Archive for April, 2008
Forgotten World (128): Libya
April 30th, 2008 by Roger Darlington
The standing of Libya in the international community has been transformed in recent years. Once shunned by much of the world over the 1988 bombing of a PanAm plane above the Scottish town of Lockerbie, the country formally took responsibility for the incident in 2003. This move, part of a deal to compensate families of […]
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The American presidential election (31)
April 30th, 2008 by Roger Darlington
If – like me – you are a non-American following the primary elections in the USA, you have to learn a lot of new terminology. In the current stage of the race, two terms are of particular strangeness. One term is “a Hoosier” This is a word used to describe a resident of the state […]
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Forgotten World (127): Venezuela
April 29th, 2008 by Roger Darlington
Venezuela is a South American country of 28 million that is very much a nation of contrasts and controversy. It has some of the world’s largest proven oil deposits as well as huge quantities of coal, iron ore, bauxite and gold. Yet most Venezuelans live in poverty, many of them in shanty towns, some of […]
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How not to choose a new logo
April 28th, 2008 by Roger Darlington
I’ll be spending all day tomorrow at this month’s meeting of the Board of the New National Consumer Council. One of the issues we will be discussing is a new name and logo for the organisation. Today we had a wonderful example of how not to choose a new logo.
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The American presidential election (30)
April 28th, 2008 by Roger Darlington
So Barack Obama did not manage to knock out Hillary Clinnton in last week’s Democratic primary in Pennsylvania. On the contrary, Clinton ran a very negative campaign which has done some real damage to the Obama cause and could weaken his position in relation to the contest against John McCain when Obama wins the Democratic […]
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Forgotten World (126): Liechtenstein
April 28th, 2008 by Roger Darlington
It’s time for another week of postings in my long-running series called Forgotten World – a look at parts of the world that hardly feature in our media or thoughts. You can check the previous 125 entries here. The Principality of Liechtenstein is one of the most bizarre and disturbing features of the European landscape. […]
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Weekend in Winchester
April 27th, 2008 by Roger Darlington
Vee and I have spent the weekend visiting my (much younger) half brother Chris (a Treasury official) and his partner Janine (a Spanish language teacher). They live in a village called South Wonton just north of the historic city of Winchester. On Saturday afternoon, we drove through the New Forest and down to the south […]
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Do you like a thrill?
April 26th, 2008 by Roger Darlington
If so, you might like to try this. Me? I couldn’t do it. When my son was eight (that’s 24 years ago), I took him on Space Mountain at Disneyworld in Florida. I’m still recovering …
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Life can be a pain
April 25th, 2008 by Roger Darlington
For several months now, I’ve had a recurrent and persistent pain in my right shoulder. Usually with pains and other ailments, I take the view that they will either get better (in which case fine) or they will get worse (in which case I’ll go to the doctor) – and fortunately, in the vast majority […]
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Walk To Work Day
April 24th, 2008 by Roger Darlington
This morning, it took me an incredible 2 hours 20 minutes to reach my meeting at Post Office Headquarters in central London where, as the Chairman of Postwatch Greater London, I was putting the case for the withdrawal of certain proposed post office closures. I was doing fine until I reached Baker Street underground station. […]
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