The knife culture in britain

Britain has currently got a knife amnesty in place. This where people are able to hand in their knives without the fear of prosecution, the amnesty is in place until the end of June. The hope is that it will reduce the amount of crimes involving knives including of course murders. The last amnesty was very successful according to the latest reports and one can only hope that this latest attempt also proves to be a success. Something needs to be done as I am hearing about more and more deaths at the hands of this knife culture and the problem seems to be getting out of control.

I have had personal experience about Britains knife culture. When I was about eighteen years of age I went out for a few drinks with a number of my close friends. We all ending up getting quite drunk and I ended up walking home with three of these friends. On the way home we passed a group of four men all in their twenties. They pushed passed us in an aggressive way making a number of nasty comments at the same time.

Despite being rather worse for wear, myself and my friends did not react. We were however very shocked as only a few moments later these four youths started to run towards us in quite a frightening way. We all started to run but one of my friends stumbled and fell over. I looked behind me and saw that these four men had surrounded him and were starting to punch him. I was not really sure what to do and was quite surprised to find myself going to his aid, rather brave or stupid I now think.

Luckily for me the youths ran off with my friend lying on the floor in agony. As I reached him I noticed that there was blood on the pavement at the place where he was lay. I asked him if he was OK and he said that he was. He had been stabbed in the stomach or chest area but had not realised. He thought that he had only been punched.

We managed to get him to the hospital where we later found out that he had been very lucky, even though he did have a punctured lung.

Even to this day which is years later, I find it hard to understand why the person decided to stab my friend. Why was a few punches not enough for him? It was not as if he was in any danger himself as there was four men against one. If he had killed my friend he could have been looking at a long stretch in prison and would have to live with the knowledge that he has killed a man for the rest of his life.

My advice to people is to leave your knives at home. By carrying a knife you could end a persons life, ruin the lives of that persons family and friends and even ruin your own life.

Over the last weekend, I have read about three murders on the streets of Britain via knife stabbings. I can not truly believe that the people carrying these knives left their houses with the intention to kill. The act was possibly influenced by alcohol or by some troubles in their own life. The people involved are likely to seriously regret their actions only a short time later. This however is too late for their victims.

Cost-saving techniques help local charities focus on relief programs

The worst of nature's fury often brings out the best in people's generosity toward those affected by disasters. For example, according to national headquarters of the American Red Cross, the organization received more than $2.12 billion from September to December 2005 to help victims of Hurricane Katrina in the south-central United States, with much of the money contributed through local American Red Cross chapters around the country.

What many people may not realize is that 100 percent of those dedicated donations went straight to the national Red Cross organization, creating some unintended fund-raising challenges for local chapters in their ongoing mission to serve the needs of people closer to home.

"Americans were very generous in giving to major national and international relief campaigns throughout the past year," said Rick Hankins, director of administrative services and information technology for the Greater Cleveland Chapter of the American Red Cross.

"At the same time, events like Hurricane Katrina lead to what we call 'donor fatigue'; people feel like they've already given all they can," he said. "Meanwhile, there are still between one to three house fires in the greater Cleveland area each night, and we still depend heavily on local donations in order to help those families."

When local donations dip below expected levels, charitable organizations such as local chapters of the Red Cross must quickly adjust their budgets and reduce expenses wherever possible. One way Hankins and his fellow managers have succeeded at this is through adopting new financial management technology to help them create more accurate budgets with less administrative overhead.

"We've switched from compiling budget spreadsheets by hand, which used to take days or weeks, to a Web-based budgeting application called Microsoft Forecaster that automates the entire process," he said. "By managing our resources more effectively, we can put a bigger slice of every dollar toward helping people in need."

Other ways the Cleveland-area Red Cross and chapters elsewhere have streamlined their operations include delivering more volunteer training classes online instead of in a classroom, and using the Web and e-mail to reach a larger pool of potential donors at a lower cost compared with regular mail.

"Technology has made a big difference in helping us work smarter," Hankins said, "so our donors can know that their gifts truly have a positive impact in this community."

How the online gambling ban helps al qaeda

Groups like Al Qaeda may very well be using online casinos to raise money for their global Jihad, but does banning online gambling really hurt them. The answer to this question is absolutely not, it actually help them.

The way it helps them is easy to understand. Most of the money spent on online gambling was going to publicly owned British operators, but the online gabling ban passed by the American Congress put a stop to that.

