Feet Up

Nelson Mandela; the third celebrity passing of 2013

2013-12-06T19:05:00.003+00:00

Described by Obama as “Influential, courageous and profoundly good”, Nelson Rolihlala Mandela has passed away at the age of 95 due to pneumonia complications. For the past 3 months he was in a vegetative state and had difficulty in speaking. He joins Margaret Thatcher and Paul Walker as the third celebrity passing of 2013.

Whereas Paul Walker was famous for starring in 6 out of 7 Fast & Furious movies (death by car crash), Margaret Thatcher was famous for reducing the British budget deficit and overall debt by cutting governmental spending and increasing taxes, and improving essential services such as electricity;water and transport by stripping away the power of the Trade Unions and privatizing (removing government control) the aforementioned industries (thus improving them through competition). Like with anyone, there will be those who hate; with Walker it will be the haters of Fast and Furious movies and with Thatcher it will be the Labour party (who stood up for the national industries but bankrupted Britain through excessive spending) or the ignorant and opinionated Liberal Democrats (who are blocking Britain's recovery by offering free services while the economy is still trying to shrink its deficits as opposed to widen them).

Nelson Mandela was the First President of the Independent South Africa between 1994 and 1999. Before this, South Africa was under control of Britain 1806-1961 and even after independence, had many Dutch 'whites' (that were 'below' the British) controlling the land and oppressing the 'blacks' since 1652.
Only with a combination of the 1974 Mahlabatini Declaration of Faith (giving equal rights to Colored people) and 1983 Constitution Act (allowing Colored people to run for Parliament and Presidency) could Mandela run for President.

Mandela's controversy is in the form of his 28 years in Prison. Mandela supported the Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK), a militant group backed by the South African Communist Party. The MK was the military wing of the African National Congress (ANC) and was responsible for 193 acts of Sabotage on government posts; machines; power facilities and crops, the 1983 Pretoria Church Street bomb (19 deaths and 217 injuries),1985 Amanzimtoti bomb (5 deaths and 40 injured), 1986 Magoo’s Bar bombing (3 dead, 69 injured), 1986 Newcastle court bombing (24 injured), 1987 Johannesburg court bombing (3 dead, 10 injured), 1987 Johannesburg command centre bombing (1 dead, 68 injured), 1988 Roodepoort bank bombing (4 dead, 18 injured), 1988 magistrate bomb detonation (3 dead),1988 Ellis Park bombing (2 dead, 37 injured), and attacks on Wimpy diners due to them being British. In addition to this, there were anti-tank land mines planted by the MK in Northern Transvaal that killed approximately 24 people. At a minimum (judging by the figures present on Wikipedia), 424 people were killed under the MK and 483 injured.

The point however, is neither the death count nor the fact that Wikipedia was used; it is that Mandela fought against the oppressors and spent time in jail for what he did. Mandela was not a terrorist, he was a freedom fighter. The differences are defined below:

Terrorist: Unlawful use of force or violence against persons or property to intimidate or coerce a government, civilian population in pursuit of political or social goals

Freedom Fighter: fighters in wars of national liberation against foreign occupiers or against oppressive domestic regimes they seek to overthrow

Whereas a freedom fighters are against foreign occupation or oppressive regimes, terrorists aim to strike fear into others and not generally oppressed.
If Mandela is considered a terrorist because he attacked white nationalists in a nation where blacks were enslaved, segregated and treated as second class citizens (see statistics below- Stanford University), then many of the ‘heroes’ in history were ‘terrorists’

King James I could be considered a ‘terrorist’ as he was the one who started colonising the Americas (and killing many Native Americans); as were his successors.

America’s Founding Fathers (including President George Washington) may have been ‘freedom fighters’ against the British but they kept black slaves and considered them second class citizens.

Queen Victoria’s Empire was expansionist and racist (see below), she was technically a ‘terrorist’ due to the number of people that died fighting her expansionism

War hero Winston Churchill could be considered a ‘terrorist’ as he fought in the Second Boer War against the Dutch,French,Germans,Russians and Americans in Swaziland. In addition to this, he had no qualms about using poison gas in Iraq against the Kurdish ‘freedom fighters’ in 1919 when Britain and the Arabs took over Iraq from the Ottomans and the Turks.

Bhagat Singh is a ‘freedom fighter’ but he killed British policeman John Saunders (who killed his friend Lala Lajpat Raj as he demanded Indian independence) and threw bombs inside the Central Legislative Assembly, shouting for, and demanding, the British treat Indians with respect.

Some of these individuals could be considered dictators. A dictator has the facets of a terrorist but is already in charge so his/her actions are only justified if the ‘freedom fighters’ are wrong in what they are doing. At the end of the day, whereas a ‘terrorist’ and a ‘freedom fighter’ differ in that terrorists do not fight for freedom (after all, Al Qaeda and Hezbollah want to wipe secularism from the face of the Earth), a ‘dictator’ is only evil if you disagree with his views. The 'racism' with many of these people should be given some sort of allowance as almost everyone was racist before Mandela, Malcolm X, Martin Luther King, Rosa Parks, and Vallahbhai Patel (so yes, even Indian Gandhi was racist toward 'Blacks') opened their eyes.

Mandela is not a terrorist and deserves to rest in peace. A touching post by boxing legend Muhammad Ali (a man who does not even speak in public due to Parkinson’s disease) shows how much he admired him,

“What I will remember most about Mr. Mandela is that he was a man whose heart, soul and spirit could not be contained or restrained by racial and economic injustices, metal bars or the burden of hate and revenge. He taught us forgiveness on a grand scale. He inspired others to reach for what appeared to be impossible and moved them to break through the barriers that held them hostage mentally, physically, socially and economically. He made us realize, we are our brother's keeper and that our brothers come in all colors”

Star Wars Episode VII to be Directed by Star Trek Director

2013-01-24T22:30:00.000+00:00

Yes that's right, J.J Abrams, the man who directed Star Trek and Star Trek: Into The Darkness as well as: Mission Impossible Ghost Protocol, Super 8, Cloverfield and (one of the best movies of all time) Armageddon is set to direct Star Wars Episode VII. Though he denied it several weeks ago, there were hints that he was still interested, particularly since Adams has said he was always a 'Warsie' rather than a 'Trekkie' ( apparently 'Trekkers' are true fans of Star Trek),

'I frankly feel that – I almost feel that, in a weird way, the opportunity for whomever it is to direct that movie, it comes with the burden of being that kind of iconic movie and series. I was never a big 'Star Trek' fan growing up, so for me, working on 'Star Trek' didn’t have any of that, you know, almost fatal sacrilege, and so, I am looking forward more than anyone to the next iterations of 'Star Wars'”'

As well as this, Michal Arndt, who wrote Toy Story 3, Little Miss Sunshine, Oblivion and Phineas and Ferb, will be doing the screenwriting.

