Woman falsely claimed bushfire benefits

A Victorian woman has been charged with fraudulently claiming her father was killed in the state's deadly bushfires in order to receive compensation payments.

Go to ninemsn's full bushfire coverage here

Victoria Police allege the 31-year-old Sunshine woman made a $10,000 compassion and bereavement application to the Victoria Bushfire Appeal Fund which was denied after its checks found there was no relationship between her and the deceased.

She is also accused of claiming $5,000 from Centrelink's funeral fund which was approved.

Detectives from the Melbourne Criminal Investigation Unit charged her on Thursday night with attempting to obtain property by deception and obtaining property by deception.

She was bailed to appear at the Melbourne Magistrates Court on April 14.

20 Feb 2009

Theoretically the Law is the Law and applies to all equally, but we know better.

There is a different Law of US and THEM.

A matter where someone has committed fraud, against the government, they are charged.

Whereas someone in the stratosphere in society has committed fraud , NOTHING is done.

Texas billionaire accused of fraud found

Texas billionaire accused of fraud found

Texas billionaire Allen Stanford has been found in the US state of Virginia and served with civil legal papers from the Securities and Exchange Commission, the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) says.

FBI spokesman Richard Kolko said FBI agents, acting at the request of the SEC, served Stanford papers on Thursday in Fredericksburg, Virginia.

Stanford is not under arrest and is not in custody.

The SEC charged Stanford and three of his companies on Tuesday with committing an $US8 billion ($A12.52 billion) fraud that lured investors with promises of improbable and unsubstantiated high returns on certificates of deposit and other investments.

He has not been charged with any crime. (Obviously too many people are involved or has a 'good' Lawyer)

20 Feb 2009.

People that do Crimes that involve monies taken from others FRAUDULENTLY, DO NOT receive punishment as a result. This is the general rule for the 'in crowd',

as the Politicians, Law Makers and Business People are a close knit community that can be called the 'UNTOUCHABLES'. Realistically which EVER country you are in, the Law SUPPORTS these types of crimes.

Brotherhood For Sale

Throughout this 'credit crisis' even the likes of one of the world's most powerful and influential organisations is feeling the noose around the neck.

Even though the 'foot soldiers' of the brotherhood, have to let go of their assets, their brethren are still holding the purse strings.

In Australia, realistically like anywhere else, England, US, etc, there is a media blanket ban on talk of the influences of the 'brotherhood'. There is NO mention of the influence in politics, finance, and the Anglo-Masonic Judicial system.

NY governor proposes internet tax

(Character depicted looks like comic relief from 'Blazing Saddles')

New York Governor David Paterson has proposed a tax on internet downloads, a spokesman said Monday, in a move that has raised eyebrows because it could apply to everything from software to pornography.

The four per cent tax would apply to downloads of music, software, books, videos and other Internet content, a spokesman for Paterson said.

"It is a general proposal, not focused on the content, so it would apply to any download, regardless of the content," said Errol Cockfield.

The governor has floated the idea as a way of closing the state's $US15 billion ($A23 billion)budget deficit, but critics say the proposal would likely apply to the hugely lucrative Internet pornography industry and could even drive business away from the state.

"By taxing it you're legitimising it," New York Conservative Party Chairman Michael Long told the New York Daily News.

Around 20 US states have begun to apply a tax to downloads such as music on iTunes, and similar measures are being mulled in Mississippi, North Dakota and Wisconsin.

AFP 17 Feb 2009

A sign of the times of what may happen in Australia. Just another form of slavery. Big business chiefs in the background.

What we also have here is a disturbing trend that Governments run up deficits and have run out of ideas to tax people legitimately, so they make up RULES that ultimately the people pay for.

The guy looks like a muppet. i.e someone else is steering him.

Telstra chief's top-secret phone 'stolen'

A pickpocket has reportedly swiped Telstra boss Sol Trujillo's new mobile phone which is loaded with top-secret software.

The new software, built by Microsoft and not due for release until the end of the year, was on the phone given to Mr Trujillo at the World Mobile Congress in Barcelona, Spain, earlier this week.

Experts say Microsoft faces an industrial espionage threat if the software falls into the wrong hands, the Daily Telegraph reports.

The phone is believed to be either an HTC Touch Pro2 or the HTC Touch Diamond2, which both utilise the new Windows Mobile 6.5 operating system.

The software is so classified journalists at the World Mobile Congress were not allowed to touch the new HTC phones.

A Telstra spokesman confirmed the phone was given to Mr Trujillo but that a "senior executive" was in possession of the mobile during the time of its alleged theft.

It's believed Mr Trujillo was using the phone to test for bugs in the latest Windows Mobile operating system, unveiled by the Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer earlier this week.

"What if news of those bugs is released early before a final version goes on sale," espionage expert Les Goldsmith was quoted as saying.

