Archive for July, 2012
How much dissent is there in Iran?
July 13th, 2012 by Roger Darlington
We tend to think of authoritarian regimes as monolithic, but they are often as riven with dissent as democracies. It is just that we do not know this because of course such authoritarian regimes do not have a free media. Take Iran. The power structure in that country is complicated and fractured as explained in […]
Posted in World current affairs | Comments (0)
House of Lords reform – how long do we have to wait?
July 11th, 2012 by Roger Darlington
As I have explained in my “Short Guide To The British Political System”, Britain’s House of Lords is an absurd and indefensible anachronism. It is the only unelected second chamber in the world except Lesotho. It is the only second chamber in the world which gives automatic seats to religious figures except Iran. As explained […]
Posted in British current affairs | Comments (0)
Three films in three days
July 10th, 2012 by Roger Darlington
Regular visitors to NightHawk will know of my enthusiasm for the movies and last week I managed to visit the cinema on three consecutive days to see three very different films: the super-hero movie “The Amazing Spider-Man” – my review here the sensitive romantic comedy “Your Sister’s Sister” – my review here the compelling financial […]
Posted in Cultural issues | Comments (0)
The 150th anniversary of the Xaverian College
July 8th, 2012 by Roger Darlington
There are so many American movies where former high school students return for a 5th or 10th anniversary event – but we don’t have this sort of tradition in Britain. Imagine my surprise then when I was invited to return to the secondary school which I left in 1966 – an amazing 46 years ago. […]
Posted in My life & thoughts | Comments (51)
More fun time with baby Catrin
July 6th, 2012 by Roger Darlington
It’s been three weeks since I blogged about my wonderful granddaughter Catrin and, in the interval, I’ve seen her twice, each time collecting her from nursery and then babysitting. She continues to grow in confidence with her walking and she is more and more expressive. She is so playful with such an impish sense of […]
Posted in My life & thoughts | Comments (4)
Thank goodness, we’re no longer in the United States (2)
July 6th, 2012 by Roger Darlington
I did a posting a few days ago about the extraordinary weather suffered by a part of the USA that Vee and I visited very recently for a holiday. I’ve now had a detailed personal report from my friend Michael Grace with whom we stayed outside Washington. This is his account: “As two folks who […]
Posted in American current affairs | Comments (0)
What can you do with a telephone box?
July 3rd, 2012 by Roger Darlington
First it was life-size models of cows; then it was huge decorated eggs; now it is telephone boxes. I am referring to collections of artistic works placed in public locations all around central London. What’s the latest thing about? To celebrate the 25th anniversary of ChildLine, BT has launched the BT ArtBox project – a vast, […]
Posted in Consumer matters | Comments (0)
A record three months of rain since my water appointment
July 2nd, 2012 by Roger Darlington
I have now been Chair of the Customer Challenge Group at South East Water for three months. As explained here, the three months April, May & June are now confirmed as the wettest on record in the UK. Some people say that there is no such thing as coincidence …
Posted in British current affairs, My life & thoughts | Comments (0)
Thank goodness, we’re no longer in the United States (1)
July 2nd, 2012 by Roger Darlington
Our major holiday in 2011 was a week in Syria [my account here] and a couple of weeks later the revolution began there and continues its bloody course to this day. Our major holiday this year was two weeks in the United States [my account here] – including one week in the Washington DC area […]
Posted in American current affairs, My life & thoughts | Comments (1)
A review of “The Five-Year Engagement”
July 1st, 2012 by Roger Darlington
Searching for a good rom-com movie? Look no further. This fits the bill – see my review here.
Posted in Cultural issues | Comments (0)