July 31, 2020

17yo Florida Teen Charged As 'Mastermind' Of Massive Twitter Hack

Florida prosecutors have charged a teenager with being the "mastermind" of a hack that targeted some of Twitter's best-known accounts and, prosecutors say, scammed more than $100,000 in Bitcoin from duped users.

Two other people were also charged by federal prosecutors for their alleged involvement in the July 15 hack, which involved the accounts of the social media network's richest and most famous users, including former President Barack Obama, presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos and rapper Kanye West.

Federal agents arrested Graham Ivan Clark, a 17-year-old Tampa resident, on Friday morning after a nationwide investigation by the FBI and Department of Justice, according to the state attorney's office in Hillsborough County, Florida. He is facing 30 felony charges. (NPR is naming Clark because he is being charged under Florida state law as an adult.)

"Clark hacked into the Twitter accounts of famous people and celebrities, but they were not the primary victims. This 'Bit-Con' was designed to defraud money from regular Americans from across the country and here in Florida," Hillsborough County State Attorney Andrew Warren said at a press conference on Friday.

The Twitter profiles were used to post messages asking their millions of followers to send Bitcoin to accounts associated with Clark. The messages promised the senders that their payments would be doubled — which never happened. Clark also sold access to some of the accounts, Warren said.

Clark "reaped over $100,000 in Bitcoin in just one day," Warren said. "He's a 17-year-old kid who apparently just graduated high school, but make no mistake: this was not an ordinary 17-year-old. This was a highly sophisticated attack on a magnitude not seen before."

Clark faces 17 counts of communications fraud, one count of organized fraud, one count of fraudulent use of personal information with over $100,000 or 30 or more victims, 10 counts of fraudulent use of personal information, and one count of accusing a computer or electronic device without authority.

https://www.npr.org/2020/07/31/897815039/florida-teen-charged-as-mastermind-of-massive-twitter-hack

July 31, 2020

Chicago Deputy Police Chief Shoots Himself, Latest in Long History of Suicides at the Department

The Chicago Police Department’s new deputy chief of criminal networks was found dead on Tuesday from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound, the latest in a history of suicides at the department.

Dion Boyd, 57, was sworn into his new post on July 15 after 30-years on the force. Superintendent David Brown urged officers to keep an eye out for colleagues who could be in distress.

“Let’s always remember to take care of ourselves and each other,” Brown said at a press conference.

The national suicide rate among police officers is about 18 per 100,000 as of 2017, however the rate in Chicago is 60 percent higher.

“One of the shocking statistics for me was that cops kill themselves at a higher rate than bad guys kill the police. And when you put it in those numbers, you realize that there’s a real problem,” Phil Cline, executive director of the Chicago Police Memorial Foundation, told WBBM radio. “And it’s not something the just sprung up in the last year or so. It’s been a problem for a while.”

Boyd’s body was found at the department’s Homan Square facility, a secretive site that houses the anti-gang and bomb and arson squads. Various abuses allegedly occurred at the site, including reports of excessive force used in interrogations uncovered by The Guardian in 2016.

Chicago police are currently attempting to clamp down on shootings that have plagued the city since Memorial Day weekend.

While shootings typically rise in the city throughout the summer months, this year has seen a particularly sharp uptick. Chicago has recorded about 2,000 shooting victims so far this year, compared to roughly 1,400 over the same period in 2019.

The seasonal rise seems to have been exacerbated by the impact of coronavirus lockdowns on inner city neighborhoods, as well as anti-police sentiment stemming from the George Floyd protests roiling the U.S.

https://news.yahoo.com/chicago-deputy-police-chief-shoots-163152735.html

July 29, 2020

Norweigian flag removed from Saint Johns bed and breakfast over Confederate confusion

https://ewscripps.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/efb9c2e/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1200x675+0+0/resize/1280x720!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fewscripps-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fda%2F65%2Fa92f7dbe4df795937e74875c64d1%2Fq53o5ez25ndchh3zggcspcku2m.jfif

LANSING, Mich. (WILX) - Bed and breakfast Nordic Pineapple in Saint Johns has removed their Norwegian flag after dozens of people confuse it for the Confederate flag.

Greg and Kjersten Offbecker moved into the historic mansion two years ago and turned it into a bed and breakfast. As decoration, they hung a Norwegian flag next to the American flag at the front entrance of the inn, but dozens of guests and people driving by have accused the couple of flying a Confederate flag.

“They are the same color, but there are no stars on the Norwegian flag, and the Confederate flag is a big ‘x’ and the Norwegian flag is part of the Nordic countries, they’re all crosses,” Offbecker said.

