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14th
January
2008
Plot to kill Queen foiled – World – theage.com.au
It may sound silly but this story almost makes me feel proud – Ugandan security services foiled an Al Qaeda plot to attack the Queen in Kampala last year. I must say in my own dealings with the Uganda Police force last year I was not exactly inspired with confidence in them, but obviously those charged with protecting the Queen were a bit better resourced than the rank and file officers we dealt with. Anyway, good for Uganda – the newest ally in the war on terror!
Categories : Africa, News, Uganda |
14th
January
2008
Last night I finally finished reading Peter Brown’s biography, Augustine of Hippo, which I started in October and have been reading a little at a time since. This is very slow going for me but it’s been a busy few months and I’ve knocked off plenty of other books in the interim. Contrary to what my pace might suggest this book is not such a difficult read – it’s well written and holds your attention. It’s just not a gripping “can’t wait to read the next chapter” book but then when your subject is a late Roman bishop what do you expect? Anyway it gives a very vivid portrait of St Augustine and the times in which he lived. I also found it interesting to read the epilogue, in which Brown examines new discoveries in Augustinian studies over the last 30 years since the biography was originally written, and revists some of his conclusions and emphases in the original book (which remains unchanged) – it’s fascinating to see an author humbly change his mind and admit where he might have gone wrong in his earlier work. The only thing I personally found lacking in the book was a bit more of a rounded synopsis of Augustine’s theology (which is only briefly touched upon in it’s relation to the events and controversies of his life) and a discussion of the ongoing impact of Augustine’s work through the ages up til the present day – but then these were not the intention of the book so I can’t really complain too much.
Now that that’s finished, on to something a little more current – “The Audacity of Hope” by Barack Obama; and then Eric Clapton’s autobiography. Got a long weekend down in Denmark this weekend so should be able to knock those two off in fairly short order.
Categories : books |
