Another music festival death in Sydney

Nobody knows why our kids think you must take drugs at music festivals, but we can guess.  To achieve maximum enjoyment of the night, you need something that will take you to heights not achieved with alcohol alone, they tell their friends.

Last Saturday, 28 November 2015, another young woman went out to have the time of her life, and never came home.   Her name was Sylvia Choi and she died after ingesting ecstasy with alcohol and possibly MDMA mixed with water. 

The effects of MDMA include feelings of mental stimulation, emotional warmth, empathy toward others, a sense of well being and decreased anxiety.

But Ms Choi wasn't a naive young thing with no life experience, she was a 25 year old qualified pharmacist.  When she collapsed on the dance floor, valuable minutes passed before she arrived at a medical tent and she was pronounced dead at Concord Hospital a few hours later.

Today, Blooms the Chemist, where she worked, issued a statement.

'Blooms the Chemist is saddened by the news that one of our bright, well-respected pharmacists, Ms Sylvia Choi lost her life at Sydney's Stereosonic.  Our tight-knit community has received the news of her passing with disbelief and is struggling to come to terms with the loss of a much-loved member of our team.  We extend our deepest condolences to Ms Choi's family and ask the broader community to respect their privacy during this difficult time.'

A 22 year old British tourist, who was with another group of friends, had a lucky escape when she was released from Westmead hospital after being in an induced coma.

Even though people attending the concert know these drugs are made by criminals in someone's backyard shed, they have complete trust and faith that nothing will happen to them.  Paramedics treated 120 that night who became gravely ill from a bad reaction to drugs, and nine were taken to hospital.

Police are investigating the possibility the substances taken by Ms Choi were manufactured locally by people she knew.

French ban on Muslim headscarves upheld

Christine Ebrahimian is a French national, born in 1951, who lives in Paris.  Working as a social worker in the psychiatric department of a Paris hospital, she did not have her contract renewed because she refused to remove her head covering, following complaints from patients.

She took her case to the European Court of Human Rights and today, she lost her appeal.

From the European Human Rights website

Judges ruled  that a decision not to renew a French social worker’s contract, who refused to remove her veil, did not breach human rights law.

In its judgment in the case of Ebrahimian v. France (application no. 64846/11) the European Court of Human Rights held, unanimously, that there had been

 no violation of Article 9 (right to freedom of religion) of the European Convention on Human Rights.

The court noted that wearing the veil had been considered by the authorities as an ostentatious manifestation of religion that was incompatible with the requirement of neutrality incumbent on public officials in discharging their functions.

 The applicant Christiane Ebrahimian, had been ordered to observe the principle of secularism within the meaning of Article 1 of the French Constitution and the requirement of neutrality deriving from that principle.

According to the national courts, it had been necessary to uphold the secular character of the state and thus protect the hospital patients from any risk of influence or partiality in the name of their right to their own freedom of conscience.

 The necessity of protecting the rights and liberties of others – that is, respect for everyone’s religion – had formed the basis of the decision in question.

The court found that the national authorities had not exceeded their margin of appreciation in finding that there was no possibility of reconciling Ebrahimian’s religious convictions with the obligation to refrain from manifesting them, and in deciding to give precedence to the requirement of neutrality and impartiality of the state.

The Council of Europe, based in Strasbourg, France covers 47 members countries.  Founded on 5 May 1949 by 10 governments, the organisation seeks to develop throughout Europe common and democratic principles based on the European Convention of Human Rights on the protection of individuals.

Salim Mehajer puts companies in wife's name

Before, a healthy-looking, natural Aussie girl

Salim Mehajer's wife Aysha is now a property developer and director of 12 of her husband's companies.

On paper, she has taken over as head of S.E.T. Services Pty Limited and Sydney Project Group Pty Limited, which are being sued for $2 million for breach of contract. 

Another of his companies, Sydney Constructions & Developments has just lost a deal to buy a council-owned car park for $6.5 million after fellow councillors vetoed his application.

Salim, who is the the Deputy Mayor of Auburn Council, and two of his fellow councillors, Ronney Oueik and Ned Attie, will attempt to reverse that decision at the next council meeting.

After

But even though Mr Mehajer is no longer the director of these companies, business records show that he remains the sole shareholder of Sydney Constructions & Developments as well as a shareholder in many of the companies now in his wife's name.

He said he wants to concentrate  on a bachelor degree in medicine, specialising in mental health issues.  Obviously his plans have changed from last month when he said he intended to get a law degree and work his way up to becoming Australian Prime Minister.

