Two a penny

Sex with no strings dangerous one night stands–Zedde explores one woman’s desire to push her sexual boundaries in this compelling erotically charged novel.

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A set of bills strengthening laws used against gangs sparked passionate debate in Parliament today before being passed into law.

The Gangs and Organised Crime Bill was divided into three bills: the Crimes Amendment Bill, Local Government Amendment Bill and the Sentencing Amendment Bill No 3.

The bills passed 108-14, opposed by the Maori Party and Greens.

Between them they will give police, courts and local authorities greater powers in terms of monitoring, disrupting and sentencing those who take part in organised criminal groups.

Gang and community engagement was more effective than “short term hysterics” such as putting offenders in jail and throwing away the key.

Maori Party MP Te Ururoa Flavell said there were better ways to deal with gangs than ramping up enforcement and imprisonment.

Mr Flavell referred to a situation in the Bay of Plenty town of Murupara where two young people had allegedly been murdered in the past year.

Communities needed to be empowered so they could help deal with issues on their own terms.

Mr Flavell said he had no issue with criminals being punished, but called for a “balance between enforcement and restoration. .

“Stop calling them our people; they are not our people,” he said.”

Labour MP Shane Jones took offence to claims from the Maori Party that gang members were “our people”.

“They’re not our people.

“Our people don’t go to jail for killing teenage boys, our people don’t go to jail for raping, selling P and celebrating it as a mark of distinction and success. . In fact they are not people.they are the slaves that would have been despatched before Christianity without a sliver of doubt. .

It was important police were given the tools needed in their drive and keep on top of their offending, she said.”

National MP Sandra Goudie said gangs could be as savvy as anyone else in keeping up with technological advances and were much more sophisticated than they used to be.

The Sentencing Amendment Bill makes gang participation an aggravating factor at sentencing, and the Local Government Amendment Bill enables police and local authorities to seek removal orders against intimidating gang structures.

In its separate form, the Crimes Amendment Bill allows police to apply for an interception warrant to investigate participation in an organised criminal group and increases maximum sentences.

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In its initial form, the Gangs and Organised Crime Bill passed its first parliamentary reading in February

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Three Chinese tourists who were robbed at knife point are “stunned and shocked” after being duped into thinking they were doing a good deed.

The trio were robbed at knifepoint by two men whom they had stopped to help on the side of the road in the Far North around 3.

Detective Sergeant Trevor Beatson of the Kaitaia Tactical Response Group said the tourists had been hailed by two Maori men in a maroon coloured station wagon, who claimed they were lost.30pm yesterday.

The incident occurred on a stretch of gravel road which runs through Te Paki Reserves and farm land leading to Te Paki Stream and 90 Mile Beach, from State Highway 1F.

When they stopped to help, the tourists were set upon by the men who assaulted them, produced knives and then demanded money and property.

“They had come to New Zealand fully believing it was a safe place to holiday and now their holiday and impressions of our country have been shattered. .

They were driving a maroon or dark red coloured station wagon similar to a Subaru Legacy.”

The two men were Maori, believed to be in their 20′s and described as tall with strong physical builds.

Anyone with information should call 027 223 2628.

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Police are hunting burglars who beat a cat so severely during the course of the robbery that it had to be put down.

Senior Constable Bruce Bogun said a Hamilton family returned to their Albert St home to find that not only had they been robbed, but their cat was cowering in a cupboard so severely injured the vet decided it had to be euthanised.

The cat was discovered by the family’s 10-year-old daughter, Mr Bogun said.

“The cat also suffered serious internal injuries from being kicked, my daughter is very, very upset with it having to be put down.

“It appeared to be in a lot of pain and taking it to the vet we were told it had had its tail broken in three places and had a broken pelvis,” a family member told police. .”

Mr Bogun said that being burgled was stressful enough without having to deal with blatant animal cruelty.

Police said anyone with information should contact them on (07) 858 6200.

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New Zealand golfer David Smail was left fuming after his group was put on the clock mid round on day two of the US PGA Championship at Hazeltine in Minnesota.

