most

The 8th edition of bi-annual nation-wide opinion poll-‘State of the Nation’, conducted by CNN-IBN, IBN7 & IBN-Lokmat revealed most Indians feel that homosexuality should be considered illegal.

According to the poll findings, 73% of the respondents feel that homosexuality should be considered illegal.

While 77% of the respondents consider attraction towards the same sex unnatural, 60% of the respondents consider homosexuality as a disease. In the second episode on the topic ‘Influence of the English language’, the poll findings revealed that 87% of the respondents feel that knowing English is important to succeed in life and 54% had an opinion that those who can speak fluent English are superior to themselves.

While 57% of the respondents feel that English is making us forget our mother tongue, 63% feel jobs should be reserved for those who speak the State language.

Emma married Kelvin Graham at St Michael’s Church, Arlecdon.

She said: “My mum was over the moon when I asked her. It was so important to me that she played this role in full.”

When it came to deciding what to wear, Julie wasn’t sure whether to go for a traditional mother-of-the-bride outfit or a suit.

“I wasn’t sure to start with,” she said. “I didn’t want to look too much like the bridesmaids and I didn’t want to take anything away from Emma.

“I don’t usually wear really fancy colourful outfits so I didn’t want to feel uncomfortable either.”

She chose a grey/silver taffeta two-piece suit with a long skirt and wore a fascinator.

“I was unsure about wearing a hat,” she said. “If I wasn’t walking Emma down the aisle then I may have worn one.

“It was such a special day and something I will never forget. You want everything to be perfect. It was a real privilege.”

Julie, 40, gave a speech at the reception, which was held at Ennerdale Country House Hotel.

She said: “Emma insisted that I gave a speech.

“You don’t often get the chance to tell someone how proud you are of them in public so I was really pleased.

“I decided that I would make it fun and it went down well with the guests.”

And now the mother-daughter team have set up a wedding business together.

It was while they were organising Emma’s wedding that they first thought of the idea.

“I struggled to find exactly what I wanted to decorate the venue,” said Emma.

“I wanted something different and looked on the internet and locally but couldn’t find what I wanted.

“Brides want something different and I first thought of the idea a couple of months before the wedding.”

Setting up a new business in the current economic climate wasn’t an easy decision to make but Emma and Julie thought that if they didn’t give it a go now, they never
would.

Once the wedding was over they started to look for premises.

If you decide that you want to follow a theme it can be as elaborate or subtle as you wish.

Before you make a decision you should think about why you are choosing the particular theme as there is no point in having one for the sake of it and it should mean
something to you both – perhaps a shared interest could provide inspiration.

It is an important decision to make as until this is confirmed, it can be impossible to start the rest of the planning.

The invitations give guests the first indication of the style of the wedding and then this can be continued on the order of service, place cards, menus and thank-you
cards.

Having a theme may even make it easier when making decisions on the different aspects of your wedding such as the flowers, cake and favours although the theme doesn’t
have to apply to every single element of the day.

Your theme could be a subject such as a football team or butterflies or a coloured-based theme which could include the table linen, flowers, balloons and outfits.

You may want to choose your favourite colour or a colour associated with the season you are getting married in and could pair two colours together to complement or
contrast each other.

A colour theme can be a good way of incorporating a football theme to please your groom through bridesmaid’s dresses, flowers or cake to match the team’s colours.

When Emma Van Iterson married Michael Holmes in June 2006 she surprised Michael with a black and white theme to reflect the colours of his favourite team Newcastle
United. The colour theme was incorporated into the black bridesmaids’ dresses and the flowers and as the couple walked out of the church Local Hero by Mark Knopfler,
the song Newcastle United walk out on the pitch to, was played.

If you want to go all-out and do something completely different then you could get all your guests involved such as at the wedding of Will Taylor and Gill McAlea from
Greystoke, who got married in June 2008 in a Pirates of the Caribbean style wedding.

They decorated the reception venue with skull and cross bone flags, had a pirate ship-shaped wedding cake, and guests came dressed as shipmates and characters from the
popular movies.

A season or the time of year such as Christmas is another idea to think about.

