Editorial

Teenagers have been accused of being hoodie wearing troublemakers who haven’t got a clue about current affairs. But in our blog, you’ll find the complete opposite is true. The Hampstead blog includes articles about whether Saddam Hussein should’ve been sentenced to death, whether British Gas is liable for fraud, why teenagers suffer from self-harming and anorexia. They have also written about reviews on music and video games. Young teenagers don’t have to vote about serious issues dealing with Tony Blair and George Bush but this blog proves that they are very ready to discuss topical affairs.

Several bloggers have written about health issues:

Kiya, 13- she wrote about how size twenty-two models are the new size 0 models. “Size 0 models are absolutely ridiculous; you’ve got to have some curves. Beauty comes in many different forms.” She told me. What kind of role model would a size zero be? Kids all over the world would be starving themselves just to look like them. This issue affects a lot of people worldwide.

Grai, 13, has written an article about self-harming. She reported, “It’s not good. People shouldn’t self-harm.” Self-harming is an issue people dread to deal with so it’s great for a teenager to have this opinion.

And as our weekly special, our one and only Sophia Papaloizou, also aged 13, writes a most interesting and shocking article about a very serious and worrying topic, paedophiles. Sophia feels that; “Paedophiles are an increasing threat to the net and not enough is being done to stop them”

So I wish you a pleasant read and I hope you enjoy the Hampstead blog. We look forward to your comments.

Deputy Editor
Shifa Wong

A Foreign Invasion? By Josh Cooper

Over the past seasons the number of foreign players playing in the premiership has increased dramatically. Mangers are keen to look abroad for new talent rather than in England or their youth teams and fans aren’t worried if it gives their team three points every weekend. However is this sort of behaviour proving a downfall for the national side? Has this injection of foreign players in the Premiership diseased the English game?

Having seen the England team fail miserably at this summer’s world cup in Germany perhaps it is now necessary for the F.A to clamp down on the number of foreigners allowed in a squad. This would mean that more money and emphasis would have to be spent on youth teams in the country, resulting in more English players playing in the Premiership and a greater selection for the national team. At

the moment 56% of players in the premiership have come from abroad, a daunting fact for Steve McClaren. And it’s rising.


Teams such as Arsenal often field a team containing no English or home grown players, which although produces great football and many great players, it is not contributing towards the English national team. From their youth team only a small minority will play for Arsenal, with Wenger opting to buy from his native France and other foreign countries. 81% of Arsene’s squad come from overseas and Professional Footballers Association chief executive Gordan Taylor has recently criticized Wingers’ transfer policy. ‘It’s a joke,’ he says, ‘are our stars of the future getting the opportunity they need?’ However Wenger quickly defended himself. ‘The manager’s job is to put out what they think is the best team for their club. Should I select a player just because they are English? It is up to others, such as the FA and Premier League to decide what is best for English football.’
A valid point but couldn’t he show more faith in his youth team, and convert them into great players; the way he converted Henry and Vieira.

Weather the FA will do something about it, it is clear that the vast amounts of foreign players in the Premiership are stunting the growth of domestic players, and the national team.

Size 20 models

Recently there has been a big debate on ‘size 0’ as young girls and models are starving them selves and even killing them selves to be skinny. The Debate was sparked when 22 Year old Luisel Ramos died on a catwalk after starving herself for days. Skinny models and celebrities such as Marianne from make me a super model and Nichole Richie is examples of anorexic models that experts have band from the cat walk.
However, on October 4 2006 designer Jean Paul Gaultier proved “bigger is beautiful” and swapped the skinny size 0 models for a big size 20 model. The size 20 model strutted her stuff down the cat walk. On Gaultiers 30th anniversary in Paris for fashion week.

Some people do agree that Bigger is more beautiful and shows that woman can be beautiful no matter what their size;. But others disagree. “Being anorexic isn’t good but either is obesity”. James Whetzel Commented.
Other company’s such as Dove has also used big woman to campaign their products, to say that you don’t have to be skinny to be beautiful and that any size is or can be beautiful in addition to their new firming range. This has proved to work since the campaign they have sold millions more world wide.

Other people such as Body Shop has Set up a campaign called The Body Shop Anti-barbie doll campaign.

This is a campaign saying again that you don’t need to be thin; you can just be your self and feel great. It was also saying you don’t need to look like a Barbie doll and that you could look like this (the picture to your right).

Research has also shown that men prefer woman with curves. But Magazines, celebrities, the fashion industry and film do not help show that young girls and woman can be curvy and healthy; that they don’t have to be a size 0 to be happy and that a size 0 doesn’t mean that you are healthy,

So what do you think?
But is big beautiful or just plain obesity?
Is ‘size 0’ the new ‘size 20’? Or should the fashion world stay the same?
What are your views?

By Kiya

The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly


David is alone in the world. He has no friends. His mother is dead. His father too obsessed with his new girlfriend to care. He has only books for company.
The books left by his mother speak to him in the night, telling him their tales. As he takes refuge in the books he loves the two world of fiction and reality begin to fuse together.
The crooked comes at night to steal away children and when he sets his twisted gaze on David’s new half brother he is thrust into the world of sick and warped fairy tales.

