I, Claudius - Imperial intrigue at its finest (1976)

Blog Rating: 8.90 out of 10

                          

I, Claudius - Emperor and God, produced by the BBC in 1976, based on the novel by Robert Graves.

The series recounts in detail all the conspiracies of the Roman imperial family from the reign of Emperor Augustus to the end of the reign of Emperor Nero. The characters lie, cheat, manipulate, poison and kill in search of power.

                          

Derek Jacobi as Claudius

The story is told from the point of view of the elderly Emperor Claudius, who, on the threshold of his death, makes his final statement to the entire family. In short, he sits in his study and writes his memoirs.

Old, fragile and under the premonition of his own death, Claudius, ruler of the Roman Empire, decides to write the story of his life. Reconstructed from the memory and stories of others, the story already begins with events before his birth, and in the course of the plot a net is deployed tied in three strategic points: intrigue, betrayal and death by accident. If you think your family is bad, you haven't seen anything yet.

George Baker (Tiberius)

The Mater Familias Livia, the wife of Emperor Augustus, is the center of all evil. With the help of manipulation and poison, she knows how to turn everything and everyone around. She is the smartest, but she is certainly not the only bad apple in the imperial family. Her son Tiberius is tough and her great-grandson Caligula is a maniac. Good family members are exterminated one by one. Only the lame Claudius escapes because he consciously stays on the surface and increases his clumsiness. Members of his crime family do not see him as an opponent in the ongoing struggle for power.

Sian Phillips (Livia)

The optical design of the series was extraordinarily spartan; although there are always nice little details to admire, in general, the staging is very unspectacular. Obviously, the creators here were one hundred percent theater-oriented. Some of the sets are so small that apart from a few paper-mâché pillars, a chandelier and black curtains, only the actors can be identified. There are no external recordings at all.

John Hurt (Caligula)

The BBC-produced series contains enough material to keep viewers intrigued throughout its thirteen episodes.

Although viewers today are much more demanding than they were forty years ago, the fact that the entire series was shot in the studio does not detract from the quality. The only thing that can be said to the detriment is that the series is a bit slow at times.

   

The Pillars of the Earth - Power struggles in 12th century England (2010)

Blog Rating: 9.05 out of 10

This series is based on the best-selling book by the well-known British writer Ken Follett, in which he tells the story that describes the entire process of building a cathedral in the English city of Kingsbridge. Ken Follett engages his protagonists in intrigues, allowing them to experience the violence and despotism of those times and reward them for their faith and devotion.

In 1135, King Henry I of England died, leaving no successor. As he only had illegitimate children, as his only legitimate child was killed in a shipwreck, it sparked an endless dispute over the crown. Meanwhile, a bricklayer with his pregnant wife moves through the fields in search of work.

Ian McShane as Waleran Bigod

Tom Builder (Rufus Sewell) is a builder and is looking for a job. With his pregnant wife and his two children, he wanders through the Shiring area when they meet the witch who lives in the forest, Ellen (Natalia Wörner). His son Jack (Eddie Redmayne) is calm and very skilled with his hands. When Builder's wife dies at the birth of the baby, Tom places it in the grave, where a monk picks it up and takes it to Kingsbridge. Local prior Philipp (Matthew MacFayden) wants to rebuild the old cathedral, where Tom takes over the work.

Mathhew Macfadyen as Philip

At the same time a war of succession begins in England between the sons of the deceased king. Stephan (Tony Curran) and Mathilda (Alison Pitt) fight each other in battle, and the church through Waleran Bigod (Ian McShane) eagerly joins in. Nothing works without the approval of the clergyman, who looks out for his own interests, and the construction of Kingsbridge Cathedral is constantly delayed. As a result, the work continues for decades, leaving Tom Builder, Prior Philip, and his assistants more than once with problems that seem impossible to solve.

Evil church servants, bloody battles, intrigue, sex, and tragedy are featured in abundance throughout the series.

