Society's ChildS


Laptop

Hackers test election security by breaking into U.S. voting machines


RT
Sun, 30 Jul 2017 18:37 UTC
def con election hacking
© Jim Finkle / ReutersPeople pull apart computers used in voting machines in a bid to uncover security bugs during a "hacker voting village" exercise at the Def Con hacking conference in Las Vegas, Nevada, July 28, 2017
Tens of thousands of hackers from around the world were granted access to US voting machines at the Def Con convention in Las Vegas and tested them for hours to find vulnerabilities.

On Friday, Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas was packed with hackers from around the world, where they studied and practiced hacking everything from Twitter accounts to self-driving cars, during the annual Def Con convention.

This was the first year in the convention's 25-year history that included an interactive area on voting machines. The "hacker voting village" gave hackers the ability to break into more than 30 popular voting machines as well as voter databases in a bid to discover vulnerabilities that could be exploited to alter the results of an election.

"We encourage you to do stuff that if you did on election day they would probably arrest you," Matt Blaze, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania and one of the event's organizers, said, according to Reuters.

Comment: Aha, so Russia could have hacked the U.S. election! Oh, wait, this also means anyone could've hacked the elections... Including Democrats and Republicans. In 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012, 2016...

Kudos to these hackers for demonstrating what everyone with a brain already knew. U.S. elections are not holy, but they are certainly full of holes.

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Info

Poll: Military overwhelmingly agrees with Trump on transgender ban, only 12% support transgender troops

John Nolte
Daily Wire
Thu, 27 Jul 2017 00:00 UTC
US military
Rather than take the easy and trendy route on this issue, the route that would save him a thousand bad news cycles and endless hysterical cries of NAZI!, on Wednesday President Trump put the safety of his country first by banning, in every capacity, transgenders from serving in the military. In a series of tweets, the president correctly stated that the disruption and costs of this misguided social experiment have no place in our armed forces. A recent poll shows that the military overwhelmingly agrees with him.

Earlier this year, the Military Times polled active duty troops and found that only 12% believe transgenders serving openly helps military readiness, while 41% believe it hurts. If you want to write off our service men and women off as bigots, why then do only 18% oppose the repeal of the "Don't Ask Don't Tell" policy that kept homosexuals from serving openly?

With your gender imprinted on every strand of your DNA, there is simply no doubt that those we describe as transgender, or those "transitioning" towards a gender other than their biological one, suffer from some form of mental illness, a gender dysphoria. Like depression or obsessive compulsion, the severity of this illness varies. Some are able to function, some are not. Regardless, people suffering from any form of mental illness have absolutely no business serving in the American military.

This is not an act of discrimination; those suffering from depression, attention deficit disorder, learning disorders, mood disorders, behavioral disorders, speech disorders or any history of self-mutilation, are disqualified from serving in the military. And what is sex reassignment surgery if not a horrific form of self-mutilation?

Comment:

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Pirates

Wells Fargo at it again: 800K customers forced to buy unnecessary car insurance resulting in delinquencies and wrongful repossessions

Yves Smith
naked capitalism
Fri, 28 Jul 2017 00:00 UTC
Wells Fargo bank fraud
© Shannon Stapleton / Reuters
So now we see another way Wells Fargo achieved its amazing level of product cross-sells. As reported by the New York Times' Gretchen Morgenson, not only did it sign up customers for accounts and credit cards without their knowledge, it also forced auto insurance onto them. And unlike the "fake accounts" scandal, where the actual monetary damage to customers was limited (although some suffered real credit score damage), Wells Fargo's own hired gun, bank consultant Oliver Wyman, estimated that 274,000 were forced into delinquency and nearly 25,000 had their cars wrongfully repossessed from January 2012 through July 2016.