Set in WWII the Book of Lost Things is an invigorating through and through. There are books where you think about them for a few days, some you forget the next day but the book of lost things just refuses to go away. John Connolly
gets other well known stories such as Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, Sleeping Beauty and Rumplestiltskin and exaggerates them to more likely stories like Rumplestiltskin (the crooked man) who is an evil ‘trickster’ who’s hobbies include slaughtering and torturing humans. This book is as much as an account of growing up on behalf of the author as a fantasy book


He had, in truth, been losing her for a very long time. The disease that was killing her was a creeping, cowardly thing, a sickness that ate away at her from the inside, slowly consuming the light within, so that her eyes grew a little less bright with each passing day and her skin a little more pale. And as she was stolen away from him, piece by piece, the boy became more and more afraid of finally losing her entirely. He wanted her to stay. He had no brothers and no sisters, and while he loved his father it would be true to say that he loved his mother more. He could not bear to think of a life without her. The boy, whose name was David, did everything that he could to keep his mother alive. He prayed. He tried to be good, so that she would not be punished for his mistakes. He padded around the house as quietly as he was able, and kept his voice down when he was playing war games with his toy soldiers. He created a routine, and he tried to keep to that routine as closely as possible, because he believed in part that his mother's fate was linked to the actions he performed. He would always get out of bed by putting his left foot on the floor first, then his right. He always counted up to twenty when he was brushing his teeth, and he always stopped when the count was completed. He always touched the taps in the bathroom and the handles of the doors a certain number of times: odd numbers were bad but even numbers were fine, with two, four and eight being particularly favourable, although he didn't care for six because six was twice three and three was the second part of thirteen, and thirteen was very bad indeed. If he bumped his head against something he would bump it a second time to keep the numbers even, and sometimes he would have to do it again and again because his head seemed to bounce against the wall, ruining his count, or his hair glanced against it when he didn't want it to, until his skull ached from the effort and he felt giddy and sick.

As you can see from the text John Connolly also has a good sense of humour and is not just a serious writer. I think this book is very good for all ages though it is aged for older teenagers and adults I found it very enjoyable. I recommend this book for fans of more intelligent fantasy and adventure books.

By Flynn Disney

Saddam Hussein's Death Penalty

Saddam Hussein former president of Iraq, mass murderer, was sentence to execution by Iraqi court for the slaughtering of 148 innocent people in the town of Dujail.



Saddam Hussein has made thousands of families suffer, so should he suffer to? By sentencing him to death is he getting the easy way out?

Even though his way of execution has already been decided he is still trying to dictate by saying he wants to be shot like a soldier and not hung like a common man. Even those who want to see their former leader dead do not believe that his execution will make things any better. The government is concerned that the death of Saddam Hussein will cause a civil war in Iraq between those who are loyal to him and those who hate him as an evil dictator. After the verdict the people of Shia district of Sadr city and the holy city of Najaf celebrated. However in Saddam’s hometown of Tikrit supporters vowed to avenge him.

He has 30 days to appeal for clemency, but it is believed that it won’t make much of a difference, and after he will be hung 30 days after the trial finishes. The current Iraqi Prime Minister, Nouri Maliki, praised the conviction in a speech made on television saying “not a sentence on one man, but a sentence against all the dark period of his rule”.
"Maybe this will help alleviate the pain of the widows and the orphans, and those who have been ordered to bury their loved ones in secrecy, and those who have been forced to suppress their feelings and suffering, and those who have paid at the hands of torturers," Mr Maliki said.
US President George W Bush welcomed the verdict as a "milestone" in the efforts of the Iraqi people "to replace the rule of a tyrant with the rule of law".
But the European Union urged Iraq not to carry out the death sentence.

How will history remember Saddam Hussein? If Saddam is given the death penalty will he be remembered in history as a hero or villain? Some people might see Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini and Francisco Franco as heroes because history can be distorted over time. Whereas if he was given some other punishment like a very long jail sentence, people would see him as a bit useless and gradually stop listening to him.

In my opinion I believe that it would only make matters in Iraq worse if Saddam Hussein was hung. Execution would only make us murderers and he should be punished in a way that he will really regret what he did.

Hannah Davis

Borat review

Borat: Cultural Learning’s of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan.
Hannah Rose

Are we ready for Kazakhstani celebrity Sacha Cohen or are his racist jokes and old fashioned views on feminism too much for Britain?



Sacha Boran Cohen’s film Borat was released on the 2nd of November 2006. This was his second attempt at a film for the comedian, who previously took Ali G to the big screen in 2002.

In this film, his new creation, a Kazakhstani TV reporter and media celebrity Borat, journeys through America in a newly purchased ice cream van in a quest to pick up some typically American cultural tips from this “great centre for democracy, industry and porno.” As Borat grapples with feminists, frat boys, preachers and Pamela Anderson, the newfound love of his life, he successfully turns the spotlight on his unsuspecting victims and provides interesting, eye opening insights into life in the US.

