Mr Teare’s efforts are commendable – letters are now going out to all parents of secondary school children, warning them of the dangers of mephedrone and its prolific availability. However, you do have to wonder if the problem of legal drug use will ever be remedied simply by banning every new product that comes to the shelves. The fact is, that as soon as one substance is prohibited, another crops up in its place. It’s an un-winnable race, as
Home Affairs Minister, Adrian Earnshaw, also points out.

Legal highs are available in high street shops, often known as “headshops”, and on hundreds of online stores. There are so many brands and names that they are very difficult to keep up with. Whoever’s manufacturing them ensures that they are ahead of the legal game, finding new chemicals and changing old ones to replace any that become controlled. They have the same selling restrictions as alcohol – they won’t be sold to anyone under the age of 18, but of course these things always get into the wrong hands somehow. So is prohibition the answer?

Head Shops also sell other items that have a multi tude of purposes such  as herb grinders, rolling papers & scales

We know that prohibition doesn’t work for alcohol and cannabis. During the 20s in the USA, underground bars made fortunes and people with alcohol problems had to hide their addictions for fear of prosecution. The same thing happens with cannabis in the UK. The black market makes millions and those who develop problems – psychological or physical – are reluctant to seek help. Banning legal highs doesn’t come with quite the same issues – rather than continuing sales of out-lawed substances under the counter, new products are concocted in their place, so at least buyers are not contributing to criminal rings. However,  we can see from experience that the intake of drugs does not fall if people are told not to do it.

It seems that Mr Teare is very genuine in his concern for the welfare of young people on the Isle of Man. Having seen the disturbing condition of youths in their hospital after taking mephedrone, he is making it his mission to educate parents and children about the dangers they may face. Informing is a good approach – everyone needs to be told the facts, but blanket bans should not be used. If someone has the facts, they should then be able to make their own choice. It is simply not possible to safeguard every human being from accidents and bad decisions. Sadly, there will always be casualties in every walk of life. The best we can do is be open and prepare people to make better choices.

Legal highs seem to be here to stay – they keep churning them out and the government is powerless to keep up with new inventions. So perhaps we need to develop something into the National Curriculum to teach our children and make them more aware? The world for children growing up in 21st century is vastly different from what we knew as kids. It’s faster, fuller and more and more geared towards the hedonistic. Let’s give the new generations a better start and provide the facts as well as allowing them responsibility of their own decisions

Farmer Dave said “He just couldn’t perform and we just thought – he’s got to go. He was destined for the slaughterhouse. But he is such a nice bull and we didn’t really want to get rid of him so we started looking into alternative solutions. Since the herbal treatment we have never seen him so rampant. When the cows come out – he’s the first in there. Now he is totally on the straight and narrow and calves are back on the agenda. “It means we don’t have to turn him into burgers. He is on a rigid regime of the herb formula in his daily feed.”

Dave Joyce’s assistant Rob found the herbal Viagra tablets on the internet for people who suffer from sexual dysfunction the capsules contain Horny Goat Weed, Cordyceps, Damiana, Avena Sativa and Muira Puama all of which can increase the libido.

Picture courtesy of BrianForbes37

The pair met when Julie Turner, 23, discovered she had been adopted as a youngster, and began searching for her biological family. She found that her only living relative was her 73-year-old grandfather Charlie Peterson, and immediately contacted him. The couple exchanged letters, photographs and phone calls before arranging to meet at Peterson’s home in California, to catch up and discuss family history.
However, over the course of their time together, both parties began to develop a strong sexual attraction to one another.

Upon first meeting, Turner describes feeling a “surge of sexual excitement” when hugging her grandfather, and an urge to kiss him. The feelings of attraction continued, leading a confused Turner to research her situation on the internet. Here she uncovered information on GSA, or Genetic Sexual Attraction, where close relatives feel sexually attracted to one another when meeting for the first time as adults.

Online, Turner found many examples of people engaging in sexual relationships with long-lost relatives, and decided to make her Grandfather aware of her feelings. Though confessing to worries about the age gap and being related, Peterson admitted to his own feelings of attraction, and the couple had sex that evening.

Since then, Turner has moved in with her grandfather and found work in the local area. The pair claim to have sex at least four times a week (sometimes with the aid of Viagra) and Turner describes their sex life as “unbelievable”.

Most shockingly though, the couple began to try for a baby and Turner recently fell pregnant. While claiming to be “over the moon”, she admits that she is aware of the possibility of birth defects, and that if this is the case states that “I don’t know if we’ll keep it because it might not be fair on the baby”. Misplaced or otherwise, the pair remain optimistic, and Peterson claims that he has no regrets about getting Julie pregnant. Indeed, he describes himself as “the luckiest man in the world”.

