29 May 2013

Girl, 13, was rude, but she's not the bully


Andrew Demetriou,  Adam Goodes


Read more Andrew Bolt on his blog



I DETEST racists. But the monstering of the Collingwood fan who shouted at Sydney footballer Adam Goodes is shameful. 

 
She is just a 13-year-old who was at the football with her nan. She wasn't happy.

Collingwood was being thrashed and when the bearded Goodes took another possession in front of her, she shouted "ape".

This is very rude. I wonder at her parents. It's also possibly racist, though she insisted she didn't mean it that way. Whatever, she needed a talking-to.

Goodes heard the abuse, and pointed her out to security. A bit over the top, since she's so young, but Goodes has Aboriginal ancestry and no doubt understandably feels such insults more keenly than I think reasonable.

Still, he's widely admired, has been showered with almost every prize in footy, and was playing in the Indigenous Round honouring players of his background. What should one girl's abuse matter against all that?

Well, to Goodes it was so "shattering" the game itself "means nothing". No one in the TV commentary team, the police or the AFL seems to have dared treat it as any less catastrophic, no doubt for fear of seeming racist themselves.

I suspect the Indigenous Round also encouraged them to see the girl as a white racist caricature instead of just one very young teenager. So security marched her off, without even her Nan for support, as national TV beamed her face around the country.

Police then grilled her for nearly two hours - two hours! - even though she was immediately repentant. Bravely, she offered to apologise personally to Goodes.

Now get this: police then asked Goodes if he wanted to press charges. Press charges? Against a 13-year-old who was clearly sorry and scared for what she'd unthinkingly blurted out?
Are people insane?

Goodes, at least, drew the line at that. But still it wasn't over. Goodes and AFL chief Andrew Demetriou held a media conference next day at which Goodes declared: "Racism has a face. It's a 13-year-old girl."
Seriously? Goodes even said he felt like he was being bullied at school.

Excuse me, but in this confrontation - with Goodes, police, the media, the social media and the AFL on one side, and a 13-year-old girl on the other - it wasn't the girl who seemed the bully.

Perhaps Goodes realised, because he added: "She's 13, she's still so innocent. I don't put any blame on her."
No? Then why this public shaming?

Only later did Goodes take a call from the girl, who told him she was sorry. By then, the TV stations were rowing back a bit.

Replays of the incident belatedly blurred the girl's face, though she's since been named, and Channel 10 interviewed her saying how ashamed she was.

To repeat: This girl is only 13. This bullying of her is a scandal.

heraldsun.com.au 27 May 2013

The corporate media labelled a 13 year old girl who used the word 'ape' as racist.

The word 'ape' is used to describe a persons mental capacity, and has NOTHING to do with race, colour or creed.

The football world is not regarded for its mental prowess, and rightly so, as the Neanderthal sport of kicking a ball around a field does not require complex mathematical or linguistic skills, but rather short grunts that other team members are tuned in to.

Another lie spread by the corporate media.

The corporate media labelled a young New Zealand IT consultant as a 'hacker', when factually he was not 'hacking' into anything.

See Article:

The fly-by, Wi-Fi hacking machine

The fly-by, Wi-Fi hacking machine

There's something unusual about the motorcycle Denis Andzakovic likes to ride.

In addition to being able to transport Andzakovic, 22, from A to B, it can also allow him and others to "terrorise their neighbours" by scanning for Wi-Fi access points as it passes them.

Kitted out with a miniature Raspberry Pi computer for a heads-up display (HUD) integrated in an external helmet, two Mikrotik routers, wireless sniffing and attack tools, GPS and a netbook, the motorcycle is able to detect wireless access points and plot them on Google Maps.


It can also wreak havoc by kicking users off Wi-Fi networks on the fly by sending out what's called "deauthentication packets". When Andzakovic gets home he can then attempt to crack the security of protected access points using data collected while passing them.

A New Zealand IT security consultant and motorcycle enthusiast, Andzakovic showed off his custom Suzuki Boulevard M50 on Thursday at the AusCERT security conference on the Gold Coast.

Speaking with Fairfax Media after his talk, Andzakovic said he got into the security industry about a year ago and has been "chopping up and building bikes" since he was about 15.

