NightHawk

Some weeks ago, I did a posting about Lovemore Matombo and Wellington Chibebe, the President and General Secretary of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU). They were arrested on 8 May for speaking out about the state-sponsored violence in Zimbabwe - or as Robert Mugabe's government put it "spreading falsehoods prejudicial to the State".

Lovemore and Wellington were due to appear in court today to defend themselves against these charges. In fact, they attended court, only to be told that their trial would be postponed again until 27 August 2008.

I contributed to the the mosaic below which is made up from the pictures of over 2,000 trade unionists from around the world who have come together to make this public demonstration of support for the ZCTU leaders and all unionists in Zimbabwe.

You can see the mosaic in close-up and learn more about the campaign here.

Posted by Roger Darlington at 12:20 PM | Permalink

The author Michael Carr has stated that: "All kids are gifted; some just open their packages earlier than others". I was reminded of this comment this week when I received some news from my younger brother.

We were three kids in Manchester in the 1960s. My sister Silvia and I both did well at a school and went on to do degrees at university. Our younger brother Ralph struggled academically at school and eventually became a postman.

Later though, he took his degree and then his MA and then his PhD - you can check his credentials here.

He has just become a professor at the University of Salford. Well done, our kid!

Posted by Roger Darlington at 12:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBacks (0)

The United States' National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) was created 50 years ago today.

In my teens in the 1960s, I thrilled to the achievements of the Administration and stayed up all night to watch the first moon walk live on television. I was convinced then that by now we would have permanent settlements on the moon and be reaching out to other planets - but it hasn't worked out that way.

You can check out the Wikipedia page on NASA here and the web site of the organisation itself here.

Posted by Roger Darlington at 04:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

My web site and this blog seek to promote an inclusive and tolerant world view - but not everyone shares my vision.

This recent "Economist" article gives many examples of hatred on the Net and what it calls cyber-nationalism and I have a section on my site which examines "Extremism On The Net".

All the more reason for me to keep up my work - and for you to keep visiting.

Posted by Roger Darlington at 03:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

This morning, I left the house at 5.30 am and I was not back until 9 pm. This 15 and a half hour day was occasioned by a trip from my home in London to the offices of the Scottish Consumer Council in Glasgow for a series of interviews to appoint the Scottish Director of Consumer Focus - the organisation that, on 1 October, will take over from Postwatch, Energywatch and the National Consumer Council.

It was the first time that I've used the new Terminal 5 at Heathrow airport - a huge, gleaming affair. I only had hand luggage but I was assured that the baggage handling problems of the first couple of months have now been resolved.

Since I became a portfolio worker - largely serving on consumer bodies - some six years ago, almost all my meetings and events take place in London. But the last couple of months have been different. My work has taken me to Oxford, Nottingham, Sheffield, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Lisbon.

I'll be visiting relatives in Leicester this weekend and then, in two weeks time, I'll be on holiday in the Baltic States visiting Talinn (Estonia), Riga (Latvia), and Vilnius (Lithuania).

Posted by Roger Darlington at 09:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Just over three months ago, I did a posting about the Last Lecture given by Randy Pausch, a Professor of Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States who had been diagnosed with metastatic pancreatic cancer and told that he had months to live.

Sadly a few days ago, he died and today there was an obituary in the "Guardian" newspaper. Our thoughts go out to his his wife Jai and their young children, Dylan, Logan, and Chloe.

The last posting that Randy was able to make on his blog was on 26 June, but his Last Lecture will live on in the form of a video on the Web.

Posted by Roger Darlington at 09:22 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

The rise and rise of Barack Obama continues ... Many comparisons have been made with John F Kennedy and certainly such a reference is not lost on Obama's chief strategic David Axelrod who was inspired by JFK at the early age of five as explained in this profile.

Personally I think that Obama has the potential to become an even greater figure than JFK. Kennedy came from an incredibly wealthy and powerful political dynasty, whereas Obama has come from a genuinely humble economic background; becoming the first Catholic in the White House was special, but not as ground-breaking as being the first black in the West Wing; JFK never wrote books as thoughtful as "Dreams From My Father" and "The Audacity Of Hope".

Kennedy was brilliantly cool and decisive in the Cuba missile crisis of 1962, but much of the mythology of his greatness is coloured by his premature death from an assassin's bullets. All decent-minded people around the world hope earnestly that Obama's security is as thorough as humanly possible, because this man truly has the mark of greatness about him in a way I have never seen in my lifetime.

Posted by Roger Darlington at 12:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The fall and fall of Gordon Brown continues ... The scale of the decline is well described in Andrew Rawnsley's column for the "Observer".

