Archive for May, 2009


How strong is al-Qaida?

May 22nd, 2009 by Roger Darlington

“In the final analysis, al-Qaida is more of a security nuisance than a strategic threat. Al-Qaida has shown itself to be its own worst enemy and is in a process of self-decomposition.” This is the conclusion of a thoughtful and evidence-based piece by Fawaz A Gerges, author of “The Far Enemy: Why Jihad Went Global”. […]

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Forgotten World (175): Thailand

May 22nd, 2009 by Roger Darlington

What was then called Siam was the only south-east Asian country not to be occupied by a European power and in 1932 the nation became Thailand after a bloodless revolution created a constitutional monarchy. Since then, there have been 18 military coups, the last in 2006 which deposed the then Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. The […]

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How I looped the loop

May 21st, 2009 by Roger Darlington

I have a lifelong interest in aviation sparked by my father being trained as a fighter pilot at the end of the Second World War (he was too young to see actual action). Like all pilots, I’ve kept a flight log and, in the course of my near 61 years, I have now made almost […]

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Forgotten World (174): Samoa

May 21st, 2009 by Roger Darlington

Samoa is a group of nine South Pacific islands – two large and seven very small – with one of the smallest national populations in the world (just 180,000). The islands became independent of New Zealand in 1982 and the Human Rights Protection Party has been in power ever since. Samoa has seen substantial economic, […]

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Who is Ida?

May 20th, 2009 by Roger Darlington

Ida is a 47 million year old, perfectly preserved primate recovered from the Messel Pit in Germany. This is the most complete early primate fossil ever found, and scientists believe that she could be one of our earliest ancestors. She is a remarkable link between the first primates and modern humans and despite having lived […]

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Health warning

May 20th, 2009 by Roger Darlington

If you receive an email from the Department of Health telling you not to eat tinned pork because of swine flu – ignore it. It’s just spam.

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Forgotten World (173): Greece

May 20th, 2009 by Roger Darlington

Greece is a mainly mountainous country with over 1400 islands (the largest Crete) that returned to democracy – after seven years of the colonels – in 1974 and entered the European Union in 1981. It remains locked in dispute with Turkey over the future of Cyprus and aspects of the Aegean. Greece also has been […]

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The poetry archive

May 19th, 2009 by Roger Darlington

I confess that, since leaving school, I have read very little poetry because I find so much of it (especially modern work) so inaccessible. However, sometimes it is easier to appreciate poetry when it is heard rather than read and I’ve been recommended to access The Poetry Archive which has a lot of poetry recordings.

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Forgotten World (172): El Salvador

May 19th, 2009 by Roger Darlington

The smallest and most densely populated country in Central America, El Salvador suffered a bitter civil war from 1980 until 1992. The war left around 70,000 people dead and caused damage worth $2 billion, but it also brought about important political reforms. After the civil war, presidential power remained in the hands of the Right […]

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Ten days that shook my world (3)

May 18th, 2009 by Roger Darlington

I’ve used this blog to give a detailed account of my recent experience with Pipex whereby I lost my Internet connection for 10 days and only had it restored after around 20 calls to the Pipex first line ‘support’ in The Philippines and regular conversations with the second line ‘support’ in India. The day my […]

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