"My older brother rode a motorcycle so it was something I was always interested in," he said.

"I didn't really have the cash to buy one outright so I ended up building my first bike and that's how I got into the whole mechanics and automotive side of things," he added.

When asked why he built the bike, he said he did it because it "seemed like a good idea".

I suppose for the day-to-day stuff [at work] we really needed something that was like a Wi-Fi review platform that we could go and use when we're doing wireless network penetration testing and things like that," Andzakovic said. "Part of me just wanted to combine the two things that I do, and really enjoy doing, that have absolutely nothing to do with each other, and find a way to go and make them go and talk to each other," he added.

While riding, recently passed Wi-Fi access points are shown on the top left of the head-mounted display, with the colours yellow, green or red indicating what type of security they are using. The centre of the display shows a constantly updating bar graph that presents information on the amount of packets and data transmitted between the access points and the bike.

"So when you ride through a Wi-Fi-dense area you get all these pretty colours," Andzakovic said.

After AusCERT helped ship his bike to Australia, he rode it around the Gold Coast to see how secure local Wi-Fi was.

He found 26.91 per cent of wireless access points he surveyed on the Gold Coast had no Wi-Fi security at all, which he partly put down to hotel Wi-Fi, which is usually left open for ease of use.

A further 6.13 per cent used a form of WEP encryption, which has been found to be easily cracked. The rest, 66.98 per cent, used a form of WPA security, which is generally considered fairly secure if a complex password is used.

(Photos: Denis Andzakovic)
 

 smh.com.au 24 May 2013

Another blatant lie perpetuated by the corporate media.

Since technology is a very dynamic environment, new terminology is constantly being added to the English vocabulary.

What Mr. Andzakovic is doing is actually war driving and NOT hacking.

See wikipedia article which was first described in 2004

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wardriving

This fact should be well known to a Deputy technology editor of a corporate media outlet.

By the same token Google should have been in the print media as 'hacking', while they were taking photos of the suburban streets for Google Street View.

Here are some comments from Sydney Morning Herald readers:

It isnt hacking. Every device with inbuilt wifi does exactly the same kind of survey for access points on a schedule to show you which access points are nearby. Most do this whether you have the wifi connection program open or not
If that was the definition of hacking, the courts would be very busy.
Just a quick summary:
Accessing open networks without security isnt illegal.
Capturing packets from secured networks for later decryption isnt illegal either.
Decrypting captured packets from secured networks isnt illegal either.
Using the decrypted password and then connecting to the secured network is illegal.
Commenter
stylemessiah Location Date and time May 24, 2013, 6:58PM
 
Hasn't Hollywood taught you anything?
Anything that involves either a command line interface, or purely text output, is hacking, and EVIIIIIIIIL!

But I agree, the term "Hacking" is used purely to grab attention and clicks on the headline, rather than being accurate in even the most basic sense of the word. Once again, Fairfax shows their quality of reporting. "Dont let the truth get in the way of a good story".
Commenter MrDamage Location  Date and time May 25, 2013, 1:13PM

Staff at Aegis Australia call centre in Werribee had pay cut for toilet breaks


 Clock

A MELBOURNE business once awarded a best employer accolade is in strife after deducting wages from staff members for toilet breaks. 

At least three employees at an Aegis Australia call centre in Werribee had money taken from their pay for the amount of time they spent in the loo during their shift.

Staff at the outsourcing and contact centre company are required to explain if they are away from their desk for more than 90 seconds.

On returning to their computer after this time, they are sent an electronic alert prompting for exceptions to be made.

The employees are able to make up the time at the end of their shift.

Staff had reportedly threatened to report the matter to the Fair Work Ombudsman.

After the Herald Sun contacted the company, its chief executive, Andrew Hume, said the "minimal monies" deducted would be paid back to the concerned employees.

"Aegis call centre employees have scheduled start, break, lunch and finish times, which are managed through an electronic time and attendance system," Mr Hume said.

"If an employee is absent from their rostered schedule, they are sent an electronic alert updating them to the amendment and prompting for exceptions to be made.

"After detailed review, three instances were identified where the process had failed and time deductions were made that were incorrect against standard operating procedures.