It could be the final goodbye at the airport between Ingrid Bergman’s Ilsa and Humphrey Bogart’s Rick in Casablanca, Demi Moore and Patrick Swayze’s clinch over a
pottery wheel in Ghost or Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio standing at the prow of the doomed liner Titanic, that gets us teary eyed.

To celebrate our love of the romantic film, the Live the Dream Wedding Show in September will be going back to the classics and we are asking readers of Cumbrian
Weddings to tell us about their favourite romantic film of all time.

Could you watch Gone With the Wind over and over again? Is there a film which reminds you of that special someone? Which film always puts you in a romantic mood? Is
Pretty Woman the ultimate love story?

By entering the competition, you could win a VIP day out for you and a guest to Cumbria’s premier event, the Live the Dream Wedding Show on Sunday, September 27.

David McNeill, of show organisers CN Events, said: “Everything grows from the classics and the event will create this by using classic themes but with a contemporary
edge.

“If you have already experienced our Live the Dream Show then come again and watch the stunning new collections on the catwalk.

“If you haven’t been before then it is an event not to be missed. This time there will be two fashion shows with more seating to give more time for browsing the
stands and there will be prizes to win on the day.”

Tickets are now on sale for the event from the Cumbrian Newspapers offices in Bank Street and Dalston Road, Carlisle, Oxford Street in Workington and Queen Street in
Whitehaven. Individual tickets cost £5 or £10 for three tickets bought before the event.

Simply tell us, in no more than 100 words, what is your favourite romantic film and why.

Send your entry, with your name, address, daytime and mobile telephone number to daniel.slee@cngroup.co.uk or drop it in at the Cumbrian Newspapers offices in
Carlisle, Workington or Whitehaven.

Rules

Closing date: Monday, September 14 2009.

The prize package will be awarded to the best entry as chosen by a panel of judges.

Employees of any CN Group company, or their families, are not eligible to enter.

There is no cash alternative and the prize is non-transferable.

The judge’s decision is final and no correspondence can be entered into.

Sixty-three-year-old David Kay, of High Seaton, Workington, will be sentenced next month.

Kay had already been found guilty on Thursday of two counts of sexual activity with a 17-year-old girl , and the jury at Carlisle Crown Court returned the third guilty
verdict yesterday.

Kay was remanded in custody and will be sentenced on Tuesday September 8.

Kay worked at Connexions in west Cumbria in 2004 and early 2005 when he struck up the relationship.

The woman told the court during the week that Kay seduced her after he met her on a NEET (Not in employment, education or training) course designed to give young
people like her more confidence.

The victim, whose identity is protected, said her first sexual experience with him was in a car park in Cockermouth, where he put his hands under her clothes and
fondled her.

“I know I should have tried to stop it,” she said.

Kay told the court in his evidence that on one occasion they “heavy petted” in the back of his Land Rover Discovery on the North Shore in Whitehaven.

On another occasion he used a sex toy on her in a meeting room at the Helena Thompson Museum, where Kay worked after Connexions.

He admitted having a sexual relationship with her, but had insisted it did not start until she was 18, in which case it would not have been illegal.

He was dismissed from Connexions in March 2005.

Paul Birks, 22, who lived in Victory Crescent, Maryport, was also ordered to register as a sex offender for 10 years and banned indefinitely from working with children
or having unsupervised access to any girls under 16.

He pleaded guilty at Carlisle Crown Court to a charge of touching the girl sexually without her consent.

The court heard that Birks had earlier told a friend that he was going to see the girl “for a ride”.

Then, said prosecuting counsel Kathryn Johnson, he went to the girl’s house after phoning her to make sure she was alone.

When she refused to let him kiss her he picked her up and carried her into the kitchen, where he sexually assaulted her.

“He told her he had come to see her because he wanted to have sex with her,” Ms Johnson said.

Birks only left the house after the traumatised girl managed to send a text message to a male friend, calling for help.

He was arrested in bed later that night. He had washed both himself and his clothes in an attempt to destroy any forensic evidence that might have linked him with the
girl.

The court heard the girl now feels unsafe at home, and worries that some people in her community will unjustly blame her for Birks ending up in court, Ms Johnson said.

