Archive for the ‘American current affairs’ Category
A male politician to watch: America’s Cory Booker
August 25th, 2013 by Roger Darlington
Could Cory Booker be a future President of the United States? Check out this profile of the Democratic Mayor of Newark. I spotted Barack Obama as Presidential material four years before he entered the White House, as I have blogged here.
Posted in American current affairs | Comments (0)
The stupidest interview ever by Fox News
August 15th, 2013 by Roger Darlington
American academic Reza Aslan is brilliantly clear and composed in refuting the absurd claims of Fox News interviewer that, because, he is a Muslim, he is suspect in writing a book about the life of Jesus. Check it out here: In an interview in today’s “Guardian”, Aslan states: “You can’t spend your life studying the […]
Posted in American current affairs | Comments (0)
The decline and decline of Detroit
July 19th, 2013 by Roger Darlington
The city of Detroit used to be one of the most dynamic in the United States, but it has suffered a steady decline over a period of 60 years and it has now filed for bankruptcy. Detroit is the US’s 18th most populous city and the largest by far to go into bankruptcy. The figures […]
Posted in American current affairs | Comments (5)
10 things most Americans don’t know about America
May 1st, 2013 by Roger Darlington
I have only just come across this lengthy but perceptive blog posting by an American who sets out a lot of truths that will be uncomfortable to many Americans. The author of the piece, Mark Manson, is clearly an atypical American. We know this because he writes that he has visited over 40 countries – […]
Posted in American current affairs | Comments (2)
How well treated are children in your country?
April 11th, 2013 by Roger Darlington
An important measure of how civilised is a country is how well that nation treats its most vulnerable citizens, its children. The UN agency UNICEF periodically publishes league tables on this issue. This week it has published its latest report. The key table – on the frst page of text – ranks 29 developed countries […]
Posted in American current affairs, British current affairs, World current affairs | Comments (0)
America’s health (dis)advantage
April 9th, 2013 by Roger Darlington
I have done a posting in the recent past about how America spends so much on healthcare and yet its citizens have such poor health outcomes compared to many other developed countries. My attention has now been drawn to a brilliant infographic which sets out these issues very clearly and identifies the major reasons why […]
Posted in American current affairs | Comments (0)
So the US has now gone over the fiscal cliff – but the world does not seem to have noticed
March 2nd, 2013 by Roger Darlington
The cuts – known as the sequester and drawn up two years ago – will take $85 billion (£56 billion) from the United States federal budget this year. This will hit the American economy and in turn the world economy, so the failure of Congress to agree a more sensible tax and cuts package will […]
Posted in American current affairs | Comments (0)
From Israel to Italy, democracy is complicated
February 26th, 2013 by Roger Darlington
Israel has one of the simplest political systems in the democratic world [my explanation here] – a single legislative chamber and a national list method for electing it – and yet the outcome of the recent general election on 22 January was so messy that five weeks later the country does still not have a […]
Posted in American current affairs, British current affairs, World current affairs | Comments (0)
When did Mississippi ratify the 13th Amendment abolishing slavery?
February 22nd, 2013 by Roger Darlington
If you’re American, you probably know the answer to this question. But, if you live anywhere else in the world, the answer may well surprise you.
Posted in American current affairs, History | Comments (0)
Why capitalism needs fundamental reform
February 3rd, 2013 by Roger Darlington
One of the most frequently occurring political themes of this blog is that we live in societies where income, wealth and power are distributed massively unevenly and unfairly and this creates poverty and unhappiness at the individual level and terrible social outcomes at the national and international level. Therefore I was pleased to see a […]
Posted in American current affairs, British current affairs, Social policy, World current affairs | Comments (0)