New Cars in 2010 Prediction


Also available will be a 1.6-litre turbo-diesel 77kW and a 2.0-litre turbo-diesel with 125kW. The top of the pops Quadrofoglio Verde (aka Cloverleaf – likely the replacement for the GTA) will boast a healthy 173kW.
ALFA ROMEO MITO
Another Cloverleaf model that will hit Aussie shores in 2010 is the MiTo Quadrofolglio Verde. It will be powered by a 125kW turbo-charged 1.4-litre Multi-Air engine and all-new 6-speed manual transmission. You can expect this pocket-rocket sometime before October. The MiTo will also have dual-clutch automated manual transmissions across the range by the third quarter.
AUDI A1
Audi’s lips are sealed about the arrival of the Mini-fighting A1, which should be out in Europe next year. Expected to debut at either Detroit or Geneva
CHERY A1
Chinese cars will continue their assault in 2010, with automotive manufacturer Chery expected to release a new small car. The 1.3-litre A1 (not to be confused with Audi’s upcoming A1), is curiously described by the Chinese manufacturer as ‘powerful, like a quickly attacking cheetah’.
CITROEN C3
French manufacturer Citroen will bring its new large-windscreened C3 small-car range to Australia, which will be similar to the current line-up and will arrive in the third quarter of 2010.
The current C3 is still a best-seller for Citroen, having sold over two million units globally since it debuted in 2002.The all-new C3’s appealing appearance, lighter body and more spacious interior along with better technology and fuel figures should entice small car buyers. The new C3 should start at the same price as the outgoing model - $23,990.
CITROEN DS3
Also from Citroen will be the DS3, the French rival to the Mini that cashes in on the current trend for stylish small luxury cars. The C3 based DS3 is likely to have a choice of a few engines, with the top two engine versions destined for our shores by the third quarter of 2010. The variants will likely include a 1.6-litre turbo-diesel capable of 82kW, and a 1.6-litre turbo petrol engine offering 110kW. Both automatic and manual versions of the car should make their way here. Price-wise, the DS3 should be placed in the same range as the Mini, starting at approximately $33,000.
FIAT PUNTO EVO
Fiat Punto Evo - don’t let the Evo tag confuse you: this is not a nod to Mitsubishi’s rally-bred Lancer. Conversely, the Evo moniker is a poke at the evolution of the automobile. In this Punto’s case, the name of the game is efficiency. The Punto Evo should be in Australia by the third quarter, and it makes use of Fiat’s new ‘multi-air’ petrol and JTD diesel engines, meaning an increase in fuel efficiency and a drop in carbon emissions.
FORD FIESTA
The popular Fiesta small car will be sourced from Thailand from the third quarter of 2010. The change to Asian-sourced Fiestas will also bring about new models, and should include the delivery of a Fiesta sedan. The Fiesta range is likely to look the same, but the switch to Asian manufacture will mean leaner pricing for buyers as well as the inclusion of dual airbags and stability control as standard.
GEELY MK / GEELY PANDA
There are still rumours about this Chinese manufacturer’s entry into the market. The word from the likely importer, John Hughes Group in Western Australia, is that they’re hoping for an appearance in the first quarter of 2010. The most likely models to make it to Australia is the Geely MK, a small 1.5-litre four-door sedan, and the cutesy Geely Panda, a 1.0-litre 4-cylinder micro-car.
GREAT WALL MOTORS
In 2010 Great Wall Motors will offer a small passenger car in Australia – the first Chinese-made light vehicle to make it to our shores. On sale in the middle of the year, the exact details of which Great Wall car it will be are still unknown. We’ll just have to wait and see.
HOLDEN CRUZE
Holden will be producing its very own Australian-made small car based on the Cruze, which is likely to sit next to (or perhaps in place of) the Cruze. The car is said to have quite a few changes, and according to Holden it will have an Australian feel to it. Expected late 2010.
For those who’ve seen the new Opel Astra and have been hoping for a return of the German small car, there’s some bad news. Holden has confirmed that it is not going to import the Astra, as it doesn’t currently make economic sense. Holden did say, however, that they are open to any opportunities.
HOLDEN SPARK
Another hotly anticipated Holden arrival is the new Spark. There’s no confirmation of delivery as yet, but according to Holden the Spark could make its way to Australia in the future. Perhaps not in 2010, though.
HONDA CIVIC
Honda’s popular Civic will also be the beneficiary of a mid-model update during the first half of the year. Expect both cosmetic and specification changes.
