Gossip Rocks Forum - News http://www.gossiprocks.com/forum en Sat, 21 Nov 2009 18:51:12 GMT vBulletin 60 http://www.gossiprocks.com/forum/images/misc/rss.jpg Gossip Rocks Forum - News http://www.gossiprocks.com/forum Los Angeles mulls cat declawing ban http://www.gossiprocks.com/forum/news/117804-los-angeles-mulls-cat-declawing-ban.html Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:41:17 GMT
Quote:
Council committee: City should outlaw declawing of L.A. cats

Daily News Wire Services
Updated: 11/02/2009 02:29:30 PM PST


A City Council committee called on Monday for an ordinance that would outlaw the declawing of cats in Los Angeles. Acting on a motion by Councilmen Paul Koretz and Bill Rosendahl, the Public Safety Committee directed the City Attorney's Office to draft an ordinance for the full City Council to consider before the end of the year.
That deadline was prompted by a state law banning cities and counties from regulating the practice of veterinary medicine starting Jan. 1, 2010.
Koretz, who has a pet cat and sponsors feline adoptions at the City Council chamber every Friday, said declawing is a form of "mutilation."
"It is not like clipping nails -- it is an amputation," he said. "It often leaves cats crippled and in pain for the rest of their lives."
Koretz said people who are considering declawing their cats to protect their furniture should instead buy scratching posts; cover their pet's claws with a plastic coating called "soft paws"; clip claws frequently; or adopt a second cat to keep the other feline company.
He said pain from declawing often makes cats develop even worse behaviors than scratching, including biting and avoiding their litter box.
Rita Burton of Pacific Palisades, who adopted a declawed cat, was among several animal rights activists who testified at the hearing.
"(My pet) could not climb the stairs -- his back feet had turned inwards," Burton said. "Declawing cats is an absolute abomination."
But the California Veterinary Medical


Association, which represents more than 6,100 veterinary professionals across the state, opposes the proposed ordinance.
"The decision to declaw a cat should remain between the owner, in consultation with his or her veterinarian on a case-to-case basis," CVMA President Mark Nunez said in a letter to Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.
The city's Animal Services Department's position is that "a properly anaesthetized and pain-managed onychectomy procedure (declawing) does not constitute animal cruelty," but added it should be the last resort before a pet is given up for adoption or euthanized.
Animal Services' assistant general manager, Linda Barth, said enforcing the proposed ordinance would be difficult because her department does not have oversight of private veterinarians, and because of budget cuts.
"It would be an additional task for us, for which we don't at this time have additional resources," Barth said.
Councilman Greig Smith, the committee chairman, conceded the proposed ordinance's limitations, but supported it anyway.
"This is not going to solve the problem," he said. "It probably won't make much of a dent at all, but it's a policy statement I think we need to make."
The declawing of a cat involves more than just the removal of its claws, according to a report from the Chief Legislative Analyst's office.
The UC Davis Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital describes it as a permanent surgical procedure where the last bone, phalanx, and claw of each toe on the cat's paw is removed.
The city of West Hollywood, where Koretz used to be mayor, banned declawing in 2003. Santa Monica, Beverly Hills, San Francisco, and Berkeley are all considering similar ordinances.
Malibu approved a resolution opposing declawing in 2003, but failed to approve an ordinance at a hearing last month.
I've never had a cat, so I don't know but it sounds cruel and painful to declaw them. I've always been afraid of a declawed cat getting lost and having no defenses at all. ]]> News Pippin69 http://www.gossiprocks.com/forum/news/117804-los-angeles-mulls-cat-declawing-ban.html <![CDATA[Fatherhood isn't in the genes - paying support when the kid isn't yours]]> http://www.gossiprocks.com/forum/news/117774-fatherhood-isnt-genes-paying-support-when-kid-isnt-yours.html Fri, 20 Nov 2009 21:37:27 GMT DNA tests are confirming men's suspicions of not being their kid's real dad -- but they're still made to pay up


A man is supposed to take care of his children. If he gets a woman pregnant, he's expected to step up and take responsibility. But what if that man discovers that the child he thought was his own -- the kid he read to, cuddled and tucked in at night -- is another man's? Then who is responsible for the kid -- the biological father or the nurturing adoptive dad? That is the quandary increasingly being raised by DNA tests. As Ruth Padawer writes in a fascinating cover story for the upcoming New York Times Magazine, the rise of paternity tests -- bought on the cheap online or at local drug stores -- have revealed "just how murky society’s notions of fatherhood actually are."

Mike L., the lead subject in Padawer's piece, found evidence of his wife's affair with a coworker and decided to have L., his 5-year-old daughter, take a DNA test. The results arrived in the mail: He was not the father. "I ran upstairs, locked myself in the bathroom and cried and dry-heaved for 45 minutes. I felt like my guts were being ripped out," he says. Mike separated from his wife, Stephanie, and began paying her child support because, he says, she claimed Rob, L.'s bio-dad, had refused. Things continued on this way for several years, until he got news that Stephanie would be marrying Rob, and that was too much to bear. He asked a Pennsylvania court to relieve him of parental responsibility, but a judge ruled that Mike was the legal father, not Rob.

