Schools closed as early widespread snowfall hits Britain

In Britain there are forecasts of a cold, white run-up to Christmas. The Met office, which gives the latest UK and international weather forecast, predicts snow and low temperatures right up to Christmas Eve. This widespread snowfall brings joy and misery to Britain, schools are closed because the heating failed, students’ buses slid off the road and caused traffic jams on Teesside, Cornwall, Aberdeenshire and Liverton Bank at Loftus, the busiest areas had been Aberdeen, Newcastle and the major cities along the M62 between Yorkshire and Lancashire, but sledges are flying off the shelves of shops that still have them. The fuel price will be raised in December and some from that money they will need for road clearance. Governments have already taking actions such as buying salt and new machines to clear the roads, and hire people who will clear the footpaths. The snow will continue to fall this weekend and the wind will also continue to blow from a north-easterly direction, temperatures are going down to -5C or -6C in several places. They advise people to drive slowly on roads and put on warm clothing and carry a fully-charged mobile phone.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2010/nov/25/widespread-snowfall-hits-britain 

My reaction:

I want to refer to what happened in the Netherlands last year with the NS. Snow started to fall and our railway system went down and the track got frozen. They were unprepared for the winter and the NS had not really a solution. In Britain happens a little bit the same only it is on a larger scale. When I read that they were going to raise the fuel price I was thinking why they would do that because governments have already tonnes of emergency stocks of salt but there has fallen so much snow that buying new machines and hiring new people costs a lot of money and their will not be a lot of cars on the road when the weather is bad so they would miss some income, so it makes sense that they would raise the price. I hope that we also get a white Christmas and that the snow already coming towards us!

Scientists give all-clear for meat and milk from cloned cattle

Three years ago cloned embryos from cattle cloned in the US were imported. In August the Food Standards Agency traced three bulls born in the UK from a cloned cow in the US, and in September they warned that it would be impossible to set up a regime to trace and label food from farms with cloned animals. Andrew Wadge, chief scientist at the agency, confirmed that meat and milk from cloned cattle and offspring shows no substantial difference to conventionally produced meat and milk. The conclusion by an independent body, Advisory Committee on Novel Foods and Processes, increases the chance that authorities will approve the sale of cloned animals and that consumers might want to see labelling to distinguish products that are from cloned cattle and products that are not from cloned cattle. There are no rules in Europe to sell food derived from clones in the US, they must pass a safety evaluation to approve being marketed, but it is legal. In December the agency’s board will discuss the issue and they will consider the committee’s opinion and also a recent European Commission proposal to ban such meat and milk.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2010/nov/26/scientists-all-clear-cloned-meat

My reaction:

For me cloning is a new technique to create animals, by that I mean that cloning animals is not common especially not when it comes to eat them, because of this new technique people might not want to eat meat or drink milk from cloned cattle. I think it is because we know so little of cloned cattle that people might not trust it yet and for some people it is against their belief. It is good to research cloned cows and their offspring, and for better results and to gain the trust of people I think we have to wait a little bit longer.

The Ministry of Stories opens for children who want to write

A writing space called Ministry of Stories, which was opened on Friday by author Nick Hornby, relies on a small army of volunteer writers, teachers and artists. Jubilee primary school is the first to visit this place and the children are told that 30 stories are needed before lunchtime. The Ministry of Stories is finally open for business in London and they are trying to expand it beyond London but they need to find funds to do that. In the UK there is room for improvement with writing in schools. Girls are doing better than boys, more than a quarter of girls gained level 5, this target was reached by only fifteen percent of boys. With this new place that the volunteers build up and painted it in their free time, they are trying to inspire and encourage young people to write stories and hoping that there is a valuable chance to pass this on to the next generation. The children of the Jubilee primary school are making up a story by telling who the main character is and then they are writing a beginning, a middle, and an end. At the end of the day the children get a book with the story in it and each cover is also printed with a different child’s name.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2010/nov/22/ministry-of-stories-literacy-writing

My reaction:
I hope that this project will last long and spreads out over whole the UK. The Ministry of Stories is a good way to learn children how to tell a story and to develop their imagination of free writing. It takes a lot of work to get enough volunteers taking part of this project but in the end I think that their work will not be for nothing. Children imagine things and making their own stories that are way different from an adult and I think that is way it should be stimulated in their younger years.

Prince William and Kate Middleton engagement announced

Prince William and Kate Middleton announced they would get married next year. He gave her a ring and a blue sapphire to wear and they are excited to spend their lives together. William proposed to Kate on a private holiday in Kenya last month. His father and stepmother are both “delighted” and her parents were “thrilled”. The details of the wedding plans are still unknown but it will take place in London next spring or summer. Although everybody wishes them the best, the spokesman of a group campaigning for an end to the monarchy said that the government must not spend more money on the royals in this time because the government is making people unemployed, and payments are slashed, and people are being told to tighten their belts so it would be wrong if the government is going to pay a lot for their wedding.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2010/nov/16/prince-william-kate-middleton-engagement

My reaction:
It is nice that they get married, they have been together for eight years now so it took them some time to make the big step. This group who wants an end to the monarchy could be right because in this time crisis is all over the world and their neighbors, Ireland, is a hot topic in the news now with their crisis so I think it is important for the government not to spend a lot of money on the wedding while they are trying to recover from the crisis.

Phil Woolas ejected from parliament over election slurs

The former immigration minister Phil Woolas has lied about his Liberal Democrat opponent during the general election, that is the judgment from two high court judges. Elwyn Watkins said that Woolas misled the voters and that he claimed that Watkins had “wooed” Islamic extremists. The election court saw confidential emails between Woolas’s team and they decided that Woolas automatically loses his seat in the Commons and is barred for three years. The court ruled that Woulas's claim in newspapers was misleading and he was also ordered to pay all costs. His party did not support him with his legal actions trying to win the elctions by telling lies and they suspended him from the party.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2010/nov/05/phil-woolas-ejected-parliament-election

My reaction:
It is a difficult subject because I do not follow the elections in Engeland, so I am not aware of what is happening right now but when I read this article I thought that suspending Phil Woolas was the right thing to do because it is not a proper way to win elections by telling lies. I think that a party needs to fight clean fights so the voters are not misled and the party will be known as truthful. When this would happen in the Netherlands I think that this person would also get suspended from the party.