HYUNDAI i20
Hyundai will release the i20 light car in 2010. Exact timing is uncertain for the Mazda 2 competitor, however the hype surrounding the i20 in the European market should make for an interesting debut. Expect competitive pricing, likely to be around $17,000.
HYUNDAI i10
The Hyundai i10 compact car is still in discussion between Hyundai Australia and its Korean headquarters.  Hyundai has told us that they are currently assessing the feasibility of the i10 in the Australian market.
KIA CERATO HATCH
Kia’s Cerato range will be joined by a 5-door hatch in the last three months of the year. The 5-door Cerato will likely offer the same 2.0-litre engine and 5-speed manual and 4-speed automatic gearboxes. The pricing for the Cerato hatch is likely to be close to the $18,990 retail price of its sedan sibling.
KIA RIO
The Rio small car will receive an update in very early 2010. Expect minor changes only.
MAZDA 2
Mazda are keeping quiet on their plans for the year ahead, but we know that the Japanese brand will start manufacturing its 2 small-car from Thailand in 2010.
The shift to cheaper production also ties in with the release a new Mazda 2 sedan variant. It is expected that the currently optional curtain airbags and stability control will now become standard across the Mazda 2 range. New model prices are unknown.
MITSUBISHI COLT
The small Mitsubishi Colt will likely receive the trademark face of the new Lancer and Outlander. The Colt will have both a cosmetic and specification upgrade sometime in 2010.
NISSAN MICRA
Nissan’s small car, the Micra, will be produced in Thailand and India in 2010. An Australian release is in the pipeline, and according to Nissan Australia it could make it here next year, and they are looking into it now. More news on the Micra will be available in the first quarter of 2010.
PROTON S16
Australia’s cheapest car, the $11,990 drive-away Proton S16, will get an expanded range in 2010. All models will include dual airbags, and there will be several spec-levels. The base model will be called the S16 G, and will be joined by a GX, GXR and SE. Most will have optional automatic gearboxes, and should be on sale in Australia in June.
PROTON SATRIA NEO
A new Satria Neo will be out in 2010. The ‘CPS’ will feature an upgraded engine that is more powerful (93kW up from 88kW and 150Nm up from 148Nm), and the car is styled similarly to the old Satria GTi.
SKODA FABIA
Another Skoda on the ‘maybe’ pile is the Fabia. Chances are slim at the moment, with the focus on securing the Yeti, but there’s still a small chance three new Skoda models will be in Australia in 2010.
SUZUKI SWIFT
There is talk of an updated Swift by the end of 2010, though the timing for this is not confirmed as yet.
TOYOTA COROLLA SEDAN
After the recent update to the Corolla hatch, we can expect an updated sedan in early 2010. The sedan is expected to gain an updated look, as well as safety features like stability control and Bluetooth phone connectivity as standard.
VOLKSWAGEN POLO
An all-new Polo range will come to Australia, with the base model three- and five-door versions arriving in the second quarter of 2010, followed by a GTI version sometime in the second half.
Dubbed the ‘mini-Golf’, the new Polo is a vastly improved car to its predecessor. The fifth-generation Polo is sure to appeal to small car buyers, with its younger-twin looks and sophisticated engine line-up. Variants include a 77kW 1.2-litre turbo three-cylinder and a 1.4-litre turbo four-cylinder, and there is also word of a 1.6-litre diesel. Transmissions include a 5-speed manual and 7-speed dual-clutch automatic. Price is likely to be slightly higher than the current model which starts at around $17,000.
VOLKSWAGEN GOLF
New versions of Golf will also hit Australian streets in 2010. The all new Golf R, the most powerful Golf ever, with a 2.0-litre turbo engine, is both quicker and lighter than the V6 R32 model, despite remaining all-wheel drive, having sourced the all-wheel drive system from the Audi S3. It will be out in the middle of the year. The other new Golf to come in 2010 is the Golf Wagon, which should enable to Golf to cater to an even broader market. It should be on the road by February.
VOLVO C30
A facelift to the love-it or hate-it C30 will carry similar swoopy lines and a revised facia including bonnet, grille and headlights. The C30 will also gain a range of petrol and diesel engines, including the new C30 DRIVe with start-stop technology which helps the C30 attain a miniscule 3.8L/100km and a low carbon emissions figure of just 98g/km. The C30 range should be on sale early 2010, and should retail for around the same prices as the current range, beginning at $35,000.



