What do I say about me? I have lived in three countries, passed through a multitude of places, had my own business and have found my way to The Cheers. Three children grown and flown, and time on my hands for me now. So I am using some of my time on here, and having a ball. My greatest love (apart from my partner that is) is reading - a good book that can whisk you away into its own world, taking you into parts unknown - and then dump you back into reality at the end. Travelling, dancing, walking, adventure all rate high in my world. As does taking time out to sit by the river...

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Pack ‘n Go has Two eBook formats... continue reading

Have you ever tried to get your internet connected amidst incompetence and inefficiency? If not, then try Telstra Bigpond. You will have the experience of your life.

The charade started a week ago when we moved and contacted Telstra to have the telephone and internet connected.

At the time, we were told they were... continue reading

With the latest advent of the law advocating ’legal’ rape against married women, is there such a thing as democracy and women’s rights in Afghanistan? Apparently not, judging by the law that was passed on 27 July 2009 giving men ‘legal’ right to refuse maintenance to their wives if they refuse to have sex - in other wo... continue reading

What is Obesity?

Obesity is not just being fat and over-weight, it's much more than that. It's also how YOU perceive yourself. If you think 'fat' that is what you will become. If you do not think about what you are putting into your body, you can also become obese.

[extract1]According to the World Health Organis... continue reading

 
 
Have they STILL not learnt yet?
 
A recent report on the arrival back in the UK of the HMS Cornwall crew states they were in Iraqi waters.
 
The 15 soldiers and marines still seem to believe this, or they are lying. Evidence has already proven they had inadvertently strayed into Iranian t... continue reading

 
 
What is it with Men? What makes it so difficult to say 'no' to corruption? Greed perhaps? Lack of self-esteem? Fear?
 
The likes of Bush, Howard, and Cheney, working things to meet their own political ends; the world's dictators, and even the Vatican. Where does it end? Even Tony Blair has been s... continue reading

Carrie Underwood, the country girl from Oklahoma, has won the "American Idol" contest, beating fellow competitor Bo Bice. She won a recording contract.Underwood won the competition over 100,000 who auditioned in seven US cities last summer.  The two-hour live finale, featuring performances by famous musi... continue reading

A five year program by the World Wildlife Fund and The World Bank has just been annouced, to combat the destruction of our trees worldwide.More than 14 millions hectacre per year were destroyed during the 1900s, while only 5m2 million hectacre of forest were planted, still leaving a huge loss of 9.4 million hectar... continue reading

Donatella Versace and Lisa Minelli joined Sir Elton John a Ball to help raise money for Aids.  The ball, Vienna's 13th annual Lifeball took place on Saturday at the city hall.  Around 4,000 people attended the ball.Outside the town hall was just as popular.  In excess of 35,000 people gathered and p... continue reading

Star Wars III is a resounding success in the wake of its debut on Thursday.   A whopping $158.5 for the four-day opening!According to Bruce Snyder a large part of the success is that people are watching the movie, then coming out and standing in line again to buy more tickets for future shows.While ... continue reading

BERLIN - Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder may call for an early national election after being defeated in a regional poll.  Voters of his North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) have rejected the SPD party (Social Democrats), after 39 years in government.According to a television survey only 29% voted for the SPD and 46% votes f... continue reading

According to the latest surveys in the UK,  taking the Tube in London is far safer than driving a car to and from work.People traveling by tube take less dust and dirt particles into their lungs than they do on the roads.  Particles in the underground are larger and heavier and therefore spend less time airbo... continue reading

A long standing internet virus, Sober, took a turn for the Political over the weekend.  It decided to start spewing out millions of messages about German politial views.Sober Q, the newer version of the virus that unsuspecting users downloaded, is not dangerous, it just uses the worm to spread spam about political... continue reading

Google disappeared on Saturday for about 15 minutes at 3.45 until 4pm PST, leaving visitors wondering if the site had been hacked.But nothing so bizarre - the problem was with the DNS (Domain Name Server) and not a security problem.It set the whole internet world buzzing with some people predicting the end of the world... continue reading

