In The News Today

Wonder if their names were Luke and Leia? poor people! Imagine that!

Parted-at-birth twins 'married'
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7182817.stm
It is thought the pair did not know their relationship when they married
A pair of twins who were adopted by separate families as babies got married without knowing they were brother and sister, a peer told the House of Lords. A court annulled the British couple's union after they discovered their true relationship, Lord Alton said.

The peer - who heard of the case from a judge who was involved - said the twins felt an "inevitable attraction". He said the case showed how important it was for children to be able to find out about their biological parents. Details of the identities of the twins involved have been kept secret, but Lord Alton said the pair did not realise they were related until after their marriage.

The crossbench peer, a former Liberal Democrat MP, raised the couple's case during a House of Lords debate on the Human Fertility and Embryology Bill in December. "They were never told that they were twins," he told the Lords. "They met later in life and felt an inevitable attraction, and the judge had to deal with the consequences of the marriage that they entered into and all the issues of their separation."

He told the BBC News website that their story raises the wider issue of the importance of strengthening the rights of children to know the identities of their biological parents. "If you start trying to conceal someone's identity, sooner or later the truth will out," he said. "And if you don't know you are biologically related to someone, you may become attracted to them and tragedies like this may occur."

Pam Hodgkins, chief executive officer of the charity Adults Affected by Adoption (NORCAP) said there had been previous cases of separated siblings being attracted to each other. "We have a resistance, a very strong incest taboo where we are aware that someone is a biological relative," she said. "But when we are unaware of that relationship, we are naturally drawn to people who are quite similar to ourselves. And of course there is unlikely to be anyone more similar to any individual than their sibling."

Mo O'Reilly, director of child placement for the British Association for Adoption and Fostering, said the situation was traumatic for the people involved, but incredibly rare. "Thirty or 40 years ago it would have been more likely that twins be separated and, brought up without knowledge of each other," she said. Today, however, adopted children grow up with a greater knowledge of their birth families - and organisations try to place brothers and sisters together. If that were not possible, the siblings would still have some form of contact with each other. "This sad case illustrates why, over the last 20-30 years, the shift to openness in adoption was so important," Ms O'Reilly added.

UH TWINS? Shouldn't they have realised something was up when they looked at each other and discovered they looked the same?

not all twins look the same! specially male/female! plus, how often do u see couples that TOTALLY look the same!

*edit* remember this story?? naw the girls are cute as!

twins, yet totally diff looks!

I know this, but seriously, if they were identical twins...!!!

I know this, but seriously, if they were identical twins...!!!

doesn't say they were! 

doesn't say they were! 

Haha, I know... I meant, if they were identical then EWWWWWW

oh shit yeah!

this dude is gonna be sooooooooooooooo grounded for life



MySpace party teen unrepentant

    * Open invitation on MySpace leads to drunken rampage
    * Local residents terrified as mob sprawled over street
    * Partygoer says police caused the problems

A TEENAGER who issued an open invitation on MySpace to a party at his family's house is unrepentant after sparking a rampage by up to 500 youths.

Police were pelted with bottles, after Corey, 16, acted out every parent's nightmare by staging the party while they were holidaying in Queensland.

But he is answering to more than just mum and dad after Saturday night's debacle.

Terrified neighbours in Narre Warren South said they feared for their families and homes as a sea of drunken youths lured by the open invitation on the social networking website smashed bottles and destroyed letterboxes.

Police, who estimated the crowd at 500, had to retreat until back-up arrived, including the air wing and the dog squad. Corey told the Herald Sun he was expecting 200. He conceded large amounts of alcohol were consumed by the young crowd.

"It was just an open house party and a lot of people came and it overflowed on to the street," Corey said.

"The cops came and told all the people to quiet down and get inside. It just kept getting bigger and bigger.

"There were people bottling cars and the whole streets were flooded with people. We knew we'd get about 200 but there was probably about 300, 400 easily."

Linda Guillou, who has lived in Galloway Drive for seven years, said she feared for her two children after teens spilled on to her front lawn. She said her husband armed himself with a cricket bat.

Mrs Guillou called police after a bird bath in her garden was kicked over.

"The second time we notified the police we were starting to get a little bit frightened for the children because things were getting broken."

Rose Layton, a grandmother who lives nearby, was shocked by the rampage.

"They were going to the toilet out the front, throwing bottles and jumping on cars," Mrs Layton said.

"There was such a mass of them. We were terrified."

Police said the party was out of control.

"We're really lucky none of our officers were injured," Sen-Sgt Russell Patten said. "You've got criminal damage, discharging missiles and conduct endangering persons."

Corey's parents cut short their holiday and are expected home today.

Josh, 16, who was at the party, claimed police inflamed the situation when they tried to break up the crowd.

"Everyone was just here to have a bit of fun and then the cops came and stuffed everything up," he said.

Things got worse when a youth paraded naked in front of the media at the house yesterday.

Victoria Police have seized tapes from TV news crews and are investigating possible charges against the man after he ran down the street with no clothes on.

This is the kid... 

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nneeeeeeeeeeeemmmmmmmmmmmmmmmoooooooooooooooooo!

 

Left hand side is right side to get out of bed



GETTING out of bed on the left side is the right side.

Sleep scientists, feng shui experts and psychologists put their heads together to analyse the best way to get up in the morning.

Left is best, they decreed in a study done by hotel chain Premier Inn.

Feng shui expert Jan Cisek said getting out of the bed on the left was associated with all that people hold dear - family and health, money and power.

Psychology and motivation expert Pete Cohen said the left side helpde us all to think rationally about the day ahead.

"The right side of the brain is responsible for emotions like fear and stress which only dilute your potential for having a positive experience," he said.

sensational. i sleep that side anyway.

take that ali! enjoy your stressful and fearful life.

same for me too!

 

you enjoy it too chris!!!

Hahahahaha

No wonder I'm always so angry about everything.

Fucking cunts have set me up from birth to have a shitful life getting out of the wrong side of bed.

oh i do!

if ali's not fearful yet. i'll have to get my fists in on the act. that'll do it i'm sure.

HAHAHAHAHA

I sleep on the left side. Explain THAT.

but you're not in fear or stressed lex.

you're just angry.

 

I'm constantly in fear and stressed, hence the angry 

HAHA

fair enough then. carry on.

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,23048981-2,00.html

myspace party boy may need to ask his parents to pay the $20K bill for the police

\
BAHAHAHA

and NO WAY JOSE am i as old as you  

\
BAHAHAHA

and NO WAY JOSE am i as old as you :)  :lol:

God that kid has had me laughing all day. He has refused to get out of his ridiculous gettup, even on a current affair they asked him to remove his sunglasses so that we could see his eyes and tell that he was sorry, and he refused to because he "likes them".

Chump. 
He's going to be dead meat when his parents get home!

OMG I MISSED HIM ON ACA??!!!! *goes and looks up show* he is suuhhcccchhhh an idiot! awesome!

legend status amongst his mates though...priceless!

He is a serious fucking moron.

He said something like "the party was going really well until all the cops showed up, then they ruined it"

Err dude, there were people pissing in your neighbours front yards, smashing letter boxes and other things they had, people were sitting in their homes scared shitless that someone was going to break in.

I'd say the party was pretty out of control before the cops rocked up.

Kids these days Pfffft

All he is missing is a Such Is Life tatt and he'd have Ben Cousins written all over him!

They had him on ACA & TT at exactly the same time. TT scooped the interview with his parents, while ACA had the chump. I was busy flickin' between the two absolutely bamboozled by this kid who was 'only expecting around 200' revellers would show up!

I can hardly talk though. I had the starries at my 18th after it was gatecrashed and there was plenty of blood shed in the streets. 

and if it had gone to the news I probably would've kept my 'party princess tiara' on throughout the whole thing too 

Difference being, you are cool, this guy is a CHUMP.

Aw John, that's the nicest thing you've ever said to me. 

I wasn't sure if this qualified as real news or celeb trash but after careful consideration I think you will agree this is newsworthy:

Jenna Jameson Retires!

Jenna Jameson stunned an auditorium full of porn stars and adult entertainment peeps at the AVN Awards in Vegas on Saturday night when she unexpectedly announced that she was retiring from the biz.

"Honesty is key," she said. "I will never ever ever spread my legs again in this industry. Ever!"

Jameson's announcement was met with boos from the audience.

The porn star presented the crossover award to Stormy Daniels, who said, "Well I plan on spreading my legs for this industry for quite some time."

i thought she retied when she got her implants taken out last year...

yeh she did say 'I will never spread my legs again...' I guess that doesn't include bending over and taking it in the wrong 'un

He sounded EXACTLY like Warwick Capper 

His parents should be punished for creating such a stupid kid!

Oh man you have to watch this if you haven't already http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QsSiZ0kH9o0

The guy is a legend!

"what would you say to other kids who want to have a party when their parents go out of town?"

Corey: "get me to do it for you!"


And his name is Corey! 

and he wears his SUNGLASSES AT NITE!!!
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heard something on the radio this morning..

news reporter: why wont you take your sunglasses off so we can see if your sorry when you apologise
corey: because they're famous, like me (quietly)
news reporter: what did you say?
corey: because i like them..

jeebus what a funny tool.

HHHHAHA there is a 3AW youtube link too!!! Prob that interview. What a tool!

He's made the UK/Global News too

Party Nemo Dick featured on BBC news

ooh its happened a few times in the UK too tho  Mother describes Web-based invite party as House Rape

What does nemo mean anyway?

neon emo. basically, emos have been corrupted by electro house and now they were loads of fluro.

like ravers, but mainstream. wearing havianas. just like the myspace party boy.

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Oh no.... I just bought my first havaianas.... maybe I'm beginning to nemonise? 

"why don't you go home and take a good hard look at yourself?"

"i have. i love it. everyone loves it. best party of the year so far. don't do it yourself, get me to do it for ya."


x infinity million

nah nemos wear fluro AND havianas and sunglasses at nite!!! and have crappy scruffy hairdoes, ie mullets and lady-mullets, singlet tops, exposed midriffs or hooded jacket/no shirt combos with swimming shorts (ie myspace party boy)...dont worry deathmaze, its a unique style that u'd have to really dumb down to copy

 

 Awesome. Seriously, what a legend. Anyone that has the balls to go on ACA and say that shit is alright with me.

 

another classic nemo/mainstream/sportsgirl pic

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checkout vanilla ice! haha

They showed him the morning after on sunrise with a shopping bag on his head, saying how it would be all be cool because his parents wouldn't find out. The next morning they had him saying how it didn't matter that there was a riot because it was a small price to pay for having the best party ever.

The dude is a fucking champion!!!

http://www.news.com.au/comments/0,23600,23058917-2,00.html


Posted by: Village people of Adelaide 3:50am today
Comment 24 of 28


phunkii ?? who else puts spaces before their exclamation marks !!

gold...if he was smart he could have asked current affair for some cash for the interview!

Turns out I know this guy... He was part of TOG (The Older Gamers) community that I'm part of.



Man dies playing paintball

A 39-year-old Victorian man has collapsed and died after battling his mates in paintball at a buck's party in Geelong.

The victim, from Point Cook, south-west of Melbourne, died of a heart attack after playing at the Extreme Indoor Paintball centre in North Geelong, last Saturday afternoon, police said.

"It is not clear whether he died from a paintball strike or a medical condition," Senior Constable Wendy Willingham said.

It is believed the man was struck in the chest while playing paintball, which involves teams shooting at each other with a water-soluble dye shot in capsules from air guns.

The man collapsed in a car at a nearby service station a short while after finishing the game.

A post-mortem would be conducted on the body to determine the cause of death, Sen-Const Willingham said.

http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/man-dies-playing-paintball/2008/01/15/1200159415032.html

fuck man, get the internet grammar nazis onto him....


this man has tool written all over him! or, the next ben cousins. i hope his parents realise his cashcow potential (he IS underage, yeah?? they have full rights to his cash earnt as part of this escapade) and pimp his ass out to the networks!!!

image not archived: l_5090ba5cbaa336b9a409b324423c0b5a.jpg

 There is no denying he is a tool.

 But I believe that being a legend and a tool isn't mutually exclusive.

 Am still lmao over that interview. Fuckin stupid ACA whore had nothing!

oh yeah,this guy has made my week!!!! no denying that 

 

the guy is clearly acting the tool (fucking hell, he's only 16, what would you expect?) but what gold entertainment!
made that dumb bitch from ACA look like a complete sucker.
he gets a pat on the back from me.

I couldn't watch it.

ACA & TT are just too stupid and annoying and makes me want to stab with their stupid, inane questions.

 You have to see it. It's awesome srsly.

 I hate ACA so much *shakes fist*

 'And tonight the Vietnam vet Ausssie battler blaming the government for not stopping them lose their life savings to a Nigerian Scammer. Un- Australian, you be the judge'

OMG!!!


Party boy Corey Delaney arrested

January 16, 2008 12:01pm
Article from: AAP

THE Melbourne teenager who threw a wild party for 500 people has been arrested. Corey Delaney, 16, was arrested this morning and was being interviewed at the Narre Warren police station about the party, a police spokesman said." After the interview (police) will decide their course of action," he said. Earlier, Corey walked out of an interview with Melbourne FM radio station Fox FM when a presenter attempted to pull off his sunglasses.

Corey has refused to return to his home in Narre Warren South, in Melbourne's southeast, after his parents cut short a holiday on the Gold Coast and rushed home when the party made national news.

Police have threatened to bill Corey up to $20,000 after police cars and neighbours' property were damaged and 30 officers, a helicopter and the dog squad were called to the party on Saturday night.

His parents were reluctant to comment yesterday, although Mr Delaney did say before his meeting with police: "I think he should be punished. "We have our own views on what should happen and will discuss it with the police."

 
Watch the video!!! HAHAH!
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,23060916-2,00.html

 

lol

they probably had a team of the best trained federal detectives tracking him down

Suck shit!!!
I'm all for big house partys, but everyone knows you have to maintain some responsability.
I hope they charge him the $20k and he suffers for it for a long time.
It's just unfortunate that his parents will prob just get stuck with the bill and he'll just shrug it off like nothing happened.

It's amazing how often things like this happen these days. About a year or 2 ago, one of my customer from the video shop went on holidays for 2 weeks. They left their 15yr old daughter at home because the grandparents lived a few streets away.
She had a party that was gatecrashed by 200 or so peeps. This nearly resulted in the house literally being demolished!!!
They came in and started destroying furniture, ripping down plasterborad off walls and then some even got stuck into the timber framing with bats, etc.

Do kids these days have no idea what can happen, or do they just not care?!?!?!

 

 Sorry Cleasc but it's hard to take your comment seriously when your moral high ground is located in the state of       (E)victoria  (that for you Quaz)

Proof that every child in the world hates clowns 

Kids hate clowns, research shows

BAD news for Coco and Blinko – British children don't like clowns and even older kids are scared of them.

The news that will no doubt have clowns shedding tears was revealed in a poll of youngsters by researchers from the University of Sheffield who examined how to improve the decor of children's wards in hospitals.

The study, reported in the Nursing Standard magazine, found all of the 250 patients aged between four and 16 they quizzed disliked the use of clowns, with even the older ones finding them scary.

"As adults we make assumptions about what works for children," said Penny Curtis, a senior lecturer in research at the university.

"We found that clowns are universally disliked by children. Some found them quite frightening and unknowable."

 

Oh I reckon we need a proper COrey thread...Mods, wanna do a split from this one??

Checkout this site! HAHAHA!
http://www.myspace.com/coreydelaneythepartyman

ITM is full of awesomeness re" Corey Myspace Party Boy

http://www.inthemix.com.au/forum/showthread.php?t=215306&page=7

The Celebrity Trash thread seems appropriate for him 

nah i made a corey thread cause its just too awesome at the moment, dont wanna swamp poor brittles!!!

FJ - its on youtube and worth checking. i hate those shows too, so take it from me its probably the first time to watch it since jana wendt 


i'd like to know exactly what this guy is going to be charged with, let alone the zero chance that he'd be convicted of anything.
he was a careless minor, not a malicious adult. what are all police incidents going to be charged as user pays?
hope they charged that greek guy at the tennis last night then for causing a fuss and holding that up, thatd have to be worth a few hundred at least 

Fair call, but I've also taken responsability for any actions I or guests at my home have done.
And this has never included damaging neighbours property or the need for police, let alone the riot squad.

Even though some neighbours have supposedly been "TERRIFIED" of us for some strange reason.

apparently he is being charged for not helping police inquiries. which i think is a pretty legit charge in this instance yes, he is a minor, i assume their aim is to scare the crap out of him for being such a fuckwit haha!

j, jayar is right, the current affair footage rocks!

 
 Yeah I know Dave, just been waiting to use that joke again 

got any blacker? new black is the newer blacker black



US researchers say they have made the darkest material on Earth, a substance so black it absorbs more than 99.9 per cent of light.

Made from tiny tubes of carbon standing on end, this material is almost 30 times darker than a carbon substance used by the US National Institute of Standards and Technology as the current benchmark of blackness.

And the material is close to the long-sought ideal black, which could absorb all colours of light and reflect none.

"All the light that goes in is basically absorbed," said Pulickel Ajayan, who led the research team at Rice University in Houston.

"It is almost pushing the limit of how much light can be absorbed into one material."