There had been much controversy over Borat and whether it’s racist and xenophobic or just plain, silly humour. Some struggle to see why Cohen’s use of race in his comedy is offensive. They argue the jokes play on the caricatures of minorities and are tuned to the humour of a primarily white audience. Others hold the opinion that ‘the reason Cohen is funny is not so much that he reinforces the racist impulses of his audience as much as he brings to light the racist, homophobic, ignorant attitudes of his targets, who are just everyday Americans. Many agree and think Borat is a brilliant way of exposing people’s racist views by disguising himself in the character. However there are people that disagree and think Borat is anti-Semitic and that his character is a derogatory portrayal of Kazakhstanis.


Borat himself is Jewish and explains his character’s racist nature is a dramatic demonstration of how “racism feeds on the dumb conformity, as much as rabid bigotry” rather than a display of racism by Boran Cohen himself. Many different groups of people have complained or are unhappy about this film. The Anti-Defamation League, a US based Jewish rights group complained after they heard some of the messages portrayed in the film. The Kazakh government was also not pleased with the Borat character or his popularity. They described his behaviour as utterly unacceptable and incompatible with the ethics and civilised behaviour of Kazakhstan’s people.

I didn’t enjoy the film that much when I saw it. I got bored of the repetitive comedy towards the end. Overall I think the film has been quite a success in the UK so far and will continue to make large profits from the ticket sales.

What makes Legend a legend?! By Adam Bekele

John Stephens a.k.a John Legend has released another album following his other album Get Lifted.

Who is John Legend?




John Legend was born in Springfield, Ohio. His love of music started when he was a youth. As early as the age of four he started playing gospel music and singing with the church choir. He was later on introduced to Kanye West (a great hip hop and rap icon in present day). Since then they have worked together closely.

This brought him recognition within the public domain and other artists, for example Alicia Keys, Lauryn Hill, Jay Z, Slum Village and many more.



What makes Legend a legend?

There has to be something that makes Legend very unique. Legend has merged and collaborated with many genres of music into one complete unique sound. His rich voice brings the old soul back to present day, and has reincarnated the form into modern acceptable music. Not only that, but it gets better as we acknowledge some of his talents. For instance his swinging piano improvisations and accompaniment to his music brings us right back to the origin of black American music, Jazz and to the comparison of British born star, Jamie Cullum.

Legend has the charisma and talent to twist incorporate his love and passion of hip hop into his new fresh style. This is shown through his off beat rhythms in songs such as Ordinary People (from the album Get Lifted) and Heaven (from his recently released album Once Again).

Once Again is an outstanding piece of work, which varies from his previous album as it is recognisable on another level for its meaning and musical attributes. Legend truly does himself proud, through the use of his vocal ranges and styles. The varieties of songs are a mixture of gospel and hip hop. His vocal ability is explored and shown through his vocal dynamics, the idea that he can go from mystical and peaceful to powerful and mind blowing.

This album is the perfect album to relax on a Sunday afternoon while driving in your car to even greater extent like celebrations.

What an album!!!

Animal Rights

SAY NO TO FUR

Did you know...? :

1 FUR COAT = 25 CATS… 17 DOGS… 8 SEALS… 15 BADGERS… 14 OTTERS… 15 FOXES… 35 RABBITS

China’s Shocking Dog and Cat Fur Trade:
Peta investigators have recently found out millions of dogs and cats in China are bludgeoned, hanged, strangled with wire nooses and bled to death so that their fur can be turned into trinkets. Up to 8,000 animals are loaded onto each lorry in cages that are stacked one on top of the other. Cages containing live animals tossed from the tops of the lorries onto the ground 10 feet below, shattering the legs of the animals inside them. Many of the animals our investigators saw were still wearing collars, a sign that they were beloved companions who were stolen to be made into fur coats.

Painful and Short Lives:

The most farmed fur-bearing animal is the mink, followed by the fox. Chinchillas, lynxes, and even hamsters are also farmed for their fur. 64% of fur farms are in Northern Europe, 11% are in North America, and the rest are dispersed throughout the world, in countries such as Argentina and Russia. Mink farmers usually breed female minks once a year; they are killed when they are about half a year old. Minks used for breeding are kept for four to five years. The animals (housed in horrendously small cages) live with fear, stress, disease, parasites, and other physical and psychological hardships, all for the sake of a global industry that makes billions of dollars annually.

Celebrity/fashion:

Topshop says no! Topshop has a long standing anti fur policy. They feel very strongly about the use of real fur in fashion, and believe that the breeding of animals for their skins cannot be justified. Which is what we aim for; all fashion businesses to have an anti fur policy.


A numerous amount of celebrities such as Pink, Pamela Anderson, Simon Cowell, Sophie Ellis Bexter, Dennis Rodman, and Sadie Frost, Twiggy etc have all campaigned and supported PETA.

Some may find this picture horrendous and inappropriate, but it is to raise awareness to show people what the animal went through before it became a piece of clothing.

A poster featuring Sophie Ellis Bextor
FAQs:

What is ‘animal rights’?
People who support animal rights believe that animals are not ours to use for food, clothing, entertainment, carrying out tests, or any other purpose. Just because animals haven’t got a voice to cry out, doesn’t mean that they don’t feel pain.

