KEY POINTS:
A birthday cake that tells it like it is. (Source: Funhostr.com)
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Some overly appreciative workmen got more than they bargained for in the Far North town of Kerikeri when the woman they wolf-whistled stripped bare to use a nearby ATM. Police Sergeant Peter Masters said the woman, an Israeli tourist, told police she didn't take kindly to wolf-whistles from workmen on a site in the town's main street. Making the most of the balmy late-autumn day, she stripped bare to use the ATM, then put her clothes on again and calmly walked away. "She said she had thought, 'Bugger them, I'll show them what I've got'." Mr Masters told NZPA the woman said she had been harassed by New Zealand men, and was fed up with it. "She gave the explanation that she had been ... pestered by New Zealand men. She's not an unattractive looking lady. We treated it as a one-off. She was taken back to the police station and spoken to and told that was inappropriate in New Zealand," Mr Masters said. He said the woman was due to leave New Zealand today.
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Money's too tight to mention
1: A reader from New Windsor was looking forward to her childcare rebate. "I opened the envelope this morning hoping it was a cheque for $310 coming back to me out of the $5600 paid in childcare last year. It was a letter saying the childcare rebate wasn't coming because it had been applied to my tax debt (which incidentally, I am not sure exists). While on the phone to IRD trying to find out what was going on, I had 33 minutes on hold, so I took the time to read the other material which had come in the envelope. Thus I learned that a rebate on charitable donations can now be claimed at 33 per cent, up to $10,000. I use childcare to enable me to work, and when I earn income, I pay IRD via personal tax and GST. Why, if I choose to give $10,000 to the SPCA, can I claim $3333 back. But if I am obliged to pay $10,000 to my childcare provider, I can claim only $310?"
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A magazine in China has been suspended from publishing after it used bikini-clad women on its front page to pose among the rubble of the Sichuan earthquake. The young women were wearing mini-shorts, bikinis and tight T-shirts in the photographs taken among earthquake debris. There was fake blood on their clothes and the photo spread was headlined "Reborn from the Ruins". The head of New Travel Weekly and several other editors responsible were fired. (Source: Chongqing Daily)
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Brad Adams, 52, crashed his charter bus carrying two dozen high school softball players into a pedestrian bridge in Seattle last month. The bus was 3.5m high, but the bridge was only 2.7m. Adams said he missed warning signs because he was busy following the navigation system. (Source: News of the Weird)
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Today's Webpick: Deftly acted, poignant and emotionally charged, this beautifully shot Irish short film about inter generational conflict is a rare find. GrannyBasher will leave you, er, speechless.
Watch it here.
These are the very best online videos from Ana's online magazine Spare Room.