The substance has a total reflective index of 0.045 per cent - which is more than three times darker than the nickel-phosphorous alloy that now holds the record as the world's darkest material.

Basic black paint, by comparison, has a reflective index of 5 per cent to 10 per cent.

The researchers are seeking a world's darkest material designation by Guinness World Records.

But their work is likely to yield more than just bragging rights.

Mr Ajayan said the material could be used in solar energy conversion.

"You could think of a material that basically collects all the light that falls into it," he said.

t could also could be used in infrared detection or astronomical observation.

Mr Ajayan, who worked with a team at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York, said the material got its blackness from three things.

It is composed of carbon nano-tubes, tiny tubes of tightly rolled carbon that are 400 hundred times smaller than the diameter of a strand of hair. The carbon helps absorb some of the light.

These tubes are standing on end, much like a patch of grass. This arrangement traps light in the tiny gaps between the "blades".

The researchers have also made the surface of this carbon nano-tube carpet irregular and rough to cut down on reflectivity.

"Such a nano-tube array not only reflects light weakly, but also absorbs light strongly," said Shawn-Yu Lin, a professor of physics at Rensselaer, who helped make the substance.

The researchers have tested the material on visible light only. Now they want to see how it fares against infrared and ultraviolet light, and other wavelengths such as radiation used in communications systems.

"If you could make materials that would block these radiations, it could have serious applications for stealth and defence," Mr Ajayan said.

The work was released online last week and will be published in an upcoming issue of the journal Nano Letters.

Indian-born Mr Ajayan holds the 2006 Guinness World Record as co-inventor of the smallest brush in the world.

 Would make a good ninja suit too.

A bit more politically correct than the last benchmark.

 How awesome was Manute Bol seriously. 

WATEVA Jayar, yeh every kid has a a party thats gotten out of control, however I think the police are definitely persuing this because of his attitude, to make an example of him. more than anything else, he doesn't seem apologetic at all.

If he was sincere and actually sorry then maybe they would back off, but becos hes such a lil wanker who needs to learn a lesson they will punish him.

he needs a kick in the arse

WATEVA Jayar, yeh every kid has a a party thats gotten out of control, however I think the police are definitely persuing this because of his attitude, to make an example of him. more than anything else, he doesn't seem apologetic at all.

If he was sincere and actually sorry then maybe they would back off, but becos hes such a lil wanker who needs to learn a lesson they will punish him.

he needs a kick in the arse

I just heard there is a fire of some kind (bushfire?) up near the Southern end of Fullarton Rd. Around Brown Hill/Brown Hill Creek or some such.

Crap! I have family near there.

Anyone heard anything more specific?

Tis all good, we have 30 CFS volunteers and 3 arial bombers at the scence.

I got paged to go out and fight it but im at work (Im in the CFS). Listening to CFS SAGRN radio now ;-)

Looks like its going to be contain pretty soon.

you can see that fire from the city.





sure, i never said he wasnt a tosser, but being a cockhead isnt yet a crime, so i'd still love to know what he's done that he personally can be charged for.
the media circus has a lot to answer for in hyping this thing up, and if it had been left the fuck alone, it'd be a different story im sure.

phew

cheers

big ups to the CFS

my bro said its up in belair, he got detoured on his way to work.

17 January 2008 - 4:08 PM


Media Release : BUSHFIRE WARNING MESSAGE


Media Release

The CFS advises that a fire at Belair near Old Belair Road and James Road poses a threat to public safety.

The BELAIR fire is travelling in a North Westerly to Westerly direction towards Burnell Drive, Bond Road, Centre Way

You should take shelter in your home or shelter in a solid structure immediately. Close all doors and windows, stay inside until the fire front has passed.

After the fire front has passed, you should immediately begin to check your home and extinguish anything that is burning.

You should not enter or return to the area as access is restricted and the roads may not be safe.

Firefighters are attending to this fire.

Stay tuned to ABC 891 or 5AA on a battery powered radio for more information, or call the CFS Bushfire Information Hotline on 1300 362 361.

Spanish Steps covered in balls by Italian artist

By Malcolm Moore in Rome
Last Updated: 2:27am GMT 17/01/2008

Five hundred thousand brightly coloured plastic balls bounced down the Spanish Steps in Rome in a stunt by an anarchic artist. Graziano Cecchini, said each of the plastic balls "represented a lie told by a politician". He claimed it had cost him around £15,000 to turn the Spanish Steps into a scene from a children's playground.

Delighted tourists grabbed the balls as mementoes as they collected at the base of the steps, in the Fountain of the Old Boat by Pietro Bernini. As Mr Cecchini walked down the steps, with balls bouncing around him, he added: "I am leaving for Burma, these balls will help the Karen people." The Karen, an ethnic minority descended from Tibetan refugees, have fought for an independent state since 1949 and accuse the military junta of ethnic cleansing. Last October, Mr Cecchini gained notoriety after colouring the Trevi Fountain with blood red dye. At the time he said he wanted to highlight the plight of penniless artists in Italy.

Jean Leonard Touadi, the city's head of security, said: "This behaviour is unacceptable. To err is human, but to persevere is diabolical. Trying to get publicity at the city's cost is not funny." The police closed off the Piazza Spagna so the area could be cleaned. Mr Cecchini is likely to be fined for his action. Last June, a 24-year-old Colombian man attempted to drive his Toyota Celica down the steps at high speed, chipping some of the marble.

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That's fucking awesome!

 Totally agree mate.

 This, plus the cricket beat up has left a pretty sour taste in my mouth to be honest. The network news and The Advertiser are becoming more and more 'tabloid'. It's a joke.

 I wish we had another paper.

fire was right near my mum's place - the water bomber "elvis" was buzzin past them all day - was bout 2 blocks down the hill from their house, they had to bail inside with pets & prepare the house, in case the wind changed! My sis got a good pic of how close the chopper was to their house!

image not archived: 250563006O414717627.jpg

I want straight up to my Old Man's house after work to soak up the fire excitement, we were pretty close

Incidentally, the precise location where it started is right near a mountain bike downhill track

I'm not pointing any fingers or anything

Especially since I AM a MTB downhiller

Just noticed is all

nice photo Skinny! 

That thing is massive, you can actualy feel the ground shake when it flys directly over you.

http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/story/0,22606,23071587-5006343,00.html

oh no Lily Allen Lost her baby to the guy from chemical brothers



sad

http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/story/0,22606,23071587-5006343,00.html

oh no Lily Allen Lost her baby to the guy from chemical brothers

:(

sad

yeah i was gonna post her pregnancy news in the celebrity trash thread!

seriously tho, isnt he the bald chem bros? spose she grew up around ageing musicians, must have a thing for em ...

Rather him than the long hair dweeb one

 

Rather him than the long hair dweeb one

 :E

i think thats him! he just went bald!

oh wait he isnt..but i reckon the tall dweeb one has a more interesting look! those glasses are so rave tho

The Australian?

The Independant Weekly?

The Messenger ( )

 I think it's for the good of human kinda really.

Why is it I look at those pictures and hear Jose Gonzalas playing in the background?

Yeah, you tell em!



Two drinks a day limit wrong: winemakers


NEW drinking guidelines which recommend no more than two drinks a day do not take into account the physiological and biological differences in people, the wine industry says.

The National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) has released for public consultation a draft revision of its alcohol guidelines which reduce by half the recommended intake for men.

The Winemakers Federation of Australia (WFA) says the draft guidelines are based on insufficient evidence.

"The existing guidelines recommend two standard drinks per day for women and four for men," WFA chief executive Stephen Strachan said.

"This difference takes into account gender differences in the distribution and elimination of alcohol in the human body and gender differences in the biological effects of alcohol on the human body.

"The draft guidelines do not take physiological and biological differences into account and recommend an upper limit of two standard drinks per day for both men and women."

Mr Strachan said there was insufficient scientific evidence to support the change and the benefits associated with moderate alcohol consumption had been ignored.

"The weight of accumulated medical evidence in support of benefits associated with moderate consumption is overwhelming and any omission of these factors is a glaring inadequacy.

"The combined impact of this omission and the dramatic reduction in the daily recommendation will simply leave consumers confused and distrustful," he said.

The NHMRC is considering submissions and is expected to publish final guidelines in March or April.

UK clears way for human-animal hybrid embryos

Britain's fertility regulator has given initial approval to research involving the production of human and animal hybrid embryos.

The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority has approved applications from King's College in London and Newcastle University to create cytoplasmic embryos, which merge human cells with eggs from other animals.

The research will mean the production of human embryos with traces of animal DNA.

Scientists hope the process might help them find cures for brain disorders and other diseases.

But Dr Helen Watts from the Linacre Centre for Healthcare Ethics, the UK's Christian bioethics institute, says the scientists are entering dangerous territory.

"We don't know what kind of entity this will produce - if it produces a human embryo we have a serious ethical problem, because that embryo will have a non-human partial mother," she said.

"Even if it's not a genuine human embryo that's produced, it's still morally offensive.

"I think it's a mistake we often make in this country, to think if you just destroy the entity which you create it's okay to create it."

The authority has issued one-year research licences, subject to a series of conditions.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/01/18/2141321.htm

Thats just wrong, very wrong.

I reckon it's awesome.

Wow.

I agree! 

cat-woman? 






 

rippers??

 

I though noddy was already well on the way to creating a human-pony hybrid   

[/quote]
go the Tank Girl!!!

If I were to come back and be spliced, I'd like to be half-pig because their orgasms last for 30mins. I wouldn't have to worry about Jews eating me either.

Teen girl 'raped soldier with vibrator'

A SOLDIER thought he was in for a night of sexual adventure when he let a woman handcuff him - but instead she assaulted him with a large vibrator, a court has heard.

Nicola Clunies-Ross went on trial in the West Australian District Court today accused of luring her Darwin-based soldier lover to her Perth home on October 28, 2006, when they were both 19.

She has pleaded not guilty to assault occasioning bodily harm, aggravated sexual penetration without consent and deprivation of liberty.

Prosecutor Amanda Burrows told the jury today that Ms Clunies-Ross believed her lover had wronged her and was lying about an ex-girlfriend.

Ms Clunies-Ross lured him to her flat, told him she had a surprise for him, ordered him to strip and handcuffed him to a chair.

"He consented to being constrained at that point in time. He thought he was in for a night of sexual adventure," Ms Burrows said.

But instead, a champagne-sipping Ms Clunies-Ross smiled at the man and told him "I am going to destroy you", Ms Burrows said.

Then her longer-term boyfriend, also a 19-year-old Darwin-based soldier, arrived with a big vibrator which she used on her victim in a one-hour ordeal.

The court was told the long-term boyfriend took photos and short videos of the attack and threatened to publish them on an army computer hard drive, accessible to all soldiers, if the victim did not do what he was told.

Ms Burrows said the man fled in a taxi after being released. He reported the assault to police in Darwin after seeking advice from a senior officer.

The trial, set down for four days, continues.

http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/story/0,22606,23084611-5006301,00.html





Dont they teach this as an interrogation technique in the Armed forces? 

So she 'assaulted' him because he was lying about an ex... but she had help in the assault from her long-term boyfriend?!?!?!?!?!

 

That would be a massive weight off my shoulders.

 
Liberian general 'Gen. Butt Naked' confesses terrible war crimes

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22765054/?GT1=10755

this affects anyone in adelaide who drives or has a mobile phone.. check it out!!


Mobile phone clampdown

January 22, 2008 02:30pm

SOUTH Australia plans to introduce the toughest rules in the country for using a mobile phone while driving and hopes other states will follow suit.

The new rules will close a loophole in the current legislation that could allow someone driving to rest a hand-held phone on their shoulder or place a phone in their lap while using the speaker facility to talk.

Acting Road Safety Minister Michael Atkinson said an opinion was presented to the government last year suggesting such use might be considered to be hands-free and not subject to penalty.

"It seems there are those who want to find any possible way around rules that are intended to save lives," Mr Atkinson said.

"There should be no confusion about this, the government has pledged to come down hard on law breakers."

The minister said the new rules would make it clear that only those using their phones with a cradle, blue-tooth device or an earpiece would come under the category of talking hands free.

"That was always the intention of this rule," he said.

"Clarity in the road rules is important and, if there is confusion, then the source of that confusion should be reviewed as a matter of urgency."

Mr Atkinson said the government would take up the issue with the Australian Transport Council to have other states adopt the same measures.

The new rules will be implemented as soon as possible.

Goth who walks fiancee on a leash is banned by bus driver who told him: 'No dogs allowed'

A goth, who likes to take his fiancee out for a stroll on a leash, claims that a bus driver told them "no dogs allowed" and banned them from boarding.

Dani Graves, 25, and his girlfriend dress all in black and like to take unusual walks, but the pair have been branded "freaks" and pushed off buses.

He and Tasha Maltby, 19, were told they could not travel on the bus service and believe they have been targeted by the same driver three times.

Gothic Dani claims the driver said: "We don't let freaks and dogs like you on."

He said the incident, which was alleged to have happened in early December, took place when he and Tasha went to Dewsbury bus station in West Yorkshire.

An off-duty bus driver, who was also on the service, was still in uniform and allegedly pushed Dani off the bus and refused service to the couple.

He said: "He shoved me off the bus. He called us freaks and he called Tasha a dog. He said, 'we don't let freaks and dogs like you on'.

"He basically grabbed my T-shirt and slammed me backwards. I got a bit angry and called him a fascist pig."

Dani, from Dewsbury, reported him to the manager at the bus depot, who said his complaint would be dealt with but added that despite his complaints, the same driver shook his head at the couple as they approached his bus a few weeks later.

He said that after showing their bus passes and sitting down, the driver refused to let any other passengers on until they got off.

They refused to get off the bus but were eventually forced off after being threatened with police action.

A third incident occurred last week, when Dani was waiting for a bus, this time alone. He said he held out his arm to flag it down, but the same driver smiled and drove past.

Dani relies on the bus service as he does not drive and suffers from a circulation problem that means he cannot walk long distances in cold weather.

He said he always got on with other bus drivers and although he took his fiancee round on a lead, they always took it off before getting on a bus as it could be dangerous.

Dani said he believed this driver's treatment of them was purely down to the way they dress.

He said: "He doesn't like the fact we wear black clothing. We expect the odd comment, but we don't expect it off a bus driver.

"I have been a goth most of my life and it's the first time I've come across anything like this. It's crazy."

Paul Adcock, operations director for Arriva Yorkshire, said: "We take any allegations of discrimination very seriously and we will be investigating all of Mr Graves' claims.

"Mr Graves has already contacted us directly and, as soon as our investigation has concluded, we will inform him of the outcome."

image not archived: GothRP2201_468x665.jpg

saw someone driving a while ago and the passenger was holding the phone to the drivers ear 

Hate group to picket Ledger's funeral

http://www.news.com.au/entertainment/story/0,26278,23100710-10388,00.html?from=mostpop

The controversial Westboro Baptist Church (WBC), a Kansas-based congregation infamous for its demonstrations outside funerals for US soldiers killed in Iraq, issued a homophobic statement which said the Australian actor, who was found dead yesterday, was “now in hell”.

“WBC will picket this pervert’s funeral, in religious protest,” the statement said.

“God hates the sordid, tacky bucket of slime seasoned wit h vomit known as Brokeback Mountain – and He hates all persons having anything to whatsoever to do with it.

“Heath Ledger is now in Hell, and has begun serving his eternal sentence there.”

In a later interview, church spokeswoman Shirley Phelps-Roper told Fox News that the demonstrations would be limited to memorial services held in the US.

“He got on that big screen with a big, fat message: God is a liar and it’s OK to be gay,” Ms Phelps-Roper said.

The Church, which has been classified by the Southern Poverty Law Centre as a “hate group”, also planned to hold a demonstration outside of the upcoming Academy Awards ceremony.

America doesn't seem so bad after all...

Marijuana Vending Machines Opening For Business in LA

Holy crap, what country is LA in? I mean, last time I was there I was surprised enough at the billboards offering medicinal marijuana cards, but this is insane. Starting on Monday, people who have medical conditions such as glaucoma, cancer, and the deadly not-stoned-enough virus can start getting their fat buds from special "AVMs."

These electronic drug dealers won't be out on the street next to a Pepsi machine, of course. No, they'll be "housed in standalone rooms, abutting two dispensaries and protected by round-the-clock security guards." To use them, you'll need to go with a prescription in hand, get fingerprinted and get a prepaid credit card that's loaded up with your dosage and what strain of weed you want. Yeah, no joke, the pharmacists in LA give you a choice between OG Kush and Granddaddy Purple. In the future, the machines may also be outfitted to sell other popular drugs such as Viagra, Vicodin and Propecia. Combine all four for a really interesting night that'll also slowly grow your hair back!

http://www.gizmodo.com.au/2008/01/marijuana_vending_machines_opening_for_business_in_la-2.html

Clock ticking for Kim's Korea
http://www.janes.com/news/security/countryrisk/jdw/jdw080124_1_n.shtml


Kim Jong-Il's regime could collapse within six months, bringing chaos to North Korea, observers and intelligence sources in Asia have told Jane's.

A joint United States report by the Center for Strategic and International Studies and the US Institute for Peace has also revealed that China has "contingency plans" in the event of North Korea's implosion. The report, entitled 'Keeping an Eye on an Unruly Neighbor', said that China was prepared to "take the initiative" and had a military strategy for securing North Korea's "loose nukes" should Kim Jong-Il's rule fail.

