A review of the film “Half Of A Yellow Sun”
September 21st, 2014 by Roger Darlington
When was the last time you saw a British movie with an African theme, African location shooting, source material from a black novelist, a black writer and director, and an almost exclusively black cast?
Check out “Half Of A Yellow Sun” which I have reviewed here.
Posted in Cultural issues | Comments (0)
After the Scottish referendum: 10 of the most pressing questions facing the union that is still the United Kingdom
September 21st, 2014 by Roger Darlington
The “Observer” newspaper today has the best part of no fewer than 22 pages devoted to this week’s referendum on Scottish independence and the implications of the ‘no’ vote for the nations, regions and cities of the UK.
What this underlines is that one question has been answered (for the time being), but a host of other questions now have to be addressed – and soon.
The newspaper helpfully identifies and speculates about 10 of these questions in this piece.
Posted in British current affairs | Comments (0)
Thank you, Scotland
September 19th, 2014 by Roger Darlington
We’re glad that you decided to stay with us and keep the UK united.
Now we have to deliver on the promise to devolve significant extra powers to the Scottish Parliament, but we also have to rethink the whole distribution of power in our four nations – including England – and how the Westminster parliament will work in the future.
You had a great debate and a fantastic turnout – and fortunately a clear decision. Now let’s spread that invigoration of democratic debate to the whole of the UK and be radical and fair in our political reforms.
Posted in British current affairs | Comments (2)
Good food news (1): the bioreactive bump
September 18th, 2014 by Roger Darlington
A recent United Nations food report estimates that 100 million tonnes of food is wasted every year globally, with British households throwing away 7 million tonnes. In value terms, the average UK family throws away food worth £700 each year. Studies suggest more than half the jettisoned food could have been eaten.
But a solution may be at hand – invented in Britain by 23-year-old design graduate called Solveiga Pakstaite. It’s called the bioreactive bump. You can read about it here.
Posted in Consumer matters | Comments (0)
Good food news (2): the wonder of baobab
September 18th, 2014 by Roger Darlington
It has been proclaimed a superfood to rival quinoa, blueberries and kale. Its yellow-green, suede-soft pods contain a dry pulp that has more vitamin C than oranges, more calcium than milk, more potassium than a banana, more magnesium than spinach, and more iron than red meat.
What is it? Its called baobab. And where is it grown? Well, Malawi for a start. You can learn more here.
Posted in Consumer matters | Comments (0)
Today’s the day that the Scots decide whether the 300 year old United Kingdom will continue
September 18th, 2014 by Roger Darlington
Some key facts about today’s referendum:
- The single question is simply: “Should Scotland be an independent country?”
- 4,285,323 people – 97% of the electorate – are registered to vote.
- 789,024 postal vote applications have been submitted.
- Voting takes place from 7 am until 10 pm today (Thursday).
- Votes will be cast at 2,608 polling locations at 5,579 polling stations.
- Ballot papers will be counted in each of Scotland’s 32 local authority areas.
- The result is most likely to be between 6:30 am and 7:30 am tomorrow (Friday) morning.
You can read my thoughts on the vote here.
Posted in British current affairs | Comments (0)
How a Soviet duty officer may have saved the world from nuclear war
September 17th, 2014 by Roger Darlington
You’ve probably never heard of the man or the incident. Either I never knew about it or I had forgottob until I started reading a book this week: “War: What Is It Good For”? The author of the book is Ian Morris and I attended a talk he gave at the House of Commons upon the release of the book [see my blog posting here].
The book opens with an account of an incident on 26 September 1983 when the nuclear early warning system of the Soviet Union twice reported the launch of American Minuteman intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) from bases in the United States. These missile attack warnings were correctly identified as a false alarm by Stanislav Yevgrafovich Petrov, an officer of the Soviet Air Defence Forces.
This decision is seen as having prevented an erroneous data for decision about retaliatory nuclear attack on the United States and its NATO allies, which would have probably resulted in nuclear war and the potential deaths of millions and millions of people. Investigation of the satellite warning system later confirmed that the system had malfunctioned.
You can read more about the incident here.
Posted in History | Comments (0)
At last – some good news about the planet
September 16th, 2014 by Roger Darlington
The British media is currently dominated by the Scottish referendum on independence and the ISIS threat in Syria and Iraq. In truth though, the biggest problem facing both Britain and the world remains climate change. But consider this:
“The global economy is undergoing a remarkable transformation which is altering our ability to deal with climate change. The growth of emerging economies, rapid urbanisation and new technological advances are making possible a new path of low-carbon growth in ways that were not apparent even five years ago.
We know that if left unchecked, greenhouse gas emissions will cause devastating climate change. What is now becoming clear is that reducing emissions is not only compatible with economic growth and development; if done well, it can actually generate better growth than the old high-carbon model.”
Who says so? Angel Gurria, secretary-general of the OECD, and Nicholas Stern,chair of the Grantham Institute for Climate Change and the Environment at the London School of Economics. You can read their short piece here.
Posted in Environment | Comments (0)
The real story behind the hit movie “Pride”
September 16th, 2014 by Roger Darlington
Last weekend, I saw the new British film “Pride” which tells the true story of how, during the miners’ strike of 1984-85, a South Wales community received substantial support from a London-based group called Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners. I loved the movie and you can read my review here.
Today, the “Mirror” newspaper has an informative piece about how this interaction took place and quotes from some of those personally involved including Mike Jackson whom I have met. You can read the article here.
Now, please go and see the film.
Posted in Cultural issues, History | Comments (0)
How do you explain the British political system to Chinese Government officials?
September 15th, 2014 by Roger Darlington
This morning, I spent four hours in a hotel in Croydon, south London, giving a presentation on the British political system to 22 senior Chinese Government officials from Beijing.
I had to explain that our political system has evolved over many centuries and is therefore particular to our history and culture. It is simply not possible to transplant one nation’s political system onto another country with a very different history and culture. They appreciated this.
The Chinese do not like to be lectured about what they should and should not do in their country and one delegate challenged the right of a Commons Select Committee to comment on the current governance arrangements in Hong Kong. I understood his point, but explained that, in our interconnected global community, people are entitled to pass comment on arrangements in other countries and China should not be so sensitive to outside comments.
I also had to explain that, because the British political system has evolved so gradually, it is not neat and it does not always make sense. For instance, I was asked if religion has any role in our constitutional arrangements and I had to say why our head of state (the monarch) is also the head of the Church of England (because King Henry VIII wanted a second wife).
Also I tried to spell out the absurdity which is the House of Lords. A second chamber in which no member is elected, in which 92 members owe their position to an hereditary honour centuries old, in which 26 bishops and archbishops of the Church of England have a seat as of right, is simply indefensible.
Of course, I had to declare that this discussion about political arrangements in the United Kingdom was taking place in a week in which Scotland might actually decide to leave the UK and that, even if they did not, there would probably be important political changes as a result [see my comments here]. This led to a discussion on current global challenges to the notion of the nation state with power going upwards to bodies like the European Union and multinational corporations and power going downwards to regions and cities.
I have given this kind of lecture to a number of Chinese groups over the years and I have noticed significant changes in their responses. They ask more questions now and are more open-minded about the need for political reform at home. This is encouraging – but the Chinese will take their own time to make changes. Understandably they will not be pushed from outside, but I’m not sure if they appreciate just how much pressure will come from inside, from the more educated and wealthier Chinese citizenry that the economic reforms of the last 30 years has created.
You can my read my guide to the British political system here.
Posted in British current affairs | Comments (0)