Archive for April, 2012
Wettest April for a century
April 30th, 2012 by Roger Darlington
It’s the last day of April and the news is now confirmed that in Britain it has been the wettest April for over a century with some areas receiving three times the normal rainfall. Now, on 1 April, I started a four-year contract with South East Water to chair the company’s Customer Challenge Group [further […]
Posted in Environment, My life & thoughts | Comments (0)
And the rich get even richer …
April 30th, 2012 by Roger Darlington
.. . while the poor get even poorer – and the Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne insists that we’re all in this together. As explained here, the lastest Sunday Times Rich List shows that the wealthiest 1,000 people in the UK are now worth £414 billion which is a 4.7% increase on last year. […]
Posted in British current affairs | Comments (0)
The hidden gulag of North Korea
April 29th, 2012 by Roger Darlington
“There may be as many as 200,000 North Koreans locked away on political grounds behind barbed wire and subject to extreme cruelty and brutality. Many are “not expected to survive,” according to the State Department’s 2010 human rights report, in particular those incarcerated in the kwan-li-so (political penal labor colonies). Others are held in long-term […]
Posted in World current affairs | Comments (0)
A review of “Breakfast At Tiffany’s”
April 29th, 2012 by Roger Darlington
Thanks to the services of Lovefilm, I have just managed to catch up with the classic movie “Breakfast At Tiffany’s” which was made as long ago as 1961. You can read my review here.
Posted in Cultural issues | Comments (0)
How many friends do you have?
April 27th, 2012 by Roger Darlington
It depends on what one means by friends, right? A recent article in the “New Scientist” magazine suggested that one could view our relationships as a series of concentric circles with our closest friends in the innermost circle and our loosest contacts in the outermost circle. Interestingly it is propsed that, as one moves from […]
Posted in Cultural issues | Comments (2)
Royal Society report on “People And The Planet”
April 26th, 2012 by Roger Darlington
This week, the Royal Society has published an important new report entitled “People And The Planet” The report argues that rapid and widespread changes in the world’s human population, coupled with unprecedented levels of consumption, present profound challenges to human health and wellbeing and to the natural environment. It gives an overview of how global […]
Posted in Environment | Comments (0)
The world of the Special Adviser
April 25th, 2012 by Roger Darlington
Special Advisers – or SpAds as they are known in Whitehall and Westminster – are in the news this week because of the publication of e-mails from the advisers to Cabinet ministers Jeremy Hunt and Vince Cable concerning the News Corporation bid for BSkyB and the resignation of Hunt’s adviser Adam Smith. During the Wilson/Callaghan […]
Posted in British current affairs, My life & thoughts | Comments (0)
With friends like these …
April 23rd, 2012 by Roger Darlington
Posted in British current affairs | Comments (0)
Nicholas Winton and the Czech kindertransport
April 23rd, 2012 by Roger Darlington
If you don’t know the story of how a British stockbroker called Nicholas Winton saved the lives of 669 Czech Jewish children at the start of the Second World War through an operation known as the kindertransport, you will end it amazing. Check it out here. The story was told in the film *Into The Arms […]
Posted in Cultural issues, History | Comments (0)
Understanding the French political system
April 22nd, 2012 by Roger Darlington
Today sees the first stage in the French presidential election. If you would like to understand a little more about the French political system, you will find my short guide here.
Posted in World current affairs | Comments (0)