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.

House prices surge in prosperous areas

In the 10 areas with the highest levels of economic activity the house prices are 61% higher than the average house prices in the 10 areas with the lowest levels of activity. Suren Thiru, housing economist at Halifax, said: "not surprisingly, over the past ten years the house price has grown stronger in areas that have seen the greatest increase in economic activity. In the past three years, seven of the 10 local areas with the smallest falls in the activity have been seen in the south of England, but all 10 areas that recorded the biggest falls in economic activity are in the northern regions of the United Kingdom.

My opinion:

When I read this I thought it was remarkable that house prices are increasing in certain areas as we are still in an economical crisis. However, when I read the article I think that there are still some businesses who are making money out of the crisis.
The only thing that I don’t really understand is why it is possible that the areas with the biggest falls in economic activity are all in the northern regions of the UK. I know that a great deal of the UK economy is based over there, but couldn’t that be a reason to have the smallest fall in economic activity?

Natalie Portman: Black Swan star gives birth to baby boy

Actress Natalie Portman, right, and Benjamin Millepied

Nathalie Portman, The Israeli-born and New York-raised actress, who celebrated her birthday last Thursday, announced in December that she was pregnant and planned to marry Millepied, 33, who is a well-regarded ballet dancer.
Nathalie won a Academy Award in the best actress category for her performance as a delusional and a self-mutilating ballerina in Black Swan. Nathalie has also won a bafta best actress award, but which she didn’t attend because of her pregnancy. Although Nathalie en Benjamin are known for being  very protective of their privacy, they recently announced their joy at the prospect of becoming first-time parents to the media.
People magazine, who told the news, gave no details when of where the baby was born .

My opinion:
I have seen the movie Black Swan and I must say that I have a strange feeling about her being a mum. Hopefully she will not act the same as her  neurotic “mum” did in Black Swan.
For the child I hope that they will consist in their habit of keeping private life private.
But I do regret the fact that they don’t want to say anything about the baby. They are talking about a boy, but who knows that it is a boyl?!

Prince Harry to return to Afghanistan

The Prince gained his wings earlier this year Photo: GETTY

The prince's squadron will probably be lined up for a return to Afghanistan next year in late summer. Instead of serving as a front line junior officer with the Household Cavalry, as he did on his previous tour, Prince Harry will fly a £40 million AH-64 attack helicopter in operations against insurgents. Apaches are two-man helicopters designed to hunt and destroy tanks using their array of weapons, which include rockets and Hellfire missiles. They are worth £35 million each.
Earlier this year the prince gained his wings and has he been told by his instructors that he has a "natural flair" for flying.
The prince is currently attending an eight-month course which teach him how to use the Apache's weapons in battle.
The Queen, Prince Charles and Chelsy Davy, Prince Harry's on-off girlfriend, are said to be anxious about his return to Afghanistan, but he is determined to fulfill his duty as a serving officer.
In a television interview last year the prince said he had a "real determination" to return to Afghanistan; "My heart is in the Army".



My opinion:

As a prince I think that Harry has the possibility to refuse a tour. But he is not serving as a prince, he is serving the army as an ordinary military. He put as much afford in his job as he can and tries to set up a career for himself. To start with the gained wings and the opportunity of flying a Apache helicopter (knowing that only 1 of 50 trained pilots will get the chance to fly one). If I were him I wouldn’t have gone back to Afghanistan if I wasn’t forced to go.

England's 200 worst-performing primaries to be made academies

Next year two hundred of England's worst-performing primary schools will be closed and re-opened as academies, the government is to say. Education Secretary Michael Gove says this will force schools which have not reached the target levels in maths and English to improve. The new academies we be under control of the local authority, probably by more successful local schools. Another 500 schools all over the country will be told that they have three years to improve their standards.
The poorest-performing 200 schools will include those which have failed for five years to meet targets for 11-year-olds in maths and English.Mr Gove told the BBC it was time to turn the focus on primary schools. "We can't have a situation where young children are arriving at the age of 11 at secondary schools not secure in English and mathematics. That's why we need rapid action to deal with the very worst primary schools."

My opinion:

When a school does not reach the target levels for 11-year –olds the government should do something. Although the government does regonize the problem they are only solving it for the moment. I think that the government should go back to the basic. Why it is that these schools don’t reach the target levels and what can we do so that they can?  
And I do believe that closing 200 schools only revere to not know who to give the highest priority; solving the “problem” or being concerned about children and what to do the best for them.

American excess? That will do nicely for UK students

 Summer breaks – post-exam binges in idyllic locations – are catching on in a big way in Britain



Revellers enjoy summer break in Newquay

TERRY BARNECUTT



Beach Break Live 2011, a four-day extravaganza, owes much to the similarly debauched American tradition of spring breaks, where students in their "reading" weeks let off steam while having parties on beaches in Miami, Palm Springs or over the border in Cancun.

Sex is seen, along with alcohol, as one of the big draws of these events. These dangerous circumstances could lead to a similar tragedy just like that of Molly Ammon, a 19 year-old University of Florida student who died early this year of alcohol poisoning at nearly five times the limit.

British students are, of course, no stranger to drinking or celebrating the end of their studies but organized summer breaks have become big business in recent years. The idea of finishing exams and going on a huge party is true to the American Spring Break but difference from the British in a way that the British care far more about the music and the whole festival experience.

My opinion:
I don’t mind the fact celebrating the end of the year, but I do wonder why it should be so extravagant. I wouldn’t stay away from a nice pool party or festival. However, I won’t go when I know that it will all turn out in a kind of sex party. For me that is not celebrating; it is only a way for getting ride of your dignity.

Accidental leak of British nuclear submarine secrets

Secret information about the UK's nuclear-powered submarines was published on a website. Due to a technical error paragraphs of a Ministery of Defence report which were appeared to have blacked out, could in fact be read by anyone who copied and pasted them into another document. The document involved was an assessment drawn up by the head of the defence nuclear safety regulator, Commodore Andrew McFarlane, concerning options for the reactors in future submarines to replace the trident fleet. The document has now been properly covered up, but will be considered about the fleet’s ability to withstand a catastrophic accident.

I think that these documents should be treated more careful. This document could be really interesting for enemies of the UK and what can release into something we don’t want to happen. So in my opinion all these information should be kept more save and be checked on their safety system. Hopefully the MoD have act on this accident, so that we can assume that something similar as this is not to happen again.

HMS Astute, a British nuclear submarine. Photograph: Murdo Macleod

Grand National 'on a par with bullfighting' after deaths

The Grand National, the most legendary steeplechase of Britain, has been compared to Spanish bullfighting. The organizers have kept responsible of  animal cruelty as 2 horses died during the race last Saturday.  Due to a sweltering heat and an unusual  firm ground only 19 horses finished instead of 40. The animals were so exhausted that even the winning horse was not able to be ridden into the winner's enclosure. The protest group Animal Aid want the event to be banned. They think that the horses who have died on the Grand National since 2000, did not die of accidents but was entirely predicted.

My Opinion:

The Grand National is one of the most famous British traditions which was organized for the first time in 19th century. Same as the bullfighting in Spain this tradition has been going on for years. However, tradition or not, animal safety should have the main priority. From experience I know that sweltering heat asks a lot of energy from the horses.  So in my opinion the organizers should consider the circumstances were in these horses has to perform and then there will be no need  that this tradition should not be banned.

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