Books and arts opener – 27 August 2015
The Spectator
Thursday
Discovering Europe
From ‘A Converted Peace-Man’, The Spectator, 28 August 1915: We have brought the present war upon ourselves in a great measure by the obstinate refusal of the great mass of English politicians to recognise that Europe is a fact, and a very momentous fact, and that to ignore it as they did was a piece of
Thursday
Food 5
‘When did we stop getting the yogurt with friendly bacteria?’
Brand
‘Don’t even think about it.’
Crane
Accountant 2
‘Due to some unwise financial investments, you’re no longer a rich bastard, I’m afraid.’
Lemings
‘I’m having second thoughts about our leadership selection process.’
Minotaur
Sonnet
Clear
‘OK, road’s clear ...Go!’
Omg 4
Munch’s ohmigod!
Clown 4
‘It’s not back-firing properly.’
Paving 2
Captain 2
‘You start off wanting to be Tintin but end up as Captain Haddock...’
Letters | 20 August 2015
The morality of the A bomb Sir: In questioning whether we should celebrate VJ Day (Diary, 15 August), A.N. Wilson is confusing ‘why’ with ‘how’. The debate on the rights or wrongs of the nuclear attack will continue probably until long after the grandchildren of the last survivors have passed on. What should not be
Portrait of the week | 20 August 2015
Home Andrew Burnham described calls from Yvette Cooper, a rival candidate for the Labour leadership, for him to withdraw from the contest as ‘quite strange’. The problem was how to prevent Jeremy Corbyn, a left-winger, from being elected by the alternative vote system by 610,000 party members and registered supporters. Gordon Brown, the former disastrous
Get fracking
Over the past week, the government has finally made a decisive move to kickstart a fracking industry in Britain. Licences have been issued for shale gas exploration and the planning process streamlined so that in future, if local councils fail to make decisions within 16 weeks, the communities secretary will step in and adjudicate. It’s
Barometer | 20 August 2015
No sex, please Several friends of the late Sir Edward Heath asserted that he could not be guilty of sexually assaulting children because he was asexual. How many adults do not experience sexual attraction? — A 2004 study by Anthony F. Bogaert, of Brock University, Ontario, Canada, analysed responses to a British questionnaire ten years
Field studies
From ‘Education and the War’, The Spectator, 21 August 1915: War is a time in which a shortage of labourers can least be borne with. The land must not go untilled, the seed must not remain unsown, or the crops unharvested. Many of these services can be rendered by children whose schooling is not yet over.