Saturday December 18 2010

Whatever you think about using grating words, at the end of the day it's actually better not to say 'whatever', if you know what I mean.

For the second consecutive year, 'whatever' topped a US poll as the most annoying word or phrase in the English language.

Macca turns back years at 100 Club

Paul McCartney has turned back the clock, returning to the days of playing cramped, sweaty bars with a show for 300 people at London's famed 100 Club.

It was McCartney's tiniest club show since he played Liverpool's Cavern in 1999 and was designed to show his support for the former punk venue, which could close because of a rent rise.

Maddy fund drops by two-thirds

Kate and Gerry McCann's fund to help find their missing daughter, Madeleine, saw its income drop by nearly two-thirds last year.

The amount raised for the cause fell from £629,181 in 2008-09 to £233,099 in 2009-10, newly published accounts show. The McCanns have spoken of their fears that they would be unable to continue paying private detectives to search for their daughter and recently signed a lucrative deal to write a book about Madeleine's disappearance in 2007.

'Getaway driver' suspects nothing

A 26-year-old man thought he was doing a good deed when he gave a 70-year-old woman a ride to a bank. But Minnesota police say the woman, who rented an apartment from the man's mother, robbed the bank, and the man was her unsuspecting getaway driver.

Employees of the Elysian State Bank reported that an "elderly woman" told the teller she had a gun, demanded money and left with an undisclosed amount. Police took both into custody before determining the woman acted alone.

Donors replace Christmas tree

Donors have replaced the Christmas tree in the US city of Birmingham, Alabama, after the previous one was torched in a downtown park by thieves trying to steal its copper wiring.

The city didn't plan to replace it, but a group of radio stations donated a new tree.

Irish Independent