Jersey Children’s Home Enquiry
July 31, 2008
In the news today there has been the revelation that the remains of 5 children have been found on the former Jersey children’s home site.
Devastatingly, there may not be an enquiry as the date of the incident cannot be ascertained. Yet so far 65 milk teeth and over one hundred bone fragments have been found. That aside, around 100 people have come forward saying they were abused at the former children’s home site between the 1960 and 1986.
Police have identified that the bones were burned to try and conceal them between the late 60’s and early 70’s. The only hope that the investigators have is in carbon dating techniques. Deputy Chief Officer Lenny Harper has said that the bones do however corroborate the many accounts of abuse the took place at the home.
Former Jersey health minister Stuart Syvret who has been removed from his post had signed a motion that the Jersey officials should not do the investigation. Syvret said “the prevailing desire on the part of the Jersey elites to sweep scandal and abuse under the carpet to preserve their reputation”.
Though disgracefully there may not be enough information to apply murder charges, Harper did say that there is enough corroborating evidence from the hundreds of abuse victims to get a case together.
Lenny said “There are efforts to cover this up, I don’t think there’s any doubt about that”.
I hope that the horrific offenders in this case are brought to justice, such travesties should not be able to happen and definitely not be gotten away with!
Britton’s Snubbed by Bond
July 30, 2008
The producers of Bond have opted for US acts Jack White and Alicia Keys to record the theme of the new Bond film, Quantum of the Solace.
A Number of British acts were initially in the frame including Mark Ronson, Duffy, Amy Winehouse and Leona Lewis but have now been dropped. The new soundtrack will be Another Day to Die and is the first James Bond soundtrack to be a duet.
With the American film industry dwarfing other efforts; it does seem that if there are many more Bond episodes he may in fact become a yank?! Britain should invest further into the British film industry and get a piece of this trillion dollar industry!
Murder Laws Changed
July 30, 2008
The government has proposed changes in murder laws it has been said today. The main alteration will be that those who underwent years of domestic abuse and one day kill their partner, will potentially get man slaughter instead of murder charges.
This is not just limited to husband and wife, but also those that were “seriously wronged” by the victim. Could this open the door for lesser sentences for gang violence? I think that this could be a slippery slope as often much of what is known about the particulars is hearsay.
The new defense legislation has a long way to go, and will meet public consultation first. These law amendments would only be used in exceptional cases.
I think that it is about time that changes were made to our laws, many of them are now out of date.
No More Countdown For Carol
July 29, 2008
After 26 years of appearing on Countdown, Carol Vorderman steps down. Count down was the first show to be broadcast on Channel 4, which makes Carol the first female to appear on the channel.
Allegedly Carol was told that she had to accept a pay cut and that the show would carry on fine without her. Richard Whiteleys late partner critisised the show, dubbing the affair ‘below the belt’.
Channel 4 have not commented on the goings on, saying that they do not discuss presenters contractual issues.
People close to the show have said that it is not in fact due to a pay row, but that she was forced out with a 90% pay cut. Ms Apanowicz said
“Remarks allegedly made by the programme’s producers that the show had survived after Whiteley’s death in 2005 and would continue without Vorderman, were “below the belt” and “crass”.
After 26 years of Carol Vorderman picking those numbers, who will now stand in her shoes? She has stayed faithfully with the show and has been an excellent role model for women throughout a very male orientated era.
In leaving Carol acted with ‘great dignity’ said Ms Apanowicz; apparently Carol said
‘Thank you very much; I’m very sad to leave - wish my colleagues all the best’
after being effectively pushed out of the show.
What will come of Channel 4 at tea time? Good luck Carol!
Women.
July 25, 2008
Why is it that girls are the first to turn on each other when things go bad? It’s bad enough that we ladies are on the back foot in the office, I mean we even get smaller office furniture; it’s far harder to climb the corporate ladder and inevitably we are paid less than our male equals.
If ladies out on the town acted remotely like groups of men, we’d be called all sorts of names and would have a reputation for life. It’s not like we ladies brand men as they do to us. But, to make matters worse we join in, getting involved with the back stabbing of fellow females. Come on girls, surely we should band together and be proud of our differences and craziness’s.
Then there are those whom you would never, ever leave your boyfriends alone with. This especially doesn’t help the fact that men generally have wandering eyes and should be kept on a leash or at least come with built in CCTV.
What about the girls that no matter how nice you are to them just seem to hate you. I think this specific category of women have a big chip on their shoulder. I like to think that it is jealousy, but realistically it’s because they hate the person you are. We are all different shapes and sizes, with different personas and attitudes, but why can’t we appreciate each other for our individual greatness.
International Women’s Day is on the 8th March and I think we should take the time to appreciate those females that we don’t generally have time for and those that are most different than ourselves. We should appreciate the weird and wonderfulness that it is to be feminine. After all we are the deadliest and specialist of the species!!!
Men.
July 23, 2008
They reckon that men are from Mars and that I am from Venus, but most of the time I feel like we are universes apart. How can we ever communicate or in fact achieve anything with the opposite sex when we are in different galaxies?
So many break ups are because ‘we want different things’ but how will people, that are inevitably totally different, ever want the same thing?!?!
Though, to get to this state of affairs you have to find someone that is remotely on your wave length. For some people this can take years, even decades, how hard can it be to find someone?
