Sat May 19 04:28:08 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: http://au.news.yahoo.com/070519/2/13icn.html Saturday May 19, 03:47 PM Water shortages threaten power supply Australia's eastern seaboard faces electricity brownouts because coal-fired power stations are running out of water, the Greens say. Greens leader Bob Brown said 30 per cent of the eastern seaboard's energy need could be met with better efficiencies and renewable energies that don't require water. "What we are seeing here is that the very core of the climate change problem, burning coal, is now being hit itself by climate change," Senator Brown said. "It requires huge amounts of water, and yet both Labor and Liberal want to export more coal, and burn more coal in this country." NSW Greens MP John Kaye said the Iemma government should abandon any idea of building another coal-fired power station, after it last week commissioned an inquiry into the construction of a new plant. Meanwhile, dwindling dam levels are threatening power supplies. Some energy experts believe NSW will face power brownouts next year, because its main emergency generator, the water-powered turbines of the Snowy Hydro, may have to sit idle as dams drop to record lows. The NSW government is apparently contemplating how it can guarantee baseload capacity, without privatising the rest of the electricity industry. Dr Kaye said renewable energy technologies and energy efficiency can continue to operate through droughts and reduce the risks of brownouts. "NSW and the eastern seaboard of Australia faces brownouts, largely because many of the state's coal-fired power stations are running out of water," he said in a statement. "Building another coal burner would only increase our vulnerability to droughts and increase the risk of electricity brownouts because of water shortages." Wind generation, solar photovoltaic panels and energy efficiency take almost no water to operate. Hot rocks geothermal, biomass and solar thermal use some water but can be designed to be less thirsty than coal. Labor's environment spokesman Peter Garrett said the possibility of brownouts indicated how unprepared Australia was for the impact of climate change. "We will see an intensification of droughts and an intensity in terms of increasing periods of hot weather, increasing periods of weather where there is not much rain as a consequence of failing to address climate change," he told reporters in Sydney. *** Sat May 19 19:13:00 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Man charged over alleged aggravated robbery, due in court today — Sydney 19 May 2007 Police from The Rocks Local Area Command have charged a man over an alleged aggravated robbery at an inner-city store yesterday. Two men entered a health food store on King Street about 4.15pm and approached the front counter. It is alleged that during the incident a female employee was thrown to the ground, while a second employee was forced to open the safe. The two men, who allegedly claimed they were carrying a firearm, then left the store with a sum of cash. An Australian Federal Police officer witnessed the incident and followed two men into a shopping centre on Castlereagh Street. The officer detained a 27-year-old man until the arrival of NSW Police Force officers from The Rocks Local Area Command (LAC). The Miller man was arrested and taken to The Rocks Police Station where he was charged with robbery in company and bail refused to appear in Parramatta Bail Court today. Police from The Rocks LAC are continuing their inquiries into the incident. *** Sat May 19 19:19:56 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Early NS enlistment for some youth offenders By Tracy Sua May 19, 2007 The Straits Times SOME youths aged between 16 and 18 and likely to get into trouble with the law are being packed off to National Service a little earlier than usual. Between 10 and 15 such boys have been referred by the year-old Community Court to the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) for enlistment. Community Court Judge Bala Reddy said these boys are not in school or may have dropped out of school. They are also not working, so 'the problem arises because they have nothing to do and are just idling'. Getting them enlisted earlier would therefore bring 'some form of discipline into their lives at an early stage', he added. He shared this idea with a group of visiting judges at the Regional Judicial Symposium held here last month. The Community Court, set up to deal with cases involving youth, the mentally disabled and family violence, among other issues of community interest, had approached the Ministry of Defence (Mindef) to ask that it consider its referrals for early enlistment. Court spokesman Seeto Wei Peng told The Straits Times that youths who are required to be electronically tagged have the tag removed if they are enlisted early. This is because being a military recruit already entails staying put in camp, at least in the initial stages, and having their movements restricted. Offenders who have been ordered to stay in a hostel meant for youth probationers may also have their hostel term shortened in lieu of early enlistment. Mindef's public affairs director Colonel Benedict Lim said that under the Enlistment Act, the majority of male Singaporeans and permanent residents are conscripted from age 18. But the Voluntary Early Enlistment Scheme (Vees) will take in boys who are over 16, subject to their being medically and physically fit, and their parents' consent for early enlistment. Youths referred to the SAF by the Community Court also come under Vees. They are accepted for enlistment, provided they meet the same criteria. Once the army fatigues go on, early enlistees are treated no differently from other full-time national servicemen, said Col Lim. On average, less than 2 per cent of those who enlist each year did so under Vees, he noted. The first publicised case of early enlistment concerned a 17-year-old computer game addict who was caught tapping illegally into his neighbours' unsecured wireless Internet connection to get his 'fix' after his parents cut off his Internet access to stop him from gaming. Judge Reddy ordered that he be banned from using the Internet during his 18-month probation and serve nine months in a hostel. He also had to do 80 hours of community service. The judge said that if he was accepted as an early enlistee, he would not have to serve his remaining term at the hostel. Court referral cases like this one mostly involve youth considered for probation. Those with more serious offences and judged by the court to need reformative training are not offered early enlistment. Sometimes, it is the offenders' parents who want them enlisted early. In these cases, probation officers work closely with SAF camp commanders to address their 'offending behaviour'. tracysua@sph.com.sg *** Sat May 19 19:34:55 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: The Electric New Paper : Blank screen, then $1,000 goes missing Man suspects cash taken by person queuing behind him WHEN he stepped up to the ATM on 21 Feb, he faced a blank screen. By Ho Lian-Yi 20 May 2007 WHEN he stepped up to the ATM on 21 Feb, he faced a blank screen. Yet Mr Mohammad Nazmul Hoque Khan proceed to slot in his card and key in his PIN, expecting the screen to come alive. But the screen remained blank, so the 26-year-old Bangladeshi cancelled the transaction. Or so he thought. When he returned from lunch half an hour later, the ATM screen - now working - showed that $1,000 had disappeared from his account. 'How come, without my permission, $1,000 is gone? I never thought that could happen with an ATM,' the field engineer said. 'I thought, was this my mobile phone bill or income tax or some automated billing I missed?' The incident occurred at the TechLink Building POSB ATM where he usually makes his transactions. The building, at Kaki Bukit, is near his workplace. The screen had been wonky for two to three weeks before the incident, he said, but he and his colleagues had continued using it. The menu had always appeared after a PIN was entered. SAME ATM He still uses the same ATM once or twice a week. Mr Nazmul, a work-permit holder living in Singapore since last November, quickly called the bank to find out what happened. He said the bank told him that there had been a fast-cash transaction of $1,000. 'But I didn't withdraw any cash,' he said, asking for an investigation. Mr Nazmul said DBS Bank called him a few days later to confirm that someone else had taken the money. A video recording captured at the ATM showed that it was the man queuing behind him who allegedly took the money, he said. But because the alleged culprit did not insert his own card into the machine, the bank did not have the identity of the man, he said. Mr Nazmul said he asked for a copy of the video but was told he couldn't have it. However, he was allowed to watch it. He filed a police report after seeing the footage, on 1 Mar. What had actually happened? When he saw the screen remain blank after entering his PIN, he had hit the 'main menu' button two times, he said. When nothing happened, he hit the cancel button. There was a 'whirring' sound at this point. He didn't hear the ATM make any further noise after his card was ejected, he said. So he left. 'My understanding is that when I pressed the main menu button, the screen wasn't showing anything but the amount selection screen had actually come up,' he said. WRONG BUTTON That meant he had actually hit the fast transaction option for $1,000 unwittingly. He could not wait very long because there was a queue behind him, he said. He was at the ATM for only a minute. Mr Nazmul described the man who he believes took his money as a tall, balding dark-skinned man. He said he recognised him as someone who worked in the building. Since the incident, he has seen the man several times. They were even in a lift together. But he did not confront the man because he was not certain it was him. He had expected to get his money back by now since the police report was filed more than two months ago. Mr Nazmul asked: 'If this kind of case cannot be resolved, what's the point of having a video camera?' A DBS spokesman said there are two possible causes for a blank screen. One is power failure, in which case the card would not even be accepted as the card shutter would be closed. Or it could be a screen blackout, which means the machine is up and running. If someone inserts his card, the card is accepted and the ATM will prompt for PIN entry as normal. If a person does not do anything, a timeout will occur after 45 seconds. The card is then ejected. When faced with a blank screen, one should should call the bank's hotline using the phone beside ATM, or approach the branch staff (if applicable) for assistance. 'If the screen is blank, don't use the ATM,' said the spokesman. *** Mon May 21 18:30:47 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Witnesses sought over stabbing – Haymarket 21 May 2007 Police are appealing for public assistance after a man was stabbed in Haymarket overnight. At 11.55pm, police attended the corner of Dixon Street and Hay Street where they found a man suffering multiple stab wounds to his upper body. The man, aged in his 25, was taken to St Vincent’s Hospital where he underwent emergency surgery. He remains in a critical condition. A crime scene has been established and officers conducted a canvass of the area. Anyone who witnessed the incident or may have any information that could assist investigators is urged to contact City Central Police Station on 9265 6499 or Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000. *** Tue May 22 00:14:39 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: SAF given new powers to deal with changed security landscape By Asha Popatlal, Channel NewsAsia | Posted: 21 May 2007 2121 hrs Photos 1 of 1 Related Videos SAF given new powers to deal with changed security landscape SINGAPORE: The Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) has been given additional powers to deal with the changed security landscape. This follows an amendment to the SAF Act. But in the parliamentary debate before the Act was passed, MPs expressed concerns at how such wide-ranging powers would be carried out. The security landscape has changed since the September 11, 2001 attack in the US. The new reality now - unconventional threats where perpetrators may not even be in uniform or carry guns. So the SAF has been given new powers, to act alongside domestic agencies like the police. A select group of SAF personnel - some 2,000 of them - are being specially trained and will be able to search, detain and use reasonable force against terror suspects under special situations. Defence Minister Teo Chee Hean told Parliament that this was necessary to address the new security threats. He said the existing domestic legal framework was not adequate. But MPs had some concerns. Among them - how would such personnel be identified, would they be discreet and what about the possibility of impersonation or even abuse? MP Indranee Rajah said: "I appreciate that the servicemen cannot stop (a person) on the spot and call back for orders and say 'Excuse me, can I search the person?'. I think the point I want to make is that it's not just the methodology of carrying out the search procedure, but the training in when to exercise the discretion, how to exercise the discretion, particularly when dealing with civilians." MP Ong Chit Chung said: "In the London underground, a person was shot by mistake, suspected wrongly of being a terrorist. Would there be clear rules of engagement for SAF servicemen and how well would they be trained to handle tricky and delicate situations? Bear in mind, mishaps cannot be ruled out." MP Michael Palmer said: "Almost every male Singaporean owns, or has in his possession, a camouflage No. 4 uniform. In fact, it is readily available for purchase at various army surplus stores. Does this mean that once the order is made, we must allow everyone in No. 4 uniform to stop, search and seize and arrest us without warrant? How will we know which serviceman has the authority to act under Section 201 (C) order? How will we know whether a serviceman is or isn't on duty even if he falls under the Act?" The Defence Minister stressed that additional powers will be clearly identified. Mr Teo said: "SAF personnel on security operations will wear an identification like an armband that says 'Military Security', much like the military police band today. In addition, we'll issue a Military Security identification card to SAF personnel conducting military operations. This card will have a photo of the military personnel, his name and his NRIC number. The card will be issued to the military personnel for the duration of the operation." Mr Teo added that unlike a police warrant card which has wider powers, the Military Security identification card gives SAF personnel limited powers for checks in a defined area to conduct specific tasks. - CNA/ir *** Tue May 22 00:23:25 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Trapped passengers freed from trains May 22, 2007 12:26pm Article from: AAP Font size: + - Send this article: Print Email PASSENGERS trapped aboard two Brisbane trains after power lines were cut have been safely taken out of the carriages. A truck ran into a power pole on Altandi Road, Sunnybank about 10.15am (AEST) today bringing down power lines, an Energex spokesman said. The lines reportedly fell on to nearby overhead rail power lines, causing power on the track between Beenleigh, in Brisbane's south, and the Gold Coast to be cut. As a result two trains were stranded on the line near the southern Brisbane stations of Runcorn and Altandi, and passengers were kept on board for their own safety, a Queensland Rail spokeswoman said. After up to an hour the passengers were led off the train by rail staff. There were no reports of any injuries. The Energex spokesman said power to the area around the truck crash had been restored, but power on the train lines remained down. It was not known how long it would be before train services resumed normal service, the Queensland Rail spokeswoman said. *** Tue May 22 03:25:30 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Judge: What is a website? By TOM WELLS May 17, 2007 A JUDGE stunned a court yesterday by admitting he did not know what a WEBSITE was. Judge Peter Openshaw brought a shuddering halt to the trial of three men accused of internet terror offences as a witness was being quizzed about an extremist web forum. He told shocked prosecutors at Woolwich Crown Court, South East London: “The trouble is I don’t understand the language. I don’t really understand what a website is.” Prosecutor Mark Ellison then tried to help the judge by explaining. But confused Judge Openshaw, 59, said: “I haven’t quite grasped the concepts.” Later he said he hoped a computer expert would give “simple” evidence when called to the stand — because otherwise he would not understand it. Judge Openshaw said: “Will you ask him to keep it simple? We’ve got to start from basics.” The bizarre exchange came during the trial of Younes Tsouli, 23, Waseem Mughal, 24, and Tariq al-Daour, 21. Each denies a string of charges under the Terrorism Act, including inciting another person to commit an act of terrorism “wholly or partly” outside Britain. Tsouli and Mughal also deny conspiracy to murder. Al-Daour has pleaded not guilty to conspiring with others to defraud banks, credit card and charge card companies. Prosecutors told the jury the men kept car bomb manuals and videos of how to wire suicide bomb vests. They are also accused of helping to promote global jihad. Trial continues. *** Tue May 22 19:47:45 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Microsoft Plugs Critical Vista Hole Plus: Vista corrupts iPods, Yahoo Messenger creates Internet Explorer risk. Stuart J. Johnston Monday, May 21, 2007 3:00 PM PDT Illustration: Headcase Design ttp://www.pcworld.com/article/id,132082-pg,1/article.html Microsoft has just patched another critical hole in Vista that it knew about as long ago as last Christmas. The delay was similar to its lag in patching the serious (and heavily targeted) animated-cursor flaw I told you about last month. The new problem involves the way that the OS's Client/Server Run-time Subsystem (CSRSS) handles error messages, and it affects Windows 2000 SP4 and Windows XP too. This flaw may not be as severe as the cursor problem, as Microsoft says you'd have to perform certain unspecified "actions" on a malicious Web site before an assault could succeed. But if you were to get snared, an attacker could run any command or program on the victimized PC. Proof-of-concept code, which often presages attacks, is available, but no active attacks on this hole have been reported yet. If you have Automatic Updates enabled, the fix should already be installed. Otherwise, make sure to get hold of it at Microsoft Technet. In addition, Microsoft has fixed a critical weakness in its Agent technology in Windows 2000 SP4 and Windows XP SP2. The flaw can be exploited through Internet Explorer 6 if you visit a Web page with a poisoned link or banner ad. While the Agent is normally supposed to run little animated helpers (like the infamous Clippy), a malicious site need not display one prior to delivering an attack. Instead, the bad code could lurk inside a seemingly harmless link. Vista is unaffected by this hole, as is Internet Explorer 7. You can get the patch via Automatic Updates or download it from Microsoft Technet. Poisoned Pics Adobe's Photoshop CS2 and CS3 contain critical flaws that can give an attacker control over your PC if you use either program to open bitmap images (those ending with .bmp, .dib, or .rle) that have been rigged, according to security firm Secunia and the French Security Incident Response Team. At least one proof-of-concept exploit is available online. Adobe hadn't released a patch at this writing, so be careful with e-mailed or downloaded images. Get more info from Secunia. Also, an independent researcher nabbed a $10,000 prize from 3Com's TippingPoint division by exploiting a new bug in Apple's QuickTime player to break into a Mac running OS X. Apple released a patch 11 days later, before any actual attacks surfaced. QuickTime 7.1.6 corrects this flaw, which affects Windows as well as Mac OS X; get the patch from Apple, or from within the program by clicking Help, Update Existing Software. *** Wed May 23 01:36:47 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Schoolboys plotted massacre of students and teachers over net * * Email * Print * Normal font * Large font May 23, 2007 Other related coverage * Child 'threatens teacher with replica gun' * Charges laid over school cyber-threats AdvertisementAdvertisement TWO school students used the internet to discuss carrying out a gun massacre among a spate of threats in NSW in the wake of the Virginia Tech massacre in the US. The year 11 boys involved, from Crookwell High near Goulburn, are in psychiatric care. They are understood to have drawn up a hit list of students and staff they planned to target in a shooting rampage. A student - thought to have been on the list - told the principal about the plot. An Education Department spokesman said the boys told friends they intended to harm themselves and others. In a separate threat, police yesterday charged three 15-year-old students for making threats against staff and students at a high school at Ambarvale in Sydney's south-west. The boys were released on conditional bail. Police had raided two homes at Airds and Appin earlier this month and seized computer hard drives and disks. In another case, a 12-year-old boy who threatened a teacher at Plumpton High School with a replica pistol on Monday will be allowed to return to school within 20 days. At Crookwell High, counselling was offered to students and staff. Police spoke to students at a school assembly. Ben Cubby and Les Kennedy *** Thu May 24 01:01:08 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Sydney should be nation's capital: Keating By staff writers May 24, 2007 11:34am Article from: NEWS.com.au Font size: + - Send this article: Print Email FORMER prime minister Paul Keating believes Sydney should replace Canberra as the capital of Australia. During his speech on the future of Sydney Harbour last night, Mr Keating said Prime Minister John Howard had effectively moved his government to Sydney, and that Canberra had an air of unreality. "Transport, communications, housing - all these real things are camoulaged in Canberra," he said. "And the Government operates now out of a little office building in Phillip Street, Sydney. "That's where Cabinet meets, except when Parliament's sitting. "So what we've got is when Parliament's sitting, everyone flies off to the bush capital and they all live in their motel rooms, and then they all fly out again on Friday morning." Mr Keating said Sydney's Garden Island naval base sitecould house Federal Parliament. "Parliament House - we spent $1 billion on it 20 years ago but if you go and buy a new flat in Sydney, you get depreciation. "If you applied the same depreciation rate to Parliament House, it owes us nothing." Sydney Chamber of Commerce spokeswoman Patricia Forsythe said Mr Keating's comments were a worthy contribution to a national debate on the role of the two cities. "We all know that Sydney is already the nation's economic and cultural capital," she said. "The APEC leaders' summit is being hosted by Sydney because the world recognises our role as the nation's leading city. "When world leaders come to Australia they come to Sydney - and if they have time they will go to Canberra." *** Thu May 24 01:56:21 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Students shocked by UNSW Singapore campus closure By Pearl Forss, Channel NewsAsia | Posted: 23 May 2007 2311 hrs Photos 1 of 1 Related News • University of New South Wales Singapore campus to shut in June SINGAPORE: The decision to shut down the University of New South Wales (UNSW) Singapore campus comes as a shock to many students. The UNSW says students will be offered a place at its home campus in Sydney and there will also be scholarships to help with the cost of travel and accommodation. These scholarships will be based on needs and not on academic achievements. But most students Channel NewsAsia spoke to were not quite convinced. Many had chosen the Singapore campus because they could not afford to go to Australia. And though the school is helping out financially with the scholarships, it is not clear at this point in time how much exactly the school is willing to fork out. Still, the university claims that about half its students have indicated that they would like to go to Australia to continue their studies. Most of the local students who enrolled in the university come from the polytechnics. "It's quite an inappropriate time, with our exams coming as well. If they decide to close down after one semester, they should have done adequate research to see if this whole university was even feasible in the first place," said a student. "Knowing that the school is a creditable one, it is unbelievable that this thing can happen," said another. "I do not know what is the next step I need to do. To transfer to another school or go to Sydney? What is the option for us? Now, they have not known what are the private institutes we can go to to transfer in Singapore," said a third student. The school says that it is also in talks with local institutions and other universities in the region to offer these students a place to continue their education. But this is little consolation for the 48 foreign students who wanted an Australian degree and Singapore cost of living. "The school is offering us to go back to Australia to study, but I cannot go back. I end up paying something like $30,000 and I can do nothing. I've spent the money and yah, it's pretty hard for me now," said a student from Hong Kong. "I hope not to go back to Indonesia. I'm seeking to go overseas because it's a better education but now this happens, it's a bit confusing for me," said a student from Indonesia. "Before this, I was in Los Angeles. I was going to go to UNSW in Sydney but I ended up coming here because Singapore is also a good place. It's a good name, it's a good school, so I thought I'll give this a try, moved everything from LA, came here....I don't know what I'm going to do right now," said a student from the US. - CNA/ir *** Fri May 25 00:51:10 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Aborigines still off the map 40 years on By Neil Sands May 25, 2007 12:27pm Article from: Agence France-Presse Font size: + - Send this article: Print Email HUDDLED around a campfire in a community deemed unworthy of inclusion on Australia's official maps, Aboriginal elder Dick Brown reflects on a vote that ended the practice of counting his people among Australia's flora and fauna. "We thought that it would change for the better,'' Brown says without rancour when asked about the 40th anniversary of a landmark vote that recognised Aborigines as full Australian citizens for the first time. He is speaking from one of the impoverished ghettos surrounding Alice Springs where most of the town's Aboriginal population lives. The guide books handed to tourists flocking to the "red centre'' and maps around the town do not show the sites where indigenous communities are settled, marking them as either blank or parkland. As Sunday's anniversary of the referendum approaches, indigenous activists say the omission is a telling indication of the problems they still face. "I think they'd like us to disappear as well, then we wouldn't be a problem for them,'' said William Tilmouth, head of the Tangentyere Council, which manages the Aboriginal communities known as "town camps''. Substance abuse and violence There are huge social problems among the 3000 Aborigines in the camps here, with high rates of alcoholism and domestic violence and until recently an epidemic of petrol sniffing among youths. There are 18 officially recognised camps, some of them just 1.5km from the centre of Alice Springs, with another two unofficial sites made up of tin sheds known as humpies. At one camp here, a group of inhabitants sat in a circle mourning a woman stabbed to death in a domestic dispute the previous week. At another, a woman had recently died when she was run over after falling asleep on the road. Tilmouth says that up to 30 people are sometimes crammed into a single house when visitors from outback communities come into the camps, often staying for three months at a time. The road to a camp called Little Sisters, just south of Alice, has no sign indicating there is a settlement nearby, although authorities have erected a "landfill'' notice pointing to the town dump which lies down the same track. Car wrecks and beer cans litter the ground at Hoppy's camp, on the banks of the dry Charles River, as residents gather around an open fire to ward off the chill of the approaching desert night. Brown says conditions have improved since a number of petrol sniffers were taken away for rehabilitation. "It was worse with the sniffers,'' he said. "When they're sniffing they can't hear you because their brain is finished,'' he said, tapping his index finger to the side of his head in the universal "crazy'' gesture. Brown, 58, is partially paralysed down one side after a stroke but prefers to stay in the camp rather than hospital so he can be with his extended family. "They're a big mob, they make me mad sometime,'' he says, pointing to children playing with dogs in the ochre dirt around the campfire. 'People's conscience got pricked' Tilmouth said black and white communities in Alice Springs existed in mutually distrustful "separate worlds'' that seldom crossed paths, even though Aboriginal art is a mainstay of the town's white-dominated tourism industry. It is a stark contrast to the optimism present in 1967 when 90.77 per cent of Australians voted to erase clauses in the constitution that discriminated against Aborigines, the country's largest referendum majority ever. The referendum gave full citizenship to Aborigines and included them in the national census for the first time, ending the previous practice of counting them as part of the country's native wildlife along with kangaroos and koalas. The vote followed a civil rights campaign inspired by the work of black US leaders such as Martin Luther King, including "freedom rides'' on buses to highlight the problems in remote Aboriginal communities. "People had a conscience, people had treated indigenous people pretty badly and I think their conscience got pricked and they wanted to go about doing things differently,'' Tilmouth told AFP. Aboriginal health 100 years behind However, official statistics show little improvement in the plight of Aborigines, who first settled in Australia some 50,000 years ago and lived a nomadic existence until European colonists arrived in the late 18th century. Aborigines number 470,000, or about 2.3 per cent of Australia's 20 million people, yet they form 25 per cent of the prison population. Indigenous infant mortality and coronary heart disease rates are three times those of non-indigenous Australians. The Australian Medical Association (AMA) says Aborigines are dying more than 17 years earlier than the rest of the population because of "institutionalised racism'' in the health system. The gap in life expectancy is a national disgrace and the Government needs to show a greater commitment to Aboriginal health, the country's top body for doctors says. A University of New South Wales report recently found that the health of Aborigines lagged 100 years behind other Australians, with life expectancy for indigenous males as low as 33 years in parts of New South Wales state. No miracle solutions Differing views on how to improve conditions for Aborigines has seen the Alice Springs town camps become an ideological battleground in recent months. The Government of Prime Minister John Howard offered $60 million to bring infrastructure in the camp to the same level as the town's white suburbs. However, it was conditional on Aborigines handing control of their housing to the Northern Territory Government, which is expected to take a tough approach to tenants. Federal Indigenous Affairs Minister Mal Brough has adopted a policy called shared responsibility, which aims to end Aboriginal welfare dependency by offering "a hand up, not a hand out'' to struggling indigenous communities. Brough said Aborigines needed to accept the same responsibility as non-indigenous Australians for their homes. "In other words yes the simple answer is eviction, repairing and maintenance, or repair of damage that you do or your guests do in your house,'' he said. ''(It) will be your responsibility, we have to get away from having two different standards.'' Aborigines in the camps have resisted the move, saying they want to retain control of their homes and labelling the Government's policies a return to paternalistic practices of the past. "We shouldn't have to sign over our land to get basic services that other suburbs get,'' Tilmouth said. Rosemary Miller, a resident of Morris Soak camp, had a succinct response to the government programme. "Tell them to leave our land alone,'' she said. "We've already had enough taken away from us.'' Hope and reconciliation In the country's centre, there are signs of hope amid the grinding poverty of the camps, particularly at the Yarrenyty-Arltere Learning Centre in the Larapinta Valley camp, south of Alice. Surrounded by wire fencing with signs attached that read "No Drunks Near the School'' and "No Sniffers", the centre is filled with Aboriginal youths producing traditional paintings, taking classes and shooting hoops on the basketball court. Co-ordinator Leonie Sheedy said the problems at Larapinta had been among the worst of all the camps, but they improved dramatically after the centre was established six years ago. "It's helped establish a long-term outlook,'' she said. "It's strength is that it's owned by the people that come here and it helps the wider community.'' Tilmouth said he believed reconciliation between black and white Australians was possible, but the experiences of the past 40 years showed it would be a slow and gradual process. "It's going to be a long road,'' he said. *** Fri May 25 01:00:10 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: * * Email * RSS * Talkback * AddThis Social Bookmark Button Business News Singapore office rents at all- time highs May 25, 2007, 2:23 GMT Singapore - Singapore office rents jump 13 places in the global league table in just six months, and now rank as the 24th most expensive in the world, the Straits Times reported Friday. Rents rose 24 per cent in this period, overtaking those in cities like Zurich and Frankfurt, according to findings of property firm CB Richard and Ellis (CBRE)'s semi-annual Global Market Rents survey of 176 cities. London and Tokyo retain their top spots as the most expensive office markets in the world. Over the last 12 months, rents in Singapore have risen 53.6 per cent to an average of 8.60 Singapore dollars (5.66 US dollars) per square foot a month. In most central areas, they are now at all- time highs. This has put Singapore in fifth spot with the fastest growing office rents in the world, said CBRE. A supply-demand crunch is behind the rent surge. There is an acute shortage of prime office space, while demand for such space is rocketing as businesses continue to expand. The soaring rents and supply squeeze are making it difficult for firms to find new space and can place limits on business expansion. Recently the Singapore government has taken steps to ease the space shortage. These include leasing out state properties and vacant sites for temporary offices. On Monday, the government ruled that offices in the central business area could not be converted to other uses. © 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur *** Fri May 25 20:37:10 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: The Electric New Paper : Tired of waiting for the bus? Send SMS to SBS IT can be maddening, especially if you are in a hurry, to wait for a bus and not know when it will arrive. By Tan Mae Lynn 26 May 2007 IT can be maddening, especially if you are in a hurry, to wait for a bus and not know when it will arrive. You have to get to your destination on time, and you think of taking a cab, but then the bus may be just around the corner. Or suppose there are two buses you can take, with one taking a better route. If the other one comes first, should you let it go and wait for the one you prefer? Now here's a service that can help you decide. It's called iris NextBus and it can give SBS Transit passengers real time information on when the next bus will arrive at any bus stop. All you need to do is send a text message to 74744, with the bus stop number, followed by a space, followed by the bus service number. A return SMS will tell you when the next bus will arrive, and the one after that as well. The bus stop number can be found on the pole that shows the service numbers of buses that stop at each bus stop. You can also check for it on the SBS Transit website or on a GPRS-enabled mobile phone. SBS Transit launched iris, which stands for Intelligent Route Information System, on Wednesday. It is available only to SingTel mobile phone subscribers for the time being. Discussions are on to extend the service to other mobile phone users in future. SBS Transit's chief operating officer, Mr Gan Juay Kiat, said: 'Our customers will now know when their buses will arrive in real time. 'Uncertainty will be a thing of the past... This way, they can better plan their journeys and better utilise their time.' The service comes as good news to many who commute by bus daily. Student Angela Teo, 15, said it will come in handy, especially on days when she's in a hurry. 'If I'm in a rush I'll use the service, and I'll be able to decide if I should take another service number.' For housewife G L Tan, 60, it means wasting less time. Madam Tan said: 'If I know when the bus is going to arrive, I don't have to waste my time sitting at the bus stop doing nothing. 'Why wait by the road when I can wait in comfort somewhere else, or spend my time doing something more productive?' So, how much do you have to shell out for this? Each query costs 5 cents, in addition to the charge for the SMS. Some regular bus commuters felt the service was not worth paying for. Said Ms Endora Teo, 32: 'I'm been taking the buses long enough now to know, more or less, the schedule anyway. 'It may not cost much, but I don't see the point of it, especially for people who take the bus regularly.' *** Fri May 25 20:46:19 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: What job shall I take? ASK GOOGLE May 26, 2007 DON'T know what to do with your life? Well, you can let Google literally run your life. Ask the Internet search engine and you may be able to find your dream job or an activity to fill your days with. Chief executive Eric Schmidt said he expected that during the next five years, the site would move towards collecting increasing amounts of information to personalise searches. He explained: 'The goal is to enable Google users to be able to ask questions such as, 'What shall I do tomorrow?' and 'What job shall I take?' But the company's plans have increasingly raised privacy concerns, the Evening Standard reported. Google recently started its information-collecting mission by launching iGoogle, which can be personalised to feature news feeds and local weather. The information sought by users and their physical location will be collated and used for lucrative personalised advertising. For example, if a registered user searched for a particular site such as a cinema in the past, the new feature will automatically places that site at the top of search lists. Mr Schmidt said: '(Right now) we cannot even answer the most basic questions because we don't know enough about you. That is the most important aspect of Google's expansion.' But these personalisation services are optional at the moment. Still, concerns have been raised. And earlier this year, Google agreed to discard information about the Internet searches made after two years, following pressure from privacy activists. USERS BENEFIT Defending his company, Google software engineer Sepandar Kamvar said: 'The key thing is to get the best search results for our users. 'With personalised searches, you can look at the context of the user to get better results. 'You can then start heading towards queryless searching, where recommendations of sites or videos, for example, will come up on the homepage.' Google's rival, Yahoo, also unveiled a new - and similar - search engine this year called Project Panama. *** Fri May 25 21:01:47 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Users Upset Over Google Analytics Outage Some Google Analytics users suffered hours-long outages this week, and are peeved that the company has yet to offer any information about the situation. Juan Carlos Perez, IDG News Service Friday, May 25, 2007 3:00 PM PDT The Google Analytics Web site monitoring service suffered an outage that affected some users for more than 24 hours this week, prompting many to vent on blogs and forums their frustration with the situation and with what they perceived as unresponsiveness on Google's part. Most affected users reported problems on Tuesday and Wednesday, although some still experienced problems on Friday. In seemingly all cases, users could access their accounts but found that the Analytics dashboard reported significantly reduced or even zero traffic to their sites. Google Analytics, a free service, is used by organizations of all sizes, as well as individuals, to track traffic and analyze usage of their Web sites. For Web publishers, the information Analytics and similar services collect is critical for decisions regarding their sites' design, content and ad space. User Experience Vivek Puri, who uses Analytics to monitor his sites StartupSquad and StartupSquad India, suffered an outage of about 24 hours between Tuesday and Wednesday, and about 20 hours between Thursday and Friday. As disruptive as the service interruption was, Puri felt equally annoyed by what he perceived as Google's lack of communication regarding the problem. It's not the first time he has been upset at Google for this reason. "They need to inform users when a service is down, and when it comes back up, and give people status updates," Puri, who is based in Princeton, New Jersey, said in an interview. "There's no communication from Google about what's going on there." Discussion Forum Complaints Indeed, over the past four days, users started at least three active threads regarding this issue on the official Google Analytics Help discussion forum, which is maintained by Google. At press time, Google officials hadn't left a single message in any of the threads. When queried about the matter by IDG News Service, a Google spokeswoman acknowledged on Friday afternoon that there had been a problem. "Earlier this week, there was a reporting delay within some Google Analytics accounts due to system maintenance. No data was lost, and reporting is back to normal now," she wrote via e-mail. She didn't immediately say whether Google informed Analytics users in any way about this system maintenance, before, during or after the work, nor how many users were affected. Google didn't post any information about this maintenance work, nor the subsequent service disruptions, in its official Google Analytics blog, which, at press time, had last been updated on May 21 with an unrelated posting. No Explanations Judging by the feedback from affected users, it seems Google hasn't reached out to them so far regarding this issue. "It would have been nice for Google to inform us about this and to not have had to pull my hair out trying to figure out what was wrong, thinking the problem had been caused by me," said Dean Peters. Peters, a software company product manager in Cary, North Carolina, uses Analytics for sites he maintains on his own time as personal projects, and suffered a 12-hour stats blackout on Tuesday. His frustration is echoed in many of the blog and forum postings. Come on Google, after the last couple of days it's time to start telling us what's going on and when we might expect normal service again. How's about a post in the blog at least admitting there's an issue, instead of keeping quiet and pretending everything's fine," wrote a user in Analytics' official Help forum on Friday morning. "It would be nice if the folks @ Google acknowledged the problem on one of their many blogs - like say the official Google Analytics blog? A status/outage page would be even better. It's a pain in the ass to have to hunt down groups like this to confirm that you're not the only one suffering from the problem," another peeved user wrote in another thread on the same forum. Google is a major proponent of the software-as-a-service model, where vendors host the applications that they sell, lease or provide for free to their customers. This business model is an alternative to the traditional packaged-software approach in which customers install and maintain software on their premises. However, one of the big question marks regarding the hosted model involves precisely availability problems, such as the one that affected Analytics this week and that has affected other Google services, including Gmail and Blogger. All we want is a dependable service. I know it's free, but that doesn't mean it shouldn't be dependable," Puri said. *** Mon May 28 06:17:27 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Man charged after allegedly taking tourist bus for joyride - Pyrmont 27 May 2007 Police have arrested and charged a man after he allegedly took a tourist bus for a joyride at Pyrmont, in inner-Sydney, this morning. The 33-year-old Abbotsford man was walking past the casino on Pirrama Road about 8.50am today, when he boarded the bus with the motor running. The driver of the bus was standing nearby awaiting the arrival of other passengers for a Sydney sightseeing tour. The man allegedly sat in the driver’s seat and drove the bus, with 13 passengers onboard, north along Pirrama Road. He allegedly drove along several local streets before returning to the point of departure on Pirrama Road. The man then ran from the vehicle and was chased by the driver and a number of other people. Police from City Central Local Area Command, who were conducting a patrol of the area, joined the chase. The man was arrested a short time later following an alleged struggle with officers. He was subjected to a roadside breath test which allegedly returned a positive reading. He was then taken to City Central Police Station for questioning. A breath analysis was also conducted and allegedly returned a reading of 0.155. The man has now been charged with unlawfully taking/driving a motor vehicle with persons onboard; assaulting police; resisting arrest; driving with high-range PCA; and escaping police custody. He’s been conditionally bailed to appear in Downing Centre Local Court on 18 June 2007. *** Mon May 28 19:05:37 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Man shot dead after testifying * * Email * Print * Normal font * Large font Dan Oakes and Andrea Petrie May 29, 2007 AdvertisementAdvertisement A MAN who was shot dead 24 hours after testifying in a murder trial had pleaded with police not to make him take the stand. Thang Van Nguyen, 47, was killed 11 days ago when a gunman entered his St Albans home and shot him in the head as he begged for his life in front of his wife and teenage daughter. Nguyen had given evidence at the trial of Binh Cong Huynh, who was accused of murdering alleged heroin dealer Son Van Duong, whose body was found in a paddock at Truganina in Melbourne's western suburbs last year. Duong's hands were tied behind his back and one of his little fingers was cut off. Huynh had pleaded not guilty. Justice Bernard Teague yesterday ordered a retrial over the death of Duong, who was allegedly murdered over a drug debt, after the jury announced it could not reach a verdict. Nguyen's identity can now be revealed after a suppression order was lifted yesterday.When the Supreme Court jury told the judge of its deadlock, none of the jurors knew that the frightened man who had testified two weeks earlier was already dead. Police accepted that Nguyen, who told the court he witnessed an assault on Duong hours before he was killed, had played no part in the killing. Duong admitted in court that he initially told police he would not give evidence because he was scared he and his family would be harmed. When he was interviewed on April 2 last year, Nguyen told police: "I cannot go to court to give evidence." He said: "Well, that's just my concern or my fear that I will be asked to go to court to give evidence and I'm just worried about … people taking revenge on me." Nguyen was killed a day after he finished testifying. Police said yesterday that Nguyen's evidence could still be tendered at a future trial. They said they were keeping an open mind as to the motive for Nguyen's killing and it was possible it had nothing to do with his appearance as a witness. Nguyen, a tailor with convictions for dishonesty offences, testified on May 16 and 17 that he had attended a party with Duong and an associate, Hoang Thanh Lee, in January last year. The court heard that after the party ended, Nguyen went home but later got a phone call from Lee telling him to go to his house. When he arrived, he saw Duong standing with his hands bound behind his back and surrounded by blood. He saw that Duong was missing a finger. Nguyen said he tried to staunch the flow of blood and pleaded with Huynh to leave the house with him. Lee said he would take him home himself. Nguyen then went home. The court heard Lee and Huynh then drove Duong to the paddock, where Lee allegedly shot him once in the head. It was alleged that Duong, an itinerant worker who shelled abalone, worked for Lee as a heroin dealer and was killed because he owed Lee money. Lee and Nguyen flew to Vietnam the day after the killing. Nguyen was arrested three months later when he flew back to Australia, but Lee is still in Vietnam, with which there is no extradition treaty. *** Mon May 28 19:16:58 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Perk cuts employer's pain * * Email * Print * Normal font * Large font May 29, 2007 AdvertisementAdvertisement IT HAS been characterised as the Australian worker's greatest perk but people who opt for a "sickie" instead of going in to the office and pushing through their illness may save their employers money. "Presenteeism" — where workers turn up but cannot function properly because they are ill — last year cost the economy an estimated $25.7 billion. "Absenteeism" cost $7 billion. The study, commissioned by health insurer Medibank Private and conducted by Econtech, stated that research conducted in the United States had shown that presenteeism can "decrease individual productivity by one-third or more". It found that 68 per cent of the total cost is "on-the-job" productivity losses, while 32 per cent occurs as that loss filters through the economy. US data provided a basis for the Australian study, which focused on the 12 most common illnesses to affect productivity. Depression and allergies have the greatest impact, followed by obesity-related conditions such as hypertension and diabetes. Industries most affected were culture and recreation services, the manufacturing industry, the electricity, gas and water industry and the transport industry. Dr Angela Martin, from the University of Tasmania, emphasised the need for workplaces to develop ways of coping with depression among employees. She has conducted a study canvassing attitudes towards depression of 235 managers across industries. Among preliminary findings were that 40 per cent agreed that "employees with depression are a liability" and almost 20 per cent agreed they "would not employ someone if I knew they had been depressed". However, 96 per cent said they would make temporary changes to help a depressed employee recover. The Institute of Health Economics and Technology Assessment's Paul Gross said presenteeism and absenteeism were well-documented in the US but that presenteeism was not on the radar of governments here despite research indicating that depression cost billions in lost dollars and working days. Research suggests increased presenteeism was associated with poor working conditions and poor management.http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/perk-cuts-employers-pain/2007/05/28/1180205160413.html?s_cid=rss_age *** Mon May 28 19:34:25 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Qantas 'worst' global airline May 29, 2007 07:51am Article from: AAP http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,21812457-29277,00.html * Choice has voted Qantas worst global airline * Singapore Airlines was voted top international airline * Markets : check the latest price on Qantas AUSTRALIA'S national carrier Qantas has been voted worst international airline in a consumer survey. The survey of 4000 subscribers to consumer magazine Choice also found Qantas' low-cost subsidiary Jetstar to be the worst domestic airline. Singapore Airlines was voted top international airline while minnow Regional Express was the favoured domestic operator. Service standards lag Choice asked subscribers to rate airlines for value for money, booking processes, convenience, the check-in procedure, inflight service, including food and entertainment, as well as seat comfort, legroom and cleanliness. Qantas scored 63 per cent compared to Singapore Airline's 78 per cent. On the domestic front, Qantas fared little better with a 67 per cent rating, with consumers labelling the service "arrogant and aloof", while Jetstar scored just 62 per cent. One respondent described Jetstar staff as "uniformly surly, unhelpful and most definitely unwelcoming". Virgin Blue does better Regional Express won a survey-high rating of 79 per cent followed by Virgin Blue with 71 per cent. "Virgin Blue staff attempt to make what is a reasonably unpleasant experience flying with a no-frills service, light-hearted and enjoyable," one respondent said. One possible reason Qantas may have fared so poorly is that people may be more critical of their national carrier, the magazine suggested. Travellers said they continued to fly with Qantas to earn frequent flyer points even though they rated the airline significantly lower than average. *** Mon May 28 20:23:29 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Brothel robbed – Surry Hills 29 May 2007 Three men have been injured during an armed robbery at a brothel at Surry Hills this morning. Shortly after 1am, four males entered the brothel at Surry Hills armed with two handguns. They assaulted three men inside the premises and demanded money. The group wearing dark hooded jumpers then left through a rear entrance with an amount of cash. The three victims were taken to Prince of Wales Hospital. Two are suffering serious head injuries, while the third is being treated for relatively minor facial wounds. Police established a crime scene and have interviewed a number of witnesses. Anyone with information about the robbery should immediately contact Surry Hills Police via Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000. http://www.police.nsw.gov.au/news/recent_media_unit_information?sq_content_src=%2BdXJsPWh0dHAlM0ElMkYlMkZjdXN0b21zY3JpcHRzLnBvbGljZS5uc3cuZ292LmF1JTJGbmV3cyUyRmRldGFpbHNfbWVkaWEucGhwJTNGTWVkaWFJRCUzRDk1MjMmYWxsPTE%3D *** Tue May 29 02:27:22 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Aussies work for free By Nicki Bourlioufas May 29, 2007 05:30am Article from: NEWS.com.au * Survey shows more than 90 per cent work overtime * 74 per cent of workers who do overtime aren't paid * Multimedia: Readers' ideas to dodge working overtime AUSTRALIANS are slogging their guts out working overtime and most employees don’t get much thanks, with the bulk of overtime done being unpaid. Respondents to a survey conducted by NEWS.com.au and Coredata reported what most of us already know – we’re working overtime largely because we have to, and not because we want to. A survey of 2931 NEWS.com.au readers revealed 91 per cent of those employed worked overtime in the week before the survey was conducted, with an average 9 and a half hours spent working extra. While most people said they are required by their employer to put in additional hours beyond their standard working week, a whopping 74 per cent of those employed did not get paid. VIDEO: Aussies working harder than ever for the money The survey was conducted from May 10 to 15. Australians reported working an average 39.7 hours in a typical working week The real impact Employers are getting their pound of flesh, and that bit extra, which is helping to boost their bottom line, but at the expense of employees, who are feeling stressed, unhappy and are spending less time with their families. Workers reported feeling stressed (51 per cent) and said they spent less time with their families (63 per cent) and had less time for relaxation (60 per cent). One in five respondents or 20 per cent said their family life was less happy as a result of working the overtime. Just 14 per cent of the respondents said working overtime enabled them to make more money. No choice involved A resounding 89 per cent of respondents believe their job requires them to work overtime. Many of the respondents were in higher-end jobs and working at relatively high salaries, with 74 per cent earning more than $50,000 a year and 28 per cent earning more than $100,000. Indeed, almost half (49 per cent) of respondents said the primary reason why they choose to work overtime is because they have no choice – they need to finish the work Only 11 per cent of those surveyed indicated their job doesn’t require them to work overtime. Not surprisingly, 53 per cent of respondents said they tried to avoid working overtime with the survey revealing there was little variation in hours worked across the income brackets. Employers are reluctant to allow workers to conduct overtime from home, with more than half of those surveyed saying their employed does not allow them take the work home to complete. Respondents said they worked longer because their boss demands it (14 per cent) and they want to set a good example (10 per cent). Surprisingly, only 6 per cent work overtime to try and get a promotion. Nicki Bourlioufas is the business editor of NEWS.com.au http://www.news.com.au/business/story/0,23636,21806507-462,00.html *** Wed May 30 17:58:44 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Thursday May 31, 02:42 AM - http://au.news.yahoo.com/070530/2/13m60.html Police investigate whistleblower claim Police are investigating claims that NSW Premier Morris Iemma's chief of staff breached whistleblower laws by forcing the resignation of the adviser who exposed the domestic violence allegations against Labor MP Paul Gibson. Police Commissioner Ken Maroney told Fairfax that detectives investigating whether Mr Gibson assaulted former minister Sandra Nori will also look at allegations that Mike Kaiser pressured senior policy adviser Mark Aarons to leave the Premier's office. Sources reportedly told Fairfax that Mr Aarons resigned because his position became untenable after he emailed Mr Kaiser about the Gibson matter and sent a more detailed fax to the premier. Mr Maroney said police had begun investigating the alleged breach of the disclosure laws after receiving a letter from Opposition Leader Barry O'Farrell. "When the team has concluded their investigation they will be talking about the outcomes of the Gibson matter and the issues related to the protected disclosure," Mr Maroney told Fairfax. Mr O"Farrell said Mr Aarons appeared to have been forced out. "The issue is that someone who was involved in making a protected disclosure has been bundled out of the Premier's office because what was disclosed was politically embarrassing," he said. Under protected disclosure laws, a person who takes "detrimental action" against a whistleblower can be imprisoned for up to 12 months. *** Wed May 30 18:03:09 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Wednesday May 30, 05:28 PM NZ woman dies after electricity cut off A New Zealand woman has died after an energy company cut off the power to her home, despite its contractor being told she relied on an electric oxygen pump to breathe, her family says. Police have launched an inquiry into the death in Auckland on Tuesday of 44-year-old Folole Muliaga, just two hours after her power supply was cut off due to an unpaid bill. The mother of four, her youngest child aged just five, was pronounced dead about two hours after the disconnection, carried out by a contractor working for Mercury Energy. Within minutes of the power cut, Muliaga was unable to see properly and soon fainted, her grieving son Iatitaia Muliaga, 20, told Radio New Zealand. Ambulance officers called to the home were unable to revive her, he said. Mercury Energy's general manager, James Moulder, said the company was devastated by the woman's death and was conducting its own investigation to determine what happened. He refused to say how much money Muliaga - a schoolteacher with four children aged 5 to 20 - had owed the company, but it was believed to be $NZ290 ($A258). Family spokesman Brenden (Brenden) Sheehan said Muliaga had been off work since February with an illness when a Mercury Energy contractor arrived on Tuesday to cut the power. He said both Muliaga and her son told the technician she was dependent on the oxygen machine to stay alive and invited him into the house to see it, so he knew the situation. "Then he cut the power off," he told AP. Her son Iatitaia told Radio New Zealand: "My mum talked to him. She really needed the power to keep the machine for oxygen. He didn't give her a chance. "I think he saw my mum wearing the mask thing and he knew we needed power for that." Power has since been restored to the home, after the grieving family spent a night without power. Moulder expressed his "deep condolences" to the family but denied Mercury Energy knew that cutting off the power could have life-threatening consequences. "We were simply unaware that loss of electricity to the household was putting a vulnerable customer at risk," Moulder said. "Our operating procedures ensure that if we know a serious health issue could arise from disconnection, we will not disconnect the customer. "Even if we are not told in advance, our contractors who carry out disconnections will tell us if they are made aware of circumstances which could put a customer at risk." Moulder said he believed the company had followed "correct practices" and that it would cooperate with the coroner and police. The family spokesman Sheehan said the family's bills would prove Muliaga was trying to pay the account, and received no warning that the power would be shut off. He declined to say how much she owed. Politicians were quick to react to the death and called on the company, controlled by the state-owned Mighty River Power, for an explanation. State-Owned Enterprises Minister Trevor Mallard said the government expected full accountability. "All SOEs (State-Owned Enterprises) should have in place proper processes to ensure that lives are not put at risk by their actions and that any contractors employed by them are bound by these processes," he said. Mallard said there were conflicting reports about how Muliaga came to die, and said people should not be too quick to judge the company. Auckland University professor of law Bill Hodge said manslaughter charges could potentially could be filed, depending on what information Mercury Energy had and how it was expressed to them. *** Wed May 30 22:33:55 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: NSW least enlivened by winter - survey May 31, 2007 09:57am Article from: AAP PEOPLE in NSW are the least enthusiastic in winter according to a new health survey. In the survey of 1000 people over the age of 18, carried out in May by Zest Health Clubs, 79 per cent of NSW residents said winter was when they had the least enthusiasm for life. Northern Territorians are the happiest in winter, with only 55 per cent saying their mild dry season was when they had least zest for life. Queensland respondents recorded a 69 per cent enjoyment rating during winter, while in the colder states of Victoria and Tasmania 78 per cent of residents said winter was their least motivating season. West Australians are less affected, with only 68 per cent saying they don't embrace life in winter. The survey also revealed that more than three quarters of Australians put on extra weight and experience a drop in motivation to exercise during the winter months. Clinical psychologist and founder of the Happiness Institute Dr Timothy Sharp said there was a clear correlation between the "winter blues" and a reduction in exercise. "Even a small change in weather can lead to a big change in our routine, but committing to a bit of exercise each week will help ward off those seasonal lows," Dr Sharp said. The survey found that family and friends overwhelmingly gave people more enthusiasm for life than exercise or sex. *** Thu May 31 19:26:26 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: S'pore will never attack Indonesia: Juwono Jun 01, 2007 The Straits Times JAKARTA - INDONESIAN Defence Minister Juwono Sudarsono has told the House of Representatives not to fear Singapore, after legislators objected strongly to two recently signed extradition and defence treaties. 'We all have to be realistic in facing Singapore,' Dr Juwono said during a hearing with Commission I on defence and foreign affairs, an Indonesian parliamentary committee. 'Of course, Singapore is strong in the (fields of) economics, politics and defence - particularly with its high-precision military technology. 'And although Singapore could buy our territory, dominate our economy and (use their) modern military technology (against us), the city state will never be able to buy our mindset or our nationalism,' he added. Despite its modern military, Singapore would never launch an offensive against Indonesia because 'once the small state was bombed, it would collapse', he said. 'Therefore, we should (continue) negotiations and take advantage...of (many) bilateral agreements. 'Singapore has money, we have space - so we have to negotiate money with space,' he said. The hearing on Monday opened with a barrage of criticism and questions about the treaties. Almost all the legislators in the commission vowed not to ratify the defence cooperation agreement, which they said gave little benefit to Indonesia. Jakarta and Singapore signed the two agreements in Bali on April 27. The treaties must be ratified by both parliaments before they can be implemented. Dr Juwono said the two agreements had been combined as one package because both countries were expected to make full use of the treaties' international benefits. 'Trust me, Indonesia will not implement the DCA (Defence Cooperation Agreement) if Singapore is not committed to extraditing Indonesian fugitives or (if they) complicate the procedure,' he said. Separately, Indonesian military chief Air Chief Marshal Djoko Suyanto said the military 'has to be clever in translating the DCA' to make proper use of it. JAKARTA POST/ASIA NEWS NETWORK *** Thu May 31 19:31:07 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: No butts just leave, say pubs * * Email * Print * Normal font * Large font Sunanda Creagh Urban Affairs Reporter June 1, 2007 AdvertisementAdvertisement THE impending total ban on indoor smoking has forced pubs and clubs to launch special training sessions for staff, even preparing for the possibility of bouncers escorting disgruntled smokers off their premises. "If we have a patron who says, 'This is ridiculous, what do you mean I can't smoke?' then we need to be able to deal with that," said the chief executive officer of Castle Hill RSL, David O'Neil. "It's a last resort, but if my staff were to ask a smoker to leave, that person has no option than to agree as long as it's reasonable." Smoking indoors will be completely banned after July 2, which Mr O'Neil says is the biggest change for the hotels and clubs industry since the introduction of random breath testing in 1982. "We're intending the day after the smoking ban comes in to steam clean all our furnishings and carpet and wash all the walls down with sugar soap. We're holding off on recovering our furniture till after then," said Mr O'Neil. ClubsNSW has sent DVDs to clubs to screen, explaining the changes, part of a $1.92 million education campaign. Management at Australia's largest club, Mounties, will try to placate indoor smokers with lollipops, but they are prepared to call security if they refuse to leave. "Effectively they are breaking the law, so they would be treated the same as anyone else who would break the law," the chief executive, Greg Pickering, said. But he expected the vast majority of smokers to comply. The Cancer Council yesterday released guidelines for local councils to encourage stronger smoking bans in outdoor areas, congratulating Manly, Mosman and Warringah councils on leading the charge. Thirty NSW councils already have some kind of ban on smoking in parks, playgrounds or beaches. *** Thu May 31 19:34:07 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: She stole Google tycoon's heart Smart, approachable and easygoing are how some describe Anne Wojcicki Jun 01, 2007 The Straits Times NEW YORK - Sometimes good fortune arrives in fairy tale-like flurries. Consider Ms Anne Wojcicki, the former healthcare investment analyst who this month married a young computer scientist who just happens to be one of the United States' richest men. As if the swirl of excitement around the Silicon Valley pairing of the 33-year-old Wojcicki and Mr Sergey Brin, a co-founder of Google, were not enough, she has captured still more attention with 23andMe, a biotech company she recently co-founded. And her husband's company is an investor. Google disclosed last week in a regulatory filing that it has invested US$3.9 million (S$5.9 million) in the start-up that, according to its website, is developing ways 'to help you make sense of your own genetic information'. The company's name refers to the number of paired chromosomes in human DNA. In an interview, Google's chief executive Eric E. Schmidt declined to comment about the start-up's business or its future products. But he said that in the course of evaluating the potential investment, the company had instituted an array of checks and balances to ensure objectivity, including the recusal of Mr Brin from any discussions. 'That was all done by the book beyond belief,' Mr Schmidt said. Google has invested in a handful of other start-ups, including FON and Meraki, both Wi-Fi ventures, and Current, a company that delivers high-speed Internet access using existing power outlets. Google spokesman Jon Murchinson said that aside from 23andMe, none of the investments involved companies owned by a close relative of a senior Google executive. Mr Schmidt said that the investment in that start-up would eventually benefit Google and its users. Ms Wojcicki (pronounced wo-jit-skee), and her co-founder, Ms Linda Avey, 47, declined to be interviewed. Their company, with headquarters in Mountain View, California, is based on the concept of individualised genetic mapping. Mr Martin Varsavsky, an entrepreneur who has invested in the company, wrote recently in his blog: 'What used to cost billions now costs only $1,000. So for the price of a laptop, you can now learn the most intimate details of your genetic self.' Ms Wojcicki comes from a family of intellectual high achievers. Her father Stanley is the chairman of the physics department at Stanford University; her mother Esther is a journalism teacher at Palo Alto High School. The youngest of three daughters, Ms Wojcicki attended Yale University, graduating in 1996 with a degree in biology. She met Mr Brin after her older sister Susan, today a Google vice-president, sublet the garage of her house in Menlo Park to Mr Brin and his partner Larry Page for their search engine start-up. Google has declined to disclose any details of the wedding. But according to various news reports, the location was such a closely guarded secret that wedding guests boarding the jet owned by Mr Brin, 33, and Mr Page, 34, were unaware of their exact destination until they arrived on a private island in the Bahamas. Guests who attended said the bride wore a white swimsuit, the groom a black one. Some guests took a boat while others - including the bride and groom - swam to a nearby sandbar, where the couple exchanged vows. The bride is known for her high energy and approachable, easygoing, personal style. People who knew her in high school in Palo Alto said that she was studious but far from isolated. While at Yale, her mother said, she was a competitive ice skater and played on the varsity ice hockey team. She also had a job as an activities coordinator in her dormitory. Spurning some of the usual trappings of great wealth, Mr Brin, who is worth some US$14 billion, and his wife live in a quiet residential neighbourhood in Palo Alto. In addition to Google, a handful of venture firms have invested in 23andMe. The total investment is estimated at around US$10 million, part of which is being used to repay a US$2.6 million personal loan from Mr Brin. 'This is a completely new thing, and that's exactly why we invested,' said Mr Patrick Chung, a partner with New Enterprise Associates, a venture capital firm in Menlo Park. 'Everyone can relate to this. Everyone has a genetic blueprint.' He said he was impressed by Ms Wojcicki's ability to discuss the scientific aspects of her new company without losing her audience. 'She's really, really smart and still completely accessible,' he said. 'And that is a gift.' NYT *** Thu May 31 19:38:32 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Museum may shut for one day a week Joyce Morgan June 1, 2007 AdvertisementAdvertisement THE arts world is bracing for large budget cuts later this month that will reduce programs, exhibitions and staff. The Powerhouse Museum and the State Library, the state's two largest cultural institutions, are expected to be hit hardest in the state budget on June 19. Up to 20 per cent is expected to go from the Powerhouse's $30 million recurrent budget. The museum is believed to be under pressure to close one day a week. Overall, the $272.4 million annual arts budget is expected to be cut by 10 per cent. The cuts are not expected to apply evenly. The Australian Museum, where Cate Blanchett has recently been appointed a trustee, and the Historic Houses Trust are believed to face a more modest 3 per cent cut. None of the organisations would comment. The cuts are believed to have pitted the Arts Minister, Frank Sartor, against the Treasurer, Michael Costa. A Powerhouse Museum spokeswoman said the museum was anticipating a tight budget, but would not comment further. She would not confirm whether it might close one day a week. A former director of the museum, Terence Measham, said such a move would be a false economy. It had faced Treasury pressure to do this when he was director during the 1990s. "The public never knows where they are if you do that," Mr Measham said. Also feared to be at risk is the $30 million cultural grants program that assists a range of small and medium performing arts organisations. A 10 per cent cut would be catastrophic for cultural institutions, said Kerrie Butson, an industrial officer with the Public Service Association. "It would decimate them. They're eating off the bone now," she said. "If services are cut it then means that they can't put on such good programs and exhibitions, so they aren't such exciting places to come to, so people come less." The rumoured cuts come as other states have increased arts spending. Last month Victoria allocated an extra $63 million for the arts, and recently announced a $250 million upgrade for Melbourne's Southbank cultural precinct. The cuts appear to put the City of Sydney and the State Government at odds. The Lord Mayor, Clover Moore, said this week the city was looking to its creative thinkers and artists in developing a plan, entitled Sustainable Sydney 2030, that would ensure the city's cultural life. Neither Mr Sartor nor Mr Costa would comment yesterday. *** Thu May 31 19:53:09 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: What makes a successful tourist destination? Casinos, theme parks, and Bollywood films - or a mix of historic sites and local culture? http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/4080660a34.html As Singapore reduces its dependence on electronics exports it wants to boost its tourism industry - currently about 5 per cent of gross domestic product - and is betting on casinos and other imported entertainment to lure millions more visitors. "Artificial tourist creations can work," said Tony Wheeler, co-founder of the Lonely Planet guides. "Disneylands all over the world seem to pull in the crowds. And the casinos, given the propensity for the Chinese to gamble, will probably be a success." Perhaps Singapore's biggest handicap is its lack of famous sights: it has no Angkor Wat or Taj Mahal. For many years, it prided itself on its innumerable shopping malls, and promoted its annual "Singapore Sale". Abroad, it is often better known for its authoritarian ways - it canes vandals, executes drug offenders, crushes political opposition, and bans the sale of chewing gum. Culturally, its development has been crippled by restrictions on freedom of expression and censorship of films and plays. But with an eye on the newly affluent Chinese, Indians and other Asians who increasingly travel overseas, Singapore has begun work on several new attractions, including two big casinos, a Universal Studios theme park, and a ferris wheel, even though none of these is particularly Singaporean. In a bid to generate more "buzz" abroad, it has opened clubs such as Ministry of Sound and is even pitching itself as a film location, eager to emulate New Zealand's success with hits such as Lord of the Rings. By "starring" in Bollywood blockbusters such as Krrish, Singapore hopes to entice more Indian tourists. Earlier this month, Singapore snagged the rights to host Formula One racing, which it hopes will raise its profile abroad. Citigroup expects the race to generate $S150-200 million ($NZ135.33-$NZ180.44 million) a year. "They want to send a message that Singapore has changed," said Christopher Wood, CLSA's regional strategist. "They have to have more than shopping centres. Formula One is a brilliant idea. But nobody in Asia does culture well. Japan is the only place in Asia that has it. There's nothing cultural happening here now, zero." The government wants to double the number of visitors to 17 million a year by 2015, while nearly trebling tourism receipts to $S30 billion. Its new attractions could well succeed in pulling the crowds, economists say, particularly given Macau's experience. After the former Portuguese enclave of Macau opened up to the big US casino firms, it proved so popular that its annual gambling revenues hit $US7 billion ($NZ9.62 billion) last year. Macau had a record 22 million visitors last year, up 17 per cent from 2005, and could have as many as 35-40 million a year by 2010, Goldman Sachs said in a research report this month. Inspired by Macau, Singapore scrapped its decades-long ban on casinos and is now building two gambling resorts, due to open in the next three or four years, at a cost of nearly $US7 billion. One of those casinos will include a Universal Studios theme park. That too could attract millions of visitors from the region, given that the one in Japan had 8.7 million visitors in the year ending March 31, up 4.6 per cent from a year ago. But some Singaporeans have their doubts. "The Formula One is a lazy way to get cheap publicity," wrote Ng Weng Hoong in a letter to Business Times, as the government's money would be better spent promoting the use of solar energy. "Singapore should not be hypocritical, pretending to care for energy savings and the environment - and then coming up with a wasteful, has-been event like the F1." Thousands of Singaporeans signed a petition objecting to the casinos, citing fears about the social impact and risk of crime. "It's wrong to think that by putting up a casino that will attract tourists. It will attract a niche market - gamblers," said Hans Hoefer, who founded the Insight Guides. "I haven't seen a tourist in Las Vegas, I've only seen gamblers." Paul Theroux, the novelist and travel writer, once wrote that it was Singapore's image as "a hot, sleepy backwater, full of colonial relics, crumbling houses, and old habits" that lured him to the city-state in the late 1960s. "They're burying the old Singapore. It will be gone soon," he lamented in his book My Other Life. While Theroux portrayed the city-port's raffish side with its pimps and prostitutes and seedy nightclubs in his novel Saint Jack, much of that was torn down or scrubbed clean in Singapore's frantic rush to modernise. Bugis Street, once the haunt of transsexuals, is now lined by unremarkable, could-be-anywhere shopping malls, while many of the old shop houses in Chinatown were demolished to make room for modern office blocks and apartment blocks. While westerners and writers such as Theroux want history and culture, Chinese and Indians see Singapore as a beacon of modernity and efficient infrastructure, in stark contrast to many of Asia's chaotic cities, says tour guide Geraldene Lowe. "All they want to see is a modern city," said Lowe, whose walking tours take in Singapore's historic quarters and craftsmen such as those who make wood carvings for the temples, or paper statues for traditional Chinese funerals. "The government builds these ferris wheels and (gambling) resorts that you can get anywhere. Why not promote the culture we do have?" said Lowe. *** Thu May 31 23:22:00 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Qantas jacks up domestic airfares Friday, 1 June 2007 Discuss this article in forumEmail this articlePrint this article http://www.etravelblackboard.com/index.asp?id=65346&nav=2 Email DistributionTravelers choosing to fly Qantas may pay an extra $22 as the national carrier decides to increase domestic fares. The price increase adds $12 to a return economy Sydney-Melbourne or Melbourne-Brisbane trip, and an extra $22 for trips to and from Perth while discount deals for Melbourne to Canberra, Adelaide and Hobart remain unchanged. Qantas spokesman Lloyd Quartermaine said that industry cost pressures are to blame for the rise in fare prices and confirmed that oil prices were not a contributing factor for the rise. "From time to time we look at fares and have a periodical review," said Quartermaine. "It's in line with general price movements but it is not related to the price of fuel." The price rise comes after economy and business fares have leaped up three per cent which is predicted to add around $20 million a year to Qantas. This increase in the price for domestic airfares has come about despite Qantas posting a predicted profit of $1.23 billion. It has refused to reveal how much money the price increase would contribute to its overall profits. The rise comes just months before budget airline Tiger Airways takes flight in Australia to launch an anticipated price war with Qantas budget offshoot airline Jetstar. Tiger, 49-per-cent owned by Singapore Airlines, has vowed to cut fares on domestic routes. Peter Harbison chairman Centre for Asia-Pacific Aviation believes that Qantas would reap at least $20 million a year more from the price rise and said that this was their last scratch before Tiger comes into the market. Harbison also said the airline market remained competitive, and that he would not be surprised if fares again dropped once Tiger Airways was up and running in coming months. *** Thu May 31 23:37:17 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: New Google Program Opens Offline Door Thursday May 31, 8:37 pm ET By Michael Liedtke, AP Business Writer Google Introduces a Way to Move Online Software Applications Off the Internet SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Google Inc. on Wednesday introduced a way to move its online software applications off the Internet, hoping the flexibility will encourage more people to use the free services and extend the company's clout beyond its ubiquitous search engine. ADVERTISEMENT The Mountain View-based company unveiled its the new tools, called "Google Gears," to kick off a series of software development conferences being held Thursday in 10 cities around the world. Google is expecting to host more 5,000 developers, including about 1,500 in Silicon Valley. By installing a plug-in into Web browsers, Google Gears opens an offline door to software programs that until now have been inaccessible without an Internet connection. That will change with Gears, which will enable users to synchronize their computers with online applications and then use the programs offline. "This fills a gap for us," said Jeff Huber, a vice president of engineering at Google. "The Internet is great, but you can't always be plugged in to it." Initially, only Google's "reader" application for collecting the latest content on blogs and other Web sites will work offline, but the company plans to add other programs to the mix, Huber said. He cited Google's e-mail, calendar, word processing and spreadsheet programs as logical candidates for offline access. If word processing and spreadsheets become available offline, they could become even more viable threats to Microsoft Corp.'s Office software suite, a major moneymaker that traditionally has been installed directly on computer hard drives. Although Google has tried to depict its applications as a supplement to Microsoft's dominant programs, it's no secret that both companies are trying to undermine each other as they jostle for the loyalties of computer users. Google signaled its determination to become a bigger player in the software market earlier this month when it embraced "search, ads and apps," one of its new themes. The push is part of Google's effort to develop new revenue channels beyond the search engine that accounts most of its profits, which soared to $3.1 billion last year. Although its basic applications are free on the Web, Google recently began selling expanded versions to companies. Unnerved by Google's rapid rise during the last nine years, Microsoft has been investing heavily in developing its own search engine while also trying to develop an online platform to promote its own software. Most recently, Microsoft agreed to pay $6 billion to acquire online ad service aQuantive Inc. in a deal driven by Google's plans to buy DoubleClick Inc. for $3.1 billion. Google is hoping many of the people attending its developers conference will use the Gears tools to adapt their own applications for offline usage. Some of the developers already have contributed to the online applications that work with Google's maps and a version of its home page, called "iGoogle," that lets users customize what shows up on each visit to the site. "We believe strongly in the power of the community to stretch this new technology to the limits of what's possible and ultimately emerge with an open standard that benefits everyone," Google Chairman Eric Schmidt said in a statement. On The Net: *** Fri Jun 1 04:49:13 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Aged home site bungle * Cath Hart * June 01, 2007 THE commonwealth approved building a 40-bed nursing home on land contaminated by asbestos and, potentially, unexploded bombs. Department of Health and Ageing officials told a Senate committee yesterday they were unaware of the problems with the land - a former Royal Australian Air Force base in Evans Head in northern NSW - before giving the development the green light. "We are now aware it's contaminated," aged care division first assistant secretary Andrew Stuart told the community affairs committee. "There are things that sometimes emerge in the process of getting ready to build that can't be foreseen." The problem was revealed in May last year after an investigation was commissioned by the local council. Opposition ageing spokeswoman Jan McLucas said the probe found "potential for unexploded ordnance ... bombs and pyrotechnics". "I don't know if that's an appropriate place to put our vulnerable elderly people," she said. Senator McLucas questioned the rigour of DoHA's assessment process, suggesting that developments proposed on former military bases ought to be subject to greater scrutiny. "For the department to be allocating beds to a former RAAF base, I think that means our process of assessment needs to be tightened up," she said. But DoHA secretary Jane Halton defended the bungle. "This came to light afterwards, and the council was obviously as surprised about it as we were," Ms Halton said. According to the Richmond Valley Council, the Evans Head Memorial Aerodrome was used as an airfield and training base by the Royal Australian Air Force during World War II. More than 5000 miliary personnel were stationed at the base during its heyday, making it the biggest in the southern hemisphere at the time. Soil and groundwater at the site has been found to be contaminated with fuel spills, heavy metals including arsenic and lead, and asbestos fragments, benzene and cyanide. Additional reporting: AAP *** Fri Jun 1 19:55:51 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Millions yearn for 9-to-5 heyday Adele Horin June 2, 2007 WORKERS are fed up with long hours. Many want to return to the good old days - not the 1950s but the 1850s, when the battle for the eight-hour day was first won. Research shows about 2.5 million full-time workers hanker to return to the standard 9-to-5 working day. Men now put in more than 45 hours a week on average, but more than a third would prefer 38 to 40 hours. Women without dependent children want to work between 32 and 35 hours, not their current average of 40. And women with children favour working 28 hours. "People have said it's good to have diversity and flexibility in work hours but Australian workers just crave the old standard working week that's been lost over the last two decades," said Brigid van Wanrooy, a post-doctoral fellow at the Workplace Relations Centre at the University of Sydney. Dr van Wanrooy's conclusions rely on two major sources, the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia survey, the country's biggest continuing social science survey, which includes 8000 full-time workers, and another sample of 1434 workers. Her research paper, called A Desire for 9 to 5: Australians' Preference for a Standard Working Week, will add fuel to a debate about working hours, family life and happiness that is bubbling under the surface of the country's economic prosperity. It presents a challenge to the Federal Government as it tries to woo back voters by softening its workplace laws. This week the Australian Bureau of Statistics revealed almost a third of Australians work unsocial hours and 37 per cent do extra hours, about half of them for no extra pay. Dr van Wanrooy said 38 per cent of full-time workers - or 2.5 million people - wanted to work fewer hours, according to the biggest survey. "The trend to long hours has not been a result of workers' preferences." Australians work some of the longest hours in the industrialised world. Thirty-five per cent of male full-time workers and 19 per cent of full-time working women put in 50 hours or more a week. The Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry this week argued average working hours, including those of full-timers, were falling. But Dr van Wanrooy said the decline of just under one hour a week over six years was marginal, and came off a high base. "The hours Australians work are still incredibly long," she said. The national survey of 1434 workers found men tolerated up to 44 hours on average without expressing a desire to change. Above this, they wanted to cut back to the 38- to 40-hour "ideal". "Workers are prepared to put in some unpaid overtime, one or two hours a week," Dr van Wanrooy said. "When it gets beyond that they get unhappy, and more workers over the last two decades have been putting in more unpaid overtime." Women's preferences were usually determined by child care. They were more likely than men to work hours they preferred "but we don't know what career sacrifices they are making to do that". Men were more likely to work more than they wanted for their career and breadwinner role. *** Fri Jun 1 19:58:47 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Sore tooth? Take a painkiller and come back in a year "When I told them that he had fevers and headaches, they told me to just give him baby Panadol" … Kylie Crowe and her son Gabriel, 3, in Katoomba. Alexandra Smith June 2, 2007 AS HER three-year-old son battled raging fevers and headaches from a decaying tooth, Kylie Crowe was told to give him children's painkillers and be prepared to wait at least a year for treatment. Ms Crowe is not alone. Thousands of children as young as three are being forced to wait more than a year for critical dental treatment as the public dental crisis expands beyond adults. The chairman of the Association for the Promotion of Oral Health, Hans Zoellner, said at least 1000 children were waiting for treatment at Westmead Hospital, and most would still be waiting next year. "This isn't just about some pain or a tooth that doesn't look good," Associate Professor Zoellner said. "These children can end up with a life-threatening dental infection." Although it was an extreme case, he said an American boy, 12, died in February after bacteria from an abscess on his tooth spread to his brain. Extracting the tooth would have saved him, doctors said, but his mother could not afford the $80 dental fee. "Every one of the major hospitals in NSW would have about five people wheeled in a month with a life-threatening dental infection that will put them into intensive care," Professor Zoellner said. Desperate to save her son's tooth, Ms Crowe was referred to the Westmead Hospital for Gabriel to have a crown put on one of his back teeth to forestall the need for an extraction. She said she was told it would be at least a year before Gabriel could be treated, because he would need an anaesthetic. It would cost about $4000 to have the procedure done by a private dentist in a private hospital. "He is only three, so it would be too traumatic for him to do it in the chair, but when I told them that he had fevers and headaches, they told me to just give him baby Panadol," Ms Crowe said. When the Howard Government came to power in 1996 it axed the $350 million Commonwealth Dental Scheme, and it has since blamed the dental crisis on state governments. It says it contributes to dentistry through the private health insurance rebate. The NSW president of the Australian Dental Association, Tony Burges, said waiting lists for children were getting longer as dental health worsened in young people. This in turn was putting added pressure on the system. Dr Burges said 200,000 people in NSW were waiting for public dental treatment. Although he did not have a breakdown of ages, he suspected an increasing number were children. Children's dental health had worsened over the past decade because of diet, especially sugary fruit drinks that parents give to children as "healthy" replacements for fizzy drinks. However, the Children's Hospital at Westmead denies the situation is acute. The hospital says it has only 63 children on its waiting list, and most should be treated within 13 weeks. A spokeswoman for the hospital said: "These patients' needs range from examination under anaesthesia, cleaning treatments and restorative work. All patients are categorised according to urgency needs. There are currently no patients who have been on the waiting list for more than a year." Ms Crowe and her husband, Scott, refused to wait. They have refinanced their house so they can afford the $4000 bill to have the operation done by a private dentist. "That is more than our monthly income, but we didn't want to wait a year," she said. "We are lucky that we are in a position to be able to do it, but we saw some kids with shocking teeth at the dental hospital." After coming under pressure from its own ranks, the Federal Government announced in the budget last month that it would spend about $377 million to fix the teeth of people suffering a chronic illness. The money will allow people whose poor oral health is making their chronic condition worse, or is likely to do so in the future, to receive subsidised private dental care. About 200,000 people are expected to take advantage of the new Medicare dental items over the next four years, said the Minister for Health, Tony Abbott. The Opposition Leader, Kevin Rudd, has pledged that if Labor wins the election every child starting school will have their hearing and eyesight checked, allergies noted and teeth and dental hygiene inspected. *** Fri Jun 1 20:04:32 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Scientists in race to build superchook June 02, 2007 01:49am Article from: AAP http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,21836006-29277,00.html CSIRO scientists in Victoria are aiming to be the first in the world to develop a genetically modified chicken immune to the killer bird flu. CSIRO's Geelong compound has begun the research, racing for time against British scientists at Cambridge University who are hungry for a breakthrough, News Ltd reported. Millions of dollars are at stake in the research, which would help farmers and breeders, replacing their chickens with flu-immune birds, the report said. The CSIRO team aims to make the chickens immune to avian influenza. The super chickens would have to be labelled genetically modified, but the report said they would still taste like regular chicken. Australian Animal Health Laboratory's Dr John Lowenthal said an avian influenza pandemic was a major threat. “We have an obligation to come up with a solution to it,” he said. “At the end of the process we are expressing what we would call transgenes into the chicken so that this becomes permanently incorporated into the chicken, into all of its cells. “We are very excited about our science.” *** Fri Jun 1 20:06:48 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Tasmanian youth gang stones police By Julie Tullberg June 02, 2007 12:49am Article from: Reuters A GANG of youths has pelted police officers and their vehicles with missiles during a stolen car operation in Hobart. Police from Bridgewater pulled up at a house in Hobden Place about 4.30pm (AEST) yesterday to find a large group of teenagers. The gang, some on the roof of the house, threw rocks, bottles and other missiles at police, Inspector Glen Woolley said. “As a result of the rock throwing three police vehicles were damaged,” Insp Woolley said. “Damage was caused to the windscreen and various panels of the police vehicle when large rocks were discharged. “Damage is estimated at approximately $5000.” By 7.15pm (AEST), the incident was resolved, police said. Three youths, one aged 17 two aged 16, were arrested and charged by Hobart police. The offences included property damage, assaulting police, recklessly discharging missiles, motor vehicle stealing, breach of bail and failing to appear in court. The teenagers have been detained and will appear in a Hobart court at 10am (AEST) today. Two police cars were also scratched with a metal object during the attack. A 22-year-old Pontville man was charged with property damage after the police cars were damaged. Police cordoned off the area so that people were protected from the attack. Insp Woolley said Tasmania Police and the community would not tolerate the behaviour. “Any person who engages in such conduct can expect to be arrested and be held accountable for the consequence of their actions,” he said. *** Fri Jun 1 20:12:00 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: One of world's 'top 10' spammers nabbed American man accused of sending millions of junk mail using other people's computers June 02, 2007 WEDNESDAY was a good day for computer users - it was the day a major spammer was nabbed. Robert Alan Soloway, 27, was allegedly behind millions of junk e-mail sent out since 2003, reported AP. He did it using computers infected with code, called 'zombies' because their owners did not know that their machines were sending out mass e-mails. Worse, Soloway offered to do it for others through his company, Newport Internet Marketing. Its website advertised his ability to send out up to 20millione-mail advertisements in 15days for US$495 ($758), it was said. Soloway, considered one of the top 10 spammers in the world and dubbed a 'spam king' by a US attorney's office, pleaded not guilty to charges of mail fraud, wire fraud, e-mail fraud, aggravated identity theft and money laundering. He has also been accused of the crime of taking over someone else's Internet domain name, the first time US federal prosecutors have used identity theft statutes to prosecute a spammer for doing so. 'FALSE CLAIMS' On his website, Soloway allegedly claimed to have an opt-in list of recipients for his e-mail advertisements, but he did not actually use a permission-based list, reported IDG News Service. He also allegedly sold software products that would let customers send out mass e-mails themselves. However, the product often did not work properly, if at all. He also failed to offer promised support services, according to court documents. Soloway, who had a fancy apartment and an expensive Mercedes convertible, could now face decades in prison. Prosecutors also want him to forfeit the US$773,000 they say he made from spam. An investigation began after authorities got hundreds of complaints about him. Some owners of the e-mail addresses and domains he used were blamed for his spam and blacklisted by Internet service providers. Given his arrest, computer users should notice a decrease in the amount of junk e-mail they get, said US federal authorities. *** Fri Jun 1 20:23:18 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: No room for LTTE in Singapore SINGAPORE: Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama was assured yesterday by the Singapore Government that it will work closely with the Sri Lankan authorities to curb any possible use of Singaporean territory by the LTTE for its operations. The Minister received this assurance when he met with the Singaporean Foreign Minister George Yeo and Defence Minister Teo Chee Hean in separate meetings yesterday. The Minister was accompanied by Foreign Secretary Dr. Palitha Kohona. Bogollagama and the Foreign Secretary are in Singapore to attend the Sixth Annual Asian Security Summit - the Shangri-La Dialogue, which commenced its sessions yesterday night in Singapore. The Shangri-La Dialogue is a forum organised by the International Institute of Strategic Studies (IUISS) and brings together 25 official government delegations led mainly by Defence Ministers, Foreign Ministers, Chiefs of Defence Staff and other senior officials, who will deliberate on security-related issues with legislators, experts, academics and business people from Asia-Pacific region and key outside powers. Bogollagama is scheduled to address the forum tomorrow in the plenary session "Securing Regional waters: How much progress?" The Sri Lanka delegation also includes Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, Chief of Staff Air Chief Marshall Donald Perera, Sri Lanka's High Commissioner in Singapore Shehan Ratnavale and the Foreign Ministry's Director General/Public Communications Ravinatha Arayasingha and Director General/East Asia and Pacific Ahmed Jawad. Bogollagama who is paying his first visit to Singapore since assuming office as Foreign Minister, briefed the Singaporean Ministers on current developments in Sri Lanka including the efforts being made to counter the terrorist threat posed by the LTTE. The Singaporean authorities expressed understanding of the situation faced by Sri Lanka and offered to co-operate with the Sri Lanka Government. The Minister discussed a draft MoU with the Singaporean Government on intelligence sharing and also technical assistance with regard to container surveillance. The Singapore Government also assured Sri Lanka that it would closely monitor possible LTTE efforts to use Singapore as a nodal point for money laundering and for satellite transmission of its television programmes. Closer co-operation on curbing human smuggling was also discussed. Bogollagama, also delivered a public lecture on "Sri Lanka; Safe Destination for Bossiness" at a well attended forum organised by the Institute of South Asian Studies in association with the Singapore Business Federation and Singapore Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry at the Ritz Carlton Hotel last morning. Addressing an audience which included a cross section of academics, business leaders and prospective investors he said Singapore had always been a partner in the progress of Sri Lanka being one of the largest investors in Sri Lanka with a number of pioneer projects since 1977. He said successive Governments since 1977 had maintained market oriented economic policies having considered the importance of private sector led economic growth. He said Sri Lanka's steady growth is an ample testimony to show private sector performance in the economy. The Minister added that Sri Lanka offers a number incentives, most importantly safety of foreign investment is guaranteed by the country's constitution. Many foreign investors are doing well in Sri Lanka and were expanding their operations. The Minister highlighted the success story of Dialog Malaysia which has earned US $ 70 million net profit in 2006 and has invested another US $ 150 million on an expansion. Meanwhile, Foreign Secretary Dr. Palitha Kohona has said, it is time the international community clearly distinguished between the concerns of the Tamil community and the violence perpetrated allegedly in its name by the LTTE. Dr. Kohona made this observation in an address on "Combating the LTTE at Home and Overseas - Engaging the International Community" at the International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research of the Nanyang Technological University, Singapore yesterday. Dr. Kohona said it was misleading to draw an artificial distinction between "corrigible terrorists" who use violence allegedly to force political change, and "incorrigible terrorists" who are those that are extremists and for ideological reasons dare to challenge the big powers of the world by unleashing violence. He said one can have a perfectly valid cause and yet if one commits terrorist acts, it is terrorism regardless. He noted that the UN had adopted 13 conventions against different aspects of terrorism and a comprehensive convention was being negotiated. He said while several countries have actively cracked down on LTTE fund raising activity, there is an urgent need for countries that have proscribed the LTTE to take action in the many major centres of LTTE fund raising and to ensure that pressure is brought on the LTTE to step down from its position of intransigence and to transform itself. The LTTE had caused untold suffering to the very Tamil community it claims to solely represents and is now heavily engaged in extensive commercial activity. The LTTE had been accused of working in alliance with Jihadi Movements in the international narcotics trade and is engaged in money laundering, credit card fraud, people smuggling and arms smuggling, the Foreign Secretary said. Dr. Kohona said the LTTE didn't tell the world that 54 per cent of the Tamil population in Sri Lanka live in the south of the country alongside the other communities; 39 per cent of Colombo is Tamil; that the Sinhala and Tamil communities have lived together in harmony for thousands of years; that major Hindu festivals are national holidays in Sri Lanka; that Tamil people hold positions of responsibility in government and in the private sector; that Tamil political parties are well represented in Parliament and that successive governments have redressed grievances of the Tamil community. He said the Sri Lanka Government's approach has always been to remain willing to have talks with a view to discussing a final solution that will bring much desired peace to the north of Sri Lanka. However, the government reserved the right to safeguard its people from being used as human shields by the LTTE, and also the right to safeguard the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Sri Lanka. *** Fri Jun 1 20:39:37 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Child sex abuse rife, says Brough * * Email * Print * Normal font * Large font Brough: Disgust at revelations. Brough: Disgust at revelations. Photo: Glenn Campbell Annabel Stafford June 1, 2007 PEDOPHILIA is rife in Aboriginal communities across Australia, Indigenous Affairs Minister Mal Brough has said, nominating the sexual abuse of children as one of the major issues facing indigenous Australians. Mr Brough said the community of Kalumburu — where about 10 per cent of adult males have recently been charged with sexually abusing children — was not an isolated case. "I do not believe that this is the only community where children are being abused, because even in the suburbs of Perth … (indigenous people tell me) 'do not think that this is only happening in the bush, it's happening here in our suburbs as well'," he said. Asked if his much-criticised claim of pedophile rings in some indigenous communities had been proved right, Mr Brough said: "It speaks for itself, doesn't it? I don't have to (give it a name). The approximate population (in Kalumburu) is about 450 and so far 11 people have been arrested; 72 charges have been laid. There are allegations here of child pornography as well, and one report had the girl (involved) as young as three." But he said he felt "abhorrence and disgust" over the revelations. "The fact that I said these things were occurring is a moot point … I do not want to be seen to be saying I told you so." His comments coincide with today's release of an annual Productivity Commission report into indigenous disadvantage, which reveals that Aboriginal children are nearly four times as likely to be abused or neglected than non-Aboriginal children — and that's just reported abuse — and six times more likely to be on care or protection orders. There are some shafts of light, with indigenous unemployment dropping from 30 per cent to 13 per cent in the decade to 2005, and home ownership increasing from 22 per cent to 25 per cent. But there are many areas of concern. Between 1981 and 2002, suicides among indigenous men grew by 800 per cent compared with 30 per cent among non-indigenous men; suicides by indigenous women grew by an annual average of 25.8 per cent. And between 2000 and 2006, indigenous imprisonment leapt by 31.9 per cent, with indigenous Australians now 12.9 times more likely to be imprisoned than other Australians. But the report points out that because the factors of disadvantage are related — the unemployed are more likely to take illicit drugs, for example — improvements in areas such as housing and education can have a ripple effect. Mr Brough said yesterday that sexual abuse in some communities had nothing to do with Aboriginal culture. While the causes were many, he believed that passive welfare and a breakdown in social structures had played a big part in the widespread abuse. The inability of victims to speak English and the absence of a police presence in many communities are also factors, the minister has said previously. Lillian Jeeter, who campaigns against abuse of elderly people, said abuse occurred wherever there was "opportunity and accessibility". Revelations of exploitation in schools, church orphanages and, more recently, nursing homes showed abusers — who are in all types of Australian community — preyed on victims in "environments where they're hidden". "In other words it's not in the mainstream or on a city street and the victims involved (either because they're too young, old, intimidated or can't communicate) can't pick up the phone and say 'help'," Ms Jeeter said. *** Sat Jun 2 04:49:50 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Saturday June 2, 05:17 PM Vic police hunting newsagent attackers Police are hunting two thieves who repeatedly bashed a Melbourne newsagent with a baseball bat in what they say was a disgraceful and savage attack. The early morning attack on the 65-year-old man, who has serious head injuries, at his Station Street newsagency in Fairfield was captured on a security camera. The owner was preparing for the day's trade when he was set upon by two men wielding a baseball bat and a handgun just before 6am (AEST), police said. He was repeatedly bashed, suffering deep lacerations to the back of his head. The men dragged the victim to the counter and one raided the till, stealing a small amount of cash, while the other continued to beat the man. They fled the shop, leaving the victim to stagger, bloodied and battered, to a local butcher for help. Detective Acting Sergeant Adrian Brilliant of the armed crime taskforce said the attack - captured on security camera - was disgraceful and could have turned even nastier. "When you look at the footage you can see that it's quite a prolonged attack and savage," he told reporters. "I think if the attendant had of resisted there's a possibility that he could have suffered more serious injuries. "At this stage it appears he's been assaulted by the baseball bat but they also had a handgun which could well of been used." The man had three lacerations to his head and bruising to his upper body and was taken by ambulance to the Austin hospital. His wounds required surgery and stitches. Sgt Brilliant said the robbery appeared to have some degree of planning and was particularly vicious, given the bandits used extreme force when threats would have sufficed. "I'd describe this attack as disgraceful because you've got an elderly man setting up for his day's business and he's accosted by two males," he said. Both men were wearing hooded jackets to disguise their appearance. *** Sun Jun 3 05:24:24 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Rape, child sex, muggings: Does virtual reality need police? Jun 03, 2007 The Straits Times WASHINGTON - EARLIER this year, one animated character in Second Life, a popular online fantasy world, allegedly raped another character. Some Internet bloggers dismissed the simulated attack as nothing more than digital fiction. But police in Belgium, according to newspapers there, opened an investigation into whether a crime had been committed. Then last month, the authorities in Germany announced they were looking into a separate incident involving virtual abuse in Second Life after receiving pictures of an animated child character engaging in simulated sex with an animated adult figure. As recent advances in Internet technology have spurred millions of users to build and explore new digital worlds, they are testing the long-held notions of what is criminal and whether law enforcement should patrol the digital frontier. 'People have an interest in their property and the integrity of their person. But in virtual reality, these interests are not tangible but built from intangible data and software,' said Professor Greg Lastowka of the Rutgers School of Law at Camden, New Jersey. Some virtual activities clearly violate the law, like trafficking in stolen credit card numbers, he said. Others, like virtual muggings and sex crimes, are harder to define, though they may cause real-life anguish for users. In World of Warcraft, the most popular online game with an estimated eight million participants, some regions of the fantasy domain have grown so lawless that players say they fear to brave them alone. Gangs of animated characters have repeatedly preyed upon lone travellers, killing them and making off with their virtual belongings. Two years ago, the Japanese authorities arrested a man for carrying out virtual muggings in another popular game, Lineage II, and then selling the virtual loot for real money. Second Life, where more than six million people have registered to create characters called avatars that socialise with other characters, might trump them all with its breadth of creativity and interaction. US presidential hopeful John Edwards has opened a virtual campaign headquarters. Reuters and other news agencies have set up virtual bureaus. On May 22, the Maldives became the first country to open an embassy in Second Life, with Sweden following this week. About 15 per cent of the properties on the site - space on computer servers that appear as parcels of land -- have been flagged as having mature material. In some locations, avatars act out drug use, child abuse, rape and various forms of sadomasochism. 'This is the double-edged sword of the wonderful creativity in Second Life,' said Mr Julian Dibbell, a prominent commentator on digital culture. The question of what is criminal in virtual reality is complicated by disagreements among countries over what is legal even in real life. For example, virtual renderings of child abuse are not a crime in the US but are considered illegal pornography in some European countries, including Germany. After the German authorities began their investigation, Linden Labs, which operates Second Life, said it was cooperating with law enforcement and had banned two participants in the incident, a 54-year-old man and a 27-year-old woman. Mr Philip Rosedale, the founder and chief executive of Linden Labs, said in an interview that Second Life activities should be governed by real-life laws for the time being. 'In the ideal case, the people who are in Second Life should think of themselves as citizens of this new place and not citizens of their countries,' he said. Washington Post http://news.asiaone.com/st/st_20070603_125444.html *** Sun Jun 3 20:35:57 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Telstra locks in over broadband war June 04, 2007 12:06am Article from: AAP Font size: + - Send this article: Print Email TELSTRA has locked in deals with major suppliers in a bid to beat its rival, the Optus-led Group of Nine (G9) consortium, to roll out its $4-billion-plus high-speed broadband network. The telco also plans to step up pressure on the opposition by releasing details this week on the prices it will charge other telecommunications companies to use its planned fibre network, The Australian Financial Review reports today. The competition regulator has been pressing the telco to release its prices for some time. In a private briefing on Friday night, Telstra chief operating officer Greg Winn said his company's network could be “in full force rollout in three months ... they haven't even begun”, the newspaper said. Telstra argues it is better equipped to provide the fibre network compared with the G9 because it has detailed supplier agreements in place and has done all the legwork needed to be able to connect 98 per cent of homes in 40 months. “These contracts take months to put together; we've said we can have the first shovel in the ground in 14 days,” the Financial Review quoted Mr Winn as saying. *** Mon Jun 4 20:40:58 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Cashless buses playing catch-up * * Email * Print * Normal font * Large font Jordan Baker Transport Reporter June 5, 2007 AdvertisementAdvertisement CASHLESS buses will run along nine more routes and "queue-busters" will teach people how to buy CityRail tickets as the State Government compensates for delays to the long-awaited Tcard. The travel smartcard - originally due seven years ago - would allow people to pay for their bus or train trip by swiping a pre-paid card, rather than queueing for a ticket. But years of technology and software problems mean there is still no start date for the Tcard, although trials, involving staff using buses in the inner west, began last week. In the meantime, the Government is trying to ease the frustration of commuters waiting in ticket queues by expanding pre-pay buses and promoting the use of ticket machines at stations. The Minister for Transport, John Watkins, said pre-pay trials, including at Bondi, had been a success. Travel times were cut because it took 11 seconds to pay a fare, but just three to dip a ticket. The new routes, to be introduced by the end of the year, will be along Military, Pittwater, Alison, Botany, Willoughby and Victoria roads, as well as Anzac Parade, King Street, and Eastern Valley Way. The northern beaches service will be the first new one to operate, next month. "Now we are throwing open those benefits to more Sydneysiders," Mr Watkins said. RailCorp is also trying to cut queues by moving ticket machines from quiet to busy stations, adding bank machines and deploying staff in white "Q-Buster" T-shirts to teach people how to use the machines. About 60 per cent of CityRail tickets are sold at windows. Hong Kong's rail system does not sell single tickets at windows. There, nine out of 10 passengers use the equivalent of a Tcard. A recent study showed passengers found the machines too difficult to use, and that CityRail discouraged their use by putting them next to booking offices. A RailCorp spokesman said the machines were being moved from quiet stations where they were under-used to busier stations, such as Town Hall, Strathfield and Central. Staff are being sent to stations under the Q-Buster program to show passengers how to use the top-up function on the machines, which were installed between 1992 and 1993. About 30 such staff were at stations such as Strathfield and Liverpool last week. It takes an average of three minutes to buy a ticket at Town Hall. A spokesman for the Rail Tram and Bus Union said the resources were simply being moved from station to station. "I fear they are robbing Peter to pay Paul," he said. The Opposition transport spokeswoman, Gladys Berejiklian, said the measures simply highlighted problems with Tcard. Meanwhile, Mr Watkins said he would consider issuing bus drivers with DNA swab kits to help catch people who spat on transport workers. Bus drivers in London have been issued with kits. Between November and May, 24 State Transit bus drivers reported being spat on. The union wants more guards to curb bad behaviour. *** Mon Jun 4 20:48:03 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Howard hastens on broadband * * Email * Print * Normal font * Large font Michelle Grattan June 5, 2007 AdvertisementAdvertisement PRIME Minister John Howard is moving quickly to try to neutralise Opposition Leader Kevin Rudd's multibillion-dollar proposal for a national high-speed broadband network. The Government is expected to announce this week a process to evaluate competing plans by the leading telcos to invest in a new network. These are from Telstra and the Optus-led G9, but other companies would probably be invited to put up proposals. The Government is also likely to increase the amount of money it will put in to helping regional Australia to connect to broadband. Industry speculation is that the $600 million earlier allocated, for which successful tenders are about to be announced, could be upped to $900 million. Labor's fibre broadband network would be built over five years, reach 98 per cent of Australians and be up to 40 per cent faster than current services. The Government has attacked the Labor plan — which would be a public-private partnership with up to $4.7 billion in government investment — because Labor would take some of the money from the Future Fund. The Opposition proposal has gone down well and the Government is aware that it needs a competing plan. The Government has been under strong pressure from its own backbench to do something to counter Labor's initiative. If Telstra or G9 can get a plan ticked off quickly, the Government can point to an alternative that will be financed without public money. Telstra's proposed $4.1 billion network would initially start in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth and the Gold Coast and reach 50 per cent of homes and 60 per cent of businesses in the first 40 months. The G9 consortium proposes to build a network that would cover five capital cities costing $3.6 billion over three years. Although neither Telstra nor Optus is seeking government investment, both want legislative and regulatory changes and guarantees before going ahead. Telstra is in a long-running war with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission headed by Graeme Samuel. Telstra says that if its fibre-to-the-node plan is to go ahead, it has to be sure it can recover its costs and be assured of a commercial rate of return for its investment. Pricing for other companies to get access to its network must be set realistically to achieve this, it says. G9 wants legislation to prohibit any competitor being able to build a rival network for five years. It says that for the life of the investment, which would be 17 years, Telstra should be prevented from upgrading its copper network to a fibre network. It wants access to the Telstra network at points closer to consumer homes than Telstra is willing to give. G9 is proposing significantly lower initial prices for consumers but Telstra's prices are locked in over 14 years. A spokesman for Telstra said: "Telstra will participate in any process that's objective and seriously examines the technical capabilities, legislative requirements and terms and conditions of each proposal." Labor's communications spokesman Stephen Conroy said what the Government would offer would mean that regional Australia would get slower and less efficient broadband than it would under Labor. *** Tue Jun 5 06:04:42 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Straits Times Monday, December 11, 2006 By Alfred Siew StarHub is expected to announce today that it will offer free wireless surfing at 200 Wi-Fi hot spots. These are in addition to the 600 which went online 10 days ago as part of the free Wireless@SG service. The service aims to offer easy broadband access to all and make Singapore more "connected." StarHub's free hot spots include those at Changi Airport, Suntec City and Singapore Expo, where it currently charges $10 a month for access. The telecoms operator will turn these hot spots into free surf zones next month for existing customers. Those who sign up with QMax Communications, one of three operators running the nationwide Wireless@SG service, will also be able to surf for free. But users registered with the other Wireless@SG operators -- SingTel and iCell Network -- will have to pay. StarHub users will also enjoy free access at 12,000 hot spots overseas until March next year in India and countries in Europe - including the United Kingdom, Germany, Austria and the Netherlands. StarHub spokesman Michael Sim said that the company hopes that its 200 free hot spots in Singapore will spur people to sign up with it or QMax rather than its rivals. Its offer means that almost all -- 800 out of 900 -- of Singapore's public hot spots will be free. The number will rise to more than 5,000 by September next year. StarHub had bid unsuccessfully to run the Wireless@SG service earlier this year. It had little choice but to follow its rivals when they launched their free services. Internet users here have seen increased competition drive down broadband prices across the board this year. From nearly $50 a month, prices for a basic broadband service for homes have dropped to under $30. The buzz is due largely to the Government's efforts to open up the market, which include a commitment to fork out $30 million of the $100 million needed to build the Wireless@SG hot spots. The three operators will bear the remaining cost. Their revenue sources will centre largely around offering value-added services to users. QMax, for instance, is selling Internet calls at 5 cents a minute to countries such as China. Within a week of the launch of Wireless@SG, more than 100,000 people signed up. Despite facing some teething problems with logging in and coverage, users have been forgiving. Said freelance writer Lee Cherng Siang, 31: "If I can download my e-mail and do basic things, it's hard to complain about something that's free." Date Posted: 12/11/2006 *** Wed Jun 6 21:22:43 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Hundreds of jobs go as Telstra decides to shift the fault * * Email * Print * Normal font * Large font Meaghan Shaw June 6, 2007 FIVE hundred jobs in Telstra's service faults and technical support areas will be lost over the next year under a restructure of the telecommunications giant. Telstra confirmed that 1700 jobs would be lost but 1200 created as the company consolidates 17 sites around the country to seven. Victoria will be spared much of the impact, with Melbourne losing 34 jobs but gaining 290 new positions. The brunt of the losses will be felt in regional Australia, with the closure of sites in Wollongong, Launceston, Newcastle and Canberra. Telstra services group managing director Michael Rocca promised that the changes would improve customer service and eliminate duplication. The changes will merge Telstra's service faults and difficulties activation centres and various BigPond technical support call centres from 17 sites to four large sites in Melbourne, Perth, Sydney and Townsville, with three smaller sites in Brisbane, Ningi in Queensland, and Adelaide. Workers learnt of the changes yesterday. They are part of the overhaul foreshadowed by Telstra chief executive Sol Trujillo in November 2005, when he said up to 12,000 jobs would be axed from the telco over five years. Mr Rocca said the new model would provide customers with improved service and fewer internal call transfers because more staff would be located in the same centres and receive the same training. "We want our people to be able to assist and resolve more of our customers' issues the first time — first-call resolution and less call transfers," he said. He also promised this would enable better scheduling and workforce coverage to meet customer demand. Community and Public Sector Union national secretary Stephen Jones condemned the proposal as a "direct attack" on Telstra workers, their families and the community. He predicted it would lead to poorer services particularly in rural and regional areas. He said Launceston and Newcastle would be hardest hit, with those sites both employing about 200 workers each. "We think it's going to have an impact on service delivery and people getting their service faults dealt with in a timely manner," he said. "Currently Telstra's performance in repairing payphone faults in rural and remote areas lags well behind their performance in urban areas … This will now only get worse." Mr Jones called on the Federal Government to intervene on behalf of the workers and the services they provide to millions of Australians. A spokesman for Workplace Minister Joe Hockey said an assistance package for affected workers was under consideration. Mr Rocca said the reduction in sites would save Telstra about $6.6 million a year. A Telstra spokesman said the company offered a generous redundancy payout, including four weeks' pay for the first five years of service and three weeks thereafter, capped at 80 weeks. *** Sat Jun 9 18:51:45 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Sunday June 10, 05:57 AM Floodwaters spark evacuation in Hunter Emergency service workers and volunteers are frantically doorknocking at Maitland in the Hunter Valley west of Newcastle to evacuate residents threatened by rising floodwaters. State Emergency Service (SES) spokesman Phil Campbell said crews were doorknocking about 290 properties on Saturday night in low-lying Maitland areas, as floodwaters rise. Residents inside the Maitland levee were at risk, as waters were expected to peak 5cm below the top of the levee. "We'll make sure they're well prepared, and if we need to take them out it will be much easier to do so in the morning," Mr Campbell said. "In a major area of Maitland, about 400 people have received an evacuation order." Meanwhile, floodwaters have forced hundreds from their homes in the Hunter Valley, and north of Gosford on the NSW Central Coast. "At Singleton we are approaching the peak heights of the floods, at a maximum height 14.1 metres," Mr Campbell said. "There has been an evacuation of 100 residents from rural areas around Singleton." Tuggerah Lake peaked at 9pm (AEST) on Saturday night, forcing 400 residents from their homes, and a nursing home was evacuated at Wyong, north of Gosford. The mass evacuations took place as the SES battled to keep up with calls for help throughout the Hunter and Newcastle region. Mr Campbell said there were 9,200 calls for help, as residents struggled to deal with the localised flash-flooding from Friday's heavy rain. Other requests for help included leaking roofs and fallen trees, branches and powerlines caused by high winds, Mr Campbell said. "Conditions are easing, which will help SES to attend to remaining calls tomorrow," he said. Back-up crews have been called in from Victoria, which will arrive on Monday. But teams from all over NSW have been flown or driven in to help people in the declared disaster zone. Crews were called in from as far as Broken Hill, Albury, Wagga Wagga, Temora and Armidale. People needing information on the evacuations and road closures should call the SES public information line on 1800 227 228 *** Sat Jun 9 18:54:10 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: aturday June 9, 07:47 PM Storm 'rips heart out' of Wallsend Residents of the Newcastle suburb of Wallsend fear that severe storms have "ripped the heart out" of their community. Shops in the main street of the outer western suburb were devastated when a wall of water burst through the back of buildings and exploded onto the street, destroying nearly everything inside. Long-time resident Alison Mahedy wondered whether the close-knit village could overcome the disaster. "It's ripped the heart out of the community. It was only two weeks ago when the Wallsend community, the business people, had meetings on how they could revive this and now this is just the worst thing you could think of." Another Wallsend resident, Keri Gardner, added: "They've done what they can to make this place new again and now this is just a disaster." A traditional working class area based around employment in mining, Wallsend has in recent years been trying to reinvent itself. Struggling under the weight of the 200mm deluge, stormwater drains were inadequate and shop owners were left helpless. One resident said the water just came up over the stormwater drain and through the back of the shops, exploding on to the streets. Locals said they have never seen anything like the 1.5m wall of water that descended on their main street. Shop owner Simon Lee was amazed by the speed and the severity of the flood. Watching from a second storey window opposite his restaurant, the father of three saw his car picked up and smashed, looking on helplessly as the waters caused an estimated $50,000 worth of damage to his business. "I was here at 5 o'clock - nothing had happened. I was here at 6 o'clock - nothing had happened, another half an hour, that's all - and it was a river," Mr Lee said. One shop owner had to be saved by the fire brigade after becoming trapped in his shop that was quickly filling with water. "He couldn't open the door and the two firefighters had to smash the door to let him out," Mr Lee said. "You just escape, you just don't think about anything, you just escape with your life," he added. Premier Morris Iemma, who visited the suburb on Saturday to pledge his support for the residents, was taken back by the destruction to the area. "They are devastated, the damage is extraordinary," he told AAP. "The water here was chest high and the fierceness and the speed with which the water moved - I mean it just picked up fridges as if they were cushions and just threw them out the back. It's just unbelievable." *** Sat Jun 9 19:15:05 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Two attacks: Same day, same area, same gang? By Alvin Chiang June 10, 2007 THE two strangers had both been ambushed, beaten up and robbed. Click to see larger image And they found themselves side by side in the same hospital. Mr Sivakumar V, 45, and MrKrishnamoorthy Arulprakasam, 35, spoke to each other, and found out that the incidents occurred in the same vicinity and in quick succession. They concluded that they may have been victims of the same gang. The two men could share their stories because, by sheer coincidence, they ended up in adjacent beds at the National University Hospital's accident and emergency ward. Both men were cycling through Choa Chu Kang after 1.30am on 31May. IDENTICAL ATTACKS To their surprise, the way they were attacked was almost identical. Mr Sivakumar, a driver, had parked a trailer in a heavy vehicle park at Sungei Kadut Way before beginning his cycle ride home. This has been a routine for the man who lives in an HDB flat in Choa Chu Kang Crescent about 20 minutes away. But on that night, he was attacked by seven men who robbed him of $1,000 and also bashed him up viciously. His right shoulder was dislocated and he had bruises all over his body. The attack, which was reported by The New Paper last week, happened around 2am. What Mr Sivakumar didn't know then was that a foreign construction worker had also been attacked and robbed nearby, just a few minutes earlier. Mr Krishnamoorthy, who is from India, was on his way from Yew Tee MRT station to the marble factory in Sungei Kadut Avenue where he lives and works. He had left his bicycle at the station before taking the train to Serangoon Road to meet a friend. He got back late, retrieved his bicycle and was cycling back to the factory, which is about 10 minutes away. At around 1.50am, he said a group of at least six men ambushed and attacked him near Sungei Kadut Canal. The spot where he was attacked is about 500m from where Mr Sivakumar was robbed. The police confirmed that both incidents happened in the same area and at around the same time. As investigations are still ongoing, they were unable to comment on whether both robberies were committed by the same group of people. But Mr Krishnamoorthy and MrSivakumar felt there were too many similarities in what happened to them. In both cases, the attackers had been drinking beer. PUSHED OFF BIKES Both victims were pushed off their bicycles by one man before several other men joined in to bash them up. Mr Sivakumar lost $1,000 to the men while Mr Krishnamoorthy lost $500. Mr Sivakumar's attackers fled after a police patrol car arrived at the scene, following an emergency call made by a member of the public. No one saw the men attacking Mr Krishnamoorthy. They ran away after they took his money and his second-hand blue Nokia handphone worth about $70. Mr Krishnamoorthy said: 'They continued to hit me even after they took my money. 'I think I was beaten up for six to seven minutes before they decided to run away.' He was cycling on the left-most lane of Choa Chu Kang Way towards the junction of Sungei Kadut Avenue when the attack took place. Mr Krishnamoorthy recalled: 'A man stood in front of my bicycle and pushed it to the ground. 'After I fell down, the man picked me up and carried me to a grass patch next to the road. 'Suddenly, many men started to kick me. They also used metal and 'kayu' to hit me.' Kayu means pole in Malay. He tried to protect himself by shielding his face with his arms. Two of the knuckles of his left hand were broken. His left forearm is in a cast. He also received stitches on his head in three places. His right eye is still bloodshot from the attack. Mr Krishnamoorthy said: 'I picked up my bicycle after the men ran away. 'The chain was loose and I had to walk and push the bicycle back to the factory.' That was a distance of about 500m. By the time he got there, his T-shirt was covered with blood. His co-workers there then helped to send him to hospital. The $500 that was taken from him was a loan from the friend he had met in Little India earlier. He said: 'I wanted to send the money back to India for my family. 'I was planning to pay my friend back after I get my salary.' Mr Krishnamoorthy, who is from Tamil Nadu state, has been working in Sungei Kadut for more than seven years. Mr Sivakumar's wife, Madam Lela Vasu, 50, said she was told of Mr Krishnamoorthy's case by an ambulance driver while she was at NUH. She said: 'My husband was taken to NUH around 3am. 'Twenty minutes later, an ambulance driver told me there was another man who was attacked near Sungei Kadut. 