Warwick Leadership Foundation

Harriet Harman MP caused controversy again, with her comments about women in leadership. She said she does “not agree with all-male leaderships” because men “cannot be left to run things on their own.” 

The problem with these statements and the sentiment behind them, is that Harman is both right and wrong.  Traditionally, women earn less than men, even when they do the same jobs.  Sometimes this happens in the guise of modified job titles.

The American Dream  is what makes Americans American.  The Dream has always been about social and economic mobility, guaranteed rights and golden opportunity.  This is at the heart of John Steinbeck’s epic novel Grapes of Wrath and the Joad family’s quest for a new life.

Recently, the Dream has been rudely interrupted.  Global financial distress has altered spending and saving habits.  The US federal government has bailed out huge companies like General Motors.  Federal and state governments have huge debts.

Candidates for office in America have traditionally sent out regular campaign emails.  If you wish to support a candidate, one way is to sign up to receive their daily, weekly, or monthly email updates.  It’s a tried and tested method for spreading a candidate’s views efficiently.

However, this past presidential election saw a change in communication tactics.  Social networking sites took an prominent role in influencing the minds of many voters. Emails and other methods were used, but Facebook and Twitter took the lead.

What does it take to convince Kim Jong-il to do something the US wants?

It takes celebrity attention.  Let me explain.

Earlier this year, two American journalists from California were imprisoned in North Korea.  They had entered the country illegally from China.  For this offence, they were sentenced to 12 years hard labour.

The US State Department immediately got involved.  They spent weeks trying to negotiate a bargain with North Korea, treating the issue as completely separate to the most recent nuclear testing. 

Lets face it, Financial regulation is in a mess. For too long the government has been happy to sit back and do a bit of political tweaking here and there, but no more. Lord Myners, City minister, crumbled at the Treasury committee meeting after the government published their White Paper on financial regulation. This was seen as a missed opportunity and lacked any real substance. Is there anyone who can regain stability to a fractured financial system?

This current recession calls for new and innovative responses. Not to worry.  The G8, plus a few others, put their heads together to tackle economic problems around the world.

Soon, the G8 will most likely begin to incorporate other nations, creating a new G14 or G24.  Nations like China, India, Brazil, South Africa and Mexico are increasingly important to any global decision-making process.  Global climate and large trade deals cannot be made without the G5 and other rising nations.  The economies of the G8 are shrinking, but the up-and-coming nations are just that: up and coming. 

In these uncertain economic times, we are all concerned about the future. Although the recent G20 summit in London appeared to be a media success, in reality there is no quick fix to these problems.

So, are we helpless or do we have real insight into the way the world should progress? The Bible clearly shows that God wants to communicate with us concerning our future.

I believe life has been given by God and belongs to God.

Later today the House of Lords is considering the Coroners and Justice Bill. The Bill, in clauses 49-51, seeks to amend the 1961 Suicide Act to clarify the offence of encouraging or assisting suicide in relation to the internet. Such online activity has become known as ‘suicide websites’. This is an important measure that should help the emotionally vulnerable, especially young people.