Fast-food fury hits over another Mac attack

Residents in Melbourne's eastern suburbs are angry after a council decision to block fast-food giant McDonald's from moving into the neighbourhood was overturned by the state's planning tribunal.

Locals in Camberwell and Hartwell say the new restaurant, to be built on the site of a former service station and to include a car park and a service station, is inappropriate for the area. The site, on the corner of Toorak and Highfield roads, backs onto units.

Despite locals objecting to the development, the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal deemed that the new complex would enhance the streetscape.

Catriona McCraw, a local resident who was party to the proceeding, said the site in question was inappropriate for a McDonald's or any fast-food outlet because of how close it is to the nearby Hartwell Primary School.

“Whatever type of fast-food outlet it is, most fast-food outlets don't have the types of healthy foods that we're trying to encourage our children to usually eat,” she said.

McDonald's has had a rocky reception in some Melbourne communities over the past year.

In Seaford and Tecoma, residents have rallied to keep McDonald's out of their communities with local councils rejecting advances from McDonald's.

In Tecoma, Yarra Ranges Council rejected a McDonald's restaurant, but lost on appeal.

In Seaford, McDonald's decided not to appeal Frankston Council's rejection of a Nepean Highway site but McDonald's are now looking at other locations nearby.

And, in Malvern East, a bid to have the existing restaurant trade around the clock was rejected because it could interfere with neighbours' sleep.

As in other cases, Ms McCraw said the Toorak and Highfield roads location was not the right site for a fast food outlet. She is concerned about flow-on effects in the area.

"[The] 24-hour aspect is a major concern and certainly one we were surprised that the chairman approved," she said.

"He has not given any consideration, we believe, to the large number of community residents ... who presented their objections. We feel we have been let down and ignored."

Ms McCraw believes the development is inappropriate for the area. She said there was a potential for the "wonderful parks just up Highfield Road" to attract loiterers.

Ms McCraw said that the intersection of Highfield and Toorak roads was extremely busy and dangerous, which posed safety issues for children and young pedestrians.

She said she hoped that the Boroondara Council, which initially rejected the development, will appeal VCAT's decision to the Supreme Court. She has written to federal member for Kooyong, Josh Frydenberg, who has referred her letter to Planning Minister Matthew Guy.

In an outcome that is likely to further disappoint locals, Boroondara’s City Planning Director John Luppino said the decision could not be taken to the Supreme Court.“VCAT decisions are generally final,’’ he said.

‘‘An appeal can only be lodged to the Supreme Court on the basis that the tribunal erred in a point of law … While council is disappointed with VCAT’s decision, in this case there were no appealable points of law in the decision.”

theage.com.au 12 Apr 2013

Corporations literally run the Australian government, and the people within government.

There are various ties to heads of government and their business colleagues, the strongest one being that of  the Anglo-Masonic brotherhood.

Corporations function with government personnel in unison to the detriment of the general population.

McDonald's is widely accepted as 'junk food' i.e. NOT healthy for consumption, and also the staple food for the lower class of society.

McDonald's should be shut down under Occupational Health and Safety laws, as the products it sells are carcinogenic.

Herald Sun wins case on free speech

THE Herald Sun has won a ground-breaking political secrecy case against the State Government that could have implications for the public's right to know government information.

In a landmark case, the Court of Appeal upheld a VCAT decision that might now enable the Herald Sun and other media organisations access to documents the Government had refused to release under Freedom of Information laws.

The ruling could allow access to a wide range of documents under the control of government advisers that had previously been out of reach of FOI laws.

The unanimous finding by Justices Pamela Tate, Simon Whelan and Stephen Kaye ruled that a diary held by a former chief of staff to the premier was an official document that fell within the scope of FOI laws.
The ruling should make it easier for journalists, members of the public, academics and opposition MPs to scrutinise information the Government has kept secret.

Herald Sun editor Damon Johnston welcomed the ruling, saying the public would benefit from increased scrutiny of government business.

"For too long, governments of all persuasions have sought to limit public access to government information and have behaved in ways that are counter to the spirit of Freedom of Information laws," he said.

"This ruling pushes the boundaries back out and shows that the courts take the public's right to know seriously, as the Government should."

The Herald Sun had sought access under FOI laws to the diary of Michael Kapel, formerly chief of staff to Ted Baillieu.

The legal dispute has been running since 2011 - during which time all major players have departed, including Mr Baillieu, who resigned after losing the support of his party due to the secret tapes affair revealed by the Herald Sun last month.

The Herald Sun had sought access to Mr Kapel's diary to see who he was meeting, after revelations he held a secret meeting with former deputy police commissioner Sir Ken Jones at the height of the police leadership crisis, which ultimately led to the secret tapes affair and the downfall of Mr Baillieu.

Our original FOI request was rejected by the former premier's FOI adviser, Don Coulson.

He was sacked last month, another victim of the secret tapes affair.

Mr Coulson refused access to the diary on the basis that it was not "an official document of a minister".

But the decision ruled that most documents held by advisers were subject to FOI laws if the minister could call upon them at any time.

As a result of the decision, the Office of the Premier will now have to process the Herald Sun's original request.

heraldsun.com.au 12 Apr 2013

A (global) policy is for the entire population to be transparent, whereas the corporations that rule over the masses are to contain information, policies, procedures and political information under lock and key.

Since fraud and corruption in government hands costs the Australian general population literally billions annually, the government will go to great lengths to protect the information that contains the fraudulent deals.

