Hong Kong poor living in cages
NOTE: I posted an article a few years ago about the Hong Kong poor being housed in cages...I see it has not improved. Lon
Small enclosures line the room, leaving just enough headroom to sit up within the confined walls. Money is as tight as the spaces hidden among multimillion dollar high-rise apartments.
Australia-based photographer Brian Cassey flew to Hong Kong, where he had discovered people were living in nothing more than cages because of dire economic conditions.
But nailing down the location of these caged dwellings proved to be harder than Cassey expected.
“The cage people are very well-hidden in dense, packed high-rise buildings,” Cassey said. “All cage homes are well-hidden behind several bolted doors.”
This set-up doesn’t come as cheaply as one might expect, either. Cassey said it costs about $200 a month to rent the space.
“No one wants to live here, but we need to survive,” a resident of one of these facilities told. Mak, 72, works as a janitor at the nearby Times Square and said his living conditions are “a step up from being on the streets.”
Cassey said he was looking for a project that “had the prospect of making a difference by bringing the situation to light.”
With only two hours to spend with his subjects, there wasn’t much time to get personally involved with them. Instead, the British photographer tried to hide in the shadows and “be as unobtrusive as possible,” he said, adding that it was very difficult task to accomplish in the cramped space.
“The atmosphere was one of resigned but controlled despair,” he said. “From those few I talked to, they are resigned to their fate,” deeming it preferable to being homeless.
He found the situation “extremely depressing” but said he was impressed by the attitudes of many of the people living there.
“The cage home residents I met acted, despite their dire circumstances, with amazing dignity and grace,” he said. - leenks
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Scientology: Secrets of the Super Power Building
The Voice has obtained hundreds of new renderings of Scientology's Super Power Building in Clearwater, Florida, as well as a comprehensive collection of its architectural drawings. [Go here for our primer: What is Scientology? Update: More renderings of the building's odder features. And we reveal part of how the Super Power Rundown itself works.]
A few renderings of Scientology's expensive new "mecca" were published as long ago as 2007, but that release, and a few since, have included only a few images of how the building's interiors will look once it is finished.
This new leak of material to the Voice is much more comprehensive, and includes detailed information down to the building's fasteners, fixtures, and signage, not to mention its major architectural schematics.
Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard devised the "Super Power Rundown" in 1978. He envisioned it as a series of counseling routines, some of which would be used to enhance the human senses with the use of elaborate and futuristic platforms and machines. Hubbard died in 1986, and it wasn't until the early 1990s that the rundown was performed on a few wealthy donors at Scientology's secretive "Int Base" in the California desert. Then, in November 1998, Hubbard's successor, church leader David Miscavige, broke ground on a massive new building project, "Flag Mecca," known commonly as the Super Power Building, where the new rundown would be housed. Thirteen years and $145 million in fundraising later, the building is thought to be largely completed, but it is still not open for business. On the following pages you'll get a detailed look at what's inside...- Go to Scientology: Secrets of the Super Power Building - Amazing!
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The fortune teller who made successful Royal predictions using ASPARAGUS
A fortune teller who uses asparagus to predict the future has revealed her top tips for 2012 - including two Royal births and British glory at the Olympics.
Mystic Jemima Packington, 56, claims to be the world’s only 'Asparamancer' and sees the future by tossing the spears into the air and interpreting how they land.
She has made dozens of accurate predictions in recent years, including the demise of Gordon Brown, the credit crunch, and Oscar glory for British film The King’s Speech.
Today she made her predictions for 2012, which include two Royal pregnancies, a change of leadership for one of the UK’s main political parties, the collapse of the Euro and the death of a high-profile British figure.
Jemima, who is originally from Pershore, Worcestershire, but now lives in Bath, Somerset, said: 'It might sound silly to some people but my readings are very accurate.
'I have been doing readings using asparagus since I was eight years old. My great aunt read tea leaves and I have inherited her gift.'
Jemima only uses fresh Worcestershire asparagus grown in the Vale of Evesham - the UK’s main supplier of the vegetable.
She picks a handful of tips, tosses them into the air and 'reads' the shapes they form when they land.
One of Jemima’s most remarkable predictions was that Gordon Brown would not only be ousted but also leave politics completely after his election defeat in 2010.
