A review of “Would They Lie To You?” and a guide on “How To Think Critically”

November 2nd, 2014 by Roger Darlington

I’ve just finished a short book called “Would They Lie To You?” by Robert Hutton – an amusing and insightful guide to how authority tries to bamboozle us. You can read my review here.

I have used this book as one of several sources to revise and expand my guide to “How To Think Critically”. You can check out the advice here.

Posted in Cultural issues, My life & thoughts | Comments (0)

Britain’s greatest pilot: the extraordinary story of Eric ‘Winkle’ Brown

November 1st, 2014 by Roger Darlington

One of my many interests is aviation which is why on my web site I have a section on aviation and a section on aviation films.

I recently watched a rebroadcasting of a BBC 2 television documentary with the intriguing title “Britain’s Greatest Pilot”. Who, on earth (OK, in the skies), could this be?

It turned out to be a character with the wonderful nickname of ‘Winkle’, a reference to his small stature which he believes was a help in enabling him to survive as a test pilot.

It is believed that ‘Winkle’ – proper name Eric Brown – has flown more aircraft types than any other pilot in history – an astonishing 487 (a record which will probably never be surpassed).

You can read his story here.

Posted in History | Comments (0)

This Halloween breaks two records

October 31st, 2014 by Roger Darlington

1) A temperature of 23.6C (74.3F) was recorded in Gravesend, Kent and Kew Gardens, Greater London, surpassing the previous record of 20.0C.

Other parts of the south of England and the north coasts of Wales and Norfolk also broke the 20C mark.

It was warm enough for us to have lunch on our terrace.

2) This evening, we had a record number of visits to our house. The doorbell went 16 times and no less than 70 kids came trick or treating.

This year broke the previous record set two years ago of 14 visits involving 51 children.

Fortunately we had lots of Quality Street sweets in a special bucket, but I fear that next year “We’re gonna need a bigger bucket!”

Posted in My life & thoughts | Comments (0)

How well do people know the basic facts on immigration?

October 31st, 2014 by Roger Darlington

A new survey by Ipsos MORI has checked public understanding of the numbers behind some key news stories in 14 countries. Let’s just look at two issues in two countries.

When asked: out of 100 people, how many do you think are immigrants in this country?

In the UK, the average guess was 24%, but the reality is only 13%
In the USA, the average guess was 32%, but the reality is again 13%

When asked: out of 100 people, how many do you think are Muslim in this country?

In the UK, the average guess was 21%, but the reality is a mere 5%
In the USA, the average guess was 15%, but the reality is a minuscule 1%

You can find more data on more issues in more countries in this piece.

Bobby Duffy, managing director of the Ipsos MORI social research institute, said:

“The real peril of these misperceptions is how politicians and policymakers react. Do they try to challenge people and correct their view of reality or do they take them as a signal of concern, the result of a more emotional reaction and design policy around them?

Clearly the ideal is to do a bit of both – politicians shouldn’t misread these misperceptions as people simply needing to be re-educated and then their views will change – but they also need to avoid policy responses that just reinforce unfounded fears.”

Posted in American current affairs, British current affairs, Social policy, World current affairs | Comments (0)

Two days with my special young friend Joshua

October 30th, 2014 by Roger Darlington

In the last few months, Vee and I have hosted stays from a number of youngsters. We’ve had our granddaughter Catrin (three and three-quarters) – see account here; we’ve had Vee’s great niece Yasmin (8) and great nephew Lucas (almost 6) – see account here; and this week – half term in the south of England – we looked after Joshua (seven and a half ) for a couple of days and nights.

Vee and I have known Joshua’s Chinese parents for almost a decade and half and we are as close as family. Indeed, a few years ago, all five of us went to China for three weeks together – see account here.

Joshua & Roger ready to hit London townJoshua is very, very keen on Lego, so I began his time with us by taking him to the exhibition in the east end of London called “The Art Of The Brick”. This comprises over 85 remarkable art sculptures created from more than a million Lego bricks by the American artist Nathan Sawaya. Then we went to “Hamleys” on Regent Street, which is billed as the finest toy shop in the world, where we bought a Lego construction kit. It was of some kind of space fighter and, although it was categorised as for kids of 8-14, Joshua had no problem making it up. Finally that day we returned to Harrow and went to see a movie in 3D called “The Book Of Life” which he thoroughly enjoyed.