Editor: jimbon / Kompas.com

Source : Sydney Morning Herald

The Amazing From Paper


Peter, 41, cuts intricate patterns from a white sheet of paper and uses the cutout to fold breathtaking designs such as skeletons, insects and buildings. The precision work transforms a piece of paper worth only a few pence into a piece of art that sells for £2,800.
Each model takes up to two weeks to sketch, cut and fold. If Peter makes a wrong cut or realises he is unable to achieve the fold he wanted he has to rethink his design and start the painstaking work again.
Peter likes his models to tell a story and believes transforming a flat piece of paper into a three-dimension model is a 'magical process'.
He said: 'Some of the small paper cuts relate to a universe of fairy tales and romanticism.
'Others are small dramas in which small figures are lost within and threatened by the huge powerful nature.'
Others again are turning the inside out, or letting the front and the back of the paper meet - dealing with impossibility, illusions, and reflections.'
Peter, from Copenhagen, Denmark, likes to use A4 paper in his work because people use it widely in the home and office and can easily relate to it.
He said: 'I find the A4 sheet of paper interesting to work with because it is probably the most common media for carrying information today.
'By removing all the information and starting from scratch using blank white A4 paper I feel I have found a material which we all are able to relate to.
'The thin white paper gives the paper sculptures a fragility which underlines the tragic and romantic theme of the works.'
Peter has held a number of exhibitions around the world including London, New York and Seoul. He is represented by the Perry Rubenstein Gallery in New York, United States, and the Helene Nyborg Contemporary in Copenhagen, Denmark.



Editor: jimbon /kompas
Source : The Daily Mail

Insulting at Facebook

The riot has extremely upset the local citizens. At the beginning, it was a parley to mediate the conflict between Lia and Rini, two women who've been friends for quite long, but then it turned into a quarrel. Lia and Rini, the source of the problem, during the brawl were seen hiding behind fences on Pirngadi street.

"I just got back home when I noticed the commotion on the street and there were two frightened women," said Triawan, a citizen of Bubutan.

Chief detective of North Surabaya district police, Police Commissioner Attendant Dolly A. Primanto, explained the chronology that led to the riot. He said that for the last week, Lia, from Simo Kwagean Buntu Lor, and Rini were mocking each other on Facebook. Lia then complained to her husband, Tonny Wijaya. Tonny then told his older brother, Paulus, about it.

Afterward, stated Dolly, Paulus who is now still wanted by the police mocked Rini. To put an end to the matter both parties decided to settle it peacefully and meet on Pirngadi street. Rini, the girl from Ploso, took her boyfriend, Steven Liang, and they went by a Toyota Avanza car, while Lia came with her husband Tonny, Paulus, and dozens of others on motorbikes.

When the two parties met, it's still unclear who started it, but the meeting suddenly turned into a brawl which was triggered by an argument. Due to the uneven numbers, Steven became the living sand-sack for Tonny and Paulus. Steven's car, parked by the street, was also vandalized by Tonny and his group.

Seeing the riot, the locals came to stop it. But, several people who were vandalizing the car got away. The North Surabaya district police, whose headquarter was only 500 meters away, came to the location.

Seeing the police, Tonny who was suspected to have beaten up Steven hurried to his motorcycle, a Yamaha Mio Soul with the license plate number L 6915 NH, and sped to the east. However, Tony's speeding bike tripped over a speed-bump before crashing down on the street. Tonny, having broken his leg on the accident, was apprehended by the police and brought to Dr. Soetomo public hospital.

