Watching brief Samsung warned users of its voice-activated televisions that what they said in front of the TV could be transmitted to other people. The story attracted comparison with the telescreens in George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four, but the principle of keeping a population under control by surveillance was foreseen a century earlier by Jeremy Bentham.
Britain is forfeiting its position on the world stage. With no national debate, we are surrendering our claim to be a major player in international affairs and undermining the Atlantic alliance that has kept Britain and Europe secure for 65 years. In these circumstances, it is easy to understand why Barack Obama has felt obliged
Home Philip Hammond, the foreign secretary, told Parliament that Britain reserved the right to supply arms to Ukraine, as ‘We could not allow the Ukrainian armed forces to collapse.’ The Prince of Wales, embarking on a six-day tour of the Middle East, said on Radio 2 that he ‘particularly wanted to show solidarity really, deep
[audioplayer src=”http://traffic.libsyn.com/spectator/TheViewFrom22_12_Feb_2015_v4.mp3″ title=”Peter Oborne and Dan Hodges discuss Ed Miliband” startat=1343] In this week’s Spectator podcast, we put a Labour and a Tory supporter next to each other to debate the virtues of Ed Miliband. The difference being that Peter Oborne is a passionate defender of the leader, and Dan Hodges his most vocal critic.
From ‘The New “Day” and Merchant Shipping’, The Spectator, 13 February 1915: THE Germans have such a mania for fixing a day for achieving some important purpose that we should feel guilty of a certain want of responsiveness if we grudged them anything of the pleasure they are deriving from contemplating the mystical date of February
From ‘Prohibition in Scotland during the War’, The Spectator, 13 February 1915: At present the economic waste caused by drunkenness in Scotland is enormous. We are not going to attempt to calculate how many hours in the working year are lost through the inefficiency caused by alcohol, but unquestionably in the aggregate the total is
From ‘Compulsory Inoculation’, The Spectator, 13 February 1915: IT is a little difficult to keep one’s patience with the Government’s attitude towards compulsory inoculation. It is a capital example of “Letting ‘I dare not’ wait up ‘I would,’ like the poor cat i’ the adage.” “The cat would eat fish, and would not wet her feet.”
From The Spectator, 13 February 1915:
From ‘News of the Week’, The Spectator, 13 February 1915: FROM the eastern theatre of war there have been received daring the week details of the gigantic dimensions of Field-Marshal von Hindenburg’s grand attack upon the Russian centre—i.e., upon the force on the Bzura which bars the German advance on Warsaw. On a very narrow
In the latest issue of Spectator Australia, the leading article lambasts the Australian Liberal Party for trying to remove Prime Minister Tony Abbott: The determination by many in the media, even among conservatives, to hasten the demise of Tony Abbott’s prime ministership is as pointless as it is reckless. Pointless not because they will or they won’t succeed,
‘Well, if you won’t make lifestyle changes, could you hurry up and die?’
‘The thighs follow you around the room.’
‘We’re celebrating our first million in sales with electronic cigars and electronic champagne.’
‘You don’t look old enough to be a rock star.’
‘It’s like Clarence House — a bit dull and far too expensive.’
‘With a severe weather warning in place for temperatures as high as plus one…’
