Christ - Centered Home School Curriculum

Most parents believe that home school education is just time consuming and energy wasting. On the other hand, parents should understand that home schooling can be fun and interesting. There are so many resources online that teaches values and morals of the Christian faith.If truth be told, it is the Christian families who first started the concept of home schooling. They came up with the idea in order to practice and apply the Christian faith at home and the community as well.To understand better, Christian home schooling is adding Christian values, teachings and faith in the subject matter. Surely, this is the most appropriate way to introduce values and morals to a child. This means that Christian home education is learning to know, love and follow God through service of fellow men. "Christ-centered" curriculum teaches from the outlook of God's truth and his love for all mankind. It gives ideas and materials to parents to guide their children in the way of Christ. A parent should start off by evaluating how Christian based home school program fits your family and your children's needs.? Take notice of the factors and components that should be considered such your ability, your children's ability and the conduciveness of your home to Christian home based education. It is imperative to check the different laws and policies that governs home - based education in your particular state in Rosetta Stone German order to avoid future untoward incidents.Once you're familiar with the concept of Christian home school education, what comes next is the classroom setting. When opting for Christian education, make sure that visual aids are Christian centered but also attention grabbing to keep your children's focus and attention to the right place. To make the classroom interactive, it will be best to have keep audio recordings, bibles and inspirational books handy. Above all else, practice what the Christian faith teaches and employ a good model off Christianity to your children - students. Choosing for a Christian curriculum online is now easy because of the internet. One click and you can download hundreds of free educational resources. You just have to review and ensure that the type of curriculum is what your children need and are also legitimate documents. Beware of online scams.To be successful in home school education, parents should encourage effective communication. It is also the best to consider the preferences of your child such as time schedule without having to compromise vital components such as the length of time of your lessons.If you trust that God is important in all aspect of your daily life, it is important to provide a God - centered education to your children. To guide and teach children according to Christ's teachings will help children a stronger foundation of morals and values. They say that home is the first school of a child and parents are their first teachers and homeschooling education is the fulfillment of this old and well - said adage.

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The Good And Bad About Home Schooling

Nowadays, home schooling has become quite popular in the United States. With more and more families now trying to home school their children rather than send them to public schools, you will definitely think about home schooling your children too. However, you need to consider the fact that although home schooling has its advantages, there are also some several drawbacks that you need to remember. Home schooling is basically not for everyone. Although home schooling is legal in the country, you have to consider that it is still being debated whether home schooling can be beneficial for children. There are still a lot of controversies that opposes home schooling. So, here are some advantages and disadvantages of home schooling in order for you to decide whether it is for the best for your kids or if enrolling them to public schools will work a lot better. The first benefit is that you, as a parent, will be able to keep your eyes on your child at all times. When you get them to public schools, you won't really know what's happening to your child there. You will often worry if they are really learning, if they are being bullied by other kids, or if they are behaving themselves.Home schooling can also work for the benefit of children who are mentally or physically challenged. If you have a child who is mentally or physically challenged, which makes it impossible for them to attend normal public Rosetta Stone Spanish schools and that you don't want to enroll them to specially designed schools then you will see that home schooling will benefit both the parents and the children. Another great benefit is that because you know how your child learns, you will be able to set the pace for learning that will be favorable for your children. This means that there will be little pressure on how fast they should learn. Because you will be the one to teach your child, you will be able to spend more time with them and make the bond between you and your child much stronger. This is another advantage of home schooling. Although home schooling has these advantages, you have to consider the fact that there are also disadvantages to home schooling. Here are some of the disadvantages on home schooling that can help you decide whether home schooling is right for your child or not. First of all, because the parents themselves will be the one to take over the teacher's role, they may become too strict or too lenient on their kids. Another disadvantage is that the child will be unable to socialize with other kids. Today, this is a very serious issue as children will grow up being shy with other people. Socialization is important. Unless you can let your kids play with other kids their age, home schooling can work for them. Lastly, the academic knowledge of parents can also come in to question as well as their teaching skills. As you can see, it is no wonder why home schooling is still being widely debated if it should be accepted or not. All in all, you have to remember that before you decide to home school your children, always determine if you can compensate for the disadvantages of home schooling. If you can't, then you may want to give up on the idea. However, home schooling is still a great way for children to learn.

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Home Schooling, Is It For You And Your Child?

