Month: August 2022

Categories
Sports

Casualty Ward, injury, update, sidelined, progress, post match, Collingwood Magpies, Carlton Blues, Hawthorn Hawks, Zac Bailey, Dylan Grimes

Casualty Ward, injury, update, sidelined, progress, post match, Collingwood Magpies, Carlton Blues, Hawthorn Hawks, Zac Bailey, Dylan Grimes

Carlton’s loss to Adelaide has been compounded by a string of injuries.

Plus the latest on a star Richmond duo.

Get the latest AFL injury news in our Round 20 Casualty Ward!

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CARLTON has suffered some significant injury blows after the loss to Adelaide.

corey durdin is set to miss a week with a shoulder injury he suffered during the game, while George Hewett’s back issue will see him miss a second straight game, which this one being a crunch clash against Brisbane at the Gabba.

Nick Newman is set to miss the rest of the regular season after sustaining a shocking cut to his knee.

Newman was injured by his opponent’s footy boots which dragged across his leg as he attempted to lay a tackle.

late in the contest matt kennedy was assisted from the field after a head knock, with scans revealing he suffered a fractured jaw, which will see him sidelined for at least a fortnight.

Crows surprise Blues at Adelaide Oval | 01:31

RICHMOND admits it is “doubtful” star defender Dylan Grimes will play again in the home-and-away season after his latest hamstring injury.

Grimes suffered the injury in the second half of Sunday’s thrilling win over Brisbane, adding to a streak of soft tissue injuries for the 31-year-old.

Tigers fitness boss Peter Burge said on Tuesday that Grimes’ injury required “further investigation”.

“At this stage it’s probably looking doubtful that he’s going to play in the last three home and away games of the season.

“So, we’re going to need to have a look at what lies beyond that. We’ll gather some information over the next couple of days and we’ll give everyone an update.“

Meanwhile, Dustin Martin remains in a “holding pattern” with his hamstring injury.

The club says it’s “hopeful” a round 23 return is still on the cards, but admits, “if we’re not able to progress significantly in the next week or so, that starts to become a little less clear.”

The Lions Also Lost Zack Bailey in the first half of Sunday’s contest, with the mid-forward taken to hospital with a chest issue after a collision with Richmond’s Marlion Pickett.

Remarkably, despite Bailey spending Sunday night in hospital as his teammates returned home without him, the Lions are yet to rule him out of Round 21.

Scans cleared the 22-year-old of any serious injury and he was able to be discharged.

“Bailey spent the night in hospital in Melbourne after receiving a knock to his sternum in Sunday’s match with Richmond at the MCG,” the Lions said in a statement.

“Bailey was released from hospital on Monday and cleared to fly home to Brisbane.

“He will be further assessed to determine his availability for Sunday’s match against Carlton at the Gabba.”

COLLINGWOOD will be without star taylor adams for the remainder of the home and away season after he limped off in the win over Port Adelaide.

Coach Craig McRae confirmed Adams’ suffered a groin injury.

After scans, the club released a statement confirming the extent of the injury layoff.

“Collingwood vice-captain Taylor Adams will miss the remainder of the AFL home and away season after scans revealed a strain to his groin,” the statement read.

“The 28-year-old will be assessed further in the coming weeks.”

But there is good news for defending Jeremy Howeafter he suffered a heavy knock.

“Howey just got a knee in the backside and unfortunately just couldn’t function,” McRae said.

“He’ll be fine but he just couldn’t get back on the ground.”

Howe was able to complete a pool recovery session with teammates on Monday.

“He is expected to complete limited training on Tuesday before being assessed on Thursday,” the club said.

Brodie Grundy is no certainty to receive an AFL call up for Round 21, while Brody Mihocek is in a race to provide his fitness after missing Round 20 with a hip injury.

Grundy made his return in the VFL last weekend after 13 weeks on the sidelines with a PCL injury.

“Grundy played into the fourth term and collected the typical bumps and bruises sustained during a first game back,” the club said.

“He will also be assessed on Thursday.”

GEELONG are set to be without Gary Rohan for the clash with St Kilda after he was subbed out with a head knock.

Coach Chris Scott was unsure if Rohan was officially concussed, but said he was told Rohan “couldn’t go back on”.

“He said to me he’s perfectly fine, so that’s a good sign,” Scott said post-match.

“You never know how these guys are going to pull up.

“You know when it’s bad… but this isn’t one of those if appearances are anything to go by.”

Feet pip Port to the points at the MCG | 02:20

HAWTHORN coach Sam Mitchell is counting the cost of the loss to St Kilda.

The Hawks gallantly fought back in the final term, despite being down to three on the bench.

mitch lewis injured his knee early in the contest but tried to run it out, Josh Morris suffered a shoulder injury while Jacob Koschitzke suffered a cork.

