Archive for November, 2007
Lincoln at Gettysburg
November 19th, 2007 by Roger Darlington
One of my favourite sayings is: “It’s isn’t over till it’s over – and then it isn’t over.” You think something is history and then somebody or something comes along to change your perception of things. The child who finds that her parent is actually not her parent at all because she was in fact […]
Posted in History | Comments (1)
When is it right to intervene militarily?
November 18th, 2007 by Roger Darlington
Most of us like to think of ourselves as peace-loving but equally we like to feel that we care about injustice in the world and want to do something about it. Sometimes these values come into conflict and the right thing to do is to intervene with armed forces. This approach is sometimes called “liberal […]
Posted in World current affairs | Comments (2)
Translations into and from Arabic
November 17th, 2007 by Roger Darlington
It’s an amazing fact that: “Although Arab culture, from Baghdad to Toledo, led the world in the art of translation in the 8th and 9th centuries, transmitting ancient Greek and Latin texts that helped fuel Europe’s renaissance, the UN estimates that the entire number of books translated into Arabic in the past 1,000 years is […]
Posted in Cultural issues | Comments (1)
Russian democracy: an oxymoron?
November 15th, 2007 by Roger Darlington
In Russia, there will be elections to the State Duma in December 2007 and to the Presidency in March 2008. In preparation for these elections, I’ve added Russia to the series on my web site of short guides to various countries’ political systems. There are now eight essays in the series. You can read the […]
Posted in World current affairs | Comments (0)
“24” in 1994
November 14th, 2007 by Roger Darlington
The ring tone on my mobile is the same as that used by the phones in CTU in the television series “24”. Of course, the series is noted for its use of advanced IT – but
Posted in Science & technology | Comments (1)
I couldn’t wait …
November 13th, 2007 by Roger Darlington
The iPhone was launched in Britain at 6.02pm on Friday. I’ve been saying to myself for months that I’d buy one as a Christmas present to myself. But I just couldn’t wait. I bought one this afternoon. Now I have to activate the thing and learn how to use it. I wish that I had […]
Posted in Science & technology | Comments (1)
It’s not cricket
November 13th, 2007 by Roger Darlington
Yesterday I attended a conference on telecommunications regulation organised by the London Business School. As a result, I was a guest at a meal hosted by BT and held in the Media Centre of Lords Cricket Ground in north London. This provides stunning views of the cricket field. There were just a few problems: a) […]
Posted in My life & thoughts | Comments (1)
Back from the Isle of Wight
November 12th, 2007 by Roger Darlington
Vee and I spent Saturday and Sunday on the Isle of Wight visiting our good friends Trev and Tess Jessop. It was a time for friendship and food rather than sightseeing. They live in an amazing place called Span Lodge which was bulit in 1805 as a home for the gatekeeper of the southern gate […]
Posted in My life & thoughts | Comments (0)
The last Tommy
November 11th, 2007 by Roger Darlington
Today is Remembrance Sunday. Harry Patch – now aged 109 – is the last surviving British soldier of the First World War. You can read his story here. Lest we forget …
Posted in History | Comments (0)
Off to the Isle of Wight
November 9th, 2007 by Roger Darlington
In all my nearly 60 years, I’ve only been once to the Isle of Wight – and that was almost 30 years ago. But this weekend, Vee and I are off for couple of days to visit Trev and Tess Jessop whom we befriended on our holiday in Indochina. Trev is an artist and you […]
Posted in My life & thoughts | Comments (1)