Archive for September, 2012
The end of London 2012: a summer like no other
September 10th, 2012 by Roger Darlington
Last night, I watched live on television the closing ceremony of the Paralympic Games here in London. It featured my favourite band Coldplay and was an exuberant end to six brilliant weeks in which my home city has hosted the Olympics and the Paralympics. Even those who were cynical before – which did not include […]
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Day One with baby Catrin
September 8th, 2012 by Roger Darlington
OK, I’m shattered (I slept for 11 hours last night), but I’ve just spent two fabulous days looking after my darling granddaughter Catrin who is now almost 20 months old. Her parents Rich & Emily managed to obtain tickets for the Paralympic Games here in London on days when Catrin’s nursery was closed for staff […]
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Day Two with baby Catrin
September 8th, 2012 by Roger Darlington
Day Two with baby Catrin started at 8 am again, necessitating another 6 am alarm. When we left the flat about 10 am, it was another warm and sunny day and I decided that today we would stay on London’s South Bank which is always so vibrant in summer but especially so during this period […]
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Barack Obama’s acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention
September 8th, 2012 by Roger Darlington
You can view the full 40-minute speech here: If you’re short of time, you can read the full text here.
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What are the most popular names for Australian babies?
September 5th, 2012 by Roger Darlington
Consider the most popular names in Australia in 2011: Position Boys Girls 1 Oliver Chloe 2 Noah Sophie 3 William Ruby 4 Lachlan Charlotte 5 Ethan Olivia 6 Jack Lily 7 Lucas Ava 8 Charlie Ella 9 Joshua Emily 10 Thomas Mia What is striking is how similar this list is to the one for England […]
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What are the most popular names for American babies?
September 5th, 2012 by Roger Darlington
Each Mother’s Day in the United States, the Commissioner of Social Security publishes the most popular baby names based on all social security card applications for children born the previous year. The latest available lists of the top ten boys’ and girls’ names, relating to the year 2011, are as follows: Position Boys Girls 1 Jacob […]
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What are the most popular names for British babies?
September 5th, 2012 by Roger Darlington
Names change in popularity. According to the data compiled annually by the Office of National Statistics (ONS), the most popular names for children born in England & Wales during 2011 were as follows: Position Boys Girls 1 Harry Amelia 2 Oliver Olivia 3 Jack Lily 4 Alfie Jessica 5 Charlie Emily 6 Thomas Sophie 7 […]
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The city of Nanjing: 1937 and 2000
September 4th, 2012 by Roger Darlington
In 1937, Japanese troops occupied Nanjing, then the capital of China, and massacred up to 300,000 Chinese. I have just seen an impressive Chinese film on the atrocity called “City Of Life And Death” which I have reviewed here. On the first of my three visits to China in 2000, I visited Nanjing and I […]
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The one sanctioned form of birth control
September 3rd, 2012 by Roger Darlington
Posted in American current affairs | Comments (1)
The war that Canada won
September 3rd, 2012 by Roger Darlington
Most people in the Britain have never heard of the War of 1812 whose 200th anniversary is of course this year. Many Americans know little about it either. But the event has a special resonance in Canada. The war was between the United States and Britain and, in course of it, the Americans made repeated […]
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