"We declare Tonny as a suspect involved in the brawl. He's still hospitalized," said the police chief of North Surabaya, Police Great Commissioner Attendant  Djoko Hariutomo, accompanied by Dolly A. Primanto, Saturday.

After declaring Tonny as a suspect, the police then caught Wahyuda Mokoagao, 23, a citizen of Setro. Before the investigators, Wahyuda confessed of having smashed the windows of Steven's car and beaten Steven with a helmet. "I just came along," he argued.

For this case, the investigators have declared Paulus as a criminal for being involved in the fight. "Both groups, the suspects and the victims were wrong to try to work out peace in a remote place. They could've got the police the mediate for them." said Police Commissioner Attendant Dolly A. Primanto. (MIF/C17-09)


Editor: jimbon

Source : www.surya.co.id

Monkey can speak?



“This is the first evidence we have in animal communication that they can combine, in a semantic way, different calls to create a new message,” said Alban Lemasson, a primatologist at the University of Rennes in France. “I’m not sure it has strong parallels with humans, in the way that we will find a subject and object and verb. But they have meaningful units combined into other meaningful sequences, with rules imposed on how they’re combined.”

Lemasson’s team previously described the monkeys’ use of calls with specific meanings in a paper published in November. It detailed the monkeys’ basic sound structures and their uses: “Hok” for eagle, “krak” for leopard, “krak-oo” for general disturbance, “hok-oo” and “wak-oo” for general disturbance in forest canopies. A sixth call, “boom,” was used in non-predatory contexts, such as when calling a group together for travel or arguing with neighboring groups.

Impressive as that was, however, it was still relatively one-dimensional, not much different from verbalizations heard in many animal species, from other non-human primates to songbirds. The team’s latest findings, published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, describe something far more complicated: syntax, or principles of word sequence and sentence structure.

Though some researchers have ascribed syntax to animals, it’s never been formally demonstrated — until now.

“People have criticized the use of ’syntax’ to describe animals just because they produce sequences of sound. They say that each unit has no meaning, that no rules explain how they’re combined,” said Lemasson. “Here we have rules of combination.”

For example, male monkeys called “boom boom” to gather other monkeys to them, but “boom boom krak-oo krak-oo” meant that a tree or branch was about to fall. Adding a “hak-oo” to that sequence turned it into a territorial warning against stray monkeys from neigboring groups. Multiple “krak-oo” calls added to an original “krak” meant not only that a leopard was in the area, but that it posed an immediate threat.

The research raises the question of whether early humans or our primate ancestors combined calls in a similar way, turning a small set of sounds into a rich verbal reportoire. According to Lemasson and to Jared Taglialatela, a chimpanzee communication researcher at Clayton State University, it’s too soon to say whether the monkey talk is proto-human.

“I’d shy away from that. But this is certainly syntax,” said Taglialatela, who was not involved in the study. But he described the proto-human question as secondary to a far more intriguing possibility: that the potential for language is widespread in the animal kingdom.

“People like to draw lines and make boxes and put animals inside them. I don’t like to do that. There are differences and shades of grey. And when you take the time to collect data in a way that allows you to recognize complexity and patterns, than you find evidence of them,” said Taglialatela.

Lemasson’s analysis was based on a vast set of recordings, gathered from 10 monkey groups observed for two full years in their African rain forest homes. Lemasson, who is further investigating Campbell’s monkey talk by measuring their reactions to recorded calls, suspects that a dense jungle environment drove the evolution of syntax.

Since the monkeys had trouble seeing each other, they compensated by talking. The same compensatory dynamic could operate in other species, such as whales that live in mostly sunless waters, he said.

“We can imagine that this ability has evolved in other lineages,” said Lemasson.


Editor: jimbon

Source : wired science

Tiger Woods Had Sex in Church Car Park



But every move of that alfresco encounter was recorded by a surveillance team of reporters and photographers from one of America's biggest-selling tabloid magazines. It was a scoop - the first example of what we now know to be a pattern of infidelity on Tiger's part.

