The body of Brebesh, 62, appeared in hospital the day after he was detained in January, some 100km from where he was captured. In addition to clearly having suffered multiple injuries and fractured ribs before being killed, his toenails had been removed by his torturers.

The suspected of torturers of Brebesh belong to a militia group called al-Shohada Ashura.

Incidentally, humanitarian doctors Médecins Sans Frontières have halted work in detention centres in one Libyan city because its medical staff were constantly being asked to attend to detainees halfway through torture sessions, patching them up before being sent back for more abuse by their torturers.  Not fun working conditions.

Joseph Company International CEO, Mitchell Joseph:

The Chill Can will revolutionise the beverage industry, and the way the consumer perceives a cold drink.

Their website also claims the product “will become industry standard in a few years,” which would be awesome because then there would no longer be such a thing as the warm beer.

Joseph Company International explains:

This beverage features the EPA Stratospheric Award winning Microcool technology, developed, patented, and licensed by Joseph Company International, which is eco-friendly using CO2 reclaimed from the atmosphere, and activated carbon ascertained from a renewable vegetable source.

An activation button on the can allows the beverage to drop 30 degrees Fahrenheit [roughly 16 degrees Celsius] within minutes.

The Chill Can does not require any energy and eliminates the need for any refrigeration as it chills on demand, anytime anywhere. Part of West Coast Chill’s “Greening Efforts” will include recycle bins specially made to recapture the cans for reuse in an effort to reduce their carbon foot print.

The concept is nothing new and scientists have been working on something like this for 18 years, there were just several commercial and environmental hiccups along the way.

Here is the history of how this product has come to be a commercially viable and marketable product:

The Chill Can Technology has been developed by four generations of family beverage industry experience in the United States under the trade name, Joseph Company International. This technology is referred to as ‘Micro Cooling’ and has been in research and development for over 18 years.

It has won the United States ‘Rookie of the Year’ award given by the United States military for the self chilling of canteens for the United States Army.

It won the prestigious ‘Can of the Year Award’ in 1997 in Singapore demonstrating that function translates a higher equation than exterior design.

In 1997 NASA chose 5 Self Chilling Cans to be part of an experimentation programme to be used by Senator John Glenn on his last space voyage.

During this time the technology was featured on numerous front covers such as, The Can Maker, The Canner, and The Beverage Industry technology etc.

In 1998 the technology was all ready to be launched with the Pepsi Cola Company which was illustrated by the new blue can you see today. Blue representing cold, red representing hot. In 1998 the Chill Can System had an environmental issue because the technology was using the harmful HFC134A the replacement of CFC Freon.

This put the product on hold and encouraged another 9 years of re-design utilising a patented ‘Activated Carbon’ made from organic renewable vegetable materials and reclaimed C02 which has become the basis of the new chilling technology. After 9 years it has finally been proven to be a green environmentally safe product and it is now ready for global commercialisation.

The Joseph Company has dedicated 10 years to enforcing its promise to environmental bodies that this will be a safe global product. And we have succeeded in this promise.

The can will sell for just under the $3 mark and will begin retailing at selected stores in Southern California and Las Vegas in a few months from now.

[Sources: Gizmag, WestCoastChill]

They’ve also teamed up with Chevy to debut a new music video as a Super Bowl commercial – with 288 guitars, 55 pianos, and 1157 ‘homemade instruments’ - if you felt that this one was lacking in the epic kind of scope you’ve come to demand of OK Go.

Have a great weekend.

But they were a bit shy and even fired arrows at tourists in passing boats. Most recently, an arrow attack by members of the tribe killed Nicolas “Shaco” Flores – a member of a different tribe who had been attempting to make formal contact with the Mashco-Piro for some two decades.

An account of the attack by anthropologist Glenn Shepard underlines the fact that the tribe is fearful of forming ties with the world around them. So it was at a respectful distance of 120m that Spanish archaeologist Diego Cortijo snapped pictures of the tribe using a telescope mounted on a camera, capturing the most detailed images ever taken of such “uncontacted” tribes, many of whom are detailed at a site of the same name.

Check out these rare images:

[Source: BBC]

Fresh off the multi-million dollar catastrophic failure that was Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark, comes news that a musical version of Robert Zemeckis’ 1985 classic time travel trilogy, Back To The Future, might be in the works.

Zemeckis has apparently approached screen writer Bob Gale and composer Alan Silvestri to begin transferring the trilogy to the stage, though it is unknown if all the films will make it to Broadway in one piece, or a new version of the story will be created.

The three films grossed nearly US$1 billion worldwide, and while they made stars of Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd, the real celebrity of the trilogy is this piece of junk:

Gull wing doors. Fibreglass fittings. Stainless steel chassis. Flux capacitor not included.

The much derided DeLorean DMC-12, which is something of a collectors’ item these days, mainly because they scarcely made 10 000 of them in the few years before the DeLorean company went bankrupt. Undoubtedly, this will be the star of whatever show they end up creating.

Muchlike the ill-fated Spider-man musical, this one is probably going to be effects heavy, which doesn’t bode well, budget-wise. I for one am super curious to see how they pull off the hoverboard chase across the future Hill Valley town square, on a broadway stage.

[Source: Deadline]

Austin, a bold, young high school reporter who apparently has no last name, recently conducted and filmed a series of short interviews at his school where he sets out to “put the bright young minds of [their] student body to the test”.

The interviews comprised a collection of questions, the answers of which are assumed to be general knowledge. Things like, “Can you name a country that starts with the letter ‘U’”, “who is the Vice President of the US” and “name all the countries that border the US”. If their answers weren’t so funny, they’d make you cry. But it’s not their fault you see, it’s the teacher’s, as one student in the video so aptly put it, “I was never taught that knowledge”.

A recent study conducted by researchers at Harvard called “Globally Challenged: Are U.S. Students Ready to Compete” ranked them 32^nd out of a group of 65 countries in terms of reading proficiency. Not great considering that they are the most powerful nation on Earth and that these are their future leaders.

Naturally the video also got me thinking about where we rank, but unfortunately South African did not compete in the study. However, The World Economic Forum’sThe Global Competitiveness Report 2011-2012, ranks us 50^th overall and first in Africa (the US ranked 5^th) and UCT was ranked 103^rd out of 400 in the Times Higher Education’s World University Rankings.

Studies and research aside, I’d like to think that most South Africans with a high school education would be able to answer the same questions posed in the video, when asked in a local context. Especially considering the amount of time we’ve all spent playing 30 Seconds, and how much we relish the win.

[Source: YouTube, Times Higher Education, WEF]

Are you one of the millions of people worldwide, who share and consume music digitally?

Are you willing to pay for music, but irked by the ridiculous and restrictive licensing measures that labels put in place, for the sake of keeping their wheezing, dying CD-based business model alive?

What do you mean, if I buy a CD, and rip it to my iPod, I’m contravening licensing laws?

Time to flip a table.

The music industry is sick from Airborne on Vimeo.

For artists to make the US minimum wage each month, they’d have to make 12 THOUSAND album sales on iTunes, FOUR MILLION plays on Spotify, or nail just 1 658 fans on Airborne, who would subscribe for $1 a month.

Read that again. It’s not incorrect, just shocking.

To find out more about this incredible new service as an artist, or a consumer who feels like liberating themselves from a sham of a business model, check out the Airborne website, HERE.

I mean the resemblance is totally uncanny – Newt has no neck, a great set of boobies (he’d totally win any wet T-shirt competition), and a face like a walrus. Brad Pitt was in Fight Club. Newt looks like Meat Loaf in Fight Club. So far, this is the most comprehensive argument that he is totally and utterly batshit insane.

Asked for comment, Gingrich had the following to say:

“No, I don’t look like him at all,” Gingrich said. “He’s thinner, he’s better looking, he’s younger.”

“But you asked me if I could have anyone who could play me in a movie,” Gingrich mused, “why not go for Brad Pitt?”

Silly fool.

[Source: NYDailyNews]

Wine competitions.

Born from the union of Satan and Lady Luck, I loathe them. And there a lot of them too. Just in SA there’s the Old Mutual Wine Awards, Michelangelo, Veritas, Top 100 wines, Young Wine Show, Classic Wine Awards, Diner’s Club Winemaker of the year, the various Top 10s, Nedbank Green Wine Awards, Terroir Awards, and more. There are also, of course, the plethora of international competitions. What are these providing other than extra weight to the competition owners’ wallets? Sod all if you ask me.

I have a couple of issues with wine competitions. The first has been made by almost everyone who has moaned about them: that wine tasters palates are fatigued after having tasted over 100 wines. What happens when the 101st wines is a dainty, elegant, reserved little beauty, a wine that asks to be contemplated, a wine that caresses rather than spanks?

Will it be noticed, or will it be passed over and judged insignificant amongst its big showy peers? This, of course, comes down to the skill of the taster and the structure of the competition. I may be overstating it slightly and not giving enough credit to professional tasters, but I think it is a given that certain styles of wine perform better in competitions than others.

This is easy enough to experience. Go out and buy a wine that has been very successful on the competition circuit. You know the ones, they have more gold medals than a mad-hat African dictator, more bling than Fiddy and more sparkle than emo vampires. Go out and taste some of them. I am not saying they will be bad, but their style is broadly similar. Big, bold, in your face wines. Wines that are hard to miss. I find many of them to be obnoxious.

Again, I am not suggesting that there is anything wrong with these wines, but to place them in the context of “the best” is patently absurd. Competitions, however, want you to believe that this is the case. A competition presupposes the notion of a winner. Producers want the medals because most wine consumers are like magpies, flocking to bottles with sparkly little medals. “I won,” screams the bottle, “you love me, you really really love me!”

Another problem with wine competitions is that they are not very good at the only thing they are supposed to good at: reliably finding the best wines out of a set. It seems, in fact that they are awful at this. A study published in a 2009 issue of the Journal of Wine Economics analysed “over 4 000 wines entered in 13 U.S. wine competitions” and found that the results were so varied that “the likelihood of receiving a Gold medal can be statistically explained by chance alone.” You can read the full study here.

Chance alone? What the fuck. Why are we paying wine judges when you might as well ask a monkey to roll dice? Not only are competitions promoting a certain style of wine, but there is no certainty those wines are really worthy of gold in the first place. Look, it may be that those 13 competitions employed average tasters, people with not enough experience or training. But come on, chance? Really? Really really?

Chance and competitions should not be bosom buddies. Chance makes one think of roulette, one armed bandits, ching chong fucking cha for goodness sake. Competitions on the other hand are about skill, they are a measurement of those skills against others to prove who’s the best. Why would I challenge you to a race if the outcome was up to chance? Chance, that fickle bitch, has no place in competitions.

Yet wine “competitions” proliferate. Why? Because consumers hate making difficult choices. Consumers like to be told what to do. The mass consuming capitalist sheep like nothing more than to be given an easy way out. Fine dining? No thanks, I’ll smash a Micky D. Explore? Sod that, I want it all on a platter (made of plastic and disposable if you please). Wine, with long shelves filled with hundreds of labels and varieties, is for most  a minefield of imagined faux pas, the worry of undrinkable bottles and fear. Fear of the unknown.

A little gold sticker does wonders for easing this fear. The people who run wine competitions know this, producers know this – which is they fork out to keep entering these charades year in and year out.

OK, I think I have got that out of my system. I’m just tired of people looking at wine in a manner that supposes there can be a winner. Come on. There are wines out there that will make your toes curl in delight, that will make you fist pump, wines that delight; and there are wines so bad that they could only have been foot-trodden by Lucifer, and fermented in the stomach of a dead camel. The best way to explore what’s in between is to:

Look, if you like the kind of wines that win medals then that’s fantastic. Life is easier for you. Follow the gold. Buy the blinged out bottles and be merry. But I warn you, you are missing out, you are letting the man think for you. You are letting him shaft you out of the full spectrum of styles available. Find a wine shop. Ask questions. Be your own wine judge.

The World Health Organisation had estimated 655 000 malaria deaths during the year 2010, but both their study and the new one suggest global death rates are now falling, having peaked in 2004 at 1,82 million.

The decline since 2004 has been attributed to “a rapid scaling up of malaria control in Africa”, supported by international donors and missions conducted by people like Kingsley Holgate and his 2010 United Against Malaria Expedition.

The Lancet’s editor, Richard Horton:

Right now we don’t actually have any reliable primary numbers for malaria deaths in some of the most malarious regions of the world, so what numbers we have come from estimates.

What this paper reports is a new way of estimating the number of malaria deaths, where they’ve used additional data sets and improved mathematical models from calculating mortality.

While on a positive note, Horton was convinced that although no short-term solution was on the cards, we are making headway:

Since 2004, the number of malaria deaths has dropped by about a third, and that’s really been the time when the Global Fund to Fight Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria has swung into action.

Over the past decade, 230 million cases of malaria have been treated and the same number of bed nets have been distributed to people at risk of malaria, and the result of that has been this huge downturn.

So what we know is that we’re actually able to turn off malaria with our existing interventions.

Separately, the National Institute for Communicable Diseases has released information that six people were diagnosed with malaria in the Pretoria area of Gauteng – without visiting malaria areas.

The NICD said in a statement posted on its website this week:

Malaria has been confirmed in six patients in Gauteng Province without a recent history of travel.

These cases originate from two separate areas: three patients from Soshanguve, north of Pretoria, and three patients from a private housing estate in Pretorius Park, Pretoria East.

It is likely these cases acquired infection by the bites of infected mosquitoes translocated from endemic areas in vehicles, containers or by other modes – a relatively rare occurrence known as odyssean malaria.

Nevertheless, the possibility of a locally breeding malaria vector population causing local malaria transmission cannot be ruled out at this stage.

According to the World Health Organisation, antimalarial drug resistance is also a major public health problem that has begun to hinder the control of malaria.

[Sources: BBC, MailandGuardian, WHO]

The SuperDraco engines will help land the Dragon spacecraft, and power emergency escape functions, which apparently makes the Dragon the safest spacecraft in history.

The craft has already made a successful orbital flight and will tote eight engines apparently offering up to 120,000 pounds of thrust to the spaceship. Unfortunately, SpaceX‘s plan for a February launch was postponed in favor of continued development time, but we’re not going complain if the company still fulfills its promise of ferrying people to the ISS. Countdown from ten for ignition right after the break.

Referring to an article about two airlines merging, Bloomberg Businessweek’s newest issue front cover features a lewd moment between the two companies’ planes. Last year, United Airlines and Continental Airlines announced a $3 billion merger that would create the world’s biggest airline.

The editor Josh Tyrangiel said the cover is a tribute to ”Marvin Gaye, Airplane, and vintage Economist” in a tweet.

[Source: Business Insider]

“Are you aware of it?” I asked him.

“Cape Town’s best kept secret,” he replied.

Wow – that’s laughable. I know a lot of places and things claim to be Cape Town’s “best kept secret” and they are entitled to those claims. A secret beach, perhaps. Or a little viewing point on Signal Hill – great. That makes sense. But why should a restaurant which is so tranquil and charming, with easy parking and delicious food be a secret? I find that quite bizarre. Actually, it’s more than that – I find it nothing short of astounding.

Seriously, consider me astounded.

I know how to keep a secret and that is why I try not to publicise the various Bakoven beaches I frequent (and sometimes get attacked on) but I’m also in the business of making your lives easier. It’s all about living the holiday, right? So when it comes to a “secret” which will make your lives easier and is open to the public, I would actually be harming you if I don’t tell you about it. Because then you would be living the “nightmare,” rather than the holiday.