“We lost three today,” Mitchell said.

“Tank Morris, he was going really well. I was sad for him – he finally got his chance. He’s put together a really good month of footy.

“He popped his shoulder, it came back in but obviously wasn’t going to come back on the field.”

Mitchell said the club wasn’t going to risk Lewis even though he tried to play on with his knee injury.

“Mitch Lewis has had a little bit of a sore knee for a while and just landed on it awkwardly,” he explained.

“It wasn’t OK to keep going.

“It’s one of those injuries where there’s a small amount of risk to it… the game was put away so we weren’t going to risk an important player like him.”

Mitchell praised Koschitzke’s ability to play on despite being clearly hampered by injury.

Saints survive fast-finishing Hawks | 01:00

“Kossie really worked hard. He has got a really nasty corky – he could hardly walk even to half time but we were already three on the bench so we needed him to soldier on,” he said.

“I have committed to that and gave us what I could. He couldn’t run or lead very much but he gave us a reply.

“Sometimes as a young player having to fight through when your body is nowhere near its best is an important lesson to learn.”

MELBOURNE coach Simon Goodwin says young ruckman Luke Jackson will be right to go against Collingwood after passing his concussion test in Perth.

Jackson came from the ground in the win over Fremantle appearing to be dazed but was given the all clear.

“He just had a little knock late in the game. He was checked by the docs and got the all clear,” Goodwin said.

“There’s nothing wrong with him, he’ll be fine. He’ll be ready to go next week.

“He got checked and passed his test.”

Goodwin also said Christian Salem would be able to back up after a blow to his face left him bleeding from the nose.

“Salem had a bit of a cut to his face, but we’ve come through unscathed,” Goodwin said.

james hames (concussion) and ben brown (knee soreness) will both need to provide their fitness to face the Pies on Friday night.

“Brown, following two weeks on the sidelines due to knee soreness, has ramped up his training program this past week and will also look to be available for selection,” the club said.

Joel Smith played his first VFL minutes since suffering a serious ankle injury back in Round 7.

the WESTERN BULLDOGS are sweating on star Adam Treloar‘s fitness ahead of this weekend’s must-win game against Fremantle.

Treloar has been battling a calf complaint and finished his past two matches early.

“Adam suffered some calf tightness in the game against Melbourne,” Dogs head of sports medicine Chris Bell said.

“He still wasn’t 100% during his fitness test last Thursday, so was unavailable for selection.

“We will again assess Adam as this week progresses and make a call on his availability towards the back end of the week.”

Anthony Scott (concussion) and hayden crozier (ankle) remain in the hunt for selection.

Scott was now “symptom-free” after being convicted in the clash with Sydney in Round 17, while Crozier has made steady progress since his ankle injury suffered in the VFL a month ago.

“We couldn’t be happier with how he has progressed over the last two weeks since coming out of the CAM boot,” Bell said.

“He will start to integrate back into training this week and we will determine if he returns to playing this weekend or next.”

Jarrod Brander‘s first season with GWS is over after the utility injured his hamstring playing the VFL.

Jacob Wehr is also unavailable for selection this weekend through injury.

Wehr suffered a calf strain against the Swans, ending his run of 10 straight game since debuting in Round 10.

Matt Flynn (ankle) and Conor Stone (hamstring) will have to provide themselves fit to face Essendon on Saturday.

In some good news for the club, Bobby Hill has been medically cleared to return after undergoing surgery for testicular cancer.

Hill hasn’t played since his shock diagnosis back in May.

PORT ADELAIDE are confident Travis Boak may back up against Richmond, despite fracturing his hand in the loss to Collingwood.

The 34-year-old was able to play out the match, after suffering the injury in the second term.

“He will be monitored throughout the week with an expectation that he will be able to take on the Tigers,” the club said in a statement.

Darcy Byrne-Jones will need to pass a fitness test after spraining his ankle early in the clash with the Pies.

The club expects Riley Bonner to be available for selection after he clears the AFL’s Health and Safety protocols, while dan houston could come into the mix after serving his 12-day concussion break.

FREMANTLE will be without skipper Nat Fyfe until at least Round 23 as he recovers from a hamstring injury.

Fyfe hasn’t played since the Round 19 draw with the Tigers and remains no guarantee to play before finals.

“We’ve got a target of round 23 for Nat, obviously there’s a bit of work to do before we get there but that’s our target,” Dockers footy boss Peter Bell said.

Sam Switkowski is another Docker pushing to return before finals, as he recovers from a serious back injury.

“Sam’s a really important player for us, so if he is to come back it will be really positive,” Bell said.

The club it was still to put a line through Jye Amiss despite the rookie’s kidney injury landing him in hospital.

“Jye is going pretty well, we’ll be in constant dialogue with the specialist,” Bell said.

