Wolverhampton named fifth worst city in world

Gordon Griffiths / CC BY-SA 2.0

How could I not possibly comment on this story!

Wolverhampton (my hometown) has been named as the fifth worst city to live in the world on a travellers' website.

The list compiled by travel website Lonely Planet puts the West Midlands city below Detroit (USA), Accra (Ghana), Seoul (South Korea) and Los Angeles (USA).

Now, don't get me wrong, Wolverhampton isn't one of my favourite places in the world! I openly admit that when I was looking at University courses, I wanted to move as far away as possible and I chose Winchester because it was such a nice place compared to the city where I spent nearly 20 years of my life.

But to say that it is one of the top five worst places to live in the world is completely laughable.

Detroit is statistically the most dangerous place to live in the US and Los Angeles has a huge gang culture and an ever increasing number of deaths per year from gun crime among a host of other social and economic problems.

How on earth can Wolverhampton be mentioned in the same breath as these places?

Channel 4's annual list of the best and worst places to live revealed that Wolverhampton wasn't even named in the bottom 20 of worst places to live in the UK in 2009.

I refuse to accept there is not a more deserving place to be named in the bottom five than a small city in the Midlands. One comment on the website even ludicrously compared Wolverhampton to Ground Zero in New York!

I don't know what the criteria was for voting on the worst places to live so if anyone knows could they please comment on this page.

Leicester Tigers vs Sale Sharks 27/12

Thought I would upload some pictures to show off my new camera!



Ian and Jon in front of the impressive new Caterpillar Stand

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Can't afford that ideal Christmas present? Just steal it!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/goatopolis/ / CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

Interesting story on the BBC News site today that is sure to lead to some interesting debates.

A priest from North Yorkshire has advised people to shoplift if they find themselves in hard times.

Speaking at St Lawrence and St Hilda in York, Reverend Tim Jones said people should steal from big chain stores rather than small businesses.

He told the congregation: "When people are released from prison, or find themselves suddenly without work or family support, then to leave them for weeks and weeks with inadequate or clumsy social support is monumental, catastrophic folly.

"We create a situation which leaves some people little option but crime."

Father Jones was blasted by Yorkshire police who said his actions were "highly irresponsible".

Defending his actions, Jones said he was trying to encourage people to give to charity to avoid those in need becoming so desperate, not trying to rally people to shoplift.



I thought I would try and get some reader participation on this story!

Do you think what Rev. Tim Jones said is right, or is he encouraging people to break the law? Is shoplifting ever right?

Vote on my poll and feel free to leave your comments.

Rage Against the Machine are Christmas number 1!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/penner/ / CC BY-SA 2.0

Rage Against the Machine have made it to number 1 in the UK singles chart!!!

I can't quite believe this happened. I know it was close but I never actually expected a song that is over 15 years old to make it to the number one spot over song by X-factor winner Joe McElderry.

RATM's song 'Killing in the Name' sold more than £500,000 copies to keep the 18 year old off the top spot whose single 'The Climb' came in at number 2.

I can honestly say, this has restored a lot of my faith in the music industry and the music buying public.

Rage Against the Machine have achieved this feat off the back of an unofficial facebook group and with a marketing budget of £0.

I know what some people are going to say, Simon Cowell still stands to benefit and Rage are on a major record label yadda yadda. Bottom line, this is a great victory and a good demonstration of social media flexing its muscles and showing how powerful it can be.

The darker side of journalism

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ari/ / CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

Everyone knows the well publicised rewards that come with pursuing a career in journalism. The chance to see your name up in lights, being the first to break a story and making high profile celebrities face the music in interviews are just some of the ones which attracted me to study it at undergraduate level.

But it is not all glitz and glamour as a recent article reminded me.

The Committee to Protect Journalists revealed that 68 journalists were killed in 2009, making it the highest yearly tally since the CPJ started detailing records of journalist deaths.

The previous worst stood at 67 in 2007 when the violence in Iraq was at its peak and media deaths were common.

The record toll this year was driven mainly by the election-related slaughter of more than 30 media workers in the Philippine province of Maguindanao. This is the single deadliest event for the press in CPJ history.

The Philippines, Somalia and Pakistan were identified as amongst some of the most dangerous places, accounting for over 50 media deaths.

The full report can be found here

My Favourite Albums of 2009

The time is finally here!

The selections have been made, the order has been decided, the winners are preparing their speeches; it can only mean one thing...It is time to announce the winner of the highest accolade in music, my top ten favourite albums of 2009!

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Mick McCarthy - cop out or wise decision? I feel sorry for the fans...

Most of the newspaper back pages today are focused around one story.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/tgigreeny/ / CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

Wolverhampton Wanderers losing to Man Utd at Old Trafford isn't exactly a big story in itself, but last nights result is sure to have any number of bloggers giving their 2 cents worth for a very different reason.

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Remixing bands own songs with Creative Commons

I am taking an (extended) break from my law revision to write a blog about something that appeared in my twitter feed this morning.

Thinking about it, this blog concerns Creative Commons and copyright so I guess it is kind of connected to my revision anyway!

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