My thoughts on Ebola

In December last year, UK parliament had foreseen, yet overlooked, what is now an international crisis. We've all heard about Ebola, and the trail of devastation left behind, slowly deteriorating Africa. What you my not of heard, is that the UK dismissed the increasing cries for help during the course of a year. Ebola feels like internal torture. It's the symptoms of all illnesses combined. Our late reaction has resulted in over 5,000 unessasary deaths. This is on top of millions of traumatised and crumbled lives. Why? Why have we allowed this to happen?

I'm certain that the true scale of this outbreak reflects a worrying point; that it could potentially spread wherever, whenever. Even Barak Obama States that Ebola is 'spiralling out of control'. Margaret Chan, director of the World Health Organisation declares that 'there isn't even 1 bed to treat an Ebola patient in the whole of Liberia'.Imagine that, your internally bleeding and you aren't even accomodated with a matress even. Moreover, Chan mentions that Ebola is by far the 'most complex' and 'most severe' illness ever seen.

Africa is now over a year into the last epidemic in modern history. The number of new cases is moving faster than the capacity to manage them.

If your still not remotely appalled by the lack of integrity from our government, listen up. Imagine you're the mother of two young, vulnerable children. You begin to show the signs of the deadly virus, such as exsessive vomiting and a rising temperature. You're children are aged 3 and 5, and you are forced to send them to an orphanage immediately. Without even a split second to say just a simple 'goodbye', you are sent to a hospital. Your treated by unqualified 'doctors' and 'nurses' - or so they claim to be. Your just lying there on the agonising, cold floor of an overcrowded space. Before you pass away in the spur of the moment, your last memories repeat the screaming of your children. Your children overwhelmed, distressed, anguished, TRAUMATISED.

This is a true story, and occurred a couple of weeks ago. The two children, Dominic and Sony were interviewed. Although, words couldn't describe their pain, so they remained speechless.

Considering our country was aware of this situation, and the serious measures of the impact on lives, it's truly shocking and disturbing. Considering the thriving, economically developed country we are assumed as, it really isn't good enough. Only now we have begun to sent aid, but I am still disgusted about the late response. This late response has resulted in thousands of deaths, and is not justified.

Can you just imagine being a victim of Ebola? No, because you've never had it. You'll never care enough until it hits you. That's why our country has only began sending aid now, mainly because there could be a threat to our country.

Sometimes I wish we could all help others for their sake, instead of helping them in case of the threat to ourselves. It just shows we give no concert to the poorer countries, and Africa as a continent! A whole continent is predicted to be demolished, claims the guardian. Yes, that's one third of our world. Oh well, we haven't died yet to that's not our problem(sarcasm).

My bucket list

This blog post is going to be slightly different to my normal posts, but I have been intrigued to write my own 'bucket list' for a while now. For those who don't know what a Bucket List is, it's a series of things you wish to achieve in you're lifetime- and I thought I would share with you some of mine. I would love to hear some of yours as well, but be prepared as mine is quite long!



Do all water sports(paragliding, wake boarding, windsurfing, scuba diving)
Be fluent Spanish
Get my grade 8 on the piano
Go in the shard
Go swimming with dolphins
Paint run
Get a fish pedicure
Go to Thorpe park
Go cliff jumping
Have a huge waiter balloon fight
Own a great camera
Go on a hot air balloon
Go on a no budget shopping spree
Go to london zoo
Feed the turtles in london aquariam
Release a paper lantern
Stay in a 5 star hotel
Run a marathon
Have a walk in closet
Hold a baby cheatah
See the northern lights
Get a sun tattoo
Try skiing
Go parasailing
Try skittles vodka
Hold a koala
Smash a pie in someone's face
Go on a banana boat
Go on a Disney cruise
Hug Minnie and Mickey Mouse
Ride a camel and an elephant
Dance in the rain
Breathe in helium
Ride a jet ski
Go ziplining
Go to a spa
Go to a foam party
Have my dream home
Meet someone famous

Go to japan: go on the underwater rollercoaster
Go to China: Tokyo
Go to Italy: leaning tower of Pisa, Venice
Go to Dubai
Go to Germany
Go to Barbados
Go to Australia: Sydney, bondi beach, the pink lake
Go to France: Paris, Eiffel Tower
Go to America: Mall of America, Statue of Liberty, Disney land, Las Vegas, skydiving of the stratosphere, Grand Canyon, Niagra falls,Christmas in New York, LA, sit on top of the Hollywood sign, go to the Times Square
Go to the Maldives: Stay in a hut on the ocean
Go to Greece: Zakynthos & 5 Islands + Athens
Go to Chicago: try every ride at six flags, go on the sky deck
Go to Mexico
Go to Kenya: Safari
Go to Thailand
Go to Brazil

My suspicions about Nigel Farage & UKIP

The UK Independence Party has established some fundamental principles, but I have remained suspicious about their candidates. You only have to look at Nigel Farage- People fall for his 'just-like-a-normal-british-guy' attitude and the simple  policies he produces. A Channel 4 news documentary  'Nigel Farage-who are you?' had displayed Farage drinking with his mates at the pub-Just like a normal British guy. Nigel, is not a normal British guy-he is quite the opposite. He had a priviliged  upbringing in a private school. A party leader is expected to be open to new ideas in ordered to change the country for the better. Farage is not exactly that either. The daily mail quotes an ex-UKIP member said Nigel Farage had called a woman 'Stupid' -outrageous! According the the telegraph, Farage had racist and fascist views as a school boy. Not only, is UKIP incapable of listening to any suggestions outside the boundaries of their public school upbringing, but their pro-death penalty. Just look at the petition produced by Paul Nuttal, nearly All UKIP candidates were in favour. As you read on, be prepared to hear more evidence that supports my dislike towards UKIP.

