Chinese Student Takes Potentially Lethal Abortion Pills

Alan Mulligan investigates the use of illegal abortion tablets, to which the deaths of 3 American women have been attributed.

Plastic Sugery: Going under the Knife, are you ready for it?

Page 9

World Cup Preview Page 12

Mr. & Mrs Smith keep their identitys a secret but reveal their opinion on the opposite sex.Page 6

Standing over 6 feet tall the stereotypical short Chinese man has been expunged from mind. He offers

a wide smile and firm friendly handshake. The word tablets is greeted with a whimsical look. “Like medicine?” he enquires cautiously. Through bro-

ken English he reveals “I got the medicine from my friend who got them from one of his friends.”

The medicines he speaks of are known as Mifepristone and Misoprostol (trade named Mifeprex). These are abor-tion tablets, which are available in 87 countries world-wide, including the U.K., U.S.A. and China. Taken within the first 49 days of pregnancy, Mifeprex blocks progestogen, Continued On Page 3

The

Circular Issue 2 Volume II

An Post workers are still waiting for a 7% wage increase that was promised to them over a year ago by An Post management proposal. A meeting set up between An Post and the Communications Workers Union (CWU) on the 18th, 19th and 20th of November helped the labour court draw up a list of recommenda-tions that have to be voted on by CWU members. If there is a rejection of the recommendations then both sides will have to return to the court, a process that could very easily drag this dispute out for well over another year. However all conditions proposed by An Post for collection and

delivery in the Dublin Mail Centre (DMC) have been carried out by the workers yet An Post are still refusing to pay up. This comes after An Post reported losses of 40 million euros in 2003, but are rumoured to have broke even in 2004.

Workers however have in the last year been quick to point out though, that An Post has saved an undis-closed amount of money, which is rumoured to be over 20 million euros from holding out on their 7% wage increase and not upgrading their fleet of vans and trucks. Also An Post are proposing to spend around 30 million euro to update their premises around the

country by introducing upgrades such as CCTV. The dispute does not affect all workers at An Post only postmen and drivers, who will be expected to take out heavier deliveries and work longer hours for no extra pay in the event that a col-league is taken ill. An Post had offered to make up for this by paying 5%, of the 7% wage increase over 3 years but to date no pay-ments have been made. The increase if paid however will phase out overtime for postmen and drivers but not for any other group of work-ers at An Post.

Microsoft strike first in a £25 Billion War

Peakin’sButcher

112 South Circular RdOpen 10am - 7pm,

Tues - Sat.

On December 2nd, Europe witnessed first hand the first global strike of its kind in a war worth over £25 billion. America had been the first to experience it with retailers suffering catastrophic stock losses all over the country as civil-ians got what they could. The leader of Microsoft, Bill Gates, describes it as nothing the world has ever seen before, and is hoping his rivals at Sony will not be able to recover from the World Wide launch of their war machine known as the Xbox 360.

Last time around, Sony won the battle with their combatant, PS2 (Playstation 2), outsell-ing the original Xbox, 4-1. Selling over 90 million consoles all over the world, they easily outstripped the

Xbox who only sold 20 mil-lion, 70 million less than their main rival. Bill Gates though looks to build on the platform they have created for themselves and is confi-dent its newest machine will not only rival but overcome the Sony giants in the rag-ing war.

The Xbox 360 is being touted as the most powerful console ever cre-ated. Boasting a process-ing power which is only matched by the most power-ful of PCs and high defini-tion graphics to make the gamers gaming experience even more realistic. The console has a wireless con-trol system, has the ability to play all DVDs, rip music onto the hard drive for your listening pleasure and is also capable of storing and viewing digital images,

making it a welcome enter-tainment system to your liv-ing room. Also an impres-sive feature is the ability to go Live, at no extra cost on your broadband connection allowing you to play any-body anywhere.

Microsoft predicts they will have sold over 3 million copies before Sony’s newest machine, the Play Station 3, comes out in the spring of 2006. To help make that predic-tion a reality, Microsoft are launching over 18 Game Titles on the Xbox 360 release date, including Perfect Dark Zero, Project Gotham Racing 3, Kameo, King Kong and Fifa 2006 is also expected to be ready before Christmas. Bill Gates has not just planned on a successful launch but has prepared for the arrival

of the Play Station 3 by announcing that the newest version of one of the world’s most successful games, Halo 3, will be released at the same time as the Play Station 3.

The Console is already the Christmas must have and is being sold where ever it is avail-

for those wishing to get the Xbox 360 core system which is everything you need and you choose what and when to add all the extra accessories. The first blow in the console war has been struck and first impressions seem to indicate it could be a fatal blow, one which

Sony may struggle to come back from.

The X-Box 360

By Joe Kelly

Thousands of students and pupils are working part-time in Ireland, yet 70% of students don’t know what the exact minimum wage is and most students aren’t getting paid fairly.

If you are working part-time and are over 18 you are entitled to at least, the minimum wage. The mini-mum wage as of 1st May

you are under the age of 18

which is 70% of the mini-mum wage. An employee who is in the first year of employment since the age

per hour (80% of minimum wage). An employee who is in the second year of employment since the date of first employment over the age of 18 is entitled to

minimum wage). Most importantly, if you

are a student and you are working check out www.siptu.ie or www.mandate.ie to find out your rights as a part-time worker. 9 out of 10 people that checked it out realized that they weren’t getting what they were entitled to.

Postal StrikeStudents pay for lack of knowledge

By Graham FarrellBy Zara White

2

Peddling Pills

Judgement could cost council two million euros

A high court judgement ruled by Mr Justice William McKechnie could see Dublin city council paying

costs.Property developer Jerry

Beades, an elected member of Fianna Fail, who’s plan-ning application to retain alterations to a building in Hardwick Place off Dorset Street in 1993 and 1994, was rejected by the plan-ning authority, despite being told by Michael Cough, then Senior Planner, that the permission was granted.

Mr Michael Cough had written a report granting Mr Beades planning per-mission. This permission was later removed from the planning office’s files by

Muldowney. Muldowney decided that

Mr Beades’s application be refused.

This case has been run-ning for the past 11 years, including 40 days in the High Court, making it the longest case into planning matters in the history of the state.

Judge Mckechnie accept-ed Mr Beades’s complaints against James Muldowney and Patrick McDonnell for allegations of unfair-ness and for prejudging that Mr Beades’s applica-tion be rejected and that Muldowney and McDonnell had acted unfairly in mak-ing sure that Mr Beades’s application was refused.

