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Off-duty cops shoot dead naked woman

Written By Unknown on Minggu, 21 Oktober 2012 | 23.08

A naked woman was shot dead after confronting off-duty police in America. Source: The Courier-Mail

TWO off-duty Florida law-enforcement officers fatally shot an armed, naked woman who confronted them at a social gathering, authorities say.

The shooting occurred at about 1.15pm (local time) on Saturday north of Tampa.

The county sheriff's office said in a news release the men were approached by an "armed, naked and irrational female".

The news release does not identify the weapon but it says "one or both of the law enforcement officers fired their weapons, striking the female". She died at the scene.

Cinda Moore, a spokeswoman for the Hernando sheriff's office, said in an email late Saturday that she could not immediately identify the woman or disclose the weapon she was carrying.

She said she also could not comment on what the woman specifically said or did or whether she was told to drop the weapon.

The Tampa-area shooting comes two weeks after a naked, unarmed University of South Alabama freshman was fatally shot by a campus police officer after going to the police station there and pounding on the glass.

The shooting has led to protests by students.

Police said 18-year-old Gil Collar had taken LSD and acted aggressively when an officer came outside carrying a gun.

The officer repeatedly backed away from the student before firing.


23.08 | 0 komentar | Read More

Cruel twist as Big Brother nears end

Big Brother conestant Ben in the house with Josh Moore. Picture: Channel 9 Source: Supplied

WITH just weeks left of the Big Brother competition, face time with family may be just the reassurance the housemates need to go on.

But that would be too easy, with BB about to add another cruel twist - ordering the contestants to ignore any new house guests then sending in their loved ones.

The parents and partners of the final seven left standing began arriving at the Dreamworld set on to prepare for their Monday night close-up and part in the latest TV mind game, where housemates will risk losing their group challenge if they let down their emotional guard.

Throwing another spanner in the strategy of those actively manipulating their way to winning the $250,000 prize money, the family and friends will also share nomination duties with their related housemate.

This week housemates can nominate just one person, while their second nomination will be made by each loved one, on their behalf but without the chance to confer or talk through just who they had planned to target for eviction.

Only the housemate gifted the super power will win time with their special guest, alone in the Diary Room.

For the mothers of bubbly BB favourites Ben and Zoe keeping their emotions in check as they make their TV debut will be a task in itself.

Jane Needham, Ben's mum, said her gregarious son had inherited his extrovert personify from his late father, Graeme.

"He took me out to dinner on our first date and ended up jumping out of a cake and hosting a TV game show, so you can see where Ben gets that from . . . I just have to try not to cry," Mrs Needham said.

Both parents, coincidentally both also school teachers, have become schooled in the BB series, watching their offspring entertain and engage in the social experience on Channel 9.

"It isn't busting IQs but it's been really good. We're extremely proud of Zoe," her mum Lyn Westgarth of Warren said.

Mrs Westgarth discovered her daughter, who she thought was in Sydney at a 21st birthday party, was actually part of the TV show after friends and family read about her BB inclusion in The Daily Telegraph and online.

"We see more of her now on Big Brother than we did when she was away (at university) in Armidale."

She said Zoe's "secret" about being bullied in school, where she was also teaching, was "valuable for other children."

"There are people out there who don't talk about it. It's a hard thing to go through and they can see that Zoe's come through it with more confidence."

Mrs Needham said her son Ben had shown a surprising competitive streak of late, as the competition reached the finishing stages.

"His older brother used to beat him at everything, so perhaps he just has to dumb that (competitive streak) down.

She laughed at her son's colourful new vocabulary, which includes "meeping" and "drainers."

"I can associate with the drainers...sometimes you need to wipe out the drainers in your life, to concentrate on the positive."

Showing similar strategy to her son, she said her least favourite housemates were Sam ("I think he is hiding behind his relationship with Layla and we don't get to know the real Sam") and Layla ("can be influenced by Sam.")

The BB winner will be decided in a two-hour finale on November 7.


23.08 | 0 komentar | Read More

'Transgender airline' leaves passengers stranded

Thai transsexual flight attendants pose for a photograph with PC Air President Peter Chan, third from left, and chairman Chawiwat Glamkomol. The fledgling carrier has suspended services over financial troubles.
 
