Seven foods that will impact your intelligence, but not in a good way

Foods that will make you less smart. Source: ThinkStock

 

IF YOU chow down dark chocolate before a big all-nighter, and fill your plate with leafy greens, fish and nuts, congratulations. 

You're a smart eater, because those foods have been proven to sharpen your thinking ability.

But before you leap with joy and submit your application to Harvard or Cambridge, read this, because you're probably eating foods that will make you less smart as well, reports Life Hack.

And not only do these foods make you 'dumber', they diminish all your efforts to be smart, and effectively undo all your 'smart eating'.

1. SUGAR

You've probably heard that sugar is bad for you. It's bad for your teeth, your liver and makes you put on weight.

Naturally occurring sugars in fruit are fine when consumed in proportion, but high-fructose corn syrup used in most confectionary and soft drinks is the big culprit.

But maybe you haven't heard that when sugar is consumed in large amounts (think a whole packet of lollies) over an extended period of time, it alters your brain's ability to learn and remember information.

So eating your way through a packet of jelly beans while writing a 3000 word essay is not a good idea.

Try to limit your sugar intake, and snack on foods like nuts and fruit instead.

Over-consumption of sugar can lead to a decrease in your brain’s activity. Source: ThinkStock

 

2. SALT

It's one of the best flavours ever created, especially when found in bacon and other cured meats, chips and our all-time-favourite: Vegemite.

But aside from affecting your heart rate and blood pressure, salt also affects your cognitive functioning.

In 2011, scientists found that eating a high-salt diet was strongly linked with a faster cognitive decline in elderly people.
Adding raw salt to your food is worse than cooking with salt, so when you do eat it make sure it's cooked in your meal.

The picture says it all. Source: ThinkStock

 

3. TOFU

This one is a surprise, being often regarded as a healthy food. However research from Loughborough University and Oxford suggests that tofu can be harmful if consumed in large quantities.

The two universities conducted a study with 700 participants between the ages of 52 and 98. The results show that those who consumed a lot of tofu were more at risk for memory loss.

The quiet memory-killer. Source: ThinkStock

 

4. JUNK FOOD

Delicious yet perilously addictive, junk food is a big one to avoid. Life Hack reports that the practice of eating junk food has been shown to trigger symptoms similar to withdrawal, depression and anxiety. And from there it's often a dark spiral downward as depressive symptoms often prompt a desire to eat junk food, and so on.

Studies show that fat and sugar-laden foods appear to reduce levels of a natural brain chemical that is crucial for learning. In essence, junk food is rotting away your memory capacity.

Would you like anxiety, memory loss or depression with that burger? Source: ThinkStock

 

5. FRIED FOOD AND TRANS FATS

Why is it that the worst possible foods taste so good? Everyone knows that chicken tastes amazing when it's deep fried, and battered fish trumps fried fish.

But the oils and trans fats in these foods are killing our brains, literally.

A recent study has further confirmed this fact stating that "people who had high levels of circulating trans fats had less brain volume. They also had poorer memory, attention, language and processing speed skills."

Fried food also clogs the arteries, and can cause heart attacks and aneurysms. So in short, stay away from the fried, fatty stuff.

Why oh why does it taste so good? Source: ThinkStock

 

6. ALCOHOL

It's a well known brain depressant, causing difficulty walking, blurred vision, slurred speech, slowed reaction times and impaired memory in the short term. But studies show that alcohol can have long term effects.

A person who drinks heavily over a long period of time may have memory deficits that persist long after they regain sobriety.

The effects of heavy and long-term drinking on the brain are blackouts, memory lapses and serious brain disorders like Wernicke - Korsakoff Syndrome. 

Doctors recommend you limit your consumption of alcohol to 1-2 glasses per week.

Don’t let it get to this. Source: ThinkStock

7. PROCESSED FOODS

They're everywhere, and often in disguise. Processed foods contain a deadly cocktail of harmful ingredients like preservatives, additives, dyes and artificial flavours, all of which affect your brain function.

Science has shown that high-fat processed foods cause damage to the hypothalamus in the brain - the area responsible for monitoring and signalling levels of hunger, thirst and the body's natural rhythms and cycles.
So steer clear of these, no matter how yummy they look.

They’re hard to avoid, particularly around Christmas time. Source: ThinkStock

How to dismiss any court case without a lawyer

To the average lay person in Australia, the legal system may seem overwhelmingly complicated and filled with jargon that is beyond the comprehension of all but the tertiary educated in the discipline.

The average 'offender' is encouraged (by the system) to seek legal representation, by seeking a solicitor ( 3a :  to entice or lure especially into evil, Source: merriam-webster.com) or a lawyer, an action that generally costs more than the 'offence', specifically priced out of the reach of the general populous, designed to support the system's members with an opulent lifestyle.

Once you denounce your right to speech in court you are unable to defend yourself.

