Background Story: Loneliness Aggravated in London

As an international student studying in London, you not only contribute to the multiculturalism of this vibrant city, but also you make this city lonelier than it was.

30% Londoners Feel Lonely

Based on the analysis of census data from 2001, 1991, 1981 and1971, a report conducted by researchers at Sheffield University showed that community life in UK has weakened.

Big Ben symbol of London Picture by Lei Yang

30% of Londoners in the survey said that they felt lonely.

The BBC-commissioned research revealed that divorce, immigration and large transitory student populations have played a role in weakening neighbourhoods bonds in London.

“Life in London is rather hectic and busy, where we barely have time for ourselves so it not surprising that so many people out there feels as they don’t belong to a community.”

Sham from County Harrow commented on the results discovered by the BBC.

Economic Gap

The researchers analysed the number of people living alone, those in rented accommodation and those who did not live in one place for more than one year.

London has continuously topped the chart with most lonely people in the UK since late 1960s.

It was found that the UK had become far more separated, with regard to age, economic status and other factors, over the last four decades.

The report also presumes that loneliness of Londoners might be partially due to the gap between poor and rich in the city.

London has the highest levels of people living under the relative poverty line in 2001-32% of Londoners.

“The polarisation and segregation processes may also lead to stronger feelings of isolation.”

Professor Daniel Dorling, who headed the research team at the University of Sheffield told BBC reporter.

Researchers found out that London is not yet the most lonely city in UK, which ranks after Edinburgh，the one at the top of the list.

Charleston and Red Bull- It’s a Christmas party!

Ass grabbing, photocopying genitals, lampshade on heads, gravy- covered beer guts, flashing ties and illuminated reindeer earrings- those are well- known signs of Christmas as thousands of offices around the country get their Christmas parties into full swing.

Bury The Lead got invited to Red Bull’s staff Christmas bash in Shoreditch this weekend- only to find those treasured Christmas rituals to be out of fashion.

Slick doorman welcomes slick guest. Photograph: Karoline Hjorth

Hidden in the epicentre of East London’s Hipstertown, Village Underground is far from paper- clothed buffets and Christmas carol karaoke bliss.

Popping out from their ping pong- tabled meeting rooms and playground built office spaces, staff from all over the country have come to celebrate another hard working year for the pushers of nonalcoholic caffeinated liquid.

Catwalk- strutting waiters welcome the 300 guests with their brightest colgate smiles, trays of finger food and cocktails that “give you wings“.

“Mince pie? Sorry darling, but have a canapé and get yourself a champbull“.

Hundreds of twenty- and thirty-somethings get their smiles fixed with Champagne and Red Bull coktails as they enter the 1920s- style dancehall, designed to escape a glooming economical horizon.

Drink up and dance

Just like any other Christmas party the inhouse entertainment have a clear party boosting strategy:

“We’ll give those dancing shoes a few rounds in the open bar…”

Just as the mind wanders off to images of  MDs revealing their inner moonwalk passion, Leila MacMillan’s dance ensemble pull us back to Red Bull reality:  “…and  then we’ll get the Charleston going”.

Ella Robson demonstrates how charleston is the new moon walk. Photograph: Karoline Hjorth.

Ella Robson is one of the six dancers hired to get the crowd moving, and after hours of rehearsing it is too tempting to ask what keeps her going:

“No, I don’t drink Red Bull but I am on a constant diet of coffe, cigarettes, apples and vodka”, she explains.

Make- up artist Malika Causier paints her lips red and sends her out to tease the minglers.

Blondes, Madonna and the roaring twenties

The credit crunch might ravage the nation, but penny- pinching is not an issue when Red Bull goes festive.

Where other companies trust their loyal staff to book  tables at the local pub, Red Bull trust Blonde Productions to do their party planning.

Blonde Productions sisters Lora and Alex Lutostanska get a final touch from the make- up artist. Photograph: Karoline Hjorth.

Managing director Lora Lutostanska and her sister Alex are used to throwing parties and have organised events for Madonna, BBC and MTV.

“This is our second Red Bull event and the 1920s theme goes really well with some of Red Bulls 2008 campaigns, says Lora.

“It’s been fun”, she confirms before sliding into the crowd.

