Londoners school places crisis!!!!:::Parents stressed

pic:: a londoners primaray school student in a classroom:::pic courtesy::es

 Education Correspondent(wesatar times/wp/es):::

Government is failing to do enough to reassure stressed parents worried about getting a school place for their child, London Councils warned today.

Delays in announcements about funding for extra classrooms are causing unnecessary anxiety for parents and will leave more children without a school place, according to the organisation that represents 33 London local authorities.

Its warning comes as thousands of children are expected to miss out on their first-choice secondary school when they are allocated a place tomorrow. London already faces a shortfall of 90,000 school places but London Councils said this will worsen because funding delays mean councils are unable to start building schools to meet demand.

The Government should have told each local authority last December how much “basic-need funding” money they would be receiving so they could decide how many new classrooms to build and budget accordingly.

But the Government has still not made the announcement, meaning there is not enough time to complete building work in time for September 2014. Peter John, the executive member for children and young people with London Councils, said: “The Government needs to reassure worried parents by announcing how much money is available — and so allowing boroughs to get on with building much-needed classrooms.”

He added: “London boroughs are doing their utmost to provide every child with a school place but this is becoming increasingly difficult with ongoing increases in demand and a lack of surety of funding from the Department for Education.”

A spokesman for London Councils said the places shortage had been made worse by a fall in the number of families moving areas, as well as a drop in numbers of pupils attending private schools and the rising birth rate.

A Department for Education spokeswoman said: “The capital allocations announcement has not yet been made because we were continuing to check the quality of the data provided to us by councils on which these allocations are based. It was then delayed by restrictions in place for the Eastleigh by-election… The announcement will be made tomorrow.”

cocaine worth £5million in East London drug raid --arrest 1

crime reporter,east london(weastar times/wp/es):::

Police have arrested a man after finding cocaine worth an estimated £5 million.

The 23-year-old was taken into custody by officers from the Metropolitan Police's central task force east upon discovery of 37 kilos of the Class A drug in east London.

The officers raided the property in Golden Lane, Clerkenwell, shortly before 9pm yesterday.

The cocaine was stored in three bags and the suspect was arrested in nearby Fann Street on suspicion of possession of Class A drugs with intent to supply.

National anti drugs control intelligence spokeman   said he remains in custody at an east London police station.

Acting Detective Inspector Tim Grinsted said: "This seizure demonstrates the tireless work of my officers to track down those responsible for putting drugs on the streets.

"I hope this sends out a clear message to those people - our officers will find you, arrest you and you will face the full force of the law."

:Many of us fear death:::Does Death Exist? New Theory Says ‘No’

scientific correspondent(weastar times/wp/hp):::

story by:dr.robert

Many of us fear death. We believe in death because we have been told we will die. We associate ourselves with the body, and we know that bodies die. But a new scientific theory suggests that death is not the terminal event we think.

One well-known aspect of quantum physics is that certain observations cannot be predicted absolutely. Instead, there is a range of possible observations each with a different probability. One mainstream explanation, the “many-worlds” interpretation, states that each of these possible observations corresponds to a different universe (the ‘multiverse’). A new scientific theory – called biocentrism– refines these ideas. There are an infinite number of universes, and everything that could possibly happen occurs in some universe. Death does not exist in any real sense in these scenarios. All possible universes exist simultaneously, regardless of what happens in any of them. Although individual bodies are destined to self-destruct, the alive feeling – the ‘Who am I?’- is just a 20-watt fountain of energy operating in the brain. But this energy doesn’t go away at death. One of the surest axioms of science is that energy never dies; it can neither be created nor destroyed. But does this energy transcend from one world to the other?

Consider an experiment that was recently published in the journalScience showing that scientists could retroactively change something that had happened in the past. Particles had to decide how to behave when they hit a beam splitter. Later on, the experimenter could turn a second switch on or off. It turns out that what the observer decided at that point, determined what the particle did in the past. Regardless of the choice you, the observer, make, it is you who will experience the outcomes that will result. The linkages between these various histories and universes transcend our ordinary classical ideas of space and time. Think of the 20-watts of energy as simply holo-projecting either this or that result onto a screen. Whether you turn the second beam splitter on or off, it’s still the same battery or agent responsible for the projection.

