Six really stupid 9/11 conspiracies debunked in about six seconds

PSYCHOLOGISTS will tell you that even perfectly sane people have the ability to accept wild conspiracy theories. The more powerless or alone we feel, the more likely we are to develop such theories. 
 
It's all linked to self-esteem. If you're the sort of person who feels isolated or disenfranchised, you're much more likely to develop wild theories as a way of making you seem more knowledgeable, more powerful, more special.

That might help explain why many Americans are into conspiracies. The irony of our technologically over-connected age is that there are scores of socially disconnected people sitting in dark rooms extrapolating all sorts of crap from factoids they find online. Here are six of the worst:

STUPID THEORY 1: The US government did it

SIMPLE REBUTTAL: People who say it was an inside job are split into two camps. There are those who say the US government cooked up and enacted the whole crazy plot, and those who say they let it happen without intervention. In both cases, conspiracists generally claim that the aim was to give the Bush government an excuse to wage war on the Islamic world.

So here's your simple rebuttal. US governments have shown for decades that they will intervene when and where it suits them. The last thing they need to do to justify any foreign policy is kill 3000 of their own citizens.

STUPID THEORY 2: The twin towers did not collapse. They were demolished.

SIMPLE REBUTTAL: 9/11 "truthers", who would perhaps be more accurately described as 9/11 "liars", like to rope in an expert to tell you that no office fire ever made a building topple. Well, that'd be because no office fire was ever as big as these two, with as much jet fuel to help it along.

But the real reason the twin towers collapsed was structural. Most buildings have their core structural supports at the centre. The towers had some major central steel columns, but that elegant exterior steel shell was also crucial in providing perimeter support. Also, the perimeter columns supported massive steel trusses which supported each floor.

So basically, when the exterior of the building was penetrated so devastatingly by the planes, the structure's ability to hold itself up was threatened. So when one floor went, the combined weight meant they all went.

Pretend the towers were a conspiracy theory. Then pretend they were subjected to the force of logic. Here’s your result. 11/09/2001.

 

STUPID THEORY 3: World Trade Center 7 did not collapse. It was demolished.

SIMPLE REBUTTAL: Riiiight, so the world's tallest tower collapses on its neighbour less than 200m across the road. You've got 110 storeys of rubble pummelling a 47-storey building, setting it on fire, covering it in untold extra weight and inflicted untold stresses. And later that day, when the smaller building collapses, it's obvious the CIA did it with explosives. And Elvis left the building right before it happened.

Oh, and if you want a secondary explanation of why the building really wasn't toppled by mysterious people with explosives, try googling any of the so-called architects or engineers in the wacky YouTube vids. Almost none of them appear to be either a) currently employed or b) affiliated with any group other than 9/11 conspiracy groups.

STUPID THEORY 4: FLIGHT 93 was shot down in Pennsylvania and the people who were supposedly on it were murdered or relocated.

SIMPLE REBUTTAL: The small jet flying low in the area, which some believe shot down Flight 93, was in fact a business jet which had been instructed to fly low to inspect the wreckage. Also, the log of calls made from Flight 93 is pretty compelling evidence that those were real people aboard a hijacked jet. If these people are actors who are actually still alive somewhere, the real mystery is why they haven't made squillions in Hollywood. Because they were seriously convincing.

And they’re fake trees and that’s a fake wall and Gilligan is still stuck on Gilligan’s Island. 

Picture: Jeff Swensen/Getty Images/AFP

 

STUPID THEORY 5: There was no "stand down" order, which proves the US government dunnit.

SIMPLE REBUTTAL: A stand down order is an order from the North American Aerospace Defence Command (NORAD) to scramble fighter jets. This didn't happen until too late on September 11, prompting conspiracists to say the government deliberately held off to let the carnage unfold.

But NORAD didn't actually track flights within America prior to 9/11. Also, the hijackers turned off the transponders on their planes, which meant Air Traffic Control couldn't track them. And NORAD needed an alert from Air Traffic Control to act. So basically, you had a system which ensured bureaucratic bungles, but that's a far cry from complicit officials.

STUPID THEORY 6: They weren't planes, they were missiles.