Despite eager observation Bury The Lead could not spot a single air guitar performer nor hear ”Last Christmas”  being played once.

A trustworthy source has it DJ Curly Perm, in love with himself and his impeccable cream suit, has been made redundant and replaced by wild-and-woolly 1920s jazz and The Correspondents.

On the hunt for fake mistletoes, snogging employees and general misbehavior, Bury the Lead ends up at a table where the hip crowd is playing blackjack.

One of the women is sipping a yellow-colored drink, and the question  is unevitable: “Is it eggnog?”

A moment of innocent Christmas party spirit lights up the room until the sipping red lips reply: “Honey, it’s bellini. Do you want some?”

Click here to go to the background story: Background: The anti- brand

A bit about Britney Spears…(background story)

From 1993 to 1994 she was a “little star” on The New Mickey Mouse Club. In 1999, with Jive Records, she released her debut album …Baby One More Time which established her as a pop icon

Her personal life began to gain substantial media attention after she married Kevin Federline in 2004. After two years, they had a quite difficult divorce that result in an ongoing custody battle over their two children Sean and Jayden James

Even though Britney Spears is ranked as the eight best-selling female recording artist in the United States according to the Recording Industry Association of America, she experienced a total “nervous breakdown” from 2006 to 2007

“A hell of a year”

2006 is here. The star appeared on the Will & Grace Episode “Buy, Buy Baby” as a closet lesbian. She, after, announced her second pregnancy in May 2006 during an appearance on the Late Show with David Letterman.

She then explained the pictures of her driving with her baby on he lap like this: “I see a bunch of photographers and I’m scared and I want to get out of the situation… They’re coming up on the sides of the car which is a scary situation for me… so I get my baby out of the car and I go home.”

Then, she posed nude for the August 2006 Rolling Stone’s cover and gave birth to her second son on September 12 in Los Angeles.

Throughout 2007, Spears’s behaviour received a lot of media attention, including attacking a paparazzi vehicle with an umbrella. In September 2007, Spears and Federline continued to share custody of their two sons. A few days later, she was officially charged with misdemeanor, hit and run and driving without a license.

Spears lost physical custody of her children to her ex husband on October 1, with the court ruling that Federline will keep full custody of the children

On January 21, 2007 Spears lost her aunt Sandra Bridges Covington, with whom she had been very close, from an ovarian cancer.

She went to “Drug rehabilitation” for less than 24 hours on February 16. The following night, is when she made what really made people talk a lot about her in a controversial way. She shaved her head with electric clippers.  at a hair salon in Tarzana, California”

 It was too late. All the gossip part of this world got what they wanted: Britney hitting the bottom

Britney has been through a lot that year. Maybe she was looking for it, maybe she just lost herself and needed some time for her as she said in For The Record.

Everyone must have his own opinion on the subject, but one thing is sure, she is not the only one to blame.

 Britney’s father, took control of her life earlier this year and will remain her “guardian” until the end of it, as decided by Reva_Goetz the judge of the Court of Los Angeles.

But at the end, didn’t Britney have what a lot of ordinary people” have: depression

 

Journalists and activists arrested on 45th Independece day celebrations

Radio journalist being arrested during Independence Day celebrations.

Kenya’s President Mwai Kibaki forced to end his Independence Day speech after a crowd heckled him when a protester was arrested, says BBC .

The protestors were angered by the refusal of MPs to pay taxes and a new media bill, which critics say will gag the press. Police say more than 20 other people were arrested over the protests, BBC reports.

In the field and newsrooms, journalists ensured the 45th Jamhuri Day events did not obscure their cry for freedom and justice.

Protestors including civil rights activists and journalists wore black T-shirts with slogans printed on them.

The slogans read ‘No taxes for MPs, no taxes for us, uta do?’ (what will you do?)’, You tube reports.

Thousands of people who attended Kenya’s 45th Independence Day, celebrations shouted in protest against rising food prices, says Standard.

Police spokesman Eric Kiraithe said the activists were arrested for trying to disrupt a national day, BBC reports.

Bill sails through easily

Information and Communication Minister Samuel Poghisio, reintroduced the Bill this year, President Kibaki having refused to sign the bill into law last year.