Eddie Redmayne as Jack

In this interesting story, the obnoxious bishop of the church, Ian McShane, stands out above all, who portrayed his devious character in an extraordinarily compelling way. But the good guys Matthew Macfadyen or the red-haired Eddie Redmayne dominate their roles with great success. There are also household names like Rufus Sewell and Donald Sutherland, who also contribute to the success of the story. A very well accomplished work...simply unmissable.

Friends - 10 seasons of unconditional friendship (1994-2004)

Blog Rating: 8.95 out of 10

The Friends series, which began in 1994, features the adventures -mostly funny and sometimes emotional- of six friends from New York. Monica, Rachel, Phoebe, Chandler, Ross and Joey, six strong characters, sources of jokes and misunderstandings.

Joey is the charming and not always the brightest Italian who, for most of the series, performs as an actor in the smallest roles in the world. Chandler, unlike Joey, has less luck with girls and is more fortunate in a permanent job. Rachel is the fashion conscious woman who was about to get married. The big love story of the series is between her and Ross, who is Monica's nerdy older brother. Phoebe is the eccentric woman who usually has an alternate perspective on everyday phenomena.

A comedy that long stood at the top of the audience, it drew dozens of guest stars who sometimes participated for the simple pleasure of performing three lines of dialogue.

There is no doubt that the best seasons are the first ones. The longer you get into the show, the more it begins to deal with family, kids, careers, and other issues of everyday life.

No matter what this group of friends come up with, be it problems at work, on a date, in the family, or with the neighbor, friendship is there to support each other.

During the 10-season series, there are a group of notable guest star appearances including Bruce Willis, Brad Pitt, George Clooney, Sean Penn, Winona Ryder, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Julia Roberts, Alec Baldwin, and others.

The Twilight Zone (1959-1964)

Blog Rating: 9.00 out of 10

Starting in 1959, a new series aired, which ran for 159 episodes, almost cult status among fans of the fantastic. Each episode was hosted by the "father of the series" Rod Serling in a nutshell, and then in about 25 minutes, a much better story was told, like a two-hour movie from today. For many guest actors, who later became world famous stars, it was also a stepping stone to the top.

The series was a collection of various short stories ranging from the tragic to the comic. They can be scary or just cause reflection. Most of the episodes have unexpected endings and a moral lesson. But, no matter what, they are "a journey to a wonderful land, whose limits are those of the imagination."

Rod Serling, creator and host of the series, won two Emmy Awards for Outstanding Writing (1960 and 1961) and the 1962 Golden Globe for Best Television Director / Producer.

The typical introductory phrase of the program was:

"There is a fifth dimension beyond that which is known to man. It is a dimension as vast as space and as timeless as infinity. It is the middle ground between light and shadow, between science and superstition, and it lies between the pit of man's fears and the summit of his knowledge. This is the dimension of imagination. It is an area which we call...the Twilight Zone.

Bloodline - They are not bad people, but they did something bad (2015-2017)

Blog Rating: 9.05 out of 10

The group's black sheep returns home to his family, who aren't exactly happy to see him.

Bloodline is a critically acclaimed Netflix series that has received rave reviews. In the lead roles are actors Kyle Chandler, Ben Mendelsohn, Linda Cardellini, Norbert Leo Butz and Sissy Spacek.

Kyle Chandler as John Rayburn

The story is centered on a family that is doing well, they run their own business in an idyllic setting and several of them have good jobs. But one day the eldest son appears, who has not seen them for a long time.

Danny, who is the black sheep in the family, has a plan, which reflects his past hatred against his perfect family; a very well accomplished character.

Ben Mendelsohn as Danny Rayburn

By gradually revealing the existence of a drama that has marked the Rayburn clan, the series gains intensity and quickly becomes riveting. Aided by the very accurate portrayals of the main cast members, the plot grows throughout the episodes.

