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Spectator
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Spectator
The subversive genius of Tom Lehrer
The greatest living American until this week has died at the age of 97. I refer to Tom Lehrer, the finest satirist of the 20th century. He's the one who observed that satire became obsolete when Henry Kissinger was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. He was the genius who put the entire periodic table of the elements to the tune of 'I Am the Very Model of A Modern Major-General' (Gilbert and Sullivan was his childhood obsession). He was a mathematician who could be as funny about maths and science as about poisoning pigeons in the park (yes he did) or contemporary pieties ('National Brotherhood Week'). If you haven't yet registered his subversive lyrics, check out his 1967 concert in Copenhagen where the dapper Mr Lehrer gives a summary of his lifetime mission – 'to extend adolescence beyond all previous limits'. But it wasn't just adolescent subversiveness that made him compelling – though venereal disease ('I Got It from Agnes'), masochism ('The Masochism Tango') and necrophilia ('I'll Hold Your Hand in Mine') were grist to his mill. It was his appalling capacity to get right to the nub of unspeakable subjects in jaunty tunes and hilarious lyrics. They included the atom bomb, pollution and US foreign policy, about which he was all the more devastating in that he made people laugh. Need I say that he was Jewish, secular Jewish, the apotheosis of a whole popular tradition of black humour? As he announced in that concert: although the Danes all speak English, they may not all speak American, so if anything in his lyrics escaped his audience he recommended they call the US embassy 'where I'm sure they'll have some useful suggestions for you'. He was a dangerous man because he was so funny, so light, so rebarbative, and he hit all his targets with the unerring accuracy of little drones, though there are no little drones that make you laugh even thinking about them. If you want to recapture the angst of the western world at the prospect of nuclear annihilation, look up 'We Will All Go Together When We Go'. It was preceded, like all his songs, by a little chat with the audience in which he recalled the observation: ''Life is like a sewer: what you get out of it depends on what you put into it.' It always seems to me that this is precisely the sort of dynamic, positive thinking that we so desperately need in these trying times of crisis and universal brouhaha, and so with this in mind I have here a modern positive dynamic uplifting song. In the tradition of the great old revival hymns, this one might more accurately be termed a survival hymn.' And then he launched into it: …And we will all go together when we go. What a comforting fact that is to know. Universal bereavement, An inspiring achievement, Yes, we all will go together when we go. …We will all go together when we go. All suffuse with an incandescent glow. No one will have the endurance To collect on his insurance, Lloyd's of London will be loaded when they go. …And we will all go together when we go. Ev'ry hottenhot and ev'ry eskimo. When the air becomes uranious, And we will all go simultaneous. Yes we all will go together When we all go together, Yes we all will go together when we go. You won't thank me for putting that your way, because once you've heard it, you can't get it out of your head. What's striking about that particular lyric is that although the nuclear threat is as acute as in Lehrer's day (he did a song about proliferation too: 'We'll try to stay serene and calm, when Alabama gets the bomb') the thing critics would pounce on is that reference to Hottentots, which just goes to show why we're now incapable of satire. Indeed, in an interview with the New York Times in 2000, Lehrer observed: 'When I was in college, there were certain words you couldn't say in front of a girl. Now you can say them, but you can't say 'girl'.' He didn't spare any institution, and invariably the targets rose to the bait. That was the case with 'The Vatican Rag', his critique of the liturgical changes of the Second Vatican Council, though few traditionalists could have captured the crassness of the changes with the brevity of Lehrer: 'Two, four, six, eight… time to transubstantiate!' There were demonstrations led by Catholic clergy against that one. It's still useful to have at the back of your mind when there's some new attempt to make liturgy relevant to the times. His output was considerable – 50 recorded songs, but over an astonishingly brief period in the 1950s and 1960s, roughly 1953-1965, though at the time of his interview in 2000 he was still on top of current affairs – his lyrics on partial-birth abortion, for his own amusement, were called 'Bye-bye, Baby'. One reason he turned away from satire was the increasing earnestness of the young – all those protestors against Vietnam who were incapable of jokes and talked to themselves – but also because the world changed. He recalled: 'The liberal consensus, which was the audience for this in my day, has splintered and fragmented in such a way that it's hard to find an issue that would be comparable to, say, lynching. Everybody knows that lynching is bad. Everybody knows that pollution is bad. But that's already been done. But affirmative action vs quotas, feminism vs pornography, Israel vs the Arabs? I don't know which side I'm on any more. And you can't write a funny song that uses 'on the other hand'.' And that's the awful truth: the shattering of the liberal consensus and the grim humourless activism which is now combined with the political correctness that would cancel his lyrics means that we shan't have another Tom Lehrer because we don't deserve one. He was radical to the end: in 2020 he abandoned any claim to copyright for any of his work. As he said on his website: 'In short, I no longer retain any rights to any of my songs. So help yourselves, and don't send me any money.' How many radicals say that, ever? He does leave a legacy. As he said once, as a younger man: 'If, after hearing my songs, just one human being is inspired to say something nasty to a friend, or perhaps to strike a loved one, it will all have been worth the while.'