If you want to get away from the madness in a place with no noise and nothing but a civilised laid-back atmosphere, then please do yourselve a favour and grab a wrought-iron chair on the terrace overlooking the most beautiful pool and lawns in Cape Town, and kick-back. You can eat from the hot and cold buffet or you can eat off the menu. There is a chef right there and you can select what meat or calamari you want him/her to cook for you and they will cook it in front of you. It’s all incredible because it all falls under Chef Rudi’s jurisdiction – which means it’s as good as it gets. You’ll recall our chat about the Planet Restaurant ..

This is pretty much exactly how we roll, friends.

Did I mention the parking? It’s free and there is tons of it. In the shade too

CLICK HERE for more on The Oasis Restaurant at the Mount Nelson
and make the most of this Cape Town institution.

Think our South African Protection of Information Bill is scary? It’s nothing on Zimbabwe’s media commission, which has announced that it will actively ban foreign newspapers and magazines henceforth, as they do not meet its “standards”, and have not registered properly for distribution in Mugabe-land.

The Zimbabwe media commission has resolved to bar affected papers from entrance into and circulation within Zimbabwe until they comply with Zimbabwe’s laws,

Commission chair Godfrey Majonga said in a statement.

Apparently our very own Sunday Times is one of the principal offenders, as not all of it’s journalists have the required accreditation to publish their colonial nonesense within our neighbour’s borders.

This won’t be news to media outlets in Zimbabwe, who have suffered increasingly tight restrictions over the last decade, including being forced to stop press, and having journalists arrested and harassed by government forces.

The so-called Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act was a major point of disagreement between coalition partners ZANU-PF and the MDC under Morgan Tsvangirai, who vowed to do away with the law three years ago when entering the world’s shoddiest political marriage.

Sorry comrades, it looks like your weekly dose of the Sunday Times Magazine has become yet another reason to creep across the border.

[Source: News 24]

The complaint was stated as follows:

I was utterly outraged this morning when at 07:30 and every time e.tv news channel 403 ran its headlines. They showed the moments before Gaddafi’s death, where he was surrounded by lots of men and was clearly being beaten and dragged.

The images were shown with no prior warning to viewers and repeatedly until at least 12 noon.

The broadcaster was also found guilty of the same offence, committed on another four occasions. The fines total R35 000. This fine must be paid before the end of February.

The BCCSA has also ordered e.tv to broadcast the following statement at 19h00 on the eNews Channel on a Thursday before the end of February: “The Broadcasting Complaints Commission has held that this news service had, during the seven o’clock Thursday evening news, on 20 October 2011, contravened the Broadcasting Code in broadcasting unnecessary detail of the attack on Colonel Gaddafi.”

[Source: News24]

Impala Fires 17,200 Workers at World’s Biggest Platinum Mine – Impala Platinum Holdings Ltd., producer of about a quarter of global platinum, fired 17,200 workers after an illegal pay strike halted its Rustenburg mine, the world’s biggest for the metal. [Bloomberg]

Iran Blocks U.N. Nuclear Inspectors – Iran denied United Nations inspectors access to a suspected nuclear site, scientists and documents during a visit to Tehran this week, dimming already scant hopes for a breakthrough to end a standoff over Iran’s nuclear work, said diplomats briefed on the International Atomic Energy Agency’s mission. [WSJ]

Taliban in Nigeria? – IF Al Qaeda can be in Iraq, Yemen, Pakistan and North Africa, why can’t the Taliban be in Nigeria? However, whereas Al Qaeda retains its name wherever it goes, the Taliban in another country may adopt a different name. It is the agenda that matters, not the name. In Nigeria, for instance, Taliban counterparts are known as Boko Haram. [Dawn]

Dalai Lama judgment due today – Judgment on the constitutionality of the government’s decision to deny entry to the Dalai Lama is expected to be handed down by the Western Cape High Court on Friday. The Inkatha Freedom Party and the Congress of the People are seeking an order declaring Home Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma’s handling of the matter unlawful and forcing her to treat future applications by the Dalai Lama fairly. [IOL]

Internet operator VeriSign admits it was hit by hacks – VeriSign, the internet services company responsible for sending web users to the right place when they type in a particluar .com address, has admitted it fell prey to numerous data breaches in 2010. Top-level managers were not notified about the hacks until a year later, the company disclosed. [Fox News]

French court upholds Scientology ruling – A French court upheld fraud charges and a €600 000 fine against the Church of Scientology in France on Thursday for cajoling members into spending tens of thousands of euros on personality tests, vitamin cures and sauna sessions. [News24]

Blonde: I’m in Love With Cruise Captain – A 25-year-old Moldovan blonde who was spotted on the bridge of the Costa Concordia the night the ship wrecked on the coast of Italy confirmed to investigators Thursday that she is indeed the captain’s lover. “Yes, it’s true. I am in love with Captain Schettino,” Domnica Cemortan told the Italian newspaper La Stampa. [Daily Beast]

Former Beatle Ringo Starr on his new album [VIDEO] – Ringo Starr walks into the hotel suite at the Beverly Hills Hotel carrying a brown paper bag. It’s his sack lunch, and he’s packed it himself. He’s also driven himself to the hotel and arrived alone — no entourage, no bodyguard, no assistant, no fuss. [CNN]

Who Is RayWJ? YouTube’s Top Star – It doesn’t take the media to make a media star any more. The new economics of entertainment have enabled a foul-mouthed performer working on his own to carve out a very lucrative business. He doesn’t have the backing of a traditional media conglomerate. He’s a lone comic with a YouTube channel. [WSJ]

Kate and Will welcome new arrival - The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have welcomed a new addition to their family – an adorable three-month old puppy. The couple acquired the male cocker spaniel in early December and have been happily settling him in at their rented farmhouse in North Wales. [Daily Mail]

Graffiti Artist Set To Make $200 Million In Facebook IPO [VIDEO] – Since the company announced its decision to go public on Wednesday, Facebook employees and early investors must be bouncing off the walls over staggering reported earnings. But our favorite member of the Facebook IPO instant millionaire club is undoubtedly homeless San Jose graffiti artist David Choe. [Huffers]

JSE pushes record higher - The JSE was up at the close on Thursday, as the market’s underlying bullish tone continued to drive trade higher. A local trader said, “It’s difficult to tell if the tone is a result of expectation that a deal would be made in Europe.” The All Share has risen 7% in January alone which was “absolutely fierce”. [Fin24]

Lisa Marie Presley hints at Elvis film – Over the years, Lisa Marie Presley has become dissatisfied with movies chronicling her father’s life, so she just might make her own film about the rock ‘n’ roll icon. The daughter of Elvis Presley said she has been in talks about a movie, though she didn’t offer a timetable. [Channel24]

The Most Memorable Moments from David Letterman’s 30 Years on TV [VIDEO] – Tonight David Letterman celebrates 30 years on the air. It’s been quite a ride for old Dave, through different timeslots and networks, from the peak of zeitgeist to something else entirely. He’s hosted starlets and politicians, often treating them with a dash of anger and more than a bit of sarcasm. Here are some of the most memorable moments from his time on television. [Gawker]

It’s been a long road for Fredrik Neij, Peter Sunde and Carl Lundström, the three founders behind the popular file-sharing site, The Pirate Bay. They were sentenced to time in prison in 2009, and although the sentences have been reduced, their final appeal has been lost. This means they are most certainly going to jail on charges of copyright infringement.

Hoping to overturn the ruling, the three filed for a an appeal hearing of their case at the Supreme Court. Today this request was denied, meaning that the sentences as determined by the Court of Appeal are now final.

The group now hopes to appeal to the European Court of Justice, in a last grabbing-at-straws attempt. The chance of leave being granted to do this is slim to none.

The sentencing has no bearing on the existence of thepiratebay.org as a website, as the site is a separate legal entity and was not involved in the proceedings. The world’s most resilient torrent site lives to sail another day.

[Source: TorrentFreak]

A new study by researchers at Case Western Reserve University in the US has shown a clear correlation between instances of sociotropy (people-pleasing characteristics) and overeating in social situations.

In the study, 101 college students were questioned about their social behaviour. As predicted, concerns about hurting other people, frequently putting others’ needs before your own and being sensitive to criticism all emerged as key traits pointing to sociotropy.

Then the researchers played a little trick. After completing the first part of the assessment, an actor pretending to be another participant was offered a bowl of sweets, took a generous handful and then offered the candy to the real student participant next to him.

It turned out that participants who ranked high on the people-pleasing scale usually took more candy. What, to make the other guy feel better about being greedy?

[Source: Time]

A total of 154 people from all over the world set off on the record attempt to ski a full nautical mile inside Australia’s Macquarie Harbour in Strahan, Tasmania.

Nine fell off, and probably got laughed at.

But despite this, the other 145 people who remained on their skis, were enough to beat the previous record of 114 set by the same team.

They used a 114 foot motor yacht, which normally takes tourists on tours of the area, but had it specially modified with different propellers and a 308 foot aluminium boom to prevent skiers’ ropes from becoming tangled.

The organisers said five miles of ski rope was used for the new record, which The Guinness Book of Records is expected to officially recognise within the next few months.

[Source:: DailyMail]

The delightful little girl with the snake around her neck in the latest music video by Die Antwoord is actually their real-life daughter.

If you haven’t seen the video yet, click here.

Her name is Sixteen (for real) and she also appears on the latest cover of Rolling Stone SA along with her parents.

Here is the heartwarming family portrait:

But several years ago, when Ninja was still known as Watkin Tudor-Jones and Yolandi Vi$$er as Anri du Toit, they also appeared in an issue of Obrigado Magazine.

Sixteen was then known as Sixteen too:

What does the future hold for this seven year-old? One can only imagine. And shudder.

[Source: Hurricane Vanessa]

Late yesterday, the DA’s leader in Parliament, Lindiwe Mazibuko, released the names of her new DA shadow cabinet to the press, continuing the rather odd tradition of maintaining such a unit in South Africa’s rather one-sided political system. We’ve got the new cast of the DA Show in Parliament, after the jump.

Ms. Mazibuko reports that the main aim of her new Shadow Cabinet is to make the DA a more effective vehicle for opposition in Parliament, and that the selection attempts to optimise the diversity and “cross-generational” experience from within the DA fold.

It will be their responsibility to speak on behalf of the millions of South Africans who lack access to work opportunities, and to advance the DA’s vision for a growing and prosperous South Africa,

she said.

In other words: a little bit of every corner of the DA rainbow throwing shade at each and every step the President’s actual Cabinet makes. You’ll recall that  that illustrious gang got re-shuffled (again) late last year.

And the Shadow Cabinet seats go to:

• Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries – Annette Steyn
• Appropriations – Marius Swart
• Arts and culture – Niekie van den Berg
• Basic education – Annette Lovemore
• Communications – Marian Shinn
• Co-operative governance and traditional affairs – John Steenhuisen
• Correctional services – James Selfe
• Defence and military veterans – David Maynier
• Economic development – Haniff Hoosen
• Energy – Lance Greyling
• Finance – Tim Harris
• Health – Patricia Kopane
• Higher education and training – Dr Annelie Lotriet
• Home affairs – Manny De Freitas
• Human settlements – Stevens Mokgalapa
• International relations and co-operation – Ian Davidson
• Justice and constitutional development – Dene Smuts
• Labour – Sej Motau
• Mineral resources – James Lorimer
• Police – Dianne Kohler Barnard
• Public enterprises – Natasha Michael
• Public service and administration – Kobus Marais
• Public works – Anchen Dreyer
• Rural development and land reform – Athol Trollip
• Science and technology – Dr Junita Kloppers-Lourens
• Social development – Mike Waters
• Sports and recreation – Winston Rabotapi
• Standing Committee on Public Accounts – Dr Dion George
• State security – Lennit Max
• Tourism – Stuart Farrow
• Trade and industry – Dr Wilmot James
• Transport – Ian Ollis
• Water and environmental affairs – Gareth Morgan
• Women, children and people with disabilities – Helen Lamoela

No, I don’t recognise more than five of those names either, and yes, those are all also actual government departments and cabinet clusters! Anyway, best of luck to Lindiwe’s super-diverse, cross-generational league of super friends.

A quick Spark Note: Shadow cabinets are something mostly found in Westminster Parliamentary systems, that is those based on the structure of the UK government, where typically two major parties alternate in the hot seat semi-regularly. The idea is that the members of a shadow cabinet are quite likely to assume the actual role, should a change of government occur. It allows an informal system of accountability to be installed within key government portfolios.

In our system then, the selection of shadow cabinets seems a little out of place, given we enjoy (technically) representation drawn proportionally from party lists, and to be blunt, it seems quite unlikely any of these people will ever actually be Ministers in government, given the massive grip the ANC wields on our electoral majority. Still, the ANC members of Parliament don’t seem to mind, and some even welcome the opportunity to work with the DA in such a structured manner.

[Source: TIMES Live, The Mail & Guardian, Business Day]

According to an eyewitness at the resort:

The boy was lucky, rescuers got to him immediately. They figured the best way to save him was for him to let go of his father’s hand and they catch him.

He fell into the arms of those below and was not injured. The boy was pretty shaken but more embarrassed. He took a little while to recover but got back on the chair lift and skied the rest of the day.

That’s pretty amazing. And am I wrong to think it looks a little fun? A bit like a trust fall.

[Source: DailyMail]

What caused the explosion is still unknown, and details regarding the event are fuzzy at best. Whether it was a premeditated attack or a tragic accident has yet to be determined.

Tshisikawe Ndou of the SAPD had the following to say,

At this stage the information remains very sketchy. We do not know the cause of the explosion. However, the police are busy investigating.

Check back here later for updates on the story.

[Source: Eyewitness News]

The footage includes the 900-kilometer-wide Mare Orientale basin, and the 150-mile-wide star-shaped Drygalski crater. Both landmarks were created by asteroid impacts after the moon’s formation.

GRAIL, the department that spent far too much time trying to think of an acronym to justify their cool name, sent the twin recording satellites, Ebb and Flow, in September 2011.

[Source: PhysOrg]

The bay of Nuarro is located on the Baixo do Pinda Peninsula in the Memba District of Nampula Province.

According to the source, the elephant is a male, in good condition and very playful, having spent a long time chilling in the warm waters.

Trienke Lodewijk, Nuarro eco-lodge manager has the story:

It’s very special to see an elephant swimming in the Indian Ocean  (and drinking salty sea water), we had no idea there were elephants around here…we don’t really know how this elephant came to our lodge, it looks like it swam from Memba, and probably came from the north of our district close by the Lurio waterfalls, but that would be impossible.

“Hey bru, has anybody got a 9″6 for me?”

Africa Geographic’s Science Editor, Tim Jackson, confirmed this is indeed an highly unusual natural wonder:

Wow! There are legends of elephants bathing off Mozambique’s beaches, but to see one is a rare sighting indeed. The only place I know where elephants sometimes venture onto the beaches is in Gabon’s Loango National Park in west-central Africa, and that’s a long way away from here.

Today Trienke confirmed that the elephant has now wandered back into the bush, and that it be could from a family of three who she’s discovered are living in the Nuarro peninsula:

Local people are not allowed to burn land or farm anymore so the bush is coming back. And that’s good news also for this elephant.

At present, the Nuarro Eco Lodge has about a 700 hectare concession, and conservation in the area has helped increase animal populations dramatically.

With any luck, more elephants will start surfing.

[Source: AfricaGeographic]

Have a look at these guys pulling off insanely awesome pool table tricks. After watching this we’ve fast-tracked their application to immediately make space for them in our 2oceansVibe Boss Hall of Fame.

[Thanks Pete!]

Bob will discuss the format of the tournament, who he has his money on, and how to take a scrum punch like a man.

