The JSPrice Perception

Here is the final part of the biggest headlines of the year. These headlines have created a variety of emotions for different people. News which makes you smile, news which makes you angry, and news which inspires. Lib Dems join Conservatives in Coalition Government It has been the most historical general elections of our time. We had the first live television debates, inspired by the US elections. High expectations for all the parties involved. In these debates, the Liberal Democrats shined as Nick Clegg tried his hardest to gain the votes they needed to get into power. Clegg believed that he had the drive to lead this country and be the first Democrat leader since before World War II. After all the hype, Lib Dems did worse than they expected getting just 58 seats. In 2005, they had 61 seats. Something along the lines went wrong in their convincing campaign. And the result itself was shocking. No party had the overall majority. Conservatives had the most seats of them all but Labour w

It has been one heck of a year. A Topsy-turfy 52 weeks which has seen the biggest stories of a generation. Some creating massive debates, and some inspiring the world. Here are the news headlines which have caught my eye in 2010: Volcanic Ash Halts Europe In Iceland, the volcano in Eyjafjoll erupted for two weeks in April. This volcanic eruption was like no other. The explosions during the eruption were so powerful, that it would disrupt many things including closures of airports across Europe in places covering United Kingdom to Russia. This was because the atmosphere in the air which consisted of ash and smoke was so dangerous, aeroplanes would likely to crash. Therefore, millions of travellers travelling with alternative transportation. Euro star trains were the busiest as the eruption came during the bank holiday weekend. There was another eruption in the middle of May, however it did not create as much of an affect as the first one. This headline was all over the press and many pe

So, the fat lady has sung. England are not going to host the 2018 World Cup. It is a shame, not looking forward in reading the morning papers. I will predict loads of blames that will echo all over the place but to be honest, let us not blame anyone. Not the BBC, not Panorama, not anyone. I see it as that England made many, many faults. They took very little notice of the successes of London 2012. The 2012 bid team tried really hard for those athletes to get the opportunity of a lifetime and be part of something magnificent. They succeeded with Kelly Holmes, even David Beckham helped then. Major British icons which are an inspiration to many. What did England have as their "mascots"? Yes, David Beckham helped a lot but so did David Cameron and Prince William. Tony Blair did very little to help the London 2012 happen back in 2005. He just made a little congratulations speech after it was announced. He knew he was unpopular and he knew that politics would not help the bid. That

Crime against mother nature, I bought The Daily Express today. Ok, now you can slap me, punch me or more of a democratic approach - criticise me. Personally I blame Superdrug. They surely must have better choice newspapers rather than the Express and The Sun. In Cardiff Queen Street one, they at least have The Times, but the one in Bangor High Street, less choice. Anyway, before I get into a rant about what Superdrug sells and doesn't sell, The Express's front page headline caught my eye. It read "99% of you say: Get us out of Europe" and the image is of a woman in Birmingham lifting a previous issue of the paper. It's striking. I mean, let's use our common sense here. The United Kingdom is geographically in Europe, it's giving us easy access to Europe without paying any visas (excluding the likes of Russia of course). Europe gives us resources which we heavily rely on and we have a solid political relationships with European country leaders such as Franc

Tomorrow is one of the biggest days in the student's calendar - the National Demo. It's a day which they hope would persuade the Government to change their minds over the rapidly rising tuition fees. The Coalition are to increase the fees to a minimum of £6,000 as of 2012 and in some "exceptional circumstances" could go up as high as £9,000 a year. These costs are at least twice as much as the 2010/11 tuition fees of £3,290. The student's argument is that no 18 year old in the right state of mind can afford it, it's as simple as that. A complete outrage across the nation that will lead to thousands turning up to London and hope for the best. One of the main arguments which the students are making is that the Liberal Democrats betrayed every single one of their votes by going against their biggest pledge of slashing the fees altogether. Lib Dems said that they were going to slash the costs but this changed in September of 2009 saying he had to be "realisti

