This photo of Bondi Beach really speaks to me, you know? I love the scenery–the sand, the surf, the bright blue sky stacked above the perfectly tanned sand. It’s a perfect scene, particularly for those of us who are feeling the last remnants of winter.
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According to Anamaree Correia, a former flight attendant, three Australian soldiers wanted to have bit of fun with her on a Jetstar flight from Sydney to Phukhet, Thailand. This wasn’t the flirting kind of fun that leaves you feeling gloriously giddy. This was the giddy that gets you groggy and passed out. Correia said she was sitting next to a soldier with two others in front of her and they must have spiked her water while she trotted off to the toilet. The weird feeling she had in her head after drinking her water wasn’t because of the wine she drank before she drank the water–it was what was in the water.
Whatever was put in the bottle made her pass out and pee on herself, as published in the Herald Sun. Okay, this happened a few days ago, but there hasn’t been any more news about it that I found. Correia didn’t want to press charges at the time of the incident, but I’m wondering, wouldn’t she have gone for a test to find out what was put in the water, if anything? If something was put in my drink, I sure would want to know what it was. Also wouldn’t it be good to stop drink spikers?
The article also doesn’t say if the soldiers were questioned. We’ve posted stories about urine troubles on airplanes before. Add this one to the mix as another hard to believe, but stranger true things have happened, type tale.
Back in February, Abha blogged about Earth Hour, the world initiative to save energy consumption bit by bit. Yesterday, 27 cities around the world took turns turning off their lights for an hour. I noticed Google took part by blackening their homepage.
Sydney was the first major city to begin Earth Hour, when at 8pm (9am GMT), lights went out on landmarks like the Opera House and Harbour Bridge. Bangkok, Toronto, Chicago and Dublin followed.
Although critics say that initiatives such as there don’t help the big picture, Sydney reports that last year, when an estimated two million residents took part, they were able to cut energy usage by more than 10% for the hour.
With 4 safety scares in a month, Qantas seems to have serious problems to deal with.
The latest: 4 tires of one of its 747’s taking off from LA International Airport blew up on the runway. The 232 passengers and crew on board were not hurt; everyone was evacuated from the plane immediately and taken to a hotel. According to the story in the Sydney Morning Herald, the plane may leave today “subject to the aircraft being cleared for operations”.
Other things that have happened to Qantas this month (!):
– Qantas flying from Singapore to London was forced to land at New Delhi Airport for 36-hours due to a technical problem.
– Oil was found leaking from a Qantas aircraft about to land at Sydney Airport.
– A Qantas 737 flight from Townsville landed at Brisbane Airport with smoke coming from its landing gear.
AND…earlier this year in January, a 747 lost almost all power on its descent into Bangkok because of a water leak that shut down 3 of the 4 power generating units.
AND AND…all of this happened right after December last year when Qantas announced a record half-year profit before tax of $905 million, a 73 per cent increase on the previous year. Looks like that jinxed the airline big time.
On July 1, 2004, Australia’s government began offering a $3000 bonus to women who gave birth. Though the bonus was announced only seven weeks before July 1, 2004, a new study (pdf) finds that about 1,000 births were strategically delayed until the bonus went into effect. The researchers further found that more babies were born on July 1, 2004, than on any day in the last thirty years.
Now, on July 1 of this year, the “baby bonus” will be raised from $4,187 to $5000, and some academics are wondering whether women might again try to delay giving birth– however that works– until July 1.
One article quotes an Australian economist who worries that raising the bonus suddenly, rather than phasing it in, might serve as an “unhealthy incentive for women to over-cook their babies.”
So women of Australia, remember: If you’ve got a bun in the oven, make sure you don’t over-cook it.
[Via Marginal Revolution]