Information obtained by corpau from legal circles suggests that Australia is a 'lawless' country, where 'Acts' are guidelines, where 'fines' or 'offences' are only accepted by the recipient from a 'contractual' perspective and therefore any consequences arisen are based on this acceptance of terms and conditions disclosed in the 'contract' or agreement.

WHAT THE SYSTEM DOES NOT WANT YOU TO KNOW.

•  Judges, magistrates, Q.C's, barristers lawyers, etc take an oath known internally as the three '"C's", that being (in order of importance) to the Court, Colleagues and lastly Client.

See article:
      The Legal Oath - Is it really for the benefit to the client? 

•  You as a human BE'ing have inalienable and unalienable rights.

• The 'law' courts of Australia, are NOT courts of 'law', but actually places of business, commerce and trade, as signified by their respective ABN.

• Once you enter the jurisdiction of the 'court' you are entering a binding agreement with the (business entity known as the) court, and are legally bound to the terms and conditions dictated by the 'judge' or 'magistrate'.

• If you are born in Australia, the government takes possession of you, and your corporate entity or 'estate' is your name in CAPITALS, which incidentally is NOT you.

When you are summonsed to court you will notice that your name appears in capitals, e.g.

JOHN CITIZEN
Unit X/ 203 Smith St
SYDNEY, NSW 2000

Before an appearance to any court you can write a letter questioning the authority to show a lawfully binding contract that exists between the magistrate or judge over you. A response if any may be greeted with hostility and scare tactics in order for you to succumb to their authority over you.

HOW TO (NOT) APPEAR IN COURT.

What the legal system wants you to believe is that they have an authority over you, and employ various bullying tactics to make you enter a binding agreement with the business commonly known as the court.

Once the fear is overcome, they realise they have no control over you and the matter is dismissed.

If you are in the premises known as the court, your name will be broadcast over the Public Address system to appear in the relevant court.

• You enter the room and be seated at the public gallery area, where others also sit.

Your name may then be called out again, to which you do not answer to.

• Upon a third calling of your name you may grab the attention of the magistrate, that you are making a special appearance as the administrator of  the 'estate' of  "your name in capitals", e.g JOHN CITIZEN.

The magistrate will instruct you to come down to the bar (or his jurisdiction), to which you politely decline.

This has a variety of responses from magistrates, which really depends on the frame of mind of the individual.

If threats are made by the (police) prosecutor,

• Any further interaction from court officers is met with "No consent".

In any event you must not enter the bar under any circumstances, whatever the threats.

• You then ask the magistrate for their 'Writ of Commission' or to show a lawful 'Binding Agreement' they have with the estate.

Knowing that they will not be able to produce such a document, the magistrate may result to bullying and scare tactics, which could include the words "arrest" or "warrant", in order to force you to be submissive, remembering that there is a police 'force', and not keepers of the 'peace' as contracted to the Queen of England.

You stand your ground and keep asking for the relevant documentation.

• Since no documentation can be provided, you make the announcement that this is true and correct, and claim that you are the highest authority in the court.

• You then declare that you are the highest authority of the court, and you are dismissing the matter.

The court clerk and police prosecutor will rise to attention and the court clerk will declare the matter dismissed.

This entire procedure will take no more than a few minutes.

The Australian legal system is farcical, and factually based on contractual obligation and not 'law' as commonly perceived by the masses, irrespective of the Constitution of Australia (or its validity) or Common Law.

A video was posted on YouTube with the title:

"Court win Noosa Magistrates Court" with the url :

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

has been taken down by the Australian government.

The video since then has been uploaded under the following title:

Noosa Magistrates Court

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

A transcript of the the video can be found at:

http://corpau.blogspot.com.au/2013/09/noosa-magistrates-court-court-win.html

Queensland Motorways to be auctioned

QUEENSLAND Motorways will be auctioned off by the Queensland Investment Corporation (QIC).
 
Treasurer Tim Nicholls had said on Thursday there were no plans to sell QIC, but chief executive Damian Frawley announced on Friday they'd auction off the road toll division, believed to be worth more than $5 billion.

The government-owned corporation will continue to manage money on behalf of numerous public and private sector pension funds.

Mr Frawley said there had been significant interest in 100 per cent ownership of Queensland Motorways from domestic and international investors.

"Conducting a traditional auction process is in the best interests of maximising the return to Queensland's Defined Benefit Fund, which holds the Queensland Motorways investment," he said.

Queensland Motorways manages five motorways including the Gateway, Logan motorways, Legacy Way, the Go Between Bridge and the CLEM7 tunnel.

The Newman government has promised not to proceed to with any asset sale without a mandate, but has ordered scoping studies into the sale of power generators CS Energy and Stanwell and the lease of Townsville and Gladstone ports.

Premier Campbell Newman has hosed down suggestions he might be eyeing an early election to boost the books sooner rather than later.

But he said the government still had a lot of work to do to deal with the former Labor government's legacy of debt.

"We intend to go full term in Queensland," he said.