You might be considering home schooling for a number of reasons, perhaps you feel that the traditional school environment is not benefiting your child's development or perhaps your child is suffering bullying at school. Whatever the reason, you will need to make sure that home schooling is the right step for yours and your child's future before you make the big step. So before you make that step, consider the following thing: 1. Do You Have Support from both Parents? – As with any household decision, it is important to have the buy in from both parents. It's extremely difficult to homeschool with one parent fighting against it. If your partner is not in agreement, work on them before getting started – You'll need their support. 2. Do You Have A Willing Child? – You may consider this to be your decision, but it will be very difficult with an unwilling child. Talk to your child/children and understand what they want and try to help them understand what you want to achieve and why. 3. Do You Have Time? – Home schooling is more than just sitting down with books for a couple of hours, there are projects, science experiments, field trips and physical education not to mention lesson plans marking, it's not really feasible to consider homeschooling your child or children if you have other work responsibilities.4. Personal Space – Parents who home school their children are often with their Rosetta Stone kids from dawn until dusk every day. This works for some, and not for others, it's really up to you to decide whether you need that personal/adult time or can do without it or if you have outside support to allow you time to do your own thing. 5. Can You Finance It? – Homeschooling itself, can be fairly inexpensive, however, it will mean that the teaching parent will not be able to hold down a full time job, so your family would need to survive on one income. 6. Child Socialisation – Don't underestimate the importance of interacting with other children as part of your child's school education. With homeschooling, therefore, it is very important to ensure they don't miss out on this, so lots of effort will need to be given to getting your child together with other children. With homeschooling, the advantage is you have more control of the social contacts your child makes. 7. Mess – Home schooling can create a degree of mess and clutter. Therefore, it is important that you are able to deal with that. If you are a stickler for a clutter free and spotless home, you may be in for a bit of a shock, particularly during science and art lessons. 8. You Can Trial It – Homeschooling doesn't have to be a lifetime commitment. Try it for a year, see you, your child and your family get on, if it works for you, continue another year. Hopefully, that's given you some food for thought about home schooling.

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Education News: Online Home School Ensures a Quality Education

Funding is a huge problem for our nation's public schools. It always seems there is never enough money for even the most essential things like new books, extra desks, or other school supplies. Classrooms are overcrowded, under funded, and run by well meaning but overworked teachers. The situation is not good. From one school district to another, funding can change dramatically. One school district might have plenty of money to spend on books, extra teachers, and new facilities while a district just a few miles away struggles to keep the doors to its schools open. If you are concerned that your child is not getting the education he deserves, online home school may be the best option for him.Like other college and vocational level online classes, online home school classes are taught by licensed professionals knowledgeable about the subject they are teaching. There are online lessons in all the content areas, including math, science, history, and language arts. You can even get foreign language classes online for your home schooled child. Online home school classes are the perfect option for parents who want to home school, but don't feel qualified to teach certain subjects Rosetta Stone French or to teach at all for older home schooled students.If you choose online home school for your child, you never have to worry about old, beat up text books, over crowded classrooms or unhealthy school lunches. You also don't have to worry that your child is not receiving the quality education that children in wealthier school districts are getting. Home school also offers you the freedom and flexibility to add in other elements. Community service, art lessons, and music lessons are all programs which have all been cut from many public schools in an effort to save money. Online home school courses can also be customized to fit your child's particular learning style. In many cases, there is interaction with the instructor of the online home school course through chat rooms, emails, and occasional phone calls.Online home school courses can help your child escape the inequality that is inherent in public school systems. If you choose online home school classes for your child, your child not only gets a high quality education customized to his needs, but you can also escape the headaches about funding and classroom problems that plague public schools. Online home school classes are a great option for parents who want to home school their children and want to maintain high curriculum standards.

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The stigma of 'sexual assistance'

