Why is Russia risking a second Cold War?
March 2nd, 2014 by Roger Darlington
“This is perhaps the most dangerous point in Europe’s history since the end of the cold war. Direct confrontation between Russian and Ukrainian forces will draw in the United States, one way or another. While there is still time, it’s extremely important to understand what each party involved is aiming for.”
Dmitri Trenin is not the usual commentator in the Western media. He is Director of the Carnegie Moscow Center and served in the Soviet and Russian armed forces from 1972 to 1993.
In this article, he explains some of the thinking behind Putin’s dangerous excursion in Crimea.
Posted in World current affairs | Comments (0)
What does that Indian head shake actually mean?
March 1st, 2014 by Roger Darlington
“A lot of people have been confusing themselves about what the great Indian head shakes mean and how to communicate using the same. Here is an earnest attempt at explaining the different types of head shakes are and their meaning.”
Posted in Cultural issues | Comments (0)
How to resolve conflict
February 28th, 2014 by Roger Darlington
I monitor the numbers visiting my web site and the sections that they most frequent. Each day, up to 10,000 visit the site as a whole, with my personal blog NightHawk and my professional blog CommsWatch being by far the most popular sections of the site.
But, in recent weeks, there’s been a new entry into the top 10 sections visited. It’s the page entitled “How To Resolve Conflict” which you can read here. I don’t know what this tells us about our world, but I just hope that the advice proves useful.
Posted in Miscellaneous, My life & thoughts | Comments (0)
The power of the placebo
February 27th, 2014 by Roger Darlington
I have long been fascinated by the placebo effect – the positive impact of a non-active substance or procedure which seems to mimic the effect of a drug or treatment. This evening, I got round to watching a television programme on the subject that I recorded 10 days ago.
The BBC2 Horizon programme is called “The Power Of The Placebo”. It shows the powerful effect of a placebo when the person does not know that a placebo has been administered AND even when the person is told that placebo is involved. It shows how the placebo effect can be triggered without a pill or physical intervention – just by hypnosis.
Amazing stuff. And you can see three short clips from the programme here.
In my view, the placebo effect is why people report all sorts of strange things as working for them – such as homeopathy, acupuncture, chiropractic and even faith healing.
Posted in Science & technology | Comments (3)
The view of an Englishman living in Scotland on the independence referendum
February 27th, 2014 by Roger Darlington
The Scottish Independence Referendum – Yes or No?
I am a mongrel of the British Isles. Self-exiled in Lancashire throughout their married life, my parents were defiantly Yorkshire in origin and spirit. However, my father’s great-great grandfather had migrated with his sheep from south west Scotland to the West Riding early in the nineteenth century. And somewhere in my father’s pedigree there is the splendidly named Sabina Fury, from County Mayo in the west of Ireland. Born in Manchester, I spent most of my working life in London, but for the last 20 years I have lived in Edinburgh. I cannot claim to be a Scot, but I do not plan to return to England.
So, shall I vote ‘yes’ or ‘no’ in the referendum on independence later this year? All the arguments about whether every family in Scotland would be £100 a year better off or worse off after independence seem to me to miss the point completely. The key issue is about national identity rather than a crude calculus of self-interest. The problem is that British identity has always been weak and confused.
Until recently, ‘England’ and ‘Britain’ were virtually interchangeable concepts. In the Second World War, we listened to Vera Lynn singing “There’ll always be an England”, an unofficial national anthem. Noel Coward’s patriotic play Cavalcade ends with the toast – “Let’s couple the future of England with the past of England.” No mention, then, of Scotland, let alone Wales or Northern Ireland (which anyway has never been part of Britain). Even foreigners think of Britain as England. Napoleon derided England as a nation of shopkeepers, not Britain. In the First World War, Germany united behind the slogan “Gott strafe England”. In Mein Kampf it was England’s fighting spirit that Hitler admired and England’s empire that he envied. American friends send an email to say they are coming across to England when they plan to visit Edinburgh.
Scotland not only feels different from England, it is different. With overwhelming public support, there is a broad cross-party consensus that national and local public services need to be safeguarded and not outsourced or privatized. If the proposal to sell off the Royal Mail had been put before the Scottish Parliament, I doubt whether the number of votes in favour would have reached double figures. The great god mammon does not rule north of the Tweed.
In international affairs, Scotland does not have a post-colonial hankering to “punch above its weight”. Britain’s invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq got little or no public support, though there is sympathy for the soldiers – many of them Scots – who have been sent there. The absurdity of the Trident base on the Upper Clyde is seen to be self-evident, when there is no feasible target for nuclear missiles on the geopolitical horizon.
By contrast, Scotland’s commitment to the European Union seems to be secure. Perhaps this is a distant echo of the Auld Alliance between Scotland and France, but it is real enough. What would be the situation if the ‘No’ vote triumphs in the independence referendum and a majority of those living in Scotland vote to stay in the EU at a subsequent referendum, with a majority south of the border wanting to leave?
Finally, there is an intangible difference between England and Scotland in the way that people engage with each other. The idea that life is all about competition rather than cooperation seems absurd if you live in a crofting community on Skye or in a tenement or tower block in Glasgow or Edinburgh. Cooperation entails mutual respect between groups of people and between individuals.
Of course, things are not perfect in Scotland – Rangers and Celtic and Hibs and Hearts are witness to that. But going to meetings round a table in London is a shock to the system now. In Scotland, if you want to speak you wait until someone has finished before you intervene. In London, you have to interrupt before someone else does. The shouting, baying and derisory jeers at Prime Minster’s question time in the House of Commons only reinforce the view from Scotland that there are two distinct cultures.
So, ‘Yes’ or ‘No’? With some sadness at the breaking of bonds forged by history, family and a shared island, for this Englishman living in Scotland the vote will be ‘Yes’.
This is a note prepared by my friend Jeremy Mitchell and published with his consent. If I was in his position, I would vote ‘No’. Six years ago, I wrote a short essay on the issue of nationhood which I believe is very relevant to the debate about Scottish independence. You can read it here.
Posted in British current affairs | Comments (0)
The amazing life of Alice Herz-Sommer
February 25th, 2014 by Roger Darlington
Yesterday I did a posting noting the death of Alice Herz-Sommer, the oldest Holocaust survivor, at the age of 110.
She was a remarkable person and you can read her obituary here.
Posted in History | Comments (0)
A review of a new film: “The Lego Movie”
February 25th, 2014 by Roger Darlington
Who would have thought that those little coloured bricks would have a film of their own? But they have – and it’s a great success. You can read my review here.
Posted in Cultural issues | Comments (1)
A review of an old film : “The Lion In Winter”
February 25th, 2014 by Roger Darlington
The film was released in 1968. I saw it on its release, again many years later, and once more last weekend. You can read my review here.
Posted in Cultural issues | Comments (0)
Rest in peace Alice Herz-Sommer
February 24th, 2014 by Roger Darlington
Seven years ago, I did a blog posting about the utterly remarkable Alice Herz-Sommer. She was a Holocaust survivor with an astonishingly positive approach to life.
Almost four years ago, I did another blog posting as a result of a television programme about her.
Today comes the sad news that Alice – the world’s oldest Holocaust survivor – has died aged 110. Rest in peace.
Posted in British current affairs | Comments (0)
How many countries have you visited?
February 24th, 2014 by Roger Darlington
On my recent tour of Central America, two of our group had been to around 160 countries which is amazing, especially as the United Nations only has 193 nations as members.
At the end of our latest holiday, which involved time in five countries, my personal total is 65 – one for each year of my life – which you can see listed here.
Posted in My life & thoughts | Comments (0)