Society's Child

Ransomware: L.A. hospital pays 17K to computer hackers

Amdrew Dalton
AP
Wed, 17 Feb 2016 15:46 UTC

A Los Angeles hospital paid a ransom of about $17,000 to hackers who infiltrated and disabled its computer network because paying was in the best interest of the hospital and the most efficient way to solve the problem, the medical center's chief executive said Wednesday.

Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center paid the demanded ransom of 40 bitcoins — currently worth $16,664 dollars — after the network infiltration that began Feb. 5, CEO Allen Stefanek said in a statement.

The FBI is investigating the attack, often called "ransomware," where hackers encrypt a computer network's data to hold it "hostage," providing a digital decryption key to unlock it for a price.

"The quickest and most efficient way to restore our systems and administrative functions was to pay the ransom and obtain the decryption key," Stefanek said. "In the best interest of restoring normal operations, we did this."

Spreading Islamophobia: Polish magazine cover depicts woman being attacked by faceless dark-skinned men with headline: "The Islamic rape of Europe"

RT
Thu, 18 Feb 2016 15:36 UTC

A Polish magazine cover has sparked a fresh debate about the reporting of Europe's migrant crisis by featuring a woman, draped in the European flag, being attacked by a group of faceless dark-skinned men while the headline screams: "The Islamic rape of Europe".

1) Cover of this week's Polish magazine wSieci about the 'Islamic rape of Europe'; 2) WW2 Italian fascist propaganda pic.twitter.com/L3vzgCinrd
— Ronan Burtenshaw (@ronanburtenshaw) February 17, 2016

Far-right weekly magazine wSieci sent Twitter into a tailspin with the controversial cover.

Epidemic: Cops killed nearly 4 people a day in January - more deaths a day than most countries kill per year

Claire Bernish
Free Thought Project
Thu, 18 Feb 2016 13:45 UTC

In January 2016, police killed 113 people — at least one person was fatally gunned down by a cop every day that month. One particularly deadly day, January 27, saw ten people meet their fate, thanks to the police. On average, that is almost 4 people a day.

And there is no indication this tragic epidemic will end soon.

That daily average is higher than the annual average of other countries. For example, in all of 2011, British police killed 2 people. In 2012, 1 person. In 2013, a total of 3 bullets left the barrels of British police guns, and no one was killed. In the last two years, a total of 4 people have lost their lives because of British cops, bringing the total number of citizens killed in the UK to 7 in the last 5 years.

Nonprofit Fatal Encounters — which compiled the January statistics — tracks, verifies, maps, and charts the data for deadly police incidents, which admittedly isn't complete due to a continuing lack of mandatory national reporting requirement. That lack also creates gaps in available information — such as race or age, or even deaths, themselves — which might otherwise aid those seeking to curb, and ultimately end, police brutality. Though the numbers include killings by police which might be legally justified, many of the incidents' circumstances aren't entirely known.

Comment: Why are so many killed by police in the US? Obviously there's something terribly wrong with the way police are trained.

Silicon Valley's mysterious teen 'suicide clusters' brings community and federal action

RT
Thu, 18 Feb 2016 14:19 UTC

Palo Alto, California is home to high-tech companies, Stanford University, and upscale living, but the success-oriented culture has a dark side. Recent "suicide clusters" of teens and young adults are stirring the community and federal agents into action.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) defines a "suicide cluster" as three or more suicides that occur closer in time and space than what would be considered normal for the community.

That is what happened in Palo Alto during 2009 and 2010, when five students or recent graduates from Henry M. Gunn High School took their own lives, and it is what happened again across 2014 and 2015 when four more students, three from Gunn and one from Palo Alto High School, did the same, according to the Palo Alto Unified School District and other local reports.

This week, at the invitation of the city council, the CDC will begin investigating what it calls the "suicide contagion," what is behind the tragedies, through one of its epidemiological assistance teams. Since 2011, the federal agency has conducted similar suicide cluster inquiries in Fairfax County, Virginia and two Denver counties.

The CDC lists suicide as the second most common cause of death for Americans 15-24 years of age.

Comment: Given the emptiness of Western culture, and its lack of support for its youth, it's not hard to imagine some teens feel they have no other option

British 15-year-old arrested charged with hacking attempt on FBI computers

RT
Thu, 18 Feb 2016 14:11 UTC

A 15-year-old British schoolboy has been arrested in Glasgow for allegedly trying to hack into the US Federal Investigation Bureau's (FBI) computer system.

He could face extradition and imprisonment after being accused of attempting to access the high-security computer network. US officials from the security service reportedly flew to Scotland, where the boy lives, to oversee his arrest.

The officials also sat in on local police interviews with the boy.

Police confirmed the arrest, questioning and release, saying he was arrested under the Computer Misuse Act, which covers attempted hacking of secure networks.

A Police Scotland spokesman said: "Following a search of a property in the Glasgow area on Tuesday, February 16, a 15-year-old male was arrested in connection with alleged offences under the Computer Misuse Act 1990.

Secretly filmed footage shows teacher verbally abusing 1st grade student for answering question incorrectly

RT
Tue, 16 Feb 2016 22:01 UTC

Disturbing footage of a teacher at a Success Academy charter school in New York chastising a young child for answering a math question incorrectly has raised further questions concerning such educational institutes.

In the video, Charlotte Dial, a teacher at the organization's charter school in Cobble Hill, Brooklyn, can be heard venting her frustration at a first grade child who is made to sit away from the other students for getting confused over how she had solved a math puzzle.

