While raising their only child Allyson a shut-in daughter Gary and Beth Carter find themselves pulled into a world of the occult they could never have imagined. Along with the help of the families two friends the group embarks upon a journey in what they believe will answer the questions about Allyson’s condition. Instead the horror they discover endangers the entire group and promises death for everyone.
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These are no sloppy two a penny robbers, these guys are organised and very slick – we are talking electronic devices, top notch explosives and some serious planning. The guys also enjoy the fruits of their labour with great houses, …
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the musings of ondo lady: Takers
These are no sloppy, two a penny robbers, these guys are organised and very slick – we are talking electronic devices, top notch explosives and some serious planning. The guys also enjoy the fruits of their labour with great houses, …
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Takers
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All Blacks lock Ali Williams has dropped coach Graham Henry into the middle of an embarrassing prank involving the prescription drug Viagra.
In a new book, Ali’s Book of Tall Tales, Williams writes about a celebration that went off-key when Henry was coach of the Auckland team that won the National Provincial Championship in 2002. As the result of a bet, another player, who remains nameless, agreed to source some Viagra, which is used to treat erectile dysfunction.
Williams was a young player in a side that won the final against the odds after a string of upsets.
“One thing leads to another and at least half a dozen tabs of Viagra are being emptied, on the sly, into the NPC trophy, which is full of beer, doing the traditional rounds of the team, with everyone drinking from it.
“The bloke comes through with the magic pills for the boys – and they are bloody well handed out pretty much straight after the game, when the celebrations are just kicking into gear,” writes Williams.
“And one of the people drinking from the trophy, not knowing at the time about its special super-powers, is Ted, aka Graham Henry.
“So the scene goes something like this: team is drinking the Viagra-laced beer from the NPC trophy – which is probably not entirely respectful to the competition, but what’s done is done, eh? And anyone who comes and joins in the team celebrations is drinking from the trophy, as is the tradition..
“Now I don’t want to dwell on what may or may not have happened with Ted later on that night .”
Henry did not want to be interviewed about the incident, telling an All Blacks spokesperson “I know nothing about that” before suggesting Williams might be having a joke (after all, the book is called Ali’s Book of Tall Tales)..
“And, like I said, it’s probably not the ideal way of respectfully crowning a winning season but boys will be boys, eh?”
Other anecdotes from Williams include meeting the Queen and having to remind the monarch they’d previously been introduced.
Williams goes on to recount the embarrassing side-effects suffered by some of his team-mates and concludes by saying: “I haven’t done the maths to see if, nine months later, there were any unexpected surprises as a result of the Viagra/NPC trophy/beer incident.
Later Williams inserts a fake letter from Queen Elizabeth explaining why “things would never have worked out between us” and ending with a “PS, we made the semifinals of the 2007 world cup and you didn’t – ha ha”. “Actually this is the third time we’ve met,” he said.
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New assistance for victims of serious crime and their families has been welcomed but some say it is far too little.
Justice Minister Simon Power announced the new measures at the Victim Support Conference in Wellington earlier today. .
Paul Kuchenbecker – whose son Karl was killed by parolee Graeme Burton in hills close to Lower Hutt in January 2007, while Burton was on parole – said today’s support was not enough.
Additional support will also be available for victims of sexual violence and other serious crime.
“I know it’s not all about money but at the same it takes the stress off that person, who is grieving already, to not have to worry about financial problems.
Families should be given $50,000 up front, similar to what was offered in New South Wales, to pay for funeral and associated costs and other financial burdens that arose from a murder, Mr Kuchenbecker said.
“It’s not their fault, it’s not the victim’s fault, it’s directly related to the Government and its policies of letting people out when they shouldn’t be let out.”
However, Victim Support chief executive Tony Paine said today’s announcement was good in the current economic environment and he was “pretty happy” with the ongoing programme. I believe the Government should front up.
“It’s up to society not to leave them out of pocket,” Mr Paine told .
Victims were offered emotional help through Victim Support and got physical support but were often left financially disadvantaged, he said.
The court may be in a different town, victims have to travel to the court, pay for accommodation, arrange for childcare and take time off work.
As well as the obvious funeral and loss of income costs victims often wanted to be at court hearings of the accused, he said.
Sensible Sentencing Trust national spokesperson Garth McVicar said Mr Power’s announcement was an acknowledgement and a start.
Sensible Sentencing Trust national spokesperson Garth McVicar said Mr Power’s announcement was an acknowledgement and a start.
Rethinking Crime and Punishment’s Kim Workman said the today’s announcement was “encouraging” and “very promising”.”
