Archive for July, 2015
The challenge of Islamic extremism (3)
July 14th, 2015 by Roger Darlington
This weekend, I attended a one-day course entitled “Hope And History: A Short Introduction To Contemporary Issues In Muslim Contexts” run by a lecturer called Dr Farid Panjwani. He was adamant that terrorist groups like al-Qaeda and ISIS should not be called “fundamentalist” because many Muslims hold fundamental beliefs but do not condone violence. Instead he […]
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The challenge of Islamic extremism (2)
July 13th, 2015 by Roger Darlington
This weekend, I attended a one-day course entitled “Hope And History: A Short Introduction To Contemporary Issues In Muslim Contexts” run by a lecturer called Dr Farid Panjwani. A major theme of the course was the clash between the historical experience of Islam and the colonial take-over of Muslim societies: Christianity was not a state religion […]
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The challenge of Islamic extremism (1)
July 12th, 2015 by Roger Darlington
As a believer in lifelong learning, I regularly attend short courses at a London further education college called the City Lit. This weekend, I attended a one-day course entitled “Hope And History: A Short Introduction To Contemporary Issues In Muslim Contexts”. Our tutor was Pakistani-born Dr Farid Panjwani, a lecturer at the Institute of Education, who was very […]
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Words of the day: perihelion and aphelion
July 11th, 2015 by Roger Darlington
These two words refer to two points in the orbit of the Earth around the Sun. Although the orbit is close to being a circle (like the shape of a ball), it is not quite circular; it is instead an ellipse (like the shape of an egg). The point at which the Earth is nearest […]
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Commemorating the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Britain – and remembering the particular tale of Karel Kuttelwascher
July 10th, 2015 by Roger Darlington
Today is the 75th anniversary of the commencement of the Battle of Britain. It is estimated that between 10 July and the end of October 1940, the RAF lost around 1,023 aircraft whilst the Luftwaffe lost 1,887. The ultimate failure of the Luftwaffe was one of the turning points of the Second World War and prevented Germany […]
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My 18th short story: “Coming In To Land”
July 10th, 2015 by Roger Darlington
Ever been on an aircraft when there was a tricky landing? This is the inspiration for my short story entailed “Coming In To Land” which you can read here.
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There is so much terrible news out there, but here’s a tale of survival and love
July 9th, 2015 by Roger Darlington
A British couple have survived four bouts of cancer and 19 heart attacks to celebrate 60 years of marriage. You can read more about David and Muriel Emery here.
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Another new experience with my granddaughter Catrin
July 8th, 2015 by Roger Darlington
I like to collect my granddaughter Catrin – now four and a half – from nursery once a week and this week the day coincided with an invitation to parents and carers to come along a little earlier and read some stories to the little ones. I was certainly up for that and so were […]
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How many elements are there?
July 7th, 2015 by Roger Darlington
I am currently reading “The Magic Of Reality” by Richard Dawkins. In this book, he writes that there are about 100 different kinds of elements of which only about 90 occur in nature. I wondered what is the exact number of elements known to us. It seems that the answer is 118 – see here. […]
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Ready for a laugh? Well, how many jokes can you take?
July 6th, 2015 by Roger Darlington
I have lots of serious material on my web site, but there are plenty of jokes too. Check out these sections: Lots of jokes to make you laugh More jokes to keep you laughing Still more jokes to keep you laughing
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