She said: 'I was asked to do a reading about Gordon Brown just before the general election.
'I cast the spears and the were all pointing down and several spear tips had lost their spores which indicates tears.
'My reading of this was that he would lose the election in 2010 and would then leave politics altogether.
'I was the first person to predict this and people said I was mad at the time but it came true.
'I have a very good success rate, but because it’s an interpretation you can sometimes be slightly off the mark.'
Last year she correctly predicted a Royal baby with the Princess Royal’s son Peter Phillips and his wife Autumn announcing their second child.
She also foresaw the downfall of Scottish Lib Dem leader Tavish Scott and Northern Ireland Social Democrat leader Margaret Ritchie.
The spears also correctly predicted economic turmoil in America and the Oscar’s success for Brit flick The King’s Speech.
This year she predicts Olympic success for Britain but a dismal performance for the England football team at Euro 2012.
She also predicts older players being recalled for the England squad in Euro 2012, several celebrities being outed as gay, a devolution referendum being granted to Scotland, laws introduced to prevent phone hacking following the Leveson inquiry into Press ethics and an animal scooping an Oscar.
Jemima said: 'When I was making the reading for the Olympics I cast the asparagus and the spears landed in the shape of a sun.
'The spears all remained strong and intact which I interpreted as good weather and a solid performance from the athletes.
'When I did a reading to predict the England football team’s chances at Euro 2012 a lot of older spears pointed upwards and many lost their spores.
'Many younger spears landed below the older ones indicating younger players being left out in favour of experienced members of the squad.
'The spores from the spears showed there would not be success for the England team.” Excitingly, her reading for Royal announcements hinted at babies for newlywed couples Kate and William and Zara Phillips and Mike Tindall.
Jemima said: 'I took another casting for my reading for Royal announcements and the spears fell in the shape of a crown.
'Two smaller spears were pointing towards the crown indicating two visitors - therefore two babies or pregnancies.
'I can only do readings for individuals when they select the asparagus tips so I was not able to read whether one of the pregnancies would be Kate Middleton.'
When she asked the spears to show her what would happen with the Euro financial crisis one of the vegetables ominously broke in half.
Jemima said: 'When a spear breaks it is the equivalent of the death card in Tarot readings.
'It is not necessarily a bad thing because it indicates a parting of ways.'
Baby joy: Peter Phillips' wife Autumn, who is expecting their second child in March, is captured kissing their first daughter Savannah in July last year
Baby joy: Peter Phillips' wife Autumn, who is expecting their second child in March, is captured kissing their first daughter Savannah in July last year
However when she predicted what national tragedies lay ahead another spear tip snapped.
She said: 'It was very strange because I cast the spears and one of the very healthy ones broke it’s tip very high up.
'I interpreted this to be a death of a high-profile, much loved British figure which will cause the nation much sorrow.' - dailymail
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Man tells court it was dog who strangled wife
A German man suspected of strangling his wife has pointed the finger at the family dog instead, saying the Labrador could have smothered her to death by accident.
The 50-year-old man was convicted of manslaughter after his wife was found strangled to death in their bathroom in Düsseldorf November 2010, the Süddeutsche Zeitung reported on Monday.
But his conviction was overruled by a federal court which said that the fact the woman was strangled for several minutes did not necessarily on its own mean she was killed intentionally, and now the case is being heard again – complete with a witness who is an expert on dogs.
The man’s lawyer said he and his wife had been drinking heavily on the night she died – he had a blood alcohol level of 3.4 parts per thousand when police arrived at their house.
He said the woman had fallen over in the bathroom and her husband had been unable to lift her up. He had given her a pillow and blanket and gone to bed, to find her dead the following afternoon.
Their 35-kilo dog must have smothered her, the lawyer argued, saying it was well-known that they sometimes kill their own puppies this way by accident.
The man said he only realised she had died at around 4 p.m., having got up, taken the dog for a walk and talked with his mother on the phone.
But Hans-Hermann Sangen told the court it was unfair to make the dog the scapegoat in the case.
The expert from the Labrador club in Velbert, said adults could not be put in danger by one of the dogs. He said newborns could be accidentally smothered by one of the animals if they snuggled up to them, but that adults could not.
The case continues. - thelocal