Bloodline gets addictive in just a few episodes and once the marathon is on, it will be hard to give up. The threads of Rayburn's story are seamlessly woven, offering each character an interesting role, judiciously incorporating jealousy, resentment, and competition induced by blood ties.

Danny's return causes the family facade to begin to crumble and all the dark secrets threaten to be revealed...

Billions - Power is the ultimate goal (2016-)

Blog Rating: 9.15 out of 10

"Billions" is a story of attack and defense between the powerful United States Attorney Chuck Rhoades (Paul Giamatti) and the billionaire Bobby Axelrod (Damian Lewis). Chuck is pursuing a federal case against Axelrod and his fund, Ax Capital, driven by any direct evidence of wrongdoing rather than his unacknowledged envy: Chuck's wife, Wendy (Maggie Siff), is an employee of Ax Capital and one of the Axelrod's closest confidants.

Paul Giamatti as Chuck Rhoades

On the Ax side, bottomless pockets are used to reward friends, clear up problems, and resolve old grudges.

While the common man is preoccupied with paying his mortgage, billionaire Bobby Axelrod throws USD 63 million on the table for his new dream home.

Damian Lewis as Bobby Axelrod

Prosecutor Chuck Rhoades will have to take down a big shot, because the media increasingly suggests that justice does not dare to confront the big financial companies. So there will be a fight between the two men. A battle in which many people will be dragged.

It's very rare to find a show with such a diverse cast that they come together so well. Each character is perfectly cast. You don't know which side you are on; all you know is that they are all "right" in their convictions in some way.

Maggie Siff as Wendy

Is the judicial system at the height of this type of heavy weights? Can the legal system misuse its power to fight these kinds of giants? These are questions that can be applied not only in the US but also in any other country where these relationships exist.

A good drama to know details of the intimacy of these little worlds ...

Mechanisms of Constitutional Change in the World

The international experience of the constituent processes shows different mechanisms that have been used for the elaboration of Constitutions, depending on the political circumstances, the political institutional traditions of each country and also on the mechanisms that the same current Constitutions contemplate for said process.

The different mechanisms that have been used worldwide for the discussion and drafting of a new constitutional text are described below.

1) Legislative Power, this name is used to refer to those cases in which the main body in charge of preparing and approving the new constitutional text is the congress or parliament. Parliamentarians can participate in their entirety (Brazil 1988, El Salvador 1992, Korea 1987) or a special commission of parliamentarians can be formed to draft it. The countries that have done so under this last procedure are: Bolivia in 1994, Nicaragua 1995, Angola 2010, Croatia 2000, Greece 1975, Poland 1997, Czech Republic 1993.

2) Constituent Assembly or National Constituent Assembly, is a collegiate body made up of a group of citizens elected by popular vote to exclusively discuss and design a new text and constitutional order and not to exercise legislative powers.

In recent times, the trend has been that the constitutional texts decided and approved by constituent assemblies have been ratified by the citizens through a referendum.

It is the longest way because previously a consultation is needed to decide who are its members and, later, another to approve the text. However, the process has the support of the population, in times of change.

Once they have prepared their work and the constitution enters into force, after approval, their election is without effect and in charge of the legislative power constituted in the last election.

National Congress building, located in the city of Valparaiso, Chile

3) Constituent Commission or Commission of Experts. This type of mechanism refers to those cases in which the institution in charge of the discussion of the contents and the elaboration of the new constitutional text corresponds to a group of experts and persons considered notable in a given society, which generally includes lawyers and / or other professionals related to the area of ​​constitutional law or social sciences.

These could be national and / or foreign experts, and even members of different branches of the State. Unlike the Constituent Assembly, the commission is made up of people appointed and not elected by popular vote.

That designation is usually made by the executive power. The constituent or expert commission is given the power to discuss the contents of the new fundamental carta and the preparation of the text thereof, which must then be ratified, either by the authority or bodies that appointed it, by the legislative power, by the citizens through a plebiscite or referendum, or by more than one of them.

