Reply to 'Bandits and Outlaws' by good to go

The relation of bandits and outlaws to communism is a very interesting link, although I would say that the only bandit story which links to communism is Robin Hood because on the whole bandits and outlaws tend to steal for their own profit, not to give to the poor, but i definately think Robin Hood has a link to communism. Unfortunately the link at the end didn't work for me so I don't know if this is a dead website or not, but on the whole a very interesting and opinionated piece of writing.

http://httpsalvationblogspotcom-salvation.blogspot.com/2010/04/bandits-and-outlaws.html

Reply to 'The way of the world' by Ruge's World

I agree with the fact that people have the right to make their own choices. Often homosexuality is looked down upon and used to be classed as being bad, but is it really? The link relates to your blog well and provides the reader with a very detailed insight into homosexuality and why people might be gay. Perhaps it is in the genes. You could have mentioned the abuse that gay people have to endure every day from some of the general public and maybe added a story about that.

http://aruge.blogspot.com/2010/05/way-of-world.html

Reply to 'Bullying in the Media' by BEING BAD

This is an informative blog and it is obviously very relevant because bullying is happening constantly around the world. Maybe you could have added a story into your blog about somebody who had a bad experience. The link provides a story of a girl who was bullied and ties in with the blog very well.

http://donnacourt.blogspot.com/2010/03/bullying-in-media.html

Hooliganism

Hooliganism in general is unruly or desruptive behaviour. It happens all across the world all the time. Just today there was a news story about the problems with money in Greece. They are in so much debt that people cannot withdraw money from their banks. This caused the people of Greece to turn into a mob and it led to disaster. The police were pelted with rocks, a bank was set on fire and many people were injured. Can you blame the people of Greece for becoming irrate and unruly though? It's only natural to feel anger and when anger builds up amongst many people it can create chaos.

When hearing the word hooliganism the first thing that would pop into most peoples head's is football. Hooliganism is widely associated with the game of football because there are people who go to matches just to end up in a fight. A man appeared on Jeremy Kyle talking about being a football hooligan and he seemed to have very few morals. Even when he was confronted by the mother of a child who was killed just to violence at a football match he showed no remorse for his actions and said he would carry on doing what he does.

Click here to read a story about a young girl who became the youngest football hooligan at only 15 years old.

Hooliganism is a crazy thing to be involved in, but if people want to destroy themselves they should go right ahead. The worst thing though is when they destroy other people's property or end up hurting an innocent person who never wanted to get involved, unfortunately this happens far too often.

This is a picture of a policeman caught in a fire in the Greek riots of 2001.

Reply to 'Racism' by Miss Hadley

This is a well set out piece of writing, you describe very well a story about your friend. The piece is very opinionated but maybe needs to describe more some of the reasons which cause people to be racist. Obviously there is never any need for racism, but stereotypes can cause ethnic minorities and sometimes even majorities to be the butt of racist jokes.

http://misshadley-stephyyyy.blogspot.com/2010/04/racism.html

Reply to 'Infidelity' by Being Bad blog

I think you have pretty much covered all of the reasons why people cheat on their partners. There are also some very valid opinions, the link is very interesting and informative, maybe you could have added a few well known people who have cheated into this as infidelity has been a big thing in the news recently what with Ashley Cole and John Terry cheating on there wives. But otherwise a good piece of writing.

http://clairefelton91.blogspot.com/2010/04/infidelity.html

Teenage Parents

These days children are being born into families of a very young age. Teenage pregnancies are shooting up. Why is this though? Young mothers get a lot of help from the government, they can get houses paid for them, child benefit etc. They may actually be better off having a child than they would normally be, but this is surely just encouraging teenagers to not worry about education because if you have a child then everything will be sorted for you anyway. Kids need to be encouraged to use protection, not to carry on conceiving.

In 2009 it was revealed that a 15 year old girl had a baby with a 13 year old boy. This young boy was to be the youngest father in Britain. Such an accolade. It turns out that the baby wasn't this young lad named Alfie's child anyway. You may think oh that's not too bad then, but it turns out the real dad was still only 14. Click here for the full story.