He also said Derek

Brady, who had granted the refusal of the applica-tion, “had acted on the basis of an incomplete and screwed version of the true circumstances provided to him by Muldowney and McDonnell” and that the council had failed to achieve its responsibilities by not investigating the matter and dealing with it accurately.

Mr Beades said he is very happy with judgement made by the court but wants to see senior management offi-cials in Dublin city council held accountable for wast-ing tax payer’s money.

Mr Beades has called for a commission of investigation from the Justice Minister.

Nobody at the Dublin city

council offices was avail-able to comment on this matter. By Linda Keitasha

the hormone that maintains pregnancy, causing the wall of the uterus to come away thus, stimulating what appears/mimics a sponta-neous abortion. Illegal in Ireland, these tablets are being carried into the coun-try by Chinese students (and probably those of other nationalities) resting in a bag alongside Paracetamol and other household drugs.

After finding herself with an unwanted pregnancy Wan’s girlfriend (who chose not to talk to this reporter) took these tablets at home without any medical con-sent or supervision. Asked why they chose to abort the pregnancy Wan said “In China old people wouldn’t agree if you have baby before your married, it’s shame(ful). And I just go to college I don’t have a real job, we wouldn’t be able to provide good life condition for a baby.”

Developed in America by Danco Laboratories in the early 1980’s, Mifeprex was first available in France (1988) and has since

become a very successful alternative to surgical abor-tions.

The American Mifeprex website explains the proce-dure as; on the first appoint-ment at the clinic, following counselling and ultra-sound scans, Mifepristone tablets

of your own home, small tablets of Misoprostol are inserted into the vagina.This causes the cervix to contract, which in turn expels the tiny pregnancy, bleeding usually continues for 9 to16 days. Included in the criteria to receive a medical abortion is an agreement that you can return for 1-3 follow up appointments, depending on circumstances.

These follow up appoint-ments involve further coun-selling. Also, before taking the medication you must agree to have a surgical abortion if the Misoprostol fails to work. If pregnancy continues after taking either Mifepristone or Misoprostol there is a high risk of severe foetal abnormalities, this is

why once starte the proce-dure must be completed.

Wan says he and his girlfriend were very wor-ried when she took the tablets and with due cause; as recently as December

were forced to update all warnings, including ‘Dear Doctor’ and ‘Dear Emergency Room Staff’ letters which are provided with the medication. This move followed the death of 3 American women from Fatal Septic Shock caused by Mifeprex.

Only available in the U.S.

there has been 676 reported cases of complications, among these and includ-ing the 3 deaths there was 17 examples of ectopic pregnancies which had rup-

resulting in the need for a transfusion and 7 reported cases of serious infec-tion, all directly caused by Mifeprex. These figures are only for America.

Thankfully there have been no reports of anyone being admitted to hospi-

tal with Mifeprex induced complications/illnesses in Ireland. It is not yet known how widespread the use of these abortion tablets is in Ireland but according to Spokesperson for Customs and Excise, Marian Leevy, there has been no case of Mifepristone or Misopostol found or seized on entry to Ireland. However if found would Customs Officers even know what these tab-lets were? Doubtful, as all writing on these particular boxes was in Chinese.

Wan’s girlfriend is fine now, having experienced “A little bit of pain (indicating his stomach) and a little bit of blood” and she appears in no way to need post-abortion counselling.

Neither Wan nor his girl-friend have heard of Cura, +Options or the Crisis Pregnancy Agency, all of which are in place to help, advise and counsel people with unwanted or crisis pregnancies, just like Wan and his girlfriend.

Public Relations Officer for Cura (crisis pregnancy and post-abortion counsel-

ling organisation) Charlotte Keery said, “It is of great concern to me that people like this don’t know about us…. regardless of how or where someone received an abortion we would offer confidential counselling.”She went on to state “we are well aware that there are people of all different nationalities in Ireland now, some of who don’t have a great command of English.”Asked if she feels Cura should advertise in different languages she said, “Yes, but it’s hard to know which languages to use.”

Having spent an incred-

last year alone, Cura plan an increase on that this year and hopefully, eventually to advertise in a number of foreign languages. Ms Keery also stressed that now that this information has been brought to her attention, it will be raised at the next general meeting of Crisis Pregnancy Agencies.

Continued From Page 1

3

First of all many people will ask what is a social centre? A social centre is a focal point for creative activity, a resource cen-tre and a gathering place for people which doesn’t incorporate the consumerist mentality of many places we go.

Social Centres have existed all over Europe for many years and pro-vide as a great resources of resistance , creativ-

ity and community in a society where community has broken down in many forms. A collective known as Seomra Spraoi (roughly translated as playroom) have started to establish a social centre in Dublin .

Seomra Spraoi is a collective that was first set up in late 2004. The collective is open for peo-ple to join or participate in. All decisions are made at weekly meetings every

Thursday night . After a lot of

searching by the group for a suitable location for establishing a social cen-tre they found a Georgian house in Middle Abbey street, a building which has been the home to many art-ists throughout the years.

Seomra Spraoi is not officially opened yet as a lot of work needs to be done to the building but the future look’s promising for

this inspiring collective. Seomra Spraoi

is a great resource to the city. Some of the planned resources it will have available is the Bad Books library, a library of over two hundred books from political to fictional reading. Membership of the library is based on contributing books or money which is used in the upkeep of the library. The Forgotten zine library

will also be housed here, a library used for docu-menting personal thoughts, music and political writ-ings from the fanzine world (fanzines are magazines published by a person as a hobby). If you have any ideas get involved by visit-ing there website at http://seomraspraoi.blogspot.com for more information.

The Establishing Of A Social Centre In Dublin

By Barry Lennon

Over the last the last eight or so years, Dublin has become one of the most expensive cities in Europe to live in. The bare necessi-ties such as clothes and rent have gone up dramatically in price over this period. Your standard cup of cof-fee has tripled in cost. A packet of cigarettes is now double what it was. The people most affected by this increase are the middle to working classes, they are the ones who notice when the price of school books go up or they can’t afford to go on the annual family holi-day because of cut-backs at work.

It seems that the sec-tion of society that fails to notice these price-hikes is the upper class and the glit-terati of Dublin’s populace. The people in question are the socialites who plague our capital and drive up the price of living through their extravagance and non-stop spending. During the ‘work-ing’ week, they spend their lunch hours swanning up and down Grafton Street, weighed down with bags from their favourite design-er stores and embalmed from head to toe in labels, D&G, Abercrombie, Ralph Lauren. When the weekend finally arrives they really get into their element.

