Anders Behring Breivik Identified as Norway Gunman

Posted by Jeff in Politics

Anders Behring Breivik has been identified as the gunman who went on a rampage in Norway on Friday.

Breivik is now sitting in a police cell awaiting official terror charges. He gave himself up as soon as police challenged him without any more violence, leading people suspecting that he wanted to have a public forum to air his radical views.

Far from being an Islamic terrorist plot as initially suggested, it turns out that the 32 year old Breivik is a right-wing radical who wanted to start an uprising against, what he saw, as the Islamisation of western Europe.

The picture of Breivik is becoming clearer by the day and it appears he recently published online, a 1,500 page ‘manifesto’ called “2083: A European Declaration of Independence”.

In it he details his beliefs and plans including sourcing explosives, weapons and training. It all leads up to the final chilling entry on Friday July 22nd which says “I believe this will be my last entry. It is now Fri July 22nd, 12.51″

He goes into incredible details about his operations, setting up a farm company to hide his activities sourcing fertilizer and give him a credible story should anyone investigate.

Breivik didn’t have a prior criminal record and national service was the closest he came to military service.

It seems that Breivik wanted to initiate an armed revolution against the government for what he thought was their failing to serve the people.

He said through a statement via his lawyer that the attacks were “atrocious but necessary” in order to stop the spread of Islam. How thinking that killing scores of innocent people would cause an uprising only he knows.

It is obvious from what we now know that Breivik was a cold, calculating killer who believed his own ideology to the extent that it consumed his entire identity and reason for living.

Photo: c3nes

Heatwave Settles Over US & Canada

Posted by Jeff in Travel

Temperatures have surged over parts of the US and Canada as a heatwave parks itself over large parts of both countries.

There have been over 20 cities in Canada have broken their previous heat records and in the US there were more than 200 heat records broken.

People have compared the soaring temperatures to being in a sauna all day with no escape. The temperatures have been accompanied by high humidity.

Many cities have hit 40C including New York, the humidity factor has meant it felt more like 45C.

The city has starting to cut back on electricity usage in certain areas as it tries to stop infrastructure from overheating. The electrical grid has seen power usage go through the roof, mainly from use of air conditioners and gadgets to keep cool in the stifling heat.

Over in Canada, temperatures in Toronto reached the 100F mark. This is close to 38C, a record for July in the city.

The heatwave has travelled in from the mid-west last weekend and is expected to last into next week. The city is not the best place to be during such weather, the heat builds up in the asphalt and buildings reflecting it back and storing it up to gradually release it over a longer period of time… meaning stifling nights that are difficult to sleep through.

Photo: Global Jet

Huge Explosion Rocks Oslo, Capital of Norway

Posted by Jeff in Politics

A huge explosion has rocked Oslo, Norway. Eyewitnesses say it was a bomb targeting Government buildings. So far police have confirmed that there are 2 people dead and scores injured in the blast.

Olso is the capital of the Scandinavian country Norway and rarely hits the headlines.

Today though a huge blast erupted from the center of Oslo near to the Prime Ministers offices, first indications are that he wasn’t there at the time. Prime Minister Stoltenberg told Norwegian TV that all government ministers were safe.

Eyewitnesses said that the first thing that came to mind when they heard the explosion was ‘a bomb’. Windows were blown out in the immediate area and some buildings are a twisted version of how they looked a few hours earlier.

Police have confirmed the deaths of 2 people but are still hunting buildings and it is likely that the number will increase. No one has so far claimed responsibility for the blast.

Shortly after the explosion reports from the local media started to come through that there had been a shooting incident at a youth conference for the Labour Party in Utoeya, south of Oslo.

It is understood that a man dressed as a policeman started to shoot into the crowd wildly. TV2 reported that police had arrested the suspected gunman.

At this point it is not known if the two incidents were linked but it seems that they both were targeting the Government. The coincidence is unavoidable.

Norway is a member of NATO and has deployed troops in Afghanistan and Libya so some are already pointing the finger at the Islamic extremists.

The other group who could be to blame are local far-right extremists, but experts have said that they are unlikely to have the capability to stage large car bomb attacks. The the most likely explanation of how the plan was executed.

