Reporting on world events from a Bairnsdale Conservative perspective.
Monday, July 30, 2007
Mystery of Webster's Curse 1
Today is RMMB's birthday. Many happy returns. * Potency pill recalled * Paris Hilton loses inheritance * Haneef's claim to be victim questioned * ALP sidesteps home affordability issue * 4 die as Iraq celebrates Victory over Saudis in soccer
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'Too potent' erection pill recalled By Mark Schliebs BATCHES of sex-enhancing pills could cause "serious health consequences" after it was discovered they contained traces of a powerful "weekend erection" pill.
A recall has been issued for batches of the “Top Gun for Men Herbal Extracts” pills after it was discovered to contain compound similar to the erection-enhancing drug Tadalafil.
Tadalafil is commonly referred to the “weekend pill”, due to its long-lasting effect on men.
It is a prescription-only erectile dysfunction drug.
According to Top Gun’s manufacturer, Sydney-based La Viva Blue, anyone who bought the product should not use it.
“(Taking the product) could give rise to serious health consequences, especially for patients with existing medical conditions such as heart problems or persons at risk of stroke,” La Viva Blue said in a statement.
“Anyone who is concerned in any way about the use of this product should consult their doctor.”
The company said a full refund would be given to purchasers of the affected products, which have an expiry date of December 2008.
It is the second discovery of a herbal sexual-enhancement product containing potent erectile-dysfunction chemicals this year.
In April, it was revealed that “Excite for Women” and “Ultimates for Men” - both “natural” products - contained the active ingredient in Viagra.
Paris Hilton loses inheritance from news.com.au PARTY princess Paris Hilton is $60 million out of pocket after her billionaire grandfather - appalled by her jail term for drink-driving offences - axed her inheritance.
Family patriarch Barron Hilton was already embarrassed by his granddaughter's wild behaviour - notably when her home sex video was leaked on the internet.
But the 79-year-old considered her 23-day sentence last month the last straw.
"He was, and is, extremely embarrassed by how the Hilton name has been sullied by Paris," says Jerry Oppenheimer, who wrote a biography of the clan called House Of Hilton.
"He now doesn't want to leave unearned wealth to his family."
Hilton senior, the only member of the family left with a sizeable stake in the huge hotel chain, has let it be known that he intends to donate to charity the $2.4bn he will gain from this month's sale of the company to private equity firm Blackstone.
The money will go to the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, the charity set up in the name of the founder of the family business.
Haneef was no victim, says Howard By Sue Dunlevy and wires PRIME Minister John Howard has ruled out apologising to freed Indian doctor Mohamed Haneef and rejected the former terrorism suspect's claim that he was "victimised".
"I don't think that the Australian authorities victimised him – I reject that," Mr Howard said in Sydney today.
Mr Howard said Australia would not be apologising to Dr Haneef, rejecting suggestions the doctor was victimised.
Foreign Minister Alexander Downer was blunter.
No apology - no grovelling
"What do you expect them to do - fall on the ground and grovel, eat dirt? I mean, get real," he said today.
As a prominent lawyer said Dr Haneef should be compensated after the "disgraceful" botched case, the Prime Minister said it was "better to be safe than sorry".
Dr Haneef spent more than three weeks in detention on one count of "reckless" support for a terrorist group, but the charge was dropped on Friday and he was later released.
Dr Haneef flew out of Australia on Saturday night and arrived in the southern Indian city of Bangalore late on Sunday where he was whisked from the airport to be reunited with his wife and to see his one-month-old child for the first time.
"It's an emotional moment being with my family at home after a long wait of 27 days," he said.
"I was victimised by the Australian authority and the drama played by the Australian Federal Police."
Despite the collapse of the case, Federal Immigration Minister Andrews has vowed not to reinstate Dr Haneef's visa unless the Indian national's lawyers are successful in appealing the decision in the Federal Court.