Anyone exposing information or hidden policies will be met (at a later date) with consequences.

ALL home airconditioners sold in Australia would be designed to be remotely switched on and off by power companies during extreme heat, under a plan to reduce electricity bills. 
 
Manufacturers of airconditioners, water heaters, pool pumps and electric car chargers would be required to offer "smart appliances" that were capable of being "cycled" on and off during the peak demand times - with customer permission.

This would add an estimated $10 to appliance prices, but potentially cut electricity bills for all households by $60-$120 a year, by reducing pressure on the power grid.

The forecast savings are mainly based on up to half of airconditioned households eventually taking part.

Airconditioner trials in some states had resulted in "only limited discomfort". Most users didn't notice.

Maintaining reliable supply for "peak demand events" - which occur for less than 40 hours a year - makes up a quarter of consumers' electricity bills.

An Equipment Energy Efficiency Committee consultation paper proposes that appliances sold after June next year have mandatory "interfaces" that could be activated to communicate with the electricity network.

The federal-state government advisory body says this would encourage power providers and consumers to curb peak demand through "direct load control".

"Under the direct load control approach, consumers have a choice to allow certain household appliances to be remotely controlled by their electricity provider, which will reduce the demands placed on network capacity at peak times," it notes.

"The main benefit ... is the reduced need for investment in costly electricity network infrastructure."

The committee will decide whether to recommend new appliance regulations after receiving submissions.

Australian Energy Market Commission and Senate inquiry reports late last year identified the potential for lower costs by allowing remote control of appliances.

The managing director of the Energy Supply Association of Australia, Andrew Dillon, supported the push.
The Consumer Action Law Centre's Janine Rayner said it was important to be sure that the benefits stacked up, and that customers were fully informed.

heraldsun.com.au 12 Apr 2013

The failure of utility companies to expand their services in conjunction with population  growth, means the general populous MUST suffer.

Utility companies do not expand on infrastructure as this takes profits away from the CEO's, whereas the government did via taxpayer funds.

In line with the order of the new world policies, all previously government utilities are now in private hands, where the monies go into the coffers of government's crony (business) mates, and ultimately to one company.

The first phase to control the population was into install 'smart meters' for electricity, and make the selling point that it is beneficial to the masses, which it worked, as the unwary 'sheeple' were lulled into a slumber.

The next phase is to introduce 'smart appliances' which can  be monitored and controlled from the service provider's end.

A possible scenario could be that 'smart globes' will be installed that could be monitored from the service providers end. 

In conjunction with Google's mapping and location services, utility companies could then turn off lights in a lounge room, as they will see that one is in the toilet and will decide that lights in the lounge are not necessary.

At the end of the day it's all about profits for the utility company, and the masses are 'blamed' for using their appliances.

The government installs laws that totally favour the corporate entities.

This current electricity policy is dose not differ from the politics of Nazi occupied Germany.

Telstra's pay reduction insults sacked workers

TELSTRA has given sacked workers a $10,000 pay cut in their final months on the job, a union says. 
 
The communications giant announced 650 jobs would go in August, with the work to be sent to the Philippines.

But in an extra insult to workers about to lose their jobs, they were downgraded by two pay bands.
The Burwood complaints centre closes for the last time tomorrow, with at least 81 jobs gone. But workers say they won't be able to get a similar job because their final pay grade did not reflect the skills on their resume.

Telstra disputed the pay claim, saying the new wages offered a higher base pay but no incentives.

The Communications Workers Union is planning to take Telstra to the Magistrate's Court to fight for back pay, as well as higher redundancy pay.

"It's a fairly significant amount of money. We think the way they have behaved is atrocious," CWU national president Len Cooper said.

"This is a cost-cutting exercise but what they have done at the same time is announced the downgrading from a Band 7 to a Band 5."

The technical staff, who handle complaints about customers' phone and internet connections, will also get a redundancy payout based on the revised wages.

Telstra made the pay cut when the agreements of workers who were on the controversial AWA contracts expired last year.

They were offered work at a Band 5 level, paying $69,000, instead of a Band 7, which pays $79,000 a year when incentives are added.

A fired worker told the Herald Sun the pay cut was "dodgy" and would hurt their chances of finding a new job.

"Now when I'm applying for a job, people say this is too technical for you it's a band 7, you were only on a band 5," he said. "It's not fair, a lot of us will be unable to swap jobs."

Telstra spokesman Scott Whiffin said workers were given a higher base pay under the new pay scheme.
"Some employees chose at their own volition to move from an AWA to the Telstra Enterprise Agreement, which has a higher base pay than the AWA but no incentive structure," he said.

Telstra announced a $3.4 billion profit last year.

adelaidenow.com.au 10 Apr 2013

Telstra regularly sacks people from various departments without it being reported in the corporate media.

Once Telstra sacks the 'Aussie' workers, it then hires cheaper overseas labour at two to three times that number of local workers sacked.

Telstra is also responsible for bill fraud on a grad scale, that has not yet been brought out by the corporate media.

See article:

Telstra phone bill fraud - government supported

http://corpau.blogspot.com.au/2010/10/telstra-phone-bill-fraud-government.html
 
A class action lawsuit should be initiated against Telstra. 

Lithuania nabs tax cheats using Google Street View

VILNIUS (AFP) - Lithuanian tax officials said Wednesday they tracked down at least 100 suspected tax cheats by checking out their property using Google's Street View mapping service.

