Archive for June, 2013
Where to now for the Kurds?
June 11th, 2013 by Roger Darlington
A friend of mine is currently in the Kurdish north of Iraq on one of his regular visits. The area is peaceful and I would love to visit it myself one day. Meanwhile the situation of the Kurds in various Middle Eastern countries is being impacted considerably by developments in the region, as summarised in […]
Posted in World current affairs | Comments (1)
America and peace: Kennedy’s 1963 speech
June 10th, 2013 by Roger Darlington
I am still in the process of watching on Sky Atlantic the series “Oliver Stone’s Untold History Of The United States”. It’s a fascinating, if controversial, project and I have now viewed eight of the 10 episodes. Stone seeks to highlights opportunities when the aggressive nature of US foreign policy could have been tempered. One of […]
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America and war: the long, long list
June 10th, 2013 by Roger Darlington
I am still in the process of watching on Sky Atlantic the series “Oliver Stone’s Untold History Of The United States”. It’s a fascinating, if controversial, project and I have now viewed eight of the 10 episodes. One can certainly challenge some of the judgements Stone makes of individuals and events in his review of the […]
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Who was the Turkish leader Kemal Ataturk?
June 9th, 2013 by Roger Darlington
“It began as a small environmental protest against plans to redevelop Gezi Park, and Istanbul’s adjoining Taksim Square. But over the past two weeks it has morphed into a countrywide revolt. Three people have been killed, 4,000 injured and 900 arrested. The demonstrations have spread to more than 70 Turkish cities, including the capital, Ankara, and the […]
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10 contenders for the most irritating online abbreviations
June 8th, 2013 by Roger Darlington
Which of these do you recognise/use/hate? LOL YOLO TBH IMHO JFGI tl;dr IYKWIM TMI AFAIR NSFW See discussion of the 10 abbreviations here.
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A review of the new sc-fi movie “After Earth”
June 8th, 2013 by Roger Darlington
This is one that you can safely miss, as I’ve explained in my review here.
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Where is the greenest public building in Britain?
June 4th, 2013 by Roger Darlington
It’s actually in my local London borough of Brent and it’s the new council headquarters. It cost £90M but it is said to be the most sustainable public building in the country. You can learn more here.
Posted in Environment | Comments (0)
What’s the longest word in the English language?
June 4th, 2013 by Roger Darlington
It is: neumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis = A lung disease caused by inhalation of silica dust. Other long words around the world include: Floccinaucinihilipilification = Act or habit of estimating as worthless. Longest word in Hansard, as used by by Jacob Rees-Mogg Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateaturipukakapikimaunga- horonukupokaiwhenuakitanatahu Longest-named place in the world, given to a New Zealand hill by the Maoris Rindfleischetikettierungsüberwachungsaufgabenübertragungsgesetz = the […]
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Reviews of two utterly different films: “The Great Gatsby” and “Mud”
June 4th, 2013 by Roger Darlington
I am a real film enthusiast, so I go to the cinema regularly and view an eclectic range of movies. Last weekend, I went to the cinema twice and the films I saw could hardly be more different. “The Great Gatsby” is a big budget movie with shooting on elaborate sets in Australia. There are […]
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How many nuclear weapons are there – and how many do we need?
June 3rd, 2013 by Roger Darlington
Today the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) launches the findings of “SIPRI Yearbook 2013″, which assesses the current state of international security, armaments and disarmament. Key findings include: Alone among the five legally recognized nuclear weapon states, China expanded its nuclear arsenal in 2012; The number of personnel deployed with peace operations worldwide is falling rapidly, […]
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