How did this come about? Wells would "automatically impose" auto insurance from National General on auto loan customers. National General was supposed to check if the borrower already had coverage but apparently didn't. The insurance usually cost about $1000 a year, before any interest. Per Morgenson:

Comment: More on Wells Fargo's banking practices:

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Post-It Note

Britain's 'remainers' silent on anti-Russian sanctions

Adam Garrie
The Duran
Sun, 30 Jul 2017 16:31 UTC
UK 'remainers'
The myth that Britain can act as a bridge between Washington and Brussels has been officially shattered by the UK's total silence on sanctions.

Prior to Brexit, few people in Britain spoke passionately about the EU on either side of the divide. There was Nigel Farage and his supporters who hated everything about the EU and there were people like Tony Blair and Michael Heseltine who couldn't get enough of the EU.

Brexit changed all this, making Britain's status vis-a-vis Brussels the major talking point among voters. Now that the EU is facing its biggest ever crisis in recent memory with its traditional partner the United States, one would expect Britain which frequently self-styles as the 'bridge' between Washington and Brussels to say something. One would certainly expect those who suddenly discovered their love of the European Union in the aftermath of the unexpected Brexit vote to raise a trans-Atlantic howl in support of their European cousins.

But no, total silence. If those in Britain who argue for remaining in the EU were so concerned with a wider European crisis, they would be standing up for those in Europe who are violently opposed to the US sanctions on the grounds of being deeply detrimental to EU businesses.
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Airplane

Orange County, California: Horrific plane crash on busy freeway adjacent John Wayne Airport


RT
Sun, 30 Jul 2017 11:50 UTC
planecrash freeway
© turnto10.com
Shocking videos of a plane crashing into a California freeway and bursting into a ball of fire have been released by John Wayne Airport.

The plane had just taken off from the airport when it experienced a power failure. The pilot attempted to land back in the airport, but crash landed on its outskirts. The small Cessna plane came down on the 405 Freeway near the MacArthur Boulevard on June 30, leaving a trail of flames in its wake.
Survivors
© NBC News
Two passengers were seriously injured, but are expected to make full recoveries, ABC7 reports.

The videos show the fiery crash from two opposing angles.

"The fact a plane can crash-land on the freeway and only strike one vehicle is extraordinary," Orange County Fire Authority Capt. Larry Kurtz told the LA Times.



Comment: A couple of very lucky people!

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Key

Mississippi man set free after 11 years in jail without trial


RT
Sat, 29 Jul 2017 03:09 UTC
StevenJessieHarris
© Steven Jessie Harris / FacebookSteven Jessie Harris
Steven Jessie Harris allegedly embarked on a violent spree over a decade ago. Since then, he has been in jail, waiting for a trial date, which never came. He was finally released after doctors found him mentally incompetent to stand trial.

Harris was arrested in October 2005 and charged with the murder of his 72-year-old father, Malichi Randle. Clay County Sheriff Eddie Scott said that after Harris fatally shot his father, he walked to a local drive-in restaurant with a rifle and shot at passing cars, according to the Clarion-Ledger.

Harris then stabbed a student in the parking lot and stole a car, kidnapping the young female passenger. After leading police on a chase down the highway, Harris allegedly got out of the vehicle and shot three officers before being wounded and apprehended.

Harris was indicted in 2006 on 11 different counts, including murder, armed robbery and kidnapping. Since then, he has been incarcerated in the Clay County jail in West Point, Mississippi, without ever receiving a trial.

Carlos Moore, Harris' attorney, told Fox News that Harris' imprisonment without a trial violated the Constitution. "You have a constitutional right to speedy trial, there shouldn't be any cruel or unusual punishment," Moore said. "It's very cruel and unusual to lock somebody up and throw away the key for 11 years without a trial. You have a fourth amendment right to no unreasonable searches and seizures. There were several constitutional rights that were violated."

Comment: Had Harris gone to trial and been found guilty, his incarceration may have lasted more than 11 years. If the trial had been conducted in a timely manner, his mental condition may not have been considered. Complete dismissal of all charges...a legal gift.

