How to survive a walk down ‘chugger alley’
May 21st, 2014 by Roger Darlington
The term ‘chugger’ has been coined for a charity mugger, someone who tries to stop you in the street and sign you up to a particular charity. You’ll find a fuller – and less kind – description – here.
Now I’m fine about contributing to charities. I support many on an ongoing basis. But I like to choose the charities I fund in the privacy of my own home. I really dislike a stranger in a street trying to sign me up for a charity and this happens a lot in central London.
In fact, usually, these chuggers work in groups, often in a busy street, so that walking that route becomes something of an obstacle course.
One of the worst streets in London for his phenomenon is Villiers Street – what I call ‘chugger alley’ – which is narrow and has tube station entrances at either end, so that it is often the haunt of a chugger team.
I have two techniques – seemingly contradictory – for avoiding them.
- On entering the scene where I believe chuggers might be operating, I look way ahead to spot them. Usually they wear coloured shirts and carry clip boards, so they’re not hard to identify.
- As I approach each chugger, I skirt around them as far as possible and, since they sometimes attempt to call out and engage in conversation anyway, I stare at the ground and pretend that I have heard nothing.
Have you ever experienced chugging?
Posted in My life & thoughts | Comments (2)
The American dream has now become the Canadian (and European) dream
May 20th, 2014 by Roger Darlington
Who says so? An American: two-time winner of the Pulitzer Prize Nicholas Kristof.
In this piece for the “New York Times”; he argues:
“… today the American dream has derailed, partly because of growing inequality. Or maybe the American dream has just swapped citizenship, for now it is more likely to be found in Canada or Europe — and a central issue in this year’s political campaigns should be how to repatriate it.
A report last month in The Times by David Leonhardt and Kevin Quealy noted that the American middle class is no longer the richest in the world, with Canada apparently pulling ahead in median after-tax income. Other countries in Europe are poised to overtake us as well.”
It’s time for Americans to stop thinking it’s the land of opportunity. It is for a few – but for most it’s a land of growing inequality.
Posted in American current affairs | Comments (0)
How in 1945 the American Brigadier General Bonner Fellers was instrumental in saving the Japanese Emperor Hirohito from execution as a war criminal
May 19th, 2014 by Roger Darlington
We all know that, after its defeat in World War Two, the Japanese were allowed to retain their emperor, although merely in a ceremonial role and without his previous god-like status. But who made the decision and why?
Although the decision was made by General Douglas MacArthur on pragmatic grounds, a key role was played by a little-known American soldier called Brigadier General Bonner Fellers whose story has been told in the recent film “Emperor” which I saw a few days ago. You can read my review here.
The shots in the film of the Imperial Palace Gardens in Tokyo reminded me of my visit to Japan in 1998.
Posted in Cultural issues, History | Comments (0)
My Thought For The Week now 15 years old – have you signed up for it?
May 18th, 2014 by Roger Darlington
“Life isn’t a matter of milestones but of moments.”
American philanthropist Rose Kennedy (1890-1995)
Thought For The Week No 750
Fifteen years ago, I saw a quote in a newspaper, liked it, and sent it in an e-mail to the 12 people who worked with me in the Research Department of the Communication Workers Union. Every week since then, I’ve circulated a new thought and this weekend the number reached the milestone of 750. I know: life isn’t a matter of milestones ….
The circulation list has grown and grown and now exceeds 2,100, reaching all around the world. This week’s thought heads up this posting. If you’d like to see what you’ve missed, you can access all the thoughts here. If you would like to be on the circulation list e-mail me.
Posted in Miscellaneous | Comments (0)
Reviews of two “Godzilla” movies
May 18th, 2014 by Roger Darlington
In 1998, there was a disappointing American version of the Japanese monster tale [see my review here], but this weekend we saw the release of a much superior re-boot of the franchise [see my review here].
Posted in Cultural issues | Comments (0)
Best week ever for Roger Darlington’s World – thanks
May 17th, 2014 by Roger Darlington
The number of visits to my web site – which includes this personal blog and my professional blog – varies throughout the week (obviously weekdays are higher than weekends) and throughout the year (again obviously holiday seasons see less traffic).
