Trump’s attacks on the media are ridiculous – Zella Compton

How can the media – whatever their political affiliation – stomach such a ridiculous and puerile mode of operation given that news networks are supposed to hold politicians to account?

If the questions were about something so nonsensical to the running of the country (like the colour of his socks), then maybe he could ignore them.

But when they’re questioning his policy?

It’s time to be really afraid for the media not standing up for itself.

And with his latest attack on comedy shows for lampooning him – he’s seeking ‘retribution’ – it’s time to be terrified.

If I was braver I could be a property millionaire now

Another wave has passed me by as I stand on the shore watching those cleverer, braver and lucky enough to catch it. I’m not even in the water on this one.

I’ve learnt about its demise as it’s being shut down for supposed illegality before I even knew it was out there for catching.

This particular tsunami is called ‘hidden’ cities and is seemingly about the practice of buying fantastically cheaper flights to places.

Essentially, you buy a ticket to a less popular and therefore cheaper destination. But the brilliance is that you check the flight is routed through the destination where you really wanted to go and you get off there saving you thousands of pounds.

You can only take a carry-on bag obviously, but with the huge savings, you can buy an extra pair of pants when you get there. It has never occurred to me to do this, even though I knew there are tricks out there.

For example, it’s supposed to be much cheaper to fly anywhere from cities on the European-continent.

Apparently the UK is one of the most expensive places to fly from in the world but it’s a complete pain to make the most of this fact unless your DNA is 73 per cent travel agent. 

But to get off before my destination? That’s straightforward and genius.

Except now airlines are cracking down on the practice, asking for additional monies to be paid, cancelling return trips if you didn’t make it to the final destination, and the like.

I’ve missed this wave, much as I missed the internet’s, which passed me by in a sour bubble of why anyone would prefer the pain of a keyboard when they could dip their nose into a book, and whoever would edit the internet’s content and give it the stamp of officiality it deserved?

Then there was the property boom of the 1990s which, had I chosen to be brave enough and get on board, would see me potentially with a golden glowing future as I could now sell bricks and mortar for a fantastic sum.

There’ll be something else soon, and please feel free to give me a heads-up, before that wave washes straight over me too.

The gender pay gap writ large across the silver screen 

There’s an advert which I keep seeing at the cinema as I’m making the most of the £5 tickets on a Saturday afternoon. 

It’s for the Open University, and it annoys me more and more each weekend. The idea’s great; who wouldn’t want to study in their spare time to further themselves?

We hear about two men that get a degree. One gets a promotion and one gets a pay rise. That’d be fine, but in the middle we have a woman – and what does she get? She gets the satisfaction of ‘impressing’ her boss. I’m spitting fury by this point. 

Does that not strike a maddening thoughtless claw into minds as the gender pay gap still adversely affects too many women the workforce over?