Heaven's New Star: Sir Patrick Moore

2012-12-09T20:48:00.002+00:00

Legendary British Astronomer Sir Patrick Moore has passed away at the age of 89.
Moore, who was unmarried and without children, died surrounded by friends, family and his cat Ptolemy at his home; he had an infection and his stay at hospital last week was unsuccessful.

Moore was born in 1923 in Pinner,Middlesex and shortly after, moved to Sussex where he spent his life. Due to heart problems at a young age, he was home schooled but from this, he developed an interest in astronomy from GF Chambers' book, "The Story of the Solar System". By the age of 11 he became the youngest member of the British Astronomical Association, by 13 he wrote a paper on craters on the moon,by 14 he ran a small observatory as his mentor (who previously ran the observatory) died in a car accident. At the age of 16 he began wearing his trademark monocle as one eye was weaker than the other, and by 19 he had a full set of dentures.

Moore lied about his age during World War II so he could join the RAF at the age of 16;he eventually became a flight lieutenant after training in Canada and met Albert Einstein and Orville Wright while on leave in New York. It was during the war he met the love of his life Lorna before she tragically died after the ambulance she was driving was bombed. Moore continued being sore about this, with statements such as: 'if I saw the entire German nation sinking into the sea, I could be relied upon to help push it down' and 'the only good Kraut is a dead Kraut'

Moore turned down a scholarship to Cambridge twice; the first time due to the war and the second due to wanting to stand on his 'own two feet'

Since his first book in 1952, "Guide to the Moon" (retitled "Patrick Moore on the Moon") Moore used a 1908 Woodstock typewriter for all of books; he could type at 90 words per minute with two fingers. Moore was also a keen chess player, cricketer,golfer,violinist,pianist and xylophone player.

At the age of 63 Moore became President of the British Astronomical Association, in 1968 he became an OBE and in 1988, a CBE. He was knighted in the 2001 New Year list "for services to the popularisation of science and to broadcasting". Moore's weekly show "The Sky at Night" broadcast for 55 years, being the longest-running show to have the same presenter; only missing one episode when Moore had a near fatal bout of food poisoning in 2004.

First the Rocket Man Neil Armstrong and now the Silver Surfer Moore, 2012 is not a good year for celebrities. Rest in Peace

Pregnant Princess and Hitched Hef

2012-12-03T18:48:00.003+00:00

Approximately three months after the controversial nude photographs in France, Duchess of Cambridge Catherine Middleton has announced she is pregnant with a potential heir to the throne. Kate, 30 is already the Princess Consort (wife of a Prince) and her husband William,30 is second in line to the throne.

Not to be outdone, across the Atlantic Ocean, Hugh Hefner has announced his engagement to Playmate Crystal Harris. The 86 year old media mogul and 26 year old blonde bombshell are giving marriage another go after Harris called off the wedding back in June 2011, five days before their big day. Crystal seems to have captured Hef's heart due to the latter wanting to follow a monogamous relationship (this very rarely happens!).

A Merry Christmas indeed!

Breakthrough in Palestine state recognition

2012-12-01T23:17:00.002+00:00

Palestine has finally been recognised as a country after 65 long years. UN General assembly 67/19, which had a majority of 138 nations (including France, Japan and the V-BRICS emerging economies of Vietnam;Brazil;Russia;India;China and South Africa) voted in favour of Palestine being a non-member nation of the UN. This does not mean Palestine will automatically get official borders, nor does it mean the fighting in the Middle East will stop, but it does mean Palestine gets to tell the UN its point of view collectively as a nation.

This was merely days after the week long Gaza war between Israel and Palestinian militants, which was triggered when the militants attacked Israeli forces for blocking the Gaza Strip; Israel retaliated and killed Ahmed Jabari, acting head of Hamas' (one of Palestine's two main parties-the other being Fatah) military wing; the intention of Israel was to disable the militants through airstrikes on their bases and weapons stashes. Palestine's retaliation was to fire over 1400 Iranian and Russian supplied rockets over the border into Israel; over 400 were intercepted by Israel's 'Iron Dome' defense system with near 90% of those missiles being aimed at populated areas. The outcome of this war was a ceasefire between both Israel and Palestine with both sides claiming victory ( Israeli casualties: 2 soldiers killed,
20 wounded,4 civilians killed and 219 injured. Palestinian casualties: 55-120 soldiers killed [Palestine has fewer estimated while Israel has more],29 wounded, 57-105 Palestinian civilians killed [Palestine has more deaths estimated while Israel has less], 971 wounded [Palestinian figure] and 8 Palestinians executed by Hamas). There was also a bomb detonated on a bus in Tel Aviv where 28 were injured.

The fact that Israel wins the skirmishes and the wars, and the news of ever decreasing Palestinian land ownership, makes Israel look like an aggressor. Jews can not be solely blamed for Israel's actions as not all Jews are Israeli and not all of Israel's citizens are aggressive Islamophobes; Israel is a democracy and its policies change by whichever party is in power. The ultra-Orthodox and Zionist members are the ones truly against Palestine but do not make up a majority. Looking at the other side of the coin, the land acquisition by Israel has caused a rise of Islamists who brainwash normal Muslims into being anti-semitic and helping them carry out atrocities ranging from suicide bombings in Palestine to international terror attacks such as 9/11. The Islamists themselves are brainwashed not by 'freedom fighters' but fascists who want things their way. Islamists are seen worse than Zionists as they are also against the West and other non-Muslim countries like India.

The essay below describes the history of Israel and Palestine and who is 'right' or 'wrong'

Since the 1800s Jews and Muslims have been living in relative peace with one another in Palestine. The Holy City of Jerusalem and Temple Mount were under Muslim control. Holy to both religions, Muslims believe their Prophet Muhammed visited Heaven from the Temple Mount; before that the Jews had the Holy Temple on the mount and it was prophesised that the Messiah would come if it was rebuilt. As well as being a minority at the time, Palestine’s Jews agreed it was wrong to ‘force’ the Messiah by building the Temple through war.