According to Biocentrism, space and time are not the hard objects we think. Wave your hand through the air – if you take everything away, what’s left? Nothing. The same thing applies for time. You can’t see anything through the bone that surrounds your brain. Everything you see and experience right now is a whirl of information occurring in your mind. Space and time are simply the tools for putting everything together.

Death does not exist in a timeless, spaceless world. In the end, even Einstein admitted, “Now Besso” (an old friend) “has departed from this strange world a little ahead of me. That means nothing. People like us…know that the distinction between past, present, and future is only a stubbornly persistent illusion.” Immortality doesn’t mean a perpetual existence in time without end, but rather resides outside of time altogether.

This was clear with the death of my sister Christine. After viewing her body at the hospital, I went out to speak with family members. Christine’s husband – Ed – started to sob uncontrollably. For a few moments I felt like I was transcending the provincialism of time. I thought about the 20-watts of energy, and about experiments that show a single particle can pass through two holes at the same time. I could not dismiss the conclusion: Christine was both alive and dead, outside of time.

Christine had had a hard life. She had finally found a man that she loved very much. My younger sister couldn’t make it to her wedding because she had a card game that had been scheduled for several weeks. My mother also couldn’t make the wedding due to an important engagement she had at the Elks Club. The wedding was one of the most important days in Christine’s life. Since no one else from our side of the family showed, Christine asked me to walk her down the aisle to give her away.

Soon after the wedding, Christine and Ed were driving to the dream house they had just bought when their car hit a patch of black ice. She was thrown from the car and landed in a banking of snow.

“Ed,” she said “I can’t feel my leg.”

She never knew that her liver had been ripped in half and blood was rushing into her peritoneum.

After the death of his son, Emerson wrote “Our life is not so much threatened as our perception. I grieve that grief can teach me nothing, nor carry me one step into real nature.”

Whether it’s flipping the switch for the Science experiment, or turning the driving wheel ever so slightly this way or that way on black-ice, it’s the 20-watts of energy that will experience the result. In some cases the car will swerve off the road, but in other cases the car will continue on its way to my sister’s dream house.

Christine had recently lost 100 pounds, and Ed had bought her a surprise pair of diamond earrings. It’s going to be hard to wait, but I know Christine is going to look fabulous in them the next time I see her.

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for full story read the books Biocentrism: How Life and Consciousness are the Keys to Understanding the True Nature of the Universe(online buy from amazon.com)

by Robert Lanza, Bob Berman

Overhead cables damage causes widespread train delays

Pic::for wrong  rail infustructure some cable damage has caused widespread disruption to journeys:::pic courtesy wp/Ebc

Rail passengers face disruption to their journeys after overhead wires on the West Coast Main Line near Milton Keynes were damaged.

Virgin Trains services across England and into Scotland are being affected with delays of up to 30 minutes, according to the company.

London Midland say some journey times could be extended by up to two hours.

A full list of affected routes and replacement bus services can be found on the National Rail Enquiries website.

The problems are disrupting trains between London and the Midlands and the direct Rugby to Milton Keynes route.

Virgin Trains began running a reduced service between Rugby and Euston shortly after 10:30 GMT.

Replacement buses continue to run between between Rugby and Milton Keynes Central, and from there to Luton Airport Parkway to connect with East Midlands and First Capital Connect services to and from London St Pancras International.

Tickets honoured

Virgin said passengers can use their tickets on other operators services along certain routes.

London Midland say services on the line between Northampton and Milton Keynes will be delayed all day, but trains north of Northampton were still running, but subject to delays and cancellations.

The company is also running a two-trains-an-hour shuttle service between Milton Keynes Central and London Euston in each direction.

A bus service is in operation between Rugby, Northampton and Milton Keynes Central.

Buses will also take passengers between Milton Keynes Central and Luton Airport Parkway to connect with East Midlands and First Capital Connect services.

Buses are now running between Northampton and Wellingborough to connect to East Midland Trains services going north to Leicester, Nottingham and Sheffield and south to St Pancras station in London.

London Midland said their tickets will be honoured by passengers going on to use Chiltern Railways, Cross Country, East Midlands Trains (between Sheffield, Wellingborough and London St Pancras International), First Capital Connect, First Great Western and Southern.

Passengers are being advised that journey times are taking up to two hours longer.

Unions blame cuts

Network Rail said a train pantograph had become entangled with overhead lines at the junction and the cables were damaged.

"At around 05:00 GMT on Friday the overhead wires on the West Coast Main Line, just north of Milton Keynes (at Hanslope Junction), suffered damage blocking all four lines," a spokesman said.