The new initiatives were about moving victims to the centre of the justice system, he said.
“Clearly there’s effort made to providing financial support.
There had been little focus on victim rights until the Victims’ Rights Act in 2002 and since then “some remarkable progress was made on those issues”, he said.”
The announcement today included:
* Families of homicide victims being able to receive $124 a day for up to five adult members to attend High Court proceedings;
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Alas, the reigning champ of Twitter vitriol has decided to hang up her boxing gloves.
Courtney Love has closed down her Twitter account just days after her daughter, Frances Bean Cobain, went after Ali Lohan – Lindsay’s sister – on the micro-blogging service. Mother and daughter are both tweet-obsolete for the moment.
Despite its popularity for public figures looking to control the conversation with their fans, Twitter hasn’t been all fun and games.
The development occurs as Miley Cyrus raps a good-bye ode to Twitter on YouTube and her father, Billy Ray Cyrus, tries to guilt her into staying on Twitter.
The law on what you can and can’t say on Twitter hasn’t been refined yet by a court, but assuming it follows the general defamation book, it’ll be hard to win a defamation lawsuit. Love is dealing with a defamation claim after tweeting disgust at a fashion designer, and Demi Moore and Perez Hilton were also exploring legal action after their war of 140 characters or less with each other the previous month. .
Watch Miley Cyrus’ Goodbye Twitter rap
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Kevin Fallon says the All Whites must take an attacking attitude into their World Cup qualifying match with Bahrain and he believes New Zealand have an aerial advantage they need to capitalise on.
Fallon remains a commanding figure in the New Zealand football scene after he and John Adshead guided the All Whites to their historic appearance at the 1982 World Cup finals.
Fallon sniffs a real opportunity for a second slice of history in this two-match series against Bahrain that opens in Manama on Sunday morning (4. .
He says New Zealand needs to “have a go” for all important away goals and feels coach Ricki Herbert is spoilt for choice up front where Fallon’s son Rory is part of a talented strike force along with Chris Killen, Shane Smeltz and Chris Woods.30am NZ time).
“I would be getting a look at them for 45 minutes, possibly not be too adventurous.
“I think with the team he has got, Ricki has to have a go,” said Fallon, adding with a bit of caution, “But first of all he has to get a look at Bahrain and see where they might hurt us.
“Killen, Smeltz and Rory are all good in the air and Ryan Nelsen is good in the air. But I’d play with no less than two forwards and then have a real go.
“You play two wings and you get the ball into the middle in the air . We could do them at set play if you played that lot… The New Zealand team is selected overnight.”
Having so many strike options is a rarity for New Zealand teams and it will provide Herbert with a pleasant headache as he prepares for the biggest coaching moment of his career. “He will be thinking, ‘do I play Killen, Fallon and Smeltz all together and possibly bring Woods on? Or do I play two and bring two on’.
“There looks to be an abundance of attacking players but playing them all is Ricki’s problem,” Fallon said.”
Fallon said a lack of knowledge on Bahrain was a problem facing the All Whites but the New Zealanders had to back themselves to get something out of this match before the return leg in Wellington on November 14. I think that’s going to be his dilemma.”
Asked what constituted “a tidy result”, Fallon said: “A tidy result would be to not lose by more than a goal.
“It’s a bit unknown but on the strength of them being the fifth Asian side it should be within our grasp to get a tidy result up there.”
. I think if we bring them back to Wellington at 2-1 it would be fantastic
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A corrugated iron fence was all that separated Mary Ann and Andy White from a hill and possible safety on Lolamanu beach in Samoa.
They both clambered over; Mr White, 55, was quick to his feet and began racing his way up. But his wife landed in a hole, losing her footing.
Mr and Mrs White had been in their fale on the morning of their fourth day of a 14-day holiday at the Taufua resort on Lalomanu Beach on the south east coast of Upolu Island when the disaster struck.
He described his own survival of last week’s tsunami as “seconds and metres between me being dead and me being here”.”
As he turned around he watched in horror as the water uclose tothed the two buildings and dumped them on his wife.
“I jumped the fence and managed to get up and Mary Ann fell in a hole and was pulling herself up when the wave reached us.
“She turned around and saw the thing in her face. But he knew it would prove fruitless.”
For a “nano-second” he thought of running back for her. I would have died with her.
“I couldn’t have saved her.
Sharing his story of survival and heartache with the at his Raglan home yesterday, Mr White spoke of the laughs they shared, his wife’s long tales and her love of jewellery during their 35 years together.” Although Mrs White was washed out in the second wave, her body was found later that day by a New Zealand man who had met her at a cooking class the night before.
