One Is Amused!

The Queen; Now In Jelly

Title: The weirdest and most wonderful Diamond Jubilee memorabilia

Subject:  Ranging from art by Andy Warhol to fancy sick bags, all for the Queen's Diamond Jubilee

Web Address: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/the-weirdest-and-most-wonderful-diamond-jubilee-memorabilia-7800170.html

Date: 10 June 2012

Summary:

By now, everyone in and outside the UK knows of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee. The celebrations are huge and many citizens join in to celebrate the Queen's lengthy rule. There is a jelly mould made, the Queen's visage is the mould which makes for some uncomfortable slicing of the jelly. What part to cut of first? There is also a special ice flavour made in the Queen's honour; Coronation Chicken flavour ice cream. Yes, chicken flavoured. It has been described as 'perversely delicious' it is certainly an experience to remember. But not all are weird and silly, there is a painting by Andy Warhol made in 1985. It is a portrait of Queen Elizabeth and it is being auctioned on the 11^th of July.

Andy Warhol's Painting of the Queen

Opinion:

I have not even described half the stuff they made in her honour. The gallery the Independent is fun to see and read, there are sick bags with the Queen's face on them and the description “Bling It Up” for when you have partied a bit too hard and even walking aids with festive English flags printed on them. I think it is nice to see the country celebrate despite all that had been happening, the whole crisis can bring anyone's spirits down. It is good to see there are still things to be just plainly happy about and that people can still simply laugh about. And I must say, now I AM curious about that chicken flavoured ice cream...

Cash = Happiness? NO!

Title: Why more cash won't make you happy

Subject: Pay rises seen as a sign of failure by neurotics, says study

Web Address: http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2012/jun/10/neurotics-pay-rise-success

Date: 10 June 2012 

A pile of cash

Summary:

Everyone is a little neurotic. It is not an illness as some might think, just a normal human behavioural tick. Most only have it a little, like where you put specific things, others have to knock the door three times before entering. Study shows that the more neurotic you are the less money will make you happy. In fact, it will make you unhappy if you are not careful. An increase in money, especially when it comes to pay rises, is a way to measure how good you have been doing. The more neurotic you are the less that rise will prove you did well, instead it shows you you have failed to reach the proper goal. You will as if that rise was not high enough, that it means you have not done well enough.

Opinion:

When people think about money, most will think the more, the better. Of course we all know the 'money will not make you happy' thing, but we still think it would help. Think of all the things you could do and have if you had piles of money! But these results suggest that we see money more as a device to measure our successes or failures rather than as a means to achieve more comfort. They do connect this to how neurotic you are, the more this will affect you. I am not sure how neurotic I am, but I am not sure this so called 'rule' would apply to me. I would convert money to fun as quickly as possible, and frankly, I am quite good at that.

Sharply Dressed

Title: Jewels to die for

Subject: A new exhibition looks back to a time when men were dressed to kill

Web Address: http://www.economist.com/node/21556204

Date: 2 June 2012

Summary:

Swords were made to fight with, right? Wrong! In the Renaissance people, or should I say guys, started wearing swords as a fashion statement. The more elaborate the design, the more jewels it contained, the higher the men's status was. Basically it was the biggest jewel in his wardrobe. To make the sword more fabulous they thinned it down and made it a slim and long sword; the rapier. With these, men dueled and actually killed each other for usually not as romantic motifs as we imagine. Later this changed into first to draw blood instead first to kill, and later still guns took the place of rapiers. Dueling with rapiers became a sport, now known as fencing. An exhibition has opened for this sport in London.

For example; this belonged to a very, very posh man

Opinion:

Now, do not fool yourself in thinking these swords were only for show, the sword had been civilized, not pacified. Opposed to the clunky swords used in battle, these swords were designed to thrust, not slice. Dueling became a rage and thousands died of stab wounds each year. More than a century passed before duels would be formally ended with the first cut to draw blood. Like all fashion things, the rapiers too fell out of fashion. Now, men do not just walk around with swords or guns (at least, not in Europe) but I guess less people die of ill-fought duels now.

