Archive for the ‘News’ Category

As we go into the new year we are going to see rail fares go up by an average of 5.9%, with some commuters even finding their season tickets rising by almost 11%. Chief executive Anthony Smith said they should not have to keep paying for a “fractured, inefficient industry”. Whilst the association of train operating companies (ATOC) claim the increases will help pay for better services.

The average rise for all rail tickets - including unregulated fares such as advance and business tickets - is 5.9%. However, the cost of a Chester-Crewe annual season ticket goes up 10.6%, as does a season ticket for travel between Llandudno and Bangor in Gwynedd and Port Talbot Parkway and Swansea, will increase by 8.7%.

With the price of UK train fares being the most expensive in the EU its hardly surprising the majority of the general public are in uproar at these ridiculous increases. The rises are bad enough for commuters who mostly cannot hope to match the fare rises with comparable salary increases. Yet things could have been even worse, as the Government had originally intended to raise the January 2012 annual increase for regulated fares from RPI inflation plus 1% to RPI plus 3%.

However the Government is apparently still planning to operate a RPI plus 3% formula for January 2013 and January 2014, leaving us hard-up passengers to hope that promises of a reduction in inflation will be fulfilled. There was a similar “reprieve” for London travellers who had faced Tube and bus rises of around 7% from today until an extra £136 million of Government was found to limit the London increases to an average of 5.6%.

Michael Roberts, chief executive of the Association of Train Operating Companies (Atoc), stats money raised through fares helped pay for improved services. “For a number of years, the government has sought to sustain investment in the railways by reducing what taxpayers contribute and increasing the share that is paid for by passengers,” he said. “The focus of the whole industry is to keep on reducing the overall cost of running the railways as a way of limiting future fare rises and providing taxpayers with better value for money.”

Campaign groups and transport unions have bemoaned the 2012 increases which come at a time when rail regulators have warned Network Rail about poor punctuality on some long-distance routes.

Last week, the Campaign for Better Transport (CBT) released figures showing that passengers in Europe can pay between three-and-a-half times and nearly 10 times less for their annual season tickets on routes of around 23 miles than their British counterparts. But the Government, train companies and London Mayor Boris Johnson have all stressed that fare rises are necessary to sustain investment in Tube and main line systems that are attracting more and more passengers.

Giant tobacco firm Philip Morris is suing Australia for new laws set by their parliament, which have been set to ensure that after December 2012 all cigarette and tobacco products must be sold in plain olive-brown packets that will only display graphic health warnings.

Canberra quoted that the law was “one of the most momentous public health measures in Australia’s history”, but Philip Morris responded by saying that “the move breached a bilateral investment treaty” and “it had served a notice of arbitration under Australia’s Bilateral Investment Treaty with Hong Kong”. PMA’s Australian affiliate Philip Morris Ltd (PML) will also pursue claims under Australian domestic law.

Anne Edwards a spokesman for Philip Morris was also quoted saying; “The government has passed this legislation despite being unable to demonstrate that it will be effective at reducing smoking and has ignored the widespread concerns raised in Australia and internationally regarding the serious legal issues associated with plain packaging.”

Philip Morris is also expecting damages to be billions of dollars, but the legal process could take anything between two to three years to complete.
“We are confident that our legal arguments are very strong and that we will ultimately win this case,” Anne Edwards also quoted.
British American Tobacco Australia was also quoted earlier this month saying it would launch a challenge in the High Court as soon as the laws were granted royal assent, and that the company will argue it is unconstitutional for the government to remove its trademarks and other intellectual property without any compensation.
Under the new Australian law, the only thing that will distinguish tobacco brands on their packets will be their brands name in a standard colour, position, font size and style. Nicola Roxon from Australia’s Minister for Health and Ageing said – although the tobacco industry is “fighting to protect its profits, we are fighting to protect lives. We know that packaging remains one of the last powerful marketing tools for tobacco companies to recruit new smokers to their deadly products. In the future, cigarette packets will serve only as a stark reminder of the devastating health effects of smoking,”.

Recent research suggests that voters are more likely to back candidates with lower voices, why?… because they come across as more dominant and authoritative. In previous studys researchers have found that deep voices are linked to high levels of the manly stuff we call testosterone along with the new reasearch which reveals how perceptions formed by our ancestors still hold true today.

One of the researchers - Cara Tigue from the University of Canada, quotes: “We’re looking at men’s low voice-pitch as a cue to dominance, which is related to leadership. Throughout our evolutionary history, it would have been important for our ancestors to pay attention to cues to good leadership, because group leaders affected a person’s ability to survive and reproduce within a group. We’re looking at it in a present-day, 21st-century context.”

