Why do so many Americans believe so much nonsense?
January 28th, 2013 by Roger Darlington
According to results from a recent Fairleigh Dickinson University PublicMind Poll, 63% of registered voters in the United States buy into at least one political conspiracy theory. The nationwide survey of registered voters asked Americans to evaluate four different political conspiracy theories: 56 % of Democrats and 75 % of Republicans say that at least one is likely to be true.
This includes 36% who think that President Obama is hiding information about his background and early life, 25% who think that the government knew about 9/11 in advance, and 19% who think the 2012 Presidential election was stolen. Generally, the more people know about current events, the less likely they are to believe in conspiracy theories – but not among Republicans, where more knowledge leads to greater belief in political conspiracies.
You can read more detail on the survey here.
Does this matter? I think so. I have written an essay on “The Reason For Truth” here.
Posted in American current affairs | Comments (0)
Word of the day: pallant
January 27th, 2013 by Roger Darlington
Vee and I are spending the weekend in West Sussex visiting her twin sister and brother-in-law. In the course of our time here, we’ve been over to the lovely town of Chichester where Vee and I married 31 years ago.
As we wandered round Chichester, for the first time I noticed four streets called North, South, East and West Pallant and then found that there is an important art collection at Pallant House Gallery.
I checked out the word ‘pallant’ which I had never come across before. It seems that originally it was an Anglo-Saxon word depicting a plot of land. According to this source,, in the Middle Ages the word became particular to Chichester where it refers to an area of land originally owned by the local church authorities. Then, in the 13th century, Pallant started to be used as a family name.
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How much greater is the American gun murder rate than that in Britain?
January 26th, 2013 by Roger Darlington
Twice? Three times? Four times? You may find this hard to believe but the answer is 32 times.
Don’t believe me? Check out the graph on this web page.
Time for stronger gun controls in the US. Go for it, Barack.
Posted in American current affairs, British current affairs | Comments (0)
The Munich Agreement and my short story
January 23rd, 2013 by Roger Darlington
I am currently reading *The Killing of SS Obergruppenfuhrer Reinhard Heydrich” by the late historian Callum MacDonald which was published in 1989. Reading about the betrayal of Czechoslovakia in the Munich Agreement of September 1938 reminded me of a short story I wrote several years ago set on the eve of that agreement. You can read the story here.
Posted in History, My life & thoughts | Comments (0)
A snow man, a snow dog, and a very lifelike snow girl
January 22nd, 2013 by Roger Darlington
That one in the middle looks just like my granddaughter Catrin
Posted in My life & thoughts | Comments (1)
President Barack Obama’s second inauguration speech
January 22nd, 2013 by Roger Darlington
Posted in American current affairs | Comments (0)
A review of “Django Unchained”
January 21st, 2013 by Roger Darlington
One of the earliest films I can remember seeing was called “Hercules Unchained”. It was released in 1959 when I was 11.
Quentin Tarantino is so knowledgeable about the movies he may have had the earlier film in mind when he titled his latest offering “Django Unchained”.
Tarantino is not to everyone’s taste, but I really admire his original scriptwriting and direction and I very much enjoyed his new movie which I’ve reviewed here.
Posted in Cultural issues | Comments (0)
“The House I Live In” or how America lost the war on drugs
January 19th, 2013 by Roger Darlington
- In 40 years, of America’s ‘war on drugs’, more than 45 million arrests have been made.
- The approach has made the United States the world’s largest jailer with almost 2.3 million individuals incarcerated.
- This means that the USA has the highest documented incarceration rate in the world with about 1% of all adults in jail.
- African Americans comprise less than 14% of the US population but almost 40% of those in prison.
- Hispanic Americans comprise just over 16% of the US population but around 20% of those in prison.
- African American males are jailed at about six times the rate of white males and three times the rate of Hispanic males.
Against this background, Eugene Jarecki has written, produced and directed “The House I Live In”, a striking documentary examining the impact of the war on drugs in America. Starting with the black woman who was his childhood nanny, he interviews an eclectic cast of characters with different experiences of the problem: the drug dealer, the policeman, the judge, the prison guard, the life prisoner with no chance of parole, and – most eloquent of all – the creator of the television series “The Wire”.
Until recently, the drug problem has been seen by many Americans as a black and brown issue and the strong emphasis on enforcement measures, with a growing use of mandatory minimum sentences, has led to a swollen ethnic prison population that, for many whites, has swept the problem off the streets and out of sight. But the availability of different drugs and the loss of manufacturing jobs has led to more white, working class men being caught up in this destruction of both personalities and communities. So, at its core, this is not an issue of ethnicity but one of poverty.
The film argues that the policies of the last four decades have failed and need to be fundamentally rethought. Drug use should be considered as less an issue of criminal justice and more a matter of public health. Many drug users are not evil or selfish but victims of poverty and deprivation who are trying to find some income where there is little employment and some solace when life is so miserable.
This is a stunning documentary that raises profound issues – and not just for Americans. It will not be an easy film to see at the cinema, so catch it on television (as I did) or buy or rent it. Meanwhile here’s the trailer:
Posted in American current affairs | Comments (0)
A winter wonderland throughout Britain
January 18th, 2013 by Roger Darlington
Here in London, it started snowing about 8.30 am and only stopped in mid afternoon. The whole scene is now a magical icing of white. I know that almost all of Britain is now under snow – while friends in Australia are struggling with temperatures of more than 40C.
In spite of the snow, I ventured out this morning to my local shopping centre in Harrow.
First, I wanted to visit Mothercare to collect an order of Peppa Pig pyjamas. These are for my darling ganddaughter Catrin who was two this week and has a real thing about Peppa Pig at the moment. I’m due to babysit with her tomorrow evening and I want to surprise her with my birthday gift which she can wear when I put her to bed.
Then I needed to call into my O2 store. Last weekend, I obtained an iPhone 5 and it’s been brilliant except for one problem. For some reason, I could not send e-mails (although I could receive them). The local guru Upul soon fixed things, so now my iPhone is working perfectly and I’m thrilled with it.
Posted in My life & thoughts | Comments (0)
A review of the new film “Quartet”
January 16th, 2013 by Roger Darlington
Moviemakers have woken up to the fact that not all film fans are teenagers guzzling popcorn and checking their mobile. So a new stream of films is appealing to an older audience. One current example is the British work “Quartet” which I’ve reviewed here.
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