UKIP plans to cut, cut, down on the NHS spendings. UKIP plans to cut, cut down on immigrantion altogether- who aid our country's economy. Who will suffer? You. You're benefits would be risk being cut- if you claim them. You could be less well off. Healthcare could be less sufficient. No cultures-this means no business. No foreign buisness? No economy growth. Whilst all this money is being cut from the economy,yes we could save money after years. Yes, years. In the meantime, what People don't realise that paying of the debt comes at a price itself, and we could suffer as a result. Do you really want this?Whilst UKIP is strives to make these cuts for everyone else, it was only yesterday he had been accused of claiming £15,000 to run his office in Bognor Regis. There are some exceptions for UKIP, as Nigel claimed he would allow some Syrian refugees here. However, I'm convinced that if he come to power his exeptions could be abandoned. Wikepedia also suggested Farage was not in favour of same sex marriage whilst other UKIP members were. Some people even think Farage is raicist - due to his ambition to exclude immigrants is so often expressed.

All in all, I'm not a fan of Farage as you may of guessed. Don't even mention UKIP....

Why we need finance and budgeting lessons in all schools

Money, money, money. It can be a worry-but a blessing for some. A staggering 1 in 6 children live in poverty in the UK- claims the BBC. Why are these appalling figures multiplying? Unfortunately, as well as a low income, some parents are incapable of budgeting as they had never been taught. That's why we need to introduce finance and budgeting lessons throughout every school within the UK. Helping children budget will not only increase their ability to save, but It will also raise children's  understanding and teach responsibility when dealing with their income. The benefits of these lessons will be extraordinary.


A deficit of Money can also leave some British Citizens relying on the governments benefits to live on. For some- this deficit can be a result of wasting money on items they don't need. However, we could reduce the percentage of people on benefits because of this- by  Introducing children to the consequences in the long term of where their salary goes. Let's say a graduate walked immediately into a job, and just bought holidays and clothes with his salary. Although it is an instinct to spend money when you gets paid; the downside could be him never being able to live in London, or save for a house deposit. These lessons will teach insurance, loads,mortgages, tax etc.

Overall, I believe finance  and budgeting lessons would be something incredibly important to consider in all schools. We don't want students to leave school, splash all their money on waste and be left homeless. We need to give children the maturity to understand how to buy their first house, and why it is essential that they save as much money to do so. As well as this aspect, we could create multiple jobs for teachers interested in finance, budgeting etc. There would be no reason why it should cost a lot either!

5 Aspects of Capital Punishment you didn't know

1) Murder for murder is hypocritical. If murdering someone is considered a crime, then why should a goverment commit the crime in return? We would turn out to be a harsh, and morally incorrect country like China.

-It offers oportunities for terrorists to be considered marters. If a terrorist wanted to die to get a point across (e.g wanting a new goverment etc) you're giving into what he wants. If we give in to what terrorists want, it can only encourage them. Not only terrorists, but extremist religous groups looking to die as marters; this makes the goverment look bad.

-If murdering is a crime,  using the death penalty makes the goverment look just as bad as the murderer in the first place. Do you really want to have a goverment who are a bunch of murderers themselves?

-Studies show there have been more murders in the US states with the death penalty than without. Why? because terrorists see this as a chance to make the goverment look awful. Murderers too.http://www.nmrepeal.org/issues/deterrence

-People who have died from the death penalty in previous occasions have been later found innocent. Think of their families, and how devastating it must be knowing that the real murderer is remains on the loose to this day. ://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wrongful_executio

If i were the Prime Minister.....(Education manefesto Part 2)

What after you're thoughts on the distinct difference between public and state schooling? My previous blog post in relation to this one had mentioned the beneficial effects of free schooling(following the regulations of summerhill school). However, free schools would not be paid for by higher class parents; all schools will be equal. Equal. If we Illiminated all private schools, and replaced them with higher quality, equal state schooling- this will create a more fair society. Why seperate the rich and the poor? This is an outdated tradition from hundreds of years ago!

Having attended to both private and state schooling, I have experienced a series of different learning enviroments. My private school learning did benefit somewhat, but I was unhappy. Moreover, being amongst a smaller class was a struggle to make friends; there were just enough of us to enable teachers to give each student more of a priority. Whereas in a state school, theres thirty of us and we have less induvidual attention, and treated equally. However, I respect being treated equally over recieving all the advantages from private schooling. I despise this seperating the rich and poor, its really, REALLY appauling that it continues to this day. Childrens education should not depend on the families income. Social mobility is only possible with a good education educaton-whereas the private system limits that to only a few. For example, even today disproportionate numbers of Oxford and Cambridge students were privately educated. I don't believe buying your way into a higher class education should ever occur in a fair society.

