Secret substance behind Souths’ season

South Sydney backrower Sam Burgess is salivating at the prospect of claiming his first NRL premiership and the Rabbitohs' first in more than four decades.
Boxa Protocol performance enhancing technology. Photo Jeremy Piper Source: DailyTelegraph
THIS is the top-secret sports science technology that has given the South Sydney Rabbitohs the power and strength edge to demolish their premiership rivals this season.
The blood-energising chips and ice fluid treatment had to be cleared by the NRL because its usage was banned by the NFL after the Baltimore Ravens won the 2013 Super Bowl.
Boxer Anthony Mundine introduced the controversial products to Souths coach Michael Maguire, whose players have been wearing the chips, hidden under wrist strapping, jerseys and socks since Round 8 — the same time they turned their season around.
Boxa Protocol performance enhancing technology. Photo Jeremy Piper Source: DailyTelegraph
According to sports medicine experts, the product can allow athletes to perform at a maximum level for longer. Hence, South Sydney’s strong finishes and high energy levels that have been so evident in the build-up to the grand final.
The Rabbitohs coach was reluctant to discuss the benefits from the technology that has been used in dressing-shed secrecy when contacted by The Daily Telegraph on Sunday night.
“I really don’t want to give away any of the info that has got us to this point,” Maguire said.
“We’re always looking at the cutting edge stuff that can help make better players.
“We want to hang onto our own stuff and I don’t want to give away too much.
“Choc’s high-performance team and our guys share information. They came to us.
“My guys (sports science) looked deeply into it before we started.
“This is just another of those one-percenters that every team looks for.
“Maybe I’ll talk about it more after the game.”
Boxa Protocol performance enhancing technology. Photo Jeremy Piper Source: DailyTelegraph
The wrist strapping can be clearly seen on all Souths players — except for Sam Burgess and Alex Johnston— who wear them in different areas including the chest and ankle.
The ice fluid is most often used, soaked onto a cloth, under the jersey. It helps keep the players’ body temperature stay lower over a longer period of time which prevents fatigue.
It is also sprayed on the players’ jerseys at half-time.
Maguire has distanced the Rabbitohs from any connection with controversial US sports supplements maker Mitch Ross, who was banned from the NFL.
Baltimore Ravens stars including Ray Lewis used the chips and ice treatment, that were developed in the US, before the team won the Super Bowl.
Boxa Protocol performance enhancing technology. Photo Jeremy Piper Source: DailyTelegraph
“This has nothing to do with him [Lewis],” Maguire said, “It’s all been ticked off by the NRL.
“The game is very thorough in checking these things.”
Souths began using the products after a sluggish start to the season that included loses to the Canberra Raiders, Wests Tigers, Manly and the Bulldogs in the first seven rounds. The turnaround was immediate and remarkable.
Even beaten Roosters coach Trent Robinson commented after Friday night’s loss: “They had too much energy for us.”
Sports science and supplements expert Shannon Brenton explained how the chips work.

South Sydney halfback Luke Keary says it will be a great honour to represent the Rabbitohs in the NRL grand final, ending the storied club's 43-year drought for a tilt at the premiership.
“The same as Chinese medicine has identified the meridians that form electrical pathways throughout the body, our technology allows for the continual and unhindered flow of energy throughout these meridians, without the need for needles, heat or pressure.
“It’s a bit like mobilised acupuncture
“The result is an athlete that can play as hard in the 80th minute as they can in the first, hence what we have seen in the second-half stats from the Rabbitohs this year”
TOMORROW: THE DAILY TELEGRAPH TESTS THE PRODUCT
Originally published as Secret substance behind Souths’ season
View the original article here