SIMPLE REBUTTAL: Some of the worst nutters claim that the original planes which struck the twin towers weren't planes but missiles. This was fuelled by an early eyewitness account broadcast on live TV from a journalist who said he thought the first plane had no windows. But the journalist saw the plane in a blink of his eye - a fact ignored by conspiracists who have seized on this statement.
The obvious plane-sized holes in the buildings are a bit of a giveaway too. But you know, maybe they were just caused by Batman or something.

news.com.au 12 Sep 2013

An article worth posting.

 

Just because a government tells you (the canon fodder) an 'official' version does not mean it is true.

Some  recent admissions by authorities are:

 

• CIA admits to role in 1953 Iranian coup.

• Government admits to Area 51.

Surely prior to the admissions the 'conspiracy theorists' were ridiculed by the corporate media, discredited as 'nut jobs'.

The purpose of the corporate media is to 'entertain' the masses, and keep them occupied with irrelevant issues.

Apple's iPhone 5S and 5C fail to wow investors

The so called new budget iPhone 5C that is about to hit the Aussie shore is another overrated new product  from Apple that once again is OVERPRICED.

The  iPhone 5C is supposed to be a "budget" model, DESPITE a starting price tag of $A739, while costing $US549.

Another product launch from Apple where the Aussies are getting ripped off!

It is with the help of slave labour camps in third world countries that Apple exploits these people to create HUGE profits, with minimalistic living conditions for the people who produce these products.

See article:


 DESPITE largely positive reviews, the Apple iPhone 5S and 5C have left consumers and investors sceptical. 
 
More than a handful of tech journalists and experts have had hands-on time with the phone - including News Ltd's national technology reporter, Rod Chester - and the feedback is mainly positive. (You can read what they have to say about Apple's new phones below).

But some consumers are already comparing the iPhone 5S to The Simpson's Malibu Barbie, "now with new hat".

And of course, there's already a meme about it.

Others said the iPhone 5C looked like it was a toy.

Everything you need to know about the iPhone 5S and 5C
 

Apple iPhones fail to convince consumers, investors

Apple's share price dropped by two per cent since the day's opening of $506.20 a share after the release of the iPhone 5S and 5C.

The drop follows a year-long downward trend in Apple's share price. By April of this year, the tech giant had shed more than $300 billion of its value.

"As the new phones were unveiled and tech writers cooed, investors reacted with a collective 'meh'," wrote Wired business writer Marcus Wohlson.

The tech writer says Apple "failed to feed the insatiable consumer appetite for the new".

"If the market's immediate reaction is any indication - and in the era of high-speed trading, it usually is - the iPhone 5C and 5S unveiled today still don't go far enough," he wrote.

"After the presentation came to a close to the strains of Elvis Costello - no iWatch or new Apple TV in sight - the company's share price began to trickle lower."

CNN's senior editor at large, Adam Lashinsky says Apple has switched from a BMW or Tiffany's type luxury brand to a more "Chevrolet strategy".

"A quote from Steve Jobs appears on the wall of Apple's Town Hall auditorium building, where Tuesday's event took place," he wrote.

"'If you do something and it turns out pretty good, then you should go do something else wonderful, not dwell on it for too long,' it reads. 'Just figure out what's next.'"

Ouch.

Keep in mind neither investors nor many consumers have had any hands-on time with the phones.

Those who have spent some time with the iPhone 5S and 5C have had largely positive things to say about them.

News Ltd national technology reporter, Rod Chester told news.com.au that the case for the iPhone 5C is one unit, "so it has a smooth feel in the hand".

"Put it in one of new Apple cases, and that has a rubberised grip feeling to it," he said.

"As for the iPhone 5S, the feel in the hand is similar to the iPhone 5 now. It's the same size screen and has a very similar form."

TechCrunch journalist, Darrel Etherington said Apple's low cost iPhone 5C "performs terrifically and looks fantastic".

"The colours really pop, and the case fits solidly in the hand and thanks to a slightly rubberised feel it should be easier to hold onto than any previous iPhone as well," he wrote.

"...I'm maybe most impressed by how light and yet solid the iPhone 5C feels. While it may not quite live up to the ultra-luxe metal and glass feel of the iPhone 5 and now 5C, it doesn't feel like a cheap device; this is a premium phone, despite the price tag and somewhat older internals."

The Loop's Jim Dalrymple said consumers should put out of their mind any preconception that the plastic 5C looks cheap.

