Archive for August, 2006
Modigliani and his models
August 8th, 2006 by Roger Darlington
Both the Ofcom Consumer Panel and the Postwatch Council – the statutory consumer bodies on which I sit – do not have meetings in August, so this is going to be quite a quiet month for me. Today therefore I was able to visit the Royal Academy in central London to see the exhibition “Modigliani […]
Posted in Cultural issues | Comments (2)
Ever heard of Indigo children?
August 7th, 2006 by Roger Darlington
One of the themes of this weblog and of my web site is that lots of people believe lots of strange things and we have to have a rational means of identifying truth based on evidence. I’m currently working up a short essay on this subject for my web site. Meanwhile today let’s look at […]
Posted in Science & technology | Comments (0)
15 years of the Web
August 6th, 2006 by Roger Darlington
The World Wide Web is 15 years old today. BBC online provides the timeline. The early part of this remarkable story was told by inventor Tim Berners-Lee in his book “Weaving The Web”. Since I started my website in July 1999, that means that effectively I’ve had a Web presence for the half the lifetime […]
Posted in Internet | Comments (0)
Remembering Robin Cook
August 5th, 2006 by Roger Darlington
The senior and respected Labour Party politician Robin Cook – whom I met several times – died a year ago this weekend. The orgnaisation Compass remembers him.
Posted in British current affairs | Comments (0)
Thanks a lot
August 5th, 2006 by Roger Darlington
It’s now around one month since I had to relocate the hosting of my web site and two weblogs because of growing problems with the previous hosting arrangements. Many thanks to my good friend Eric Lee for all his help on this which saved both my sanity and my material. If you need web support, […]
Posted in Internet | Comments (0)
“We’re running out of time. Jack”
August 4th, 2006 by Roger Darlington
We’ve now finished watching on DVD all 24 episodes of series 3 of the television programme “24”. By now, it’s become somewhat formulaic, but it’s still gripping stuff, and so many characters were killed in this series that the next – which for us will have to wait some months – must have still different […]
Posted in Cultural issues | Comments (0)
Forgotten world (25): Georgia
August 4th, 2006 by Roger Darlington
As the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, independence was achieved by countries which had previously enjoyed it, including Georgia with a population of around 4.5 million. The Georgian Eduard Shevardnadze, the USSR’s minister for foreign affairs, was one of the main architects of the Perestroika reforms of the late 1980s. However, on returning to an […]
Posted in World current affairs | Comments (0)
PiP and me (1)
August 3rd, 2006 by Roger Darlington
This week, I’ve done my first media interviews since in April I joined the Council of Postwatch, the consumer watchdog for postal services. As Chairman of the Greater London region of the organisation, I spoke to BBC Radio London and Capital Radio about a new pricing system for our mail called Pricing in Proportion or […]
Posted in My life & thoughts | Comments (0)
Forgotten world (24): Mexico
August 3rd, 2006 by Roger Darlington
Mexico is a large country (population over 100 million) with the highest per capita income in Latin America. but it is overshadowed by the mighty United States with which it shares a 2,000-mile border. Although average incomes are relatively high for the region, there are massive inequalities in wealth: half the population is classed as […]
Posted in World current affairs | Comments (0)
The global battle of values
August 2nd, 2006 by Roger Darlington
The thoughtful speech made by Tony Blair to the Los Angeles World Affairs Council yesterday is worth reading in full. At its heart, it argues that the war on terrorism is not the West versus the East but what he calls “Moderate, Mainstream Islam” against what he calls “Reactionary Islam”. I agree with this. He […]
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