Archive for March, 2019


How fast is your broadband?

March 29th, 2019 by Roger Darlington

This week, I chaired a meeting of the Consumer forum for Communications at the headquarters of the communications regulator Ofcom. One of the presentations was from Ofcom staff on the subject of superfast broadband (SFBB). Superfast broadband is defined as a service offering a download speed of at least 30 megabits per second (Mbit/s). We […]

Posted in Internet | Comments (0)


I’m on the move …

March 24th, 2019 by Roger Darlington

Tomorrow I shall be moving home. This will be my first move in 35 years and will involve massive downsizing, so I have been decluttering substantially over many weeks. Currently I am surrounded by dozens of boxes trying to work out what will go where in the new place. The move will involve a change […]

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86 year old Michael Heseltine’s speech at the People’s Rally against Brexit and for a second referendum

March 24th, 2019 by Roger Darlington

Posted in British current affairs | Comments (0)


A review of the new film “Everybody Knows”

March 22nd, 2019 by Roger Darlington

This Spanish-language film is a French-Spanish-Italian co-production written and directed by the Iranian Asghar Farhadi (who has twice won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Film). It has a wondeful cast, headed by Penelope Cruz and Javier Bardem, a couple in real life who here play former lovers. Although the setting and casting are new […]

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The challenge of combatting child abuse images online

March 21st, 2019 by Roger Darlington

For six years [see my reported here], I was the first independent Chair of the Internet Watch Foundation which acts to remove child abuse images which appear on the Internet. So I was more than usually interested to hear a short presentation by the current IWF Chair Andrew Puddephatt at this week’s Westminster eForum on […]

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How to be happy – today and always

March 20th, 2019 by Roger Darlington

Today it is the the annual celebration of International Happiness Day. So, how can we be happy (or at least happier). I offer two resources: one professional, the other personal. On my web site, I’ve reviewed several excellent books on happiness. One is “The How Of Happiness” by Sonja Lyubomirsky and at the core of this […]

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Where now for the Palestine-Israeli problem?

March 19th, 2019 by Roger Darlington

The conflict between Palestinians and Israel seems to have fallen out of consideration by much of the world’s media. Perhaps the problem is just too intractable. But the violence in Gaza continues and there is an election coming up in Israel. My friend Eric Lee has given his sobering thoughts in this piece for “The […]

Posted in World current affairs | Comments (0)


So, have you been watching the MP Nick Boles?

March 17th, 2019 by Roger Darlington

Nine months ago, I did a blog posting about the Member of Parliament Nick Boles and concluded “He is a man to watch”. This weekend, we had the news of his resignation as the Conservative MP for Grantham & Stamford, although he is likely to continue taking the Conservative whip. We haven’t heard the last […]

Posted in British current affairs | Comments (1)


The making of American power (4): military dictatorships in Latin America

March 16th, 2019 by Roger Darlington

This week, I attended week 4 of an eight-week evening class at London”s City Literary Institute. The title is “The making of American power: US foreign policy from the Cold War to Trump” and our lecturer is Jack Gain. Week 4 of the course was about the many interventions that the US has made in Central and […]

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A review of the new film “The Aftermath”

March 15th, 2019 by Roger Darlington

The cinema is replete with stories of wartime romances – including the sub-theme of fraternisation with the enemy – but this film is different with a setting just after the Second World War in a Hamburg devastated by British bombing. Rachael Morgan (Keira Knightley) is a young woman joining her husband Lewis (Jason Clarke), an […]

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