Source: AP

MONTHS after taking to the skies with Thailand's first transsexual air crew, fledgling carrier PC Air has suspended services over financial troubles that left passengers stranded in South Korea.

"The airline informed the Department of Civil Aviation on Friday that they cannot operate their charter flights due to business problems," Thai Deputy Transport Minister Chadchart Sittipunt told AFP. "So it will suspend its services," he added.

The move is expected to last until at least the end of the month.

PC Air hit the headlines earlier this year when it hired four transgender cabin attendants in a highly publicised recruitment drive to operate charter flights from Bangkok to Hong Kong and other Asian destinations.

But the privately owned carrier drew less welcome attention last week when its only aircraft was unable to take off from Seoul's Incheon Airport because the company could not pay its service and fuel fees.

PC Air has blamed its South Korean agent for the unpaid bill, which left several hundred passengers stuck in Seoul.


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Calls to put lid on fizzy drinks

Kayla Foley, 7, who is only allowed soft drinks occasionally, sips her drinks through the gap in her baby teeth, which fell out naturally. Picture: Mark Brake Source: Herald Sun

AUSTRALIANS are swilling a staggering 100 litres of soft drink a head each year - prompting calls for the fizz to be banned from home fridges.

Dentists say children as young as six are having rotten baby teeth pulled out after substituting water with sugary and highly acidic soft drinks.

Adult addicts downing as much as six bottles or cans a day are being left with mouths full of fillings and root canal work.

Soft-drink consumption has bubbled from an average 65 litres in the early 1970s to about 100 litres today, Australian Bureau of Statistics and Australian Beverage Council figures show.

That equates to 267 standard cans a year.

Dr Harleen Kumar, of Smile Solutions in Melbourne, said some young patients had up to four glasses daily.

The problem tended to be worse with teenagers.

"In my opinion, soft drink should be for special occasions only such as birthdays and going out. I say to adults to ban it from the fridge," she said.

"I treated one child who was decay-free and then started drinking a can of soft drink a day. He came back a year later with 20 cavities."

The industry says consumption is slowing after peaking in the 1990s.

Nutritionist Dr Rosemary Stanton said sugar-sweetened drinks pumped in calories without giving people a feeling of fullness.

Draft national dietary guidelines advised limiting added-sugar drinks, she said.

Australian Beverage Council chief executive officer Geoff Parker said soft drinks had been unfairly "demonised" in the obesity debate.

One in three soft drinks sold were diet versions with artificial sweeteners and no calories.

Dr Stanton said artificial sweeteners still eroded tooth enamel and maintained a sweet taste habit.


23.08 | 0 komentar | Read More

Next US President matters to the world

The thinking, this week at least, is that Mitt Romney might win the overall popular vote but that President Barack Obama will win the necessary 270 electoral-college votes to retain the presidency. Source: AFP

FORMER prime minister John Howard commented on his recent visit to the US that it made little difference to Australia whether a Democrat or a Republican occupied the White House, because we could work with either.

But as President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney prepare to tackle foreign policy in their third and final presidential debate, on Monday night, US time, Australians will find that the political colour of the next President matters a good deal.

On November 6, as Australians watch the Melbourne Cup, Americans will be heading to sleep and will wake up, on the same date the following day, to cast a vote in a neck-and-neck race that will have major ramifications for the world.

Were he to become the US Commander-in-Chief, Mr Romney has said that the 2014 withdrawal deadline for Afghanistan is not assured.

The Republican candidate has stated that any decision would be made at that time, and he would stay on if he felt it was needed.

Australia is committed to the 2014 Obama schedule and any requests that we stay longer would not play well domestically and put the next Australian prime minister in a difficult position.

President Obama has been reluctant to act on Syria, though Mr Romney has called for direct intervention to assist the rebels.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard has made the same call and would presumably be expected to support Mr Romney if he chose to act.

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney speaks during a Victory Rally at the Daytona Beach Bandshell on Friday. Picture: AFP

Mr Romney is extremely aggressive on Iran, as part of his show of unstinting support for Israel.

Chances of air strikes against Iran's nuclear program would rapidly escalate under his leadership.