Tackling gender pay gap with water

Daughter Water has been expertly formulated using a potent combination of old wives tales to help CEOs conceive baby girls.
MORE than 3000 chief executives across the country will be sent a bottle of ‘Daughter Water’ as part of a radical campaign to raise awareness about the growing gender pay gap.
The Workplace Gender Equality Agency has seized on international research which indicates the pay disparity in an organisation begins to shrink when the boss has a daughter.
As part of its national pay equity campaign, to be launched today in Sydney, the statutory agency will dispatch specially designed bottles of ‘Daughter Water’ to the heads of more than 3000 companies who have not conducted an internal gender pay analysis. Disparity ... bottles of ‘Daughter Water’ will be sent to chief executives across the nation. Source:
Supplied
GENDER PAY: ThoughtWorks, Telstra praised for leading way to close gap
NOT FAIR: Women earn less than men as gender gap grows
OXFAM REPORT: Equal pay for women will not be achieved for 75 years
WGEA director Helen Conway admits the gimmick is unorthodox.
But she said creative new approaches were needed, because the disparity between what Australian men and women are paid is higher than ever.
Nohing changes ... organisations are not required to conduct a gender pay gap analysis. Source: Getty Images
“It is a slightly ridiculous way of attracting attention to this issue and getting people to focus on it,” Ms Conway said.
“But every year we talk about the pay gap, and we have equal payday and nothing changes.”
The WGEA will also launch a new website which will allow employees to check whether their company has done a gender pay analysis.
Close the gap ... Helen Conway, director of the Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Agency, says a creative approach is needed. Source: Supplied
Each year about 4800 Australian organisations which employ more than 100 staff are required under federal legislation to report to the WGEA about the gender composition of their staff, their policies to support gender equality, remuneration data and whether any pay gap analysis has been conducted.
Organisations are not required to conduct a gender pay gap analysis, and about three quarters of reporting companies, including News Corp Australia and both the Seven and Nine Networks, have not carried one out in the last 12 months. Many companies instead said their pay was set primarily through awards or industrial agreements.
Make people think ... the new campaign is not about naming and shaming, says Helen Conway. Source: Supplied Ms Conway said most organisations genuinely believe they pay their staff fairly, but a data analyses would show whether inexplicable pay gaps have emerged.
“This campaign is about raising awareness among leaders about the pay gap that may exist in their organisation and once we raise that awareness, we provide them with the wherewithal to fix any problems they have,” Ms Conway said.
Ms Conway said the campaign was not about naming and shaming organisations, but encouraging chief executives to have the kind of light bulb moment that sometimes comes with having a daughter.
A spokeswoman for the WGEA said the campaign was funded almost entirely through corporate sponsorship and a partnership with advertising agency DDB.

View the original article here

RUSH HOUR: The stories you need to know today

A woman dressed in a fat suit to judge the responses from her Tinder dates. The end result? Not good. More below. Source: YouTube
GOOD morning, and welcome to our morning news coverage. We will be bringing you the best of what’s happening this morning, so you can get across the news quickly.
TODAY:
• Woman wears a fat suit on Tinder dates with appalling results
• BREAKING: AFP raids in Melbourne
• Violent pimp sentenced to 27 years jail for toruting Aussie women
• Counter-terrorrism legislation to dominate Parliament today
• Officers had ‘no choice’ but to shoot gunman
• Woman found dead next to her bike
• One dead, two injured in stabbing
• Asylum seekers ‘forced to strip for hot water’
7:55am
Violent pimp Damion Baston has been sentenced to 27 years’ jail by a Florida judge for using torture and other violence on the Australian, New Zealand and US women he turned into prostitutes.
Damion Baston has been jailed for 27 years on sex trafficking charges. Source: Supplied . Source: Supplied . Source: Supplied
The 37-year-old Jamaican was hoping to receive just 10 years, while prosecutors asked for a life sentence.
Baston, after two Australian victims testified in the US District Court in Miami in July, was convicted by a jury in just six hours following a two-week trial.
He was found guilty of 21 charges, including sex trafficking through means of force, fraud and coercion and the importation of an alien for prostitution.
Baston based his prostitution business out of apartments on Queensland’s Gold Coast, with the two Australian women, known in court as KL and TJM, working for him in 2011.
. Source: Supplied . Source: Supplied
He took KL to Dubai and Miami to work as a high-end prostitute, making hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Baston kept the cash for himself and boasted about his wealth with Instagram photos of his $250,000 bank balance and $75,000 diamond-studded watch
. Source: Supplied . Source: Supplied
7:35am
Counter-terrorism legislation and controversial changes to welfare will dominate political debate as parliament resumes in Canberra today.
Prime Minister Tony Abbott is expected to outline to parliament how Australia will directly respond to the Islamic State extremists.
Cabinet will meet today and is set to make a decision this week about Australian forces taking on a combat role in Iraq. In the chambers of parliament, debate on social security matters is set to dominate with the Senate due to discuss a raft of controversial welfare changes announced in the May budget.
7:25am BREAKING
A series of raids are underway this morning in a joint operation between Victoria police and Australian Federal Police.
The AFP have confirmed the raids are counter-terrorism related.
“The Australian Federal Police and Victoria Police can confirm that a number of search warrants are being conducted as part of a joint operation in the following suburbs — Flemington, Meadow Heights and Seabrook,” a statement released to news.com.au read.
“While this activity is continuing no further comment will be made.”
STAY UP TO DATE WITH THE LATEST ON MELBOURNE RAIDS