These social addicts haunt the top night spots of Dublin. Just so you know how to differentiate between your average gin joint and a

top posh club here are a few of the criteria that a venue must fulfill to fall into the socially acceptable ‘yah yah’ bracket of this trendy D4 populace. First and foremost, it must be exor-bitantly expensive on all levels from cover charge to drinks prices; next you are invited to dock your jacket in their cloak room (so it can be rifled through by the cloakroom staff) and this will only set you back about 5 euros. When you get into the club you’ll notice that a lot of folks are stuck in cat-walk mode and are strutting their stuff in front of the opposite sex and you know you’re in business when you meet a guy in the toilets handing out Polo mints & Hugo Boss deodorant.

What we are dealing with here people are a group of socially overdeveloped, upper-class (or so they say), nouveau riche, elitists. They emerged in the early eight-ies, a decade dominated by pure greed. Thatcher was in power and people were sick of the laid-back (almost communist) approach of the 70’s. They were ready to make some serious money, and nothing was going to get in their way. They worked as stock market advisors and financial plan-ners. Jobs where people handle and earn a lot of money became extremely popular in yuppie society. People in such positions started earning more and

more money as time went on, but this was not enough for the majority of the folks involved. Greed and outer appearance became the no.1 game in the workplace, and then it started spilling out onto the streets!

You only have to walk into the IFSC in Dublin to see examples of this ethos in action in modern day society. Next to every office block there is a trendy bar or coffee shop filled with suits sipping their Orange Frappucinos and scoffing their Almond Croissants. The majority of these people think that they are always on show to the world, (as we have already seen, outward appearance is everything to these peo-ple). They directly link an Armani suit and a Rolex watch to a successful life… This is what truly defines the ‘Dublin Yuppie’ and their belief system.

I don’t think anyone truly knows who the first yup-pie was. Someone back in the 80’s who was so self absorbed, so narcissistic and so greedy that they actually started a movement that would eventually sweep the entire capital. To base your whole world on material gains and strings of mean-ingless relationships takes either bravery or pure igno-rance. Nevertheless, this craze did spread and within a decade it was so rampant in Dublin that it had taken over. Devouring decent folk

where they stood and turn-ing them into mindless suits in the pursuit of material happiness.

Many people may have in the beginning slipped into this lifestyle slowly without realising it, getting that big promotion, then upgrading the car to an S-Class, maybe putting a swimming pool in the back garden, but at the same time, criticising other people’s suits and shoes. Passing social commentary on those less fortunate than them, and having no time for those who they see as bellow them in the social food chain as it were. All of these are tell tale signs of the yuppie and what they have come to represent in today’s world.

So next time you walk down Grafton Street, why not do a bit of ‘Yuppie Spotting’, it’s a fun game

for all the family and there are thousands of potential spots around Dublin on any given day. So go out into the world with this new knowledge and use it wisely to best avoid the sort of lifestyle described here. Remember nobody likes a yuppie, not even yuppies themselves! I will leave you with a quote from the movie Wall Street, this film encapsulates the massive capitalist movement of 80’s America and deals with the lack of values involved.

‘The point is, ladies and gentlemen, that greed, for lack of a better word, is good.

Greed is right. Greed works.’ Gordon Gekko - Wall Street.

Young urban professionals a.k.a. Yuppies…

A typical Dublin Yuppie

By James Tallon

4

Victoria Smurfit, actress and new Action Breast Cancer patron launched Breast Cancer Awareness Month in October this year. Breast cancer is currently the second most common female cancer, affecting over 1,700 women in Ireland every year.

With the campaign results out this month it showed the following statistics. The key results show that 73% of Irish women describe themselves as being breast aware and that women are also learning that being

breast aware is not just about feeling for lumps but also looking for skin and nipple changes and change in the size or shape of the breasts. However, the results also show that there is a certain lack understanding of the key risk factors that can lead to the development of breast cancer, specifically risk factors that women have control over and that all women have to make certain lifestyle changes in order to reduce their risk of developing breast cancer.

Breast cancer awarness

90% of those surveyed think that the biggest risk fac-tor for the development of breast cancer is family history when in fact 5-10% of women who present with breast cancer have a positive family history.

Only 4% of women recognise that increasing age is the single biggest risk factor.

76% of women think that excess stress levels increase risk of developing breast cancer, when in fact there is no evidence to suggest a link.

Just 36% of women recognise that obesity is a risk fac-tor.

Just 43% recognise that lack of physical activity is a risk factor.

1. Know what is normal for you 2. Know what changes to look for 3. Look and feel 4. Discuss any changes with your GP without delay 5. Attend for routine breast screening if you are aged between 50 and 64

With regard to knowledge of risk factors of breast cancer:

The 5 point breast awareness code :

By Linda Murphy

This Christmas Hollywood has reached the cobbled stone streets of Temple Bar. For those people who want to get into the festive spirit - in Templebar you can! From now to the 17th of December Dublin’s Cultural Quarter has a treat in store for all the family. Christmas family classics such as “Muppets Christmas Carol”, “Scrooge” and of course not forgetting “The Grinch” will be given a special open air screening. No are tickets required because its all free.

In addition to this there will be numerous stalls dot-ted around the streets decked with plenty of festive food,

fashion crafts and furniture. It also hosts special book markets with a rather unu-sual collection of second hand books. This event has so much to offer it will keep you entertained for hours. If that doesn’t get you in the spirit of Christmas, then you can also join in on the organised carol events. With a mixture of dance, food and crafts from other nationalities there will surely be something to grab your attention. What’s even better is this event is free for all and is guaranteed to get you into the festive mood so it well worth a visit to Templebar.

The Christmas Season

By Carrie Bruton

Templebar will be full of festive fun for everyone this Christmas

5

SmithThe Smith’s Views On The Opposite Sex!

A male’s college life is very simple, you go to college, get your degree and in your spare time continue with your desperate attempts to try and get laid. It’s an agonising process. Getting the degree is the easy part, you go to 60% of your lectures, hand in your assignments and stay up on the night before your exam cramming like you’ve never crammed before to get a degree to a subject that you didn’t really want to do in the first place. We all know how the song goes. But what could make the year go by so much easier is the agonising part of college life.

Let’s take a simple college night out for example, a large percentage of girls go out to have a good time with their mates and at the same time get completely twisted. However there’s a small percentage of guys who go out just to have a good time. Mostly, they have just one thing their minds, to pull and hopefuly, if he plays his cards right, get laid. Men are on the prowl the second they walk in the door. As the night goes by, the music gets louder and the people get drunker, the girls are on the dance-floor shaking as much skin as humanly possible and the guys are also on dance-floor trying get as close to the skin as humanly possible. Even if the girls don’t want to pull, they try their best to make it look like they do which in turn gets them what they desperately want, attention from the opposite sex or just attention in general. Come on ladies! Don’t think we don’t know, that’s right, some guys actually do pay attention even though it may be rare. But while the guy has now become one of five dancing around this one girl who’s lapping it up like a cat, does he quit? No! Why? Because he wants to get laid!

