Geoff Shaw fraud charges withdrawn

Geoff Shaw gets his wish

All 24 charges against Geoff Shaw have been dropped leaving no chance of a conviction for the balance-of-power MP. Nine News.

Geoff Shaw after an earlier court appearance. Photo: Jason South

Prosecutors have withdrawn all 24 charges against balance-of-power MP Geoff Shaw.

Prosecutor Ray Elston, SC, appeared before magistrate Charlie Rozencwajg on Tuesday morning for a special mention hearing to inform him that all of the charges would be withdrawn.

Mr Shaw faced 23 charges of obtaining financial advantage by deception and one count of misconduct in public office over the alleged misuse of his parliamentary fuel card and car in 2011.

Mr Elston did not say why the charges were being withdrawn, but Director of Public Prosecutions John Champion, SC, issued a statement saying there was not a reasonable prospect of Mr Shaw being convicted.

‘‘The DPP has determined (in accordance with the criteria in his Policy relating to prosecutorial discretion, available on the OPP website) that there is not a reasonable prospect of criminal conviction in this matter,’’ Mr Champion said.

He said the decision was made after the magistrate determined that the matter was unsuitable for diversion and Mr Shaw’s counsel indicated that the balance-of-power MP would plead not guilty to the reinstated charges.

Mr Champion said it would be inappropriate to comment further because the matter had been referred to parliament’s privileges committee.

The secretive parliamentary committee had previously suspended its investigation into Mr Shaw while the matter was before court.

"As the matters alleged against Mr Shaw have been referred to the Parliamentary Privileges Committee, it is not appropriate for the Director to comment further," Mr Champion said.

Mr Shaw's solicitor, Quinn McCormack, said she welcomed the development.

The withdrawal of the charges will come as a major relief for the state government, given Premier Denis Napthine relies on Mr Shaw’s vote to govern.

Had Mr Shaw been found guilty and convicted of the charges he would not have been able to hold his seat in Parliament, which would have forced his electorate of Frankston into a byelection.

The government had feared an early byelection could have cost it power.

Mr Shaw resigned from the parliamentary Liberal Party this year to sit as an independent, citing a lack of confidence in then premier Ted Baillieu.

Mr Baillieu’s subsequent resignation handed the premiership to Dr Napthine.

Mr Shaw, 46, was alleged to have made purchases totalling $2096.56 on his parliamentary fuel card, and to have used his parliamentary vehicle, for his own personal use.

Mr Shaw last month indicated he would plead guilty to one rolled-up charge on the expectation the matter would proceed to Melbourne Magistrates Court's diversion program, where no conviction is recorded on the proviso the offender admits wrongdoing.

But that plan was thrown into a spin when Mr Rozencwajg ruled Mr Shaw was unsuitable for the diversion program.

The original charges were then reinstated and Mr Shaw’s lawyers said he would plead not guilty.

Mr Shaw was scheduled to return before the court on December 18, until Mr Elston appeared before the court on Tuesday for what he called an "urgent" special mention.

Mr Shaw was not in court on Tuesday morning.

Outside parliament, Corrections Minister Edward O'Donohue would not say what the DPP's decision to drop the charges meant for the Napthine government, which relies on Mr Shaw's vote.

"The DPP has made its decision. The DPP is independent of government and has made its decision based on the information at hand," he said.

He refused to say whether there was a sense of relief in the government now that the charges against the balance-of-power MP had been dropped.

Mr O’Donohue said the privileges committee was considering the matter and it was inappropriate to comment further.

Acting opposition leader James Merlino said the DPP's decision to drop the charges "stank".

"Like most Victorians, I am shaking my head at this decision. I don't understand how at this late stage in the process the DPP has come to the conclusion that there is not a reasonable prospect for conviction," he said.
He refused to say whether he still had confidence in the DPP.

Mr Merlino said the DPP's decision was very convenient for Geoff Shaw and Denis Napthine.

"Most Victorians will think something stinks about this decision. It is hard to understand how at this late stage of the process the DPP doesn't think there is a reasonable prospect for a conviction," he said.

Mr Shaw's only sanction for allegedly rorting his parliamentary car would be from a parliamentary committee stacked by his own colleagues, Mr Merlino said.

theage.com.au 3 Dec 2013

This is a huge win for white collar criminals (politicians), that they literally cannot be touched by the law.