Raids being carried out at Seabrook by AFP/ Vic Police @abcnewsMelb #breaking pic.twitter.com/fyZfJ5hBhR
— Jessica Longbottom (@Jess_Longbottom) September 29, 2014

#BREAKING: AFP and Victorian Police are carrying out counter-terror raids in Melbourne. Seabrook, Flemington and Meadow Heights targeted.
— Stephanie Anderson (@stephanieando) September 29, 2014

BREAKING: AFP and Vic. Police conducting joint counter-terrorism raids in the Melbourne suburbs of Seabrook, Meadow Heights & Flemington
— Michael Rowland (@mjrowland68) September 29, 2014

7:15am
Officers had no choice but to shoot a gunman after a lengthy stand-off in Brisbane, the Queensland Police Union says.
RELATED: MAN SHOT DEAD AFTER STANDOFF WITH POLICE
The body of a man shot dead by police is removed from the scene. Picture: Marc Robertson Source: Supplied
Police spent almost four hours negotiating with the man, who was armed with a handgun and refused to get out of a car that was parked at an Inala unit block yesterday.
Officers shot dead the 42-year-old when he threatened police. Reports that he’d pointed his weapon at officers are expected to form part of an investigation by the ethical standards command. A report is also being prepared for the coroner.
Police shoot a man during a siege Gannet St, Inala. Picture: Channel 9 Source: News Corp Australia
Police shoot a man during a siege Gannet St, Inala. Picture: Channel 9
Queensland Police Union president Ian Leavers said the officers appeared to have no choice and were acting in self defence.
“That is the difficult and dangerous nature of police work.
Things happen so quickly. You have to make instantaneous decisions, there are no other options,” he told ABC radio.
He said the officers involved would be having a difficult time, and the union would support them, including through the ethical standards investigation.
“I can say when you’ve used force, and things have changed dramatically, you never get over it. You have to learn to live with it and it is not easy.”

Police investigations are continuing following a shooting incident at Inala this afternoon. http://t.co/kYNpryrAgP
— QPS Media Unit (@QPSmedia) September 29, 2014

7:10am
A woman has been found dead next to her bicycle in north-eastern Victoria.
The body of the woman, aged in her 40s, was discovered by a local couple walking home in Benalla at about 1.15am this morning.
A bicycle, which police believe the woman had been riding, was also found at the scene.
Police are working to determine whether the woman was involved in a hit and run, or if she simply fell from her bike

Police find deceased cyclist in Benalla Street http://t.co/j2qEOvCDfc
— Victoria Police (@VictoriaPolice) September 29, 2014

