Archive for July, 2015


My 21st short story: “More Than Lust But Less Than Love”

July 31st, 2015 by Roger Darlington

We think that the one thing we know for sure is our own lives. But maybe we don’t know it all. This is the inspiration for my short story “More Than Lust But Less Than Love”. You can read it here.

Posted in My life & thoughts | Comments (0)


A review of the new movie “Southpaw”

July 30th, 2015 by Roger Darlington

Jake Gyllenhaal makes this movie and confirms his status as a major star. You can read my review here.

Posted in Cultural issues | Comments (0)


A review of the novel “Before I Go To Sleep”

July 29th, 2015 by Roger Darlington

I saw the film adaptation and found it intriguing and so I’ve now read the novel which is a real page-turner. You can read my review here.

Posted in Cultural issues | Comments (0)


A review of the film “The Hundred-Foot Journey”

July 29th, 2015 by Roger Darlington

If the only movies you enjoy are action-packed, stunt-filled blockbusters, look away now. If on the other hand, you are open to a quiet and humorous look at rivalry between French and Indian eating establishments, this is a film worth watching on television. You can read my review here.

Posted in Cultural issues | Comments (0)


When President Barack Obama completes his second term, what will he do with the rest of his life?

July 28th, 2015 by Roger Darlington

Barack Obama will step down from the US presidency in January 2017. At that point, he still only be 55. So what is going to do? I suspect – and hope – that he eschew the opportunities to make lots of money from private sector appointments and that instead he will return to being an […]

Posted in American current affairs | Comments (0)


Why is opinion polling becoming harder and less reliable?

July 27th, 2015 by Roger Darlington

All the pollsters failed to forecast accurately the result of the British General Election in May 2015. We are still awaiting the outcome of an inquiry by the British Polling Council to determine what went wrong and how it can be fixed. Most of my work as a consumer advocate involves working  with regulators and […]

Posted in Consumer matters, Miscellaneous, Social policy | Comments (1)


John F Kennedy – the ‘what if?’ American president

July 26th, 2015 by Roger Darlington

Last summer, I was at the City Lit in London to attend a course on post-war American presidents. I wrote blog postings on each of the presidents we discussed: Lyndon B Johnson – my blog posting here Richard M Nixon – my blog posting here Gerald Ford – my blog posting here Jimmy Carter – […]

Posted in Environment, History | Comments (1)


Why do bad things happen? – a review of “The Magic Of Reality”

July 25th, 2015 by Roger Darlington

Popular science books and programmes have become, well, popular because we all want to understand our world and our universe. Richard Dawkins in a master in explaining complicated science in understandable language and I’ve just finished reading his 2011 book “The Magic Of Reality”. You can read my review here.

Posted in Science & technology | Comments (0)


My 20th short story: “It isn’t over …”

July 24th, 2015 by Roger Darlington

One of my favourite sayings is: “It isn’t over till it’s over … and then it isn’t over”. What do I mean? Well, I illustrated the notion in this short story that I wrote five years ago.

Posted in My life & thoughts | Comments (0)


The cost of ending slavery in the British Empire

July 23rd, 2015 by Roger Darlington

BBC television has just broadcast two remarkable programme entitled “Britain’s Forgotten Slave Owners”. The writer and presenter is David Olusoga, a half British, half Nigerian academic. The programmes explain how in 1834 slavery was officially abolished by the British parliament but the slave owners were handsomely compensated. The Slavery Compensation Commission paid out a total […]

Posted in History | Comments (0)