Society

Saturday

14 Mar 2009

Dear Mary | 14 March 2009

Q. My husband is a retired scientist but still much in demand. Recently he was part of a small committee organising a world congress in Brisbane, judged to have been very successful, thanks in no small part to him. Every time we now meet one of the other committee members, a businessman, he teases my husband, mainly in regard to his age (75). I am finding this increasingly irritating, particularly since this man has little else to say to my husband apart from the teasing. He is a perfectly pleasant chap, whom we must meet socially occasionally, and I don’t want to make too strong a retort, but I am

Peter Jones

Ancient & modern | 14 March 2009

Gerry Adams’ predictably psychopathic view that the murder of two soldiers by the Real IRA was merely a tactical error points up only too clearly how little interest Sinn Fein has either in democracy or in the wishes of the people of Ulster. Gerry Adams’ predictably psychopathic view that the murder of two soldiers by the Real IRA was merely a tactical error points up only too clearly how little interest Sinn Fein has either in democracy or in the wishes of the people of Ulster. Ancients would not be surprised. For them a ‘peace process’ implied the cessation of the ‘war process’, and a ‘war process’ could be ended

James Forsyth

Petraeus planning 2010 visit to Iowa

Update: Michael Goldfarb now says he meant the Iowa item as a joke. So, this post is no longer operative. Apologies, I thought Goldfarb was being serious. “THE WEEKLY STANDARD has learned that General Petraeus is planning on delivering the commencement address at the University of Iowa in 2010.” So reports Michael Goldfarb, late of the McCain campaign, on the magazine’s blog. Petraeus going to Iowa, a state he doesn’t have previous ties to, is going to create a huge amount of buzz about his presidential ambitions because the Iowa Caucuses kick off the whole presidential nomination process. If he does, deliver the address—and Petraeus must know this—it will be

James Forsyth

The more we hear about tax havens, the less the G20 will have achieved

James Kirkup has a very astute post up at Three Line Whip about how to gauge the success of the G20 summit in April. Kirkup writes, “The more you hear Mr Brown, Mr Obama and the rest talk about tax havens, the more they have failed to agree on more important things. No one likes tax havens. They’re the low-hanging fruit of the G20 process – saying rude things about the Swiss and the rest is pretty easy and uncontroversial. But it’s also missing the point. This crisis didn’t begin in Guernsey or the Caymans, it began in New York and London. Remember that on April 2. If tax havens and

James Forsyth

Utter Balls

Sometime a politician says something that is so at odds with reality that one almost hopes that it is spin rather than what they really think. Yesterday, Ed Balls said that it was “nonsense” to claim that IGCSEs are more demanding than GCSEs. This is patent rubbish. Pretty much any teacher, or pupil, will tell you that IGCSe are far harder than GCSEs. The GCSE IGCSE split, the number of pupils from independent schools taking IGCSE exams trebled last years, threatens to further heighten the divide between the state and independent sectors. But rather than dealing with the problem that GCSEs have become debased, Balls is just claiming that nothing is

Peter Hoskin

Where is the foreign policy?

Matthew Parris hits the nail on the head this morning, with an article bemoaning the lack of Tory foreign policy. Do read the whole thing, although the final paragraph sums up the charge: “As Opposition leader, Margaret Thatcher defined herself in brutal and angry outline as a cold warrior. Today there is no need for such clarity from Mr Cameron and something to be said for wait and see. But in Europe Britain’s natural allies in the “new” EU would be glad of an outstretched hand from our likely next government. And in Asia we are snagged in the barbed wire of a bloody conflict. I’m told Mr Cameron is

James Forsyth

Failure in Afghanistan would have terrible consequences

Max Boot and Fred and Kimberly Kagan’s report on Afghanistan in The Weekly Standard is well worth reading in full. The three authors played key roles in making the case for the surge that has helped to transform Iraq and their comparisons of the two countries are instructive and suggest that the situation is less dire in Afghanistan than is often portrayed. One thing that is hampering the effort in Afghanistan is coordinating the various members of the coalition. Aside from the caveats issue, there are simple problems that could—and should—be resolved. For instance, take the situation at ISAF headquarters: ‘most Americans stay in Afghanistan for at least a year, most