Some people may say that schools need to educate better to prevent against youngsters having children. People need to start living their lives. When a child comes then you have to become more responsible, you lose a lot of your social life etc.

Having children at an early age can also be disastrous for the child because if the parents aren't ready to cope this can leave the child having a bad upbringing, or could lead to the child being placed into care and put up for adoption.

Jamie Lynn Spears (pictured above) who is Britney Spears' younger sister announced that she was pregnant when she was just 16 years old.

Ann Dunham was 18 years old when she have birth to the current U.S. President Barack Obama (pictured left). Obviously Obama had a good upbringing supported by a good family. This doesn't always happen, sometimes the child is neglected and you can hear some shocking stories.

Gambling

Most people have gambled at some point in their lives. Some people though nake gambling into a living. Just like smoking and drugs, gambling can be an addiction. If you win a lot of money you many suddenly think your luck is in and keep on gambling, but be assured, you will not always win. Gambling has become a lot easier to do now it is online too. People can now gamble their money against a computer, can this be trusted though? Surely if you can't see the person who is dealing you the cards, or the person who puts the ball into the roulette wheel then it could be a fix.

There have been many well known people who have had gambling issues, usually people who earn a lot of money anyway. One example is Matthew Etherington (pictured above) who is a professional footballer. Click here to see the full story of his gambling addiction.

Nowadays there are professional poker players who are very well off. They compete in a world poker series competition in which they can a very handsome sum of money.

Gladys Knight was another famous celebrity with an addiction to gambling, she enjoyed a game or 10 of baccarat in Vegas. She lost everything in the end, including her marriage to Les Brown.

There have been many more celebrities who have lost their fortunes, such as Mike Tyson and Paul Gascoigne (pictured left). Here is a website which shows many sportsmen who have lost their wealth. The thing is they don't have to worry because they will always be getting money from somewhere.

Stalking

What constitutes stalking. It is usually somebody who prowls or sneaks about with unlawful attentions. Stalking can strike fear into the individual being targeted and surely when this happens, this is when it becomes illegal. Many people are being stalked each day without even knowing it. It is becoming a lot easier to do with social networking sites such as facebook and twitter allowing others to know what you are doing and when.

Richard Gere (pictured above) is one of the many famous people who has been stalked. He was stalked by a woman called Ursula Reichert-Habbishaw who was a 51 year old mother of four children. She was said to have contacted Gere over 1000 times by phone, fax and email. She was also quoted saying 'I want to be with you and share your life'. She escaped a jail sentence though by getting on the plane back to Germany.

Some stories are much worse than this one though. Reading some stories from normal members of the public shocked me, it is awful to think about the extent some people will go to. Click here to be taken to some stories from people who have been stalked and abused.

Another celebrity who has the experience of being stalked is Gwyneth Paltrow who was stalked by Dante Michael Soiu. He was a 51 year old pizza delivery man. He reportedly sent her five letters a day, also candy, pizzas, pornography appeared at her parents house all the time. Soiu was found to be insane and was sent to a psychiatric hospital to recover.

The first thing I thought about when thinking about doing a blog on stalking was the film Blades of Glory where stalking has a very comedic value. Jimmy (pictured left) is stalked by Hector, who loves Jimmy and talks about killing him some day, he also says how much he loves Jimmy, but this is a very deeply depressing subject covered in a very funny way.

Blackmail

Blackmail is very common but we don't often hear about it. It is actually illegal if the person being blackmailed is threatened. One example of somebody who faced up to five years in prison due to blackmail was a man who blackmailed Cameron Diaz (pictured right). He took topless photos of her before she was famous and claimed she had signed a release form. He tried to scam her out of $1.7million. He was found guilty in court of forging Diaz's signature.

Could blackmail sometimes be a form of punishment? If so could it also be acceptable in some cases? If somebody does something badly wrong, for example if a man cheats on his wife and a friend of his wife finds out and starts blackmailing him to teach him a lesson, would this be ok? I guess it depends on what she is blackmailing him for.

It recently came out that Tiger Woods has had many affairs with many different women, also it is alledged that some of these women blackmailed him. Jaime Jungers (pictured left) claimed she had naked pictures of the sports star and would release them if anything was to happen to their relationship. This left Tiger with two options, stop the affair and be a laughing stock or stay with Jaime and leave his wife, kids and lose a family. You could say this was a punishment for him for doing what he did.

