What’s going on in Spanish politics with three general elections in just four years?
May 11th, 2019 by Roger Darlington
For four decades, the political institutions of Spain have been fought over by two major parties that reflected the Centre-Right/Centre-Left divisions in so much of European politics – a system known in Spain as “bipartidismo”. But chronic corruption in the political system and the economic crisis of recent years following the global downturn, which saw a double dip recesssion and unemployment peaking at 26%, has led to the perceived failure of the two establishment parties and given rise to tumultuous electoral change that is still working its way through the system.
Spain is a country deeply divided along several political clevages: Right-wing vs Left-wing, old parties vs new parties, centralist vs federalist. Consequently, the Spanish political landscape is in a state of profound flux and the general elections of December 2015, June 2016 and April 2019 – three polls in just four years – represented a major upset to the political establishment of the nation.
After six months with a caretaker government between the first two of these elections, following the second election, there was a further period of 10 months with another caretaker government, before the People’s Party was allowed to form a minority administration which fell in June 2018. Now the most recent election has failed to return a party with an overall majority and coalition talks are in progress.
For an explanation of how the Spanish political system works and the result of the recent general election, check out my guide here.
Posted in World current affairs | Comments (0)
A review of the new rom-com “Long Shot”
May 10th, 2019 by Roger Darlington
In this politically-themed romantic comedy, Charlize Theron – a talented actress who is also gorgeous and here gets to wear to some great outfits – plays American politician and environmental campaigner Charlotte Field, a female Secretary of State who plans to run for President.
This is not such a long shot. After all, in real life, Hillary Clinton did that and, in the world of television, Elizabeth McCord is doing just that in the series “Madam Secretary” (the creator of this series was an excutive producer on the film).
What is too long a shot is the idea that such a capable and beautiful woman with the highest of political aspirations could fall for a character like Fred Farsky, an overweight, bearded and crude journalist portrayed by Seth Rogan who has represented this typle of character so many times now.
And constant four-letter utterances plus dick jokes and an unforgiveable casual treatment of drug use may make the movie more appealling to a young audience but undermine what is less of a rom-com and more of a political satire.
Posted in Cultural issues | Comments (0)
What was the population of America before it was ‘discovered’ by Europeans?
May 9th, 2019 by Roger Darlington
I am currently reading “A Little History Of The United States” by James West Davidson. At my age, I prefer to read short books so that there is a reasonable chance that I’ll finish them.
Davidson explains that, when in 1492, Christopher Columbus ‘discovered’ America, around 8 million Indians lived in North America. At the time, there were 2-3 million living in the British Isles. Today 8 million is around the population of New York.
Until the arrival of the Pilgrims in 1620, North America was left largely unexplored by Europeans and so at first the local population was relatively unaffected but, in Central and South America, European diseases such as measles, typhoid fever, influenza diphtheria and mumps, together with the wars of the Spanish conquistadors, killed somewhere between 50-90 million.
Davidson writes: “Never in history have so many died of disease in a single century”.
Posted in History | Comments (3)
Should the Labour Party support the idea of a universal basic income?
May 8th, 2019 by Roger Darlington
“A Labour-backed report has called for the launch of universal basic income trials across the UK.
Universal basic income (UBI), which takes the form of regular cash payments from the government to all adult citizens, has emerged as a popular concept in recent years because it could top up low pay and reduce inequality. A feasibility study commissioned by the shadow chancellor, John McDonnell, said a pilot scheme would work in the UK.
Although the report does not represent Labour policy, its publication is likely to be viewed as moving the party closer towards testing a form of UBI should it be voted into power.”
More information here.
Posted in British current affairs | Comments (0)
The night that the United States bombed a Chinese embassy
May 7th, 2019 by Roger Darlington
Twenty years ago today, on 7 May 1999, during the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia (Operation Allied Force), five US Joint Direct Attack Munition guided bombs hit the People’s Republic of China embassy in the Belgrade district of New Belgrade, killing three Chinese reporters and outraging the Chinese public.
According to the U.S. government, the intention had been to bomb the nearby Yugoslav Federal Directorate for Supply and Procurement. President Bill Clinton later apologised for the bombing, stating it was accidental. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) director George Tenet testified before a congressional committee that the bombing was the only one in the campaign organized and directed by his agency, and that the CIA had identified the wrong coordinates for a Yugoslav military target on the same street.] The Chinese government issued a statement on the day of the bombing stating that it was a “barbarian act”.
When I was on holiday in China the following year, every person with whom I discussed this incident was absolutely clear that the bombing was intentional. However, I have always found the American explanation convincing: the political fall-out from bombing such an incidental target would have ruled out a deliberate act and, in my experience, cock-ups are more common than conspiracies.
But, if you have a bit of time, there is an informative and thoughtful analysis on the incident on this BBC web page.
Posted in History | Comments (0)
Humans threaten one million animal and plant species with extinction
May 6th, 2019 by Roger Darlington
Three years in the making, a global assessment of nature draws on 15,000 reference materials, and has been compiled by the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES). It runs to 1,800 pages.
The brief, 40-page “summary for policymakers”, published today at a meeting in Paris, is perhaps the most powerful indictment of how humans have treated their only home. It says that while the Earth has always suffered from the actions of humans through history, over the past 50 years, these scratches have become deep scars.
You can learn more here.
