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Cop gets million dollar payout for being bashed while on duty

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Perth constable Matthew Butcher has been awarded a record $3.3 million ex-gratia payment by the West Australian government to cover injuries sustained during a vicious pub brawl two years ago.

Perth Constable Butcher was left partially paralyzed from severe head injuries after he was struck with a flying head butt  when the cops were called to intervene during the fight ( between brawling family members) outside the pub.outside the Old Bailey Tavern in Perth’s northern suburb of Joondalup in February 2008.

The head butt left Constable Butcher unconscious and he  was put into an induced coma. He spent several months in hospital undergoing a slow and painful rehabilitation.  Constable  Butcher continued  to work with the  WA Police in an administrative role  and also lodged a claim with the WA Police Union for compensation of $5 million for various medical expenses.

Some mixed sentiments  & comments on this story From watoday & news.com.au

Would a construction worker receive such a payment if injured in thier line of work? Not on your nelly, they have laws and contracts to prevent such payments. So why should the Police be any different? Setting the Police up as separate from the rest of society is dangerous and open for abuse. –Harry (Brisbane)

His dad was being tazered, an over reaction for sure, but not entirely unpredictable. When a family member is attacked, no matter what, your bound to react in some crazy way.
3.3 million, easy street now. Bozo

From what I see in the video, the Police very poorly handled the situation. The man who was tasered was not threatening anyone’s life, and it appears the other family member jumped on the cop to try to save his own father. It did not appear that he intended to cause the officer serious harm, just wanted to save his own father from further harm. Which is probably why he was properly found not guilty. If the cops had handled the situation better, Mr. Butcher probably wouldn’t have been injured the way he was….not that I think it’s his fault, and I do believe he deserved some compo. It looked to be nothing more than a pushing and shoving match and from what I can see, there was no need to start tasering anyone, because at that point no one’s life was in danger.-meinsydney

This cop is a parasite.

If you don’t want to break up fights then don’t become a bloody police officer!So he has to catch taxis now and is most concerned about not ageing gracefully?  Pass the bucket please.-battler

I totally support your point of view. The compensation for the miitary is a tiny fraction of this award. It is a State political decision rather than on merit. And I agree the compensation for military personnel sucks.In all cases this award is way over what is reasonable, The guy has a full wage and is at least 80% moblle. Compare that to the diggers who have lost their legs and arms to IEDs – let alone the brain injuries. They get almost nothing.

This award is an insult to military personnel, Reserve and Full-time. –Jerry

I remember seeing the video of this, it was a despicable thing to do to this officer, the culprit should be ashamed of himself & I cannot understand why he got off? God luck to this officer & his wife, blessings for you both and a happy healthy child! – Waylander (posted on news.com.au)

Australian Insurance under scrutiny due to floods

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With massive floods  damaging large parts of Queensland and  currently in Victoria ,  the insurance companies   are surely going to come  under more scrutiny  than any other corporate sector  due  wide damage done to houses and businesses in Australia due to the floods.

The floods  will not only  leave many of the people with nothing much to hang on too ( specially those who are not covered) , but will also deliver a massive  blowout to the insurance companies  and their profits as well.

So, Are you covered for  floods  ? what are the different type of food Insurance  covers ?

Irrespective of the damage that has wrecked many households , the insurance companies are here to run a business , and run it profitably, so they are not going to pay out claims if it is not covered out of good generosity. In fact many will be willing to argue that  they will not cover  floods even if   the insurance cover is a sort of a grey area ( like different type  of floods  Insurance covers).

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Australian-Floods-Disaster-2011

Riverine or inland floods

Consumer group Choice examined 45 insurance policies available nationwide and found only 13 – about 30 per cent – cover riverine or inland floods, or the swelling of river and creek banks, problems commonly seen as rains battered Queensland. Riverine flooding is caused by rivers and creeks swelling “due to long duration rainfall over large catchment area.

What is my flood cover with insurance company ?

Because flood cover is not offered in most house and contents insurance policies, people may find out too late that they are not covered for the losses caused by a flood. Floods occur when rivers; creeks; lakes; dams; reservoirs; and other natural watercourses (even if modified by humans) burst their banks or overflow.

However your policy will probably cover you for stormwater and possibly rainwater damage. Insurance companies generally define these events differently.

