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Posted: 13-04-2013 09:50 Post subject:

How Jose Mourinho gave a Mexican cleaner the most special ride of his life
A lifelong Real Madrid fan, who waxes floors for living, was plucked from obscurity to join Jose Mourinho's backroom staff for the Champions League victory over Manchester United at Old Trafford in an extraordinary tale of dedication, generosity and goodwill.
By Nick Pearce
10:14AM BST 12 Apr 2013

Sports Illustrated told the story of Abel Rodríguez, a 41-year-old Mexican-American from California, and an obsessive Real fan, who took two weeks' unpaid holiday for the last seven years to volunteer at the team's annual summer trip to Los Angeles.

He chased balls and laid out cones for Mourinho and his team of coaches when they visited the Californian city for pre-season friendlies. He woke up at 5am every morning and drove to the UCLA training site, only returning home at 11pm for a few hours' sleep each night.
Rodríguez's annual interaction with Mourinho and Los Blancos strengthened his passion for the club and this year he took the decision to withdraw his life savings to fund a trip to Madrid, in a desperate attempt to attend El Clásico before Mourinho left the club.

This meant he could not afford a family holiday, but on the insistence of his wife and daughter ("You should go. It's always been your dream") he made the lengthy journey to the Spanish capital.
Rodríguez arrived at the club's Valdebebas training complex with no accommodation booked, no ticket for the Mar 3 match against Barcelona, and, crucially, no contact details for Mourinho.

The security staff at the training ground refused to let him in and he was forced to sit on the side of the road, in snowy conditions, in a desperate attempt to flag down Mourinho. He waited for five fruitless hours, with only a coat to protect him from the elements, until his luck changed.

As Mourinho was leaving his assistant Rui Faria's car he spotted Rodríguez and stopped in his tracks. Mourinho bounded over to Rodríguez and asked to know what the "guy from Los Angeles" was doing nearly 6,000 miles from home.

After explaining his quixotic trip to Mourinho, everything changed for Rodríguez. The Special One instantly called for an assistant and arranged for Rodríguez to have his own room at the hotel where Real were staying for the Barcelona match. He ordered Rodríguez to rest up and rejoin them at the training site the next morning.

The night before the match the two men met up 90 minutes before sharing dinner with the rest of Mourinho's staff. As they spoke about Rodríguez's plans – he intended to return to LA after El Clásico – Mourinho insisted that he join the club for their trip to Manchester for the round of 16 clash at Old Trafford.

"I told him, 'No way, you come to Manchester with us and work as a kit man,'" Mourinho told Sports Illustrated. "'You help us and you live a bigger dream, a Champions League match from the inside!'"
Rodríguez lit up and said he would love to join them, insisting he would pay his own way. But Mourinho shook his head, smiled, and said: "When you're with me in Europe, you don't pay for s---." Cool

This incredible gesture was too much for Rodríguez and he was overcome with tears of joy. The football gods had repaid him for seven summers of voluntary work and he was about to join the entourage of one of the game's finest managers for a match (in Mourinho's words) "the world is waiting for".

Rodríguez attended El Clásico – Real won 2-1 – watching from a good seat and visiting the home side's dressing room afterwards for photographs with Cristiano Ronaldo, Maradona and the Argentine legend's girlfriend.

Lifelong ambition fulfilled, it was now time to get down to business. Rodríguez was kitted out in Real's full team gear and given official status as a bag-handler, coaching assistant and good-luck charm (Mourinho and the players were rubbing his stomach for positive vibes).

Rodríguez's friends in Los Angeles could see him on their televisions as he walked off the field next to United manager Sir Alex Ferguson and he was even immortalised on YouTube, standing next to Ronaldo in a pre-game clip of the tunnel.

A few seconds before that clip was filmed, Javier Hernandez, Rodríguez's compatriot, approached the cleaner to tell him he would be giving him his match jersey at the final whistle. How did he know about Real's good-luck charm? Unbeknown to Rodríguez, Mourinho had approached Hernandez and asked him to do the favour.

"These people treated me like I was part of the team," Rodríguez said. "This is something I'll tell my grandkids." Very Happy

etc...

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/real-madrid/9988996/How-Jose-Mourinho-gave-a-Mexican-cleaner-the-most-special-ride-of-his-life.html

Posted: 24-04-2013 07:17 Post subject:

UK Peace Index highlights rate of fall in violent crime

Rates of murder and violent crime have fallen more rapidly in the UK in the past decade than anywhere else in Western Europe, researchers say.
The UK Peace Index, from the Institute for Economics and Peace, found UK homicides per 100,000 people had fallen from 1.99 in 2003, to one in 2012.
The UK was more peaceful overall, it said, with the reasons for it varied.