6:55am
A man has died and two others are in a critical condition after being stabbed in Sydney’s southwest.
Two men arrived at Liverpool Hospital with stab wounds at 9.30pm (AEST) last night.
One man, aged 24, died shortly afterwards, while the other, 25, is in a critical but stable condition.
A 30-year-old arrived at the hospital soon afterwards with stab wounds, and also remains in a serious but stable condition.
RELATED: ONE DEAD, TWO INJURED IN STABBING INCIDENT
Police locked down Liverpool Hospital last night. Picture: Bill Hearne Source: News Corp Australia
Due to the short time frame between the men appearing at hospital, police are investigating a possible link between the incidents.
Initial information led police to Bigge Park in Liverpool but after a search of the area no crime scene has been established.
A large area around the hospital and a nearby park was shut down. Picture: Bill Hearne Source: News Corp Australia
6:40am
The immigration department has been asked to investigate a series of allegations that Nauru detention centre staff have sexually exploited female asylum seekers.
These include claims female asylum seekers have been forced to strip by guards in exchange for showers.
Australian Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young has written to Immigration Minister Scott Morrison asking for an urgent inquiry after her office was contacted by distraught detainees.
One female asylum seeker told the senator guards turn off the water supply in the bathrooms and pressure women to expose their naked bodies if they want more than two minutes of shower time. They also allege a male guard threatened to hunt down a woman for sex once she was released as a refugee into the Nauru community.
RELATED: MORRISON’S CHAMPERS TOAST “CRASS”
Australian Immigration Minister Scott Morrison and Cambodian Interior Minister Sar Kheng drink a flute of champagne after signing a deal to resettle refugees from Australia to Cambodia at the Ministry of Interior on September 26, 2014 in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Picture: Omar Havana Source: Getty Images
Another woman accused an unnamed Australian guard, who she said was no longer working at the centre, of propositioning at least five children and teenage asylum seekers for sex six months ago. There’s also claims cigarettes are being traded for sexual favours in the detention centre and that Nauruan guards are supplying marijuana to detainees experiencing anxiety, to calm them down.
A spokesperson for Mr Morrison said the allegations had been referred to the Department of Immigration and Border Protection.
6:30am
Technology has made all types of incredible things possible; the ability to reach Mars, the ability to connect with those across continents, increased understanding of the beginning of life, for example.
... and then it has given us “dating apps” like Grindr and Tinder — where beauty, it seems, is truly in the eye of the beholder.
A male-dominated dating site, Simple Pickup, which is “devoted to the fine art of picking up girls”, decided to test this theory by using a relatively “good looking” girl, putting her in a fat suit, lining her up on a few Tinder dates — and watch how events unfold.
Looks good, right? Source: YouTube These are the pictures the men saw before the date. Source: YouTube The end product. Source: YouTube
Cue a hidden camera to record the reactions of her five dates — and the results, well, they’re not great.
Responses ranged from bemused, to clueless to utterly angry.
“I don’t mean to be rude but in your photos you look a lot skinnier”, said one.
“You look kind of voluptuous. Are you pregnant?” asked another, who eventually left in a huff. “I really don’t appreciate people lying to me.”
One guy claimed he was married. Another went to the bathroom and just never returned.
Suuuuuure. Source: YouTube
Of the five dates, only one stayed until the very end, albeit asking, “do you like to eat”?
So, is our faith in mankind restored? Far from it.

View the original article here

Kids fear dad was killed by IS

Sayed Musawi / Picture: Facebook Source: Facebook
THE family of an Australian man tortured and killed in Afghanistan fears he may have been murdered by Islamic State militants.
The body of Sayed Musawi was found in Ghazni last Tuesday after he was abducted during a bus ride three days earlier.
It is understood at least eight men stormed the vehicle and demanded to speak to Mr Musawi. The bus remained at the scene for three hours before driving off.
ISLAMIC STATE RINGLEADERS: THE US NAMES THE DOGS OF WAR
More than a dozen men arrived on motorbikes at the roadside spot where the bus was parked and took Mr Musawi to an unknown location where he was beaten and battered over several days.
“This was not a random attack, it was all set up, they knew what he looked like, they asked for his name,” Mr Musawi’s grieving son Nemat told The Daily Telegraph.
“They have no hearts. They would kill anyone. That’s what they do every day.”
The 56-year-old, who had dual citizenship, had been in Afghanistan for three months visiting friends and family. He had moved to Berala, in Western Sydney, 14 years ago and used to run a money exchange business in his war-torn country of birth.
“Some people are saying it could be ISIS,” Nemat said.
“There is a possibility it could be.
“ISIS killed over 100 people in Ghazni the other day, you can see their flags flying all over the place.
“It was either ISIS or the Taliban.”
The devastated 23-year-old, who works as a sales representative in Melbourne, said he tried to travel to the region where his father was shot dead but was turned back because it is too unsafe. He was last night mourning with family members in Kabul.
“We still can’t believe it. He felt safe. This guy would get along with anyone,” Nemat Musawi said. “He did not have any enemies.”
Nemat said his father had never had any connections to the Afghan government and was well-liked by everyone in the community. He believes he may have been singled out for murder because of his Shi’ite faith.
IS terrorists have been violently attacking Shi’ite Muslims for months.
Sayed Musawi’s funeral was attended by 4000 people in Afghanistan. He was remembered last night as “the greatest man” his son knew.
“What an act of cowardness (sic) from those animals!!! Inshallah they’ll get their punishment,” Nemat Musawi wrote on Facebook.
“Inshallah they’ll get their punishment … Rest in peace dad, you’re in a better place.”
Originally published as Kids fear dad was killed by IS
View the original article here