Irish Examiner
17-07-2025
- Irish Examiner
Smooth sailing at the Coveney's Crosshaven holiday home for €1.65m
Anyone with even a basic grasp of maritime history will know that signal stations were not just plonked on random clifftops. Locations were selected following careful consideration by naval engineers and insurers who underwrote shipping risks. Such sites had to have a clear view of sea lanes and the stations themselves had to be robust enough to withstand the worst of Atlantic storms. In essence, they were hardy outposts with some of the best views imaginable. If you were to pick a location to build a coastal home and you knew your maritime onions, you'd jump at the chance to acquire a former signal station site. Patrick and Emma Coveney — no strangers to seafaring — knew they were onto a winner when they picked up just such a site at Weaver's Point, minutes from pretty Crosshaven village. A quick Google of the history of the Weaver's Point outpost says a Walter James Cummins of Queenstown (Cobh) had a private signal station there, which became a key station reporting movements for Cork Harbour to Lloyd's of London, after the insurer appointed Mr Cummins as their official agent in 1885. The station became known locally as Cummins Signal House. Cummins Signal House, Weaver's Point, Crosshaven (now the site of Silver Apple House). At a later date, it evolved into a guest house known as The Tower, run by a Commander Edward Sweeney and his wife Alma, who bought it in 1962. It's reported to have been sold in 2008, only to burn down later the same year. The Coveneys' holiday home replaced the original building in 2014. The Irish Examiner can confirm that it does indeed have the best views imaginable, of harbour mouth and open sea. All of the sea-facing windows look straight across the bay to the lighthouse at the tip of Roches Point and to the scatter of secluded coves along the headland's indented shoreline. White Bay's sandy beach is part of the panorama, as is Carlisle Fort, once part of the British Empire's coastal defence system, directly across from Camden Fort Meagher, which between them created a crossfire zone across the harbour entrance. The Coveneys, with their passion for seafaring (and politics), were always going to be drawn to a home above the coastline, where maritime history is baked into the clay. As this branch of the family had settled in Dublin, they wanted a property close to their Cork roots: somewhere to spend holidays, reconnect with Cork cousins and indulge their shared love of sailing. Having acquired a premium site at Weaver's Point, two firms of architects were hired to create the ultimate beach house. The Douglas-based Hyde Partnership came up with the design while Patrick O'Hanlon of Hogan Associates oversaw the build, by local builder Dave O'Callaghan. As you would expect, light and views were paramount. All of the daytime accommodation is sea-facing. So is the main bedroom. Whether you're prepping food at the kitchen counter or chilling in the sunken lounge or having dinner in the dining section of the cavernous, open-plan living space, the entire harbour unfolds before you: every fluttering sail, every little boat chugging by, every seagull wheeling overhead. It's a dynamic maritime panorama served up with daily variations, just beyond the tall, expansive windows of the home called Silver Apple — a name with both Yeatsian and yachting connotations. If we go with the nod to Yeats, there's a reference to silver apples in the final verse of The Song of Wandering Aengus, a poem about longing. The poet talks about a 'fire' in his head, and, for sure, sitting among the purple haze of lavender that runs through the raised flower beds at Silver Apple, with a view more uplifting than anything a pill could offer, there's little fear of a fire in the head. If we go with the yachting reference, Silver Apple was designed by Ron Holland, who also designed Golden Apple of the Sun, a classic 44-foot International Offshore Rule (IOR) racing yacht, owned and campaigned by Patrick's late father, politician Hugh Coveney, under the Crosshaven-based Royal Cork Yacht Club banner, during the late 1970s. The decor at 313 sq m Silver Apple is very in tune with the family's maritime links. Porthole-shaped lampshades hang above the dining table; framed maritime charts decorate some of the walls and soft coastal hues are everywhere in evidence. The look is very much what you might envisage for a home in The Hamptons, a popular summer retreat for wealthy New Yorkers at the eastern tip of Long Island. Even if the house was as bare as the back of your hand, it wouldn't matter a damn because of the beauty of the view and the