"They all feel very rugged in their construction, so you can put any thoughts of a cheap iPhone out of your mind right now, he wrote. "Perhaps it's the reinforcement that Apple put inside the plastic casing or the build of the casing itself-whatever it is, the 5C is a solid phone."

The Verge described the iPhone 5S as "faster" but said customers would be "hard pressed to distinguish the iPhone 5S from the iPhone 5".

"The fingerprint reader "might end up being a bigger deal than you'd think," it said. Certainly it will save people time punching in a password, and save people from having to get out their credit card in public.

Engadget journalist Brad Molen said that the fingerprint scanner was a little "tedious". "Since the contours of your finger are three-dimensional, the phone asked us to place our fingers on the button several times and in several angles - sometimes we could lay our finger flat on it, while other times we were prompted to roll the finger to the left or right," he wrote.

"Even then, it only took about a minute to get everything set."

Some consumers said Apple needs to slow it down on the product releases. News.com.au asked UK tech analyst Benedict Evans what he thought about this and he basically said consumers need to get over themselves.

"Smartphones have had the effect of increasing the average amount spent on a phone: when offered a new proposition for a new price, consumers have overwhelmingly chosen to pay the extra," he said.
"Apple and Samsung have been the main beneficiaries of that."

Apple CEO Tim Cook speaks on stage during an Apple product announcement at the Apple campus on September 10, 2013 in Cupertino, California. Picture: AFP

 

As to whether Apple needs to change its perception from within, Evans says the Soviet Union tried and failed to tell consumers what they wanted and Apple will too if it even attempts it.

"I think we live in the most prosperous, healthy, well educated and well fed societies on earth, and that's mostly a result of industrial capitalism, as directed by the collective decisions of individual people over the last 200 years," he said. "Conversely, deciding what people 'should' want was the idea behind (the Soviet Union's) 'Gosplan'.

"It always turns out to be a very inefficient way to run an economy, quite apart from the moral problems involved," he said.

"To put that another way, it is a company's social duty to try to work out what people want, and sell it to them. It is for us all as individuals to chose what that will be. "

In other words, get over yourself and stop getting sucked into the idea that you need a new revolutionary phone every 18 months.

news.com.au 11 Sep 2013

Another inferior product for BIG money, and the herd population follows blindly.

Residents tell councils to focus on roads, rubbish and lower rates

COUNCILS have been told to get back to basics after a major survey revealed that many residents are unhappy with the management of core services. 

The State Government study of nearly 30,000 people found that most Victorians want their councils to focus on the three Rs - roads, rubbish and lower rates.

It comes after strong criticism of councils for running political campaigns, such as using ratepayers' funds for the failed referendum bid to include local government in the federal Constitution.


More than 90 per cent of survey respondents said their municipalities could improve, with low scores given for management of roads, population growth, planning policy, parking facilities and footpaths.

Only about half of all Victorians believed that overall municipal performance was good or very good, while 35 per cent said it was average and 14 per cent rated it as poor or very poor, according to the Statewide Local Government Services Report June 2013.

"As in 2012, Victorian councils tended to score lower than their overall performance rating on community consul tation and engagement, advocacy and particularly, overall council direction," said the report.

Planning Minister Matthew Guy said that while some councils performed well, others "need to go back to basics and focus on roads, rates and rubbish".

"The City of Yarra is an example of one which is caught up in an ideological war over the East West road tunnel rather than focusing on its core responsibilities," he said.

But Yarra mayor Cr Jackie Fristacky hit back, saying that the council prided itself on its community consultation and had won countless awards for its service level.

"They want to believe that Yarra is ideological - we're not," she said.

"On issues such as the tunnel we are a council that believes in evidence before action."

Tim Wilson, from private enterprise think tank the Institute of Public Affairs, said councils should stop campaigning on international issues and quit pushing fringe social agendas.

"They should be focusing on roads, rates and rubbish, not trendy thought bubbles," he said.

The report found that most ratepayers expected councils to live within their means - those preferring a rate rise in exchange for better services fell from 40 per cent in 2012 to 36 per cent this year.

On the positive side, the proportion of residents who believed their council was heading in the right direction rose slightly to 69 per cent this year, while those who thought it was going the wrong way fell from 23 per cent to 20 per cent.