Another star who has been blackmailed is David Letterman, an American tv host. He had cheated on his wife on the set of his show, and the producer threatened to reveal this to his wife if Letterman didn't pay him. Click here for the full story.

So then, blackmailing is a crime if threatening behaviour is used and if you force the person to give you money for their silence, but maybe, if it is gone about in the right way, blackmailing could be a deserved punishment. People who do wrong need to be taught a lesson, but some people believe they can take the law into their own hands.

Reply to 'Binge Drinking' by Being Bad.

I like the piece of advice at the end. A very imformative blog. Maybe you could have included a bit about what is being done to prevent binge drinking, and also why people binge drink, e.g. student nights at clubs with cheap alcohol. Also you mentioned violence between young lads which sounded a bit generalised but it is only really a select few, most will stay out of trouble, plus it isn't always just lads causing the trouble.

http://vickimcconnell.blogspot.com/2010/04/binge-drinking_22.html

Bad Comedians

Many comedians are considered to be bad. Their jokes are quite explicit, sometimes rude, sometimes racist, sometimes sexist, but comedians can get away with this through the medium of laughter and comedy. Sometimes jokes can be offensive and people will take offense to it. For example if a white man was to talk about a black man and refer to them a 'nigger' in a joke it might be deemed racist and offensive, but should a black comedian do the same thing it wouldn't be looked down upon. This link will take you to a comedian called Chris Rock who openly slates 'niggers'. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ui6-Wc0PDc4.

Recently it was revealed that another bad comedian, Frankie Boyle (pictured below), made a string of jokes about people with down syndrome. While he was making these jokes he realised there were people talking in the front row, he spoke to this couple and the lady said their daughter has down syndrome. Frankie Boyle was unrepentent and carried on with the jokes anyway. This was too far and not even the medium of comedy can save a comedian when they make jokes like this. He probably would have recovered if he had stopped the jokes after he had spoken to the couple.
To read the whole story click here.

Many jokes have to be taken with a pinch of salt. There are many sexist jokes towards men and women, for example, 'why do women have small feet?'...'So they can stand closer to the cooker', and 'what's the difference between a new husband and a new dog?'...'A dog only takes a couple of months to train'. When telling these jokes it would be a lot easier and more comfortable to say the joke against the man, this is because previously the country has been a very male dominated society and the joke against women could be taken offensively because times have changed.

Jimmy Carr (pictured above) can be quite a controversial and bad comedian. His jokes can be very crude, the audience he is aiming at is probably very young, but if an elderly person was to go to one of his shows some of his jokes may be offensive. Also he regularly interacts with the audience and makes fun of random people. Most of the time the people just laugh along but not always.

Comedy is about the only way people can express their minds these days. This is because it isn't serious. People who take things too seriously are very few and far between. Offensive jokes are always the funniest and this is probably because we know as an audience that the comedian is being bad by using that material.

Reply to 'shoplifting' from 'being bad'

You have covered a lot in this blog, why people shoplift, the punishments etc. Maybe there could have been a few more facts and figures embedded in. It's all from your own opinion. You could have included a link to a story of a shoplifter explaining why they have commited the crime.

http://yasminplatt5.blogspot.com/2010/04/shoplifting.html

Happy Slapping

Happy slapping became a feature of the news recently. This generally involves youths, in a group picking on a single person, but instead of it just being verbal bullying, they actually hit the person they are picking on. The offender does this whilst his/her friends film. Some of these films were posted on the internet on websites like youtube, they are now banned. Many things could be blamed for youths doing this, video games, films etc. But the truth is they can think for themselves and they are just warped individuals who do it for a laugh and get a kick out of it.

Emily Nakanda (pictured above) was an x factor contestant in 2007. She was loaded with talent and a possible winner of the show, but she was forced to leave because it came to light that she had been involved in happy slapping another girl. This video was posted on the internet while she was on x factor.

