Justice? It's about time

Families and friends of the 96 Hillsborough victims have been given fresh hope this week after the Government pledged that “no stone will be left unturned” in their quest for justice.

Families from across the borough travelled to London on Monday to meet with Members of Parliament for a long-overdue debate on the Hillsborough disaster last night.

The impact of this can not go underestimated, there were 14,600 Liverpool fans at Hillsborough on that fateful day and 96 never returned home.

Some 18 people amongst the 96 who lost their lives at Hillsborough that day were from Sefton and many of the survivors remain emotionally scarred to this day.

My father was in the fatal Leppings Lane end and many other members of my family were at Hillsborough that day while my mother was at home - eight months pregnant with me.

The Home Secretary Theresa May vowed not to block the families' 22-year quest for the truth, meaning they could have access to crucial documents as early as next spring and rightly so.

The victims' families say that they hope the documents will reveal if there was a ”stitch-up“ by South Yorkshire Police and then Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher following the disaster to shift the responsibility from officers to supporters.

Roles of the emergency services in South Yorkshire Police are also likely to come under scrutiny by an independent panel looking into 300,000 documents which are being studied in preparation for their release.

The highlight of the debate was one of the most moving speeches I have ever seen, by Steve Rotheram.

It can be watched in full or read in the links below.

http://www.liverpoolfc.tv/video/interview/9935-steve-rotheram-speech-in-full

http://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2011-10-17a.662.0

My first Ouija Board - a spiritual awakening?

It is the biggest question that has plagued man for centuries – are we alone and what happens after we die?

Over the weekend I had a chance meeting with someone who said that not only does she know the answers to these questions, but she can prove it.

I'm not a hard-nosed sceptic, but when it comes to the unknown I deal in cold facts – the main one being I've been alive for 22 years and I'm yet to have a paranormal experience.

The girl was described as a 'white witch' and believes that because of her 'psychic abilities' she can contact the dead by communicating with spirits.

Dutifully, I put her claims to the test and after not being convinced by her inebriated attempts to move a flickering candle just by staring at it – we settled on the old classic.

Let's wheel out the Ouija board.

The room was dark, all windows were promptly shut and the alphabet was scrawled on cards around a circle in thick black pen.

Our host proclaimed: 'We only want to make contact with the good spirits'.

I'd say I'm spiritually open minded but my view is that if you put enough conviction behind your beliefs you can convince yourself that they are correct.

This proved true after I stumbled upon a fake Tarot Reading website and ended up conning friends and family they were speaking to a real psychic (try it yourself).

At the same time many are wary about venturing into the unknown and ghost whispering as there are still many sightings and strange reports that are left unanswered.

So with a sprinkle of peer pressure and my finger on the glass I stepped into my slippers for a dance with the devil.

The three of us had our index fingers pressed down on the edge of the tumbler as an uneasy feeling crept over me, what if all this was true? Was my whole view of life about to be smashed to bits?

“What is your name,” she uttered, our eyes met with anticipation, I'm as open minded as the next spiritual explorer but five minutes had passed and the glass still hadn't moved.

10 minutes...

15....

Still nothing.

Being somewhat of a wind-up merchant I could not pass this opportunity to have a little bit of fun, so hiding my childish grin I spelt out the words 'willy' and 'bum'.

Looking like she'd seen a ghost, the witch's response was: “William Bum – please respond, can you hear me - are you there?”

War on Chuggerism

“I'm not as bad as you think I am,” were the words I was greeted by upon my daily stroll for my lunch time Boots meal deal yesterday.

A strikingly attractive buxomly blonde, dressed well, polite and smiling, uttered this as she approached, making eye contact and opening her arms in a disarming gesture.

Being single and having an hour-to-kill on my lunch it would have seemed rude to do anything but carry on the conversation – even if she did have her nose pierced.

But I'm not one to be fooled easily, as I've been playing a discrete version of 'British bulldog' with these charity muggers each day for my past 18 months at The Champion.

They have a name 'Chuggers' as wikipedia puts it “Street fundraisers that use various ways of asking for donations on behalf of a charity.”

Or more accurately, Urban Dictionary states: “Paid 'charity' street worker (student) who has been trained to believe that they are carrying out a worthy task, improving peoples' lives by conning Joe Public out of their money.”

They don't stop tracky-wearing hoodies, or penny-pinching old men, they target certain groups, mainly old women, single mums and people who look like they might have a bit of money.

I'm hardly Richard Branson but wearing a shirt and tie while drifting past these people on Chapel Street in Southport is like flaunting a red rag at a bull.