Padawer explains, "Once a man has been deemed a father, either because of marriage or because he has acknowledged paternity (by agreeing to be on the birth certificate, say, or paying child support), most state courts say he cannot then abandon that child -- no matter what a DNA test subsequently reveals," she continues. "In Pennsylvania and many other states, the only way a non-biological father can rebut his legal status as father is if he can prove he was tricked into the role -- a showing of fraud -- and can demonstrate that upon learning the truth, he immediately stopped acting as the child’s father." In Mike's case, the judge ruled that he was the legal father because he stuck around even after the DNA test -- in other words, because of love, not fraud.

"I pay child support to a biologically intact family," Mike says. "How ridiculous is that?" Pretty ridiculous when you consider that Rob gets to live with L. and play the role of papa; and Mike only gets to see her on the weekend. As vexing as this case is, though, we hardly want courts to devalue the unbreakable bond that can develop even in relationships without genetic ties. At some point, DNA can become rather irrelevant. The truth is that Mike's utter adoration of L. jumps off the page; he is a doting, indulgent father. L., now 11 years old, still sees him as her daddy and he wants it to remain that way -- he just doesn't want to pay child support to the woman who cruelly cuckolded and defrauded him. As far as the law is concerned, though, he can't have it both ways. There are many different ideas for how to best address the issue -- from limiting paternity challenges to the first two years of the child's life to widespread DNA testing at birth (I picture Maury Povitch being wheeled from delivery room to delivery room: "You are not the father! You are the father!") -- but all are imperfect.

Paternal uncertainty is one of the many biological inequalities of reproduction (see also: pushing a human being out of your vagina) and, as evolutionary psychologists tell it, getting stuck raising some other schmo's kid is a hard-wired male nightmare. But if you had any doubt that we humans are more than our base evolutionary imperatives, this article should convince you: For all his rightful resentment, men like Mike show that family is thicker than blood.




Broadsheet - Salon.com ]]> News witchcurlgirl http://www.gossiprocks.com/forum/news/117774-fatherhood-isnt-genes-paying-support-when-kid-isnt-yours.html Eye doc may lose license after calling patient fat http://www.gossiprocks.com/forum/news/117773-eye-doc-may-lose-license-after-calling-patient-fat.html Fri, 20 Nov 2009 21:19:37 GMT Eye doc may lose license after calling patient fat


(11-20) 12:17 PST Raleigh, N.C. (AP) --
A North Carolina doctor could lose his medical license after a patient complained he made cutting criticisms, including telling her she was fat. The News & Observer of Raleigh reported the North Carolina Medical Board will decide if Dr. Earl Sunderhaus of Asheville overstepped the bounds of professional decency.
The eye doctor's patient complained Sunderhaus poked her thigh and told her she is fat, and also scolded her as irresponsible for being unemployed and relying on taxpayers to pay for another pregnancy.
Sunderhaus admitted he told the patient that her thick thighs and diabetes could cause her to go blind.
He made his points again by writing the patient, Gov. Beverly Perdue and blasting the medical board. ]]> News celeb_2006 http://www.gossiprocks.com/forum/news/117773-eye-doc-may-lose-license-after-calling-patient-fat.html Hadley CRU scammed global warming the entire time? http://www.gossiprocks.com/forum/news/117770-hadley-cru-scammed-global-warming-entire-time.html Fri, 20 Nov 2009 20:59:29 GMT Climate Skeptics See 'Smoking Gun' in Researchers' Leaked E-Mails

Friday, November 20, 2009





Hackers broke into the servers at a prominent British climate research center and leaked years worth of e-mail messages onto the Web, including one with a mysterious reference to a plan to "hide the decline" in data about temperatures.
The Internet is abuzz about the leaked data from the University of East Anglia's Climate Research Unit (commonly called Hadley CRU), which has acknowledged the leak of 61MB of confidential data.
Climate change skeptics describe the leaked data as a "smoking gun," evidence of collusion among climatologists and manipulation of data to support the widely held view that climate change is caused by the actions of mankind. The files were reportedly released on a Russian file-serve by an anonymous poster calling himself "FOIA."
In an exclusive interview in Investigate magazine's TGIF Edition, Phil Jones, the head of the Hadley CRU, confirmed that the leaked data is real.
"It was a hacker. We were aware of this about three or four days ago," he told the magazine, noting that the center has yet to contact the police about the data breach.


TGIF Edition asked Jones about the controversial "hide the decline" comment from an e-mail he wrote in 1999. He told the magazine that there was no intention to mislead, but he had "no idea" what he meant by those words.
"That was an e-mail from ten years ago. Can you remember the exact context of what you wrote ten years ago?" he said.
The Telegraph has posted some of the more scathing excerpts from these emails, which the newspaper suggests points to manipulation of evidence and private doubts about the reality of global warming, though the much of the scientific language in the e-mails is esoteric and hard to interpret.
Others suggest the comments are simply "scientists talking about science." In an interview with Wired, Kevin Trenberth, head of the Climate Analysis Section at the National Center for Atmospheric Research, points out that "if you read all of these e-mails, you will be surprised at the integrity of these scientists."