It is a slow-motion tragedy that has unfolded over a year now with the end seemingly not far from sight. It is a tragedy because this is a throughly decent and incredibly hardworking man who has not done anything spectacularly wrong, but whose undoubted skills belong much more to a different time (economic stability rather than worldwide recession) and a different place (the strategic role of the Treasury rather than the issue-a-minute challenge of No 10).

There is no easy or obvious 'saviour' for the Labour Government. I think this is too soon for David Milliband to assume the helm. The best communicator in the Cabinet is my former CWU boss Alan Johnson. I voted for him as Deputy Leader and, right now, I'd vote for him as Leader.

Posted by Roger Darlington at 12:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

My thanks to Nigel for drawing this feature to my attention - although you'll need to obtain the "New Scientist" magazine for the full story.

For all the limitations to reason, I firmly believe that it should guide our lives and our society much more than it does. It is the best guide to truth and I've written about why truth matters.

Posted by Roger Darlington at 11:28 AM | Permalink

You can read the full text of Barack Obama's speech to an estimated quarter of a million Berliners today here.

I just hope that the manifest support for Obama of so many non-Americans does not lead to an adverse reaction in the USA. America and the world need him in the White House.

Posted by Roger Darlington at 10:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

According to IDC's Digital Marketplace Model and Forecast, a quarter of the global population - that's 1.4 billion people - will regularly use the internet during 2008. So it looks like that Internet thingy is here to say.

Looking at growth prospects, it is suggested that the number of Net users is set to jump to 1.9 billion over the next four years, bringing access to roughly 30% of the world's population.

Net-enabled mobile devices will help drive the global online trend, surpassing the desktop PC as the primary means of accessing the internet by 2012 (I'm already accessing the Net on my iPhone as well as PC).

More information here.

Posted by Roger Darlington at 06:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

This article from "Time" magazine to mark Mandela's 90th birthday makes for an interesting read.

I have produced my own advice on "How To Be A Good Leader".

Posted by Roger Darlington at 07:44 AM | Permalink

It's reported that Will Smith has just become the first actor in the history of the cinema to star in eight consecutive movies that have each earned more than $100 million at the box office.

So, how many can you name and how many have you seen? I've only caught three.

• Hancock (2008) .... John Hancock
• I Am Legend (2007) .... Robert Neville
• The Pursuit of Happyness (2006) .... Chris Gardner
• Hitch (2005/) .... Alex 'Hitch' Hitchens
• I, Robot (2004) .... Del Spooner
• Bad Boys II (2003) .... Detective Mike Lowrey
• Men in Black II (2002) .... Agent Jay
• Ali (2001) .... Cassius Clay

Posted by Roger Darlington at 08:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

More than 10 months ago now, I did a posting expressing despair at the parents of missing Madeleine McCann being declared suspects and expressing my view that they were totally innocent of involvement in the disappearance of their daughter. So I welcome the much belated acceptance by the Portuguese police that the McCanns should no longer be arguidos (suspects).

In the meanwhile, however, much of the British media has behaved outrageously in libelling the McCanns and the other suspect Robert Murat. Last week, Murat won £600,000 from 11 newspapers and Sky News following the judgement that scores of their reports were libellous. The level of these financial penalties to the individual newspapers is pathetic and we need to think again about the regulation of our media.

Posted by Roger Darlington at 05:56 PM | Permalink

I am delighted by the news that at long last Bosnian Serb war crimes perpetrator Radovan Karadzic has been arrested in Serbia after 12 years on the run. This could - and should - have happened many years ago.

I was recently in Sarajevo [my account here] and heard at first hand some of the devastation that Karadzic's forces brought to the city in the siege that killed some 12,000. Now we need to catch Karadzic's wartime military leader, Ratko Mladic.

Posted by Roger Darlington at 08:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

It's difficult for the conventional media to report what is happened in Zimbabwe, but bloggers in the country are helping us to understand the true horrors and political manoeuvring. Check out the blog called This is Zimbabwe.

Posted by Roger Darlington at 10:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I'm a massive movie fan and have almost 1900 titles in my card index system of films that I've seen. One of my all-time favourites is "Lawrence Of Arabia" (1963) directed by David Lean.

This afternoon, I saw it for the 10th time in 45 years. This was the restored version shown at London's National Film Theatre and I viewed it with my 32 son old son Richard who has never seen it before.

You can check out my review here.

Posted by Roger Darlington at 09:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The is the 50th time that I've blogged on the US Presidential race - one posting for each state. They have been serious comments - so this time let's have a little levity.

