tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-78835605535940945112024-03-14T17:58:53.513+07:00Bakteri MakananAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00876407152133869623noreply@blogger.comBlogger767125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7883560553594094511.post-47796476662473678552015-04-12T23:08:00.011+07:002015-04-12T23:10:25.410+07:00âThey were thinking about themselvesâ<div readability="5.54716981132"> <div> <div> <div readability="32"> <div readability="9"> <p>Four sisters taken from their Australian mother and forced to live with their Italian father. An exclusive 60 Minutes interview, Sunday 8.30pm on Nine.</p> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div readability="32"> <p><span>At peace ... The girls have a new life back in Italy. Picture: 60 Minutes</span> <span><em>Source:</em> Supplied</span></p> </div> </div> <div readability="34"> <p><strong> AFTER being caught in the middle of one of the most bitter and public parental disputes in living memory, the Italian sisters have told their side of the story. </strong></p> </div> <p>Three years after worldwide hysteria engulfed their family, the Vincenti sisters have broken their silence about the father they love, their happy lives in Italy and what they describe as the selfishness their parents showed during the ordeal.</p> <div readability="33"> <p><span>Happy ... Claire and Emily say their parents were thinking about themselves. Picture: 60 Minutes</span> <span><em>Source:</em> Supplied</span></p> </div> <p>Claire, Emily, Christine and Lily Vincenti were taken from their home in Italy by their Australian mother in 2010 and thrust into an ugly and public battle.</p> <p>Their mother Laura Garrett, now aged 35, had Australian passports made for the girls after telling authorities they were fleeing their father, Tomasso Vincenti.</p> <p>But her story came undone and the girls were returned to their father in 2012 after a hysterical and tearful goodbye that was broadcast to the world.</p> <p>Speaking to Tara Brown on <em>60 Minutes</em>, the two eldest sisters said the ugly ordeal was behind them.</p> <p>"I think they were thinking more about themselves than us, you know, because we were put at the centre of this whole situation, and … I don't know, they were a little bit selfish," Claire Vincenti said.</p> <p>"Because you know, we went through all of this — I mean, they did as well, but it was most hard for us than them, 'cause, you know, they're the adults."</p> <p>The girls want to set the record straight about the emotion that surrounded their departure from Australia. They were never scared to return to their father in Italy, despite what they may have said at the time.</p> <p>"If I think about it now, maybe I've said stuff that … I exaggerated a little bit, and that was just because I was liking my life in Australia and that was just because I didn't want to leave," Claire said.</p> <div readability="33"> <p><span>Settled in Italy ... The girls are leading a normal life in Italy. Picture: 60 Minutes</span> <span><em>Source:</em> Supplied</span></p> </div> <p>The girls didn't know their father had been told they were on holiday in Australia.</p> <p>They said it was hard to settle back into life in Italy after having been moved to the Sunshine Coast only a few years earlier. But they are happy to be reunited with their father and building a relationship with him.</p> <p>The girls describe a calm and happy life in the Tuscan hills with their father. They are finishing school, dating boyfriends and still keeping in touch with their mother, who they haven't seen since they left Australia in October 2012.</p> <p>"Probably we're going to see her this summer, she's coming to visit us," Emily said, adding that she felt very happy about the reunion.</p> <p>The sisters said they were hopeful of a future that included both parents.</p> <p>"I'm happy with my life. You know, Australia's very far away, but I would like to you know, do both, them both, go visit Mum and her family and stay a little bit here with Dad," Claire said.</p><br /> Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00876407152133869623noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7883560553594094511.post-12555213167189485292015-04-12T23:08:00.010+07:002015-04-12T23:10:17.202+07:00Shark tears off teenagerâs limbs<div readability="8"> <p><span>Fatal attack ... Elio Canestri was surfing in an area prohibited for swimming when a shark attacked and killed him. Picture: Facebook/Elio Canestri</span> <span><em>Source:</em> Supplied</span></p> </div> <div readability="35"> <p><strong> A 13-YEAR-OLD boy was attacked and killed by a shark Sunday off the French Indian Ocean island of La Reunion, authorities said, the seventh such deadly attack since 2011. </strong></p> </div> <p>The shark tore off the boy's limbs and part of his stomach as he was surfing early Sunday morning in an off-limits section of sea off the west coast of the island.</p> <p>Elio Canestri was attacked while surfing with seven others, the <em>Mirror</em> reports. He was around 15 metres offshore.</p> <div readability="35"> <p><span>'One of our best' ... promising young surfer, Elio Canestri, in action. Picture: Facebook/Elio Canestri</span> <span><em>Source:</em> Supplied</span></p> </div> <p>A spokesman for the rescue services told the <em>Mirror</em>: "A boat was launched very quickly, and the victim was dragged out of the sea, but he died from his wounds.</p> <p>"Those who witnessed the attack, including other children, are being treated for trauma."</p> <p>It was the 16th shark attack on the island since 2011 and the seventh loss of life.</p> <p>Reunion island authorities are said to be scrambling to find solutions to protect swimmers.</p> <p>In July 2012, a surfer died after a shark ripped off his leg and, in July 2013, a teenage girl was bitten in half as she swam metres from shore. In February a 20-year-old female swimmer was bitten by a shark before dying in hospital from a cardiac arrest.</p> <div readability="33"> <p><span>Died from his wounds ... a shark tore off Elio Canestri's limbs and part of his stomach. Picture: Facebook/Elio Canestri</span> <span><em>Source:</em> Supplied</span></p> </div> <p>La Reunion local Jeremy Flores, who won the Billabong Pipeline Masters in Hawaii in 2010, paid tribute to Canestri on his Instagram account: "ANOTHER shark attack in Reunion island this morning. 13 years old Elio was one of our best up and coming surfer. Words can't describe how sad and angry i am. So young !!! Heart breaking News. RIP :("</p> <p>Authorities immediately put in place a "post-attack procedure" in a bid to capture the shark.</p> <p>Specialised boats were deployed for "targeted fishing in the immediate area around the attack," the local authorities said in a statement.</p> <p>In February, island authorities extended until February 2016 a law prohibiting swimming and other water-based activities such as surfing and windsurfing except in special areas.</p> <p>This measure has resulted in a dramatic decline in tourism on the island lying to the east of Madagascar.</p><br /> Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00876407152133869623noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7883560553594094511.post-71023061508720689282015-04-12T23:08:00.009+07:002015-04-12T23:10:10.499+07:00Is this the ugliest Real Housewives fight ever?<div readability="9"> <p><span>Real Housewives of Melbourne, episode 8 recap: Gina and Jackie's incredible bogan slanging match</span> <span><em>Source:</em> Foxtel</span></p> </div> <div readability="35"> <p><strong> LAST week's episode of The Real Housewives of Melbourne ended on a sour note: Gina and Pettifleur were sniping at each other during dinner on their holiday in the Philippines, with Gina warning the newer girl on the block to "back off". </strong></p> </div> <p>We're still at dinner as this week's episode opens, but tensions seem to have momentarily cooled.</p> <p>Instead, Pettifleur's delivering her usual Amway-meets-Scientology sermon about the benefits of Switching the Bitch to a table of women whose expressions range from polite endurance to flat-out boredom.</p> <p>"I've enriched my bitch to be so happy and so content in my life that I don't allow anything nasty or horrible to bother me, like Gina's constant comments," she says.</p> <p>"There's some comments that she makes about my accent … and my colour …"</p> <p>WELL. This is a bombshell. Sure, we've seen Gina crack a couple of (rather innocuous) jokes about Pettifleur's accent, but has she really been denigrating the colour of her skin? Is Gina a flat-out racist?</p> <p>Gamble doesn't take the accusation well.</p> <div readability="32"> <p><span>"As president of the Gina Liano fan club I DEMAND AN APOLOGY!"</span> <span><em>Source:</em> Foxtel</span></p> </div> <p>"She has not, you LIAR! You LIAR, she NEVER mocked your colour!"</p> <p>Turns out that, after a man spoke to Pettifleur when they arrived at Manila airport, Gina remarked that he might have assumed her to be a local. To Pettifleur, such a comment is "somewhere between ignorant and racist," while Gina asks, "Why is that an insult?"</p> <p>Now it's Jackie's time to #shineshineshine. She jumps in to allege that, when she, Gina and Janet were appearing on a recent talk show, Gina asked her cast mates how they could "throw the two new girls under the bus."</p> <p>Jackie then claims that Gina called Gamble's partner Rick a "lunatic" for not remembering her the second time he met her.</p> <p>Frankly, this seems entirely reasonable to us — if you meet someone who resembles the love child of Maria Venuti and Mufasa from The Lion King once and you don't remember them, you are probably in need of an MRI.</p> <p>These allegations don't fly with Gina, who quickly tells Jackie to "f*ck off."</p> <p>"You f*ck off, cos you're full of it! You get f*cked," Jackie says, delivering an offensive arm gesture with a theatrical flourish. "You are so full of sh*t and I can't stand it!"</p> <div readability="34"> <p><span>And with that, the other ladies quietly and intently hid their steak knives under the table.</span> <span><em>Source:</em> Foxtel</span></p> </div> <p>Shaking with anger, Jackie then challenges Gina to that old Today Tonight staple, a lie-detector test.</p> <p>"You don't need a lie-detector test, I WAS THERE!" Janet screams, but no one seems to be listening.</p> <p>From there, things get even uglier — this is an honest to god transcript of the conversation between these two rich, powerful adult women:</p> <p>Gina: "I'm never talking to you again!"</p> <p>Jackie: "I'm never talking to YOU again!"</p> <p>Gina: "F*CK. OFF."</p> <p>Jackie: "YOU f*ck off!"</p> <p>Gina: "You're an idiot." Jackie: "YOU'RE an idiot!"</p> <p>Why mourn the slow death of Australian scripted drama when reality TV delivers such rich, textured dialogue?</p> <p>Hankering for some camera time, Janet then starts overreacting bizarrely to Gina's every jibe about Jackie.</p> <p>"She is NOT delusional, that's a terrible thing to say! She's NOT mad, don't say that! Stop that! She is NOT possessed, how dare you! Stop that!"</p> <p>It's all delivered with her best 'why are mummy and daddy fighting' face:</p> <div readability="34"> <p><span>"Hello, Kids Helpline? I'm a 58-year-old Toorak Property Developer and I'm really upset"</span> <span><em>Source:</em> Foxtel</span></p> </div> <p>The slanging match continues, with Jackie telling Gina she's "the biggest lying sack of sh*t" she's ever met in her life.</p> <p>Lydia sums up the mood of the other women at the table: "Shut up, everybody … seriously."</p> <p>Jackie then drops another big allegation: that GINA was the first to know all about Gamble's Sexy Sexual Sex Rumours, and thus pitted Gamble against Janet just for fun.</p> <p>Are you keeping up with all this? There will be a test.</p> <div readability="33"> <p><span>Print these Jackie Gillies reaction shots out and keep them on hand to use during family disagreements</span> <span><em>Source:</em> Foxtel</span></p> </div> <p>Jackie closes her argument with this classy little jab at Gina:</p> <p>"When's the last time you had a shaaaaag? [LIVING for her delivery of the word 'shag', just FYI] That's what you need, a root. A bloody good root."</p> <p>Don't we all, babes.</p> <p>The next day, as the restaurant no doubt re-evaluates its policy on group bookings and offers gift vouchers to nearby diners, Lydia sits Gamble down at the hotel bar to give her a warning about Gina.</p> <p>"I think it's gorgeous that you two have become so close. There's a lot of layers to her though, and you haven't seen them yet. She can be stubborn. She does put people down if she doesn't want to know them."</p> <p>She encourages Gamble to trust what Jackie says — the woman's a psychic, after all.</p> <p>"Well, we all have our own thing — I mean, I'm a devout Darwinist," is Gamble's non-sequitur of a response. Lydia's face says suggests doesn't quite follow:</p> <div readability="34"> <p><span>Darwinism, Lydia: it's the process of natural selection in which the stupid eventually die out — actually never mind.</span> <span><em>Source:</em> Foxtel</span></p> </div> <p>After delivering her warning to Gamble, Lydia meets her housekeeper Joanna's Filipino parents, and given her emotional reaction upon seeing them, one has to wonder if they aren't actually her parents too.</p> <p>"Obviously Joanna speaks so highly of me, and her parents were emotional because they know how much I look after their daughter and how caring I am," she tells us. Humble, too.</p> <div readability="36"> <p><span>"Just like we rehearsed, Dario: speak slowly, remain calm, and hopefully she'll give us back our daughter."</span> <span><em>Source:</em> Foxtel</span></p> </div> <p>Joanna's parents thank the rich white lady for meeting with them, for bringing them gifts, and for employing their daughter.</p> <p>Lydia's response is super-creepy:</p> <p>"She's MY daughter," she tells Joanna's Actual Real Mother. "In Australia, she's MY daughter. She's family, because she knows so much about my life."</p> <p>Umm, if knowing absolutely everything there is to know about someone is enough to make them family, then why isn't Victoria Beckham my mum yet?</p> <p>Lydia presents the couple with a picture frame, in which she instructs them to "put a beautiful photo of Joanna and I."</p> <p>"Oh …. OK," says Joanna's mum.</p> <p>Lydia then meets Joanna's adorable young nephew — and immediately starts instructing HIM to call her 'Mama'. SOMEBODY TAKE THE CHILD FROM LYDIA PLEASE.</p> <p>Later in the day, Pettifleur and Gamble return to the hotel bar for an afternoon cocktail. As Pettifleur announces that her personal style is about "understated sophistication," the camera pans out to reveal that she's wearing the sort of ensemble Baz Luhrmann might dub 'a little too showy':</p> <div readability="32"> <p><span>It takes a brave woman to team a foot-long fly with flesh-coloured body panelling.</span> <span><em>Source:</em> Foxtel</span></p> </div> <p>"I saw Pettifleur and I nearly fell over. She looked like she could be fired out of a cannon!" says Gamble, wide-eyed.</p> <p>The two sit down and, after eight episodes of sniping, attempt to make a fresh start with one another. Pettifleur explains that she hasn't felt very supported by Gamble, who she views as "a little puppy dog being protected by the big guard dog, Gina."</p> <p>Quite rightly, Gamble says she hasn't offered much support because she doesn't have a lot of patience with terribly condescending, passive-aggressive statements like that.</p> <p>Pettifleur then asks why Gamble refers to her as 'Nouveau Riche Barbie', which implies she's a cashed-up bogan with more money than sense.</p> <p>"Why would you say that I spend my money frivolously?" she asks, looking for all the world like she covered her head in glue and did a forward-roll through a Goldmark jewellers.</p> <div readability="33"> <p><span>"I do NOT waste money on crap. I'll have you know I made this headdress myself after opening a box of wine and YouTubing old episodes of Art Attack"</span> <span><em>Source:</em> Foxtel</span></p> </div> <p>Pettifleur tells Gamble that she's coined a nickname for HER: 'Carnival Clown Barbie'.</p> <p>"I'm not going to tell you what it means. I'm sure you'll find out sooner or later. Anyways, tell me about your gorgeous gown — how did you buy it? Do you get an allowance?"</p> <p>Oh. No. She DIDN'T.</p> <p>"Don't speak to me like that. I'm going. How f*cking rude," says Gamble, and with that, she's off.</p> <p>"OK, walk away," Pettifleur smirks, looking for all the world like she won the argument.</p> <p>Who do YOU think won the stoush, dear reader? The woman who refused to answer derogatory personal questions and removed herself from the situation, or the woman who is now sat drinking alone in a bar dressed as Tonya Harding circa 1987?</p> <div readability="34"> <p><span>"I got her good, isn't that right — oh, there's no-one here."</span> <span><em>Source:</em> Foxtel</span></p> </div> <p>No sooner has Gamble swanned out of the bar do the others rock up to greet Pettifleur, who acts all sweet n' innocent.</p> <p>"Give me smacks everybody! I asked Gamble if she's got an allowance. Maybe it was naughty of me … I cant say anything because I'll get into trouble!"</p> <p>Lydia is clearly having NONE OF IT.</p> <p>"STOP IT. You're not a child," she snarls.</p> <p>Gamble returns to the bar (to be honest, it may have been less of a 'walkout' than a 'toilet break') and she and Pettifleur agree to a truce — of sorts. Basically, they agree to stand at opposite ends of the group. Whatever works, ladies.</p> <p>Pettifleur then regales the group with her plans to buy a brand new Bentley for her birthday … *cough* Nouveau Riche Barbie *cough*</p> <p>Lydia's in the mood for a bit of stirring: "Who's buying it, Pettifleur? Who's buying it?"</p> <p>"Well, whatever comes my way from [partner] Frank on my birthday, then so be it," is Pettifleur's coy response.</p> <p>"Really? That's a huge … ALLOWANCE," says Lydia. YAAAS GURL.</p> <div readability="33"> <p><span>Lydia, seen here checking her reflection in Pettifleur's cranial jewels</span> <span><em>Source:</em> Foxtel</span></p> </div> <p>After such an exhausting holiday telling each other to go and get f*cked, the girls end their trip with a visit to a relaxing health spa. While the others dress down in flowing, voluminous holiday-wear, Gina sticks to her uniform: tight-fitting sparkly frock, handheld clutch. Well done Gina.</p> <p>Neck rubs, foot massages, maybe even a light off-camera colonic — it all looks like heaven. Something tells us, though, that Gina's not really the 'massage' type:</p> <div readability="33"> <p><span>Perhaps the long-term exposure to super-hold hair spray has had an effect on her neck joints?</span> <span><em>Source:</em> Foxtel</span></p> </div> <p>At dinner after their spa day, Gina does seem to be in more of a relaxed mood. Keen-eyed RHOM watchers will notice she barely EVER drinks, instead preferring to keep control of her behaviour while those around her turn into drunken babbling messes. But tonight, she's having a cheeky wine — a "peeno gridgey-o," as she calls it.</p> <p>As dinner wears on, Gamble finally asks Pettifleur to explain the nickname 'Carnival Clown Barbie.'</p> <p>Clearly very proud of herself, Pettifleur explains that Gamble reminds her of those carnival games in which you have to put balls in the mouth of a dead-eyed, vacant clown while its head rotates from side to side.</p> <p>"Oh, is that all? Oh well darling, there have been a few balls in my mouth."</p> <p>With that, she smiles, shrugs, and takes a hearty sip of her wine.</p> <div readability="33"> <p><span>Gamble Breaux, you are doing Real Housewives right.</span> <span><em>Source:</em> Foxtel</span></p> </div> <p>DOUZE POINTS, GAMBLE.</p> <p>Next week: Pettifleur's love of ridiculous headwear reaches new heights — and is Gamble really embroiled in a nude photo scandal?</p> <p><em><strong>The Real Housewives of Melbourne screens 8:30pm Sundays on Foxtel's Arena Channel.