Archive for October, 2008
Is Gordon Brown losing his sight?
October 13th, 2008 by Roger Darlington
It is rare to see such an open discussion of the Prime Minister’s vision problems as we find in this piece. More openness on this issue may enable the electorate and the media to take a fairer view of Brown’s demeanor and manner as well as encourage understanding of the large number of people in […]
Posted in British current affairs | Comments (0)
Water, water, everywhere
October 13th, 2008 by Roger Darlington
First, the good news – on Sunday, I reported a water leak in my main road to the local water company and today work began on stopping the leak. Now the bad news – this is the fourth time that I’ve reported a leak in this location and each time the problem is sorted for […]
Posted in Environment | Comments (0)
Does homeopathy work?
October 11th, 2008 by Roger Darlington
I have blogged before on the subject of homeopathy here. On that occasion, I had two comments: one opponent and one supporter. I return to the subject this week because I have been contacted by e-mail from someone with whom I was at university but with whom I have not been in contact for the […]
Posted in Science & technology | Comments (5)
The American presidential election (76)
October 9th, 2008 by Roger Darlington
I’ve now managed to watch the whole of the second of the Presidential election campaign debates between Barack Obama and John McCain. This time the format was different – what the Americans call a town hall meeting with a small audience and the contestants walking around McCain was better than last time and opened strong […]
Posted in World current affairs | Comments (1)
Ever heard of the black swan theory?
October 9th, 2008 by Roger Darlington
At a meeting of the Board of Consumer Focus this week, I made a contribution which mentioned the black swan theory popularised by Nassim Nicholas Taleb in his 2007 book “The Black Swan”. You can find a brief explanation of the black swan theory here and you can find an article on the concept in […]
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Remembering the Cuban Five
October 8th, 2008 by Roger Darlington
You’ve probably never heard of them and neither have most Americans, but in Latin America – and especially Cuba, their case is infamous. They are five Cubans who were arrested in 1998 and tried in 2001 in Miami. René González, Geraldo Hernández, Antonio Guerrero, Ramón Labañino and Fernando González, were convicted and sentenced to terms […]
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World Day For Decent Work
October 7th, 2008 by Roger Darlington
Trade unions in more than 100 countries, from Fiji across the globe to Alaska, are mobilising today to demand change in the world economy, as the financial crisis threatens the livelihoods of millions upon millions of people worldwide. The campaign is called Work Day For Decent Work. “Working people have had enough of policies which […]
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The American presidential election (75)
October 7th, 2008 by Roger Darlington
Something you should know about John McCain here.
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The American presidential election (74)
October 7th, 2008 by Roger Darlington
Something you should know about Sarah Palin here.
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My friend, the Minister
October 6th, 2008 by Roger Darlington
When the Communication Workers Union was created through a merger in 1995, I was asked by the Joint General Secretaries to become the Head of the Research Department for the new union and fulfilled that role for the next seven years before I took early retirement. My two bosses were Alan Johnson and Tony Young, […]
Posted in British current affairs | Comments (0)