"An empty train, moving into position for the morning peak is currently entangled in wires that have come down.

"Network Rail engineers are currently on site and hope to restore two of the four lines by lunchtime with the aim of restoring all lines tomorrow following overnight work.

"All lines remain blocked," the spokesman said.

The RMT and TSSA unions questioned the adequacy of staffing levels following this incident and two more in the past three weeks when lines came down at Radlett in Hertfordshire and St Neots in Cambridgeshire..

RMT leader Bob Crow called for "cuts to staffing and to overhead line capacity to be reversed".

TSSA leader Manuel Cortes said: "This is the third week running that we have had major disruption on either the East or West Coast main lines because of problems with overhead power lines.

"We have to ask ourselves if Network Rail has cut back too far on maintenance spending in the past five years, and whether rail regulators and ministers are right to press it for further cutbacks of up to 19% over the next five years.

"These cuts are leading to a second-class railway for passengers who already pay the highest fares in Europe. They should be stopped immediately."

world's music greats on Camden street honors Walk of Fame

pic:::Amy Wine house's disc is to be unveiled in September,pic courtesy:::Ebc/wp

Pic:::Blur, Led Zeppelin, Amy Wine house and Elvis Presley are front runners to be nominated for the shortlist..pic courtesy::wp/ap

entertainment correspondent,london(Ebc/wp)

Blur, The Who and Elvis Presley are front-runners on a list of musicians to be honoured with Walk of Fame discs along a route in north London.

FRONT-RUNNER ARTISTS FOR NOMINATIONS LIST

Billie Holiday

Blur

Chris Blackwell

Elvis Presley

Fela Kuti

Frank Sinatra

Gil Scott Heron

Grand Master Flash

Led Zeppelin

Madness

Muddy Waters

Nile Rodgers

Sérgio Mendes

Soul II Soul

The Doors

The Who

A final list will be announced in May 

FRONT-RUNNERS FOR ICONS & INFLUENCERS NOMINATIONS

Glastonbury Festival

MTV

Old Grey Whistle Test

Radio 1

Technics 1200s

Woodstock

Camden Town is to be officially twinned with Hollywood to create its very own Music Walk of Fame.

The first 30 discs will be laid down this summer, organisers said.

It will celebrate the world's greatest musicians, with further discs and an Amy Winehouse statue to be unveiled in September - to mark her 30th birthday.

Front runners likely to appear on the first discs are an eclectic collection of artists including hip-hop DJ pioneer Grandmaster Flash, jazz poet Gil Scott-Heron, R&B group Soul II Soul, and Camden's very own Madness.

Rock veterans Led Zeppelin and legendary crooner Frank Sinatra are also likely to appear on the list, organisers said.

Concerts and special events will be held after all unveilings with tribute gigs for artists who have passed away.

'Highest accolade'

Music promoter Lee Bennett said he would even "like to get bands who have split up back together again" for one-off concerts, when they receive a plaque.

Liam and Noel watch this space.

Those honoured will be divided into five groups: innovative artists, influential artists, icons, unsung heroes and industry types like managers and producers.

A committee of global industry figures and local community members are working on shortlist of nominations for the first 30 plaques.

The list will go to a decisive public vote on the Music Walk of Fame website in May.

"We hope this will be the highest accolade in music," said Mr Bennett.

"This is an international brand not specific to Camden, but it is in Camden as we truly see it as the world's rock and roll capital."

It was Mr Bennett's son Adam who came up with the idea for a Music Walk of Fame, when he was just 10 years old.

"We were walking through Hollywood and Adam asked 'why don't we have this in the UK?'" Mr Bennett said.

"I thought what is the UK's most exciting big export? It's music. We should host the Music Walk of Fame," he said.

Since then, Mr Bennett has spent a lot of time in Los Angeles negotiating terms with Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Six years on and The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce has given him global rights, with some post-unveiling events to be held in collaboration with Tinsel Town.

Its president Leron Gubler said: "We wish the Camden Walk of Fame the best."

Walk of Fame organiser Mat Morrisroe agreed Camden is the right place for the project.

"London is the global capital of music and Camden is the music hub within that," he said.

"We're celebrating this in the middle of a living, breathing music community."

'World credibility'

The scheme has been backed by Camden council's deputy mayor Jonathan Simpson who said: "With over 60 live music venues, no other part of the world compares in terms of music diversity.