Howard supports visa ban
Mr Howard said he supported Mr Andrews' handling of the case.
"I notice that there have been some suggestions in the papers this morning that I'm in some way distancing myself from Mr Andrews – that is not true."
However, lawyer Peter Faris QC said Dr Haneef should be compensated for the bungled investigation.
"I think he's probably owed a lot of money – I would have thought we would have a very substantial claim arising out of a bungled investigation and the bungled charges against him," Mr Faris said.
"Certainly he is owed an apology.
"I am very surprised that the press conference that (Australian Federal Police Commissioner Mick) Keelty and (Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions Damian) Bugg had last week that neither of them saw fit to apologise to him, that was disgraceful.
"The work of the federal police and the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions has just been incompetent."
As the doctor flew home to his family in India yesterday, Mr Andrews heaped more embarrassment on the Howard Government with yet another wrong accusation.
The minister wrongly cast aspersions over Dr Haneef's reasons for trying to leave Australia to visit his newborn child just days after the British terror attacks.
That trip cost Dr Haneef his liberty when police feared he was trying to flee arrest in connection with the British bombings and he was detained at Brisbane airport.
The trip was also a key factor in Mr Andrews cancelling his visa.
"The fact that child had been born for a month at that stage and the surrounding circumstances of that were highly suspicious to the AFP and I agree with them," Mr Andrews told Channel 7's Sunday Sunrise program yesterday.
Mistakes in immigration facts
In fact, Dr Haneef's child was born only six days before he tried to visit her and Mr Andrews said yesterday his mistake was "inadvertent".
It follows two previous key errors in the case where the court was wrongly told Dr Haneef had lived with British terror suspects and that his SIM card was found in a jeep used in an alleged terror attack.
Mr Beattie yesterday called on Prime Minister John Howard to discipline his Immigration Minister and that Mr Andrews should be the subject of an inquiry.
Labor unveils $500m housing fund plan from news.com.au A FEDERAL Labor government would establish a $500 million housing affordability fund to save homebuyers money and boost supply.
Labor leader Kevin Rudd said the fund would assist up to 50,000 new home buyers over five years and save them up to $20,000 on a home purchase.
The fund would address supply side values to new housing development such as the cost of new infrastructure, and also cost associated with planning and approval.
"Under federal Labor's plan, local governments will apply through a competitive process to receive grants to cover some of the cost of new housing infrastructure,'' Mr Rudd told the South Australian press club today.
In their proposals, local governments would outline how they would cut red tape and reform planning processes, he said.
"They will need to produce an efficiency dividend and pass the savings on to home buyers to qualify for any federal funding,'' Mr Rudd said.
"Lowing infrastructure charges and holding costs will reduce new housing costs and increase supply.''
Four killed as Iraq celebrates soccer cup from news.com.au AT LEAST four people were killed by celebratory gunfire across Baghdad after Iraq clinched its first Asian Cup soccer championship.
Mosques broadcast calls for the shooting to stop, while security forces enforced a vehicle ban in the capital in an effort to prevent a repeat of car bombings that killed dozens celebrating Iraq's progress to the finals in Asia's top soccer tournament.
"Those heroes have shown the real Iraq,'' said Sabah Shaiyal, a 43-year-old policeman in Baghdad's main Shiite district of Sadr City.
"They have done something useful for the people as opposed to the politicians and lawmakers who are stealing or killing each other.
"The players have made us proud, not the greedy politicians. Once again our national team has shown that there is only one, united Iraq.''
The Iraqi team, known as the 'Lions of the Two Rivers'', beat three-time champions Saudi Arabia 1-0 in its first appearance in the Asian Cup final.
The jubilation has given Iraqis a welcome respite from the daily violence plaguing their nation, with men of all ages cheering and dancing in the streets after the quarter-finals and the semi-finals.
But extremists seemed just as determined to destroy national pride and unity.