Tasmania, AustraliaThe 41 hour seige at Risdon Prison in Tasmania has ended peacefully.  The order of 15 pizzas were a bargining chip to the inmates involved in the seige.  The protest was about issues that needed resolving in the prison.  The seige ended when all 24 issues were agreed to and the pizzas ... continue reading

The capture of Abu Farraj al-Libbi takes one more terrorist off the streets.In th eon-going fight against terrorism, and destroy the al-Qaida network, al-Libbi was captured in Pakistan. He is reportedly the operations chief for the  network,  and possibly key planner of a number of terrorist attacks, inc... continue reading

Corey Clark is claiming he was subject to favouritism because of a sexual affair with judge Paula Abdul.  He was also a contestant in American Idol in 2003 but was disqualified because of an undisclosed domestic incident.The show's producers are skeptical of the allegations, being a case of sour grapes. Although C... continue reading

Well, it did it again. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy has topped British box offices with takings of 4.2 million pounds. The film version is every bit a success as every other version of the Guide. The film version went straight to No. 1 over the British Bank Holiday weekend. It opened in the United States at th... continue reading

Email users are being warned about a new worm called W32/Sober-N. It creates emails supposedly from the governing body of the soccer world, FIFA. The emails offer free tickets to the 2006 World Cup in Germany.Like most other virus emails, it tries to get the recepient to open the attachment, thus attacking the users s... continue reading

It seems that there is a new type of criminal on the loose. Those who are determined to create havoc with antivirus software and some media players, like iTunes, for example.The hackers find security holes in the software and attempt to lift credit card numbers and other personal information from a user's computer. Mic... continue reading

Jennifer Wilbanks was about to be married.  She had second thoughts.To escape the wedding she reported to police that she has been abducted while jogging. Instead she took a bus trip across the country to Albuquerque, N.M.As it turns out, instead of the lavish 600 guest wedding that was planned, she now could face... continue reading

Sydney, AustraliaRene Rivkin, the stockbroker convicted of insider trading, was found dead yeterday in his Darling Point, Sydney home.  This comes just weeks after separating with his wife Gayle.Rivkin was given peridic detention for his conviction of insider trading, but has been ill for some time with bipolar di... continue reading

According to a recent survey, dog owners in Britain are more likely to take time off work to look after their pets than they are to look after relatives.Britain has 5.4 million dog owners and around 10 per cent of these have taken approximately five days off work to care for sick pets.  The same owners took 1.08 m... continue reading

The dress worn by Judy Garland in The Wizard of Oz has been sold at auction.  It sold for $252,000, four times the expected bid.An unidentified buyer conducted his bids over phone.  The dress is one of six that were worn by 17 year old Garland in the 1939 movie. It also has her name on the inside of... continue reading

The mobile phone - what more can be done with it?Plenty it seems, according to Nokia.  They have a new mobile phone on the market. The Nokia N91.  This little beauty can play music!  It will store up to 3,000 tunes on a 4gb hard disk.  Added to that it also takes photos (2mega pixel capacity), ... continue reading

Success!  That is the word for the maiden flight of the world's biggest plane - the Airbus A380.The four hour maiden flight went without a hitch and touched down near Toulouse in southern France.  The plane, designed to carry 555 passengers, but which can accommodate more than 800, will now commence 2500... continue reading

Togo, AfricaVoting in Togo is a dangerous business.  22 people are reported to have been killed and another 100 injured in clashes during the presidential poll.Riot police battled angry opposition supporters, but the ruling party candidate Faure Gnassingbe won the poll.The country has been in an uproar since the d... continue reading

35 people have been killed when a bus collided with a passenger train while trying to dash across a railraod crossing, to beat the oncoming train.  According to witnesses, passengers that were still alive on the bus were jumping out of the windows, some of them on fire.The bus was dragged 100 yards by the train, w... continue reading