'I found out later that he (Mr Krishnamoorthy) was in the bed next to my husband.' UNCONSCIOUS Both of men were unconscious so they did not talk to each other then. Mr Sivakumar was shocked to know about Mr Krishnamoorthy from his wife. He did not talk much to the foreign construction worker at the time, as he was sedated. But Mr Sivakumar managed to look at Mr Krishnamoorthy's injuries. He said: 'He had cuts on his arms. I thought his attackers used knives on him. 'It's terrible. Why do these people do such things?' Mr Krishnamoorthy was given about two weeks' medical leave and goes to NUH regularly for follow-ups. He said he will be more careful now. 'I don't think I will cycle or walk around the place at night. If I go out late, I will go with many other people.' *** Sat Jun 9 19:20:44 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Kindness, compassion break out at Princes Park http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/kindness-compassion-break-out-at-princes-park/2007/06/09/1181089398428.html?s_cid=rss_age Michael Lallo June 10, 2007 JUDGING by the hushed awe, the crowd of 20,000 expected a profound utterance from the Dalai Lama. Instead, the exiled Buddhist spiritual leader of Tibet tweaked his nipples. "What do you call these things where milk comes out of?" he asked, trying to illustrate the bond between mother and child. But his cheeky grin suggested he already knew the answer. Indeed, it was a playful mood that dominated the Dalai Lama's free public lecture yesterday at Princes Park. If he was annoyed at having being snubbed by Melbourne Lord Mayor John So, who refused to meet him yesterday morning, he did not show it. After an effusive introduction from actress Kerrie Armstrong, His Holiness — who claims to be the 14th reincarnation of the Bodhisattva of Compassion — took his seat. Barely a minute later, he was back on his feet, preferring to stand. He pointedly avoided issuing specific instructions, instead urging the world's 6 billion people to adopt an attitude of "unbiased compassion". "Limited compassion is based on others' attitudes towards you," he explained. "As soon as their attitude changes, hatred will come." There were few surprises throughout the lecture, with the religious leader sticking to his usual themes of tolerance, kindness and compassion, and with an environmental focus. But his response to written questions raised a few eyebrows, as he appeared to advocate euthanasia in certain circumstances. "If a human has no hope of recovery and is in a coma, it can be very expensive, and the rest of their family can suffer immensely," he said. But sick pets, he said, must never be put down. "The suffering of the animal is due to previous karma. They have to experience their suffering, so they can live out their karma." *** Sat Jun 9 19:29:43 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Mum's near miss as beaches cop beating Danielle Teutsch June 10, 2007 A WOMAN narrowly escaped death when a tree crashed through her Sydney house, pinning her to a bed early yesterday. Strong winds toppled a 30-metre spotted gum on to the two-storey house in Prince Alfred Parade, Newport, about 1am. Helen Hosking, 53, escaped with minor cuts. "I am the luckiest woman in the world," she said. The northern beaches home was one of dozens across the city damaged by falling trees and torrential rain. Authorities said there were no other reports of injuries. At least 50,000 Sydney homes were without power and massive seas were causing erosion at most city beaches. Mrs Hosking had just come out of the shower and was sitting on the edge of her bed flicking through a newspaper when the roof started to fall in. "It was raining broken tiles on my head," she said. "Then a branch pulled me and rolled me under." Mrs Hosking's daughter, Nicole, awoke to a noise "like a semitrailer hitting a brick wall". Her boyfriend, Matt Degotardi, broke down the door to see Mrs Hosking pinned to the bed by a branch, with the tree trunk poised above her. "She was screaming, 'Push it off me'," Miss Hosking said. "Mum was there with blood running down her forehead. She thought she was going to die." Firefighters used a hydraulic wedge to free the woman. She was taken to Mona Vale Hospital and released yesterday after having several stitches to her head, hands, arms and back. Her husband, Russell, said his wife would have died under weight of the tree if she had been sleeping on her usual side of the bed. Mr Hosking was on business in Newcastle. The home will have to be demolished. Mr Hosking said he had long been concerned about the gum, which stood in a corner of their sloping backyard. The Pittwater spotted gum is considered endangered under the Threatened Species Conservation Act, and their removal is prohibited. On Friday afternoon, another spotted gum fell in Elgata Close, Avalon, narrowly missing two houses. Emergency services were flat-out responding to calls about fallen trees on the northern beaches. In Queenscliff, strong winds caused a tree to fall on three cars parked outside a unit block on Friday. Resident John Crampton and his partner, Monica Shackell, heard a cracking sound about 9pm. Ms Shackell said: "The whole place vibrated." Trees fell on powerlines in Binburra and Kevin avenues in Avalon, as well as in several other streets on the peninsula, causing blackouts. The storms wreaked havoc elsewhere in Sydney, too. In the eastern suburbs, Waverley mayor George Newhouse said wind and surf had pushed sand into "dunes" behind Bondi and Tamarama beaches. The Manly Ferry and JetCat services were cancelled again due to dangerous conditions and Parramatta River services were also affected, terminating at Cabarita due to debris in the water. At Cremorne, passengers were advised to go to Old Cremorne wharf until Cremorne Point wharf is assessed. CityRail reported its Northern and North Shore, Newcastle and Central Coast and Hunter lines were closed and some alternative bus services were disrupted by flooding. Transport Minister John Watkins said a fully laden passenger train had hit a rock-slide on the northern side of the Hawkesbury bridge on Friday night. One man received a minor injury and was treated and allowed to go home. The rail line is cut in eight places by flood and landslides north of the Hawkesbury. Work had started to repair damage before resumption of normal timetables on Tuesday. There were also delays to some flights into Sydney Airport *** Sat Jun 9 19:32:29 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Lessons from Singapore Friday June 8 2007 16:14 IST N Vital From Third World to First is the title of the impressive memoirs of Lee Kuan Yew, who presided over the destiny of Singapore for more than three decades and guided it to where it is today. He literally saw the transformation of Singapore from the third world to becoming the first world. On reading this book, one gets glimpses of the approach and thinking of Lee Kuan Yew who is certainly one of the extraordinary leaders of our time. Henry Kissinger, has rightly paid the following tribute to him: ‘‘History shows that normal prudence and ordinary calculations can be overturned by extraordinary personalities. In the case of Lee Kuan Yew, the father of Singapore’s emergence as a national state, the ancient argument, whether the circumstance or personality shapes the events is settled in favour of the latter. Every great achievement is a dream before it becomes reality and his vision was of a state that would not simply survive but prevail by excellence.’’ In fact, the great achievement of Lee Kuan Yew lies in his first realising the need for Singapore not only to survive but also to prevail by excelling in every area. There are critics who will say that Lee Kuan Yew and Singapore’s case is an exception because it is a very small island nation. What has been done there can not be replicated easily everywhere. But in his memoirs, Lee Kuan Yew gives glimpses of his thought process and strategy which should be adopted by those who want to lead any developing nation into the first world status. We get an idea about Lee Kuan Yew’s form of governance from this comment in the epilogue, ‘‘when we started in 1959, we knew little about how to govern and how to solve our many economical social problems. All we had was a burning desire to change an unfair and unjust society for the better. To do that we had to win political power. Having gained it we had to retain the support of our people and continue the unfinished job. ‘‘I sought our able men and placed them in positions of authority as ministers and top public officers to administer an honest efficient system and be responsive to the needs of the people. We had to keep workers on our side and at the same time needed the investors whose capital, knowledge management skills and overseas markets would enable us to make a living without our traditional hinterland Malaysia. ‘‘We learned on the job and learned quickly. If there was one formula for success, it was that we were constantly studying how to make things work and how to make them better. I was never a preserver of any theory. What guided me was reason and reality... I almost never made the same mistake twice and I tried to learn from the mistakes others had made. ‘‘I discovered early in life that there were few problems confronting the government that other governments had not met and solved. So I made a practice of finding out who else had met the problem, how they tackled it and how successful they had been. Whether it was to build a new airport or the change of the teaching method, I would send a team of officers to visit and study those countries that had done well. I preferred to climb on the shoulders of others who had gone before us. ‘‘I learnt to ignore criticism and advice from experts and quasi experts especially academics in a social and political sciences… I always tried to be correct not politically correct.’’ Pragmatism and realism thus emerge as the secret of the success of Singapore’s transformation from a third world to the first world. Lee Kuan Yew is living proof that a pragmatic approach can lead to better results. Herein lies the problem we have in India, one that has been highlighted by our present Finance Minister when addressing the convocation of IIM, Ahmedabad. P Chidambaram has described the Indian brand of deliberative democracy as having innumerable checks and balances that often paralyse the decision making process, thus forcing the country to accept suboptimal solutions at enormous costs, both of time and money. This Indian brand of deliberate democracy must change. A few days back, another Indian political leader, Suresh Prabhu came up with the proposal of a diamond jubilee gift. This gift, from the Indian political leaders to the nation, would involve a common minimum programme for tackling major national problems like poverty and economic development. Are we seeing the stirrings of a new wave of thinking in the Indian political scene? Are we likely to see some change that will bring in the element of pragmatism and realism that Lee Kuan Yew was talking about? In this connection, Chidambaram, in the same address to IIMA, referred to China. He pointed out that its progress was due to the ‘‘one country two system’’ theory as opposed to India’s ‘‘one country, one system’’ with as many interpretations as there are political parties. Our problem is multiplicity of approach and practically every party having a veto. We seem to be a country where there are more brakes than accelerators. The challenge for all thinkers is how we can move towards a system where there can be continuous regular progress without any obstacles. Lee Kuan Yew’s example is relevant today, when we are talking about Special Economic Zones. We are trying to replicate what China did a few years ago, but thanks to our deliberate democracy, we have run into problems. This brings us to a basic question. Are we likely to see the emergence of our own Lee Kuan Yews or other strong-willed leaders who will bring about major changes for better governance? The increasingly divisive nature of the coalitions and caste-based politics seem to throw up only pygmies of leaders who may not have a broad vision or national mission. Our hope now lies in our states from where strong-willed leaders emerge and dominate state politics with their forceful personality. These leaders will be able to push their states forward and, by their example and inspiration, drag the laggards also to progress. *** Sun Jun 10 18:59:50 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Keep Singapore out of broadband, warns Telstra By Samantha Maiden June 11, 2007 12:00am Article from: The Australian Font size: + - Send this article: Print Email TELSTRA has warned John Howard not to "confiscate" the national broadband network proposal from mum-and-dad investors and hand it to Singapore, a country that executes its citizens. Telstra's American-born public policy head, Phil Burgess, yesterday urged against allowing rivals to build a high-speed broadband network. The Prime Minister is expected to announce this week plans to fast-track high-speed broadband in cities to tackle Labor's pledge to invest up to $4.7billion of public funds in a national network. The Government will spend about $900 million improving internet speeds in remote areas under the Broadband Connect program. Optus, which is owned by the Singapore-based Singtel, is expected to secure the lion's share of the funding. Cabinet has considered a plan to establish a panel of experts to examine options for a national broadband network, which could allow Optus to secure a slice of the action at the expense of Telstra. "We've been aggressive because there is a move under way to confiscate something that is owned by 1.6million mum-and-dad investors and give it to a Singapore company," Dr Burgess told The Australian. "We're talking about turning over Australia's only nationwide telecommunications network to a consortia run by the Singapore Government. That's a government that executes people, number one, and doesn't allow competition in its own country. It's unbelievable. "We've had a national broadband plan since August 2005. It's been vetoed twice by the (Australian Competition and Consumer Commission). When people say we're threatening not to do broadband, it just isn't true. We need to have our costs accepted by the ACCC. We are not going to build it if we can't get a commercial return on our investment." Labor said the Government was as sceptical about broadband as it had been about climate change. "Now, in the shadows of an election, they have suddenly decided they are going to get on the broadband bandwagon," Opposition communications spokesman Stephen Conroy told the ABC's Insiders program yesterday. "I understand Telstra's frustration at this Government. They have been talking to John Howard and (Communications Minister) Helen Coonan for nearly two years about wanting to put in place a high-speed fibre broadband network. *** Sun Jun 10 20:25:54 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Singapore Judge: Right Or Wrong Not my Concern, Only Permit Matters Epoch Times Singapore Staff Jun 10, 2007 In this court evidence photo, three people display a banner and distribute flyers about quitting the CCP. Five people together might constitute an In this court evidence photo, three people display a banner and distribute flyers about quitting the CCP. Five people together might constitute an "Unlawful Assembly;" three together does not. (Court evidence photo) Related Articles - Singapore Falun Gong Case Goes to the Judge Friday, June 08, 2007 - In Defense of the Singapore Six Tuesday, January 23, 2007 - Singapore Human Rights Case Postponed Friday, September 29, 2006 - Doubts Raised About Singapore Legal System Wednesday, September 27, 2006 - Falun Gong Trial Takes Extraordinary Turns in Singapore Monday, September 04, 2006 - Singapore Freedom of Expression Case Heads to High Court Thursday, August 31, 2006 SINGAPORE—The judge in the trail of five Singapore Falun Gong practitioners charged with "Assembling Without a Permit" has issued her ruling, finding the defendants guilty, despite the defendants' contention that the prosecution withheld exculpatory evidence, and that the evidence presented did not connect the defendants to the scene of the alleged crime. On June 7 afternoon, Judge Amy Tung of Singapore Subordinate Court issued a ruling for the case of "October 22—Assembly without Permit." All five defendants were found guilty, and each was sentenced with the maximum fine of 1,000 Singapore dollars, or seven days in prison if the fine is not paid. All five defendants refused to pay the fine in protest of the unjust verdict, and were immediately removed from the courtroom by bailiff. Later, relatives of the two of the defendants paid to have their imprisoned relatives released, without the defendant's consent. The remaining three defendants are still in jail. Trial an Extension of CCP Persecution of Falun Gong? Many people have stated that Singapore is pursuing this case with added zeal in an effort to curry favor with the Chinese Communist Party. Although the alleged offense took place on October 22, 2005, no charges were issued until July 2006, when Li Lanqing, a chief architect of the persecution of Falun Gong in China, came to visit Singapore. Further, the defendants were distributing flyers about people quitting the Chinese Communist Party and about the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in China. Several other Falun Gong practitioners have been arrested, tried and convicted for distributing anti-CCP materials, or for holding up banners calling for an end to the persecution. All five defendants are Falun Gong practitioners. The Prosecution Ignores Inconvenient Evidence The defendants raised several points regarding the evidence presented, and also the evidence the prosecution chose to withhold. The prosecution submitted a series of photographs, which it claimed supported the charge. However, there was no date- or timestamp on the photographs—they could have been taken at any time. Further, only one of the photographs showed definitively the location where it was taken; the rest of the photographs bore no signs identifying the scene, and could have been taken in a number of places. None of the defendants appear in the one photo that was identifiably taken at the scene of the alleged violation. The prosecution submitted no photographic evidence placing the defendants at the scene when the alleged violation occurred. The photographic evidence did not show the five defendants together, nor could they place the five defendants at the scene on the date or at the time of the alleged "assembly." Further, the statute regarding "Unlawful Assembly" requires that five people assemble without a permit. Though some of the prosecution photos show more than five people, none of them are in a group, and most are merely walking along a busy thoroughfare on their way to different places. None of the photos show the defendants together in a group of any size. The only other evidence offered was the testimony of police officers who claimed they were at the scene. However, these police officers misidentified some of the people in the photographs. The defendants claimed that this cast doubt on the officers' ability to accurately identify the defendants in court, In his closing remarks on June 5, Prosecutor (DDP) Hay Hung Chun ignored these issues, and focused on testimony made by the defendants, specifically: "Our distributing of flyers was very peaceful, and never caused any inconvenience to passersby. The contents of the leaflets is factual and helps people to learn the truth." The defendants claim that the videotape provides exculpatory evidence, else the prosecution would have used it in place of the photos it instead presented. The prosecutor, Hay Hung Chun, claimed that since the defendants admitted that they were distributing flyers, his case was proved. He explained to the defendants, "I do not deny what you did is just and great, and you are not being charged for the contents of the leaflets. You are charged for doing this without permit. You need a permit even when carrying out actions which promote justice." He further argued that since all the defendants were carrying materials saying, ""Support 5 Million withdrawals from the CCP" the people were all serving a common purpose, and thus were legally "assembled" even if they were all standing in different locations. Did the Prosecution Withhold Important Evidence? When first filing charges, the prosecutor announced that he would be supporting his case with a single piece of evidence, a police videotape of the events of October 22. This videotape would have a date- and time-stamp, proving that it was taken on the date and at the time that the alleged offence to place. Later, the prosecutor withdrew the videotape from evidence, and denied the defense the opportunity to review the videotape. The defendants claim that it is reasonable to assume that the videotape provides exculpatory evidence, or else the prosecution would have used it in place of the undated and inconclusive photos that it instead presented. Judge Tung originally wanted the video to be entered into evidence, as king the prosecutor, "Why do you reject their application for the video? There are no dates and times on the photos. If the video evidence has [dates and times], won't it be even better to have it as evidence?" Singapore has no law against distributing flyers. Claiming that we "participated in an assembly" because we distributed flyers is a false accusation."—Defendant Seah Ah To Eventually, the prosecutor was able to persuade the judge that the video should not be admitted. Defendants Claim That The Prosecution Didn't Prove Anything At sentencing, defendant Ms. Seah Ah Toh made a statement addressing the prosecutor's closing remarks. Seah raised several points: "1. Hay Hung Chun's job is to prove we participated in an "Assembly". By citing our words, he can only prove that we "distributed flyers." We have never denied that we distributed flyers, but we categorically deny that we "participated in an assembly;" "2. Singapore has no law against distributing flyers. It is a common sense that distributing leaflets is not an offense; "3. The prosecutor attempts to equate "distributing flyers" with "participating in an assembly." The prosecutor needs to give conclusive evidence to prove that we participated in an assembly; "4. Lacking solid evidence, claiming that we "participated in an assembly" because we distributed flyers is a false accusation; "5. In his closing remarks, the prosecutor substituted opinion and assumption in place of facts and evidence. This is regrettable behavior for a legal professional." The judge quickly responded to Ms Seah's statement, saying: "Although the defendant's statement has been allowed, it will not affect my judgment. I have already made my decision." "I agree with the prosecutor that you have done great things. But I am not here to judge whether you are right or wrong; my only concern is whether you have permits."—Judge Amy Tung Prosecutor Reacts Strongly to Seah's Statement Ms Seah continued: "International criminal trials are all based on the principle of "presumption of innocence." Singapore is no exception. This principle gives the defendants the legal right of "a prior presumption of innocence." It states that no person shall be considered guilty until being proved guilty in a court of law." Ms, Seah made this remark in Chinese. The official court interpreter seemed to have difficulty understanding and translating the concept "presumption of innocence." Ms. Seah explained the remark many times, but the translator still seemed not to understand. However, prosecutor Chun, who understands both English and Chinese, replied as soon as Ms. Seah spoke. He called out, "You are allowed to be here now because of this 'presumption of innocence,' or else…" implying that the defendants would have been jailed without trial otherwise. Judge: Right or Wrong is Not my Concern; Only the Permit Matters Since the evidence provided by the prosecution was questioned so closely, all attention in the courtroom was focused on Judge Tung's Grounds of Decision. Judge Tung stated, "The prosecutor said he does not totally rely on the photos; he also has the testimony of the police witnesses. The witnesses said that they saw the five accused on October 22. I am convinced by prosecutor and the police witnesses's words." Judge Tung said that although no single photo showed all five people actually participating in an "Unlawful Assembly," the accused did appear in other photos, though nowhere together. The judge said she did not doubt that the photos were all taken on the same day. Although defendants had submitted a formal application to see the videotape at the start of the trial, the judge ruled against allowing them to see the tape or introduce it as evidence. However, the judge cited remarks from the defendants' application in explaining her ruling. Judge Tung said, "The accused say that if the video were shown in the courtroom, everyone would see how peaceful and harmonious the scene really was. This shows that the defendants were indeed at the scene. "I agree with the prosecutor that you have done great things. But I am not here to judge whether you are right or wrong; my only concern whether you have permits. You committed an offence because you did not have permits." Singapore lawyers who were asked to review the case found that the defendants should have been acquitted, as there were grounds for reasonable doubt that the charges were valid. "You Are Not Qualified to Be a Judge" After the judge announced the conviction, she gave each defendant the opportunity to make mitigating statement. Mitigation is regarded as a major procedure and function in Singapore courts. All five defendants made clear that they had "committed no crime, and had no mitigating statement to make." In addition, Seah Ah Toh told the judge: "You are still young. This judgment will be a black mark on your record. One day if you go overseas, you will feel ashamed of what you did today." Defendant Cheng Lu Jin told her: "You only know how to follow instructions like a machine. You are not qualified to be a judge." Singapore Lawyers: The Defendants Should Be Found Not Guilty An Epoch Times reporter consulted some Singapore legal professionals about the conduct of the trial and the judgment. They all said that the burden of proving a case lies on the prosecution's side. The prosecutor must prove that the accused are guilty beyond a reasonable doubt with conclusive evidence, and cannot merely assume that they are guilty. Otherwise, the defendants should be acquitted. If the defendants raise a reasonable doubt, they should not be convicted. In this case no single photo can prove the five people were at the scene at the time period. However, the judge decided that because a number of different photos show the defendants individually, it could be assumed that they were all there at the same time. This was never proven. The indictment states that the "Unlawful Assembly" took place between the hours of 1:50 p.m. and 2:45 p. m. on October 22, 2005. In that span of time, it should have been possible to photograph all five defendants together if they were really all there. Thus, there is reasonable doubt that all the defendants were present and together within the specified time period. Since there is no way to prove that all the photos were taken within that fifty-minute period, it is reasonable to assume that they might have been taken over a longer span of time, and that not all the defendants were present simultaneously. The prosecution also failed to establish beyond a reasonable doubt that the police witnesses were able to identify the defendants as being in the area and among the people present at the time in question. Because the police officers incorrectly identified some individuals in one photo, it raises a reasonable doubt that they were able to recognize and identify every individual and to be certain that they saw each individual at the same place and at the same time. The simple fact that the officers failed at one identification, raises sufficient doubt of the rest of their identifications. The lawyers questioned said that there were other grounds for reasonable doubt, as well, and that under Singapore law, the accused should have been acquitted. *** Mon Jun 11 17:33:52 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Australia lags, says net guru * * Email * Print * Normal font * Large font Peter Hartcher Political Editor June 12, 2007 AdvertisementAdvertisement ONE of the internet's original architects says Australia's living standards are in danger of slipping out of the top tier because it is not gearing up for the next level of web infrastructure. Larry Smarr, director of the California Institute for Telecommunications and Information Technology, says "real broadband" would allow connections 1000 times the speed of the current average Australian connection - and 80 times the speed the Government and Labor propose. "I am concerned about Australia," Professor Smarr told the Herald yesterday from his home in San Diego. "We are in a once-in-30-year transition, and if you are not serious about real broadband you will be gradually left out of more and more of the emerging business opportunities, and challenged for the ones you thought you had. "Australia is great in terms of the old infrastructure … so you think of yourselves as a modern country", but on internet infrastructure, "Australia ranks 42nd in the world in the cost of internet service, 38th in mobile phone costs, 40th on the availability of skilled labour and engineers, and 20th on scientific infrastructure. If you want your living standard to remain … one of the best in the world, it's going to have to be by adding value in a globally interconnected economy." He said "the good news is that Australia is having the debate, and both political parties have it high on the agenda". The Government is expected to give details of its policy this week, but while it and Labor are proposing new investment to improve broadband internet access and speed, they are not proposing what Professor Smarr calls "real broadband". He said the next phase of web architecture required a fibre-optic network that connected to "every home and business" because it offered limitless bandwidth. This is beyond the promises of Labor or the Government, which offer, at best, fibre-optic links to data hubs and still depend on copper wire for connections to premises. South Korea was the leading nation in building the infrastructure, Professor Smarr said, followed by Japan, Singapore and Scandinavian countries. Professor Smarr last visited Australia in 1988 to advise on policies for creating something that no one outside the research community had then heard of - the internet. He will visit in August to attend the Australian-American Leadership Dialogue in Melbourne. The aim, said the dialogue's founder, Phil Scanlan, was to "engage some of the best and brightest on an agenda for the next phase of nation-building in our two countries". Professor Smarr, who is a member of California's broadband taskforce, said the internet was making a transition similar to the one the computer went through from mainframe to PC. The next step would allow a health revolution, he predicted, using sensors in the body for self-diagnosis, and what he called "personal lightwaves". He gives the example of "telepresence", in which, say "10 years from now, you are in your living room, you're having a birthday for your kid, and you want the kid's grandparents to be there but they live halfway across the country. "One wall of the room just dissolves and it's as if your living room is connected to the grandparents' living room. It's photorealistic, you look the same size, you have surround sound. You can't do that with one megabyte." One megabyte a second is the speed of the average Australian internet connection. Spurred by Labor's plan to build a network offering homes a minimum speed of 12 megabytes a second, the Federal Government has promised a network offering the same connection speed. But Professor Smarr said a "real broadband" speed was a basic minimum of one gigabyte, or 1 billion bytes, a second. *** Wed Jun 13 22:57:41 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: IT graduates harder to find says CSC boss PDF Print E-mail By Stan Beer Tuesday, 12 June 2007 As the demand for IT graduates starts to climb and enrolments into IT courses continues to drop, one of Australia's largest employers of IT people is finding it tougher to stay too picky. According to Mike Shove, CEO of IT services provider CSC Australia, the company now takes on 40% more graduates than it did two years ago but gets just over half the number of applicants. Related stories * Infrastructure jobs go begging while universities vacillate: IT trainer * Google getting plenty of graduates while NICTA CTO laments shortage * Contractor demand predicted to surge in Q4 2007 * Employers not addressing business analyst skills shortage * MessageLabs appoints SMB sales director APAC "Demand for graduates is higher than it was two years ago," says Mr Shove. "We've had a program running for almost four years and four years ago we would have had 1300 applications for 50 jobs and we had our pick of the kids. Now there's more and more demand, we add about 70 a year and get about 700 applications." The graduate shortage is not surprising given that in 2001 Australian resident IT student enrolments numbered 17,058, while in 2005 new enrolments were down to 9,277. According to Luke Singleton, director of the technology division of ASX listed recruiter Ambition, demand for graduates is as high as it's been for some time. "We're involved in some of the junior end of the market so we see a number of entry level positions," says Mr Singleton. "We're finding that within the commercial sector there is quite a strong demand for graduates." Mr Singleton says that there are simply not enough local IT graduates coming out of universities to fill the roles. In fact, about 55% of all IT students at Australian universities are full fee paying foreign students, of which a fair proportion (about 3600 foreign graduates in 2005-06) gets permanent resident visas once they graduate. The looming local IT graduate shortage has prompted the Federal Government to relax the migration laws for foreign students but not everyone is happy with the resulting scenario. Migration and labour market analyst Bob Kinnaird is a vocal critic of a new class of visa due to be made available to foreign IT students. "The Federal govt has changed the migration rules for foreign students studying IT here. From 1 September 2007, foreign students graduating from IT courses can stay and work in Australia on a new temporary work visa," says Mr Kinnaird. "The new visa, visa subclass 485, was announced over Easter time. It gives foreign graduates unrestricted work rights in Australia for up to 18 months after graduating. If they can show they have acquired 12 months 'professional level' work experience in IT in that time, they will then be eligible for a PR (permanent resident) visa." Mr Kinnaird says it is still too early to determine the extent of the IT graduate shortage and he believes the implementation of the new 485 visa could put undue pressure on the local IT graduate market. "The foreign graduates do not have to be sponsored by an employer (unlike the 457 visa) and there is no minimum salary attached to the visa, also unlike the 457 visa. They just have to have minimum English at IELTS 6 level. These grads will therefore be adding to IT graduate supply and competing with Australian IT grads, with the promise of permanent residence in Australia if they can clock up the 12 months. In my opinion, that’s an incentive for foreign grads to undercut IT graduate wages in order to get the job and then PR – just like the H-1B visa in the US." "In 2006, according to figures from the Graduate Destination Surveys of the Graduate Careers Council of Aust, 21% of IT graduates could not find full-time employment within 4 months of graduating," says Mr Kinnaird. "That compares with an 18% national average and 14% for accounting graduates. We won't know what the current figures are until the end of 2007." The upswing in demand for IT workers however may well see IT graduates getting snapped up much quicker for the remainder of 2007 than last year. Ambition's Luke Singleton doesn't believe that supply will exceed demand anytime soon. "At the moment there is definitely a shortage of graduates coming through the university system and companies are having to pay more than they used to for IT graduates because the increased demand," he says. "At the moment there are just not enough people and that's why IT training companies are spending a lot more on their advertising because there is demand at that junior level." http://www.brainbox.com.au/brainbox/home.nsf/link/12062007-IT-grads-getting-harder-to-find-says-outsourcing-boss *** Thu Jun 14 19:15:39 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Agent Orange still haunts Vietnam, US http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070614/ap_on_re_as/vietnam_agent_orange By BEN STOCKING, Associated Press Writer 1 hour, 5 minutes ago DANANG, Vietnam - More than 30 years after the Vietnam War ended, the poisonous legacy of Agent Orange has emerged anew with a scientific study that has found extraordinarily high levels of health-threatening contamination at the former U.S. air base at Danang. "They're the highest levels I've ever seen in my life," said Thomas Boivin, the scientist who conducted the tests this spring. "If this site were in the U.S. or Canada, it would require significant studies and immediate cleanup." Soil tests by his firm, Hatfield Consultants of Canada, found levels of dioxin, the highly toxic chemical compound in Agent Orange, that were 300 to 400 times higher than internationally accepted limits. The report has not yet been released, but Boivin and Vietnamese officials summarized its central findings for The Associated Press. Earlier tests by Hatfield, which has been working in Vietnam since 1994, showed that dioxin levels were safe across most of Vietnam. But until the study of the old air base at Danang, the consulting firm had never had access to some half-dozen "hotspots" where Agent Orange, a defoliant designed to deny Vietnamese jungle cover, was stored and mixed before being loaded onto planes. The study is the product of a new spirit of cooperation between Washington and Hanoi — after years of disagreement — toward resolving this contentious leftover of the war that ended in 1975. On a visit to Vietnam last fall, President Bush and Vietnamese President Nguyen Minh Triet agreed to work together to address dioxin contamination at old Agent Orange storage sites. They are expected to discuss the issue further when Triet visits Washington next week. The worst contamination in Danang is confined to a small section of the 2,100-acre base, the former Agent Orange mixing area. The dioxin poses no immediate threat to the vast majority of the city's nearly 1 million people or the Danang International Airport terminal, which sits on the sprawling site and is widely used by tourists headed for Danang's beaches. But blood tests found elevated dioxin levels in several dozen people who regularly fished or harvested lotus flowers from a contaminated lake on the site. Tests also confirmed that rainwater has carried dioxin into city drains and into parts of a neighboring community that is home to more than 100,000 people, Boivin said. The levels there are only slightly elevated, but could rise if the dioxin isn't properly contained. The levels fall off dramatically outside the base, said Charles Bailey, Vietnam representative of the Ford Foundation, which financed Hatfield's study. "Nevertheless, it's a public health threat, and it's a risk." The United States is paying $400,000 for an engineering study of how to clean up the site. Ford, a New York-based charitable organization, is also paying for temporary containment measures, which will begin this summer, before monsoon season. For some, though, the effort comes too late. Nguyen Van Dung, 38, and his family have lived just outside the air base since 1990. Dung used to bring home fish he caught in Lotus Lake. At about age 2, his daughter began manifesting grotesque health problems. Now 7, Nguyen Thi Kieu Nhung's shin bones curve sharply and appear to be broken in several places, as though smashed with a hammer. Her right shoulder bone protrudes unnaturally, stretching her skin. She has only two teeth, her right eye bulges from its socket and she has sores on her face. She can't walk; she can only slide around on her rear end. When her mother, Luu Thi Thu, changes her daughter's shirt, Nhung screams in pain. "If they had acted before, we wouldn't have been exposed," Thu said. "I'm angry, but I don't know what to do. I go to the pagoda twice a month to pray that my daughter will get better." Her doctors say she won't. The Vietnamese military has taken some steps to contain the dioxin, but Le Ke Son, Vietnam's top Agent Orange official, said cleaning up Danang and other Agent Orange hotspots is likely to cost at least $40 million, far more than the developing country can afford. "We have asked the American side to be more active, not just in doing research into the effects of Agent Orange but in overcoming its consequences," Son said. "Until we resolve this issue, we can't really say that we have truly normalized relations." The U.S. Congress recently set aside $3 million to address dioxin contamination in Vietnam, and U.S. Ambassador Michael Marine said some of it could be used to help pay for a cleanup. He said other donors, including the United Nations Development Program, might contribute. Boivin said the U.S. should take the lead. "There's a real need for the U.S. to step up to the plate here and fund the clean up of these sites," he said. During the war, U.S. troops stored Agent Orange in 48-gallon barrels at a loading station on the base and diluted it with water before loading it on planes. In the process, the herbicide often spilled onto the ground. Dioxin attaches itself to dirt and sediment and stays for generations, posing danger to people who touch it. Although not absorbed by crops such as rice, it remains in the fat of fish and other animals that ingest it and can be passed to humans through the food chain. Rainwater drains across the old mixing area and into Lotus Lake on the northern side of the site, where sediment tests showed dioxin levels 50 times the international limit. The water sometimes also runs off into a city drain, carrying dioxin with it, Boivin said. In Thanh Khe district, just over the 3-foot-high wall that surrounds the lake, Hatfield found dioxin levels that were slightly elevated but generally within accepted limits. Levels in a neighborhood three miles away were normal. The company said blood tests of 55 residents found safe dioxin levels for those who lived away from the base, and elevated levels among those who had regularly visited Lotus Lake. One had dioxin levels 175 times above the safety limit. There are no warning signs at the northern edge of the lake, in a lush and wild area by a crowded neighborhood. On a recent day, a man stood at the lake with a fishing rod. The Danang project marks a significant change in the U.S. attitude toward Agent Orange, said Chuck Searcy of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund. "For years, the official U.S. position was basically denial," Searcy said. "Now the U.S. wants to demonstrate that we will consider all possibilities and try to agree on ways to approach this problem." The findings of the U.S.-funded engineering study, conducted by New Jersey-based BEM Associates, could also be applied to other Agent Orange hotspots, including the former Bien Hoa Air Base in Dong Nai province and the former Phu Cat Air Base in Binh Dinh province. Vietnam and the United States have long disagreed about Agent Orange's impact on human health. Vietnam says up to 3 million of its 84 million people have birth defects or other health problems related to dioxin. The United States says the number is much lower and that more scientific study is needed to prove a link to Agent Orange. The U.S. compensates American war veterans who say they were exposed to Agent Orange if they have certain health problems that have been linked to the herbicide. A lawsuit seeking compensation from Agent Orange manufacturers, filed by the Vietnam Agent Orange Victims Association, is to be heard by a U.S. appeals court on Monday. Ambassador Marine said in an interview that the U.S. does not plan to provide direct compensation. But he noted that, on top of the $3 million Congress approved, Washington has spent $43 million since 1989 helping Vietnamese with disabilities, regardless of their causes. "I think we've made progress in the last couple of years in our joint work to try to understand this issue better and find a constructive way of dealing with it," Marine said. Some of the U.S. money could go toward caring for people such as Nguyen Thi Trang Ngan, 17. Ngan's mother, Nguyen Thi Thuy Lieu, grew up next to the base and used to enter it regularly to get candy from the U.S. troops. The family fished in Lotus Lake and drank water from a nearby well. Now her daughter can't speak, sit up, walk, feed herself or get dressed. She makes strange, uncontrolled grunting sounds and sucks her thumb. "War always brings suffering," her mother said. "I don't blame anyone for it. This is my fate." Sometimes, when she comforts Ngan, her daughter laughs. "That's my greatest happiness," Lieu said. *** Sat Jun 16 19:06:04 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: AT&T's Internet Monitoring Plans Lauren Weinstein Thu, 14 Jun 2007 07:50:54 -0700 AT&T's Internet Monitoring Plans http://lauren.vortex.com/archive/000252.html News stories are now appearing widely about an AT&T plan to try block pirated content *at the network level*. See this example from the Los Angeles Times: http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-piracy13jun13,1,2155771.story The implications of this sort of network snooping are immense. One might assume that a primary target will be file sharing technologies. But to actually pick out particular content from those streams would imply the need to actually examine and characterize the payload of files to locate and block potentially offending music and/or video content. AT&T will no doubt suggest that this activity is akin to virus and spam filtering of e-mail for their customers. This would be a specious analogy. Spam filtering can usually be controlled by the user, and virtually all AT&T mail processing can be avoided by their customers if AT&T servers are not used. However, it sounds as if AT&T is planning a network monitoring regime that would not be dependent on the use of AT&T servers. What's more, the "benefits" of this monitoring would not be directed to the customers whose traffic is being monitored, but rather for the benefit of unrelated third parties. "Fingerprinting" of content for anti-piracy purposes is not always unacceptable. For example, Google/YouTube is reportedly starting tests of a copyrighted material characterization blocking system. Since users submitting videos to YouTube are doing so with the expectation of that content being hosted there, it is not unreasonable for YouTube to avoid hosting pirated materials whenever practicable. However, AT&T's proper role in this context (among an ever smaller number of ISP choices) is simply to move customer data traffic between points, not to be a content policing agent for third-party commercial interests, or a mass data conduit for government interests without appropriate legal authority, for that matter. The traffic under discussion, based on news reports about the AT&T plans so far, would typically not be directed to AT&T servers, and should not be subject to content inspection by AT&T, in the absence of specific targeted court orders or the like. We can get into a discussion of if and how common carrier considerations play into any of this anymore, and how encryption (and attempts to control and suppress encryption) will enter the mix, but the very fact that these AT&T plans have gotten this far is extremely disturbing. Finally, perhaps the most illuminating aspect of this situation is a statement by James W. Cicconi, an AT&T senior vice president, who is quoted as saying that AT&T wouldn't look at the privacy and other legal issues involved until *after* a monitoring technology has been chosen. That pretty much says it all. Lauren Weinstein http://www.pfir.org/lauren +1(818) 225-2800 lauren@pfir.org PRIVACY Forum - http://www.vortex.com Lauren's Blog: http://lauren.vortex.com *** Sun Jun 17 02:24:22 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: unday June 17, 02:28 PM Solar power lights Vic freeway Solar panels on noise barriers along a stretch of Melbourne's Tullamarine Freeway will power street lights nearby in an Australian-first project, the Victorian government says. The panels provide noise screening for the Tullamarine Calder interchange, opened earlier this year. Roads Minister Tim Pallas said 210 solar panels fitted along 500 metres of the barriers would begin feeding electricity into the local grid within weeks, once wiring was completed. The panels will generate enough electricity to power three small homes and will generate up to 10 per cent of the electricity required to illuminate the lights, Mr Pallas said. "For many years now, eco-friendly road design has been a guiding principle in major road projects, such as native grass stormwater drainage systems and local fauna facilities that are in place at a number of recently completed major road projects," Mr Pallas said. "While this type of application is a first, it points to future projects having environmentally friendly elements in their original design, and as technology allows, will provide future transport infrastructure in an increasingly environmentally responsible manner." *** Mon Jun 18 22:09:52 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Telstra stress linked to suicides * * Email * Print * Normal font * Large font Ben Cubby June 19, 2007 AdvertisementAdvertisement "WE RUN an absolute dictatorship and that's what's going to drive this transformation and deliver results," Telstra's chief operations officer, Greg Winn, was taped saying at a meeting in May. "If you can't get the people to go there and you try once and you try twice … then you just shoot them and get them out of the way." It was in this work environment, with extreme pressure to meet targets and get results, that two Telstra employees committed suicide, their families told the ABC TV program Four Corners last night. Work stress and constant surveillance by bosses contributed to their deaths, the families of call-centre worker Sally Sandic and line repairman Leon Dousset told the program, a claim contested by Telstra. Ms Sandic took her life in January after complaining that targets at her workplace were impossible. In Telstra call centres, workers are tracked for how much they sell to each customer, how long each call takes, and even how many strokes they make on their computer keyboards. "Unproductive time", such as toilet breaks, are also logged. Family members and former colleagues of Ms Sandic told the program that she was in tears after a Melbourne training seminar at which she raised work targets and conditions. "My sister did speak up on behalf of everyone else there because they were too scared, saying 'No, I don't agree with this'," Ms Sandic's sister, Natalie, said. Ms Sandic left Telstra in distress last December and took her life less than four weeks later. "The call-centre business is not for everybody and we respect people's choices if they no longer find that work compelling, to make the choice to leave, and Sally made that choice," said John Rolland, Telstra's executive director of Customer Sales and Service. Mr Rolland told the program that there were other stresses in Ms Sandic's life that would have contributed to her health, a claim disputed by her family. Another employee, Leon Dousset, committed suicide in March. A father of five, Mr Dousset became depressed after the company insisted that he had a global positioning system placed in his repair van so his movements could be tracked. "We did understand that he was upset about the GPS issue but he never made us aware of the extent of his condition," Mr Rolland said. After last night's program, a Telstra spokesman, Peter Taylor, told the Herald: "Let's be clear: the Four Corners story was really about a union campaign against AWAs and other issues - and Telstra has been used as the bunny in the headlights, the easy target." The Four Corners website was last night swamped as people claiming to have worked for Telstra wrote in to show sympathy and support the families of Ms Sandic and Mr Dousset. *** Tue Jun 19 01:53:19 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Casino sued for letting man gamble Posted 41 minutes ago * Map: Sydney 2000 A Federal Court hearing has begun for a man who is suing Sydney's Star City Casino for allowing him to continue gambling despite asking them to ban him. David MacKay was Star City's security operations manager in May 2004 when Behroub Foroughi sought to have himself excluded from the casino. He has told Sydney's Federal Court he explained to Mr Foroughi at the time that the obligation was on him to remain out of the premises. Mr MacKay maintains he told every person who sought exclusion that staff would do their best to keep them out but that the obligation was on the person in question. He says he told them the casino would not be liable if they entered. Mr Foroughi alleges he lost around $600,000 on the 65 occasions that he was allowed back into Star City after signing the voluntary exclusion order. *** Tue Jun 19 07:39:51 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Singapore Parliament to Discuss Provisions for Military Training in Natuna Monday, 18 June, 2007 | 18:14 WIB TEMPO Interactive, Jakarta: The Indonesian and Singaporean governments have not yet agreed upon the provisions for Singapore's Naval military training in Indonesian waters. “Singapore's Foreign Affairs Minister will first consult the cabinet,” said Defense Minister, Juwono Sudarsono, when contacted by Tempo in Jakarta yesterday (17/6). The consultation plan was conveyed by Singapore's Foreign Affairs Minister, George Yeo to Indonesia's Home Affairs Minister, Hassan Wirajuda, in Bangkok, June 12, 2007. “So we'll wait for Singapore's reaction,” said Juwono. On a previous occasion, Juwono explained that four days prior to the Indonesia-Singapore cooperation agreement being signed in Bali, it had been agreed that Natuna waters would be the bravo area for Singapore's military shooting training. “There was no time to make an agreement about the provisions of special performance in bravo area,” said Juwono. Yet, Juwono said there were still a lot of matters to be regulated in the operational provisions. The issue of operational provisions was actually included in Article 6 of the Defense Cooperation Agreement (DCA). Article 6 says that operational, administrative and technical matters must abide with the separate operational provisions which will be agreed upon by both countries. If Singapore currently refuses to discuss the operational provisions, this means the country breaks the Article 6. “It's clearly stated that in every military training area, operational provisions are obligatory,” said Juwono. Hikmahanto Juana, an expert in international law, viewed that the agreement made by the two countries cannot be annulled by one side. Therefore, he suggested that the government hand the existing agreement to the House of Representatives (DPR). “Let the DPR take measures. If it isn't ratified, the agreement will not become a positive law,” said this University of Indonesia lecturer. Effendy Choirie, a Defense Commission member, proposed that the DPR summons the people involved in the DCA negotiations. “It seems that there's something wrong with the negotiation process,” said this National Awakening Party (PKB) politician. FANNY FEBIANA | RADEN RACHMADI *** Tue Jun 19 18:36:10 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Man charged after damaging train - Bondi Junction 20 June 2007 A man will face court next month following an incident which caused major delays to rail services and people were evacuated at Bondi Junction Railway Station yesterday. Around 6pm, emergency services were called to the Bondi Junction Railway Station following reports that a man had thrown an umbrella onto the roof of a train causing electrical sparking and a small fire. It is believed that the 21-year-old Darlinghurst man was swinging his umbrella in a reckless manner causing it to fling on to the top of the stationary train carriage. The man was arrested by transit officers who contacted police. The incident caused a number of delays to rail services as the platform was closed as a precaution. The 21-year-old was taken to Waverley Police station for questioning. He was later charged with malicious damage to property and throw thing at electrical supply and was granted bail to attend Waverley Local Court on the 10 July 2007. *** Tue Jun 19 18:46:39 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Public service of the world-beating kind Nazry Bahrawi nazry@mediacorp.com.sg WHEN it comes to customer service, the Singapore Government is tops in the world. . This is according to an annual survey of 22 countries' governments released by global research group Accenture yesterday. . With an overall score of 89 per cent, Singapore topped the list — and improved on its third-place finish last year — ahead of Canada at 88 per cent and the United States at 79 per cent. . The Lion City roared in among the top five in all four categories: How well a government tailors information to citizen's needs, how it interacts with citizens through multiple channels, the level of coordination between government agencies, and efforts to reach out to citizens about its services. . For the first time since its inception eight years ago, the study also included the results of a citizen survey as part of the overall ranking. . And while some Singaporeans may like to gripe in letters to the press about service shortcomings at government departments, the majority gave a resounding verdict. In all, 79 per cent of respondents said services had improved in the last three years — compared to just 43 per cent of Canadians and 41 per cent of Americans. . Indeed, according to Accenture, the Singapore Government has done exceptionally well in reaching out to citizens about its services — it scored 95 per cent, or a whopping 19 percentage points ahead of Canada. . The report highlighted initiatives like the iWhiz reality game show series, backed by the Infocomm Development Authority, which aired on television this year. Twelve contestants competed to solve IT-related challenges with the winner sent on a trip to Microsoft's Washington headquarters. . Accenture described iWhiz as one example of the Government taking "marketing to entirely new levels". . The Central Provident Fund Board also won a mention for its mobile ambassadors scheme which had officials going out into the heartlands to help infirm and elderly residents apply for the Progress Package. . The Intelligent National 2015 plan, which includes the iGov2010 vision of harnessing IT for integrated government, also won rave reviews. . Member of Parliament for Ang Mo Kio GRC, Mr Inderjit Singh, said of the survey findings: "Typically, we hear a lot of complaints but it looks like Singaporeans are more objective." . Even so, he told Today, more can be done to improve on the Government's customer service. "The population is getting more sophisticated. Citizens will be looking not just at basic services but also more sophisticated ones." *** Wed Jun 20 01:33:16 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Asbestos town taken off maps By Nicolas Perpitch June 20, 2007 02:23pm Article from: AAP Font size: + - Send this article: Print Email THE asbestos-riddled ghost town of Wittenoom in WA is being wiped off the map - literally. The West Australian Government announced today that the site, where eight people continue to resist efforts to move them out, is no longer a designated townsite and had been de-gazetted. The move means Wittenoom, in the state's north, will no longer be shown on maps and means roads leading to contaminated areas can be permanently closed. A government report on asbestos contamination in the former Pilbara mining town, released today, says there is an extreme risk of exposure to asbestos for the remaining residents. There is also a high risk to the 40 Aboriginal people who regularly hunt and swim in the surrounding gorges and floodplains and a medium risk to up to 40 tourists who visit the area daily. Regional Development Minister Jon Ford said the public health risk was unacceptable. "The fact Wittenoom continues to attract people who are then potentially exposed to an unacceptable health risk is untenable." The report recommends demolishing the town and burying all asbestos-contaminated material as part of a larger remediation project. It says the former townsite should be isolated by re-routing roads and removing the name from regional road signs. The State Government has been trying to close down Wittenoom since the 1970s. It cut off power to the settlement in late 2005, but some hard-core residents have consistently refused to leave. Mari Hartmann, 43, has lived in Wittenoom for 17 years and says he will stay on even though Wittenoom no longer officially exists. "They've done everything they can, they've turned our power off, so it won't make too much difference to us living here," Mr Hartmann said. "We love the place and we don't want to leave." The Government had offered him $43,000 for his house and $11,000 to move, he said. "You can't go anywhere with that, where can you go?" The late mining magnate Lang Hancock began mining blue asbestos at Wittenoom Gorge in 1937 and Wittenoom was gazetted in 1950. In their ignorance, original settlers used potentially deadly asbestos tailings in gardens, school yards, on the roads and at the race track. The tailings, which can contain 5 per cent asbestos, were even used to build the airport. Hundreds of the 20,000 people who lived in Wittenoom during the mining boom have died from asbestos-related diseases. *** Wed Jun 20 07:11:59 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Is Perth dream getting out of reach? Surging property prices in Perth spark housing crisis June 20, 2007 MANY Singaporeans see Perth as an ideal place to retire, with its relatively cheap property and slower pace of life. Click to see larger image Screenshot from an Australian real estate website. But this may quickly change after they see how the price of property has skyrocketed there over the past year. Thanks to the global commodities boom, the Perth economy has been going from strength to strength while those of bigger Australian cities seem to have sagged. And with the booming economy, real estate prices have risen so high that even locals like Mr Kris Thomas are thinking of moving out, reported the International Herald Tribune (IHT). The 25-year-old computer programmer has packed his bags for Melbourne because he can no longer afford to live in his home city. 'It's nearly impossible to get something in Perth at the moment,' said Mr Thomas, who is single and earns A$57,000 ($73,900) a year. 'Housing prices in Perth have increased heaps, but salaries haven't.' Perth - indeed all of Western Australia - is in the midst of what local newspapers call a housing affordability crisis. MASSIVE JUMP Home prices in Perth jumped 46 per cent last year and although they have slowed, prices are still creeping up. This is more than four times as much as the increase in Singapore, where private property prices rose only 10.2 per cent last year despite experiencing its own housing boom. The median price of a home in Perth is now at A$455,000, just shy of prices in Sydney. Housing in Perth now costs almost eight times the average resident's annual income, compared with just over seven times in New York. 'It's great news for those already in the market, but very difficult for first-time buyers and those trying to get into the market,' said Mr Rob Druitt, president of the Real Estate Institute of Western Australia. In one Perth suburb, Forrestdale, prices rose by 96 per cent last year to a median A$490,000, from A$250,000. And that pales in comparison to the transformation taking place in Mandurah, a coastal bedroom community 75km south of Perth. Western Australia is building a railway from Perth to Mandurah, whose once-sleepy streets are now lined with car dealerships, patio furniture stores and real estate agencies. Prices in Mandurah rose nearly 120per cent last year to a median A$635,000, from A$289,000. For many singles, housing is out of reach. First-time buyers fell to just 13 per cent of all home purchases in Perth last year. What's happening in Perth is a side-effect of the global commodity boom's impact on exporting countries like Australia. While property prices in the US, Britain and elsewhere start to ease after an extended wave of speculation, property prices in cities riding the export boom are still percolating upward. Property prices are also rising in Asian cities like Hong Kong and Singapore, but there young people tend to live with their parents until they get married and can buy their own homes. MOVING OUT Australian families are more like those in America, where young people typically move out when they finish school, if not sooner. With its Mediterranean climate, nearby vineyards and beaches, Perth has been something of a sanctuary for its 1.5 million residents, the antithesis to the increasingly crowded and expensive cities of Sydney and Melbourne. 'It was the most affordable city in Australia, people used to boast,' said Mr John Garland, a property agent in Perth who has been in the business since 1965. Now, he said, 'we're seeing our lifestyle affected by the excess of competition and the watering down of a laid-back lifestyle.' *** Sat Jun 23 03:26:35 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Singapore bank executives work the longest: survey Jun 23, 2007, 1:03 GMT Singapore - Singapore bank executives clock more hours on the job than their counterparts elsewhere in the world, an online survey said on Saturday. Nearly 44 per cent of executives at banks in the city-state work more than 55 hours a week, while worldwide 38.5 per cent work that long, said eFinancialCareers.sg, the financial organization that conducted the survey. Hong Kong followed Singapore on the list with 43 per cent of its executives working 55 hours or more, followed by Britain where 41 per cent of banking executives work that long. Bank executives in the Middle East and the Netherlands have it easier, said the findings published in The Straits Times. About 24 per cent of bank executives in the Middle East and 23 per cent in the Netherlands work fewer than 35 hours a week. 'Generally, we are seeing a more industrious work ethic from respondents in Singapore who appear to have a long-term commitment to their careers in financial services,' the newspaper quoted Sarah Butcher, editor of eFinancialCareers.sg, as saying. The survey, which had 3,027 respondents, was conducted last month. © 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur *** Sat Jun 23 03:49:39 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Microsoft Squashes Longhorn OS Project By Ed Oswald, BetaNews June 22, 2007, 3:22 PM A group of Windows enthusiasts that wanted to attempt to bring back features cut out of Vista through a modified version of Longhorn code circa 2004 found out Microsoft didn't take too kindly to it. Developers from Joejoe.org, the group that started the "Longhorn Reloaded" project, said the Redmond company had sent them a cease and desist letter demanding they kill the project. "cr1t1cal," the system administrator for the site, said that the notice came after builds of Milestone 1 first appeared on torrent sites and the group's FTP server. He also claimed Microsoft had known about the project "for many months." "I am just as sorry as you guys are about this, but we got to think about the community as a whole first," he wrote in a message on the Longhorn Reloaded Web site. Longhorn Reloaded was meant to add back in to the features that Microsoft had taken out of the project in order to speed its eventual release, such as WinFS. It was based on Longhorn build 4074, released to developers at the 2004 WinHEC conference. Noted Microsoft pundit Mary Jo Foley talked to the group behind the project back in late May when Milestone 1 was first released. She asked one of the lead developers, Jean-Marie Houvenaghel, if they had heard anything from Microsoft's legal teams. "We haven't currently suffered any threats from Microsoft, maybe because Longhorn is considered abandonware, I don't know," he told Foley "Also I'm [not] 100% sure that they are aware of the LHR situation." *** Mon Jun 25 05:56:57 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: They place deposit but owner vanishes day before move-in By Hedy Khoo June 25, 2007 THEY were happy to have found a flat for rent in a convenient location and were looking forward to moving in. But the four Indian nationals, friends working for the same company, ended up scrambling to find a new home after the landlord vanished with their deposit. They said he had taken an initial deposit of $1,000 for the five-room flat in Pasir Ris. But on 31 May, the day they were supposed to move in, they found that the flat was locked and there was no sign of the landlord. They tried to call him repeatedly, but his handphone remained switched off. While The New Paper had highlighted cases of such rental cheats recently, the four, who have all been here a few years, never expected to be victims themselves. Said Mr Manickam Ravikumar, 27, an assistant sales engineer: 'We thought we would end up standing by the road with our suitcases and no place to stay.' RELUCTANT TO REPORT The first thing they did was to complain to their housing agent, who advised them to make a police report. But they were reluctant to do so. Said Mr Ravikumar: 'We are here just to work and earn money. We didn't want to get into trouble, but we had been cheated.' They spent the day sitting at a foodcourt in Pasir Ris, frantically calling housing agents to look for another flat which would be close to their workplace in Loyang. According to Mr Ravikumar, the monthly rent for the flat had been set at $1,500 but the landlord had agreed to accept only $1,000 as deposit first. 'He insisted we pay him in cash, and told us there wouldn't be any problem, and gave us a receipt which he signed,' he said. In hindsight, product manufacturing technician Sekar Saravanakumar, 23, said they were naive to believe the landlord. After all, the slip of paper he gave as receipt had nothing on it other than the address and his supposed IC number. Click to see larger image Said Mr Saravanakumar: 'He even told us if we have problems with the flat after we move in, we can always call him.' It did not help that they had no earlier experience in renting a place as their previous landlord was someone they knew personally. They had even paid their housing agent a commission of $750 but she returned it, they said. Fortunately, they were able to find another apartment to rent in Pasir Ris quickly, though they had to borrow $1,400 from their friends to pay the deposit. But they could not move in immediately and had to beg their previous landlord to let them stay for another two weeks. Said Mr Saravanakumar: 'The $1,000 is a big sum of money to us. It is money we earned to send home. 'We are very careful even when we are claiming $5 overtime. Now we have $1,000 missing, it is heartache for us.' Said Mr Karthikairajan Govindan, 28, a design engineer who is saving money for his sister's dowry: 'The money he took from us could have been used to pay for our living expenses for a few months, or to send home.' They have not dared to tell their families back home about the incident. Mr Saravanakumar said he was angry with himself for believing and trusting the landlord. 'We trusted him because he told us we shared the same roots, and we spoke the same language,' added Mr Ravikumar. The housing agent, Ms Ruth Nala, 56, said she had been to the unit in Pasir Ris six times, but had found it locked, with nobody there. 'I'm also anxious to try to help the tenants get back their money, but the landlord is uncontactable,' she said. Last December, The New Paper ran a report on a landlord in Marsiling who rented out his flat to at least three tenants for the same period. He then disappeared with more than $4,000 of the money he had collected from them as deposits and the rent for the first month. Another case in the same report was of a woman who also signed more than one tenancy agreement for the same period for her flat in Woodlands. Only one tenant managed to recover his deposit with the help of the housing agent. Tenants involved in disputes with landlords may approach the Small Claims Tribunal. But it is up to the tribunal to decide whether the case comes under its jurisdiction, according to a Subordinate Courts spokesman. HDB said the subletting of flats or rooms is a private arrangement between the flat owners and subtenants. An HDB spokesman said a flat owner can let out the whole flat only after getting written approval from HDB. She advised prospective tenants to ask the flat owner to show them a copy of HDB's approval letter. On the issue of making deposits, Mr Mohd Ismail, 43, vice-president of the Institute of Estate Agents, said it is more advisable for tenants to pay by cheque rather than cash. If a receipt is given, it should state clearly that the amount is a deposit for renting a unit, along with the unit address, name of the landlord and his identity card number. If the landlord is not present to collect payment, tenants may give a post-dated cheque, as an additional precaution. They should indicate on the back of the cheque that the cheque is for the payment of a deposit for renting the unit, with the unit's address written clearly. *** Mon Jun 25 06:20:06 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Man charged after friends stabbed June 25, 2007 12:54pm Article from: AAP Font size: + - Send this article: Print Email A 35-year-old man has been charged after allegedly stabbing two of his friends during an argument at a Sydney unit. Police said the fight broke out after the trio returned to the 35-year-old's unit in Liverpool Road in Croydon, in Sydney's west, about 1.40pm (AEST) yesterday. One man was stabbed once in the groin and twice in the stomach with a knife. The second man was stabbed in the right arm. The two men ran from the unit to a nearby service station, where they called police. Both were taken to Royal Prince Alfred Hospital where the man who was stabbed three times underwent emergency surgery. The second man was released after being treated by a doctor. The 35-year-old was arrested yesterday and charged with two counts of malicious wounding with intent. He was refused police bail to face Burwood Local Court today. *** Mon Jun 25 07:03:09 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Man charged after friends stabbed June 25, 2007 12:54pm Article from: AAP Font size: + - Send this article: Print Email A 35-year-old man has been charged after allegedly stabbing two of his friends during an argument at a Sydney unit. Police said the fight broke out after the trio returned to the 35-year-old's unit in Liverpool Road in Croydon, in Sydney's west, about 1.40pm (AEST) yesterday. One man was stabbed once in the groin and twice in the stomach with a knife. The second man was stabbed in the right arm. The two men ran from the unit to a nearby service station, where they called police. Both were taken to Royal Prince Alfred Hospital where the man who was stabbed three times underwent emergency surgery. The second man was released after being treated by a doctor. The 35-year-old was arrested yesterday and charged with two counts of malicious wounding with intent. He was refused police bail to face Burwood Local Court today. *** Tue Jun 26 17:31:17 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: 7yo shoots 8yo dead Posted 1 hour 20 minutes ago Boston police have questioned a seven-year-old boy who shot and killed his eight-year-old cousin with an illegal gun, the latest example of the toll of gun violence in US cities. The family had told police three armed intruders burst into their home and gunned down LaQuarrie Jefferson, 8, on Sunday night. But after further interviews with family members, the truth emerged on Monday as the boy died in a hospital. The victim's mother, Lakeisha Gadson, 30, apologised for lying and said the killing was a tragic accident. She had briefly disappeared with the seven-year-old and police launched a city-wide search for the pair. The boy was the youngest murder victim in Boston since 2002, when a three-year-old was killed in gang gunfire. Police spokeswoman Sharon Dottin said the seven-year-old and Ms Gadson were interviewed by police after voluntarily coming to police headquarters but declined to say if charges would be pressed. The boy can be charged as a juvenile. LaQuarrie's father is a convicted killer who had served time for the 1997 stabbing death of a homeless man and is now in prison for a series of 2004 armed robberies. Boston Mayor Thomas Menino said the gun was illegal. No-one in the home was licensed to own a firearm. Like Boston, many US cities are struggling to stem a wave of violent crime and murder. Data released by the FBI this month showed more murders and robberies in 2006 sent US violent crimes higher for a second straight year. -Reuters *** Fri Jun 29 18:42:43 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: How NSW fails its most vulnerable Joel Gibson June 30, 2007 OUTBACK NSW is plagued by a shocking lack of resources to tackle indigenous child abuse which has led to a permanent queue of 40 cases needing investigation and another 30 waiting to be heard by the courts. More than a year after a State Government report revealed Aboriginal children in NSW are four times more likely to be abused than non-indigenous children, a senior child sexual assault specialist has painted a devastating picture of dwindling funding and shortages of expert counsellors and investigators in NSW's west. "Hold up your hand in front of your face and you have probably got more fingers than the [number of Health Department child sexual abuse counsellors] we have in western NSW," the official told the Herald. In some communities, child sex had become so normalised that children as young as six had been observed performing oral sex on each other. "They say they're just playing, without having any sense that it's wrong." There are only seven police officers assigned to investigate child sexual assault in the massive western area of NSW spanning from Dubbo to Broken Hill in the west, north to Bourke and south to Balranald, the Herald has learned. They handle a continual case load of "30 to 40" investigations, which does not include the 20 to 30 that are waiting to come before the court. When the Federal Government announced its crackdown on indigenous child abuse last week - to be focused on the Northern Territory - it accused NSW of sitting on its own report, revealing a similar crisis, for nine months. NSW's Breaking the Silence report interviewed more than 300 Aborigines in 29 communities and found that not one could name a family unaffected by the scourge of child sexual assault. But the State Government gave no new funding despite a request for $20 million to $40 million from the former attorney-general, Bob Debus, to implement the report's 119 recommendations. The official who spoke to the Herald asked not to be identified but works with the Joint Investigation Response Teams that consist of specialist police from the sex crimes unit, Department of Community Services workers and child sexual abuse counsellors from the Department of Health. The official joined a chorus of politicians and social and health workers angered by a lack of resources to stamp out sexual abuse in NSW. At times, the lack of Health Department counsellors has forced the hiring of private counsellors to talk to children who have reported abuse. In other cases, the first counselling session could not be offered until many weeks after the original disclosure. Herald inquiries have revealed: - A shortage of doctors forced an alleged rape victim to travel 150 kilometres from Dubbo to Orange to be examined before she could take a shower; - Advertised positions for DoCS and Health positions in remote towns have gone unfilled for more than two years; and - Children are less likely to reveal abuse because of a shortage of full-time police and DoCS workers on the ground. The official said the volatile blend of alcohol and drugs, poverty and social dysfunction described by Rex Wild's report into child abuse in the NT - which spurred the Howard Government into action - was also to blame for the problems in western NSW. "You're an Aboriginal child and mum and dad are drinking and don't give a f--- and there's a nice bloke who's got a PlayStation and a warm bed and he offers you food, you're not going to dob him in, are you?" The federal Nationals MP for Parkes, John Cobb, said DoCS workers were at breaking point. "Without exception, the DoCs people in these places will tell you they haven't got a hope of getting around all the towns." He called for a flying squad to be sent from Sydney and for safe houses in all big towns for children removed from danger. Dawn Fardell, the independent MP for Dubbo, said at least $20 million was needed immediately from the NSW Government: "If the Treasurer's budget analysis has a $444 million surplus, then $20 million is nothing. It should be done immediately." The office of the Minister for Community Services, Kevin Greene, said 750 new DoCS case worker positions had already been created as part of a $1.2 billion overhaul of the department. More than half of these were in rural and regional NSW. An extra 66 DoCS case workers were bound for the department's Western NSW region this year, but this stretches as far as Albury in the south and Lithgow in the east. The head of the NSW Sex Crimes Unit, Helen Begg, said it was police policy not to disclose the number of officers working on child sexual assault in western NSW. But she said there were 22 teams throughout the state. At Dubbo's Grace Cottage, an Aboriginal health and family support centre, co-ordinator Elsie Gordon and health worker Teena Bonham said there was only one full-time Aboriginal position in the area to support victims of child sexual assault. Ms Bonham, employed for 28 hours a week, said she had to close the centre for days at a time and was unable to adequately follow up reports of abuse when she visited remote communities. "Out in the communities, people are saying [all the attention on the issue] is 20 years too late," she said. Ms Gordon said indigenous community leaders in remote towns should be trained to fill roles that lay open for years, such as a recent Health Department post in Broken Hill. And both said the court system needed to be more child-friendly and include whole-family counselling. "Our legal system is based on tangible evidence, whereas child sexual assault isn't a lot of the time," Ms Bonham said. "I wouldn't ever use a child as a witness if I had my way. I'd cross-examine the counsellors that have worked with that child there are so many little technicalities that get these cases thrown out that need to be thrown out of the Crimes Act." The MPs and child abuse experts agreed that the problem was not restricted to Aboriginal communities. Nor was it a problem in all Aboriginal communities, they said. This week, the NSW report's author, Marcia Ella-Duncan, said Milton Orkopoulos, the former Aboriginal Affairs minister facing child sex charges, did not take the issue seriously. The Herald's source said it was time to act. "If you could crack open the seal in some of the far western towns, you'd do a lot of good. It's just getting in there and doing it that's the problem, having the resources to do it. *** Mon Jul 9 02:36:08 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Church says no to son of Hell July 09, 2007 03:49pm Article from: AAP A MELBOURNE father says his five-year-old son was barred from enrolling in a local Catholic school because of his surname – Hell. Alex Hell, 45, of Hoppers Crossing in Melbourne's west, says despite the school now saying his son Max is welcome, he will move the family to Geelong. "We're quite devastated by the whole thing," Mr Hell, a Catholic father of three, said. Mr Hell admits that he volunteered the idea of changing his son's name to his wife's maiden name of Wembridge, a suggestion that was welcomed by the principal of St Peter the Apostle primary school Michael McGrath. But after mulling it over Mr Hell decided against the name change and was then told that Max would not be able to attend the school. "We are victims of our name," Mr Hell said. "The school has turned around and said Max can go there but why would you want to go there after being victimised." The primary school said today that the Hells were looking to enrol Max at St Peter the Apostle School from a state school "because of a range of matters that were impacting on the child". "The issue of a change of surname of the child was an initiative of the parents which they believed would assist the child in the transition of schools," the school said. After discussions between the parish priest and principal, St Peter the Apostle School has made an offer of enrolment to the student. "The school is working with the family in the best interests of the child." However, Mr Hell, who says an offer for his son to now attend the school came only after he went to the media, is adamant that Max won't be going to the school. "I'd rather go to another school – we had no problem with the public school but we just wanted to further Max's education," Mr Hell said. Mr Hell, of Austrian heritage, says the name means light or bright in German. "It's 2007, not 1407, it's not the Dark Ages," he said. Mr Hell said the family is now looking at moving to Geelong, his wife Sue's home town, to find a school for Max. *** Mon Jul 9 02:38:59 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Scientology beliefs 'stopped accused killer getting treatment' July 09, 2007 03:13pm Article from: AAP A SYDNEY woman charged with murdering her father and sister and seriously injuring her mother was apparently denied psychiatric treatment because of her parents' alleged Scientology beliefs, a court has been told. The 25-year-old woman, who cannot be named, appeared briefly in Bankstown Local Court today charged over the stabbing attacks at her family home in Revesby in Sydney's south-west last Thursday. She made no application for bail because she was unfit to be interviewed, her legal aid lawyer Wade Bloomfield told the court. In a report tendered to the court, Dr Mark Cross, consultant psychiatrist and clinical director of Liverpool and Fairfield Mental Health Services said the woman was diagnosed with a psychotic illness at Bankstown Hospital in late 2006. But her parents had refused her appropriate follow-up treatment. "She had a history of being diagnosed with a psychotic illness in late 2006 at Bankstown Hospital, but follow-up from the mental health team was apparently declined by her parents because of their alleged Scientology beliefs," Dr Cross said. The woman is accused of fatally stabbing her 53-year-old father and 15-year-old sister at the family home in Hydrae Street at Revesby in Sydney's south-west on Thursday. It is also alleged she stabbed her 52-year-old mother, who raised the alarm as she collapsed in a neighbour's garden. The mother remains in a serious but stable condition after undergoing surgery for multiple stab wounds. The woman was arrested in nearby Uranus Street shortly after the attack and was placed under police guard in Liverpool hospital until she was charged by homicide detectives late last night. She faces two counts of murder and one of inflicting grievous bodily harm with intent to murder. The report said that instead of receiving follow-up treatment by Bankstown Hospital's mental health team, the woman had instead seen a private psychiatrist as well as a psychologist. She also was prescribed an anti-depressant as well as an anti-psychotic treatment that she took until January this year. The report said after she stopped taking her medication she began to feel anxious, and depressed. She also experienced poor sleep and felt unsafe at home. "She stated that her parents did not want her to take the prescribed medication she had been on in 2006, and apparently started her on medication they got from America - which was not psychiatric in nature," it said. In an interview with Dr Cross yesterday, the woman said that three weeks prior to the alleged incident, her feelings of ill health started to worsen and that her parents allowed her to restart her anti-psychotic medication as it helped her to sleep. *** Mon Jul 9 02:54:15 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Youths caught in vicious turf war, 8 stabbed Reid Sexton, Paul Heinrichs July 8, 2007 CHILDREN as young as nine are being caught up in race-based machete and knife attacks over drug turf and ethnic pride. Social workers and a former senior policeman have called on the State Government to take steps to police the gangs following an orchestrated attack at St Albans late on Friday night in which eight people were injured, three seriously. A teenager was last night in hospital in a serious but stable condition following the vicious attack, in which at least 30 armed youths invaded a private birthday party in a soccer club hall. Two other teenagers were discharged from hospital yesterday after treatment for wounds. Police are tight-lipped about whether the St Albans stabbings were gang-related. Social worker Les Twentyman said the attack could be linked to the notorious SNK gang, a group of youths involved in a 2004 brawl that left its leader with a severed hand. Hieu Huu Nguyen, then 21, whose hand was later re-attached, led an armed gang of up to 70 SNK (St Albans and Kings Park) members against a rival gang in the Fitzroy Gardens. A St Albans Saints club spokesman said the birthday boy's father was injured when he confronted the gatecrashers. Police had been called three times in 45 minutes but had arrived too late to prevent bloodshed, he said. But police last night defended the response time as "adequate". Detectives last night charged a 17-year-old youth over the stabbings. Detective Sergeant Stephen Hill said the cause of the brawl had yet to be determined. "A number of guests turned up that weren't invited and were refused entry into the party," he said. "After a short verbal dispute with people at the party, they forced their way inside and produced a number of weapons — machetes, poles and knives — and conducted an assault inside the premises." Mr Twentyman said children as young as nine and 10 were recruited by older members who felt vulnerable unless they roamed in large packs. "It's all about a sense of belonging, ethnicity and drug dealing and a whole range of things," he said. St Albans, Sunshine and Dandenong were among the worst places for youth gang violence, which Mr Twentyman said was at its worst level since he began youth work almost 30 years ago. "One of the problems about those areas is that they're very high on ethnicity and a lot of them have issues with other ethnic groups. But a lot of it is about being excluded. "That's one of the problems — kids feel totally alienated from the mainstream and this is their survival thing." Mr Twentyman said boredom arising from a lack of opportunities for teenagers fuelled the violence — when you don't work or go to school, "every day is Sunday". Lyn Snart, whose house backs onto the soccer club's playing fields, said she had comforted several terrified teenagers waiting for their parents after the attack. "Honest to God, when you see a boy shaking in his boots and scared to the point where he will come into your driveway to stay out of trouble … you know that's fear." Ms Snart said one injured teenager limping and being helped along the street by his friends was yelling: "How could they do it? How could they do it? Why did they do it?" "They were all just really, really scared," she said. State Opposition police spokesman Andrew McIntosh said: "Obviously we are very concerned about the antisocial behaviour. It's not the first time we've seen this sort of stuff. "Any parent with teenage kids knows that hoodlums can start gatecrashing and making enormous difficulties. But this is ramping up the antisocial behaviour, which seems to be sweeping the state, substantially. "I am not going to blame the police on the ground. They make the system work by their hard work, but there just seems to be a real problem with … front-line policing. "The Government keeps parroting this line about putting 1400 extra police on the ground — you have to ask the question: Where the bloody hell are they? "Now, 40 minutes to respond to a triple-O is just unacceptable." Bracks Government spokesman Matt Nurse said the Government had made an election commitment to double the penalties for carrying weapons. "These laws came into effect earlier this year and are some of the toughest in the nation. They are partly aimed at ending any culture of carrying knives," he said. He would not comment on the delay in police responding to the 000 call. Police urge anyone with information to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or visit crimestoppers.com.au *** Mon Jul 9 18:34:24 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Intervention plan shows Howard racist: Maori MP Hone Harawira. AdvertisementAdvertisement Vernon Small, Lindsay Murdoch and Phillip Coorey July 10, 2007 A MAORI MP has called John Howard a "racist bastard" for his Government's planned intervention to end abuse and violence in Aboriginal communities. Hone Harawira, a firebrand member of the minority Maori Party in the New Zealand Parliament, blasted Mr Howard in an interview screened on a Maori television station last night. "If I was an Aboriginal man in the Northern Territory I would feel like absolute shit right now," he said. "I would have the leader of my country saying I am an alcoholic, I am into pornography, I am into sexual abuse. All I would want to do is go out and smash someone." Mr Harawira said: "All Howard has done is generate more anger and bitterness in the Aboriginal community, a lot of which is going to be internalised. I said John Howard is a racist bastard trying to impose racist policies on a people who can't fight back." Mr Howard declined to comment, but he vehemently rejected suggestions of racism when the ACT Chief Minister, Jon Stanhope, made the same charge after the intervention policy was announced. But the Northern Territory Government revealed yesterday that it will back a legal challenge to the radical intervention by the Northern Land Council, the most powerful indigenous organisation in northern Australia. The council says the action will lead inevitably to the High Court. The Chief Minister, Clare Martin, led growing criticism of the intervention yesterday, saying seizing control of townships and scrapping the permit system did not make sense and would not stop child sexual abuse. "So while we're working broadly with the Federal Government on the important issues of health, of tackling alcohol abuse, of tackling pornography, we will not support the removal of permits," Ms Martin said. "It does not make sense, it is not supported by this Government and by Aboriginal Territorians, and we do not support five-year leases." The Federal Government will seize control of 73 remote indigenous communities and introduce the most radical measures in decades to end indigenous neglect. New Zealand's Prime Minister, Helen Clark, felt Mr Harawira's comments were "most regrettable", her spokeswoman said yesterday. Mr Harawira said Mr Howard's plan was motivated by election-year politics, and compared it to President George Bush's invasion of Iraq to control oil. The Northern Land Council's chief executive, Norman Fry, said the compulsory acquisition of private property without consultation was discriminatory and could not be justified. He predicted that removing the permit system would subject tribal Aborigines to rampant tourism or rampant journalism. "Removing the permit system will mean a free-for-all, with Arnhem Land instantly becoming the world's most sought-after backpacker destination, an exotic must, with busloads of tourists leaving Darwin for remote communities every day." Parliament may not be recalled to pass legislation covering the intervention, Mr Howard said yesterday, because it was unlikely to be ready in time. Parliament resumes next month. with Stephanie Peatling *** Thu Jul 12 02:59:29 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Police appeal for public assistance following several robberies – Kings Cross 12 July 2007 Police are appealing for public assistance following three separate incidents at Darlinghurst early yesterday morning where two men armed with a wooden pole approached several people. In the first incident, a man was walking on the western side of Victoria Road when he was approached by the two armed men. They threatened to hit him with the pole before demanding his wallet. The man, fearing for his safety, was able to escape and contact police. The second incident also occurred on Victoria Road when the two men approached a 34-year-old man as he was walking from Kings Cross railway station to work. This man was assaulted by the two men and managed to run to Kings Cross railway station where he was assisted by transit officers. It appears the man may have had his wallet and mobile phone stolen. He was conveyed to St Vincent’s Hospital where he remains in a serious condition with head injuries. The two men continued south along Victoria Road where they approached the third male, threatening him with the pole and demanding his wallet. The men assaulted the 44-year-old Blacktown man with the pole and left the scene with the man’s wallet. The third victim was also taken to St Vincent’s Hospital where he received sutures for a head wound. Kings Cross Police and forensic investigators attended Victoria Road and three crime scenes were established. The first man has been described to police as being of Aboriginal appearance, early 20s, about 173cm tall with a medium build. He was last seen wearing an orange spray jacket and pants. The second man has been described as have an olive to fair complexion, early 20s, about 180cm tall with a chubby to solid build. He was last seen wearing a light brown jumper and light coloured track pants with a brown baseball bat. Police are now appealing for anyone who was in the vicinity of Victoria Road between 6.30am and 6.40am and may have witnessed any of the incidents to contact either Kings Cross Police on 8356 0099 or Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000. *** Fri Jul 13 03:15:22 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Policeman and two friends admit to rape Posted 1 hour 12 minutes ago * Map: Adelaide 5000 Three young people, one of them a police officer, have pleaded guilty to raping a male friend during a night of heavy drinking in Adelaide. Sian Catherine Whistler, 20, Brendan Phillip Hollands, 21, and sworn police officer David Kingsley McMahon, 22, have pleaded guilty to rape in Adelaide Magistrates Court. The court has previously heard that the attack was recorded on a mobile phone, in December 2005. The case will now go to the District Court. *** Sat Jul 14 18:36:06 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: She uses caviar as conditioner Catherine Zeta Jones pays around $700 per hair treatment, which also includes truffles July 14, 2007 FOR ordinary people, the chance of indulging in expensive Beluga caviar is one in a million. But if you have a couple of millions, then not only can you eat it, but you can also slather it on your tresses. That's the secret of Welsh actress Catherine Zeta Jones' lustrous locks, according to London's Daily Mail. Living up to the unofficial Hollywood motto of excess, the brunette beauty's luxury hair treatments is said to cost her US$470 ($712) every time she conditions her hair with Beluga caviar. NO COSTS SPARED It is claimed that the 37-year-old wife of Hollywood star Michael Douglas uses liquified sturgeon roe to give her brown hair a shine. The sturgeon roe are liquidised prior to use, a process which is said to remove any odour. Her hair treatment also involves truffles and eggs. The Beluga caviar is flown in from Iran five days ahead of her treatments at Hari's, a celebrity hair salon, in South Kensington, England. An anonymous source told Daily Mail: 'Catherine discovered the caviar treatment last summer and was astounded by the difference it made to her hair. 'She has an incredibly rich and vibrant natural hair colour but the creamy, almost oily nature of caviar really brings this out, making the colour even richer and making it so much more glossy. 'The eggs are packed with omega-3 fatty acids necessary for the formation of structural proteins. 'It is these proteins that repair dry and damaged hair and smooth over any split ends.' Her hair is washed with a truffle-based shampoo, then smeared with the caviar, which is combed through and left to set. The two-hour treatment also includes a complimentary glass of champagne and caviar canapes. She is not the only star who spares no cost in beauty treatments. After all, to survive in Hollywood, the mecca of youth and botoxed beauty, you no longer need to just look like a million dollars, you have to spend it too. *** Sat Jul 14 18:36:48 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Mystery disease affects 100 at Bangladesh school Posted 3 hours 21 minutes ago More than 100 students and teachers from a school in Bangladesh have been admitted to hospital after suffering convulsions, local police said. The cause of their sudden illness is being investigated. The victims fell ill at Adiabad School and College near Narshingdi district town, 55 kilometres north-east of the capital Dhaka. Twenty-three people died in Bangladesh in 2004 from a mysterious disease later diagnosed as an encephalitis, or inflammation of the brain caused by a viral infection. Dozens more were infected with the disease, which some had feared was bird flu. Bird flu in Bangladesh since March this year has forced authorities to cull nearly 255,000 chickens and destroy more than 2.2 million eggs. Authorities said there was no case of human infection. - Reuters *** Mon Jul 16 03:39:43 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: National NSW cops 'can't police their shop' Source: AAP Posted: Mon 16 Jul, 2007 NSW cops 'can't police their shop' Security lapses in NSW police stations are making the boys in blue, red with embarrassment. Security lapses in NSW police stations are making the boys in blue, red with embarrassment. Police stations in the state are suffering robberies and vandalism almost twice a day, The Daily Telegraph reports. Figures obtained by the newspaper under the Freedom of Information Act show officers failed to protect their own property and stations 628 times last year. Most of the incidents involved malicious damage such as broken doors, windows, toilets and floor coverings, but eight break and enters were recorded. One thief stole jewellery at one station while another stole a lawnmower and CB radio. The worst hit station was Penrith, with 15 reports of malicious damage, then Manly at 14, Redfern 13, Mt Druitt and Orange, both with 10 incidents. *** Mon Jul 16 18:53:43 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Anzac War Memorial vandalised in Sydney Source: AAP Posted: Mon 16 Jul, 2007 Police are appealing for the public's help in the hunt for vandals who damaged Sydney's Anzac War Memorial in Hyde Park. Police said they were called to the memorial by its caretakers on July 7 after graffiti was found on the north facing glass wall. It's believed the monument was damaged between 5pm on Friday, July 6, and 8am the following day (AEST). Police said they had coordinated their investigation with officers from the Graffiti Task Force and are using CCTV footage to help them find the offenders. They say one of the males they are seeking has a thin to medium build, short dark hair and was wearing a white jacket with blue sleeves and blue jeans. He was carrying a white and blue backpack at the time. A second male is described as being of medium build, and was wearing a navy jumper, blue jeans and white joggers. Anyone with information regarding the incident or the identity of the two men in the photographs has been urged to contact City Central Police on (02) 9265 6499 or Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000. *** Fri Jul 20 02:00:44 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Policeman jailed for watch-house rapes Posted 1 hour 9 minutes ago * Map: Maroochydore 4558 A senior Queensland police officer who sexually assaulted six women held in custody at the Maroochydore watch -house in 2005 has been jailed for six years. Peter Anthony Buxton, 54, has pleaded guilty to 24 charges, including rape, sexual assault and procuring sexual acts by intimidation in the Maroochydore District Court this morning. He will be eligible for parole in two years. Buxton's co-accused, a 50-year-old long-serving officer from Nambour, has not yet been committed to stand trial on similar charges. The charges follow an eight-month investigation by the police ethical standards command. The investigation found Buxton sexually assaulted six women aged between 19 and 40 years in the Maroochydore watch-house in 2005. *** Fri Jul 20 02:01:55 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: 'Racist' Tintin bought to book * * Email * Print * Normal font * Large font July 19, 2007 An image from Tintin in the Congo An image from Tintin in the Congo AdvertisementAdvertisement THE classic comic book Tintin in the Congo has been removed from the children's section of Borders stores in Australia because some customers may consider it offensive, the bookseller said. The move is in line with action taken by Borders in the US and Britain, sparked by complaints that the book was racist. "We are committed to acting responsibly as a retailer and with sensitivity to all of the communities we serve," Borders said in a statement. "Therefore, with respect to the specific title Tintin in the Congo, which could be considered offensive by some of our customers, we have decided to place this title in a section of our store intended primarily for adults. We believe adults have the capacity to evaluate this work within historical context." David Enright, a London-based human-rights lawyer, was shopping recently at Borders with his family when he came upon the book, first published in 1931. The material, he said, suggested to children that Africans were "subhuman, that they are imbeciles, that they're half savage". The Tintin series, tracing the adventures of an intrepid reporter, and his dog, Snowy, has sold 220 million copies worldwide, and been translated in 77 languages. But Tintin in the Congo has been widely criticised as racist by fans and critics alike. In it, the cartoonist, George Remi, depicts the white hero's adventures in the Congo against the backdrop of an idiotic, chimpanzee-like native population that comes to worship Tintin — and his dog — as gods. Remi later said he was embarrassed by the book, and some editions have had objectionable content removed. When an unexpurgated edition was brought out in Britain in 2005, it came wrapped with a warning and a foreword explaining its colonial context. AAP, AP *** Fri Jul 20 06:41:49 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Disinfectant found in White Rabbit sweets July 20, 2007 THE already-bad reputation of Chinese food exports took another blow on Tuesday when the Philippine government ordered the pullout of four Chinese snack products. The four products removed are Milk Candy, Bairong Grape Biscuits, Yong Kang Foods and the popular White Rabbit candy. The Chinese candies and cookies had tested positive for formalin, a saturated solution of formaldehyde. Formaldehyde is a disinfectant linked to cancer in humans. It is also well-known as a preservative and embalming fluid. Major supermarkets and malls have 15 to 30 days to remove the contaminated items, said Mr Joshua Ramos, deputy director of the Bureau of Food and Drugs. He also advised consumers to report if they felt sick after eating any of the formalin-laced products. In Singapore, the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) tested samples of White Rabbit candy for testing yesterday and will confirm results in a few days. Of the four products banned in the Philippines, only White Rabbit candy is imported here. - Additional reporting by Tan May Ping *** Fri Jul 27 20:11:38 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Giant wombat bone discovered 27.7.2007. 19:51:59 http://www.worldnewsaustralia.com.au/region.php?id=138736®ion=7 A newly born baby wombat. (AAP) A rare jawbone of a giant wombat discovered in a cave west of Sydney could lead to more fossil finds of marsupial giants dating back 30,000 years. But a battle looms over any attempt to unearth a mega-fauna fossil deposit at the sensitive Jenolan Caves site where the jawbone was found. The caves, in a rugged and relatively isolated area of the Blue Mountains, are one of the world's oldest cave systems and one of NSW's best-known tourist attractions. A tour guide was doing his rounds at the caves when he stumbled on the bone from a diprotodont, the largest known marsupial. The long extinct diprotodont species was two metres tall by three metres long, or about as large as a hippopotamus, and could have weighed as much as three tonnes. The fossilised bone is more than 30cm long and estimated to be between 20,000 and 40,000 years old. 'No excavations' The Jenolan Caves Trust today ruled out any excavation of the site for the time being, but eager scientists said the find would shed light on Australia's past. University of NSW palaeontologist Dr Michael Archer said the site could be at the edge of a very large deposit of bones. "It's certainly interesting any time a new mega faunal deposit turns up because there are so many unresolved questions," Dr Archer said. "If there is a deposit there it might turn out that humans have had some involvement with this material." He said the best way to determine whether there was a richdeposit was to excavate the site. "There are very few other ways to do it," he said. "This may run into some issues about history and the preservation of the historic aspects of the cave but if it is the tip of an iceberg of interesting discoveries I would hope that history wouldn't stop people from exploring that possibility." Manager of Operations at Jenolan Caves Grant Commins said national parks legislation banned excavation in caves and there were no plans to search for more bones. He said the jawbone was found in one of the show caves but could not name the cave for security reasons. "It won't be necessary to close any of the caves," Mr Commins said. "The site is not very accessible." Dr Colin Groves from the Australian National University said if the bone was confirmed as being 20,000-40,000 years old it would debunk the accepted belief that early Australians were responsible for the rapid destruction of giant fauna. SOURCE: AAP *** Fri Jul 27 20:14:27 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Saturday July 28, 05:51 AM NSW suffers worst flu season in years http://au.news.yahoo.com/070727/2/142jx.html NSW is facing one of its worst cold and flu seasons, with more than 830 pneumonia deaths in just over a month. In the past week, 111 people visited the state's hospital emergency departments with the flu, more than double the number for the same period last year, NSW Health says. "There is a significant amount of influenza activity and an increase in the number of cases presenting to emergency and in laboratories this year," Westmead Hospital virologist Dominic Dwyer told The Sydney Morning Herald. "It's hard to know whether this is due to a particularly virulent strain, but certainly there have been some deaths in the past few weeks." Between June 1 and July 6, NSW Health reported 836 deaths from pneumonia in the state. Pneumonia often develops after severe cases of the flu. Dr Dwyer said older people and those with a low immunity were most prone to the flu and should consider being vaccinated as soon as possible. Experts say people are more susceptible to the flu in winter when there is less sunlight to produce immune-strengthening melatonin. Flu sufferers should "take it easy, don't go to work and spread it to anybody else", a doctor told the newspaper. *** Fri Jul 27 20:18:17 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: "Virtual" Singapore a real lure to Asia business Josephine Ng SINGAPORE, July 19: Ideas for new businesses in cyberspace keep sprouting even as users, providers and governments grapple with issues of security and shortage of bandwidth. One company in Singapore is dangling another carrot before businesses, education institutions and other bodies on how to promote themselves on the Internet. VRT Singapore Pte Ltd aims to make all your virtual dreams come true. From Saturday, Internet surfers will be able to visit Virtual Singapore, modelled after an area in the island state's financial district. It stretches from Fullerton Building, in a square targeted for hotel development, to the popular Boat Quay riverside bars and restaurants flanked by the imposing towers of leading banks and skyscraper office blocks. With the click of a mouse, a personal computer user can explore the area on foot or hop on a river cruise. At Fullerton Building, a casino beckons. Or would you rather try the poolroom? When you enter the interior of a building, you might be "cooled" by swirling ceiling fans and even get a snack from a vending machine. Short of cash, click on an ATM machine. All in real time. Later on, VRT will add links to local events like Singapore's National Day Parade and international events. How does a business cash in? Through advertising on specific active areas of the site, said Aroon Tan, regional manager of VRT Singapore. And no advertising copy or jingles needed. For instance, a bank can use its logo on its building in the area to link to its own web site to promote its own services. Or license a feature like the casino or poolroom to be ported to your web site. The one-time license fee is between S$1,200 ($828) and S$1,500, Tan said. VRT can also custom-make your own virtual sites costing from S$5,000 upwards. All transactions will be between the user and the company concerned, Tan said. "We're dealing with a very new technology," Tan said, when asked just how successful virtual reality marketing would be. VRT Singapore expects to rake in S$2 Million revenue in the first year after spending some S$400,000-600,000 in developing this virtual reality site. It is talking to numerous companies and organisations and hopes to strike deals with five to six parties in the coming months, Tan said. Using software from virtual reality designer Superscape VRPlc, Virtual Singapore is efficiently designed so that it is in small files to enable fairly fast access. A server in Singapore by September will also be a boon to the site. And as Singapore's island-wide multimedia broadband network comes on stream in stages into the year 2004, Virtual Singapore would get more and more life-like. Real-time screening of videos and video conferencing using 3D representations called avatars are possibilities. Tan says Virtual Singapore has "emotion" -- compared to other VRT-developed virtual cities of Dieburg and Berlin in Germany. The Singapore site appears more multi-dimensional with features like the cruise on the river. Texture would improve as technology advances. And as prices of peripherals fall, users should be able to don headsets and gloves hooked up to the PC and "feel" the virtual surrounding and discern height and depth. Virtual Singapore is targeted at businesses and organisations operating in Asia. VRT expects to open an office in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia with a development team in early 1998 and mulling similar setups in Thailand and Indonesia. Tan sees the pioneering efforts of VRT, started in Germany in 1992, spawning future generations of virtual reality designers and professionals. Tan, 26, studied architecture and worked as an interior designer before being roped in by VRT. VRT is all excited about a project called B3000 which stands for "Beyond 3000" that will be a highly complicated scenario engaging a global community, Tan said.The pilot launch is expected in the next 12 months. VRT envisages that B3000 will communicate by voice and even simulate different weather and daylight and nightfall. "B3000 will become a genre... it will be a completely different way of approaching a gaming environment. It will be like the way Space Invaders were to arcade games," Tan said. VRT's homepage is at http://www.vrt.com.sg Virtual Singapore is at http://www.singapore.vrt.com.sg Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd. *** Wed Aug 8 23:40:00 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Crocodile falls 12 floors in escape bid Wed Aug 8, 2007 9:23AM EDT MOSCOW (Reuters) - A crocodile survived a fall from the 12th floor of a Russian apartment block after making an escape bid through a window, emergency services said on Wednesday. Diving out of the window has become a habit for the crocodile, called Khenar, with concerned neighbors saying it was the third time he had used that method to flee, Moskovsky Komsomolets daily reported. The crocodile lost one tooth in the latest fall but was otherwise unscathed, said a spokeswoman for the emergencies ministry in the Nizhny Novgorod region of central Russia. "It seems the owner was not at home when the crocodile came out of the window," she said. Emergency services put the crocodile in a local aquarium to recover from his fall. Within a few hours his concerned owner came to pick him up and the crocodile was last seen lying on the back seat of his owner's car. *** Sat Aug 11 18:36:21 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Handguns used in two Sydney robberies Source: AAP Author: AAP Posted: Sat 11 Aug, 2007 * Print * Larger + * Email * Smaller - * Discuss * Save Related articles * Sydney pair threatened with... * Handguns used in two Sydney... * NSW Ambulance under fire over... * Trucks pelted with rocks on... * NSW man charged over alleged... * Teens charged over elderly man's ... Robbers armed with handguns have held up a bank in Sydney's north-west. The bank hold-up in Rowe Street Eastwood, was one of two incidents in Sydney in an eight-hour period where handguns were used to rob premises. The second hold-up was at a club in Coward Street, Mascot. Police said the incidents were not linked. The bank was robbed about 4pm (AEST) Friday. A police spokesman said that bank staff reported that three men, two armed with handguns, entered the building on Friday afternoon. "They threatened staff and demanded money. One staff member was assaulted before a sum of cash was taken and the men ran from the building." The second robbery happened at about 12.10am (AEST) Saturday when a man, again armed with a handgun, walked into a club in Coward Street, Mascot, in the city's south. "The man threatened staff and took a sum of cash before leaving the building," a police spokesman said. "Staff were shaken but uninjured in the incident." The man is described as being about 193cm tall and wearing army fatigues. He was armed with a silver handgun. Police have also released descriptions of the three men involved in the bank robbery. The first man is described as being 180 - 190cm tall, with a solid to muscular build, in his mid to late 20s, with dreadlocks. At the time of the robbery he was wearing a black tracksuit, a bandanna and sunglasses and he was armed with a handgun. The second man is described as being 185 - 195cm tall and he was wearing a baseball cap, long-sleeved jacket, and Everlast-brand track pants and white joggers. He was also armed with a handgun. The third man was carrying a backpack and he is described as being 175cm tall and of medium build. He was wearing a baseball cap as well as a long-sleeved horizontally-striped jacket, jeans, and white joggers. Witnesses are sought in relation to both robberies. Anyone with information can contact Crime Stoppers by calling 1800 333 000 *** Sat Aug 11 19:02:57 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Who Is Who, And To Whom They Sold Their Souls By cybe Created 25/05/2005 - 20:33 http://www.federalobserver.com/archive.php?aid=3240 [1] Who Is Who, And To Whom They Sold Their Souls Compiled By: Louis Turner "The ancient Greeks built a wooden horse and the poor old Trojans couldn't overcome their curiosity. I'm gonna build a Golden Hammer, and see how many Socialists I can force into the slammer" - Louis Turner George Bush - Skull & Bones, CFR, Trilateral Commission, Committee of 300 [1], Illuminati [1] , Skull & Bones Bill Clinton - Bilderberger [1], Trilateral Commission [1], CFR [1] Saddam Hussein - 33° Freemason [1] King Hussein - 33° Freemason [1] Tony Blair - 33° Freemason [1] Gerhard Schroeder - 33° Freemason [1] Benjamin Netanyahu - 33° Freemason [1] Yasser Arafat - 33° Freemason [1] Ronald Reagan - 33° Freemason [1] (on sight), Knights of Malta, Rosicrucian Order Michail Gorbatjov - 33° Freemason [1] Helmut Kohl - Committee of 300 [1] Shimon Peres - 33° Freemason [1] Francois Mitterand - 33° Freemason [1] (Grand Orient Lodge) Yitzak Rabin - 33° Freemason [1] Willy Brandt - Committee of 300 [1] Gerald Ford (frm President USA) - 33° Freemason [1] Karl Marx - (Grand Orient Lodge) Frederick Engels - (Grand Orient Lodge) Franklin D. Roosevelt - (32 or 33° Freemason [1]) Sir Winston Churchill - 33° Freemason [1] (but Resigned from the English Lodge!) Member of the Druid Order Harry S. Truman - 33° Freemason [1] Neville Chamberlain - (Committee of 300 [1]) Vladimir Lenin - Illuminati [1] (Grand Orient Lodge) Joseph Stalin - Illuminati [1] (Grand Orient Lodge) Leon Trotsky - (Grand Orient Lodge) Henry Kissinger - (Committee of 300 [1], P2 Freemason [1]ry, Knights of Malta, Bilderberger [1]) J. Edgar Hoover - 33° Freemason [1] Cecil Rhodes - 33° Freemason [1] Aleister Crowley - Grandmaster Ordo Templi Orientis Walt Disney - 33° Freemason [1] Olof Palme - Committee of 300 [1], Bilderberger [1] Al Gore - 33º Freemason [1] TONY BLAIR - 33° Freemason [1], Bilderberger [1] Josef Mengele (Dr. Green) - Illuminati [1] Implanter Robert McNamara - 33° Freemason [1] (at least) Pehr G. Gyllenhammar (from Volvo) - Committee of 300 [1] Percy Barnevik (ABB Sweden) - Committee of 300 [1] Col. James "Bo" Gritz - 33° Freemason [1] Billy Graham - 33° Freemason [1] John Glenn (33° Freemason [1]) Buzz Aldrin (33° Freemason [1]) Virgil I. Grissom (Freemason [1]) Edgar D. Mitchell (Freemason [1]) Plato (Illuminati [1]) Francis Bacon (Freemason [1], Rosicrucian Grand Master) Lord David Owen - (Royal Institute of Int. Affairs, Committee of 300 [1]) Lord Peter Carrington - (Committee of 300 [1], Bilderberger [1]) Richard Holbrooke - (33° Freemason [1], Committee of 300 [1]) Jimmy Carter - (Tril. Comm., CFR) Carl Bildt - (Bilderberger [1]) David Rockefeller - Czar of the Illuminati [1] Edmund de Rothschild - Illuminati [1] Alan Greenspan - Federal reserve Bank (Committe of 300) Peter Wallenberg - S-E Bank of Sweden (Committee of 300 [1]) Queen Elisabeth II - Queen of the Committee of 300 [1] Prince Phillip - 33° Freemason [1], Committee of 300 [1] Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands - Committee of 300 [1] (Bilderberger) Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands - Committee of 300 [1] (Bilderberger) King Carl XVI Gustaf - (Bilderberger [1]) Prince Bertil - (Grande Orient Lodge of Freemason [1]ry) Illuminati [1] Members John Jacob Astor McGeorge Bundy Andrew Carnegie Walter Freeman W. Averell Harriman Ted Kennedy John D. Rockefeller Sr. David Rockefeller Lee Teng-hui Baron Guy de Rothschild [1] Hillary Clinton - (6° Grand Dame) Albert Pike - (founder of Ku Klux Klan) Sam & Edgar Bronfman Jr. - (Seagram Whiskey) ROCKEFELLERS: David, Nelson, Winthrop, Laurence, John D. III Lord J. Rothschild [1] Bertrand Russell (scientist) Otto of Habsburg George W. Bush Jr. - Illuminati [1] , Skull & Bones Irenee du Pont, Illuminati [1] Adam Weishaupt Founder of the Bavarian Illuminati [1] Source URL: http://100777.com/node/1269 Links: [1] http://www.federalobserver.com/archive.php?aid=3240 *** Sun Aug 12 03:02:36 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Make the most of it ... Philip Cox with a Michael Johnson painting. Photo: Quentin Jones June 29, 2006 Here's a lesson in how to make a small space feel big, writes Stephen Lacey. Remember Doctor Who's Tardis? It was that old London police box in which the good Doctor moved through time and space. The strange thing about the Tardis was that it was a lot bigger on the inside than the outside. Stepping into architect Philip Cox's King Street Wharf apartment is a bit like stepping into the Tardis. Not that you're transported to another dimension, but this tiny city bolthole feels deceptively spacious. The architect behind the 1988 Darling Harbour redevelopment, the Darling Harbour Exhibition Centre and the Olympic Aquatic Centre at Homebush is in demand around the world. He has offices in Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne, Canberra, Perth, Dubai, Shanghai and Beijing. "I'm overseas a lot these days," he says. "I've just returned from South Africa, where we've made a major submission to design the new 2010 World Cup stadium in Durban." He is working on the design for a new port in Quingdao, China, the Olympic sailing venue in Beijing; an innovative footbridge in Singapore (based on the DNA double helix); and a university for Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates. So although Cox owns a house at Palm Beach and a country home on the NSW South Coast, he spends most of his time in the King Street apartment when he's not abroad. "It's just so handy here," he says. "The apartment is 20 minutes from the airport, 10 minutes from my office in Clarence Street and I'm next door to some of the best cafes, restaurants and bars in the city along the King Street Wharf waterfront." Cox bought the one-bedroom apartment when the development - which his firm designed with the rest of King Street Wharf - was completed in 2003. The floor area is only 60 square metres, so Cox has used some clever methods to create the illusion of space. The same parquetry flooring is used throughout so that rooms flow together while the floor-to-ceiling doors and room dividers eliminate the need for bulkheads and keep the ceiling on one level. The tiny bedroom looks enormous, thanks to a wall of mirrors behind the bed. So what is it like, living and socialising in an area that you've designed? "I like it," Cox nods. "I think you become more critical of your environment when you design it and live in it. You think about how you might have improved things. It also gives you confidence that you've made the right moves in terms of the urbanity of the place." One of the surprising aspects of Cox's apartment is his selection of furniture. Among the designer items, such as the Eileen Gray bedside tables, Arne Jacobsen Series 7 dining chairs and an original Mies van der Rohe Barcelona coffee table, are less expensive choices such as the Ikea side tables (Lack, $29.95) next to the sofa. "They're a classic, they're been around for about 30 years and are still among the best," Cox says. "A lot of the furniture is from Ikea. It proves the point that you don't have to spend a lot of money on furniture, provided it's classic and simple. I detest snobbishness. We should be looking at what is good design, it doesn't matter how much it costs or where it comes from." Art is obviously important to Cox. He has a collection of mainly Australian works. The living room features an eye-catching sculpture, Opus I by Peter Cole, and an abstract painting by Melbourne artist Michael Johnson. There are also works by Colin Lanceley, Tony Tuckson, Garry Shead and Graeme Drendel. "Art to me is an essential part of life," Cox says. "I'm a Sunday painter. I find art is the most absorbing thing. It inspires my architecture. "I've often thought about moving into a bigger apartment, but then I think, why? I don't need it. The other thing living in a small space does, as a designer, it keeps you humble. It makes you appreciate space and how you deal with it in a more efficient way." *** Sun Aug 19 18:59:19 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Iemma has new casino talks * * Email * Print * Normal font * Large font August 20, 2007 AdvertisementAdvertisement THE prospect of a second NSW casino has re-emerged after it was confirmed yesterday that a Hong Kong billionaire talked to the Premier before the election about setting one up. Stanley Ho, whose son Lawrence is involved in casino interests with James Packer in Macau, had a private discussion with Morris Iemma, the Premier's office confirmed yesterday. There is speculation that the possibility of a casino at Tweed Heads is being used by the Government in its negotiations with Tabcorp, the owner of Star City Casino, which wants to extend its exclusive licence to run the state's only casino. Electoral returns in February showed that Mr Ho - who Forbes magazine says has tied for 104th-richest person in the world this year, and who monopolised gaming in Macau for 40 years - was a big donor to Labor last year. He bought several items at a fund-raising auction, and declared donations of $109,000. Although he paid $48,000 for a lunch with Mr Iemma, the Premier's office confirmed yesterday that Mr Ho did not attend. A spokesman for Mr Iemma said yesterday: "He [Mr Iemma] attended a speaker's luncheon [in June 2006] where Stanley Ho was also an attendee. "The issue of casino licences was informally raised [by Mr Ho], but no formal discussions have ever taken place. There were no subsequent meetings or discussions about a casino." Mr Iemma and the NSW Treasurer, Michael Costa, are also understood to have met Star City officials at a dinner just before the election and gave no guarantees about whether Star City's 12-year exclusive licence would be extended. The licence, which Tabcorp bought from the Government in 1995 for $376 million, runs out this year. The head of the NSW Office of Liquor, Gaming and Racing, Michael Foggo, and a senior treasury official are understood to be discussing an extension to the licence with Star City officials. The Government is also said to be negotiating an increase in the level of gaming machine tax Star City pays. At present it is 24.5 per cent. If the talks fail, it is understood Mr Costa is likely to be brought in to break any impasse. If the Government is not satisfied with Star City's offer for a licence, it could choose not to extend it, leaving open the prospect of the establishment of a lucrative new casino licence. The Opposition's gaming and racing spokesman, George Souris, said any process involving a second casino would have to be transparent. He was concerned about the prospect of Labor donors being involved in talks with ministers or the Premier. "The Government must demonstrate it's got an entirely arm's-length approach to the negotiations both with Star City and a second casino, which must be subject to an open and accountable tender [if established]," he said. "Prior to the election, in all Mr Iemma's Government's public pronouncements, a one-casino policy remained firm while at the same time [he was] accepting representations over dinner from prospective operators of a second casino somewhere in NSW," Mr Souris said. Mr Iemma's office was quoted in December as saying there were no plans to establish a second casino in a regional area. Labor lost the marginal seat of Tweed at the election. In June, Mr Iemma refused to rule out a second casino to the Herald. The offices of the Premier, the Treasurer and the Minister for Racing and Gaming said they could not comment on the casino negotiations. *** Thu Aug 23 00:58:25 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: DON'T BE AFRAID OF BIG O By Leong Ching August 23, 2007 THE Big O for many is old age. And we'd rather not think about it now. So instead we dream of laying our hands on our CPF savings and sailing away into the sunset. But the twilight might be longer than we expect. And what if our retirement yacht runs out of fuel? Will we be stranded in the open sea? That's why it helps to understand the issues raised in the Prime Minister's National Day Rally speech - ageing, working longer, and using CPF savings. It all boils down to two simple points: # We have to work longer, because we are living longer. # Our savings will also work harder, earning more interest so they are less likely to run out. Now look at how the sums work out: Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong outlined different scenarios if people worked longer (62, 63 or 65). He calculated the money you would get under different CPF rates of returns (just one per cent's difference would get you $20,000 more). He worked out the Workfare ($200 instead of $100). He spoke of new re-employment laws, longer life spans and the need to buy annuities. Yesterday, Manpower Minister Ng Eng Hen spent about 11/2 hours with reporters, explaining the changes. One thing he said stuck in my mind: When the CPF scheme started in 1960, there were 23 young people supporting one old person. Now there are only nine young people to every old person. In future (2020), there will be only five carrying the burden. It goes down to three in 2030. This brought it together for me. As a young person, I am not looking forward to carrying a third of the tax burden of an elderly stranger who has frittered away his savings. As an older person, you should not want to have to depend so heavily on the young. Dr Ng's message to future grey heads: 'Save for your own retirement. It is a safer option, a more rational one.' So, depend on yourself. This sounds sensible. Depending on yourself means spending your money wisely and planning ahead. Never mind the trip to Korea. That can wait. Think first of making your savings last or buying products like annuities, or staying employed for as long as possible. If you do this yourself, it's financial independence. What if the Government does it for you? Is that like Big Daddy interfering with your life? But someone has to do it. If no one does anything, we'll have a lot of old people with no money to support themselves. Some people complain. 'Why can't the Government give us our money earlier?' 'How can they force us to buy annuities?' 'Why change policies?' Dr Ng himself admitted: 'We never expected people to come and thank us.' The policy changes are, in part, unpopular, difficult to understand; in other parts, still unformed. But politics is the art of the possible. In his speech, PM Lee quoted Du Fu, a Tang poet: 'A good rain knows its season... Silent and soft, it permeates everything.' Changes are needed now and it must permeate everything, I feel. Otherwise our money will dry up and we'll wind up with dust in our rice bowls. *** Thu Aug 23 01:14:29 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: APEC protesters 'prepared for court action' Posted Tue Aug 21, 2007 10:04am AEST Updated Tue Aug 21, 2007 10:13am AEST Anti-globalisation demonstrators say they are prepared to challenge police in court to officially secure the right to march along their preferred route during next month's APEC summit in Sydney. Organisers originally wanted to march to the Opera House, but have recently modified the route to instead move from the Town Hall to Martin Place and then to Hyde Park. But Alex Bainbridge, from the Stop Bush Coalition, says police have told them the route is unacceptable, because of its potential impact on local residents and pedestrians. "We've got a meeting with the police later on today and we'll be putting to them that we would like them to reconsider the route that we have put forward," he said. "If they don't like the substance of the route that we have put forward, the process as outlined in the Summary Offences Act is that they should take us to court. "We are more than prepared to meet them on that ground because we think that the route that we have put forward is perfectly reasonable." Picket line The Stop the Bush Coalition held a picket line outside Sydney's Downing Centre this morning to show support for TAFE teacher Bruce Knoblach. He is facing court today over his involvement in protests during the US Vice-President Dick Cheney's visit to Sydney earlier this year. John Morris, also from the coalition, says six of the eight people charged over that protest have been acquitted. He says while police may arrest protesters during APEC, he does not believe the courts will uphold the charges. "The reason why you're seeing these acquittals is because police overstepped the mark, because you can't attack the fundamental common right for people to demonstrate," he said. "At APEC, we have a right to demonstrate and we're calling on [Premier] Morris Iemma and the Police Minister, John Watkins, to respect that right to demonstrate. "If they don't, any outcomes from any conflict with the police at APEC will actually be an infringement on the common law and we'll see people getting off on those charges." Students warned Some high school students have also been organising a national walk-out for Wednesday, September 5, the day the US President, George W Bush, arrives in Sydney. But the New South Wales Government has told them not to take time off school to take part in protests. The NSW Education Minister, John Della Bosca, says the demonstrations could be dangerous. Mr Della Bosca says students should talk with their teachers if they want to discuss issues such as globalisation. "Attending an APEC protest will not be regarded as a legitimate excuse for missing school," he said. "If students learn their friends or classmates are planning to attend these protests, they should warn them of the dangers and discuss the situation with their teachers and principals." He says students will require a note from their parents if they are absent from school during the APEC week of September 2-9. *** Thu Aug 23 01:21:18 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Melanoma victim warns of solarium risks By Heather Ewart Posted Wed Aug 22, 2007 9:45am AEST Updated Wed Aug 22, 2007 10:37am AEST Clare Oliver is hoping she lives to see her 26th birthday. The battle waged by health experts to convince young people in particular about the dangers of tanning appears to be a losing one. According to Melbourne's Peter MacCallum Hospital, melanoma is the most common form of cancer in the 15 to 30 age group and increasingly it is being linked in part to a veritable explosion in the number of outlets being opened by the unregulated solarium industry. Melanoma victim Clare Oliver's most precious wish is to live long enough to see her 26th birthday next weekend. "Here I am, 25 and I've been told that I've got only a few weeks to live and I don't think anything - you know, solariums, looking good, having a golden tan - is worth that," she said. "I was a 22-year-old, just graduated from uni, and just got into the work force and, yeah, it was all great and then suddenly my world came crashing down. I was told I had cancer." Ms Oliver is the only child of single parent Priscilla Lau Oliver, who maintains a constant vigil by her daughter's bedside. Ms Oliver was diagnosed with a melanoma four years ago and now in the final days of her life, wants to give young people this warning about solariums. "I'd much rather be pale, have my life and be able to travel the world again, and go out and work and do what normal 25-year-olds do," she said. "In one week and a bit it's my 26th birthday and I sit here and I don't even know whether I'm going to make that." Her predicament is all too familiar to Louise White. Last year her own daughter died of a melanoma at the same age. Ms White says she set up the Emily Tapp Melanoma Foundation to try to raise public awareness of the disease and encourage regular medical checks. "The main reason is really to get this message out there for people to understand that it could happen to any family, and I just couldn't let another family go through it," she said. Melanoma is now the most common form of cancer amongst the 15 to 30-year-old age group. 