Any apocalyptic scenario has to be taken with a grain of salt; in 1997 the Central Intelligence Agency predicted the collapse of North Korea within five years. However, there are reasons for the heightened levels of concern; in particular, the recent actions of Kim Jong-Il and other North Korean officials are being interpreted as signs that the regime is nearing its end.

Tellingly, the 'Dear Leader' is in the process of moving financial resources to ensure that his assets are portable should he have to go into exile, according to some sources.

The centrally controlled economy has also now ceased to function and the food distribution system is near breaking point. With loyalty to the regime at an all-time low, another sign of trouble is the regime's diminishing ability to prevent people from leaving the country.

Adam Gilchrist is retiring after the one-dayers... 

remember the telstra employee sex-escapade lady? there has finally been a ruling in the case!

Telstra wins right to fire sex romp girl

TELSTRA has won the right to sack a young female employee over an alcohol-fuelled after-hours sex romp, reigniting debate about the line between work and private lives.

The Industrial Relations Commission yesterday upheld Telstra's appeal against an earlier ruling that Carlie Streeter be reinstated and paid compensation for being unjustly sacked following the romp last February.

Ms Streeter is considering appealing to the Federal Court, with her lawyer last night describing the 2-1 decision by a commission full bench as "un-Australian".

"The client is very aggrieved by the decision," Ms Streeter's lawyer, Kelly Durant, told The Australian. "If (it) stands, it really is a serious licence for employers to intrude on the private lives of their employees and it's very un-Australian.

"What this decision says is employers can control and regulate the private lives of employees, which is completely unfair. At the end of the day, what you do at two o'clock on a Sunday morning is really nothing to do with your employer."

Telstra released a brief statement last night in which it said it was pleased the full bench had upheld the corporation's appeal.

Telstra dismissed Ms Streeter last March, claiming she sexually harassed three female colleagues by having sex metres from where they were sleeping on a hotel room floor.

She was accused of sexually harassing another female employee by being naked in the hotel bath with two Telstra male workers. Telstra also claimed she dishonestly answered questions during a subsequent company investigation into the incident.

The incidents occurred in the early hours of February 25 following a belated Christmas party for staff from the Telstra retail outlet at Westfield Shopping Town in Miranda in Sydney's south. In August last year, commission senior deputy president Jonathon Hamberger ruled that Ms Streeter had been unjustly sacked.

Although the employees were upset by Ms Streeter's conduct, he found it was not enough to constitute sexual harassment.

Mr Hamberger, a former Howard government employment advocate, ruled the sexual conduct took place in a hotel room with the lights out in the early hours of the morning, when Ms Streeter thought the other employees were asleep. He ordered her to be reinstated and awarded compensation.

But the majority full bench decision upheld that Telstra was justified in sacking Ms Streeter because of her "dishonesty" during the subsequent investigation into her conduct.

Interviewed by Telstra management in February last year, Ms Streeter initially denied engaging in sexual activity, then said she could not really remember and that she might have been affected by alcohol "to the point she could not remember anything". In subsequent evidence to the commission, Ms Streeter conceded she had sex with a male employee but had previously denied it because she was embarrassed.

Mr Hamberger found that most of Telstra's concern related to her alleged sexual harassment of employees. He said the conduct about which Ms Streeter "lied" was of an inherently personal nature, and it was not enough to destroy the necessary relationship of trust between an employer and employee.

However, the full bench upheld Telstra's argument that Mr Hamberger erred in finding that Ms Streeter's dishonesty did not constitute a valid reason for her dismissal.

 

Disabled 'sex pest' stalks city

A WHEELCHAIR-bound pest who says he is conducting a health survey and tries to touch women's breasts is stalking women in the CBD.
The man – who claims to be a naturopath – is also the subject of an email warning that has spread throughout the city, written by one of his victims. Police have spoken to the serial nuisance but say they cannot take action until someone makes a formal complaint. "He goes up to females and asks if he can have five minutes of your time to do a survey in regards to your heart," the woman said in her email. "He then eventually asks if he can put his hand on your chest to feel your heart beat. "Please don't even stop for this man. He is a serial pest."


When approached by the Sunday Mail  this week, the man admitted he had been spoken to by police but said he was only trying to "help people". The man produced an enrolment form for the SA College of Natural Medicine. "I'm genuinely trying to help people," he said. "I really didn't mean to offend anybody." The author of the email, who did not want to be named publicly, told the Sunday Mail she was followed by the stalker recently as she walked to her office. She said she noticed the man following her along Pirie St and tried to escape him by fleeing into the lift of her office building.

But the man directed his wheelchair, attempting to get into the lift with her. "After I started pressing the close button and the doors were hitting his chair he slowly reversed," she said. "I've had heaps of personal emails from other women who say they've seen the guy and have been harassed by him. "One woman told me she's developed an obsessive compulsive disorder from the stress he has caused her."

Office worker Tamara, another victim who responded to the woman's email, said she had heard from many other women who had been stopped by the man. "I was walking near City Cross and this guy in a wheelchair stopped in front of me and asked me to do a survey," she said. "I asked what it was about and he said it was a coughing and breathing survey.

"He said he needed me to do some breathing for him and I said, `No, I'm sorry, I have to go'." Tamara said she tried to walk away but the man moved his wheelchair to block her path before asking for her telephone number. "I said `No' and went to walk off but he kept following me and getting in front of me. "It really scared me."

A police spokesman said they were aware of the man but had not received an official complaint. "Police know who he is and they have spoken to him, and they are speaking to other agencies involved in his welfare," the warning email said. "If we can get somebody to actually put in a police report we will be able to take some action." The spokesman said police had also received a copy of the email warning. The email also said: "We would like to hear from any previous victims, so if they could contact police on 131 444 or go into a police station, a report can be made and police can follow this matter up."

image not archived: 0,,5860497,00.jpg

He looks too big to be Quentin!!

I HAVE BEEN HASSLED BY THAT LITTLE FUCKING TURD TWICE!!

He's a total fucking creep.

urgh that's really gross!

Yeah! He's really really fucking annoying.

I love this story...sucks they are going to bulldoze the house tho, it looks awesome!

Family hid behind hay bales for years

A BRITISH farmer built an entire mock castle behind a screen of hay bales and lived there concealed for four years to evade planning regulations.
Robert Fidler hoped to take advantage of a provision of planning law that allows buildings without planning permission to be declared legal if no objections have been made after four years. But Reigate and Banstead Borough Council in the southern English county of Surrey was not impressed. "It does not count because the property was hidden behind hay bales,'' a spokeswoman said. "No-one knew it was there.''

The council wants the building near Redhill about 30 km south of London to be demolished, along with an associated conservatory, marquee structure, wooden bridge, patio, decking and tarmac racecourse. "It looks like a mock-Tudor house from the front and it's got two turrets at the back,'' the spokeswoman said. "I understand there is also a cannon.''

The couple would have been unlikely to get planning permission as the farm was in "green belt'' land where building is restricted, she said. A hearing takes place in February. Mr Fidler's wife Linda told the Daily Mail newspaper the children grew up looking at straw out of the windows of the house and that they kept their son away from play school on the day his class were due to do paintings of their houses. "We couldn't have him drawing a big blue haystack,'' she said. "People might ask questions.''

Planning inspectors had been called to the site by concerned neighbours shortly before Mr Fidler took the hay bales down in summer 2006 but had not seen the house. "When the inspectors went there, all they saw was hay bales - and hay bales on agricultural land are not that unusual,'' the spokeswoman said. "I think the neighbours thought there might be something going on but it is difficult to tell, isn't it?''



image not archived: RobertFidlers1_468x255.jpg

He's done something to a friend of mine and she's going to the cops tomorrow. Fucking freak cunt. If you see him smash him in the face for me. Make sure it's his face though, he might be paralyzed other places and not be able feel it.

 

Ugh, I hate that guy so much. I'm glad your friend is going to the police. He's such a creepy little fuck.

drew said he just gave him a backhand fantail and he doesn't hassle him any more

Calling someone or something "un-Australian" is becoming like Godwin's Law, ie: a cheap and nasty phrase used to stifle debate.

It's un-Australian!

Authorities to charge The Pirate Bay team

    * Swedish authorities to charge people behind The Pirate Bay
    * Website facilitates file-sharing by storing links to torrent files
    * Technology: Read more news and reviews in our tech section »

SWEDEN plans this week to charge the people running The Pirate Bay, one of the world's most visited websites, with being accessories in breaking copyright law.

The Pirate Bay helps users to share copyrighted music and films, which is illegal in many countries including Sweden.

Public prosecutor Hakan Roswall said last week he would charge the Swedish site's organisers with accessory and conspiracy to break copyright law, which could lead to fines or up to two years in prison.

The charges will be filed in a district court on January 31.

The Motion Picture Association of America and the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) are among those who have called for action to shut down the site.

No copyright material is stored on the The Pirate Bay servers, but the website facilitates file-sharing by locating torrent files and storing them in a searchable directory.

Torrent files, downloadable from The Pirate Bay, contain information needed to download files from other people using a peer-to-peer (P2P) protocol called BitTorrent.

"It's not merely a search engine. It's an active part of an action that aims at, and also leads to, making copyright protected material available," Mr Roswall said.

"It's a classic example of accessory – to act as intermediary between people who commit crimes, whether it's in the physical or the virtual world," he said.

No legal grounds

The people behind The Pirate Bay say they cannot be held responsible for material that is being spread.

"It's idiotic. There is no legal ground (for the charges)," The Pirate Bay spokesman Peter Sunde said.

The case is partly based on evidence collected in a 2006 raid against The Pirate Bay's servers, located then in Stockholm.

The Pirate Bay was started by a Swedish anti-copyright group in 2003. Later the site was run by Mr Sunde and two others, Gottfrid Svartholm and Fredrik Neij. Mr Neij owns the domain.

The website does not charge users money to search its directory of torrent files and instead earns money from advertisers.

Mr Roswall said it could take more than convictions in Sweden to stop The Pirate Bay.

"Because the infrastructure is scattered among several places around the world... no separate country will be able to stop the site," he said.

But he believes advertisers could have second thoughts about using The Pirate Bay if a guilty verdict is handed down.

"That can be the sort of thing that influences the site in the long run."

Mr Sunde said there were no plans to shut down the site in the event of a conviction. He said he, Mr Svartholm and Mr Neij were unaware of the location of The Pirate Bay's current servers.

He said The Pirate Bay had 2.5 million registered members and about as many visit the site every day.

In 2007, some 600,000 out of nine million Swedes downloaded feature films, according to Mediavision. The Swedish research firm expects the number to rise to some 800,000 this year.

IFPI estimates there are 20 illegal music downloads worldwide for every one legal sale, IFPI spokesman Alex Jacob said.

Crowd surge hurts music fans at Vic Big Day Out
 
TWO casualties and a crowd surge left thousands of fans angry and confused as Melbourne's biggest musical festival, the Big Day Out, ended in mayhem last night.



One unconscious man had to be crowd-surfed to an ambulance, while another fell from a marquee as crowds pushed forward to see the final act, Rage Against the Machine.

Organisers interrupted the American headliners towards the end to appeal to the 45,000-strong crowd for calm.

Revellers said they feared for their safety as the crowd surged towards the main stage and fans climbed every available vantage point at Flemington racecourse.

Organisers rushed the band off stage, and ordered people to climb down from the structures and trees before the band would resume.

One man who was on top of a marquee fell and was rushed to hospital by ambulance officers, who put him in neck brace.

The condition of the two injured people was unknown late last night.

Veteran attendee Cameron Oliver, 26, said he saw a lot of violence in the crowd.

"In nine Big Day outs and numerous other festivals, this is the most violent and least policed I have been to," he said.

"We had to pull back from the stage – so far back we couldn't even see because we were afraid for our safety. And I'm a six-foot (183cm) bloke."

Festival spokeswoman Miranda Brown said security and medical staff were kept busy at the front of the stage.

She said regular announcements warned the crowd not to push and that the front-of-stage barrier was there to protect their safety.

At one point more than 30 people climbed a multi-level speaker stack in the middle of the crowd, which was manned by just one security guard.

It took police and security staff more than 20 minutes to get them off the structure.

But they failed to deter dozens of people who climbed a beer marquee to watch Rage Against the Machine.

Police said they were disappointed with the crowd behaviour and arrested a few people for letting off flares.

"There were quite a few idiots around," one officer said.

Jordan, 25, of Newport, said grandstands should have been erected around the back of the main stages.

"People couldn't see anything at all, there were so many people there . . . so of course they climbed on to things so they could see."

http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/story/0,22606,23125751-5006343,00.html

yeah heard about that. hope the set up here will be ok.

It really wasn't as dramatic as that. The guy who fell shouldn't have been up there in the first place - it could have been worse and the thing collapsed onto the people under the structure. The people on the scaffolding were idiots though but these people were just raging against the system - it's what Rage would have wanted them to do!

However, I saw no fights at all - until the security guard cut sick on some guy in the scaffolding. Did see some guy getting dragged out at 1pm though... I'm guessing fence jumper.


You been to a BDO in Adelaide before? It's always the same and having the grand stands and grass is a godsend.

Flemmington is essentially in the dusty car park. It's as dusty as Pt Gawler and with less shade. They really didn't think the venue through properly in a lot of ways, but it is a new venue and they will have teething problems.

However, I think next year, unless there's an awesome act that's only touring the east coast who's not clashing with the headlining acts, I think I'll go to the Adelaide show instead.

nah i haven't really, only got in for free really late one nite. saw carl cox, roni and reprazent and a little bit of some crazy german metal mob 

me too! v creepy 

me too! v creepy  :hurl:

Wife's body stored in a drum for 23 years, court hears

A VICTORIAN man kept up a charade that his wife had run off with another man while keeping her remains in a drum in his backyard for 23 years, a court has heard.

Frederick William Boyle, 58, of Carrum Downs, appeared in the Victorian Supreme Court today accused of the murder of his wife Edwina Ruth Boyle in 1983.

The opening session of Boyle's trial heard that on October 6, 1983, Mrs Boyle, then aged 30, disappeared from the home she shared with her husband and two young daughters, Careesa and Sharon.

Boyle claimed she had run off with a truck driver named Ray, prosecutor Gavin Silbert, SC, told the court.

''(Boyle) carried on a charade that she left him for another man,'' Mr Silbert told the court.

"He put her body in a 44-gallon drum and kept it for (more than) 20 years,'' he said.

Mr Silbert said Boyle made no attempt to report his wife missing, even informing her family in Britain in 1983 "not to be surprised if they did not hear from Edwina Boyle at Christmas time''.

Boyle also collected his wife's wages from her place of employment and disposed of all her clothes.

On October 3, 2006, Boyle's son-in-law was doing a clean-up of the family home in Denis Court, Carrum Downs, in Melbourne's southeast.

After having asked Boyle for 14 years what was in the drum and been told it contained nothing but glue used for carpet laying, the son-in-law decided to cut it open, the court heard.

In the drum, he discovered women's clothes - including bras, underwear and a pair of yellow socks - along with a hessian bag.

At 8pm that day the son-in-law opened a green wheelie bin in the garage of the house and found the same hessian bag inside after apparently having been transferred to the bin.

"There was an unpleasant smell coming from it,'' Mr Silbert said.

"He reached inside and felt a slimy substance,'' he said.

"He pulled out a leg bone.''

Mr Silbert said the remains, including a skull, were later identified as those of Edwina Boyle, and a post mortem showed she had died of a gunshot wound to the head.

Boyle has pleaded not guilty to his wife's murder.

The trial before Justice John Forrest is continuing.

http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/story/0,22606,23138122-5006301,00.html

Im sure Snowtown are happy somewhere else has a barrel story now 

You're right, we are a backwater - SA

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,23138238-2,00.html

STATE politicians may be furious, but many South Australians seem to agree with Victorian Premier John Brumby that Adelaide is a "backwater".

Mr Brumby's blunt assessment of the South Australian capital has been labelled insulting by the SA Opposition, while Premier Mike Rann said it just showed Victoria's insecurity.

However an Adelaide Advertiser online poll shows most agree with Mr Brumby.

More than 60 per cent of more than 2500 respondents to the poll agreed with the Victorian Premier.

Asked the question: Is Adelaide a backwater, 48 per cent of respondents voted: "Yes - we lag behind the eastern states''.

A further 16 per cent voted: "Yes - but that's part of the appeal''.

Some 27 per cent of people voted: "No - Brumby is a jerk''; while a further 7 per cent said: "No - look at how many major events are on at this time of year''.

Mr Brumby said yesterday Victoria would end up as a "backwater'' like Adelaide if it didn't proceed with channel-deepening in Port Phillip Bay.

Victoria Park.

'Nuff said.

Some people like the fact Adelaide is a backwater though - The slow pace, the easy going lifestyle, and when things do happen there (Fringe, Womad, BDO) the place goes off!

yes indeed.

Lucky I read the cover of today's Advertiser, I wouldn't have thought to verbally abuse Victorians today if they hadn't further informed me of the backwatergate scandal. Just nice to see the Cornes brothers off of there.

Guerilla dance troupe performs 'Thriller' on tube

A group of dancers has startled passengers on the London tube by casually rising from their seats and performing the moves to Michael Jackson's "Thriller".

