My 26th short story: “The Heart Of The Matter”
September 4th, 2015 by Roger Darlington
This week’s short story is really short, so give it a go. You’ll find it here.
Posted in My life & thoughts | Comments (0)
The position of China in World War Two
September 3rd, 2015 by Roger Darlington
In China today, the Communist Party mounted a massive military parade through Beijing’s Tiananmen Square (the name means ‘The Square of Heavenly Peace’) to mark the 70th anniversary of the defeat of Japan and the end of the Second World War. Except, of course, that the Japanese were not defeated in China (they capitulated after the Americans dropped two atomic bombs on Japan itself) and the Communists played a minor role in combating the Japanese invaders (most of the resistance came from the Nationalists).
The book I am currently reading – “The Storm Of War”, an account of the Second World War by Andrew Roberts – notes:
“Western accounts of the war often minimise, to the point of sometimes ignoring it altogether, the experience of China, despite the fact that fifteen million of those who died in the conflict – a full 30 per cent – were Chinese. It was the Chinese who held down half of Japan’s fighting strength throughout the war, and around 70 per cent of the effort was undertaken by the Kuomintang (Nationalist) forces under their generalissimo, Chiang Kai-shek, based at Chunking. By contrast the Communists under Mao Zedong were, as Max Hastings has put it, at best merely ‘an irritant’ to Japan.”
Remember those figures: 15 million Chinese dead and almost a third of all the victims of the war. They don’t teach that in British or American schools, do they?
Posted in History | Comments (2)
We are all migrants
September 3rd, 2015 by Roger Darlington
Originally the only humans resided in the Rift Valley in East Africa. Now there are people in every corner of the globe. How did they get there? Migration. So, in a sense, we are all migrants.
Some may argue that this was a long time ago, but most of us only have to go back a few generations to find family connections in another country. Many of us don’t even have to go back generations.
My mother was Italian and came to Britain in 1946 when she married my father who was stationed in Italy with the Royal Air Force. My wife’s father was Czech and married her mother in 1942 when he had fled Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia to fly with the wartime RAF.
Today, in north-west London, I live in a very cosmopolitan community. In our road, our immediate neighbours include Irish, Cypriot, Spanish, Polish, Indian, Pakistani, Lebanese and Filipino. A near neighbour was a Kenyan Asian who was expelled from his country of birth. Our postman is Nepalese, our doctor is Indian, our newsagent is Sri Lankan, our dry cleaner is Pakistani, my dentist is Iranian, my hairdresser is Greek Cypriot.
So this summer’s news about migrants and refugees from north Africa and the Middle East has deeply upset me. As one of the last tourists in Syria [see my account here], I feel especially concerned about those fleeing the civil war there. When we left Syria, we visited Lebanon [see my account here]. Today about one in five people living in Lebanon is a refugee from Syria’s civil war – giving Lebanon more refugees per capita than any other country in the world.
I know that we cannot have open borders and unlimited migration, but Europe can and should do more, a lot more. And Britain – one of the richest and most humane countries in the world – should do a lot, lot more. Especially for refugees.
Posted in My life & thoughts, World current affairs | Comments (3)
What is the wettest place on earth?
September 2nd, 2015 by Roger Darlington
Over the last few weeks, Britain has had a miserable summer with one rainy day after another and often the deluges have been severe. But, of course, this is nothing compared to many parts of the world.
So where is the wettest place on earth? According to the BBC, it is the cluster of hamlets known as Mawsynram in India. We are told:
“Moisture swept from the Bay of Bengal, condenses over this 1,491m plateau, in the Khasi Hills that overlook the plains of Bangladesh. The result is an astonishing average annual rainfall of 11,871 mm (467.35”). Even the world’s biggest statue, Rio de Janeiro’s 30m tall Christ the Redeemer, would be up to his knees in that volume of water.”
More information here.
Posted in Environment | Comments (0)
The most desperate battle in history: Stalingrad 1942-1943
September 1st, 2015 by Roger Darlington
I am currently reading the 600-page book “The Storm Of War”, an account of the Second World War by Andrew Roberts. He writes: “The battle of Stalingrad is deservedly considered to be one of the most desperate in human history.”
The ferocity of the fighting and the scale of the casualties almost defy comprehension. Roberts gives a combined figure of 1.1 million for the deaths on both the German and the Soviet sides.