The Baltic state's tax authorities will now probe individuals whose buildings appeared to be worth considerably more than the declared value to determine if they sought to evade taxes, tax service spokesman Darius Buta told AFP.

Buta said they used the popular online application, which lets users view panoramic street scenes on Google Maps, to confirm real estate information on tax declarations.

Google Street View came online in Lithuania in January, after authorities overcame their initial reluctance stemming from security and privacy concerns

au.news.yahoo.com 11 Apr 2013

Authorities absolutely adore companies like Google that collate and store information, as these companies liaise with the authorities, and are at their beckoning call.

Some information may indicate that companies of this calibre are set up with government personnel.

New laws are put in place that do not allow companies like Google to be prosecuted by the masses for information abuse, invasion of privacy or even the selling of one's private data.

New information indicates that Google will mapping inside public places, naturally for the benefit of the consumer, but also having access to your exact whereabouts at any time.

The sleepy 'sheeple' still do absolutely nothing with regards to this kind of privacy invasion.

Student takes on Tiger Airways, and wins

HELL hath no fury like an Australian university student scorned by a budget airline. 
 
Nathaniel Martin took to Facebook to vent his frustrations after Tiger Airways bumped him from his flight from Hobart to Melbourne on Sunday, telling him it had been overbooked. Little did he expect his Facebook post to attract over 50,000 likes and grab the airline's attention.

"I went to board the plane and was informed that you had oversold my flight, and that I would have to be 'offloaded' and could not board the plane," Mr Martin's Facebook post to the airline read.

"The reason given was that 'I was the last to check in', even though I had booked the ticket a month in advance and was 15 minutes early to check in.

"The federal police officer of 20 years experience helping my family said it was the 'worst case of customer service he had ever seen' and the flight attendant told me to 'get them for every cent'."

Read the full post here.

With an 8am class in Melbourne the next morning, Mr Martin was forced to pay another $296 to get on a Jetstar flight later that night, leaving him nearly $500 out of pocket in total. For a university student earning $9000 a year, it was a substantial financial blow.

Luckily his parents came back to the airport and chipped in half of the fare.

"I am now two hours late, exhausted, $500 out of pocket and with no cash to get home from the airport for ABSOLUTELY NOTHING caused by YOUR INCOMPETENCE.

"Not only do I want a full refund of the $495.45, a full apology to me and my family for the unbelievable inconvenience you have caused and an assurance that you will never deliberately oversell a flight again. I am never flying with your airline ever again and will tell every living soul what you have done to me tonight."

The next day, after his Facebook post attracted 50,000 likes, he received a call from Tiger Airways who agreed to refund him the full fare and apologised.

After they had reached the agreement, Mr Martin deleted his original Facebook post.

"Tiger Airways have agreed to refund me the full fare of what happened last night including the other flight I had to pay for to get to Melbourne," he said in a Facebook post to Tiger Airways.

"They have been very good to me in responding to this quickly and rectifying their error."
Tiger Airways told news.com.au Mr Martin’s situation was a rare one.

"Overbooking of flights is common practice in the air travel industry here in Australia and world over – it’s a practice put in place by airlines (and other travel and tourism industries) to compensate for an average no show rate," a Tiger Airways spokesperson said.

"While issues in relation to this are extremely rare, we are very sorry to have inconvenienced one of our passengers recently. On review of the situation, we dealt directly with the passenger and resolved his specific situation.

"This is an isolated situation however Tiger does have policies and provisions in place to reaccommodate anyone who is affected by overbooking on the very rare occasion that it  occurs, including free of charge transfer to next available flight."

 

news.com.au 9 Apr 2013

Airlines, especially the budget ones are notorious for double bookings.

Once you confront them, they can even go to lengths silencing you by even threats of calling in the federal police.

 

Since these occurrences now occur  when the masses have a say, and can publish information that can be read across the globe instantly, the airline only act in order to give the perception of good Public Relations.

The so called "This is an isolated situation..." is a blatant lie by Tiger.

WE ARE STAR PEOPLE: Scientific proof we were created by aliens

DON'T be alarmed, but you have alien DNA in your genetic code. Science says so. 
 
Scientists from Kazakhstan believe that human DNA was encoded with an extraterrestrial signal by an ancient alien civilisation, Discovery.com reports.

They call it "biological SETI" and the researchers claim that the mathematical code in human DNA cannot be explained by evolution.

So, this is alarming... The Engineer could be our creator. Even more disturbing, sci-fi film Prometheus could be accurate.

In a nutshell, we're living, breathing vessels for some kind of alien message which is more easily used to detect extra terrestrial life than via radio transmission.

"Once fixed, the code might stay unchanged over cosmological timescales; in fact, it is the most durable construct known," the researchers wrote in scientific journal, Icarus. "Therefore it represents an exceptionally reliable storage for an intelligent signature.

"Once the genome is appropriately rewritten the new code with a signature will stay frozen in the cell and its progeny, which might then be delivered through space and time."

The scientists also claim that human DNA is ordered so precisely that it reveals an "ensemble of arithmetical and ideographical patterns of symbolic language".

Their research has led the scientists to conclude that we were invented "outside the solar system, already several billion years ago".

The thesis supports the hypothesis that Earth is the result of interstellar life forms distributed by meteors and comets.

So if we are just vessels for alien communication, exactly what kind of secret message are we carrying in our DNA?

