Prime Minister Cameron Threatens Crackdown on Social Media

Posted by Tracy in Politics

The UK’s Prime Minister, David Cameron, has said that there will be a review into whether to turn off access to social media & phone texting during times of civil unrest.

After days of rioting, looting and violence on the streets of Britain, the Government declared that they will be meeting executives from Facebook, Twitter and RIM (who make the Blackberry) to discuss their ‘obligations’.

David Cameron said that he was “struck by how they [the rioters] were organised via social media”.

He said that the Government would be taking advice from the police, intelligence services and industry figures whether it was “right and possible” to cut off social media being used to “spread disorder”.

It is a rapid turnaround for a Government who, only months earlier, had been singing the praises of social media sites when they were heavily utilized to organise the Arab uprisings.

Back then Government officials were chastising political leaders from other countries for attempting to switch off the internet and suppress the flow of information. It appears that when it is in your own back yard, it may be a different story.

Not that any of the rioting or violence should be excused of course, but a knee-jerk reaction that yet again attacks civil liberties and internet freedom appears to be in full effect.

In a moment of mild ironic comedy during the rioting, over in Libya, a spokesman for Colonel Gadaffi chastised Cameron for trying to suppress the uprising of the people who wish to overthrow him.

Back in London, now the rioting has died down after massive police numbers were drafted in, there have been mass clean-ups organised via facebook, twitter and other parts of the web. In some areas people were being turned away because of the numbers.

The speed of the cleanup has meant that some parts of London were remarked to be cleaner than they have been for decades, and shows the other side of social media’s powerful effect.

An appeal has also been setup for Malaysian student Asyraf Haziq. He was filmed apparently being helped after being hit, but was actually having his rucksack lifted of all it’s possessions. The video has been see all around the world after it was posted on Youtube.

Asyraf has had to have surgery on his jaw and police today arrested a man in connection with the robbery.

In a press conference today Asyraf said that his mother was worried about him and wanted him to go home, but he was determined to stay in London and finish his studies. He added,

“Britain is great. Before I came here I was very eager and I haven’t got any ill-feeling about what happened. I feel very sorry for the people who did this. It was really sad because among them were children.”

Londoners have been keen to show that the actions of the few do not represent a whole community.

Over £12,000 has so far been raised in just 48 hours for Asyraf Haziq and his stolen equipment has been replaced via donations. If you would like to donate then go to the site http://somethingniceforashraf.tumblr.com/

Photo: Alan Stanton

Barcelona Win 2011 Champions League Final 3-1

Posted by James in Football, Sports

Barcelona have won the Champions League Final against Manchester United 3-1 at Wembley.

Barcelona showed their masterly control of the football throughout the match, dominating the possession in both the 1st and 2nd half.

Manchester United started brightly, chasing the ball down but after 20 minutes they had started to stand off, giving Barcelona the time on the ball they needed to dictate the play.

Barcelona were the first to score with a side footed shot into the corner of the net from inside the area by Pedro. He had stolen some space on the right side as the defenders got dragged out of position. Vidic couldn’t get across from the centre and Pedro had a large area of the goal to aim for.

It wasn’t long before Manchester United pulled something back however as they pulled off a move that Barcelona themselves would have been proud of. Rooney played a couple of one-two’s and finished smartly in the top corner.

Barcelona kept playing their game and in the second half a snap shot from the brilliant Messi caught United flat footed and his shot flew past Van Der Sar, playing in his last game before retirement.

Their third goal was a curling shot from David Villa after United had the chance but failed to clear the ball. The move was again started by Messi whose exceptional close control allowed him to get free on the wing. When the ball ended up at Villa’s feet he curled the ball beautifully into the corner.

Barcelona thoroughly desired the win, not even the Man. Utd. players would disagree with that. On this evidence it looks like they could dominate until the current crop of midfielders retire.

Photo: dersportmanager

Dannii Minogue Quits the X Factor

Posted by Tracy in Entertainment, TV

Dannii Minogue has announced that she will be quitting the UK version of the ‘X Factor’ via her twitterfeed @DanniiMinogue.

