Flat Earth: Mad for therapy

THIS American desire to be kissed better when anything bad happens is getting a bit absurd. One does not question the need for a community to pull together after a ghastly event such as the schoolyard massacre in Jonesboro, but do people really need therapy after going to see Titanic?

Apparently so. St Petersburg Unitarian Universalist Church in Florida, where icebergs are something of a rarity, is planning a memorial service for the 1,500 people who died on the liner nearly 86 years ago. It insists this is not "publicity or hype". Lois Cairl, head of the committee planning the service, said: "We had heard so many people say that they felt bereft and they wanted some way to honour that feeling ... that there just needed to be some closure that way."

I see: presumably any cinema showing a sad movie in future will feel compelled to have grief counsellors standing by. Participants in the St Petersburg service, I should add, are being asked to wear period dress.