President Obama has already begun his Pacific pivot and at this moment has an aircraft carrier battle group making its strongest show of force yet in the disputed South China Sea.

What Mr Romney thinks of Pacific strategic policy may be revealed, for the first time, in the foreign policy debate.

China-baiting is a popular sport in the US, though it makes Australians uncomfortable, given it is our biggest export destination.

Mr Romney claims the President is soft on China, which he says ''cheats'' by suppressing the value of its Yuan to give it an unfair advantage in the export market.

The President says one of Mr Romney's companies at Bain Capital supplies the Chinese government with surveillance equipment so it can spy on its own people.

US President Barack Obama greets supporters during a campaign rally at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia, on Friday. Picture: AFP

With less than three weeks before America chooses, the name of the next President will matter to the world. So who's going to win?

The thinking, this week at least, is that Mr Romney might win the overall popular vote but that President Obama will win the necessary 270 electoral-college votes to retain the presidency.

The Democrats will win fewer states, but President Obama can count on the bigger states that proportion a larger number of electoral votes, such as California and New York.

The President is also likely dominate in big north-eastern industrial states such as Illinois and New Jersey, and is currently just ahead in the auto states of Michigan and the key battleground of Ohio, which would assure him the presidency if he can retain it.

Mr Romney appears to have Florida and Virginia, two other key southern swing states and but needs to do better in the north.

Democrats got a bad scare when their leader performed badly in the first debate, and Mr Romney charged ahead in the polls.

But now the situation seems to have settled after the President's second debate.

A young girl reaches out to shake the hand of Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney during a Victory Rally at the Daytona Beach Bandshell on Friday. Picture: AFP

We are set for a very close race.

Americans want economic fixes and it remains to be seen how interested they will be in the foreign policy debate.

But it is not without meaning: Americans from both sides of politics are tired of fighting and believe the lives of their sons and daughters are wasted on an ungrateful Afghanistan.

Mr Romney needs to make sure he does not talk too blithely about new conflicts.

Americans, and their allies, will not like it.


23.08 | 0 komentar | Read More

Teachers get F for spelling

TEACHERS are filling lessons, report cards and letters home with errors, including SMS-style spelling, grammatical mistakes and misspelt spelling lists, parents have claimed.

A survey of 480 people about the literacy skills of the nation's teachers found half thought the quality was poor.

More than 40 per cent had noticed spelling or grammatical errors on letters sent home from school and 35 per cent had seen mistakes in report cards and marked assignments.

Other parents claimed their child's teachers lacked passion and skill, taught incorrect information and provided misspelt word lists for children to learn from. Some had even noticed teachers using SMS-style spellings, like l8r (later) and coz (because).

The "must do better" grading comes as the federal government reveals current teachers will be given specialist training to make sure future educators get better mentoring.Current and ex-teachers who took the survey were among those who complained about substandard quality, saying it was depressing.

One teacher from a state high school said many graduate teachers lacked a basic understanding of grammar, spelling and punctuation through their own schooling.

"It's those 20-somethings who just missed out and I'm scared that they're going to be teaching my kids," she said.

Some respondents defended teachers, however, saying they had a difficult job and passion was more important than perfection. Others were angry about "teacher bashing" and argued educators should be afforded more respect.

The survey findings come as the government works on its goal of pushing Aussie children into the top five world performers in numeracy and literacy by 2025.

Under the plan, student teachers will spend more of their degree inside a classroom paired with a specialist mentor. They will get clearer instructions on what's expected of them as their teaching methods are scrutinised.

State governments and independent education authorities will decide what training their mentors will need. At the moment trainees can be instructed by teachers with very little experience themselves.

Parents and teachers who spoke to The Daily Telegraph did not want to be identified, but told of the profession changing from one full of passionate people, to people "just filling in their work day".They wanted graduate teachers tested to validate their skills before they were put into classrooms.

The qualification bar has already been set higher, with entrants to teaching courses needing to score in the top 30 per cent for literacy and numeracy to get in.

School Education Minister Peter Garrett said the government wanted the "best and brightest" in classrooms.

Parents who took the survey wanted teachers paid more to attract the best candidates.


