Ryan Tandy (20 September 1981 – 28 April 2014) was an Australian professional rugby league player who played as both a prop and second row from 2003 until 2011. During his career, he played for the St. George Illawarra Dragons, South Sydney Rabbitohs, Wests Tigers, Melbourne Storm and the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs in the National Rugby League (NRL). He also played for Hull Kingston Rovers in the European Super League. He represented Ireland from 2006 until 2008.
He was banned from playing professional rugby league due to a match fixing scandal. He was born in Wollongong, New South Wales.
Tandy was found dead of an apparent drug overdose on 28 April 2014 at his parents' home in Saratoga, New South Wales. He was 32.
Ground sloth
Ground sloths are a group of extinct large sloths in the mammalian superorder Xenarthra. The much smaller living sloths are called "tree sloths".
The last surviving ground sloths lived in the Caribbean Antilles. "Megalocnus" may have survived until about the third century BC in Cuba. By then ground sloths had been extinct on the mainland of North and South America for 10,000 years or more. They survived on Caribbean islands because humans got to the islands much later. Some island sloth populations lived 5,000-6,000 years later than their continental mainland relatives. This fits the pattern of Holocene extinction of large vertebrates due to human dispersal. In other words, they were probably hunted or otherwise so affected by humans that they were unable to survive.
Most ground sloth evolution took place during the mid to late Tertiary of South America while the continent was isolated. At their earliest appearance in the fossil record, the ground sloths were already quite distinct. The presence of islands between the American continents in the Miocene allowed some to get into North America.
Ground sloths were a hardy group: their numbers and dispersals into remote areas are evidence of this. Remains have been found in parts of Alaska.
Sloths, and xenarthrans as a whole, were one of the more successful South American groups during the Great American Biotic Interchange. In general, during the interchange, many more taxa moved from North America into South America than in the other direction. However,at least five genera of ground sloths have been identified in North American fossils. These are examples of successful migration to the north.
Paramylodon
Paramylodon is an extinct genus of ground sloth. It was endemic to North America in the Pliocene, and to the end of the Pleistocene epoch. It lived from around ~4.9 million years ago (mya) to 11,000 years ago.
"Paramylodon" was about 3 m (9.8 ft) in height and weighted as much as 1089 kg. It is known from deposits in the United States, Mexico and as far south as Guatemala.
There is just one recognized species, "P. harlani", (Owen) 1840, which is commonly referred to as Harlan's ground sloth in honor of the American paleontologist who first discovered and described a lower jaw in 1835.
Like the South American "Mylodon", "Paramylodon" had dermal ossicles: small bones embedded in the skin. This made it harder for predators if they attacked from behind. Its skull and teeth suggest it was, like the other members of its group, a browser on leaves and small branches. It ate standing on its hind legs and using its huge hands to pull the vegetation into its mouth. Skeletons found in the La Brea tar pits were more or less complete.
Wilfred Thesiger
Wilfred Thesiger (June 3, 1910 – August 24, 2003) was born in Addis Ababa where his father was an advisor to the Ethiopian emperor. He went to school and university in England but he always dreamed of travel. He didn't make many friends when he studied in England. During his first university holidays he travelled alone, without much money, from England to Istanbul. This was the start of an exciting life filled with adventure in Africa, Iraq and the Arabian Peninsula.
Thesiger was one of the last great British explorers and he was an excellent photographer and writer. When Thesiger died in 2003, he left more than 38,000 photographs to the Pitt Rivers museum in Oxford. Thesiger wrote many books, some of which are considered to be classics. He was a tall, strong man and a successful boxer.
Thesiger travelled through the UAE with his Bedouin friends and even met Sheikh Zayed in Al Ain. (In 2003, the UAE gave money to the Pitt Rivers museum to help keep Thesiger's photos safe). Thesiger had a deep respect for his Bedouin friends who he thought of as better than himself because they were generous, brave and always cheerful. Each time Thesiger and his Bedouin friends met other people, they stopped, invited them to eat their food, and enjoyed sharing the latest news.
Thesiger loved a simple lifestyle. He didn't like cars or the radio. For the rest of his life he always wanted to go back to the desert.
He died in Croydon, London.
Penny Arcade
Penny Arcade is a webcomic about video games. It was created by Jerry Holkins and Mike Krahulik. The comic debuted in 1998. Now, the comic has its own website which also hosts other comic strips. In addition, the site has information about Child's Play, a children's charity, and PAX, a gaming convention. Both are by Holkins and Krahulik.
The comic strip is about two characters who are based on the creators of the comic strip. John "Gabe" Gabriel is based Mike Krahulik, and Tycho Brahe is based on Jerry Holkins. Gabrial is happier, but can become very angry. Tycho Brahe (named after the astronomer Tycho Brahe) is unhappy and serious. The characters go through the same events their creators do, but react differently. Most of the comic strips involve the two characters commenting on nerd culture, usually video games. The strip has large amounts of cursing and has been known to offend people.
Krahulik and Holkins have released podcasts called "Downloadable Content" since March 20, 2006. A series of four video games loosely based on the comic strip titled "" began on May 21, 2008. Tycho appeared in the game "Poker Night at the Inventory" alongside characters from "Team Fortress 2", "Strong Bad" and "Sam & Max". "Penny Arade: The Series" is a reality televesion show about the strip and the Penny Arcade company that began on February 20, 2010.
Operation Yewtree
Operation Yewtree is an investigation by the Metropolitan Police into sex crimes, especially child sexual abuse. It began in October 2012, after Jimmy Savile, who died in 2011, was found to have been a sexual predator for decades. People investigated include: Max Clifford, Dave Lee Travis, Rolf Harris, Gary Glitter, Freddie Starr, Paul Gambaccini, Chris Denning, Jim Davidson, Jimmy Tarbuck, Wilfred De'ath and Ted Beston.
Clifford, Harris and Denning have been convicted after being investigated by Operation Yewtree.
Yigal Arnon
Yigal Arnon (9 December 1929 – 27 April 2014) was an Israeli lawyer. He was best known as the founder of Yigal Arnon & Co., one of the largest law firms in Israel. He was born in Tel Aviv.
Arnon died on 27 April 2014 in Tel Aviv, aged 84.
Max Clifford
Maxwell Frank "Max" Clifford (6 April 1943 – 10 December 2017) was a British publicist and sex offender.
Clifford was born in Kingston upon Thames and raised in Wimbledon. He left school when he was 15.
Clifford was married to Elizabeth Porter from 1967 until her death in 2003. He has a daughter by her. He married Jo Westwood in 2010. She began divorce proceedings against him in August 2013 on the grounds of unreasonable behaviour. A decree nisi was granted in May 2014. He lived in Hersham before being sent to prison.