Archive for August, 2018


What do you know about the Dead Sea Scrolls?

August 20th, 2018 by Roger Darlington

I recently watched an interesting television documentary about the Dead Sea Scrolls and I realised how little I knew about them: how they were found, how many there are, what they say, why they are important, whether more are to be found … You can check out 6 things you may not know about the […]

Posted in History | Comments (0)


A review of a travel guide to Colombia

August 19th, 2018 by Roger Darlington

As I explained in an earlier posting, I’m about to have a holiday in Colombia. Therefore I’ve just read a travel guide titled “Culture Smart! Colombia” by Kate Cathey (2011). This book proved to be a short but comprehensive guide to the country’s history, politics, economy, customs and traditions. However, the book was published before a […]

Posted in World current affairs | Comments (2)


A review of the new movie “The Equalizer 2”

August 18th, 2018 by Roger Darlington

In his long and distinguished career of almost 50 films, 63 year old Denzel Washington has never made a sequel – until now. Like Liam Neeson with “Taken”, he has found a money-spinning action role in later life and he’s going to run with it. Between the two “Equalizer” movies, Washington has turned director in […]

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Word of the day: Pastafarianism

August 17th, 2018 by Roger Darlington

Pastafarianism (a portmanteau of pasta and Rastafarianism) is a social movement that promotes a light-hearted view of religion and opposes the teaching of intelligent design and creationism in public schools. According to adherents, Pastafarianism is a “real, legitimate religion, as much as any other”. The word is in the news today because the Dutch council […]

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A review of the new film “The Escape”

August 16th, 2018 by Roger Darlington

How many women are unfulfilled by marriage and motherhood and wish to escape? Many more than we would dare to imagine, I suspect. This British film – actually written and directed by a man (Dominic Savage) – tells the story of one such tormented soul who is such a supporting character to her husband and […]

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Worldwide which are the best and the worst cities in which to live?

August 15th, 2018 by Roger Darlington

Each year, the Economist Intelligence Unit produces a Global Liveability Index and it has just published this year’s results. The ten most liveable cities in 2018 are: 1. Vienna, Austria 2. Melbourne, Australia 3. Osaka, Japan 4. Calgary, Canada 5. Sydney, Australia 6. Vancouver, Canada 7. Tokyo, Japan 8. Toronto, Canada 9. Copenhagen, Denmark 10. […]

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The 10 best jokes at the Edinburgh fringe

August 14th, 2018 by Roger Darlington

We need some humour in these difficult times. These 10 jokes  – some of which require thinking about – were collated by the “Guardian” newspaper: Athena Kugblenu: Patriarchy is putting Jane Austen on £10 notes the same time as bringing in contactless. Christian Talbot: Sometimes even I don’t understand feminism. And I’m a guy. Jez Watts: I […]

Posted in Miscellaneous | Comments (0)


Is the current political crisis in the United States as bad as Watergate?

August 13th, 2018 by Roger Darlington

According to Carl Bernstein – one of the two “Washington Post” reporters who broke the Watergate story 44 years ago – it’s worse: “Obviously there are similarities, not least of which is part of the story is about undermining the electoral process. You’re also dealing with cover-ups in both instances and special prosecutors.” “This is […]

Posted in American current affairs | Comments (0)


Are you a middle child? If so, it’s your day.

August 12th, 2018 by Roger Darlington

As you probably know, the Americans have a day for almost everything and today they celebrate National Middle Child Day. Two thoughts occur to me. First, it is widely thought that birth order influences personality and this idea is discussed on the Day’s web site. But I’m not sure how much scientific evidence there is for […]

Posted in Cultural issues, My life & thoughts | Comments (0)


Who benefits when improvements in life expectancy grind to a halt?

August 11th, 2018 by Roger Darlington

This week, the Office for National Statistics said the UK has experienced one of the largest slowdowns in life expectancy growth among 20 of the world’s leading economies. It confirmed earlier figures that show that, since 2010, Britons’ life expectancy has stopped increasing, with the change most pronounced in women. There is major debate going […]

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