And if we were the creation of aliens, who created them?

news.com.au 10 Apr 2013

Charged Vic bouncers claim self defence

Three Crown Casino bouncers say they were acting in self-defence when they threw a patron to the ground, allegedly breaking his nose and elbow, a Victorian jury has heard.

Quoc Hai Tran, 34, Jacques Tony Fucile, 30, and Nicholas Vladamir Levchenko, 26, are standing trial in the Victorian Supreme Court over their restraint of two patrons at the Melbourne casino.

They are facing assault-related charges alleged to have occurred when they restrained Olivia Ferguson and Matthew Anderson on July 3, 2011.

In his opening address on Wednesday, Crown Prosecutor Andrew Tinney SC said the couple had been drinking at the casino with their friend Anthony Dunning when they realised he was being escorted from the building for being intoxicated.

Mr Tinney said the couple began following Mr Dunning out when Ms Ferguson turned around and slapped Tran in the face, apparently in response to a comment he made.

She was then slammed to the ground by Tran and restrained in a painful 'shut-down' hold in which her wrists were bent back towards her body, Mr Tinney said.

He said Tran's reaction was out of proportion to Ms Ferguson's 'powder puff blow' and was driven by anger and aggression.

When Mr Anderson turned to see his partner restrained by two men, he took a step in her direction before being slammed down by Levchenko and Fucile, said Mr Tinney.

Mr Tinney said Mr Anderson's face was repeatedly slammed into the floor until his nose bled while being told his partner was a 'slut'.

'This man has done nothing at all,' Mr Tinney said.

'At no point did Mr Anderson resist, or fight back, or struggle in any way whatsoever.'

Mr Tinney said the couple were then ejected from opposite ends of the casino, with Ms Ferguson sent out of a non-public exit, alone, at 11pm.

He said the most important evidence in the case would be CCTV footage which captured the incident - part of which was played to the jury.

Lachlan Carter, for Tran, said it was initially Ms Ferguson who was to be charged for allegedly assaulting his client.

He said Tran, a man of good character, acted in self-defence and disputed that strong restraint was applied to Ms Ferguson.

Ian Hill QC, for Levchenko, said his client was dealing with a threatening situation in a public place.

He said Levchenko's actions were justified on the basis of self-defence and there would be dispute about the extent of Mr Anderson's injuries.

Mr Hill told the jury Mr Dunning suffered a cardiac arrest that night and later died.

He said three Crown bouncers were charged over his death but were acquitted.
The hearing continues before Justice Lex Lasry.

skynews.com.au 10 Apr 2013

The unshakable Australian gambling institution that takes $5 billion annually from Victorians contributing valuable tax dollars to government is virtually above any laws.

The thugs that operate within are also supported by the Anglo-Masonic legal system.

Illegal drug deals as well as high priced hookers are the norm at the casino, with approval from authorities and corrupt police.

Now you can kill patrons and get away with it?

Drunk teen who crashed a car, killing his mate, continued to steal vehicles after the incident

A DRUNK 14-year-old hoon who killed his mate while joyriding in a stolen vehicle continued to steal cars and drive without a licence after the crash. 
 
The teen – who cannot be named – was jailed for at least 3 years today for the 2011 collision that killed a 16-year-old boy and seriously injured a 15-year-old girl.

The girl, who spent 11 days in intensive care for spinal injuries, told the court she feared she would be blamed for the death of the 16 year-old because he had tried to persuade her to get out of the car, before getting in after she refused.

County Court Judge Frances Millane said the driver, now 16, was probably mildly intellectually disabled due to brain injury he suffered in the crash.

The fatal collision occurred in October 2011 when the drunk teen drove a stolen Toyota Land Cruiser filled with six other teenagers from an East Brighton party in the early hours of the morning.

He was driving fast and erratically in a residential 60 km/h zone when the car fishtailed, crossing over the wrong side of the road and rolled, ejecting the two unrestrained passengers in the rear.

A 16-year-old boy died from head injuries.

Forensic physician Dr Morris Odell found the unlicensed teen, who had a blood alcohol reading of .088, was “absolutely incapable of having proper control of the motor vehicle”.

Less than two months after the teen driver was bailed for these offences, he was charged with stealing a car and other driving offences.

He was charged again for theft of a motor vehicle in October last year and again in January before being held in youth detention.

Judge Millane said she hoped the “senseless, premature death” of a young man caused by the teen’s “hoon-like behaviour” served as a warning to teenagers at risk of believing they are invincible.

She said the teen, who was expelled from school, was had a high-risk of reoffending.

Before the accident, the teen had been skylarking – speeding, drifting and making the car airborne – in the packed car.

He had also driven away from two petrol stations without paying for the fuel.

The teen pleaded guilty to culpable driving causing death, negligently causing serious injury, theft of a motor vehicle and two counts of theft.

He was sentenced to 5 years and 10 months in jail, with a non-parole period of 3 years.

Judge Millane said she would recommend to the Adult Parole Board that the teen be transferred to youth detention.

The maximum penalty for culpable driving is 20 years.

news.com.au 10 Apr 2013

Another classic example of how the legal system (deliberately?) fails victims of crime.

Dangerous individuals to the community are let out, only to re offend.

 

In Australia  criminals have more rights than victims/citizens.

Google clashes with Swedes over 'ungoogleable'

Sweden's language watchdog has accused Google of trying to control the Swedish language in a dispute over the definition of the colloquial term "ungoogleable".