23.08 | 0 komentar | Read More

Janoskians fight cyber bullies in court

The Janoskians have become the target of cyber bullying. Source: Supplied

A RELENTLESS and vicious cyber bullying campaign against pop teenage sensations The Janoskians has resulted in court action, with at least one troll being slapped with an intervention order for stalking and harassment.

The legal move comes as the trolls' latest vile stunt involved wrecking a charity auction backed by the band.

Last week the Melbourne lads, who recently signed a record deal with Sony and have thousands of fans and a current top 20 single with Set This World on Fire, announced they were leaving Facebook after too many hate-filled posts.

One particularly nasty anti-Janoskians Facebook page, which has more than 19,000 fans, has targeted the band for months with racist and homophobic slurs and YouTube videos threatening violence against its members.

Yesterday dozens of people reportedly turned up at the Melbourne home of 16-year-old Janoskians member James Yammouni after his address and phone details were published on the page, forcing his family to take the phone off the hook.

Recent posts have even told fans of the band to ''go kill yourself''.

One of the administrators of the hate page appears to be a teenage boy registered on Facebook under the name ''Tristan Barker'', who claims to be from Melbourne.

A representative from Sony yesterday told News Ltd members of The Janoskians have placed an intervention order on a Melbourne man by the name of Tristan Barker.

They would not confirm whether he was the same ''Tristan Barker'' connected to the hate page.

Trolls often use assuMed names.

A personal safety intervention order is issued by a magistrate to protect a person from assault, harassment, property damage, stalking and serious threat.

Stalking can include contact by post, telephone, fax, text message or email and putting information online about a person.

Victoria Police said they were not involved with the issuing of intervention orders, but confirmed such orders could be ''specifically tailored'' to cover forms of online harassment and bullying.

They would not comment on whether they were investigating the hate page or ''Tristan Barker.''

In a YouTube video posted to the hate page on Thursday, ''Tristan Barker'' challenged Janoskians member Daniel Sahyoune to a fight.

He also said he is attempting to raise money via donations to erect a billboard in Melbourne comparing The Janoskians to cancer.

Another administrator of the page, a teenage male registered on Facebook under the name ''Nebz Adlay'' who also claims to be from Melbourne, last week scammed an online charity fundraiser auction by Janoskians member Beau Brookes, bidding $19,700 on an autographed guitar and then refusing to pay.

Dressed in an orange martial arts outfit, ''Nebz Adlay'' claimed responsibility for the scam in a brazen YouTube video published last Monday.

''You can f***ing come at me, come find me, see what happens,'' he says in the video, which has been viewed more than 36,000 times.

''If you come anywhere near me I will spirit bomb you. I know the technique, I know how to do it and I'm not afraid to use it.''


23.08 | 0 komentar | Read More

Rudd rains on Abbott's parade

Kevin Rudd and Federal opposition leader Tony Abbott ... Abbott admits Rudd stole the show. Picture: Dan Himbrechts Source: The Daily Telegraph

KEVIN Rudd may be trying to spoil Julia Gillard's party but yesterday he gate-crashed Tony Abbott's.

Proving he was not only the crouching tiger but also an electoral hidden dragon, Mr Rudd upstaged the Opposition Leader when he turned up at a Chinese function Mr Abbott was hosting in western Sydney.

Caught by surprise when the crowd mobbed Mr Rudd, even Mr Abbott was forced to admit he had stolen the show.

"There is absolutely no doubt that Kevin Rudd has a marvellous gift, a marvellous, marvellous gift," Mr Abbott said. "I suppose those of us who don't speak Mandarin feel a little bit inadequate at a gathering where Mandarin is widely spoken, in the presence of those who do, but I think this is an inadequacy that the prime minister has no less than I do."

Mr Rudd was a last-minute invitee to a special Chinese remembrance event at the Pine Grove cemetery.

Local Labor MP Ed Husic called organisers on Saturday asking if they would mind if Mr Rudd attended, before he flew out to China for a series of high level meetings.

Not only did they not mind, they put him centre stage.

Labor sources conceded that the Coalition had been successfully targeting western Sydney's ethnic vote.


23.08 | 0 komentar | Read More
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