Mr Mehajer recently settled out of court a case brought against him for running down two women when he lost control of his $300,000 Ferrari. They received $1.72 million and NRMA, his insurer at the time, will foot the bill.

Before she became Mrs Mehajer Salim, she was April Learmonth from Wollongong, the girl who changed everything for her man, including her religion, her name and her appearance.  

And now there is no trace left of the fresh-faced girl from Wollongong.  She's gone forever.

Donald Trump wants Muslims to register

After the Paris attacks, Republican candidate Donald Trump wants Muslims to register.  "I would certainly implement that, absolutely" he said.  "It would just be good management....it's all about management."

He also wants surveillance inside mosques and said the country had no choice but to close certain mosques.  "Really bad things are happening and they are happening fast - we are going to have to do things we have never done before."

His running mate Jeb Bush was appalled.  "The idea is abhorrent, it's just wrong, it's manipulating people's angst and their fears, that's not strength, that's weakness" he said.

Naturally, Ibrihim Hooper from the Council of the American-Islam Relations was also appalled.  "What else can you compare this to except pre-war Nazi Germany?"

Ben Carson, neurosurgeon

Trump's rival, Ben Carson is taking a similar stand on Muslims.  "If there's a rabid dog running around in your neighbourhood, you're probably not going to assume something good about that dog" he said in Alabama.  "It doesn't mean you hate all dogs, but you are putting your intellect into motion."

He went on "I think we should have a database on everyone who comes into this country and hopefully, we already have a database on every citizen who is already here, and if we don't, we are doing a very poor job."

But it's Trump who has re-taken the lead in the GOP race and Carson has fallen eight points in the latest poll, so it's obvious he's saying what Americans want to hear.

"One of the things I see in this country is a lot of people have lost hope, they've lost their spirit, they've lost their their mojo, you know, to go to the community college" he said.  "We can talk economics, we can talk everything, but we have to give people back their spirit, we have to give people hope."

Religious groups today have compared Trump's comments on creating a Muslim registry to Hitler's policies in Germany in the lead up to WWII.

So does this mean that there's now a good chance there will be a third Bush in the White House?

It couldn't happen........could it?

Ghenoua Fadel lies about car accident

Fadel and Gmrawi

A single mother of four - who supports herself on Centrelink benefits - wanted a new car but couldn't afford it, so she staged a car accident that would give her the means to buy one.  And she almost got away with it.

Fadel placed a pillow over her pregnant stomach to protect her unborn child from the steering wheel, and then crashed her Toyota RAV4 into a stationary car parked in the middle of the road, put there by Jamal Gmrawi, a friend of her husband.  After placing the car in position, Gmrawi jumped out seconds before Fadel ploughed into it.

But what they didn't know was that CCTV footage showed that the whole thing was staged. Crash investigators tracked down the CCTV footage which shows Gmrawi parking the car in the middle of the street while a third man was seen driving nearby in another vehicle, keeping watch.

When police arrived, they found two badly damaged vehicles and a dazed Fadel who said she missed the stop sign and was having serious stomach and back pain.  

She later lodged a $24,440 claim with NRMA while Gmrawi claimed $45,500 from AAMI.

They both kept up their stories until they were shown the CCTV footage and realizing the game was up, Fadel then insisted on being dealt with under section 32 of the Mental Health Act.

Yesterday she appeared in Bankstown Court and received a 13 month jail term to be served as home detention, but that decision is still subject to an assessment from the Bankstown Community Corrections District Office.  She was released on bail and will return to court on 18 December.

Mr Gmrawi has also applied to be dealt with under Section 32 of the Mental Health Act and his case has been adjourned until 17 December.

Australian Muslim Party is born

An Australian businessman, Diaa Mohammed 34, is launching the first Islamic political group - the Australian Muslim Party.

Mr Mohammed 34, said he started the party because critics of the religion say their current leaders are not on 'team Australia' and don't speak up enough condemning those who murder in the name of Islam.

Mmmmm, now here's an interesting idea.  He's recognised and admitted that his Muslim leaders, from the Grand Mufti down, have failed their community by constantly playing the victim and blaming everything but themselves for their bad reputation, so Mr Mohammed is putting himself forward to do the job for them.

He's worried about anti-Muslim political parties springing up and so he should be.  Rise Up Australia, the Australian Liberty Alliance and the Party for Freedom are just three that come to mind and after the Paris attacks, will probably do very well.  