The Swedish version of the word — "ogooglebar" — made the Language Council of Sweden's 2012 list of words that aren't in the Swedish dictionary but have entered common parlance. The council defined it as something "that cannot be found on the web with a search engine".

But Google objected, asking for changes showing the expression specifically refers to Google searches and a disclaimer saying Google is a registered trademark, the council said on Tuesday.

Rather than changing the definition, the council deleted the word from the list, while stressing "our displeasure with Google's attempts to control the language".

"Google has referred to legislation that protects trademarks and wants the Language Council to change the wording of the definition, introducing the name Google into the definition, and adding a disclaimer where we point out that Google is a trademark," the Language Council's head Ann Cederberg said.

"We have neither the time nor the desire to engage in the long, drawn-out process Google is trying to initiate. Neither do we want to compromise and change the definition of 'ogooglebar' to the one the company wants," she said.

"That would go against our principles, and the principles of language. Google has forgotten one thing: language development doesn't care about the protection of trademarks," she added.

"Today we are instead removing the word" from the list, she said.

Google refrained from commenting on the matter directly.

"While Google, like many businesses, takes routine steps to protect our trademarks, we are pleased that users connect the Google name with great search results," Google spokesman Gustaf Brusewitz said in an email.

The Language Council, which is under the authority of the Swedish culture ministry, does not determine which new words are officially accepted into the Swedish language - that is the role of the Swedish Academy. Instead, the council merely notes which new words are gaining popularity among Swedes.

smh.com.au 27 Mar 2013

An example of how corporations if they do not have control over governments, use heavy handed techniques to do so.

Google abusing its dominance: FairSearch

GOOGLE is in firing line of a group of major companies, including Microsoft and Oracle, over its offerings for Android-powered mobile phones.

The European Commission has been urged to move quickly to protect competition and innovation in the critical market by Thomas Vinje, Brussels-based counsel for FairSearch, which groups 17 high-tech companies, including also Nokia, Expedia and TripAdvisor.

"Failure to act will only embolden Google to repeat its desktop abuses of dominance as consumers increasingly turn to a mobile platform dominated by Google's Android operating system," Vinje said in a statement on Tuesday.

FairSearch said it had filed a complaint with the Commission, charging that the internet giant wanted Android operators to use its leading applications such as Maps or YouTube.

It said Google's Android is the dominant smartphone operating system, accounting for 70 per cent of the market by the end of 2012, while it has 96 per cent of mobile phone search advertising.

The companies grouped in FairSearch also complained about Google in the Commission's 2010 anti-trust probe of the firm which focused on its dominance of the internet search market.

Last week, six European countries, including France and Britain, launched joint action against Google to try to get it to scale back new monitoring powers that watchdogs believe violate EU privacy protection rules.

Google last year rolled out a common user privacy policy for its services that grouped about 60 previous sets of rules into one and allowed the company to track users more closely to develop targeted advertising.

The action came after the European Union's 27 member states warned Google in October not to apply the new policy and gave it four months to make changes or face legal action.

When that deadline expired in February, several European data protection agencies set up a taskforce to pursue co-ordinated action against the US giant.

Google insists its privacy policy respects European law.

theaustralian.com.au 9 April 2013

Google has little or no regards for keeping privacy, but rather the emphasis is on not get caught.

Privacy laws are created to keep corporations and governments safe, where the general public are to be totally transparent, and all about an individual is to be accessed by whoever will pay for the information, no questions asked.

The policy is to gather as much information as possible, which is exactly what is happening at an incremental rate.

Governments and other organisations benefit from this, so it is doubtful that governments genuinely wish to curb this information gathering.

While Google was officially mapping Australia with camera equipment, Google also installed network sniffing equipment into vehicles, to capture and log users data.

Naturally no legal consequences ever occurred.

Governments work together with corporations to the detriment of the masses, something that the general population may have difficult in understanding.

Howard defends Australia's role in allied invasion of Iraq

John Howard. Photo: Wayne Taylor

Former prime minister John Howard has hotly rejected the claim that he led Australia into the 2003 Iraq war on the basis of a lie.

Mr Howard said the failure to find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq after the allied invasion was ''unexpected'' and that some of the key assessments of Western intelligence agencies proved wrong.

But he told the Lowy Institute in Sydney, in a speech marking the 10th anniversary of the conflict, that this was a ''world away from those [intelligence] assessments being the product of deceit and/or political manipulation.'' Mr Howard said the belief that Saddam Hussein possessed WMD's was ''near universal'' at the time.

He said the bloody conflict between Sunni and Shiites which broke out in Iraq after the war ''did more damage in my judgment to the credibility of the coalition operation … than the failure to find stockpiles of WMDs''. The circumstances of the time, he said, ''necessitated a 100 per cent ally, not a 70 or 80 per cent one''.

Mr Howard said it was ''implausible'' to think the overthrow of Saddam had ''no relationship of any kind'' to the recent Arab Spring. He acknowledged the close relationship with the US was key to his government's decision to go into Iraq, saying, ''There was a sense then that a common way of life was under threat.''

brisbanetimes.com.au 10 April 2013

Australia under a US coalition went to war, invaded another country under false pretenses.

Previous examples of such actions, e.g. Germany, require the invading nation / nations to give compensation to the 'illegally' invaded country.

A current example is that Germany owes Greece approximately 460 billion euro in compensation for World War II.

Australia had a duty of care to investigate the intelligence gathered, before it went to war.

Australia's 'blind' invasion of Iraq shows how much of a 'lap dog' Australia really is for the United States.