Dwarfs Snubbed By Dwarves

Title: Fury as Snow White filmmakers snub dwarfs

Subject: Dwarves in the new Snow White & The Huntsman film are not played by actual dwarfs, which infuriates midget actors.

Web Address: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/4357457/Fury-as-Snow-White-filmmakers-snub-dwarfs.html

Date: 6 June 2012

Before I start, let me explain the confusing difference between "dwarves" and "dwarfs", both a plural form of dwarf. The from dwarves comes from the famous author Tolkien, and this way of writing the plural form tends to be used for fictional or mythological types of dwarves. The form dwarfs, however, tends to refer to people with dwarfism, a growth disorder. Now, on to the story.

Dwarves, but not dwarfs. Yeah, confusing, I know.

Summary:

Everyone knows the story of Snow White and her seven dwarves, and in the upcoming film Snow White & The Huntsman they are clearly present. Just one little thing; the dwarves are not played by dwarfs, but people of a normal height. Their height is altered by clever use of camera angles, special effects and digitally pasting the heads of these actors onto the bodies of real dwarfs. The Beacher's Madhouse midgets are protesting that this is the same as “Universal casting a white actor to play a role written for an African-American person and digitally changing the colour of their skin”. They are planning a 100-midget march to Universal's offices.

Opinion:

At first I thought it was a little exaggerated, I mean if you look at the famous trilogy of Lord of the Rings you will see much of the same. The hobbits are played by normal-sized people even though they are supposed to be half the size of humans as are the dwarves. Again, this is altered by the use of camera angles, special effects and the use of children doubles. The core difference I find is however using the bodies of midgets to just stick the head of the actor on it. Is it really that different from digitally altering someone's skin colour? I can imagine that as a midget with ambitions to become a great star good roles are far and few between.

A Case of Rabies in the UK

Title: Dog-bite woman dies from rabies

Subject: A woman being treated for rabies after being bitten by a dog in south Asia has died.

Web Address: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/dogbite-woman-dies-from-rabies-7799765.html

Date: 29 May 2012

Summary:

A woman contracted rabies in south Asia, it was transmitted by dogs saliva when she was bitten. When she was back in the UK she went to the hospital but twice she was turned away. According to this article the doctors were not told she had any contact with animals in a high-risk country. Because of this, they did not consider rabies, as UK is rabies free. With just some vague symptoms the doctors failed to realise what the patient was suffering from until later, then she was admitted into the London's Hospital for Tropical Diseases where she ultimately died. The press is asked to lay low on this one, as the family has expressed it would like privacy.

Opinion:

The investigation is still running, but from what I can gather the woman did not mention being abroad or being bitten by a wild dog. That proved to be fatal, but I do not think the doctors were at fault here, nor do I think the woman was stupid. She probably just did not know the risk of wild dogs in Asian countries, otherwise she might have mentioned it. In all, it is a tragedy that because of misinformation she died. Hopefully the press will answer the family's wishes and leave the case alone, at least for now. Though, seeing how the press usually goes about things, I think there will be reporters trying to get the story anyway.

Bibles Everywhere!

Title: Richard Dawkins supports school Bible plan

Subject: Leading atheist Richard Dawkins says he supports the plan to put a Bible in every English school.

Web Address: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-18224114

Date: 26 May 2012

Summary:

There is this privately funded distribution of King James Bibles that began this month to mark its 400^th anniversary. This Bible was a new translation requested by King James I, who was unhappy with existing translations. Now a distribution of these Bibles to schools has started and Richard Dawkins, an atheist, supports this. Why? Because of the common misconception that the Bible is a good guide to morality. As he puts it: "Whatever else the Bible might be - and it really is a great work of literature - it is not a moral book and young people need to learn that important fact because they are very frequently told the opposite." Not only would it educate young people on what exactly the Bible is but it is also a very important work of literature as many English allusions come from this translation-- think of “No peace for the wicked (Isaiah 57:21), The blind leading the blind (Matthew 15:13) and God forbid (Romans 13:1)”

Opinion:

It does not look very inviting, does it?