Different type of flood covers

  • storm water damage occurs when the storm makes an opening in the roof or walls and lets water in; and
  • rain water damage occurs when the rain gets into your building because it cannot drain off the land any other way; and
  • flood damage occurs when rivers, dams, lakes and natural watercourses (even if they are often dry) overflow.

You should check with your insurance company if you are unsure whether your existing policy covers damage caused by storm and/or flood. Ask them to clearly explain that part of your policy where flood cover, or flood exclusion, is contained. This will allow you to work out whether to change your policy if you need insurance for flood damage.

 

Of the three types of flooding, the type most commonly covered is flash flooding or storm water flooding, according to the Insurance Council.

It has become common for some insurers to provide cover against ‘ flash flooding’ which is a more popular insurance that the insurance companies have sold recently. This occurs  when the damage to your property occurs within 24 hours of the rain that caused the flood. This cover may be optional (you have to pay more, and it may only cover you for a smaller amount eg 20% of the sum insured).

Deciding whether you need flood cover ?

Flooding may occur only rarely, say once ever 50 or 100 years, and reliable facts can be hard to come by. Here are some likely sources of information:

  • your Council may be able to tell you straight away if you live in a flood prone area. (Even if the Council cannot answer this question directly, Council staff or elected members of the Council may at least be able to tell you if flooding has occurred in the area.);
  • the local water authority
  • local newspapers;
  • local solicitors or conveyancers who handle property matters;
  • insurance companies who do business in the area;
  • local insurance brokers; and

Insist on getting the policy in writing before you buy, because you need time to understand and compare the wording of different policies to make sure you get the right protection. Its is best not  to  buy flood insurance over the phone without reading the policy first.

The Queensland floods may cost insurers and reinsurers worldwide as much as $6 billion in what might be Australia’s costliest disaster in history, Bloomberg has reported  and it is still growing.

More information

Cats eating more fish that their owners

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“In many cases they are eating better quality fish than their owners”. Leading this fishy business is the US, where more than 1.1 million tonnes of small forage fish, including sardines, herrings and anchovies, go into cat food.

Each cat in Australia eats 13.7 kilograms of fish a year, while humans on average consume about 11 kilograms of fish and seafood each.

“Good fish is being wasted because of some pet owners’ hedonistic needs when feeding their pets.”  GOURMET meals dished up to pampered pets could be threatening world fish supplies, Victorian scientists have warned. 2,48 million tonnes of “forage” fish ie sardines, herrings and anchovies, are being consumed by the world’s cat population via the cat food industry, each year.That means about 13.7 kg per putty cat, purr year. Note, that is, only if you have an Aussie cat, not all global cats are so lucky (or included in the study).

canned Cat Food

“Australian pet cats are eating better than their owners,” Friggin felines are messing with our fish supplies and denying third world countries. A recent report draws attention to the cat food industry’s use of forage fish, which includes sardines and herrings and is considered a limited biological resource.researchers have discovered that cats eat 2 and a half tons of real fish each year and not only that, it’s the good stuff. In other words cats are eating fish that could be consumed by humans when they could be eating the guts, heads and the rest of the offal. Read more here  @ http://www.australianstockwatch.com/2008/08/each-cat-in-australia-eats-137.html

Coal prices set to soar with australian and african floods and rains

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Coal Flooding News: As the australian floods  and devastation news in the eastern states hits the world news all over , another  event  in africa is adding to the pain of coal importing countries. To add to the coal export worries in australia, now africa  us having heavy rains impairing thier  coal exports as well.

This chain of event can mean only one thing  higher coal prices  due to this shortage in coal in australia and africa  which are one of teh bigger coal exporting countries. China and INDIA  which  have substantial coal imports from these countries will certainly be affected , even though china has its own coal producing mines.

africa coal exports australia

Three big coal miners BHP Billiton Ltd., Xstrata Plc and Anglo American Plc, already facing delays in coal shipments from flooding in Australia, said their South African operations are also being hit by unusually high rainfall.

South Africa  Heavy rains effect coal exports

South Africa raised the flood-warning level for its central Orange River area today as water levels in places were expected to reach the highest since 1996. The country’s biggest dam, Gariepdam, is at 113 percent of “full” levels and the second- biggest, Vanderkloof, is 107 percent full, according to figures on the website of the government’s water department.

Coal for delivery to Amsterdam, Rotterdam or Antwerp with settlement next year rose $2.85, or 2.4 percent, to $119.75 a metric ton at 12:28 p.m. in London. Prices rose as high as $120 earlier yesterday.

