Archive for January, 2009
What should we fear?
January 8th, 2009 by Roger Darlington
“As we wrote in Freakonomics, most people are pretty terrible at risk assessment. They tend to overstate the risk of dramatic and unlikely events at the expense of more common and boring (if equally devastating) events. A given person might fear a terrorist attack and mad cow disease more than anything in the world, whereas […]
Posted in Miscellaneous | Comments (1)
When were the Middle Ages?
January 7th, 2009 by Roger Darlington
According to the essay on Wikipedia: “The Middle Ages are a period in history which lasted for roughly a millennium, commonly dated from the fall of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century to the beginning of the Early Modern Period in the 16th century, marked by the division of Western Christianity in the […]
Posted in History | Comments (0)
Return to “The West Wing” (1)
January 6th, 2009 by Roger Darlington
“The West Wing” was my all-time favourite television series and I guess that I was not alone in finding it both immensely entertaining and informative. After all, it won two Golden Globe Awards and 26 Emmy Awards, a tie with “Hill Street Blues” for the most Emmy Awards ever won by a television drama series. […]
Posted in Cultural issues | Comments (2)
Israel and The Gaza (2)
January 5th, 2009 by Roger Darlington
“The blogosphere and new media are another war zone and we have to be relevant there.” Israeli military spokeswoman Major Avital Leibovich This is a quote from an article in the “Times” on how both sides in the conflict are making unprecedented efforts to put their case on the Net. Certainly I’ve received impassioned e-mails […]
Posted in World current affairs | Comments (1)
Words of wisdom
January 3rd, 2009 by Roger Darlington
I’ve finished my first book of 2009. It was a Christmas gift from my sister who is a counsellor and it only took three sittings. It’s called “Too Soon Old, Too Late Smart” and is written by the American psychiatrist Gordon Livingston. You can read my review here. Like so many self help books, what […]
Posted in My life & thoughts | Comments (0)
Word of the day: boss-eyed
January 2nd, 2009 by Roger Darlington
I sometimes think that I’ve led a rather sheltered life because from time to time I come across a word – usually a colloquialism – that I don’t know but my wife does. On reflection, I have come to the view that my deficiency is the result of my up-bringing by a single parent who […]
Posted in Cultural issues | Comments (0)
Cuban revolution 50
January 2nd, 2009 by Roger Darlington
Over the next week, we’re going to see a lot of media pieces marking the 50th anniversary of the Cuban revolution led by Fidel Castro. The dictator Batista fled the island on 1 January 1959 and Castro entered Havana on 8 January 1959. A year ago, I spent many weeks reading the 700+ pages of […]
Posted in World current affairs | Comments (0)
How did you see in the New Year?
January 1st, 2009 by Roger Darlington
We rewatched – this time on DVD – the entire first series of “Gavin And Stacey”. Six half-hours of sheer fun. Brilliant. A very happy New Year to all readers of NightHawk. Please keep visiting in 2009 – I’ll be exploring lots of subjects and trying to spread a little enlightenment and happiness. Footnote (4/1/09): […]
Posted in Cultural issues | Comments (0)