But this past week has been really encouraging with an average for the five working days of 10,500 visits each day. Thank you so much for your interest and support. Please spread the word – and I always welcome comments on posts.
Posted in My life & thoughts | Comments (0)
Love is a many splendoured thing – except in 76 countries where being gay is illegal
May 17th, 2014 by Roger Darlington
“Five countries – Iran, Mauritania, Saudi Arabia, Sudan and Yemen – still have a statutory death penalty for homosexuality, while a further 71 countries punish same-sex couples with lesser sentences of imprisonment or corporal punishment.
In total, 2.79 billion people live in countries where being gay can lead to prison or death – seven times as many as live in countries with same-sex marriage.”
See news item here.
Posted in World current affairs | Comments (0)
Two versions of the early life of author Jeanette Winterson
May 16th, 2014 by Roger Darlington
Not so long ago, I read the memoir of Jeanette Winterson which has the wonderful title “Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal?” (2011). You can read my review here.
This week, I finally got round to reading Winterson’s first novel, “Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit” (1985). You can read my review here.
These books are a fascinating pair: the first is a biography but written with novelistic flourishes, while the second is a novel but clearly inspired by Winterson’s actual experiences of her emergent lesbianism.
Posted in Cultural issues | Comments (0)
How the rich get richer and richer – and richer
May 16th, 2014 by Roger Darlington
In this news story, it is explained that:
Britain’s richest 1% have accumulated as much wealth as the poorest 55% of the population put together, according to the latest official analysis of who owns the nation’s £9.5tn of property, pensions and financial assets.
In figures that also lay bare the extent of inequality across the north-south divide, the Office for National Statistics said household wealth in the south-east had been rising five times as fast as across the whole country.
How should we react to such inequality? This is one response:
Rachael Orr, Oxfam’s head of poverty in the UK said the figures were a “shocking chapter in a tale of two Britains”.The charity recently reported that five billionaire families controlled the same wealth as 20% of the population.
“It is further evidence of increasing inequality at a time when five rich families have the same wealth as 12 million people,” she said. “We need our politicians to grasp the nettle and make the narrowing gap between the richest and poorest a top priority. It cannot be right that in Britain today a small elite are getting richer and richer while millions are struggling to make ends meet.”
Posted in British current affairs | Comments (0)
Where now for Ukraine? – next step: the presidential election
May 15th, 2014 by Roger Darlington
This week, I attended a meeting in the House of Commons to discuss Ukraine’s presidential election. The meeting was organised by the Henry Jackson Society and featured three expert speakers: Orysia Lutsevych from Chatham House, Andy Hunder from the Ukrainian Institute in London, and Andrew Foxall of the Henry Jackson Society itself.
The background to the meeting was of course the second revolution in Ukraine that began almost exactly six months ago and led to the fleeing of former president Viktor Yanukovych, the sudden seizure of Crimea by Russia, and last weekend’s separatist ballots in the east of the country. The next stage in the crisis is the presidential election called by the interim government in Kiev which is due to be held on 25 May with a second round on 15 June in the (likely) event that the top candidate on the first round fails to win 50% of the votes.
The billionaire Petro Proshenko – the so-called “Chocolate King” – is currently well in the lead in opinion polls and recently former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko was overtaken for second place in the polls by former vice prime minister Serhiy Tihipko.
All three speakers wanted the presidential poll to go ahead, even though polling will be difficult in some parts of the country and impossible in Crimea and the event might further antagonise Russia. It was argued that the poll would legitimise the interim government in Kiev, although the president can only formally appoint two ministers and the parliament remains the same for the time being.
It was recognised that, in the short term, the political and economic situation facing any new president and government is horrendous, but speakers suggested that – like Russia is doing – Ukraine and the West need to take a longer term view. Over time, people in the separatist areas might come to realise that their economic best interests lie with a united Ukraine and there are genuine prospects that in the future Ukraine could become energy-independent.
Two of the most memorable quotes of the meeting were: “Simply it is not as bad as it could be” and “In Russian terms – whisper it quietly – Putin is quite liberal”.
Posted in World current affairs | Comments (0)