Police swoop in anti-terror raids across Melbourne

AFP officers at a property in Seabrook. Picture: Monique Hore Source: HeraldSun
UPDATE: A MAN has been taken into custody as Victoria Police and Australian Federal Police officers conduct counter-terrorism raids at properties in three Melbourne suburbs.
The raids taking place at Point Cook Rd in Seabrook, Flemington and Meadow Heights are anti-terror related, the AFP confirmed.
The man was arrested by police at a property in Seabrook as about 12 AFP officers conducted the raid.
A man is led away by police after the raid at a property in Seabrook. Picture: Monique Hore Source: HeraldSun
The raids are not related to last week’s stabbing of two police officers in Endeavour Hills, the AFP said.
Earlier, Victoria Police said in a statement: “The Australian Federal Police and Victoria Police can confirm that a number of search warrants are being conducted as part of a joint operation in the following suburbs — Flemington, Meadow Heights and Seabrook.
“While this activity is continuing no further comment will be made.”
More to come ...
Originally published as Police swoop in anti-terror raids across Melbourne
View the original article here

It’s really easy for Aussies to fudge a bludge

The DSP applies to those unable to work for at least 15 hours a week at the ­minimum wage for the next two years. Source: ThinkStock
AN army of bludgers are using online “step by step” guides to con doctors into ­giving them disability support pensions (DSP), a Daily Telegraph ­investigation has found.
On the sites, would-be ­rorters give each other tips on exactly what to ask a doctor and coach them on how to ­respond to their questions.
The sites also provide form letters to slip to doctors and warn against such things as volunteer work — suggesting that doing so is basically­ “cutting your own throat”.
There are 832,533 Australians receiving the pension, with DSP-administered outlay for 2014-15 estimated at almost $17 billion a year. The maximum payment for a single person is $776 a ­fortnight.
Suggestions for getting on the DSP include: “If you have to wait in a queue either sit on the floor or grab yourself a chair to sit on.”
Another suggests getting a two-year treatment plan to present in case of a government review.
And another forum user suggests saying “I’m not ­feeling well, I am experiencing auditory and visual hallucinations. I tried working at Target in customer service but I ­started talking to myself in public and was seeing things that were not there and as a ­result I was unable to perform my job.”
The website forums The Daily Telegraph has quoted from are run by ACON, the National Welfare Rights Network, notcrazy.net and boredofstudies.net.

There are 832,533 Australians receiving the pension, with DSP-administered outlay for 2014-15 estimated at almost $17 billion a year

“The emphasis of the ­Centrelink ‘reviewer’ is to focus on your ‘ability to work’ rather than your ‘disability’. In the interviews they ask about what you can do rather than what you can’t do,’’ one said. “If you do a bit of volunteer work, a bit of study, do some part-time work, you cut your own throat.’’
Social services minister Kevin Andrews has reined in some of the rorting over the past 12 months and has ­introduced a “sophisticated fraud system” to detect able-bodied people illegally on benefits. From July this year compulsory work-focused activities for DSP recipients under 35 was introduced to get more back in the ­workforce.
“The government takes swift action where and when it is identified that a person has received a payment unlawfully and where they were not ­entitled,’’ a spokeswoman for Mr Andrews said last night.
“The government also relies on the advice of medical ­specialists to ensure DSP claims are legitimate and has a sophisticated system to ­identify false applicants.”
The DSP applies to those unable to work for at least 15 hours a week at the ­minimum wage for the next two years. Western Sydney residents make up one of the highest proportions of DSP recipients in Australia.
Originally published as It’s really easy for Aussies to fudge a bludge
View the original article here

Terror raids on homes in Melbourne

An AFP Officer during the terror raids in Brusbane on August 18. Picture: Tara Croser Source: News Corp Australia
VICTORIA and Australian Federal Police have launched raids on homes across Melbourne.
A Victoria Police spokesman has confirmed joint state and federal police raids are occurring at five suburbs..
The AFP has confirmed the raids are anti-terror, and not related to the police shooting at Endeavour Hills last week, when an 18-year-old man was killed by an officer.
“The Australian Federal Police and Victoria Police Joint Counter Terrorism Team can confirm that a number of search warrants are being conducted as part of an operation in the following suburbs - Seabrook, Kealba, Meadow Heights, Broadmeadows and Flemington,” an AFP spokesperson said in a statement this morning.
“This operational activity is not in response to a threat to public safety nor is it related to last week’s incident at Endeavour Hills.
“While this activity is continuing no further comment will be made.”
At least one man has been taken away by police at Seabrook.
The raids follow similar operations in Sydney and Brisbane earlier this month.
Terror suspects ... Hundreds of state and federal police raided homes in Brisbane and Sydney on September 18. Source: Supplied
View the original article here

