Obama and McCain dash through swing states in the last few days before the US presidential election on Tuesday 4th November 2008.
Throughout the weekend, with only a few days before the election Obama and McCain both participated on a USA tour of the swing states; Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Indiana and Ohio to name just a few.
McCain, who is still struggling behind Obama in the polls, hit out at the Democratic presidential candidate concerning taxes and national security and raised the specter of disaster if Democrats were to control Congress and the White House.
Whilst Obama, attempted to increase his lead in the polls, by reassuring America that it needed change and he is the man to enforce this change.
McCain And Obama Still Fighting
Even though McCain is behind Obama by 8 percentage points according to reports from Xinhua, McCain consistently reinforces the fact that the election is not over until the votes have been counted.
Over the weekend in a Philadelphia suburb calling Wallingford, McCain told about 2000 supporters:
Below is a video clip of McCain in Wallingford, PA yesterday.
Many pundits believe that McCain could gain a lot of extra voters in the final few hours before the election. this is probably because, many undecided voters may stick with the familiar as change may be a too risky option for them.
Obama’s campaign team have also realised this, during a speech to 60,000 people outside the statehouse in Columbus, Ohio, Obama said:
Obama’s campaign also aired television ads tying McCain to the unpopular duo of President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney, the Obama campaign also sent mailers highlighting the Republican’s plan to tax health care benefits.
Harrow Leisure Centre seen here hosting the Karate competition of the Youth Games 2008, has had its expansion plans scrapped.
Councilors officially threw their leisure plans to the dustbin last night and begun a radical re-think of their strategy for sport and leisure in Harrow.
The Tory administration was forced to abandon its plans to build a new leisure centre in Harrow, which would include an entertainment venue,and skate park. The economic downturn has been blamed for the lack of funding available for the expansion of leisure facilities in Harrow.
According to the Harrow Times the project, costing £37.2m, would have been funded by the sale of land in Gayton Road and on Byron Park itself, but the council cannot get a high enough price.
As the business world around us is seeing the biggest recession in 5 years, I look at how the crisis impacts on the microcosm of local student life?
By speaking to a diverse range of students at the University of Westminster, we explore how students have mixed attitudes on how the financial crisis is affecting them.
Ayesha Harid, 18, in her first year studying TV broadcasting explain’s how she is having difficulty in maintaining bills and how her social life is currently at a standstill.
“Last week I wanted to go to the Sway rave, but it costs six pounds so me and my friends decided to go home and sleep, cos’ that money could be spent on something else and six pounds still adds up”
Second year photography student, Troy Putland, 20 has an optimistic approach and accepts the current financial crisis as a part of life.
“ It hasn’t really affected me as yet, so I choose for it not to affect my attitude”
Art student Clive Guppy, 22 has adapted to the rise in cost for travel and food by cycling more, buying store brand products and has got a part time job to help with extra costs.
“I try to buy at cheaper supermarkets like Lidl and Aldi but I find the quality is not all that good for fresh goods, it’s more good for tin beans and stuff like that”
Louis Bloomfield is angry about university fees going up and has to pay for the extra costs himself.
“They didn’t even tell me about the increase, I thought it was for first year students I found out when I got here.”
So it seems the answer is yes, students have noticed an increase in products that affect their living, however I am not sure if this is a good or bad thing. On one hand it will make us really evaluate what is important, reconsidering a new way of life. Is shopping for the latest outfit or having the latest mobile really necessary? When it all boils down to it, isn’t the most important thing our happiness?
Meredith Kercher was a 21-year-old British student from the University of Leeds that was murdered last November whilst on a year studying abroad in Italy.
Kercher was two months into her year long Erasmus programme, when her dead body was discovered under a duvet in the flat she rented with the one of the suspects, Amanda Knox.
The role that Meredith Kercher’s housemates played in her killing is still being debated in court. Amanda Knox and her Italian ex-boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, 24, will be fully trialed in December.
Vulnerability of International students
The British student’s high-profile death has raised serious questions about the vulnerability of students studying abroad. Trusting your housemates seems to be a basic necessity when adjusting to life in a foreign country.
Neul Saem Hu, a first year Journalism student at the University of Westminster, has arrived in London from South Korea. He too, voices concerns about arriving home late at night with no friends living nearby.
In addition to this, Hu was concerned about the threat of a terrorist attack in London:
A mature American MA Journalism student, Andrew Otto, appreciates that “families might now feel more concerned about sending their children studying abroad,” but says, “that if your smart and sensible you shouldn’t have to worry.”
Whether Meredith Kercher had abandoned that simple, safe philosophy is still being debated, but this case is likely to send shock waves through families, friends and students for some time to come.
Ismaeil Abdullah, 20 and Ashley Williams are both fashion students at the University of Westminster. Ashley actually admitted to ‘buying a very expensive pair of shoes yesterday…can’t eat for a while now.’
Welcome to the world of a fashion student! Where high fashion purchases are on a higher priority than food. However, they are not alone. Fashion over food is an increasing trend.
We interviewed a range of fashion students at the Harrow Campus, and they all agreed they would rather spend money ‘investing in their look’ than buying food, expensive or not.
Sarah Barber and Alice Carvill both 19, both studying fashion at Westminster University both said they would choose clothes over food today.
Fashiorexia
According to The Daily Mail, almost a third – 32 per cent – of UK females would starve for their fashion.
