German insurer organised orgy for salesmen

A GERMAN insurance company rewarded its best salesmen by organising an orgy with prostitutes in a renowned Hungarian spa, the company said. 
 
About 100 top salesmen had been invited to the orgy, which featured numerous scantily clad hostesses and about 20 prostitutes, Ergo insurance spokesman Alexander Becker said.
The event organised by one of its divisions in Budapest's art nouveau Gellert Baths represented a clear violation of the company's values, he stressed.

"All measures have been taken to prevent a repeat of such an event," Mr Becker said.
Those responsible for the June 2007 event - dubbed an "incentive trip" - have left the company, he added.
Prostitution is legal in Hungary and Germany.

Ergo insurance belongs to Munich Re, one of the world's biggest reinsurance companies, in which US billionaire Warren Buffet's investment firm Berkshire Hathaway holds a 10 per cent stake.

Ergo's board of directors only learned about the orgy when those responsible for it had already left the company, Mr Becker said. He could not specify since when the board was briefed on the orgy.
Budapest is known for its thermal baths. Some of the spas are used for film screenings or parties.

Woman planks on crocodile - Photo

YOUNG Northern Territory woman was lucky this crocodile was tied down and muzzled when she took the new craze of "planking" to a dangerously new level. 

Silly stuff ... Margi' planking on a croc at the Darwin Crocodile Farm

 Otherwise she might have been munched for lunch.
The plank-ee is believed to be a woman by the name of Margi.
She didn't think her stunt was cruel.

The 4.65m, 600kg saltie was powerless to stop the plank prank at a crocodile farm.
It was taken to the farm after being caught in a permanent trap in the Katherine River last month.
The bull was so big that rangers had to use a four-wheel-drive to drag it out of the water.
It is the biggest croc caught in the Territory this year.

Ranger and crocodile catcher Tommy Nicholls said the saltie would become a "show croc", rather than a stud, because it was too big to breed.

"An animal that big usually ends up killing the females," he said.

YOUNG Northern Territory woman was lucky this crocodile was tied down and muzzled when she took the new craze of "planking" to a dangerously new level. Otherwise she might have been munched for lunch.

The plank-ee is believed to be a woman by the name of Margi.
She didn't think her stunt was cruel.
The 4.65m, 600kg saltie was powerless to stop the plank prank at a crocodile farm.
It was taken to the farm after being caught in a permanent trap in the Katherine River last month.
The bull was so big that rangers had to use a four-wheel-drive to drag it out of the water.
It is the biggest croc caught in the Territory this year.

Ranger and crocodile catcher Tommy Nicholls said the saltie would become a "show croc", rather than a stud, because it was too big to breed.
"An animal that big usually ends up killing the females," he said.

Heaven is a fairy story - Stephen Hawking

FAMED theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking finds no room for heaven in his vision of the cosmos. 
 
In an interview published today in The Guardian newspaper, the 69-year-old says the human brain is a like a computer that will stop working when its components fail.

He says: "There is no heaven or afterlife for broken-down computers; that is a fairy story for people afraid of the dark."

In Grand Design, a book published last year, Hawking had declared that it was "not necessary to invoke God... to get the universe going".

Hawking is nearly totally paralyzed by motor neurone disease, diagnosed when he was 21.
Hawking says he is not afraid of death, but adds: "I'm in no hurry to die. I have so much I want to do first."

Man tries to board train with pony

A MAN was captured on CCTV trying to board a train in Wales - with a pony in tow. 
 
The unknown man attempted to buy two tickets - one for him and one for his four-legged friend - at Wrexham train station in North Wales, for a two-hour journey to Holyhead.

Shocked staff refused to serve the man, telling him horses were not allowed on the train.
Undeterred, the man said, "I know the law" and got into an elevator with the horse, and walked it across the bridge and onto a platform.

When the train arrived he boarded the service and tried to pull the pony on with him until a conductor intervened.

After a brief argument the man retreated and left the station with his pony.
A spokeswoman for Arriva Trains Wales said the company did not allow livestock to board trains.

"We do allow small animals, such as dogs and guide dogs, onboard but not large animals that could pose a risk to the general public," she said.

