Soldier who refused to serve in Afghanistan loses appeal

''The individual who goes absent without leave and so deliberately avoids his duties, is not only letting down his comrades-in-arms; his conduct exposes to replace him or her''. That is the important feature of this situation.
A soldier, who had refused to serve in Afghanistan, has lost his request against a nine-month jail verdict. Lance Corporal Joe Glenton's legal team said that he was suffering from post traumatic stress disorder after an operation. It had been wrong to force an instant custodial verdict on him. Yesterday the Court of Appeal in London, ruled that his verdict was neither extreme nor incorrect in principle.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/soldier-who-refused-to-serve-in-afghanistan-loses-appeal-1950681.html

My reaction:
I think it is ridiculous that the soldier immediately was forced with a custodial verdict. How can you claim someone for post traumatic stress disorder when you have not even searched it out? Is that argument a final decision by a doctor or just the Corporal? I understand that they need to handle strict in the army, because those people are responsible for the safety of people, and you should not do the job if you don’t want to. A better solution will be making the soldier an offer, so that he can be trained again.

Photos of Queen as baby released

To mark the 84th birthday of Queen Elisabeth, photographs from her first portrait sitting have been released. On the pictures, we see a seven-month-old baby posing for a leading child photographer, Marcus Adams. Two of these images became valued custodies of the Queen mother. One shows a seven-month-old child looking in the camera and the other shows her smile while she is held in her mother’s arms. These pictures are part of a series in a new book by Marcus Adams. Adams produced an exclusive record of two generations of royal children, presenting a new, relaxed image of the kingdom.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/latest/2010/04/21/photos-of-queen-as-baby-released-115875-22200779/

My reaction:
When I saw this article, I thought it was interesting because the 84th birthday of the Queen is today. I did not know that. Queen Elisabeth is a well know royalty because she is still the Queen of England as we speak. I think she should give the throne to Charles. Isn't it time for her to do that? Charles must be ready for it by now. I cannot imagine that our Queen would stay on the throne until her 84th birthday. I guess that the Queen herself also want to give the throne to her son. That is what I would do in her position.

Nine out of ten expats are so glad to be gone

More than 200.00 British citizens left the country to live abroad in 2006. Another 169.000 followed in 2007. In 2007, only 75.00 Britons chose to return. If we may believe the people of Britain, they say that the quality of life has improved; they earn more money and have better conditions than they would have in Britain. A study by NatWest suggests that the benefits for talented and able workers are strengthening during the recession. The bank’s Quality of life said; ‘’when it comes to living and working abroad the returns come quick and fast.’’ An expat professional’s salary is up to £20,000 higher than their UK equals.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1267641/9-10-UK-expats-say-quality-life-better-abroad.html

My reaction:
I can well imagine that more people of the UK make the decision to study, work or live abroad. I personally want to live abroad, someday. I believe what the British people say about that their quality of life has improved. I am not familiar with the minimum salary in Britain, so I cannot let myself out about the higher salary abroad. I am not sure if the working hours are really less intensive than they are in Britain, but who am I to decide?

British woman goes to jail in Dubai kissing case

Charlotte Adams, 26, convicted of kissing in public has been taken to jail. Miss Adams, found guilty of kissing a British friend who lives in Dubai. The two denied the case, saying they had given each other a kiss of greeting. The couple was at a Diner in the early hours, when the children of an Emirati woman sitting on a close table saw their kiss. The Emirati woman told the police and they were arrested. Their appeal was rejected earlier this month. They were getting custody for consuming alcohol in public and verdict to a month in jail.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/dubai/7613229/British-woman-goes-to-jail-in-Dubai-kissing-case.html

My reaction:
Here, in Europe it is not more than normal to kiss each other in public. I cannot imagine myself that somebody is convicted and taken to jail for that. When I saw the topic, I thought it was joke. I do not know anything about Dubai, but I am sure that the rules are different from here. This is a piece of evidence that the rules there are different then here. Therefore, I think we all know now, that you must be careful with what you are doing when you are not in your own country!

Grim weather increases risk of prostate cancer.

Scientists believe a combination of cold temperatures and need of sun could help explain higher charges of the disease in northerly parts of the world. Idaho State University said; ‘’colder weather, and more rainfall, were strongly related with prostate cancer‘’.
Individuals at northern latitudes may be defective in Vitamin D due to low contact to ultraviolet radiation during the winter months. The University suggest that; ‘’in addition to Vitamin D deficiency , associated with exposure to UV radiation, other meteorological surroundings may also considerably affect the rate of prostate cancer‘’. Each year in the UK, around 35.000 men are diagnosed with prostate cancer and 10.000 die from the disease.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/7611579/Grim-weather-increases-risk-of-prostate-cancer.html

My reaction:
Cancer is a horrible disease. If somebody could find a solution or a medicine against it, many more people would not die because of cancer. The article is very clear to me. Scientist will always keep looking for more causes and answers. The article shows results of the inspection they did. Weather increases risk of prostate cancer. I think that we already knew that, but they definitely take a deeper look at what sort of weather increases the risk of prostate cancer. We need these scientist and universities to, eventually, find the solutions for cancer. I truly hope they will!

Summary of the 90 minutes from Britain’s first historical TV prime ministerial debate.

With 61 per cent, Nick Clegg, leader of the Liberal Democrats has won the first live debate about the election on BBC, last night. His debate was with the leaders of the other two main parties, David Cameron(Conservative leader) and Gordon Brown (Labour party). Clegg looked down at Cameron and Brown in their ‘’fight’’ against each other. Clegg said: ''The more they attack each other, the more they sound the same.’’ Clegg found that it was, after 65 years, time to find an alternative for this government ruled by the other two parties. By winning this first debate he has made that very clear.

(Article)
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article7099159.ece
(Video)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/election_2010/8624100.stm

My reaction:
I do not know if I would vote for the Liberal Democrats. I am not familiar with the English politics or their voting system. After I have googled it, I do think they have good position statements, especially the one about the free education. These are my first thoughts, I need to find out more about the party before I can really make a choice.