Archive for April, 2011
The first man in space
April 12th, 2011 by Roger Darlington
Fifty years ago today, the first man went into space. At the time I was 12 and found the whole thing enormously exciting. The Soviet Union’s Yuri Gagarin became one of the most famous men in history and today we remember his feat. Of course, the space race between the USSR and the USA was […]
Posted in History, Science & technology | Comments (0)
Action For Happiness
April 12th, 2011 by Roger Darlington
For 50 years, we have aimed at higher incomes – and got them. But the shocking fact is that, despite being much wealthier, surveys show that we’re no happier than we were five decades ago. At the same time we’ve seen an increase in wider social issues, including a worrying rise in levels of anxiety and […]
Posted in Social policy | Comments (0)
Forgotten World (237): Diego Garcia
April 12th, 2011 by Roger Darlington
Diego Garcia is a British-administered island in the Indian Ocean. All the 1,500 inhabitants, regardless of ancestry or employment status, were involuntarily, and some claim, forcibly, relocated to other islands in the Chagos Archipelago, or to Mauritius or the Seychelles by 1971 to satisfy the requirements of a U.K./U.S. Exchange of Notes signed in 1966 […]
Posted in World current affairs | Comments (0)
France’s ban on the burqa
April 11th, 2011 by Roger Darlington
Today France introduces a ban on the burqa. A similar ban is already in operation in Belgium, likely to be implemented in the Netherlands, and under discussion in Canada, Denmark and Spain. Bizarrely, in a French population of 64 million, the number of women who cover their face is a tiny figure estimated at between […]
Posted in World current affairs | Comments (4)
Forgotten World (236): Cote d’Ivoire
April 11th, 2011 by Roger Darlington
It’s time – it’s been almost three months – for one of the regular weeks of postings in my long-running series called Forgotten World – a look at parts of the world that too rarely feature in our media or thoughts. You can check the previous 235 entries here. In recent months, the media has […]
Posted in World current affairs | Comments (0)
What those cuts really mean
April 10th, 2011 by Roger Darlington
The dramatic public expenditure cuts announced by the Coalition Government – too fast and too deep in my view – are only now starting to bite with the commencement of the new financial year and the implementation of new tax and benefit changes nationally and of council budgets locally. The impact on many people’s lives […]
Posted in British current affairs, My life & thoughts, Social policy | Comments (4)
My new short story
April 9th, 2011 by Roger Darlington
It’s three months since I’ve written a short story but, following encouragement from a friend (thanks, David M), I’ve composed one this weekend that I’ve had in development for four months. It’s my 27th short story and it’s entitled “A Shot In The Dark”. Check it out here. If you want to read some of […]
Posted in My life & thoughts | Comments (6)
Word of the day: facepalm
April 8th, 2011 by Roger Darlington
Apparently it’s one of those new cool or ‘with it’ terms. According to Wikipedia: “Facepalm is a colloquial term referring to the physical gesture of striking one’s own face in a display of exasperation. It is similar in function to a sigh. In Internet discussions, the term is used as an expression of embarrassment, frustration, […]
Posted in Cultural issues | Comments (0)
Britain’s last circus elephant
April 7th, 2011 by Roger Darlington
She is called Anne and the media has been giving her massive coverage. I was struck by the ailments that she suffers as a creature close to the pension age for a female and the various approaches that are being considered to improving her condition. In an item in the “Guardian”, it is reported: “Anne […]
Posted in British current affairs | Comments (0)
A new money advice service
April 7th, 2011 by Roger Darlington
If you live in the UK and ever need help with financial matters, you will be interested to hear that this week a new Money Advice Service opened with the backing of the Financial Services Authority. You can access the web site here.
Posted in Consumer matters | Comments (0)