Target Tasmania: US missile plan revealed

Ronald Reagan on the phone in his pyjamas in 1983. Taking time zones into account, he could have been talking to Bob Hawke about firing a few missiles our way Source: Supplied

A WEEK before Bob Hawke dumped support for a US missile test, Federal Cabinet signed off on a plan to maintain the deal and avoid political fall-out by blaming Malcolm Fraser.

Secret Cabinet documents, released today by the National Archives of Australia, show Mr Hawke and his senior security ministers discussed the US plan to fire intercontinental ballistic missiles into the Pacific Ocean.

The crisis meeting, held on January 29, 1985, ended in a decision to blame Mr Hawke's predecessor, Mr Fraser, who in 1981 had agreed with US requests to send two missiles into the ocean about 220km from Tasmania.

In 1983 Mr Hawke had quietly agreed to continue backing the program, but Cabinet did not appear to have met until 1985 over the issue.

Marked "SECRET", the documents show the security committee agreed to remain tight-lipped about the crisis until forced to speak.

"In the event of circumstances requiring the Government to explain its position on the MX missile test program, the Government would publicly confirm that... upon coming to office it had been confronted with an undertaking given by its predecessor," documents say.

The decision to honour that commitment was made "only after the Prime Minister had secured US agreement to the transfer of the splash-down zone out of Australian EEZ into international waters".

And it was decided Mr Hawke would tell the US this support "would not constitute a precedent" for further requests.

A week later, before a visit to Washington, Mr Hawke sensationally backed out of the agreement with the US.

Mr Hawke told News Ltd his support for the testing was "in the depths of the Cold War".

"You had an hegemonistic Soviet Union that was spreading its influence and domination in a great arc going from southern Africa... into the Middle East and down to Vietnam," he said.

"These weren't play games, this was real stuff.

"It was absolutely appropriate in my judgement, and those of my immediate colleagues, that the United States should also be able to test its missiles."

Mr Hawke said the caucus revolt he faced was placated after he visited the US.

He said US Secretary of State George Shultz, a close friend, had told him it "wasn't absolutely essential to use the Australian facilities" and he didn't hesitate to withdraw support.

"We went from boiled lollies to chocolates because from a situation where we had a lot of division, I got back and went to discuss things in Caucus and for the first time got a unanimous vote in Caucus supporting the general security position I had adopted," he said.

"There was a lot of hysteria around in those times around the uranium mining and nuclear power and all this sort of thing."

23.18 | 0 komentar | Read More

NYE heartbreak on the harbour

Police search the boat at Rose Bay before towing it back to Police Headquarters in Balmain. Picture: Adam Taylor Source: The Daily Telegraph

A BROTHER and sister woke yesterday to discover their mother had vanished from the deck of their luxury boat anchored on Sydney Harbour.

Their confusion turned to despair several hours later when the woman's body was found in the water beneath exclusive restaurant Catalina at Rose Bay - about 500m from where she disappeared.

The woman's frantic husband woke his children about 2am, informing them their 49-year-old mother was nowhere to be found on the $500,000 pleasure cruiser Tornado, which had been positioned at Rose Bay ahead of the New Year's Eve fireworks.

Police said the woman, from Carlingford, had remained on the rear deck of the boat after her husband and two children, aged 14 and 12, went to bed.

Two hours later the husband woke up and, noticing his wife was not in bed, went up to the deck. When it became obvious his wife was no longer aboard, the man woke his children and called triple-0.

The family was taken to shore on a water police vessel

while a search unfolded for the missing mum.

The man and his children clung to hope the woman, who was a competent swimmer, might have made her way to shore safely.

But, just after 6am, a woman's body was discovered floating beneath the jetty next to the restaurant.

She was soon confirmed as the missing mother. Last night relatives visited Glebe morgue to formally identify her body.

A post mortem examination to determine how she died will be carried out tomorrow.

Police yesterday said, while it was unclear how the woman left the boat, they believe it was an accident and there were no suspicious circumstances. Detective Inspector Darren Schott from the NSW Police Maritime Area Command said investigators had been told the woman had been drinking on the boat prior to her disappearance, although it was unknown how much alcohol she had consumed.

A plastic wine glass remained on a table at the back of the vessel as forensic officers examined it yesterday.

"You can be a competent swimmer but when alcohol is involved, regardless of how much, that can change things," Insp Schott said.

The boat was anchored about 500m from the Rose Bay wharf - surrounded by dozens of other boats which had snapped up the best vantage spots for the fireworks - but no one witnessed the woman fall into the water.

Insp Schott said the accident was a reminder to all boaters about the dangers of drinking on the water.

"We want to remind everyone that boating and alcohol don't mix," he said.

The boat was towed to the water police headquarters at Balmain for a full examination, the results of which will be given to the coroner.

23.18 | 0 komentar | Read More

How rock lease was set in stone

How much should it cost to rent the rock? Source: The Advertiser

A SECRET government debate on how to return Uluru to traditional Aboriginal owners included a dispute about money for renting the site and the length of the lease.

Options put to Cabinet in 1985 included a 50-year lease and an annual "rent" of $150,000 for use of Uluru by national park authorities.

But Cabinet eventually decided to settle for a 99-year lease and $75,000 a year rent.

Documents, released today by the National Archives of Australia, say a proposal for $150,000 a year in rent, plus half the park's entrance fees to be paid to traditional owners, was "excessive".

The historic decision to hand back Uluru was a key moment in the recognition of Aboriginal land rights.

The event was not without controversy, with the Northern Territory Government campaigning against the return.

23.18 | 0 komentar | Read More

I cornt believe Greig is gone

Comedian Billy Birmingham, better known as the 12th Man. Picture: Jeff Herbert Source: The Daily Telegraph

Tony Greig, right, will fellow cricket commentators Ian Chappell and Bill Lawry back in 1993. Source: News Limited

COMEDIAN Billy Birmingham remembers the "morvellous" man he famously sent up as The 12th Man.

I CORNT believe it.

Tony Greig, our cricketing giant, is no longer with us.

I too want to pass on my thoughts and prayers to his wife Vivian and family, and to the Channel 9 commentary team, who have been such a central part of so many lives every summer, especially mine.

I'm only new to Twitter but I was flooded with messages as the news broke on Saturday afternoon.

People were tweeting me saying they were sitting around having a few beers in honour of Greigy listening to their 12th Man CDs and sending me their favourite lines.

"Blow it out your orse Boll," was chief amongst them, capturing the essence of the rivalry between Tony and his old "sporring portner" Bill Lawry.

Or Tony to Richie when Max Walker was pestering everyone trying to get his job back: "For storters you can have the borsted bored from this port of the Broadcorst area."

One guy even tweeted me a photo of himself sticking his key in his driveway, recalling the ritual Tony went through for many years with his pitch reports.

We were all laughing through tears remembering one of the great cricket characters who graced our screens for more than 30 years.

I have been suitably chuffed by the connection a lot of people have felt to Greigy through me because Greigy more than any of the commentators, and more than a lot of other people from whom I have extracted the piss, really got the "12th Man joke".

Not long after my first album, Wired World of Sports, came out in 1989, Greigy rang and invited me to his office in "Pork St".

"If were really smort we can all make some money out of this," he said.

He'd always say, "We gave you a stort you borsted, why cornt we make some money out of you?"

It was hord to orgue with that.

Tony cottoned on pretty quickly to the old cliche that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

What a thrill it was to sit opposite the great man at his desk and study some of the finer points of ripping off his voice.

It was like a one-on-one lesson. I was listening to what he was saying but I was also listening intently to how he said it and trying to fine tune my piss-take.

Nothing ever came of that first meeting in a business sense but it was an invaluable education for the 12th Man and the "stort" of a great friendship.

And I know where all that unsold Channel 9 memorabilia that Greigy used to flog ended up. In his office! It went from a smattering in the late '80s to overflowing the last time I was there. You had to be careful where you sat in case you ended up with a Boonie Doll up your orse.

He saw the positive side of the whole 12th Man thing instantly, that Channel 9's cricket coverage had become an iconic broadcast and both the commentary team and the coverage were benefiting from this series of recordings this idiot was doing.

Tony cottoned on pretty quickly to the old cliche that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

People ask me how the whole 12th Man thing started. It was just me sitting in my loungeroom thinking, 'S---, I didn't know Richie Benaud sounded like that'.

