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By Alan, on January 19th, 2012
 In protest of antipiracy laws being considered in the United States, Wikipedia has taken offline its encyclopaedia in English for 24 hours. The encyclopaedia stated that the legislation considering being passed in the United States could, “Damage the access people have to information on the internet and potentially be fatally damaging.”
Anyone who visited the site on Wednesday was greeted by a screen which would simply ask them to imagine a world where information was not free. The encyclopaedia is still available on mobile devices for people you really need to look something up. Other prominent websites on the internet including Reddit and Boing Boing have also been taken down in protest of the legislation.
The bills the website are protesting against are SOPA, which is the bill going through the House of Representatives, and also PIPA which is the equivalent of the bill passing through the Senate. On the other side of the argument the music and film industries have said that this is an enormous step forward in the protection of intellectual property rights on the internet.
Jimmy Wales, the founder of Wikipedia has stated, “This legislation is nothing more than dangerous and destructive, if it would pass it is a frightening precedent of where the internet is heading.” This is the first time that Wikipedia has ever been blacked out and the blackout has occurred as it will remind people of what it would be like to lose access to a large amount of information on the internet.
It is important to remember that this legislation would not just affect those in the United States, but would extend internationally because of the nature of the internet”.
Google has not shut down its operations for the day but it has put a message in place on its homepage saying that the internet should not be censored. The company also highlighted the fact that this legislation would do harm to American business.
The legislation states that if anyone in the United States is found to be downloading copyrighted material more than 10 times in a six-month period than they should be sent to jail. The legislation also states that any website encouraging piracy should be immediately shut down.
The support for the bill is a significant because of the entertainment industries backing. Rupert Murdoch has been an outspoken supporter and he has been critical of the White House for not supporting the bill in its entirety. Critics of the bill have stated that it will be an ineffective way of fighting copyright infringement.
If the legislation passes, website owners will be responsible for the content that users upload and this will mean small websites will be unable to employ the manpower to do this and so their sites will be shut down in their entirety.
Additionally, websites from outside the United States could be blacklisted meaning that they won’t be visible when searching in major search engines. Furthermore, the legislation sets out ways for further limitations to take place in future.
By Alan, on January 14th, 2012
 Residents in northern England and Scotland have taken a step closer to a high-speed railway route to London, thanks to the approval of the first stage between the capital and Birmingham.
The fast train, known as the HS2 project, has been in the pipeline for many months and was finally given the go head by the Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition. Transport Secretary Justine Greening made the announcement in parliament, revealing at the same time that more sections than previously thought of the London-Birmingham route would be covered by tunnels.
This may go some way to placating opponents of the scheme who are concerned because the newly built railway line will have to pass through some of England’s most beautiful stretches of countryside. However, it will still be many years before you can buy your ticket for the HS2 as the first stage, which is estimated to cost around £16 billion, will not be ready until at least 2026. Commuters could then expect to make the journey from Birmingham to the heart of London in just 50 minutes.
If successful, the project will be expanded to northern cities including Manchester and Leeds, with the possibility of further additions to Newcastle and across the border within 20 years. Scots would see their journey time to the capital cut to an impressive three and a half hours; the journey currently takes around seven.
Even Labour are supporting the new transport project, though critics argue that the projected £32 billion is very ambitious and that the government should be spending its money on more important schemes in this time of financial austerity.
However, supporters argue that the current railway system in the UK will be unable to cope with demand in a few decades and the HS2 project will actually benefit the country’s economy to the tune of almost £50 billion over the next 60 years.
By Alan, on January 13th, 2012
 The former striker for Manchester United, Eric Cantona, has recently said that he wishes to run for president in France. He has taken actions to gather signatures from elected officials so that he can start his election campaign by the end of February. Mr Cantona describes himself as an engaged citizen of France and has written to politicians all over the country in the hope that they will sign a letter of recommendation.
Mr Cantona has recently had an article published in a newspaper that is very critical of the limited opportunities young people currently have in France and wants to fight against social injustice. The first round of elections for candidates will finish in April and the two biggest vote winners in this campaign will go through to a second-round which takes place in May.
