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Thursday, July 3, 2014

Ian Narev, the CEO of the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, this morning “unreservedly” apologised to clients who lost money in a scandal involving the bank’s financial planning services arm.

Last week, a Senate enquiry found financial advisers from the Commonwealth Bank had made high-risk investments of clients’ money without the clients’ permission, resulting in hundreds of millions of dollars lost. The Senate enquiry called for a Royal Commission into the bank, and the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC).

Mr Narev stated the bank’s performance in providing financial advice was “unacceptable”, and the bank was launching a scheme to compensate clients who lost money due to the planners’ actions.

In a statement Mr Narev said, “Poor advice provided by some of our advisers between 2003 and 2012 caused financial loss and distress and I am truly sorry for that. […] There have been changes in management, structure and culture. We have also invested in new systems, implemented new processes, enhanced adviser supervision and improved training.”

An investigation by Fairfax Media instigated the Senate inquiry into the Commonwealth Bank’s financial planning division and ASIC.

Whistleblower Jeff Morris, who reported the misconduct of the bank to ASIC six years ago, said in an article for The Sydney Morning Herald that neither the bank nor ASIC should be in control of the compensation program.

Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Wikinews has obtained ‘Operating Thetan‘ (OT) documents of the Church of Scientology which were leaked via Wikileaks. Although some portions of the manual have been leaked previously, this is believed to be the first time the full unedited version has been leaked.

The file is a 612-page compilation of material written for Scientologists by L. Ron Hubbard, and contains instructions for the eight different Operating Thetan levels including ‘clear’ and OT8. Most of the documents have been retyped from their original sources. The file does, however, contain some scanned in Hubbard’s own handwriting, which also bear his signature. The collection also contains bulletins by Hubbard written for individuals who have passed the according levels.

“A great many phenomena (strange things) can happen while doing these drills, if they are done honestly,” Hubbard writes in regards to ‘OT1.’ Hubbard then goes on to explain in hand written notes, the ‘drills’ one must do in order to become ‘OT1’:

“One: Walk around and counts bodies until you have a cognition. Make a report saying how many you counted and your cognition. Two: Note several large and small female bodies until you have a cognition. Note it down. Three: Note several large and several small male bodies until you have a cognition. Note it down. Four: Final a tight packed crowd of people. Write it as a crowd and then as individuals until you have a cognition. Note it down. Do step over until you do.”

Hubbard then goes on to explain OT2, but before he does so, he tells the Churches how to keep Scientology working. One way is to not divulge information on their “technology.” Doing so, says Hubbard, would result in “the complete destruction of all our work.”

“On the other hand there have been thousands and thousands of suggestions and writings which, if accepted and acted upon, would have resulted in the complete destruction of all our work. Our technology has not been discovered by a group. True, if the group had not supported me in many ways, I could not have discovered it either. But it remains that if in its formative stages it was not discovered by a group, then group efforts, one can safely assume, will not add to it or successfully alter it in the future,” states Hubbard in a confidential letter dated February 7, 1965.

Hubbard also goes on to say that “man has never before evolved workable mental technology and emphasizing it is the vicious technology he did evolve—psychiatry, psychology, surgery, shock treatment, whips, duress, punishment, etc., ad infinitum.” Hubbard also says that “war, famine, agony and disease has been the lot of Man” and that Man “has been what has made Earth a Hell—and if you were looking for Hell and found Earth, it would certainly serve.”

Hubbard calls those ‘men’ “SP Body Thetans” or those who “are out of valance” and who are “stuck toanother thetan or body but is not in control” with Scientology. Some he says are even “psychotic, serve faces and have fixed ideas” which “inhibits recovery.” Thetan is derived from the Greek word “Theta” which means “thought or life.”

“An individual being such as a man is a thetan, he is not a body and he does not think because he has no brain,” states Hubbard.

It is not until ‘OT3’ when you learn the true beginning of Scientology. In Hubbard’s own hand written notes, he begins to describe a series of “76 planets [orbiting] around larger stars founded 95,000,000 years ago” which he says “are visible from here [Earth].”