This could just be a phase that teenagers go through, a lot of people when they are young like to think they are tough and act big in front of their friends. This doesn't just apply with happy slapping, but with smoking and drinking too. How somebody can find happy slapping amusing is unbelivable but it happens.

There are so many awful happy slapping stories, it doesn't always result in just injuries but it can lead to death as this story shows. http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/2906113/Happy-slap-killer-out-after-4-years.html

This has probably happened for years, in effect it is bullying, which has always happened. The invention of mobile phones and the internet are just bringing more incidents like happy slapping into the light.

Reply to 'Smoking and its presence in film' by 'Wat's On with Tom'

I agree with the statement that Bruce Willis made about not wanting to feel responsible for children smoking because he is a role model and smoking can seriously damage your health.

I think you have pretty much hit the nail on the head with this blog, one thing I disagree with is when you say 'they aren't going to suddenly stop smoking as it is their choice'. Sometimes people will start smoking as a youth out of choice, but they become addicted. A lot of people would like to quit and now don't smoke out of choice, but smoke because of addiction.

http://watsonwithtom.blogspot.com/2010/02/smoking-and-its-presence-in-film.html

Bad Cinema

What is considered as bad cinema? Sex, drugs, violence, swearing. All these things can add towards bad cinema. Years and years ago films used to have higher age ratings on if they contained any of these things, but nowadays people aren't so offended by swearing, or aren't so shocked by sex and drugs in film so age ratings seem to be lower. But is this right?

One film which contains swearing, occasional violence, drugs and scenes of a sexual nature would be Harold and Kumar get the munchies. This film is a comedy which is probably why these things are taken in such a light hearted manner. The age rating for this film is 15, but should it be higher? Surely it is encouraging the younger generation to smoke, swear etc. Most people won't take any notice and just remember that it is a fictional film, but some youths will copy.

It doesn't always matter what the age rating is on films in a way because when they come out on dvd younger people can watch them. I remember watching scream when I was around 12 years old and it was an age rating of 18.

Never Back Down is a film based on karate kid but a lot more violent. This film contains extremely violent scenes. There aren't any drug references or scenes involving swearing or of a sexual nature really, so maybe this an example of a film which is suitable for ages 15 and above, although long ago it most likely would have been rated 18.

The Exorcist was banned in the cinema years ago. It has always been rated 18, but even adults were leaving the cinema because they found the film too much to handle. But nowadays people would still get scared but not to that extent. There was a cut version brought out on tape which cut really scary bits out, but now the uncut version is the only version you can get.

Bad cinema? Is there such thing really? Especially these days when kids are growing up younger and younger. Most kids are watching 15 and 18 rating films by the time they are 12. There is no way anybody can stop this, unless dvd's are stopped which will never happen. Maybe kids are growing up to fast, but everybody needs to be educated at some point.

Plastic Surgery

As the world seeks to be more beautiful we see many cases of plastic surgery. Is this a good idea though, there is always a risk when going under the knife. There have been many cases of plastic surgery which ironically end up making people look worse. People want to improve themselves because all of their role models are doing it. Some celebrities who have had enhancements are Katie Price (pictured right), who has probably altered here whole body, Joan Rivers, who has had a fair few facelifts, also Michael Jackson who famously altered the whole of his face and his colour.

There was an interesting television programme recently about people who want to make their skin lighter because they believe that white is the more beautiful colour. There has actually been medication made for this, also people were willing to go under the knife just so they could become white. This is very extreme body modification.

Some people will say they want to change themselves due to a lack of confidence. If having plastic surgery is what makes a person feel better about themselves then who are we to judge. Some people have problems with nerves and confidence and if plastic surgery changes this then it is not just (supposedly) improving the looks of the person but also improving the person as a whole.

Follow this link for a story on the real life Catwoman, who alterted hereself to please her husband.

One major problem with platic surgery is the cost. It is very pricey and some people may use all their money just to improve themselves. Maybe role models should tone down on the plastic surgery, but this will never happen, the world will always seek to be as beautiful as possible.