The 'brethren' take care of themselves in whatever manner necessary to support their agenda, irrespective of public opinion. The public in the case are 'sheeple' or commonly referred to as 'cannon fodder'.

The corrupt DPP is subservient to the 'politics' rather than 'justice'.

A vote of 'no confidence' should come into play here.

The same terminology is used "not a reasonable prospect of criminal conviction in this matter,".

 

This is a clear message to all other politicians that fraud is literally supported by the government, with the use of 'tax payers' funds.

 

Conversely if you do not pay a speeding fine, you may face 'criminal' charges

 

Politicians are literally above the law. 

 

In a future post corpau will explain how this corruption is supported by the legal system from information obtained by a 'corporate entity'.

 

 

ANZ bank fees could class action lawsuit could hit other big lenders

THE ANZ bank milked unfair penalty fees from customers to generate more profits, a landmark class action court case has heard. 
 
A series of high-level internal documents exposed the bank was deliberately charging "over and above" costs to protect revenue, the Federal Court trial was told.

And the bank was worried about the potential "catastrophic" risk of losing tens of millions of dollars from regulation that would restrict fees to mere cost recovery.

It discussed the possibility of jacking up other types of fees "to plug any revenue gaps", Michael Lee, SC, said.

ANZ customers are seeking $57 million in compensation through a class action funded by Bentham IMF (Australia) Ltd.

It is the first major bank to go to trial as 185,000 Australians try to recover $240 million from eight banks in the nation's biggest class action.

The $57m class action lawsuit against fees ANZ imposes on its customers, could also hit the other big banks. Picture: AFP/William West  Customers are claiming refunds for $20-$60 honour, dishonour, late payment and over-limit banking and credit card fees that plaintiff lawyers Maurice Blackburn argue are excessive, unfair penalties rather than fees for services.

ANZ is defending the matter.

Mr Lee said it was as "plain as pikestaff" that the bank was charging more than costs to boost profit margins.
Bank strategy documents discussing proposed fee changes also discussed how few customers did not switch banks on the basis of exception fees, he said.

The fees were regarded as "a significant part of transaction banking profit and loss".

The hearing, before Justice Michelle Gordon, was told dishonour fees were "hardest to justify" to customers and regulators because "no service is provided".

Mr Lee said a planned 2009 redraft and renaming of fees was a guise designed to continue to charge exception fees by creating "essentially a fiction of providing a fee for service".

Documents showed one technical project manager "calling a spade a spade" referred to penalty fees, he said.

The ANZ and other major banks have abolished or reduced various fees in recent years.

The case, which is listed for three weeks, continues.

 news.com.au 2 Dec 2013

Australia's banks are factually responsible for multi-billion dollar fraud, a fact that the legal fraternity will not pursue.

Part of the global banking elite, which is above any laws, these multinationals are supported by the corrupt politicians in government which give the corporations unhindered fraudulent transactions against the general populous.

These so called 'small wins' in 'class action' lawsuits which make it out into the corporate media are immediately recovered via other means.

Mortgage fraud is one this list of the country's largest scams, which is not tackled by the 'brethren' of the legal fraternity of Australia.

Why ‘Fit Mom’ Maria Kang was banned from Facebook

Tough love fitness guru, Maria Kang, is back in the headlines after Facebook banned her for 'hate speech'. Pip Lincolne investigates why the 'Fit Mom' fitness campaigner feels compelled to continue her fat-shaming ways.

Maria Kang (she of the controversial ‘What’s your excuse?’, mummy fitness photo that went viral and swept the web a month ago) is back in the headlines, this time being temporarily banned from Facebook for alleged ‘fat shaming’ comments.

Commenting on a Daily Mail piece about the plus-size  Curvy Girl Lingerie campaign Kang told her Facebook followers:  ”The popular and unrelenting support received to those who are borderline obese (not just 30-40lbs overweight) frustrates me as a fitness advocate who intimately understands how poor health negatively effects a family, a community and a nation.”

“While I think it’s important to love and accept your body, I was a little peeved because I think that we’re normalising obesity in our society,” Kang said.

Blocked by Facebook

Kang’s Facebook account was suspended for two days after her anti-Curvy Girls post was reported as ‘hate speech’ with Kang commenting, “I definitely think my freedom of speech was removed.”

The post apparently received 10 000 likes and 2000 shares in the four hours it was live. Facebook now say the post was removed in error and have apologised for blocking her account.