Big business is keen to buy Queensland's electricity generators, but small business is wary, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry Queensland (CCIQ) says.

CCIQ general manager Nick Behrens says there is an equally strong investor appetite for both, but small business is yet to be convinced.

They want to know if the sale of generators will push up power prices, which are already tipped to increase by about 13 per cent next year if the carbon tax is not repealed.

"CCIQ has called on the scoping studies to also examine outcomes in the area of price and service to ensure they are not compromised should these assets be sold," Mr Behrens says.

Private companies that invest would borrow at a higher rate than the government, prompting unions and the opposition to claim Queenslanders will pay more for electricity.

"It is going to mean higher infrastructure costs," shadow treasurer Curtis Pitt said.

"Electricity consumers will have to pay for the higher cost of borrowing for the private sector, and then the private sector profit margin.

"And they are going to be demanding profits."

news.com.au 13 Dec 2013

Another (public?) road in the hands of private enterprise.

This action is factually 'unlawful', but in reality will not see the light of day in the (commercial) courts.

The Australian state of Queensland is actually a corporation, that goes by the name of the Brigalow Corporation, a fact that the corporate media curiously omits.

New slower National Broadband Network to cost $30 billion more than Labor's previous plan

Australians will receive a slower and more expensive NBN under the new scheme. Source: News Limited

 

THE new national broadband network will deliver slower speeds and cost billions of dollars more than the Government had anticipated, it has been revealed. 

Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull revealed there will be a $28.8 billion increase had had Labor's NBN proceeded without change.

The whole project when completed in 11 years time, and the NBN will not complete its first stage by 2016 as first predicted.

That means the Government won't be able to deliver its promise of everyone having access to at least 25mbps of broadband by 2016.

Mr Turnbull was delivering the findings of a 134-page report analysing Labor's scheme.

The review said the full cost of the Turnbull option would be $72.9 billion and not the initial estimate of $44.1 billion.

The cost difference comes from what NBN Co forecast under Labor, had the scheme gone ahead without change, and the spending analysis contained in the review Mr Turnbull released today.

The Government scheme also went up in price by $12 billion and Mr Turnbull blamed the slow progress under Labor for the extra cost.

Mr Turnbull said by 2019 nine out of 10 Australians will have access to download rates of at least 50mbps and some as much as 100 maps.

But the rollout of the network will not be completed until 2024.

Mr Turnbull said the review found "the NBN is in a fundamentally worse position than the Labor Government at any time disclosed to Parliament or the Australian public".

It also found;

• Three years into the rollout, it is two years behind schedule due to "an unrealistic assessment by key internal and external stakeholders of the complexity and time required to complete the task"

• The current NBN Corporate Plan over-estimates revenues up to 2021 by $13 billion

• Occupants of less than a quarter of established premises "passed'' by the NBN fibre network can order a service and be confident of receiving it in a reasonable and predictable time frame;

• NBN Co's persistent underperformance reflects "a lack of deep internal experience in complex infrastructure, construction projects and project management''

• Key decisions were taken "without appropriate commercial rigour and oversight''

• The company's internal culture is corrosive of performance: "A fear of being blamed for mistakes generated a lack of willingness to accept responsibility in some functional groups''

• NBN Co's previous leadership clung to unachievable Corporate Plan forecasts "notwithstanding clear factual evidence to the contrary''.

news.com.au  12 Dec 2013

Another corporate fraud staring in the face of Australians, in the hands of corrupt politicians, at the expense of the general populous, with not a hint of legal action.

 It seems quite clearly that corporate fraud is the best form of business in Australia, but not everyone is entitled to rip off the public.

Rich kid Ethan Couch who killed four in Texas spared jail by State District Judge Jean Boyd

A TEENAGER who killed four people while driving drunk has been spared jail by a judge who says his rich parents never taught him about consequences. 
 
The Star-Telegram reports that the families of those who died expressed their anger as Ethan Couch, 16, of Keller, Texas, escaped a possible 20-year prison sentence and instead was handed 10 years of probation.

"Money always seems to keep (Couch) out of trouble," Eric Boyles, whose wife and daughter were killed in the June 15 crash, told the Star-Telegram after sentencing.

"Ultimately today, I felt that money did prevail. If (he) had been any other youth, I feel like the circumstances would have been different."

Youth pastor Brian Jennings; mother and daughter Hollie and Shelby Boyles; and 24-year-old Breanna Mitchell died in the June 15 accident.

Go to Breanna Mitchell's memorial Facebook page

Mitchell's car had broken down that night and the Boyles, who lived nearby, came out to help.

Jennings was passing by and stopped to help as well.

 

Crash victim Breanna Mitchell pictured on her Facebook memorial page. Picture: Facebook 

 

Couch had a blood alcohol reading of .24 and also had a Valium in his system after he and a group of friends stole alcohol from Walmart, drank it and then seven of them jumped in his truck.

Couch was 50km/h over the speed limit when he struck and killed the four pedestrians as well as injuring two of his own passengers who remain paralysed.