And what about that fabulous South African accent of Tony Greig's: "The pitch is nice and flat, not much grorss on it. It should be hord and forst and there are quite a few cracks storting to open up."

He once phoned me about some appearance thing he was doing and asked me to remind him of some of the "Tony Greig-isms" I used.

"The cor pork's full and there is going to be plenty of cornage here today," I reminded him.

Thanks Greigy for a morvellous innings. You played it hord and forst and we cornt thank you enough for being such a lorge port of all our lives.

Rest in peace. 

23.18 | 0 komentar | Read More

School shooter to be buried in secret

An undated photo shows Adam Lanza, who opened fire inside the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, killing 26 people, including 20 children, before taking his own life. Source: AP

THE body of Sandy Hook Elementary School shooter Adam Lanza, who killed 26 people in a deadly rampage, will be buried in a secret location.

Connecticut State Medical Examiner Wayne H Carver II said that Lanza's body was claimed several days ago, the Hartford Courant reports.

Family spokesman Errol Cockfield said the body was claimed Thursday by the shooter's father, Peter Lanza, reports CNN.

According to the Courant, the father and son had had little contact in the last couple of years.

Police block a road near the house of Nancy Lanza, the mother and first victim of shooter Adam Lanza. Picture: Don Emmert

Adam Lanza, 20, killed himself in a classroom after a shooting spree that left 26 people - including 20 children - dead inside Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, on December 14. It was the second-deadliest school shooting in United States history.

Lanza had earlier killed his mother Nancy at the home they shared.

Mr Carver has ordered toxicology tests to be performed before finalising his findings, although he has already ruled Lanza's death a suicide. Geneticists at the University of Connecticut will also examine Lanza's DNA to for any abnormalities that might explain his aberrant behaviour.

Mourners assemble outside Trinity Episcopal Church ahead of the funeral of one of the Sandy Hook victims, six-year-old Benjamin Andrew Wheeler. Picture: Julio Cortez

James Fox, a professor of criminology at Northeastern University and a mass shooting expert told ABC news that in these cases "the grave is [often] not marked because the family is afraid the grave will be defaced."

"When there is a funeral for the perpetrator it is private," Fox said. "Press is not kept apprised of when it is or where it is for the same reason."
   

23.18 | 0 komentar | Read More

Tributes flow for 'true horsewoman'

New Zealand jockey Ashlee Mundy formerly based on the Gold Coast, has died after a fall in her home country. Picture: Kate Czerny Source: News Limited

GOLD Coast-based jockey Ashlee Mundy was a tireless, hard worker who did things her way.

She was not a follower, she carved her own way in the world and did it without relying on others.

That's what made her so admired in the Queensland racing industry, according to the Gold Coast Bulletin.

Gold Coast trackwork was "numb" yesterday as news broke the popular 26-year-old jockey had died in a Dunedin hospital shortly after 5am Queensland time.

Her boyfriend, Gold Coast trackwork rider Brad Frew, close friend and fellow jockey Laura Cheshire and her family were at her bedside.

Frew prayed his mercy dash across the Tasman would have a happy ending. Instead it was a trip to say goodbye.

Mundy sustained serious head injuries after a horror fall at the once-a-year Kurow Cup meeting in North Otago on Sunday.

She was airlifted to hospital, but there was little doctors could do.

Frew, speaking from Dunedin yesterday, said Mundy was doing what she loved most when her life was so tragically cut short.

"She will be sadly missed throughout the racing industry in both New Zealand and Australia and, mostly, by all her amazing friends. But, on a kind note, she died doing what she loved most," Frew said.

Kiwi-born Mundy rode more than 230 winners in a career that began in 2004. She first came to the Gold Coast in 2009.

She spent three months there before returning across the Tasman. But Mundy came back in 2011 and made Surfers Paradise her home.

Apprentice Tegan Harrison said Mundy's independence was admirable.

"She had her opinion on something and she didn't let people change her mind on things and she was a very strong person," Harrison said.

Leading trainer Bevan Laming, who was a father figure to Mundy in Australia, admired her hard work.

"She used to ride work at the Gold Coast and then would come out and ride work for me at Jacobs Well," Laming said.

"She was a very good worker, I never had a problem with her. She was the type of girl who had no enemies."

Cheshire said Mundy had a drive and determination possessed by only a few jockeys.

"She was a true horsewoman, but her riding talent was never truly showcased in Australia due to lack of opportunities," Cheshire said.

"Ashlee left the Gold Coast the only way she knew how, as a winner on the Gold Coast-trained Sand Biscuit."

Mundy rode sprinter Fintorro to victory at Timaru on Friday.

Young apprentice Rikki Jamieson said Mundy had been a mentor.

"She taught me a lot in my early days and she pretty well looked after me in the jockeys' room," she said.

Mundy's funeral will be held in Westport, New Zealand, at 4pm on Friday.

A service at the Clear Island Waters Catholic Church on the Gold Coast will be held to coincide with the funeral at 1pm before a wake at the Gold Coast Turf Club at 2pm.

----------

- Read more about this story at the Gold Coast Bulletin online

23.18 | 0 komentar | Read More

Snap, crackle and pop'n into 2013

Watch the Sydney skyline light up as Australia rings in the new year.

• Crowds surge into Sydney to watch fireworks spectacular
• Large crowds gather in Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide
• Barbies sizzle, fireworks dazzle and bubbly flows to ring in 2013

THE new year is here. The smoke is clearing. The bubbly has flowed. The traffic queues are growing. But the memories will be spectacular.

City skylines exploded in gold, pink, green and blue around the nation as midnight ticked over.

That's what the crowds came for - as well as the barbies, the beer and the besties.

The party that starts the world's New Year celebrations didn't disappoint yet again.

As one of the first major cities in the world to welcome in 2013, Sydney has set the standard. Just ask the millions who watched the spectacular display both in person and on the television.

On a warm summer night, an estimated 1.5 million people poured into the city to watch the $6.6 million fireworks display light up the sky - twice - from the harbour foreshore, at Darling Harbour and other vantage points with the iconic Sydney Harbour Bridge playing a major part.

Midnight fireworks on New Years Eve at the Opera House. PIcture Attila Szilvasi

Pop princess Kylie Minogue, the event's creative ambassador who chose the theme of Embrace for the celebrations, started the midnight show with the press of a button.

A giant set of red lips in the middle of the harbour bridge counted down to midnight, before the fireworks set off.

A one-of-a-kind sparkling semiquaver - to honour Kylie's 25 years in music - was one of 100,000 individual pyrotechnic creations this year, including brand new koala, octopus and hand images up in lights.

Sydney's skyline exploded in gold, pink, green and blue first at 9pm for the family-oriented curtain raiser and again at midnight.

Colours streamed from four barges situated around the harbour, with gold flashes cascading like tinsel as a gold butterfly-like design lit up the bridge.

New Years Eve midnight fireworks at Dawes Point. Picture: Cameron. Mitch

Gallery: New Year's Eve around Australia.

Gallery: Melbourne's CBC celebrations.

Gallery: Sydney's New Year celebrations

Gallery: New Year's Eve around the world

Gallery: South Australia's Happy New Year.

New years eve fire works in Melbourne. Picture: Glenn Daniels

"It was all great, amazing," said Lee Whittaker, from Denistone, who brought her kids Mel and Leon with her.

Across the rest of the country, other major cities hosted their own fireworks displays and parties.

Melbourne reached out and grabbed 2013 with hands and feet, as fireworks shaped like digits lit up the skyline in the southern capital.

An estimated 550,000 flooded into the CBD to witness the fireworks display, a 10-minute spectacular that flooded the sky with colour, featuring some unique explosions in the shape of human hands and feet.

The city's tallest buildings were used as launch sites, lighting the entire skyline to the delight of crowds gathered at the Docklands, Federation Square and at Treasury and Flagstaff Gardens.

Pop princess Kylie Minogue started the midnight show in Sydney with the press of a button.

Earlier on New Year's Eve, the city's family-friendly display at Yarra Gardens played host to about 60,000 people as the imposing backdrop of the MCG was showered with silver, gold and red.

Organisers said those gathered were very well behaved.

Robyn Smith, of Gisborne, northwest of Melbourne, said she had brought her two children to the city for the past three years.