Andy White met Mary Ann through her brother, and his good friend, Laurie Biesiek, now of Gisborne.
Andy White met Mary Ann through her brother, and his good friend, Laurie Biesiek, now of Gisborne.
Mrs White, 54, an accounts assistant at Perry Group, was also an avid sportswoman.
They both had a strong involvement in the community from day one – Mr White with Lions, Mrs White with the local kindergarten and Plunket and both with Raglan Beautiful.
“It wouldn’t be unusual for us to be sitting by ourselves and killing ourselves with laughter,” Mr White said.
But while the pair loved socialising they also enjoyed spending time together.”
Last week, they and good friends, Brent and Diane Cederman, with who the couple owned Raglan Sunset Motel and holiday homes, decided to take a break and hold a board meeting in Samoa.
“And we weren’t afraid of having a few wines.
“We were awake, it was 7am or thereabouts, then there was the earthquake .
Last Wednesday morning, inside their fale they felt an unnerving, steady tremor… .”
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The Green Party says Rambo-style antics by Defence Force personnel in Afghanistan reflect badly on New Zealand and questions need to be answered about their duties.
The Defence Force has started an investigation after three soldiers were photographed posing with a large bomb carrying an advert for a New Zealand made energy drink. .A Demon energy drink sticker with the slogan “no limits, no laws” is shown attached to the bomb suspended from a plane, with the soldiers standing around it.One photo shows a hand-written message “dear Taliban enjoy this demon” on the side of the bomb next to the sticker.The Defence Force launched its investigation after being alerted to the photos by Radio Live.The Defence Force said the photos appeared to be genuine and were “disappointing”.Another shows one of the soldiers holding two machine guns with Demon advertising and bottles in the background.”We have been led to believe that the NZDF unit at Bagram was purely to facilitate the delivery of supplies through to our Provincial Reconstruction Team in Bamien province,” he said.Green Party MP Keith Locke said today the Defence Force should explain exactly what role the soldiers had been performing at Bagram airbase where the photos were taken.”Can the Defence Force assure us that they are not helping with preparations for bombing missions out of Bagram, like the one last week which killed 90 people, mainly civilians, in Kunduz province?”
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The Australian “kaumatua” behind a recent civil disobedience campaign by Maori elders was arrested last week, delaying his trial on $4.7 million of mortgage fraud charges.
Bankrupt “life coach” Shane Wenzel, who uses the name Tane Rakau, was arrested on Tuesday for breaching the peace, by police overseeing the demolition of an illegally built soundstage at his South Auckland compound.
The group claims to be a sovereign hapu, exempt from New Zealand laws, and Wenzel, a white Australian, claims tangata whenua status by virtue of having been “adopted” into the hapu.
Wenzel is the leader of a group of protesters who disrupted the high court trial of former MP Taito Phillip Field the previous month and threatened to target the homes of Prime Minister John Key and senior judges to draw attention to injustices against Maori. It’s genocide against the Maori.
He told police officers overseeing the demolition at his property on Tuesday: “You guys are practising apartheid. There’s one set of rules for Pakeha and a different set for us.
Wenzel, who is representing himself in court, said the charges would not slow the group’s protest activities.”
He was held in custody until Thursday because he refused to submit to fingerprinting, resulting in the adjournment of his 10-week trial on Serious Fraud Office charges until tomorrow.co. The hapu was preparing a campaign of “arresting” MPs and judges, and making moves to acquire the maori.
Vincent Eastwood, a Wenzel supporter who films the group’s activities and uploads the footage online, told the Sunday Star-Times the arresting officers had “committed treason” and “made a declaration of war on a nation state”.nz internet domain name. Footage of the arrests was posted on the group’s YouTube channel, headlined “Maori raped and arrested by police”. Footage of the arrests was posted on the group’s YouTube channel, headlined “Maori raped and arrested by police”. He ain’t.
“This Womble character undermines the legitimacy of the tino rangatiratanga cause by duping Maori who are in the main uneducated, poor and gullible, into believing he is some kind of saviour. Former followers have described Wenzel’s group as cult-like, and paint the 48-year-old as having an unhealthy sway over his adherents.”
Recipients of Wenzel’s “re-education” have included Jamie Lockett, one of those charged in the Urewera “terror raids”, and Macsyna King, the mother of the murdered Kahui twins. “I told him I was disappointed that he had let this clown adopt a Maori name, assume a kaumatua status that he had no right to, and lead Tass and co around by the nose like a farmer leads pigs to the slaughter. .”