On a scale of zero to 100, inner Melbourne councils rated best for overall performance with a score of 66, outer metro councils scored 62, regional centre councils got 60, small rural shires scored 59 and larger ones got 57.

Local Government Minister Jeanette Powell said the survey results were important and the Government was working to introduce a mandatory reporting system in which similar councils could be compared on a range of factors.

"In an effort to try and keep rates down and contains costs, my department is working with councils so they can have better purchasing power through the sharing of services," she said.

The survey found that residents were most happy with public art centres and libraries, with a score of 73, followed by appearance of public areas and waste management (71), emergency and disaster management and recreational facilities (70), then elderly support, community and cultural services (69).

But there was significant dissatisfaction with management of unsealed roads (44), population growth (54), planning and building permits (55), slashing and weed control (56), parking facilities (57) and local streets and footpaths (58).

Municipal Association of Victoria president Bill McArthur said there were no real surprises in the survey but there was always room for improvement.

PRIORITIES ALL WRONG: WERRIBEE RESIDENT

AN outraged resident living in Melbourne's worst-performing council area said it is time for councillors to "stop wasting our money".

Long-time Werribee resident Garry Richards backed findings in the Statewide Local Government Services Report June 2013 that ratepayers were unhappy with the management of their local council.

He said Wyndham Council's priorities are all wrong with more focus needed on roads and infrastructure in the ever-growing area.

"We were voted the worst council earlier this year and I'd definitely agree," he said.

"Wyndham Council is the biggest money wasters ever.

"They just spent more than $100,000 on a butterfly sculpture that is now not going ahead, they are spending all this money rebuilding the exercise centre, and they want us to be home to a 100m-high mountain tip. It is just ridiculous.

"What about our roads? They are all single lane - they are all becoming bottlenecks and many are riddled with pot holes.

"We're one of the fastest growing areas in Australia and the congestion is just out of control."

Wyndham has experienced the largest and fastest growth in all Victorian local government areas and is the third fastest growing in Australia.

MONEY DOWN THE DRAIN

* Darebin Council forced to remove potentially dangerous street art two weeks after it was installed on a Northcote median strip at a cost of $34,000.
* Bayside Council spends $200,000 on toilets near Middle Brighton Baths.
* Wyndham Council forks out $106,000 planning a moth-like art display, only to scrap it.
* Hume Council slammed for a Craigieburn street art installation, the second part of the $52,500 Gateway Project.
* Bayside Council looks to rip out ticket machine from a Sandringham carpark after it costs more to install ($10,000) than it receives in fees.

heraldsun.com.au  11 Sep 2013

CorpAu put a post in regards to the article with the following content:

'City councils' are unlawful entities, and as a result city council 'rates' are unlawful.
This has been exposed in a documentary video posted on youtube of the title 'Pirates of the suburbs - Destroying Communities'.

It would be good if the Herald Sun would post this comment.

The original article appears at the following location:

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/residents-tell-councils-to-focus-on-roads-rubbish-and-lower-rates/story-fni0fit3-1226717196907

Noosa Magistrates Court - Court win

A video was posted on youtube.com on 27/06/2013 with the title:

Court win Noosa Magistrates Court under the url:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=75x1c4mL95Y

The video contained information on how fraudulently the legal system operates and how the masses can quite easily defeat it.

The legal system tries to hold you the person e.g. John Citizen responsible for the corporate entity JOHN CITIZEN accountable in court which is UNLAWFUL.

The video was removed a short time after with only 2013 views.

Here is a transcript of the video:

Court Win Noosa Magistrates’ Court

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=75x1c4mL95Y

Published on Jun 26, 2013 by Bazzarito

Magistrate abandoning the court after being called to show her"Writ of commission" and her Bonding agreement. On abandonment the defendant becomes the highest authority in the court and dismisses the case. Any further interaction from court officers is met with "No consent"

Magistrate:         “Is there any reason you cannot come forward?”

Person:                “I do not consent coming through the bar, I’m sure you understand that.”

Person:                “I am here regarding this matter anyway, through special appearance as a personal representative of the person being in capacity as the administrator.”

“I am asking you are you under oath today?”

Magistrate:         “I am not here to answer your questions Sir.”

Person:                “I am asking you are you under oath today?”