'Solariums are dangerous' Associate Professor Grant McArthur, from the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, says it is possible this figure is linked to the rapidly growing solarium industry. "What is alarming is that in Melbourne over the last decade, there has been a 500 per cent increase in the number of listed solariums in the Yellow Pages. This is really very concerning," he said. However, he is reluctant to say solariums are the sole cause of Ms Oliver's cancer. "What is very clear is that solariums are dangerous," he said. "They deliver five times the dose of UV radiation than the midday sun. They are also clearly linked to increased rates of skin cancer. "So we believe solariums are dangerous and should be avoided." Yet, new solariums are opening everywhere. Nationwide there's been a 300 per cent increase in the last decade, and Melbourne has taken to them even more enthusiastically. Ms Oliver says having a tan is embedded in the Australian culture. "That golden tan ... it sort of symbolises health, it symbolises just being a beautiful girl," she said. She was one user to take advantage of a package deal - 20 visits at a cheaper price - and says she followed the advice of the solarium staff, attending every second day. "I didn't really know the risks I was exposing myself to," she said. "Two years after that I soon found that I had melanoma in my lymph nodes, in my left ... armpit." Industry standards Body Bronze is the biggest solarium franchise network in Victoria with 42 outlets. CEO Scott Meneilly insists they adhere to industry standards and clients must take responsibility for their own actions. "I don't know how often [Clare Oliver] was tanning," he said. "In accordance with the Australian standards, and it's a recommendation that you don't tan more frequently than once every 48 hours." Craig Sinclair, from Cancer Council Victoria, says the increased rate of skin cancer is linked to a commercial environment where solarium operators feel the need to offer unlimited sessions for a set price. And Mr Meneilly agrees that sun tanning salons are a business, and businesses such as Body Bronze have to remain competitive. Even though Body Bronze says it issues clients with brochures explaining the risk, checks their skin types and that they are over the age of 15. But there are no regulations to govern the industry, just a voluntary code of standards. Mr Meneilly says that should change. "We've always thought there was a need for regulations and it's primarily because what we're dealing with is people's skin and that is a very sensitive thing, and at the moment if you've got the money, then you can buy yourself a sun bed and you can rent a space and you can sell time to people," he said. Federal intervention It is up to each state government to introduce regulations and Victoria is starting to consider this. The Federal Government is holding talks with the states and health experts on the need for regulations. That may be of some comfort to Ms Oliver, her mother and their new-found friend Louise White. "Somehow someone's got to speak out," Ms White said. "Meeting Clare was just amazing and knowing, you know, what an educated and articulate girl she is and it's so unfair, that she had so much to give. Just like Emily." Ms White is helping Ms Oliver and her mother plan a 26th birthday party for a small group of friends this Saturday. All that matters to Ms Oliver is that her mother be with her. "She's been a rock. We don't have any family in Australia and, yeah, I don't know what I'd do without her." Ms Oliver denies that she is brave to speak out about her predicament. "A lot of people told me all the time how brave I am - I don't understand why they think I'm brave," she said. "I'm just living my life and, if coming out and talking about melanoma or the risks involved and all that can help people, why not? "All I have to do is open my mouth." *** Thu Aug 23 01:24:17 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Issues with Woolies' green tissues August 23, 2007 AUSTRALIA'S largest supermarket chain, Woolworths, is marketing some of its tissue and paper products as environmentally responsible even though the paper is imported from Indonesia, a country with one of the world's worst records for illegal and unsustainable logging. It also appears to be sourcing at least some of the paper from Asia Pulp and Paper, an Indonesian company with what green groups have described as an appalling environment and human rights reputation. Woolworths is using a "Sustainable Forest Fibre" logo on its premium home brand "Select" range of tissue and paper products, and claims they are "from a certified environmentally managed company that is environmentally, socially and economically responsible". However, timber industry and environment organisations contacted by the Herald had never heard of "Sustainable Forest Fibre". The paper producers are clearly marked as Indonesian, but the supplier is not named. However, the "Select" packs of six tissues are embossed with "APP". Asia Pulp and Paper, one of the world's biggest pulp and paper companies, has engaged in illegal logging in Indonesia and destroyed a large area of the nation's rainforests, said a Greens member of the NSW Parliament, John Kaye. "As long as Woolworths refuses to name their suppliers, assertions of environmental or social responsibility are meaningless. It is impossible to verify them and consumers should treat such claims as greenwash and spin," Dr Kaye said. "The claims on the label that "Select" brand paper products come from an 'environmentally [and] socially responsible' company are contradicted by APP's appalling environmental track record." Woolworths managers did not return the Herald's calls yesterday but provided a brief email response that said the "Select" range of paper products was sourced from a supplier that had "a documented sustainability action plan and full chain of custody documentation for all pulp and waste material used in their manufacturing sites". "Our own Woolworths Quality Assurance program independently verifies the authenticity of all documentation during an annual audit process," it said. But a Friends of the Earth campaigner, Anthony Amis, said Woolworths' labelling appeared to have no credibility. He said if the product did not have Forest Stewardship Council certification "it is a joke" and shoppers should stay well clear of it. The Forest Stewardship Council was formed in 1993 by loggers, foresters, environmentalists and sociologists to set benchmarks for sustainable forestry worldwide that covered economic, social and environmental issues. *** Thu Aug 23 01:27:00 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Brethren meet PM in his office http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/brethren-meet-pm-in-his-office/2007/08/21/1187462266517.html?s_cid=rss_national Michael Bachelard August 22, 2007 JOHN Howard has held a private meeting with the most senior leaders of the Exclusive Brethren, including a man under investigation by police over his massive spending on the Prime Minister's 2004 election campaign. In his parliamentary office two weeks ago, Mr Howard met Sydney pump salesman Mark Mackenzie, whose former company, Willmac, funnelled $370,000 into pro-Howard advertising at the last election. Willmac's spending was later investigated by the Australian Electoral Commission's disclosure arm, and then referred to the Australian Federal Police for a criminal investigation, which is continuing. Also at the August 8 meeting were the secretive sect's world leader, or "Elect Vessel", Bruce D. Hales, his brother Stephen and elder Warwick John. A Brethren spokesman confirmed to The Age yesterday that the meeting had taken place, but emphatically denied they had asked for Mr Howard's help on the police investigation or offered him support for his campaign against Maxine McKew in Bennelong. Mr Howard's office said only that he had met members of the Brethren, as he did with a "wide range of groups", and would "continue to do so". The Brethren spokesman said the elders had "assured the Prime Minister that they were praying for him". "There was absolutely no dialogue concerning Willmac, just as there was no discussion about … Bennelong," he said. "The members of the church primarily assured Prime Minister Howard that they were praying for him, as the leader of the Government, and then went on to discuss the economy. "This was a last-minute opportunity that presented itself. There was no agenda or pre-arranged discussion topics, simply an opportunity to greet Prime Minister Howard. "These mysterious campaign plans being suggested are wild speculation and the reality is they aren't there." The spokesman also said that the Brethren's private schools, which benefit from millions of dollars of federal funding, were not discussed, nor was the Government's policy to exclude unions from Brethren workplaces. The spokesman added that, in the context of Mr Howard and Kevin Rudd addressing Christians across Australia the following day, "the particular meeting with the Brethren church group seems very unremarkable". The Age believes the Brethren are likely to be substantial donors to the Liberal Party in the lead-up to this year's election, and that some donations will help fund the Bennelong campaign. Stephen Hales ran the Brethren's pro-Howard drive in Bennelong at the last election, authorising a number of the group's controversial print advertisements using the address of the Brethren school and helping find Brethren members to campaign for Mr Howard. One Greens campaigner in Bennelong, Matthew Henderson, told The Age the sect was already working on Mr Howard's campaign. At the Prime Minister's recent walk-through at the Eastwood Plaza shopping centre in his electorate, "there were a bunch of people I went to school with … I recognise them as Brethren — and they appeared to be more than familiar with the Liberal Party supporters' group". Greens senator Bob Brown said yesterday that Mr Howard should reveal the "full nature of not just these discussions but his whole ongoing relationship with the murkily mysterious Mr Hales and the Exclusive Brethren". "I am concerned that the Prime Minister should be so guileless and desperate that the access to potential money from this cashed-up sect should be so important him," he said. *** Thu Aug 23 01:47:08 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Keating calls for APEC revamp Peter Hartcher Political Editor August 23, 2007 Complete coverage at smh.com.au/apec PAUL KEATING, the architect of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation group in its current form, is calling for a fundamental reshaping of its purpose. Two weeks before the leaders of the 21 nations gather in Sydney for the group's annual summit, Mr Keating is arguing that it move from its traditional focus on trade and economics to a much wider agenda of security and strategic issues. The former prime minister is to give a speech tonight which will "open up the options for APEC returning to what it was originally designed to be - a strategic body", he told the Herald yesterday. Mr Keating defined the historic task for APEC: "The challenge is to ease China into the world and not make the mistakes Europe made at the end of the 19th century." Europe's inability to accommodate the interests of a rising Germany started a cycle of conflict that included World War I and World War II. The world has never seen the rise of a major new power without a war. Mr Keating will argue that APEC is well suited to address this challenge. "You have the heads of government of half the world economy and half the world population. You have the leaders of China, Indonesia and Japan sitting at the same table with the US President. Not the Secretary of State - the President. It is, of its essence, a strategic body." But Mr Keating's ambition for APEC will clash with the Howard Government's agenda and the standing expectation of all APEC governments. Any recasting of its core agenda will be a task for its future hosts. The Australian Government's plan for the summit includes trade, energy security and climate change, but not the issues of foreign policy, security and defence that Mr Keating's blueprint would require. APEC has never addressed strategic affairs in any deliberate way, although by chance it became the venue for mobilising international support for the Australian-led East Timor intervention in 1999. APEC, whose very name describes economic co-operation as its core purpose, describes itself as "the premier forum for facilitating economic growth, cooperation, trade and investment in the Asia-Pacific region". The group was originally based on economics because it was the issue around which the founding nations could most easily rally, without striking awkward political and security obstacles. Mr Keating, who will speak to the Evatt Foundation at Sydney University tonight, said yesterday: "Critics of the APEC leaders' meeting and its agenda fail to understand the most important thing about it is that it actually exists, because you could hardly imagine a time now when Australian foreign policy could put such a body together. This opportunity came as the Cold War came to a close and around the end of 1991, early '92, I tried to break the bipolar mould of the former structure *** Thu Aug 23 01:56:36 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: US Christians seek God's return to footy http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/us-christians-seek-gods-return-to-footy/2007/08/22/1187462354516.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap1 Dan Silkstone August 23, 2007 IN THE beginning, football had the Saints and the Demons. Then came God — or at least that's what they called him in Geelong. Now a Christian sports juggernaut from the United States wants to host massive religious concerts after AFL games. Third Coast Sports is a Nashville-based organisation that has been a revelation in the American sporting landscape in the past three years. The group runs "faith nights" — large Christian rallies held before and after sporting events that can bring as many as 10,000 extra fans through the turnstile. Having conquered Major League Baseball in the past year and as it prepares to link with elite American football and basketball franchises, Third Coast is now eyeing a potential expansion into Melbourne and the AFL. "We have talked at this point to Australian rules football and soccer teams," said company president Brent High this week. "They are very preliminary discussions … we're still trying to figure out the logistics of how it would all work." The group works with eight major league baseball teams in the US including the Cincinnati Reds, Los Angeles Dodgers and Atlanta Braves. While some AFL clubs were tightlipped yesterday about whether they had spoken to Third Coast, Kangaroos chief executive Rick Aylett said he was interested in talking to it. "It's got merit," he said. "Why wouldn't you explore that opportunity?" Mr High said Third Coast had identified Melbourne and Sydney as ideal locations to host faith nights because they had sufficiently large church communities. "We have talked to teams in Melbourne and Sydney," he said. "We have talked to three specifically in the last three months. We've started discussions about how it would work, what we would do and when we would think about coming." Third Coast Sports is linked to Third Coast Artists, an agency that represents Christian music acts. The faith nights draw on US recording artists including Jeremy Camp and MercyMe, and Mr High said he was determined to bring "A-level artists" to Australia for the concerts, which he hopes to begin hosting within a year. Under the concept, special tickets granting entry to the game and the post-match concert are sold through local churches for a price high enough to offset the cost of staging the event. During the concerts, testimonials from Christian players are shown on large video screens. In the US, faith nights cost little or nothing for the sporting club to stage and attract thousands of potential new supporters. "Teams are interested in what we are doing because it drives attendance," Mr High said. "Our events increase attendance on the low end 10 per cent, on the high end as much as 50 per cent." The organisation prefers to work through clubs rather than league officials, and Mr High said it was impressed by the calibre of Australian stadiums and the large crowds at games. Third Coast was founded in late 2004 after Mr High organised a faith night in collaboration with a local minor league baseball team. The concept was used in 46 cities last year. In the US, some Jewish leaders have questioned whether the sporting field is an appropriate place for a Christian rally. "You have to be very careful when you tread in religion and bring it into the sports realm," Mr High conceded, saying it was important to separate the game and the concert and to ensure that non-Christian fans did not feel imposed on. The Kangaroos' chief executive said there was no reason why sport and religion could not mix in Australia. "I reckon it is something that could work here," he said. "It's got merit and you would explore it. Why not expose yourself to a new market and have a new market be exposed to football?" Another to agree is pastor Richard Warner, an Essendon member who ministers to the Lighthouse Christian Centre, an Assemblies of God church in Keysborough. "There's a lot of potential, and there certainly wouldn't be any conflict," he said. "In America, Christians in sport are quite well exploited … I'm a pretty keen sports person and often would like to combine faith events with sporting parallels if possible." *** Thu Aug 23 04:26:28 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Singapore Airlines puts a PC in every seat Sumner Lemon Released : Wednesday, August 22, 2007 10:29 PM Flying in economy class doesn't have to be a miserable experience. To make flying more enjoyable for its passengers, Singapore Airlines is adding bigger screens, more in-flight movies, and a PC in every seat on its newest planes. Unlike many U.S. airlines, the carrier doesn't view in-flight service as a cost center where cutbacks can be made to reduce losses or boost profits. Instead, Singapore Airlines' latest investments in cabin service are designed to help it stand out from the competition and attract more passengers. KrisWorld, Singapore Airlines' in-flight entertainment system, is a main focus of these efforts, offering on-demand movies, television shows, games, and music to passengers. Now, the airline aims to raise the bar, rolling out a new version of KrisWorld that improves significantly on existing systems and hints at what passengers can expect to see on the Airbus A380 and The Boeing 787 Dreamliner, when these aircraft enter service. In recent years, video-on-demand and audio-on-demand have become common offerings on many airlines. "It's become expected," said Eric Tong, senior manager of inflight entertainment product innovation at Singapore Airlines, during a recent interview. Carriers have to push the boundaries of what's possible with these systems to stand out from the competition, he said. The latest version of KrisWorld is based on Panasonic Avionics' eX2 in-flight entertainment system and was jointly developed by the two companies. The system consists of a central server that connects to a network of PCs installed in every seat on the aircraft. The KrisWorld software offers an improved user interface and each economy-class seat is fitted with a 10.6-inch LCD (liquid crystal display) screen that offers resolution of 1,280 pixels by 768 pixels. They are larger in business and first class, where each seat comes with a 15.4-inch and 23-inch screen, respectively. The heart of the KrisWorld system is the main server, which is equipped with "terabytes" of storage capacity to hold the content that's made available to passengers, Tong said. When passengers choose to watch a movie or listen to a CD, the content is streamed from the KrisWorld server to the seat's computer, which has 40GB of local hard-disk space and is based on a Via Technologies processor. The whole system runs on Red Hat's distribution of the Linux operating system. The amount of content that's available on the latest KrisWorld system for passengers to choose from is staggering: 100 movies, 150 television shows, 700 music CDs, 22 radio stations, and 65 games. Movies and television shows are refreshed on a monthly basis, meaning frequent fliers will always find fresh content. In addition, the system offers Berlitz language lessons, travel guides from Rough Guides, and live text news, among other choices. KrisWorld can also be used as a PC and includes Sun Microsystems' StarOffice application suite, which offers a word processor, spreadsheet, and a presentation program. Every seat is fitted with a USB (Universal Serial Bus) port that lets passengers access documents carried on a thumb drive or portable hard disk. The port can also be used to connect a USB keyboard or mouse, making it easier for business travellers to create and edit documents without having to dig out their laptops and power cords, Tong said. Don't want to carry a keyboard with you? No problem. You can buy one on board the aircraft. Alternatively, the handsets installed in each seat that offered controls for the in-flight entertainment system on one side and a phone on the other, have been replaced with a model that offers user controls on one side a QWERTY keypad on the other. Unfortunately, since the demise of Boeing's Connexion service, Internet access hasn't been available on Singapore Airlines. But the carrier is looking for another way of providing Internet access, hoping to offer yet one more way to for passengers to spend all those hours in the sky. "We are reviewing options and once we find that there are viable options, sustainable ones over the longer term ... we will certainly look at it," Tong said. Copyright 2007 InfoWorld Media Group, Inc. Provider: InfoWorld / InfoWorld Daily *** Thu Aug 23 20:50:17 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Filipino IT engineers flocking to Singapore By Lin Yanqin, TODAY | Posted: 23 August 2007 1506 hrs They flock to Singapore, drawing three times what they are paid in the Philippines. They gain valuable experience here working for multi-national firms, contributing to their country's economy with their remittances to families back home. The downside: Some quit their jobs in a hurry, leaving behind unfinished projects, resulting in unhappy customers and beleaguered employers scrambling to fill the vacuum. Such is the predicament facing the Philippines' software industry as engineers leave their jobs in haste. The aggressive tactics employed by some Singaporean recruitment agencies have worsened the situation, say members of the industry. "Everyone is trying to figure out how to solve this problem," said Mr Richard McGonegal, president and managing director of RCG-IT Philippines, an American IT services and solutions company. Recruitment drives and job fairs are held in hotel ballrooms of key Filipino cities on weekends, with agencies hiring IT professionals for banks and various software companies in Singapore. There are an estimated 14,000 Filipinos working in Singapore's IT sector. Under Filipino laws, employees have to give a 30-day resignation notice to minimise work disruption. But at least one recruitment agency is known to insist that applicants must leave for Singapore within days of being hired, or forego the posting. The reason for this, according to Mr McGonegal, is recruitment agencies are paid a commission for every worker they bring in. "Also, a company which is hiring will usually have two or more recruitment agents, so they want to be the first to bring in staff," he added. Faced with the prospect of losing a mid-to-senior level position that could pay between $3,000 and $4,000 every month — thrice their wages back home — the engineers usually choose to flout the laws and leave. One company known to recruit in the Philippines for Singapore is AIT Software Services. But its spokesperson said that his company ensured that its Filipino engineers served ample quit notice. "I have not heard of such cases," he said, "but I suspect that when IT companies here do that, it is because they are already committed to contracts (and need the people urgently)." He said Filipino IT engineers are sought after here because of their experience, adding that "there is also a shortage in Singapore". Although Singapore is not the only destination — Malaysia, Australia and America are also favoured — it's the most popular choice among these engineers. About a third to half of the staff leaving RCG-IT last year came to Singapore. Three engineers who quit Pointwest Technologies Corporation this year, also left for Singapore, said its president Maria Cristina Coronel. "In the past years, there were even more," she said. The departing engineers often leave their previous employers with a host of issues. The problem is not just finding others to fill the vacancies, said Ms Coronel. "It's the expertise … these people have spent months on a project or with a client and they're familiar with it. You can't replace that kind of knowledge. So we can't meet deadlines, end up being penalised, or we lose the customer and damage our track record." The Philippines Software Industry Association (PSIA) released a statement last month highlighting the problem, and called for stricter visa restrictions from the Singapore Government to address the issue. Said PSIA president Fermin Taruc: "We are not against our talent seeking better opportunities, but the transition could be better, so that our companies are not left in the lurch." "We can get damages, but it's a lengthy process," said Mr McGonegal. - TODAY/ra *** Mon Aug 27 03:08:37 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Praise at last for job that stole their lives * * Email * Print * Normal font * Large font Jordan Baker Chief Police Reporter August 27, 2007 AdvertisementAdvertisement THEY witnessed a murder, discussed million-dollar drug deals and smoked Cuban cigars with the underworld's most notorious gangsters. They risked their lives, betrayed friends and lived a lie - all in the service of a police force that has never admitted their existence. But in one of his final acts as police commissioner, Ken Moroney, who leaves the job on Friday, quietly presented two former undercover Internal Affairs officers with commendations, finally recognising their dedication and sacrifice. "JT" and "Jessie" - not their real names - were members of one of the force's most secret squads during one of the most turbulent times in its history. They have spoken for the first time to the Herald about the damage the experience did to their lives and families. In the latter years of the Wood royal commission, NSW Police Internal Affairs set up a high-level covert operation in which the two young officers posed as criminals in Kings Cross to spy on corrupt police. In the mid-1990s the streets of the Cross were awash with semi-automatic guns and heroin. Underworld heavies like the Bayeh brothers, Louis and Bill, the Ibrahims and Russell Townsend were vying for supremacy. For three years the officers, both in their 20s, infiltrated the world of organised crime to watch the relationships between criminals and corrupt police. They saw a murder, a bashing and discussions about drug deals. They had to resist their police instincts for fear of betraying themselves. "Everything we were taught at the academy, we had to throw out the window," JT said. For months at a time, they were cut off from friends and family. Their fake identities began to overwhelm their real ones. They became close to their criminal associates. Guilt at their deception was constant. "I thought: 'We are doing a bad deed here'," JT said. They felt the strongest affinity with the homeless around the Cross. "They were so isolated," said Jessie, who acted the part of JT's girlfriend. "I felt the same. You disassociate with your own identity." When JT saw a homeless man scrounging for a cigarette, he gave him a Cuban cigar. "It was my way to get good karma from bad karma." Undercover policing is tough. Officers immerse themselves in another identity, and one slip-up could put their lives in danger. But undercover policing of other police can be the most soul-destroying task of all. "Dogs" are loathed by colleagues, and Jessie and JT could have no contact with other police, or even use police offices, for fear they would be exposed. Only a handful of senior officers knew the unit existed. "They found themselves occupationally in the most isolated location in the NSW Police," said Australia's best-known undercover policeman, the former officer Michael Drury, who was shot in 1984 and almost died because of his undercover work. "It takes its toll." In 1998, Queensland's then Criminal Justice Commission asked for two NSW undercover officers to expose suspected police involvement in the drug trade in Mackay. JT and Jessie were seconded. After the sting, one newspaper described JT as "a Hollywood caricature of a drug dealer, with a flash car and spectacular girlfriend". They swung into town, joining the body-building gyms where police trained and winning the confidence of local criminals. In November 1999, JT met two rogue Queensland police officers and a civilian during a Brisbane meeting with a Sydney policeman posing as a drug dealer. Hidden surveillance cameras caught one officer cutting crushed ecstasy and another powder - believed to be heroin - using his police identification card, then snorting it through a folded $10 note. JT and Jessie found enough evidence to convict three Queensland police on serious drug charges. But they have never been able to take credit for their work. Their old Internal Affairs undercover squad has been disbanded, due in part to the emotional toll it took on its staff. Years of living false lives have left them traumatised. Both have left the police service, and are suffering long-term stress-related problems. "Your life is still covert, it's second nature," said Jessie, now in her 30s. "I don't have any emotion any more." JT relives everything. "If I come into town and go past a building or a coffee shop where I have done a job, I can picture what job it was, who the crook was, and what it looked like," he said. Last Tuesday Mr Moroney presented the officers with two awards in a private ceremony at his office. One was a commissioner's commendation for their work in Queensland. The other was a rare certificate of recognition for "service in undercover policing to the community of NSW". Jessie said Mr Moroney shed tears when he heard their story. Says JT: "It was nice to finally be recognised." *** Mon Aug 27 03:14:33 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Are you dead yet? man asked mate By Evan Schwarten August 27, 2007 02:49pm Article from: AAP Font size: + - Send this article: Print Email A MAN who stabbed his friend and dropped a rock on his head asked him if he was dead yet and got the response "not even close, brother", a court was told. New Zealand-born Taukiri Christopher Keen, 20, pleaded guilty in Queensland Supreme Court today to the attempted murder of James Gilders at the Old Boggo Road jail in Brisbane in October 2005. He was sentenced to nine years in jail. The court was told Keen and Mr Gilders had been friends for more than two years when the friendship soured after Keen suspected Mr Gilders of sleeping with his girlfriend. Prosecutor Michael Lehane told the court the pair went to the abandoned prison for a visit and jumped over the walls to get in. As Mr Gilders bent down, Keen stabbed him in the neck, knocked him to the ground, dropped a large rock on his head twice and stabbed him again. When he had finished, Keen asked Mr Gilders if he was dead yet, to which Mr Gilders responded: "Not even close, brother". He got to his feet and the pair shook hands before Keen left the badly injured Mr Gilders to make his own way out of the old prison. Mr Gilders called an ambulance and was taken to hospital where he was treated for a broken jaw and stab wounds to his neck, including one which came close to his jugular vein. He did not make a complaint and the incident did not come to police attention until Keen confessed while police where interviewing him about other incidents in January 2006. Justice Ann Lyons, noted Keen had "gone off the rails" at a young age after joining gangs in New Zealand when he was just 13. Justice Lyons sentenced Keen to nine years' jail but ordered he be eligible for parole after four and a half. *** Tue Aug 28 02:57:54 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Foreign workers 'enslaved' * * Email * Print * Normal font * Large font Matthew Moore and Malcolm Knox August 28, 2007 Isabela Marie Balading, daughter of deceased worker in Australia Pedro Balading, holds his picture at their house in Marikina City, Philippines. Isabela Marie Balading, daughter of deceased worker in Australia Pedro Balading, holds his picture at their house in Marikina City, Philippines. Photo: Cheryl Ravelo AdvertisementAdvertisement CONDITIONS in remote Australian workplaces, where two foreigners died within three days in June, are so harsh that a leading immigration expert says they are "akin to slavery". An investigation has exposed blatant breaches of the 457 skilled visa scheme and uncovered details of the deaths of the two workers in the Northern Territory and Queensland, and of a third man north of Perth. The investigation highlights exploitation of overseas workers, too afraid to speak out, under a scheme that allows employers to sponsor thousands of foreigners to come into Australia and do jobs locals cannot or will not do. It reveals the "extremely ugly face" of the 457 visa system, according to the immigration expert, Professor Bob Birrell, from Monash University. The Age has learned that a university-trained Filipino farm supervisor, Pedro Balading, was thrown off the back of a Toyota utility and killed on an NT cattle station in June. A witness, who was on the back of the ute, says it was being driven fast on a rough road. Mr Balading, 35, left behind a wife and three young children. His wife says that in the months before his death, he complained repeatedly that his working conditions were much tougher than he had been told to expect, and that he was forced to do menial work such as fencing, in breach of his skilled visa. Two days earlier, a logger from Inner Mongolia, China, 33-year-old Guo Jian Dong, died in a remote state forest 700 kilometres west of Brisbane. A tree he was felling brushed a dead tree, which then fell and crushed him. Although the visas only allow foreign workers into Australia to do jobs for which they are skilled, Jack Watson, the man who trained Mr Guo, says he had never used a chainsaw before he arrived in Queensland. Mr Guo left behind a wife, and a child he had never met. Others who work for NK Collins, the company that employed Mr Guo, are still living in western Queensland, including three who live in a caravan in a timber mill next to the Mitchell town dump, speak no English, and push a wheelbarrow nearly 3 kilometres to town to buy food. "The specific instances … are akin to slavery," Professor Birrell said. "That derives from the fact that these people are cowed into believing that if they move away from their contract they will have to go home. Employers are exploiting their power in the relationship." In the other case that has come to light, a Filipino stonemason, Wilfredo Navales, 43, was crushed to death by two slabs of granite in a stoneworks north of Perth in March. Mr Navales's family says he died doing labouring he was forced into, rather than using the skills for which he was ostensibly brought to Australia. The 457 visa requires employers to abide by strict conditions, but The Age found numerous breaches, including: ■Workers in positions that have no benefit for local workforces. ■Accommodation and meal expenses wrongly deducted directly from workers' wages. ■Workers employed in locations other than those stated on visas. ■Safety standards ignored. ■Overtime unpaid. A Federal Government report into the deaths, due for release in mid-July, was still not finished, a spokeswoman for Immigration Minister Kevin Andrews said. But she flagged possible action against employers in the NT and Queensland. The 457 visas were originally designed for professionals, but recently had been "picked up by much more marginal employers", Professor Birrell said. Another expert on the visas, former public servant Bob Kinnaird, of R.T. Kinnaird and Associates, said design faults in the scheme had set up a "race to the bottom in work conditions". "People from low-wage countries, even if they are being underpaid by Australian standards, are still earning more than at home, so they will be tempted to put up with anything to stay here," Mr Kinnaird said. The Immigration Department has just 65 officers to monitor compliance with visas, which makes it impossible to police more than 100,000 visa holders. The Government says 20 people have died on 457 visas in Australia in the past five years, but only three in work- related incidents. http://www.theage.com.au/news/investigations/foreign-workers-enslaved/2007/08/27/1188067032708.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap1 *** Tue Aug 28 06:45:23 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Tuesday August 28, 06:38 PM Let voters decide on broadband: Kelly The federal government should allow voters to decide if its deal with Opel to provide broadband to the bush is the best option, NSW Regional Development Minister Tony Kelly says. Mr Kelly met with other state regional development ministers in Cairns, where the commonwealth was also called upon to release the details of the deal. ADVERTISEMENT Opel, a joint venture between Optus and Elders, has been awarded a $958 million contract to build a wireless broadband internet network in the bush using WiMax wireless and ADSL2 technology. "The near $1 billion deal with Opel has the potential to lock rural and regional Australians into second rate broadband, so it is essential that consumers know exactly the terms of the deal," Mr Kelly said. "Broadband communication has already revolutionised how we go about business, so it is paramount that the federal government provides fast, reliable broadband to secure the economic future of rural and regional Australia." Mr Kelly said rather than have the government rush to sign the deal, voters should be able to decide at this year's election if it is the broadband plan they want. *** Wed Aug 29 21:03:57 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/dont-risk-being-a-tosser-shred-it/2007/08/29/1188067191597.html Don't risk being a tosser: shred it Jordan Baker Chief Police Reporter August 30, 2007 THEY may seem ancient in a cyber-friendly world, but every household now needs a shredder to combat the growing scourge of identity fraud, authorities have warned. Identity thieves use personal information found in mail or bins to claim other people's welfare benefits, use their credit cards and even sell their house. State and federal authorities yesterday warned of cases in which stolen identities had been used by criminals to launder money and do international drug deals. Many people put valuable personal details at risk when they threw out expired Medicare cards, utility bills and old bank statements, they said. Months later, they could find themselves with bad credit ratings or even international travel restrictions, and could spend years and thousands of dollars undoing the damage. In one case, a woman's mortgage application was refused because thieves who had stolen her purse nine months previously had racked up personal loans and debts. The chairman of Crime Stoppers Australia, Peter Price, said some fraudsters worked on the internet but advised people that "as much as we all are most likely to embrace the digital age, paper surrounds us everywhere. "Get a shredder for home. At work we mostly have secure blue bins for paper recycling, but at home we completely ignore this routine, casually throwing out documents." An assistant commissioner of NSW Police, Bob Waites, said identity theft could have a catastrophic effect on a person's life. "There are people who have almost lost their homes because people have stolen their identity," he said. National Identity Fraud Awareness Week is backed by the Federal Government, NSW Police, Crime Stoppers and Dun & Bradstreet. It is also supported by Fellowes Australia, a business products company that specialises in paper shredders. The Office of the Privacy Commissioner this week released a report showing that 9 per cent of Australians say they have been a victim of identity theft. *** Thu Aug 30 17:10:14 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Odex says it is not going after illegal downloaders for profit By Foo Siew Shyan, Channel NewsAsia | Posted: 30 August 2007 2211 hrs Odex says it is not going after illegal downloaders for profit SINGAPORE: Anime distributor Odex has defended its action against illegal downloaders as a form of enforcement against piracy rather than for profit. Rumour has it that the company earned some S$15 million by taking action against illegal downloads. Computer users, most of them teens, have been pilfering anime titles from the Web. In fact, one report even ranked Singapore number one in the world, when it comes to illegal anime downloads per capita. Odex has uncovered close to 500,000 cases of illegal downloading so far. To further prove its point, Odex has roped in about 30 Japanese copyright holders who have said they will support Odex in its legal move. That move saw Odex going to court to force SingNet and StarHub to release the names of its subscribers who have illegally downloaded its cartoons. The result - a backlash against Odex. Some people have accused the company of sending 1,000 warning letters, each supposedly called for the identified subscriber to pay between S$3,000 and S$5,000 in fines. But at a news conference on Thursday, Odex said that there was no fine involved. It said 300 letters were sent out. About a third of the recipients settled with Odex for an undisclosed sum. The rest are being mediated. The company claimed that any excess money from the move, after deducting costs, will be donated to a charitable cause. Odex added that no one was forced to pay beyond his/her means. "This exercise was never meant to be just an enforcement. It's not a profiteering mission to get as much money from everybody. It was conceptualized with a very big picture (in mind). "Illegal downloaders can download animes for all they want... five years, ten years, there will be nothing left to download. This is the fear that most strikes us. We want to address that situation," said Stephen Sing, director of Odex Pte Ltd. That's why Odex still plans to continue what it calls its enforcement process. Its target - an 80 or 90 percent reduction in illegal downloads. That seems like quite a stretch, since the company has seen only a 17% drop in illegal downloads this month. More importantly, Odex may not have the right to pursue its so-called enforcement after all. Despite the company's success against SingTel and StarHub, a judge has ruled that Pacific Internet does not have to give up the names of its subscribers who have been accused of illegally downloading anime. This is because the court found that Odex is just a sub-licensee and not the copyright owner or exclusive licensee for most of the anime titles sold in Singapore. Odex says it will launch an appeal to reverse the latest court ruling. - CNA/ir *** Thu Aug 30 18:15:06 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Don't let your boss catch you reading this Wed Aug 29, 2007 3:53PM EDTBy Corinne Heller JERUSALEM (Reuters) - If you are at work, chances are you are probably doing it right now. Walk into any large office, and you will most likely hear the telltale computer bleeps of chat programs and online games, accompanied by furious mouse-clicking. Employees may seem busy, but many are wasting time on the Internet, or "cyberslacking". Studies worldwide suggest employees spend about a fifth of their work shifts engaging in personal activities. Their favorite time waster? The Internet. Patricia Wallace, author of the 2004 book "The Internet in the Workplace: How New Technology Is Transforming Work", said employees have always found ways to avoid working too hard. "The issue is now you have something that seems to be genuinely irresistible because it's such a gateway to the whole planet that's right there on your desk and easily concealed to people passing by," said Wallace, a professor at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. Employees who cyberslack have been shown to spend most of their time emailing, and almost a third of their messages were not related to work, said James Philips, a psychology professor at Australia's Monash University. Many workers manage finances or shop online. Popular social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace are also common cyberslacking destinations. It is not uncommon to see a user write on his "status" report that he or she is "at work". Some companies, which spend millions on Web access, have fired workers for cyberslacking, citing concerns about inappropriate activities. But hiding it has become easier -- people can access the Internet through cellphones, for instance. Films and television shows have been focusing on the phenomenon. Time-wasting at work was spoofed in the 1999 cult film "Office Space," while "The Office", a British TV comedy that now has a U.S. version, has shown characters playing a computer war game as part of what they described as a team-building exercise. "YOU EAT LIKE A PIG!" Walter Block, a professor of economics at Loyola University in New Orleans, pointed to similarities between employees who slacked off before the computer age and those who waste time in cyberspace. "I think they do it for the same reason they did it before -- some people, because they're cheating their boss, other people, because it helps them work," Block said. Office-dedicated Web sites have been popping up. Workers can go to www.overheardintheoffice.com to post and rate humorous quotes overheard at their workplaces. They can rant about office colleagues and bosses at www.annoyingcoworker.com -- and email them anonymous messages through the Web site. "UGH! You eat like a pig!" one person wrote. "Stop smacking your lips and licking your fingers and snorting while you eat chips two feet away from me! It's like feeding time at the zoo!" A recent survey by online compensation firm Salary.com showed about six out of 10 employees in the United States acknowledged wasting time at work. About 34 percent listed personal Internet use as the leading time-wasting activity in the workplace. Employees said they did so because they were bored, worked too many hours, were underpaid or were unchallenged at work. Firms all over the world are concerned about potentially harmful effects of surfing they deem to be inappropriate may have on their company's image. Many firms use computer software to monitor Web activity and block certain sites or servers. Almost a fifth of those surveyed in a 2006 Israeli-American poll said they accessed online sex sites at work. U.S.-based electronics firm IBM once fired an employee for visiting an adult chat room at work. Last year, a New York City employee was fired by Mayor Michael Bloomberg for having a card game on his computer screen. Some experts say private Internet use at work does not affect productivity and could even be beneficial. "The so-called cyberslacking could be online shopping or arranging for your dog-sitter online or taking care of banking so you don't have to take a two-hour lunch," Wallace said. "In cases like that, you're actually helping employees save time". *** Fri Aug 31 19:06:54 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Retrenched Telstra workers will find other jobs:minister Printer FriendlyPrinter Friendly Send ArticleSend Article SubscribeSubscribe View Supplier Directory 31/08/2007 - Hundreds of retrenched Telstra employees will have good prospects of finding other jobs, federal Communications Minister Helen Coonan says. Telstra announced in June it would make 244 staff redundant because new technology and more efficient customer service processes would replace them. The redundancies began this month in a staged approach and will be completed by the end of September, a Telstra spokeswoman said on Thursday. The telco giant has denied claims data entry and administrative staff responsibilities were being managed by overseas workers in the Philippines. A Telstra spokeswoman said staff workloads fluctuated because of the technology improvements, causing Telstra to engage its outsourcing partner Teletech Australia. Teletech will employ varying numbers of staff in Australia and overseas for up to two years until the data entry and administrative responsibilities are completely automated. Senator Coonan told reporters Australia's historically low unemployment rate should make it easy for them to find other jobs. She said job losses were regrettable, but it was a matter for Telstra. "But the other point I'd make is that we have very full employment and people's prospects of being able to get other jobs have been enhanced by that." Senator Coonan said she planned to engage the telco "to try to ensure that any particular job losses that arise out of it will be adequately addressed by Telstra." Telstra announced in November 2005 that it would shed 12,000 jobs during its restructuring efforts. Source: AAP NewsWire *** Fri Aug 31 19:38:24 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Working smarter-dealing with NZ's shrinking workforce Printer FriendlyPrinter Friendly Send ArticleSend Article SubscribeSubscribe View Supplier Directory 29/08/2007 - New Zealand's labour shortage is unprecedented, and unlikely to go away. CATHERINE HARRIS of NZPA asks what's ahead in a market where there won't be enough workers to go around. Higher wages, better training, more responsibility -- that's the scenario for employees as the country faces up to a key issue that's not going away: how to be more productive with fewer staff. New Zealand's unemployment rate has dropped to a record low of 3.6 per cent, and participation in the workforce has hit a record 68.8 per cent. It's a shortage which has been made more acute by the last five years of healthy economic growth. Even if New Zealand experiences a slowdown, our ageing workforce will keep unemployment low. The Department of Labour estimates that between 2006 and 2017, the labour force will need to grow by 1.5 per cent a year to support moderate economic growth of 2.5 per cent a year. Current forecasts, however, are the labour force will only grow by between 0.5 and 1 per cent per annum. This is no doubt a concern for watchers of inflation, but Jason Walker, regional director of recruitment firm Hays NZ, says the shortage is going to be "the norm". "We've never been in this place before. We've never experienced this sort of growth burst before. In the last five years, we've got 330,000 more people in the workforce, but unemployment rates haven't increased." As a result of the shortage, wage growth has risen to 3.2 per cent. With higher wages, however, will come greater responsibility. Employers "will have to pay more but you'll need to get more out of your staff through new technology and doing things smarter," says Infometrics economist Andrew Whiteford. "There's only a limited amount that employers can do in terms of flexi-time and all those sorts of things. At the end of the day, there's going to be very little new labour coming into the market so they're going to have to find ways of using the existing labour force that much better." The shortage is so severe that in some cases, firms are putting off work. Up to a fifth of firms surveyed in the Quarterly Survey of Business Opinion say the labour shortage is the biggest constraint on their ability to expand. Up to 42 per cent of firms in a recent labour department survey reported difficulty finding staff, and up to 26 per cent were having trouble finding unskilled labour. Employers and Manufacturers Association spokesman Bruce Goldsworthy notes some firms are already trying to retain their key staff by matching global wage rates. "There is a growing recognition amongst particularly our major exporting companies that they really have to pay rates that will keep their best qualified staff in New Zealand." Walker says major overseas firms are increasingly going to come to New Zealand to seek talent and offering big incentives. His firm has been asked by a big British banking firm to find 40 senior bankers in New Zealand. A young Wellington lawyer being paid $75,000 here has just gone to Britain for a job paying 90,000 pounds ($NZ257,000), plus relocation costs. "What you're going to find with New Zealand employers, where they won't be able to compete on salary, they are going to look at other, non-cash benefits to retain staff." It's not just the "skilled" labour, such as managers, professionals, technicians and tradespeople, that are in demand. Unskilled labour is also at an "unprecedented" low, the Department of Labour says, ironically due to education. The number of people with both school and post-school qualifications has doubled, from 23 per cent to 40 per cent of the working population. Immigration also has a high-skills bias. " There's a huge build-up of skill in New Zealand," Whiteford says. "New Zealand loses quite a few of its unskilled workers to Australia, a lot are retiring and young people entering the workforce have far higher skills, so that pool of unskilled labour is shrinking." Shortages are particularly painful in certain industries. Retail, hospitality, and agriculture or fisheries workers are becoming very scarce, and one source suggests some industries could eventually become uneconomic. Construction and oil and gas industry workers are also in high demand, as are managers, architects, civil engineers and IT workers. Immigration is seen as a partial solution, but numbers are falling. The number of net long-term migrants entering this country has dropped 0.2 per cent, from around 14,000 for the year to November last year, to 10,100 for the year to June this year. So how are employers coping? Although offering more overtime is the usual response, employers have also been increasingly offering more flexible hours. Almost all the 1.8 per cent rise in employment during the first half of the year was part-time work, suggesting that finding full-time staff is getting much harder. "Lots of young people are working in part-time work," says Massey University economics professor Anne de Bruin, looking at census figures between 2001 and 2006. "There's been a huge increase in part-time work, and quite a significant increase in multiple job holdings across the age groups." Goldsworthy says not all employers will be able to offer globally competitive wages, but then again, not all firms are serving an international market. Others are simply moving offshore. "New Zealanders have to recognise that we are just part of a great big picture and people will adjust their businesses so they can be successful in that big picture. "And that's what happening, where you're seeing some companies changing their bases of production and maybe moving some of it offshore, or setting up different distribution. "They're simply adjusting their business so that they can be successful in what is potentially a new business environment." Hay recalls that during a downturn in Britain, some firms even offered their key staff half a year's salary to go travelling, as long as they returned. He believes there will also be more poaching of school leavers and sponsoring of university students. Mature workers are already helping plug the gap. "Statistics say for every two people who retire in the New Zealand marketplace, only one person enters," Walker says. "Which is going to put great pressure, not just on the skills but on the intellectual property that organisations have. So what you'll find, I think, will be delayed retirement, where even though you're 65 you might find baby boomers coming back into the workforce as consultants or contractors." Technology is sometimes cited as the great hope to lift production, but experts say its use is limited in industries which rely on the human touch such as rest homes and child care, nursing, call centres and road works. They are the areas, as New Zealand's population ages and as it currently enjoys a baby boom, that will really be the test of how well we adapt to the changing workforce. Source: AAP NewsWire *** Mon Sep 3 01:45:30 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Half a million Aussie drug users fighting mental illness: expert Posted 1 hour 6 minutes ago The Mental Health Council of Australia says up to 500,000 Australians are facing the dual challenge of substance use and mental illness. The council's David Crosby also highlights a lack of support for drug users, including high-profile sports people. Mr Crosby today spoke at a national conference in Melbourne and says 50 per cent of drug and alcohol users have underlying mental health problems. He believes problems faced by people such as sportsmen Andrew Johns and Ben Cousins are a wake-up call for those who know drug abusers. "I really feel for Andrew Johns and I feel for Ben Cousins and I feel for people that experience those problems and I wonder why the people around them didn't do more to get them the help they need," he said. "I see it as a call to arms for other people to say well, how are your friends? How are your mates doing? And are we providing the supports that we need to them?" *** Fri Sep 7 19:48:19 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Public servants win protest rally case Michael Bachelard September 7, 2007 THE Howard Government's industrial relations department broke its own laws when it ordered public servants not to go to an ACTU protest rally in November 2005. Federal Court judge Catherine Branson ruled yesterday a written order issued by the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations that departments deny leave to public servants wanting to attend the rally was in breach of freedom-of-association provisions enshrined in the legislation. The Workplace Relations Department was "disappointed with the decision" and would consider appealing, acting chief counsel David De Silva said. Part of the advice sent to all departments on November 9 was to remind agencies "they should not promote industrial action". "To this end … leave (including access to flexitime credits) should not be made available to cover participation in industrial action," it said. But Justice Branson found that one of the objects of the Workplace Relations Act was to "ensure freedom of association, including the rights of employees and employers to join organisations or associations of their choice". As a result of the department's advice, a number of Community and Public Sector Union members, who asked for leave to attend the protest rally, were illegally denied permission to go. Justice Branson said the department has issued the edict because a significant number of Commonwealth employees were union members and many would want to attend the day of protest. "It (the edict) was therefore issued for a prohibited reason," she said. What should have happened, Justice Branson found, was that requests to take leave "should have been approved or refused by reference to the operational requirements of the relevant agencies". CPSU national secretary Stephen Jones said the judgement reaffirmed core democratic principles. "(The department) had put the Government's political interests ahead of their legal obligations," Mr Jones said. "It confirms that public sector employees are entitled to freedom of political expression, in their own time. "It also confirms employers have no right to tell their employees what they can or can't do on their day off." Mr Da Silva maintained the department's advice to other public service agencies had been that they could grant leave to CPSU members "taking into account operational factors". "We made submissions to the court that DEWR complied with the act," he said. The CPSU had fought the case for two years. The court has not yet settled on a penalty. The freedom-of-association provisions in the act are often used against unions, particularly in the construction industry, to stop them pressuring people to join. But they have also been used successfully by unions, most famously in the waterfront dispute where courts stopped Patrick from sacking its workers. The courts found the sackings were taking place because the workers were members of the Maritime Union of Australia. *** Fri Sep 7 19:54:49 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Chaser juggernaut breaches global awareness ON THURSDAY morning they were just a bunch of comedians known only to their Australian viewers and the many politicians they've left red-faced. But by yesterday, the Chaser team's fame had spread around the world. Footage of their fake motorcade stunt, in which black vehicles with bonnet-mounted Canadian flags were driven with embarrassing ease into APEC security zones, was shown on foreign networks such as Fox News, NBC and CBS. CNN played excerpts from old Chaser stunts. Even a television network in Lexington, Kentucky was running the story. "A prank by a TV comedy crew has turned into an international incident and it could end up making a laughing stock of the entire [APEC] security machine," said a straight-faced newsreader on America's ABC TV network. "$160 million was spent to keep dignitaries safe, and a convoy of actors got within yards of President Bush's hotel." The story was the fourth-most read article on the BBC website, which carried the headline, "Sydney 'ring of steel' breached". The Vancouver Sun guffawed, "Aussie spoofsters fly Maple Leaf to undress APEC security", while London's Daily Telegraph played it straight, with "Bin Laden comic mistaken for Canada diplomat". Eleven people, including Chas Licciardello, who was dressed as Osama bin Laden, and the Chaser's executive producer, Julian Morrow, were arrested and charged with entering a restricted area without justification under the new APEC legislation. The NSW Police Commissioner, Andrew Scipione, said the group were lucky not to have been shot. "I'm angry, I'm very angry that this stunt happened. It was a very dangerous stunt," he said. "The reality is they put security services in a position where they might have had to take an action no one would want. We have snipers deployed around the city. They weren't there for show; they mean business - that's what they were there for." But most Sydneysiders appear to have taken the Chaser stunt in good humour. Almost 90 per cent of the 28,451 people who voted on an smh.com.au poll said they found it funny. Yesterday, the team was at it again, three members replicating their colleagues' headline-grabbing stunt. Police stopped the trio - Craig Reucassel, Chris Taylor and Dominic Knight - in the CBD as they walked down the street with black cardboard limousines strapped to their backs. The cars were decorated with Canadian flags and had paper-plate wheels. Knight, who is also a columnist with the Herald's website, said the stunt was like re-enacting a scene from Romper Room. "We established that APEC is safe from the scourge of cardboard motorcades," he said. *** Sat Sep 8 07:31:26 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Blame APEC for mobile phone issues during this week 6/09/2007 - If your mobile phone doesn't work or drops out during a call in Sydney this week, blame APEC. The federal attorney-general's department on Wednesday said jammed mobile phone calls in central Sydney could be blamed on an influx of overseas visitors. "Mobile calls can fail for a number of reasons related to both the handset and the network, including congestion," the department said in a statement. "Significant congestion of mobile networks is likely during the APEC leaders' week and particularly around the APEC area in the Sydney CBD." But it refused to comment on potential high-tech security measures that could be employed to block mobile coverage in certain areas. It said security arrangements for visiting dignitaries remained private. Telstra said such jamming devices existed, but the telco refused to comment further. "There are devices that are available to security to dampen localised areas and you'd have to talk to the police and that sort of thing," Telstra spokesman Jeremy Mitchell said. When asked if mobile phone coverage problems in the Sydney CBD were directly related to the APEC summit, he said: "Yes." Telstra had done all it could to maintain the network to cope with congestion, the spokesman said. "We've boosted our network capacity within the city," he said. "We've actually put in extra cell towers within Sydney because obviously there'll be a lot more overseas visitors here ... so we're seeing a large concentration of people in a designated area." Optus said there had been no complaints about mobile phone difficulties during APEC. Source: AAP NewsWire *** Sat Sep 8 17:46:43 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Breakthrough drug for schizophrenia AFP - Monday, September 3 PARIS (AFP) - - The first new class of drugs in more than a decade for treating schizophrenia worked at least as well in a clinical trial as standard medications, but with fewer side-effects, a new study showed. ADVERTISEMENT Unlike current anti-psychotic drugs, which block the uptake of a naturally occurring chemical called dopamine, the new drug acts on a different neurotransmitter, glutamate. The new treatment also reduced certain undesirable side-effects, according to the study, published in the British journal Nature Science Sunday. Imbalances in the brain of these chemicals are largely responsible for schizophrenia's disabling symptoms, which range from hallucinations and delusions to a severely impaired ability to express emotion. Environmental factors are thought to play a role too. Sufferers often hear voices and may believe that other people are reading their minds or controlling their thoughts. These frightening experiences can cause withdrawal and extreme agitation. There is no known cure for the chronic disease, which affects approximately 1 in 250 people, emerging in men in their late teens and early 20s, and a decade later in women, according to the World Health Organisation. Until now, the only drugs able to keep the most severe symptoms in check without debilitating side-effects acted on dopamine receptors. Dopamine is the chemical messenger in the brain mainly involved with thinking, emotions, behaviour and perception. In a double blind clinical trial, a team led by Sandeep Patil, a researcher at Eli Lilly, which funded the study, administered the new drug -- known as LY2140023 -- to 97 patients alongside smaller groups given placebos or olanzipine, a commonly prescribed anti-psychotic medication. LY2140023 matched the effectiveness of olanzipine for both "positive" symptoms such as hallucinations as well as "negative" ones, including withdrawal. As important, it avoided some of the adverse effects associated with dopamine-targetting drugs: weight gain, increases in blood fat called triglycerides, periodontitis, and inflammation of the gums. Scientists have suspected for decades that improper neurotransmission of glutamate was linked to schizophrenia, but up to now the precise mechanism was not understood. The researchers cautioned that this was only a "proof-of-concept" study to see whether the drug held promise in the treatment of schizophrenia, and that more trials to test LY2140023 against other drugs and over long time periods were needed. *** Sun Sep 9 18:37:43 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Monday September 10, 12:02 AM Women getting fatter, more clueless Young women are getting fatter but they are clueless when it comes to shedding those extra kilos, according to a new body image survey. The Cosmopolitan magazine survey of more than 5,000 Australian women aged 18-34 found about 42 per cent considered themselves overweight or obese. And almost half said if they could change one thing about their life it would be their body. Ten per cent of respondents were so body depressed they said they would happily trade four or more years off their lives to slim down. The survey found women today weigh more than a decade ago, with obesity rates up by almost 20 per cent. And when it comes to doing the right thing by their bodies, women are big on bad habits. About 37 per cent of respondents regularly skip breakfast, more than one in five relies on coffee to stay energised, nearly half don't eat fruit every day and a quarter exercise once a month or less. More concerning is that women are abandoning traditional healthy lifestyle measures to lose weight and are resorting to illicit drugs. Seven per cent of women said they had used cocaine or amphetamines to lose weight and almost one in ten would rather skip a meal than give up alcohol to purge the pounds. Their partners too are suffering in the bedroom, with one in six women saying they prefer chocolate to sex. Cosmopolitan editor Sarah Wilson said the survey had unearthed some disturbing trends about women and body image. "But the conflicting information out there is also a major culprit," she said. "Women are yo-yo dieting, based on competing information they're being fed. This kind of eating is throwing out women's metabolisms and stopping them from listening to their bodies." *** Sun Sep 9 18:39:09 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Monday September 10, 12:02 AM Over-55s believe 69 too old for work Senior Australians should not be working past the age of 69, according to a new survey of their peers. However, the Citibank Retirement Index has fallen over the past six months indicating a decrease in financial confidence among retirees. The survey of 403 semi- and fully-retired Australians aged 55 or older found that 67 per cent believed people were no longer capable of working full time once they reached the age of 69. Citibank head of investments Andrew de Vries said the results were an interesting contradiction, because while a high number thought 69 was too old to work full time, most Australians were not adequately financially prepared for retirement. "We know that retirees are less confident their retirement savings will last the distance, but they are still wanting to retire earlier," he said. "The latest index figure has fallen over the last six months to the lowest ever, pointing to a lapse in financial confidence." Mr de Vries said there were wider implications for the Australian economy if the baby boomer generation wanted to retire at 60. "In just 14 years, the over-65s could account for one in five of our population so we will actually need older workers to continue working to keep the cogs of industry turning," he said. Another contradiction in the survey was an apparent interest among retirees in seeking part-time or self-employment. However, Mr de Vries noted that what people said and did seemed to be very different. "Despite almost half of respondents saying they `intended' to take up some form of paid work, only five per cent actually looked for it in the last 12 months," he said. "Perhaps they really do believe they are too old to work ... or maybe they've just had enough?" *** Mon Sep 10 01:10:57 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: SEPTEMBER 17, 2007 STORY TOOLS Printer-Friendly Version E-Mail This Story Reader Comments MANAGING The Big Divide In Tech Support Top executives get hands-on, 24/7 assistance while the rank and file have to call India The greater visibility--and criticism--of CEO perks in recent years has caused some in the C-suite to cut back on the benefits that tend to make their minions green with envy: a chauffeur, a steady supply of flowers, and country club dues paid by the company. But there's one perk that most executives barely acknowledge, let alone plan to forgo: white-glove tech support. Witness a new kind of Digital Divide. As large companies increasingly outsource part or all of their information technology divisions, many employees now spend hours on the phone struggling simply to explain their tech issues, let alone get them resolved. If they're not contending with an understaffed in-house help desk, they're working with one in a faraway country to have passwords reset, remote access to servers reestablished, or lost spreadsheets retrieved. For companies, having a top-notch help desk "is a game they can only lose," says Alton Martin, CEO of consulting firm COPC, which redesigns business processes for companies such as General Motors (GM ), Verizon (VZ ), and Circuit City (CC ). "No complaining from employees is a win. But if [companies] get kudos for the help desk, they start thinking: 'Maybe we're spending too much." Senior executives, meanwhile, often enjoy an in-house tech concierge service, says Jeremy Harris, treasurer at New York's Infusive Solutions Inc., a technology recruiting firm that fills "executive support" jobs for companies such as UBS (UBS ), Warner Music Group (WMG ), and Priceline.com (PCLN ). The experience of becoming a second-class digital citizen is fomenting help-desk rage, as lower-ranking employees fume about losing productive hours. It can also create havoc for the official info-tech department: Frustrated employees try to find creative ways to get the same instant tech support, often from a friend in the next cubicle, who may not be versed in company tech policies and practices. STUFF OF DREAMS The kind of service that CEOs can expect from their personal tech staff is the stuff regular employees can only dream of. Elite tech squads may set up equipment at the bosses' home office on the weekend, run out and buy them new BlackBerrys if theirs malfunction, and even travel with them on helicopters or corporate jets to provide instant, on-demand help. The people Harris places in tech support roles tell him: "I spent the weekend setting up their network at their second home in the Hamptons," or "I got woken up in the middle of the night to fix some VP's BlackBerry," or "The job took six hours because I had to set up the boss's workstation and then the kids', too." Among CEOs who enjoy elite tech squads is Robert A. Iger of Walt Disney Co. (DIS ). A special techie has visited him at home in Brentwood, Calif.--for company problems. He shares this point man with a few other executives. CEOs at Whirlpool (WHR ), Medtronic (MDT ), and Time Warner (TWX ) also have special tech teams. And Eastman Kodak (EK ) CEO Antonio M. Perez and ex-Chief Financial Officer Robert H. Brust listed "personal IT support" on their Securities & Exchange Commission filings of perks they received in 2006. The company did not respond when asked what that support included. To be sure, the head honcho's time is money--and arguably more valuable than anyone else's at the company. That was the reasoning at Medtronic Inc. for executive tech support. Regular workers have on-site support for critical problems and an outsourced help desk--an 800 number--for run-of-the mill issues. "Executives have different needs from the rank and file," notes Kurt Potter, a research director at Gartner Research (IT ). "They get the most expensive technology, and they need desk-side support so they're not kept waiting." In certain cases, that can include creating an entirely new computer on the turn of a dime. Martin cites a recent example. He was visiting a client, a major PC maker, when one of the senior executive's computers had a meltdown. A vice-president called the plant and had them make a customized computer from scratch within the day, in order to minimize the downtime. Non-executive road warriors may suffer most. A middle manager from a telecom company was visiting her company's office in India when her computer died. The U.S. help desk wouldn't help because she was in India; the local office wouldn't help because her laptop wasn't compatible with local hardware. "It chewed up half her day," says Martin. "The worst part was that she knew if it had been her boss, the problem would have been fixed immediately." Road warriors who don't have a full-time traveling techie have another option: Geek Squad, owned by Best Buy Co. (BBY ) CEOs of small or midsize companies often use the 24/7 company, which provides support for individuals, roving executives, and even President Bush's staff on one occasion, says Geek Squad founder Robert Stephens. His clients include rock stars; his staff has toured with Mick Jagger, Bono, and Sting. "Once you learn how to keep rock stars happy, traveling execs are a piece of cake," he says.http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/07_38/b4050071.htm?campaign_id=rss_daily *** Fri Sep 14 07:15:13 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Mobile phone users' safety is reassured with UK study 14/09/2007 - Mobile phone users would be reassured about their safety following the findings of the biggest United Kingdom scientific research program into health risks associated with mobile phone technology, the Australian Mobile Telecommunications Association (AMTA) said on Thursday. AMTA Chief Executive Officer, Chris Althaus, said the six-year research program, including 23 peer-reviewed studies, had found no association between short-term mobile phone use and brain cancer. The UK Mobile Telecommunications Health Research (MTHR) report states: None of the research supported by the program and published so far demonstrates that biological or adverse health effects are produced by radiofrequency exposure from mobile phones. Althaus said: "The overall result of the research program - the biggest ever undertaken in the UK - is reassuring for mobile phone users because it finds that mobile phone use does not increase the risk of brain tumours." He said it was important that people did not jump to conclusions on the study's recommendation for further research into longer-term use - more than 10 years - of mobile phones. The Chairman of the MTHR program, Professor Laurie Challis, said the research showed a "faint suggestion" of increased cancer rates and longer-term use of mobile phones, however, "although that is, in no way convincing, it's a faint suggestion that needs to be followed up". Althaus said Professor Challis had acknowledged the need for caution on a finding at the borderline of statistical significance. "It is important that people don't jump to the wrong conclusion because the studies examining cancer risk have small numbers of people who have used a mobile for more than 10 years. Small numbers can skew the results because of the possibility of a chance finding," he said. "Mobile phone users can take comfort in the fact that there is already a substantial body of evidence on the long-term effects of mobile phones through whole-of-life animal studies, which have found no link between long-term exposure to radiofrequency and health impacts." The MTHR programme also investigated whether mobile phones might affect cells and tissue beyond simply heating them. The results so far show no evidence for this and the committee believes there is no need to support further work in this area. The MTHR's work had not looked at the impact of mobile phones on children and called for more study of this area. The Health Council of the Netherlands conducted a comprehensive review of all research on mobile phones and children and concluded: There is no scientific data to assume a difference in the absorption levels of electromagnetic energy in heads of children and adults, nor is it likely that the electromagnetic sensitivity of children's heads changes significantly after the second year of life. Because of this, the Health Council of the Netherlands sees no reason for recommending limiting the use of mobile phones by children. Althaus said the UK research added significant further evidence about the safety of mobile phones. International reviews of more than 2500 research publications, including more than 600 studies specifically on mobile phones conducted worldwide, have, without exception, found no substantiated scientific evidence of health effects. Recently, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said despite the feeling of some people that more research was needed, scientific knowledge in this area was more extensive than for most chemicals. Althaus said: "AMTA supports focused, ongoing quality research that will assist health authorities to assess the health impact of mobile phone technologies and assist people to make informed choices in relation to mobile technology and health." For more information contact Randal Markey, Communications Manager, (02) 6239 6555 or 0421 240 550 Source: AAP NewsWire *** Fri Sep 14 08:03:21 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Aust safest country to do business in Asia-Pacific - 14/09/2007 - Australia has taken out the No.1 spot as the safest country to do business in the Asia-Pacific region, while ranking second behind Switzerland on a global scale. New research from business information provider Dun & Bradstreet has ranked Australia above its Asia-Pacific neighbours, including Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore and New Zealand. Dun & Bradstreet chief executive Christine Christian said Australia's ranking on the Global Risk Indicator was a positive at a time when recent US credit events were affect economies across the globe. "The recent US credit turmoil is having a global impact, with all regions buffeted by the resulting credit squeeze," Christian said. "Apart from a weakening of the Australian currency in August, the Australian economy has continued to prosper, meaning that no significant action has been required by the Reserve Bank to bolster confidence during this squeeze." Dun & Bradstreet forecasts that economic would reach 3.6 per cent in 2007, declining to 3 per cent in 2008, while inflation is expected to reach 2.7 per cent and 2.9 per cent in 2007 and 2008, respectively. Despite the positive outlook, Dun & Bradstreet warned that upward pressure on inflation could lead to another an interest rate rise before the end of 2007. "I would expect that continued upward pressure on CPI (consumer price index) and general inflationary pressures in the economy could trigger an additional 25-basis point rise in the cash rate before the end of the year," Christian said. Source: AAP NewsWire *** Fri Sep 21 19:55:27 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Unix Admin Pleads Guilty to Planting Logic Bomb A former Unix system administrator at Medco Health Solutions attempted to sabotage critical data, including individual prescription drug data, on more than 70 servers. Jaikumar Vijayan, Computerworld Friday, September 21, 2007 2:00 PM PDT A former Unix system administrator at Medco Health Solutions Inc.'s Fair Lawn, N.J., office on Wednesday pleaded guilty in federal court to attempting to sabotage critical data, including individual prescription drug data, on more than 70 servers. Yung-Hsun Lin, also known as Andy Lin, 51, of Montville, N.J., is scheduled to be sentenced on Jan. 8. He faces a maximum sentence of 10 years and a fine of US$250,000. Lin was one of several systems administrators at Medco who feared they would get laid off when their company was being spun off from drug maker Merck & Co. in 2003, according to a statement released by federal law enforcement authorities. Apparently angered by the prospect of losing his job, Lin on Oct. 2, 2003, created a "logic bomb" by modifying existing computer code and inserting new code into Medco's servers. The bomb was originally set to go off on April 23, 2004, on Lin's birthday. When it failed to deploy because of a programming error, Lin reset the logic bomb to deploy on April 23, 2005, despite the fact that he had not been laid off as feared. The bomb was discovered and neutralized in early January 2005, after it was discovered by a Medco computer systems administrator investigating a system error. Had it gone off as scheduled, the malicious code would have wiped out data stored on 70 servers. Among the databases that would have been affected was a critical one that maintained patient-specific drug interaction information that pharmacists use to determine whether conflicts exist among an individual's prescribed drugs. Also affected would have been information on clinical analyses, rebate applications, billing, new prescription call-ins from doctors, coverage determination applications and employee payroll data. During a plea hearing at the U.S. District Court in Newark, N.J., Lin pleaded guilty to one count of transmitting computer code with the intent of causing damage in excess of $5,000. The case is one of the most egregious examples yet of attempted computer sabotage by an insider, Asst. U.S. Attorney Erez Liebermann told Computerworld. Unlike most malicious logic bombs, which are designed to disrupt operations or inflict financial damage, Lin's malicious code could have affected "life and limb," Liebermann said. The incident highlights again the danger posed to companies by disgruntled employees seeking revenge for some perceived harm against them, Liebermann said. "Some event triggers unhappiness on the part of the employee, which is why we have counseled companies to be extra vigilant about hiring and firing staff" and when handing out incentives and bonuses, he said. Liebermann pointed to the case of Roger Duronio, a systems administrator at UBS PaineWebber. In July 2006, Duronio was found guilty of planting a logic bomb that affected around 1,000 of PaineWebber's computers around the U.S., costing the company more than $3 million in damages. Duronio, who was sentenced to more than eight years in prison, planted the bomb because he was disgruntled with his pay and bonuses. Tracking down such individuals can be challenging because of the techniques they use to hide their tracks, Liebermann said. In both the Duronio incident and in Lin's case, for instance, the malicious code was designed to wipe itself out of existence after the attack had been deployed, he said. *** Sat Sep 22 01:08:58 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Subtle Racism Harasses Brain Decoding 'Ambiguous' Prejudice Interferes With Mental Tasks By Daniel J. DeNoon WebMD Medical News Reviewed by Louise Chang, MD Sept. 21, 2007 – Subtle racism interferes with black people's mental function even more than overt racism does, a psychological study shows. For whites, who are much less often the targets of prejudice, overt racism interferes with mental function more. "It appears that blacks are particularly vulnerable to cognitive impairment resulting from exposure to ambiguous prejudice -- a level of prejudice whites may not even register," conclude Princeton University psychologists Jessica Salvatore, PhD, and J. Nicole Shelton, PhD. 'Blatant' vs. 'Ambiguous' Racism Salvatore and Shelton enrolled 122 African-American and 128 white Princeton undergraduates in their study. They were told they were going to participate in two different studies (in reality, they were two parts of the same study). In the first part of the study, participants were told they would be evaluating a company's hiring decisions. They were shown résumés from job candidates. One was from a candidate who was clearly unqualified because of mediocre grades from a "mediocre" school. Another was from the most-qualified candidate, a Yale graduate with good grades, strong job experience, and impressive school activities. It was clear from the résumés whether the job candidates were white or African-American. Half the time the unqualified candidate was white and the highly qualified candidate was African-American. For the other half, the conditions were reversed. The study participants were also shown hiring recommendations from what they were told were human resource officers for the company. Participants were told the officer was a white male when the unqualified job candidate was white and the highly qualified candidate was African-American. They were told the officer was an African-American male when the unqualified job candidate was African-American and the highly qualified candidate was white. Participants were assigned to one of three groups: blatant prejudice, ambiguous prejudice, or no-prejudice. The no-prejudice group saw recommendations that advised hiring the most-qualified candidate. The prejudice groups saw hiring recommendations that always chose the least-qualified subject -- a person of the same race as the officer. Under the blatant prejudice condition, the hiring recommendations contained obviously racist comments (such as noting that the African-American candidate "belonged to too many minority organizations" or that the white candidate "was a typical white prep-school kid"). Under the ambiguous-prejudice condition, the hiring recommendations contained no such racist comments -- the least-qualified, same-race candidate was recommended without a clear reason. In the second part of the study, participants then were given a test requiring full concentration, in which they had to name the color in which words such as "red" or "blue" were written. Subtle Racism Wastes Brain Power Witnessing the blatant prejudice lowered white participants' scores on the test, but not the scores of African-American participants. However, African-American participants did much worse on the test after witnessing the ambiguous prejudice. "Blacks are better prepared to cope with blatant prejudice than whites are, at least in terms of the short-term effects on performance of cognitive tasks," Salvatore and Shelton suggest. This, they say, is because African-Americans have experienced prejudice and have learned to deal with it, not because such prejudice is harmless. But when African-Americans have to deal with more subtle prejudice -- prejudice that whites tend not to recognize -- it consumes mental resources. "Targets of prejudice may experience cognitive impairment as they try to determine the cause underlying the negative events they encounter in their lives," Salvatore and Shelton conclude. They report their findings in the September issue of Psychological Science. http://www.webmd.com/brain/news/20070921/subtle-racism-harasses-brain?src=RSS_PUBLIC *** Sat Sep 22 03:53:55 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Old hotels may house the homeless Andra Jackson September 22, 2007 CITY hotels would be bought and turned into long-term homes for Melbourne's homeless under a proposal before the Lord Mayor's Charitable Fund. The fund's chief executive, Andrew Chappell, said it was one of a number of proposals it was looking at to reduce homelessness. The hotel proposal is based on the experience of New York's Common Ground project, which has four hotels as homes for people previously homeless. It follows a visit to New York to inspect the scheme by Melbourne City Council's chairman of community services, David Wilson. "They refurbish hotels in Manhattan and they become homes, about 50 per cent of them to ex-homeless people and 50 per cent to low-income people," he said. Support services are located in the buildings and security is tight. Residents are selected after being chronically homeless for over a year and pay a percentage of their social benefits to stay on a renewable 12-month basis. Dr Wilson said funding would be needed not just to buy the premises, but to provide a range of services, including health and education. The move is prompted by the fund's concern that the level of homelessness in metropolitan Melbourne —14,000 a night — is "highly unacceptable". *** Sun Sep 23 03:04:57 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Rental laws in NSW to be overhauled Source: AAP Author: AAP Posted: Sat 22 Sep, 2007 Tenants will face swift eviction if they fall behind in their rent under a major overhaul of NSW's tenancy laws planned by the state government. Many renters will also find they have to pay water charges currently borne by their landlords, Fair Trading Minister Linda Burney has told Fairfax newspapers. Ms Burney says the move was aimed at increasing the number of rental properties on offer in Sydney by improving conditions for landlords while also bolstering the rights of tenants. "Encouraging investors back into the market should help to reduce Sydney's rental squeeze," Ms Burney says. "At the moment it can take three months to (evict problem tenants) and that's a long time." The government's plans include shifting the "onus" in eviction cases from the landlord to the tenant, as the tenant would be required to go to the tenancy tribunal if they want to contest an eviction order. The tribunal will be able to cancel an eviction order if the tenant produces the owed rent before the eviction date. Tenants will also get new rights to discounted rent in cases where the landlord puts the property up for sale. Tenants will also be given a guaranteed 30 days to move out in cases where the landlord defaults on their mortgage. Tenants in share houses, or those involved in relationship breakdowns, will be able to apply to have their liability for half of the lease waived. The rental vacancy rate in Sydney is just 1.5 per cent and this adds to the state's housing affordability crisis. *** Mon Sep 24 20:04:31 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Tell-tale tickets Flaw in system could reveal your personal details to strangers By Liew Hanqing September 25, 2007 Print Ready Email Article A POSSIBLE flaw in Sistic's online system has cast more doubt on the security of online transactions. Click to see larger image A screen capture taken by Singaporean Phoebe Lee. After typing in her boyfriend's IC number, the info revealed the address of a Sistic user who lives in Malaysia. From phishing, where online cheats try to con you into providing your details through a fake website, to hacking, online transactions are not just a matter of click and forget. Now, thousands of Singaporeans who buy tickets online for concerts and plays through Sistic risk having their personal information exposed. Miss Phoebe Lee, 20, first alerted The New Paper about a loophole where others may gain access to your details. Last Wednesday, the National University of Singapore undergraduate used her boyfriend's identity card number - without the letter at the end - to buy tickets from Sistic's website. They were planning to watch a play together and she had agreed to buy the tickets on his behalf. SIMILAR IC NUMBERS To her surprise, the information, which appeared on her screen, did not belong to her boyfriend. She recalled: 'After entering his NRIC number and clicking 'proceed', I encountered a pop-up saying 'this is not the e-mail we have on our database, proceed anyway?'. 'I thought he had previously made a booking with another e-mail account and clicked 'proceed', only to see another person's particulars on the next page.' Miss Lee, a Singaporean, said she saw a stranger's name, followed by a Malaysian phone number and address. The person's foreign identification number was the same as her boyfriend's, but was preceded by a few additional numbers. 'Initially, I thought I'd made a mistake keying in his IC number,' she said. So what happened? Sistic, which handles the ticketing for more than 90 per cent of events held in Singapore, was unable to offer an explanation at press time. Sistic referred The New Paper to its online privacy statement, which said it uses 'industry standard practices' to protect users' privacy and personal information, 'in such manner and to such extent as (they) deem appropriate'. 'However, we do not guarantee in any way, and you should not expect, that your personal information or private communications will always remain private and/or safe from any abuse or misuse by third parties,' the statement read. That's the online version of caveat emptor, or buyer beware. In short, Sistic seems to be saying 'please use our online service though we can't guarantee your details will be safe'. The privacy statement also revealed that Sistic stores its users' information on its servers in Singapore. It uses technical safeguards like encryption, firewalls and Secure Socket Layer technology to protect users' personal information against loss, theft and unauthorised access. When buying tickets from Sistic's website, users are required to enter their name, NRIC number (without the suffix) and e-mail address. But for all the firewalls and encryption codes Sistic puts up as protection, it appears that there is a flaw in its system. All you need is an identifying number. Users are not required to enter a password. Once in, users are directed to a page where they must enter their date of birth, phone number, address and credit card information to complete the purchase. If the user has made a purchase through the site before, the name, address and phone number fields will appear the next time the page is called up. CREATING OWN ACCOUNT It's that simple. Security experts told The New Paper that in the interest of customer privacy, users should be required to log into e-commerce sites such as Sistic's with a unique ID assigned by the site. IT security expert Aloysius Cheang said: 'Most e-commerce websites require users to create an account where they are given a unique user name and password. 'It's a better practice to require users to register for an account before they can make purchases.' He said that in Sistic's case, the company was probably trying to make it more convenient for website users by not requiring them to sign up for accounts to buy tickets. 'They probably did this as a value-added service to customers, because people often forget their passwords after registering for accounts,' he said. When users buy tickets through Sistic's website, transactions can be made quickly without having to log into an account. He added, however, that there was a need to strike a balance between convenience and the need to ensure security. He said: 'In this case, users were required to enter a unique identifier - their NRIC number - but it seems this number failed and gave up somebody else's account information.' Mr Sean Richmond, a senior technology consultant with Sophos, an IT security and control company, also said that Sistic's system could be more secure. 'The site works on the assumption that the identification number is unique. Somebody whose number is a subset of someone else's shouldn't be able to access the other person's information,' he said. He agreed that it would be better if the website incorporated the use of an ID-password combination to prevent accidental disclosure of private information. As for Miss Lee, she said she could not buy the tickets online in the end. No matter how many times she tried to enter the IC number, she could not get her boyfriend's account. *** Mon Sep 24 20:35:16 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: City population overload Josh Gordon September 25, 2007 Latest related coverage MELBOURNE could need to house another 1.2 million people over the next 25 years amid an unexpected influx of migrants that is helping to swell Victoria's population at a record rate. New figures show the boom exceeding the predictions of government planners, with Melbourne on track for a population of almost 5 million by 2030. In the year to the end of March, the state's population grew by 74,431 — or more than 1400 people a week — with most of the growth in Melbourne. The population explosion will compound anxiety about urban congestion, housing affordability and water security, while adding to pressure on the State Government over how to manage it. The figures were released on the same day that The Age revealed controversial plans by developer Delfin to build a new mega-suburb to Melbourne's north, outside the official metropolitan growth boundary. The latest population figures prompted claims yesterday that Melbourne 2030, the Government's metropolitan growth strategy, was flawed and already out of date. According to the Bureau of Statistics, migration accounted for 58 per cent of Victoria's population growth in the year to March 31, with a net gain of 42,897 foreigners. There was also strong "natural" increase, with births exceeded deaths by 31,131. But there was a net loss of 1844 people to other states, mainly Queensland and NSW. Population is also surging elsewhere in Australia, with the national increase estimated at 307,100 — the largest annual rise since record keeping began in 1789, two years after the arrival of the First Fleet. The Housing Industry Association's Victorian director, Caroline Lawrey, said the supply of new houses was clearly "totally insufficient" to meet the state's population growth, and called for greater incentives for medium and high-density accommodation. "We are already building fewer houses than we need for the current population," she said. "We are getting quite concerned that in Victoria … as demand increases and supply decreases we will be seeing increasingly unrealistic prices." BIS Shrapnel senior consultant Angie Zigomanis said overseas migration had not been so strong since the late 1980s. The difference now was that most migrants were skilled, which tended to place a greater strain on inner-city housing. The bureau predicted that Melbourne's population could hit more than 4.9 million by 2031, compared with around 3.7 million today. State Opposition planning spokesman Matthew Guy said the figures showed Melbourne 2030 was "fundamentally flawed" because it had grossly underestimated population growth. The plan originally envisaged total growth of about 1 million by 2030. "Labor has set aside enough new land for 225,000 Melburnians and expects more than 700,000 people to be accommodated in existing suburbs," Mr Guy said. "However, we will have to accommodate more than a million people in existing suburb developments, which means more high rise and far more high-density construction." Jessica Walker, a spokeswoman for Planning Minister Justin Madden, said Melbourne 2030 was flexible enough to absorb additional population growth. "We have always planned for greater housing growth in the first half of 2030 than the second half," Ms Walker said. Mr Guy also seized on the Government's refusal to rule out Delfin's proposed new suburb, saying it showed the weakness of its policies. "The Government said the urban growth boundary was for keeps," he said. "The reality is that no one believes that … so the urban growth boundary policy has turned into a joke." Under the plan, farmland would be turned into a "green" suburb named Lockerbie, housing up to 35,000 people. Mr Guy said the plan looked "quite attractive" with its proximity to airports, freeways and heavy rail, but the Government's planning policy did not allow for this sort of development. He called for greater flexibility. Greens planning spokesman Greg Barber said the plan should be rejected due to its environmental impact, and that there was plenty of developable land within the boundary. With BEN SCHNEIDERS, DAVID ROOD THE EQUATION HOW VICTORIA GREW Births 65,725 Deaths 34,594 Net overseas migration 42,897 Net interstate migration -1844 Total 74,431* SOURCE: ABS Figures are 12 months to March 31 and do not tally precisely due to different census data. *** Tue Sep 25 02:33:30 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: updated 10:44 a.m. EDT, Mon September 24, 2007 (AP) -- Ultimately, rising seas will likely swamp the first American settlement in Jamestown, Virginia, as well as the Florida launch pad that sent the first American into orbit, many climate scientists are predicting. art.jamestown.afp.gi.jpg Rising waters will flood the first American settlement of Jamestown within a century, scientists predict. In about a century, some of the places that make America what it is may be slowly erased. Global warming -- through a combination of melting glaciers, disappearing ice sheets and warmer waters expanding -- is expected to cause oceans to rise by one meter, or about 39 inches. It will happen regardless of any future actions to curb greenhouse gases, several leading scientists say. And it will reshape the nation. Rising waters will lap at the foundations of old money Wall Street and the new money towers of Silicon Valley. They will swamp the locations of big city airports and major interstate highways. Storm surges worsened by sea level rise will flood the waterfront getaways of rich politicians -- the Bushes' Kennebunkport and John Edwards' place on the Outer Banks. And gone will be many of the beaches in Texas and Florida favored by budget-conscious students on Spring Break. That's the troubling outlook projected by coastal maps reviewed by The Associated Press. The maps, created by scientists at the University of Arizona, are based on data from the U.S. Geological Survey. Few of the more than two dozen climate experts interviewed disagree with the one-meter projection. Some believe it could happen in 50 years, others say 100, and still others say 150. Sea level rise is "the thing that I'm most concerned about as a scientist," says Benjamin Santer, a climate physicist at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California. "We're going to get a meter and there's nothing we can do about it," said University of Victoria climatologist Andrew Weaver, a lead author of the February report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in Paris. "It's going to happen no matter what -- the question is when." Sea level rise "has consequences about where people live and what they care about," said Donald Boesch, a University of Maryland scientist who has studied the issue. "We're going to be into this big national debate about what we protect and at what cost." This week, beginning with a meeting at the United Nations on Monday, world leaders will convene to talk about fighting global warming. At week's end, leaders will gather in Washington with President Bush. Planet in Peril Anderson Cooper, Jeff Corwin & Dr. Sanjay Gupta explore the Earth's environmental issues in a CNN worldwide investigation. October 23-24 at 9 p.m. ET on CNN see full schedule » Experts say that protecting America's coastlines would run well into the billions and not all spots could be saved. And it's not just a rising ocean that is the problem. With it comes an even greater danger of storm surge, from hurricanes, winter storms and regular coastal storms, Boesch said. Sea level rise means higher and more frequent flooding from these extreme events, he said. All told, one meter of sea level rise in just the lower 48 states would put about 25,000 square miles under water, according to Jonathan Overpeck, director of the Institute for the Study of Planet Earth at the University of Arizona. That's an area the size of West Virginia. The amount of lost land is even greater when Hawaii and Alaska are included, Overpeck said. The Environmental Protection Agency's calculation projects a land loss of about 22,000 square miles. The EPA, which studied only the Eastern and Gulf coasts, found that Louisiana, Florida, North Carolina, Texas and South Carolina would lose the most land. But even inland areas like Pennsylvania and the District of Columbia also have slivers of at-risk land, according to the EPA. This past summer's flooding of subways in New York could become far more regular, even an everyday occurrence, with the projected sea rise, other scientists said. And New Orleans' Katrina experience and the daily loss of Louisiana wetlands -- which serve as a barrier that weakens hurricanes -- are previews of what's to come there. Florida faces a serious public health risk from rising salt water tainting drinking water wells, said Joel Scheraga, the EPA's director of global change research. And the farm-rich San Joaquin Delta in California faces serious salt water flooding problems, other experts said. "Sea level rise is going to have more general impact to the population and the infrastructure than almost anything else that I can think of," said S. Jeffress Williams, a U.S. Geological Survey coastal geologist in Woods Hole, Mass. Even John Christy at the University of Alabama in Huntsville, a scientist often quoted by global warming skeptics, said he figures the seas will rise at least 16 inches by the end of the century. But he tells people to prepare for a rise of about three feet just in case. Williams says it's "not unreasonable at all" to expect that much in 100 years. "We've had a third of a meter in the last century." The change will be a gradual process, one that is so slow it will be easy to ignore for a while. "It's like sticking your finger in a pot of water on a burner and you turn the heat on, Williams said. "You kind of get used to it." E-mail to a friend E-mail to a friend Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. *** Sun Sep 30 17:33:18 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Three youths stabbed in Sydney brawl Source: AAP Author: AAP Posted: Sun 30 Sep, 2007 One teenager is in a critical condition and two others in a serious condition after they were stabbed during a brawl in the city. Police say the three young males were stabbed during a fight involving about 20 people inside a shopping complex on Liverpool Street around 11pm (AEST) on Saturday night. The two 18-year-olds and a 17-year-old were taken to St Vincents Hospital in a taxi. One of the 18-year-olds is in a critical condition after undergoing emergency surgery. The other 18-year-old and the 17-year-old are both in a serious condition. Police established a crime scene and spoke with a large number of witnesses. Anyone with information about the stabbings should contact City Central Police or Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000. *** Sun Sep 30 20:41:02 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: New citizenship test takes effect today October 01, 2007 09:27am Article from: AAP MORE than 30 people hoping to become Australian citizens will take the Federal Government's controversial new citizenship test today. The aspiring citizens will be quizzed on their general knowledge of Australian history and culture and English-language skills. Immigration Minister Kevin Andrews said the 20-question multiple-choice exam covered a wide range of topics. "What year did Federation take place? What day of the year is Australia Day? What's the first line of Australia's national anthem? What is approximately the population of Australia?" Mr Andrews said, giving examples on ABC radio. To pass, prospective citizens will have to get at least 12 questions correct. Mr Andrews said the computer-based test was designed to make sure new citizens had a basic knowledge of English and understood the responsibility and privilege of being Australian. "It's important the people ... coming to Australia share the values that we commonly hold in Australia, understand something about our nation, our way of life ... about our history and our heritage," he said. The questions could readily be answered by any person who had been living in Australia for a number of years, Mr Andrews said. However, the test has received widespread condemnation from advocate groups who claim it creates an extra hurdle for migrants and refugees wanting to become Australian citizens. Refugee Council of Australia CEO Paul Power said people from non-English-speaking backgrounds were particularly disadvantaged. "Historically, people who have come as refugees and humanitarian entrants have been much more interested in becoming Australian citizens than any other group of migrants," Mr Power told ABC radio. "This testing regime will advantage those who are least likely to be interested in Australian citizenship and disadvantage many of those who are most interested." Mr Andrews rejected the criticism. He said there was no limit on how many times an applicant could sit the test, and a guidebook in 29 languages was available to help non-English speakers. "There's a lot of assistance being provided to people," he said. "Ultimately, if you are becoming a citizen of Australia, we expect you to share the common values that we have in this country and know something about the way of life and heritage of Australia." *** Mon Oct 1 19:33:07 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Churches struggle as old guard promoted to glory * * Email * Printer friendly version * Normal font * Large font Linda Morris Religious Affairs Reporter October 1, 2007 AdvertisementAdvertisement THE number of Australians identifying themselves as Christian will plummet over the next 20 years as an ageing generation of dedicated churchgoers dies out, analysis of census figures shows. Painting a bleak future for Christian faiths, the Christian Research Association predicts the ranks of non-believers will steadily grow while there will not be enough young converts to replace elderly congregations. The research also questions one of the few success stories of Christianity, the Pentecostal churches, challenging assertions that they are hotbeds of Christian recruitment. The association's senior researcher, Philip Hughes, said the bulk of growth in Pentecostal churches came from the natural growth of families as churchgoers married and raised their children in the faith. The number of converts was being offset by those who drifted out of the church. Dr Hughes said rates of Christian identification were likely to fall to less than 60 per cent by 2025, reflecting declining interest in religion and spirituality in general. But present trends did not imply that the decline would continue until churches ceased to exist. The rate of Christian adherence was likely to settle at 50 per cent within 30 to 40 years, depending on immigration patterns. "Denominational leaders should be concerned about the census figures," Dr Hughes said. "Even those denominations showing the greatest growth are not doing very well. Given all the effort that is put into evangelism among the Pentecostals, a net growth by conversion, apart from births, of 13,800 people in 10 years across Australia by all the Pentecostal churches combined is not great growth." Dr Hughes said there was no evidence that the decline in church attendance detected in the 2006 census might be arrested as baby boomers with more time on their hands considered returning to the church in their retirement. The Salvation Army and the Uniting Church, with ageing congregations, were among the Christian groups to have suffered the greatest decline. The Uniting Church also appeared to be suffering from divisions over gay ministers. Buddhism, Hinduism and Islam boasted the fastest growth. The greatest growth of any Christian denomination was for the evangelical Christian Brethren Assemblies, which has no formal links with the Exclusive Brethren. *** Mon Oct 1 19:51:28 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Short-changed by employer, then sacked * * Email * Printer friendly version * Normal font * Large font October 2, 2007 Lifelong Liberal voter … working people are "very vulnerable". Lifelong Liberal voter … working people are "very vulnerable". Photo: Peter Rae Latest related coverage * The state of the workplace * People who sign up to AWAs earn less, study shows * Juggling act to understand your rights * A poor deal, but nothing they can do * Hopes of a pay rise undercut * Australia@Work PDF: An Era Of Opportunity * Australia@Work PDF: Indiana University * Australia@Work PDF: Dean's report AdvertisementAdvertisement MAREE FILIPCZUK is the sort of lifelong Liberal voter who has the Government running scared. For years after her husband died, this single mother worked part-time raising her two daughters in Sydney's west before answering an advertisement for a full-time job as a sales assistant in November 2005, just as the Government was preparing to bring in its new workplace laws. She got the job with a small family-owned company that had half a dozen jewellery stores called House of Cillini and was promised award rates of pay. When her first pay came she was given an internet banking receipt showing an amount deposited into her savings account. "I asked the manager if there was a pay slip coming and he said, 'No, that's it'." It wasn't only a pay slip Ms Filipczuk could not get. There was no roster of when she was required to work, no arrangement for a lunch or other break, no meal allowance when she worked 12 hours straight and no evidence of any superannuation payments. "Nothing was ever set down … I asked repeatedly for pay slips and never got them," she said. After months she grew impatient, found out the award conditions for her work, got the phone number for the tax office superannuation hotline and on March 29, 2006, wrote to the man who had employed her, Marco Hwezawe, asking for the money she was owed. When that failed, she called him and tried to sort out her problems. "I asked if my super had been fixed up and he said, 'I think so'." When she asked if the superannuation included missing back payments, he told his manager to sack her. Ms Filipczuk had never been sacked before, had never even had a warning at work and was angry, not just because she was owed money but because of the way she had been unfairly dismissed just for asking for her entitlements. She resents the changes to the industrial relations law, which mean employees in small businesses can no longer take action for unfair dismissal. "I see this sort of thing happening time and time again." Five years ago, before the new industrial laws, her daughter went to work for a popcorn franchise when she was 16 and she was underpaid. "At least we had some recourse then. I looked up the award, wrote it down and said to them, 'This is what you owe my daughter,' and they paid her what she was owed." Ms Filipczuk produced pay slips from a franchise coffee shop store to show how the same thing had happened with her daughter this year when she did three weeks' work. The store gave her daughter a printed sheet stating the rate for a 20-year-old was $18.19 an hour but her pay slips showed the business was paying her only $15.59 an hour. Although the amounts were small, she protested again, but never got the money, "I have been a Liberal voter all my life but I think this is so unfair. I am trying to support my family, and all I want is award rates and super." Ms Filipczuk says she has voted Liberal because she always believed it important to look at the "big picture" and the Liberals have delivered. But the industrial laws are making her rethink her position. "I do know many people are earning less than they were. Some reform was needed but these IR reforms have gone too far. They have left the ordinary working person very vulnerable." The company has gone into administration since Ms Filipczuk left. Representatives did not return calls. Matthew Moore *** Tue Oct 2 23:02:42 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: India's call centre professionals are STRESSED OUT Govt planning to introduce health policy for IT professionals October 03, 2007 Print Ready Email Article DIVORCE, heart attacks, abuse, depression, diabetes, obesity due to junk food, stress, insomnia due to daily night shifts and even suicides. Click to see larger image File picture That's the flip side to a seemingly lucrative career as a call centre professional in India today. Divorce rates among IT employees in the southern Indian city of Bangalore have risen fourfold in the past three years, reported London's The Times. Three out of ten call centre professionals change jobs every year. One in seven is forced to leave the industry altogether because of stress. Now, the government is so alarmed at the high rate of burn-out in the call centre industry, it is planning to implement a health policy to tackle the issue. After all, a recent report stated that India could be staring at a loss of up to a US$100 billion dollars ($150b) in its national income unless more is being done to protect the health of its workers. Mr Anbumani Ramadoss, India's health minister, said: 'It's (IT industry's) future growth could be stunted if we don't address the problem now.' He wants to implement a dedicated health policy for IT workers, which will include regular health checks by employers. But some industry insiders are sceptical over how the government will impose a code of practice on the private sector. IT heads are worried about why the government has chosen their sector, when, they say, textiles and mining industries have greater labour issues. It is believed that India's IT industry is likely to resist change. It previously rejected a move to unionise workers, fearing that it would damage India's competitive edge and deter foreign investment. http://tnp.sg/news/story/0,4136,143686,00.html? *** Tue Oct 2 23:15:32 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: We're at breaking point, staff tell minister in crisis http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/were-at-breaking-point-staff-tell-minister-in-crisis/2007/10/02/1191091115241.html?s_cid=rss_national Reba Meagher meets and greets nurses at the Royal Prince Alfred hospital. Reba Meagher meets and greets nurses at the Royal Prince Alfred hospital. Photo: Brendan Esposito Latest related coverage * How The Grim Reba rose without trace * Abbott promises funds but jobs to go * Hospital in need of urgent treatment * Cash-starved dental school to cut students Alexandra Smith October 3, 2007 THE NSW Health Minister, Reba Meagher, was last night warned of a public health system at breaking point in a crisis meeting with senior doctors who outlined a host of problems plaguing emergency departments. The embattled minister offered no immediate solutions to the doctors' concerns - which include a chronic lack of senior staff, failure of NSW Health officials to listen to clinicians and a severe bed shortage - but will meet the doctors again in two weeks. Sally McCarthy, vice-president of the Australasian College of Emergency Medicine and head of the Prince of Wales Hospital emergency unit, said the minister "did a lot of listening" but the doctors had not expected any immediate answers to their pleas. "I guess we didn't expect there to be any outcomes because these issues have been around for a long time but we certainly appreciate the minister meeting with us. Next time we meet we will be expecting some commitments," Dr McCarthy said. In the first meeting with heads of emergency departments since taking on the health portfolio six months ago, Ms Meagher agreed to set up a ministerial taskforce, chaired by Rod Bishop, head of emergency at Nepean Hospital, and a nurse unit manager at Mona Vale Hospital. Dr Bishop said the Nepean emergency department was straining under the pressure of being largely staffed by junior locum doctors. "I don't think we are broken just yet but we are at breaking point," he said. "We had a good meeting, I am positive … we had a chance to give a view from people who actually work in emergency." Dr Bishop, head of the third-busiest emergency department in NSW, said half the doctors in his department were inexperienced. The meeting came after senior doctors warned that every emergency unit in the state public health system was riddled with chronic management problems that are jeopardising patient care. Their concerns followed a wave of complaints about lack of staff and resources in emergency departments after Jana Horska, 32, miscarried in the toilets of Royal North Shore last week after waiting two hours to receive treatment. The director-general of NSW Health, Deborah Picone, was also at the meeting, along with the emergency department heads from Nepean, Royal Prince Alfred, Liverpool, St George, Royal North Shore, St Vincent's, Westmead and Prince of Wales hospitals. Dr McCarthy said the doctors told Ms Meagher of a poor attitude from NSW Health towards emergency departments across the state, as well as describing the impact of bed shortages and staffing emergency departments with junior inexperienced staff. Ms Meagher said: "I was struck by the commitment by all in the room to work constructively and together towards improving the issues currently faced in emergency departments." Earlier Ms Meagher again defended herself and denied her job was under threat. The Premier, Morris Iemma, also supported his Health Minister yesterday. "There are many challenges in the health portfolio. I look forward to working through them," Ms Meagher said. She was yesterday also forced to instruct her ministerial driver that her government car was only to be parked in public car parks during hospital visits after she was criticised when her car was parked in a disabled spot at Fairfield Hospital. A disgruntled driver, who also unwittingly parked in a disabled spot, confronted Ms Meagher outside the hospital and demanded to know why she had escaped a parking fine but he had not. The minister's spokesman said: "The minister has met with the man who was inconvenienced today to discuss his concerns. He won't be paying the fine." *** Thu Oct 4 00:24:32 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Scans reveal lost gravestone text By Cristina Jimenez Illegible words on church headstones could be read once more thanks to a scan technology developed in the US. Scientists at Carnegie Mellon university are making high resolution 3D scans of tombstones to reveal the carved patterns in the stone. A computer matches the patterns to a database of signature carvings which reveals the words. The technique could one day also be used by doctors to examine a patient's tongue for signs of illness. Scientists often find it difficult to distinguish between natural phenomena and man-made art works carved into stone, due to the build-up of algae and surface dirt. At the moment, archaeologists are forced to do hand-tracing work with plastic sheets and to examine objects first hand in order to decipher obscured writings. Carved figures And sometimes, it is just impossible to read what lies beneath the dirt. The new scanning method detects carved figures such as writings and drawings through 3D scans and computer analysis. "This technology is expected to reduce guessing work in field inspection," said Dr Yang Cai, director of the Ambient Intelligence Lab at Carnegie Mellon Cylab. In recent weeks, Dr Cai's research team have been testing the new technique at a 200-year-old cemetery close to the university in Pittsburgh. The scientists have been scanning unreadable gravestones at Old St Luke's Church to help its Episcopal pastor identify all the names on the cemetery's tombstones. The technology has been built on top of existing 3D reconstruction techniques. But the team at Carnegie Mellon is focusing on surface signatures. "We have designed special filters of 3D data that can detect curvature or linear features on a surface," Dr Cai said. The scientists scan the important areas in very high resolution and the rest in lower resolution, in order to avoid unmanageable digital file sizes. "This is similar to the human visual experience - we usually see the gazed area in high resolution but the peripheral area in a blurred vision," Dr Cai said. The team is also developing "template matching methods" to detect particular patterns such as carved shapes. For example, tombstone carvings usually contain continuous lines for letters. The new technique allows them to define patterns of "typical" lines and curves and store them in a database. "If the computer finds the data matches the patterns in the database, then it will highlight the area," Dr Cai said. Experienced archaeologists have lots of accumulated pattern descriptions. For example, natural holes on the rock normally have rounded edges but man-made carvings in rock usually have rather sharp edges around the holes. This knowledge can be encoded thanks to the new technique. Digital cemetery The database of 3D scan data can also be mapped onto other datasets, such as geographical information systems, historical weather databases and high-fidelity models of archaeological sites. In addition to discovering who is buried in the cemetery, Dr Cai's team is developing a digital cemetery for Old St. Luke's Church in order to help visualise the scanned data. It will be available for internet browsers, on DVD and interactive computer demos. The researchers believe the technology will also have practical applications in other industry sectors, such as the security and medical fields. Dr Cai said: "We may use the technology for the future UAVs (Unmanned Aviation vehicles) to detect ground signatures of ancient ruins and help medical doctors to diagnose patients' well-being through tongue inspection." The technology could also be used to predict a possible tsunami by examining the patterns on the surface of the world's oceans. Story from BBC NEWS: http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/technology/7024672.stm Published: 2007/10/03 08:32:19 GMT © BBC MMVII *** Mon Oct 8 07:32:18 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Monday October 8, 04:49 PM Aussies repulsed by body odour More Australians are repulsed by bad body odour than any other physical characteristic, a new survey has found. About 1,000 Australians aged between 18 and 69 were quizzed about physical characteristics they found the least appealing. The survey found the most important thing people can do make themselves more attractive is reach for a can of deodorant - almost nine in ten people found body odour unattractive, just slightly more than disliked bad breath. About 72 per cent found obesity unappealing, four in ten did not like people to be underweight, and about the same did not like people to be overweight. But the survey could give heart to people self-conscious about thinning or greying hair. Less than one in seven people nominated going bald as unappealing, and just eight per cent did not like grey hair. Only four per cent found glasses unappealing. The survey was conducted by Stollznow Research for GSK Consumer Healthcare in September 2007. *** Tue Oct 16 01:01:31 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Tax refund email a scam, officials warn October 16, 2007 02:01pm Article from: NEWS.com.au Font size: + - Send this article: Print Email THE lure of a tax refund is being used to rip people off with an elaborate fake email making its way around the nation, the tax office warns. The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) has issued a warning about the hoax email informing recipients about their “tax refunds”, which had even made its way into its own employees’ email inboxes. Featuring “Australian Taxation Office - Notification” in the subject line, official logos of the department and even a copyright of “HM Revenue & Customs”, the emails seemed legitimate, an ATO spokeswoman said. The emails ask recipients to visit a website to lodge an application, including banking details, to receive their refund. “Please submit the tax refund request and allow us 15-30 days in order to process it,” the email says. Acting ATO commissioner Greg Farr said the email was definitely not about helping taxpayers receive refunds. “With the October 31 deadline for tax returns approaching, people should be particularly wary of any unsolicited emails claiming to be from the tax office,” Mr Farr said. “The tax office will never send an email to people asking them to provide personal information or credit card details.” *** Tue Oct 16 03:41:10 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: How Rule of Law, Anti-Corruption Transformed Singapore – Lee Kuan Yee 10.15.2007 http://www.thisdayonline.com/nview.php?id=92372 The 2007 Annual Conference of the International Bar Association, the global voice of the legal profession, took off Sunday in the city state of Singapore. At the opening ceremony attended by almost 4,000 lawyers from 120 countries, conference delegates had the rare privilege of listening to a keynote address by the first Prime Minister of Singapore, now Minister Mentor, Lee Kuan Yew. FUNKE ABOYADE, currently in Singapore, reports on the event The rule of law, currently the mantra of the Yar’Adua government, re-echoed two days ago in far away Singapore when the 2007 Annual Conference of the International Bar Association took off in spectacular style and grandeur. The Keynote Speaker at Sunday’s opening ceremony was none other than former Prime Minister, now Minister Mentor, Lee Kuan Yew, whose arrival was greeted by delegates rising to their feet to usher in the extraordinary leader who, in a single generation, led Singapore from the backwater economic outpost it had been to the modern and developed economic hub it now is. Lee, who became Prime Minister in 1959 and held that position for 31 years recounted to delegates why he made the rule of law a number one priority and how it helped to hasten Singapore’s leap from Third to First World. ‘To understand Singapore, you have to know how we were thrown out of the Federation with Malaysia in 1965’ he told the audience of some 4,000 lawyers from around the world. ‘We faced a bleak future, with no resources, we were a small island in the midst of independent minded and nationalistic nations, each determined to cut off Singapore as the middle man. To survive, we had to provide an environment our neighbours did not provide’. That environment, he explained, included a clean society, one in which the rule of law held sway, with an independent Judiciary, honest and effective Police Force and efficient law enforcement agencies. ‘If we did not create ourselves in this way, Singapore would have perished. It would not have become the hub for business, finance and maritime law that it is today’. Lee who is a lawyer educated at Cambridge practised law for 10 years before taking office as Prime Minister in 1959. ‘I knew the rule of law would give an advantage to Singapore in South East Asia where leaders were often the next military man. We inherited a sound legal system from the British, which provided the basis for citizens to compete equally in the market. Our Common Law heritage was a hub to attract investors. We adopted English as our working language and kept English legal principles’ he told an enthralled audience. Explaining how the country adapted its inherited laws to suit its needs, replacing for instance appeals to the Privy Council with final appeals terminating within its own court hierarchy, Lee also trumped the independence of his country’s Judiciary. ‘No Judge can be removed by the Executive’ he said. The stark similarities between Singapore and Nigeria were hard to miss; the different paths both countries have trodden even starker. The widely different results, plain and painful to see. It was a day every Nigerian delegate at the conference, and they constituted roughly 10% of the audience, must have wondered what went wrong. The shenanigans playing out in some of Nigeria’s State Judiciaries became a lesson, if ever one was needed, on how not to run the Judiciary to rack and ruin. Recalling that Singapore had had to enact special legislation to meet and manage the needs of a multi-racial, multi-religious society which was always prone to conflicts, the Minister Mentor recalled two of such legislations - the Employment Act and Industrial Relations Act - which provided systems for collective bargaining and an industrial arbitration court to resolve industrial disputes. In all this, he said, law and order was central, and caning and sentencing were used and still in place to instill discipline ‘The benefits of a sound legal system are numerous. By 1980, we realised that the system we inherited from the British had to be modernised and reformed.’ The nation’s Chief Justice then began the process of restructuring the judicial system, with the introduction of IT in courts, appointment of the Judges from the Bar’s ablest and best, etc. ‘The result was that over the last 15 years, Singapore’s judicial system has been transformed from inefficient to one of the most efficient in the world’. Good governance and a sound legal system was a prerequisite, Lee told an audience which included Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Fashola, SAN. Speaking on corruption, Minister Mentor Lee stated that integrity of his country’s financial system was able to withstand the 1997 Asian crisis which caused its neighbours’ banking and financial system to collapse. ‘In 1959, we moved subtly to remove corruption before it became endemic’. Today, Transparency International ranks Singapore in the top five nations out of over 160 in its corruption index. Nigeria, until very recently, ranked in the bottom two. ‘Our country does not tolerate corruption.’ he reiterated. ‘Any allegation of corruption must be taken seriously and investigated. As a result, there must be a good Judiciary, a sound legal system and a fair administration of justice’. Minister Mentor Lee’s words were not lost on Nigerians in the audience who could not but help wonder about the haze surrounding the current phase of the anti-corruption war back home, especially the injunctions issued by courts, effectively preventing the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission from further investigating allegations of corruption it had levelled against some former Governors. In contrast, in Singapore, a junior cabinet Minister had been convicted and sentenced for corrupt practices and another cabinet Minister had committed suicide over similar allegations and investigations. In an ironic twist of fate Nigeria, it’s a cat and mouse game between the accused and the accuser agency, with the accused usually gaining the upper hand and oddly, gaining star or martyr status amongst his townspeople. Singapore has since 1997, occupied the top two positions worldwide under the legal framework component. Despite the fact that a 2006 World Bank study replaced New Zealand with Singapore in the number one spot, Lee declared to delegates’ admiration, ‘We cannot be complacent. We have to meet challenges which technology has brought upon us’. ‘Singapore’ he said, ‘has to maintain its position as a city par excellence and retain and attract the best’. Commenting on recent reports by Reporters Without frontiers which had ranked Singapore on the same level as Zimbabwe in terms of certain freedoms, Lee retorted, receiving wide applause, ‘I measure myself with the objectives of governance of my people – establishing a system with peace and stability, good health care, good housing, good jobs, good education and the like’. Earlier, the President of the 40 year old Law Society of Singapore and Chair, Host Committee, Philip Jeyaretnam, had welcomed conference delegates to Singapore and invited them to partake of its diverse ethnic culture, sights and cuisine. Indeed, delegates had a taste of Singaporean culture at the opening ceremony as they were treated to a colourful and well coordinated display of dance, music and choreography. IBA President, Fernando Pombo, in his own remarks said, ‘Our success has not come for free. It is the result of doing the right thing, every time’. The 2007 Annual Conference of the Association which is currently celebrating 60 years of its existence is another resounding success for it and the IBA is justifiably proud. Record numbers of lawyers are attending the Singapore Conference as the body which prides itself as the global voice of the legal profession strives, in the words of Chair, Legal Practice Division, David Rivkin, ‘to improve the practice of law and rule of law’. The rule of law holds centre stage at this year’s conference, with a whole unprecedented day devoted to it. The task force created by the IBA President is expected to submit its final report at next year’s Annual Conference, scheduled to hold in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The presidential task force was created further to The Rule of Law Resolution passed by the IBA Council at the Association’s Annual Conference in Prague in 2005. According to the resolution, ‘An independent, impartial Judiciary, the presumption of innocence, the right to a fair and public trial without undue delay, a rational and proportionate approach to punishment, a strong and independent legal profession, strict protection of confidential communications between lawyer and client, equality of all before the law are all fundamental principles of the rule of law’. The Council denounced ‘arbitrary arrests, secret trials, indefinite detention without trial, cruel and degrading punishment, intimidation or corruption in the electoral process’, as unacceptable. ‘The rule of law’ it declared, as it called upon all countries to respect its fundamental principles ‘is the foundation of a civilised society. It establishes a transparent process accessible and equal to all. It ensures adherence to principles that both liberate and protect’. The conference will also focus on anti-corruption issues, including the contentious issue of extraterritorial enforcement of national laws and other anti-corruption initiatives around the world. A welcome party was held after the grand opening ceremony at one of Singapore’s best known landmarks, The Raffles Hotel. The famous Singapore Sling was created at The Raffles Hotel by one of its bartenders, Ngiam Tong Boon, in 1920. The hotel, elegant and timeless, provided the perfect backdrop and ambience to end a perfect day with food and drinks reflecting the country’s ethnic diversity. Established in 1947, the IBA has a membership of over 30,000 individual lawyers and 195 Bar Associations and Law Societies. It has held over 30 specialist conferences around the world in the past one year and is expected to hold one titled, Energy and Infrastructure Projects in Sub-Saharan Africa, in Lagos in the third quarter of next year. The conference ends on Friday. *** Tue Oct 23 05:57:47 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: http://au.news.yahoo.com//071023/2/14qpu.html Tuesday October 23, 06:54 PM NSW police to issue on-the-spot fines Police in NSW will be given new powers to issue on-the-spot fines for shoplifting and other minor crimes. But the state opposition has slammed the move as a "decriminalisation push". Police on patrol will be able to issue criminal infringement notices (CIN) in much the same way as traffic tickets are issued, Premier Morris Iemma announced, with the move to take effect from November 1. Mr Iemma said it would ensure officers spent more time on the beat and less time bogged down in paperwork at the station. He put the time savings at 56,000 hours per year, or the equivalent of an extra 40 frontline police. "It will mean less police time wasted behind desks doing paperwork, providing more of the high visibility policing the community wants," Mr Iemma said. "Much like a traffic ticket, people can still opt to go to court if they wish to challenge the fine." A CIN can be issued for the petty crimes of theft or shoplifting of goods up to a value of $300, minor fraud, possession of stolen goods, offensive conduct or language, obstructing traffic or unlawfully entering a vehicle or boat. The alleged offender has 21 days to pay the fine, which can range from $150 to $350, via the State Debt Recovery Office. Only those who seek to contest their CIN in court, and who are then found guilty, will see the matter recorded on their criminal record. The CIN scheme has been trialled in 12 police districts. Legislation to enable the new powers was passed by the NSW parliament late last year, and the NSW Ombudsman has also signed off on the move. NSW Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione said the full weight of the law would still be used against repeat offenders of minor crimes, who would not be issued a CIN. The move would also be underpinned by the roll-out of 500 hi-tech and portable "fingerprint scanners", he said, costing $5 million and expected to be in full use across the state from 2009. "It allows us to fingerprint, check their identity, photograph the offender and then manage the event," Mr Scipione said. "It's another tool to allow them to stay out on the road, and I'm ecstatic about that." But the NSW opposition said the CIN move would send the wrong message to criminals, leading to a de-stigmatising of dishonesty crimes by treating them "much like a traffic ticket". "Included in the list of offences, which have now effectively been decriminalised, are breaking into a car, stealing from a shop or being in possession of stolen goods," opposition police spokesman Mike Gallacher said. The Greens also raised concerns, saying the move shifted the burden of proof away from the police, and that it would hit the state's most disadvantaged the hardest. "The powers are likely to be used to target homeless and mentally ill people because they are the group most likely to be charged with offensive conduct or language or minor shoplifting offences," Greens MP Sylvia Hale said. The NSW Police Association secretary Peter Remfrey welcomed the moves, saying the changes would mean front-line police could spend more time on the streets, rather than completing paperwork on minor infringements. He said the association was also working on a range of other initiatives designed to reduce the frustration reported by police caught up in red tape. "We will continue to campaign on behalf of NSW police officers to simplify processes and eliminate unnecessary paperwork," he said. "Specific areas where we hope to see change in the future include streamlining the handling of Apprehended Domestic Violence Orders and modifying procedures around the preparation and service of briefs, crime scene warrants, search warrants, mental health escorts and forensic procedures." *** Sat Oct 27 03:50:38 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Court knocks back asbestos case appeals * Font Size: Decrease Increase * Print Page: Print Elizabeth Gosch | October 25, 2007 THE High Court has rejected a bid by two James Hardie asbestos victims and home handymen to appeal the decision overturning their compensation payouts. Chief Justice Murray Gleeson and judges Dyson Heydon and Susan Kiefel refused an application for special leave to appeal from lawyers for Dennis Moss and the late David Hannell. In Perth, the judges yesterday found there was insufficient likelihood of a successful appeal on the Court of Appeal decision to overturn the $762,000 awarded against Hardie subsidiary Amaca last year. Mr Moss and Hannell contracted mesothelioma from exposure to asbestos products in and around their homes in the mid-to-late 1980s. Hannell died aged 64 while the Court of Appeal was considering the matter in June. The British-born gardener emigrated to Australia with his family in 1981. He was exposed to asbestos on three occasions, in 1983, 1985 and 1990, doing handyman work on his suburban Perth home. The Supreme Court awarded him $537,000 in damages. Mr Moss, 80, a successful jazz musician known as Danny, was exposed to asbestos at least four times between 1989 and 1990 while working with or watching others work with asbestos cement products at his home. He was awarded $225,000. The Court of Appeal ruled that Amaca did not breach its duty of care by failing to advertise the dangers of asbestos in the mass media. It also ruled that Amaca's failure to place warning labels on the products was not a cause of the applicants' injury. Slater & Gordon asbestos lawyer Tim Hammond said the decision was obviously disappointing for Hannell's family and Mr Moss and his family. "However, they can rest assured their courageous fight for justice was not in vain ... there are a number of groundbreaking legal principles established by the West Australian Court of Appeal that will pave the way for future victims of asbestos disease to obtain compensation." Mr Hammond said the Court of Appeal had held for the first time that James Hardie owed home handymen a duty of care. "The court established that James Hardie knew, or ought to have known, of the lethal dangers of exposing home handymen to asbestos products." *** Tue Oct 30 18:34:26 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: There's a sucker born every day * * Email * Printer friendly version * Normal font * Large font Marc Moncrief October 31, 2007 Illustration: Matt Davidson Advertisement A FORMER adviser to the late head of state of Nigeria needs your help to move $US45,000,000 out of his country. All he needs now is an "honest partner". Sound familiar? The scam known as the "Nigerian letter fraud" and others like it (which repeatedly defer large rewards and instead demand information or small payments) have haunted the internet for years, yet last year reports of this class of fraud in Australia more than doubled. This is one of the surprises in the annual report of the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC), the government regulator charged with tracking money associated with crime, for the year to June 30. The growth has been even more pronounced since the 2004-05 annual report, when only about a tenth as many suspicious transactions associated with Nigerian letter-type frauds, known as "advance fee" frauds, were reported. Experts say the phenomenon demonstrates at least two lessons: first, that fraudsters are still outsmarting their prey; and second, that information on fraud is inherently imperfect. "In many areas, the reporting hasn't been all it could have been in the past," said Deloitte partner Chris Cass. "Before, you could draw the bow that perhaps it was not all being reported. You could also draw the line that, for whatever reason, in the financial services activity there's more awareness of this type of fraud … It begs the question 'were previous years fully reported?' " KPMG forensic expert Gary Gill said part of the problem could be the growth of internet users. That equation was multiplied by the multiple email addresses it had become common for many users to adopt. "The way these guys harvest email addresses, there certainly are millions and millions more of these (scam) emails," Mr Gill said. "There's always a small minority of people that respond." Ernst & Young partner and fraud expert Owain Stone said that advance fee scams had also become more sophisticated. One such scam even claims to represent a fund raising money to help victims of the original Nigerian letter scam. New federal laws introduced last year gave AUSTRAC greater powers to fight fraud and put more businesses into its hunting grounds. Banks and other financial services companies, along with gold bullion dealers, betting houses and casinos, are the first to come under the law's ambit. By December 12, they must be able to show they have an anti-money laundering regime in place, including measures to identify potentially criminal activities of their clients. Perhaps because of the increased scrutiny, about 50 per cent more suspicious transactions associated with unusual gambling were reported. "When you turn the regulatory spotlight on an industry, then that in itself will lead to a greater concentration of resources," Mr Cass said. Credit card fraud also climbed — but much more substantially. AUSTRAC registered about four times as many instances of credit card fraud. http://tinyurl.com/ypfp43 *** Tue Oct 30 18:53:46 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Whistle-blower e-mail addresses exposed in Judiciary Committee snafu Microsoft Outlook message goes horribly sideways Jaikumar Vijayan October 30, 2007 (Computerworld) -- The House Judiciary Committee yesterday apologized to would-be whistle-blowers for accidentally exposing their e-mail addresses to other individuals who, like them, had used a committee Web site to secretly submit tips about alleged abuses at the Department of Justice. The snafu resulted when a clerical employee at the committee accidentally included the e-mail address of all the whistle-blowers in the "To" field of a message that was sent out to each tipster informing them of certain changes in access conditions. A substantial number of the more than 150 e-mail addresses in the distribution list included portions of individuals' real names. Also included in the list was the public e-mail address of Vice President Dick Cheney, as well as some apparently fictitious individuals, according to a statement released yesterday by the Judiciary Committee. "An erroneous communication was sent that may have compromised the anonymity of recipients of the e-mail," the unattributed statement said. "The committee apologizes for the concern this error may have caused, and is making every effort to protect the confidentiality of those who chose to provide information on the tip line," the statement said. The House Judiciary Committee is chaired by Rep. John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.) The Web tip line was set up around June 20. It was designed to give Justice Department employees a way to confidentially provide the Judiciary Committee with information that could potentially aid the committee's ongoing investigation of the "alleged politicization" at the Justice Department. Soon after the Web site was set up however, committee minority members argued that any tips that were submitted to the site were committee records to which they rightfully had full access as well. On Oct. 24, an agreement was reached between the majority and minority members of the committee under which both sides agreed to limit access to committee members and specifically designated staff. The sides also agreed that any broader release of the tips would require a full committee vote. A nonpartisan clerical employee was selected to send out an e-mail to all tipsters informing them about the changes in the access conditions and offering them an option to "withdraw any information" submitted if they chose to. In carrying out this task, the statement said, the employee apparently misunderstood the "private" checkbox in Microsoft Outlook's Distribution List function. "The employee mistakenly believed that this would hide the names on the distribution list from the recipients," and that only the name of the distribution list itself would appear in the "To" field. "As a result of this mistake, all e-mail addresses of all recipients were visible to everyone who received the e-mail," the statement said. "This was an inadvertent clerical error, and contrary to speculation, not the result of hacking or any malicious act," the statement added. The TPMmuckraker blog called the gaffe a "whoops with a capital W." The blog, which claims to have been forwarded copies of the e-mail by someone who received it, said the original message was followed by another one recalling it a few hours later. However, the recall notice also had all of the e-mail addresses exposed in the "To" field. This is the second time recently that a government entity has been embarrassed by an e-mail snafu. Earlier, this month, the Department of Homeland Security managed to flood government and business mail servers with over 2 million messages and exposed e-mail addresses of thousands of security professionals when someone hit *** Tue Oct 30 19:06:03 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: A severance package in everything but name Merrill's departing CEO to get roughly $160 million, mostly in stock options By Alistair Barr, MarketWatch Last Update: 6:27 PM ET Oct 30, 2007 SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) --When is a severance package not a severance package? When Merrill Lynch & Co. says so, some executive compensation experts said on Tuesday. Merrill MER 65.56, -1.86, -2.8%) announced the retirement of Chief Executive Stanley O'Neal earlier on Tuesday, just days after the investment bank reported an unexpected third-quarter loss on the back of an $8 billion subprime mortgage-inspired write-down. See full story. O'Neal is getting roughly $160 million in stock options and retirement benefits as he steps down. The company is not paying him any severance, a spokeswomen for the bank said. She declined to comment further. A lot O'Neal's stock options aren't vested. In Merrill's latest proxy filing, the bank disclosed that he had $107.1 million of unvested shares and another $33.9 million of other unearned stock, including some from an equity incentive plan. That's based on the value of Merrill's shares at the end of 2006. The stock has dropped about 30% since then. Giving unvested stock options to a departing CEO is a bad idea because it undermines one of the main reasons that companies award them: to retain top talent. "Executives should not be indifferent whether they leave or stay," said James Reda, founder of New York-based executive compensation consulting firm James F. Reda & Associates, LLC. "If someone retires you should give them some recognition, but not by giving them unvested stock. That's lunacy." Reda and others say Merrill may be trying - unsuccessfully -- to avoid the controversy of awarding a large severance package to an underperforming CEO. "They're being very careful to say that they're not paying severance," Bill Coleman, senior vice president of compensation at Salary.com, said. "But the fact that they gave him those stock options, despite many being unvested, is effectively a severance package." "If it's his fault that Merrill slipped up, why are they giving him a $160 million package?" Coleman said. "Whatever it ends up being, it's a lot of money for someone who has just 'retired' so to speak. That's the gist of the controversy." Other top executives at big companies have left with huge payouts in recent years, prompting a backlash from some investors and corporate governance experts. "Sadly, Merrill isn't starting anything new," Coleman said. "There's an on-going controversy over CEOs getting severance-like payments following poor performance and termination." Home Depot Inc. (HD: Home Depot, Inc News, chart, profile, more Last: 31.46+0.06+0.19% 4:01pm 10/30/2007 Delayed quote data Add to portfolio Analyst Create alert Insider Discuss Financials Sponsored by: HD 31.46, +0.06, +0.2%) Chairman and Chief Executive Robert Nardelli left the giant retailer in January with a $210 million severance package. During his six-year tenure, Home Depot's shares fell, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index climbed roughly 20%. Nardelli's pay package came on the heels of a $200 million severance granted to Hank McKinnell, who left as Pfizer Inc.'s (PFE: Pfizer Inc News, chart, profile, more Last: 24.45-0.06-0.24% 4:01pm 10/30/2007 Delayed quote data Add to portfolio Analyst Create alert Insider Discuss Financials Sponsored by: PFE 24.45, -0.06, -0.2%) chief executive in July 2006 and then departed as chairman at the end of the year. Morgan Stanley (MS: morgan stanley com new News, chart, profile, more Last: 65.49-0.78-1.18% 4:01pm 10/30/2007 Delayed quote data Add to portfolio Analyst Create alert Insider Discuss Financials Sponsored by: MS 65.49, -0.78, -1.2%) CEO Phillip Purcell left in 2005 with a $44 million severance package plus $62 million in equity and pension benefits. The Securities and Exchange Commission introduced tougher executive pay disclosure rules recently in response to the controversy surrounding such big pay-outs. By encouraging companies to disclose the potential value of executive severance plans, regulators hoped that fewer investors would get nasty surprises when big payouts were announced, Salary.com's Coleman explained. But in some cases, such as Merrill, companies have just dropped severance plans altogether. Instead, they give the board and compensation committee discretion to come up with an exit package that amounts to the same thing: a big payout. The SEC could require that companies can only pay departing executives as part of a disclosed severance plan, but that's unlikely because companies will find other ways to get around such regulation, Coleman said. It's also not the government's job to limit how much companies pay their executives, he added. "The purpose of disclosure is to expose these practices," Coleman said. "It's the shareholders' job to do what needs to be done." End of Story Alistair Barr is a reporter for MarketWatch in San Francisco. *** Tue Oct 30 19:09:27 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Fall back Daylight saving time ends Sunday, no matter what the alarm clock thinks By Amy Hoak, MarketWatch Last Update: 6:26 PM ET Oct 29, 2007 CHICAGO (MarketWatch) -- Some alarm clocks across the country jumped the gun this weekend, automatically setting back to standard time a week ahead of schedule. Computer operating systems that hadn't been updated did the same. The problem: Their internal calendars weren't adjusted for the new rules that went into effect this year regarding the end of daylight saving time. Beginning this year, daylight saving time ends the first Sunday of November -- one week later than usual. That means clocks need to be set back an hour on Sunday at 2 a.m. Daylight saving time also started earlier this year; we changed the clocks the second Sunday in March. The new rules were enacted by Congress in 2005, but weren't put into effect immediately so potential software problems could be worked out, said David Prerau, author of "Seize the Daylight: The Curious and Contentious Story of Daylight Saving Time." Prerau also was a consultant to Congress on the law extending daylight saving time. After the law passed, manufacturers began programming the new dates into electronics. But for those who own electronics with internal clocks that predate 2005 -- and have no way to change the daylight saving time settings -- the changing of the clocks could be a biannual annoyance, Prerau said. Those people might have to disable the feature altogether. "It is annoying for people who have equipment that can't be changed," he said. "I'm hoping that anything new has new dates but (also) a relatively easy way to change the dates," just in case the daylight saving time rules change again in the future, he said. Affected electronics That said, most products will likely be unaffected by the schedule change, according to the Consumer Electronics Association. That's because most time-dependent products such as cell phones and computers get their time and date from a network. It's devices that aren't connected to a wired or wireless network -- including many wrist watches, alarm clocks and VCRs -- that need extra attention. These often are the devices that need to be reset after a power outage, said Jenny Pareti, spokeswoman for the group. "Anything that isn't connected to a network or a broadcast source will need to be manually reset," she said. If the product was made before August 2005 and it uses an internal calendar, owners should disable the daylight saving time feature and/or change the time manually, according to the group. Older computer operating systems may also be affected, but there are often easy fixes that can be made to update them, she said. Microsoft, for example, has a page devoted to helping consumers get the correct updates. Visit the Microsoft site. Windows Vista and Office 2007 have already incorporated the new schedules, so users don't need to download or apply new patches, according to Circuit City's firedog team, which provides personal-computer services, home-theater installations and the integration of home electronics. It also recommends checking the Web sites of the companies that manufactured the computer's peripheral devices, such as routers and printers, to see if they need to be updated, according to a firedog tip sheet. And while cell phones receive time cues from their service providers, consumers with PDAs -- including Blackberries and Palm Pilots -- should check their manufacturers' Web sites for possible software updates, the firedog team said. "Some of the PDAs are going to have problems. But most of the bigger manufacturers got their software ironed out by spring," said Michael Downing, a professor at Tufts University in Medford, Mass., and author of "Spring Forward: The Annual Madness of Daylight Saving Time." Likewise, most companies shouldn't experience problems due to the change because IT departments began preparing for it months ago, before the start of daylight saving time this year, Downing said. "A lot of the reprogramming got done before the spring change," he said. The bright side Daylight saving time has historically been used as a way to reduce energy usage, Prerau said. That benefit, however, has been debated, Downing pointed out. But one big advantage of changing the date in the fall is that now daylight saving time includes Halloween, giving children one more hour of daylight as they trick-or-treat. "That night has a very high rate of children's traffic accidents. The hope was that it would reduce that number to some extent," Prerau said. The rate of child pedestrian accidents and deaths about quadruple on Oct. 31, he said. An extra hour of daylight means an extra hour that kids will be more visible to drivers. Of course, the candy manufacturers are likely happy about the change too, Downing said. "They've been pushing for it for 30 years," he said, adding that candy manufacturers think they'd be able to profit enormously if kids stay out an extra hour trick-or-treating. It's a possibility: When a month of daylight saving time was added in the 1980s, both the barbeque industry and the golf industry saw increases in sales due to the extra hours of light people had after work, Downing said. End of Story Amy Hoak is a MarketWatch reporter based in Chicago. *** Tue Oct 30 19:46:55 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: PAUL B. FARRELL What will World War IV cost? How about $32,000 each, $5 gas and a military draft for your kids By Paul B. Farrell, MarketWatch Last Update: 7:19 PM ET Oct 29, 2007 ARROYO GRANDE, Calif. (MarketWatch) -- First, let's clear the air: Someone please tell the White House we're already fighting World War III. Yes, they're great at picking buzzwords, but the truth is our global "war on terror" has engaged (or enraged) every nation on the planet. And according to the latest Congressional Budget Office estimates it's costing America a whopping $2.4 trillion. That's $8,000 for each of us. So what'll the coming WWIV add? And how will it impact your retirement? Scary huh! WWIV already? Yes, the White House is preparing us for an invasion of Iran. That case has been made by many neocons, most recently by Norman Podhoretz in his new book, "World War IV: The Long Struggle Against Islamofascism." And as Pat Buchanan reacted on MSNBC's "Hardball" about all their warning signals: "I don't see how [the White House] can avoid attacking Iran and retaining their credibility going out of office." So what will WWIV cost you and me personally? This is crucial, folks, because every dollar spent on expanding our global "wars on terror" will be one less dollar for your retirement nest egg, your health care, your kids education, your grandkids lifestyle -- all of which are being outsourced to a free market system that's forcing you to take personal responsibility rather than get benefits from government or Corporate America. Shortly after I posted a column on "Disaster Capitalism" (outsourcing government and military operations to mercenaries and Corporate America) the President did threaten Iran about starting "World War III." See previous Paul B. Farrell. And suddenly, before you can say "veto," Congress and the media have once again caved, accepting the inevitability of WWIV in 2008, beginning with an attack on Iran. Estimating costs easy, but politicians in denial OK folks, I'm not a Pentagon strategist, but have some experience, starting with volunteering for the Marines in Korea. Since then stuff like military strategies, weapons, economics and financing wars have fascinated me. Everything: Big stuff like Alexander Hamilton's commitment to repay Revolutionary War debt, detailed by a Goldman Sachs vice chairman. And little stuff like the Civil War when J.P. Morgan financed a deal to buy old rifles from the U.S. Army for $3.50, refit them and sell them back to the Army for $22 each, proof "Disaster Capitalism" is nothing new for Wall Street! Economic forecasting is also not new for me. Over the years I've had to estimate the cost impact of a Navy Weapons Systems Research Lab and the debt load of the N.Y. State New Towns Development Corporation. At Morgan Stanley I analyzed the Federal New Town Program for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and some troubled banks, even predicting that deregulation would create a debt bubble and collapse the S&L industry. In fact, such estimates are quite simple, just politically inconvenient. One was even classified secret by the government. So let's estimate the potential economic costs of the coming WWIV: 1. Demographics Economic costs can be estimated by extrapolating from demographics. We're already fighting wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, which have a combined population of 60 million. Generals are already telling us our volunteer military and equipment are near "broken," strategically unable to engage on new fronts. Still we are planning to attack Iran, a country of 65 million, at a time when its neighbor Pakistan, a country of 165 million, is rapidly destabilizing and it is a country that already has nuclear weapons and also offers sanctuary to Taliban and al-Qaida extremists. Others will be stirred to retaliate. So we could increase our exposure to hostile enemies by four times. 2. Geography In addition to demographics, land mass is another factor in estimating military costs: Remember, we haven't been able to find Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan for four years, even with a $50 million "dead or alive" bounty. And today our so-called ally Pakistan is offering him and his warriors a safe haven. If we attack Iran our battlefield terrain exposure increases by 635,000 square miles on top of the 420,000 square miles in Iraq and Afghanistan combined, plus another potential 340,000 square miles in Pakistan and others. The geography alone could overwhelm a military already stretched thin. The costs will go through the roof. A military draft will be essential. Will they listen? I have no illusions that our political leaders will give more than lip service to any estimates of war costs. After all, they are already ignoring estimates from the CBO as well as the Government Accountability Office, driven by an ideology convinced that "deficits don't matter." But living in denial can't erase the fact that the added debt of WWIV will have an enormous impact on America. And it will certainly have a profound personal impact on every single investor, far, far more damaging than any failure to save "enough" for retirement. Or failure to pick the right index funds. Or failure to set up a diversified portfolio. Why? Because the cost of WWIV will overwhelm all those other mistakes we make as individual investors. So what can you personally expect as your cost from WWIV? We know an attack on Iran will also trigger widespread insurgencies in other Muslim nations siding with Iran, likely Pakistan and Syria. We can also expect Russia and China to increase their indirect support to insurgents, to keep the war fires burning and keep the price of oil high, further undermining America's credibility and diminishing the value of the dollar as a reserve currency. The added debt costs of World War IV seem obvious: An estimated cost of $10 trillion to fight for a decade is not unreasonable, four times the cost of the current fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan and the global "wars on terror." And personally that will add roughly $32,000 more debt for every American -- which is more than half what the average American currently has saved for retirement. History lesson Underneath all these numbers, however, I feel a deep sense of sadness. Since the President's "WWIII" threat, the economic lobe in my brain has been flashing new danger signals, reminding me of a warning by Nixon strategist Kevin Phillips in "Wealth & Democracy:" "Most great nations, at the peak of their economic power, become arrogant and wage great world wars at great cost, wasting vast resources, taking on huge debt, and ultimately burning themselves out." Once again, the lessons of history have been lost on the posturing of macho egos. Halloween's a great time for spooky warnings, even if no one listens. But maybe you also hear a growing drum beat, echoing the Iraq war run-up. Unfortunately, no new leaders seem willing to stand up to the coming "darkness" ... to use Robert Redford's recent comment in The Week magazine on the release of his new film, "Lions for Lambs:" "I had great hopes that people would see movies like 'The Candidate' and 'All the King's Men' and say 'Hey if we're not careful, we might get snookered.' I discovered we Americans enjoy the distraction of entertainment but aren't really interested in the deeper message. We don't like to look inward; we don't like the darkness." And that's what really saddens me: Because, paradoxically, by not looking within the darkness gets darker until it consumes our souls, like in "The Night of the Living Dead." Happy Halloween! *** Thu Nov 1 16:40:08 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Private ferries, metro rail on the way Catharine Munro and Linton Besser November 2, 2007 SYDNEY'S transport seems likely to move increasingly into private hands after a scathing report on ferries recommended their privatisation and the State Government revealed it wanted to build an underground metro rail service run separately from the main network. The report by Bret Walker, SC, urges the Government to let the private sector clean up the mess after revealing the depths to which the Sydney Ferries management had descended. The once-grand harbour service had been brought to its knees and a public-private partnership would relieve the Government of the ferry service's complex management, Mr Walker recommended. The advice fits the cabinet's desire to dilute the power of the transport unions and its resistance to spending on services. The Transport Minister, John Watkins, yesterday ruled out more public money for infrastructure, suggesting the next generation of transport projects would be privately funded. High spending on electricity and water, as well as schools, health and transport meant the budget had been exhausted. "We really are at the upper limit of our expenditure capacity on infrastructure in NSW currently," Mr Watkins said. "To go any higher in our budget puts us in a difficult position with regard to our AAA credit rating and the long-term capacity of our budget." A public-private partnership would be the only way to deliver the rail services needed to meet population growth of 1.4 million in the next 25 years. "We have to do it now because those people are coming," he said. Mr Watkins said the Government was starting to plan the next generation of public transport, and it would not involve the state-owned and run double-decker rail system. Instead he wanted a system akin to those of Hong Kong and Singapore, where the services are so frequent there is no need for timetables. "We are now reaching that point in Sydney where we have to go to the next step in rail, and the next step in rail is metro. It has to be … It's fast, it's efficient, it moves lots of people and rail is the way to move people. So that's what's coming next." The proposed metro line would run between Malabar and West Ryde, under the congested Anzac Parade and Victoria Road. The Co-ordinator General of Infrastructure, David Richmond, revealed the thinking on the future of the transport network. "Maybe it's time to break away from the existing system and to contemplate the introduction of a system that would operate independently from the existing system, independent in every sense of the word," he said. He later told the Herald: "There's no question I'm supportive of it." Applauding from the sidelines was the former minister Carl Scully, who held both the roads and transport portfolios until he resigned last year. He said he found the unions "very, very difficult" to deal with. "The management and culture approach of the unions really just is in a time warp … The only way to have a root and branch alteration is to set up the metro system," Mr Scully said. But Mr Watkins - speaking with Mr Scully and Mr Richmond at the Sydney Morning Herald/Lloyd's List Transport and Infrastructure Forum - said the metro line would not precede the long-promised state-funded extension of lines to the north-west and south-west fringes, which would require the construction of a new harbour crossing. But he did not say when funding would be made available for it. Mr Watkins faced further political heat over revelations by Mr Walker that he sacked Sue Sinclair, the head of Sydney Ferries until February 2006, without the board's approval, although he had no power to do so. Ms Sinclair told the inquiry there was no interaction between the board and the minister, and that Mr Watkins acted "in clear contravention" of the Transport Administration Act. "What happened was exactly what the act was designed to prevent," she said. Mr Watkins also intervened in an open tender process for vessel maintenance which could have saved the taxpayer as much as $1.2 million, illustrating "the difficulties faced by the board and chief executive in attempting to manage Sydney Ferries Corporation as a stand-alone commercial business." Mr Walker recommended that the Government continue to determine routes across the harbour, and fares would still be set by the pricing regulator. Using the successful private bus contracts as his analogy, he maintained the ferry service needed an "arms-length" relationship with government as the regulator. *** Thu Nov 1 16:55:08 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: PricewaterhouseCoopers in sex discrimination case By Kim Arlington November 02, 2007 12:00pm Article from: The Daily Telegraph http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,22690132-2,00.html WOMEN working for PricewaterhouseCoopers reportedly had their drinks spiked at firm events, Australia's biggest sex discrimination case has heard. The allegation emerged yesterday in the Federal Court, where Christina Rich - a one-time senior partner with the accounting giant - is suing her former employer for $10 million. Ms Rich, who earned almost $1 million a year as a transfer-pricing expert, claims her career was undermined after she complained about "systematic bullying, and harassment" at work. In July 2004 she wrote to PwC chief executive Tony Harrington, saying she had been subjected to sexual harassment and sex discrimination. Documents in which she outlined examples of "inappropriate conduct" were released yesterday as Justice Catherine Branson heard arguments about professional privilege. Writing to seek "the firm's co-operation in trying to reform and rehabilitate" the company, Ms Rich said there was physical and verbal sexual harassment at PwC events. "There have also been reports of female employees' drinks being spiked at firm only events," she alleged. Ms Rich said that at an event in 2001, an unnamed male partner put his hands up her shirt and tried to remove her bra. She also wrote that a video featuring a topless woman sunbaking was screened during a presentation at a Melbourne conference in 2004, "When the video was shown, one of the male partners shouted across the room: 'Christina, is that you sunbathing?"' Ms Rich said. She claimed there was an acceptance of male partners kissing and putting their arms around their female counterparts, and that some openly refused to work with female employees and partners. "The 'boys club' culture in the firm is perpetuated (and condoned) when individuals who engage in inappropriate behaviour are, notwithstanding that conduct, promoted to leadership positions within the firm," she wrote. Ms Rich launched legal action against PwC in 2005, seeking up to $10 million for damage to her reputation, loss of clients, lost earnings and medical counselling. PwC has denies the allegations and is vigorously defending the action. The matter continues today, when lawyers for PwC will fight to have sensitive documents suppressed. *** Sun Nov 4 20:41:48 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Town so hot it's first on the solar block * * Email * Printer friendly version * Normal font * Large font Wendy Frew and AAP November 5, 2007 Advertisement IT'S HOT in Cloncurry. Bloody hot. Hot enough to power the homes for all the outback town's 4828 residents with heat from the sun. That is what the Queensland Government is hoping to do with a $7 million solar thermal power station that would make the former copper mining town the first in Australia to rely completely on solar power. The Queensland Premier, Anna Bligh, yesterday announced the north-west Queensland town had been chosen as the site for a "groundbreaking" 10-megawatt plant that will use 8000 mirrors to reflect sunlight onto graphite blocks. Water will be pumped through the blocks to generate steam that will operate a turbine electricity generator. Energy experts say solar power is best suited to small, isolated communities where access to the national electricity grid can be difficult or expensive. Small solar dish power stations have been installed at remote indigenous townships, such as Hermannsburg, in the Northern Territory. The state's Energy Minister, Geoff Wilson, said the station in Cloncurry would deliver about 30 million kilowatt hours of electricity a year, enough to meet the needs of the entire community. It is expected to be ready as early as 2010. It is a first for Australia, the Clean Energy Council said, and would generate enough electricity for about 3500 homes. "This is an example of the diversity of clean energy that is available in Australia because of the renewable resources at our disposal," said the energy council's chief executive, Dominique La Fontaine. An Australian company, Lloyd Energy Storage, designed the unique graphic-block storage system. A forest of mirrors, each three metres by two metres, will reflect the sun's rays up into 50 10-tonne blocks perched atop 15-metre towers. Enough heat will be stored in the blocks to service peak daytime needs and overnight demand. Less water than falls in an average year on the power station's roof will be used in the turbine. The project follows a decision last year by the Federal Government to give $75 million to a $420 million project to build a large-scale solar concentrator in Mildura in Victoria. That project is expected to start next year and reach full capacity by 2013. Using high-performance solar cells developed to power satellites, it could power as many as 45,000 homes. Another type of solar technology has been proposed for Buronga in western NSW. A solar updraft tower would heat air in a very large circular greenhouse-like structure. The resulting convection causes the air to rise and escape through a tall tower. Moving air drives turbines, which produce electricity. In Alice Springs, multiple installations of large solar dishes will track the sun to provide clean energy for the city in a project funded under the Commonwealth's Solar Cities scheme. The dishes will be connected to the grid and generate electricity for Alice Springs directly from the sun, offsetting some of the requirement to transport fossil fuels long distances. Cloncurry, 1710 kilometres from Brisbane via Longreach, gets some of the hottest weather in the country, and set the national record for a maximum daytime temperature in 1889 - 53.1 degrees. MIRROR MOVES - Cloncurry is likely to be Australia's first fully solar-powered town. - Eight thousand mirrors will reflect light into the town's power plant. - Enough power could be generated for 3500 homes. - The technology is one form being developed to harness the sun's energy. *** Mon Nov 5 06:25:53 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Working on day off is fact of life Nicola Berkovic | November 02, 2007 LESSON No1 of working part-time at a law firm: have someone else working on a deal with you, says Gilbert + Tobin partner Amanda Hempel. Amanda Hempel, part-time partner at Gilbert + Tobin, says it's not possible to be militant about your days off. Picture: Bob Finlayson And if you're using a firm's flexibility policies, you're going to need to be a bit flexible yourself. At the partner level, it's just not possible to be militant about your days off. "If you want to do transactional work, you have to be committed to giving service to the client," she says. "That means, if you're working on a big deal, there will be some times where inevitably you have to work on your day off." Amanda is married to Minter Ellison partner Sebastian Hempel. They have two children -- Emily, 6, and Marcus, 3. She manages a booming real estate law practice but takes Fridays off to look after the kids. She is one of just two part-time partners at her Sydney-based firm. After six years of working part-time, she says she has learnt a few lessons along the way. "The times you get yourself in trouble are when it's only you that people can contact or ask questions of," she says. "If you've got a good person working with you on everything, it makes life a lot easier." BlackBerrys have also freed up her days off. "It doesn't mean that I'm always doing work, but it just means that you have the comfort of being able to check and see that nothing's going on." Working part-time is certainly no walk in the park and there are times when she does well over four days' worth of work. But she says lawyers working full-time would probably say they do six or 6 1/2 days of work a week. "It's the nature of the profession. We're not a bundy in, bundy out sort of profession." *** Mon Nov 5 06:27:13 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Aussie banker's race claim lost Peter Wilson, Europe correspondent | November 02, 2007 AUSTRALIAN banker Malcolm Perry has lost a 10 million pound ($22.7 million) legal claim in which he accused a German investment bank of sacking him because he was "not German enough". A London employment tribunal ruled yesterday that the bank, Dresdner Kleinwort, did unfairly dismiss 45-year-old Perry but the tribunal said it was not because of racial discrimination. Britain's Race Relations Act could have imposed unlimited damages on the bank if the tribunal had found that Mr Perry was sacked because of his nationality but instead he now stands to win a maximum payout of less than 60,000 pounds. Mr Perry, who has made millions during a successful banking career, faces legal bills much higher than the damages he will receive for being unfairly dismissed. “I knew that bringing this claim would involve considerable financial and emotional investment on my part ... but I have no regrets whatsoever,” Mr Perry said after the verdict. “There remains no doubt in my mind that had I been German or German-speaking, the bank would have made considerable efforts to retain my services. I recognise that discrimination of this nature is very difficult to prove; yet, if you play the game, you accept the umpire's decision and I do.” Mr Perry joined the bank's London operations in 2005 and earned bonuses that took his first year's package to 2.23 million pounds. The following year, German insurance group Allianz, which owned the bank, decided to merge it with its Frankfurt-based corporate banking arm, Dresdner Bank, and re-focus the business on its mainly German corporate clients. Mr Perry told the tribunal he was forced out in a reshuffle that saw almost all top jobs given to German executives or German-speaking foreigners who had spent long periods working in Germany and were trusted as members of “the German gang”. Mr Perry's job, managing fixed income and credit, did not require him to speak German. The bank denied that its decisions were influenced by the fact that he was an English-speaking Australian. During 10 days of hearings, Steve Bellotti, another Australian who left the bank in the reshuffle, backed up Mr Perry's claim that a number of foreign executives were driven out in a bid to “Germanise” the bank. The tribunal said yesterday that although Mr Perry was treated “less favourably” than some of his colleagues, “he did not suffer... race discrimination on the grounds that he was not of German nationality nor of German origin nor able to speak German”. The bank conceded in May that it had unfairly dismissed Mr Perry by not following the correct termination procedures, and the tribunal said yesterday that the bank had also failed to fulfil its obligation to consider him for other suitable roles. A spokesman for Dresdner Kleinwort said the bank was pleased the tribunal had unanimously agreed that the bank did not discriminate against Mr Perry and had dismissed his claim. “We are an equal opportunity employer that seeks to provide a workplace free of discrimination and we will continue to prize and defend these values,” the bank said. Mr Perry now works as chief executive of a small credit fund and told The Australian that since the trauma of his dismissal he preferred working in a small team. *** Mon Nov 5 06:29:19 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Beware tricky changes DIY SUPER: Understand how to get a tax deduction on your super contributions, writes Tony Negline | October 31, 2007 THERE are rules you must satisfy before being allowed to claim your personal superannuation contributions as a tax deduction. The simplified super reforms have changed some rules for contributions made after June 2007. Some of these changes may make life tricky if you are nearing retirement. The key rules are: * The super contribution rules allow you to make the contribution. * You make the contribution to a fund within 28 days after the end of the month in which you turn 75 years old. * You satisfy an incomes test. * You and the super fund exchange official documentation. If these rules are not satisfied, a deduction for personal super contributions is not allowed. The first rule allows personal contributions to be made by anyone before their 75th birthday. Once you are aged 65 or over, you have to satisfy a work test before being allowed to contribute to super. The second rule is relatively straightforward: it is either true or false. A contribution made by cheque is deemed to have been made on the later of when the fund accepts the contribution and the date on the cheque itself. If the contribution is made via direct debit, then it is made when it appears in the super fund's bank records. The third requirement says that less than 10 per cent of your assessable income and reportable fringe benefits comes from any employers you might have. For example, you earn $30,000 from being a non-executive director of a company but earn $200,000 from your investments. In this case, the director's fees are 13 per cent of total income ($30,000 divided by $230,000) and therefore a deduction for personal contributions would not be allowed. If you have no income from an employer -- for example, because you are not employed -- then you are deemed to have already satisfied this rule. The next requirement says that you and the fund formally exchanged relevant information. The document swap technically begins with the contributor sending a notice to the fund telling the fund that they intend to claim some or all of their personal contribution as a tax deduction. In practice, this chain of correspondence is often started by the super fund because the members don't know how to get this ball rolling and don't know all the information that has to be on the notice. Also large administrators want the communication on their documentation so it's easier for their processing systems. The notice that you give the super fund will not be valid if it is given when you were no longer a fund member. There are many practical planning reasons as to why this might occur. You might have made a contribution to a fund and then quickly moved that money to another super fund. For contributions made after June 2007, your notice to the fund will also be invalid (and therefore no deduction will be allowed) if the trustee had already begun to pay a pension with some or all of the contributions covered by that notice. If you made personal contributions in August 2007 and then used those contributions to begin a pension in January 2008, then you will only be allowed to claim these contributions as a deduction if you gave the fund your notice of intention to claim the contribution before the pension commences. This will be a particularly difficult rule for many investors because they often do not know how much income they will earn during a financial year and don't know what personal contributions deduction they want to claim. A key issue with the tax rules is that you can only claim as much of your personal super contributions so that your taxable income is not negative. Suppose you have income of $30,000 and personal super contributions of $50,000. The maximum you can claim as a deduction is $30,000. This rule will typically affect retirees who are moving money into super just before retiring. It may also affect investors who want to use a transition-to-retirement pension who again are moving money into super before beginning that pension. Some self-managed funds will overcome this problem by backdating their documentation. For public-offer funds this is a much harder problem to overcome as backdating is almost impossible. Why was this new rule introduced? The maximum concessional contributions that can be received each year is $50,000 ($100,000 for each financial year you are over 50 between July 2007 and July 2012) from all sources. In the main these sources are tax-deductible personal contributions and all employer contributions. Once these thresholds are breached by your personal or employer contributions, then the excess contributions are taxed at the highest individual tax rate plus the Medicare Levy (this year 46.5 per cent). The Government wants the excess contributions tax-collected as soon as possible after the threshold is breached and does not want to take money from a pension that had already started. The last piece of this jigsaw says the fund must officially acknowledge the documentation with another notice. Without this notice, the deduction for personal super contributions is not allowed. Tony Negline may be contacted at www.allthingsconsidered.biz *** Mon Nov 5 06:34:53 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Corny but plastic makes plants Making plastic from plants instead of oil is a reality that's growing, Derek Parker reports | October 26, 2007 IN a world of increasing awareness of the finite nature of hydrocarbon resources and growing concern for the natural environment, the idea of making plastic from plant material is inherently appealing. Corn Fuel for the mill: Grant Dow holds a crop of corn being used to manufacture plastic Bioplastics is a burgeoning field, and the industry is steadily overcoming the problems that have been a constraint on growth. In fact, a key problem for many bio-plastic firms in Australia is keeping up with demand. Melbourne-based company Plantic Technologies recently expanded its production capability, making the plant one of the largest full-scale biomaterial production facilities in the world. The company's key product, Plantic, is made not from petrochemicals but from starch, mainly corn starch. A key characteristic of the material is that it biodegrades completely in a matter of weeks when discarded in the home compost bin and will also dissolve on contact with water. Another environmental benefit is that the energy used during production of Plantic bioplastic is about 50 per cent lower than for traditional plastics, such as PET and polypropylene. Any offcuts can be recycled directly back into the manufacturing process. Plantic is used to create plastic trays, such as those used for boxed chocolates. Plantic Technologies currently has 65 per cent of the rigid tray market for confectionery in Australia, and sizeable shares of related markets. The company also manufactures Plantic in sheet form for export, currently exporting about 70 per cent of production. Plantic users include Nestle, Lindt and Sprungli, Cadbury Schweppes, Marks & Spencer and Sainsbury. Plantic is based on research conducted by CSIRO, the University of Queensland and the Swinburne University of Technology in Melbourne. Plantic Technologies was created by the Australian Co-operative Research Centre for International Food Manufacture & Packaging Science to commercialise the technology. The company was awarded the prestigious Australian Museum Eureka Prize for Industry in 2004 and has received international awards such as the 2006 Du Pont's Chairman's Award for Innovation. Grant Dow, managing director and CEO of Plantic Technologies, notes that the company has also moved into the production of resin pellets, which provide further opportunities for product development. "One of the parameters for this product is that it will be convertible on standard plastics moulding equipment," he says. "That means that the possible range of products is enormous. It fits with our long-term goal of being a materials company." Potential product applications for Plantic include flexible packaging films for laundry and confectionery wrap, injection moulding grade for products from toys to car parts, bottles and water-resistant trays, water-resistant materials for wet or moist goods, barrier layers and films. "We have an efficient manufacturing process and we are producing something with huge potential," he says. "We are currently producing about 1500 tonnes of sheet a year and about 1000 tonnes of pellets. But there is plenty of room for growth in our production facilities. We have found that when potential customers are told about it, they are immediately interested, not only for environmental reasons but for the cost aspect. "Everyone is aware that the cost of traditional plastics is driven by crude prices and no one is expecting that to go down any time soon. So that puts us in a very good position. It typically takes less than one cob of maize to make one tray and there is no shortage of raw material for us." An area of huge promise for bioplastics is in composites, where other elements are introduced during the manufacturing process. Plantic recently began to add nano-particles to the mix, which increases the toughness and gas barrier performance of the final product. It also adds to the clarity of the bioplastic sheet, so it can be used for blister and clamshell packaging, where the products inside need to be showcased. Additives have also opened the possibility of extending the use of bioplastics in the car industry, which would give the field a huge boost. Around the world, most of the large car makers have been exploring the potential of bioplastics, but the constraint has always been that bioplastics have not had the strength and impact resistance for regulatory standards. This has limited the applications of bioplastics to items such as car mats and spare tyre covers. But the incorporation of natural fibres such as flax, hemp, sisal, and coconut can give bioplastics the required characteristics for broader automotive uses, such as in panels and moulded fittings. The fibres are spun into continuous filaments and woven into fabrics, which are then combined with the raw bioplastic material. The natural aspect of the additives means that there is no adverse effect on the long-term biodegradability of the bioplastic material. This is an important issue, as governments (especially in Europe) are increasingly imposing regulations relating to reducing the environmental impact at every stage of a vehicle's lifecycle, including its ultimate disposal. *** Mon Nov 5 19:07:09 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Found: switch to turn off hunger * * Email * Printer friendly version * Normal font * Large font Kate Benson Medical Reporter November 6, 2007 Advertisement SYDNEY researchers have discovered how to switch on and off a molecule which controls hunger. It could produce rapid weight loss in the morbidly obese and prevent the extreme weight loss that weakens and kills patients with end-stage cancer, potentially saving their lives. The international breakthrough, which scientists at St Vincent's Hospital, the University of NSW and the Garvan Institute having been working on for more than 15 years, promises to change the way cancer and obesity are treated around the world. Scientists found that many common cancers, such as those in the prostate, breast, colon and pancreas, produce large amounts of a protein called MIC-1, which targets receptors in the brain to switch off appetite. The bigger the tumour, the more MIC-1 circulating in a patient's blood and the less likely they were to eat, one of the researchers from St Vincent's Centre for Immunology, Sam Breit, said yesterday. By injecting mice with a MIC-1 antibody, scientists could turn a patient's appetite back on, preventing weight loss and making them strong enough to cope with chemotherapy and radiotherapy. "Once the MIC-1 is turned off with the antibody, weight gain can be quite rapid, enabling people to tolerate and survive treatment," Professor Breit said. A synthetic version of MIC-1 would also allow morbidly obese people to lose weight rapidly, he said. Mice injected with prostate tumours emitting a moderate amount of MIC-1 lost about 22 per cent of their weight and ate 32 per cent less than normal mice. Those with high levels of MIC-1 lost about 47 per cent of their weight. "We found the more MIC-1 they were given, the more weight they lost," Professor Breit said. "This is a very exciting discovery because we have effectively found a new appetite pathway we didn't know existed. It opens up completely new ways of dealing with obesity and also neutralises one of the major side-effects of cancer. It's a breakthrough that could directly improve quality of life for many people." Another scientist on the project, Herbert Herzog, from the Garvan Institute, said yesterday he was rapt with the results. "It's very exciting to be able to work on a therapy that could change lives the way this will," Professor Herzog said. "We think that a cancer patient will only need to be injected with the antibody every three weeks and a person can put on a significant amount of weight in that time, which would really help them." The MIC-1 antibody could also improve appetite in patients with weight loss from chronic renal failure or anorexia nervosa. The scientists are looking for commercial collaborators so they can begin clinical trials within three years. They expect the synthetic protein could be on the market within six years. *** Mon Nov 5 19:07:40 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Problems swept under office carpet * * Email * Printer friendly version * Normal font * Large font Kate Benson Medical Reporter November 6, 2007 Latest related coverage * Too scared to have children Advertisement FOUR out of five human resource managers do not know how to deal with staff who have mental health problems, such as depression and anxiety, and more than half have no policies or strategies in place to deal with the issue, a study has found. A survey of businesses in NSW and Canberra by the Australian Institute of Management found that an alarming number of managers did not consider dealing with staff with mental health problems a priority, indicating many people with mental health issues could not seek help at work, the chief executive officer of the Australian Institute of Management, Jennifer Alexander, said yesterday. "One in five adults will experience some form of mental illness in any given year, and there's a good chance that at some stage in our working life every one of us has worked with someone with a mental illness. "The illnesses that our colleagues might be dealing with could include depression, anxiety, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, or attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. They might need treatment but they are perfectly able to work, yet we found that 68 per cent of human resources professionals do not believe that managing them is a priority for their organisation," Dr Alexander said. "It is disturbing that so many HR managers just don't feel as though they know enough to help these people, or that the issue should be a priority." Dr Alexander said 53 per cent of the respondents said they had seen an increase in mental health problems in their workplace in the past year and firms needed a more supportive culture so workers could feel comfortable revealing that they were having treatment for a mental health issue. She said many workers felt that they were able to confide in their manager and seek time off if they were suffering a physical ailment, such as diabetes, but were fearful of getting fired if they revealed they had depression. "People with mental illness simply don't feel able to talk about it openly in the workplace in the same way they might talk about a physical illness," Dr Alexander said. "The reality is depression and other mental illnesses do not mean someone cannot contribute in the workplace. "Recognising, diagnosing and treating mental illnesses allows people to live and work again with great effectiveness in our community." The former NSW opposition leader and Lifeline patron John Brogden will speak at a seminar on the topic at North Sydney on November 14. *** Tue Nov 6 03:39:12 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: A tale of 2 Filipinas in Singapore How dream of better future turns into nightmare By Veronica Uy INQUIRER.net Last updated 11:16am (Mla time) 11/06/2007 MANILA, Philippines -- Lalaine, 19, was a saleslady for a popular department store when she was lured by a “friend of a friend” to work “for better pay” as a waitress in Singapore only to find that her workplace was a nightclub where she was forced to do a strip-tease and encouraged to have customers fondle her. Kristine, a recent widow at 23 with two children (her husband died December 2006), was also told of the tremendous earning opportunities (“malaki raw ang kita”) in Singapore by an acquaintance -- a neighbor who was also their barangay (village) chairman. She agreed to a “hostessing” job there, but ended up being a call girl, having sex with different men in different hotels as arranged by her employer. Lalaine and Kristine are just two of a growing number of young Filipino women being trafficked to Singapore for sexual exploitation, drawn in by the adventure of work abroad on the false promise of a high-paying decent job. In its Human Trafficking Report of 2007, released this June, the United States’ Department of State noted this increase of Asian women (from People’s Republic of China, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Vietnam) being deceived or coerced into sexual servitude in the city-state so much so that it downgraded Singapore from Tier 1 in 2006 to Tier 2 in 2007. (The State Department has four categories for levels of compliance with the Trafficking in Persons Act, which provides the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking: Tier 1 is the category of countries that “fully comply” with the law. Tier 2 is for countries that “do not fully comply with these standards but making significant efforts to bring themselves into compliance.” Tier 2 Watch List is for countries “requiring special scrutiny because of a high or significantly increasing number of victims; failure to provide evidence of increasing efforts to combat trafficking in persons; or an assessment as Tier 2 based on commitments to take action over the next year.” Tier 3 is for countries that “neither satisfy the minimum standards nor demonstrate a significant effort to come into compliance; countries in this tier are subject to potential non-humanitarian and non-trade sanctions.”) This US State Department report is recognized worldwide. A couple of years ago, Japan reacted to a negative rating by applying more stringent immigration rules against Filipino entertainers. But while the fate of Filipino entertainers to Japan is relatively well known, that of Filipino “tourists” to Singapore is hidden from the public eye, particularly Philippine authorities who could warn Filipino women of this successful scam. Other Filipinos living or working in Singapore have noted the increase of Filipino women working as prostitutes in the city-state’s red-light district. “There are all kinds. There are club-based hostesses and there are free-lancers,” says a Filipino expatriate, who himself has gone to these clubs. To confirm this, INQUIRER.net waited for nightfall on Orchard Road in Singapore. As the sun set, street walkers looking like customers would start arriving, talking in Tagalog or Bisaya or in colegiala English. Some looked like teenagers, some older. Some sit outside department stores, waiting to be approached by customers. Others would be accompanied by foreign-looking men. They would invariably leave with customers. Some would be fetched by a cab after a brief cell-phone call. But it was back here in the Philippines that INQUIRER.net was able to talk to actual victims of human trafficking, back here where they felt they were safe and open to talk. Lalaine and Kristine’s troubles resonate with each other, diverging and converging at various points. On October 21, after paying only P1,500 for the airport terminal fee, Lalaine flew with two other young women to the city-state only to find out that the no-recruitment fee spiel was a trap, that she would work at a night club to “entertain” customers in progressively degenerate ways that would eventually end up in prostitution. Shortly after arriving in Singapore, they were taken to an apartment on Killiney Road. They were padlocked inside the apartment, fetched before nightfall, and taken back before dawn. They were given 50 Singaporean dollars monthly allowance in advance to cover their expenses. As this is not enough even for food, many Filipinas in this job end up “in debt” with their employers. The debt racks up when the women’s board and other expenses are counted. Luckily for Lalaine, she had P4,000 with her which allowed her to eat more than the once a day that the other club workers were forced to suffer. At the night club in the Tanjong Pagar area in Singapore, Lalaine saw fellow Filipinas doing everything to earn their monthly quota of 300 points. (Points may be earned through the drinks that they consume; the minimum price for a drink of 20 Singaporean dollars earns two points.) “Kaya yung iba talaga kung ano-ano ginagawa para lang maabot yung quota nila, nagpapahawak sa maseselan na parte ng katawan, nagpapadede [That’s why some do everything to meet their quota, they allow themselves to be touched in their private parts, including their breasts],” Lalaine tells INQUIRER.net. Although the molestation does not earn the women any points, she explains that the club encourages it to get customers to return to the club again and again. “Pakonsuelo raw po [As a come-on],” she says. “Andaming Pinay dun. Karamihan ng mga babae sa mga club, Pinay. Nung nandun ako, nabilang ko mga 33 kami [There are so many Filipinas there. Most of the women in the clubs are Filipinas. When I was there, I counted 33 of us in the club],” she adds. During the first few days, she escaped the eagle eyes of the bar manager by sitting at the end of a line of girls at the club during their working hours. But not for long. On her third day, the club manager forced her to do a bar-top strip. This was supposed to raise her earning capacity for the club. In her conversations with fellow Filipinas, she found out that many of them were not paid anything, allegedly because they owed the club the recruitment fee and the plane fare that got them in Singapore -- notwithstanding that they were lied to about the kind of job that waited for them there and that they were detained when off-duty. By the seventh day, Lalaine escaped. With her two other companions who couldn’t stomach what they were being forced to do, Lalaine escaped their minder -- a fellow Filipina who accompanies them everywhere when they’re not in the club. They were at an Internet café when she told her minder that she was hungry and was just going out to eat. Her two other companions already got their things from their apartment and escaped while their minder was busy chatting in the Internet. From the Internet café, they asked to be taken to the Philippine embassy, which took them in and helped them get tickets to return to Manila. After spending 10 hellish days in Singapore, Lalaine and her two companions are back in the country, relatively unscathed. But Kristine was not as lucky. She actually had to “service” men for a month before finding the opportunity to escape. Convinced that the Singapore “hostessing” job would be her ticket to feeding and educating her two young boys, she scrounged around and borrowed the P12,000 for the recruitment fee and airfare. Within the hour of her arrival at around noon, she was given a new SIM card for her cell-phone and booked into a hotel. While taking a shower, mentally preparing herself for her night job, she received an insistent phone call from a man, demanding that she go down to the lobby. Again by phone, she was ordered to take a cab -- one was already waiting for her outside the hotel -- to get to another hotel. At the second hotel, she met her first customer. Forced into such a situation in a strange land, she did as was expected of her and had sex with a stranger. Kristine got her instructions from the phone. “Hindi ko talaga nakita itong mamang ito. Parang sinusundan lang talaga ako at alam ang lahat ng kilos ko. Pati pagpunta ko sa 7-11 alam [I never saw this man. It’s as if he was just following me and seeing all my actions. Even my short trip to the 7-11 was monitored],” Kristine tells INQUIRER.net. This became her routine for the next couple of weeks, never meeting any of her fellow sex workers except at hotel lobbies, while waiting for the instructions of their invisible minder, who would leave them their share of the fee with the hotel receptionist. One of her fellow victims told her that she has been at the job for three months, accumulating not the money that she was supposed to earn for her family back home but debts. Although not physically shackled, Kristine felt that she was not free. She was determined to leave the job she did not sign up for. “I did not go to Singapore to be a prostitute. I wanted to earn money for my kids. I called up my mother and told her about my situation. She asked what she could do. I told her I would take care of it,” she says. Afraid, confused, and alone, Kristine was nonetheless able to escape with the help of a Singaporean taxi driver who heard her crying at the back of the cab. With his help -- he took her luggage from the hotel so that whoever was monitoring her wouldn’t suspect that she was leaving for good, she left not for the next customer but for the Philippine embassy. When she returned home, Kristine immediately filed a case of illegal recruitment against her recruiter-neighbor. For many Filipinos, Singapore is another land of opportunity. The growing number of Filipino professionals working in the city-state attests to this reality. But another reality exists: Filipino women are being deceived into sex jobs there. Copyright 2007 INQUIRER.net. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. *** Tue Nov 6 18:01:17 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Gphone Rumors Hint at Broad Mobile Strategy By Alex Handy October 23, 2007 — Google, the darling of Silicon Valley, could soon become the belle of the mobile service provider ball. According to unnamed sources inside Google, the company is embarking on a strategy to join its nationwide fiber optic networks, the 700MHz spectrum, an x86-based handset and a brand-new JavaScript engine as a platform underlying its "Gphone" project. But even without these leaked details, Google's broader business moves are already telegraphing the individual pieces of the puzzle. Specifically, Google CEO Eric Schmidt's bold offer to purchase the entire 700MHz spectrum in the upcoming FCC auction hints at a broader wireless play from the company. Although his initial bid of US$4.6 billion for the whole kit and kaboodle will likely fall short of the final price for this chunk of the ether, Schmidt’s willingness to commit such a large amount of Google's money to wireless spectrum shows just how much the company is banking on a mobile future. Why should any of this matter to a software developer? JavaScript's importance to business is apparent, and Google's moves indicate a conformity to norms, not a move toward original standards and wild new environments. Java developers would almost certainly rely on the successful Google Web Toolkit to translate their applications into JavaScript, and Microsoft-based developers shouldn't have trouble adapting to an x86 environment. Perhaps Google's smartest move of all is giving developers an environment and programming language they already know. However, if the company's phone were to include this new JavaScript engine in an x86-based Gphone, it would wade into a marketplace already ripe with iPhone-compatible JavaScript applications and oodles of x86-knowledgeable developers. Repeated attempts to reach a Google spokesperson for comment went unanswered. But sources inside Google corroborate rumors of the combination of the company's large holdings of unused cross-U.S. fiber optic networks. The company has not been talkative about its purchases of these networks, but various clues have cropped up that Google has been amassing long-haul network capabilities since the end of the first dot-com bubble. From the company's new data centers in remote regions of Oregon to its help-wanted ads seeking employees with experience in negotiating for dark fiber purchases, sources are simply confirming information that has been trickling out slowly over the past five years. Those long-haul cables could form the basis of a Google mobile phone network. But the prospect of building a phone network from scratch makes some analysts skeptical. Kanishka Agarwal, vice president of mobile media at Nielsen Mobile, analyzes mobile phone trends and service availability across geographical markets. He said that if Google builds its own phone network, the biggest question is differentiation. Agarwal said that building a mobile network is a high capital expense. “What the consumer wants is seamless integration across all kinds of networks, so they have continuous access to the service at the lowest price possible," Agarwal said. "What would Google have to offer to make something more compelling? Consumers can already get access to landlines and cell lines. Is Google going to offer something that breaks that barrier and makes it seamless? Google has a great brand, but so do Verizon, Sprint, AT&T and T-Mobile.” As for the actual “Gphone,” multiple sources inside of Google have confirmed that the company has a device, and that it is being shown around internally to increasingly larger audiences. A Google JavaScript engine could irk the Mozilla Foundation, which earns much of its revenue from the Google search tool embedded in its Firefox browser menu bar. But rumors of a Google browser have been circulating for longer than rumors of a Google phone, and neither of these have yet surfaced outside of the company. And, indeed, Google does offer many JavaScript-intensive projects, such as the Google Web Toolkit, leaving potential for any JavaScript engine built by Google to be applied to one or more of these other projects. Perhaps the largest and most nebulous portion of the Gphone plan is the service. One internal source indicated that Google hopes to build cellular service on the model of television: advertising-supported and free to any who own a receiver. Thus, in lieu of a monthly service charge, Google phones would offer up targeted, location-based advertising to users. A user could find his phone pointing him toward the nearest pizzeria when noon rolls around, provided the pizzeria has paid for the privilege. But this plan, too, makes Agarwal skeptical. “I would wager that there is a segment of this consumer world where, no matter where you walk, someone's talking to you about ads. I like to call this ad-supported, not ad-funded. There are always people who are so price-sensitive, they will always be in a [free, ad-supported model]. There will be people who will pay premium dollars to not have to deal with that. On average, advertising would subsidize” but not fund the entire service, he argued. As for the Gphone itself, it remains unclear whether the device will appear at any time in the near future. All of these rumors center on the company's showing of the actual device to its employees and select outsiders. With the needed 700MHz spectrum not due for auction until this coming January, a Gphone being shown internally would seem to be further along in development than the network on which it may eventually reside. That could be the actual plan, however, as Google has yet to actually dip its toes into the mobile device business. Were it to venture into this market, an initial foray into the space would do wonders to improve the company's perspective on the potential problems of the business. http://www.sdtimes.com/article/LatestNews-20071015-17.html *** Fri Nov 9 17:23:45 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Sarbanes-Oxley turns 5 amid mixed results High costs, few results overshadow good portions of regulation By Jabulani Leffall, MarketWatch Last Update: 5:09 PM ET Nov 9, 2007 SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Five years after shepherding passage of a landmark bill to fight corporate corruption - the Sarbanes-Oxley Act -- now retired Congressman Michael Oxley has mixed feelings about the impact of what was the most sweeping markets regulation since 1934. "I still hear a lot of complaint and blame, mixed in with a good deal of praise for the law," said Oxley, the Ohio Republican, now a non-executive vice chairman of Nasdaq Stock Market Inc. and a counsel with law firm Baker Hostetler. The Securities and Exchange Commission is currently looking to placate critics of the law, known simply as SOX, with a set of new ideas on how to adapt to it. And the accounting industry is preparing this fall for lighter, cheaper and more focused audits to avoid the criticism that the law was too exacting on companies. Yet despite these recent reforms, Sarbanes-Oxley's true impact on the capital markets - whether it made them better or worse - still remains unclear a half a decade later. What is apparent is that there is a large contingent of stakeholders who believe the costs thus far have outweighed the benefits. Congress enacted Sarbanes-Oxley in 2002 in the wake of the spectacular collapse of Enron Corp. in an accounting scandal. The collapse led to the demise of auditor Arthur Andersen, one of the "Big Five" accounting industry giants. Soon after Enron imploded, telecom giant WorldCom blew up in its own accounting scandal. It was with WorldCom in mind that lawmakers added the now infamous section 404 to SOX, which requires that chief executives and chief financial officers personally certify that financial statements are complete and accurate, under penalty of jail time. The kicker has been the responsibility of auditors to attest to management's assertions, which critics contend led to additional cost burdens. Looking back on the origins of the law and the business climate that created it, Oxley and Sen. Paul Sarbanes, D-Md., with whom he co-sponsored the 2002 bill, now join scores of academics, politicians and company executives in maintaining that implementation of SOX has left a lot to be desired. Crippling costs A survey released this year by the Financial Executives Research Foundation revealed that the average 2006 cost for SOX compliance was $1.2 million at publicly-traded companies for auditor attest statements alone. If this estimate, which did not factor in money spent on internal preparation, was to include all filers at more than 15,000 public concerns, it would equal about $180 billion in 2006 costs. Going forward, Oxley said he hopes regulatory reforms address legitimate criticism from businesses large and small that Sarbanes Oxley is too costly and hasn't done enough to examine and curb more urgent risks. Anne M. Mulcahy, chief executive of Xerox Corp. (XRX Xerox Corporation News, chart, profile, more Delayed quote data Add to portfolio Analyst Create alert Insider Discuss Financials Sponsored by: XRX) , as well as a member of U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson's Committee on the auditing profession, suggests that the "expensive but worthwhile," framework under SOX, is still a work in progress. "Following any new set of regulations, there will always be some complaints," she said. "Until we have verifiable facts and data it is premature to draw any conclusions." Costs aside, proponents of SOX say the rule fostered greater accountability. Further, they often cite the five-year climb of the S&P 500 Index ($SPX S&P 500 Index News, chart, profile, more Delayed quote data Add to portfolio Analyst Create alert Insider Discuss Financials Sponsored by: $SPX) , the Dow Jones Industrial Average (INDU INDU News, chart, profile, more Delayed quote data Add to portfolio Analyst Create alert Insider Discuss Financials Sponsored by: INDU) and the Nasdaq Composite Index ($COMPQ Nasdaq Composite Index News, chart, profile, more Delayed quote data Add to portfolio Analyst Create alert Insider Discuss Financials Sponsored by: $COMPQ) as evidence that the law is working. However, these gains likely owe less to tighter financial reporting standards than to historically low interest rates, a weak U.S. dollar and increased liquidity over that time span. Scandals persist Moreover, internal controls integrity didn't stop the subprime meltdown this year, which is continuing to dog the financial sector. There were also several stock options backdating scandals with accounting implications. Not to mention a rising number of restatements. A study by Glass Lewis & Co. this spring found that 1,538 companies, or nearly 10% of public issuers covered by SOX, made earnings and accounting restatements in 2006. It's not yet known whether these restatements happened because of or in spite of SOX. But the U.S Treasury in October commissioned the University of Kansas to study exactly how and why so many companies issued restatements. Like many, Henry R. Keizer, KPMG LLP's Global Head of Audit, thinks the rule hasn't run its course and needs to be less knee-jerk and more company and risk-specific in the future if it is to be more effective. "Restatements are distracting and expensive to a company, so going forward they should reflect material changes," Keizer said. "Defining exactly what is material, is not an easy discussion but one that needs to be continued." Debates on degree of risk and materiality of misstatements at individual companies notwithstanding, the law has spawned increased emphasis on corporate governance and established rules that strengthen public companies. Such provisions include stepped up audit committee involvement at the board level and the required presence of an independent "financial expert," to oversee internal and external audits of financial statements. Further, former U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said in July that his Corporate Fraud Taskforce over the last five years won 1,236 corporate fraud convictions, which included 214 chief executive officers and presidents, 53 chief financial officers, 23 corporate lawyers and 129 vice presidents. In looking at the task force Web Site, however, it's apparent that a great number of these cases resulted from plea bargains and were sealed. Also many eventually led to appellate reversals. And in the last two years, there have only been insolated instances of perceived malfeasance as only 26 were indictments identified by the task force as significant. This illustrates the push, pull dilemma in examining the positive effects of the law. Nowhere in any of these cases does it say SOX or section 404 were violated. For instance, the indictment that led to the conviction on accounting fraud last year of Sanjay Kumar, the former chief executive of Computer Associates Inc. mentions several violations of the Securities Act of 1934 but no mention of SOX. Indeed, for every John Rigas, (chief executive of Adelphia Communications Corp., convicted in 2004) and Conrad Black (Hollinger, Inc. convicted in July) there are big enforcement misses. Last year, Hewlett-Packard Co. Chairman Patricia Dunn simply resigned amid allegations of spying on board members and Healthsouth Corporation Chief Executive Richard M. Scrushy beat the rap in 2005 on accounting fraud charges. Aside from these, there have been few public scandals equaling those that brought SOX into existence. Meanwhile, if Dell Inc.'s recent restatement of nearly $100 million and new allegations that Merrill Lynch attempted to delay losses on bad loans through deals with hedge funds are any indication, SOX can do little to stop such actions. "What's clear now is that you can't test internal controls over good judgment any more than you can certify morality," said Hal S. Scott, a Harvard Law School professor and director of the Committee on Capital Markets Regulation, and longtime critic of SOX. "It's a business issue not a political one." Improving quality For its part, the SEC, despite calls for reform, remains vigilant about corporate wrongdoing but still wants to eliminate what Chairman Christopher Cox called "unproductive make-work procedures that waste investors' money." SEC Spokesman John Nester said, "We improved audit quality but at a far higher cost than anyone anticipated." Even auditors now admit that costs must come down and that ultimately it is management's responsibility to do the right thing. "In the beginning nobody could see the forest for the trees, now we see the trees," said Sue Lister, national director of audit policy for BDO Seidman LLP. "We want a greater focus with the understanding that if management is in collusion, SOX won't eliminate fraud." In that vein, there is a possibility of more fraud to come as evidence uncovered by a University of Nebraska study in late October suggests that the protection for whistleblowers offered under Sarbanes-Oxley is lacking. The study found that between 2002 and 2005, only a "handful" of the 491 whistleblower complaints of retaliation have resulted in judgments favoring the employee, a trend some critics think may discourage people from coming forward. What Corporate America has truly learned so far is yet to be determined, contends Randolph Beatty, Dean of the Leventhal School of Accounting at the University of Southern California. "It passed almost unanimously, so there's your first problem right there," he said. "(SOX) is a living document with a ways to go but one thing that nobody can deny is that CEOs and CFOs can no longer say 'I didn't know.' " End of Story *** Fri Nov 9 18:11:32 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Corrective eye non-surgery * Reporter: Jonathan Creek * Broadcast Date: November 09, 2007 Anyone ever facing a lifetime of short-sightedness, is now a candidate for a promise of 20/20 vision without eye surgery. "It's a really remarkable process. The first night of wear probably creates the greatest change so for people with low levels of sight, in one wear they do extremely well and actually get 20/20 vision," said Optometrist, Russell Lowe. Russell claims corneal re-shaping does pretty much the same thing as laser surgery, without the risk. "It's a very interesting alternative to laser surgery because it essentially does much the same thing, it reshapes the cornea. However the big difference is that contact lens corneal reshaping is a reversible process. It's not invasive and a lot of patients really like the thought of that, it's really appealing," he added. Nikki Heaney, 24, has been short sighted for about seven years. "I started wearing glasses when I was about 17 and started wearing contacts shortly after that, so I've been wearing contacts for about five years now," Nikki said. Nikki says contact lenses were fine most of the time, until it came to spring or somewhere smokey. The other alternative, laser eye surgery, she ruled out early. "I thought about having the laser eye surgery, but was very reluctant with that. There's always that little worry that it might not work or something might go wrong. And it's irreversible", Nikki added. "That's one of the concerns people have and I think it's a valid concern. We don't really have a lot of long term data for laser surgery, it's probably only been around for something like 10 years and it's true that some people do experience regression and need re-treatment," Russell said. A definite convert is AFL footballer Jason Akermanis, whose failing eye sight was affecting his game. With glasses ruled out, and contacts struggling to cope with the physical nature of his sport, he needed an alternative. Jason turned to corneal re-shaping. The process involves him wearing hard contact lenses, three or four nights a week and when he wakes up he takes them out, for perfect vision. "You have nothing in your eye all day, no contacts moving around, no glasses to worry about, perfect vision and for every night bar Wednesday and probably Saturday, you're just sleeping with this stuff in your eye. Because they're so clean, the risk of eye infection or whatever comes with it, is very low," Jason said. And this is how it works, first your eye is mapped by a computer. It takes into account the prescription needed to achieve 20/20 vision and that information is used to mould hard contact lenses. Unlike conventional lenses, corneal re-shapers work in reverse, it reshapes the front surface of your eye while you sleep. One advantage with corneal reshaping is that it isn't permanent. If you stop putting the lenses in, the surface of your eye returns to it's original position. But it's not for everybody. Corneal reshaping doesn't work for long sighted people and often patients who have sensitive eyes can suffer. Professor Hugh Taylor, Chief of Opthamology at Melbourne's Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital warns putting anything in your eyes, whether it be lenses or laser, has its risks. "The use of contact lenses would be the number one cause of infections seen at this hospital," he said. It's time for Nikki to check her eyesight. She's only had the lenses in overnight and Russell Lowe is promising some dramatic results. "You've got 20/20 vision, six /six in each eye after just one night of wear. That's got to be pretty good," Russell said. "The first things I noticed were the boldness and the crispness of things. Even looking at street signs and things in windows, the letters are really standing out to me whereas if I didn't have my contacts or glasses, I couldn't see that at all," Nikki said. "I think the biggest single advantage is the freedom it gives people, the sense of self improvement, the fact that they're able to see more naturally without a device, be it a contact lens or pair of glasses, and the fact that they can do that without a surgery, meaning that we have a reversible, non invasive treatment that's really quite easy to administer," Russell said. For further information visit the website at: www.osa.net.au *** Fri Nov 9 19:35:53 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Agence France-Presse - 11/9/2007 4:21 AM Singapore's population rises to record 4.68 million http://news.sg.msn.com/regional/article.aspx?cp-documentid=1087791 Singapore's numbers have risen to nearly 4.7 million amid an intensive drive to attract migrants to address the city-state's ageing population and baby shortage, figures showed Friday. The figure represents a 4.4 percent year-on-year rise to 4.68 million in June, including one million foreigners who work here, according to the department of statistics website. Singapore's resident population, including those granted permanent residence (PR) status, totalled 3.68 million, it said. Deputy Prime Minister Wong Kan Seng, who is also in charge of population issues, told the Straits Times newspaper that 46,900 foreigners were granted PRs in the first nine months of the year. A total of 57,300 foreigners were granted PRs in 2006, he said. Regarding concerns by Singaporeans who fear competition for jobs from newcomers, Wong, who is also home affairs minister, said: "Our challenge is not the number of jobs available; it is (that) we do not have enough people to match the current rate of job creation." Singapore has embarked on an aggressive drive to attract immigrants to avert a serious population shortage as efforts to encourage people to have more children failed. According to the statistics department, 1.26 babies were born per woman in 2006, well below the fertility rate of 2.1 needed for the population to grow again. Singapore has said its long-term economic future will be at risk if it fails to properly address its baby shortage and ageing population. *** Fri Nov 9 19:38:18 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Singapore's 40 Richest Our economy has had a banner year. GDP was up 7.9% for 2006, the main stock index is up 19% year to date, and its 40 wealthiest citizens are worth a collective $32 billion, $4 billion more than last year. Fortunes centered on real estate, shipping and palm oil did particularly well. Ng Teng Fong takes the top spot based on the success of his hotel and mall holdings in Singapore and Hong Kong. Chua Thian Poh smartly bet on Sentosa Cove, which is emerging as the best address in Singapore. The richest of the list's 12 new entrants is Zhong Shen Jian, who made his $2.5 billion fortune selling luxury residences in his native China. He is one of three newcomers to list companies on the Singapore stock exchange last year. The other two are Robert Chandran of marine fuel outfit Chemoil and Raymond Goh, whose Swiber Group provides offshore oil and gas services. Kuok Khoon Hong and Peter Lim make their debuts thanks to soaring palm oil demand. One of the list's biggest gainers is Brian Chang, who operates one of Asia's largest dry docks out of China. Banking tycoons didn't do as well, recently hit by the global downturn in mortgages. Wee Chow Yaw's United Overseas Bank dipped 10% since mid-July. A $100 million net worth was needed to make the list, up from $55 million last year. Dropoffs who failed to make the cut include Tang Wee Kit--who, with his brother, launched an unsuccessful $150 million bid to buy out retailer C.K. Tang's minority shareholders--and Sudhir Gupta, who was forced to sell his stake in tiremaker Amtel-Vredestein for pennies on the dollar to his Russian partners. To better highlight individual wealth, we unraveled some extended family holdings. As a result Kwek Leng Beng's net worth dropped by $2.5 billion, but he is now joined by his cousins Kwek Leng Kee and Kwek Leng Peck. We also delineate cases such as the Khoo family in which siblings share a fortune. Public fortunes were calculated using share prices and exchange rates as of Aug. 10. For privately held fortunes we estimated what they would be worth if public. *** Sun Nov 11 16:33:56 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Monday November 12, 07:34 AM Teens robbed during Sydney train attack Three teenagers have been attacked and robbed on a train in Sydney's west, police say. A girl, 16, suffered a broken arm and her friends - boys aged 15 and 16 - were repeatedly punched during the attack about 5.20pm (AEDT) on Sunday near Quakers Hill. The teenagers told police they were approached by a group of eight boys and girls, who demanded cash while making threats with a knife. The offenders left the train at Riverstone, taking a mobile phone from the victims. The eight offenders are described as between 10 and 18 years old and of Aboriginal appearance. *** Mon Nov 12 19:39:54 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Herbal sex pills pose hidden dangers By JUSTIN PRITCHARD, Associated Press Writer1 hour, 21 minutes ago Many of the pills marketed as safe herbal alternatives to Viagra and other prescription sex medications pose a hidden danger: For men on common heart and blood-pressure drugs, popping one could lead to a stroke, or even death. "All-natural" products with names like Stamina-RX and Vigor-25 promise an apothecary's delight of rare Asian ingredients, but many work because they contain unregulated versions of the very pharmaceuticals they are supposed to replace. That dirty secret represents a special danger for the millions of men who take nitrates — drugs prescribed to lower blood pressure and regulate heart disease. When mixed, nitrates and impotency pharmaceuticals can slow blood flow catastrophically, leading to a heart attack or stroke. An Associated Press investigation shows that spiked herbal impotency pills are emerging as a major public health concern that officials haven't figured out how to track, much less tame. Emergency rooms and poison control hot lines are starting to log more incidents of the long-ignored phenomenon. Sales of "natural sexual enhancers" are booming — rising to nearly $400 million last year. And dangerous knockoffs abound. At greatest risk are the estimated 5.5 million American men who take nitrates — generally older and more likely to need help with erectile dysfunction. The all-natural message can be appealing to such men, warned by their doctors and ubiquitous TV commercials not to take Viagra, Cialis or Levitra. James Neal-Kababick, director of Oregon-based Flora Research Laboratories, said about 90 percent of the hundreds of samples he has analyzed contained forms of patented pharmaceuticals — some with doses more than twice that of prescription erectile dysfunction medicine. Other testers report similar results, particularly among pills that promise immediate results. While no deaths have been reported, the AP found records of emergency room visits attributed to all-natural sex pills in Georgia, Chicago, Philadelphia, San Diego and elsewhere. An elderly man in a retirement community north of Los Angeles took an in-the-mail sample and landed in the hospital for four days. A Michigan man sued the maker of Spontane-ES, blaming it for the stroke he suffered 20 minutes after taking a freebie that was advertised as "extremely safe." Tim Fulmer, a lawyer representing Spontane-ES, said the pill did not contain any pharmaceutical and was not responsible for the stroke. Mark B. Mycyk, a Chicago emergency room doctor who directs Northwestern University's clinical toxicology research program, said he is seeing increasing numbers of patients who unwittingly took prescription-strength doses of the alternatives, a trend he attributes to ease of purchase on the Internet and the desperation of vulnerable men. He said he wouldn't be surprised if there'd been undetected deaths from bad herbal pills. Some herbal labels warn off users with heart or blood-pressure problems if they have taken their medicine within six hours; some doctors say 24 hours or more would be safer. The AP often couldn't determine from records whether incidents reported to tracking systems of the federal Food and Drug Administration and state poison control centers involved mixing herbal alternatives with nitrates. Some men in their 30s who went to emergency rooms after taking herbal sex pills were presumably otherwise healthy, but they showed the transitory side effects of the active ingredients in regulated impotency pharmaceuticals, such as difficulty seeing clearly or severe headaches, records show. While public health officials don't know the extent of the problem, they agree that incidents are vastly underreported, with national tracking systems capturing perhaps as little as 1 percent of them. Victims may be embarrassed, and doctors rarely ask about supplements. Since 2001, sales of supplements marketed as natural sexual enhancers have risen $100 million, to $398 million last year, including herbal mixtures, according to estimates by Nutrition Business Journal. Some legitimate herbal mixtures claim to work gradually over weeks; it's the herbals marketed for immediate trysts that often are the problem. Tight budgets, weak regulations and other priorities limit the FDA's ability to police the products, often promoted via blasts of e-mail spam and fly-by-night Web sites. "The Internet poses many enforcement challenges," said Dr. Linda Silvers, who leads an FDA team that targets fraudulent health products sold online. "A Web site can look sophisticated and legitimate, but actually be an illegal operation." In many cases, the ingredients used to alter herbal pills come from Asia, particularly China, where the sexual enhancers are cooked up in labs at the beginning of a winding supply chain. The FDA has placed pills by two manufacturers in China and one from Malaysia on an import watch list. Pills like Cialis generally retail at pharmacies for between $13 and $20, while herbals can cost less than $1, up to about $5. Many health insurance plans provide limited coverage for prescription sex pills, especially for those with health-related difficulties. Few over-the-counter treatments are covered, and herbals aren't likely to be among them, in part because they're classified as foods not pharmaceuticals, said Mohit M. Ghose, spokesman for America's Health Insurance Plans, which represents major health insurers. Spiked pills have turned up in Thailand, Taiwan, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Malaysia, the United Kingdom and the United States, according to testing done by Pfizer Inc., the New York-based pharmaceutical giant that developed Viagra. The company said that 69 percent of 3,400 supplements it purchased in China contained sildenafil citrate, the main ingredient in Viagra. Pfizer didn't check for the patented ingredients of its rivals. Under U.S. law, because such pills are "dietary supplements," they're far less regulated than pharmaceuticals and face few barriers to market. Viagra, by contrast, underwent years of testing before it was publicly available. While herbal alternatives often contain exact copies of the patented drugs, some makers tweak the molecules to keep the effect of the original pharmaceutical while avoiding the scrutiny of the FDA and outside testing labs. Federal officials have only recently stepped up investigations and prosecutions, and in any case, the FDA's recall power is limited. Last week, in response to safety concerns about imported toothpaste, dog food and toys, President Bush recommended that the FDA be authorized to order mandatory recalls of dangerous products. Currently, recalls are voluntary, and even if the agency determines that a product poses a "significant health risk," a firm may refuse to cooperate. Plus, recalled products are widely offered on the Internet and pills are hard to round up. Before a product called Nasutra was recalled a year ago by its manufacturer, the FDA had received a 30-year-old man's report of a raging headache and an erection that wouldn't go down. Following the recall, a 32-year-old man reported having spontaneous nose bleeds after taking the pill, records show. E-mails requesting comment from Nasutra LLC, the company that voluntarily recalled the product in September 2006, were not returned. The FDA says the firm is located in Los Angeles; there is no listed phone number in the region. During the past year, the FDA has orchestrated eight recalls of "herbal" pills that contained the ingredients found in Viagra, Cialis or Levitra, or their unregulated chemical cousins. Many of the firms were based around Los Angeles, their offices ranging from an unsigned door in a grungy hall on the fringe of downtown to a gated complex near Beverly Hills. One recall involved a pill called Liviro3. The current owner of the drug's marketing and distributing firm said that after he tried the product, he quit his job at a car dealership and bought the brand name and stock of several thousand pills in 2004 for $450,000. In January, he said, FDA agents seized his stockpile after an agency lab found that Liviro3 contained tadalafil, the main ingredient in Cialis. The man told the AP he'd had no idea the pills were drug-laced. One prosecution involved V. Vigor Corp., the Long Island-based maker of Vigor-25. While the product was advertised as containing Asian ginseng, lycium fruit and Chinese yam rhizome, FDA testing indicated that the pills contained Viagra. Company executive Michael Peng had agreed to stop selling Vigor-25 following an FDA agent's visit in late 2004, according to an arrest warrant affidavit. But between then and his arrest in September, at least 4.5 million pills were packaged for distribution, the affidavit said. According to prosecutors, Peng thought he could evade tests simply by switching from the sildenafil citrate he imported from China to Levitra's active ingredient, vardenafil — a shipment of which U.S. Customs intercepted from Thailand. Peng, who said through his attorney that he was "unaware that there was anything other than natural supplements" in Vigor-25, faces a charge of misbranding — in this instance, claiming that a pharmaceutical is a dietary supplement. Two other pills, Spontane-ES and Stamina-RX, were made by companies run by Jared Wheat, who's facing federal charges in Atlanta that he peddled knockoff pharmaceuticals cooked in a Central American lab. Prosecutors tried to keep Wheat from posting bail by asserting that he contemplated killing an FDA investigator and bribing a prosecutor. Fulmer rejected those assertions, which did not lead to charges, saying Wheat is hardworking and nonviolent. Fulmer said Wheat's two businesses are legitimate and continue to be successful. Wheat was granted bond after pledging approximately $7.5 million in cash and property; he's free under home confinement. ___ Associated Press researcher Julie Reed in New York and Associated Press writer Andrew Bridges in Washington contributed to this report. *** Tue Nov 13 01:47:34 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: overt CCTV equipment gathers evidence of antisocial behaviour 07 November 2007 Fighting the complex problems of anti-social behaviour challenges district and borough councils. While the term in itself covers a multitude of different problems there is a range of pro-active techniques that can be implemented to tackle many issues that if left unchallenged cost councils and therefore taxpayers' unnecessary money. Broxbourne Council's community safety team recently received reports of youths causing antisocial behaviour and the stoning of passing vehicles, particularly buses, in the local area. This group of youths were consistently damaging council property. The throwing of the stones had resulted in a number of bus windows being smashed, which could have resulted in the driver losing control of the vehicle, or a passenger being injured by flying glass. As a result, the bus service on that route was withdrawn. The Police increased uniformed presence in the area and also carried out plain clothes operations, but this did not resolve the problem. VIT was chosen to supply covert CCTV equipment to monitor the situation and gather evidence. The local authority contacted VIT who provided surveillance cameras that were so well disguised that even from a distance of 6 inches, looking directly into the lens the youths were unaware that they were being filmed. VIT further deferred suspicion by placing a more obvious camera close to the site of the disguised camera to attract the youth's attention. The ploy worked successfully as the youths ignored the hidden camera and set about tearing the dummy ploy camera off the wall and attempting to destroy it. Other methods were used by VIT to delay the process of destruction of the fake box to allow plenty of evidential video to be obtained. The system chosen was adaptable to a number of different situations, particularly as the attacks took place mostly under the cover of darkness, and the clarity of images secured assisted the police in the identification and arrest of the six offenders concerned. As a result, there have been no more stoning incidents in the area. Because of the high quality ultra low light cameras used by VIT, obtaining evidential quality footage day or night is assured. The boys in this particular case were arrested and charged with causing damage to council property including the dummy camera and successfully prosecuted. *** Tue Nov 13 15:46:15 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Experts condemn 24-hour drinking By Rebecca Smith and Nic Fleming 493 words 13 November 2007 The Daily Telegraph 001 English (c) 2007 Telegraph Group Limited, London ALL-DAY drinking laws introduced by Labour are condemned today by leading academics for failing to curb Britain's culture of binge drinking. Deaths from alcohol have doubled since the early 1990s, according to a major study, but the Government has ignored authoritative evidence over the way to tackle the dangers of drinking. Measures to combat binge drinking have failed and the controversial move to relax licensing laws must be reviewed, says the report from the Nuffield Council on Bioethics. It says tax on alcohol must be increased and the hours that bars and shops are allowed to sell drink should be restricted. The report says the Government has failed to tackle the booze culture and the number of alcohol-related deaths had doubled since 1991 to 8,000 in 2005. Lord Krebs, the chairman of the committee that produced the report, said: "The Government should implement tougher measures to tackle excessive drinking. "There is also an urgent need for an analysis of the effect of extended opening hours on levels of alcohol consumption, as well as on anti-social behaviour.'' The report comes after Gordon Brown promised to review the 24-hour licensing laws introduced by Tony Blair. The report says evidence from the World Health Organisation that restricting the availability of alcohol is effective for reducing binge drinking "stands in contrast'' to the Government's policy of extending opening hours for pubs and bars. Lord Krebs said the aim of creating a Continental-style cafe culture had clearly failed. "I live in the centre of Oxford. If you walk down any of the main streets at 11 o'clock - one is known as Vomit Alley - we all see a conspicuous absence of continental culture. "It has not shifted the drinking culture. The stats on violence and crime, alcohol and A&E admissions are still disputed. That's why we are calling for a clear review of the evidence.'' Alcohol-related illnesses and accidents are reported to cost the National Health Service pounds 3 billion a year. Prof Roger Brownsword, a bioethicist from King's College London, said: "The council recommends that the Government needs to think hard about more stringent interventions, particularly in relation to opening hours. "That needs to be re-visited, and the possibility of increasing taxes on alcohol is something the Government needs to consider.'' The report coincides with the launch of the Alcohol Health Alliance - a group of 22 health organisations lobbying for a 10 per cent increase in tax on alcohol to stem binge drinking. Mark Hastings, of the British Beer and Pub Association, said alcohol consumption had fallen for the last two years, which pointed to "improvements in drinking patterns and behaviour since the introduction of the new licensing laws''. The Home Office is investigating the effect of 24-hour licensing on crime and disorder and will report in the New Year. *** Tue Nov 13 16:26:01 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Get ready for an internet revolution * Reporter: Bryan Seymour * Broadcast Date: November 13, 2007 He is proof that brains are better than brawn. Maths whiz John Papandriopoulos, 29, has invented a way to make the internet 100 times faster. His formula is set to sweep the globe and John is about to start a new life in Silicon valley. John Papandriopoulos has just hit the geek lottery. "Really what we've done is a way to enhance the performance of DSL, so DSL is internet access effectively over your telephone line," John said. Whilst in the shower, the ideas came flowing. The result was a new algorithm that will reduce the electronic noise on every internet connection, greatly increasing the efficient flow of information. "That means you'll be able to watch your videos much more quickly and further down the line, enable new applications where you might have higher definition video," John added. His formula can be applied to all 150 million DSL lines around the world. His share of the rights potentially worth millions. Editor of PC Authority magazine Nick Ross says John will likely need to come up with a new algorithm to keep track of all his money. "Sky is the limit, I mean, everyone around the world wants to be using fast internet access. Governments are going to want to buy it," Nick said. First stop in John's new life is a new home and a new job in California, he leaves in a couple of weeks. "It's a very exciting opportunity to go to into Silicon Valley in California and work for a start-up there, although I'm really going to miss Melbourne and Australia," John said. John has been headhunted by Jon Cioffi. The Stamford Professor they call the father of broadband internet. He wants John to work for him to take his technology to the next level. And the experts tell us John's Algorithm could be in worldwide use within two to three years. *** Tue Nov 13 16:31:20 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: The Italian job - leaving a street near you Jordan Baker Chief Police Reporter 569 words 14 November 2007 The Sydney Morning Herald First 1 English © 2007 Copyright John Fairfax Holdings Limited. www.smh.com.au ARM THE ALARM Worst streets Thefts Campbell St, Parramatta 50 North Terrace, Bankstown 45 McFarlane St, Merrylands 38 Worst council areas Blacktown 1571 Bankstown 1296 Sydney 1219 Largest increase in thefts Newcastle Randwick Area of Great Lakes SOURCE: NATIONAL MOTOR VEHICLE THEFT REDUCTION COUNCIL 2006-07 FINANCIAL YEAR WHEN it comes to having your vehicle stolen in Sydney, it's all about what type of car or motorcycle you have, where you leave it and when you park. Blacktown, Bankstown and the City of Sydney were the areas targeted most by thieves last financial year, and the Holden Commodore was their favourite. But the iconic Vespa was a hot target. While there were only 31 Vespas stolen over 12 months, it was the highest rate of theft per 1000 registered vehicles by manufacturer. Experts are warning scooter owners to keep their bikes off the street. "They're a great way to commute," said Geoff Hughes, director of strategy and programming at the National Motor Vehicle Theft Reduction Council. "But that also means they're in high demand. They are so light and portable, two blokes can pick them up and away they go." The council used police, RTA and insurance data to map vehicle theft in NSW over the past financial year. Thefts in NSW fell for the sixth time in 2006-07, with a total of 26,891 vehicles stolen, down 6 per cent from the previous financial year. Blacktown, Bankstown, Sydney, Liverpool and Newcastle were the hardest-hit local government areas Thieves were most active on Fridays and Saturdays between 4pm and midnight. The worst street was Campbell Street, Parramatta, where 50 cars were stolen. Forty-five were stolen in North Terrace, Bankstown, and 38 in McFarlane Street, Merrylands. Newcastle had the fastest-growing problem, followed by Randwick. The most heavily targeted postcodes were 2170 (Liverpool), 2560 (Campbelltown) and 2770 (Mount Druitt), while the most popular vehicles were Holden Commodore VTs, followed by the Toyota Corolla and Hyundai Excel. Vehicles manufactured in the 1980s were six times more likely to be stolen than those built since 2000. More than 2000 motorcycles were stolen in the 12 months to June 30, with Blacktown and the City of Sydney again representing the worst hotspots. Popular targets included Yamaha, Honda and Suzuki. "We don't want to scare Vespa owners unnecessarily," Mr Hughes said. "It is a rapidly growing market, and when that happens there will also be a rapidly expanding theft market. Our advice to people who own Vespas is park them off the street." Scooter enthusiast Cam Green said there was a spate of thefts around Glebe and Newtown last year. He said he has even had a scare with his own scooter. "They picked it up and moved it up the street," he said last night at the Palisade Hotel at Millers Point, where the Sydney City Scooter Club has meetings. "It was just a joke. They didn't damage it. It's like any bike - if you really want to knock it off you can pick it up if people don't bother to secure it in any way." Just over two thirds of stolen cars were recovered. Many of the vehicles that were not recovered were likely to have been used by car rebirthing rackets. Document SMHH000020071113e3be00001 *** Tue Nov 13 16:32:59 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Wednesday November 14, 06:48 AM Bathurst couple attacked outside home A couple is in hospital after being attacked outside their home on the NSW Central Tablelands, police say. At about 8.30pm (AEDT) on Tuesday, a man walked outside his Greville Place home in the Bathurst suburb of Kelso where he was confronted by four men. The 42-year-old spoke to the group after they allegedly harassed his dog. An altercation broke out during which he was hit over the head with a bottle before being stabbed in the back with an unknown weapon. A 42-year-old woman who ran from the house to help the man was also assaulted and stabbed. Both victims were taken to Bathurst Hospital where the man was treated for a punctured lung and cuts to his back and neck, and the woman treated for a broken rib and cuts. Police are continuing their investigations and want to speak with anyone who may have seen the attack. *** Tue Nov 13 16:38:07 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Little fish gallops back into the wild Yuko Narushima 445 words 14 November 2007 The Sydney Morning Herald First 3 English © 2007 Copyright John Fairfax Holdings Limited. www.smh.com.au FLOATING in a tank the 30 seahorses that had been bred in captivity looked like a tangle of black seaweed. It was when the finger-long creatures were scooped out one by one and released into Sydney Harbour that their spiny S-shaped forms became distinguishable. The release of the herd into net-protected waters at Manly Cove was a first for Australian marine scientists who are researching ways to boost seahorse numbers in areas where their stocks have been depleted. David Harasti, the NSW Department of Primary Industries marine scientist behind the project, said habitat was crucial to their survival. "If they've got a habitat where a male and female can curl their tails around, they'll hang on tight near each other and come together every morning in a courtship dance," he said. "The male and female come together and twirl their tails. That's how they mate." Curling and twirling seahorses are prolific breeders in the wild but are under threat nearer humans because seabeds they need to survive are being destroyed. The sea grasses and algal beds the fish cling to are being destroyed by boat anchors and extensive fishing. "It's their actual habitat that's at threat," said Claudette Rechtovik, program co-ordinator for the Sydney Aquarium Conservation Fund which gave $5000 to researchers. "To breed is one thing but to have the babies survive is another. In the wild, they have quite a high mortality rate." Seahorses, which are protected in NSW, are also poached for the black market where they can be sold as pets for $120, used in medicines or bottled in "seahorse vinegar", Ms Rechtovik said. "They are really vulnerable. They can't swim very quickly," she said. Sydney Harbour is home to about half of the 40 species known to exist. As many as 400 seahorses live in the netted area next to the ferry terminal at Manly Cove and with summer approaching, their preferred breeding season, that number is set to increase. "Seahorses are the most unique animal in the world. The male seahorse gives birth," Mr Harasti said. "The female deposits her eggs into his pouch and he'll give birth four times a year." At six months of age, the released seahorses are sexually mature. They are tagged and will be monitored by divers weekly for the next two years. "Grab your snorkel and take a look," Mr Rechtovik said. "A lot of people are really surprised that we've got things like sea horses in Sydney Harbour. The harbour is rich with life." Document SMHH000020071113e3be0000o *** Tue Nov 13 16:55:18 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: News and Features - Insight Plans for free wireless internet in CBD on hold Sunanda Creagh Urban Affairs Reporter 422 words 14 November 2007 The Sydney Morning Herald First 11 English © 2007 Copyright John Fairfax Holdings Limited. www.smh.com.au A STATE Government plan to offer free wireless broadband throughout the CBD has stalled, a senior City of Sydney staff member says. Before the state election in March the Premier, Morris Iemma, promised city dwellers that by 2009 they could expect free Wi-Fi internet in the CBD, North Sydney, Parramatta, Penrith and Liverpool, Newcastle, Wollongong and Gosford. The Government was supposed to have finalised a tender process and select a wireless provider by the end of this year. The council's chief executive, Monica Barone, said the Government had asked them to identify some hot spots that could be the first to be granted free wireless, but John Barbeler, the council's director of corporate services, told councillors on Monday night that he had been told the project was on hold. "We have tried to meet with them but have been told it's on hold," he said. "They haven't gone to tender." A spokesman for the Department of Commerce, which is overseeing the project, said the Government was still evaluating 15 expressions of interest. "The evaluation of the proposals and solutions received in response to the expression of interest is in its final stages. The proposals were both innovative and diverse," the spokesman said. "Due to the diversity and complexity of the responses, the expression of interest evaluation is taking longer than originally anticipated. The NSW Government expects to be in a position to make an announcement soon." The executive director of the Sydney Chamber of Commerce, Patricia Forsythe, said free public wireless was essential for the city to remain internationally competitive. "Paris and San Francisco have headed in this direction. For a lot of businesses, it's seen as one of these things that gives you an edge when you are promoting the city," she said. Grahame Lynch, an expert on public wireless systems and director of the industry newsletter Communications Day, said free public wireless services in other cities were "underfunded and prone to technical difficulties". "There's also a moral hazard element," he said. "The networks are initially promoted by government but outsourced to the private sector, but if the private operator can't make a case of it, the taxpayer or the ratepayer has to pick up the tab." Mr Lynch said in some cities the service was free to a certain point, but users must pay for faster speeds or higher usage. *** Tue Nov 13 18:00:16 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Official: 2m crimes left uninvestigated By BEN LEAPMAN Home Affairs Correspondent 735 words 11 November 2007 The Sunday Telegraph 001 English (C) 2007 Telegraph Group Limited, London POLICE ARE refusing to investigate more than two million reported crimes every year, including huge numbers of burglaries and thefts, The Sunday Telegraph can disclose. Almost four out of 10 offences are "screened out'' as unsolvable within hours of being reported to police, and the cases are closed. No officer visits the scene of the crime and no attempt is made to catch the culprit. As many as two-thirds of burglaries are not investigated in some areas, according to police figures. Even robberies and violent crimes can be screened out, while other cases involve fraud, theft and vandalism. Among 12 English and Scottish forces which released figures under Freedom of Information laws, 788,000 crimes were screened out last year from a total of 2,029,000 recorded offences - a rate of 39 per cent. The findings suggest that out of six million offences reported to forces in the UK last year, around 2.3 million were not investigated. David Davis, the shadow home secretary, said: "So-called screening can have the effect of making some crimes in effect risk-free for criminals. "It is critical that this technique is not driven either by Government targets or in an attempt to manipulate the crime figures.'' Norman Brennan, the chairman of the Victims of Crime Trust and a serving police officer, said: "The sad reality is that police numbers have not kept pace with the huge rise in crime across the spectrum. "The public are our masters and have a right to know why we don't turn up to every call and investigate every crime.'' Serious crimes such as murder, wounding or rape are always investigated, as are crimes where there is a named suspect or obvious forensic evidence. A decision not to pursue a case may be taken by a civilian police employee, under the supervision of an officer, following a conversation with the victim over the telephone or at the front counter of a police station. But screened-out offences are still counted in official crime figures, and victims are issued with reference numbers for insurance purposes. Police chiefs defend the system as a way to target resources on the most serious and solvable crimes. They insist that all crimes are "investigated'' to some degree, even if this amounts to no more than a telephone conversation. However, critics claim that the public will lose faith in the police if officers stop attending crime scenes and hunting for criminals. Among forces which provided figures, the highest rate of screening out was by the Metropolitan Police, with 53 per cent of reported offences dealt with in this way. Out of 97,000 burglaries in the capital, 64,000 were not investigated. The overall figure was 37 per cent in Cambridgeshire, 36 per cent in Humberside and 33 per cent in Hampshire and Norfolk. The lowest figure was 10 per cent by Lothian and Borders police. Explaining the policy, Helen King, the assistant chief constable of Merseyside, where 31 per cent of crimes were screened out last year, said: "each crime reported to merseyside police is treated seriously and subject to an initial investigation. "Opportunities for detecting that crime are examined at this stage. These include forensic opportunities, CCTV footage and witnesses. "Where there are solvability factors, an officer or crime scene investigator will attend and carry out an investigation. "In cases where those factors are not present and it does not fall into a more serious category of crime... the crime will be 'screened out'. Should further information come to light, the investigation will be reopened.'' Among forces which did not release figures, some admitted that they screen out some crimes but do not keep a count of how many. Others claimed not to operate a screening system but nevertheless admitted that they regularly close cases without sending officers to investigate. Scotland Yard admitted in a report this month that screening "can leave some victims thinking that their crime was not taken seriously''. The report to the Metropolitan Police Authority also warned that screening "could lead to missed detection opportunities when an initial assessment fails to identify significant lines of inquiry that would have become apparent had a secondary investigation taken place''. A Home Office spokesman said yesterday: "It is for individual forces to make decisions on how they use their resources.'' *** Wed Nov 14 17:12:21 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Sex case boss not 'squeaky clean' Susannah Moran | November 14, 2007 THE top partners at PricewaterhouseCoopers closed ranks behind a senior colleague accused of discriminating against a female co-worker, telling him he would be supported at the highest levels of the accounting firm even though he was not considered "squeaky clean". Court documents released yesterday in the $11 million sexual harassment claim against the firm brought by former partner Christina Rich include emails and notes of conversations made by her boss, senior partner Stuart Edwards. At the time, in June 2004, the Sydney-based Ms Rich and Mr Edwards had been involved in a dispute over her pay for at least six months. Mediation talks had taken place and other partners were getting involved, the documents show. PwC's deputy leader of the tax division, Neil Wilson, is recorded as telling Mr Edwards: "Paul (Koenig, PwC's current head of tax) and I have empathy for you and we believe Rob Ward now shares this view ... whilst I believe we also have Rob Ward sharing our view that fault lies with CR (Christina Rich), not you, you are not squeaky clean." Mr Ward is now the global head of the firm's assurance business - a division that has 55,000 employees and pulls in more than $9 billion a year in revenue. At the time, Mr Ward was the firm's national managing partner in Australia. Ms Rich is suing the partners of PwC, claiming one partner made an "unwelcome request for sexual favours" and sexually harassed her at Sydney's Orient Hotel in 2001. PwC and Mr Edwards deny all the claims made by Ms Rich. Although Ms Rich originally claimed Mr Edwards slipped suggestive notes under her door while they were at a conference, this allegation has now been dropped. But Ms Rich maintains that Mr Edwards called her "scatty" and "emotional" and in February 2004 offered to "give her a big hug to make it all better" when she raised work problems, suggesting they go out to dinner "with a bottle of wine, to nut out the issues". Mr Edwards denies the claims made by Ms Rich, but the dispute between the pair was obvious to other partners months later. "There are issues on both sides, Stuart ... I do not see you as squeaky clean, although I see CR (Christina Rich) as far worse than anything you have done," Mr Wilson is recorded as saying in June 2004. Mr Edwards recalls Mr Wilson saying to him: "Whilst you have had a shit of a time in the last six months, just imagine how things will be if this thing goes to court." Ms Rich launched her Federal Court action in late 2005, and last week PwC tried to keep the notes secret, claiming their release would affect "the purity of the stream of evidence". But the documents were released yesterday, forming part of the evidence put forward in a preliminary legal dispute. Mr Edwards's notes were made before Ms Rich, the firm's most highly paid female partner on close to $1 million a year, went to chief executive Tony Harrington with her complaints in July 2004, claiming a "boy's club" culture of bullying and harassment discriminated against women. In one of Mr Edwards's notes, he records one partner telling him: "There are a lot of people on your side." He records in another file note that he was prepared "to go down in a blaze of glory" over the dispute. "Last Tuesday, we were trying to counsel you to lose the battle but win the war ... Do you want to go down in a blaze of glory?" Mr Edwards recalls Mr Wilson asking him. "'Yes, if necessary, that's me', I said," Mr Edwards says he replied to the question. In another email, Mr Edwards vents his frustrations: "We are now well past six months of enormous personal and professional pain, suffering and not insignificant damage. I have not chose to use these words lightly. The mediation process is complete and I feel 'sidelined' and 'marginalised' in all that is going on." *** Wed Nov 14 17:20:54 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: The right tools to build wealth COVER STORY: Do-it-yourself investors have myriad low-cost, easy-to-access opportunities, writes John Synnott | November 14, 2007 DO-IT-YOURSELF investors have never had it so good as the internet keeps throwing up new sources of information and execution tools plus a plethora of new investment products. Despite the Big Four banks' financial service arms swallowing smaller competitors, there are still plenty of new opportunities for self-directed investors to have a go. The ranks of managed-fund discounters has thinned with Comsec taking over Neville Ward Direct and InvestSMART doing a reverse takeover of Direct Access. They are the behemoths with $3 billion and $1.3 billion in funds business, leaving a big gap to get to the next in line, Michael Lannon's 2020 Directinvest (about $200 million under management). Yet there is not shortage of alternatives as a wander around the internet throws up numerous smaller discounters, and websites of financial planners offering advice and model share portfolios (research@directadvisers.com.au). Selected categories are listed below: Managed fund discounters DIY investors can get rebates on their fees on managed funds, wrap accounts, master trusts and even on trailing commissions (above $396 per annum per family) with InvestSMART's TrailCap. It's a free tool to sign on to and nominate them as your fund broker for investments, super and pensions. "We do not make a fuss about it because it gets up the noses of advisers but the highest refund cheque so far is $16,000," says general manager Ron Hodge. He argues that wrap and other administration platforms open to DIY investors who can access wholesale-priced managed funds are flavour of the month. However, investors are cautioned that by the time you add up the administration fees there can sometimes not be a lot of difference to retail managed-fund fees. Online stockbroking CFD (contracts for difference) trading -- based on share price movements, rather than shares -- is the latest front in warring between online brokers. Last week, the Australian share market started trading CFDs, amalgamating multiple mini-markets run by CFD providers. The ASX CFD turnover jumped from 9000 to 300,000 trades in two days in the market currently limited to about 50 stocks and indexes and currencies. Eyes are on liquidity and price spread, which are important to the success of the new market. There are two online brokers, Comsec and Morrison Securities, among the eight foundation brokers. Comsec is offering free brokerage for the first couple of months to help the market along. E*Trade is waiting and watching, while still offering CFDs based on the price of the underlying shares. "CFDs have been around for a while now but are not yet a mainstream product from a DIY perspective, more a trading tool," said Comsec private client services executive general manager Edward Tate. Westpac Broking is planning to launch CFD trading next month as well as enhance its professional trading tools. It has recently introduced stock exchange-traded options, which allow investors to protect and earn income from their share portfolios. "This is the next level of DIY investing," says broking head Russell Karlson. Netwealth, which is typical of the one-stop-shops growing online for the DIY investor, is still claiming to be the cheapest online broker ($17.99 for trades to $5000). It is pipped by OneTrade stockbroking (at $17.95) according to infochoice.com.au. Separately managed accounts Self-directed investors who want to retire to the Greek islands, or at least go for a three to six-month holiday, can park their shares with Direct Portfolio Services for care and maintenance as a separately managed account (SMA). "This includes compliance action, reinvesting dividends or paying income streams to anywhere abroad," according to chief investment officer John Aldersley. SMAs are also promoted by BlackRock (Merrill Lynch) through model portfolios similar to managed funds. The key difference is that the investor owns the individual shares, which are managed for them by professionals. Individuals earn tax benefits such as franking credits individually -- but without paying the capital gains tax that would be incurred by being pooled with other members in a managed fund. Self-managed super funds (SMSFs) are showing interest in SMAs, according to BlackRock head of customer portfolio services Cormac Heffernan. "A lot of people start an SMSF for transparency and control of their investments but the costs can be significant in terms of time spent on administration and stock selection. So, some investors are looking at SMAs as an alternative way to get that control but with professional administration and management," he says. Shaw Stockbroking says DIY investors who want to select stocks but not monitor them day to day can set up an SMA portfolio of shares with a broker, just as they would buy $100,000 in managed funds with a financial planner. Shaws, which has a strong reputation for resources stocks and is matching the index with its own "model" portfolios of stocks, says SMAs are commoditising a role stockbrokers traditionally played. Investment tip sheet Fat Prophets, popular with self-directed investors, has launched two SMAs: an Australian share model portfolio and a mining and resources model portfolio, with which investors can customise their own holdings. "It has our picks, big and small and it's a wonderful way for small investors to get a diversified resources portfolio," says CEO Angus Geddes. DIY super Although self-directed investors like to stay in charge, financial advisers and planners are a useful tool for DIY investors to seek advice on how best to deal with all the superannuation changes. "More self-managed super funds were using financial planners in the first half of this year because of the super changes," says Mark Johnston, director of survey company Investment