Tattoos

As far as we know the practice of tattooing has been going since about the 5th century bc in the Neolithic times. Otzi the Iceman was found in the Otz valley of the alps with approximately 57 carbon tattoos. Since then people have been tattooed be it because it is part of their culture or just because they want them for look. Tattoos seemed to take a decline in Britain in the 19th and early 20th century, but recently a lot more people are seeking to have them. Many famous role models have tattoos which could be why people are getting more and more.

One example of a role model heavily tattooed would be David Beckham. Many people thought his tattoos were brilliant so sought to copy his tattoos or just get some individual ones of their own. Other role models with tattoos would be Eminem, 50 cent and there are many football players such as Craig Bellamy and Jermaine Jenas.

Many religions frown upon tattoos. Islam and Judaism especially, it is forbidden to modify your body in these religions. It is also frowned upon in Christianity but not forbidden.

To the left is a picture of the most tattooed man in the world.

In many tribes around the world they get tattooed as part of a tribal procedure. In Laos, Cambodia, and Thailand they have a tattoo called a yantra tattoo which protects them against evil, and also many of the Maori tribe have tattoos.

There are up sides and down sides to having tattoos, some of the down sides are that it is quite painful, can cause injury and sometimes even death. Tattooists have to be very careful with the needles they use and if they are not completely sterile, or they use a needle which has previously been used on another person then this can cause complication via infection, or possibly even death. Click the link for a story on a death because of a tattoo. http://tattoo.about.com/b/2003/08/10/in-the-news-another-death-blamed-on-tattoo.htm

Are tattoos really being bad though. People are free to do whatever they like to their own bodies, when done right they are a work of art. But there is always a risk to be taken when having one.

Speeding

Many cars are being modified to produce more power which results in more speed. This is encouraging people to go faster and faster. Speed limits don't really mean anything at the moment. Speed cameras catch the occasional speeding vehicle, but most people spot them and slow down just before they get there. Traffic police also catch the occasional person but they can't be everywhere at once. Satellite Navigation systems now are letting people know where the speed cameras are, so one solution for people speeding would be to take all the speed camera locations off sat nav's. It tends to be a big problem with younger people who make rash decisions, or try to show off the their friends, but like drink driving, speeding can cause serious injuries or even death if the driver was unfortunate enough to crash.

Not long ago Lewis Hamilton was caught speeding down the motorway. He drives a fast car to earn a living so he probably thought he would always be in control, but everybody makes mistakes, and at the end of the day technology is very unpredictable, hence why a lot of Toyota cars have had to be recalled. Apparently drivers reported their Toyotas going mad and the accelerator getting stuck on. This was responsible for a death, so people need to think when speeding.

England is quite a strict country when it comes to speeding, the amount of speeding offences each year would suggest differently but this just shows how bad other countries can be.

Jeremy Clarkson admitted that he had driven 186mph on a public road before. This is very dangerous to other road users and pedestrians. But again he drives fast for a living, he earns a lot of money and has a car able to reach ridiculous speeds. Click here for the whole story...http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/celebritynews/2041943/Jeremy-Clarkson-admits-speeding-at-186mph-on-public-roads.html

Car companies have started to put limiters on the car engine to limit the cars to a certain speed. There are always ways around this and a good mechanic is able to remove the limiter in no time.

Another person caught speeding was Michael Schumacher (pictured left), there seems to be a trend of fast drivers being caught speeding here. You'd think they would know better, they are role models for people of all ages, especially kids, who will think it's ok to speed when they are able to drive.

Binge Drinking

Binge Drinking is a big problem in society today. The problem lies mainly within the youths of the world. As soon as their 18th birthday comes around it's almost like an encouragement to go out and get as drunk as you like. Alcohol is a drug and can be the cause of paranoia, many long term illnesses and possibly even death. Binge drinking is when a man drinks five or more and woman drinks four drinks or more over an evening or a similar period of time to become intoxicated.

The government has been gradually raising the prices of alcohol but they will never make it illegal or raise the prices to a ridiculous level because just like cigarettes they are profiting off selling it.

Most people know their limits and will stop when they have had enough but occasionally somebody will go too far and end up in hospital injured or possibly even dead. Jimi Hendrix (pictured right) was a big drinker and he also took plenty of drugs, he died when he choked on his own vomit in his sleep due to have too much drink.