I have never read a Bible. I really have no clue as to what it actually says other then what I have heard people shout about it. Perhaps I should read it once. I think it is good that the children on school can now freely read this King James Bible. There is just one problem: Will they? Even if I was offered the chance to read the Bible back on high school, I really would not have jumped at the chance, and I do not think it will be much different for these kids. The fact that it is literature will not help the case either, I used to hate any books with the label literature because the few literary books I was forced to read I found very depressing back then. So although I think it is a good initiative, whether kids will actually read these newly distributed Bibles remains to be seen. 

One Boy Dies, Two Lose Their Job

Title: Baby Peter social workers lose tribunal appeal

Subject: 17 months old Peter died from abuse, the social workers who were responsible for keeping tabs on him were sacked and thought it unfair

Web Address: http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/baby-p-social-workers-appeal-723859

Date: 25 May 2012

Summary:

Gillie Christou and Maria Ward, the two social workers

Back in August 2007 young Peter Connelly, only 17 months old, died from sustained abuse by his mother. The child was known at the social services and despite having over 60 visits from the social service, the police and health professionals he died all the same. The social workers that were appointed to him made a serious mistake when they accepted the word of his mother when she said she could not visit because she was looking after a sick relative. This led to a 12 day period where the boy was off the radar, they did not know where he was or how he was doing while they were required to see the boy at least once a fortnight. Having failed to meet this requirement the judge found the verdict, that they were sacked justly, fair.

Opinion:

On one hand you could say that everyone makes mistakes. On the other, it was the life of a young boy. I also think that believing an obviously disturbed woman on her word is a very big mistake. Of course there were more things going on, the social service was under-resourced at that time. On one thing I think everyone can agree: no one wanted this to happen. So they did not do this on purpose, they at that time truly believed he was alright. This is also why they were not jailed I think, they were not guilty as, for example the lodger, of allowing the boy to die. They were 'just' sacked. I think it was fair they were sacked, they messed up big time and made crucial errors.

Killing Us Slowly

Title: Why cupcakes are the new cocaine

Subject: Sugar is one of many new addictive substances that are stealthily taking over our lives – and this white powder is a slow killer. 

Lo and behold, the herald of our doom

Web Address: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/healthyeating/9275056/Why-cupcakes-are-the-new-cocaine.html

Date: 18 May 2012

Summary:

We see sugar as harmless, while in fact it is a very dangerous and very addictive drug. You heard me, drug. Sugar damages the liver and kidneys and is the main cause for the ever dangerous type 2 diabetes that continues to spread worldwide. All around the world the people are addicted to sugar and we do not even realise it. We ingest a vast number of this white crystalline substance several times a day. We become agitated if we run out of supplies and produce lame excuses for another dose. We say that we need 'energy', but we are deluding ourselves. The energy rush from sugar is only temporary-- strongly reminiscent of the ups and downs of, say, cocaine.

Opinion:

According to this rather dramatic article the world is addicted and doomed-- the writer himself included. A quote from the article that reflects this: “if a casual visitor from another galaxy were to drop in on planet earth, he would assume that human beings were even heavier drug users than we already are.” Apart from this very cynical view of this matter, sugar addiction is in fact serious. Like alcohol we gladly ignore the destroying qualities. Not only is sugar dangerous to your health, but it also reinforces the feeling that life is only bearable if we reward ourselves with endless 'treats'. Yet we feel guilty when we do reward ourselves. Then again, I am not going to stop this 'evil cycle'. I am probably too addicted already.

