How can the Israeli Government improve the image of the country?
February 9th, 2016 by Roger Darlington
Well, one approach is to be found in this news item which explains:
“The Israeli government is offering directors and actors shortlisted for this year’s Oscars a trip to the Holy Land worth $55,000 (£38,000) in the hope of countering recent bad press for the country.
The voucher for a 10-day trip, valid for one year and partly funded by the Israeli government, which is also being offered to the ceremony’s presenters, is the most expensive freebie in the Oscars gift bag, making up a quarter of the bag’s $200,000 value.
The trip, which includes first-class flights for two and accommodation in five-star hotels, is worth roughly twice the average Israeli salary.”
Of course, another approach would be for the Israeli Government to change its policies and seriously negotiate a two-state solution. Meanwhile it could stop supporting illegal settlements in occupied territories and legislating to discriminate against Israeli Arabs.
I’m a (critical) friend of Israel and paid for my own visit to the country.
Posted in World current affairs | Comments (0)
Remembering my mother: Anna Darlington
February 8th, 2016 by Roger Darlington
Today is the anniversary of my mother’s death. She died 17 years ago, just short of reaching age 79. So it was not a short life, but it was a tough one and, for the last decade, a very limited one.
My sister, my brother and I think about her often – especially on a day like today. Naturally I remember her funeral and you can read my oration here.
But I also think of her life and how much I owe her. Some years ago, I wrote a short story inspired by the memory of my mother, but it was much less a story of the life she actually had than perhaps the sort of life I would have liked her to have had. You can read it here.
Posted in My life & thoughts | Comments (0)
A review of the Oscar-contending film “The Revenant”
February 6th, 2016 by Roger Darlington
At this year’s Academy Awards, “The Revenant” will be up for the highest number of awards having been shortlisted in no less than 12 categories.
It is a stunning work which I have now seen. You can read my review here.
Posted in Cultural issues | Comments (2)
How to cope with unemployment
February 5th, 2016 by Roger Darlington
I’ve been very fortunate – I’m retired now and I never had a period of unemployment, But many relatives and friends of mine have experienced unemployment, this situations seems to be affecting more people more often, and so I sought advice from a friend who knows what unemployment is like.
You can find his advice here.
Posted in Miscellaneous | Comments (0)
You learn something every day. Let me introduce you to RAMSAR
February 4th, 2016 by Roger Darlington
For the past four years, I have chaired a body – currently called the Customer Panel – for a company called South East Water. The operation and regulation of the water sector is incredibly complicated with lots of specialist terminology and a great many acronyms.
This week, we had a meeting at which we focused especially on environmental issues. We learned that some 44% of the area covered by South East Water lies within landscape which has some kind of environmental designation. The national average is 24%.
So there are 144 SSSIs which are Sites of Special of Special Scientific Interest – a designation I know. But the paper before us mentioned five RAMSAR sites and this was an acronym that was totally new to me.
A quick search on Google revealed that RAMSAR is not actually an acronym but a place – a town in Iran where in 1971 there was agreement on the Ramsar Convention (formally, the Convention on Wetlands of International Importance, especially as Waterfowl Habitat).
You learn something every day …
Posted in Environment | Comments (3)
U.S. presidential election (19): the previous, the next and the last contests
February 3rd, 2016 by Roger Darlington
So, in the first state to have primaries, Ted Cruz beat Donald Trump in the Republican race and effectively Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders tied in the Democratic contest. In a perceptive analysis of the Iowa results, “Guardian” correspondent Gary Younge concludes his piece:
“Last night’s results lay bare the scale and depth of the realignment that has been taking place within the country for almost a generation: a polarisation of left and right that has made elections more volatile, politics more gridlocked and discourse more shrill. A socialist is in the running for the Democratic nomination; Donald Trump could be president. If these are the things we are saying in February, imagine what we might be saying come the Democratic and Republican conventions in July.”
It’s now on to New Hampshire where it looks likely that Trump will win for the Republicans and Sanders will be the victor for the Democrats. It’s still very early days though and it may well be that the general election will be between Marco Rubio on the Republican side and Hillary Clinton for the Democrats – and the result could be close.
If this is the shape of the general election, then the White House would have either its first Latino president or its first female president which, coming after the first black president, would be another page in the history books. The whole world is watching …
Posted in American current affairs | Comments (0)
U.S. presidential election (18): the results of the Iowa caucuses
February 2nd, 2016 by Roger Darlington
Iowa was the first of the 50 US states to decide who its delegates should be to the Republican and Democratic party conventions which will choose a candidate for the presidential election in November. What were the results?
Republican vote, 99% reported:
Ted Cruz: 27.6%, eight delegates
Donald Trump: 24.3%, seven delegates
Marco Rubio: 23.1%, seven delegates
Ben Carson: 9.3%, three delegates
Rand Paul: 4.5%, one delegate
Jeb Bush: 2.8%, one delegate
Chris Christie, Carly Fiorina, Jim Gilmore, Mike Huckabee, John Kasich and Rick Santorum: less than 2% each, no delegates
Democratic vote, 99% reported:
Hillary Clinton: 49.8%, 22 delegates
Bernie Sanders: 49.6%, 21 delegates
Martin O’Malley: 0.5%, no delegates
Posted in American current affairs | Comments (0)
A review of the new film “Spotlight”
February 2nd, 2016 by Roger Darlington
The subject matter of this particular film – child abuse by Catholic clergy in Boston – is heavy, but the story of how it was investigated and revealed by reporters on a local newspaper makes for compelling viewing.
You can read my review of the film here.
Posted in Cultural issues | Comments (0)
Let’s enjoy (and admire) President Barack Obama while we can
February 1st, 2016 by Roger Darlington
Regular readers of NightHawk will know that I have been an admirer of Barack Obama since even before he entered the Senate. On the day that the election of his successor as US President begins in earnest with the Iowa caucuses. let’s take a moment to reflect on the person who currently occupies the White House.
I’m with Dick Meyer who states in this column:
“Americans are lucky to have Barack Obama as president and we should wake up and appreciate it while we can. President Obama will go down in history as an extraordinary president, probably a great one. He will have done this in an era that doesn’t aggrandize leaders and presidents, but shrinks them. All presidents have had profound opposition, vicious enemies and colossal failures. A few were beloved and others deeply respected in their day, but none in the modern era and certainly not Obama.”
Posted in American current affairs | Comments (0)
How the Internet is changing lives one person at a time
February 1st, 2016 by Roger Darlington
For four years now, I have been a Non-Executive Director on the Board of the Tinder Foundation (previously the Online Centres Foundation), which co-ordinates the work of 3,800 online training centres in England. I think it is useful for me, from time to time, to visit an actual centre and see the work at the screen-face so to speak.
So, a few days ago, I visited my fourth online centre. It was located in the East End of London, just round the corner from the site of the famous 1888 Matchgirls’ Strike. The centre is located in the Eastside Youth and Community Centre and managed by Circle Housing Old Ford under the inspirational leadership of Sheniz Ildeniz.
I made a point of talking to each staff member and student and everyone had a story. Many were women from Bangladesh but others hailed from places like Northern Cyprus or St Lucia or East London. Each life has been touched by the Internet, whether it is improving their English, enabling them to communicate with distant relatives, allowing them to find employment information, empowering them to make an online purchase, or learning how to use social media.
I congratulated each person on his or her progress and commitment, but many of them wanted to thank me for the support that the centre is receiving from the Tinder Foundation. Truly, a humbling experience.
Posted in History, Internet, My life & thoughts | Comments (1)