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Meet the 'Face-Kini', the latest craze to hit China's beaches as bathers wear masks to beat the sun's harmful rays


Daily Mail
Fri, 17 Aug 2012 05:26 UTC
  • The name describes a protective head mask that is being used along Shandong province's East China Sea coast
  • Used by beach-goers who want to protect their skin from the sun
  • The colourful masks sell for 15 to 25 yuan (£1 to to £2.50)
Image
© Agence France-Presse/Getty Images
Stay away from the sun: Chinese beachgoers wearing body suits and protective head masks, dubbed 'face-kinis' by Chinese netizens, on a crowded public beach in Qingdao, northeast China's Shandong province
One way to avoid the dangerous rays of the sun is to stay indoors, another is to apply a healthy layer of sun cream and slap on a wide-brimmed hat.

If you're in China, however, there is a third option - a 'Face-Kini' complete with a body suit.

The name describes a protective head mask that is being used in Shandong province's East China Sea coast by beach-goers who want to protect their skin from the sun.

They are selling factory-made Face-Kinis for 15 to 25 yuan (£1 to to £2.50) each.

They are also extremely effective at repelling insects and jellyfish.
      Read More...
Pistol

Teen Shot Dead in 'Barbaric' Attack in Bahrain


news.com.au
Sun, 19 Aug 2012 00:00 UTC
Bahraini security forces have shot dead a Shi'ite teenager as a group of protesters attacked police with petrol bombs near the capital Manama, the interior ministry says.
Image
© The Associated Press/Hasan Jamali
Mourners chant anti-government slogans, in Muharraq, Bahrain, as they carry the body of Husam al-Hadad, 16, who allegedly was shot by security forces and then beaten.
A police unit stationed in a street in the Sunni-dominated Muharaq city "came under a terrorist attack with a large number of petrol bombs" late on Friday, the ministry said in a statement carried by the official BNA news agency.

It said security forces opened fire in self-defence, wounding one of the assailants who was taken to hospital where he died of his injuries.

The main Shi'ite opposition group, al-Wefaq, condemned the "barbaric" attack on the teenager, whom it identified as Hussam al-Haddad, 16.
      Read More...
Pistol

Texas mall shooting results in one dead, two injured

Jim Forsyth
Reuters
Sat, 18 Aug 2012 18:40 UTC
One man was killed and two wounded early Saturday in a shooting at a shopping mall in the west Texas town of Odessa, police say.

Police say officers went to the Music City Mall on a report that people were refusing to leave a sports bar inside, which was then followed by reports of shots fired.

Detectives say Pablo Jimenez, 23, was rushed to the hospital but died of his wounds. A 19-year-old man and a 21-year-old man were hospitalized.

"This was a fight that began at the bar at closing time," said Odessa Police Lieutenant Pete Marquez. He said the shooting may have been gang related, and police are searching for a suspect.

According to its web site, Music City Mall is the largest mall between Fort Worth and El Paso. Marquez said the rest of the mall was closed when the shooting happened and no patrons were threatened.
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Arrow Up

Russia Prepared for Possible Economic Meltdown - Putin


RIA Novosti
Thu, 16 Aug 2012 17:00 UTC
Putin
© RIA Novosti/Alexey Nikolskiy
The Russian economy is prepared for a possible economic meltdown as a result of the slowing of global growth and the escalating eurozone debt crisis, President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday.

At a meeting with regional ombudsmen, Putin said the situation was complex both in the European and global economies.

"In the United States, the engine of the world economy, the situation looks better but macroeconomic indices that are vital for the economy's sustainability are no better than in Europe. Their debt state [in the United States] is 104 percent [of U.S. GDP]," he said.

Aside from this, the U.S. financial system is burdened with mortgage loans issued against state guarantees, he said.

"All these factors cause certain alarm. Now news is coming that China's economic development rates have slightly slowed and declined and China is one of the world's largest consumers. These are, no doubt, alarming signals. Let us hope that these concerns do not transform into a full-blown crisis," Putin said. "Let us hope for the better but prepare for the worse," Putin added.
      Read More...
USA

90 Million Americans Can't Be Wrong

Joel Poindexter
Information Clearing House
Sat, 18 Aug 2012 16:43 UTC
I voted?
Those who vote in presidential elections often describe the action as being part of their civic duty; it's something every good citizen must do. Others consider voting to be a right, and elections are something which every American should participate in. After all, they remind us, not everyone has this right in other countries. Still, there are others who see voting as both a duty and a right, as if it could be both at the same time.

So when voter turnout was abysmally poor during last week's primaries in Kansas and Missouri, many were upset. Talk radio hosts, Internet pundits, and members of the media all commented on the low participation rate, and quite a few were disturbed by the numbers. Kansas City, Missouri for instance, had a voter turnout of only 15%. Now, it's generally understood that primaries and midterms have lower voter participation rates than presidential election years, so this ought not to surprise anyone, but there is some hope this year's elections will have the lowest turnout of the last fifty.