The Soviet Union alone lost 479,000 killed or captured and a further 651,000 sick or wounded, a total of 1.13 million. During the battle, the Russian secret service shot around 13,500 of their own soldiers for cowardice or desertion.
The Axis suffered 850,000 total casualties (killed, wounded or captured) among all branches of the German armed forces and its allies; 400,000 Germans, 200,000 Romanians, 130,000 Italians, and 120,000 Hungarians were killed, wounded or captured. Some 91,000 surrendered at the end of the battle, but less than 10,000 of them survived as prisoners of war.
You can read more about the battle here.
An excellent film about the battle of Stalingrad is “Enemy At The Gates” which I have reviewed here.
Posted in History | Comments (0)
When was the last time you saw a Mauritanian film?
August 31st, 2015 by Roger Darlington
Never – right? Me too – until this weekend. We rented “Timbuktu” from Lovefilm. If you like action movies and can’t stand slow films with subtitles, this is not for you. But, if you are a discerning film fan who likes something different, you should try this. I’ve reviewed the film here.
Posted in Cultural issues | Comments (0)
We would be stupid to ignore Tony Blair
August 30th, 2015 by Roger Darlington
Some people may not like Tony Blair; they might despise his inclusion of Britain in the invasion of Iraq; they may resent his warnings about the dangers of electing Jeremy Corbyn as the next Leader of the Labour Party.
But the guy is the most successful leader that the party has ever had, taking it to three successive massive victories. Whatever you think about him, he cares for the party he once led and would like to see it back in power, able to help the less advantaged in our deeply unequal society.
So it is worth listening to him when he writes in an article in today’s “Observer” newspaper:
“There is a politics of parallel reality going on, in which reason is an irritation, evidence a distraction, emotional impact is king and the only thing that counts is feeling good about it all.”
Blair compares the appeal of Corbyn in the UK to the current success of Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders in American primary races. This is something I did in a blog posting a month ago.
He mentions the appeal of simplistic political messages in countries like Greek and France and, in this article, I examined the crisis in the older democracies.
As Blair puts it in his article:
“… it doesn’t alter the “real” reality. It provides a refuge from it. Because Trump and Sanders aren’t going to be president; Scotland did vote No and even if it votes Yes in the future, the pain of separation for all of us will be acute; Syriza may win but only by switching realities; and Jeremy Corbyn is not going to be prime minister of the UK.”
Posted in British current affairs | Comments (3)
A review of the film “Mistress America”
August 29th, 2015 by Roger Darlington
If you’d like something a bit different that will remind you of the old screwball comedies, you should give this a try. I’ve reviewed it here.
Posted in Cultural issues | Comments (0)
Catrin goes to Kenya
August 29th, 2015 by Roger Darlington
Regular visitors to this blog will be well aware that I have a granddaughter called Catrin who is now four and a half years old.
I first saw her on the day she was born and my first posting about her was that day. Since then, I’ve been very fortunate and seen her an average of once a week each week over the intervening four and half years. I’ve babysat regularly and we’ve had her here for a number of sleepovers.
I’ve loved every minute with her. We’ve done so many things together and had such fun.
But all this changed this week. My son Richard has obtained a job in Kenya and, together with his wife Emily and daughter Catrin, flew out to Nairobi on Thursday. It’s a wonderful opportunity for them all and good timing since Catrin is just about to start school. I wish them all every success. But I will miss them so much.
Obviously we have Facebook and Twitter, which will help us keep up with their news, and we will now have to master the wonders of Skype. We hope to make our first visit to them in a couple of months when Catrin has her half term.
But I guess that, for sometime now, this blog will have a lot less to say about Catrin than has been the case for the last four and a half years. To mark the occasion, below is my favourite photo of Catrin and me together. It was taken on a recent visit to Legoland. They photograph you as you go on certain rides and, as the shot was being taken, Catrin spontaneously flung her arms around my neck.
Roger and Catrin at Legoland
Posted in My life & thoughts | Comments (6)
My 25th short story: “The Fall And Rise Of Benjamin Morris”
August 28th, 2015 by Roger Darlington
It’s Friday when I post a link to one of my collection of short stories. So, sit down, make a cup of coffee or tea, and relax for a few minutes reading here.
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