The underground shuffle was caught on film and has already been viewed over 54,000 times since it was posted on YouTube on Monday.

The video shows about half a dozen dancers get up to put on the two-minute performance, later taking their seats again as if nothing had happened.

The other passengers on the train appear unsure how to react to the troupe, and awkwardly fumble about with their newspapers and books before managing a muted clap as the dance concludes.

A Transport for London spokesperson said there was no harm in the stunt — this time at least.

"There are clearly occasions, like this, when everyone enjoys being entertained by some talented people," the spokesperson told The Sun.

"There are other occasions where inconsiderate behaviour can spoil a journey for other passengers. Our message is simply that a little consideration to your fellow passengers can make a real difference to everyone."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X6EDAZ3crdY

gold! I wish people would do that on my train.

:rofl: gold! I wish people would do that on my train.

RAMSEY WRAPS NAKED EMPLOYEE IN GLAD WRAP

Vengeful celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay reportedly wrapped cling film around the naked body of one of his employees and forced him to work for a full day.

Ramsay embarked on the torturous mission after discovering the cook was stealing recipes from his kitchen, according to Daily Star.

"We followed him on the CCTV and found out he was sifting all the ideas out of my kitchen," Ramsay said.

 "It's probably the nastiest thing I've done — he sweated like a pig."

But that didn't stop Ramsay and his 25 accomplices getting a laugh at their colleague's expense while he worked for a full day in his see-through outfit.

The once-enthusiastic cook had knocked on Ramsay's door two years ago, begging for an opportunity to work with the British entrepreneur.

But according to Ramsay, his aspiring employee took the wrong approach to learning the tricks of the trade.

"I'd happily give out my recipes, but you still won’t cook a dish as well as me — the thing about this job is that it's from the heart," Ramsay said.

I love love love Gordon Ramsay!

Fuck he is a legend! 

I love love love Gordon Ramsay!

Fuck he is a legend!  :lol:

Woman struck by mobility scooter   

Audrey Lane is recovering in hospital

A mobility scooter driver left an elderly woman with a broken leg and wrist after a hit-and-run accident.

Audrey Lane, 84, from Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire, was hit by the electric vehicle which drove off at less than 8mph.   

Mrs Lane is being treated in hospital while CCTV footage is being used to try to trace the driver.

He could face assault charges, or even be charged with dangerous driving under the Road Traffic Act.

Mrs Lane's son, Daniel, 59, said: "My mother was standing with her shopping in the High Street, waiting to cross the road.

"The next thing she knew, she had been hit from behind by this man on a mobility scooter. She was in the middle of the road lying on the floor and her shopping bag was thrown half-way across the street. 

"She remembers the incident clearly. He told her: 'I can't stop. I'm busy', then went off." 

Inspector Les Pritchard said: "The information we have is that a fairly elderly lady was waiting to cross the road outside Somerfield in Tewkesbury High Street.

"As she was waiting, she was struck by a mobility scooter which then drove away."


sorry old lady, but  cant beleive no one caught the dude...

 

That's hilarious... "I can't stop. I'm busy".... 

Sitting on sand bad for your health

BEACHGOERS should take notice: sitting on the wet sand or swimming in the sea for too long may increase the risk of catching an unpleasant stomach bug, a new study found.

The University of Florida study found that the more time spent on the wet sand or in the water, the greater the chance of suffering from gastroenteritis.

While water pollution monitoring is a standard part of "quality control" in many tourism-dependent cities, the same cannot be said of the sand.

"Our objective was to understand whether beach sand could pose a health risk to beachgoers," said Tonya Bonilla, a reseacher at the University of Florida's College of Veterinary Medicine's department of infectious diseases and pathology.

"What we found was that there was no increased health risk due to exposure to sand on the upper beach," she said.

But "the longer the period of time people spent in the water and in the wet sand, the higher the probability they would experience some gastrointestinal illness," she said.

Beach sand often has some degree of contamination from seabird waste, or other fecal waste.

Microbes concentrate naturally around the waterline, in the water and also are tracked around on bathers' feet, researchers found.

They looked at three beaches north of Miami: Hobie Beach, Hollywood and Fort Lauderdale.

"There is an increase risk of acquiring gastroenteritis the longer a bather either sits in the wet sand or stays in the water," said Jay Fleisher, professor College of Osteopathic Medicine-Nova Southeastern University.

"The probability that an individual will become sick increases over expected non-exposure rates from six out of 1,000 people for 10 minutes exposure to aprox. Twelve out of 100 people for a two hours stay in the wet sand," he said.

"For exposure to water, these rates increase from seven out of 1000 people affected over expected non-exposure rates for a 10 minutes stay to aproximately seven out of 100 people exposed for a 70-minute stay."
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Blue-eyed people 'inbred mutants'

Blue-eyed people are genetic mutants who spawned as a consequence of inbreeding thousands of years ago, a new study has revealed.

Danish scientists believe the first person to have sported blue eyes lived near the Black Sea between 6000 and 10,000 years ago, Fox News reports.

"Originally, we all had brown eyes," researcher Hans Eiberg said in a press release.

"But a genetic mutation affecting the OCA2 gene in our chromosomes resulted in the creation of a 'switch,' which literally 'turned off' the ability to produce brown eyes."

Professor Eiberg's 'switch' actually refers to DNA that sits next to the OCA2, the gene responsible for regulating the pigmentation of our eyes, skin and hair.

When that DNA is altered to 'A' (adenine) from 'G' (guanine), we are given blue eyes.

Professor Eiberg and his team sampled 155 members of an extended family in Denmark and a number of people from Turkey and Jordan.

The mutant gene was found in all participants bearing blue eyes, and in notably pure form — leading researchers to believe the transformation occurred not that long ago.

Professor Eiberg suspects the first blue-eyed person lived somewhere near the Black Sea and the gene was later spread to Europe and the Middle East, but he admitted he didn't know for sure.

But it would have taken at least a couple of generations for the colour shift to occur after the initial mutation, the researchers said.

Blue pigmentation is a recessive gene, so it would have required both parents to bear the altered DNA before anyone came out looking like Frank Sinatra.

That person was more likely to be the first mutant's grandchild or the great-grandchild.

http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=374223

So much for Hitler's theory then!



Shit.. I have blueish eyes

Oh no, I'm a mutant!! 

 me too...

I highly doubt the microbial levels at those beaches would be similar to what we have in Adelaide (apart from after the Pat is flushed). 

hopefully this is some good news... cross ya fingers everyone!!

Striking writers agree with 4 more studios


Amid reports of an impending deal between striking Hollywood writers and major film studios, the writers union has reached an interim agreement with four leading indie film companies based in New York, it was announced Sunday. Although no deal has been announced with major studios, one is in the works, according to several Los Angeles-area media outlets. Several Los Angeles-area radio stations reported a breakthrough in the negotiations late Saturday night. The Los Angeles Times reported in its Sunday editions that a deal is all but done, and an agreement could be signed as early as this Friday. If ratified, an agreement means the show will go on at this year’s Oscars. The Feb. 24 Academy Awards telecast was in jeopardy after striking writers announced they would picket the ceremony.

In the meantime, the Writers Guild has signed an interim deal with GreeneStreet Films, Killer Films, Open City Films, and This is that corporation. “The interim agreements these companies have signed with the Writers Guilds are a reaffirmation of their dedication to great writing, bold innovation and good old-fashioned, New York City street smarts,” said Michael Winship, president of the Writers Guild of America, East. The agreement will allow the film companies to “resume business immediately,” the WGA said in a statement, but no specific details about the negotiations were announced. This breakthrough follows similar interim deals with other indie film companies such as The Weinstein Company, David Letterman’s Worldwide Pants and Tom Cruise’s United Artists. Writers put down their pens on Nov. 5 over issues including compensation for online video downloads and live Internet streaming.



i have read that the end of feb is kinda the cut off date for lost - if the writers are back on board before then we may see a full season this year...

wow no more mitsubishi in adelaide closes next month.

kinda sad i am, that place gave me many years of crazy fun.

I know and the managers in China were quoted as saying "Its a good time to close, Australia has had good economic growth and the workers will be able to find other jobs" Do they realise the size of Adelaide??

shocking news i just hope ll the workers get what they are intitled to.

I have a few friends from Mitsis and they have told me that they are going to get pretty good packages

they are still pretty scared though which is fair enough

I have a few friends from Mitsis and they have told me that they are going to get pretty good packages

they are still pretty scared though which is fair enough

Haven't they only been running 1/3 capacity for years anyway?  Will definitely be a hit for the southern side of town.  But that said, its been on the cards for a long time so you would think/hope as many business as possible would have their eggs in other baskets. 

As for the future of Adelaide I would say its only going to get brighter - there is about to be a huge defence boom and the mining boom is only just beginning to employ people. 

WITH obesity spiralling out of control in the US, a new bill in Mississippi would make it illegal for restaurants to serve fat customers.
The bill would allow health inspectors to revoke the license of any restaurant that "repeatedly" feeds extremely overweight people.

Two-thirds of adult Mississippians are overweight and 30% obese, according to the latest federal figures.

The politicians who introduced the Bill admit that it is not likely to become law.

They were just aiming to bring attention to the problem.

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,23162318-13762,00.html

 

Ok, this story is more about the possible arson which led to the fire...But checkit, a baby was thrown from the window and CAUGHT by the policeman!! the picture is amazing!

Turkey calls for probe into fire
   
Turkey's prime minister has called for an inquiry into a fatal fire in a housing block in southern Germany on Sunday which may have been deliberate. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the nine who died - four adults and five children - were all Turkish. The incident made headlines after a father threw his nine-month-old baby girl from a third-floor window into the waiting hands of a policeman below. Two girls reported seeing a man start the blaze in the city of Ludwigshafen.Of some 60 people who were injured in the fire, 20 of them were Turks, Mr Erdogan said.

Germany has said it will send a special fire investigation team to the city. A spokeswoman for the German Interior Ministry said Germany had also accepted a request from Turkey to send its own fire experts to help investigators at the scene.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7228880.stm

image not archived: 1.jpg

That picture is nuts!

at first i thought it was another piece of art by the likes of banksy.

Yeah, they showed footage of that on ABC news last night.

Also the footage of the supposed suicide bomber being shot in Israel.

Those images will be in the 2008 "the world in news" at the end of the year that's for sure.

its not often that necrophilia makes it way onto the headlines, but here we are...

'Maniac' admits having sex with model's corpse
http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=375899


but heres the clincher

'took advantage of the situation'????
"hmmm...there seems to be a dead body over there...a HOT dead body...hey what the hell, i may as well fuck it! i mean i'd be stupid not to..." 

wtf...

How my twins saved my life by kicking loose a tumour while still in my womb

Like any thrilled mother to be, Michelle Stepney cherished the first kicks she could feel from her unborn babies.

But her lively twin girls were doing more than simply making their presence felt.


Each little kick was saving their mother's life.

Unknown to her, Mrs Stepney, 35, had developed cervical cancer. Her unborn twins' constant kicking in the womb actually managed to dislodge the tumour.


It was only when Mrs Stepney was taken to hospital with a suspected miscarriage that doctors realised she had cancer.


They told her the babies had saved her life. Without them, the cancer may not have been discovered until it was too late.


Then came another bombshell. In order to treat the cancer, she needed immediate chemotherapy and a hysterectomy, which would mean terminating the pregnancy.


Mrs Stepney refused. "I couldn't believe it when the doctors told me that the babies had dislodged the tumour," she said.


"I'd felt them kicking, but I didn't realise just how important their kicking would turn out to be.


"I owe my life to my girls, and that's why I could have never agreed with a termination."

Instead, she waited for her lifesaving treatment until they had been born.


Now the proud mother of year-old girls Alice and Harriet, Mrs Stepney has been given the all-clear.


She and her husband Scott, 36, a civil servant, were told they were expecting twins at a 14-week scan.

The couple, who also have a five-year-old son, Jack, were thrilled. But three weeks later, Mrs Stepney was back at the hospital with a suspected miscarriage.


"I was just in shock when the doctors told me what it was. When they said that the babies had literally kicked my tumour out, I just couldn't believe it.

"If I hadn't been pregnant with the twins, the cancer may not have been discovered until it was too late.


"I knew I could have an operation straight away and it would cure me of the cancer, but that would mean getting rid of my babies and I couldn't do that.


"I had two lives inside me and I just couldn't give up on them - especially after they had saved me like this."


Doctors at the Royal Marsden Hospital in London agreed to give Mrs Stepney reduced chemotherapy in the hope of stopping the cancer spreading during the pregnancy.


"The doctors had tried this with women who were pregnant before, but they hadn't treated a woman with twins before. I knew it was our only hope," she said at her home in Cheam, South-West London.


She had chemotherapy every fortnight and was constantly scanned to monitor the babies' development.


"The doctors didn't know what the chemotherapy would do to the twins, and the first time I had it, I dreaded what it was doing to the girls. But they actually carried on growing well."


The twins were delivered by caesarean-section 33 weeks into the pregnancy, in December 2006. Alice weighed 3lb 11oz and Harriet 3lb 5oz.


"They were born without any hair as a result of the chemotherapy, but other than that, they were healthy.


"When I heard them both let out a cry it was the best sound in the world."


Four weeks later Mrs Stepney had a hysterectomy to remove the tumour. Tests showed the cancer had not spread.


The twins have just celebrated their first birthday and are thriving. Mrs Stepney, an accountant, had a scan in December which showed she was still free from cancer.


She has been nominated for a Woman of Courage award by Cancer Research UK Race for Life and will be honoured at a ceremony in London on February 12.


"I've had wonderful support from my husband and I couldn't have got through it without him," she said. "I feel so lucky. And one day I will tell my daughters how they saved their mummy's life."

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/health/womenfamily.html?in_article_id=512113&in_page_id=1799

Ravers plan to overdose on drugs as revenge
Wednesday Feb 6 13:00 AEDT
By ninemsn staff

Ravers in Ballarat are planning to deliberately overdose on drugs as a form of payback because of local opposition to an annual dance party.

Comments posted on the internet in the past few days have called on people to deliberately 'blow-out' in the hope that they overwhelm health services with dozens of overdose cases.

Ballarat Heath Services (BHS) chief executive Andrew Rowe said he was appalled at the suggestions of ravers purposely overdosing on drugs.

"People have to be reminded that we are talking about illicit drugs and these drugs have resulted in multiple overdoses at the Kryal Castle rave parties," Mr Rowe told the Moorabool Leader.

BHS has previously called for the local raves to be banned because of the pressure it has put on the hospital's emergency department.

Two dance parties held last year at Kryal Castle in Moorabool resulted in 26 ravers being taken to hospital with overdoses.

One emergency doctor who was at last December's rave likened it to a 'war zone'.

"I've worked at very large music events for the last nine years and this was the worst event I've ever been to," Dr Nigel Beck told the Ballarat Courier.

"We relied on other patrons as much as anyone else to find the overdoses in such a large and darkened complex and we didn't have time to wander around picking people up off the ground."

Rave organiser Richie McNeill notified police of the plans, who then informed BHS.

"The position of the police is not to stop the raves, it's to control the environment and makes it as safe as possible," Moorabool Criminal Investigation Unit Det-Sgt Tony Coxall told the Moorabool Leader.

"If there's going to be an intentional overdose, and there's clear intelligence to that effect, we could change our stance because that's a situation we could not control."

Moorabool Shire Council has not banned the raves, but has asked that the conditions of the raves be tightened.





idiots

 

Oh. My. God.

Way to go, retards!!

Sounded like a mad party!

sounds like they plan to overdose in order to protect their right to overdose

 


maybe emergency services should strike against idiocy and let natural selection sort them out...

  agreed, its evolution at its finest

Oh dear

good work, more room to dance

I think NineMSN are the idiots for believing posts put up on the internet and trying to make a story out of it...

I'm just going to post random shit on AM, itm, MB, and so on, just to see if it gets picked up

its happened a few times this year!!! and last year, remember those toy beads which turned to ghb?! straight offa ITM!

Two arrested on porn charges

TWO men have been charged with importing pornography after unrelated incidents at Adelaide airport, with one facing court today.

Australian Customs said on Wednesday this week a 41-year-old man from Singapore was found to have objectionable material involving sex acts on a laptop computer and a portable flash drive.

He is due to appear in the Adelaide Magistrates Court on February 25 on a charge of importing pornography.

In the second arrest, a 23-year-old man from Malaysia was arrested yesterday after customs investigators found objectionable material on a laptop.

He was expected to appear in the Adelaide Magistrates Court today.

Customs national manager of investigations Richard Janeczko said officials were seeing an increase in attempts to bring pornographic material into Australia.

``Customs has a responsibility to protect the Australian community by intercepting, investigating and prosecuting smuggling of offensive pornographic material and we take that role very seriously,'' he said.

The two men arrested face maximum penalties of 10 years in jail.

- AAP

http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/story/0,22606,23179728-5006301,00.html



How did they know what was on the laptop?? Does everyones computers get searched at the Airport now??

must've looked suspicious! 

i've never been asked to show em my laptop contents, but i spose if they had tipoffs from singapore n malayasia, then maybe its a diff matter?

Aussie Anglicans reject Sharia law talk

AUSTRALIA'S largest Anglican diocese has rejected a call by the Archbishop of Canterbury for Muslims to be able to resolve marital and financial disputes under Islamic courts.

