The rise and rise and rise of CO2 in our atmosphere (2)
May 10th, 2013 by Roger Darlington
Ten days ago, I did a posting warning that we were in danger of recording shortly a level of CO2 in the atmosphere of 400 parts per million. Today we have the news that this symbolic level has indeed been measured.
We are creating a terrible legacy for our children and our grandchildren and we must act now for the sake of all today’s and tomorrow’s humankind.
Posted in Environment | Comments (3)
What is money anyway?
May 10th, 2013 by Roger Darlington
They say that money makes the world go round, but increasingly this is not notes and coins but simply the binary digits nought and one, as I explain in this article.
Posted in Internet | Comments (0)
How many women are members of the UK Parliament?
May 9th, 2013 by Roger Darlington
This week, a new female Member of Parliament arrived at Westminster: Emma Lewell-Buck, Labour MP for South Shields.
That brings the number of women Labour MPs to 86. The Conservatives have just 48, while the Liberal Democrats have only seven.
Altogether, there are 146 women MPs out of a total of 650 – a proportion of 22.5%. It’s still nowhere near enough.
You can see the full details here.
Posted in British current affairs | Comments (0)
Should the atomic bomb have been dropped on Japan in 1945?
May 8th, 2013 by Roger Darlington
I am currently in the process of watching on Sky Atlantic the series “Oliver Stone’s Untold History Of The United States”. It’s a fascinating, if controversial, project and I have just seen the third of the 10 episodes. This deals with the end of the Second World War in the Pacific and the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima (which i have visited) and Nagasaki.
The conventional wisdom is that, without the use of the bomb, the United States would have had to make a land invasion of Japan which would have resulted in hundreds of thousands of dead and injured American troops.
Oliver Stone argues that the intervention in the east of the Soviet Union would have quickly led to Japan’s surrender and that US President Harry Truman authorised the use of the bomb for geo-political reasons – essentially to demonstrate to Stalin the new power of the US in an effort to block the Soviets’ aggressive post-war intentions.
It’s a fascinating thesis – but highly debatable.
Posted in History | Comments (0)
A review of the film “End Of Watch”
May 8th, 2013 by Roger Darlington
This gritty movie of Los Angeles cops in above their heads is reviewed here.
Posted in Cultural issues | Comments (0)
Many think that Net is regulated and should be more regulated
May 7th, 2013 by Roger Darlington
- Four in ten (40%) thought the internet was regulated. Almost half (47%) felt that current levels of internet regulation were ‘too little’, (increasing to 54% among parents), 23% said ‘about right’ and 28% said they didn’t know whether it was about right or not. Since 2010 the proportion of respondents who said they ‘did not know’ has declined (from 38%).
- Since 2010 opinions that the amount of regulation for the internet is too little have increased from 41% in 2010 to almost half (47%) of UK adults in 2012. This rises to more than half (53%) among parents.
These are findings from today’s Ofcom report on UK audience attitudes to the broadcast media. You can read the full text here.
Posted in Internet | Comments (2)
What do I think about the Internet?
May 7th, 2013 by Roger Darlington
I gave this interview to Virgin Media.
Posted in Internet, My life & thoughts | Comments (0)
The rise and rise of UKIP – and why it won’t last (1)
May 5th, 2013 by Roger Darlington
British readers will be well aware that, in last week’s local elections in England, the UK Independence Party (UKIP) led by Nigel Farage, did spectacularly well, taking 23% of the vote and winning 147 council seats. Non-British readers may find this a very odd development and wonder what is going on.
There are some very British factors at play here:
- Disillusionment with the political establishment as a result of factors like the expenses scandal and Cameron’s Eton coterie
- Despair as the impact of the banking crisis continues and Britain barely escapes a triple-dip recession
- Resentment at the number of immigrants from the new Eastern European EU member states
- The non-availability of the Liberal Democrats as a protest vehicle now that they are in an unpopular coalition government
But we should see the rise of of UKIP in Britain as part of a much broader trend whereby, in many democratic countries facing deep economic and political challenges, new populist political parties have garnered huge numbers of votes in a short period of time. Think, for instance, of:
- In France, the National Front led by Marine Le Pen
- In Italy, the Five Star Movement led by Beppe Grillo
- In Greece, SYRIZA led by Alexis Tsipras
- In The Netherlands, the Fredoom Party led by Geert Wilders
- In Israel, Yesh Atid led by Yair Lapid
So the rise of of a protest party like UKIP is not unprecedented – but what will happen now? I venture to suggest that, within two or three years, the party will implode for a mixture of external and internal factors.
The external factors will include:
- focus on their lack of credible politics
- examination of the record and pronouncements of their eclectic candidates
- performance on councils of their elected representatives
The internal factors will include:
- disagreements over the development of new policies
- scandals over sources of funding
- personality clashes at all levels of this chaotic organisation
UKIP may do very well in next year’s European elections when they will be helped by resentment against the EU, low turn-out, and a proportional representation system. But, by the time of the General Election in 2015, besides all the external and internal pressures that I have identified, the focus will be more on the economy than Europe, turn-out will be much higher diluting the UKIP vote, and the first-past-the-post system will deny them more than a few seats.
Posted in British current affairs, World current affairs | Comments (2)
The chart that says it all on the MMR jab and the incidence of measles
May 3rd, 2013 by Roger Darlington
Posted in British current affairs, Social policy | Comments (0)
A piece of music that I really love
May 2nd, 2013 by Roger Darlington
Enjoy 10 minutes of joy and excitement.
Posted in Cultural issues | Comments (0)