Grandwicky

Dyslexia a cruel fiction, says MP A Labour MP has claimed dyslexia is a myth to cover up bad teaching of reading and writing. Graham Stringer, MP for Manchester Blackley, also suggested there was a link between illiteracy and crime - as prisons were full of people unable to read and write. He described the condition as a "cruel fiction" and suggested the dyslexia "industry" should be "killed off" through the "magic bullet" of teaching children to read and write by using a phonetic system of sounding letters and words. He made the comments while writing a column for Manchester Confidential, an entertainment and review website about the city. Mr Stringer said he has visited Strangeways jail in his constituency and of the prison population, roughly 80% of inmates are functionally illiterate and a similar number are drug abusers. "I don't believe in panaceas, but I am confident that if the rate of literacy were improved there would be an inevitable decline in crime. Children who cannot read or write find secondary school a humiliating and frustrating experience. Their rational response, with dire consequences, is to play truant. "Drugs, burglaries, robberies and worse, then, often, follow." Shirley Cramer, chief executive officer of the educational charity Dyslexia Action, said: "Once again dyslexia seems to be making the headlines for all the wrong reasons. "It is frustrating that the focus should be on whether dyslexia exists or not, when there is so much evidence to support that it does. It is true that there is a strong link between literacy and unemployment." "And we know from our own research that there is a higher percentage of offenders amongst the prison and probation populations who are dyslexic or have literacy difficulties. "However, these individuals are no more likely to commit a crime and the associated links are the result of reduced opportunity due to poor educational attainment." Source: MSN Yes a LABOUR MP said this <_< As someone who suffers from something similar to dyslexia (dyspraxia) I'm appalled that someone who's an elected MP let alone a Labour MP (you'd expect this from a Tory) would be so ignorant to say that problems that affect people's daily lives don't actually exist :angry: If you think teaching if so poor then why don't you sort it out like you bloody said you would eh? :rolleyes:

'Cause it's in America ;)

Lol! At Mushy :lol: I wouldn't have known if he hadn't have told me in another thread :lol: Happy Birthday Frankie! :cheer:

So-called Halo 3 killer convicted of murdering mom Most often, the media takes great pains to tie games to crime. Robberies of game retailers are given sensational treatment by local news outlets, while larceny involving other forms of entertainment--televisions, music players, and so on--are dismissed as routine. Often, even gruesome crimes are exploited if they have a game angle, as were the so-called "Xbox Murders" in 2004, when four Floridians were brutally slain by an ex-con who wanted to retrieve his console. (If he had wanted to get his toaster back, would it have been called the "Toaster Murders"?) Unfortunately, though, sometimes games are central to a heinous crime. That was the case in October 2007, when then-16-year-old Daniel Petric (pictured) fatally shot his mother because she was limiting his Halo 3 playing time. Defense attorneys claimed the teenager was "obsessed" with the sci-fi shooter, growing irrational and aggressive when he could not play it. After being cut off by his parents, he retrieved his father's 9mm pistol and shot both of them, killing his mother and leaving his father with a major headwound. (The father survived, forgave his son, and even came to court to support him.) The younger Petric then went on the run, taking his copy of Halo 3 with him. According to the Associated Press, Petric's lawyers argued that, after being psychically incapacitated for months following an injury, he was suffering from a full-blown addiction to Halo 3 and asked that he be ruled not guilty by reason of insanity. Today, though, an Ohio judge ruled that the juvenile was guilty of murder, even though he agreed that the youth was mentally unbalanced. "I firmly believe that Daniel Petric had no idea at the time he hatched this plot that if he killed his parents they would be dead forever," Lorain County Common Pleas Judge James Burge said in his ruling, according to the AP. However, evidence that Petric planned the murder for weeks led Burge to convict him in the non-jury-based proceedings. The judge will levy a sentence, potentially as severe as life imprisonment, at a later date. For its part, Halo 3 publisher Microsoft gave a brief statement to the AP, saying only, "We are aware of the situation and it is a tragic case." Source: Gamespot So if this was Wii Sports or Mario would you link the violence to the game? No you wouldn't! The game brought on dangerous things like 'fun' which led to the dangerous emotion 'happiness' :rolleyes: The parents were just doing what every parent does including what mine did when I was younger and tried to limit their playing time so they could get him to go outside get some fresh air etc. I had to give up Football Manager because I was so addicted to it that I didn't get much Uni work done at all. I haven't played it for months now and I've worked hard to try to get a job but the new one is VERY tempting. Video games can be VERY addictive if they are that good so it's annoying when you have to get off them sometimes but this person clearly had other issues with himself thus if the game was violent or not it wouldn't have made ANY difference.

