thedynamictrend.com

Sunday, December 2, 2007

American heavy metal performer Ozzy Osbourne, who became famous as the lead vocalist for Black Sabbath and later as a solo act, has raised more than US$800,000 for The Sharon Osbourne Colon Cancer Program, founded by his spouse Sharon Osbourne at the Cedars Sinai Hospital, by auctioning off personal items.

A number of the items that he auctioned off over the two day period have been seen on his reality TV show The Osbournes, which featured home life with Sharon, Ozzy and their two children. Amongst some of the higher-priced items were a carved walnut Victorian-style custom built pool table which raised $11,250, a painting from Edourad Drouot which fetched $10,500, a pair of Ozzy’s famous round glasses which raised $5,250 and a dog bed given to Sharon by Elton John which sold for $2,375.

Some more famous items were also amongst the 500 lots offered. Ozzy’s black satin coat, complete with bat-wing cape, raised $3,300 and a hand-painted floral cup used regularly on The Osbournes made $1,625. A bronze plaque of a demon’s head that was regularly seen in its position adorning the front door of their house had been expected to go for $800 to $1,200instead raised $8,750. A wire model of the Eiffel Tower from on the kitchen table sold for $10,000, while skull-covered trainers Ozzy had worn reached $2,625. Bidders came from as far away as Germany to buy what they could from his mansion in Beverly Hills, California.

However, three cars included in the auction failed to attract bidders and did not sell. They were a 2006 Bentley Continental Flying Spur, estimated at $160,000 to $180,000, a 2005 Cadillac CTS-V sedan estimated at $30,000 to $40,000 and a 1950 Oldsmobile Futuramic 88 Club Coupe previously owned by author Danielle Steel estimated at $40,000 to $50,000. Sharon had earlier said of the cars “We’re not great car people. They really don’t do a lot for us.

Darren Julien, president of Julien’s Auctions, which organised the two-day sale, said “It did very well. It raised some good money for a very worthy cause.”

“For a celebrity garage sale, it was pretty spectacular.,” he went on. He also commented on the fact that there was fierce competition for the many artworks included. “We had Ozzy fans bidding against these sophisticated fine art buyers, which you don’t see every day. For the most part the metalheads were outbidding the art crowd.”

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

A woman has been found dead at the home of Sam Abal, the acting prime minister of Papua New Guinea. The body was discovered in the garden of the property early Monday morning. Abal’s adopted son, Teo, was arrested on Wednesday after a two-day search; he was reportedly the last person to be seen with the woman.

A murder investigation has been opened by Papua New Guinea police. Abal, currently living in a local hotel, released a statement, saying: “The alleged murder took place within the perimeters of my private home. All family members living with me are immediate suspects and are subject to investigation and questioning by police.”

Police Commissioner Anthony Wagambie commented on Teo Abal’s arrest, saying, “He was caught last night at the Pondorosa Hotel in Port Moresby and is currently being interviewed by police.”

Sam Abal has been the acting prime minister of Papua New Guinea since April of this year, when 75-year-old leader Michael Somare underwent heart surgery. Somare’s recovery has been extended but no date has been given as to his return.

Wednesday, November 4, 2015

The Volkswagen emissions scandal continued yesterday with the company announcing 800,000 mainly diesel vehicles may also be affected by carbon dioxide emissions problems.

The company stated “the safety of the vehicles is in no way compromised”. They estimated potentially this could cost them €2bn on top of the €6.7bn set aside to pay for the cost of correcting 11 million cars affected when the scandal broke, in addition to fines by regulators.

This follows Monday’s revelation that the emissions scandal has affected up to 10,000 vehicles sold in the USA by brands in the Volkswagen group, although the company refutes the allegation. The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the regulatory body which has been investigating Volkswagen, claims the company fitted a number of recent Audi, Porsche, and Volkswagen models with technology that initiates secret components during emission tests to ensure the results are favourable.

The scandal began with damaging revelations that the car manufacturer has been using illegal software to enable diesel cars to cheat on mandatory emissions tests. This lead to a public apology on September 20 by then-chief executive Martin Winterkorn and the promise of an outside inquiry. He then resigned on September 23, and was replaced by Matthias Müller. The new allegation about Porsche is of particular concern for Müller, because he had previously been in charge of Porsche.

The company is expected to foot the bill for the recall of close to 500,000 VW and Audi cars affected at the time. There is also the possibility of Volkswagen having to pay federal fines of up to US$18 billion dollars because the US Clean Air Act sets a maximum fine of US$37,500 for each vehicle that contravenes the requirements of the Act.

An investigation into alleged breaches of environmental law was originally initiated on the advice of the International Council on Clean Transportation, a European non-governmental organisation. The EPA requested tests be carried out by West Virginia University, where the secret software was discovered.

The software, known as a “defeat device”, enabled cars to identify when they were being tested and to switch on the emission control system. The devices may have been adding urea to the car exhaust because that would reduce the amount of nitrogen dioxide. The car would release a fraction of the nitrogen oxide compared to when they were being driven normally. Emissions of nitrogen oxide contribute to smog and are thought to have caused a rise in respiratory illnesses like asthma.

Saturday, January 29, 2011

U.S. Prohibition Party presidential candidate Jim Hedges of Thompson Township, Pennsylvania took some time to answer a few questions about the Prohibition Party and his 2012 presidential campaign.

