Britain's youngest hitman

Summary:

It is hard to believe that the youngest hitman of Britain is only 15 years old. His nickname was Riot who was in a gang called the Kensal Green Boys (KGB).  He was hired to kill a Turkish woman for 200 pounds. The police suspected the husband or the husband’s brother. But the husband was cleared and the brother is not in the UK. A teenage witness came forward and told the police that Riot had confessed to him. Another member of KGB confessed that he hired Riot for a Turkish gang to do the killing.

 Comment:

I was really shocked when I heard that the youngest hitman was only 15 years old! I cannot imagine somebody so young killing a woman for 200 pounds. What surprised me the most is that the article says that Riot was a vulnerable young man who was disposable and not connected to the Turkish gang.  I mean there are a lot of vulnerable young men who do not kill for money. I will surely follow this since the hearing is tomorrow and I would like to know what kind of punishment Riot is getting.  

Schoolgirls wins right to use her ipod during her exams

Summary:

Using your Ipod during your exams is what every students wants, right? Well one student in Edinburgh demanded that she would be allowed to use her Ipod during her exams. She says that she cannot concentrate without her music. She was turned down twice, before her parents threatened with legal actions which caused the school to buckle. The Scottish Qualifications Authority is afraid that this has opened Pandora’s Box  and that other pupils will demanded similar treatment. This has added to teachers workload and because of the noise they have to place students somewhere so they don’t disturb other pupils.

Comment:

Of course every pupil wants to listen to their music. I know I have trouble concentrating if I’m not listening to something. However that is only when I study. When I’m making my exams I want silence, you may have trouble concentrating at first, but after you get into it you forget about everything. And it’s awful that teacher have more workload because of this. They need to put the music on the Ipods and they have to put in more teachers during exams to supervise since there are two separate rooms one for people with music and one for people without music. 

Article: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1389910/Schoolgirl-wins-right-use-iPod-exams-concentrate-unless-shes-listening-music.html

The Rapture

Summary:

Everyone expected to die yesterday. However we are still here. The 89-year old Christian Harold Camping firmly believed that the rapture would be 21^st of May. He refused to schedule appointments and did not want to go on TV because he believed that he would not be here anymore. People had used up there bank savings and  had moved their families believing that they would die. Camping first attempt to predict the end of the world also failed. In 1994 was his first prediction, however when that did not happen he said it was an miscalculation.

Comment:

I guess all you can do is laugh about it. I do feel sorry for people who used all their money and moved their families. However you do not see why you would do such a thing. Even if you believed the world was going to end there is always a small chance that that would happen. And you have some major problems when that happens. And of course you had the skeptics. If you were on twitter you had the #endoftheworldconfessions  or #endoftheworldafterparty tweets. I think stuff like predictions of the end of the world are crap. Why would God tell us when he is going to go all berserk and kill us all? That would take the fun away of utter chaos. 

Article: Almost every newspaper

Writer may face court for Tweeting footballer's name

Summary:

He probably never would have expected to be sued because he tweeted the name of a footballer. However the case is a little more complicated. The charges that he is facing is contempt of court proceedings, which can lead to two years in prison. The married footballer in question was in court because it is said that he has ‘sexual relationships’ with Big Brother star Imogen Thomas. He prevented The Sun and Imogen from publishing his name and now he has sued the journalist who published his name in Twitter.

Comment:

I understand both sides in this case. On the one hand you have a celebrity who is trying to keep an embarrassing aspect of his life private. And on the other hand you have an journalist who is exercising his right  of freedom of speech.  So both sides are understandable, however the footballer did take conjunction to stop people for publishing his name and the journalist ignored the courts verdict and published the name. Twitter has been the place for several legal discussions. People do not seem to realize that if you post it on Twitter that everyone can read it. Like the head of police who twittered about the PVV.

Article: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/online/twitter-frenzy-over-naming-injunction-footballer-2287689.html

Plastic surgery mistake promps £6m award for businesswoman

Summary:

Penny Johnson received 6 million pound after she sued the doctor who did her facelift and breast implantations.  She accused the doctor of doing experimental surgery on her which caused her to have some nerve damage on the left side of her face and a failed breast augmentation. Besides the damage to her face and chest she lost her business. The defended claims that this was because of the economy and not due to her situation. And even though she is still married, their relationship is not what is used to be. So after a long trial the judge granted her 6 million pounds for her losses.

Comment: 

I think she is absolutely right for taking the surgeon to court. She trusted this surgeon and he damaged her face, which caused her physical pain, however also psychological pain. At first she wanted 53 million, however I think that is a bit much. I believe that 6 million is enough. It’s not like he had cut her hand of she can still work. And now-a-days there is even surgery where you can repair most damages of breast augmentations.  I also find it amazing that there is nothing in the article about if the surgeon got his license revoked or not.

Article: http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2011/may/23/plastic-surgery-award-businesswoman

British woman beheaded in Tenerife made desperate plea for help before attack

British woman beheaded in Tenerife Summary: 

On Friday Jennifer Mills-Westley was killed and beheaded in a shop in Tenerife. She was a 60 year old woman who was retired and spend her days between Tenerife, Norfolk and France to visit her grandchildren and her daughters. Before this brutal attack she had been threaten by her attacker and she had told a security officer. The attacker was known for being violent, he’d been realeased after being treated for paranoid schizophrenzia in February.He thought he was a prophet of God and is up for trail on Monday

British woman beheaded in Tenerife comment:

I’m really sad that this happened. It is clear that this man was still schizophrenic and he should have never been released. And I believe that the security guard really isn’t at fault. He could have never known that he would attack this woman so severely . However his reputation was known, he was an aggressive beggar so he should have been more alert or at least have warned the police. All in all security should have been tighter, and I do believe that this could have been prevented. 


Article: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/spain/8514437/British-woman-beheaded-in-Tenerife-made-desperate-plea-for-help-before-attack.html

Stress drives teachers out of schools

Stress Drives Teachers out of schools Summary:

Teachers have the most stressful job according to Health and Safety executive . It has been clear that in some cases it is so bad that they commit suicide. Although the numbers are low, they are significant. The stress has increased due to the government demands that are made. There are two options the Health and Safety executives intervene when schools don’t carry out assignments or the union help the victims. Stress-related illness affects thousands of teachers every year. Teachers are actually ticking time bombs and there should be a solution soon.

 Stress Drives Teachers out of schools Comment:

It’s a good thing that there is finally someone who is giving this subject attention.  Everyone knows that teachers have a lot of stress but most of the time it is just shoved under the rug. There are a lot of cases where the teacher snaps and one or maybe even more students are attacked. So maybe after this article there will be more help for teachers. I also think it is a shame that teaching isn't just about teaching anymore but that you get a lot of small tasks that you have to do that have nothing to do with teaching. 


Article: http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2011/apr/25/stress-drives-teachers-out-of-schools