Alcohol can also make people think they can do things they can't, almost like a hallucinogenic. So many people are getting caught drink driving, this doesn't just pose a danger to the drunken person who is driving, but also to the passengers they may have in theur car and also other road users, also sometimes pedestrians. A famous footballer named Lee Hughes was jailed for drink driving, this link provides the story. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/coventry_warwickshire/3548840.stm

No matter how much the government raises the price of alcohol by, there will still be student nights at clubs where the drinks will always be cheap. People will always find a way to acquire cheap alcohol.

Bandits and Outlaws

There have been many famous bandits and outlaws over time. The most notable famous British bandit and outlaw was Robin Hood (pictured right). He was famous for stealing from the rich to give to the poor. He was aided by his 'Merry men'. Was it right that this man was an outlaw though? What he did was in the best interests of people. He stole things that people didn't really need and gave the wealth to the people who were in need.

A famous American outlaw is Frank James who is the older brother of Jesse James. They were both involved in the same gang, Jesse James became more famous that Frank because of his death, who shot Jesse James? has become a well known phrase. Frank and Jesse were both involved in many bank robberies and were also involved in various murders but were never found guilty.

Ronnie Biggs is a very another famous bandit and outlaw, he was recently in the news after he was released from prison on compassionate grounds. He was involved in the very well known great train robbery. He manged to steal £2.6 million from a mail train which today would be around £40 million. Biggs was convicted and jailed but managed to escape jail and fled to Helsinki. It was only recently he came back to England (2001) where he was detained on arrival.

They say save the best until last, so Ned Kelly (pictured left), who was an Irish-Australian bandit and outlaw. He is a very interesting character, although he had a very short life he has left lasting memories which authors love to write about. Ned Kelly was first arrested when he was 14 years old and from then on he was arrested many more times but never jailed. He was accused of horse theft, murder, bank robbery. Towards the end of his life the police let out a statement that anybody could kill him and not be found guilty of murder which shows just how much of a danger he was to the public. Eventually he was captured and was executed by hanging when he was 25-26.

Click here for a small biography on Ned Kelly.

Racism

Racism is a big part of today's society. People are abused on a daily basis around the world unnecessarily. There are many different factors as to why people are racist, but at the end of the day people are people, we are all the same no matter what colour we are. There are many famous racists. One famous group of racists are the ku klux klan, they began in America and they were said to be protecting the rights of the white Americans, but they did this through violence. In the past the ku klux klan had many many members, but nowadays has seen a decline in the number of people in the far right hate group. This could be because people have come to accept others into their countries and lives.

There are many racist political parties, for example the BNP (British National Party), the leader of this party is Nick Griffin, the views of the BNP are virtually the same as the views of the Ku Klux Klan but less radical. Nowadays the BNP have toned their views down, and this is attracting more and more people to vote for them.

The National Front or le Front National is a political party in France who have the same far right views as the BNP. In 2002 Jean Marie Le Pen (pictured above) gained the second highest number of votes in the election. This was a shock many of the French and in the second round of voting he was overwhelmingly beat by Jaques Chirac.

There are other famous people who have been claimed to have been racist such as Jade Goody in the big brother house towards Shlipa Shetty, also in the same series towards the same person Jo O'Meara and Danielle LLoyd.

Another famous celebrity who was sacked after being famous was Ron Atkinson for making a racist remark towards Marcel Desailly. Click here to read more on this story.

Infidelity

Infidelity is the quality of being unfaithful. This is a particularly relevant topic of conversation at the moment. There has been much controversy in the news recently of celebrities cheating on their partners. Many people do it; it is just unfortunate that it will be undoubtedly revealed if you are a celebrity. It doesn't help that celebrities are huge role models for young children as well, so if a young child sees a celebrity committing such acts, they may think it's ok to do it also.

An example of somebody who has been in the news accuse of possibly cheating on his wife is Ashley Cole (pictured above), who is married to Cheryl Cole. A few years ago there was a story about two footballers who had been involved in a gay orgy with a DJ. This was disregarded and was never proven to be true. (http://www.pinknews.co.uk/news/articles/2005-670.html/) This link will take you to a story about it. Recently though Cheryl Cole has been hurt again by the news emerging that Ashley Cole had exhanged raunchy picture messages with a page 3 model. Cole claimed that the phone was not in his possession when this happened and that a friend had sent the pictures impersonating him. It was said that he has cheated on Cheryl with this page 3 modely but this has never been confirmed.