</strong></em></p> <p><em><strong>Check back here right after each episode screens for our full recap.</strong></em></p> <p><em><strong>In the meantime, check in with recapper Nick Bond on Twitter (@bondnickbond) to ponder the age-old question: "When did you last have a good shaaaaaaaag?"</strong></em></p><br /> Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00876407152133869623noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7883560553594094511.post-74454781584001539022015-04-12T23:08:00.008+07:002015-04-12T23:09:58.894+07:00Dogs eat ownerâs dead body<div readability="44.9057353776"> <div readability="8"> <p><span>Horrific ... Noelle Baynham was partially eaten by her dogs after she died. Picture: Facebook</span> <span><em>Source:</em> Supplied</span></p> </div> <div readability="34"> <p><strong> A WOMAN who died alone in her home was eaten by her dogs as her body lay undiscovered for days, an inquest has heard. </strong></p> </div> <p>Noelle Baynham was found by a close friend who let himself in when she didn't answer the door.</p> <p>The 61-year-old's body had been partially devoured by her pet Jack Russell and Staffordshire Bull Terrier who had no other food in the house.</p> <p>Scratch marks over the former jeweller's body revealed the hungry pooches tried to wake her before mauling her body.</p> <p>It is believed Baynham collapsed and died following a drug overdose, but the exact cause of death couldn't be determined because the dogs mangled her vital organs.</p> <div readability="32"> <p><span>A Jack Russell terrier. (generic picture). Picture: Thinkstock</span> <span><em>Source:</em> News Limited</span></p> </div> <div readability="32"> <p><span>A Staffordshire Bull Terrier (generic picture). Picture: Thinkstock</span> <span><em>Source:</em> Supplied</span></p> </div> <p>An inquest in the UK heard that friend Grant Donovan let himself into Baynham's Winnall Hampshire home on January 17.</p> <p>He said he found his friend's body on the landing. She was wearing a dressing gown.</p> <p>"This was the most horrifying thing I have ever seen," he told the inquest, according to <em>The Southern Daily Echo</em>. "I could not look at her long, so I just came away and called 999."</p> <p>Pathologist Dr Amanda Jeffery told the inquest Baynham, an alcoholic who suffered from bipolar disorder, had probably died "a few days" before she was found.</p> <p>She said Baynham likely died from a variety of drugs found in her system — possibly from an overdose or build-up of drugs in her system.</p> <p>Senior central Hampshire coroner Grahame Short ruled Baynham may have had a stroke.</p> <p>Her dogs were put down at the advice of police officers.</p> </div><br /> Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00876407152133869623noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7883560553594094511.post-55984462689902230372015-04-12T23:08:00.007+07:002015-04-12T23:08:40.727+07:0010 most terrifying roads ever<div readability="7"> <p><span>Trolstigen road is one of the dangerous trips.</span> <span><em>Source:</em> Getty Images</span></p> </div> <div readability="37"> <p><strong> IF YOU just can't feel satisfied without navigating hairpin turns, dizzying elevations, and gravel surfaces with no guardrails to protect you, we've got you covered with this bucket list of freaky routes. </strong></p> </div> <p>Some of these are highly travelled destination roads, some get very little traffic, and others are obscure to most drivers. But if you can patiently and carefully handle them in the proper vehicle, you'll be rewarded with some tasty visual treats, plus access to unique mountain-climbing and cycling adventures.</p> <p>We'd tell you to buckle up, but we're not sure how much even doing that will help you here (of course, do it though!):</p> <p><strong>Road of Death (North Yungas), Bolivia</strong></p> <div readability="32"> <p><span>Death Road in Bolivia. Picture: AHLN</span> <span><em>Source:</em> Flickr</span></p> </div> <p>There's nothing ironic about the name of this 61 kilometre journey that goes from over 4570 metres in La Paz to 1188m in Coroico — it is the black widow of roads. Its claim to fame is being named the world's most dangerous road by the Inter-American Development Bank, and it's estimated that 200 to 300 people travelling on it die each year.</p> <p>It's not hard to see why the road is so dangerous: It's barely the width of one vehicle, with no guardrail to protect you from falls of up to 609m. Rain can make the road muddy and slippery, and rain or fog can reduce a driver to feeling blindfolded.</p> <p>Still, there's a siren song here that attracts thousands of people, from danger-loving tourists to hardcore cyclists. The view of the Amazonian rainforest is astounding, and standing right over the sheer drops here will bring out the lemming in many of us. Tour groups that serve the road include Barracuda Biking and Gravity Bolivia.</p> <p><strong>Lippincott Mine Road, Death Valley National Park, California</strong></p> <p>This little-used 11km route in and out of the park near the famous Racetrack Playa really puts the "Death" in Death Valley. It's a faster route to the park than others, but you might be clenching your jaw the whole way, trying not to fall hundreds of feet to oblivion, and it's not for the casual driver or the casual car. This is four-wheel-drive territory only.</p> <p>My friend Doug did the honour of driving us out of Death Valley via Lippincott at the end of our camping trip last fall, and by the time we had slowly descended the almost 600m drop, I felt like the park had chewed us up and spat us out into Saline Valley.</p> <p>What could kill you here? Let us count the ways. There are no guardrails, and there is the constant threat of a steep fall if you're not careful — at times, there's just a foot or two of gravelly space to navigate. You'll be driving around or over some large rocks that could break your vehicle, and if that doesn't do it, the park's intense heat could if you're making the climb into Death Valley during the hotter months. There's no towing service, no water source, no road signs and no cell reception. Other than that, this drive is like Christmas.</p> <p>Still, competent drivers in the right vehicle can make this trip safely. Make sure you stop along the way to capture some gorgeous views of the valley below. Also, if you enter the park this way, you're just three miles from the Racetrack and its otherworldly beauty. Just play some Metallica at full blast, as we did in this video clip, to give you the adrenaline rush you need to survive.</p> <p><strong>Dalton Highway, Alaska</strong></p> <div readability="32"> <p><span>The frozen Dalton Highway.</span> <span><em>Source:</em> AFP</span></p> </div> <p>While the Road to Hana is seductively warm and dangerous, this frosty, gravelly, pothole-laden route is as seductive as a White Walker in <em>Game of Thrones</em>. The Dalton Highway was opened for one thing: transporting oil. And it covers 666km of desolate, icy terrain.</p> <p>This is the route of <em>Ice Road Truckers</em> fame, and you'll have to excuse the truckers for thinking you're crazy if you want to drive this highway for fun. Let's put aside the freezing cold and often miserable road conditions, with 18-wheelers pounding your vehicle with ice. On a single 386km stretch, there are no service stations, restaurants or basic services — the longest such stretch in North America. There are three — count 'em, three — service stations the entire way. And don't count on cell service at all.</p> <p>Still, there are enticements to taking your chances here. You can say you've crossed into the Arctic Circle, which the highway does. And if you visit at the right time, you can slowly pull over and watch the northern lights.</p> <p>A guide is highly recommended here unless you know your survival skills, as you'll need to pack provisions, including fuel. And be on the lookout for freeway closures, such as the one that happened just after flooding from the Sagavanirktok River.</p> <p><strong>Trollstigen Mountain Road, Norway</strong></p> <div readability="33"> <p><span>One of the turns on the Trollstigen pass, Norway.</span> <span><em>Source:</em> Getty Images</span></p> </div> <p>As dangerous roads go, this is among the most visited in the world, and for good reason: It overlooks a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Geirangerfjord on the west coast of Norway. I'd like to say that I gave death a noogie as I raced this road's 11 hairpin turns and 9 per cent incline in an Alfa Romeo, but in fact, I slowly weaved through it on a large tour bus. Next time, I swear.</p> <p>Dangerous conditions here include the incline, narrow driving space, and the poor traction and visibility that come with rain and fog. But oh man, those views: There are ideal photography opportunities where you can pull over and capture the fjords and lush valleys below, and waterfalls so close you can touch them.</p> <p>Note: The road closes in October and opens in May.</p> <p><strong>Road to Hana, Maui, Hawaii</strong></p> <div readability="33"> <p><span>It's a stunning trip, but be cautious.</span> <span><em>Source:</em> Getty Images</span></p> </div> <p>Paradise is worth the risk, which is why the 67km of Highway 360 to Hana in eastern Maui are such a tourist favourite. You'll have to navigate through and around 600 hairpin turns, 54 one-lane bridges, steep cliff drops, falling rocks, and even some confusing mile markers that reset. Plus it rains often, so there's that.</p> <p>But the rewards for your risk are considerable: You probably won't have time for them all, in fact. The road itself is full of pull-over-right-now photography opportunities, but venture deeper and you'll find such rare beauties as Wai'anapanapa State Park's black sand beach, Twin Falls, Wailua Falls, and the laid-back charm of Paia Town.</p> <p>Drive slow and you'll be fine here — you'd better, in fact, because police strictly enforce the 25-mph speed limit.</p> <p><strong>Fairy Meadows Road, Pakistan</strong></p> <p>Is climbing the world's ninth-highest mountain not challenging enough for you? Fine. Just try driving to the base of it. If you want to climb Nanga Parbat, you'll have to ascend six death-defying miles to Fairy Meadows. The gravel road is completely unmaintained, there are no guardrails to protect you, and it gets so narrow that near the end you'll have to cover the last section by walking or biking.</p> <p>The road is prone to avalanches and heavy snowfall, and it closes in the winter.</p> <p><strong>Skippers Canyon Road, Queenstown, New Zealand</strong></p> <p>Welcome to a road so dangerous, your rental car insurance won't be honoured if you drive on it. Only one other road in New Zealand has that honour.</p> <p>Yet you will be tempted to drive this one-lane, twisting terror with steep drops because it abounds with natural beauty and photo ops, including the Shotover River directly below you. Skippers Canyon Road is cut into the side of a mountain and extends 26km in New Zealand's South Island, 40km from Queenstown. It's considered one of the country's most scenic routes. The miners who built the road in the late 1800s didn't think much about luxury, though — it's unpaved and very narrow. Should you encounter a car driving the other way, one of you will have to back up gingerly until you can find enough room to pass. Good luck figuring out which of you that will be.</p> <p>For an adventure trip, you can hire a tour bus to do the driving for you, such as a jet boating tour with Skippers Canyon Jet.</p> <div readability="32"> <p><span>Skipper Canyon. Picture: Russellstreet</span> <span><em>Source:</em> Flickr</span></p> </div> <p><strong>Los Caracoles Pass, Chile</strong></p> <p>If you impressed yourself by driving down the curves of Lombard Street in San Francisco, this is just like that, only 1000 times more challenging. Called the "Snails Pass" by locals, this serpentine mountain pass in the Andes connects Santiago, Chile, to Mendoza, Argentina. It reaches 3200m in elevation, and this being the Andes, it's known for getting heavy snowfall: About 15,000 travellers were stranded for 10 hours on the Argentine side in 2013, when the road had to be closed because of snow and cold.</p> <p>When you reach the summit of this road, you'll pass through the Cristo Redentor tunnel, and the heaviest, steepest switchbacks are on the Chilean side. You may need tire chains and plenty of patience to make it through here, but if you take your time, you should be able to avoid an accident.</p> <p><strong>Karakorum "Friendship" Highway, China and Pakistan</strong></p> <div readability="32"> <p><span>A bridge in the Karakorum area.</span> <span><em>Source:</em> Getty Images</span></p> </div> <p>For some real altitude, take your chances with this 1287km drive. At 4693m, it's the highest paved international road in the world. And you can get a sense of how dangerous it is just by knowing that about 1000 workers died building this freeway before it opened in 1979.</p> <p>The road's nickname stems from the collaboration between China and Pakistan in building it, but it can be unfriendly in practice, with little driving room, sheer drops, no pavement on the Pakistani side and flash floods.</p> <p>However, Karakorum is an adventure lover's delight. Comprising part of the old Silk Road trade route, it offers views of soaring mountain peaks such as the K2 (second-highest mountain in the world), massive glaciers such as the Baltoro, and sprawling rivers such as the Indus.</p> <p>\<strong>Bayburt Of Yolu-D915, Turkey</strong></p> <p>This road is arguably more dangerous than any other on this list. The D915 connects the Turkish cities of Bayburt and Of, near the Black Sea, and it spans 106km. It has many of the same hazards of the Death Road in Bolivia: It's only a lane wide in some sections and unpaved, with elevation exceeding 1980m and no guardrails protecting you from certain death. The often-poor weather adds to the danger.</p> <p>Says the website Dangerousroads.org, "Words can't describe the road and pictures don't do it justice … the steep part is simply terrible. Curvy roads descending down the cliffs, often so narrow that you cannot turn the first time."</p> <p>There are 29 hairpins turns, and things get gnarly in Çaykara, where the road climbs from 521m to 619, in just 5km, with 13 hairpin turns.</p> <p><em>This article originally appeared on Yahoo Travel and was republished via the NYPost.</em></p><br /> Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00876407152133869623noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7883560553594094511.post-27127330011855719202015-04-12T23:08:00.005+07:002015-04-12T23:08:40.411+07:00âHe was a f***ing a**holeâ to do that<div readability="5.47598253275"> <div readability="32"> <p><span>Scenes from the cult movie 'Roar'.</span> <span><em>Source:</em> Supplied</span></p> </div> <div> <div> <div readability="31.5"> <div readability="8"> <p>Ravening jungle beasts assemble in flocks to invade an otherwise quiet home where they chase humans up and down stairways and from one room to another</p> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div readability="33"> <p><strong> ALMOST everybody knows that director Alfred Hitchcock had live birds thrown at terrified actor Tippi Hedren so they would attack her for real in <em>The Birds</em>. </strong></p> </div> <p>Few are aware, though, that Hedren and her family (including daughter Melanie Griffith) chose to work for years with more than 150 untrained lions, tigers, cougars and elephants for the most dangerous movie in history — which is finally making its US theatrical debut on Friday, some 35 years after it was completed.</p> <p><em>Roar</em> was the mad brainstorm of Hedren's then-husband Noel Marshall, the executive producer of <em>The Exorcist</em> as well as <em>The Harrad Experiment,</em> which starred Hedren and (Griffith's future husband) Don Johnson.</p> <div readability="32"> <p><span>Scenes from the cult movie 'Roar'.</span> <span><em>Source:</em> Supplied</span></p> </div> <p>"Dad was a f — king a — hole to do that to his family," says John Marshall, who as a teenager agreed to star with his father, younger brother, stepmother and stepsister in a bizarre project that dragged on for 11 years and caused dozens of brutal injuries to them and the crew.</p> <p>"It seemed like a really cool idea at the beginning, but it was dangerous," he notes.</p> <p>Marshall says the family spent years preparing for the film by living with the big cats at a ranch 40 miles north of LA where animal rights activist Hedren now runs a preserve.</p> <p>The problems began when production commenced at the ranch in 1976 on the film, which opens with a conservationist's family arriving at his home in Africa — he's away on business — only to discover it's filled with ferocious lions and tigers.</p> <p>"You're fine with lions and tigers as long as you don't show any fear," Marshall recalls. "The problem is that the plot required us to show fear. These animals who had learned to respect us were totally confused when we started acting terrified."</p> <p>There were more than 70 bloody attacks on the stars and crew. As Hedren recounts in a 1988 memoir, when John Marshall tripped on a rock and landed face down in high grass, a lion he was walking with jumped on him, "his big mouth closing over the back of John's head."</p> <p>Marshall recalls: "I looked up and there was blood on his teeth. It took six guys to pull him off me and I got 56 stitches. I had to work with that lion on and off for five years because we kept running out of money."</p> <p>Following a clash between two lions, Melanie Griffith quit the production — Hedren quotes her as saying, "Mother, I don't want to come out of this with half a face."</p> <p>Griffith later returned, only to be mauled by a cat so severely she required dozens of stitches and plastic surgery.</p> <p>"It's amazing no one was killed," Hedren once said of the film, which left her with a broken leg after she was bucked off the back of an elephant.</p> <p>Soon after production finally wrapped, she split with Noel, who reportedly took years to recover from injuries and complications, including gangrene. (He died in 2010.)</p> <p>The animals were also spooked by the film's frightened crew, who frequently quit en masse as casualties mounted. Director of photography Jan de Bont (who later directed "Speed") had his scalp ripped off by a lion and required 120 stitches.</p> <p>Marshall says <em>Roar</em> was never theatrically distributed in the United States because of suits brought by creditors.</p> <div readability="32"> <p><span>Scenes from the cult movie 'Roar'.</span> <span><em>Source:</em> Supplied</span></p> </div> <p>With less than $2 million in worldwide ticket sales versus a budget that swelled to $17 million, it's considered one of the most disastrous indie productions in Hollywood history.</p> <p>Owned for the last five years by Marshall's daughter Stephanie, <em>Roar</em> will make its Blu-ray debut this summer following a run in around 40 theatres.</p> <p>Neither Hedren nor Griffith are promoting the film, and Marshall doesn't blame them.</p> <p>"Tippi and Melanie kind of want to forget about the whole thing," says Marshall, who is still in touch with them. "I still get nightmares when I watch 'Roar,' so I don't see it too often."</p> <p>That said, Marshall doesn't regret the experience. "It was amazing to live through that," he says. "I should have died many times. But I kind of want to do it again."</p> <p><em>*This article first appeared in the New York Post.