Still, one notable e-mail from the hacked files clearly describes how to squeeze dissenting scientists from the peer review process:
"I think we have to stop considering Climate Research as a legitimate peer-reviewed journal. Perhaps we should encourage our colleagues in the climate research community to no longer submit to, or cite papers in, this journal. We would also need to consider what we tell or request of our more reasonable colleagues who currently sit on the editorial board…What do others think?"


Climate Skeptics See 'Smoking Gun' in Researchers' Leaked E-Mails - Biology | Astronomy | Chemistry | Physics - FOXNews.com ]]> News xXull http://www.gossiprocks.com/forum/news/117770-hadley-cru-scammed-global-warming-entire-time.html <![CDATA[What's in your beauty products? How about human fat?]]> http://www.gossiprocks.com/forum/news/117746-whats-your-beauty-products-how-about-human-fat.html Fri, 20 Nov 2009 14:11:06 GMT Human fat in cosmetics

November 20, 2009 - 10:45AM

Four people have been arrested in Peru on suspicion of killing some 60 people to sell their fat and other human tissue to Italian co-conspirators for cosmetic use in Europe, authorities say.
The suspects were arrested in central Peru this month and a search is underway for seven others, lead prosecutor Jorge Sans Quiro said.
The fat was purchased "to be commercialised in European (cosmetology) laboratories," he said.
The prosecutor's indictment said the gang allegedly targeted farmers and indigenous people on remote Andean roads, tricking them by offering jobs before killing them.
Police began arrests after discovering early this month a container with human fat that was being shipped to Lima from the Andean city of Huanuco, some 400 kilometres northeast of Lima.
Signs of "an international network trafficking human fat" first surfaced about two months ago, according to General Felix Burga, head of the police criminal division.
Peruvian press cited him as saying the fat can be sold for $US15,000 ($16,000) per gallon (3.8 litres) in European countries.
The alleged plot revived the Andean legend of the "Pishtacos", white foreigners who were said to suck the fat out of people travelling on lonely roads at night, making fine soaps, lubricants, healing salves and beauty creams out of the tissue.

Source: Human fat in cosmetics ]]> News twitchy2.0 http://www.gossiprocks.com/forum/news/117746-whats-your-beauty-products-how-about-human-fat.html <![CDATA[Baroness Catherine Ashton named EU's first foreign minister]]> http://www.gossiprocks.com/forum/news/117723-baroness-catherine-ashton-named-eus-first-foreign-minister.html Fri, 20 Nov 2009 11:11:55 GMT

Until departing for Brussels, Baroness Ashton of Upholland was best-known for getting the Lisbon Treaty, the successor to the EU Constitution, through the House of Lords in June 2008.
"I spent 76 hours of my life getting the Lisbon Treaty though the House of Lords. I would very much like to see it come into force," she said.
Few would have suspected that, less than 18 months later, as the treaty entered into force, she would be anointed as the EU's High Representative for foreign affairs, a job she had done so much to help create.
Opportunity first knocked when she parachuted into the post of trade commissioner when Lord Mandelson was recalled in Oct 2008 to play a leading domestic role as a Cabinet Minister. She was Britain's first female commissioner.
After just 13 months in the European Commission, and with only a transatlantic bananas deal and a tread agreement with South Korea to show for it, she will now become the EU executive's vice-president and Europe's foreign minister.
Holding a bunch of flowers from EU leaders, Lady Ashton hinted that her gender was more important than democratic credentials at her first press conference.
"I am proud of the fact that women have been recognised as being as capable, as able to do the senior jobs in Europe as any man. I am very proud of being a woman and holding that role," she said.
"Am I an ego on legs? No I am not. Do I want to be seen out there all the time saying everything? No, I don't. Judge me on what I do and I think you will be pleased and proud of me."
Lady Ashton was chairman of a county health authority between 1998 to 2001. She was elevated to the House of Lords as a Labour life peer in 1999.
Lady Ashton was made an education minister in 2001 before short junior stints at the departments of constitutional affairs and justice.
Her varied career began in an administrative capacity at the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) in the late 1970s. With a degree in economics from the University of London, she made her way in business, working first as a management consultant and then for the Business in the Community organisation, which encourages greater social responsibility by companies.
She was named Leader of Lords in Gordon Brown's first Cabinet in 2007. She is married to Peter Kellner, a political commentator and president of British polling company YouGov. She has two children and three stepchildren.
Profile: Baroness Ashton, EU's new foreign minister - Telegraph ]]> News word http://www.gossiprocks.com/forum/news/117723-baroness-catherine-ashton-named-eus-first-foreign-minister.html Belgian prime minister, Herman Van Rompuy, picked as first EU president http://www.gossiprocks.com/forum/news/117722-belgian-prime-minister-herman-van-rompuy-picked-first-eu-president.html Fri, 20 Nov 2009 10:59:16 GMT
Herman Van Rompuy - the Belgian prime minister is Europe's first president Photo: REUTERS

