Negative and positive articles

On the 25th of August, the annual video music awards (VMA) was aired on the music channel, MTV. The award show had a number of attention grabbing performances. However there was one performance which seems to be spoken about up until this day which is the Miley Cyrus performance. Cyrus who has been a child star on Disney had a whole new different performance singing her latest hit single 'We can't stop' and a Robin Thicke song 'Blurred lines' for the award show which some have criticized time and time again both praising it and dissing it.

The Guardian newspaper had a somewhat positive view about the performance and tried to make Cyrus appear as just another pop artist performer that was just doing what she felt was expressive. The article made it seem as though Miley was not to blame for her actions, because what she did was not something that has not been done time and time again on the VMA stage. The writer also referred to Lady gaga’s performance and said that what Cyrus has done is not so different from what Gaga did on the same day.

An article from the Independent on the other hand was not so appealed by the VMA performance of the pop star, calling the performance all sorts of names such as racist, disturbing, inappropriate. The article also outlines the views of the Parents Television Council (PTC) and how they reacted by issuing a complaint against MTV for airing the pop star’s performance stating that it should have not been rated suitable for 14 year olds. The article also draws attention to Robin Thicke who performed alongside with Cyrus and stated that he should not have reacted the way he did.  

 References

Walshe. S (2013) 'so Lady Gaga's thong is art, while Miley Cyrus twerking is art?' The Guardian 27th August [online] Available at: http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/aug/27/miley-cyrus-twerking-double-standard (accessed at: 13th December 2013)

Wyatt. D (2013) 'the tongue, the twerking the outfit: should someone have stopped Miley Cyrus's performance?' The Independent, 28th August [online] Available at: http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/news/the-tongue-the-twerking-the-teddy-outfit-should-someone-have-stopped-miley-cyrus-vma-performance-8785494.html (accessed at: 13th December, 2013)  

The 2011 England Riot and its effects

On the summer (August) of 2011 the United Kingdom experienced a devastating riot in England which spread across different places in England. This riot was also referred to as the “BlackBerry riot” because, a lot of information was conveyed using mobile devices and the help of the social media to plan.

The cause of the riot was not fully established because different people had their different reasons, but ultimately the major reason that was provided was the fact that the people (rioters) were not comfortable and happy with the power of the police force and how they were behaving towards them.

Some people however saw the riot as a “ticking bomb” that was just waiting for the right moment to explode and this eventually happened when a member of the police force shot and killed a local in Tottenham, London called Mark Duggan. This act is what was said to be the trigger to the riot and was what caused thousands of people to move to the streets to protest on the 6th of August 2011. However, the protest turned from a simple protest to a riot when a sixteen year old girl was arrested for alleged disorderly conduct. Others, seem to blame the riot on the problem of inequality, social strata and lack of morals.

The riot lead to the looting of various items, the destruction of important properties and buildings. The riot also had numerous amount of people put into jail due to disorderly behaviour (over 2.000 people), because some people stole items such as electronics and clothing items from stores while some participated in burning different items. This event also lead some people to live in fear during the riot. 


References
Cooper. C (2011) 'what caused England's riot' The Guardian 5th October [online] available at: http://www.theguardian.com/society/joepublic/2011/oct/12/what-caused-england-riots (accessed at: 12th December, 2013)
Lewis. P (2011) 'Rioters say anger with police fuelled summer unrest' The Guardian 5th December [online] available at: http://www.theguardian.com/uk/2011/dec/05/anger-police-fuelled-riots-study (accessed at: 12th December, 2013)
Rogers. S (2011) 'UK riots: the key facts and figures' The Guardian 19th August [online] available at: http://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2011/aug/09/uk-riots-data-figures (accessed at: 12th December, 2013)

The history of Yoruba language in the UK

A Yoruba band playing their traditional instruments

Yoruba is a language which originated from Nigeria and is commonly spoken in Nigeria, it is spoken by about 22 million people around the world. Although it is not very clear as to who the first person to start speaking the language was or when the language was first spoken. It has been suggested that the language started from Nigerians who went to the UK for a number of reasons a long time ago and they began to speak it there.

Since both the language and the culture has found its way into the United Kingdom and is commonly spoken in the UK, a large number of Yoruba speakers come into the UK more and more both to visit and to stay. A survey conducted in 2000 in London indicated that the language is more spoken amongst school children in the UK in places such as Greenwich, Hackney, Lambeth and Southwark. Yoruba is also one of the most researched sub-Saharan languages and culture

References

BBC (2007) 'Yoruba' Available at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/voices/multilingual/yoruba.shtml#A (accessed at: 12th December, 2013)

SOAS (2013) 'languages of Africa at SOAS: Yoruba' Available at: http://www.soas.ac.uk/africa/languages/languages-of-africa-at-soas-yorb.html (accessed at: 12th December, 2013)

Visit to the Senedd building

On the 6th of November 2013 the international foundation students went on an educational school trip to the National Assembly building also known as the Senedd building. The building is located in Cardiff Bay and is not just for the welsh government but also for tourist and for individuals to visit, have a cup of coffee or other beverages and watch the political debates which takes place in the building.

We started our journey from school where we took a train to Cardiff Bay and walked to the National Assembly from the train station. The Senedd building is very well structured and also very expensive.