Australia Flooding effects coal exports

One of Queensland’s largest coal terminals has stopped exports and the largest in the state is at just 60 per cent capacity, ripping nearly two million tonnes of coal a week from the global supply. About 40 mines in Queensland have been affected by flooding and several have said they cannot meet their contracts.

Australia’s coal exports will probably take a few months to recover after the floods, Barclays Capital said in a report. That means further upward pressure on prices in the near term, Barclays analyst Yingxi Yu said in a report e-mailed today.

Big Retailers try to block consumers from online shopping

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David Jones Ltd, Harvey Norman Holdings Ltd,( Gerry Harvey ) Myer and Target are among companies joining forces under a new retail coalition calling on the federal government to either impose GST on all goods under $1000 bought online, or remove GST from all products under $1000 bought locally.

Online shopping vs retiailers

More recently ,Wesfarmers( also running the coles group) has thrown its weight behind  this controversial campaign to scrap tax rules that allow Australians to shop on overseas websites without paying GST. Perth-based conglomerate Wesfarmers, also controls retail chains including the Bunnings hardware group, Coles and Bi-Lo supermarkets, Officeworks and Kmart.

According to watoday.com.au

Online retailer Michael Fox, who sells custom shoes through website shoesofprey.com, said big retailers should concentrate on improving their websites rather than blaming the GST exemption for slumping sales.

”For the last five or 10 years the big retailers, and Gerry Harvey in particular, have been saying that online retail is a dead end, nobody makes money in online retail, and they’re not going to invest in it,” Mr Fox said.

The Australian online retail market is set to reach AU$36.8 billion by 2013, up from a forecasted figure of AU$26.86 billion for calendar year 2010 according to PayPal’s ‘eCommerce: Secure Insight’ report from Forrester Research and The Leading Edge

Considering that many of these big businesses are themselves in the process of upgrading  their online business websites enabling  to sell more of their goods  online , this would certainly appear to the online business retailing community as a way to  stifle  the smaller competition by the big businesses. The consequences of this big businesses pushing on for this gst removal can lead to small local online businesses that could probably close down and run out of business and jobs.

Shopping_Trolley

‘There is still  a couple of very big retailers that are not joined this group which  include Harvey Norman competitor JB Hi-Fi, which has a strong online presence, Woolworths’ discount chain, Big W, and the Supre and Sussan groups, which compete with Lew family interests.

This group of companies is running a media campaign  which is targeted against small online retailers  and businesses ,which warns that failing to act will ultimately cost Australians jobs. This coalition of big businesses  also includes Book shops  and  australian designer  fashion stores labels . This has possibly happened  because now people who shop online have  been able to get books  and dresses cheaper  not only from local online shops but also overseas  due to the strong aussie dollar.

Consumers have embraced online shopping  even more  due to  the ridiculously high  prices  they have to pay at the Big retail  shops compared to shopping in other countries  or even online shopping. Prices in big retail shops  and grocery shops  have continued to be on the rise  in spite of the  population  rising  significantly  over the years which has not brought any reduction in these prices therefore leading the consumers towards savings and online shopping.

These group of companies  are just trying to  deny normal people shopping online good bargains that they can have online and instead of trying to compete with them they are trying to make it harder for them to trade online.

Ref www.digitalgrog.com.au

Mr Lew, who has an estimated worth of $1.49 billion, yesterday emerged as the main backer of the push to either scrap GST on goods worth less than $1000 sold by Australia’s struggling retail sector or apply the same impost to goods bought from overseas

According to the Australian Bureau Of statistics more than 1.3 million Australian adults purchased or ordered goods and services for their own private use over the Internet. This was a substantial increase from the 803,000 adults that did likewise in the 12 month period to November 1999.

Links :

Online Shopping Blooms

The lines are drawn with the nobel prize

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Chinese pro-democracy activist, Liu Xiaobo, is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize amid controversy between pro and anti-China supporters.

For the first time since 1936, the Nobel peace prize could not be presented today either to its laureate or, as the prize rules require, to a close relative.  “No medal or diploma will be presented today,” the committee’s chairman, Thorbjorn Jagland as the prize winner is unable to attend.

