Archive for the ‘Miscellaneous’ Category
Thought For The Week
January 6th, 2019 by Roger Darlington
“For the first time in human history, starvation kills fewer people than obesity; plagues kill fewer people than old age; and violence kills fewer people than accidents.”Author and historian Yuval Noah Harari in “The World In 2019” This is actually Thought No 970 in my long-running series. You can see all the previous thoughts and/or […]
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12 questions about Christmas answered
December 17th, 2018 by Roger Darlington
What is Christmas? How did it come to fall on 25 December? So there was no holiday season before the birth of Jesus? And it’s been ‘always Christmastime’ ever since? What in the name of Jesus are mince pies? So is it now more of a capitalist extravaganza than a Christmas festival? Who is Father […]
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Seven of the many things I learned from Joshua (aged 11)
November 26th, 2018 by Roger Darlington
I spent last week in Oxford looking after 11 year old Joshua, the son of my close Chinese friends, while both his parents were in China on separate business trips. In the course of the week, Joshua and I had many discussions and I learned so much from this clever young man including the following: […]
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It’s World Kindness Day – so try to be kind today … and always
November 13th, 2018 by Roger Darlington
World Kindness Day is observed internationally on 13 November each year. It was introduced in 1998 by the World Kindness Movement, a coalition of nations’ kindness NGOs. It is observed in many countries including Britain. It is very easy to be cynical about such events, but the world really needs more kindness and sometimes as […]
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Stories to make you think
October 31st, 2018 by Roger Darlington
There are about 200 sections to my website, but one of the most popular is one which I call “Stories to make you think”. Here you will find no less than 79 thoughtful stories, motivational tales, and pieces of wisdom from around the world. I’ve justed added a new story to the collection and you […]
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What’s in a name? A lot more than you think.
September 24th, 2018 by Roger Darlington
Last week, the Office of National Statistics published the most popular baby names in England & Wales for 2017. This gave me an opportunity to up-date my extensive website essay on naming practices around the world where I have drawn out just how different these practices are from our experience in Britain. It is assumed […]
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The 10 best jokes at the Edinburgh fringe
August 14th, 2018 by Roger Darlington
We need some humour in these difficult times. These 10 jokes – some of which require thinking about – were collated by the “Guardian” newspaper: Athena Kugblenu: Patriarchy is putting Jane Austen on £10 notes the same time as bringing in contactless. Christian Talbot: Sometimes even I don’t understand feminism. And I’m a guy. Jez Watts: I […]
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What is the secret of health and happiness?
May 30th, 2018 by Roger Darlington
“For some, eating alone can be a joyous thing: forking mouthfuls of pasta straight from the pan, peanut butter licked off a spoon, the unbridled pleasure of walking home from the chippie alone on a cold night. But regularly eating meals in isolation is a different story. This one factor is more strongly associated with […]
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In the UK , it’s Dementia Action Week – and I’m a volunteer for a relevant study
May 23rd, 2018 by Roger Darlington
The Alzheimer’s Society has designated this as Dementia Action Week. There are currently around 850,000 people in the UK with dementia. It mainly affects people over the age of 65 (one in 14 people in this age group have dementia), and the likelihood of developing dementia increases significantly with age. However, dementia can affect younger […]
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What’s on your to-do list and how best can you manage such a list?
May 5th, 2018 by Roger Darlington
In an effort to encourage consumers to check during this Bank Holiday weekend whether they ever had Payment Protection Insurance (PPI) , the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) commissioned research which found that the top items on people’s to-do list are the following: Sorting out banking / finances Planning and preparing evening meals Booking appointments: dentist / doctors […]
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