Trends. The number of DIY investors consulting advisers jumped from 33 per cent to 54 per cent in a recent survey. Melbourne financial adviser Jamie Nemstas of Investstone Wealth Management says a lot of the recent self-managed super fund boom was not driven by investors trying to take DIY control, but accountants chasing higher fees. Some $2000 for administration of an SMSF beats an $80 tax return. "But accountants do not have the capacity to invest the money, which can sit in cash," he says. "Investors need professional advice when markets are going up and down, a proper structure and asset allocation. There's also a lot of issues around compliance for self-managed super funds. We sometimes use them but prefer wrap accounts which do not have the same compliance issues and administration." Super gearing Instalment warrants got a new lease on life when the restriction on borrowing to invest in superannuation eased in September. SMSFs can use non-recourse loans to invest in shares, property and other asset classes. The changes were pioneered by moves with instalment warrants (as in buying Telstra shares in two instalments), which are popular with DIY super investors. You outlay half the cost but get the whole dividend, which includes a borrowing cost for the second instalment. Instalment warrants are a popular tool with SMSF investors to accelerate wealth creation. Ordinary super funds don't offer them. Nor do even large superwrap accounts such as BT. Macquarie's super wrap account is popular with share market investors because it is open to any company listed on the stock exchange and to warrants. A high proportion of Macquarie's 65,000 wrap and super wrap customers -- more than 40 per cent -- directly hold equities and instalment warrants. That costs an administration fee that they would not pay if the stocks were held outside the wrap or super wrap. "Changes in super rules will encourage more wrap and master trusts to offer borrowing via warrants," says Giulio Russo, Macquarie head of wrap sales and training. The borrowing-in-super envelope was extended when Macquarie moved to offer gearing into managed funds through instalment warrants. This allows SMSFs or Macquarie's super wrap members to borrow to invest in managed fund instalments. On borrowing to invest in super, Colonial First State has taken a different approach with new products that involve internal borrowing, such as the geared multi-manager boutique fund and geared global properties. *** Wed Nov 14 17:34:13 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Beware of high salt content * Reporter: Rebecca Bergh * Broadcast Date: November 14, 2007 http://au.todaytonight.yahoo.com/article/41410/health/beware-high-salt-content Salt is in chips, crackers and greasy fast food, just like you'd expect. But most parents would be stunned to know it's also in our breakfast cereals, butter, cheese and bread and there's loads of it. According to the Heart Foundation, it's no wonder children are eating fifty per cent more salt than they were just 10 years ago. Children aged 4 to 8 need just 1400 milligrams of salt a day; for 9 to 13 year olds its 2000 milligrams; but most children are getting at least double, even triple that and if such a high salt diet continues, it could kill them. "We know that increased salt has a major impact on blood pressure and increased blood pressure has an increased risk for heart disease and stroke, which is two of Australia's biggest killers," a Heart Foundation spokesperson said. We compared the salt content in four popular children's take away meals Hungry Jacks, McDonalds, KFC and Pizza Hut. The results are staggering. Terrie Bull is mother to Connor, 8 and Isaac, 6. "I try and stay away from high fat, high sugar, healthy foods for them fresh food," Terrie said, but salt is something she hadn't considered. Her boy's school lunch boxes consist of rice crackers, vegemite spread and biscuits, a cheese stick and a cheese, pastrami and corn relish sandwich, definitely low in sugar, but the lunch box packs a whopping 2065 milligrams of salt, that's 600 mgs more than the boys' daily allowance. Nutritionist Aloysa Hourigan says pre-packaged foods are often to blame. "Anything that comes as a dry good, whether it's in the cereal based foods even some healthy foods like bread, breakfast cereals, but also the snack foods you know, the little cereal bars and biscuits, would be quite high salt," Aloysa said. Both the Heart Foundation and nutritionists say the easiest way to reduce your salt intake is to substitute the foods you eat now for those that are lower in salt. Reading nutrition panels can help parents make good choices. Anything with under 120 milligrams of salt is low, while 500 milligrams of salt per hundred grams is considered high. Some foods with a low salt rating were Weet-Bix, baked beans and try mountain bread instead of regular bread, or look for bread and other food items with the Heart Foundation 'tick'. "You can also do a bit of home baking and you can control the salt content that way," Aloysa said. Back to the results of our fast food test. KFC's two piece and chips came out the worst, containing almost 1400 milligrams of salt, a child's daily allowance in one meal. Three slices of ham and pineapple pizza from the Pizza Hut was second, with 1240 milligrams A McHappy Meal with 6 nuggets contained 689 milligrams of salt. Just behind a kids Meal Burger Meal from Hungry Jacks which came out on top, with 685 milligrams. "We weren't surprised to see there are high amounts of salt in fast foods and we also know that there are high amounts of fat in those. What's important is people look at those as being occasional foods and not a staple part of their diet," Aloysa said. They're very occasional foods for Connor and Isaac. Terrie says it can be a battle to get kids to eat what's good for them, but says the salt wake-up call is something on which she'll now make changes. "I think if you start young and you stay strong with it, you'll succeed as you get older," Terrie said. *** Thu Nov 15 01:03:48 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Repairs needed on towering infernal * Font Size: Decrease Increase * Print Page: Print Anthony Klan and Turi Condon | November 15, 2007 THE owners of Sydney's tallest office tower are facing a $20 million repair bill to prevent parts of the ageing skyscraper from crumbling into the street below. MLC Centre Harry Seidler's blonde concrete 70's paean to Sydney commerce, now falling into decrepitude and decay. Picture: Bob Finlayson. Property giant GPT confirmed yesterday it would undertake a five-year repair of the 67-level MLC Centre, in Sydney CBD's Martin Place, after audits uncovered problems with the facade. Tony Cope, head of office properties at GPT, which co-owns the 30-year-old MLC Centre with the Queensland Investment Corporation, said the overhaul of the tower's facade would begin within months. Each company would contribute $10 million towards the cost of the repairs over five years, Mr Cope said. Building consultants had identified four different types of work required - including repairing columns and replacing marble window sills - but the biggest problem was getting access to the building's exterior to undertake the repairs, he said. "The actual amount of work we have to do to the facade is not very big, but when you're trying to get machines and materials on to the facade, that's where the real cost and time implications come in," Mr Cope said. "We're spending a lot of time working out the most efficient means of accessing the facade." Although parts of the facade on the building's western face appear to have crumbled away, Mr Cope said GPT had received no reports of pieces falling from the building in recent years. Small rectangular parts of the facade had been removed by consultants, whose workers had been "crawling over" the face of the building to ensure its safety. Queensland Investment Corporation's global head of real estate, Laurie Brindle, said no tenants would have to move out, nor had any panels fallen from the building. Tenants include the US Consulate and big-name law firms such as Freehills. Mr Cope said those tenants would be briefed about the repairs before works began. On Tuesday, hundreds of workers in Brisbane's Waterfront Place office tower were told they could not enter the building for 48 hours after a 2m x 3m pane of glass fell from the structure on Saturday afternoon. Brisbane City Council said it was concerned more glass could fall from the building, and Deputy Mayor David Hinchcliff said other buildings in the CBD would be examined. Numerous buildings in Brisbane's CBD have experienced glass failures since 1988, mainly because of the introduction of nickel sulphide - which expands and contracts at a different rate to glass - in window manufacturing. As a result, that compound is no longer used in most new developments. *** Fri Nov 16 16:53:54 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Ex-ANZ exec runs as board candidate Richard Gluyas | November 16, 2007 ROBERT Reeves, a former ANZ executive made redundant in 2003, is running as a dissident board candidate on a platform of improving the bank's governance practices. In the bank's notice of meeting, sent to ANZ shareholders ahead of the December 18 annual meeting in Perth, Mr Reeves, 57, says he is offering his services to help the bank avoid "costly events" such as his own legal settlement. "Based on my employment experiences with ANZ, I believe ANZ's governance practices and accountabilities need to be vastly improved," he says. "I believe the (legal) action and subsequent settlement was avoidable and has cost the ANZ in both monetary terms and reputation." The bank's annual report reveals that former chief executive John McFarlane's pay was bumped up from $5.96 million to $6.75 million, including $550,000 for the three-month unexpired portion of his employment contract. ANZ's ex-institutional boss Steve Targett, whose employment will officially terminate on June 7 next year, was paid $3.19 million, down from $3.49 million. Mr Reeves' board candidature comes as ANZ defends litigation by Mr Targett and another former executive. Mr Targett mounted a $2.1 million claim in September, alleging the bank misled him about the health of his division and his career prospects. A week later, former corporate finance executive Malcolm Hiscock took action in the Federal Court, saying he was underpaid and misled by his superiors about board approval for his bonus package. An ANZ spokesman said yesterday that the board did not endorse the election of Mr Reeves - a "mid-level manager" whose position was made redundant in 2003. He said Mr Reeves had subsequently started litigation that the bank had agreed to settle, without any admission of liability, due to the significant executive time and costs involved in defending the matter. "Mr Reeves has been a serial correspondent with senior executives at ANZ in recent years, most of it in vitriolic terms," the spokesman said. "His decision to stand for election ... appears to be a further means of pursuing his grievances through what is now a four-year campaign, which ANZ does not consider justified or appropriate." He said ANZ had followed proper processes. There were no wider governance issues, he said. *** Fri Nov 16 18:06:02 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Army desertion rate highest since 1980 By LOLITA C. BALDOR, Associated Press Writer 38 minutes ago WASHINGTON - Soldiers strained by six years at war are deserting their posts at the highest rate since 1980, with the number of Army deserters this year showing an 80 percent increase since the United States invaded Iraq in 2003. ADVERTISEMENT While the totals are still far lower than they were during the Vietnam War, when the draft was in effect, they show a steady increase over the past four years and a 42 percent jump since last year. "We're asking a lot of soldiers these days," said Roy Wallace, director of plans and resources for Army personnel. "They're humans. They have all sorts of issues back home and other places like that. So, I'm sure it has to do with the stress of being a soldier." The Army defines a deserter as someone who has been absent without leave for longer than 30 days. The soldier is then discharged as a deserter. According to the Army, about nine in every 1,000 soldiers deserted in fiscal year 2007, which ended Sept. 30, compared to nearly seven per 1,000 a year earlier. Overall, 4,698 soldiers deserted this year, compared to 3,301 last year. The increase comes as the Army continues to bear the brunt of the war demands with many soldiers serving repeated, lengthy tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. Military leaders — including Army Chief of Staff Gen. George Casey — have acknowledged that the Army has been stretched nearly to the breaking point by the combat. Efforts are under way to increase the size of the Army and Marine Corps to lessen the burden and give troops more time off between deployments. "We have been concentrating on this," said Wallace. "The Army can't afford to throw away good people. We have got to work with those individuals and try to help them become good soldiers." Still, he noted that "the military is not for everybody, not everybody can be a soldier." And those who want to leave the service will find a way to do it, he said. While the Army does not have an up-to-date profile of deserters, more than 75 percent of them are soldiers in their first term of enlistment. And most are male. Soldiers can sign on initially for two to six years. Wallace said he did not know whether deserters were more likely to be those who enlisted for a short or long tour. At the same time, he said that even as desertions have increased, the Army has seen some overall success in keeping first-term soldiers in the service. There are four main ways that soldiers can leave the Army before their first enlistment contract is up: _They are determined unable to meet physical fitness requirements. _They are found to be unable to adapt to the military. _They say they are gay and are required to leave under the so-called "don't ask, don't tell" policy. _They go AWOL. According to Wallace, in the summer of 2005, more than 18 percent of the soldiers in their first six months of service left under one of those four provisions. In June 2007, that number had dropped to about 7 percent. The decline, he said, is largely due to a drop in the number of soldiers who leave due to physical fitness or health reasons. Army desertion rates have fluctuated since the Vietnam War — when they peaked at 5 percent. In the 1970s they hovered between 1 and 3 percent, which is up to three out of every 100 soldiers. Those rates plunged in the 1980s and early 1990s to between 2 and 3 out of every 1,000 soldiers. Desertions began to creep up in the late 1990s into the turn of the century, when the U.S. conducted an air war in Kosovo and later sent peacekeeping troops there. The numbers declined in 2003 and 2004, in the early years of the Iraq war, but then began to increase steadily. In contrast, the Navy has seen a steady decline in deserters since 2001, going from 3,665 that year to 1,129 in 2007. The Marine Corps, meanwhile, has seen the number of deserters stay fairly stable over that timeframe — with about 1,000 deserters a year. During 2003 and 2004 — the first two years of the Iraq war — the number of deserters fell to 877 and 744, respectively. The Air Force can tout the fewest number of deserters — with no more than 56 bolting in each of the past five years. The low was in fiscal 2007, with just 16 deserters. Despite the continued increase in Army desertions, however, an Associated Press examination of Pentagon figures earlier this year showed that the military does little to find those who bolt, and rarely prosecutes the ones they find. Some are allowed to simply return to their units, while most are given less-than-honorable discharges. "My personal opinion is the only way to stop desertions is to change the climate ... how they are living and doing what they need to do," said Wallace, adding that good officers and more attention from Army leaders could "go a long way to stemming desertions." Unlike those in the Vietnam era, deserters from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars may not find Canada a safe haven. Just this week, the Supreme Court of Canada refused to hear the appeals of two Army deserters who sought refugee status to avoid the war in Iraq. The ruling left them without a legal basis to stay in Canada and dealt a blow to other Americans in similar circumstances. The court, as is usual, did not provide a reason for the decision. *** Fri Nov 16 18:07:17 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: The War's Mental Toll on Reservists By MICHAEL WEISSKOPF/WASHINGTON Wed Nov 14, 1:15 PM ET Is the toll of fighting an urban guerrilla war harder on reservists than on active duty soldiers? An authoritative new study thinks so, saying army reservists - who constitute nearly a third of the 1.5 million Americans who have served in Iraq - require psychological treatment at twice the rate of active duty soldiers. The study, released on Veterans' Day week, was issued just as Congress looks for ways to lighten the mental health burden on the country's uniformed ranks. The study by the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) focused on 88,235 soldiers who were screened twice: first when they returned from Iraq; and second, after three to six months at home. Although reservists had similar battlefield experiences as active-duty troops, they suffered substantially higher rates of depression, interpersonal conflict, suicidal thoughts and post-traumatic stress disorder - a disparity that grew dramatically over time. Both groups reported higher rates of psychological problems in the follow-up screening, leading authors from Walter Reed Army Medical Center to conclude that assessing soldiers right after they had come home significantly underestimated the mental health toll of the war. For example, only 3.5% of active-duty soldiers and 4.2% of reservists were initially worried about fighting with spouses, family members and close friends. Asked several months later about actual conflicts, rates rose to 14% and 21.1%, respectively. Depression rates doubled for active duty and tripled for reserve soldiers over time. A combination of things - the thrill of coming home, leave or the natural act of repressing trauma - may delay the onset of problems, said Colonel Charles Milligan, the lead author. "Some problems, like depression, may take some time to develop," he told TIME. "Someone may have lost a buddy but didn't have a lot of time to dwell on it in the combat theater," said Milligan, a psychologist at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research. "Once they're back home, they have a little more down time and it may be weighing on them." The psychological baggage of Iraq war veterans is well known - other reports say a third of returning soldiers have mental health issues. But the latest JAMA effort is striking for its findings on reservists. The study found 42.4% of reservists had a mental health problem identified by a clinician, a high rate that the authors attribute to the fear of losing military health benefits, separation from a supportive military community and the stresses of civilian work. The study is already being cited by those advocating systemic change in Veterans Administration programs. "Every one of these studies is another canary in the coal mine," said Paul Rieckhoff, of Iraq & Afghanistan Veterans of America. He predicted dire results - increased homelessness, suicide and marital and employment problems - unless something is done by Congress to improve mental health services for vets. The $87.7 billion VA appropriations bill for this year, including a $2.9 billion increase in specialty mental health programs, was originally packaged together with other legislation vetoed by the President. It was sent back to a House-Senate conference committee for re-passage. An ambitious VA authorization bill passed a Senate committee in August, but has shown no signs of moving on the floor. It would require the VA to provide mental health evaluations for veterans within 30 days of a request and expand counseling services for veterans at risk of homelessness from six to 12 locations nationwide. *** Fri Nov 16 18:11:35 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Home Song takes top gongs at IF awards November 16, 2007 11:32pm Article from: AAP The Home Song Stories, a film about a Chinese immigrant family struggling to cope in 1970s Australia, has swept the Inside Film (IF) Awards, with its 11-year-old star taking out the best actor award. Director Tony Ayres' semi-autobiographical film about his mother Rose, a former Shanghai lounge singer who was lured to Australia by a sweet-talking sailor, won five of the top awards at a ceremony on the Gold Coast tonight. Joel Lok, 11, who plays a young Ayres, was named best actor, while Joan Chen, who plays his mother, won best actress. Ayres received the award for best director, and the film also took out the best cinematography and best production design categories. But the best feature film award went to The Jammed, a film about Australia's illegal sex trade. The Jammed, which was nominated in six categories, also won awards for best script by director Dee McLachlan, and best music by Grant Innes McLachlan. Hosted by Julia Zemiro, the IF Awards are considered the people's choice awards because winners are selected over the internet or via SMS votes cast by the general public. Gritty police thriller, Noise, starring Brendan Cowell, nabbed the best sound and best editing awards. Celebrated director George Miller secured the living legend award, and also walked away with the award for box office achievement for Happy Feet. The Adelaide Film Festival was named festival of the year, while Unlikely Travellers scored the gong for best documentary. The ceremony was held at the Crowne Plaza Royal Pines on the Gold Coast, and broadcast live on SBS with delayed telecasts also screening on pay TV channel Showtime. *** Tue Nov 20 03:02:51 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: RailCorp's 'culture of cover-up' under fire * * Email * Printer friendly version * Normal font * Large font Linton Besser and Brian Robins November 20, 2007 Advertisement DESPITE six inquiries in 15 years RailCorp continues to foster a "toxic" culture of cover-up, with more than $6 million lost to graft and fraud in one department alone, the Independent Commission Against Corruption was told yesterday. Foreshadowing a wide-ranging inquiry that will stretch into next year, counsel assisting the inquiry, Chris Ronalds, SC, painted a picture of a diseased organisation with poor financial controls, and workplace practices that create opportunities for corruption. "The culture of cover-up is entrenched," she told the Commissioner, Jerrold Cripps, QC. "This inquiry will demonstrate that there is not just one lone person pulling some sort of isolated sting on a single occasion. "This inquiry will reveal the extent of entrenched, complex and repeated fiddles - where RailCorp ends up paying over $6million in under four years to just four employees and a group of external contractors." Although only four employees and about six companies are the subject of the hearings, Ms Ronalds told the hearing that another 16 former and current employees were being investigated, with more public hearings expected next year. In evidence yesterday the first of these employees, Renea Hughes, broke down as she admitted defrauding the organisation of more than $500,000 over several years to feed an addiction to poker machines. "I would live to gamble. Work was just an inconvenience," she said. "I would wait until my family was asleep and gamble until four in the morning." After repeated recommendations by the commission to the rail authority since 1992, RailCorp eventually installed an electronic procurement and accounting system to reduce the risk of corruption. But Ms Hughes, a former contracts relationship manager, admitted manipulating anti-corruption systems in three separate scams. Ms Hughes, who was never interviewed and had no formal qualification for her position, said she had used high-level computer access to falsely inflate the value of invoices, re-route her emails so they appeared to come from her supervisor, and use a scan of his signature to avoid detection. "You can change the actual order," she told the inquiry of the invoice system. "If there is a multiple plant item you can change the quantity or value." Ms Hughes admitted padding her wage claims by invoicing for work she had not done, or duplicating other legitimate invoices, to generate $115,137 to supplement her real salary that was at times as much as $45 an hour. She also admitted organising for a subcontractor, Kuipers Excavations, to invoice thousands of dollars in repeated bills for work it had not been asked to perform, which was then split between herself and the company. This scam totalled $509,000, of which Ms Hughes received $366,000. In addition, she said she had tagged invoices as "miscellaneous" to mask $28,000 in unauthorised payments for a Hertz rental car over 20 months, including a period after she had ceased her employment at RailCorp. The NSW Opposition Leader, Barry O'Farrell, said the Government was to blame. "There have been 41 recommendations concerning RailCorp's lax procurement procedures in just 12 months, but Transport Minister John Watkins has failed to act," he said. "Taxpayers have been fleeced because Transport Minister Watkins has failed to act on ICAC recommendations made nearly a year ago." Mr Watkins yesterday promised tough action: "I'll make sure management and the board of RailCorp do everything in their power to introduce these recommendations that will inevitably come out of this ICAC hearing." *** Tue Nov 20 06:17:30 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Which markets matter most to Aussie exporters? 19/11/07: When it comes to trade most of the news is �big picture�. We hear about the Doha round in the World Trade Organization (WTO), and this year we heard a lot about APEC as Sydney hosted the APEC Summit. Source: Tim Harcourt. Bilateral and regional trade pacts are also in the news. For instance, just in the last four years or so, we have seen the establishment of several free trade agreements (FTAs), with the USA, Singapore and Thailand. And looking ahead there are the negotiations with Japan, China and the Gulf Co-operation countries. In addition, Malaysia and Chile, the Latin American �Jaguar� (the equivalent of an Asian �Tiger�) have been added to the list. There are also the regional negotiations between the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the Closer Economic Relations (CER) partners in Australia and New Zealand. Of course, there should be a lot of headlines about big trade deals � especially in areas like LNG and iron ore - as their export potential are huge dollar terms. This is mainly because of the resources boom and it is where we anticipate Australian strong growth in export values as a result of the high prices we are receiving for key commodities. Naturally, this focuses our attention on export destinations � that is, whether China and India will largely drive our growth (mainly through insatiable appetites for resource exports) or whether the rest of Asia, the USA and Europe will also play a role. And as Scott Haslem, Chief Economist of UBS has pointed out there�s the �best of the rest� with emerging markets like the UAE and South Africa and parts of Europe and the Pacific also doing well. Potential is also gathering momentum in rising stars like Russia and Mexico and Brazil. However, whilst these big developments are important, the focus is mainly on export revenue and the gains at the top end of town with less focus on the exporting companies themselves � particularly the �up and comers�. So what about the exporting companies then? How many are there and where are they heading? Fortunately, courtesy of some new research from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) and Austrade we now are getting a better handle on some of these questions. First of all, we now know that there were 44,310 exporting businesses in the �exporter community� in 2006-07. This tally comprises 42,645 goods exporters and 2,638 service exporters � although the count excludes in-bound services (like tourism and education) that are also important to the national export effort. This number of exporters in Australia has grown by around 5 per cent over the year with the ABS estimating that there 42,194 exporters in 2005-06. But where are all exporters going? The exporter community (in terms of goods) can be broken down by country destination and the results make some pretty interesting reading. First of all, our Trans-Tasman cousins, New Zealand were top of the pops, with 17,815 Australian businesses having exported to the shaky isles in 2006-07. This indicates that many exporters actually find exporting �across the ditch� relatively easy and that Kiwiland is a good �nursery� to start with when learning the craft of exporting. According to Austrade/Sensis data too, New Zealand is the top market for small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) too, with 36 per cent of all exporting SMEs heading for the land of the long white cloud. The United States is second, with 9316 exporters. Many SMEs get their start in the USA as they are attracted by the size of the market. Australia also has a free trade agreement (FTA) with the USA and according to Austrade/Sensis research showed that there has been a steady rise in the proportion of exporting (SMEs) selling to the USA since the FTA has been place. Another FTA country, Singapore is in third place with 6538 exporters and then comes the UK with 5668 and Hong Kong on 5116. �Entrepot� economies like Singapore and Hong Kong tend to have lots of wholesale trading houses and act as a hub port for exporters (and importers). For instance, Singapore has played the role of a gateway port for South East Asia, whilst in the past; Hong Kong has played a similar role in the North East Asia � particularly before China opened up more to international trade and commerce. In the UK�s case, there is the �Kylie effect� to consider. According to the data, the UK is light years ahead of any other European country, indicating that many Australian exporters (like our pop-stars) head to Britain (because of cultural and historical links etc) and have use the UK as a base to expand into Europe and the rest of the world. In sixth place comes China on 4257 which has leap frogged over Papua New Guinea (PNG) with an additional 442 exporters. China�s position supports the Austrade/Sensis survey that showed many SMEs looking to the Middle Kingdom as an export destination � joining the larger Australian blue chip corporates such as Rio Tinto, ANZ, Elders, BHP Billiton and Woodside who have been in the Middle Kingdom for some time. PNG is in seventh place on 3987 exporters. In fact, the data shows the importance of our near neighbours to small business exporters with three Pacific destinations in the top ten and four in the top twenty as New Caledonia edged out The Philippines last year to take 20th spot which that have retained. Malaysia is in 8th spot on 3586 edging out Japan on 3564. Fiji is 10th but they have seen a largest decline with 329 less exporters than last year. The �second top ten� is still heavily focussed in Asia but includes both mature and emerging markets. Germany is solidly in 11th place with 2637 exporters followed by Indonesia on 2582, Thailand on 2541 and Canada on 2398. South Korea is on 2314 and Taiwan has slipped a net loss of 79 companies. South Africa is the main destination in Africa at 2226 exporters, and then comes United Arab Emirates (UAE) on 2004 building on Dubai�s central role as the �Singapore of the Middle East�. The has just edged out India who attracted 1994 exporters in 2006-07 but with a very healthy result in terms of export value due to the strong demand for Australian commodity exports. It should be noted in the analysis that many exporters have multiple destinations, so they may be counted twice in terms of country though not in the region. The analysis of company numbers is also not necessarily a reflection of value. For instance, whilst New Zealand attracts over 17,000 exporters and Japan just under 3,600, the value of those exports to Japan was over $32 billion, whilst New Zealand�s was worth just over $9 billion. That is, the average value of Australian exports per company to Japan was $9.2 million, whilst to New Zealand it was $0.5 million. Generally speaking, North East Asia is dominant in terms of value with Japan, Korea and China alone accounting for over $68 billion in exports. In addition, India is play an important role with those 1994 Australian goods exporters earning over $10 billion in exports (up just over 36 per cent on the previous year). Does the data change over the years? From the limited data available, the top 20 remains pretty stable with a few countries changing positions. However, if you look at longer term snapshots, you see a bit more movement. For example, a comparison of the 1989-90 rankings with the present shows - you guessed it � China charging up the table and with countries like India, UAE and South Africa growing in importance. In conclusion, in terms of exporters, we have an exporter base in Australia that is spread far and wide across the globe but concentrated enough in the bigger markets to get a good bang for their buck. And exporting seems to be delivering to all Australian exporters � both large and small. Austrade research shows that exporters, on average, grow faster, are more profitable, more innovation and pay higher wages than non-exporters. This research indicates that many Australian exporters are finding themselves in the right place at the right time to take advantage of opportunities in the global economy. Printed from industrysearch.com.au http://www.industrysearch.com.au/features/viewrecord.asp?id=1442 *** Tue Nov 20 06:26:35 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Which markets matter most to Aussie exporters? 19/11/07: When it comes to trade most of the news is �big picture�. We hear about the Doha round in the World Trade Organization (WTO), and this year we heard a lot about APEC as Sydney hosted the APEC Summit. Source: Tim Harcourt. Bilateral and regional trade pacts are also in the news. For instance, just in the last four years or so, we have seen the establishment of several free trade agreements (FTAs), with the USA, Singapore and Thailand. And looking ahead there are the negotiations with Japan, China and the Gulf Co-operation countries. In addition, Malaysia and Chile, the Latin American �Jaguar� (the equivalent of an Asian �Tiger�) have been added to the list. There are also the regional negotiations between the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the Closer Economic Relations (CER) partners in Australia and New Zealand. Of course, there should be a lot of headlines about big trade deals � especially in areas like LNG and iron ore - as their export potential are huge dollar terms. This is mainly because of the resources boom and it is where we anticipate Australian strong growth in export values as a result of the high prices we are receiving for key commodities. Naturally, this focuses our attention on export destinations � that is, whether China and India will largely drive our growth (mainly through insatiable appetites for resource exports) or whether the rest of Asia, the USA and Europe will also play a role. And as Scott Haslem, Chief Economist of UBS has pointed out there�s the �best of the rest� with emerging markets like the UAE and South Africa and parts of Europe and the Pacific also doing well. Potential is also gathering momentum in rising stars like Russia and Mexico and Brazil. However, whilst these big developments are important, the focus is mainly on export revenue and the gains at the top end of town with less focus on the exporting companies themselves � particularly the �up and comers�. So what about the exporting companies then? How many are there and where are they heading? Fortunately, courtesy of some new research from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) and Austrade we now are getting a better handle on some of these questions. First of all, we now know that there were 44,310 exporting businesses in the �exporter community� in 2006-07. This tally comprises 42,645 goods exporters and 2,638 service exporters � although the count excludes in-bound services (like tourism and education) that are also important to the national export effort. This number of exporters in Australia has grown by around 5 per cent over the year with the ABS estimating that there 42,194 exporters in 2005-06. But where are all exporters going? The exporter community (in terms of goods) can be broken down by country destination and the results make some pretty interesting reading. First of all, our Trans-Tasman cousins, New Zealand were top of the pops, with 17,815 Australian businesses having exported to the shaky isles in 2006-07. This indicates that many exporters actually find exporting �across the ditch� relatively easy and that Kiwiland is a good �nursery� to start with when learning the craft of exporting. According to Austrade/Sensis data too, New Zealand is the top market for small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) too, with 36 per cent of all exporting SMEs heading for the land of the long white cloud. The United States is second, with 9316 exporters. Many SMEs get their start in the USA as they are attracted by the size of the market. Australia also has a free trade agreement (FTA) with the USA and according to Austrade/Sensis research showed that there has been a steady rise in the proportion of exporting (SMEs) selling to the USA since the FTA has been place. Another FTA country, Singapore is in third place with 6538 exporters and then comes the UK with 5668 and Hong Kong on 5116. �Entrepot� economies like Singapore and Hong Kong tend to have lots of wholesale trading houses and act as a hub port for exporters (and importers). For instance, Singapore has played the role of a gateway port for South East Asia, whilst in the past; Hong Kong has played a similar role in the North East Asia � particularly before China opened up more to international trade and commerce. In the UK�s case, there is the �Kylie effect� to consider. According to the data, the UK is light years ahead of any other European country, indicating that many Australian exporters (like our pop-stars) head to Britain (because of cultural and historical links etc) and have use the UK as a base to expand into Europe and the rest of the world. In sixth place comes China on 4257 which has leap frogged over Papua New Guinea (PNG) with an additional 442 exporters. China�s position supports the Austrade/Sensis survey that showed many SMEs looking to the Middle Kingdom as an export destination � joining the larger Australian blue chip corporates such as Rio Tinto, ANZ, Elders, BHP Billiton and Woodside who have been in the Middle Kingdom for some time. PNG is in seventh place on 3987 exporters. In fact, the data shows the importance of our near neighbours to small business exporters with three Pacific destinations in the top ten and four in the top twenty as New Caledonia edged out The Philippines last year to take 20th spot which that have retained. Malaysia is in 8th spot on 3586 edging out Japan on 3564. Fiji is 10th but they have seen a largest decline with 329 less exporters than last year. The �second top ten� is still heavily focussed in Asia but includes both mature and emerging markets. Germany is solidly in 11th place with 2637 exporters followed by Indonesia on 2582, Thailand on 2541 and Canada on 2398. South Korea is on 2314 and Taiwan has slipped a net loss of 79 companies. South Africa is the main destination in Africa at 2226 exporters, and then comes United Arab Emirates (UAE) on 2004 building on Dubai�s central role as the �Singapore of the Middle East�. The has just edged out India who attracted 1994 exporters in 2006-07 but with a very healthy result in terms of export value due to the strong demand for Australian commodity exports. It should be noted in the analysis that many exporters have multiple destinations, so they may be counted twice in terms of country though not in the region. The analysis of company numbers is also not necessarily a reflection of value. For instance, whilst New Zealand attracts over 17,000 exporters and Japan just under 3,600, the value of those exports to Japan was over $32 billion, whilst New Zealand�s was worth just over $9 billion. That is, the average value of Australian exports per company to Japan was $9.2 million, whilst to New Zealand it was $0.5 million. Generally speaking, North East Asia is dominant in terms of value with Japan, Korea and China alone accounting for over $68 billion in exports. In addition, India is play an important role with those 1994 Australian goods exporters earning over $10 billion in exports (up just over 36 per cent on the previous year). Does the data change over the years? From the limited data available, the top 20 remains pretty stable with a few countries changing positions. However, if you look at longer term snapshots, you see a bit more movement. For example, a comparison of the 1989-90 rankings with the present shows - you guessed it � China charging up the table and with countries like India, UAE and South Africa growing in importance. In conclusion, in terms of exporters, we have an exporter base in Australia that is spread far and wide across the globe but concentrated enough in the bigger markets to get a good bang for their buck. And exporting seems to be delivering to all Australian exporters � both large and small. Austrade research shows that exporters, on average, grow faster, are more profitable, more innovation and pay higher wages than non-exporters. This research indicates that many Australian exporters are finding themselves in the right place at the right time to take advantage of opportunities in the global economy. Printed from industrysearch.com.au http://www.industrysearch.com.au/features/viewrecord.asp?id=1442 *** Thu Nov 22 01:48:50 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: $64m Tcard fiasco over * * Email * Printer friendly version * Normal font * Large font Andrew Clennell November 9, 2007 - 5:03PM Advertisement The controversial Tcard contract will be dumped after years of delays and a $64 million bill. NSW Transport Minister John Watkins told a news conference late today that the problem-plagued attempt to set up an integrated public transport ticketing system for Sydney had cost the State Government $64 million since 2002. Mr Watkins said a notice of intention to terminate had been issued on Monday to ERG Limited, the Perth company that had been contracted in 2003 to introduce the Tcard system. It was supposed to give commuters one ticket that could be used on all forms of public transport - trains, buses and ferries. He said ERG would be given 20 business days to meet its milestones, after which the Government could move to end the contract. "Enough is enough," Mr Watkins said. "This has been a very frustrating project." Mr Watkins said the Government has given the company every opportunity to meet the terms of the agreement. "Commuters deserve a modern, integrated ticketing system across the public transport network, and we’re committed to delivering such a system," he said. He said the 20-day notice of termination period was in the government's contract with ERG. The minister waited until late this afternoon to make the announcement to allow ERG to issue a statement to the Australian Stock Exchange. In its statement, ERG said it expected that the contract would be dumped by December 3. "Due to delays in the technical development of the system and certain customer [NSW Government] actions, ERG has failed to achieve particular milestones in the project schedule," it said. However, the company indicated that it did not think the project was lost, saying it plans take up its right to submit another plan for completing the work. "We are confident that this plan will demonstarte ERG has the necessary processes, resources and commitment to deliver the project and the benefits of an integrated ticketing system for the people of NSW," it said. The Tcard fiasco has been an long-running embarrassment for the State Government. It originally promised to have an integrated public transport ticketing be in place for the 2000 Sydney Olympics. When that deadline was missed, ERG promised full commuter trials of the technology in November 2004. That deadline was also missed and trails were delayed again until the middle of last year. In August ERG's chairman Colin Henson said new problems would postpone the technology yet again. ERG has attempted minor trials on State Transit buses, but that met with problems when, in June, 420 bus drivers boycotted the trial because they had to repeatedly stop driving to fix the Tcard reader when it crashed. Tale of woe 2000: Tcard to be delivered in time for the Sydney Olympics 2001: ERG and Westpac win contract to deliver the technology, with 2005: deadline for full ticket integration 2004: Deadline for full commuter trial passes in November 2005: Commuter use of Tcard delayed again until 2007 2006: State Government renegotiates contract terms with ERG and a second deadline for commuter trial expires 2007: Software problems cause yet more delays, and on November 9 the Government said it would terminate the project's contract after spending $64 million on it since 2002. *** Thu Nov 22 20:30:02 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: 'Hair in your soup? It's common, madam' Marcel Lee Pereira 665 words 23 November 2007 Straits Times English (c) 2007 Singapore Press Holdings Limited Bride claims she was told this after wedding dinner, but manager says he stated it only as possibility, as row erupts ALL she wanted was a sincere apology for a strand of hair found in a bowl of shark's fin soup at her wedding dinner. But the matter blew up into a month-long exchange between the bride, Mrs Wendy Scully, 29, and Starworth, the company which runs events at the Chijmes Hall. When the public relations manager felt she was getting nowhere, she shot a letter to this newspaper on Tuesday. By then, it was not just the 15cm strand of hair that riled her, but Starworth general manager K.K. Ng's suggestion that it could have come from one of her guests. 'He told me it is common to find hair in food,' she told The Straits Times. The VIP table's guests, which included her husband's parents and siblings, had not touched the serving bowl, so how could their hair have got in, she asked. When contacted, Mr Ng said he had suggested it only as a possibility. He added that none of the staff that night had long hair. Another sticking point with Mrs Scully was that she had to wait almost a month - until Mr Ng returned from a month's medical leave - before she could speak to him on the phone over this matter on Nov 15. His reply scuttled the company's earlier efforts to settle Mrs Scully's unhappiness with an offer of a set dinner for four worth about $270, or a $300 dining voucher. Mrs Scully had rebuffed the offer, saying she spent $20,000 on the dinner, and that she wanted an amount enough for her to take the table's guests out to dinner again to make it up to them. The company stuck to its initial offer until Mr Ng's return, believing it was fair because only the bowl of shark's fin soup was affected, and the staff had offered to change it right away. Last week, Mr Ng even upped the offer to an eight-course meal for 10, but it was his refusal to accept full responsibility that made her decide to go public with her story. A simple apology would have sufficed, said Mrs Scully, who said her in-laws keep asking her if the company has given an explanation. 'At the very least, apologise for taking so long to call me back, accept responsibility for the incident and offer a sincere apology for upsetting me and my mother-in-law,' she said. A service consultant said Starworth should have acknowledged Mrs Scully's anger and admitted to its fault immediately. Said OTi Consulting Singapore's chief executive Helen Lim-Yang: 'When customers are angry, they don't want to hear excuses or pushing of blame. All they want is for their emotions to be acknowledged and for someone, preferably senior management, to apologise profusely.' And the apology should not come across as defensive, she added. Mr Ng replied that an apology was made on the spot that night by the operations manager, and that the follow-ups with Mrs Scully focused on 'dollar and cents compensation because we thought it was what she wanted'. But he stopped short of accepting responsibility for the incident, saying that for something 'debatable' like this, it 'may not be very fair to push everything to us'. 'We are just saying hair was found in food. We do not know where it came from, but we would like to make it up to her by amicably solving this.' With the current stalemate, Ms Lim-Yang suggested that Starworth set up a meeting to deal with it face-to-face. 'Coupons or compensations are a quick fix. They still don't take away the anger or replace a sincere action,' she said. marcelp@sph.com.sg *** Thu Nov 22 20:50:29 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Aussie pilots chained to tree in swamp, left to die in rising tide Armed robbers hijack plane to steal $2.6m November 23, 2007 Print Ready Email Article THE robbers went to great lengths to make sure their victims wouldn't escape. They handcuffed the Australian pilots to a tree in a swamp as the tide rose and covered the victims' faces with mud, so 'their white skin could not be seen from the air'. So it took a bit of luck and plenty of determination for the pilots to escape death by drowning. The robbers forced the plane down on a disused airstrip on Fishermens Island, a few minutes flying time from Port Moresby, capital of Papua New Guinea (PNG), reported Sydney Morning Herald. The two armed security guards hijacked the light aircraft in mid-flight to steal 5million kina ($2.6m) being delivered to an isolated bank branch. LUCKY PNG police's Senior Inspector Reuben Giusu said: 'If they had been handcuffed around the trunk rather than to the roots they could not have got loose. It took them about an hour to work themselves free. 'The high tide was coming up. So, if they had not been able to get themselves free, they would have drowned.' The guards on the aircraft were met by three accomplices on the ground wearing police uniforms. The pilot and co-pilot had been able to activate a distress signal before they were dragged into the mangrove swamp near the airstrip. Air traffic controllers at Port Moresby's Jacksons Airport had also noticed the plane had not been following its planned course, and contacted police, who began an aerial search. The spot where the Australians were rescued by police officers at about 2pm on Monday was about 3km from the airstrip. Then the police turned their attention to the robbers. One of the gang members was shot dead and two were captured. The two men branded as 'masterminds' are still being hunted. The money was recovered. *** Sun Nov 25 02:52:28 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Wednesday, Nov. 21, 2007 Sunday School for Atheists By Jeninne Lee-St. John / Palo Alto On Sunday mornings, most parents who don't believe in the Christian God, or any god at all, are probably making brunch or cheering at their kids' soccer game, or running errands or, with luck, sleeping in. Without religion, there's no need for church, right? Maybe. But some nonbelievers are beginning to think they might need something for their children. "When you have kids," says Julie Willey, a design engineer, "you start to notice that your co-workers or friends have church groups to help teach their kids values and to be able to lean on." So every week, Willey, who was raised Buddhist and says she has never believed in God, and her husband pack their four kids into their blue minivan and head to the Humanist Community Center in Palo Alto, Calif., for atheist Sunday school. An estimated 14% of Americans profess to have no religion, and among 18-to-25-year-olds, the proportion rises to 20%, according to the Institute for Humanist Studies. The lives of these young people would be much easier, adult nonbelievers say, if they learned at an early age how to respond to the God-fearing majority in the U.S. "It's important for kids not to look weird," says Peter Bishop, who leads the preteen class at the Humanist center in Palo Alto. Others say the weekly instruction supports their position that it's O.K. to not believe in God and gives them a place to reinforce the morals and values they want their children to have. The pioneering Palo Alto program began three years ago, and like-minded communities in Phoenix, Albuquerque, N.M., and Portland, Ore., plan to start similar classes next spring. The growing movement of institutions for kids in atheist families also includes Camp Quest, a group of sleep-away summer camps in five states plus Ontario, and the Carl Sagan Academy in Tampa, Fla., the country's first Humanism-influenced public charter school, which opened with 55 kids in the fall of 2005. Bri Kneisley, who sent her son Damian, 10, to Camp Quest Ohio this past summer, welcomes the sense of community these new choices offer him: "He's a child of atheist parents, and he's not the only one in the world." Kneisley, 26, a graduate student at the University of Missouri, says she realized Damian needed to learn about secularism after a neighbor showed him the Bible. "Damian was quite certain this guy was right and was telling him this amazing truth that I had never shared," says Kneisley. In most ways a traditional sleep-away camp--her son loved canoeing--Camp Quest also taught Damian critical thinking, world religions and tales of famous freethinkers (an umbrella term for atheists, agnostics and other rationalists) like the black abolitionist Frederick Douglass. The Palo Alto Sunday family program uses music, art and discussion to encourage personal expression, intellectual curiosity and collaboration. One Sunday this fall found a dozen children up to age 6 and several parents playing percussion instruments and singing empowering anthems like I'm Unique and Unrepeatable, set to the tune of Ten Little Indians, instead of traditional Sunday-school songs like Jesus Loves Me. Rather than listen to a Bible story, the class read Stone Soup, a secular parable of a traveler who feeds a village by making a stew using one ingredient from each home. Down the hall in the kitchen, older kids engaged in a Socratic conversation with class leader Bishop about the role persuasion plays in decision-making. He tried to get them to see that people who are coerced into renouncing their beliefs might not actually change their minds but could be acting out of self-preservation--an important lesson for young atheists who may feel pressure to say they believe in God. Atheist parents appreciate this nurturing environment. That's why Kitty, a nonbeliever who didn't want her last name used to protect her kids' privacy, brings them to Bishop's class each week. After Jonathan, 13, and Hana, 11, were born, Kitty says she felt socially isolated and even tried taking them to church. But they're all much more comfortable having rational discussions at the Humanist center. "I'm a person that doesn't believe in myths," Hana says. "I'd rather stick to the evidence." *** Mon Nov 26 16:05:08 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Malcolm Turnbull tipped as new Liberal Leader Article from: The Daily Telegraph * Font size: Decrease Increase * Email article: Email * Print article: Print * Submit comment: Submit comment By Malcolm Farr, National Political Editor November 27, 2007 12:00am LIBERAL Party survivors of the electoral rout are moving towards making Malcolm Turnbull their next leader despite a late nomination from Brendan Nelson. Dr Nelson, the former defence minister, yesterday joined former environment minister Mr Turnbull in the line-up of hopefuls for the top job. "What I will be offering to the members of the parliamentary Liberal Party is an alternative that is the right balance of experience and stability, but also care, commitment, conviction and vision," Dr Nelson said. And with them was the health minister in the previous government, Tony Abbott, who confirmed yesterday's Daily Telegraph report that he would stand in the ballot expected next week. Who do you think should lead the Coalition? Vote in our poll. He said yesterday he did not have the best of campaigns, but had demonstrated "reasonably good people skills" and that he could "give a knock and take a knock". "I had some tough times on the campaign trail and I would be the last to say that I was prince perfect," he said. Joe Hockey, who ran WorkChoices as employment minister, quenched all talk of his leadership aspirations. Liberal sources said the party was likely to turn to Mr Turnbull, who announced his bid on Sunday, because of his drive and fresh energy. The Daily Telegraph's online poll found Mr Turnbull was backed by 46 per cent of respondents, Mr Abbott by 10 per cent, and Dr Nelson 6 per cent. The job became vacant when outgoing Prime Minister John Howard was defeated in his seat of Bennelong in the weekend election which saw Labor's Kevin Rudd take government. The obvious heir, former treasurer Peter Costello, then stunned his party with his decision to reject succeeding Mr Howard - and by revealing he would move on to a job in the private sector. Former foreign minister Alexander Downer is today expected to announce he, too, will be departing, meaning a complete clean-out of the Howard government's top ranks. Mr Downer is a past party leader but made clear he won't do it again: "Remember I was - many, many years ago and quite unsuccessfully - the Leader of the Opposition." Meanwhile, Mr Costello yesterday was behind closed doors cleaning out his Parliament House offices. Mr Howard is expected to arrive today to prepare his office, and The Lodge, for Mr Rudd. The Liberals will have to select a deputy leader and former vocational education minister Andrew Robb, a Victorian, is leading at the moment. There is no Turnbull-Robb ticket but the two men have known each other for 20 years and are said to complement each other. Sources said Mr Robb, who was party federal director for 10 years, nine of them in opposition, would be a cautioning influence on Mr Turnbull because of his political experience. Both would be effective fundraisers, using contacts from former careers in Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne. South Australian Christopher Pyne and former education minister Julie Bishop are also possible deputy leaders. *** Wed Nov 28 02:17:03 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Shoot a picture first, focus later * 16 November 2005 * NewScientist.com news service BLURRY snaps could be a thing of the past with the development of a digital camera that refocuses photos after they have been taken. The camera could be useful for action shots taken by sports photographers or for CCTV surveillance cameras, which often produce fuzzy shots due to poor lighting. In an ordinary digital camera, a sensor behind the lens records the light level that hits each pixel on its surface. If the light rays reaching the sensor are not in focus, the image will appear blurry. Now, Pat Hanrahan and his team at Stanford University have figured out how to adjust the light rays after they have reached the camera. They inserted a sheet of 90,000 lenses, each just 125 micrometres across, between the camera's main lens and the image sensor. The angle of the light rays that strike each microlens is recorded, as well as the amount of light arriving along each ray. Software can then be used to adjust these values for each microlens to reconstruct what the image would have looked like if it had been properly focused. That also means any part of the image can be refocused - not just the main subject. Tracing the rays like this removes the conventional trade-off between the aperture size, which controls the amount of light that the camera takes in, and the depth of field. If light is low, a larger aperture will let enough light into the camera to form a clear image, but the laws of optics mean that a narrower slice of the world in front of the camera will appear in focus. Hanrahan's system would be particularly useful for surveillance cameras, which must work at night but also need to have objects in focus at different distances from the camera. From issue 2525 of New Scientist magazine, 16 November 2005, page 32 *** Wed Nov 28 04:07:23 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Santas warned 'ho ho ho' offensive to women Wed Nov 14, 9:45 PM ET SYDNEY (AFP) - Santas in Australia's largest city have been told not to use Father Christmas's traditional "ho ho ho" greeting because it may be offensive to women, it was reported Thursday. ADVERTISEMENT Sydney's Santa Clauses have instead been instructed to say "ha ha ha" instead, the Daily Telegraph reported. One disgruntled Santa told the newspaper a recruitment firm warned him not to use "ho ho ho" because it could frighten children and was too close to "ho", a US slang term for prostitute. "Gimme a break," said Julie Gale, who runs the campaign against sexualising children called Kids Free 2B Kids. "We are talking about little kids who do not understand that "ho, ho, ho" has any other connotation and nor should they," she told the Telegraph. "Leave Santa alone." A local spokesman for the US-based Westaff recruitment firm said it was "misleading" to say the company had banned Santa's traditional greeting and it was being left up to the discretion of the individual Santa himself. *** Wed Nov 28 04:09:44 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Tropical fish can live for months out of water By Mica Rosenberg Wed Nov 14, 4:07 PM ET GUATEMALA CITY (Reuters) - A tropical fish that lives in mangrove swamps across the Americas can survive out of water for months at a time, similar to how animals adapted to land millions of years ago, a new study shows. ADVERTISEMENT The Mangrove Rivulus, a type of small tropical killifish, seeks refuge in shallow pools of water in crab burrows, coconut shells or even old beer cans in the tropical mangrove swamps of Belize, the United States and Brazil. When their habitat dries up, they live on the land in logs, said Scott Taylor, a researcher at the Brevard County Environmentally Endangered Lands Program in central Florida. The fish, whose scientific name is Rivulus marmoratus, can grow as large as three inches (7.6 cm). They group together in logs hollowed out by insects and breathe air through their skin instead of their gills until they can find water again. The scientific breakthrough came after a trip to Belize. "We kicked over a log and the fish just came tumbling out," Taylor told Reuters in neighbouring Guatemala by telephone. He said he will publish his study on the fish in The American Naturalist journal early next year. In lab tests, Taylor said he found the fish can survive for up to 66 days out of water without eating, and their metabolism keeps functioning. CLUE TO EVOLUTION Some other fish can survive briefly out of water. The walking catfish found in Southeast Asia can wriggle over land for hours at a time, while lungfish found in Australia, Africa and South America can survive out of water, but only in a dormant state. No other known fish can be out of water as long as the Mangrove Rivulus and remain active, according to Patricia Wright, a biologist at Canada's University of Guelph. "They can survive for weeks without really dropping their metabolic rate. They remain relatively responsive and active for weeks in air," she said. The fish may hold clues to how animals evolved over time. "These animals live in an environment that is similar to conditions that existed millions of year ago, when animals began making the transition from water onto land," she added. Surviving on land is not the only unusual behaviour exhibited by the fish. They have both testes and ovaries and essentially clone themselves by laying their own, already fertilized eggs. "This is probably the coolest fish around, not only do they have a very bizarre sex life, but they really don't meet standard behavioural criteria for fishes," said Taylor in a summary of his paper. (Editing by Sandra Maler) *** Wed Nov 28 04:14:33 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Doctor Backs Picking Your Nose And Eating It Picking your nose and eating it is one of the best ways to stay healthy, according to a top Austrian doctor. Innsbruck-based lung specialist Prof Dr Friedrich Bischinger said people who pick their noses with their fingers were healthy, happier and probably better in tune with their bodies. He says society should adopt a new approach to nose-picking and encourage children to take it up. Dr Bischinger said: "With the finger you can get to places you just can't reach with a handkerchief, keeping your nose far cleaner. "And eating the dry remains of what you pull out is a great way of strengthening the body's immune system. "Medically it makes great sense and is a perfectly natural thing to do. In terms of the immune system the nose is a filter in which a great deal of bacteria are collected, and when this mixture arrives in the intestines it works just like a medicine. "Modern medicine is constantly trying to do the same thing through far more complicated methods, people who pick their nose and eat it get a natural boost to their immune system for free. " He pointed out that children happily pick their noses, yet by the time they have become adults they have stopped under pressure from a society that has branded it disgusting and anti social. He said: "I would recommend a new approach where children are encouraged to pick their nose. It is a completely natural response and medically a good idea as well." And he pointed out that if anyone was really worried about what their neighbour was thinking, they could still enjoy picking their nose in private if they still wanted to get the benefits it offered. *** Wed Nov 28 04:22:52 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Doctor Backs Picking Your Nose And Eating It Picking your nose and eating it is one of the best ways to stay healthy, according to a top Austrian doctor. Innsbruck-based lung specialist Prof Dr Friedrich Bischinger said people who pick their noses with their fingers were healthy, happier and probably better in tune with their bodies. He says society should adopt a new approach to nose-picking and encourage children to take it up. Dr Bischinger said: "With the finger you can get to places you just can't reach with a handkerchief, keeping your nose far cleaner. "And eating the dry remains of what you pull out is a great way of strengthening the body's immune system. "Medically it makes great sense and is a perfectly natural thing to do. In terms of the immune system the nose is a filter in which a great deal of bacteria are collected, and when this mixture arrives in the intestines it works just like a medicine. "Modern medicine is constantly trying to do the same thing through far more complicated methods, people who pick their nose and eat it get a natural boost to their immune system for free. " He pointed out that children happily pick their noses, yet by the time they have become adults they have stopped under pressure from a society that has branded it disgusting and anti social. He said: "I would recommend a new approach where children are encouraged to pick their nose. It is a completely natural response and medically a good idea as well." And he pointed out that if anyone was really worried about what their neighbour was thinking, they could still enjoy picking their nose in private if they still wanted to get the benefits it offered. *** Thu Nov 29 19:52:05 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: NSW creates domestic violence offence Posted 1 hour 34 minutes ago The New South Wales Government says the state's new domestic violence laws will put a "permanent stain" on the records of offenders. The new laws, passed by Parliament yesterday, create a specific domestic violence offence. Attorney-General John Hatzistergos says the changes will make it easier for police to track repeat offenders, obtain interim apprehended violence orders (AVO) and search for a greater range of weapons at the scene of domestic violence incidents. Mr Hatzistergos says children in violent situations will also be better protected. "For the first time, we'll automatically include children as part of the apprehended violence orders in a family situation," he said. "The Government is committed to reducing the scourge of domestic violence and these reforms will help." *** Thu Nov 29 19:54:39 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Graveyard shift work linked to cancer By MARIA CHENG, AP Medical Writer 57 minutes ago LONDON - Like UV rays and diesel exhaust fumes, working the graveyard shift will soon be listed as a "probable" cause of cancer. It is a surprising step validating a concept once considered wacky. And it is based on research that finds higher rates of breast and prostate cancer among women and men whose work day starts after dark. ADVERTISEMENT Next month, the International Agency for Research on Cancer, the cancer arm of the World Health Organization, will add overnight shift work as a probable carcinogen. The American Cancer Society says it will likely follow. Up to now, the U.S. organization has considered the work-cancer link to be "uncertain, controversial or unproven." The higher cancer rates don't prove working overnight can cause cancer. There may be other factors common among graveyard shift workers that raise their risk for cancer. However, scientists suspect that overnight work is dangerous because it disrupts the circadian rhythm, the body's biological clock. The hormone melatonin, which can suppress tumor development, is normally produced at night. If the graveyard shift theory eventually proves correct, millions of people worldwide could be affected. Experts estimate that nearly 20 percent of the working population in developed countries work night shifts. Among the first to spot the night shift-cancer connection was Richard Stevens, a cancer epidemiologist and professor at the University of Connecticut Health Center. In 1987, Stevens published a paper suggesting a link between light at night and breast cancer. Back then, he was trying to figure out why breast cancer incidence suddenly shot up starting in the 1930s in industrialized societies, where nighttime work was considered a hallmark of progress. Most scientists were bewildered by his proposal. But in recent years, several studies have found that women working at night over many years were indeed more prone to breast cancer. Also, animals that have their light-dark schedules switched develop more cancerous tumors and die earlier. Some research also suggests that men working at night may have a higher rate of prostate cancer. Because these studies mostly focused on nurses and airline crews, bigger studies in different populations are needed to confirm or disprove the findings. There are still plenty of skeptics. And to put the risk in perspective, the "probable carcinogen" tag means that the link between overnight work and cancer is merely plausible. Among the long list of agents that are listed as "known" carcinogens are alcoholic beverages and birth control pills. Such lists say nothing about exposure amount or length of time or how likely they are to cause cancer. The American Cancer Society Web site notes that carcinogens do not cause cancer at all times. Still, many doubters of the night shift link may be won over by the IARC's analysis to be published in the December issue of the journal Lancet Oncology. "The indications are positive," said Vincent Cogliano, who heads up the agency's carcinogen classifications unit. "There was enough of a pattern in people who do shift work to recognize that there's an increase in cancer, but we can't rule out the possibility of other factors." Scientists believe having lower melatonin levels can raise the risk of developing cancer. Light shuts down melatonin production, so people working in artificial light at night may have lower melatonin levels. Melatonin can be taken as a supplement, but experts don't recommend it long-term, since that could ruin the body's ability to produce it naturally. Sleep deprivation may be another factor in cancer risk. People who work at night are not usually able to completely reverse their day and night cycles. "Night shift people tend to be day shift people who are trying to stay awake at night," said Mark Rea, director of the Light Research Center at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York, who is not connected with the IARC analysis. Not getting enough sleep makes your immune system vulnerable to attack, and less able to fight off potentially cancerous cells. Confusing your body's natural rhythm can also lead to a breakdown of other essential tasks. "Timing is very important," Rea said. Certain processes like cell division and DNA repair happen at regular times. Even worse than working an overnight shift is flipping between daytime and overnight work. "The problem is re-setting your body's clock," said Aaron Blair, of the United States' National Cancer Institute, who chaired IARC's recent meeting on shift work. "If you worked at night and stayed on it, that would be less disruptive than constantly changing shifts." Anyone whose light and dark schedule is often disrupted — including frequent long-haul travelers or insomniacs — could theoretically face the same increased cancer risk, Stevens said. He advises workers to sleep in a darkened room once they get off work. "The balance between light and dark is very important for your body. Just get a dark night's sleep." Meanwhile, scientists are trying to come up with ways to reduce night workers' cancer risk. And some companies are experimenting with different lighting, seeking a type that doesn't affect melatonin production. So far, the color that seems to have the least effect on melatonin is one that few people would enjoy working under: red. ___ American Cancer Society's list of known and probable carcinogens from IARC and National Toxicology Program: http://tinyurl.com/2kl5ab International Agency for Research on Cancer: http://www.iarc.fr/ *** Fri Nov 30 16:30:14 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Motorola CEO Ed Zander to step down By DAVE CARPENTER Motorola Inc. said Friday that Ed Zander will step down as chief executive on Jan. 1 after months under pressure for the sharp decline of the company's cell-phone business in the wake of an unsustainable hot streak led by its trend-setting Razr. Zander, 60, will be replaced by President and Chief Operating Officer Greg Brown, 47, as CEO. The announcement sent Motorola shares up modestly. Zander, who will stay on as chairman until the company's annual shareholders meeting in May 2008, maintained that the decision to go was his alone despite the severe criticism he received for the company's struggles over the past year and calls from some shareholders to replace him. "This is what I wanted to do," he said in an interview with The Associated Press. "You'd like to leave when you're at the top of your game. ... You don't like to leave when you have a year like this with mobile devices," Zander said. "But I think we have enough structurally done with this company that when mobile devices does get back to its execution, we're a stronger company than we were four years ago." He said he planned to "go do the things that my wife and I have wanted to do now for years and years." Banc of America Securities analyst Tim Long called the transition a "slight positive" for Motorola. "We view the change positively as we believe a fresh strategy may help restore growth and aid a quicker bounceback in operating margins," he said in a note to investors. A two-year run of success Motorola enjoyed following the launch of its Razr phone began crumbling last year after sales slowed and the company admitted it had been trading profit margins for global market share by aggressively undercutting pricing. Motorola has since slipped to third place in the cell phone market behind Samsung Electronics Corp. and remains far behind leader Nokia Corp. Last month, Motorola reported a 94 percent drop in third-quarter profit but still managed to impress Wall Street with its progress, improving from a dismal first-half performance and showing that its turnaround effort may be taking hold. The cell-phone unit, Motorola's biggest, saw quarterly sales plunge 36 percent to $4.5 billion and recorded an operating loss of $138 million. That was nearly $1 billion worse than a year ago but only about half the $264 million loss of the second quarter. Brown joined the company in 2003 and has served as president and COO since March. Prior to joining Motorola, Brown was chairman and CEO of Micromuse Inc., a network management software company. Asked whether he envisions a departure from Motorola's recent strategy, Brown said he would provide an update in early 2008 on the next steps. "We've made a number of changes already," he said in an interview. "We're focused on finishing the year and ensuring a smooth transition." Zander will continue to serve as an adviser to the CEO through Jan. 5, 2009, and until then will continue to receive his regular base salary and benefits. Zander's stock options and restricted stock units also will continue to vest and be exercisable during that time. Motorola said in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that Zander won't be eligible to participate in its 2008 incentive bonus plans, won't receive any new equity grants in 2008 and will forfeit any stock options and restricted stock units that haven't vested as of Jan. 5, 2009. A total of about $5.3 million of previously earned but deferred compensation will be paid out, representing the current value of Zander's 2004 annual bonus which had been deferred. Motorola shares rose 15 cents to $15.80 in morning trading. The stock remains down more than 20 percent in 2007 and is about 40 percent off its six-year high of $26.30 reached just a little more than a year ago. ------ AP Business Writer Jennifer Malloy in New York contributed to this story. *** Tue Dec 4 21:44:33 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Can our bodies adapt to being night owls? Doctors Working shifts including at night is common in the medical profession By Clare Davidson Business reporter, BBC News How does it feel to be working while most people are sleeping? Following a series on night work, we look at the side effects of working unusual hours. At only 27, Abigail Medniuk is resigned to decades of working odd hours. "I knew my career would be open to a lifetime of night shifts and antisocial hours," says Ms Medniuk, a senior house officer in anaesthetics at Kent and Sussex Hospital. Man sleeping Night workers are always fighting the natural light which the body finds hard to adjust to James Waterhouse, Liverpool John Moores University Since qualifying in 2004, her hours have varied considerably, as she rushes between patients. At one extreme she has worked continuously on nights over seven days. In her new job she avoids the long stretches of nights, but jumps between night shifts and day shifts at two or three day intervals. She accepts the hours, but is emphatic on one point: "You never get used to it." Body clock What becomes immediately obvious from talking to researchers is how disruptive night work is for the body. This has huge health implications. The most obvious result of night work or shift work outside normal office hours is the disruption to the circadian rhythm, or body clock. The body clock helps us stay awake and alert in the daytime and enables us to sleep and recuperate at night, explains James Waterhouse, a sport and exercise science specialist at Liverpool John Moores University. Our body temperature rises during the day and boosts naturally occurring levels of adrenaline. In the evenings, the body cools down, reaching its lowest temperature in the early hours. "Night workers are always fighting the natural light, which the body finds hard to adjust to," he says. Doing damage It is not simply a matter of inadequate sleep. Even when workers do sleep it is often poor quality and interrupted. "Workers can take the phone off the hook and have the thickest curtains possible, but surrounding daytime noises continue regardless," says Jim Horne, director of Loughborough University's Sleep Research Centre. Exxon Valdez oil slick Fatigue has been cited as a factor in major accidents Fatigue and accumulative sleep deprivation can be insidious, developing slowly over time with workers unaware of its impact, according to the Health & Safety Executive (HSE). But it can also be potentially disastrous, if judgement is impaired or concentration compromised, especially for operators of machinery. According to the HSE, the incidents of accidents on night shifts are higher. Night-time workers' fatigue has been cited as a factor in several well-known disasters, according to a report by the Association of Professional Sleep Societies. These include the Exxon Valdez oil spill, the Bhopal chemical blast and the Chernobyl nuclear explosion. Cutting the risks associated with night and shift work would help improve workers' health and safety. But the HSE is keen to stress that it could also help businesses financially by reducing absenteeism, injuries and accidents, while also boosting productivity. 24 hour society? Accidents aside, researchers say disrupting the circadian rhythm and the resulting lack of sleep can have a range of other effects. Research has shown gastrointestinal disorders are common complaints by night workers, says Debra Skene, head of the Neuroendocrinology School of Biomedical and Molecular Sciences at Surrey University. These include indigestion, loss of appetite and peptic ulcers. In a sense 24-hour society is here but it isn't here truly James Waterhouse, Liverpool John Moores University And increased risks of cardiovascular problems, such as hypertension, are another issue. What causes this is not exactly clear, says Mr Waterhouse. But antisocial hours means not only are workers awake when their bodies want to be asleep, they tend to have less access to facilities that help maintain a healthy lifestyle. For example night workers are less likely to join a gym or association that might have physical and social benefits, he says. "In a sense the 24-hour society is here, but it isn't here truly." Access to decent healthy food at night is a common problem. He says often night workers eat their evening meal with their families or partners because it is the main time to catch up. But this can create problems regarding what to do during the main break at work. "People don't feel like a full meal so resort to eating crisps or chocolate," he adds. 'No solution' There are better and worse aspects of the different types of rotas used for night work, says Ms Medniuk. It is a relief that in her new job she doesn't face the prospect of seven consecutive nights at work. On the other hand, her current rota is completely irregular and she says the time off is not enough to do much. Night work Night workers are those who regularly work for at least three hours between 11:00pm and 6:00am Employers must offer a free health assessment before starting work at night and regularly after that Fatigue, sleep deficit and a disrupted circadian rhythm are said to be exacerbated by 12 hour shifts Advancing shifts (mornings, then afternoons, then nights) are easier to adapt to than the reverse Source: London Hazards Centre, Health & Safety Executive These two models - one with the week of nights compared to two and three days stints - are commonly used by employers that operate shift or night work. A more extreme option involves around a month of nights or late shifts followed by time off. But fundamentally, the problem with all these patterns is the clash between trying to work at night, when everyone else including family and friends are not, while having a "normal" life in between researchers say. "There is no solution because we tend to revert to being daytime creatures," says Mr Waterhouse. He adds the best way to truly adapt to night work would be to stick to being awake at night even on days off. A weekend lie-in is not the solution, he says. Above all, the body wants regularity. This applies not only to night shifts but also for people working other irregular shifts, says Ms Skene. Getting up at 4am or 5am is likely to mean people are always short of sleep because they are unlikely to have gone to bed the extra two to three hours earlier. Moreover, constantly changing patterns is disastrous for the body as the circadian rhythm is "completely shot", says Mr Skene. It might take several weeks to rectify an irregular pattern over several years. Night sky The inbuilt body clock helps us sleep and recuperate at night "What long term damage is done to other parts of the body - we have no idea," she adds. Haphazard A spokesperson for the Transport and General Workers Union says there is plenty of information available but all too often organisations don't seek advice when devising shifts. Mr Horne echoes this, saying firms organise night shifts as if they were simply day shifts. Working at night is "fundamentally different" and many decisions about shift patterns "seem haphazard" he says. This includes the increasing trend of 12-hour night shifts "even though there isn't the research to show it is a good idea". Organisations can gain advice to avoid the worst case scenarios he adds. "Employers don't understand that working at night might be a health issue as well as a safety issue," says T&G. Mr Waterhouse sums up the problem by saying society has fundamentally changed in a very short period, but human biology has not. Some cope better than others, but whatever expectation we have of a 24-hour society, we cannot eliminate our inbuilt body clock. *** Wed Dec 5 15:35:02 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Need an officer? Might be too busy Jordan Baker Chief Police Reporter December 6, 2007 http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/need-an-officer-might-be-too-busy/2007/12/05/1196812824821.html?s_cid=rss_national UP TO half the police staffing some local area commands have second jobs, and one officer was allowed to work for up to 30 hours a week in the mining industry, the Auditor-General's report on police rostering found. The NSW Police Force did not have a fatigue management policy, and there was nothing to stop officers working so hard at their second jobs that they became exhausted by the time they started their police shifts, said the report, which was tabled in Parliament yesterday. Some police are also doing unapproved work. One command requires officers without secondary employment approval to declare they do not work off-duty, after an officer died while working at an unapproved job. But the Police Commissioner, Andrew Scipione, said that secondary employment was here to stay. Figures obtained by the Herald under freedom-of-information laws show there have been 1200 applications for outside employment this year. Since 2003 there have been 5000 applications. Only 120 - mostly high-risk - were rejected or revoked. The Auditor-General, Peter Achterstraat, said the block roster system - under which officers are supposed to work no more than three 12-hour shifts a week but usually work at least four - made it easier for officers to take second jobs. He said there was nothing wrong with a second job but there was no policy - one is now being developed, police say - on how much rest an officer needed between the second job and a police shift. "The policy does not set a maximum number of hours that can be worked in a second job," yesterday's report said. One in 10 officers had permission for a second job, it said. The rostering system allows officers to live a long way from their workplaces. But some commanders were worried about the safety of officers who worked 12-hour shifts and then had to drive a long way home, the report said. However, Mr Scipione said he would not stop front-line police taking second jobs. "I'm not going to stop men and women having the opportunity to work 12-hour shifts and then have the opportunity to have some second employment," he said. The system was a popular award provision for officers and helped attract recruits. "The reality is that they have mortgages to pay and they've got families to raise," Mr Scipione said. "If they choose to work secondary employment, that's fine, as long as it doesn't impact on their primary role as police officers." Mr Scipione said not all second jobs were time-consuming; some officers became referees. However, the documents obtained by the Herald show that many were also for occupations classified as high-risk, such as truck drivers, security workers and taxi drivers. The NSW Police Association said the flexibility provided by block rostering was extremely important to police officers. It was part of the reason the NSW Police Force was the only force in Australia not struggling to attract recruits. The association said NSW needed up to 5000 recruits over the next few years to meet recruitment targets and replace officers who left. But its secretary, Peter Remfrey, said changes to rostering would prompt a third of the force to leave. An association survey said 98 per cent of police supported 12-hour shifts. "Retaining experienced police and attracting the best possible recruits to the NSW Police is a serious challenge in a tight labour market," Mr Remfrey said. *** Wed Dec 5 15:56:30 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Private banking: New money settles in Singapore By Assif Shameen Published: December 5 2007 07:34 | Last updated: December 5 2007 07:34 For much of November, it was almost impossible to get a first- or business-class seat from Singapore to top-end regional resorts such as Bali. The passengers were not early-season holidaymakers. The private banking business in Asia is so good these days that banks are flying aircraft-loads of customers for weekends away just to say thank-you – whereas in the past they might have sent a year-end gift hamper. Banking for high net worth clients is one of the fastest growing segments of Asia’s financial services industry. Private wealth in Asia grew 10.5 per cent last year to $8,400bn, according to consultancy Capgemini. The number of Asians with liquid assets worth more than $1m grew 8.3 per cent to 2.6m last year. Asian private banking is growing fast because more of the region’s millionaires are using private banking channels rather than tying up most of their wealth in property. The private banking business in Singapore is forecast to grow by more than 30 per cent this year and by 25-30 per cent over the next three years. Singapore is now the world’s number two private banking centre, albeit well behind Switzerland. The industry estimates that close to $300bn – or about 5 per cent of the world total – of private-banking assets are managed in Singapore, compared with Switzerland’s $1,700bn. Singapore has transformed from a minnow to a private-banking giant in less than a decade. Six years ago, Singapore took steps to build a critical mass in wealth management and put itself far ahead of competitors such as Hong Kong. It beefed up account secrecy protection, changed its trust laws and allowed foreigners who meet minimum wealth requirements to purchase land and become permanent residents. “With its excellent infrastructure and regulatory framework, Singapore is uniquely positioned to take advantage of the global boom in wealth management,” says Deepak Sharma who heads Citi Private Bank’s international operations from his base in Singapore. In 2000, Singapore strengthened its banking secrecy laws, now considered stricter than even Swiss laws. Indeed, banks in Singapore have had to move data centres that handle private banking transactions from Bangalore to Singapore just as commercial banks were moving their own back office functions to cities in India. Another big new attraction is Singapore’s new trust laws, says Mr Sharma. Some European countries have laws that supersede wills and trusts. In late 2004, the island-republic exempted foreigners who set up local trusts from these limitations. The new trust laws also attract clients from the Middle East, where shariah courts often pass over wives and children in favour of a deceased’s father or brother. Assets placed in trusts in Singapore have grown to nearly $100bn from just under $25bn five years ago, say industry insiders. Little wonder, then, that global giants such as Citi, HSBC, UBS, Credit Suisse and Societe Generale are boosting their regional private banking operations in Singapore. As are niche players such as Pictet and Clariden Leu. The number of private banks in Singapore has increased from just 20 in 2000 to 42, while private banking assets have grown from about $50bn in 1998 to over $300bn. Many newcomers are returnees. The UK’s Standard Chartered Bank, which last year re-entered private banking after a hiatus of more than a decade, made Singapore its global headquarters for private banking. Others, such as Bank Julius Baer that left Asia in the aftermath of the Asian financial crisis, have returned because they see a larger pool of assets, a more sustained pace of growth, better infrastructure and a friendlier regulatory environment. Where is the growth coming from? Until recently, Europe was the main driver of Singapore’s private banking growth. Banks with huge European client bases have promoted Singapore – which imposes no tax on capital gains, interest income or overseas income – as a way around new taxes in Switzerland, where authorities three years ago imposed a withholding tax on some accounts held by EU citizens. Wealthy Indians are a new growth driver, and have been big forces in up-market residential property transactions across Asia in recent months, particularly Singapore. The boom in Indian stock market and asset prices has created a breed of millionaires eager to park assets outside India. One private banker says money from India this year has tripled, even quadrupled for his bank. “European business was a big growth driver between 2004 and earlier this year,” says another private banker in Singapore. “Now it’s all of Asia. Mostly India, China and Indonesia.” Yet after five years of heady growth, some private bankers in Singapore are trying to slow down. “Our biggest challenge is people,” says Marcel Kreis, who heads Credit Suisse’s private banking operations for Southeast Asia and the Pacific. Singapore has more than 1,000 unfilled private banking positions, says a partner at an executive search firm. Rival banks are pinching staff from each other, often doubling salaries and offering huge joining bonuses. To tackle the growing skills shortage, Singapore two years ago set up a Wealth Management Institute, which offers graduate and diploma courses. Banks such as UBS are setting up their own training facilities to prepare a generation of private bankers. “If we have the people, we can continue to grow at this pace, and probably even faster,” says Mr Kreis. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2007 *** Wed Dec 5 16:08:10 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: hursday December 6, 07:06 AM Escaped NSW prisoners on the run Two escaped prisoners are still on the run a week after they fled from prison in northern NSW, police say. Peter Hinton and John Anderson escaped from a correctional centre at Glen Innes last Thursday. Just before 8am (AEDT) the following morning, they assaulted a driver who had stopped to remove a log lying across the road and made off with a white Toyota Hilux ute, heading east on the Gwydir Highway. The 52-year-old driver was left with minor injuries. The stolen ute was last seen about 8.30am (AEDT) on Saturday on the eastern side of the Gibraltar Ranges. Police warn the two men should not be approached. Anyone who sees them is asked to call triple-0. They were driving a white Toyota Hilux dual cab ute with NSW number plates RTB155. Peter Hinton, 19, is described as being of European appearance with a thin build, 175cm tall with light brown hair and hazel eyes. John Anderson, 34, is described as being of European appearance with a solid build, 180cm tall, with fair hair and green or hazel eyes. Anyone with information about their whereabouts is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000. *** Wed Dec 5 16:12:12 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Agents fined $20,000 over horror house sale December 19, 2004 - 12:39PM Page Tools * Email to a friend * Printer format * * Two Sydney real estate agents who sold a house without disclosing that it was the scene of a triple murder have been fined more than $20,000. In August, the two LJ Hooker agents sold the family home of Sef Gonzales, without telling the buyers Gonzales had killed his mother, father and sister there three years earlier. The unwitting Lin family, devout Buddhists, put an $80,000 deposit on the house for their Taiwanese parents before learning it was the gruesome murder scene. LJ Hooker in North Ryde initially refused to refund the family's deposit but eventually buckled to pressure and released the Lins from their contract and gave back the money. Agents Ereca and Peter Hinton maintained they had done nothing wrong by the Lins in the sale of the $800,000 house. But the NSW Office of Fair Trading investigated the matter under the Property Stock and Business Agents Act and the Fair Trading Act. The Fair Trading Minister, Reba Meagher, said today the agents had breached the Acts for "misleading behaviour in promoting the property for sale". AdvertisementAdvertisement They were fined $20,900 - the first time in NSW such a penalty had been imposed. The Office of Fair Trading also has directed the Real Estate Institute of NSW to compile a manual, laying out procedures for advertising and selling properties. And the department is currently investigating amendments to agents' disclosure requirements and possible penalty increases. "This case sends a clear message to all agents about the importance of disclosing all the important facts that are likely to impact on the potential value of the property," Ms Meagher said. "The vast majority of the state's 14,000 licensed real estate agents do the right thing by consumers, but incidents like this can damage the reputation of the whole industry." The Lins were shown through the property three times, but were not told it was where Gonzales murdered his father Teddy, mother Mary Loiva and sister Clodine on July 10, 2001. Gonzales is now serving three concurrent life sentences for the crimes. The Lins later said they could not move into the house on the grounds it was haunted and would bring them misfortune. The agents have said the prospective owners did not ask about the house's history, so there was no obligation to tell them. Attempts today to contact LJ Hooker North Ryde were unsuccessful. The branch has the right to have the decision reviewed by the Administrative Decisions Tribunal. AAP *** Wed Dec 5 17:40:36 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Kill switch' dropped from Vista Vista desktop - aero interface Vista was launched at the start of the year Microsoft is to withdraw an anti-piracy tool from Windows Vista, which disables the operating system when invoked, following customer complaints. The so-called "kill switch" is designed to prevent users with illegal copies of Vista from using certain features. But the tool has suffered from glitches since it was introduced with many Windows users claiming that legal copies of Vista had been disabled. Microsoft says its efforts have seen a drop in piracy of its software. In a statement released by the company, Microsoft corporate vice president Mike Sievert, said: "Users whose systems are identified as counterfeit will be presented with clear and recurring notices about the status of their system and how to get genuine copies." 'Take action' "They won't lose access to functionality or features, but it will be very clear to them that their copy of Window Vista is not genuine and they need to take action." Microsoft has described the new approach as a "change of tactics". It said efforts to tackle piracy had seen numbers of fake copies of Vista at half the level of XP, the previous Windows operating system. The change will take effect with the release of Service Pack 1, a major update to Windows Vista. Customers who buy a copy of Windows Vista or have the operating system (OS) installed when they buy a new PC are required to validate the OS with Microsoft. An online tool, called Windows Genuine Advantage, checks the authenticity of the OS to determine if it was legally acquired. The tool can "lock" Vista from further use if it believes it is an unauthorised copy. But many users have complained that the system is not working because legally bought copies result in error messages. It was introduced in 2006 as a voluntary option, but became mandatory with the release of Vista, and had problems from the day it was introduced. Mr Sievert added: "It's worth re-emphasising that our fundamental strategy has not changed. "All copies of Windows Vista still require activation and the system will continue to validate from time to time to verify that systems are activated properly." Microsoft said it had pursued legal action against more than 1,000 dealers of counterfeit Microsoft products in the last year and taken down more than 50,000 "illegal and improper" online software auctions. *** Thu Dec 6 02:25:53 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: t's a dark day in history. Evel Knievel died. The stunt cyclist who wrapped himself in bicentennial colors was my first sports hero. If you don't believe attempting to jump cycles over cars, buses (and even a canyon) qualifies as sports, then you should know that three of the top eight most-watched episodes of "Wide World of Sports" featured Knievel appearances. The top-rated episode of all time co-starred Knievel and the Harlem Globetrotters (who, incidentally, are coming soon to a Mabee Center near you). A few years ago, Knievel made a guest appearance at Buffalo Run Casino in Miami. I volunteered to write a feature story on him in advance of his trip. Thankfully, no one else on our staff (as far as I know) wanted the assignment. But I would have fought starving coyotes for the right to do the interview, just like I would have if the "Six Million Dollar Man" had come to Oklahoma. Is that the only TV series you can't buy on DVD nowadays? I went through a publicist to arrange a call from Knievel and he happened to call me when I was driving on a turnpike after dark (not an ideal note-taking situation). I asked if I could call back at a more convenient time. Often times with celebrity-types, that's the conclusion of the interview opportunity. I called Knievel a few days later and we talked for probably an hour and some of his answers were salty enough -- and politically incorrect enough -- that I can't swear all the best quotes made it into the newspaper. Knievel, because of frequent crashes and hard living, may have put more self-inflicted wear and tear on a body than anyone else in the history of mankind. When we talked, I knew he was living on borrowed time. He underwent a liver transplant in 1999 and he was suffering from idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, a disease that results in scarring of the lungs. He frequently needed oxygen, but would never use it at public appearances because he didn't want anyone getting the idea that he wasn't invincible. Because of space limitations, and because not everything someone says is interesting or topical, you seldom use everything from an interview when writing a story. I wrote a long story, by newspaper standards, on Knievel and I stashed some of the question-and-answer session to use when -- and I don't mean to be morbid -- the day arrived that Knievel could no longer cheat death. That day arrived, dang it (punched the dashboard of my car when I first heard the bad news on the radio), and it is with respect that I resurrect some unused dialogue from our interview. He recited me a list of things that make a man or woman successful in life. Count on some not liking his list, but here it is, straight and unfiltered: 1, "You must have faith in God. An atheist, in my opinion, doesn't have a chance and they certainly can't amount to anything here on earth. They might amount to something. They might take up some space or something, but I believe you must have faith in God, your maker. On the other hand, I do not believe in organized religion. I don't believe in giving money to Jimmy Swaggart, Jim Bakker, Oral Roberts or anybody. I don't think you can buy your way into heaven and you cannot buy your way out of hell. I believe God is the No. 1 thing in life that makes a man successful, and living by the Ten Commandments." 2, "You have to have your health." 3, "You have to have somebody to love that loves you. I'm talking about real things in life that make you a success." 4, "You've got to have a job, something to do that you like to do where you can get up and go to work and nobody has to shove you out of bed and make you go." 5, "Do the right thing by your fellow man because it is right." 6, "Follow your dream. Don't ever give up. You can fall many times trying to reach your dream, but you will never be a failure if you get up and keep trying to follow that dream. Money doesn't even enter into it. You can give Donald Trump a kick in the (butt). You don't need him. If you have all those other things I talked about, wealth will come from that in all different ways." Knievel told me he felt lucky because he had time to get his house in order before he died. He said he set things aside for his children and made burial arrangements not only for himself, but for family members. "I bought seven graves in Butte, Montana," he said. "I will have my family buried next to me and my grandparents who raised me. My grandmother and grandfather are the only ones there now. My parents were divorced when they were very young. Dad and mom both had another family. Both wives (including an ex) want to be cremated and I don't know what's going to happen to the kids. I'm holding all those graves. I may be buried there and be there alone. Then it will lonely at the bottom. It won't be lonely at the top. It will be lonely at the bottom." Bottom? No way. Knievel will stay at the top of my list. I'm sure there are plenty of others from the bell bottom pants era who feel the same way. Viva Knievel. *** Thu Dec 6 02:35:50 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: The Golden Compass vs. the Church Thursday, Nov. 29, 2007 By LEV GROSSMAN At 61, Philip Pullman is tall and handsome and pink-faced in that way that older Englishmen often are. His conversation easily ranges from theoretical physics to the work of John Milton. He's like one of those wise, stern-but-humorous uncles usually played in movies by Michael Caine or Jim Broadbent. He doesn't look particularly satanic. But then again, neither, probably, does Satan. Pullman is the author of His Dark Materials, a trio of fantasy novels that has sold more than 15 million copies since the first volume, The Golden Compass, was published in 1995. It has been turned into a radio drama and a hit London stage play. A movie of The Golden Compass, starring Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig, opens in the U.S. next week and will probably take its place in the pantheon of profitable fantasy franchises that includes The Lord of the Rings, The Chronicles of Narnia and Harry Potter. But the most striking fact about Pullman's work is that his characters aren't fighting Sauron or the White Queen or Voldemort. Their enemy is the Christian church. His Dark Materials--the phrase comes from Milton's Paradise Lost--takes place in a glinting, shadowy, clockwork version of Edwardian England, with some (very) notable differences. Every human in Pullman's world has a daemon, a kind of talking spirit-animal that goes wherever he or she goes. "They're able to talk to their daemons, much like talking to yourself," Pullman explains over breakfast at his publisher's offices in New York City. "Like having a conversation with your conscience or your memory." In Pullman's world, the church has evolved into a sinister totalitarian bureaucracy called the Magisterium that perpetrates massive cruelties in the name of good. Later on in the trilogy, readers meet evil angels and, ultimately, God. We're used to fantasy literature either warily skirting religion (as in J.K. Rowling's work) or subtextually stumping for it (as in C.S. Lewis'). We're not used to fantasy taking on religion foursquare. But to be fair, it's not religion that Pullman has a problem with, exactly, or religious believers; it's what happens when religion mixes with politics. "Religion is at its best when it is furthest from political power," he says. "The power to send armies to war, to rule every aspect of our lives, to tell us what to wear, what to think, what to read--when religion gets hold of that, watch out! Because trouble will ensue." Pullman has even received warm praise from members of the clergy, including the Archbishop of Canterbury, for his exploration of spiritual issues. "I suppose if you are interested in religious questions, that makes you religious," Pullman muses. "I am. What I am not is a believer in the sorts of gods that seem to be on offer from the various major religions." Pullman sees himself as championing the universal human values of love and tolerance and curiosity, many of which are of course also embraced by Christianity, though not always, he argues, by Christian writers. Lewis' Narnia books arouse in him a level of outrage rarely witnessed during the breakfast hour. "His comments about women throughout are loathsome. His attitude to children who are fat and have freckles--for God's sake!" Pullman says. "I think Lewis was profoundly immoral when he wrote those books." Atheism has had a best-selling moment of late with the success of books by Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens, and Pullman runs the grave and improbable risk of becoming not just mainstream but fashionable. But he isn't a creature of fashion any more than he's a creature of Satan. "I'm a great admirer of both men," he says, "but I wouldn't want to be part of any movement that had an agenda. I'm not arguing a case. I'm not preaching a sermon. I'm not giving a lecture. I'm telling a story. Any position I take is that of a storyteller who says, Once upon a time, this happened." *** Mon Dec 10 16:41:54 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: iPhones hacked to work on Telstra Mahesh Sharma | December 11, 2007 TECH-savvy Australians are importing iPhones and using special unlocking software to have full use of them on local mobile networks. But a veteran hacker believes consumers are better off waiting for the official launch here next year. iPhones hacked to work on Telstra 'Not something I'd recommend you buy for grandma as a Christmas present' - Scott Heim The iPhone is Apple's latest marketing wonder, which builds on the playback functionality of the iPod by adding mobile and internet features, and providing access by touchscreen interface. There has been an unofficial trickle of iPhones to Australia from various channels since the launch in the US earlier this year. Melbourne-based Scott Heim is a retired mobile networks engineer and unlocked an iPhone onto the Telstra GSM mobile network just days after it had been launched in the US, after he got a friend to send over the 8GB model, which retails for around $US450 ($513). Telstra is eyeing iPhone distribution rights here and the company's PR chief, Phil Burgess said last week that he bought one recently in New York. It is not known whether Mr Burgess has cracked his iPhone to work on the Telstra network. Mr Heim has written several guides on how to unlock the iPhone, but warned the iPhone is a tricky hack. "It's something you have to be knowledgeable to do. You can't just download a file that you click once and it just fixes it, you have to use multiple tools," he said. "On a difficulty rating of one to five, I'd rate it a five, the hardest. It's not something I'd recommend you buy for grandma as a Christmas present." The iPhone has been designed so that it only works on the AT&T network in America, and once a unit has been unlocked the warranty is void and Apple will not officially support it. Mr Heim described the process as having three stages, where users first must activate the phone, then "jailbreak" the phone's operating system to allow it to run software on the phone, and finally activate the SIM so it can be used on the local GSM mobile networks. The current iPhone won't work on 3G networks. Initially the hack was done by modifying the hardware but it can now all be done by software, and what used to take a day or two can now be done in minutes. Mr Heim helps people from all around the world to revive and repair problems with their unlocked iPhones, both over the internet and in his home, and he estimates that there are up to 50,000 pirated devices in the country at the moment. He said the most common problem he solves is when people incorrectly use the iPhone with iTunes, which can ``brick'' or completely shut down the unit. "A lot of people who have bought the phone and had no clue about this just left it plugged in and when the new firmware downloads their phone doesn't work any more," he said. There is a special technique to update the firmware on the phone, but Mr Heim said this required users to go through the unlock phone process again. Another unofficial Australian iPhone owner said: "Until there's something I want, then I wouldn't update my firmware." He bought his iPhone from eBay for $750 a couple of months after it had been released. While his purchasing procedure was without incident, Mr Heim warned of cases where people received secondhand units, faulty units, or didn't receive any at all. And with the release of the latest firmware version, Mr Heim believes that Apple has effectively closed down the iPhone black market. He recommends that keen local punters should wait until its official release, which has been scheduled for next year. "They're unlockable. There is a way to get them working with a device called a turboSIM that you have to (merge) with your Telstra SIM. But that's about $200 and they're very hard to come by. "The process you have to deal with software to make turboSIM work is very complex and only for very advanced people." Apple refused to comment on how many unlocked iPhones it believed were in Australia or how many complaints it had received about broken devices. Additional reporting Andrew Main *** Mon Dec 10 16:50:10 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Asian takeovers don't add up: Morgan Richard Gluyas | December 10, 2007 WESTPAC chief executive David Morgan has taken a contrary view to his counterpart at ANZ, downplaying the prospect that an emerging Asian financial powerhouse could take over one of the nation's big four banks. Dr Morgan, who will hand over to ex-St George Bank boss Gail Kelly early next year, said a takeover would be difficult to justify on rational, financial grounds. "As to the particular threat from Chinese and Indian banks, in terms of takeover, if they're being rational about it, they'll really struggle to make sense of the sums," he told Sky News yesterday. "We are well managed, efficient banks by global standards, so I think the additional synergies that a Chinese or Indian bank could bring to a bank like us3would be pretty low, frankly, and couldn't repay a takeover premium." New ANZ chief executive Mike Smith told a business lunch in Sydney late last month that Chinese banks had developed a "new-found confidence", and were looking to move beyond their domestic market. Besides, they had developed significant scale, with Chinese bank ICBC displacing other contenders like Citibank and HSBC to become the world's biggest lender as of last July. ICBC had recently displayed its global ambitions by acquiring 20 per cent of Standard Bank, South Africa's biggest financial services group, in October. Dr Morgan welcomed efforts by foreign banks to pursue organic growth in Australia, saying it was good for competition. "Australian banks have met that challenge before and they'll meet it going forward." But the Westpac chief delivered a broadside against the Four Pillars ban on big-bank mergers. A trenchant critic of the ban in the past, he described it as "poor public policy". "I'm disappointed with both sides of politics in not being prepared to look afresh at the issue." He repeated his argument that the ACCC should be the umpire for mergers in the financial services industry. While Dr Morgan agreed that Westpac, as the third largest of the big four, could become a target in any industry consolidation, he said the bank could also stay on the sidelines and increase its market share due to the likely disruption. The Westpac chief praised new Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, describing him as "very disciplined". "And he has said publicly that he wants a greater role for Treasury which, as a former Treasury official, I applaud." With a bipartisan approach now evident in politics, Dr Morgan said Westpac felt it could now work with either side of politics. Dr Morgan said he hoped to be involved in philanthropic work when his term at Westpac expires. "Giving back is important. I came from nothing. My father was bankrupt when I was ten." "This country has given me unbelievable opportunity and I want to give back to this country and to people who are starting life or going through life without the same extraordinary good fortune that I have," he said. *** Mon Dec 10 16:58:40 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Aussies pay dearly for overseas currency conversions http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22887279-5001942,00.html Ed Charles | December 08, 2007 IT'S time for Christmas shopping and many people will be visiting Singapore and Hong Kong or the duty-free halls for their seasonal spending sprees. But retailers could be taking-advantage of the festive spirit by offering payment in Australian dollars and adding a surcharge to foreign currency conversion fees. Called dynamic currency conversion, surcharging payments made in Australian dollars is perfectly legitimate. But this is one of the many pitfalls when spending abroad and is a matter of concern to Mastercard and Visa. According to Rob Walls, head of Debit & Prepaid Products, Asia-Pacific, Middle East & Africa at Mastercard, prices are often quoted in Australian dollars, including a surcharge - not giving shoppers the cheaper option of paying in the local currency. "We are seeing increasing dynamic currency conversion at points of sale. This is often seen in hotels, retailers and duty-free shops in airports. Often they show the rate in Australian dollars, but the actual exchange rate is hidden," he says. "There also may be an international transaction charge applied by your issuing bank. "Those dynamic currency transactions are often done before even a consumer is given a choice. Sometimes they are automatically put through and the exchange rate is quite disadvantageous to you, and that's because the merchant is applying a margin up front." It is one of the most expensive ways to shop abroad, according to a Mastercard study, The Real Cost of Foreign Currency Transactions. The study gives an insight into the true costs Australians face when accessing money overseas. The study examines the benefits of different payment options, such as cash, credit cards, debit cards, prepaid cards and travellers cheques. It found that the costs of buying foreign currency and using cards was diverse across the region. Walls says that when he travels, he knows he can always get cash at destination airports and sometimes it can be cheaper than buying it locally. The place to avoid buying currency is hotels, where exchange rates can be poor, as well as foreign exchange vendors outside major cities. "We did have a look at buying cash at the destination point versus the point of origination and it really depends where you are starting your travel," he says. "In cities like Dubai, there tends to be almost no margin in foreign exchange cash transactions; the cash is very very cheap in terms of buying foreign currency in the airport." But he says that in countries such as Australia and New Zealand, where there is a limited range of money changers to choose from, the foreign exchange margins are higher. "I'd rather have the money in my bank account, potentially earning a 6 or 7 per cent interest rate for an extra day and then get it at the ATM at the destination," he says. In reality, the differences between foreign exchange rates between using eftpos, credit cards, prepaid cards and traveller's cheques is small. "None of us are foreign exchange traders, and those are the guys who are really going to worry about a couple of basis points here or there," Walls says. "You'd have to be spending a lot of money overseas for it to make a big impact on your travel budget." What makes the difference are the upfront transaction costs, multiple ATM fees and the costs of prepaid cards and traveller's cheques, which have high upfront costs, not cashed in after a trip. "Transaction costs vary quite significantly depending on the transaction value," he says. "Consumers need to understand the behavioural impact on overall transactions." For instance, 10 $100 withdrawals will cost more than two $500 or one $1000 withdrawal. Each time an ATM is used, there is usually a one-off fee plus a percentage charge, usually about 2 per cent. Although within the Mastercard and Visa rules banks are not supposed to make their own local additional surcharges, they do so where the rules have been overturned by local laws. In Australia, these rules were overturned, allowing retailers to pass on credit card fees. In Vietnam and some US states, surcharging at the ATM is permitted, but the ATM is meant to tell the consumer of that fee before the transaction proceeds. *** Mon Dec 10 19:15:05 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Australia to tap S'pore water expertise Cheong Suk-Wai, Assistant Foreign Editor 412 words 11 December 2007 Straits Times English (c) 2007 Singapore Press Holdings Limited AUSTRALIA is looking to Singapore's expertise in purifying water and securing water sources in its bid to drought-proof itself, its new trade minister Simon Crean said here yesterday. Speaking to reporters after his breakfast talk on his government's new trade policies and priorities to the Australian Chamber of Commerce at the Pan Pacific Hotel here, Mr Crean, 58, said: 'Water and water security are vital to Singapore. Drought-proofing is vital to us.' So, he said, both countries should leverage on their 'very strong' two-way ties to drive the global effort for everyone to have constant supplies of clean water. He said he discussed this with Singapore's Ambassador-at-large, Mr Tommy Koh, an old friend, when they met on the sidelines of the 1st Asia-Pacific Water Summit in Beppu, Japan, about a week ago. Sworn in eight days ago, Mr Crean came to Singapore straight from the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Bali. He was last here in October 2003. Prodded on whether his new government would review Australia's current position to shut Singapore Airlines out from lucrative Australia-United States flight paths, Mr Crean - previously the shadow minister for trade in the Australian Parliament - was noncommittal. He told The Straits Times: 'This is a discussion I obviously have to have with a number of other colleagues in the Cabinet...until such time we have that discussion, I can't make any useful comment.' The dapper straight talker added that Asia was of 'critical' importance and he was relying on Singapore - Australia's largest trade and investment partner in Asean - to help his country conclude its tripartite free trade agreement with Asean and New Zealand. Mr Crean said one of his chief priorities would be to work towards boosting Australian exports, noting that in the past five years, this had grown by just 2.1 per cent yearly. Responding to a businessman's query at the breakfast talk as to how Australia should shrug off its 'mines and farms' export image, Mr Crean said bluntly: 'Why can't we add value to our products, make them more nutrition-based...get the logistics right? If we get all of that right, we can be the food bowl for Asia.' Mr Crean, a former trade unions council chief and Leader of the Opposition from 2001 to 2003, flew home yesterday evening. Document STIMES0020071210e3cb0000z *** Mon Dec 10 20:10:26 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Public servants' sickie epidemic Siobhain Ryan 642 words 11 December 2007 The Australian 1 - All-round Country 1 English Copyright 2007 News Ltd. All Rights Reserved PUBLIC servants in some of the nation's biggest government departments are skipping work up to 17 days a year, above and beyond their annual leave. The Australian Taxation Office, Australian Bureau of Statistics and Department of Veterans Affairs suffer among the service's highest absenteeism rates, with their staff taking a median of 14 to 17 days off -- mostly on sick leave. Across the Australian Public Service as a whole, the median rate was 9.4 days per employee, a new survey of workplace absences shows. Of that total, 7.3 days were sick leave and the remainder was made up of carers, compensation, special and unauthorised leave, the Public Service Commission says in its latest State of the Service report. Absenteeism across the APS cost the nation's taxpayers $295million a year in direct salary payments, and up to three times that amount in total expenses, the Australian National Audit Office dicovered when it last looked at the issue, in 2003. An Australian Bureau of Statistics survey in the same year showed that for a given two-week period, 9.5 per cent of public sector workers were off sick or injured from work, compared to 6.1 per cent of private sector workers. But, since then, the rates of APS sick leave have not budged. The Public Service Commission's follow-up survey suggests they have even risen slightly from the 7.0 days per staff recorded in 2001-02. Continued -- Page 4 From Page 1 The commission says lower salaries offered in the public service could have led to a wider range of leave offered as a trade-off, pushing up the number of days off. And it warns that driving down absenteeism could drive up ``presenteeism'' -- lack of productivity when at work due to poor motivation or illness. Medibank Private recently estimated that presenteeism cost an average of six working days a year per staff member. ``Nonetheless, the results suggest there is a potential to reduce absence levels in the public sector,'' the commission says. No service-wide rules apply to cut down on ``sickies'', with each agency making its own judgment on whether, and when, doctors' certificates are required to justify a day off. The federal government does not have a set rule requiring its departments to demand doctors' certificates from staff to cut down on ``sickies'', despite being one of the country's biggest employers. Instead, the gradual devolution of responsibility for workplace conditions means the requirements for sick leave vary by department. However, most agencies do cap the numbers of sick days allowed without proof of illness. At the Public Service Commission, for example, a doctor's certificate is demanded if an employee calls in sick three days running, or takes five days a year off for medical reasons. The new Special Minister of State, John Faulkner, said the stalled levels of absenteeism had to be addressed. ``It's good to note that productivity levels are on the rise, but I'd like to see more headway being made in reducing absenteeism in the APS,'' he said. The survey shows large agencies are generally reporting higher rates of days off per employee, compared with the smaller ones. Smaller and more specialised agencies often have staff who are more interested in their jobs and have a bigger personal stake in its success, the commission notes. ABSENTEEISM How some public service departments fare The good: 0-5.9 days average* Department of Human Services, Austrade, Australian Institute of Family Studies and Federal Magistrates Court The bad: 8-11.9 days Department of Employment and Workplace Relations, Productivity Commission, Department of Defence and Department of Education The sick: 14-17 days Australian Bureau of Statistics, Australian Taxation Office and Department of Veterans' Affairs * Per year AUS-20071211-1-001-614115 *** Mon Dec 10 20:59:35 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Cab surcharge raised to meet demand in the city Maria Almenoar 600 words 11 December 2007 Straits Times English (c) 2007 Singapore Press Holdings Limited TAXI fares will go up from Monday and people who want to catch a cab in the city during evening peak hours will see their fares rise the most. They will pay between 18 per cent and 49 per cent more for a taxi ride home from the city from 5pm to midnight. Heading home to Ang Mo Kio from Orchard Road during these peak hours will cost about $14.35, up from $10.65 now. Travel during off-peak hours, which will affect the bulk of passengers riding in the 23,000 cabs here, will go up by 10 per cent, said Singapore's biggest cab company ComfortDelGro, which announced its new fare structure yesterday. It is raising flag-down rates by 30 cents to $2.80. Surcharges for peak period and late-night travel have also been adjusted. Three of the other five cab companies say they will follow ComfortDelGro's lead to raise flag-down rates and up the distance- and time-based charges. Only one charge is going down - the prime-time call booking fee will be lowered from $4 to $3.50. Trans-Cab could not comment by press time while Prime Taxis said it will not raise flag-down rates for at least another three months. One measure that drew attention was ComfortDelGro's move to raise the city surcharge as a way of ensuring its supply of 15,000 taxis better matches the demand for cabs, where and when they are wanted most. Commuters will have to pay $3 for a cab in the city between 5pm and midnight from Monday to Saturday, up from $1 now. ComfortDelGro said the higher surcharge will address the No. 1 complaint of commuters - long waiting times for cabs in the city in the evening. Its spokesman Tammy Tan said: 'One reason for this is that many taxis leave the city centre for the suburbs and drivers find little incentive to drive all the way back to the city to pick up new passengers.' The company dangled one more incentive to lure cabbies into the city area: It will refund cabbies the Electronic Road Pricing charges payable to get into the city - between 50 cents and $2 now - if they do not get a passenger within 15 minutes of passing the gantry. Cabbies welcomed the news of the higher fares, especially as ComfortDelGro also said it is not raising rentals and will continue with its diesel subsidies. Cabbies pay between $70 and $125 in rent a day regardless of how much they earn. Cabby Tony Pang, 58, said: 'Passengers will stay away initially - it's a knee-jerk reaction. But the increased fares will help us drivers a bit.' Commuters like insurance agent Kenneth Tan, 27, will think twice about taking a cab now. 'It's going to be more costly but if I need to save time or get out of the rain, I might still take one.' mariaa@sph.com.sg MORE REPORTS, HOME H2 At a glance Flag-down Up from $2.50 to $2.80 Meter rates Up from 10 cents for every 210m to 20 cents for every 385m, for trips 10km and below Peak period 35 per cent of meter fare instead of $2 flat rate. City surcharge Up from $1 to $3 Late-night surcharge Staggered rates of 10 per cent to 50 per cent of meter fare replaced with flat 50 per cent rate Booking fee Down from $4 to $3.50 during prime hours *** Mon Dec 10 21:07:05 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Police WiFi sting brings arrest Karen Dearne With AAP 453 words 11 December 2007 The Australian 6 - NSW Country 31 English Copyright 2007 News Ltd. All Rights Reserved Internet A QUEENSLAND man who allegedly tapped into wireless internet connections to email threats anonymously appeared in court yesterday, after being tracked in a police sting. The 22-year-old from North Rockhampton was charged with demanding property by threat and using a carriage service to threaten serious harm. Police allege the man had been sending threats to various individuals and organisations since August. Police alleged he used a handheld device to dispatch emails from unsecured wireless access points around Rockhampton, making it difficult for police to trace. But on December 3, police intercepted an email demanding a large sum of money be ``dropped off'' at a local park, and the man was arrested by undercover officers. Police Detective Superintendent Brian Hay said the man was using wireless access points in a bid to ``anonymise'' his actions. It's understood the man used various legitimate email addresses, including one belonging to Tony Sarno, the Sydney-based editor of computer magazine APC. Mr Sarno yesterday said he'd been contacted by Rockhampton Police and was shocked to learn his address had been linked to the alleged threats. ``I've got to congratulate the police, because they came up against technical roadblocks,'' he said. ``This is potentially a very dangerous development -- wireless technology essentially makes it possible for someone to be completely untraceable.'' James McCormack, director of the Australian High Tech Crime Centre, said the trend towards wireless broadband home networks put people at risk of unauthorised ``piggybacking''. ``We worry about unsecured networks because it means people have put up a wireless router without taking the time to set the security settings,'' he said. ``We strongly recommend people enable connection encryption, because that significantly reduces the risk of unauthorised access.'' He said it was a simple matter of ticking a box in set-up mode. ``Look for WPA, which is WiFi Protected Access, the best form of encryption for this type of arrangement,'' he said. ``If you don't have WPA, go for WEP; it's an older form of encryption but still quite secure. Then enter a short pass-phrase to cover all the computers on your network.'' But Bill Caelli, professor emeritus at the Queensland University of Technology's Information Security Institute, said setting up a secure wireless network ``is not the sort of thing a home or small business user can do''. ``I don't care what the manufacturers say, it is not simple,'' he said. ``It's up to the industry to provide safe and secure products. If industry doesn't come to the party, then it's up to the Government to ensure they do.'' *** Mon Dec 10 21:13:33 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: The rich also feel pressure to make more money: poll Conrad Tan 600 words 11 December 2007 Business Times Singapore English (c) 2007 Singapore Press Holdings Limited (SINGAPORE) Even the rich feel the pressure to make more money, because they compare themselves with those who are wealthier, according to a new report published yesterday by Barclays Wealth. More than a third of those surveyed who had over US$3 million in investable assets think they need at least US$10 million to be considered wealthy. The term 'millionaire' has lost its status as a mark of prestige as more people become richer, the report concluded. One reason is inflation - with more rich people around, demand for luxury goods has gone up and the cost of living for the rich has also risen. Also, being wealthy, it seems, is 'a state of mind' that goes beyond just having a lot of money, according to Didier von Daeniken, Asia-Pacific chief executive of the private banking arm of UK banking group Barclays. People with more than US$10 million - excluding the value of their homes - are more similar in their thinking and spending habits to those with US$50 million than those with US$5 million, said the report, quoting Russ Prince, who heads a consulting firm in the US focused on market research in private wealth. The US$10 million mark 'is the perceived level at which people believe they are truly wealthy as it gives them influence within their community and a greater sense of control over their own destiny,' said Mr von Daeniken. It also gives people a sense of security from ordinary hazards, which leads them to think and act differently, the report suggested. Still, many rich people do not see themselves as such because there is often someone richer that they compare themselves with. Besides money, power, prestige and influence were also seen as key aspects of being wealthy. And those who are rich tend to spend more money on services that help save them time or stress. Two-thirds of Singapore respondents said they had used the services of a cleaner, while two in five had employed a personal chef. More than half said their wealth had allowed them to spend more or better quality time with their families. But those in the richest segments were also more likely to say that wealth had brought them more stress, with personal safety a big concern. The Barclays Wealth report is the result of a survey of 790 rich people around the world on how they perceive and value wealth. The report is produced with the Economist Intelligence Unit. Those surveyed had investable assets ranging from US$20,000 to more than US$3 million. The report also suggested that the growing number of rich people and their appetite for luxury items and services present a dilemma for companies that sell them. While the market opportunities presented are immense, companies risk alienating their very richest customers who value the exclusivity of their brand if they sell too far and wide. The survey also found that rich people in Singapore and Hong Kong prized luxury goods more highly than those in places like the United States and Canada. The report suggested that in fast-growing Asian economies, international brands and exclusivity were important to signify that a person had benefited from the creation of new wealth. But in highly developed and slower-growing economies such as the US, actions such as philanthropy could be more powerful symbols of status than luxury goods. In Singapore, the top three criteria that rich people used in deciding whether to buy something were product quality, brand and exclusivity. *** Mon Dec 10 21:48:57 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: S'poreans live longer but suffer 8 years of poor health Salma Khalik, Health Correspondent 640 words 3 December 2007 Straits Times English (c) 2007 Singapore Press Holdings Limited MOH study shows main causes of sickness are diseases that could be prevented early on IF YOU needed another reason to lead a healthy lifestyle, here it is: A study shows that Singaporeans may be living longer now, but they are also sick for more years than people in some other countries. The main culprits are heart disease and stroke, cancer, diabetes and even mental illness. Now, the average Singapore woman should live to 81.8, but she will spend eight of those years ill or disabled. Men too will spend eight of their 78 years in poor health. So while Singapore does well on life expectancy charts, a different picture emerges when good health is tracked. The Ministry of Health study confirmed that a lot of suffering and premature deaths come from diseases that could be prevented - such as heart attacks, stroke and diabetes. Some cancers too could be caught early. The prevalence of such diseases also suggests that more should be done to tell people what they can do to save themselves from becoming ill, said Dr Lam Pin Min, a member of the Government Parliamentary Committee for Health. He called for more public education on how these ailments can be prevented, and screening to catch problems like diabetes and cancer early. He added: 'With early detection of diseases, prompt medical treatment can hopefully minimise illness and medical complications.' But health authorities can only do so much, argued unionist and Health GPC head Madam Halimah Yacob. People must take ownership of their health if they want to keep such illnesses at bay. Her advice: 'Go for regular screening, eat more vegetables, less salt and do more exercise. That could cut the number of years you suffer from ill health.' Dr Derrick Heng, deputy director of the Ministry of Health's non-communicable diseases branch said the study will guide the authorities on how to spend health resources. But though it 'shines the torch' on diseases that cause the most suffering, the ministry will have to see which actually benefit from preventive measures. The study will be repeated every three years, to track if the main causes of disability change, or are reduced, as the ministry puts in more effort to tackle them. A surprising finding was how mental disorders count as much as diabetes and stroke for the wasted years. Mental health is getting a boost as the ministry has committed $80 million over the next five years to improving it. Zooming in on problem areas could help Singapore catch up with countries that fare best - such as Japan, the top country in the world for long, healthy lives. Japanese women live an average of 77.7 years in good health, compared to only 71.3 years for women here. Japanese men have 72.3 years of good health, compared to 68.8 years for Singapore men. The ministry has already made the treatment and prevention of chronic disease a priority. People can now use money previously reserved for hospitalisation to treat diabetes, high cholesterol, high blood pressure and stroke. The intention is to treat those conditions early before complications set in. Unfortunately the programme has not been popular, said Madam Halimah. She suggested expanding the use of Medisave money to include an annual health check. Men should also take a leaf from their wives. Women all over the world live longer and healthier lives. The World Health Organisation (WHO) attributes it to their smoking less, exercising more and being more health conscious than men. As for Japan, its explanation is the low rate of cardiovascular diseases comes from their high-in-fish diets. Madam Halimah said: 'We should also start eating more fish and less meat.' salma@sph.com.sg *** Thu Dec 13 19:17:25 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Friday December 14, 09:46 AM Brothel laws causing corruption: sex workers Sex workers are calling on the New South Wales Government to overturn laws that give local councils the power to shut down brothels on the basis of a single complaint. The Sex Workers Association of NSW says the laws, which came into effect in July, have led to anti-competitive and corrupt behaviour, with larger brothels instigating the closure of smaller operators. The association's chief executive, Janelle Fawkes, says the full impact of the laws are starting to take effect. "So far, there's been a few closures," she said. "Mayors and local councils have acted like they've done some moral righteous duty but actually, all they're doing is supporting one brothel owner over another." Ms Fawkes says the laws could lead to corrupt behaviour among council compliance officers. "The closures that have happened to date as a result of the laws have been triggered by bigger brothel owners targeting smaller brothel owners," she said. "It's actually the bigger brothel owners that hired and paid lobbyists to try and get these laws introduced. "I think it's time that the Government and the local councils woke up to the fact that they're behaviour is anti-competition." *** Thu Dec 13 21:44:14 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: ecember 12, 2007, 4:05PM EST text size: TT Why Dyslexics Make Great Entrepreneurs The ability to grasp the big picture, persistence, and creativity are a few of the entrepreneurial traits of many dyslexics. Just ask Charles Schwab by Gabrielle Coppola When Alan Meckler, the CEO of IT and online imagery hub Jupitermedia (JUPM), was accepted to Columbia University in 1965, the dean's office told him he had some of the lowest college boards of any student ever admitted. "I got a 405 or 410 in English," he recalls. "In those days you got a 400 just for putting your name down! Yet I was on the dean's list every year I was there, and I won a prize for having the best essay in American history my senior year." It wasn't until years later, at age 58, that Meckler learned he was dyslexic. He struggles with walking and driving directions, and interpreting charts and graphs. He prefers to listen to someone explain a problem to him, rather than sit down and read 20 pages describing it. As a youth, Meckler discovered a unique strength—baseball—and cultivated it religiously to compensate for weakness in other areas. Asset or Handicap? All of these things, according to Dr. Sally Shaywitz, a professor of learning development at Yale University, are classic signs of dyslexia. Shaywitz has long argued that dyslexia should be evaluated as an asset, not just a handicap. She recently co-founded the Yale Center for Dyslexia & Creativity, dedicated to studying the link between the two. "I want people to wish they were dyslexic," she says. "There are many positive attributes that can't be taught that people are generally not aware of. We always write about how we're losing human capital—dyslexics are not able to achieve their potential because they've had to go around the system." It's not clear whether dyslexics develop their special talents by learning to negotiate their disability or whether such skills are the genetic inheritance of being dyslexic. It's a question Shaywitz plans to explore, along with trying to change the way dyslexia is viewed in the educational system and the business world. One project at the center will be an education series to train executives to recognize outside-the-box thinkers who don't perform well on standardized tests. Shaywitz recently tested a well-known CEO (whom she declined to identify) for dyslexia. The man confessed that he'd hired an outside company to help identify future leaders within the organization by administering a reading test. "'The irony is,' I told him, 'you're eliminating and sifting out all the people like yourself who might actually be the ones to be creative and make a difference.'" Coping Skills That kind of rejection, along with a penchant for creativity, may help explain why so many dyslexics are inclined to become entrepreneurs. Julie Logan, a professor of entrepreneurship at Cass Business School in London, believes strongly in the connection. In a study to be published in January, Logan found that 35% of entrepreneurs in the U.S. show signs of dyslexia, compared to 20% in Britain. Logan attributes the gap to a more flexible education system in the U.S., vs. rigid tracking in British schools, and better identification and remediation methods. "Most of the people in our study talked about the role of the mentor and how important that had been," Logan says. "The difference seems to be somebody who believes in you in school." The broader implication, she says, is that many of the coping skills dyslexics learn in their formative years become best practices for the successful entrepreneur. A child who chronically fails standardized tests must become comfortable with failure. Being a slow reader forces you to extract only vital information, so that you're constantly getting right to the point. Dyslexics are also forced to trust and rely on others to get things done—an essential skill for anyone working to build a business. "People really struggle to delegate, and these people have learned to do that already," she says. "If you're bogged down in the details, you're not out there looking at where your business needs to go." Lemonade from Lemons Paul Orfalea, who founded the copy-and-graphics chain Kinko's 37 years ago, has both dyslexia and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. He proudly attributes much of his business success to an inability to do things most others can. "I would always hire people who didn't have my skills," he says. "My secret was to get out of their way and let them do their job." He is also inured to failure. "You know what's great about a C student? They have risk-reward pretty much well-wired," he says. "A students are always putting in maximum effort, and C students say, 'Well, is it really worth it?'" Cisco Systems (CSCO) CEO John Chambers says dyslexia helps him step back and see the big picture. His third-grade teacher discovered his reading trouble; he says alternative teaching methods and supportive parents helped him learn to deal with it at an early age. "Dyslexia forces you to look at things in totality and not just as a single chess move. I play out the whole scenario in my mind and then work through it.