The third option is that the atrocity was carried out by a lone player, the attack at the island appears to have happened a couple of hours after the bombing. Just the right amount of time it would have taken to travel from one area to the other.

The other factor is that if it was a group then you would expect more than one gunman carrying out shootings as in Mumbai.

Photo: Lars Dahlin

South Sudan – The World Has a New Country

Posted by Jeff in Education, Travel

South Sudan has become the newest country in the world as it became an independent nation from Sudan today, officially recognised by it’s neighbour and by the UN.

The move was made possible after the peace treaty in 2005 between the warring north and south of Sudan. Decades of conflict had witnessed some estimated 1.5 million people perished in Africa’s longest running conflict.

The Sudanese President, Omar Al-Bashir and head of the UN, Ban Ki-Moon were both present at the independence ceremony in Juba, the new nations capital Juba.

South Sudan now becomes the 193rd country to be a member of the United Nations and the 54th officially recognised state in Africa.

Hours before the official change of statesmanship, the people of Juba were out on the streets celebrating, waving their new national flag, banging drums and chanting their Presidents name.

There will be challenges ahead for the new country, there are still some  groups skirmishing in the border regions and it has real problems with education, with 84% of women illiterate and less than 1% of children finishing primary school in it’s poorest regions. In health there are many issues including a very high mortality rate in child birth.

However, South Sudan is a large country of almost 240,000 sq. miles and contains a large number of oil fields where it currently shares revenue with the North. A position that will have to be re-negotiated.

So the future looks brighter for the newest African nation, supported by the US and the UN. With large oil revenues and no fighting, growth could be rapid.

Phone Hacking Scandal Dials Up Pressure on News International

Posted by Jeff in Celebrity

The phone hacking scandal that has enveloped the British tabloid paper, the News of the World, has taken even more twists this week as new revelations emerge about the phone hacking of Milly Dowler, a girl who was murdered in 2002.

The phone hacking scandal has been rumbling on for months now as it emerges that the News of the World newspaper hacked into the voicemail of celebrities and other prominent public figures.

This week it took a much more sinister turn as it has emerged that one of the victims of the phone hacking may have been the schoolgirl Milly Dowler, who was abducted and murdered in 2002. There are also police investigations into whether victims of the 7/7 London bombings were also targeted by the paper.

The latest revelations have really hit a nerve with the public, shifting the story from one prominently about ethics (public sympathy for celebrities and politicians is not always generous), to one of disgust and revulsion.

It already seems to be causing a backlash against News International, the owner of the paper and owned by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation. Advertisers are reconsidering their relationship and twitter is buzzing with people who are switching papers in protest.

In another twist, the police are said to be investigating whether payments were made and accepted by police officers at the time. The case first came to light about 6 years ago but was only concerned with hacking of the Royal Family phones. Many people have wondered why the initial investigation did not show up any of the recent evidence that is only now being investigated.

The private investigator at the centre of the controversy, Glenn Mulcaire, had until this week remained silent on the issue but felt compelled to make a statement to the Guardian newspaper after what he said had been the vilification of him and his family over the past 24 hours.

In it he apologized to “anybody who was hurt or upset by what I have done”. Mulcaire has already served prison time in 2007 for his involvement in the hacking of the voicemail of members of the Royal family when the case first came to light.

What is Phone Hacking?

Although ‘phone hacking’ suggests some sort of computer expert spending hours locked in a room programming a way into telephone operators systems, the truth is much simpler.

Most people’s voicemail never had the default pin code changed or had one that was very simple to guess. Voicemail services often have an external number where you can call and then enter the mobile number and pin code, or alternatively it seems a practice was used whereby they called the phone on one line and then made a second call getting them automatically diverted to voicemail.

Fundamentally it was a flawed design of the system which seems to be being overlooked, some phone companies have since taken action to change their processes but we should be asking the phone companies why was is so easy? And for those that haven’t changed their ways, why not?

It is illegal under British law to gain access to another persons phone or voicemail without permission although, inevitably, the UK’s security services can apply for warrants to do just that.