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Attention

Polish loggers beat TV operator & damage equipment in Bialowieza Forest at center of EU-Poland row


RT
Sun, 30 Jul 2017 13:24 UTC
Logger
© Wojtek Radwanski / AFPForest workers in Bialowieza Forest.
An operator of a Polish news channel filming in the Bialowieza Forest - currently at the center of Warsaw's row with the EU - was attacked by two loggers who knocked him over, smashed his camera, and stole memory sticks. Two suspects have been detained.

Wojtkowi Zdanowicz, operator of a Polsat News TV crew, required hospital treatment following an encounter with two loggers in Europe's last primeval forest on Saturday afternoon.

Zdanowicz said the attackers at first attempted to run him over with a car. As he tried to hide among the trees, the men chased him down, with one hitting him on the head and another taking his camera.

Comment: See also: Poland approves logging Europe's last primeval forest

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Cardboard Box

2-year-old hospitalized with hypothermia as migrants found in UK-bound refrigerated truck in France


RT
Sun, 30 Jul 2017 13:21 UTC
Migrants
© Vincent Kessler / Reuters
A 2-year-old child was hospitalized with hypothermia after a group of 26 migrants was found aboard a refrigerated truck bound for the UK at a ferry terminal in northern France, according to local media citing rescue services.

Around 7am Saturday, the security services at the Loon-Plage terminal near Dunkirk contacted the regional fire and rescue department after finding 26 migrants, including a toddler, in a refrigerated truck, Europe 1 reports, quoting a statement from the authorities.

The 2-year-old, accompanied by his mother of Iraqi descent, was taken to a hospital in Dunkirk with mild hypothermia.

"The ferry terminal security service contacted emergency services after the discovery of a group of 26 migrants in a refrigerated lorry," the regional rescue services authority said, as cited by The Local.

Comment: See also: Human Rights Watch: French police 'routinely' pepper spray innocent migrants, including children, in Calais

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Sheriff

President Trump thinks we need cops to be more violent

Eric Dolan
Rawstory
Sun, 30 Jul 2017 15:57 UTC
Trump
© ShutterstockDonald Trump speaks at Edison New Jersey Hindu Indian-American rally.
President Donald Trump delivered a speech Friday in Long Island to law enforcement officials to discuss efforts to combat gang violence.

The president encouraged law enforcement officers to be rougher with criminal suspects - and feel free to slam suspects' head into their vehicles.

"When you see these towns and when you see these thugs being thrown into the back of a paddy wagon, you just see them thrown in, rough, I said, please don't be too nice," Trump remarked at Suffolk County Community College.

"Like when you guys put somebody in the car and you're protecting their head, you know, the way you put their hand over, like, don't hit their head and they've just killed somebody - don't hit their head. I said, you can take the hand away, okay?"

The crowd of officers erupted in cheers.

Comment: Cops are not there to protect us folks!

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People

'Substitution of nations': Witnessing the 'biological extinction' of Europeans


Sputnik
Sun, 30 Jul 2017 15:27 UTC
African migrants
© AP Photo/ Emilio Morenatti
Some European countries, namely Italy, Germany, France and the UK, are facing the so-called "substitution of nations," where the national ethnical majority is disappearing physically and biologically, and is being substituted by migrants, according to a recent report. Sputnik Italy discussed the issue with Daniele Scalea, the author of the report.

The recent report of the Italian-based Machiavelli Center of Political and Strategic Studies (Centro studi politici e strategici Machiavelli), "How immigration is changing Italian demographics" has revealed that a number of European countries are facing the "biological and physical extinction" of their national ethnicities.

Ethnic majorities in such countries as Italy, Germany, France and the UK, are gradually turning into ethnic minorities, while being "substituted" by incoming migrants.

Sputnik Italy discussed the issue with Daniele Scalea, an analyst at the center and the author of the report.
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