The announcement comes just before the new series starts to get underway for it’s 8th year. Dannii Minogue stated that there was going to be a clash between her filming commitments for ‘Australia’s Got Talent’ and the ‘UK X Factor’ over the summer.

The announcement comes just after it has been confirmed that Simon Cowell and Cheryl Cole will not be taking their judging seats on the show either.

Dannii Minogue joined in 2007 and has won the show twice, while mentoring winners Leon Jackson and Matt Cardle. She was also very popular with the voting public who see clearly that she cares and looks after her acts like a big sister.

Now another judge has tendered their resignation the blogosphere is in overdrive as to who will be next to sit in the judge’s chair.

Head of the queue at the moment seems to be Gary Barlow from Take That, Tulisa from N-Dubz (although with N-Dubz concentrating on America it would be a huge commitment) and Mel B, but until filming starts and bums are on seats, it will all be speculation.

Photo: SPakhrin

Cheryl Cole (Tweedy) Biography

Posted by Sam in Biographies, Celebrity

Cheryl Cole was born 30th June 1983 as Cheryl Ann Tweedy in Newcastle, North East England. Here is a short biography of her life so far.

One of 5 children, Cheryl Cole always seemed to know that she wanted to be in showbiz, from an early age she was involved in dancing schools, commercials and modelling competitions.

She left school at 16 with little in the way of academic qualifications but as with earlier in her life, it was obvious that her priorities were in a different place.

Blessed with model looks, as well as the ability to dance and sing, she auditioned for the UK pop reality show ‘Popstars – The Rivals’. The programme was the pre-curser to the American Idol and X Factor shows that we have today.

In this version ten girls and ten boys were selected as finalists, Cheryl Cole (Cheryl Tweedy as she was back then) being one of them, and then they would sing live every Saturday night and wait for the public to vote. The one with the fewest votes was eliminated.

They were voted down to 4 girls and 4 guys, a girl group called Girls Aloud and a rival boy band were formed. Both would release singles at the same time and go head to head. Girls Aloud released ‘Sound of the Underground’ and the die was cast. We never heard of the boy band again.

Girls Aloud, Cheryl Cole, Nadine Coyle, Sarah Harding, Kimberley Walsh and Nicola Roberts, went on to have 20 top ten singles and 4 UK number 1′s. Their 5 albums all went platinum and they received 5 BRIT award nominations to date. In 2009 they all decided to take a year long break to concentrate on their other interests. That year has since extended to two years and beyond.

During her Girls Aloud career, she met and fell in love with the Chelsea and England footballer Ashley Cole in 2004. They were married in a lavish ceremony in 2006 in London, but news of Ashley’s extramarital affairs were to dog their marriage until they finally divorced in 2010 after more lurid reports of his dalliances were reported in UK newspapers.

In 2008 she was given the job of replacing the X Factor judge Sharon Osbourne after Sharon walked off the show, mainly because of repeated bust up’s with fellow judge Danni Minogue.

Cheryl was given control of the girls in her first series by producers of the show and subsequently came out on top after Alexandra Burke was crowned the X Factor winner.

She also took the crown in the following year, 2009 when her charge, Joe McElderry became the sixth winner of the title and record contract with Simon Cowell.

She also took the opportunity in 2009 of working on and releasing her first solo album, ’3 Words’, using her X Factor high profile to push the album to the number one spot.

In 2011 she was confirmed as the judge on Simon Cowells new American version of the X Factor. It is unclear at the time of writing whether this will mean that she follows Simon away from the UK version or if it is possible that she will maintain both shows.

It would surprise me if she still continued with her UK X Factor work, it appears that she would like to move her career onto bigger and better things and that means the US market. To win over the US market it is likely that there will be no time for anything else.

Photo: rustyallie

US X Factor Judge Cheryl Cole Confirmed by Simon Cowell

Posted by Sam in Entertainment, TV

Simon Cowell has finally confirmed that Cheryl Cole has landed one of the positions on the judging panel of the US version of his show X Factor.

