Ever heard of the Bechdel test for movies?
November 7th, 2013 by Roger Darlington
Devised by Alison Bechdel, the test is whether a film contains at least two named women characters who talk to each other about something other than a man. You’ll find a fuller examination here.
My all-time favourite film – “Lawrence Of Arabia” – fails the test totally. One of the best films I have seen recently – “Captain Phillips” – fails it too. So do all the “Star Wars” movies and all “The Lord Of The Rings” trilogy.
The test – for sexism in the cinema – is not infallible. after all, the film I will see this weekend – “Gravity” – has a serious and central role for a woman, played by Sandra bullock, and it too would fail the test.
But the test is a good way of stimululating debate on an important issue and in Sweden they are now classifying films using the test – see here.
Posted in Cultural issues | Comments (1)
Water bills rising up the political agenda – and dominating my current workload
November 5th, 2013 by Roger Darlington
Today it was announced that the Secretary of State for the Environment has written to all water companies urging them to endeavour to keep bills down in the next Price Review period running from 2015-2020. Interestingly the actual text of the letter is not on the DEFRA web site [see here] but the “Guardian” has published it [see here].
The timing of this intervention is both obvious and odd. It is obvious because clearly the Government feels that it has to be seen to be making the right noises in the face of the Labour Opposition making successful running on the cost of living issue. It is odd in that, for the last year and a half, water companies have been working up business plans for the next Price Review period and these have to be submitted to the independent regulator Ofwat by 2 December, so there is little companies can do now to respond to the Government intervention even if they wanted to do so.
For the last year and a half, I have been chairing the Customer Challenge Group of South East Water and we have to submit our views on the company’s business plan for 2015-2020 to Ofwat by 2 December. Each water company has a CCG which will be doing the same thing.
So, for the past two months, I have been drafting and redrafting our report to pull together all our discussions with the company over the last year and half and comment on a very full and complex business plan. We are currently on Draft 4 which runs to 60 pages.
Roll on Christmas ….
Posted in British current affairs, My life & thoughts | Comments (1)
A review of the classic film “The Last Of The Mohicans”
November 5th, 2013 by Roger Darlington
One of the benefits of subscribing to a service like Lovefilm is that one can order classic movies from way back.
We have just enjoyed again the 1992 film “The Last Of The Mohicans” which I have reviewed here.
Posted in Cultural issues | Comments (0)
What 70 of the world’s leading human rights organisations have told David Cameron about the British government’s reaction to the mass surveillance revealed by Edward Snowden
November 4th, 2013 by Roger Darlington
“We have joined together as an international coalition of free speech, media freedom and human rights organisations because we believe that the United Kingdom government’s response to the revelations of mass surveillance of digital communications is eroding fundamental human rights in the country. The government’s response has been to condemn, rather than celebrate, investigative journalism, which plays a crucial role in a healthy democratic society.
We are alarmed at the way in which the UK government has reacted, using national security legislation against those who have helped bring this public interest information to global attention. We are concerned about:
• The use of Schedule 7 of the Terrorism Act 2000 to detain the Brazilian media worker, David Miranda on 18 August 2013 at London Heathrow Airport. Miranda was carrying journalistic material on behalf of the UK’s Guardian newspaper and is the partner of the journalist, Glenn Greenwald, who broke the story of mass surveillance of digital communications by the UK and USA
• The sustained pressure against the UK’s Guardian newspaper for reporting the disclosures of whistleblower, Edward Snowden, including sending officials to force the Guardian to destroy hard drives allegedly containing information from Snowden
• Your call on 16 October 2013 for a House of Commons Select Committee to review whether the Guardian has damaged national security by publishing material provided by Edward Snowden, and a subsequent announcement that the review will be conducted by the Home Affairs Select Committee as part of their inquiry into anti-terrorism.
We believe these actions clearly violate the right to freedom of expression, which is protected under British, European and international law. Under such laws, the right to freedom of expression includes the protection of both journalists, and those that assist them in the course of their vital work.
The right to freedom of expression and media freedom enable the free flow of information in order for the public to hold their governments to account. While the protection of national security can be a legitimate ground for restricting the right under international law, such restrictions are narrowly defined. Governments must show that a restriction is necessary to achieve a legitimate purpose and must be proportionate to the aim pursued. The presumption in favour of freedom of expression requires governments to demonstrate that the expression will actually harm national security; it is not sufficient to simply say that it will.
National security should never be used to justify preventing disclosures of illegalities or wrongdoing, no matter how embarrassing such disclosures may be to the UK or other governments. In the case of Snowden and the Guardian, the disclosures have facilitated a much-needed public debate about mass surveillance in a democracy, and exposed the possible violation of the fundamental human rights of millions of people worldwide. As such, no liability should be incurred as the benefit to the public outweighs the demonstrable harm to national security.