At the end of the night, the guy goes home disappointed because he didn’t pull and the girl goes home kind of hung over and annoyed that she was hassled by so many guys.

This night is a formality for a lot of single guys. But it is so simple to avoid these kinds of nights. So here it is Mr. Smith’s crash course in attract-ing the opposite sex.

There are some simple things you can change about yourself that makes you look better and at the same time take nothing away from who you are.

Everyone knows the first tip but does anyone put it into practice? No. It is the key to attracting the opposite sex, confidence. You all know it’s there, give it a try.

But how can you become more confident? Simple, ever heard of a gym? A half an hour visit twice a week is all it takes and before you know it, you’ll look better, feel better and your confidence will go through the roof. I know what you’re think-ing at this point, yes I do sound like a T.V advert and yes it is easier said then done but trust me, it works!

I have just one tip for the ladies, take your head out of your ass and maybe you’ll find what you’re look-ing for, you know who you are. All women moan about the fact that “there are no more nice guys around” well guess what girls, there are loads of nice guys around your just not looking hard enough. Or do you even want a nice guy? The answer to that is no, they want a guy who can have authority in a relationship, wear the shoes. That’s the next tip for the guys, wear the shoes, let them know whose boss. Women don’t like pushovers and that’s why they say that there are no more nice guys around. One phrase can sum this tip in a nutshell: “treat’ em mean, keep’ em keen” as crazy and backwards as it sounds, it’s true.

However, there are one group of alpha male wannabes that have no problem putting this phrase into prac-tice. That’s right, the jocks. There’s just something about this group that I can’t get my head around. Do they try to hide their self-indulgent, bub-ble bath loving image with a macho sport? Maybe. Don’t get me wrong, some jocks are really genuine guys, but there are a few who are the stere-otype jock and these are the ones that not a lot of people are very fond of.

Call this piece a rant, call it one sided, I don’t care. Everyone has their own theory on life, love and the never ending task to get into some-one’s pants; it’s just not talked about enough. These problems are there, we see them every day, why not tell a friend about it.

This is my theory, what’s yours?

Once a guy starts college he immediately thinks he is God’s gift to women. He instantly believes that he is the big man on campus and develops what I like to call the BIG MAN SWAGGER. We all know it, the cool “I’m so hot right now” stroll through the college gates in the morning, take-away cof-fee in one hand and a cigarette in the other or if he’s part of the jock clan, a Lucozade Sport and the Sports section of the news-paper. Don’t be fooled, he’s not going to read it or anything, that would be a waste of time when he could be off throwing some sort of ball around with his other jock pals.

When girls start college, on the other hand, we know it’s as a result of our hard work (or Daddy’s hard earned cash, either way there’s work involved) and our strut is just the way our hips naturally rock. And yes we

might actually read the news-paper we’re carrying, or at least do the Sudoku puzzles.

Most of us take the course more seriously than the boys, going to at least 60% of our classes, handing in the assign-ment we’ve worked on for at least a day and most importantly having the girls around the night before an exam for a mother of a cramming session.

But more important than the lectures is, of course, the oppo-site sex. Not that I like to admit it but the fellas feature highly on our “to do” list in college. They take up a lot of time in a college gal’s life. I’ll be the first to admit, even when we go to a class with a male lecturer the first thing we check out is how they look, followed swiftly by checking out their ass if the face is up to scratch. One of my lec-turers is particularly hot so I’d like to take this opportunity to thank the Journalism Dept for that. Thanks guys.

Now, I know I might sound a little shallow but all the guys check out the female lectur-ers too. I’ve even heard one of the Journalism lecturers being described as a “saucy little

bitch” by some of my class-mates. Yes, you know who you are… I heard she’s gay actu-ally…

Starting off in college girls figure out pretty quickly the guys that are just pals and the guys they might fancy a bit of hot lovin’ with. This takes us about the first hour of our first lecture.

Guys take a hell of a lot longer to figure this out and that’s where it starts to get messy. Imagine the situation; a guy and a girl are hanging out, the girl has already decided that this guy is just a friend but the guy’s not so sure. They’re messing around having a laugh, the girl thinks “Wow he’s such a nice guy, I should set him up with my friend”, the guy thinks “I’m well in here” and, well, I don’t really need to spell it out, do I? The friendship falls apart due to the guy’s inability to keep his hormones in check.

Then it comes to the guys we think are hot. We’ve spent ages getting ready to go out and we’re looking good, feel-ing good, feeling the grove. We see our object of desire out in a club one night, we’re with our girls shaking our asses on the dancefloor, we start danc-ing with some randomer on the floor to make them see what they’re missing and then, inevi-tably the randomer gets a bit to well acquainted with your chest and we get pissed off. While we’re busy fighting off the over-friendly guy our hot guy goes missing. Who do we have to blame? The guy who was getting all happy with your lady lumps? No. Ourselves? No way. It’s the too-cool-to make-a-move hottie hanging out by the bar with his pals surveying the chaos on the dance floor. We go home cross, a little bit horny and disappointed we got groped by the wrong guy. So guys next time you see this scene please have the balls to come up and flirt. You never know, you might get lucky.

Mr. Mrs.&

V

Norway vs Ireland Karin Thomassen, from Norway, is a first year

student in Design in Interior Architecture at GCD and thinks Dublin’s Georgian architecture is cool. "In Norway it’s all timber, the Irish style looks better." Rebecca O’Brien, in GCD`s International Marketing department and travels to Norway several times a year. Last time she visited Norway was last month and she has seen most of it now. "I love Norwegian architecture because it is so different from ours. I believe people tend to like something new and different to what they are used to."

Mayhem and Manners Norwegian visitors to Ireland may be con-

fused by several things. "The first difference I noticed was that the traffic is chaotic! I got a bit scared in the taxi from the airport", Karin says. It takes some getting used to for the Norwegians that the Irish drive on the "wrong" side of the road. Rebecca agrees when it comes to traffic. "In Norway the traffic seems more organized with good road structure." Elevators can also be confusing for foreigners. First floor in Norway means ground floor in Ireland. And none of the elevators talk to you in Norway.

And Irish manners are quite different to Norwegian manners. "The first time I heard someone say thank you to the bus driver when leaving the bus, I was quite surprised. The bus drivers never hear that in Norway," Karin says. She thinks the Irish are generally more polite then her fellow citizens. "They also seem more open and more relaxed than us. I wish we could be more like that."