Smail made it through to the opening two rounds in his maiden US PGA showing with scores of 75 and 73 for a four-over par tally and right on the halfway cut-off mark.

But while Smail was delighted with his efforts on the longest venue in Major’s history, he was far from pleased with the events that unfolded on the par five, third hole that he was playing as his 12th.

Smail’s effort makes amends after the 39-year old Hamilton player sat out the closing two rounds of this year’s US Open and British Open championships.

“I had hit a good drive down the middle but then my second shot then just ran off into the first cut of rough before I hit my third `fat’ that landed on the fourth tee,” he said.

Smail eventually walked away with a double bogey to drop back to four over par, but then hung on grimly to par his remaining six holes and ensure his place over the weekend.

“It was then a rules official came up to the group to say we were being put on the clock.

“I had no shot from there and managed to get it on the green.”

The player in question was 47-year old American Michael Miles, also competing in his first US PGA.

“But it’s just disturbing that a rules official should put us on the clock when one player in our group, and I am not naming names, but there was one guy in our group and he was the reason we were out of place and behind the group ahead.

Miles, who also qualified for June’s US Open, buckled under the weight of a second round 81 to miss the cut with a nine over par total.

Miles is the Assistant Professional at the Virginia Country Club course in Long Beach, California and qualified for the event after finishing tied 16th in the 2009 PGA Professional National Championship.

“But it’s just disappointing when one of your playing partners just doesn’t try to make the effort to catch up.

“We were slow and we were at least a hole behind, so we deserved to be on the clock,” Smail admitted.”

Smail went to the next tee fuming and it took the intervention of his wife, Sheree, who was walking with her husband, to defuse his anger. If he did, we wouldn’t have been on the clock, and we wouldn’t have to worry.

“But I found myself starting to rush my shots so it did take a while to settle down.

“I have always been a quick player and Sheree knows my game, and she was watching from the sidelines signalling to me to calm down,” Smail said.

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Forget fast cars and wild women. The recession has changed the way many younger men are living, with stability and security at work and home becoming top priorities, according to a survey.

It showed that men are putting a bigger emphasis on security in their jobs and at home in a return to traditionalism, including smartening up their wardrobes, although they are continuing to embrace new technology at a fast pace.com, which conducted the poll.

“We have seen a clear move by men toward seeking more security in their finances, in their relationships and in the workplace,” said James Bassil, editor in chief of the website AskMen.

The annual lifestyle survey by AskMen.

“It seems guys haven’t been as affected as negatively as they anticipated by the downturn but they’ve changed their habits pretty dramatically to anticipate losing their jobs or careers changed and are saving more money and seeking more stability in their jobs than in the past,” he added.com included 50,000 men in their 20s, 30s and 40s who were questioned about how the economic crisis had impacted their lives.

Last year 21 percent said salary was the major consideration for any new job but this dropped to 14 percent in 2009, while the number of men who cited personal achievement as the major motivator rose to 40 percent from 34 percent.

It showed that five percent more men than last year said stability and security were key attractions in a new job while salary was no longer the most important factor.

The survey showed 84 percent of men think it’s important to have a girlfriend with serious “wife potential.

Bassil said this shift toward a more traditional approach in the workplace was also reflected in attitudes toward relationships.

The poll also showed that 84 percent of men own at least four pairs of shoes, 20 percent have at least four suits, and 50 percent have a daily skin care regime.”

“We saw this move toward more traditional relationships in 2008 as well but the numbers spiked up in 2009 with 12 percent more saying it was important that a girl has “wife potential” and 15 percent more men believing in marriage,” said Bassil. .

Seventy-five percent of men spend more time in front of their computer monitor than any other type of screen and email is going the way of the telephone with more men using Facebook than email.

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Henry Louis Gates Jr, the pre-eminent African-American scholar, is accusing police of racism after he was arrested while trying to force open the locked front door of his home near Harvard University.

Cambridge police were called to the home on Thursday afternoon (local time) after a woman reported seeing a man “wedging his shoulder into the front door as to pry the door open,” according to a police report.