The incident could affect Microsoft's shares, he said

ninemsn.com.au 19 Feb 2009

Solomon Trujillo has direct links to Bush, has told Obama how to run Telecoms in the US of A, and apparently :

He resigned as CEO of U S West Communications, Inc. just before the company became the subject of a federal criminal probe for overstating nearly a billion dollars in profits. [7] He was not charged by the justice department and has denied any knowledge of accounting irregularities.

Victoria fires: Google bushfire map not helped by Victorian government

THE Victorian government reportedly refused to provide information on the Victoria fires to Google so the internet giant could build a more detailed online map of the blazes.

Google's Australian director of engineering Alan Noble told a conference in Melbourne the state's Department of Sustainability and Environment refused to provide its internal data on the fires burning on public lands.

"It's ironic that I can download detailed NASA satellite imagery (of Australia) more readily than I can get satellite imagery from the Australian government," Mr Noble told the conference, according to technology news site ZDNet Australia.

The problem, Mr Noble said, was rules governing copyright on Crown data which place copyright over all government-produced information to the government and stop it being used without explicit consent.

Nonetheless, Google has created a significant online map providing information on fires burning on private lands via information from the Country Fire Authority.

The map is at http://mapvisage.appspot.com/fires/FireMap.html

news.com.au 16 Feb 2009

Renewed pressure on RBS over £1bn bonuses

There was renewed pressure today on Royal Bank of Scotland over its plans to pay out an estimated £1bn in bonuses as the Treasury select committee revealed 23,000 signatures had been collected against the payments.

John McFall, chairman of the committee, told the bankers giving evidence to the committee today that former deputy prime minster John Prescott had handed him the petition against the RBS bonuses.

Prescott, MP for Hull East, organised a Facebook protest over the possible payments from RBS, which is 70% owned by the taxpayer. He stepped up pressure on bosses at the ailing institution at the weekend saying any bonus payments at the bank would be "morally and economically outrageous". His Facebook campaign attempts to ban what he dubbed "raw capitalism".

Stephen Hester, who replaced Sir Fred Goodwin as chief executive of RBS, was asked by the committee this afternoon whether the government should have required the bank to stop bonus payments when it injected £20bn of taxpayer funds into the bank.

Hester said: "This is very difficult territory and it is right that it is a subject of public debate."

He said that any bonuses that would be paid would have to be agreed with UK Financial Investments, the body set up to manage the £37bn of taxpayer funds in the bailed out banks. "We are trying to make sure UKFI are on board," Hester said.

But he admitted that salaries were too high: "I do think banking pay is way too high and I intend to lead that process".

He said he had to decide "how much worse [we can treat our staff] relative to other banks in the world".

He added: "I do not think there should be guaranteed bonuses. I empathise 100% with the public mood and it would give me no joy whatsoever to pay any bonuses to anyone and if that was the responsible thing to do I would recommend that in an heartbeat."

John Varley, chief executive of Barclays, said he "entirely understands" the public's anger towards the banking sector and admitted that pay structures had contributed to that. He said Barclays was reviewing its pay policies and would publish an update with its annual report, likely in the spring.

"It's very clear to me that some aspects of it, not all, some aspects of it in the past have not served either the industry or society well," said Varley.

HSBC is in the process of a "critical review" of payment levels, its head of UK banking Paul Thurston told the committee. It was looking towards no cash payments of bonuses and more deferral and would publish new pay plans with its annual figures due next month.

guardian.co.uk 11 Feb 2009

1.3 million watched Ladette to Lady

The Nine Network has scored a hit with the Australian version of British TV show Ladette To Lady, with more than 1.3 million Australians tuning into show's premiere.

The show easily smashed its competition, the US series Dexter on Network Ten and Brothers and Sisters on the Seven Network on Monday night.

The makeover type show follows eight young women as they undergo a transformation at the Eggleston Hall finishing school in England, under the tutelage of principal Gillian Harbord and cooking teacher Rosemary Shrager.

Monday night's episode featured eight unruly Australian girls, swearing, drinking, and some even pulling down their pants and pressing their bottoms against a bus window.

Nine also had big wins with Underbelly, which proved it had lost none of its appeal following its premiere a week earlier.

More than 2.4 million Australians tuned into the crime drama to make it the most watched program of the night.

The Nine Network, which now looks to have Monday night sewn up, also drew in big numbers with its factual reality series Customs and the US sitcom Two And A Half Men.

Nine smashed its competition with a 34.2 per cent audience share, ahead of Seven (24.9), Ten (17.6) and the ABC (16.5).

Network Ten's best results came thanks to So You Think You Can Dance Australia and its news, while Seven's most watched shows were its 6pm news and current affairs program Today Tonight.