Definition: Animal rights is the movement to protect animals from being exploited and inherit the right to be treated comparable as humans are.


Conclusion:

Just remember: be comfortable in your own skin and let animals keep theirs.
If you want to no more about animal cruelty then visit: www.peta.org.uk


By: Sahar. H. Gilani.
Felix.

Drop The Shank!

Drop The Shank!

The Law

The law of knife crime is very complex and hard to understand, but here are the basics;

-It is illegal for ANY shop to sell a knife to ANYONE below the age of 16.
-Knives where the blades fold into the handle, like a Swiss Army Knife, aren’t illegal, as long as the blades are no longer than 3 inches (7.62cm).
-If a knife is used in a threatening way, it MAY become an offensive weapon.
-But, in the same way, things like a screwdriver may become an offensive weapon if used in the wrong way.
-Kitchen knives and cutlery are included, so children aren’t allowed to buy them.
-It is also illegal to carry ANY type of knife in school.

However some types of knives are illegal to everyone, regardless of age. These are:
Flick knives - Knives where the blade is hidden inside the handle and shoots out when a button is pressed.
Butterfly knives – Knives where the blade is hidden inside a handle that splits into two around it, like wings. The handles swing around the blade to open or close it.
Disguised knives – Knives where the blade is hidden inside something like a belt buckle or a fake mobile.


Under 16’s and knives


Research shows that a third of all under 16’s carry a knife regularly, and children as young as ten are carrying knives. Half of knife crimes are committed by people under 21.
There have been a number of recent incidents in which young people have been attacked with, and have used knives.
In May of 2006, 15 year old schoolboy, Kiyan Prince was stabbed and killed out side his school in London. A few days later, another young boy, aged 14, was hurt in a stabbing incident in Birmingham, however he survived.
In 2003, 14 year old Luke Walmsey was fatally stabbed at his secondary school, 16 year old Alan Pennell was convicted of Luke’s murder. He was given a life sentence.



Why?


Chris was 12 when he started carrying a knife. Here’s his story.

“I started carrying it when I got bullied at school. I thought it would help. I used to have my money taken off me and I used to get beaten up every day.

When I was carrying a knife, I felt safer; I thought it would look after me. I don’t think I would have used it, but I don’t think I wouldn’t have used it either.

You just feel like no-one likes you and they’re all against you.

The knife helped reverse that for a little while, sometimes you feel all big and tough but you do go back down and feel that no-one likes you sill.

Carrying a knife-I do regret it, that’s why I’ve turned my life around.

I just thought to myself, I don’t need tot carry a knife, I am safe without a knife.

If you need help, ask someone, talk about it, it’s the best thing to do. It’s what I did and it helped me.”





By Brodie Baker

Paedophiles

Paedophiles may appear perfectly respectable and 'nice'. They are extremely crafty and intelligent at worming their way into your confidence so that you trust them alone with your children.Paedophiles do not necessarily look dirty, weird or creepy or act suspiciously - they often behave like everyone else and look 'normal'.Paedophiles come from all classes, professions, racial and religious backgrounds.The majority of known paedophiles are male, though some women abuse children.Centre for Missing and Exploited Children reported more than 2,600 incidents last year of adults using the Internet to entice children. Paedophiles find victims by hanging round places children are likely to go, such as:
+ arcades
+ school premises
+ shopping centres
+ amusement or theme parks
+ playgrounds
+ parks
+ swimming baths
+ fairs
+ fast food chains
Shocking facts about paedophiles.
+ Each year in England and Wales up to 5- 9 children are abducted and killed.
+ Every day there are on average 10 sex attacks on children.
+ 64% of convicted paedophiles re-offend 4 or more years after their first conviction.
+ 30% of the paedophiles had each committed offences against 10 to 450 victims, 70% had between 1 to 10 victims.
+ Home office figures show us there are approximately 110, 00 convicted paedophiles that live in Britain (experts would put that figure at more like 230,000) and only 5,000 are on the sex offender's register.That means 95,000 live in communities and we don't have the right to know who or where they are.
+ 95% of paedophiles are male.
+ 66% of paedophiles are known to the child, 34% are strangers.+ 48% of the paedophiles found their victims through babysitting.Be suspicious if someone is more interested in your children than in you, someone who always wants to baby-sit, take your children on outings -someone who wants to get your children alone.

“Someone switches back to British Gas every 60 seconds.” Impressive?

By Alexandra-Channer(Editoring chief):

British gas, one of the most commercial and economically successful gas brands in the UK. Well, that is what they say. According to their advertisements ,British gas claims that “someone switches back to British gas every 60 seconds.”
The Centrica owned company was actually losing a large number of customers every day and following two complaints and investigation, the Advertising Standards Authority has told the company it can no longer use the ad unless there is "sufficient substantiation to back up the claims.”
Now they seem to have taken to new tactics. They have decided to go on a marketing offensive to win back their former customers by phoning them at home and ‘harassing’them with promises of fixed rates until 2009.
Some of the complaints that were taken against the claim were by a rivalry Scottish supplier, ‘Scottish Power’. A member of the public also complained after he calculated that they suggested 526,000 customers returned to them every day.
The company have now acknowledged that the figures included new customers and have promised to amend the advert.