An officer ordered the man to identify himself, and Gates refused, according to the report.”

Officers said they tried to calm down the 58-year-old academic, who responded, “You don’t know who you’re messing with,” according to the police report. Gates began calling the officer a racist and said repeatedly, “This is what happens to black men in America. He joined the Harvard faculty in 1991 and holds one of 20 prestigious “university professors” positions at the school.

Gates is the director of Harvard University’s WEB Du Bois Institute for African and African American Research and served for 15 years as chairman of what is now the Department of African and African American Research.

He also was host of African American Lives, a PBS show about the family histories of prominent US blacks.

Gates was arrested on a disorderly conduct charge after police said he “exhibited loud and tumultuous behaviour”. Time magazine named him one of the 25 most influential Americans in 1997.

Gates referred comment to his lawyer, fellow Harvard scholar Charles Ogletree, who was not immediately available. . The woman who reported Gates did not return a message on Monday. Cambridge police declined to comment, and the Middlesex district attorney’s office said it could not do so until after Gates’ arraignment.

Many of Gates’ African-American colleagues believe his arrest is part of a pattern of racial profiling in Cambridge, said Allen Counter, who has taught neuroscience at Harvard for 25 years.

Many of Gates’ African-American colleagues believe his arrest is part of a pattern of racial profiling in Cambridge, said Allen Counter, who has taught neuroscience at Harvard for 25 years.

“We do not believe that this arrest would have happened if professor Gates was white,” Counter said. They threatened to arrest him when he could not produce identification.”

Counter said he spoke to Gates, who told him police continued to question him after he showed them his licence and Harvard identification. “It really has been very unsettling for African-Americans throughout Harvard and throughout Cambridge that this happened.

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Police found 5000 unissued hapu membership certificates and $40,000 in cash when they searched properties connected to Gerard Otimi, the man behind a scheme in which fake passports and visas were allegedly sold to overstayers.

Police also found certificates in people’s names, but were unable to say tonight how many.

Otimi was arrested today and will appear in Manukau District Court tomorrow on three charges of deception.

Under the scheme, people paid up to $500 for residency papers issued in the name of a Maori hapu.

Detective Inspector John Tims from Counties Manukau police said further charges could follow.

Mr Tims said three properties associated with Otimi were searched by police today. Overstayers, mainly from the Pacific Islands, were allegedly told the documents meant they could stay in New Zealand under the hapu’s protection. .

Police wanted to hear from anyone who had dealings with Otimi. He was unable to say how many signed certificates were found.

A colleague, Detective Senior Sergeant Dave Pizzini, said Otimi had been cooperative in his dealings with police.

“There are other people out there, who have given money or attempted to give money to Mr Otimi, and we would like to hear from those people,” he told Radio NZ.

The Immigration Advisers Authority said today it was investigating whether Otimi was giving immigration advice without a licence.

“He is very passionate and he believes in his cause,” Mr Pizzini said.

All immigration advisers need to be issued a licence to operate and those without one could be fined up to $100,000 and/or imprisoned for seven years.

All immigration advisers need to be issued a licence to operate and those without one could be fined up to $100,000 and/or imprisoned for seven years.

Licensed advisers were required to meet competency standards, participate in continuing professional development programmes and comply with a code of conduct. We are cooperating with the police who are leading the investigation,” the authority said.

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US President Barack Obama has called North Korea’s rocket launch “provocative” and a clear violation of UN Security Council rules.

“I urge North Korea to abide fully by the resolutions of the UN Security Council,” the President said as the council approved an emergency session today to deal with North Korea’s rocket launch.

Obama called North Korea’s latest act a clear violation of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1718, which prohibits North Korea from conducting ballistic missile-related activities of any kind.

North Korea will not find acceptance in the international community “unless it abandons its pursuit of weapons of mass destruction,” Obama said.

“North Korea has ignored its international obligations, rejected unequivocal calls for restraint and further isolated itself from the community of nations,” Obama said. The Security Council adopted the 2006 resolution five days after North Korea conducted a test of a nuclear weapon.

