Archive for April, 2015
Five English things that are not actually English
April 23rd, 2015 by Roger Darlington
So many traditions that people think define a nation originated outside that particular country. On St George’s Day, here are five things that most people think of as quintessentially English that came from abroad. We should embrace and celebrate multiculturalism and not spend so much time trying to separate ourselves from ‘the other’. Once upon […]
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A review of the new Keanu Reeves movie “John Wick”
April 23rd, 2015 by Roger Darlington
If you like your films fast and furious with plenty of bullets and bodies, then “John Wick” is for you – my review here.
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By George, it’s still a popular name
April 23rd, 2015 by Roger Darlington
In England and other places, today is St George’s Day since 23 April is supposed to be the date that the saint died in 303 AD. The name is still very common in this country and currently stands at 10th in the popularity charts for new babies as you can see here. The family in the […]
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When will Israel have a new government?
April 22nd, 2015 by Roger Darlington
If the opinion polls prove correct, following the General Election on 7 May, British voters might be waiting some time before they learn who is to form the next Government and on what basis. Meanwhile, spare a thought for Israeli voters. They went to the polls on 17 March but, more than a month later, […]
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British general election (11): some of the constitutional questions that might arise
April 21st, 2015 by Roger Darlington
This General Election may be a nightmare for political parties and a bewilderment to the voters, but commentators and pundits are loving it because the outcome is so uncertain and potentially all sorts of new issues might need to be addressed. In a piece entitled “The politics of legitimacy”, the BBC’s deputy political editor James […]
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Word of the day: atticism
April 20th, 2015 by Roger Darlington
It means concise and elegant expression or speech. The term comes from the Greek word which means ‘a siding with Athens’ and, since Attic was the language of the Greek capital Athens, it came to be associated with fine speech. We could do with more atticism during the current General Election campaign. Now fine speech […]
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How religious are the British?
April 19th, 2015 by Roger Darlington
Not much at all – as revealed by a new survey commissioned by the “Observer” newspaper of social attitudes in Britain: Which of the following religions or belief systems, if any, do you associate with? Church of England = 33% Catholicism = 10% Other Christian = 9% Islam = 3% Hinduism = 2% Judaism = […]
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A review of the new film “A Little Chaos”
April 19th, 2015 by Roger Darlington
If you would like a little divertissement from so many crash-bang-wallop films out there, you could do worse than view Kate Winslet in “A Little Chaos” which I have reviewed here.
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British general election (10): is an election that does not produce an overall winner really so unusual?
April 18th, 2015 by Roger Darlington
“Hung parliaments may seem unusual but they are not. Britain had 20 governments in the 20th century, according to Prof Robert Hazell of University College London’s constitution unit. Of these, five were coalitions and five were minority governments. Only 50% of these governments were the “traditional” single-party majority government that Britain’s first-past-the-post electoral system is […]
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A review of the novel “An Office And A Spy”
April 17th, 2015 by Roger Darlington
This novel, by British thriller writer Robert Harris, is a classic ‘could not put down’ – not great literature but a compelling read. You can check out my review here.
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