"We just love it - it's just such a great party atmosphere," she said.

"I think the fireworks bring out the little kid in everyone."

New Years Eve at Mrs Macquarie's Chair, Sydney Picture: Stephen Cooper

Irish sisters Emma and Sophie O'Dowd said they couldn't resist the lure of the New Year's lights and sounds, stopping at Yarra Park to see the fireworks on their way to a dance party.

"It's what it's all about. What a beautiful stage you've got here," Sophie, 22, said.

Surfers Paradise hosted one of Queensland's biggest New Year's Eve fireworks displays, with thousands catching a preview at the 9pm (AEST) show.

Organisers went with a superheroes theme for this year's family party, hoping to encourage children to attend as their favourite superhero and several little Spidermen and Supermen could be seen among the crowd.

In Brisbane, crowds were slightly down at South Bank, but there was still plenty of cheer as revellers waited to welcome in midnight. 

Thousands took in the 9pm show, a precursor to the main event at midnight, with organisers opting for a superheroes theme.

Melbourne New Years Eve. Picture: Town Jay

We've been working on a few surprises," Skylighter Fireworks director Max Brunner told Brisbanetimes.com.

"All I can say is that this year will be the biggest display a Brisbane New Year's Eve has ever had."

Hobart hosted thousands in town for the Sydney to Hobart yacht race and Tasmania's biggest event, The Taste Festival near Salamanca Place.

The event was one of several held up and down the Gold Coast while other centres in Queensland also lit up with their family-friendly displays.

The Sunshine Coast has seen its largest influx of tourists in seven years. More than 50,000 attended alcohol-free events at Mooloolaba and Caloundra's Kings Beach in the late afternoon.

The spectacular midnight fireworks display from Potts Point overlooking the Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge. Picture: Toby Zerna

Thousands of revellers took in the 9pm (AEST) show, a precursor to the main event at midnight.

Gallery: Phillip Island Holiday Fun

Gallery: Lorne looks to New Year

Perth is partying through a heatwave, while Adelaide tried to encourage less alcohol and more family-friendly events.

South Australia's Moana and Christies beaches were closed late in the afternoon after a 2.5m shark was spotted in shallow waters and only 100m offshore. Families attending the Elder Park fireworks display in the city were treated to a more serene atmosphere.

City of Melbourne New Year's Eve celebrations. Stefan Anguerre,19, and Eden Gobel, 18, watch the fireworks for the first time. Picture: Walmsley Stuart

But Sydney's celebration remained the centre of attention for its spectacle and size.

Sydneysiders have paid homage to Australia's princess of pop as they ushered in the New Year with sparkle, glam and a little bit of cheek.

Sydney: Millions embrace Kylie's NYE.

Melbourne: Fireworks explode across the sky

Sydney: A ship-shape view of NYE fireworks

NEWS- Colour from the New Year's Eve celebrations at Broadbeach. Crowds gather on the beach to watch the fireworks. Picture: Luke Marsden

Adelaide: It's party time, and here's how.

Sydney: New Year's heartbreak on the harbour.

2012 was farewelled in a cascade of pink and gold as hit tunes from Kylie Minogue's 25 years in show business bounced around the packed harbour foreshore.

As the the event's creative ambassador, the diminutive pop star developed the theme Embrace and chose its colour scheme and soundtrack.

"It's just overwhelming, it was so beautiful," said Amanda Wormleaton from Belmore.

. Revellers wait on the outbound platform at Jolimont Station after the 9.30pm Yarra Park fireworks. Picture: Walmsley Stuart

"It was the best fireworks Sydney has ever had."

John Priest, who made the trip from Adelaide, agreed.

"It's the best I've seen," he said.

A musical-note firework pulsed on the bridge in Minogue's honour, one of 100,000 individual pyrotechnic creations.

"It's been a huge year for me and the finish line is tonight," Minogue said, adding that her Spanish boyfriend was the first in line for a hug come midnight.

Fireworks at Southbank. Picture: Smithadam

"I love the concept of embrace. It can mean so many different things," she added.

Minogue, who wore a short Asian-inspired blue and white dress for the 9pm fireworks, said despite ups and downs her career had been "an amazing ride".

She later turned up at the lord mayor's party at the Opera House in a slinky long silver gown.

"How's everyone feeling," she asked, as she pressed a button to trigger the midnight display, which opened with a large pair of red lips making the official countdown on the bridge.

Other celebs who have headed Down Under to ring in the New Year include Leonardo DiCaprio, Jamie Foxx and Jonah Hill.

New Years Eve at Surfers Paradise. Photo of the 9pm fireworks. Picture: Gosling Richard

They will be joined at The Star casino's Marquee Nightclub by Gossip Girl heart throb Chace Crawford, Glee's Matthew Morrison and Arrow actor Colton Haynes.

The midnight fireworks kick off New Year's celebrations the world over.

Under balmy and clear skies, tens of thousands of revellers lined Darling Harbour and other viewing hotspots, including about 1.5 million along the harbour foreshore.

As streams of incandescent colour shot into the heavens, families on picnic blankets cheered and clapped along with others aboard luxury yachts.

"It's a much younger crowd than usual, a lot of backpackers rather than families like previous years," said Karla Davies from the Royal Botanic Gardens & Domain Trust.

City of Melbourne New Year's Eve celebrations 2012. Tye, 8, and Erik, 8, check out the fireworks in Yarra Park. Picture: Walmsley Stuart

Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore said about 1.5 million spectators were expected to line Sydney Harbour to watch the fireworks.

Another two million Australians will catch the $6.6 million event on television, as will at least one billion people worldwide.

"This is really putting Australia on the map in terms of welcoming people to the new year," Ms Moore said.

Emil, 21, said he would return to his home country of Sweden a happy man.

"The huge lips on the bridge, that was worth the wait," he said from Lady Macquarie's Chair, where about 17,000 people gathered.

New Years Eve at Surfers Paradise. Photo of Kevin Griffiths, Billy Griffiths, 9. Picture: Gosling Richard

"I can go back to Sweden very happy. We just met some French girls three minutes ago so the night is getting even better."

Caroline, 24, from Melbourne, said it was worth the overnight camp to get the perfect vantage spot.

"We were here at midnight last night and stayed on the grass, I don't know whether that was legal," she said.

"But tonight I am going home with a friend, one night sleeping rough was enough."

Myanmar (Burma) will ring in the new year with its first public countdown and a grand fireworks display in a celebration unprecedented in the former military-ruled country.

It's the latest, and perhaps most colourful, example of the country's emergence from decades of isolation.

Thousands were expected to attend the event at a large field in Yangon (Rangoon) with a backdrop of the famed Shwedagon Pagoda, where the Myanmar public will get its chance to do what much of the world does every December 31.

Singers, celebrities, light shows and other festivities were planned for the public party, which would have been unthinkable under the former military regime that banned public gatherings.

Remember, New Year's is not enjoyed by all.

The RSPCA urged pet owners to ensure their pets are safe and secure because they startle easily by fireworks. Dogs and horses are the most at risk, but even cats, rabbits, birds and cattle can be harmed.

"Many of the calls that we receive come from people who are reporting animals that have escaped during fireworks displays or injured themselves trying to escape," RSPCA Chief Inspector David O'Shannessy said.

Owners should ensure their pets are kept indoors and are well exercised and fed before fireworks start.

Leaving TVs or radios on to mask the sound of fireworks can also help and owners should ensure their pets are wearing ID tags and their microchip details are up-to-date in case they do run away.

23.18 | 0 komentar | Read More

Are these the ultimate Aussie adventures?

The Larapinta Trail in Central Australia delves into the region's most spectacular natural features: waterholes, gorges and razorback ridges. Picture: andydolman/Flickr Source: Supplied

Tourists white water rafting down the Franklin River. Picture: Tourism Tasmania and Matthew Newton. Source: Supplied

Great Adventures. Source: Lonely Planet

FORGET climbing Uluru or snorkelling the Great Barrier Reef, Lonely Planet reckons these are the greatest Aussie adventures.

WALK AUSTRALIA'S LARAPINTA TRAIL

Not all desert adventures need be about hardship and Herculean endurance. First mooted as a walking trail in 1987, and completed 15 years later, the Larapinta Trail delves into many of central Australia's finest natural features – waterholes, gorges, razorback ridges – squeezing the beauty out of Australia's harshest desert environment.

