A large attendance occurred at our Current Affairs Group on Monday 02 March 2026. Given the events of the past seven days, this was only to be expected.
We began with a quick review of the obituaries, including Michael Turner who had lived locally and had built up a worldwide following for his paintings of racing cars. Also included was Neil Sedaka, the song writer and pianist. Sedaka had visited the UK on several occasions during his career, and some members of the Current Affairs Group were able to provide personal recollections of his performances here.
We then moved on to the burning topic of the day, the developing situation in the Middle East combined with its coverage in the broadcast media in the UK. The ideas raised were explored in some depth, including the political and economic consequences likely to develop in the Middle East, and in those countries not in the Middle East participating in events there. Some members tried to draw parallels with the events in Ukraine in 2022, but that proved much harder than expected. Much time was spent assessing the motivations of the parties, and on the role of International Law in attempting to deal with the actors and the consequences. Equality of treatment of other parties around the world also came under scrutiny.
After a break for refreshments, the group returned for the topic of the previous week’s By Election, and the meaning of the results for the parties standing and for the electorate in the constituency. Many views were expressed, but the conversation returned repeatedly to the fact that this had been a By Election, and in the past By Elections have not been good indicators of the results of subsequent General Elections.
The final topic of the morning was the development of Artificial Intelligence in the Movie Industry and in the creative arts in general. There was acceptance that artificial characters in the movies are not as new as some people think, and Mickey Mouse was amongst those cited! After two hours of intensive discussion, all the members left on friendly terms.
The next meeting will be on Monday 09 March 2026 at 10:00am.