But although removing the bag improved the suction, many users prefer to have less suction and less mess.

FORBES: For Radical Innovation, Nature Loves A Vacuum

By the end he was, by his own admission, "more or less a mess".

BBC: Tim Hetherington, his life and death

But how do we make men without a college education less of a mess?

CNN: Straight marriage is the real issue

Large, hand-rolled cigars are customarily set aside in the ashtray and allowed to go out quietly by themselves, causing much less smoke and mess.

ECONOMIST: Forest harmony

If you're diving in these areas, be aware of the shark risk before you enter the water, and dive with at least one partner, as sharks are less likely to mess with a group.

CNN: Stranded at sea? Follow this 7-step extreme survival guide

So health care is likely to turn into a mess, and the less Republicans are implicated in the disaster the better for them.

ECONOMIST: Health care and the mid-term elections

The mess in America suddenly seems less awful.

ECONOMIST: The world economy

The mess also has made bishops and other church leaders around the world less inclined to take their cues from Rome, or to share anything sensitive with Vatican officials, for fear they'll be reading about it in tomorrow's paper.

CNN: Scandals block Vatican's message

"He had no answers on the mess his government has made on the issue of corporation tax and he had even less to say on the issue of what has become known as welfare reform, " he said.

BBC: Martin McGuinness

Less noticed is that Mr Obama's fiscal plan will also worsen the medium-term budget mess, by making tax cuts for the middle class permanent.

ECONOMIST: America's economy