Indian Girls, Pakistani Girls

Just something I picked up from the previous post on the same topic. To one of the comments, Mr. Hamdani has said that his views are his alone and not representative of PTH. So, Im just wondering how is it that this post by him can claim to tell the reader, what is it that PTH will indulge in or not?

harado | Friendster Girls

* Female, 18, Single
* Interested In: Friends
* Member Since: Jul 2007
* Location: Phoenix, OR
* harado's URL:

Sexy Reon Kadena | Friendster Girls

* Female, 22, It's complicated TM
* Interested In: Friends
* Member Since: Jan 2008
* Location: 日本国 (Japan)
* Hometown: Osaka
* Company: Asian Angel Honeys, Jav Angel
* Reon Kadena's URL:

Shadow Hare and Dark Guardian ... just two of the masked men and women seeking to fight for justice and the American way.

It's certainly not a bird, or a speeding bullet, or a plane. It looks more like a guy in a silly lycra outfit.

Wearing masks and the full superhero get-up, a band of "real life superheroes" are patrolling the world's cities trying to clean up the streets.

So claim the comic book-like crime-fighters, a loose association of costumed do-gooders who say they are taking up the fight for justice for ordinary people.

Boasting names like Dark Guardian, Citizen Prime, and Green Scorpion, the mainly US-based characters say they need to wear outfits to protect their identities from the evil-doers they attack.

Most have MySpace pages where they reveal the philosophy of their superheroism.

Florida superhero Amazonia wrote why she was prompted to strap on the black Zorro-like mask and defend her city, Ocala:

"I finally had enough of seeing the gangs terrorizing the downtown section of my city. They would mug, beat and otherwise harass senior citizens and women.

"So I took up the mantle of Firebird and set out to do what I could to help others."

Many of the superheroes say they are armed with weapons such as stun guns, which can be legally carried in the US.

"Shadow Hare", a 1.7 metre, slight-of-stature 21-year-old Cincinnati resident who carries handcuffs, a stun-gun and pepper spray, boasts: "I've stopped many evil doers ... such as drug dealers, muggers, rapists, and crazy hobos with pipes."

Many of the superheroes' good deeds are of a civic nature - such as volunteering with charities or feeding the homeless.

But some make more bolder claims of actual crime-fighting.

Shadow Hare said he dislocated his shoulder two years ago while helping a woman who was being attacked.

He also said he was working with a San Diego-based superhero called Mr Extreme to "track down a rapist".

On his MySpace page, Dark Guardian writes of the moment he saw two men with baseball bats waiting to beat someone up outside their house late at night.

"I park across the street from them. I wait and watch them. I make sure they see me so they know someone is watching, soon after they leave.

"I didn't have to go and fight two guys with bats to stop a crime. I just made my presence known and they decided to stop what they were trying to do."

On another occasion he writes of confronting a deranged man trashing a store.

"I stood in front of him and made sure everyone got out of the store. I tried talking him down. The store had already called the cops.

"Once the police came he cooperated and was hauled away. If he came at me or anyone else this story would end differently and I would have been in court myself because I had my knife at the ready.

"Glad it ended the way it did."

Some superheroes also formed together under different banners to tackle crimes in unison, such as the Allegiance of Heroes.

STEPPING off the footpath in the centre of Sydney can be a perilous exercise. Even in a city usually choked with traffic, cars still manage to tear past. The alternative - waiting at a major intersection up to three minutes for traffic lights to change - is ignored by 70 per cent of pedestrians.

Now, the City of Sydney wants to take control of several main arteries through the central business district, rip out the traffic lights, strip the streets of safety signs, impose a speed limit of 10 kmh and give pedestrians the right of way.

The proposal for "naked streets" - the term used in European cities where streetscapes devoid of lights and signs are common - is designed to discourage driving in the CBD, without imposing financial disincentives, such as the congestion charge that is levied on motorists entering the centre of London during the day.

"We need to reclaim the city from the dominance of the car," said Councillor John McInerney, who chairs the council's traffic and transport committee. "The roads are public spaces that should accommodate pedestrians, cyclists as well."

At the moment, the city has only one such road, Barrack Street. Despite its appearance, the street is open to traffic. But its paving, street furniture, speed limit and general ambience causes most motorists to avoid it.

The council wants to expand the concept to Castlereagh and Pitt streets, which run almost the entire length of the CBD, and to O'Connell, Bent, Philip and Loftus streets at the northern end and to Hay, Harbour and Sussex streets and Eddy Avenue, at the southern end.

Cr McInerney says the key to the success of "naked streets" is the appearance. The paving for pedestrians needs to be the same as for vehicles. "That in itself sends a message to the driver that this is very much a shared space," he said.

The proposal has won the support of Ian Faulks, a former director of the NSW Parliament's StaySafe Committee.

Mr Faulks, now a consultant to interstate and overseas governments, says even a 20-30 kmh speed limit would be acceptable, as it would allow cars to stop quickly without hitting any pedestrians. He also says the European and North American experience shows drivers unconsciously slow down - and do not seem to mind - because of the surroundings.

"The trick is to make the road look like the sort of place where you need to exercise extra caution,"

TV host Josh Gates displays a sample showing what appears to be a footprint found in Nepal’s Khumbu region, where Mount Everest is located. The tracks will be analyzed as part of an investigation into tales about the legendary mountain Yeti, Gates told reporters in Katmandu on Friday.

Tales by sherpa porters and guides about the wild and hairy creatures lurking in the Himalayas have seized the imagination of mountain climbers going to Mount Everest since the 1920s. Several teams have searched for it and some have even claimed to have discovered footprints. But no reputable investigator has actually seen the creature, nor has it been scientifically established that the Yeti exists.

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd signed the instrument of ratification of the Kyoto Protocol in his first act after being sworn in this morning.

The Kyoto Protocol is a pact agreed by governments at a 1997 UN conference in Kyoto, Japan, to reduce greenhouse gases emitted by developed countries to at least 5 per cent below 1990 levels by 2008-12. A total of 174 nations have ratified the pact.