The leading socialist contender is Fracois Hallande and is currently ahead of the current president, Nicolas Sarkozy in early polling. Mr Cantona must get 500 signatures if he wishes to get through to the second round of elections. Getting the signatures is going to be particularly difficult as he does not have the backing of a party and is running as an independent candidate.
Mr Cantona has been known in the past for highlighting issues of social injustice and he has used a lot of the money he made as a footballer to raise awareness of these issues. In 2010 he launched a public campaign urging people to withdraw their money from the banks in protest of the financial institutions roles in causing the global financial crisis.
Very few people in France actually listened to his calls and the campaign was largely a flop. Mr Cantona received quite a lot of negative criticism from the press for his failure in this regard.
By admin, on January 6th, 2012
If you wince every time you get an energy bill, this advice is for you. With the rising cost of the fossil fuels that are used to create most electricity, powering your home or business is becoming increasingly more expensive. However, there are several approaches you can take to greening your energy consumption, and most of them require little to no work at all. Good Energy has all the details…
One approach to a greener energy plan is to invest in renewable energy. This may be as simple as switching your energy provider to a company that presents a diversified energy portfolio through providing electricity that is produced in a number of ways — including solar energy, hydroelectric power or wind power. And with new Ofgem proposals to make energy buying more intuitive and less stressful for the consumer, you can do this with ease.
However, if you want to go a step further, you could produce your own green energy. The renewable energy industry is constantly growing and making it easier to install solar panels, solar water heaters and even small wind turbines. Whilst this option requires a bit more investment upfront in time and money, having a green energy alternative for your home can significantly cut your energy costs and in some cases eliminate them altogether. In fact, some green energy homes actually run an energy surplus, allowing them to sell energy credits to renewable energy companies.
Of course, there is also a way to make the most out of your energy supply without even picking up the phone. You can do your part to conserve the environment by simply monitoring and mindfully reducing the amount of energy that you and your family or co-workers use.
At home, small steps such as installing energy conserving light bulbs and setting the water heater at a lower temperature can help save a lot of money over the long run. You can also put your new found green knowledge to the test by arranging your rooms to let in the most possible sunlight to reduce the need for artificial lighting or reinforcing the weather stripping around doors and windows to help keep climate control costs down.
In the office, you can start a green energy initiative by reminding all co-workers to turn off lights when not in use and asking them to dress in layers to reduce the need for air conditioning in the summer and heating in the winter. Make sure that you turn off your computer and all attached equipment at the end of each day, and prevent wasteful power loads by unplugging them each day, as well.
These are just a few ideas, and as you become more and more involved in green energy, you’ll probably begin thinking of your own creative ways to save. The key is to think outside the box and make green energy a top priority.
Article Courtesy of Good Energy
By Alan, on January 6th, 2012
 A recent move by the Taliban has suggested that they might be ready to begin peace talks about the end of the insurgency in Afghanistan. The Taliban have agreed that they will open up a peace mission in Qatar, and this is seen as a significant reversal of the previous position when it would not end its insurgency in the war-torn country.
The spokesman for the Taliban is Zabiullah Mujahid, who announced along with the opening of a peace mission in Qatar that he would like to see the Taliban prisoners held in Guantánamo Bay released. He gave very few details about the opening of the mission or the release of the prisoners.
The American government had previously stated that the best way for peace to be achieved in Afghanistan would be by the Taliban setting up a mission in a different country. Unfortunately, there have been many previous attempts at establishing a peace mission and some of these have led to significant embarrassment for the West.
The idea of the peace mission is to create a location where Western diplomats and representatives of the Taliban can meet and conduct talks. The United States has seen, for a long time, that the only way to end the war in Afghanistan would be for a political solution to be reached and that a military solution was not a realistic end point. A Policy from President Obama has seen increased pressure placed on the Taliban which has been aimed at getting the group to conduct negotiations.
While Western diplomats remain optimistic that a peaceful solution will be reached they have said that there is no guarantee that a political solution to Afghanistan will be accomplished. Some, however, have described the willingness of the Taliban to set up a peace mission as the beginning of the end for the Afghanistan conflict.
A Western diplomat based in Kabul has commented, “If we are looking for an endorsement that the Taliban want to pursue a peaceful strategy then establishing a peace mission is about as good as were going to get. It is important that people remember that despite this announcement of a peace mission a concrete deal is years away, and that’s if one is reached at all.”