Such is its beauty, accessibility and infrastructure, the Larapinta has quickly become one of the most popular long-distance trails in the country.

YOUR SAY: Are these really our best adventures? Leave your comments below.

The trail begins (or ends, depending on which direction you choose to walk it in) at the actual springs that the township of Alice Springs is named after. Prior to that, it follows the length of the West MacDonnell Ranges to the summit of its most striking peak, Mt Sonder.

The trail's 223km of twists, turns, spinifex, mountains and gorges are divided into 12 sections, each one somewhere between 13km and 31km in length. Every section represents a day or two of walking, and each is determinedly intent on showing off hidden mountain wonders.

Camp sites are spaced at manageable distances and, though the land is as dry as bones, there are water tanks acting as virtual oases. These are found no more than 33km apart, making this a delightful desert experience that's far from barren.

Along the way the trail passes through tourist set pieces such as Simpsons Gap, Standley Chasm, Ellery Creek Big Hole, Serpentine Gorge, the Ochre Pits, Ormiston Gorge and Glen Helen Resort, but also seeks out walker-only delights like Hugh Gorge, Inhalanga Pass and the signature Larapinta view at Counts Point, considered one of the West MacDonnells' best lookouts.

Making it Happen

Independent walkers can ease the walking burden by making food drops at Standley Chasm, Ormiston Gorge, Glen Helen Resort and the walkers' camp at Serpentine Gorge, meaning they need carry no more than four or five days of food at a time. A number of companies lead guided walks on the trail, from sample sections to through hikes. Locally operated Trek Larapinta is one of the most experienced. There are also walker shuttle services to Mt Sonder from Alice Springs.

RAFT TASMANIA'S FRANKLIN RIVER

Few journeys have such potential to change lives as a rafting adventure on Tasmania's pristine Franklin River. From the moment you launch your raft beside the Lyell Highway, right until you pop out into the Gordon River more than a week later, you won't have seen a house, a field or almost any other human mark on the landscape. You may not even have seen any other people on the river. And yet the Tasmanian capital city of Hobart is, at times, less than 150km away.

Named after Tasmanian governor and ill-fated North West Passage explorer Sir John Franklin, the river was first run by John Hawkins and John Dean in 1958, in collapsible canoes, seven years after their first attempt. It would be another 12 years before the river was rafted. Among the early pioneers was a Tasmanian GP named Bob Brown, who named many of its natural features and would go on to become leader of the Australian Greens political party.

By the late 1960s, the Franklin River was also being eyed off as a potential dam location, leading to Australia's most famous and furious environmental battle as protestors blockaded the remote site. It was a fight that eventually helped sway a Federal election, when the Labor Party promised in 1983 to prevent the dam's construction. Spearheading the battle was a moody photo of Rock Island Bend by Peter Dombrovskis that would become perhaps the most famous landscape photo in the country.

It wasn't long before commercial rafting trips began operating on the river, with floats fluctuating from barely moving flat water to unraftable rapids through the Great Ravine. This may be the ultimate accessible wilderness experience in Australia.

Making It Happen

Rafting the Franklin independently is a serious business, in the reach of only the most experienced white-water warriors. Most rafters will choose a guided trip, putting in on the Collingwood River and finishing at Sir John Falls on the Gordon River. A small number of companies, including World Expeditions, offer guided rafting trips.

DRIVE THE CANNING STOCK ROUTE

At the turn of the 20th century, a tick problem meant that East Kimberley cattle couldn't be shipped to Perth for fear of spreading the disease. By opening up a land route from Halls Creek to the south, the stock could be sold directly to the booming gold fields of Kalgoorlie, thereby breaking the monopoly of the West Kimberley cattle barons, and the ticks would die off in the blazing heat of the journey.

Keen to keep beef prices down, the government hired Alfred Canning to map a route through the desert that would provide enough water and pasture for large droves of cattle. Canning had already traversed much of Western Australia while surveying the famous Rabbit-Proof Fence.

Canning made his first trip in 1906, with a team of 23 camels, two horses and eight men. They relied on Aboriginal people to help them find water, but their 'guides' were not always voluntary – Canning sometimes used chains and denied his captives water until they led the white men to their precious soaks and waterholes.

Two years later, Canning returned to the desert with 30 men, 70 camels, 267 goats and 100 tonnes of food and gear to construct the wells, each one a day's journey from the next. Most of the wells were built on water sources that were both sacred to the Aborigines and essential to their survival.

The first bullocks set out in 1911, but the drovers were killed by desert people at Well 37. A punitive expedition was sent out – nobody was arrested, but the sergeant admitted killing several Aboriginal people. Drovers became afraid to use the track and for the next two decades it was rarely travelled. It reopened in 1931, after repair work – many of the route's wells had been destroyed by Aboriginal people who were unable to draw water from them.

After ladders were fitted, the stock route became more peaceful and about 20 mobs of cattle were driven down it over the next 20 years. Since then, the route has not been maintained, making it one of the most unforgiving roads in the world.

Making It Happen

The stock route runs from Halls Creek to Wiluna. Some people start out from Alice Springs, taking the Gunbarrel Highway to Wiluna, then heading north; others begin at Perth. If setting out from Halls Creek, the nearest large cities are Broome on the Western Australian coast, or Darwin, in the Northern Territory. Global Gypsies offers a recommended tag-along tour.

This is an edited extract from Lonely Planet's Great Adventures © Lonely Planet 2012. Available in stores now, RRP: $49.99.

23.18 | 0 komentar | Read More

Christmas flash flood fears for NSW

Heavy rain hits New South Wales. Picture: file Source: HWT Image Library

CHRISTMAS Eve has brought wild weather to much of NSW, with residents from Wollongong to Wilcannia warned to expect heavy rain and gusty winds overnight.

The Bureau of Meteorology said heavy rainfall, flash flooding and damaging winds could be in store for several towns over the next several hours.

A severe thunderstorm warning is in place for the Illawarra, south coast, central tablelands, southern tablelands, Snowy Mountains, ACT and parts of the Hunter, metropolitan, central west slopes and plains, south west slopes, lower western and upper western forecast districts.

Meanwhile, after a balmy Monday, Sydneysiders can expect to wake up to cooler weather on Christmas Day as a southerly change moves in.

The Bureau predicts a maximum temperature of 23 for the city and 24 in the west.

Sydney's western suburbs were pushing 40 on Christmas Eve, with Campbelltown and Horsley Park recording top temperatures of more than 38.

Forecaster Chris Webb said it would be rather windy along the coastal fringe on Tuesday, easing during the day with a shower of two expected here or there and the possibility of an early morning thunderstorm.

Canberra homes damaged by storm

The ACT State Emergency Service (ACTSES) received 30 calls for help on Christmas Eve.

In Oxley, families were forced from their homes because of leaking gas.

Four houses had to be evacuated after two gas leaks were discovered on Newman Morris Circuit.

Firefighters put a 50 to 100-metre exclusion zone in place as they waited for repairmen to arrive.

In Florey, a fallen tree caused damage to several houses in Summerville Crescent.

Part of the tree crashed through the roof of one home and into the lounge room.

ACT Rural Fire Service crews, the ACTSES and ACT Fire & Rescue will help families clean up through the night.

Just before 7pm (AEDT) on Monday, the Bureau of Meteorology cancelled a severe thunderstorm warning for Canberra and Queanbeyan.

The immediate threat of severe thunderstorms had passed, the Bureau said, but a more general thunderstorm warning remained in place for parts of NSW and the ACT.

23.18 | 0 komentar | Read More

Mini-skirts banned 'to prevent rape'

POLICE in the small African kingdom of Swaziland have banned women from wearing miniskirts and midriff-revealing tops, saying they provoke rape.

Offenders face a six-month jail term under the ban, which invokes a colonial criminal law dating back to 1889.

"The act of the rapist is made easy, because it would be easy to remove the half-cloth worn by the women," police spokeswoman Wendy Hleta was quoted as saying by Independent Online on Monday.

The ban also applies to low-rise jeans.

"They will be arrested," she said.

Hleta said women wearing revealing clothing were responsible for assaults or rapes committed against them.

"I have read from the social networks that men and even other women have a tendency of undressing people with their eyes. That becomes easier when the clothes are hugging or are more revealing," Hleta said.

