Archive for September, 2010
The future of post offices
September 22nd, 2010 by Roger Darlington
As a former Head of Research at the Communication Workers Union and a former member of the Council of Postwatch plus a current member of the Board of Consumer Focus and the Chair of the organisation’s Post Offices Advisory Group, I have a long and deep interest in the UK’s post office network. At its […]
Posted in Consumer matters | Comments (0)
Phil Davison goes viral
September 21st, 2010 by Roger Darlington
A few days ago, I introduced readers of NightHawk to the American politician Phil Davison in this posting. His amazing speech has now gone viral with lots of versions on YouTube. You can check them all out here. Meanwhile here is one of my favourites:
Posted in Miscellaneous | Comments (0)
Whatever happened to Sweden?
September 20th, 2010 by Roger Darlington
For social democrats like me, Sweden has long been an inspirational social and political model and, in most surveys of the world’s best countries, Sweden is one of the top nations. The Social Democrats have ruled Sweden for 65 of the past 78 years and are credited with setting up the country’s generous welfare state […]
Posted in World current affairs | Comments (0)
My wife the media star
September 19th, 2010 by Roger Darlington
My wife Vee, together with her twin sister Mari, has been away in the Czech Republic for the last week attending various events to mark the 70th anniversary of the Battle of Britain, a conflict in which their father the Czech Karel Kuttelwascher was a participant with the RAF’s No 1 Squadron. There’s a report […]
Posted in History | Comments (1)
Can we have the Cyrus cylinder back?
September 19th, 2010 by Roger Darlington
OK, so what is this cylinder and who are ‘we’? The Cyrus cylinder is a 6th century BC artefect from Babylonia that is sometimes described as the world’s first charter of human rights. Since its excavation in 1879, it has been owned and displayed by the British Museum in London. Currently, however, the cylinder is […]
Posted in History | Comments (0)
The addictive power of Angry Birds
September 18th, 2010 by Roger Darlington
I was over in Belfast recently attending a meeting of the Board of Consumer Focus Post. After the meeting, I compared iPhone apps with another fan of Apple’s wonderful smartphone. She introduced me to a game called Angry Birds and I subsequently downloaded it. I’ve found that it’s seriously addictive (thanks, Kellin!). Just one more […]
Posted in Science & technology | Comments (1)
Was Nazism anti-God?
September 17th, 2010 by Roger Darlington
In his first speech during his current visit to Britain, Pope Benedict XVI stated that: “Even in our own lifetime, we can recall how Britain and her leaders stood against a Nazi tyranny that wished to eradicate God from society and denied our common humanity to many, especially the Jews, who were thought unfit to […]
Posted in British current affairs | Comments (0)
The poor of America
September 17th, 2010 by Roger Darlington
Around the world, the poor look at Americans with a degree of envy, aware of the high living standards and rampant consumerism of so many citizens of the United States. But in fact many Americans are poor and the number of such poor Americans is growing. According to the latest figures from the US Census […]
Posted in American current affairs | Comments (0)
How to make a speech
September 16th, 2010 by Roger Darlington
This is one way: On the other hand, you might want to try this way.
Posted in Miscellaneous | Comments (1)
The Battle of Britain (5): the turning point
September 15th, 2010 by Roger Darlington
If there is one day that is seen to have been decisive in the Battle of Britain, it was 15 September 1940 – 70 years ago today – and, since the war, it has been celebrated as Battle of Britain Day. Although in reality Royal Air Force claims were three times the actual number of […]
Posted in History | Comments (1)