Archive for June, 2010
Forgotten World (207): Republic of the Congo
June 8th, 2010 by Roger Darlington
The Republic of the Congo is not to be confused with the neighbouring and larger Democratic Republic of the Congo. This Congo is sometimes known Congo-Brazzaville (after its capital) and has a population of only 3.7 million (compared to around 70 million in the DR Congo). After three coup-ridden but relatively peaceful decades of independence, […]
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Strikes and suicides by Chinese workers
June 7th, 2010 by Roger Darlington
The suicides at Foxconn and the strike at Honda’s components factory in Foshan have focused almost unprecedented international media attention on the plight of China’s workers. Commentators have asked why are workers taking such drastic action, are we seeing an upsurge in worker activism, and if so could that threaten social and political stability in […]
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Forgotten World (206): Bahrain
June 7th, 2010 by Roger Darlington
It’s been four months since I had one of my regular weeks 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 200 entries here. But there are still some countries that haven’t been covered, […]
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Who sank the “Cheonan”?
June 6th, 2010 by Roger Darlington
This weekend, we visited our Chinese ‘family’ and together we went round to see other Chinese friends including one who has a PhD on China’s role in the United Nations Security Council. As well as deep friendship, I always enjoy seeing our Chinese friends because it gives me an insight into a very different culture […]
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“The Spirit Level” (1)
June 5th, 2010 by Roger Darlington
I’ve started to read a fascinating book called “The Spirit Level” by Richard Wilkinson & Kate Pickett. This video promotes the main message:
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Introducing the Youth Parliament of Pakistan
June 4th, 2010 by Roger Darlington
Thanks to my web site, I receive e-mails from all around the world and I derive great pleasure from knowing that material on the site is of interest and assistance to people of many different nationalities and cultures. I like to think of myself as a citizen of the world and there is something on […]
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The Consumer Focus Extra Help Unit
June 4th, 2010 by Roger Darlington
Consumer Focus – on whose Board I sit – has an Extra Help Unit located in our Glasgow office. The unit exercises our powers under the Consumer Estate Agents and Redress Act 2007 to investigate energy and postal complaints for vulnerable consumers. In our first operational year, the EHU dealt with 7,606 cases and obtained […]
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“The Glass Room” and the Villa Tugendhat
June 3rd, 2010 by Roger Darlington
I’ve now finished reading the novel “The Glass Room” by Simon Mawer which is largely set in Czechoslovakia before and during the Second World War. The book was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize last year and it is an excellent work which I’ve reviewed here. The building featured in the book is real, even […]
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When will Israel ever learn?
June 2nd, 2010 by Roger Darlington
Friends of Israel (and I am one of them) must despair that the country will ever learn that disproportionate and counter-productive security operations, like the invasion of the Gaza strip and now the attack on the aid convoy, do not just cause appalling loss of life but alienate the nation from the international community and […]
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