… All of my life, I've built organizations with a broad perspective in mind." Meckler, who was one of the first to convert his IT trade publications into a sustainable, ad-supported business model for Web publishing, also strives for the big picture and has little patience for details. "In business meetings…I can hear a whole bunch of people talking about a lot of things, and I seem to be able to cut right to the chase," he says. "I think my mind has been trained…to zero in on the salient point." Foundations for Successful Dyslexics Those entrepreneurs who have embraced their dyslexia have also made it their personal mission to pave an easier way for the next generation. Discount brokerage pioneer Charles Schwab (SCHW) started the Charles & Helen Schwab Foundation, a resource center for kids and parents to overcome learning and attention disorders. Orfalea founded the Orfalea Family Foundation, to support and identify different learning styles and try to remove the stigma that comes with them. Ben Foss, a researcher in assistive technologies in Intel's (INTC) Digital Health Group, started a nonprofit and made a documentary film about the first man in America to win an employee discrimination case based on dyslexia. He's now working to adapt technologies for the blind to also assist people with learning disabilities, too. Despite the titans of business disclosing their dyslexia to the world, Foss says it's still daunting to climb the corporate ladder as a dyslexic. "If you're John Chambers, Charles Schwab, or Richard Branson, sure. But if you're a corporate VP in the mid-ranks, there's a very large disincentive to saying you're dyslexic, because you're still being evaluated," he says. "Ironically, talking about it on your terms is what allows you to become successful." Of course, being a misfit often lends itself to great entrepreneurship. Health-care entrepreneur and real estate magnate James LeVoy Sorenson has more than 40 medical patents to his name and is responsible for inventing the first computerized heart monitor, the first disposable paper surgical masks, and the first blood-recycling system for trauma and surgical procedures. He also dropped out of community college at 18, and was told by grade-school teachers he was either "slow-witted or developmentally disabled." At 86, Sorenson says overcoming dyslexia trained him to be persistent and solve problems in new ways: "I like to add one word to the end of many sentences: 'yet.' Instead of saying, 'I can't do it,' I say, 'I can't do it—yet.'" Coppola is a reporter for BusinessWeek.com in New York . *** Fri Dec 14 18:20:56 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Manhunt continues for violent escapees By Simon Mossman and Michelle Draper December 14, 2007 05:56pm Article from: AAP http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,22924638-29277,00.html A MASSIVE manhunt was continuing tonight for a violent rapist and another prisoner who broke out of a prison van near a busy highway in west Melbourne. Troy Lowe and Gregory Caulfield managed to barge their way out of the van along with a third inmate while they were being transferred from one prison to another, shortly before 11am (AEDT) today. One of the escapees was picked up less than 90 minutes later near Footscray cemetery, still handcuffed, police said. Detectives leading the manhunt for 26-year-old Lowe and Caulfield, 30, urged the public to immediately call triple-0 and not to approach the two men if sighted, saying the pair were career criminals with a violent past. Lowe, from Melbourne's western suburbs, was convicted of rape in 1999, though all three escapees were currently on detention on varying theft and burglary charges. "Both prisoners have a long criminal history and both have prior convictions in relation to serious crime," Detective Senior Sergeant Kerin Moloney said tonight. "We would ask the public if they see these prisoners not to approach them under any circumstances but immediately call police on triple-0." A passing motorist alerted prison officers that the rear door of the van was flapping open while on Grieve Parade, Altona North, just after exiting the Western Ring Road, Mr Moloney said. He added urgent investigations were still continuing to determine how the three men broke out. *** Sat Dec 15 04:18:16 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Climate of fear hurts Singapore: author * * Email * Print * Normal font * Large font December 14, 2007 - 7:02PM A climate of fear that stops citizens from speaking out against the government could eventually lead to the decline of Singapore, novelist Catherine Lim says. Lim, Singapore's best-known writer, praised the government for its economic achievements but said its Achilles' heel could be its suppression of criticism, such as defamation suits against opposition politicians and bans on protests. "A compliant, fearful population that has never learnt to be politically savvy could spell the doom of Singapore," Lim told Reuters in an interview. Lim, 65, is one of few dissident voices in Singapore and has criticised the government in opinion pieces in the local press. But her latest article, an open letter to the prime minister in which she pleaded for a political opening up, was rejected. She has posted it on her website www.catherinelim.sg She said the worst-case scenario would be for a future leader to get away with corruption "because of the ingrained, unquestioning trust of a fearful, overly dependent people". Another factor is that the current generation of young people are exposed to views from around the world and discussion on political freedoms on the internet, she said. Her latest article has generated a string of comments in Singapore's active political blogging community. "You could have a case of younger Singaporeans creating unrest because they do not have an outlet," she said. Lim also argues that the tight political control could hurt Singapore's aim of attracting the talent needed to retool its economy from manufacturing to a hub for research and services. "What Singapore wants is managed creativity. So not only would those really creative people not want to come, but those who are here want to get out," she said. Lim, whose works include The Bondmaid, said Singaporeans had been conditioned to believe that material prosperity and messy politics were mutually exclusive, but she pointed to Scandinavia as evidence that this is not the case. "Singapore needs to develop our own model of political freedom and Singapore has the maturity, expertise and institutions to move forward," she said. Lim's thesis is that the Singapore government has instead made "systematic use of fear" to silence dissident voices, through "out-of-bounds markers" to stipulate what Singaporeans can and cannot say should they choose to criticise the government. She points to examples of people not voting for opposition parties for fear of losing their homes, promotions or jobs, and defamation lawsuits that can result in permanent financial ruin. Singapore's leaders have filed and won numerous libel suits against opposition politicians and foreign media organisations, saying this is necessary to protect their reputations. The Home Affairs Ministry did not respond to a Reuters request for comment on Lim's statement. In a 2005 newspaper interview, Home Affairs Minister Wong Kan Seng denied that there was a climate of fear in Singapore, and said that its citizens had spoken up at public forums without reprisals. The People's Action Party has ruled Singapore since it separated from Malaysia in 1965, shunning what it has termed "Western-style" adversarial politics. The city-state's founding father, Lee Kuan Yew, still holds an influential position in the cabinet of his son, current Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. "The Lee Kuan Yew model was superb for its time. But it may collapse, not immediately, but 20 years down the road," Lim said. In recent years, Singapore has attempted to shed its conservative image and tried to generate "buzz" by introducing casinos, promoting its arts and education scene, and hosting a Formula One race next year. In October, the city-state legalised oral and anal sex between consenting adults, although it kept a ban on gay sex, after a rare debate on the issue in parliament. "They seem to have drawn a line when it comes to opening up politically, and that to me is dangerous," Lim said. But Lim said she does not intend to enter the political sphere to push for the changes she advocates. "I like my independence," she said with a laugh. "It's okay to be an armchair critic." *** Thu Dec 20 15:32:25 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Sydney's crime hotspots revealed * * Email * Printer friendly version * Normal font * Large font November 9, 2007 - 1:35PM Advertisement Sydney's Kings Cross has long had a reputation as the city's centre of sleaze. True to its reputation, The Cross has been confirmed by a new report as a hotspot for major crime in Sydney. And, not surprisingly, Saturday nights are also a key time for crime in Sydney's inner suburbs. The NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research (BOCSAR) on Friday released a snapshot of crime in the Sydney local government area (LGA). It's the first in a series of crime snapshots of each LGA in the state and provides a greater level of detail than ever before. Based on the NSW police computer database, the report breaks down crime not only by suburbs, but by areas within suburbs. The report also pinpoints times, days and even months when different types of crime peak. BOCSAR spent almost a year developing the new style of reporting, which is designed to help local councils and communities develop crime prevention strategies. The Sydney report tracked trends in 17 major types of crime from 2002 to 2006. It showed that eight types of crime, including property offences, were down, while five - including murder - were stable and domestic violence was up, although it was not clear whether the actual number of incidents had increased or more were being reported. Kings Cross is shown to be a hotspot for most major crimes. Three areas, Kings Cross, the area around Central Railway Station, and the section of George Street between Liverpool and Market streets, were hotspots for assaults. The report also identified the period between midnight on Saturday to 6am on Sunday as a time when crime peaked, particularly in those areas. The report also shows that personal offences such as assault peak in December and January. Bureau director Don Weatherburn said it was not surprising to see Kings Cross was a hotspot. He said the heroin shortage and the booming jobs market had contributed to the overall drop in crime. "Hopefully now it won't be just the police who are aware of where the crime hotspots are," he told reporters in Sydney. "It will also be open to local councils to put crime prevention plans in place. "It's not just an issue of what police know, it's also a case of being able to advise citizens." Dr Weatherburn said he could not identify any no-go areas of the city. "I wouldn't say there's a no-go zone partly because it's all about time and time of year as well," he said. "You can walk through the Cross or Oxford Street or George Street most of the day and not be at the slightest risk." But, he said, Kings Cross and parts of Surry Hills were not good places to be alone in late at night. *** Thu Dec 20 15:55:30 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: RailCorp chief alerted to rorts * * Email * Printer friendly version * Normal font * Large font Linton Besser Transport Reporter December 21, 2007 Advertisement RAILCORP'S chief executive, Vince Graham, was told four years ago that rorts had stripped NSW taxpayers of hundreds of thousands of dollars in just nine weeks, and that the organisation needed a radical overhaul to stop the problem spreading. An internal report from January 2004, obtained by the Herald, warns Mr Graham, and five other senior executives, that the way the corporation allocated contracts was prone to abuse, that staff were behaving unethically and that the organisation lacked proper financial surveillance. But recommendations contained in the explosive document were shelved and the rorts it identified have since flourished under Mr Graham's watch. The report adversely named Renea Hughes, the woman who appeared last month at the Independent Commission Against Corruption, for changing the value of contracts on an electronic system without approval. Internal investigators recommended she be disciplined, but Hughes held on to a promotion she was given mid-way through the 2003 investigation, and went on to defraud RailCorp of more than $600,000 through similar abuse. An investigation into RailCorp by the Herald has also revealed: ■ Widespread rorting of individual labour contracts. ■ A secret document, known as "The Book", detailing the extent of contractor payments in one division. ■ A multimillion-dollar project designed to bring external contracts under control has been shelved. Official figures show RailCorp's infrastructure group and the Transport Infrastructure Development Corporation spent almost $300 million on "external contractor costs" in the year to June last year - just shy of the $320 million allocated for permanent staff. These contractors were hired through 900 recruitment companies used by RailCorp. More than $37 million was spent on "non-maintenance" contractors, including $21 million on "personnel not employed by RailCorp acting in a RailCorp role", and $16 million on "personnel not in a role filling a temporary need or working on a specific project". The real figures could be higher because RailCorp does not know how many contractors it employs. Some executives, aware that a tight labour market is intensifying the problem, have tried to keep the figures under control. The Herald has been told that the Asset Management Group, led by the group general manager, Gary Seabury, is the only division to have kept some record of the true payments made to its hundreds of contractors. However, the spreadsheet, "The Book", is tightly controlled and never emailed between staff. One source told the Herald: "It is not generally made available because AMG is the only one that keeps a record of all its people. They are not prepared to let that book out. Everyone in management knows the book exists. The book is a record of payments." A spokeswoman for RailCorp, Jo Fowler, would not provide a full list of the number of contractors but said there were 13,500 staff at RailCorp, costing about $1 billion last financial year. She said 153 contractors worked in the Major Projects Division. Employees in the Asset Management Group have been the focus of a scathing public hearing by ICAC, its seventh inquiry into the NSW railways since 1992. More hearings are due in February. Counsel assisting the inquiry, Chris Ronalds, SC, told the present ICAC inquiry: "It will be shown that there is a pervasive and widespread culture of non-compliance with legal obligations within this part of the Asset Management Group and a less than enthusiastic supervisory system that permits corrupt activities to continue over many years - undetected and unchecked." But RailCorp executives were aware four years ago of the existence of problems similar to those uncovered by the inquiry. Mr Graham, Mr Seabury, the general manager of metropolitan infrastructure, John Minchin, the former group general manager of finance Richard Lumley, and the general manager of internal audit, John Holmes, all received a copy of a January 2004 investigation report into the potentially corrupt awarding of contracts. Mr Seabury was personally briefed on the investigation's progress on July 8, 2003 - two weeks before Ms Hughes was promoted to contract relationship manager, on a salary of more than $100,000 a year. The report made findings against Ms Hughes and three other employees. One was put on a 12-month good behaviour bond as a result, and another said he resigned with full entitlements. The report also urged RailCorp to control the haphazard management of external contracts. "This case highlights a breakdown of management controls, a lack of understanding and training … . [on the] procurement system, and a failure of employees to follow the code of conduct," it says. The report's authors recommended an independent investigation into the contract-allocating systems. This "requires a separate inquiry/audit to examine the contract conditions, role and the level of accountability in hiring contract companies to conduct project work … particularly the method of payment in relation to [railway] invoices and the supporting documentation required". Meanwhile, RailCorp is poised to dump its new software system, called ARIBA, which was designed to bring the problems with contract staff under control. Its implementation cost at least $2 million, with half-a-dozen people working on its installation. But RailCorp management now plans to instead build a system to control all external contracts, and tenders are being evaluated. This month the Herald revealed that Mr Seabury received a $77,400 pay rise last financial year, explained by RailCorp as being justified by his increased responsibilities. Ms Fowler said RailCorp would not divulge information on disciplinary proceedings against staff, and declined to respond to questions about the 2003 inquiry. She said doing so could potentially jeopardise ICAC investigations. *** Thu Dec 20 17:29:37 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Migration a lottery for many Connie Levett 1766 words 21 December 2007 The Sydney Morning Herald First 20 English © 2007 Copyright John Fairfax Holdings Limited. www.smh.com.au Applicants often become victims in an immigration system that is complex and under-regulated, writes Connie Levett. Tim Byrnes and his Russian fiancee Alexandra Popko first saw the advertising flyer for Polina Domburga's migration agency in the Russian consulate when they were on holiday in Sydney. On SBS, after the Russian news, they saw advertisements for the Migration Agents Registration Authority (Mara). The commercial stated in Russian, "you have protection with Mara", and urged clients to check their agent was registered with the authority. Domburga was registered, so Byrnes thought they had protection. "We had declared our relationship," says Byrnes, 32, who met his partner while working as an English language teacher in Russia. "Once we got into Australia, we were going to apply for residency, so I thought we'd better get ourselves a lawyer." Domburga says she studied commerce-law at the University of NSW; Byrnes says she told him, "I am a lawyer." Her flyers used the term "immigration solicitors", and when he checked, the firm's name was listed with the NSW Law Society. For $10,000, Domburga said she would oversee the application for Popko's visa from start to finish, according to Byrnes. They paid $5000 upfront and returned to Russia to wait. In Australia, nothing seemed to be happening. "I was not happy from the start," says Popko, 23. "For a Russian, $5000 is a lot of money, but Tim was sure, so sure of the [Australian] government system, that you could trust it. I was the first one to start ringing a bell." She was right to be concerned. The University of NSW does not have any record that a Polina Domburga studied commerce-law there, the NSW Law Society does not have any record of a person of that name as a member or associate member, nor was she issued with a NSW practising certificate. Her firm could be listed with the society because of a separate solicitor-director. Byrnes and Popko's complaint was one of eight about Domburga sent to the registration authority. Its investigation found she was "not a fit and proper person to give immigration advice" and that her use of the title "immigration solicitors" could "mislead or deceive clients or potential clients into believing that Ardem International is a firm of solicitors and that the agents possess legal qualifications". Her registration was cancelled, but by then, the company was in liquidation, Domburga had left Australia, and Byrnes and Popko, like many others clients, had lost their money. "There is no protection for the people most vulnerable, people who don't know their rights in immigration matters," Byrnes says. "We always thought we had this protection of the NSW Law Society and Mara. You felt you had security." The question of how much protection would-be immigrants have under the system and whether it is adequate is subject to a government review. Critics of the immigration agent system say after a case fails through the fault of the agent, the Government often deports the aggrieved party. Another of Domburga's clients, an overseas student, paid $5700 for help in his visa renewal. But she failed to lodge the application; he became unlawful and has been banned from entering Australia for three years. Leonard Karp, a director of the Immigration Advice and Rights Centre, says he knew of one migration agent who had made 700 visa applications with only one success, and that one application had been started by someone else. "There are a number of cases like that where migration agents have no idea what they are doing. Knowledge and training are very important." In June, the Commonwealth Ombudsman tabled a self-initiated investigation into the registration authority's complaints handling process. In October, the Department of Immigration and Citizenship began reviewing statutory self-regulation of the migration advice industry to assess its readiness to move to self regulation. Findings are expected in the middle of next year. With the immigration services sector booming thanks to a strong economy and a skills shortage, the Immigration Department receives several million visa applications a year, with about 140,000 of those handled by migration agents. Agents are used by 70 per cent of applicants in some complex visa classes. What is unusual about the migration advice industry is it mixes lay people with legal professionals. There are 3495 migration agents registered with the authority in Australia, about one third of them lawyers. As demand for immigration services has boomed, the number of agents has jumped 30 per cent in the past five years. Almost half of all agents have been practising for fewer than three years, according to the department. Regulation of the industry is also young. It was largely unregulated before 1992, then a three-day training course requirement was introduced, later increased to six days. Since July last year, an agent must be either a practising lawyer or do a one-semester graduate certificate in Australian migration law. Once qualified, there is no required supervision period, though continuing professional development is required. "There are some non-legally qualified migration agents who are very good, excellent," Karp says. "It's not necessary to have a law degree but you do need training vastly in excess of six months." Maria Jockel, chair of the migration focus group of the Law Council of Australia, says migration law is the second most complex area after tax law, and according to the department, there were 1100 amendments to regulations in 2005 alone. "The legislative scheme is a maze, a labyrinth of law regulations, gazette notices, ministerial directives, complex laws and underpinning policy developed by the department," Jockel says. "If the Government in its wisdom wants to allow non-lawyers to practise law, that is their decision; we just want the public to know we are qualified lawyers, hold current practising certificates ... audited trust accounts and are officers of the court." Arnold Conyer, the national president of the Migration Institute of Australia, says the profession has developed significantly in the past 15 years and it would continue to do so. "In the early 1990s every man and his dog could register; now it's not easy to get in." The most serious problem for the industry's reputation comes from unregistered agents. "They are a substantial thorn in our side; anyone not registered with the Mara, we have no jurisdiction over them," Conyer says. "The press speak of agents who rip off clients but the vast majority of agents referred to in the press in the past couple of years have been unregistered, illegal traders. We are, statutorily, unable to deal with them and refer them to the department. "It is a substantial concern for the whole industry. We are all tarnished with the same brush." While the bureaucrats grapple with whether the industry is ready for self regulation, a recent decision in the High Court may offer the best hope of protection from migration agent fraud. Previously, a bad migration agent was no excuse. But on August 2, the court ruled in favour of a woman who had lost an application for a protection visa in the Refugee Review Tribunal because, on the advice of her "purportedly registered" migration agent, she did not attend the hearing. In fact, the agent was neither a practising solicitor nor a registered migration agent. "The legal significance was the High Court recognised the tribunal's decision can be overturned through the conduct of a third party," says Karp, who worked on the case. "[We are not talking about] a mistake, it has to be dishonesty, negligence will not suffice."Byrnes was lucky. As an Australian, he was able to seek visa redress through the Australian embassy in Moscow, and later to pursue the agent through the registration authority. For many visa applicants, when the agent betrays their trust, either culpably, or through negligence, they are shipped out of Australia. Byrnes' troubles didn't end with his visa hassles; he was badly beaten up in the town of Samara, close to the Kazakh border, where he was living. Nothing was stolen. He has had two reconstructive head operations since then. "I went out to buy cigarettes, it was early afternoon, the men hit me and that's the last I remember. In Russia, life is cheap." For Byrnes, who returned to Australian with his fiancee in 2005, tracking and exposing Domburga became a personal mission. "The department [of immigration] said you are safe and washed their hands of it," he says. On November 28, 2005, the authority wrote to confirm Domburga's registration as a migration agent had been cancelled for five years. It told him it did "not have the power to order repayment of money or impose fines". Domburga had told another client she had professional indemnity insurance. The authority's website claims migration agents must produce evidence of insurance to renew their registration annually. With more than $389,000 owed to creditors in Australia, Domburga next surfaced in Riga, Latvia with a new title. She joined Colliers, Latvia's commercial real estate arm, touting her Australian experience, including the UNSW commerce-law degree. A year later, in September 2006, she was dipping back into the Australian migration system. A Riga-based company run by Domburga, using a variation of the original name, was listed on the department website as a registered agent for eVisa services. Only after Byrnes complained was the company removed from the site. So, where to for Mara and the industry it oversees? The ombudsman's report found the authority's complaints handling process "has improved significantly over the past 12 months" but there was much that could still be done to ensure those most vulnerable are protected, made aware of the complaints handling system and have access to it. Jockel is not convinced the migration advice industry is ready for self-regulation, given its youth and the complex nature of its business. "In the statutory review, the Law Council has argued that an independent body is needed in the interests of consumer protection and professional standards and to prevent a conflict of interest," she says. "The legal profession is hundreds of years old, yet it is still regulated. Why would the migration agent industry, only 15 years old, be any different?" Byrnes, a survivor of the system, marvels at the cracks in it. "You would think in Australia there was more protection. Using a migration agent is a lottery." *** Thu Dec 20 17:50:01 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: 5,000 apply for 316 flats Jessica Cheam 663 words 19 December 2007 Straits Times English (c) 2007 Singapore Press Holdings Limited PUNGGOL, SENGKANG,HOUGANG SEE UNPRECEDENTED DEMAND OVERWHELMING demand for the latest batch of new Housing Board (HDB) flats suggests newlyweds are now looking at outlying estates they once shunned. A total of 5,147 applications had been made yesterday by the close of the HDB's latest sale of just 316 flats in the far-flung areas of Hougang, Punggol and Sengkang. That is 16 would-be buyers for every flat - a big jump in demand since June when 922 flats in the same areas attracted 3,955 applicants, or about four buyers for every flat. Market watchers say only mature estates used to experience such high demand. But the latest figures suggest new trends in which couples are turning increasingly to new HDB flats as resale prices rise - and to estates further away from the city. The August and October sale of flats in established towns, and in the north and west zones, saw a 100 per cent take-up rate for the first time, the HDB said last week. Earlier this year, applications for mature towns such as Bukit Merah were seven to 13 times the flats offered, while in newer estates such as Sengkang, this number was a lower 1.8 to 4.7 times, said the HDB in answer to queries from The Straits Times. Housing experts The Straits Times spoke to said the limited flat supply means couples cannot afford to be too picky as competition is tough. Associate Professor Tu Yong of the National University of Singapore's department of real estate said the buoyant economy is fuelling demand as more people get married. The booming HDB resale market has priced homes out of reach of many buyers, so it is no surprise more people are turning to new, cheaper flats. Resale home prices grew by 11 per cent in the first nine months of this year. The HDB's latest sale offers flats from $142,000 for a four-room flat in Hougang where the median price is $250,500 in the resale market, and from $278,000 for an executive flat in Sengkang compared to $346,000 for a resale unit. New flats can be paid for with Central Provident Fund monies or a home loan, unlike in the resale market where couples typically have to fork out cash to get a flat. Typically too, the more established the town, the higher the sum of cash needed upfront. The problems faced by newlyweds in finding homes was flagged in Parliament last month by Aljunied GRC MP Cynthia Phua, who said she gets appeals from distressed couples every week. IT consultant Goh Jhin Hin, 29, has tried to get a flat nine times in the past year - and rejects the notion that couples are too choosy. He has applied for a range of locations from Toa Payoh to Sengkang - all without success. 'Getting a flat now is like gambling - it all depends on your luck,' he said. Last month, National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan said the HDB will offer 7,000 new flats in the next seven months. He also urged newlyweds not to be too choosy, adding that it was not realistic 'for the HDB to offer only new flats in mature estates in the heart of the city'. First-timer Leonard Tan, 27, widened his net and got lucky. He bagged a Bukit Panjang executive flat earlier this year, after failing to get his dream Ang Mo Kio home. Property agency PropNex's chief, Mr Mohamed Ismail, said outlying, less mature estates such as Punggol and Sengkang are now seen as more attractive by young couples - hence the higher demand. Mr Goh said build-to-order flats - which are built only if a certain level of demand is reached - are not a solution for him as the flats will be ready only in four to five years time. jcheam@sph.com.sg *** Tue Dec 25 17:31:39 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: How can a healthy man DIE FROM SMALL BRUISE? Family puzzled how flesh-eating bug kills fit granddad in just 3 weeks By Chong Shin Yen December 25, 2007 Print Ready Email Article IT was just a tiny blister sitting on a bruise 1cm wide. Click to see larger image But this minor injury on his left leg below the knee the result of a fall, would ultimately cost Mr Ali Sallim his life. Unknown to the 63-year-old, it got infected with the flesh-eating bug. The bacteria made its way through his body, releasing toxins and causing his vital organs to fail. Three weeks later, the father of five died at Changi General Hospital (CGH). His daughter, Madam Shahirah, 31, a teacher, told The New Paper that Mr Ali had been healthy and fit, which made it harder for them to accept his sudden death. Said Madam Shahirah: 'We had not heard of the flesh-eating bacteria before this. 'How could a healthy man die from a small bruise? Till today, we are still trying to come to terms with his death.' Mr Ali was a contract worker and he drove baggage tractors at Changi Airport. How he fell was a mystery in itself. At a coroner's inquiry into his death on 12 Dec, the court heard that he had been on duty on 7 Aug last year. At about 6.30pm, he was about to get off the tractor when he fell onto the ground. He had been driving alone, but told his family that he had felt someone pushing him off. The court heard that there was a possibility that an unknown third party was at the scene when Mr Ali fell. The investigating officer added that from the photographs taken at the scene, the area (in the building where it happened) was very dark. In his findings, State Coroner Ronald Gwee said that as the deceased did not give more information about the person (who pushed him), the police were unable to identify him or her. OPEN VERDICT He then returned an open verdict on Mr Ali's death. Mr Ali was not badly hurt in the fall. But he sustained a bruise, with a blister on it. Madam Shahirah had attended the inquiry with her husband. She recalled that when her father got home from work that night, he told the family he had been pushed off the tractor. She said: 'My mother saw him coming home with a bruise on his leg, so she asked him what happened. 'He then told her that he was trying to alight from the tractor when he felt someone giving him a push. He fell and hurt his leg as a result. 'But when he turned around (after he landed), it was too dark to see anyone.' She added that since it was the end of his shift, he went home but complained of a pain in his leg. So the family took him to seek outpatient treatment at CGH. A few days later, Mr Ali's calf swelled to double its size and had turned purple. It was also hurting badly. The family took him to CGH again and he was warded. Madam Shahirah said that same day, the doctors asked them to decide whether to allow them to 'operate on his leg to remove the pus and dead tissue'. The alternative, she said, 'was to put my father on antibiotics and wait for a month'. As they were still mulling over this, more bad news came. Doctors told them that same evening that both Mr Ali's kidneys were failing. They said he was suffering from necrotising fasciitis, more commonly known as the flesh-eating bacteria syndrome. This condition is known to strike when bacteria found naturally on the skin surface goes under the skin, often through a cut or a bruise. It then destroys soft tissue and fascia (the thin sheath covering muscle) by releasing toxins. The only way to stop the bacteria is to cut away the affected area. By midnight, Mr Ali's condition had deteriorated so much that he was transferred to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). It was just one week after the fall. Madam Shahirah recalled: 'The doctor told us that the accident had led the bacteria, which causes necrotising fasciitis, to contaminate his blood with toxins. 'Blood clots had formed in his injured leg and the bacteria was feeding on them.' Mr Ali's family was told that the bacteria was spreading very fast and that he had to be put on kidney dialysis. Mr Ali then went for an operation on his leg to remove all the dead tissues and toxins. Still, the bacteria continued to spread. Within another week or so, Mr Ali's lungs and stomach were hit. By then, he was in a semi-conscious state. 'Once, he opened his eyes and spoke to us, but he sounded confused,' said Madam Shahirah. 'He told the doctors that he had five children but when asked where he was, he said he was taking a break at work. 'Not long later, his intestines were damaged by the bacteria which was moving around in his blood and poisoning his organs. 'The doctors then told us to be mentally prepared for my father's death. But we just couldn't accept it.' On 27 Aug, two days after a second operation, Mr Ali died. It had been only three weeks since he fell. He left behind his wife, five children and six grandchildren. Madam Shahirah said her father used to work as a supervisor at a firm which cleans the interior of aircraft at Changi Airport. He retired at 62 but decided to go back to work at Changi Airport as a contract worker. She said: 'He was a hardworking man who had never taken a day off. He became restless doing nothing at home, so we let him continue working.' His death was a big blow to the close-knit family and they hope that any witnesses to his fall would come forward with information. 'It's very scary to think how a small wound actually led to his death,' said Madam Shahirah. 'He was the best father his children could ever have. My regret is that I only told him I love him when he was on his deathbed.' 3 in 10 victims killed FLESH-EATING bacteria kill three out of every 10 victims, with certain strains more lethal than others. In Singapore, the mortality rate in a five-year study of 89 cases at the Changi General Hospital (CGH) from 1997 to 2002 was about 20 per cent. Most times, antibiotics are enough to save them. But 20 of the 89 patients in the study lost their limbs to save their lives. One of the most lethal bacteria types, Vibrio, lives in warm seawater and on marine creatures such as crabs, prawns, clams and mussels. # In February this year, retiree Tan Boon Hock died two days after getting his hand cut by a crab's claw while preparing crabs for lunch. He had blood poisoning and multiple organ failure. # In June 2001, national serviceman Chua Ya Ta died of a very rare bacterial infection. The 23-year-old had streptococcal myositis, a viral infection so rare there have only been 21 cases over 85 years in the US. # In September last year, a 10-year-old girl also died from a flesh-eating bacteria. *** Wed Dec 26 19:20:25 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Don't be lonely at Christmas time Social networking sites could eventually eliminate entirely the need for the offline socialising that has become the cornerstone of the festive season. Most people have heard of Facebook but there are plenty of rivals vying for its crown. The BBC News website dips into some of the more interesting alternatives in a bid to make sure that no-one need be lonely this Christmas. HABBO A good one for the teenagers as this virtual environment was created specifically for that age group. The community was launched back in 2000 and combined the idea of a chatroom with an online game. It has recently had a makeover to improve access to personal pages, friends and groups and bring it more up to date for the generation most at home on social networking sites. It allows users to create their own personalised Habbo character and dress it with accessories, including hats, belts, jewellery and facial hair, as well as gas masks, paper bags and hairstyles. Users can also buy furniture to put in the various rooms it creates within the virtual hotel using credits bought with real-life currency Earlier this month it teamed up with Greenpeace to see what its members thought about global warming. Some 50,000 teenagers filled in the survey and 74% rated global warming as their biggest concern, ahead of drugs, war or violence. The site now has, of July this year, more than 82m registered characters. According to Nielsen/NetRatings Habbo attracted an audience of 292,000 from the UK during the month of October. PERFSPOT Perfspot is a social networking site geared toward university students and young professionals, and its ethos is based on the desire to obtain a "perf" life. It offers most of the usual features of social networking, including newsfeeds, customisable profile options and the option of linking photos to other users' profiles plus unlimited space to upload images and videos. It hit the headlines in the late summer, becoming the fastest growing social networking site. In the months April to August 2007 it grew a massive 756%, compared to Facebook's 541% growth. As the UK's fastest growing brand this year it is a good illustration of how social networks can come out of nowhere if they hit the right note with users. FREECYCLE If you have an interest in the environment and like the idea of reusing other people's junk, or have unwanted Christmas presents that you want to recycle then Freecycle could be for you. The non-profit network is based on the premise that "one man's trash is another man's treasure" and is about harnessing the power of the internet to connect communities and 'gift' each other everyday objects that they no longer want. It is a global network made up of over 4,000 groups. It now has in excess of four million members, and is adding 25,000 new members each week. Each group is moderated by a local volunteer and the main thrust of it is to "reuse and keep good stuff out of landfills". Each city has a unique e-mail group and anyone living in the area is welcome to post items to be given away or seek items that they want. WEBJAM A UK site that allows users to aggregate the best of the web in one central location. A cross between a blog and a social networking site, Webjam allows novices to create webpages for a particular interest or hobby - say a bookclub. It also allows people to keep all their social media, from Flickr photos to newsfeeds, in one place. This blend of aggregating, blogging and social networking has led to it being described as "the Swiss Army knife of the internet user". It is particularly useful for those who want to create a webpage for a society, club or hobby but don't know how to do it as it allows you to 'copy' an existing group and personalise it. According to chief executive Yann Motte, one-stop shops like Webjam are the way forward. "Going forward it won't be possible for people to manage lots of different accounts," he said. CAPAZOO This is a Canadian site which is interesting because of its business model. Like other social networking sites it includes a variety of functions, including blogging and photo and video uploads but it also offers something unique - it pays users for the time spent on the site and the activities they do. So for example members can get points for inviting friends and posting content. Users can offer the points - known as Zoops - as gifts to other members. The points accumulated by users can be redeemed for cash although to do this users must sign up to a membership program which costs either $24.95 or $34.95 per year. It is a service that more social networking sites are likely to experiment with although the jury remains out on whether it will be a selling point for customers. WAYN WAYN networking sites catering for a specialised audience - in this case travellers from around the world. It was the brainchild of three friends - Pete Ward, Jerome Touze and Mike Lines, who came up with the idea to connect people based on their location. Since its inception in 2002 it has grown and is now the UK's 10th most popular social network, growing from 45,000 users in March 2005 to over 10 million today. It has recently announced partnerships with Lastminute.com to integrate their hotel content and booking service and with Hostelworld.com to search for and book budget accommodation. WAYN was initially launched as a paid service but in April 2007, it became free, though some functions remain available only to those willing to pay - for example, turning off advertising. Like Capazoo it has begun offering users the chance to earn money. Members use a wizard to create wish lists of products they would like to own or recommend to others which are then displayed in their profile. When contacts or random browsers buy from their web shop the members receive commission from WAYN. Alex Burmaster, analyst at research firm Nielsen Online believes that sites catering to specialist interests could be the future of social networking as they seek to distinguish themselves from the competition. REALBUZZ Realbuzz is a social networking site aimed at those interested in sports and outdoor pursuits. It is keen not to operate entirely in the online world and encourages members to meet up offline at sporting events. "Realbuzz is not about people sitting behind their computers, it's all about them getting out into the physical world and experiencing something new," said a spokesman for the firm. It has around 100,000 active users in the UK and has strong links to the London Marathon. Chief executive Tim Rogers is himself a veteran of more than 60 marathons. Story from BBC NEWS: http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/technology/7140599.stm *** Fri Dec 28 16:14:58 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Friday, 28 December 2007 Hail, rain and flash flooding a pretty normal summer Natasha Rudra It was visible from the hills high above the city and from the streets below a mass of dark cloud and long plumes of rainfall cut by lightning and thunder. Heavy rain and piles of icy hail fell across Canberra yesterday as isolated storms swept through the region. ACT emergency services were placed on standby after the weather bureau warned of severe thunderstorms, large hailstones and flash flooding in the ACT, Hunter Valley and NSW Central Tablelands yesterday afternoon. The stormy weather brought 15.2mm of rain to Canberra, with heavy falls just north of the city centre and in the Gungahlin area as the storms moved north-east in the afternoon. Light rain continued to wash over Tharwa and nearby Mt Ginini into the evening. The quick dumping of rain left motorists splashing through pools of water on some roads, including Fairbairn Avenue at Duntroon. Hail fell on Mt Ainslie and was scattered across other parts of Canberra, while a large afternoon storm also brought hailstones to Marulan, west of Goulburn. NSW state emergency services said it responded to two minor calls at Marulan but had not received emergency calls from the town itself. Cooma to the south received 10mm of rain during the day and the central west near Mudgee received about 14mm. Bureau forecaster Simon Louis said the storms and rain were normal for summer, although the La Nina weather phenomenon was partly responsible for an increase in storms. A spokesman for the Canberra weather station said more showers and possible storms were expected. But the weather for the weekend looked more promising, with clearer skies and rising temperatures. "It looks like we'll be in under a ridge of high pressure, which should bring some fine weather over the next few days and temperatures will be getting warmer," he said. "We should get up to at least 30 degrees over the weekend." *** Fri Dec 28 19:15:51 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Jesus 'best CEO-type leader' * Font Size: Decrease Increase * Print Page: Print From correspondents in Seoul | December 28, 2007 SOUTH Korea's president-elect Lee Myung-Bak, a former business CEO, has described Jesus Christ as "the best model of a CEO-type leader", an aide said. President Lee, 66, made the statement during a prayer meeting late Thursday at Seoul's Somang Church where he serves as a Presbyterian elder, said aide Kim Heon-Jin. A former chief executive of the Hyundai group's construction arm, Mr Lee has pledged to become a business-friendly president and revitalise the economy. "I've said I will become a CEO-type leader but actually, the best model of a CEO-type leader was Jesus Christ," he was quoted as saying. "Two millennia ago, Jesus showed a leadership of service by washing the feet of his disciples. L ikewise, I will do my own best, serving the people." Mr Lee wanted to stress his desire to become a president devoted to working for the people, the aide said. The president-elect faces a criminal inquiry into his alleged links to a 2001 share manipulation fraud. He strongly denies wrongdoing and was cleared by an earlier investigation. About 13.7 million South Koreans are Christians, according to the National Statistical Office. *** Sun Dec 30 18:53:21 2007 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: December 31, 2007 Singapore's state-linked investments circle the globe SINGAPORE (AFP) -- From banks to telephones, an airline to shopping malls, and semiconductors to airports, the reach of two state-linked investment firms from the city-state of Singapore extends around the world. The normally secretive Temasek Holdings and the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation (GIC) were thrust into the spotlight in December with multi-billion-dollar investments in troubled global financial institutions, investment bank UBS and investment and brokerage firm Merrill Lynch. In only a generation, the two companies' assets have ballooned. Temasek says its net portfolio worth is now more than 100 billion U.S. dollars. GIC says it manages ""well above"" 100 billion dollars, but analysts say it could be as much as 300 billion or more. Those figures place Temasek and GIC among the largest sovereign wealth funds in the world, according to an October report by Citigroup Global Markets Inc. Temasek, the elder of the two firms, was founded in 1974 to hold stakes in key companies formerly held by the young nation's Ministry of Finance. Its history ""is entwined with that of independent Singapore and its economic development and growth,"" Singapore President S.R. Nathan has said. Post-colonial backwater Once a post-colonial backwater, with no natural resources, the island republic surged ahead of its larger neighbors to become a thriving, developed nation. Song Seng Wun, regional economist with CIMB-GK Research, said the key to the success of Temasek and GIC was the Singapore economy's continued generation of revenue surpluses that allowed the firms to grow. They have followed a conservative investment strategy, with sometimes relatively low returns, but that approach has led to solid longer-term gains, he said. ""I think they basically look at sectors which will probably continue to do well in the coming years,"" Song said of Temasek. David Cohen, director of Asian forecasting with global research house Action Economics, said Singapore was forced to turn abroad for growth. ""It's a relatively tiny economy domestically. Analogous to Abu Dhabi, they look internationally for their investments,"" Cohen said. GIC, established in 1981 to manage Singapore's foreign reserves, has grown from handling a few billion dollars in its early days to become one of the world's largest fund management companies, its website says. Cardinal objective ""My cardinal objective was not to maximize returns but to protect the value of our savings and get a fair return on capital,"" Singapore's founding father and GIC chairman, Lee Kuan Yew, wrote in his memoirs. GIC says it has invested in many of the top private equity and venture capital funds in the US, Europe and Asia. Last year, it joined a consortium that bought British Airports Authority plc, which operates Heathrow and other airports. GIC's real estate arm is among the world's top 10, it says. Temasek's executive director and chief executive officer is Ho Ching, wife of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, the elder Lee's son. According to its website, Temasek has majority stakes in Singapore Telecommunications, Southeast Asia's largest telecom firm, Singapore Airlines, Neptune Orient Lines and Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing. It owns 100 percent of PSA International, which operates ports around the world. The company's diverse holdings include stakes in DBS Group Holdings, Southeast Asia's largest bank; CapitaLand, Southeast Asia's biggest property developer; and Fraser and Neave, which makes Tiger beer through its Asia Pacific Breweries division. Through a wholly-owned subsidiary, Temasek has a 42 percent stake in Thailand's Shin Corp, the website says. Temasek has also invested in financial institutions around Asia and, in March this year, said it had bought a nearly 12 percent stake in London-based bank Standard Chartered. Then on December 24, Merrill Lynch said Temasek had committed to a 4.4-billion dollar stake just days after GIC said it would inject almost 10 billion dollars into Swiss-based UBS. Singapore has ""a very deliberate policy initiative"" to buy the assets of financial firms to help it acquire expertise in its drive to become a global financial centre, said Ilian Mihov, an economics professor at graduate business school INSEAD in the city-state. But a Temasek spokesperson countered that, saying: ""The government of Singapore does not direct our investment decisions, which are based on commercial considerations."" ""The financial services industry is a close proxy to the growth of the economy and we are happy to increase our exposure in this space,"" the spokesperson told AFP. Temasek invests in a wide range of sectors, and decisions to invest depend on many factors including price, likely returns and risks, the spokesperson said. GIC, holding a rare press conference to announce the UBS deal, said its practice has been to take ""relatively small stakes"" in public equity investments for portfolio diversification. http://www.tehrantimes.com/index_View.asp?code=160321 *** Tue Jan 1 21:57:47 2008 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Migrants flunk citizenship test Nick Butterly, Canberra January 2, 2008 AUSTRALIA'S controversial citizenship test will be reviewed after the release of figures showing large numbers of would-be citizens are flunking the exam. Out of 10,636 people taking citizenship tests carried out since their introduction in October, 2311, or more than 20%, failed. Under laws introduced by the former Howard government, anyone who wants to become an Australian citizen must pass a 20-question quiz on Australian history, values and way of life, and demonstrate an adequate knowledge of English. Only residents who have lived here for four years can apply for citizenship. Those who fail to meet the 60% pass mark can sit the test as often as they want until they get it right. Last year while in opposition, Labor leader Kevin Rudd gave his backing to the Coalition scheme, as well as plans to make new arrivals to the country sign a so-called values statement stating they agree to abide by the Australian way of life. But new Immigration Minister Chris Evans confirmed yesterday the Government would review the citizenship test in light of the poor test results and could make wholesale changes. "The Government will review the scheme in the new year and assess the process and whether improvements can be made," Senator Evans said. "The citizenship test should be about increasing awareness of citizens' responsibilities and of the Australian way of life." Despite the problems, the minister encouraged people to continue sitting the test. Former prime minister John Howard was involved in crafting the themes covered in the test. The questions are in a multiple choice format. In one, applicants are asked which one of three given values is important in modern Australia: that everyone has the same religion, that everyone has equality of opportunity or that everyone belongs to the same political party. Another question asks which Australian was most famous for playing cricket: Rod Laver, Sir Donald Bradman or Sir Hubert Opperman. Other questions range across subjects from Australia's population to its national floral emblem. All the answers are contained in a 46-page booklet that applicants can get free over the phone or from the internet. When the test was introduced, then immigration minister Kevin Andrews denied claims that it was racist or an election stunt, saying new migrants needed to better integrate into the community. The test was opposed at the time of its introduction by outspoken Liberal backbencher Petro Georgiou, who said it would create unreasonable barriers for some would-be citizens, particularly those who could not speak English or read and write properly. SOME QUESTIONS ■ When is Australia Day? ■ Who was the first prime minister of Australia? ■ What is the nation's population? ■ What is its floral emblem? ■ What are the three levels of government in Australia? ■ Who is the head of the Australian government? ■ As an Australian citizen, I have the right to register my baby born overseas as an Australian citizen: true or false? ANSWERS January 26; Edmund Barton; about 21 million; wattle; Commonwealth, state or territory and local; the prime minister; true. *** Wed Jan 2 04:12:35 2008 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: UK and US 'keenest on fast food' The UK is the country most attached to fast food, closely followed by the United States, a survey has suggested. A poll of 9,000 people in 13 nations, alongside a BBC investigation into global obesity, found vast variations in attitudes towards food and weight. Many French get on the scales every day the poll found, while Singaporeans are the least likely to weigh themselves. People are now said to be getting fatter in most of the world, with the exception of parts of Asia. The three-day BBC series will look at the problems arising from the trend and what can be done about it. This study, by market research firm Synovate, questioned 9,000 people in 13 countries across five continents. OBESITY: WHAT PEOPLE BLAME Food - 40% Lack of exercise - 18% Individual - 13% Genetics - 11% Few people blamed their government for rising levels of obesity: the largest number of respondents blamed the food that was now available. People in the UK and the US were the most likely to nominate "no self discipline" as the leading factor in obesity. These two nations also had the most respondents who said they would be unable to give up fast food. Some 45% in the UK agreed with the statement "I like the taste of fast food too much to give it up", while 44% of Americans said they would be unable to give up their burgers, pizzas and chicken wings. Middle east diets The survey also threw up some other interesting geographical variations. The results show there's a world of people who cannot deny themselves that hamburger or extra piece of pizza, but probably make themselves feel better by washing it down with a diet cola Steve Garton Synovate Saudi Arabians and those from the United Arab Emirates were among the top consumers of low-fat food products, meal replacements and food supplements. They were also the most interested in weight-loss courses, gym memberships and home exercise equipment. "People are inherently contradictory and nowhere is it more obvious than on such a sensitive and important issue such as their weight," said Steve Garton of Synovate. "The results show there's a world of people who cannot deny themselves that hamburger or extra piece of pizza, but probably make themselves feel better by washing it down with a diet cola." A recent study of men and women in 63 countries found between half and two-thirds of men were overweight or obese in 2006. The populations of Canada and South Africa currently lead the way, with an average Body Mass Index (BMI) of 29 - a calculation that takes into account both height and weight. There is still some debate about the exact health risk posed by rising levels of obesity, but those who are overweight do have a higher risk of heart disease, Type II diabetes and other diseases including some cancers. It is thought that an increasingly sedentary lifestyle is a major factor in rising obesity rates. Health analysts warn that obesity-related illness threatens to overwhelm healthcare systems around the world. Neville Rigby, of the International Obesity Task Force, said: "It is serious for individuals, but it is also serious for countries. "Reports from the World Health Organization have shown that preventing chronic disease can have major economic benefits, and failing to do so can have major economic disadvantages." Story from BBC NEWS: http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/health/7165990.stm Published: 2008/01/02 05:01:59 GMT *** Thu Jan 3 17:50:31 2008 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Singapore sees sex trend among older women January 03 2008 at 01:41PM http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=117&art_id=nw20080103085036635C767565 Singapore - Many women in Singapore have a low sex drive, or suffer from hypoactive sexual desire disorder, a published report said on Thursday. "They usually say that they are 'too old', 'too tired' or (have) 'no more drive'," The Straits Times quoted Dr Christopher Chong, a consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist, as saying. A majority of Chong's patients are post-menopausal. His remarks were in response to reports of a testosterone-laden drug, called LibiGel, being tested at the University of Virginia and intended to boost the libidos of women who have lost interest in sex. The condition is said to affect one-third of women in the United States. Chong cautioned that the male hormone testosterone has side effects. These may include more body hair, a loss of hair on the scalp, a deeper voice and enlargement of the clitoris, he told the newspaper. While there are no national statistics in Singapore on how many women have low sex drives, a study showed about 25 percent of 1 081 adults surveyed were sexually inactive. The 2004 study by National University of Singapore professor Goh Hng Hang involved 307 men and 774 women between 30 and 70. The main reasons were a loss of interest, divorce or widowhood, relationship problems and work-related stress. - Sapa-dpa *** Thu Jan 3 17:55:01 2008 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Catholic officials, Muslim scholars to meet in Rome Friday, January 4, 2007 Reuters VATICAN CITY: A landmark meeting between Catholic officials and Muslim scholars that aims to spur dialogue between Christianity and Islam is planned to take place in Rome this spring, a senior Vatican official said. The top Vatican official in charge of relations with Islam, Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, said he expected an advanced group of three Muslim representatives in February or March to lay the groundwork for the meeting. "In a certain sense, (the meeting) can be defined as historic," Tauran told the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano, in an edition published earlier this week. Some 138 Muslim scholars wrote to Pope Benedict and other Christian leaders in October, saying "the very survival of the world itself" might depend on dialogue. The Pope, who as head of the Catholic Church represents more than half the world's two billion Christians, responded in November by welcoming their call and inviting them to Rome. The German-born Pontiff sparked Muslim protests in 2006 by making a speech hinting that Islam was violent and irrational. He repeatedly expressed regret for the reaction to the speech but stopped short of the clear apology sought by Muslims. Tauran raised eyebrows last year by expressing doubt over whether the two faiths could agree on issues such as God, love and how to read sacred scripture. But he told L'Osservatore Romano that the Muslim scholars' call for dialogue in their October open letter may have marked a turning point. "It's still true that, for some Muslims, inter-religious dialogue is neither a reality nor a priority. But it's also true that we're perhaps seeing an interesting development in the open letter," Tauran said. "The 138 signatories effectively represent 43 countries." Among the items on the agenda were respect for an individual's dignity and teaching tolerance to new generations, Tauran said. *** Thu Jan 3 18:11:40 2008 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: buse of Tamiflu 'may create resistant bugs' October 03 2007 at 02:09AM Paris - Swedish scientists say that Tamiflu - the frontline weapon in any bird flu pandemic - cannot be broken down by sewage systems and this could help the virus mutate into a drug-resistant strain. Countries around the world are stockpiling Tamiflu in the belief it will help curb any future outbreak of H5N1 avian flu among humans. Tamiflu, whose lab name is oseltamivir, is not a cure for flu but can ease its symptoms, thus aiding vulnerable patients such as the elderly, and reduce the time of illness, thus easing the burden on caregivers. Scientists led by Jerker Fick, a chemist at Umea University, tested the survivability of the Tamiflu molecule in water drawn from three phases in a typical sewage system. The first was raw sewage water; the second was water that had been filtered and treated with chemicals; the third was water from "activated sludge", in which microbes are used to digest waste material. Tamiflu's active ingredient survived all three processes, which means that it is released in the waste water leaving the plant. The finding is important because of the risk that Tamiflu, if overprescribed, could end up in the wild in concentrations high enough to let H5N1 adapt to this key drug, the authors say. Flu viruses are common among waterfowl, especially dabbling ducks such as mallards which often forage for food near sewage outlets. "The biggest threat is that resistance will become common among low pathogenic influenza viruses carried by wild ducks," said co-author Bjoern Olsen, professor of infectious diseases at the University of Uppsala and University of Kalmar. These avian viruses could then recombinate with ordinary human flu viruses, creating new strains that are resistant to Tamiflu, he said. "Antiviral medicines such as Tamiflu must be used with care and only when the medical situation justifies it," Olsen warned. "Otherwise, there is a risk that they will be ineffective when most needed, such as during the next influenza pandemic." The study, published online on Wednesday by the open-access Public Library of Science (PLoS), pointed the finger at Japan. It quoted figures from Swiss maker Roche, which estimated that in the 2004-5 influenza season, 16 million Japanese fell ill with flu, of whom six million received Tamiflu. At such dosages, the amount of Tamiflu released into the Japanese environment is roughly equivalent to what is predicted in areas where the drug would be widely used in a pandemic. Coincidentally, "Japan also has a high rate of emerging resistance to Tamiflu", the paper said. A 2004 study published in The Lancet found that among a small group of infected Japanese children, 18 percent had a mutated form of the virus that made these patients between 300 and 100 000 times more resistant to Tamiflu. *** Fri Jan 4 02:21:11 2008 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Death row pleas for citizens only * * Email * Printer friendly version * Normal font * Large font Barney Zwartz and Ben Schneiders January 4, 2008 Advertisement THE Australian Government will intervene to oppose the death penalty only in the case of Australian citizens, acting Prime Minister Julia Gillard says. Responding to suggestions by the Catholic Church that Australia should oppose capital punishment everywhere under all circumstances, including the Bali bombers, Ms Gillard yesterday said Australia would not intervene in death penalty sentences for foreigners. "Our position is perfectly clear. We support global moves against the death penalty (but) we only use our diplomatic resources on behalf of of Australian nationals who are at risk of the death penalty overseas," she said. "I think that that's entirely appropriate. Obviously our obligations are on behalf of our citizens and nationals. We intervene on their behalf." Her comments move away from Labor policy as articulated by Attorney-General Robert McClelland during the election campaign. The then shadow minister for foreign affairs said: "Labor in government will initiate a regional coalition against the death penalty by drawing abolitionist states together." Australian religious leaders were yesterday divided over the death penalty. Sydney Anglican Archbishop Peter Jensen said official church doctrine in the 39 Articles of 1662 endorsed it: "The Laws of the Realm may punish Christian men with death, for heinous and grievous offences." Dr Jensen said Christians were concerned about the abuse of capital punishment for crimes that did not merit death. "But I cannot absolutely rule out capital punishment in all circumstances, since the Bible itself allows it." Victorian Presbyterian moderator Graham Bradbeer said he opposed capital punishment, but the church did not have an official position. "There would be support among many of our clergy for the concept of capital punishment, but also widespread abhorrence at the possibility it could be misapplied." Uniting Church president Gregor Henderson said taking human life was never justified, even in the case of terrorists. "We believe in justice, but life imprisonment is the way to go with dreadful crimes," he said. Rabbi Fred Morgan said the Jewish position mirrored the state of Israel, that the death penalty was justified only in extreme situations such as crimes against humanity. Israel has formally executed only one man — Adolf Eichmann, one of the architects of the Holocaust. Australian National Imams Council spokesman Imraan Husain said Islam allowed capital punishment provided certain preconditions were met. He said the death penalty for converting from Islam in some countries was a misunderstanding of the Prophet Muhammad's teaching. "We should respect each country's laws. Some Muslim countries where capital punishment is applied base it on cultural traditions which are not fully Islamic," he said. *** Sun Jan 6 05:05:12 2008 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Wild nightclub brawl leaves man in hospital By Paul Carter January 06, 2008 03:17pm Article from: AAP Font size: + - Send this article: Print Email A NIGHTCLUB patron and security guard were attacked with glass bottles during a wild brawl involving about 20 men at an inner-Sydney venue. Police and ambulance officers were called to a melee at central Sydney's Shelbourne Hotel, on Sussex Street, about 2.40am (AEDT) today. Ambulance officers treated a teenager stabbed in the back of the head with a broken bottle and a security guard who had also been hit on the back of the head with a glass bottle, a NSW Ambulance spokeswoman said. Police said a 19-year-old Mascot man was in a serious but stable condition in St Vincents Hospital today with lacerations to his face and neck. The 21-year-old security guard, who went to the aid of the teenager, was also struck on the head with a glass bottle but by an unknown attacker, police said. An argument between two men is believed to have sparked the brawl. A 23-year-old Maroubra man was arrested at the hotel and later charged with affray and assault occasioning actual bodily harm. He was bailed to face Downing Centre Local Court on February 4. The incident followed the launch in December of a six-month trial of plastic cups in inner-Sydney pubs and clubs, aimed at cutting a spate of vicious glassing incidents. It is not known if the Shelbourne Hotel was participating in the trial. A spokesperson for the hotel could not be contacted today. The trial did not include a ban on bottles. Launching the trial last month, Detective Chief Inspector John Alt said glassings, which often result in loss of sight or death, were a serious problem in central Sydney on weekend nights. Police had planned to write to all licensees who did not attend the Liquor Accord and advise them of the trial. *** Thu Jan 10 19:51:13 2008 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Australians 'chronically sleepy' By Tamara McLean January 10, 2008 04:10pm Article from: AAP Font size: + - Send this article: Print Email ALMOST one in five Australians don't get enough sleep and older people are faring worst, a new survey shows. A study by Sydney sleep specialists has found that 18 per cent of adults sleep less than 6.5 hours a night, significantly less than the eight-hour ideal. And 12 per cent suffer from extreme and persistent sleepiness during the day, according to the study published today in the Internal Medicine Journal. The researchers from the Woolcock Institute of Medical Research warn that this level of chronic sleep restriction is likely to be having a "significant influence on public health in Australia''. More than 3300 NSW residents were interviewed for the survey to collate the nation's first detailed population-based description of the typical sleep behaviour, sleep satisfaction and sleepiness of Australians. Results showed that adults slept an average of 7.25 hours a night on week days, increasing to 7.5 hours a night at the weekend. Rates varied over ages, with younger people getting the most sleep. Older people, men and people with symptoms of depression were the most likely to experience chronic daytime sleepiness. Dr Delwyn Bartlett, sleep psychologist and lead author of the paper, said short sleep, either self-imposed or forced, was being increasingly recognised as a contributor to poor health and death. "It can impact on everything from cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, insulin sensitivity, appetite, immune responses to vaccinations and concentration levels for even the simplest tasks,'' Dr Bartlett said. "If the NSW figures are reflective of the nation as a whole, chronic sleep restriction is likely to have a major impact on Australian public health.'' The researchers said their results also indicated a large proportion of people seemed to increase their sleep duration at the weekends, "paying off'' the level of sleep-debt that seemed to be accruing during the week. "The long-term health effects of this practice are unknown,'' Dr Bartlett said. "But if you can't achieve a catch-up sleep on the weekend, there is the increased risk of burnout, which has negative social and work-related outcomes.'' The paper calls for further surveys to monitor whether chronic sleep restriction rates are worsening in Australia, as they are in the US. *** Thu Jan 10 20:27:57 2008 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: 'I challenge anybody coming into out mountains' Anthony Paul 611 words 11 January 2008 Straits Times English (c) 2008 Singapore Press Holdings Limited IN RAWALPINDI - MR PERVEZ Musharraf, Pakistan's embattled president, warned that any unilateral intervention in his country by coalition forces fighting in Afghanistan would be treated as an invasion. Unless agreed to by Pakistan, any entry by the United States or coalition forces into Pakistan's tribal areas would be resisted as a breach of Pakistan's sovereignty, Mr Musharraf told The Straits Times in his first interview with a newspaper since the assassination of Ms Benazir Bhutto on Dec 27. Four American politicians, all Democrats contending for the party's nomination for the race to the White House, have called for US forces now in neighbouring Afghanistan to join the Pakistan Army's counter-insurgency campaign and to hunt down Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in Pakistan's tribal areas. President Musharraf slammed the 'perception in the United States (that) what our army cannot do, they can do'. Added the president: 'I challenge anybody coming into our mountains. They would regret that day.' Mr Musharraf also took issue with US Senator Hillary Clinton's proposal, made on the eve of her New Hampshire primary victory, to place Pakistan's nuclear weapons under supervision by the US and the UK. Her statement, the president said, was 'an intrusion into our privacy, into our sensitivity... She doesn't seem to understand how well-guarded these assets are'. The interview took place in an elegant red-brick building that dates to the British Raj in Rawalpindi's presidential compound. Sentries in the red livery and towering, starched turbans of the Azad Kashmir (or Free Kashmir) regiment - a unit first raised among 'freedom-fighters' of the 1947-48 war with India - formed a fierce-looking guard. During the interview, President Musharraf also said he would resign if a government that emerged from the coming election sought his impeachment. Most observers expect a sympathy vote to trigger a landslide for the Pakistan People's Party (PPP), the political movement led by the Bhutto family. A PPP-only government or a coalition between the PPP and the Pakistan Muslim League-N (for Nawaz group, headed by Nawaz Sharif, the prime minister deposed by then army chief Musharraf in 1999), could conceivably command the two-thirds majority that the constitution requires for an impeachment process. In the interview, President Musharraf repeated his advice to Afghan President Hamid Karzai to negotiate with the Taleban. Not all Taleban wanted to behave barbarously, he said, and military action could not, by itself, provide an ultimate solution. A solution would come by moving simultaneously on the socio-economic, political and military fronts. The road would be long, and in Afghanistan, coalition forces - the US, Nato, Australia and others - would have to have the stamina to persist. If coalition forces depart without some stable government in place that is strong enough to defend itself, that would 'affect the stability of the whole region and the world', he said. In these efforts to counter subversion, India had not been helpful, he told The Straits Times - sending weapons, intelligence and money through Afghanistan to elements in Balochistan, and 'training terrorists'. But he had praise for China and other East Asian nations, 'even Japan'. These countries, unlike many Western media, understood Pakistan's problems, he said. The Western media 'want to impose their understanding of democracy and human rights on our developing countries, while China and other eastern countries don't'. Added President Musharraf: 'We have to insure that Pakistan is secure. Everything else is secondary.' anthonypaul@asiahand.com *** Sun Jan 13 20:45:28 2008 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: A hero unlike any other John McBeth, Senior Writer 1133 words 14 January 2008 Straits Times English (c) 2008 Singapore Press Holdings Limited IN A world of flawed and immodest heroes, Sir Edmund Hillary - the first conqueror of Mt Everest and an icon for a generation of New Zealanders - was truly someone to admire. His death of a heart attack last week at the age of 88 leaves a vacuum no one can possibly fill. My homeland has never been a place for anyone to put on airs, but Sir Edmund epitomised the selfeffacing, quintessential Kiwi - just like my other boyhood hero, Captain Charles Hazlett Upham, still the only combat soldier ever to win the Victoria Cross and Bar. One of my earliest memories was listening to a crackling wireless broadcast of the 1953 Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II and hearing the stunning announcement that the tall, long-jawed mountaineer and his sherpa guide, Tenzing Norgay, had climbed the world's highest mountain. From then on, it seemed we all grew up with Sir Edmund as our role model. For a tiny country at the end of the earth, he was a source of national pride unlike any other - a beekeeper who found his true calling in the lonely challenge of the mountains and, in doing so, passed into legend. It wasn't just my countrymen who idolised him. 'In this age of hyperbole we've long since devalued the term 'hero', but Hillary has been my great hero for five-and-a- half decades...and for a great many of our generation,' a hard-bitten Australian friend e-mailed me. 'I will truly miss him and everything noble he has represented in life.' While he may have 'knocked the bastard off', the now-famous expression he used for conquering Everest, that and Sir Edmund's other exploits - leading the first vehicle expedition to the South Pole and exploring the source of the Ganges - were matched by his philanthropy and his life-long dedication to the welfare of the sherpas. It was not without cost. The explorer's wife and daughter were killed in a plane crash in 1975 soon after taking off from Kathmandu to join Sir Edmund at the mountain village of Paphlu, where he was building a hospital. Sir Edmund himself seemed to recognise his place in the Kiwi lexicon. 'In some ways I epitomise the average New Zealander,' he said in one interview. 'I have modest abilities, I combine these with a good deal of determination, and I rather like to succeed. 'I was just an average bloke; it was the media that transformed me into an historic figure. And try as I did, there was no way of destroying my heroic image. But as I learnt through the years, as long as you didn't believe all that rubbish about yourself, you wouldn't come to much harm.' The other hero, Charles Upham, was never on the speaking circuit. Painfully embarrassed that he had been singled out for his heroism in the bitter World War II fighting in Greece and the Western Desert, he went back to his sheep farm in the South Island and tried to forget it all. But there was no doubt about his extraordinary courage. Some of his fellow soldiers said he could easily have been awarded the VC 10 times over - all the while suffering debilitating bouts of diarrhoea that would have felled a lesser man. Mr Upham's hatred of the Nazis persisted well into later life, even to the point where he threatened to fire a shotgun at any Mercedes or other German-built car that ventured on to his property. As for Sir Edmund, I do not recall ever meeting him in New Zealand. But I will always remember our only encounter in the early 1980s in Thailand, where I had been living for more than a decade. As programme director of the Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand (FCCT), I hit on the idea of inviting him to stop off in Bangkok on one of his regular trips to Nepal, where he routinely spent several months of the year. He accepted without a moment's hesitation after I told him that the proceeds from the evening would go towards his Himalaya Trust, which raised US$250,000 (S$360,000) a year to build new schools and medical facilities for the sherpas. I informed him of the hotel I had booked him into and arranged to meet him on his arrival at Don Muang airport. That was the plan. Unfortunately, I got to the airport late - which was easy to do in those days - and missed him completely. Racing back to the New Peninsula Hotel on downtown Suriwongse Road, I discovered to my consternation that he was not there. I waited and waited, thinking he had got caught in traffic. Still, no Sir Ed. Horrified at losing my guest speaker for what was a booked-out Golden Ballroom in the swank Oriental Hotel, I was a desperate man. No mobile phones in those days, remember, and Sir Edmund did not have my office number. It was then that someone reminded me there was another, much more down-market Peninsula Hotel on Rajadamnoen Road, near the Grand Palace. Sure enough, he had checked in there after grabbing a taxi from the airport. Unlike me, the great man was totally unfazed. We had a good laugh - more out of relief for me than anything - and off we went to the Oriental. I will always remember that night, one of the most successful in the club's history. We ran a film on the great British mountaineer Chris Bonnington and then Sir Edmund delivered his speech, full of anecdotes and schoolboy humour. Journalists and the associate members who attended these events were always talking, often to a point where we had to call for quiet. This time, the audience was rapt, listening intently to this towering, supremely modest man who had become a genuine legend. When the evening was over, scores of people lined up from the back of the ballroom to the stage, waiting for Sir Edmund to autograph notebooks, scraps of paper and even the books he had written that had been lying around on shelves for years. I never met him again, but it didn't matter. Up close, he was exactly the man I always imagined him to be and that was enough. thane.cawdor@gmail.com DOWN TO EARTH 'I was just an average bloke; it was the media that transformed me into an historic figure. And try as I did, there was no way of destroying my heroic image. But as I learnt through the years, as long as you didn't believe all that rubbish about yourself, you wouldn't come to much harm.' SIR EDMUND HILLARY *** Thu Jan 17 23:24:42 2008 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: $10b EVIL WEB Criminal empires growing in power Keith Moor 493 words 18 January 2008 Herald-Sun 1 - FIRST 1 English Copyright 2008 News Ltd. All Rights Reserved CRIME syndicates in Australia are raking in $10 billion a year and helping potential terrorists avoid capture. The Australian Crime Commission yesterday painted a disturbing picture of just how powerful organised crime gangs have become. It said Australians were largely unaware of organised crime's involvement in legitimate business activities. The nation's gigantic superannuation stockpile has even become a major target. The ACC said it was concerned about the association between criminals and potential terrorists. ``Terrorists use crime to support their political objectives,'' the ACC said in its Organised Crime in Australia report, released yesterday. ``In Australia, the relationships between criminals and terrorists have generally been short-term and limited to providing specific services, such as false identity documentation, non-traceable communications, and/or money laundering.'' But the ACC said it was unlikely crime gangs and terrorist groups would forge stronger links, because each wanted to avoid scrutiny. The ACC report also revealed: TWENTY-FIVE criminal syndicates were busted in the past year, involving more than 400 charges against 176 people and drugs worth $1.5 billion. INTERNET technology has given criminals unprecedented power to organise lucrative crimes across national and international borders. SYNDICATES of different ethnic backgrounds were putting aside rivalries to commit major crimes together. CRIME gangs were sending members to universities to acquire specialist skills. COMPUTER and finance experts were being blackmailed or intimidated into committing crimes. GANGS were gathering intelligence on police, business people and public servants in the hope of forcing them into corruption. ACC chief executive Alastair Milroy said most Australians were unaware of the high level of organised crime involvement in industry and in the community in general. Continued Page 2 From Page 1 ``(It) pervades all parts of society and the concerning part is that many in business and the community in general do not realise how vulnerable they are to it,'' Mr Milroy said. ``Organised crime is diverse and flexible and encompasses a broad range of industries and activities, including drug trafficking, corruption, violence, fraud, money laundering, hi-tech/cyber crime and other financial sector crimes. ``I urge the public and business community to be more aware, better informed, and to take an active role in reporting information on criminal intelligence on organised crime to either the ACC or their local policing service,'' he said. The ACC wouldn't reveal how many organised crime gangs were entrenched in Australia. But the elite crime body told the Herald Sun in 2004 it had identified 97 syndicates. The ACC said yesterday a growing number of syndicates used the services of professional facilitators and service providers such as migration agents, financial advisers, and accountants. ``Their involvement may be as a result of coercion through blackmail and intimidation. ``The use of professional facilitators allows crime groups to distance themselves from their criminal activity and avoid the attention of law enforcement agencies.'' DHS-20080118-1-001-889011 *** Thu Jan 17 23:24:54 2008 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Army hero left to die by failings at the MoD By SEAN RAYMENT Defence Correspondent 438 words 13 January 2008 The Sunday Telegraph 001 English (C) 2008 Telegraph Group Limited, London A BRITISH war hero who bled to death after being injured in an Afghan minefield died because of a catalogue of failures, incompetence and equipment shortages, a military inquiry has found. Cpl Mark Wright, who was posthumously awarded the George Cross after rescuing an injured colleague, could have survived if a properly equipped helicopter had been available, it ruled. A copy of the report, which has been obtained by The Sunday Telegraph, adds that the rescue operation was dogged by confusion, delays, poor communication and a shortage of maps showing the location of minefields. Last night, Bob Wright, the soldier's father, said he was furious with the Ministry of Defence, which he accused of "trying to hide the truth''. Cpl Wright, a 27-year-old paratrooper, was one of seven soldiers who became trapped in a minefield in September 2006 in Helmand, southern Afghanistan, following an operation to rescue a wounded soldier. The report states: * Cpl Wright died because of the non-availability of an aircraft equipped with a suitable winch * Soldiers did not have a map of the mined area even though one was available * Radio problems led to a communications breakdown * Soldiers had to provide their own mine extraction kits * The British military needs to develop its own Combat Search and Rescue capability. At the time of the incident, the MoD made no mention of the equipment problems and claimed that Cpl Wright's injuries were so severe that he was effectively beyond medical help. But a copy of the soldier's post- mortem report, which has also been seen by this newspaper, states that the injuries were "survivable''. Last night, Liam Fox, the shadow defence secretary, described the findings as an appalling indictment of Labour defence policy. "This is a catalogue of unacceptable errors,'' he said. "Contrary to the MoD's claims, it is clear that Cpl Wright's injuries were survivable.'' Three of the soldiers who lost legs are suing the MoD for negligence. Their lawyer, Paul Harrington, who is also acting for Cpl Wright's parents, said: "There was a systemic failure by the Ministry of Defence in providing adequate resources, equipment and intelligence which led to a wholly avoidable death and serious injuries.'' A spokesman for the Ministry of Defence said: "At the time of the incident, all of the helicopters in theatre would have been fully equipped. "However, a fault with another system, necessitated all of the winches being returned to the UK, as a matter of urgency, for inspection to ensure their reliability.'' *** Sat Jan 19 15:49:29 2008 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Ex-prosecutor sorry for child porn cache Source: AAP Author: By Danny Rose Posted: Fri 18 Jan, 2008 * Print * Larger + * Email * Smaller - * Discuss * Save Related articles * Ram-raiders target Sydney... * Ex-prosecutor sorry for child... * Man 'played dead' during home... * Williams denies he squirrelled... * Man charged with lighting... * Woman accuses NRL player of... Disgraced crown prosecutor Patrick Power has left a NSW prison after serving six months, offering an apology for downloading hundreds of child porn images. The 55-year-old, who held a senior role with the Department of Public Prosecutions (DPP) when a computer glitch brought his illegal collection to the attention of colleagues, said he "deeply" regretted his actions. Looking pale and dressed in a black suit, Power walked through the front gates of Long Bay Correctional Complex, in Sydney's east, at 9am (AEDT). He said he had no plans to resurrect his legal career. "I deeply regret my inappropriate behaviour," he told reporters. "I'm very sorry and I'd like to apologise to my family and my friends and my former work colleagues, also members of the bar ... who I have let down. "I'd ask that you might all respect my privacy at this stage so I can put my life back together." Power said he was kept in "complete isolation" during his prison term and that the past six months had been "very difficult". "I have no plans for the future," he said. Power was met at the gates by his sister who did not get out of her Mitsubishi Lancer to greet him. He got into the vehicle's front passenger seat before being driven away. Power was a Deputy Senior Crown Prosecutor when, in July 2006, his personal computer broke down and he took it to a DPP technician. A cache of some 29,000 pornographic images was subsequently found on the computer, including 433 illegal images and 31 video files depicting children - some aged under ten - involved in sexual acts. Power was sentenced to 15 months imprisonment with an eight month non-parole period in May last year, but the non-parole period was cut to six months on appeal in July. The judge who presided over the sentencing appeal described the images as "disgusting" and "depraved material". Acting Judge Brian Boulton said some showed young boys in "obvious pain", with one video showing a five-year-old boy being raped after handcuffs were applied to his arms and feet. "(Power) was a mature man in his early 50s and a top criminal lawyer," Judge Boulton said in July last year. "It would have been perfectly obvious ... from the very first download that the possession of the material was itself a criminal offence." Power will remain on parole for nine months. He must also attend his local police station within 28 days to add his name to the Child Protection Register which lists the names of about 2,500 other convicted child sex offenders in NSW. This will require him to keep police updated with details of his home address, his vehicle, any children he may have regular contact with and holiday plans, for the next eight years. "There are serious repercussions if people don't obey the Child Protection Register requirements and that might include hefty fines, and/or imprisonment," a NSW Police Force State Crime Command spokeswoman said. *** Sat Jan 19 15:51:39 2008 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Ram-raiders target Sydney jeweller Source: AAP Author: By Karen Davis Posted: Sat 19 Jan, 2008 * Print * Larger + * Email * Smaller - * Discuss * Save Related articles * Ram-raiders target Sydney... * Ex-prosecutor sorry for child... * Man 'played dead' during home... * Williams denies he squirrelled... * Man charged with lighting... * Woman accuses NRL player of... Ram-raiders armed with sledgehammers have smashed their way into an exclusive jewellery store in central Sydney. The thieves used a white four-wheel drive to smash through the rear window of the Mondial Neuman store in the historic Queen Victoria Building just before 9am (AEDT) Saturday, police said. Detective Sergeant Paul Dunstan said three or four people were believed to have been in the 4WD. He said two or three people armed with what were thought to be sledgehammers entered the shop through the smashed window, which fronts York St, before taking jewellery and driving away in a red Audi sedan. "It's too early to say how much was taken," he said. The 4WD is believed to have been stolen. Forensic officers and the armed robbery squad will attend the scene, which remains roped off with police tape. None of the store's staff were injured in the attack. A woman who works next door to the jewellery store saw the drama unfold and called the police. "I was just going to go upstairs to the stockroom when I saw the car pull up," she told AAP. "It mounted the kerb and at first I just thought it was a bad driver. "Then I saw a guy who was masked jump out of the back seat and move a cafe table out of the way. "The truck just rammed into the window." She said the man then went back to the car and got a bag out of the back seat before going into the store. "I was shaking, I was scared they would see me," she said. "I heard screaming from next door." A security guard apparently tried to foil the robbery, standing in front of the red sedan the thieves used as a getaway car. "The security guard stood in front of the red car which kept jerking forward to get him out of the way," she said. "It reversed, the man jumped in and it drove off." She said it was the second time in several months the store had been robbed. *** Sun Jan 20 20:43:44 2008 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: The Most Depressing Day of the Year Friday, Jan. 18, 2008 By BILL TANCER depression sadness fall sad There's a lot to feel down about this month: the subprime mortgage crisis, stormy, unpredictable weather, rising gas prices, presidential primary free-for-alls. So, it would be easy to believe the theory set forth by Dr. Cliff Arnall, a researcher from Cardiff University, that the third Monday of the month (Jan. 21, this year) — a day he calls Blue Monday — will be our most depressing day of the year. Arnall bases his yearly prediction on a formula he developed, which factors in the weather, consumer debt from holiday spending and failed New Year's resolutions and arrives at that conclusion that we'll hit rock bottom on Monday the 21st. Aside from the fact that Arnall's theory has been discounted by many in the academic community, I've got a better way of finding the true nadir of depression: Look to our search behavior. In the digital age we're likely to turn to search engines just as often as we would confide in friends and medical professionals to gauge our psychological state. If we think we're suffering from a real bout of the blues or a mental crisis, we're likely to Google the symptoms or find a chat group in the hopes of performing a self-diagnosis. In fact, online searches for "depression" are among the most popular searches sending traffic to the 5,900 sites that we track in the Hitwise Health and Medical category — but the peak is not in January. According to our Internet behavior, our depression spikes reliably in mid-November every year, right in time for Thanksgiving, the launch of the holiday season. To confirm this timing I took a look from a different perspective. If we're depressed, we're probably also seeking pharmacological help. By aggregating the traffic to the websites of the top antidepressants and charting visits to those sites over the last three years, a very interesting pattern emerges. The spike in traffic to the official websites for drugs like Lexapro, Prozac, Paxil and Cymbalta occurs in late October and early November, two weeks ahead of the height in searches on "depression." It's almost as if people anticipate their holiday depression and start shopping early for their drug of choice. Another surprise lies in the demographics of visitors to antidepressant websites — they're not who you would expect. If visitors to Lexapro.com, for example, are at all representative of the typical depressed individual, depression during November is an affliction primarily of the young and the old, but not of the middle-aged. The two age groups that account for the largest portion of site visitors are 18 to 24 (26.2%) and over 55 (27.6%). Visitors to Lexapro's site also tend to have average to above-average incomes: 51% of visitors come from households earning between $60,000 and $150,000 per year, while 20% come from households that earn over $150,000 — a sample, perhaps, not of the depressed in general, but of those who can afford to seek treatment. So, Dr. Arnall, despite the failing economy, the storm of the century here in Northern California, a disappointing roster of presidential candidates and deciding that New Year's resolutions aren't for me this year, I'm feeling pretty good about things. If search data is any indication, I'm not alone. *** Wed Jan 23 19:34:50 2008 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Hazlin Hassan, Malaysia Correspondent NOT WANTED: Malaysia's decision to cut the number of foreign workers will hit migrant workers from poorer countries. -- PHOTO: REUTERS KUALA LUMPUR - MALAYSIA'S plan to reduce the number of foreign workers by 200,000 could cause a severe shortage of blue-collar workers but employers will likely fill the gap quickly by using illegal migrant workers, industry players say. They lamented that while they would like to employ Malaysians in jobs such as office cleaners, restaurant cooks and barbers, there are often few takers among choosy local workers. Locals who joined the so-called '3D' jobs - difficult, dirty and dangerous - tend to quit after just a few months. They were responding to the government's plan to cut the number of foreign workers by at least 200,000 by next year, to open up more jobs for locals. Home Affairs Ministry secretary-general Raja Azahar Raja Abdul Manap said last week that the government will apply stricter standards for hiring foreign labour. But it will not touch the plantation, manufacturing and construction sectors - three key economic sectors that employ the most number of foreign labour. 'Some of our local employees are not prepared to accept menial jobs. They don't want to be kitchen assistants and waiters in the hotels. That is a problem. In desperate situations, some employers may engage illegal foreign workers to get the business going.' MR M. VIVEKANANDAN, Malaysian Employers Federation general manager of industrial relations There are 2.3 million foreign workers in Malaysia, who add to the 11 million-strong local workforce. The foreigners include some 500,000 illegal migrant workers. The government wants to reduce the number of foreign workers to 1.8 million next year, and by another 300,000 to 1.5 million by 2015. Mr M. Vivekanandan, Malaysian Employers Federation general manager of industrial relations, said: 'Some of our local employees are not prepared to accept menial jobs. They don't want to be kitchen assistants and waiters in hotels. That is a problem. 'In desperate situations, some employers may engage illegal foreign workers to get the business going,' he told The Straits Times yesterday. Datuk R. Ramalingam Pillai, president of the Malaysian Indian Restaurant Owners' Association, said the move will cause problems for thousands of Indian restaurants. 'Local youths think that working in restaurants is demeaning,' he said. A third of the 95,000 workers of such restaurants are foreigners, mostly from India and Indonesia. Monthly wages range between RM800 (S$350) and RM2,500, he said. 'We will have problems in the future, but we will appeal to the government when there is a problem,' he told The Straits Times. But industry players are optimistic that the crackdown on foreign workers is a temporary move. Malaysia periodically sends home foreign workers to open up space for local employees, or after complaints about rising crime rates. These moves were then followed by rules being relaxed after a few months because most Malaysians shun menial work. But for now, there is a lot to worry about, especially for hoteliers. The government two weeks ago announced that foreign workers will not be allowed to work as 'front-liners', although there are only a few of these people serving as receptionists or bellboys. Figures from the Malaysian Association of Hotels (MAH) show some 3.31 per cent of 40,000 people in the hotel industry are expatriate and foreign workers. 'It is not easy to get Malaysians to work in hotels on a continuous basis. Youth now are very choosy," said Mr Sarjit Singh, MAH executive director. On the other hand, foreign workers often complained of being cheated of salaries by their Malaysian employers. Said Mr Hashim Ahmad, who is in charge of security at the Etiqa Twins tower in Kuala Lumpur: 'Some companies look for an easy way out and mistreat the foreign workers and give them minimum pay,' he said. His building hires foreigners for security and cleaning services. Yet the debate is irrelevant to people like Indonesian construction worker Hekmat Amsara, who sends about RM200 a month to his family in East Java. 'Back home, it is difficult to get work, and the pay is not even enough to survive,' said the 45-year-old father of three. He has worked in various construction sites in Malaysia over the past 26 years. hazlinh@sph.com.sg *** Wed Jan 23 19:52:11 2008 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: AFP stalls in India as crime embraces offshoring Marcus Browne, ZDNet Australia 22 January 2008 04:43 PM Tags: offshoring, mick keelty, james turner, india, id theft, ibrs, gartner, attorney general Despite missing its target to set up a base in India to target ID theft and information crime, the AFP says it's still planning to open its offshore centre. The decision to open a permanent centre of operations in India was originally announced by AFP Commissioner Mick Keelty in March 2007. AFP Commissioner Mick Keelty At the time, Keelty told the Chamber of Commerce that organised criminals -- including cybercriminals -- were mimicking legitimate business processes and offshoring certain activities to a variety of locations. He likened a server's worth of data to a kilogram of heroin in terms of dollar value, and said that the AFP's Indian headquarters would serve as a response to the emerging problem in the region. An AFP spokesperson told ZDNet Australia today that the agency will still be going ahead with its plans and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) is continuing negotiations with the Indian government. What this is really about is providing training and assistance for local forces James Turner, IBRS DFAT declined to comment on the state of negotiations when contacted by ZDNet Australia today. While there are some concerns that the centre has not begun operating on schedule, James Turner, security analyst at research firm IBRS, believes that its establishment has more to do with fostering regional cooperation in fighting cybercrime than it does with having an investigative presence on the subcontinent. "What this is really about is providing training and assistance for local forces and better protection for Australian data overseas," he said. Turner claims that the establishment of the centre will coincide with proposals about to go before the Attorney General. The proposals will allow Australian victims of overseas data breaches to take action against the local companies which shipped their data overseas, where it was subsequently compromised. Andrew Walls, research director at analyst firm Gartner, said that a lot of security personnel are too focused on the technology protections involved in offshoring when the shop floor level is equally at risk, particularly in countries such as India. "There are a variety of groups in India that have perpetrated a number of identity theft schemes, but the point is that these are not necessarily high-tech crimes. What we've seen is mostly simple cases of inside abuse that can be put down to things like a lack of reliable supervision, we're not talking about hacks here," he said. Walls said that the AFP's intentions are still valid despite the delay, and that it is essential the Australian agency shares its expertise in the region. The analysts' comments today come after reports earlier this month that the national law enforcement body was already overstretched due to foreign deployments. CEO of the Australian Federal Police Association, Jim Toor, said they had created a "vacuum" in the force which had to be filled by officers who in some cases lacked technical expertise, particularly in the area of cybercrime. *** Thu Jan 24 19:46:17 2008 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Friday January 25, 11:02 AM Flood looters revolt PM, concern police Prime Minister Kevin Rudd says he's revolted by looters ransacking inundated homes and causing headaches for police in the flood-hit central western Queensland town of Emerald. Looters smashed their way into about 20 homes while residents were holed up in evacuation centres and stole personal items. ADVERTISEMENT Authorities are expected to receive more complaints as floodwaters recede. "It just absolutely revolts me that people could do this sort of thing," Mr Rudd told the Nine Network. "I'm confident that the Queensland police will crack down on this like a tonne of bricks, and so they should." Police have stepped up patrols on the waterlogged streets of Emerald as more than 260 properties, mainly in the town's south, remain under water. A 25-year-old man will appear in the Emerald Magistrates Court on February 2 following an alleged robbery of a motorcycle shop on Thursday afternoon. Police approached several men outside the Yamaha Central Bike shop on Clermont Street after spotting someone exiting with a motorcycle helmet in his hand. Two of the men escaped by swimming up a storm drain while police chased another man, who was caught at the back of the store and charged with one count of public nuisance. Emerald Mayor Peter Maguire said he was disgusted that people had returned home to find more than just floodwater gone from their homes. "I think people that do that sort of stuff are the lowest form of scum," he told AAP. Emergency Queensland Management deputy director Bruce Grady said looters were adding to the stress and devastation of people affected by the floods and causing further problems for emergency services. "You can only describe them as despicable acts," Mr Grundy said. "As far as the emergency responders are concerned, the police and others, it just takes their focus away from helping those people who really are in need and adds to the burden on those people." Hundreds of people have been allowed to return to their homes and more are expected to follow as floodwaters continue to fall at a rate of 2cm every hour. Essential supplies are being sent to isolated areas in the region while the main road into Emerald, the Vince Lester Bridge, is set to remain closed until at least Sunday afternoon with the Nogoa River slowly receding. Mr Grundy said more than 100 people remained in evacuation centres but stressed the need for caution before they were allowed back to their homes. "Some properties have had a lot of water in them and we need to make sure they're structurally sound and there's no electrical problems in those properties before people move back in," Mr Grundy said. "It's absolutely better to be safe than sorry in these circumstances." The flood crisis will switch to Rockhampton next week when the water surges down the Fitzroy River, which is expected to peak at 8.2m there on Tuesday. Australia Day celebrations in the city have already been cancelled as the river continues to rise. A disaster management centre will be established in Rockhampton on Friday, although Mr Grundy says there will be "very little" impact on properties. The damage bill from the flooding, which has affected 72 per cent of Queensland, is quickly mounting, with farmers losing at least $80 million in damaged crops, infrastructure and livestock along the Nogoa River, rural group AgForce said. The federal government has offered grants of up to $10,000 to those living in disaster areas, under the Natural Disaster Relief and Recovery Arrangements (NDRRA), and a state flood relief fund has been set up to take public donations through major banks. *** Thu Jan 24 19:47:18 2008 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Pay gap for women hits top levels January 25, 2008 04:00am Article from: AAP WOMEN are not being paid as much as their male counterparts in the workplace, even in the top echelons of the business world, a new Government report has found. A report by the Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Agency (EOWA), to be launched by Minister for Women Tanya Plibersek today, found that only 7 per cent of top earner positions in the ASX 200 list of companies - or 83 out of 1,136 - are held by women. The report found female chief financial officers and chief operating officers earned half the salary of their male equivalents, while chief executive officers fared only slightly better, earning two-thirds what a man would in the same job. The damning figures, contained in the EOWA's Gender Income Distribution of Top Earners report were based on data collected by Macquarie University for the 2006 EOWA Women in Leadership Census. The top five positions in each of the ASX 200 companies were examined. The female median salary remains less than a man's in nine out of 10 industry sectors, the report said, and there is no industry in which women are likely to out-earn men. EOWA director Anne McPhee said Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) that reveal there is a 34.9 per cent gap between the average weekly wage for men and woman, and a Graduate Careers Australia study showed male graduates have higher starting wages and got salary increases faster than women. "It is clear that pay inequity starts in a women's first job and puts her on the back foot for the rest of her career," she said. "The gaps between women's and men's earnings reflect a number of obstacles women still battle such as the undervaluation of women's skills: women's lower share of payments like overtime and bonuses; occupational and industrial segregation; lack of access to education and training; the impact of family responsibilities; the lack of mentors and champions; the prevalence of gender stereotypes and in some cases outdated ways in which remuneration is calculated." *** Fri Jan 25 04:33:22 2008 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Telstra wins right to fire sex romp girl By Ewin Hannan January 25, 2008 03:00am Article from: The Australian TELSTRA has won the right to sack a young female employee over an alcohol-fuelled after-hours sex romp, reigniting debate about the line between work and private lives. The Industrial Relations Commission yesterday upheld Telstra's appeal against an earlier ruling that Carlie Streeter be reinstated and paid compensation for being unjustly sacked following the romp last February. Ms Streeter is considering appealing to the Federal Court, with her lawyer last night describing the 2-1 decision by a commission full bench as "un-Australian". "The client is very aggrieved by the decision," Ms Streeter's lawyer, Kelly Durant, told The Australian. "If (it) stands, it really is a serious licence for employers to intrude on the private lives of their employees and it's very un-Australian. "What this decision says is employers can control and regulate the private lives of employees, which is completely unfair. At the end of the day, what you do at two o'clock on a Sunday morning is really nothing to do with your employer." Telstra released a brief statement last night in which it said it was pleased the full bench had upheld the corporation's appeal. Telstra dismissed Ms Streeter last March, claiming she sexually harassed three female colleagues by having sex metres from where they were sleeping on a hotel room floor. She was accused of sexually harassing another female employee by being naked in the hotel bath with two Telstra male workers. Telstra also claimed she dishonestly answered questions during a subsequent company investigation into the incident. The incidents occurred in the early hours of February 25 following a belated Christmas party for staff from the Telstra retail outlet at Westfield Shopping Town in Miranda in Sydney's south. In August last year, commission senior deputy president Jonathon Hamberger ruled that Ms Streeter had been unjustly sacked. Although the employees were upset by Ms Streeter's conduct, he found it was not enough to constitute sexual harassment. Mr Hamberger, a former Howard government employment advocate, ruled the sexual conduct took place in a hotel room with the lights out in the early hours of the morning, when Ms Streeter thought the other employees were asleep. He ordered her to be reinstated and awarded compensation. But the majority full bench decision upheld that Telstra was justified in sacking Ms Streeter because of her "dishonesty" during the subsequent investigation into her conduct. Interviewed by Telstra management in February last year, Ms Streeter initially denied engaging in sexual activity, then said she could not really remember and that she might have been affected by alcohol "to the point she could not remember anything". In subsequent evidence to the commission, Ms Streeter conceded she had sex with a male employee but had previously denied it because she was embarrassed. Mr Hamberger found that most of Telstra's concern related to her alleged sexual harassment of employees. He said the conduct about which Ms Streeter "lied" was of an inherently personal nature, and it was not enough to destroy the necessary relationship of trust between an employer and employee. However, the full bench upheld Telstra's argument that Mr Hamberger erred in finding that Ms Streeter's dishonesty did not constitute a valid reason for her dismissal. *** Fri Jan 25 04:40:54 2008 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Better a David than a Goliath * Font Size: Decrease Increase * Print Page: Print Four rising star exporters explain how they made the leap overseas. Ed Charles reports | November 30, 2007 ANYBODY can try to export a product or service. What takes skill in a small or medium-sized business, is identifying the correct strategy to see off larger competitors, which often have detailed knowledge of local market conditions. Sometimes the assistance of a large customer company, such as Qantas, is needed. Other times it's a matter of picking the right overseas distributors. Chief executive of The Fire Company, Stephane Thomas, says: "A lot of people say you just have to be at the right place at the right time. But even if you are in the right place at the right time with the right product, it is still bloody hard work. It does not come easy." Thomas had a great marketing strategy, reinventing a fake log fire as a stylish interior design product. He says the most important thing for him, as the owner of a small company, is to be working with the right people. "At the end of the day, you just have to pick people who want to be successful," he says. "Ambition is what drives business." EXPORT SAVVY IN A CLICK Useful websites for SME exporters * www.export61.com.au -- comprehensive information on grants and other assistance for exporters available from Commonwealth and State/Territory governments, plus rules and regulations for exporters * www.austrade.gov.au -- guide to Austrade services. See the Export Markets section, in particular * www.aiex.com.au -- information from the Australian Institute for Export, focusing on export education, training, networking and representation * www.exporthub.gov.au -- compilation of material from AusIndustry specialists and Austrade's Trade Start program on becoming internationally competitive, including list of ExportHub offices * www.efic.gov.au -- information about financial support available from Export Finance and Insurance Corporation. Go to the Small Business section Many companies offer excellent technology but it takes more to make the leap from Australia. For Customvis, the key was focusing its scarce resources on easy-to-service local markets before taking steps further afield. It all comes down to strategy rather than trying to outgun competitors with better technology, which will be outmoded next year, according to Sydac CEO Adrian Smith. "The big lesson we learnt was that differentiation by service in the technology game is a more sustainable competitive advantage and a more valuable value proposition for our customers." And that's not to forget the logistics and paperwork. * * * BETTER SERVICE THE RIGHT TRACK SYDAC Tip: If you are playing a game of technological leapfrog with competitors, look for another point of difference. ITS train simulation technology is world class. The trouble with breaking into Europe was that the competitors' technology was just as good and Sydac was 15,000km away in Australia. What the company's CEO, Adrian Smith, realised was that while they were all in the technology game it was a never-ending game of leapfrog. "You can have a technologically better product but that's not really a basis for sustainability in terms of competitive advantage," he says. "This year we would argue that we have the technological leading product but chances are next year someone will leapfrog us and a year after that we will be back in front." The company took the sensible approach of concentrating initially on one export market: Britain. Its representatives spent 18 months visiting potential clients. "We didn't try and sell them anything," Smith says. He simply spoke to them and identified the shortcomings of the local competitors. "The bottom line was that the UK had been poorly serviced by its suppliers. And we had already decided that was our differentiation strategy. So here we had a market where (potential) customers were telling us they were unhappy with their suppliers in terms of service." Smith ensured that staff were contacting potential British customers every month. "Every six weeks I went to England and visited companies because we were trying to get the message across that we were all about service and relationships and that we weren't on the other side of the world." Eventually one of the directors of Chiltern Railways realised that he was seeing Smith more than his local suppliers. * * * SEEING THE LIGHT CLOSER TO HOME CUSTOMVIS Tip: Focus on the most cost-effective markets to service first. THERE are two reasons for the success of CustomVis, which exports 100 per cent of its products. First, according to chief operating officer Dr Mukesh Jain, is the technology. It is the only low-maintenance, solid-state laser available for refractive eye surgery but still needs to be serviced every three months. Second is the marketing. Founded in 2001, CustomVis is still relatively small with 23 staff and has to focus its efforts. Initially it supplied its lasers to almost any market. "We did put some lasers in Europe and then it became very expensive to maintain it," Jain says. "Don't go everywhere. Specialise on your targeted market." The company first focused its marketing on Asia. Proximity to its base in Perth made it relatively cheap to service clients. What the company has been doing is concentrating on building market share in each market rather than sales numbers before moving to the next country. For example, in Indonesia, although the population is 200 million, there are only about 10 lasers, meaning that few have to be sold. By contrast in Korea with 45 million people, there are some 600 lasers. The company has picked off the Philippines, Indonesia, Singapore, Korea and India. It is also opening in Malaysia, Vietnam and Taiwan. "Then we are going to the Middle East, then Europe," says Jain. * * * STOKING UP THE HEAT IN STYLE THE FIRE COMPANY Tip: The secret of success is to carefully pick the right people to work with AN innovative twist on the old-fashioned fake log fireplace is what has taken The Fire Company, which now has 24 full-time employees to some 30 countries. What former optometrist Stephane Thomas did was to market his product, the Ecosmart Fire, not as a heating product, but as a fashion item, something that attracted style-conscious consumers. Founded in 2004, Thomas says initially his time was spent developing the product for a fussy and demanding Australian market. Despite being called Ecosmart, Thomas says that the environmental credentials of his products, which burn ethanol and don't require a chimney flue, are secondary to the company's export success. He says it is all down to choosing the right people, especially distributors, to work with. "I think it's a skill that you have to develop in picking the right people, whether they are your employees that you are working with. At the end of the day, you can't teach people to suck eggs. They're either natural at it, or they are not. "If you don't have the right people you're just going to make it harder for yourself and you're not able to do your work as you have to do someone else's." The local market for the brand started developing when Thomas managed to secure distribution of the product through some design-led furniture shops. In parallel, potential customers started visiting the company website. "The website is the most amazing tool that you can get today for your business," he says. "If you understand IT and take it toyour advantage, you draw traffic throughand people are always looking for opportunities." * * * TASMANIAN TWIST ON FROZEN ASSETS ABALONE FARMS AUSTRALIA Tip: Concentrate on the detail of logistics in delivering a product in optimum condition. THE success in exporting a product is to be among the best available. But as Miles Cropp, managing director of Abalone Farms Australia in Tasmania found, you also need to be able to deliver that product to market in the best condition. Cropp's farm comprises 660 concrete tanks on 7.25ha of land in Bicheno. At any one time the tanks contain about 3 million abalone. Established in 1987, the farm took many years before it got the systems right and understood the biology of the shellfish. "And then we had to move to produce them in commercial numbers," Cropp says. "It was a stepping process through all the learning side of things and scaling up to export quantities." At first he sold in Australia but now more than half the company's 40 tonnes of sales are exports, mainly to Japan, where they are used for sashimi. The innovation, developed through AUSAB, is to vacuum pack the abalone in its shell in brine and freeze it at minus 18C. "The freezing process we use now with the brine maintains the quality characteristics of the abalone. It's very good. It has to be very good to be able to be sashimi grade." *** Fri Jan 25 04:43:59 2008 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Better a David than a Goliath Four rising star exporters explain how they made the leap overseas. Ed Charles reports | November 30, 2007 ANYBODY can try to export a product or service. What takes skill in a small or medium-sized business, is identifying the correct strategy to see off larger competitors, which often have detailed knowledge of local market conditions. Sometimes the assistance of a large customer company, such as Qantas, is needed. Other times it's a matter of picking the right overseas distributors. Chief executive of The Fire Company, Stephane Thomas, says: "A lot of people say you just have to be at the right place at the right time. But even if you are in the right place at the right time with the right product, it is still bloody hard work. It does not come easy." Thomas had a great marketing strategy, reinventing a fake log fire as a stylish interior design product. He says the most important thing for him, as the owner of a small company, is to be working with the right people. "At the end of the day, you just have to pick people who want to be successful," he says. "Ambition is what drives business." EXPORT SAVVY IN A CLICK Useful websites for SME exporters * www.export61.com.au -- comprehensive information on grants and other assistance for exporters available from Commonwealth and State/Territory governments, plus rules and regulations for exporters * www.austrade.gov.au -- guide to Austrade services. See the Export Markets section, in particular * www.aiex.com.au -- information from the Australian Institute for Export, focusing on export education, training, networking and representation * www.exporthub.gov.au -- compilation of material from AusIndustry specialists and Austrade's Trade Start program on becoming internationally competitive, including list of ExportHub offices * www.efic.gov.au -- information about financial support available from Export Finance and Insurance Corporation. Go to the Small Business section Many companies offer excellent technology but it takes more to make the leap from Australia. For Customvis, the key was focusing its scarce resources on easy-to-service local markets before taking steps further afield. It all comes down to strategy rather than trying to outgun competitors with better technology, which will be outmoded next year, according to Sydac CEO Adrian Smith. "The big lesson we learnt was that differentiation by service in the technology game is a more sustainable competitive advantage and a more valuable value proposition for our customers." And that's not to forget the logistics and paperwork. * * * BETTER SERVICE THE RIGHT TRACK SYDAC Tip: If you are playing a game of technological leapfrog with competitors, look for another point of difference. ITS train simulation technology is world class. The trouble with breaking into Europe was that the competitors' technology was just as good and Sydac was 15,000km away in Australia. What the company's CEO, Adrian Smith, realised was that while they were all in the technology game it was a never-ending game of leapfrog. "You can have a technologically better product but that's not really a basis for sustainability in terms of competitive advantage," he says. "This year we would argue that we have the technological leading product but chances are next year someone will leapfrog us and a year after that we will be back in front." The company took the sensible approach of concentrating initially on one export market: Britain. Its representatives spent 18 months visiting potential clients. "We didn't try and sell them anything," Smith says. He simply spoke to them and identified the shortcomings of the local competitors. "The bottom line was that the UK had been poorly serviced by its suppliers. And we had already decided that was our differentiation strategy. So here we had a market where (potential) customers were telling us they were unhappy with their suppliers in terms of service." Smith ensured that staff were contacting potential British customers every month. "Every six weeks I went to England and visited companies because we were trying to get the message across that we were all about service and relationships and that we weren't on the other side of the world." Eventually one of the directors of Chiltern Railways realised that he was seeing Smith more than his local suppliers. * * * SEEING THE LIGHT CLOSER TO HOME CUSTOMVIS Tip: Focus on the most cost-effective markets to service first. THERE are two reasons for the success of CustomVis, which exports 100 per cent of its products. First, according to chief operating officer Dr Mukesh Jain, is the technology. It is the only low-maintenance, solid-state laser available for refractive eye surgery but still needs to be serviced every three months. Second is the marketing. Founded in 2001, CustomVis is still relatively small with 23 staff and has to focus its efforts. Initially it supplied its lasers to almost any market. "We did put some lasers in Europe and then it became very expensive to maintain it," Jain says. "Don't go everywhere. Specialise on your targeted market." The company first focused its marketing on Asia. Proximity to its base in Perth made it relatively cheap to service clients. What the company has been doing is concentrating on building market share in each market rather than sales numbers before moving to the next country. For example, in Indonesia, although the population is 200 million, there are only about 10 lasers, meaning that few have to be sold. By contrast in Korea with 45 million people, there are some 600 lasers. The company has picked off the Philippines, Indonesia, Singapore, Korea and India. It is also opening in Malaysia, Vietnam and Taiwan. "Then we are going to the Middle East, then Europe," says Jain. * * * STOKING UP THE HEAT IN STYLE THE FIRE COMPANY Tip: The secret of success is to carefully pick the right people to work with AN innovative twist on the old-fashioned fake log fireplace is what has taken The Fire Company, which now has 24 full-time employees to some 30 countries. What former optometrist Stephane Thomas did was to market his product, the Ecosmart Fire, not as a heating product, but as a fashion item, something that attracted style-conscious consumers. Founded in 2004, Thomas says initially his time was spent developing the product for a fussy and demanding Australian market. Despite being called Ecosmart, Thomas says that the environmental credentials of his products, which burn ethanol and don't require a chimney flue, are secondary to the company's export success. He says it is all down to choosing the right people, especially distributors, to work with. "I think it's a skill that you have to develop in picking the right people, whether they are your employees that you are working with. At the end of the day, you can't teach people to suck eggs. They're either natural at it, or they are not. "If you don't have the right people you're just going to make it harder for yourself and you're not able to do your work as you have to do someone else's." The local market for the brand started developing when Thomas managed to secure distribution of the product through some design-led furniture shops. In parallel, potential customers started visiting the company website. "The website is the most amazing tool that you can get today for your business," he says. "If you understand IT and take it toyour advantage, you draw traffic throughand people are always looking for opportunities." * * * TASMANIAN TWIST ON FROZEN ASSETS ABALONE FARMS AUSTRALIA Tip: Concentrate on the detail of logistics in delivering a product in optimum condition. THE success in exporting a product is to be among the best available. But as Miles Cropp, managing director of Abalone Farms Australia in Tasmania found, you also need to be able to deliver that product to market in the best condition. Cropp's farm comprises 660 concrete tanks on 7.25ha of land in Bicheno. At any one time the tanks contain about 3 million abalone. Established in 1987, the farm took many years before it got the systems right and understood the biology of the shellfish. "And then we had to move to produce them in commercial numbers," Cropp says. "It was a stepping process through all the learning side of things and scaling up to export quantities." At first he sold in Australia but now more than half the company's 40 tonnes of sales are exports, mainly to Japan, where they are used for sashimi. The innovation, developed through AUSAB, is to vacuum pack the abalone in its shell in brine and freeze it at minus 18C. "The freezing process we use now with the brine maintains the quality characteristics of the abalone. It's very good. It has to be very good to be able to be sashimi grade." http://email.news.com.au/ct/click?q=3f-4s1EIqMBaIfkBiAuNEhG7BZuc9RR *** Sun Jan 27 21:02:25 2008 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Shame on us: Rudd pleads for homeless Jonathan Pearlman 557 words 28 January 2008 The Sydney Morning Herald First 1 English © 2008 Copyright John Fairfax Holdings Limited. www.smh.com.au KEVIN RUDD has declared a 10-year effort to tackle homelessness, warning that the problem is getting worse despite the nation's soaring wealth. The Prime Minister said yesterday the Government's first white paper will be a policy document canvassing long-term options to reduce the growing number of homeless. About 100,000 people a night are homeless, including 10,000 children under age 12 who are forced to sleep outside or in crisis accommodation, boarding houses or with family and friends. "We don't believe it is something which a country as wealthy as ours in the 21st century can just ignore," Mr Rudd said. "It is dead wrong that ... on any given night some 14,000 people are sleeping rough. We should not be allowing this to happen." Mr Rudd said Labor would fulfil its election pledge to spend $150 million on new places in crisis shelters and will use the white paper to fund further policies aimed at prevention, such as tackling mental health and education problems. It will be overseen by one of the country's most experienced welfare advocates, Tony Nicholson, and is to be completed by August. "I don't want to live in a country where we simply discard people," Mr Rudd said. "I don't want to live in a country where we accept people begging on the streets is somehow acceptable to the Australian way of life ... We are not like that." The white paper received the immediate backing of the Opposition. "It is one of the paradoxes of Australian society that our country is going so well whilst many families are struggling in day-to-day life, that we still have far too many people that are homeless," said the Opposition Leader, Brendan Nelson. "The health and integrity of human life, the extent to which we are able to look after people on the margins of our society - in the end they are critical measures of Australia." Mr Nicholson, who will oversee the drafting of the white paper, signalled yesterday that he wants the Government to tackle rising rents and encourage business to train and employ unskilled young adults. "In the last decade we have got very good at counting the homeless, but we have done very little about it," said Mr Nicholson, who runs the Brotherhood of St Laurence. A paper released yesterday to outline the Government's policy says early data from the 2006 census shows an increase in the number of people who are sleeping rough. It says the biggest cause of homelessness is domestic violence, while other causes include mental health problems, drug abuse, unemployment, family breakdown and rising rents. "There are signs that homelessness may be getting worse," the paper says. "Homeless Australians must be given the encouragement to achieve economic independence ... The best responses to homelessness provide more than a bed. They ... [connect] their clients to education, employment and counselling." Mr Nicholson said about 250,000 people experienced homelessness last year, including about 55,000 children under 10 who accompanied their parents to crisis accommodation. "For those with prolonged experiences of homelessness, their life expectancy is 15 to 20 years shorter than for average Australians. This issue has been crying out for national leadership." Document SMHH000020080127e41s00004 *** Mon Feb 4 17:25:10 2008 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Virgin Blue offers one-cent fares Craig Platt February 4, 2008 Virgin Blue claims to be offering the lowest fares ever seen in Australia, with 1000 seats going on sale for one cent each. The seats will be for flights on Virgin's new Sydney to Port Macquarie route and will go on sale tomorrow night at 8pm for four hours or until sold out. The flights must be taken between February 6 and June 30 this year. The one cent fares include taxes and surcharges, which normally cost $41.73. "You probably won't get a better deal than a 1 cent flight and while it's clearly a very special launch fare, it's an indication that Virgin Blue is serious about generating interest and excitement for people travelling to and from regional destinations like Port Macquarie," said Virgin Blue Chief Executive, Brett Godfrey. Virgin Blue will operate Brazilian manufactured Embraer E-Jets on the route, carrying up to 78 passengers in the E-170 and 104 in the slightly larger E-190. The jets have a flying time between Sydney and Port Macquarie of 40 minutes. The announcement came as Virgin resumed its Sydney-Canberra service, breaking a monopoly that has existed since the airline pulled out of the route 2 years ago. The Virgin sale is the latest move in the ongoing war between low-cost Australian operators. In November last year Jetstar offered 10,000 fares for five cents including taxes in a moved aimed at drawing attention away from the launch of new domestic carrier Tiger. The next major event in the budget airline war may be the introduction of Indonesian airline Lion Air, which aims to become Australia's next domestic carrier. *** Thu Feb 7 01:05:04 2008 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Genitals found in drawer after murder February 07, 2008 03:19pm Article from: AAP Font size: + - Send this article: Print Email A SYDNEY man accused of murdering his estranged wife's lover mutilated his victim's genitals which were found in a cupboard drawer after the attack, a jury has been told. In the NSW Supreme Court today, Crown Prosecutor Phillip Calvert said Gabor Ziha had found his estranged wife in bed with Barry Corbett in a flat in Parramatta in Sydney's west. In his opening address to the jury of 11 men and one woman, Mr Calvert said police found Mr Corbett's mutilated body parts in a drawer beside the bed. Mr Ziha, 57, has pleaded not guilty to murdering Mr Corbett, 58, in August 2006 and to maliciously wounding his estranged wife. Mr Calvert said he expected the issue in the trial to be whether Mr Ziha had a "substantial impairment" which would warrant the charge of murder being reduced to manslaughter. The trial is continuing. http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,23174894-29277,00.html *** Wed Feb 13 17:00:20 2008 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Microfiber fabric makes its own electricity? By Julie Steenhuysen Reuters CHICAGO U.S. scientists have developed a microfiber fabric that generates its own electricity, making enough current to recharge a cell phone or ensure that a small MP3 music player never runs out of power. If made into a shirt, the fabric could harness power from its wearer simply walking around or even from a slight breeze, they reported Wednesday in the journal Nature. "The fiber-based nanogenerator would be a simple and economical way to harvest energy from the physical movement," Zhong Lin Wang of the Georgia Institute of Technology, who led the study, said in a statement. The nanogenerator takes advantage of the semiconductive properties of zinc oxide nanowires -- tiny wires 1,000 times smaller than the width of a human hair -- embedded into the fabric. The wires are formed into pairs of microscopic brush-like structures, shaped like a baby-bottle brush. One of the fibers in each pair is coated with gold and serves as an electrode. As the bristles brush together through a person's body movement, the wires convert the mechanical motion into electricity. "When a nanowire bends it has an electric effect," Wang said in a telephone interview. "What the fabric does is it translates the mechanical movement of your body into electricity." His team made the nanogenerator by first coating fibers with a polymer, and then a layer of zinc oxide. They dunked this into a warm bath of reactive solution for 12 hours. This encouraged the wires to multiply, coating the fibers. "They automatically grow on the surface of the fiber," Wang said. "In principal, you could use any fiber that is conductive." They added another layer of polymer to prevent the zinc oxide from being scrubbed off. And they added an ultra-thin layer of gold to some fibers, which works as a conductor. To ensure all that friction was not just generating static electricity, the researchers conducted several tests. The fibers produced current only when both the gold and the zinc oxide bristles brushed together. So far, Wang said the researchers had demonstrated the principle and developed a small prototype. "Our estimates show we can have up to 80 milliwatts per square meter of this fabric. This is enough to power a little iPod or charge a cell phone battery," he said. "What we've done is demonstrate the principle and the fundamental mechanism." Wang said the material could be used by hikers and soldiers in the field and also to power tiny sensors used in biomedicine or environmental monitoring. One major hurdle remains: zinc oxide degrades when wet. Wang's team is working on a process that would coat the fibers to protect the fabric in the laundry. (Editing by Maggie Fox and Alan Elsner) (julie.steenhuysen@reuters.com ; +1 312 408 8131)) Copyright 2008 Reuters News Service. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. *** Wed Feb 13 17:33:55 2008 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Singapore government plays Cupid for Valentine's Day Agence France-Presse SINGAPORE - Worried that a low birth rate could threaten the country's very survival Singapore's government is playing Cupid, using Valentine's Day to promote romance and marriage. In a city where many singles say they are too busy making money to make love, the government plans to step up its official "Romancing Singapore" campaign on Thursday, the traditional lovers' day, to encourage people to take up dating. The campaign, launched in 2002 and managed commercially by the private sector since 2005, has lined up a series of events throughout February and on Valentine's Day itself to try to reverse the falling birthrate. And a separate initiative sees the government directly funding efforts to promote romance. In 2006 it launched the one-million-Singapore-dollar (704,000 US) Partner Connection Fund to support dating agencies that come up with what it called new "social interaction opportunities" for singles. "A lot of countries, they let nature take its course but in Singapore because of our work and lifestyle, we don't have a lot of time," said Andrew Chow, a manager with Romancing Singapore. "We are trying to educate the singles that dating is in fact a lifestyle. I think nowhere else in the world does things like Singapore." Among the events Romancing Singapore has planned to give Cupid a helping hand is an evening date on the newly-opened Singapore Flyer, the world's tallest observation wheel at 42 storeys high. The Valentine's Day event, billed as "Love In A Capsule," is organized by Romancing Singapore and Clique Wise, another social networking outfit. From movie marathons, Friday night shopping sprees and treasure hunts, Romancing Singapore says it has tapped more than 5,000 singles to participate in previous events. Love comes at a price, though -- a date on the Singapore Flyer costs 140 US dollars, which includes a gourmet dinner at a spa resort. All 24 slots have been booked, said Chow. Violet Lim, co-founder of dating agency Lunch Actually, agreed Singapore's fast-paced lifestyle has made it hard for couples to connect. "We play the role of an introducer," she said. "A lot of people who join us, they are not exactly people who can't find dates on their own. I would say it's more due to their schedules." A subsidiary of Lunch Actually, Eteract.com, received funding from the government's Partner Connection Fund for its on-line dating platform. The platform allows singles to get acquainted by chatting and even playing games in cyberspace, said Lim, adding the identities of participants have been verified. The number of babies born per woman in Singapore fell to an historic low of 1.24 in 2004 and 2005, far below the rate of 2.1 needed for the population to replenish itself, the government has said. This shortage prompted authorities to offer cash incentives for couples having more than two children, encourage foreigners to adopt citizenship, and ease up on previously taboo subjects like sex. "We have managed to reverse the decline in births, but only barely," Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said in a message on the eve of Lunar New Year earlier this month. "Last year we only had 37,000 resident births, just 2,000 more than in 2004." Lee said that ultimately the issue is not just about financial incentives but other factors including "social attitudes". Singapore had a population of 4,588,600 last year but about one million of those were non-resident foreigners, official statistics show. Perhaps among those numbers lies the partner Joyce Tia is seeking. Tia, a group financial controller in her thirties, will join a dinner date organized by Ideas and Concepts dating agency on the eve of Valentine's Day. "I am looking for a long-term relationship so having the dating agency to provide me the background of the person is good," said Tia. *** Thu Feb 14 18:52:32 2008 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Tuesday, November 13, 2007 Stopping Cars with Radiation A beam of microwave energy could stop vehicles in their tracks. By Brittany Sauser Researchers at Eureka Aerospace are turning a fictional concept from the movie 2 Fast 2 Furious into reality: they're creating an electromagnetic system that can quickly bring a vehicle to a stop. The system, which can be attached to an automobile or aircraft carrier, sends out pulses of microwave radiation to disable the microprocessors that control the central engine functions in a car. Such a device could be used by law enforcement to stop fleeing and noncooperative vehicles at security checkpoints, or as perimeter protection for military bases, communication centers, and oil platforms in the open seas. The system has been tested on a variety of stationary vehicles and could be ready for deployment in automobiles within 18 months, says James Tatoian, the chief executive officer of Eureka Aerospace and the project's leader. To bring an opposing vehicle to a halt, the 200-pound device is attached to the roof of a car. The car's alternator serves as the system's power source, whose direct-current (DC) power feeds into a power supply. This generates a stream of 50-nanosecond-duration pulses of energy. These pulses are amplified to 640 kilovolts using a 16-stage Marx generator. The 640 kilovolts of DC power are then converted into microwaves using an oscillator that consists of a pair of coupled transmission lines and several spark-gap switches. Finally, a specially designed antenna beams the microwave energy toward an opposing vehicle through a part of the car, such as the windshield, window, grill, or spacing between the hood and main body, that is not made of metal. (Metal acts as a shield against microwave energy.) The radiated microwave energy will upset or damage the vehicle's electronic systems, particularly the microprocessors that control important engine functions, such as the ignition control, the fuel injector, and the fuel-pump control. However, electronic control modules were not built into most cars until 1972, hence the system will not work on automobiles made before that year. The concept of disabling vehicles' electronic system with microwaves was first tested in 1997 by the U.S. Army using bulky and heavy military equipment. But the Eureka Aerospace system is only six to eight feet long (antennae included) and not quite three feet wide. "It is much more efficient and compact than anything previously used in military vehicles," says Tatoian. The device's peak power output is two gigawatts, although the average power emitted in a single shot is about 100 watts. Each radiated pulse lasts about 50 nanoseconds. All the test cars' engines were shut off using a single pulse at a distance of approximately 15 meters, making the total energy output 100 joules, says Tatoian. His company is currently developing a more compact high-power microwave pulse system with the goal of disabling engines at ranges from as far away as 200 meters. "I have no doubt that if you set up a microprocessor and get a high-powered, well-focused beam of energy on [a car], you can disrupt its operation," says Peter Fisher, a professor of physics and the division head in particle and nuclear experimental physics at MIT. But to be able to deploy such a system safely will take some work, he says. Imagine if a police officer is in a high-speed chase near a shopping mall and turns on one of these systems to stop the perpetrator: a lot of elevators have microprocessor controls, so if the officer is pointing the device in the direction of the mall, he or she could end up trapping 12 people in an elevator, says Fisher. Many other electronic systems, such as an automated teller machine or a security system, could also be disrupted. Furthermore, Fisher cautions that, while the system may seem like an easier and more efficient solution than spike strips, it could still cause a huge accident if a car is disabled and a driver loses steering control. The system could pose a safety concern as well: radiation can burn human skin, and microwaves have long been suspected of being a cancer-causing agent. At the moment, the most practical application for the system would be in the U.S. Army or Marine Corp, for perimeter protection of areas that are generally remote, says Fisher. Initial funding for the project came from the U.S. Marine Corp, but now Eureka Aerospace is looking to other governmental agencies for financial support as the company continues to work to make the device smaller, lighter, and more efficient. (Tatoian says that details regarding future work with the military are confidential.) http://www.technologyreview.com/printer_friendly_article.aspx?id=19699 *** Thu Feb 14 18:59:21 2008 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Offshore tax dodgers hit * Font Size: Decrease Increase * Print Page: Print Scott Murdoch | February 15, 2008 MORE than 400 Australians with overseas bank accounts, some in notorious tax havens, have confessed to failing to declare foreign income and settled debts worth a combined $17 million. In an investigation with local and international banks to expose offshore tax dodgers, the Australian Taxation Office wrote to 1600 Australian citizens who had overseas transactions or dealings with renowned tax havens in the past year. The results, obtained exclusively by The Australian, showed that 425 taxpayers had admitted having earned overseas income that had not been declared in Australian tax returns. The concessions collected $17 million worth of revenue. One taxpayer declared tax had not been paid on $2.4 million worth of income that had been accrued overseas over four years. The project was started by the tax office last July. The second phase is now beginning, in which investigators will audit taxpayers who have not volunteered their international income. The investigation has been run separately from Operation Wickenby and has centred on offshore credit and debit cards, especially those registered in tax havens such as Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. The tax office's international relations assistant commissioner Graham Whyte said a growing number of Australians had overseas bank accounts. The income declared in the first phase of the operation was earned in 29 separate countries, but the majority came from transactions in tax havens. "It has been income that's been earned from interest and dividends or wages and pensions that have been paid overseas - they have been the main ones," Mr Whyte said. "It's people who are living in Australia that we are concerned about. "What we are finding is that it's people who have offshore investments, or it has been people who were working overseas and they've migrated to Australia or coming back and they still have investments offshore." Mr Whyte said one area the tax office had examined was Australian citizens receiving a British pension paid to an overseas credit card. It is estimated that $5.2 billion flows between Australia and tax havens each year, but not all of that is considered dodgy. The tax office said, for 2006, 170 audits separate to this investigation were done on transactions carried out in tax havens and collected $250 million worth of lost tax and penalties. The investigation granted generous discounts to taxpayers who confessed, with penalties cut from 75 per cent to 5 per cent payable on income declared over $20,000. Tax office deputy commissioner Paul Duffus said taxpayers whom authorities believed had not declared offshore income would now be audited. "The first part of our strategy was to get voluntary disclosure, but I think time is running out for people," Mr Duffus said. "We will be ramping up the audits and we'll probably start them now. This year we've put in place a taskforce of 50 staff." Mr Duffus said the initial phase of the project was run in conjunction with local banks, but would now be expanded to foreign banks with local customers. "We've been working with the domestic banks to get them to send letters to their account holders who are Australian to alert them," he said. *** Fri Feb 15 13:25:52 2008 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: The sound that repels troublemakers http://www.bbc.co.uk/wiltshire/content/articles/2006/04/04/mosquito_sound_wave_feature.shtml A device emitting a soundwave which is designed to drive young troublemakers away from a problem area of Swindon has been hailed as a success. Listen to the sound online. The 'Mosquito' sonic deterrent device was installed by the Wyvern Theatre in an attempt to stop groups of up to 100 youngsters from gathering around Theatre Square. Click below to listen to a feature about the 'Mosquito' device from BBC Radio Swindon's Breakfast Show with Peter Heaton-Jones broadcast on 14/06/06. * BBC Radio Swindon feature > Help playing audio/video The Wyvern Theatre The Wyvern Theatre It was named the 'Mosquito' because the sound resembles that of a buzzing insect. And it works by emitting a harmless ultra sonic tone that generally can only be heard by people aged 25 and under. In trials, it has proven that the longer someone is exposed to the sound, the more annoying it becomes. Crime Reduction Officer Bob Walton elaborated further: "Effectively, it's a transmitter which sends out a specialised frequency noise which according to the manufacture is particularly audible to young people under the age of 25. He said: "I'm in my fifties and when it's turned on all I can hear is a very faint buzz. But I understand from young people who have been exposed to the noise, it is very annoying." Swindon's anti-social behaviour co-ordinator Cheri Wright says it is working well. She said: "We had a meeting with local retailers arounds here - after it had been installed for around three weeks - and feedback was really positive. "Everyone was saying there has been a marked reduction in criminal damage and problems with the shops, so they've really welcomed it." Click the link below to listen to an MP3 of the 'Mosquito' sonic deterrent soundwave to see if you are susceptible or not. *** Wed Feb 20 01:47:43 2008 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Laptop Wipes Own Hard Drive to Beat Thieves A new laptop-protection system can automatically wipe hard disk data on machines taken from authorized locations. John E. Dunn, Techworld.com Tuesday, February 19, 2008 4:10 PM PST Recommend this story? Yes1 Votes No0 Votes Please Wait... A U.K. company has come up with a nifty laptop-protection system that can automatically wipe hard disk data on machines taken from authorized locations. Sold as a hosted service, Virtuity's BackStopp server monitors a protected laptop using any medium available, including the Internet, or locally using Wi-Fi or GSM. If a laptop is reported stolen -- or even just moved from a designated space - the system can reach out and execute a file deletion routine that clears the laptop of all important data. For laptops stolen while switched off, the location system can use RFID tags to make a judgement about whether that movement is within allowed parameters. A full log of all deletions is sent back to the service center once completed. Its makers even boast that BackStopp can use a webcam, if one is installed, to take pictures of the thieves, sending these back for analysis without the offenders knowing. "There are millions of laptops out there that contain valuable data. The vast majority are not stolen for their data, but the ultimate recipient will often come across the data and use it for criminal purposes. This solution prevents that illicit use," said Virtuity's CTO, Dean Bates. Data destruction routines met standards set down by the U.S. Department of Defense's National Industrial Security Program Operating Manual, the company said, ensuring that it could not be resurrected. An important aspect of the system is that a thief would not know it was in operation until after data had been wiped, making it extremely hard to circumvent. BackStopp was designed to be used in conjunction with encryption, and was not therefore a replacement for that form of protection, the company said. The system also protected data such as network and web logins and VPN connections -- often data companies forgot to protect - as well as static file data. Laptop theft is now firmly entrenched as the number one data worry for corporates, with numerous examples of unencrypted data going missing on stolen laptops to embarrass organizations of every ilk in the last year. Prices for BackStopp start at $19 per month for each laptop being protected. http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,142631-pg,1/article.html *** Sat Feb 23 17:54:02 2008 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: rom The Times February 12, 2008 Internet users could be banned over illegal downloads Francis Eliott, Deputy Political Editor People who illegally download films and music will be cut off from the internet under new legislative proposals to be unveiled next week. Internet service providers (ISPs) will be legally required to take action against users who access pirated material, The Times has learnt. Users suspected of wrongly downloading films or music will receive a warning e-mail for the first offence, a suspension for the second infringement and the termination of their internet contract if caught a third time, under the most likely option to emerge from discussions about the new law. Broadband companies who fail to enforce the “three-strikes” regime would be prosecuted and suspected customers’ details could be made available to the courts. The Government has yet to decide if information on offenders should be shared between ISPs. Microsoft and Sony Ericsson's smartphone Sony Ericsson's flagship phone for 2008 will run on Windows, the first time the two companies have partnered in a mobile device * Microsoft to take on YouTube in online video * Yahoo! set to revive merger talks with AOL after rejecting hostile takeover * Microsoft is ready to oust Yahoo! board to achieve swift takeover Background * How to write a good short film script Related Links * File sharing takes up to 95% of net use at night * ‘Telecoms corporations profit at our expense’ * ‘Blocking illegal activity will also hit the innocent’ Six million broadband users are estimated to download files illegally every year in this country in a practice that music and film companies claim is costing them billions of pounds in lost revenue annually. Britain’s four biggest internet providers – BT, Tiscali, Orange and Virgin Media – have been in talks with Hollywood’s biggest studio and distribution companies for six months over a voluntary scheme. Parallel negotiations between Britain’s music industry and individual internet providers have been dragging on for two years. Major sticking points include who will arbitrate disputed allegations, for example when customers claim to have been the victim of “wi-fi piggybacking”, in which users link up to a paid-for wireless network that is not their own. Another outstanding disagreement is how many enforcements the internet companies will be expected to initiate and how quickly warning e-mails would be sent. International action in the US and France, which is implementing its own “three-strikes” regime, has increased the pressure on British internet companies and stiffened the Government’s resolve. Ministers will make an explicit commitment to legislate with the launch next week of a Green Paper on the creative industries. A draft copy, obtained by The Times, states: “We will move to legislate to require internet service providers to take action on illegal file-sharing.” A consultation paper setting out the options is promised within months. A spokesman for the Internet Service Providers Association said it remained hopeful that agreement over a voluntary agreement could be reached: “Every right-thinking body knows that self-regulation is much the better option in these areas.” Roz Groome, vice-president of antipiracy for NBC Universal, welcomed the prospect of new laws. “We welcome the signal from Government that it values the health of the creative industries and takes seriously the damage caused by widespread online copyright infringement. We call upon ISPs to take action now. They must play their part in the fight against online piracy and work with rights owners to ensure that ISPs’ customers do not use their services for illegal activity. Piracy stifles innovation and threatens the long term health of our industry.” Ed Vaizey, the Shadow Arts Minister, said: “David Cameron called on the internet providers to address this issue last summer. The credibility of the Government’s latest threat is undermined by the fact that ministers have spent so many years dithering on whether to legislate.” The commitment forms part of a Green Paper on the creative industries entitled The World’s Creative Hub to be launched by Andy Burnham, the Culture Secretary, and Gordon Brown next week. Other high-profile elements include a pledge that children will be entitled to five hours of culture a week overseen by a new youth culture trust. The pledge will give children the right to learn a musical instrument, visit art galleries and museums and even make films. Other pledges include setting up a new international conference modelled on Davos, entitled the World Creative Economy Forum, and supporting a new £200 million film centre at the South Bank in London. A spokeswoman for the Department for Culture, Media and Sport said: “Early drafts of our creative economy programme document were circulated to stakeholders for comment. The content and proposals for the strategy have been significantly developed since then and a comprehensive plan to bolster the UK’s creative industries will be published shortly. We will not comment on the content of the leaked document.” * Have your say Until the CD and DVD prices become sensible, downloads will happen. Big brother may complain, but the majority of downloads are occasional users, that cost the film and record companies little. The only way to catch the attention of the music industry and encourage cheaper prices for downloads and CD/DVD purchases is to hit them where it hurts. Their wallet. I suggest a one week boycott. No online downloads or CD/DVD purchases for one week. How about 31st March? The subsequent dip in income would get their attention, but it has to be a widespread boycott. Only when they know you can hit back, will they take any notice. Richard, Edinburgh, UK Im not a pirate but i do use filesharing programs and protocols very regulary (eg linux cd imges). personally, I welcome this legislation as it stimulating discussion on many technology related groups (piracy and non-piracy). In order for an ISP to enforce this they will need to analyse web traffic in order to find a a pattern that can be beyond all reasonable doubt, pirated content. Some form of public/private key encryption would prevent this if random keys were used. so im hoping this will result in much more secure file sharing programs for all of us. Ben, Bristol, uk for years ive known this was coming, and had my suspisons it would come around the time the new high def forum would take hold. im sure that this debate is going to be as ruthless as the oil industry, it probably has more hidden motives than gwb you have to wonder how many opinions you are going to read that are created by people either side of the fence, simply to change the way things are done, rather than what is right as a person who has probably downloaded dozens of terabytes of stuff over the years, and someone who relies on d/l on a daily basis (strike time excluded) to keep up with my shows im going to be very involved in this after all, the tv industry is out to make a product that gets the viewers to set aside a certain hour of each week to get you to tune in again, and again and again, infact hundreds of time seach show, and yet they think people will be able to just have that taken away, especially since they have the easy of d/l whenever they want (uk viewers) *** Sun Feb 24 01:31:17 2008 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: rom Times Online November 5, 2007 The world's weirdest cases From the man who sued God to the man who sued TV for making his wife fat, people turn to lawyers for the strangest things Gary Slapper A meticulous collector of amusing and curious anecdotes from the world of law, Professor Gary Slapper's Case Notes column has long been a staple of The Times' Law section. His collection of legal oddities is on display in a new column, Weird Cases. As a taster, we asked him to select 20 of his favourite bizarre disputes, prosecutions and lawsuits from the archive. 1. In 2004, Timothy Dumouchel, from Fond du Lac, Wisconsin sued a television company for making his wife fat and transforming his children into “lazy channel surfers”. He said: “I believe the reason I smoke and drink every day and my wife is overweight is because we watched the TV everyday for the last four years”. The case kept at least two of America’s then 1,058,662 lawyers occupied for a while, but did not go to the Supreme Court. 2. In 2005, a Brazilian woman sued her partner for failing to give her orgasms. The 31-year old woman from Jundiai asserted in her case that her 38-year old partner routinely ended sexual intercourse after he reached an orgasm. After a promising start the action ended in something of an anticlimax for the claimant when her case was rejected. 3. In 2004, a German lawyer, Dr Juergen Graefe, acted for an elderly pensioner from St Augustin, near Bonn, who was sent a tax demand for €287 million, even though the woman’s income was only €17,000. Dr Graefe fixed the problem with one standard letter to the authorities, but as German law entitles him to calculate his fee based on the amount of the reduction he obtained, his fee came to €440,234 (£308,000). It will be met by the state. There is no evidence that he pushed his luck by writing a thank-you letter. The world's strangest laws Did you know it's illegal in France to name a pig Napoleon? Alex Wade gets in the spirit of the silly season with a list of the world's most ridiculous laws Weirdest workplace disputes Last week, the Employment Appeal Tribunal celebrated its 30th anniversary. We marked the occasion by trawling the archives and dusting off some of the more colourful UK employment disputes from the past few years. 4. In 1972, at Wakefield Crown Court in Yorkshire, Reginald Sedgwick was prosecuted for stealing Cleckheaton railway station. The defendant, a demolition contractor, was alleged to have destroyed the disused stone building and cleared the site of 24 tons of track with dishonest intentions. He admitted the deed, explained that it was done for an untraced third party, and his lawyer demolished the prosecution’s case, securing an acquittal. 5. In 2005, the Massachusetts Appeals Court was asked to rule on when a sexual technique was dangerous. Early one morning, a man and woman in a long-term relationship were engaged in consensual intercourse. During the passionate event, and, without the man’s consent, the woman suddenly manoeuvred herself in a way that caused him to suffer a penile fracture. Emergency surgery was required. The court ruled that while “reckless” sexual conduct may be actionable, “merely negligent” conduct was not. It dismissed the man’s case. 6. In 2005, Marina Bai, a Russian astrologer, sued NASA for £165 million for “disrupting the balance of the universe”. She claimed that the space agency’s Deep Impact space probe, which was due to hit a comet later that year to harvest material from the explosion, was a “terrorist act”. A Moscow court accepted Russian jurisdiction to hear the claim but it was eventually rejected. 7. In 2007, a court in India was asked to decide whether a vibrating condom is a contraceptive or a sex toy. The condoms contain a battery-operated device, and, for the avoidance of doubt, are marketed as “Crezendo”. Opponents argue it’s a sex toy and thus unlawful in India, whereas the manufacturer says it’s a contraceptive and promotional of public health. 8. In 2006, a young man from Jiaxing, near Shanghai, found himself in legal trouble after failing to take advice before putting his soul up for sale on an online auction site. The posting was eventually removed by the auctioneer and the seller was told that the advert would be reinstated only if he could produce written permission to sell his soul from “a higher authority”. 9. In 2004, Frank D’Alessandro, a court official in New York, sued the city for serious injuries that he sustained when a toilet he was sitting on exploded leaving him in a pile of porcelain. He claimed $5 million compensation. Reflecting on the demanding physical therapy in which he must now engage every morning before work, D’Alessandro declared: “It’s a pain in the ass to do all this stuff.” 10. A Las Vegas law prohibiting strippers from fondling customers during lap dances was ruled by the Nevada Supreme Court in 2006 to be valid. The issue was whether the local law was unconstitutionally vague and therefore unenforceable. The law states that “no attendant or server shall fondle or caress any patron” with intent to arouse him. Lawyers discussed at length whether grinding (of dancers’ bottoms into men’s laps) amounted to a fondle or caress, and whether the brushing of breast into patrons’ faces was prohibited conduct. The local law was declared valid because the court thought enforcers would be able to know a fondle or caress if they saw one. 11. In 1964, the Exchequer Court of Canada was asked to decide whether the expenses of running a “call girl” business in Vancouver were deductible from gross income for the purposes of income tax. The madam and seven call girls were all convicted and imprisoned. And then taxed. Claims for tax deductions in respect of the ordinary parts of the business, such as phone bills, were allowed. Other types of expenses were disallowed because the business couldn’t prove them with receipts, including $2000 for liquor for local officials and $1000 paid to "certain men possessed of physical strength and some guile, which they exercised when set to extricate a girl from difficulties". 12. In a notorious case heard by Baron Huddleston in November 1884, Captain Thomas Dudley and Edwin Stephens were prosecuted for the murder of a cabin boy, Richard Parker. When the yacht they were sailing from Southampton to Sydney capsized, they found themselves on a dinghy 1,600 miles from shore. After 20 days adrift, they killed Parker, eating his liver and drinking his blood to survive. They were rescued four days later by a German vessel and were convicted of murder at Exeter Assizes, although their death sentences were later commuted to six months imprisonment without hard labour. Their defence of “necessity” was rejected. 13. Cathy McGowan, 26, was overjoyed when a DJ on Radio Buxton told her that she had correctly answered a quiz question and had won the competition prize: a Renault Clio. Ecstasy collapsed into despair, however, when she arrived at the radio station and was presented with a 4-inch model of the car. In 2001, she sued and a judge at Derby County Court ruled that the now defunct station in Derbyshire had entered into a legally binding contract with Miss McGowan and ordered its owners to pay £8,000 for the real vehicle. 14. In 2005, Pavel M., a Romanian prisoner serving 20 years for murder, sued God, founding his claim in contract. He argued that his baptism was an agreement between him and God under which, in exchange for value such as prayer, God would keep him out of trouble.. 15. In May, 2004 in Connecticut, Heather Specyalski was charged with the homicide of Neil Esposito. He was thrown from a car that prosecutors said was being driven by Specyalski when it spun out of control and crashed. The defendant argued that she couldn’t have been driving because she was in the passenger seat performing oral sex on Esposito, whom she alleged was at the wheel. Esposito was found with his trousers down but prosecutors argue this could have been because he was “mooning” or urinating out of the car window while in the passenger seat. The jury acquitted Specyalski of manslaughter, sparing her a possible 25-year prison sentence. 16. Sentencing a young woman at the Magistrates’ Court in Port Adelaide, Australia, in 2003, a magistrate said: “You’re a druggie and you’ll die in the gutter. That’s your choice... I don’t believe in that social worker crap. You abuse your mother and cause her pain. You can choose to be who you are. You can go to work. Seven million of us do it whilst fourteen million like you sit at home watching Days of Our Lives smoking your crack pipes and using needles and I’m sick of you sucking us dry”. He then concluded: “It’s your choice to be a junkie and die in the gutter. No one gives a shit, but you’re going to kill that woman who is your mother, damn you to death.” He gave the woman a prison sentence, unaware that that was unlawful in the type of case in question. Her appeal was successful. 17. In 1874, Francis Evans Cornish, while acting as a magistrate in Winnipeg, Canada, had to try himself on a charge of being drunk in public. He convicted himself and fined himself five dollars with costs. But then he stated for the record: “Francis Evans Cornish, taking into consideration past good behaviour, your fine is remitted”. 18. In 1980, Lord Justice Ormrod, Lord Justice Dunn and Mr Justice Arnold ruled in the UK’s Court of Appeal that a wife from Basingstoke who rationed sex with her husband to once a week was behaving reasonably. Lord Hailsham later revealed that the ruling had provoked some newspapers to try to interview the wives of all the judges in the case. 19. A father from Zhengzhou, in China, was refused legal permission to name his son “@” after the keyboard character. Permission was declined on the legal basis that all names must be capable of being translated into Mandarin. 20. In September, 2004, Judge A K M Patabendige, in Walasmulla, Sri Lanka, jailed a man for a year for yawning in court. N V P Ajith, a defendant in a criminal case, stretched out and yawned in a way that so infuriated the judge, the punishment for contempt was immediate. Professor Gary Slapper is Director of the Centre for Law at The Open University. His new book, How the Law Works, is published by HarperCollins *** Sun Feb 24 01:36:15 2008 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: From Times Online July 9, 2007 Weirdest workplace disputes Last week, the Employment Appeal Tribunal celebrated its 30th anniversary. We marked the occasion by trawling the archives and dusting off some of the more colourful UK employment disputes from the past few years. Businessman in corner of boxing ring with officials. Alex Wade and Alex Spence 14. CSI: Farnham. Tony Price, the managing director of WStore UK, an IT company based in Surrey, demanded that his 80 staff submit to a DNA test after a piece of chewing gum got stuck to a directors’ suit trousers. When his global e-mail pointing out the firm's chewing gum ban leaked to the media, Price cheekily suggested he would force staff to take lie detector tests to flush out the culprit. 13. Hands on treatment. A 34-year-old masseuse sued the prestigious Old Course Hotel at St Andrews for unfair dismissal and sexual discrimination after she was allegedly fired for accusing an A-list celebrity client of lewd conduct; the employment tribunal later identified the celebrity as Kevin Costner after his name was posted all over the internet. According to the masseuse, the Dances With Wolves star removed his towel and asked her to "touch him everywhere". Costner, who was on his honeymoon and taking part in a golf tournament, denied the accusation vehemently. The hotel later settled with the woman. 12. Porn at sea? No thanks. The cliché of men in the armed serves cheering themselves up with top-shelf literature is well established, but it was too much for the Reverend Mark Sharpe, 37. The trainee chaplain left the Royal Navy declaring himself “horrified” by the amount of pornography below decks and issued a claim for sexual harassment and discrimination on the ground of his religious beliefs. At a tribunal in Exeter, the Navy admitted sexual harassment but denied the religious discrimination charge. Reverend Sharpe accepted an undisclosed sum in damages and is now a rural rector. 11. Fine whine. A Muslim insurance salesman took offence when his employer began offering bottles of wine for good performance. Imran Khan, 25, said that Direct Line’s incentivisation scheme put him at a disadvantage because his religion forbade him to drink alcohol, and he sought damages for “hurt feelings”. He lost. 10. Witches have rights, too. Sommer de la Rosa, a former teaching assistant at the Dorothy Stringer School in Brighton, accused the school of unfairly dismissing her because she was a witch. The 34-year-old claimed she had been made to “feel like a freak” after she was forbidden from wearing a pentagram and colleagues compared her Wiccan beliefs to communism. The school claimed she had been let go because of her poor attendance. The dispute was settled out of court. 9. Chard is for lovers. Sally Bing, a 31-year-old town clerk, won her claim for sexual discrimination and victimisation against the mayor of Chard, Tony Prior, after the 67-year-old putative lothario became infatuated with her. “We were standing shoulder to shoulder looking at a wall map of Chard,” the mayor explained. “When she stood close to me, it sent a sexual thrill through me. That was possibly when I wondered whether she had sexual feelings towards me.” The married Prior invited Bing on a walking tour of Andorra, and his advances eventually became so bad she rearranged the furniture in her office to create an escape route in case he appeared. Bing was awarded £25,000 from the council and £33,697 from Prior. And all that from staring at a map of Chard. 8. Wicked witchcraft. Sariya Allen, a teaching assistant who quit her job after three years at Durand primary school in Stockwell, London, sued the school for allegedly discriminating against her Pentecostal Christian beliefs. Allen had been disciplined for refusing to let a child read Harry Potter, claiming it glorified witchcraft. She lost. 7. Don’t call me ginger. Sarah Primmer, a 41-year-old former waitress at the Rendezvous Café in Plymouth, was awarded a “staggering” £17,618 for unfair dismissal and sexual harassment after suffering taunts over her ginger locks. Primmer alleged the café’s night manager had made a series of lewd and embarrassing comments in front of other staff because “they wanted to know if the colour of my hair matched the rest of my body”. Despite her vindication in the eyes of the law, Primmer was intent on ridding herself of her affliction. “I am going to try and get it lighter and lighter,” she said. “It is not nice to be ginger.” 6. Man’s best friend. David Portman successfully sued the Royal Mail for unfair dismissal after he lost his job for taking time off to mourn the death of his dog. The postman had missed 137 days in five years for reasons including breaking his foot when pushing mail through a letter box, spraining his ankle when standing on a piece of wood and being injured in a car accident. Throughout, his faithful hound Brandy had provided unstinting companionship. When one morning he found her dead at the foot of his bed, Portman took her demise badly and failed to show up to work for a week. He returned to find he had been sacked. A tribunal found that “none of the claimant’s absences were for other than wholly legitimate and genuine reasons”. 5. Foamy sales pitch. Wayne Simpson, an EDF Energy salesman, lost his £28,000-a-year job after he sent a customer a picture of himself sitting naked drinking whisky in a bubble bath. Simpson had met the female customer while selling door-to-door on Tyneside; he obtained her number and later sent the picture with a message saying, “Fancy going out for a drink sometime?” The woman didn’t and instead reported him to the company and the police. Simpson accused EDF of lacking a sense of humour. “I wasn’t even showing off my naughty bits,” he said. 4. The farting chair. Sue Storer, a 48-year-old teacher at Bedminster Down Secondary School in Bristol, sought damages of £1 million for sex discrimination and constructive dismissal claiming she had been forced to sit in a chair that made embarrassing sounds every time she moved. “It was a regular joke that my chair would make these farting sounds and I regularly had to apologise that it wasn’t me, it was my chair,” she said. Requests for a new chair had been repeatedly ignored while male colleagues were given sleek, executive-style chairs, she said. Her claim was thrown out. 3. Look out for the flour. Caroline Gardener, a lesbian shop worker at a Booker Cash and Carry, won her claim for unfair dismissal after she was fired following an altercation with a customer. Gardner, of Eastleigh, Hampshire, claimed a customer abused her because he couldn't find any lime cordial, telling her to "Get your sex life sorted out." She responded by throwing a bag of flour at him. “When he called me a filthy dyke I had a pack of flour in my hand and, although I regret it now, I threw it at the back of his head,” she admitted. “He then turned round and said, ‘You are a dyke and you’re going to get the sack’.” Gardner lost other claims for breach of contract and discrimination on the grounds of her sexual orientation. 2. Legal tender? Fred Raine was awarded £2,300 after an industrial tribunal agreed that his former employer, Lee’s Coaches, in Langley Moor, had underpaid him when he left the company due to illness in 2005. Nothing out of the ordinary in that, but the same can't be said for his former boss Malcolm Lee's chosen method of payment. The first £1,000 of Raine's severance pay was paid by cheque, but the remaining £1,300 turned up at his door in the form of a crate full of coins weighing 11 stone. Raine described the gesture as "unacceptable" and said he was consulting his lawyer. 1. An axe to grind. James Robertson, a convicted murderer who had served his time and was working as a health inspector for Preston City Council, found himself back behind bars after threatening a colleague with an axe during an argument at an Indian restaurant in 2001. The council (not unreasonably, you might feel) terminated his employment without notice, but Robertson sued for breach of contract. The employment tribunal ruled that the Council had acted illegally in not giving Robertson sufficient notice and ordered it to pay him two weeks’ wages as compensation, amounting to £807.50. With thanks to: Henry Scrope at emplaw.co.uk; Richard Lister and James Davies at Lewis Silkin. *** Thu Mar 6 20:16:09 2008 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Memory trick breaks PC encryption Encrypted information held on a laptop is more vulnerable than previously thought, US research has shown. Scientists have shown that it is possible to recover the key that unscrambles data from a PC's memory. It was previously thought that data held in so-called "volatile memory" was only retained for a few seconds after the machine was switched off. But the team found that data including encryption keys could be held and retrieved for up to several minutes. "It was widely believed that when you cut the power to the computer that the information in the volatile memory would disappear, and what we found was that was not the case," Professor Edward Felten of the University of Princeton told BBC World Service's Digital Planet programme. Volatile memory is typically used in random access memory (RAM), which is used as temporary storage for programs and data when the computer is switched on. Deep sleep Disc encryption is the main method by which companies and governments protect sensitive information. "The key to making it work is to keep the encryption key secret," explained Professor Felten. Encryption has recently become a hot topic after a number of laptops containing personal records were lost or stolen. Simply locking your screen or switching to 'suspend' or 'hibernate' mode will not provide adequate protection Edward Felten "What we have found was that the encryption keys needed to access these encrypted files were available in the memory of laptops," he said. "The information was available for seconds or minutes." In theory, this is enough time for a hacker or attacker to retrieve the key from the memory chips. "The real worry is that someone will get hold of your laptop either while it is turned on or while it is in sleeping or hibernation mode," said Professor Felten. In these modes the laptop is not running, but information is still stored in RAM to allow it to "wake up" quickly. "The person will get the laptop, cut the power and then re-attach the power, and by doing that will get access to the contents of memory - including the critical encryption keys." Cool running Switching the machine off and on and is critical to any attack. "When it comes out of sleep mode the operating system is there and it is trying to protect this data," explained Professor Felten. But a full power-down followed by a swift re-start removes this protection. "By cutting the power and then bringing it back, the adversary can get rid of the operating system and get access directly to the memory." Professor Felten and his team found that cooling the laptop enhanced the retention of data in memory chips. "The information stays in the memory for much longer - 10 minutes or more," he said. For example, where information stays in a computer for around 15 seconds under normal conditions, a laptop cooled to about -50C will keep information in its memory for 10 minutes or more. Professor Felten said that the best way to protect a computer was to shut it down fully several minutes before going into any situation in which the machine's physical security could be compromised. "Simply locking your screen or switching to 'suspend' or 'hibernate' mode will not provide adequate protection," he added. "It does cast some doubt on the value of encryption. I think that over time the encryption products will adapt to this and they will find new ways of protecting information." Story from BBC NEWS: http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/technology/7275407.stm *** Fri Mar 7 21:29:30 2008 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Friday March 7, 05:59 PM Brothel madam lied to sex slaves: court A Sydney brothel madam accused of heading a sex trafficking syndicate had lied to her South Korean sex slaves about their debts to make more money from them, a court has been told. Police say the syndicate, worth $3 million, lured at least 10 women to Australia and forced them to work in the brothel up to 20 hours every day. Kwang Suk Ra, 46, of Greenacre, the alleged madam of a Surry Hills brothel and kingpin of the people trafficking racket, appeared with four others in Sydney's Central Local Court on a string of charges, on Friday. She is accused of debt bondage, deceptive recruitment for sexual purposes and dealing in the proceeds of crime worth more than $1 million. If convicted, she faces 25 years in jail. A police statement of facts tendered to the court said Ra's modus operandi was to confiscate the women's passports when they arrived in Australia. She then told each of them they owed her up to $40,000 for their travel, the documents stated. A telephone intercept by police revealed Ra "discussed ways to increase (her) financial benefit by deceiving the (sex) workers as to the level of their debt". Police said the workers had told them they experienced or witnessed physical violence and verbal threats while employed at the brothel. The five suspects were arrested on Thursday after the Australian Federal Police raided six inner-Sydney properties. Police allege the syndicate recruited the women in Korea and lied to them about the conditions under which they would be employed. They also are alleged to have arranged the women's entry into Australian under false pretences. The police documents show the syndicate procured certificates from education centres to make it appear the sex slaves were studying in order to comply with their visas. Ra's male receptionist, 23-year-old Ji Woo Lee, of Lidcombe, appeared on charges including conducting a business involving sexual servitude, dealing with the proceeds of crime and immigration breaches. Another man, Gin Taek Choi, 28, of Ultimo, appeared on similar charges. Jin Hee Do, a 35-year-old Korean woman who allegedly lured the women to Australia, appeared on 15 charges, including several counts of organising entry recklessly to enable exploitation. None of the four applied for bail and it was formally refused by Magistrate Allan Moore, who remanded them in custody to reappear in the same court on March 12 via audio-visual link. Another woman, Na Kyung Kim, a 42-year-old mother-of-two from Hornsby who was allegedly responsible for moving the syndicate's money, had an application for bail turned down. Magistrate Allan Moore declined to make a ruling until a more detailed statement of facts could be tendered, and she was remanded in custody to reappear with her co-accused. The federal government said the arrests showed it was serious about stamping out sex trafficking. "The Rudd government is serious about preventing the insidious crime of people trafficking and the exploitation of women in the sex industry," Immigration Minister Chris Evans said in a statement. Opposition immigration spokesman Chris Ellison called for a ban on temporary visa holders working in the sex industry. *** Fri Mar 7 22:00:13 2008 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: 500 jaywalkers caught by cops March 08, 2008 08:23am Article from: AAP Font size: + - Send this article: Print Email A POLICE blitz on jaywalkers has nabbed more than 500 offenders in the Melbourne CBD in two days. Operation Don't Do Your Dash caught 578 people flouting pedestrian traffic control signals. Most were issued with warnings and two pedestrians were fined $55 each during the enforcement period. Police targeted six major intersections that carry heavy foot traffic during business hours on Thursday and Friday. The blitz followed a sharp increase in pedestrian collisions in inner Melbourne and occurred on the same day a man in his 30s was seriously injured after being hit by a tram. The man was taken to hospital with serious head injuries after he was struck by a tram in Melbourne's Docklands precinct yesterday afternoon. Accidents involving pedestrians soared by 400 per cent in December 2007 compared to 2006. *** Sun Mar 9 18:49:57 2008 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Police conduct inquiries after motorised tourist train rolls — Royal Botanic Gardens Sunday, 09 Mar 2008 02:23pm Police are conducting inquiries after a motorised train rolled in the Royal Botanic Gardens, in central Sydney, this afternoon injuring four people. About 12.30pm, the three-carriage train – used to ferry sightseers around the gardens – was travelling along a path near the Government House gate when the rear carriage tipped on its side. A couple aged in their 40s, a woman aged in her 60s and a young boy were taken by ambulance to Royal Prince Alfred and St Vincents Hospitals for treatment of minor injuries. Police from The Rocks Local Area Command attended the scene and secured the area while they conducted inquiries. The female driver was spoken to by investigating officers and subjected to a breath test with negative result. Anyone who witnessed the incident is urged to contact The Rocks Police Station on (02) 8220 6399 or Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000. Workcover is also investigating the incident. *** Mon Mar 10 21:43:44 2008 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: More bosses plan to hire staff in next 3 months: Survey Goh Chin Lian 410 words 11 March 2008 Straits Times English (c) 2008 Singapore Press Holdings Limited MORE Singapore bosses now say they will employ new staff in the next three months, compared to the employers polled for the first three months of this year, according to a survey. This finding of a quarterly survey done by Manpower, a US-based employment services agency, is based on a measure called net employment outlook. It is the difference between the proportion of employers anticipating total employment to increase, and the percentage of those expecting a decrease. In Manpower's latest finding, the seasonally adjusted net employment outlook is 60 per cent for the next three months, compared to 51 per cent in the previous quarter and 54 per cent year-on-year. This is the strongest showing since the survey of employers' plans to hire and fire began here in 2003. A total of 650 bosses were surveyed in Singapore and the poll is part of a worldwide survey of more than 55,000 public and private employers. In Singapore, it found that 65 per cent of employers anticipate a rise in total employment, against 3 per cent who see a decrease and 28 per cent who predict no change. The survey covers seven sectors, including manufacturing and services. The most optimistic sectors are public administration and education, with a net outlook of 81 per cent. Following them are: transport and utilities (78 per cent); finance, insurance and real estate (68 per cent); construction (67 per cent); wholesale and retail trade (61 per cent); services (57 per cent); and manufacturing (46 per cent). Manpower Singapore's country manager Rosa Goh expects competition to hot up among Singapore residents and foreigners. She told The Straits Times: 'Singapore job-seekers will be fighting harder with neighbouring countrymen to vie for the more popular jobs in Singapore.' These jobs will be in such areas as engineering, information technology, banking and finance. Her company is seeing more qualified and Englisheducated job-seekers from Vietnam, Indonesia and other nearby countries, she added. Citigroup economist Chua Hak Bin, however, reckons that hiring will slow considerably this year, with the economy adding 70,000 jobs, down from last year's record 236,600. The outlook for manufacturing is bleak with fears of recession in the United States. Similarly, it is gloomy in financial services, a result of the credit crunch and foreign banks downsizing their operations here, said Dr Chua. Document STIMES0020080310e43b00014 *** Mon Mar 17 02:13:15 2008 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Easter surcharge to hurt eateries Mar 17, 2008 7:32 AM Businesses are predicting the Holiday Act will take a massive chunk out of the number of people eating out this Easter. The Newmarket Business Association is urging eateries not to enforce a surcharge, saying it will scare customers off. Since the act came into force in 2003, most places have charged customers more to help ease the burden of bonus rates for staff working public holidays. General Manager Cameron Brewer says restaurants and cafes will feel the pinch as consumer confidence continues to wane. He says the act was not a problem initially as the economy was then on a high, but now says Brewer, the cost of labour is becoming almost price prohibitive during statutory holidays - and opening the doors is too much of a risk for some. *** Mon Mar 17 02:16:54 2008 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Easter surcharge to hurt eateries Mar 17, 2008 7:32 AM Businesses are predicting the Holiday Act will take a massive chunk out of the number of people eating out this Easter. The Newmarket Business Association is urging eateries not to enforce a surcharge, saying it will scare customers off. Since the act came into force in 2003, most places have charged customers more to help ease the burden of bonus rates for staff working public holidays. General Manager Cameron Brewer says restaurants and cafes will feel the pinch as consumer confidence continues to wane. He says the act was not a problem initially as the economy was then on a high, but now says Brewer, the cost of labour is becoming almost price prohibitive during statutory holidays - and opening the doors is too much of a risk for some. *** Fri Mar 21 00:34:24 2008 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Friday March 21, 02:16 PM BigDog kicks off a robotic revolution By Yahoo!7 News Enlarge image A surefooted robot with eerily human characteristics is being hailed a revolution in robotic engineering. The robot, named BigDog, has been developed by US firm Boston Dynamics, who have labelled the robot 'the most advanced quadruped robot on earth.' BigDog means the military's goal of giving soldiers a robotic pack mule, to haul around their gear, is getting closer. Powered by a gasoline engine BigDog is capable of running as well as walking on rough terrain. The robot is the size of a large dog and can carry over 150kgs. *** Sun Mar 30 19:37:34 2008 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: * o Forbes o Galleries * Money o Banking o Property o Insurance o Superannuation o Investing o Guides & Tools o Blogs o Interest Rates * Entertainment o Celebrity o Movies o TV o Music o Fashion & Beauty o Horoscopes o body+soul o Puzzles o Multimedia * Travel o Travel News o Australia o World o Holiday Ideas o Bookings & Offers o Activities o Travel Advice & Tools o Multimedia o Escape * Technology o Mobile Phones o Computers o Digital Cameras o Home Entertainment o Gaming o Reviews o Blogs o IT Jobs * Opinions o Readers' Comments o Daily Cartoons o Most Popular * Blogs * Video * Mobile o Mobile/PDA o Games, Tones & Wallpapers o CARSguide.mobi o 3 o Optus o Vodafone * AUSTRALIAN IT * FOX SPORTS o Beijing Olympics * CLASSIFIEDS o Local Business o Jobs o Cars o Property o Home Improvement o Dating o General Trader ads o Personal ads o Travel ads o Announcements ads o Place a classified newspaper ad o Weekend Shopper * NEWS NETWORK o NEWS.com.au o The Australian o The Daily Telegraph o The Courier-Mail o Herald Sun o AdelaideNow o PerthNow o The Mercury o NT News o Community Papers * Breaking News * National * World * In-depth Features * The Other Side * Weather * Interactives * Galleries * Games * Tools * Archives Software behind daylight savings mistake March 30, 2008 05:30pm Article from: AAP Font size: + - Send this article: Print Email SOFTWARE used by some of Australia's latest mobile phones and computer systems is being blamed for prematurely and incorrectly declaring an end to daylight saving in eastern states. About 2am (AEDT) today the time on some mobile phones and personal digital assistants went back one hour, Telstra spokesman Peter Taylor said. "That's a week too early," he said. Daylight saving has been extended by one week this year in a move to make next Sunday's change in time uniform across Australia. "While Telstra has gone to lengths to ensure the update of daylight saving time will be accurate, many phones have software settings that override the measures Telstra have in place," Mr Taylor said. "We are trying to put together a proper list of phones that are likely to have been affected, but it seems at this stage that it is newer model handsets and the problem is across all carriers - Telstra, Optus and Vodafone. "The simple fix for customers is to go into their phone's settings menu and turn off automatic updates and select manual. In a week's time, turn it back." Mr Taylor said it was unknown how many people were affected by the incorrect change in time and said Telstra had heard mostly from people who set the alarm clock on their mobile for this morning, only to be woken an hour too late. The changed end of daylight saving time caused widespread technical hiccups, with multiple reports of incorrect time changes overnight. Sydney's 2GB radio station reported that the time on the studio's computer system had changed, while the talking clock phone service and clocks at Sydney's Central Railway Station also went back an hour, Mr Taylor said. *** Wed Apr 2 20:18:52 2008 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Man charged over train sex assault Source: AAP Author: AAP Posted: Wed 2 Apr, 2008 * Print * Larger + * Email * Smaller - * Discuss * Save Related articles * Sydney Easter Show ends in... * Magistrate O'Shane DUI case... * Man charged over train sex... * Man with crossbow charged with... * NSW govt may ban laser pointers... A man has been charged over the sexual assault of a woman on an early morning train on the NSW south coast. A 22-year-old Oak Flats man was arrested on Wednesday morning and charged with aggravated sexual assault inflicting actual bodily harm, police said. The charge relates to an incident on Sunday when a woman says she was assaulted on board a train from Wollongong to Unanderra. The woman boarded the train at 6am (AEDT) at Wollongong and was attacked as the train approached the Unanderra train station. Her screams caused the attacker to get off at the station where he was last seen running towards a nearby industrial area, police say. Information from the public led to the arrest of the 22-year-old man on Wednesday morning, police said. He was refused bail and is due to appear at Wollongong Local Court later on Wednesday. Since the incident on Sunday, a row has erupted between the state government and the NSW rail authority RailCorp over the rostering of its transit officers on the south coast line. South coast Liberal MP Shelley Hancock said on Tuesday there were no transit officers working on the line last weekend when the woman was sexually assaulted. Ms Hancock said transit officers could have prevented this attack. She said officers should be rostered on every train travelling on the line early in the morning or late at night, when the most violent incidents occurred. However, RailCorp denied the claim, saying in a statement that transit officers and police were patrolling South Coast trains in uniform and plain clothes last weekend using an "intelligence-based deployment system". Two transit officers told Fairfax media of the outrage among their colleagues at their inability to protect commuters because of stretched resources and the low priority given to the Wollongong region by bureaucrats. They said no officers were patrolling over the weekend but this was not unusual because the officers were often called on to work in and around Sydney. The Liberals transport spokeswoman Gladys Berejiklian also accused the state government of not doing enough to protect rail commuters from serious crime. Transport spokeswoman Gladys Berejiklian said assault, sexual assault and malicious damage on the CityRail network were on the increase. "[Transport Minister] John Watkins has failed to make public transport safe and his response today is both ineffective and inadequate," Ms Berejiklian told reporters. Transport Minister John Watkins said on Tuesday that crime on the CityRail network was relatively low. But Ms Berejiklian said train crime was increasing and demanding a greater police presence was essential. "NSW Police figures from 2006/07 show there is an increase in attacks and crime on trains, and in and around stations," she said. "John Watkins is failing to maintain safety of commuters throughout the network." "There is no doubt a stronger police presence is required." *** Sat Apr 5 19:03:46 2008 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Sunday April 6, 05:41 AM Daylight saving ends across SE Australia Daylight saving has ended in four Australian states and one territory. People in NSW, Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania and the ACT had an extra hour of sleep as clocks were wound back from 3am (AEDT) to 2am (AEST) on Sunday. NSW Attorney General John Hatzistergos says Sunday morning also marks the end of non-uniform daylight saving across south-eastern Australia. In the future, the four states and the ACT will observe a harmonised daylight saving period - from the first Sunday in October until the first Sunday in April. "These changes will ease the regulatory burden on businesses and make it easier for tourists travelling between states," Mr Hatzistergos said in a statement. "Extra sunshine at the end of the day is an opportunity for people to enjoy the outdoors and is a boost to the tourism industry." Queensland and the Northern Territory do not observe daylight saving. Western Australia's first trial of daylight saving ended on March 30. *** Mon Apr 7 07:07:31 2008 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Severed leg washes up on Phillip Island Richard Maxton PrintPrint Increase font size Decrease font size Comments 1 Comments 5 Stars 1 Ratings | Rate It: 1 star2 star3 star4 star5 starThank you for rating! Send to friendSend to friend 3 hours 33 minutes ago. Police believe a severed leg that washed up oa a beach at Phillip Island in Victoria on the weekend may belong to one of two missing Pakistani students. Police will use DNA samples sent from Pakistan to try an identify the leg, which was found by a couple walking at Cape Woolamai at about 3.30pm on Saturday. The process will take a while, said Sergeant Robyn Heal, but police believe the leg may be the partial remains of one of two Pakistani students who were hit by a freak wave last month. 'We literally have to wait for the DNA sample to come back from Pakistan, and it will then take one to two weeks or even longer for the comparison to be made,' Sergeant Heal told Fairfax media. The missing students Omer Habib, 22, and Wasim Akram, 19, were washed from rocks while taking pictures between The Nobbies and Penguins Parade on March 24. Mr Habib was hit from behind by a wave and was dragged backwards into the water. Mr Akram tried to save him but both men disappeared when another wave washed over the rocks. *** Wed Apr 9 05:23:35 2008 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Boys in blue say ditch 'small, scared' girls By Keith Moor April 09, 2008 12:35am Article from: Herald Sun Font size: + - Send this article: Print Email * Survey finds women in force one of biggest problems * Yet stations with female officers perform better * Have your say: what do you think about this? THE feminising of Victoria's police force has been listed as one of its three biggest problems in a survey of serving officers. The survey - done by the Herald Sun - found two in three officers had considered leaving the force in the past year. Many respondents lashed out at the number of women in the force. "Get more males into the academy, not more females," one officer said. More women than men graduated from the police academy last year, the first time the boys in blue had ever been outnumbered by female recruits. The percentage of women in the force has jumped from 15 per cent to almost 23 per cent in the seven years since Christine Nixon became Victoria's first female chief. That's still below the national average of 31 per cent. Victoria Police has said it intends continuing to encourage female recruits so it can reach that figure. But frontline police are not happy with the strategy. "There are too many females who put male members at risk out on the street," one said. "I have been injured three times in the past 12 months fighting drunken idiots and getting no backup from my female partner, who is too small or too scared to help." Another said there were too many promotions of women based on gender rather than ability. "We have this emphasis on promoting females through non-operational positions and putting them in operational supervisory positions with minimal operational experience," the officer said. Many police also regretted there was no longer a minimum height requirement for recruits, and that the force had scrapped some aspects of the physical training to make it easier for women to pass. "They have dropped relevant components to allow below-standard persons in," one officer said. "I'm tired of carrying the workload of incompetent people. Also, bring back the physical component. Even as a female, I'm embarrassed." A force spokeswoman defended recruiting women and their performance. She said only one other state had a lower percentage of female officers, and an Auditor-General's report in 2006 recommended attracting and retaining women should be a priority. She said of 20 police service areas with 25 per cent or higher female representation, 14 were in the top-performing half of all police service areas. On average, 77 women (0.6 per cent of the force) were on maternity leave each financial year. Men averaged more carer and personal leave *** Thu Apr 10 00:10:22 2008 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: International Herald Tribune Guatemalan gang culture conquers the abused with abuse By Marc Lacey Wednesday, April 9, 2008 GUATEMALA CITY: To join one of Central America's fierce street gangs, Benky, a tiny young woman with heavy mascara and tattoos running up and down her arms, had to have sex with a dozen or so of her homeboys one night. She recalls sobbing uncontrollably when the last young man climbed off her and everyone gathered around to congratulate her on becoming a full-fledged member of the Mara Salvatrucha. To stay in the male-dominated gang, her leader ordered her to rob buses, grab chains off people's necks and even kill a girl from a rival gang. She always complied, although Benky is not completely sure whether her female rival lived or died after being hit by the bullet she fired into her back. Girls in the midst of the deeply machista gang culture thriving in Central America often find themselves straddling the line between victims and victimizers. It is abuse in their home lives that often propel them into the gangs in the first place, and those gangs often continue the abuse under the veil of protection. The gang is their adopted family, they say, offering what proves to be an unpredictable mix of affection and aggression. "If a girl is getting abused by her father, the gang will step in and end it," said Gustavo Cifuentes, a streetwise former gang member with an extensive rap sheet who now works for Guatemala's government, trying to lure gang members to better, law-abiding lives. If the girls do not follow the directions of the leader, Cifuentes acknowledged, a beating or even worse will be the result. Experts say that as many as 100,000 gang members rule the streets of Central America, most of them in Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras. The gangs have affiliated groups in Mexico and the United States, creating an international net of lawlessness. How many are girls is not clear, though a recent study said that as many as 40 percent of the region's gang members may be females, showing off their sexuality even as they learn to strut and throw a fierce punch. "There are a lot more women and girls than anyone imagined," said Ewa Werner Dahlin, the Swedish ambassador to Guatemala, whose government helped finance a Central American-wide study that included interviews with more than 1,000 past and present, as well as male and female, gang members. "It's a surprise to the experts, and it shows that the authorities have been reacting to gangs without really understanding them." There are only a handful of girl-only gangs in the region, experts say, with girl gang leaders. Far more common was Benky's reality - a few young women in a sea of tough, sexually charged young men. With four jail stints behind her, Benky, 23, is now experiencing a new phase of life, but one that is proving just as rough as all she has endured before. Getting out of a gang can be as challenging as getting or staying in it. In Benky's case, when her fellow maras learned she was trying to abandon them, they shot her six times. After nine months of hospitalization, she now limps through life, selling candy on the buses she used to rob because her gang tattoos disqualify her from most other forms of employment. Most of those who made up her gang have died in shootouts with the police, she said, but one of the few still living spotted her recently on the street and yelled out a threat on her life. He was surprised that she had survived the hit. "It looks so good from the outside," remarked Benky, who like others in this article asked to be identified by first name or nicknames to avoid stirring up trouble on the streets. To understand her sentiment, one must know how grim her childhood was and that of many other gang girls. She began living on the streets at the age of 6 with an older brother. She is not sure what happened to her mother, but she recalls her father having no interest in raising them. Her brother was shot by a member of the 18th Street gang, which prompted her to join the other giant gang in the region, the Mara Salvatrucha. "I thought it would be like my family," she said. "I thought I'd get the love I was missing. But they'd hit me. They ordered me around. They told me I had to rob someone or kill someone, and I did it." It is a lament heard from girl gang members across the region. The young women complain of lives ruined, of close calls with death, of nightmares of all the awful things they did for their barrios. It often begins, the girls say, with group sex, usually dulled with alcohol and marijuana. Benky had begun hanging around the gang and knew a few other girls who had joined. They told her that all she had to do was talk to the leader and he would induct her as well. Before she knew what was happening, though, members of her new family members were taking turns on top of her. The abuse ebbed when she began dating a gang member and he protected her from the rest. "He was very kind," she said. "Sometimes, he'd go out and rob buses just to get me what I wanted." Other girls tell similarly twisted tales of gangster love. Ana, 21, who spent four years as a member of the 18th Street gang, said she was given a choice between group sex or a group beating when she joined because she was friends with the gang leader's girlfriend. "Other girls didn't get to choose," she said. "I thought the beating was better. I'd have a black eye and I'd be hurt. But at least I wouldn't get pregnant or get a disease." Her gang days were intense ones, she recalled, full of assaults and robberies and other behavior she now regards as unladylike. "I learned to use a gun more or less, but I was better with a knife," she said. Her gang had a separate leader for the girls, and that tough young woman one day ordered Ana to beat up a neighborhood girl whom the leader found annoying. The girl happened to be a friend of Ana's, but she said she did what she had to do. Another former gang girl, also Ana, 17, broke down in tears as she described how someone in her gang shot and killed her girlfriend. "I lost my best friend, and my own gang killed her," she said. "That's when I realized that if they killed her, they could kill me, too. I got tired of living this life where they might say, 'Let's go kill someone,' and you had to go along." Ana had a somewhat easier time than others putting her gang life behind her. Her mother was dying from cancer, and that prompted her to move back home and care for her around the clock. When gang members called, she would brush them off and tell them her mother was sick. Some members of the gang eventually stopped by her house one day to see whether she was telling the truth, peering at her mother in bed. But the long illness allowed Ana to make a break. Assisting her was the fact that she never got any tattoos to identify herself as a gang girl. That is becoming more and more common as Central American governments crack down on gangs with their "mano dura," or firm hand, policies. Gang experts say that the new generation of gang members eschew tattoos and dress more like any other urban youngsters. "The gang member of today looks just like you or me," said Marco Antonio Castillo, whose Grupo Ceiba organization is trying to provide former gangsters with the education and job training they missed while rampaging on the streets. The 21-year-old Ana now has a 3-year-old daughter with her husband, who is also a former member of the gang. She said that because it was her awful home life that propelled her into gang life - her drunken father beating her mother - she tries to set a different example for her girl. "We try not to fight in front of her," she said. "We keep our voices down." Male gang members say the girls play an essential role, and not just as sexual partners. They are able to move more freely on the streets when the police are around, men say, transporting drugs or guns. And bus robberies are best done, veteran gangsters say, with a team of two males and two females, confusing passengers about who is involved. At Santa Teresa prison, a sprawling lockup for women here, one can find signs of hope and despair. Bianca, 24, a tough member of the 18th Street gang who is locked up on drug charges, leaves the impression that the ranks of the gangster girls will hold steady as she shows off her bold gang tattoos and speaks of protecting her neighborhood. But another girl, 25, who goes by the nickname "Happy," tells why she intends to leave the gang when she finishes her sentence for robbing buses. In the initial years that she was behind bars, members of the gang would come by to visit. But that faded, and nowadays, five years in, it is only her mother who brings her food and clothes. "She's family," Happy said. "It took years, but I finally learned that." *** Fri Apr 11 01:05:24 2008 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Friday April 11, 12:01 AM Men overweight and oblivious: study The majority of Australian men are fat but only half of them know it, according to new research showing an alarming number are in denial about their weight. Obesity experts say men's acceptance of the beer belly and the `bigger is better' approach to size are behind results of a new national analysis showing perception problems with male weight. ADVERTISEMENT More than 60 per cent of men have a body mass index (BMI) over 30, making them clinically overweight, yet only 36 per cent perceive themselves to be. Women, on the other hand, were better at recognising their extra weight, and those who were well-off and well-educated were actually more likely to overestimate rather than underestimate their weight. The study, using data published in the National Health Survey of 34,000 adults, was published in the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health. Researchers Dr Katrina Giskes and Jessica Siu, from the Queensland University of Technology, said the findings proved the sexes interpreted weight very differently. "We found that men tend to underestimate their weight status, whereas overestimation was much more common among women," they wrote. They said women who overestimated their weight were at risk of body image problems. "Negative perceptions of their weight status may lead to an adverse preoccupation with body weight and disordered eating and patterns of exercise," they wrote. And for men, while believing they were lighter had "some psychological benefits", these men were less likely to respond to important public health messages about weight loss because they did not believe they had a problem. "The risks associated with incorrect perceptions can't be ignored," the researchers said. An obesity expert, Professor Ian Caterson from the University of Sydney, said the misperceptions of men were deeply entrenched in Australian culture. "The fact is most Australian men think a beer belly is normal as you age, and their female partners seems to say `that's OK on him, he's a man'," Prof Caterson said. "And behind everything else, men still think that bigger is better. "These things make unhealthy male weight very hard to penetrate and deal with as a society." *** Fri Apr 11 01:16:53 2008 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: http://au.news.yahoo.com//080409/2/16f6g.html Thursday April 10, 08:37 AM Eating too many eggs, early death linked Middle-aged men who eat seven or more eggs a week have a higher risk of earlier death, US researchers report. Men with diabetes who ate any eggs at all raised their risk of death during a 20-year period studied, the study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition shows. The study adds to an ever-growing body of evidence, much of it contradictory, about how safe eggs are to eat. It did not examine what about the eggs might affect the risk of death. Men without diabetes could eat up to six eggs a week with no extra risk of death, Dr Luc Djousse and Dr J Michael Gaziano of Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School found. "Whereas egg consumption of up to six eggs a week was not associated with the risk of all-cause mortality, consumption of (seven or more) eggs a week was associated with a 23 per cent greater risk of death," they wrote. "However, among male physicians with diabetes, any egg consumption is associated with a greater risk of all-cause mortality, and there was suggestive evidence for a greater risk of MI (heart attack) and stroke." They urged more study in the general population. Eggs are rich in cholesterol, which in high amounts can clog arteries and raise the risk of heart attack and stroke. One expert on nutrition and heart disease said the study suggests middle-aged men, at least, should watch how many eggs they eat. "More egg on our faces? It's really hard to say at this point, but it still seems, if you're a middle-aged male physician and enjoy eggs more than once a day, that having some of the egg left on your face may be better than having it go down your gullet," said Dr Robert Eckel of the University of Colorado and a former president of the American Heart Association. "But, remember: eggs are like all other foods - they are neither 'good' nor 'bad,' and they can be part of an overall heart-healthy diet," Eckel wrote in a commentary. The Harvard team studied 21,327 men taking part in the much larger Physicians' Health Study, which has been watching doctors since 1981 who have agreed to report regularly on their health and lifestyle habits. Over 20 years, 1,550 of the men had heart attacks, 1,342 had strokes, and more than 5,000 died. "Egg consumption was not associated with (heart attack) or stroke," the researchers wrote. But the men who ate seven eggs a week or more were 23 per cent more likely to have died during the 20-year period. Diabetic men who ate any eggs at all were twice as likely to die in the 20 years. Men who ate the most eggs also were older, fatter, ate more vegetables but less breakfast cereal, and were more likely to drink alcohol, smoke and less likely to exercise - all factors that can affect the risk of heart attack and death. *** Mon Apr 21 23:11:05 2008 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Anzac offspring sent to back of march * Font Size: Decrease Increase * Print Page: Print April 22, 2008 WAR veterans' descendants have been sent to the back of the line for this year's Sydney Anzac Day march. In a directive from the NSW RSL, descendants of veterans from the two world wars have been asked to form up at the rear of the Sydney march, rather than alongside the unit in which their relative served. “The veterans themselves are feeling that they're just being nearly pushed aside ... with the influx of descendants marching in their units,” NSW RSL president Don Rowe told Fairfax Radio Network today. The decision had been made in consultation with veterans, Mr Rowe said. Marching veterans can be accompanied by a carer if needed. Only one descendant of a veteran can take part in the march. “The policy guidelines of the ANZAC Day march allow one descendant of a deceased veteran to honour their service by wearing their relative's medals on their right breast and by participating in the march,” the RSL said in a statement today. “Descendants of veterans from World War I and World War II will appear at the rear of the Sydney ANZAC Day March this year, rather than with the unit in which the veteran served.” Mr Rowe said some veterans were happy to have youngsters marching alongside them, but others felt they were being crowded out. “Some of the veterans love having some of their descendants and their families marching with them but there are the other ones who said, 'Look, we're just getting pushed aside or being overshadowed by descendants taking part in their father's or grandmother's place',” he said. “You always get some people who are not happy with (the decision) but the majority of them seem to be accepting it. “We're not going to pull anyone out of the march, if it comes to that we'll just let them go, but we really are asking them to respect the rights of the poor old diggers.” The Sydney Anzac Day march leaves from the Cenotaph in Martin Place at 9am (AEST) on Friday, proceeding along George Street before turning into Bathurst Street and ending at Hyde Park. Descendants of WWI veterans are asked to form up at the corner of Pitt Street Mall and King Street, and descendants of veterans from WWII and later conflicts are asked to form up at the corner of Pitt Street Mall and Market Street. *** Wed Apr 30 20:34:30 2008 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: BBC NEWS The man who grew a finger Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. The man who grew a finger By Matthew Price BBC News, Ohio In every town in every part of this sprawling country you can find a faceless sprawling strip mall in which to do the shopping. Rarely though would you expect to find a medical miracle working behind the counter of the mall's hobby shop. That however is what Lee Spievak considers himself to be. "I put my finger in," Mr Spievak says, pointing towards the propeller of a model airplane, "and that's when I sliced my finger off." I think that within ten years that we will have strategies that will re-grow the bones, and promote the growth of functional tissue around those bones Dr Dr Stephen Badylak University of Pittsburgh It took the end right off, down to the bone, about half an inch. "We don't know where the piece went." The photos of his severed finger tip are pretty graphic. You can understand why doctors said he'd lost it for good. Today though, you wouldn't know it. Mr Spievak, who is 69 years old, shows off his finger, and it's all there, tissue, nerves, nail, skin, even his finger print. 'Pixie dust' How? Well that's the truly remarkable part. It wasn't a transplant. Mr Spievak re-grew his finger tip. He used a powder - or pixie dust as he sometimes refers to it while telling his story. Mr Speivak's brother Alan - who was working in the field of regenerative medicine - sent him the powder. For ten days Mr Spievak put a little on his finger. "The second time I put it on I already could see growth. Each day it was up further. Finally it closed up and was a finger. "It took about four weeks before it was sealed." Now he says he has "complete feeling, complete movement." The "pixie dust" comes from the University of Pittsburgh, though in the lab Dr Stephen Badylak prefers to call it extra cellular matrix. Pig's bladder The process he has been pioneering over the last few years involves scraping the cells from the lining of a pig's bladder. The remaining tissue is then placed into acid, "cleaned" of all cells, and dried out. It can be turned into sheets, or a powder. Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. How it works in detail It looks like a simple process, but of course the science is complex. "There are all sorts of signals in the body," explains Dr Badylak. "We have got signals that are good for forming scar, and others that are good for regenerating tissues. "One way to think about these matrices is that we have taken out many of the stimuli for scar tissue formation and left those signals that were always there anyway for constructive remodelling." In other words when the extra cellular matrix is put on a wound, scientists believe it stimulates cells in the tissue to grow rather than scar. If they can perfect the technique, it might mean one day they could repair not just a severed finger, but severely burnt skin, or even damaged organs. Clinical trial They hope soon to start a clinical trial in Buenos Aires on a woman who has cancer of the oesophagus. The normal procedure in such cases is often deadly. Doctors remove the cancerous portion and try to stretch the stomach lining up to meet the shortened oesophagus. In the trial they will place the extra cellular matrix inside the body from where the portion of oesophagus has been removed, and hope to stimulate the cells around it to re-grow the missing portion. So could limbs be re-grown? Dr Badylak is cautious, but believes the technology is potentially revolutionary. "I think that within ten years that we will have strategies that will re-grow the bones, and promote the growth of functional tissue around those bones. And that is a major step towards eventually doing the entire limb." That kind of talk has got the US military interested. They are just about to start trials to re-grow parts of the fingers of injured soldiers. Skin burns They also hope the matrix might help veterans like Robert Henline re-grow burnt skin. He was almost killed in an explosion while serving in Iraq. His four colleagues travelling with him in the army Humvee were all killed. He suffered 35% burns to his head and upper body. His ears are almost totally gone, the skin on his head has been burnt to the bone, his face is a swollen raw mess. So far he has undergone surgery 25 times. He reckons he has got another 30 to go. Anything that could be done in terms of regeneration would be great he says. "Life changing! I think I'm more scared of hospitals than I am of going back to Iraq again." Like any developing technology there are many unknowns. There are worries about encouraging cancerous growths by using the matrix. Doctors though believe that within the so called pixie dust lies an amazing medical discovery. Story from BBC NEWS: http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/health/7354458.stm Published: 2008/04/30 16:03:27 GMT © BBC MMVIII *** Wed May 7 04:58:03 2008 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Wednesday May 7, 04:44 PM Public servant dead in home for weeks A long-serving Housing NSW employee with a terminal illness lay dead in her home for up to five weeks before the department raised the alarm. Rosemary King, who was in her mid 60s, was a project officer at the Ashfield head office of Housing NSW and was frequently away from work for long periods due to her emphysema, the department said. ADVERTISEMENT Concerned colleagues last month left messages for Ms King on her answering machine, knocked on the door of her Riverstone home and tried to contact her family and hospital. They even contacted her tobacconist but the department did not report their concerns to police until May 1 when it was too late. Officers discovered Ms King's dead body after forcing their way into her home, where she lived alone. It is understood the last contact with Ms King, who had worked for Housing NSW for 10 years, had been five weeks previously. A spokesman for the department said Ms King was often away from work for that length of time. "Housing NSW management were aware that during these times she was often in pain and could not talk," the spokesman said. "It was not uncommon for a voice mail message to be returned a week or more later. "Management were aware that any undue pressure may have jeopardised her recovery and therefore found the best way to deal with these absences was to await her contact." The department was saddened by Ms King's death and extended its sympathies to her family, the spokesman said. Ms King's lonely death is the latest in a string of similar incidents. Ecuadorean migrant Jorge Chambe, 64, was found in his Yagoona public housing unit in January, where he had been dead for up to a year. There were seven similar discoveries in 2006, when the bodies of three elderly people whose deaths had gone unnoticed for more than six months were discovered within 13 days of each other. In response, Housing NSW announced a program of regularly checking the welfare of its tenants over the age of 60 by making contact with them at least once every six months. Figures from the State Coroner reveal it took custody of 299 and 283 decomposed or decomposing bodies in 2006 and 2007 respectively. All had been dead for at least seven days before being discovered, with some dead for almost two years. Only 22 of the 582 - less than four per cent - had died in Housing NSW premises over those two years. *** Thu May 8 04:42:51 2008 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: AND YOU WERE WORRIED ABOUT THE BEER LADIES... By Ng Tze Yong May 08, 2008 Print Ready Email Article MY dad told me a lame joke last week, something about a man who stood in front of a cave, and then got run over by a train coming out of it. Or something like that. Not very funny. Miss Gao Yuan reminds me of this joke. She is the train; and I am the man. While born-and-bred Singaporeans were busy worrying about China beer ladies taking away jobs at the kopitiam downstairs, look who's serving up the Tequila Sunrise at Bellini Room. Hey, it's another China Girl! But this time, it's not the kopitiam auntie in frumpy clothes with the non-existent English. Neither is it the sweet young thing clad in a frilly skirt, hanging on to an ah pek's arm. This is China Girl 2.0. Look at Yvonne's picture again. This is what happens when the study mama's kid is all grown up. GO-GETTER Go ahead, call her China Girl again, because you might not be able to when she becomes a high-flying scientist at the Biopolis. And there will be many more Yvonnes to come. Miss Gao impresses on two levels. There is the obvious - that migrant's go-getter attitude. In essence, she is doing what her mother did. Both were brave enough to leave their comfort zone. Mum left China, daughter left the bubble of elite JC life. Both slogged hard. Lawyer mum became study mama, in a land where she would be looked down upon. Daughter saw the hard work in a nightclub as a way to better herself. But we will miss the point, if we stop here. This is not about the values of hard work and determination. Singaporeans know them well enough. This is about Yvonne's other trait, the one that will define the winners in a globalised world: The imagination, the curiosity, the guts to explore and conquer. She had the foresight to know that being in a JC debate club sparkles on a CV, but knowing how to talk to people matters more. She had the wisdom to see the bubble of elite JC life she was in, and do something about it. It's a trait the Government has been trying to nurture in Singaporeans, in schools and workplaces. But it's hard to change. Singaporeans are go-getters. But we are only go-getters stuck in a box. It seems China Girls know better. *** Tue May 27 19:52:26 2008 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Wednesday May 28, 08:04 AM Aussie women return to work to pay bills By AP A high majority of Australian women return to work within 12 months of having a baby so they can pay personal bills, not because they want to, according to a national survey. In an Australian Women's Weekly survey of 15,000 women, 75 per cent said paying bills was the driving force of returning to work within a year, while another 14 per cent said they did so to keep their jobs. Meanwhile, 38 per cent return to employment for their own personal fulfillment, while another 13 per cent do it to avoid losing their status. The survey, the third and last in a series, is touted the biggest of its kind and is a follow up to a 1980 survey. The latest instalment, which asked women questions about education, childcare and maternity leave, money, the republic and immigration, also found that 63 per cent want paid paternity leave. ADVERTISEMENT But 96 per cent think that it is the government's responsibility regardless of whether an employer contributes. The survey also showed that Australian women want same-sex couples to have the same rights as heterosexual couples (71 per cent), don't support Australia's involvement in the war in Iraq (63 per cent) and want tighter immigration control (60 per cent). While women are tentative about Australia becoming a republic - 44 per cent support the push - many more want it than did in 1980 (20 per cent). In terms of their finances, just over half have dealt with friction in relationships because of money woes, but six in 10 feel financially secure in their future. The survey revealed that women are also concerned about education, with 74 per cent saying they feel there is a lack of government support. But when it comes to their own education many more Australian women are happy with the level of education they have received than they were in 1980. Australian Women's Weekly editor Deborah Thomas said she found Australian women's views on immigration interesting. "What is interesting is that although most Australian women want tighter controls on immigration, they are remarkably tolerant of their fellow Australians sexuality," she said. Previous surveys in the series showed that Australian women drink too much, feel bad about their weight, were having sex less often than they used to and were increasingly likely to be victims of sexual violence. *** Wed Jun 4 01:21:48 2008 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: World Youth Day 'will be a boost for sex industry' By Sean Plambeck June 03, 2008 10:30pm Article from: NEWS.com.au Font size: + - Send this article: Print Email * World Youth Day tourism expected to boost sex trade * Sex industry revenue 'to grow by 8pc in next year' * Brothels express doubt over WYD's effect on trade THE sex industry is expected to be blessed with an increase in customers thanks to the most unlikely of sources - World Youth Day. A report by Industry analysts IBISWorld predicted the 2008-09 financial year would see strong growth for brothels, strip clubs and prostitutes, primarily on the back of a marked increase in tourism levels to Sydney as a result of the Catholic Church's World Youth Day. IBIS World senior industry analyst Ed Butler said the report did not suggest the 225,000 international pilgrims or clergy would be heading to brothels or strip clubs. But the event, to be held from July 15 to 20, would also draw people from outside the church including tourists, support staff and media – and some of them would use the sex industry's services. "Any major event will drive tourism, which is closely related to the sex industry… and World Youth Day will also bring out a certain number of non-religious people," he said. "Growth would be estimated to be greater, but the religious nature of the event is likely to have a dampening effect on growth rates, as many of the visitors may have moral anxieties relating to this particular industry's services." Mr Butler said Pope Benedict XVI's visit would give Sydney and Australia exposure in foreign markets, driving tourism growth after the event had finished. IBIS World estimated the sex industry's revenue to grow from $1.13 billion in 2007-08 to $1.22 billion in 2008-09. This would be growth of about 8 per cent for the next financial year, well above the 2.75 per cent growth for the overall economy predicted in the Federal Budget. Ramada Khawley, function manager for strip clubs such as Men's Gallery and Pure Platinum, said she was not expecting an upswing in trading. "We're not making any special preparations for World Youth Day," she said. "But we'll keep a table reserved for the Pope." Brothel madams spoken to by NEWS.com.au also expressed doubts that World Youth Day would be of benefit to their trade. And it seems this is something they agreee with World Youth Day organisers on. “I’d be surprised if the sex industry gets a boost from a religious event,” a World Youth Day spokesman told NEWS.com.au. *** Mon Jun 9 02:39:03 2008 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: ELECTRIC NEWS SOCCER BOOKIES TARGET ELDERLY KOPITIAM LAPTOP AUNTY SEALS DEALS IN MINUTES # She handles thousands of dollars an afternoon, has 'bodyguards' # Main customers are cabbies, elderly folks clueless about illegal Internet betting By A Special Correspondent June 09, 2008 Print Ready Email Article SHE seems every bit the middle-aged woman taking a leisurely afternoon tea break at a coffee shop. Click to see larger image That is until you notice the stationery, the laptop and the wads of cash. This 'kopi aunty' at a Geylang HDB estate is among a number of illegal bookies who seem to have come out in force - days before the Euro 2008 kick-off between Switzerland and Czech Republic last night. She seems to relish her role of making it easy for elderly punters who may not be familiar with online betting, and offers a 'drive-thru' service. One resident from the estate told The New Paper on Sunday that the woman has been offering soccer-betting services and loans to senior residents there. The man said a neighbour, who had previously placed bets with the woman, had told him about the illegal soccer betting. Seated at her regular table at the coffee shop, the plump woman does not attract attention. Clients park their cars and taxis illegally by the roadside to make a quick wager. Each transaction is stored in her laptop and, within minutes, the deal isdone. The resident said: 'All she does is collect (bets). Taxi drivers, old aunties and uncles in the estate, and even outsiders have become her customers. It's not unusual to see a queue in front of her 'office'. 'Unlike the young who know how to bet on soccer matches online, the seniors are at a loss when it comes to the Internet. 'This woman makes it convenient for them to bet.' Thick wads of $50 notes and smaller denominations, such as $10 notes, are handed to the woman. It is believed that the woman handles a few thousand dollars on a typical afternoon. Sources said that she has others to 'watch her back' when handling so much money. A few men have often been spotted sitting a few tables away from her. Another resident of the estate, Mohd F, said that just a year ago, he was approached by a runner who had mistaken him for a potential client. Mr Mohd F said: 'I was having breakfast when the runner asked whether I wanted to bet. I just ignored him. Later, he went to collect bets from retirees at the next table.' Some residents initially wondered whether the woman could be collecting rental for taxis since some of her 'customers' were cabbies. But one foodstall operator nearby said he has doubts because he has seen elderly women and men giving the woman money. 'Surely they can't be taxi drivers?' he asked. 'They're simply too old for the job.' A taxi company whose drivers were spotted speaking to the woman confirmed that all taxi rentals are paid at their offices, and that they do not have any mobile collection stations. Elsewhere in Geylang, laptops aren't enough to deal with the expected volume of Euro 2008 betting. Some syndicates operating in coffee shops in Lorongs 1 and 10 have beefed up operations using personal digital assistants (PDA) or palmtops. Standing alongside syndicate runners in their 20s, aunty-looking types have been wielding detachable stylus with touch-screens PDAs, Mr Donnie C, 43, said. The former soccer punter added: 'They (PDAs) are small and not so obvious. 'Blur-blur'-looking Ah Sohs who use the PDAs will not arouse any suspicion. You would probably take pity on them rather than report them to the police. 'But I know of some (Ah-Sohs/aunties) who have been trained. Blending in with the crowd, they make perfect runners. People may not realise this, but the Ah Sohs have their own loyal group of punters.' While convenience may be the selling point for the syndicates, accessibility is a cause for concern for one gambling counsellor. Mr Charles Lee, senior counsellor from the Thye Hua Kwan Moral Problem Gambling Counselling Service, said: 'You grab your coffee and buy your meal, and later, why not put in a wager since it's being offered at the coffee shop too? Getting rid of 'accessibility' is one of the challenges in dealing with the illegal gambling problem. 'The other is to change a gambler's belief that there is hope for that one big win to recoup losses. It's this wrong belief system which keeps the gambling going on.' Of the 800 gamblers Mr Lee's organisation has seen since January 2006, he said the majority bet on soccer matches. While there are soccer competitions staged annually, it is the high-profile matches which often lead to a relapse among gambling addicts. Mr Lee said: 'During popular soccer championships, some clients start to miss counselling sessions for a few months. Only then, you begin to suspect they're back to their old ways.' *** Thu Jul 10 19:35:56 2008 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Citibank ATM breach reveals PIN security problems Jordan Robertson <"Peter G. Neumann" > Wed, 2 Jul 2008 12:50:09 PDT Hackers broke into Citibank's network of ATMs inside 7-Eleven stores and stole customers' PIN codes, according to recent court filings that revealed a disturbing security hole in the most sensitive part of a banking record. Hackers are targeting the ATM system's infrastructure, which is increasingly built on Microsoft's Windows operating system and allows machines to be remotely diagnosed and repaired over the Internet. despite industry standards that call for protecting PINs with strong encryption -- which means encoding them to cloak them to outsiders -- some ATM operators apparently aren't properly doing that. The PINs seem to be leaking while in transit between the ATMs and the computers that process the transactions. [Source: Jordan Robertson, Associated Press, 2 Jul 2008; PGN-ed] Full story here: http://www.wtop.com/?nid=108&sid=1432201 *** Mon Jul 14 03:19:37 2008 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Coffee snobs are regular joes at home July 14, 2008 03:02pm Article from: AAP Font size: + - Send this article: Print Email AUSTRALIANS may be latte and cappuccino drinkers in public, but they prefer instant coffee at home, a survey has found. A report on Australians' non-alcoholic drinking choices by industry analyst BIS Shrapnel says as a nation we are also increasingly looking for low-sugar and low-fat alternatives and showing more interest in green and herbal teas. Tim Emmerson, BIS Shrapnel project manager and report author, said Australia had moved over the past few decades from being a tea-drinking nation to one that also appreciated coffee. But instant coffee was favoured at home, with roast ground coffee consumed mostly when people are out and linked to an occasion, an atmosphere and an experience. "Despite a rising consumer interest in coffee, Australia is a nation of latte and cappuccino drinkers - though this is a trend mirrored internationally," Mr Emmerson said. Australians were also drinking green and herbal teas for their perceived health attributes and because they liked it, he said. Consumers were increasingly leaning towards beverages which were low in fat and sugar, but BIS Shrapnel doubted juice bars would last long in the food service market. "Juice bars do not have a sufficient revenue base to sustain them in the longer term," he said. This is partly because fresh juice is sold during the day, often in high-rent supermarkets, and is becoming a standard menu item in most cafes and many restaurants. *** Wed Jul 23 02:09:50 2008 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Many Aussies lack literacy skills: ABS July 23, 2008, 2:58 pm Almost half of all Australians aged 15 to 74 had literacy skills below the minimum level required to "meet the complex demands of a knowledge society", new statistics show. The latest Australian Social Trends report shows that to 2006, on a scale of one (lowest) to five (highest) in literacy competence, 47 per cent of people had document literacy levels below level three, while 46 per cent had prose literacy skills below that level. More than half had numeracy skills below level three (53 per cent). Three quarters of people surveyed scored below the level three average in at least one category - prose literacy, document literacy, numeracy and problem solving. Just over a third (36 per cent) were below average in all four categories. People who did not complete schooling to year 12 or spoke English as a second language made up 83 per cent of those with poor prose literacy skills. Just over half of Australians aged 14 to 74 had not completed school to year 12. This group was more than twice as likely to have poor prose literacy skills than those who completed year 12 (63 per cent, compared with 29 per cent). In 2006, 70 per cent of people aged between 25 and 34 had completed secondary studies, compared to only 18 per cent for 65 to 74 year olds. *** Wed Jul 23 02:11:57 2008 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: * reaking News * National * World * In-depth Features * The Other Side * Weather * Interactives * Galleries * Games * Tools * Archives Broadband overtakes dial-up By Andrew Ramadge, Technology Reporter July 23, 2008 02:06pm Article from: NEWS.com.au Font size: + - Send this article: Print Email ALMOST two thirds of Australian households now have internet access, with broadband connections outnumbering dial-up two to one. The number of households with access to the internet had soared from 16 per cent in 1998 to 64 per cent in 2006-07, the latest Australian Social Trends report from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed. Two-parent families with dependent children were more likely to have internet access than any other household type (86 per cent). Single-parent families had significantly lower rates of access, with between half and two thirds reporting an internet connection, depending on age and children's status. The number of broadband connections also skyrocketed in the last two years – from 16 per cent of households in 2004-05 to 43 per cent in 2006-07. Broadband links accounted for between half and two-thirds of all internet connections in Australian homes, across all demographic groups and geographic areas, and more than doubled the number of dial-up connections. Education and income remained a key factor in internet use, with fewer than one in two people (47 per cent) in the lowest income quintile having internet access. Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islander people had lower rates of internet access at home in both urban and remote locations, ranging from 50 per cent in major cities to just 8 per cent in very remote areas. Households without internet access reported their reasons for not getting a connection as having no use for or being uninterested in the internet more frequently than concerns over cost. Rates of internet access were similar in New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland and Western Australia, and above average in the Australian Capital Territory. The figures were lower in South Australia, Tasmania and the Northern Territory. There was a boom in older Australians using the internet, with a rise of 40 per cent in the number of 65-74 year olds using the web. However, the overall number of people in this age bracket using the internet remained fairly low (28 per cent). The Australian Social Trends 2008 report drew on data collected in the 2006 census and 2006-07 Household Use Of Information Technology Survey. *** Wed Jul 23 03:21:32 2008 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Management Today article April 2007: Feature Made in Australia Australian managerial talent is making its presence felt in the world market in a wide variety of sectors and at all levels of business. Darren Baguley investigates the reasons why Aussies are sought after in the world of management. Since emerging from the "recession that we had to have", Australia has enjoyed a long period of economic growth that shows little sign of abating. While much of this growth has been driven by an insatiable requirement for various commodities on the part of major trading partners such as China and Japan, there seems to be an equally voracious demand for Australian executive and professional talent. Between 800,000 and one million Australians are living and working overseas at any one time; a huge number considering our population of 20 million. It is true that a significant proportion of the number of Australians living and working overseas are students on "gap" years, but the majority are highly educated and skilled managers and professionals. And while, for example, Australian mining, oil and gas specialists can be found all over the world, it remains largely the case that the majority of Australian expatriates are based in the UK , the US and increasingly in the Asia region, especially China. Quite simply, this trend is being driven by globalisation. Business consultancy Zaffyre International's Chairman and author Margot Cairnes says, "Large global corporations are scouring the world for talent, people with world class skills, and moving that talent around the globe." So just what is it about Australians that has made us a desirable and successful commodity overseas? New York-headquartered expatriate organisation Advance's CEO Elena Douglas believes emphatically that Australian talent punches above its weight in the global economy. "Because we're a smaller market, Australians get much better general management experience, much earlier in their careers. In an enormous marketplace like America, people specialise and don't get to become general managers until late in their careers. In Australia, as soon as you're showing some promise you're made a general manager and you're in charge of marketing, purchasing, financial management, [which means having to master] a whole array of skills." The typical journey Boston-based Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) Managing Director for Customer Satisfaction and Service Adam Bryan's experience is typical of many expatriates. Bryan joined global chartered accountancy firm Coopers and Lybrand as a cadet just out of high school and, after completing his chartered accounting professional year, went to work in Coopers's London office. Bryan then left Coopers to take up the Sydney-based position of CFO with Thomson Financial Asia. "I did that for five years and it was obvious that if I wanted to go anywhere in that company it was not going to be in Australia. I got transferred to Hong Kong, and after a couple of years ended up as regional managing director of another Thomson Financial business, the software company Omgeo. "Again it was obvious that my career could only go to the United States, so when I was offered a job in Boston as Omgeo's global COO I took it." Bryan eventually became CEO of Omgeo before moving into his current position with DTCC. By contrast, Dimension Data's Scott Petty took a more direct route. Formerly the company's Australian office CIO and COO, Petty was approached by the London-based head office to head up its global services business. He believes that one of the reasons why Australians succeed overseas is our competitive domestic business environment. "The speed with which deregulation happened in Australia drove a lot of change. It is rare to work in a market as competitive as Australia, and because of that you learn skills that are very useful everywhere else." Petty also believes that Australia's multicultural society stands us in good stead. The flat management structure adopted by most Australian companies and our egalitarian society also tend to be advantages, says Petty. "UK companies have very hierarchical management structures. That creates inertia and bureaucracy within a business and managers can struggle to create virtual teams, particularly where they have to work with people many rungs above or below them." Petty believes that Australians don't have that problem, and as a result are better at motivating teams and groups of people. "For an English senior manager it's almost unheard of for someone who runs a global services business to have a beer with a networking engineer; but for an Australian it's unheard of not to." Emotional talent Recruitment consultant Drake International's Executive General Manager, Dominic Toledo, describes this as emotionally talented leadership, and believes it is a valuable skill that Australians excel at. "Staff retention is becoming a key theme across modern economies, so a manager who is emotionally talented has the ability to be liked by staff, and engaging in staff development helps ensure good levels of staff retention throughout the organisation," he says. "Australians have a natural no-nonsense approach, a desire to succeed coupled with a strong work ethic and the ability to roll up the sleeves and get involved." Toledo believes underlying environmental factors shape our society and engender these abilities. "[Activities] early in life, such as our engagement with sport, shape that likeability, competitiveness and ability to be a team player. Those qualities are engendered at a very early age socially and it's underpinned by excellent secondary and tertiary schooling." Question and challenge One aspect of the Australian education system unanimously considered a positive is its encouragement of students to question and challenge. According to executive recruitment firm Laughlin Executive's Chairman, Sally Laughlin, this translates to innovative managers. "Australian-based managers in large corporations are too far away from headquarters to threaten the corporate culture," she says, "Therefore they [managers] often get to experiment more and can propose that head office use Australia [as a base] to pilot programs." Westray Engineering Chairman, Wendy Simpson, noticed a sort of rigidity in overseas managers while working for the French Telecommunications giant Alcatel for seven years, when based in Shanghai. "My colleagues had all come through the French polytechnique system; they were the elite of the elite and they were incredibly good at processing large amounts of data, but when it came to what to do with that data, they weren't so great." Simpson's own problem-solving attitude led to Alcatel being based in Shanghai in the first place. "Since the early 1980s, Alcatel had been involved in a joint venture with a state-owned enterprise in China, but problems emerged over issues of technology and control," says Simpson. "The company had three choices: exit the market, go it alone or try to rekindle the joint venture – which was the least popular option within the company." Simpson and her Asia-based colleagues believed that China might be the best future the company had, so they hijacked the annual budget planning meeting. "Instead of feeding the CEO with accounting history, we won him over with the future promise of China. I then became part of a team that moved the company's regional headquarters to Shanghai and restructured the relationship with the partner. Today, China is one of the most profitable divisions and a powerhouse of intellectual capital for the entire company." Cultural dimensions Zinifex CEO Greig Gailey spent 34 years working for British Petroleum both in Australia and overseas, including a stint as Managing Director of the company's European Refining business. He believes that there's a cultural dimension to the success of Australians overseas, but also believes it's important not to take similarities for granted. "The world's largest companies tend to be American or British, and there's a fit for Australians in both cultures. Nevertheless, sometimes the most challenging places were where you did speak the language because you risk presuming they were the same as Australia . I found that most starkly in New Zealand; as you start with the premise that it's a lot like Australia and they'll operate the same way – and they don't." Managers, not leaders? However, among all the positive reasons and examples given for why Australians are successful and desirable as managers overseas, that's not to say there aren't more cautious voices to be found. For one, Gartner Research Managing Vice President Ian Bertram isn't quite so sure that Australian managers punch above their weight globally. "I would say that we're commensurate with other countries: punching above our weight may be a bit of an exaggeration. From a business perspective we are now taken very seriously. However, if you go back 20 years the idea of an Australian as the CEO or senior executive of a global company was laughable. Nowadays we've really shown the world what we can do in these types of roles and you are finding more Australians in senior executive positions." Similarly, New South Wales General Manager of Lee Hecht Harrison and AGSM lecturer Geoff Aigner argues that perhaps expatriates are not quite representative of Australian managers as a whole. "They are selecting themselves to move up a level and tackle something more challenging. Australian managers who are overseas are people who are already very capable, doing well, have a capacity to adapt and take their experiences into different contexts." Wrecking balls Aigner adds the further rider that although we do excel in operational roles, there does seem to be a tendency for companies to use us as wrecking balls. "Australians are seen as doers, and I wonder if we're seen as too operational, too 'doing' focused. Does that preclude us from being in charge of larger organisations and systems? Anecdotally speaking, you meet so many Australians in management roles overseas and, while there are exceptions, you don't see many in senior roles. "It might have something to do with the specificity of our training. In the US and Europe, almost all countries require some liberal arts education for a person to progress through to graduate and postgraduate level. In Australia someone can do a business degree, followed by an MBA [after relevant work experience] without having to understand Australian history." Natural globalists If there was one thing that all the current and past expatriates that Management Today spoke to had in common, it was their reasons for working overseas. While overseas salaries can be much higher, and many countries have attractive tax regimes for expatriates, no one gave their reason for heading overseas as money. "We're natural globalists for a lot of cultural and historical reasons," says Advance's Elena Douglas. "Australia is a transplanted culture, and Australians often find themselves travelling back to the source of that culture." This attitude was echoed by Dimension Data's Petty. "It was the opportunity to travel and experience a different culture," he says. "There is career opportunity, the markets are so much bigger and the opportunities are so much larger; that's the exciting thing. "The money for me really wasn't that important, because I had a longer term view. And also, the standard of living in Australia is so good that I'd have to earn four times, even 10 times my salary to approximate in London the same standard of living I had in Sydney." Further reading * Australian managerial attitudes towards employee relations: a comparison with the British National Survey, Mamman, Aminu; Rees, Christopher, Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resources, v. 43, no. 3, 2005, pp. 381-403. * www.tphumancapital.com.au/?page=613 * www.globalexchange.com.au/pdf/profhugo.pdf Brain drain: negative or positive? Does the outflow of hundreds of thousands of our best and brightest represent a new brain drain? Or, ultimately, do these people return to Australia bringing new skills with them? Everyone Management Today spoke to for this article believes it is the latter. Drake International's Dominic Toledo says, "When Australian workers leave [to work overseas] they gain substantial international experience, insight, ideas and perspectives, which ultimately can be applied to local organisations when they return." On the downside, according to Advance's Elena Douglas, at any one time about 25 per cent of Advance's membership is looking for a job in Australia, yet many expatriates wanting to return home struggle to find suitable positions. For GE Commercial Finance Vice President Marketing ANZ, Anna Learmonth, this was certainly the case. "My US experience was disregarded to the point that it actually quite surprised me, people considered that I would be out of touch with the market because I'd been away for five years. I now run marketing for GE's Commercial Finance Division, and as part of my job is understanding markets fairly intimately, that attitude really surprised me." Zaffyre's Margot Cairnes says the attitude is widespread. "There are some great Australians, magnificent people who are top performers overseas, and they can't get jobs back in Australia. Our boards seem to have the attitude that no one's done anything unless the board members have seen it for themselves. Unless you're American or British, that is, in which case reputation is enough." Laughlin Executive's Sally Laughlin is more upbeat. "The view that expatriates are out of touch with the present Australian business climate is an isolating and backward-looking view that has cost many organisations. Most companies now realise that to remain competitive, its talent must have the skill and experience to play in the global marketplace." Darren Baguley is a Sydney-based freelance writer. Enjoyed this article? Subscribe to Management Today *** Thu Jul 31 06:57:34 2008 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: INFRASTRUCTURE MONITORING ENGINEER – OPENVIEW ALL THE WAY JOIN AN ESTABLISHED FORCE in the Stock Broking space that has experienced exceptional people growth and will feed you morning and noon! This client has just moved into ‘A class’ offices in the Sydney CBD. They require hard working people who are excited by the prospect of working in a business where literally millions of dollars are at stake every day, where things move fast and ideas are often brain stormed at a relentless pace. The Role: • You will implement and maintain a state of the art systems and application layer monitoring system in a complex Trading environment. • Report on trends. • Set baselines, trends, incidents and availability. • Assist other teams in improving their environments, with regard to availability and performance. • Act as the Configuration / Change Manager. This is a newly created position. You alone will have the task of setting up this monitoring system. As such you will be responsible for the area and be able to bring ideas and innovations you may have had before to life. You Must Have: • At least five years experience in a similar type role in a large corporate environment. • A broad understanding of network topologies (you may have a background in systems administration) • Administration experience (UNIX / Windows) • SNMP • Advanced scripting skills • Expert understanding of HP Openview NNM, OMW, Universal CMDB and Discovery Tools and a good understanding of Openview SD and ITIL. This will include implementing these products in an Enterprise Environment. • Reporting skills • ITIL knowledge on the foundation level • Be a pleasure to work with and a drive that allows you to make new things happen! This is a full-on role, but within an amazing environment and a rare career opportunity. The offices have pool tables, break out rooms, linked game machines and a fully stocked kitchen (booze and all!) to make new ideas and smart solutions flow freely. Technology is first class the client having spent an exceptional sum on the latest machines with all staff enjoying multiple screens, orthopaedic seats and casual dress all week long. This is an amazing opportunity for the right person. Please contact Jeremy Steele on 02 9270 5204 to discuss further and please forward your resume to itservices@siriustechnology.com.au. Please quote job reference number JS/10573 in the email subject line Email your applicationApply now Level 5, 6-8 Underwood St Sydney, NSW, 2000 Phone: 02 9270 5200 Fax: 02 9252 5995 To be eligible to apply for this position you must have an appropriate Australian or New Zealand work visa. *** Sun Aug 10 21:00:10 2008 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Did a single security engineer avert a DNS disaster? By Scott M. Fulton, III, BetaNews August 8, 2008, 5:59 PM Had someone with ill intent been as smart or as lucky as security engineer Dan Kaminsky, the entire Internet could have been rendered mostly inoperative. The extent of just how big a fix he implemented, is only now being realized. There is an entire subculture that has developed around the notion of deconstructing information technology. And like those who prefer to fish in pre-stocked ponds, the people who populate this subculture are not, for the most part, particularly clever. They may be adept with their tools, but they don't construct exploitation strategies for themselves. Rather, they wait until someone smarter can do it for them. In fact, that's the whole principle behind the "zero-day exploit," which is a bit like hyenas celebrating the availability of low-hanging fruit. Today, it's security engineers who discover the most clever possible exploits in IT systems and software. But it's typically the way those engineers alert software companies and their customers to the existence of the problem, that in and of itself causes the greatest security risk. When the smarter birds of prey can detect from a high vantage point where the ripest fruit has fallen from the trees, the hyenas can easily track them on their way to dinner. This was the problem with respect to the implementation of one of the largest-scale fixes in the history of the Internet last month: Since 2002, it's been generally known among network engineers that there was probably a way to pollute Domain Name Server caches, using a trick of accurately guessing the source port from which a DNS name resolution would come, and then spoofing that port with a false response that could redirect users to completely different Web sites without their knowledge. If the spoofed site was a bank, the spoof could ask for and receive user IDs without them knowing it wasn't that bank. If the spoofed site was a customer service site, users would blithely give them their support ticket numbers and license IDs. There was no telling how far this could have gone. Maybe, just maybe, some users would have spotted the fact that the certificate sent by the spoofing site didn't match the one that was spoofed. But how many users get those certificate warnings every day, from legitimate sites that simply haven't updated their certificate or are deploying it incorrectly? Users may be growing accustomed to simply clicking on "Allow." A few months ago, Doxpara Research security engineer Dan Kaminsky -- who had been sounding alarms about this problem for at least six years -- decided he would help manufacturers implement a patch to the DNS deficiency, one which would not only randomize the source port but exponentially increase the size of the pool from which those port numbers are chosen. Both DNS servers and clients (i.e., any computer that uses DNS to resolve a URL with an IP address) would need to implement this patch. But if Microsoft or Cisco or any one single company simply reacted to his warning by issuing a patch, that could trigger what we now know as the "zero-day effect:" Malicious users could disseminate not only the severity of the potential problem but the dynamics of it, simply by reverse-engineering the fix. Then they could potentially exploit all the other unpatched portions of the Internet, from manufacturers that had not yet caught up. Wolfgang Kandek is the chief technology officer for Qualys, a vulnerability management company that works with enterprises to devise security policies and implement more secure software. Kandek is personally familiar with Kaminsky's work, and has surmised the huge problem he faced down. "There is always the potential: You have a vulnerable piece of software, you come up with a fix for it. That's great. But this gives the attackers that didn't know that this vulnerability existed, a way to analyze it," Kandek said in an interview with BetaNews, "[to ask], 'What did they exactly fix here, and how can I, if I find the machine that does not have the fix applied, exploit that machine?...If I find that software somewhere else, and that hole's still there, I might be able to exploit it this way.' So they can then work on an automatic exploit for that." There's a cottage industry now based around malicious users who can discover new security holes through the typical hunt-and-peck method. But floating on the outskirts, and probably much larger in number, are the less sophisticated, self-proclaimed "hackers" who wait for legitimate security engineers -- people like Kaminsky -- to discover security holes before anyone else does. Typically when they sound the alarm and a manufacturer like Microsoft or Cisco responds, the response itself sounds the starting gun for a race to find out what it is they fixed. "So I think what Dan wanted to avoid here was this situation; he wanted to enable the majority of vendors to release this patch at the same time, to make that window where it could be analyzed much smaller. And he's actually said publicly that they have spent some time on making the way they fix it difficult to re-engineer; not only fix it, but also, how can you make it difficult for somebody to look at the fix and understand what the exploit was." Kaminsky avoided the nightmare scenario by compelling companies including Cisco and Microsoft to collaborate on a major fix, but to do something they'd never done before: not tell the general public too much about the fix in advance. That way, they could all implement their different aspects of the fix literally on the same day. As Kaminsky wrote on his Web site, "After an enormous and secret effort, we've got fixes for all major platforms, all out on the same day. This has not happened before. Everything is genuinely under control." *** Thu Aug 21 19:34:54 2008 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Contractor error' suspected in $12,000 FEMA phone hack By Jacqueline Emigh, BetaNews August 21, 2008, 6:08 PM FEMA is now investigating a hack attack against its voice mail system that racked up $12,000 in international calls, with preliminary evidence indicating that "contractor error" was probably involved. Debbie Wing, a spokesperson with the US Federal Emergency Management Agency, told BetaNews today that the government agency -- which is part of the US Dept. of Homeland Security -- first noticed "inappropriate" calling patterns on Saturday, August 16. The unauthorized calls to the Mideast and Asia were placed through FEMA's voice mail system in Emmittsburg, MD. Wing said she didn't know, though, whether the calls began on Saturday or some time prior. After becoming aware of the calls, FEMA staff notified the agency's security operations center. The agency immediately starting blocking all international calls, as well as monitoring all long distance calls, from FEMA's National Emergency Training Center in Emmitsburg, Wing said. The spokesperson confirmed that FEMA recently installed a new PBX voice mail system. Preliminary evidence from an internal investigation still in progress points to involvement of "contractor error" or some other type of user error, she said. "This will not happen again. We've taken steps to make sure that our entire telecommunications system is in a secure state," BetaNews was told. http://www.betanews.com/article/Contractor_error_suspected_in_12000_FEMA_phone_hack/1219354666 *** Sat Sep 6 19:31:08 2008 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Truth about insurance payouts S'pore insurers coy about policyholders' fund: The 'golden egg'. M'sia has more open system. Issue first raised by TNP columnist Dr Money By Liew Hanqing and Tan May Ping September 07, 2008 Print Ready Email Article POLICYHOLDERS across the Causeway may be getting more from their life insurance payouts upon surrender and maturity than Singaporeans. It involves a golden egg called 'asset share', which is the proportional share of the total life fund related to each policy (see 'What do they mean'). In Malaysia, regulation requires insurance companies to pay policyholders the asset share of their policies or close to it when they surrender their participating life policies. 