Blogging

Blogging was something I had never witnessed before I started college 3 months ago. Since then I have updated my blog each week, with a mixture of views and news.

I have really enjoyed taking part in writing a blog, and it has been a great experience, and has given me the chance to express my views. Even if nobody really is listening, just getting the opportunity to give your own opinion is a great thing to have.

A lot of people are ignored and shunned by their peers, bosses, or representatives, but can take to the internet to have their own say.

The World Wide Web has offered more people a voice, than anything else. It has brought YouTube which has given budding artists and singers the chance to share their talents with hundreds, and thousands of people. Facebook has brought people together, online news websites have made news stories easier to collect, and individual websites have offered businesses and charities the voice they need to raise their profile. And blogging has given normal people like me and you the chance to say what we want, how we want about anything we want.

Freedom of speech is a great thing to have, and I would encourage anyone who can, to make the most of the opportunies being offered to them by the internet. It could just change your life forever.

Scandal

This week, my dream job was thrown into the mud, bruised, kicked and beaten, as the inquest into the News of the World phone-hacking scandal continued. Journalism, and the press in general, is often frowned upon due to the rare few who take on the characteristics of a snake in their articles. Poisonous, fast, and impossible to catch.



Steve Coogan



Celebrities including Steve Coogan and J.K.Rowling took to the podium at the Leveson Enquiry this week, telling of their views on the disgraced journalists, and their claims that they were hacked by the newspaper.

Perhaps the most revolting part of the scandal, is that of Milly Dowler, whose phone was hacked by the NOTW, giving her parents false hope of her survival. The journalists deleted some messages on her voicemail, which her parents naturally took as a sign that she was still alive.

A fine to the newspaper is no longer a suitable crime for these offences. The individuals responsible for the hackings should be given a jail sentence, or heavy fine for them to pay. Nobody has any right to attack somebody else's privacy in such a way. It is twisted and wrong.


The Media is often viewed by many as a mass of prying, nosey and rude slimeballs, willing to do anything to get a story that matches to what they want, and doesn't give the actual truth. On the whole, this caricature of journalists is wrong, but a story like this smears everyone involved in the industry.



James Murdoch



 Newspapers these days are run by huge companies and organisations, which results in a mass media market, where individual voices can't be heard over the roaring of James Murdoch and his profit-orientated peers.



The whole saga of the dealings of the news of the world, leaves a bitter taste in your mouth, and you can't help but feel a little less optimistic about the Media world, after reading about the scandal.

If these are the lengths that one tabloid newspaper will go to, who knows what else might be going on in the private offices of all the hundreds of others of newspapers worldwide?

And what lengths will the media barons go to, just to get a good front page story?

Messages in the smoke...

Smoking is a common habit amongst people, despite the fact that we are all aware that smoking KILLS.  Not only will it affect your teeth and lungs, it can cause serious life-threatning diseases, and is often frowned upon by other members of society.

Smoking is in no way a new thing, in fact it has been around since the shamanistic rituals in 5000 BC. That means smoking is over 7,000 years old. And we still haven't learnt.

Smoking is Dangerous. Smoking can kill. I just can't begin to fathom why someone would sacrifice their lungs and life just for a quick cigarette. One of the biggest man-killers in the World today are tobacco-related diseases. The average american woman who smokes more than a pack a day, can expect to pay an average of $25,800 in additional healthcare over her lifetime.

A few years ago, the Health Act 2006 was introduced, creating a ban on smoking in enclosed public places. They also increased the age of legal smoking in Britain from 16-18. This ban has definately made a difference, with a visible decrease in smokers.

As well as having an affect on your health, smoking has a serious affect on your wallet. It is a pricey addiction to have, and one that can pull you down into a whirlpool of debt and depression.

I personally believe that whilst the Government should never impose a law against smoking, more should be done to encourage smokers away from their habit, through incentives and rewards. Those harrowing photos we see on certain packets really don't do anything, other than make smokers change brands. If you want to make a donkey move, use a carrot not a stick. Reminding people the amount of money they would save if they gave up smoking, is a better incentive. It wouldn't be too many months until you could afford a holiday from your would-be "Smoking money".