Tory cuts unfair, but we have to live with it Well, we voted for them so surely we have to expect the cuts which George Osbourne announced yesterday. Personally, I know only, at the top of my head three people who voted for the Conservative party last May. But the majority of people voted for the Liberal Democrats. The results were the other way round with the Tories doing ever so well compared to the Lib Dems. So it's been almost six months and all the cuts have been announced, clarified and all of a sudden people are unhappy. I have to say, my disappointment has to be shown to everyone. Being a University student, the 40% cuts are far too much especially when higher education in the UK is at a vulnerable state anyway. Let me go through some of my highlights of the cuts the chancellor made: 1. VAT up to 20%. We all knew this a while back but it still baffles me. The Tories complained that Labour increased the VAT to 17.5% in the first place, now they've increased it even furth

After 69 days of being stuck underground without seeing a spot of sunshine and not seeing their loved ones and finally the miners of Chile have been rescued this morning one by one. This is a historic occasion and the miners are now being hailed as heroes. This is the time when we all jump and say "Wahey, finally some good news". It's been the news we've all been waiting for because it's not very nice to hear that they have been trapped and their family getting worried. Now they're all out unhurt and in high spirits, we can all relax again. This is also a time to congratulate the team of rescuers who devoted precious hours and saved over 30 lives. With Chile being a religious country, they will be blessed over and over again. I consider myself as a old fashioned and being born and raised in Wales, I kind of feel as part of the coal mining family. All of us are. The industry here was huge before Margaret Thatcher came along and ruined what was part of the count

Politics is like football. It's very entertaining and sometimes, there's dirty play. Now, to add to the list, we can say that politics is unpredictable. The Liberal Democrats have changed in the last 12 months. Before, they were the anti-Tory alliance with the Labour Party. Then when it came to the election campaign before May 2010, they wowed their supporters by saying that the "mainstreams" parties were not going to change Britain for the good. Nick Clegg's tactics didn't work as the final result proved that they managed to get less seats than what they managed five years previous. This is when Lib Dems had to take sides as their decision proved unpopular with their faithful voters because they turned right wing, meaning that David Cameron would lead the country for the next five years. This is when politics gets a little confusing. Why would a party who are completely against another join them and make the biggest decisions of lives of millions, even the wo

It's taken a while for me to recover, celebrating the fantastic victory of the European team at this year's Ryder Cup. It was a close call and Graeme McDowell proved to be the unlikely hero and secured the win for Colin Montgomerie's side. It rained for the majority of the first day (Friday 1st October) and most of Sunday morning but the extra day played just added to the tension. This Welsh Ryder Cup has been already listed as one of the most magical tie between Europe and USA in golfing history. There were many reasons why this may have been the case. Wales and Newport's Celtic Manor Resort were really prepared for this. They had to be at their very best and the city of Newport has had a complete makeover - new shopping centre and it's more modernised. It sets a perfect example to the world that Wales is a perfect place to hold any sporting competition. We've proved it with the Rugby World Cup in 1999 and during the Ashes test in 2009. And the Ryder Cup is no

Watching BBC News and being a key follower of the political party season, I am disgusted by the actions taken by the Conservative Government to slash child benefits for the higher tax payers from 2013. Yes, they may be the "better off" members of the public but every parent I know admit that raising a child under any circumstance is very difficult. It takes a lot of dedication and the Government has to encourage and praise their hard work. A little bit of extra income will not effect the country's over-growing debt which is going on. Especially when the "higher tax" will bring the "better off" wages lower to a sum which is almost similar to the people who have lower tax. In my opinion, the tax rate here is far too high considering the average annual wage is less than £20,000. The population is increasing, and increasing fast. In the last nine years, we have seen 2 million more births which is continuously adding to the UK population. It's a lot of

This Saturday will indicate Labour's future for the next four to five years. Who will be their leader and try to defeat the Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition Government? This leadership race has never been as tight and exciting since recent years. The votes are in and are currently being counted carefully as this headline will be in the history books. We've never seen two brothers head to head in a prize so prestigious as leading the opposition party who lost power after 13 years at 10 Downing Street. We've not seen a woman so close in being appointed one of the important job titles, this country will get. It's going to be interesting. Let me analyse, critically of every single one of the five candidates who have campaigned hard throughout the summer. All of them did all they could to convince the UK public what they have to offer, now it's my turn to speak my opinion in this blog. David Miliband He's one of the strongest contenders of this post and wa