"We have reinforced the process to ensure 100 per cent compliance.

"The concerned employees have each been spoken to and the minimal monies owed will be paid in the next pay cycle."

Aegis was recognised as an AON Hewitt Best Employer in 2011.

The Werribee centre employs more than 260 people.

news.com.au 27 May 2013

Slave labour originating from corporations, supported by governments.

These people (numbers) have nowhere to go, for legal action against the Goliaths.

Homeowners give up their properties without knowing


 House

THE South Australian Government will move to clear up laws which can lead to homeowners giving up rights to their property when they sign home improvement contracts. 

The changes were prompted by cases reported last year in which homeowners who signed rent-to-buy contracts for solar panels ended up with a caveat on their home.

A caveat is a legal "stop notice'' which can prevent the homeowner from selling, renovating or securing a loan against their home without first clearing the debt laid out in the contract.

In the solar panel cases, the homeowners were not made aware of a charging clause in the contract which would allow the supplier to lodge a caveat on their property.

Business Services and Consumers Minister John Rau said the current "complicated and confusing'' laws meant homeowners could be misled or duped into giving up their property rights.

Mr Rau will introduce legislation to Parliament next month which will require any charging clause to be signed and witnessed separately from the rest of the contract.

Law Society of SA president John White welcomed the "sensible'' amendments.

Tindall Gask Bentley commercial lawyer Giles Kahl said charging clauses were often "buried in fine print''.
"For most people it never becomes an issue . . . (but) it can cause a lot of trouble if you're not in a position to pay out the contract,'' he said.

news.com.au 28 May 2013

Australia's legal system has been set up by the Anglo-Masonic forefathers for the benefit of the masonic brethren.

This includes a system where the masses are being stripped of their savings at every corner, where they have to call on legal 'experts' who are part of the brotherhood.

Australia is truly a prison isle.

THE majority of people on Earth people will face severe water shortages within a generation or two if pollution and waste continues unabated, scientists have warned at a conference in Bonn. 

Greenland ice melt 

(Surface melt water runs along the Greenland Ice Sheet. Of all the world's fresh water, 70 per cent is locked up in ice and permanent snow cover. Picture: Ian Joughin Source: AP)
 
"This handicap will be self-inflicted and is, we believe entirely avoidable," read a document entitled The Bonn Declaration issued at the close of the four-day international huddle.

The conference sought to assess the evidence of Man's impact on fresh water resources, which constitute only 2.5 per cent of the total volume of water on Earth.

Currently, an estimated third of the world's seven million people has limited access to adequate fresh water, according to conference delegates.

"In the short span of one or two generations, the majority of the nine billion people on Earth will be living under the handicap of severe pressure on fresh water," said the declaration.

The nine billion mark is widely projected to be reached from about 2040.

"We are flying the red flag out of our conference here," Charles Vorosmarty, co-chairman of the Global Water System Project research body that hosted the meeting, said in a teleconference from Bonn.

"These self-inflicted wounds have long-term legacy effects that are not easy to turn around."

The declaration points out that humanity uses an area the size of South America to grow crops and another the size of Africa to raise livestock.

Two-thirds of major river deltas are sinking due to groundwater extraction, and tens of thousands of large dams are distorting natural river flows on which ecosystems have depended for millennia.

Much damage is being done by river pollution from sewer drainage or agricultural fertiliser and pesticide use.
Already, about a billion people around the world are dependent on finite water supplies being depleted at a fast rate, said Vorosmarty, who made a plea for more financial and technical resources for research.

"We're not making the requisite commitments to creating observational networks and satellite systems that can measure the state of water," he said.

"Increasingly, we are flying blind and finding it very difficult to figure where we are and where we're going and whether the things we are doing are making a difference."

UN-Water, a coordinating body for water efforts by UN groups, says Earth has about 35 million cubic kilometres of fresh water - 70 per cent of it locked up in ice and permanent snow cover.

Thirty per cent of freshwater is stored underground in groundwater, which constitutes 97 per cent of all freshwater potentially available for human use.

About 0.3 per cent is found in lakes and rivers.