Prevention is also better than a cure. Time should be spent teaching children the horrors of smoking. A classmate explained why she had never smoked, and talked about a machine at a Science Museum she had seen as a child. The machine was one set of non-smokers lungs, and one set of smokers.

You had to press a button to make the lungs breathe in and out. The non-smokers' was easy to press, whilst the blackened smokers lungs caused real difficulty in pressing. Needless to say, she has never smoked.

My non-smoker mind just can't understand why you would put your body through the torture of diseasing it with tar and smoke, when you could save money, and health if you didn't pick up a pack of Marlboro at the shop.

A smoker, who smokes 10 cigarettes a day, loses a month of their life every year.

I cherish every day, so why would you ever throw your life away?

That's debatable...

Nothing beats a good debate, and let's face it, there are endless options of what to debate about. Money, Politics, Religion, Lifestyles... anything and everything can be taken more than one way.

Take for example a football match, where one team has romped to success, whilst the other played worse than ever. For one lot of supporters, the result was down to complete luck. Another says it was skill, whilst other groups will blame the Ref, a bad pitch, the manager...

We'll never know who's view was right, and that's what makes a debate so appealing. We humans love to get our own view across, no matter how trivial the issue. In a debate, it's down to you to put forward your argument, back it up, and punch holes in your partners disagreement.

You can walk away from a debate happy that your voice has been heard, even if it is just by a friend who knew it anyway, or you can be swayed to another, better way of thinking.

Today, a friendly debate between a few of the class covered politics, money, religion, human insticts, rights, fame and dictatorship. There were clashes of opinion, but in the context of it all, nobody takes offence if their view is disagreed with. After all, that's the point of a debate.

There's a famous quote: The pen is mightier than the sword. But I think your voice could crush them both in one swift sentence.

It's why politicians stand for election, why we vote, why campaigners make leaflets, why authors write books, and singers compose. We love getting our voice heard, and we love to win.

It's almost like debates were invented just for us! Oh no, wait, they were...

Job losses

Sometimes you can't help but wonder "What is the point?"

What is the point in spending years learning about a subject, if there's barely hope of employment. Yesterday, the BBC reported that unemployment levels in Scotland had risen from 5,000 to 215,000 between July and September of this year.

210,000 people made redundant in a matter of months. If that doesn't scare you, I don't know what will. With limited opportunities available as it is, with over 200,000 people in competition, what chance really is there of employment?

Someone in my class today said that it was because people were becoming lazy, and not looking for jobs anymore. Ehhh, no.

People are trying to get a job more than ever, through the Job Centre, experience and any other options available. The 215,000 figure is enough to prove it isn't laziness but actually a REAL RECESSION where REAL PEOPLE are losing their jobs. If there's no jobs going, nobody's going to get employed. And times like these are perfect for criminal organisations looking for cheap labour, and avoiding the minimum wage law.

It makes the World seems so much more gloomy and doomy, when this sort of news comes out. People just don't get how key the creation of jobs is. It is a key part of bringing the economy back to its feet, and if politicians don't understand this, then I fear we shall be left in debt forever.

Unemployment by age (Scotland)
Time period	16-17 year olds	18-24 year olds	25-34 year olds	35-49 year olds	50-64 year olds
Source: Office for National Statistics, Labour Force Survey I don't want to go through my life, living off dole and jobseekers allowance money. I want to support myself and my family through having a working life, not receiving money from a indebted government. If you help us, Mr Cameron/Clegg, then we want to work, we want to earn a living. We just need some jobs first. And I know what your thinking. The task of creating 210,000 jobs is in no way possible. However, if the experience and opportunities are in place, then the unemployment levels will shrink. It's all just common sense, which unfortunately, just isn't that common.
Jul-Sep 2009	19,000	58,000	38,000	49,000	30,000
Jul-Sep 2010	19,000	70,000	56,000	47,000	38,000
Oct-Dec 2010	21,000	62,000	48,000	43,000	35,000
Jan-Mar 2011	14,000	62,000	48,000	47,000	35,000
Apr-Jun 2011	18,000	70,000	47,000	47,000	29,000
Jul-Sep 2011	16,000	84,000	45,000	47,000	27,000

Have a pop about Poppies.

The 11th of November. Armistice Day. A day of celebration and remembrance of the events 93 years ago, when World War I ended after Germany signed the Armistice.