“Every day he’s getting better, it’s great to have him back out there. We haven’t put a line through him for the season, that’s for sure, so he’s training well.”

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Categories
Australia

Voluntary assisted dying’s ‘prohibitive’ communication laws face GP legal challenge

A middle aged man with his arms crossed looking at the camera while standing in front of a bush

A Melbourne GP is taking legal action against the federal Attorney-General to fight what he calls an “extraordinarily prohibitive” law that prevents doctors from communicating via modern technology with terminally ill patients about assisted dying.

Dying with Dignity Victoria board member Nick Carr said he had pursued legal action in the Federal Court to clarify the definition of suicide in the Commonwealth Criminal Code 1995.

Under the code, it is illegal for a person to discuss suicide through a carriage service, which includes phones, text messages, emails and telehealth services.

Dr Carr said he filed the affidavit after federal Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus did not respond to a letter warning legal action would be taken if the code was not clarified.

He also said former Attorney-General Michaelia Cash wrote to him in February saying she would not change the code.

Big ends for breaking the law

To be approved for Victoria’s assisted dying scheme, two doctors need to verify a patient has less than six months to live for a physical illness and 12 months for a neurological condition.

But breaking the communication laws can result in ends of up to $222,000 for individuals or $1,110,000 for businesses.

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Categories
US

Sandy Hook victim’s father says Alex Jones has made his life a ‘living hell’ : NPR

Sandy Hook victim's father says Alex Jones has made his life a 'living hell' : NPR

Neil Heslin, father of 6-year-old Sandy Hook shooting victim Jesse Lewis, becomes emotional while testifying in the trial of Alex Jones on Tuesday in Austin, Texas.

Briana Sanchez/Austin American-Statesman via AP, Pool


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Briana Sanchez/Austin American-Statesman via AP, Pool

Neil Heslin, father of 6-year-old Sandy Hook shooting victim Jesse Lewis, becomes emotional while testifying in the trial of Alex Jones on Tuesday in Austin, Texas.

Briana Sanchez/Austin American-Statesman via AP, Pool

AUSTIN, Texas — The father of a 6-year-old boy killed in the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting testified Tuesday that conspiracy theorist Alex Jones made his life a “living hell” by pushing claims that the murders were a hoax involving actors aimed at increasing gun control.

In more than an hour of emotional testimony during which he often fought back tears, Neil Heslin said he has endured online abuse, anonymous phone calls and harassment on the street.

“What was said about me and Sandy Hook itself resonates around the world,” Heslin said. “As time went on, I truly realized how dangerous it was. … My life has been threatened. I fear for my life, I fear for my safety.”

In the 10 years since Sandy Hook, gun laws in the US haven't changed much

Heslin said his home and car have been shot at, and his attorneys said Monday that the family had an “encounter” in Austin after the trial began in the city and have been in isolation under security.

Heslin and Scarlett Lewis, the parents of 6-year-old Jesse Lewis, have sued Jones and his media company Free Speech Systems over the harassment and threats they and other parents say they have endured for years because of Jones and his Infowars website. Jones claimed the 2012 attack that killed 20 first-graders and six staffers at the Connecticut school was a hoax or faked.

Heslin and Lewis are seeking at least $150 million in the case.

“Today is very important to me and it’s been a long time coming… to face Alex Jones for what he said and did to me. To restore the honor and legacy of my son,” Heslin said.

Sandy Hook ushered in new era of conspiracy and lies, author finds

Heslin also said that while he doesn’t know if the Sandy Hook hoax theory originated with Jones, it was Jones who “lit the match and started the fire” with an online platform and broadcast that reached millions worldwide.

Heslin told the jury about holding his son with a bullet hole through his head, even describing the extent of the damage to his son’s body. A key segment of the case is a 2017 Infowars broadcast that said Heslin did not hold his son’s body from him.

An apology from Jones wouldn’t be good enough at this point, he said.

“Alex started this fight,” Heslin said, “and I’ll finish this fight.”

Jones wasn’t in court during Heslin’s testimony, to move the father called “cowardly.” Jones has skipped much of the testimony during the two-week trial and had a cadre of bodyguards in the courtroom when he did attend. Tuesday was the last scheduled day for testimony and Jones was expected to take the stand as the only witness in his defense of him.

Scarlett Lewis was also called to the witness stand Tuesday. She spoke much of her testimony from her directly at Jones, who had arrived in the courtroom.

“I am a mother first and foremost, and I know you are a father,” Lewis said. “My son existed… I know you know that.”

Sandy Hook Parents Sue Conspiracy Theorist Alex Jones Over Claim Shooting Was 'Fake'

At one point, Lewis asked Jones, “Do you think I’m an actor?”

“No, I don’t think you’re an actor,” Jones responded, before the judge admonished him to stay quiet until it was his turn to testify.