It comes after Nine won the first official week of the ratings battle last week.

ninemsn 17 Feb 2009

Google phone (HTC Dream)

Google has already cornered the market when it comes to the internet... and now it’s hoping to do the same with mobile phones.

The Google phone has just hit the shelves and TODAY’s Technology Editor Charlie Brown gives his expert opinion on what has been hailed the first serious rival to the Apple iPhone.

The Google Phone, dubbed "The Dream" was launched in Australia yesterday through Optus. The Dream, which is made by Taiwanese electronics company HTC, is the first Smartphone in the world to use Android, which is an open-source computer-style operating system built by Google and based on the Linux system.

The Dream is a quad-band touch-screen GSM 3G phone, fitted with WiFi, Bluetooth and GPS capabilities. It also has a three-megapixel camera. Bundled features include access to YouTube, Google Maps, an MP3 player, instant messaging and email.

The important thing to note is this - Google makes the operating system, the phone company (HTC) makes the phone and the phone network (Optus) provides the coverage. This is different to the iPhone, in which case, Apple make both the operating system and the phone.

What’s new and improved:

• The Dream has a built in keyboard, which is better than typing onto a screen if you tend to send emails frequently.
• Google Android is open source – this means the operating system can be re-programmed and changed.
• All the Google applications you use every day have been condensed into a device that fits in your palm. Search, YouTube, maps and loads more, are built into the operating environment on The Dream.
• The Dream has an in-built digital compass, with an expandable memory and removable battery.

How The Dream compares to the iPhone:

• Like the iPhone, the HTC Dream is essentially a handheld computer that can also make phone calls, seen as primarily a consumer device and not a competitor for the BlackBerry in the corporate market.
• Some reviewers have gushed about the Android phone, others criticise its angular form and say it needs more work before it matches the iPhone.
• There are also rumours that a new, more capable iPhone will arrive about mid-year, said to have a body carved from a single block of aluminium, GPS navigation, 32GB of on-board storage, a removable battery and, possibly, a lower sale price.
• For Google and Apple, as well as mobile phone network operators, the core of the Smartphone market is not voice calls but software applications.

What the iPhone does better:

• The iPhone is still better for managing your music and your movies.
• i Tunes is still the best application for this and it's connectivity with iPhone leads the way for entertainment.
• The iPhone's interface is better. The ability to pinch to zoom and the sheer ease of navigation is still more impressive.

The Dream is being sold exclusively in Australia by Optus, with plans starting at $59 a month for 24 months, plus a surcharge of $15 to pay for the phone. Telstra says it has not yet decided whether to include the HTC Dream in its range.

today.ninemsn.com.au

Where Diet Yogurt Won't Help

Fake friends groomed girl for sex: court

A man who groomed a 15-year-old American girl for sex adopted fictitious internet identities to influence and threaten her, a court has heard.

Troy Shannon Belleth, 24, first met the victim in a chatroom forum about Japanese cartoons in October 2005 when the girl was aged 13.

Belleth told the County Court on Monday he "realised she had problems" and that the relationship did not become sexual in nature until late 2006.

Prosecutor Krista Breckweg said Belleth's conduct was predatory, introducing the victim to fictitious female profiles on social networking sites Facebook and MySpace, describing them as his friends.

Ms Breckweg told the pre-sentence hearing a profile known as Katherine was used by Belleth to invite the victim to send him sexually explicit photos of herself.

She said he also used the profile to encourage the victim to commit suicide with him in 2008, which she refused to do.

"Katherine" was also used to threaten to kill the victim if she used evidence against him, following his arrest by Victorian police in January 2008 for grooming and child pornography offences, Ms Breckweg said.

"These offences are difficult to detect as offenders can hide behind the anonymity of the internet," she said.

Belleth - who pleaded guilty to both grooming a child for sex on the internet and possession of child pornography - has been in custody since March 2008.

Barrister Neil Clelland said while his client had formed an inappropriate relationship with the victim, the nature of the relationship was not one-dimensional.

"This is not necessarily a calculated creation by him (Belleth) of characters to perform evil manipulative tasks," he told the court.

The construction of fictitious people on the internet was related to Belleth's low self-esteem and social isolation, Mr Clelland said.

Belleth had supplied the victim who lived in Georgia, US, with his full name, phone number and address as he had "nothing to hide".

He said the age difference of seven years had initially troubled him but that the victim had become more tenacious and sexually explicit as the online relationship developed.

The fictitious internet profiles had formed part of his own private world, Belleth told the court.

"A lot of it was escapism," he said.

"A lot of it was to do with nurturing my insecurity.

"When there's no foreseeable consequences you tend to want to see how far it will go."

The hearing before Judge Mark Taft continues.

ninemsn 17 Feb 2009

This article has been chosen not so much for its content BUT rather for what is being said :

"....can hide behind the anonymity of the internet"

This statement is F A L S E.

