Who should presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden choose as his running mate? (2)
May 22nd, 2020 by Roger Darlington
I have done a posting on this subject before with my own view (Kamala Harris).
Now we have the ranking of the “Washington Post” as follows:
| POSITION | POTENTIAL VP | CHANGE OVER LAST VP RANKING |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Kamala D. Harris | — |
| 2. | Amy Klobuchar | DOWN 1 |
| 3. | Elizabeth Warren | UP 5 |
| 4. | Gretchen Whitmer | UP 1 |
| 5. | Tammy Duckworth | UP 4 |
| 6. | Val Demings | ADDS TO RANKING |
| 7. | Stacey Abrams | DOWN 4 |
| 8. | Michelle Lujan Grisham | DOWN 4 |
| 9. | Tammy Baldwin | UP 1 |
| 10. | Gina Raimondo | ADDS TO RANKING |
Posted in American current affairs | Comments (0)
The meaningless of so much management and political language
May 21st, 2020 by Roger Darlington
Have you ever heard of …
… a problem that was not challenging
… a target that was not stretching
… a solution that was a silver bullet
… a solution that is one size fits all
… an organisation that was not on a journey
… a situation that was not going forward
… progress which was not at pace
… a sector that was not experiencing unprecedented change
Posted in Miscellaneous | Comments (0)
Word of the day: anosmia
May 19th, 2020 by Roger Darlington
The word means a loss of the sense of smell. This is often accompanied with loss of a sense of taste.
One of my grandmothers had this on a permanent basis which meant that she could not smell if she had left on the gas cooker and she did not really enjoy her food.
The word is in the media today because the four chief medical officers of the UK have now added this as a warning symptom of Covid-19.
This has been general knowledge for a couple of months and I don’t understand why it has taken so long to be highlighted by the government.
Posted in Cultural issues, Science & technology | Comments (0)
A review of the recent film “Jojo Rabbit”
May 17th, 2020 by Roger Darlington
When “Jojo Rabbit” was released at the cinema, I had no wish to see it – for me the idea of a Hitler comedy is an oxymoron. But the film received some excellent reviews and proved popular with viewers. Then I found myself in lockdown during the coronavirus crisis and, with little else new to watch, I decided to give it a go.
Although it is based on a novel, the film is very much the creation of New Zealand comedian Taika Waititi, who is part Maori and a bit Jewish, since he wrote and directed it as well as playing the role of Adolf Hitler as the imaginery friend of the eponymous 10 year old German boy (a remarkable performance by the British Roman Griffin Davis in his first professional role).
I can see what Waititi was trying to do – present a parody of Nazism and anti-semitism – but I’m afraid it just doesn’t work for me. I found it silly, sentimental, surreal – but never convincing. You might feel differently.
Posted in Cultural issues | Comments (0)
A review of the recent movie “Knives Out”
May 15th, 2020 by Roger Darlington
When “Knives Out’ was released at the cinema, it was both a commercial and a critical success, but I was not sure that it was the film for me. However, when I was subject to lockdown in the coronavirus crisis, I wanted something light and entertaining and decided to have a stab at this old-fashioned ‘who done it?’ murder mystery both written and directed with verve by Rian Johnsone.
I found it fun but (perhaps inevitably) very contrived. The original set-up is simple enough: successful and rich 85 year old American author Harlan Thrombey (Christopher Plummer) is found dead, supposedly by suicide, but information from a succession of family gatherings at his grand home increasingly confuse the picture.
A particular delight of the movie is to see Daniel Craig, whom we so associate with the role of James Bond, playing southern sleuth Benoit Blanc and Chris Evans, so often the clean-cut superhero Captain America, as the family’s ‘black sheep’. Other familiar actors include Don Johnson, Toni Colette and Jamie Lee Curtis.
So it is very watchable although hardly special. Nevertheless, it seems that is not the point and that “Knives Out 2” is being unsheathed and Blanc is back.
Posted in Cultural issues | Comments (0)
Al Capone was finally brought down because of his tax affairs. Could the same thing happen to Donald Trump?
May 14th, 2020 by Roger Darlington
This is an extract from the Wikipedia page on American gangster Al Capone:
“The federal authorities became intent on jailing Capone, and prosecuted him in 1931 for tax evasion. During a highly publicized case, the judge admitted as evidence Capone’s admissions of his income and unpaid taxes, made during prior (and ultimately abortive) negotiations to pay the government taxes he owed. He was convicted and sentenced to 11 years in federal prison. After conviction, he replaced his defense team with experts in tax law, and his grounds for appeal were strengthened by a Supreme Court ruling, but his appeal ultimately failed. Capone showed signs of neurosyphilis early in his sentence, and became increasingly debilitated before being released after almost eight years of incarceration. On January 25, 1947, he died of cardiac arrest after suffering a stroke.”
