netwrker/uk

A cracking shot of Oxford. The more I get to know this little City, the more I love it!

In the great British tradition, any notion of public transport went out of the window as soon as the snow settled. Buses were getting stuck all over Oxford, but this is the main bus point for Oxford and everything here is out of service!

juniourr:

First, I’d like to point out that this is an examination as to how Christians cannot be homophobic, not Muslims, Jews or adherents to other religions. As well, I am not generalising all Christians nor all members of the LGBT community.

Secondly, all sources and quotes etc. are given their…

On parts of the river that weren’t frozen yet the snow still made it’s mark, and these punts weren’t going anywhere! Still, made for a lovely shot!

You know it’s bad when the snow is settling on a frozen river! Although in all fairness, it’s only around two feet deep and very slow running, so it’s easy to freeze over if it gets cold enough, but still…

I’ve been keeping my eye on this topic over the last few days as for the first 48 hours or so, nothing other than ‘deaths and serious injuries on the roads had increased’ had been released. However, an updated article from earlier on, just as the initial heat and interest around this started to die down suddenly shows a different picture:

• Slight Injuries:
  2009: 70; 2010: 55 (down since they were switched off);
• Serious Injuries:
  2009: 13; 2010: 13 (no change);
• Fatalities:
  2009: 0; 2010: 0 (no change); and
• Total Accidents:
  2009: 62; 2010: 60 (down since they were switched off).

Matching periods of 08/2009-01/2010 and 08/2010-01/2011, accidents and injuries at sites where the cameras have been placed have gone down, not up as is initially suggested.

To back up their figures, they need to cover the whole of Oxfordshire:

• Slight Injuries:
  2009: 982; 2010: 999 (slightly up since they were switched off);
• Serious Injuries:
  2009: 160; 2010: 179 (up since they were switched off);
• Fatalities:
  2009: 12; 2010: 18 (up since they were switched off); and
• Total Accidents:
  2009: 885; 2010: 867 (down since they were switched off).

This is not as clear cut as they’ve been making it out to be over the last two days and I don’t find it that surprising that it’s taken until now for the rest of these figures to be released. So, yes, while there is a significant increase in the amount of deaths (up 50%) and overall, injuries across the county are up 2.18%, injuries at camera sites are down 22.1%. This combined with the fact that accidents are down 2.16% overall means that they have had to manipulate the statistics to back up their argument.

They have used a set of figures, loosely related to the ones they should have used, to justify a decision which I believe is in some way incorrect. £600,000 should be used to fund more police in cars to patrol the area, interact with the public and deter bad driving rather than just switching on camera.

After all: “Today the Police are switching back on Speed Cameras in the country after statistics show that accidents and injuries around camera sites have fallen” isn’t quite as catchy a headline!

I’ll happily admit that the Snow was a surprise, but the temperature certainly wasn’t (man it was freezing that week). All being said, you can never fail to find a student completely unprepared for the winter, let alone the snow!

Yep, this is (some of) me! I’d just never seen snow like it! Two hours of flurry and we have eight inches of the powdery white stuff. These aren’t shoes either, they’re full on boots standing in the snow.

I saw this on TV while I was at the gym about a week ago and it just make me SO angry. Although I’ve calmed down a little since then, I still cannot believe the nerve of Babjide Osobu and feel compelled to write this.

As a quick overview: In September last year, a fit of jealousy caused someone to set light to a mid-level flat in a multi-story house. The intended target was away, but his wife and three-year-old daughter were inside. They died.

The trial has concluded, and Barbara Zhanje has been jailed for their murder, but on the steps of the Court House after the judgement, the Uncle of the deceased and her daughter, Mr. Osobu, said:

“The fire brigade tried but it was not good enough. Lawyers will be looking at things to see if we can take further action.”

Although this article doesn’t quote the core incident here (and in fact appears to suggest that the blame for failing to save them lays with the Fire Brigade), this one does. Specifically:

Ms Elmi was taken out of her room with the assistance of a ladder. Firefighters entered the property to search the second floor but the landing collapsed - causing one of the officers to fall through the floor injuring himself.

They were unable to get to the back bedroom where Ms Ejifunmilayo and her daughter were and retreated.

“One of the firefighters fell through the landing.” In doing everything they can to search for these people, the building became unstable, a firefighter fell and was injured, so they “retreated.”

Now Mr. Osobu wants to sue the Fire Brigade for not doing enough to save those that died. At this point, I have to say, for fuck’s sake, the building was collapsing and a firefighter as well was almost killed; what more can they do?

It was very tragic what happened and should never have happened. But to lay the blame for the loss of life at the Fire Brigade as well as the murderer, and to then suggest that you will sue them for failing to save these two people is beyond belief.

I want to see him strap on a suit and run into a burning building without knowing what it’s like inside, where people are or whether you’re going to come back out alive, or undamaged, and see how he copes. Once he does that, maybe then he can consider his next step very carefully.

Thought I’d do a little reminiscing of the cold now the temperature’s warming up!

This is the view of Headington’s High Street, just outside where I live about two hours after the snow started falling one Saturday in the middle of last December. I’d woken up early and after a nice chat with a friend was happily working away on the computer.

Now, from my desk I can head the most of the road noise (and being a route into Oxford for the Christmas shoppers, it was busy) and I had seen it starting to snow a little earlier on, but I was suddenly surprised by the silence. The cars had stopped. When I looked out the window to see why, I saw this and decided to take the day off and go and enjoy myself in this Winter Wonderland!

I think that this says alot about the current Gay/Christian/etc. debate that is happening in America at the moment, and by extension throughout the wider Western world.

Despite the ridicule of being unable to form an argument, look into the camera or even maintain a flow of thought, Victoria Jackson makes one very astute observation that bypasses her completely (intentionally or otherwise): “Secular humanism rules the airwaves.”

To read between the lines what she means is - and I’m sure many Christians would admit this - that much of T.V. doesn’t represent to her what she thinks society should be.

And she’s right, but for one important fact: not everyone is Christian and very few everyone sees life through her eyes.

Much of television represents real life and the different facets thereof - secular humanism doesn’t push one ideal or offer one point of view, it’s neautral and inclusive to all.

She states (and breaks down to near sobs) that she “cannot find any show that she can [allow her daughter to] watch.” There are I’m sure more than one channel dedicated to churches and sermons and strong Christian ‘morals’? Or even better, switch the T.V. off if you don’t like it? I do! If it’s too boring, then do something about it.

Last, but not least, is the point that homophobic is “a cute little buzz-word of the liberal agenda .. [which] is anti-christ.” The liberal adgena is about one thing - treating all people equal, regardless of who they are, where they come from or what they believe. That does not make it anti-Christ, pro-Gay, Islamic, or whatever. It simply means that everyone is equal and through tollerance (and that doesn’t mean acceptance), we can all live, work, and be happy, together.

I want to leave you with one point: To me, the Bible is about Love, Compassion, Tollerance and Understanding. Why is it then that when these people advocate their point of view, do these four true pillars of society so often get ignored?

(Source: youtube.com)