Porsche launch £328 sledge

It's also available in Great Britain, the Porsche sledge! Porsche has launched a £328 sledge to help Britons make the most of the snow. The sledge is designed with sleek aluminium racing frame, stainless runners and a seat with Porsche logo. The sledge is made in Germany and is created by the Porsche Design Studio. Normally children are having a lot of fun on a sledge, but Steve Blunt, sledging enthusiast, believes the sledge will not only be enjoyed by children, also by adults. He thinks this sledge will be perfect for people who want to own a Porsche but cannot afford a car.

I think this Porsche sledge is a great gadget, but only if you use it on a steep hill. The sledge looks very comfortable and strong to me. In Great Britain there are enough hills to use this sledge. If you only use a sledge to pull your child through the snow, it will be a waste of money. But if you need a good and strong sledge to glide from steep hills and you want to reach a high speed going down, this sledge will be a pleasure. I would never buy it, because it is kind of expensive, and I never use a sledge.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/6904780/Porsche-launch-328-sledge.html

50,000 children miss a day of school each week

Nearly 50,000 children of England's poorest areas are missing on average a day of school each week. That is what the Telegraph is reporting about. A Conservative analysis of Government statistics shows that 6.1 per cent of children in the poorest neighbourhoods missed at least one fifth of school in 2007/2008. In the richer neighbourhoods only 1.2 per cent of children missed one fifth of school in 2007/2008.
Children's Minister Dawn Primarolo said there was "no quick solution" for this problem. She says that attendance at school is absolutely vital, and that's why they have to ensure that school is interesting, and that there are enough challenges for the children. She also mentions that overall absence in 2007/2008 was at a record low.

In my opinion Children's Minister Dawn Primarolo is right. She says that school needs to be a challenge and interesting for children. I totally agree with this. Only if school is interesting pupils will have the motivation to reach targets and to pay attention. And this counts especially for children in the poorest areas. Because these children in the poor areas already have less knowledge and basic abilitys because of their background, it is even more important that these children use their time at school effictively. Attendance for these children is even more important because children in richer areas will have more opportunities to get good education, while most families in poor areas don't have enough money to provide good education for their children.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/educationnews/6895443/50000-children-miss-a-day-of-school-each-week.html

Two soldiers killed in two days by ‘friendly fire’ in Afghanistan

Because of advances in night-vision equipment of the British army, friendly fire incidents involving British soldiers have been relatively rare in Afghanistan. However, in the last 48 hours there had been two friendly fire incidents, which killed two British soldiers. When officers of the Royal Military Police were investigating the first friendly fire incident, they heard of the second friendly fire incident. The deaths of these two soldiers took the fatal casualty toll since 2001 to 242.

I am sure that the American, Dutch, British and all the other soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan are doing a really good job. They are helping to rebuild these countries and they save the lives of thousands of people. Every killed soldier is one too many, but how does a family feel when they hear that their son, friend, brother or cousin is killed by friendly fire? It must be horrible. That's why I wanted to pay some attention to this item, because we may not forget the soldiers and the casualties.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/Afghanistan/article6965411.ece

UK wastes £15 million every day because of energy inefficiency

Business leaders have warned that Britain is wasting £15 million every day on energy bills because of leaky boilers inefficient offices and draughty homes. The third report by the CBI on UK Government climate change policy found just four out of 24 targets have been met so far. Richard Lambert, CBI Director-general, said the following: "Following the disappointing outcome to the Copenhagen negotiations, the immediate emphasis must now be on those actions that don't require global agreement and that bring economic benefits in their own right. Improved energy efficiency can take us a long way towards meeting our commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 2020, and at the same time will bring significant economic benefits to the country,".

Wasting 15 million pounds every day is really shocking me. Not only because it is a lot of money, but also the fact that tonnes of carbon dioxide is being pumped into the atmosphere that could be saved, is shocking. Especially after the Copenhagen negotiations which can be seen as a failure, I think it is even more important that countries take actions that don't require a global agreement to stop the waste of energy and global warming.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/earthnews/6873077/UK-wastes-15-million-every-day-because-of-energy-inefficiency.html

Warming-up cars stolen from driveways

In Chelmsford and Ingatestone three cars were stolen. In Chelmsford the thieves stole a Ford Galaxy, while in Inatestone a Peugeot 407 and a Toyota Avensis were taken. These cars were stolen when they had their engines running while their owners were inside houses preparing to leave. In these cold times, most car owners warm their cars up on driveways, and go back inside to drink a cup of tea or coffee. This happens a lot, and that's why the Police thinks these thefts were planned. For car thieves there is no easier way to steal a car.

I can imagine the situation of the car owners, but also the situation of the thieves. As a car owner you don't want to drive in a car where the temperature is almost as low as outside, so then you warm up your car on the driveway. But sometimes when I see a car with its engine running, while there is nobody in or outside the car, I also think:"When you leave your car like this, it will be very easy to steal it". So for car thieves these days are very important, because there is no easier way to steal a car.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/warmingup-cars-stolen-from-driveways1848570.html