Another example of Infidelity within the celebrity world would be with John Terry (pictured left). Recently it came out that he had been cheating on his wife with his ex team-mate and good friend Wayne Bridges ex girlfriend. John Terry has sorted the issues out and he and his wife have agreed to give it another go. John Terry is another major role model though, so maybe this begs the question should stories like this be made public? Everybody has the right to some privacy.

Tiger Woods (pictured right) recently has admitted to 19 affairs and yet his wife has still found it in her heart to forgive him. He has gone into sex rehab because he says he has a problem but surely this is just an escape route? There is the possibility of course that she has remained with him because he is very well off.

Other examples of possible infidelity would be David Beckham and Rebecca Loos, but this was never proven, also Brad Pitt may have cheated on Jennifer Aniston with Angelina Jolie. Jude Law was sexually involved with his child's nanny whilst he was with Sienna Miller. Maybe we shouldn't make a judgement though, who knows what the people in questions marriages were like, we only ever get a one sided story from the press.

Drugs

When somebody mentions the word drugs, you would automatically associate it with something bad. I know I would, but are all drugs bad? All drugs have the potential to be bad if they are mis-used. Some drugs are essential for some people, but even prescription drugs when used in the wrong way can be fatal.

One of the most famous incidents of prescription drugs abuse came about when Michael Jackson (pictured above) died. He was a musical icon to many people, but behind closed doors he had numerous drugs he had to take essential for his health. Michael Jackson became addicted to these drugs and eventually died of a heart attack, this was said to have been caused by an overdose of the drugs.

There is debate as to whether some class A drugs should become legalised. It is said many people take drugs because they are illegal and it is the thrill of doing something bad, so maybe if it was legalised there would be less people taking them. Another reason for the possible legalisation of some drugs would be that if they were legalised then people could be sure that the drug was pure which would mean less drug related deaths. But it is unlikely that most drugs will ever be legal.

There are many films which glorify the use of drugs, one film for example would be Beerfest (pictured right) which seems to glorify the use of cannibis and alcohol. Granted these two drugs are two of the mildest, but is it really the right message to be sending out to the majority of the people who watch this film?The majority will be youths. I guess films like this just have to be taken with a pinch of salt.

Drugs are also a major talking point in sports, especially athletics where many athletes have been stripped of medals because of drugs abuse, using illegal performance enhancing drugs.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/athletics/3492427.stm

This link takes you to a story about the athlete Dwain Chambers who was banned from the sport for two years because he had taken anabolic steroids which would unfairly cause him to run faster. Is it really worth taking drugs in a sporting environment especially when the chances of you getting caught is so high? Not really. This also links back to my previous post on cheating.

Cheating in Various Sports

Sometimes people are so desperate to win that they will resort to cheating. People will go to great lengths just to make sure that themselves as an individual or their team wins. Most of the time though these people get caught, so is it worth it?

A famous sports film with reference to cheating is Cool Runnings. (Pictured right). This film is about the first Jamaican Bobsled team who are coached by an ex bobsledder called Irving Blitzer. When the team and Blitzer reach Calgary they realise that Blitzer is unliked by a lot of people. This is because when he was bobsledding he hid weights in the front of his sled so they would go faster. This is because he has too greater desire to win, he doesn't enjoy the sport unless he is on the winners podium. But he was caught and banned.

Another form of cheating in my opinion is diving in football. Players dive to gain an advantage for their team, but why should they gain advantage if the player tackling them has done nothing wrong. It is starting to get out of hand and more serious punishments should be put into place to prevent players diving. From my point of view, football is getting far to boring to watch, with stoppages every 2 minutes. It is blatent cheating and should be cut out of the game.