One of Couch's passengers, Sergio Molina, now communicates by blinking his eyes.

Molina's parents are suing Couch and his family for up to $20 million.

Couch's truck flipped in the air and crashed into a tree, while the impact flung the four pedestrians 50m. None of the teens were wearing seatbelts.

Dr Gary Miller, a psychologist for the defence, said Couch was a product of "affluenza" and that his family felt that money would solve any problem.

 

A judge says Ethan Couch was so spoiled that he never learned that actions have consequences so she spared him jail for killing four people. 

 

He said Couch was intellectually 18 but had an emotional age of 12.

The defence asked that Couch be sent to a private rehabilitation facility in California, which costs $450,000 a year. Couch's father said he'd foot the bill.

The teen will stay in the detention centre until he is booked into the rehabilitation facility.
He was barred from going home with his parents.

State District Judge Jean Boyd said there was nothing she could do to lessen the families' pain and that she hoped Couch could become a contributing member of society.

Hollie Boyles, 52, and her daughter, Shelby Boyles, 21, were helping out the driver of a broken-down SUV when they were struck and killed.

 

Brian Jennings, 41, was killed by Ethan Couch. His family say they have forgiven the teenager but believe he should be punished. 

heraldsun.com.au 12 Dec 2013

A 'deliberately' appalling decision by the judge?

No consequences for killing people because of allegedly bad parenting, being not telling someone the consequences.

This may set a precedence for other 'crimes' such as maybe 'piracy', since parents have not told someone not to download software, then it must be acceptable.

The story would be quite different if it were the family members of the judge.

The policy is to let 'criminals' loose so that they can re-offend and more money is poured into supporting judges, solicitors and lawyers.

The judge should be held responsible and sued if any other criminal act occurs from the person set free.

 

Here is every Christmas present you've ever wanted

IT'S nearly Christmas. 
 

Which means you probably want to unwrap something more awesome than you've ever seen before.

These are 50 presents you'll wish you already had, courtesy of an amazing infographic from the folks at Visual.ly.

50 years 50 Toys | Visual.ly

 news.com.au 9 Dec 2013

In the above graphic 50 YEARS 50 TOYS, on the bottom there the caption reads;

HAPPY HOLIDAYS 2013.

The general populous should be aware of the media spruiked discriminatory terms like;

• Racism(which only refers to Caucasians?)

• Antisemitism,

• Anti -Islam 

but what about Anti-Catholic / Christian slogans, actions or even policies.

The term Happy Holidays refers to the Christmas period that Christian followers worship, where the prime concern is not holidays, but the birth of an Israeli by the name of Jesus Christ.

The message of 'Happy Holidays' is disrespectful to the Christian faith, where if a similar approach was aimed towards the Jewish or Islamic faith then there would be worldwide condemnation.

Creator of the Web Tim Berners-Lee says whistleblowers like Edward Snowden save society from itself

Sir Tim Berners-Lee told reporters that whistleblowers should be protected rather than punished. Source: News Limited

 

FORMER US intelligence contractor Edward Snowden and others like him play an essential role in exposing abuses and should be protected, not punished, the founder of the World Wide Web said today. 

"When checks and balances break down, all society can rely on are the whistleblowers,'' Tim Berners-Lee told reporters, in response to a question on Snowden, who is a fugitive because of the US intelligence files he leaked.

"And because they have been performing this important function of saving society when it is in its most desperate state, therefore we need, I think, to have a form of international recognition for whistleblowers,'' added Berners-Lee.

"I don't think an automatic Nobel prize is necessarily part of that, but some way of generating an amnesty,'' Berners-Lee explained, saying countries should band together to protect those whose leaks "really help humanity and not hurt humanity''.

The files leaked by Snowden have exposed widespread spying by the US National Security Agency and the intelligence services of other countries including Britain, sparking a storm of protest.

Berners-Lee said that checks and balances in the United States and other countries had failed and that it would be "stupid'' to think that reformed systems would be better.

"We must assume that those systems in the future will break down too,'' he said, noting that the importance of whistleblowers would be undiminished.

Berners-Lee conceived the Web almost 25 years ago in his spare time at Geneva-based CERN, Europe's top particle physics lab.

news.com.au 6 December 2013

More to the point also is that the 'whistleblowers' expose the corrupt dealings of governments and corporations, and as a result are hunted down for this action.

The focus is not on the crimes commited by the exposure, but rather the systematic persecution of the whistleblower.

The police are supposed to act on illegal activites irrespective of the source, but instead are run by the corporatocracy to the detriment of society as a whole.

Nobel peace prize should be awarded to whistleblowers and not given to corrupt war mongering politicans or heads of state e.g. Barack Obama (2009), Henry Kissinger (1973), Theodore Roosevelt (1906)

Man jailed for running into 'lollipop lady' while using phone

"It's not an easy job ... but, gee, from the first day I loved it": Sue Parsons back on the job in Elwood. Photo: Michael Clayton-Jones

A senior Westpac Bank finance market specialist who drove into and seriously injured a "lollipop lady" at a school crossing while answering a text message on his phone has been jailed for six months and lost his licence for four years.