Rebecca does not agree on the fact that the Irish people are more polite. "I believe it is the other way around. The Norwegians are more reserved than us, but they are not impolite." She

thinks it all has to do with cultural differences which might be confusing. "The whole 'thank you' and 'please' is used in other ways in Norway. You just have to give them (Norwegians) time to warm up and they become very sweet."

ForeplayRebecca has experienced Norwegian drinking

culture and says that they are just as heavy drink-ers as the Irish. "The night life in Norway is very good, but it’s ridiculously expensive." Rebecca thinks the Norwegians have a good solution to this problem though; "Every time they go out, they have vorspiel before they leave the house which is great fun. It’s much more common in Norway than here." Vorspiel is a German word which means foreplay if you translate it directly. In this context it means that a lot of people come together and get drunk in somebody’s house before going to a pub or a nightclub.

Not into blondes "The Norwegians share our sarcastic humour,

which I like very much. Many things are of course very similar between Norway and Ireland, but one of the differences is that they are better time keepers in Norway," Rebecca says. Karin agrees saying the Irish seem less stressful. But who are most handsome? At least there is no doubt about who has the most redheads. "There are fewer redheads in Norway than I had expect-ed. But they have more blondes than we have and I’m not into blondes," Rebecca says. Karin starts to laugh when I ask her about the Irish guys. "Well, it seems like the good looking guys only turn up on Saturdays in Dublin", Karin says.

Funky in the rain And what about the weather?

It is a little bit better here in Dublin than in Trondheim, where Karin is from. It tends to get very cold there during the winter, about -10°C. The first day of snow in Norway was in the middle of October this year. Rebecca doesn’t think the Norwegian weather is too bad and Norwegians are clever when it comes to dress-ing for cold weather. "I love their saying: Bad weather doesn’t exist; only bad clothing." "It may sound corny, but they manage to look funky in them”, Rebecca claims.

Expensive shopping What Karin loves about Ireland is the night life

and the shopping facilities. "The stores are open every Sunday with cheaper food than we have," Karin says with a smile. "And the clothes shops are more varied here than in Trondheim." She is surprised over the shared fitting booths in some of the clothes stores which you never find in Norway. "But I like that there is a staff member outside the fitting booth to help the costumers at all time. When it comes to service, we have a lot to learn in Norway." Rebecca loves to do her shopping in Norway, even though she finds it very expensive. "I always find a lot to buy. In fact, this sweater is from Norway," Rebecca says while pointing at her purple pull-over.

Irish food "When it comes to food, and especially

cheese, Irishmen have a lot to learn," Karin says. Rebecca says that the Norwegian diet hasn’t enough vegetables in it. "I don’t think they get the whole idea of vegetarians." But even though they don’t like the food, Karin and Rebecca like it in each others countries. "I’ll probably like the Irish food eventually. After all, I plan to stay here until my studies are over. But we’ll see. It’s something about the Irish atmosphere which makes me forget Norwegian cheese. I have a feeling I will like it here," Karin says.

Karin says she loves Ireland as she embraces the Spire on O’ Connell Street

Rebecca O’Brien points to Norway

Siril K Herseth examines the differences and similarities between Ireland and the modern day Norwegian Vikings to see if much has changed since they first built Dublin.

7

Revolution hit in the middle of the 20th century and threatened to shake the world to its core. This revolution outraged the con-trolling powers at the time and gripped an entire generation in fear. The youth would be led astray and the world as it was then would never be the same. A new order had been established which stands in place to this day. The 1950s and 60s had landed and brought about the birth of a new movement, rock ‘n’ roll, and it was here to stay. A new generation had found its voice in music.

It goes without saying that rock ‘n’ roll is the backbone of almost all modern incar-nations of music. It is the fertile soil from which virtually everything since has grown. From early rock sprouted the branches that would grow into new directions and bring us new approaches, thoughts and styles. Generations of young people have had their

own movements to identify with and hope to one day emulate and build upon. These variants all had their shelf lives and even-tually disappeared leaving the followers to move on, grow up, turn their nose up at what followed and remember the good old days when they were the “oppressed youth”. What do we have today? We are halfway through the first decade of a new millen-nium and suddenly we’re in the 1980s.

So far this millennium we’ve seen the dominance of retro. The one band mini revival of glam rock that was The Darkness seem to be living up to their one trick pony tag as little more than a passing fad. Right now it appears we have just passed through the revival of 90s Brit Pop without even noticing that it was in our midst. What now awaits is the emergence of a string of ska acts such as The Dead 60s. Even Bloc

Party have shown a ska tint in their out-put. Modern music is in a worrying state of health. All the new bands catching our atten-tion seem to be mere flavours of the month that will inevitably disappear without a trace before the furore surrounding their “break-through” debuts wears off. New music has not been born from the loins of its influ-ences as much as it has been stolen from the graves of the past. Grave robbing is the new birth.

It’s no wonder that more so than ever, the youth of today are inclined to worship the fallen idols of the past. When will we once again see honest and earnest new music? What will this generation look back on?

The plea for a new thought, an idea to give rise to something truly inspirational seems destined to fall on deaf ears and be returned by mute lips. By David Byrne

New music is retro chic

Cinema screens in the last couple of years have been bombarded with one animated block buster after the other. Fish, birds or jungle ani-mals, it doesn’t matter, we watch them anyway.

A few years ago it was only kids and their parents who went to the cinema to see animat-ed characters flying over the screen, making them laugh or cry. Today kids of all ages are fascinated by animated films.

How can you not be fascinated by a little fish that needs to be rescued, a lion wanting to be a king and all the other heroes that save the world or rescue their friends?

Animation was developed early in the 1900’s and was later refined by Walt Disney. Disney began the fascination with animation by mak-ing Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, The Little Mermaid and several other now well known characters. Since then almost every cartoon put on the big screen has made big money. Walt Disney was also out to make money. He said: “I don’t make pictures just to make money. I make money to make more pic-tures”.

Everlasting It seems like the source of ideas for these

movies is everlasting, and for each movie a new and revolutionary technique is developed to make the film irresistible.

One of the latest members of the animated

family is Wallace & Gromit, a former TV- series which is now a full-length film. It took the crew five years to make it, the wallpaper on the set was hand painted and special soft-ware was created to perfect the characters. Each figure is sculpted out of a special type of clay for each scene. Then the shot is taken and they are sculpted again. So much trouble for a couple of plastic figures.