From the late 1800s the number of people from both religions have been increasing in Palestine; more Jews came as they were mistreated by anti-Semitics like Chimielnicki and Hitler and had the ability to emigrate as automobiles were developed as a means of transport. The number of Muslims increased as Arabs from surrounding countries expelled those who wanted a Palestine independent of these countries. Arabia was under control of the Ottoman (Turkish) Empire at this time and both Jordan and Palestine were part of the same country .

After the end of the First World War, the Ottoman Empire (allied with Germans) was replaced by the British Empire.

In 1922 it was proposed that British Palestine would be made up of two areas : Transjordan (77% the size of British Palestine, no Jewish immigration) and Palestine (23% of its size, for all religions).

Jews legally purchased land to live with the Palestinians and by 1943, paid $560,000 for nearly 400,000 acres (6% land). By 1947 land purchase increased to 463,000 acres.

The rising number Jews in Palestine saw Muslims (Arab and non Arab) from other countries expel them; approximately 900,000 were kicked out from 1948 to the early 1970s. A further 200,000 left on their own accord between 1948 and 1952.

Many of the expelled Jews (naturally) went to live in Palestine as they thought that was the only place where they were welcome. 56% of Palestinian immigration between 1948 and 1952 was from the expelled Jews.

The more Zionist Jews (forming in Europe and governing holocaust survivors after World War Two) added to Jewish immigration, going as far as forcing holocaust survivors into Palestine and prohibiting anywhere else for the Jews to go to (even for health treatment). During World War Two, the Zionists even fought the British to lift immigration quotas (75,000 for the years between 1940 and 1944, set in the 1939 White Paper), killing 996 British between 1939 and 1948. 70,000 Jews arrived in Palestine illegally during the White Paper quotas being in force. After continued pressure from the Zionists and the USA, quotas were lifted and more Jews went to live in Palestine. See the tables:

Year	Jews	Muslims	Jewish (non ruling people) Percentage
1533-1539	5000	145 000	3.18%
1690-1691	2000	219 000	0.86%
1800	7000	246 000	2.54%
1890	43000	432 000	8.08%
1914	94 000	525 000	13.64%
1922	84 000	589 000	11.17%
1931	175 000	760 000	16.94%
1947	630 000	1 181 000	31.97%
1960	1 911 000	1 090 000	61.42%
1967	2 374 000	1 204 000	63.88%
1975	2 959 000	1 447 000	64.77%
1985	3 517 000	2 166 000	59.52%
1995	4 522 000	3 241 000	55.74%
2000	4 969 000	3 891 000	53.37%

Year	Jews	Muslims	Muslim (non ruling people) Percentage
1949	1 013 900	111 500	9.49%
1959	1 858 800	159 200	7.62%
1969	2 506 800	314 500	10.73%
1979	3 218 400	481 200	12.54%
1989	3 717 100	655 200	14.36%
1999	4 872 800	934 100	15.04%
2008	5 569 200	1 240 000	16.81%

After World War Two, the ever-increasing amount of Jews from Europe, and withdrawal of the British, the UN decided to partition areas within the new Palestine (but still keep it as one country); the Jews would get 56% of Palestine (mostly the Negev Desert) as that area contained more Jews (499,000 Jews and 438,000 Arabs) ), and the Arabs would get 42% of the land (a population of 818,000 ‘Palestinian’ Arabs and 10,000 Jews ) ;Jerusalem would be a special UN administrative zone .

The Arabs did not accept the land allocation in favour of the Jews so there were several conflicts that followed, the two most relevant were Arab-Israeli War of 1948 and the Six-Day War of 1967. The 1948 war was an official war between two new states: Israel (the new Jewish state) and Palestine (the Muslim state), after a year-long civil war between the two religions (regulated by the British for it was their last year of occupation). It was initiated by Muslims refusing to share Palestine with an increasing number of Jews. The Six-Day War was initiated by Jews as a pre emptive strike to Arabian sabre-rattling . Key armies from each war were Egypt, Syria and Lebanon (supported in varying degrees by Jordan, Yemen, Saudi Arabia and Iraq) against Israel (primarily financed by the USA since they had the highest population of Jews outside of Israel).

As the Jews won most of wars, they slowly gained control and much of Palestine became Israel ; a nation where Jews were the majority and had their own government . To keep excessive bloodshed and further war, after the Six-Day War they allowed the Muslims to keep the Temple Mount as they wanted to keep the peace.

The end of the Six-Day War saw the rise of three things: terrorism, war and oil prices.

The Arabs’ retaliation to their defeats was to increase oil prices and restrict supply. Despite the conflicts, the Middle East began to calm-notably Egypt and Israel making peace in 1979 and Jordan and Israel becoming friends in 1994.

Unfortunately, entire countries that support Palestine and the Muslim occupation of the Temple Mount have little care for the inhabitants of Palestine; Jordan massacred and exiled over 2000 Muslims wanting to be part of Palestine in 1970 as the Hashemite King wanted to maintain control and did not believe in the Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO)'s extremism ; Kuwait and Saudi Arabia exiled Palestinians between 1990 and 1991 as the PLO sided with Iraq’s Saddam Hussein:-leader of Kuwait’s enemy.

Palestine's (now unified) government parties- Fatah (PLO) and Hamas, both anti-Israeli and with members responsible for suicide bombings and attacks on Israelis (hindering the peace process),fought each other in 2007; the total number of casualties were approximately 616 (98 of which were officially civilians). It came to the point that Israelis had to intervene to stop it .

With the Israel-Palestine conflicts, the death count between 1948 and 2009 was over 14,500. If one measure the death count between the time of partition (1920) to today but also include the wars involving neighbouring Arab countries, the Israeli death count is under a fifth of the Arabs’. This, combined with Israel taking away more Palestinian land, made many Muslims blame Israel solely for this. As ‘excessive’ as Israel is, they do everything in retaliation to attacks caused by Palestine's government parties and various Islamists groups; Israel takes more land from Palestine as both retaliation and a means of policing the Palestinians, Israel’s retaliation then brainwashes fundamentalists into believing the West have caused this, the Islamist attacks cause further Israeli land acquisition; this is a vicious cycle.

The official and (on-going) peace process between the Arabs and Israelis was to also be hindered at great costs from another entity: Al Qaeda. Formally headed by Osama bin Laden (left) and now Ayman al Zawahiri (right), it and its partner cells (the Taliban in Afghanistan and Pakistan, Al-Shabaab in Somalia, Boko Haram in Nigeria and many members working in Fatah and Hamas), were behind the increasing number of terrorist attacks in non-Muslim countries, most notably 9/11:-an attack on the World Trade Centre in New York and the Pentagon in Virginia-killing approximately 3000 civilians.