However, the ban does not apply to traditional costumes worn by young women during ceremonies like the annual Reed Dance, where the ruling King Mswati III chooses a wife.

The flamboyant king already has 13 wives.

During the ceremony, beaded traditional skirts worn by young bare-breasted virgins only cover the front, leaving the back exposed. Underwear is not allowed.

The law was enforced after a march by women and young girls last month calling for protection against a spate of rapes in the impoverished kingdom, which is almost entirely surrounded by South Africa.

23.18 | 0 komentar | Read More

Mass dating event flooded by men

Thousands of eager men flooded Seoul's Yeouido park for a mass dating event on Christmas Eve, only to meet other guys. Picture: Kim Jae-Hwan Source: AFP

SOUTH Korea's "battle of the singles" - a highly-anticipated mass dating event organised on Facebook - fizzled out Monday, with thousands of lovelorn men at the venue but few women in sight.

The event was triggered last month after two young men jokingly floated the idea on the social networking site and eventually prompted more than 36,000 Facebook users to sign up.

But only about 3500 people - mostly men in their 20s or 30s - turned up. Many of the women who did show up brought male partners just to watch the event.

"Apparently most of the participants were young men ... many left fairly quickly as the place was increasingly filled with guys," a police officer in Seoul told AFP.

Romantics who braved temperatures of around minus 10 degrees Celsius mostly milled aimlessly around the venue in a city park during the two-hour event.

Women had been asked to dress in red and men in white when they gathered at the park in Seoul's Yeouido financial district.

The two groups were asked to stand facing each other a few metres apart until the event started at 3pm, then walk towards a potential date and grab his or her hands.

But the face-to-face fizzled out after it became clear that there were simply not enough women to cater for a horde of men.

"Where the hell are the girls? I can't find any," said Kim Sung-Sik, a 23-year-old college student, describing the event as "utterly disappointing".

"This is awful... I didn't come all this way to get stuck in a bunch of smelly guys," said another male participant who declined to be named.

"It looks like there are more doves flying around here than there are girls ... I feel like I'm in the army again," he said, referring to the two years of military service mandatory for all South Korean men.

Similar male-dominated scenes have been reported in other cities where the same "battle of the singles" events were arranged.

Out of a population of some 50 million, South Korea - one of the world's most-wired nations - has 31 million smartphone users and nearly 20 million users of either Facebook or Twitter.

23.18 | 0 komentar | Read More

From layover horror to five-star bliss

A waiter delivers plates of fresh sushi at Wicker Park Seafood & Sushi in Chicago's O'Hare Terminal 2. Transformed terminals now include restaurant menus crafted by celebrity chefs. Picture: M. Spencer Green Source: AP

GETTING stranded at an airport once meant enduring hours of boredom in a kind of travel purgatory with nothing to eat but fast food.

These days, it can seem more like passing through the gates of Shangri-la to find spas, yoga studios, luxury shopping and restaurant menus crafted by celebrity chefs in terminals with calming, sleek design.

Stung by airline bankruptcies and mergers, more US airports are hunting for alternative revenue streams by hiring top design firms to transform once chaotic and dreary way stations into places of Zen-like tranquility and luxury where people actually want to get stuck - and spend money. As the holiday travel season is in full gear, airports are putting what one designer calls "terminal bliss" on display in hopes of drawing in higher passenger numbers and revenue.

"It's classy, it's very classy ... It makes you feel good about the layover," said Marty Rapp, 70, who was getting rosy cheeked last week with the help of a large glass of merlot under ice-crystal chandeliers at Chicago-O'Hare's Ice Bar, whose white and softly reflective decor gives the feeling of being secluded in an igloo - where everyone is drinking and merry.

Airport redesign has been accelerating in the US over the past 10 years, fueled by a combination of things like an airline industry beset by bankruptcies and consolidation that is less able to shoulder as much of the operating costs for city-owned airports through landing fees and gate rental. More revenue from better retail and dining helps make up the shortfall.

Travellers relax between flights next to O'Hare's Urban Garden where fresh herbs are grown and used in the airport's restaurants.

At the same time, travellers are becoming savvier and want more than just to get from A to B. The airport has become almost a destination in its own right, a place worthy of stopping off for a while for a little shopping or pampering.

"There's the ability to go swimming at some airports, there's the ability to actually perfect your golf swing at some airports, there is the ability to - it's not just getting a quick massage on your shoulders - it's almost really going to a spa in some cases," said Bill Hooper, an architect at global design firm Gensler, which has transformed airport terminals, including San Francisco's Terminal 2, whose abundant natural light, art installations and cool club feel set a new benchmark for contemporary airport design.

The United States and Canada still lag behind Europe and Asia when it comes to the number of airports that are architectural gems and the array of unique offerings. Stockholm's Arlanda Airport has a wedding package where couples can tie the knot in the control tower balcony. And Seoul's Incheon International Airport is building a six-level terminal that will include a soaring glass-paneled ceiling giving passengers the feeling they are passing through a terrarium-like wonderland, complete with babbling brook, tropical plants and butterflies.

But American airports are catching up. Space-age-looking redevelopment at Denver International Airport slated to be finished by 2015 includes a Westin hotel and conference center with a rooftop pool and views of the Rockies. With an outdoor plaza for events and a fast new rail line, the airport hopes to be seen as an extension of downtown, about 37 kilometres away.

The Urban Garden farmers market in Chicago O'Hare Terminal 2.

Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport opened a nearly 1.6km-long walking path over mosaic floor art inside Terminal D in April. There are two optional cardio step courses leading up 17-metre high staircases, and the path ends up at a free yoga studio, where barefoot travelers with a view of taxiing aircraft can stretch behind light-diffusing screens.

In a sense, airports have taken some of the members-only airline club lounge experience and opened it up for all.

"They're actually trying to create the same sort of sanctuary concept for the more casual traveler," Hooper said.

Business travelers in particular are catching on and actually choosing which airport they want to spend their layover in based on the offerings.

Customers enjoy drinks and dishes at ICE Bar in Terminal 3. Airport terminals now come with spas, yoga studios and luxury shopping.

"Montreal (airport) has a smoked meat place ... that if I'm booking travel and I need to go back on the East Coast, sometimes I'll say, 'Can you get me to Montreal for an hour layover so I can have a smoked beef sandwich?' " said Wil Marchant, 40, who works for a financial services firm in Winnipeg.

The transformation is paying off.

Concessions revenue from food, beverage, retail and services at US airports hit $US1.5 billion ($1.44 billion) in 2011, up 12 per cent from the year before, according to Airports Council International-North America, which represents the vast majority of governing bodies that own and operate commercial airports.

The new business model has helped airports like San Francisco International, which finished a major refurbishment of Terminal 2 in April 2011 with the firm Gensler. The design is sleek, super modern and playful, with children and adults spinning in comfy swivel chairs around coffee tables placed at every gate. Check-in desks - imposingly high at some airports - were lowered to look more like hotel concierge desks.

"What we were aiming for is a four- or five-star hotel experience for passengers in the terminal building," said airport Director John L. Martin.

The average spent per passenger at the terminal is now about $14. That's 22 per cent more than domestic travelers spend at the airport's other terminals.

At O'Hare, where once there was little more than hot dogs and souvenir shops, domestic terminals are now dotted with restaurants led by celebrity chefs like Rick Bayless, piano bars, and a tranquil aeroponic herb garden - a mini forest of green on a quiet mezzanine level.

"It's pretty amazing. ... I didn't expect that to be here," said grad student David Janesko, 30, reading a book in a comfy lounge chair beside the garden on his way to see family in Pittsburgh.

But airport bliss doesn't come cheap, and its price can be a little jarring for passengers.

Back at the Ice Bar - which offers 23 different vodkas and four different kinds of ice (crushed, cubes or sphere) - blues musician and actor Cedric "Catfish" Turner was lamenting that his Jack Daniels on the rocks cost $11. But he needed it, he said, to ease a headache from a long layover.

"I could have stolen a bottle," he said with a laugh, his guitar propped next to his bar stool. "I'm a bluesman. Come on, you don't treat a bluesman like that."

23.18 | 0 komentar | Read More

Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus

Straight from the North Pole: A little girl's question was answered 115 years ago. Source: AP

ONE hundred and 15 years ago, a little girl by the name of Virginia O'Hanlon was being teased about Santa Claus by her friends.