Posted by Roger Darlington at 11:32 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Many people around the world - especially those in developing countries - think that the USA is a country in which everyone enjoys a good standard of living and has a long and healthy life. Of course, compared to most other countries on the globe, most Americans are exceptionally privileged, but the wealth and health of the United States is very unevenly distributed and many Americans genuinely struggle.

Consider these facts:

• While the United States has the second-highest income per head in the world, it ranks 42nd in terms of life expectancy.
• Despite spending $230m (£115m) an hour on health care, Americans live shorter lives than citizens of almost every other developed country.
• The Japanese can expect to outlive Americans, on average, by more than four years.
• Citizens of Israel, Greece, Singapore, Costa Rica, South Korea and every western European and Nordic country save one can expect to live longer than Americans.
• One in six Americans, or about 47 million people, are not covered by health insurance and so have limited access to health care.
• The US has a higher percentage of children living in poverty than any of the world's richest countries.
• 14% of the population - some 40 million Americans - lack the literacy skills to perform simple, everyday tasks such as understanding newspaper articles and instruction manuals.

How do we know all this?

We know it because of a new report called "The Measure of America" funded by Oxfam America, the Conrad Hilton Foundation and the Rockefeller Foundation. This is the first-ever human development report for a wealthy, developed nation.

It introduces the American Human Development Index, which provides a single measure of well-being for all Americans, disaggregated by state and congressional district, as well as by gender, race, and ethnicity. The Index rankings of the 50 states and 436 congressional districts reveal huge disparities in the health, education, and living standards of different groups.

All the facts on this blog posting are taken from that report and you can ready a fuller analysis here.

Posted by Roger Darlington at 11:11 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The British trade union Unison is running a campaign on behalf of 600,000 local government workers who are taking action because employers are asking them to take a pay cut. The union's web site provides six ways to use the Net to contribute to the campaign. Check out the campaign here.

I'm delighted to see this sort of development. Eight years ago, I started writing and speaking about how trade unions could make better use of the Internet - see here and here.

Posted by Roger Darlington at 07:26 AM | Permalink

This is the fourth time that I've blogged on this subject in just seven weeks. In my second posting, I wrote:

"If the cause is rising demand, then prices will continue to rise because demand will continue to rise but supply will probably only increase marginally (in the short term anyway). If the cause is not rising demand but more probably panic and speculation, then we can expect that sometime in the future prices will fall back, although probably not to the level before the current crisis took hold."

Yesterday oil prices fell fell by the biggest amount in three and half years. Last week in London, the price of oil was $147 a barrel; yesterday it was $136. So what's going on? Somebody is ripping us off.

Posted by Roger Darlington at 08:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

This week, Channel Four screened a two-hour programme on the Islamic holy book the Qur'an. This was television at its best: a thoughtful, informed and balanced examination of an important and controversial subject with global implications.

The programme showed how the Shi'ite version of Islam as practised in Iran and the Whabbism version of the Sunni stream of Islam as practised in Saudi Arabia are unrepresentative of mainstream Islam. Also it demonstrated how the most controversial beliefs associated with Islam - such as suicide killings and female genital mutilation - are either based on a misreading of the Qur'an (the former) or have no justification from the Qur'an (the latter).

Of course, it is not surprising that the Qur'an is subject to so much interpretation and misunderstanding. It is claimed to be the direct word of God but the prophet Mohammad was illiterate and so the origins of the book derive from oral traditions. Also the book was written in several languages and these languages are not used today so the precise meaning of particular words and phrases is not clear.

Furthermore the Qur'an was conceived in a particular time and place and inevitably reflects the cultural norms of that time and place, notably in relation to the subordinate role of women.

All this is true of other holy books such as the Torah and the Bible but, as the Channel Four programme put it, the Qur'an is "the most ideologically influential text in the world".

The West will never defeat Islamic fundamentalism. Mainstream Muslims need to reclaim their religion from those who have distorted it beyond any reasonable interpretation of its founders and understand the Qur'an as a general guide that should be applied in the context of modern norms of sexual equality and human rights.

Posted by Roger Darlington at 07:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

I've always told my American friends that, if Britain really was the 51st state in the USA, we would be voting for Obama big time rather than John McCain. Now we have the evidence that it would be by an astonishing five to one. We're fired up and ready to go!

Posted by Roger Darlington at 08:27 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

As discussed in this article, Barack Obama and John McCain are now thinking hard about the appointment of a Vice-Presidential running mate and there's a lot of interest in one or both candidates choosing a woman.