Matthew Windle, 35, a former Australian representative ice hockey player, stopped briefly to check on the woman but then drove off to a business meeting before an ambulance or police arrived.

A Melbourne judge said it was a "shocking thing" to take a text message while driving and then "run into a lollipop lady just doing her job, trying to help schoolchildren".

Judge Tony Howard said that "people who drive like this should go to jail", given what the "road trauma warnings tell us day in and day out" about using phones while driving.

He described Windle's moral culpability as high and told him he should – as he expressed in a letter of apology to Susan Parsons and in weeping while giving evidence – "feel a great deal of shame and remorse for what happened".

Ms Parsons, 62, who sustained a broken pelvis, broken ribs and tissue damage on May 10 last year, told Fairfax Media on Monday at the crossing outside Elwood Secondary College that she remained bitter about the incident that "should never have happened".

The grandmother, who has worked in the role for more than 10 years, said it was not an easy job "because you take your life into your hands every time you cross the road".

Windle, who has no prior convictions but voluntarily revealed to Judge Howard that in 2009 he had received an infringement notice for using a phone while driving, had appealed against a six-month jail sentence imposed by a magistrate in March.

He had pleaded guilty to negligently causing serious injury, failing to render assistance after an accident, failing to report to police an injured person, failing to give his name and address to an injured person and using a mobile phone while driving.

Prosecutor Peter Triandos said that about 8.30am on that day Windle had answered the text message and "negligently took his eyes off the road", hitting Ms Parsons, who fell to the ground.

Mr Triandos said Windle had stopped his car, got out to check on her with a number of bystanders who were assisting and, when he asked, was told that neither police nor an ambulance had been called.

Windle then told bystanders he was going to move his car, which he then got into and drove off, Mr Triandos said. A bystander noted his registration number, which led to police interviewing him later that day.

Asked why he had failed to offer assistance, Windle said he had done so "to a certain extent" but admittedly not to his full obligations. "I wasn't acting rationally," he said.

His barrister, George Georgiou, SC, said Windle, a financial market specialist with Westpac, "castigates himself every day" over the seriousness of his conduct, particularly in leaving the scene, which was "very much out-of-character behaviour".

Mr Georgiou told Judge Howard there was no doubt that, if jailed, Windle would lose the job he "enjoys immensely, takes great pride in and works very hard at".

He submitted the conduct had not been accompanied by the usual aggravating factors such as a speed, alcohol or drugs, and that if Windle had not admitted using his phone to police he would not have been charged with that offence.

Windle said in evidence the phone had been in a cup holder in the car's central console when he reached down and tapped the screen to see the message.

Asked by Mr Georgiou how long he had been distracted, Windle said "momentarily ... probably around one second", then he had put the phone back and next came the "impact with Ms Parsons".
He said he immediately stopped, went straight to Ms Parsons, who was on the ground and conscious, asked if she was OK and helped others to get her off the road.

Windle, who recalled that others "reported they were going to call an ambulance", stayed with Ms Parsons for probably two minutes but "it felt a lot longer" before someone said he should move his car.

Asked why he had left the scene, Windle told Judge Howard he could not find a parking spot and "I got scared with everything happening ... fear kicked in and I left the scene".

"I feel absolutely horrible for Mrs Parsons, particularly her family," he said holding back tears. "I feel so terrible for what has happened."

Windle read aloud his letter of apology to Ms Parsons, in which he wrote "not a day goes by" that he does not think of her "great pain" and how sorry and remorseful he feels.

Questioned by Mr Triandos, Windle said that while driving to the meeting after the accident he had received a call from police but had continued to the meeting.

Mr Georgiou argued that the charges did not demand an immediate prison term and that a suspended sentence and a community corrections order were "open", while Mr Triandos submitted that jail of "some type" was warranted, but whether it had to be served was up Judge Howard.

In his decision, Judge Howard acknowledged Windle's scholastic, work and sporting achievements, the support of his family, very good character references and that he was "extremely remorseful".

Judge Howard also noted his early guilty pleas that were "associated with significant, genuine and profound remorse", and that he had volunteered the use of his mobile phone to police, which were all "important and significant mitigating factors".

But he said that the "road trauma message is loud and clear in our community ... [about] the horrible and terrible price we pay for road accidents", which was reflected in Windle's inattention with "tragic results".

Judge Howard considered that a person who chose to respond to a phone or text message "ignorant of an upcoming children's crossing, a lollipop lady in a very bright uniform" had a high degree of moral culpability, notwithstanding Windle's good prospects of rehabilitation.

"A message has to be sent loud and clear to the community," he declared, that in the exercise of general deterrence "if people act in this way they face the prospect of immediate custody", even first-time offenders.