Experts say some 3800 cubic kilometres of fresh water are extracted from aquatic ecosystems around the world each year, partly as a result of global warming.

heraldsun.com.au 25 May 2013

Baillieu in 'secret, sweetheart' deal


 Baillieu in secret, sweetheart deal

7News can reveal details of a secret deal between Denis Napthine and Ted Baillieu that has allowed the former Premier to keep one of his lucrative perks.

The former Liberal leader is being chauffeured around in his former Premier's car with a full-time driver, at a cost of $100,000 to Victorian taxpayers.

7News filmed Mr Baillieu being picked up from his luxury Hawthorn home and being driven the short distance to Parliament House in Melbourne's CBD.

This is a perk reserved only for the current Premier Denis Napthine and his ministers, not backbenchers, which Mr Baillieu now is.

Sources have told 7News a 'secret sweetheart deal' was done between Denis Napthine and Mr Baillieu at the height of the leadership crisis earlier this year.

7News understands Mr Baillieu was told that if he was to go quietly he could keep the car and the driver.
The Victorian public was not told about the deal, nor were senior staff from within the Department of Premier and Cabinet.

When Premier, Ted Baillieu continued to back the troubled member for Frankston Geoff Shaw after he was caught using his vehicle for private purposes.

Today, the State Government admitted keeping the deal a secret from the Victorian public, but said Mr Baillieu, one of the richest men in the state, can continue to be chauffeured around town at taxpayers' expense.

7news.com.au 28 May 2013

Corruption and fraud at the highest level of politics, at the expense of the plebs.

The richest and most powerful men are literally untouchable by the corrupt Anglo-Masonic legal system.

28 May 2013

Teen invents 20-second mobile phone charger... sort of


 Eesha Khare
AN 18-year-old girl has invented a super-capacitor that could one day charge your phone in less than 20 seconds. 

And she has just been awarded $50,000 for her discovery.

Eesha Khare, from California, was awarded the Young Scientist Award by the Intel Foundation after developing tiny device that fits inside mobile phone batteries, allowing them to charge within 20-30 seconds.
The device can last up to 10,000 charge-recharge cycles. (Rechargable batteries can only be recharged about 1000 times).

Unfortunately the gadget has so far only been tested on an LED light, but the good news is it worked just as it was supposed to, meaning it has a good chances of working succesfully in other devices, like your mobile phone, too.

Khare told NBC that she was inspired to create a practical solution after growing frustrated that her mobile phone battery kept dying.

So, on a scale of one to incompetent how inferior do you feel right now?

news.com.au 20 May 2013

A brilliant effort, with congratulations to Eesha Khare!

No one from the corporate world could invent something like this, or is there another agenda?

Currently from one of Australia's apparently leading retailers an Apple iPhone5 car charger, i.e. one that plugs into a 12V socket, with an output of 2.1Amps and a 'Lightning' cable retails for AU$39, which is incidentally made in China.

A blatant rip off.

An item of similar specifications is  available for $6 online.

26 May 2013

Top firms' tax haven links revealed

Almost two-thirds of Australia’s top 100 companies listed on the stock exchange have subsidiaries in tax havens or low-tax jurisdictions, a new report shows.

Thirteen of the top 20 companies,  including two of the big four banks, have entities in well-known tax havens such as the Cayman Islands, Luxembourg, the British Virgin Islands and Bermuda.

A Uniting Church report, Secrecy Jurisdictions, the ASX100 and Public Transparency, reveals 61 of the top 100 companies held subsidiaries in ‘‘secrecy jurisdictions’’ as of April 2011 that have been targeted by tax authorities for sheltering companies dodging tax.

News Corporation, Westfield and the Goodman Group were among the worst offenders, the group said, holding more than 50 entities in low-tax jurisdictions each.

The report shows that while many of the companies may do legitimate business in low-tax jurisdictions such as Hong Kong and Singapore, many subsidiaries exist with little evidence of commercial activity.

A subsidiary owned by the Commonwealth Bank called Burdekin Investments can be traced to Ugland House, a resort-style office building in George Town, the capital of Caribbean tax haven the Cayman Islands.

The building has become known for housing thousands of post-box companies that exist simply to take advantage of local tax rules. A spokesman for the bank said it was looking to close down the entity and would not explain what it did or whether it had any employees.