Last week, the couple decided to remove the flag as they were updating their marketing materials.

“We started to have this concern that it was deterring people away from coming to our bed and breakfast,” Offbecker said. “That they would see it and make this judgement.”

Offbecker said she was trying to represent her heritage, but it’s not worth the frustration. She said they have received cruel emails and phone calls over the confusion of the flag.

“What we’re getting is so much more negative now,” she said. “It’s not just, ‘hey you’re flying the Confederate flag.’ It’s, ‘you should be ashamed to fly the Confederate flag. You’re a bigot because you fly the Confederate flag.‘”

Some people are even convinced the home was built by Confederate leaders. In fact, it was built by union workers for the daughter of the Saint Johns founder.

The couple is trying to find a new way to hang their flag without getting complaints.

https://www.wilx.com/2020/07/28/norwegian-flag-removed-from-saint-johns-bed-and-breakfast-over-confederate-flag-confusion/

July 29, 2020

Belarus president who suggested vodka cured COVID-19 says he tested positive

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, who has resisted the coronavirus-related lockdowns imposed in most countries and suggested drinking vodka can treat the virus, said Tuesday that he has had and recovered from COVID-19.

"Today you are meeting a man who managed to survive the coronavirus on his feet. This is what doctors concluded yesterday. Asymptomatic," Lukashenko said, claiming without citing a source that “97 percent of our population carry this infection asymptomatically,” according to Reuters.

Lukashenko, whose handling of the virus has led to mass protests ahead of the country’s Aug. 9 presidential election, has previously said fears of the virus are a “psychosis.”

Asked in March whether the pandemic would stop him from playing ice hockey, he responded “To stop me? But why? It is possible, but why? I don't understand. There are no viruses here. Did you see any of them flying around? I don't see them."

In April, Lukashenko defended his decision to keep national borders open and allow soccer matches to continue with live audiences, claiming no Belarusians would die from the virus. Since then, 543 people have died and 67,366 people have tested positive for the virus.

https://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/509399-belarus-president-who-suggested-vodka-cured-covid-19-says-he

July 29, 2020

Sweden Unveils 'Promising' Covid-19 Data as New Cases Plunge

As other countries face renewed outbreaks, Sweden’s latest Covid-19 figures suggest it’s rapidly bringing the virus under control.

“That Sweden has come down to these levels is very promising,” state epidemiologist Anders Tegnell told reporters in Stockholm on Tuesday.

The Health Agency of Sweden says that since hitting a peak in late June, the infection rate has fallen sharply. That’s amid an increase in testing over the period. “The curves are going down and the curves for the seriously ill are beginning to approach zero,” Tegnell said.

The development follows months of controversy over Sweden’s decision to avoid a full lockdown. The unusual strategy coincided with a much higher Covid-19 mortality rate than elsewhere in the Nordic region. Per 100,000, Swedish deaths even exceeded those in the U.S. and Brazil.

On Tuesday, Sweden reported two new deaths, bringing the total to 5,702.

Tegnell also broached the subject of face masks, which the World Health Organization recommends people use when social distancing isn’t possible.

“With numbers diminishing very quickly in Sweden, we see no point in wearing a face mask in Sweden, not even on public transport,” he said.

Tegnell has consistently argued that Sweden’s approach is more sustainable than the sudden lockdowns imposed elsewhere. With the risk that Covid-19 might be around for years, he says completely shutting down society isn’t a long-term option.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-07-28/sweden-unveils-promising-covid-19-data-as-new-cases-plunge

July 26, 2020

Black armed protesters march in Kentucky demanding justice for Breonna Taylor

LOUISVILLE, Kentucky (Reuters) - A group of heavily armed Black protesters marched through Louisville, Kentucky on Saturday demanding justice for Breonna Taylor, a Black woman killed in March by police officers who burst into her apartment.

Scores of the demonstrators, carrying semi-automatic rifles and shotguns and clad in black paramilitary gear, walked in formation to a fenced off intersection where they were separated by police from a smaller group of armed counter-protesters.

The Black militia dubbed NFAC want justice for Taylor, a 26-year-old emergency medical technician who died in a hail of gunfire when drug investigators bearing a “no-knock” warrant entered her Louisville home four months ago.

One police officer involved in the raid was fired by the city’s police department in June. Two other officers have been placed on administrative reassignment. No criminal charges have been filed against any of the three.

The leader of the NFAC group, John “Grandmaster Jay” Johnson, called on officials to speed up the investigation into her death and to be more transparent.