Half of the female population are spending more on clothes and accessories each month than they are on food – prompting the new diet phrase ‘fashiorexia’.
It seems looking good is of the utmost priority to the younger generation, taking priority over ‘feeling good’ as students are less concerned about what they put inside their bodies.
Some women have suggested that being a ‘fashiorexia’ helps them afford designer clothes and keep an eye on their weight.
Is this just a designer trend or is it having an effect on the high street?
Philip Green, owner of the Arcadia group has this year reported ’spending by younger customers was at a record level’ with Topshop and Miss Selfridge boasting high profits during a recession.
Philip Green explained these figures in The Times newspaper, ‘in the mass-market, you buy something because you need something. If you’re a fashionista, you buy something because its in fashion.’
Shoppers are making cutbacks on essential amenities such as heating or eating, without having to scrimp on their luxury items.
Almost half of fashion hungry shoppers are spending more on their appearance on a monthly basis than food, according to research of 4,315 female members of the general public by www.MyCelebrityFashion.co.uk.
Russell Brand and Jonathan Ross have been suspended from the BBC and all of their shows have been taken off air until further notice. This action has come after their prank phonecalls and answer-machine messages to actor Andrew Sachs on Brand’s Radio 2 programme. Brand has stated that ‘t would be silly of me to speak without thinking because that’s caused all this trouble in the first place.’
OVER 18,000 COMPLAINTS
The prank has received over 18,000 complaints from radio listeners forcing Ofcom to investigate further their offensive behaviour.
Gordon Brown has commented on the pair’s actions as ‘inappropriate and unacceptable.’ He added that it for ‘the BBC, the BBC Trust and Ofcom to take any appropriate action.’
Former BBC employee David Dunkley Gyimah speaks about his reaction to the Radio 2 scandal:
Meanwhile, Sachs’ granddaughter Georgina Baillie told The Sun that ‘it was bad enough that they recorded these things on my grandfather’s answer machine but astonishing the BBC saw fit to broadcast it when they could have stopped it.’
Brand and Ross pre-recorded a show for Radio 2 in which they made prank calls to Faulty Towers actor Andrew Sachs. The messages joked that Brand had slept with his granddaughter, included Ross swearing and they added that 78 year old Sachs may kill himself after hearing the messages.
APOLOGY FROM ROSS
Since the incident, Sach’s has reported that Ross has ‘personally delivered flowers and an apology note,’ however he has ‘not heard anything’ from Brand. Regarding the incident he said, ‘I am not going to take it anywhere. I’m not out for revenge.’
Sarah Hughes a University of Westminster student expresses her thoughts on Brand and Ross’ behaviour:
The Friday Night with Jonathan Ross show was due to be recorded today with guests such as David Attenborough and the Killers. It’s unsure whether the filming would now go ahead or if it was withdrawn, then what would be scheduled to replace it. A BBC spokesman said the corporation would comment in due course on what will happen to the pair’s shows which are due to air this week.
Snow began to fall yesterday evening across London as temperatures dropped to below zero. Areas such as Beaconsfield and Harrow got up to an inch of snow.
The snow fall disrupted transport routes in and around London, the Metropolitan line suffered delays,
causing many students to be late for their lectures at the Harrow campus of the University of Westminster.
One student who had to drive from Southampton this morning to reach a 10am lecture, got delayed by an
hour he said:
“the roads were really busy, but no one was moving as there was so much ice and snow on the roads,
hopefully it’ll start melting so the journey home should be okay”
Nationally snow fall was highest in more mountainous areas, especially the
According to reports from the Guardian, two US helicopters landed inside Syria yesterday dropping Special Forces, who killed eight people.
The attack took place in Abu Kamal a town situated very close to the Iraqi and Syrian border.
According to the Guardian witnesses reported that the victims were civilians who were working on the construction of a new building in Abu Kamal. Five out of the eight were from the same family.
Syria warned the US government that it held them
“wholly responsible for this act of aggression and all of its repercussions”.
Reported by the Associated press, an unnamed official in Washington said that the raid targeted elements of foreign fighter logistics network.
US Fighting a Different Kind of War?
Due to the close proximity to the Iraqi border from the eastern Syrian town, many are accepting this reasoning from the US. As many foreign fighters as well as supplies and ammunition have been flowing into Iraq from Syria’s border towns.
It seems like the US are trying to cut off the foreign fighters in Iraq, by starving them of their supplies and ammunition. However, the US must respect a countries sovereignty and realise that it cannot drop special forces anywhere it likes and kill another countries citizens, even if they are accused of being foreign fighters.
If the US continues to act in this irresponsible way then it could threaten the International Society of States as we know it today. The principles of non-intervention and sovereignty are vital to enforce stability into International Society. Once these are gone then International Society is reduced to a state of anarchy.
US Election
Critics of America’s controversial action in Syria, have suggested that it may have been planned to coincide with the end of George Bush’s presidential term.
Syria would resist retaliation, as many Middle Eastern countries are looking forward to a more cooperative relationship between them and the US, once Bush is out of the white house and hopefully Obama is in it.
“The Bush administration must assume that an Obama victory will force Syria to behave nicely in order to win favor with the new administration. Thus White House analysts may assume that it can have a free-bee – taking a bit of personal revenge on Syria without the US paying the price”.
Perhaps the Middle East will get their chosen candidate in the White House.
