Archive for November, 2017
Long overdue for Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs to tighten up seriously on tax avoidance
November 8th, 2017 by Roger Darlington
The ‘Paradise Papers’ are just the latest in a long line of tax scandals. The system, which is rigged to benefit the privileged few at the expense of everyone else, is broken. The impact on our public services of these corrupt practices, protected by a veil of secrecy, has been devastating. After seven years of […]
Posted in British current affairs | Comments (0)
A review of the new life-affirming film “Breathe”
November 7th, 2017 by Roger Darlington
Breathing is the most natural thing on earth, right? But when British tea broker Robin Cavendish contracted polio in Kenya in 1958, he found that he was paralysed from the neck down and could not breathe without the constant support of a mechanical ventilator. This true story is told with Andrew Garfield as Robin and […]
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What are the Paradise Papers and what do they tell us?
November 6th, 2017 by Roger Darlington
What are the Paradise Papers? The name refers to a leak of 13.4m files. Most of the documents – 6.8m – relate to a law firm and corporate services provider that operated together in 10 jurisdictions under the name Appleby. Last year, the “fiduciary” arm of the business was the subject of a management buyout […]
Posted in World current affairs | Comments (0)
How can you cope with Brexit, Trump, North Korea and all the crazy things happening in the world right now?
November 5th, 2017 by Roger Darlington
A feature in the colour supplement of this weekend’s “Guardian” newspaper concludes with five pieces of advice. 1 Look after yourself “Self-care” has become a cliche, but while it is far from the panacea it is sometimes claimed to be, it is a crucial ingredient in staying sane. You may be surprised how frequently even the […]
Posted in World current affairs | Comments (2)
Who would want to be Prime Minister of Lebanon?
November 5th, 2017 by Roger Darlington
It is disturbing news that Lebanese Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri has resigned, saying in a televised broadcast from Saudi Arabia that he feared for his life. Hariri’s father, former Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri, was assassinated in 2005. In 2011, I visited Lebanon (having previously toured Syria). During the trip, I read a fascinating book called “Beware Of […]
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The centenary of the Balfour Declaration
November 3rd, 2017 by Roger Darlington
This week has marked the centenary of the Balfour Declaration of 1917 which led to the creation of Israel in 1948. The letter stated: “His Majesty’s government view with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, and will use their best endeavours to facilitate the achievement of this object, […]
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Not the film I was expecting (1): a review of “Thor: Ragnarok”
November 2nd, 2017 by Roger Darlington
This is the not the film I was expecting. As the third entry in the “Thor” franchise, I anticipated a traditional super-hero movie like the previous two: lots of drama and threat and the occasional humorous one-liner. But this is actually the funniest by far of all the works in the Marvel canon (now 17 […]
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Not the film I was expecting (2): a review of “The Death Of Stalin”
November 2nd, 2017 by Roger Darlington
This is not the film I was expecting. Knowing that it was both written and directed by the British Armando Iannucci who gave us the outrageous delights of “In The Loop”, “The Thick of It” and Veep”, I thought that I was going to encounter a full-blown, satirical comedy (and the trailer had confirmed this […]
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In praise of the 10-part television series on “The Vietnam War”
November 1st, 2017 by Roger Darlington
Over the past few weeks, I’ve watched recordings of every episode of a new 10-part American television series titled simply “The Vietnam War”. The script was written by Geoffrey C. Ward and narrated by Peter Coyote with direction by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick. In the USA, the series was broadcast by PBS while, here in the UK, […]
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