Happy 4th July to all Americans

Posted by Jeff in Education

A happy 4th July to all Americans as they celebrate Independence Day, but what’s behind the celebration?

In a country that has been, and still is, founded on immigration, it’s understandable that some of the history of Independence day gets lost in the celebrations as time moves on and new stories and cultures get thrown into the mix. So here’s a quick recap.

Thomas Jefferson wrote down the document as a declaration of the causes of the political separation from Great Briton and the King.

Containing ‘self-evident truths’ and a list of grievances it was signed by representative’s of the then 13 states and dated 4th July, 1776.

Although the ideas were not necessarily new (it owes alot to the Magna Carta signed in England and the Virginia state declaration of rights for instance), above the list of grievances it is a beautifully scripted document that eloquently lays out the foundation of a new democracy.

Photo: http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/declaration.html

Serena and Venus Williams Both Out of Wimbledon

Posted by Jeff in Sports, Tennis

The defending Wimbledon Champion, Serena Williams and her 5 times Wimbledon winning sister Venus Williams, have both been knocked out of the Championship in the 4th round.

The Williams sisters have won an incredible 9 Wimbledon titles in the last 11 years but this time it wasn’t to be.

Serena has just returned back to the tennis court after suffering from a life threatening illness and Venus has just come back from injury. Both have been a little rusty but have still been too strong for their opponents thus far.

That changed in the fourth round, first on court was Serena who was playing Marion Bartoli of France. Bartoli has previously been a finalist in the 2007 Wimbledon championship, beaten ironically by Venus.

She broke Serena to claim the first set 6-3 before taking the second set to a tie break, which after a nervous start, she held out to win 7-6 (8-6).

Venus arrived on centre court just after Serena’s match had just finished so she obviously knew the scoreline, perhaps it affected her concentration, perhaps not but she looked a little less focused and confident than in previous rounds.

She was playing Tsvetana Pironkova, a lady who is obviously talented, but has so far failed to shine this year winning very few matches on tour.

However, she seems to be taking to Wimbledon in a way that belies her year so far and hasn’t dropped a set.

Pironkova broke Venus twice in the first set to take it 6-2 and the second set went the way of the first, 6-3, with Venus looking a shadow of her former self.

Bartoli will now face Sabine Lisicki in the quarterfinals and Pironkova will play Petra Kvitova.

Photo: left-hand

Billy The Kid Portrait Sells For $2.3 Million

Posted by Jeff in Celebrity

The only known portrait of Billy The Kid has been sold at auction for $2.3 million, taken in Fort Sumner it is the only authenticated picture of Billy The Kid in existence.

The picture has belonged to the same family since Billy The Kid gave it to his friend, Dan Dendrick. It has never before been offered for sale.

The portrait is an early form of photography called a tintype which forms a picture between two plates of metal.

It was taken at Fort Sumner in New Mexico somewhere around the 1880′s and was initially thought to prove that the gunslinger was left handed, later it was used to prove that he was in fact, right handed.

Billy The Kid was and still is an iconic figure of the wild west, he is thought to have killed at least 21 people during his short life, was captured and sentenced to death, escaped and was pursued and eventually killed by Sheriff Garrett in 1881.

U2 Rock the Glastonbury Pyramid Stage

Posted by Jeff in Entertainment, Music

U2 finally made it to Glastonbury for the first time to rock the main Pyramid Stage last night.

As anyone with any sense knows, the best route to a successful performance at a festival is to crank out your greatest hits for the audience to sign along too, U2 didn’t disappoint.

After missing out last year because of back surgery, Bono and the band played some songs from their seminal album ‘The Joshua Tree’  including ‘Where The Streets Have No Name’ and ‘With Or Without You’.

Other songs included ‘One’, ‘Elevation’ and ‘Beautiful Day’ as well as a rendition of the Coldplay favourite, ‘Yellow’. Coldplay will take to the Pyramid stage to perform themselves on Saturday. Beyonce will similarly headline on Sunday.

There was one slight hiccup for U2 when a huge inflatable tube was erected at the start of their set, emblazoned with the words “U Pay Your Tax 2″. The group Art Uncut were responsible and accuse U2 of dodging tax in their home country of Ireland.

Photo: jdn