Pirate station Radio Caroline sank

Pirate station Radio Caroline sank - On This Day: Pirate station Radio Caroline sank - At 23:58 that night the final broadcast was made by British DJs Stevie Gordon and Tom Anderson.

This classic newsreel looks at life aboard the ship that hosts Radio Caroline, and features a young Tony Blackburn.

March 20: After 16 years of tearing up the airwaves the bell finally appeared to toll for pirate station Radio Caroline.

Disc jockeys had been pop picking for Caroline since 1964 and had used the good ship Mi Amigo as their floating studio since 1972.

But on March 19, 1980, a violent storm broke out off the coast of Essex. The ship's anchor chain broke, causing the vessel to drift for 10 nautical miles until she ran aground on a sandbank.

The mast of the ship 'Mi Amigo' can be seen above the water (Photo by Associated Newspapers / Rex Features)

The ship began to take in water and after struggling for eight hours with portable pumps the four-man crew -  including DJs Stevie Gordon and Tom Anderson -  conceded defeat and were rescued by lifeboat.

At 23:58 that night the final broadcast on board the Mi Amigo was made.

"I'm sure we'll be back one way or another," said the duo. "For the moment, from all of us, goodbye and God Bless."

The ship finally sank in the early hours of March 20, leaving only the mast visible above the surface of the water.

Radio Caroline began broadcasting on March 28, 1964, from a former Danish ferry that was renamed 'Caroline'. The boat floated three miles off the coast of Felixstowe and was Britain's first pirate station.

Pirate radio broadcast pop and rock music in an effort to skirt around the record companies' control of popular music broadcasting in the UK and the BBC's radio broadcasting monopoly. The unlicensed broadcasting was actually illegal.

The colour Pathé clip featured above shows the everyday life of the radio's crew in 1965 -  a far cry from the Mi Amigo's sad demise.

In the clip the DJs spend their time choosing tracks, writing scripts and answering fan mail from some of their listeners - which numbered in the millions at the station's peak. To pass away the time the crew - which includes a young Tony Blackburn -  are also seen playing chess.

The narrator says: "You can't say life's exciting abroad a pirate radio."

Radio Caroline did resurface though after the Mi Amigo incident. In August 1983 it re-commenced broadcasts abroad the 'MV Ross Revenge'. Amazingly it still survives today and is currently legally broadcast on the internet. ( Yahoo! News )

Radio Caroline DJs at work (Photo by Associated Newspapers / Rex Features)

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Tiny video camera that records what teenage drivers get up to behind the wheel proves a hit with parents

Tiny video camera that records what teenage drivers get up to behind the wheel proves a hit with parents - For decades teenagers have achieved independence through passing their driving test.

But that joy may now be short-lived as one insurance company is offering parents the chance to place a video camera in the car with their children.

The tiny two-way camera, which also records audio, is placed on the rear-view mirror in the centre of the windscreen. It tapes both footage of the driver and their view of the road ahead.

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DriveCam: A tiny two-way camera, which also records audio, is placed on the rear-view mirror - allowing parents to monitor teenage drivers

Should a driver have an accident, violently swerve or even brake too hard, a video of what happened before and after the event is sent by the insurance company to the teenager and his parents.

The desired effect is to force teenagers to drive sensibly and therefore prevent deaths on the road caused by careless and inexperienced drivers.

American Family Insurance has teamed up with California-based technology company DriveCam to offer protective - or just paranoid - U.S. parents the opportunity to spy on their teenager's habits behind the wheel.

The service is offered at no extra cost, the insurance company said, neither is it designed to settle legal claims made against AFI drivers.

Unsurprisingly, the teenagers themselves have reacted less than favourably.

No excuses: A teenage girl applies lipstick (above) while driving on a motorway. Her lack of care results in her car spinning, narrowly missing a lorry (below)

The primary complaint is that their parents will be able to see what they get up to at precisely the moment when they have traditionally broken free and hit the open road.

But Phil Reed, senior consumer advice editor at U.S. car website Edmunds.com, said the DriveCam device is actually less intrusive than some satellite navigation systems.

He told the Kansas City Star: 'There’s that Big Brother sort of stereotype associated with this system.

'But once teenagers know that the only way their parents are going to see any of the video is when they do something erratic in the car, then they become more open to using this.

'In fact, it could be considered less intrusive than some GPS devices that other insurers are experimenting with for teenage drivers.' ( dailymail.co.uk )

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Bad hair day: Boy, 4, barred from pre-K for long locks

Bad hair day: Boy, 4, barred from pre-K for long locks - He was growing it to donate to children having cancer treatment - Renee Szablewski is a good, churchgoing Catholic. She wants her 4-year-old son, Jack, to grow up to be one, too.

That’s why Szablewski was so upset last month with St. Dominic, a parochial school in Brick, N.J. The principal at the school barred Jack from his pre-kindergarten class because his hair was too long.

Courtesy Renee Szablewski After his grandfather died of lung cancer, Jack Szablewski, 4, started growing his hair to donate for use in wigs for children undergoing cancer treatment.

“That’s Christian? That’s Catholic?” Szablewski fumed during a telephone interview with TODAYshow.com Monday.

Jack’s early lesson in how tough life can be actually began when at the tender age of 16 months, his grandfather died of lung cancer. Renee Szablewski decided to honor her father by letting her son’s hair grow out so that he could donate his locks to be used in wigs for children who lose their own hair to cancer radiation treatment.

