Archive for February, 2007
Forgotten world (61): Czech Republic
February 5th, 2007 by Roger Darlington
On 12 occasions now, I’ve had a week-long feature on NightHawk devoted to parts of the world that tend to be under-reported or even forgotten. You can check out the previous 60 entries here. This week, I am going to run an 13th series of postings on this theme. From the 16th century onwards, what […]
Posted in World current affairs | Comments (0)
Do you want to live forever?
February 4th, 2007 by Roger Darlington
This weekend, I watched a fascinating Channel 4 programme with this title. It was all about the breathtakingly radical ideas of a Cambridge biomedical gerontologist called Aubrey de Grey who believes that, within the next 20-30 years, we could extend life indefinitely by addressing seven major factors in the aging process. He describes his work […]
Posted in Science & technology | Comments (0)
It’s Obamania
February 4th, 2007 by Roger Darlington
So far, every American President since George Washington founded the nation has been a white, male Christian. In November 2008, that might change. New Mexico’s Democratic governor, Bill Richardson, might become the first Hispanic President. More likely, Hillary Clinton could become the first woman to be President. Another possibility is that Republican Mitt Romney could […]
Posted in World current affairs | Comments (1)
“The God Delusion” (2)
February 4th, 2007 by Roger Darlington
In an earlier posting, I explained that I was reading “The God Delusion” by Richard Dawkins and I promised to review it for my web site. I’ve now finished this stimulating work and it seems somehow appropriate to draw attention to my review on a Sunday.
Posted in Science & technology | Comments (1)
Thanks for the memory
February 3rd, 2007 by Roger Darlington
Earlier this week, I attended the latest monthly meeting of the Skeptics in the Pub organisation. These events are always very interesting, but the physical enviroment of the gatherings – an upstairs pub room that is suitable for a group a quarter of the size – is utterly inadequate. This month’s speaker was Dr Krissy […]
Posted in Science & technology | Comments (0)
Am I a maven?
February 3rd, 2007 by Roger Darlington
Earlier this week, I was chatting to a couple of good friends who regularly visit my web site/weblog. One of them suggested that, in raising different subjects and pointing out other interesting sites on the web, I was acting as a maven. Now I’ve always thought that my English vocabulary was pretty good, but I’d […]
Posted in Cultural issues | Comments (3)
The IPCC report on climate change
February 2nd, 2007 by Roger Darlington
It’s the most serious issue facing humankind and this could be the report which forces governments around the world to take meaningful action. I refer of course to the issue of climate change and to the United Nation’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report on the subject. This argues that temperatures are probably going […]
Posted in Science & technology | Comments (0)
Time to rethink Trident?
February 2nd, 2007 by Roger Darlington
On 4th December 2006, the Government published a White Paper detailing its preferred option for the renewal of Trident. On the same day, the democratic left pressure group Compass launched a survey asking its members and members of the public to say what they thought. Over 1000 people responded. A clear majority of respondents (84%) […]
Posted in British current affairs | Comments (0)
“Party Animals” (3)
February 2nd, 2007 by Roger Darlington
I’ve already blogged a couple of times about the new BBC2 television drama series featuring the life of political researchers at Westminster: “Party Animals”. Today the “Guardian” has a feature on the series asking eight insiders whether the programme is true to life. Check out the feature here and see if one of the surnames […]
Posted in Cultural issues | Comments (0)
Imagine the terrible possibility …
February 1st, 2007 by Roger Darlington
… that the alleged plot to kidnap, torture and behead a British Muslim soldier and then to post film footage of the atrocity on the Internet was both true and carried out. Would British Internet service providers knowingly have provided access to such material? I hope not. But, if they blocked access, how would they […]
Posted in Internet | Comments (0)