There has been no comment from the Afghan government as of yet, whilst Qatar announced that it would be willing to host a peace mission to the Taliban. Afghan officials complained that they had not been informed about the political move by Qatar. Since this time, however, the president of Afghanistan has agreed that Qatar should be the location of any peace talks that take place.
The United States Embassy in Kabul issued a statement on Tuesday stating, “We welcome any move by the Taliban to accept the Constitution of Afghanistan and break ties with Al Qaeda.” One of the most challenging processes the Western diplomats have been faced with is to establish a reliable contact within the Taliban, and finding a legitimate representative has proved difficult.
In 2009, the West was embarrassed to find out that a man they thought was a representative of the Taliban was merely an impostor who had been taking money from Western diplomatic efforts. Officials from both the US and Afghanistan have confirmed fears that Pakistan might abuse the peace process for its own gains.
By Alan, on December 30th, 2011
 Thousands of government and private organisations are taking a close look at their accounts after Anonymous Group linked hackers stole credit card info from a security firm in America on Christmas Eve and used the money they stole to make charity donations.
The attack was focused on Texas based Stratfor, a company that offers analysis to international clients on security issues and works with oil companies, banks, and police agencies.
Outside of claiming to donate around $500,000 to online charities with the stolen data, the hackers also posted pieces of their haul online with files that listed credit card numbers of over 50,000 different people and agencies, 44,000 passwords that were encrypted, and about 87,000 email addresses.
Major British firms that were named in the files include HSBC, BP, and Tesco. A few days later, on Boxing Day, the hackers also published what they claimed were emails that came off the servers of Stratfor with the attached message that this was just a minor preview of what more mayhem they were going to cause.
According to additional messages that were posted, the Stratfor attack was supposedly part of the Anonymous campaign against the private security market and referred to the action as ‘Operation Robin Hood.’ However, observers stated that the campaign actually backfired because instead of helping charities the groups that received donations will now be tied up with administration tasks as they sort through the fraudulent donations and work on returning the money where it is due.
Chief Researcher for F-Secure, Mikko Hypponen, stated that it looks a bit like a Robin Hood plan to steal from the rich and then give to those who are poor but the harm was done more to the charities then anyone else. This is due to the fact that those who see fraudulent credit card charges are going to report them and then the charities will be forced to return the money and even face penalties, which will end up hurting them not to mention the time investment that it is going to take to clear up these matters.
Chief Executive for Stratfor went on Facebook to recognise the attack and publicly apologise to their clients as their own website remains offline for the time being. The statement written by George Friedman states that some of their members had their credit information disclosed and that they are working with law enforcement and also working to get their website back up and running.
He also added that in the future Stratfor will be working with an identity theft protection firm to prevent this type of situation from occurring again in the future. He also asked supporters not to speak out about the attacks on Facebook because of concern that they will become targets for future attacks by the group.
By Alan, on December 24th, 2011
 The announcement on Monday of the death of North Korea’s president-for-life Kim Jong-il brought the country back into the spotlight of international attention. Analysts on all fronts have made tentative predictions about the short and long-term consequences of his death and the succession of his heir, Kim Jong Un.
As North Koreans officially mourn the passing of their Great Leader, citizens gather at memorials in the capital city of Pyongyang. On Tuesday an assemblage of high-ranking officials including Kim Jong Un formed a solemn procession into the Kumsusan Memorial Palace and the hall where the former president’s body lay on a bier covered with the red blooms of his namesake flower, kimjongilia.
The funeral will not be held until 28 December, and until that time most of the expert observers expect the country to be on hold in terms of any significant political or military activity. The job in hand is for the North Korean media to solidify the country’s citizenry behind an unknown quantity that is the 20-something year old Kim Jong Un.
Unlike his father, the son has had very little time to train for the mantle of Great Leader; he was only mentioned as potential heir about a year ago, and has no personal following as such. Various opinions have been put forward as to what might change under the rule of this much younger and as yet untested president.
