The crisis in the older democracies
April 25th, 2015 by Roger Darlington
Many of the trends that we have seen in recent British General Elections – such as lower turnout, differential turnout, less support for the established parties, more support for an extreme party, and greater volatility in the electorate – are common to several other older democracies in Europe and North America.
I have written a short essay setting out my thoughts which you can read here.
Posted in British current affairs, World current affairs | Comments (0)
My 7th short story: “A Moment In Time”
April 24th, 2015 by Roger Darlington
Continuing my Friday practice of linking to one of my short stories, today I invite you to read my seventh which is entitled “A Moment In Time” – you’ll find it here.
Posted in My life & thoughts | Comments (0)
Five English things that are not actually English
April 23rd, 2015 by Roger Darlington
So many traditions that people think define a nation originated outside that particular country. On St George’s Day, here are five things that most people think of as quintessentially English that came from abroad.
We should embrace and celebrate multiculturalism and not spend so much time trying to separate ourselves from ‘the other’. Once upon a time, we were all Ethiopians.
Posted in Miscellaneous | Comments (0)
A review of the new Keanu Reeves movie “John Wick”
April 23rd, 2015 by Roger Darlington
If you like your films fast and furious with plenty of bullets and bodies, then “John Wick” is for you – my review here.
Posted in Cultural issues | Comments (0)
By George, it’s still a popular name
April 23rd, 2015 by Roger Darlington
In England and other places, today is St George’s Day since 23 April is supposed to be the date that the saint died in 303 AD. The name is still very common in this country and currently stands at 10th in the popularity charts for new babies as you can see here.
The family in the other half of our semi-detached house consists of father, mother, and young boy. Both the father and the boy are called George. We have a close female friend whose father was so keen to have a son called George that, when instead he had a daughter, he called her Georgeanne. As my American friends would say: Go, figure.
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When will Israel have a new government?
April 22nd, 2015 by Roger Darlington
If the opinion polls prove correct, following the General Election on 7 May, British voters might be waiting some time before they learn who is to form the next Government and on what basis.
Meanwhile, spare a thought for Israeli voters. They went to the polls on 17 March but, more than a month later, still do not know what Government they are going to have. This week the “Times” of Israel had this report:
“With a resounding election victory last month, Netanyahu seemed to have an easy path toward quickly establishing a coalition government with his traditional nationalist, religious and ultra-Orthodox Jewish allies. But after weeks of negotiations with potential partners, Netanyahu is finding the task harder than expected and is reportedly — at least according to threats from Likud officials — flirting with the idea of reaching out to his main dovish rivals in Zionist Union to form a unity government.
Throughout the heated campaign, Netanyahu ruled out the possibility of joining forces with Isaac Herzog and his center-left Zionist Union and vowed to rule from the right.Election results gave his Likud party 30 seats and secured him a potential 67-seat majority with his traditional allies. In negotiations, however, these allies have made demands to head powerful government ministries.
Under Israeli election rules, if Netanyahu fails to form a coalition at the end of 42 days — the first 28 plus the two-week extension — Rivlin can assign someone else the task of doing so. While this is technically possible, it is unlikely that Zionist Union would have an easier time establishing a coalition. If no one succeeds in forming a coalition, the president would be left with no choice but to order a new national election.”
You can read my short guide to the Israeli political system with a summary of the election results here.
Posted in World current affairs | Comments (0)
British general election (11): some of the constitutional questions that might arise
April 21st, 2015 by Roger Darlington
This General Election may be a nightmare for political parties and a bewilderment to the voters, but commentators and pundits are loving it because the outcome is so uncertain and potentially all sorts of new issues might need to be addressed.
In a piece entitled “The politics of legitimacy”, the BBC’s deputy political editor James Landale has identified 10 constitutional questions which might arise if neither the Conservatives nor Labour win an overall majority on 7 May. You can read his thoughts here.
Posted in British current affairs | Comments (0)
Word of the day: atticism
April 20th, 2015 by Roger Darlington
It means concise and elegant expression or speech.
The term comes from the Greek word which means ‘a siding with Athens’ and, since Attic was the language of the Greek capital Athens, it came to be associated with fine speech.
We could do with more atticism during the current General Election campaign.
Now fine speech is not exactly the same as a fine speech, but there s an overlap, and you can find my advice on how to give a good speech here.
Posted in Cultural issues | Comments (0)
How religious are the British?
April 19th, 2015 by Roger Darlington
Not much at all – as revealed by a new survey commissioned by the “Observer” newspaper of social attitudes in Britain:
Which of the following religions or belief systems, if any, do you associate with?
Church of England = 33%
Catholicism = 10%
Other Christian = 9%
Islam = 3%
Hinduism = 2%
Judaism = 1%
Other religion = 3%
Agnosticism = 17%
Atheism = 21%Do you actively practise your religion, eg you attend regular religious services?
Yes = 29%
No = 71%
Base: all who associate with a religion“Britain is a largely secular country with only 18% actively practising a religion and one in five (21%) describing themselves as atheist. A further 17% describe themselves as agnostic. Only one in three Britons (33%) associates with the Church of England. Among this group only 18% actively practise their religion. This equates to just 6% of the nation. In total, 61% of Britons associate with a religion but it is only a minority of that group (29%) who actively practise their religion. Muslims are most likely to actively practise their religion (59%).
There are big differences on the basis of ideological outlook. Those who self-define as left wing are significantly less likely to associate with a religion than those who define their outlook as right wing (49% and 71% respectively). However, while 65% of leftwingers who associate with a religion actively practise it, the same is true for just 33% of rightwingers and 26% of centrists.
A majority of Britons (82%) do not actively practise a religion and a clear majority of the population (61%) agree with that “These days religion is a negative influence in the world rather than a force for good.” Unsurprisingly, those who associate with a religion are less likely to hold this view.”
Posted in British current affairs | Comments (0)
A review of the new film “A Little Chaos”
April 19th, 2015 by Roger Darlington
If you would like a little divertissement from so many crash-bang-wallop films out there, you could do worse than view Kate Winslet in “A Little Chaos” which I have reviewed here.
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