The new GTA IS very good though :P I just have to remember not to get second hand 360 games from Cex again as it kept crashing <_< Mark my words btw, the tabloids are going to make a HUGE deal out of an upcoming Wii game called 'Madworld' It DOES look very fun though :P

Happy birthday Rob! Capricorn's rule! :cheer: Hope Clare has been extra, extra nice to you :P I bet she invited The Saturdays round for dinner :P

Yes they have :P X4VxdbWa5Tg Though as expected you can't make much of it out from it... And yes it looks like Alex is playing a black Les Paul :o

Video Game Health Labeling Act would force titles rated T or above to warn of link between violent media and aggressive behavior. Politicians have previously portrayed games as a dangerous influence on par with smoking. Now one Congressman has taken the extra step to try and have them carry warning labels like cigarettes. Representative Joe Baca (D-California) has introduced the Video Games Health Labeling Act of 2009 with the stated goal "To require certain warning labels to be placed on video games that are given certain ratings due to violent content." If passed, the bill would require games rated T-for-Teen or higher to carry a label that would read, "WARNING: Excessive exposure to violent video games and other violent media has been linked to aggressive behavior." Although the goal of Baca's bill specifically targets violent games, the language of the legislation makes no exception for games rated T-for-Teen or higher that might have coarse language or sexual content, but no violence. "The video game industry has a responsibility to parents, families, and to consumers--to inform them of the potentially damaging content that is often found in their products," the Congressman said in announcing the legislation. "They have repeatedly failed to live up to this responsibility. Meanwhile research continues to show a proven link between playing violent games and increased aggression in young people. American families deserve to know the truth about these potentially dangerous products." After introduction, the bill was referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce. Co-sponsoring the bill is Representative Frank Wolf (R-Virginia). Source: Gamespot Well I played Pacman this morning and have since been running around to repetitive music :rolleyes: Then I played Mario and started jumping around everywhere :rolleyes: Because you know people don't have a responsibility for themselves or anything do they? -_- Sounds like a cross between that and parents blaming something else on their kids' problems to me. -_- If people have psychological problems then they're going to hit, stab and kill people whether they bloody video games or not! Now excuse me I'm off to do the lotto before the Chelsea game and saw people's heads off with a chainsaw as I've just finished playing Gears Of War :)

I ain't bothered tbh, he's not as important as some people think he is. If he starts off all this crap again in the summer and Real Madrid offer a stupid amount of money they don't have yet again then I'd take it. If this was Rooney going then it'd be a whole different story let me tell you that! This is Sir Alex Ferguson we're talking about so if this is done behind his back he'll walk out but if he HAS approved of it then he's doing it because he's got something else up his sleeve that's just as good if not better. Remember when our world was apparently crumbling when this man called David Beckham left? Well that's when Ronaldo came in and look what happened? :) However if Ronaldo stayed then I'd have no doubt he'll overtake Theirry Henry and be remembered as the greatest foreign player to play in the Premier League or even the greatest football player in the world, ever!

I know it isn't! And I meant and I have other demos that are slightly better than that.

Everyone he's working with points to a good solo album, lets hope it turns out that way *crosses fingers*

Meh, I have demos that are better recorded than that!

The cover of 'Hello' was slightly odd but otherwise a decent set as usual :D

Cant Stand Me Now | 63+ Music When The Lights Go Out | 79-

Up the Bracket 30+ I Get Along 04- What a Waster 101

Mayday

I still keep hearing it :lol: First it was dilemmas about kissing or stabbing and now they want their fans to hump walls? :angry: The Saturdays are a DANGER to british society :(

Sorry to start a thread with such a low tone but is it just me or does it sound like someone is saying something like 'go on and hump the wall' at the start of this song? :blink:

I've always thought of his old material as very so-so, some of it is good and some of it is bad. I remember I saw him before he was famous and I just couldn't stand him live :lol: This however astonishingly is quite amazing :o

I don't know what game you watched yesterday but Berbatov was absolutely instrumental to us winning the game! He's good at picking up the passes and he's second to none for composed finishing! (he set up one goal and scored one yesterday for example!) I'd play Tevez a bit more but the fact is he's very similar to Rooney and if all of Ronaldo, Rooney, Tevez and Berbatov were 100% fit and I had to leave one out I'd do the same as Fergie and leave Tevez out. As Everton don't have Fellaini I'm not sure how they're gonna play now so I think you'll win the derby personally anyway.

And not have your goalscorer on the bench :D They're just not consistant enough at the moment to win the title tbh.

I Get Along :wub:

Boys in the Band 02 Up the Bracket 31+ I Get Along 04- What a Waster 98

Cant Stand Me Now | 61+ Music When The Lights Go Out | 81-

Do they get the woman in the cage with them?