The State Department in Washington said North Korea launched a rocket at 10:30 pm EDT Saturday (1430 NZT).

The president’s statement came from Prague, the Czech Republic, where the president was to make a speech Sunday on nuclear proliferation.

North Korea says this and all Taepo-dong missiles are space-launch vehicles for satellites, though satellite and missile technologies are considered interchangeable.

Obama identified the rocket as a Taepo-dong 2 missile, a three-stage rocket with potential range of more than 6600 kilometers. .

The United States will take “appropriate steps to let North Korea know that it cannot threaten the safety and security of other countries with impunity,” said State Department spokesperson Fred Lash.

“It is alarming that North Korea carried out this missile launch in direct defiance of the international community,” said the California Democrat.

Republican Howard Berman, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said the launch would raise tensions unnecessarily.”

North Korea had informed international authorities that it planned to launch a rocket sometime between Saturday and Wednesday to put a satellite into orbit. “The test is an unnecessary provocation that raises tensions in the region, and I urge the North Koreans to stop using their missile and WMD programs to threaten their neighbors and the rest of the world.

But the US, South Korea, Japan and others suspect it is a cover for testing a long-range missile for the North, which has nuclear weapons. In Japan, chief Cabinet spokesperson Takeo Kawamura said it was not immediately clear if the rocket was mounted with a satellite as North Korea has claimed.

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They fear such a test could be a first step toward putting a nuclear warhead on a missile capable of reaching Alaska and beyond. Leaders from those countries had warned Pyongyang not to proceed with the planned rocket launch.

“These actions place additional strains on regional stability at a time when the unresolved nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula requires mutual confidence-building,” the Czech EU presidency said in a statement.

EUROPEAN CONDEMNATION

The European Union has strongly condemned North Korea’s action.

– AP,

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It called on Korea to “immediately suspend all activities related to its ballistic missile programme and abandon all nuclear weapons and existing nuclear programmes in a complete, verifiable and irreversible manner”

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A “white supremacy”-themed after-ball party organised by Mount Aspiring College students for this weekend has shocked and outraged Wanaka parents.

Tickets for the party, at Wanaka’s Outlet camping ground, went on sale two days ago but angry parents have already called a halt after being shocked by the racial overtone. .

One parent said her daughter was as surprised as she was when she brought the ticket home.

“My question is, how did it get through staff before printing?

“It was marketed as all white but you don’t use that wording.

She said he told her it was an innocent mistake, but admitted he didn’t know anything about it before the tickets were printed.

Tickets were pulled from sale last night and new ones were being printed with the name “White Out”. The name is just completely inappropriate for any school project,” she said.

Manager Mark Watson said he had no idea the $7. But many students have already got their costumes organised after depleting all the stocks of white coveralls from Wanaka’s Mitre 10 hardware store.

An organising committee student told they had absolutely no intention to offend anyone.98 clothing item had been so popular when contacted last night, but after a quick check of his database confirmed he had only large sizes of the boilersuit-type clothing left. The way it is written, ‘White Supreeemacy’, was supposed to be like white supreme white the dominant colour of the night. “When we were deciding on the name it didn’t even cross our minds.

Another girl spoken to said a separate group organised the after-party and admitted they did things in secrecy. But once it was pointed out to us we thought we’d better change it,” she said. I only realised what the name was when I bought the ticket. “It’s not even related to the school, really.”

The angry mother believed the students must have known it was going to cause a reaction because they waited until the last minute to put the tickets on sale. I was shocked. They were hiding them until the last minute.

“Last year they went on sale two weeks earlier and this year it was only a few days before.”

But principal Bosley said last night the students involved were “absolutely gobsmacked” and had now realised they made a big mistake.

“Those kids are not as dumb as the principal is making out. It was never their intention and there was no maliciousness involved. It was never their intention and there was no maliciousness involved.”

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He admitted they got things wrong but stood by their word that it was an honest mistake. “You have got to believe me. But if anybody has taken offence we apologise to them,” he said.