Angrily ripping up the young pupil's paper, Dial can be heard telling the child to "go to the calm-down chair and sit." "There's nothing that infuriates me more than when you don't do what's on your paper," Dial says angrily.

"You're confusing everybody," she says to child, who is sitting away from the circle of students, before adding that she is "very upset and very disappointed."

The video was secretly filmed in 2014 by an assistant teacher who wanted to lift the lid on the atmosphere that can be found in such schools and the harsh treatment that children endure in them on a daily basis. The New York Times published the video on Friday.

Head of Russian Orthodox Church: We need to do everything to avert major war

RT
Wed, 17 Feb 2016 21:50 UTC

A new clash of world powers should be prevented at all costs, Russian Orthodox Church head Patriarch Kirill said in an exclusive interview with RT America's Ed Schultz, stressing that both Russia and the US must do "everything possible" to improve relations.

Speaking to Schulz, Patriarch Kirill warned that a confrontation between "two major powers" with "immense destructive force" had the potential to devastate "the whole world," calling for an improvement in relations between Russia and the United States as soon as possible.

"A large-scale war should be averted at all costs," he said, adding that it should be the "number one priority for the Americans, the Russians, and many other people with a sensible perspective on what is happening."

The Patriarch stressed that most people in the US are "Christians who share the same values and belong to the same global Christian family" as Russians, urging the two nations to use this cultural affinity "to build bridges, rather than deepen the divide" between the two countries.

Judge arrested for DWI while on her way to court

RT
Wed, 17 Feb 2016 21:29 UTC

A New York state judge has been arrested for driving while intoxicated after being involved in a single-vehicle collision while on her way to court.

Rochester City Court Judge Leticia Astacio, who was appointed to her post in 2014, was arrested and crashed her car along Interstate 490 at approximately 8 a.m. Saturday while en route to the court to preside over a number of criminal court arraignments.

When state troopers arrived at the scene of the crash, they found the 34-year-old's car had been damaged, but there were no injuries.

Police asked Astacio, who previously worked in the drunk driving bureau in Monroe County, to take a breathalyzer test, but she refused, according to the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle.

Bye bye 4th Amendment: Wisconsin Supreme Court rules cops can enter homes and forcibly seize evidence without a warrant

Brianna Acuesta
Activist Post
Wed, 17 Feb 2016 18:26 UTC

In a 4-3 decision, the Wisconsin Supreme Court just killed the rights of citizens outlined in the Fourth Amendment by stating that police officers may enter a home, or parts of the home, without a warrant and can seize evidence to use in the arrest and prosecution of citizens.

The Fourth Amendment states that unreasonable searches and seizures are not allowed and that the only legally recognized search and seizure is one that is preceded by a warrant granted by courts. The warrant must be supported by probable cause.

The deciding vote was cast by Justice Rebecca Bradley who was appointed by Governor Scott Walker, a member of the Republican party. There has been skepticism surrounding this decision because Justice Bradley was not present for the oral arguments and instead listened to them later on a tape recording, stating that it was sufficient enough for her to make a decision.

Thought police: 'Muslim' and 'Islam' banned, but 'Al Qaeda' and 'KKK' OK in Nike's guidelines for custom sneakers

RT
Mon, 15 Feb 2016 18:32 UTC

A New Yorker has filed an angry complaint to Nike, saying the footwear giant forbid him from putting the words "Muslim" or "Islam" on its customizable sneakers, while allowing expressions like "KKK," "Daesh," and "Al Qaeda."

In a letter on his Facebook page, 40-year-old Nabeel Kaukab wrote to the company, saying that the word "Muslim" does not fit into any of the categories of banned words for NikeiD.

"As I was experimenting with different words to customize my shoes, I noticed that for Nike, neither Islam nor Muslim 'fit within our guidelines.' Based on your guidelines, I have to ask what category of banned words do you consider Islam & Muslim to fall under? Profanity? Inappropriate slang? Insulting or discriminatory content? Content construed to incite violence?"

The NIKEiD service enables customers to choose from a range of different materials and colors to create their own personalized style of shoes. It also allows customers to add their name, number, or a motivational message.

"As far as I (or any rational person) can assume, neither word is profanity, slang (appropriate or inappropriate), insulting or discriminatory (more than a billion people globally find identity in being called Muslims)," Kaukab's angry letter continued.

"Either you believe the word Islam or Muslim incites violence or they are words that Nike doesn't want to place on its products?"

Kaukab noted that the company's service allows other religious terms like "Christ" or "Hindu," so the exclusion cannot be based on religion.

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Society's Child

Ransomware: L.A. hospital pays 17K to computer hackers

Spreading Islamophobia: Polish magazine cover depicts woman being attacked by faceless dark-skinned men with headline: "The Islamic rape of Europe"

Epidemic: Cops killed nearly 4 people a day in January - more deaths a day than most countries kill per year

Silicon Valley's mysterious teen 'suicide clusters' brings community and federal action

British 15-year-old arrested charged with hacking attempt on FBI computers

Secretly filmed footage shows teacher verbally abusing 1st grade student for answering question incorrectly

Head of Russian Orthodox Church: We need to do everything to avert major war

Judge arrested for DWI while on her way to court

Bye bye 4th Amendment: Wisconsin Supreme Court rules cops can enter homes and forcibly seize evidence without a warrant

Thought police: 'Muslim' and 'Islam' banned, but 'Al Qaeda' and 'KKK' OK in Nike's guidelines for custom sneakers

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