The index found Broadland, Norfolk, to be the most peaceful local council area but Lewisham, London, to be the least.

The research comes as a separate study by Cardiff University suggests the number of people treated in hospital in England and Wales after violent incidents fell by 14% in 2012.

Some 267,291 people required care - 40,706 fewer than in 2011 - according to a sample of 54 hospital units, its report said.

For its inaugural index, the Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP), which defined peace as "the absence of violence or fear of violence", used Home Office data on crime, such as public disorder offences and weapons crime, and police officer numbers.
It found the violent crime rate in the UK was down by about one quarter - from 1,255 per 100,000 people in 2003, to 933 in 2012.
These reductions came despite a 6% drop in the number of police officers per 100,000 people, it said.

In Broadland, which has a population of about 125,000 people, only eight violent crimes were recorded for 2012.
Its average overall crime rate for the decade was 323 per 100,000 people - about a third of the national average.

The five most peaceful local authority areas, which also included Three Rivers, in Hertfordshire, South Cambridgeshire, East Dorset and Maldon, in Essex, recorded a combined total of 24 homicides over the decade.

Lewisham, meanwhile, had a homicide rate of 2.5 in 2012 - two-and-a-half times the national average.
The year 2011 was the borough's worst in the decade for the actual number of homicides - defined by researchers as murder, manslaughter and infanticide - with 11.
All five of the least peaceful local authority areas were London boroughs - the others being Lambeth, Hackney, Newham and Tower Hamlets.

BBC home editor Mark Easton said that while Lewisham, an area scarred by gang violence, was found to be the least peaceful area, overall the capital was markedly more peaceful than it was 10 years ago, with some of the biggest drops in some types of violent crime.
The capital's rate of homicides was far lower than in New York, Amsterdam, Brussels and Prague, he added.

Of the UK's "urban areas", the index found Glasgow, with a murder rate of double the national average, to be the least peaceful and Cardiff, with 60% less violent crime than Glasgow, the most peaceful.
Sheffield, Nottingham and Leeds came 2nd, 3rd and 4th respectively behind Cardiff in the urban areas peacefulness ranking.

The IEP's report said that 80% of the 343 local authority areas it had evaluated had seen at least a 10% improvement in their peace over the past decade.
"This is the fastest decline in violence of any country in Europe," it said.

"Cross-checking Home Office and Eurostat data against a number of metrics, such as hospital admissions, the UKPI shows that this dramatic fall is not a blip in police reporting - the UK really is becoming more peaceful. Very Happy

"Reasons for this fall in violence are varied, however one of the more likely reasons, often overlooked, is the substantial improvement in police practices particularly related to the adoption of advanced technologies.

"Other factors which have had an impact in reducing violence include an aging population, decreasing alcohol consumption and, finally, rising real wages, supported by the introduction of the minimum wage."

Other findings include
Extreme poverty is the factor most closely associated with violence
The number of police officers had no correlation to levels of peace
Fear of crime is greater than the reality: 25% of Britons think they will be a victim of crime, but only 4% will experience crime
The UK homicide rate is now roughly equivalent to the Western European average and at its lowest level since 1978
But UK violent crime rate is significantly higher than the European average
The research follows the IEP's US Peace Index published last year.

IEP chairman Steve Killelea said the increased level of peace in the UK "cannot be narrowed down to any single factor".
But he added: "The findings of the UK Peace Index show that poverty and economic opportunity are significantly associated with peace, as supported by other international studies, including the US Peace Index.

"This suggests greater emphasis needs to be placed on programmes that tackle poverty and related issues, such as access to education and economic opportunity."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-22275280

So, it's not paradise yet, but it's getting better... Cool

Posted: 24-04-2013 10:58 Post subject:

Thanks for posting that Rynner, good stuff Very Happy

Posted: 24-04-2013 12:52 Post subject:

Right, antidote:

Reported crime is falling. Vast numbers of crimes go unreported owing to a lack of faith in the police. I know a great many people who have not reported assaults, petty thefts and vandalism. If insurance companies were to stop requiring registered crimes numbers for claims, the figures would drop preciptously.

Criminal convictions for violent crime are falling. Plea-bargaining now exists in the UK in all but name, and the costs of unsuccessful prosecutions are leading directly to fewer and fewer convictions each year.

