On this day

Olympic Torch Arrives in Britain

This is a picture of Ben Ainslie the triple Olympic gold medalist who received the Olympic flame carried in a lantern to Lands End by the Royal Navy. He was the first of the 1000 torch bearers to carry the torch in its 8,000 mile relay across Britain and should arrive in London to open the 2012 London Olympics in 70 days time.

The BBC and ITV News teams both filmed the event and the BBC also filmed what looked like a security incident where torch bearer security prevented a member of the public who tried running next to the torch bearer.

It is due to be carried through Cornwall and into Devon, where it’s expected to reach Plymouth Hoe tonight.

The relay torch bearers both young and old, are members of the public chosen for their achievements and community activity with each torch-bearer running  300m with the torch before passing the olympic flame to another bearer’s torch.

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Ken moved by Londoner’s plea

Ken Livingstone showed a very caring and emotional side of himself as he was overcome by watching a video by Londoner‘s backing his campaign. In the video members of the public implored  him to do the best for London, should he become London Mayor a second time. One member of the public saying in the promotional video ‘Go on Ken – do it for London!’

Mr Livingstone who was visably moved by the video, speaking to the Telegragh newspaper said that if he lost the electoral campaign that he would not stand again and that he would go back to doing his radio programme but added recounting his childhood :

‘if I lose the opportunity to help millions of ordinary Londoners for whom every day is now a terrible struggle. I grew up in that post-war Britain where parents had to count every penny, everything had to be used, it was a real struggle, and we are back in that world. If I fail to do that, it’s a guilt I carry to my grave. I want the chance to make life better for ordinary Londoners.’

He also has previously criticised Boris Johnson, the current Mayor, for not being present during the time that the London riots were taking place – as he had been on holiday – Mr Livingstone saying that he had failed Londoners at their time of greatest need as their Mayor.

Ed Miliband who was also present during the screening of the video patted an overcome Ken Livingstone in support for his campaign for mayor.

For more information and to support Ken Liivingstone in his campaign to be Mayor of London again please visit  http://www.kenlivingstone.com/home

Related articles

• Tears in his eyes – but will ‘underdog’ Ken Livingstone have last laugh on election day? (independent.co.uk)
• Ken Livingstone in tears at ‘huge responsibility’ for London mayor – The Guardian (guardian.co.uk)

Gorgeous George – Admire or Hate Him

George Galloway probably made a mistake when he recently twittered about a victory in Blackburn. But it’s left many wondering was it just that or a plan for another future labour takeover?

Announcing yesterday “Welcome to the 6000 new followers. I will try to live up to your expectations. Shattered but happy after the Blackburn triumph”

Realising his mistake he hastily then tweeted : “Bradford is now home for me“, but his next tweet suggests that his account had been hacked!  A mistake perhaps or maybe he’s envisaging taking over a further  victory in the days to come – maybe the odious Jack Straw needs to watch his own seat.

Not all agree with George Galloway, and I must admit I don’t  agree with everything he’s said or when I do I don’t always like his opinionated expression of views – but maybe that un-diplomatic tenaciousness in putting his point across is the only way to get things across sometimes.

Galloway was a prominent critic of Saddam Hussein‘s regime in the 1980s but then became a embassador for overturning economic against Iraq in the 1990s. He became ‘friendly’ with ex-president Saddam Hussein and it’s then Prime Minister Tariq Aziz obviously in his role. He has spoken out against the treatment of Palestine in the Israeli/Palestine conflict (but maintains relations even within the Jewish community). Thus it’s o wonder confusion might arise sometimes to his allegiance to diametrically opposed political situations – but at heart he fights against poverty, injustice, racism, capitalism and obviously war. He thought Saddam a dictator, he met him – but disagreed with the military intervention; but so did the UN .

Anyone who defames him is immediately told to back down or spend a day in court with him – these victims are endless.  His self-importance and self-publicity then shrines through these appearances. Channel4 news didn’t serve well with him either, after only a two-minute interview with  Channel 4′s Cathy Newman before he tore off his microphone claiming he had more important interviews to hold. Newman said that she “had at least 10 more questions to go when he ripped his mic off”.

He could best be remembered for taking on the public during his radio shows, and with great zeal; often demonstrating some form of common sense. He should rightly be the antithesis of anything that is  ’Labour’ – I hope he proves to be nail in the Labour (or rather New Labour) party coffin.  Labour lost its  socialist values. I believe that there hasn’t been any change in Conservatism since 1979 – as new New Labour merely continued it.

I don’t agree with him on everything; he even at times is iritating but I’m glad to see some opposition to  New Labour’s policies. The Labour party forgot many of it’s grassroots socialist views – I know I campaigned for them in 1997 – the party became a parady of Orwells “Animal Farm“  as it tried to accomodate lower upper & middle class voters and excluding and ignoring working class. They won  elections alright but became unrecognisable in policy looking more Conservative daily and allowing an unregulated financial market to take the country to meltdown,  just as Thatcher in the 80s.