For several years now, Jacques Arnould has been giving people with a disability in Switzerland the right to a little tenderness and sexual attention. But for many, his work as a professional "sexual assistant" treads a thin line between a caring profession and prostitution. Aged 50 and married with three children, Jacques is one of the rare Swiss assistants to openly speak out about the services he provides. Even in Switzerland, where the job of sexual assistant has had a proper legal status for more than eight years, the subject remains taboo. Advertisement: Story continues below A qualified physiotherapist, with a speciality in urinary and gynaecological issues, Jacques says there is "still a lot of educating to do on this subject" of sexual assistance for the handicapped, which is often misunderstood. "Disabled people are still people: they have fantasies, expectations, desires and frustrations," he said. The job of the sexual assistant is to respond to these needs and give people who might otherwise have little chance of being sexually active due to their handicap the opportunity to feel like a normal human being. Some sexual assistants show a disabled client how to touch and be touched, others bring the person to orgasm. There is usually a lengthy assessment of what a person's needs are and what he can actually physically achieve with his disability before anything physical takes place. Across town, far away from Zurich's red light districts, Michelle Gut, an elegant masseuse with long blonde hair, greets clients - many of whom are mentally or physically disabled - at her chic and comfortable Andana massage parlour. A masseuse since the 1990s, Michelle went on to Rosetta Stone Spanish qualify for legal status as a sexual assistant to give disabled clients "the sexual tenderness they are missing". "It is not easy to have a normal private life when you are handicapped," she said. "Some people just use pornography, others don't know anything about sexuality at all as they have no experience of it." Only around a dozen people in Switzerland are trained to give this experience. The training is handled by specialist organisations after a rigorous selection process. One of the requirements stipulates that working as an assistant must not be someone's main job, but rather a secondary line of work. "It is not a profession in itself, you even have to prove that you have a main profession," explained Catherine Agthe Diserens, a sex educator who trains sexual assistants. She is also president of the Swiss Sexuality and Handicap charity SEHP, which encourages people with disabilities to be sexually active. Sexual assistants can also be found in the Netherlands, Germany and Denmark but in other countries, such as France, the job does not yet have a proper legal status. French disabled rights groups have repeatedly raised the issue in the last year, urging official recognition for sex assistants and, significantly, state funding for their services. In Switzerland, a sexual assistant has a status similar to that of a prostitute, rather than a carer, since services are paid for and the cost is met entirely by the client. Michelle charges 162 euro ($A216) an hour for the disabled and 220 euro ($A294) for able-bodied clients, and offers services ranging from classic massage to "erogenous zone massage", which equates to masturbation, she said. Penetration is not allowed though, she added adamantly. "I have some good contacts who are prostitutes and I know some sexual assistants who will go further so if a client wants more, I put them in touch." Although prostitutes do receive disabled clients, sexual assistants are better viewed by "parents and heads of institutions", according to Diserens at the charity SEHP.

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Cotton was introduced in 1962

Narrabri (and Bellata) Major centre on the north west slopes of New South Wales. Narrabri is the administrative centre of Narrabri Shire which is located within the Namoi River Valley in northern NSW. The rugged peaks of Mt Kaputar National Park loom to the east while plains seem to stretch into eternity to the west. The shire produces wheat, fat lambs, beef and especially cotton. The town lies adjacent the river and is situated on the Newell Highway between Coonabarabran and Moree. It is 531 km northwest of Sydney and 240 m above sealevel. The population is currently 7300. It is apt that the town's name is said to mean 'forked waters'. As you drive through Narrabri along the highway you will notice this splintering of the waterways. First you pass over the Namoi River, then Narrabri Creek and, finally, the creek's subbranch, Horse Arm Creek. The name presumably derives from the language of the Kamilaroi tribe who were the original occupants. In 1818 John Oxley became the first European to set foot in the district. Allan Cunningham explored the Boggabri Plains in 1825 and escaped convict George Clarke (see entry on Boggabri) roamed what is now Narrabri Shire from 18261831. His tales of a vast inland river prompted the expedition of Thomas Mitchell into the district, thereby opening it up to settlement. Advertisement: Story continues below The first squatting run was the 'Nurrabry', taken up in 1834. A townsite was first recommended in 1848 at what had become a road junction to the south and west. A hotel was licensed in 1858 and the town was proclaimed in 1860. A post office and police station were established but a catatastrophic flood devastated the township in 1864. An early sign of the town's importance was the transfer of court services from Wee Waa and the building of a courthouse in 186465. A coach Rosetta Stone Spanish Spain service commenced in 1865 and the first public school opened in 1868. After the Robertson Land Act of 1861 the area was slowly opened up to smaller selectors and wheatgrowing began in 1873. Consequently the population climbed from 313 in 1871 to 1 977 in 1891. The growth in size and prosperity of the town is evident if one compares the two surviving courthouses, one built in the 1860s and the other in the 1880s . Bridges over Narrabri Creek were built in 1877 and the Namoi in 1879. The railway arrived at Narrabri West in 1882 and a settlement began to develop around it. Narrabri was declared a municipality in 1883. A major soldier resettlement scheme was implemented at Edgeroi (24 km north) after World War II, bringing greater prosperity to the district and a resurgent population. A major flood in 1955 devastated the town but Narrabri West was unaffected and so resumed something of its earlier importance. It was finally incorporated into Narrabri in 1981. Cotton was introduced in 1962. Intensive research and improved irrigation have created the largest cotton yields in Australia, bringing renewed prosperity to the town. Things to see: Narrabri Shire Visitors' Centre Narrabri Shire Visitors' Centre is located at the corner of Tibbereena and Lloyd Sts, (02) 6799 6760 or email: tourismnarrabri.nsw.gov.au. It is open weekends and public holidays from 9.00 a.m. to 2.00 p.m. They can furnish information relating to local fishing, farmstays, joy flights, the Narrabri Spring Festival in October, April's Agricultural Show and other events. Daily tours of the cotton farms are possible from April to July. A summary of the shire's attractions is broadcast on Tourist Radio, FM88.