Lets end this proposterous tradition of seperating induviduals based on the wealth aspect. We want free, fair and equal schooling.

Please sponsor me for UNICEF's Live Below the line campaign!

One of UNICEF's most recent upcoming fundraising events had been mentioned on their 'Live Below the line' campagin. Their aim is to reduce the shocking figure of 27,500 children dying each year from malnutrition, and prevent children living in poverty. Between the 28th of April-2nd of May an event is being held to raise money for these children who live below the poverty line. The event consists of eating just £5 worth of food during the space of 5 days (£1 a day). I'm sure even £5 is far more than what the reality is for the children-but the point is to see how much we take our food for granted, to get a taste of how much more of a struggle it would be for them to face daily. 

I've decided to take part in this campaign,as it would be a great opertunity for me to raise awarness aswell as gain sponsers for my five days living on £5. Below is a link to my sponsorship page-My aim is to raise £250. Please donate whatever you can afford. Thank you!
https://www.livebelowtheline.com/me/mariamouzouropoulos

If I were the Prime Minister....(Education Manefesto part 1)

Have you ever been bored or stressed as a result of 'school'? If the answer is yes, then you're not alone- I am always discovering scribbled table messages stating 'tick if bored', not to mention the never ending ticks it recieves on a regular basis. Although i  realise education is nessasary for my future,but I just cannot stand my school. The lessons, the bitching popular people, the peer pressure. I sometimes find school good fun, as long as my friends are there with me. But,I do also occasionaly leave lessons thinking 'I didn't learn anything' or 'That lesson was pointless'.  Admitedly, alot of students will also have this atitude- but the truth is, most of the lessons ARE, no use to us. Design and Technology-Not intrested whatsoever, absoloutely useless at it. Don't get me started on my attempts of acting in Drama. The point is, we children have no freedom whatsoever about what lessons we attend- we are forced to turn up to all kinds of lessons that we feel are pointless,useless, meaningless. Its a prison to us. You're probably thinking- 'These subjects are beneficial and you just don't realise it. You will have to chose your GCSE subjects soon'. Having attended a state (attended a private school for a while) school for the last decade or so, I believe in a handful of logical soloutions to this aspect of what you're thinking, which could be considered a far superior way of controlling the education system within the UK.

Do you want to know the real reason why children hate school? Theres no freedom, students are forced to stay within classrooms for 6 hours a day. I've been researching about a Summerhill school in Sullfork, established in 1921 and an independant british boarding school. It was made to fit the child rather than the other way round. In other words, It's whats described as a democratic school which gives the children the opertunity to choose the lessons they want to go to. If a child wanted, they could sit around doing nothing all day, however most of these children are aware of the consequences of doing so. As a result, the vast majority of the pupils have enough maturity to attend the lessons at their own accord, and lead on to sucsessful lifestyles. The daily mail had claimed this school to be 'one of the most progressive schools on the planet'. Argubly, In state schools you could say that alot of the children could take advantage of optional lessons and not go to any, but one way round this is if schools had regular meetings once a week. 'Meetings' are also the technique used in Summerhill school,just like assemblies in state schools but less formal. If we made these meetings an essential part of the school timetable, we could encourage the children on a daily basis about how the more lessons they attend,the better their job,the better their future, the better their life. Their lesson options are chosen by them, as an induvidual. Independant learning. Therefore, i believe this will certinaly benefit them for when they have to make choices themselves in the long run/future. In addition, the meetings I mentioned previously could be a wakeup call to all unmotivated students, it will offer them the chance to see the light in education. It will make them see school in a different perspective, and not something they are forced in to doing. They will now see 'school' as a term defined as small steps to towards a career and way of meeting with their friends at their own pace! As stated in my introduction, I see this as a much better way of treating youngsters; by giving them the independence, it can only leave them with the maturity to make their own decisions. They need this maturity in advance, so life isn't a shock to them in when they see the real world. I know tons of teenagers assume they will marry someone rich, or automatically become a lawyer when they don't even bother doing the work to required to reach their ambitions. They need this maturity, we need independence and democracy amongst schools.

Futhermore, Before I decide on this change i would send a referendum system to all secondry school pupils, as well as their parents.  I would only allow this practice to take place on the understanding that the child is under supervision in school, and only in secondry schools. Parents can also have the opertunity between choosing their child to attend the free school, or going for the more traditional schooling. All education facilities will be equal and at no expense whatsoever. Private school teachers who are made redundant will automatically have the opertunity to be a teacher in one of our newer schools. Children want to see school in a better light, instead of a forced requirment by the goverment.