The Prohibition Party is the third oldest existing political party in the United States, having been established in 1869. It reached its height of popularity during the late 19th century. The party heavily supported the Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which banned the sale of alcohol, and resulted in the US period known as Prohibition (1919–33). It was repealed in 1933. The party has declined since this period, but has continued to nominate candidates for the presidential election.

In 2003, the party split into two factions. Preacher Gene Amondson and perennial candidate Earl Dodge were nominated for the presidency by their respective factions. After Dodge’s death in 2007, the party reunified and named Amondson as its sole presidential nominee for 2008. During the election, Amondson was interviewed by Wikinews. He died in 2009, leaving an opening in the party for 2012.

Jim Hedges is a longtime Prohibition activist, who holds the distinction of the first individual of the 21st century (and the first since 1959) to be elected to a political office under the Prohibition Party banner. In 2001, he was elected as the Thompson Township tax assessor, and was re-elected to the post in 2005. He served until his term expired in 2010. Hedges declared his intent to run for the Prohibition Party presidential nomination on February 18, 2010. This marks his first run for the presidency.

Monday, July 16, 2007

Erica Powell OBE, who was the Private Secretary to Kwame Nkrumah, President of Ghana and later to Siaka Stevens, President of Sierra Leone, died last month at the age of 86. She died at Peterborough on June 5, 2007. She was made an MBE in 1958 and OBE in 1960.

Erica was born on March 15, 1921 at Brighton in Sussex England into a middle class family. She trained as a secretary and then as a teacher. She worked with Barclays Bank during World War II. She was the top candidate in the 1940 London Chamber of Commerce Shorthand and Typewriting exams.

In February 1952, the Crown Agents for the Colonies offered her the position of “Private Secretary (Female)/Gold Coast” which later became the title of her autobiography. She ended up working as the Private Secretary to the Governor of the Gold Coast, Sir Charles Arden-Clarke. While working for the Governor, she became a close friend and confidant of Kwame Nkrumah, then bidding for Ghana’s independence from the United Kingdom. Her closeness to Nkrumah led to her being dismissed in 1954 and being sent back to the UK.

Powell returned in January 1955 to work for Kwame Nkrumah, a position she held till 1965, a year before his overthrow. Her close relationship and loyalty to Nkrumah bred a lot of rumours both in Ghana and the UK. It also brought a lot of resentment from various quarters. She kept in contact with Nkrumah while he was in exile in Guinea until his death in April, 1972.

She later worked for Siaka Stevens as his private secretary from 1970 to 1979. She attended Nkrumah’s funeral in 1972 as part of the official Sierra Leone delegation.

Thursday, June 26, 2008

The day before Zimbabwe’s presidential runoff is to be held, President Robert Mugabe says he is open to discussion with the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), the opposition party that has decided to boycott what they and other African leaders have called a “sham election”.

On Wednesday, MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai had called for pre-election talks on forming a transitional authority. Mugabe, who had previously shown little interest in talks with the opposition, said at a campaign rally, “Should we emerge victorious … we will be magnanimous and say ‘let’s sit down and talk,’ and talk we shall.”

Earlier on Thursday, Tsvangirai said he would not participate in discussion after the election is held. “If the sham election goes ahead and Mugabe elects himself, how can I or the MDC negotiate with him?” Tsvangirai said in an interview with Britain’s The Times. “In essence, we’ll be negotiating with an illegitimate leader and we won’t do that.”

Mugabe left the offer for the MDC to either accept or reject, while warning against outside interference from the African Union. “The moment the outside world starts dictating, we will not proceed,” he said. Mugabe also said that violence had been committed by his ZANU-PF party as well as Tsvangirai’s party, and that the violence must stop.

Deputy Information Minister Bright Matonga later clarified the president’s comments. “What the president is saying to the MDC is that ‘You are Zimbabweans. We want you to be part of this. We are willing to talk to you but let’s finish this first.” Matonga did not say how soon after the election the talks would take place.

Many southern African leaders have called for Zimbabwe to postpone the election, but Matonga says to do so would be illegal. “The president has said today that the election will go ahead because to postpone it would violate Zimbabwe’s laws and he won’t do that,” he said.

Tsvangirai had been the only candidate facing Mugabe in the run-off election, before he announced on Sunday that he was withdrawing due to the threat of government-sponsored violence and intimidation against his party. Despite his withdrawal, election officials say his name will remain on the ballot, as they assert he missed the deadline to pull out.

While Tsvangirai fled to the Dutch Embassy for safety, other opposition members fled to the South African Embassy. Many opposition members have questioned South African president Thabo Mbeki‘s unwillingness to denounce Mugabe. Meanwhile, they welcomed the words of former South African president Nelson Mandela, who yesterday spoke of Zimbabwe’s “tragic failure of leadership” at a London fundraiser.

Zimbabwe’s government dismissed Mandela’s remarks, calling them a result of pressure from Western nations like Britain and the United States. Information Minister Sikhanyiso Ndlovu said, “I am condemning all Westerners for putting pressure on Mandela,” while at the same time calling Mandela a “courageous” statesman. Meanwhile, Tsvangirai said his party appreciates Nelson Mandela’s criticism. “It is something we cherish,” he said.

During his campaign, Tsvangirai has been detained by police a total of five times, and his party’s second-in-command, Tendai Biti, was charged with treason and publishing false statements. Biti was today granted bail after paying 1 trillion Zimbabwean dollars (USD$100) and surrendering his passport and the title to his home. He also must report to police twice a week.