And it was two years ago - two years before the 'outing' of nightclub hostess Rachel Uchitel and the bizarre late-night car crash outside Tiger's Florida home that set in motion a chain of revelations. Yet during those intervening years, Tiger had seemed what Tiger always seemed - a family man: the ultimate professional, controlled, focused, even a bit dull - because this was a sting that, were it not for last week's ructions, would never have seen the light of day.

Tiger's management made sure of that. Today, for the first time, The Mail on Sunday can tell the story of the affair that preceded that car park encounter in 2007 and the desperate cover-up that ensued.

It is a story that goes a long way to answering two of the most persistent questions in the whole Tiger Woods scandal: why did a man whose massive earnings depended on him being the ultimate clean-living sportsman jeopardise everything, from career to family, with such apparent recklessness? And how did he get away with it for so long?

Today, Mindy Lawton, 34, knows that she was just one of many mistresses taken by the golfer. But, according to her family, throughout their 14-month affair she laboured under the delusion that what she had with Tiger was special and that they were in love.

Mindy's sister, Orlando primary school teacher Lynn Lawton, said: 'She is extremely, extremely naive, my sister. She is single, never married, never had children and still looking for a relationship. I have to hand it to him. It was brilliant to choose my sister to play his kind of game.'

The unworldly Mindy was easily dazzled and undemanding. She and Tiger met in summer 2006, when Mindy was working as an $8-an-hour  manager and waitress at Perkins, a diner only a short drive from Tiger's home in the upmarket Orlando suburb of Windermere. Tiger and his wife Elin would regularly take breakfast there.

Lynn recalled: 'My sister told me they came in regularly. Elin would read the paper while Tiger ogled my sister. She is very bubbly, very outgoing. You couldn't help but notice her, even when she was in her waitress uniform.

'Mindy said he and Elin seemed disconnected. There would not be much conversation. Tiger would just sit there, looking at Mindy. She said, "Oh my God, he is so cute!"

'She doesn't know much about golf, but she did know he was married because Elin was sitting there.'

One day, Lynn said, Mindy called in a state of excitement: 'She said he had called her at Perkins and said, "This is Tige," - that's the pet name he always used for himself - "Will you meet me at the Blue Martini?"

'She was very excited but nervous so she asked our next oldest sister, Bobbi, to go with her. She was like, "Oh, I'm going to hang out with Tiger!"'

It is now known that this nightclub and cocktail bar was a favourite haunt of Tiger's - a place where he could entertain, and be entertained, in the relative privacy of the club's VIP section, surrounded by girls, minders and selected male friends.

Again, it is striking how relatively little effort he seemed to make to conceal these clandestine meetings. But, as Mindy was to find out, Tiger's powerful entourage and management were masters in protecting  their money-maker's image.
At first, according to Lynn, the bouncer wouldn't let Mindy and her sister into the VIP room. 'They stood there for a while and then all of a sudden, Tiger nods to the guy to let them in. Tiger didn't get up. He just sat there.

'He was with a group of Orlando and Los Angeles basketball players. Bobbi bought him a drink and had one of the bartenders take it over. She said Mindy started dancing with another girl. My sister is a real good dancer and Bobbi said Tiger couldn't keep his eyes off her.'

Tiger and Mindy left the club separately. Mindy drove her sister home then met Tiger on his way to his house. She followed the golfer, driving at a discreet distance, and at the gated development was waved in by the guard.

Lynn said: 'Mindy told me the next day, "We went to his house and had sex. He was extremely good."'

Lynn thinks Elin was out of the country that night. She said: 'That was always the pattern. Mindy would drive her old Saturn car and follow Tiger in his luxurious Escalade.

'My sister was just a little girl on an hourly wage at Perkins. We knew what he wanted her for. But she wouldn't believe it.

'Maybe Tiger thought the security guards would think she was his cleaning lady,' Lynn conjectured. Or maybe they had just seen it all before and knew to turn a blind eye.

Truth be told, however charming and cool Tiger appeared as he sat over his breakfast, there was a different side to him, one only now emerging, which his young wife Elin must surely have been aware of.

As early as 2001, there had been hints of a wilder side to the sportsman when he went on holiday with a group of friends, reputedly calling themselves The Brothers and consisting of basketball players Michael Jordan and Charles Barkley and former professional footballer, Ahmad Rashad.