Like other Arab countries, Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri used the plight of the Palestinians as a ruse. From reading and implementing theories by Egyptian Sayyid Qutb, their actual wish was for the lands of Palestine and Saudi Arabia (the latter of which had Americans stationed there during the Gulf War) to be kept strictly Muslim at all costs ; they declared war even on existing Islamic countries that are allies with the Israel and/or the USA (see bin Laden telling Saudi Arabians and Emiratis to rise against their government in his fatwas, bin Laden funding the Luxor Massacre in 1997 , and Al Zawahiri's branch of Al Qaeda assassinating peace-making Egyptian President Anwar El Sadat in 1981. Al Qaeda recruits people from countries with disputes between Muslims and non-Muslims (see Afghanistan; Pakistan and Bangladesh having anti-Hindus and anti-Indians, Syria and Yemen being anti-Israeli, and Egypt; Sudan and Nigeria’s apartheid between Christians and Muslims) to wipe out the ‘infidelic’ non Muslims.

Evil druggie locked up for 20 years

2012-12-01T21:21:00.001+00:00

A heroin addict who bludgeoned a 92 year old war veteran to death has been locked up for 20 years.

Charlotte Frazier-Doody,a 36-year old mother of three, lived on the same street as Bill Davis, war hero at the Battle of Dunkirk and beat him to death with a heavy object, most likely a saucepan as she said she was 'cooking him a meal'.

Davis, a recipient of 9 medals after many World War II en devours (such as the relief of Malta and fighting the Japanese) was found dead in his home with a clump of Frazier-Doody's hair and next to a pool of a mixture of his and Doody's blood. What makes this even sadder is that Davis was healthy enough to live alone and had been doing so.

The end-of-the-world prophecy on December 21,2012 may sound stupid but with all of the wars in the Middle East and an economy that never seems to be truly recovering (high unemployment anyone?) and sick crimes like this, it really makes you think.

R.I.P Bill

Obama enters second round with stunning win

2012-11-07T12:00:00.001+00:00

President Barack Obama has won the electoral Presidential election with 303 votes to Mitt Romney's 206, exceeding the 270 needed to win.

For those unaware of the electoral vote, each state has a designated number of votes to represent the people; the candidate with the most votes (calculated by each voter or 'the popular vote') gets 100% of the state's votes. The number of votes each state receives is dependent on the number of representatives which in turn is dependent on the population. This does not mean the popular vote is unimportant, the popular vote is needed to find the person with the most votes per head who in turn gets all of the state's electoral votes.

Obama, though he has increased the budget deficit and introduced state healthcare and welfare, was the candidate for the job simply through spearheading the attack on Al Qaeda, through the drones (fewer U.S soldiers killed) he nailed Osama bin Laden, Al Awlaki, Saaed al Sheri, Atiyah abd al-Rahman and Abu Yahya la-Libi (these latter three were ALL Al Qaeda #2 at one time after Zawahri took over from Osama). He also pioneered for peace amongst Arab countries and the USA while finding Pakistan's dark secrets.

Unemployment is still very high, alongside the budget deficit. Obama has a big job on his hands but he's the man to do it.

Here's Donald Trump's take on it,

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump

GOBAMA!!!

Paedophile is finally locked up, his name is Michael Jackson (no,really)

2012-11-05T23:12:00.000+00:00

A 50 year old man going by the name of Michael Jackson (originally called Albert English) has been locked up indefinitely for sexual assault on two minors, one boy (10) and one girl (11).

Not so 'Bad', take a look in at the 'Man in the Mirror' and 'Beat it' as this is not the King of Pop but some sick freak

This particular case was about the abduction of the boy when he was out shopping and had not arrived home; Jackson kidnapped the boy from an alleyway and put a pillowcase over his head. At home Jackson hid the boy in his cupboard,tied the victim's hands and put duct tape around the victim's mouth while threatening him with a craft knife and warning that he will kill the boy's parents if he tries to escape. Only when Jackson was gone did the boy kick the door of the cupboard open and manage to call for help from Jackson's bedroom window (which also had knives,a hammer and a plier, presumably used for torture). All of this was in the space of three hours.

Shockingly Jackson was also tried for indecent assault in the 1980s. Though it may appear this man was influenced by the King of Pop and the false rumour that the real Michael Jackson sexually abused children, one has to remember that both of the real Michael Jackson's sexual abuse charges were false (not only did Jordan Chandler, the 'victim' and his father Evan Chandler admit to lying after receiving an out-of-court settlement, out of guilt the latter committed suicide the same year Jackson died); the first accusation for the real Michael Jackson was also in 1993, several years after Albert English carried out indecent assault.

I Have a Bad Feeling About This- Disney buys Lucasfilm

2012-10-31T13:14:00.005+00:00

Disney has bought Lucasfilm for $4.05 (£2.5) billion and have announced Star Wars Episode VII in 2015 followed by a film every two to three years forever

The Star Wars saga is one of the greatest masterpieces of American cinema but outside of the movies, has been tarnished by the Expanded Universe; examples include:

***Spoilers***

1. Luke Skywalker getting married to a Jedi Assasin named Mara Jade while Han and Leia marry and have children; the fact we had a young Anakin Skywalker and a young Luke makes it depressing the characters age. One of the kids also becomes a Sith and those kids have kids too (GREAT-Grandparents Anakin and Padmé?)

2. Palpatine survives and has many clones (making Vader's death pointless-the lightsabre fight in Episode VI was too short anyway and made Vader look weak, especially after he was kicked down the stairs).

3. Another war takes place against aliens who are undetectable by the force.

4. Luke's Jedi powers mean he can move entire planets and create black holes (kind of lame and an insult to the original where by luck he could destroy the Death Star. Palpatine has these powers too.

5. Darth Maul returns THREE TIMES: he comes back in the Clone Wars TV series, fights Darth Vader after Episode III and fights Luke as a hologram

6. Boba Fett blasts his way out of the Sarlaac, gets married and has a daughter and grand daughter (really?). He becomes friends with Han too (really?!) >.>

7. Chewie gets crushed to death by a planet trying to evacuate everyone else.

8. General Grievous' body is reused several times between Episodes II and III.

9. Somehow Asajj Ventress survives the ass kickings she has against Anakin and Obi Wan but manages to get the better of Jedi Masters in combat.

10. Darth Maul's brother Savage can beat Jedi Masters in combat but is no match for Ventress or Dooku.

Making any post Return of the Jedi story into a movie is like putting gasoline on a fire or throwing mud on already tarnished gold. That and the fact that Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher and Harrison Ford are too old and not interested doesn't help.

