Archive for December, 2013
The absurdity which is the current House of Lords
December 17th, 2013 by Roger Darlington
“Half the members of the House of Lords clock in and out of Parliament for a few minutes a day in order to claim a £300 daily attendance allowance, a former Conservative peer has said. Lord Hanningfield made the claim when challenged to explain his own attendance record.” This is the opening to a story on […]
Posted in British current affairs | Comments (0)
Social mobility and child poverty in unequal Britain
December 16th, 2013 by Roger Darlington
The Social Mobility and Child Poverty Commission’s first annual report, State of the Nation 2013, sets out detailed evidence and analysis on child poverty and social mobility. Despite the commitment and efforts of Government and others, the scale and depth of progress are unequal to the social, economic and fiscal challenges. The Commission calls for a […]
Posted in Social policy | Comments (0)
E-waste and where it comes from
December 15th, 2013 by Roger Darlington
■ A computer circuit board can contain gold, copper, cadmium, iron, tantalum, molybdenum, palladium, lead, cobalt, tin, nickel, cerium, antimony, platinum, zinc, lanthanum, silver and mercury. ■ A chip in a smartphone can contain 60 chemical elements. ■ China made 1.18bn mobile phones in 2012. ■ The US discarded 258.2m computers, monitors, TVs and mobile […]
Posted in Environment | Comments (0)
My performance as Father Christmas at Catrin’s nursery
December 14th, 2013 by Roger Darlington
Today it was the Christmas Bazaar at my granddaughter’s nursery and guess who they persuaded to be Father Christmas. Most of the children were two or three years old and several found the old man so scary that they burst into tears. But most of the children found Father Christmas a magical figure and loved […]
Posted in My life & thoughts | Comments (7)
Once more: the Darlington Christmas letter
December 14th, 2013 by Roger Darlington
Vee and I are spending evenings writing Christmas cards to friends at home and abroad. We like to pass on some news but can’t write too much in each card, so as usual we are uing the format of a Christmas letter which seems to go down well. You can read the letter for 2013 […]
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My afternoon and morning with the Tinder Foundation
December 13th, 2013 by Roger Darlington
Among my portfolio of interests, I am a Non-Executive Director on the Board of the Tinder Foundation (previously the Online Centres Foundation) which promotes digital inclusion throughout the UK. I have just returned from Sheffield where Tinder is based after an intense but inspiring afternoon (Thursday) and morning (Friday). Yesterday, the Board, ably chaired by former Schools Minister Lord […]
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A review of the film “Blue Jasmine”
December 12th, 2013 by Roger Darlington
Woody Allen is back on form as the writer and director of this movie which I have reviewed here.
Posted in Cultural issues | Comments (0)
The origins of a beautiful Christmas tradition
December 11th, 2013 by Roger Darlington
When four of Santa’s elves got sick, the trainee elves did not produce toys as fast as the regular ones, and Santa began to feel the pre-Christmas pressure. Then Mrs. Claus told Santa her mother was coming to visit, which stressed Santa even more. When he went to harness the reindeer, he found that three […]
Posted in Miscellaneous | Comments (0)
Barack Obama’s complete Nelson Mandela memorial speech
December 11th, 2013 by Roger Darlington
Posted in World current affairs | Comments (1)
The 31st “How To …” guide on my web site
December 10th, 2013 by Roger Darlington
A popular section of my web site is the one called Life Skills. It now has 31 items of advice on “How To …” do all sorts of things and you can access them all here. The very latest item – which I have just composed – is “How To Get a Good Night’s Sleep”. […]
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