We entered into the building and we were searched and asked to switch off our phones and not to switch them back on in the building. After some time we were asked to enter the other part of the building which seemed to look like a tree trunk and we watched the debate for about 30 minutes. After the debate, we looked around the building and we departed from there to our various destinations

 

History and Law-Making powers of the Welsh Assembly

The Welsh government did not always have a separate government from the United Kingdom until the Welsh referendum of 1997. The Assembly was created by the government of Wales Acts 1998, which followed a referendum in 1997. The Welsh referendum was a policy commitment of the UK Labour Party and was held on the 18th September of 1997. The referendum asked people whether they agree that the Wales should have their own welsh assembly government or not.

At the end of the vote 50.3% of 1,112,117 people who voted which means that 559,419 people wanted the welsh assembly to exists while 552,698 (49.7%) of people did not want the welsh assembly to exist. Although a significant percentage of the Welsh people did not want the establishment of the welsh Assembly it was created anyway and its official building is called Senedd and is located in Cardiff bay.

 

Since the referendum succeeded the Welsh assembly has been able to create a Welsh government and parliament. However, the assembly had no power to carry out primary legislation until a little law making power was attained by the Government of Wales Act 2006. Eventually, on the 3rd of march, 2011 there was another referendum to vote whether the Welsh assembly should have the power to decide on situations on a wider range of matters in order to work in the best interest of the welsh people and the vote was also a yes.

References

bbcnews (2011) welsh referendum analysis: wales united in clear vote Available at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-12653025 (Accessed: 8th November, 2013)

http://www.assemblywales.org/abthome/role-of-assembly-how-it-works/history-welsh-devolution.htm (no date) (Accessed 8th November, 2013)

http://wales.gov.uk/legislation/referendumpowers/referendumjourney/1997referendum/?lang=en (no date) (Accessed: 8th November, 2013)

Parliament and Government

The parliament:

The Parliament is a legal body that makes rules about a country. Parliament in the United Kingdom is divided into three, namely; The House of Lords, The House of commons and The monarch (The Queen), and they are called the members of parliament or the MP's. The Queen being the head of state has the final decision on whether a bill should be passed as an act, (she is the deciding and final vote). The United Kingdom house of parliament is located in London and is called the Westminster building.

The House of Lords

According to www.parliament.uk "The House of lords is the second chamber of the UK parliament, the house complements the work of the House of Commons, the lords share the task of making and shaping laws, checking and challenging the work of the government". The house of Lords has been in existence since the eleventh century in the UK The house of Lords being an esteemed and important parliament house has some power in helping to shape laws and checking laws but however, the House of Lords does not have the power to pass laws or pass a bill without the Monarch's approval.

The House of Commons

The house of commons is the most powerful of any of the houses of parliament says BBC news. The House consists of 650 elected members who represent the interest of the public, they are able to propose new laws and express opinions of the government’s policies by asking the minsters certain questions about the current issues.

The Government:

According to www.parliament.uk "The government runs the country. It has the responsibility of developing and implementing policies and for drafting laws. It is also known as the executive." the head of the government is called the Prime Minister and he is responsible for all the decisions made by the government. The government also consists of the deputy Prime Minister, the cabinet and the ministers.
References
BBC (2012) 'what is parliament and how does it work?'. Available at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-17827461 (Accessed: 7th November, 2013)
govt.uk https://www.gov.uk/government/how-government-works (Accessed: 8th November, 2013)
parliament.uk http://www.parliament.uk/business/commons/ (Accessed: 8th November, 2013)

The United Kingdom and Nigerian education system

In the United Kingdom there are two different sectors of education; the state sector which is controlled by the Government and the public sector which is controlled by private individuals. They both however operate five stages of education, which are; early years, primary education, secondary education, further education and higher education. Education is made compulsory by the government for children between the ages of 4 years and 16 years in the United Kingdom. The grading of class of students is done by considering the age of the student, and is not compulsory to complete the fourth and fifth stages of education.

In the Nigerian education system, there are four levels of education which is often referred to as the 6-3-3-4 system which means; 6 years of primary education, 3 years of junior secondary education, 3 years of senior secondary school education and 4 years of university or polytechnics education.

There is also a difference in terms of class size between both countries, the classes in Nigeria are often overcrowded due to the number of students allocated to one class. While, in the UK, classes tend to be relatively less crowded than Nigerian schools, which may make learning easier and faster for both the teachers and the students.

Although both countries have their differences, they also have their similarities such as, they both operate the British system of education and the stages of education are called the same thing both in UK and in Nigeria.

Overall, the education system in Nigeria is not at its best and according to Tomori (2012) it is because the education sector has been mishandled by previous existing government since independence.

Reference

Onyukwu. J (2011) ‘The educational system of Nigeria’ world education news & reviews 1st August, 2011 [online]. Available at: http://wenr.wes.org/2011/08/wenr-julyaugust-2011-practical-information/ (Accessed 7th November, 2013)

Tomori (2012) ‘education will fare worse’ The Punch 5^th January [online]. Available at: http://www.punchng.com/feature/2012-in-view/education-will-fare-worse-in-2012-tomori/ (Accessed 7th November, 2013).