Mr. Poghisio has been in talks with the MOA, the Kenya Editors Guild and the Correspondents Association. In the past three weeks, media owners have held five high-level meetings with Government officials over the Bill, says Standard.

The proposal was to defer the debate to allow more consultations.

The media had made frantic efforts to intercept the Bill before it got to the floor of the House.

But MPs, angered by a parallel campaign to have their allowances taxed, saw in this Bill a weapon to hit back and punish the media.

Without minding the consequences, it took only 25 out of the 222 MPs to pass it this week, Standard reports.

Contents of the bill

The bill gives the Internal Security Minister power to raid media houses in a state of emergency, ordered by the President and control broadcast content.

It also gives the government the mandate to set the standards, manner and time of programmes to be broadcast.

The Freedom of Information Bill repeals the Official Secrets Act so that Government officials can disclose vital information to the public.

Click here for background.

Overseas Students Fight against Culture Difference

Multiculturalism characterizes most of London’s universities, and the University of Westminster’s Harrow campus is no exception.

International students from every continent contribute to this vibrancy and diversity.

However, before they can blend into campus life, many find studying in the UK challenging. Some have to go through a difficult process of personal, emotional and practical upheavals.

Culture Difference A Big Headache

Shen, a pregnant Chinese student on the MA in Mass Communication course reveals: “I was so tired that I would just sleep in my dorm all day.

Harrow Campus University of Westminster Picture by Lei Yang

Besides, the food here is expensive and barely edible.” Pointing to the apples on her desk, she says: “That’s all I eat in these days.”

She came to the UK and presumed that she could handle everything on her own.

But things didn’t go according to plan: after a week, she dropped the course and flew back to China.

Not all students, however, choose to escape from the harsh reality of university life.

Li Qianqian, a student enrolled on the Communication Policy course, decided to carry on even after a month of feeling lost in lectures.

“It will take us an entire lifetime to understand the UK’s cultural and political system.

For instance, for a word like ’spin doctor’, I had to look it up in the dictionary first, because there is no such concept in our political system.”

Adjusting to the teaching methods is her biggest challenge.

Talk May Be A Solution

Jane, an International Journalism student, said: “In the first month, I struggled so much. I would burst into tears in the middle of the night because of the stress from assignments and classes.”

Brought up in the US, Jane found that people in the UK are not as sociable and outgoing as Americans.

Drawn to All Soul’s Church in central London, she made friends from different ethnic backgrounds. “People talked to me, which was what I really missed.”

After visiting the church on three occasions, Jane said she felt more like herself now.

Sadly, some international students find it difficult coping with depression, loneliness and homesickness.

However, all is not lost.

Don’t forget there are flat mates and friends around. Turning to the International Student Adviser can also be an option. Just knock on their doors and talk to them.

It’s up to you to make yourself happy.

please click here for background story

background for Journalists and activists arrested during 45th Independence day

According to Wikipidia, Jamhuri Day is a national holiday in Kenya, celebrated on 12 December each year.

Jamhuri is the Swahili word for “republic” and the holiday is officially to mark the date of Kenya’s establishment as a republic on 12 December, 1964.

However, the country also gained full independence from the United Kingdom one year earlier on 12 December, 1963, so Jamhuri Day is a double event

It is generally regarded as Kenya’s most important holiday, marked by numerous cultural festivities which celebrate the country’s cultural heritage.

Jamhuri Day is often associated with Dedan Kimathi, the executed leader of the famous Mau Mau, regarded by many Kenyans as the hero who lifted the nation on his shoulders toward independence.

One week before Jamhuri day,Kenyan MP’s rejected a bill forcing them to pay tax on their allowances that were adding up to Ksh 500,000,000.

Journalists run story after story asking them to pay tax as it would in turn benefit Kenyans who elected them.

This caused a very big rift between MPs and members of the fourth estate.

It is thus believed that MPs passed the Communications Ammendment Act that gives power to the Minister for Internai Security to raid media houses, as a way to avenge their being pressured to pay taxes.

Click here for the main story

Music to no longer be used as torture

‘Please don’t stop the music’ sings Rihanna in her 2007 hit, but if musicians have it their way it soon will.