One dead, two injured in stabbing

Police at the scene at Liverpool Hospital / Picture: Bill Hearne Source: News Corp Australia
ONE man has died and two others were critically injured after a stabbing in Liverpool last night.
Two men walked into Liverpool Hospital with serious stab wounds at 9.30pm.
One of the men died while the other man remains in a critical but stable condition.
Moments later, a third man turned up also suffering stab wounds. He also remains in a critical but stable condition.
A witness said he saw one man walk in with a serious stab wound to his upper right arm followed by a second man with a stab wound to the back of his head.
“There was a lot of commotion and a lot of blood.”
The Homicide Squad and Liverpool detectives are investigating the incident.
Police locked down Liverpool Hospital last night / Picture: Bill Hearne Source: News Corp Australia Originally published as One dead, two injured in stabbing
View the original article here

Arrest in Melbourne terror raids

One suspect is in custody following terror-related raids in Melbourne suburbs Source: Supplied
VICTORIA Police and Australian Federal Police officers are raiding a property in Melbourne’s suburbs.
One person has been taken into custody during the raids which AFP has confirmed are terror-related.

BREAKING: Suspect in custody at Seabrook. @9NewsMelb @9NewsAUS pic.twitter.com/1zXSd9y2ek
— Andrew Nelson (@Andrew_Nelson9) September 29, 2014

“The Australian Federal Police and Victoria Police Joint Counter Terrorism Team can confirm that a number of search warrants are being conducted as part of an operation in the following suburbs: Seabrook, Kealba, Meadow Heights, Broadmeadows and Flemington,” a statement to news.com.au read.
The raids follow the biggest ever counter-terror operation in Australia earlier this month involving joint operations between the AFP and NSW police.
A spokeswoman for AFP said the raids were not related to the incident involving a terror suspect shot dead in Melbourne last week.
“This operational activity is not in response to a threat to public safety nor is it related to last week’s incident at Endeavour Hills,” a statement read.

Raids underway at Seabrook involving @VictoriaPolice and AFP. @9NewsMelb pic.twitter.com/G20RbPh81h
— Andrew Nelson (@Andrew_Nelson9) September 29, 2014

Raids being carried out at Seabrook by AFP/ Vic Police @abcnewsMelb #breaking pic.twitter.com/fyZfJ5hBhR
— Jessica Longbottom (@Jess_Longbottom) September 29, 2014

MORE TO COME

View the original article here

Islamic State: US names the dogs of war

Federal Cabinet is preparing to make the final decision on joining a US-led assault against Islamic State.
THE US has issued a hit list of terrorists believed to be the ringleaders of the Islamic State terrorist army, with orders to confiscate their assets and make it a crime for anyone to have contact with them.
The US State Department issued the note late last week, identifying for the first time the loose hierarchy of the maniacal group also known as ISIL (Islamic State in Iraq and Levant) still cutting a bloody swathe through Iraq and Syria.
On top of the hit list is Amru al-Absi, the mastermind in charge of kidnapping foreigners.
The butcher responsible for ordering mass executions and beheadings has also been named as a French ­extremist Salim Benghalem.
PARTNERS AGAINST ISLAMIC STATE
JUST WHO IS THE ISLAMIC STATE?
SYDNEY IN FIRING LINE OF FANATICS
SCROLL DOWN FOR MORE

Source: DailyTelegraph
The list issued by the US reveals that the group is not simply locally based extremists but is now largely run and influenced by foreign fighters from all regions of the globe, including senior members of previous civil wars in the Balkans, Chechnya and Afghanistan.
The designation of 10 individuals as terrorists — including two fighters involved in groups elsewhere in the world — under a special executive order, mirrors the deck of cards wanted list for Saddam Hussein’s henchmen issued by the US during the War in Iraq.
The hit list comes as Prime Minister Tony Abbott prepares to give the go-ahead for Australia’s defence forces, primarily a squadron of pre-deployed Super Hornet fighter aircraft, to join bombing raids in Iraq and potentially Syria. Sources claimed the decision is not expected until later this week, possibly Friday, when the National Security Committee is scheduled to meet, with a special Cabinet meeting to be called immediately after for a final sign-off on use of force.
Australia counts three of its citizens among those near the top of the food chain of Islamic State including former Kings Cross bouncer Muhammad Ali Baryalei who claims to be the operational commander.