Balding, short in stature, slight of build and self-effacing, the 62-year Flemish Christian Democrat economist is no European George Washington.
Kristen Hemmerechts, a well known Flemish essayist, has compared his looks to the Extra-Terrestrial film character made famous by Steven Spielberg. "I can't look at a picture of him without thinking: ET," she wrote recently.
A year ago, Mr Van Rompuy was drifting towards retirement before he was plucked from obscurity by Belgium's King Albert II in one the periodic crises that threaten to split the country's Flemish and French-speaking communities apart.
Even then, as opportunity knocked, he was reluctant to step into the limelight as national premier and it took Belgium's monarch 90 minutes to persuade him.
Mr Van Rompuy remained almost completely unknown outside Belgium's frontiers until he was anointed as a candidate for President of the Council by Angela Merkel, Germany's chancellor and Nicolas Sarkozy, the French president, at a Brussels summit on October 29.
Since then, he has become best known for his camping holidays and his Flemish-Dutch language haikus, a form of Japanese poetry. One verse marks his increasing baldness: "Hair blows in the wind/after years there is still wind/sadly no more hair."
A routine visit by Mr Van Rompuy to his country's parliament on Thursday, just hours before he was appointed, quickly turned into an emotional farewell as MPs lined up to bid him farewell and to wish him luck in the new post.
In typical style, the Belgian prime minister concluded his appearance by quoting poetry, lines from "De Ploeger" (The Ploughman) by Adriaan Roland Holst.
"I ask no harvest, I have no barns, I am at your service without possessions," he told Belgian MPs."
Mr Van Rompuy is married with four children. His younger brother, Eric Van Rompuy, and his son, Peter, are also Chritsian Democrat politicians. His maverick sister, Christine Van Rompuy, is a member of the Maoist Workers Party of Belgium. In Belgium's 2007 elections, she helped to produce a poster showing her brother portrayed as a clown. "We have not spoken since," she said.
Politically, in Britain at least, Mr Rompuy is more controversial. He has been described by Chris Bryant, the Europe minister, as having "a more federalist agenda than other prime ministers in Europe".
He once authored a federalist manifesto that decalared: "Apart from the euro, also other national symbols need to be replaced by European symbols (licence plates, identity cards, presence of more EU flags, one time EU sports events."
Just last week, speaking to a private dinner of industrialists, diplomats and politicians, he called for European taxes on financial transactions to fund the EU.
He is also a hard-line opponent of Turkey's bid to join the European Union because, he has warned, it is an Islamic country and would dilute Europe's Christian heritage.
Profile: Herman Van Rompuy: EU's new president - Telegraph ]]> News word http://www.gossiprocks.com/forum/news/117722-belgian-prime-minister-herman-van-rompuy-picked-first-eu-president.html Cop suspended after Tasering 10-year-old girl http://www.gossiprocks.com/forum/news/117721-cop-suspended-after-tasering-10-year-old-girl.html Fri, 20 Nov 2009 06:59:16 GMT Cop suspended after Tasering 10-year-old girl - Crime & courts- msnbc.com
Faulted for not having a video camera attached when he used the stun gun
The Associated Press
updated 7:36 a.m. PT, Thurs., Nov . 19, 2009

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - A police officer who used a stun gun on an unruly 10-year-old girl after he said her mother gave him permission has been suspended — not for using the weapon but for not having a video camera attached when he used it.
Mayor Vernon McDaniel said officer Dustin Bradshaw was suspended Wednesday for seven days with pay for not following department procedures, because he didn't have the camera on.
McDaniel wants Arkansas State Police or the FBI to look into whether the use of the Taser was proper. The girl, who hasn't been identified, wasn't injured and is now at youth shelter.
Police were called to the home Nov. 11 after the girl's mother couldn't get her to take a shower.
Bradshaw's report says the girl was "violently kicking and verbally combative" when Bradshaw tried to take her into custody, and she kicked him in the groin. He said he delivered "a very brief drive stun to her back."
"Her mother told me to tase her if I needed to," Bradshaw wrote.
Police Chief Jim Noggle said Wednesday that Taser stun guns are a safe way to subdue people who are a danger to themselves or others.
"We didn't use the Taser to punish the child — just to bring the child under control so she wouldn't hurt herself or somebody else," Noggle said, referring to the stun gun's brand.
If the officer tried to forcefully put the girl in handcuffs, he could have accidentally broken her arm or leg, Noggle said.