Tune in from ANYWHERE in the world! Check out the details below.

Check out Cape Town Tens on Facebook.

Most people will know Clyde Rathbone as a towering ex-Wallaby centre and wing with over 30 caps under his belt. Before his retirement in 2009 from injury, he had also played for our own Sharks, before moving to Australia to play for the Brumbies. 2009 also marked another turning point, when his life-long battle with depression began to spiral out of control.

Now Rathbone has broken his silence about a condition that robbed him of his marriage, and almost of his life. He spoke to the Canberra Times recently, wanting to finally show the world that depression can be beaten. His full heart-wrenching statement after the jump.

Rathbone revealed pictures of the awe-inspiring physical change his fight against depression has had on him, since he took back control of his life.

I’m not really sure where to start, if this appears as unlettered and rambling as I fear please accept my apologies …

I first heard about you whilst listening to Robb Wolfs podcast, from there I found your blog, read every single post, downloaded & read “Flinch” which resonated with me in ways I’m not nearly well enough equipped to articulate so I’m forced to drag out the cliché that it changed my life, but fuck it it did!

I know my story is neither as boring or as interesting as I think it is, I hope you’ll bare with me and read it (there’s an idea at the end, and I know you like those) but if you decide not to I’m fine with that too.

I was born in South Africa 30 years ago I’m the oldest of 4 boys, I had a difficult childhood, I was abused emotionally by someone who should have been looking after me. And it had a huge effect on me. A number of things can happen when you’ve been emotionally abused. Every negative thing I heard about myself, things that were said repeatedly to me became my truth, I started to believe that negative voice until it became ingrained, it affected me in nearly everything that I did and every decision I made. Usually people who are exposed to this abuse have extremely low confidence and low self esteem, In my case that was certainly true but those that knew me in high school may well describe me as arrogant, my defence mechanism was to project an image of myself that most protected me.

I was lucky in a sense because the abuse I suffered was inconsistent and definitely not as bad as many others are exposed to. So I ended up a confused, conflicted & pretty angry child and I know what saved me was that I was always good at sports, I was good at just about any sport I tried and gradually over time I started to challenge some of these negative thoughts that I had by performing well in sport. Ironically I used those negative thoughts as a driving force, as if every time I achieved success it was a reaffirmation to myself that those negative thoughts weren’t true. Every time I trained hard or played well I felt I was winning the battle against those thoughts.

And I did this most of my childhood and adulthood, this unlikely process turned me into a world class athlete, I captained the South African National U21 team to victory in the 2002 Rugby World Cup. Shortly after that I was offered a contract to play for the Brumbies rugby team in Australia. And since I knew my family planned to immigrate to Australia soon I decided to take up the offer. It was not long before I was playing for the Australian National Team, travelling the world and basically living what I thought were my dreams. The thing is I was never happy, I felt guilty that I could not appreciate the life many others could only dream of. By this point I had convinced myself that what I had gone through as a child was not that bad and I basically tried to forget about it. The fact is those issues never left me completely, they would express themselves in many ways. I would be angry or irritable or feel tension and stress and not really know why but for the most part I would say I functioned as well as I could and anyone who met me would think I was completely “normal”. And I maintained that fictitious existence for years.

But this all began to gradually change about 5-6 years ago when I picked up some serious rugby injuries which ultimately forced me to retire @ 27. That was a catalyst for a flood of all those negative thoughts I had pushed to the background, many I had not had for years slowly began coming back and over time I slipped further and further into depression until I was chronically and severely depressed. Though my body was broken I agreed to play some minor level club rugby, I injured myself in a match and needed surgery to insert a titanium plate in my face. I was on a lot of painkillers and I would go days when I would hardly get out of bed. I felt despairingly low all day, I had no motivation or optimism, I began having suicidal thoughts. And I want to say this about depression, I always looked at it as something that happened to “other people”, until I become depressed it never even crossed my mind that it could happen to me. What I’ve learnt over time is that any of us can become depressed given the wrong mix of experiences.

In that state, in the deepest of my depression my marriage began failing, I become short tempered and verbally abusive to my wife, there was never physical abuse but there is no doubt she suffered hugely emotionally. I completely neglected her and her needs. I did not know how to climb out of the hole I felt I was in, I did not even know where to start. Finally in Late 2010 I told my wife what I had gone through as a child, 10 years after our relationship began and 5 years into our marriage she was learning this for the first time.

And while it felt initially better to finally tell someone what happened, in some ways it made things worse because I began to see how much of my life had been affected by what happened to me as a child and it brought a lot of anger and resentment to the surface.

By mid May of last year my wife had had enough, she came to the conclusion that she could not help me. She had tried everything she knew to try and nothing seemed to change. She packed a bag and left to stay with her friend. Going through depression is difficult enough, but since I’ve recovered I’ve begun to realise just how tough it must have been for my wife to observe the person you care about most struggling for as long as I did while nothing my wife tried seemed to work. I think often we forget about the toll that depression takes on the people who are caught trying to help those suffering from it. If there is a hero in this story it’s how my wife has managed to remain as strong as she did for as long as she did.

Carrie leaving devastated me, that’s is both the most difficult and most valuable thing I’ve been through, because it was the first time I felt as though I was going to lose the most important thing in my life. It focussed my mind for the first time in a long time. I was at a crossroads, either I do whatever I must to completely rid myself of depression or it was likely going to cost me my marriage and probably ultimately kill me.

So as Carrie had been bugging me to do for ages I went to see a psychologist, I went to 5 sessions and they were incredibly valuable in helping me focus on the things I have control over and challenging the way I was thinking about things. After I started getting some help the main thing I developed was consistency. I started working out again, dialling in my diet, working and reading like I was starving for knowledge and I began seeing old friends again.

For the last 6 months I’ve been completely free of any sort of depression, I experience the general ups and downs of life and every now and again you get a curve ball thrown your way but at no point have I ever felt as though I’m becoming depressed or that I’m slipping back into old habits. I think of my mind in the same way I think about a broken bone that heals stronger than it was before. I feel indestructible, I rarely flinch and when I do I make sure forge ahead anyway.

Today I will finally share this story with my brothers and parents, that will be both painful and cathartic. On the 10th Feb I’ll be sharing this with a few hundred people at a speaking engagement I’m doing through work (I own a corporate health business: www.healthfutures.com.au) I feel as though by talking about it at least some good can come from a bad experience, that maybe some of the people I talk too are struggling or know someone that is and perhaps hearing my story might help them to take come action.

All of this brings me to my wife. Carrie is far and away the best thing that ever happened to me, she’s the most kind, gentle, generous, smart, funny, beautiful soul. She sees the world differently to most of us. No matter how dark a situation seems her strength of character and spirit see her through. Her strength ultimately wore her down, when I was ill she told nobody, she took every single burden of my depression squarely on her shoulders and she did everything she could. By the time she left she was literally done, I had been emotionally shut down for years and I had worn her down to the point where she had to choose between becoming depressed herself or staying in an abusive situation. She did the right thing in leaving.

Since then I’ve made incredible progress, I don’t recognise myself. I’ll send you a picture taken in Jan 2011 and another taken a little while ago in November. Transforming my mind has allowed me to transform my body. I’ve never in my life felt as capable of anything I decide to do as I feel today. I seek out things that scare me and I attack them. I feel things deeper than I ever have and my mind is always searching for that next morsel that might just change the way I view the world. Julian, I feel lucky to have found your blog, to have learned who Robb Wolf is and to have been exposed to Mark Sisson’s work. I feel enormously enlightened and humbled by the works of Sam Harris, Christopher Hitchens and Richard Dawkins. The internet is fucking amazing, I guess I just feel lucky.

And I need your help. I need this story broadcast, I need everyone I know and everyone I don’t to read this. I need that for me but mostly I just need to tell my wife that I love her and that I’m sorry, and that anything she chooses to do for her happiness is the right decision. I need her to know that she should never settle for happier than she’s been in 10 years when what she deserves is happier than she ever imagined you could be.

So what I’m asking is that you post this on your blog, send it to anyone you can, comment on it or don’t. I just need it out there…

Thank you,

Clyde Rathbone

[Source: News24, Sydney Morning Herald]

More Than 70 Die In Egyptian Football Riot – At least 74 people have been killed and 1,000 injured after a football pitch invasion in Egypt, according to reports. Clashes are said to have broken out as fans flooded the field seconds after the game in the northern coastal city of Port Said finished. There were reports of rocks, bottles, flares and fireworks being thrown as politicians in the country criticised a lack of security at the match. [skynews]

ANC Study Advises Against Nationalizsation – The African National Congress (ANC) research team on nationalisation has resubmitted its report to the party, and while it is confidential, it is reliably understood to discourage ” asset grabs” and buying stakes in mines. The report could go some way towards settling the vexed question of nationalisation in the ANC. [businessday]

With IPO, Facebook’s Valuation Could Reach $100 Billion – Facebook is currently trading at a valuation of $89.4 billion on Sharespost, a private market, but the company could be worth as much as $100 billion or more after the IPO, once public investors get a chance to buy a piece of the company for the first time. That would make its market capitalization greater than than iconic American companies like McDonald’s and Citigroup. [time]

Facebook IPO Filing Reveals First Look At Company’s Finances – Declaring that Facebook was built to be not just a company but also to “accomplish a social mission,” the idealistic young creator of the world’s largest online social network launched what will be the biggest Internet IPO in Silicon Valley history Wednesday, as the Menlo Park-based company revealed the long-secret details of its business for the first time. [mercury]

Div Feels Sorry For Meyer - Former Springbok coach Peter de Villiers admitted to being bitter at the way he left the job, and has said he “feels sorry” for new coach Heyneke Meyer, who is already “on the back foot.” [sport24]

White Stripes’ Jack White Releasing Solo Album In April – Jack White will release Blunderbuss, his debut album as a solo artist, on Third Man Records/Columbia on April 24th. “Love Interruption,” the first track to be released from the record, was released On Monday – first as a stream on White’s official site, and later as a digital single on sale in the usual shops. [rollingstone]

Science Works Out How To Read Our Thoughts - Researchers have demonstrated a striking method to reconstruct words, based on the brain waves of patients thinking of those words. The technique reported in PLoS Biology relies on gathering electrical signals directly from patients’ brains. Based on signals from listening patients, a computer model was used to reconstruct the sounds of words that patients were thinking of. [bbc]

Prince Harry To Take On Usain Bolt - The H-Factor will meet 100m world record holder Usain Bolt when he stops off at the Olympic champion’s training track in Kingston during his first solo foreign tour. Royal sources have told The Daily Telegraph that the Prince, who is an Olympic ambassador for Team GB, is hoping to challenge Bolt to a “fun” race if does not interrupt the athlete’s training schedule. [telegraph]

Treasure Hunter Reckons He Has Found $3 Billion Of Platinum – A treasure hunter said Wednesday he has located the wreck of a British merchant ship that was torpedoed by a German U-boat off Cape Cod during World War II while carrying what he claims was a load of platinum bars now worth more than $3 billion. [huffpo]

Amy Winehouse Death Verdict May Be Unlawful – The coroner who oversaw the inquest into the death of singer Amy Winehouse has resigned after her qualifications were questioned, officials in Britain said on Wednesday. Suzanne Greenaway ruled in October that the 27-year-old soul singer had died from accidental alcohol poisoning. [msnbc]

Pigeon Sells For $328,000 – Wealthy Chinese have been snapping up contemporary art, top wines and some the world’s most expensive cars. Now they’re adding pigeons to their must-have list. A Chinese shipping magnate last weekend spent 250,400 euros ($328,000) for a Dutch pigeon, a new world record according to Pipa, the firm that ran the online auction. [wallstreetjournal]

The Hoff Proposes To His Girlfriend For The Fifth Time - David Hasselhoff has proposed to his girlfriend for a fifth time. The 59-year-old actor has been dating former shop assistant Hayley Roberts for almost a year and although she has refused to marry him four times already, he has gone down on one knee yet again. It is unclear if Hayley accepted the latest proposal. [ctv]

The slogan reads: “In OUR future, you wouldn’t give a shit”.

Here you go:

[Source: ZANews]

Regardt van den Bergh is a pretty big name in South African film circles, responsible for such local hits as Faith Like Potatoes and Hansie. Now his star is set to shine even brighter as a Hollywood producer has stumped up US$20 million for a new production, written and directed by Van den Bergh and set in and around the events of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.

Van den Bergh reports that he has been developing the script to The Lamb for over a decade. It’s set in Jerusalem at the time of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, and will focus on a Jewish family dealing with issues of forgiveness and faith, while the events of the end of Christ’s life take place around them.

The script was picked up by LA-based producer, Frank Yablans, and pre-production has begun on location in Morocco. Yablans says he had already heard of Van den Bergh, but was swayed by the promotional DVD that Van den Bergh sent to pitch his film script. Says Yablans,

After I watched it for the third time, I realised it would not just be another Jesus film. This is a movie with a secular, universal message. It’s about forgiveness.

As yet, no casting news has been released, though reportedly, Jim Caviezel, who played Jesus in Mel Gibson’s Passion of the Christ, has shown interest in reprising the role. Van den Bergh is apparently pursuing an “epic” type production, which should be interesting on a meagre US$20 million. I predict lots of badly CGI’d Romans.

[Source: News24, Sarie]

Thankfully relatively unknown director Asger Leth and TV movie screenwriter, Pablo F. Fenjves have managed to negotiate a pretty decent thriller with an equally decent cast. The ensemble are cemented by the presence of Ed Harris, although most directors would be thrilled to have the likes of Sam Worthington, Elizabeth Banks, Jamie Bell, Genesis Rodriguez, Anthony Mackie and Edward Burns at their disposal.

There aren’t really any stand out performances in this team effort, but it’s good to see Sam Worthington tackling a more conventional film role. In his previous films, he’s been more of a vessel for the audience and as the title character in Man on a Ledge he clocks in a convincing performance as Nick Cassidy.

The supporting cast have good chemistry but it’s another day at the office with Titus Welliver and Ed Harris making the biggest impact. The innocent man stigma of The Next Three Days gives Elizabeth Banks a bit of history, up-and-coming actor Anthony Mackie, does well with the screen time and Jamie Bell adds a bit of hi-tech diamond thief fun with the gorgeous Genesis Rodriguez in tow.

“Damnit, whose line is it anyway?”

Man on a Ledge is an original blend of better films, most notably, Inside Job, Phone Booth and Man on Wire. The plot makes direct parallels with these movies as an ex-con distracts bystanders and law enforcement agencies from a diamond heist by threatening to jump from a Manhattan building.

It smacks of Spike Lee’s Inside Job in the style of shooting, the story involving a despicable businessman, the art of distraction and the actual heist itself. Although, Man on a Ledge jumps between the thrill of the diamond heist and the high pressure media, emergency services jumper scenario in a locked-down New York City block.

The fixed position under duress, maintained by several key actors is reminiscent of Phone Booth with Colin Farrell. Emergency services, media harassment and a sense of imminent jeopardy heighten the urgency of this literal on edge thriller. Although, the intensity is maintained by switching between heist and jumper… eventually bridging the two with some interesting twists.

“I will bury you ALIVE… in paperwork.”

Then possibly the inspiration for the entire film must be attributed to the Oscar-winning documentary Man on Wire, the true story of French tightrope-walking daredevil, Phillipe Petit. The documentary was shot and edited like a heist film as his team set up his illegal high-wire routine over New York City’s twin towers World Trade Center in 1974. The thinking: why not add a real heist and make this, or a similar high-rise stunt, the distraction?

The tone is mostly suited to being a crime thriller, with one or two lighter moments to break the tension. While the brief levity adds to the entertainment value, you can’t help but wonder how it would have turned out with a grittier tone, look and feel.

