Barack Obama this week pulled off a remarkable victory. The American economy is recovering at a pace most voters regard as unacceptable, and just over half believe that the country is on the wrong track. The President campaigned with an approval rating below 50 per cent and unemployment above 8 per cent. Historically, these factors
Scottish novelist Iain (M) Banks is this week’s Shelf Life provocateur. He tells us how he likes to test his potential lovers and what extreme punishments he exacts on books he doesn’t like. 1) What are you reading at the moment? The Hell of it All by Charlie Brooker and Anatomy of the Orchestra by
‘All flights over the east coast of America have been cancelled.’
‘Great news — we’re offi cially middle class!’
It’s licensed to make a killing.’
‘Just because I didn’t want to see Skyfall…’
‘There’s the house. This must be the folly.’
‘He’s got swine fever.’
‘A hearse! A hearse! My kingdom for a hearse!’
‘You know you asked me to try to talk about my feelings more? Well, we lost 3-0 today and I’m totally gutted.’
‘Thank you for getting away from it all in this wild and remote spot. CCTV is in operation…’
‘Ah, autumn, when the trees begin to fall.’
Objections to gay marriage Sir: Hugo Rifkind (27 October) thinks that religious objections to gay marriage can be ignored because Christians have no right to impose their beliefs on others. He sees nothing illiberal, though, in a small number of progressives seeking to force their new definition of marriage on the rest of us. Our
Home Hitachi bought Horizon Nuclear Power for £700 million, giving it rights to build nuclear power stations in Anglesey and Gloucestershire. John Hayes, the energy minister, said that Britain was ‘peppered’ with onshore wind turbines, and ‘enough is enough’. HM Revenue and Customs wrote to families with at least one member earning more than £50,000
Next week, weather permitting, Americans will go to the ballot to choose between an unpopular Democratic president and an uninspiring Republican challenger. The 2012 US election may have become more exciting in recent weeks — the polls indicate a tense finish — but that fundamental quandary remains. President Obama, the great liberal hope of four