IS DIVING SPOILING THE BEAUTIFUL GAME?

It’s becoming a problem. Diving on football’s biggest stages to win free kicks or get the opposition booked is becoming the norm. It was a big problem in the World Cup when it was supposed to be clamped down and it also raises the question should there be another official on the pitch? Video evidence is another option but it would be far more difficult. It’s no secret that we have the technology to have a pitchside camera but uprooting football’s tradition of one referee and two linesmen is another problem. Excuse the pun but playacting in professional football has risen ‘dramatically’ the last couple of years. It belongs in the pool.

The worst offenders are most probably Chelsea with 95% of fans admitting that their team had dived. With Didier Drogba and Shaun Wright-Phillips both caught in controversies. With Wright- Phillips an exception foreigners have been blamed of importing diving to the English Premiership©. Although the state of diving in the Premiership has deteriorated, the amount of racism has sharply decreased which is great news for FIFA.

Bad behaviour in football is another serious issue with Zinedine Zidane’s World Cup final head butt standing out like a sore thumb. Although Italian defender Marco Materazzi did insult Zinedine’s sister, violence in the game absolutely disgusts me.
He was at first punished with a three match ban but seeing as he had retired he was given three days community service. Materazzi later apologised for his comments. Even though Zidane was punished for despicable actions he was named in FIFA’s XI of 2006. This sends out a message to children that violence is ok.


Players’ reputation is another common problem. Wayne Rooney, the Manchester United wonder kid is recognized by referees as an aggressive player. He was brought up in a violent area of Liverpool and did boxing as a kid. But a few red cards and a dire attitude has got him in the referee’s bad books. His red card in Germany against Portugal was just another example of this. A little argument at a restaurant with Blackburn player Michael Gray was made into a huge story out of by the press. It was just another stain on the player’s record.


The amount of foreign players is unquestionably a problem. In the year of 2002, 56% of players in the Premiership were of overseas origin it’s a fear-provoking amount. Arsenals are by far the worst offenders with 81% of their players coming from another country. After Ashley Cole’s controversial transfer to Chelsea, most people will struggle to think of British Arsenal players (if you can you are very special). I think that the more British based players in the Premiership the better. A batch of people will be in agreement I’m sure.

So has the introduction to overseas players to the English league spoilt the nature of the beautiful game? Is Stamford Bridge an Olympic Swimming Pool? Should there be goal line technology? Should there be a rule on the amount of foreign people in a squad? These are all questions that need to be answered.

The Doctor's Advocate... but no doctor?

The Doctor’s Advocate… but no Doctor?
By Kaio Grizzelle

West Coast rapper The Game was having the time of his life in 2004, recording with his life long idol Dr.Dre and being accepted into notorious hip-hop group G-Unit, but it all went wrong when he fell out with front man 50 Cent resulting in being kicked out of the group.

Despite his close relationship with super producer/ rapper Dr. Dre, on The Games sophomore solo LP, no Dre tracks appear whatsoever, which may be because he didn’t take Dre’s advice when he tried to persuade him to forget about the ‘beef’ with 50, and make a stand for hip-hop in just putting their differences aside. Game apologises to Dre on the title track ‘Doctor’s Advocate’ featuring Busta Rhymes.


He’s back. And he’s better, than ever it seems, flip over the cover of the album and see ‘executive producer- The Game’ that says a lot about how the 26 year old Compton native has matured since his first solo LP ‘The Documentary.’ People said that he would be a one hit wonder, he only made it ‘cos of 50 an Dre, but this album proves them all wrong, Game manages to hold his own on tracks with rap veterans such as Busta Rhymes and NaS. With heavy production coming from hip-hop heavyweights like Scott Storch, Kanye West, Swizz Beats, will.i.am and Just Blaze ( to name just a few) this is a must have for all fans of this genre.
There was only one disappointing track, ‘The Remedy’ which was produced by Just Blaze with boring lyrics and a not particularly good instrumental which is a shame as the rest of the album is quality.

On the song ‘It’s Okay/ One Blood’ he states ‘An I ain’t gotta make s*** for the club,’ which is his attitude over the whole album. With no apparent club bangers or love songs (except maybe for the Jamie Foxx featured ‘All Around The World,’) this album is portraying his life and struggle growing up in the rough streets of Los Angeles.

This album is rated ‘parental advisory’ for a clear reason, the constant swear words and aggressive language may steer some parents away from purchasing this for their children and can get a bit tiresome at times however, it is the same with a lot of hip-hop records these days which many feel is somewhat unnecessary.


One reason why this man is important to hip-hop… He’s original, a mix of the lyrical east coast and the gangsta rap flow of the west, no one in the hip-hop game right now brings a new flavour to the table quite like ‘The Game.’

There are rumours that ‘Game’ will reunite with Dr.Dre for the release of his next album titled ‘The Devil’s Fear’ which is set to be dropped in October of ’07, I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.