Judge Howard set aside the magistrate's orders and imposed the same penalty, which included a $450 fine for using a mobile phone.

Ms Parsons, who spent four days in hospital and 11 days in rehabilitation before returning to duties four months later, told Fairfax Media she now walked with a limp and faced more physiotherapy in January.

"It's not an easy job," she said, "but, gee, from the first day I loved it."

theage.com.au 2 Dec 2013

Could it be actaully said that the 'law' has got it right?

It must also be noted that a jail sentence does not always mean that, which can sometimes be misreported in the media.

Many times, since there is a 'first offence' the courts lean towards a 'suspended' jail term, which means one does not actually go to prison, as the prison system is overloaded, and judges are encourage not to sentence the offender.

Bill Vlahos tells court he is devastated by disappearance of $194 million from punters' club

Bill Vlahos. Source: News Limited

PROMINENT Melbourne racing identity Bill Vlahos has told a court he is "shocked and devastated" that almost $200 million has disappeared from his punters' club. 

The Herald Sun understands several high-profile members of the club, including former Melbourne Demons president Don McLardy, have lost money in the scheme.

Mr Vlahos, 44, on Friday told a Sydney court he "regularly" checked a joint Westpac account that he opened six years ago with friend and colleague Daniel Maxwell, who now resides in Dubai.

He said the account, which he accessed online, was used as a hub for funds earned through his punting club.

Mr Vlahos told the NSW Supreme Court he had checked the account on Wednesday and could not see any problems with it, before being told the account - which had more than $194 million in it - no longer existed.

"I was shocked and devastated, and I didn't believe it at first, because I've been accessing it from my laptop," he said.

"I'm worried about everyone's funds in the account, including mine, which was a substantial amount. Shocked is an understatement. I'm very upset."

The court was told the account could only be accessed with an ID number and an automated eight-digit code from both Mr Vlahos and Mr Maxwell, that changed upon each login.

It is understood some of the members of the club had more than $1 million invested in the scheme, which claimed to provide returns of more than 25 per cent a year.

There could be several hundred members of the club - including senior people from the AFL, the media, the building industry and retail worlds.

The main 20 members drafted in others, who in turn brought in more members.

Outside the court, Mr Vlahos said he had invested heavily in the punting club and BC3 Thoroughbreds and was yet to pay off a mortgage for a Torquay property.

The revelation of missing funds came after Mr Vlahos, who bought Black Caviar's half-brother and a stake in a horse linked to the Mokbels, told members of his club he was closing the doors following their concern over payment delays.

Mr Vlahos told the Herald Sun last week the members would be paid within two weeks.

But on Friday he told the court he had "no idea" where the money could be.

"I haven't contacted Westpac yet to confirm whether this is true," he said.

"I spoke to (Mr Maxwell) yesterday. I was pretty emotional and angry and asked him to prove the account existed.

"He said he would talk to his contact at the bank and that it did exist, and now I haven't heard from him since.

"I think the next step is going to the police to ascertain what's going on, as well as dealing with Westpac."

It is understood the court case was brought by disgruntled punters club members.

Mr Vlahos will return to court next week.

heraldsun.com.au 6 Dec 2013

Another corporate fraud with millions gone missing.

Will the corrupt legal system let him walk free, as they did with property spruik Eugene Kukuy (aka Henry Kaye?).

Eugene Kukuy bought a placement for his sister Julia Kukuy at Melbourne University, circumventing the official route for studying at the prestigious university.

The term Vlahos in Greek means  peasant.

Smartmeter media reporting ban

In Victoria, Australia in certain circles 'smart meters' are a hot topic with clearly polarised opinions regarding the technology, its health risks, and the privacy issues concerned.

In various other states of Australia, as well as in the United States of America, the implementation is advertised as voluntary, yet in Victoria the claims are that the installation is mandatory.

There has been a certain amount of coverage in the corporate media on the topic of smart meters up to a certain point with some 'misinformation' or rather incomplete reporting.

Australia's corporate media, which is dictated by three families, is a government lap dog conducive to the policies of the day of whichever government is in power, structures reports in such a manner that the reports are given the green light by the higher authorities.

Ever since the advent of 'people power' via the internet and more so with 'reporting' of facts or occurrences in raw format without being edited by the media, there can be another more realistic point of view being put across.

This is definitely the case via storage repositories like YouTube, where people can upload videos.

Information has been obtained by corpau with regards to the topic of smart meters where the  corporate media has been instructed not to report on this matter or interview certain people who have the ability to expose the fraud of smart meter installation.

Melbourne radio station 3AW was to interview a person who removed a smart meter from their property, as was a prominent newspaper publication.

The newspaper publication withdrew with the excuse there was no funding to interview the defiant citizen, but immediately went to take photos of Rihanna at a Melbourne café.

A prominent Melbourne barrister was banned from taking 'smart meter' cases.

Victoria's Minister for Energy and Resources, Nicholas Kotsiras has received, numerous letters from various sources which have been responded to via a template, providing false or rather misleading information. 