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Life, the universe and Wiki

An army of selfconfessed geeks aims to bring the meaning of everything to everyone by 2015. Peter Munro meets a few. In smallrooms beyond a corridor busy with a bathroom queue, dorm bunks and backpacks, the Wikipedians are plotting the new world order. Mildmannered men hatch wild schemes of omniscience with dreams of bringing true democracy to Iran and education to Indonesia, and enabling the next Einstein to come from Africa. They gathered at an inauspicious hostel in Frankfurt last month for the first international Wikimania conference. Among the bespectacled "missionaries" is Theo Clarke, a 47yearold management consultant from England, sitting with a laptop resting on his stomach. As his computer provides cricket updates from England, he preaches that Wikipedia has solved the search for knowledge. "Already it makes no sense to run a quiz competition because you can go to Wikipedia and get all the answers," he says. "It's everything we're ever going to need to know." Advertisement: Story continues below In less than five years, Wikipedia has become one of the web's greatest success stories. The online encyclopedia and its sister projects, including Wikiquote, record 60 million hits a day and have amassed more than 2.2 million entries in 120 languages, making Wikipedia the most detailed collection of information in history. Wiki, from the Hawaiian "wiki wiki" for "quick and informal", has thrust open the library doors to let the geeks in. Anyone with a computer can change, or delete, the 660,000 entries on the English Wikipedia site or add one of the 1250 new entries each day. Along the way, perhaps because of its unrivalled success, Wikipedia has become a repository for the ideals of the internet those dreams of free, accessible information and global conversation that seemed to go bust along with the dotcom boom. But it has also become a target for vandals and detractors, some of whom have been banned from contributing. In April, as white smoke was still curling from the roof of the Vatican, an Rosetta Stone Software anonymous user of the English Wikipedia briefly replaced the image of Pope Benedict XVI with one of the evil emperor from Star Wars. But Jimmy Wales, who cofounded Wikipedia in 2001, insists such mischief does not shake his faith. "Such pranks are a little disappointing, but given how insane the whole idea is in the first place that you could let anybody edit any page it's a miracle that so little vandalism goes on." The incident, however, has forced him to consider "freezing" certain entries once they have been checked and approved. Entries for controversial figures, such as the Pope and George Bush, may also be subject to a 10minute delay to stop pranks before they go live. Mr Wales sits at the top of the Wikipedia world as its benevolent dictator or "God King", although he prefers to be thought of as a ceremonial monarch. His mission is, "to create and give away a freely licensed encyclopedia for every person on the planet in their own language" by 2015. And his gaze has turned to the developing world. On his 39th birthday in Frankfurt, about 400 of his acolytes made plans to build sites in Arabic, Hindi and Bengali. They sparked schemes to use the open, editable Wiki software and weblogs to prop up reformist groups in Iran and to spur political dialogue in China.

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Force of nature

Andrew Stephens encounters the mythical and majestical in Norway. When you look down on Norway from on high, or study it on a map,it seems as if its edges might be crumbling into the sea. That'sbecause of the fjords thousands of elongated fingers of land thatpush out into the Norwegian Sea and the Arctic Circle. The toweringland masses up to 1300 metres high are majestic. Coloured thedeepest of greens, they are the Western Fjords. Mother Nature, it seems, spent a lot of time perfecting thispart of the world just so I could come here and gasp. Any moment, as I travel on the ferries that chug up and downthese endless waterways, I expect Thor to appear on a mountaintopwith a bolt or two of lightning. Advertisement: Story continues below Or perhaps a Viking longship will come careering out of aharbour. Those Norsemen were fond of a raid these days, Norwegians aremostly peaceloving but I'm disappointed to hear the hornedhelmet thing is a bit of a myth. And I have met no Hagars, not asingle Helga. What isn't a myth is the amount of water in Norway's fjords andthe sheer beauty of this part of the world. Even the train trip from Oslo to Bergen before you even getnear a fjord is touted as one of the best in the world, crossingan amazing variety of terrain (suburbia, plateaus, rolling greenvalleys, snowscapes and dramatic harbours). In the fjords themselves, the landscape is so elevated, meltingsnow rushes down in magnificent waterfalls for most of the warmermonths. In fact, there's always snow on the higher peaks, which adds anextra dimension to one of the world's most famously handsome spots.It is, as our ferry captain announces with some pride, a "boodifoolplairz". A fjord, put simply, is a deep inlet in steep mountainousterrain, created by glaciation. But saying the word "fjord"immediately Rosetta Stone Latin Spanish makes me sound Nordic and, as Norwegian is an entirelyincomprehensible language (except, of course, for the 4.6 millionresidents who speak it daily), I say "fjord", "Thor", "yawn" and"mourn" as frequently as possible, usually in that order. Not that you'll be yawning or mourning. Goodness, that air isfresh! When I arrive in Bergen, Norway's secondlargest town andtheatrically located between a couple of mountains and a lot of(you guessed it) water, I find out about the walk across the Vidden(that's Norse code for moor, Nullarbor, prairie or plateau). It's about 600 metres above sea level and, even though it's spring, a bit on the thermalundies side. But very beautiful andinvigorating. To start the energetic fivehour hike across the Vidden from Mount Ulriken (640 metres) to Mount Floyen (320 metres), you haveto take the cable car very steeply up to the top of Ulriken, ashuttlebus ride away from the centre of Bergen. Once there, Iscore a cablecar full of schoolchildren and their teacher forcompany. She is terrified and keeps closing her eyes and muttering to herself. The naughty children try to make the gondola rock fromside to side thanks guys! but fortunately we make it to thesummit without actionmovie sequences. And the teacher keeps her head and her stomach. Bergen looks tiny from up here but there's no time to linger: Ihave a fivehour walk ahead of me and after one hour I have alreadytaken a wrong turn and am heading to the bottom of Mount Ulrikeninstead of across the rocky plateau. Lucky I like walking. Back on the right track, what amazes me is that, even though itis late May, drifts of snow and ice are still thawing.