CCTV footage released by Arriva Trains shows the man trying to buy tickets for him and his horse

Despite being refused service by ticket staff, the man thought he'd try to board the train anyway

Riot police called in as 100 detainees riot on Christmas Island

Unrest has again broken out at Christmas Island detention centre. 

Australian Federal Police officers used bean bag bullets and capsicum spray to quell a riot among 100 detainees at Christmas Island last night.

The AFP have confirmed the force was deployed at the North West Point detention centre after detainees began throwing projectiles at police and security guards.

An AFP spokeswoman said the detainees had armed themselves with metal poles fashioned from sporting equipment and concrete.

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"During negotiations, some of the protesters began throwing projectiles at police and security guards. The AFP deployed less than lethal munitions, including chemical munitions, a bean-bag round and distraction devices, to restore order," the spokeswoman said.
Police were called to the detention centre by the Immigration Department and Serco at 11pm last night.
An Immigration Department spokeswoman said the disturbance involved two compounds of the facility, and did not involve all detainees at the centre.

There are 270 asylum seekers being detained on Christmas Island awaiting deportation, most likely to Malaysia, after Australian introduced a new policy not to process boat arrivals in Australia.
They have been kept separately from the other detainees at the centre. It is not yet known which detainees were involved in the riot, which occurred inside the perimeter fence.
Christmas Island shire president Gordon Thomson said he was generally aware of an incident at the centre, but had not been briefed on it.

"No one has told me what has happened, but I understand police were called in," Mr Thomson said.
He said a community liaison officer would be given a briefing by the Immigration Department. But he said the information flow had not been good in recent times.
"There isn't a protocol. The practice has been they would let us know what is going on, but that hasn't been maintained," he said.

"If tear gas was used I'm sure through the course of the day the workers [at the centre] will tell us."
A spokesman for detention centre managers Serco declined to comment, referring all queries to the Immigration Department.

One Serco employee sustained minor injuries during the stoush, and has since been treated. The Department spokeswoman said none of the detainees escaped the facility.
Control was handed back to Serco about 5.30am, and the centre is now calm according to the Department.

Kylee Saunders is the real life Hannah Montana, except not anymore

Kylee Saunders is your typical Arizona teenager. Or at least she used to be.

The 16-year old high school junior lives a double life reminiscent of Miley Cyrus' famed Disney character, Hannah Montana. By week, she's a normal student, but on four day weekends Saunders travels with her mother to Japan, where she is a bona fide super star.

"It's amazing cause I get to have two separate lives I guess you could say," She says in an appearance on "Today." "Whenever I go to school in Arizona I can just be normal and hang out with friends and family, and I have singing in another country -- in Japan -- which I love, so it's really awesome."

Awesome indeed, except for the fact that she just appeared on national television in the U.S. So that whole "Hannah Montana" schtick? Looks like it's officially up. Whoops.

Girlfriend knows just what she's doing, though. This is a perfect launching point for a pop tart career stateside -- exactly what she's aiming for.

"That would be a dream come true," she says of expanding her career to the U.S. "I would love to be able to not have to go to Japan all the time. I'd be able to do Japan and the States, that'd be awesome." A different kind of awesome from the former, we presume.

She's cute, talented and fluent in both English and Japanese -- Disney execs are bound to be falling all over themselves trying to grab a piece of this girl. Let the madness begin.

Schwarzenegger to break silence to Jay Leno

The Tonight Show with Jay Leno may be the place where disgraced former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger may provide his first interview following the baby-mama drama that is ending Schwarzenegger's quarter-century marriage with Maria Shriver.


Jay Leno and Arnold Schwarzenegger are not only close friends, The Tonight Show is where Schwarzenegger famously announced his first bid for California governor, shocking pundits and millions of Americans in the process. Although Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver have largely avoided the spotlight since the scandal broke, Schwarzenegger will soon be forced to face the music. And softballs from Leno will likely be the safest way for the Terminator star to handle damage control.

Three weeks ago, Arnold Schwarzenegger announced that he fathered a baby with a member of his household staff, the result of which is now a failed marriage with Maria Shriver. But Maria will be okay, say the legal and financial advisers contacted by Entertainment Examiner. In fact, Arnold Schwarzenegger may soon have to adjust to life as a less-than wealthy man. That's perhaps the biggest story no one else is yet reporting.