Nicholas Kotsiras should be sacked from his position never to work again.

In a nutshell over 2 Million Victorians have been duped (even 'forced') into the installation of smart meters.

It is very doubtful if any class action lawsuit will ever see the light of day in the corrupt 'Anglo-Masonic' legal system.

See other articles relating to smart meters:

Smart Meters - The corporate media lies

http://corpau.blogspot.com.au/2013/11/smart-meters-corporate-media-lies.html


See also youtube videos:

The return of the Silent Killer...The "DUMB" Meter
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WlafIZjywTI

Powercor Smart Meter Spikes off Scale!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=28jf7MCUYVk

Telstra's data 'vacuum'

• Forget the needle, take the haystack

Australia's leading telecommunications company, Telstra, has installed highly advanced surveillance systems to "vacuum" the telephone calls, texts, social media messages and internet metadata of millions of Australians so that information can be filtered and given to intelligence and law enforcement agencies.

The Australian government's electronic espionage agency, the Australian Signals Directorate, is using the same technology to harvest data flows carried by undersea fibre-optic cables in and out of Australia.

Confidential documents obtained by Fairfax Media reveal the secret technology used to trawl Australians' telecommunications and internet data for analysis by ASIO, the ASD and law enforcement agencies.

 

All Australian telecommunications and internet service providers by law must maintain interception and data-collection capabilities for government.

The leaked documents reveal that a little-known Melbourne-based company is a key provider of the secret monitoring technology.

Telstra is 'vacuuming up' data from the telephone calls of Australian users. Photo: Rob Homer 

Newgen Systems, owned and managed by local telecommunications engineer Robert Perin, is the sole Australian supplier for Gigamon, a large Silicon Valley-based information technology firm that specialises in what it terms "network traffic visibility solutions''.

Gigamon's hardware enables telecommunications and IT network administrators to track, inspect and analyse all data flows undetected without affecting the performance of networks.

A key application of the technology is interception of telecommunications and internet data.

In the words of a former Newgen employee, "Gigamon's systems are designed to find not just a needle in a haystack, but bits of needles in many haystacks. We do that by taking all the hay, all the time. We take everything."

Confidential Newgen documents describe the Gigamon technology as "a vacuum cleaner" that "sucks up unsynchronised and disaggregated data, filters and sorts it to re-create the original puzzle".

Established in mid-2006, Newgen - now based in Hawthorn - targeted major telecommunications companies and internet service providers, as well as the ASD and ASIO, as potential customers.

Telstra quickly emerged as Newgen's main customer with the first sales of Gigamon hardware occurring in early 2007. Although Telstra has bought a variety of Gigamon systems, a key purpose is "lawful interception" to provide data to ASIO, the Australian Federal Police and state law enforcement agencies.

In April 2010, Newgen submitted a proposal to Telstra's "special projects" group for the installation of Gigamon hardware at 24 metropolitan locations around Australia to meet "a government-mandated regulatory requirement" for interception coverage as Telstra upgraded its network.

An initial rollout of Gigamon systems for Telstra's top 10 exchanges was costed at $2.7 million, and Telstra's purchases from Newgen in 2010 were worth more than $3.5 million.

Newgen's first sales to the Defence Department were in 2008 and now total more than $3 million. Gigamon hardware has been acquired by the Defence Intelligence and Security Group, which includes the top-secret ASD, and by the Defence Materiel Organisation's electronic warfare branch.

The Defence Department's purchases include GigaVUE "traffic visibility nodes" - the standard building block for network monitoring - as well as GigaSMART technology, which modifies captured data, for example by screening out certain types of identity, financial or medical information.

The leaked Newgen documents show that the company provided briefings on new Gigamon hardware to ASD personnel in March 2011, after which Defence purchases increased significantly.

Mr Perin told Fairfax Media that Defence officials "asked a lot of questions [about Gigamon technology] but wouldn't say how or where they are applying it".

Newgen's efforts to win business from Defence intelligence were supported by a partnership with New Zealand company Endace, a leading provider of advanced fibre-optic probes and network recording technology. The Defence Department began buying Endace products in 2008.

Newgen's consultations with the ASD canvassed combining Gigamon and Endace systems with analytical software from Californian software company Splunk in a "technology stack" to produce "real time … intelligence".

Splunk software is used by the US National Security Agency and Britain's Government Communications Headquarters and enables organisations to analyse "massive streams of machine data generated by websites, applications, servers, networks, mobile and other devices".
 
Australian Defence intelligence has been buying Splunk software since at least 2009.

A Telstra spokesperson said the company was ''required to provide reasonable assistance to law enforcement and national security agencies in response to lawful requests from these agencies … we only disclose information to these agencies when we are legally required or authorised to do so."

theage.com.au 6 Dec 2013

All part of the 'police state' policy.

Another covert operation was carried out in Collins St, Melbourne in partnership with the Israeli company AMDOCS to send all data overseas, as is the case in the U.S.

