In a recent article, outlining how “Foreigners” (that is to say, more specifically, EU nationals) would not be charged retrospectively for any speeding fine they incur whilst on British roads, since the weakness of sterling makes chasing them up not cost effective, The Daily Telegraph was in thunderous form. Any fine (or any sort) over 70 Euros will be pursued and the money collected will go to the national government of the offender, but the poor pound’s financial strength means EU national drivers in this country who break the law will fall below the 70 Euro threshold and their governments will not benefit. Therefore, only drivers fined on the spot by police will suffer. To illustrate the pan-European nature of this initiative, the Telegraph produced this list of countries: “Austria, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Holland, Netherlands, Romania…” Hang on, scroll back, what was that. Holland, Netherlands. Let’s ignore, the lack of the definite article that the writer felt the Czech Republic needed. I do believe that not only was Holland out of alphabetical sequence there, but it is merely a province of the Netherlands and, while often used as shorthand for this Benelux member, to have it side by side, out of order, with the Low Country just compounds the error. Back to the maps, hacks!
It’s a shame that The Daily Telegraph hides its apologies in a dark recess of its pages. All papers really should have the humility of The Guardian and have a corrections and clarifications section. Now some might choke on their frappucinos to associate The Groniad with humility (and they have a point), but this part of the paper is one of the most enjoyable areas, since the editor is nominally independent and waxes witty on innumerable occasions. A recent joy was an arts piece contents sidebar, citing the name of an interviewee. “Unfortunately, the 16th century Ottoman admiral was unavailable for comment,” however, a real artist was. One of my all time favourites was “We were being unduly harsh when we said that regional support for the Tories had been ‘skewered’. The word we had meant to use was ‘skewed’.
We must not be too harsh on those who work to tight deadlines. Shoichi Nakagawa, the former finance minister, only had access to so much alcohol before he had to make another public appearance. After one particularly slurred appearance, an Iphone App game was created, whereby Nakagawa had to dodge journalists questions while being on a less even keel than the Mary Rose in 1545. Now, he’s been found dead in his Tokyo home, despite being only 56 years old. With a prescription of sleeping pills, it seems he took the Heath Ledger way out of accidental overdose (not Michael Jackson’s exit since we all know that was ‘homicide’). Of course, it’s a tragedy for his family and friends and good wishes must be felt for them, but those in the spotlight must take the hit when they embarrass themselves, as David Letterman is doing. Let us remember him for his quote during Japan’s general election (in which he lost his seat) earlier this year to his constituents, that he was giving up drinking for “the sake of Japan” - in English, he appears as unfortunately gaffe-prone as ever, given that sake is the national drink of Japan. Let us hope that it sounded better in his native Nipponese.