A man pleaded guilty on all six counts of conspiracy to engage in terrorism in an American court today.Zacarias Moussaoui was convicted of being involved in the terrorism on Sept 11 2001 when two planes crashing into the World Trade Centre in New York. He is proclaiming his innocence in this event, saying he was not ac... continue reading

It seems that the statement by Anna Ayala is a hoax.  Further investigations have discovered that she did not find a severed finger in a bowl of chilli at a Wendy's restaurant.Ayala recently submitted a complaint that she found a severed finger in her bowl of chilli.  She stated that she vomited on the discov... continue reading

There are already concerns over the health of the new pope,  Pope Benedict XVI.  Although he is thought to be in sound health, he had a stroke in 1991 from which it is said that he fully recovered.Pope Benedict XVI is the oldest pope to be chosen in over 200 years but according to the Vatican, there is n... continue reading

More than 50 bodies have been found in the Tigris river.  They are said to have been hostages that had been held in Madain, a village south of Baghdad, earlier this week.Another 20 bodies of Iraqi soldiers were also found.  They had been shot.Authorities have the full names of all those that were killed and a... continue reading

More than two decades ago, Adolfo Scilingo, 58, allegedly took part in a crime against humanity by throwing 30 drugged and naked prisoners from planes during the drive to crush leftist dissent during the 1976-83 dictatorship in Agrentina.He has been convicted in a Spanish court and sentenced  to a total of 64... continue reading

In a recent research study, Renate Zilkens of the University of Western Australia stated that "A positive relationship between alcohol consumption and blood pressure is well established, but the relative effect of specific alcoholic beverages is controversial." Some drinkers think that red wine is good for you.  N... continue reading

Preliminary hearings have been held for the surviving hostage-taker of the Beslan School raid in southern Russia.  The trial is set to commence on 17 May and will be held at the Supreme Court of North Ossetia, the place where the raid took place.  General Nikolai Shepel, Russia's Deputy Prosecutor said it wil... continue reading

IM Worms are on the rise, causing major headaches for many corporate companies.  Once these new worms get inside a corporate network they can cause havoc, making the old e-mail attack viruses seem like peanuts in comparison. Systems such as MSN, Yahoo Messenger, and other 'chat' programs are the main target o... continue reading

Australians who carry too much fat around their middle are more prone to heart attack or stroke than the rest of the population.  This goes for women as well as men. At a Berlin conference,  it was stated that around 31 percent of Australians had the silent 'metabolic syndrome'.  It is characterised... continue reading

Detective James Allen, 50, was shot and killed on Sunday at police headquarters in Providence, R.I. while questioning a suspect.  Estenban Carpio, 26 got hold of the detective's gun, shot him then broke and window and jumped through to a service road. He was being questioned about the stabbing of an 84 y... continue reading

Michael Jackson is about to sell his half stake in the Beatles catalogue, to help cover the costs of his molestation trial defence and other debts that have been piling up, around $275 million worth. Other loans over his own catalogue and the Neverland ranch will also be paid off.This will still leave Jackson with... continue reading

Russia have blasted a rocket off to the space station with a Russian, an American and an Italian onboard.  They are expected to dock with the station on Sunday when they will replace the crew, who have been in space for the last six months.This will be the first shuttle docking with the space station since the Col... continue reading

Prince Ranier's funeral was held in the cathedral that he and Grace Kelly were married in.  Their children Princess Caroline, Stephanie and heir Prince Albert followed the cortege from Monaco's royal palace to the cathedral.All businesses were closed, including the Monte Carlo casino, as a day of mourning for the ... continue reading

At least 20 people were killed when the Paris Opera Hotel (in Paris) caught fire. The only way out of the six-storey 32 room hotel was by the stairwell which was thick with smoke and flames. People were jumping from windows to escape the flames.  Of the 20 killed, at least half of them were children. Another 53 pe... continue reading