Magistrate:         “Mr. R…. come forward, this is a court of record today, if you do not come forward..”

Mr. R :                   “I beg your pardon, I reserve my right to stay here, and I reserve my right not to be recognised before the law in the Human Rights Act.”

Magistrate:          …… illegible …..

Mr. R :                   “Excuse me, may I see your ‘writ of commission’, and your bonding agreement.”

Mr. R :                   “Excuse me, may I see your ‘writ of commission’, and your bonding agreement, for the second time please.”

Mr. R :                   “ Excuse me, for the third time, may I see your ‘writ of commission’ and your bonding agreement.”

Mr. R :                   “Contempt of court is constitutional common law.”

Mr. R :                   “May I ask for the third time can I see your bonding agreement or ‘writ of commission’.”

Mr. R :                   “Can someone ring the Sheriff.”

Woman:               “Yep, who’s got the phone.”

Woman:               “You are the highest authority of the court now.”

Mr. R :                   “I am now the highest authority of the court now as the judge / magistrate has not shown me their ‘writ of commission’ or any bonding agreement."

"I dismiss the case."

Court Clerk:        “All rise.”

Mr. R :                   “The judge/magistrate is abandoning ‘his’ ship, I am the highest authority now.”

Magistrate :        “(Softly to police man) I want the police to have him removed from court….”

Magistrate :        …. Illegible … (maybe she said ‘case dismissed’)

Mr. R :                   “Case dismissed.”



EDIT

An upload of the video is available at the following location:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7q5yjTAzhDE
 

Banks use tax havens to conceal

Why does BHP have offices in the Swiss town Zug? Why did the Commonwealth Bank previously make such a handsome profit in Malta?

Why does Macquarie control 49 entities registered in the Cayman Islands, 18 in Bermuda, nine in Mauritius, six in the Isle of Jersey, four in the British Virgin Islands, two in Aruba and one apiece in the Dominican Republic, Isle of Man, Curacao and the Netherland Antilles?

Is it that the bank has diversified its island operations between the Caribbean Sea, the Indian Ocean and the English Channel in case there is a tsunami?

No, this significant island presence is complemented by 14 entities in Luxembourg, 58 in Ireland and four in landlocked Switzerland.

What all these places have in common is that they are tax havens. And the reason companies, funds and trusts are registered in such exotic locations is that they have something to hide.

Most often, but not always, that something is profits. It would do no good, for instance, for this reporter to inquire why Macquarie's

Caliburn Greater China Fund Segregated Portfolio (a sub-fund of Caliburn Absolute Strategies SPC) is domiciled in the Cayman Islands.

One can only surmise that if the shareholders and directors of this Caliburn wanted their business known more intimately by the public they would not be locating it in the Caymans.

Same deal for Rupert Murdoch's News Corp, with its 19 Caymans companies, 17 entities in Mauritius and a prolific 25 in the British Virgin Islands.

This is not to say, as a generalisation, that there is anything wrong with minimising tax. Within the law, it is perfectly acceptable to get your tax bill down. Just as, in a democracy that holds dear to the principles of free speech, a journalist is perfectly entitled to say, for instance, that Google Australia is a disgrace for paying almost no tax on its billions in income in this country.

Google - which shifts its profits offshore to low-tax jurisdictions - is a worse offender on aggressive tax plays than Macquarie or News.

For governments and their citizens around the world, however, the law is proving to be a blunt and clumsy instrument when it comes to enforcing tax.

If Joe Citizen pulls off a $2000 swiftie on the social security apparatus he could invite a stint behind bars for his second offence. If Joe Corporation Limited pulls off a fancy $200 million tax scam and is pinged by the Australian Taxation Office, it merely behaves in an indignant and victimised manner, cites its expensive legal advice and appeals the impertinence of the taxman in the Federal Court.

Joe Citizen picks up a good deal of the costs - the silks, the solicitors, the lot - even if Joe Corporation loses. Appealing and appealing again are deductible expenses of doing business.

The point of all this is that tax is soon to be an increasingly public issue globally as governments struggle to fund their deficits in the face of ever more sophisticated corporate tax frolics.

But, the taxman is turning up the screws - as evinced by last week's judgment in the Federal Court, where Justice Richard Edmonds tossed out Macquarie's application for an injunction to stop the ATO from issuing amended tax assessments for 2006, 2007 and 2008.