Sorry, but…

Kang addressed the issue on her own terms  in a post titled ‘Sorry but not sorry.‘ She said she’s been ‘completely misunderstood’ and that she grasps the deeper issues of weight and obesity because she ‘grew up with them’:

“I experienced a hateful relationship with food that triggered several years struggling with bulimia.” She goes on to detail the health struggles of various family members and how much they impacted on her life, explaining her motivation comes from a caring place:

“While I speak strongly about making one’s health a priority, the very last thing I intended to express was any level of shame. No one should be ashamed of who they are, at the same time, in order to desire something greater, you have to – at some level – be uncomfortable with where you are at. When we normalize being unhealthy we create complacency to positively change,” she wrote.

Tough love or just tough?

Of course, Kang’s entitled to her own opinion, but I wonder at her constant and very public judgement of others. Why doesn’t she take her skinny fitness message to those who want to hear it (and there are 233 000+ of them on her Facebook page alone), rather than looking for fresh targets like the Curvy Girls or  New Jersey Governor Chris Christie.

We are definitely facing an obesity crisis worldwide, but I’m not sure that tough talking skinny crusaders are the solution. They tend to isolate people with weight or health problems further.  They don’t even get close to the underlying issues and their focus on ‘hotness’ at best marginalises those who are struggling with their weight and at worst, dilutes their ‘good health’ message.

The skin you’re in

I make health and fitness a huge priority in my life, but I would never assume that my approach is the best approach. I’m also not a fan of naming and body shaming others – especially if they are obviously celebrating the skin they are in!

I wonder if Maria Kang really does have a big huge heart full of caring about people and their health… or if she’s got her eye on the fame and fortune prize and is trying to elevate her own worth by cutting others down?

kidspot.com.au  28 Nov 2013

Unfortunately the truth sometimes not only hurts but is not 'politically correct' (whatever that really means).

The politics behind this is that one is shut down (oppression of freedom of speech) for an opinion or even fact which is not on the agenda of the governments or to the business leaders delights.

Ex Qld transport head won't be charged

FORMER Queensland transport department head Michael Caltabiano will not be charged over allegations he gave a minister's son a leg up. 
 
The premier's hand-picked director-general was sacked in February amid allegations there was official misconduct over the hiring of the son of former arts minister Ros Bates, Ben Gommers, to a senior position in his department.

No criminal charges will be laid against Queensland's former transport head Michael Caltabiano. Source: AAP

After an investigation spanning more than a year, the state's Crime and Misconduct Commission (CMC) announced on Wednesday it will not lay criminal charges.

It had referred a brief of evidence to the Director of Public Prosecutions in July.

The DPP has advised that any prosecution of Mr Caltabiano for alleged criminal offences would not have reasonable prospects of success, and therefore was not warranted.

"As such, the CMC will not take any further action in relation to Mr Caltabiano," a statement said.

Less than a fortnight ago, Mr Caltabiano was also cleared by the parliamentary Ethics Committee over allegations he lied about a prior business relationship with Mr Gommers.

Mr Caltabiano, a fellow councillor with Premier Campbell Newman when at the Brisbane City Council, had been on leave with pay for four months before he was sacked.

He made more money after he was sidelined from his position than when he actually worked, pocketing $652,947 for less than a year's on the job.

Comment has been sough from Premier Campbell Newman, but Ms Bates has declined to comment.

news.com.au  4 Dec 2013

Another action from the corrupt offices of government and law 'enforcement'.

The 'Money for Mates' jobs scam is alive and well with no punishment.

Australia is truly one of the better country's for white collar corporate fraud.

The DPP is as corrupt as the government they serve.

Speeding fines should also be dismissed, as they are unlawful and (as put) for alleged criminal offences would not have reasonable prospects of success.

Corrupt politicians changing history

There is literally no boundary that the purveyors of deceit, misinformation, fraud and in some cases murder, that are known to the masses as politicians will not cross.

Australia's CEO (commonly referred to as the Prime Minister) Tony Abbott has had contentious speeches wiped from Coalition history since the election.

From a business / contractual perspective, a lawsuit may have success in the law courts under false advertising on the party's behalf, mentioned an unnamed source within the legal arena.

Australia's ex Prime Minister Julia Gillard is accused of fraud, a matter which has notable media coverage.

One other accusation that is NOT reported by the corporate media, which could be viewed as more serious is that of treason, which is currently being reviewed.