Virginia wrote a letter to the editor of the New York Sun. Francis P. Church published this heart-felt response.
Francis' response still resonates today and has equal meaning.
Merry Christmas to all the readers of The Daily Telegraph, the Sunday Telegraph and www.TheTelegraph.com.au

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

Francis responded:

We take pleasure in answering thus prominently the communication below, expressing at the same time our great gratification that its faithful author is numbered among the friends of The Sun:

Dear Editor —

I am 8 years old. Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus. Papa says, "If you see it in The Sun, it's so." Please tell me the truth, is there a Santa Claus?
Virginia O'Hanlon

Virginia, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age. They do not believe except they see. They think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their little minds. All minds, Virginia, whether they be men's or children's, are little. In this great universe of ours, man is a mere insect, an ant, in his intellect as compared with the boundless world about him, as measured by the intelligence capable of grasping the whole of truth and knowledge.

Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! how dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus! It would be as dreary as if there were no Virginias. There would be no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence. We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The eternal light with which childhood fills the world would be extinguished.

Not believe in Santa Claus! You might as well not believe in fairies. You might get your papa to hire men to watch in all the chimneys on Christmas eve to catch Santa Claus, but even if you did not see Santa Claus coming down, what would that prove? Nobody sees Santa Claus, but that is no sign that there is no Santa Claus. The most real things in the world are those that neither children nor men can see. Did you ever see fairies dancing on the lawn? Of course not, but that's no proof that they are not there. Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders there are unseen and unseeable in the world.

You tear apart the baby's rattle and see what makes the noise inside, but there is a veil covering the unseen world which not the strongest man, nor even the united strength of all the strongest men that ever lived could tear apart. Only faith, poetry, love, romance, can push aside that curtain and view and picture the supernal beauty and glory beyond. Is it all real? Ah, Virginia, in all this world there is nothing else real and abiding.

No Santa Claus! Thank God! he lives and lives forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay 10 times 10,000 years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood.

Read the original newspaper clipping here

23.18 | 0 komentar | Read More

The man who owns the history of TV

James Comisar holds the costume George Reeves wore in the 1950s TV show "Adventures of Superman." Batman fans may also be familiar with the green sleeve on the rack in the left of the picture. Picture: AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes Source: AP

JAMES Comisar is the first to acknowledge that more than a few have questioned his sanity for spending the better part of 25 years collecting everything from the costume George Reeves wore in the 1950s TV show "Superman" to the entire set of "The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson."

Then there's the pointy Spock ears Leonard Nimoy wore on "Star Trek" and the guns Tony Soprano used to rub out a mob rival in an episode of "The Sopranos."

"Along the way people thought I was nuts in general for wanting to conserve Keith Partridge's flared pants from 'The Partridge Family,"' the good-natured former TV writer says of the 1970s sitcom as he ambles through rows of costumes, props and what have you from the beginnings of television to the present day.

"But they really thought I needed a psychological workup," Comisar, 48, adds with a smile, "when they learned I was having museum curators take care of these pieces."

A museum is exactly where he wants to put all 10,000 of his TV memorabilia items, everything from the hairpiece Carl Reiner wore on the 1950s TV variety program "Your Show of Shows" to the gun and badge Kiefer Sutherland flashed on "24" a couple TV seasons ago.

James Comisar with a dress worn by Lucille Ball. Picture: AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes

Finding one that could accommodate his collection, which fills two sprawling, temperature-controlled warehouses, however, has sometimes been as hard as acquiring the boots Larry Hagman used to stomp around in when he was J.R. on "Dallas." (The show's production company finally coughed up a pair after plenty of pleading and cajoling.)

Comisar is one of many people who, after a lifetime of collecting, begin to realise that if they can't find a permanent home for their artifacts, those objects could easily end up on the trash heap of history. Or, just as bad as far as he's concerned, in the hands of private collectors.

"Some of the biggest bidders for Hollywood memorabilia right now reside in mainland China and Dubai, and our history could leave this country forever," says Comisar, who these days works as a broker and purchasing expert for memorabilia collectors.

What began as a TV-obsessed kid's lark morphed into a full-fledged hobby when as a young man writing jokes for Howie Mandel and Joan Rivers, and punching up scripts for such producers as Norman Lear and Fred Silverman, Comisar began scouring studio back lots, looking for discarded stuff from the favorite shows of his childhood. From there it developed into a full-on obsession, dedicated to preserving the entire physical spectrum of television history.

An original TV Guide from back when Star Trek was the latest thing. Picture: AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes

"After a couple years of collecting, it became clear to me," he says, "that it didn't much matter what TV shows James watched in the early 1970s but which shows were the most iconic. In that way, I had sort of a curator's perspective almost from the beginning."

In the early days, collecting such stuff was easy for anyone with access to a studio back lot. Many items were simply thrown out or given away when shows ceased production. When studios did keep things they often rented them out for small fees, and if you lost or broke them you paid a small replacement fee. So Comisar began renting stuff right and left and promptly losing it, acquiring one of Herman Munster's jackets that way.

These days almost everything has a price, although Comisar's reputation as a serious collector has led some people to give him their stuff.

If he simply sold it all, he could probably retire as a millionaire several times over. Just last month someone paid $480,000 for a faded dress Judy Garland wore in the 1939 film "The Wizard of Oz." What might Annette Funicello's original Mickey Mouse Club jacket fetch?

A communicator prop used on the original Star Trek series. Picture: AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes

He won't even think about that.

"I've spent 25 years now reuniting these pieces, and I would be so sick if some day they were just broken up and sold to the highest bidder," he says.

He, and every other serious collector of cool but somewhat oddball stuff, face two major obstacles, say museum curators: Finding a museum or university with the space to take their treasures and persuading deep-pocketed individuals who might bankroll the endeavor that there's really any compelling reason to preserve something like Maxwell Smart's shoephone.

"People hold television and popular culture so close to their hearts and embrace it so passionately," says Dwight Bowers, curator of entertainment collections for the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History, who calls Comisar's collection very impressive. "But they don't put it on the same platform as military history or political history."

James Comisar with a Stetson hat worn by actor Larry Hagman as oil tycoon J. R. Ewing. Picture: AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

When the Smithsonian acquired Archie Bunker's chair from the seminal TV comedy "All in the Family," Bowers said, museum officials took plenty of flak from those offended that some sitcom prop was being placed down the hallway from the nation's presidential artifacts.

The University of California, Santa Cruz, took similar heat when it accepted the Grateful Dead archives, 30 years of recordings, videos, papers, posters and other memorabilia gifted by the band, said university archivist Nicholas Meriwether.

"What I always graciously say is that if you leave the art and the music aside for one moment, whatever you think of it, what you can say is they are still a huge part of understanding the story of the 1960s and of understanding the nation's counterculture," says Meriwether.

Comisar sees his television collection serving the same purpose, tracing societal changes TV shows documented from the post-World War II years to the present.

The Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Foundation looked into establishing such a museum some years back, and Comisar's collection came up at the time, said Karen Herman, curator of the foundation's Archive of American Television.

Instead, the foundation settled on an online archive containing more than 3000 hours of filmed oral history interviews with more than 700 people.

While the archive doesn't have any of Mr Spock's ears, anyone with a computer can view and listen to an oral history from Spock himself, the actor Leonard Nimoy.

Comisar, meanwhile, believes he's finally found the right site for a museum, in Phoenix, where he's been lining up supporters. He estimates it will cost $35 million and several years to open the doors, but hopes to have a preview centre in place by next year.

Mo Stein, a prominent architect who heads the Phoenix Community Alliance and is working with him, says one of the next steps will be finding a proper space for the collection.

But, really, why all the fuss over a place to save one of the suits Regis Philbin wore on "Who Wants to be a Millionaire"?

"In Shakespeare's time, his work was considered pretty low art," Comisar responds.

Oh, he'll admit that "Mike and Molly," the modern TV love story of a couple who fall for each other at Overeaters Anonymous, may never rank in the same category as "Romeo and Juliet."

"But what about a show like 'Star Trek'?" he asks.

23.18 | 0 komentar | Read More

Hackers strike Family First website

A message posted on the Family First SA website by a group claiming to be Anonymous. Source: Supplied

HACKERS have attacked the website of South Australia's Family First party with a grim message vowing to ''irradicate (sic)'' them.