As it stands, Man on a Ledge is an entertaining popcorn thriller, a crowd-pleaser with an intriguing premise and a dull familiarity. There are one or two plot developments that rely on you letting go a bit, but the pacing, tension and twists-and-turns lure you back in. It never really threatens to outclass its influences, but turns in a competent team effort.

The bottom line: Fun

Release Date: 3 February, 2012
Book Tickets at Ster-Kinekor
Book Tickets at Nu Metro

Catch more movie reviews at SPL!NG

The report concludes that the Taliban’s strength and morale are largely intact in spite of Nato efforts to the contrary. The report also shows that significant numbers of Afghan government soldiers are defecting to the Taliban, which is in stark contrast to what NATO has been telling us all along – that things are just dandy.

The report also indicates that the Taliban is firmly under the thumb of the Pakistani secret service, but that they’re not happy about this at all. This claim has been officially rejected by the Pakistani government.

The report is the latest of a series aimed at providing an assessment of the insurgency on the basis of detainee interrogations, mostly at the Nato base at Bagram. The first, the State of the Taliban 2009, was drawn up by US academics attached to a special forces unit called Task Force 373, charged with hunting down Taliban commanders. That report was influential in convincing the British government at the time that a peace deal could be done with the Taliban.

[Source: Guardian]

You see, for just $50 000 a month, Racepoint could give you a fighting chance of “drowning out” the complaints of the opposition to your regime.

Remember back in 2009,  when Rwanda’s authoritarian regime and its human-rights record were seriously under fire? Accusations were flying thick and fast – rumours of the government’s media censorship, and the way it was suppressing freedom, shutting down newspapers and just generally creating a “climate of fear” were downright awful for Rwanda’s image. Given what was presumably the restricted environment for traditional media, the web was the stage where the opposition was shouting loudest.

What did Rwanda’s leaders do? They appointed Racepoint Group to create two pro-Rwanda websites and fill the internet to the seams with positive stories about the country, all as part of the strategy to create a new national image.

The campaign’s principle aim was to counter the efforts of human rights groups seeking to “advance a story of an unstable Rwanda as a means of continuing to attract donors and wield influence in the region”. Okay.

Larry Weber, chairman of Racepoint’s holding company, W2 Group Inc., gets pretty annoyed when people say it is morally questionable for him to be promoting Rwanda’s rulers. “The campaign was to do nothing but to help them learn how to communicate more aggressively in a world that likes to throw a lot of stones.”

In 2007, Racepoint took on a contract to promote Colonel Gadhafi, and embarked on a campaign which presented the Libyan as a “democrat, a reformer, an intellectual and philosopher” in an effort to smooth relations between Libya and the West. Larry admits that the Colonel turned out to be “not a good man” in the end. Guess that’s the risk of dealing with these big personalities in the PR game, hey?

[Source: Globe and Mail]

Woolworths must remove its retro soft drinks, the Advertising Standards Authority has ruled. Frankies Olde Soft Drink Company CEO, Mike Schmidt, has today revealed the small beverage manufacturer has won its case against the larger retailer.

Late last year, Frankies Olde Soft Drink Company, complained that a product sold by Woolworths closely resembled its own, and that their concept had been copied.

In response, Woolworths claimed the allegations were groundless, issuing a statement asserting that retro drinks were not a new concept and it did not infringe on any copyright or intellectual property.

The matter went before the Advertising Standards Authority board, and although the official ruling had not yet been publicly released, Frankies CEO, Mike Schmidt tweeted the following a short while ago:

Schmidt’s tweet was preceded by one from Bruce Whitfield, who presents The Money Show on Talk Radio 702 and 567 Cape Talk:

#Frankies CEO tells me ASA has ruled in their favour. @woolwothssa must remove retro drinks – and I have no voice to tell the flipping story

Schmidt further stated:

They are also not allowed to produce the range in its current guise ever again.

Schmidt explained the ruling stated that the ASA could come to no other conclusion other than that Woolworths had intentionally copied the Frankies slogan and subsequently, they have been instructed to withdraw their products from their shelves immediately.

UPDATE: Woolworths has subsequently released the following statement on their Facebook page:

Hi everyone, we’ve received the ruling from the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA). The ASA has ruled that we must remove the phrase “Good Old Fashioned” from our vintage soda range labels.

Frankie’s complained to the ASA about our use of the phrase “Good Old Fashioned”.

Obviously we are disappointed by the decision as we genuinely believed that “Good Old Fashioned” was a common phrase used in everyday conversation. Vintage drinks remain a global trend. Of course we will abide by the findings of the ASA and remove the phrase from our vintage soda labels.

[Source: BruceWhitfield, MoneyWeb]

If the name Roger Ballen does not ring a bell, a search for his photography is strongly advised before checking out the video. If you are too impatient, then these two will have to do:

Exactly.

Here’s I Fink U Freeky:

[Source: Youtube]

Born and raised in The Republic, Conor is currently the darling of the New York art scene, and will be hosting his second completely solo show in New York at the end of March, which is an astonishing achievement for someone on the shady side of 24. But we’ll tell you more about that closer to the time.

The BEST thing about our interview with Conor? On the spur of the moment, he graced the wall of our studio with a completely original mural.

CLICK THROUGH for the timelapse video of Conor creating the mural, the podcast of his highly entertaining interview, and a full gallery of shots of the whole affair.

Conormccreedy-27-jan-2012 by 2oceansvibe.com

Tune in from ANYWHERE in the world! Check out the details below.

Follow Conor on Twitter HERE.

Check out his Facebook page, HERE.

Read more about his solo exhibition, HERE.

Check out his website, HERE.

Convicted murderer, Donovan Moodley has lost his application at the South Gauteng High Court to have his conviction for murder overturned. Now the man that kidnapped and murdered 21-year old Leigh Matthews, and then tried to extort money from her father, will return to jail to serve the rest of his life sentence.

In his application, heard last week, Moodley decided to represent himself, and amended his original statement to police, claiming that police investigating the case lost and/or tampered with evidence. He said that he had been offered R1 million by three Nigerian drug dealers to kidnap another man, and that they had orchestrated the kidnap and murder plot. He also said that the investigating officer had forced him to sign a confession.

Said Moodley in his application,

I was a young, defenceless man, who was crushed by the weight of the State, history is replete with innocent men being burnt at the stake… I saw an entire Oprah show about similar cases.

Judge Joop Labuschagne was not convinced by Moodley’s story, saying in his ruling,

The applicant’s ‘true story’ is riddled with improbabilities. I cannot find that there is a possibility that another court will come to a different conclusion.

Moodley is serving a life sentence for the murder, 15 years for her kidnapping, and 10 years for extortion. Plenty of time to catch up on more Oprah.

[Source: TIMES Live, News24]

At last count 58 people were reported dead in the last week, most of them succumbing to hypothermia and severe frostbite. The unusually cold spell hit Ukraine and Poland particularly, with both countries suffering 30 and 21 deaths, respectively. Deaths have also been reported in Romania and Bulgaria, and nations’ armies have been called out in certain areas to provide support and rescue survivors trapped by blizzards.

The majority of the deceased were homeless, and therefore didn’t have sufficient means to fend off the sudden temperature drop. In some countries the cold reached -20°C, and in Siberia it dropped as low as -49°C. According to health officials in Ukraine, more than 24 000 homeless people have sought refuge in just 1 590 shelters across the country in the past three days. Additionally, over 600 people have sought treatment for hypothermia and frostbite.

It’s not only the freezing temperatures that are causing harm. In Poland, the Interior Affairs Ministry reported several cases of carbon monoxide poisoning caused by faulty heaters.

The cold is also spreading further west, affecting Greece and Turkey. Heavy snowfall in Greece has resulted in several schools and beaches being closed. In Turkey, conditions are even more severe, and the Bosporus Strait, the country’s main waterway through Istanbul, had to be shut down due to a severe snowstorm.

Weather forecasters predict the cold will only taper off towards the weekend.

[Source: Sky News, BBC]

Vino Govender, the now ex-CEO of TopTV, was removed from office after pressure was placed on the board of On Digital Media, TopTV’s umbrella company. Nervous investors are worried about the direction that the company is taking, as well as its selection of media content. Asked about the move, industry expert Janine Lazarus said:

It will now be very difficult for the public to divorce the brand from the debate on pornography, and – even worse – the fracas surrounding getting the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa’s (Icasa) stamp of approval. What is needed now is some serious rethinking and strategising – that is if it isn’t too late.

TopTV, at it’s last count, had about 300 000 subscribers. Current numbers are uncertain after calls to boycott the channel for wanting a dedicated porn channel.

[Source: News24]

There are a couple of banks partnered in the IPO. Morgan Stanley will be taking the lead role, with Goldman Sachs, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Barclays Capital and JP Morgan also involved in the deal, to a lesser extent. But honestly, they’re just happy to have some new money to play with.

The timeline on the proposal points to the IPO being finalized by May, pending SEC approval.

Facebook’s valuation is still up in the air, and it changes every time they introduce another rehash of their format, but traders on private exchanges are valuing the company at around $80 billion. So, a little over 620 billion ZAR.

Like.

[Source: IFR]

The Telegraph’s crime writer, Mark Hughes, wrote this morning:

Mr Murdoch was sent the email detailing a hacking claim by Gordon Taylor, the chief executive of the Professional Footballers’ Association, on June 7, 2008.

Mr Myler describes Mr Taylor’s case against the paper and requests a meeting with Mr Murdoch. The News International chairman replies two minutes later agreeing to the meeting, but has subsequently claimed he had not had time to read the email in full.

Linklaters, a law firm representing News International, has written to the Commons culture, media and sport committee saying that the email was deleted on Jan 15 2011. Operation Weeting began 11 days later.

The deletion is thought to have happened during or shortly after News International’s internal trawl of emails, the results of which were passed to the police.

Naughty.

Obviously the blame game is being played too, and Murdoch’s last statement on the matter still has him claiming he didn’t read the email properly.

But, he went to the meeting? Which makes it hard to believe that the prevalence of the hacking situation wasn’t actually discussed and that Murdoch didn’t know how bad it actually was.

This is what John Turnbull of Linklaters wrote as the excuse for the email deletion in a letter to the Commons culture, media and sport committee:

Mr Murdoch’s copy of the email was deleted from his mailbox by a member of News International’s IT department on January 15 2011 as part of [an] email stabilisation and modernisation programme.

Mr Myler’s copy of the email was lost from the email archive system in a hardware failure that occurred on March 18 2010. The email archive system was subject to many such incidents.

As usual, a spokesman for News International declined to comment.

[Source: Telegraph]

Wowsers – he’s punching WAY above his weight! Some evidence of that statement can be seen here, here, here and here (chips).

I found that pic in The Daily and further investigating online led me to this fresh information:

She dated Hollywood’s most suave star George Clooney, but now Elisabetta Canalis has started a surprise romance with Jackass daredevil Steve-O.

The Italian beauty, 33, confirmed the rumours as she leaned in for a kiss with the goofy TV star after having lunch together in Hollywood yesterday.

[more here]

It just goes to show. No matter who you are, no matter what crazy stuff you do, you can get an Italian Supermodel.

AIDS activist Sello Mokhalipi of the Treatment Action Campaign said he complained after “we had people flocking in, coming to report that the condoms had burst while they were having sex. Some were panicking because they were infected with AIDS and were concerned for their partners.”

We poured water into the condoms and they were leaking, not just in one place, they were leaking like a sieve. Looking at them, you can see there are small pores.

But wait, it gets better.

All the condoms were stamped to indicate that they were in batches that had been quality tested by the South African Bureau of Standards, which is responsible for ensuring they meet the standards of the World Health Organization. Bureau spokeswoman Verna Schutte confirmed that they were “investigating the condoms.”

But don’t worry guys, its all under control.

Spokesman Jabu Mbalula of the health department of Free State province, which distributed the condoms before the January 6 – 8 celebrations, said they had recalled the entire batch of 1 350 000 condoms. He said there was “no need for a panic.”

[Source: Washington Post]

Regular lottery players who understand that you have to keep playing in order to win (unless you’re incredibly arrogant), will be aware of the little wins one gets along the way. And the online system that let’s you enter these overseas lotteries is very nicely programmed to let you convert those winnings into vouchers (at a reduced rate) if you want. That said, you should appreciate the beauty of getting £10 for free. You can convert that into quite a few tickets. And one of those could get you this:

You have a genuine chance of living in this house by the weekend

The big lotteries only feature on 2oceansvibe when they rollover enough times to hit a billion Rand. It is not very often that they get this big. One point three billion Rand ($170 million) is an incredible amount of money. Can you just imagine winning that? Would you tell your friends if you won?

Well do yourself a favour and buy your tickets to the US Powerball draw (tonight) right here.

These are my numbers I just bought:

The first 10 people to forward me their ticket-purchase confirmation email, will get their accounts credited with £10. Forward that email to editor@2oceansvibe.com

Nothing wrong with that.

If you win the R1.3 billion, I think you should give the £10 back though. Don’t you?

The draw is tonight.

CLICK HERE  TO GET TICKETS
SAFELY AND SECURELY ONLINE

Kim Jong Un Embraces The Masses – North Korea’s young new leader gets rock star treatment when he visits his troops — just as his father did. But while the late Kim Jong Il mostly stayed aloof in dark shades, his son holds hands and hugs his soldiers. Kim Jong Un seems to want to bond with his country’s people. [msnbc]

DA To Oppose Media Appeals Tribunal – The Democratic Alliance will oppose the creation of a media appeals tribunal should it be brought to Parliament for debate, the party said on Tuesday. ”The ANC has clearly placed the establishment of a media appeals tribunal firmly back on the agenda,” spokesperson Mmusi Maimane said in Johannesburg. ”Except, this time it has been brought back under the guise that it would be independent from political interference,” he said in a statement. [news24]

Rhino Poachers Get 25 Years Each – Three rhino poachers were sentenced to 25 years each by the Phalaborwa Regional Court on Tuesday, said an SA National Parks (SANParks) spokesman. The three, all Mozambicans, were found guilty of illegally hunting rhino in the Kruger National Park in July 2010. [timeslive]

Lana Del Rey Thanks Fans As Album Tops Charts Around The Globe – Her album was dubbed dreary and slated by critics. But it seems Lana Del Rey has support in her fans – and plenty of it – after Born To Die topped the charts in 14 countries. The 25-year-old American singer took to Twitter to thanks her supporters after the LP hit No.1 on iTunes charts across the globe today. [dailymail]

Goodwin Stripped Of Knighthood – Ex-banker Fred Goodwin has had his knighthood removed, it was announced today. The Cabinet Office said the award had been “cancelled and annulled”. David Cameron tonight hailed the decision to remove Fred Goodwin’s knighthood. The Prime Minister said a key report into the failure of Royal Bank of Scotland had made clear “where the failures lay and who was responsible”. [independent]

Online Theft Earns Real-World Conviction – The amulet and mask were a 13-year-old boy’s virtual possessions in an online fantasy game. In the real world, he was beaten and threaten with a knife to give them up. The Dutch Supreme Court overnight upheld the theft conviction of a youth who stole another boy’s possessions in the popular online fantasy game RuneScape. [newsau]

Cruise Ship Search Ends – Italian divers have stopped the search for 15 people still missing from the Costa Concordia shipwreck on the Tuscan island of Giglio in which a total of 32 people are feared to have died. ”We have definitively stopped the underwater search inside the ship – the conditions are no longer acceptable,” said a spokesman. [timesofmalta]