magnificently landscaped gardens (0.54a), created and maintained by Ballygarvan-based The Pavilion Garden Centre. Giant sliding doors on the southside of the house, off the kitchen/sunken lounge, open onto a sandstone patio with built-in seating and a curved stone screen that shields it from the road above. The garden drops down and curves around the east-facing front of the house, where there's a terrace above the flower-beds and a sheltered deck — at the top of ornamental steps — between two protruding wings. A little gate in the side hedging brings you to a narrow roadway that leads down to the shoreline. Inside, the house is dotted with striking architectural features, starting with the glass atrium in the entrance hall. As soon as you cross the threshold, you can see Roches Point lighthouse. The wall in front of you is fully glazed and the glass rises into a vault. Natural light floods in. The view is magnificent. The roof rises again in the main living space, above the drop-down lounge and the House of Coolmore kitchen, where giant exposed beams add visual drama. To the rear is a corridor of bedrooms. The main bedroom, in the opposite wing, has a walk-in wardrobe, large en suite and a separate reading room with superb ocean views and access to a private patio. Also on this side of the home is a teen den with sliding access to a 'winter garden' (sheltered deck), as well as a utility, services room and a double-height garage. Savills selling agent Michael O'Donovan says Silver Apple has been 'a fantastic holiday home, that has shown itself well able to stand up to the elements'. It comes to market as the Coveneys find they're using it less, now that the kids are grown. Mr O'Donovan says the Weaver's Point home, on a cul-de-sac road, 'is superb throughout'. 'I would definitely expect interest from buyers in the US, with Irish connections,' he says 'as well as from Dublin, London and Cork. 'I could also see it being bought by someone looking for a fabulous fulltime family home in an amazing location.' The guide price is €1.65m. The house performs well on the energy efficiency scale and has a B2 BER, helped by solar panels, a heat recovery system and zoned central heating. VERDICT: All the right signals at Silver Apple for buyers looking for a sublimely set, deluxe coastal home. Smooth sailing all the way. Even if the house was as bare as the back of your hand, it wouldn't matter a damn because of the beauty of view and the beautifully landscaped gardens
Yahoo
10-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Red Sea insurance soars after deadly Houthi ship attacks
By Jonathan Saul LONDON (Reuters) -The insurance cost of shipping goods through the Red Sea has more than doubled in recent days after Yemen's Houthis attacked and sank two ships, killing at least four seafarers after months of calm, industry sources said on Thursday. The Red Sea is a critical waterway for oil and commodities but traffic has dropped sharply since Houthi attacks off Yemen's coast began in November 2023 in what the Iran-aligned group said was in solidarity with Palestinians in the Gaza war. War risk premiums have risen to around 0.7% of the value of a ship, from around 0.3% last week before the latest attacks took place, sources familiar with the matter said, with some underwriters pausing cover for some voyages. Rates for a typical seven-day voyage period, which are set by individual underwriters, have been quoted this week at up to 1%, matching the peak level in 2024 when there were daily attacks. This adds hundreds of thousands of dollars in further costs for every shipment. "The recent attacks in the Red Sea have highlighted the need for caution when considering a transit," said Neil Roberts, head of marine and aviation with the Lloyd's Market Association, which represents the interests of all underwriting businesses in Lloyd's of London. A Houthi attack on the Greek ship Eternity C on Wednesday killed four of the 25 people aboard, maritime officials said. On Thursday, rescuers pulled four more survivors from the Red Sea. Houthi militants said they were holding some of the crew still missing. The attack followed the sinking of another Greek-operated vessel on Monday, which the Houthis claimed responsibility for. Some of their sister vessels had made calls to Israeli ports in the past year, an analysis of shipping data showed. The Houthis attacked more than 100 ships from November 2023 to December 2024. In May, the U.S. announced a deal to stop bombing the Houthis in return for an end to shipping attacks, though the Houthis said the deal did not include sparing Israel. Insurance industry sources said underwriters would try to avoid covering any vessel with links with Israel, even if it was indirect. "What we have seen in the last week appears to be ... a return to mid-2024 targeting criteria, which essentially involves any vessel with even a remote Israeli connection," said Munro Anderson, head of operations at marine war risk insurance specialist Vessel Protect. "With ambiguity comes risk."
