Stephen Hawking's Universe

Stephen Hawking's Universe is currently halfway through it's series and seems to be passing the general public by, which I think is a great shame as it is without doubt one of the most interesting series to come out on TV recently. Hawking, generally acknowledged to be one othe most intelligent men in the world, has decided to confront a series of questions that are generally seen as unanswerable, and in each episode he answers them.

The questions Hawking addresses such as time travel and life in the universe are old ones, but his logic and sense of humour are flawless and he is an engrossing man to watch. With impressive visuals, Hawking begins to unravel the problems that surround these questions and slowly begins to build his theory throughout the episode, all whilst introducing interesting concepts and discussing past ideas.

In a time when Jersey Shore is seen as a good way to kill a few hours, I find it dismaying that people won't spare 40 minutes of their time to open their eyes to the scientific wonders of the universe around them.

I hope that all of you reading this will find time to watch the marvellous Stephen Hawking and his show which I've linked here: http://www.channel4.com/programmes/stephen-hawkings-universe/4od#3123482

By the way if you have any subjects or ideas that you'd like me to talk about, do write in the comments section below!

Austerity strikes hit E.U. nations

Just a quick post before I go make dinner: A number of EU nations have been gripped by debt recently and this has rendered 23 million people across the EU jobless.- a situation that has led to a number of protests in Europe's major cities, in particular Brussels and Barcelona but also in Greece, Italy, the Irish Republic and Latvia.

Everyone is feeling the pinch of the credit crunch, and as a student I'm not finding easy having to juggle between my course and 2 part-time jobs, and with no guarantee of a job once I leave it's no surprise that depression is also at an all time high.

Personally I think that the new austerity measures being implemented by the EU are a necessary evil, with the stock markets spiralling still (as Warren Buffet predicted they would in 1999 at Sun Valley), the world has a long way to go before it can pull out of this recession. Therefore reducing pensions, increasing the age of retirement and cutting wages are somewhat necessities if the EU and its sovereign states are to pull out this recession.

On the other hand though this recession can be mainly attributed to the fault of the banks and of the incompetent and corrupt bankers that run them and so they should be held more responsible than they have been. I think that they have got off leniently and considering their recklessness has set back the growth of many Western countries, the most culpable bankers should be brought to justice and charged accordingly.

I know this has become a tired subject now, but it is still a relevant one so feel free to post any comments you might have below. 

If you want to know more about the situation then follow the link:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-11432579

University Fees

I'm having trouble now in having to pay rent for my house here at uni, the student loans company cover university tution costs, but now they want to raise the charge to over 3 times as much for those costs, thats from £3,290 to around £10,000, which I will somehow have to repay at the end of my qualification. 

Even though only some university's will be applying this to their courses, it's a ridiculous amount of money to pay back as an undergraduate who has only just stepped out from his parents house into the world.


For more information visit this link: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/educationnews/8026127/University-fees-could-triple-to-10000.html

The First Post

Creation of the first of anything is always seen as something that is momentous or special in some way, and I have to admit that writing my first blog entry on here does feel like a hallmark occasion, especially since the interweb has long been a mystery to me.

However I believe that the true value of something can only be ascertained from its lasting impression on the world around it, and so the first of something whilst by nature being original, is not something that should be held in particularly high regard. It's said that the first sentence in a book is the most important one, however I would much prefer that my faithful blog readers judged me on the consistency of my blogging than on the surface value of my first post.

Now that's out of the way, let us go awwww at this picture of my friend's new puppy. I hope you enjoy the blogs to come.