New Jersey to consider bikini waxing ban

Friday, March 20, 2009

New Jersey is considering a state-wide ban on Brazilian waxes, the removal of hair from the bikini area.

Although genital waxing has never really been allowed in the state, the New Jersey Board of Cosmetology and Hairstyling plans to propose a ban with more specific legal wording, in response to two women who reported being injured during a wax. The board will consider the proposal at their next meeting on April 14.

If the measure passes, New Jersey may become the only US state to ban the practice outright.

Although millions of Americans engage in bikini waxes, which generally cost between $50 and $60 per session, the practice comes with risks. Skin care experts say the hot wax can irritate delicate skin in the bikini area, and result in infections, ingrown hairs and rashes.

Waxing on the face, neck, abdomen, legs and arms would continue to be permitted in the state under the proposed ban. Although New Jersey statutes have always banned bikini waxing, the laws were unclear and seldom enforced.

As a result, many salons from around the state have offered bikini waxing for years. Many salon owners spoke out against the proposed ban, which they said would severely damage their business.

“I really don’t know if the state can stop it at this point,” said Valentia Chistova, owner of the Monmouth County salon Brazil. “I know a lot of women who are really hooked.”

Friday, July 7, 2017

On Wednesday, automobile company Volvo announced all of its cars to be released in 2019 onwards are to use some form of battery-powered engine, leaving conventional petrol-only vehicles altogether. The decision comes after Volvo announced in May their intent to cease production of diesel vehicles.

The chief executive of Volvo Cars, Håkan Samuelsson, said, “People increasingly demand electrified cars”. Volvo aims to release five new electric vehicle models between 2019 and 2021. While little has yet been revealed about them, the company has stated two of them are to be high-performance electric vehicles, branded as Polestars.

Other car models from 2019 may be plug-in hybrid or 48-volt “mild hybrid” systems. Audi and Mercedes-Benz are also releasing mild hybrid cars for the European market.

“This announcement marks the end of the solely combustion engine-powered car. Volvo Cars has stated that it plans to have sold a total of 1m electrified cars by 2025. When we said it we meant it. This is how we are going to do it,” Samuelsson said. Volvo is owned by Chinese automotive giant Geely, and China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology has said by 2025 they want new vehicle sales to be 20 percent “new energy vehicles”.

Tuesday, November 21, 2006

Wikinews interviews Lawrence Douglas, Professor of Law, Jurisprudence and Social Thought at Amherst College, on questions of the fairness and credibility of the Saddam Hussein trial, and the purpose, conduct and impact of courts trying international law crimes such as genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.

Prof. Douglas is the author of The Memory of Judgment: Making Law and History in the Trials of the Holocaust (Yale University Press, 2001), an acclaimed study of war crimes trials. His writing has appeared in venues including the Los Angeles Times, the Washington Post, and The New Yorker, and he is a frequent contributor to the Times Literary Supplement.

Friday, June 16, 2006

Former American Idol winner Ruben Studdard has won a lawsuit and $2 million against his ex-manager Ronald W. Edwards and Edwards’ promotions company, Sez Inc. The lawsuit was for misappropriating the singer’s money and credit cards. The suit claimed Edwards misused more than $246,000 of the singer’s money. According to the judge’s ruling, Edwards stole money from Studdard’s checking and other bank accounts, improperly used his credit cards and even used Studdard’s money to repay a $10,000 bank loan.

Jefferson County Circuit Judge Scott Vowell awarded Studdard $500,000 for actual losses and another $1.5 million in punitive damages. Vowell dismissed Edwards’ promotions company from the suit because it was bankrupt and had no money or assets. Edwards filed a petition for Chapter 7 bankruptcy on June 17, 2005. Studdard has sold 2.2 million records, but because of the damage done to his credit by Edwards, it is now even hard for Ruben to buy a home, said Vowell.