This is an extract from a BBC report on a current case before the Supreme Court concerning President Donald Trump’s refusal to reveal his tax records:
“The US Supreme Court has heard arguments on whether President Donald Trump should be allowed to keep his financial records secret, in a major showdown over presidential powers. Mr Trump has refused to share documents that could shed light on his fortune and the work of his family company. Two congressional committees and New York prosecutors demand the release of his tax returns and other information. Mr Trump’s private lawyers argue he enjoys total immunity while in office. A ruling is expected within weeks. Unlike other recent presidents, Mr Trump has refused to release his tax returns and a decision against him could result in his personal financial information becoming public in the campaign season. Experts say the ruling will have far-reaching implications for the ability of Congress to scrutinise the activities of sitting presidents and of prosecutors to investigate them.”
At any other time, this court case would be big news internationally, but the coronavirus crisis means that few people outside America – and indeed many in the USA itself – are not aware of this dramatic matter.
Posted in American current affairs, History | Comments (0)
In the UK, it’s Day 50 of lockdown and Mass Observation would like to know about your day.
May 12th, 2020 by Roger Darlington
This year, the Mass Observation Archive will be repeating its annual call for day diaries, capturing the everyday lives of people across the UK. The written diaries will be stored in the Archive at The Keep and be used by a wide range of people for research, teaching and learning. This is the 10thAnniversary of the 12th May Diary project.
If you’d be interested in taking part (come on, you’ve got plenty of time now!), you’ll find the information here.
I’ll be contributing to the project. I’ve kept a daily diary since I was 13 which means I have a complete record for 58 years. During this period of lockdown, it has been a strange comfort to me to record what is happening and how I’m feeling,
Posted in British current affairs, My life & thoughts | Comments (0)
Covid rules cleared up
May 11th, 2020 by Roger Darlington
Posted in Uncategorized | Comments (0)
A review the 1948 classic western “Red River”
May 10th, 2020 by Roger Darlington
Directed by the legendary Howard Hawks, this classic western – shot in black and white – is the story of a cattle drive up the Chisholm Trail and includes a series of memorable scenes created with Hawks’ famous eye-level shooting including the river crossing, the stampede, and the Indian attack. More than 5,000 head of cattle were hired for a work which today would use special effects.
It is a western version of the road movie with the central theme being the evolving relationship between the owner of the cattle, Tom Dunstan (John Wayne), and his adopted son, Matthew Garth (Montgomery Clift). Dunstan is an increasingly driven and ruthless leader which eventually leads to a revolt with echoes of “Mutiny On The Bounty”.
For two hours, this is a wonderful film but then the last five minutes spoils it with a magical character transformation that – unlike that of the other John Wayne western “The Searchers” – simply does not work. Borden Chase, who wrote the original story on which the film is based and the screenplay for the movie itself, wanted to use his own ending, a dark but convincing finale; however, Hawks was not prepared to Wayne die, leaving us with a flawed classic.
Posted in Cultural issues | Comments (0)
VE Day – we need to remember ALL who died and suffered
May 8th, 2020 by Roger Darlington
For those who lived through the Second World War, when it started and when it ended depended on where you lived. For Europeans, we date the commencement of the war as 1 September 1939 with the invasion of Poland and we date the conclusion of the war as 8 May 1945 with the surrender of the Germans.
So today we celebrate Victory in Europe (VE) Day. Victory in Japan (VJ) Day will not be until 15 August. But, for the Chinese, the war began much earlier with the Japanese invasion of Manchuria in 1931 and, for the Americans, it started later with the attack on Pearl Harbor and the Philippines at the end of 1941.
Also the scale of the suffering depended vastly on where you lived. Today rightly we will commemorate the experience of the British and may remember that of other European nations, but we are unlikely to recall the enormous sacrifice of the then Soviet Union.
In one history of the Second World War in Europe, the author opines: “the Soviet role was enormous and the Western role was respectable but modest”. He adds: “All in all, the open-minded observer will be tempted to view the war effort of the Western powers as something of a sideshow.”
Unfair? Look at the figures in my review of the book. And remember ALL who died and suffered for the peace and freedom we enjoy today even in a time of global pandemic.
Posted in Uncategorized | Comments (0)