Romney's Binders Cost Him Presidential Debate

2012-10-17T23:20:00.000+01:00

After a debate on the state of the economy under President Obama, as well as the administration's foreign policy, Mitt Romney and the President seemed to have both stalemated one another after Mitt's debate victory on October 4th. However, Romney makes a second blunder that was almost as bad as the quote on 47% of Americans being,

'dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims, who believe that government has a responsibility to care for them, who believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you name it. '

or his viewpoint of

'Palestinians not wanting to see peace anyway, for political purposes, committed to the destruction and elimination of Israel'

This time, Romney says,

'I went to a number of women's groups and said, "Can you help us find folks," and they brought us whole binders full of women...I was proud of the fact that after I staffed my Cabinet and my senior staff, that the University of New York in Albany did a survey of all 50 states, and concluded that mine had more women in senior leadership positions than any other state in America'

Within hours this quote made internet memes and as of writing, has over 316,000 'fans' on facebook.

Here are the memes

So far polls show Romney leading at 46-50% with Obama at 46-48%; different estimations come from different companies. So far electoral votes are at 237 for Obama to 191 for Romney. The offical votes do not start until November 6 so polls or electoral votes so far are only performance indicators.

Ban on Kate Middleton Photos in France

2012-09-18T23:16:00.003+01:00

Royals Win First Injunction

The Royals have won their first battle against France's Closer Magazine for the latter's publication of topless photos of the Duchess of Cambridge, Kate Middleton. This was only weeks after Prince Harry was photographed naked in Las Vegas.

The Royals have fined the French publication €2000 and given them a day to hand over the original prints or be fined €10,000 for every day elapsed. An additional €10,000 will be charged daily if the photos are still published.

The photos are were still printed in Italy and Ireland though the latter has had their editor of the Daily Star, Michael O'Kane suspended.

The reason this is more severe than Prince Harry's escapade in Las Vegas is because the Duchess was photographed at her own private residence, away from all eyes except William. With Harry he was in a public place.

Those disappointed with not seeing a nude or semi nude Kate may be satisfied with Playboy photos of her distant Aunt/cousin, Katrina Darling, a Burlesque dancer who is related to Kate by being a second cousin once removed (her grandmother is sister to the duchess’s great grandfather Thomas Harrison.)

UPDATE: 'Innocence of Muslims' riot

2012-09-18T22:14:00.000+01:00

The Connection between 'Innocence of Muslims' Riot and Al Qaeda

Al Qaeda's new second in command Said Ali al-Shihri was killed on September 10th 2012 after a drone strike in Yemen, three months after their successful drone strike in North Waziristan killed their previous number 2, Abu Yahya al-Libi. The problem was al-Shihri was sent to Saudi Arabia on November 9th, 2007 for repatriation into society after 6 years in Guantanamo; after a seemingly successful year he escaped and became a much more prominent member in Al Qaeda.
After his death Al Qaeda conducted an attack on the US Embassy in Libya and killed four Americans, two of which were SEALs (not from team 6) and one of which was the Ambassador,Christopher Stevens; the attacks were a planned and executed at the time when other Muslims were protesting in Afghanistan,Iraq,Yemen (4 killed),Palestine,Indonesia,India,Morocco,Tunisia (4 killed),Niger,Somalia,Egypt,Sudan and Australia against a film called 'The Innocence of Muslims'. Originally called 'Desert Warrior' and produced by Alan Roberts, a man with softcore pornography as part of his portfolio of work, it was redubbed by Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, a Coptic Egyptian to insult Islam and Prophet Muhammed by labelling him as a violent adulterer,pedophile and homosexual with the Qu'ran being a mixture of nonsensical verses from the Torah and New Testament. Al Qaeda struck at the 'right' time. As well as this, Iran increased the bounty on Salman Rushdie's head from
$500,000 to $3.3 million (even though he and 'The Satanic Verses' were nothing to do with this) ,in a mall and Lebanese Muslims burnt down American food joints KFC;Hardee's and Krispy Kreme.

Actors in the original cut of the film have considered suing Nakoula while one of the actresss,Cindy Lee Garcia, has been forced into hiding due to death threats.

Indeed this movie should be banned for being hateful and Nakoula fined and imprisoned for starting riots resulting in at least eight dead, but those protesting should learn better than to blame an entire country for one man's actions, especially when that man's not even American.

The fifteen minutes of the movie are available on youtube.

A similar situation occured in 2010 when Comedy Central censored two South Park episodes for basing a story around showing Muhammed uncensored; they said Trey Parker and Matt Stone had indeed drew Muhammed in the two episodes but the censoring of his name in the second episode was intentional. Comedy Central censored the images for their own safety although an episode in 2001 was not censored.

To Infinity and Beyond-Rocketman Armstrong passes on

2012-08-27T03:02:00.000+01:00

One of ~~Americas~~ the World's great heroes has been lost; Neil Armstrong, the first man to ever set foot on the Moon has passed away at the age of 82 after complications from heart surgery to unblock his arteries.

Famous for the infamous saying 'So that's one small step for man...one giant leap for mankind', Armstrong was like Christopher Columbus: they found somewhere they wanted to go (the Moon for Armstrong and India for Columbus) and got there in a unique way (Armstrong via space ship and Columbus by sailing West as opposed to East); the difference between the two is that only Europe,Africa and Asia were on the map at the time and the Earth was considered flat; instead of reaching India by going West, Columbus found North and South America and the native Americans (which were appropriately called Red Indians due to looking different to Indians from India).

Ideally Armstrong should be temporarily buried or cremated and then his remains sent to the Moon. In case that does not happen, give the Moon a wink next time you see it in memory of Neil.

As Breivik is found Sane, Man Opens Fire Outside Empire State Building

2012-08-27T02:43:00.006+01:00

Breivik Found Sane

After a trail, on Friday 24th August 2012 Anders Behring Breivik, the 33 year old responsible for the death of 77 people in Oslo (car-bomb blast) and Utoya (shooting) was deemed sane and sent down for 10-21 years, depending on his behaviour (at the end of the term the Norweigan government can extend the term on grounds of 'preventative detention'). Brievik's motive for the shooting was the Islamisation of the West and Norway but he had a variety of complex views: he was an anti-racist, anti-Nazi Zionist against communism and democracy. Brievik seemed to particularly target Muslims but was influenced by the works of Al Qaeda (who in turn care not for Palestinians or Muslims due to the fact their ideology states secular Muslims must die).
The importance of Breivik being found guilty are twofold: Breivik himself wanted to be found sane because being found insane would mean people would not take him or his agenda seriously and try to change him through psychiatric treatment; the victims and their family also wanted him to be ruled sane so he could get life imprisonment as opposed to being put in a mental hospital.
Unfortunately people support this man, as seen by 'fan mail' to him and most recently, from a Kent-based BNP supporting, EDL member named Philip Horn who commented on a facebook photo of Brievik ,“Well done Anders Breivik. I take my hat off to you sir...
“You proved you were not insane, and that you are just one of many like myself who wish their country to return to the way it was before it was invaded by the Muslim population. Respect to you.”