This deliberate misinformation is done so that people believe they can commit crimes.

If he was so anonymous as claimed he would not have been caught.

Your P.C.'s IP address is unique and logged with the Service Provider which is available to the authorities upon request.

Other factors which are accessible are :

Windows Serial Number

Computer Name

Hard Drive Serial Number

Processor ID

Network Interface Card Address

There is NO such thing as anonymity on the internet.

Cops 'took tens of thousands in bribes'

Facing financial hardship, a Sydney police detective bought into a corruption scheme offered by a colleague which netted the pair tens of thousands of dollars, a commission has heard.

The NSW Police Integrity Commission (PIC) launched a public hearing on Monday into the alleged corrupt conduct of two Liverpool-based detectives, Senior Constable Nasser Battal and a second man codenamed "LP1".

Giving evidence before Commissioner John Pritchard, LP1 said Battal approached him in early 2008 in the car park of Liverpool City Council, suggesting a scheme which would mean approaching local tobacconists who were trying to sell illegal products.

LP1 said he agreed to the scheme after considering his "very bad" financial situation.

"I couldn't live on what I was actually earning," he told the hearing.

The inquiry would investigate a number of incidents which allegedly occurred in 2008, counsel assisting the commission David Staehli SC said.

In the first matter, LP1 recalled going to a tobacconist at Merrylands with Battal in a police vehicle, while the pair were on duty.

Dressed in plain clothes but carrying a firearm, the detectives found illegal, loose tobacco at the shop which they seized, packing it into a police car, LP1 said.

"Part of Nasser's plan was to explain that we would tell them that the tax department would be informed that they had been selling illegal tobacco without (paying) tax and Customs and other people might be interested as well as the business falsifying its operations," LP1 told the hearing.

"After it was explained to the shop owner that all these other authorities may be interested ... the shop owner then knew that it was heading towards a monetary value being paid towards us in order for these other authorities ... to be taken away."

The pair returned to the business the next day and were paid $10,000 cash in $50 notes, and also sold the seized tobacco, for which LP1 said he was later paid $1,000.

Similar incidents followed at businesses in surrounding suburbs, with the pair paid up to $40,000 cash for not putting "investigations on the police computer".

A nervous LP1 said he could not remember the exact amounts paid but that he had been "haunted" by the process, knowing he was being unethical.

"I was still haunted ... one side of me said it was not okay to take the money and the other side said it was okay," he said.

Liverpool police station and LP1's home were raided by the PIC on January 28.

The detective, who joined the NSW Police Force in 2001 and remains a serving officer, continues to give evidence at the commission.

ninemsn 16 Feb 2009

Nothing new here, it just a small portion of stories that make it out, i.e. into the Court Justice system.

Victoria Police, specifically in Werribee, have been involved in a stolen car racket which has not been made public

Members from Victoria Police have taken large amounts of cash from drug dealers, (AUD$30,000) at one time in order not to process the confiscated drugs, later selling them.

Sister of dad, 13, had baby at same age

The sister of the British boy who has become a dad at 13 had a baby when she was the same age, according to reports.

Alfie Patten and his 15-year-old girlfriend Chantelle Stedman became parents to Maisie Roxanne this week, sparking debate in Britain over social decline.

But Alfie is not the first in his family to become a parent while still a child. His older sister Jade, now 19, also had a baby at the age of 13, the Daily Mail has reported.

Alfie lives with his mother in Sussex, east of London.

His father is separated from his wife but has nine children and was reportedly shocked when he found out his son was going to become a dad.

"He hasn't got a clue of what the baby means and can't explain how he feels," he was quoted as saying.

"When you mention money his eyes look away… all he knows is that mum and dad will help."

The baby was reportedly conceived when Alfie had sex for the first time, according to his father.

"He said it was the first time he'd had sex, that he didn't know what he was doing," he said.

But now Alfie regularly stays with the mother of the child, Chantelle Stedman, who lives with her benefit-dependent parents.

Chantelle's mother Penny said it was "lovely to have the baby" but admitted it was a big financial responsibility with five other children.

"But we are a family and will pull together and get through. She's my daughter," she said.

Meanwhile, rumours are circulating that Alfie is not the father of Chantelle's child, with neighbours claiming she "never has the same boyfriend for long".

"She knows lots of boys… we all think [Alfie] should have a DNA test," one was quoted as saying.

ninemsn 14 Feb 2009

The degradation of society is one of the highest priority agendas of ANY government. Laws are implemented that support / favour the break up of the family unit, therefore opening up avenues to for better or for worse called 'slavery'. This is done both economically and morally.

Education for one is kept out of general reach of the masses, and is kept within the ruling elite. The masses are encouraged to work in low class labour jobs, and sports is a priority in school. This is supported by idolising sports 'heros' as COOL, where in the grand scheme of things the people are LOSERS.