A feng shui master today lost his battle for the multibillion-dollar fortune of his late lover Nina Wang, with a Hong Kong court dismissing her will as a forgery.A judge ruled that her estate should go to charity, ending a lawsuit that has gripped the territory - long fascinated by "Little Sweetie", a property magnate who sported pigtails, ankle socks and miniskirts until her death at 69.The extraordinary case saw intimate details of the couple's affair, explanations of esoteric feng shui rituals and even Wang's pigtails submitted in evidence; her lover said she left the latter to him as a token of her affection.But the high court ruled against Tony Chan Chun-chuen, dismissing the will he produced after Wang's death in 2007 as a forgery and her supposed signature as "a highly skilled simulation".
A feng shui master today lost his battle for the multibillion-dollar fortune of his late lover Nina Wang, with a Hong Kong court dismissing her will as a forgery.
A judge ruled that her estate should go to charity, ending a lawsuit that has gripped the territory - long fascinated by "Little Sweetie", a property magnate who sported pigtails, ankle socks and miniskirts until her death at 69.
The extraordinary case saw intimate details of the couple's affair, explanations of esoteric feng shui rituals and even Wang's pigtails submitted in evidence; her lover said she left the latter to him as a token of her affection.
But the high court ruled against Tony Chan Chun-chuen, dismissing the will he produced after Wang's death in 2007 as a forgery and her supposed signature as "a highly skilled simulation".
An MP has called the wearing of burkas the religious equivalent of "going round with a paper bag over your head".In a parliamentary debate, Conservative MP Philip Hollobone said it was "offensive" for women to cut off face-to-face contact with other people. The Kettering MP said he had "huge sympathy" with those who wanted a ban on face-covering veils in public. None of the three large UK parties back a ban, with ministers saying it would not be "British" to bar them.
An MP has called the wearing of burkas the religious equivalent of "going round with a paper bag over your head".
In a parliamentary debate, Conservative MP Philip Hollobone said it was "offensive" for women to cut off face-to-face contact with other people.
The Kettering MP said he had "huge sympathy" with those who wanted a ban on face-covering veils in public.
None of the three large UK parties back a ban, with ministers saying it would not be "British" to bar them.
You may remember the BigDog robot by Boston Dynamics - a robotic pack animal developed on behalf of the US military. When videos of it started spreading around the web a couple of years ago, people were astonished by its lifelike movement - particularly the moment when somebody gives it a hefty kick to try and unbalance it. The visceral reaction most people feel when watching that moment is, if nothing else, proof that machines can bridge the uncanny valley sometimes. The idea of BigDog - which we first covered in 2005 is to help soldiers carry equipment over rough terrain, but it's also a really interesting application that could be used in all kinds of other situations as well - imagine one that could move materials around a building site or even little dogs to help you with your shopping.
The idea of BigDog - which we first covered in 2005 is to help soldiers carry equipment over rough terrain, but it's also a really interesting application that could be used in all kinds of other situations as well - imagine one that could move materials around a building site or even little dogs to help you with your shopping.
Carla Bruni-Sarkozy has backed out of singing in Italy's San Remo music contest reportedly because she took offence to a song mocking her husband, President Nicolas Sarkozy. Mrs Bruni-Sarkozy's decision to withdraw from the festival, which runs from February 16 to 21, was revealed by the state channel Rai Uno, which airs the event each year.Massimo Giletti, presenter of the popular culture programe Arena, said: "Carla Bruni has decided not to participate in the Festival of San Remo, where she was to have sung with Gino Paoli on the Thursday evening.
Mrs Bruni-Sarkozy's decision to withdraw from the festival, which runs from February 16 to 21, was revealed by the state channel Rai Uno, which airs the event each year.
Massimo Giletti, presenter of the popular culture programe Arena, said: "Carla Bruni has decided not to participate in the Festival of San Remo, where she was to have sung with Gino Paoli on the Thursday evening.
To no one's surprise, the terminally ridiculous right wing sockpuppet Chuck Norris, who is far too stupid to have thoughts of his own so he just repeats whatever the right wing says, has endorsed a whole slate of conservative candidates -- including at least one who openly advocates the death penalty for gays and lesbians. In his latest column, he writes:
LOS ANGELES - A law enforcement official says prosecutors plan to charge Michael Jackson's doctor with manslaughter. The official told The Associated Press on Tuesday that prosecutors will file a criminal complaint against Dr. Conrad Murray in court rather than go through a secret grand jury. The person is not authorized to speak publicly about the case and only spoke on condition of anonymity.
LOS ANGELES - A law enforcement official says prosecutors plan to charge Michael Jackson's doctor with manslaughter.
The official told The Associated Press on Tuesday that prosecutors will file a criminal complaint against Dr. Conrad Murray in court rather than go through a secret grand jury.
The person is not authorized to speak publicly about the case and only spoke on condition of anonymity.
You see, the Westboro Baptist Church, a Fred Phelps hate group, decided to protest at Twitter HQ. Yup, baptists hating gays at twitter... well, just click, made me a little homesick for an SF laugh.
"Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage." - Anaïs Nin
As always, Mission Dolores Park is sunny and windy. nice basilica in the background, founded in 1776 by fr. Junipero Serra, who never though to see the order of the Sisters using it. notice the muscles on that sister. "Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage." - Anaïs Nin
La Chine dorme. Laisse la dormir. Quand la Chine s'éveillera, le monde tremblera.
A farmer who built a castle hidden inside a stack of straw bales has lost a High Court bid to save it from being demolished.Robert Fidler, of Salfords, Surrey, built the house, complete with turrets, without planning permission. He kept it hidden until August 2006 and was ordered to tear it down by Reigate and Banstead Borough Council in 2008. Mr Fidler appealed on the basis that his house had stood for four years without anyone objecting to it. He claimed he only started building the structure when the council did not answer his planning application to turn a cowshed into a house.
A farmer who built a castle hidden inside a stack of straw bales has lost a High Court bid to save it from being demolished.
Robert Fidler, of Salfords, Surrey, built the house, complete with turrets, without planning permission.
He kept it hidden until August 2006 and was ordered to tear it down by Reigate and Banstead Borough Council in 2008.
Mr Fidler appealed on the basis that his house had stood for four years without anyone objecting to it.
He claimed he only started building the structure when the council did not answer his planning application to turn a cowshed into a house.
The inspector ruled that the removal of the straw bales constituted part of the building works and the four-year immunity rule would not apply.
World class legal pwnage.
But it's somewhat insane to pull down a functional and interesting building for purely legal reasons.
Though I suppose that one could argue that the building should be left standing, but the land and building confiscated by the Crown. That would work too.
- Jake If you only spend 20 minutes of the rest of your life on economics, go spend them here.
Building regs are really quite insane in the UK. I live in a listed area, and I'm supposed to get heritage officer consent if I consider changing the windows from single to double glazing.
This makes sense if someone puts UPVC into an old cottage, but it still applies even if the window is visually similar to the original - and some of the originals date from the 1970s and not the 1770s.
we can't just let people have their own way, can we? what kind of example would that be? pretty soon we'd have any tom dick or harry building forts and follies all over the landscape!
oh, wait.
this reminds me of the pettiness of some laws, like when they started fining people for putting wesson oil in their diesels.
how to win the public's hearts and minds, 101. love your government, because they care...
imagination, enterprise, poetic vision, just burrs to be picked off the magnificently bland, desouled greyness of 'ordered' life.
bumptious bureaucrats, they're just jealous. tall poppy syndrome. ~"When an inner situation is not made conscious, it appears outside as fate." Karl Jung~