Archbishop Rowan Williams said allowing Islamic Sharia law to operate in some circumstances could help improve Britain's flagging social cohesion.But Bishop Robert Forsyth, spokesman for the Sydney Anglican diocese, said the move was not warranted."We do not agree with the archbishop's comments," he said. "In the case of Australia, we are thankful for freedom of religion but would oppose the idea of different systems of law for different people groups."

Archbishop Williams, speaking to the BBC, said other religions enjoyed tolerance of their laws in Britain and he called for a "constructive accommodation" with Muslim practice in areas such as marital disputes. Asked if the adoption of sharia was necessary for community cohesion, he said: "It seems unavoidable. Certain conditions of sharia are already recognised in our society and under our law, so it is not as if we are bringing in an alien and rival system."

'Penis found in drawer after killing'

A WOMAN has told a Sydney court how she woke up to find her ex-husband mutilating her lover's penis and killing him.

Gabor Ziha is alleged to have attacked Barry Corbett while he was in bed next to his estranged wife Marija Ziha, now known as Marija Corbett, in her apartment.

A jury of 11 men and one woman has been told police found a penis in the bedside drawer on top of a magazine.

Mr Ziha, 57, has pleaded not guilty to murdering Mr Corbett, 58, on August 1, 2006, in a flat in Parramatta in Sydney's west.

He has also denied maliciously wounding his estranged wife.

Giving evidence in court today, an emotional Mrs Corbett recalled the night she woke up to see her ex-husband's "angry face" standing over her bed.

"We fell asleep but the next thing that I recall is Barry saying, 'Don't, please don't!' ... and I saw Gabor's angry face," Mrs Corbett told the court.

"I didn't see knife ... I was trying to push him away and saying, 'No, don't!' I was pleading, 'Gaby, don't!'

"Barry stopped moving and stopped pleading and that's when I realised Gabor must have had a weapon."

Mrs Corbett said she ran for help and it wasn't until later she realised she was bleeding.

"I had to remove my pyjamas and I noticed it was stuck and that's when I realised I was stabbed," she said.

Crown Prosecutor Phillip Calvert has told the court the Zihas separated at the end of 2005, but the husband had not wanted this to happen.

Mrs Corbett moved to the Parramatta flat and became Mr Corbett's lover.

She also told the court today of her ex-husband's violent past, his battle with depression and a suicide attempt.

The jury has been told the main issue of the case is whether Mr Ziha had an "abnormality of the mind" at the time of the incident, which could reduce his charge from murder to manslaughter.

The trial is continuing before Justice Graham Barr.

http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/story/0,22606,23180011-5005962,00.html

More on the Porn Duo from this morn...Dunno how they originally got searched tho! *deletes dodgy files from laptop*


Child porn pilot convicted

February 08, 2008 03:01pm

A MALAYSIAN Airlines co-pilot has been convicted and fined for bringing child pornography into the country on his personal computer. Ahmad Said appeared handcuffed in Adelaide Magistrates Court today on a charge of importing a prohibited item. Customs officers arrested the 25-year old at Adelaide International Airport yesterday, after finding three video files containing child pornography.

The videos were titled ``Reped (sic) Virgin'', ``10-Year Old'' and ``High School Students.'' ``This material is repugnant and abhorrent - any decent minded person would be so affected by it,'' Magistrate Simon Smart said. Mr Smart said the rape scene featured a crying girl aged under 18 being forced to have sex with an older male. ``These are not victimless crimes - for every video that depicts such a scene there is a victim,'' he said. Said's computer was searched after he flew into Adelaide as co-pilot on a Malaysian Airlines flight from Kuala Lumpur.

His lawyer Stephen Barratt said Said had been e-mailed the video files and had not shown anyone else. ``He was simply reckless, this was not material brought in to be disseminated,'' Mr Barratt said. Mr Smart rejected the defence assertion that Said had ``no interest'' in the pornography, saying there would be no market for such images without people like him. Mr Barratt said the conviction could ruin Said's career as a pilot at Malaysian Airlines after rising rapidly through the ranks in the past few years.

``The result of this conviction ... could alter the whole of his life and his family,'' Mr Barratt said. Mr Barratt said Said's arrest and detention in custody for almost 24 hours was ``fairly harsh.'' ``He has suffered from being kept overnight in custody and now sits before the court manacled, which he describes to me as one of the lowest points of his life,'' Mr Barratt said. Magistrate Smart fined Said $5,000 and ordered that his laptop be forfeited to the Crown.

Josh will be shattered

my step dads phone is ringing non stop lol

(he is state manager of malaysia airlines)

The world's rubbish dump: a garbage tip that stretches from Hawaii to Japan
Kathy Marks, Asia-Pacific Correspondent, and Daniel Howden
Tuesday, 5 February 2008


A "plastic soup" of waste floating in the Pacific Ocean is growing at an alarming rate and now covers an area twice the size of the continental United States, scientists have said.

The vast expanse of debris – in effect the world's largest rubbish dump – is held in place by swirling underwater currents. This drifting "soup" stretches from about 500 nautical miles off the Californian coast, across the northern Pacific, past Hawaii and almost as far as Japan.

Charles Moore, an American oceanographer who discovered the "Great Pacific Garbage Patch" or "trash vortex", believes that about 100 million tons of flotsam are circulating in the region. Marcus Eriksen, a research director of the US-based Algalita Marine Research Foundation, which Mr Moore founded, said yesterday: "The original idea that people had was that it was an island of plastic garbage that you could almost walk on. It is not quite like that. It is almost like a plastic soup. It is endless for an area that is maybe twice the size as continental United States."

Curtis Ebbesmeyer, an oceanographer and leading authority on flotsam, has tracked the build-up of plastics in the seas for more than 15 years and compares the trash vortex to a living entity: "It moves around like a big animal without a leash." When that animal comes close to land, as it does at the Hawaiian archipelago, the results are dramatic. "The garbage patch barfs, and you get a beach covered with this confetti of plastic," he added.

The "soup" is actually two linked areas, either side of the islands of Hawaii, known as the Western and Eastern Pacific Garbage Patches. About one-fifth of the junk – which includes everything from footballs and kayaks to Lego blocks and carrier bags – is thrown off ships or oil platforms. The rest comes from land.

Mr Moore, a former sailor, came across the sea of waste by chance in 1997, while taking a short cut home from a Los Angeles to Hawaii yacht race. He had steered his craft into the "North Pacific gyre" – a vortex where the ocean circulates slowly because of little wind and extreme high pressure systems. Usually sailors avoid it.

He was astonished to find himself surrounded by rubbish, day after day, thousands of miles from land. "Every time I came on deck, there was trash floating by," he said in an interview. "How could we have fouled such a huge area? How could this go on for a week?"

Mr Moore, the heir to a family fortune from the oil industry, subsequently sold his business interests and became an environmental activist. He warned yesterday that unless consumers cut back on their use of disposable plastics, the plastic stew would double in size over the next decade.

Professor David Karl, an oceanographer at the University of Hawaii, said more research was needed to establish the size and nature of the plastic soup but that there was "no reason to doubt" Algalita's findings.

"After all, the plastic trash is going somewhere and it is about time we get a full accounting of the distribution of plastic in the marine ecosystem and especially its fate and impact on marine ecosystems."

Professor Karl is co-ordinating an expedition with Algalita in search of the garbage patch later this year and believes the expanse of junk actually represents a new habitat. Historically, rubbish that ends up in oceanic gyres has biodegraded. But modern plastics are so durable that objects half-a-century old have been found in the north Pacific dump. "Every little piece of plastic manufactured in the past 50 years that made it into the ocean is still out there somewhere," said Tony Andrady, a chemist with the US-based Research Triangle Institute.

Mr Moore said that because the sea of rubbish is translucent and lies just below the water's surface, it is not detectable in satellite photographs. "You only see it from the bows of ships," he said.

According to the UN Environment Programme, plastic debris causes the deaths of more than a million seabirds every year, as well as more than 100,000 marine mammals. Syringes, cigarette lighters and toothbrushes have been found inside the stomachs of dead seabirds, which mistake them for food.

Plastic is believed to constitute 90 per cent of all rubbish floating in the oceans. The UN Environment Programme estimated in 2006 that every square mile of ocean contains 46,000 pieces of floating plastic,

Dr Eriksen said the slowly rotating mass of rubbish-laden water poses a risk to human health, too. Hundreds of millions of tiny plastic pellets, or nurdles – the raw materials for the plastic industry – are lost or spilled every year, working their way into the sea. These pollutants act as chemical sponges attracting man-made chemicals such as hydrocarbons and the pesticide DDT. They then enter the food chain. "What goes into the ocean goes into these animals and onto your dinner plate. It's that simple," said Dr Eriksen.

thats horrifying...sounds almost like something from a bad horror movie 

yeah i've read about that! its so horrible, th eplastic never degrades, it breaks down into smaller and smaller pieces and stays in the food cycle, killing baby birds and the like cause fish eat it thinking its plankton, and the fish get eating by birds and the like

also in the news, earth scientists worldwide are pushing for the current epoch to be named, Anthropocene, to reflect the dominance of anthropogenic practices on the creation of sediments/rocks worldwide. you know, its weird, in 20 million years time there will be whole units of rocks across the world created from plastic and shit like that, just like sandstone is made from sand. gross!

I read about it in a book written 20 years ago...

It was a "science fiction" book, but everything else - The internet, nanobots, global terrorism, William Gibson wrote about has become reality, so it doesn't surprise me in the least.

loads of news today worth reading about...From news.com.au

Report shows students in 1960's better educated

SCHOOL students in the 1960s could read, write and count better than those today, according to a new report. Australian National University researchers found student literacy and numeracy had not improved since Sir Robert Menzies was primminister and the Beatles topped the charts.

Dr Andrew Leigh and Dr Chris Ryan tracked literacy and numeracy standards by comparing student results from the same tests over successive years for their report, How has school productivity changed in Australia

"Over the past three to four decades, neither literacy nor numeracy have improved, and may even have declined slightly," Dr Ryan said. "In numeracy, the typical young teenage student in 2003 was approximately a quarter of a grade level behind his or her counterpart in 1964." The researchers said this was despite increased government spending on education over the past 40 years. Spending increased by 238 per cent from 1964-2003, they said. "It is possible the additional education spending over the past few decades was misdirected," Dr Leigh said. "This additional expenditure does not seem to have succeeded in raising literacy or numeracy."

Dr Leigh said government policy could have contributed to the declining student standards. "Decisions to reduce class sizes while allowing teacher salaries to decline relative to other professions may not have been in the best interests of students," he said. Dr Leigh said lower salaries had led to a fall in teacher quality from 1983-2003, which would have contributed to a decline in student results.

State education departments need to focus on evidence-based policy making, he said. "We need to measure different practices to see which are the best," Dr Leigh said. "Results from one class with small student numbers should be compared against another class which has a top teacher."  Victorian Education Minister Bronwyn Pike recently applauded grade 3, 5 and year 7 students for meeting, and often exceeding, national benchmarks for literacy and numeracy.

Figures from the National Report on Schooling in Australia, released earlier this month, showed more than 96 per cent of grade 3 and 5 students met the writing benchmark, out-performing every state and territory in Australia. The Victorian Government has also committed $11.7 million to employ 45 literacy specialists.

------------------


East Timor president Jose Ramos-Horta shot, rebel killed

GUNMEN have opened fire on East Timor President Jose Ramos-Horta's home, shooting the leader in the stomach.

Rebel soldier Alfredo Reinado was killed in the pre-dawn shootout, the military said. There are reports of a second "failed attack" on the home of Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao. Presidential adviser Agusto Junior said Mr Ramos-Horta was undergoing surgery at an Australian military base in the capital, Dili. "President Ramos-Horta was shot in the stomach and is undergoing surgery at the heliport," he said.

Earlier, Reuters quoted a neighbour, Januario Freitas, as saying the president's wound appeared serious. A relative, who declined to be named, said the Nobel Peace laureate was to be flown to Australia. Army spokesman Major Domingos da Camara told the Associated Press two cars passed Mr Ramos-Horta's house about 4am local time (6am AEDT) and began shooting. Reinado was killed by return gunfire from house guards, and one of Mr Ramos-Horta's guards was also shot.

Australian officers with the International Stabilisation Force (ISF) said the president's house in Dili had been cordoned off and troops had rushed to the residence. Australian non-government organisations in Dili were this morning recommending that their staff remain at home. Reinado was involved in an incident last week when his rebel group fired up to eight warning shots at Australian ISF troops. The ISF soldiers did not return fire and no casualties were reported. The following day an explosion rocked the military base at Camp Phoenix, in central Dili, which houses elements of the ISF, but again there were no injuries.

Reinado was a key figure in the 2006 unrest that brought the tiny nation to the brink of civil war. Only last month it was reported that Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao would offer him one more chance to surrender or face arrest. Security forces have previously failed to apprehend Reinado, who in January refused to attend a scheduled court hearing tomorrow to face murder and other charges. Reinado's lawyer said the rebel leader would not submit to the judicial process until the government met several demands, including that his case be heard by a military court.

The court issued an arrest warrant for Reinado following his escape from prison, but last year Mr Ramos-Horta called off the warrant following a bungled attempt by the Australian military to arrest the rebel in Same, 50km south of Dili. Five of Reinado's followers died in the mountain raid. A 1000-strong Australian and New Zealand International Stabilisation Force has responsibility for the military in East Timor.

------------------------

Aussie woman Heidi Murphy murdered in Bali

A YOUNG Sydney woman has been found brutally stabbed to death in a Bali villa and police last night said she had been murdered. The 34-year-old's body was discovered yesterday by a shocked tradesman who arrived at her rented villa to do some painting. She had received multiple stab wounds, including to the neck and back and police said she had fought with her attacker as she had injuries to her hands.

The Department of Foreign Affairs officials would not confirm the name,  but Indonesian police said the woman was Heidi Murphy of Sydney and that she had lived in Bali in the villa in the suburb of Canggu for several years. She owned a garment and textile business in Kerobokan, a suburb near where she lived and her body was found.

"Indonesian authorities are investigating the woman's death," the DFAT spokesman said. "The Australian consul-general in Bali and the department in Canberra are providing consular assistance to the woman's family." The local police chief, Senior Supt Achmad Subarkah, said Ms Murphy had 16 stab wounds - one to the right side of her neck and the others in her back. Her naked body was found half-covered by a blanket.

Supt Subarkah said it was believed that Ms Murphy had fought with her attacker as her hands and ears were also injured
He said it was believed that nothing had been stolen from the villa and that the killing may have been one of revenge.

There was also no signs of a break-in, indicating the killer may have already been inside. No murder weapon has yet been found. She was last seen alive about 7pm on Saturday night by friend. Supt Subarkah said that Ms Murphy's ex-husband, an Australian with whom she was in the process of finalising a divorce, also lived in Bali.

Late yesterday, as police searched the two-storey villa for clues to her brutal death, her landlord and neighbours told of a young woman who liked parties on Saturday night and who was friendly and cheerful. Her landlord, Agung Made Kastadi, said that a painter who had come to the villa at about 12pm yesterday could not get any answer to his knocks so he jumped the fence and found the naked and wounded body in the downstairs area of the house. In shock, he called Mr Kastadi who immediately called the police.

He said the woman had lived in the two-bedroom and two-storey villa, positioned in the middle of a tranquil rice field, since January 2005, paying rent of 35 million Rupiah or about $4200 AUD per year. She had paid herself to have a swimming pool installed at the villa.

Mr Kastadi said that unlike many Westerners living in Indonesia, Ms Murphy had no employed security, telling him that she believed the villas location was safe. Sometimes she called me to fix things at the villa and she was always very friendly, Mr Kastadi said. Ms Murphy's villa was one of two connecting villas in the area of Canggu, along the coast from the suburbs of Kerobokan and Seminyak.

I hope this doesn't give Courtz any ideas... 


Police: Armed Boy Takes Classmate's Pokemon Cards

A 10-year-old boy was sent to juvenile hall after holding a foam pellet gun to a classmate's head and robbing him of his Pokemon trading cards.

No one was injured in yesterday's incident.

Redwood City police say the fourth-grader brought an Airsoft gun to Roosevelt Elementary School and held it to a 6-year-old's forehead, demanding that the younger child give up the trading cards.

The fourth-grader has been suspended, school officials are considering whether to expel him.

http://cbs13.com/local/pokemon.cards.stolen.2.647306.html

That is disgusting!

robbed with a nerf gun



pussy

Tony Abbott gets a dose of the Coreys

POLICE were twice called to the Sydney Northern Beaches home of former federal health minister Tony Abbott last weekend when throngs of gatecrashers descended on his teenage daughter's birthday party.

Neighbours of the Abbotts yesterday said the sheer number of teenagers in the street was blocking access.

"They were all over the road. I was trying to drive down the street and I was frightened I would hit one of them," one woman said.

Others woke to find bottles and beer cans strewn across their lawns.

A resident across the road told of how distressed the Abbotts were when they saw at least 50 uninvited teenagers congregating outside their Forestville home.

"The party was well-supervised before the (gatecrashers) turned up," the woman said.

"All the kids had to take off their backpacks and leave them in the garage before they were allowed in to make sure they had no alcohol on them.

"Then, at about 9pm, a huge number of kids turned up and were asking all the neighbours up and down the street, 'Where is the party?'