Ricky Nixon: Ill make them pay ...Schoolgirl: its all lies

 RICKY Nixon is determined to seek "several million dollars" in damages from the AFL Players' Association after what he describes as an "amateurish" investigation that left his career in ruins. 
 
Nixon's ban as a player agent, and a police investigation into sex and drug allegations against him are in jeopardy after a shock statement from the girl who made the accusations was revealed by the Herald Sun this morning.

Kim Duthie, dubbed the "St Kilda Schoolgirl", has sensationally denied she had a sexual relationship or took illicit drugs with the de-registered player agent in a statement to the AFLPA.

The twist is set to complicate a police investigation into Nixon, with a brief of evidence under review from the Office of Public Prosecutions.

 

"I firmly have the AFLPA in my sights," Nixon said
"This was an amateurish investigation at best and if this is the people who are representing the players in the collective bargaining agreement, the players could get the worst result of all time."
Asked if he was seeking a financial payout, Nixon said: "Absolutely. Several million dollars."
Nixon said the investigation failed to give him adequate time to give his side of the story and lawyers had already said his case "looks very favourable''.

"I have lost my business reputation, future earnings, it's impacted my family significantly financially,'' he told Triple M radio today.

"So if this investigation had no right to be conducted and was illegal, then they will have to pay.''
During his morning media blitz, he also denied accusations Ms Duthie's retraction was the result of a deal struck between the pair.

“I want to clear up something very quickly, there’s absolutely no deal between her and I whatsoever,” he told Channel 7’s Sunrise.

“Please, give me some respect. If there was going to be any deal done between her and I it would have been done before I had to sell my business, before what it’s done to my family, before what it’s done to my life. Give me some credit,” he said.

Nixon said he knew the truth would come out and he wished Ms Duthie all the best.
"I hope this is an opportunity for her to get on with her life now. She’s a young girl, she’s made some fairly significant mistakes, but she needs to move on,” he said.
Nixon was also forced to answer questions about how he came to be in Ms Duthie’s hotel room wearing only underpants.

“If I knew the answer to that we’d all be geniuses. But I think it’s been made pretty clear, and it’s become pretty clear, that somehow I had substances in my body that night that some people believe was taken accidentally, others believe I was administered it, I’m not going to go there, I’m sick of it all, I don’t care,” he said.
"The damage is done, I don’t know how I ended up like that. But what I do know is what hasn’t been purported or shown is that I fled the hotel not long after that.”

Read more: http://www.news.com.au/national/i-made-the-ricky-nixon-scandal-up-says-st-kilda-schoolgirl-kim-duthie/story-e6frfkvr-1226072051534#ixzz1OkSLOUch

Cultural change is killing our beer

BEER drinking, the pastime that helped define our nation's culture, has hit its lowest level in 62 years. 
 
Guilt over our expanding waistlines and the search for a more refined tipple is being blamed for the downturn.
The average beer drinker now consumes just a six-pack a week.

Not since the first Holden rolled off the production line in 1948 have Aussies drunk less beer.
ABS data released yesterday showed the consumption of beer fell from 4.62 litres to 4.56 litres per capita in the year to June, the lowest result since 1947-48.

The average lover of booze now guzzles just two litres of the brew - or about a six-pack - each week.
It pales in comparison to a spike in the mid-70s when we happily consumed 3.7 litres - or about 11 stubbies each.

"There are a number of contributors over time. In the late '70s and '80s there was the implementation of tougher drink-driving regulations coming through," he said.

"But now there is considerably more market choice and people are opting for quality over quantity."
Figures show consumption of full-strength beer fell from 3.82 to 3.78 litres per capita, mid-strength rose from 0.56 to 0.57 and low strength fell from 0.24 to 0.22 litres.

Meanwhile, wine consumption rose from 3.73 to 3.81 litres in the last financial year.

Croatian boy is human magnet - Video

THE strange talent of a 6-year-old boy has scientists scratching their heads in Croatia. 
 
Little Ivan is able to attract metal objects to his chest.
The boy's unique abilities are strongest in the morning or when he's calm.
It's believed Ivan can hold more than 20kg of metal on his chest.
His parents say he's always been a little strange after walking at 8 months and rollerblading at just 15 months.

Animal Hoarder fights to keep 23 cats

A WOMAN who shares her house with 23 cats and dogs is fighting council demands she get rid of half of her menagerie. 
 