An article from 1/12/2013 in the Herald Sun is as follows:

Abbott’s contentious speeches wiped

Some of Prime Minister Tony Abbott’s most controversial speeches have been brushed from Coalition history since the election, including a 2009 speech backing a carbon tax, and a 2004 speech in which he describes abortion as ‘‘a question of the mother’s convenience’’.

During Mr Abbott’s 2009 carbon tax speech, in which he described himself as a ‘‘climate change realist’’, he said he doubted climate change was man-made, saying ‘‘we can’t conclusively say’’ man-made carbon dioxide emissions contributed to climate change.

But he went on to say: ‘‘If Australia is greatly to reduce its carbon emissions, the price of carbonintensive products should rise . . . a new tax would be the intelligent sceptic’s way to deal with minimising emissions because it would be much easier than a property right to reduce or to abolish should the justification for it change.’’

When he was in opposition, the speeches were posted on Mr Abbott’s website, tonyabbott.com.au. But since the election, that website has been redirected to liberal.org.au, which only archives material back to July 2010, the month before the previous election.

Despite Mr Abbott becoming opposition leader on December 1, 2009, all his speeches and media statements before July 2010 have disappeared. And at least two recent transcripts have also been expunged from the public record.

They include an interview on Sky with Chris Kenny in which Mr Abbott vowed to lift foreign aid – a position he later reversed – and a speech to the conservative Institute of Public Affairs.

In March, Mr Abbott was quizzed about whether he would heed the advice of former finance minister Nick Minchin, who said the Coalition could save billions of dollars by freezing the growth of foreign aid.

Mr Abbott said: ‘‘Our policy and that of the [then-Labor] government is to lift foreign aid to 0.5 per cent of gross national [income] . . . It does remain our commitment . . . we are a generous people, we don’t want to be niggardly in respect of our poorer neighbours.’’

Five months later, the Coalition said it would cut foreign aid growth over the forward estimates, saving $4.5 billion.

In April he gave a speech to the Institute of Public Affairs decrying the ‘‘great Australian silence’’ about its Western heritage.

‘‘There is a new version of the great Australian silence, this time about the Western canon, the literature, the poetry, the music, the history and above all the faith without which our culture and our civilisation is unimaginable,’’ Mr Abbott said.

The Government’s Direct Action policy, the cornerstone of its climate change policy, is not on the liberal.org.au site, despite being on the earlier page. It has also disappeared from Environment Minister Greg Hunt’s website, although a 2010 version of the policy remains available on Mr Hunt’s website.

A spokeswoman for Mr Abbott said: “The Liberal Party website is being updated to provide a single website to access media releases, speeches and policy documents released prior to the election of the Coalition government.”

Since 1996, the National Library of Australia’s PANDORA system has archived websites and pages, including political material.

Since then it has collected content from more than 50 elections, from local government to federal campaign, and has retained all the pages formerly on tonyabbott.com.au

PISA report finds Australian teenagers education worse than 10 years ago

• School funding details to come: Christopher Pyne
• Australian high school kids going backwards: ACER
• Piers Akerman: Education systems needs hard lesson
• Too many tests gives education a fail mark

AUSTRALIAN teenagers' reading and maths skills have fallen so far in a decade that nearly half lack basic maths skills and a third are practically illiterate. 

  The dumbing down of a generation of Australian teenagers is exposed in the latest global report card on 15-year-olds' academic performance.

Migrant children trumped Australian-born kids while girls dragged down the national performance in maths, the 2012 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) report, released in Paris last night, reveals.

Australia's maths performance dropped the equivalent of half a year of schooling between 2003 and 2012.

And rowdy classrooms and bullying are more common in Australia than overseas, the report
says.



China tops the latest league table of 65 countries in maths, science and literacy.

The average 15-year-old student from Shanghai is nearly two years ahead in science, and a year and a half ahead in maths, than a typical Australian teen.

Four out of 10 Australian students flunked the national baseline level for mathematical literacy - compared to just over one in 10 in Shanghai and two in 10 in Singapore.

At least one in three Aussie students fell below the national baseline level for reading and science.
The Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) called on governments to "act now to stop the slide''.

The ACER director of educational monitoring and research, Sue Thomson - who wrote the Australian chapter of the PISA report - said Australia now has fewer top-performing students, and more at the bottom.

She said the reading results showed Australian students were illiterate in a practical sense.

"It's not saying they're totally illiterate or innumerate,'' she said.