After speculation stretching back into 2010 the popular UK X Factor judge has finally got what she was desperate for, that coveted place on the US X Factor judging panel.

She joins the other confirmed judges, Simon Cowell and LA Reid, alongside an as yet un-named 4th judge With filming scheduled to begin tomorrow it looks like we won’t have to wait long to find out who that 4th judge is.

Tens of thousands of people have applied to take part in the auditions of one of the biggest TV launches of the year. While the American Idol programme has been getting on with things without it’s former judge, there is no doubting Simon Cowells star quality and pulling power for TV audiences.

Cheryl Cole also has that star quality, she has been a big success on the UK X Factor and is herself a successful talent show contestant. Her very successful girl group, Girls Aloud, were put together in 2002 on a UK TV talent show called ‘Popstars -  The Rivals’.

The downside perhaps for American TV execs is that she has a strong accent thanks to her upbringing in Newcastle in the North of England. Will she be able to be understood in America where the accent is not known and therefore not easy to understand? Will she have to tone it down or change it? Time will tell.

Photo: rustyallie

Manchester United Vs Barcelona in the Champions League Final, Saturday 28th May At Wembley

Posted by Clive in Football, Sports

Manchester United beat Schalke comfortably to setup an encounter with Barcelona in the Champions League Final to be played at Wembley on the 28th May 2011.

Man Utd strolled to another Champions League final after beating Schalke at Old Trafford 6-1 on aggregate fielding a largely reserve side.

With an English premier league title decider at the weekend against Chelsea, he wanted to make sure his first team players were all fit, healthy and up for the match so left many of his stars on the bench.

He said he had had a sleepless night over the decision to rest so many, european nights can be difficult at the best of times, but he needn’t have worried. It is difficult to recall an easier semi-final over 2 legs than this one.

His second string side easily beat the German team even though they played a better game than in their home leg when they were beaten 2-0 by United despite what Sir Alex Ferguson called, the best goalkeeping display he had ever witnessed.

Barcelona had more problems containing their rivals Real Madrid, off the pitch as well as on. In the end they emerged scarred but victorious 3-1 on aggregate.

Two of the best teams in Europe have made it through to the final and perhaps with a slight home advantage (it will be played in London) and the fact that it is not played over 2 legs, Manchester United have a good chance of lifting the trophy once again.

Barcelona will be favourites, consistently called the best club side in history these days and it is true that their all round game is immense.

Their attacking flair is obvious, Leoni Messi leading the line magnificently (how do you keep him quiet for an entire game?), but what is easy to overlook is their equally brilliant defensive qualities. They don’t give the opposition any time on the ball, they hustle and harry as an entire team.

It is this quality that their attacking success is built on, it means that they get the ball back quickly after losing it, it means that the opposition don’t have a chance to settle and get comfortable in order to build any consistent attacks.

It is also very important that these defensive manoeuvres are carried out as a team, one person crowding a player is no good, they simply pass their way out of it. The whole team has to move as a defensive unit and Barcelona are the best at it, underlying that while they may have Messi, Iniesta and Xavi, they are a team that work hard for each other and as a unit.

Judd Trump Narrowly Misses Out As John Higgins Wins Snookers World Championships at the Crucible

Posted by Clive in Snooker, Sports

Judd Trump came close to winning his first Snooker World Championship at the Crucible theatre in Sheffield, but it wasn’t to be for the 21 year old as the wizard John Higgins comes from behind to win 18-15.

35 year old John Higgins has had a remarkable year, he was banned for six months because of a failure to report an illegal approach by game fixers to authorities (he was cleared of deliberately throwing frames) but returned in November 2010 and has only lost 2 games on the snooker circuit since, winning 5 tournaments including the UK Championship and now the World Championship.

But it was the youngster, 21 year old Judd Trump who stole the show. His brand of ‘pot everything’ snooker has won him legions of fans around the world at this years snooker World Championship, including many of the games great players, past and present.