India Today
10-06-2025
- Entertainment
- India Today
Want to get your face insured? You might not even stand a chance
Just a couple of days back, rumours were rife that Karan Johar had made multiple visits to South Korea to get his face insured (yes, that's a thing).Now, while the rumours went crazy viral, thanks to a Reddit thread, there has been no statement or confirmation from his side yet that could substantiate these claims. He, in fact, shared a cryptic post amidst all the hullabaloo around his so-called face insurance. The Reddit thread that went viral. While there is doubt looming over the authenticity of this update, there is also a lot of curiosity surrounding the concept of face Today spoke to cosmetologists to understand things better, and this is what we fuss about face insuranceYou can get an insurance policy for almost anything valuable – your house, car, jewellery. But it turns out there are more things (or body parts) that can be insured than what just meets the insurance refers to a type of insurance policy that protects a person's facial appearance, typically taken out by celebrities, models, actors, or public figures whose face is directly tied to their is not your conventional insurance product, available to everyone off the shelf. Rather, it's a customised policy often created under body part insurance or celebrity insurance offered by specialised underwriters (Lloyd's of London).Dr Debraj Shome, co-founder and director, The Esthetic Clinics, says, "This type of insurance provides monetary compensation in the event of facial trauma, disfigurement, burns, or complications from reconstructive procedures that may result in loss of income or career disruption. While relatively rare, face insurance has gained attention in Western countries through high-profile examples such as actors and athletes insuring body parts critical to their professions."Why would someone insure their face?Well, the idea is simple: if your face is your brand (in case you are a movie star, model, or beauty influencer), any damage done to your it, like permanent scars, disfigurement, etc, it could lead to a loss of income or career opportunities. This insurance will make sure to cover any loss that you incur, just in case something untoward Akanksha Singh, Senior Cosmetologist, SENS Clinic, also adds that since facial appearance is an important differentiator and a critical determinant of commercial value for actors, models and influencers, it makes for an important asset that is worth evaluations are essential to policy underwriting. Experts in facial surgery, dermatology, and biometric analysis conduct baseline documentation that supports future is the assessment doneDr Singh says that the procedure for face insurance is highly customised, taking into account the face's commercial value based on an assessment of linked endorsements and other commercial about the evaluation, Dr Shome, explains, "Pre-insurance evaluations involve high-definition photography, dermatological assessments, and digital facial symmetry mapping. These evaluations are often supported by clinicians with experience in both aesthetic medicine and reconstructive surgery. Institutions with a multidisciplinary approach."The process begins with a consultation between the applicant and an insurer, where the insured value and risk exposure are is followed by a comprehensive facial assessment conducted by qualified medical assessments typically include three-dimensional facial imaging, skin health analysis, and structural symmetry reports. Medical practitioners with expertise in facial aesthetics and reconstructive surgery are best positioned to conduct these clinical documentation is submitted, the insurer conducts risk analysis based on the applicant's profession, exposure to facial risk, and previous medical or cosmetic terms are then tailored to the individual, with coverage potentially including trauma, burns, medically indicated surgery, and career-impacting reassessments are often required to ensure policy accuracy. These reassessments are supported by consistent documentation from medical centres that maintain standardised photographic and diagnostic protocol ensures transparency, minimises claims disputes, and anchors the insurance policy in medical then, there is body part insurance tooJust like you can insure your face, you