"They sort of milled around and then the police turned up and herded them back up the road. The Abbotts were deeply upset about it."

Police sent two separate patrol cars about 9pm and 11.30pm to the usually quiet suburban street to shoo the nuisance teens away. Many hid to escape the police and some reportedly abused the residents when they complained.

Police issued a number of "move on" orders and several teenagers were escorted back to Dee Why police station to wait for their parents. No arrests were made.

At least two other parties were being held in nearby streets and it is understood the rogue guests wandered down under the misguided belief that Mr Abbott was holding an open house.

Mr Abbott confirmed "there were a few kids in the street who tried to gain admission to our daughter's party, but we didn't let them in".

"After a while the police suggested they move on and I must say the police did a terrific job," he said.

image not archived: 0,,5886710,00.jpg

 

Downer, McGauran to lead parliament exodus

TWO of the Howard government's most senior ministers are planning to quit politics and pursue careers in business.

Alexander Downer and Peter McGauran are preparing to exit Parliament in a move that would trigger a series of by-elections.

It follows this week's revelation that former treasurer Peter Costello is among the big names who are likely to leave as part of a widespread purge of the former Howard ministry.

Mr Downer, Australia's longest-serving foreign affairs minister, is expected to team up with corporate lobbyist Ian Smith to form a boutique firm advising blue chip companies.

Well-placed sources said plans for the business, to be based in their home town of Adelaide, were "well advanced".

Its client list is likely to include a "who's who" of business such as BHP Billiton, in the midst of a fierce $164 billion takeover bid for Rio Tinto.

They could also tap into Mr Downer's extensive overseas network, built during his nearly 12 years as Australia's roving minister for foreign affairs.

Jockeying is understood to have already started to replace Mr Downer in his seat of Mayo, perched in the Adelaide Hills. Mr Downer won the seat with a sharply reduced margin of 7 per cent on November 24.

As part of his gradual exit from Parliament, Mr Downer is also scheduled to deliver a series of international speeches in the US and the UK among other places. These are likely to offer a forceful defence of the Howard government's controversial foreign policy.

The departure of Mr Downer, a 23-year veteran of federal politics, could trigger a broader exodus of former Howard government ministers.

While Mr Costello has yet to declare his hand, some of his closest friends have been advising him to return to the law, as a barrister in Melbourne. A spokesman said this week that Mr Costello did not plan to expand on the reports.

Mr McGauran, the former agriculture minister and one of the Nationals' most senior figures, is planning to give up his Victorian seat of Gippsland, which he has held since 1983.

He will also pursue a career in business, possibly in his family hotel chain in Melbourne.

Last night, Mr Downer insisted he was in "no rush" to make a final decision. But confidants confirmed he had already told them of his plans to quit and establish a business.

Mr Smith, a former adviser to Liberal governments and husband of former Democrats leader Natasha Stott Despoja, last night declined to comment about his new venture, or the prospect of teaming with Mr Downer.

 

these knobs really should be made to pay for the by-elections theyve caused by resigning early, esp as they arent exactly doing it for any reason other than the gravy train.

anyway, in other news:

McGee brothers should stand, court rules

http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/story/0,22606,23212255-5006301,00.html

HIT-RUN lawyer Eugene McGee and his brother have lost a bid to have conspiracy charges against them permanently stayed.

District Court Judge Malcolm Robertson today ruled the McGee brothers should stand trial for attempting to pervert the course of justice.

It is alleged the brothers conspired to keep Eugene McGee away from police in the hours after he hit and killed cyclist Ian Humphrey in November 2003.

But the trial could still be some way off yet – with the McGees' lawyers considering a Full Court appeal against Judge Robertson's decision.

The ruling was bitter-sweet for Mr Humphrey's widow Di Gilcrist.

"I was bracing myself for the charges to be dismissed today," Ms Gilcrist said.

Eugene McGee, 53, and Craig McGee, 57, had argued they would be unable to get a fair trial because of adverse publicity following the fatal crash on the Gawler to Kapunda Rd.

McGee was acquitted of causing death by dangerous driving and the case became the subject of South Australia's only Royal Commission since 1995.

While the McGees showed little emotion as they walked from court, the strain on Ms Gilcrist was obvious.

"I have given up four years of my life so far ... I just have to continue to fight for some kind of justice," she said.

Prosecutor Kevin Taverner said he hoped the trial could go ahead before the end of the year.

"Unfortunately I have no control over listings but I expect it will get some degree of priority," Mr Taverner said.

Ms Gilcrist said even if the McGee brothers were eventually convicted, it would be a hollow victory.

"It would only be a version of justice – I think that we are so far down the track that the justice that I needed is never going to be given to me," she said.

"But this for me is probably more about changing the system ... so that possibly other people won't have to go through this."

The McGees will be back in court for a directions hearing next month.



SUCK SHIT MOTHERFUCKER!!

About bloody time!

I hope justice is actually finally served
 

dodgiest motherfuckers evar

gtfo of australia


**edited to make sense

yeah thats so unaustralian

http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/story/0,22606,23212206-2682,00.html

BONGS COULD BE BANNED


BONGS and other drug implements may soon be banned under state government legislation.

Shop-owners who sell the paraphernalia could face fines of up to $50,000, if the tough new laws which passed the upper house last night are passed by the lower house next week.

Existing legislation covering the sale of such objects has been ineffective against retailers because it does not refer directly to the sale of drug implements.

Drug paraphernalia defined in the new law includes hookahs, bongs, waters pipes, hashish pipes, ice pipes and cocaine kits.

The bill introduced by Independent MLC Anne Bressington was supported by both major parties, Family First and Independent MLC John Darley.

"This bill will ensure our children are not being lured into illicit drugs use and seeks to ensure heavy penalties for people who are found to be selling drug paraphernalia," she said.

"It also removes the requirement for police to prove the equipment is being used for the consumption of illicit drugs.

"It will close many loopholes that have enabled the sale of pipes, bongs, cocaine kits, ice pipes and other forms of drug taking paraphernalia to be freely sold on our streets and markets."
______________________________________


What about Shisha water-pipes!!?!

Are they going to ban the cultural practice of smoking Shisha?
One that can play an important role in social interaction in some cultures...

Another uni campus shooting in the Usa.. This time, a geology lecture! I mean, I can understand busting some caps in a psych or even law lecture...But geology???

Unless they're a creationist...

Mass shooting at US university campus

A gunman has gone on a shooting rampage at a suburban Chicago university, with up to 20 people injured, some with critical head wounds. "It has been confirmed that there has been a shooting on campus and several people have been taken away by ambulance," Northern Illinois University said on its website. "People are urged not to come to campus."

A spokesperson for Kishwaukee Community Hospital in DeKalb, about 10 minutes from the campus, told ninemsn a total of 17 patients were at the hospital, including three in critical condition. Eight patients were stable, while a further six were in good condition, with no reported fatalities, the spokesperson said.

Four of the injured students had head wounds, the spokesperson said. Eyewitnesses say the gunman opened fire with a pistol and shotgun in the Cole Hall lecture theatre during a geology lecture. One witness told the Chicago Tribune "at least 20 rounds were fired".

The Northern Star Online quoted a senior student, George Gaynor, as saying the gunman was a "skinny white guy with a stocking cap on". Gaynor said one woman was hit in the eye, while a man was hit in the leg, according to the website. The university has ordered its student body to seek shelter and has cancelled all classes. The shooting comes 10 months after 32 students and staff were shot down by a mentally disturbed student at Virginia Tech University in one of the deadliest massacres ever at a US school.

Racial threats that referenced the Virginia Tech shooting were scrawled on a bathroom wall at the Chicago campus last year, forcing cancellation of some exams, reports say. But there is no evidence to link the two incidents at this stage.

are you kidding?

all day long youre talking about rocks!! plain ol lifeless, hard, cold, unmoving grubby rocks like the ones you find in your backyard - of course someones gonna go postal and paint the walls red, im surprised it hasnt happened sooner!
lol

OMG u SO don't know ur geology!!

The last thing most of us talk about all day is lifeless rocks. Anyone with nouse knows that teh earth is a living organism! With things forming and re-melting and being eroded and growing

Thats moving not living... You geology people, sheesh 

what about stromatolites??!! they're algal mats that build up over time, forming rocks! AND limestone is basically just coral reefs that are really old

those things are pretty cool, saw heaps down around mount gambier way recently...also saw some stromalites in denham (shark bay).

worlds oldest organism!

And now...Brendan Nelson, looking like Australia's biggest tool!


Nelson row: I've been stolen again

A MEMBER of the Stolen Generations has accused federal Opposition Leader Brendan Nelson of misrepresenting her in his response to the Government's national apology. Faye Lyman has said Dr Nelson never asked for her permission to use her name during a his speech in parliament this week. Dr Nelson used Ms Lyman's quotes from the Many Voices oral history documents at the National Library of Australia to argue good was being attempted when Aborigines were removed from their families.

He said that Faye Lyman had left her father when she was eight. Then Dr Nelson went on to quote her as having said: "Personally I don't want people to say, 'I'm sorry Faye', I just want them to understand." She was further quoted as having said: "It was very hurtful to leave Dad. Oh it broke my heart. Dad said to me, 'It's hard for daddy and the authorities won't let you stay with me in a tent on the riverbank.

"'You're a little girl and you need someone to look after you'.

"I remember him telling us that, and I cried. I said, 'No, but Dad, you look after us.' But they kept telling us it wasn't the right thing." Today, an angry and sobbing Ms Lyman said: "He took my story from Many Voices oral history out of context. "My dad was not happy that I was taken. They cheated us, they cheated me of my life with him.

"I feel like I've been stolen all over again and I am so ashamed he's done this to me," she said on ABC Radio.

Dr Nelson rang Ms Lyman last night and promised to ring her again next week to find out if she was still angry and upset, she said. "He said: 'I just wanted people to know your story'," she said. "I asked him why he didn't ring me, and he couldn't answer that. "How dare he use my story for his political career. He told me he read this three years ago so he had plenty of time to get in contact with me."

When Dr Nelson spoke in federal parliament on Wednesday, he supported an apology but said the issue was complex and no one was morally superior because "good was being sought to be done".

Expert predicts humans will get it on with robots by 2050

Rudimentary sexbot Honeydolls already on sale in Japan
Technology: More news and reviews in our tech section »

"In the mood for a little skin-to-skin?" coos a lover slipping between the sheets.

"Not tonight," mumbles the partner, turning around. "Just make it with the robot, if you want."

A kinky sci-fi fantasy? Love and lust in the 23rd century?

Not at all, says David Levy, a PhD in gender studies and artificial intelligence and author of Sex with Robots: The Evolution of Human-Robot Relations.

By mid-century, predicts the 62-year-old expert, getting it on with an electronic femme-fatale or a superstud sexbot will become an accepted part of the human landscape.

"Think of it: great sex on tap, 24/7," he said. People may even fall in love with their hard-wired sex slaves, he adds.

Not everyone embraces Dr Levy's vision of a future where humanoids guarantee satisfaction in bed along with pre-programmed post-coital conversation.

But many agree it is on the cards, given exponential leaps in computer power, progress in mimicking human muscles and movements, and headway in artificial intelligence (AI) software to replicate emotions and personality.

"Already today, the best quality synthetic voices cannot be distinguished from human voices," Dr Levy said, adding that some artificial skins now rival the smoothest of baby bottoms.

Last November, researchers at Waseda University in Japan unveiled a robot, named Twendy-One, that can cook, talk, obey verbal commands, and use its soft silicon-wrapped hands – each equipped with 241 pressure sensors – to interact with humans.

Even so, it will be a long time, Dr Levy acknowledges, before we cannot tell the difference between human and humanoid.

The sexbot Gigolo Joe played by Jude Law in Steven Spielberg's 2001 film Artificial Intelligence: AI providing chat and emotional support as well as sex, is at least 40 decades away, he thinks.

Not all AI experts agree.

"I don't think we will have convincing 'human-like' robots within that time frame," said Frederic Kaplan, a researcher at the Ecole Polytechnique Federale in Lausanne, Switzerland.

Mr Kaplan, who pushed the envelope of robot intelligence in programming the brain of Sony's eerily adorable robot dog Aibo, also wonders whether we even want robots made in our own image.

"Human-machine interactions will be interesting in their own right, not as 'simulation' of human relations," he said.

But Dr Levy is convinced the demand is there, and that market forces will provide the financial drive to overcome any technical – or psychological – obstacles.

"It is only a matter of time before someone in the adult entertainment industry, which is awash in money, thinks, 'Gee, I could make a pile of money'," he said.

A company in Japan, Axis, has already produced the world's first rudimentary sexbot – for men.

Called Honeydolls, the lifesize figures are made from surgical-grade silicone and resin, and are equipped with voice-emitting sensors in each breast. Pinch the nipples, and Cindy (or Soari or Maria, depending on the model) will react with a squeal and whisper pre-programmed sweet nothings in one's ear.

Customised mp3 audio files can be substituted for a more personal touch. Price tag: $US7000 ($7738).

Women, too, are bound to be lured to sexbots, contended Dr Levy.

"I don't think that women will be any less attracted than men — they may be more attracted," he said, pointing to a worldwide surge in the sale of vibrators, boosted by the lifting of taboos, ease of purchase and media endorsement.

Dr Levy, who once made a living organising chess championships, unusually wrote his book first then tweaked it to present as a doctoral thesis at the University of Maastricht in the Netherlands.

The work has generated what he calls a "tsunami" of media interest since its publication last year and from an unusually broad spectrum of publications.

"In March, I will be featured in Scientific American, and in April there will be an article in Hustler," said the futurist.

But what for Dr Levy is a dream of endless sex without guilt or disease is, for others, a nightmare of bleakness.

"I think it is far-fetched to think that human beings are going to fall in love with robots," said New York-based sexologist Yvonne K Fulbright, author of numerous books on sex and sexuality.

She acknowledges that sexbots will probably find a niche market, especially with men seeking to fulfill fantasies their flesh-and-blood partners might be refusing.

"But there will be a real stigma attached to sex robots. People are still going to feel like losers if that is their last resort," she said.

Ms Fulbright thinks Dr Levy is even further off-base when it comes to women. It is a huge leap, she said, to think that because women stimulate themselves with gadgets that they are going to embrace robot partners.

"Women may say that they adore and love their vibrators. But they don't mean that they are in love with them," she said.

http://www.news.com.au/technology/story/0,25642,23213493-5014108,00.html

 

stromatolites, always forget about them 

 


Limestone may have been coral but its dead.  Oil was once living too, but its worth way more than limestone. 


Anna please ignore me, im just throwing out bait for when leezee gets on here next

British film critics have savaged Madonna's debut as a film director, branding her new movie "terrible" and urging her not to give up her day job.

The pop star-turned-actress-turned-director unveiled her film, Filth and Wisdom, at the Berlin Film Festival but failed to impress her audience.

The Guardian's film critic Peter Bradshaw said after proving herself to be a "terrible" actress in the past, Madonna had "graduated to being a terrible director".


"Madonna has made a dumb and tacky comedy-drama about three people sharing a flat in a quaintly conceived 'London' and her conception of super-cool streetwise reality is so clueless it's as if Marie Antoinette had made a film about cake-munching peasants.

"How is it possible that the exhilarating talented star ... has dwindled to such a dullard?"

As well as directing Filth and Wisdom, Madonna produced and co-wrote the film whose main character, AK (Eugene Hutz) is a Ukrainian singer with a gypsy punk band who also provides bondage and domination services to masochistic businessmen.

The Daily Telegraph's Sheila Johnston had a bleak warning for Madonna: "Don't give up the day job".

"Madonna describes Filth and Wisdom as `essentially my way of putting myself through film school", and it is an extremely canny assessment," Johnston wrote.

"The movie is - disappointingly, perhaps - not an outright embarrassment; there are even a couple of intentional laughs in it.

"It's not an entirely unpromising first effort. But the director would do well to hang on to her day job."

The Times' James Christopher agreed that Madonna should probably stick to pop music, but was slightly less harsh in his assessment of her latest film effort.

"Despite its many shortcomings and an ending so mushy and neat it would embarrass Richard Curtis, Madonna has done herself proud," he said.

"Her film has an artistic ambition that has simply bypassed her husband, the film director Guy Ritchie.

"She captures that wonderfully accidental nature of luck when people's lives intersect for a whole swath of unlikely but cherishable reasons.

"Altmanesque would be stretching the compliment too far, but Filth and Wisdom shows that Madonna has real potential as a film director."

AUSTRALIA and the US have signed a long-awaited deal which could make trans-Pacific travel substantially cheaper.

Transport Minister Anthony Albanese will hold a press conference in Sydney this afternoon to discuss the signing of the landmark Open Skies Agreement with the US earlier today.

The agreement will allow additional Australian and US airlines to operate between the two countries and remove restrictions on competition.

Negotiations began under the Howard government.

Almost two million passengers fly between the US and Australia each year.

No probs!

U know, its interesting...the shooter in the usa was described as a tall, skinny white male...anyone seen liam lately?

 

Those pesky Stromatolites! 


 

 

Teeheehee!


Jane Fonda drops c-bomb live on TV


HOLLYWOOD icon Jane Fonda dropped the c-bomb live on US television today, forcing a major network to apologise to its viewers.
During an interview on NBC’s high-rating Today show, the workout queen exercised her vocabulary by using the c-word  while chatting about the play The Vagina Monologues.