Heslin and Lewis suffer from a form of post-traumatic stress disorder that comes from constant trauma, similar to that endured by soldiers in war zones or child abuse victims, a forensic psychologist who studied their cases and met with them testified Monday.

Jones has portrayed the lawsuit against him as an attack on his First Amendment rights.

At stake in the trial is how much Jones will pay. The parents have asked the jury to award $150 million in compensation for defamation and intentional infliction of emotional distress. The jury will then consider whether Jones and his company will pay punitive damages.

Alex Jones' media company files for bankruptcy during defamation damages trial

The trial is just one of several Jones faces.

Courts in Texas and Connecticut have already found Jones liable for defamation for his portrayal of the Sandy Hook massacre as a hoax. In both states, judges issued default judgments against Jones without trials because he failed to respond to court orders and turn over documents.

Jones has already tried to protect Free Speech Systems financially. The company filed for federal bankruptcy protection last week. Sandy Hook families have separately sued Jones over his financial claims from him, arguing that the company is trying to protect millions owned by Jones and his family from him through shell entities.

Categories
Business

Environmental watchdog investigating ‘elevated’ lead levels in ducks from Victorian wetlands

Very big close-up of a duck's head.

Wedge-tailed eagles and other protected species are at risk of being paralyzed by lead poisoning in Victoria, according to wildlife advocates, with illegal lead ammunition still being used to shoot ducks.

Freedom of Information documents reveal humans are also at risk, with lead levels in ducks “well above” food safety standards at four Victorian duck-hunting waterways.

Secret email correspondence shows the state’s environmental watchdog has been aware of “elevated” lead levels in ducks from several wetlands used for hunting since 2018, but it has not made the public danger or issued any warnings.

The CSIRO states even tiny traces of lead are harmful to humans and animals, because the substance is so toxic.

An email titled “Lead in duck — heads up” from the EPA to Victoria’s Chief Environmental Scientist reports on testing samples from 2018 which revealed high lead levels in ducks from Serpentines Creek in western Victoria, Richardson’s Lagoon in northern Victoria and Heart Morass and Macleod Morass in Gippsland.

Emails show the ducks were retested in 2020 and found to contain lead levels that posed potential risks to human health.

There is a picture of a brown duck floating on some water.
Emails from the Environmental Protection Agency say the elevated lead levels in Victoria’s ducks could be harmful to humans.(ABC News: Danielle Bonica)

“The new results came on this Monday and confirmed high levels of lead in duck tissues. Again, well above the FSANZ (Food Standards Australia New Zealand,” the 2020 email said.

The EPA was told by the Chief Environmental Scientist the results warranted further investigation to evaluate “potential risks to the environment and human health” and recommended it take place before the start of the 2021 season.

That testing is still underground.

Lead ammunition still in use despite two decades on ban list

The use of lead bullets for duck hunting is illegal in Victoria and has been since 2001 with the Game Management Authority stating, “lead is a toxic substance that can harm humans, wildlife and the environment”.

Illegal lead ammunition was being used in Victoria as recently as last month — six hunters received penalties for possession of toxic shot on Victorian wetlands during the 2022 season.

Regional Victorians Opposed to Duck Shooting project manager Sue Williams said four recreational duck and quail shooting seasons had been allowed to proceed since the lead levels in ducks were first identified.

“It is simply unfathomable that the government has not issued any public warnings about the lead levels found in ducks across our state,” she said.

“The fact ducks were found to have toxic lead levels in 20 per cent of wetlands surveyed suggests the danger is frighteningly widespread, given duck shooting is allowed in thousands of public areas.”

duck hunting
Lead ammunition is still in use by Victorian duck hunters despite being illegal.(ABC News: Jane Cowan)

The EPA said the sampling and analysis on ducks in 2018 was undertaken to assess the presence of PFAS in ducks in various Victorian waterways and additional sampling and analysis was done in 2020 for the presence of trace metals.

“The results were inconclusive — lead levels in liver samples were lower than in breast samples, which is contrary to what would be expected,” Chief Environmental Scientist Mark Taylor said.

“EPA will conduct further sampling and analysis to better understand if there are any risks to human health from lead in ducks.”

In June 2021, then-Victorian Agriculture Minister Mary-Anne Thomas was asked in state parliament whether lead levels above food safety guidelines had been found in ducks at the Heart Morass and Macleod Morass wetlands.

In a written response in August 2021, the Minister stated her department was not aware of any “publicly” available scientific studies to determine lead levels in ducks at the wetlands, despite the EPA having the results of tests completed in 2018.

The Victorian government approved a full-length three-month duck hunting season in March this year but has been under pressure from across the political divide to follow WA, NSW and QLD and ban the sport altogether.