We also believe that this use of national security will have dangerous consequences for the right to freedom of expression and media freedom in the UK and beyond, creating a hostile and intimidating environment and discouraging those who could reveal uncomfortable truths and hold those in power to account. We are concerned that this will further create negative consequences for the reputation of the UK as an advocate for the protection and realisation of the right to freedom of expression and media freedom worldwide. States with little regard for the human rights of their people will seek to use the UK’s example to legitimise their own repressive practices.
The UK has a strong history of democracy, and while targeted surveillance may play an important role in protecting national security, in doing so it should not erode the very values it seeks to protect. We call on you to honour the UK’s international obligations to defend and protect the right to freedom of expression and media freedom, and to end the UK government’s pressure on the Guardian and those who assist them.”
You can find the full list of 70 signatories here.
Posted in Internet, World current affairs | Comments (0)
A day at the museums with Catrin and James
November 3rd, 2013 by Roger Darlington
On Friday, I was able to take my granddaughter Catrin out of nursery for the day to join our young friend Jen and her son James who is just a few months older than Catrin. This is the third time in the last few months that Catrin and James have spent a day together and they just adore each other’s company – laughing, cuddling, and holding hands. This time. we were joined by our dear friend Georgeanne who took some lovely pictures on her iPhone.
We started in the Science Museum and spent most of our time in a basement section called The Garden which is an adventure playground for young children. Then we walked round to the Victoria & Albert Museum which has an exercise for little ones called Agent Animal that involves them finding sculptures of various animals and pressing disks which emit the sound of that particular animal.
We had some lunch in the open air courtyard of the V&A and found ourselves in a long storytelling session. With Catrin on one knee and James on the other, I told the stories of “The Three Little Piggies”, “Goldilocks And The Three Bears”, “Little Red Riding Hood” and “Jack And The Beanstalk”. I don’t know who enjoyed it more – them or me.
“Now James, we are are in the Science Museum
and I think we should start in the basement section for us kids.”
Catrin and Roger study a sculpture
in the Victoria & Albert Museum
Roger tells a succession of fairy stories
to an enraptured James and Catrin
in the courtyard of the V&A
Posted in My life & thoughts | Comments (2)
Can you imagine a television programme on life in a cul-de-sac? (2)
November 2nd, 2013 by Roger Darlington
A month ago, I did a posting about being contacted by a television production company interested in making a documentary about living in a cul-de-sac. This was a follow up to a posting I did seven years ago!
I have subsequently spoken to a researcher for Landmark Films which is the company wanting to put together the programme for the BBC. I told them about our experience of three decades living in a cul-de-sac and offered to put around a flyer from them to my neighbours about the programme.
I’ve just returned from posting the flyers and I hope that several of my neighbours will now be in touch to share their views. One of my neighbours told me he reckons that, in the 27 houses that make up our crescent, some 17 nationalities are represented in some way (he is Lebanese and married to an Irish woman).
Let’s see what happens …
Posted in My life & thoughts | Comments (0)
A very new update on a classic Internet joke
November 1st, 2013 by Roger Darlington
Click here.
Posted in Internet | Comments (0)
Another poem by Rabindranath Tagore
October 31st, 2013 by Roger Darlington
Those who are near me do not know that you are nearer to me than they are
Those who speak to me do not know that my heart is full with your unspoken words
Those who crowd in my path do not know that I am walking alone with you
They who love me do not know that their love brings you to my heart.
The writer of this poem was Rabindranath Tagore (7 May 1861 – 7 August 1941), a Bengali poet, novelist, musician, painter and playwright who reshaped Bengali literature and music. He was the first non-European to be awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature (1913). I confess that I had never heard of this poem – or even of Tagore – until I was introduced to it recently by a dear Chinese friend.
Posted in Cultural issues | Comments (0)
How to make sense of all those place names in the British Isles
October 30th, 2013 by Roger Darlington
In Britain and Ireland, there are many place names with recurring elements. Obviously these bits of names mean something – but what?
Take the city of Manchester where I lived until I was 23. The ‘chester’ bit, which occurs in other place names, means a camp or fortification especially of Roman origin.
You can find a full guide to these components of place names here.
Posted in Cultural issues | Comments (0)
Do we need an African NATO?
October 29th, 2013 by Roger Darlington
My son Richard Darlington thinks so, as he explains in this cogent article for the “New Statesman”. Not surprisingly I’m sure, I agreed with him.
But I’m not just saying this because he is my son and very well informed on international matters. Six years ago, I wrote a posting on this blog about the case for what is sometimes called “liberal interventionism”.
Posted in World current affairs | Comments (0)