</em></p><br /> Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00876407152133869623noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7883560553594094511.post-25231036975266760782015-04-12T23:08:00.003+07:002015-04-12T23:08:39.817+07:00Gang-raped sex slave pregnant<div readability="6.0987654321"> <div> <div> <div readability="32"> <div readability="9"> <p>As ISIS forces clash with militants in Damascus, Long War Journal editor Bill Roggio explains what will be required to defeat the jihadi insurgency around the globe. Photo: Aamaq News</p> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div readability="33"> <p><span>Horrific ... a man carries a Yazidi woman released by Islamic State group militants in Kirkuk. Picture: AP</span> <span><em>Source:</em> AP</span></p> </div> </div> <div readability="34"> <p><strong> A NINE-YEAR-OLD sex slave is pregnant after being gang-raped by 10 Islamic State militants in Iraq, an aid worker said. </strong></p> </div> <p>"The abuse she has suffered left her mentally and physically traumatised," Canadian-based aid worker Yousif Daoud, who recently returned from the region, told <em>The Toronto Star.</em></p> <p>"This girl is so young she could die if she delivers a baby. Even caesarean section is dangerous."</p> <div readability="33"> <p><span>Devastated ... a woman from Iraq's Yazidi minority cries after arriving in the village of al-Humeira near Kirkuk. Picture: AFP/Marwan Ibrahim</span> <span><em>Source:</em> AFP</span></p> </div> <p>The girl, a member of the persecuted Yazidi Christian minority, has been flown out of Iraq by a Kurdish aid agency and is receiving treatment in Germany.</p> <p>Daoud said the girl was found in "very bad shape".</p> <p>"She was sexually abused by no fewer than 10 men. Most of them were frontline fighters or suicide bombers who are given girls as a reward," he said.</p> <div readability="33"> <p><span>Freed ... a Yazidi woman released by IS militants after being held captive for eight months. Picture: AP Photo</span> <span><em>Source:</em> AP</span></p> </div> <div readability="33"> <p><span>Released ... Iraq's Yazidi women at a medical centre after being released by IS militants. Picture: AFP/Safin Hamed</span> <span><em>Source:</em> AFP</span></p> </div> ISIS released more than 200 Yazidis on Wednesday, mostly women and children, after holding them captive for eight months. <p>Daoud said ISIS released the abused women and girls "to shame the whole community". He said the victims faced the humiliation of lost chastity.</p> <p>The news comes as IS militants are holding hostage at least 50 civilians, almost half of them women, seized in a raid on a village in central Syria.</p> <p>They were kidnapped from the village of Mabujeh in Hama province on March 31, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.</p> <div readability="33"> <p><span>Freed captives ... Yazidis released by Islamic State group militants sit by Kurdish soldiers in Kirkuk. Picture: AP</span> <span><em>Source:</em> AP</span></p> </div> <p>News of the kidnappings had been kept quiet because of ongoing negotiations for their release, but the talks have since faltered, said Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman.</p> <p>Ten of those taken, including six women, are Ismailis, a minority sect that is an offshoot of Shiite Islam. The remaining 40 are Sunni Muslims, including at least 15 women.</p> <div readability="33"> <p><span>Medical care ... a Yazidi released by Islamic State group militants is carried on a stretcher as he and other people of the religious minority arrive in Kirkuk. Picture: AP</span> <span><em>Source:</em> AP</span></p> </div> <div readability="33"> <p><span>Heartbroken ... a Yazidi woman released by Islamic State group militants cries for her other family members still held by the militants. Picture: AP</span> <span><em>Source:</em> AP</span></p> </div> <p>"There are fears that the women are being taken as slaves," Abdel Rahman told AFP.</p> <p>He said the Ismailis were kidnapped because IS considers them "infidels," and that the Sunnis — although from the same sect as IS fighters — were taken because IS viewed them as "loyal to the Ismailis".</p> <p>Mabujeh, east of the provincial capital Hama, has a population of Sunnis, Ismailis and Alawites, another offshoot of Shiite Islam that is the sect of President Bashar al-Assad and his clan.</p><br /> Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00876407152133869623noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7883560553594094511.post-36447232622085170122015-04-12T23:08:00.001+07:002015-04-12T23:08:39.270+07:00âI went from broke to millionaireâ<div readability="7"> <p><span>Traveller Will Hatton had bundles of cash in Venezuela. Picture: Will Hatton</span> <span><em>Source:</em> Supplied</span></p> </div> <div readability="33"> <p><strong> "YOU will be robbed, there's no avoiding that. Just don't fight it or they will kill you." </strong></p> </div> <p>This was the advice that Will Hatton, a 26-year-old traveller who explores some of the world's least-visited countries on an extreme budget, received when he announced he was going to explore Venezuela.</p> <p>He tells <em>news.com.au</em> what it's really like in a country with more oil than anywhere else in the world — and the second-highest murder rate. As he quickly discovered, it's also a place that can make the average traveller feel rich.</p> <div readability="32"> <p><span>Locals engage in fiery protests on the streets. Picture: Will Hatton</span> <span><em>Source:</em> Supplied</span></p> </div> <p>The streets of Merida were alive with activity, an aura of menace hung heavily in the air. A blockade glinted in the afternoon sun, and black smoke from burning tyres spiralled into the sky.</p> <p>"We must go around," my taxi driver said.</p> <p>He gunned the ancient car into reverse and fled, anxious to be gone before the police arrived with their gas, batons and rubber bullets.</p> <div> <div readability="36"> <div readability="17"> <p>Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro collected over 10 million signatures from across Venezuela, which he presented at a rally in Caracas, Thursday, calling on US President Barack Obama to withdraw a decree declaring Venezuela a security threat. Speaking after the rally, which was also attended by Bolivian President Evo Morales, Maduro said he believes in better relations between the empire of the United States and a free and sovereign Latin America, but one that is based on respect and non-interference. Maduro will meet US President Barack Obama at the 7th Summit of the Americas in Panama City on Friday, where he plans to present him with the millions of collected signatures.</p> </div> </div> </div> <p>But civil unrest was everywhere. Gangs of students in red shirts marched towards the city centre, spraying walls with graffiti. Police in urban camouflage stood shoulder to shoulder with the infamous Guardia Nacional (national guard), AKs strapped to their chests. They eyed the protesters suspiciously, ready at any minute to advance upon the hothead who dared aim a firework at their ranks.</p> <p>My driver swore in Spanish and mounted the kerb. An armoured vehicle of some kind, water cannon at the ready, rolled past us with its siren blazing. We retreated from the noise down side-streets, passing more flimsy barricades as we made our way towards the quieter barrios of the city.</p> <div readability="32"> <p><span>They faced off with the police. Picture: Will Hatton</span> <span><em>Source:</em> Supplied</span></p> </div> <p>I was dropped off near a lush park, the obligatory statue of famous military leader Simon Bolivar, sword at the ready, in the centre. A pair of backpackers strolled past, snacking on empanadas and gulping down steaming black coffee. This was apparently the "touristic centre".</p> <p>I looked for someone to change some money with, and was pointed towards a nearby shop. I entered and spoke in hushed tones with the lady behind the desk who then began to make calls.</p> <p>Two hours later a man in a dark suit appeared, firmly clutching a grocery bag. He rushed in and closed the door. A rent-a-thug stood nearby with what looked like a metal chair leg in one hand, watching me carefully.</p> <div readability="34"> <p><span>While there are dangers in Merida, there's no doubt it's a picturesque place.</span> <span><em>Source:</em> Getty Images</span></p> </div> <p>The harassed-looking money changer emptied the bag onto the table. Hundreds of coloured bills spilt across the table. I handed over a single hundred dollar bill and began the laborious task of tying up notes with elastic bands, I had well over 1000 notes to count. I had been in Venezuela just 24 hours and already I was a millionaire here.</p> <p>For a single US dollar ($1.31) I could buy 12 beers, get a bed for the night, take two taxis or eat in a nice restaurant. I could fill up a car at a local gas-station for 2 bolivars, around 1 US cent.</p> <div readability="33"> <p><span>So much cash, not enough hands. Picture: Will Hatton</span> <span><em>Source:</em> Supplied</span></p> </div> <p>So with wads of cash stuffed down my trousers and in my bag I left the store and checked into a hotel across the road. Then I went back outside, anxious to find out more about what the hell was going on; the sound of sirens, car alarms and fireworks, eerily similar to gunfire, drifted over the city like a haze.</p> <p>I was surprised to see many Venezuelans going about what appeared to be their normal business. I entered a cafe, an oasis of calm in a city that appeared to be on the brink of revolution. Here I watched a woman with a ludicrous bum implant flirt with a moustachioed waiter with a healthy paunch. He appeared to be punching above his weight.</p> <p>Across from me sat a gangly man in a chequered shirt, a pair of spectacles dangling from his face. I approached him and in my rudimentary Spanish attempted to ask him what was going on. He answered in English, a promising start. Roberto was preparing to leave the country and keen to share his insights on why he could no longer stay in his homeland.</p> <p>He says he had no choice. Ten years ago, his father, a university professor, earned around $2000 a month. Today, due to rampant inflation, he earns just $60 a month for the same job. Many Venezuelans earn even less, at the official exchange rate most people can hope to pocket just $20 a month.</p> <p>Those who have managed to get hold of actual dollars can live like kings and continue to invest their money in more dollars; in Venezuela, the value of dollars only seems to go up week on week.</p> <div readability="33"> <p><span>Will came here for adventure, something he definitely got. Picture: Will Hatton</span> <span><em>Source:</em> Supplied</span></p> </div> <p>"If you have dollars, you can live very well for just $50 a week," he said. "Without dollars, life in Venezuela is too expensive and it's impossible to get basics, even a toilet roll has to be bought on the black market!"</p> <p>I had come to Venezuela hearing these rumours and had packed accordingly; my bag was stuffed with 12 rolls of toilet paper.</p> <p>He explained that people are forced to queue for hours to buy essentials like powdered milk, bread and rice. Roberto was tired of queuing, he dreamt of a fully stocked fridge and a brimming medicine cabinet.</p> <p>"We're importing everything and it's still not enough."</p> <div readability="32"> <p><span>Locals wait in long lines to purchase fuel.</span> <span><em>Source:</em> Getty Images</span></p> </div> <p>Venezuela should be the richest country in all of South America, the country has the largest oil reserves in the world and a full tank of gasoline (around 60 litres) costs just 5 bolivars, about $1. A litre of bottled water on the other hand costs nearly 30 bolivars, over 100 times more than a litre of gasoline.</p> <p>Roberto says that Venezuela is now importing gasoline, a travesty for a country where oil bubbles freely from the ground.</p> <p>So what does the future hold for Venezuela?</p> <p>"Bloodshed, lots of bloodshed."</p> <p>With plummeting oil prices, rising inflation, increasing shortages and the clamouring voices of a million unheard souls, it's a recipe for disaster.</p> <p>Roberto cautioned me to be careful, this was no adventure playground, this was a country with one of the highest murder-rates in the world. And he's not the only one — everyone I'd spoken to wanted to know the same thing; after hearing about all the kidnappings, corruption, robberies and murders, why the hell was I here?</p> <p>Sure, most people wouldn't dream of visiting Venezuela, believing it's not worth the risk. But I hoped against hope that they were wrong, that the dirt-cheap prices and stunning sites would outweigh the risk of danger.</p> <div readability="32"> <p><span>Roraima is a famous -and stunning — mountain in Venezuela. Picture: Will Hatton</span> <span><em>Source:</em> Supplied</span></p> </div> <p>One of the main reasons I came here was for Roraima — the highest table top mountain in the world. I dreamt of climbing it.</p> <p>So I did. And as I stumped up a slippery path hacked into the jungle it seemed more likely I would break my neck than be robbed at gunpoint. Oozing, sucking mud pulled at my ankles as I struggled upwards, my pack, laden with supplies and camping gear.</p> <p>This was a far-cry from the endless plains of the Gran Sabana. I had spent the first day hiking through dusty valleys, crossing rumbling rivers and generally just being eaten alive by swarms of pori-pori, horrible biting flies the size of a pinhead.</p> <div readability="32"> <p><span>It was a tricky climb. Picture: Will Hatton</span> <span><em>Source:</em> Supplied</span></p> </div> <p>For five hours I slipped and hauled myself up the path, passing through banks of cloud and under a tumbling waterfall. Mist engulfed me, and visibility was less than 10 metres.</p> <p>Finally, I reached the summit. I was at last on top of the tabletop mountain that had inspired Arthur Conan Doyle's <em>Lost World</em>. Roraima, a magnet for thrillseekers and adventurers, a grave for the ill-prepared.</p> <p>Another tabletop mountain called Kukenan, a holy place for the indigenous peoples scattered across the plains, appeared through a window in the dancing mist. I had just a few seconds to appreciate the patchwork quilt of purples, oranges, reds and greens making up the mountain-face before it disappeared, devoured by clouds.</p> <div readability="32"> <p><span>There were seemingly never-ending valleys. Picture: Will Hatton</span> <span><em>Source:</em> Supplied</span></p> </div> <p>I spent the next day exploring the tabletop, bathing in a series of freezing pools and admiring valleys filled with crystals, an otherworldly site. Roraima, like Venezuela itself, was not what I had expected. The mountain and the country could both be deadly, but it had taken my breath away.</p> <div readability="32"> <p><span>Seeing crystals everywhere was a sight for sore eyes. Picture: Will Hatton</span> <span><em>Source:</em> Supplied</span></p> </div> <div readability="32"> <p><span>It definitely has a commanding appearance. Picture: Will Hatton</span> <span><em>Source:</em> Supplied</span></p> </div> <p>The warmth and generosity I experienced in this wonderful, frustrating, insane and beautiful country had surpassed my wildest dreams. Everywhere, I had been made to feel welcome, at no point had I felt in any real danger, Venezuelans had gone to great lengths to keep me from harm. I had made staunch friends.</p> <div readability="33"> <p><span>Though it's troubles, Venezuela has some beautiful sights. Picture: Will Hatton</span> <span><em>Source:</em> Supplied</span></p> </div> <p>The true Venezuela, like Roraima, is masked. It is impossible to get a full picture, simply snapshots of truth through a fleeting window.</p> <div readability="33"> <p><span>In fact, it rocks. Picture: Will Hatton</span> <span><em>Source:</em> Supplied</span></p> </div> <p><em>Will Hatton writes about travelling on a budget over at The Broke Backpacker.</em></p> <div readability="32"> <p><span>It was a trip he'll never forget. Picture: Will Hatton</span> <span><em>Source:</em> Supplied</span></p> </div><br /> Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00876407152133869623noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7883560553594094511.post-60569398814752797092015-04-05T23:08:00.012+07:002015-04-05T23:09:54.350+07:00Implants slash breastfeeding rates<div readability="8"> <p><span>Choices ... women who have breast enlargement surgery are less likely to breastfeed. Picture: Supplied</span> <span><em>Source:</em> ThinkStock</span></p> </div> <div readability="33"> <p><strong> ONE in five women who have a breast enlargement don't breastfeed and research suggests the mothers fear it will compromise their investment in the surgery. </strong></p> </div> <p>Researchers at the University of Sydney and the Kolling Institute tracked 378,389 women who gave birth in NSW between 2006 and 2011.</p> <p>They found while nine in ten women who had not had a breast augmentation were breastfeeding when they were discharged from hospital, only eight in ten women who had a breast enlargement were.</p> <p>Experts advocate breastfeeding babies because it protects against diarrhoea, respiratory tract infection, asthma, obesity and other health conditions.</p> <p>"These findings underscore the importance of identifying, supporting and encouraging all women who are vulnerable to a lower likelihood of breast feeding," the researchers say in the study published in the Medical Journal Australia.</p> <div readability="33"> <p><span>Investment ... woman holding silicone implants used in breast augmentation. Picture: Supplied</span> <span><em>Source:</em> ThinkStock</span></p> </div> <p>Of the 378,389 women in the study, 892 had breast surgery that had changed the size, shape and texture of healthy breasts.</p> <p>The study excluded women who had reconstructive breast surgery following a mastectomy and those who had cosmetic surgery overseas.</p> <p>Breast augmentation increased by 150 per cent in Australia between 2001 and 2011 and more than 8,000 women a year are undergoing the procedure.</p> <p>The study found 87 per cent of the women who had one child before their breast enlargement breast fed that child but only 72 per cent breastfed children born after the surgery.</p> <p>Researchers say this is good evidence that it is not lack of breast milk producing tissue that is the reason women who have breast enlargement don't breastfeed.</p> <p>They speculate that some women don't breastfeed because they fear transmitting silicone or other breast implant materials into breast milk.</p> <div readability="34"> <p><span>Worries ... women who have had breast implants may fear transmitting silicone in their breast milk, the study says. Picture: Thinkstock</span> <span><em>Source:</em> News Corp Australia</span></p> </div> <p>"They may fear, or have been told by their surgeon, that breastfeeding could undo a satisfactory augmentation result," the study says.</p> <p>Breast surgery in Australia costs around $10,000, it costs about $4,000 in Thailand and cut price operators are charging about $8,000 on the Gold Coast.</p> <p>Another explanation could be that ducts and glands in the breast may be damaged during surgery or by pressure from the implants on the breast tissue, the paper says.</p> <p>Complications of the surgery, infection or pain could be other explanations.</p> <p>The researchers say women about to undergo breast augmentation should be given the information that one in five women who have the surgery don't breastfeed as part of informed decision making as the contemplate the surgery.</p> <p>The study found 80 per cent of the women who had a breast augmentation were married or in a de factor relationship.</p> <p>More than 54 per cent of the mothers who had a breast augmentation were from the advantaged or most advantaged socio-economic groups.</p><br /> Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00876407152133869623noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7883560553594094511.post-51969783378398165322015-04-05T23:08:00.011+07:002015-04-05T23:09:48.344+07:00Implants slash breastfeeding rates<div readability="8"> <p><span>Choices ... women who have breast enlargement surgery are less likely to breastfeed. Picture: Supplied</span> <span><em>Source:</em> ThinkStock</span></p> </div> <div readability="33"> <p><strong> ONE in five women who have a breast enlargement don't breastfeed and research suggests the mothers fear it will compromise their investment in the surgery. </strong></p> </div> <p>Researchers at the University of Sydney and the Kolling Institute tracked 378,389 women who gave birth in NSW between 2006 and 2011.