US President Barack Obama has admitted his country underestimated the threat of Islamic State.
However, the notorious Sydney extremists Khaled Sharrouf and Mohammed Elomar — who claim on ­social media to have been responsible for beheadings are, however, believed to have inflated their seniority among the ranks of Islamic State, which intelligence agencies now claim have more than 70 Australians as members.
A second tranche of legislation proposed by the government to increase powers of counterterrorism agencies will be introduced to Parliament in mid October.
It will broaden the scope of the agencies to arrest anyone under a crime for those not only involved in terrorism or suspected terrorist acts but for individuals or groups who advocate for terrorist organisations.
Also listed in the State Department briefing note is Mohammed Abdel-Halim Hemaida Saleh, named as responsible for the recruitment of suicide bombers from overseas to be sent to Syria.
Lavdrim Muhaxheri is a ­Kosovar Albanian foreign fighter who was the first to post Facebook photos of himself beheading a man.
Originally published as Islamic State: US names the dogs of war
View the original article here

Little business bites of a big pie

Financial expert Ross Greenwood. Source: News Limited
THERE’S little doubt Australia’s food and grocery giants are struggling. You can see it with the difficulties of SPC Ardmona, the takeover of Goodman Fielder, or the fight by Simplot Australia (part of the US giant) to keep open its canneries and frozen vegetable operations.
They face a variety of problems: high labour costs, imported competition (some of it dumped) and weather challenges. But the ongoing publicised problem that will not disappear is the supermarkets’ quest for cheaper prices and the ongoing squeeze on their suppliers.
The ACCC is investigating the relationship between supermarkets and suppliers and the recent review of competition law has a draft recommendation to beef up laws against large organisations trying to out-muscle small suppliers. The worst of the accusations is that big supermarkets allow small businesses into their supply-chain, only to delist the product in the future and move the product’s intellectual property onto another supplier.
But for all the struggles inherent in the supply-chain, the truth is that many small, nimble players are finding and keeping business with the supermarket giants. Much of this is driven by the supermarket-demand for private label and premium store-branded product.
The appeal for the smaller, modern operator is they can use technology or modern business practises to keep costs lower than established players. They can innovate and create a point of difference with competitors in the market.
Work done by the Australian Food & Grocery Council, which represent large and small food manufacturers, note there are 27,469 individual companies in the food and grocery business in Australia. Clearly, the vast majority of these are small or family run businesses, sharing to a greater or lesser extent in the annual industry turnover of $114 billion.
One key point from the AFGC’s report is that so-called Tier 2 participants (ie not the big manufacturers such as Nestle, Heinz, Goodman Fielder etc) tend to have lower exposure to the large supermarkets’ “deep discounting” (for this read price wars). Profit margins tend to be higher in the smaller Tier 2 players.
Like many parts of business, the trick to successfully supplying the supermarkets starts with the relationships between the people. Then follows the ability to produce a superior or unique product that is keenly priced (yet still sensibly priced to allow you to profit and grow).
It will also help if your product or technique is protected, or not vulnerable to being replicated by other fast-paced competitors.
But as we reported here last week, a shortage of maintenance engineers to support these smaller, emerging food manufacturers is strong evidence that food production is not dead and buried in Australia. Not by a long shot.
ROLAND Melosi is a legend in smallgoods. If you like your salami, mortadella or prosciutto, then Roland is your man. For 10 years he’s judged the Royal Easter Show smallgoods awards. In the 1980s and 90s his family was the biggest seller of prosciutto in the country.
But Roland knows the harsh realities of business and the importance of timing. In 1992, Australia’s last recession, the family was forced to sell its 43-year-old business when its interest rates blew out to 23% while it was building a new factory.
Roland Melosi walked away from the industry he loved. He stayed away for 17 years. The G. Melosi brand, in the meantime, continued to prosper within the Don Smallgoods business owned by George Weston Foods.
Five years ago Roland decided to get back into the game. It says a lot that many of his former buyers remembered him.
Montecantini Smallgoods Owner Roland Melosi / Picture: Adam Ward Source: News Corp Australia
“There is one, a young girl when I first knew her, that I taught to slice ham and mortadella,” he says. “Now she is the head smallgoods buyer for a big supermarket chain.”
This time around Roland understood he could not compete with the giant smallgoods companies.
Rather than having 200 staff, as the old business did, Montecanti Speciality Smallgoods has just eight employees. Roland had to be innovative to compete.
Thus was born the truffle salami and others with capers or fennel and garlic. The mortadella also got an overhaul.
“If the Spanish or the Italians ever open up and allow imports, we will be well ahead. We purposefully make products that are different,” Roland says.
Apart from innovation, Roland has also moved into the production and supply of private-label products.
To this end the truffle salami and others have become part of Woolworths’ top-tiered Gold range, which are hand- made by traditional methods and consist of only premium raw ingredients.
Roland’s experience shows that supermarket price wars, tough as they can be on suppliers, are also creating business for those nimble and creative enough to make innovative and affordable products.
As Roland himself says modestly: “I am an artist in smallgoods.”