If there has been a possible pot on at the table then Judd Trump has always taken it on, and mostly succeeded. His potting percentage over the course of the tournament was over 90% and when you consider the difficulty of some of the shots that he was taking on it was incredible.

He likes to hit the cue ball with power and he can generate alot of it, combined with his technique we would often see the cue ball bananaring around the table, bending this way and that.

One the first day of play Trump was in control building a 10-7 frame lead over Higgins. The pair were even over the next 4 frames with a couple of large breaks from Trump of 104 and 99.

The whole game seemed to pivot however on a missed blue from Trump, when it had seemed likely that Trump would take the frame, Higgins suddenly took 5 frames in a row. Taking advantage of what was sometimes cruel luck for Trump as the balls started landing in all the wrong places as he tried to break build.

Trump eventually got back into his winning stride again and evened things up again at 14-14.

The last few frames were a tense affair with the match always tightly balanced, the pressure was getting to both players as they started to make mistakes on routine shots.

Eventually though, it was Higgins superior safety play that allowed him to get the snookers he needed in the final frame to give him the opportunity to win his 3rd World Championship title.

Even though he lost, it was obvious the future is bright for Judd Trump and it doesn’t take a psychic to know that the Englishman will be World Champion one day soon. The snooker world has a new sensation.

Photo: Los Cardinalos

Royal Wedding Sealed With A Double Kiss

Posted by Tracy in Celebrity, Royal Family

Prince William (now given the title of Duke of Cambridge by the Queen) sealed his marriage to Catherine Middleton (now the Duchess of Cambridge) with a double kiss on the balcony of Buckingham Palace.

After becoming man and wife in a lavish ceremony in Westminster Abbey, the couple travelled in an open top carriage along the Mall beaming and waving at the thousands who lined the streets along the Royal route.

It may have not been the most passionate kiss the world had ever seen by the shy Prince but the 500,000 people crowding the area outside the Palace didn’t care. The love these two people have for each other is obvious and perhaps an antidote for what has gone before.

After a bit of encouragement by the crowd, Prince William leaned in for another to great cheers from those around the Palace.

A Royal flypast by 3 old planes from World War II, followed by 4 more modern jets of the Royal Air Force rattled the windows of Buckingham Palace and reminded everyone of Williams links to the armed services.

Following their star turn on the Buckingham Palace balcony they left for the short trip to Clarence House in Prince Charles Aston Martin, a 21st birthday present from the Queen. Surprising people with it’s balloons and ‘Just Married’ number plate.

They were joined at Clarence House for the evening event hosted by the Prince of Wales, where speeches and an after dinner disco were held.

For those who were there it was a memorable event, Harry talked about their missing mother, Diana the Princess of Wales and with the older generation leaving early, the younger generation celebrated the night away.

Prince William and Kate Middleton are Married in Westminster Abbey

Posted by Tracy in Celebrity, Royal Family

Prince William has married his love of 8 years, Kate Middleton, in a lavish Royal Wedding in London today.

Around 1 million people were lining the streets of London along the wedding route and they weren’t disappointed when they got their first look at the Royal Bride.

The wedding dress of Kate Middleton had been one of the best keep secrets in the world, only kate and the designer herself seemed to know. We caught our first glimpse as she drove up to Westminster Abbey with her father and the full stunning outfit, designed by Sarah Burton at Alexander McQueen, was shown fully when she emerged from the Rolls Royce.

She was helped by her younger sister, Pippa Middleton, playing the part of Maid of Honor perfectly in another sleek Sarah Burton number.

Prince William was dressed in a specially created Irish Guards uniform with a Royal Air Force motif on the breast.

The service, watched by millions around the world, went off without a hitch. The only sticking point was the slight struggle Prince William had getting the wedding ring onto Kate’s hand.

In fact, despite being the new Royal, Kate Middleton seemed to be the one who was remarkable calm during the whole event. Only at one point, where the focus had switched to those giving the readings, did she look slightly overwhelmed, trying to take in everything at once. A calming glance from her new husband soon pulled her thoughts back into the room.

Read more about the Royal Wedding Day here.