Archive for March, 2016
Highlights of Mexico (1): introduction
March 21st, 2016 by Roger Darlington
The Americas – the longest of all the continents, stretching from almost the North Pole to almost the South Pole. We have visited many countries in the different sections of the continent: the United States and Canada in North America, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala in Central America, and Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, […]
Posted in My life & thoughts | Comments (0)
What will Barack Obama find on his historic visit to Cuba?
March 20th, 2016 by Roger Darlington
Today Barack Obama will be the first sitting US president in 88 years to visit Cuba. The last such visit was in 1928 when Calvin Coolidge went over to give a speech at an international conference. The opening up of relations between the USA and Cuba will be one the lasting legacies of the Obama […]
Posted in American current affairs, World current affairs | Comments (0)
A review of the extraordinary film “Room”
March 19th, 2016 by Roger Darlington
I’ve only just caught up with this film and now I will definitely read the novel. It’s not the movie you probably suspect, so I recommend that you see it. You’ll find my review here.
Posted in Cultural issues | Comments (0)
A review of the novel “The Book Of Strange New Things”
March 18th, 2016 by Roger Darlington
This is the sixth (and last?) novel by Dutch/Australian/Scottish author Michel Faber. I found it an odd work which I have reviewed here. Anyone else read it? What did you think?
Posted in Cultural issues | Comments (0)
Does big data have to mean Big Brother?
March 17th, 2016 by Roger Darlington
Over the past 13 years, I’ve written a regular column on Internet issues and I have just contributed my 90th piece. It’s on big data and the power of the algorithm – you can read it here. If you fancy dipping into any of the previous columns (you can see how far and fast things […]
Posted in Internet, Science & technology | Comments (0)
These days, at almost every event I attend, there is some reference to Brexit
March 16th, 2016 by Roger Darlington
On 23 June 2016, there will be a referendum in the UK to determine whether the nation should remain a member of the European Union or whether we should leave (so-called Brexit). This is a huge issue for the future of the country and understandably it comes up at almost every meeting I attend. Yesterday […]
Posted in British current affairs | Comments (4)
How common is rape in India?
March 15th, 2016 by Roger Darlington
I have recently been in e-mail correspondence with an Indian woman currently living in Canada. She felt that my “Short Guide To The Indian Political System” contains “some negative information”, but I explained to her that “My readers expect a critical evaluation in my guides to political systems since constitutional details alone do not explain what […]
Posted in World current affairs | Comments (0)
The Siberian crater saga: more widespread – and scarier – than anyone thought
March 14th, 2016 by Roger Darlington
If one spends a bit of time surfing the web and looking at social media – as I do – often one comes across something new and interesting and sometimes scary. For instance, have you heard of the Siberian crater saga? No, neither had I. But it seems that across this end of the earth […]
Posted in Environment | Comments (0)
When will we have a balanced assessment of the premiership of Tony Blair?
March 13th, 2016 by Roger Darlington
“Broken Vows: Tony Blair – The Tragedy of Power” by Tom Bower is a newly-published hatchet job on Blair’s record in office that has rightly been criticised by many reviewers. The political editor of the “Observer”, Andrew Rawnsley, opens his review of the book by pointing out: “History, so it is often said, is written by the […]
Posted in British current affairs | Comments (4)
The world’s oldest man: a survivor of Auschwitz who is 112
March 12th, 2016 by Roger Darlington
The human body and the human spirit are amazing things. I regularly marvel at how some people who have suffered so much can live so long. A case in point is Israel Kristal, a citizen of Haifa in Israel. He has just been confirmed as the world’s oldest documented living man, but he is a […]
Posted in World current affairs | Comments (0)