Guy Wilkinson

Church of England Inter-Faith Relations

Guy Wilkinson responds to Melanie Philips’ recent article in The Spectator We have seen in recent days in Northern Ireland just how deep antagonisms go and how long their poisonous roots remain in the ground, ready to spring to life like nettles to sting. And to continue the metaphor, we have seen in Luton how some kinds of words can be the means by which such roots are strengthened and enabled to spread. Anything that matters deeply to people – religion, politics, football, patriotism – gives rise to passion and to passionate words. And passionate words can make for good or for ill, for peace or for violence. The words which

David Blackburn

WEB EXCLUSIVE: Intelligence Squared event report – ‘Afghanistan: the future’

Yesterday’s Intelligence Squared / Spectator event was a discussion, rather than the usual debate. There was no motion, and panellists presented possible outcomes. Matthew Parris was mischievous, rejecting all analyses except that “Afghanistan is not Britain’s fight”. What was this “nearly third rate power doing there”? Fighting a war “we can’t afford” against a “cultural and religious identity we don’t understand is mad”. Britain was not fighting at the Afghans’ invitation. “Imagine the card: The Afghan people request and require your presence for a limited military occupation.” He predicted that fellow speakers Lords Inge and Ashdown would espouse the Mastermind approach to foreign policy: I’ve started so I’ll finish. The

Rory Sutherland

The Wiki Man | 14 March 2009

When Professor Susan Greenfield warned last month of the damaging effects of new technologies on childhood, my first instinct was to dismiss it as another hand-wringing exercise. On one point, though, where she complains of the dangers of instant gratification, she might be right. I’m not even sure the problem is confined to children. One trait I notice in myself as a result of using computers is a growing impatience with the real world. The millions of us who spend hours each day working or playing with technology have become dangerously at home in an environment where everything happens at a pace we choose. Like the Roman centurion in Luke’s

Lucy Vickery

Competition | 14 March 2009

In Competition No. 2586 you were invited to submit a convincing apology, on behalf of the banking industry, for the financial meltdown. Overall, the standard was high. Basil Ransome-Davies went into contrition overdrive, managing to cram no fewer than 16 impressively insincere-sounding instances of the word ‘sorry’ into his entry. By ‘sorry’ number seven I was ready to forgive anything. But while Basil seemed to go on and on, William Danes-Volkov kept it brief, making the point that, as a banker’s apology is bound to be short, if not non-existent, the haiku is the most appropriate form: Money fell like leaves Yours was swept, piled and burned My bonus is

Matthew Vincent

Is McDonald’s now a safer bet than HMG?

‘What do you say to a former Treasury economist? Big Mac and fries, please!’ This updated version of the old 1980s joke (the original butts were sociology graduates, and any scouser in uniform) has yet to make it into wider circulation, but it can only be a matter of time. If faced with such a career opportunity, though, a civil servant would arguably be well advised to take it, for the sake of financial security. Because, if global bond markets are to be believed, McDonald’s is now a more reliable institution than Her Majesty’s Government — a fact that has implications for anyone with less appetite for risk than for

Scott Payton

Value under the microscope

Inspired by Darwin’s bicentenary, Scott Payton explores the collectors’ market for historic scientific instruments As the world celebrates the 200th anniversary of Charles Darwin’s birth, and as awareness of climate change continues to rise, interest in the natural sciences is soaring. This is rubbing off on the collectors’ market in scientific instruments, with globes, sundials and microscopes proving particularly popular. The appeal of globes is especially broad — because they are scientific instruments, decorative objects and comprehensive cartographical histories wrapped into a single package, says George Glazer, a former attorney who now runs a globe dealership on the Upper East Side of Manhattan (www.georgeglazer.com). ‘You could argue that a globe

Neil Collins

Why own a car when you can borrow one?