This is more likely to happen on the Democratic side and the article mentions three possibilities: Kathleen Sebelius, Governor of Kansas, Claire McCaskill, a senator from Missouri, and of course Hillary Clinton.

I don't think that Obama will - or should - select Clinton. This would be too divisive a choice and it would create too much trouble for the campaign and the presidency. However, I've been impressed by McCaskill's performances on CNN.

Posted by Roger Darlington at 09:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

A new British web site opens today which enables all citizens to rate their doctors and comment on the treatment received. The site is called "I want great care". As this article explains, the initiative is controversial with doctors who fear unfair or even libellous comments.

In principle, I'm in favour of any scheme which empowers consumers or users of services, but I hope that those who post comments will be measured and that any unfair comments are quickly removed. I trust that the doctor behind the project - Dr Neil Bacon - has some good insurance in the event of legal actions.

Posted by Roger Darlington at 01:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

This week, I visited Lisbon for professional purposes in order to give a presentation on next generation broadband on behalf of the Ofcom Consumer Panel. I was only in the city for 48 hours but I managed to do a lot: a day at the conference, half a day's sightseeing, and three meals in restaurants.

The evening before the conference, I dined with the Ofcom speaker at the event: Chinyelu Onwurah, Head of Telecoms Technology at the regulator. The evening after the conference, I had dinner with Paula Neves whom I first met in Lisbon in 1993. Then, on the last afternoon, I had lunch with Vanda Jesus who works for the organisation which hosted the conference. I know - all young, intelligent, attractive women. What can I say?

Posted by Roger Darlington at 02:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

A month ago, I did a posting on the decision of Conservative frontbencher David Davies to resign and force a by-election and wrote:

"All that will happen is that the public purse will fund a totally unnecessary by-election in which there will no serious opposition and a very poor turnout. Davies will destroy his career, the Conservative Party will look divided and stupid, and Gordon Brown will be grateful for some diversion from his multiple troubles."

Posted by Roger Darlington at 07:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Each 10 July, Liverpool celebrates Beatles Day. The event marks the anniversary of the Fab Four’s triumphant homecoming to Liverpool after they conquered America in 1964.

This year, various famous people have been asked for their favourite Beatles song and the leaders of our political parties have answered as follows:

• Gordon Brown - "All My Loving"
• David Cameron - "The Long And Winding Road"
• Nick Clegg - "A Day In The Life"

What's your favourite?

Posted by Roger Darlington at 07:34 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

I'm off now for a couple of days to visit Lisbon and speak at a conference on next generation broadband. You can check out the programme here.

My only previous visits to Lisbon were in 1993 and 1996 but I loved it [short note here]. I'm sure I'll blog about the trip when I return.

Posted by Roger Darlington at 06:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Denmark is the happiest country in the world and Zimbabwe the least happy, according to new data just released by the University of Michigan Institute for Social Research as part of its World Values Survey. The USA only comes 16th, while the UK is just 21st, out of 97 countries - containing 90% of the world's population - that were surveyed.

The survey suggested that most people in most countries are becoming happier. In the 52 countries for which a time series is available, the happiest index rose in 40 cases.

You can check put the media release here and view the results for 97 countries here. Another way of looking at this data is the Inglehart-Welzel Cultural Map of the World.

If you want some ideas on how to make a country happier, look at my review of the Richard Layard book "Happiness". If you want some tips for your personal situation, you should look at my web page on "How To Be Happy".

Posted by Roger Darlington at 08:21 AM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0)

The American presidential election is all about the electoral college and the winning or losing of each state - rather than about the overall popular vote (as Al Gore demonstrated four years ago).

There's still four months to go in the election, but a state by state analysis suggests that, as of now, it's looking good for Obama - see this site where you can create your own map and the situation as calculated on the CNN site.

Of course, a lot could happen in the next few months and the election could still be very close, but then again Obama could win very decisively (which is what I am expecting and hoping).

Posted by Roger Darlington at 11:59 AM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0)

This news is horrifying.

Posted by Roger Darlington at 08:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Belize - located south-east of Mexico - has more in common with the Caribbean island-states than with its Central American neighbours. This is reflected in its major languages, English and Creole, and in its mainly Anglo-Caribbean architecture and its relatively peaceful political culture. However, Belize has a problem with violent crime, much of it drug-related, and the trafficking of narcotics to the USA.

Belize, formerly known as British Honduras, was the UK's last colony on the American mainland. Its independence was delayed until 1981 by long-running tension with neighbouring Guatemala, which still claims a large portion of its territory. Guatemala recognised Belize's independence in 1991, but the neighbours have yet to settle their border dispute, which is rooted in colonial times.