My thoughts on badger culling

When scientists and experts discovered that during their investigation, certain badgers were prone to a deadly disease ‘TB’; the only solution that appealed was culling them. Recent figures show over 30,000 cattle died contagiously from TB. However, other studies show after when the culling took place a few weeks ago 6.4% to 18% of the badgers were lying for an agonising 5 minutes before they died, whilst a staggering 1,771 were shot in total! Although, is it really fair these animals should be killed in such a brutal form, just so Britain can have a more varieties of meat in our diet? But before the culling took place, there was no evidence proving the public the benefits of their actions towards the badgers. Not only did the animals suffer, but over £7.29m was wasted on this practice- and that figure was spent using our tax bills according to the Independent Expert Panel, Care for the Wild. The result of this devastating happening has proven to making no difference to the TB being distributed to cattle. There was no evidence as to why it would’ve been a good idea in the first place.

In conclusion, around 50% of Extensive research carried out by Prof Woodroffe  in the 1990s had showed a failure to kill this percentage of badgers- in fact it could actually worsen matters as the disturbed and diseased animals took the TB into new areas! All in all, the numbers from now could either multiply the issue of TB, or remain the same. But before the culling took place, there was no evidence proving the public the benefits of their actions towards the badgers.

Arguably, if people in parliament were told lies or false evidence about how it’s necessary to cull badgers- of course a lot of them will fall for the opposition if it sounds persuasive enough. However, on the other hand the information mentioned may’ve been true- But clearly, not enough information to show the true benefits of badger culling, as the results were shown useless and fatal. Anyhow, I’m sure a lot of Members of parliament must’ve voted for the culling for this to have happened in the first place.

Hopefully parliament will learn from this tragedy and find the correct evidence before assuming it will save the disease from spreading to cattle.  I believe the public should automatically have a say on where their taxes go- rather than a group of people deciding it for them, because the decision agreed was by far one of the worst.

Why do teenagers get such bad press?

Ever since the age of ten, I've always had an awareness of how teenagers have the worst reputation in contrast to any other age group... my question is- why? Why do people feel the need to label any age ending with 'teen' as ignorant, moody 'teenagers'? Couldn't you say the same about a screaming, aggressive child? I've acknowledged that, yes - we are hormonal, which causes mood swings from time to time (sometimes hormones be blamed for a series of psychological problems too, such as bipolar disorder or depression). I've acknowledged that, yes - some teenagers consider vandalism as 'cool' (and sometimes they vandalise to release stress and anger within, sometimes hormones). Take another moment to look what's inside the brackets. For some teenagers, their actions are a result of something that's not their fault, and it's actually just their way of expressing themselves. Futhermore, most teenagers are absouloutely lovely despite their constant mood swings, like my friends! Therefore, I'm now going to suggest things you may of witness that may've been caused by teenagers, and you're reaction. I'm not going to lie, but we all see 'grafity' as a disgrace, to some extent!

First things first, as I mentioned previously grafity is a common source of vandalism and often found nearby railway tracks and abandoned areas. However, if its professional looking and forms a picture it can look fantastic! Teenagers or young adults use grafity the most, but the reasons why some risk their lives beside tracks, no one really knows. My guesses are aiming to feel precious and 'cool'  having thousands of passangers pass you're artwork on a daily basis, or because they are contemplating suicide (extravagant but possible). We don't know the reasonings, but assuming grafity is done by a selfish, heartless teenager is definetly a no, no. The same goes to any form of vandalism, from park benches to burned cars in the woods. Like I said, vandalising and grafitying  are how some people release bad emotions, and we all deal with these negative emotions in many different ways. Some smash and break property, some talk to others. The way people express their emotions vary from one person to another. When you're a teenager, the emotions become more and more promenant and aggressive everyday it's just not our fault. Its these hormones.

We've now established that no one really knows the real triggers of vandalism, but you've seen my guesses and hopefully you can now use them to see that it's not nessasarily teenagers fault for acting in such a way. I know that being a teenager (as do most of you!) will probably be remembered as the most enjoyable but most upsetting years of my life. Upsetting, because a lot of my time is being wasted with endless crying for no reason what so ever, but it also remains the most enjoyable experience because I know that I'm surrounded by people who are going through the same issues as me.

So next time you see a source of vandalism, please don't assume its an ignorant or selfish teenager, instead imagine yourself in the shoes of one and consider their situation.

Do we need gap years?

Gap years have been a largely controversial subject throught the previous years in particular, due to the vast quantities of school leavers who immediatly raise their hands when the opertunity arises. Although, unbelievable proportions of them take advantage and see this as  a huge chunk of time to relax, stay indoors and lounge around all day, all year in some cases. The consequences can be disasterous; your application form towards a half-decent university will most likely be neglected. This immediatly reduces your chances of finding work that requires a degree...

Students who take a gap year are expected to find some work experience, preferably relevant to the to course you are applying for, from volanteer work abroad to fun events that can embolish your CV. For example you could work in a homeless shelter, teach children a particular skill, etc. After you take part in all these crucial, enjoyable opertunities over the course of the year, they develop into a huge jigsaw that represents your dream job, all the hard work finally coming together, piece after piece. This year is the year where it becomes essential that you're focused on your future prospects-if you're not commited don't even attempt to take the risk. A positive attitude is also nessasary in all circumstances, no temporary job is going to employ the unwilling, gloomy-minded.

I'm in all favour of gap years, however only if your mature enough to use this time wisely. Additionaly, I've realised that alot of people disagree with gap years completely because they see it as a waste of time when people don't embrace it like i mentioned previously.