I do hope you enjoyed that new Ferrari 612 you bought a year ago. After all, it’s cost you more than £1,000 a week. That’s not what it cost to run, it’s what it cost in depreciation before you filled up, taxed and insured the beast. Still, it could have been worse — had you plumped for the Maybach 62, you would have lost £128,899 before you switched on the ignition. We moan like mad about the cost of petrol, because we can see it. In fact, thanks to the collapse in the oil price, a litre costs much the same today as it did three years ago, despite rises

Laura Whitcombe

A century for Mr Selfridge and his spirit lives on

Laura Staples recalls the American-born retailer whose great Oxford Street emporium revolutionised British shopping habits — and is holding out against recession today Laura Staples recalls the American-born retailer whose great Oxford Street emporium revolutionised British shopping habits — and is holding out against recession today One hundred years ago this week, Harry Gordon Selfridge threw open the doors of his famous Oxford Street store. After an early career with what became the Marshall Field department store company in Chicago, he was keen to build an emporium of his own. In doing so, he revolutionised British shopping and helped create the modern consumer society. Selfridge wanted more than just a

Richard Northedge

Investment: Equities

Dividends — the directors’ cut At least the savers whose interest rates have been squeezed still have their money in the bank. Shareholders, by contrast, are seeing their dividends slashed after also suffering substantial share price falls — and there is no compensation scheme to cover their lost capital. That is a risk of equity investment but there was a time when cutting the dividend was the last thing a company did; now it’s top of the agenda as soon as business gets tough. When ICI reduced its payment to shareholders during the 1980 recession, its directors were pilloried and its share price plunged; now, freezing the dividend, cutting it

Matthew Parris

Another Voice | 14 March 2009

At this rate, the throne might as well be replaced by a diamanté wheelchair Why do most parents who leave an inheritance leave it to their children? Why, when most people are well past middle age when their parents die, is this still considered the norm? Now that we live about a generation longer than people did when these rules evolved — in harsher times, many centuries ago — shouldn’t it be grandchildren who inherit? The question occurred to me while I was reflecting on the misfortune of Prince Charles, who is my age. It has always been said that the Queen regards her job as being for life, and

Paul Johnson

And Another Thing | 14 March 2009

With one of those tremendous jolts to memory, I was taken back 60 years by the death of Conchita Cintron. She was the greatest of all women bullfighters and I was incredibly lucky to see her, in 1950, for that was the last year she was in the ring. Where did this take place? Was it in La L

Olivia Cole

How to put the nation’s pupils off great art for ever

‘Bathers at Asnières’ is a dreamily double-edged impressionist painting: an idyll as tricksy as the tiny dots, instead of brushstrokes, that Seurat used to paint. Young Parisian workers are stretched out like cats in the sun, or swimming in water so cool that you can almost feel it, and yet in the background the chimneys puff away, calling them back to work. At the National Gallery the other day, I overheard an official gallery guide addressing a heap of near-comatose teenagers: ‘This is a very large painting,’ she said, ‘and it was painted about 100 years ago.’ In an escape from the shackles of the classroom, as opposed to the

Sarah Standing

Standing Room | 14 March 2009

‘Mum, have you ever been cock-blocked?’ asked my 19-year-old daughter on a recent visit home from university. ‘Mum, have you ever been cock-blocked?’ asked my 19-year-old daughter on a recent visit home from university. ‘Because it’s driving me crazy and I just don’t know how to deal with it. I thought you might have some good tips.’ I instinctively felt that this was probably one of those defining mother and daughter bonding moments that required a confident yes or no answer. ‘No, I haven’t,’ I replied. ‘Or if I have, I think I probably didn’t enjoy it that much and have forgotten all about it.’ Tilly was looking at me