</p> <p>They found while nine in ten women who had not had a breast augmentation were breastfeeding when they were discharged from hospital, only eight in ten women who had a breast enlargement were.</p> <p>Experts advocate breastfeeding babies because it protects against diarrhoea, respiratory tract infection, asthma, obesity and other health conditions.</p> <p>"These findings underscore the importance of identifying, supporting and encouraging all women who are vulnerable to a lower likelihood of breast feeding," the researchers say in the study published in the Medical Journal Australia.</p> <div readability="33"> <p><span>Investment ... woman holding silicone implants used in breast augmentation. Picture: Supplied</span> <span><em>Source:</em> ThinkStock</span></p> </div> <p>Of the 378,389 women in the study, 892 had breast surgery that had changed the size, shape and texture of healthy breasts.</p> <p>The study excluded women who had reconstructive breast surgery following a mastectomy and those who had cosmetic surgery overseas.</p> <p>Breast augmentation increased by 150 per cent in Australia between 2001 and 2011 and more than 8,000 women a year are undergoing the procedure.</p> <p>The study found 87 per cent of the women who had one child before their breast enlargement breast fed that child but only 72 per cent breastfed children born after the surgery.</p> <p>Researchers say this is good evidence that it is not lack of breast milk producing tissue that is the reason women who have breast enlargement don't breastfeed.</p> <p>They speculate that some women don't breastfeed because they fear transmitting silicone or other breast implant materials into breast milk.</p> <div readability="34"> <p><span>Worries ... women who have had breast implants may fear transmitting silicone in their breast milk, the study says. Picture: Thinkstock</span> <span><em>Source:</em> News Corp Australia</span></p> </div> <p>"They may fear, or have been told by their surgeon, that breastfeeding could undo a satisfactory augmentation result," the study says.</p> <p>Breast surgery in Australia costs around $10,000, it costs about $4,000 in Thailand and cut price operators are charging about $8,000 on the Gold Coast.</p> <p>Another explanation could be that ducts and glands in the breast may be damaged during surgery or by pressure from the implants on the breast tissue, the paper says.</p> <p>Complications of the surgery, infection or pain could be other explanations.</p> <p>The researchers say women about to undergo breast augmentation should be given the information that one in five women who have the surgery don't breastfeed as part of informed decision making as the contemplate the surgery.</p> <p>The study found 80 per cent of the women who had a breast augmentation were married or in a de factor relationship.</p> <p>More than 54 per cent of the mothers who had a breast augmentation were from the advantaged or most advantaged socio-economic groups.</p><br /> Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00876407152133869623noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7883560553594094511.post-73365029054000011972015-04-05T23:08:00.010+07:002015-04-05T23:09:40.550+07:00Search for Luke to continue at daylight<div readability="7"> <p><span>Luke Shambrook has been missing since Friday morning.</span> <span><em>Source:</em> Supplied</span></p> </div> <div readability="33"> <p><strong> HELICOPTERS with thermal imaging cameras and dozens of search crews have scoured dense bushland in a search for missing boy Luke Shambrook. </strong></p> </div> <p>The hunt for the 11-year-old at Lake Eildon will continue tomorrow morning after searchers stopped for the night after 10pm</p> <p>Emergency services will gather for a meeting at 7.30am on Monday, before resuming the search.</p> <p>Fresh hope emerged on Sunday after motorists reported seeing a boy matching Luke's description about 5.30pm.</p> <p>According to the unconfirmed report, the boy seen was crying while sitting on a log off a remote track used by four-wheel-driving enthusiasts, about 20km south of the campsite where he was last seen.</p> <p>Search crews raced to the location where the boy had been seen, but as the sun set there was still no sign of Luke.</p> <div readability="7"> <p><span>Police speak to family members. Picture: Stuart Walmsley</span></p> </div> <p>Relatives have spent three tense days longing to be reunited with their "dear son".</p> <p>More than 140 volunteers turned out to help find Luke, who has autism, after he went missing at 9.30am on Good Friday at the Devil Cove campground.</p> <p>Senior Sergeant Ralph Willingham said Luke's parents, Tim and Rachel, had remained hopeful at Candlebark campground.</p> <p>Sen-Sgt Willingham, himself a grandfather, fought back tears as he read their statement Sunday afternoon: "On this Easter Sunday we are grateful for everyone's compassion and caring. Thank you for the special effort and huge support in trying to locate our son. We just want our dear son Luke found."</p> <p>Sen-Sgt Willingham said efforts would continue on the same scale today, if needed — the Easter long weekend being fortuitous in having people available to help.</p> <div readability="7"> <p><span>Department of Environment and Primary Industries staff search campsites. Picture: Stuart Walmsley</span></p> </div> <p>"The advice I'm getting from our search and rescue experts having regard to the overnight temperatures and the daytime temperatures is that he could well still be out there.</p> <p>"We've got to be realists but we're positive, the family's positive. We're comfortable that he is still alive. That's what we're working towards, that's what our efforts are focused on.</p> <p>"Day three is certainly an important day. Tomorrow is going to have a further level of urgency about it."</p> <p>There were no signs of discarded clothing in Sunday's search.</p> <p>Sen-Sgt Willingham said while foul play wasn't an active line of inquiry, anything was possible.</p> <div readability="8"> <p><span>State Emergency Service staff search the shallows and Lake Eildon's edge. Picture: Stuart Walmsley</span></p> </div> <p>"We're conducting a search for a missing person — that's our focus, but we are turning our mind to other circumstances that may have resulted in his disappearance," he said.</p> <p>"There is nothing at all to indicate that we need to go down that line; we're considering everything we can think of, and our thoughts at this stage is that a young boy has wandered off from the campsite."</p> <p>All campers in the area were registered but the records were not a priority given the effort was focused on search and rescue, he said.</p> <p>Park rangers had been searching tents and vehicles, as Luke has a tendency to climb into them because he likes watching DVDs in the car.</p> <p><strong>wes.hosking@news.</strong></p> <div readability="8"> <p><span>SES workers are briefed by regional officer Steve Schneider before resuming their search on Sunday morning. Picture: Stuart Walmsley</span></p> </div> <div> <div> <div readability="31.5"> <div readability="8"> <p>Victorian police say a family driving near Devils River saw a boy matching Luke Shambrook's description.</p> </div> </div> </div> </div> <span>Originally published as</span> Search for Luke to continue at daylight<br /> Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00876407152133869623noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7883560553594094511.post-5833519033896986732015-04-05T23:08:00.009+07:002015-04-05T23:08:07.428+07:00Killer Knight asks Governor for mercy<div readability="7"> <p><span>Julian Knight has written to the Governor to ask for mercy.</span> <span><em>Source:</em> News Limited</span></p> </div> <div readability="32"> <p><strong> HODDLE St mass murderer Julian Knight has penned a petition of mercy to the Governor of Victoria. </strong></p> </div> <p>Knight wrote the letter to Alex Chernov asking him to step in to release him from Port Phillip Prison after a series of failed legal bids for freedom.</p> <p>Knight, 47, was sentenced to life in prison with a minimum of 27 years for murdering seven people and wounding 19 others in the 1987 massacre.</p> <p>In his letter Knight argues many factors point to a low chance of him reoffending if he is ever released from jail.</p> <p>"My offences occurred in a set of unique circumstances that are impossible to reconstruct," Knight's letter states.</p> <p>"On 16 March, forensic psychiatrist Professor Paul E. Mullen submitted a report to Corrections Victoria regarding his psychiatric evaluation of me... he (also) stated that 'the chances, in my opinion, of Mr Knight repeating a massacre like that at Hoddle Street are remote'."</p> <p>Knight also refers to a report by forensic psychologist Professor James R.P. Ogloff, who said: "Mr Knight does not exhibit any symptoms of major mental illness."</p> <p>For much of the past year Knight has been using a controversial website to communicate with the outside world.</p> <p>The site, iexpress.org.au, dubbed "Facebook for criminals", has poems, photos and anecdotes about Knight's time spent behind bars.</p> <p>Prisoner advocacy group Justice Action set up the website and uploads information and images for prisoners and aids their contact with the public.</p> <p>Victims of crime advocates have blasted the website and Corrections Victoria has said it does not support it.</p> <p>Crime Victims Support Association spokesman Noel McNamara said: "Why would you give somebody like that mercy?</p> <p>"He killed and injured those people in cold blood and for all that misery he caused he deserves no mercy. He deserves to die in jail for what he did."</p> <p>In his letter to the Governor, Knight also questions why the parole board has not explained how his case differs from other murderers.</p> <p>Knight concluded his 21-page plea by writing: "In the event that Your Excellency is not minded to grant me mercy, I ask that Your Excellency provide me with the reasons for Your Excellency's decision, not simply a one-sentence notification."</p> <p><strong>david.hurley@news.com.au</strong></p> <p><strong>@davidhurleyHS</strong></p> <span>Originally published as</span> Killer Knight asks Governor for mercy<br /> Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00876407152133869623noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7883560553594094511.post-46932855870742675122015-04-05T23:08:00.007+07:002015-04-05T23:08:06.706+07:00Housewivesâ Pettifleur slams Gina: âSheâs a racistâ<div readability="9"> <p><span>Real Housewives of Melbourne, episode 7 recap: Thriller in Manila as Pettifleur and Gina clash</span> <span><em>Source:</em> Foxtel</span></p> </div> <div readability="34"> <p><strong> This week the ladies all head to the Philippines, because sometimes it's just nice to get drunk and fight with your friends in a different country. </strong></p> </div> <p>First though, we're with Jackie and Pettifleur, as Lydia takes them to her favourite clothing store: she's been shopping there since she was 18, she says.</p> <p>"Oh wow … that's a long time," is Pettifleur's super-shady reply.</p> <p>Perusing the store, Jackie refers to different outfits as being "very couture" no less than four times. Brace yourselves: We've got a new Jackie Gillies catchphrase on our hands. Resistance is futile.</p> <p>While they're browsing, Pettifleur pulls them aside for a serious chat about Gina, saying she feels she's been making an awful lot of mean jokes at her expense.</p> <p>At this point it would be remiss of us not to highlight Jackie's 'Oh-ok-we're-having-a-serious-talk-now' Concentration Face, which has made several appearances this season:</p> <div readability="32"> <p><span>A very couture expression.</span> <span><em>Source:</em> Foxtel</span></p> </div> <p>Across town, Gamble has entered her beloved Pomeranian Cash into a dog show. She's feeling a little underprepared — or as she puts it, "I have no idea what I'm doing."</p> <p>"I haven't practiced with Cash at all, so we're sort of going in blind. But we've got a few moves: He can walk." Indeed, he can:</p> <div readability="32"> <p><span>dogswholookliketheirowners.com</span> <span><em>Source:</em> Foxtel</span></p> </div> <p>Soon the announcer utters the words this recapper has waited a lifetime to hear: "Ladies and gentlemen, girls and boys, welcome to the POMERANIAN CHALLENGE."</p> <p>Gamble's BFF Gina is in the audience, of course, looking for all the world like a proud stage mum:</p> <div readability="34"> <p><span>"THAT'S IT GAMBLE, DO IT FOR MUMMY, JUST LIKE WE PRACTISED"</span> <span><em>Source:</em> Foxtel</span></p> </div> <p>Gamble has to lead Cash through a variety of simple tricks, but this Pomeranian is richer than you or I and he's not about to debase himself with menial tasks like this. At one point he goes off-leash and runs around the ground while Gamble chases him frantically — all that's missing is the Benny Hill music. The judges don't look too impressed:</p> <div readability="32"> <p><span>So THAT'S what happened to Roxette.</span> <span><em>Source:</em> Foxtel</span></p> </div> <p>Somehow, despite doing everything short of regurgitating the remains of a dead bird at the judges' feet, Cash comes third. How did this miracle happen? Gamble takes most of the credit:</p> <p>"I think we got it because the woman in fourth place forgot to blow-dry her hair in the morning, and it must have a bit more to do with the full presentation of your team."</p> <p>Next we're with Janet, who is in a dress that makes her appear as though her breasts are smiling widely:</p> <div readability="33"> <p><span>It's important to present a happy face to the world — even if it is on your norks.</span> <span><em>Source:</em> Foxtel</span></p> </div> <p>Janet's meeting a few of the other Housewives to give them an update on the tea business she's launching with her son. She's heading off on a work trip to the Philippines to meet with a local 'tea master', and she's inviting them all along. HOLIDAY! What could possibly go wrong?</p> <p>Gamble's not there, as she's brought sister Tempest — breakout star of last week's episode — down from Sydney for some emergency plastic surgery. Sitting down to lunch with her more surgically enhanced sister, Tempest runs through the procedures she's having done: eye lift, chin tuck, gallons of Botox. Gamble interjects with totally unbiased words of encouragement like "Oh yes, you DEFINITELY need to have that done," and "I mean, it's just a little bit of liposuction."</p> <p>Seeing as last week we said she was mad as a cut snake, let's balance things out with a compliment: Tempest, at 10 years older than your sister you're in very good nick. Don't feel you have to turn yourself into a neutral mask in a party wig just because of a few wrinkles.</p> <div readability="34"> <p><span>"The doctor assures me that removing my ears, eyes and nose will really just open my face right up"</span> <span><em>Source:</em> Foxtel</span></p> </div> <p>In amongst all her wise words of encouragement, Gamble casually mentions that she herself has spent "about $90,000 on cosmetic surgery — but $20,000 of that was to fix some bad work that I had done."</p> <p>RUN FOR THE HILLS, TEMPEST.</p> <p>Next up, Jackie and Chyka continue to take their jobs as co-planners of Gamble's hen's night very seriously. Jackie's taking Chyka to scout a venue, and once they arrive, she's got a surprise: BEEFCAKE.</p> <div readability="32"> <p><span>All of these guys look like they'd be named Chad … or Ched … or Chud.</span> <span><em>Source:</em> Foxtel</span></p> </div> <p>The strippers take it in turns to impress the girls. Surprisingly, given she previously nixed the possibility of strippers, Chyka is far more 'up for it' than Jackie.</p> <p>At one point, one of the men squirts whipped cream onto his nipple and has Chyka lick it off.</p> <p>Last week she was in a tizzy about her decorative tea towels, now she's sucking a stranger's nips — Chyka, you got layers, girl.</p> <div readability="33"> <p><span>Chyka, we fully support breastfeeding in public but this is ridiculous.</span> <span><em>Source:</em> Foxtel</span></p> </div> <p>"Wow … cream for breakfast," she announces, licking her lips with a post-coital smile. BAN THIS FILTH etc.</p> <p>Stripper number two ups the ante, having Chyka lay on the floor while he mounts her, then sitting her on a chair while he shakes his basketball-esque tanned butt cheeks in her face.</p> <p>"I was slightly nervous … but ready to see it all," she says. How Chyka Got Her Groove Back.</p> <div readability="33"> <p><span>Please, someone get the woman a mop and a decorative tea towel.</span> <span><em>Source:</em> Foxtel</span></p> </div> <p>It's almost time to head to the Philippines, so we check in with a few of the girls as they pack — with the help of their respective staff members. Pettifleur is shown barking at long-suffering housekeeper Lia, insisting that each of her items of clothing must be individually wrapped in tissue paper before packing, while Lia silently dreams of a Kimmy Schmidt-style escape from this house of torment.</p> <p>"When I travel, I think about where I'm going and what I'm doing, and I select my outfits accordingly," Packing Expert Pettifleur tells us, as if she's divulging some earth-shattering life-hack.</p> <p>Lydia's packing with the help of her housefriend (for it is she), Joanna. Joanna's parents live back in the Philippines, and she hands Lydia a handwritten letter to give them. Lydia is moved.</p> <p>"Oh Joanna that's beautiful! I've got goosebumps! I would love to do that," she says.</p> <div readability="34"> <p><span>"Joanna you're my best friend in the whole wide world" "Unhand me, white devil"</span> <span><em>Source:</em> Foxtel</span></p> </div> <p>Her follow-up caveat rather spoils the moment, though:</p> <p>"…and If I don't see them I'll just post it."</p> <p>The ladies arrive in Manila and check into their glam hotel. While the others have brought mountains of luggage, Jackie's one-upped them all by bringing an actual human person: her stylist, Ian.</p> <p>"He's someone I can't live without …. ECKSPESHALLY when I'm travelling," she says.</p> <p>As Ian runs Jackie through the outfits he's packed for her, she again says that each and every one looks "very couture."</p> <p>"Sometimes in the morning, I'll even say 'I'm having a very couture breakfast,'" she admits.</p> <p>The girls split into two groups for a day of shopping, and Chyka at one point asks Gina for some legal advice. She's been doing a bit of digging about Pettifleur's book, Switch the Bitch, and she's found there's already been a very similar book written by US ex-Apprentice contestant Omarosa:</p> <div readability="34"> <p><span>Is 'Switch the Bitch' similar to 'The Bitch Switch'? Yes, in that both are genuinely terrible</span> <span><em>Source:</em> Foxtel</span></p> </div> <p>Gina says that yes, Pettifleur's probably on shaky legal ground should Omarosa decide to pursue legal action over the similarities in their titles. As Gina sees it, this would be the perfect opportunity for Pettifleur to remove the controversial 'bitch' from the book's title once and for all.</p> <p>'Well its not exactly a fenemist title," Gamble says. Say it with us: Fen. Em. Ist. Ohhhh Gamble … we love you.</p> <p>Off on a separate shopping trip with Janet and Lydia, Pettifleur once again says that Gina's jokes at her expense are starting to grate — and she can't help but feel there are racist overtones to Gina's sly digs about her accent. The others encourage her to confront Gina about it — as Janet says, "Hopefully I'm there to watch it!" Selfless, that one.</p> <p>Before dinner, the girls head to the roof of their luxury hotel for a sunset champagne or two.