In response to being asked how he could condone killing children, he said (from an interview with the Sun Newspaper):
(on the children killed on Utoya Island) “They were Norwegian children being groomed for political brain washing. He done what he thought was right.

“To a certain extent I do defend what he’s done. Go back 40-50 years ago to Norway, would you have seen people walking around in burkas and all that?
“I am a racist to a certain extent. Of course it’s wrong to kill children, but if he had to do it that way to get his point across, so be it.

“If someone came to my door in a uniform and said they were going to bang me up for six months then fine. I’m not going to retract any remarks I made."

2 Dead and 9 Wounded in Empire State Building Shooting

A 58 year old man named Jeffrey Johnson shot dead his ex-boss Steve Ercolino, 41 and wounded 9 others outside the Empire State Building in Manhattan,New York before being shot dead by the police.
Johnson shot Ercolino five times in the head and once in the chest with a .45-caliber Star 1911 pistol due to being given an eviction notice two years after being fired at clothing company Hazan Import Corp. Johnson believed Ercolino did not push his designs enough and was the cause in him losing his job in the weak global market.

Neighbors and co-workers said that Johnson claimed to have a military past and former landlord, Kathleen Walsh said that Johnson claimed to be a sharpshooter.
'He was in the Marines, or Special Forces,' said one co-worker.
'He was in Vietnam. There'd be things he'd say - 'Oh, that's not the way it's done', or 'I can't talk about that.'
The Army, Navy and Marines said Friday that there was no record of his service; a law enforcement official however, said he may have served in the Coast Guard.

Link to video: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2193065/Empire-State-shooting-First-picture-shooter-video-shows-moment-police-gunned-Jeffrey-Johnson.html

2012 DOOM AND GLOOM: Multiple tragedies in one week

2012-08-20T00:27:00.000+01:00

Justice for Tia Sharp

Tia Sharp's grandmother and step-grandfather have been held in custody after the 12 year old's body was found on the 10th August in her grandmother's house, 7 days after her Grandmother's boyfriend and Mother's ex-boyfriend Stuart Hazell, said she had left the house just for the day to buy shoes in Croydon (five miles away). Grandmother Christine Sharp (46), next door neighbour Paul Meehan (39) and Stuart Hazell (37) were arrested for questioning. Christine and Paul have been released on bail.

Texas Massacres

On the 14th August 2012, two people were killed near Texas A&M University when 35 year old Thomas Alton Caffall III shot Brazos County Constable Brian Bachmann (age 41) and Caffall's landlord Chris Northcliffe (43); as well as the two aforementioned, Caffall himself died from retaliation fire by the police. Three other law enforcement officers and a 55 year old woman were injured. The motives for the attack is from Caffall being unwilling to be evicted from his home; Bachmann went to give him his eviction notice before Caffall opened fire. Caffall's stepfather, Richard Weaver, told CBS station KHOU that the Caffall refused to work after quitting his job less than a year ago and shut himself away from society, playing video games to the extent that "it seemed to be warping his sense of reality".

Sadly, on the 18th August there was another gun crime in Texas where one man was killed and
two wounded early Saturday in a shooting at Music Hall Shopping Mall in the west Texas town of Odessa. The shooter was 24 year old Braushlyon Richards and the casualty 23 year old Pablo Jimenez. Police arrived after receiving reports about people refusing to leave a Sports bar (the staff unlikely knowing that people arrived for shelter from the shooting);several 911 calls came in about shots being fired in the mall parking lot. Richards handed himself in.

Unfortunately, a THIRD shooting has occured in the space of a week in Texas-4 people have been shot and injured at a Wall Mart in Cedar Park, Central Texas.At 4.30 AM police arrived at the scene of the crime and arrested the suspect. Nobody seems to have any life-threatening injuries.

Kai-Tak Strikes

Typhoon Kai-Tak has so far claimed 27 lives in North Vietnam and 2 in Southern China while leaving hundreds homeless from flooding. Condolences to the victims.

Russia's Islamic Tragedy

In Russia eight people have been killed and eleven wounded through a suicide bombing when policemen were at a funeral of a colleague in Caucasus. This was following a same-day attack on a Mosque when two masked gunmen opened fire in a Mosque in the nearby Dagestan region,killing one and wounding eight. A bomb was found but deactivated. The Dagestan area of Russia (in the North Caucasus region) has been having problems with Islamic insurgents and it seems these same insurgents did this as a retaliation. Russia has always have strained relations with Muslims and like America, have been troubled by Al Qaeda affiliates for Russia was at war with Afghanistan during the Cold War and also supported Bosnia-Herzegovina who, at the time, commited genocide of Bosnian Muslims between 1992 and 1995, killing over 8,300 and expelling 25-30,000 in Srebrenica.

Japan and China-New Disputes

Finally, enemies-turned-friends-turned-frenenemies Japan and China have been caught in a week-long dispute that looks extremely volatile. The islands, known as Senkaku in Japan and Daioyu in China have been claimed by each country, particularly as they are a source of natural gas. Since 1972 the islands have been administered by the Japanese even though they have been nearer to China. The Chinese from Peoples' Republic of China and Taiwan (a sovereign state with its own system and government but claimed by the Chinese to this day) state the Islands were discovered by them from the 14th Century. The islands are uninhabited but a recent dispute has occured due to 10 Japanese activists planting flags there, one week after Japan arrested 14 Chinese activists. The reason this is a serious situation is the fact that thousands of Chinese have took to protest on the streets and have also attacked Japanese businesses and vandalised Japanese cars; although they have $160 billion worth of trade each way (China is Japan's largest trading partner) China and Japan have been to war twice, once between 1894 and 1895, and once in World War II.
Japan has controlled Okinawa (now part of Japan), Taiwan and both North and South Korea so it would seem from that, and their wars with China, that history is not on their side. However, China to this day has occupied Tibet and Kashmir (areas claiming to be independant and also having been part of India) while claiming Taiwan even though the latter has its own economy and government while previously having ruled China before Mao's Communist Party. Considering the areas Japan have relinquished after 'knowing better' after the wars, it seems China is at fault for trying to claim islands that were never originally part of the 'modern' or 'official' Qin Dynasty China.