China, drawing on its growing economic clout in the world, has mounted a campaign  to encourage countries to boycott the ceremony. China declared that the “vast majority” of nations would boycott but the Norwegian award committee said two-thirds of those invited would attend. Among the countries not attending were Russia, Kazakhstan, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, Pakistan, Serbia, Iraq, Vietnam, Iran, Afghanistan, Egypt, Sudan, Cuba, Morocco and Algeria.


According to the Nobel Institute, 44 embassies have accepted invitations and 19 have refused “for various reasons”, while two have not replied. Ukraine and the Philippines had at first declined their invitations, but Nobel Institute director Geir Lundestad said Thursday they had changed their minds. Serbia, which had initially refused the invitation, said Thursday it would be sending a representative after all. Russia, which signed trade agreements with China last month worth 8.5 billion dollars, has officially pleaded prior engagements for its absence.

The  non attending  versus the attending  definetly indicates or gives us an idea where  the line is drawn and who ( country ) stands where  if   a situation arises , similar to what Kevin Rudd said recently as disclosed in the wikileaks.org  “ preparing to deploy force if everything goes wrong” .

The obvious variables to consider are alliance patterns, regime type, trade with/aid from China, proximity to Beijing, and maybe a corruption measure. That said, if you look at the list of all foreign embassies in Oslo, there are some interesting questions to ask. Why is Thailand attending but not the Philippines? Why is Colombia joining Venezuela in not attending? Why is Vietnam, an enduring rival of China, allying with China on this issue?

Embassies are not required to explain why they accept or decline a Nobel invitation, but a senior Filipino diplomat spoke candidly, underlining China’s growing power, especially in Asia.

“We do not want to further annoy China,” he said.

India plans to attend the ceremonyat which the Nobel Peace Prize is to be presented to Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo, Foreign Minister SM Krishna said Thursday. New Delhi is disregarding Beijing’s request for an international boycott of the event

Nominated for his “long and nonviolent struggle for fundamental human rights in China“, Liu, a 54-year-old critic and writer, is serving an 11-year prison sentence for inciting subversion after coauthoring Charter 08, an appeal for democratic reform. His wife, Liu Xia, has been under house arrest since the award was announced last month. Liu is married, but has no children. His wife has remained under police surveillance at the couple’s home in central Beijing since her husband was imprisoned.

It was the first time that a laureate under detention had not been formally represented since Nazi Germany barred pacifist Carl von Ossietzky from attending in 1935. Several jailed or detained laureates since had been represented by family but China did not allow anyone near Liu to travel to Oslo

China appeared to have blocked Western news websites, including the BBC and CNN, and state media made no mention of the ceremony, aside from a statement condemning the prize Ref ( http://tvnz.co.nz/nobel )

Winners of previous Nobel prize

Winners of the Nobel Peace Prize since 1980:

– 2010: Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo.

– 2009: US President Barack Obama

– 2008: Martti Ahtisaari

– 2007: Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Al Gore

– 2006: Muhammad Yunus, Grameen Bank

– 2005: International Atomic Energy Agency, Mohamed ElBaradei

– 2004: Wangari Maathai

– 2003: Shirin Ebadi

– 2002: Former US President Jimmy Carter

– 2001: United Nations, Kofi Annan

– 2000: Kim Dae-jung

– 1999: Medecins Sans Frontieres

– 1998: John Hume, David Trimble

– 1997: International Campaign to Ban Landmines, Jody Williams

– 1996: Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo, Jose Ramos-Horta

– 1995: Joseph Rotblat, Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs

– 1994: Yasser Arafat, Shimon Peres, Yitzhak Rabin

– 1993: Nelson Mandela, FW de Klerk

– 1992: Rigoberta Menchu Tum

– 1991: Aung San Suu Kyi

– 1990: Mikhail Gorbachev

– 1989: The 14th Dalai Lama

– 1988: UN Peacekeeping Forces

– 1987: Oscar Arias Sanchez

– 1986: Elie Wiesel

– 1985: International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War

– 1984: Desmond Tutu

– 1983: Lech Walesa

– 1982: Alva Myrdal, Alfonso Garcia Robles

– 1981: Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees

– 1980: Adolfo Perez Esquivel

Related Links

Nobel peace prize winners list 2010


Liu Xiaobo – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

http://nobelprize.org/

Star guest list of telethon 2010

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Hollywood star and “Telethon guest of honour John Travolta” dashed back to the United States last night after receiving news that pregnant wife Kelly Preston had gone into labour. but there are plenty of other stars that are attending like Actor Hugh Sheridan, from hit TV show Packed to the Rafters, and Better Homes and Gardens hunk Rob Palme , BooBoo Stewart, the 16-year-old American star of Twilight: Eclipse and the yet-to-be released Twilight: Breaking Dawn films.