</p> <div readability="33"> <p><span>"Simba, everything the light touches is ours"</span> <span><em>Source:</em> Foxtel</span></p> </div> <p>Looking out over the densely populated city, the Housewives can't help but notice the slums dotted throughout.</p> <p>"What about when we came in from the airport — did you see all the kids playing in the rubbish? But they're happy and they love it," Chyka says. Stop what you're doing, Bob Geldof — KIDZ LUV POVERTY.</p> <p>The women sit down to a very fancy dinner with a view, on the 71st floor of a building towering above Manila. Or as Lydia puts it: "the restaurant was on the seventy-oneth floor, so it was extremely high."</p> <p>SEVENTY-ONETH. FENEMIST. ECKSPESHALLY. I'm sorry, what's going on here? Is there a carbon monoxide leak on set?</p> <p>At dinner, Chyka and Gina raise their concerns with Pettifleur about her book — namely, that a book with an almost identical title has already been released.</p> <p>"Won't people get confused?" Gina asks, quite reasonably.</p> <p>Pettifleur's immediately on the defensive. She already knew about the other book — her verdict? "Completely different. Not interested. DON'T CARE," she insists.</p> <p>"Gina's comment, about people getting confused by the title, is goobley-gosh."</p> <p>As the dinner wears on, the pair, sat next to each other, continue sniping.</p> <p>"I hear you, constantly bitching," Pettifleur mutters, at which point Gina gets all up in her face.</p> <p>"You can back RIGHT OFF, I'm not interested in your opinion and you can keep it to yourself. I wouldn't read your book, especially now cos I know you."</p> <p>Gina finishes with a not-entirely-flattering impersonation of Pettifleur:</p> <div readability="33"> <p><span>Maybe not your classiest move, but lolz Gina. LOLZ.</span> <span><em>Source:</em> Foxtel</span></p> </div> <p>NEXT WEEK: Dinner continues — and turns into an all-out slanging match. In the 20-second sneak peek we're treated to no less than three F-bombs, and this pearler from Jackie to Gina: "When's the last time you had a shaaaaag? That's what you need, a f*cken' good root."</p> <p><strong><em>The Real Housewives of Melbourne screens 8:30pm Sundays on Foxtel's Arena Channel.</em></strong></p> <p><strong><em>Check back here right after each show to read our weekly recap.</em></strong></p> <p><strong><em>In the meantime, join recapper and proud fenemist Nick Bond over on Twitter (@bondnickbond).</em></strong></p><br /> Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00876407152133869623noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7883560553594094511.post-19157193214378936522015-04-05T23:08:00.005+07:002015-04-05T23:08:05.938+07:00Armed police negotiate with man in Southbank cafe<div readability="7"> <p><span>Heavily armed police gather at Southbank. Picture: Monique Hore</span> <span><em>Source:</em> HeraldSun</span></p> </div> <div readability="34"> <p><strong> ARMED police continue negotiations with a man who has barricaded himself inside a Southbank restaurant with a woman, as the standoff enters its fourth hour. </strong></p> </div> <p>Police have extended the exclusion zone around the siege, pushing people off the public square near the site.</p> <p>Twi angle grinders have been carried by police into the cordoned-off area.</p> <p>They have closed Riverside Quay to traffic and pedestrians between Cook St and Southgate Ave.</p> <p>Authorities were called to Riverside Quay about 10pm.</p> <p>It is not clear whether the man has any weapons, or whether the pair know each other.</p> <p>The incident is not believed to be ideologically motivated.</p> <p>The Critical Incident Response Team and the dog squad are among police blocking the promenade between the 'love lock' bridge at Southbank and the Othello restaurant.</p> <p>Witnesses said they saw police storm the area with shields about 10.40pm.</p> <p>Paramedics with a stretcher remained on standby at the scene as a crowd of concerned passersby watched on.</p> <p>A group of people believed to know those inside the restaurant watched on.</p> <p>Police, both uniformed and in plain clothes, huddled near an entrance to a Riverside Quay building.</p> <p>Cristina Grimaldi, who lives five minutes walk from the promenade, described the scene as like "a movie".</p> <p>"We were walking home and we saw the cops and we wondered what happened.</p> <p>"It is the first time we have seen so many police."</p> <p>Police at the scene are diverting people away from the area saying a crime is currently being committed.</p> <div readability="32"> <p><span>Picture: Brendan Francis</span> <span><em>Source:</em> HeraldSun</span></p> </div> <div readability="32"> <p><span>Picture: Brendan Francis</span> <span><em>Source:</em> HeraldSun</span></p> </div> <div readability="32"> <p><span>Picture: Twitter / @nathan28423118</span> <span><em>Source:</em> Supplied</span></p> </div> <p><strong>MORE TO COME</strong></p> <span>Originally published as</span> Police continue negotiations with man in Southbank siege<br /> Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00876407152133869623noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7883560553594094511.post-40546939737571269132015-04-05T23:08:00.003+07:002015-04-05T23:08:05.656+07:00Gunman a âbrilliant upcoming lawyerâ<div readability="41.8320987654"> <div readability="6.67441860465"> <div> <div> <div readability="32.5"> <div readability="10"> <p>Crowds gather at a Garissa mortuary to see the bodies of the al Shabaab gunmen behind the deadly Kenya university attack, as families search for loved ones who went missing after the bloody assault. Pavithra George reports.</p> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div readability="34"> <p><span>Grim display ... Kenya Defence Forces soldiers arrive at a hospital to escort the bodies of the attackers, to be put on public view in Garissa. Picture: AP Photo/Ben Curtis</span> <span><em>Source:</em> AP</span></p> </div> </div> <div readability="33"> <p><strong> AUTHORITIES in Kenya say they have identified one of the four dead al-Shabab gunmen who massacred nearly 150 people at Garissa University as an ethnic-Somali Kenyan national and law graduate. </strong></p> </div> <p>Interior ministry spokesman Mwenda Njoka on Sunday named one of the attackers as Abdirahim Abdullahi, saying he was "a university of Nairobi law graduate and described by a person who knows him well as a brilliant upcoming lawyer."</p> <div readability="34"> <p><span>Terrible loss ... a man is overcome with grief after learning a relative was killed by Somalia's Shebab Islamists during the siege on the Garissa Campus University. Picture: AFP/Nichole Sobecki</span> <span><em>Source:</em> AFP</span></p> </div> <p>The spokesman said Abdullahi's father, a local official in the north-eastern county of Mandera, had "reported to the authorities that his son had gone missing and suspected the boy had gone to Somalia".</p> <p>Describing Abdullahi as a high-flying A-grade student, Mr Njoka said it was "critical that parents whose children go missing or show tendencies of having been exposed to violent extremism report to authorities."</p> <div readability="34"> <p><span>Spectators ... members of the public gather outside a hospital mortuary, waiting to view the bodies of the alleged attackers in Garissa. Picture: AP/Ben Curtis</span> <span><em>Source:</em> AP</span></p> </div> <p>Somalia's al-Qaeda-affiliated al-Shabab militants claimed responsibility for Thursday's massacre at Garissa University, during which non-Muslim students were lined up and executed.</p> <p>The massacre, which was the deadliest attack on Kenyan soil since the 1998 bombing of the US embassy in Nairobi, claimed the lives of 142 students, three police officers and three soldiers.</p> <div readability="35"> <p><span>Evacuation ... an injured man is assisted aboard a bus, taking surviving students to their respective home counties after Al-Shabab gunmen rampaged through a university in north-eastern Kenya. Picture: AP</span> <span><em>Source:</em> AP</span></p> </div> <p>Although losing ground in Somalia, al-Shabab have stepped up attacks inside Kenya as well as its recruitment of Muslim youth in the country's north-eastern and coastal regions.</p> </div><br /> Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00876407152133869623noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7883560553594094511.post-58338029174445144592015-04-05T23:08:00.001+07:002015-04-05T23:08:05.250+07:00âMy grandfather would have shot meâ<div readability="8"> <p><span>Closure ... author Jennifer Teege says her most significant exchanges are with Holocaust survivors. Picture: AP/Dan Balilty</span> <span><em>Source:</em> Supplied</span></p> </div> <div readability="37"> <p><strong> ONE summer afternoon six years ago, Jennifer Teege was killing time in her local library in Hamburg, Germany, when she came across a striking title: 'I Have to Love My Father, Don't I?' </strong></p> </div> <p>She pulled the book from the shelf. On the cover was a photo of a weary-looking woman, and there, too, was the subtitle: <em>The Life Story of Monika Goeth, Daughter of the Concentration Camp Commandant from 'Schindler's List.'</em></p> <p>Teege couldn't believe it. Monika was her mother.</p> <div readability="35"> <p><span>Estranged ... a screengrab shows Teege's mother, Monika Goeth, whose father was a Nazi. Picture: YouTube/POV</span> <span><em>Source:</em> Supplied</span></p> </div> <p>At 38, Teege, half-black, was just discovering an improbable truth: Her grandfather was a Nazi.</p> <p>"The very moment when I found the book, it was as if, from within, that I realised something exceptional was happening," Teege tells <em>The New York Post</em>. "I was very, very silent. It was like giving birth: You go into yourself, and the outer world disappears."</p> <p>What happened after that, Teege can't quite remember. She knows she checked the book out, knows she called her husband to get her, knows she asked him to pick up their two children, but the details are lost to her. She hadn't even fully absorbed the meaning of the book — that her grandfather was Amon Goeth, "the butcher of Plaszow," his atrocities immortalised by Steven Spielberg.</p> <p><em>My Grandfather Would Have Shot Me: A Black Woman Discovers Her Family's Nazi Past</em> is Teege's attempt to understand her ancestry and herself. First published in Europe in 2013, the book is being released in English next week.</p> <p>She knows her story, and the way she feels about her grandfather, will surprise people. She's repulsed by him, but as a direct descendant, needs to believe that he wasn't genetically, irredeemably depraved.</p> <p>"My grandfather was not pure evil," Teege says. "He was a human being. He often made wrong decisions, but he was someone who was once a child. You can't divide people into 'good' and 'bad.' "</p> <p>After Teege found her mother's book, she went straight to her bedroom, closed the door, and read it in one sitting. When she emerged, she was in denial.</p> <p>"It was such a huge amount of information," she says. "At that moment, I thought, 'I have to verify this. Who knows if it's the truth?' "</p> <p>She went online. "For hours," she says. "I was reading everything I could find. Everything. Information about my mother, my grandfather, the Nazi Party."</p> <p>Teege learned that the next night, German TV would broadcast <em>Inheritance</em>, a documentary about her mother and one of her grandfather's abused servants. The existence of this film, too, was a shock. Teege was long estranged from her mother, who had never told her of her disgraced lineage.</p> <p>"I felt like, 'This is too much. Everything is beyond my control. I don't know what's happening, but it can't go on like this,' " she says.</p> <p>Teege watched with her husband. When it was over, neither said anything. Teege was traumatised but fixated on the footage of her grandfather's execution, by hanging, in Krakow in 1946.</p> <p>It took three tries. Goeth's last words were, "Heil Hitler."</p> <p>"The scene where he was executed, and the rope was too short and they started to redo it — I thought, 'This is crazy,' " Teege says. "And then they did it again. I thought, 'I can't take it anymore.' "</p> <div readability="35"> <p><span>Amon Goeth ... Teege is repulsed by him, but needs to believe that he wasn't genetically, irredeemably depraved. Picture: YouTube/POV</span> <span><em>Source:</em> Supplied</span></p> </div> <p>Teege, who had suffered from depression since her mid-20s, felt on the verge of a breakdown. She couldn't get out of bed, couldn't stop crying. She had a miscarriage.</p> <p>"I was thinking in circles," she says. "I couldn't function. I couldn't hold it together." She was petrified she had too much of her grandfather in herself.</p> <p>Teege found a therapist, one who specialises in children and grandchildren of Nazi perpetrators. She began reading memoirs by other descendants of Nazis — a small genre in Germany — and began to dive into her past.</p> <p>"I thought, 'It won't help anyone if I continue to live like this,' " Teege says. "I saw how much my mother was haunted by her past. I know the toxic power of a family secret."</p> <p>And so Teege set out for Krakow, for the house where her grandparents lived — the one next to the Plaszow concentration camp Goeth ran, the one with the balcony where, for fun, he would fire his rifle at women with babies. He had trained his dogs, Rolf and Ralf, to tear people apart.</p> <p>According to Yad Vashem, the World Center for Holocaust Research, 8000 people were murdered at Plaszow, most under Goeth's rule from February 1943 to September 1944.</p> <p>"I want to see where my grandfather committed his murders," Teege writes. "I want to get close to him — and then put some distance between him and me."</p> <p>Quickly, however, it was her grandmother who came to dominate her thoughts. Ruth Irene Kalder was a glamorous young woman, the daughter of a Nazi. She was 25 when she met the married Amon Goeth and was smitten.</p> <p>"My grandmother, as I write about her, is the closest I let the reader look inside myself," Teege says. "She played a big role in my life."</p> <p>It was her grandmother who took the most and best care of Teege, whose mother had abandoned her after giving birth. In 1970s Germany, it was common for struggling mothers to turn their children over to orphanages, which allowed liberal parental visitation. Monika herself was only 24 when she met Teege's father, a student from Nigeria.</p> <p>The relationship didn't last, and Monika soon took up with a man who beat her brutally. "My first husband," Monika later said, "was just like Amon. I must have chosen him to punish myself."</p> <p>Monika never knew her father. She was 10 months old when he was executed. But such is the torment of descendants of Nazi perpetrators, many of whom toggle between revulsion and love for their parents and grandparents. It was Ruth who stepped in.</p> <div readability="33"> <p><span>Never knew Amon ... a screengrab from the documentary 'Inheritance' shows Monika Goeth as a child. Picture: YouTube/POV</span> <span><em>Source:</em> Supplied</span></p> </div> <p>"Not only did I like my grandmother's character," Teege says, "but she gave me a safe place." Her grandmother was her idol: well-dressed, an ever-present cigarette in her hand, her apartment filled with books. Ruth wasn't affectionate with her granddaughter — no hugs and kisses — but Teege felt loved and secure with her, until the day she was adopted by another family.</p> <p>Teege was 7, and she never saw her grandmother again. Her deepest wish had been that her grandmother would adopt her. She doesn't know why she didn't, yet doesn't harbour anger. She mainly feels love.</p> <p>"She was not a grandmother who would have gotten on the floor and played with me," Teege says. "But she would always hold my hand. I'm addicted to that to this day, and I think that's why."</p> <p>This is the same woman who, as documented in Teege's own book, saw 250 children torn from their parents at Plaszow, undressed and piled onto a truck for execution at Auschwitz; who, much later, said the Jews "weren't really people like us; they were so filthy"; who lounged around the house with a cucumber-and-yoghurt face mask, turning up her music so as not to hear Amon shooting and torturing his prisoners; who used the barracks and barbed wire of the camp as a backdrop for personal portraits, posing as if for <em>Vogue</em>.</p> <p>After Goeth's execution, Ruth kept a photo of him over her bed for the rest of her life. She said she was never as happy again. "It was a wonderful time," she said. "My Amon was king. I was his queen." Her only regret? That those days at the concentration camp had come to an end.</p> <p>In the early 1980s, Ruth sat for an interview with documentarian Jon Blair, who was working with Spielberg. She continued to defend herself, claiming little to no knowledge of what was going on.</p> <div readability="33"> <p><span>Sadistic ... actor Ralph Fiennes as Amon Goeth in the 1993 film 'Schindler's List'. Picture: Supplied</span> <span><em>Source:</em> News Corp Australia</span></p> </div> <p>As for Amon, she said: "He was no brutal murderer. No more than the others. He was like everybody else in the SS. He killed a few Jews, yes, but not many. The camp was no fun park, of course."</p> <p>The day after, Ruth, already ill, committed suicide. She overdosed on sleeping pills and left a self-pitying note. Teege has watched the interview over and over.</p> <p>"When I found out who she was — who she also was, I would say — there was this feeling of love," Teege says. "What made it more complicated for me was that my mother always compared us.</p> <p>She'd say, 'You're so similar.' It's not just good taste in clothes. It's also: How would I behave during the war? Who am I? What are my moral values?"</p> <p>It's a question that pervades Teege's everyday life. Not much research has been done on the children and grandchildren of Nazi perpetrators, though some have intentionally remained childless.</p> <p>Hermann Goering's grand-niece Bettina had herself sterilised; she was afraid to continue the bloodline of a "monster."</p> <p>Others immerse themselves in Judaism, or Jewish culture, as Teege's mother did. She took up ancient Hebrew, as penance.</p> <p>Curiously, long before she ever knew the truth, Teege moved to Tel Aviv in her 20s. She fell in love with the city and its inhabitants, and it was there she saw <em>Schindler's List</em> for the first time, never realising the sadistic Nazi played by Ralph Fiennes was her own grandfather.</p> <p>The film itself had not much impact on her. "Of course, it was touching and moving," Teege says. "But I had no — I felt not connected to the movie."</p> <p>Her mother remains haunted by her family legacy, and while she has sat for interviews, she refuses to speak to her daughter. Teege says she has no idea why.</p> <p>As for her grandfather, Teege remains ambivalent. She doesn't believe Amon Goeth was among the worst of the Nazis.</p> <p>"If you look in books, his name does not appear as frequently as Himmler's," she says. "The importance he got is because of <em>Schindler's List</em>, so he became, besides Hitler, the face of the perpetrators."</p> <p>Yet, she admits, Spielberg got his sadism right. "My grandfather was not someone who gave orders," she says. "He was someone who enjoyed killing people."</p> <p>Today, Teege travels the world, speaking about her experience. She says her most impactful exchanges are with Holocaust survivors. She believes the book, and her story, has brought closure. "Not only for me," she says. "It's closure for them."</p> <p>And if her grandfather were alive today, Teege says, she would sit with him. "I am a person who believes in dialogue," she says. "And that even if you have different positions, one could at least listen."</p><br /> Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00876407152133869623noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7883560553594094511.post-90584062287705957802015-03-29T23:08:00.013+07:002015-03-29T23:09:52.448+07:00Thirsty Warnieâs hall of shame<div readability="7"> <p><span>Shane Warne doing what he does best.