The poppy is the symbol of the day, representing all those who lost their lives. The flower, seen in its thousands on the battlefields of Flanders and Ypre, has become part of a tradition to help us remember all those who fought and died in the Great War.

But now, the controversy surrounding the Poppy, seems to overshadow the flower itself. And not just in one way.

Bit of a Scam?

When you put your hand in your pocket and pull out a pound for the red box, you are probably thinking you're giving a quid to charity. You'd be right; thank goodness. But if you were to buy a poppy from Kleshna, coming in at up to £60, less of the profit manages to get back to the charitable groups. A feeble 10% from Kleshna poppies goes to charity.

That is shocking. No business should be entitled to make money off the back of fallen heroes. The poppy seen being worn by Gary Barlow on the X Factor, earned Kleshna £54. Disgusting. How can a business pretend to be doing something charitable, yet earn a mass of money in the process?

I think there should be Law against this sort of thing. Turning memories of death, lost ancestors and war heroes into a form of business is revolting. Although not quite as much as what happened last year, which created a whole new level of disgusting.

Picture the scene. Remembrance day in London, and the city is peaceful for the 2-minute silence. Suddenly, members of Muslims Against Crusades begin burning large poppies and shout "British soldiers burn in Hell." Only one man was charged, and was forced to pay £50. That's less than the amount a business is making from profit from one poppy alone.

They plan to repeat the protest this year.

There is disagreement, then there is absolute, evil-intentioned disrespect. Nobody has any requirement to take part in Remembrance day, or to buy a poppy. So if you don't like it, shut up and let us all respect our ancestors who died for their country. We have a right to remember, so let us do that.

I have no real support of the Iraq or Afghanistan wars. But I still buy a poppy. People are fighting for us everyday. The least we can do is stay quiet and still in our thoughts for 120 seconds.

Deserve a Kicking

Even one of the most British of sports - Football - has been refusing to support the campaign. Fifa announced that the England squad would not be allowed to wear poppies in their match this weekend, as it went against a ban on religious and political symbols. They have now relinquished the ban, but only to the extent of allowing black armbands marked with a red poppy.

Why did it even get to this stage?? We are brought back to the whole argument of choice. People should have the choice whether or not they want to wear a Poppy. They shouldn't be banned by their managers, or shoved onto them by their wardrobe team. They should buy them for themselves if they want them, or just politely nod at the volunteers selling them if they don't.

I mean, just how hard is a bit of respect?

Food for thought....

We all love our food. Be it a healthy salad, or some greasy chips-and-curry-sauce, pigging out sessions are part of Human life.

We all know that fatty and sugary foods are bad for us, but today research has revealed that 4,000 people a year die due to unhealthy diets in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.

Last year researchers said that approximately "30,00 lives a year would be saved if everyone in the UK followed dietary guidelines on fat, salt and fibre."

A shocking number, I agree, but this all comes down to a matter of choice.



The Healthy Option?

We aren't forced to eat crisps, chocolate or cake, but we choose to, knowing that it may affect our future Health. Some of us choose to cut back on the sugary goods, and opt for Fruit or Veg. Good on them. But that's their choice as well.

The Government is now considering a Tax on foods containing High Levels of Saturated Fat.

Sorry, but stop the bus! Prices for food are already through the roof, and now you want us to pay extra for a bit of unhealthiness? Why should we be forced into eating food that we might not like, just so the facts and figures look better.

People smoking know that they're running the risk of Lung Disease. Alcoholics know that they will have problems with their Liver. We know that that fry-up is a heart attack waiting to happen. But people still smoke, drink and eat! Aren't we all allowed the choice of eating what we want?

Greased Lightning!



Some people don't even have that choice. Diabetes is a well known condition that affects many of us. Sugar is a necessity for someone with diabetes. So why should they be taxed because of their condition?

I struggle to see why anyone should be controlled by any authority, on a decision that is there's to make. It isn't bothering anyone else if I eat a nice chocolate cake!! A smoking in public places ban seems fair, as that does affect the passer-by. Binge Drinking also taxes on the Emergency Services. But eating doesn't!

We are all going to die a some point, so let's just enjoy ourselves, eat what we want, and face the consequences when we get to them.

After all, it isn't 4,000 lives saved, it's just 4,000 deaths postponed.