Day Light Raids In Baghdad

By Edward. I. James


Yesterday, Iraqi police forces freed one hundred citizens in Baghdad after being seized by twenty masked gunmen.

The 20 people who seized them all had guns and were posing as interior ministry police so they could seal off the street and gain entry to the higher education ministry.

Most of the hostages seized in the have been released, Iraqi officials said.

The BBC was also told, by a government spokesman, that the hostages were freed in a number of daylight raids across the city.

The police chief of the Karrada district is being held along with four of his colleagues. This happens to also be the place where a lot of abductions took place

Earlier on in the day it had been said that all the hostages had been released but the police are claiming that they are trying to free more people.

Gunmen dressed in similar uniform of that used by Iraqi police abducted dozens of people.

Early Tuesday morning almost twenty of these abductees were freed. However, the rest of the hostages had to wait almost another twenty four hours before being rescued, according to presidential security adviser Wafiq al-Sammarai.


Day light raid

At first people estimated that more than one hundred people were being kept hostage, however that was later revised down throughout the day.

When the first reports started to come in they said that there were forty people still in captivity just before the police operation set them free.

When the people were set free they had said that they had not been taken far and had certainly not left Baghdad.

The people who took them captive had been wearing uniforms recently issued by Iraqi police.

The education ministry was stormed by the attackers; they locked all the women in a room and took all the men away.

The daylight abduction and use of apparently genuine government uniforms prompted questions about official involvement in the operation.

Five senior officers are right now being questioned about these unfortunate circumstances.

These frequent out bursts of violence in Iraq are making me ask myself, why did we go into Iraq in the first place. Don’t get me wrong, I was against it from the off but for those people who hated Sadam housain i.e. George Bush, is Iraq actually better?

Veil a ‘mark of separation’ says Jack Straw

Selectively discriminating, or just stating his opinion?

Jack Straw, foreign secretary waded into controversy after commenting that veils make community relations more difficult and concealing the face is "a visible statement of separation and difference".

He remarked that in his constituency surgery in Blackburn, he asked women to remove the veil when they wanted to speak to him so he could have a face to face conversation, and could see what the person meant, not just what he heard by their faces, and wearing the veils, according to Jack Straw, made this more “difficult” in terms of integration in society.

This sparked off anger amongst the Muslim community, the Islamic Rights Commission regarding Jack Straws comments as “selectively discriminating on the basis of religion” and it was astonishing for him to do so when a quarter of the population was Muslim in Blackburn though Jack Straw hit back that he had “considered carefully his remarks.” Be that as it may, it is not right for the government to say what people can and cannot wear and Muslim women who wear the veil have the right to do so, promoting integration or not.

However, the wearing of the veil is a practice that has no agreement amongst scholars but there are two bases of thoughts, one of which is obligatory to wear the veil and the other is that it is “highly recommended but ultimately a personal choice.” Some British Muslims also feel slightly targeted as Islam is constantly portrayed on the news and for various MPs to illustrate veils as a sign of separation would make any Muslim feel uncomfortable and Mr Cameron said, “I think there is a danger of politicians piling in to have their ten pence-worth and really they have to ask themselves whether this is having an overall good effect or not."

Jack Straw also stressed the fact that he was making a request and not a demand and also expressed his anxiety on the “implications of separateness" and the development of "parallel communities”. Although, if his prime target was to achieve integration, I doubt it has left the desired effect that it was supposed to.

There was also a case where a teacher was suspended for wearing a veil in classrooms, and lost her claim of religious discrimination on religious grounds. Ms Azmi was asked to remove her veil as children could not understand her and when she refused to, she was suspended and as a result, Ms Azmi took the case to the courts. Kirklees council had reached their decision after assessing the impact of wearing the veil on teaching and learning and stated, In this case the school and local authority had to balance the rights of the children to receive the best quality education possible and Mrs Azmi's desire to express her cultural beliefs by wearing a veil in class.

"The education of the children is of paramount importance and it is disappointing that the school was unable to reach a compromise with Mrs Azmi in this case."

By Eda Issa

The State Debate

When it comes to education- all parents want the best for their children. However with the many different types of schools operating in the UK, it’s hard to judge which system is best. Are state schools really rough and a dangerous environment for your children? Are selective schools full of clones? 11-16’s are now under immense pressure to succeed in their exams and its becoming harder for parents to make the right decision for their children.

In the 60’s and 70’s an ‘11 plus’ system was set up to divide secondary school education into two categories: ‘Grammar Schools’ and ‘Secondary Modern’. Nowadays with the growing trend for secondary school entrance exams, the once thought ‘dated system’ is now becoming a serious element in the 21st century.

If you believe the reports of the conditions in inner-city comprehensive schools, claiming students are drinking, taking drugs and carrying knives on the schools premises, your immediate reaction is to avoid the whole state system. Although these claims can not always be seen as representatives of the thousands of comprehensives across the country.

Private and Public schools are becoming ever more popular. Shocking reports published describe how some of the world’ poorest countries choose to pay for private education as opposed to their countries own (free) state schools. But why do parents make the decision to pay thousands of pounds a year on their child’s education? Recent studies have shown 28% of graduates from private schools earn £70,000 or more by the time they reach 30. Compare this with the mere 7% of graduates from state schools, and you begin to understand.

