Thursday 29 November 2012

TheBlindJournalist: Mark Carney appointed as Governor of The Bank Of England

The Bank Of England (BoE) is a 300 year institution. Mark Carney has been appointed to be the Governor of the BoE. Mark Carney will succeed Sir Mervvin King from June 2013.
It was a surprising decision that George Osborne made, as several people expected Paul Tucker to be appointed as he is the Deputy Governor of the BoE.
Mark Carney is a very respectable, qualified and experienced individual for this very important and challenging role.
Possibly one of his most difficult challenges will be to find a way to support a struggling economy and to stop quantitative easing, what is quantitative easing I hear you asking? Well, simply it is the introduction of new money into the money supply by a central bank. This is not an easy task as the economy is struggling and money is difficult to come across without falling into more debt. History shows that no central bank has been able to come out of a crisis without upsetting the economy so for Mr Carney it is going to be a very big test. Mr Carney is going to be the first foreign Governor of the BoE however has said he is going to apply for British citizenship. Mr Carney will be the most powerful Governor of the BoE in the history of the bank. Now you maybe asking why has a non-British citizen been appointed as the Governor of the Bank of England, To me it does not matter what nationality he is because he has very admirable qualities. He has shown that he is perfect for this job because he is a very able central banker proving this in Canada also he is very respected internationally for being a very clever individual but also a very good thinker. Mark Carney is also a very good communicator and this is essential in this type of job because he will have to communicate and inform the British public of what plans he has for the future as any decisions he makes are going to affect us. The Bank of England will vastly chang as it is going to regain its responsibility for regulation of the Financial Services Authority. It is also going to employ thousands more staff.
Mark Carney will be earning £624.000 a year, which is a lot of money but look at the job he is going to be doing. Mr Carney used to be the investment banker for Goldman Sachs.
It is going to be a very interesting few years ahead for Mr Carney and Great Britain.

Friday 23 November 2012

Disability & Society



Hello, my name is Sal otherwise known as ‘Technology Sal’ and yes, you guessed it I love technology.
Some say technology is the route of all evil, GIVE ME A BREAK!
Technology; it’s today. It’s 2012. Its NOW.
I am going to tell you a little bit about the Apple iPhone 4S, I know it isn’t the latest iPhone but lets be clear its “awesome.” With its great feature Siri which allows you to simply talk to your phone. It does everything! We’re lazy so hey... you’ve got to love it. No need to get your hands cold just talk away, give it instructions, be the boss!
Texting is like breathing with Siri you just speak the text and Siri will write it, how cool is that.
Now, on a serious note the iPhone 4S unlike other pieces of technology is accessible for people with sensory impairments. The VoiceOver feature being a huge assistance to blind and visually impaired users. Apple have thought of the disabled whilst creating this product and this feature, which is one of many I may add shows us their concern and efforts.
Being visually impaired, blind or having any form of disability usually means that we are forgotten or ignored and it is humbling that a big international brand such as Apple has not let this happen.
I am very passionate on the topic of disability and society which is one of the reasons why I have written this because I want others to realise that there are people and companies out there who do think about disability and do their best to help. I have used the iPhone 4S for 12 months now and I really appreciate it. In general all Apple products are very good but as a disabled person myself who is registered blind I really recommend this product to fellow visually impaired or blind people.
Having a disability at times is very stressful and can leave one to feel alone and left out, I have experienced this myself but when a brand such as Apple give so much attention and care to making their products accessible to everyone that feeling of anxiety disappears. Overall a final message is to all my readers whether you have a disability or not, never let anything or anyone stop you, if you have a dream no matter what it maybe you can definitely achieve it through dedication and commitment.
I may be blind but I have a vision

Thank you for reading

Written by:
TheBlindJournalist – Mohammed Salim Patel
flavors.me/theblindjournalist

Wednesday 14 November 2012

TheBlindJournalist: Saudi Arabia's Reaction to Obama being re-elected


Saudi Arabia’s response to Obama being re-elected as US President 
Barack Hussain Obama’s victory of the 2012 US election was front-page news around the world however the Arab coverage in the media was ambivalent. Some of the Arabs media coverage being hopeful whereas others being sceptical for the future with Obama in power. Saudi Arabia’s main concern was foreign policy because Saudi Arabia is one of the most devout and insular countries in the Midddle East with a lot of smaller neighbouring countries relying on Saudia Arabia. The economy was also another key concern for the Arabs because Saudi Arabia sits on 25% of the worlds oil, with the United States importing vast amounts of this oil from Saudi Arabia. Arabs see their oil as a gift from God and therefore are conscious that they keep selling it as an insurance policy for future Arabs. It does not affect Saudi Arabia if the US stop importing oil from them or if the US start to import fewer amounts because Saudi Arabia has other countries such as China who are prepared to pay premium costs for the oil. Even though America aims to be independent it isn't in a position where it can stop importing oil. 
The majority of Arabs feel that although Obama has not done enough to help prevent the Syria crisis, they feel he is more suitable than Mitt Romney because they knew if Romney came into power he would be a 'pro' Israel leader and also that Mitt Romney alienates people depending on their religion. So for this reason they are happy Obama has been re-elected but unsure about what he can do in his next term of power.  

Wednesday 7 November 2012

TheBlindJournalist: Coverage of US Election


A video blgo and written blgo asking why the US Election affects the UK and how the BBC covered the election and why.
Why does the US Election matter to the UK?
As mentioned in my video on this topic I have said that the US is linked to the UK, Why? Well because Britain is the most important investing and trading partner to the United States. Also because the US is the largest single economy which has a material impact on our prosperity. If the US keep spending then their debt will rise and therefore mean that the UK will fall back into recession which will therefore affect the British people.  Now all this is interest to the British public and as the BBC is a public service it has to cover news that affects and interests the British public. This is why they have to give it a lot of coverage, firstly to make the British public aware of the election, why the election affects us directly. This is the reason why they dedicated programmes to the election and its importance. All international news has importance and regardless of the fact that the BBC is licensed by the public it has news programmes and they cover what news is important both internationally and nationally.