Joshua with his Lego purchaseNext day, Joshua & I headed back in central London to visit the London Aquarium. I have been here many times, including with Catrin and with Yasmin & Lucas, but it was Joshua’s first time there. He loved it and we spent an hour and a half there. He got to touch a star fish and see sharks and penguins. After lunch at a Turkish restaurant, we took a black cab east along the River Thames to view some famous London sights: “HMS Belfast”, Tower Bridge, and the Tower of London. At the Tower, we saw the wonderful and moving commemoration of the 888,246 British servicemen and women who died in the First World War. Titled “Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red” after a poem written by an unknown soldier, this is a collaboration between ceramic artist Paul Cummins and set designer Tom Piper with one poppy representing each fallen hero.

“Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red”When Joshua’s mother came to collect him, she asked: “Have you been helping Vee around the house?” “No”‘ he replied; “I’ve been too busy having fun.” So I enquired of him: “How much fun have you had on a scale of 1 to 10?” “Ten”, he responded.

Joshua was a joy to have with us – so well-behaved and no trouble at all. We are so blessed to have such little ones in our lives to keep us young at heart.

Posted in My life & thoughts | Comments (2)

18 weird German words you won’t believe exist

October 29th, 2014 by Roger Darlington

The Germans certainly have a way with words – a weird way – as you’ll see from these examples.

Ist Wunderbar, ja?

Posted in Cultural issues | Comments (0)

Are there really multiple universes out there?

October 28th, 2014 by Roger Darlington

Vee and I are currently watching the new BBC 2 series titled “Human Universe” which is written and presented by Professor Brian Cox. In the second programme in the series, entitled “Why Are We Here?”, Cox concludes that our universe is simply one of an infinite number of universes making up the multiverse.

I confess that I find this notion mind-blowing. Among the many questions it raises in my mind are the following:

Will we ever be able to prove the validity of such a theory? Is it simply like the medieval debate about the number of angels than could dance on the head of a pin? If the theory is correct, does it have any practical consequences for us in our universe? Or will it just be subject matter for works of fiction like the three novels by Philip Pullman that make up “His Dark Materials”.

You can read a brief article on five reasons why there may be multiple universes here.

Posted in Science & technology | Comments (3)

Britain’s intervention in Afghanistan – the cold facts

October 27th, 2014 by Roger Darlington

As Britain’s combat role in Afghanistan comes to an end, some facts to ponder on concerning our involvement:

Length of intervention: 13 years
Maximum troop deployment: 10,000
Total number who served: 140,000
Number of British troops killed: 453
Number of British troops wounded: 2,188
Financial cost: £37 billion

During this period:

Number of US military deaths: 2,210
Number of Taliban killed: up to 35,000
Number of Afghan civilians killed: estimated 21,000

Let is hope that it was worth it and that the Afghan army can beat or at least contain the Taliban and that the Afghan government can offer political stability and economic growth.

Posted in History | Comments (0)

As we turn the clocks back in the UK, around the world who does and who does not practice daylight saving time?

October 26th, 2014 by Roger Darlington

If you look at the world map on this web page, you’ll see that almost 80 nations – notably those of Europe and North America – practice daylight saving, but most of the rest of the world manages without this practice. The same web page provides some interesting facts on the practice:

The USA has daylight saving but not Arizona or Hawaii
Canada has daylight saving but not Saskatchewan
Half of Australia practices daylight saving but half does not
In Brazil, only the southern states practice daylight saving

The time arrangement of countries is often a varied and controversial matter. For instance, continental United States has four time zones but China manages with one.

Here in the UK, one suggestion – which I support – is that England, Wales and Northern Ireland adopt double summer time, leaving Scotland on its own time. You can read the case for this here.

In the USA, one suggestion – which is worth debating – is that the continental United States should move to just two time zones. You can read the case for this here.

What do you think about daylight saving?

Posted in British current affairs, World current affairs | Comments (6)