Two car bombs tore through crowds of revellers in two Baghdad neighbourhoods, killing 50 people, after Wednesday's semi-final against South Korea.
An Iraqi military official said police had foiled a suicide car bomber today by opening fire as the attacker took aim at a crowd in southwestern Baghdad.
The driver was killed but no other casualties were reported, according to the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorised to release the information.
Soccer fans danced and waved Iraqi flags in the streets in Baghdad, and women handed out sweets.
People sprayed confetti from cans over the heads of jubilant crowds in the southern city of Basra.
Traffic jams clogged the streets in the Kurdish city of Sulaimaniyah, 260 km northeast of Baghdad.
Many revellers waved both Kurdish and the Iraqi national flags in a show of unity.
Iraqi politicians were quick to try to take advantage of the win.
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's office issued a statement congratulating the team and said each member would receive about $11,500 for their achievements.
The Shiite leader's office said earlier that it had planned to send a Cabinet delegation to the game, but that it was not possible to organise a charter flight due to technical issues related to "the flight's path and overflight permissions by countries through which the plane would have to cross en route to Jakarta".
The statement did not single out any countries or give more details.
Influential Shiite politician Abdul-Aziz al-Hakim, the head of the Supreme Islamic Council in Iraq who recently returned from Iran after cancer treatment, also welcomed the victory in a speech aired on the Forat TV station run by his party.
At least four people were killed and 17 wounded, some seriously, by the shooting,
Police in the predominantly Shiite southern city of Nasiriyah reported at least nine people, including three children, were wounded by the gunfire.
The Series of video may be found at (for The Mystery of Webster's Curse and the Ballad of Mitzy the Puppy) pt 1 http://www.icompositions.com/music/song.php?sid=69601 pt 2 http://www.icompositions.com/music/song.php?sid=41961 pt 3 http://www.icompositions.com/music/song.php?sid=39611 Mitzy 1 http://www.icompositions.com/music/song.php?sid=41582 Mitzy 2 http://www.icompositions.com/music/song.php?sid=41695 Mitzy 3 http://www.icompositions.com/music/song.php?sid=41866 Mitzy 4 http://www.icompositions.com/music/song.php?sid=41913
6 comments:
'Too potent' erection pill recalled
By Mark Schliebs
BATCHES of sex-enhancing pills could cause "serious health consequences" after it was discovered they contained traces of a powerful "weekend erection" pill.
A recall has been issued for batches of the “Top Gun for Men Herbal Extracts” pills after it was discovered to contain compound similar to the erection-enhancing drug Tadalafil.
Tadalafil is commonly referred to the “weekend pill”, due to its long-lasting effect on men.
It is a prescription-only erectile dysfunction drug.
According to Top Gun’s manufacturer, Sydney-based La Viva Blue, anyone who bought the product should not use it.
“(Taking the product) could give rise to serious health consequences, especially for patients with existing medical conditions such as heart problems or persons at risk of stroke,” La Viva Blue said in a statement.
“Anyone who is concerned in any way about the use of this product should consult their doctor.”
The company said a full refund would be given to purchasers of the affected products, which have an expiry date of December 2008.
It is the second discovery of a herbal sexual-enhancement product containing potent erectile-dysfunction chemicals this year.
In April, it was revealed that “Excite for Women” and “Ultimates for Men” - both “natural” products - contained the active ingredient in Viagra.
Paris Hilton loses inheritance
from news.com.au
PARTY princess Paris Hilton is $60 million out of pocket after her billionaire grandfather - appalled by her jail term for drink-driving offences - axed her inheritance.
Family patriarch Barron Hilton was already embarrassed by his granddaughter's wild behaviour - notably when her home sex video was leaked on the internet.
But the 79-year-old considered her 23-day sentence last month the last straw.
"He was, and is, extremely embarrassed by how the Hilton name has been sullied by Paris," says Jerry Oppenheimer, who wrote a biography of the clan called House Of Hilton.
"He now doesn't want to leave unearned wealth to his family."