</span> <span><em>Source:</em> Splash News Australia</span></p> </div> <div readability="33"> <p><strong> IF ANYONE knows a thing or two about a post-win skol, it's our Warnie. </strong></p> </div> <p>While the former World Cup champion might have given up the baggy greens, he's still stirring the pot (or was that brew?) on the field after his latest interrogation of the Australian cricket team, where no less than three times did Warnie bring up the topic of a night on the booze after the team's glorious World Cup win.</p> <p>"Are you feeling thirsty?," he asked wicketkeeper Brad Haddin.</p> <p>Then he moved to batsman Steve Smith.</p> <p>"Are you going to have a bit of a drink tonight too Smitty? Are you going to get thirsty as well? The boys are thirsty they seem."</p> <p>And just when you thought it was over ...</p> <p>"So what's the plan — besides lots of drink and that," he asked Shane Watson and Josh Hazlewood.</p> <p>"How long is that going to last. Just one night, two nights? We saw (coach) Darren Lehmann say it might last a week. Do you reckon it will go a bit longer than that?"</p> <p>And while the real reaction came from Twitter, we're here to heed a warning, boys, it's all fun and games — until the camera comes out.</p> <p>Take note, fellas.</p> <p><strong>RELATED: FULL COVERAGE OF AUSTRALIA'S WORLD CUP WIN</strong></p> <p><strong>RELATED: BRAD HADDIN SMASHED FOR EXUBERANT SEND OFF</strong></p> <div readability="33"> <p><span>Full ... Warnie swigs champagne from a bottle on the Old Trafford balcony during a celebration of Australia's win over England in the July 1997 Ashes series.</span> <span><em>Source:</em> News Corp Australia</span></p> </div> <div readability="33"> <p><span>Beer in the ear: Warnie celebrates by sticking a beer bottle in his ear after Australia retained the Ashes.</span> <span><em>Source:</em> News Limited</span></p> </div> <div readability="34"> <p><span>Warnie and Allan Border are sprayed with beer after winning against the West Indies in Melbourne on December 30, 1992. Picture: Peter Barnes</span> <span><em>Source:</em> News Corp Australia</span></p> </div> <div readability="32"> <p><span>He's certainly ... ahem ... changed his look over the years.</span> <span><em>Source:</em> News Limited</span></p> </div> <div readability="33"> <p><span>The Simone days: Warnie with now-ex-wife Simone at release of his wine collection in 2002.</span> <span><em>Source:</em> News Limited</span></p> </div> <div readability="34"> <p><span>For a hard earned thirst, you need a big cold beer. Right, Warnie?</span> <span><em>Source:</em> News Limited</span></p> </div> <div readability="36"> <p><span>He'll drink anything: Warne poses with a glass of wine during a break in the first test of the Pakistan v Australia series in Colombo, Sri Lanka, in 2002. Picture: Phil Hillyard.</span> <span><em>Source:</em> News Corp Australia</span></p> </div> <div readability="33"> <p><span>1996: Australian players give David Boon a 'beer shower' for the last time after a third test victory against Sri Lanka.</span> <span><em>Source:</em> News Corp Australia</span></p> </div> <div readability="33"> <p><span>New wine, new look.</span> <span><em>Source:</em> News Corp Australia</span></p> </div> <div readability="32"> <p><span>The 'metrosexual' transformation began in 2002.</span> <span><em>Source:</em> News Limited</span></p> </div> <div readability="32"> <p><span>There's something very disturbing about this.</span> <span><em>Source:</em> News Limited</span></p> </div> <span>Originally published as</span> Thirsty Warnie's hall of shame<br /> Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00876407152133869623noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7883560553594094511.post-82919968210267638462015-03-29T23:08:00.012+07:002015-03-29T23:09:43.924+07:00Haddin smashed for send off<div readability="32.2055940023"> <div readability="6.11077844311"> <div> <div> <div readability="32"> <div readability="9"> <p>Cricket World Cup: Glenn Maxwell and Mitchell Johnson have struck early for Australia, taking some vital wickets in the opening stages of the World Cup final against New Zealand at the MCG.</p> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div readability="33"> <p><span>Brad Haddin and James Faulkner give New Zealand's Grant Elliott a send off pic. Phil Hillyard</span> <span><em>Source:</em> News Corp Australia</span></p> </div> </div> <div readability="33"> <p><strong> BRAD Haddin came under social media fire for his exuberant send off of Martin Guptill in the World Cup final. </strong></p> </div> <p>Glenn Maxwell got the Kiwi for 15 when a slightly turning offie clipped off stump. Guptill had just gone to the top of the World Cup run scoring charts and is likely to stay there.</p> <p>Amid Maxwell's joy, Australia's keeper gave Guptill a few words to send him on his way.</p> <p><strong>WATCH THE SEND OFF IN THE VIDEO ABOVE</strong></p> <p>The send off offended many on Twitter including former England bowler Alex Tudor who called Haddin a #Muppet.</p> <div> <div readability="31.5"> <div readability="8"> <p>Cricket World Cup: Four New Zealand batsmen have been dismissed by ducks in the World Cup final against Australia at the MCG.</p> </div> </div> </div> Haddin wasn't done upsetting watchers. <p>After Grant Elliott reviewed an lbw call agains thim, and had the deicsion overturned, he exhanged heated words with Australia's keeper.</p> <p>So, of course, haddin, was one the first to queue up to bid Elliott farewell at the end of his knock.</p> <div readability="33"> <p><span>Brad Haddin gets stuck into Grant Elliott after being given out but the decision was overturned. Picture: Colleen Petch.</span> <span><em>Source:</em> News Corp Australia</span></p> </div> <div readability="33"> <p><span>Brad Haddin and James Faulkner give New Zealand's Grant Elliott a send off. pic. Phil Hillyard</span> <span><em>Source:</em> News Corp Australia</span></p> </div> <div> <div readability="31.5"> <div readability="8"> <p>Cricket World Cup: Mitchell Starc gets Brendon McCullum out for a duck in the opening over of the World Cup final.</p> </div> </div> </div> <span>Originally published as</span> Haddin smashed for send off </div><br /> Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00876407152133869623noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7883560553594094511.post-14114338918813476972015-03-29T23:08:00.011+07:002015-03-29T23:08:18.583+07:00The side of Mexico few tourists see<div readability="7"> <p><span>Chilling in Cabo. Nearby is a more secret spot. Picture: Mark Mitchell</span> <span><em>Source:</em> Flickr</span></p> </div> <div readability="35"> <p><strong> FAR from the sprawling, all-inclusive resorts of Mexico's famous Los Cabos is a part of the Baja California peninsula that few tourists ever see, but should. </strong></p> </div> <p>In one of Mexico's largest federally protected conservation areas for flora and fauna is a land forested with desert plants that look like they were drawn by Dr Seuss: candle-like boojum trees and distinctively sculptural elephant trees, towering cardon cactuses and other types of succulents.</p> <p>Sitting in the middle of the peninsula, this little-known spot is the Valle de los Cirios, or Valley of the Boojums.</p> <p>The plants it is named for were dubbed cirios - or candles - in Spanish, evidently because of their resemblance to tapered church candles at the missions nearby. South-western naturalist Godfrey Sykes later christened that same tree the "boojum," for an imaginary animal character in Lewis Carroll's nonsense poem <em>The Hunting of the Snark</em>.</p> <p>Birds like pelicans and ospreys abound and peninsular pronghorns, once hunted to near extinction, roam the desert landscape. Under a Mexican government program, the hoofed animals are now making a comeback from their once critically endangered status.</p> <div readability="32"> <p><span>ICacti are silhouetted against a twilight sky in the Valle de los Cirios.</span> <span><em>Source:</em> AP</span></p> </div> <p>Among the oldest known mammals in the Americas, the pronghorns are known locally as "ghosts of the desert" because their golden brown or tan colour and white markings helps camouflage them.</p> <div readability="32"> <p><span>Inside a cave in the Valle de los Cirios.</span> <span><em>Source:</em> AP</span></p> </div> <p>Nearby, visitors can see ancient cave paintings depicting deer, whales and humans with six fingers.</p> <p>The stark beauty and solitude encountered are a far cry from the fancy restaurants, pools with swim-up bars, fishing, snorkelling and sunbathing popular on the southern end of the Sea of Cortez, the long slip of water sandwiched between the Baja Peninsula and Mexico's mainland. The peninsula was once eloquently described in a travel journal by American writer John Steinbeck; its stunning coral reefs were praised by ocean explorer Jacques Cousteau.</p> <p>A short way to the south, magnificent grey whales arrive every year off the Pacific coast town of Guerrero Negro, following one of the world's longest migration routes. They mate and calve in the lagoons nearby.</p> <p>Mexico's government says there were more than 2600 whales in the lagoons at the end of February, including adults and calves - among the highest numbers in 19 years and 10 per cent more than last season. It estimates whale-watching could continue through the end of April before the sea mammals head back to Alaska.</p> <p>Guerrero Negro has a long whaling history and was named for the whaling ship Black Warrior that partially sank in the area in 1858. Also located here is the largest salt-making facility on the planet. The salt is extracted from ocean water by evaporation, taking advantage of the region's low yearly rainfall, its large areas of flatlands and high solar radiation.</p> <p><strong>Getting there</strong></p> <p>Valley of the Boojums is in the middle of the 1247km Baja California peninsula and can be reached by car. Vehicles can be rented either in Tijuana near the Mexico-US border in the north or in the resorts of La Paz or Los Cabos in the south.</p> <p>Guerrero Negro can be reached by car and has a small airport with regional service. Visiting the lagoons where you can watch whales is possible only through authorised tour operators in Guerrero Negro. Guides for seeing cave drawings can also be found in Guerrero Negro.</p> <div readability="33"> <p><span>Why not stop in Cabo for a break, on the way? Picture: Nan Palmero</span> <span><em>Source:</em> Flickr</span></p> </div><br /> Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00876407152133869623noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7883560553594094511.post-70365283669383879832015-03-29T23:08:00.009+07:002015-03-29T23:08:18.223+07:00Janet and Gambleâs drunk street fight<div readability="7"> <p><span>Gamble invited the girls to Sydney ... what could possibly go wrong?</span> <span><em>Source:</em> Foxtel</span></p> </div> <div readability="34"> <p><strong> In this week's episode of Real Housewives, the ladies head north to Sydney and the situation between Gamble and Janet turns explosive as Gamble's hot-headed sister enters the fray. </strong></p> </div> <p>Before all that, Chyka invites a few of the girls along to a marquee her company is running at the MCG for the AFL Grand Final. It's the big match between the Sydney Swans and Hawthorn — which Gamble rather adorably pronounces "Whore-fawn."</p> <p>Shout-out here to Lydia, who pulls off one of the more spectacular entrances of the season when she suddenly appears outside the MCG as if she just teleported in from the future:</p> <div readability="33"> <p><span>International glamour, like she just stepped out of a Portman's catalogue</span> <span><em>Source:</em> Supplied</span></p> </div> <p>Forget footy, the girls are at the Grand Final to compete in their sport of choice: the race to see who can get offended first. Noticing that Lydia's opted for water instead of a glass of champagne, Gamble blurts out, "Are you pregnant?"</p> <p>"No, are YOU?"</p> <p>"NO!"</p> <p>"Well cheers," Lydia snarls. "Cheers to your dogs — YOUR babies."</p> <p>Both appear to be seething, having been in each other's company for a good 15 seconds. Excellent.</p> <div readability="33"> <p><span>Drink through the awkwardness, ladies.</span> <span><em>Source:</em> Supplied</span></p> </div> <p>Gamble then invites the others to join her for a weekend up in her hometown of Sydney. She works with celebrated artist Charles Billich, and he'll be holding a party at his gallery in The Rocks.</p> <p>Pettifleur — socially inept at the best of times — takes this friendly invite as a cue to interrogate Gamble about her professional life, testing her story for weaknesses like a velociraptor testing the electric fences in Jurassic Park.</p> <p>After asking Gamble what she does at the gallery (she works on a part-time basis, facilitating the sale of Billich's artworks) Pettifleur then asks how she would go about contacting Gamble at work and what would happen if she just cold-called the gallery and mentioned Gamble's name. She seems utterly convinced Gamble is some sort of a Catch Me If You Can-style fraudster, biding her time on a reality show while she plans her next jewel heist.</p> <p>Gamble gets her own back, though.</p> <p>"So Pettifleurs [getting your frenemy's name ever-so-slightly wrong: classic passive-aggressive move, good one Gumble], how's your property developing going? Did you start that or did your HUSBAND?"</p> <p>DAGGERS from Pettifleurs.</p> <p>Back at home and packing for the trip, Gamble confesses to Rick — who's sat in the corner stroking their Pomeranian like a not-entirely-convincing Bond villain — that she's anxious to make sure the Sydney jaunt goes well, given her past tensions with Janet. Rick's response — that a man would never have such a silly concern — is patronising and vaguely sexist, but it's all delivered in those calm, velvety Rick tones so it's hard to feel angry. The man has such a soothing presence, even the usually hyperactive Pomeranian is totally chill:</p> <div readability="33"> <p><span>"Don't worry your pretty little head, toots."</span> <span><em>Source:</em> Foxtel</span></p> </div> <p>Next up, Jackie drops in on Chyka so the pair can get on with some very serious business: they're co-organising Gamble's hens night. Trouble is, they both have very different ideas of what constitutes a good send off for single life. Gamble's all about fine dining and silver service, whereas one gets the impression Jackie would happily down a bottle of La Mascara in the nearest park before hitting up Newcastle RSL.</p> <p>"Gamble doesn't want strippers and she doesn't want it to be tacky," Chyka warns.</p> <p>Jackie's face:</p> <div readability="33"> <p><span>Don't worry Jackie, she didn't say anything about penis straws.</span> <span><em>Source:</em> Foxtel</span></p> </div> <p>Chyka's got a wild side, mind you. Jackie asks what happened at HER hen's night before she married Bruce, and Chyka cheerfully recalls some business involving a group of male sheep auctioneers who stripped her to her underwear in a crowded restaurant and auctioned her off, while her own mother egged them all on. Wow, Chyka, that sounds … really upsetting?</p> <p>Next we're with Gamble, Pettifleur, Janet and Gina in Sydney, where all four appear to have dressed as Logie Awards for their big girl's weekend:</p> <div readability="32"> <p><span>The women's Dress Like A Ferrero Rocher contest ended in a four-way tie.</span> <span><em>Source:</em> Foxtel</span></p> </div> <p>As they prep in their hotel suite ahead of the gallery party, Gamble tells the other girls about her admiration for artist Billich, who is an old family friend.</p> <p>Again apparently testing for weaknesses, Pettifleur starts spouting 101 facts about Charles Billich.</p> <p>"Charles is actually quite amazing. He's got some paintings at the White House, and United Nations headquarters, and the Vatican," she says.</p> <p>Gina quite reasonably asks how Pettifleur suddenly knows so much about Billich — did she Google the guy? For some reason, Pettifleur interprets this innocent question as a HUGE insult.</p> <p>"I know how to do my research! Not Google, don't worry!"</p> <p>If not Google, then what? Did she type his name into AltaVista? Hey Pettifleur, is your MySpace profile still bitchswitcher_69? Add me on MSN babes!</p> <p>Gamble says that the girls will meet her sister at the gallery: "You'll be seeing her pre-op," is how she explains it. No, this isn't a Chaz Bono situation: Gamble's sister Tempest is about to go under the knife for a variety of terrifying cosmetic procedures at her more surgically-altered sister's insistence.</p> <p>The scene inside the gallery is a more than a little like visiting the Capitol in The Hunger Games: those assembled have tight faces, bizarre clothes and a variety of overfed companion animals. One woman brought her cat. To a party. In an art gallery. At one point the camera lingers on the woman and her cat as they share a really weird, intimate moment:</p> <div readability="34"> <p><span>"Hush now, human underling, and fetch me another champagne"</span> <span><em>Source:</em> Foxtel</span></p> </div> <p>Billich's wife, Christa, introduces herself to the Housewives and regales them with an entirely relatable story about taking her little dog to a posh restaurant in Monaco and insisting it sit and eat off the table with her.</p> <div readability="32"> <p><span>Fancy dog is better than all of us and he knows it.</span> <span><em>Source:</em> Foxtel</span></p> </div> <p>Gamble introduces sister Tempest to the girls, and barely have they said hello when ol' Tempey starts tearing shreds off Janet. It's … intense, and suggests she's heard a very exaggerated version of the events that went on between Janet and her sister.</p> <p>"Now listen, I've been wanting to talk to you," she says, pointing an accusatory finger.</p> <p>"I've known this young woman her entire life [despite the use of 'young', we're going to assume she's talking about Gamble here], and I don't think you have any idea how much you've upset her when you make up bullsh*t about her."</p> <p>Janet cuts in to explain she didn't make anything up, plastering on the sort of terrified grin you give when a crazy person corners you at a train station to ask if you want to find out who REALLY did 9/11.</p> <p>"Oh CRAP. It's indefensible, it's not fair. Don't you DARE do that to her! She is the most beautiful, lovely, intelligent person I have ever had the PRIVILEGE to know, and you doing that sh*t to her hurts me, hurts her. I KNOW you made it up. Get some F*CKING evidence, get some evidence!"</p> <div readability="34"> <p><span>Tempest, shown here busily getting all her facial expressions out of the way before her upcoming Botox treatment.</span> <span><em>Source:</em> Foxtel</span></p> </div> <p>Gamble stays conspicuously silent through the whole rant, which riles Janet up no end:</p> <p>"I have come here to support you because I thought we were putting all this behind us. I can't be attacked every time I see you, by you or your family, over a story that's been made up. I won't do it."</p> <p>And with that, she's out.</p> <p>Pettifleur then explains to Tempest that she's got the wrong end of the stick and Janet was merely passing on a rumour to Gamble, as a friendly heads-up.</p> <p>"Ohhhh, OK. Oh. Probably need to apologise to her, then," an instantly calm Tempest says. YA DON'T SAY.</p> <p>With Janet having fled out onto the streets of The Rocks — possibly in search of an opal, or Ken Done — Gamble trails behind her. Never one to miss out on a bit of drama, Gina follows in hot pursuit.</p> <p>This is it folks: The Housewives have gone rogue and they are prowling the streets of Sydney at night.</p> <div readability="33"> <p><span>Real Housewives production assistant: "WHERE DID WE PUT THE TRANQUILLISER DARTS?!?!"