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