Digital firm monitors NBN Facebook page at taxpayers' expense

TAXPAYERS are funding a late-night NBN Facebook monitoring service while almost $25 million is being spent this financial year on advertising the broadband rollout. 

Government contracts show $11,715 has been given to a Queensland digital consultancy to trial an "out-of-hours Facebook monitoring service".
A spokeswoman for the Department of Broadband, Communications and Digital Economy said the money was employing monitors until midnight on weekdays and periodically on weekends.

She said the Queensland firm had been "tasked with monitoring the NBN Facebook page out-of-hours from 6pm to 12am on weekdays, and four times, 30-minute blocks each day on weekends, so that the Department can respond promptly to any urgent questions''.

It comes as the NBN was due to embark on a new round of advertising with $9 million due to be spent this month and last month.


The money was to go towards television advertising in capital cities and comes after $15 million was spent previously with the Department saying a $24.9 million tax-payer funded splurge was listed at additional estimates for 2012-13 in February.

"Labor's NBN advertising is nothing but politically motivated spin,'' Liberal Senator Simon Birmingham said."At least $24 million is being spent advertising a service that virtually no Australians are currently able to access.

''Millions are also being spent on advertising other government programs with department officials saying the ads are crucial to inform the public.

"More than $17 million has been spent in the past 12 months advertising the compensation given to low income earners to counter the impost of the carbon tax.

Advertising the Schoolkids Bonus has cost $2.3 million in the past year.

"The advertising campaign helps inform parents about their eligibility for the payment and explains the differences from the previous Education Tax Refund scheme,'' a Department of Community Services spokeswoman said.

She said the carbon tax assistance campaign was necessary because "this is part of a public information process about changes taking place which directly impact on the financial circumstances of pensioners and families''.
No government money has been spent advertising the Gonski education reforms or the NDIS.

news.com.au 10 Apr 2013

The government sets up all sorts of fraudulent 'money for mates' deals at the expence of the tax payers.

Another deal where the public's tax pool is raided.

Australia's NBN is a 'white elephant', which no one can currently use.

Australian telcos are offering 100Mbps (NBN touted speeds) before any implementation of the NBN.

WikiLeaks releases US diplomatic and intelligence documents from 1970s

WIKILEAKS has published 1.7 million US documents from 1973 to 1976, including many written by Henry Kissinger.

The release on Monday, also known as the "Public Library of US Diplomacy" or "Plus D", include classified and declassified documents from US diplomatic history, Al Jazeera and The Guardian report.

The new records, dating from 1973 to 1976, include many communications which were sent by or to former US secretary of state Henry Kissinger and have also been dubbed as ''The Kissinger cables''.

The website's Australian founder, Julian Assange, warned about the release earlier today.

The website has collated a variety of records including cables, intelligence reports and congressional correspondence and is releasing them in a searchable form, he said.

Assange has carried out much of the work from his refuge in Ecuador's embassy in London and told the Press Association that the records highlighted the "vast range and scope" of US influence around the world.

The Australian has been holed up in the tiny diplomatic mission for nine months as he seeks to avoid extradition to Sweden over allegations of rape and sexual assault, which he denies.

WikiLeaks sent shockwaves around the diplomatic world in 2010 when it released a set of more than 250,000 leaked US cables.

Many of the documents, which WikiLeaks has called the Public Library of US Diplomacy (PlusD), are marked NODIS (no distribution) or Eyes Only, while others were originally marked as secret.

Assange said WikiLeaks had undertaken a detailed analysis of the communications, adding that the information eclipsed Cablegate, a set of more than 250,000 US diplomatic cables published by WikiLeaks from November 2010 and over the following year.

Assange fled to the Ecuadorian embassy in June after losing his battle in the British courts against extradition to Sweden.

Ecuador granted him asylum in August but Britain has refused to allow him safe passage out of the country, sparking a diplomatic stalemate.

Assange founded the WikiLeaks website that enraged Washington by releasing cables and war logs relating to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan in one of the biggest security breach in US history.

news.com.au 8 Apr 2013

Governments react with an aggressive force against those who expose their illegal and criminal activities, as in the widely publicised case of Julian Assange.

Instead of focusing on the evidence in the exposed documents, and charging the relevant people, the target becomes the postman (Julian Assange). 

In order to incarcerate the individual for the exposure, another 'alleged' matter is of concern that cannot be ignored, as rape is a serious and violent offence against women, which has support of the entire masses.

Actions of a corrupt legal system in full swing.

The alleged allegations of Assange's rape have already been dismissed in Sweden.

Vodafone CEO hits out at rivals' data 'rip off'

Vodafone CEO Bill Morrow says Australian mobile telecommunications companies are ripping off customers by making use of a trick which allows them to round up mobile data “sessions” to make data vanish quicker.

The comments were made at a briefing at the company's North Sydney office, where Mr Morrow revealed the company's 4G LTE network would go live in June. Vodafone is the last major carrier to roll-out such a network in Australia, but claims that when it goes live it will be the fastest in the country thanks to its better spectrum allocation.

Data trick

 

The trick Mr Morrow said being used to rip off consumers involved many telcos rounding up mobile data sessions, sometimes to the nearest megabyte instead of kilobyte*, to milk more data usage out of customers.

"People really feel ripped off if they're having to pay for more than what they actually use," Mr Morrow said.