Posted by Roger Darlington at 08:20 AM | Permalink

I was 60 last week and, having now reached this venerable age, certain privileges come into play.

For instance, I now have a Freedom Pass to travel on London's tubes and buses. Then the national health service has written to me to offer a free bowel cancer test.

i prefer the former ...

Posted by Roger Darlington at 07:46 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Just ten miles long and six miles wide, St Helena sits in the middle of the South Atlantic as one of the most isolated, inhabited islands in the world: 700 miles to Ascension Island, 1500 miles to Tristan da Cunha and 1650 miles to Cape Town. Traditionally served by the Britain's last working Royal Mail ship, which visits the island twice a year, the island is about to obtain an airport in 2012.

The 4,000 islanders call themselves Saints and the island only has one town (Jamestown). The local economy is funded almost entirely by he British Government with just a little tourism.

Discovered by the Portuguese in 1502, it later came under the control of the British East India Company before the British Crown took control in 1834. Its main claim to historic fame is that Napoleon was exiled here after the Battle of Waterloo and died on the island.

Posted by Roger Darlington at 07:20 AM | Permalink

One of my closest friends is also one of the most distant. Larry Cohen is now President of the Communication Workers of America (CWA) but I have known him for around 20 years. He has just completed his first three-year term as President and been elected unopposed for a second three-year term. You can read his address to the recent CWA convention here.

When I was myself a trade union official, I used to see Larry regularly in various countries of the world but, since I took early retirement six years ago, it's been more difficult to see one another. Today, however, i caught Larry for a couple of hours at London's Heathrow Airport as he flew from Switzerland back to the USA.

Larry is a superdelegate to the Democratic National Convention and, once his original favourite John Edwards withdrew from the primaries, he was an early public supporter for Barack Obama with whom he is in regular contact. It was an opportunity for me to see a great friend and to receive some insights into what's going on politically in the United States.

For America's labour unions, one of the biggest election issues is the Employee Free Choice Act. I know - you've never heard of it. You can learn about this proposed legislation here.

Posted by Roger Darlington at 07:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Today is the ninth anniversary of the creation of this web site. I have to thank Vee's nephew Martin for getting me started by opening a homepage for me on one of those free hosting sites. Later he purchased a domain name with my name for me.

Over the intervening years, the site has grown enormously in content and I've added two blogs, so typically I receive around 6,000 visits a day.

Many thnks to all my readers for their support and encouragement. Please spread the word!

Posted by Roger Darlington at 10:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The 800-plus volcanic and coral islands that make up the Pacific nation of Fiji enjoy a tropical climate and are a prime destination for tourists. However, since 1987 racial and political tensions have been an intermittent source of instability and international isolation and there have in fact been four coups in the last 20 years.

Fiji's population of almost a million, which resides mostly on the two main islands of Viti Levu and Vanua Levu, is divided almost equally between indigenous Fijians and Indo-Fijians, the descendants of indentured labourers brought from India. Mixing between the two groups is minimal, and informal segregation runs deep at almost every level of society.

Although the former British colony relies heavily on the sugar and tourism industries for its foreign exchange, its economy is diverse. Nonetheless, Fiji has been hampered by persistent trade and budget deficits, making it one of the world's largest per capita recipients of aid.

Posted by Roger Darlington at 07:28 AM | Permalink

Just five days after my 60th birthday, today we celebrate the 60th anniversary of the creation of the National Health Service. I was one the last babies in Britain to be born outside the NHS but, for 60 years, I have - like many millions - relied on it enormously.

The NHS is one of the defining features of our welfare state and the proudest achievement of Labour Governments. Today it is in the capable hands of Alan Johnson who used to be my boss at the Communication Workers Union and is now the Secretary of State for Health.

Posted by Roger Darlington at 09:04 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Now that Fidel Castro has stepped down as president of Cuba, Gabon holds the dubious distinction of having the world's longest-serving leader that is not a monarch: Albert-Bernard Bongo has been president for more than 40 years. He has ruled largely unchallenged and mostly without force, despite squandering much of the country's natural wealth (especially oil) and creating a most uncertain economic future.

Although technically Gabon became a multi-party state in 1993, the opposition has literally been bought off and cronyism and corruption are rife with most of Bongo's wealth hidden overseas. On paper, Gabon has one of the highest per capita incomes in Africa, but half the population of 1.3 million remains poor. Nearly 50 years after independence from France, the country has fewer miles of paved road than of oil pipelines.

Posted by Roger Darlington at 07:27 AM | Permalink