Archive for March, 2007


How many should we imprison?

March 31st, 2007 by Roger Darlington

In my late 20s, I spent two years (1976-1978) working at the Home Office as Special Adviser to the then Home Secretary Merlyn Rees. I visited several prisons and officials always gave us a written brief beforehand. One of the figures in the brief was what was called the CNA (Certified Normal Accommodation) which was […]

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The most boring web site on earth?

March 31st, 2007 by Roger Darlington

It’s a webcam of a round of cheddar cheese sitting on a shelf at a Somerset farm beside a clock ticking off the days, hours, minutes, seconds and milliseconds as the cheese matures. So far, it’s had almost 700,000 visits. You can check it out here. Hope that the excitement is not too much for […]

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Blogging: the good, the bad and the ugly

March 30th, 2007 by Roger Darlington

As will be evident from NightHawk, I’m a big fan of blogging – but the blogosphere is a problematic space. Firstly, it is not unknown for bloggers to be dismissed by their employers because they blog. But the good news is that one such blogger has just won a court case in which her employer […]

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Forgotten world (75): United Arab Emirates

March 30th, 2007 by Roger Darlington

The United Arab Emirates is a Middle Eastern country situated in the southeast of the Arabian Peninsula, comprising seven emirates: Abu Dhabi, Ajmān, Dubai, Fujairah, Ras al-Khaimah, Sharjah, and Umm al-Quwain. These emirates were once little more than oil outposts in the desert, but they are fast reinventing themselves as a cultural and recreational hub […]

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Vee’s retirement today

March 30th, 2007 by Roger Darlington

My wife Vee finally retires today from her position as PA to the Head of Human Resources at Harrow College, a further education establishment close to where we live. Vee has now done more than six years at the College and could have retired two and a half years ago. She has timed her retirement […]

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The toughest journey of my life

March 29th, 2007 by Roger Darlington

Writing about Brazil (see previous posting) reminds me of our holiday in South America. This was a wonderful experience, but it involved various adventures. One of these was the toughest journey of my life: an over-land, night-time bus ride from Sucre to La Paz in Bolivia. You can read about it here.

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Forgotten world (74): Brazil

March 29th, 2007 by Roger Darlington

Brazil is the largest and most populous country in South America – it takes up almost half the continent – and the fifth largest in the world in both area and population. The country was colonized by Portugal and it is the only Portuguese-speaking country in the Americas. It is a multiracial nation with a […]

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Forgotten world (73): Mauritania

March 28th, 2007 by Roger Darlington

Mauritania is a mineral-rich country in north-west Africa which is twice the size of France. Its 3.2 million population mixes white and black Moors and black Mauritanians of several ethnic groups. The white Moorish elite have traditionally held power and black citizens have been discriminated against. In spite of a 1981 decree outlawing slavery, a […]

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How many elements do you know?

March 27th, 2007 by Roger Darlington

Check out this fun animation.

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Forgotten world (72): Cambodia

March 27th, 2007 by Roger Darlington

Cambodia gained full independence from the French in 1953. Following a five-year civil war in which the Americans backed General Lol Non, the Communist Khmer Rouge took power in 1975 and, over the next 3 years 8 months and 20 days, a massive collectivisation programme resulted in the death of maybe 2.5 million of the […]

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