Love him or hate him -  maybe he’s not entirely virtuous – but he speaks his mind even antagonisly getting that point of his across. .

Below a clip of one of his famous radio shows; here speaking to self-proclaimed Nazi:

Virgin Banking

Sir Richard Branson

Sir Richard Branson now owns a small part of the banking industry in the UK and Worldwide – he now owns a Northern Rock Bank. His Virgin Money group is getting into banking – but what does he intend to do? Well he has said he’s going to transform banking. He WILL make investors happy – he always has! , but what of the customer – he plans to revolutionize our savings and investment ? But perhaps our money is okay after all he owns:

AirAsia X — long-haul budget airline operating from Malaysia (16% owned by Virgin Group)
Marussia F1 — a Formula One team established in 2010. Formerly called Virgin Racing, Virgin are still a part-owner, despite having sold naming rights to Marussia.
V Festival — two-day music festival held in two separate locations in the United Kingdom
V Festival (Australia) — an Australian version of the V Festival
Virgin Festival — a North American version of the V Festival
Virgin Active — a health club chain in Australia, South Africa, Spain, Portugal, Italy and the UK
Virgin America — a United States budget airline based at San Francisco International Airport (25% owned by Virgin Group)
Virgin Atlantic Airways — an international carrier based in Crawley, West Sussex, UK (51% owned by Virgin Group)
Virgin Balloon Flights — a hot air balloon operator
Virgin Australia Holdings Limited
Virgin Australia — an Australian-based airline
Virgin Samoa — a Samoan-based airline
Blue Holidays — The holiday programme of Virgin Australia, now a joint venture between Virgin Australia
Virgin Books — publisher, retailer and distributor of books (10% owned by Virgin Group)
Virgin Brides — now-defunct bridal wear shop in Manchester, UK
Virgin Cars — internet automobile retailer
Virgin Charter — a private jet online marketplace
Virgin Comics — comic book producer
Virgin Drinks — drink manufacturer
Virgin Cola — carbonated cola soft drink
Virgin Vodka — alcoholic beverage
v-Mix – spirit mixers
Virgin Energy — a former UK energy supplier
Virgin Experience Days — corporate and consumer experience events
Virgin Flowers — Internet florist
Virgin Galactic — a venture to market and operate commercial space flights, using spacecraft designed by Scaled Composites
Virgin Games — online games, online casino, online poker, online bingo (previously video games for home computers)

Class 390 Pendolino, Virgin Trains service at Rugby
Virgin Green Fund (originally known as Virgin Fuels) — venture capital firm for investing in petroleum alternatives
Virgin Health Bank[4] — a business enabling parents to store their baby’s stem cells
Virgin Healthcare provides a selection of healthcare services tailored to local demand
Virgin HealthMiles
Virgin Holidays — UK travel agency and tour operator for worldwide destinations served by Virgin Atlantic and its partner companies
Virgin Holidays Cruises — UK cruise holiday agent
Travel City Direct – UK Online Travel Agent for holidays to Florida. Acquired from the now defunct XL Leisure Group after it went into administration.
Travel City Direct Cruises — UK cruise holiday operator for holidays to Florida and the Caribbean
Bales Worldwide Ltd – Small UK Tour Operator
Virgin Limited Edition — exclusive hotel operator
Kasbah Tamadot — exclusive Moroccan holiday destination
Lady B — luxurious Catamaran available for Caribbean charters
The Lodge — ski lodge
Natirar — private spa located in Somerset County, New Jersey
Necker Island — exclusive island in British Virgin Islands for private hire
The Roof Gardens and Babylon — 1.5 acres (6,100 m2) open air gardens, venue, nightclub and restaurant in Kensington, London
Ulusaba — exclusive game reserve in South Africa
Virgin Limobike — passenger bike service in London
Virgin Limousines — chauffeured limousine service in San Francisco and Northern California