View the original article here

Coles fresh bread ads banned

Soon you'll be able to apply for a personal loan while your shop for your groceries.
Banned for three years ... Coles supermarkets are now legally unable to advertise that its bread was made or baked on the day it was sold. Source: News Limited
View the original article here

Coles banned from using this word

The Aussie supermarket was misleading consumers by claiming their bread is baked fresh every day, according to the Federal Court. So how is made?
Coles was found to have breached consumer law when it falsely claimed its bread was baked fresh in-store. Source: News Limited
View the original article here

ISIS the building company mistaken for terrorists

What's it like to live under the rule of the extremist group known as the Islamic State, or ISIS? WSJ looks at the situation in Raqqa, Syria, through the eyes of two activists and through the lens of ISIS propaganda videos.
Not terrorists — an ISIS Group Australia sign on a building site at Waymouth St, Adelaide. Picture: Stephen Laffer Source: News Limited Yes, terrorists — Islamic State fighters in a documentary. Source: No Source
A NATIONAL construction company could be forced to change its name of 25 years because staff members are being abused as “terrorists”.
ISIS Group Australia — an Australian company that has specialised in commercial office fit-outs and refurbishments since 1989 — has been forced to scale back signage on worksites and asked workers to not wear uniforms branded with the company name.
It comes as a Sydney family has been urged to change the name of their eight-year-old girl, whose name is Isis.
In recent weeks, site workers have been abused as “terrorists” by passers-by and angry messages have been left on the company’s office line.
“Hey you terrorist bastards, I hope you bastards all die in Iraq, you terrorist al-Qaeda bastards, you ISIS pieces of s**t,” one message said.
ISIS chief executive Michael Barnes said he was upset that “ill-informed members of the public” had mistaken the company for the terrorist group wreaking havoc in the Middle East.
The terrorist group previously went by the acronym ISIS — or Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham — but is also variously known as ISIL and IS.
Mr Barnes said the company took the safety of its workers and subcontractors “very seriously”.
“In recent weeks we have instructed our workers to stop wearing ISIS-branded clothing and are also in the process of scaling back on-site branding to limit attention from misinformed people and ensure the safety of our employees,” Mr Barnes said.
“We are upset that what we stand for is becoming eroded by the Islamic State.”
Mr Barnes said it was possible the company may be forced to change its name if the abuse did not stop.
“We will continue to monitor how our clients, staff, consultants and subcontractors feel about perceptions around our name and react accordingly,” he said.
Marketing specialist and associate director of the Ehrenberg-Bass Institute, Associate Professor Rachel Kennedy, said the confusion could ironically present an opportunity for the company.
“Use it as a talking point — it’s really hard for companies to get their brands noticed at all, so they could say ‘yeah, it’s crazy isn’t it, but we’re just furniture fitout specialists’,” Prof Kennedy said.
“It’s not a situation that you would ever intentionally put yourself in, but getting your brand noticed at all is a hard task, so build up the link between the brand and the work you do.”
Prof Kennedy said she believed very few people would form the link between the terror group and company, and urged its chiefs to hold firm against a name change.
“Some people don’t think that much and it would be a tiny few that are making that connection out of context,” she said.
The terrorist group once known as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) is now seen as the most dangerous extremist group in the world.
“Their buyers are likely to be able to differentiate in the context of when they’re looking for someone to do a fitout versus the terrorist organisation.”
The ISIS Group employs more than 300 staff, with offices in every state and territory and a turnover of more than $500 million a year.
Originally published as ISIS the building company mistaken for terrorists
View the original article here