Archive for February, 2008
Forgotten World (121): Sderot
February 11th, 2008 by Roger Darlington
It’s time for another week of postings in my long-running series called Forgotten World – a look at parts of the world that hardly feature in our media or thoughts. You can check the previous 120 entries here. One of the most dangerous spots on earth is somewhere of which you’ve probably never heard. Sderot […]
Posted in World current affairs | Comments (1)
“Atonement” – the film and the book
February 10th, 2008 by Roger Darlington
As a massive movie fan, I’ve had an enjoyable evening watching the BAFTA Film Awards on BBC television. It was good to see a British film “Atonement” [my review here] win the Best Film Award and I was even more impressed with the novel [my review here].
Posted in Cultural issues | Comments (0)
The American presidential election (16)
February 10th, 2008 by Roger Darlington
In my blog posting on the Super Tuesday event in London, I mentioned that British presenter Robin Oakley was there for CNN. In this story, he explains that the ballot boxes produced a 971 to 422 victory for Obama. If the British could vote in the US presidential elections of 2008, I think that they […]
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Euphemisms and Obfuscations
February 10th, 2008 by Roger Darlington
This web page is fun – and insightful.
Posted in Miscellaneous | Comments (0)
The American presidential election (15)
February 9th, 2008 by Roger Darlington
The “Mirror” newspaper today, in what it claims as an exclusive, has discovered a connection between Britain and Democratic hopeful Barack Obama. His stepmother Kezia Obama lives in Bracknell. You’ll find the story here.
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The American presidential election (14)
February 9th, 2008 by Roger Darlington
Hillary Clinton’s camp is now bracing its supporters for the time when in the next few weeks Barack Obama will overtake her in the delegate count. This is clever – it seeks to minimise the psychological boost that this will give to the Obama team. However, in a crucial sense, Obama is already in the […]
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“The Kite Runner” – the film and the book
February 8th, 2008 by Roger Darlington
If you haven’t read the novel, please do [my review here]; if you can catch the film, please see it [my review here]. Then read Khaled Hosseini’s second novel “A Thousand Splendid Suns” [my review here]. You will not be sorry …
Posted in Cultural issues | Comments (1)
Islam in English law
February 7th, 2008 by Roger Darlington
If you want to read what the Archbishop of Canterbury actually said on this subject – although his thinking is odd and his language opaque – you can check it out here. My personal position is very clear: there should be a complete separation of religion and the state and there should be a single […]
Posted in British current affairs | Comments (0)
How many users actually generate content?
February 7th, 2008 by Roger Darlington
The new DCMS/BERR Convergence Think Tank holds its first seminar today. The subject is : Why does convergence matter? This seminar will seek to set the scene for the CTT programme and establish the key challenges and goals. In its submission, the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) expresses concerns about user generated content (UGC): “While […]
Posted in Internet | Comments (1)
The American presidential election (13)
February 6th, 2008 by Roger Darlington
Today I received the following e-mail: “Hi Roger, my name is Leah and I have been browsing your site looking for information on how the American elections are run. I am Canadian and I’m just now trying to understand the system. It is extra important to me this year because of the candidates in the […]
Posted in World current affairs | Comments (1)