Hilton senior, the only member of the family left with a sizeable stake in the huge hotel chain, has let it be known that he intends to donate to charity the $2.4bn he will gain from this month's sale of the company to private equity firm Blackstone.
The money will go to the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, the charity set up in the name of the founder of the family business.
Haneef was no victim, says Howard
By Sue Dunlevy and wires
PRIME Minister John Howard has ruled out apologising to freed Indian doctor Mohamed Haneef and rejected the former terrorism suspect's claim that he was "victimised".
"I don't think that the Australian authorities victimised him – I reject that," Mr Howard said in Sydney today.
Mr Howard said Australia would not be apologising to Dr Haneef, rejecting suggestions the doctor was victimised.
Foreign Minister Alexander Downer was blunter.
No apology - no grovelling
"What do you expect them to do - fall on the ground and grovel, eat dirt? I mean, get real," he said today.
As a prominent lawyer said Dr Haneef should be compensated after the "disgraceful" botched case, the Prime Minister said it was "better to be safe than sorry".
Dr Haneef spent more than three weeks in detention on one count of "reckless" support for a terrorist group, but the charge was dropped on Friday and he was later released.
Dr Haneef flew out of Australia on Saturday night and arrived in the southern Indian city of Bangalore late on Sunday where he was whisked from the airport to be reunited with his wife and to see his one-month-old child for the first time.
"It's an emotional moment being with my family at home after a long wait of 27 days," he said.
"I was victimised by the Australian authority and the drama played by the Australian Federal Police."
Despite the collapse of the case, Federal Immigration Minister Andrews has vowed not to reinstate Dr Haneef's visa unless the Indian national's lawyers are successful in appealing the decision in the Federal Court.
Howard supports visa ban
Mr Howard said he supported Mr Andrews' handling of the case.
"I notice that there have been some suggestions in the papers this morning that I'm in some way distancing myself from Mr Andrews – that is not true."
However, lawyer Peter Faris QC said Dr Haneef should be compensated for the bungled investigation.
"I think he's probably owed a lot of money – I would have thought we would have a very substantial claim arising out of a bungled investigation and the bungled charges against him," Mr Faris said.
"Certainly he is owed an apology.
"I am very surprised that the press conference that (Australian Federal Police Commissioner Mick) Keelty and (Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions Damian) Bugg had last week that neither of them saw fit to apologise to him, that was disgraceful.
"The work of the federal police and the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions has just been incompetent."
As the doctor flew home to his family in India yesterday, Mr Andrews heaped more embarrassment on the Howard Government with yet another wrong accusation.
The minister wrongly cast aspersions over Dr Haneef's reasons for trying to leave Australia to visit his newborn child just days after the British terror attacks.
That trip cost Dr Haneef his liberty when police feared he was trying to flee arrest in connection with the British bombings and he was detained at Brisbane airport.
The trip was also a key factor in Mr Andrews cancelling his visa.
"The fact that child had been born for a month at that stage and the surrounding circumstances of that were highly suspicious to the AFP and I agree with them," Mr Andrews told Channel 7's Sunday Sunrise program yesterday.
Mistakes in immigration facts
In fact, Dr Haneef's child was born only six days before he tried to visit her and Mr Andrews said yesterday his mistake was "inadvertent".
It follows two previous key errors in the case where the court was wrongly told Dr Haneef had lived with British terror suspects and that his SIM card was found in a jeep used in an alleged terror attack.
Mr Beattie yesterday called on Prime Minister John Howard to discipline his Immigration Minister and that Mr Andrews should be the subject of an inquiry.
Labor unveils $500m housing fund plan
from news.com.au
A FEDERAL Labor government would establish a $500 million housing affordability fund to save homebuyers money and boost supply.
Labor leader Kevin Rudd said the fund would assist up to 50,000 new home buyers over five years and save them up to $20,000 on a home purchase.