"It will inspire and directly support those who want to go into music," he added.

Some of the money made from the scheme will be invested in a music academy project "to take artists and nurture them into world credibility", Mr Bennett said.

Each disc will cost around £500 to make and be set in one-meter slabs of concrete, anchored into the ground with steel rods to prevent thefts.

The first phase will run 0.4 miles (0.64km) from Jamestown Road to the famous Roundhouse venue which has hosted gigs by the likes of The Clash, Jimi Hendrix and The Rolling Stones.

But it is hoped the trail will eventually run almost a mile from Mornington Crescent to Chalk Farm.

"Anyone with a Brits or Grammy lifetime achievement will get a disc," said Mr Bennett.

Amy statue

There are plans to build a 3D hologram museum to allow visitors to perform onstage with their favourite stars and to turn Camden's streets into an augmented reality museum.

"We'll use latest technologies to bring the Music Walk of Fame to life on the streets of Camden, so music lovers can find out more about each stone's recipient, watch video and music clips and find out more about the local area," said Mr Morrisroe

In the shorter term, one artist certain to receive a bronze disc is Amy Winehouse.

A disc will be laid in September to coincide with the unveiling of her statue on the terrace of the Roundhouse on what would have been her 30th birthday.

Her father Mitch said: "I remember her talking about Hollywood and she would have definitely approved.

"She loved Camden and I think she would have been delighted to receive a plaque," he said.

Regarding the statue, he said: "I think she would have been over the moon.

"Long after you and I are gone, Amy will be remembered in a memorial on the streets."

Delay warning for new strcuture over Reading station footbridge closure

pic::National communication infrastructural development in rail sector..a subway in reading station....Pic:::wp/Ebc
communication correspondent,reading(weastar times/Ebc)::

Train travellers at Reading have been warned to expect delays as works to the railway station close a footbridge.

Pedestrians are being detoured via a subway which Network Rail say could add 15 minutes to their walking time.

The bridge which links Reading train station and a multi-storey car park is being demolished to enable new platforms below it to be built.

A new footbridge is expected to open in April.

Network Rail apologised for any inconvenience caused.

'Inconvenience'

Graham Denny, project manager at Network Rail, said: "For four weeks, people will be able to use a temporary walking route via the new subway.

"We have to do this because the current bridge sits in the way of new platforms which have to be finished by April, so it has to be removed.

"We realise this will be an inconvenience to passengers and are sorry for this; if there was another way of completing the new platforms we would do it".

The refurbished subway has a new lighting and digital CCTV system linked to the station and police.

Works on the upgrade stated in Spring 2011 and Network Rail said they are on course to be completed one year ahead of schedule in 2015.

The Reading improvement scheme also includes the construction of a new train care depot and a viaduct to provide more room for trains.

Overhead line equipment will also allow new state-of-the-art electric trains to run.

Suffolk computing history museum move to Cambridge

pic:::THE ROYAL ENGLAND historical computing museum...courtesy::museum authority/wp

ICT reporter, Cambridgeshire(weastar times/wp/Ebc):::

A museum documenting developments in computing over the past 50 years is to move to Cambridge.

The Centre for Computing History is to relocate to the city from its base in Haverhill, Suffolk, and could be open by the summer.

The charity has been looking for new premises for two years.

Director Jason Fitzpatrick said: "It's important to be in Cambridge because of the city's history and the part it has played in the home computing era."

The centre was established in 2006 to "create a permanent, public exhibition that tells the story of the information age".

'Rich history'

As well as working with schools, it houses a collection of vintage computers, memorabilia, artefacts and associated documents.

Mr Fitzpatrick said: "We've got some machines that date back to 1961 that are hardly recognisable as computers, but they are the forerunners of what we have today.

"We also have all the Ataris and classic, nostalgic games machines - I don't think there's anything we haven't got."

He said Cambridge's "rich computing history" was one of the reasons for the move from Suffolk.

He added: "We can go back to Charles Babbage designing the concept of a programmable computer, or JJ Thomson who discovered the electron in the Cavendish Labs here, and even codebreaker Alan Turing who went to King's College.

"Look at how computers have changed everybody's lives - we're not just talking about something the geeks and nerds are interested in - though it will be fantastic for them."

The new site near Coldham's Lane in the east of the city will provide the centre and museum with about 7,000 sq ft (650 sq m) more space than its current location.