“There is no excuse for duck hunters to still be using to use toxic lead shot and hunters caught doing so will be fined, have their equipment seized, may have their licenses canceled and face prosecution,” a government spokesperson said.

Lead poisoning can lead to ‘horrifically slow death’ for birds

Lethal amounts of lead have been found in protected species in Victoria, according to Jordan Hampton from the University of Melbourne’s Faculty of Veterinary and Agricultural Sciences.

“Concerningly, the birds of prey with by far the highest levels of lead exposure detected in Australia, have been wedge-tailed eagles from Victoria,” he said.

“If the shot animal is left where it lies, lead fragments become a threat to any scavenging wildlife.

“Lead doesn’t go away, lead ammunition fired today will be in our environment for decades to come.”

Wildlife Victoria CEO Lisa Palma said lead poisoning was an insidious way for ducks, swans and wedge-tailed eagles to die.

“They suffer a horrifically slow death, both if they are wounded or feed on carcasses with lead in them,” she said.

“They present with neurological and paralysis symptoms, are sluggish, unable to eat and slowly die of starvation.”

Duck hunting group says it has ‘zero tolerance’ for rulebreakers

Victorian Duck Hunters Association secretary Kev Gommers said he was shocked to learn lead ammunition was still being used by hunters, more than two decades after it was banned.

“We do not condone this at all, I don’t know anyone who would be stupid enough to still use lead,” he said.

“We have zero tolerance for anyone who breaks these rules in our organisation, it goes against what we stand for.”

A brown duck with a blue head swims in the water.
Ducks and other wildlife can become fatally ill if exposed to lead fragments from ammunition.(ABC News: Danielle Bonica)

Dr Hampton, who is also a vet, said more needed to be done to protect the environment, animals and humans, with lead ammunition still legal for quail hunting, commercial harvesting and aerial-based shooting.

“There is a simple and immediate solution — we need to ban all lead ammunition — not just for ducks,” Dr Hampton said.

“This did not harm the automobile industry when unleaded fuel was introduced.”

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Categories
Technology

You Should Play ‘Xenoblade Chronicles 3’ in First-Person

You Should Play ‘Xenoblade Chronicles 3’ in First-Person

Xenoblade Chronicles 3 is one of the year’s best-reviewed Nintendo Switch games, thanks to its deep combat, sweeping story, and giant world that’s fun to explore. The game is engrossing from the moment you start, but there’s a way to get even more immersed in this epic JRPG.

As pointed out by the YouTube channel BoomStickGaming, Xenoblade Chronicles 3 is entirely playable in first-person. Xenoblade series veterans will recognize this as a recurring feature, but as someone who has bounced off most of the prior games in the series, I was completely unaware it was possible.

I’ve now played the first 10-ish hours exclusively in first-person mode (aside from one boss battle), and while it’s probably not the optimal way to experience the entire game, playing in first-person truly helped me sink into Xenoblade Chronicles 3‘s early chapters, and I intend to play as much of the game as possible this way.

how to play Xenoblade Chronicthe 3 in first person

To play in first-person, hold down the ZL button on your Switch controller and push the right thumbstick up to zoom the camera all the way in to a first-person view, then push the stick left or right to adjust the height. You can also adjust the “camera movement” and “camera zoom” speed in the settings menu to suit your preferences. Make sure the “camera position” setting is set to the middle option to center on your character’s head, otherwise your view will be awkwardly offset to the left or right.

To further the sense of immersion, I also disabled the “mini-map,” “auto-targeting,” and “additional information” settings, and made sure to hide or disable all quest markers and notifications whenever possible.

Screenshot: Brendan HesseScreenshot: Brendan Hesse

These are optional changes, but they’re worth trying, even if you’re playing in the default camera view. Doing so removes much of the UI clutter, so you can see even more of the world as you’re exploring. It also forces you to pay closer attention to your surroundings, which I find helps me connect to the environment more (you can easily open the map from the shortcut menu if you need to double-check your heading).

Es Xenoblade Chronicles 3 actually playable in first-person?

just because you dog do something doesn’t mean you should, but so far, Xenoblade Chronicles 3’s first-person view feels great to me, though it took some getting used to.

Playing the game in first-person gives you a closer look at the characters, enemies, and locations you interact with, and really emphasizes the world’s massive scale. The obvious comparisons to other large-scale first-person RPGs like The Elder Scrolls are immediately apparent, but running around these vast landscapes dotted with high-tech military bases and populated with alien flora and fauna reminded me of an anime-tinged No Man’s Sky.

Moving, jumping, and picking up collectible items remains easy, and most other actions you’ll perform — like swapping between party members, talking to NPCs, climbing ladders, and interacting with important objects — are intuitive and work as intended.

Combat is the only part of the game that takes some real adjustments to make it work, but it’s doable.