An amended assessment, potentially in the vicinity of $295 million, poses not merely financial risk but reputational risk too.

Which brings us to last month's story here that Sydney Airport had paid no tax since Macquarie bought it in 2002.

We are going to undertake a ''reverse James Hird'' here - that is, do the opposite of saying sorry while not really meaning it and claiming to have done nothing wrong.

While the story was correct, and we don't apologise for it, it did suffer from an error of omission for which we owe further clarity on Macquarie's behalf.

Thanks to its trust structure, it is the investors, rather than the airport, which are obliged to pay tax - not that they necessarily do (vid the ATO's investigation into the redeemable preference shares).

Still, trust or not, this stuff needs to be tightened up.

As one of the finest tax brains in the country chuckled in the aftermath of the story: ''It's a 'zero leakage' structure, as we call it in the tax trade''!

theage.com.au 9 Sep 2013

The BIG banks have been doing this for generations with NO intervention from authorities.

If the 'little people' try to set up accounts of shore, they are investigated by the tax department, and labeled as fraudsters.

While corporations do the same thing they are given tax concessions.

The corrupt Anglo-Masonic elite work for the corporations at the expense of  the 'canon fodder'.

Corporate fraud at its highest SUPPORTED by the authorities.

PUP - Palmer Uneducated Party

The emergence of new political parties in Australia is nothing more than a grab for the public's finances.

Clearly on such party is the one headed by the capitalist Clive Palmer, called the Palmer United Party.

What's even worse is that the morons that are put in place to take up seats, have little to no political knowledge.

Clive Palmer said on national television " I have more money than you can dream of", shows how the fat political pig operates.

It is not only appalling that people in politics make those statements, but also the 'sheeple' vote for them.

Australia has AGAIN elected a Prime Minister that is sitting in office unlawfully, BUT the corporate media does not expose this.

It really pays to keep the sheeple in the dark.

Smart meter installer held 'hostage'

A SMART meter installer was held "hostage" at a property until police were called to resolve the bizarre blockade. 
 
While the latest stand-off was peaceful, dozens of other fitters have fled homes because of verbal abuse and threats of physical violence.

Tool boxes and equipment have been stolen in some cases.

Cattle breeder David Ginders has defended barricading a locked gate with a ute to detain an installer for about 90 minutes at his Flaggy Creek farm driveway near Bairnsdale.

He objected to the newly installed meter, and unsuccessfully demanded the old device be returned.
The stalemate, late last month, ended when police attended.

Mr Ginders has safety doubts about the digital meters, despite reviews finding they produce less electromagnetic radiation than microwave ovens and baby monitors.

He claims the installer ignored requests to leave before fitting the meter, and wants distributor SP AusNet charged with trespass.

"I am outraged they can march in and put something on your house against your wishes," Mr Ginders said.
SP AusNet's Jonathon Geddes said the Electricity Industry Act "allows entry onto private land to do works and things necessary for the construction, maintenance or alteration of equipment used in the supply of electricity".

Customers were required to give unrestricted meter access and police help was rarely needed.
"SP AusNet asks that customers continue to respect our people as they go about delivering the State Government-mandated smart meter program," Mr Geddes said.

United Energy revealed installers had left sites about 40 times since the start of last year because of threatening customers.

Police had intervened "less than a dozen" times since the rollout started in 2009.

"Although these statistics are not high ... any instance whereby one of our installers feels threatened is unacceptable," spokesman Stuart Allott said.

This included verbal abuse, threatened physical abuse, and a couple of theft cases.

CitiPower and Powercor spokesman Drew Douglas said a "very small minority" subjected installers to anti-social behaviour. Police had become involved nine times.

More than two million smart meters have already been fitted statewide.

All Victorian homes and small businesses are due to have a smart meter installed by the end of the year.

Companies said questions and concerns should be raised with customer service contact centres.

heraldsun.com.au 22 Aug 2013

Another 'misrepresentation' by the corporate media.

NO one is allowed to trespass onto one's private property.

The property owner is then allowed to take action or hold the person trespassing until police arrive.

The owner acted totally within the law.

There is NO law that states that customer MUST agree to the installation of a 'smart meter'.