Actor Bruce Willis has been appointed 'Officer in the Order of Arts and Letters' by France.  This is one of the country's highest cultural honours. France is paying homage to an actor who represents American cinema and the emotions he creates for us to share on screens throughout the world, said Culture Minister R... continue reading

April 29 - that is the day the new Apple 'Tiger' operating system will hit the shelves in the shops.  Apple says that the new system has more than 200 new features and is the most secure desktop operating system ever created.The system will also offer new mail, calendar program, font manager and the latest Quickti... continue reading

A law is about to be passed in the US to make bankrupcy tougher to achieve.  Banks and credit card companies are saying that heavily-indebted people are abusing bankrupcy and using it as an excuse not to repay their debts, and taking the easy way out by having their assets liquidated.The bill was pr... continue reading

French President, Jacques Chirac has urged the French to vote 'yes' to the EU constitution on a two hour television program.  83 young french people were selected to take part in the debate.  President Chirac is urging the French people to vote for the EU constitution as it will make a strong, united Eur... continue reading

The defence forces assisting with the tsunami hit areas, including the nine helicopeter victims, are to receive a medal.  Through an extension by the Queen of the Humanitarian Overseas Service Medal, all those who gave their time to this major disaster will now be awarded official recognition.  This was not p... continue reading

New Zealand may attend the East Asian summit later this year because of a non-aggressive pact that they have agreed to sign.  ASEAN say countries must sign the pact before they can be invited to attend the summit to be held later this year in Malaysia.Australia will not agree to sign the pact that this stage. ... continue reading

Should Hilary run for President in two years?  That is the question.  There are voters for and against the idea.51% of New York State are for the idea while 31% say they would vote against her. Currently Senator Clinton is leading her rivals by a 2-1 margin or better.... continue reading

The cardinals chosen to elect a successor to Pope John Paul II have come up against another issue.  There is now pressure to declare him a Saint. It started during his funeral with mourners shouting out  'Santo, Santo' and 'Saint now'.  Italian newspapers have reported that people have bee... continue reading

The price of fuel has skyrocketed in Australia.  Consumers are currently paying around 108.5cents per litre. While this may be good for the oil companies and fuel stations, it does not do much for the average driver.Although oil prices are starting to fall, it has not yet reached the pumps.Oil prices dropped for t... continue reading

Australia's Nine Network have decide to 'nip and tuck' their new show Body Work, a reality surgury program.  When the show returns, they intend to add an extra segment - celebrity surgery - for actors and celebrities who don't mind have bits and pieces fixed up in front of a camera.Ooops - missed that bit!... continue reading

The next generation of XBox will be unveiled on MTV next month. Video games companies usually release new games consoles at industry shows such as E3, but in this case Microsoft have decided on a new approach.  Microsoft said the footage on MTV will not only include next-generation Xbox games but also 'online... continue reading

Although no-one likes or accepts spam, it seems it is becoming more accepted.According to the latest study of The Pew Internet and American Life Project,  53% of US emailers are less trusting of email because of spam. It seems that with the World Wide Web becoming part of life, more people are accepting its f... continue reading

Blizzards delivering heavy snow stopped traffic and airtravel in Colorado on Sunday. Denver airport was closed and many roads were impossible to traverse. Many travellers were stranded at the airport, and local accommodation was finding it difficult to keep up with the extra bookings. Those who did not manage to g... continue reading

Tiger Woods has won the 69th U.S. Masters Golf Tournament, and his fourth 'Green Jacket' in Augusta, Ga.Woods and DiMarco finished level with 12-under and 276 after 72 holes.  In the play-off, Woods sank a 20-foot birdie at the first extra hole to win the tournament.  It is his first major win since... continue reading

British Grandmother, Patricia Tabram from East Lea in the north of England, has been convicted of possession of cannabis with intent to supply.  She said she uses the drug to ease pain in her back and neck.  She also admitted to sharing cannabis laced cookies with with other pensioners.She appeared unrep... continue reading

