Archive for July, 2019


Ilhan Omar: so patient, so eloquent, so right

July 31st, 2019 by Roger Darlington

Posted in American current affairs | Comments (0)


What would really be involved in a no-deal Brexit and why we should be really worried

July 30th, 2019 by Roger Darlington

In the last few days, a whole bunch of new Cabinet ministers will have been briefed by civil servants on the consequences of a no-deal Brexit and the planning that will be required to mitigate these consequences. These Ministers will now know what a cabal of ex Cabinet Ministers have known for a long time […]

Posted in British current affairs | Comments (2)


There are still some Americans who think that President Trump is not racist …

July 29th, 2019 by Roger Darlington

They should watch this short clip from Victor Blackwell of CNN – until the end …

Posted in British current affairs | Comments (1)


A review of the new version of “The Lion King”

July 28th, 2019 by Roger Darlington

I’ve never seen the original 1994 animated movie musical – my son was too old and I didn’t have grandchildren then. But I decided to catch this 2019 remake even though the granddaughters were away on holiday. Clearly the main reason for a new version is the advance in technology and it has to be […]

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A review of the memoir “Becoming” by Michelle Obama

July 26th, 2019 by Roger Darlington

Barack and Michelle Obama occupied the White House for the eight yeara 2009-2017. He has already written a memoir – but only of the first three decades of his life – in the form of the 1995 work “Dreams From My Father” but he has yet to write about his time as President. She has […]

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So how does the British political system actually work?

July 25th, 2019 by Roger Darlington

Britain has a new Prime Minister and a new Government. The media today are full of information about the new personalties and speculation about what this all means for Brexit. But how does the British political system work? It’s very different from other systems around the world and even the British are often confused about […]

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The dude who is now Britain’s Prime Minister

July 24th, 2019 by Roger Darlington

“We know the mantra of the campaign – in case you have forgotten it – it is deliver Brexit, unite the country and defeat Jeremy Corbyn and that is what we are going to do. Some wag has already pointed out that deliver, unite, defeat was not the perfect acronym for an election campaign since […]

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What is the most successful film of all time?

July 24th, 2019 by Roger Darlington

There are so many ways to judge this. Usually, because movies are essentially a business, the key criterion is money – but even here we have a choice between tickets sales in cash to tickets sales adjusted for inflation. This week, it was announced that in cash terms “Avengers: Endgame” has just overtaken “Avatar”. You […]

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Why does Iran hate Britain?

July 23rd, 2019 by Roger Darlington

They blame us (and the Russians) for the Persian famine of 1917-1919 when some two million (out of a population of 10M) died. Britain and Russia occupied the country at the time. More information here. They remember that we (and the Americans) emgineered a coup in 1953. This overthrew the democratically elected government of Mohammad […]

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Here in Britain, it’s going to be quite a week …

July 22nd, 2019 by Roger Darlington

We’re going to have a new Prime Minister – almost certainly Boris Johnson. The contrast in temperament and style with Theresa May could hardly be more stark. Although it remains to be seen whether policy changes – especially on Brexit – are really that different. We’re going to have a new Government with major changes […]

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