The Spectator

Barometer | 8 February 2018

Also in Barometer: How to sell snake oil and who to fear in the hacking wars

issue 10 February 2018

How to sell snake oil

Ex-cabinet secretary Lord O’Donnell accused Brexiteers of ‘selling snake oil’. How do you sell snake oil? Some eBay listings:
— Original snake oil. £11.99 for 125ml. ‘Natural hair treatment. No chemicals. Feeds the hair and protects from precipitation. Free from alcohol. Country or region of manufacture: Saudi Arabia.’
— Snake oil strengthening hair mask with mamushi snake oil. £25.22 for 500g. ‘The effective remedy of supplementary hair care. The mask is perfect for dry and damaged hair.’ Some listed ingredients: aqua, cetearyl alcohol, paraffinum liquidum, cetrimonium chloride, mamushi oil, parfum’ (no actual snake oil).

Women’s march

Which countries beat Britain to granting women the vote?

1755 Corsican Republic
1838 Pitcairn
1856 Norfolk Island
1881 Isle of Man (unmarried women with property)
1893 New Zealand
1902 Australia (South Australia from 1895)
1906 Finland
1913 Norway
1915 Denmark
1917 Russia, Armenia, Estonia, Canada

The Brexit brain gain

There was an increase in overseas students applying to study at UK universities (contrary to claims that Brexit would dissuade applicants). Which countries supplied the most applicants in 2017?

China 11,920

Hong Kong 5,320
France 4,590
India 4,470
US 3,840
Italy 3,750
Ireland 3,740
Poland 3,700

Source: UCAS

Slipping the net

Student Lauri Love won a High Court case against extradition to the US on hacking charges. How prolific are UK hackers?
— In 2013 Deutsche Telekom produced a list of the 15 countries where most cyber attacks originate. Britain did not even make it on to the list. The top countries were:

Russia 2,400,000
Taiwan 907,000
Germany 780,000
Ukraine 566,000
Hungry 366,000
USA 355,000
Romania 351,000
Brazil 337,000
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