Obama Invited To Perform On American Idol - President Obama has a ticket to Hollywood if he wants it. Mitt Romney? Not so much. “American Idol” producer Nigel Lythgoe tweeted on Monday, “@BarackObama we loved your vocal performance so much we’d love to invite you on to #AmericanIdol this Season for a duet with Al Green.” Obama briefly broke out into song, crooning part of “Let’s Stay Together,” at a fundraiser earlier this month. [politico]

Italy Calls Up South Africa’s Botes – South African Tobias (Tobie) Botes has been called up to the Italy squad for this weekend’s Six Nations opener against France in Paris following an injury to Luciano Orquera. With Argentina-born Aironi flyhalf Orquera ruled out with a hamstring problem, scrumhalf Botes has been given his opportunity. [sport24]

Auctions And Art On The Rise – Art prices swelled last year, lifting sales at Christie’s International PLC to $5.7 billion last year, up 14% from the year before. The London-based auction house said on Tuesday that the total includes $4.9 billion in auction sales and $808.6 million in art sales it brokered privately, as galleries typically do. The private-sale total doubled from a year ago, it added. [washpo]

Russia Going Ahead With Election Probe – Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said on Sunday that he has ordered a probe into the allegations of electoral fraud during the Dec. 4 parliamentary vote. Tens of thousands rallied in Moscow and other cities on Saturday in the largest anti-government protest in Russia’s post-Soviet history to protest the reported fraud and demand the departure of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. [usatoday]

Prince Harry: ‘My Grandmother Couldn’t Do It Without Prince Philip’ - In a rare interview to mark the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, Prince Harry has said the Duke of Edinburgh is still her rock. ”Regardless of whether my grandfather seems to be doing his own thing, sort of wandering off like a fish down the river, the fact that he’s there – personally, I don’t think that she could do it without him,” he said, before confessing that his grandmother’s heavy workload concerns him. [hellomagazine]

Iran Is Keen To Attack USA – An assessment by U.S. spy agencies concludes that Iran is prepared to launch terrorist attacks inside the United States, highlighting new risks as the Obama administration escalates pressure on Tehran to halt its alleged pursuit of an atomic bomb. [washpo]

US Customs Bars Traveler After Tweet – Holidaymakers have been warned to watch their words after two friends were refused entry to the US on security grounds after a tweet. Before his trip, Leigh Van Bryan wrote that he was going to “destroy America”. He insisted he was referring to simply having a good time – but was sent home. Sucks. [bbc]

This Basketball Dunk Needs To Be Seen [Video] – You don’t have to know anything about basketball to appreciate this aerial slam dunk by US pro sportsman Blake Griffin as his team – the Clippers – went up against Oklahoma City Thunder on Monday night. Even the King himself, LeBron James tweeted about the slam. Watch it. [nydailynews]

Thief Caught With 11,000 Pairs Of Used Womens’ Underwear - Police in Thailand said Wednesday that they apprehended a thief with more than a thousand pairs of women’s underwear in the trunk of his car. Police also found more than 10,000 pairs at the house of the 48-year-old Thai suspect, who was arrested. They said the man admitted to stealing and collecting women’s underwear since the age of 18. [fox]

NBC Cancels Fear Factor Donkey Semen Episode – After discovering that the Fear Factor episode in which they chugged mugs of donkey semen and urine had been canceled, twins Brynne and Claire Odioso called into Tampa radio’s Cowhead Show to describe their harrowing ordeal. [gawker]

The South African Fuel Retailers Association is trying to pre-empt petrol price hike panic in Gauteng just hours before the price of go-go juice flies up a massive 34c around the country.

The FRA issued a statement following reports that Gauteng motorists were panic-buying petrol prior to midnight tonight due to several stations in the province running dry.

According to the FRA, several factors are working against Gauteng motorists at once:

First, there is the price hike, causing stress as motorists attempt to fill up before midnight tonight, which also puts pressure on stations around the province. Secondly, there have been regular (but not permanent) fuel supply shortages to certain stations in the province since the SAPREF refinery in Durban shut down following mechanical problems. It’s the country’s largest refinery, and is only likely to re-open in mid-February or early March.

FRA spokesperson, Reggie Sibiya, deftly concluded his analysis by urging Gautengers not to panic buy, saying:

The problem lies in that the supply chain is not functioning as it should with the closure of the Sapref refinery. Even though the price of petrol is going up and people think they’ll make a huge saving by filling up before Wednesday, this isn’t so.

I’m not sure I follow that line of logic, Reggie. Meanwhile, as Gauteng petrol pumps descend into anarchy:

[Source: TIMES Live]

AfriForum Youth national chairman, Charl Oberholzer, said racially based admission policies shouldn’t be used to redress the past if we are trying to live in a non-racial society.

30 students joined the protest yesterday after it had emerged that only 22 of the 140 admissions to the faculty were white.

One of the students, Emma van Heerden, achieved six distinctions last year.

She, along with the others, had been turned away because of their poor academic performance.

The students felt it wasn’t actually their poor academic performance that had seen them denied entry into the faculty.

Van Heerden told TimesLive:

The apartheid years are over, we mustn’t see any colour anymore. I mean, I may have a black face today, but we don’t see any colour and the day that they just start admitting children on the basis of their marks and not their race, that would be a wonderful day.

Van Heerden also asked the faculty to admit more students into the programme in future.

Tammy Haylock, who’d attended to offer mutual support for her daughter who’d also been denied a place in the faculty, felt it was unfair that her daughter, who wasn’t even “born in the past,” had been discriminated against.

[Source: TimesLive]

She did a crazy sexy shoot recently and you can see the slightly-N5FW images if you click ‘Continue Reading’ below.

Dumisa discovered her new baby had an oil leak shortly after she drove it off the shop floor of Maemo Motors in Rustenburg in April last year. After taking the vehicle back to the dealer for repairs, she was devastated when the oil leak resurfaced a week later. She was just ecstatic when the car came back with the same issue after yet another two weeks in the shop.

A disgruntled Ms. Seshabela contacted her local Consumer Affairs Office, and she was advised to demand that her vehicle be replaced. This did not go down all that well at Maemo Motors, naturally. Months of negotiation ensued, with the North-West province Consumer Affairs office arguing for the complainant’s rights under the new Consumer Protection Act.

Happily, the outcome was worth the time and effort, as Dumisa has just taken delivery of her new wheels.

The Consumer Protection Act gives consumers the right to receive goods that are safe, free from any defects and in good working order.

[Source: Times Live]

Have you tried the Hard Willi morning show on 2oceansvibe Radio? I think you will like that too. It’s on from 10am to 12pm. Tune in or download the app at www.2ov.fm (or click “Listen Now” on the top left of this page).

Or the Just Josie lunch show from 12pm to 3pm. It’s also pretty rad. There are tons of shows. Mark Bayly is on every Monday and Tuesday from 3pm to 5pm. Or Colin Moss every Wednesday from 3pm to 5pm. And that’s just the start. Go to www.2oceansviberadio.com and check out our full roster.

It’s the future.

That’s probably why our online listenership is higher than the online listenership on 5FM and KFM. Because, when given the choice, people prefer our content. They don’t have the choice in their cars. But some do.

That’s why our average listening time per user is about 6 times longer than 5FM and KFM. Because people settle into our vibe at their desk and at home.

Like people used to do.

When they had FM radios.

When they had content they liked.

Click here to read about “South Africa’s Fundamentally Flawed FM Listenership.”

[thanks picm06]

This teaser is called “Shadow”, and is the follow-up to “Cold Winds” that was released in December:

[Source: Teeveetee]

Last week, actress Cynthia Nixon got LBGT activists around the world in a serious flutter over a comment in an interview where she implied her sexuality was a choice.

Most of us know Nixon best as Miranda in the award-winning HBO show, Sex and the City, and the two subsequent films based on the show. What you might not know is that Cynthia is bisexual and has been in a relationship with her partner Christine Marinoni since 2004, and that the couple have two kids from Nixon’s previous marriage to a man.

In an interview with The New York Times last week, during rehearsals for her upcoming production of Wit, Nixon had the following to say about her sexual preference, among many other things that she said:

I gave a speech recently, an empowerment speech to a gay audience, and it included the line ‘I’ve been straight and I’ve been gay, and gay is better.’ And they tried to get me to change it, because they said it implies that homosexuality can be a choice. And for me, it is a choice. I understand that for many people it’s not, but for me it’s a choice, and you don’t get to define my gayness for me.

Silence. Tumbleweed rolls past. Armageddon descends.

Cut to a week later; following a global backlash from the recreational offenderati against what hundreds of reporters blogged they thought she said, Nixon has calmly cleared the air regarding what she meant, this time in The Advocate:

While I don’t often use the word, the technically precise term for my orientation is bisexual. I believe bisexuality is not a choice, it is a fact. What I have ‘chosen’ is to be in a gay relationship.

There was more, and you can check out her full statement here, because you can be sure the blowhards who went Defcon 1 on her previous statement probably won’t peruse this one very deeply either.

[Source: New York Times, Entertainment Weekly, The Advocate]

Thinkmodo is the same team that did that iPad Head Girl thing a while ago. They built three custom remote-controlled planes shaped like people, and launched them over New York city to create the illusion of human flight – because apparently three of Chronicle’s main characters have the ability to fly or something. Or maybe just the power to build awesome human-shaped planes.

Chronicle opens February 3rd, 2012.

[Source: ChronicleNYC]

The boffins over at Mashable have discovered a spiffy new script called the Unfriend Finder, by Edouard Gatouillat. It allows you to see when someone unfriends you or deactivates their account in pretty much the same way you see when someone adds you. It also helps you to keep track of your friend requests so that you can avoid clicking “yes”, only to be one dishing out unfriends days later.

Check the gallery below, with handy descriptions, to see how to get it up and running on your system.

The script works with all major browsers and is a pretty neat addition to your social media monitoring management, go ahead, give it a go.

[Source: Mashable]

Assange was approached to do the guest spot after Simpsons producer Al Jean heard through the grapevine that he was interested in being on the show. He was tracked down by the casting director, Bonnie Pietila, who clearly has a knack for this sort of thing – in the past she’s managed to persuade people like Tony Blair and even Banksy to be on the show. Being under house arrest meant that Assange couldn’t fly to Los Angeles, so his lines were recorded from an undisclosed location – whilst being directed from Los Angeles.

The scene featuring Assange from the upcoming episode

EW sums up the plot line of the 500th episode as follows:

In the milestone episode, Homer and Marge discover that the residents of Springfield are holding a secret town meeting to kick them out of Springfield for all of their shenanigans over the years. As a result, “the Simpsons go off the grid to this very rugged place where they meet [Assange], who’s sort of their new Flanders,” explains Jean. And how exactly is he like pious neighbor Ned? “Well, he lives next door,” quips Jean. “The similarities end there… He invites them over for a home movie and it’s an Afghan wedding being bombed.”

Should be a great episode, and give some good publicity for wikileaks.org, which has suffered since Visa, Mastercard and PayPal shut down their donations account.

[Source: EntertainmentWeekly]

Follow the link to check it out.

The Associated Press has discovered – on the back of two slaughtered elephants being found last month in a national park in western Thailand – that the poachers weren’t just after the tusks which fetch thousands of dollars on the black market.

Damrong Phidet, director-general of Thailand’s wildlife agency, said:

The poachers took away the elephants’ sex organs and trunks… for human consumption. If you keep hunting elephants for this, then they’ll become extinct. The situation has come to a crisis point. The longer we allow these cruel acts to happen, the sooner they will become extinct.

He explained that restaurants in Phuket – the popular travel destination in the country’s south – had ordered the elephant meat, but it wasn’t clear if the diners were foreigners or local Thai people.

Some Asian cultures believe consuming animals’ reproductive organs can boost sexual prowess, and this could be fueling the trade.

Soraida Salwala, the founder of Friends of the Asian Elephant foundation:

There’s only a handful of people who like to eat elephant meat, but once there’s demand, poachers will find it hard to resist the big money.

While poaching elephants, and trafficking or possessing poached animal parts is banned in Thailand, elephant tusks will always be sought in the illegal ivory trade.

Baby wild elephants also find themselves at risk because they get captured in order to be trained for talent shows and work purposes: there are more domesticated elephants (4 000) than there are wild elephants (3 000) in Thailand.

This practice stems from the historical work elephants have carried out in Thailand such as heavy logging and building work.

There are also rumblings that Chinese residents in Thailand may be playing a role in the Thailand elephant-poaching crisis.

[Source: WashingtonPost]

The announcement marks Crédit Municipal de Paris’ 375th anniversary. The Parisian institution offers small, low-interest loans against inexpensive valuables. It was created in 1637 by Théophraste Renaudot, a doctor, journalist and philanthropist who wanted to combat poverty by giving the needy access to fair banking.

Bank officials say that the European economic crisis has resulted in a 30% increase in customers, adding that “people used to get their property back after 11 to 13 months, now have to wait closer to 24 months.”

[Source: Good.is]

‘Bones Brigade’ Exposes Skateboarding’s Golden Age At Sundance - There were many laughs and some tears, but mostly the crowd switched between adoring focus and roaring applause at the Sundance Film Festival screening of Stacy Peralta’s newest skateboarding documentary, The Bones Brigade: An Autobiography, at Salt Lake’s Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center. [wired]

Minister Enters Row Over SABC Top Job – Communications Minister Dina Pule has told the SABC board to start afresh in its quest for a new chief operating officer after criticism that its internal recruitment process had been tailor-made to catapult a staunch supporter of President Jacob Zuma into the job. [iol]

Sanlam To Buy Local JPMorgan With Old Mutual – Sanlam yesterday confirmed its plan to acquire the local fund-administration unit of US-based JPMorgan, as SA’s largest long-term insurer continues to find assets in which to invest its excess capital. [businessday]

Now Twitter Can Write From Right To Left - Now even more people can tweet in their native tongue. Twitter on Wednesday added right-to-left languages to its Translation Center, starting with Arabic, Farsi, Hebrew, and Urdu. [pcmag]

Europe Poses Global Recession Threat: IMF – Europe’s debt crisis could tip the world economy into recession and a bigger firewall is urgently needed to keep the damage from spreading, the International Monetary Fund said on Tuesday. [reuters]

Hollywood’s Sexual Liaison Fixer Opens His Little Black Book - His story has floated through moviedom’s clubby senior ranks for years: Back in a more golden age of Hollywood, a guy named Scotty, a former Marine, was said to have run a type of prostitution ring for gay and bisexual men in the film industry, including A-listers like Cary Grant, George Cukor and Rock Hudson, and even arranged sexual liaisons for actresses like Vivien Leigh and Katharine Hepburn. [nytimes]

Alex Baldwin Apologises To Himself - Dressed as pilot Captain Steve Rogers, Baldwin joined Seth Myers for SNL’s Weekend Update to extend a heartfelt apology for his famous airline incident to, well, himself. “It was awful Seth,” mustachioed Captain Rogers said. “Which is why it was important for me to come here and on behalf of everyone at American Airlines, issue an apology to Mr. Alec Baldwin!” [nydailynews]

Aston Martin V12 Zagato Set For Debut - Luxury British automotive brand Aston Martin is to unveil the first production model of its V12 Zagato in Kuwait next month. The V12 Zagato first premiered at the Villa D’Este Concours in May last year, but has until now only been seen in race specification whizzing around the Nürburgring. [luxuo]

Gary Speed Inquest: Wales Manager Argued With Wife Louise Before Death - Gary Speed, the former Wales football manager, had argued with his wife Louise before he was found hanged, an inquest heard today. [telegraph]

The Man Who Turned Down Facebook – Joe Green, Harvard University roommate of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, has revealed how he turned down an offer to drop out and co-found Facebook with Zuckerberg, a decision said to have cost him about $US400 million. [theage]

Shirley MacLaine Joins Downton Abbey Cast – Oscar winning actress Shirley MacLaine is to join the cast of Downton Abbey, it has been revealed. The Hollywood star will appear as the mother of Lady Grantham – played by Elizabeth McGovern – in the third series of the ITV1 show. Her character, Martha Levinson, will go head-to-head with current matriarch Maggie Smith who plays the dowager Countess of Grantham. [skynews]

Facebook Wants To Put You On A Times Square Billboard – Facebook is offering users a moment of glory on a Times Square billboard — all you have to do is tell them what you care about in the 2012 election. The new campaign, called “What Matters Most,” asks you to prioritize the three issues you care most about, heading into the 2012 election season. [mashable]

Unknown Search Engine Gets Boost Following Google Revolt – Recent changes to Google’s privacy policies, as well as changes to how it organizes search results, have some people crying foul. Launched in 2008, DuckDuckGo is a search engine that has recently gained traction among technology pundits because of its dedication to user privacy as well as the accuracy of results. [thedaily]

The Most Lethal Sniper In US History – “I looked through the scope of the sniper rifle, scanning down the road of the tiny Iraqi town. Fifty yards away, a woman opened the door of a small house and stepped outside with her child. The rest of the street was deserted. The local Iraqis had gone inside, most of them scared.” MORE.. [huffers]

Fran Drescher Had An Alien Encounter - Fran Drescher recently said in an interview that she believed she and her ex-husband had shared similar extraterrestrial experiences, asserting that they may have been implanted with alien chips in their skin. Baking. [abcnews]

Their goal this time around was to “call the VIPs’ attention to the needs of the world’s poor.”

