Archive for September, 2017
A new vision for the British economy: the Interim Report of the IPPR Commission on Social Justice
September 8th, 2017 by Roger Darlington
This week, I attended the launch of the Interim Report of the Commission on Social Justice convened by the Left of Centre think tank the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR). At the event in London’s Church House, we heard especially from the Chair of the Commission, IPPR Director Tom Kibasi, and Director of the Commission, […]
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Word of the day: synesthesia
September 7th, 2017 by Roger Darlington
Synesthesia is a perceptual phenomenon in which stimulation of one sensory or cognitive pathway leads to automatic, involuntary experiences in a second sensory or cognitive pathway. Synesthetic associations can occur in any combination and any number of senses or cognitive pathways. In one common form of synesthesia, known as grapheme-colour synesthesia, numbers are perceived as […]
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A review of the powerful new film “Detroit”
September 6th, 2017 by Roger Darlington
There are far too few female film directors and probably none as commercially and artistically successful as the American Kathryn Bigelow. Her two previous works, “The Hurt Locker” and “Zero Dark Thirty”, were both outstanding and showed men in uniform under pressure. “Detroit” has the same essential theme but, as the title makes clear, this […]
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The current state of religious belief in Britain
September 5th, 2017 by Roger Darlington
The latest data on religious belief in the UK comes from the 34th British Social Attitudes BSA) survey conducted by the National Centre for Social Research. It might surprise many non-Britons who think that the UK is still basically a religious nation and it might surprise some Britons who seem to think that the UK is going […]
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Who have you heard of? Albert Einstein or David Hilbert?
September 4th, 2017 by Roger Darlington
For as long as I can remember, I’ve always known of the German-born physicist and humanitarian Albert Einstein but, until a few days ago, I’d never heard of the German mathematician David Hilbert. I came across Hilbert in the book I am currently reading: “Reality Is Not What It Seems: The Journey To Quantum Gravity” […]
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Climate change + urban development = massive flooding worldwide
September 3rd, 2017 by Roger Darlington
“Houston may have broken the US rainfall records, but lost in the dramatic worldwide coverage of Texas has been the plight of tens of millions of people across Asia and Africa who are also counting the human cost of equally intense storms in which months of rain has fallen in just a few hours. One […]
Posted in Environment, World current affairs | Comments (5)
A review of the recent film “Collateral Beauty”
September 1st, 2017 by Roger Darlington
I’m really not sure about this movie. What is certain is that it is studded with stars: Will Smith (in an unusually sensitive leading performance), Edward Norton, Michael Peña, and no less than four British actresses, Helen Mirren, Kate Winslet, Keira Knightley and Naomie Harris. It deals with a terribly serious issue – the death […]
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