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Monday, June 30, 2008

After auctioning off his entire life on eBay for A$399,300 (€244 912.148) Ian Usher says he is “a little bit disappointed” at the final selling price.

The 44-year-old British immigrant living in Perth, Australia, put all of his worldly belongings up for sale on the popular auction website, including his three-bedroom house and all its contents, his car, motorcycle, jetski, skydiving gear, and his job at a rug store, for which he offered a two week trial period. He even offered introductions to his friends living in Perth.

Usher made the decision to sell his life after his five-year marriage suddenly ended. On his website, alife4sale.com, he explains that “despite my life being busy and fulfilled, I still miss my wife so much. Everything in my home is a reminder of the wonderful past we shared. So, after a year in this house I decided that it is time to sell it and move on.”

During the 7 day auction, which ended on Sunday, there were several bogus bids which brought the sale price as high as A$2.2 million, but the final price ended up at A$399,300, which was around A$100,000 less than Usher had hoped for. “I’m a little bit disappointed, but I’m still excited. It’s still enough to move forward and do what I said I was going to do, which is move on to the next part of my life,” Usher said. “It was as much about moving on as it was about selling it for as much as I could get.”

According to Reuters, the winning bidder, whose username is “mslmcc”, also lives in Australia, and has a 100 percent feedback rating. Usher says he hasn’t yet been able to figure out who the buyer is, because of the TV crews lined up in front of his home. “I’m trying to find some time to get on the computer and check it out … I haven’t looked (up) anything about them yet,” he said.

Usher now plans to go off in search of a new life. His initial plan, as he describes on his website, was to just walk out his front door with just his wallet and a passport and board a train, with no idea of where to go. He has since launched 100goals100weeks.com, which will document his attempt to complete 100 of his life goals in a span of 100 weeks. Some of these goals include getting a pilot’s license, climbing the Eiffel Tower, learning to play the didgeridoo, and shaking hands with billionaire Richard Branson.

“I was pretty aimless when I started this, and I had a vague notion of adventure, but I’ve come up with a much more solid plan, which is still very adventurous,” Usher says. He invites anyone who is interested to join him on his adventures.

Saturday, October 11, 2008

An Alaskan legislative investigation, nicknamed ‘Troopergate‘, concluded Friday that Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin had abused her power during her time as Alaskan governor.

The report, released by a bipartisan investigative committee, found that Palin had violated the state Ethics Act when she allowed her husband to pressure former Commissioner of Public Safety Walt Monegan into firing state trooper Mike Wooten; however, she was well within her rights to fire Monegan because of disagreement on budget cuts.

Sarah Palin had “knowingly permitted a situation to continue where impermissible pressure was placed on several subordinates in order to advance a personal agenda,” the report went on to say.

Todd Palin, her husband, admitted to trying to forcefully remove Wooten because of alleged actions such as driving under the influence, threatening Palin’s father, and using a Taser gun on his son. The pressure came after a hostile divorce between the governor’s sister and ex-husband, who was accused of threatening the family.

The governor’s explanations of her reasons for firing Monegan had been inconsistent, from denying a “personality conflict” to insubordination and incompetence. She consistently denied, however, the firing being related to Wooten.

“The Palins make no apologies,” a statement released by her campaign said, “for wanting to protect their family and wanting to bring attention to the injustice of a violent trooper keeping his badge and abusing the workers’ compensation system”.

While the investigative committee had agreed unanimously to release the report, a few Republicans on the panel had attempted to halt the investigation, citing political bias. Republican Senator Gary Stevens warned voters to be “cautious” and to “realize there’s much more in it than just the one-page findings”.

Saturday, August 26, 2006

In what Humberside Police are describing as a “nasty” attack, a four year-old boy was left with a fractured skull after being battered with a brick. The incident happened on wasteland close to the child’s home in Hessle, East Yorkshire.

Charlie Davis was discovered by a couple on Thursday. He was in a puddle of blood and part of his ear was hanging off; doctors at Hull Royal Infirmary later performed surgery to repair it. He is still in hospital, and doctors say that his brain is not injured, despite having a fractured skull.

A spokeswoman from Humberside Police said: “This little boy has suffered a nasty attack and has some horrible injuries.”

Police think Charlie, who was playing with a friend, was molested by a male youth. His injuries suggest that he dragged the child across the ground, kicked him in the face, tied him to a tree and struck him with a brick.

The police spokeswoman added that police are pursuing several lines of inquiry. “There has been information suggesting possible suspects and these form one of the lines of inquiry being pursued.”

The assault is thought to have happened before lunchtime on Thursday next to Station Road which is near the Hull to Hessle railway line. “It is currently unclear how the child got to the area. He may have gone of his own accord, he might have been chased there or he may have been taken by someone against his will,” said the police spokeswoman.

Charlie, who was meant to be going on holiday with his family today, is too disturbed to talk to detectives about the incident. The spokeswoman said: “We do understand that the victim was struck with a brick which has resulted in his injuries. But, clearly, until police can get an account from the four-year-old victim it is not possible to confirm any more details of the incident.”

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Female lawyers in Saudi Arabia may soon be granted limited court access for the first time. Mohammed al-Issa, the justice minister, said that the law was part of King Abdullah’s ongoing reform to Saudi Arabia’s judicial system. The law would allow female lawyers to represent other women at family-related cases, including marriage, divorce, and child custody.

Saudi women that are educated in law are currently permitted to work in the female section of government and court offices. Positions of higher authority are reserved for the opposite sex. The Saudi government is also building specialized “personal status” or family courts where female lawyers will be permitted to practice.

Women rights are strictly defined by Islamic Sharia law in Saudi Arabia. Employment and educational opportunities are dependent on a system of male guardianship. For example, a female under the age of 45 must gain the approval of a male before traveling.

According to the BBC, the law and other minor changes are steps in the direction of easing restrictions placed on Saudi women.