You have to respect these ladies for the convictions of their beliefs. With temperatures around freezing in the snow-filled town, they took off their tops and tried to climb a fence before being detained. Slogans such as “Crisis! Made in Davos”, “Poor, because of you”, and “Gangsters party in Davos” were painted on their torsos.

Here are some more pictures of their “demonstrations”:

[Source: TimesLive]

*Neighbourhood name must appear on all flyers they make for the event, digital and physical. Last minute Photoshop jobs are not permitted and if any other promotional material for a particular event does not carry the neighbourhood name, we will not publish.

The flyer above tells you the event is in The Loop. Go to www.nameyourhood.co.za and www.capetownhoods.co.za to see the names so far.

The flyer below talks about an event in “The Loop,” which is a neighbourhood within Gardens. Imagine if it just said “Gardens.” You wouldn’t know if it was near Heritage Square or Mavericks. You can’t simply go on a road name, with roads often stretching many kilometers. So by the flyer saying “The Lop” you will know what smaller area it is in. It helps you with parking, walking, taxis, giving directions etc.

It’s a better life.

And check out The Loop’s website here. It’s gaining traction.

Hey did you see that one neighbourhood within Woodstock is currently being named? See here.

Yesterday was the 64th anniversary of the death of Mahatma Gandhi, the man who sparked the independence movement that led to the free India we know and love today. To commemorate this great man in their country’s history, 500 young boys in Kolkata, West Bengal donned fake moustaches, skull caps and wire glasses and marched in his memory.

Their efforts not only earned them a Guinness World Record for the sheer number of that participated (the previous total was 485 the year before), but also praise from the granddaughter of Gandhi herself who traveled to the city to watch the procession.

She said:

It’s a great feeling. When my children heard of the effort they egged me to come to Kolkata. They said it may be a bit tiring for you, but the trip is worth to be made. I now know they were right. I am moved by the passion for the father of the nation displayed by these children.

Check out some awesome images from the march after the jump, and note the Guinness World Records officials observing the event:

Thanks to Steyn for the link!

[Source: Daily Mail]

Apple, a company so big that it has it’s own power plant, is nothing like the all-glass “mothership” normally seen through the eye of the media. According to the new tell-all book, “Inside Apple”, the reality is a vast  think-farm of windowless offices, neutered egos and hardcore secrecy. Secrecy is so intense that most employees don’t even know the products that they are working on. Product testing is limited to blacked-out “lockrooms,” and those that are allowed to play with the new products are limited to a group of 100, hand-picked by the CEO. Regarding the intense secrecy:

[Jobs would] say, ‘Anything disclosed from this meeting will result not just in termination but in the prosecution to the fullest extent that our lawyers can.’ That made me very uncomfortable. You have to watch everything you do. I’d have nightmares,”

When a new product is launched, Apple employees gather in the cafeteria and show as much excitement as the consumer – they finally get to see what they’ve been working on for the last few months. Pretty intense, no?

The next time you read a rumour about the iPhone 5 or what not, know that it’s all smoke and hot air, because not even those that work for Apple know.

[Source: Telegraph]

It’s the 2012 Cape Town Tens tournament this weekend, and by all accounts it will be even more exciting than previous years. Especially since they’re packing it into two days, rather than three. That means we won’t have to witness broken (physically, emotionally) men hobbling along on the Sunday, barely able to determine in what direction they’re going!

They’re even giving away a Golf GTi. Check this out (competition below):

The popular Castle Cape Town Tens rugby event, brainchild of Bob Skinstad and Rob Fleck, is just around the corner! It takes place on Friday and Saturday, 3 and 4 February, and will be hosted at the Hamilton Rugby Club for the fourth consecutive year. This year’s Tens promises to be a highlight of the year with an exciting music line-up, appearances from local and international rugby legends, competitions and giveaways, and a new addition, an exciting rugby expo.

2012 boasts an incredible line-up of live entertainment including the popular group Goodluck, The Graeme Watkins Project, The Lightyears and Me and Mr Brown. With three rugby fields, beer and food tents, kiddies play areas, as well as a host of rugby legends and SA personalities, there is plenty to experience both on and off the rugby field for the whole family. Enjoy a drink with mates in the beer tent while watching the rugby action and the kids will be entertained at the same time in the play area.

Promising to be bigger and better than before, this year the number of teams has been increased from 56 to 72, with four divisions – a heavy and light Beer League, The Vets League and the more competitive Premier League. Rugby legends this year include international stars Leon Lloyd, Malcolm O’Kelly, Justin Marshall and David Rees, and local stars Jake Boer, Breyton Paulse, John Allen and Pieter Muller.

An amazing prize on offer this year is a brand-new Golf GTI to the value of R365 000, sponsored by Stor-Age. Contestants will test their rugby skills kicking for the post to determine the lucky winner.

This year’s Castle Cape Town Tens is proudly brought to you by Castle, Canterbury, Powerade and the City of Cape Town.

Tickets are on sale at R70 per person via Computicket HERE. Kids under 12 are free.

Follow the Castle Cape Town Tens on Facebook at www.facebook.com/CapeTownTens and on Twitter at @capetowntens.

Game Times HERE.

Please contact Andrea Smit on andrea@klprsa.com or (021) 671 4127 for any media enquiries and high res images.

To win a pair tickets to the event, it’s quite simple.

Leave a comment below and tell us why YOU deserve to win.

Competition closes 12h00 on Wednesday

Judges decision is final.

We are giving away 5 PAIRS of tickets.

GO GO GO!

The poster for Fugard’s play, ‘Statements after an Arrest under the Immorality Act’, depicts two actors of different races embracing nude, and it’s been deemed a little too adult for Sea Point primary school pupils. The Fugard Theatre, where the show is running during its Cape Town leg, has been ordered to take the posters down following a number of complaints from school parents.

Last week the DA Student Organisation (Daso) claimed that its poster campaign was deliberately intended to challenge prejudiced views about inter-racial relationships in modern-day South Africa. By contrast, the Fugard poster designers point out that the play is about a mixed race relationship in the apartheid era and that the nudity had been “tastefully done”.

Here are the posters for your critical comparison:

[Source: IOL]

A proposed Chapman’s Peak four-lane toll plaza, accompanied by a large two-storey office complex, will this week become a reality.

The Minister for Transport and Public Works in the Western Cape, Robin Carlisle, has confirmed construction would officially start early this week.

Carlisle outlined aspects that were seemingly “obscured in the highly emotionally charged [public] debate,” in a brochure he issued last week:

There is a great deal of confusion, misinformation, speculation and rumour regarding the tolling of Chappies. Matters of public concern are best addressed when the people are fully informed.

This brochure seeks to do just that. The document explains the following key facts about Chapman’s Peak Drive which may have been obscured in the highly emotionally charged debate.

Carlisle highlighted the following important bits of information in the brochure:

Without tolling, Chapman’s Peak Drive will be permanently closed.

Due process has been followed from the beginning, including an extensive public participation and appeals process spanning eight years.

The SANParks land involved is in fact 0,022% of 970 hectares sold by province to SANParks in 2003, for R1 200.

The operations centre and toll plaza are vital to the operations and safety needed to manage Chapman’s Peak Drive as a whole and which replaces unacceptable temporary working conditions.

Day passes can continue provided permanent tolling facilities are introduced.

Carlisle continued:

I am totally committed to the safety and sustainability of Chappies. I have always been.

A centralised and efficient management operation in a permanent facility is essential to meeting that commitment for the benefit of all South Africans.

An estimated 2 500 – 3 000 Capetonians joined a mass protest against the development organised by the Hout Bay Residents Association last week Sunday.

Chairman of the Hout Bay Residents Association, Len Swimmer, says the association is in the process of seeking legal advice, but Carlisle was confident stating: “I think everything will go smoothly,” reiterating that he hoped the association wouldn’t go to court as that would merely slow down the development.

[Sources: TourismUpdate, WesternCapeGovernment]

The blow was found secreted in the hollow metal frame of the perambulator. Malawian police spokesman, Peter Botha, said Monkei-Khame arrived in the country from Brazil and was due to fly on to OR Tambo International Airport.

Monkei-Khame has since allegedly confessed to being a drug mule and claimed a gang of drug dealers had offered her R30 000 to smuggle the drugs into South Africa.

[Source: News24]

I mean apparently it was pretty popular! Except I don’t know how you measure the success of a social media blackout. I mean, #TwitterBlackout tweets came in at about 12 per minute, in English, Spanish, German and Arabic, among others, for most of the weekend – except they were still using Twitter to broadcast the Twitter blackout.

Which means that online activists who were angry about Twitter deleting certain posts wanted people to respond by not posting posts. And people responded to that by posting posts telling people not to post posts. All of which I’m sure is very effective and is sure to alter Twitter’s stance on censorship radically.

Obviously letting protest fatigue get to you is a bad thing – if The Man can just wait for us to get tired of being angry about whatever new policy is being foisted upon us, then we’re en route to a pretty unfortunate state of the web – but some of these are starting to seem a little short-lived, populist, and inane.

Incidentally, there’s no sign of the #TwitterBlackout trending today.

[Source: BoingBoing]

This one was just too good to pass up

Researchers in Brazil claim they have found a connection between birth by Caesarean Section and childhood obesity. They claim lack of exposure to bacteria that inhabit the birth canal (sorry to those eating breakfast!) affects immune system development in children, which can contribute to childhood obesity, alongside other factors, like say, eating too much, and not exercising, maybe.

Apparently, Brazilians’ interest was especially piqued by this idea as over half of their offspring are born by C-section. The long term study found those born by C-section were more likely to be heavy, with obesity rates between nine and 16%, compared to rates of seven to 10% of children born vaginally.

Except an American response study has found the Brazilian researchers failed to take a variety of co-founding factors into account, such as family income, birth weight, schooling and the mother’s weight, height, age and smoking habits. With these (kind of obvious indicators) absent, the correlation of birth method to likelihood of obesity vanishes. Brazilian science FAIL.

“The really simple explanation would be that more obese women require more Cesarean sections than lean women… and it’s really not the C-section itself,” said a medical commentator to the American response study.

Research into the hypothesis continues on both ends of the American continent.

[Source: TIMES Live]

The letter was read out to all Catholic church-goers across the US, and although some variations existed as each local bishop sent out a letter, the general message was the same; to pray for the reversal of the bill. The bill was initially introduced last year, and received high praise from abortion supporters, but directly opposes to the tenets of the Catholic faith.

Churches and other houses of worship are exempt from the guidelines but Catholic hospitals, colleges, and social services fall under the umbrella of institutions covered by the decision.

The new bill would require all employers to provide employees with healthcare insurance “which includes subsidized contraception, sterilization and coverage for abortion-inducing drugs”, all of which the Catholic Church condemns.

Below is a copy of the letter written by the Bishop of Marquette:

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ:

 

I write to you concerning an alarming and serious matter that negatively impacts the Church in the United States directly, and that strikes at the fundamental right to religious liberty for all citizens of any faith. The federal government, which claims to be “of, by, and for the people,” has just been dealt a heavy blow to almost a quarter of those people — the Catholic population — and to the millions more who are served by the Catholic faithful.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced last week that almost all employers, including Catholic employers, will be forced to offer their employees’ health coverage that includes sterilization, abortion-inducing drugs, and contraception. Almost all health insurers will be forced to include those “services” in the health policies they write. And almost all individuals will be forced to buy that coverage as a part of their policies.

In so ruling, the Obama Administration has cast aside the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, denying to Catholics our Nation’s first and most fundamental freedom, that of religious liberty. And as a result, unless the rule is overturned, we Catholics will be compelled to either violate our consciences, or to drop health coverage for our employees (and suffer the penalties for doing so). The Obama Administration’s sole concession was to give our institutions one year to comply.

 

We cannot—we will not—comply with this unjust law. People of faith cannot be made second class citizens. We are already joined by our brothers and sisters of all faiths and many others of good will in this important effort to regain our religious freedom. Our parents and grandparents did not come to these shores to help build America’s cities and towns, its infrastructure and institutions, its enterprise and culture, only to have their posterity stripped of their God given rights. In generations past, the Church has always been able to count on the faithful to stand up and protect her sacred rights and duties. I hope and trust she can count on this generation of Catholics to do the same. Our children and grandchildren deserve nothing less.

And therefore, I would ask of you two things. First, as a community of faith we must commit ourselves to prayer and fasting that wisdom and justice may prevail, and religious liberty may be restored. Without God, we can do nothing; with God, nothing is impossible. Second, I would also recommend visiting www.usccb.org/conscience, to learn more about this severe assault on religious liberty, and how to contact Congress in support of legislation that would reverse the Obama Administration’s decision.

 

Sincerely yours in Christ,
+Alexander K. Sample
Most Reverend Alexander K. Sample
Bishop of Marquette

[Source: Business Insider, ABC News]

Changes have been made to the call to remove references to specific drugs, as the authorities believe this to be an invasion of Demi’s privacy. I find this a little funny – isn’t airing the entire call an invasion of her privacy?

There is utter confusion at the beginning of the call – the dispatcher didn’t know which department should handle the call.  The woman says Demi smoked something – not marijuana – similar to incense, and that she was having convulsions.  The person says Demi was barely conscious.

According to reports from paramedics at the scene, she fell into a state of semi-consciousness after inhaling nitrous oxide, and was presenting seizure like symptoms. A weird drug for a celebrity to be abusing, if you ask me. The pain of losing Ashton must have been just too great.

[Source: TMZ]

Two insiders, who asked not to be identified because the news isn’t public knowledge yet, and for other obvious reasons, said the company was discussing a valuation of $75 billion to $100 billion, although Facebook would need to provide financial results to justify this.

The company had discussed raising $10 billion in the public offering according to another source that was familiar with the matter in November.

Adding further fuel to the rumour, current shareholders of Facebook endured a three-day suspension of trading on secondary markets that lasted through Friday last week.