That technique is called Claymation and was invented by Will Vinton. This is the basis of all animation, you make an image, take a shot and then you go to the next image and shoot.

Animation is now used in almost every movie you see. A large number of films couldn’t have been made the way they are without animation. The Lord of the Rings tril-ogy could never have been as visually spec-tacular as it is without Peter Jackson’s love of animation and special effects. We wouldn’t see thousands of orcs and terrifying beasts if it wasn’t for computer graphics. It also makes production much less expensive.

Even though it is cheaper, it takes a long time to make it since you create every image separately, and in normal movies you have 24 pictures per second.

Animation is not only used in big screen movies, it’s also common in commercials, architecture and many other things. For a long

time it has also been used in education and dif-ferent types of instruction. Some places you can even see it in courtrooms, used to show how car accidents and other incidents happen. Then the animation is in it self big business, not only for the big movie screen.

If you simply can’t get enough of anima-tion, you can try and make your own animated images. You have probably tried the flipbook where you draw a number of paintings and flip it fast to make it look as your character is mov-ing. On the internet you can now find plenty of free software and beginner programmes. It’s amusing to play with and impressive for others to look at. You get everything from pro-grammes to create simple figures to advanced 3D- animation.

Animation is not an easy and it demands a lot of time and practise to master it. But you can try your skills with the software, and if you do well, you have a number of career opportuni-ties

The good thing about animation movies, besides being entertaining, is that they are timeless. Look at the first Disney movies, even if they’re technically out of date, the story still lives on.

Animation gives us the opportunity to be childish undercover, we all need a little break from our stressful, adult life.

Anim ation Fascination What is it about these small, animated characters that make both small and big children run to the cinemas? asks Hedda Holth

The Incredibles, a superhero look at family life

Finding Nemo, one of the most popular animatied films of 2004

Toy Story 2 featur ing superhero Buzz Lightyear

8

Aging gracefully is not just for the beauti-ful, anyone with a few grand in the bank can purchase a new face, a smaller waist or a more delicate nose. Beauty is no longer something you are born with but something that with enough money; can be bought. Surgery is becoming cheaper and more accessible, even the busy career women can pop into the local beauty salon and have botox for lunch. It is no longer a taboo topic; women are becoming more open and even proud of their new bodies and faces. We have all seen the programmes about constructive surgery on television from the flashy Nip/Tuck to the disturbingly titled When Surgery goes Wrong. It has become a large

part of our lives. Plastic surgery is no longer just for the old and the rich, many young people are now turning to surgery to alter their appear-ance. According to Lloyds TSB bank in the UK, cosmetic surgery has become a standard request for getting a loan, up there with home improve-ments and buying a car. It is fast becoming a major industry and is growing rapidly. In 2002, Americans spent $7.7 billion on cosmetic sur-gery with 6.9 million cosmetic procedures being performed. This figure rose to 8.7 million in 2003. You cannot walk into a shop or turn on a television without being surrounded by images of beautiful people.

In a time when obesity is becoming a major health issue, more and more people are con-sidering the alternative route of going under the knife, rather than the tedium of diets. With plastic surgery, results are far quicker and more easily noticeable, but when is it enough? Plastic surgery like most things in life is addictive. Jackie Stallone is a perfect example of how surgery can go wrong, as a result of numer-ous cosmetic procedures she looks more like a Halloween character than a human being. And you only have to look at stars like Michael Jackson, who has famously had numerous nose jobs, to see the extreme lengths people can go to.

In the search for the ‘perfect’ body few people consider the risks; these can be anything from permanent disfiguration to death. The death of Olivia Goldsmith, author of the First Wives Club, due to complications during “routine” plastic surgery highlights the dangers surround-ing surgery. The 54 year old writer suffered a heart attack as she went under anesthesia for a procedure to remove loose skin from her chin. Many people who cannot afford a high priced

professional will often go the cheaper route and are often choosing to have surgery abroad. This can increase the risks as a high quality surgeon is hard to find. In this case cheaper is certainly not better or safer. A lot of surgeons performing these procedures are not registered as aesthetic plastic surgeons with the Medical Council, a body established to represent the interests of the public. More worryingly there is no industry watchdog controlling this area of surgery.

A recent poll taken by irishhealth.com shows that nearly half of Irish people surveyed would consider having plastic surgery. In a group of 53,800 plus registered users, 48% of those sur-veyed would consider undertaking cosmetic sur-gery with liposuction being the most popular.

The newest craze in surgery is plastic surgery tourism here people can combine cheap plas-tic surgery with the benefits of a sun holiday. With a variety of destinations all over the world including Cape Town plastic surgery tourism is becoming a major industry. Here you can pur-chase a package to suit you including flights, hotel and even your own nurse. One of the main attractions is the cost; surgery in Cape Town is nearly half the price of procedures in the UK another would be the obvious weather advan-tages. For many this is a very attractive alterna-tive as well as the added incentive to tan their newly perfected bodies. The only problem with this cheaper option is the poor quality of care. For many whom surgery would normally be only a dream this is a popular choice. Price is the major attraction, for example a tummy tuck in the United States would set you back at least

with cut rate prices comes cut rate care.

Going under the knife

When Ireland joined the European Union in 1973 not only did our economy change, so did Irish culture. With the increasing number of non- nationals coming into the country, prejudice and racism are growing problems. Unless something is done people will continue to fear what they do not understand. Ireland now has more mem-bers of different religions than ever, yet only one religion is being taught in most schools. All Irish schools that are owned by the Catholic Church

-ings in classes, with many months being dedicat-ed to Communions and Confirmations. Although this would cater for the majority of the students, children of different religious beliefs would be excluded. Teaching children about the different religions would help them to understand why some people act and dress the way they do. Only when there is an understanding and acceptance of different religions and cultures, can integra-tion really happen. Here is a brief insight into the world’s four largest religions:

Christian church in the world with 980 mil-lion followers. It claims direct decent from the church founded by the apostle Peter. The Pope

He administers church affairs through bishops and priests. Members accept the gospel of Jesus Christ and the teachings of the bible, as well as the church’s interpretations of these.

Islam has 840 million followers around the world. It was founded by the prophet Mohammed, who received the holy scriptures of Islam, the Koran, from Allah (God) in 610 A.D. Islam maintains that Mohammed is the last in a long line of holy prophets. The two main divi-sions of Islam are the Sunni and the Shiite. In addition to being devoted to the Koran, follow-ers of Islam (Muslims) are devoted to the wor-ship of Allah. Prayers are conducted five times

the ninth month of the Muslim year.Hinduism is the third largest religion in the

world with 648 million followers. It developed from indigenous religions of India in combi-nation with Aryan religions brought to India around 150 BC. Hinduism is a broad term used to describe a vast array of sects to which most Indians belong. The goals of Hinduism are the release from repeated reincarnation through the practice of yoga, adherence to Vedic scriptures

and devotion to a personal guru. Various deities are worshipped at shrines, the Devine Trinity- representing the cyclical nature of the universe are: Brahma the creator, Vishnu the preserver and Shiva the destroyer.