Noggle said the girl will face disorderly conduct charges as a juvenile in the incident.
The girl's father, Anthony Medlock, told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette that his daughter has emotional problems, but that she didn't have a weapon and shouldn't have been stunned.
"My daughter does not deserve to be tased and be treated like an animal," said Medlock, who is divorced from the girl's mother and does not have custody. ]]> News celeb_2006 http://www.gossiprocks.com/forum/news/117721-cop-suspended-after-tasering-10-year-old-girl.html Mississippi toddler, 2, helps mom give birth to brother http://www.gossiprocks.com/forum/news/117717-mississippi-toddler-2-helps-mom-give-birth-brother.html Fri, 20 Nov 2009 06:03:34 GMT Miss. toddler, 2, helps mom give birth to brother - Yahoo! News

:eek3:

OLIVE BRANCH, Miss. – A 2-year-old in north Mississippi has done something few toddlers can: He helped his mother give birth to his brother. Bobbye Favazza told The Commercial Appeal she went into labor this past Friday and gave birth on the family's living room couch in Olive Branch. She said her toddler, Jeremiha Taylor, got her a towel and caught the baby before firefighters arrived to cut the umbilical cord.
Favazza gave birth to a 7-pound, 4-ounce baby boy, Kamron Taylor.
She had been scheduled for a cesarian section on Dec. 6.
City emergency services supervisor, Greg Mynatt, said the 911 call about Favazza was probably the third this year about a woman in labor, but usually the mother makes it to the hospital before delivery. ]]> News celeb_2006 http://www.gossiprocks.com/forum/news/117717-mississippi-toddler-2-helps-mom-give-birth-brother.html Alleged burglar warms up bottle for crying baby http://www.gossiprocks.com/forum/news/117709-alleged-burglar-warms-up-bottle-crying-baby.html Fri, 20 Nov 2009 04:15:12 GMT Alleged burglar warms up bottle for crying baby - Yahoo! News (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091120/ap_on_fe_st/us_odd_bottle_warmer_robbery) INDIANAPOLIS – An 18-year-old is in police custody after he warmed up a bottle for a crying baby inside the house he was allegedly robbing. Indianapolis police arrested the suspect at Arlington High School on Tuesday after receiving a tip from a television viewer saw surveillance video on a newscast. Detectives said two suspects forced their way into a home on Friday morning and began ransacking the house. Police said that when a baby started crying, one of them warmed a bottle in a microwave oven and gave it to a child to feed the baby. The suspect was being held on charges of burglary, robbery, criminal confinement and pointing a firearm. Alleged burglar warms up bottle for crying baby - Yahoo! News

INDIANAPOLIS – An 18-year-old is in police custody after he warmed up a bottle for a crying baby inside the house he was allegedly robbing. Indianapolis police arrested the suspect at Arlington High School on Tuesday after receiving a tip from a television viewer saw surveillance video on a newscast.
Detectives said two suspects forced their way into a home on Friday morning and began ransacking the house. Police said that when a baby started crying, one of them warmed a bottle in a microwave oven and gave it to a child to feed the baby.
The suspect was being held on charges of burglary, robbery, criminal confinement and pointing a firearm. ]]> News celeb_2006 http://www.gossiprocks.com/forum/news/117709-alleged-burglar-warms-up-bottle-crying-baby.html The robber who is too ugly for a life of crime http://www.gossiprocks.com/forum/news/117676-robber-who-too-ugly-life-crime.html Thu, 19 Nov 2009 21:41:11 GMT
Ears trouble: Finding bank robber David Holyoak has not been difficult for police

A big-eared bank raider nicknamed Shrek is behind bars today after being warned he is 'too ugly' to commit crime.

Unfortunate David Holyoak, 33, has rather distinctive looks and his features make it easy for police to get his description and locate him.
As Holyoak, of Whitefield, Manchester, began a three-and-a-half year jail sentence for robbery yesterday, one officer said: 'This man only needs to look at himself in the mirror to realise crime is not for him.
'With his big ears and rotund features he stands out a mile, and the officers have no trouble spotting him. He must be a total liability when he is part of a gang.
'He has already been dubbed Shrek and must be one of the ugliest robbers in the country.'
Holyoak was part of a gang who robbed a Halifax bank near Preston and threatened the cashier with a sledgehammer.
They smashed a glass security window, climbed the counter and stole cash. But it was elementary for police to identify Holyoak as one of the robbers, after they got a clear eyewitness description of him ... and his ears.
However, before they arrested him, Holyoak struck again when a security guard delivered cash to a post office in Bury. As the guard walked in, a car pulled up outside and Holyoak and his accomplices got out, carrying a weapon and wearing masks.
The driver of a police surveillance car, following the armoured van, saw the men run inside and radioed the guard to warn him of their attack.
The robbers stole the cash box and ran to a getaway car. It roared out of a side street but ploughed straight into a tree.
The robbers leapt out and fled but Holyoak, and two accomplices, were found hiding in a garden.
Holyoak, described as a 'dangerous individual,' pleaded guilty at Bolton Crown Court with three others to robbery.

The robber who is too ugly for a life of crime | Metro.co.uk ]]> News Honey http://www.gossiprocks.com/forum/news/117676-robber-who-too-ugly-life-crime.html Bikini fools dance on top of a crocodile trap http://www.gossiprocks.com/forum/news/117675-bikini-fools-dance-top-crocodile-trap.html Thu, 19 Nov 2009 21:38:27 GMT A pair of bikini-clad women have been pictured risking life and limb dancing on top of a trap in a crocodile infested river.
Clutching champagne bottles, the girls were snapped singing and cavorting atop the trap in the Australian Northern Territory’s Maningrida river.
The picture surfaced just a day after the Northern Territory News published an image of two male tourists behaving in a similar fashion at Jim Jim Falls in Kakadu National Park.