Since I am eager to go into a job where I'm helping people, aswell as dabbling in politics my ideas for  a gap year would be to do some volantry work, maybe for a charity that supports people in hospital or something along those lines. I would also contribute a question on the debating/political tv show 'Question Time' as I can't go until I'm over 18 (so upsetting!)

Futhermore, if you do happen to consider taking a gap year, don't waste this precious time to fiddle on the xBox 24/7; realise your ambitions and research on how to reach them. Not only will this instantly increase your chances of having you're dream job, but it also looks attractive on you're CV when applying for university.

Should teenage girls be wearing makeup?

Should teenage girls be wearing makeup?
Makeup is a huge aspect of teenage morden society and has been flooding around schools for as long as I can remember, mine particularly; it is an all girls school. Some teenagers come across as orange (can be a sign of exsessive fake tan) some can't be bothered with the hassel, and others keep it natural but cover unwanted blemishes. However, do the girls with orange makeup intend for it to look so fake, or do they apply they're makeup in the wrong lighting? After all, we all have days when we apply to much makeup without realising, and its only until later until someone comments. Or could the reasoning for overuse of makeup be a form of insecurity? Could be, as I'm constantly spotting the same people, who always wear far too much as if it were intended...

So what triggers people to wear too much of these achne-multiplying products? Linking to the insecurity aspect, peer pressure could be involved, or trying to fit in with the popular crowd. Maybe its the 'cool' thing to do nowadays, but is it REALLY worth  sacrificing your true beauty to an orange mess, so you can fit in with the popular crowd?

Some beauty therapists have claimed that makeup as encourages a series of skin conditions, ranging from 'achne' -which is said to be common teenagers, to very dry and damaged skin cells. This doesn't nessasarily apply to all makeup users, but if the makeup builds up (from not washing of sufficiently enough, or using vast quantities so skin becomes irritated and damaged) then it becomes an issue.

So now we've established using vast amounts of makeup not only makes you look tarty, but it also damages the skin and is to blame for all the agrovating skin conditions as I stated previously. If you are one of the people who wears too much makeup, it may not of have caught up to you yet, but sooner or later you WILL regret how much you damaged your beautiful face, and the consequences can sometimes be incureable. Its not worth it, just to fit in. Accept who you are, don't be fooled by barbies, the media or pressure from other girls to look like a prostitute. It WILL come back to you, trust me.

So what can you do?
If you absoloutely HAVE to wear makeup, at least wear it naturally, a bit of concelear here and there, and some foundation-but NOT so it forms a orangeline around your chin. Wearing makeup naturally is completely harmless, so as long as you wash it of you can comprimise with fitting in and start thinking about what your face will look like in the future.

Accept yourself, and stop sacrificing you for a bunch of people who will be worthless to you when you walk into the real world.

Is Immigration a good thing?

As many of you are aware of the current disputute about the UK's immigration policies, I analayised and researched some stastics, to see what migrants really contribute to our society. This graph ubove shows the net number of immigrants who come to the UK, after a handful leave and others maintain their new lifestyle.The graph suggests that the numbers have fluctulated throughout the past several years, but the general trend of non-british citizens is increasing! However, this isn't nessasarily a bad thing, most of them come for work. Before I explain futher, the party UKIP want to limit immigration, and leave the european union, but is this the best option for our economy?

 The national instution of economic research study showed that 13 percent of our society today have immigrated, and only 1 percent of those immigrants are reliant on benefits. Although that 1 percent is around 63,000- who are presumably unemployed; they too are just as likely to be assylum seekers or incapable of finding work. Yes, they may be claiming benefits but to what extend can we say no, no more benefits for you?  I suspect alot of theese imigrants didn't choose to be ending up claiming benefits, but just Imagain if we said no to every immigrant who was relying on them. Consider The assylum seekers, those who were once living in poverty, finally having the opertunity to hope for a new life here in the UK, or people who can't work because they didn't have an education as an adolesent. Consequently, they will be homeless, starving and as a result the UK reputation will plument and reach its terminal velocity.

Still not convinced about letting immigrants claim our benefits? Let me question this; would you rather have homeless, beggers, even children on the streets of London, or alternatevly some hopeful immigrants, relying on the benefits to help them find work, that create our economy for more than just the british citizens. Imagain how awful our reputation would look if we didn't have a variety of diffrent cultures in our economy; this is a huge chunk that would be illumanted if you vote UKIP.

So now we've established that if we didn't allow imigrants to claim benefits, there would be thousands more beggers than we've ever recorded, and that if we didn't allow anyone acsess to live in the UK, there would be no cultures and no variety of diffrent people in our society. I have also heard a series of times that they would take our jobs, but what in the right mind gives you this conclusion, when a BBC news investigation was carried out to prove that vast quantites of theese harmless immigrants charge far less for jobs, and do more of the occupations that no british citizen is willing to do. Not to mention, alot of theese immigrants return home once they've earned a substancial amount to convert into their countries currency, which would be far more to support themselves and their families than what they would earn in their country,too.

So, if you want an even bigger deficit of jobs,a unsubstancial, limited, british society with no diffrent cultures or nationalities-which are said to be a huge aspect of bringing our economy together, then vote UKIP!