"But they don't necessarily have the skills they need to participate fully in adult life.''

A year after former prime minister Julia Gillard set the goal for Australia to rank among the top five nations for reading, maths and science by 2025, the latest PISA report shows Australia has fallen further down the ladder.

WHY HAVE EDUCATION STANDARDS FALLEN? COMMENT BELOW 

As the debate over school funding continues, the results also reflect how increased spending on education has failed to arrest the slide of other countries, including the United Kingdom, which despite an increase of billions of dollars in funding is producing high school graduates who trail almost every other developed country.

Australia still performs above average for developed countries within the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) - but its ranking has dived over the decade.

Poland has now leapfrogged Australia in maths, helping push Australia from 11th place 2003 to 19th in 2012.

Australian teens came fourth in PISA's world literacy rankings in 2003, trailing only Finland, Korea and Canada.

But they now rank an equal 13th with New Zealand.

The ranking for science fell from 6th place in 2006, to 16th place in 2012.

Australian girls' performance in maths has fallen to the OECD average - dragging down Australia's result.

But boys are a year behind girls in literacy levels at the age of 15.

PISA exposes an educational underclass in Australia - with a two and a half year gap between the performance of students from poor or indigenous families and those from well-off households.

Dr Thomson said taxpayer funds should be targeted to disadvantaged students.

"Just putting more money in won't work, but targeting money will work,'' she said.

Dr Thompson said Asian education systems, such as Singapore, gave more remedial attention to children lagging at primary school so they did not fall behind.

The PISA report shows that migrant students performed best in the Australian test.

Even in English literacy, 14 per cent of foreign-born students were top performers, compared to 10 per cent of Australian-born students.

Indigenous students or those living in remote areas were twice as likely to do worst in the PISA tests.

Students from wealthy families were five times more likely than the poorest students to excel.

But results also varied widely within schools, between classes.

"A larger-than-average within-school variance means that, for Australian students, it matters more which class they are allocated to than which school they attend,'' the report says.

"(However) the choice of school still has a significant impact on outcomes.''

Federal Education Minister Christopher Pyne - who this week pledged to give the States and Territories an extra $2.8bn in funding for schools over the next four years - said Australia's results had declined despite a 44 per cent increase in education spending over the past decade.

"These results are the worst for Australia since testing began and shows that we are falling behind our regional neighbours,'' he said.

"For all the billions (Labor) spent on laptops and school halls there is still no evidence of a lift in outcomes for students.''

Australian students also reported a higher frequency of noise and disorder, and teachers having to wait for students to quieten down, than the OECD average.

More than 40 per cent of Australian students reported that "family demands'' interfered with their school work.

One in five students felt they did not belong, were not happy or were not satisfied at school.

Australian Greens spokeswoman for schools, Senator Penny Wright attacked the Abbott government for handing the States "no strings attached'' schools funding.

"It is deplorable that in the 21st century, Indigenous students are two and a half years behind non-indigenous students, and that kids in remote areas are as much as 18 months behind children in the city,'' she said.

The Australian Education Union blasted the results as a "wake-up call'' for the Abbott government to increase funding to schools in poor areas, and set higher entry standards for teachers.

Nearly 15,000 Australian students aged 15, from 775 schools, were selected at random to take the PISA test last year.

More than 51,000 students in 65 developed countries took the test.

news.com.au 4 Dec 2013

Nothing really new here, as this is a policy that is going ahead as planned.

The children (of the cannon fodder), are supposed to be dumbed down, by whatever means necessary, as they grow up to be stupid adults, who are easier to control.

Hit-run widow Di Gilcrist wants alleged drink-drive Supreme Court judge Anne Bampton removed from the bench

Justice Anne Bampton outside the District Court building today, after being reported for drink-driving and allegedly colliding with a female cyclist. Source: News Limited

 

THE widow of hit-run victim Ian Humphrey has called on the state's Chief Justice to rescind the appointment of alleged drink-driver Justice Anne Bampton to the Supreme Court bench. 

Di Gilcrist marked the 10th anniversary of her cyclist husband's death - involving drunk lawyer Eugene McGee on the Kapunda Rd - on Saturday.

At 12.30am that morning, the newly appointed Supreme Court Justice was reported by police for colliding with a female cyclist while driving with a blood-alcohol level of 0.121 at Glenside.