Constitutions synthesize rules and norms that order the social and political coexistence of a community. Until recently, legal theory stated that the longevity of these normative bodies was an essential characteristic of democratic societies, however, comparative studies from the social sciences show that total changes to constitutions occur much more frequently than anticipated.

In fact, between 1947 and 1989, 139 countries wrote new constitutions, while 100 countries did so between 1990 and 2015; And although there are centuries-old constitutional texts, the average longevity of a constitution is only 19 years when we evaluate the behavior of the group of countries in all regions of the planet (Ginsburg, Melton and Elkins, 2010).

 

Furthermore, while in much of the twentieth century the total constitutional changes were linked almost exclusively to changes in the political regime as a result of civil wars, foreign interventions, popular uprisings or institutional collapse, today the number of democracies that decide to promote processes of constitutional change without this being linked to a change of regime (as in the cases of Iceland and Colombia).

Of the 95 constituent processes analyzed between 1947 and 2015, in 25 cases (26%) a constituent assembly was elected to draft the new constitutional text, in 20 (21%) the parliament in office was appointed, in another 9 (10%) a Congress was elected with a specific constituent mandate, in 34 cases (36%) the responsibility was handed over to a commission of experts, and finally 4 (4%) used other mechanisms and in three cases no data was available (3%) .

When we analyze the changes that have been occurring over time, we see that the prevalence of the different mechanisms has changed according to the periods. While between 1947 and 1965 the most used mechanism was the constituent assembly, between 1966 to 1999 expert commissions were used with greater frequency.

In this decade, the constituent assemblies have once again become the predominant mechanism for promoting constitutional changes; used in 7 of the 17 countries that have changed their constitutions between 2000 and 2015.

In relation to the constituent assemblies, it is observed that there is no single model. However, in all the cases analyzed it is a representative institution, similar to a parliament, but which differs from the latter in that it has a specific constituent mandate.

The cases of constituent assemblies analyzed have on average a total of 195 members, with 1 representative for every 250 thousand inhabitants.

Factors to consider in the election of a Constituent Assembly in Chile

As you may know, today (Oct.25th, 2020) in Chile there is a vote to approve or reject the drafting of a new Constitution, which would replace the one created in 1980 under the Military Government of President Augusto Pinochet.

It will also be chosen between two options of bodies that can draft it, a Mixed Constitutional Convention (made up of 50% of parliamentarians and 50% of citizens elected by popular vote) and a Constitutional Convention (made up of 100% of members elected by popular vote).

The risk of the creation of a constituent assembly, similar to the one formed in countries like Venezuela, is that being a body with binding powers, it could make major changes to the laws and institutions in force based only on a circumstantial majority.

CADEM survey conducted between October 9th and 11th, 2019

Without considering that the social demands observed in the massive demonstrations of October 2019, had more to do with improving pensions, education, health, work or attacking crime, rather than making changes or drafting a new Constitution.

The call for a Constituent Assembly at a time of social tension may not be very appropriate. On the other hand, those who promote it with the greatest emphasis (Communist Party and Broad Front) belong to a sector with minimal national representation and with objectives far removed from the interest of citizens.

Until the moment of publishing this article, great interest in attending to vote has been seen in the Chilean population, we hope that the results will serve to appease the spirits of the most radical sectors and carry out the reforms that are needed and thus improve the model which has allowed us to grow in the last decades.

 

Data from the document: Mechanisms of constitutional change in the world - United Nations Development Program (UNDP)

Crisis in Chile: What has changed after a year of social protests ?

Social protests October 2019

Different experts estimated that the Chilean social outbreak was in a "pause" while the country was in quarantine, with the possibility that the protests would be reactivated if the political class did not openly condemn the episodes of violence.

  

It has been 12 months since one of the biggest political-social crises in the history of Chile began. On the political spectrum, the center-right government of Sebastián Piñera has sought to appease the demands of the citizenry with his proposals, including a reform of the Chilean pension system (the so-called AFPs, private system), to which a new Fund of Collective and Solidarity Savings would be added, of a state nature, among other novelties.