Jack has had his blond bangs trimmed since then, but that’s all.

Changing the rules

Szablewski said that St. Dominic knew about the hair-growing project last year when Jack was enrolled in pre-kindergarten classes for the first time. “I said, ‘Listen, this is what we were doing,’ ” Szablewski told TODAYshow.com. “They were like, ‘Oh, that's OK, as long as his hair is cut before kindergarten.’ ”

Jack doesn’t start kindergarten until September 2011, but during the past summer, the school updated its handbook to include pre-K students in the policy mandating that boys keep their hair short and neat. School officials gave Renee Szablewski until Oct. 1 to bring Jack’s hair into compliance.

Szablewski was all set to do that Sept. 30, she said, and even invited the media to cover the clipping at a Hoboken salon. A storm making its way up the East Coast, however, washed out those plans.

It was still raining on Oct. 1 when Szablewski and Jack showed up at St. Dominic for classes.

“The teacher wouldn’t let him through the doors and left us standing out in the rain,” Szablewski said. “He didn’t do anything wrong, and he’s the victim here.”

On that point, Szablewski and the Diocese of Trenton, which runs St. Dominic’s, are in total agreement.

“This child has done nothing wrong,” the diocese said in a statement. “This matter is between the parent and the school, and the partnership between the two entities that is critical to a healthy and successful educational experience at St. Dominic School.”

The Diocese, which declined an interview request, went on in the statement to blame Jack’s mother for the situation.

“The Szablewski child is completely innocent in this matter,” the statement read.

Jack Szablewski, right, ges a peck on the cheek from his sister, Heather Schwartzseid

Crisis of faith?

Szablewski said that because her husband has a new job, she asked to meet with the principal after school hours to discuss the situation, but the school would not accommodate the request. She said she did speak with the vice principal about the matter at length.

“She told me it was our decision to make our son different, which I found repulsive,” Szablewski said. “My last words to her were, ‘What would Jesus do?’ ”

The entire episode has shaken Szablewski’s faith in the Catholic education system, but her resolve and her love of the church itself remain strong. She said that Jack’s hair is still long, and will be cut in the coming weeks so that it can be donated, as always intended, to children who need it.

“I love my church, but this isn’t about the church. It’s about the authority and power and power abuse,” she said. “I honestly think that my son has been totally branded by the Diocese of Trenton. I don’t think I’ll be able to get him into any Catholic school.”

Jack’s father wants him to go back to St. Dominic, but Renee Szablewski isn’t sure that’s a good idea. She’s fears that Jack, who knows very little about his parent’s disagreement with the school, would be treated differently.

He’s already been called names like “Joe Dirt” and “Fabio” by people online.

“His name is Jack, not Fabio,” Renee Szablewski said. “This is not about Jack’s hair. It’s about the [school]. I honestly feel they are not worthy to have us there.” ( msnbc )

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The bong-smoking baby: Child services investigate after U.S. mother posts photo of son with drug pipe on Facebook

The bong-smoking baby: Child services investigate after U.S. mother posts photo of son with drug pipe on Facebook. A mother who posted a photo of her 11-month-old son apparently smoking a marijuana bong pipe is being investigated by child protection services.

The disturbing image shows a baby sitting on a blanket wearing a nappy and putting the green glass smoking instrument to his mouth as if he were inhaling it.

The child's 19-year-old mother, from Jacksonville, Florida, took the photograph to show a friend and posted it online.

Disturbing: Child protection services are investigating after the photograph was posted on Facebook

She has denied suggestions that the infant was actually smoking any type of substance from the bong.

The case came to light when a Florida news channel contacted child protection services after viewing the image.

An investigation is now under way.

'We are alarmed that any parent would take pictures of their child next to what is obviously drug paraphernalia,' said Department of Children and Families spokesman John Harrell.

The mother, who has not been identified, also used her Facebook page to claim she would never put her child in danger and that the photo was a joke.

She wrote: "If u look at the picture u can see that there is no bowl in the TABACCO (sic) pipe.

'And i took a pic to show one person and it was a mistake. I would never ever ever let him get high.' ( dailymail.co.uk )

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Obesity Seems to Alter Heart Structure

Obesity Seems to Alter Heart Structure. Result may be left atrial enlargement, study finds. Obesity is a major risk factor for left atrial enlargement, which increases the risk of atrial fibrillation, stroke and death, a new study shows.

Atrial fibrillation is the most common type of arrhythmia (an irregular heart rhythm or heartbeat).

Researchers analyzed data on 1,212 men and women, aged 25 to 74, in Germany who were followed for 10 years. The study authors concluded that obesity and hypertension cause structural and functional changes in the heart and are independent predictors of left atrial enlargement (LAE).

The highest incidence of LAE after 10 years was seen in obese people -- 31.6 percent compared to baseline prevalence of 10 percent among all study participants.

The findings, published in the Nov. 17 issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, confirm the strong association between obesity and LAE reported in previous research. Some of those studies found that excess weight may affect left atrial size at an early age, potentially predisposing young obese people to future heart problems.

The authors of the new study said early assessment and intervention, especially among younger obese patients, is crucial to prevent the premature onset of cardiac remodeling -- changes in heart size, shape and function -- caused by LAE.

But they noted that it isn't clear how much weight management or moderate weight loss can improve LAE. Further research is needed. (HealthDay News)

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