A review of the remake of “The Jungle Book”
June 5th, 2016 by Roger Darlington
So many children’s films are so good these days you really have to have a child in the family or beg, buy or borrow one so that you can enjoy the fare. The latest splendour is the new version of “The Jungle Book” which I’ve reviewed here.
Posted in Cultural issues | Comments (0)
Will the polls get it right on Britain’s EU referendum?
June 4th, 2016 by Roger Darlington
I’ve blogged several times on the growing difficulties for accurate political polling [for one example, see here]. Indeed. for all sorts of methodological and behavioural reasons, I think finding out what consumers and citizens really think is becoming harder.
So I was interested in this article in the “Washington Post” by three academics which takes a careful and critical look at all the polling data so far in relation to the referendum on 23 June on UK membership of the European Union.
Their conclusion?
“What to make of these wildly different but highly informed and often methodologically sophisticated predictions is anyone’s guess. All the predictions agree on the favorite — Remain — but not on much else. A victory for Leave would thus upend the consensus expectations of pollsters, punters, pundits and political scientists. Just like the Conservatives’ victory did last year.”
Posted in British current affairs | Comments (0)
What is it like to be a practicing Muslim at Ramadan?
June 4th, 2016 by Roger Darlington
If you’re a practising Muslim, you’ll be preparing for the start of the month-long Ramadan which this year is expected to begin on Monday. If you’re not a Muslim, you probably have little idea what is involved.
This is because so much media coverage of Islam is about the small number of fundamentalists and not about the overwhelmingly majority who are not simply law-abiding but dedicated, devoted and disciplined.
Ramadan is always a challenge, since it involves abstaining from food and drink from sunrise to sunset, but this year it’s going to be one of the toughest in the 33- year cycle as explained in this article.
I am not a Muslim; I am not religious; but I follow the daily experience of one of my Muslim friends on her Facebook page and I see how hard, but how rewarding, it is.
Posted in World current affairs | Comments (0)
How are payments made in the UK?
June 3rd, 2016 by Roger Darlington
Payments UK has released a new report giving an overview of current and future trends in UK payment behaviour. The report, UK Payment Markets 2016, reveals that cash continues to be the most popular method of payment, constituting 45% of all payments in 2015.
It also predicts, however, that by 2025, cash payment will have dropped to make up just one in four (27%) of all payments. The increasing popularity of contactless payments is driving credit, debit and charge card payments to make up a larger share of the total payment market. This is predicted in the report to reach half of all payments (50%) by 2025.
Posted in Consumer matters | Comments (0)
Britain fourth on ‘good country’ index thanks to science and technology
June 3rd, 2016 by Roger Darlington
The British are not very good at taking pride in themselves or their country, so we should celebrate this news that the UK has come fourth in the latest version of something called the good country index. A major factor is its global contribution to science and technology, thanks to the high number of journal exports, Nobel prizes and international publications it has produced.
The index compiles data on 35 indices. The top three nations in the current index are – in order – Sweden, Denmark and The Netherlands. The United States is ranked 21. Where does your country come in the index? You can check it out here.
Posted in British current affairs, World current affairs | Comments (0)
Visit to Sark (7): the speech by Graham Robinson
June 2nd, 2016 by Roger Darlington
Over the last couple of weeks, I’ve done a series of posts about my weekend on the Channel Island of Sark in order to attend the launch of a book by Eric Lee. The work is called “Operation Basalt: The British Raid On Sark And Hitler’s Commando Order” and I’ve reviewed it here.
At the launch event, we heard a short speech from Graham Robinson, the son of one of the 12 commandos who were on that raid in 1942. You can now read his moving contribution here.
Posted in History | Comments (0)
Some good news: renewable energy smashes global records
June 2nd, 2016 by Roger Darlington
If you follow the news – and I’m a bit of a news junkie – most of it is depressing, so it’s a good idea to highlight positive news stories when they come along. Like this one:
“An upsurge in new wind, solar and hydro plants and capacity saw renewable energy smash global records last year, according to a report on new supply.
Some 147 Gigawatts of renewable electricity came online in 2015 – the largest annual increase ever and as much as Africa’s entire power generating capacity.
Clean energy investment increased to $286bn (£198bn), with solar energy accounting for 56% of the total and wind power for 38%.
Overall, more than twice as much money was spent on renewables than on coal and gas-fired power generation ($130bn in 2015), the REN21 global status report found.”
More on this story here.
Posted in Environment | Comments (0)
Visit to Sark (6): the video from James Edgar
June 1st, 2016 by Roger Darlington
Regular readers of NightHawk will know that I recently spent a weekend on the Channel Island of Sark in order to attend the launch of a book by my good friend Eric Lee. The work is called “Operation Basalt: The British Raid On Sark And Hitler’s Commando Order” and I’ve reviewed it here.
We had a special guest ‘appearance’ at the book launch: a video message from Corporal James Edgar the last surviving member of the 12-man commando team that launched the raid in 1942. He now lives in Australia. On the day of the launch event, he had his 96th birthday and all those present at the launch sang ‘happy birthday’ to him.
You can see the message from James Edgar here.
Posted in History | Comments (0)
The continuing debate over the Oxford comma
June 1st, 2016 by Roger Darlington
If you don’t know what the Oxford comma is, why it’s called that, and why it’s controversial, this short news item explains all. If you already know what I’m talking about, you probably have an opinion on the subject.
If you want to know my view on the Oxford comma, check out my advice on punctuation – look at Note 4 under the sub-heading ‘How to use the comma’.
It’s not the kind of issue that will decide the EU referendum in the UK or the presidential election in the US, but it does excite teachers, educationalists, linguists and others [note that I didn’t use the Oxford comma there].
Posted in Cultural issues | Comments (0)
A review of a new book on the Kurds and Kurdistan
May 31st, 2016 by Roger Darlington
The Middle East is perhaps the most turbulent and complicated region in the world in terms of the conflicts and parties involved. A recently-published book, entitled “The Kurdish Spring: A New Map Of The Middle East”, looks at events since the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, examining the history of Iraq, Turkey, Syria and Iran from the perspective of the Kurds in those four countries. You can read my review here.
Posted in History, World current affairs | Comments (0)