Information on the site about the party and its policies has been replaced with a warning message under the headline ''HACKED BY ANONYMOUS'', accompanied by an audio clip of a hip hop song by Australian band Dyad Souls.

''Your moronic backwards preaching will no longer be tollerated (sic),'' the message reads in red, all capped text.

''You claim to support family values - but all you support is bigotry. You encourage your children to grow up as ignorant as yourselves.

''You spread a message of hatred and lies to push your uberconservative agenda. You believe in the destruction of civil liberties, and the rise of a police state. For these crimes you have been judged to be non-worthy of your presence on our internet, and this action has been taken as a first step to irradicate (sic) this presence permanently.''

Tagged with the Twitter hashtag ''#opF***OffFamilyFirst'', which has seemingly not yet been used on the social network, the message ends with the traditional catchcry of internet activist group Anonymous: ''We are anonymous. We are legion. We do not forgive. We do not forget. Expect us.''

The hackers' message has since been removed from the site, which remains offline as Family First SA attempts to restore it.

Family First SA member Robert Brokenshire was unaware of the hacking until called by News Limited this morning.

''It's a pretty senseless and undemocratic thing to do, isn't it,'' he said.

''I mean it's not an offensive website or anything, I don't know what their beef is but obviously they don't like something we've said or done.''

Mr Brokenshire said the party would investigate the attack.

Anonymous is an online activist group, or ''hacktivist'' group, which has a history of hacking government and security websites, most often as a protest against internet censorship and surveillance.

The changeable nature of the group and anonymity of its members means Anonymous is often cited in hacking attacks in which it has played no official part.

Responding to an inquiry by News Limited this morning, one Twitter account linked to Anonymous Australia, @AuAnon, tweeted the group knew nothing about the hacking.

Other Facebook and Twitter accounts linked to the group have so far made no mention of the attack.

23.18 | 0 komentar | Read More

Asperger's gone: 'It'll set us back'

Garry Burge, 40, has Aspergers syndrome and has written a book about how hard it is to find employment. Source: news.com.au

• Asperger's dumped as label from key psychiatrist's manual
• Now part of "autism spectrum disorder"
• Sufferer, 40, says it is a "disappointing" decision

ASPERGER'S disorder has been removed from the major psychiatric manual, leaving patients worried it will make life even harder.

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, which psychiatrists use to diagnose mental illness in patients and the insurance industry often uses to decide what treatments to pay for, is being revised for the first time since 1994.

Asperger's, a disorder where people are often highly skilled but find social situations difficult, will be removed from the new edition released next year and folded into an umbrella diagnosis "autism spectrum disorder" which includes kids with severe autism.

But sufferers say they have struggled for years to raise awareness of Asperger's and the changes are going to leave the public confused.

"It's going to set the whole journey back," said Garry Burge, 40, who has Asperger's. "It's removing the label that assists people understand who they are."

"There have been advocates over the years who have tried to raise awareness of it from limited levels at the moment. To have [Asperger's] removed entirely is just going to make it more difficult."

Burge, a library worker, said the confusion would make it harder for people with the condition to find employment, which is already difficult.

A clinical specialist in autism and Asperger's, Dr Julie Peterson, said patients with the condition were concerned they might be subject to autistic stereotypes. 

"Originally, many people got a picture of someone with autism from movies like Rainman and others that give you a particular stereotype.

"Once you start using those words, autism spectrum disorder, there's the concern from people with Asperger's they will be too."

Dr Vicki Gibbs, the manager of peak body Autism Spectrum Australia (ASA), said she could understand why people who identify with the term Aspeger's would feel confused and apprehensive about the changes.

But she said there was clinical logic behind the decision by the DSM authors. Researchers have not been able to find significant differences between high-function autism and Asperger's.

"We can't find meaningful differences in the research," she said.

"[The authors are] just saying if we can't find meaningful differences, we can't go on creating artificial differences."

Dr Gibbs said doctors would be more consistent in the way they classify types of autism under the new rules.

A recent peer-reviewed research paper by ASA found the proposed changes "may significantly reduce the numbers of individuals" diagnosed with autism disorders.

ASA figures say one in 100 Australians suffer from autism.

A spokesperson for Families Minister Jenny Macklin told The Australian changes to the manual would not automatically influence decisions made by Australian health professionals who used it.

23.18 | 0 komentar | Read More

Flipping a coin no even bet after all

YOU don't need to be a mathematician or a Vegas card shark to know that, when all things are equal, the probability of flipping a coin and guessing which side lands up correctly is 50-50.

But what most people seem to forget, or so says Stanford math professor Persi Diaconis, is that things are almost never equal.

In reality, the odds of guessing heads or tails correctly aren't as even as you might think, and the reason has much more to do with physics than probability.

According to Prof Diaconis, a natural bias occurs when coins are flipped, which results in the side that was originally facing up returning to that same position 51 per cent of the time.

This means that if a coin is flipped with its heads side facing up, it will land the same way 51 out of 100 times.

Prof Diaconis came to this conclusion after determining that no matter how hard a coin is flipped, the side that started up will spend more time facing up.

One way of thinking about this, as noted in an article from Coding Wheel, is to look at the ratio of even and odd numbers starting from one. What you'll discover is that no matter what number you stop at, there will never be more even numbers than odd numbers in that sequence. The coin flips work in much the same way.

Prof Diaconis first realised that coin flips were not random after he and his colleagues managed to rig a coin-flipping machine to get a coin to land heads every time.

He and his team then asked human subjects do the same thing over and over, recording the results with a high-speed camera. Though the results were a little more random, they still ended up with the 51-49 per cent margin.

Prof Diaconis noted that the randomness is attributed to the fact that when humans flip coins, there are a number of different motions the coin is likely to make.

For instance, he showed how coins don't just move end to end, but also in a circular motion, like a tossed pizza.

He also found that there are ways to flip a coin where it looks like it is tumbling in the air, but in reality, it doesn't move at all.

Prof Diaconis proved this by tying a ribbon to a coin and showing how in four out of 10 times the ribbon would remain flat after the coin was caught.

While the margin is relatively small, it's enough to maybe get you reconsidering using a coin toss to settle your next argument.

In another startling discovery, Prof Diaconis determined that the probability of guessing which side comes up of a spinning copper-plated penny is also skewed more in one direction.

According to Prof Diaconis' research, a spinning penny will land tails side up roughly 80 per cent of the time.

23.18 | 0 komentar | Read More

Air NZ 'joke' an Olympic balls-up

Belarus' Nadzeya Ostapchuk takes a throw in the women's shot put final during the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. Picture: AP Source: AP

AIR New Zealand's latest promotion has bombed, with the airline accused of transphobia over a "joke" suggesting disgraced female Belarusian shot putter Nadzeya Ostapchuk has testicles.

The company launched a Christmas Cracker promotion on its Grabaseat site on Monday, giving people the chance to win prizes.

Those who don't win a prize get a consolation joke instead - with one reading: "What large heavy ball was responsible for Valerie Adams' gold medal? The Belarusian's left testicle."

The so-called joke is a reference to Ostapchuk winning - and later being stripped of - the shotput gold medal at the Olympics earlier this year after testing positive for a banned steroid.

The medal was later awarded to Kiwi shotputter Adams.

Air NZ has taken a hammering on social media, with Twitter users calling on it to apologise for the "unbelievably offensive" joke, and pledging to boycott its services.

Rather than apologise, Air NZ responded by tweeting: "not everyone likes our xmas cracker jokes so tell us your tacky kiwi jokes & we'll add our favourites into the cracker".

Air NZ is not the first company to face a backlash over mocking Ostapchuk's gender and fall from grace.

Sandwich chain Habitual Fix took a hammering in August after creating a poster with a picture of Ostapchuk to sell its "manwich", featuring the catchlines "no added hormones or steroids" and "no hidden a-genders".

The latest Air NZ blunder comes just a month after the airline made headlines by giving spooky names to its domestic destinations for Halloween, with the South Island's Blenheim becoming Beastheim'.

The town - where serial sex offender Stewart Murray Wilson committed crimes over 26 years that saw him dubbed "the Beast of Blenheim" - was not amused.

Air NZ axed Beastheim from the promotion.