Vodafone used to take advantage of the trick and tried to standardise it across a number of its pre-paid mobile plans earlier this year. It abandoned it after customers “expressed concern”.
A speed test Fairfax conducted on a Vodafone smartphone at Vodafone HQ.

Most Australian telcos Fairfax Media surveyed in January that offered a pre-paid mobile services — where the trick to round up data is most common — participated in the practice, although some to a lesser extent.

"Most people don't understand the conventional way that telecom companies have set up their pricing," Mr Morrow said when referring to how some telcos charged for data. "If you're on [your mobile] and you only do one quick transaction then you shouldn't have to pay for something that would be equal to five or ten times that.

"It used to be that you had a minimum number of minutes [the telco] was going to charge you for a voice call whether you ended it in 20 seconds or not and [eventually] you saw kind of a granular pricing scheme [come in] where it got down to per second sort of billing. Well the same thing needs to happen on data," he said.

Mr Morrow said Vodafone was "industry-leading" when it came to charging only for what customers used.

"You'll find many others out there that will call it a transaction or a session [and charge per] megabyte."

4G network

When it is launched in June, Mr Morrow said the company's 4G network would be one of the fastest.

"We will ... at least for a period of time, be the fastest 4G network available in Australia," he said.

He said Vodafone staff were trialling the 4G network now and that when it launched it would be available in major metropolitan centres of Sydney, Perth, Melbourne, Brisbane and Adelaide, Wollongong, Newcastle and the Gold Coast. Speeds of up to 150 megabits per second would be possible on 4G in theory, but speeds much lower are likely, considering mobile towers share data between users. Speeds also depend on a user's distance from a base station.

"[The] five capital cities will be our focus," Mr Morrow said of 4G. "Each one will have a slightly different level of penetration within it in that first phase. [There will be] 1000 sites nationwide by the end of the year."

* How the telcos charge for data:

Vodafone - Charges in 1 kilobyte increments on all pre-paid plans. Was proposing 1 megabyte increments across all plans before it about-faced.

Telstra - Charges in 1 kilobyte increments on most pre-paid plans but does charge in 1 megabyte increments on its "Simplicity" plan.

Optus - Charges in 1 kilobyte increments on 1 pre-paid plan and 1 megabyte increments on 2.

Virgin Mobile - Charges in 60 kilobyte increments on all pre-paid plans.

Red Bull Mobile - Charges in 250 kilobyte increments on all pre-paid plans.

Woolworths Mobile - Charges in 1 megabyte increments on all pre-paid plans.

Boost - Charges in 1 megabyte increments on all pre-paid plans.

Crazy Johns - Charges in 10 kilobyte increments on all pre-paid plans.

Amaysim - Charges in 1 megabyte increments on all pre-paid plans.

Kogan Mobile - Charges in 1 megabyte increments on all pre-paid plans.

 

 

theage.com.au 8 Apr 2013

The focus of this article is data 'rip off'.

The colloquial term 'rip off' is widely understood  for example from a customer's point of view that 

• one did not receive in entirety what one paid for,

• one was misled and given another product not the one advertised,

• one was short changed,

or any number of other various scenarios.

According to Australian consumer laws, the above mentioned examples are illegal, i.e. criminal matters punishable by law enforced by police.

Theft or stealing (anything) is a criminal offence, and the masses are constantly reminded of this at petrol stations.

When corporations for example telcos or oil companies steal from the general population, there is no police intervention into the thefts by the corporations

To date there is no class action law suit by the masses for data theft by the telcos.

The telcos write the laws.

The police have a duty to keep the masses inline and subservient to the corporations.

Laws are set up in such a manner to punish the masses for any disobedience.

Corporations and authorities are above any laws they implement on society.

City park rort: Police put car space swindlers on notice

INNER-city residents are cashing in by illegally selling their council parking permits online, as Melbourne's parking shortage worsens. 

 
Permits in the CBD, Fitzroy, St Kilda, Richmond and Prahran are fetching from $1500 to $4000 a year, as drivers become desperate for a parking space.

Residents are putting the permits up for sale online on sites including eBay and Gumtree.
Local councils said they had confiscated permits from some residents.

Shonky entrepreneurs are also trying to lure inner-city dwellers with flyers offering cash for car parking spaces.

They then on-sell the parking spaces and permits for higher prices.

Victoria Police warned scammers against the money-making scheme, saying those caught faced fines and a jail term of up to two months.

Councils have blasted the get-cash-quick scheme.

But the peak ratepayers' body blamed councils for not using parking fine revenue to build more carparks to end the squeeze.

Department of Justice figures show that last financial year 1.6 million parking fines were issued in Victoria.
The City of Melbourne earned more than $27.2 million in fines in 2011-12, while Port Phillip Council, which includes St Kilda, South Melbourne and Elwood, reaped $12.8 million and Stonnington pocketed $16.5 million.

Port Phillip, Stonnington and Yarra councils confirmed residents were targets of the illegal trade, but admitted policing it was "very difficult".

Sergeant Jo Stafford said: "Police discourage anyone from selling parking permits online. It is an offence under the Road Safety Act, and offenders may be imprisoned for up to two months."

Melbourne City Council said ratepayers had reported people soliciting residential parking permits.

Online, one North Melbourne resident demanded $150 per month for a parking pass. The going rate for an on-street permit in Prahran was $30 per week; Fitzroy, Richmond and Carlton permits cost up to $45 per week.

Stonnington chief executive Warren Roberts said selling on parking permits was a growing problem, especially in city fringe suburbs of Prahran and South Yarra, where on-street parking was restricted.

