Indonesia airline check air hostess applicants 'for breasts implants during job interview'

Dozens of women applying for air hostess jobs with an Indonesian airline were ordered to strip nearly naked and have their breasts handled in medical check-ups, one of the applicants claimed today. She said Garuda - Indonesia's main airline - wanted to screen out women who had tattoos on their breasts or who had had breast implants. As part of the medical check-up, they had to strip down to just their pants, the woman making the allegations claimed. Declining to be named - because she said she still wanted the coveted job - the woman said the breast checks were carried out at the airline's South Korean branch in Seoul.

The applicants hoped to snare one of the 18 positions being offered for flight attendants. 'The hand examination on breast was held since those with implants can have health issues when air pressure falls during flights,' the South Korean news agency Yonhap quoted an airline official as saying. The official said cabin crew were banned from having tattoos and workers hired in other countries such as Japan and Australia were also subjected to a similar examination. However claims about the check-ups have angered women's rights groups, which described the process as unnecessary and intrusive. 'I wonder if such a practice is acceptable in Indonesia,' said Ms Kim Da-Mi, who works with the Sexual Violence Relief Centre in Seoul. A spokesman for South Korea's main airline, Korean Air, described the tests as 'bizarre'. He said: 'We've never heard of or done such check-ups on flight attendants but I wonder if this means that passengers with breast implants should not fly also.' At Garuda Indonesia's office in Seoul, a spokesman said the medical tests should have followed routine procedures - and those do not include such examinations. 'We are investigating the matter by questioning managers and the doctor who was in charge of the check-up,' said spokesman Park Sung-Hyun. 'This is very embarrassing.' It has not been revealed whether the doctor is female or male. Flight attendant jobs are keenly sought by South Korean women, enticed by high pay and travel opportunities. Thousands prepare for years, attending beauty salons and ensuring they have a high education standard before applying for vacancies.

By RICHARD SHEARS

Lightning Over Ballinrobe

 

 

Image Credit: Brendan Nutley

Hurricane Irene

 

High above the Earth from aboard the International Space Station, astronaut Ron Garan snapped this image of Hurricane Irene as it passed over the Carribean on Aug. 22, 2011. The National Hurricane Center noted on Aug. 22 that Irene is expected to produce total rainfall accumulations of 5 to 10 inches across Puerto Rico, The Virgin Islands, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, the Southeastern Bahamas and The Turks and Caicos Islands. Isolated maximum amounts of rainfall may reach up to 20 inches. Image Credit: NASA

 

---

From USA.gov: Get updates on Science from across government in real time at http://notifications.usa.gov

STAY CONNECTED:

This message has been sent by NASA Headquarters · Washington, DC 20546

Knock Airport

A Ryanair flight landing at Knock airport.

DID ROBIN HOOD ACTUALLY EXIST?

The story of Robin Hood has been popularized in numerous
books and films over the years Legend has it that Robin
was deprived of his lands by the sheriff of Nottingham and
forced to take refuge in Sherwood Forest, where he became
an outlaw, banding with a group of Merry Men, falling in
love with a maid named Marian, and stealing from the rich to give to the poor For many years, people have questioned whether this Good Samaritan really did exist. The first literary reference to Robin Hood appeared in
1377, where he is portrayed as a common bandit, and there
are printed versions of ballads on the subject from the early
sixteenth century in which he is portrayed as a farmer or
tradesman In later accounts, it is said that Robin was a nobleman
from the late twelfth century, during the time when
Richard the Lionheart was fighting the Crusades However,
one of the original ballads has it that he lived during the
reign of Edward II While some of the early ballads do refer
to the sheriff of Nottingham and some of the Merry Men,
no mention is made of Maid Marian, who is thought to have
been added in later versions of the story.

The British Museum keeps an account of Robin’s life, which holds that he was born in 1160 in Lockersley, Yorkshire,
although this place doesn’t exist Another account, however, has it that he was from Wakefield in the fourteenth
century. A tourist attraction in Nottinghamshire is a tree
known as the Major Oak, which is said to have been where Robin Hood lived, although this claim has been disputed by some who allege that the tree isn’t old enough.

While some academics claim Robin Hood of Sherwood
Forest never existed, it is generally accepted that someone
referred to as Robin Hood did Where and when he lived,
and how much generosity he bestowed on the poor, remain
matters of conjecture, and most experts agree that much of
the modern-day legend is just that.