Together with baseball's most expensive player Alex Rodriguez, they travelled to the Atlantis Resort on Paradise Island in the Bahamas.

Jordan gambled, placing up to $5,000 on a single card. Tiger showed his rebellious side, bleaching his hair blond. But that was before he met Elin, before they married in 2004 and before their children, daughter Sam Alexis, now two, and ten-month-old son  Charlie, were born.

Once the affair between Tiger and Mindy started, it gathered momentum, with the couple meeting at his house for sex every two or three weeks. Incredibly, he continued to have breakfast at Perkins to the point where, Lynn said: 'Everyone was talking about it because he would wait for Mindy in his Escalade and then she would follow him in her car. He was so brazen it was incredible.

'Everyone in our family knew about it too. I remember one day we were all sitting on our back porch, my parents, my husband and Mindy, and we said, "Do you know he is married?" And she started crying and said yes.

'My husband told her, "The way he is behaving with you, behind his wife's back, I am sure he has a lady in every city."

'It got to the point where our neighbours and friends knew about it too. In a way it was quite clever, him being so open about it because we thought, "Maybe this is just how celebrities behave."

'I am sure Elin knew nothing about it, because she was never home when Mindy was there. But because Tiger was so complacent about it, it never would have occurred to anyone to tell her what was going on. He never said to my sister, "This has to be secret."'

Meanwhile, on the golfing circuit, Tiger's brilliance and sheer earning power meant that he never had to explain himself, or his behaviour, to anybody. However many rumours may have circulated, however uncouth some of his habits - such as  spitting and swearing on the greens, and being churlish to caddies - his talent provided all the excuse, or shield he needed.

Tiger was so focused, nobody dared disturb him. At the major championships in Britain, he tended to rent houses rather than join other players at hotels, under the guise of maintaining his privacy. He allowed no visitors and, in recent years, his wife was, at best, an infrequent member of his tournament entourage.

On the course, he stared straight ahead, interacting with no one, except maybe his caddie. He demanded utter loyalty of his friends and the proximity of his management. He never divulged anything about himself and for years it was believed that, far from having something to hide, the former child-prodigy was frankly a little bit dull.

He said nothing, people thought, because he had nothing to say. It was as if he had picked up a golf club at the age of three and - save for the aberration that was his marriage - never showed any interest in picking anything, or anyone else up since.

This was the seemingly impervious image that won him deals with big names such as Nike, Gillette and Pepsi - endorsements that, should he be able to maintain them, could see his fortune increase six-fold to £3billion in the next ten years.

But Mindy - and the others -  saw a very different Tiger. Lynn said: 'I saw the texts he sent her. One of them said he was dreaming of being inside of her. Another said, "Do you want to get laid?" It was crude. There was no mention of love. She said he didn't talk about his wife.'

Had Tiger mentioned Elin, it might have meant confronting the sordid reality that his 'romance' with Mindy was conducted while his wife was pregnant with their first child.

Instead, Lynn said: 'He talked very little about anything. She said he never wore condoms. That really broke me up. I was so worried she might catch a disease, especially as we suspected he was promiscuous. But Mindy was in love with him. I think she thought he was faithful to her.'

In fact, it seems likely that Tiger's affair with Mindy overlapped with his relationship with Jaimee Grubbs, the 24-year-old cocktail mistress he met in April 2007 and with whom he had a three-year affair. According to a source close to Jaimee, she very much enjoyed her affair with Tiger - perhaps having less romantic notions than Mindy.

Jaimee simply accepted that theirs was 'a physical, not a cerebral relationship'. She has said: 'Tiger might have started out naive, but sex became like an addiction to him.'

Jaimee has also claimed that the star took the painkiller Vicoden - a prescription he explained as necessary because of a recent knee injury.

Rachel Uchitel, the New York club hostess whose 'outing' as one of Tiger's mistresses supposedly led to last Saturday's marital meltdown, allegedly told one friend that Tiger took Ambien - a sedative prescribed for his insomnia but said to heighten sexual experiences.

Porn star Holly Sampson and marketing director Kalika Moquin, 33, both named as mistresses, do nothing to dispute these depictions of the man or his predilections.

