Lennon's bloodied glasses used in gun debate

The bloodstained glasses of John Lennon, tweeted by Yoko Ono on what would have been their 44th anniversary. (Pic: Twitter @yokoono)

The bloodstained glasses of John Lennon, tweeted by Yoko Ono on what would have been their 44th anniversary. (Pic: Twitter @yokoono)

YOKO Ono has never been one to shy away from controversy.

On what would have been her 44th wedding anniversary to John Lennon, the peace activist tweeted a picture of the Beatles' blood-stained glasses and described America as a "war zone".

Ono posted the image in a number of tweets yesterday, including a message that more than one million people have been killed by guns in the USA since Lennon was shot and killed by Mark Chapman on December 8, 1980.

This comes just a day after US legislators dropped their efforts to include a ban on assault weapons in the US Senate's gun control bill, conceding the ban did not have enough votes.

Meanwhile, Colorado's Governor John Hickenlooper fought back tears at a dedication to the State's prison chief, who was shot in the chest at point blank range in the latest US-shooting yesterday.

The State was also home to the Aurora theatre massacre, where 12 people were killed in the infamous Batman shootings.

This is not the first we've seen of Lennon's bloodstained glasses.

It was the cover art for her 1981 album, Season of Glass, released less than six-months after Lennon's murder.

Source: Supplied

Lennon was shot by Chapman near Central Park in New York City outside the entrance of The Dakota Building in December, 1980.

The view in the background of the image is that of Central Park.

This photo, provided by Swann Auction Galleries, shows John Lennon and Yoko Ono in December 1980 on the last day of Lennon's life. An original copy of the photograph, taken by Annie Liebovitz for Rolling Stone magazine, was auctioned on Oct 2010 in New York for $13,000. (AP Photo/Swann Auction Galleries, Annie Liebovitz) Source: Supplied

Lennon and Ono were married in Gibraltar on March 20, 1969.

They spent their honeymoon in Amsterdam campaigning for peace with a week-long bed-in during the Vietnam War.

At the time of publishing, all of Ono's tweets combined had garnered more than 6500 retweets.

Continue the conversation via @newscomauHQ | @the_mattyoung | @yokoono

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Meteor algae 'fossils' spark debate

An electron microscope view of a collection of "fossils" found in what is believed to be a fragment from a meteor that exploded over Sri Lanka. Picture: University of Cardiff Source: Supplied

CONTROVERSY is raging over whether fossilised algae has been found inside the remains of a meteor which exploded over Sri Lanka last year.

A Cardiff University team of astrobiologists examined specimens forwarded to them by the Sri Lankan Medical Research Institute when "curious features" appeared under the microscope.

Some 628 fragments were recovered from rice fields after the fireball exploded in the sky on December 29.

The Cardiff researchers have published a report in the Journal of Cosmology that the fused rocks appear to contain fossilised "biological structures" buried within three of them.

Jamie Wallis of Cardiff University said the density of the rock and its composition indicates it may have been the remains of a comet.

Electron microscope images reveal microfossils of about 100 micrometres across. Researchers say they appear similar to an almost extinct class of marine algae.

A map published in the Journal of Cosmology showing where a fragment from a meteor believed to contain fossilised algae was recovered. Picture: University of Cardiff

Another image shows what researchers say are unusually long and thin fossilised flagella (a set of cells forming a whip-like shape to propel tiny organisms). Their size and shape indicate a weightless, low pressure environment, the researchers say.

The claims have generated controversy among the scientific community. Previous similar "fossilised" structures found in meteorites have been dismissed as either later contamination or simple crystalline structures.

This supposedly fossilised structure found in a meteor. Picture: University of Cardiff

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Asylum seeker debate gets personal

Prime Minister Julia Gillard was 'dodgy', Opposition Leader Tony Abbott 'not a decent man', Parliament was told. Source: Herald Sun

TENSIONS over two immigration policies exploded today with Prime Minister Julia Gillard and Opposition Leader Tony Abbott taking personal swipes at each other.

The Prime Minister said Mr Abbott had allowed a shadow minister to "stoke fears day after day" on asylum seekers, while Mr Abbott said Ms Gillard supported people who came here on welfare and opposed those who came to "contribute from day one".

The exchange, in separate interviews, made clear immigration would be a central election issue - although both sides struggled to defend their positions and both faced accusations they were taking positions for electoral advantage.

Ms Gillard again declined to detail instances of rorting of the 457 visas system which allows employers to bring in skilled foreign workers for short-term jobs when no local workers were available.

The Prime Minister wants a reduction in the 457 intake because she says it is taking away the jobs of Australians. She insisted "people have raised examples'" but refused calls from industry for her to identify abuses of the system.

Innes Willox, CEO of the Australian Industry Group, today said "there has been a lot of talk of abuse of the visa system" but it would be wrong to suggest the increased popularity of the visas meant employers were taking a soft option.

"Businesses have to pay a big premium for skilled workers from overseas and will always put local workers first when looking to fill skilled positions," Mr Willox told news.com.au.

"But they still can't get the skills they need in the right places.

"The increase in 457 visas is coming off a low base and clearly the numbers being approved show that there is a genuine need in the economy for more skilled workers."

Meanwhile, Mr Abbott declined to directly support a proposal from his immigration spokesman Scott Morrison for neighbourhoods to be notified when asylum seekers move in.

Mr Morrison’s measures, which would include "behavior protocols", have not been put to shadow cabinet and senior Liberals are having trouble justifying them with signs they will be opposed by some frontbench MPs.

The Prime Minister attacked the proposals and Mr Abbott.

"This is the man who in the run-up to the 2010 campaign and every day since has been out in the community, supported by his team, trying to raise fear, the man who's used expressions like 'peaceful invasion', the man who's let his shadow minister for immigration stoke fears day after day," she said.

"That's the the cynical approach that the Leader of the Opposition has taken to these issues."

In reply Mr Abbott defended the 457 visa system.

"The Government is tolerating people coming to this country and going on welfare and demonising people coming to this country and making a contribution from day one. That is the difference," he said.

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