Tomorrow, history will be made. Pope Benedict XVI is to enter British soil - the first Papal to do so since 1982 by John Paul II. Benedict will travel to four cities; London, Birmingham, Edinburgh and Glasgow in four days. His intentions is to meet Protestant and Supreme Governor, Queen Elizabeth II and Prime Minister David Cameron. The 83-year old will be addressing the nation with series of masses. This visit however, will be the most controversial with Catholicism as a religion seems to be at a rocky patch. So what is the big fuss with the Pope coming to the UK? Why do people such as Stephen Fry despise his visit? It's a long list which the media looks to increase by the day. The religion is portrayed as racist, homophobic and well, everything against equality. It is quite harsh that Catholicism is being pin-pointed this way. Not every Catholic is like that. And surely, Pope Benedict XVI doesn't think everything negative? As a religion, Catholicism is very well known and is

It's coming up to Christmas and it only means one thing - good telly. The X-Factor is back, proving to be even more popular. Strictly is back with even bigger household names with the likes of Gavin Henson and Ann Widdecombe on course to waltz their way to victory. But it won't be those type of programmes I would be hooked into watching. Another genre which would increase my appertite by just mentioning... food. This week alone, Gordon Ramsay has two shows in completely different programmes. Yesterday (September 13th) saw him on ITV2 with "Hell's Kitchen USA" and now tonight on Channel 4, he'd feature in "Gordon's best restaurant". These shows titles are different to his "Kitchen Nightmares" but he has the same intentions - let's cook good and f***ing proper. It's mad and it's cocky but in the end of the day, Ramsay has the nack in producing entertainment like no other. Another UK chef has crossed the Atlantic and travels wi

The Sun, The News of the World and The Daily Mirror are among the most popular read newspapers in the United Kingdom. Their celebrity gossip, their light-hearted headlines always sends a smile to millions of faces everyday of the week. But in some cases, they splash out news headlines which are to be talked about for weeks and weeks after they published the "exclusive" articles. In May 2010, NOTW went undercover and publically humiliated Sarah Ferguson, better known to us as Prince Andrew's ex-wife and the Duchess of York. She owed hundreds and thousands of pounds and the paper's undercover reporter disguising himself as an Indian businessman filmed her gaining access to her ex-husband for an exchange of £500,000. It was a move which failed miserably as she was forced to apologise and at the same time put a lot of pressure on the royal family to react in an orderly manner. A few weeks ago, the same newspaper had done the same thing again. Only this time they filmed a

It's not the case of club or country. It's now the case of club or religion This year, Ramadan lies in the middle of August. This event in the Islam calendar leads to the run up to Eid, celebrated by almost a billion across the world where followers "fast", meaning not eating, during the day to remember those who are suffering around the developing world. In the Middle East, where this occasion is celebrated most is at its hottest. On average in places such as Dubai and Pakistan see temperatures soar up to between 44-47 degrees Celsius during the summer days. Where am I getting at? Last weekend, it was announced that Iran football star, Ali Karimi has been sacked by his team, Esteel Azin for failing to fast. It's a very strict policy which every player in Iran, or even the whole of the Middle East has to abide by. The news came to a shock to a lot of people. One of the best players in Asia, better known as "Asia's Maradona" has been kicked out of the

Martin O'Neill resigns as Villa boss No, it's not a joke. No, this isn't a hoax - Martin O'Neill has left his role as Aston Villa manager with immediate effect. No one had expected it. In fact, he was 80/1 to be the first manager to leave as coach in the Premier League. It's shocking, absolutely shocking. A man who took Aston Villa from the rot which David O'Leary had left them to European football for the last three years. In his four year tenor at the club, they've had Randy Lerner taking over them and keeping them financially stable. This summer, Villa are yet to make a signing which has been frustrating for O'Neill. He said a month ago that he would leave if Ashley Young left the Midlands club behind his back. Could his departure be imminent? Or has James Milner's transfer saga with Manchester City proved too much for the Northern Irishman. Either way, it's not like him to leave in that manner. This week is the new Premiership season and Asto