The camera that collects every memory, but which poses privacy concerns

WHEN Martin Kaellstroem was a young adult, he lost both his parents to cancer. It became a spur for him to seize the day, as a person and an entrepreneur. 

The result: A lens with no off-button that captures every moment of your life.

The 38-year-old co-founder of Swedish company Memoto is a man in a hurry as he promotes his “lifelogging” camera, which is worn with a clip on the shirt or on a string around the neck, and takes a picture once every 30 seconds.

“When you lose your parents, you realise that you don't live forever. It has definitely affected me in my entrepreneurship. I can't wait until later to fulfil my dreams, I have to live my dream now,” he said.

Some may see parallels with George Orwell's 1984, the Truman Show or other dystopias. But the team behind the Memoto camera insists that it doesn't breach any privacy. Rather, they see it as a way to collect memories.

THE Shine is a product of the new age of crowdsourcing and about the size of a 20c coin.

“Traditionally, people only brought their camera to special events when everyone was dressed up, smiling into the camera,” Mr Kaellstroem said.

“But you don't know in advance which moments will be important in the future. Perhaps you meet your future wife or witness an accident or a crime, pictures you might want to return to.”

Lifelogging, a technique for digitally gathering daily moments, is a growing phenomenon, gaining popularity with mobile applications such as Saga, which creates info graphics summarising your life through your smartphone data, and health trackers like Runkeeper and Moves.

Following the success of calling software Skype, music streaming service Spotify and video game developer Dice - all technologies with a heavy Swedish component - the next big thing could be a device logging your life in pictures.

The Memoto camera, which resembles an iPod mini, collects a stream of pictures, automatically sorted according to the GPS-location, time and light. The 'memory timeline' can be shared on social media such as Facebook or Twitter.

It is a tool for a new tech-savvy world without the patience to keep a diary, according to co-founder Oskar Kalmaru.

“I've failed several times when trying to write a blog or travelogue. Older relatives managed to keep a diary over 20 years, but it is hard with the routine,” he said.

British lifelogging camera Autographer emerged in the medical field as a facilitator for Alzheimer patients and GoPro and Looxcie are targeting practitioners of extreme sports.

Memoto will cater to both exhibitionists or nostalgic souls, according to Mr Kaellstroem.
“There are two main types of users,” he said.

“The first category, to which I belong, is the collector who saves and organises the memories, but only shares them with a small circle of close friends and family. The other group is more social, aiming to share a creative and active life through various social media platforms.”

But classmates, employees and neighbours may not want to be caught on film, much less people in witness protection programs or other sensitive areas of life.

Lifelogging does raise some privacy questions, says Steven Savage, a researcher at the Swedish Defence Research Agency, noting that the private sphere is relative: what is not offensive to one person might be to another.

“It depends where the photos end up,” Mr Savage said.

“Today, it is difficult to search pictures, but new technology is being developed all the time. Once those pictures become searchable, more questions will arise. You'll lose control over the situation.”

Jan Svaerdhagen, who is currently writing a book about lifelogging, agrees.

“The first question one should raise is 'what function is filled by taking a photo every 30 seconds'? Who buys the product and for what purpose? Are we entering the next stage of social media where we not only log, but also share our lives 24/7 in a kind of Big Brother Lite version?” said Mr Svaerdhagen.

“I jog a lot, and sure it would be fun to have some photos from a run, but the question is, are we entering narcissism in its most extreme form?” he said.

Mr Kaellstroem said he and his team thought a great deal about privacy while designing the camera, bearing in mind that many might be uncomfortable with being confronted with a spying eye.

“It has to be clear that it is a camera, but yet with a friendly design that makes people comfortable and not distracted,” he said.

Soon, 4,000 of these cameras will reach their users. In the future they might develop accessories such as a waterproof case, a wide-angle lens and a wi-fi dock. In the meantime, the blueprint is available online for creative users to personalise their camera.

“The lifelogging cameras are just the tip of the iceberg in the 'quantified self' movement,” said Lisa Ehlin, an expert in digital culture at Stockholm University.

“I'm sure we will walk around with some cool new gadgets in the future, like those mouth chips or body tattoos tracking your health and what you eat. But mainly, it's all about social life and friends.”

theaustralian.com.au 03 Sep 2013

Another invention to invade the privacy of the masses.