Fenwick and West LLC, Facebook’s attorneys, weren’t processing shareholder transactions even though buy and sell orders could be still be made.

The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday that Morgan Stanley was likely to handle the deal, while Goldman Sachs would probably play a “major role” in the process.

Goldman played an integral role last year when it announced an investment from itself and other backers to the tune of $1,5 billion, valuing Facebook at $50 billion at the time.

Anupam Palit, an analyst at GreenCrest Capital Management LLC in New York, explained:

They [Facebook] might discount it a little bit in order to make sure the first couple days of trading are very strong.

Facebook currently generates the majority of its revenue through advertising, but a public listing would increase its financial strength to continue its domination over other social networks such as Google Plus and Twitter.

[Source: Bloomberg]

Djokovic Wins 2012 Australian Open In Longest Final Ever - Novak Djokovic ripped off his shirt and let out a primal scream, flexing his torso the way a prize fighter would after a desperate, last-round knockout. This was the final act in Djokovic’s 5-7, 6-4, 6-2, 6-7 (5), 7-5 victory over Rafael Nadal in the Australian Open final. It was the longest Grand Slam singles final in the history of pro tennis – just under 6 hours. [newsday]

Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe To Retire – Zimbabwean dictator Robert Mugabe is planning to retire after his country’s next elections, it was claimed yesterday. The 87-year-old tyrant hopes to secure victory at polls this year or in 2013 before handing over to a younger successor. Mugabe wanted to ensure he could continue living without risk of prosecution. [dailymail]

Agent Provocateur sales boosted by US First Lady Michelle Obama - Agent Provocateur saw sales jump by more than 12pc, helped by US First Lady Michelle Obama spending $50,000 (£31,794) in one shopping spree. [telegraph]

RBS Chief Turns Down Million Pound Bonus – Royal Bank of Scotland chief executive Stephen Hester will not be accepting a 1 million pound ($1.5 million) bonus that drew criticism from British public and politicians, the bank said Sunday. Spokesman David Gaffney said Hester would not receive the bonus of 3.6 million shares he was awarded last week by the board of the largely state-owned bank. [huffpo]

Malema Hasn’t Paid His ANC Member Fees – The ANC leadership battle is getting dirty – and Julius Malema has been accused of failing to pay his membership fee. He is said to have last paid his R12 annual ANC membership fee in 2009. [timeslive]

Mandela’s Last Surviving Sibling Dies – Former President Nelson Mandela’s sister Nokuthamba has passed away, the family said on Sunday. Born on February 16, 1930, Nokuthamba was Mandela’s last surviving sibling. Mandela’s grandson said she would be sorely missed by the entire family. [mail&guardian]

14-Year-Old Youngest Ever Pro Golf Winner – Fourteen-year-old New Zealand amateur Lydia Ko has become the youngest winner of a professional golf tour event, taking the women’s New South Wales Open by four strokes Sunday. [washpo]

MegaUpload’s Kim Dotcom Loses Top Position In ‘Call Of Duty’ - Kim Dotcom, founder of the recently shuttered file-sharing site Megaupload, faces at least four more weeks in custody after a New Zealand judge denied him bail, But perhaps the hardest hit to Dotcom’s ego is this: the 38-year-old has lost his status as the world’s highest ranked player in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. [time]

‘Honour Killing’ Family Found Guilty – A jury on Sunday found three members of an Afghan family guilty of killing three teenage sisters and another woman in what the judge described as “cold-blooded, shameful murders” resulting from a “twisted concept of honor,” ending a case that shocked and riveted Canadians. [huffers]

Romney Hurtles Ahead In Florida Poll – Mitt Romney may be on his way to a decisive victory in the Florida GOP primary Tuesday, according to a new NBC/Marist poll. Romney leads Newt Gingrich by 15 points, 42 percent to 27 percent in the crucial state. Rick Santorum is third with 16 percent, followed by Ron Paul with 11 percent. Just 4 percent said they were undecided. [msnbc]

Web Economy To Double By 2016 – The value of the web economy in G20 countries will nearly double by 2016, according to Boston Consulting Group. Driving the spurt from $2.3tn (£1.5tn) to $4.2tn (£2.7tn) will be the rapid rise of mobile internet access. [bbc]

SAG Awards: ‘The Help,’ ‘Boardwalk Empire’ And ‘Modern Family’ Win Big - ”The Help” won the top film prize for cast performance at the Screen Actors Guild Awards on Sunday night at the Shrine Exposition Hall in Los Angeles. On the TV side, “Boardwalk Empire” won the award for a TV drama ensemble, and “Modern Family” won for TV comedy series ensemble. [latimes]

Cruise Ship Will Take Up To 10 Months To Be Removed - The cruise ship that capsized off Italy’s coast will take up to 10 months to remove, officials said Sunday, as rough seas off the Tuscan coast forced the suspension of recovery operations. [usatoday]

Diddy’s Grammy After-Party Is $50,000 A Pop – If you wanna party with Diddy at the Playboy Mansion, you better be freakin’ LOADED — because TMZ has learned, tickets for the rapper’s post-Grammys after party top out around $50,000 each. [tmz]

Etta James Star-Studded LA Funeral - The music world lost one of its greats when Etta James lost her two-year battle with leukemia January 20. Hundreds of the legendary blues singer’s family, friends and fans gathered in an L.A.-area church Saturday to honor the “At Last” musician. [usmagazine]

Proudly brought to you by:

Just listen to this story, gang:

Meet Omari. Two days ago he returned from the hospital after being hacked in the face by a machete defending an orphanage of 35 children by himself. Think we could raise the $2 000 needed for the remainder of the cement/barbed wire wall to keep both him and the children safe?

Omari’s mom acts as mother to the children while she receives assistance from volunteers, as well as Omari, at the Faraja Orphanage in Ngong, Kenya.

This is how the attack played out:

After two previous invasions during the week, Omari was relatively certain another would occur. He woke up to the sound of footsteps outside his door. He figured it was his mother taking a few of the boys outside to go to the bathroom. He quickly realized that the footsteps were heavy, and that of more than one person; he then saw a flashlight shine beneath the crack of his door. Being the third time this happened that week; he had already stashed a hammer beside his bed. He grabbed it, and threw it at the first person who entered his room. He hit the person square in the head, and chased the rest out. The following night, the three thugs returned, presumably to avenge their friend. Omari put up a fight but was outnumbered. The last thing he remembers was being struck in the face by the machete. He has been in and out of the hospital since, yet remains positive and confident that the suspects will one day see justice. Until then, I only hope that is courage and strength is felt by all of you. Speaking with him was a very humbling and special experience that I will never forget. I told him I would try my best to help, so this is my effort: Reddit, already donations are pouring in, and I can’t thank you enough.

The donations did indeed start pouring in, and within a few hours, quite a few thousand dollars had been raised.

Not stopping there, humans continued their awesomeness and carried on pumping in thousands more dollars.

The original poster, The Lake, added this update to the story:

$44 000!!!!!!!!! REDDIT!!!!! I can hardly breathe. I refreshed the page at least twice to make sure it was real. I cannot believe this.

Then, after wanting to sleep for a while, The Lake was unable to:

Who am I kidding I couldn’t sleep if I tried. We hit the $50 000 mark! I know by now I sound like a broken record, but thank you Reddit, sincerely.

Well done humans, you are very kind.

[Thanks, Evert]

[Source: reddit]

Following a series of blockages in the local shower system, the Accommodation Management team set about an investigation. Initially the blockages were thought to be caused by human hair, pretty run of the mill stuff. However, digging a bit deeper revealed that the blockages were caused by “large quantities, of what we have now determined is, semen.” Cringing yet? It doesn’t stop there.

The letter goes on to explain that semen is not soluble with water and has caused over £2 000 worth of damages. Management is however an understanding bunch and acknowledge that there is “business” which must be “taken care of”, only they humbly request that the resultant discharge is dealt with appropriately. Check out the full letter below.

Shame, seems life’s tough, and lonely, up north.

Thanks Carryn!

South African long distance runner, Hendrick Ramaala, made history this morning by becoming the first South African to qualify for five consecutive Olympic Games. Hendrick, now 40, qualified for the upcoming London Olympics by coming in 19th in the Dubai Marathon this morning, clocking a IAAF Standard beating time of 2:12:12.

Hendrick first represented South Africa at the Olympic Games in Atlanta in 1996 when he was 24, and subsequently attended the Games in Sydney (2000), Athens (2004) and Beijing (2008). Though he has never brought home a medal from his Olympic exploits, Hendrick is officially the second fastest South African in the Marathon, clocking a personal best of 2:06:55 in the London Marathon in 2006.

This morning’s result was his fastest in three years, setting him up to represent South Africa again in London for a record-breaking fifth time!

[Source: News 24]

Look at his face as he gets really into it. Priceless.

[Source: YouTube]

Make sure to hit up NASA’s Flickr to get a look at the incredible full-size version.

[Source: NASA]

“Without a doubt, a discreet anatomic entity called the G-spot does not exist,” said Dr. Amichai Kilchevsky.  He’s a urology expert and the lead researcher in science’s most recent quest to find the orgasmic area in the vagina that many women claim to have.

The G-spot, named after that pesky Dr. Ernst Gräfenberg, who decided in the 1950′s to herald the discovery of a particularly sensitive one to two centimetre wide area on the vaginal wall. Much confusion and inadequacy among the male species ensued for the next 60 years, blah blah blah.

But ladies, if you think you do have a G-spot, you aren’t crazy either. According to Kilchevsky, what you’re likely experiencing is a continuation of the clitoris.

The new review was published this month in the Journal of Sexual Medicine.

[Source: My Health News]

Apple is Samsung’s biggest client – buying mainly chips and displays, and the two firms are locked in a patent battle in at least 10 countries around the world.

Baik Jae-yer, fund manager at Korea Investment Management:

The battle of the two big smartphone powers, Apple versus Samsung, will go on. The smartphone market will expand this year to more mid-and low-end models that are affordable to the wider public.

Rather than focus on market share, I’d point out the strong contribution of Samsung’s handset business to earnings growth and margins.

So, after posting this record quarterly profit of $4,7 billion, Samsung will also increase spending this year too, by nine per cent, taking its spend to a number greater than the GDP of leading cocoa producer, Ivory Coast.

Kim Young-chan, analyst at Shinhan Investment and Securities:

Apple had good sales, but it’s very unlikely this will be a trend that will overwhelm Samsung later. It’s unlikely Samsung and Apple will fight over each other’s market share, but they will eat up the market share of smaller companies like HTC and RIM.

Speaking the truth, Lee Yong-jik, fund manager at PineBridge Investment, said:

Samsung is playing catch-up with Apple in smartphone sales volume, but it’s tougher to catch up in terms of margins.

Samsung has forecast that its strong momentum in mobile sales would increase this year, though it could come under renewed consumer pressure if and when Apple brings out next-generation iPads and iPhones. Which will happen quite soon.

[Source: Reuters]

Poor thing even lost a shoe in the process!

Some 200 supporters of indigenous rights had surrounded a Canberra restaurant and banged its windows while Gillard and opposition leader Tony Abbott were inside officiating at an award ceremony. The protesters came from a demonstration for indigenous rights nearby at the so-called Aboriginal Tent Embassy, a ramshackle collection of tents and temporary shelters in the national capital that is a centre point of protests against Australia Day.

Here’s video footage of the incident below:

[Source: News24]

How’z that staircase there in the main pic. Pretty serious, hey? That belongs to a yacht called ‘Dubai.’ And that is only the beginning. Let’s just back it up a bit here, and show you the outside of this little beauty.

Umm, excuse me – is that a little chopper on the back?

What a nice touch.

Can we get a quick aerial view there, please?

Ok, now I can check the helipad – very cool vibe. And the pool – stunning!

Did I mention it’s only the SECOND biggest superyacht in the world? I swear. It’s two metres shorter than ‘Eclipse,’ which stretches out to a leisurely 164m. I wonder how quickly Gibbs could run that in?

I’ve got some more ridonculous pics of the inside of that beauty (and a link the the full list of biggest yachts in the world – with pics and info and owner’s names) and all you have to do to check it all out is click ‘Continue Reading’ below.

Hey, good luck with Saturday’s R1 billion lottery draw! Buy tickets online here if you forgot – there is still time (works on mobile too!).

Check out the rest at superyachts.com (good name)

All the surviving members of Monty Python are set to reunite for the first time in over a decade to provide voice talents for a film to be directed by fellow Python alumnus, Terry Gilliam.

Thus far, John Cleese, Michael Palin and Terrys- Jones and Gilliam have made themselves available for Gilliam’s planned animated 3D feature, Absolutely Anything. Only Eric Idle is currently hovering over joining. (Come on, Eric, don’t be like this!)

The film will reportedly follow the adventures of a man who is given super powers by a group of aliens (voiced by the Python cast). Hijinks no doubt ensue. Robin Williams will be voicing a dog in the movie.

Hmm, zero marks for originality, but many marks for potential Python deployment! Moving on: Last year, Cleese, Gilliam, Palin and Jones reportedly lent their voice talents to a 3D production celebrating the life of their late colleague, Graham Chapman, who died in 1989. Eric Idle was not involved in that production, but will be in this one, won’t you, Eric!?

[Source: BBC News]

And so, after a successful 5,000 vote naming process for the bottom portion of Kloof Street (www.unionkloof.co.za) and the 6 before it (see names and their new websites popping up at www.nameyourhood.co.za) the time has come to name this part of Woodstock. The key to a good neighbourhood name is to understand the unique history of that area. That is, after-all, what has made it what it is today!

Check it out:

The area immediately to the east of the iconic Nelson Mandela Boulevard is one of Cape Town’s oldest neighbourhoods. The city’s oldest residents might even remember it as farmland.

Well, it needs you to come up with a name for it!

Its origins stretch back to the middle of the eighteenth century, when it was a small hamlet on Cape Town’s seafront known as Papendorp. Hood 7 has always had an authentic and vibrant energy, which can be partly attributed to the fact that it escaped the trauma of apartheid’s Group Areas Act and was always a racially mixed area.

These days it is a melting pot of trade and culture, with ramshackle residential and retail properties juxtaposed with slick n apartments and office blocks.

Pretty rad stuff right there! And while this area will always be a part of Woodstock, surely it needs it’s own special identity? Speak to the locals in that part of Woodstock and they agree – they were all there, at the launch party. Loving it!

That is where neighbourhoods come into action – something that we haven’t had time to name – although we’ve had the time for them to develop a unique identity.

Come on gang – do your thing for Cape Town!

Put forward a name for the area, with motivation, or support someone else’s at www.nameyourhood.co.za. You can also find out how everything works and also some examples of how famous world neighbourhoods (like TriBeCa in New York) got their names. It’s basically an incredibly awesome vibe!

www.nameyourhood.co.za

This, from Shaun Oakes:

Upon ordering food and drink, we started picking up a “bit of a vibe” from him, as he openly started questioning the round of drinks we ordered. “Oh, you can drink but you can’t eat,” he said at one point, which annoyed me, as I don’t appreciated my drinking habits being put in the spotlight. (we had had one drink at that point) Eventually we asked him what he thought we had ordered to eat, and it turns out, he had taken our order down as a “bean curd” instead of a “green plate”.

Ha ha okay, honest mistake. Let’s laugh it off and move on then. Instead though, he (perhaps in a failed attempt at humour) kept carrying on about the drinks, and at this point asked for the 3rd/4th time whether The Girlfriend was sure she wanted what she ordered (a Cosmo and a prawn hand roll). The Girlfriend, who by this time was getting annoyed, pointed out that to her knowledge, the waiter wasn’t her father (I was pretty sure of this as well), and requested that he stop questioning her. The waiter, who I can only assume was still clinging on to a humour card even as he must have sensed the train wreck this conversation was turning into, then asked if she “wanted a hug”.