</span> <span><em>Source:</em> Foxtel</span></p> </div> <p>They stop outside a pub, Gamble pleading with Janet to come back inside, yanking her limbs as Janet angrily tries to wrestle free. Behind them, bemused drinkers look on.</p> <p>Could you imagine having a beer at your local when three Real Housewives stagger past in gold frocks having a stand-up fight? Maybe we've been recapping this show for too long but literally nothing would make us happier.</p> <div readability="32"> <p><span>Punters enjoying the 10 o'clock floor show.</span> <span><em>Source:</em> Foxtel</span></p> </div> <p>Back at the gallery, Tempest has apparently been delivered a fate worse than death: getting stuck talking to Pettifleur. Seems Pettifleur has spent the past 10 minutes chastising Tempest for speaking out without knowing all the facts, and she can't take much more.</p> <p>"This is boring. You're going over and over the same thing, and it's getting pretty boring. I've heard you, I have HEARD YOU."</p> <p>"I'm not boring! Don't call me boring!" Pettifleur snaps, no doubt wondering why people keep telling her that so often.</p> <p>The next day, all the girls board a yacht for a cruise around Sydney Harbour — all except Janet, who still hasn't cooled down after last night's street fight.</p> <p>Some have gone to more trouble than others to dress to the nautical theme.</p> <p>"One thing I didn't want to look like was a dress-up comical queen, so my outfit is a bit of class and LOTS of sophistication," Pettifleur insists. Here's her sophisticated ensemble:</p> <div readability="32"> <p><span>May god bless Pettifleur and all who sail in her.</span> <span><em>Source:</em> Foxtel</span></p> </div> <p>Gamble can't help but feel upset that Janet didn't join them — and all because of a rumour that got out of hand. Charles Billich's wife offers some sage advice:</p> <p>"A rumour is a rumour and nothing else. What's a rumour? A cloud in the sky!"</p> <p>If a cloud ever accuses YOU of being a stripper, please seek medical assistance.</p> <p>After the boat ride, Janet shows her face once more when she joins the others for dinner. She immediately tries to initiate a private conversation with Gamble to clear the air. Gina gets involved, but Janet tells her to mind her own business.</p> <p>"OK, well, you're at a table with five other people, so I'm not sure that's going to work," is Gina's response.</p> <p>Janet suggests that Gina leave the table if she doesn't like it.</p> <p>"No, I'm not doing a big 'storm off like a skank down the street' thing!"</p> <p>Eventually — no doubt after an off-camera meeting with a producer pleading them to progress to the next agreed storyline, lest the season last for 37 years — the girls all make a pledge not to discuss the whole Janet/Gamble drama any longer. Let's see how long that lasts.</p> <p>Having promised to drop the topic, Janet's now not quite sure what to do with herself:</p> <div readability="36"> <p><span>Cat got your tongue, Janet? No, really, did the creepy cat from the art gallery do something to you?</span> <span><em>Source:</em> Foxtel</span></p> </div> <p>Next week: Gamble enters her wildly undertrained Pomeranian into a dog show, Jackie and Chyka choose the strippers for Gamble's hen's night, and the girls all fly to the Philippines for a holiday because sometimes it's just nice to get drunk and fight in a different country.</p> <p><em>The Real Housewives of Melbourne screens 8.30pm Sundays on Foxtel's Arena Channel — check back right after each episode to read our weekly recap.</em></p> <p><em>In the meantime, check in with recapper Nick Bond on Twitter (@bondnickbond) to discuss which has had a more devastating effect on your life — Andrea leaving Real Housewives or Zayn leaving One Direction.</em></p><br /> Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00876407152133869623noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7883560553594094511.post-61204050794377913622015-03-29T23:08:00.007+07:002015-03-29T23:08:17.953+07:00Heartless selfies at NY blast site<div readability="6.62666666667"> <div readability="34"> <p><span>Shameless ... Amid the backdrop of fire, seven smiling women used a selfie stick to snap a cheery photo of themselves. Picture: Twitter</span> <span><em>Source:</em> Supplied</span></p> </div> <div> <div> <div readability="31.5"> <div readability="8"> <p>At least two people were missing Friday after an explosion Thursday afternoon destroyed three buildings in New York City's East Village. WSJ's Jennifer Weiss reports. Photo: Nancy Borowick/Press Pool</p> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div readability="35"> <p><strong> SELF-ABSORBED sightseers are treating the New York's East Village gas-explosion site like a tourist attraction, shooting grinning selfies of themselves even as rescuers search for life in the ruins where two bodies might still be buried. </strong></p> </div> <p>Amid the backdrop of the devastation wrought by the explosion, fire and collapse of three buildings that injured 25 people, seven smiling women used a selfie stick late on Friday to snap a cheery photo of themselves, reported the <em>The New York Post.</em></p> <p>"Disgusting beyond words," wrote a commenter on the local-news blog <em>EV Grieve</em>, which reposted the snap.</p> <div readability="35"> <p><span>A pile of debris ... all that remains at the site of a building explosion in the East Village neighbourhood of New York. The powerful blast and fire sent flames soaring and debris flying around the city. Picture: AP Photo/The New York Times, Nancy Borowick</span> <span><em>Source:</em> AP</span></p> </div> <p>"Take a look at these people. Remember their faces," wrote Diane DiDonato, of Brooklyn, on Facebook. "They don't deserve those smiles. People are dying behind them."</p> <p>Others called it "disaster porn."</p> <p>"It's heartless," said Maurice Herz, 83, of the East Village.</p> <p>"THIS IS A TRAGEDY NOT A TOURIST ATTRACTION," one frustrated neighbour wrote in a sign taped to a front door on nearby 7th Street. "SHOW SOME RESPECT," the sign demanded.</p> <p>Other selfie-snappers included Christina Freundlich, whose LinkedIn profile lists her as a communications director for the Iowa Democratic Party. She posted a grinning photo of herself at the scene giving the peace sign.</p> <p>The image has since been deleted from her Instagram account.</p> <div readability="33"> <p><span>Regretful post ... Chrstina Freundlich posted an Instagram near the security perimeter with the peace sign and caption "Scene of the Accident". Picture: Instagram</span> <span><em>Source:</em> Supplied</span></p> </div> <p>"Too soon," one follower chided.</p> <p>Ms Freundlich couldn't be reached for comment Saturday.</p> <p>East Villager Pablo Fernandez wore a green "Elf" shirt and red and white leggings as he posed for photos near a barricade before his bachelor party.</p> <p>"I'm totally ridiculous, but I'm not normally like this," Mr Fernandez said.</p> <p>His pals shot a video of him dancing near the site.</p> <p>"This is so we could send the pictures to our friends in Spain and say, 'Look what we did,' " said a friend who declined to give his name.</p> <p>Jeanie Slade's disaster-site selfie showed her and a pal flashing open-mouthed grins and the hashtags "#beingtourists and "#weresocreepy."</p> <p>Asked about the selfie by <em>The Post</em>, Ms Slade called it "satire."</p> <p>"My heart goes out to the people of New York, and this satire post was in poor taste," she insisted. "My intention was to point out how many people post selfies in inappropriate times and it backfired."</p> <p>Meanwhile, the grim work continued at the site Saturday, as 60 firefighters extinguished the remaining flames amid the search for survivors.</p> <p>New York Mayor Bill de Blasio visited an East Village firehouse to thank firefighters. He met with hero firefighter Michael Shepherd, who was off-duty but joined the search for people trapped.</p> <p>"Your dad is a real hero," the mayor said to his son, Michael Patrick, 10.</p> <p>"He's my hero," Mr Shepherd told the mayor of his son.</p> <div readability="34"> <p><span>New York Mayor Bill de Blasio meets firefighters at the site of a building explosion. Picture: AP Photo/The New York Times, Nancy Borowick</span> <span><em>Source:</em> AP</span></p> </div> <p>The FDNY said it would take a week to go through the ruins, with first responders working around-the-clock while dogs sniff the debris.</p> <p>"It's going to be slow and arduous to dig out, search through the rubble," FDNY Commissioner Dan Nigro said.</p> <p>Two people — Nicholas Figueroa, 23, of Harlem, and Moises Locon, 27, of Elmhurst, Queens — were still missing Saturday. Mr Figueroa had been on a date with Theresa Galarza, 22, at the ground floor Sushi Park restaurant and was last seen going to get the check. The blast sent her flying across the street. Mr Locon had worked as a busboy at Sushi Park.</p> <div readability="33"> <p><span>Missing ... Nicholas Figueroa is still missing. He was on the ground floor in a restaurant at the time of the explosion. Picture: Facebook</span> <span><em>Source:</em> Supplied</span></p> </div> <p>Red Cross workers comforted his distraught brother, Zacharias, at the scene on Saturday.</p> <p>Meanwhile, Con Ed said that on August 6, a meter reader discovered that the gas line in the Sushi restaurant at 121 Second Ave. — that seven months later erupted in a fireball — had been improperly tampered with.</p> <p>Spokesman Allan Drury said the resulting leaks caused the utility to determine the situation was "hazardous'' — so it cut off all gas to the building for some 10 days.</p><br /> Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00876407152133869623noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7883560553594094511.post-41032305484196367072015-03-29T23:08:00.005+07:002015-03-29T23:08:17.538+07:00The biggest tax reform since the 1950s<div readability="9"> <p><span>Joe Hockey, the Treasurer of Australia in the Abbott Government wants to overhaul the tax system: Pic: Scott Barbour/Getty Images.</span> <span><em>Source:</em> Getty Images</span></p> </div> <div readability="33"> <p><strong> WANT to pay less tax? Tell Joe Hockey how and why and your ideas just might end up in the Coalition's election policies next year. </strong></p> </div> <p>That's the broad promise from the Federal Government today as it gingerly prepares for a tax reform campaign at the 2016 polls where it will hope to win approval for significant changes, including less reliance on taxing individual and corporate incomes.</p> <p>The Government also wants to eliminate differences in the tax treatment of various types of retirement savings, and to reduce the number of special concessions which make the tax system complex and expensive.</p> <p>Treasurer Hockey is releasing a tax discussion paper today and inviting all interested groups and individuals to contribute proposals on the questions it outlines. "Lower, simpler, fairer," is his tax system objective from this "conversation".</p> <div readability="32"> <p><span>Tax reform is set to be on the agenda for the next Federal Election.</span> <span><em>Source:</em> Getty Images</span></p> </div> <p>But don't expect a quick response from the Government. And such are the leisurely pace and care-not-to-scare political management priorities there will be nothing about these potential reforms in the next two Federal Budgets.</p> <p>Contributions will be distilled into a discussion paper of options – a green paper – late this year and then the Government will produce a further refinement into the actual policy it will take to the election scheduled for late 2016.</p> <div readability="32"> <p><span>The process of tax reform is likely to be a long one.</span> <span><em>Source:</em> Supplied</span></p> </div> <p>The process is in sharp contrast to the Coalition's approach to the 2013 election, when the emphasis was on dismantling Labor programs rather than creating new ones, and is a gentler strategy than the Budget last May which was had shocks, surprises, broken promises and few sweeteners.</p> <p>The inspiration appears to be former Liberal John Howard's measured and consultative delivery of a GST, the last major tax reform.</p> <p>The discussion paper says Australia's overall tax burden is relatively low compared to other developed countries with the Federal Government raising 81 per cent of total tax revenue, much of which goes to the states to make up 45 per cent of their income.</p> <p>In a clear indication of the direction the Government would like the debate to take, the paper says Treasury research estimates each additional $1 collected in company income tax</p> <p>reduces the living standards of Australian households by around 50 cents in the long run through reduced investment.</p> <div readability="33"> <p><span>The last major tax reform in Australia came during the Howard Government when the GST was introduced.</span> <span><em>Source:</em> NewsComAu</span></p> </div> <p>And it points out some 70 per cent of revenue is from income tax, compared to 60 per cent in the 1950s. And inflation increasingly means workers are forced to pay higher tax as wages go up even though the buying power of their pay packet doesn't rise as fast – bracket creep.</p> <p>Around 300,000 Australians are expected to move into the second highest tax bracket over the next two years.</p> <p>"Australia relies heavily on income taxes, particularly company income tax, compared to</p> <p>other developed countries as well as our Asian competitors," said the discussion paper.</p> <p>"Australia's reliance on income taxes remains much the same as it was in the 1950s, despite changes in the economy, and is projected to increase further, largely as a result of wages growth leading to individuals paying higher average rates of tax (bracket creep)."</p> <div readability="33"> <p><span>Some 70 per cent of revenue is from income tax and it's pretty much been that way since the 1950s.</span> <span><em>Source:</em> News Limited</span></p> </div> <p>The paper highlights differing tax treatment for types of retirement savings.</p> <p>"At one end of the spectrum, savings held in the family home are taxed at average effective tax rates approaching zero. At the other end of the spectrum, savings held as financial deposits are taxed at full marginal rates, without any recognition for the costs of inflation," says the paper.</p> <p>"The policy rationale for these differences is not always clear and can distort taxpayers'</p> <p>savings decisions. This has implications both for efficiently allocating savings in the economy</p> <p>and distributing risk across households."</p> <div readability="32"> <p><span>Super gets taxed at different rates depending where it is nested.</span> <span><em>Source:</em> News Limited</span></p> </div> <p>It also wants to make the tax system less complicated, possibly by removing "tax concessions aimed at assisting particular groups".</p> <p>"Another reason is the regular 'patching' of the law to fix narrow problems or provide certainty for taxpayers and transactions without fully considering consequences for the system as a whole," the discussion paper says.</p> <p>"Overly risk-averse attitudes from policy advisers and administrators, combined with complex legislative drafting styles, have also led to complexity. Governance arrangements should ensure tax design and administration practices minimise unnecessary complexity and support the implementation of sound tax."</p> <div readability="32"> <p><span>Feeling this sensation after tax is taken out of your pay packet?</span> <span><em>Source:</em> News Limited</span></p> </div> <p>The formal submissions process continues until Monday, June 1.</p> <p>If you have any questions or comments, you are welcome to contact the Tax White Paper</p> <p>Task Force at bettertax@treasury.gov.au or at:</p> <p><strong>Tax White Paper Task Force</strong></p> <p><strong>The Treasury</strong></p> <p><strong>Langton Crescent</strong></p> <p><strong>PARKES ACT 2600</strong></p><br /> Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00876407152133869623noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7883560553594094511.post-83276268627107195252015-03-29T23:08:00.003+07:002015-03-29T23:08:17.220+07:00Frantic captain heard on black box<div readability="5.98"> <div> <div> <div readability="31.5"> <div readability="8"> <p>The Germanwings co-pilot who 'deliberately' crashed the plane sought psychiatric help for depression in 2009</p> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div readability="33"> <p><span>Investigation continues ... the personal life of Andreas Lubitz is being carefully looked at. Picture: AFP</span> <span><em>Source:</em> AFP</span></p> </div> </div> <div> <ul><li>Black box reveals pilot shouting, passengers screaming</li> <li>Co-pilot 'feared vision problems would ground him'</li> <li>DNA found from 78 victims</li> <li>Girlfriend of crash co-pilot reportedly pregnant</li> </ul></div> <div readability="34"> <p><strong> THE captain of the passenger jet that is believed to have been deliberately crashed into the French Alps reportedly shouted at the co-pilot to 'open the damn door' as he desperately tried to get into the locked cockpit. </strong></p> </div> <p>French officials say the plane's black box voice recorder indicates that Andreas Lubitz locked the captain out of the cockpit of the Germanwings jet and steered the flight into a mountainside, killing all 150 people on board.</p> <p>They believe that the captain, Patrick Sondheimer, tried desperately to reopen the door during the Barcelona to Dusseldorf flight's eight-minute descent after he left to use the toilet.</p> <div readability="33"> <p><span>Forensic work ... Most body parts were being winched up to helicopters before being transported to a lab in the nearby town of Seynes. Picture: AFP/Anne-Christine Poujoulat</span> <span><em>Source:</em> AFP</span></p> </div> <p>The German mass-circulation <em>Bild</em>'s Sunday edition reported that data from the cockpit recorder showed the captain shouted "For God's sake, open the door", as passengers' screams could be heard in the background.</p> <p>It said "loud metallic blows" against the cockpit door could then be heard, before another warning alarm went off and then the pilot is heard to scream to a silent Lubitz in the cockpit "open the damn door".</p> <p><em>Bild</em> said that, earlier in Tuesday's flight, the captain was heard explaining to his colleague that he had not had time to go to the toilet before takeoff.</p> <div readability="34"> <p><span>Prayers ... a priest prepares a ceremony for victims of the crash, at Notre-Dame-du-bourg Cathedral. Picture: AFP/Jeff Pachoud</span> <span><em>Source:</em> AFP</span></p> </div> <h3>Lubitz 'hid illness from employers'</h3> <p>As investigators seek to build up a picture of Lubitz and any possible motives, media reports have emerged that he suffered from eye problems, adding to earlier reports he was severely depressed.</p> <p>German prosecutors believe Lubitz hid an illness from his airline but have not specified the ailment, and said he had apparently been written off sick on the day the Airbus crashed.</p> <p><em>Bild</em> and the <em>New York Times</em>, citing two officials with knowledge of the investigation, said Lubitz had sought treatment for problems with his sight.</p> <p>The 27-year-old had been hospitalised as late as a fortnight ago with authorities not ruling out his eyes issue were psychosomatic.</p> <div readability="34"> <p><span>Troubled man ... Andreas Lubitz, the co-pilot of the doomed Germanwings airliner. Picture: Wolfgang Nass/BILD</span> <span><em>Source:</em> Supplied</span></p> </div> <p>Revelations by his ex-lover, a flight attendant identified under the assumed name Maria W, that he was a tormented man and increasingly becoming erratic was prompted by his fear his mental and eye health for which he was receiving psychiatric and neurological treatment may deem him unfit to fly.</p> <p>The problem is thought to be a retinal detachment, <em>Bild</em> said.</p> <p>Authorities have found several torn up sick notes in his Dusseldorf apartment that excused him from work but apparently were never given to his bosses.