Archive for November, 2012
Three splendid novels about to appear as major films
November 19th, 2012 by Roger Darlington
Literature is a major source for cinema since both art forms essentially deal in storytelling. Three excellent novels which I have read are about to appear as films that I will certainly want to see. They are: “Midnight’s Children” by Salmon Rushdie – my review here. “Cloud Atlas” by David Mitchell – my review here. “Life […]
Posted in Cultural issues | Comments (0)
The 50th anniversary of “Lawrence Of Arabia”
November 18th, 2012 by Roger Darlington
As everyone who knows me and/or visits NightHawk will appreciate , I am a massive film fan. My card index of films viewed now stands at 2.143 and I’ve reviewed lots of the more recent movies here. My all-time favourite film is “Lawrence Of Arabia” which I have reviewed here. I first saw it when […]
Posted in Cultural issues, My life & thoughts | Comments (3)
How shale gas will massively impact the world of geopolitics
November 16th, 2012 by Roger Darlington
Ever since the end of the Second World War when the United States emerged as the pre-eminent world power, one of the givens of geopolitics has been that the American economy – the world’s largest – was substantially dependent on energy imports, largely from the Middle East. This has required the US to support authoritarian […]
Posted in Environment, World current affairs | Comments (0)
Can China sustain its rate of growth and will it really become a superpower?
November 15th, 2012 by Roger Darlington
This week, the Chinese Communist Party is holding its 18th National Congress to make a once in a decade change in its leadership. This has led much of the media to highlight the expectation that in a few years China will become the largest economy in the world and to speculate about whether China is […]
Posted in World current affairs | Comments (1)
Word of the day: pleonexia
November 14th, 2012 by Roger Darlington
This is a term invented by the Ancient Greeks which means ‘an overreaching desire for more than one’s share’ – which describes the behaviour of the economic elites in both capitalist and developing countries today. You’ll find a slightly fuller discussion on this Wikipedia page.
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Happy birthday Vee and happy Diwali everyone
November 13th, 2012 by Roger Darlington
Today is my wife’s birthday and coincidentally it is also the birthday of her twin sister. I took Vee out for lunch to one of her favourite cafes: “The Doll’s House” on Harrow-on-the- Hill. For her present, I’ve ordered an iPad mini which Apple tells me is on the way but hasn’t arrived yet. Vee […]
Posted in My life & thoughts | Comments (0)
A half term report on Britain’s Coalition Government
November 13th, 2012 by Roger Darlington
We are half way through the five year term of the British Parliament elected in June 2010. We have had a Coalition Govrenment dominated by the Conservative Party. So, how has the Government done? The Labour Party opposition has helpfully produced this assessment.
Posted in British current affairs | Comments (0)
Word of the day: neologism
November 13th, 2012 by Roger Darlington
A clever friend of mine used this word in an e-mail to me recently and I thought that I should give it some exposure, so that you can slip in into your next conversation! The Wikipedia page defines the word as meaning “a newly coined term, word, or phrase, that may be in the process […]
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Is the United States becoming more aggressive?
November 12th, 2012 by Roger Darlington
I have just started reading: “The Next 100 Years” by George Friedman. He admits that: “The United States is, historically, a warlike country.” Consider these figures in the book: The US has been at war for about 10% of its existence. During the 20th century, the US was at war 15% of the time. In […]
Posted in American current affairs, History | Comments (0)
Rachel Maddow explains what the American presidential election result really means
November 11th, 2012 by Roger Darlington
This video clip lasts 15 minutes, but Rachel Maddow of the MSNBC channel explains what the return of Barack Obama to the White House and the defeat of Mitt Romney really means to Americans and the world.
Posted in American current affairs | Comments (0)