Overall, the MMO-like battle system works just fine in first-person. Since the game clearly marks whether you’re standing to the front, back, or side of your target, it’s easy to tell if you’re in the right spot for an attack, even if you’re staring up at a giant alien gorilla , and your party members’ banter will fill you in on what moves they’re using. In first person mode, the battles feel more like the tactical combat in CRPG blobbers like wizardry 8 or Might & Magic X.

That said, you’ll need to tweak some settings if you plan to play Xenoblade Chronicles 3 in first-person for the long haul, since the constant visual barrage of combat UI and other effects can be downright chaotic in that mode. Do as the BoomStickGaming video above suggests and disable all battle numbers except your character’s damage pop-ups in the settings menu. This will make fighting a lot more comfortable in first-person. I also chose to disable the “Battle camera” option to stop the cinematic cutscenes intercuts for certain attacks.

So far I’ve found the game to be entirely playable at the normal difficulty mode after implementing those settings tweaks, but feel free to set the gameplay difficulty to “Easy” if you still find the combat too difficult to manage. You can always pan out the camera just before a battle starts to take advantage of the third-person perspective, then zoom back in while exploring.

No, first-person mode is not the “intended” way to play Xenoblade Chronicles 3, but it’s made it much easier for me to get into one of the year’s best JRPGs. If you prefer first-person games, or just want to try playing Xenoblade Chronicles 3 in a novel way, I definitely recommend giving it a shot.

Categories
Entertainment

Geek Michael reveals how he felt after Beauty Tara kissed him following his incredible makeover

Michael went into his makeover on Beauty and the Geek excited. He was ready to ditch the beard and get the hair out of his eyes from him.

And while he was certainly expecting a new look, he likely wasn’t thinking that Beauty Tara would react by giving him a huge kiss.

Catch up on the latest episodes of Beauty and the Geek on 9Now.

“I felt really appreciated,” Michael told 9Entertainment. “There were so many people on the other side of that door when I came out that I was excited for them to see my reaction, but none more so than Tara.

“When she ran up and gave me that kiss and a nice warm hug, it was the embodiment of how far we’d made it, embodiment of our journey together.

Beauty and the Geek 2022 Michael Gebicki makeover
Michael walked out with a lot of confidence after his makeover. (Nine)

“Then feeling like I’ve got this fresh new look. I felt more comfortable in my skin, and to be validated by this absolutely amazing woman running up to me and giving me a kiss was the cherry on top of a really good day.

“I felt really really really flattered. It was a surprise I didn’t go completely red in the face. You probably couldn’t tell because of the spray so over the top of it. I felt really good. I felt the best I ‘ve felt in years.”

READMORE: Jason reveals the moment that had him worried before undergoing a dramatic makeover on Beauty and the Geek

Tara revealed that in the moment she was blown away with Michael’s transformation.

“At first I was like, ‘Who is this? Who is this person?’ It was great to see, and even to see how great he felt and how much more confident he looked walking out,” Tara said, adding that she finds confidence to be an attractive trait in a man.

Beauty and the Geek 2022 Michael Gebicki makeover Tara Schwarz
Tara was ecstatic after seeing Michael’s transformation. (Nine)

“I was just thinking, ‘He’s a little bit of a hottie and I want to give him a kiss so I’m going to.’ I ran up and couldn’t really stop myself. I’m not a runner but I will run for that.”

Before the makeover Tara had felt a little differently. Having already entered a relationship with Michael, she’d wanted as little change as possible.

“I love the way he is,” she said. “I was open to anything but I couldn’t really picture it. I was so infatuated with the guy the way he currently looked for me it was bizarre to think it could get any different or any better.”

Beauty and the Geek 2022 Michael Gebicki makeover Tara Schwarz
Tara ran up to give Michael a big kiss after he unveiled his new look. (Nine)

While Michael welcomed the fresh haircut, there was one part of the makeover that he found a little confronting.

“I got spray tanned. I’ve never had to stand with someone in a little cloth G-string and be sprayed with cold spray. It was a bit confronting but mostly cold,” Michael said.

New nine.com.au homepage
(Nine)

“You know, standing there feeling the cold wind hit my butt cheeks and realizing there’s a camera on me I’m going. ‘Oh no, what have I done?’ I’d say definitely the spray tan was the most confronting thing. I never thought I’d get a spray tan in my entire life.”

Beauty and the Geek 2022 Michael Gebicki makeover
The Geek was in awe of himself when looking in the mirror. (Nine)

On the flip side, Michael found getting a tailored wardrobe do be a huge highlight of his makeover experience.

It comes after the Geek has struggled with style due to being color blind.

“Whenever I’ve bought clothes for myself I’ve always wanted to bring a girl with me like my sister or my mum and get them to help me out with colors. The color I see is not what other people are seeing,” he explained.

