Archive for November, 2015
Why do jihadis seem so evil?
November 23rd, 2015 by Roger Darlington
“There appears … to be something especially potent about Islam in fomenting terror and persecution. Contemporary radical Islam is the religious form through which a particular kind of barbarous rage expresses itself. So, to understand why jihadis have been drawn into a different moral universe that allows them to celebrate, brutally inhuman acts, we have […]
Posted in World current affairs | Comments (0)
A review of the latest (and last) “Hunger Games” film
November 22nd, 2015 by Roger Darlington
I’ve read all the three books by Suzanne Collins and now I’ve seen all the four movie adaptations. This weekend, the film franchise concluded with “The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2” which I have reviewed here.
Posted in Cultural issues | Comments (0)
UTC or not UTC? – that was the question
November 22nd, 2015 by Roger Darlington
An international agreement has been reached to retain the “leap second” in coordinated universal time (UTC). The deal was reached at the International Telecommunications Union World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC-15) which is currently taking place in Geneva. Leap seconds are periodically added to adjust irregularities between the earth’s rotation and UTC in order to remain close […]
Posted in Science & technology | Comments (0)
20th anniversary of the Dayton Agreement that ended the war in Bosnia
November 21st, 2015 by Roger Darlington
Twenty years ago today, an agreement was reached to end the three and a half year bloody ethnic war in Bosnia. The Dayton Agreement froze the conflict but did not resolve fundamental political issues. I saw the post-Dayton situation in Bosnia at first hand when, eight years ago, I visited Sarajevo. You can read the account […]
Posted in History, My life & thoughts | Comments (0)
What hope is there for Kenya?
November 20th, 2015 by Roger Darlington
I recently visited Nairobi for a week and wrote about my experience here. More recently, I have read a book on the post-colonial history of the country which I have reviewed here. Somewhere between hope and despair, author Daniel Branch concludes: “Kenya may never be prosperous or be a nation; but armed with a government […]
Posted in History, My life & thoughts | Comments (0)
A 30-mile traffic jam in Kenya
November 20th, 2015 by Roger Darlington
Since my son and his family relocated to Kenya about three months ago, I have been more than usually interested in the history of, and news from, the country. So I was amazed to learn that more than 1,500 trucks are locked into a traffic jam stretching for 50 km (30 miles) on the highway between […]
Posted in World current affairs | Comments (0)
How to recognise a stroke
November 20th, 2015 by Roger Darlington
It’s called the FAST test and you can learn about it here.
Posted in Miscellaneous | Comments (0)
Why we should support Wikipedia
November 19th, 2015 by Roger Darlington
Dear Roger, A year ago, you gave £XX to keep Wikipedia online for hundreds of millions of readers. We are deeply grateful for your support, and we need your help again this year. Please renew your donation today. We are the small non-profit that runs one of the top websites in the world. The others […]
Posted in Internet | Comments (0)
100 amazing women from around the world
November 19th, 2015 by Roger Darlington
Our news and current affairs are still dominated by men, so it’s good to see the BBC compile a list of 100 women who are changing the world. Check out some of these special people here.
Posted in World current affairs | Comments (0)
Why did the forecasts of the opinion pollsters get the result of the British General Election so wrong?
November 17th, 2015 by Roger Darlington
So far, we still don’t know. An official study commissioned by the British Polling Council, being chaired by Professor Patrick Sturgis, is due to report its initial findings in January. But a survey by the British Election Survey (BES) seems to offer some useful indications. It looks as if the BES approach of random sampling […]
Posted in British current affairs | Comments (0)