Moron trap? The antics of these two unidentified women, pictured dancing on top of a crocodile trap in Australia's Northern Territory, have been slated

Crocodile expert Garry Lindner slammed the spectacle, saying: ‘Crocs are attracted to the bait in the traps, so it is extremely dangerous to fool around like this.’
Outraged readers suggested photo captions for the earlier image, including ‘Dinner is served! Tonight’s menu features two courses of stupid.’
Another commented: ‘I don’t know about a croc trap but it definitely works as a moron trap.’
One local resident said: ‘I would have expected that nearly all people would have had the brains not to climb on a croc trap.
‘I know this area, and although there’s only a small chance of actually having crocs in there at this time of year, it’s not unheard of.’


The girls could have been caught unawares - like this sea turtle, who never saw the giant crocodile behind him coming as he crawled out of the waves in Queensland, Australia in 2006 (file photo)

There have been calls for big game hunters to be allowed to curb the spread of deadly saltwater crocodiles in northern Australia recently.
The animals have been protected since the 1970s, when they came close to extinction, but since then their numbers have risen sharply, along with the threat to residents.
Plans for safari-style expedition were rejected last month by federal environmental minister Peter Garnett, who said the proposals were ‘not a suitable approach for the responsible management of crocodiles.’
There are thought to have been at least two fatalities in the Northern Territory this year, which is estimated to have 80,000 saltwater crocodiles.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1229254/Snap-happy-The-bikini-clad-drinkers-photographed-dancing-crocodile-trap.html#ixzz0XLNRyINP ]]> News Honey http://www.gossiprocks.com/forum/news/117675-bikini-fools-dance-top-crocodile-trap.html Epileptic driver jailed over deaths http://www.gossiprocks.com/forum/news/117673-epileptic-driver-jailed-over-deaths.html Thu, 19 Nov 2009 21:32:46 GMT Auvryn Scarlett was handed a sentence of 20 years to life for killing Jackie Timmins and Andrew Hardie

An epileptic man who mowed down a British couple in his dustbin lorry after having a fit at the wheel was jailed for at least 20 years today.
Auvryn Scarlett, 54, who had stopped taking medication for his epilepsy, was handed a sentence of 20 years to life for each of the murders of Jackie Timmins, 47, and Andrew Hardie, 48, of Yeovil, Somerset.
The couple, who were enjoying a romantic break in the U.S., died instantly after being hit by Scarlett's truck in February last year just yards from their hotel.
A third person was badly injured in the incident, for which the defendant was handed a 10-year jail sentence.
It means that Scarlett will not be eligible for parole for at least 20 years.
At Manhattan Supreme Court today, Judge Richard Carruthers said Scarlett's decision not to take his medication - due in part to the fact that it interfered with his enjoyment of alcohol - meant he had become 'a timebomb ready to explode' on the streets of New York.
He added that the 'profoundly irresponsible act' had the result that 'in the blink of an eye, two lovers walking hand in hand were struck down and taken away from the bosom of their families'.
During his trial it emerged that Scarlett not only failed to tell his employer about his condition but had also stopped taking drugs to control the epilepsy.

Jackie Timmins and Andrew Hardie, right, were both killed instantly when they were hit by the dustbin lorry in New York

On the day of Ms Timmins and Mr Hardie's murder, Scarlett suffered a fit at the wheel of his truck, causing it to mount a kerb near Madison Square Garden and run the couple down.
Judge Carruthers referred to CCTV footage of the tragedy during his sentencing address.
He described how it showed 'a huge beast hurtling down the street from where the lovers had just disappeared'.
The judge told Scarlett: 'It did not have to happen, more correctly it shouldn't have happened. You shouldn't have done what you did.'
He added: 'Driving for you was a profoundly irresponsible act.'
The convicted murderer said he was 'very sorry for what took place' in brief comments delivered before sentencing.
He also filed a motion for his lawyer to be changed, but the judge denied his request, noting that he had been defended rigorously during a trial in which his lawyer had argued his case well.

