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Showing posts from August, 2012

Is anti-doping in sport proving to be more dopey as they sound?

Lance Armstrong (image: myhero.com) If you thought the three stories that I have written today were slightly barbarically scandalous, the final story which is to be analysed tops this list. It is sport related and while David Beckham has to ignore stories regarding him and Katherine Jenkins, this person has to deal with the fact that his career has potentially gone to waste. Cyclist Lance Armstrong has been stripped of his seven Tour de France titles. The reason is complicated - he has been accused of taking performance-enhanced drugs in the 1999-2005 period. The American, who before those years was a sufferer of various cancers including testicular, lung, abdomen and brain, has backed out of a legal process which would have revealed if he'd taken such drugs. Again, like the Beckham story, the Armstrong case is an allegation but regardless, losing his titles after all his efforts in one of sport's toughest competitions is devastating. However, backing out of this legal pr

David Beckham affair rumours shows the media has no remorse for genuine sport stars

Hours after the news in Norway, Twitter maintained its role as the King (or Queen) of delivering breaking news in as little words as possible. Rumours were spreading from the social media that David Beckham (the man who helped bring 2012 in London and adored by millions) has had an affair with Welsh opera singing sensation Katherine Jenkins leaving David's wife Victoria in tears and demanding sympathy. How did the rumour come about, someone created a realistic fake "Famous" magazine front cover . It has been a well known fact that the media, particularly magazines adore Victoria, known in the past as 'Posh Spice' from pop group Spice Girl, and if someone messes with her, they would have to deal with the abuse from Vogue or Heat so whoever started the rumour knew exactly what he, or she were doing. So there was very little surprise that Katherine Jenkins would be upset by the allegations. After having an unexpected break up with fiancee and TV presenter Gethin

Breivik given prison sentence, but Norway's future appears more uncertain

Later on this Friday 24th August 2012, we discovered Anders Behring Breivik, the man responsible for killing 77 people, many of which were teenagers in Norway on 22nd July 2011, has been given a maximum of 21 years in prison for his actions that shocked the nation. It has been a court case like no other. Never has the country witnessed such atrocious crime and some think that 21 years is not enough for the 33-year-old, however the Norway justice laws suggest that the maximum jail sentence is 21 years - something that has been criticised. It has been a complicated process to giving Breivik his prison sentence. First, there was a question whether he was deemed criminally insane or criminally sane. Last autumn, there were psychiatrc reports which said that he is a sufferer of paranoia schizophrenia. This was later denied and rumours then said he had Asperger's Syndrome. Regardless, on Friday, he was announced criminally sane and therefore by law, he is sent to prison. This prison

Harry has to choose what sort of Prince he aspires to be

Prince Harry (left) with William (image: Scrape TV) Friday 24th August 2012 will be remembered for its bizarre, yet history-making news stories. We started the day with Prince Harry's nudity photos in the daily edition of The Sun newspaper. The third heir to the British throne may have regretted bringing some girls to his Las Vegas hotel room after they leaked images of him with no clothes on the internet for the whole world to see. It isn't the sophisticated representations the globe is used to seeing a royal family member doing but they obviously haven't heard of Harry's wild party-animal past. However, this story has questioned the responsibility The Sun paper has taken in order publish these photos to people across Britain who have yet to see the images. Former Deputy Prime Minister, John Prescott was particularly upset by the controversial newspaper's actions saying that self-regulation in newspapers has "died". Furthermore, the Press Complai

This is not the time to lose faith in politicians

Role of UK judiciary system put into question again after failing to deal with Julian Assange efficiently Now the Olympics in London has finished, it is now time to relax and enjoy the rest of the summer. Prime Minister David Cameron and Deputy PM Nick Clegg have taken their family to hotter locations and celebrating the fact they do not need to make life-changing decisions for a couple of weeks. Little did they realise is that news and politics is a 24 hour service and their imminent return to the UK means they have a lot of stories to clear up. One story has seen the recent developments to the future of WikiLeaks owner, Julian Assange. Earlier this summer, he was found guilty for a series of rape charges he constantly denied. These charges meant he was supposed to be handed over to the US government by Britain and therefore extradited to Sweden, the country where the alleged incidents occurred. This decision has aggravated several nerves of the Australian "whistle-blower&quo

London 2012 has inspired many generations

Dear Sceptics, who’s laughing now? London 2012 has now concluded and after 18 days* of wonderful, spectacular sport, we have all of a sudden forgotten about the doubts and worries which we feared from the start. There was no problem with security as they did a terrific job and on the track, on the arenas, on the grass, we have seen the most tremendous sport I certainly have ever seen in such a long time. May I say that London 2012 has been more enjoyable than Beijing 2008? It’s not just because of how well Team GB and Iran, of course competing in their most successful Olympics, have done but despite the wonky preparations, we can all relax for two weeks before we start to enjoy the Paralympics. Although I thought that the British stars sparkled on the biggest sporting stage of all, one man has lifted the spirits of the world and has developed from being a great athlete, to a "legendary", inspirational one. Usain Bolt made history in London 2012 by winning 100m, 200m and 4