</p> <h3>Girlfriend rumoured to be pregnant</h3> <p><em>Bild</em> also reported that Lubitz's girlfriend, with whom he lived in the western city of Dusseldorf, was believed to be pregnant.</p> <p>It gave no sources but said the teacher, who taught maths and English, had told pupils a few weeks ago she was expecting a baby.</p> <p>It came as new claims suggest Andreas Lubitz was obsessed with the Alps and specifically the southern region which he would later crash his Germanwings flight into, having flown gliders over the area years earlier.</p> <div readability="36"> <p><span>Distraught ... Lubitz's father is a "broken man", say mayor Bernard Bartolini, who governs the town next to the crash site. Mr Bartolini spoke to the copilot's father at a memorial for relatives on Thursday. Picture: Getty Images</span> <span><em>Source:</em> Getty Images</span></p> </div> <div readability="34"> <p><span>Bad eyesight ... Andreas Lubitz was reportedly suffering from deteriorating eyesight. Picture: AFP Photo, Team Mueller</span> <span><em>Source:</em> AFP</span></p> </div> <p>Another woman, Maria W, dated Lubitz for five months last year but broke it off because she felt he was not right, was volatile and had a temper. He had been in a previous long-term relationship of several years with a woman he met at Burger King where they both worked in 2008 in Montabaur in Germany and since Maria had been dating another flight attendant.</p> <div readability="35"> <p><span>Remote terrain ... Chasseurs Alpins rescuers, the elite mountain infantry of the French Army, working at the crash site. Picture: AFP/Francis Pellier</span> <span><em>Source:</em> AFP</span></p> </div> <div readability="33"> <p><span>Unprecedented difficulty ... some of the recovery work has to be performed by abseiling. Picture: AFP/Francis Pellier</span> <span><em>Source:</em> AFP</span></p> </div> <p>'During conversations he'd suddenly throw a tantrum and scream at me," Maria said. "I was afraid. He even once locked me in the bathroom for a long time."</p> <p>She said after she had heard about the crash she recalled a conversation Lubitz had with her.</p> <p>"When I heard about the crash, there was just a tape playing in my head of what he said: 'One day I will do something that will change the system and everyone will then know my name and remember me'," she recalled</p> <p>"I did not know what he meant by that at the time, but now it's clear."</p> <p>"The torn up sick notes make sense now to me and were a clear sign that he did not want to admit that his big dream of flying as a captain was over," Maria said.</p> <div readability="33"> <p><span>Evidence found ... sick notes saying Lubitz was unfit to fly were found in his home. Picture: Thomas Lohnes/Getty Images</span> <span><em>Source:</em> Getty Images</span></p> </div> <h3>DNA found from 78 crash victims</h3> <p>Investigators have faced a huge task in trying to recover bodies and search for a second 'black box' at the site, which is extremely hard to access and has required specialist mountain police to accompany search teams.</p> <p>"We haven't found a single body intact," said Patrick Touron, deputy director of the police's criminal research institute.</p> <p>He said the difficulty of the recovery mission was "unprecedented".</p> <p>"We have slopes of 40 to 60 degrees, falling rocks, and ground that tends to crumble," said Touron.</p> <p>"Some things have to be done by abseiling."</p> <p>Helicopters have been going back and forth to the nearby town of Seynes - around 60 trips a day.</p> <p>"Since safety is key, the recovery process is a bit slow, which is a great regret," Touron said.</p> <p>Most body parts were being winched up to helicopters before being transported to a lab in the nearby town of Seynes where a 50-strong team of forensic doctors and dentists and police identification specialists is working.</p> <p>Between 400 and 600 body parts were currently being examined, Touron said.</p> <div readability="35"> <p><span>Reflection ... relatives and members of emergency services at a makeshift monument to honour the victims of Germanwings flight 4U9525, near the crash site. Picture: Thomas Lohnes/Getty Images</span> <span><em>Source:</em> Getty Images</span></p> </div> <h3>Hundreds show solidarity at service</h3> <p>At the Notre-Dame-du-Bourg Cathedral, 40km from the crash site, several hundred parishioners from the district as well as members of the French and Spanish branches of the Red Cross - dispatched to assist those distressed by the incident - prayed for the victims and their families.</p> <p>150 candles were lit and prayers offered for each of the passengers and crew, including Lubitz.</p> <p>The Digne archbishop spoke to people's feelings of grief and confusion about the tragedy.</p> <p>"We are in deep distress, plunged into sadness, unable to understand, and have strong feelings of unfairness," archbishop Jean-Philippe Nault, told some 500 faithful.</p> <p>He said they had come "to express their friendship" for the families and friends of those killed on board the Airbus A320 travelling from Barcelona to Dusseldorf when it went down.</p> <p>Elements of the service were given by priests from Spain and Germany in their native tongue.</p> <p>One parishioner Franciscan Convent nun Sister Rosilda said it was important to attend and show solidarity.</p> <div readability="33"> <p><span>'Plunged into sadness' ... the Digne archbishop spoke to people's feelings of grief and confusion about the tragedy. Picture: Ella Pellegrini</span> <span><em>Source:</em> News Corp Australia</span></p> </div> <p>"We cannot understand this pilot and why he did this," she said. "But we pray for the families, the victims and the pilot as well."</p> <h3>A father's pain</h3> <p>The father of one of the victims who visited a memorial near the crash site in the village of Le Vernet said airlines to take greater care over pilots' welfare.</p> <p>Philip Bramley's 28-year-old son Paul died in the crash.</p> <p>"I believe the airlines should be more transparent and our finest pilots looked after properly," Mr Bramley, from Hull in northern England said yesterday. "We put our lives and our children's lives in their hands. "What is relevant, is that it should never happen again; my son and everyone on that plane should not be forgotten, ever."</p> <p>Lubitz had frequented a gliding club near the crash site as a child with his parents.</p> <div readability="33"> <p><span>Challenging ... a 50-strong team of forensic doctors and dentists and police identification specialists is working on victim identification. Picture: AFP/Gendarmerie Nationale</span> <span><em>Source:</em> AFP</span></p> </div> <p>According to Francis Kefer, a member of the club in the town of Sisteron about 50km from the crash site, Lubitz and other members of his German glider club visited the region regularly between 1996 and 2003.</p> <p>When Lubitz crashed he would have flown over the peaks and major turning points for gliders that he would have done years earlier in his glider.</p> <div readability="33"> <p><span>Boyhood dream to fly ... The LSC Westerwald aviation club where Lubitz was a member. Picture: AFP/Roberto Pfeil</span> <span><em>Source:</em> AFP</span></p> </div><br /> Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00876407152133869623noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7883560553594094511.post-22837188366634664732015-03-29T23:08:00.001+07:002015-03-29T23:08:16.842+07:00Nothing about this should inspire a selfie<div readability="6.62666666667"> <div readability="34"> <p><span>Shameless ... Amid the backdrop of fire, seven smiling women used a selfie stick to snap a cheery photo of themselves. Picture: Twitter</span> <span><em>Source:</em> Supplied</span></p> </div> <div> <div> <div readability="31.5"> <div readability="8"> <p>At least two people were missing Friday after an explosion Thursday afternoon destroyed three buildings in New York City's East Village. WSJ's Jennifer Weiss reports. Photo: Nancy Borowick/Press Pool</p> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div readability="35"> <p><strong> SELF-ABSORBED sightseers are treating the New York's East Village gas-explosion site like a tourist attraction, shooting grinning selfies of themselves even as rescuers search for life in the ruins where two bodies might still be buried. </strong></p> </div> <p>Amid the backdrop of the devastation wrought by the explosion, fire and collapse of three buildings that injured 25 people, seven smiling women used a selfie stick late on Friday to snap a cheery photo of themselves, reported the <em>The New York Post.</em></p> <p>"Disgusting beyond words," wrote a commenter on the local-news blog <em>EV Grieve</em>, which reposted the snap.</p> <div readability="35"> <p><span>A pile of debris ... all that remains at the site of a building explosion in the East Village neighbourhood of New York. The powerful blast and fire sent flames soaring and debris flying around the city. Picture: AP Photo/The New York Times, Nancy Borowick</span> <span><em>Source:</em> AP</span></p> </div> <p>"Take a look at these people. Remember their faces," wrote Diane DiDonato, of Brooklyn, on Facebook. "They don't deserve those smiles. People are dying behind them."</p> <p>Others called it "disaster porn."</p> <p>"It's heartless," said Maurice Herz, 83, of the East Village.</p> <p>"THIS IS A TRAGEDY NOT A TOURIST ATTRACTION," one frustrated neighbour wrote in a sign taped to a front door on nearby 7th Street. "SHOW SOME RESPECT," the sign demanded.</p> <p>Other selfie-snappers included Christina Freundlich, whose LinkedIn profile lists her as a communications director for the Iowa Democratic Party. She posted a grinning photo of herself at the scene giving the peace sign.</p> <p>The image has since been deleted from her Instagram account.</p> <div readability="33"> <p><span>Regretful post ... Chrstina Freundlich posted an Instagram near the security perimeter with the peace sign and caption "Scene of the Accident". Picture: Instagram</span> <span><em>Source:</em> Supplied</span></p> </div> <p>"Too soon," one follower chided.</p> <p>Ms Freundlich couldn't be reached for comment Saturday.</p> <p>East Villager Pablo Fernandez wore a green "Elf" shirt and red and white leggings as he posed for photos near a barricade before his bachelor party.</p> <p>"I'm totally ridiculous, but I'm not normally like this," Mr Fernandez said.</p> <p>His pals shot a video of him dancing near the site.</p> <p>"This is so we could send the pictures to our friends in Spain and say, 'Look what we did,' " said a friend who declined to give his name.</p> <p>Jeanie Slade's disaster-site selfie showed her and a pal flashing open-mouthed grins and the hashtags "#beingtourists and "#weresocreepy."</p> <p>Asked about the selfie by <em>The Post</em>, Ms Slade called it "satire."</p> <p>"My heart goes out to the people of New York, and this satire post was in poor taste," she insisted. "My intention was to point out how many people post selfies in inappropriate times and it backfired."</p> <p>Meanwhile, the grim work continued at the site Saturday, as 60 firefighters extinguished the remaining flames amid the search for survivors.</p> <p>New York Mayor Bill de Blasio visited an East Village firehouse to thank firefighters. He met with hero firefighter Michael Shepherd, who was off-duty but joined the search for people trapped.</p> <p>"Your dad is a real hero," the mayor said to his son, Michael Patrick, 10.</p> <p>"He's my hero," Mr Shepherd told the mayor of his son.</p> <div readability="34"> <p><span>New York Mayor Bill de Blasio meets firefighters at the site of a building explosion. Picture: AP Photo/The New York Times, Nancy Borowick</span> <span><em>Source:</em> AP</span></p> </div> <p>The FDNY said it would take a week to go through the ruins, with first responders working around-the-clock while dogs sniff the debris.</p> <p>"It's going to be slow and arduous to dig out, search through the rubble," FDNY Commissioner Dan Nigro said.</p> <p>Two people — Nicholas Figueroa, 23, of Harlem, and Moises Locon, 27, of Elmhurst, Queens — were still missing Saturday. Mr Figueroa had been on a date with Theresa Galarza, 22, at the ground floor Sushi Park restaurant and was last seen going to get the check. The blast sent her flying across the street. Mr Locon had worked as a busboy at Sushi Park.</p> <div readability="33"> <p><span>Missing ... Nicholas Figueroa is still missing. He was on the ground floor in a restaurant at the time of the explosion. Picture: Facebook</span> <span><em>Source:</em> Supplied</span></p> </div> <p>Red Cross workers comforted his distraught brother, Zacharias, at the scene on Saturday.</p> <p>Meanwhile, Con Ed said that on August 6, a meter reader discovered that the gas line in the Sushi restaurant at 121 Second Ave. — that seven months later erupted in a fireball — had been improperly tampered with.</p> <p>Spokesman Allan Drury said the resulting leaks caused the utility to determine the situation was "hazardous'' — so it cut off all gas to the building for some 10 days.</p><br /> Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00876407152133869623noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7883560553594094511.post-63065272765721969842015-03-22T23:08:00.013+07:002015-03-22T23:10:23.655+07:00Child sex slaves: âThey believe they're garbage'<div readability="10"> <p><span>Former teacher Michael Brosowski, 40, is saving street children in Vietnam. Picture: Blue Dragon</span> <span><em>Source:</em> Supplied</span></p> </div> <div readability="34"> <p><strong> SLEEPING rough on the street before being picked up and exploited by traffickers, these are the children the world ignores. </strong></p> </div> <p>But an Australian hero has made it his life's work to rescue and protect Vietnam's forgotten street kids.</p> <p>Michael Brosowski and his team save young girls and boys sold as sex slaves and into child labour. His charity gives children a new chance at life after they have suffered through these traumatic experiences in their formative years.</p> <div readability="34"> <p><span>Seven teenage girls are brought back to Vietnam by the foundation, after being sold into China's sex industry. Picture: Blue Dragon</span> <span><em>Source:</em> Supplied</span></p> </div> <div readability="33"> <p><span>Most trafficked children come from poor rural villages and don't go to school. Picture: Blue Dragon</span> <span><em>Source:</em> Supplied</span></p> </div> <p>Thuy, 16, was lured from her home by a friend who promised her a well-paying job in China, at a clothes shop near the border.</p> <p>But there was no shop, and the teenager was sold to a brothel as a sex slave.</p> <p>One night, she made a run for it, but was tackled to the ground by three brothel-keepers, who attacked her with knives and apparently stuffed a drug into her wounds, leaving her for dead. The Blue Dragon Children's Foundation got her to hospital, tracked down relatives and began work to heal the extraordinary psychological scars her ordeal had caused.</p> <p>In one recent case, the charity brought home 16-year-old Sung, who had apparently been sold to a massage parlour in China.</p> <p>He had escaped and wandered for two days through the unfamiliar country until a woman took him to the police.</p> <p>This week, they rescued seven-year-old Thi, who had been kidnapped and handed to a family in China for $750.</p> <div readability="36"> <p><span>Thi, seven, returns to her village with her father, after being sold to a Chinese family. Picture: Blue Dragon</span> <span><em>Source:</em> Supplied</span></p> </div> <div readability="35"> <p><span>Earlier this month, Blue Dragon stopped the trafficking to China of 33 children and young adults, some of whom are seen here writing statements for the police. Picture: Blue Dragon</span> <span><em>Source:</em> Supplied</span></p> </div> <p>Michael, now 40, first learned about the fate of such children when he went to work at Hanoi's national university in 2002 and began teaching English to shoeshine boys.</p> <p>"They came to the city to make money for their families in the countryside," he told <em>news.com.au</em></p> <p>"I quickly realised they needed to get back to school."</p> <p>He set up Blue Dragon and started helping these kids into education and training. He soon stumbled upon a whole village children who had been trafficked to Ho Chi Minh City — promised wages and an education, but instead forced to work selling flowers for nothing. The charity contacted their families and got them home.</p> <p>Then he discovered more children being trafficked to South Vietnam to work in garment factories, living as sweatshop slaves. The charity began rescuing the children, and Michael believes their work has started to unravel the practice.</p> <div readability="35"> <p><span>Sung, 16, is reunited with his family after wandering through China alone. Picture: Blue Dragon</span> <span><em>Source:</em> Supplied</span></p> </div> <div readability="33"> <p><span>Three girls trafficked to China make it back into Vietnam with the help of the foundation. Picture: Blue Dragon</span> <span><em>Source:</em> Supplied</span></p> </div> <p>"We've made it expensive for them," says Michael. "We call the police and get the factory shut down. Then we come back again."</p> <p>It was from there that his team began bringing children back from brothels in China, dangerous work that incurred the traffickers' wrath.</p> <p>The sexual abuse of boys is not yet against the law in Vietnam, so they are targets for exploitation by paedophile rings.</p> <p>"You see boys lose belief in themselves," says Michael. "They believe they're garbage."</p> <p>In one harrowing case from October, a 14-year-old disabled boy was beaten and raped by a neighbour. Blue Dragon paid his hospital bills, helped his family through the recovery and provided legal assistance. His attacker was sentenced to 18 months in jail for indecency — very little by international standards but a major achievement in Vietnam.</p> <p>Michael hopes the country is moving closer to resolving this law. He is also working with lawyers to bring more traffickers to justice.</p> <p>"It's an important part of the healing process," he says.</p> <div readability="32"> <p><span>Michael's foundation gives these children hope. Picture: Blue Dragon</span> <span><em>Source:</em> Supplied</span></p> </div> <div readability="35"> <p><span>Education, training, rehab and counselling help them start a new life. Picture: Blue Dragon</span> <span><em>Source:</em> Supplied</span></p> </div> <p>"In just about all cases of sex trafficking, the victim knows the trafficker. If you're sold by someone you trust, how can you ever trust anyone again?"</p> <p>Girls are told by boyfriends, friends and neighbours that they are going on a shopping trip to China, and then pimped out as prostitutes. Blue Dragon helps the girls recover — perhaps never 100 per cent, admits Michael, but they go on to university, careers and marriage.</p> <p>Today, Blue Dragon cares for more than 1500 young people, with food, homes, jobs and rehabilitation. They are currently raising money through Roll'd in Melbourne to build a new school for 150 children in a heavily trafficked area, since kids who drop out are usually the vulnerable ones.</p> <p>Michael says his team and the kids are like family, and look out for each other as they face trauma every single day.</p> <p>"It's highly rewarding because we see lives change," he says. "The harrowing part is when it takes a long time. We know boys and girls of just 14 who are making money selling sex, after they've been abused. They hate themselves and think this is all they're good for.</p> <p>"Knowing that abuse is happening is the hardest part. You have to keep believing."</p> <p><strong>Find out more about Michael Brosowski's work at the Blue Dragon Children's Foundation here.</strong></p><br /> Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00876407152133869623noreply@blogger.com0