The North Korean media has issued statements extolling Kim Jong Un’s many virtues, but since he has at this point done nothing of note, the statements are of a general nature. He is “the spiritual pillar and the lighthouse of hope” for the Korean people, and he is “a great person born of heaven” and the citizens and the military are all united in his support, according to the press releases.
Kim Jong Un is also being presented as the great upholder of the national revolutionary policy of juche, which translates as ‘self-reliance’. This could be interpreted as a continuation of the international isolation that North Korea has been labouring under for the past couple of decades. As a case in point, no outside officials have been invited to the funeral.
Major concerns centre around the nuclear arms testing that has reportedly been going forward in defiance of protests from the U.S. and other major powers. South Korea reported a short-range missile test firing on Monday, but they are not unduly alarmed; it is believed that the test was planned well before the death of Kim Jong-il. Other situation analysts suggest that it may have been a warning shot to demonstrate North Korea’s readiness to defend itself.
A recent report from Reuters in Beijing indicates that North Korea’s military, a well-supported force of around 1.2 million, has announced its support of the new president, a development that may lessen fears of a devastating power struggle in the short term. Kim Jong Un’s aunt Kim Kyong Hui and her husband Jang Song Thaek are expected to be the new president’s mentors and help make the transition to whatever the future holds for leadership of the potentially volatile country.
By Alan, on December 18th, 2011
 A cross-party group of politicians have recently said the personal finance education should be a part of the school curriculum. An eight-month enquiry by ministers has found that all school leavers should be equipped with basic financial knowledge so that they won’t run into financial difficulties in the future. The report demands that financial education become a part of the school curriculum as soon as possible.
The report suggests that financial numeracy be taught in mathematics as well as in personal social education. The report read, “We suggest that within each school a champion is selected who will be able to bring financial education into the curriculum. A survey that we conducted showed that less than half of all teachers have involved personal finance in their teaching.”
There is a Commons debate scheduled for Thursday which is going to discuss the issue and over 100,000 people have signed a petition in order to bring personal finance into the curriculum. The financial expert Martin Lewis was responsible for starting this petition and he is an advocate of bringing basic financial education into the school system. Mr Lewis recently commented, “People’s ignorance of financial issues has meant that many companies are able to take advantage of them and many services are being mis-sold. Millions of people every year are miss-sold policies, and are being ripped off by financial institutions.
“Companies spend a huge amount of money training their staff to sell their products but the buyers remain completely uninformed and have to take them on their word. The best way we can hope to implement the system of financial education is through schools.”
Andrew Percy is the Conservative MP who has been chairing the enquiry and he has said, “People are leaving school with a good knowledge of mathematics, they know how to do algebra and other complex mathematical tasks. Unfortunately though the level of knowledge of financial tasks is far behind this.
“Customers regularly have to use financial mathematics skills but unfortunately they do not have these and this makes it very difficult for them to make decisions in a world where finance is becoming increasingly complicated. Better education in schools would reduce the number of people borrowing irresponsibly and becoming insolvent. Financial education will also help people succeed in starting a business and should help drive economic growth.
The personal finance education group chief executive is Wendy van den Hende and she has commented, “It seems very clear that young people want to know more about how to control their personal finances and teachers are also keen to see it introduced into the curriculum. It seems therefore that if the introduction of financial education curriculum has enough support it will be taught very effectively.”
Nick Gibb is the schools Minister and he said, “Young people should be given information that will allow them to make sensible decisions in their lives. The best schools are already including financial education as part of their PSHE lessons but it clearly needs to form part of compulsory education.”
By Alan, on December 5th, 2011
 The director of external affairs at Ofqual is Francis Thomas and he has recently spoken out against exam boards. He has said, “Parliament have just passed a law which gives us the ability to fine exam boards but this is not the ultimate sanction that we want to have. We want to be able to shut down exam boards that are not living up to their expectations.
“We need the ability to assess the evidence as to whether the qualifications business is acting in a way that is damaging for the education establishment. Depending on the scale of the misconduct we want to be able to not only fine them but also ban their exam papers from the market.”
It has recently been discovered that some students who will be taking examinations in the New Year might have their papers cancelled because they were given poor guidance over what questions to expect. If Ofqual had increased powers it would be possible to deal with the problem of conflicting interests much easier.