23.18 | 0 komentar | Read More

A night I'll never forget

Joe Hildebrand samples homeless life when the Salvos give him a car to sleep in, police and public bathing are involved.

IT was shortly after 8pm when the storm clouds broke and the dark grey sky began dumping torrents on top of me. The food van was nowhere to be seen and the lightning strikes were creeping ever closer to the giant tree I was standing underneath. If ever there was a sign that God wanted me dead then surely this was it.

Even if I survived being hit by a falling branch, I would spend the night wet, cold and sleepless. There was no way to get dry, no bed to lie down in and, worst of all, no beer.

This is what the Salvation Army calls "sleeping rough", the pointy end of homelessness that covers people living on the streets, in makeshift accommodation or in my case the back seat of a 1989 Toyota Corolla. Indeed, the Corolla, which was thoughtfully equipped with a towel, a couple of shirts and a bucket of water for washing was five star accommodation compared to many. For a homeless guy I was pretty softcore.

In fact the Salvos recently came across a case where a whole family was living in a single sedan for three months.

Stephen Lacey* lost his job and when he defaulted on his mortgage he, wife Susan and their three kids were evicted. Soon after he became critically ill and was in hospital. Susan took the kids to live in the car.

She slept in the front seat with her teenage son beside her, while her eight-year-old son and six-year-old daughter both slept in the back seat. If you think that's bad, it should also be noted that the oldest boy is autistic and the young daughter is deaf.

As I sat wet and hungry in the dark with the rain bucketing down on the car so loud and thick you couldn't see or hear anything else, I thought about that family and for the life of me I could not figure out how they did it. I still can't.

Joe Hildebrand roughs it in the back seat of a 1989 Corolla to help launch the Salvation Army's Christmas Appeal. Pictures: Brad Hunter, John Grainger Source: The Daily Telegraph

Fortunately my train of thought was broken shortly before midnight when a red and blue light started flashing outside. Great, I thought. Now I'm going to be wet, hungry and arrested.

I wound down the window to see a police officer get out of the car and walk towards me. Suddenly I realised I wasn't sure if it was even legal to sleep in a car. This was Sydney after all - even parking in a loading zone is punishable by death.

But the kindly policewoman shone a torch in my direction and said: "Hi there. Just sleeping in your car are you?"

"Er, yes." I said. I was surprised at how, well, unsurprised the officer was. Clearly this was not an uncommon discovery.

Salvos say they've had people drive up in a Mercedes and beg for food. When the GFC hit they'd had people who'd gone from well-off middle-class families to flat broke and about to lose the house almost overnight.

Because that's where I was - in a carpark outside the Salvation Army office in Chatswood, the very heart of Sydney's middle-of-the-middle north shore.

Even there they've had people sleeping outside the premises, sometimes in cars, sometimes not. If it's that bad in Chatswood you can only imagine how bad it is elsewhere. Sadly, the Salvos don't have to imagine - they see it all for real. So far this year they have assisted 17,000 homeless people across Australia, more than 2000 of whom were sleeping rough. 

But now it's the Salvos' turn to ask for help. Today they're launching an appeal for people to give a few bucks so they can give families and individuals some comfort, some hope and maybe even a second chance this Christmas.

Parting with money is hard for everybody but I can tell you from first hand experience that it's a hell of a lot easier than sleeping in a car.

* Names have been changed.

Follow Joe on Twitter: @Joe_Hildebrand

23.18 | 0 komentar | Read More

Our crook approach to GPs

Dr Simone Stromer, a GP at the Park Family Practice at Bondi Junction, with patient Ada. Picture: Gibson Nic Source: The Daily Telegraph

TIME-poor patients are "saving up" multiple medical issues before they see a GP as busy lifestyles lead people to try consultation cramming.

Despite Australians living longer and suffering more chronic diseases, the average appointment time remains about 15 minutes.

Study program Bettering the Evaluation and Care of Health (BEACH) which looks at GP practices, reveals a significant increase in "multiple" reasons for GP visits, while the proportion of single encounters has dropped.

Demographer Professor Graeme Hugo, of the University of Adelaide, said Australians were more time-poor and tended to "save up things" to see a doctor about.

He said Australians were surviving longer and more needed treatment for a number of medical conditions, including diabetes and obesity.He also said he believed women made up a disproportionately higher percentage of those seeing a doctor for more than one reason.

"They have carer responsibilities both downward to their children and upward to their parents," he said of women.

"Add that to working outside of home and looking after the home; that could be a significant load and the time- poor issue is significant."

GP Dr Simone Stromer, who works at the Park Family Practice in Bondi Junction, said there were always those patients who saved everything up for one consultation and came in with a "shopping list" of medical issues.

"I think that's human nature," he said. "People are definitely wanting more health problems addressed and I think that's because of diseases that are becoming more common and that doctors are picking up on these conditions more."

According to the A Decade Of Australian General Practice Activity Report 2002-03 To 2011-12, there were now significantly more general check-ups, needs for prescriptions had risen by 20 per cent and the number of those seeking medical certificates had increased by 80 per cent.

The number of patients with diabetes increased by about 60 per cent.

Other GP trends in the report include more women doctors (rising from 35 to 41 per cent); less GPs working in practices providing after hours care (down from 43 to 31 per cent); and the average age of GPs is increasing (those aged 35-44 dropped from 27 to 19 per cent, while the proportion aged 55 years and over increased from 31 to 41 per cent).

23.18 | 0 komentar | Read More

Daniel's pain after bus left him behind

TOUGH GOING: Denise and Bruce Morcombe heard testimonies from Sunbus passengers. Picture: Jono Searle Source: The Courier-Mail

BRUCE Morcombe can only imagine what happened to his son Daniel in the minutes after a Sunbus drove past on the afternoon of December 7, 2003.

But he is certain what would have happened had the bus stopped and picked him up.

In an emotional day of testimony in the committal hearing of a man charged with Daniel's murder, the Morcombes listened from the front row as a series of Sunbus passengers told of seeing a boy they believe was Daniel Morcombe try to wave down their driver.

The boy had been waiting for the bus to Maroochydore at an unofficial stop under the Kiel Mountain Rd overpass at about 1.30pm.

They told how they saw him wave as the bus continued on without him.

Behind the boy, the court heard from witnesses that there stood a man with dark hair and a dark goatee, leaning against a clay wall.

He looked "relaxed", with one leg resting on a ledge.

"We were coming along the road, he (the boy) was standing there waiting for the bus and obviously gave a hand signal and the bus kept going," witness Matthew Finlayson told the court, adding that the man made no move to walk towards the bus as it approached.

"He didn't look like he was coming towards the bus at all.

"Why was he there?"

ROLLING COVERAGE HERE WHEN DAY SEVEN OF THE DANIEL MORCOMBE COMMITTAL HEARING BEGINS TODAY

Terry Theuerkauf was sitting with his sister and a friend when they noticed the boy waving at the bus.

"I saw the young boy standing on the side of the road waving . . . to stop the bus and an older male leaning against the clay wall of the overpass," he said. "He was a pretty rough looking bloke.

"We were just all on the bus having a laugh and my sister said 'this boy just missed the bus - the bus didn't stop for him'."

Brett Peter Cowan, 43, has been charged with Daniel's murder.

He is yet to enter a plea but defence lawyer Tim Meehan had said outside court last week that his client will plead not guilty to all charges.

READ MORE WITNESS ACCOUNTS FROM YESTERDAY'S ROLLING COVERAGE OF THE COMMITTAL HEARING

Following yesterday's proceedings, Mr Morcombe said while it was distressing to hear the testimony of witnesses, it was important that many were providing "consistent" information.

"Clearly we relive perhaps the feeling, the heartache in Daniel, of waiting the best part of 45 minutes for a bus, and then finally one turns up and the damn thing doesn't stop," he said.

"And you could just imagine your heart sinking.

"And we're all standing here today wondering what the next minutes and hours presented to him - it's very unnerving."

He said while he believed his son would still be alive had the driver stopped, it could have meant someone else's child being targeted.

"Well, of course none of this would have happened," he said.

"Who knows, if it wasn't Daniel, maybe it (would have been) somebody else. We can't change what's happened."

ROLLING COVERAGE HERE WHEN DAY SEVEN OF THE DANIEL MORCOMBE COMMITTAL HEARING BEGINS TODAY

23.18 | 0 komentar | Read More