Controversially, many parents of children who attend private schools are in dismay as a new craze sweeps the upper-class teen generation. Binge drinking, smoking and taking drugs are all factors of this phenomenon. Another anti-private school claim is bullying- often due to snobbery or the stuck up behaviour of the wealthy students who attend these schools.

When all these aspects are grouped together it is hard to determine which educational direction to turn to. In each school there are pros and cons; and whilst some children would be genuinely happy in a, perhaps, more aggressive state school; others would find the upper-class attitude of a private school easier to cope with. In all, there is a school to suit every student- the only trouble is finding the right one.


By Rosie Bernard

Self Harm

It is shocking to hear that according to Childline the number of young people reporting self-harm has increased by nearly 30% in the last year. Even more distressing is there have been calls from children as young as five years old to helplines because they are self-harming.
Self harm results in around 150 000 to casualty each year, and 10% of patients of medical wards are self harmers, although research by The National Enquiry shows that a large portion of young people never reach the medical attention of services or professionals.
Different forms of self harm include cutting (often with razorblades) on the arms, legs and abdomen, burning or scalding, inflicting blows, for example knocking one’s head against a wall, pulling out hair and scrubbing until the skin is broken, sometimes with bleach, biting, and even swallowing corrosive chemicals or batteries
It is more commonly a problem with girls although experts are finding a rapid rise in the problem with boys.
There are a number of reasons why people self harm, it could be because of anger or frustration about things they are having to deal with in their life or a strong emotion that they have to let out. Self harm is often seen as an escape and a way to release tension. Self harm can also be used as a way of control, by inflicting pain and injury on their bodies people feel as if they have regained a personal ownership over their lives.

By Graihagh Ball

Videogames

When videogames started, there was a large hype about it. It is obvious that such a technological breakthrough would start such an interesting revolution and bring us to the almost too real graphics of today.

A bit of history to enlighten your mind…

If we ever thought back to the game that started it all off, we probably wouldn’t know. Why bother thinking about the old when we could think of the new?
Well, that’s where we’ve lost it. PONG was a major hit back in 1972. All it required was for the player to press the up or down button and all you had to do was to hit a ball across the screen from one stick to another. It was so simple yet so addictive, but it is now called so old (although others could argue that it could be labelled as a classic). PONG started the ongoing era of videogames like Bruce Lee started the era of kung fu movies. It was pure genius.

Other than PONG, Pac-man made its arrival from Namco in 1979. Again, it was a simple concept for a game, but it definitely brought us entertainment. If you think back to those two games, you’ll realise how far and different we have come to getting to the fanciness of today. In the end, it doesn’t matter how games today are full of life-like graphics, the old shall still be cool!

Enough about the old, what’s up with the latest games?

Censored…

It has come to everyone’s attention that other than using a game controller, we can actually be in the games ourselves. Gaming developers have come up with the idea of being able to interact in games such as boxing. We are able to put on boxing gloves with censors and play a boxing game with them. Censors are a handy tool to read our reaction and compute it into the game.

With a game called EyeToy it is possible to see yourself in the game with a camera equipped with a censor, it is even possible to use it as a webcam. The whole idea of using a camera isn’t that original as it has been used in other games, but it certainly did not have the capacity to entertain as the PS2 EyeToy does.

Even so, with great power comes great… faults. Some cameras with censors are affected by light, if there is too much light, it is finicky and a drag. If there is not enough light, expect it not to work so great.

Another thing that has been talked about over and over is the influence of a game. Some violent games, apparently, influence kids to copy and act inappropriately. Grand Theft Auto is one game that has caused havoc amongst parents. Parents worry that the antics within GTA are extremely offensive and wrong for their children. The makers of GTA warn the parents that it has a clear ‘17’ and over label and their child should not have been playing the game. Obviously that has not stopped half the people, boys especially, from playing GTA or playing any other games that has a much higher age label than allowed. Parents also worry about the amount of time children spend on games. They think it is ruling their lives, which has a possibility to be true, but at least it keeps them quiet.

All in all, games are good, bad and every other word you can think of. The variety of games is immense, but they will definitely continue to grow.

By Sarah Delgado

Are The Men In Our Society Getting Too Feminine For Our Liking?

Are The Men In Our Society Getting Too Feminine For Our Liking?
By Emma Miller

The traditional man: strong, uncaring, funny, and vigorous. Is this the twentieth century’s idea of a ‘real’ man?

The only cosmetics a middle aged man would generally have in his cupboard is deodorant and toothpaste, compared to a twenty year old who might have moisturiser, aftershave, deodorant, concealers, eye make up and even lip balm!

Over the last twenty years there has been a dramatic rise in the amount of money men spend on cosmetics and hair products, as men have begun to spend more and more time on their appearance. Most boys in my class admitted to spending between 5 to 15 minutes on their hair in the morning, compared to twenty years ago when most boys would spend no time on their hair unless it was long, in which case they might have brushed it.

