Society

Saturday

Lionel Shriver Lionel Shriver

Lionel Shriver: We need to not talk about cultural appropriation

On the heels of the Today programme’s invitation to discuss ‘cultural appropriation’ (again), the New York Times reported the disheartening fate of a Canadian magazine editor, Hal Niedzviecki. ‘Anyone, anywhere, should be encouraged to imagine other peoples, other cultures, other identities,’ he wrote, gamely proposing an Appropriation Prize for the ‘best book by an author who writes about people who aren’t even remotely like her or him.’ After the usual social media shitstorm, Niedzviecki had to resign. The Times correctly quoted me asserting that this cockamamie concept threatens ‘our right to write fiction at all’. You can’t claim exclusive title to a culture as to real estate, territorial incursions into

Lucy Vickery

Spectator competition winners: The joy of bad translations (‘For tiptop consummation, finger choice dish and place on kinky table…’)

The request for a set of instructions for an everyday device that have been badly translated into English was prompted by the appearance in my Twitter feed of some oft retweeted instructions for a PVC mobile phone case. It was, the buyer was told, a device of ‘easy schleping and more function’ which ‘can be hunged up at the waist, hunged up at the cervix and free holding’ There are easy laughs to be had at the expense of poorly translated holiday menus, etc (albeit tinged with a guilty awareness of one’s own linguistic shortcomings), but the challenge here was to amuse while staying the right side of intelligible. This

Charles Moore Charles Moore

The new Equalities Act only increases the risks for mental illness sufferers

Mrs May promises to amend the Equalities Act to prevent employers from ‘unfairly’ dismissing those with mental disorders. It is a laudable aim, but imagine what would happen if businesses had to keep on a disturbed worker. Imagine what it would be like, not only for the employer, but for the other employees. In her speech on ‘the shared society’ in January, Mrs May pitched into the ‘burning injustice of mental health and inadequate treatment’. In doing so, she praised the ‘tremendous campaigning work by Black Mental Health UK’. Again, this was rash. Mental health is an over-politicised subject, and organisations like Black Mental Health UK help make it so.

Friday

Rupert Darwall

Tesco and the great green scam

Only two months ago, Tesco agreed to pay a £129 million fine for false accounting, when it overstated profits in its August 2014 trading statement. ‘What happened is a huge source of regret to us all at Tesco,’ chief executive Dave Lewis said, ‘but we are a different business now.’ Not so fast. On Monday, the supermarket giant announced that its UK stores and distribution centres would be switching to 100 per cent renewable electricity this year. Tesco backs up its claim by saying that its UK electricity consumption will be supported by renewable energy certificates. As part of the EU’s promotion of renewable electricity, all member states are required

Emma Lunn

Have you planned your digital legacy?

Going through a loved one’s photos, books, music collection and possessions after they’ve passed away can be an emotional process. But with any luck, the deceased will have left a will detailing what should happen to smaller possessions such as childhood toys and their record collection, as well as major assets like property or investments. But not many people think about what will happen to their digital assets when they die. We live our lives online these days and future generations won’t remember a time when this wasn’t the case. As well as using social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, we also buy digital music and video

Thursday

Raymond Keene

Trumpeting success

Regular readers will recall my column of 15 April in which I speculated on the future of the eccentric Fidé president Kirsan Ilyumzhinov in the face of mounting criticism from the board of the World Chess Federation. Somewhat surprisingly, Kirsan survived and has announced his intention to run yet again in the presidential election next year.   Nevertheless, mutterings are getting louder. The editorial of a lavish new periodical called the American Chess Magazine (acmchess.com) trumpeted the success of the US team in winning the Olympiad gold medals and establishing three players, Wesley So, Hikaru Nakamura and Fabiano Caruana in the world’s top ten. Proudly emphasising that the USA is

Raymond Keene

no. 457

White to play. This is from Euwe-Fischer, New York 1957. How did Euwe capitalise on the threatening position of his queen? Answers to me at The Spectator by Tuesday 23 May or via email to victoria@spectator.co.uk. There is a prize of £20 for the first correct answer out of a hat. Please include a postal address and allow six weeks for prize delivery.   Last week’s solution 1 Ng5+ Last week’s winner Ilya Iyengar, Amersham, Bucks

The Spectator

Letters | 18 May 2017

Libyan solution Sir: Boris Johnson correctly reports glimmers of hope in Libya, but to say its problems can be solved by political will risks falling into the same trap of wishful thinking that has hobbled the international community’s intervention there (‘Libya’s best hope’, 13 May). To fix Libya, its political process must be restructured to incentivise cooperation between its various factions. One thing nearly all Libyans can agree on is that the country’s oil should flow freely, since oil revenues pay for everybody’s fuel, medicine and salaries. In recent years, oil production has been repeatedly blockaded by criminal militias and politicians alike; sometimes by the same people engaged in people-trafficking.

Taki

High life | 18 May 2017

At a chic dinner party last week, a Trump insider gossiped about an American president having had an affair with a former French president’s wife. Actually, Carla Bruni has denied the rumours concerning her and the Donald, although they did have a date once upon a time. It seems that everything about Trump is controversial and some of us are having a rough time defending him. If only he’d shut his mouth and stay away from Twitter once in a while. Mind you, his enemies have become so desperate, and their charges so outrageous, that the 45th president of the good old US of A might even become popular —

Jeremy Clarke

Low life | 18 May 2017

Chez Frank is a popular local boar-hunters’ bar, tobacconist and general store at a lonely crossroads in the forest. It also serves daily lunches of no-nonsense French country food. There’s no menu; you get what you’re given. You like it or lump it. The chap who first told us about Chez Frank, now dead and missed, said on no account to tell anyone else about it, especially the local English milords, in case they flocked there and ruined the authenticity of the atmosphere. Catriona took me last Sunday to celebrate my no longer being depressed. We sat at an outside table under the low boughs of a blossoming chestnut tree.