The attack happened after him threw out customer Paul Whibley, 24, who had pulled a knife on another customer during a row. A few minutes later Whibley returned to the Britannia Inn with the knife and stabbed Snaz Martin in the stomach. Snaz said of the attack “I just got between them and kicked him out of the pub. I told him I wasn’t going to have knives in my pub and to just get out. It was around closing time and so I then started to lock up. He just came at me so I pushed him back out the pub and followed him out. He hit me and although I didn’t feel anything at first I then noticed the blood pumping out. The next thing was the ambulance came and I was on my way to hospital.”

Thug Whibley, from nearby Snodland pleading guilty to wounding with intent at Canterbury Crown Court and was given a four year prison term last week, he was branded a “dangerous offender” and “significant threat” to the public by police. Detective Constable Sean Wareham, who led the investigation, said: “Whibley showed a clear intent on causing an injury by carrying a knife. We are pleased the judge has recognised that Whibley is a dangerous offender and poses a significant risk to the public.”

Picture courtes of sultmhoor

Mr Podolsky did not have his mobile phone on him when he became trapped 10m above ground he decided against jumping from the lift as the drop probably would have caused an injury and increased his chances of freezing to death. Because Mr Podolsky had, had military training in the past he was able to use his survival skills to fight off hypothermia however before for he was rescued his limbs began to go numb and he kept falling asleep.

After he was spotted by the cleaning crew he was taken to hospital and treated for hypothermia but was released later and able to go home. Mr Podolsky has stated he intends to sue the company that operates the ski lift however a spokesman for the company states it was not meant for downward trips and Mr Podolsky had apparently ignored signs warning against boarding it.

Picture courtesy of dani0010

Mahmoud Al-Mabhouh was found murdered in his Dubai hotel room on January 19th and suspicion has fallen on Mossad – who have a long history of carrying out assassinations in this manner. Al-Mabhouh was a prominent member of Hamas, the political organisation who are currently in opposition to Israel.

Aside from the method of execution – which could have been lifted from the pages of a spy thriller – the incident further highlights how far the region still has to go in terms of internal stability. Some of  the alleged agents were using stolen British passports, which threatens to create a major diplomatic row with the UK if Mossad do turn out to be involved.

This reminder of the tensions that straddle the region come as many Britons are looking to take up jobs in the Middle East. Unemployment at home has been hit hard by the financial crisis so young people with technical knowledge are leaving  by the thousand to take up positions in the Gulf, which is still booming on the back of its oil-funded economy. Blithely unaware of the very, very different cultural background in which they are working, they fall foul of local law and custom – often getting into very serious trouble.

The fact that this incident involves the apparent theft of British passports shows how lightly our own cultural niceties are treated in many states in the region. Of course, assassination is vanishingly rare and most people who seek work in the region are circumspect and respectful of local cultural norms. But as East increasingly meets West in this fascinating corner of the world, more tensions will continue to bubble up to highlight the gulf (sorry for the pun!) between us.

However, the mint said they had no plans to take the coins out of circulation, and they have rapidly become collector’s items in the country. Pedro Urúa the mint’s head franker denied allegations that the spelling error had been a deliberate move and said “I have been accused of having written the word “Chiie’ deliberately, but it was an error spotted by neither myself nor the entire chain of people who saw and approved it afterwards”.

Picture courtesy of ricardo.martin

Alexander Skopintsev who was from the eastern region of Primorye near China’s border was convicted for the unlawful construction and storage of weapons and received a two-and-a-half year suspended sentence, he had laid 3 land mine devices on his land after making them in his garage. “Skopintsev testified that he had prepared the explosive devices to protect his garden against thieves,” regional prosecutors said in a statement reported by RIA-Novosti news agency.

Picture courtesy of net_efekt

The East End born designer and son of a cabbie started out as a tailors apprentice on Savile Row where there were some high profile clients including the Prince of Wales, he enrolled at Central St Martins School of Art and Design. Alexander McQueen became know on the fashion scene thanks to his outlandish designs and the shock factor seen at many of his shows, he hit mainstream when he was chosen to succeed John Galliano at Givenchy in 1996.

The four-time winner of the British designer of the year award as well as the international designer of the year was due to show case his new collection at the upcoming Paris Fashion Week.
Picture courtesy of Szilveszter Farkas

Vancouver Organizing Committee (VANOC) said it had been making and stockpiling snow near Cypress before the weather turned, and the task now was now to move it to the competition area. “There’s a lot of snow on the mountain, it’s just not in the place we want it. It’s not going to be easy, but we’ll get it done.” said VANOC’s chief executive John Furlong.

The resort of Whistler a popular ski holiday destination has not suffered from the same problem as Cypress Mountain, the venue for Nordic and alpine skiing has plenty of snow. The completion organisers have said that their main priority is to make sure that the completion areas have enough snow and are not worrying that the surrounding area is not covered with snow.

Picture courtesy of Matt Biddulph