So good luck with your new party Mr Mohammed, you're going to need it.

Australia's Grand Mufti's response to Paris masssacre

Dr Ibrahim Abu Mohammed

Muslim Imams appointed Dr Ibrahim Abu Mohammed to the top religious job in Australia, even though he doesn't speak English. This simple fact speaks volumes because he has lived here for 18 years.

And as if that isn't bad enough, yesterday he released a statement in response to the Paris slaughter by Islamic terrorists.

So he's saying the main "causative factors" behind the slaughter of innocent Parisians has nothing to do with the Koran or Islam.  The problems stem from Islamophobia and 'curtailing freedoms through securitisation and duplicitous foreign policies and military intervention.'

So it's all our own fault.

How long is it going to take before Australian Muslims elect a Grand Mufti who lives life as one of us, not a parallel one, stuck in his own culture and not prepared to step outside it.  

This man should go back to his real home, because that's where his heart is.

Paris needs more guns says Donald Trump

Donald Trump said yesterday that the terrorists would have been killed a lot quicker if people in the concert hall were allowed to carry a gun.

"When you look at Paris, who have the toughest gun laws in the world, nobody had guns but the bad guys" he said in Texas.   "Nobody had guns, they were shooting them one by one and then they (police) broke in and had a big shootout and ultimately killed the terrorists."

"And I will tell you what, you can say what you want, if they had guns, if our people had guns, if they were allowed to carry, it would have been a much, much different situation" he added.

And the Texan crowd loved it, just as he knew they would.

Tony Mundine beaten by Charles Hatley

After a successful Rugby League career, 40 year old Anthony Mundine has been a professional fighter for 15 years.  But last night, he looked his age when 29 year old American Charles Hatley beat him in the 11th round with a TKO.  He was lucky to make it through the second round after Hatley put him down three times.

"I wasn't hurt....I wasn't hurt in the 11th, another couple of seconds and I would've been alright, come back, but the corner thought it was the right thing to call it at the time."

"To be honest, I just want to spend time with my family and get my body right....once I get my body right I'll figure out what I want to do, if I call it a day or have a showdown......I've come back from this position before, I got dropped five times by Joshua Clottey and came back to be world silver champion, I know what I'm capable of, it's just if my mind and heart is in it."

The 'showdown' he refers to is the much talked about rematch with Danny Green.

Meanwhile, 4 time world boxing champion Danny Green aka The Green Machine returns to the ring on 2 December to fight 30 year old Konni Konrad of Germany.

Danny Green

Shopping trolley crash kills Swedish student

Robin Wahlgren

In the early hours of Tuesday morning, Robin Wahlgren and his mate decided to go for a trolley ride down a very steep hill in a shopping trolley after a night out.

Robin was inside the trolley and his friend was standing on the back. They hurtled down Coogee Bay Road and crashed head-on into a car.

His friend is still in hospital in a serious condition and Robin died at the scene.  His Swedish family are on their way to take his body home.

The distraught driver of the car involved was not injured.

Mr Wahlgren has studied at the University of NSW since 2013 and his friend arrived in the country a few days ago.

Stupid?  Absolutely and people are saying that because both men were 28 years old, they should have known better.  But when they were young, even at 28, didn't they ever do anything stupid?

Cedar Anderson revolutionises the bee hive

Cedar Anderson with his dad Stuart

Nimbin is the marijuana capital of Australia - a beautiful little town in Northern NSW with an interesting reputation.

It's on the backpacker itinerary and hundreds of young people arrive in buses every week. About twenty five years ago, the hippies arrived with their alternative lifestyle and a few decided to stay.

The locals say their town was taken over by a bunch of no-hoper pot-smoking dole-bludgers twenty five years ago who have never worked a day in their life ever since.

Cedar Anderson is a child of parents who founded a community in the hills many moon ago and is also a third generation beekeeper. As a child, he spent many hours collecting the family's honey and one day he decided there must be a better way - to get the honey from the hive without opening it and distressing the bees.

Slowly over time, Cedar developed prototypes and later when his dad Stuart helped solve some major design problems, they came up with the Flow Hive.

The day finally arrived to see if the prototype would work. 
Holding their breath, they turned the handle, and honey started to flow.

"We couldn't believe it....we just sat back in disbelief laughing..... we had invented the beekeepers dream."

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-10-26/cedar-anderson-the-man-who-revolutionised-the-beehive/6880314