Corgi's are Stealing the Queen's Show

Title: One’s lost one’s pedigree chum

Subject: The popularity of Welsh Corgi's has increased now that the Queen and her preferred breed are in the center of attention

Web Address: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/royals/2446472/Ones-lost-ones-pedigree-chum.html

Date: 10 May 2012

Summary:

The Queen has been on the throne for sixty years now, which means it is her Diamond Jubilee year this year, 2012. That in turn means the media and the citizens of the UK will pay extra attention to their beloved monarch. And in this case, also to her dogs. The Queen owns three dogs, three Welsh Corgi's named Monty, Willow and Holly. They travel with her as often as possible and she tries to take care of them herself as much as her schedule allows her. This breed however is an endangered one and had been out of fashion for a long time. With this jubilee and the extra attention the Queen receives, so do her dogs and their breed.

Opinion: 

I think it is really nice that people are starting to get more interested in this breed, and perhaps be able to take it away from that brink of extinction it was nearing. To be on that brink, to be considered endangered, a dog breed must have fewer than 300 puppies registered a year. For these Corgi's, numbers are now rising with 17 puppies in the first quarter of this year compared to the 10 last year. And just look at those dogs, they are adorable. I think it would have been a great loss if these dogs were to have disappeared altogether. 

No, no I do not get how you got endangered either

A Splash of Colour and a Smile now for £20,000

Title: Woman spends £20,000 of her pension on an extreme makeover... and feels great

Subject: A women gets surgery to feel prettier

Web Address: http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/woman-spends-20000-of-her-pension-on-an-extreme-810870

Date: 29 Apr 2012

The Before/Bad Photo: £0                                                           The After/Good Photo: £20,000
All hail photoshop!

Summary:

So there is this woman, a former maths teacher called Linda Owen who is 62, that got herself a makeover that cost her more than £20,000. She claims she wanted to be a brand-new women, after her stressful job and long hours that took their toll. She became fat and although she “tried every diet under the sun for many years” she could not loose the weight, mainly because of her love for bacon sandwiches, curries and cheeseburgers. So she got herself a gastric band operation that made her stomach smaller and a whole lot of other surgeries including a face lift, surgery on her “bingo wings” and teeth whitening. Now she feels like a new women and is thrilled people do not recognize her anymore.

Opinion:

I think it is really sad that this woman thought the only way for her to feel better about herself is to undergo surgery. And those operation are not without risk. In fact, that gastric band operation has been known to be fatal more than once. Also, I think it she is rather stupid to blame her diets on not working and that anything she managed to lose soon piled back on again while admitting that she ate burgers afterwards. I mean, how does she think diets work? That once you have completed a week of dieting you can go on and eat everything for the rest of your life and magically not gain a pound? And that used to be a teacher. A maths teacher, even. You would think she could put two and two together.

They are Coming

Title: Kill on sight! Fire at will! Battleplan to defeat deadly hornets heading for UK

Subject: Asian hornets are closing in on the UK

Web Address: http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/nature/kill-on-sight-fire-at-will-battleplan-to-defeat-deadly-hornets-heading-for-uk-7668384.html

Date: 22 April 2012

Summary:

There is an invading force heading directly for the UK, and there is nothing we can do about it. Asian Hornets are in the rise and after having robbed French of many of its bees the hornets move on to other countries. These hornets, often up to 3cm long, attack single bees, tear them apart and feed them to their young. Soon, the bees cannot fly out anymore and have to consume their own beehive, weakening it to the point where the hornets can easily enter and ransack it. The British government hopes to avoid this by taking drastic measures and coming up with battleplans, involving poison, smoke, and even guns and water-cannons as such devastation could cost £440m per year.

Opinion:

Though it sounds almost comical, I found it rather surprising it would cost the country so much if the bees were to disappear. Of course, once I though about it, I realized they must have many beekeepers and sell a lot of honey. That, and flowers would probably feel the hit too, as there would be no bees to carry their spores. Aside from that, these huge hornets are also very aggressive and will not shy away from attacking humans. Also, they are very, very big, and I would rather not have them in my garden. 