To the right is a picture of Tom Williams a Harlequins rugby player. You may notice that is mouth is bleeding, but is it really? He has bitten a blood capsule so that he can be replaced. Harlequins had used all of their substitutions and the only way to replace a player would have been with a blood injury. They were behind in the match and wanted to bring a kicker on to see if they could get back into it in the last few minutes. Tom Williams was replaced and Harlequins still lost. He was also caught on camera and a full scale investigation begun. This isn't the only example of cheating in rugby, it has been said that blood capsules have been used for years and years, also it is said that players punch and cut their own players so they are able to be substituted. This is just the first case to be caught. This is not in the spirit of the game at all, once again it is all about the desire to win being greater than the desire to play your sport and have a good time.

There are many more cases in sport involving cheating, for example match fixing in football and race fixing in horse racing. The most notable people involved are Bruce Grobelaar in football and Kieren Fallon in horse racing. Click here to read more on the innocent Kieren Fallon's story.

Cheating will always happen because there are always people with too greater desire to win and any cost. Personally I would not want to win due to cheating. It would still feel like a loss. Some people cheat when they have no need to, they have a very good chance of winning without cheating. It's pointless and people who cheat need to realise that.

Masturbation

Masturbation nowadays is seen as a common thing that most people do, maybe on a regular basis, maybe not, but most people do it at some point. Facts and figures suggest that people start earlier rather than later.

As recent as 100 years ago masturbation was seen as a bad thing to do, it was frowned upon, but times change and now it is just seen as natural.

Click here for an interesting view on masturbation from Christianity.

Masturbation scenes in films are still very rare, the film that springs to mind with a masturbation scene in is American Pie, and this involves Shannon Elizabeth (pictured above). It is still a very private thing to be doing and if somebody walked in on another person maturbating the other person would be very embarrassed.

There are many more sex scenes in films than masturbation scenes.

Is masturbating being bad? I don't think so, not these days anyway, it is a natural thing to do, there is no harm in it. It may have been seen as a bad thing to do pre 100 years ago but times change, our knowledge of the world widens and this means that more things are seemingly acceptable.

Shoplifting

Shoplifting is a very common crime, many people do it. Why do people shoplift though? There are many different reasons.

To the right is a picture of Winona Ryder who was caught shoplifting over $5000 worth of items in 2001. But what brings a wealthy celebrity like her to steal? Well it certainly isn't a lack of money. Perhaps it is the buzz they recieve from doing it. Or maybe she didn't want to lose any of her wealth and spend her money.

There are numerous celebrities who have stolen in the past, some examples being Adam Rickitts and Jennifer Capriati.



Shoplifting can be made to have a comedic value. For example it is shown to be funny in an episode of Family Guy. Family Guy often has a habit of taking bad things and make them amusing in some way. In this particular episode we see that Lois steals from a shop once and it gives her a thrill. It is almost like from then on she then develops obsessive compulsive disorder to steal. This could be another factor as to why people steal, because they need to.

Some people may say that glorifying stealing in such things like Family Guy may cause people, especially youths to go out and steal thinking it is ok, but I say you just have to take it with a pinch of salt.




http://video.foxnews.com/v/3970660/violence-looting-in-haiti/?playlist_id=87249

Occasionally times are perfect for criminals. The chaos in Haiti after the recent earthquake has meant that criminals are able to shoplift far more easily. Looting is a big problem in third world countries. Maybe not all the looters are criminals though, a lot of the poorer people will take this opportunity to gain some amenities for themselves. I believe some people steal because they have no money and need to, to be able to survive.

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/wacky/priest-encourages-poor-to-shoplift/story-e6frev20-1225812768502

This link takes you to a story of a priest who has actually been encouraging shoplifting. This is almost like a Robin Hood scenario, stealing from the rich and giving to the poor. Is he right to be saying this when the Bible clearly states that "Thou Shalt Not Steal"? Most people will formulate their own opinions, in mine I don't think shoplifting will ever be necessary, it is a crime, and although it might seem like an attraction at the time, when you get caught everything will go swiftly downhill.

Sean Locke at the Civic Hall

Although not in week 12 I suggest going to see Sean Locke live at the Wolverhampton Civic Hall on the 8th of April. After seeing his first stand up show he seems particularly rude and vulgar but at the same time hilarious. This would be good to go and see because we have a session on nasty comedians in week 11.