Another as yet unnamed mistress believes: 'His big problem is, ironically, insecurity. He has never felt particularly attractive. From the age of four or five, he was destined to be a golfing legend but no one told him how to be a man.

'He married the dream girl, had the perfect family, but couldn't feel satisfied with that.

'He's not a happy man. When his father died [in May 2006] his moral compass went off. He was caught once and got away with it. He thought he could get away with it for ever.'

Which brings us back to that car park, that surveillance team in the spring of 2007 and the scoop that could have exploded Tiger's myth long before now. So what happened?

Put bluntly, Tiger sold himself to save himself - or at least his management did. With an exertion of power only possible by the very rich and very famous, a deal was struck.

In return for burying the story of Tiger's affair, he would give an exclusive cover interview to a men's health magazine owned by the same company as the tabloid.

According to our investigation, when 'Team Tiger' discovered that the tabloid magazine not only had blurry pictures of him and Mindy in the car park but evidence of the consummation, they went into a panic. Then they went to work.

Neal Boulton, an editor in the tabloid magazine's company at the time, revealed: 'They said, "What do we have to do not to let this get out?"'

The answer was press the magazine's publisher to withhold the story in return for Tiger appearing on the August 2007 cover of its stablemate publication, Men's Fitness. And so Tiger, who regularly declines interviews on the grounds that he is a 'private' person, struck beefcake-style poses and gave tips on diet, exercise and weightlifting.

The tabloid's parent company insisted that the exclusive was not a quid pro quo. But it was enough for Boulton to resign in protest at the editorial interference which he perceived as an underhand 'trade-off'. Ironically, had Mindy voiced her own concerns some weeks earlier, Tiger and his team might have avoided everything which followed.

According to Lynn, her sister had told her of 'a strange car following her at night'. Around the same time, Lynn herself received a call from a reporter at the tabloid. But then nothing came of it – or so the Lawton family thought. And as far as Mindy knew, Tiger simply dropped out of her life.

Lynn said: 'You'd have thought with all his money, he would have paid her off and all the other girls but I guess he thought he had them in the palm of his hand. He treated my sister like a piece of meat.'

Tiger ended his affair with Mindy as soon as his management informed him of the tabloid sting. He just stopped calling. For her, there was no explanation, for him there was no story - and that was what mattered.

In the final analysis, it was perhaps too much for Tiger's management to hope that all his 'Mindys' would go away. And, crucially, cracks were beginning to appear in the one thing upon which everything - his reputation and his shield - depended: Tiger's game.

At the Open at Turnberry in the summer, Tiger missed the halfway cut for only the second time in a major championship in his glittering career.

At the time, the golfing circuit was awash with rumours that he had returned to his rented house and taken out his frustrations on its interior, trashing the place to the tune of £6,000 to £16,000, depending on who one believes, though nothing was ever confirmed.

In recent months, talk of arguments with Elin and a recent ultimatum simply would not be silenced.

Perhaps when the Mindy problem went away, Tiger thought himself immune from exposure. He had been so blatant and emerged without a dent to his image. Perhaps he believed that his image was so artfully constructed that the truth just couldn't punch through it.

Perhaps he didn't think at all - a luxury afforded him by his wealth, his management and his power, and one which from here on in, he'll have to do without.

Has Tiger fled the Florida wreckage?


Tiger Woods was still in hiding last night, amid speculation that he may be living separately from his wife Elin, writes Sharon Churcher.

Unidentified 'friends' of the golfer have said the couple are having marriage counselling. But Woods's continued refusal to speak to police about his bizarre car crash has led to speculation that he quietly has moved out of their mansion in a gated Orlando community.

One source close to the investigation said last night: 'I'd be shocked if Tiger is still in Orlando. The rumour on the PGA circuit is that there was no Wedgwood china left in the house after their blow-up. No one has seen Tiger.

'One story is that he left his lair after the wreck and took a private jet to New York. Maybe he's decided to party some more.'

Woods's attorney Mark Nejame declined to comment when asked if the golfer had left town.



Editor: jimbon

Source : The Daily Mail
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