Archive for April, 2016


Bluebells herald the arrival of Spring (at last)

April 30th, 2016 by Roger Darlington

Vee with her twin sister Mari among bluebells down on the south coast 

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10 reasons why the UK should remain a member of the European Union

April 30th, 2016 by Roger Darlington

One of my Members of the European Parliament Seb Dance has put together an informative but succinct case on why we should vote ‘Yes” in the referendum on 23 June. You can check out his 10 reasons here.

Posted in British current affairs | Comments (0)


A review of the thriller movie “Child 44”

April 29th, 2016 by Roger Darlington

I haven’t read the book (should I?) but I have now seen the film of the novel “Child 44”. It should have been a better movie but it is still worth viewing and I’ve reviewed it here.

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How to be a good leader

April 29th, 2016 by Roger Darlington

As part of my Friday practice of highlighting advice in the Life Skills section of my web site, today I offer suggestions on “How To Be A Good Leader” here.

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A review of the action movie “Bastille Day”

April 28th, 2016 by Roger Darlington

Black British actor Idris Elba is a man of talent and presence and “Bastille Day“confirms his ability to headline a movie. You can read my review here.

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A review of a new book on a 1942 commando raid on Sark

April 28th, 2016 by Roger Darlington

“Operation Basalt: The British Raid On Sark And Hitler’s Commando Order” by Eric Lee is a meticulously researched and excitingly written work about a small commando raid which had large and criminal consequences. You can read my review here.

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The shame of modern Britain – in one of the richest countries on the planet …

April 27th, 2016 by Roger Darlington

… over a million live in destitution, as explained in this piece from today’s “Guardian newspaper”: “More than a million people in the UK are so poor they cannot afford to eat properly, keep clean or stay warm and dry, according to a groundbreaking attempt to measure the scale of destitution in Britain. A study […]

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UN risk expert warns we are heading for catastrophe over natural disasters

April 25th, 2016 by Roger Darlington

Last year, earthquakes, floods, heatwaves and landslides left 22,773 people dead, affected 98.6 million others, and caused $66.5bn (£47bn) of economic damage. Yet, according to UN figures, in 2014 just 0.4% of the global aid budget of $135.2bn – roughly $540m – was spent on efforts concerning disaster risk reduction (DRR) – things like infrastructure, storm […]

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U.S. presidential election (25): if it’s really going to be Clinton against Trump, who are going to be their running mates?

April 24th, 2016 by Roger Darlington

Of course, it’s not certain, but it looks increasingly likely that Hillary Clinton will win the nomination to be the Democratic candidate for the Presidency and that her opponent will probably be Donald Trump in the Republican camp. So thoughts are already turning to who might be their running mates for Vice-President on the general […]

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Word of the day: bund

April 23rd, 2016 by Roger Darlington

This week, my responsibilities as Chair of the South East Water Customer Panel have dominated my work schedule with no less than four meetings concerning the water sector. At one of these meetings, I heard an unfamiliar word: bund. It refers to an embankment, often providing a promenade. Apparently the origin of the word is […]

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