A weekly roundup of talking points, sans effort

 

Thought for the week

“We do believe there is a way to get this done.” U.S. secretary of state John Kerry, discussing a potential diplomatic resolution to the ongoing Syrian crisis, involving the Assad regime’s surrender of chemical weapons, as oppose to sending military troops into the war-torn North African nation.
 

Weekly High

Carnival Cruises is a major player in a particularly troubled area of travel (following the Costa Concordia amongst other recent-ish nautical catastrophes), and in a bid to re-gain the public’s trust, is now offering a ‘Great Vacation Guarantee’. If you’re unhappy with any aspect of your trip, leave early and the operator will provide a 110% refund, free return flights home, $100 on board credit for the future, and an apology. And yes, you do get that in writing.

 
 

Weekly low

As most people will have realised, this week marked the 11th anniversary of the September 11th terrorist attacks in America. In the spirit of misjudgement, one Marriot hotel, where Twitter user @eclectrica was staying,  decided it was a good idea to offer guests complimentary tea and coffee between 8.45AM and 9.15AM; around the time those planes crashed into New York’s World Trade Centre. Whether you take sugar or not, there’s no way to sweeten this up.

Things that may happen in the next week

Royal Mail staff may announce a huge strike, bringing the postal service into chaos, following a green light for some £3billion in privatisation deals dubbed as going well beyond anything Mrs Thatcher would have done. The Bank Of England will come under increasing pressure to put a 5% cap on property value increase after figures revealed a sharp rise in house prices pointing to the fastest overall growth since 2006. The Daily Mail will pay a settlement to Ryanair after the budget airline took legal action following allegations it risked passenger safety.

Just in case you missed it…

Twitter is preparing to float on the stock market, following in the footsteps of Facebook, despite suggestions the network is yet to find a sustainable way to monetise its services. Take a look at the full story here.
 
 
If there is a success story, blunder, or news event you’d like to see included email helloATsmokinggun.co.uk or tweet using #blaggersblog. Happy Friday!