Bluebells herald the arrival of Spring (at last)
April 30th, 2016 by Roger Darlington
Vee with her twin sister Mari among bluebells
down on the south coast
Posted in My life & thoughts | Comments (1)
10 reasons why the UK should remain a member of the European Union
April 30th, 2016 by Roger Darlington
One of my Members of the European Parliament Seb Dance has put together an informative but succinct case on why we should vote ‘Yes” in the referendum on 23 June. You can check out his 10 reasons here.
Posted in British current affairs | Comments (0)
A review of the thriller movie “Child 44”
April 29th, 2016 by Roger Darlington
I haven’t read the book (should I?) but I have now seen the film of the novel “Child 44”. It should have been a better movie but it is still worth viewing and I’ve reviewed it here.
Posted in Cultural issues | Comments (0)
How to be a good leader
April 29th, 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 Be A Good Leader” here.
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A review of the action movie “Bastille Day”
April 28th, 2016 by Roger Darlington
Black British actor Idris Elba is a man of talent and presence and “Bastille Day“confirms his ability to headline a movie. You can read my review here.
Posted in Cultural issues | Comments (0)
A review of a new book on a 1942 commando raid on Sark
April 28th, 2016 by Roger Darlington
“Operation Basalt: The British Raid On Sark And Hitler’s Commando Order” by Eric Lee is a meticulously researched and excitingly written work about a small commando raid which had large and criminal consequences. You can read my review here.
Posted in History | Comments (0)
The shame of modern Britain – in one of the richest countries on the planet …
April 27th, 2016 by Roger Darlington
… over a million live in destitution, as explained in this piece from today’s “Guardian newspaper”:
“More than a million people in the UK are so poor they cannot afford to eat properly, keep clean or stay warm and dry, according to a groundbreaking attempt to measure the scale of destitution in Britain.
A study by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) found that 184,500 households experienced a level of poverty in a typical week last year that left them reliant on charities for essentials such as food, clothes, shelter and toiletries.
More than three-quarters of destitute people reported going without meals, while more than half were unable to heat their home. Destitution affected their mental health, left them socially isolated and prone to acute feelings of shame and humiliation.
Although the study could not demonstrate that destitution had increased in recent years, it said this would be a plausible conclusion because of related evidence showing austerity-era rises in severe poverty, food bank use, homelessness and benefit sanction rates.”
If you want to look at the Joseph Rowntree Foundation report, you can access it here.
Posted in British current affairs | Comments (0)
UN risk expert warns we are heading for catastrophe over natural disasters
April 25th, 2016 by Roger Darlington
Last year, earthquakes, floods, heatwaves and landslides left 22,773 people dead, affected 98.6 million others, and caused $66.5bn (£47bn) of economic damage.
Yet, according to UN figures, in 2014 just 0.4% of the global aid budget of $135.2bn – roughly $540m – was spent on efforts concerning disaster risk reduction (DRR) – things like infrastructure, storm shelters and early warning systems.
Robert Glasser, the special representative of the UN secretary general for disaster risk reduction, has warned that the world’s failure to prepare for natural disasters will have “inconceivably bad” consequences as climate change fuels a huge increase in catastrophic droughts and floods and the humanitarian crises that follow.
More information here.
Posted in World current affairs | Comments (0)
U.S. presidential election (25): if it’s really going to be Clinton against Trump, who are going to be their running mates?
April 24th, 2016 by Roger Darlington
Of course, it’s not certain, but it looks increasingly likely that Hillary Clinton will win the nomination to be the Democratic candidate for the Presidency and that her opponent will probably be Donald Trump in the Republican camp. So thoughts are already turning to who might be their running mates for Vice-President on the general election ticket.
Traditionally Presidential candidates have chosen a running mate ‘to balance the ticket’, especially geographically or demographically. But a lot of American politics is about turnout and it is often seen as important ‘to energise the base’ – that is, enthuse those who would naturally support you to actually turn out and vote (think John McCain’s surprise selection of Sarah Palin).
Hillary Clinton is seen as an immensely experienced candidate, but a divisive one who attracts bile from many Republican voters and who generates lukewarm enthusiasm from a lot of Democratic supporters (hence the astonishing performance of Bernie Sanders).
In this article, it is speculated that maybe she could choose Senator Elizabeth Warren as her running mate even though Warren has not yet endorsed Clinton. Warren would support many of the themes of the Sanders’ campaign and excite Democrats to vote.
Of course, she’s a woman – is that problem? We’ve never had a female President or Vice-President. Why not smash two glass ceilings at once?
Turning to the Republican side, as this article explains, Trump is now furiously trying to moderate his image so that he can pick up extra delegates at the party’s Convention and limp over the winning number. If he wins the nomination, then who will he choose as his running mate?
Trump has infuriated the Republican establishment who never expected him to be a serious candidate. Trump has absolutely no experience of elective office – at city, state or federal level. So, if he wants to win over the Republican establishment, maybe he’ll chose a a senior figure in the party. And, if he wants to get things done, he’ll need to work with Congress. So maybe he’ll select as his Vice-Presidential partner Speaker of the House Paul Ryan.
A contest between Clinton & Warren and Trump & Ryan – now that would be a choice.
Posted in American current affairs | Comments (3)
Word of the day: bund
April 23rd, 2016 by Roger Darlington
This week, my responsibilities as Chair of the South East Water Customer Panel have dominated my work schedule with no less than four meetings concerning the water sector.
At one of these meetings, I heard an unfamiliar word: bund. It refers to an embankment, often providing a promenade. Apparently the origin of the word is a Hindi term for embankment.
Then I remembered that I had come across the term in the context of The Bund – a stretch of promenade by the Huangpu River in the Chinese metropolis of Shanghai. I’ve visited the city and walked the promenaded twice as recorded here and here.
Posted in Cultural issues, My life & thoughts | Comments (0)