In a civil marriage ceremony Prince Charles and Camilla finally wed. After 30 years of undying love, they can now be together in public. The blessing service held at Windsor Castle's St. George's Chapel, after the marriage ceremony, went without a hitch. Approximately 800 guests attended the blessing, including th... continue reading

With the funeral of Pope John Paul II ticking closer, security forces in Rome increase. A no-fly zone over Rome and the second airport Ciampino closed to commercial flights. Thousands of mourners flock into St. Peter's Square for the requiem mass, many camping overnight. People are continuing to arrive by any... continue reading

An earthquake, measuring 6.5 on the Richter scale, hit Tibet in the early hours of the morning.  It struck 400km west of the holy Tibetan Buddhist city of Shigatse.   Officals are not sure at this stage what damage the earthquake may have caused.  The nearest villages are about 70kms away from ... continue reading

The Wiggles, well known children's entertainers, were the wealthiest entertainers in Australia in 2004. According to business magazine BRW they grossed $45million, putting them at top of the 50 richest entertainers list.Tony Featherstone, Managing Director of BRW magazine said that The Wiggles got i... continue reading

A US helicopter crashed into the Afghan desert on Wednesday, killing 3 US government contracts and 13 American military personnel.  It is not known at this stage what caused the crash.  The helicopter appeared to have two damaged rotors , according to a witness, before it crashed.  The weather was very w... continue reading

Yesterday family and friends paid their last respects to Paul Hester, at a memorial service held at the estate Elsternwick in Melbourne, Australia.Hester's former Crowded House bandmates Tim and Neil Finn were among many musicians attending that had known him, along with other music industry people.  &nb... continue reading

Pierce Brosnan has confirmed that his Bond days are over.  At the age of 51, and with four other Bond films under his belt, he has decided enough is enough.  Now the Bond production company Eon are contemplating a re-production of Casino Royale, which in any case would require a younger man to play the role o... continue reading

14 militants were killed after Saudi security forces stormed a walled villa in Rass, 355kms northwest of Riyadh, including top leaders of al Qaeda.  The fighting continued for three days, the longest gunbattle Saudi forces have faced in the two year campaign. Moroccan Kareem Altohami al-Mojati and Saudi ... continue reading

More than 2 million people are expected to attend the funeral of Pope John Paul II on Friday.  2 American presidents and at least 200 other dignitaries are expected to attend. Former presidents, Bill Clinton and George Bush will be attending along with President  Bush and first lady Laura Bush.At least 1... continue reading

Ms Corby's lawyer, Lely Sri Rahayu Lubis, is concerned that not enough evidence has been present to obtain her release. Even though John Patrick Ford, a prisioner in a Victoria (Australia) jail was flown to Indonesia to give evidence that the drugs were planted in her bag, it is not known if this is sufficient. Mr... continue reading

In the competition for the biggest email box storage, Google has now increased the size of their Gmail to 2GB of free storage.  This comes one week after Yahoo! matched Google's upgrade to 1GB.  Gmail is currently only available as a preview release as it is still undergoing tests.The layout concept is totall... continue reading

The German music industry's Echo award has been won by Anastacia, for best international pop/rock female artist.  Her albums have sold over 1 million copies in Germany over the last year.Anastacia, 31, was very excited about the award.  "It has been a very good year for me", she said.  The award nominati... continue reading

Michael Schumacher has just faced the worst start to the Formula One racing season in Bahrain.The new Ferrari, which was rushed into service, developed mechanical problems and Schumacher had to retire from the race.  He said that the debris on the track caused the problem, not the car itself. It was still the... continue reading

The wedding of Prince Charles and Camilla Parker-Bowles will go ahead as planned, even if it clashes with the funeral of Pope John Paul II.  There are no plans at tis stage to change the time of the wedding, which is to be held at the Town Hall, Windsor, on Friday afternoon.  It will be followed by a service ... continue reading

