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Thursday, March 3, 2005

Margaret Wilson was appointed as Speaker of The House of Representatives. She becomes New Zealand’s first female Speaker of the House. She also rounds out the top positions within New Zealand being taken by women. All four of Governor-General, Prime Minister, Chief Justice and the Speaker of the House are female.

Wilson was voted in with 64 votes. Clem Simich (National MP) received 37 and ACT MP Ken Shirley got five votes. The position has usually been appointed unopposed, but the other two candidates stood to protest at the lack of consultation by Prime Minister Helen Clark.Wilson takes over from Jonathan Hunt, who leaves to become the High Commissioner for New Zealand in London. Hunt will remain in the backbenches until early next month. Wilson was previously Attorney-General, a position that Deputy Prime Minister Dr. Michael Cullen now holds.

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Plastic surgeon to the stars Dr. Frank Ryan has died in a car accident at age 50. It is reported that the Jeep Ryan was driving crashed over the side of the Pacific Coast Highway and landed on rocks. Lifeguards were first on the scene and unsuccessfully tried to rescue Ryan. It is thought that no other vehicle was involved in the incident.

Dr. Ryan, a celebrity in his own right, performed plastic surgery on several stars including Janice Dickinson, Gene Simmons, Shauna Sand and Adrianne Curry. He appeared on several television shows and became one of the first people to perform plastic surgery on television in 1995.

A representative for Janice Dickinson released a statement about the death of Ryan. She said “Janice is deeply, deeply anguished! She is stunned and wants the world to know what a genius Dr. Ryan was.”

Ryan was traveling with his pet dog at the time of the crash; the dog was found seriously injured in the ocean and was transported to a local veterinarian. Dr. Ryan was pronounced dead at the scene.

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

In a continuing crackdown on tax evasion, the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) has alleged that brokers with a branch of RBC Dominion Securities, Canada’s largest brokerage company, helped clients set up accounts in the small European principality of Liechtenstein in order to avoid taxation on their wealth.

In affadavits submitted by the CRA, brokers with an RBC Dominion Securities office in Victoria, British Columbia, allegedly helped clients set up 16 offshore entities with a division of the LGT Group in Liechtenstein. While that is not a crime under Canadian law, auditors allege that the entities were used to help Canadians hide worldwide income. Thirteen individuals are either being audited or have made voluntary disclosures, admitting to tax evasion. The agency is presently investigating to see if there are any other individuals participating in this scheme. Regarding the inquiry, dubbed “Project Jade”, the CRA will only say that it was launched on information from a “confidential informant”.

RBC issued a written statement, saying “As a firm, we have never encouraged Canadians — not 25 years ago and not today — to set up entities in Liechtenstein, and we have never instructed our investment advisers to recommend that practice,” and “we comply with all CRA requirements. This means that we provide all our clients with the forms they need to meet their personal tax obligations, and also file reports with CRA that form the basis for reviews such as this.”

Three RBC employees are presently being investigated, with one remaining unidentified.

Thursday, May 31, 2007

In an unusual protest, British performance artist, Mark McGowan ate meatballs which were made from a Corgi, a breed of dog often kept by the Royal Family.

McGowan is protesting alleged cruelty exhibited by Prince Philip. The husband of Queen Elizabeth II is reported to have beaten to death a fox, during a fox hunt.

The event was broadcast live on a radio program hosted by Bob and Roberta Smith. Yoko Ono, widow of John Lennon, was also there and tasted some of the Corgi meatballs.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) seemed to approve of the protest: “The idea of eating a corgi will make many people lose their lunch,” said Poorva Joshipura, European director. “But foxes, who are hunted for so-called entertainment, are no less capable of feeling fear and pain.” McGowan said the corgi he consumed had died recently at a breeding farm and had not been killed for the purposes of the protest. It was minced with apple, onion and seasoning, turned into meatballs and served with salad, but McGowan said: “It’s disgusting. It’s really, really, really disgusting.”

The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) claimed however that there was no evidence that Prince Philip had mistreated the fox or that it had suffered.

Friday, December 30, 2005

The Australian Centre for Languages, a company which has a multi-million dollar contract with the Australian government to provide refugee services, has been accused of breaching its duty of care following the death of a chronically ill child and allegations of failing to provide three women in their care with food.