2012 really does seem to be the year of doom and gloom

Ex-military white supremacist behind Wisconsin shooting

2012-08-07T22:07:00.000+01:00

The man behind the death of six people at a Sikh gurudwara was confirmed to be an ex-military member and part of neo-Nazi bands; tattoos on his corpse also confirmed he was part of non-Neo Nazi white supremacist groups.
Like with Anders Behring Brievik, Wade Michael Page, 40, believed in ethnic cleansing and opened fire

at 10:30 a.m. on Sunday, starting shooting in the parking lot, killing at least one person. He then entered the temple and continued firing. Police spent Sunday night searching the shooter's home in nearby Cudahy. As well as the Sikh casualties, Lieutenant Brian Murphy, a 51 year old policeman, was shot nine times by Page but is recovering in hospital.

The record label for Page, Label 56; stated they are not proud of what Page did while other White Supremacist groups such as Stormfront and the KKK believed what Page did was wrong.

In the wake of the shooting, New York-based Sikhs for Justice has pledged $10,000 award to Officer Murphy while India's Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, US President Barack Obama and his rival Mitt Romney also expressed condolences.

Neuroscience student becomes real villain as Batman: Dark Knight Rises is released

2012-07-22T13:55:00.003+01:00

One year on from the attacks in Norway by Anders Behring Breivik that killed 77 and injured 319, A 24 year old Neuroscience graduate from University of California, Riverside attempted to become like a real Batman villain after dying his hair like the Joker (although the Joker never had red hair) and wearing a gas mask like villain Bane.

At 12.39, 30 minutes into one of the first showings for new Batman movie Dark Knight Rises, 24 year old James Eagan Holmes entered with several weapons: 12-gauge Remington Model 870 shotgun, first at the ceiling and then at the audience. He also fired a Smith & Wesson AR-15 semi-automatic rifle, and a .40 S&W Glock handgun. Audience members thought it was part of the promotion until he started throwing canisters full of obscuring gas and began opening fire on audience members. Within 90 seconds police came and apprehended Holmes but it came at the cost of 12 dead and 58 injured- including a 3 month old baby.

Holmes said after arrest that his apartment was "booby-trapped with explosives" which was later confirmed by the FBI; five buildings surrounding his Aurora residence (about 5 miles north of the theater) were evacuated and disarmament is still underway.

Holmes enrolled as a PhD student in neuroscience at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus in Aurora. In 2012, his academic performance declined and he scored poorly on the comprehensive exam but was not at risk of failing. However, he was in the process of withdrawing from the university.He had no prior criminal record but on Adult Friend Finder and Match.com his tagline was "Will you visit me in prison?"

Holmes is on suicide watch in solitary confinement and is expected to appear in court tomorrow on the 23rd July 2012.

Condolences to the family of those affected. Sometimes you wish Batman was real to deal with such people.

First Bollywood Legend Rajesh Khanna dies aged 69

2012-07-22T13:30:00.005+01:00

After a combination of cancer and kidney problems, Rajesh Khanna passed away on 18th July 2012. Khanna was admitted to hospital on the 23rd June 2012 and was dischared by the 8th July; again he was admitted on the 14th July before being dischared on the 17th and dying in his home the day after.

Khanna was called the 'First Superstar of Indian Cinema' for 15 consecutive hits in the 1970s,a record that remains unbroken today; even more impressive, Khanna's first few movies were flops.

Khanna won three Filmfare Best Actor awards and was nominated for the same fourteen times. He received the most BFJA Awards for Best Actor (Hindi) – four times and nominated 25 times. In 1991, he was awarded the Filmfare Special Award for completing 25 years in the industry, appearing in a record 106 films as the single lead protagonist in a span of 25 years. In 2005, he was awarded the Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award

Khanna is survived by ex wife Dimple (55) and daughters Rinkle (35) and Twinkle (37), the latter of whom is married to action hero Akshay Kumar and has a son and is expecting a second child.

Sylvester Stallone's son Sage found dead

2012-07-14T20:34:00.001+01:00

The 36 year old son of Rambo and Rocky actor has been found dead in his apartment. No foul play or trauma has been found but it is suspected from the bottles of prescription medicine in his home that Sage died from drug overdose. It has also been suspected that Sage may have been dead for several days since his mother Sasha Czack told his housekeeper to check on him as he had not been heard from for days.

Sage Moonblood Stallone was the oldest of Sylvester Stallone's children and co-starred with his father in two films-Rocky V as Rocky's son and in movie Daylight. He was the first of two sons Stallone had with first wife Sasha Czack. Sylvester Stallone has been married three times-the first to Sage's mother (1974-1985);resulting in Sage (b.1976) and Seargeoh (b.1979), the second to Brigitte Nielsen (1985-1987), and the third to Jennifer Flavin (1997-present) resulting in three daughters: Sophia Rose (b.1996), Sistine Rose (b.1998), and Scarlet Rose (b.2002).

Like with Michael Jackson,Brittany Murphy,Amy Winehouse and Whitney Houston- drug addiction and overdose is to blame; particularly with prescription drugs not being closely monitored or more strictly controlled to celebrities.

Thoughts and condolences are with the Stallone family.

Dara Singh goes to meet Hanuman

2012-07-12T19:34:00.000+01:00

Indian Professional Wrestler and Bollywood Movie Star Dara Singh passes away at 84 years young after cardiac arrest,lack of bloodflow to the brain and kidney failure.

Known for playing Lord Hanuman in the TV adaptation of Ramayan, Dara Singh was a former amateur wrestler in Pehlwani before moving on to professional wrestling and Bollywood movies.
Singh came from the era where professional wrestlers doubled up as strongmen or amateur wrestlers and also could be seen as bodybuilders from their massive physiques and low bodyfat. Dara Singh was one of the few that managed to do all of these things alongside other former legends like Georg Hackendschmidt (creator of the Hack Squat exercise), Clarence Whistler, William Muldoon, Donald Dinnie,Georg Lurich, Mighty Atom, Bert Assirati, fellow Indian Great Gama and Eugen Sandow and Arthur Saxon-the latter two pioneers of the Mr. Olympia and modern bodybuilding.

