Monsters found guilty.

CCTV footage of little Thusha Kamaleswaran dancing in a supermarket shortly before she was shot has been released.

The five-year-old was shot in the chest, and Roshan Selvakumar, 35, was shot in the face in a shooting at a shop in Brixton in March last year. The three gunmen, who have been found guilty of GBH with intent, were trying to shoot a rival gang member when the pair were accidentally caught.

After Thusha had been rushed to hospital, her heart stopped twice before doctors managed to save her. The bad news is that she will probably never walk again. 

Nathaniel Grant, Anthony McCalla and Kazeem Kolawole showed no remorse in court for what they’d done, and will be sentenced in April. They should be put away for a very long time.

On 22nd September the officers who worked on the case are taking part in the Three Peaks charity challenge, and are raising money to help Thusha is any way they can. They are asking the public to donate what they can, as they were so moved by little Thusha’s bravery.

For the full story, click here.

Goodbye Game.

It’s bad news for another chain of stores. Game have been forced to close nearly half of its stores.

Sales have been decreasing for months, and after a bad Christmas the company have gone into administration, resulting in 2119 of its employees will have been made redundant by the end of the week. 2104 of these are shop staff and 15 are head office workers. 

It’s expected that Game will be sold successfully, but the Royal Bank of Scotland are planning to insist that they get the money back that they’ve had to lend to the company in recent months.

With more and more people turning to websites such as Amazon to buy their games and other entertainment features, Game’s lack of income and their upcoming £21m rent bill is making their £180m debt even worse.

Though it’s devastating to thousands of people’s lives, it’s not really a surprise that another major chain has gone into administration and is being forced to close stores. It’s worrying about which of our favourite shops might be closing next.

For the full story, click here.

Pensions are for workers.

Peter Sutcliffe, a.k.a The Yorkshire Ripper, is fighting for the right to have a state pension.

His argument is that he should have access to a pension because he was working and paying taxes before he was caught in 1981 for the murders of 13 women. If he wins his battle he could get £137.35 a week, where he is being held in Broadmoor Hospital.

It’s not the first time that he’s tried to get money from the government. In 2006 he tried to get £55 a week as income support, so he could buy books and other items. He was refused this money, and should be refused access to a pension now.

Causing as much horror and pain as he did should automatically take away his rights to having a luxury life where he can claim money from the government and other tax payers. Being cared for and having food and other necessities provided to him is all he needs. 

The courts have previously stuck to the idea that convicted and sentenced prisoners don’t receive these benefits, and with any sense they won’t change their minds now for Peter Sutcliffe. A pension is for hard workers, not murderers. 

For the full story, click here.

We're doing it wrong again.

It’s just one thing after another. It seems that we can’t do anything right.

Dentists are now warning that children who are having their five-a-day are suffering from decaying teeth. High levels of acid in some fruits and vegetables are leading to enamel erosion, and children in schools are being encouraged to drink milk and water instead of fruit juice.

Parents are even being advised by Karen Harley, from the dental faculty at the Royal College of Surgeons, to only give children fruit as a treat. Rewind a few months and children were being told by everyone to eat as many fruit and vegetables as they possible can.

Whilst it does have other health benefits, it appears to be seriously damaging children’s teeth, with the estimation that acid erosion can be found in half of the UK’s five-year-olds.

There always seems to be something that the public are doing wrong, and it appears that this is the latest. First we’re told to have our five-a-day, now it’s rotting our teeth. What will it be next?

For the full story, click here.

Binge drinking.

As the pressure to sort out binge drinking grows stronger, David Cameron has described binge drinking as a “scandal” as it costs the NHS £2.7bn a year.

To try and solve the issue, 10 new radical ‘solutions’ have been suggested. These include enforcing a minimum price for alcohol, raising the legal drinking age, discouraging rounds at the pub (which put pressure on to have another drink) and banning alcohol marketing.

Another is the suggestion that children who see their parents drinking often think it is normal to drink heavily. This is pretty believable because they are teaching their children the ways of the world and the best ways to behave. 

The most interesting solution however, is to stop exaggerating the problem. The argument is that 2010 NHS statistics show that 55% of 11-15 year olds have never had any alcohol - which is very different to what the media and anti-drinking groups would have us believe. This exaggeration may lead to young people using “everyone’s doing it” as an excuse, meaning it could make the problem worse.

I’m not sure about some of the other solutions, but I think it would help if we stopped being over-the-top about the number of young people drinking alcohol. Sure, binging does still happen, but there are more sensible young people out there than the media give Britain credit for.

For the full story, click here.

The Muppets at the BBC.

Well, The Muppets are definitely back. The 10th February saw the release of their long-awaited movie, and it looks like they’re not hiding away again for a while. 

The Jim Henson Company, the producers of The Muppets, have been talking with the BBC about the possibility of a new puppet chat show to start next year. The company are going to be creating new puppets for the project, and once this is done, a pilot episode will be recorded.

As well as being a chat show, it may also feature sketches and games with the new characters. At present, they’re talking about it appearing on BBC One as a Saturday teatime fun show, due to start in 2013.

It’s difficult to say what restarted The Muppets boom, but for some their love for the cheeky puppets never died. Cravendale milk drinkers have until the 14th April to collect 20 codes for an exclusive Kermit the Frog backpack, and I’m almost there. With 15 of the codes needed, it won’t be long until I’ll be requesting my bag.

This new chat show is really exciting, The Muppets Christmas Carol was a classic Christmas film when I was growing up, and it’s pretty safe to say that this show will be a hit.

Are you looking forward to Jim Henson’s new show? Let me know what you think.

For the full story, click here.