Was Benefits Street a fair portrayal of the unemployed?

Benefits Street, the TV series is called: Benefits Street, the short but narrow minded concept of St James Turner street in Birmingham, where the majority of  residents are critized for living a benefit-dependant lifestyle. Don't get me wrong, but a lot of us rely on benefits at some point in our lives, but why people feel the need to blame St James Turner residents for relying on benefits, when many of us do, too. Ever since  'Benefits Street' had been showed, the BBC news has claimed that over 50,000 people signed a petition suggesting the show exploited residents and should be pulled from the air. They also claim it has had over 5 million viewers so far.

The controversy has led to vast quantities of visitors, treating the street as if it were a tourist attraction. Vunerable children cycling down the pavement are left too traumatised to play outside,or even go to school. This is all due to the publicity of this show,  and how it results in people throwing abusive comments towards these unfortunate families.

My overall conclusion of this news is that not everyone who is benefit-dependant chose to be this way:
MAYBE they can't find a job.
MAYBE they are refugees.

But the only soloution for a possibility of peace in this street, is to stop influencing the public with more 'Benefits Street'. We do NOT want theese poor residents to be looked down on like peasants.

My thoughts on the Tube Strikes

The TFL strike troubled many underground users a couple of days last week; this was all due to Boris Johnson who refused to nagiotiate with unions on behalf of the ticket office workers. Boris Johnson seemed to have an ambition to make all the ticket office workers redundant, and replace them with ticket machienes. Hang on Boris, what about tourists? You can't expect tourists who stay temporarily buy a £10 oyster card, when they will probably never use it for future use anyway!! There is ALWAYS a use for ticket offices, especialy if the machienery breaks.  Because you didn't want to discuss or comprimise this situation with the unions, you pissed off 2 million people that day.

Why I Despise Michael Gove's Education Policies

Over the last week I have viewed a series of interviews and read various articles which all associate to Michael Gove ambitions to refine the standard of state schools. He has claimed that the private schools in England currently have to offer are the best independant schools in the world, yet why shouldn't our state schools be just as good? One of the articles by the daily mirror mentioned Michael Gove believes that children should be having detentions, (as if we don't already!) and teachers should be more stern with their students.Although there have been many surveys providing the statistics/evidence that private schools tend to do better at GCSE than public, I think its highly unreasonable to make children from the age of 11 arrive at school for 7 am-5pm(10 hours!-Times 5 is fifty hours a week, almost equvalent of a lawyers timetable!) From my own experience, even waking up at 7 is a struggle; Its praticaly still night time during winter and the moon is still shining through my bedroom blinds. So arriving at school in the dark would be an awful lifestyle for me, and the same opinion would probably apply to the vast majority of my public schools, as well as my own.

This goes to all students, or anyone who works in the early hours of the day: Do you ever find yourself  knackered and exhausted by the time you arrive at school/work? This is the result of lack of sleep, which if this new policy ever did arise to attend school so early, growing children would no longer have sufficent sleep. Scientific studies reccomend children to get at least ten hours sleep a day, but if you have to wake up af 5-6am you would have to go to bed at 8! You may think 3 hours free time is adequate, but if you take into account extra ciricular activities (for example: sewing, sports etc) and PARTICULARLY homework; consequently you will find youself having hardly any free time to embrace-nothing to LIVE for exept a weekend here and there. Futhermore, Michael Gove seems to have no knowledge of the current presence of after school clubs in STATE schools, so that establishes my point about how he should find some facts before expecting more from teenagers/children! Then on, its the same struggle everyday, stress and hard work, and a little sleep if your lucky. Its totally disrespectful for Michael Gove to not take into account how this will take such a huge impact on young students lives. Many students theese days seem to be very tired in the morning already, due to lack of sleep. Therefore, the few extra hours in the morning would in No WAY shape or form make a diffrence, It will just ware the teachers and children out.

I have a numerous amount of friends who went to private schools, aswell as myself. Yes, the education was obviously better, however alot of private schools theese days have reputations of ruining peoples outside lives. I found myself and from other peoples experiences getting incredibly hung up on work, homework etc. Its not a way of living for children, doing more hours than the average working hours of an adult is completely preposterous. 

Another thing, If i had the opertunity to speak to this selfish man I would yell him down to quit assuming that teachers haven't been giving out detentions, before deciding for teachers to be more strict and increase working hours. Think about your peoples LIFES rather than what people are going to think of England's reputation.

Why are we hearing so much about Madeline Mccan, what about other missing children?

Picture yourself as the parents of a young, vunerable child, who went missing over a decade ago, yet their news continues to be ignored and untold in the media today. Thousands of children, and even adults go missing every year,  It suggests a whole range of reasons the news (for example) would prioritize some cases and let others go unoticed. So why would people ignore such tragedies.  Its all to do with the publicity such as how dramatic the story is, or how rare, or the age of the child- It's all taken into account when deciding whether  or not the media would publish the case and help those effected by informing the rest of the country. Once the country would percieve the information, those who sympathised deeply and really wanted to help would take action and help look for the missing victim. But unfortuantely, The reality is if they ever did conclude to put every single lost person's story on the news, people would no longer watch the news, why? Because not everyone is intrested, and people especially don't want to hear the similar cases of missing people every day of their lives. You can argue on the oposite side of the spectrum that the vast quantities of lost victims would have a increasingly higher chance of being found almost straight after the disapearance were reported. People would recognise the missing faces, some would be traumatised themselves and so sympathetic towards the child and the family, alot of people will be inclined to look or help in some way effectively.