Buddhism is the fourth largest religion in the world. It was founded in Northern India by the first known Buddha, Siddhartha Gautama. In 535 BC, he attained enlightenment and assumed the title Lord Buddha (one who has awak-ened). As Buddhism expanded across Asia, it evolved into two main forms, which evolved largely independently from each other. These are; Theravada Buddhism (sometimes called Southern Buddhism) and Mahayana Buddhism (sometimes called Northern Buddhism).

Today there are numerous challenges and prob-lems faced by people from every possible back-

-ing things, which we don’t understand. As long as people use these religions for the moral good, we can learn from everyone’s differences and beliefs.

Changing for the better

By Suzanne Joyce

By Laura Flaherty

9

“I had one face lift”,

claims Jocelyn Wildenstein

Simon Cowell’s music career began over twenty years ago in 1979 with EMI Music Publishing. From the beginning he developed a keen sense of commercial potential and the basics of a hit record. He began his own label, Fanfare, along with partner Iain Burton.

In 1989 BMG had offered Simon a position as A&R Consultant. This proved to be a massive success, with huge profits.

Simon has signed many pop successes over the recent years including Five who split three years ago and the global multi-plati-num phenomenon Westlife. He always had an eye on the television market and has had hits with Power Rangers, World Wrestling Federation, Zig and Zag and the Christmas number one hit Teletubbies. He also had huge success with Robson and Jerome whom he con-siders his biggest shock suc-

cess.His next success was Pop

Idol which he set up with pal Simon Fuller. Pop Idol became a compulsive view-ing on Saturday. Viewers voted in their millions and the winner was signed to BMG.

His success continued when he cracked America and the audiences watched in their millions to see Kelly Clarkson win the first series of America Idol. In 2004 he was a judge on a

new British talent show called The X Factor along-side Sharon Osbourne and Louis Walsh. The X Factor returned with a new series this year which featured Simon mentoring Irish group, The Conway Sisters, which he famously turned his back on by voting them off in the last few weeks of the competition.

He is notorious for his uncompromising, harsh and occasionally controversial criticisms on all his shows. His nicknames include Mr. Nasty and Judge Dread.

He is famous for his straight-talking, no-pat-ronising approach and has been crushingly honest to hopeful wannabe pop idols. These are just a few of his remarks:

“My advice would be if you want to pursue a career in the music business: Don’t”.

“Did you really believe you could become the

American Idol? Well, then, you’re deaf.”

“Keith, last year I described someone as being the worst singer in America. I think you’re personally the worst singer in the world. I’ve never ever, ever heard anything like that in my life,

ever”.However harsh he may

seem, nobody can argue with his expertise. In the last ten years, Cowell has made over seventy top thirty hits and over twenty number one hits.

A Suduko Christmas Challange

By Neil Caffrey

American Idol: Bob Dylan Bob Dylan arrived in

Greenwich Village, New York, in 1961. He left his home in, Durham, Minnesota, in search of the folk music scene, and found it in the basements of New York clubs, and in a group of diverse, and free spirited characters that would help him develop his unique sound and ideas about music.

Chronicles only makes passing references to the so-called landmark events in Dylan’s life, and instead focuses on the events that he felt were most important to him.

The book is a wealth of anecdotes about differ-ent artists and people, and his use of names could be confused as arrogance or ‘name dropping’. Instead it seems to be out of genuine gratitude to people who didn’t show him the way, but supported him while he

found his own way. Talking about Johnny Cash he says, “he didn’t have a piercing yell, but ten thousand years of culture fell from him. He sounds like he’s at the edge of the fire, or in the deep snow, or in a ghostly forest.” He describes Bono as having “the soul of an ancient poet”, and Jack Kerouac as his hero.

His inspirations are detailed with a dream-like cadence and an intimacy that is evident only in his recordings. His frustrations with fame, hippies, and the title, ‘the voice of a genera-tion’ are spoken about with great intensity and fervour that it’s almost funny to see such a laid-back character lose his temper in print.

Dylan talks about a time when he was touted as the lord of the musical land-scape of America, a title that brought pests and responsibilities he didn’t ask

for. People believed he was the spiritual leader of a cul-tural revolution. Masses of people gathered on his lawn in Woodstock, New York, to try and coax him into lead-ing a march on Washington. Robert Robertson, the gui-tarist from The Band, made the mistake of asking Dylan where he would take the music scene next.

“The whole music scene!” he says. “The car window was rolled down about an inch. I rolled it down the rest of the way, felt a gust of wind blow into my face and waited for what he said to die away -- it was like dealing with a conspiracy. No place was far enough away.

We can see his influences in literature. Jack Kerouac shines through the pages. Dylan himself admitted that On The Road, Kerouac’s most famous novel, was his Bible. He also admits that

he detested James Joyce’s Ulysses, but loved Balzac and Chekhov’s short stories.

Chronicles: Volume One is a thoughtful and incred-ibly detailed account of Dylan’s life, from his first attempt at song writing, Let Me Die In My Footsteps, to Mr Tambourine Man, it

leaves us eagerly awaiting the next instalment.

It truly is a twenty first century masterpiece from a twentieth century master.

Simon Cowell: Music GeniusBy Robbie Brennan

Simon Cowell on X-Factor

10

It’s been another great year for the Irish and World wide cinema goers, with some brilliant “blockbusters”. We’ve had a fitting conclu-sion to the Star Wars saga (finally, a decent prequel). We’ve also had the rebirth of the Batman saga (literally) with the release of the brilliant “Batman Begins” and two members of Hollywood’s “frat pack”, Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn, starred in the brea-kout comedy of the year “The Wedding Crashers.”

As we approach the end of 2005, we can look back at the great films that we’re released this year with nostalgia. We can also look forward to an array of much anticipated films which are set to become next years “blockbuster” movies and are giving film geeks sleepless nights as they breathlessly await them. Of course for every hit released there are bound to be two stinkers waiting to overthrow Catwoman as the worst film in recent history, but hey, its com-ing up to Christmas and there’s enough things to be depressed about, so lets concentrate on the “block-buster” releases that are due next year which are set to put a smile on our faces (and I don’t mean the sight of a scruffy Colin Farrell in a bright white suit while in Miami vice.).