can also insure any part of your body. However, you need to prove it's a real asset and not an appendage. It also involves proving that you have used a considerable amount of time and money perfecting the skills and functions of the body part in instance, surgeons can get their hands insured since they have been through extensive training throughout their lives and if something were to happen to them that could finish their ability to perform more surgeries, the insurance will take care of the with a sommelier, whose taste buds or their sense of smell is their source of and their insured body partsFor an average person, face or body insurance can be really difficult to obtain because it comes with a hefty price tag. Only high-net-worth individuals with higher disposable income can opt for Klum apparently insured her legs for about $2 million, but one was worth more than the other because of a Kardashian, Miley Cyrus, and Julia Roberts have all been rumoured to have insured various body parts, including their faces or smiles, as part of personal branding does India standadvertisementFace insurance is still uncommon, but it is slowly gaining recognition in countries where personal branding and appearance are directly linked to economic opportunity. While the number of policies issued globally remains limited, demand is increasing among professionals who are into visual media or performance insurers in markets such as the United Kingdom and the United States have developed bespoke policies for actors, musicians, and media personalities, says Dr Shome. "In emerging markets, awareness is growing, but uptake remains low due to a lack of tailored insurance products and standardised assessment protocols. However, aesthetic and reconstructive clinics in India and Southeast Asia are beginning to receive increasing queries related to face insurance," Dr Shome concludes.
Scoop
29-05-2025
- Business
- Scoop
Infrastructure NZ Backs NPS To Strengthen Infrastructure Decision-Making
Councils have finally been given the message that they need to prioritise infrastructure in all their planning and decision-making, says Infrastructure New Zealand Chief Executive Nick Leggett. Infrastructure New Zealand is welcoming the release of consultation on the first National Policy Statement (NPS) for Infrastructure and the strengthening of guidance for local government as to how they can better integrate infrastructure into consenting and planning processes. 'A NPS for Infrastructure will support more coordinated decision-making across our different levels of government and help ensure that infrastructure development is more effectively considered in council planning,' Leggett says. 'It will provide essential direction for integrating infrastructure considerations into land use planning and environmental management, which is critical to making sure that development at a local level aligns with our objectives as a country.' 'This provides a level of nationwide consistency for those looking to invest and help develop our future nation-building infrastructure. It will then be up to central and local government to work together to implement these new national rules which support priorities that include delivering our growing infrastructure pipeline and the much-anticipated regional deals.' Infrastructure New Zealand particularly welcomes the changes, which will make consenting for new or expanding existing quarries easier and faster. 'Quarried aggregates are essential components in our roads and many other infrastructure constructions,' says Leggett. 'The current delays and limited local access to these materials are adding significant costs to our communities.' The new NPS for Natural Hazards is also a much-needed addition to New Zealand's consenting and planning system. 'Extreme weather events and other climate-related natural hazards are increasing in intensity and frequency, and along with Aotearoa's significant seismic risks, pose a major threat to the infrastructure we rely on,' Leggett says. 'New Zealand is ranked by Lloyd's of London as second only to Bangladesh in terms of natural disaster-related economic losses, and yet our response in terms of consenting and development planning has been left almost entirely to councils and is therefore piecemeal and inconsistent.' 'How different local government entities identify and manage risks associated with climate change, weather events and seismic activity can make a major difference to infrastructure planning and delivery. This NPS is therefore an important step towards standardising how those risks are identified and assessed, and providing a more predictable framework for future infrastructure development.'