Researchers played the recordings of lower and higher pitched versions of different voices for volunteers and asked them to rate their perceptions of the speakers’ attractiveness,  honesty, intelligence, leadership potential, and dominance. Whilst also asking volunteers what version of the voice they would prefer to back both in peacetime and wartime. In all cases the volunteers chose the voices with a deeper pitch.

Cara Tigue also quoted: “One of the implications of our research is that voters may take it into account when making voting decisions.”

Whilst earlier research also looked at US presidential candidates between the 1960’s and the year 2000, in which they found that in all elections, the candidate with the deepest voice had won the vote.

The volunteers also considered the men with the deeper pitched voices to be both more attractive and more dominant, but the new research shows that it’s the perception of dominance that has a greater influence on voting.

The Supervisor of the research - Professor David Feinberg quoted: “People think we want to vote for men with lower-pitched voices because they’re more attractive, but it’s because people perceive them as better leaders and more dominant, not just because they’re attractive.”

Two Picasso paintings that were stolen from an art gallery in Pfaeffikon Switzerland back in 2008 have been found in Serbia. The paintings disappeared whilst on loan from Germany to the Hannover’s Sprengel Museum over three and a half years ago and were never seen again.

Charles Faessler, a prosecutor involved in the case, quoted to a Swiss broadcaster; “I can tell you with pride and joy that after three and a half years of intense investigative work, we have now located both the stolen Picasso paintings,”.

The two paintings “Tte de Cheval” (The Horses Head, 1962) and “Verre et Pichet” (The Glass and Pitcher, 1944) had been tracked down by Swiss police with the help of Serbia officials. The pictures are very famous in the art world and between them they are worth on estimate over £2.6 million.

But just who was behind the heist still remains a mystery. Officals have quoted that no arrest has yet been made for the theft, and they are also yet to specify where the paintings were found. It also appears that many of the details have also managed to escape the detection of both police forces, who apparently found the paintings within Serbia’s counter organised crime unit in Belgrade.

Ivica Dacic, Serbia’s interior minister, said the country’s counter organised crime unit had recovered the works of art in Belgrade following an investigation involving the Swiss police. He added that the Swiss authorities had made a formal application for the paintings to be returned to the Alpine state.

Serbian police director Milorad Veljovic quoted, “We are now trying to ascertain who brought the paintings into Serbia, when and how, and where they were hidden.”

The thieves’ motives for this famous crime are still unknown, as these particular Picasso pieces are very well known to the world of art and to the general public. Also with the publicity that this crime generated back in 2008 if would have been very hard if not impossible for the thieves to have sold the artwork on to the general open market, which has led police officials to believe that they could have been working for a private collector, or that they may have tried to cut a deal with the insurance company that the Picasso pieces where insured through; in the hopes that they would pay them a large ransom, as the cost for the insurance company to pay out would have been millions.

Konnichiwa!

I bet you didn’t know that the world’s first ever Robot marathon is underway in Japan! Can you believe it! It began on Thursday in the city of Osaka in western Japan in the Asia Pacific trade centre. The city – whose municipal government is funding the event - used to rely on heavy industry, but is now trying hard to sell itself as being at the forefront of robot innovation. The robots did the usual warm up exercises expected of any competent athlete before setting off.

The battery charged competitors – all five of them – are each between 30cm & 44cm in height & will be trying to complete the 26.2 mile marathon by Sunday. The distance will be covered by doing 422 laps of a 100 metre track.

The robots must compete in the race without assistance, but the company’s & universities responsible for entering the robots in the marathon are allowed to carry out running repairs & battery changes!

Japanese robot maker Vstone is responsible for organizing the event & say the robots will be tested to the limit by the marathon in terms of their durability and manoeuvrability. Their own entry in the marathon will be recording the whole of the race via a video camera which has been installed in its head. The event will be broadcast on line as it happens giving a robot’s eye view of the marathon.

There is now a well established tradition of combining the most up to date technology with athletic achievement.

This might be the world’s first robot marathon but it certainly isn’t the first event of its kind. The first robot football world cup took place in 1997 – also in Japan – in the city of Nagoya & was hosted by Japan again in 2005 in Osaka. The competition was held in Singapore last year with 40 countries competing with a total of 500 teams.

Mind you you’d have to be a real enthusiast to endure 4 days of a robot marathon!

If you want to check it out for yourself you can do so at: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/robovie-pc

Be careful though – I don’t know how the robots are baring up but a couple of minutes left me feeling sick & dizzy!

Sayonara!

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Chilean miner Carlos Bugueno may have escaped the San Jose mine a celebrity, but has quickly returned to normality.