Out of fear of repercussions, as soon as the law was signed these companies sold off all operations dealing with the USA, but online gambling is still going on, so now who is getting the money.

The problem with the Gambling ban is that it does not stop people from gambling online it only stops legitimate operations from getting the money and less reputable ones start getting rich.

It is these small casinos that before went mostly unnoticed, that will now be bringing in the billions that will still be wagered online.

It is also these casinos that have the best chance of being a front for AL Qaeda.

Some so called experts will tell you that this is not true and that it was thru owning shares in these publicly traded online casinos that terrorists were making money, but if they were buying shares of online casinos I am sure they are buying shares of Microsoft and Google. So why not ban them as well?

But once again the American people seem to be getting lied to by their elected Government officials, and it is time that we the people fight back against the government.

It is time we as a nation start to question and demand answers that make sense from them, after all they work for us, don’t they?

If you are tired of all the lies, then there is something you can do.

Jim Nickogoski the creator of the http: myspace. com/angryonlinegambler has started a web page to help fight against the Online Gambling Ban, the page also offers an online petition so you can tell the government you do not agree and you demand they reverse this unfair and unjust law.

The only real way for the government to ensure that money made from online gambling is not going to fund terrorism is to work together with the online casinos to regulate the industry with licensing so you really know who is getting your money. Only then can we be sure none of our money is going to the people killing out troops and threatening the American way of life.

So make your voice herd, write letters to senators, congressmen and even the President. Tell them you disagree with the law and ask them for real proof that this law is really what is best for us.

In the end I am sure the law will be reversed, maybe one day the government will learn what most Americans already know a ban on something never works, even if the government showed proof that online casinos are run by terrorists people would still play in them, just because they are not supposed to be it is just human nature.

A sneaker evolution

Those shoes that you just can’t live without, that you use for working out, doing yard work, walking, running or just hanging out – the sneaker – has a fascinating history.

The sneaker has been around since the 1800s when the Industrial Revolution took hold on America and rubber began being produced. Sneakers were once called plimsolls when they were first made in the 1800s as a plain rubber soled shoe. Goodyear, now a tire manufacturer, began as a rubber shoe company and in 1892 introduced Keds Т to the world. The word “sneaker” was also introduced to the world about a decade later when an advertising agent gave these rubber soled shoes the name sneakers because the soles were so quiet and didn’t make any noise on any surface.

Converse was the next company to release a sneaker to the world in 1917. They called it the Converse All Star and it was the shoe worn by basketball players. This shoe – the Converse All Star – later became the Chuck Taylor All Star and became a necessity to basketball players, kids and others for more than 50 years.

Adi and Rudolph Dassler introduced the first shoe used for tennis, or the tennis shoe, in 1931 and the brand name Adidas was born. Soon after Rudolph Dassler teamed with Puma Schuhfabrik to produce the Puma brand shoe for football.

It took until the 1950s for sneakers to be the preferred footwear of teenagers after James Dean was photographed wearing his jeans and white sneakers. Girls and boys wore their sneakers as a symbol of rebellion.

In 1968 the sneaker giant Nike enters the sneaker scene after Phil Knight and Bill Bowerman partner to create Blue Ribbon Sports shoes which was later changed to Nike after the Greek Goddess of Victory. In 1971 the famous Nike swoosh was bought from a graphic design student for a mere $35! In 1979 Nike created the first Nike Air sole shoe claiming a revolutionary air-cushioning shoe. They introduce the first shoe using this technology called the Nike Tailwind. However, one of the most memorable shoe lines that Nike released was the Air Jordan which hit the markets in 1985.

Since then Nike has captured the athletic shoe market. In 2001 they introduced their Nike Shox advanced support technology. This system uses columns of engineered foam to give runners and athletes superior cushioning and support. This was a new revolution in shoe design.

Nike continued to lead the market in 2003 and acquired Converse, Inc. The Chuck Taylor All Star is reintroduced and is again a fashion staple in the lives of teenagers across the country.

Sneakers have come so far that they are not strictly for athletes anymore. In 2004 Reebok formed a partnership with music professionals to create their Sound and Rhythm line. This was done on an attempt to grow and heighten sales and to recognize the growing popularity of the music industry and it’s effect on today’s youth.

Whether you are a professional athlete, casual athlete, music enthusiast or lover of fashion only, there is sure to be several pairs of sneakers in your wardrobe to fit every facet of your life. But did you ever know that this staple item had such an interesting history behind it?