Archive for the ‘World current affairs’ Category
Celebrating Czech National Day
October 28th, 2013 by Roger Darlington
It’s probably escaped your attention but today is Czech National Day, the anniversary of the date in 1918 when the new state of Czechoslovakia was declared. My wife Vee is half Czech, so we follow these things. Vee’s father was a famous World War Two pilot, so were were invited to attend the National Day […]
Posted in History, World current affairs | Comments (0)
How fairly is global wealth distributed among the world’s citizens?
October 10th, 2013 by Roger Darlington
“Our estimates for mid-2013 indicate that once debts have been subtracted, an adult requires just USD 4,000 in assets to be in the wealthiest half of world citizens. However, a person needs at least USD 75,000 to be a member of the top 10% of global wealth holders, and USD 753,000 to belong to the […]
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Ruminations on Romania (2): people and politics
October 8th, 2013 by Roger Darlington
The population of Romania is around 20 million. There are two significant ethnic minorities: Hungarians and Roma. Less than 8,000 Jews remain in the country. The population of the capital Bucharest is almost 2 million. There are now only 2,500 Jews and a mere two functioning synagogues in the capital. Romanian is a Romance language […]
Posted in My life & thoughts, World current affairs | Comments (0)
Why women shouldn’t be allowed to drive
September 30th, 2013 by Roger Darlington
Apparently this could affect their ovaries (!), according to an Islamic cleric in Saudi Arabia – see story here. Will men ever run out of ridiculous excuses – often self-serving – for treating women equally?
Posted in World current affairs | Comments (2)
Iran: reasons to be cheerful, 1,2,3 …
September 20th, 2013 by Roger Darlington
There months ago, I did a posting, expressing cautious optimism about the election of the new Iranian President Hassan Rouhani. I know that not everyone shared by optimism. My Iranian barber quoted an old Middle Eastern saying: “Same donkey, different saddle”. But I think that there are some encouraging signs as listed here: Softened diplomacy [Rouhani] […]
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The latest debate on American exceptionalism: Obama vs Putin
September 15th, 2013 by Roger Darlington
There is an notion – ill-defined, but important in political discourse in the USA – called “American exceptionalism”. The term has recently been used in very different ways by President Barack Obama of the United States and President Vladimir Putin of Russia. In his address to the American people on the situation in Syria following […]
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Nine questions about Syria that you were too embarrassed to ask
September 2nd, 2013 by Roger Darlington
The answers have been compiled by the “Washington Post” for an American readership but I think that we can all benefit from the information. Check it out here.
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Bashar al-Assad helpfully sets out the options for the Western allies
August 29th, 2013 by Roger Darlington
See his guest posting here.
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Who is the oldest man on the planet?
August 16th, 2013 by Roger Darlington
It’s the summer – the silly season for the media when Parliament is in recess and politicians are on holiday. Right on cue, the “Mirror” newspaper today has a story about the oldest man alive – who apparently is the oldest man ever recorded. He is called Carmelo Flores Laura and he is said to […]
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What is the most dangerous country in the world to be a trade unionist?
August 15th, 2013 by Roger Darlington
The answer is Guatemala where, in the last five years, at least 58 trade union members have been killed with no one ever convicted of a murder.Current trade union membership in the country stands at a mere 1.6% of the working population. You can find more information here. I spent 24 years as a professional […]
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