His cramped, humble wood-and-tin home not only houses himself, but his 16 relatives, too.

Upon his return, his family greeted him by lining the streets with carrier bags filled with air; balloons were too expensive.

It must be difficult for the miners who understandably expected that things would change; that compensation would be provided and life wouldn’t be such a struggle after such an ordeal.

Book and movie deals have been spoken of but nothing has been confirmed.

Luis Urzua, the shift foreman when the miners were trapped, who guided them through the 69 days and rationed 48 hours of emergency supplies over the first 17 days, felt relieved to be out.

“It’s nice to be here where our families were,” he said.

Camp hope is being dismantled almost as fast as it formed.

Carlos Barrios’ family dismantled their camp on Sunday, having been one of the first families there.

“I feel sorry (to leave) but at the same time I’m happy because I’m with my son again,” his stepmother, Griselda Godoy said.

Many of the miners still wear their sunglasses, provided to protect their eyes upon the return to the summit, but the glamour has long-since faded.

Life is still dangerous in the neighbourhood of Carlos Mamani.

“This area is dangerous at night. Drugs are sold here and there is theft. I’ve lived here for a while and I still have to be careful to avoid problems,” said Jose Vadillo, a neighbour of Mamani.

Little information has surfaced from the trapped men since the event.

“It’s true that we made a pact of silence not to speak of those topics until we think the moment has come,” said Pablo Rojas.

“All that will come out later. As a group, we’re thinking about putting out a book, and that will tell everything,” said Ariel Ticona, whose baby was born whilst he was trapped.

Omar Reygadas is one miner who will return to his mining profession in time.

“It is my work. It is my way of earning pesos,” he declared.

“I am a mole, and I’m happy when I am underground.”

The San Jose mine was officially closed after the cave-in rendered it inoperable.

The owners of the mine have since filed for bankruptcy, leaving the 33 men and their 300 former colleagues in search of employment.

The rescued miners have been offered jobs already, however.

All have been offered mining jobs by larger mining companies with better safety records. Former professional footballer Franklin Lobos is to be offered a job by FIFA to provide motivational speeches whilst Bolivian Mamani has been offered a job by Bolivian president Evo Morales.

Prince Charles to the rescue

We have been seeing less and less of our beautiful red squirrel recently as its existence is left threatened by our mistakes, as is the case with so many beautiful animals all around the world.  However, the red squirrel has got a good friend in high places – Prince Charles has been called in to come to the aid of the red squirrel, which the Prince himself warned could be extinct within 10 years.

The Prince has been communicating his personal worries for the red squirrel while speaking at the launch of a charity set up specifically to protect endangered native species.

Charles placed the blame for the disappearance of the little creatures on today’s “increasingly throwaway” society and has portrayed his concern for the way the future of small creatures is headed.

“I cannot think of a better mascot for our country than the red squirrel. Perhaps that might make people realise what it is that they are about to lose,” said Prince Charles.

“The terrifying reality is that, within a decade, if we cannot work together to bring in the necessary funding for the task which needs to be done, the red squirrel could be totally extinct across the UK,” Charles continued.

The grey is killing off the red

Prince Charles gave the speech in Cumbria at the official launch of the Red Squirrel Survival Trust.  The charity is aimed at protecting the red squirrel which has been having a hard time since the grey squirrel hopped onto our shores from America and started to bully the natives.

“The plight of the red squirrel and the honeybee too is yet another example of man’s short-sightedness in an increasingly throwaway society.  The future of both species is a crucial test of just how serious we are about sustainability,” said Charles.

The Prince also mentioned that he had often had the chance of spending time with the furry little squirrels, which he labelled “utterly charming creatures”, in Scotland at his Birkhall residence.

The Prince sees reds all the time

“Unlike many people in this country, I am lucky enough to see red squirrels at Birkhall where I have been indulging them with hazelnuts and they have become remarkably tame and are coming into the house.

“Sometimes sitting at my desk I hear the pitter patter of tiny feet and sometimes they do the wall of death around my office. They are very special creatures.

“I have been indulging them with hazelnuts and they have become remarkably tame and come into the house. Sometimes when I am sitting at my desk I hear the pitter patter of tiny feet, and sometimes they do a wall of death around my office,” Charles said.

The Prince met with supporters of the charity as well as local dignitaries at Levens Hall – unfortunately the grounds, located near Kendal, hasn’t seen a red squirrel in around 15 years.

What about you?

What do you think about the plight of the red squirrel here in Britain?  Do you want to do more for our native red squirrel?  Leave us a comment and let us know what you think…

He’s got a lighter.  Everyone down on the ground…

Smoking was never so dangerous – six police patrol cars were rushed to a scene where a man was carrying a hunting rifle in a Chinese city and the whole situation could have gotten very messy…if the hunting rifle wasn’t infact an oversized lighter.