SA Police say the cyclist sustained only minor injuries.

new.com.au 2 Dec 2013

Watch as another corrpt judge escape 'justice', by the corrupt legal system.

How the government let a killer flee the country

There is literally nothing worse for a family, than to find out that the killer of their beloved son was let loose, by a legal system (that failed them), only to find out later that the government let him flee the country, only to enjoy a life to the fullest after killing someone.

This is the reality Peter and Fran Hofstee from the Gold Coast had to face when their son Dean ( pictured above) was killed by Indian national Puneet Puneet.

This is not an isolated incident nor it is doubtful whether it will be the last.

Australia, is truly a lucky country, especially in the hands of corrupt rule. You can literally get away with a plethora of crimes, and not be accountable, despite what the authorities would like you to believe.

The more money you have the more you can bribe judges and magistrates, customs officers, and politicians.

To the lay person the 'legal system' is somewhat a bit of a mystery and a place where you have to pay tens of thousands of dollars per day for legal matters to be taken on your behalf, but it is really not that difficult once you understand a few basics.

The (corrupt) Australian legal system, has a policy to let criminals walk free, so that they can re-offend, where another 'customer' brings the accused to the courts for another round of dollars to be spent.

Australian law is about consent and is based on contractual law, and not any other laws e.g. Constitutional or Common Law, a fact that the legal fraternity would not want to disclose to the mere peasants.

There are too many 'cases' where justice is not given to the victims of crimes, even ones as serious as murder.

So called 'bungles' are used deliberately to let criminals walk free, provided they have made a deal with the corrupt police involved.

Australia has a policy to accept anyone under the 'refugee' banner, so this is milked as much as possible.

One (for example a criminal) can burn one's documents and claim political asylum, and have a wonderul life sponsored by the Australian government given a car, led screens, phones, furniture, even breeding a footbal team of children at the expense of hard working tax paying Australians.

In the case of Indian national Puneet Puneet ( pictured above), Australia has a policy to import slave labour (cheap and  unskilled), as dictated by the multinationals (in this case a Telstra employee), under a back door called student visa.

Telstra (as an example) sacks hard working Australians, who need their employment to feed their families, and replaces them with cheap unskilled Indian labour workforce.

This policy is supported by the Australian government, as this lowers the value of the Australian worker, and places them into another class, the low socio economic class, which is easier to control.

As reported, Punnet Punnet, obtained his work colleagues passport and fled the country on it.

It is unfanthomable that the Australian goverment let a criminal out of the country, yet when one does not pay a bill (outstanding invoice) one is arrested. Could this act have been done deliberately?

Australia's legal system is a farce littered with corrupt officials and enforcers.

Fom the Herald Sun article:

 http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/law-order/court-bid-to-bring-back-hitrun-killer-puneet-puneet/story-fni0fee2-1226772533523

Australian National University Professor of International Law Donald Rothwell said Puneet could be back in Australia imminently.

"If he consents there is no reason why he couldn't come back, certainly within a week,'' he said.

However Prof Rothwell warned the case could potentially drag on for years if Puneet fought his extradition.

"In any legal system, there are multiple levels of appeal upon which someone subject to extradition can seek to avail themselves,'' he said.

"But that is dependent on financial means, because obviously once you start employing lawyers and working through the legal system it can take considerable time.''

As mentioned previously in this artcile, the law is all about 'contractual law', i.e. 'consent', as affimed by law Professor Donald Rothwell.

Unborn child removed from woman's womb

A pregnant woman in Britain has had her unborn baby forcibly removed by caesarean section and put up for adoption by social services.

Social services workers for Essex County Council obtained a court order to sedate the woman and take her baby in July last year because she had suffered a mental breakdown.

The woman, who is unnamed for legal reasons, is an Italian who had travelled to Britain at the time for a training course with an airline.

She reportedly had a panic attack after failing to take medication for a pre-existing bipolar condition.

The woman called police, who took her to a psychiatric hospital and sectioned her under Britain's mental health laws.

The baby was forcibly removed by caesarean five weeks later and the mother was returned to Italy.
The baby girl, now 15 months old, is still in the care of British social services.

They are refusing to give her back to the mother, despite her claims she has fully recovered.

A Chelmsford Crown Court in February ruled the baby should instead be placed up for adoption due to the risk the mother could suffer a relapse.