Supercouple Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes to Divorce

2012-06-30T20:09:00.002+01:00

After almost six years of marriage and a little girl of the same age, Hollywood's Golden Couple Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes are set to divorce. This will be Tom's third divorce after Mimi Rogers (1987-1990, the woman to have introduced him to scientology) and Nicole Kidman (1990-2001 and two adopted children: Isabella Jane [b.1992] and Conner Antony [b.1995]). It will be Holmes' first divorce.

Katie Holmes and less than impressed Daughter Suri

WEAK Great Britain Football Team Chosen

2012-06-30T19:50:00.001+01:00

Stuart Pearce has announced the Squad for the Great Britain Football team-from what we know it will be weak.
Normally England,Scotland,Wales and Northern Ireland are kept as separate teams in FIFA competitions but with regards to the Olympics, they are combined. Great Britain used to have a football team between 1900 and 1920 and 1936 and 1972; after 1972 the team was disbanded due to the abolishment of distinction between amateur and professional players. Whereas England has only once won the FIFA World Cup in 1966 and the other nations not amounting to anything in international football, the Great Britain team has won three Olympic golds: 1900,1908 and 1912.
Because the Scottish and Northern Irish teams did not want to be a part of this, only English and Welsh players are part of the team.

The rule with Olympic teams is that only three players may be over 23 years old; the three selected this time were Micah Richards (England), Craig Bellamy (Wales) and Ryan Giggs (Wales).

There are several reasons this squad is weak:

* None of the England players at Euro 2012 were selected "in order to avoid fatigue"
* Peter Crouch, Jermain Defoe, Aaron Lennon and Darren Bent-all players part of England that did not go to Euro 2012, were not selected.
*David Beckham, arguably the most popular England player and ex-captain and who pioneered as an ambassador for London 2012 and a Great Britain football team, was not selected. This was probably the most shameful acts ever done for a player with few years of international football left; especially when he did not go to Euro 2008 (England did not qualify), 2010 World Cup ( injury) and Euro 2012 (not selected).

Regardless of what happens with the team, at least England did better than expected at Euro 2012; being in a tough group they drew against the French 1-1 but beat host Ukraine 1-0 and beat Sweden the second time in a row (after November 2011) 3-2 and 'picked' the Swedish bogey. England exit Euro 2012 in the Quarter Finals after losing 4-2 to Italy on penalties after a 0-0 draw.

Great Britain's matches scheduled:

20th July 2012: friendly against Brazil
26th July 2012: group game against Senegal
29th July 2012: group game against UAE
1st August 2012: group game against Uruguay

The Last Emperor of MMA hangs up his gloves

2012-06-23T12:59:00.002+01:00

Fedor Emilianenko, the 'Last Emperor' of MMA officially retires after knocking out opponent Pedro Rizzo in the first round.
With Vladamir Putin watching, the fight ended after a right hand from Fedor knocked Rizzo down and stopped Rizzo with a barrage of punches.
Before this Fedor said he was considering retiring and after the fight, these were his exact words to Ria Novosti, a Russian news site,

'I think it is time I quit...My family influenced my decision. My daughters are growing without me. That's why it's time to leave'

Fedor's style in MMA is a combination of Judo (Bronze in the 1999 Sofia Liberation A Team World Cup 1999 Moscow International and 1998 and 1999 Russian Judo Championships) and Combat Sambo (Seven Russian Sambo Championships,a European Sambo Championship and Three World Championships). In MMA he was undefeated in 26 fights between April 2001 and November 2009.

Fedor had fought in Pride but never in the UFC due to Dana White's refusal to sign him. Fedor fought in Strikeforce before and after it's purchase by White and won his first fight against Brett Rogers but lost the following three to Fabricio Werdum (triangle armbar in round one), Antonio 'Bigfoot' Silva (Doctor stoppage after excessive bleeding from a punch from Silva in round 2) and Dan Henderson (TKO from punches in the first round). After being cut from Strikeforce he defeated Jeff Monson (unanimous decision) and Satoshi Ishii (TKO from punches in first round) before winning his Seventh Russian Sambo Title and the retirement fight.

A shame Fedor never fought the likes of Randy Couture and Brock Lesnar while all three were in their prime but at least he retires on a high.

Thank you Fedor

USA shows up Britain AGAIN!

2012-06-05T22:03:00.001+01:00

Last year the British celebrated the Royal Wedding of Prince William to Catherine Middleton to only be one-upped by the USA finally killing Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, ten years after the September 11 attacks.

This year the British celebrated Queen Elizabeth's Diamond Jubilee, 60 years of Her Majesty being in power; again the USA did it again by killing 15 Al Qaeda members and Abu Yahya al-Libi in a drone strike in Mir Ali, North Waziristan,Pakistan.

Al-Libi is second in command to Al-Zawahiri, the man who replaced Osama bin Laden. As well as this he is an official on al-Qaeda's Shariah Committee and is one of the more religious members of the group; whilst bin Laden was an engineer and al-Zwahiri is a doctor, al-Libi was said to be an Islamic scholar who spent two years in Africa studying Islam.

While the White House confirms this as true, Pakistani Taliban deny he was caught. Pakistan's government is now warning the US to stop the sudden drone strikes.

Mr Obama loves trolling everyone!

Sixty years of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II

2012-06-05T21:39:00.001+01:00

For the past two days Britain and the Commonwealth (ex-Empire) nations have been celebrating Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee (60 years in power). She is only the second British Monarch after her great-great Grandmother Queen Victoria) to have had a Diamond Jubilee.

The Queen is actually related to our former enemy Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany and Prussia; the Kaiser's mother and the Queen's great grandfather were brother and sister meaning he was grand-grand (or great-great)-Uncle or cousin twice removed. The Queen had one sister called Margaret who was born in 1930 (4 years after the Queen) and died 2002. The Queen herself married the Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Philip (who is a Prince as his father was son of King George I of Greece and grandson of Christian IX of Denmark) and had four children: Prince Charles, Princess Anne,Prince Andrew and Prince Edward. The Queen has eight grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

Contrary to popular belief, the Queen has some power in the changing governments of commonwealth countries:

Giving audiences to Ministers, at which Her Majesty may be consulted, encourage and warn;

Opening each new session of Parliament;

Assenting to Bills passed by Parliament, on the advice of Ministers;

Proroguing or dissolving Parliament before a general election.

The latter two are the 'strong' powers of the Queen, although she has the power to dissolve parliament when she pleases or reject laws, she rarely does for she wishes to remain neutral to the changing governments.

Amongst the excitement of the jubilee celebrations, Prince Philip was sent to hospital with a suspected bladder infection but he seems to be recovering and doing well.

Here's to another ten years to the Queen :)