Police in the Chinese city of Nanjing were suddenly inundated with emergency telephone calls claiming that there was a man on the loose brandishing a hunting rifle.

The police obviously responded to the emergency calls and were expecting a possible dangerous situation but instead they arrived at the scene to discover the man, clearly unaware that people around him were scared out of their skins, was simply carrying a gigantic lighter on his back.

“We sent out six patrol cars immediately, trying to stop the man before anything bad happened.

“On spotting the man, officers forced him to stop. The man was obviously very scared and said the gun was only a toy lighter, which he just won as an award in a restaurant,” commented a police spokesman.

Well, the flame was pretty hot.

After getting the supposed rifle back to the police station, the police tested the object but once they had pulled the trigger they realised the mistake that had been made as a small innocent flame poked out of the barrel of the gun.

Unfortunately the man who was allegedly stalking the streets with a deadly firearm was given a warning for carrying the lighter, which was confiscated.

The end of novelty lighters?

The news comes as fire officials in Louisville in the United States demanded that novelty lighters were removed from stores as they are apparently responsible for several deaths a year, although not because they are parading as hunting rifles.

The fire officers claimed that the lighters can easily be picked up by children who will play with what they think is a toy and then there is a strong possibility that a fire could start.

“Anytime a child can get to it and they think it’s a toy and they get by themselves in a closet and they’re playing with it and a fire starts, that’s the biggest concern we’ve got,” said Henry Ott of the Louisville Fire Department.

“Kids are playing with lighters, kids are cooking at home, using candles in the room, or they may lay a curling iron down.”

According to an arson investigator in Louisville children are responsible for around half of all fires in the United States.

No real proof…

However, the fires have not been connected with novelty lighters, partly because the United States Fire Administration only started to keep their eyes on the cigarette accessories since January of last year.

Although the move by the Fire Department doesn’t have the backing of some hardcore smokers, the plans do indeed have the unanimous backing of the Louisville Metro Council Public Safety Committee and the full council will be meeting next Thursday to vote on the move.

What do you think?

Is this proposal to ban joke lighters a good decision or is it just another example of how wrapped up in cotton we are as a culture?  Let us know…

Cricket isn’t English?

It seems that we have been wrong all these years – travelling around the country, bragging that we, the English, were the creators behind the charming game of cricket…but new academic research would seem to have proven us all wrong.  Belgium had the sport first…

According to a poem that has been discovered, that is said to have been written in 1533, suggests that the game actually originated from Flanders.

The news has taken the country unaware, striking shock into the hearts of the living rooms and streets of cricket lovers nationwide.

The poem, attributed to John Skelton, has claimed that Flemish weavers were called “kings of crekettes”.  The poem also gives mention to “wickettes”.

Skipping church for a quick game…

Paul Campbell, of the Australian National University, who has been declaring that the game was really a foreign import, made the discovery.

The original belief was that the game we know now as cricket evolved from an English children’s game and the first mention of the game being in England was found in the form of fines that were handed out when people skipped church to have a play.

Cricket was taken up by the majority of the country and then eventually found its way into public schools and then into both Oxford and Cambridge Universities.

Cricket isn’t even an English word.

Mr Campbell is quite sure that there is no chance that the game was created in England and has been backed up with Dr Heiner Gillmeister’s earlier research, which had already claimed that the word cricket couldn’t have come from the English language.

“‘There is no way to relate the term to any existing English word,’ he told the BBC,” said Campbell.

“I was brought up with Flemish children and I know the language well. I immediately thought of the Flemish phrase ‘met de krik ketsen’ which means to ‘chase a ball with a curved stick’.”

Meanwhile, upon hearing the news, cricket historian David Frith took the news quite well, saying, “It is hard to deny that this is a breakthrough. This discovery points to an addition to the great history of cricket.

“It’s exciting we haven’t yet written the final word on it.  It does make you wonder why Belgium isn’t playing Test cricket though, doesn’t it?” he continued.

Dr Gillmeister – golf isn’t even Scottish!

However, fans of Dr Heiner Gillmeister will be pleased to discover that his research didn’t come to a halt with cricket – he also pledged to discover the origins of golf.

Scots won’t be very happy to hear that as he is taking cricket away from England he is also quite happy to take golf away from Scotland.

Gillmeister is claiming that early records again indicate that the Belgians could have been found to play a similar game before the British.

What are we going to do?

How do you feel about the news?  Have you changed your views about cricket or do you think cricket is cricket…