Sideswipe: January 9: Is this a teacher's car?

Is this a teacher's car and is it time for students to pull up their socks?

Predictions for 2020

A blind Bulgarian mystic who predicted 9/11 and Brexit also made dramatic predictions about the year ahead. Her forecast makes for uneasy reading for Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump, as she said that the Russian president will face an assassination attempt and the US president will fall seriously ill. A meteorite is also predicted to fall on Russia. In other news from the world of soothsayers, a fortune teller who uses asparagus to predict the future says Trump will be re-elected this year but then thrown out of office. Jemima Packington, the world's only Asparamancer, interprets upcoming world events by throwing tips of asparagus in the air and "reading" how they land.

Memorable job interviews

1. "I once went to a retail interview in a hotel. When it was my turn, the interviewer beckoned me into the interview room apologising profusely because the conference suite had been double booked. We did the whole thing in a twin room and I had to sit on a bed!"

2. "I remember having to sing Kylie Minogue's I Should Be So Lucky at an interview," said Andrew. " I left my dignity and the job offer at the door! I was fresh out of university interviewing for a sales and marketing role and eager to please, otherwise I would have walked out."

3. "I turned up for my interview and was directed to a meeting room upstairs by a member of the team who said they were waiting for me in the room. I walked in full of confidence, only to realise I'd walked into the middle of someone else's interview. I retreated and waited outside while the other candidate finished and then walked past me on the way out."

No meat irks Kiwi-born journalist

Dan Wootton — a New Zealand-born tabloid journalist who is executive editor at the The Sun in London — was not happy that the Golden Globes laid on a plant-based meal for guests, so much so he tweeted his outrage: "This is the plant-based meal being given to all guests at the Golden Globe Awards this year. No option with meat at all. No choice. Welcome to Hollywood in 2020 where vegan extremists rule." Followed by three vomit emojis and a picture of the delicious looking meal. He was laughed at by other Twitter users with one replying "it's risotto Daniel." Wootton argued he believed a vegan diet was unhealthy and shouldn't be forced on him, but a Twitter user pointed out that one meal does not make a vegan diet: "It's one meal. If you've ever had peanut butter on toast …then you've managed it before."