Saturday, April 1, 2006At least 57 people are now known to have died when a boat designed similar to a traditional dhow capsized one mile of the coast of Bahrain in the Persian Gulf. Seventeen were Indian and a further 13 of the dead are British; people of another six nationalities are also known to have died. The passengers were mostly foreigners from the Nass-Murray and Roberts construction company, and were enjoying an evening dinner cruise in celebration of their completion of part of the Bahrain World Trade Centre towers. Most who died were dining on the lower deck, and were trapped below.

Over 130 people were onboard the boat at the time, although some say the boat was only licensed to carry 120. Others say the limit was 150. Eyewitnesses say the boat was overloaded. The boat capsized in calm seas soon after it left, trapping many below. Helicopters from the US Navy searched for 13 missing persons until Friday morning, when the search was called off. The dhow had been modified to have an extra, higher deck making the vessel less stable. The exact cause is unknown – suggestions from eyewitnesses include the boat suddenly turning left, being hit by a wave, and many of the passengers moving to one side of the boat together. The Bahrain Interior Ministry is to investigate the accident and establish if the boat was seaworthy.

Friday, December 9, 2005

The key legislative provisions of a new dangerous dog bill could mean felony criminal charges and higher home-owner insurance premiums for Virginia dog owners whose pet is deemed dangerous. A Spotsylvania County committee, called the Dangerous Dog Task Force, hammered out the basics of the bill that county Senator R. Edward Houck will introduce to the General Assembly in January.

Within the bill:

• a first-time incident by a dog would result in a felony charge to the owner, with an increase in the severity of the penalty for subsequent offenses (the penalty ranges from 1 to 10 years in prison)
• a dog deemed dangerous must be registered with the state on the Virginia Dangerous Dog Registry (published by the state to the web) and owners must carry insurance liability protection for the animal up to $300,000
• dangerous dogs cannot be sold, adopted or transferred , except to animal control
• no dog deemed dangerous can be transferred into the state

The dog would be legally defined as dangerous if it has bitten or attacked a person or companion animal. In the case of an attack on a companion animal, the injuries to the animal are such that it had to be euthanized. Currently, the Virginia state penal code contains no guidelines in the case of injury or death due to a dog attack.

“We’re not talking about a little situation where somebody’s pet chases a kid down the street with a bike and maybe jumps up and causes a very slight little scratch or a little nick or something,” Senator Houck said Tuesday. “We’re talking about where people are seriously disfigured and maimed.

“This journey has just begun, this is going to be a long way,” Senator Houck cautioned, since the proposals before the General Assembly could face many changes, or outright rejection.

Task force committee member Maureen Hill-Hauch said to the issue of dog owners being held accountable for their animal’s actions, “This will send a clear and convincing message to irresponsible dog owners.”

The legislation, called the Dorothy Sullivan Memorial Bill, is named in memory of the 82-year-old Spotsylvania woman who was mauled to death by 3 neighborhood Pit Bulls while she was walking her own dog in her front yard. The owner of the attacking dogs, Deanna Large, 38, has been charged with a felony of involuntary manslaughter. The trial is scheduled to begin December 20.

Sunday, October 21, 2007

Torture proliferates American headlines today: whether its use is defensible in certain contexts and the morality of the practice. Wikinews reporter David Shankbone was curious about torture in American popular culture. This is the first of a two part series examining the BDSM business. This interview focuses on the owners of a dungeon, what they charge, what the clients are like and how they handle their needs.

When Shankbone rings the bell of “HC & Co.” he has no idea what to expect. A BDSM (Bondage Discipline Sadism Masochism) dungeon is a legal enterprise in New York City, and there are more than a few businesses that cater to a clientèle that wants an enema, a spanking, to be dressed like a baby or to wear women’s clothing. Shankbone went to find out what these businesses are like, who runs them, who works at them, and who frequents them. He spent three hours one night in what is considered one of the more upscale establishments in Manhattan, Rebecca’s Hidden Chamber, where according to The Village Voice, “you can take your girlfriend or wife, and have them treated with respect—unless they hope to be treated with something other than respect!”

When Shankbone arrived on the sixth floor of a midtown office building, the elevator opened up to a hallway where a smiling Rebecca greeted him. She is a beautiful forty-ish Long Island mother of three who is dressed in smart black pants and a black turtleneck that reaches up to her blond-streaked hair pulled back in a bushy ponytail. “Are you David Shankbone? We’re so excited to meet you!” she says, and leads him down the hall to a living room area with a sofa, a television playing an action-thriller, an open supply cabinet stocked with enema kits, and her husband Bill sitting at the computer trying to find where the re-release of Blade Runner is playing at the local theater. “I don’t like that movie,” says Rebecca.

Perhaps the most poignant moment came at the end of the night when Shankbone was waiting to be escorted out (to avoid running into a client). Rebecca came into the room and sat on the sofa. “You know, a lot of people out there would like to see me burn for what I do,” she says. Rebecca is a woman who has faced challenges in her life, and dealt with them the best she could given her circumstances. She sees herself as providing a service to people who have needs, no matter how debauched the outside world deems them. They sat talking mutual challenges they have faced and politics (she’s supporting Hillary); Rebecca reflected upon the irony that many of the people who supported the torture at Abu Ghraib would want her closed down. It was in this conversation that Shankbone saw that humanity can be found anywhere, including in places that appear on the surface to cater to the inhumanity some people in our society feel towards themselves, or others.

“The best way to describe it,” says Bill, “is if you had a kink, and you had a wife and you had two kids, and every time you had sex with your wife it just didn’t hit the nail on the head. What would you do about it? How would you handle it? You might go through life feeling unfulfilled. Or you might say, ‘No, my kink is I really need to dress in women’s clothing.’ We’re that outlet. We’re not the evil devil out here, plucking people off the street, keeping them chained up for days on end.”

Below is David Shankbone’s interview with Bill & Rebecca, owners of Rebecca’s Hidden Chamber, a BDSM dungeon.