They are coming...

UK is not OK

Scotland wants independence

Title: The Scottish Play

Subject: Four problems for Scotland's independence

Web Address: http://www.economist.com/node/21552572

Date: 14 April 2012

Summary:

Scotland wants to become independent, and both sides have used the economy as a reason to either stay or go. A precise answer is impossible, but a look at the statistics reveals four problems. First problem is the oil. It will run out someday and that day may not be as far away as many hope. As soon as that happens a major vacuum will be created. The second question is whether renewable energy could replace that vacuum. Then there is the third problem, their banks were saved by the British government and many of their assets do not belong to Scotland. The final problem is perhaps the biggest: their currency. Joining the Euro is no longer an option and with a smaller economy they are far more vulnerable to shocks in the world's economy.

Opinion:

Honestly, I find it very hard to form a balanced opinion on this subject: I do not know all the intricacies of economy. Also, I have no idea if what they are saying is true or not. The only thing I do know is that we are in a global crisis right now and doing something risky as this appears to be does not sound like a good idea. That being said, this newspaper article did not refer to any bonuses that would be gained if Scotland was to become independent, neither did it mention any reasons that the country would want to do so. That to me makes it look like either I missed a big part, or that the one who wrote this really does not want Scotland to become independent.

Do You Want a Cookie?

Title: How will the new law on cookies affect internet browsing?

Subject: The use of cookies by sites will become restricted

Web Address: http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2012/apr/13/new-law-cookies-affect-internet-browsing

Date: 13 April 2012

Sadly, not this kind of cookie

Summary:

Many sites use cookies, these monitor your behaviour and until now they did not have to ask or explain why. This is about to change: a new law is being proposed where every site has to justify their use of cookies, and must ask the user first. Sites use cookies to gain information, not really on you as a person, but you as a user. Cookies monitor your actions and report them back, this way owners of the site can see what works, what does not, and what advertisements gain more attention then others. These cookies are however only the tip of the iceberg: there are many other ways sites use to gain information.

Opinion:

I think it is good that these kind of privacy invading acts are finally put to attention. I do think however they should be more thorough, there are many other ways that sites gain information without asking, or perhaps more specifically: without the user realizing. For example, making an account at a site already gives the site access to do these things. Also, advertising will become more random. Now because of the cookies sites place advertisements that, based on your actions, they think would interest you. This way they can ask higher prices and avoid targeting the wrong audience. Still, I think giving people the choice whether or not they want to share their information is a good thing.

Time for a Scarred Hero

Freddy Krueger, a scarred villain

Title: Short film challenges 'scarred baddies' stereotype

Subject: A short film has been created to challenge movie attitudes toward facial disfigurement.

Web Address: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-17702160

Date: 13 April 2012

Summary:

"We're so used to seeing people with disfigurements portrayed as the villain in films that it may be hard for people to imagine they could ever play someone's friend, the Dad picking up his kids from school, the US President, or a lover," says James Partridge, founder of Changing Faces. To challenge this stereotypical reaction to people with facial disfigurements, the foundation Changing Face has created a movie that features a scarred hero for a change. The foundation wants to introduce a new, more creative way of using actors with disfigurements instead of typecasting them as villains. The movie is intended to encourage audiences and the wider film industry to think about how disfigurement can be portrayed in a more balanced way.

Opinion:

I think this is a brilliant idea, people with disfigurements should not be treated differently just because they look different. Other then the movie The Hunchback of Notre Dame, I really could not think of any movie where there was a badly scarred hero, but there are countless bad guys with disfigurements. This way, we only see disfigured actors as the evil villains and that image seeps through to our everyday life. I also feel that the strongest point they make is not that the film industry should stop using scarred baddies, but to be more open, more creative with using disfigured actors to create a more balanced way of showing such actors.