'The rationale is to ensure fair treatment to policyholders,' explained Ms Nancy Tan, the executive secretary of the Life Insurance Association of Malaysia. Similar codes of practice can also be found in countries like Britain and Australia. But unlike what is required in Malaysia, insurance companies in Singapore are not compelled by regulations to pay back to their policyholders an amount close to the asset share. The practice was held up to the public eye in June by The New Paper's columnist, Dr Larry Haverkamp ( Dr Money). It has since created more waves. More are now asking: Why is this not the case in Singapore? Mr Tan Kin Lian, the former chief executive of NTUC Income, believes Malaysia's practice is 'fair to policyholders'. The current regulation here is not enough to ensure that policyholders get a fair distribution of bonuses, he said. Current Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) regulations require the bonus distribution to be recommended by each insurance company's appointed actuary and approved by its board of directors. It also requires the insurance company to have a detailed document which lists the principles on which the distribution is based. Complicated 'There is an underlying assumption that the life insurance company and its management will act fairly in distributing the bonuses based on the actual experience of the life fund,' said Mr Tan. But the actual payouts to policyholders of terminated and matured policies appear to be far short of what Mr Tan believes should be the amount. He said that the cash value given to a policyholder upon termination is much less than the asset share. And what is the value of the policyholder's asset share? Life insurance companies simply do not disclose this to policyholders. And for policyholders who keep their policies to the maturity date, there is no guarantee that their payout will be close to their asset share either, said Mr Tan. Their actual payout is based on the sum assured plus annual bonuses plus terminal bonus. 'The terminal bonus is calculated in a complicated way, and varies for different groups of policyholders, based on many criteria,' he said. 'There is no way that the policyholder can know if they are getting a payout based on the asset share, even on maturity.' Mr Nick Rhodes, NTUC Income's former appointed actuary, explained that there may be some controversy over how asset share is calculated. This is because paying back full asset shares on life insurance and endowment policies would make them behave like investment-linked policies. 'In the UK, for this type of with-profit policies, we calculated a smoothed asset share. If the market goes up suddenly, the asset share doesn't go up as fast, and vice versa when the market goes down. 'This is fine-tuning. Different companies may do different things, but they should be open about what they are doing.' Mr Tan went one step further and argued that insurance companies should disclose the individual asset share to policyholders. Ms Tan said that Malaysian regulations were developed from the best practices in other countries and adapted for local practices.So, what is the response of Singapore insurers? The New Paper contacted the top four life insurers, NTUC Income, AIA, Great Eastern Life and Prudential, for their views. They did not respond individually. Instead, the Life Insurance Association (LIA) returned with a collective response. It said it believes 'there are adequate requirements in place for managing par business'. LIA's executive secretary, Ms Pauline Lim, said: 'Asset share is an actuarial tool which is used by some insurers to determine policy values. The emphasis is on 'tool' – it is one, but not the sole consideration in determining policy values.' She pointed out that under MAS guidelines, insurers have to put in place policies to determine how bonuses are determined. These include risk sharing rules, determination of asset backing participating products and reserving for future bonuses. Other observers say whole life and endowment policies are to meet long-term financial needs and it wouldn't be wise to pay out the entire assets on early withdrawal. The Singapore Actuarial Society thinks it is good to calculate asset shares, not of each policy but on the broad asset share of policy groups. Its president, Mr Frank McInerney, said: 'The calculation of asset shares is only one of a number of investigations the appointed actuary will carry out before making a bonus recommendation to the Board.' On whether information on asset shares should be made public, he said it was an issue for individual companies to decide. WHAT TERMS MEAN Participating life insurance policy It has a guaranteed sum payable on maturity or death + non-guaranteed bonuses based on performance of life fund. Asset share Individual policyholder's paid premiums + investment income. From this, the insurance company takes away its expenses each year. Sum assured: Minimum amount payable to policyholder or his/her dependants on death of policyholder. (Applies to whole life and endowment policies.) Terminal bonus Additional bonus paid to reflect overall performance of a with-profit life insurance policy, at maturity or death of policyholder. What M'sia requires PAY ASSET SHARE UPON SURRENDER Must pay policyholders their asset share when they surrender their participating life policies. 90% PAYMENT BEFORE 15TH YEAR Surrender values for early years should be at least 90 per cent of their asset share. 100% PAYMENT FROM 15TH YEAR For a whole life plan, the payment on surrender is 100 per cent of their asset share, from the 15th year onwards. BALANCE PAYMENT Any balance of unpaid asset share must be rolled over to next year's asset share. Any balance of unpaid asset share or estate for each cohort of policies must be completely distributed at maturity. What S'pore requires INTERNAL GOVERNANCE Insurers must have an internal governance policy on the management of its participating life insurance business. Policy must address how bonuses are determined and how fund assets are invested, describe the charges and expenses, state the shareholders' profits and responsibilities, and so on. POST-SALE INFORMATION Insurers must disclose information post-sale, including: -Performance of par fund over previous accounting period -Future outlook for par fund -Bonus allocation -Update on changes in future non-guaranteed bonuses POINT-OF-SALE INFORMATION Insurers must disclose information at the point of sale, including: -Name and address of insurer -Nature and objective of plan -Benefits under plan -Information on asset investment -Risks affecting bonus levels -Sharing of risks -Smoothing of bonuses -Fees and charges -Premium rate adjustments -Impact of early surrender Should disclosure be required by law instead? Got a view? E-mail us SPEAK UP Call: 1800 733 4455 *** Tue Sep 9 00:24:00 2008 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Vodafone snaps up Crazy John's POSTED September 8th, 2008 by cebit VODAFONE Australia has acquired independent mobile phone retainer Crazy John’s just one year after the death of the Crazy John founder, maverick businessman John Ilhan. It is understood the sale, thought to be worth about $150 million, was successfully negotiated through Vodafone Australia chief Russell Hewitt and Mr Ilhan’s widow, Patricia Ilhan. Crazy John’s established ties with Vodafone just months before the untimely death of 42-year-old Mr Ilhan after his company had grown with the help of a solid relationship with Telstra. The Telstra tie-up ended badly with lots of acrimony on both sides. Patricia Ilhan said the sale to Vodafone would ensure the long term future of Crazy Johns. Ms Ilhan was a non-executive director of the company. “I am excited that Vodafone is enhancing its already successful commercial partnership with Crazy John's by taking a major stake in the business,” Ilhan said in a statement. “Vodafone, with its international network, can take Crazy John's to the next level of growth and development. On a personal level I know that John was excited when he struck a commercial arrangement with Vodafone last year,” she said. “He knew he had found a dynamic partner for Crazy Johns to move forward. John's belief has been vindicated in today's announcement.” The companies said that Crazy John’s managing director Brendan Fletcher will stay on and run the company. *** Thu Sep 11 00:35:58 2008 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Your stay-out-of-court guide Avoid costly traps that often ensnare small business owners. FORTUNE Small Business Magazine By Anne Field, FSB contributor July 11 2007: 5:22 PM EDT FSB -- Going to court is near the top of the list of dreaded activities for small business owners. But many entrepreneurs say that their efforts to resolve disputes outside of litigation haven't worked, according to a 2005 report by the Small Business Administration. The result? Their companies end up with legal bills from $3,000 to $150,000 and have to cut overhead or drum up new sales to compensate. One of the best ways to avoid the courtroom, say business attorneys, is to take a proactive approach to legal issues. By avoiding some common traps that result in legal hassles, you will go a long way toward protecting your enterprise. Get expert tips, links, tools and lists on... * Accounting and finance * Entrepreneurial women, minorities, kids, more * Global business * Government regulations * Green business * Hiring and managing * Legal issues * Marketing * Raising money * Real estate * Startup * Technology More from FSB Help wanted for HR firm A CEO and rodeo queen King of the mountain bike Current Issue 1. Keep partnerships on the right track. Whether you are starting a venture with a colleague or selling a stake in your company to a co-owner, it is essential to formalize your relationship at the outset. Sit down with your lawyer during the honeymoon phase and detail how you will share the responsibilities of running operations, divide profits and resolve disputes. Make sure you determine what you will do if one of you leaves the firm or dies. You may, for instance, want to make sure that your partner's family members cannot automatically join the firm or unload the stake of the business that they have inherited without your okay. "You don't want them to be able to sell part of the company to a partner you can't stand," says Stuart Blake, managing principle of The General Counsel, a Newport Beach, Calif., law firm that provides in-house attorneys to corporations. You should also specify a method for determining how much the company is worth-by, say, hiring an outside appraiser, or using a specific valuation methodology. 2. Safeguard your business strategies. Striking up a partnership with a bigger player can help you expand your customer base or enter a new market. But watch out for land mines. A seemingly friendly corporation could end up trying to muscle its way into your territory instead of making a deal with you. To protect yourself, make sure potential partners sign a non-disclosure agreement, promising to keep any information you discuss secret, and to not use it themselves. No matter how well talks seem to be going, keep as much proprietary information to yourself as possible. Once you get serious about a deal, you'll need to work with your lawyer to hash out points such as how you will get paid, plans for promoting your product, territorial and geographic limits to where your partner can operate, and how to end the liaison. "With a big company, you're never going to be in a better position to negotiate than when you first start to do business," says Chet Hosch, a partner with Schreeder, Wheeler & Flint, a law firm in Atlanta. 3. Protect your intellectual property. News of innovation travels faster than ever, thanks to e-mail and the Internet. Because of the high cost of waging a court battle over intellectual property, small businesses need to be careful to ensure that no one can copy their valuable ideas, from their technology to their company logos. You can seek a few types of protection, depending on the type of intellectual property you own. The most straightforward is copyright, which covers books, software, or other original works. You will need to register with the U.S. Copyright Office, a process that takes just two or three weeks and costs about $30 or so. For logos, names, and phrases, there is trademark protection. To get that, you must register with the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office. Expect it to take as long as a year and to cost approximately $1,000. You may be able to establish trademark protection without filing, but it's not advisable. Then there are the more complicated avenues. If you have a one-of-a-kind recipe or process, for instance, you can try to establish trade secret protection. But be prepared: It is tough to establish. That's because you need to be able to prove you have a well-defined process for keeping the information secret-allowing only certain employees access to it, for example, or marking the information personal and confidential. "If you're not taking reasonable steps, the court won't rule in your favor," says Hosch. Finally, patent protection, for inventions, is the most arduous to get. The process lasts two to five years and is likely to cost you thousands of dollars. And generally speaking, you will need the help of a patent lawyer. But with the tab for many patent suits adding up to seven figures, you will probably look back on any investment you make in preventing one as money well spent. *** Mon Sep 22 01:01:14 2008 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Some 'Cyberloafing' is OK, Study Says Zafar Anjum, MIS Asia Sep 22, 2008 8:20 am * Email * Print * RSS * 1 Comment * Buzz up! * * * * 4 Yes * 3 No Recommends Employees feel that 'cyberloafing' - the non-work related use of their workplace computer -- is acceptable and helps them work better. This is according to a study by Associate Professor Vivien K.G. Lim and Don J.Q. Chen of the NUS Business School at the National University of Singapore. A total of 191 completed surveys were collected, yielding a response rate of 32 percent. Men made up 34 percent of the respondents. The study 'Cyberloafing at the workplace: Gain or drain on work?' found that, on the average, employees in Singapore spend about 51 minutes per workday on cyberloafing. This compares to the 10 hours per employee a week, found by earlier studies, for example the US WebSense.com study. Personal e-mailing, instant messaging, and visiting news websites were the commonly cited cyberloafing activities, noted the NUS researchers. In general, respondents to the survey felt that some form of cyberloafing at work was acceptable. They also perceived cyberloafing to have a positive impact on work. "Interestingly, findings suggested that browsing activities have a positive impact on employees' work engagement while emailing activities have a negative impact," the authors noted. Gender Divide in Attitudes The survey findings showed that men were more likely to cyberloaf than women. "Men and women also differed significantly in the amount of time they spent on cyberloafing at the workplace," the authors said. "Men reported spending slightly more than an hour (61 minutes) a day on cyberloafing at work, while women reported that they spent about 46 minutes." But there was more agreement between the members of the two genders in terms of the acceptability of cyberloafing. When asked to indicate whether they felt that it was appropriate for them to use their workplace Internet access for personal purposes during working hours, about 97 percent of men and 85 percent of women reported that it was acceptable for employees to cyberloaf at the workplace. How much cyberloafing is OK? One of the questions in the survey was how much cyberloafing at the workplace was acceptable. Respondents felt that cyberloafing at work was permissible insofar as it did not exceed 1 hour and 15 minutes per day. According to the survey results, about 75 percent of respondents agreed with the statement that 'cyberloafing helps make work more interesting', and 57 percent reported that engaging in cyberloafing help them deal with practical issues and personal issues. In addition, 52 percent of respondents agreed with the statement that 'cyberloafing makes them a better and more interesting worker' and 49 percent indicated that cyberloafing helps them deal with problems they encounter at work. Based on the findings of the study, the authors have this piece of advice for companies: "Browsing activities allow for some relief at work and may motivate employees to perform better. Thus, in designing workplace Internet policies, companies should allow employees to use the company's internet access for non-work related online activities that have a positive effect on work." *** Sun Oct 5 21:23:16 2008 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Telstra call centre jobs to be axed * * Email * Printer friendly version * Normal font * Large font * Saved Ben Schneiders October 4, 2008 Advertisement Hundreds of Telstra call centre jobs are set to move offshore, possibly to the Philippines, after the company awarded a big contract to a US outsourcing firm. Sources confirmed that the contract meant a significant number of jobs would be shifted overseas. "It won't be small," one source said. Unions attacked the move, suggesting the job cuts could run into the thousands. The workers are not directly employed by Telstra but perform call centre work for the company through contractors. A Telstra spokesman confirmed it had awarded a contract to US multinational TeleTech for sales support positions as it reduced the number of contractors it used. The affected workers deal with Telstra customers in areas such as connecting pre-paid phones, change of address, mobile phone activation or deliveries and some bill inquiries. Questions about job losses were referred to TeleTech, which did not respond to a request for comment about its plans other than saying that it would "maintain and enhance" the experience of customers. Community and Public Sector Union national president Louise Persse said: "No one would seriously believe that sending service jobs offshore will improve standards for Australian customers. "Clearly Telstra is trying to cover this up by sending service jobs offshore through the back door. But the onus must be on Telstra to come clean with customers and the Australian public, and to keep all service jobs in Australia." Unions had feared the move was imminent after jobs were shifted through TeleTech to the Philippines in recent years and there were reports from Telstra staff of a number of senior managers at the company visiting the Philippines recently. The Age can also reveal the existence of a call centre outsourcing unit within Telstra, based in Melbourne, which has at least five staff. The move to send the jobs overseas comes just weeks after Telstra axed 800 jobs as part of a restructuring. Those job losses were part of a five-year program to reduce staff numbers by up to 12,000. About 9500 of those jobs have been cut already. Telstra's industrial relations stance has angered Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard after the company moved to exclude unions from negotiations in July. Staff in two divisions voted last month to reject a non-union pay offer from the company in a blow to Telstra's workplace strategy and there are now union moves to call a ballot for protected industrial action. The cuts at Telstra are the latest in a wave of big job losses. In recent months Starbucks, Fairfax Media, Ford, Holden, South Pacific Tyres and Qantas have announced hundreds of job cuts. *** Wed Oct 29 02:37:06 2008 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Intruder sexually assaulted four: police October 29, 2008, 5:07 pm All four occupants of a Sydney unit were forced to strip naked and sexually assaulted by a knife-wielding pervert, before two teenagers fell from the balcony, one to her death, police say. Investigators have seized CCTV footage of the intruder, a man aged in his mid-20s who forced his way into the Waterloo unit, and plan to release his image later Wednesday. Chinese student (Elva) Liao Wei, 18, died after falling from her third-floor unit about 1.40pm (AEDT) on Sunday. Her boyfriend Tae Wook "Chris" Han, 19, suffered two broken legs, a fractured pelvis and fractured vertebrae in the fall and remains in hospital facing possible permanent damage. The two were found naked after landing on concrete below their unit. Detective Superintendent Geoff Beresford said police had interviewed Mr Han in hospital and his information had been "very helpful". He said all four occupants of the unit - three women and a man - had been sexually assaulted. "We can confirm that there were a number of sexual assaults on all of the victims," he told reporters. "In relation to the deceased person and obviously the male person who suffered injuries from falling, we do expect that they were forced either by force or by other means (off the balcony)." He described the crime as "particularly horrendous" and shocking. "The fear that those people must have felt during this attack would be indescribable." The intruder is described as about 175cm tall with a strong, stocky build, dark complexion, short dark hair and was last seen wearing shorts, a T-shirt and running shoes. *** Wed Oct 29 02:48:31 2008 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Faecal matter in found Coogee Bay Hotel gelato sample AAP October 29, 2008 11:45am A FOOD sample supplied by a family who allege they were served gelato laced with frozen faeces at a Sydney hotel has tested positive for faecal matter. Primary Industries Minister Ian Macdonald said preliminary laboratory test results by the New South Wales Food Authority showed the sample contained bilirubin, found in excreta. Further DNA analysis would now be done to determine if the sample was of "human or animal origin'', the minister said. Those results are not expected for a number of weeks. "Obviously, we are keeping an open mind and do not want to pre-empt this investigation in any manner,'' Mr Macdonald said. "Authority officers are continuing to conduct interviews with hotel staff and the family.'' "They are also reviewing CCTV security videos and have inspected the hotel's kitchen.'' The Whyte family claim they were served the contaminated ice-cream at the Coogee Bay Hotel free of charge on October 5 after complaining they could not hear the televised NRL grand final over the pub's loud music. The eastern Sydney hotel yesterday received the results of its own lab tests on the chocolate gelato tub involved, saying it cleared the ice-cream of any contamination. *** Thu Oct 30 09:39:32 2008 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: October 30, 2008, 5:20 pm A homeless man accused of raping and murdering a student who plunged from a balcony has also been charged with sex attacks on her boyfriend and two other women, a Sydney court has heard. The young couple were repeatedly raped and the boyfriend was forced to indecently assault all three women during the armed home invasion, police allege. Brendan David Dennison, 26, of no fixed address, was not required to come up from the cells at Sydney's Central Local Court on Thursday when his case was briefly mentioned. He is facing 21 charges over an hour-long string of sex attacks on the four Asian students, which ended when the girlfriend and boyfriend fell from the inner-Sydney unit balcony about 1.40pm (AEDT) Sunday. Dennison, who allegedly committed most of the offences while armed with a kitchen knife, is accused of "special aggravated" break and enter. He also is charged with murdering an 18-year-old Chinese student and recklessly inflicting grievous bodily harm on her 19-year-old Korean boyfriend. They were naked when they fell from the third-floor Waterloo unit, resulting in the woman's death and the man suffering serious spinal injuries, and multiple broken bones. Dennison is charged with five counts of aggravated sexual assault while armed with the knife - three involving sexual intercourse with the woman and two with her boyfriend. He is also charged with indecently assaulting the boyfriend and using the knife to threaten the two surviving women, aged 19 and 20, with intent to have sex with them. Dennison is further charged with robbing one of those women of $50 and the other of her Hello Kitty wallet containing $120 and her personal identification. In relation to each of the four students, he faces a count of detain with the intention of obtaining sexual gratification. Finally, he is charged with inciting the boyfriend to commit an act of indecency on the three women, and on Dennison, and of inciting one woman to commit an act on the student who later died. Magistrate Allan Moore adjourned Dennison's case to December 11 and made a forensic order for DNA to be taken from him within the next 14 days. Dennison's solicitor did not apply for bail. Outside court, lawyer Daniel Sheen, who said he was "observing" the case for the dead woman's family, said her mother arrived in Sydney from China on Thursday morning. He understood a funeral service would be held in Sydney and the teenager would be cremated before her ashes were taken back to China. Mr Sheen said the teenager was an only child and her mother was a divorced businesswoman whose supermarket and home had been destroyed earlier this year in an earthquake. "She's lost her home, her business and now she's lost her only child," he said. *** Thu Oct 30 19:16:01 2008 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Grant twice as nice for first-time buyers Author: Selma Milovanovic Date: October 15, 2008 Publication: The Age (subscribe) Ben Hoban, partner Frith and their daughter Archer, in front of their new house. The $14,000 sweetener to first home buyers came just in the nick of time for Ben Hoban. Mr Hoban, 33, was yesterday preparing to sign off on a deposit for his family's first home in North Altona when real estate agent Nicholas Skapoulas called to tell him the Government had doubled the first home buyer's grant. "This money will be great because we will have to spend a bit of time renovating the house," Mr Hoban said. Mr Hoban and his partner, Frith, who have a one-year-old daughter, Archer, and another baby on the way, were forced to rent for several years because of soaring house prices, before they could even contemplate buying a property. Mr Hoban is a digital production manager and his partner a part-time teacher. For the past year and a half, they have been renting in Yarraville and hoped they would one day be able to buy a house there. "Then the market just went berserk," Mr Hoban said. "When we arrived there, it (buying a house in Yarraville) was just out of our reach and it just went north from there." Eventually, Mr Hoban drew a line through the centre of the city on a map and looked further and further out until he could afford a property. "North Altona is about 13 kilometres out in a straight line and it's about as close as you'll get for a three-bedroom house under $400,000," he said. Mortgage-broker Mortgage Choice said the Government's decision to increase subsidies for first home buyers was a historic move that would provide a much-needed boost to the Australian housing market. The building industry applauded the Government's decision to also triple the grant for owners of newly constructed homes, bringing it to $21,000. Victorian first home buyers who buy new homes will benefit even more, as a State Government grant of $5000 for city properties and $8000 for regional properties remains in place. The Housing Industry Association's managing director, Ron Silberberg, said a boost to the first home owner's grant would stimulate subdued activity in the residential building sector. Master Builders Association chief Brian Welch said the initiative was welcome, as the number of first home buyers in Victoria had fallen by 13% in the past 12 months. But he warned that the changes could have some inflationary effects on the housing market. http://www.domain.com.au/Public/fhbgarticle.aspx?id=1223750284085&index=ToDIYFor&headline=Grant%20twice%20as%20nice%20for%20first-time%20buyers *** Fri Oct 31 23:05:48 2008 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: November 01, 2008 MENTION the word 'adultery' and chances are, the men always come to mind. But no more. It seems that more women are cheating on their spouses - nearly as many as men, reported the International Herald Tribune. Researchers from the University of Washington found that infidelity is on the rise, and notably, women are closing the adultery gap. Younger women are also cheating on their spouses nearly as often as men. The research showed that the lifetime rate of infidelity for men over 60 increased from 20 per cent in 1991 to 28 per cent in 2006. But for women over 60, the increase is even more striking - up from 5 per cent to 15 per cent in that same period. Mr David Atkins, research associate professor at the University of Washington Centre said: 'If you just ask whether infidelity is going up, you don't see really impressive changes. 'But if you magnify the picture and you start looking at specific gender and age cohorts, we do start to see some pretty significant changes.' The researchers also said they saw big changes in relatively new marriages. About 20 per cent of men and 15 per cent of women under 35 say they have been unfaithful, up from about 15 per cent and 12 per cent respectively, according to that report. In Singapore, private investigators we spoke to also noticed that more women are cheating on their spouses. Private investigator Deborah de Souza said that she has seen more men coming forward to engage their services to spy on their partners. 'I used to see only one or two such cases a month about eight years ago. But now, I see about four to five such cases every month,' said Ms de Souza. Often, these women know the third party through work. Those who are not working usually form such relationships online, she said. The reasons for cheating include women being neglected by their husbands and changing perception about divorces. Said Ms de Souza: 'Women these days are also more vocal, more empowered and perhaps more bold. What women want 'Relationships don't spring from nothing. These women know what they want. And if they can't get it from their husbands, they'll find someone else.' The number of divorces and annulments in Singapore has also grown over the years. It rose from 6,388 in 2004 to 7,226 last year, according to the Singapore's Department of Statistics. The top three reasons for divorce among non-Muslims were living apart/separation, unreasonable behaviour and adultery. Adultery, which counted for 3.7 per cent of the divorces in 1997, dropped to 1.7 per cent last year. For the husband, the figure dropped from 3.9 per cent to 1.8 per cent. For the wife, it dipped from 3.6 per cent to 1.7 per cent. But Ms de Souza said that these numbers do not necessarily say everything. She said that in divorce cases, both parties will usually go for an uncontested divorce and ask for a separation instead. She explained: 'When you're in such a situation, both parties usually don't want to wash their dirty linen in public. So, they'll agree on a separation. 'And for a guy, for pride or ego reasons, they're even less inclined to blow it up and give 'adultery' as the reason for the divorce.' In US, even online pornography has been blamed for rising infidelity cases. The increasing availability of such pornography, which has been shown to affect sexual attitudes and perceptions of 'normal' behaviour, may be playing a role in rising infidelity among younger couples. Even newer drugs and treatments like Viagra and other remedies for erectile dysfunction, estrogen and testosterone supplements also spur infidelity. These treatments are making it easier to be sexual, and in some cases unfaithful, especially for older folks. But researchers also questioned if the historical gap between men and women is real or if women have just been more likely to lie about it. Ms Helen Fisher, research professor of anthropology at Rutgers University, said: 'Men want to think women don't cheat, and women want men to think they don't cheat, and therefore the sexes have been playing a little psychological game with each other.' *** Fri Oct 31 23:14:37 2008 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Trojan virus steals banking info By Maggie Shiels Technology reporter, BBC News, Silicon Valley The details of about 500,000 online bank accounts and credit and debit cards have been stolen by a virus described as "one of the most advanced pieces of crimeware ever created". The Sinowal trojan has been tracked by RSA, which helps to secure networks in Fortune 500 companies. RSA said the trojan virus has infected computers all over the planet. "The effect has been really global with over 2000 domains compromised," said Sean Brady of RSA's security division. He told the BBC: "This is a serious incident on a very noticeable scale and we have seen an increase in the number of trojans and their variants, particularly in the States and Canada." The RSA's Fraud Action Research Lab said it first detected the Windows Sinowal trojan in Feb 2006. Since then, Mr Brady said, more than 270,000 banking accounts and 240,000 credit and debit cards have been compromised from financial institutions in countries including the US, UK, Australia and Poland. The lab said no Russian accounts were hit by Sinowal. "Drive-by downloads" RSA described the Sinowal as "one of the most serious threats to anyone with an internet connection" because it works behind the scenes using a common infection method known as "drive-by downloads"." Users can get infected without knowing if they visit a website that has been booby-trapped with the Sinowal malicious code. Mr Brady said the worrying aspect about Sinowal, which is also known as Torpig and Mebroot, is that it has been operating for so long. "One of the key points of interest about this particular trojan is that it has existed for two and a half years quietly collecting information," he said. "Any IT professional will tell you it costs a lot to maintain and to store the information it is gathering. "The group behind it have made sure to invest in the infrastructure no doubt because the return and the potential return is so great." RSA's researchers said the trojan's creators periodically release new variants to ensure it stays ahead of detection and maintain "its uninterrupted grip on infected computers." While RSA's lab has been tracking the trojan since 2006, Mr Brady admitted that they know a lot about its design and infrastructure but little about who is behind Sinowal. "There is a lot of talk about where it comes from and anecdotal evidence points to Russia and Eastern Europe. Historically there have been connections with an online gang connected to the Russian Business Network but in reality no one knows for sure." That he said is because the group is able to use the web to cloak its identity. Infection In April 2007, researchers at Google discovered hundreds of thousands of web pages that initiated drive-by downloads. It estimated that one in ten of the 4.5 million pages it analysed were suspect. Sophos researchers reported in 2008 it was finding more than 6,000 newly infected web pages every day, or about one every 14 seconds. RSA's fraud action team said it noticed a spike in attacks from March through to September this year. That is backed up by another online security company called Fortinet. It said from July 2008 to September 2008 the number of reported attacks rose from 10m to 30m. This included trojans, viruses, malware, phishing and mass mailings. "The explosion in the number of attacks is alarming," said Derek Manky of Fortinet. "But trojans are just one of the players in the game wreaking havoc in cyberspace." Remedies While attacks are on the increase, there are some simple steps that users can take to protect their information besides using security software. "We have a saying here which is 'think before you link,'" said Mr Manky. "That just means observe where you are going on the web. Be wary of clicking on anything in a high traffic site like social networks. "A lot of traffic in the eyes of cyber criminals means these sites are a target because to these people more traffic means more money," he said. RSA also urged users to be wary if their bank started asking for different forms of authentication such as a social security number or other details. "People think not clicking on a pop up or an attachment means they are safe. What people don't realise now is that just visiting a website is good enough to infect them." RSA said it is co-operating with banks and financial institutions the world over to tell them about Sinowal. It has passed information about the virus to law enforcement agencies. Story from BBC NEWS: http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/technology/7701227.stm *** Sun Nov 2 04:52:01 2008 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Family seeks compo after balcony death November 2, 2008, 7:37 am The NSW government will be asked to pay compensation to the family of the 18-year-old Chinese student who died after falling from a Sydney unit balcony last weekend. The lawyer acting for the student's mother and stepfather says they'll be asking for the maximum compensation of $50,000 to help pay for counselling and support services, The Sunday Telegraph newspaper reports. The young woman was among four people who were allegedly sexually assaulted at the hands of a knife-wielding man in Waterloo last Sunday afternoon. She died and her 19-year-old boyfriend suffered serious spinal injuries when they fell while trying to escape the assault. Police arrested a 26-year-old man in Redfern last week and charged him with more than 20 offences including murder and sexual assault. *** Wed Nov 5 22:59:12 2008 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Men with multiple mates (loose zippers) add to human diversity by William Atkins Thursday, 06 November 2008 A U.S. study has stated that men who sire children with many different women are primarily responsible for the wide genetic diversity seen around the world. As The Rolling Stones once stated, these men have gotten their "ya-ya's out!” The article “Sex-Biased Evolutionary Forces Shape Genomic Patterns of Human Diversity” was published in the journal Public Library Of Science Genetics (PLOS Genetics). It states basically that men throughout the ages have bedded down a lot of women, which has increased the differences seen in humans throughout the world. It was authored by Michael F. Hammer, Fernando L. Mendez Murray P. Cox, and August E. Woerner (all from the University of Arizona, Tucson), and Jeffrey D. Wall (from the Institute for Human Genetics, University of California, San Francisco). Their author summary states, “Like many primate species, the mating system of humans is considered to be moderately polygynous (i.e., males exhibit a higher variance in reproductive success than females).” And, “As a consequence, males are expected to have a lower effective population size (Ne) than females, and the proportion of neutral genetic variation on the X chromosome (relative to the autosomes) should be higher than expected under the assumption of strict neutrality and an equal breeding sex ratio.” The researchers tested for polygyny in 90 humans from six human geographically diverse populations. The six populations—Basque, Han Chinese, Melanesians, Blaka, Mandeka, and San—were from three continents. These tests were DNA-based analysis of forty independent loci on the X chromosome and autosomes (non-sex chromosomes). The U.S. researchers stated, “To correct for mutation rate heterogeneity among loci, we divide our diversity estimates within human populations by divergence with orangutan at each locus.” They found that the X chromosome was more diverse genetically than would normally be expected if males and females had passed on their genes equally from generation to generation. Thus, they conclude, “Consistent with expectations under a model of polygyny, we find elevated levels of X-linked versus autosomal diversity.” They contend that, “While it is possible that multiple demographic processes may contribute to the observed patterns of genomic diversity (i.e., background selection, changes in population size, and sex-specific migration), we conclude that an historical excess of breeding females over the number of breeding males can by itself explain most of the observed increase in effective population size of the X chromosome.” In other words, men got many more women pregnant over the ages, thus producing a wide difference in how humans developed genetically. From the 1869 book Little Women by Louisa May Alcott, it is quoted: “Boys will be boys, young men must sow their wild oats, and women must not expect miracles”. And, the Rolling Stones said it equally well in the title of their 1970 album: “Get Your Ya-Ya's Out!” Overall, the results of this study help scientists to understand better the diversity of the human genome (the full set of chromosomes or genes found in humans as based on the hereditary information found in DNA). *** Fri Nov 7 02:27:45 2008 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Employment up in Oct,but outlook still poor:economists 7/11/2008 - Despite a surprise improvement in October, economists still expect the labour market to deteriorate as the economy turns south and growth slows. Defying predictions of a weak result, the local economy added 34,300 jobs in October, according to figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), with the unemployment rate steady at 4.3 per cent. CommSec chief equities economist Craig James said hailed the figures as "nothing short of sensational". "Not only is it a great shot in the arm for the economy but for the confidence of consumers and businesses across the nation," James said. However, the figures were at odds with recent surveys and other official data. A private-sector survey this week showed job advertisements had fallen for the sixth straight month in October, while a federal government report found the number skilled vacancies had dropped by 8.8 per cent. Also, a number of big companies such as Ford, Optus, Boeing and the ANZ have recently flagged their intentions to cut staff. In its Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook released on Wednesday, the federal government forecast the unemployment rate to rise to five per cent by June 2009 and 5.75 per cent by June 2010. JPMorgan chief economist Stephen Walters said the employment gains recorded in October would almost certainly be reversed when the November figures were published. "On this evidence, it suggests the labour market is in decent shape," Walters said. "But that jars with the real world, which is telling us there are lots of job losses being announced amid a global recession and the worse financial crisis globally in 80 years." JPMorgan has forecast unemployment to reach nine per cent by the end of 2010. James expects the job market to soften in coming months and unemployment to creep higher. "But the lift in the jobless rate will occur mainly because businesses will be more reluctant to put more staff, on rather than making knee-jerk decisions to cut positions," he said. The October job rise was totally due to a 43,500 increase in part-time jobs, with the economy shedding 9,200 full-time positions in the month. It was the first consecutive monthly decline in full-time employment since late 2005. RBC Capital Markets senior economist Su-Lin Ong said the apparent strength in employment was surprising given the unfolding slowdown and gloomy anecdotes on the jobs front. "However, we caution that the data are volatile and we could just as easily see a loss of 35,500 (jobs) next month," Ong said. The ABS has reduced the survey's sample size, due to funding cuts announced in this year's federal budget, increasing the likelihood of greater volatility. The unemployment rate in Western Australia dropped to a record low of 2.2 per cent in October, from 2.9 per cent the previous month. Tasmania also set a new benchmark after its jobless rate declined 0.1 percentage points to 3.5 per cent. But Australia's two biggest states - NSW and Victoria continued to drag. The jobless rate in NSW rose to 5.2 per cent, with the number of unemployed persons in the state jumping by 17,500 in October. Only South Australia, at 5.3 per cent, was worse, while Victoria held steady above the national average at 4.4 per cent. Walters said the Reserve Bank of Australia was unlikely to "take too seriously" a jobs report which showed firms "rushed" to employ new workers as equity markets collapsed, major economies contracted and amid ongoing turmoil on financial markets. *** Fri Nov 7 02:59:07 2008 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: http://www.st701.com/newsletter/article/061108c.jpg *** Tue Nov 11 19:23:19 2008 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: http://livenews.com.au/articles/2008/11/12/Qld_resort_boosts_tourism_with_month_of_orgies Month of orgies a tourism rise for Qld resort 12/11/2008 10:19:00 AM A month of sex parties is one way a Queensland resort has boosted tourism figures during tough economic times. The White Cockatoo Resort near Port Douglas is close to being fully booked in March, after promoting an ‘anything goes’, adults-only month of hedonism. The nudist resort was feeling the pain of sagging tourism, so owner Tony Fox said it was time to ‘call for stiff measures’. "We've taken the bull by the horns and it's going nuts - we're close to fully booked,” Mr Fox told News Ltd. "It will be a hedonism resort, where anything goes for a month. We're not using the words sex or swingers, but it doesn't take rocket science to work out what it means." But Mr Fox says there will be strict rules in place for the month of hedonism, not wanting a repeat of controversies which plagued the resort three years ago. The resort made headlines when six guests were evicted by police, due to an out-of-control sex romp in a chalet – one of a series of upsets which forced Mr Fox to ban partner swapping. *** Tue Nov 11 19:33:03 2008 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Sydney the 'world's most expensive city for parking' 12/11/2008 7:47:00 AM. | AAP The doubling of the CBD parking levy in the mini-budget will make Sydney the world's most expensive city to park a car, a parking station operator says. The Parking Space Levy, introduced in 1992 by the NSW government with a mandate to direct the funds raised to public transport infrastructure upgrades, has been increased from $950 to $2,000. Secure Parking chief executive officer Garth Mathews criticised the move, saying it could mean people paying 50 per cent more for parking as building owners and tenants passed on the increase. "Our research, based on the 2008 Collier's International Parking Survey, shows this move will make Sydney the most expensive city in the world for parking," he said. "This is just a cynical move from a government who has run out of ideas. "It is not a long-term solution to making our cities more liveable or better for business." Mr Mathews said a 2007 auditor general's report found there had never been an evaluation of the levy's effectiveness in discouraging car use in the CBD. The report also found there was no criteria for how the revenues were allocated to public transport projects. "This tax has nothing to do with developing an integrated transport strategy, which is what is desperately required," he said. "Sydney CBD businesses including hotels, retailers and small business, will all suffer from this move." *** Fri Nov 14 18:26:32 2008 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Two bodies found were 'slashed, stabbed' November 15, 2008, 8:54 am Post-mortem examinations of the bodies of two Chinese women found in a Sydney unit two days ago have shown that both died from "slashings" or "stabbings", police say. Ambulance officers found the pair lying face down on the bed in the first-floor unit of a complex at the corner of Harrow Road and Queen Street at Auburn, in Sydney's west, on Thursday night. The women, aged in their late 20s or early 30s, had visible injuries, but police had previously not elaborated on their nature. Detectives received the official cause of death Friday night. "Post-mortem examinations of two bodies found in a unit at Auburn two days ago have established sharp force injury as the cause of both deaths," police said in a statement. A police spokesman told AAP that the deaths were most likely caused by "slashings" or "stabbings". A search of the apartment and unit complex was alleged to have revealed a knife. Detectives were on Friday night completing a canvass of the area for clues, with further investigations expected to continue on Saturday, the police spokesman said. Police are investigating possible prostitution links to the two women, who the Immigration Department says were in Australia on temporary visas. Detectives were also interviewing a raft of people, including the man who raised the alarm on Thursday night by going to nearby Auburn ambulance station. Police could not give a definite time when the women were last seen alive and did not rule out that the bodies may have lying in the apartment, unnoticed, for some time. Further forensic tests are being carried out to formally identify the two women. Meanwhile, police are making inquiries with the Immigration Department and the Chinese Consulate in Sydney. *** Fri Nov 14 18:28:07 2008 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Evans considers 457 visa review ABC - November 15, 2008, 7:08 am The exploitation of some workers under Australia's temporary workers visa program has led to a Government review. China is among several countries the Federal Government has approached in a bid to halt some unscrupulous practices. The 457 visas allow workers into Australia to fill skill shortages for between three months and four years. The 457 visa category was set up nearly a decade ago under the Howard government, and was designed to fill skills gaps in areas such as information technology and nursing. But the scheme for temporary workers has been increasingly controversial. This week, Australian trade unions brought forward visa holders with allegations of exploitation. "After we came here we used to work 50 hours a week and we got paid only 40 hours and we keep on asking for overtime money," one male visa holder said. "I work for eight months and then finally when I ask for overtime money all the time, they sack me." Australian trade unions were also concerned that the scheme would undermine wage rates for Australian workers, since foreign workers on 457 visas are paid a minimum wage rather than domestic market rate. Calls for reform of the scheme were largely rebuffed under the previous government. It did introduce an English language requirement two years ago.*Review ordered* A comprehensive review of the visas was ordered soon after the Labor government was elected late last year. That review has now reported to the Immigration Minister Senator Chris Evans. The scheme has major implications, not just to ensure enough workers in Australia. More than 110,000 457 visas were issued in the past year alone and the number has grown significantly each year. The source countries with the biggest increases in takeup of 457 visas are China, India and the Philippines. China is among several countries Mr Evans has had talks with on the issue of the integrity of the 457 visa system. "Some of the things we can fix, some of the things that are occurring overseas we can't," he said. "But I have already spoken to a couple of the ambassadors about making sure the source countries help with the integrity. "We don't want people borrowing money in order to come here because that ties them to those arrangements, makes them like indentured labour." Australian unions are deeply opposed to the scheme, seeing not just a threat to Australian workers and their conditions, but also continuing potential for exploitation. The Australian Government will consider the report of the review into the scheme before announcing changes._For the full story see the Asia Pacific website at http://radioaustralia.net.au/asiapacific_ *** Mon Nov 17 16:56:05 2008 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Three ATMs blown up AAP November 18, 2008 06:24am * Text size o + o - * Print * Email * Share o Add to MySpace o Add to Digg o Add to del.icio.us o Add to Fark o Post to Facebook o Add to Kwoff o What are these? AT least three automatic teller machines have been destroyed by explosives in Sydney. Police are looking for three men, one believed to have been carrying a hand gun, suspected of robbing the ATMs, Macquarie Radio reported today. Two ATMs were destroyed in Sydney's west - one on Ashfield Road, Milperra, and another on Hay Street, Georges Hall, late yesterday or early today. At Chatswood railway station, thieves were disturbed before they could steal cash from an ATM they destroyed early today. The bomb squad was at the scene at Chatswood because of fears the ATM may be full of gas. The ATMs were believed to belong to St George Bank. Police were unable to confirm the report, saying they were still investigating. *** Mon Nov 17 16:59:39 2008 Submitting Host: 10.124.131.238 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Army joins Brisbane clean-up AAP November 18, 2008 05:09am THE clean-up continues in Brisbane after the biggest storm in two decades left the city a natural disaster area and one man dead. Sunday's storm dumped torrential rain and hail on Brisbane, the Gold Coast and Redcliffe, damaging about 4000 homes and leaving 30 unliveable. Wind gusts of up to 130km/h uprooted trees and brought down power lines, with some homes expected to be without power until tomorrow. A 20-year-old man was killed when he was swept away by quickly rising water while photographing the storm in a drain with a 23-year-old friend at Chermside, in Brisbane's northern suburbs. About 100 soldiers from Brisbane's 7th Brigade are joining the massive clean-up task, focusing on helping residents in the city's northern suburbs. More than 60 police recruits and 20 low-level security prisoners will also pitch in, pushing the number of volunteers, including State Emergency Service personnel, to beyond 1200. Brisbane City Council last night lifted fees for disposing of green waste at the dump, and made available free tarpaulins and bottled water after residents of The Gap were advised their drinking water may be unsafe. The Gap Reservoirs' roof collapsed in the storm, potentially contaminating the water supply with bird and animal faecal matter, council authorities said. Acting Prime Minister Julia Gillard yesterday activated natural disaster relief and recovery arrangements. Premier Anna Bligh said families severely affected by the storm were eligible for a cash assistance payment of up to $765 and individuals could claim $165. Two Catholic schools badly damaged by the storm, St Andrew's at Ferny Grove and St Peter Chanel at The Gap, will remain closed until at least tomorrow, school authorities said. *** Wed Nov 19 17:11:57 2008 Submitting Host: 10.126.24.9 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: S’pore ranked 16th most expensive shopping location in the world Channel NewsAsia Channel NewsAsia - Thursday, November 20 SINGAPORE: Surveys showed that Singapore is the world’s 16th most expensive shopping location, with prime retail space along Orchard Road going for US$405 per square foot. ADVERTISEMENT This is two places lower than 2007 largely due to escalating rental rates in other global markets. In Asia, Singapore’s retail rentals ranked 4th, with Hong Kong retaining its position as the region’s priciest shopping destination. Property consultancy Cushman & Wakefield said retail rents rose as a result of sustained interest from international retailers. It said there is also positive spillover effects from new tourist attractions and events in Singapore. These include the opening of the Singapore Flyer observation wheel, the Formula One Grand Prix street race and the upcoming integrated resorts. However, market watchers said the weakening economic environment has started to affect retail rentals towards the fourth quarter of 2008. Still, they expect the sector to hold up in the medium term, backed by the influx of new malls along Orchard Road. Commercial real estate services firm, CB Richard Ellis (CBRE), said despite deteriorating economic conditions, the retail sector has performed relatively well to date. It added that half of the markets surveyed saw rental growth in the first three quarters of the year, with 65 per cent of them seeing increases over the last six months. Looking ahead, it said the slowdown in consumer demand could drive down the rates as landlords become more open to rental negotiations. CBRE added that retailers who are able to differentiate themselves, either based on price or product, will be more likely to weather the tough times. — CNA/vm *** Thu Nov 20 05:50:23 2008 Submitting Host: 10.126.24.9 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Girl's sex attacker moves next door November 20, 2008, 7:20 pm A Sydney teenager is living in fear after a neighbour who was jailed for sexually abusing her moved back into the house next door. Two weeks ago, the Macquarie Fields man finished serving a sentence of five years and two months for an attack on his young neighbour, and immediately moved back into his home. Neither can be named for legal reasons. The man's reappearance has shocked the south-western Sydney community, which has begun distributing flyers naming him as a sex predator and identifying his address. The girl was 12 when she was abused and was so devastated by the attack she tried to kill herself, she told the Seven Network on Thursday. She was now living at a friend's home because she was so frightened of the man. "When I'm here (at home) I stay in my room and I don't talk to anyone, and every time I hear the front door it's like, 'Who's there?'," she said. "I've actually been staying at a mate's house." Her father was shocked that authorities had let the man move next door to his daughter. "How can they let him back there, to let her suffer again?" he asked. However, a NSW Corrective Services spokeswoman said there were no restrictions on the man's movements. "He served his full sentence. He's not on parole," she told AAP. "Under the law ... there is no restrictions." *** Thu Nov 20 06:02:35 2008 Submitting Host: 10.126.24.9 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Penis in pasta jar led to police chase 3 hours 23 minutes ago. | Richard Maxton A man caught with his penis in a jar of pasta sauce continued "pleasuring himself" as police tried to wrestle him to the ground, a court has heard. Keith Roy Weatherley attracted police attention when he parked in a no-stopping zone near Newcastle. Police drew their guns, suspecting he might have a weapon, when they saw him doing something with his hands in his lap. Instead, they discovered Weatherley partially clothed, with his genitals in a jar, a police statement said. Weatherley saw the police and drove away, leading police on a 20km/h car chase as he allegedly continued to masturbate using the jar. He was eventually stopped at Centenary Drive, Newcastle but refused to leave the car. Four police officers managed to drag him from the car after using capsicum spray and their batons. They reported Weatherley attempted to continue "pleasuring himself in between bouts of wrestling". Police searched his car, recovering pornography, a home made sex toy, women's stockings and a Jack Russell terrier. Yesterday in Newcastle local court Weatherley pleaded guilty to offensive behaviour, resisting police and disobeying a police direction. He was fined $600, despite arguing he resisted arrest because he was trying to make himself "decent" *** Tue Nov 25 01:27:02 2008 Submitting Host: 10.126.24.9 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Article from: NEWS.com.au Money missing after Commonwealth Bank transaction glitch By Andrew Ramadge, Technology Reporter November 25, 2008 02:24pm Commonwealth Bank Money ... Commonwealth Bank customers have been urged to check their accounts after a system glitch / Derek Moore COMMONWEALTH Bank has identified a way to resolve a glitch that left customers missing thousands of dollars from their accounts today. Up to 200,000 customers were affected by the error, with many waking up this morning to find their accounts overdrawn or missing large sums of money. In an "emergency update" news item posted to the NetBank website at 2pm (AEDT), the company said it would resolve the error overnight. "We have a current issue affecting the balance on a number of customers accounts where transactions were performed on the 22nd, 23rd, 24th of November," it said. "We have identified a fix to this problem which will be resolved overnight." Bank staff had earlier informed customers that a "processing error" was behind the glitch and that the company was working to fix the problem. Commonwealth Bank spokesperson Steve Batten apologised to customers and said any fees incurred as a result of the glitch would be refunded. "We will refund any fee that a customer is impacted by as a result of this error," he said. "If they have been charged any fees such as overdrawn fees they can contact us and we will refund them." Customers had reported sums of up to $5000 going missing from their account this morning, in some cases leaving them overdrawn and unable to withdraw cash. One customer reported that money from transactions made between Saturday and yesterday had disappeared overnight, despite having been in his account yesterday. Another customer said her salary payment had not gone through today as scheduled. "When I called the CBA call centre this morning... I was in their queue for 20 mins before I got to speak to someone," said the Sydney sales worker, who declined to be named. "The lady was lovely though and whilst she apologised profusely for the error... she was unable to give me an ETA for rectification other than sometime in the next 24 hours." Scores of news.com.au readers reported being affected by the glitch and finding noticeable amounts missing or mysteriously credited to their accounts this morning. "Checked and I'm negative $1789. I just about had a heart attack," said Tim Young of Sydney. "To try and rectify what I thought was my stuff up, I transferred more into the account. I now have no idea where my cash is!" Mr Batten said customers affected by the glitch and left without cash should visit a Commonwealth Bank branch. *** Wed Nov 26 18:19:17 2008 Submitting Host: 10.126.24.9 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Medicare worker 'used dead people to claim baby bonus for 58 fake kids' AAP November 27, 2008 07:39am A MEDICARE employee has been charged with using the identities of dead people to claim more than $300,000 in false baby bonus and immunisation payments for 58 fictitious children. Australian Federal Police allege the man used his position as a Medicare Australia employee to access the Centrelink records of dead people to obtain encrypted tax file numbers (TFNs). An AFP statement said the Perth man allegedly used the TFNs to create 23 false claims for baby bonus and immunisation payments for 58 fictitious children, which were then paid into his bank account. He allegedly claimed more than $300,000 in false baby bonus payments. The 33-year-old was arrested yesterday morning after a joint AFP and Centrelink investigation. He was charged with 23 counts of abuse of public office, 23 counts of obtaining advantage by deception and two counts of money laundering, under the Commonwealth Criminal Code Act. The maximum penalty for the abuse of public office offences is five years jail, while the maximum penalty for the obtaining financial advantage by deception offences is 10 years imprisonment. The maximum penalty for the money laundering offences is 20 years jail and/or a $132,000 fine. The man will appear in Perth Magistrates Court today. *** Wed Dec 3 18:57:51 2008 Submitting Host: 10.126.24.9 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Woman robbed by fake postman AAP December 04, 2008 05:55am * Text size o + o - * Print * Email * Share o Add to MySpace o Add to Digg o Add to del.icio.us o Add to Fark o Post to Facebook o Add to Kwoff o What are these? AN armed thief posing as a postman has forced his way into a Sydney woman's home, robbing her of cash and jewellery. The woman opened the front door of her Donnelly Street home at Guildford, in Sydney's west, about 2.45pm on Tuesday when the man claiming to be a postman told her she sign must for a parcel. Once the door was open, he pulled out a handgun, forcing the woman back inside. Police describe the robber as a 178cm tall Asian of medium build. He was wearing a red polo shirt and baggy pants. Witnesses said he was riding a motorcycle with side cargo bags. Anyone with information is asked to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000. *** Wed Dec 10 20:01:23 2008 Submitting Host: 10.126.24.9 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Billy Graham ministry to broadcast Gospel message into Singapore homes Posted: Wednesday, December 10, 2008, 13:08 (GMT) The Gospel of Jesus Christ will be proclaimed in thousands of homes in Singapore this weekend as churches there launch My Hope, an evangelistic effort facilitated by the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (BGEA). More than 20,000 homes representing over 250 churches in Singapore will be involved in the Christian outreach. Local Christians, called “Matthews” after the disciple who invited friends to his home to meet Jesus, will be inviting neighbours, friends and relatives to their homes to watch one of a number of moving and culturally appropriate programmes on DVD. After viewing the video, the “Matthews” will share their personal testimonies and give their guests the opportunity to accept or rededicate their lives to Jesus Christ. The TV programmes, which feature sermons from Billy and Franklin Graham, will be shown in five different languages within Singapore - Tamil, Chinese, Bahasa, Tagalog and English. “Reaching the people of Singapore – a modern, wealthy nation – with the Gospel presents many of the same challenges as evangelism in the United States,” said Bill Conard, vice president of international ministries at BGEA. “But we have already seen how God is moving across Singapore so that churches work simultaneously to proclaim His truth boldly.” One of the English programmes features the story of Neville Tan, a desperate and hopeless young Singaporean prisoner who decided one night to take his own life. In his dark cell, God’s light penetrated Tan’s heart with Scripture, giving him a freedom he had never known. After being released from prison, Tan went to Bible college and became a missionary. “God had really picked me up and washed me and made me a new person,” said Tan. “And it’s all because He loves me.” My Hope Singapore comes on the heels of a massive My Hope effort facilitated by BGEA in Brazil, which involved more than 50,000 churches and more than 850,000 Matthew homes. Christian leaders from countries in Southeast Asia and the Pacific are observing My Hope Singapore and considering partnerships with BGEA to implement the programme in their countries. *** Tue Dec 16 18:32:33 2008 Submitting Host: 10.126.24.9 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Church sues Bible college directors It sends writ to college telling them to leave premises By Arul John December 17, 2008 A CHURCH and its affiliated Bible college have gone to court after they fell out over each other's interpretation of a particular doctrine. Life Bible-Presbyterian Church (Life BPC) is suing the board of directors of the Far Eastern Bible College to stop what it considers to be deviant Bible teachings and to leave their current location. In response, the directors of the college have stated that it is an independent organisation with its own rules and regulations and does not have to follow instructions from the church. They also claim that the college is entitled to operate on its current site as it is among the trustees of the site. Since it was founded in 1962, the college has operated with the support of the church. Both are on a plot of land owned by the church on Gilstead Road, near Newton Circus. The church issued a writ of summons against the board of the college in September and a pre-trial conference was held on 12 Nov. Lawyer Ang Cheng Hock, who is representing the college, said another pre-trial conference is to be held soon. The case focuses on how each party interprets a doctrine relating to the Bible. This doctrine, known as Verbal Plenary Preservation, is at the centre of the conflict. According to Bible study websites, this refers to the belief that God has preserved, down to the last detail, all of Scripture without any loss of the original words, prophecies, promises, commandments, doctrines, and truths. Only one version Believers in the doctrine use only the King James version of the Bible because they believe it exactly replicates the original books of the Bible. They deny the accuracy of other English versions of the Bible. According to a Lianhe Zaobao report on 11 Nov, Dr Jeffrey Khoo, one of the respondents in the writ and a lecturer at the college, started propagating an extreme view of the doctrine at the college in 2002. This view was unacceptable to the church, and some other lecturers who disagreed with the extreme version resigned. Another respondent in the writ, Rev (Dr) Timothy Tow, founded the church in 1950. After resigning in 2003, Rev Tow, who is also a lecturer at the college, founded another church called True Life Bible-Presbyterian Church. In January 2004, the True Life church registered the college as a charity organisation without Life BPC's knowledge. On 8 Nov 2005, the elders of Life BPC stated that they had earlier agreed to bear with the doctrinal differences for the sake of church harmony and 'greater benefit of the Christian belief' as long as the college agreed not to use the church's premises to push its agenda. If it did, the elders said they would ask the college to leave the Gilstead Road premises. In July last year, Life BPC stopped the college from having free use of its premises, saying the college was no longer linked to it as it was now a charity organisation. In March this year, the church wrote to the college board telling it to leave the Gilstead Road site by the end of June. When the board did not move, the church took legal action. Life BPC claims the college has deviated from the role that the church originally planned for it because of its extreme view of the Verbal Plenary Preservation doctrine. The college board has appealed to the church to respect an agreement made between the two in 1970 which allowed both groups joint trusteeship of the site where the college building sits. When contacted, both parties declined to comment as the case is before the courts. *** Sat Dec 27 01:22:30 2008 Submitting Host: 10.126.24.9 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: By Ralph Atkins in Frankfurt , Financial Times, 26 Dec 2008 Deutsche Bank reacted angrily on Friday after Germany's senior Protestant bishop accused Josef Ackermann, its chief executive, of turning money-making into a form of "idolatry". In a rare and testy public exchange between a prominent German financial institution and a religious leader, Deutsche Bank dismissed as "inappropriate" the remarks by Bishop Wolfgang Huber, chairman of Germany's evangelical church council. Germany's largest bank was upset by the timing of the personal attack, made in a newspaper interview published on Christmas Eve, as well as the substance of the censure. Criticism of bankers from German politicians and church leaders is far from new but the complaints intensified and became more mainstream after the financial system almost failed in the wake of the mid-September Lehman Brothers collapse. Swiss-born Mr Ackermann, well known in Germany for setting his bank the goal of earning a pre-tax return on equity of 25 per cent, has long been a popular target as the globally-active Deutsche Bank is often seen as having special, domestic responsibilities. But this attack appears to have taken the bank aback. Speaking to the Berliner Zeitung newspaper, Bishop Huber argued that bankers had a duty to look beyond the short term and to ensure stability: "Never again should a Deutsche Bank chief executive set a profit goal of 25 per cent." Such goals drove up profit expectations to unsustainable levels and amounted to "a form of idolatry", he said. "In the current circumstances, money has become a god." The bishop highlighted a widespread view in Germany that the US had largely caused the financial market crisis by encouraging excessive borrowing. He said George W.?Bush, US president, and Alan Greenspan, the former US Federal Reserve chairman, had "deluded" ordinary people. Deutsche Bank may have felt particularly aggrieved by the bishop's attack because it has not taken advantage of the emergency support made available by Berlin to prop-up the banking system. Others who have attacked bankers in Germany include Horst Köhler, the country's president, who in May described global financial markets as "a monster" that "must be put back in its place". In his Christmas Eve address to Germans, Mr Köhler said the current crisis should be used as a chance to re-order the economy so that capital "serves" society. *** Wed Jan 7 01:22:12 2009 Submitting Host: 10.126.24.9 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: How sleep apnea increases the risk of stroke-related death Submitted by Mohit Joshi on Wed, 01/07/2009 - 10:29 * Health News * Washington How sleep apnea increases the risk of stroke-related deathWashington, January 7: Scientists at the Yale University School of Medicine in New Haven, Connecticut, say that obstructive sleep apnea decreases blood flow to the brain, elevates blood pressure within the brain, and eventually harms the brain's ability to modulate such changes and prevent damage to itself. Reporting their observations in the Journal of Applied Physiology, they said that their findings might prove helpful in understanding why people with sleep apnea are more likely to suffer strokes and to die in their sleep. Sleep apnea is the most commonly diagnosed condition amongst sleep-related breathing disorders, which can lead to debilitating, and sometimes fatal, consequences. Researchers Fred Urbano, Francoise Roux, Joseph Schindler, and Vahid Mohsenin say that their current study identifies a mechanism behind stroke in patients diagnosed with sleep apnea. During sleep apnea episodes, the upper airway becomes blocked, hindering or stopping breathing and causing blood oxygen levels to drop and blood pressure to rise. People suffering this eventually awaken, and begin breathing so as to restore normal blood oxygen and blood flow to their brains. Generally, the brain regulates its blood flow to meet its own metabolic needs, even in the face of changes in blood pressure -- a process known as cerebral autoregulation. The researchers say that their study has shown that the repeated surges and drops in blood pressure and blood flow during numerous apnea episodes each night reduces the brain's ability to regulate such functions. Dr. Mohsenin and his colleagues have already shown in a previous study that sleep apnea patients are three times more likely to suffer a stroke or die, compared to people in a similar state of health but without this condition. "After we found that sleep apnea is a risk factor for stroke and death, independent of other risk factors, we hypothesized that there must be something wrong with the regulation of blood flow to the brain," he said. His team has now found that repeated surges and drops in blood pressure and low oxygen levels eventually impair the body's ability to regulate blood flow to the brain. Dr. Mohsenin also warns that sleep apnea may occur over a long period of time before the person becomes aware of it and seeks medical treatment. Here are the symptoms Dr. Mohsenin says to watch out for: He suggests that those being treated for sleep apnea remain compliant with treatments. (ANI) *** Wed Jan 7 02:06:10 2009 Submitting Host: 10.126.24.9 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Two Australians charged over $4m Nigerian fraud scam 1 hour 54 minutes ago. | * Decrease font size * Increase font size * Print * Send to friend * 0 Two Australians charged over Nigerian fraud scam | www.usps.com LATEST FEATURES * Rosemeadow brawl | Ten Two more charged over Rosemeadow brawl * Tiger Woods | AP Six questions for the US PGA tour in 2009 * Pontiac G8 ST sports truck (Holden VE ute) General Motors ditches Aussie-made Pontiac ute * Jennifer Hawkins Jennifer Hawkins's wild pool parties enrage neighbours * Great Barrier Reef Great Barrier Reef v Mount Everest v Loch Ness * Bush shoe attack, Olympic games, Andrew O'Keefe, teacher stripping The video moments that exploded on LIVENEWS.com.au in '08 Two Queenslanders have been charged over recruiting people to a Nigerian scam which netted the fraudsters more than $4.3 million. Police said the Sunshine Coast man, 48, and woman, 40, were initially victims of the operation, having been invited to take part in a bogus contract involving the Nigerian oil industry. They began sending money to the scammers in September 2003. Police allege they later invited others to become involved in the scheme. It's believed 12 people sent more than $4.3 million overseas. The pair have each been charged with two counts of fraud and will appear at Maroochydore Magistrates Court on Wednesday. Police Minister Judy Spence said people needed to be more wary of potential scams, with people continuing to be stung despite warnings. She said some people who had already sent money even continued to send cash after speaking to police. "In this global financial crisis, people looking for an easy way out of their financial and mortgage stress can make for easy victims for these fraudsters who promise a quick return," Ms Spence said. "People, even those doing it tough, need to realise there is no such thing as easy money and any scheme that promises massive returns for a small investment will inevitably turn out to be a scam that could cost a victim their entire life savings." Meanwhile, police are warning businesses against scams using fake credit cards and identification to buy gift cards. Fraud and Corporate Crime Group Detective Superintendent Brian Hay said four Malaysian men were arrested on Tuesday over the `shopping gang' scam. "This is becoming a crime that is increasing nationally at an alarming rate," Supt Hay said. "Shopping gangs will target retailers and purchase multiple gift or store cards or multiple quantities of high end goods. "The gangs will use fake driver's licence, usually from NSW or Victoria, and credit cards with skimmed data to purchase the products." He asked retailers to report suspicious behaviour to police. *** Sun Jan 11 19:29:41 2009 Submitting Host: 10.126.24.9 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Ants 'get aggressive with cheats' Ant (PA) Several ant species practise "reproductive policing" Worker ants in colonies with a queen are physically attacked by their peers if they try to reproduce, a study says. In ant society, workers normally give up reproducing to care for the queen's offspring, who are also their brothers and sisters. The researchers found that chemicals produced by the sneaky ants gave away their fertility status. The findings by a US-German team of researchers are published in the journal Current Biology. To test the idea, scientists applied a synthetic compound typical of fertile individuals to non-reproductive worker ants belonging to the species Aphaenogaster cockerelli. In colonies where a queen was present, the workers with the hydrocarbon chemical applied to them were attacked by other ants. The researchers reported that deceitful ants were bitten, pulled and held by their peers. But this was not the case in colonies without a queen ant, where workers were free to reproduce. Co-author Jurgen Liebig of Arizona State University in Tempe, US, said the hydrocarbon chemicals produced by the cheating ants were an "inherently reliable signal". This "reproductive policing" plays an important role in maintaining harmony in the ant world, Dr Liebig explained. "The idea that social harmony is dependent on strict systems to prevent and punish cheating individuals seems to apply to most successful societies," he said. For cheating to be a successful strategy for some ants, the researchers say, two conditions would need to be satisfied. Firstly, worker ants would need to suppress the hydrocarbon signals on their bodies. Secondly, they would need to continue to express the signal on their eggs, so that their offspring could not be distinguished from those of the queen. Some ant species are known not only to attack cheating workers, but also to destroy their eggs. *** Mon Jan 12 00:07:45 2009 Submitting Host: 10.126.24.9 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: David Trew leaves CMC Markets after overhaul * Font Size: Decrease Increase * Print Page: Print Adele Ferguson | November 07, 2008 Article from: The Australian DAVID Trew, the 35-year-old behind the country's biggest and most controversial contracts for difference provider, CMC Markets, has left his high-flying job as part of a major overhaul of the company, which includes significant job losses to be announced over the next week. The changes are the latest in a string of casualties in Australia's stockbroking and derivative trading sector as investors dry up, margin calls abound and their skinny balance sheets and high leverage start to catch up with them. They also come as another contracts for difference (CFD) provider, First Prudential Markets, is being investigated by ASIC over multiple suspect transactions involving possible market manipulation. A spokesman for First Prudential Markets confirmed the business was in talks with ASIC about certain share trades but refused to comment further. First Prudential is a prime broking client of Merrill Lynch, which it uses to hedge its over the counter (OTC) CFD transactions, offering massive leverage to retail clients on CFD positions. A report written by Rebecca Urban in The Australian on October 11 stated that Merrill Lynch was behind a series of single-share trades in at least 20 small companies that were executed late in trading on September 30 -- the last day of the first quarter of the new financial year. It is understood Merrill Lynch was acting on behalf of First Prudential. In almost all of the transactions, one share was purchased at premium prices and had the effect of boosting the individual stock's closing price on the day. In some instances the share price rose as much as 75 per cent as a result of the CFD trade. First Prudential is a small CFD provider tha came into being when a team of people from other CFD providers, including CMC, decided to set up their own business. But CMC remains the country's biggest trader of CFDs -- one of the riskiest financial instruments on the market. They are banned in the US and described by the Australian corporate regulator as more dangerous than a flutter on the horses. CMC staff were told about Trew's departure, along with an announcement that non-client-facing support functions would be lost, at a meeting at the Intercontinental in Sydney at 2.30pm yesterday. Trew is understood to have attended the meeting yesterday but packed up his office last Friday. A decision was made at head office in London a few weeks ago to restructure the reporting lines and reduce Trew's role. The Asia-Pacific region no longer reported to Trew but went directly through London. Trew has been replaced by chief operating officer Barry Odes. CMC currently has 240 staff in Australia and it is not known how many of these will lose their jobs. What is known is that the cuts will leave CMC as essentially a sales and service business, with IT, finance and other areas expected to now come out of London. Trew made a fortune from the volatility that has engulfed the financial system this year. He hit the headlines when he bought a $25 million waterfront house in Sydney earlier this year. He hit the headlines again in June when he took an apprehended violence order out on one of his clients who became frustrated at all the money he had lost on CFDs without fully understanding how they worked. CFDs are targeted at unsophisticated retail investors through magazine and television ads. They allow investors to bet on rises and falls in shares and indices using borrowed money but, most importantly, earnings and losses can be unlimited. They are outlawed in the US by the Securities and Exchange Commission because, unlike most other securities such as shares and options, they are traded "off market", which is largely unregulated. The CFD industry estimates that more than $400 billion of CFD trades are carried out each year in the OTC market, and represent about 15 per cent of trades on the equities market. Despite the recent ban by ASIC on short selling, market makers such as CMC have been able to hedge their position, enabling them to continue doing business as usual. The concern is that much of what CMC and other CFD providers do is in the OTC market which lacks transparency and regulation. To put its size in perspective, the OTC market turned over $79.5 trillion in the year to June 30, up 0.5 per cent on the previous year after a 14 per cent rise in 2006, compared with $42 trillion for the total exchange-traded markets, which includes the ASX and the Sydney Futures Exchange. It is in the OTC market that most of the share price manipulation happens. Many CFD operators use a similar model to that of collapsed stockbroker Opes Prime, which leaves its clients as unsecured creditors. Some CFD providers utilise client money held in segregated accounts to facilitate hedge transactions in their own name with their prime broker lender and this money is mingled with moneys from other clients of the prime broker, which often includes high-risk hedge funds. For this reason, it's imperative retail clients read their Product Disclosure Documents closely to ensure they know their position in the event of a catastrophe. Rebecca Urban is on leave *** Tue Jan 20 16:46:27 2009 Submitting Host: 10.126.24.9 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Only ten minutes on a mobile could trigger cancer, scientists believe By DAVID DERBYSHIRE Last updated at 19:35 30 August 2007 It only takes ten minutes on the phone to trigger dangerous brain chemical changes, scientists say Mobile phones can take as little as ten minutes to trigger changes in the brain associated with cancer, scientists claimed yesterday. They found even low levels of radiation from handsets interfere with the way brain cells divide. Cell division encourages the growth of tumours. Although the researchers did not come up with evidence that mobile phone signals are harmful, the findings suggest they could be. Several major studies have also found no link between mobile use and brain tumours, nor a dramatic rise in cancer rates. But campaigners insist the discovery undermines official advice that the devices are safe. The guidance is based on the assumption that the phones emit too little radiation to heat the brain dangerously. However, the new study by the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel suggests "nonthermal" radiation could pose a risk. The Israeli scientists exposed human and rat cells in a laboratory to low-level radiation at 875 megahertz - a similar frequency to the one used in many mobile phones. Although the radiation was far weaker than emissions from a typical handset, it began to switch on a chemical signal inside the cells within ten minutes, the researchers report in the Biochemical Journal. The chemical signals they detected were involved in the division of cells. The researchers say the reaction was not caused by heating and claim they have found a separate way in which mobile phones could damage health. Dr Rony Seger, a co-author of the study, told the magazine New Scientist: "The significance lies in showing cells do react to cellphone radiation in a non-thermal way." Although changes in the chemical pathway seen by the Israeli scientists have been linked to several cancers, the researchers say there was no sign of a cancer-causing effect. Dr Simon Arthur, a health expert at Dundee University, said the effect was 'unlikely to cause cancer'. Dr Dariusz Leszczynski, of the Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority in Helsinki, said: "If cell-phone radiation cannot induce biological effects then there will never be any health effects. "On the other hand if we can show this radiation is able to induce biological effects then we have a different story." A major review of mobile phone safety is due to be published by the Health Protection Agency next month. The agency's last major report, in 2004, found no evidence mobiles were a serious health risk. It did, however, caution against excessive use, especially by the young. Dr Michael Clark, a spokesman for the agency, said: "Because of findings like this that pop up from time to time, a precautionary approach is justified." Graham Philips, of campaign group Powerwatch, said: "Safety guidelines assume health effects from mobiles can only occur when significant heating of body tissue occurs. "This study shows biological changes in response to low-level mobile phone radiation - something that could potentially have implications for health. "Further research is required, however guidance based purely on thermal effects is clearly out of date." www.dailymail.co.uk *** Fri Jan 23 22:55:32 2009 Submitting Host: 10.126.24.9 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Amador Bernabe fired for 'un-Australian toilet habits' Townsville Bulletin January 24, 2009 12:11pm Amador Bernabe / Townsville Bulletin Sacked ... Amador Bernabe claims his employer fired him for "un-Austrailan" toilet habits / Townsville Bulletin A MAN who uses water instead of toilet paper says he was sacked for his "un-Australian" toilet habits. Amador Bernabe, 43, is a machine operator in Townsville on a working visa from the Philippines, the Townsville Bulletin reports. On Thursday, he claims his foreman followed him into the bathrooms questioning his toilet hygiene. Mr Bernabe said his employer, Townsville Engineering Industries (TEI), sacked him yesterday for not going to the toilet the Australian way. "I went to go to the toilet and I took a bottle of water when my foreman saw me and he said, 'you can't bring the water in there'," Mr Bernabe said. The foreman followed Mr Bernabe into the toilet despite his protests. "I said it's my personal hygiene. I didn't break any law, I didn't break any rules of the company, why can't I do this, and he said he would report me to the manager. The next day, Mr Bernabe says he was called into the manager's office. "He asked me what had happened and I explained to him and he said if I didn't follow the Australian way I would be immediately terminated and I said 'sir, then you better terminate me'." The move has angered union bosses and politicians on the Australia Day weekend. Australian Manufacturing Worker's Union state organiser Rick Finch said the incident was shocking. "I think it is atrocious, an invasion of a person's rights and cultural beliefs," he said. "If it wasn't so disgusting it would almost be laughable." Greens spokeswoman Jenny Stirling praised Mr Bernabe for standing up for his rights. "I commend the man for standing up for himself and I encourage the employer to have further talks with the union and the employee and I am sure commonsense will prevail," she said. "I would like to see how Australians feel when they go to Europe where in places they don't have toilet paper." TEI could not be reached for comment. *** Mon Jan 26 03:59:16 2009 Submitting Host: 10.126.24.9 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: You may catch obesity bug from other people’s sneezes Submitted by Mohit Joshi on Mon, 01/26/2009 - 12:29 You may catch obesity bug from other people’s sneezesLondon, January 26: You may find it a bit surprising, but an Indian-origin researcher in the U. S. has revealed other people's coughs, sneezes and dirty hands can infect you with an obesity bug. Professor Nikhil Dhurandhar, of Pennington Biomedical Research Centre in Louisiana, believes that an airborne "adenovirus" germ may be causing the fat plague that is blighting Britain and other countries. He reckons that about one in three obese people might have become overweight after falling victim to the highly infectious cold-like virus, known as AD-36. The researcher says that the virus-which is known to cause coughs, sore throats, diarrhoea and conjunctivitis-has of late been found to make fat cells multiply, leading to weight gain. While genes are thought to make some people more susceptible to weight gain, the current study suggests that infections could also hold the key. Chickens, mice and monkeys infected with AD-36 have been found to put on weight quicker than uninfected animals in previous studies. Recent findings in humans suggest that 33 per cent of obese adults had contracted AD-36 at some point in their lives, compared with only 11 per cent of lean men and women. Professor Dhurandhar said that AD-36 continued to add weight gain long after those infected had seemingly recovered. His research suggested that the virus lingers for up to three months, during which time it multiplies fat and is contagious to others. "We now know that this virus goes to the lungs and spreads to various organs such as the liver, kidney, brain and fat tissue," the Daily Express quoted the researcher, who will make the extraordinary claims on BBC2's Horizon tonight, as saying. "When it goes to fat tissue it replicates, making more copies of itself and in the process increases the number of new fat cells, which may explain why people get fat when they are infected with this virus," he added. While some medical experts welcomed the findings, others sounded a note of caution. Dr Shahrad Taheri, clinical director for obesity at the Birmingham Heartlands Hospital, said: "Most people believe obesity is caused by environmental factors. But there is a lot of information about how things like the furring up of arteries could be linked to infections. It is not beyond reason to think about various different factors, including infections, adding into the mix about what causes obesity." Tony Barnett, professor of medicine at the University of Birmingham, said: "These associations may give some clues but they detract from the basic message that we all need to take more exercise and eat a bit less. This kind of research needs to go on but we have to be cautious." (ANI) *** Mon Jan 26 04:42:48 2009 Submitting Host: 10.126.24.9 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Manly erupts in violence on Australia Day Article from: The Daily Telegraph By Justin Vallejo January 26, 2009 06:50pm IT was a day to celebrate all things Australian but it quickly descended into an afternoon of violence and vandalism. Once the embodiment of all things good about the country, Australia Day became a scene of brawls and vandalism across the state - with anger spreading from Shellharbour in the south to Port Macquarie in the north. In Manly hundreds of youths draped in "Aussie pride" livery wore slogans declaring "f--k off we're full" as they smashed up to three cars and ran up the famous Corso. A 18-year-old Asian female in one of the cars was showered with shattered glass, giving her numerous cuts to her arms. She was treated on the scene by ambulance officers. Groups of men jumped up on cars chanting race hate to the terrified passengers within. What started as chants of "Aussie Aussie Aussie" at 1pm had in an hour had developed an ugly overtone. By 3.30pm Manly Police called in the public order and riot squad and PolAir in an attempt to control the crowd, made up of a core group of troublemakers estimated by police about 80 drunks teenagers from out of town. By 4.30pm the rain came and the cooled tensions as police began to regain control of the Australia Day violence. By the end three cars were damaged, one 16-year-old boy was charged with assaulting police, two 16-year-olds were cautioned for offensive behaviour and one cautioned for jumping into the water infront of the ferry. Manly Superintendent Dave Darcy said group of teens came in from out of town "We are significantly ramping up our investigative response and we're determined to hold these people to account for their behaviour," he said. "We've brought in some police from the areas where these people are from with their local knowledge in identifying these people. "If they came over to manly seeking anonymity for their behaviour they're sadly mistaken." As Manly narrowly escaped the potential of going off like a cracker, police were being called out all over NSW to break up brawls between Australia Day revellers. Police were called to a report of a 30-person brawl on Shelly Beach Road at Port Macquarie while another 30 people were reportedly fighting on Towns St in Shellbarbour. Ambulance crews were called to a fight at Sutherland train station with reports of a 10-person brawl, with a glassing and a female with a fractured finger. One person was taken to Sutherland Hospital while another has been arrested. *** Mon Jan 26 04:47:52 2009 Submitting Host: 10.126.24.9 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Big Four Australian banks join global elite By Scott Murdoch The Australian January 26, 2009 12:00am THE crisis in the financial system catapulted all four majors into the ranks of the top 20 global banks for the first time. As a result Australia's big banks are expect to grab new business opportunities and draw the attention of more international investors, The Australian reported. Although shares in the Big Four banks have collapsed more than 50 per cent in the past year, with new multi-year lows struck on Friday, they have stood up far better than their UK and US counterparts. Despite pressure on their funding and bad-loan books, they remain highly profitable while banks overseas seek government handouts, are nationalised or allowed to collapse. In the US alone, the global shake-up means Australia's four largest banks, which have retained their AA rating, are now considered some of the biggest in the world. The banks believe their newfound status will increase their participation in markets such as foreign exchange trading, where opportunities in the past have been limited because of the presence of bigger global players. The elevation in world rankings has brought extra attention from fund managers, particularly in the US, and the banks expect more share buying from overseas institutions. Westpac has already experienced an increase in foreign exchange deals, with a sharp surge in the number of $1billion-plus transactions being carried out by the bank's trading desk. On stock market capitalisation, Westpac is now considered the world's ninth-largest bank, with a worth of $US28.2 billion ($43.2 billion), ahead of Commonwealth Bank at No15, National Australia Bank at No17 and ANZ at No19. Remarkably, all four Australian banks now rank ahead of past giants such as Citigroup and Morgan Stanley in the US, Barclays in Britain and Deutsche Bank in Germany. There are now only 13 AA-rated banks in the world, compared with 20 when the global financial crisis emerged. The world's largest bank is now HSBC, the British institution, which is worth four times the average value of an Australian bank, while US banks JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo are next according to market capitalisation. The renewed bout of fear about financial system stability, particularly in Britain, has decimated the value of a number of global institutions. The headline British banks of Lloyds, Halifax Bank of Scotland, Royal Bank of Scotland and Barclays are now worth about half of the Australian banks. One of the largest casualties among the banks but still afloat is Citigroup, which was once the world's biggest bank but is now worth just $US15 billion and ranks No22. Westpac head of institutional banking Phil Chronican said the maintenance of the bank's market capitalisation and value compared with its international peers had increased its reputation and knowledge among major institutional investors. He said Westpac's move to being a stronger counterparty risk holder had brought increased foreign exchange market participation. "I don't think any of us had been in the top 40 banks until relatively recently," Mr Chronican said. "With the merger of St George being quite large, we've attracted the attention of our global peers and larger customers. We are finding more and more that we are quoting for large foreign exchange transactions. The customers have large amounts of money to move, more than $1billion in individual transactions. They have become much more frequent for us. We are seen to have counterparty stability." Mr Chronican said Westpac's foreign exchange business would grow as the bank snared more international deals among fund managers and hedge funds. "The FX (foreign exchange) business is increasingly profitable because there are fewer banks and the pricing is more competitive and intensive," he said. "One of our strongest improving businesses has been in FX because of the margins and volume." Bank of America-Merrill Lynch banking analyst Matthew Davison said the Australian banks were now large enough to be seen as serious contenders for overseas expansion, although it was more likely the majors would concentrate on the Australian market. Bank stocks led a massive fall on the Australian share market on Friday, with NAB hitting its lowest level for almost 12 years after a $1.17, 6.5 per cent slide to $16.94. Others also hit record lows -- ANZ its worst for nine years at $12.06 and Westpac and the Commonwealth their worst for six years -- on fears about the global economy. US and British banks, which unlike Australian banks are not protected by a ban on short-sellers, collapsed last week, ahead of a second round of bailouts by the British and incoming US governments. http://www.news.com.au/business/story/0,27753,24963177-462,00.html *** Thu Feb 5 17:30:24 2009 Submitting Host: 10.126.24.9 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Drew Barrymore's energised friends [http://entertainment.sg.msn.com/Celebrity-Gossip/article.aspx?cp-documentid=2358997] Actress Drew Barrymore says people are just 'fields of energy' who have the choice whether they are happy or sad. Actress Drew Barrymore says people are just 'fields of energy' who have the choice whether they are happy or sad. Actress Drew Barrymore says people are just 'fields of energy' who have the choice whether they are happy or sad. Drew Barrymore believes people are just 'fields of energy'. The 'He's Just Not That Into You' actress insists everyone has the choice whether they are happy or sad. She said: 'I like projecting positivity. I believe that we are all fields of energy and you have the choice whether to be a positive or negative field of energy. I know that sounds hippie-ish but it's what I believe fundamentally. So you could be a bag of toxicity, or you could be a happy, good person that spreads joy. I believe in spreading joy.' The 33-year-old star - who completed two stints in rehab during her teenage years and has been divorced twice - insists she is living proof tough times can make people stronger. She added to People magazine: 'Everybody goes through hardships and it's your choice how to deal with them. Your choice should be to progress and to evolve, and to handle things with some level of graciousness. 'Yeah, life is hard sometimes - but I think you probably have to just realise, you know, that someone is probably experiencing something more difficult and to please work past it as expediently as possible.' *** Thu Feb 5 17:33:44 2009 Submitting Host: 10.126.24.9 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Procreation 'not our forte,' says Singapore MP A Singapore lawmaker has a simple explanation for the city-state's lack of babies: procreation, he says, is "not our forte." Loo Choon Yong also suggested that because more free time did not necessarily result in more babies, people should work on Saturdays, a report in The Straits Times said. "We should accept that as a people, our procreation talent is not our forte -- nothing to crow about," Loo told the legislature on Wednesday. The government announced last year that it would double spending on incentives to address a baby shortage that threatens the city-state's future. Previous efforts by authorities in the fast-paced, money-oriented and high-stress society failed to significantly raise the number of children. Government figures say Singapore had a fertility rate of 1.29 babies per woman in 2007, well below the 2.1 children per woman needed for the population to replace itself naturally. While failing to boost the population, working only five days a week may also have affected Singapore's work ethic, the report quoted Loo as saying. "I urge the government to take steps to determine whether our productivity and competitiveness have been affected by the five-day week," he said. Most companies in Singapore work five days a week. "I have nothing against our young Singaporeans having fun and partying. But I hope they will work as hard as they play," the MP was quoted as saying. Loo was back in parliament on Thursday and could not be reached. *** Wed Feb 11 05:31:06 2009 Submitting Host: 10.126.24.9 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: The Upper Reaches The Remarkable 50-Year White House Ministry of Billy Graham by Mark Tooley Barack Obama may be the first American president since Franklin Roosevelt whom evangelist Billy Graham never meets or counsels. America’s most famous preacher turned 90 last November 7, and although Obama tried to visit him during the campaign, the evangelist’s health precluded it. But in a meeting with Obama earlier last year, son Franklin, who has succeeded to his father’s ministry, made known the Grahams’ disagreement with Obama over abortion and same-sex unions. Still mentally alert though frail, Billy Graham is perhaps the most influential clergyman in US history. He has been a celebrity since 1949, when his surging Los Angeles crusade persuaded the Hearst press to “puff” him nationally, and across seven decades, he has preached in 185 countries to over 200 million people. He helped launch Christianity Today magazine to encourage Evangelical intellectual life, denounced racial segregation, fostered ecumenism with Roman Catholics, and presided over a populist spiritual boom that made previously backwater Evangelicals America’s largest religious demographic. Graham’s celebrity status, earnest confidence, and charisma gained him almost easy access to many of the twentieth century’s political giants. West German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer, a Catholic, assured him of his own faith in Christ’s resurrection. Chiang Kai-shek and his wife, both Methodists, eagerly hosted him in Taiwan. Jawaharlal Nehru, though a Hindu, opened doors to him in India. King Hussein offered him the hospitality of his palace in Jordan, and Golda Meir charmed him in Israel. A despairing Winston Churchill once kept the Duke of Windsor waiting while he privately heard Graham present the gospel. And Queen Elizabeth, herself the titular head of the Church of England, was his frequent host. So, too, was the far more active head of a much larger church, Pope John Paul II. More controversially, Communist despots like North Korea’s Kim Il Sung were also his host, exploiting Graham for their own purposes. Friend of Presidents But Graham’s most celebrated friendships were with eleven US presidents. While his friendships with Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon were the most publicized—and the most politically exploited—Graham has described Ronald Reagan, who was widely derided as a non-churchgoer during his presidency, as the president to whom he was closest. He was also especially close to the Bush family, spending the night with George and Barbara Bush on the night that the Persian Gulf War began. The presidential associations were mutually beneficial. For Graham, they opened diplomatic doors for his international preaching crusades and also probably increased his domestic audiences. Meanwhile, the presidents received the religious blessing of America’s foremost minister, while also gaining political and spiritual counsel from a savvy public figure with a following sometimes bigger than their own. Graham’s first presidential meeting, with Harry Truman in 1950, was notoriously disastrous. Only age 31, and wearing a pastel suit and white bucks, Graham prayed with the president and then, to the delight of an attentive press corps, reenacted the prayer on the White House lawn. Years later, he apologized to Truman for his showmanship, and he was careful to be more discreet in the future. Graham advised the non-churchgoing Eisenhower that he should join a church when elected president, and steered him to the National Presbyterian Church, where Ike would be baptized. As president, Eisenhower hosted Graham at his Gettysburg home and led him on a battlefield tour, pointing out where Graham’s Confederate grandfather likely had fought. Ike once asked Graham to explain the afterlife, perhaps sensing his coming heart attack. Years later, while dying at Walter Reed Hospital, Eisenhower summoned Graham again, to discuss his salvation and also to ask Graham’s help in fostering a reconciliation with Richard Nixon, who was himself already a Graham friend. A Catholic & a Quaker Right before the presidential election of 1960, Henry Luce of Life magazine pulled a virtual endorsement of Nixon by Graham, an act for which Graham was grateful, realizing that open political alliances were for him a mistake. After John F. Kennedy was elected, he invited Graham to a press conference to declare that Protestants could support a Catholic president. The evangelist became a golfing partner with JFK, as he would with most presidents, using the outings to also discuss spiritual issues, such as the Second Coming of Christ. Graham sat with the Kennedy family during the president’s funeral. Later, Rose Kennedy would tell Graham that, though Catholic, “I have never heard you say anything we don’t agree with in the Bible.” President Lyndon Johnson invited Graham, with whom he was already friends, to the White House shortly after JFK’s assassination. They often prayed on their knees together, especially as the Vietnam War worsened. Graham admitted that LBJ was not “pious,” but he was an earnest spiritual seeker who sometimes attended churches of different denominations several times a week. Graham and his wife spent the night in the White House with the Johnsons on the last night of LBJ’s presidency, and remained to spend the next night with the newly inaugurated Nixon. In his memoir, Graham calls Nixon his “Quaker friend.” He had first met Nixon’s mother when she came to hear Graham preach in 1949. Himself a former Sunday school teacher, Nixon never fully satisfied Graham with his reserved spiritual expressions. But Graham enthusiastically encouraged him towards and throughout his presidency. Nixon attended Graham crusades as president and, no less than Johnson, benefited from public association with Graham’s earnest virtuousness. At one point during the invasion of Cambodia in 1971, Nixon phoned Graham at 1:00 A.M. for solace. Graham was embarrassed by Watergate, but maintained his friendship with Nixon and preached at his funeral. Years later, when a Nixon tape surfaced on which Graham could be heard agreeing with Nixon about undesirable Jewish influence in the media, the preacher, who had always nurtured good relations with Jewish leaders, profusely apologized. Graham’s friendship with Gerald Ford, whom he had known years previously as a congressman, was comfortable. The evangelist advised him to pardon Nixon. Later, Graham’s wife publicly tore a sign away from a protester during a Ford visit with the Grahams, prompting an unsuccessful lawsuit by the chagrined demonstrator. Comfort & Conviction Ironically, Graham was least close among the presidents with fellow Baptist Jimmy Carter, who had years earlier organized a racially integrated public showing in Georgia of one of Graham’s evangelistic films. Even so, Graham was a regular White House visitor during the Carter years, and a plaintive Rosalyn Carter asked Graham what God’s purpose was in their 1980 defeat to Reagan. Ronald Reagan first met Graham in 1953, introduced by his socially prominent mother-in-law. Graham prayed at both of Reagan’s inaugurations. When Graham preached in the Soviet Union for the first time, Reagan was quietly supportive, even though the evangelist made foolishly accommodating comments about the Soviet authorities. Reagan frequently phoned Graham for counsel or simply conversation. Following the Reagans’ final state dinner, held for Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, who was another Graham friend, the pajama-clad Reagans summoned the Grahams back to the White House from their hotel for a late-night spiritual conversation. When Reagan died, Graham was sorrowfully too frail to preach. Graham’s friendship with the Bushes stretched back to the 1950s, beginning with Senator Prescott Bush, father of George H. W. Bush. When the latter was vice president, he began inviting the Grahams to visit the family compound at Kennebunkport, Maine, where Graham often gave spiritual talks to the family. He remained close to the family after Bush became president, and spent the night with George and Barbara Bush on the night that the Persian Gulf War began. During one of his visits to Kennebunkport in the mid-1980s, Graham pressed young George W. Bush about his faith during a private walk. Fifteen years later, he publicly appeared with candidate Bush right before the 2000 presidential election, to allay public concerns about Bush’s just-exposed drunk driving arrest of 24 years earlier. After 9/11, President Bush invited Graham to speak at the National Cathedral, which was the evangelist’s last major role at a state event. Both Apologist & Conscience Although not as close as with the Bushes or the Reagans, Graham’s ties to the Clintons were longstanding and cordial. Not untypically, Graham created controversy when he seemed to defend Bill Clinton during Monica-gate, comparing him to sinful but heroic King David. Graham then had to explain his disapproval of adultery in a New York Times op-ed. Later, Hillary credited Graham with helping her forgive her husband. However sincere the claim, it illustrated the ongoing need for presidential families to claim personal ties to America’s chief preacher. In the first presidency in 60 years without a role for Billy Graham, Barack Obama will likely have no spiritual counselor as politically helpful or spiritually reliable as the now 90-year-old evangelist. Graham sometimes became more of an apologist than a conscience for his presidential friends. But his overall integrity, so universally appealing, has been mostly reassuring both to his powerful confidantes and to the American public. Mark Tooley directs the United Methodist committee of the Institute on Religion and Democracy (www.ird-renew.org) in Washington, D.C. He is a Touchstone correspondent. Copyright © 2009 the Fellowship of St. James. All rights reserved. *** Sat Feb 28 03:24:30 2009 Submitting Host: 10.126.24.9 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Pair arrested over brutal kicking attack 27/02/2009 4:46:00 PM. Police have arrested two men over a horrific attack, captured on CCTV last week, in which another man was kicked unconscious at a Melbourne train station. The pair, both aged 21, were arrested at about 8am today after police executed a search warrant at a home in Braybook in western Melbourne. The ugly video, circulated in the media this week, shows a defenceless 23-year-old man being kicked in the head at the Sunshine Railway Station underpass. He was left with serious head injuries. Transit police detective Mark Sontag said after the attack he believed the families of the attackers wouldn't hesitate to turn them in once they saw the footage. “This is a pretty appalling attack on a vulnerable young man who was by himself at the Sunshine railway station,” Sen-Constable Sontag told the Herald Sun. “Even the perpetrators families’ would be disgusted by this,” he said. COMMENTS Friday, 27 February 2009 Well done to the police. But isnt there one missing?? Posted by: Trust No one, Reply Friday, 27 February 2009 They're probably still looking for the third. Posted by: Socrates Dancing, Sydney Friday, 27 February 2009 I hope they get the maximum time in prison for their crime. This was attempt of murder, then people wonder where stereo types come from.zzzzzz. Posted by: xavier ruiz, san francisco Reply Friday, 27 February 2009 I rarely make personal comment on stories in LIVENEWS.com.au, but this video made me sick to the stomach. Experiencing a similar bashing attack by four men almost exactly a year ago today (where I was also kicked in the head, but miraculously did not sustain injuries), the video brought up the completely helpless feeling I experienced. I never got justice for my attack - I hope these scumbags experience the same treatment in prison. Posted by: Jesse Perez, Pyrmont Reply Friday, 27 February 2009 I witnessed a similar attack in a darwin mall years ago. after stepping in to try to help, i was set upon by at least 4 or 5 others, while a crowd just watched. I got a few hits in but copped a bit of a hiding myself. The real crime here is that noone is willing to get involved to help others in these situations. If these cowards thought others might help, this sort of thing wouldnt happen as often, the police turned up, asked what happened, did nothing but shake their heads and leave, wankers. Posted by: 5'10" 73 kg, ill rip ya bloody arms off! Friday, 27 February 2009 Were they of African descent Jesse? Posted by: Andrew Moore, Sydney Friday, 27 February 2009 No, they weren't of African decent. Besides, race doesn't dictate violent intention. Australians have violent hearts too. In fact, I have also had 9 Australian guys beat up me and one other friend on Australia Day of all days - another random attack unprovoked. Its easy to point fingers, but some people are just generally evil hearted - irrespective of their background. Posted by: Jesse Perez, Pyrmont Friday, 27 February 2009 Just think! The young people doing the kicking were once wrapped in swaddling clothes, with mum and dad coo, cooing . Loved and nurtured ! What goes wrong? Posted by: Observer JWH Party, Australia Reply Friday, 27 February 2009 i don't know Paul, I can only assume Mr & Mrs Neri didn't realise they were inflicting a eugenicist upon the universe, but here you are. Posted by: darren carrow, brisbane Friday, 27 February 2009 It is clear these men are not Australian born. Immigration should kick them out of the country, and not be able to return. I'm all for people coming to Australia to start a new life but with this type of mentality we should have a zero tolerance policy. If you want to act like this go back to your old country. It's unaustralian and if they were to go to jail why should my tax dollars pay for them SEND THEM HOME! Posted by: Karen kosta, blacktown Reply Friday, 27 February 2009 And you can tell this by viewing their birth certificate. Posted by: Ivo K, Kogarah Friday, 27 February 2009 Lets hope they don't get some ridiculous minimum penalty!! Posted by: fern feather, Lynwood Reply Friday, 27 February 2009 Gutless, gutless, gutless bastards!!! Posted by: Paul B, Perth Reply Friday, 27 February 2009 It'd be better if they just shot the bastards. Posted by: Brendan Richards, Quakers Hill Reply Friday, 27 February 2009 Agreed. Posted by: True Blue Thru 'n' Thru, Ingleburn Friday, 27 February 2009 These bastards deserve to be on a chain gang smashing rocks. Looks like we need to carry side-arms to be safe. Posted by: Chester Draws, Sydney Reply Friday, 27 February 2009 NOW DEPORT THE SCUMBAGS Posted by: nigel williams, gymea Reply Friday, 27 February 2009 Stint in the army to learn discipline, they will get all the fighting they want in Afghanistan maybe then they can earn the right to live in peace with humans again then. Maybe it is time we searched our prison system for good recruits too, first few years half pay, clean the back log up lol. Win win for in war situations can't you shoot insubordinates lol Posted by: K jic, Brisbane Reply Friday, 27 February 2009 Yeah, give them access to armoury. That'll learn 'em. Do you know how many bikies and cons are ex-military? Posted by: Cindy Fulham, Perth Friday, 27 February 2009 That’s what makes them right for the task at hand, got a few mates that fit the bill lol and don't mind saying they need to put their hands to useful tasks instead of up to no good who do you think the best scroungers are? Already proved they got balls and as for armory any one with half a brain can access weapons don't need to be a soldier for that. They have done this for thousands of years just called them gladiators then lol look at the foreign legion and in other times of war, use refuse. Posted by: K jic, Brisbane Reply Friday, 27 February 2009 Human trash, wheres the street angle gang from years ago? we need them now, when you need them, oh thats right the cops didnt like them and called them vigilantes! hardly anyone got bashed and if they did they would step in and smash the thugs! cops are paper pen pushers nothing else. they only arive when its too late! Melbourne Vigalance, taking the streets back from the thugs! its our town not theirs! Posted by: smash bot smashmall, croyden Reply Friday, 27 February 2009 Rudd, Gillard are going to let more into Australia, so get ready for more of the same ! Don't cha luv multiculturalism gone berserk ! They bring the scum in and we pay the price ! Politicians don't care, if they fail they retire on full pay ! Posted by: Justin Time, Sydney Reply Saturday, 28 February 2009 So are all Africans scum? Or any non anglo? Posted by: Please Explain, Beaudesert Friday, 27 February 2009 Send them back where they belong. Which ever country they came from. Them and all their families. The sentence will fit the crime!! A samll young guy completley defenseless aginst three cowards. Send them back and never let them in Australia again. Posted by: Sand themhom, Melbourne Reply Saturday, 28 February 2009 Yes thanks for that completely original suggestion. Posted by: Andrew Moore, Sydney Friday, 27 February 2009 I was appalled, disgusting, horified and sickened by what I saw on that footage!! I say line them all up, all 3 of them, and kick them AS HARD AS YOU CAN in the head 10 times each, with their mothers watching!! Let's see how they like it!! I have never condoned violence before and have taught my kids to try and walk away when they can..........now I wonder if I've done the right thing!!! Bastards!!! Let's hope the law will do the right thing for once!! Posted by: amanda huggin, Melbourne Reply Friday, 27 February 2009 SHOOT THEM ALL!!! PUT THEM AGAINST A WALL AND SHOOT THEM! Posted by: john Sander, Sydney Reply Saturday, 28 February 2009 Hey police chief, do NOT assume the attackers' families would be "appalled" by this. Who do you think raised them, and taught them to hate the whites, who were, unfortunately, stupid enough to let these beasts into the nation in the first place. He should sue the government!! Oh yes, please hand those SOBs from a very high light post in the town square, and ship the rest back home!! The experiment is a FAILURE!! Posted by: John Marconi, Akron Reply Saturday, 28 February 2009 20 years minimum for these scum. Posted by: Ian Bell, Parramatta North Reply Saturday, 28 February 2009 Many migrants hate us before they even arrive in Australia and many others are "educated" to resent us and eventually hate us .I challenge every supporter of multiculturalism to face the realty.The reality of evil in many migrants.Brace yourselves everyone ,for its g *** Mon Mar 2 16:28:20 2009 Submitting Host: 10.126.24.9 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Jackie's plan to rebuild houses in Singapore shames Hong Kong HONG KONG -- It's not the house that Jack built but rather the old houses that film star Jackie Chan wants to rebuild that is giving Hong Kong authorities a headache. For 10 years, the movie star has paid millions of U.S. dollars to store a collection of seven antique wooden Chinese houses amassed over 20 years in warehouses in the former British colony. The plan was to have the houses rebuilt to form a tourist attraction or living museum to showcase the culture and skills of China's past along with a collection of the star's props and awards. Ideally, Chan, who inherited his love of old houses from his late father, would have liked the site to be in his birthplace of Hong Kong. However, in Hong Kong, where land is scarce and property commands some of the highest prices per square meter in the world, it proved a mission impossible - even for an action hero of Chan's status. Earlier this month, the 54-year-old announced he had given up hope of the Hong Kong government finding him a plot on which to build his houses despite a decade of pleading. Instead, in a move that is embarrassing to Hong Kong, he plans to take his houses to Singapore after officials there jumped at the chance within days of a casual conversation with the star, offering him space at a new university scheduled for completion in 2011. The move was described as a “slap in the face” for Hong Kong by tourism sector lawmaker Paul Tse, who said Chan was a living icon in Hong Kong and should be protected by the city. “This could have been a tourist attraction for Hong Kong,” Tse said. “What has Singapore got to do with Jackie? He's been the tourism icon for Hong Kong for many years.” Chan said he has done his best to keep the houses in Hong Kong but it took Singapore 10 days to make a decision that Hong Kong could not reach in 10 years. “Too many consultations are required,” Chan said after the Singapore plan was made public. “It's not me letting Hong Kong down,” he added. “I already did my best. Government officials and legislators should not bemoan me for this because I've been pleading with a lot of people just to give me a piece of land. According to Chan's Singapore-based property manager, Simon Kwan, the houses date back to the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties and are worth more than US$67 million. They consist of seven wooden housing structures, each around 600 square meters, plus foundation stones and a performing stage dating back more than 200 years. But there is also hope for Hong Kong fans of Jackie Chan. This week, after news of the Singapore plan was made public, the Hong Kong government confirmed it had identified two sites that might be used for Chan's antique houses and said it was still in talks with Chan. Chan, however, is less optimistic, saying the move to Singapore was set, barring a miracle. “I am really touched by the Singaporean government's quick reaction,” he said. “If I give Hong Kong's government 10 days, or even a month, will they give me an answer? I don't think so.” *** Wed Mar 25 19:14:28 2009 Submitting Host: 10.126.24.9 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Singapore’s internet radio streaming dries up Channel NewsAsia - Wednesday, March 25 SINGAPORE: Tuesday was officially the day the music died. On the Internet, that is. After talks over new licence fees with the Recording Industry Performance Singapore (Rips) fell through, SPH UnionWorks has joined other radio stations in the country and stopped its Internet streaming services. Radio stations run by MediaCorp and Safra Radio stopped Internet streaming features earlier this month and are still in negotiations with Rips, the collective licensing body of 13 record companies that issue licences to broadcast music. It follows an amendment to the Copyright Act in December. Previously, radio stations were exempted from paying record companies when songs played on the Internet are part of a radio broadcast. But Rips is requesting annual licence fees for online streaming as well. This will cost broadcasting companies thousands of dollars in combined licences fees. “Negotiations came to a halt yesterday so we had to take streaming down at midnight Tuesday morning,” said Jamie Meldrum, 39, programme director for Radio 91.3. “At this point, we’re discussing internally how to continue serving our listeners online. It’s a bit of a step backward for... both sides of the equation.” A notice on the its website reads: “Sorry, 91.3 has had to stop streaming our radio signal on the Internet. A new music licensing regime has led to excessive music royalty rates that no longer make streaming a viable option.” A similar message appears on the website of its Chinese sister station, Radio 100.3. Internet radio listener Fong Kum Chee has given up trying to get her Internet radio fix after Class95 and 938Live went off—line. “People will just go for alternatives... You still have YouTube or you can play your own MP3s,” she said. *** Tue Aug 18 20:10:02 2009 Submitting Host: 10.126.24.9 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: Pinays don’t know their body and how it works http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view/20090819-220981/Pinays-dont-know-their-body-and-how-it-works By Philip Tubeza Philippine Daily Inquirer First Posted 05:32:00 08/19/2009 Filed Under: Women, Opinion surveys, Education, Statistics, Online MANILA, Philippines—They may look grown-up and sophisticated but young Filipino girls are among the most misinformed in Asia when it comes to their body and how it works, according to an international online survey sponsored by Kimberly-Clark. The Kotex BodyLife IQ Study, which covered 1,800 women aged 12-24 from six Asian countries, discovered that there was an “information gap” among young Asian women when it came to knowing their body, how it works, and how to take care of it from puberty to womanhood. “Of all the nationalities surveyed, Filipinas were the most misinformed, with the biggest body-knowledge gap,” according to the Kimberly-Clark paper detailing the results of the survey. “Eighty-three percent of young [Filipino] women surveyed believed myths about their body to be true,” it added. For instance, 54 percent of Filipina respondents said drinking beer increases menstrual flow and 38 percent said menstrual blood applied to the face could prevent pimples. One Filipina said that on the first day of her period, she would jump over three steps on their stairs so her menstrual flow would last only three days instead of one week. Myths The online “quantitative study” was conducted by international research firm Millward Brown in April and included women from Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Philippines and India. The online questionnaire tackled myths about a woman’s body, female biology, pregnancy, virginity and health. “Many young women are ignorant of even the most basic facts when it comes to the essentials of womanhood,” the study said. “No matter how sophisticated they appear or how contemporary their lifestyles, or what country or city they live in, there are shocking gaps in the basic knowledge of their own bodies in 97 percent of all young women surveyed,” it added. Sex talk Almost 40 percent of young women surveyed said they never received a sex talk from a medical practitioner, a teacher at school or a parent. Over half of the respondents also said that they were afraid to ask questions during their sex education classes out of fear of being labeled “promiscuous.” “Young women from two countries with the lowest body-knowledge IQ scores—the Philippines and India—expressed the most satisfaction with the education they received, suggesting that lack of knowledge is self-perpetuating because ‘you don’t know what you don’t know,’” the paper said. With the exception of respondents in Singapore, the other young women surveyed revealed that their top sources of female body-knowledge were their close friends, followed by their mothers and their older sisters. Mass of confusion While the survey results showed that 95 percent of young Filipino women answered the health section questions correctly, 98 percent got the biology section questions wrong. “Some 26 percent of Filipinas believe that only men have hymens, which is why they are named as such,” the survey said. The subject of virginity was also a “mass of confusion” for many Filipina respondents, with 18 percent believing they could lose their virginity by riding a bike. Body Life IQ Kimberly-Clark, which produces Kotex and other feminine products, inked a deal on Monday with the Department of Education. They are working on a program that will make students better-informed about their bodies. Dubbed “Kotex You-niversity program,” it consists of supplementary materials to equip students with knowledge, skills and value orientations to “develop their Body Life IQ,” or their ability to comprehend how the body works and how it affects one’s life. The program will be included in the values education classes and will initially be conducted in 150 public and private high schools in Metro Manila, Pampanga, Cebu and Davao. Students to benefit Organizers said they expect some 340,000 students to benefit from the program by the end of the year. “It will give our young women learners the right information and knowledge that will enable them to make informed decisions and better choices,” said Education Secretary Jesli Lapus. “This initiative is in synch with the fifth goal of Education For All, which is to achieve gender equality in education by 2015,” he added. *** Sat Jun 8 13:32:53 2013 Submitting Host: 10.126.24.9 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: My website powiekszaniepenisac.pl I could not resist commenting. Very well written! My website powiekszaniepenisac.pl *** Wed Jan 1 09:04:17 2014 Submitting Host: 10.126.24.9 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: *** Sat Jan 4 09:01:12 2014 Submitting Host: 10.126.24.9 end_display: http://pui-chee.tripod.com/news.html news: T_a, schodów, azali jest tak_e a_ do tego, jakie miejsca? Jakie miejsca b_d_ wygl_dali_my. 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