In mitigation defence barrister Ian Dixon said Birks wished to apologise.

“He expresses disgust at the way he behaved,” he said.

Judge Paul Batty QC said it was made worse by the fact that it was obviously premeditated.

Birks is believed to have recently moved from Victory Crescent to another address in the town.

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Officers issued the photofit as investigations continued to find the pervert who approached two girls and a boy – aged nine, 10 and 12 – on land known as The Mote.

This indecent exposure happened at about 7pm on Sunday, August 2 – but another was reported to officers in Brampton nearly a week before.

The descriptions of the two men in each case differ. Police, however, say they are “keeping an open mind” about whether the two crimes are linked.

The man who exposed himself at The Mote was white, in his 40s and had a bald head.

He was wearing a baseball cap, a black top and black tracksuit bottoms with a stripe down the leg.

Inspector Neil Thomson, Brampton’s police chief, said: “We are investigating this incident as a priority in Brampton.

“We have produced an electronic image of the offender based on the children’s description.

“We would like to speak to anyone who recognises the man or who saw anyone acting suspiciously in the area on or around Sunday August 2.

“We are particularly keen to speak to a couple with a black puppy who were in the area at around the time of the incident and may hold vital information.

“The puppy escaped while they were walking it and the three children helped them retrieve it.”

The other indecent exposure happened on Monday July 27 at about 4pm near High Cross Street.

This time a man exposed himself to a woman. He was white, in his mid 30s, possibly with dark hair.

“Police officers are keeping an open mind as to whether the two incidents are linked,” added a force spokesman.

The bird was fighting for its life after being taken by a member of the public to Paragon Vets in the village on Monday.

Wildlife crime officers are now investigating the incident after the matter was referred to them by the vets, who discovered a shotgun pellet in the wound.

The bird underwent surgery to remove the pellet on Tuesday, but it was too early to tell whether it will survive.

Anne Abbs, the veterinary surgeon who performed the operation, said: “It’s really too early to tell how the operation went because first of all we need to keep it
alive – it’s very thin.

“So we really need to see how the next few days go.

“The wound was fairly contaminated and had maggots on it when it was brought in, so there’s a risk of bone and soft tissue infection.”

The vets do see a number of wildlife cases each year, but this is the first time that they have had to deal with a shot buzzard.

Anne added: “It’s quite unusual for them to be brought in alive, usually by the time they are found they are dead or almost dead.”

Between December and March this year, six buzzards were found dead on Carlisle Golf Course near Aglionby during a spate of unexplained killings, some of which were
carried out with a shotgun.

Buzzards are the UK’s most common bird of prey and are a protected species, meaning that it is illegal for anyone to shoot them.

The Timberland Company reported third-quarter 2008 net income of $30.7 million and earnings per share of $0.52. These results compare to third-quarter 2007 net income
of $25.9 million and earnings per share of $0.42. When adjusted to exclude restructuring and related costs, earnings per share were $0.52 and $0.49 in the third
quarters of 2008 and 2007, respectively.

Third-Quarter 2008 Results Summary:

* Revenue declined 2.2% to $423.6 million as declines in Timberland brand apparel, which reflect the Company’s transition to a licensing model for its North American
wholesale business, were partially offset by strong growth in Timberland PRO series footwear and SmartWool socks and apparel. Foreign exchange rate changes increased
third-quarter 2008 revenue by approximately $10 million, or 2.2%, due to the strength of the Euro and the Yen, and increased operating income by approximately $3
million.

* North America revenue declined 8.8% to $184.5 million, reflecting soft consumer spending in the U.S. Europe revenue increased 4.4% to $199.9 million and increased
slightly on a constant dollar basis, driven by strength in all footwear categories which offset declines in the apparel business. Asia revenue decreased slightly to
$39.2 million, and decreased 5.4% on a constant dollar basis, driven by declines in the outdoor performance and casual footwear businesses.

* Apparel and accessories revenue decreased 11.7% to $102.7 million, driven by anticipated declines in Timberland brand apparel as a result of the Company’s
transition to a licensing model for its North American wholesale business. Global footwear revenue increased 1.0% to $313.5 million driven by strength in Timberland