Melissa Kite

Real life | 18 May 2017

The builder boyfriend has dug himself a hole. I don’t mean he’s in trouble with me. I mean he has literally dug himself a hole, in our new backyard. Since we moved in he has been digging there, sinking deeper into the earth on the lower ground floor level until he has almost disappeared. At first he dug happily, then diligently, then like a man possessed. Sweat dripping from his brow, swearwords from his lips, he dug and dug, piling up earth, rock, brick and crazy paving in a huge pile in my cottage garden. Any time I dared to ask what he was doing, he yelled for tea with

Susanna Gross

Bridge | 18 May 2017

Long after my own team had been knocked out of this year’s Spring Fours in Stratford-on-Avon (the most prestigious and enjoyable tournament of the year), I was still glued to the action. And even more so when the two teams who made it to the final turned out to be two I normally root for — the Allfrey team (they’re all pals) and the wonderfully witty and charismatic Irish Open team (but don’t go drinking with them unless you have a strong head).   In the end it was Allfrey who won. (Don’t they always?) On this deal, Ireland’s John Carroll (W) tried hard to put the partnership of Tony

Toby Young Toby Young

Stupid is as stupid votes

John Stuart Mill is usually credited as the person who first called the Conservatives ‘the stupid party’, but that isn’t quite accurate. Rather, he referred to the Tories as the stupidest party, and he didn’t mean that it was more stupid than every other party in the country, just the Liberals. If you substitute the Lib Dems for the Liberal party, that probably isn’t true any more, and it certainly isn’t true if you include Labour in the mix. No, I think there is now a strong case for passing the crown to Jeremy Corbyn’s party. If you look at Labour’s leaders, this is a very recent development. Harold Wilson

Mary Killen

Dear Mary | 18 May 2017

Q. My mother always told me that only boring people are bored. However she never got stuck at a drinks party discussing the pros and cons of HS2 or the impact of Crossrail on people’s commute. What is the best way of extricating oneself from a painfully dull conversation? Getting a drink is dangerous (they’ll want one too), the loo technique never fools anyone, and taking a phone call is rather vulgar. Are there any foolproof excuses I’ve missed? — C.U.S., London W2 A. How about sudden sharp intake of breath, then ‘Oh my goodness! Sorry, I must go and hide — my first boyfriend/girlfriend has just walked in. Will

Dot Wordsworth

Anniversary

‘It’s like Pin number,’ said my husband, drifting into lucidity. So it is, in a way. The construction under discussion was one-year anniversary. Just as Pin embraces personal identification number (making the addition of number pleonastic), so the concept of a year is plain in anniversary, rendering the cobbling on of year redundant. I am sorry to say there is bad news for all of us who think one-year anniversary and its family repugnant. The construction is so rampant and widespread that we are stuck with it. It’s worse than ground elder. No one can dig up all the language and remove the virulent white roots that spread the usage.

The Spectator

Portrait of the Week – 18 May 2017

Home The National Health Service was one of the first big victims of a vermiform global ransomware computer infection going by names such as WannaCrypt and WannaCry, which locked computer systems. Hackers demanded $230 a time in Bitcoin to unlock them. Thousands of NHS devices were affected and outpatient appointments had to be cancelled. The Nissan plant at Sunderland was also hit. A 22-year-old from Devon, Marcus Hutchins, who runs the Malware Tech blog from his bedroom, found an effective kill switch that slowed the infection’s spread. Organisations abroad affected included Renault and Telefónica. Baddies had apparently unleashed the worm from software once in the keeping of America’s National Security

The Spectator

Barometer | 18 May 2017

Veggie skills Forest Green Rovers, described as the world’s first vegan football club, was promoted to the Football League. Some sportsmen who have become vegan: Neil Robinson turned vegan at 23 while playing football for Everton in 1980. Dustin Watton played in the US National Volleyball team in 2015. Peter Siddle, a bowler in the Australian cricket team, turned vegan in 2013. Griff Whalen plays American football for Miami Dolphins. Only vegan food is served at the Forest Green Rovers ground, but some players were filmed scoffing meat pizzas in 2016. Who’s on board? Theresa May wants worker representatives on company boards, if not actual workers. Who were the 1,546 people on

Lavatch

Constitutional Amendment

Unclued lights are six characters from 45 and its author. Five of these undergo 45 in one way before entry; the other two must undergo 45 in another way afterwards (leaving real words). Collins confirms the thematic information.   Across 1    Radical dissent about America’s dirty quality (9) 11    Briefly desiring drug (7) 13    Endlessly long time (4) 14    Apennines loop around from peninsula (13) 15    Loathing crone keeping money (6) 17    Tradesmen are not seen in half a millennium (5) 18    Bird from north, e.g. returning (4) 20    Rating the French as clever (4) 22    Society girl, maybe Lily (6) 24    Land one’s entered before (4) 25    Nuts acting