Imagain how isolated the parents must be feeling when their story gets ignored, in addition to trying to accept the fact they have supposedly lost a child.They watch the latest BBC news programme claiming a new investigation is taking place for Madeliene Mccan who went missing nearly 7 years back. As much as I feel sympathy for Kate and Jerry Mccan,  there have been thousands of other children missing during those 7 years since the media have continued to persist with the story about the 3 year old child. So, now we've estabalished you need to have an immensely rare story, intreging information, and preferably a young child (like the Mccans family) what chance is there you'll have your case published to the extent that they have? Its one in thousands. Why do we listen to them more, is it because they have more money, are middle class, well educated, pushy and are more articulate? What about people who don't have those advantages? The parents are putting pressure and being minipulative on the media to publisize their issue they have been going through; its unfair on those who don't have those advantages-such as poorer families, their cases are virtually ignored.

So my question to you is, is it fair for the parents of Madeline to minipulate the media to prioritize their child's disapearance, when there are other poorer families who are incapable of doing so? Leave your comments below.

What would Nelson Mandela say about homophobia?

Last weeekend me and my mum went to see 'Long Walk To Freedom' , the movie based around the dedicated, determined fighter for democracy, Nelson Mandela. Before seeing the film, I had a basic understanding of how Mandela fought for equal rights, and that black people were treated in such a cruel hearted way. After watching the film I was astounded by how much abuse he put himself through; I can't even begin to imagine what it would feel like to be imprisoned for 27 years. If it wasn't for such an inspiring man, the racism would carry on and possibly more countries would join in on that awful misconception of black people. Racism is still here today, but clearly no where near the way it was before Mandela stepped in.

This is the point where I go onto speaking about gay people, It's a similar case scenario, but based around people's choices of what gender they love. I'm not gay personally, because thats who I am. However, I think its perfectly acceptable if you are intrested in people the same gender as you, if that's who YOU are. People are judging gay people just like people were racist with black people, therefore why is it acceptable to hate people who love someone who's the same gender? Going back to 'equal rights', do you think Mandela would approve of nasty comments about someonew who was DIFFRENT in any shape or form? Not to mention, the word 'Gay' nowadays is used negatively all the time: 'Oh that's gay, you're gay, stop being gay'  .It's immensely childish and people need to get over the fact that people are made to be diffrent, and everyone should be treated with respect, no matter what colour skin they have, no matter what their sexuality is.

At the moment this is a topical issue on the news, due to the imminant winter olymics in Sochi (in Russia) But the question is: Should we take part? Russia has recently announced a new anti gay law; critics say the law is discriminatory and aimed at stifling dissent. It is my personal opinion that no way should we take part in such a nasty homophobic country's olympics. However, I completely understand that athletes would be devasted after all their endless training, so maybe an alternative  answer would be protesting at the games with huge rainbow flags(rainbow coloured things represent the gay movement) After all, it would be incredibly damaging publicity-wise if the Russians aressted them.

Lets stand up to this homophobia, just like Mandela fought for equal rights. Lets start at Sochi.

Depression Alliance

Depression Alliance is an organisation which has saved huge numbers of people struggling with what could be a life threatning illness- depression. More than 1 in 5 people in the UK suffer from it, and wouldn't it be  dreadful if this trend continued? People are ashamed to have this isolating illness, due to feeling as if no one would understand how they feel. This page has helped vast quantitys of people with depresssion, even celebrities- In fact, there is even a celebrity support page. There are also other alternatives to choose from such as talking on an online chat, or a phone number to call. If you wish to help this amazing, inspirational charity you can put forward a donation, or become a part of the comunity.

I would really appreciate it if you visited this website: @http://www.depressionalliance.org

Immigration

This is an article based on immigration and why it benefits us more than if we were a country alone. European Immigrants contributed more than 34% in taxes than they recieve in benefits during the decade leading up to 2011. We should stop vilifying and assuming they are going to do awful things. I suggest anyone who against immigration reads this.

@http://thebackbencher.co.uk/6-facts-need-know-honest-debate-immigration/

Man kept in garage for 6 weeks and abused

A recent news report has declared that Craig kinsella; a vunerable man with learning difficaulties had been stored in a familys garage for aproximately 6 weeks. Additionaly, beaten and battered with a pix ax aswell as being forced into what the emaciated man described as 'slavery' in court. Likewise, he had to work the slavery hours of 7:30-12pm at night, consequently not being paid a even a single penny. The only phasilities were a bucket as a toilet, a curtain to sleep on and very few meals for him to strive of. Furthermore he was treated as if he were a dog some would say, and was given  death threats if he attempted to escape. The family; david rooke and his girlfriend have been sentenced for 6 years imprisonment, which might not be enough due to the problem reoccuring in the future. I am now going to conclude theese facts and discuss why it is essential that we change this brutal familys attitude.

