Anne Jolis

Saturday

Anne Jolis

Happy ‘anti-slavery day’ to Clapham Christians, et al

From our UK edition

October 18 is 'anti human-trafficking' day by 2007 Act of European Parliament; along with 'anti-slavery day' by 2010 Act of UK Parliament. So there's that, for the 29.8 million people worldwide estimated to live in forced servitude. Over at SlaveryFootprint.org, your correspondent learns that I personally make use of 37 slaves in my London routine, mostly through my consumer electronics and my larger-than-average appetite. The survey, laden with factoids about the coerced labour behind shrimp cocktail and mascara, is macro-analysis at its mushiest - and a far more worthwhile use of 15 minutes online than all the 'carbon-footprint' calculators put together.

Friday

Anne Jolis

The European market hangover – bad news is bad news again

From our UK edition

In the latest Spectator, Liam Halligan takes a sobering look at European markets bearing the brunt of sanctions against Russia. 'The western economy that’s suffered most, by far, is the largest one in the eurozone. Germany’s manufacturing thoroughbreds have sunk tens of billions of euros into Russian production facilities in recent years. . . . 'This helps explain why, having grown 0.8 per cent during the first three months of 2014, German GDP shrank 0.2 per cent in the second quarter. The eurozone’s powerhouse is now on the brink of recession. Industrial production dropped 4 per cent in August, the biggest monthly fall since early 2009. Exports were down 5.8 per cent — again, the steepest drop since the Lehman collapse in 2008.

Wednesday

Anne Jolis

A brief history of biker gangs at war – Islamofascist Iraq edition

From our UK edition

America and Britain are still fumbling for policies to deal with nationals joining the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. In Holland, meanwhile, authorities faced a more cheering task: sorting out Dutch motorbikers who've joined the Kurdish Peshmerga against Isis. To accomodate freelance counter-jihadists, the ever-progressive Dutch have amended their rules against joining foreign armies, Agence France-Presse reports. The three Dutch Peshmerga we know of so far belong to a biker club called 'No Surrender',  whose chief concerns were heretofore limited to motorcycling and brawling with Hell's Angels. Speaking of Hell's Angels, Dutch hog-heads aren't the first to take interest in a foreign freedom-fight.

Anne Jolis

Stop ‘Stoptober’: seven health benefits associated with smoking

From our UK edition

James Delingpole's latest Spectator column laments the pernicious portmanteau afflicting this fine month: Stoptober. Geddit? That’s ‘-ober’, as in the second half of ‘October’, with the word ‘Stop’ cunningly positioned where the ‘Oct’ would normally be. And what marketing genius was responsible for this rebranding? Why, someone from an Orwellian body which you’d probably much prefer didn’t exist, let alone to have to fund with your taxes. Public Health England. James closes with his own call to action: 'Let's start by reclaiming October.

Tuesday

Anne Jolis

Bored bores boring – critics love the Dull Men’s calendar

From our UK edition

The Telegraph has a nice photo gallery featuring the specimens of the 2015 Dull Men of Great Britain calendar, which our own Dot Wordsworth plans to give her husband for Christmas: 'I had thought that dull, in reference to people, was a metaphor from dull in the sense of ‘unshiny’. ‘Dieu de batailles!’ as the Constable of France in Henry V exclaims of the English, ‘where have they this mettle?/ Is not their climate foggy, raw and dull?’ But I was quite wrong, as so often. It started off (in the form dol) meaning ‘foolish’. In English almost as old as you could care to have it, the author of The Seafarer declares: Dol bith se the him his dryhten ne ondrædeth; cymeth him se death unthinged.

Friday

Anne Jolis

The house wins as Phil Ivey loses High Court battle against Crockfords casino

From our UK edition

It turns out the house really does always win. The BBC reports: 'Professional poker player Phil Ivey has lost a High Court battle against the owners of a London casino over his £7.7m winnings. Crockfords casino in Mayfair accused Phil Ivey of cheating by using the "edge-sorting technique" in card game punto banco. Edge-sorting involves studying cards for imperfections. Mr Ivey took legal action against the casino for the £7.7m, and argued that the technique was legitimate.' Tom Leonard offers full background on the case in this week's Spectator.

Wednesday

Anne Jolis

One dog down, in Spain’s Ebola panic

From our UK edition

[UPDATE: The dog is now dead, WSJ reports.] For anyone concerned about Spain's ability to contain Ebola, after a Spanish nurse's aide tested positive for the virus, fear not: Madrid's regional government plans to euthanize the infected woman's pet dog in the interest of combatting contagion. The dog, a 12-year-old mutt named Excalibur, shows no sign of infection, and it's unclear whether the disease even can be transmitted from dogs to humans. A 2005 report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention notes that 'dogs might be asymptomatically infected by Ebola virus,' and that during Gabon's 2001-02 outbreak, 'several dogs were highly exposed to Ebola virus by eating infected dead animals.

Tuesday

Anne Jolis

‘Unfunded tax cuts’: a verbal disease from America

From our UK edition

The notion of 'unfunded tax cuts' seems set to be a central theme in next year’s election. David Cameron's promise last week to raise the income threshold for the 40 per cent tax rate has led the Liberal Democrats to accuse him of planning ‘unfunded tax cuts’ for the rich - which they, being the guardians of fairness, would put an end to. Except there is no tax cut. Cameron is moving the top rate of tax at roughly the same pace as earnings. Were he moving it any more slowly, he would effectively be raising taxes by hauling more people into the 40 per cent bracket. The absence of a tax rise is not a tax cut, as Fraser argued the other day. We can blame America for the phrase 'unfunded tax cuts'.