Top secret breakfast?

AND so farewell to Helmsley, the little market town where we stayed for a few days while exploring North Yorkshire. It honestly is that thing much-beloved of travel writers, "the perfect base" for a holiday. (And no, I am not in the pay of Helmsley Chamber of Trade. What cynical times we live in).

ON the way to Whitby we crossed Fylingdales Moor where, during the Cold War, early-warning radars were concealed inside those three gigantic landmark white globes. They have been replaced with an enormous wedge-shaped structure, like one of those old-fashioned toasters with fold-down sides. It is, of course, all very hush-hush but it occurs to me that the spooks, for some Top Secret purpose beyond the understanding of mere mortals, may be working their way through breakfast symbols. First the boiled eggs, now the toast. In time the toaster will be replaced with a giant frying pan. You read it here first.

CURIOUS job titles of our time. In a letter to one of the London newspapers, Karen Bradley MP signs herself as Minister for Modern Slavery and Organised Crime. Shouldn't that be Minister against Modern Slavery and Organised Crime?

A EUROPEAN court ruling means Google and other search engines can be asked to remove references – the so-called "right to be forgotten." The snag is that the search engines must inform the news organisations involved – and that organisation may take the view that the de-listing is a matter of public interest . So the story about the de-listing is published and the original, probably long-forgotten, report is aired all over again. That's what has happened to a man in Oxford who demanded Google remove all references to his conviction, eight years ago, for attempted shoplifting. Google informed the local newspaper involved which reported the de-listing, naming the offender once again. As the media commentator Roy Greenslade points out: "The right to be forgotten could well turn out to be the right to be remembered."

NOT much surprises me but I am astonished at the eagerness of some folk to turn Rolf Harris into an Orwellian unperson by destroying or banning his works. Just supposing we hunted down every Rolf Harris record, painting, book or TV show and made a great bonfire of them. Would it protect a single child or make the world in any way a better place? And isn't it a bit weird to go through every archive edition of Top of the Pops and delete all images of Rolf Harris and Jimmy Savile if the next programme is a documentary about Adolf Hitler?

THE link between vasectomies and prostate cancer announced by Harvard Medical School a few days ago is nothing new. I remember discussing reports of a suspected connection with a colleague more than 10 years ago. It seemed plausible, thanks to the golden rule of life which says if something seems too good to be true, it probably is. There is another study, admittedly tentative and inconclusive, which suggests a link between vasectomy and a rare form of dementia. One of the dilemmas of modern life is knowing how far to trust doctors.

FOLLOWING last week's inquiry from a reader who wondered whether piano-accordion makers are feeling the squeeze, another reader says he's not sure but he understands violin makers are scraping a living.

BACK home, on the farm where we live, the wheat is almost ready for the harvest. This year it's a low-growing variety and the wheat is ripe even though the crop is barely knee-high. I'm not sure what they use low-growing wheat for. Shortbread?