Artists have joined forces to get songs banned from being used as passive torture devices at Guantanamo Bay.

Together with the organization Reprieve project ZerodB has been launched in order to end the practice, reports the Telegraph.

The campaign was introduced on the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights according to Reprieve.

In protest some artists will have a minute of silence during concerts.

“I had no blanket or sheet. If I had, I would probably have tried suicide,” one former prisoner told AP.

He was subjected to around the clock rock music during his stay.

Loud music was first introduced in order “to create fear and disorient detainee(s) and prolong capture shock.”

Its use was authorized by Iraq Lt Gen Ricardo Sanchez in a memo from 2003.

The practice has now been used in places like Iraq, Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay.

Many of the detainees are not accustom to rock music and therefore crack, said military spokesman to the press.

Musical meltdown

Bands like Nine Inch Nails, Rage Against the Machine, Eminem, Aerosmith,  Limp Bizkit, Drowning Pool, Tupac Shakur and AC/DC have all been used during interrogation say reports.

The practice has upset many of these artists.

“It’s difficult for me to imagine anything more profoundly insulting, demeaning and enraging” wrote Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails in his blog.

His songs are frequently blasted at the prisons.

Others musicians are proud to have their songs used by the US military.

Bands like Drowning Pool encourage using their music to break detainees.

“I take it as an honor to think that perhaps our song could be used to quell another 9/11 attack or something like that.” bassist Stevie Benton told Spin magazine.

Rock music is not the only genre used.

Theme songs to popular TV shows like ‘Barney and Friends’ and ‘Sesame Street’ have been played non-stop.

By 2009 the debate may soon end. President-elect Barack Obama has vowed to close Guantanamo Bay, ending the music once and for all.

Musicians like Reznor hope to see this promise fulfilled.

“Thank GOD this country has appeared to side with reason and we can put the Bush administration’s reign of power, greed, lawlessness and madness behind us.” he says at the end of his blog.

Torture mix-tape

According to various news sources here are the most commonly used songs by the US military.

Enter Sandman - Metallica

Born in the USA - Bruce Springsteen

Bodies - Drowning Pool

Shoot to Thrill - AC/DC

White America - Eminem

I Love You – “Barney and Friends” TV theme song

Sesame Street - TV theme song

CLICK HERE FOR BACKGROUND ON MUSIC TO NO LONGER BE USED AS TORTURE

Background of Swiss approved Heroine prescription

In Switzerland

 

According to Wikipedia, in 1994 Switzerland began a trial heroin about a program for users that had failed multiple withdrawal orograms.

 

The aim of this program is to mantain health of users  in order to avoid mediacal problem stemming from illict street heroine and reducinig drug related crimes.

 

  

This trail involved 340 users, although enrollment was later expanded to 1000 based on the apparent success of the program. In fact participants are allowed to inject heroin in specially designed pharmacies for 15 Swiss Francs per dose.

 

It’s good to understand that the trail were based only on time limited executive ordinance.

 

A referendum in November 2008 showed that 68% of swiss voters approved the proposal of introducing heroin prescription into federal law.

 

 

Heroine History

 

 

 

 

Heroin was originally manufactured in 1978 by C.R. Alder Wight, an English chemist employed at St. Mary’s Hospital Medical School in London.

 

 

 

From 1898  to 1910 heroin was advertised as a non-addictive morphine substitute and cough medicine for children.

 

Heroine Regulation around the word.

 

In Canada heroin is controlled substane under Schedule I of the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act (CDSA). Every person who seeks or obtains heroin without a previous authoruzation is  guilty of an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment.

 

In Hong Kong, heroin is regulated under Schedule 1 Chapter 134 titled Danderous Drugs Ordinance. It can be given by pharmacists under prescriptio. Anyone whosupplies heroin without prescription can be fine $ 10000 (HKD). 

 

 

According to the British National Formulary (BNF) edition 50, diamorphine hydrochloride may be used in the treatment of acute pain, myocardial infarction, acute pulmonary oedema, and chronic pain. The treatment of chronic non-malignant pain must be supervised by a specialist. The BNF notes that all opioid analgesics cause dependence and tolerance but that this is “no deterrent in the control of pain in terminal illness”. When used in the palliative care of cancer patients, heroin is often injected using a syringe driver.

