Archive for June, 2010
Co-operatives Fortnight
June 22nd, 2010 by Roger Darlington
Co-operatives are not just supermarkets and funeral services – although these are amongst the most successful co-operatives found on the British high street. In fact, there are over 4,800 independent co-operatives in the UK. They work in all parts of the economy, from health care to housing, farms to football clubs, credit unions to community […]
Posted in Consumer matters | Comments (0)
Nine things to understand about the Internet
June 21st, 2010 by Roger Darlington
It’s hard to believe but it’s only 17 years since the web went mainstream and yet today about 1.8 billion people use the Internet every day. I was a relatively late user of the Net, starting only in 1998 as I’ve explained here. But now I’m a massive user with a long-standing web site and […]
Posted in Internet | Comments (1)
A weekend out of the city
June 20th, 2010 by Roger Darlington
It’s been an interesting and enjoyable weekend with pleasant weather. First, Vee and I drove down from London to Winchester in Hampshire for a reunion with two of the couples – John & Sue and Geoff & Gill – with whom we made our visit to Iran last November. Our friends are very experienced travellers […]
Posted in My life & thoughts | Comments (1)
“The Spirit Level” (3)
June 19th, 2010 by Roger Darlington
I’ve now finished reading an utterly fascinating book called “The Spirit Level” by Richard Wilkinson & Kate Pickett. It is one of the most important books that I have ever read. You can learn why by reading my review.
Posted in World current affairs | Comments (0)
“The Edge Of War”
June 18th, 2010 by Roger Darlington
Over the past year, I’ve written a total of 21 short stories on many different themes and you can see the titles here. It would be good to get one published and so I’ve just entered a competition sponsored by the British Czech and Slovak Association of which I am a member. It’s called “The […]
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How big should income differentials be?
June 17th, 2010 by Roger Darlington
I’ve been reading a fascinating book called “The Spirit Level” by Richard Wilkinson & Kate Pickett. This work argues that societies with greater income inequalities suffer a whole range of worse economic and social outcomes than more equal countries. The most obvious sign of income inequality is in the area of pay. Obviously the Chief […]
Posted in British current affairs | Comments (3)
First my brother; now my sister
June 16th, 2010 by Roger Darlington
A few days ago, I did a posting about my brother Ralph featuring in a YouTube clip; now my sister Silvia appears in this short video on YouTube: Now, I know what you’re thinking. First, Roger’s brother, then his sister, when will he be on YouTube? Well, I have actually been on YouTube – but […]
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“The Spirit Level” (2)
June 15th, 2010 by Roger Darlington
I’ve now almost finished reading a fascinating book called “The Spirit Level” by Richard Wilkinson & Kate Pickett. I’ll be reviewing the work on my web site when I’ve completed it, but meanwhile I urge you to check out this PowerPoint presentation of the main diagrams from the book (the information is easier to read […]
Posted in World current affairs | Comments (0)
A tale of two general elections
June 14th, 2010 by Roger Darlington
This weekend, two European countries held general elections, but you may not have known this because the media around the world tends to focus on national events to the neglect of other countries unless there is violence or conflict. The first election was in Slovakia and you can read about the result here. The second […]
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The murder of trade unionists
June 14th, 2010 by Roger Darlington
The Annual Survey of Trade Union Rights from the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) has documented a dramatic increase in the number of trade unionists murdered in 2009, with 101 killings – an increase of 30% over the previous year. Of 101 murdered, 48 were killed in Colombia, 16 in Guatemala, 12 in Honduras, six […]
Posted in World current affairs | Comments (0)