Love her or hate her, Madonna is on strong form at the moment. Not only is her new album “Hard Candy” set to top the album charts, her current single “4 minutes” with JT is currently at Number One.

As if this wasn’t enough, she’s billed to headline at Radio 1′s Big Weekend , Mote Park Maidstone Kent on Saturday 10th May.

2008 has already been a massive year for Madonna.

January saw her heading Sunsilks first Gobal advertising campaign alongside Shakira and late icon Marilyn Monroe. The eye catching pictures tell us of each famous story, through the changing styles of their hair. Each look inspired a new chapter in their lives. The idea was to show hair as an inspiring tool of expression.

Back in February, her Confessions Tour won Madonna her seventh Grammy award and in March the official press release date was given for her up and coming album.

April 24th will undoubtedly see hundreds of fans rushing to buy their copy of “Hard Candy”.

The singers clear skin and youthful looks not only make her a worlwide icon, but a model advert for the more mature women in society.

At the same time, her revealing costumes leave little to the imagination, provoking criticism for flaunting her over forty body.

All considered, with Madonna headlining at Radio Ones big weekend, alongside the likes of Usher and Robyn, the remainder of this “Material Girl”s year looks set to be more successful than ever.

Whilst somebody who does not have knowledge of the dancing world might well believe that the prime importance to a ballerina is her ability to dance, insiders will know a little different.

The prime concern of any dancer, more than anything else, is to remain lean.

Growing up, young girls are effected by the media they consume. When looking through magazines they see flawless models, with stick thin figures representing beauty. No longer are curvaceous women seen in the same Marilyn Monroe sex appeal style as before.

When a young dancer gets older she will see pictures of the best dancers in the world. As adolescence changes the way her body looks, she will notice that the best dancers all have flat stomachs, no definition between their hips and their waist line, and no breasts.

It is here that dieting becomes the dancers life line. As each dancer in a class thrives for perfection, each dancer battles to be better than the girl she stands next to. As each girl ponders to loose weight, so the class of dancers becomes a class of women battling to keep their weight down.

Shocking studies show that whilst eating disorders can affect everyone, the incidence in dancers is almost one hundred percent as estimated by the CAAWS. “Most dancers have been through some kind of eating disorder, it’s just that we don’t see it. We don’t discuss it.” (Kehree LaCrosse, dance teacher, personal communication, January 1996)

The look of the dancer is the “genre of the veritably, length of spine, the open stance and the lean look” (Street, 1994).

The distressing part is, these dancers see no other way. It is the public who assume that the ballerina figure is as a result of strenuous training. No dancer will eat before her class if her teacher tells her she looks fat.

But no human being can survive forever with an eating disorder. Ballerinas die of malnutrition before they die of age. Is it the thin, ill girl dancing across the stage that attracts us to the ballet? Is it her frail demeanour? Or is it her beauty of line, her impeccable timing, and grace to which we are drawn? Our society is killing a group of individuals. And why?  Because of the traditional way we view the ballerina.

Each week, the class dissects a certain aspect of Facebook. Whether it be profile pictures, music on display or links, students investigate how the mechanics work, the psychologies behind displays and the impression users are trying to create.

Whilst speaking to Maggie Shiels, Technology reporter, BBC News, in San Francisco, Professor Fogg said, “When Facebook came along I was one of the developers at the launch and what struck me was how there was this new form of persuasion. This mass interpersonal persuasion.”

He describes an “Oh my gosh!” moment when he saw application on the site go from, “literally zero to more than a million users in a week”.

The idea behind Professor Fogg’s work was to investigate the reason for such persuasion occurring on a site. Incredibly, instead of undergoing studies alone, he felt the best way to acieve his objectives was to teach a class simultaneously.

Indeed, the success of Facebook cannot be ignored. However, the morals behind gaining a degree around a chat site will undoubtedly attract a lot of criticism from both media scholars and academics alike.

All considered, if the course caters for nothing more than entrepreneurs looking for straightforward ways to create a successful business, Facebook could well be the answer.

Midday today saw a further press conference regarding the flooding situation in Gloucestershire and detailing action being taken to alleviate problems.

GFRS and engineers of Severn Trent have begun the two day process of inspecting and securing Mythe Water Treatment works. The current prognosis of water supplies remains the same, seven to fourteen days.

Local facilities are completly submerged in flood water

Main priorities for Chief constable Dr Tim Braine concentrate on the seven confirmed incidents of crime. Although a comparatively minor risk, damage and theft around abandoned vehicles has been reported.
“The vast majority of the nearly 600,000 residents of the county are behaving very responsibly and with great community spirit.

Although the people of South Gloucester are not affected directly, homes in this area are fed from Mitcheldene and Worcestershire. These same reservoirs are being used to aid the operation in Gloucester.

Alan Payne, General Manager Water Services for Severn Trent therefore urges the people of South Gloucester to, “conserve supplies to support this.”

No reports of infection have been announced, but the people of Gloucestershire are urged to boil water as a precautionary measure.

With regard to babies, Dr Shona Arora, Director of Public Health for Gloucestershire Primary Care Trust advises that boiled bowser water is the preference.

People are advised to keep away from flood water and anything that looks like raw sewage.
“If you have to go near flood water, wear protective clothing such as wellies and waterproof gloves.”

Further rainfall later this week is not expected to have much of an impact, though the receding rate of current flood levels is expected to slow up a little.

Anthony Perry, Flood Risk Manager for the Environment Agency works for the Met office announced “Levels have peaked but rivers will remain very full for a while ahead.
“In Tewkesbury the level is receding at a rate of about 300 to 400mm per day.
“A lot of people have put in a lot of hours to deal with this situation and our thanks go to them all.”

Some 350 000 homes could soon be without running tap water. Severn Trent Water announced that supplies in Gloucestershire, Cheltenham and Tewksbury will run dry in a matter of hours.

Electricity supplies of around 600,000 people could also be effected if flood waters overwhelm the defences of a key substation.

Around 43,000 homes in Gloucestershire already have no power, despite the rapid response from the Navy and emergency services in protecting substations and boosting flood defences.

Despite expectations that power could be returning to peoples homes as soon as Monday evening, Chief Constable of Gloucestershire Police, Tim Brain announced the prognosis for returning water supplies remains unsettled.

    Police were involved when Sarahs twelve year old daughter reported a disturbance between her mother and her father, Bernard Townsend.

    Mr Townsend, head of Community relations department of Glamorgan Police, has made no comment about the disturbance between himself and Sarah.

     Sarah is believed to be suicidal after reports that she consumed a large amount of medication, while locking herself in the bathroom of her family home. The exact amount consumed is still being investigated.

    Family members within the local viscinity have all been contacted. None of whom have any awareness of Sarahs wherabouts.

    Sarah is described by police as being 5’ 7’’ and of medium build. Her hair is  black and of collar length. The mother was last seen wearing a red jumper, with black leggings and a black overcoat. She carried a black bag, and is not thought to have any money with her.

   Search dogs and helicopter support have already been used in an attempt to find the suicidal mother.

   Inspector John Jones described Sarah as being in a, “vulnerable state of mind” and urges anyone who has information to contact police on 01443 546128.

Concerns were raised when her twelve year old daughter reported a disturbance between her mother and her father, Bernard Townsend.

Sarah is believed to be suicidal after reports that she consumed a large amount of medication, the exact amount still being investigated.

Bernard Townsend, head of Community Relations, Glamorgan Police, has made no comment on the domestic disturbance.

Inspector John Jones urges anyone who has information to contact police on 01443 546128.