Does the Internet of Things mean we’ll never be left to our own devices?
May 18th, 2016 by Roger Darlington
Following very interesting discussions about the Internet of Things (IoT) at both the Essential Services Access Network (ESAN) and the Consumer Forum for Communications (CFC), both of which I chair, my colleague Claire Milne organised a small seminar at the London School of Economics (LSE) for a group of us especially concerned about the impact of IoT on consumers and citizens, notably with regard to issues of control and privacy.
One of the speakers at the event was Liz Coll who works for Citizens Advice and has recently co-authored a report for Consumers International (CI). She has just written a blog posting about the CI report which you can read here.
Posted in Internet | Comments (0)
What are the differences between American and British politics?
May 17th, 2016 by Roger Darlington
Earlier this week, I spent almost four hours in discussion – much of it recorded – with an American academic visiting London: Professor Gerald Sussman. He is the author of six books and is currently researching for a seventh.
As he explained in an introductory e-mail:
“I’m a professor of international politics at Portland State University in the USA. My research and writing has focused on electoral politics, communications, media, and interest groups. Your website has been a source of many nuggets of useful information.
As part of a new book project comparing UK and US electoral systems, I’ll be meeting with journalists, academics, activists, politicians, and political professionals in London to discuss ideas about the British campaign process, how it’s been transformed and influenced by economic and cultural forces.
I would very much like to talk with you on this subject, especially on how you see the electoral process having changed over time.”
We had a fascinating discussion in which Gerry asked me lots of questions about British politics and we shared our perspectives on the current political scene in the United States. Throughout the interview, I drew regularly on information in my essay on “Contrasts Between The American And British Political Systems” which is one of the most visited of the 200 or so sections on my web site.
Posted in American current affairs, British current affairs, My life & thoughts | Comments (2)
Why has Egypt suddenly given away the islands of Tiran and Sanafir?
May 16th, 2016 by Roger Darlington
Around the world, there are many disputes over the ownership of islands – for instance, look at the East China Sea and the South China Sea. Countries that currently own these islands fiercely resist the claims of other states.
Yet recently Egypt – or at least its dictatorial leader – suddenly gave to Saudi Arabia the disputed islands of Tiran and Sanafir. The decision was made by Egyptian president Abdul Fattah al-Sisi during a rare visit by Saudi Arabia’s King Salman, during which the Saudi king announced plans for aid and investment in Egypt.
Ownership of the uninhabited islands, which sit in the entrance to the Gulf of Aqaba, has long been disputed, with both Cairo and Riyadh claiming them, although they were under Egyptian control.
The islands, which once-formed the border between the Ottoman Empire and British-controlled Egypt, are considered strategically important because they lie on the important sea route to the Jordanian port of Aqaba and the Israeli port of Eilat.
The islands were occupied by Israel in 1967 during the Six Day War, before being handed back to Egyptian control in 1982 when the two sides signed the Camp David peace accords.
In 2010, Egypt and Saudi Arabia began formally discussing the drawing of their maritime borders, including the ownership of the two islands.
The handover of the islands has been widely condemned by opposition groups in Egypt and 101 people have been jailed for five years and a further 51 have been sentenced to two years in prison for protesting peacefully against the decision.
Posted in World current affairs | Comments (0)
The most compelling reason to be cheerful: now is the best time in history to be alive
May 15th, 2016 by Roger Darlington
“Now is the best time in history to be alive. Angry voices will loudly deny this but that doesn’t make it any less true. Despite the many miseries that plague our world, humanity as a whole has never climbed so high, so fast. If you could choose to be reborn at any moment in history, you should choose right now.
Why? Take life expectancy. It has risen by more in the past 50 years than in the previous 1,000. Or take incomes. For the first time in history, poverty is declining amid rapid population growth. When the Berlin Wall fell, two-fifths of humanity lived in extreme poverty. Now it’s one-eighth.
Or take education. In just over a generation, 3 billion more literate brains have joined the human race. And thanks largely to the rapid expansion of higher learning in China and India, the number of people alive now with an advanced degree exceeds the total number of degrees ever awarded prior to 1980.
With a few tragic exceptions, a child born almost anywhere today can expect to grow up healthier, wealthier and smarter than at any other time in history. And more connected, thanks principally to a quartet of big events: the end of the cold war; waves of democratisation across Latin America, much of Asia and sub-Saharan Africa; China’s emergence from autarky; and, of central significance, the advent of the internet.
These conditions create an ideal habitat for ideas and genius to flourish, and that flourishing is well under way. The final reason why, if you could choose to be reborn at any moment in history, you should choose now, is that science and technology – jolted by humanity’s sharp jump in cognitive resources – has never been closer to flipping our basic condition from scarcity to abundance.”
These are the opening paragraphs of an article by Ian Goldin and Chris Kutarna summarising the arguments in their new book “Age of Discovery: Navigating the Risks and Rewards of Our New Renaissance”. The book will be published in a few days and I’ve ordered a copy.
Posted in World current affairs | Comments (0)
Series 3 of “Homeland” – we’ve finished it
May 14th, 2016 by Roger Darlington
Last September, we watched a box set of Series 1 of “Homeland” [blog posting here]; over Christmas/New Year, we viewed a box set of Series 2 [blog posting here]; in the course of the last week, we’ve caught up with Series 3 which I thought was better than Series 2 with a moving conclusion.
Of course, there have now been five series of “Homeland” and a sixth has been commissioned. But I think I’m going to bail out now – the originality of the characters and the credibility of the plotting can only last so long and there is so much else to view on both the small and the big screen.
