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Orlando, Florida, the once cheerful aquatic life centre of SeaWorld has been plunged into a nightmare, a nightmare from which the staff and guests of the park cannot wake up. Death stalks the park and a 12,000lb Orca whale named Tilkum is his blubbery scythe. The latest victim in this grim carnival of cetacean terror: 40 year old Dawn Brancheau.

Brancheau who worked as a trainer at SeaWorld, and had 16 years experience working with orca whales was brutally slain by the aquatic menace as horrified tourists looked on. The leviathan seized its gaoler in its monstrous jaws, submerged her and smashed her against the sides of its tank.

As well as providing family entertainment by tormenting captive marine animals SeaWorld performs an educational function. The children who witnessed the attack of February 24 received a powerful lesson in one thing – why the Orca, Latin name Orcinus orca, is known as the Killer Whale.

Sensationally it has emerged that Tilkum has killed, and killed again. The first known victim was back in 1991. Tilkum conspired with two other whales to drown a trainer at the Sealand of the Pacific park in British Columbia. The park has since shut down. Having tasted the sweet nectar of destruction it was only a matter of time before Tilkum struck again.

Bidding his time Tilkum allowed nearly a decade to pass as he swam back and forth imprisoned in his concrete aquarium. Nobody knows exactly how his next victim came to meet his grizzly end.  It was one night in 1999 that the incident occurred. The details of that night remain unclear; all that is known is that in the morning after Tilkum had a new toy in his tank, the naked, lacerated corpse of a man.

There are those that would argue that an animal cannot commit murder. That morality, right and wrong, good and evil, and indeed intelligence are the sole preserve of humanity. These people would be wrong – science has shownthat cetacean intelligence is greater than that of dogs or even primates.

Unless maddened by captivity it is unusual for the colossal water-beasts to seek human victims. Perhaps the limitless expanse of the ocean has a calming effect, perhaps it is just that there are few opportunities, but in the wild Orcas do not display the kind of homicidal behaviour that Tilkum has now.

The Killer Whale, or Blackfish as it s rarely known, have a pan-global range. Despite this these marine mammals of the family Delphinidae are becoming endangered due to the actions of man. As well as whaling activity they are placed at risk by pollution and the depletion of fish stocks. One of main dangers to the future of this species is likely to be the changes in the ecosystem of their environment caused by global climate change.

Apple has outraged both developers and its users by banning any applications of its iPhone which feature what it calls ‘overtly sexual content’. All iPhone apps must be certified by Apple before they can be made available – a major drawback in the eyes of many. Anything with a hint of smut has been withdrawn from Apple’s online app store, and will be removed from users iPhones the next time they update them.

lingerie ladies too much for Jobs

What has been deemed unacceptable by Apple is the subject of controversy. It seems that Puritan Apple has decided to improve the morals of its prurient users by banning any application that could cause the iPhone’s screen to display an arrangement of pixels resembling the human form. Not only erotica but also content featuring swimwear and lingerie have been banned.

The move, which is more reminiscent of the Taliban than a supposedly progressive California technology company, has seen thousands of apps banned. It seems that not only apps designed to titillate but also those from legitimate retailers of swimwear and lingerie have fallen foul of the iCensors.

It seems Steve Jobs just can’t bear the thought of people being able to see a woman in her underwear. Fortunately for lingerie hating Jobs though the iPhone is equipped with an Internet browser, the internet is entirely devoid of breasts. Finally for those of you who are determined to have ‘lingerie on their iPhone’ there is one option left. If you want lingerie for your iPhone you can follow this guide to making a sexy little corset for the gadget to wear. Just don’t let Steve know.

Over the last decade we have, around the world, grown used to the ever present ‘terror threat levels’ and ‘states of alert’ that have gone along with taking flights being ever more fraught with difficulty. Some have mocked these as being vague and pointless, even seeing them as promoting fear. In the UK if one day the terror threat level is ‘severe’ as opposed to ‘substantial’, what do you do differently? Where does it all ends nobody knows, though nobody has gone quite as far as Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd.
Rudd has announced that he believes Australia to be under a “permanent and increased” threat of a terrorist attack. As well as expecting the Australian population to live in a state of, presumably never ending, terror, extra security measures will be introduced on all flights to Australia. These measures will not apply to everyone taking flights to Australia just to those taking flights to Australia who are from a selection of countries.

There are 10 countries from which every visitor to Australia will be treated as being a potential terrorist subject. After taking their flights to Australia these visitors will be required to undergo fingerprinting and have a face scan taken. Quite what countries will be on this list is at present still the subject of secrecy. It is however believed that both Yemen and Somalia will probably be on the list, as these are both countries that Australia has singled out as having terrorist threats associated with them.
Unlike many other countries, Australia has not seen a terrorist attack on its soil. While this is the case since 2001 over 100 Australians have been killed by terrorists whilst abroad. In addition to this within Australia there have been a number of alleged attempted terrorist attacks that have been foiled.