 

 

Background to Professionals and students on the jobhunt

Unemployment numbers rose to a new high in the US.

Claims for unemployment benefits surged to their highest levels in 26 years according to the Chicago Tribune.

The data suggests new jobs are harder to find or that the jobless may have stopped looking for work.

The outcome does not look hopeful for the next year say reports.

“Another possible loss of 1 million jobs is just something our economy cannot sustain at the moment,” said Dana Perino, White House spokeswoman, according to the Financial Times.

Economists had originally thought that falling oil prices would narrow the trade gap, but this does not appear to be the case.

Oil prices are at their lowest since January 2005 according to the Daily Record.

In 2008 the US economy has lost 1.9 million jobs reports CNN.

With the US economy now is recession it is difficult to predict if the job market will rise.

Main Damage

Service jobs on the decline do not help the situation.

“Big rises in joblessness in transport and trade, retail, business, temp help and leisure coupled with much smaller rises in government employment did the main damage” Rob Carnell from ING told the Guardian.

“If there is any glimmer of optimism in these figures, it is the unemployment rate, which rose only 0.2 percentage points to 6.7%, lower than the 6.9% we thought likely.”

New unemployment claims have averaged 540,000 a week fro the past month, an almost 60%  increase from a year ago according to reports.

“There is no way to sugarcoat it,” said Mark Vitner, senior economist with the Wachovia Economics Group to the Atlanta Journal.

“This is really rough.”

The market continues to affect those with and without qualifications

The Atlanta Journal also reports the case of Anthony Esposito,

He has a law degree from the University of Virginia and is still searching for work.

A year ago was offered a job with a pay that would have been up to $145,000.

However, the firm withdrew the offer and Esposito has been looking for work ever since.

“I used to volunteer at the food bank and homeless shelters. To think of reaching out to those agencies now is something new.” he told to the newspaper.

He continues to look for a job.

CLICK HERE FOR THE ORIGINAL ARTICLE ON PROFESSIONAL AND STUDENTS ON THE JOBHUNT

Website critique: The Hindu

The Hindu was the first Indian newspaper to go online, way back in 1995. Sadly, the website hasn’t changed since.

The Hindu is one of India’s most widely read and reputable English dailies, known for its strict adherence to journalistic values of truth and objectivity.

But the website plays no role in representing or indeed creating public opinion as has come to be expected of the publication.

The site can be accessed as www.hindu.com, www.thehindu.com, or www.hinduonnet.com.

But any which way, the website is unappealing, confusing and detached.

Screenshot of The Hindu home page, Dec 14

First impression: Unattractive

At first click, the Hindu website is unattractive.

Nothing on the home page will capture a first-time visitor’s attention. Very little will bring on a second visit.

The site has white space, yet seems cluttered, disorganised and intimidating. A far cry from the neat, clean and understated style of the print edition.

In terms of readability, the site has some positives:

• Text is clearly visible.
• It is not hindered by mouse roll-overs or blinking text.
• Font size remains consistent.
• It does have satisfactory white space.

However, with standard monitor settings, the font size is too small. This makes skim-reading inconvenient.

With regards to design, the website has a simple, four column layout. This may be functional, but is no longer the conventional web design standard for news.

Other aspects of design are as weak.

Most strikingly, the colour is limited to blue. Dark blue text is used on light blue banners and for headlines. That’s surely a D on design 101.

This colour choice is hard to justify considering blue was never associated with The Hindu brand identity.

Further, the design does not draw attention to the most important aspects of the site. Indeed, there is no design aspect to indicate relative importance of items on the page.

Even the header or top banner of the webpage carrying the name of the publication is left-aligned and not made prominent.

Surprising humility for a media organisation or just ignorance of how web users read?

A ticker running across the top of the central column and carrying the headlines is the only attempt at making the site engaging and current.

Also, the site does not include audio or video, and the home page does not carry any multimedia features.

Instead, it is text heavy. Images when accompanying news stories are thumbnail sized. The only other elements are the distracting flash banners.

Some hope amid the clutter – the lack of graphics allows the site to download fast, and the site doesn’t demand endless scrolling down to read material.