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The fine art of cracking old spines

Artists on the lookout for new materials are prepared tojudge a book by its cover, writes Ray Edgar. FOR anyone who has flinched at a dogeared page, winced at thecrack of a book's spine, or despaired at its ''defacement'' withmarginalia and signatures, the thought of applying a scalpel to abook is probably abhorrent. But in the digital age, as artists and designers question therole of this traditional form, the oncevenerated book is simplyanother material to create with. Artists including American BrianDettmer and Australian Nicholas Jones dissect books to reveal newmeaning in the content. Advertisement: Story continues below Australian designers Brydie Dyson and Samantha Parsons recyclesecondhand books as cheap but beautiful source material thatcomments on sustainability. The Australians' work will appear inCraft Hatch, during the Melbourne Writers Festival. At the forefront of this new movement is the AtlantabasedDettmer, who uses knives, tweezers, pliers and surgical tools tocut and extract text and images. After selecting a book, usuallynonfiction, for the requisite images and text, he then seals itand allows chance to play its role. "Nothing inside the books isrelocated or implanted, only removed," he says. "Images and ideasare revealed to expose a book's hidden, fragmented memory."Dettmer's carved book sculptures are like a threedimensionalversion of the surrealist game of exquisite corpse, trapped in aJoseph Cornell box. ''Book Autopsies", he calls them. Melbourne artist Nicholas Jones works in a similar manner. Forhis master's thesis Jones took two copies of the same book printedin different languages and wove them together as if the books werehaving a conversation. ''I like language games,'' he says. Jones created stigmata in a Webster's Dictionary by incising animprint of his left hand, cutting all the way Rosetta Stone Software down to the letter H,until the words ''holy father'', ''holy ghost'', ''holy spirit''were positioned into the middle of the palm. Understandably, the artists catch themselves every so oftenwhile sawing their tomes in half, or ripping the covers from thepaper blocks, and confess to feelings of naughtiness. ''To dosomething so invasive is disconcerting, but also appealing,'' saysJones. ''I've been doing it for 12 years now and it still feelslike I'm being a little bit naughty.'' By rights, such individuals should demonstrate all the signs ofa youth spent doodling on textbooks and underlining rude words indictionaries. Yet each testifies to bibliomania, an obsession withbooks that happens to involve collection, dissection andreincarnation in another form as art or design. Designer Samantha Parsons recycles books, transforming thehardback covers into screens and room dividers, pages into tables,and dustjackets into gift cards. Last year she won the Premier'sDesign Award for what the judges called ''the symbolism of thriftor reuse'' in her handmade ''Paul'' screen. Unlike the artists, Parsons is not concerned with the books'contents. She chooses the hardcover for its inherent hinge. ''I'mnot trying to make an artistic statement,'' she says. ''It's afunctional piece.'' Literally judging her books by their covers or rather thematerial of which the cover is made Parsons says her work is''all about composition, colour, text, graphic motifs. Books withpatina and wear have life and character and personality.'' Each screen is individual and has a different Christian name.''Paul'', for instance, is based on a Paul Klee composition. While it may seem simple to recycle secondhand books Parsons' largestscreens require 64 books that have to be physically andaesthetically suitable. She makes her screens exactly the same wayas a book cover, using bookbinder's skills to join them. Like Parsons, jeweller Brydie Dyson's explores questions ofsustainability in her designs. To create her Urchin necklaces,Dyson sews together pages from old children's books. Her choice ofmaterial evolved from being a student and using ''cheap, accessiblethings around me.