Glenys Stacey has recently appeared in a BBC interview and she has commented, “What we’ve found is that examiners are telling teachers what questions are likely to appear on the exam papers and this is completely unacceptable.” In recent months two examiners for history have been suspended as it has been feared they were engaging in corrupt practices.
The Daily Telegraph covertly filmed the examiners running a workshop which teachers could attend and they were given information on what questions might come up and how to phrase answers to achieve maximum marks.
One of the men who was suspended was Paul Evans who is one of the chief examiners in Wales. While being secretly filmed the openly stated, “Every year there are compulsory questions and we are going to tell you the cycle in which they come up. Essentially what we are doing here is cheating and the regulator would certainly take issue with it.”
The Welsh exam board has said that it is investigating the circumstances of these comments in a serious and urgent matter. The education secretary, Michael Gove has said that The Daily Telegraph has shown that the system itself is corrupt and it has been discredited.
A spokesperson for the Prime Minister has said, “It is very clear to us that the exam system is in need of reform. The government is committed to taking any action necessary to make sure that the faith in the examination system is restored.”
Essentially, what this activity by exam board has meant is that teachers are only teaching part of the syllabus – the part that is going to come up on the exams. This is very much away from the fundamental idea that the entire course should be taught.
Geoff Lucas used to be the head of the Communication and Curriculum Authority and he recently commented, “Giving teachers guidance and telling them what is going to appear in the exam paper are two very different things. It is a line that should not be crossed.”
By Alan, on December 3rd, 2011
 Nick Clegg, the deputy PM, who has managed against all odds to make the previous holder of the post, John Prescott, seem trustworthy and endearing, has now suggested that we need to amend our approach to domestic violence. Mr Clegg believes that instead of dwelling only on the physical assault that has taken place between two previously loving partners, we need to look at the bigger and much more complex picture.
Nick, in fact, wants to go even further and see to it that controlling behaviour becomes criminalised and the the abuser in strongly penalised for the heinous crimes. This is just about the best thing that has ever come out of his mouth, as victims of verbal and mental abuse are amongst those who suffer the most in silence.
There are many who have been unlucky enough to be involved in a relationship where one partner meted out psychological abuse on the other, and the victim lives a half life in a twilight world where they are drained, and weary and have had all their self confidence sucked from them, ultimately giving the abuser complete control
One of the big problems from suffering this kind of mental abuse is that due to to their being outward, physical signs, it is much harder for others to see what is happening, and the mental scars that come from none physical abuse remain a lot longer than bumps and bruises and cuts and it is very real indeed for the sufferer.
Another problem for the sufferer of mental abuse is that 9 times out of 10 they don’t actually realise what is going on. This may sound strange to outsiders but the abuser is so clever with their mind games and increases the abuse over a long period of time so that the victim accepts what they are told and end up feeling ugly and worthless and believing everything they are told.
They often feel that something is wrong but can’t quite put their finger on it, they think they deserve the criticism that is delivered to them on a daily basis, and public humiliation is all too common too. To be insulted and put down in public is something you wouldn’t do to an animal, but a victim expects it, thinks they deserve it, and more often than not actually apologise.
Too many are under the misconception that those who have lived with domestic violence are battered and bruised and carry battle scars, but those scars that can’t be seen never heal, and the rebuilding of a crushed spirit and getting rid of the self loathing is something that can take years, if ever.
Years later, when you think you have put it behind you, a word, or a situation, or even reading an article can trigger off the memories and bring everything you’ve worked so hard to bury come flooding back. You are instantly taken back to that time, and the fragile, pathetic human being you once were is back, the self loathing returns, and all you want to do is crawl into a corner.
Victims of non physical abuse aren’t stupid, or desperate, they are ordinary people who fall for someone who seems like the greatest thing since cut bread to everyone else, but behind doors inflicts horrific mental torture on their supposed partner. They feel worthless and lucky to have the abuser, purely thanks to the mind games they play and the power they have over the victim.
Nobody is saying that victims of physical violence are less so than the ones of on physical, but it is seriously time for mental torturers to receive the same treatment as if they had kicked and beaten their victims. In many ways they have, but it isn’t the skin that bears the scars it’s the mind, and the brain, and the heart…..
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