The New Virgin Media logo. It is also used for Virgin Mobile UK.
Virgin Media — provider of home telephone, cable television, broadband and mobile services to the United Kingdom
Virgin Megastores — CD, DVD and games retailer chain with high—street and online stores
Virgin XS — Factory Outlet—orientated format of Virgin Megastores
Virgin Mobile — brand used by several companies providing mobile phone service around the world
Virgin Mobile UK — provides mobile phone service in the United Kingdom, now part of Virgin Media
Virgin Mobile Australia — provider of mobile phone service in Australia – license held by Optus
Virgin Mobile Canada — provider of mobile phone service in Canada – owned by Bell Mobility with branding from Virgin Group
Virgin Mobile South Africa — provider of mobile phone service in South Africa – joint venture with Cell C
Virgin Mobile USA — provider of mobile phone service in the United States – brand rights held by Sprint Nextel
Virgin Mobile France — provider of mobile phone service in France – Virgin Group owned
Virgin Mobile India — provider of mobile phone service in India – franchise agreement with Tata Teleservices
Virgin Mobile Qatar – brand license to Qatar Telecom
Virgin Mobile Chile – Future provider of mobile phone service in Chile, using the Movistar mobile network. [5]
Virgin Money — providers of financial services
Virgin Money US — provider of financial services in the United States
Virgin Credit Card
Virgin Money Giving — Online fundraising website
Virgin Oceanic – sea exploration
Virgin Nigeria — A former subsidiary of Virgin Atlantic Airlines
Virgin Play — a Spanish publisher of video games, once part of the now defunct Virgin Interactive.
Virgin Produced — a film and television development, packaging and production company formed in 2010 and led by Chief Executive Officer Jason Felts and Chief Creative Officer Justin Berfield.
Virgin Radio — Virgin branded radio stations around the world.
Virgin Radio Asia — collection of station operating in India and Thailand including Virgin Soft, Hitz, Easy FM and Oui
99.9 Virgin Radio FM — a Canadian radio station broadcasting a hot adult contemporary format in Toronto, Ontario.
Virgin Radio 95.3FM — a Canadian radio station broadcasting a hot adult contemporary format in Vancouver, British Columbia.
Virgin Radio 96 FM — a Canadian radio station broadcasting a hot adult contemporary format in Montreal, Quebec on 95.9 MHz.
98.5 Virgin Radio – a Canadian radio station broadcasting a contemporary hit radio format in Calgary, Alberta.
104.9 Virgin Radio – a Canadian radio station broadcasting a contemporary hit radio format in Edmonton, Alberta.
Virgin Radio (France) — (Lagardère Active) a rebranding of the “Europe 2″ radio station
Virgin Radio Italia
Virgin Radio Dubai
Virgin Radio India
Virgin Radio Jordan
Virgin Radio Thailand
Virgin Radio Turkey
Virgin Records — record label now owned by EMI
Virgin Spa — shop chain retailing Virgin Cosmetics product
Virgin Trains — a railway operator in the United Kingdom
Virgin Trains ExpressCoach — Intercity bus & coach services
Virgin Unite — charitable foundation
Virgin Vacations — U.S. travel agency
Virgin Vie At Home — retailer of body care, cosmetics, homeware and jewellery products through the Internet, direct selling and Virgin Vie stores (Sent into Administration in 2009, having been rebranded 9 months earlier as Effective Cosmetics (However still selling Virgin Vie branded products)
Virgin Wines — A Californian-based Internet wine retailer, created in 2005 and producer of Red and White wines
Virgin Voucher — gift voucher scheme, also functions as a staff reward scheme
Virgin Ware — clothes brand and retailer
Virgin Management — Custodians

Concordia Cruise Ship – The Modern “Titanic”

Unlike the Titanic,  the huge cruise ship Costa Concordia, didn’t strike an iceberg; instead it truck rocks near the coast of the small island of Giglio Porto. People are now wondering about the size of these new types of ocean liners – the Costa Concordia had 4000 passengers on board – are they too big to deal with in terms of an emergency situation emerging?

Also it’s Captain Francesco Schettino is currently detained facing charges of manslaughter,  although he has denied any wrongdoing. He has not yet been formally charged, but prosecutors asked local judges to continue with his detention.

There is concern that the ship’s captain left the vessel before all the passengers had been safely rescued

A recording of a conversation allegedly between the captain and a port official – recorded shortly after the crash  of the rocks – which suggests Capt Schettino left the ship before all its passengers had escaped. In the recording, the captain appears to refuse to go back on to the ship to co-ordinate the rescue effort.

September 11 – 10th Anniversary Terrorist Threat

Recent intelligence obtained on Wednesday, and it is believed to have originated from the tribal areas of Pakistan, advised the United States of a plan to set off car or truck bombs in Washington or New York around the time of the 9/11 anniversary. Information about the attacks came from NBC this week.

The information indicated that three people would travel to the U.S. from Pakistan to carry out an attack, they said. However, the information included very little else in the way of specifics — in terms of timing or target.

Law enforcement officials were being alerted to be on the lookout for three men “of Middle Eastern descent” and potentially traveling in a van, they said. While the information had some specificity and the source has been credible in the past, it’s uncorroborated, officials warned.

New Yorks mayor Michael Bloomberg has said that the commemorations will go ahead as planned but under heightened police presence due to the warnings of a threat.

Dale Farm

The actress Vanessa Redgrave meets a  72 yr  traveler who is appealing over  her eviction from the Dale Farm traveler site in Basildon due to her condition of health.

Basildon Council has plans to evict the 90 or so people it believes to be living on the site illegally. And said that the presence of the actress has done nothing to change the proposed eviction.

Amnesty also are running an action regarding the proposed en-mass eviction next month.

On this day 30th August 1963

“Hotline“ – a direct link between the Kremlin and the White Housewent into operation to reduce the chances of an accidental war (1963) – thus the word  ‘hotline’ was first termed.  For more information visit :

 
http://www.answers.com/topic/monday-august-30-2010-from-today-s-highlights-archive#ixzz1WSQCONfx or Wikipedia “Moscow–Washington hotline”