Scene of the accident in New York in which the British couple were killed by a rubbish truck after it mounted the pavement

In pushing for the maximum sentence, prosecutors said Ms Timmins and Mr Hardie were killed because Scarlett 'arrogantly and self-servingly' wanted to do the job despite knowing that he could become a killer at any moment due to his condition.
Noting that the tragedy had taken away a mother from Ms Timmins's then-12-year-old daughter, Deputy District Attorney Christopher Ryan said: 'She had her entire existence turned upside down by this.'
He added: 'The two families will never be the same and will carry the scars for the rest of their lives.'
The families of Ms Timmins and Mr Hardie were not in court today to see Scarlett sentenced.
But, in a letter sent to the judge ahead of today's hearing, loved ones of the murdered couple described their loss.
Ms Timmins's children, Ryan, Lee, Paul and Nikita, wrote movingly of how their mother would never have the chance to see her grandchildren grow up.
Their letter stated: 'Through life you can have your heart broken with relationships and that hole can be filled, but losing our mother has left an empty hole in all of our hearts that will never be filled.'
The letter added: 'Auvryn Scarlett clearly shows no remorse for his actions as we never heard an apology since the night of the tragic death of our mum and Andrew.
'Therefore, we will never forgive him for the loved ones he has taken from us.'
Robin Timmins, Ms Timmins' ex-husband and the father of her children, said from his home in Yeovil, Somerset, today that the family were pleased with the sentence.
'We are chuffed really, we would have been satisfied with 15 years but this is 20 years to life,' he said.
'We now have much more faith in the American legal system. In this country he could have got a suspended sentence and a slap on the wrist.

'What value does that put on a person's life? The English legal system should take a leaf out of America's book.'
Mr Timmins said his children could now come to terms with the tragedy knowing that Scarlett was behind bars.
Paul Timmins, 22, a web developer, who lives in Richmond, Surrey, said: 'I will always remember Mum as a very happy person and devoted mother who was always there for all of us.'

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1229026/Epileptic-mowed-British-couple-having-fit-wheel-dustbin-lorry-jailed-20-years.html#ixzz0XLM144Ko ]]> News Honey http://www.gossiprocks.com/forum/news/117673-epileptic-driver-jailed-over-deaths.html Norwegian artist takes his love of Burberry to a new level http://www.gossiprocks.com/forum/news/117672-norwegian-artist-takes-his-love-burberry-new-level.html Thu, 19 Nov 2009 21:30:15 GMT Once a symbol for all things chav, Burberry had successfully re-branded itself as one of the UK's most sophisticated fashion labels.
But a Norwegian artist looks set to undo all of their hard work after painting the exterior of his house - a former public toilet - in the brand's signature check.
Jens Werner, 33, covered the entire building in the famous beige, black and red tartan design. The re-painting of the building in Larvik took several weeks at a cost of thousands of pounds.


A gathering place for happy people: Artist Jens Werner painted his house in Burberry's signature beige plaid



Fashion house: Mr Werner on the windowledge of his home, which he painted in the famous check because he thought it would be 'a fun idea'

The makeover of the property was part of an effort to turn Jens' home into a 'gathering place for happy people, peace-on-earth-mentality and art-loving people'.
He explained how he came up with the idea after waking up one morning and thought that it would be 'a fun idea' to repaint the building, which he has owned for six years.
Burberry, which is over 150 year old, is a favourite with fashion-forward celebrities including Alexa Chung and Agyness Deyn.
It became famous for its raincoats after the label was commissioned by the War Office to adapt its officer's coat to suit the conditions of contemporary warfare. After the war, the garment became popular with civilians.
The company's signature print, the Haymarket check, became ubiquitous in the Nineties among football hooligans and the new chav generation.

Its popularity sparked thousands of imitations and the print was replicated on everything from baseball caps to shoes. The label's luxury status was dealt its final blow when former EastEnders actress Daniella Westbrook stepped out with her young daughter, both head-to-toe in the house tartan, complete with matching buggy.
After fighting hard to shake off its unfortunate associations with ‘chav’ culture the firm has divided the country into three categories according to how smartly they want to dress.
The luxury fashion house has introduced a new tripartite system, splitting glamour queens who opt for silk catwalk dresses from those more comfortable in scruffy jeans.
It was U.S. businesswoman Rose Marie Bravo who transformed the brand's image when she joined the company in 1998, spearheading a renaissance that saw the likes of Kate Moss, Rachel Weisz and Emma Watson star in its advertising campaigns.
Mr Werner is not the first to have turned his home into a tribute to a fashion label.
Footballer Philip Neville turned his 18th century grade II-listed home into a Versace-themed palace after he bought it ten years ago.
The decor featured gold-panelled ceilings and monogrammed gates sparking widespread ridicule.
The property was on the market for a year before selling for £1.5million below its £4million asking price earlier this year.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1229181/Checking-Artists-tacky-tribute-fashion-house-Burberry.html#ixzz0XLLMT4PP ]]> News Honey http://www.gossiprocks.com/forum/news/117672-norwegian-artist-takes-his-love-burberry-new-level.html Mother-of-eight found guilty of abusing her kids with belt, meat mallet, screwdriver http://www.gossiprocks.com/forum/news/117671-mother-eight-found-guilty-abusing-her-kids-belt-meat-mallet-screwdriver.html Thu, 19 Nov 2009 21:25:46 GMT A sadistic mother-of-eight has been found guilty of subjecting six of her children to a 'sickening' six-year campaign of abuse and neglect.
The 37-year-old beat her children - aged between four and 16 - with objects including a belt, a broken coat hanger and a meat-tenderising mallet, a court heard.
She was found guilty of 18 charges of abuse including scratching one of her daughters with a knife and burning another with a hot screwdriver.