The report shows 10  ASX 100 corporations have subsidiaries in Jersey, making it one of the most popular locations for offshore entities among Australian companies, after Hong Kong and Singapore.

The Cayman Islands, Luxembourg, Switzerland and Ber- muda were also popular destinations, with many companies owning multiple entities in each.

“These are places that fail to meet international standards on transparency, on anti-money-laundering laws, and on tax law co-operation,’’ said Mark Zirnsak, the director of the church’s Justice and International Mission Unit and author of the report.

“Companies should be willing to be transparent and public about why these subsidiaries are in these locations given the concerns around inadequate regulation.’’

Mr Zirnsak  said the report came at a crucial time for the federal government, which was struggling to fund essential services without making cuts.

The report comes amid a global crackdown on the elaborate tax minimisation strategies of Apple and Google. This week, a US Senate inquiry exposed the elaborate corporate operating structure of Apple, which used subsidiaries in Ireland and Singapore to minimise its tax.

According to its 2012 annual report, Telstra controls 20 subsidiaries registered in well-known tax havens – 11 in the British Virgin Islands, four in Bermuda, four in Jersey, one in Mauritius and one in the Cayman Islands.

The company defended itscorporate structure, with a spokesman telling Fairfax Media: "Some of the subsidiaries are operating entities, others are companies holding investments in other companies, some are dormant and some are being liquidated.

''We pride ourselves on operating to the highest standards of corporate governance and on creating significant social value, through employment, investment and business activities."

The report also shows News Corporation has more than 70 subsidiaries across the Cayman Islands, British Virgin Islands, Luxembourg and Mauritius. The company is registered in the US state of Delaware, which has attracted its own criticism for sheltering post-box companies taking advantage of the state's soft tax rules.
Fairfax Media, owner of The Age, has two subsidiaries based in Singapore, and has closed a third that was based in Hong Kong.

The heavy use of offshore units by banks, particularly Macquarie, to minimise tax, has led the federal government to clamp down on the practice in the recent budget.

''If we see gaping holes in our laws then we need to do our best to legislate to close them,'' Assistant Treasurer David Bradbury said this week.

Mr Zirnsak said the report was likely to be a ''significant underestimate'' of the number of subsidiaries in secrecy jurisdictions.

 theage.com.au 25 May 2013

These 'tax havens' have been known to the authorities for decades, as they have been set up by governments for the corporate elite to take advantage of.

AS stated by the article, these 'offenders' which News Corp is a notorious one, will now be bought to justice?

An offender is one who breaks the law.

There is clearly one law for the plebs and one for the brethren.

Police brutality caught on candid video

Quite simply put, the police 'force' has been caught out in a brutal attack on a compliant civilian, following an alleged 'violent brawl' in a western suburb of Sydney.

The entire article appears as follows by ninemsn.com.au

Police investigate arrests in Western Sydney park

Dramatic footage has emerged allegedly showing NSW Police officers punching and kneeing two men who appear to offer no resistance as they are arrested in a western Sydney park.

The incident occurred on the evening of May 4 at Biggle Park in Liverpool after police responded to reports of a "violent brawl", a NSW Police spokeswoman said.

The video, which was posted online on Monday, shows a police vehicle arrive at the park before an officer throws a man to the ground.

As the officer attempts to handcuff the suspect another cop arrives and repeatedly punches and knees the man laying face down on the ground.

Moments later a man walking through the park is confronted by a charging police officer.

The suspect falls to his knees as the cop approaches but the officer still pushes him to the grass before dropping his own knee onto the man's back.

The video now forms part of an internal police investigation.

"Police were called to Biggle Park at Liverpool on May 4 this year, following numerous reports of a violent brawl," a NSW Police spokeswoman said.

"The arrests now form part of an internal investigation and further comment is inappropriate."

ninemsn.com.au 24 May 2013

Once video footage is shown, there are no allegations, as the video is used as evidence showing how a police officer assaults a compliant and kneeling citizen.

What the police officer was unaware of is the video footage of him was taken.

Now since this was an assault, the police in due course are able to interview the officer and charge him of the relevant criminal offences he committed.

If this is not carried out in the proper manner, it is quite evident that the police together with the law they 'uphold' are corrupt to the core.