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Take time to kick on

Go for the football, love the lifestyle, Tony Healeywrites. VISITING Europe for this year's World Cup games doesn't mean youhave to bypass a culture crawl. OK, you've paid plenty for a coupleof tickets to be at the world's greatest sporting event. There'salso the cost air fares, taxes, accommodation and so on. Justgetting there is a 24hour trip. After all the effort and expense,you have to do more with your stay than just visit a footballstadium, as impressive as that might be. Despite the exchange rate, the cost of extending your stay andtaking in the ambience of central Europe's glamour cities isachievable.Berlin Advertisement: Story continues below The German capital is hosting six World Cup games, including thefinal at the Olympiastadion in July. With a population of 3.5million, Berlin is an exciting blend of history and modernity. Thisenergetic metropolis retains some beautiful imperial buildings anda works program that sees the continuing development ofWesternstyle buildings. With its lakes, rivers, parks and forests,it's also among Europe's greenest cities. It took the trashing of the Berlin Wall in 1989 to get the cityback on its feet. Although the wall has gone, some things stilldivide the city. There remains a notable difference between theglitz of Berlin and soulless East Berlin, struggling to shake offits shabby communist cloak. The city has more than 150 theatres, three opera houses and 170museums. Like all big cities, when the sun goes down the curtaingoes up on a variety of alternative cultural happenings. In the trendy FriedrichshainKreuzberg district, with a littleimagination, you can still get a whiff of the 1930s at the decadentKit Kat Club on Bessemerstrasse in Kreuzberg. Few, if any, Berlin clubs have a dress code. However, themodernday Kit Kat Club has an undress code, where guests Rosetta Stone arerequested to shed most of their clothes on entering. There arehundreds of bars, discos, fringe and binge lounges, dodgy dives anddumps. If you want to, it's a breeze to barhop until the sun comesup again. It's your call.Hamburg Germany's secondlargest metropolis is a city of contrasts. Itsballet company is one of the finest in Europe. It has beautifulparks and gardens, and wonderful theatre and arts precincts. On theother side, it is home to some of Europe's wildest night life. With only three World Cup games played in Hamburg, there's thechance to avoid the footy fervour and fanatics and taste a littleof what this city has to offer. For a walk on the wild side, get down to the Reeperbahn in thesleazy St Pauli district, considered Europe's secondlargest redlight district and home to many theatres, bars and nightclubs. Itwas here, in 1960, that the Beatles sang sixhour sessions at theStar Club. For the record, the club closed in 1969, reopened as asex club and later burnt down. John Lennon was quoted as saying: "Iwas born in Liverpool, but I grew up in Hamburg." On Herbertstrasse, a menonly street where no women or childrenare allowed to visit, prostitutes sit in windows displaying theircharms to leering window shoppers. Teams of cross dressers,shemales and drag queens turn out after 10pm to work the strip anderotic theatres and clubs. When Hamburgers (that's the locals) dine out, a Big Mac is notlikely to be on the menu. Their faves are birnen, bohnen und speck(green runner beans cooked with pears and bacon), bratkartoffeln(fried potatoes), and labskaus (a combination of corned beef,mashed potatoes and beetroot).Prague Prague, with a population of just over 1 million, is one of Europe's favourite holiday destinations with its stunning18thcentury castles, chateaux and churches. The extraordinary Gothic stone Charles Bridge links the two halves of Prague. Built in medieval times, it boasts 30 baroquestatues and is set against the largest ancient castle in the world,Prague Castle.

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Maybe we do need an information campaign