Murder rates have been falling for a very long time; part of the reason is that medical science has enabled larger numbers of victims to survive horrendous injuries and attacks. It's simply getting harder to kill people.

Did anyone notice the nights of back-to-back rioting and looting in the streets a while back, or was it just me that spotted it?

Ask those in law-enforcement, nursing and the legal system if their case load due to violent crime is on the wane - they'll laugh maniacally at you.

Posted: 12-07-2013 11:10 Post subject:

'Excuse me, Ma’am. Can I have a picture with you?'
In the presence of the Queen, certain boundaries must not be crossed: do not speak until you are spoken to, bow from the neck and never, ever, ask if she will pose for a picture with you.
By Gordon Rayner, Chief Reporter
7:57PM BST 11 Jul 2013

But if you are seven years old, ignorance is bliss, as Jessica Fitch proved yesterday when she strode up and cheekily asked for a picture for her family album.
In a rare departure from protocol, the Queen happily obliged, and beamed at the camera as Jessica’s father Michael took a prized snapshot.

Deciding her luck was in, Jessica tried the same trick with the Duchess of Cornwall and, later, the Prince of Wales. Cool

The Fitches were attending the first day of the Coronation Festival in the gardens of Buckingham Palace, which is showcasing the work of 200 royal warrant holders who supply goods and services “By Appointment” to members of the Royal family.

Jessica, from Cheltenham, had brought along Bertie Bear, the mascot of her Brownie group at Bethesda Methodist Church, and was determined to get some souvenir pictures to show her pack.
As the Queen walked past, she made her move. “She was bold, she went right up to her,” said her mother Heather, 39.

Jessica’s father Michael, 35, asked the Queen: “Ma’am, would you mind if we took a picture?”
To the surprise of Palace staff accompanying her, the Queen agreed, and asked Jessica: “Are you a Brownie?”
Mrs Fitch said: “She told her 'yes I am,’ and she said it in such a posh voice. It was so kind of the Queen to stop.”
Jessica said: “I was a bit nervous. She was lovely.”

...

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/queen-elizabeth-II/10174809/Excuse-me-Maam.-Can-I-have-a-picture-with-you.html

Posted: 20-07-2013 22:33 Post subject:

Posted: 20-07-2013 22:56 Post subject:

He seems to have gone through several identities already. By the time his balls drop, he'll be knocking off sub-Dalì monstrosities. Or perhaps a Tretchikoff period beckons.

He had better keep on earning or the folks will change the locks! Razz

Posted: 02-09-2013 23:34 Post subject:

Away with the doom and gloom!

UK manufacturing 'booming again'

UK manufacturing is "booming again", according to a survey, with the sector seeing its strongest growth in activity for two and a half years in August.
The latest Markit/CIPS purchasing managers' index (PMI) for the sector jumped to 57.2. A figure above 50 indicates expansion.
It marks the fifth consecutive month of expansion and is the highest reading since February 2011.
Output and new orders rose at their fastest rate for 19 years. Very Happy

"The UK's factories are booming again," said Rob Dobson, senior economist at Markit.
"Orders and output are growing at the fastest rates for almost 20 years, as rising demand from domestic customers is being accompanied by a return to growth of our largest trading partner, the eurozone."

The only weak point in the outlook was a "marked upsurge" in cost inflation at manufacturers. The month-on-month leap in input prices was the second biggest in the survey's history, as commodity prices continued to increase.

In a separate survey, the EEF manufacturers' organisation said that it had ungraded its forecasts for manufacturing for 2014.

Commenting on the PMI data, Lee Hopley, EEF chief economist, said: "Taken together with improving indicators across most parts of Europe the conditions are right for manufacturers to see continued expansion in the remainder of this year with growth accelerating in 2014."

Analysts welcomed the figures, adding that the data supported growing optimism over prospects for the economy as a whole.

Rob Wood, chief UK economist at Berenberg Bank said: "This is a consumer led recovery with legs. The improving export picture coming through in the latest surveys is the icing on the cake."
He added that the strong growth may pressure the Bank of England into a faster-than-expected rise in interest rates.
The economy appeared to be "running way ahead" of the Bank's forecasts, Mr Wood said, and this "should strengthen the view of those MPC members that thought a first rate hike in late 2015 would be reasonable".

