Who were the 73 most powerful people on the planet in 2015?
December 23rd, 2015 by Roger Darlington
Each year, the “Forbes” magazine compiles a list of those it believes to be the most powerful in the world.
This year – for the third year running – top place goes to Vladimir Putin, President of Russia. Second place is given to Angel Merkel, Chancellor of Germany. No 3 is Barack Obama, the President of the United States.
David Cameron, Prime Minister of Britain, comes in at 8th place.
Hillary Clinton is currently at No 58, while Donald Trump is in 72nd place. Where will they be in a year’s time?
You can see the full list here.
Posted in World current affairs | Comments (0)
Labour people are optimists, but this time Polly Toynbee sees no hope
December 22nd, 2015 by Roger Darlington
As a lifelong Labour Party member, I share Polly Toynbee’s despair. I have never known a time in my 46 years of party membership when i thought that Labour was less likely to win the next General Election.
Toynbee begins an article for today’s “Guardian” newspaper as follows:
“This is the bleakest midwinter of Labour’s misfortunes. Those emotionally invested in the hope of a future Labour government have never faced such dark days. Ahead lie years of a hegemonic Conservative era, free to do what they like in pursuit of driving the state below the size of anything attempted by Margaret Thatcher.”
Later in her piece, she picks up on the absurdity of making party policy by inviting e-mails from party members:
“Compromise with the voters will be far harder with Corbyn’s pledge this week to let party members decide policy … The 1% who join parties are not like other voters. Both memberships [Labour and Conservative] are far from the centre, Tory members even further away than Labour’s.
May’s law of curvilinear disparity shows voters are more centrist than party activists, and MPs are closer to voters than are their party members. Labour will only win when its members decide it’s worth compromising to oust the Tories from power, as they finally did after their fourth miserable defeat in 1992.”
This surely is the key issue: does the Labour Party want to be a movement that is mainly concerned with making its supporters feel good or above all one that wants to win power to create a fairer and more equal society?
Posted in British current affairs | Comments (0)
Major upset in Spanish politics
December 21st, 2015 by Roger Darlington
The Spanish went to the polls on Sunday to election a new Congress of Deputies and a new Senate.
For the first time in anti-austerity Continental European politics, the party of government that had imposed severe budget cuts managed to win the largest share of the votes – but the People’s Party lost its overall majority and will now struggle to find the necessary coalition partner(s).
Two new parties, Podemos and Ciudadanos, have won significant support to provide the largest upset in Spanish politics since the resumption of democracy in the mid 1970s.
You can understand more about what is going on by reading my up-dated guide to the Spanish political system.
Posted in World current affairs | Comments (0)
My reviews of EVERY “Star Wars” film including “The Force Awakens”
December 20th, 2015 by Roger Darlington
For the 17th time in my life, this weekend I went to the cinema to see a “Star Wars” movie. As you will know – unless you’ve been in an alternate universe for the last couple of years – the seventh film in the franchise opened this weekend and I was there with other expectant and hopeful fans.
If you want to read my reviews of all seven “Star Wars” films, click here. If you just wish to view my review of “The Force Awakens”, click here.
Posted in Cultural issues | Comments (0)
A Christmas performance of Handlel’s “Messiah”
December 19th, 2015 by Roger Darlington
This weekend, Vee and I went along to the Royal Albert hall in London for a splendid performance of “Messiah” composed by George Frideric Handel (1685-1759). Amazingly Handel wrote this oratorio over the course of just 24 days in the summer of 1741. The work consists of 53 pieces which take over two hours to perform.
We had terrific seats – on the arena floor, just five rows from the front. We had one full orchestra with organ, three large choirs, four distinguished solo singers, all overlooked by two huge Christmas trees. The conductor Brian Wright invited the audience to stand for the mighty “Hallelujah”.
You can see and hear a rendition of the “Hallelujah” from “Messiah” – another version sung at the Royal Albert Hall – here (be sure to turn up the volume):
Posted in Cultural issues, My life & thoughts | Comments (0)
How to use time well
December 18th, 2015 by Roger Darlington
People often ask me how I manage to do so much – and I answer simply that “I plan”.
This Friday’s visit to the Life Skills section of my web site is a highlight of my advice on “How to use time well” which you can read here.
Even I will be taking it easy over Christmas and the New Year though!
Posted in My life & thoughts | Comments (2)
A review of the new film “Carol”
December 18th, 2015 by Roger Darlington
I’ve had a really good week for moviegoing – first “Brooklyn” and now “Carol”. Both are set in New York in the 1950s and could be regarded as women’s films but I loved them. See my review of “Carol” here.
Posted in Cultural issues | Comments (0)
A review of the new film “Brooklyn”
December 17th, 2015 by Roger Darlington
It is most certainly not a blockbuster; it’s galaxies apart from the new “Star Wars” movie (which I am dying to see); but “Brooklyn” is a gem of a movie which I heartily recommend. You can read my review here.
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Why is the American middle class so anxious and why is Donald Trump doing so well?
December 16th, 2015 by Roger Darlington
One of the most astute commentators on the American political and economic scene is Robert Reich and he has just written this short article explaining why so many Americans are so anxious and seeking solace from “a strongman who’d promise to protect them from all the chaos”.
Posted in American current affairs | Comments (0)
The danger in the South China Sea
December 15th, 2015 by Roger Darlington
Five years ago, I did a posting which pointed out:
“We think of the Middle East as the most likely location for global conflict, but the South China Sea is the scene of many worrying developments. China has declared that it views the South China Sea as a “core” interest and is beginning to deploy more military muscle in the area, while the United States continues to insist that it has a “national interest” in freedom of navigation in the Sea.”
Meanwhile the situation has become much more tense, largely as a result of the more interventionist approach being adopted by China which is building a range of artificial islands and deploying a sizeable naval force in the region.
China is bound by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), which it has ratified. The law states that sub-sea structures, such as reefs, cannot be claimed as sovereign coastline and that building artificial structures on top of them does not turn them in to sovereign territory either.
Yet China has reclaimed or built upon no less than seven reefs and laid claim to almost all of the South China Sea. It takes an aggressive stance towards anyone trying to sail or fly near those reefs as you can see from this new BBC report. It is only a matter of time before there is an international incident in these disputed waters.
Posted in World current affairs | Comments (0)