In this case, the ad is the same; only the jingle has been changed. Carol le Roux Wamberal Most overseas tourists arrive through Sydney Airport. Many will arrive during the morning weekday peak and go to catch a train. The chances are it will be a packed doubledecker with barely room for a person to get on, let alone their luggage. For 10 years we have had no purposebuilt, airport luggagefriendly trains. Is it possible the money for the advertising campaigns would have been better spent on improving train services to the airport? Philip Laird KeiravilleDefect in survey of taxes paid by miner Peter Hartcher says the PricewaterhouseCoopers survey of tax paid by the mining industry globally showed it paid only 16.4 per cent in Australia (''Big miners gave Rudd the fight he was looking for'', May 2930). The survey is not an accurate reflection. Rio Tinto, like a number of other miners, did not take part in the survey. Consequently the estimates were made solely from public accounts and are not a measure of actual tax paid in particular jurisdictions. The survey examined corporate income tax only and did not take into account the billions of dollars of royalties paid on minerals. Further, the estimates did not include any corporate taxes or royalties paid by Rio Tinto. The survey assigned companies to jurisdictions based on the location of headquarters. This classified Rio Tinto as a British company, though most of our tax is paid in Australia. No adjustment was made for the size of the eight mining companies in the Australian classification, making estimates unreliable. In spite of these shortcomings, the survey supports the general contention that Rio Tinto and other miners paid their fair share of company tax in 2008. Over the past decade Rio Tinto has paid corporate income tax and royalties in Australia at an effective tax rate of about 35 per cent. David Peever Managing director, Australia, Rio Tinto, Melbourne The comments of the chief executive of Rio Tinto, Tom Albanese, that his company pays its fair share of tax, brings to mind a similar statement Rosetta Stone Korean some years ago to a Senate inquiry by the late Kerry Packer (''Swan dismisses two of miners' main tax demands'', May 31). Fergan O'Sullivan Artarmon It is wrong to characterise the resources super profits tax as an attack on the mining industry. First, it is intended to replace the state royalty system it is not a new tax. Second, royalties now have to be paid irrespective of the profitability of a project. Under the tax a project will not incur a tax liability until it becomes profitable. Third, through the tax, the government, in effect, makes a contribution of 40 per cent to the costs of a mining project. The tax is not arbitrarily slugging mining companies it is an efficient tax that reduces risk and encourages investment. Maybe we do need an information campaign. Bibhu Aggarwal Ryde In letters to the Herald I have never written the words "taxpayer funded" or "my tax dollars". I feel compelled to break tradition after the government announced it would spend almost $40 million of my tax dollars on a taxpayerfunded election campaign. Such advertisements, which Kevin Rudd described less than three years ago as a "cancer on democracy", fail to meet any of the criteria the government imposed on itself. Moreover, I doubt this will be the last "emergency" in which the Treasurer needs to dip his hand into the cookie jar. One can foresee the forecast surplus of $1 billion in 201213 getting smaller and smaller, and further and further away. Todd Kirby Bateau Bay Kevin Rudd can double my taxes, as long as he promises to use it all on public interest advertising to counter the misinformation from the mining industry.

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Mel Gibson Tape Fabricated: Claims

Click to play video Return to video Video feedback Use this form to: Ask for technichal assistance in playing the multimedia available on this site, or Provide feedback to the multimedia producers. Return to video Video feedback Thank you. Your feedback was successfully sent. Video will begin in 5 seconds. Don't play Play now More video Recommended Click to play video Green Guide 5: What's tops on TV Click to play video One photo, each day for four years Click to play video Miss Venezuela makes the glitterati Click to play video Kings Cross' colourful past Replay video Return to video Video settings What type of connection do you have? Return to video Video settings Your video format settings have been saved. Mel Gibson's alleged racist rant RadarOnline has posted audio of a recording it says is Mel Gibson engaging in a racist and sexist rant toward his ex-girlfriend. Video feedback Video settings Mel never physically abused me: RobynThings taken out of tape: expertDetectives won't be rushed The Mel Gibson tape saga has taken a new twist with claims that the recordings were fabricated emerging as the actor's soon-to-be ex-wife of 28 years comes out in support for him. Gibson, 54, allegedly spews a torrent of abuse on the tapes at his estranged partner, Oksana Grigorieva. Advertisement: Story continues below Mel Gibson ... tapes allegedly tampered with, experts believe. But experts have cast doubt on the tapes' authenticity. Creative Forensic Services chief Arlo West, who has worked on a number of high profile crimes in the United States, says the recordings are of "extraordinary" quality Rosetta Stone and appear to have been made using a professional-standard microphone. "In the tapes themselves there are several things that would raise a red flag as an expert," Mr West told Good Morning America. Before the split ... Robyn and Mel Gibson. "I found gaps, transients and fades. All three of these things would be considered in authenticating the audio itself." Gibson and Grigorieva are locked in a bitter legal battle over custody of their eight-month-old daughter, Lucia. The series of recordings were leaked during the past week to celebrity gossip website RadarOnline. They allegedly feature the Oscar-winning Braveheart director using racist language to disparage a Hispanic cleaning lady. In earlier tapes Gibson referred to black people as "niggers," called Grigorieva a "whore" and a "bitch in heat", and apparently acknowledged beating her. While they have not been authenticated, Gibson has not issued any denial since they began surfacing on Friday. But website TMZ reports that his lawyers are preparing to present evidence that the tapes have been tampered with. A second expert, Frank Piazza, who worked on the Jon Benet Ramsey murder case 14 years ago, supported Mr West's assertion. "There are redactions, things were taken out, there were obviously things people didn't want others to hear," Mr Piazza told HollywoodLife. Detectives investigating Gibson for the possible domestic violence case say they have received audio recordings from a court deciding the actor-director's child custody case. Sheriff's spokesman Steve Whitmore said the CDs were turned over during a closed session in the custody case. The speculation comes as Gibson's soon-to-be ex-wife Robyn reportedly filed a declaration in support of the star. Robyn Gibson said in the document her husband of 28 years had never physically abused her or any of their children, reported. "Mel never engaged in any physical abuse of any kind toward me before, during or after our marriage," the one-page declaration states. She adds: "Mel was a wonderful and loving father." Sheriff's spokesman Whitmore said detectives were working to authenticate the recordings released by the court. He did not say how many recordings were included or how long they were. It is unclear whether the recordings include those that have been posted by the celebrity website RadarOnline.