The security in Rome for the funeral of Pope John Paul II will be attended by 6430 police. 5000 police will be on duty in charge of public security and the balance protecting the monachs. Many world leaders are expected to attend and an estimated two million people.  The Vatican will announce today the exact day o... continue reading

 An aftershock of 6.2 magnitude hit the town of Gunung Sitoli on the island of Nias last Sunday, centred 33 kilometres under the seabed.  A second shock, measuring 6.1, hit approximately three hours later, 37 kilometres east of  Tarutung, in Sumatra Island's north.There have been no reports of damag... continue reading

An Australian Defence Force helicopter has crashed on Nias, claiming the lives of 9 personnel.  It crashed into a football field, cockpit first, after the engine failed 30-40m above the ground says a witness. Another two men sustained fractures but survived the accident and are being treated on HMAS Kanimbla.... continue reading

A man was pulled alive from the rubble of a building in the town of Gununsitoli, on Nias island, six days after the earthquake.  His cousin and rescue services have been working to free him since last Saturday after hearing voices coming from under the rubble. Rescue team members entered the hole which h... continue reading

Neil Young is recovering from brain surgery after an aneurysm was discovered a few weeks ago.  His vision started giving him trouble during the recording of his new album and persisted during a performance at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.  He is expected to make a full recovery, but has had t... continue reading

Reports from the Vatican health office state that Pope John Paul II is near death.  His body is failing and doctors have said there is no hope of recovery.Up to 70,000 people stood vigil in St. Peter's Square well into the night, with some people staying all night to await further reports. They pray... continue reading

Pope John Paul II has suffered a heart attack, on top the the urinary tract infection, Parkinsons Disease and having to cope with a tube in his throat to assist his breathing after a recent operation.  His condition is said to be 'very grave'.  He is being closely monitored but he is still lucid, tranqui... continue reading

Britney is furious with the American tabloids for reporting that her marriage to Kevin Federline is 'on the rocks'.  The tabloids reported that Kevin spent the night in Las Vagas partying wildly with friends while Britney was 'home alone'.Britney confronted the tabloids by writing an angry 'Dear False Ta... continue reading

Prince Charles was caught unawares, mumbling how he hated these 'bloody people' as he, William and Harry posed for the traditional 'one photo' opportunity at the beginning of their holiday in Klosters, Switzerland.  Princes William and Harry we more relaxed during the photo shoot and were looking forward to being ... continue reading

Pope John Paul II is very sick after contracting an infection of the urinary tract.  He has been suffering a high fever and was to ill to be moved to the hospital.Although the 84 year old Pope was given his last rites according to Italian television stations, there is no confirmation of this. His condition has sta... continue reading

Terri Schiavo died peacefully shortly after 9am on Thursday 31st March.  Terri's feeding tube was removed 13 days ago at the request of her husband to let her go.  He stated that this is what she would have wanted.  Terri has been on life support for the last 15 years after a tragic accident.  Her p... continue reading

Bloomsbury, the London-based publisher of Harry Potter, stated that pre-ordering of  'Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince' will exceed the original profit forecast.  The 'before tax' profit is expected to be in the region of 20million pounds ($53.53m).The sixth book in the popular Harry Potter series is du... continue reading

Monaco's 81 year old monach underwent kidney dialysis last Sunday, to help slow down the deterioration of his kidneys, lungs and heart.  A report says that the Prince's internal organs are progressively deteriorating.The Prince's condition is currently stable.... continue reading

The Tsunami Relief fundraising soccer game was held on Tuesday 29th March at the Subiaco Oval in Perth, Australia.The visiting Indonesian soccer team were kept on their toes but put up a good fight, with keeper Hendro Kartiko keeping the Socceroos in check during the first half of the match.  However, Ante Milicic... continue reading

An inquiry by former U.S. Federal Reserve chairman Paul Volcker cleared UN leader Secretary-General Kofi Annan of corruption.  No evidence was found that Annan had influenced bidding on a multi-billion dollar contract  for the company that employed his son, Kojo. The White House stated its cautious ... continue reading