Wednesday, August 22, 2007

A successful 12-month trial of mobile phone blocking technology in New Zealand prisons has just been completed, according to the Minister of Corrections, Vodafone and Telecom.

Corrections Minister, Damien O’Conner, described this technology as a world first and a significant milestone for the Department of Corrections.

The mobile phone blocking technology is being implemented to help prevent the growing problem of inmates using mobile phones which they are currently prohibited from. One case included a Mt Eden prisoner using a mobile phone to organise NZ$1 million worth of methamphetamine (commonly known in New Zealand as P) being smuggled in. Other cases at Mount Eden Prison included posting of pxts on the Internet, and ordering meals of KFC.

Vodafone, Telecom and the Department of Corrections signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) stating that they will help prevent the use of mobile phones inside prisons. In a joint statement Greg Patchell, Group Technology Officer for Telecom, and Tom Chignell, Corporate Affairs General Manager for Vodafone, said, “With the technical trials completed, and the MoU Agreement in place, work can now begin to apply the most effective technologies to combat unauthorised cellphone use in each prison site in New Zealand.”

Hawke’s Bay Prison will be the first prison to get the new technology due to its high level of gang members. The technology will be implemented in the next six weeks.

However, some prisons, including Mt Eden Prison, might not have this technology implemented due to different characteristics of each prison. Simon Power, Corrections Spokesperson for the National Party, said, “The technology won’t work around all prisons, the most notable being Mt Eden, which has had significant contraband problems.” Patchell and Chignell said, “…we have now identified a package of technical solutions which the Department of Corrections believes could be deployed with effectiveness in some of its facilities.”

The prison and if the mobile phone service of anyone living near a prison will be affected, will determine the type of mobile phone jamming technology used.

As well as the new mobile phone jamming technology, new legislation is being written which will mean if an inmate, prison contractor, or staff member is found carrying a mobile phone, they will face either a fine of $5,000 or a year in jail. As well as tighter security of prisons, including only one point of access into them.

Wednesday, June 4, 2008

Doctors performing a Caesarian delivery in a Darwin, Australia hospital were stunned to discover a rare ovarian ectopic pregnancy. According to Robin Cahill, general manager of the Darwin Private Hospital, ovarian pregnancies occur in only 1 in every 40,000 fertilisations.

An ectopic pregnancy occurs when a fertilised egg implants in a woman’s body in a location other than the uterus. The most common place for an ectopic pregnancy to occur is the Fallopian tubes, accounting for roughly 95% of all ectopic pregnancies. Ectopic pregnancies are generally discovered early, especially as they tend to cause bleeding in the mother, and tend to miscarry or be terminated due to the health risks they pose.

The mother, Meera Thangarajah, however, suffered no complications during her pregnancy, and an ultrasound performed mid-way through the pregnancy did not discover the complication. The hospital’s obstetrician Andrew Miller says that having an ovarian pregnancy survive to full-term is “unheard of”. The British Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists agrees, with a representative saying the odds of a successful ovarian pregnancy are “no more than one in a million”, taking into account both the difficulty of bringing such a pregnancy to term and the tendency for the pregnancy to be terminated when it is discovered early.

The baby, a girl, was named Durga, a Hindu name meaning “goddess”, and weighed 6 pounds 3 ounces (2.8 kg). The father, Ravi Thangarajah, says that doctors told him he was “one of the luckiest men in the world”.

Tuesday, October 24, 2006

Pranab Mukherjee was appointed the External Affairs Minister while veteran Congressman A K Antony took his place as Defence Minister in a minor expansion-cum-reshuffle of his 29-month-old government by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

Kannada actor-turned-politician M H Ambareesh made his debut in the Union Ministry as Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting.

Jay Prakash Narayan Yadav, an RJD leader and a protege of Railway Minister Lalu Prasad, who had to resign last year following allegations of influencing the police in a case of electoral malpractices against his brother, returned to the government, again as Minister of State for Water Resources.

Oscar Fernandes took over Ministry of Labour.