The evidence clearly show how aggressively craig kinsella was kept, but how do we know that many other people are being kept in this enviroment aswell? The truth is, we don't, but we can try and persuade the police to start take action on what could happen, instead of focusing what is happening in the present. In this case the police were clueless, but maybe they should investigate theese scenarios more often; we can prevent the innocent being forced into such vile conditions.

The facts also announce that Craig was given 15 grand, but the majority of the public believe that this is no where near enough to sacrifice for the pain he had to go through for 6 slow weeks.

After researching the story i have a strong belief in rising the years imprisonment of this family up to 10 years,  I would then make them be rehabilitaed. After all, it wasnt long until craig almost died from the suffering he faced, and if it reoccurs, imagain what would happen. Whereas if the family were rehabilitated, they would be released as new people hopefully...

Parking Fines

Over the past few years, many councils have been struggling to find money in ordered to pay for services in various diffrent places. Theese services can be anything from librarys to recycling tips; everything we take for granted on a regular basis. The councils have made a regime where people who want to park their car have to buy a ticket- the average price is around £1 an hour. However, if you forget to buy a ticket, you are forced to pay an immense £60 parking fine! Recent studies suggest that the vast majority of the public consider this as an outrage. Is it exceptable to take huge chunks of our income for a one off mistake? As i read futher, i will briefly show the parking debt in comparison to other fines, as well as how we could resolve this matter.

The fine average fine for possesion of cannibis is proven to be around £80, which is a miniscule £20 diffrence from the parking fine. Seeing as owning cannibis is illegial and and making a accidental mistake isn't, why should it be acceptable to give us a £60 fine? You could argue that this is where the council get most of their money to pay towards council cservies, but in the long run they could just as easily earn their profit another way whilst reducing the expense of parking fines. Did you know that motorists have to pay around 30million A month, and in westminster 1269 parking fines are issued everyday? The extravagncy is incredibly out of proportion and utterly insane, due to most other  fines are charged for either a criminal offence or dangerous actions (e.g driving without a license) etc. Parking without a ticket is not a crimal offence, nor is it dangerous. Not to mention, what if you dont have any spare capacity in your income? For instance, after their parking fine they might not have the flexibility to afford even a meal for their children.

Many hospitals have ignored the fact that the goverment reccomended to stop giving out parking charges for long term patients. My personal experience shows that people like my mother who has to pay £10 every week she wants to park at saint gorges hospital for chemotherapy. At the end she will have paid at least £200 on parking tickets, another , financial burden for her. Or imagain a scenario, where a elderly women faints at a checkout and as a result she is few minutes over her parking ticket. She then finds an envelope on her window screen, and it demands £60 of her low pention. How would that make YOU feel?

In conclusion, I believe that the council should comprimise with the public by reducing the fine to £20, that way people might feel less obliged to pay for a ticket if they are relitavely wealthy, or if they forget to buy one they aware that the consequenses are minor. The council would probably earn just as much, and the nation would be relieved to no longer have to worry as much about their parking fines. People who are genunly want to buy a ticket will do so, but the ones who are intentionaly trying to evade parking fines will also continue; this time the council will pick up their revenue in fines,from the dishonest people who really deserve it.

Stop using poor motorists as an eternal source of income!

Is it fair that the Muslim terroists should be imprisoned for life?

A recent news report was declared that michael adebolajo and michael adebowale had been found guilty of murdering Lee rigby, a prime solider in the army institution. Both of the murderers were brought up as christians but later converted to islam. They both had strong political views about attacking araq, afgahnistan and islam etc. They clearly dispised the idea of invading
these contries in particular,  due to the Muslims who live there being killed. However, is it acceptable to agressively murder a soldier; whom was given orders by the goverment to bomb theese countries, with a meat cleaver? My investigation gives the reasonings from both ends of the spectrum, as well as the murders perspective on the event; Should they be pleaded guilty for the remains of their life?

Many people would argue that the two men deserved to be imprisioned for life, because the use of a meat cleaver to commit a murder in public mustve been a hurendous scenario for a handful of witnesses. In addition, the family were devasted along with viewers who utterly loathe the murders; the attack was far too violent. Some people believe that the attack was useless, because the innocent solider had nothing to do with the goverments decisions; after all, he had to do his job in ordered to earn money.

However on the other hand, the terroists were obviously trying to get their point accross to the goverment in which they were prepared to die for-They wanted to die because their religion told them they would go to heaven. They commited the murder to convince the goverment to stop attacking all the Muslim countires. All the innocent survillians in the countries were dying each day- they had nothing to do with the overall conflict. Maybe the men wanted peace, and their religion promoted this prospect.

Overall i personaly believe theese men shouldn't be imprisoned for a lifetime, but house imprisonment until they are 70. The reason i wish them to not be imprisioned for a lifetime is because they could completely change their attitude completely in a few years time, and its not fair someone should be guilty for a lifetime, locked in a cell and never forgiven. We should also offer the chance of rehabillitation to theese men, so they come out as completely new people.