Now, this was a pretty ballsy thing for a waiter to say to a patron, attempt at humour or not. The Girlfriend replied with (and pay attention, because this bit will be important further down the line “What the f**k, you’re our waiter, you need to jack up. I want to speak to the manager.”

He seemed taken aback that we weren’t playing along with him, but then regained his composure and replied with a snooty “with pleasure” and disappeared. Feeling uncomfortable, we then asked someone walking passed our table to grab the manager, and explained the whole thing to him. We requested a new waiter, as things had obviously deteriorated between us. The manager, having listened to the story, apologised and said that the waiter was one of the best at Beluga, and that it was likely an attempt at humour that didn’t work well. He then offered to comp our meal. Fine, we were happy with that explanation.

The Girlfriend still felt uncomfortable and wanted to leave – but I have a rule about accepting free food – so we accepted his offer, had our meal, and then left.

Here Is Where It Gets Interesting

The next day The Girlfriend – who knows the owner, Oscar Kotze – sent him an email explaining what went down, and wanting him to be aware of how certain behaviour from staff can be misconstrued and be turned into a bit of a drama.

Follow the link below to check out the email exchange and the comments. Let us know your thoughts..

The Girlfriend Wrote:
From: The Girlfriend
To: Oscar Kotze
Subject: harassing waiter

Hello Oscar

I hope you, **** and **** are doing well.

I just wanted to bring to your attention an incident that happened to Shaun and I last night whilst dining at Beluga. Upon misunderstanding our order (prawn hand rolls, the Green plate, a cosmo and beer) our waiter started making snarky comments to us about what he had thought we ordered (a bean curd soup and prawn hand roll). He continued to harass us when ordering my second cocktail that “I can drink but I can’t eat”… We picked up the hostility and asked him what exactly he thought we had ordered, after we cleared up the ordering fiasco he enquired “Is that all you’re going to eat?”… When I asked why he feels the need to talk to me like my father and pointed out that he has no right speaking to patrons like that, he offered to give me a hug… flabbergasted I requested to speak to the manager, he arrogantly said he would be happy to get the manager for me. In a see-how-far-that-is-going-to-get-you tone.

****** was called and handled the situation by assuring us our waiter would be changed and our bill would be taken care of. He also mentioned that this guy is in fact a really good waiter and that it could be his humour. A lovely, efficient waitress named ** continued to serve us but by then unfortunately our ideas for a lovely night at Beluga were already diminished.

What I would like to point out, Oscar, is that both Shaun and I are bloggers/writers, having good friends who are the top bloggers in Cape Town. Shaun works at the biggest internet marketing company. My connection and the respect I have for you and the hard work and passion I know you put into the Caviar Group I reassure you I would never make a public stink out of your restaurants. I just would like you to be aware that something like this did happen and hopefully you could put a stop to something like this happening in the future. And if this is indeed the waiter’s sense of humour, maybe it will go down well at some pub in Brackenveld but educated young professionals in Seapoint go out to have a pleasant experience.

Regards,
The Girlfriend

___________________________

Oscar Kotze Wrote:
From:Oscar Kotze
To: The Girlfriend
Subject: Re: harassing waiter
Hi

Ok, so here goes:

The fact that you swore at my waiter **** is completely unacceptable – I have convinced him to lay a criminal case against you, and the company will back him all the way – its the year 2011 and no one has the right to speak to people the way you did – even your mail below is degrading and condescending

>From my side, I am sorry that I was not here, I would have chased you out of my restaurant if I was

As to your personality, lack of manners and general attitude to life I will refrain from commenting – the fact that you even have the audacity to contact me and threaten me after what you did – seriously, wow, what a joke

This will be the last communication that you will receive from me – I have asked ***** to provide me with your ID number so that we can use that for the criminal case

Obviously I never want you to come close to any of my businesses ever again – and if your friends condone the way to deal with people, and you convince them not to come to my restaurants, well then that will also be ok

Thanks

______________

Read all about it (and check out the comments)
at Shaunoakes.com

Read about what other bloggers are saying here.

Following a slight, but not at all insignificant policy tweak, Twitter now has the ability to censor Tweets by country. Basically if you tweet something that’s deemed too controversial or illegal in a certain country, it’ll be censored in that country but still entirely visible elsewhere.

Previously Twitter only had the ability to block tweets globally, so that nobody could see them. They chose never to exercise this power. The big cats up at the top of Twitter are claiming that if they did not introduce these new censorship measures, Twitter would not be able to exist at all in certain countries. Thankfully these new policies are only being implemented now, because had they been in place about a year ago it’s very likely that there would still be a number or dictators roaming the streets.

As a small consolation prize Twitter say any censored tweets will be clearly marked and will also have a link to an explanation.

[Source: Marketing Land, Twitter]

He was arrested yesterday, after police found rhino horn, elephant tusks and illegal firearms in his possession. He told police that he had just found the items in a safe on the farm years ago. A likely story. He was released on R3 000 bail and his case will be heard in March.

A total of 448 rhino were poached in 2011. In January this year, 28 rhino had been poached so far. The department of environmental estimated that 398 rhino would be killed by the end of the year.

[Source: News24]

The Fast, Fabulous, Allegedly Fraudulent Life of Megaupload’s Kim Dotcom - Since the shutdown of Megaupload, stories have erupted about the life and exploits of the company’s founder, a self-styled “Dr. Evil” of file sharing. Kim Dotcom’s opulent digs, high-end cars, fondness for models and other Bond-villain-esque behaviors have been splashed across websites and have confused evening newscasts for the last week. [wired]

Nadal Will Take On Murray Or Djokovic In Australian Open Final – afael Nadal produced some scintillating tennis to come from one set down to beat Roger Federer and reach his second Australian Open final. Nadal will play either Andy Murray or Novak Djokovic in Sunday’s final. Murray plays Djokovic today 10h30 on Supersport 1. [sport]

Leaked Email Gives Malema Ammunition – It was revealed at a disciplinary appeals committee meeting this week that ANC chief prosecutor Uriel Abrahamse wrote an email to his deputy, advocate Nomazotsho Memani, suggesting that the appeals should be heard before the ANC’s centenary celebrations to prevent suspended youth league officials from sharing a stage with ANC president Jacob Zuma. [mail&guardian]

Ferris Bueller Returns For Superbowl - Anyone see this new teaser ad with Matthew Broderick? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller??! New York Magazine’s Margaret Lyons reports Matthew Broderick will be reprising his role as Ferris Bueller in a Super Bowl commercial, “or so it seems based on this ten-second teaser for some mystery product.” [mediaite]

Racism Linked To Low IQ – There’s no gentle way to put it: People who give in to racism and prejudice may simply be dumb, according to a new study that is bound to stir public controversy. [yahoo]

SA Property Prices 25% Overvalued – A report by a top property economist yesterday suggests South African house prices may be overvalued by as much as 25%, and that it could take “many years” for prices to fall in line with actual values. This is despite estate agents claiming SA is a buyers’ market and that it has never been cheaper to buy than now. [businessday]

Seal Discusses Possible Reconciliation With Heidi Klum – It may not be the definitive end for Heidi Klum and Seal’s relationship, after all. Following his split from the Project Runway host, Seal has been relatively candid about discussing the break-up, but could reconciliation be on the horizon for the soul singer and Klum? ”Never say never,” Seal said, in a sit down with Piers Morgan that airs Friday. [eonline]

Hillary Clinton Is Over It – Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said today that she doesn’t plan to stay in her post if President Barack Obama wins a second term. “I’ve made it clear that I will certainly stay on until the president nominates someone and that transition can occur,” Clinton told State Department employees during a town-hall meeting. [bloomberg]

Factory Design Flaws Caused Cracks In A380 Wings – Airbus blamed a combination of manufacturing and design flaws for wing cracks on its A380 superjumbo but said it had found a simple solution to the problem, easing concerns among analysts who had feared the issue could dog the European plane-maker. [reuters]

Head Of French Breast Implant Maker Arrested – Police in southeast France on Thursday arrested the former head of a French company at the center of a breast implant scandal affecting tens of thousands of women worldwide, a police official said. The implants were pulled from the market in several countries in and beyond Europe amid fears they could rupture and leak silicone into the body. [abcnews]

UN Receives 16kg Delivery Of Cocaine - Two forged diplomatic pouches containing a total of 35 pounds (16 kilos) of cocaine were delivered last week to the UN headquarters building in New York, according to a UN official speaking on condition of anonymity. The packages, delivered to the mail room, were singled out Jan. 16 by security staff during a scan. [bloomberg]

Ernie’s Caddie In Freak Accident - A freak accident during a pro-am prize presentation in his native South Africa scuppered Ernie Els’s plans of starting the 2012 PGA Tour season with his long-time caddie Ricci Roberts on his bag. Roberts, who had competed in a charity tournament to raise funds for the Ernie Els & Fancourt Foundation, broke his ankle after accepting a prize and will be out for at least two months. Blind. [sport24]

The ‘Juju’ Fashion Label Has Launched – Juju, the clothing range inspired by controversial ANC Youth League leader Julius Malema, was finally unveiled in Pretoria yesterday. Designer Obakeng Ramabodu is unfazed about using the hot-headed Malema as his inspiration. [timeslive]

Lady Gaga’s Boyfriend Wants Her To Act Normal - Lady Gaga’s boyfriend has told her to drop her eccentric alter-ego when she’s with him. The pop superstar has been dating Taylor Kinney for six months and the hunky actor has reportedly told his world famous lover she doesn’t need to dress up in wacky outfits or act bizarre when the pair are together. [dailytel]

The video is actually a spoof video from E! Entertainment’s: The Soup, to promote Ice’s DIY Network television show, The Vanilla Ice Project, in which the 90’s rapper tackles home improvement challenges.

The 44-year-old has been doing home improvements for 15 years, and the show is about to begin airing its second season in the US.

But like, indie rap-rock mashups are like, pretty cool anyway, and Ice pulls off his hipster vibe superbly.

[Source: LAist]

The Google Public Alerts system, which launched today, adds local emergency info from the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the National Weather Service, and the US Geological Survey (USGS) to Google Maps search results – with plans to tether to international geological and meteorological services in the near future.

What is sort of neat is that you could search for “Flood Indiana” will show a flood warning currently in effect in Northern Indiana and allowing you to click through to the details. If that sort of thing floats your suddenly-useful boat.

[Source: Engadget]

As the world anxiously awaits the release of Ten$ion, the next Die Antwoord album, check out this timely reminder, via homage to the enfants terribles of Afrikaans hardcore, that gingers are people too.

Written, rapped, directed, filmed and edited by Nib Oswald, you can also check out the lyrics and more details about the track here, as well as find out who the dishy girl playing Yolandi Vi$$er is.

Personally, the chorus is my favourite:

My-y-y my skin is ultra-white
I need sun protection from the UV light
Aye, aye, aye. I am the Scottish type
Anaemic complexion, need sun protection.

Heh, classic.

[thanks craig]

Unlike Facebook Timeline, which was rolled out bit by bit and is now being forced onto everyone, Angry Birds will be rolled out to all 800 million Facebook users simultaneously. The integration into Facebook will introduce a social aspect to the game, such as leader boards where players can challenge their friends. The game will also be coming to Samsung Smart TVs very soon, as part of Samsung’s App Store, where you’ll be able to crash wingless birds into things from your couch.

The top three games on Facebook are currently all derivatives made by a developer called Zyngo. They are FarmVille, CastleVille and CityVille and all sound completely ridiculous and silly. I’m willing to bet my money that Angry Birds is going to knock them right out of their spot made from wood and glass.

[Source: ReadWriteWeb]

Jessica Buchanan (32) and Poul Hagen Thisted (60) were kidnapped by pirates three months ago in the Galmudug region of Somalia, from a land mine clearance unit of the Danish Refugee Council where they had been working.

President Obama authorised a rescue mission on Tuesday, and the Seals arrived during the dead of night, killed nine Somalian pirates and swept the hostages away to safety. As it happens, the rescuers formed part of the same navy unit (Seal team six) that was responsible for Bin Laden’s killing last year.

The US president had this to say about the successful mission:

As commander-in-chief, I could not be prouder of the troops who carried out this mission and the dedicated professionals who supported their efforts. The US will not tolerate the abduction of our people and will spare no effort to secure the safety of our citizens and to bring their captors to justice.

Just so you know.

[Source: Times Live]

Luckily for those thrillseekers, the lottery has rolled over again and they can now buy a ticket for an even bigger jackpot. But I wouldn’t count on it rolling over again – it is very rare for the Powerball lottery to get this big. Saturday’s draw is now R1.2 Billion. Is it worth the gamble, just to save on buying one ticket?

I wouldn’t dare skip over this one.

God, imagine the sleepless nights – wondering “what if?”

No thank you!

CLICK HERE to buy a ticket
to Saturday’s R1.2 Billion Jackpot

Zet isn’t at all pleased with the poster, and has stated it has nothing to do with education, but instead just opens up old wounds of history past.

Zet continued:

The posture says join the DA to have an affair with a white person. The DA thinks our struggle for democracy was about the Immorality Act and the Group Areas Act.

We will not be excited with having an affair with a white person; we will not be enticed by that.

Zet said it would be OK if the DA wanted to discuss non-racialism, though.

DA youth leader Makashule Gana explained the poster was in fact part of a campaign to create debate about race, and not anything to do with an act of infidelity:

To say that the poster is sexual is taking it to the extreme. The poster is saying a lot.

They are embracing each other, and it shows in this country that we can find an opportunity to embrace each other.

A few years ago, Zet got some pulses racing with his “kill for Zuma” comments:

If the Scorpions bite the wrong people we will kill them. Like a dog when it starts biting relatives at your home. You get rid of it. We will do the same to the Scorpions.

The scorpions were disbanded, but Zet probably didn’t have anything to do with that.

[Sources: iAfrica, IOL]

There are a few angles of attack that you can employ to defeat the summer heat.

The first, is loose fitting clothing.

The second, is a chilled beverage.

And the third, and most critical component, is music.

“BUT,” I hear you say, “we’ve heard LMFAO’s Party Rock Anthem so many times, our ears are bleeding, and we’ve lost the very will to live!”

That, my friends, is an unfortunate byproduct of the summer hit single.

But you really have no reason to complain. More than that, you have no excuse for not listening to exactly what you want to this summer, my friends.

How? So glad you asked. By mixing YOUR OWN TRACKS, that’s how. And more specifically, you can mix them with this lifesaving piece of software: The Magix Music Maker MX.

There are honestly so many features to this software, that we don’t know where to begin. Our producers and techs over at 2oceansvibe Radio gave it a once over, and went completely nuts.

Check out the new features on this version, let alone the standard features of the software:

You can snap up this sick deal HERE. Do it!

Well-known American comedienne, Joan Rivers, has just undergone her 734th plastic surgery operation at the age of 78.

This time she went for a to “tune-up” on her neck, and allowed a TV crew to film the process as part of her reality TV show Joan & Melissa: Joan Knows Best. Melissa is her daughter.

Joan Rivers, also age 78

Before the procedure, Melissa staged a “skintervention” where she tried to convince her mother to decide against the procedure.  But Joan was having none of that and argued that “my body is a temple, and my temple needs redecorating.” However, she assured her daughter that she wasn’t going for “a Chaz Bono”, but  just a touch up.

Congrats Joan! Here’s to getting to that 1000th plastic surgery…before dying at the same age as the rest of us.

[Source: Daily Mail]