In secondary schools today, you can see the change in attitude towards being feminine. Boys are still afraid to cry in public, and most still want to be “big”, but at the same time many of the boys considered cool and big are the most girly of them all. My friend, for instance, is considered one of the most popular boys in the year. He spends nearly an hour every morning on his appearance and often shops at places that are targeted at a female market. His favourite colour is pink, and he wears big pink diamond ear-rings in both his ears. If a teenage boy acted like that forty years ago, he would have certainly been considered quite strange, possibly homosexual, but in today’s society, this boy is admired by his peers, and respected.

If you walk into Topman or H&M, you can see the men’s range. The clothes around today are much more colourful and tight fitting than they were twenty years ago. My parent’s generation apparently never wore pink or any other colours associated with being feminine, whereas now pink is a popular colour for boys.

Role models in society are men such as David Beckham, well known for spending a lot of time and money on his hair and clothes, and shaving his legs. More manly figures such as George Best are not as popular as they once were. Most male celebrities look as though they spend a lot of time on their appearance, and the majority get sponsored to advertise products to influence the public.

My dad said that when he was my age, the boys never used to hang around with the girls but now boys and girls hang around together all the time. Boys and girls have the same style; bags, shoes, jeans and even tops. From the back, it is often quite hard to tell the sex of someone because most teens dress in the same way – jeans, trainers and a hoodie. Boys have started growing long hair, using concealers, buying jewellery, wearing pink and even putting on lip gloss! We are beginning to wonder; is the traditional man changing or is this just a case of boys wanting to be girls!

do you like or dislike school uniform?

Do you like or dislike school uniforms?
By: Jacqueline Olszyk

If you are, or were in school, would you want to have a school uniform? Many kids don’t like school uniforms, but others do.

Some people say school uniforms are better for us, they would save parents money, they would save parents time. It would make it easier to tell if they belong to the school or not, some kids could hide weapons in there baggy clothes, people who have less money would not be embarrassed because of the clothes they have to wear.

Others however, think that school uniforms are bad. In the wise words of a fellow class mate he says, ‘uniforms are crap’… he goes on to explain why, ‘uniforms are way too expensive, you wear them for 6 hours during the school day and then change, they are no use out of school, its rubbish! Nobody can show there personality if they have to wear a uniform! Plus, we grow out of them so quick and then have to go out and use another £200.’

School uniforms can sometimes look very dull and boring like they were made out of potato sacks. This is one of the reasons why kids would not want to wear them. Schools are sometimes represented by the colour of their uniform, but the colours sometimes clash and kids don’t want to wear them because of this. They want to look ‘cool’, but they can’t look cool if all the colours are clashing and they look like potato sacks.

I would rather not have school uniform. It is easier to wake up in the morning and pick something out off of the shelf and go. You also don’t have to worry about washing your clothes everyday because you have a variety of your own clothes. I feel more comfortable with my own clothes on, because you can just wear whatever you’re up to wearing. I feel like my clothes also show my identity. I wouldn’t die if I did have a uniform, but I would just rather not have one.

What do you think about school uniforms? If you have them, do you like them? If you don’t have them, do you want to get them?

The Debates on Music Downloads

Should it become legal?

In the world of music, artists are losing money due to the amount of people downloading their music from illegal programs such as Napster.

Artists such as Pharrell Williams and Jay Z, across all genres from pop to jazz are against music downloads.

Companies such as Apple have criticised record companies for being “greedy”.
Record companies have been considering increasing the cost of digital music to ensure artists get revenue and rights.
America feels that it is okay to download music.

“I think it is so ridiculous on how music downloader’s are being accused. Some people have been sued for more than 20,000 dollars and for what a few songs.”
In September 2006, Warner chief executive told investors that “not all songs are created equal.”

Some music downloading programs may be legal such as itunes, however it is affecting the artists in music today.
Rap Artist Method Man thinks that buying albums also shows respect and appreciation to the artist.

Mp3’s and iPod’s, No time for CD’s


iPods and mp3 players are replacing CD’s with the help of downloading.

The iPod can hold over 12,000 songs and over 12 hours of video playing ability. With programs like Limewire there is no need for CD’s.

Rock Band Keane released their single “Nothing in my way” on USB, on Monday 30th October. The single was put on a shrink rapped memory stick so it could see easily. It was put on CD. The single can be put onto itunes.
The debate on music downloads is still going on today, whether programs such as Limewire should be made legal, and whether many musicians should allow music to be downloaded.

What I think

I believe that music download programs should become legal but under terms and conditions. For instance I think you should have to pay for the songs you download so the artists get paid. It is not fair for the Artists if they are writing lyrics and making albums and not getting paid at the end of the day because their music was downloaded.
If downloading music is to become legal in some countries then the artists should get paid when their music has been downloaded.

I reckon that programs like Limewire are not good at all, reason being that they can spread viruses that will affect the way your computer is working, it can completely crash your computer and it may close down the internet.

If I had the choice from buying the album or downloading the album of the internet I would choose to buy the album because I think it shows a sign of respect to the artist’s work.

That is what I think, however you the reader, may think otherwise. Choose to download or buy the CD?



Article written By Çağdaş Mindikoglu