“To have someone who was professional, who knew my look and knew what would look good on me, and who would tell me here are the colors you need and here’s how you’re going to put them together, and then to see myself in I was like ‘Wow, that’s really brought something out in me I didn’t know I had,’ so that was really good.

“I really did enjoy it. I came out the other side feeling like I knew a lot more about myself and how I could look and how I should look.”

In Pictures

Anthony Farah Beauty and the Geek 2022.

Geeks before and after their Beauty and the Geek makeovers in 2022

Anthony shocks with dramatic new look.

ViewGallery

Beauty and the Geek continues Tuesday and Wednesday at 7.30pm on Channel 9 and 9Now. Catch up on the latest episodes of Beauty and the Geek on 9Now.

Categories
Sports

Australian Oscar Piastri says won’t drive for Alpine despite promotion to F1

Oscar Piastri said he won’t drive for Alpine next season, mere hours after the Formula One team promoted the Australian reserve driver to replace Fernando Alonso.

Alonso surprised the team Monday when he informed Alpine he’ll move to Aston Martin next year. Alpine needed just one day to announce it would promote its 21-year-old budding talent to race alongside Esteban Ocon in 2023.

But the Melbourne native said that’s not happening.

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“I understand that, without my agreement, Alpine F1 have put out a press release late this afternoon that I am driving for them next year. This is wrong and I have not signed a contract with Alpine for 2023. I will not be driving for Alpine next year,” he wrote on Twitter.

Alpine’s news release had not included any comments from Piastri. There has been speculation that the current F2 champion was working on a better deal with another team.

In Alpine’s announcement, team principal Otmar Szafnauer said Piastri is “a bright and rare talent” who is “more than capable of taking the step up to Formula 1.”

Aston Martin on Monday signed the 41-year-old Alonso, a two-time world champion, to replace Sebastian Vettel, who announced his retirement last week. Alonso’s contract with Alpine was ending this season.

It’s been a hectic six days of F1 “silly season” that opened ahead of the Hungarian Grand Prix with Vettel announcing he’ll retire at the end of the year. Alpine said Alonso had not given the team any indication he was leaving as late as Sunday night after the race, and the Piastri promotion was quickly announced. Williams, meanwhile, said American driver Logan Sargeant will make his F1 debut when he runs the first practice session at the United States Grand Prix later this year. Sargeant, a current F2 driver from Florida, will be the first American to participate in an F1 weekend since Alexander Rossi in 2015.

Alpine said Piastri has already been undergoing “an intensive and comprehensive training program” this season to “prepare him for the next big step” into F1.

“As our reserve driver he has been exposed to the team at the track, factory and testing where he has shown the maturity, promise and speed to ensure his promotion to our second seat alongside Esteban,” Szafnauer said. “Together, we believe the duo will give us the continuity we need to achieve our longterm goal of challenging for wins and championships.”

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Commonwealth Games in pictures: English swim star Adam Peaty apologises for ‘arrogant’ interview

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Australia

Trees and fungi are the ultimate friends with benefits

A cross section of a tree root surrounded by green fungi under a microscope

Take a walk in the bush, and you’ll find yourself immersed in a soundscape of chatter.

You might hear birds bantering to one another as they forage for food, or swarms of insects serenading potential partners.

But the quietest life forms are having some of the liveliest conversations.

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Categories
US

Manchin, Sinema ‘exchanging text’ on climate, tax deal

Manchin, Sinema 'exchanging text' on climate, tax deal

Sen. Joe Manchin (DW.Va.) says he is exchanging materials with Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) To help her better understand the broad tax reform and climate bill he negotiated with Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (DN.Y.) and says he is open to her suggestions for her as Democrats seek 50 votes to put the bill on the floor.

Manchin finally got a chance to speak to Sinema after lunch Tuesday, when she was scheduled to preside over the chamber.

Manchin was tight-lipped about the details of the conversation but made clear that he’s willing to consider changes she might want to make to the deal, which would raise $739 billion in new revenue over the next decade and reduce the deficit by more than $300 billion .

“We had a nice time. We had a nice time. Next?” Manchin said Tuesday when reporters pressed him for details of his chat with Sinema while she sat at the Senate dais.

Asked again to shed any light on whether Sinema will vote for the bill, which would give President Biden the biggest legislative victory of this first two years in office, Manchin said his colleague would make her own decision.

“We’re exchanging text back and forth,” he said, adding that Sinema is “extremely bright. She works hard. She makes good decisions based on facts. I’m relieved on that.”

Manchin said Schumer is “working with all the caucus” to get buy-in from all 50 members to get the budget reconciliation bill to the floor later this week.

Even though Sinema played a major role in negotiating the prescription drug reform component of the bill and set the broad parameters of the tax chapter, she learned about the deal at the same time as all of her colleagues and the general public — through a press release .