“I live in Georgia, and I was asked to do a monologue called C*** and I said, ‘I don’t think so, I’ve got enough problems',” Fonda said in a live broadcast just hours ago.

Today host Meredith Vieira laughed nervously following the faux-pas and quickly moved on with her questions.

Ali G may 'pimp' Adelaide to Britons

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,23221438-1702,00.html

SOUTH Australian tourism chiefs are trying to convince British comedian Sacha Baron Cohen to bring his notorious Ali G character out of retirement to help lure people to Adelaide.

South Australia's London-based agent general Bill Muirhead this month kicked off a major advertising campaign urging Brits to consider moving to the state's capital.

The campaign targeted Ali G's home town of Staines, a bland commuter town on London's outskirts, as a good reason to leave Britain for the sunnier climes of Adelaide.

But Muirhead's chances of securing a deal are considered low because Baron Cohen announced last December that Ali G was retiring for good.

Internet sex auction sparks paternity row

http://www.news.com.au/technology/story/0,25642,23213688-5014239,00.html

A WOMAN in Germany who became pregnant after an online sex auction has won a court battle to force the website that hosted the sale to reveal the names of the winners, so she can find out who the father is.

Six different men won internet auctions to have sex with the woman in April and May last year.

They were only known to her by their online names, a spokesman for a court in the southwestern city of Stuttgart said.

"The woman wanted to discover which one of the men had made her pregnant," the spokesman said.

"So she needed their contact details. Of course, if they're not willing to go along with the gene test, she'll have to take them to court."

The woman asked the site's operator to reveal the true identity of the men, but it refused, citing a confidentiality clause in its terms and conditions.

The court ruled in her favour, saying the child's right to know who its father was took precedence.

Surely Eugene Hutz can be doing something other than appearing in Madonna Films. Gogol Bordello are an entertaining band, and he was great in Everything Is Illuminated.

Mobile filmmakers call for 'hot' chick flicks
By Kate Kelland in London February 15, 2008 09:12am


IT could produce the ultimate "hot chick flick", or it may erupt as a boiling international rant against the threat of global warming.
But whichever way it goes, producers of an all-women directed interactive mobile phone film say it will be a "cinematic symphony of women's voices from around the world".

The project — entitled Overheated Symphony — is part of the Birds Eye View film festival taking place in London next month which showcases the work of female film-makers.

Women across the world are being asked to make a short film — a "quick flick" — between 40 seconds and four minutes long on a mobile phone and then send it via the internet to a London-based film director who will pull them all together.

Apart from the overall theme "Overheated", there is no restriction on content or subject matter.

Related links
Mobiles: Pocket gadgets get picture projection
Teen game: Aussie mobile game creator blasts critics
"If it's hot, we'd like to see it," says a statement on the project's website.

"Ladies, wherever you are, whoever you are, we want you to join in."

According to Sarah Turner, the British film director whose task it will be to create a final edit from the mobile phone contributions, the inspiration for Overheated Symphony was the 1927 film by German filmmaker Walter Ruttmann Berlin - Symphony of a Great City, which used a montage of still pictures from many sources to document city life.

Like that work, Overheated Symphony will be "very abstract", says Ms Turner.

It will give those who contribute the chance to engage in a "dialogue of ideas" with women across the world.

"Because they are films made by women, women's themes and issues are bound to be an integral part of the finished piece," she said.

"I expect some of them to be quite intense, because this is quite an intense thing to respond to,"

"We all have overheated moments, when we are angry about something, or upset, or when we are sexually hot. We might even end up having some menopause films, you never know."

Ms Turner is gathering the mobile films ahead of the March 2 deadline and will then produce a live edit of the symphony to be aired on March 9 at London's Institute of Contemporary Arts.

Rachel Millward, director of the Birds Eye View festival, which is now in its third year, says the film is as much about new technology as it is about women and heat.

"The way film and media are going is very much towards interactivity and multi-platform projects," she said.

"We wanted to develop a project along those lines, and also one that had a kind of gamey feel to it — the sense that everyone can join in and have a play."

"Making a film from all these female voices around the world is quite a beautiful thing, but also it's about shooting down the idea that women are not up to date with technology."

The festivals website, www.birds-eye-view.co.uk, instructs competitors to upload their cinematic efforts onto the festival's own YouTube channel to be edited.

And while Ms Millward admits the end result is as yet unknown, she is confident it will be far more than the sum of its parts.

"The great thing about this film is that you can't predict what it will be," she says.

"It could be about climate change, or it could be about passion. I imagine it will be all of those things and more."

Links
Birds Eye View website - www.birds-eye-view.co.uk
Birds Eye View on YouTube - www.youtube.com/user/BirdsEyeViewFilmFest

Yay go SA!

Coober Pedy to get solar power station

Australia's largest solar power station is to be built at Coober Pedy, in South Australia's mid-north, to provide more than 10 per cent of the town's electricity needs. Federal Environment Minister Peter Garrett said the $7.1 million project would feature 26 solar dishes, each one 14 metres high, to produce 1,860 megawatt hours of power each year.

Coober Pedy was chosen because it is not connected to the electricity grid and gets all its power from diesel generators. The solar power station will cut diesel use in the town by 520,000 litres, saving 1,500 tonnes of greenhouse gases. Mr Garrett described the project as groundbreaking and an example of the federal government's commitment to a clean energy future. The federal government will provide $3.55 million for the station with other funding coming from the state government and private industry.

South Australian Premier Mike Rann said the project would consolidate the state's reputation as a leader in renewable energy initiatives. "It reinforces our willingness to collaborate and invest in practical solutions to climate change in our communities," Mr Rann said. "South Australia already provides nearly half of the nation's wind power, more than 45 per cent of the nation's grid-connected solar power and is home to more than 80 per cent of all geothermal exploration activity in Australia."

The new Coober Pedy power station is expected to begin generating electricity by the end of 2009.

This is where dad lives:

Eight arrested after NT clan stand-off

Posted Sun Feb 17, 2008 8:07am AEDT

    * Map: Darwin 0800

Northern Territory police say calm has returned to the township of Timber Creek, 350 kilometres south-west of Darwin, after rival clans confronted each other on Friday.

Police say an estimated 100 people gathered on the edge of the town armed with axes, spears and star pickets.

Superintendent James O'Brian says it has been an ongoing problem that the community is working hard to resolve.

"In my time down here in Katherine in charge of basically the Timber Creek district, there has always been ongoing issues between various clan groups," he said.

"It's something that we are working really hard at, between those clan groups and the local council, to try and resolve, so we can put a stop to it and no more large disturbances occur."

Extra police have been flown in from Katherine and eight arrests have been made so far.





Unfortunately the whole town is flooded in, so the clans involved can't actually go anywhere to leave each other alone Hope they remembered to say sorry.

RIP HD DVD - http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,23244289-23109,00.html

toshiba have conceded defeat and blu-ray is going to be the way forward

hhaha, julia gillard is teh cool!

Gillard laughs at sexy woman vote

A bewildered and amused, Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard says a poll naming her as Australia's second most sexiest woman is "very unusual". Model Jennifer Hawkins - a former Miss Universe - topped the poll of a men's magazine readers.

"I'm not a reader of Ralph magazine, I would like to make that clear," Ms Gillard said, laughing, on Fairfax Radio Network. "I'm sure many Australians do read Ralph magazine, but I'm not one of them. "I think people don't understand that I am probably two foot shorter than Jennifer Hawkins and double her body weight, so it's been a very unusual result. "I would simply agree that Jennifer is a very attractive woman."

RIP HD DVD - http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,23244289-23109,00.html

toshiba have conceded defeat and blu-ray is going to be the way forward

That's pretty big news. Have to say I wasn't looking forward to shelling out for a HD-DVD player. Thank fuck I got a PS3! 

50 Cent gives Clinton public 'respec'


US rapper 50 Cent has endorsed Hillary Clinton as the Democrats' presidential candidate, saying her rival Barack Obama would probably be killed because Americans were not ready for a black president. In a brief in-car interview aired on Fox News' O'Reilly Factor, 50 Cent was asked by a British reporter who he would back in the primaries.

He gave his backing to New York Senator Clinton. "I just think she could do a job. There's nothing bad with Obama in my eyes either, I just think Hillary ... that would be my choice. "I'm not sure America's ready to have a black president. I think they might kill him," the rapper said as the reporter thanked "Mr Cent" for the ride.

States 'standing in way of solar nation'

AUSTRALIA has the know-how and the industrial capability to become a solar nation but state governments are standing in the way, the country's largest producer of solar energy products says. BP Solar regional director Brooke Miller said Australia could install three gigawatts of peak energy, enough to provide solar power to more than one million homes and thousands of businesses. That would make the country a benchmark solar nation and a world leader in alternative energy.

Ms Miller told the third international Solar Cities Congress in Adelaide what was needed now was action from governments around Australia to adopt feed-in legislation, to make switching to solar power more economical for individuals and companies. So far, South Australia is the only state to have moved on the issue by last week introducing into parliament feed-in laws which will allow consumers to sell back electricity they produce in their homes or businesses to the grid at a profit. If approved, the SA laws would allow consumers to be paid twice as much for any electricity they return as they would be charged for it.

States must follow SA

"Indeed, action from the other states is now all that stands in the way of truly seeding a solar powered nation,'' Ms Miller said.

"We ask all policymakers to be brave in decision making, adopt a long-term view, and be open to both residential and commercial players emerging in solar energy solutions.'' Ms Miller said BP Solar wanted to see the emergence of a new segment of electricity users sometimes dubbed "pro-sumers'' or energy producers by day and consumers by night.

"Part of our quest is making everyone the chief executive officer of their own power station - home owner, small business, big business, farmers and government departments,'' she said. She also said the drive towards a sustainable energy future would also produce more than 9000 new jobs and save four million tonnes of greenhouse gases each year.

"We have an enthusiastic and engaged market,'' Ms Miller said. "Australian families and householders are embracing the technology like never before and the Australian business community is awakening to opportunities to turn their roofs into power plants.''

I'm gonna have to do some research on this, but I reckon if you hooked up all the exercise bikes / treadmills in a gym together and connected them to the grid, one could make a pretty penny...

haha yeah i have always thought that too

on ya bike then 

Hmmm, apparently a person can easily sustain 100 watts whilst exercising...

And energy costs about 20c/kWh...

So peddling for an hour would save you 2c off your bill, or power one 100W light globe. If you could convert ALL that energy into electricity.


Yeah my plan sucks.

spose gyms might make a bit of a tidy profit tho? maybe u could get discounts for USING the bikes!!

100 Watts is 4/5 of fuck all.  In fact the generator equipment for each bike would probably consume more energy to design/make than the thing would put out.  You have to think life-cycle people  :razz:

This is cool! Also, wonder what happened to that super muscly 6 year old??!! He must be about 10 years old yeah?? or even 12?

Meet the world's smallest bodybuilder

AT just 2ft 9in, Indian muscleman Aditya 'Romeo' Dev is the world's smallest bodybuilder, reports the Daily Mail.
Pint-sized Romeo is well-known in his hometown of Phagwara, India - for his ability to lift 1.5kg dumbbells - despite his overall 9kg body weight. Every day, crowds flock to the local gym to the see the mini-muscleman in training.  Unlike many dwarfs, Romeo is well proportioned, with a head circumference of 15in and a chest measurement of 20in.

Romeo said: "I've been training as a bodybuilder for the last two years and by now I think I must be the strongest dwarf in the world. "I have always been fit but since I started working out, I have become famous for my strength. "My size has never stopped me. I train with dumbbells and do aerobics and dance. People are always pleased to see me. I have been invited on TV shows and dance on stage."



PS I realise this was in the funny pics section, its a cool story tho!

is that really really a real little indian man?!

that's fucking hilarious!   

yeah it is haha lookit his cute 2 year old shorts and shirt, it has a lil cartoon on it!

sooooooo thought it was a photochop when i saw the first pic of him.

still does look like a photochop but i'll accept it as truth

Poor fucking dude!

Video Gamer's 'I Have Killed Them All' Call Leads to Arrest

A call mistakenly made by a victorious video gamer led to his arrest on an outstanding warrant.

Authorities arrested Thomas Ballard, 29, of Delhi, early Monday after a woman reported receiving a late-night call from someone saying, "I have killed them all."

Ballard's number showed up on the woman's caller ID; he'd called by mistake, meaning instead to get a buddy to talk-up his success in an Xbox game, said Sgt. Julie Lewis, a spokeswoman for the Louisiana State Police.

Authorities following up at the address, to investigate whether there had been any foul play, found no evidence of wrongdoing, she said. But they did find, in the process of identifying Ballard, that he had a 5-year-old warrant out of Baton Rouge, charging him with failure to appear on a possession of cocaine charge.

Ballard was booked into the Richland Parish Detention Center for extradition to Baton Rouge.

"It was weird the way this all came down," Lewis said Tuesday. "This isn't something you could just make up."

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,331393,00.html

Female G spot 'can be detected'

The mysterious G spot - supposedly a route to female sexual satisfaction - can be located with ultrasound, claim Italian scientists. Some women say stimulating a certain part of the vagina triggers powerful orgasms, but medicine has not been able to pin down the exact location. Researchers told New Scientist magazine they found an area of thicker tissue among the women reporting orgasms. But specialists warned there could be other reasons for this difference.

For the first time, it is possible to determine by a simple, rapid and inexpensive method if a woman has got a G spot or not The existence of the G spot has remained controversial since the 1980s, when the term was coined as a way to explain why some women were able to achieve orgasm through vaginal stimulation, while others were not. Some specialists claim that the term has led to over-anxiety among women who cannot reach satisfaction this way, and their partners.

The latest research, published in the Journal of Sexual Medicine, was carried out the Dr Emmanuele Jannini at the University of L'Aquila, and involved just 20 women. Ultrasound was used to measure the size and shape of the tissue beyond the "front" wall of the vagina, often suggested as the location of the G spot. In the nine women who reported being able to achieve vaginal orgasm, the tissues between the vagina and the urethra - which carries urine out of the body - were on average thicker than in the 11 women who could not reach orgasm this way.

Dr Jannini said: "For the first time, it is possible to determine by a simple, rapid and inexpensive method if a woman has got a G spot or not." However, Dr Tim Spector, from St Thomas' Hospital in London, told New Scientist that the thicker tissue might actually be part of the clitoris - another extremely sensitive area. Another suggestion was that, rather than being the cause of more orgasms, having these frequently might actually lead to better-developed musculature in this area.

Dr Petra Boynton, a sexual psychologist at University College London, said that an entire industry had grown up around the idea of a G spot, and it was unhelpful to label women unable to find theirs as "dysfunctional". She said: "We're all different. Some women will have certain area within the vagina which will be very sensitive, and some won't - but they won't necessarily be in the area called the G spot. "If a woman spends all her time worrying about whether she is normal, or has a G spot or not, she will focus on just one area, and ignore everything else. "It's telling people that there is a single, best way to have sex, which isn't the right thing to do."

Jesus! What a story!!!

Tradie shoots dog, saves women's lives

A SUBURBAN tradesman saved the lives of two women being attacked by a pitbull - by shooting it between the eyes with a nail gun. The man, who did not wish to be named, said he acted on instinct when he killed the animal, which was attacking a 17-year-old girl and her 43-year-old female relative in the front yard of a home in Greystanes, Sydney,  yesterday. The tradesman said he and his business partner were working in the area just after 2pm yesterday when they heard cries for help. "She was screaming out the front of her house. She was just yelling to start with and we thought it was a bit of a domestic so we didn't do anything to start with," he said yesterday.

"After about five or 10 minutes she started yelling for help and a woman from the street went down and I went up and we could see there was a dog attached to her leg and there was blood everywhere." The man said he and his partner had little choice but to intervene. "My partner grabbed a lump of timber and started hitting the dog and I grabbed a nail gun that we had, just as self-defence really, because the dog was going to attack anything that was near it," he said.

"My partner hit the dog until it let go of the girl and the other woman dragged the girl back into the house. She probably had half a calf missing." Despite being cornered, the dog would not be subdued and continued to attack witnesses. "My partner and another woman pinned it up against a brick wall and it was still trying to eat anything and that's when I shot it in the head," the tradesman said. "It wasn't premeditated - it had finished having a go at her and it was trying to bite everyone."

The tradesman, who gave a statement to police, said he regretted the animal's death. He had not spoken to either of the pitbull's victims, but said he believed his decision to kill it was justified. "I'm not happy that I shot someone's dog but I did what I had to do. Some family members thanked us." Later, a young woman was seen crying over the animal's remains. The victims were taken to Westmead Hospital with lower leg injuries. Both were in a stable condition.

fucking hell, right on cue for my post in the rant thread 

The mysterious G spot - supposedly a route to female sexual satisfaction - can be located with ultrasound, claim Italian scientists. Some women say stimulating a certain part of the vagina triggers powerful orgasms, but medicine has not been able to pin down the exact location. Researchers told New Scientist magazine they found an area of thicker tissue among the women reporting orgasms.

For the first time, it is possible to determine by a simple, rapid and inexpensive method if a woman has got a G spot or not

jesus, a long finger will do the trick just fine. no need for these messy instruments

i know! sorry i posted it, but its a nuts story!

the comments are good tho, at news.com.au, a lot of people defended the pit bull breed itself..one person had their pit bulls teeth removed, so it wouldnt ever be tempted to take a bite!