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Brad Thorn is ready to wreak havoc in Sydney

Click to play video Return to video Video feedback Use this form to: Ask for technichal assistance in playing the multimedia available on this site, or Provide feedback to the multimedia producers. Return to video Video feedback Thank you. Your feedback was successfully sent. Video will begin in 5 seconds. Don't play Play now More video Recommended Click to play video A big weekend of rugby Click to play video Wallabies take on mother Russia Click to play video Wallabies looking good despite Ireland Click to play video The Breakdown: In disguise, in Auckland Replay video Return to video Video settings What type of connection do you have? Return to video Video settings Your video format settings have been saved. Wallabies vs the All Blacks The Wallabies are pumped after their recent win on the Highveld, but can they prevail against the mighty All Blacks? Video feedback Video settings Brad Thorn is set to unleash his fury, writes Rupert Guinness. There is a lot to see of Brad Thorn, standing at 196 centimetres and weighing 116 kilograms. But what you will rarely, if ever, see is the All Blacks second-rower dropping his head and succumbing to the demands of a helter skelter Test match. The veteran of 45 Tests for the All Blacks - along with 77 games for the Crusaders, eight for Australia in rugby league, 14 for Queensland State of Origin and 200 for the Brisbane Broncos - says masking on-field sufferance is vital to getting one over the opposition. Advertisement: Story continues below It still amazes that in his 17th season of elite football, Thorn, 35, remains both impenetrable and athletic across the field - whether it be at set piece, with ball in hand, or in defence. He is equally adept at controlling his body language, especially between breaks of play, so the opposition do not realise how much pain he is in. ''It's a huge mental part of rugby and you want to send a message to your opposition that you are there to the last minute,'' Thorn said. ''But also internally, I am sending a message to myself to keep going and not let your Rosetta Stone German body dominate you. It's mind against body and sometimes you are basically knackered. That mental side is important for yourself and hopefully no one in the opposition knows.'' As an example, Thorn turns his mind back to the last time he played the Wallabies at ANZ Stadium in Sydney where, tomorrow, he will again set out to unleash his trademark fury. The All Blacks won the match 19-18 after fighting back from 12-3 down at half time. ''It was a real battle. I put it all out on the paddock,'' he said. ''Body language was important in that game because when you're hurting on the paddock, you have to realise everyone is hurting. It's not just you. In footy - in league and union - it's about going to a place where you are uncomfortable. You decide whether you want to get in the game or out.'' Thorn also reveals what drives him to maintain a high work rate and refuse to walk on field. ''It may not be noticeable from the sidelines, but instead of getting out from a ruck a bit quicker and jogging, you might get up a bit slower and then may miss the next play,'' he said. ''It is a great test of character. It is a huge part of the game of footy. Instead of walking forward, a light jog could end up turning into a bit of a gallop, to [you] being the last man on the end to score a try. But if you walked those first two or three metres, you don't get there. It is the same in cover defence. Instead of putting your hands on hips you may make a crucial tackle.'' Like his teammates, Thorn is not short of motivation for tomorrow's Test, even if the Bledisloe Cup has been defended and the Tri Nations trophy secured. That he will be wearing the All Blacks No.4 jersey is more than enough. Adding to the occasion is the All Blacks' quest to add to their tally of 15 consecutive wins, and their desire to provide some happiness to fellow New Zealanders back home who have been affected by the earthquake in Christchurch. ''I know the Bledisloe has been won, but [with] 80,000 [spectators] at ANZ Stadium, it's a game I look forward to every year,'' Thorn said. ''Look at the games played there, they are contested right to the end.

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