 

telethon 2010 john-travolta Telethon 2010 hugh-sheridan telthon wa perth rebecca-gibney telthon 2010 booboo-stewart stars

Pop superstar Michael Jackson was given the same honour after appearing at Telethon in 1985.

Some other stars listed to appear

David- Jones Roberts  Luke Mitchell  Lynne McGranger  Lyn Collingwood  Esther Anderson
Rebecca Breeds  Bernard Curry

So who are the

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How to donate for telethon 2010 ?

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it’s not all super

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Yes that’s true .Our “superannuation system” though  seems to be quite good is not the  best in the world. From teh results from the recent “Melbourne Mercer Global Pension Index” which Mercer surveyed 14 countries, the Netherlands was ranked first, followed by Switzerland, Sweden, Australia, Canada, UK, Chile, Brazil, Singapore, the US, France, Germany, Japan and China.

Australia Superannuation system rating

In the duration of the  12 months since the first Melbourne Mercer Global Pension Index was completed, not only has Australia’s raw score dropped, but australia has also taken a tumble down the rankings. The Netherlands obtained top ranking in the Melbourne Mercer Global Pension Index with a score of 76.1 out of a maximum of 100, followed by Australia (74.0), Sweden (73.5) and Canada (73.2).

The Melbourne Mercer Global Pension Index compares retirement income systems around the world and rates them based on their adequacy, sustainability and integrity.

http://www.mercer.com.au

Superannuation australia

Mercer’s Report stated five things that Australia could do to “improve” its Superannuation system.

1. Raise the level of mandatory contributions to improve the level of benefits while also increasing the level of household savings.
2. Introduce a requirement that part of the retirement benefit must be taken as an income stream.
3. Increase the labour force participation rate among older workers.
4. Introduce a mechanism to increase the pension age as life expectancy continues to increase.
5. Reduce the costs of the system by encouraging greater efficiency

How the the Superannuation report was compiled

In 2010 the Melbourne Mercer Global Pension Index was expanded to cover fourteen countries, with the addition of Brazil, France and Switzerland.

In this year’s study four new indicators were included in the calculation of the Index. These were an assessment of the costs of each country’s system; the level of home ownership; asset allocation; and the effect of divorce on the provision of retirement benefits.

Superannuation in australia

Superannuation is a retirement (including pensions) program in Australia. It has a compulsory element whereby employers are required by law to pay an additional amount based on a proportion of an employee’s salaries and wages (currently 9%) into a complying superannuation fund, which can be accessed when the employee meets one of the conditions of release contained in Schedule 1 of the Superannuation Industry (Supervision) Regulations 1994.

Melbourne cup 2010 Deals

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Want to register for some comfortable online betting from Home , check out some nice deal  and register now  for this year or next year

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Australia “Jeans ad ban” creates news over the world

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Authorities have “banned” supermodel Lara Stone’s latest Calvin Klein advertisement in Australia,

alleging that the photographs promoted “violence and rape”. A leading Australian feminist on Friday slammed the Advertising Standards Bureau (ASB) for banning a billboard advertising campaign for Calvin Klein jeans it considered “suggestive of violence and rape”.

calvin klein australian ad jeans ban

The Dutch beauty is pictured in her underwear lying among a group of men,

with one male model straddling her suggestively while the other pulling her hair.
After receiving complaints, officials at the country’s Advertising Standards Bureau branded the ads “demeaning to women” and ruled the campaign must be scrapped, reports aceshowbiz.com.

Melbourne University lecturer Lauren Rosewarne told national broadcaster ABC that the ASB was

wrongly equating group sex with gang rape.

“The board considered that whilst the act depicted could be consensual, the overall impact and most likely takeout is that the scene is suggestive of violence and rape,” the organisation said in a statement.

The hoardings, which were taken down in Sydney and Melbourne after more than 50 complaints, depict model Lara Stone, the Dutch-born wife of British comedian David Walliams, without most of her clothes and being wrestled by near-naked men.

See more pics of the advertisement over here –  http://www.styleite.com