald's editor Jonathan Russell, either email letters@theherald.co.uk or address your correspondence to The Editor, The Herald, 200 Renfield Street, Glasgow, G2 3PR.

Columnists & Bloggers

In Praise Of...

  • In praise of - emoticons.

    IT is a strange reality of modern communication that, at times, we must resort to childlike methods to get our point across.

  • In praise of - Sir Alec Guinness.

    SOMETIMES, it's the little moments you remember the great actors for.

  • In praise of - animation.

    IN PRAISING animation, I'm not asking you to get out of your seat and start dancing like the Tin Man.

  • In praise of - John Donne.

    "I WONDER by my troth, what thou and I/ Did, till we loved ?" Back in the day when I sent Valentine's cards in the hope of impressing someone with my delicacy of feeling, cultural learning and amorous intentions, John Donne was always the go-to guy for poetic quotations.

  • In praise of - Change.

    CHANGE: what is it as good as, readers?

Obituaries