Selfies

'Selfies' are a huge thing amongst younger people and have been for years. But recently the trend of taking selfies, mainly to put up on Instagram and Twitter, has been taken on by celebrities and even political figures when at high profile events. Bradley Cooper and Gerard Butler were seen taking photos together at Wimbledon and today Obama, Cameron and Danish pm Helle Thorning-schmidt were seen taking selfies as Nelson Mandela's memorial service. The appropriateness of the situation has been called into question as obviously this was meant to be a sombre event.

Gas Station Banksy

A mural painted by Banksy back in 2008 has been sold by the gas station owner for £209k. The buyer has asked to remain unknown which isn't surprising considering the price of the work. Its amazing that the work, which is actually not too detailed and is a comment on the surveillance of society, has sold for so much due to the name of the artist. It's only graffiti really but the name 'Banksy' has gathered such a weight behind it in the last few years that the impractical piece of art (an entire brick wall) can be so for such a high price. Even more amazing since, as no one knows who Bansky is, we can't actually be 100% sure that it is a real piece by the artist.

Lenin statue

Thousands of protesters in Kiev, Ukraine, have pulled down and decapitated the statue of Lenin in the city centre. Protesters gathered to protest against the country's move away from Europe to Moscow in allegiance with Russia. The government did not seem too worried about the protest as no violence broke out but the statue has been completely destroyed. We are used to public gatherings such as these in the middle east but they are becoming more common in europe aswell as seen in the london riots and this incident. Most protests start online now and both the events mentioned actually originated online on sites such as Facebook and twitter.

PS4 killing

A 22 year old man has been shot as he went to deliver a PS4 he had sold online. The victim, Ikenna Uwakah of Daly City, was shot multiple times at about 3.30pm on Sunday at the location where he had agreed to meet the person and sell the gaming device. Although obviously we do not know if the console had anything to do with the murder it does raise the question of why are the sales of games now being used as a way to kill people. Personally I don't really understand why games are so important to people but clearly they are very important to some people. It also suggests there are more risks to websites such as Gumtree and ebay than we all first thought.

Advert to kill

A couple in Pennsylvania have been charged with murder after they stabbed a man who answered their advert on Craigslist. They apparently wanted to kill someone together to feel closer.

 As with all stories that involve people meeting over media platforms this story raises questions about the security measures taken for the users on these sites. I personally feel that with most websites it is up to the users to ensure that they are safe on these sites. But with sites that allow people to advertise maybe stronger screening processes need to be enforced so that crime like this does not take place. Many people, especially the young or those who have not grown up with the internet, do not understand the dangers and maybe new legislation needs to be put in place so that people who are not able to protect themselves are not at such a big risk. 

Obviously this murder is a rare occasion but child grooming, credit card fraud etc. are common and maybe the internet needs to be more regulated in today's society.

Nelson Mandela

Nelson Mandela has died following a lung infection. The former South African president and human rights campaigner famous for his time in prison following his fight against apartheid was 95 years old. The South African president said in his speech following Mandela's death 'we have lost our greatest son'. For many of us Mandela has always been a symbol of the fight for human equality and rights after he helped unite the people of south Africa and his presence will be missed across the world.

80,000

Tomorrow the homeless charity Shelter are going to present David Cameron with a 'Christmas card' petition signed by over 1000 people. The petition is a plea for the government to acknowledge the amount of children homeless this holiday. Numbers have risen to over 80,000 homeless children which is shocking and awful to even consider what they and their parents are facing this winter. Numbers may have changed but I read a couple of years ago that homelessness in London had reached the same numbers as seen in Victorian times. What I find most shocking is that I didn't know about these figures until I looked on the charity website. I hope that David Cameron acts based on the petition and actually tells the general public about the crisis.