Archive for December, 2006
100 days to go
December 20th, 2006 by Roger Darlington
My wife Vee has now done more than six years at Harrow College – a further education establishment – where she is PA to the Head of Human Resources. However, she has now made definite retirement plans and will stop work on 31 March 2007. She intends to do all sorts of projects in the […]
Posted in My life & thoughts | Comments (0)
Forgotten world (53): The Netherlands
December 20th, 2006 by Roger Darlington
The Netherlands – a nation of just over 16 million – is often referred to by the name Holland. This is not terminologically precise, as the provinces of North and South Holland in the western Netherlands are only two of the country’s 12 provinces. In the 17th century, the country was a great maritime nation […]
Posted in World current affairs | Comments (3)
Should the UK renew the Trident system? (2)
December 19th, 2006 by Roger Darlington
In an earlier posting, I linked to the on-line debate run by the pressure group Compass on the issue of whether the UK should renew the nuclear Trident weapon system. Over 1000 people have already responded to the consultation, prompting the Secretary of State for Defence Des Browne to post a short article on the […]
Posted in British current affairs | Comments (0)
Forgotten world (52): Bangladesh
December 19th, 2006 by Roger Darlington
Originally part of India until 1947 and then the eastern part of Pakistan until 1971, Bangladesh became an independent nation after a bloody civil war. Bangladesh has the seventh largest population in the world (147 million) and it is one of the globe’s most densely populated countries with its people crammed into a delta of […]
Posted in World current affairs | Comments (0)
50 things yule never knew about Xmas
December 18th, 2006 by Roger Darlington
Time for NightHawk to get seasonal, so check out these 50 interesting facts about the celebration of Christmas, past and present, home and abroad.
Posted in Miscellaneous | Comments (0)
Forgotten world (51): British Virgin Islands
December 18th, 2006 by Roger Darlington
On ten occasions now, I’ve had a week-long feature on NightHawk devoted to parts of the world that tend to be under-reported or even forgotten. You can check out the previous 50 entries here. This week, I am going to run an 11th series of postings on this theme. The British Virgin Islands (BVI) comprise […]
Posted in World current affairs | Comments (0)
Hillzilla vs Obambi?
December 17th, 2006 by Roger Darlington
Earlier this week, I did a posting about the excitement caused in the United States by the growing popularity of the black Senator Barack Obama and the interest in the possibility that he might challenge Hillary Clinton for the Democratic candidacy for the 2008 Presidential election. In an article in today’s “Observer” newspaper, reference is […]
Posted in World current affairs | Comments (1)
Why Britain needs a new foreign policy
December 16th, 2006 by Roger Darlington
“The last few years have been disastrous for British foreign policy, and no one is held to account. The edifice of human rights law and norms, which took half a century of careful work to construct, has been undermined by those who claim to defend it. Maybe 500,000 people have died in Iraq and the […]
Posted in British current affairs | Comments (0)
Christmas lunch with the Chancellor
December 15th, 2006 by Roger Darlington
My half brother Chris works as an official at the Treasury (for non- British readers, that is the UK equivalent to other countries’ Ministry of Finance). We have a little tradition that each year he invites me to have Christmas lunch in the building’s excellent canteen. I was there this lunchtime for turkey and six […]
Posted in My life & thoughts | Comments (5)
“Life is beautiful”
December 15th, 2006 by Roger Darlington
“… life is beautiful, extremely beautiful. And when you are old you appreciate it more. When you are older you think, you remember, you care and you appreciate. You are thankful for everything. For everything”. This is a quote from an interview with Alice Herz-Sommer conducted by “Guardian” newspaper editor Alan Rusbridger. Alice was born […]
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