Let’s look at the odds… in the UK alone there are 60 million inhabitants? I suppose we have to count out a fair number of these… at least 90 percent will be completely the wrong age demographic, and 50 percent again will be the wrong sex. I think they reckon that one in ten people are gay so that’s a further ten percent down and out!
My workings (and it is likely that they will be wrong) tell me that 4.5% of the 60 million inhabitants are the right age, sex and sexual orientation, so how hard can it be?
But let’s be serious, of that 4.5 percent how many will be total gits? I would confidently say that 95% of the 4.5% are definite goners!
So ladies we can rest in the knowledge that 0.225 percent of the UK may possibly have an attribute or two that may or may not be suitable to us.
However, my mathematics didn’t take into account annoying habits, terrible in-laws, annoying best friends, sport commitments or obsessive football team followings…
OK, man bashing over. But good luck to all of you Venetians out there, I think you need it! x
Even the Biggest Fish Feel the Credit Crunch
July 21, 2008
According to a poll of over 2,000 consumers Google has been voted the UK’s top consumer brand.
Google’s profits rose by less than expected in the beginning of the second quarter this year. Is this part of the credit crunch or is this a sign of a slowdown in online advertising?
Though Google has posted an impressive 35% rise for 2nd quarter profits, it has been slightly under that forecasted. This has come as quite a blow to investors who are used to Google over performing rather than underperforming. This has pushed the value of Google shares down by 9.4%.
Despite a more challenging environment Google has sustained international growth as well as increased traffic. The lower profit performance was blamed on low returns on investments due to more volatile interest rates.
Some say that this is proof of a down turn in the online advertising industry however the economic conditions cannot help. I think that all industries will show signs of a struggle in the near future. In terms of marketing, the more traditional methods will struggle far more than that of online. Online gives higher ROI and is more measurable, plus it gains a wider audience.
I don’t think that Google has anything to worry about.
Council Workers Pay Strike
July 16, 2008
Our public services are seeing the biggest strike campaign in years, schools have been forced to close and many services are unavailable. Unison expects 600,000 British workers to join in the 48 hour strike which began last night.
The unions are saying that their near 2.5% pay rise offer is actually a pay cut if they took inflation into account. They are hoping to get 6% once the negotiations have taken place.
Having worked at a couple of councils during my student temping era, I know that very little work actually goes on there. Pretty much all staff are entitled to flexi-time, which means that nobody is there after 4pm on a Friday. Council employees will find it far easier than private firm employees to go on training courses and gain qualifications at the cost of the tax payer.
But above all and I really do think that the following is the worst of all council employee traits (and I know that I cannot pigeon hole all staff here, but there is a definite group) those that are complete ‘job worths’. They don’t want to help you and if you ask them to actually do their job they think that it’s the biggest injustice ever! Not only this, but they can’t think for themselves. They cannot analyse a situations and decide the best course of action. For these job worths can only adhere to policies, rules and protocall even if it is the hardest, most difficult and inefficient way of doing something.
Of course, there are those out there who do a good job and I am not taking anything away from them. I just wish that someone would give the job worths a good kick up their arse.
Ugg Boots Takes Over the World
July 15, 2008
Recently I have become more and more anti-Ugg. It seems that I cannot go anywhere without the majority of the female population in Ugg. I’m not talking about the fake ones that you can buy from the market for a fiver, but the real ones costing upwards of £150 a pop.
I have blankly refused to pay this high and mighty charge and have worn my £5 fakes happily. Though now it seems that everyone has moved to Ugg and left me and my fakes well and truly in the past. Since when, especially in the mist of the credit crunch and with a recession looming over us, did people have that much disposable income to spend on Ugg’s?
Now I am being sucked into the Ugg machine. My fiver boots are in pieces and just don’t stand up to those real deals that my colleagues are wearing. I am seriously considering jumping on the belated band wagon and I just can’t look myself in the eye! Am I really one of those people? Can I no longer walk my own walk? There seems to be very little summer this season and in this chilly weather a pair of Ugg’s would be snug!
I’m holding out and trying to overcome my materialistic side. But in all honestly, in a pair of cozy Ugg’s, I’d more than likely be too comfy to care about being a fashion victim. Besides, at least I realise that I’ve become a victim, rather than swanning around like Queen Ugg!
So when you see me in my brand new Ugg’s, try not to judge me. I’ve already well and truly judged myself!
Alliance and Leicester to be Bought by Abbey Owners
July 14, 2008
A deal has been agreed for the UK’s Alliance & Leicester (A&L) to be bought out by Santander, a Spanish bank for approximately £1.26 billion.
Monday saw shares soar by nearly 50 percent after it was disclosed that A&L had received an offer by Santander. The offer of 317p per share from the Abbey National owner Santander has boosted the lenders value and will hopefully be completed by October 2008.
A&L is set to merge with Abbey once the takeover is complete and this has lead unions to worry about job losses. In these uncertain times, the FSA will be relieved with the merger as larger banks are stronger in the current market conditions.
Though with that said, the bigger banks do have too much power, with limited numbers of small banks to bring competition to the market.
The A&L shareholders have had the bid recommended to them and they will have to approve before the sale can go ahead. This offer seems viable however, while stuck in the middle of the credit crunch. Plus, preventing another Northern Rock saga is imperative.