Weapons: Three of the implements that the 37-year-old beat her children with


DS Tim Underhill of Cambridgeshire police's child abuse investigation unit holds up the weapons used on the children. He said: 'The house was untidy and cluttered. It smelt and there were no, or very few, toys around.'

Cambridgeshire County Council admitted monitoring the family since 1999 yet charges were only brought on the mother after two children discussed the abuse with a teacher.
The mother, a Jamaican national living in Cambridge, was found guilty of 18 charges including nine counts of assaulting a child under 16 in a manner likely to cause unnecessary suffering with injury to the child's health.
She was also found guilty of one count of affray and two counts of witness intimidation.
Her reign of terror against her children lasted from January 1 2002 to July 1 2008, the court heard during a five-week trial.

ONE OF THE ABUSED CHILDREN:
'I thought she was going to hit me until I died.
'She hit me on the head with the garlic crusher and grabbed me round the throat. I was crying and putting my hands up to stop her.
'She said "I am going to slice your throat with the knife". I could hardly breathe and she cut me with the knife she was holding in her hand'

The allegations came to light when two of her daughters told teachers at their school that they were being mistreated.
On one occasion, the woman locked up two of her daughter's school friends in the family home after they witnessed her violence towards her daughter.
They saw her hit her daughter with a meat mallet and garlic press and threaten to slit her throat with a knife if she did not move her hands out of the way.
Summing up the case, Judge Jonathan Haworth read an extract from video evidence from the girl who suffered the attack.
She said: 'I thought she was going to hit me until I died.
'She hit me on the head with the garlic crusher and grabbed me round the throat. I was crying and putting my hands up to stop her.
'She said "I am going to slice your throat with the knife". I could hardly breathe and she cut me with the knife she was holding in her hand.'
The mother subjected her children to a catalogue of abuse and smacked them with a belt, leaving buckle marks on their skin.
On one occasion the mother heated a screwdriver to mend a toy and then used it to burn her daughter on the thigh and buttock areas, leaving scars.
Two of the children aged just 12 and 14 said they did the shopping and cooking for the family and looked after their younger siblings while their mother lay in bed watching TV.
The mother even sent her young daughters out late at night to find ice for her drinks. Rather than return empty-handed, the youngsters often hid in a park overnight to avoid being attacked.
The woman was heavily pregnant when the allegations were made and has since given birth to her eighth child. All of her children are now in care of the social services.
One of her daughters told the court that she had considered suicide.
She said: 'I was bullied at school, beaten and burned by my mum. My life was terrible.'

When police arrested the mother, they found the house dirty, with no food in it and no sheets on the children's beds.
Medical reports said doctors found scars and marks on the children which could not have been from accidental injuries.
The children's teachers described them as quiet and withdrawn and noticed that one of her sons was always cold and hungry, eating second and third helpings of school dinners.
They were concerned at times that the girls were fending for themselves and appeared frightened of their mother.
In her defence, the mother claimed that a former partner used to beat her and hit the children with a belt and that her children and their friends had made up the allegations.
She admitted slapping them but not using weapons.
She told a parent of one of her children's friends: 'Tapping them is different from hitting. I loved my kids, I still do. I did not do these things to them.'
Georgina Gibbs, defending, said that witness reports about the house being messy and smelling of urine did not indicate that the children were being neglected.
Cambridge City Council admitted that they had been aware of the situation since 1999, but despite 'ongoing monitoring' the children were only recently taken into care.
A spokesman said: 'We acted as soon as these allegations came to light and the children were immediately taken into care.
'Social care teams offered extensive support when the family first came to our attention in 1999, and the situation improved significantly when a relative moved into the family home.
'There was ongoing monitoring of the family situation by all the relevant agencies.'
Peter Bradley, deputy director of national children's charity Kidscape, described the abuse as 'sickening'.
He said: 'If you've got six children, over a six year period, showing signs of serious physical harm, it begs the question as to why there was no intervention earlier.
'This seems to be part of an ongoing problem with social services nationally where departments are not joined-up in their thinking process and are not sharing information effectively.
'This has been the failing of many social services around the country which needs to be addressed urgently.
'In this case the child who reported the abuse was braver than social services themselves who should have been there to protect those children.'
Detective Superintendent Tim Underhill of Cambridgeshire police's child abuse investigation unit described the state of the house when they arrived.
He said: 'The mother was arrested and her children taken into care on the same day that the children reported the situation at school.
'The house was untidy and cluttered. It smelt and there were no, or very few, toys around.'
DCI Karen Rowell, also of the child abuse investigation unit, said the trial had been 'particularly harrowing'.
'I would like to thank all of the children involved who have all been incredibly brave throughout,' she added. 'I hope the children will be able to move on with their lives.'
Sentencing will take place on December 7.


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1229213/I-thought-hit-I-died-Sadistic-mother-beat-children-years-abuse.html#ixzz0XLKGgmQT ]]> News Honey http://www.gossiprocks.com/forum/news/117671-mother-eight-found-guilty-abusing-her-kids-belt-meat-mallet-screwdriver.html