“If you don’t tell us nothing we going to think you ain’t doing nothing,” Johnson said in a speech, according to the Louisville Courier Journal.

Taylor’s death, which returned to prominence following the May 25 suffocation in Minneapolis police custody of George Floyd, has become a rallying cry in nationwide protests against police brutality and racial bias in the U.S. criminal justice system.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-global-race-protests-louisville-idUSKCN24R025

July 25, 2020

Gold Prices Set To Smash Record As Wall Street Shuns The Dollar

Source: forbes

The recent Covid-19 pandemic has pushed the price of gold to a hair’s whisker of its record high reached almost a decade ago. Investors should expect the rally to continue beyond that level, at least in the medium term, experts say. “We continue to be bullish on gold, believe that gold will make a new all- time high in US$, and that gold will make new all-time highs in all currencies,” states a recent report from Wolfe Research.

The price of gold recently traded around $1,893 a troy ounce, putting it within easy reach of its all-time high of around $1,920 reached in 2011 in the wake of the financial crisis. So far this year investors in the SPDR Gold Shares GLD +0.9% (GLD) exchange-traded fund, which holds bars of solid bullion, has rallied 24%. That far exceeds the 0.34% increase in the SPDR S&P 500 (SPY) ETF which tracks the S&P 500. Both figures are from Yahoo and exclude dividends for the S&P 500 fund.

The rally, and the likely further surge, comes as investors are increasingly worried about the purchasing power of the U.S. dollar. The pandemic prompted the U.S. government to borrow vast sums of money to prop up its economy while businesses were ordered to close, and employees were furloughed.

But all that borrowing comes at a cost. Either the U.S. will need to raise taxes in the future or the government will need to print money to induce inflation. Either way, it makes holding dollar-denominated assets less attractive than real assets such as gold. While gold prices have swung up and down over the past few years, over much longer periods, the metal has tended to maintain its purchasing power, which is why some investors like to own it as a kind of insurance policy against the wealth-withering ravages of inflation.



Read more: https://www.forbes.com/sites/simonconstable/2020/07/24/gold-prices-set-to-smash-record-as-the-wall-street-shuns-the-dollar/#1bd988201689

July 21, 2020

Anyone seen the movie "The Outpost" recently, about the Afghanistan war?

Just saw it and wow, it's the best movie about the US occupation of Afghanistan I've ever seen. It's pretty violent so I wouldn't recommend it if you don't like war movies, but I think it should be required viewing to show just how stupid and pointless the 19 years of US occupation of Afghanistan has been. What a fucking waste of lives, the movie has quite a bit of an anti-war vibe to it in how wasteful the whole thing has been, 8 soldiers died for a base that was later on abandoned.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Kamdesh

July 17, 2020

What will happen when the unemployment benefit payments end in several months?

Right now I get the impression that's the only thing still holding our society together but it's going to end for most people in several months. There's no sign of any 2nd stimulus act passing anytime soon either. Are we screwed and will see even worse riots in August/September?

July 16, 2020

Prominent Members Of Black Community Call On NYPD To Bring Back Anti-Crime Unit

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) — After another tragic weekend of gun violence, including the death of a 1-year-old, two members of the Black community called on the NYPD to bring back the recently disbanded Anti-Crime Unit to help get guns off the street.

It was a dramatic moment — Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams holding up a pair of baby shoes Monday after a 1-year-old became the latest victim of gun violence, caught in the crossfire at a family barbecue just hours before.

“Babies are not supposed to be wearing these in a coffin,” Adams said.

Adams, a former cop, became the second member of the African-American community to call on the NYPD to stop the violence by re-instituting the Anti-Crime Unit — undercover cops whose job was to get guns off the street. The unit was disbanded during the anti-cop protest that shook the city.

“I think that a total elimination is something we need to reevaluate,” said Adams. “Right now, bad guys are saying if you don’t see a blue and white you can do whatever you want.”

Community activist Tony Herbert agrees.

“The guns keep going off and now we have a 1-year-old and the blood is on the hands of the mayor and the state Legislature,” said Herbert.

Mayor Bill de Blasio decried the shootings.

“This is not anything we can allow in our city. It is heartbreaking. It’s heartbreaking for so many reasons and begins with the fact that there are just so many guns out there and that is a New York tragedy,” de Blasio said.

But the mayor did not propose any new solutions to ending the gun violence. This, as shootings for the week went up 277%, 49 compared to 13 in 2019. The number of victims is up 253%, 60 compared to 17 in 2019.

https://newyork.cbslocal.com/2020/07/13/new-york-city-shootings-nypd-anti-crime-unit-eric-adams-tony-herbert/