All in the family?

Richard A. Friedman, M.D., "When Parents Are Too Toxic to Tolerate"

You can divorce an abusive spouse. You can call it quits if your lover mistreats you. But what can you do if the source of your misery is your own parent?

Granted, no parent is perfect. And whining about parental failure, real or not, is practically an American pastime that keeps the therapeutic community dutifully employed.

But just as there are ordinary good-enough parents who mysteriously produce a difficult child, there are some decent people who have the misfortune of having a truly toxic parent.

The captive's tale

David Rohde, "Held By the Taliban".

• Part One: "7 Months, 10 Days in Captivity" (Oct. 17, 2009)


• Part Two: "Inside the Islamic Emirate" (Oct. 18, 2009)


• Part Three: "‘You Have Atomic Bombs, but We Have Suicide Bombers’" (Oct. 19, 2009)


• Part Four: "A Drone Strike and Dwindling Hope" (Oct. 20, 2009)


• Part Five: "A Rope and a Prayer" (Oct. 21, 2009)


• Epilogue: "Epilogue (Oct. 22, 2009

Their own modern, private monarchy?

Mark Steel. "Royal Mail is to blame for our broken society (obviously)".

"The Post office unions can't obstruct modernisation," insists Peter Mandelson. That must be why Mandelson has the thoroughly modern job title of Lord, because he's not afraid to modernise. And no one could accuse his place of work, the House of Lords, of resisting modernisation. Every member of staff is at the cutting edge of new technology, making use of the very latest developments in ermine gowns, and overmanning is unheard of as every single Lord is essential and oozes infectious youthful hereditary energy for the benefit of Britain.

If only the Post Office unions would agree to being that modern, then their sacks would be carried by equerries, and attendance would be around 5 per cent of the workforce, who would take it in turns to stand up with a parcel, shake it for a couple of minutes, then say "Am I delivering this or receiving it, I don't recall?" and sit down again.

Presumably, what is meant by "modernise" is privatised. Then, as they're delivering your mail postmen can say "Would you like a pastry with your bills this morning? No? In that case are you aware I could also supply you with gas?" And each postman could get sponsorship, and cycle along whistling 'You can't get quicker than a Kwik Fit fitter'. Eventually they'll be properly modern, like the water companies who were fined £12m for providing a dreadful service and lying to cover it up, or the hugely popular gas companies

Just Because

(Some links that have been collecting dust.)

• Fish, Stanley. "What Should Colleges Teach?" Think Again. The New York Times. August 24, 2009.


• Krugman, Paul. "How Did Economists Get It So Wrong?" The New York Times. September 6, 2009; page MM36.


• Corbett, Sara. "The Holy Grail of the Unconscious". The New York Times. September 20, 2009; page MM34.