Wayne Rooney To Miss Manchester United AC Milan Champions League Match

Wayne Rooney may miss Manchester United's second leg Champions League Fixture against A.C. Milan due to a knee injury sustained during England's friendly match against Egypt last week.

Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson believes the injury is due to the unforgiving Wembley pitch and says that "Wayne is very doubtful".

The match will see United seek to build on their 3-2 lead from the first leg with Milan and also the return of David Beckham to Old Trafford for the first time since leaving the club.

Rooney has had a fantastic last few weeks scoring freely for United and showing the kind of skills and commitment that make him one of the worlds finest and most valuable players.

With Michael Owen also ruled out due to injury and Berbatov not firing on all cylinders, United's back room team will be trying their hardest to get Rooney fit for at least part of this important match.

new shoots
the linesman turns into
a ball boy

Paul Conneally

Nike sponsor Rooney and will want him to play if possible.

The Ants' Nest - Identity of James Bulger Killer Jon Venables Blown In Prison

There are fears for the life of child killer Jon Venables as prisoners in the jail where he is being secretly held discover his true identity.

It is reported that hardened lags in the undisclosed top security prison where Venables know of his presence and are looking for an opportunity to hurt or even kill him.

Jon Venables along with Robert Thompson was sent to prison when he was only 10-years old for the horrific torture and killing of 2-year old toddler James Bulger in Liverpool in 1993.

He was released on license in 2001 after spending less than 10 years in jail. Venables and Thompson were given new identities and strict rules, including not visiting Liverpool, that if broken would result in them being returned behind bars.

Last week Venables was arrested and returned to prison for breaking the rules. The police and Home Secretary Jack Straw have refused to say what Venables has done. It is thought that he has returned to Liverpool on a number of occasions where he has reportedly been seen drunk.

The murder of Jamie Bulger by two children shocked not only Liverpool and the UK but the world. That two so young could commit such a crime horrified people. Many thought that the two boys Venables and Thompson should be jailed for their whole lives others thought that they should be treated in prison and released which is what happened.

The fact that they were so young made for some their crimes worse but this of course cannot be so. Murder is murder at whatever age and one would not expect them to be punished more than an older killer.

Gordon Brown has indicated that he feels while understanding the public outrage at such crimes the criminal justice system needs to be allowed to conduct its business in accordance with law so that 'justice is seen to be done'.

Meanwhile thousands of pounds a week are being spent on prison officer overtime as Venables is put under constant surveillance in a perspex fronted cell. He will with certainty eventually be released again and have to be given another new identity, a new place to live.

mahonia flowers
a stirring deep down
in the ants' nest

Paul Conneally

Half of six-year-old girls 'want to be thinner'

uploaded by Dean Acton Photography

• 

  uploaded by Dean Acton Photography | add comment

• 

  uploaded by sweetsixteen | add comment

• 

  uploaded by Blue Crush | add comment

Study by the University of Cambridge claims half of Britain's six-year-old girls 'want to be thinner'

The study was undertaken for a new TV programme Jo Frost: Extreme Parental Guidance for UKs Channel 4.

In the study 6-year-old girls were asked to ring their ideal body shape from a range of different body shapes. Over half chose the thinnest possible - in general this was 3 sizes smaller than their own shape.

The study raises interesting parallels as recent reports have highlighted a growing obesity problem amongst UK children.

The mental health of UK children has been reported as being amongst the poorest in Europe especially around self-esteem and emotional wellbeing and the results of this study are worrying in that girls of such a young age are already showing dissatisfaction with how they look.

It is thought that some of this dissatisfaction might come from their exposure to airbrushed images of size zero models and celebrities on TV and in women’s and girls’ magazines.

first crocus

the colour not quite

what she wanted

"Many of the girls questioned in the study, by Cambridge University, said they thought being skinnier would make them more popular"

Source: telegraph.co.uk

"Cambridge's Dr Terri Apter said girls linked thinness with being popular and said “it’s distressing”"

Source: streetcorner.com.au

NowPublic

Chopsticks

• 

  uploaded by tm_marcello | add comment

• 

  uploaded by K.Sabbar | add comment

• 

  uploaded by Jonathan B50 | add comment

• 

  uploaded by bradzo66 | add comment

Learning and Playing a Musical Instrument Improves Reading

Children who learn to play a musical instrument may have an advantage when it comes to reading.

Professor Nina Kraus of Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois found that a part of the brain stimulated in musicians when they play music is also important in reading.

Professor Kraus found that people that can pick out harmonies and timing in sounds are better at reading.

Many chidren in the UK are entering secondary school with reading ages below that expected for their age and some are asking if music was given a higher position within the curriculum would reading improve?

Although all UK pupils up to the age of 14 have to have at least one lesson of music education a week very few pupils actually learn to play a musical instrument.

Music education and learning how to play a musical instrument are not the same thing.

The number of children learning musical instruments has decreased since free music instrument tuition for all was withdrawn from state education. Most pupils have to buy an instrument and pay for private lessons and for many families this is an expense that they just can't afford.

A curriculum that features more strongly learning how to play a musical instrument might bring real benefits for improving reading and language skills.

spring snow

her fingers too cold

for chopsticks

"Schools which fail to make music a core subject are making a mistake, because it has advantages for the growing brain and would help all children, including those with dyslexia and autism, neuroscientist Professor Nina Kraus said yesterday."

Source: independent.co.uk

"Words and music, such natural partners that it seems obvious they go together. Now science is confirming that those abilities are linked in the brain, a finding that might even lead to better stroke treatments"

Source: google.com

"Musical experience can enhance everyday listening and language tasks. We are making new strides in understanding what changes happen in the brain with musical experience."

Source: telegraph.co.uk

NowPublic

Culture | Music | Education | musical | Language | Reading | instrument | Musical Instrument

Long Live Life

New research from the Institute of Healthy Ageing at University College London, suggests that eating a low protein vegetarian diet could extend human life-span.

The research is built on earlier findings that showed a diet just above malnutrition levels can extend life by as much as 25 years. This new research finds a reduction in meat and fish protein is the important factor not the level of calories.

at eighty-five
Dad still carves the joint
winter vegetables

Pinkstinks

Pinkstinks is a campaign set up in the UK against the marketing of pink toys to girls.The founder of the campaign Emma Moore believes that the rows and rows of pink toys, clothes and other items aimed at girls encourage an obsession with body image and lead to the unequal pay and lower status that women in general have compared to men.

Pinkstinks is encouraging customers to boycott the Early Learning Centre chain of toy shops as they feel that they are hypocritical in claiming that their toys help children explore boundaries of imagination and creativity whilst heavily marketing stereotypical pink toys for girls.

Boxing Day
Ken turns Barbie
fifty shades of blue

Womens Aid

The Hall of Mirrors

What do you do when you finally locate your long lost dad and find he's a woman? Well that's just what happened to Emily Wallis and she couldn't be happier.

Although shocked to discover her father is called Chloe, wears high heeled shoes, tight dresses and is living in Margate she totally accepts her for the glamorous woman she now is. She wants to be by Chloe's side when she has her full sex-change and for her to be by her side to give her away when she gets married.

In truth it was perhaps harder for Chloe to meet Emily than for Emily to meet Chloe after years of struggling with her sexuality living as a man whilst always knowing that she was at heart a woman. Like so many in this predicament it led to despair, shame and in Chloe's case self mutilation as she attempted to push her despised male genitals back up inside her body.

So what to do when you find your lost dad or best friend or husband's a lady? Well maybe taking a leaf out Emily's book and support and accept them for who they really are might be a good place to start.

the difference
between ice and water
a hall of mirrors