Archive for May, 2008
The American presidential election (38)
May 27th, 2008 by Roger Darlington
One of the most popular scenes in the film “Love Actually” [my review here] was when the British Prime Minister (played by Hugh Grant) tells the American President (portrayed by Billy Bob Thornton) that the UK is no longer going to follow slavishly US policy. So it’s good to see the news that US Presidential […]
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Forgotten World (132): Yemen
May 27th, 2008 by Roger Darlington
Yemen at the southern end of the Arabian peninsula has been at the crossroads of Africa, the Middle East and Asia for thousands of years thanks to its position on the ancient spice routes. The modern Republic of Yemen was born in 1990 when traditionalist North Yemen and Marxist South Yemen merged after years of […]
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Visit to Apsley House
May 26th, 2008 by Roger Darlington
I have lived in London now for 37 years and I fairly recently read a book about the Duke of Wellington [my review here] but, until today (a very wet and windy Bank Holiday Monday), I had never visited Wellington’s home at Apsley House at Hyde Park Corner. The house was built between 1771-1778 by […]
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Forgotten World (131): Burundi
May 26th, 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 130 entries here. Since independence in 1961, Burundi has been plagued by tension between the dominant Tutsi minority and the […]
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Is Karen Armstrong religious?
May 25th, 2008 by Roger Darlington
It’s Sunday – so let’s have a religious posting. On the strong recommendation of a friend, I’m currently reading “A History Of God” by Karen Armstrong. I’m find it tough going, not least because I am so unsure of the position of the author, and I am constantly asking myself whether Armstrong is now a […]
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The fun and folly of blogging
May 25th, 2008 by Roger Darlington
I’m been blogging longer than most (just over five years) and I blog more often than most (usually every day), but I’m very careful to respect the privacy of my family and friends and indeed of myself. I guess that some bloggers become carried away and forget that their postings can be seen by anyone […]
Posted in Internet | Comments (0)
The American presidential election (37)
May 24th, 2008 by Roger Darlington
The Internet has been a key feature of Barack Obama’s primaries campaign against Hillary Clinton – and could prove critical (especially on fund raising) in his general election fight against John McCain, as explained in this BBC online item.
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From ‘brick’ to (my) iPhone
May 24th, 2008 by Roger Darlington
Posted in Science & technology | Comments (0)
The American presidential election (36)
May 23rd, 2008 by Roger Darlington
Hillary Clinton was 33 percentage points clear of Barack Obama in a poll in September 2007, but today it is Obama who is close to clinching the Democratic nomination. He’s done it because he is a brilliant candidate – but he’s been assisted by a very impressive team headed by his formidable campaign strategist David […]
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Crewe derails New Labour project
May 23rd, 2008 by Roger Darlington
For Labour, the result of the Crewe and Nantwich by-election was about as bad as it could be. Just weeks after Labour’s poorest local election results in 40 years, the Parliamentary by-election saw a Labour majority of 7,078 turned into a Conservative majority of 7,860 – a 17.6% swing from the 2005 General Election. The […]
Posted in British current affairs | Comments (0)