I've heard them all, everything from “alright mate, you seem like a nice guy” to “I only want a hug”, these social parasites prey on the rich, weak and elderly and look to leach money via guilt.

“There's poor children everywhere so give up just £3 a month,” they say as they gobble up their £12 an hour payment plus commission.

Not that I have anything against charities but thrusting a clipboard in your face while mimicking your direction and pace wearing an etched fake smile like a constipated clown is just too much.

If anyone wants to join me in a co-ordinated planned revenge attack on them with a supersoaker and some waterbombs then email david.raven@champnews.com

PICS: Drunk moose on the loose

Spare a thought for this inebriated moose who made headlines after getting stuck trying to climb a tree.

After eating fermented fruit, the elk became so drunk that in an ambitious attempt to get more fruit it tried to climb up the branches.

The animal's legs then gave way and it became stuck between branches in Gothenburg, Sweden, before firefighters rescued it, leaving the loose moose to sleep off one hell of a hangover.

2011 Riots: The BIG brush up

It's clean-up time – during the post mortem of last night's riots this picture started doing the rounds on Twitter.

It shows up to a hundred people armed with brushes, mops and dust pans ready to sweet up the mess left behind by the rioters.

Celebrities and journalists have tweeted that their faith in humanity has been restored with Piers Morgan describing these people as the REAL Great Britain.

Meanwhile Sky News did a decent interview with former professional footballer Mickey Ambrose who is an ambassador for The Prince's Trust.

He told Sky News he felt the rioting was also, in large part, due to an absence of parenting.

"There's excuses all the time being made I feel, you know, (like) our children don't get opportunities, they're bored," he said.

"The question I want to ask parents right now is, where was your child on Saturday night, Sunday night and last night?

"How can parents allow their children to be going out at 9-10 o'clock. We saw pictures... of children aged 10, 11 involved in this anarchy."

"I think parents have a responsibility.

"I can tell you now, there was no way my mum would have let me out at 9-10 o'clock at (age) 13, 14 - so it begins at home.

"The schools and the education side of matters, are trying to educate out children in this country. But these are 13, 14-year-old kids."

Mobs ran the streets, the innocent cowered

Three months ago I was stood amidst 'rioters' witnessing London being torn apart by groups of unruly students setting bins on fire.

But watching footage unfold on TV and Twitter of mindless yobs taking control of the streets and terrorising innocent hard working families this week made me sick to my stomach.

Back in April it was clear then, that the crowd was made up of middle class adventurers and self proclaimed anarchists – disillusioned youths sporting dreadlocks.

None of them looked burly, were armed with weapons or even showed much aggression, this was a sit in, a calm semi-controlled display of disorder.

They targeted the banks, tax avoiders and a minor amount of damage was caused as every action has a cause and effect.

Their cause was to let the Government know they won't take massive tuition fee rises just lying down.

The effect, whether you agree with it or not, was that millions of people became aware of a simmering generation determined to stand up for what they believe in.

People riot for a cause, whether it be racial inequalities, freedom of expression or national oppression.

But this was a chaotic display of mindless aggressive disorder – partly down to a lack of education and a poor upbringing with no ambition or real identity.

Last night thousands of families sat in their homes from London to Liverpool, petrified a brick could come through the window at any given moment.

Unruly rioters ransacked shops indiscriminately taking whatever they can carry, they took over our streets, severely outnumbered police and set cars and shops alight.

Some idiot even ended up posing with his stolen goods and putting it on Twitter.

Trillions of pounds are being ploughed into sorting other countries' problems – from £500m aid packages for Pakistan to billions being spent on the Iraq war.

Last night was a harsh but vivid reminder that we should tackle our own issues and police our own streets before we try and police the rest of the world.

Thankfully the massive clean-up operations going on up and down the country show the rioters were a minority.

But next time it happens please wheel out the water cannons.

Farmers hunt for extra terrestrial pipe-smoking Bono look-a-like

Whoever said extra terrestrials don't have a sense of humour should take a look at this picture.

Crop circles are a mystery which has baffled generations of farmers and scientists.

The farmers are enraged that on top of their current financial worries they are losing hundreds if not thousands of pounds to aliens or pranksters.

And scientists are continually enrolled in a factual tug of war with conspiracy theorists who believe the markings are a 'sign from outer space'.

Firstly it offers two explanations, there's either a gang of alien pipe-smoking Bono look-a-likes somewhere in the stratosphere or someone's played an elaborate prank.

But scientists believe the answer lies a bit closer to home – in your kitchen.

They allege that pranksters are using a device created using a microwave, it is called a magnetron and is powered by a 12 volt battery.

If true it would make cutting the grass ten times more exciting, I want one.