From those planets, which were over-populated by “about 250 million per planet,” came a “head of the Galactic Federation” named ‘Xenu‘ who solved the overpopulation by sending vast numbers of his people to Earth somewhere between “75,000,000 and 4 qadrillion [Sic] years ago.” Hubbard says that he brought them to Earth and dropped them off inside volcanoes on an island he describes as Hawaii in the Pacific Ocean. Xenu then captured the ones who escaped after 36 days and exploded the remaining individuals with a hydrogen bomb. Xenu was later “captured after six years of battle” and Earth had since become a “desert.”

It is also said at this level, an implant, in what Hubbard calls an “engram” will be given in which the individual can “see pictures.” However these pictures are not to be “stuck” or permanent.

At ‘OT4’ individuals are allegedly rid of illegal and legal drugs. Documents state that addicts are not treated with drugs, but simply not given anything.

“As drugs and drug incidents have been so common on the whole track, to simply generally ask for drugs or drug incidents when dealing with BTs and clusters, could cause a total restim,” states the document which then says that individuals are made to wait out the effects of the drugs. Another process used to try and stop drug use is to “take any previously given Drug somatic items, or newly list any additional items connected with reading drugs, medicines, etc., and assess for reading somatic item.” Hubbard insists that these methods are proven effective.

‘OT5’ is when individuals learn about the “physical universe, not the laws of physical scientists, but the basic considerations about Matter, Energy, Space and Time,” states Hubbard.

At ‘OT6’ a Scientologist is alleged to develop skills of telepathy and skills attained at ‘OT7’ are claimed to include the “rehabilitation of ability to project intention.” The final level of the series, ‘OT8’, is intended to produce “have full certainty and, therefore, perception on all” of your issues.

Wikileaks previously published documents relating to the Church of Scientology’s division the Office of Special Affairs. The 208-page document released March 9 details Scientology’s involvement in black propaganda according to its “Fair Game” practices.

Thursday, January 4, 2018

A fire on Sunday night in the seven-storey carpark for the Echo Arena in Liverpool, England destroyed almost all the vehicles parked inside and led to cancellation of the final evening of the Liverpool International Horse Show and evacuation of nearby blocks of flats. The blaze reportedly started with a parked Range Rover Discovery.

Investigators with the fire brigade stated that they believe the fire began with an accidental engine fire in the Range Rover at about 4.30 pm. The first call was made at 4.42 and firefighters arrived eight minutes after that. Ultimately twelve engines and 85 firefighters were involved in combatting the blaze. Aerial appliances were used and also three high-volume pumps. Fed by the fuel in vehicles parked inside, the temperature of the fire in the carpark is believed to have reached as high as 1,000°C. It was too hot to be extinguished with water from hydrants, so a high-volume pump was used to draw water from the River Mersey, and two more were brought from other fire brigades in the region.

The carpark has seven storeys and a capacity of 1,600 vehicles, and approximately 1,300 were parked in it when the fire broke out. According to Dan Stephens, chief fire officer for Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service, almost all of them were destroyed, with the exception of a few parked on the top level and at corners. “With these very high temperatures, you were never going to put the fire out without the whole building taking hold. The speed at which the fire spreads means you simply aren’t going to put it out,” said Stephens.

The carpark itself was severely damaged; according to Joe Anderson, the mayor of Liverpool. It is not in danger of collapsing but will have to be demolished, which will be difficult with the many burned-out cars still inside it, Anderson told the BBC.

According to Stephens, there were no serious injuries: one woman injured her hand, and two people were treated for smoke inhalation. A spokesman for the Echo Arena also stated that all animals were safe. All horses were successfully evacuated from the carpark and then removed from the stables after smoke spread to them. Six dogs were also rescued unharmed, two on a lower level in the early stages of the fire and four that had been left in a car on the top level, freed by firefighters on Monday after the fire was put out.