There has been a headline this afternoon that has made me the most upset man in Britain. From the 23rd August which is in three weeks time, Freeview will no longer be broadcasting Sky Sports News. This, to some may make people happy but for sports fans who are students with low income, this news is like losing a cat. Where did I hear this? On the Sky Sports website where there is a video clip guiding people to the new football league season. It's a tragedy. Especially when news broadcaster, Jim White also announced that "Sky Sports News will be better than ever". This will also mean that there will be no Jeff Stelling's Gillette Soccer Saturday on Freeview. May I be biased by saying it's my favourite television programme. Spending six hours with him and the likes of Matt Le Tissier and Charlie Nicholas is golden. Absolutely golden. But from the 23rd August, the times when I laugh so hard it hurts - those days will be now a living memory. It's what got me going

First of all, may I apologise for being absent for three weeks. For the last two and a half weeks I've been on vacation to Denmark and hadn't really accessed to the Internet for long periods of time. Why was I in Denmark? I have relatives who live there. I'm a huge fan of the country and I've been there for many summers now for the last 19 years of my life. What makes Denmark so special? This blog will tell all as I will give you the incite of getting there and where to go! Getting there I would be the first to tell you all; I do not like flying. I'm scared of heights and it's simple to say that in my opinion, there are better ways of going to any destination. However, Denmark is geographically a weird place. It is situated in the north of Germany and is separated into three different islands. Driving would be possible but will be exhausting. You'd be going through France, Belgium, Holland and Germany before reaching the south of one of the islands. Going by

Wishing Cheryl the quickest of recoveries It's not very nice to see anyone in poor condition. Although Cheryl Cole, I mean Tweedy is not the most popular celebrity around, I think we should support her through her difficult times. I remember when Kylie Minogue was first diagnosed with breast cancer. It was terrifying for the world to hear this catastrophic news and support was flooding through her fan base. With Cheryl, however it maybe different. Miss. Minogue is portrayed as a generous female and a talented individual who is now in her fourth decade in the TV industry. However, Ms. Tweedy has made a name for herself in the girl group Girls Aloud and being a judge in the X-Factor. Also, being the centre of attention when she was on the verge of break up with Chelsea left-back, Ashley Cole. Yes, I was slightly annoyed by the amount of publicity she was given regarding this separation but. Who wasn't? But in the end of the day, we need to give her support and less recognition du

Bieber has to get used to all the negative publicity It doesn't come to a surprise that people who tend to dislike teenage pop star, Justin Bieber have done something to make him upset. He's had number one hits such as "Baby", perhaps it's a song about his age! I feel sorry for him, I really do. I mustn't because of his fame and fortune at such a young age and his voice is terrible. The Canadian had written on his website to his fans wanting their opinions. He wanted to tour in another country and decided to leave it to his faithful supporters to choose for him. The most popular choice - North Korea. It's an internet prank which the anti-Biebers decided that it was funny to do a thing such as this. Second choice after the troubled country was Palestine. Jealousy is one thing, but it didn't go well with Bieber. Should Coventry be proud of their new "hero" Papers such as Metro and Daily Mail had put up a huge fuss over some success for England

Hello, my name is John Price and I am new to blogging. I've been interested in doing this type of thing for a while. Now I have the time to do one, here it is. Here are a few basic and "need to know" facts about me: I'm a 19 year old student at Bangor University studying Journalism and Media Studies and hope to graduate in 2012 before the "World comes to an end". My interests are virtually anything. From politics to sport, from entertainment (e.g. TV, film and the world of celebrity) to current affairs. My dream job is to become a columnist which you see in the centre pages of newspapers such as The Independent, The Times or The Guardian . I am highly opiniated about a lot of topics as my main intention is to be broad-minded when writing my viewpoints. These posts which I will publish will be equally controversial and (un)biased. It's a way which I reveal my emotions. Anyway, I hope you enjoy my posts. John :)