The masses are quietly being conned into the belief system that they have NO privacy, and none is to be expected in the 'real world'.

This must also flow in the opposite direction in that the police, authorities, courtroom judges will have their matters recorded by the masses, and cannot expect 'privacy'.

Watch this space soon, as the above expectations on law monitoring will change.

New laws are being drafted up that will NOT allow the masses to catch out criminal police and judges in action.

Tony Abbott's plan for Australia

TONY Abbott stormed to victory as former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd relinquished the top job and the Labor leadership. 
 
Pledging he would not let voters down, Mr Abbott vowed to govern for all Australians.

"From today I declare that Australia is under new management and open for business," he said. "We will not leave anyone behind."

Victorians punished Labor, with many seats seeing big swings of between 6 and 8 per cent against the party.
The Coalition last night had gained three seats - Deakin and La Trobe, in the eastern suburbs, and Corangamite in the southwest. But, defying predictions of a Labor wipeout, the ALP lost fewer seats than expected - providing some solace to demoralised Labor MPs.

But the Coalition will govern in the 150-seat House of Representatives with a majority of 85 seats or more.
Labor will be reduced to a predicted 54 seats. In a shock result in Queensland, businessman Clive Palmer was expected to secure the seat of Fairfax and Pauline Hanson was still a chance in the Senate in NSW.

Tony Abbott celebrates victory with wife Margie and daughters Frances, Louise and Bridget. Picture: Sam Ruttyn 

 

Mr Rudd conceded defeat just after 9.30pm in Brisbane to chants of "Kevin, Kevin".

Delighted it was not the wipeout predicted he bragged the predictions of his demise were premature.

"I will not be contesting the leadership of the Australian Labor Party," he said.

"I have taken this decision with a heavy heart because I love this movement. But the time has come for renewal. I gave it my all. But it was not enough for us to win. Despite all the prophets of doom we have preserved a viable fighting force for the future."

Former frontbenchers Stephen Smith and Greg Combet urged Mr Rudd to quit politics sparking a by-election.

The Galaxy poll published in News Corp newspapers on Friday provided the most reliable guide to the election outcome of all published polls, predicting a 53-47 two-party-preferred result.

Last night the result was 52.7 for the Coalition and 47.3 per cent for Labor. Defying predictions he would lose his seat of Griffith, Mr Rudd bragged in a 20-minute speech it would be un-prime ministerial to say "eat your heart out" to his political opponent.

His bragging was attacked as "cheap" by former treasurer Peter Costello.

The new PM pledged a new era of "no surprises, no excuses".

But Mr Abbott warned Labor and the Greens not to act in defiance of the clear mandate Australian voters had handed him to scrap the carbon tax and stop the boats.

His warning could set the scene for another early election if the Senate attempts to block his agenda.
Predictions of a total wipeout across Western Sydney for Labor were averted, with outgoing Treasurer Chris Bowen grimly hanging on in McMahon.

Just before 7pm Anthony Albanese conceded Mr Rudd's political career might be over.

"We will wait and see if Kevin Rudd continues in that position after tonight," he told Channel 9.

Amid the gloom NSW Labor MPs described the results as not as bad as they expected.

Labor party polling had declared both McMahon and former Labor leader Gough Whitlam's seat of Werriwa gone just a fortnight ago but a major blitz to lift the informal vote had helped reverse the trend.

Mr Abbott needed 76 seats to win government but is likely to secure more than 90 seats in the 150-strong House of Representatives.

Ex-defence minister Stephen Smith said shortly after 6pm "This is a night where regrettably we will see the end of a Labor government and the need for Labor to start again with its next generation.

"The government will be defeated tonight - that's the reality. In the end it was the politics of division that crippled the incumbents."

Former PM Bob Hawke said it was a sad night for Labor with infighting and division to blame. "I really believe this is an election lost by the government rather than won by Tony Abbott."

news.com.au 8 Sep 2013

Another fraudulently elected Prime Minister, something that the masses are NOT aware of and the corporate media reluctant to report.

The subtle message from the new PM is that:

"Australia is under new management and open for business,"

 

Australia is factually a registered corporation, of the United States of America (Inc).

The Australian people (the herd populous) are the ones dearly paying for it.

The 'deficit' brought around the the previous government has to be payed for by the public through higher taxes.