The fund would address supply side values to new housing development such as the cost of new infrastructure, and also cost associated with planning and approval.
"Under federal Labor's plan, local governments will apply through a competitive process to receive grants to cover some of the cost of new housing infrastructure,'' Mr Rudd told the South Australian press club today.
In their proposals, local governments would outline how they would cut red tape and reform planning processes, he said.
"They will need to produce an efficiency dividend and pass the savings on to home buyers to qualify for any federal funding,'' Mr Rudd said.
"Lowing infrastructure charges and holding costs will reduce new housing costs and increase supply.''
Four killed as Iraq celebrates soccer cup
from news.com.au
AT LEAST four people were killed by celebratory gunfire across Baghdad after Iraq clinched its first Asian Cup soccer championship.
Mosques broadcast calls for the shooting to stop, while security forces enforced a vehicle ban in the capital in an effort to prevent a repeat of car bombings that killed dozens celebrating Iraq's progress to the finals in Asia's top soccer tournament.
"Those heroes have shown the real Iraq,'' said Sabah Shaiyal, a 43-year-old policeman in Baghdad's main Shiite district of Sadr City.
"They have done something useful for the people as opposed to the politicians and lawmakers who are stealing or killing each other.
"The players have made us proud, not the greedy politicians. Once again our national team has shown that there is only one, united Iraq.''
The Iraqi team, known as the 'Lions of the Two Rivers'', beat three-time champions Saudi Arabia 1-0 in its first appearance in the Asian Cup final.
The jubilation has given Iraqis a welcome respite from the daily violence plaguing their nation, with men of all ages cheering and dancing in the streets after the quarter-finals and the semi-finals.
But extremists seemed just as determined to destroy national pride and unity.
Two car bombs tore through crowds of revellers in two Baghdad neighbourhoods, killing 50 people, after Wednesday's semi-final against South Korea.
An Iraqi military official said police had foiled a suicide car bomber today by opening fire as the attacker took aim at a crowd in southwestern Baghdad.
The driver was killed but no other casualties were reported, according to the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorised to release the information.
Soccer fans danced and waved Iraqi flags in the streets in Baghdad, and women handed out sweets.
People sprayed confetti from cans over the heads of jubilant crowds in the southern city of Basra.
Traffic jams clogged the streets in the Kurdish city of Sulaimaniyah, 260 km northeast of Baghdad.
Many revellers waved both Kurdish and the Iraqi national flags in a show of unity.
Iraqi politicians were quick to try to take advantage of the win.
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's office issued a statement congratulating the team and said each member would receive about $11,500 for their achievements.
The Shiite leader's office said earlier that it had planned to send a Cabinet delegation to the game, but that it was not possible to organise a charter flight due to technical issues related to "the flight's path and overflight permissions by countries through which the plane would have to cross en route to Jakarta".
The statement did not single out any countries or give more details.
Influential Shiite politician Abdul-Aziz al-Hakim, the head of the Supreme Islamic Council in Iraq who recently returned from Iran after cancer treatment, also welcomed the victory in a speech aired on the Forat TV station run by his party.
At least four people were killed and 17 wounded, some seriously, by the shooting,
Police in the predominantly Shiite southern city of Nasiriyah reported at least nine people, including three children, were wounded by the gunfire.
AP
The Series of video may be found at
(for The Mystery of Webster's Curse and the Ballad of Mitzy the Puppy)
pt 1
http://www.icompositions.com/music/song.php?sid=69601
pt 2
http://www.icompositions.com/music/song.php?sid=41961
pt 3
http://www.icompositions.com/music/song.php?sid=39611
Mitzy 1
http://www.icompositions.com/music/song.php?sid=41582
Mitzy 2
http://www.icompositions.com/music/song.php?sid=41695
Mitzy 3
http://www.icompositions.com/music/song.php?sid=41866
Mitzy 4
http://www.icompositions.com/music/song.php?sid=41913
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