Archive for July, 2007
Why was Socrates put on trial?
July 31st, 2007 by Roger Darlington
I’ve recently watched a couple of programmes on Channel Four called “Athens: The truth About Democracy”. These programmes were presented by historian Bettany Hughes who would make any programme watchable. In fact, the subject matter itself was fascinating and the most intriguing question raised was why, in a society enjoying more freedom and democracy than […]
Posted in History | Comments (0)
Forgotten World (92): Swaziland
July 31st, 2007 by Roger Darlington
Swaziland is a land-locked African country of only 1.1M people (most of the same Bantu tribe) with an odd location since it is almost entirely surrounded by its larger, more prosperous neighbour South Africa (it adjoins Mozambique in the east). It is one of the world’s last remaining absolute monarchies and Its king King Mswati […]
Posted in World current affairs | Comments (0)
How you can recycle more than you think
July 30th, 2007 by Roger Darlington
My attention has been drawn by a friend to a great initiative called Freecycle. The site explains that: “Freecycle groups match people who have things they want to get rid of with people who can use them. Our goal is to keep usable items out of landfills. By using what we already have on this […]
Posted in Environment | Comments (0)
Forgotten World (91): Guatemala
July 30th, 2007 by Roger Darlington
On 18 occasions now, I’ve had a week-long feature devoted to parts of the world that tend to be under-reported or even forgotten. You can check out the previous 90 entries here. This week, I am going to run another series of postings on this theme. Guatemala is a Central American country of 13M people […]
Posted in World current affairs | Comments (0)
Sunday on the Hamble
July 29th, 2007 by Roger Darlington
This weekend, Vee and I visited my half-brother Chris and his partner Janine who live in South Wonston. This is a village situated about 4 miles north of Winchester on a chalk ridge overlooking beautiful countryside. Its population has grown to just over 2000 people. We were expecting rain but, other than a little on […]
Posted in My life & thoughts | Comments (2)
Prison exercise Philippines-style
July 28th, 2007 by Roger Darlington
The story is here.
Posted in World current affairs | Comments (0)
What’s the most complicated thing in the world to understand?
July 28th, 2007 by Roger Darlington
Dear reader – I give you: quantum mechanics. Do I accept the Copenhagen interpretation? How is it that light is both a wave and a particle (the wave-particle duality)? How can Schrödinger’s cat be both alive and dead? How is that the physical universe is probabilistic rather than deterministic (Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle)?. Now, some 40 […]
Posted in Science & technology | Comments (0)
Is Islamic fundamentalism ready to turn?
July 27th, 2007 by Roger Darlington
The security forces of the western nations are working hard to minimise the risk of terrorist incidents on their territories by Islamic fundamentalists from home and abroad, but security measures alone will never be enough to remove the terrorist threat. This will require a change in the hearts and minds of the fundamentalists and this […]
Posted in World current affairs | Comments (0)
The German political system
July 27th, 2007 by Roger Darlington
In the series of essays on different political systems for my web site, I’ve now composed “A Short Guide To The German Political System”. This is the fourth in the series and I plan four more. Each country’s political system is so different because of its different history and culture.
Posted in World current affairs | Comments (0)
Hot as Hell
July 26th, 2007 by Roger Darlington
My brother – who is an academic – is currently in Athens for a conference. I sent him a text message asking if it was hot there. He replied: “Hot as Hell”. In fact, yesterday in the Greek capital, it registered 45C (113F) in the shade.
Posted in Miscellaneous | Comments (2)