The statement by Telstra " when we are legally required or authorised to do so " is basically false information given to the masses. There is no mandate to provide accurate information, nor is there any 'law' that  charges a company that provides false information.

Telstra is factually involved in illegal activities namely fraud and theft, which are supported by the 'authorities'.

Taxi driver jailed for raping drunk and drugged 17-year-old student

A TAXI driver who raped a drunk and drugged 17-year-old student after being paid $50 to get her home safely has been jailed. 

The girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was so impaired when she was helped in the taxi, driver Nittin Rana had to help sit up in her seat and fasten her seatbelt.

Instead of driving the VCE student home Rana, 30, started to kiss her and remove her clothing as she sat slumped in the passenger seat.

He then raped her and forced her to have oral sex.

Jailing Rana for six years today, County Court Judge Wendy Wilmouth said the public deserved to feel safe in taxis.

"Parents should be able to trust that their teenage children will be safe in taxis," she said.

"This girl's safety was entrusted to you when the people who helped her gave you the money for her fare, to take her safely home.

"Instead you violated that trust when you raped her."

The court heard the girl had been drinking heavily and had taken two months' worth of anti-depressants in an attempt to end her life before the November 2012 attack.

She was spotted by a group of four good Samaritans in Melbourne's eastern suburbs who tried to help her.
They hailed Rana's cab and paid him $50 to take her home.

CCTV footage from security cameras installed inside the taxi captured the attack.

Rana was arrested two days later and has been held in custody since.

The court heard he migrated from India in 2008 and had been driving taxis to support himself while studying.
He had planned to return to his middle-class family in India and has no prior convictions.

Judge Wilmouth said the attack had left Rana's victim unable to get her life back on track and had worsened depression and anxiety.

It also derailed her final year of school and has put her chances of qualifying for university in doubt, she said.

Rana, whose temporary resident visa expired in September, must serve a non-parole period of four years.

He has been placed on the sex offenders' register for 15 years and is facing deportation on release.

He has also been ordered to provide police with a DNA sample.

heraldsun.com.au  6 Dec 2013

Another incident of a trailer park trash Indian migrant coming to Australia, under a government sponsored 'study' scheme to assault the children of the masses.

He should be deported immediately, but will not as it is all about the 'business'.

Indian migrants are attacking Australian women in far greater numbers than reported by the media.

Changing of the guard - Police State

Colours play an important role in the corporate world, a fact that is so important in today's society that it is no longer a myth or a hit and miss arena, but rather a studied science.

From the fast food industry, supermarket brands, labeling, corporate logos to law enforcement, colours play an important part of how the brain processes the information as to what stimuli are effected, and therefore how the person reacts.

In the fast food industry, the colours red and yellow are key colours to entice people to feel hungry and purchase the (carcinogenic) 'junk food', e.g. McDonald's, Hungry Jacks/Burger King, etc.

In the corporate arena, the colour blue is symbolic of power, authority and might, and there is no better example than the 'Big Blue' referred to as IBM. On a local scale, BHP Australia's mining giant's old logo had two shades of blue.

The city's parking inspectors are referred to as 'grey ghosts' referring to the colour of their uniform, which was chosen to blend in with the concrete jungle.

In Australia, the police have been dressed in a light blue shirt, in line with signifying 'authority', but those days are coming to an end, with a significant change in policy to suite.

A change in colours / logos always denotes a change in policy.

(Photo: Victoria Police, with inset of New York police officer's uniform dark blue.)

What the police are and what they are supposed to be are two different matters.

The police are supposed to be 'public servants', but factually are business units working for corporations and NOT in the interest of public safety.

This is a fact the the government lap dog, the corporate media does not report on.

A list of police ABN's (Australian Business Number's) can be found here:

http://corpau.blogspot.com.au/2013/09/australian-police-check-abns.html

As part of the 'global' community and a new global order, Australia must be in line with its big brother, the United States of America.

One of the largest threats to ANY government is not an external threat, but rather an internal one i.e. its own people. The people can be seen as an enemy of the state, especially if they are in an awakened state to government oppression and corruption.

It is therefore a primary objective of any government to keep the herd population submissive, and various ways are used to achieve this objective.

The corporate media plays an important role as does sport, religion and law all in the name to keep the herd population submissive falling on the policy enforcers, the police.

The mainland of Australia's eastern sea board states of Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria have the most population, and each of the states are referred to locally by some as the 'police (or nanny) state'.

The Victorian police 'force' is taking the uniform from the light blue to a much darker blue, closer to a black, signifying the next stage of the 'police state'.

(Picture: the CEO of Victoria Police, Ken Lay - 'Lay' down the Law)

This is of course done gradually without much media attention or scrutiny as the objective is not to draw attention to the matter.

The so called media propaganda 'democratic society' that we allegedly live in, is long gone, with the rise of the police state, dictated by the fascist corporatocracy.

Welcome to the next stage of the police state of Victoria.