South Coast Rescue underway as yacht capsizes

 

A US registered yacht capsized near Fastnet Rock off the Co Cork coast this evening.
(Picture: The world-record holding 'Rambler 100' earlier this year...)

Some 22 people were onboard the Rambler 100 , which was participating in the Fastnet Race from Cowes to Fastnet and back to Plymouth, when it capsized in force five winds at about 6.30pm.
The Department of Transport said all 22 crew had been accounted for. As many as 10 people were feared missing earlier. A department spokeswoman said 16 people were now sitting on the hull of the ship and the remainder were on life rafts.

The Irish Coast Guard and Baltimore Lifeboat are attending. Two Irish Coast Guard helicopters R116 & R117 from Shannon and Waterford were also dispatched. Naval patrol ship LE Ciara was in the area and is also assisting.
Although the sea is not particularly rough, the search operation is being hampered by misty and rainy conditions with visibility down to less than a mile. The Fastnet Race, regarded as the one of the oldest offshore yacht races in the world, first took place in 1925.
The 608-mile race passes Land’s End before turning north-north-west and across the Celtic Sea towards West Cork. Participants round the famous lighthouse three miles off Cape Clear Island before heading to their ultimate destination of Plymouth.
The majority of the crews participating are amateur and club racers.
A total of 314 boats started the race, now sponsored by Rolex, off Cowes on the Isle of Wight on Sunday, beating the previous record turnout of 303 entries registered for the tragic 1979.
A total of 15 people died that year when the fleet was caught in violent weather and sea conditions between Lands End and Fastnet.
A memorial stone listing the 15 names was erected on Cape Clear’s North Harbour in time for the 25th anniversary which was held on the island in 2004.
Prior to 1979 the Fastnet Race had a good safety record with one crewman lost overboard in 1931.

No Copyright Intended

[Astronomy Ireland] Irish Astronomers Find Planets! - Lecture Report

 

Irish Astronomers Find Planets!

The Future of Planet-Hunting - Lecture Report and DVD

The search for exoplanets is one of the most exciting fields in astronomy and will perhaps one day answer the question of whether we are alone in the Universe. Although searching for alien worlds dates back to ancient times the techniques needed to detect them have only recently been developed with the first exoplanet being discovered in 1992. The possibility of finding life on another planet is a thrilling one not only for astronomers but also for a huge proportion of the general public, and this was clearly evident at Astronomy Ireland’s August lecture in Trinity College on Monday night, August 8th. The Schroedinger theatre was packed full of people eager to hear Professor Don Pollacco from Queen's University, Belfast, speak about the next generation of exoplanet surveys and get a clue as to where in our galaxy we may find our alien neighbours.

Prof Pollacco is a research astronomer in the Astrophysics Research Centre at QUB, and he is part of a team who uses and operates SuperWASP instruments. SuperWASP is a leading extra-solar planet detection programme. It consists of two robotic observatories that operate all year round allowing astronomers to cover both hemispheres of the sky. The observatories each consist of eight wide-angle cameras that simultaneously monitor the sky for planetary transit events. Prof Pollacco explained that a transit occurs when a planet passes in front of its parent star temporarily blocking some of the light from it. The SuperWASP instruments look for these tiny dips in the brightness of the parent star. The eight wide-angle cameras allow them to monitor millions of stars simultaneously enabling the detection of rare transit events.

Prof Pollacco examined the possibilities of finding life in the Milky Way and, indeed, intelligent civilisations who wish to make contact. For a long time the numbers in the famous Drake Equation (which determines the number of civilisations) were simply down to guesswork: numbers such as how many stars will have planets around them, how many are capable of supporting life, and so on. However, in recent years, thanks to the work of Prof Pollacco and other astronomers, we can now make educated estimates of these numbers. At the lecture, Prof Pollacco showed that the number of intelligent, contactable civilisations in our galaxy may be as high as 20,000!

Following the lecture, attendees went to The Lombard Inn for complimentary food and a chat with Prof Pollacco and other attendees.

A full report and photos of the event are available HERE.

If you were unable to make it to the lecture, or would like a souvenir, you can order a copy of the lecture on DVD, for only €7 plus P&P. Remember you can order as many DVDs of our previous lectures as you like for the same postage cost of €5.

Order your DVD HERE.

Astronomy Ireland

The world's most popular Astronomy Club
www.astronomy.ie