Archive for September, 2007


Welcome to Sarajevo

September 30th, 2007 by Roger Darlington

A week ago, I was in Sarajevo for a weekend break with my sister Silvia. I’ve now written up an account for my web site and included 24 photographs. Usually my holidays are all about enjoying local architecture and culture with little opportunity or need to focus on politics, but this trip was different. Every […]

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Should we have a General Election?

September 29th, 2007 by Roger Darlington

Over two years ago, I blogged that the next General Election would be on 7 May 2009. That was when I thought that Tony Blair would stay on for three years and that Gordon Brown would want a year to establish himself as the new Prime Minister. In the event, Blair was forced to go […]

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Forgotten World (105): Channel Islands

September 28th, 2007 by Roger Darlington

The Channel Islands are a group of islands in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy, but dependent on the British Crown. They comprise two separate Bailiwicks: the Bailiwick of Guernsey and the Bailiwick of Jersey, and have a total population of only about 160,000. The inhabited islands are Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney, Sark, […]

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Forgotten World (104): Turkmenistan

September 27th, 2007 by Roger Darlington

Turkmenistan has the smallest population – only 5 million – of the five former Soviet republics in Central Asia. It is made up mainly of desert, but it possesses the world’s fifth largest reserves of natural gas and has substantial deposits of oil. Naturally, therefore, it is of strategic interest to both the Russians and […]

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Forgotten World (103): Panama

September 26th, 2007 by Roger Darlington

Panama – the southern-most country of Central America – has long been of great strategic interest to its huge neighbour the United States. In 1989 the USA invaded Panama to depose a former ally, Manuel Noriega, and until 1999 America controlled the Panama Canal. In international terms, the canal defines the country. Panama plans to […]

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Ever heard of the Jena Six?

September 25th, 2007 by Roger Darlington

No, neither had I – until an American friend drew my attention to the case. It shows just how deep racial divisions still run in the United States. Check out an account here. I wondered why I hadn’t heard of the case, since I read the “Guardian” which is the most liberal daily newspaper in […]

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Forgotten World (102): Madagascar

September 25th, 2007 by Roger Darlington

Madagascar is the world’s fourth biggest island after Greenland, New Guinea and Borneo and it is located off the south-east coast of Africa in the Indian Ocean. The 17 million Malagasy are thought to be descendants of Africans and Indonesians who settled on the island more than 2,000 years ago. Madagascar gained independence in 1960. […]

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What is truth – and does it matter?

September 24th, 2007 by Roger Darlington

On my web site is a short essay that has stimulated some thought and discussion by visitors to my site. The essay is entitled “The Reason For Truth” and you can read it here. The fullest response has come from my former colleague and good friend Derek Bright. I’ve appended it below together with my […]

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Forgotten World (101): Jamaica

September 24th, 2007 by Roger Darlington

Jamaica is one of the few places in the world that is really dangerous and yet has a thriving tourist industry. Last year, more than 1,300 people were murdered in an island of just 2.7 million. This is one of the world’s highest murder rates alongside South Africa and Colombia. Around a quarter of the […]

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Back from Bosnia

September 23rd, 2007 by Roger Darlington

Anyone who knows me or who reads this blog knows that i love travelling to different countries and meeting people from different cultures. I haven’t blogged for a few days because I’ve been on a short break to Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia. This is the 47th country that I’ve visited but very special in […]

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