Archive for January, 2010
Should it be David or Ed?
January 5th, 2010 by Roger Darlington
There is currently no vacancy for leadership of the Labour Party, but the “Guardian” today devotes no less than six full pages of its G2 section to a discussion of who would be the best successor to Gordon Brown when – as widely expected – he leads Labour to defeat at the General Election, probably […]
Posted in British current affairs | Comments (0)
Word of the day: promogeniture
January 4th, 2010 by Roger Darlington
This word refers to the state of being the first born or eldest child of the same parents. In a legal context, it establishes the right of the eldest child, especially the eldest son, to inherit estate or rank from one or both parents. As someone who believes in equality and meritocracy, I oppose the […]
Posted in Cultural issues | Comments (0)
What’s special about Leicester?
January 3rd, 2010 by Roger Darlington
1) My sister lives there so I visit the city regularly – the last time as recently as a week ago. 2) Some time in the next five years, it will become the first British city where everyone is a member of some ethnic or religious minority – see this article.
Posted in British current affairs | Comments (0)
The Great Dying
January 2nd, 2010 by Roger Darlington
Among the many interesting facts I read in the Christopher Potter book “You Are Here” [my review here] – which I’ve just finished – is that, during the Permian period of around 250 million years ago, up to 96% of all species then on earth was destroyed – possibly as a result of a meteor. […]
Posted in History | Comments (0)
What are we going to call the new decade?
January 1st, 2010 by Roger Darlington
It took some time before we settled on the noughties as a description for the last decade. So far, we don’t have a settled terms for the new decade. The favourites appear to be the tens or the twenty tens – but other candidates include the tenties, the teens, the teenies, the tennies, or the […]
Posted in Miscellaneous | Comments (1)