For their part, both the ruling party and the opposition continue to campaign for and against a new Constitution, which will be decided in a referendum to be held on October 25th. Despite the fact that an agreement was reached to draw up a new Magna Carta, both political sectors do not seem to have the support of the public, who are crying out for structural changes in the system.

There is no consensual diagnosis of the causes of this social outbreak, nor of its solutions.

La Moneda - Government Palace

Neither the government nor the opposition have a very clear understanding of this phenomenon. An attempt has been made to advance in this, the political world promoted a new Constitution, but the violence continued in the streets for several months before the pandemic, so it is not known if this will be solved.

On the other hand, the Government has tried to increase social spending, improve pensions, give aid bonds and that has not reassured the people either.

The president of Chile, Sebastián Piñera, as well as the Congress have a very poor approval of the citizenship according to the latest polls, mainly due to some corruption scandals, crisis of representation and a tiredness of the political parties that were one of the main reasons for this crossroads.

Although the Chilean social outbreak began with many adherents in the streets throughout the country, as the weeks went by, the protests lost intensity and this was reflected in a drop in the number of people attending the marches, as well as in the rejection of events of extreme violence.

* You might be interested in:

https://csachannel.blogspot.com/2019/10/the-riots-that-shook-chile.html

Ray Donovan - The fixer (2013-2020)

Blog Rating: 9.15 out of 10

Ray Donovan is a professional "problem solver". His job is to sort things out when they get tough for the rich and famous in Los Angeles.

Jon Voight

But when his father Mickey Donovan (Golden Globe winner Jon Voight), an Irish gangster, is released from jail, Ray himself has a problem. Mickey not only wants revenge but he also wants his family back.

Eddie Marsan

The glow of the bright world of Los Angeles is deceptive, because while Ray solves other people's problems, his family has more than enough of his own.

Dash Mihok

Starting with his brother Terry (Eddie Marsan), who suffers from some form of Parkinson's, his second brother Bunchy (Dash Mihok), who still suffers from childhood sexual abuse, and his wife, Abby (Paula Malcomson), who is sick of her husband's secrets. All with very diverse roles but with a brilliant and solid performance.

Paula Malcomson

Liev Schrieber is fantastic in the title role, a dark, violent man under constant stress who protects and cares for those he loves, while at the same time projects an aura of violence and danger to those who cross his path.

In short a very good action drama.

Liev Schreiber

Prison Break - A very well crafted story (2005-2017)

Blog Rating: 9.20 out of 10

This suspenseful action series takes place after Lincoln Burrows is wrongly accused of murder and sent to prison. This will cause Michael Scofield to provoke his arrest by committing an armed robbery to come to the aid of his brother Lincoln.

Dominic Purcell  (Lincoln Burrows)

Burrows is convicted of a murder he did not commit, and is now awaiting execution at Fox River Prison. Michael, his only brother, will do anything to free him.

Michael Scofield is an extremely intelligent, extremely motivated and exceptionally resourceful man. He has stealthily hidden the blueprints and other useful information in his body as a series of elaborate tattoos that reveal his true meaning only to Michael himself.

Wentworth Miller (Michael Scofield)

Once inside, Michael, a structural engineer, begins to execute an elaborate plan to get Lincoln out and prove he is innocent.

As Scofield's plan is put into motion, he must deal with a wide range of inmates, guards, and other characters, all of whom have their own motives and roles to play in the escape.

Sarah Wayne Callies (Sara Tancredi)

In prison, Michael befriends Dr. Sara Tancredi when he pretends to suffer from type 1 diabetes so that he can access the prison infirmary on a daily basis.

Dr. Tancredi begins to fall in love with Scofield, both romantically and because of his lies and deceptions as to why he should visit the infirmary regularly.

Prison Break - Instagram


Each character is extremely well written and acted. Rarely has a show been put together as perfectly as this. A highly recommended series.