The final evening of the four-day Liverpool International Horse Show had been scheduled to begin at 7.30, and had to be cancelled. Many attendees were stranded in the city on New Year’s Eve night. Merseyside police directed people to the Pullman Hotel, where Red Cross assistance was available, and the Liverpool City Council set up an assistance centre at the Lifestyles Gym. A spokesman for the Association of British Insurers has said that insurance companies will “move very quickly” to reimburse owners whose vehicles were destroyed.

Nearby blocks of flats were evacuated because of the smoke. Eyewitnesses reported hearing what they at first thought were firecrackers, then “multiple explosions”, “bangs and popping”, “the bangs of car windows exploding”. People reported leaving everything in their cars, including their cellphones, and running for their lives.

Mayor Anderson tweeted that cuts to fire services over the last two years made it significantly harder to fight the fire and might have caused it not to be controllable. He also suggested that fire safety in multi-storey carparks had not been sufficiently considered and that installing sprinklers in them might help stop future fires before they become unmanageable, in a letter to Nick Hurd, a member of Parliament.

Friday, January 27, 2006

General Motors Corporation (GM) has posted its first annual loss since 1992. GM reported losing US$4.8 billion in the fourth quarter of 2005 and a total loss of $8.6 billion for the entire year.

GM admitted Thursday night that the loss could swell further as it pays pensions and healthcare costs to thousands of former workers. GM warned that the amount calculated for last year is preliminary and could rise before it is officially reported to the US securities and exchanges commission in March.

The loss was far greater than analysts predicted. Ford, the second of the big three American car manufacturers, beat predictions earlier in the week. In contrast, Toyota is expected to report that it will beat last year’s profit of $11 billion.

GM’s automotive division lost $1.5 billion in the fourth quarter, driven by losses in North America. This has been attributed to GM’s shrinking market share, which has been taken by Japanese manufacturers Toyota and Nissan.

A further $1.3 billion was lost in restructuring charges. As part of the restructure, GM plans to cut 30,000 jobs and close 12 facilities by 2008.

An aide for Kirk Kerkorian, GMs largest individual investor (at 9.9%), has called on the company to halve its $1.1 billion annual dividend, cut executive pay and sell Saab.

Sunday, November 26, 2006

U.S. President George W. Bush arrived in Singapore the morning of November 16, beginning a week-long tour of Asia. He was greeted by Singapore’s Deputy Prime Minister Wong Kan Seng and discussed trade and terrorism issues with the Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.

After a week of losses in the midterm election, Bush told an audience about the expansion of trade in Asia.

Mr. Bush also delivered his keynote address at the National University of Singapore’s Cultural Center; the US’ commitment to security and free trade in the region were the most emphasised topics. Among other subjects, he spoke on:

• Regional security including the threat of terrorism and ongoing nuclear crisis in North Korea.
• US continued engagement in Asia to confront security threats including N. Korea’s nuclear ambitions and terrorism and address these challenges at global level
• Free trade and trade expansion most certain path to Asian prosperity to lasting prosperity
• Reviving the doha trade talks
• An Asia Pacific-wide free trade area

Bush also called for US-Asian co-operation to fight with infectious diseases such as HIV-AIDS and avian flu.

Mr. Bush will be heading to Hanoi to for a state visit and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum.

Monday, November 26, 2007

In the 18 months since Andrea Muizelaar was crowned winner of the reality TV series Canada’s Next Top Model, her life has been a complete whirlwind. From working in a dollar store in her hometown of Whitby, Ontario, to modeling haute couture in Toronto, she had reached her dream of becoming a true Top Model.

But at what cost? Unknown to casual television viewers, Muizelaar had been enveloped in the eating disorder anorexia nervosa, which inevitably became too much for her to bear. She gave up modeling and moved back to Whitby, where she sought treatment for her disorder, re-entered college, and now works at a bank. Where is she now? Happy and healthy, she says.

Recently Andrea Muizelaar sat down with Wikinews reporter Mike Halterman in a candid interview that stretched to nearly two hours, as she told all about her hopes and aspirations, her battle with anorexia, and just what really happened on Canada’s Next Top Model.