Silly Season is No Excuse

When the esteemed Aussie publication Woman's Day burst into print with the claim from a "good friend" that billionaire James Packer "was dating" supermodel Miranda Kerr, Aussie social writers were out of their starting blocks claiming 'exclusive exclusive ! and presenting the tale as their own discovery.
By the day's end at least one notable scribe (who has made a habit of attacking the Shuttle) was

expressing reservations, oddly only hours after we poured scorn on the tale. We know who James is actually (occasionally)  dating but she isn't a 'name'. How do we know?. Directly from a Packer family source who confirmed the fact but asked us not to name the lady.
And just as one of New York's top society snappers confirmed 3 weeks ago that Miranda is also occasionally dating a handsome male model and because that model was a friend of the snapper's, he requested we not name him. Despite that, a New York newspaper has now confirmed that Miranda has been out on the town with the young chap after spending Christmas with Orlando Bloom and family.

Other bloopers of the season : the bizarre tale re-printed faithfully around the world by those who should know better : the claim begun by a satirical website and picked up by a dodgy Chinese 'news' outlet that a former North Korean politician had been "fed to the dogs".

Even more alarming is this tosh published by tabloids and noticeably many News Ltd outlets : a claim that British police "know who had kidnapped Maddie McCann" and that Portuguese police were preventing them from arresting the perps.
This is dangerous stuff and the fact that the sad case of the disappearance of Madelaine McCann should be used to flog newspapers is a disgrace.
The UK police merely identified some new "suspects" in the form of 3 burglars who were operating on the night the girl was taken. They join a growing list of suspects that number in the dozens. And the blatant racist attack upon the Portuguese police helps no-one : under EU laws British police can request the extradition of any suspect they believe may have committed a crime.