"It's also of concern to our residents, who alert us when they receive flyers in their letter boxes," he said.
The lucrative parking schemes have also driven residents with off-street parking to cash in on the trend, offering paid parking in their garages, private undercover carparks, and even driveways.

Ratepayers Victoria president Jack Davis said people paying large sums for permits showed the desperate measures that drivers were taking because of a car parking shortage.

"The councils have brought this upon themselves by not adequately providing enough car parking space within properties," Mr Davis said.

"The carpark fine revenue is supposed to go into building more off-street parking, but it's not."
Mr Davis, who slammed those selling car permits, said developments were getting car parking waivers and making the situation worse.

City of Melbourne spokeswoman Irene Vlahos said the council had no plans to create more carparks, despite acknowledging the huge demand.

"The City of Melbourne's focus is on providing sustainable transport options that cater for a growing number of people who walk, cycle and catch public transport," she said.

CBD private carparks show the biggest demand, costing $220-$280 a month.

Savills Real Estate sales director Clinton Baxter said the trend was also driving up commercial parking prices.

Last year, a Bourke St carpark sold for $100,000. Several weeks later a neighbouring park sold for $140,000.

"The actual quantity of public-use car parking spaces has been steadily declining as open-air and freestanding carparks are redeveloped for alternate use," Mr Baxter said.

In Melbourne, casual all-day parking can cost up to $80. City earlybirds specials start at $20.

heraldsun.com.au  8 Apr 2013

Once again the general public are being dupe by authorities.

As quoted by the corporate media the public are apparently 'illegally selling', parking spaces.

This is NOT a criminal matter but rather a civil, where it is the council's responsibility and NOT a matter for police to pursue.

In order to keep people in the dark, the herd masses under control, the authorities neglect to mention that city councils are factually corporations i.e. businesses.

• By the same measure the police should also put telco's on notice for data rort.

• Police should also put the  oil companies on notice for petrol rort at the bowser.

None of the two above examples will ever be pursued by police, as police work for corporations and not in the best interest of the general public.
 

All part of the elaborate corporate lie propagated by government.

Lygon St bike hoons

A typical example of a Thursday, Friday or Saturday night at the busy Lygon St restaurant strip as shown in the video.

See Video at youtube address:

http://youtu.be/-Wjy2KUnCPY

This particular video was taken on the corner of Lygon and Queensberry streets Carlton. The speed limit is 40 km/h.

Police have little or no interest in patrolling the streets where motor bike riders have illegal exhausts fitted, along with their fellow car hoons, continue to be a noise menace to the hundreds of outside diners on the restaurant strip.

The financial benefit to the government i.e penalty notices / hour on Lygon St is not as lucrative if efforts are concentrated elsewhere. A significant presence of police man power would have to be employed at Lygon St, which is not on the agenda for the authorities.

Not that long ago near that very intersection on Queensberry St, a pedestrian was killed.

Even though, through television commercials the official cry by police is that they are sick of attending unnecessary accidents (the blame being - speeding drivers, which is a deliberate lie, as the most common cause is driver error), this can be quickly discounted as there is no action taken by authorities in Lygon St.

The end game in NOT about public safety but rather the revenue generated by police for the government.

See article from The Age from 14 August 2011:

http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/pedestrian-killed-in-carlton-20110814-1ispl.html

Pedestrian killed in Carlton

A Wollongong man was killed and his partner was critically injured after coming to Melbourne to watch the football.

Police said the 31-year-old woman and the 32-year-old man had been hit while crossing a busy Carlton intersection at 7pm on Saturday.

The man later died in hospital and the woman is fighting for her life in the Royal Melbourne Hospital.
Police have interviewed witnesses and CCTV footage is being examined.

It is believed the female driver of a station wagon had ignored a red light at the Queensbury and Lygon street intersection.

The couple, who have two young children in NSW, were in Melbourne to watch today's match between the Sydney Swans and Richmond.

A 28-year-old woman from Keilor has been interviewed by police about the crash.

She was released without charge and the investigation is continuing.
A report will be prepared for the Coroner.

Cosa Nostra Lygon St

Within Australia Lygon St is a well known restaurant strip particularly well known for its Italian cuisine. It stretches for a few kilometres across a few suburbs, but it is the suburb of Carlton where it is most commonly referred to.

Carlton is traditionally an Italian strong hold, and along with that comes its share of illegal activities. The Italian mafia, referred to in the United States of America, as Cosa Nostra (of Sicilian origins) has carried out many an illegal deal in the Italian strong hold.

From dodgy cafes operating as money laundering places to gambling venues and other restaurants where known underworld criminal figures frequent, the authorities deliberately turn a blind eye to the money laundering and drug trade within.

If you as a member of the general population will park a vehicle illegally on Lygon St, you will incur a penalty notice. If you are a student who makes a turn without using an indicator the police will issue you an infringement notice.

On the other hand if you are part of a (supported) criminal organisation, the police ‘magically’ open doors for you.

On more than one occasion Lamborghinis were noticed to be parked in front of 197 Lygon St Carlton where the maximum time limit is 5 minutes. The vehicles were parked for over 3 hours or in police terms over 36 times the legal limit.

36 times over the legal limit is definitely an outrage.

The police who have been seen to be on patrol past those vehicles did not issue any infringement notices.

It really does pay to belong to a well established criminal organisation in Australia, preferably a drug empire which is part of the $1.2 billion per month drug trade turn around.