Posted in Cultural issues | Comments (0)
How to work from home
May 13th, 2016 by Roger Darlington
As part of my Friday practice of highlighting advice in the Life Skills section of my web site, today I offer suggestions on “How To Work From Home” here.
Posted in My life & thoughts | Comments (0)
U.S. presidential election (26): what now for Bernie Sanders?
May 12th, 2016 by Roger Darlington
Bernie Sanders continues to do remarkably well in the race for the Democratic nomination winning more states and more delegates, but let’s look at the maths (or, as Americans call it, the math). As this article explains:
“… with its relatively small population and a Democratic party system of awarding delegates in proportion to votes received, the West Virginia win only secured Sanders 18 of the 29 so-called pledged delegates, who are bound to support him for the nomination.
Since the former secretary of state picked up the other 11 on offer in West Virginia, this net gain of seven over his opponent barely makes a dent in her national lead of 284 pledged delegates.
To make matters worse, these 11 additional pledged delegates that Clinton picked from West Virginia take her ever closer to the 2,383 total she needs to secure the nomination outright. When superdelegates are included – a category of party leaders who are not pledged to follow the result of state primary elections but largely lean toward Clinton – the party frontrunner is now just 114 short of the finishing line.”
I don’t blame Sanders for continuing all the way to the Democratic convention; after all, this is what Clinton did against Obama in 2008. And he and his supporters understandably want to influence the platform adopted by that convention.
But, in my view, supporters of Sanders who claim – based on current polls – that Sanders would do even better than Clinton against Trump in the general election are wrong.
Nobody has really gone for Sanders yet. Trump hasn’t gone for him because he wants Sanders to continue doing well to weaken Clinton and divert her resources. Clinton hasn’t gone that hard against Sanders either because she is a decent person and because she knows that eventually she needs his supporters behind her in the general election.
If it was ever Sanders against Trump – which it won’t be – Trump would throw everything at Sanders and, rightly or wrongly, there is a lot to be thrown that would really hurt him and the Democratic cause. Clinton is far from being invulnerable to attack, but it’s all be said before and she knows how to answer the charges.
Meanwhile Democrats have a brusing couple of months ahead of them until the nomination process is complete and the real battle commences.
Posted in American current affairs | Comments (0)
Which are the most corrupt nations on earth?
May 11th, 2016 by Roger Darlington
British Prime Minister David Cameron has been caught telling the Queen that Nigera and Afghanistan are “fantastically corrupt” [see story here]. Is he right? Well, yes.
It probably would have been better not to have said this just before hosting an international event on corruption at which these two countries are represented or at least not to have said it near a microphone.
But, according to the Corruption Perceptions Index compiled each year by Transparency International, out of 167 countries which they have ranked in the latest index, Nigeria is 136 and Afghanistan is 166. The UK is rated 10th and the USA is 16th.
You can see the full list here.
Posted in World current affairs | Comments (0)
A review of the novel “Room”
May 9th, 2016 by Roger Darlington
First, I saw the film; then I had to read the book. The novel by Emma Donoghue is a marvellous work and I’ve reviewed it here.
Posted in Consumer matters | Comments (0)
Will there ever be a solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict?
May 8th, 2016 by Roger Darlington
In an article in today’s “Observer” newspaper, Dov Waxman and Dahlia Scheindlin consider a two-state solution, a one-state solution, and their recommended confederal approach.
As regards the usual option for a resolution of the conflict, they write:
“The two-state solution – the creation of two separate countries divided by a border roughly along the 1949 armistice lines (with some territorial adjustments) – has long been regarded by diplomats and experts, and for the last two decades by a majority of Israelis and Palestinians, as the best way to resolve the conflict. But it now appears to be in serious jeopardy.
Much of the Israeli government adamantly opposes it, and prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s support for it is rhetorical at best. The Palestinian leadership, split between Fatah and Hamas, is bitterly divided on the issue. Israeli and Palestinian public support is gradually declining.”
They consider briefly an alternative solution of a single state:
“This approach proposes full equality for all the Palestinians now living under Israeli control, with full civil rights, including national voting rights. However, a single, democratic, civic or binational state is highly unlikely to emerge in the foreseeable future. Most Israelis and Palestinians want their own state, to fulfil their collective desires for national self-determination.
A single state is likely to generate a relentless competition for power and control, which could easily turn deadly. Further, given Israel’s superior economic and military power, a single state is more likely to become a Jewish ethnocracy than the secular democracy that its leftwing proponents envisage.”
If both these solutions cannot work, should we just give up and accept the stays quo? They opine:
“With both two-state and one-state solutions seemingly impossible, it is easy to fall into despair. We believe this is dangerous. Such despair fosters passivity and perpetuates the status quo. And the violence is a brutal reminder that the status quo is deadly for Israelis and Palestinians alike.”
This leads Waxman & Scheindlin to propose a confederal approach with an open border between the two sovereign states, freedom of movement and residency, and some limited shared governance. Citizenship and residency would be de-linked which would enable a new approach to the issues of Palestinian refuges and Jewish settlers.
They conclude:
“However far-fetched it [the confederal solution] may appear, it is the most realistic approach because it accommodates the demands of Israelis and Palestinians for national self-determination and also accepts the fact that they have become too intermingled and too interdependent to separate from each other, however much they wish to. Anyone truly concerned about the future for Palestinians and Israelis should seriously consider the potential of this approach.”
You can read the full article with more details of the confederal model here.
You might also like to see my book review on the problem.
Posted in World current affairs | Comments (0)