Archive for June, 2007


Our triple celebration (1)

June 30th, 2007 by Roger Darlington

This afternoon, Vee and I are having a party for close family and special friends to celebrate three events: our 25th wedding anniversary (19 March), Vee’s retirement (30 March) and my birthday (25 June). Really we should have organised the event for the end of March, but we decided that the weather was likely to […]

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House of Lords reform

June 29th, 2007 by Roger Darlington

House of Lords reform is unfinished business. The ‘mother of Parliaments’ cannot be the only legislature in the democratic world with a chamber which does not have any elected members. The Campaign for a Democratic Upper House is a group of Labour Parliamentarians and activists who support a second chamber at least half of which […]

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Old and young YouTubers

June 29th, 2007 by Roger Darlington

One of the oldest YouTubers in the UK is Peter aged 79. So far, he has posted 80 videos which you can check out here. This is one example called “Telling it all part 1”:

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The new British Cabinet in numbers

June 28th, 2007 by Roger Darlington

Size: Old Cabinet 23, new Cabinet: 22 Women: Old Cabinet 8, new Cabinet 5 Scots: Old Cabinet 5, new Cabinet 4 Ministers over 60: Old Cabinet 5, new Cabinet 1 Ministers under 40: Old Cabinet 2, new Cabinet 5 Average age: Old Cabinet 54, new Cabinet 49 Number that I have met: Old Cabinet 12, […]

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New Mensa Words

June 28th, 2007 by Roger Darlington

The “Washington Post”‘s Mensa Invitational once again asked readers to take any word from the dictionary, alter it by adding, subtracting, or changing one letter, and supply a new definition. Here are this year’s winners. Each is an artificial word with only one letter altered to form a real word: 1. Intaxication: Euphoria at getting […]

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What a way to spend a birthday

June 27th, 2007 by Roger Darlington

It was my birthday on Monday. So did I spend the evening having a delicious celebratory meal with my wife? No – instead, as a representative of Postwatch, I was speaking at a protest meeting against a proposed conversion of a Crown post office in Fulham into a franchise operation by WHSmith. Predictably I had […]

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The nature of humankind

June 27th, 2007 by Roger Darlington

A friend sent me this quote from the American George Carlin: “If it’s true that our species is alone in the universe, then I’d have to say that the universe aimed rather low and settled for very little.” I responded to my friend: “As I guess you would expect, I have lots of problems with […]

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How to visit London

June 26th, 2007 by Roger Darlington

The ‘Like Skills’ section of my web site contains my ‘how to’ advice on 23 topics from “How to be happy” to “How to be a top secret spy”. A friend has drawn my attention to a different sort of ‘how to’ advice: “How to fit in when visiting London”. Since this is the city […]

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Happy birthday to me

June 25th, 2007 by Roger Darlington

Today is my birthday. I’m 59 – so next year is the big six-oh. However, I don’t feel my age and I like to think that I’m wearing quite well. So, how will I spend my birthday? In fact, it’s a working day (and evening). In my capacity as member of the Council of the […]

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The new leadership of the Labour Party

June 24th, 2007 by Roger Darlington

In spite of periodic media froth, it has been evident for 13 years that Gordon Brown would succeed Tony Blair as leader of the Labour Party. On the other hand, the election for Deputy Leader – the result of which was announced this afternoon – was always doubtful. I voted for Alan Johnson [campaign site […]

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