"I can understand if someone is very ill that they may not be able to consent to a medical procedure, but a forced caesarean is unprecedented," the woman's British lawyer, Brendan Flemind, told the UK’s Telegraph.
"If there were concerns about the care of this child by an Italian mother, then the better plan would have been for the authorities here to have notified social services in Italy and for the child to have been taken back there."

The case will be raised in British Parliament this week by a local MP.

news.com.au 2 Dec 2013

ANYONE can be diagnosed as being unstable / bipolar in order for the authorities to gain control of you.

These cases make it out into the public arena, and can be seen as test cases as to how the 'sheeple' react.

This is a clear indication that YOUR child is NOT your child but rather property of the 'state', as is the case in Australia.

See (corpau) articles:

How the government owns your children

How the government trades on prisoners

Every action allegedly is done for the benefit of the (state owned) child.

Another action analogous to the concentration camps of Germany.

New policies are being put in place to deal with the 'mentally ill' including sterilisation.

A former Amazon employee has revealed what it's really like to work for the internet retailer

FILE - In this 2010 photo, Leacroft Green places a package to the correct shipping area at an Amazon.com fulfilment centre, in Goodyear, Ariz. Source: AP

 

A former AMAZON employee has spoken out about the shocking work conditions in the online retailer's UK warehouses. 

23-year-old Adam Littler told a BBC1 documentary that he was expected to collect a different customer order every 33 seconds during his 10.5 hour night shifts.

He said he was 'worked to the bone' during his seven week stint with the company and could regularly walk more than 16km as he rushed to find orders in the 800,000 square foot distribution centre in Swansea.

"I've never done a job like this before," Littler told the documentary team.

"The pressure's unbelievable."

Amazon warehouse staff are reportedly armed with handheld scanners which tells them the quickest route to collect their next item and also counts down how long it should take them to get there.

Employees of internet retail giant Amazon stage a strike in front of the company's logistics centre in Germany, on November 25, 2013 over pay conditions. Source: AFP

 

According to the Daily Mail, the warehouse workers have previously revealed they've been tracked with GPS devices during their shifts, with one employee from the Rugeley warehouse comparing working conditions to a 'slave camp.'

But an Amazon spokesman has denied the American company places unreasonable expectations on its employees.

"The safety of our associates is our number one priority and we adhere to all regulations and employment law," the spokesman said.

"Independent legal and health and safety experts review our processes as a further method of ensuring compliance."

news.com.au 26 Nov 2013

The whole purpose of 'globalisation' is to spread 'slavery' on a global scale for the financial benefit of the corporations.

Global corporations are allowed to exist in financial 'tax havens', only for the population to mop up their tax bills.

Amazon is not the only company that has slave labour conditions for its slaves (nee employees).

CryptoLocker malware is “significant”, finding its way to Australia: Experts

Just when it seemed 2013 might end without any major security attacks, the CryptoLocker malware has surfaced and begun creating havoc.

The virus acts as “ramsonware”- it takes computer files hostage and demands a ransom under the threat of erasing the data. 

McAfee APAC chief technology officer, Sean Duca, said CryptoLocker typically infiltrates a system though a PDF attachment emailed by cyber criminals.

“If you open the attachment, it installs malware on your hard drive that lets hackers access your computer files,” he said. 

“The files are then encrypted and you're unable to access them.”

The malware has already infected systems overseas, but Trend Micro ANZ software architecture director, Jonathan Oliver, said the global nature of the Internet means that it is finding its way locally as well.

“These attacks are very widespread globally, and this is impacting Australians,” he said.

No way out

From the analysis McAfee has done so far, a pattern in the cyber criminals’ behaviour has been detected.

“Once infected, the cyber criminals will contact the organisation or individual within two days, seeking payment,” Duca said.

“If they don’t pay up, their documents will be deleted.” 

During the blackmail phase, the cybercriminals will demand payment not in cash or credit, but with a virtual currency called Bitcoin. 

While many malware in the past have taken the stealth route and attempted to remain in a system anonymously, Trend Micro’s Oliver said it is “quite obvious” when you are infected with CryptoLocker.

“What makes this malware significant compared to other attacks is that the impact on victims is significant,” he said.

Unlike other malware in the past, McAfee’s Duca points out that CryptoLocker comes with an added malicious angle.

“Even when you remove it, it does not restore the files,” he said. 

One step ahead

While regular consumers are a target for CryptoLocker, McAfee’s Duca warns that any organisation could be targeted. 