Content: Detatched

The explorer who actually braved the home page to venture deeper into the site is immediately hit by another issue – the growing suspicion that they didn’t start off in the home page in the first place.

For The Hindu online has no clearly defined homepage.

News update page, Dec 14

While the 3 web addresses lead to the ‘Front page’ carrying the main news from the print edition, a prominently displayed link on the page (‘Breaking news and alerts’) takes the visitor to the ‘News updates‘ area of the website.

The two function independently, and it is the ‘News updates’ section that carries the topical, frequently updated news as expected of an online news site.

As mentioned earlier, the website does not carry video, audio or allow for extensive use of multimedia. Evidently The Hindu has chosen to ignore web 2.0.

Most significantly, the content is highly non-interactive. The “architecture of participation” that Tim O’Reilly considers essential for modern websites is completely absent.

The Hindu still only offers information, without any space for users to create information or at least participate in information exchange.

Pages carry no comments. Unlike most news websites today, The Hindu online does not allow for stories to be blogged, posted on social networking sites, or discussed in user forums. At most, there is a link to make emailing the article easier.

Standard convention today is to carry information on most emailed or most viewed articles. This is another way to acknowledge the user’s proactive role in news creation, but is lacking in this website.

However, in parts, the Hindu has embraced blogs. Special pages for certain issues and events use blog templates from wordpress and contain posts, comments and opinions from users.

Also, it appears that the Hindu does provide entertainment content for mobiles. News feeds have also been made available.

Writing: Saving grace?

The writing is the website’s greatest strength, in terms of the issues and extent of information covered. This is because the articles are the same ones printed in the paper, all of which follow high journalistic standards.

However, these have clearly not been written for the web. Instead, they are examples of print journalism reproduced with minor modifications, if at all, for a different medium.

Most articles do not follow the guidelines for web writing as set forth by Jakob Neilson.

• The titles do not always make the stories immediately clear and are not written for search engine optimisation.
• The introductory paragraphs are often too lengthy.
• The articles are composed of long paragraphs that make it inconvenient to skim read.
• The layout has not been modified to the F-shaped reading pattern of users.
• Many stories, especially the ones in the news update area are not broken down by sub-headings.

In some sections, the reporters have provided a short summary of the story in a couple of points, after the headline. However, the formatting of this, in italics and with a blue highlighted background, defeats its purpose.

Screenshot of an article on the website, Dec 10

None of the articles contain links within them. Further, they aren’t even linked to earlier stories from the Hindu on similar subjects. This results in a very linear, close ended method of information gathering.

The articles have not been written for search engine optimisation. Breaking stories from the Hindu rank comparatively lower on Google.

Navigation: Confused

Making this badly designed site worse is the confusing navigation.

The website is like being given a map with too many unmarked roads that all happen to be dead ends.

Little or no difference in text sizes between headers, titles and content, and lack of page names makes it hard for users to know where they are.

There is only a single navigation bar on the left column. There is no main horizontal navigation bar to identify the page.

The site also lacks a meta navigation tab with options for help, contacts or user account log-ins.

Such information remains hidden in the footer. However this section is duplicated to act as a header as well in some pages.

The home page of course remains a mystery.

It was only after many visits that one realises that ‘index’ links to the apparent home page. This link was hidden in the side navigation bar, between sections for agriculture, commodities and the photo gallery.

Significantly, the main head or logo does not link to the home page either.

The user quickly realises that the navigation is not consistent. In some inner sections of the website, the navigation bar shifts to the right.

The navigation hierarchy is disorganised. Although most pages will be available within three clicks, the sections are not clearly defined.

There are no dropdown menus. Subsections within sections are simply indicated by bullet points.

It is this inconsistency and disengagement that takes away the credibility so essential for any news website.

The Hindu online: the Verdict

When compared to award-winning news websites of The Guardian, New York Times and the BBC, or even other Indian news sites, the Hindu is a far way behind.

A simplistic design may be excused – after all The Hindu never needed glitz to attract readers.

But The Hindu online needs to be more relevant, readable and convenient if it wants to attract visitors at all.

With basic changes to the website, there is no reason why it can’t be an influential source of news online as well.