David Tinsley, UK economist at BNP Paribas, agreed that the domestic market "appears to be the primary focus of the strength." However, he cautioned that the sharp rise in input costs, driven by the price of oil, had the potential to cause concern.
"For now this is not really being reflected in output costs, with the index here remaining modest. But this rise in input costs is perhaps one of the first warning signs that the UK accelerating output growth is seeing a warming in inflationary pressure."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-23925789

Posted: 04-10-2013 08:34 Post subject:

Mystery man saves 'lifeless' baby from drowning

A mother wants to thank the unknown passer-by who saved her four-month-old girl from drowning.
Imogen was submerged in water for several minutes when her mother's car overturned and plunged into a ditch in Gosberton, Lincolnshire.
Imogen was "blue and lifeless" when her mother Beckie Thompson pulled her out of the car.

But a man fought through his own tears as he resuscitated Imogen, who eventually started breathing again.

Miss Thompson, 21, said she was "hysterical" after pulling Imogen out of the car and passing her to a woman who had stopped to help.
"She laid her on the riverbank, and a lad, luckily, just laid her out and started doing CPR," said Miss Thompson.
"He was crying, he was very upset. To be honest I don't think anybody expected her to wake up."
Despite this, she said the man continued to try for "a good two or three minutes".

"Then she [Imogen] made a noise, and then he started to cry a little bit more, but kept going until she was screaming," said Miss Thompson, from Quadring.
"The emergency services told the lady that was on the phone, if she's crying that's the best sign that she can give." Cool

People watching what happened said Imogen had been under the water for more than four minutes.
The emergency services arrived and Imogen was airlifted to hospital, but the man left before Miss Thompson could thank him.

"He's left no information or anything with the police or anything, so I just want him to know that he did save her life, and if it wasn't for him I wouldn't have a little girl any more," said Miss Thompson.
"I owe her life to him, so I am really, really grateful." Very Happy

Miss Thompson, a trainee nurse, had been driving Imogen to nursery when the accident happened near the junction of Sweetlands Way and Station Road, at about 10:50 BST on 17 September.
She said she lost control of her car when she swerved to avoid a van.

Police would like to speak to any delivery drivers who may have been in the area at the time, particularly a white food van with a green stripe around the bottom.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-lincolnshire-24388347

Posted: 16-10-2013 14:45 Post subject:

Slim woman vet saves trapped sheepdog Chip by wriggling 80ft underground in space too small for male rescuers to get in
By Emma Thomas
PUBLISHED: 18:25, 15 October 2013 | UPDATED: 20:03, 15 October 2013

A super slim vet saved a sheepdog stuck in a rocky crevice after mountain rescuers were too big to reach him.
Slightly-built Kes Taylor, 35, was brought in to wriggle down the tiny gap to reach the collie dog, Chip, stuck 82ft underground.
Kes was the smallest volunteer in the desperate operation to rescue Chip who had been trapped in the crevice for two days.

She said: 'They picked me after some of the men had a go and got stuck half way down.
'Luckily for Chip I was thin enough to squeeze my way along the gap to reach him.'

The drama began when Chip fell down the crevice while rounding up sheep on a mountainside in Snowdonia, North Wales.
A mountain rescue team was called to search for the missing farm dog and heard him whimpering from inside the mountain.
Local vet Kes was called to treat the collie when he was brought to the surface.
But after the male rescuers failed to reach him, they asked Kes to descended into the crevice attached to ropes.

Keen mountain walker Kes, of Llanberis, North Wales, said: 'I didn’t expect to spend my afternoon in a narrow crevice.
'I much prefer the wide open spaces of mountain sides and have never been potholing.
'But all the time the team members were encouraging me and I felt totally safe. They were fabulous.
'If we hadn’t have managed to find Chip he would have died.'

A helmet camera attached to a mountain rescue volunteer captured the incredible two-hour rescue mission as it unfolded inside the impossibly tight mountain crag crevice.
Mountain rescue team member Rob Johnson said: 'The whole time inside the crevice Kes was at risk of becoming stuck herself.
'She was incredibly brave and if it wasn’t for her we may never have reached Chip.'

Rob said the team knew it would be 'an interesting rescue' when they heard whimpering coming from inside the deep mountain crevice.
He said: 'The dog was found stuck in the bottom of a rock crevice that was 82ft deep, extremely narrow and halfway up a steep crag.

'One team member was volunteered as being the skinniest build and lowered down into the slot.
'But about half way down he became wedged and had to be pulled back up and out.'
'So we lowered Kes down and she spent an hour wriggling and worming her way down to him.

'The dog seemed miraculously unhurt after he reached the surface.
'We fed him sausages, steak and some dog food before he walked away with the team.
'It’s a shaggy dog story with a happy ending.' Very Happy

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2461457/Slim-vet-rescues-dog-stuck-Welsh-mountain-crevice.html

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