Church of England report calls for affirmative action on race

Members of the Church of England at the General Synod.

The Church of England should show affirmative action to increase the number of priests from ethnic minorities and the number of non-white parishioners. The Church of England want to do this by acknowledge that faces are missing and that voices are missing and that they want to find a way so that they can be heard and seen. Besides this the Church is warning against complacency about the educating of Christianity.  They want to make sure that the important history of the Church of England stays attached to the Education system of England and Wales.

My opinion:

It is honorable of the Church of England they put so much effort in existing and spreading out their message. I think it is very good of the Church that they want to have priests and parishioners of different race and ethnic minorities. Hopefully this will lead that more people of the ME will go to church.  For the last thing I truly wonder whether it is smart to do. All though the Church of England is attached to the Country, they should consider that there is such a thing as Freedom of Religion. I think that the Church shouldn’t force schools who don’t teach Christianity or any religion to do so.

London school wins top Cannes Lions ad award

Durand Academy, a school for children in Stockwell and Brixton, won two coveted Golden Lion for a campaign to fund their boarding school. Together with £ 17m of government they hope to launch the first free-of-charge state boarding school in the UK.
While the Grand Prix prize went to the advertising agency BBDO Melbourne for a campaign away from its rivals National Australia Bank, Durand won out of 819 entries from around the world two of the only 10 coveted Golden Lions 819 entries in the PR category.
Cannes judging panel the agency claimed the PR equivalent of more than £2m in print and broadcast coverage, the champagne has also been mentioned for 23 times in parliament and the visitors of Durand website jump from zero to 80,000 views

My opinion:

I think this is very well done by Durand Academy to win, out of 819 entries of all over the world, 2 golden lions. Hopefully the school will book some progress in their quality of education. I also think that more children will attend this boarding school, because the website visitors past the 80.000 views. What is an awful lot when you consider that it was  first only zero.

Blairs charge children £10 to attend son's end-of-term party at their £6million country mansion

The Blairs' £6m mansion in Buckinghamshire.

Tony and Cherie Blair want to host the end-of-term party of their 11-year-old son Leo and his classmates. They party takes place in county mansion, which is worth over an £6 million. But because of security reasons they want that the parents of the other children pay their child coach money in order to get to the mansion.
The parents of Leo’s classmates are angered by the fact that they have to pay £10, while Tony and Cherie Blair‘s fortune has been estimate on £60 million.

 My opinion:

I think it is ridiculous that the parents of Leo’s classmates have to pay the coach. These children come from working classes or middle classes. They are not as rich as the Blairs are. I must say that it is very kind that the Blairs want to throw a party for their son. But is all those anger the money worthy they save? I don’t think so.

Woman dies in hospital after horse and cart broke free at country fair

After she was brought in critical condition into hospital Addenbrooke's in Cambridge the 57 year-old woman from Bury St Edmunds died after an incident with a run-beaten horse and carriage on Sunday. Seven other people were hospitalized with back and abdominal damage. They are all back home.
The horse has probably broken loose after being tied up and thereby bumped into and run over people.
The horse is the four year-old Breton horse, named Luke. He was exactly sold for meat when he was rescued by his owner, Carriage Tours, of Bury St Edmunds, in September last year.

My opinion:

As a horse owner I know that a horse, even when it is a very friendly one, always stays an animal. So you never know what it can do. The horse that caused this drama was very young. In my opinion the horse was too young for being taken up to a country fair. In the Netherlands the minimum age for a horse to participate in gymkhanas is 4. The big difference is that the majority of visitors are familiar with horses and that the horses riding area is separate from that of the gymkhana village. The age of the horse can explain his behaviour; young, impulsive and not experienced.

For poorer: cost of church weddings to rise 50pc

The basic fee for an Anglican wedding ceremony jump from 284 pounds to 425 pounds. This is without potential costs of having an organist, bell ringers, choir, music and flowers. Next month the Church of England will consider the new plans. Clerics said that the changes are primarily designed for the financial aspect of getting married in church and thus cover the unexpected additional costs for couples. Some large churches, will struggle to maintain historic buildings under the new plans, while other smaller parishes likely will see an increase. Despite falling weekly congregations, weddings are a welcome source of income for the Church of England, bringing in about 35 million pounds a year in basic fees.

My opinion:

This might be a good solution for all opponents. Although the large churches will find some trouble with funding their building, I am sure that the Church of England will help them exist. Also for the couples the new plans could be a relief as a wedding costs a lot of money. You don’t want to face unexpected costs that will force you to shorten your quest list...

Scotland's national poet Edwin Morgan leaves SNP £1m in will



Edwin Morgan, Photograph: Murdo Macleod

In the next coming days The Scottish National Party will hear whether they will receive £ 1 million of Scotland's national poet, Edwin Morgan, who died in August. Morgan, born in Glasgow in 1920, wrote the poem for the official opening of the new Scottish Parliament building at Holyrood in October 2004.
Morgan, considered as being one of the best poets of Scotland, was a nationalist, although he never openly campaigned for the SNP.
The party will probably use the money for funding its independence referendum campaign in 2014 or 2015. Morgan's gift highlights the SNP's ability to team up on social and political spectrum to build
The Sun reports that Morgan also left £ 45,000 to friends, former colleagues and charitable organizations, including small gifts of £ 2,000 each Shelter Scotland, the Scottish Youth Theatre and the Association for Scottish Literary Studies.

My opinion:

It is great that a wealthy man leaves his money to organizations in which he thinks that they can mean something for the community. Probably he wants his country to be independent and wants to make that real. On the other hand I wonder whether that will happen. Maybe it was better to give more money to his friends. But then the Independence of Scotland wouldn’t so close to reality as is now.

Cadbury's Naomi Campbell ad not racist, rules watchdog





Naomi Campbell said she was shocked by the Cadbury Dairy Milk Bliss ad

The advertising watchdog has filed a complaint against Cadbury based on racism. The press advertisement Advent Bliss Cadbury's Dairy Milk contained the slogan "move over Naomi, there's a new diva in town"
Naomi Campbell's mother, Valerie, said she was deeply shocked by this racist advertisement. The complainants objected that the advertisement was racist because it compared a black woman to a bar of chocolate.
After taking legal advice, Cadbury has pulled the campaign and made a public apology on its website.
The ASA (Advertising Standards Authority) council said the advertisement was probably referred to the reputation of Naomi Campbell's behaviour to" diva-style "rather than her race.

My opinion:

Although it wasn’t very nice of Cadbury to refer to Naomi Campbell, I still can’t figure out why Naomi’s mother would make such a big fuss about it.
I have seen the advertisement and I also thought that Cadbury referred to Naomi’s reputation (which she builds up due to herself).
Well, it wasn’t a really clever thing to do. On both interpretations of the advertisement Cadbury could have expected complaints. So next time Cadbury, I would be a little bit more carefully with making such advertisements.