Monday 17 November It’s the middle of November, but the outdoor swimming pool is still open. Perhaps this is compensation for the delayed opening at the start of summer caused by the panic over SARS, but very welcome nonetheless. Swimming in the open air is much better than being inside. Most people think its too…

The Guardian has been losing columnists at an alarming rate – mostly to The Times, which apparently pays twice as much. This seems to have prompted them to employ an 84 year-old woman to bleat about how some bad people in Hong Kong stole money out of her bank account. This is more of a…