Earthquakes are caused by Gays

http://www.news24.com/News24/World/News/0,,2-10-1462_2274535,00.html

Jerusalem - An Israeli lawmaker said on Wednesday that several earthquakes felt in Israel recently were a consequence of gays and the parliament's acceptance of them.

Shlomo Benizri of the ultra-Orthodox Jewish Shas Party, said the way to stop the tremors was for parliament to reverse its trend of liberalising laws concerning homosexuals.

Two quakes originating in neighbouring Lebanon shook much of Israel last week, the first coming two days after Israel's attorney general ruled that same-sex couples could adopt children.

During two weeks in November and December, four earthquakes shook parts of Israel, Jordan and the Palestinian territories.

Earthquakes are caused by Gays

Leezee and Trashy - sucks to be you - you spent thousands of dollars on an education that say earthquakes were caused by movements of tectonic places as they float on the earth's magma core, when all along it was those nasty gays...

I fucking knew it!

So it was the gays was it? I was positive the fucking jews had something to do with it.

Sure it wasn't the gay jews?

Sure it wasn't the gay jews?

that would be a tricky situation for liam... he loves the gays, but hates the jews!!!

Leezee and Trashy - sucks to be you - you spent thousands of dollars on an education that say earthquakes were caused by movements of tectonic places as they float on the earth's magma core, when all along it was those nasty gays...

maybe the gays have so angered the earth gods that they are preparing a steamy bath of molten rock to punish them? or summik like that?!

Cause its friday and we need some cute news stories...

Checkit, Kibongo the baby crowned lemur! Naw cuterns!



He was born on xmas eve and has only just been allowed to hang out in public, in the zoo in Paris where he lives.

bwahhaha labour in power definitely makes for a more interesting parliament! 

Cardboard Kevin disrupts parliament

The federal opposition has pledged further disruption of parliament after brandishing a life-size cardboard cut-out of Prime Minister Kevin Rudd in the House of Representatives. Nationals MP Luke Hartsuyker was kicked out of the chamber on Friday after passing the cut-out among opposition frontbenchers, infuriating deputy speaker Anna Burke The stunt came amid continuing uproar in the lower house as the opposition demanded Mr Rudd and other ministers attend parliament's new Friday sitting day, which has been set aside for backbenchers.

A defiant manager of opposition business, Joe Hockey, said disruptions would continue until the government agreed to hold a question time on the Friday sitting day. "Unless the government does something about their conduct in the parliament, they will continue to have us press for a question time every Friday," he told reporters. "This will make a point - we don't want cardboard Kevin here, we want the real Kevin Rudd." Earlier a coalition MP was physically escorted from the chamber and parliament was adjourned temporarily after the opposition tried to move a motion calling for a question time to be held. Mr Hockey said he was "absolutely" comfortable with the move to bring the cut-out on to the floor of parliament.

Asked if the stunt was an agreed tactic between opposition MPs, Mr Hockey said: "Of course I'm aware of what happens in the chamber... I make no apologies whatsoever for the fact that we are trying to have a democratic parliament with an executive, a prime minister and ministers who are accountable to the Australian people." Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard had brought Work Choices brochures, mousepads, pens and folders into parliament as props during the week, he said.

And Mr Hockey said MPs were entitled to challenge speakers' rulings, after some coalition MPs defied the speaker and refused to leave the chamber. "There was no proof that the speaker in fact had made a binding decision because there was no vote to support the speaker," he said. Mr Hockey said the government had refused to call divisions on Friday because it could not be assured of having the majority to hold the house. "They have got themselves into a complete mess in the running of the parliament," he said.

When the prime minster announced last year that parliament would sit for five days, he said it was to make MPs work harder, Mr Hockey said. "It's not good enough that Mr Rudd and his ministers are not here five days a week when they demand other members of parliament to be here five days a week." Mr Rudd is visiting an indigenous community in NSW and the flood-hit Queensland city of Mackay on Friday.

image not archived: kruddcutout080222seven160.jpg

wtf? That is so weird... I thought the Liberals were meant to be all sensible and mature!

I'd be in total agreement with the Liberals on this point. KRudd said the parliament was going to be better this year and sit more often...

but... Mr Rudd is visiting an indigenous community in NSW and the flood-hit Queensland city of Mackay on Friday. makes them seem like childish prats... It's not like he's shirking his responsibilities to go scuba diving.

*URGENT READ*
i don't mean to alarm anybody but i just noticed this article in todays Crapvertiser

Prediction
Earth faces white-hot end


'OH SHIT!' you say, 'how much longer do we have to live!?!'


7.6 BILLION years? errr....well in that case, i think i've got time for another beer

 

haha, smartass!

Doesn't matter anyway, eventually the universe will end up as a chaotic soup of particles thanks to entropy. we've got no hope in the long term...

Drugged ravers dance close to death

Hundreds of stupid, drunk and drugged partygoers danced millimetres from death at an "underground" dance party held at the base of a seaside cliff in Sydney's east, police say. The rave, which started at midnight on the tennis court-sized, oceanside rock platform, 30 metres below the Clovelly cliff top, was shut down by police responding to noise complaints at 3am (AEDT).

Heavy surf pounded around the party, with waves washing at times onto the dance "floor" lit with strobing coloured lights powered by a generator that also powered the music. Police Rescue Acting Sergeant Col Benton said it took two hours to evacuate 300 revellers over large slippery boulders and up one long ladder for their own safety. No one was injured. "It was extremely dangerous for partygoers and rescuers," Sgt Benton told reporters in Sydney on Sunday. "There were people on the cliff's edge, on the water's edge, millimetres from disaster.

"With the heavy swell that was around people could have easily been swept into the ocean and to their death.

"A number of the people were intoxicated in moderate to heavy states, both with alcohol and illegal drugs." The party's organisers starting setting up 12-metre projection screens, the lighting display, DJs' area and dance floor on Friday, using ropes to lower the equipment, police said. A man had been interviewed by officers about how the illegal party was set up but police could not at this stage say what charges he might face.

Sgt Benton said the partygoers were "stupid, irresponsible and foolhardy" for attending this illegal event. It's the second time since December that a dance party has been held at the Clovelly cliff base. "It will not be happening again," Sgt Benton said.

SA schoolboy explodes fish-memory myth

PrintPrint Increase font size Decrease font size Comments 6 Comments 0 Stars 0 Ratings | Rate It: 1 star2 star3 star4 star5 starThank you for rating! Send to friendSend to friend
Goldfish | Getty Images

18/02/2008 10:44:00 AM.
A 15-year-old South Australian school student has busted the myth that goldfish have a three second memory.

Rory Stokes, from the Australian Science and Mathematics School in Adelaide, conducted an experiment to test the commonly held theory that goldfish have short memory spans.

Rory's experiment involved teaching a small group of fish to swim to a beacon by establishing a memory connection between the beacon and food.

He was also keen to open people's minds to the cruelty of keeping fish in small tanks.

Rory's experiment involved teaching a small group of fish to swim to a beacon by establishing a memory connection between the beacon and food.

Over a period of three weeks, he placed a beacon in the water at feeding time each day, waited 30 seconds and then sprinkled fish food around the beacon.

The time taken for the fish to swim to the beacon reduced dramatically, from more than one minute for the first few feeds to less than five seconds by the end of the three weeks.

Following the initial three-week period, Rory removed the beacon from the feeding process.

Six days later, he once again placed the beacon in the water and despite not seeing it for almost a week, the fish swam to the beacon in 4.4 seconds, showing they had remembered the association between food and the beacon for at least six days.

"My results strongly showed that goldfish can retain knowledge for at least six days," Rory said.

"They can retain that knowledge indefinitely if they use it regularly."

Rory also conducted a number of sub-experiments which showed that goldfish were capable of negotiating a simple maze, having them move onto a second beacon if they found no food at the previous one.

"My experiments showed that goldfish have the mental capabilities to learn and remember fairly complex concepts and they can retain that knowledge for at least a number of days," he said.

Australian Science and Mathematics School principal Jim Davies said the series of experiments were an excellent example of science investigation made fun.

SA schoolboy explodes fish-memory myth

PrintPrint Increase font size Decrease font size Comments 6 Comments 0 Stars 0 Ratings | Rate It: 1 star2 star3 star4 star5 starThank you for rating! Send to friendSend to friend
Goldfish | Getty Images

18/02/2008 10:44:00 AM.
A 15-year-old South Australian school student has busted the myth that goldfish have a three second memory.

Rory Stokes, from the Australian Science and Mathematics School in Adelaide, conducted an experiment to test the commonly held theory that goldfish have short memory spans.

Rory's experiment involved teaching a small group of fish to swim to a beacon by establishing a memory connection between the beacon and food.

He was also keen to open people's minds to the cruelty of keeping fish in small tanks.

Rory's experiment involved teaching a small group of fish to swim to a beacon by establishing a memory connection between the beacon and food.

Over a period of three weeks, he placed a beacon in the water at feeding time each day, waited 30 seconds and then sprinkled fish food around the beacon.

The time taken for the fish to swim to the beacon reduced dramatically, from more than one minute for the first few feeds to less than five seconds by the end of the three weeks.

Following the initial three-week period, Rory removed the beacon from the feeding process.

Six days later, he once again placed the beacon in the water and despite not seeing it for almost a week, the fish swam to the beacon in 4.4 seconds, showing they had remembered the association between food and the beacon for at least six days.

"My results strongly showed that goldfish can retain knowledge for at least six days," Rory said.

"They can retain that knowledge indefinitely if they use it regularly."

Rory also conducted a number of sub-experiments which showed that goldfish were capable of negotiating a simple maze, having them move onto a second beacon if they found no food at the previous one.

"My experiments showed that goldfish have the mental capabilities to learn and remember fairly complex concepts and they can retain that knowledge for at least a number of days," he said.

Australian Science and Mathematics School principal Jim Davies said the series of experiments were an excellent example of science investigation made fun.

 

*goes to smack brother upside the head*

We taught our fish @ work to jump out of the water and take the food out of our fingers !!
Definately more than a 30 second memory ;p

We taught our fish @ work to jump out of the water and take the food out of our fingers !!
Definately more than a 30 second memory ;p

Agreed, ive got tropical fish, some of them swim towards me when i go near the tank.  Ive also had one who used to suffer from boredom & did repetitive behaviour.  I got him/her a mate and he/she is now happy (you can just tell).  Fish definately have a higher intelligence than what some people think. 

my fish know exactly when i am home and they are gonna get fed!

ooh i love fishies

wtf?!


Teen 'chained to bed for 10 days'

A 16-YEAR-old girl was allegedly chained to her bed by her mother for 10 days to stop her from seeing "undesirable" friends. The Messenger newspaper said police went to the house in Prospect, South Australia, on February 18 after receiving a call from the girl's mother, asking for police help to get rid of a group of people who wanted to see her daughter.

Police Chief Inspector Ian McDonald said the woman allegedly told police the girl was chained in the house. "She told police the undesirable group of people were there to see her daughter,'' he said. The woman had been charged with false imprisonment, the community newspaper said.

PS I love how it was THE MESSENGER which broke the story!!!

fuckign idiots! sif u mess with the DDL!!

Star Daniel Day-Lewis rips into radio fool

THEY pranked the Hollywood paparazzi last week, but The Kyle and Jackie O Show was served some of its own strong medicine at the Oscars yesterday. Academy Award-winner Daniel Day-Lewis used the "F" word during a heated press conference exchange with the Sydney radio show's correspondent - soon after accepting his golden gong. The There Will Be Blood star was antagonised by radio reporter Michael "Sydney" O'Neill, who annoyed the serious actor with inquiries about how he relaxes. After several attempts at dismissing the repeated line of questioning, an explosive Day-Lewis told O'Neill it was "none of your f...ing business" what he did in his downtime.

Earlier, O'Neill was turned away from the Kodak Theatre red carpet by event organisers for defying the strict black-tie dress code - which is applied to all working media - as well as the A-list stars. The 2DayFM staffer had arrived wearing jeans and an Akubra, but was sent back to his hotel to change into black pants before being allowed to rejoin other media representatives for the post-awards press conference. "All of the media were explicitly told in advance that it was black-tie for everyone in the media room," a Los Angeles insider told Confidential yesterday "with tuxes for the guys and floor-length gowns for the ladies". "When he came back he was whinging about it being like school," the source said.

Last week, Kyle Sandilands and his sidekick Jackie O, made themselves unpopular among the local press corps, after duping the paparazzi into thinking they had stashed Britney Spears in the back of a rented SUV. The stunt fooled a large contingent of photographers and camera crews, who followed their vehicle through an LA fast food drive-thru, before the press pack realised they had been punked.

That's gold

 


PNG woman gives birth in tree

Tuesday February 26th, 2008.

A pregnant Papua New Guinea woman hung from a tree after being accused of sorcery gave birth to her baby while struggling to free herself, local media reports.

Nolan Yekum and her husband Paul were dragged from their house and hung from a tree by fellow tribesmen who accused them of sorcery after the couple's neighbour suddenly died.

Their ordeal occurred in Kilip village near Banz in Western Highlands Province, PNG's newspaper The National reported.

The woman and her newborn baby girl, her third child, were doing well in Mt Hagen Hospital after two weeks in hiding, the report said.

Her husband said men entered their house in the middle of the night with a rope and tied it to their necks, accusing them of sorcery over their neighbour's death.

They were dragged outside and hung from a tree, he said.

"We managed to loosen the noose to get our feet on the ground ... we were able to free ourselves.

"My wife, who was about seven months pregnant, delivered the baby while struggling to free herself.

"It was a painful experience for me and her," Yekum said.

He said he pleaded with fellow villagers to wait for his neighbour's post-mortem and he accused local police of failing to act.

The couple vehemently denied practising sorcery.

http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=181376

At first i thought he was wearing the clothes..!


Stiff clothes impregnated with cocaine

A GERMAN man has been charged with trying to smuggle cocaine into Australia impregnated in clothes, after customs officers found jeans and T-shirts that were stiff to the touch.

Customs officers stopped the 29-year-old for a bag search when he arrived at Brisbane International Airport following a flight from Auckland yesterday.

The officers suspected clothes in the man's luggage may have been impregnated with drugs.

The clothing, which included numerous pairs of jeans and T-shirts, was stiff to the touch and preliminary testing indicated the presence of cocaine.

Further testing of the clothing is being conducted.

In a statement, Australian Federal Police officers said they had arrested and charged the man with attempted drug importation.

If convicted he faces up to 25 years in jail.

The man will appear in Brisbane Magistrates Court tomorrow.

Python devours family's chihuahua

Wednesday February 27th, 2008.

image not archived: 2702_python_lg_sp.jpg

By ninemsn staff

A distraught north Queensland family threw chairs at a 5m python in a fruitless attempt to stop it devouring their pet chihuahua.

The snake, pictured above courtesy of the Cairns Post, stalked the silky terrier-cross late Monday night.

Eventually, it settled down to consume the dog on the veranda of Daniel Peric's Kuranda home as his two horrified children watched, The Post reported.

When snake experts arrived to remove the non-venomous reptile, all that could be seen of the dog was its tail and back legs.

"We'd had the dog about five years, so it was part of the family," Mr Peric said.

The family lost its pet guinea pig and cat to hungry snakes in the last month.

"These pythons used to feed on wallabies but now they feed on cats and dogs in suburbia," Australian Venom Zoo owner Stuart Douglas told The Post.

"This python actively stalked their dog."

"They'd thrown chairs at it to try to stop it, but it had already eaten the animal," he said.

Mr Peric is now frightened snakes will hurt his children, aged five and seven.

"We have ducted air-conditioning. Call it paranoia, but my big fear is that a snake will get in there," he said.

http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=384686

sorry but

Air conditioning snake is watching you masturbate

I agree, it is funny! 

Have these people heard of knives or guns? Hell even have a go at it with a spade. Once they have started eating they are pretty much defenceless aren't they?

He got that idea from Cheech and Chong 


It's just a python so it doesn't even have poisonous venom... they don't deserve a dog if they can't work out how to save it from a python 

Errrr

Being a snake owner I have to say you have no idea.

A python of that size even without fangs and poison could inflict a pretty bloody nasty bite causing serious injury. They still have razor sharp teeth and amazing reflexes.

As for them being defenceless once they start eating, not quite, they can quite easily spit the food back out and snap at you.

Oh and as for killing a wild animal because it ate a domesticated pet, get over it, it was doing what comes naturally to it. Unless provoked a python would not attack a human, they're not stupid, they can see we're too big to swallow and wont even attempt it.

I would still try to save my chihuahua if it was attacked by a python 

John L just out of interest, what would you recommend people do if their pets are attacked by snakes if you don't think that attacking/killing a wild animal (rather than letting it kill a domesticated animal) is justified?

Call a professional to have the snake removed.

If it has attacked your dog chances are its already too late to save it.

Fair enough. At least you're realistic about the fate of the animal being attacked I guess.

that will teach them for keeping a bit sized snack in the same house as a giant snake

The real question here is why the hell would you have a Chihuahua as a pet?

It wasn't by choice... I inherited them 

I love snakes too 

 Film it.

 Desperately upset there is no You Tube clip of that!