Next summer sees the release of not one but three comic book adaptations. “X-men 3” is set to kick off the “summer blockbuster season when Wolverine and pals claw their way into cinemas on the 26th of May. Fans have been gravely concerned by previous directors Bryan Singers defection to direct Superman and being replaced by the disliked Bret Retner who direct-ed the “Rush hour” films. Devoted fans every-where have their fingers crossed that Retner can somehow manage to build on the success of its excellent predecessors.

The second comic book adaptation released this summer is the long awaited “Superman Returns”. It is being described to anticipaters as a loose sequel to Superman 2, ignoring the pre-vious 3 and 4. Huge pressure rests squarely on the shoulders of newcomer Brendan Routh, who

in his first feature film steps into the rather large cape and boots of the late, great Christopher Reeves. The cast will carry some weight going into the cinemas though as the criminal master-mind, Lex Luther, will be played by the brilliant Kevin Spacey, and with former X-Men director Bryan Singer at the helm, this movie looks set to

rise to the expectations.The third and final comic book adaptation of

the year will be the little known “Ghost Rider”. Normally this film wouldn’t stand a chance against such illustrious competition, but with the ever watchable Nicholas Cage in the lead role of a demonic Ex-stunt bike rider, this film could sneak under the radar and become a hit in its own right.

Getting away from the comic book franchise, we’ll instead look towards the horiszen as this summer also sees the release of the first of two sequels, made back to back, of the surprise hit of 2004 “The Pirates Of The Caribbean”. The cast

of the original return, most importantly, Johnny Depp, who stole the show in the first with his wonderfully off kilter performance as Captain Jack Sparrow the craftiest pirate to ever set sail in the Caribbean. His performance lead to an Oscar nomination which many felt he narrowly missed out on, so he will be looking to go one

step further this time around.Next November sees the

release of the 21st James Bond film. This is set to be a retelling of sorts of the very first novel, Casino Royale. Daniel Craig will be the one to wear the famous tux, previ-ously worn by Pierce Bosman, and will be trying to charm the audiences but his appoint-ment has been so far, greeted with venom by the media and fans. They believe the blonde star just doesn’t fit the role. It seams like it will take one of the best performances since Sean Connery to win the fans over.

Then finally, we have possibly the two most highly anticipated movies of 2006. The book adaptation of the Da Vinci Code and the adrena-line pumping, 3rd part of the Mission Impossible saga. The Da Vinci Code made waves in the literature world with its controversial plot and is set to make even bigger waves in the film industry, starrng Tom Hanks and Ian McKellen and directed by Ron Howard, who helmed A Beutiful Mind and Cinderalla Man.

Tom Cruise returns to his familiar role as Ethan Hunt in Mission Impossible 3. This will be director’s JJ. Abrams first official feature film after success with television shows

Alias and the recent hit, Lost.So there we have it, just some of the

“Blockbusters” you can expect to see in a mul-tiplex near you over the next twelve months. Can’t you just smell the popcorn already?

Wayne Kavanaghlooks ahead to 2006’s

cinema hits

Editors SubEditorJoe Kelly Rachel MurphyRachel MurhpyLaura Flaherty

Layout Editor Photography TeamJoe Kelly Rachel Murphy Laura Flaherty

12

Next June, the greatest sporting spectacle will kick off in Munich in Germany. I am, of course, talking about the World Cup 2006. From when it all kicks off on the 9th of June until the final a month later, which is being held at the Olympiastadion Stadium on the 9th of July, we will be witness’s to a showcase of some of the greatest talent the world has ever seen. The magic of Ronaldihno, the guile of Henry and the trickery of Christiano Ronaldo will be just some of the things we’ll get to see as well as the hopes of a nation resting on the young shoulders of the talented Wayne Rooney. But who will win it? As the last major International tournament proved, with Greece winning at Euro 2004, any-body can win it, but as always, there are favour-ites.

Brazil has to be the favourites and will be the team everybody will be looking to beat. They were the last World Cup winners and boast an attacking force which holds the likes of Adriano, Ronaldo, Kaka and arguably the best player in the world, Ronaldihno. Brazil are riddled with talent, including Brazil and Real Madrids newest talent, wonderkid Robinho, and are scoring on average 2 goals a game leading up to the World Cup in the Qualifying stages and will be most peoples choice to leave Germany as winners. Their South American rivals, Argentina, are also massive favourites. Even though a very strong, talented team, their hopes could end up in the hands of young Leon Messi. The 18 year old has been compared to the Argentinean legend Maradonna who himself already holds the boy in the same calibre as Ronaldihno. Only time will tell if he’ll be as good as his Brazilian team mate at Barcelona, but the World Cup would certainly be the stage to prove it.

The European Candidates are looking very strong this year. In the last World Cup which was held in South Korea and Japan, the European teams suffered due to the heat and humidity and were unable to perform to the best of their capabilities. This time around though the weather conditions will be perfect for foot-ball and for all nations, leaving it down to just simply, who is the better team?

England believes that this is their time to win it, 40 years on since the last time they won their one and only World Cup, and with the amount of world class players such as Rooney, Lampard, Owen, Gerrard, Beckham and Terry, just to men-tion a few, at their disposal, this really could be their tournament. Rooney is the key though, and England need to hope he stays fit throughout the tournament if they are to realise their ambitions. France are not the force they once were, but with Thierry Henry and Zinadine Zidane in their ranks, they will always have a chance. Italy are looking as strong as ever and will be difficult for any team to beat while Germany as host nation, Spain, Holland and Portugal all have the quality to pull off a result.

As in every tournament, there is always a sur-

prise package and Ghana, the team from Africa, maybe the team to cause the most shocks next year. Only conceding 4 goals during their quali-fying campaign, they boast the midfield talent most clubs around the world would be envious of with Sulley Ali Muntari, Michael Essien and Stephen Appiah. These three are the key to Ghana’s success and are quite capable of deal-ing with the worlds very best and causing a few problems of their own.

Brazil I believe are the team most likely to win next year, with Argentina a close second, how-ever, if Sven Goran Eriksson manages to utilise what he has available to him, then I think it may be England who walk away with the gold.

The Squared CircleCan the two R’s make it a World Cup to

remember this Summer

The Two R’s, Rooney and Ronaldihno could be on a collision course this summer at the World Cup

By Joe Kelly

Ronaldihno

Kaka Henry

Heinze

Puyol

BuffonNesta

Terry RooneyEssien

C.Ronaldo

Joe’s Dream Team

Thierry Henry: Frances Hope Olympiastadion: The Final Venue

12