Archive for December, 2012
Multinationals must pay their fair share of tax
December 7th, 2012 by Roger Darlington
Who says so? The House of Commons Public Accounts Committee, no less. In a media statement, the Chair of the Committee Margaret Hodge states: “Global companies with huge operations in the UK generating significant amounts of income are getting away with paying little or no corporation tax here. This is outrageous and an insult to […]
Posted in British current affairs | Comments (0)
Just done most of the Christmas shopping
December 6th, 2012 by Roger Darlington
Each Christmas, my sister organises an extended family reunion at her home in Leicester. It used to be the day after Boxing Day, but sometimes people were away visiting other relatives so, in recent years, the event has been convened a couple of weekends before Christmas to maximise attendance. This year, we gather this Saturday. […]
Posted in My life & thoughts | Comments (0)
What can’t you say on the Net?
December 4th, 2012 by Roger Darlington
I have now been contributing a roughly bimonthly column on Internet issues for the trade union Connect (now part of Prospect) for 10 years and I have just submitted my 75th piece. This one looks at how the law is beginning to bite on content carried on social media, a feature of the Net which […]
Posted in Internet | Comments (0)
Happy 20th birthday to the humble but ubiquitous text message
December 3rd, 2012 by Roger Darlington
The first text message was sent 20 years ago today and Ofcom has some interesting facts and figures here. I’ll always remember my first text message. It was about 15 years ago and my then colleague Beth Lamont – about 30 years younger than me – showed me what to do.
Posted in Science & technology | Comments (0)
How the worldwide population of airworthy Spitfires might be about to be doubled
December 2nd, 2012 by Roger Darlington
A team led by Lincolnshire farmer David Cundall has strong grounds for believing that they are about to unearth dozens of Mark 14 Spitfires that were buried on the edge of a Burmese airport at the end of the Second World War. It’s a remarkable story which you can read here. I have a lifelong […]
Posted in History | Comments (0)
Will America remain the overwhelmingly dominant superpower throughout the whole of the 21st century?
December 1st, 2012 by Roger Darlington
American military expert George Friedman is sure that it will and sets out his case in a fascinating book called “The Next 100 Years”. I am not so convinced as explained in my review of the book here.
Posted in American current affairs, World current affairs | Comments (0)