Manchin said he’s open to considering changes suggested by Sinema, including on a proposal to close the carried interest tax loophole, one of his priorities.

“We’re just basically exchanging back and forth whatever I have that she hasn’t seen. And our staffs are working together very closely,” he said, adding that he’s also exchanging materials relevant to the bill with other Democratic and Republican senators.

Asked if he would be willing to change the bill’s carried interest provision, Manchin responded, “Everyone is still talking.”

But Manchin defended closing the loophole that allows money managers to pay capital gains tax rates on income they collect from managing profitable investments.

Asked whether Sinema is upset that she didn’t get looped into last week’s talks with Schumer, which produced the surprise deal, Manchin said he didn’t want to get anyone’s hopes up when he didn’t know whether an agreement was even possible.

“She’s my dear friend,” he said. “But why bring anyone in and all their aspirations get high and the drama we go through and it doesn’t work out?

“I wasn’t really sure” a deal could be reached, he said.

“I’m not in control of the timing” of the announcement of the deal, he said. “Sen. Schumer is in control of the timing.”

“People getting mad because they think this is some kind of orchestrated coup against them is just so wrong,” he added.

This story was updated at 5:59 pm

Categories
Business

Craig Wright wins ‘only nominal damages’ of £1 in bitcoin libel case | Bitcoin

For years Craig Wright has claimed that he is the mythical figure who created bitcoin. But a legal bid by the Australian computer scientist to defend his assertion that he is Satoshi Nakamoto resulted in a pyrrhic victory and a tarnished reputation on Monday.

A high court judge in London ruled Wright had given “deliberately false evidence” in a libel case and awarded him £1 in damages after he sued a blogger for alleging that his claim to be the elusive Nakamoto was fraudulent.

“Because he [Wright] advanced a deliberately false case and put forward deliberately false evidence until days before trial, he will recover only nominal damages,” wrote Justice Chamberlain.

Wright had sued blogger Peter McCormack over a series of tweets in 2019, and a video discussion broadcast on YouTube, in which McCormack said Wright was a “fraud” and is not Satoshi. The issue of Nakamoto’s identity was not covered by the judge’s ruling because McCormack had earlier abandoned a defense of truth in his case.

Wright claimed that his reputation within the cryptocurrency industry had been “seriously harmed” by McCormack’s claims. He said he had been invited to speak at numerous conferences after the successful submission of academic papers for blind peer review, but 10 invites had been withdrawn following McCormack’s tweets. This included alleged potential appearances at events in France, Vietnam, the US, Canada and Portugal.

But McCormack submitted evidence from academics challenging Wright’s claims, which were then dropped from his case at the trial in May. Wright later accepted that some of his evidence of him was “wrong” but said that this was “inadvertent”, Chamberlain said in his judgment of him.

The judge noted that there was “no documentary evidence” that Wright had a paper accepted at any of the conferences identified in the earlier version of his libel claim, nor that he received an invitation to speak at them except possibly at one, and that any invitation was withdrawn.

Wright’s explanation for abandoning this part of his case because the alleged damage to his reputation from the “disinvitations” was outside England and Wales “does not withstand scrutiny”, the judge added.

He concluded: “Dr Wright’s original case on serious harm, and the evidence supporting it, both of which were maintained until days before trial, were deliberately false.”

Lawyers for McCormack had argued that his tweets were made in “flippant and lighthearted terms” and were in response to posts by Calvin Ayre, a Canadian businessman, “goading others into accusing Dr Wright of being a fraud”. They also claimed there were “numerous other individuals who had posted the same allegations about Wright”, Chamberlain explained in his ruling on him.

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Chamberlain concluded that although the tweets were “flippant in tone”, they came from “a well-known podcaster and acknowledged expert in cryptocurrency”.

“They were unequivocal in their meaning. Many people who read them would have known that there was a lively debate about whether Dr Wright was Satoshi, but some of them must have been influenced by reading Mr McCormack’s trenchantly expressed contribution to that debate,” the judge continued.

“The fact that he was willing to state his views so brazenly in response to threats of libel proceedings is likely to have made those who read them more, not less, likely to believe them.”

But the judge said that Wright’s pre-trial case over the serious harm to his reputation made it “unconscionable” that he should receive “any more than nominal damages”.

The judge asked for both sides’ legal teams to make submissions on the award of costs.

Chamberlain found that McCormack’s comments in the video discussion, which included calling Wright a “liar” and a “moron” were defamatory, while the video and a majority of the tweets caused “serious harm” to Wright’s reputation.

In statement Wright said: “I intend to appeal the adverse findings of the judgment in which my evidence was clearly misunderstood. I will continue legal challenges until these baseless and harmful attacks designed to belittle my reputation stop.”