“Businesses are particularly vulnerable to this attack because many haven’t adequately protected file-sharing between employees,” he said.

“If this is targeted to a user with higher privileges in an organisation then potentially every document which could be accessed by that user could be locked.”

As for what can be done to overcome CryptoLocker, Trend Micro’s Oliver repeats the old age adage of “prevention being better than the cure.”

“Put in place an automated backup solution and consider turning on enhanced antispam features such as IP reputation,” he said.

McAfee’s Duca also emphasised the importance of having “great backup” to get your files back. 

“You also need up-to-date Windows and antivirus patches,” he said.

Another countermeasure that Trend Micro’s Oliver suggests is potentially putting in a stricter email policies.

“For example, blocking zip files that contain executable files, as only technical sophisticated users should ever receive such files,” he said.

Not opening attachments from unknown senders also goes a long way, and Oliver recommends employees talk to IT staff if they get an email with a password in it.

arnnet.com.au 27 Nov 2013

The comments on the article are just as important as the article itself, which are as follows:

Dean Knowles

Thu 28/11/2013 - 12:42

1

Wow. Only 10 weeks behind the times, ARN!. This has been infecting Australian businesses as far back as beginning September (I know, I have resolved this nightmare for several businesses)
And it is NOT quite true that the affected business will have their files deleted if they refuse to pay the ransom. Instead, the files remain, but remain encrypted.

Eugine Kaspersky

Fri 29/11/2013 - 19:15

2

Spot on Dean, it would be nice if so called experts actually knew what they were talking about!! A lot of general information and little accurate detail!

NBN Costs 'rising as we speak', roll out targets proving 'very challenging'

The cost of the NBN is rising as we speak.

That’s according to NBN Co Chairman Ziggy Switkowski, who was grilled at a hearing of the Senate Select Committee on NBN.

The confronting questioning from Senators Stephen Conroy and Scott Ludlam comes just days before NBN Co hands its Strategic Review to Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull.

At the hearing, Conroy accused NBN Co of misleading parliament as to the cost per household of the NBN rollout, and took Switkowski to task over the cost and timing of the rollout, the viability of using the existing copper network, and the lack of public information with regards to construction of the network.

Conroy told the hearing he was “staggered” that Switkowski would contradict the numbers previously presented to the committee on the cost per household of the NBN.

“Has the parliament been systematically misled?” Conroy said. 

“If you give them (contractors) more money for failing to do their job properly, it is on your head. "If you choose to reward incompetence, that’s on your head.”

Conroy was referring to ongoing negotiations with contractors building the NBN.

While Switkowski would not reveal the exact increase in costs, he denied he was misleading the parliament. “You were not misled,” he said. “My own recent experience, when you go out into the field confirms that the costs are higher than what people have hoped they would be. 

“As we continue to look at actual costs you have a better feeling, and the costs look higher, and I would say substantially higher.

Switkowski said the “cost issue” was one of the key elements of the review.

“That number (connection cost per household) is rising as we speak,” he said. “Costs are connected to our prices and connected to experiences that were not expected.”

Switkowski also defended the use of the copper network and said he had changed his mind about copper.

“Copper has since turned out to be more robust than anybody thought,” he said.

When confronted with pictures of NBN construction taking place in Mudgee, Dubbo and Western Australia, while there was no information on the Website, Switkowski said information would be added when it reached the appropriate build phase.

“The fact that large sections of the country have been removed does not mean they are not getting NBN, it does not," he said. 

"The mere changing does not reflect any change in the priority or strategy in the build,” he said.

Conroy also asked if NBN Co would meet its deadline to bring 25 Mbps to all homes by 2016 following a leaked internal NBN Co document indicating it would not be achieved. 

Switkowski said the target would be “very challenging”.

arnnet.com.au 29 Nov 2013

The entire board and directors of the NBN should be sacked including the people in government who approved this venture, as another one of the country's larger frauds.

From falsified tenders to back room deals the whole process was geared towards a fraudulent outcome, at the expense of the general populous.

Monies defrauded by 'businesses' or government from the population do not make court time, as the system works against the plaintiffs.

Another not widely publicised fact is the updated mandatory internet censorship and reporting infrastructure setup to go 'live' with the broadband network.

The stealth Nanny State.

Ziggy Switkowski was the CEO of Australia's telecommunications monopoly company Telstra, the previously government owned Telecom, which is responsible for a billing fraud worth millions annually, that the corporate media does not report on.