Invalid pensioner Jennifer Martin has 11 more pets than she is allowed under Whittlesea local council animal laws in north Melbourne.

But she said her pets were her family and it would break her heart to part from any of them.
"These animals have been taken in by me and some of them have taken three or four years to socialise," Ms Martin said.

"Why would anyone think of taking them from me when we are family. All this worry has stressed and heart-broken me."
Ms Martin, 55, claims she has more than enough money, room and love to go around. Since her own home burned down in January, she has been living with a friend.

"We have seven dogs each in our own names and there are another nine cats," she said.

"I have already given away a few but the rest are my family and they are not going anywhere."
Refusing offers from an animal shelter to help the cats and dogs find new homes, Ms Martin instead hopes the public will pay $25,000 in boarding fees.

Jennifer Martin hopes the public will pay $25 000 in animal boarding fees for 11 of her 23 pets.

Whittlesea Council bylaws allow a maximum of four animal species per property.
The council has threatened to take her to court because the number of animals at her property poses a health risk.

Local laws manager Wayne Bullock said the council had tried to work with Ms Martin to reach a compromise.
"In this instance we have concerns over animal welfare as well as health concerns for the property occupants," he said.

"Due to these concerns, council has invited and has been accompanied by representatives of the RSPCA on a site visit to this property. Further assistance from the RSPCA may be sought."
But Ms Martin isn't giving in. "They are my pets and my family and I'm not giving them up for anyone."

Masterchef 'glamorising' the food industry and Celebrity Chef Sydnrome

MasterChef is glamorising the food industry so much that bored professionals are quitting their jobs to open their own restaurant with no experience or idea of how hard it is, top chefs say. 

"What some people are thinking is that anybody can do this job," owner and head chef of Sydney's two-hat restaurant Bistro Ortolan, Paul McGrath, told ninemsn.

"You've got accountants and lawyers going 'you know I feel like a sea change, I'm going to open a restaurant'."

Having cooked for royals and celebrities including Queen Elizabeth, the Sultan of Brunei, Princess Mary and Crown Prince Frederick, Bono and Mick Jagger, McGrath is one of many renowned chefs who believe Network Ten's hit reality show, now in its third season, has had a number of negative side-effects on the industry.

"[MasterChef] doesn't give an all-around picture about what a restaurant involves, about what doing this for the rest of your life involves," McGrath said.

The 2010 Josephine Pignolet Young Chef of the Year and head chef of Sydney's new Duke Bistro Mitchell Orr — a guest on season two of MasterChef — agrees the show does not give "a real reflection of what happens in the kitchen on a day-to-day basis".
And fellow guest chef Tony Bilson — a 40-year restaurant veteran dubbed "the Godfather of Australia cuisine" who owns multiple Sydney restaurants — says there is a lot more to running a restaurant than "producing good food on a plate — there's managing the whole service and experience of the customer".
McGrath says it takes around 10 years working in a kitchen before a chef has the skills needed to run their own restaurant and viewers should be aware contestants are not "qualified or capable" chefs.
But fans are making life-changing decisions after being seduced by the "romantic, exciting side" of the industry as show by a TV kitchen.

"They are trying to portray the excitement and the adrenaline and the heat of service and pressure that's involved but I guess it doesn’t show so much of the early morning starts and peeling prawns and shelling lobster and peeling hazelnuts," McGrath said.

Celebrity chef syndrome

Orr believes the show has inspired a lot of wannabe celebrities and not many real chefs.
"I don’t think it encourages people to join the industry I think it just gets people saying, 'Oh I can get my face on TV and then get a book deal'," Orr said.

McGrath said he has had to inform several prospective apprentices who are chasing the MasterChef dream that not everyone gets to be famous.

"I always ask why do they want to be a chef, and I've heard MasterChef mentioned several times.
"They want to be like the people on the show, and they're not refering to the contestants but referring to the celebrity chef factor," he said.

But MasterChef has also had positive effects on the industry, including encouraging people to go out to eat in restaurants and making people passionate about food and cooking.
Bilson said the show has made young kids care about what's on their plate and believes it will have a long term affect on Australians' attitudes towards food.

"I've heard some really funny stories from parents having eight-year-olds come home from school and criticising the chops and mash."