Archive for March, 2010
Who would be Obama’s Chief of Staff?
March 7th, 2010 by Roger Darlington
Rahm Emanuel, President Barack Obama’s Chief of Staff, is coming in for a rough side as the President’s record itself is assailed from different perspectives. As this article in the “Observer” explains, Emanuel is being attacked from both angles: on the one hand, there are those who say he is too conservative and has let […]
Posted in American current affairs | Comments (0)
Will the world end in 2012?
March 6th, 2010 by Roger Darlington
I very much doubt it, but some people are worried by a so-called Mayan prophecy that suggests that the world will cease on 21 December 2012. The prophecy was the basis for the movie “2012” which I’ve reviewed here. There are whole web sites devoted to the implications of the Mayan prophecy including one that […]
Posted in World current affairs | Comments (0)
Animals on the London underground
March 5th, 2010 by Roger Darlington
This is fun.
Posted in Miscellaneous | Comments (0)
“Rage On The Right”
March 5th, 2010 by Roger Darlington
America’s Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) has produced a new report entitled “Rage On The Right” which argues that “so-called “Patriot” groups — militias and other organizations that see the federal government as part of a plot to impose ‘one-world government’ on liberty-loving Americans — came roaring back after years out of the limelight”. The […]
Posted in World current affairs | Comments (0)
World Book Day
March 4th, 2010 by Roger Darlington
Today in the UK and Ireland it is World Book Day. Most other countries hold World Book Day on 23rd April every year – but, of course, we have to be different. In a sense, any day is a good day to celebrate books and reading. I have almost 200 book reviews on my web […]
Posted in Cultural issues | Comments (0)
When will China’s economy be the largest?
March 3rd, 2010 by Roger Darlington
At the end of this month, my wife and I will be revisiting China 10 years after we last travelled to the country on what was on our first experience of this resurgent nation [see my account of the trip here]. This time, we will be travelling with our young Chinese ‘family’ so we will […]
Posted in World current affairs | Comments (2)
Brooke, Ashcroft and the FoI
March 2nd, 2010 by Roger Darlington
Oh, the irony of it … As dramatised in the BBC4 programme “On Expenses” broadcast a week ago, although the “Daily Telegraph” did a brilliant job in exposing the scandal of MPs’ expenses, this came only after years of effort by the tireless American-born campaigner Heather Brooke. In fact, the BBC itself – for which […]
Posted in British current affairs | Comments (0)
Enjoying Vincent van Gogh
March 1st, 2010 by Roger Darlington
Today, with friends Ivan and Ros, Vee and I visited the Royal Academy in central London to see the exhibition “The Real Van Gogh: The Artist And His Letters”. This is the first major exhibition of van Gogh’s work to be shown in London for over 40 years and it is a real treat. There […]
Posted in Cultural issues | Comments (0)
Now it gets interesting …
March 1st, 2010 by Roger Darlington
It’s 66 days to the likely date of the General Election (Thursday, 6 May 2010) and the latest opinion poll – the Sunday Times/YouGov survey – shows the Conservatives just 2% ahead of Labour. As I blogged here, when we were 100 days from the election, the Tory lead was 11%. As we near the […]
Posted in British current affairs | Comments (0)