Posted in Environment | Comments (0)
A review of the new movie blockbuster “Avengers: Endgame”
May 5th, 2019 by Roger Darlington
I can remember a time (1990) when “Die Hard 2” could shock audiences by featuring the death of 230 passengers and crew on an aircraft which crashes thanks to terrorists taking over the air traffic control system. But the Marvel movies have taken death tolls to a whole new level. In “Guardians Of The Galaxy”, a total of 83,871 characters meet their end, although that’s largely down to the 80,000 Nova Corps pilots who lay down their lives in defence of their planet in the closing scenes.
And then we had “Avengers: Infinity War”, the prequel to “Avengers: Endgame”, when – with a snap of his fingers – the evil Thanos uses the power of the six infinity stones to wipe out half the population of the Marvel Cinematic Universe including many of beloved superheroes.
This is serious stuff and we’ve had to wait another year to find out if this horror can be reversed (no spoilers coming or needed) and how (a post-credits scene in “Avengers: Infinity War” made it clear that the ‘quantum realm’ would be involved – but not as Einstein or any real-world physicists would understand it).
It is all immense fun with some version of all our favourite superheroes making a return, although Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) and Captain Marvel (Brie Larsen) have new haircuts and Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) and Thor (Chris Hemsworth) have new figures. If there is a central player, it is Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr) which is as it should be since he started off the whole franchise.
But it is long: a full three hours (even the prequel was ‘only’ two and a half hours).
And it is complicated: this is the 22nd movie in the MCU released over 11 years and, even if you have seen them all (I have viewed everyone except “The Incredible Hulk”), unless you have seen them several times reasonably recently you won’t catch all the allusions to earlier storylines. I guess this will encourage many fans to see the movie several times and, even without that, it is set to beat “Avatar” as the biggest money-making movie of all time.
Posted in Cultural issues | Comments (0)
How do you spend a penny?
May 3rd, 2019 by Roger Darlington
Older (British) readers of NightHawk will remember that using a public toilet used to cost one (old) penny – hence the expression “to spend a penny” when using the toilet. More recently, using a toilet on a railway station could cost you up to 50 (current) pence, but now all toilets on London stations at least are free at last.
Meanwhile we have the situation that the use of the penny (and two penny) is decreasing rapidly and indeed the use of cash itself is falling fast. This week, I bought a medium latte on a railway station for £2.99 and I paid with cash because I wanted to get rid of heavy coins. I put the penny change in a charity box.
So do we still need cash? A government consultation has found that 2.2 million people in Britain are still reliant on cash, so an earlier proposal to scrap the 1p and 2p has been abandoned. That leaves the problem of what most of us do with those pesky little copper coins. This BBC web page has eight suggestions.
Posted in British current affairs | Comments (0)
How can we make sense of Israeli politics?
May 1st, 2019 by Roger Darlington
Israeli is the only country in the Middle East which, despite criticisms of its treatment of Aran citizens, operates a democratic political system, so it is surprising that the world’s media gives so little attention to its political system and its politics.
Three weeks ago, Israel held a general election in which the two main political blocks tied with 35 seats each in a Knesset of 120. The incumbent and long-standing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is best placed to put together a coalition that will have a majority in the legislature.
Israeli democracy is a source – simultaneously and in almost equal measure – of both pride and frustration.
Israelis are rightly proud that their country is the only genuine and functioning democracy in the Middle East, a region dominated by repressive and dictatorial regimes. It is a democracy that has survived repeated wars and that, with a conscript army and formidable military apparatus, remains on a war-like footing. It is a democracy in which the rule of law is so strong that even a president (Moshe Katsav) or a prime minister (Ehud Olmert) can be indicted (for rape and bribery respectively).
On the other hand, Israeli’s strange electoral system and fractious political parties virtually guarantee that the government will be a coalition of very different political parties with a strong likelihood that at least one will be a nationalist or ultra-religious one with disproportionate influence in the government. This makes ruling and legislating – even more negotiating with the Palestinians – very difficult, so that on average Israeli governments last only half their permitted term (two years instead of four).
For an explanation of how the Israeli political system works and the result of the recent general election, check out my guide here.
Posted in Uncategorized | Comments (0)
A guide to the 20 hopefuls running to be the Democratic candidate for the American presidency
April 30th, 2019 by Roger Darlington
In Britain, Brexit may have gone quiet but, in the United States, politics never stops – thanks to constant tweets from President Trump and regular announcements of yet another Democratic politician who would like to be the person to knock Donald out of the White House in November 2020.
The list of declared candidates in now 20 – the largest in modern political history – with the latest being the one currently in the lead in the polls: former Vice-President Joe Biden. And it is an amazingly diverse field.
In terms of age, Joe Biden (76) and Bernie Sanders (77) are more than twice the age of the youngest candidates (37 year old Pete Buttigieg and Tulsi Gabbard). In terms of experience, it ranges from being a two-term Vice-President (Biden) to being a city mayor (Buttigieg) to being a spiritual adviser to Oprah Winfrey (Marianne Williamson). Six of the runners are women and six are people of colour. One is openly gay (Buttigieg again). And there are some colourful names ranging from Beto O’Rourke to John Hickenlooper to Pete Buttigieg (yet again).
Most importantly, as we will learn more and more, in policy terms the consensus has shifted leftwards (thanks largely to Sanders’ run in 2016), but there are still significant differences between the candidates with plenty of time for new policies to be unveiled.
It’s going to be a fascinating race of worldwide importance and there are bound to be many highs and lows with plenty of scope for scandals and gaffes. You can find short profiles of the 20 Democratic runners here.
Posted in American current affairs | Comments (0)