When asked by USA Today and Suffolk University why they're not planning to vote this November, respondents answered that: "They're too busy. They aren't excited about either candidate. Their vote doesn't really matter. And nothing ever gets done, anyway." All are excellent reasons, especially the last two, for they lay bare the great lie that elections solve anything. The results of the poll indicate that some 90 million Americans have no intention to vote in this year's presidential election; let's hope that number swells over the coming months.
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Radar

Navy Thwarts Attempted Hijack of 2 Iranian Cargo Ships


Fars News Agency
Sat, 18 Aug 2012 04:21 UTC
Image
© Fars News Agency
The Iranian Navy fleet deployed in the Gulf of Aden thwarted massive pirate attacks on two Iranian cargo ships near Bab-el-Mandeb Strait.

Lieutenant Commander of the Iranian Navy Rear Admiral Seyed Mahmoud Moussavi said that the Iranian vessels were attacked twice by a total number of 50 Somali pirate speedboats 15 and 26 miles Northwest of the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait.

Moussavi stated that the Iranian naval forces' swift action and their heavy fire forced the pirates to flee the scene.

The Iranian Navy has dispatched several fleets of warships to the Gulf of Aden and North of the Indian Ocean to protect the country's cargo ships and oil tankers against pirates.

The Iranian Navy has been conducting anti-piracy patrols in the Gulf of Aden since November 2008, when Somali raiders hijacked the Iranian-chartered cargo ship, MV Delight, off the coast of Yemen.

According to UN Security Council resolutions, different countries can send their warships to the Gulf of Aden and coastal waters of Somalia against the pirates and even with prior notice to Somali government enter the territorial waters of that country in pursuit of Somali sea pirates.

The Gulf of Aden - which links the Indian Ocean with the Suez Canal and the Mediterranean Sea - is an important energy corridor, particularly because Persian Gulf oil is shipped to the West through the Suez Canal.
      Read More...
Arrow Down

Five Ways Privatization Degrades American Life

Paul Buchheit
Common Dreams
Mon, 13 Aug 2012 10:21 UTC
Abandoned factory infrastructure
© Unknown
Abandoned factory
A grand delusion has been planted in the minds of Americans, that privately run systems are more efficient and less costly than those in the public sector. Most of the evidence points the other way. Private initiatives generally produce mediocre or substandard results while experiencing the usual travails of unregulated capitalism -- higher prices, limited services, and lower wages for all but a few 'entrepreneurs.'

With perverse irony, the corruption and incompetence of private industry has actually furthered the cause of privatization, as the collapse of the financial markets has deprived state and local governments of necessary public funding, leading to an even greater call for private development.

As aptly expressed by a finance company chairman in 2008, "Desperate government is our best customer."

The following are a few consequences of this pro-privatization desperation:
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Cheeseburger

Missouri Republican Candidate Calls to Halt Federal School Lunch Program


Press TV
Fri, 17 Aug 2012 04:57 UTC
Todd Akin
© R-MO
Rep. Todd Akin
Sen. Claire McCaskill's (D-MO) Republican opponent says that the federal government should stop helping to feed needy children with the school lunch program.

Speaking to reporters about the farm bill on Thursday, Senate candidate Todd Akin called to cut off the federal funds used to feed about 650,000 children in Missouri each school day.

"Is it something the federal government should do?" Akin said. "I answer it no. ... I think the federal government should be out of the education business."

"The problem with the Senate farm bill is the fact that you've got 80 percent of it that isn't a farm bill at all," the Republican noted.
      Read More...
Sherlock

FBI Probing Bomb Threat Linked to 'The Expendables 2' Called into Carmike Cinemas Headquarters in Georgia


New York Daily News
Fri, 17 Aug 2012 09:52 UTC
Movie theaters in several states being combed for explosives; caller 'sounded like a disgruntled worker' police say.

Image

Carmike Cinemas in Columbus, Georgia receives bomb threat.
Columbus, Georgia - Movie theaters in several states were combed for explosives Friday after someone phoned in a bomb threat to the corporate headquarters of Carmike Cinemas, a spokesman for the chain said.

Carmike officials alerted the FBI after discovering the threat in a voicemail message Friday morning, said company spokesman Terrell Mayton. He said the call was placed after hours Thursday by someone claiming to work for a contractor that provides janitorial services to Carmike.

While Mayton wouldn't discuss specifics of the call, Columbus police said the person referenced the Sylvester Stallone movie, The Expendables 2, that opened Friday.
      Read More...
Padlock

Texas Teacher Brittni Colleps Gets 5 Years in Prison in Group Sex Scandal

Adam B. Sechrist, Anthony Castellano and Colleen Curry
ABC News
Fri, 17 Aug 2012 00:00 UTC
A Texas high school teacher and mother of three was sentenced today to five years behind bars after a jury found her guilty of having sex with five male students, four of whom she had group sex with while being videotaped.


Brittni Colleps, 28, a former English teacher, was convicted of 16 counts of having improper relationships with students. Since the young men were all 18 at the time, she was not charged with statutory rape.

The jury did not recommend a fine or community supervision.

The case against Colleps has been filled with graphic testimony and cellphone video that allegedly showed Colleps having group sex with the four students in her home during April and May of 2011. The fifth student had a sexual encounter with Colleps on a separate occasion.

Prosecutors said the group sex occurred while her children and husband, an Army specialist, were away.

The video was shown to the jury this week.

Colleps's mother and husband both testified during the sentencing hearing after she was convicted.
      Read More...
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