Archive for the ‘American current affairs’ Category
What is the religious composition of the US Supreme Court?
October 8th, 2018 by Roger Darlington
For weeks now, the world has watched while the United States Senate has held confirmation hearings for President Trump’s nomination to the Supreme Court, Brett Kavanaugh. Sadly that nomination has now been confirmed and the court has a clear conservative majority that will impact its decisions for decade and guarantee Trump a long legacy. Meanwhile […]
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Could one woman still block Trump’s nomination to the Supreme Court?
October 5th, 2018 by Roger Darlington
“In the end, whether or not the supreme court nominee Brett Kavanaugh is confirmed could come down to the vote of one senator: Susan Collins, a moderate Republican from Maine. Historically, she is popular with women. She attracts voters who are registered Democrats. She opposed Trump’s candidacy for president, saying that he could make the […]
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Could this be what finally brings down Donald J Trump?
October 3rd, 2018 by Roger Darlington
US president Donald Trump has long sold himself as a self-made billionaire, but a mammoth “New York Times” investigation has found that he received at least $413 million in today’s dollars from his father’s real estate empire, much of it through tax dodges in the 1990s. “The [New York state] tax department is reviewing the […]
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Could Texas turn blue? The battle between Cruz and O’Rourke.
September 23rd, 2018 by Roger Darlington
In the strange world of American politics, a blue state is one where the Democratic candidate is the winner. Texas has traditionally been a safe red state – that is, Republican. But that might change in the forthcoming US mid-term Congressional elections. It underlines America’s strange and turbulent political moment that the highest-profile and most […]
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A guide to the mid-term elections in the US Congress
September 11th, 2018 by Roger Darlington
I’ve never been so interested in – and concerned about – the mid-term elections in the United States which will be held on Tuesday 6 November 2018. All the seats in the House of Representatives (435) and a third of the seats in the Senate (35) are up for election. The Democrats should win the House […]
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Is the current political crisis in the United States as bad as Watergate?
August 13th, 2018 by Roger Darlington
According to Carl Bernstein – one of the two “Washington Post” reporters who broke the Watergate story 44 years ago – it’s worse: “Obviously there are similarities, not least of which is part of the story is about undermining the electoral process. You’re also dealing with cover-ups in both instances and special prosecutors.” “This is […]
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After the (welcome) departure of Scott Pruett, just how many resignations and dismissals have there been from the Trump administration?
July 6th, 2018 by Roger Darlington
The Trump administration has from the beginning looked like a modern-day version of “Game Of Throne” with bodies everywhere. The latest fall from power is Scott Pruett from the environment brief, but there have now been so many departures that it’s impossible to recall them all in a record-breaking series of resignations and dismissals. Fortunately, […]
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Why does the health service in the United States cost so much and deliver so little?
July 5th, 2018 by Roger Darlington
I was born in Britain on 25 June 1948 so, except for 10 days of my life, I have benefited from a National Health Service – which is 70 years old today – that is publicly-funded and free at the point of use. But the health model in the USA is very different, as I […]
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How many states should there be in California?
June 14th, 2018 by Roger Darlington
I first heard about it on the American programme “The Daily Show with Trevor Noah”; now it’s been picked up by the British media including this item on the BBC website. It’s a proposal to divided the current US state of California into three and the proposition will appear on the ballot paper in November. […]
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What are the chances of the Democrats winning the House and the Senate?
May 4th, 2018 by Roger Darlington
In the United States, this November sees what are called the mid-term elections when we are half way through the current presidential term of of office and all 435 seats in the House of Representatives and 33 of the seats in the Senate are up for election. The Democrats will do well, but can they […]
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