Society's ChildS


Binoculars

Big Brother in the bedroom: Spouses using modern tech to catch each other cheating

hidden camera
© NY Post photo compositeComputer forensics is the latest frontier in catching a cheating spouse, by uncovering deleted incriminating files
The sprawling Manhattan apartment had a gorgeous view of Central Park. But two quarter-size cameras with wide-angle pinhole lenses, discreetly hidden behind crown molding, were not there to photograph foliage. A financial-world heavyweight suspected that his wife was cheating with her office colleague, and he wanted to secure hard evidence.

The $3,000 secret setup "allowed him to monitor the apartment in real time on his phone," Michael Mancuso tells The Post.

Sounding as proud as any Hollywood auteur, Mancuso, the snoop-camera specialist and owner of Searching for the Truth Investigative Services, says, "Three days later, our client had what he needed: footage of his wife walking into their apartment with her boyfriend." Add that to salacious text messages extracted from her iPhone, and the cuckolded husband had reason for divorce.

Gone are the days of looking for lipstick traces or sniffing out perfume. Suspicious spouses have an array of far more advanced techniques at their disposal. Science and technology mean that no philanderers are safe.

Robot

Zombie nation gets upgrade with robot reporting reboot

Robot news
© Christian Tate
Corporate ownership of 90 percent of media outlets in the United States has made the term 'mainstream journalist' quite the oxymoron, but the Washington Post's newest project eliminates 'journalist' from the equation entirely — robots are now writing the outlet's 'news.' Using artificial intelligence technology, the Washington Post is 'employing' software to 'write' hundreds of news briefs highlighting key information about the Olympic Games in Rio in real-time.

"'Heliograf,' which was developed in-house, automatically generates short, multi-sentence updates for readers," the Post proudly announced Friday, as if the news organization couldn't predict the collective American jaw-drop at the notion a computer could simply replace a longstanding tradition of actual journalism.

"Automated storytelling has the potential to transform the Post's coverage," explained Jeremy Gilbert, director of strategic initiatives at the Washington Post, in what could easily be deemed the understatement of the year. "More stories, powered by data and machine learning, will lead to a dramatically more personal and customized news experience.

"The Olympics are the perfect way to prove the potential of this technology. In 2014, the sports staff spent countless hours manually publishing event results. Heliograf will free up Post reporters and editors to add analysis, color from the scene and real insight to stories in ways only they can."

Comment: Journalistic integrity has already become a mockery in the New American Century, and now that robots are 'informing' the masses, it's become downright absurd. Welcome to the next stage in smashing whatever consciousness remains within the American public to smithereens.

Be sure to check out the John Oliver video above for an accurate view of the how media owners view their responsibility of reporting the news. Here's a transcript of an excerpt Oliver's show collected showing media mongrel Sam Zell in an exchange with a photographer:
Zell: "I want to make enough money so that I can afford you. You need to in effect help me by being a journalist that focuses on what our readers want that generates more revenue."

Fajardo: "What readers want are puppy dogs; we also need to inform the community."

Zell: "I'm sorry but you're giving me the classic, what I would call, journalistic arrogance by deciding that puppies don't count. . . . What I'm interested in is how can we generate additional interest in our products and additional revenue so we can make our product better and better and hopefully we get to the point where our revenue is so significant that we can do puppies and Iraq. F**k y**."



Syringe

The drug hydra: Silk Road bust leads to surge in other online illegal drug sales

drugs
© Reuters
Closing the online black market known as the Silk Road was a success for the FBI, but a short-lived one. Three years later, it seems that it did little to deter internet-facilitated drug purchases as new reports found more markets have opened in its place.

Online drug markets are to authorities as the brooms and buckets of water were to Mickey Mouse in Fantasia: stopping one won't prevent more from springing up. Since the closure of the Silk Road in 2013 by the FBI, 50 more online black markets have popped up according to a report from RAND.

The Silk Road was accessible via the dark web, but today's drug sales websites can be found with a simple Google search. These websites are highly profitable, producing monthly revenues in the double-digits of millions of dollars.

For example, marijuana is the most popular drug purchased on these markets and earns roughly $870 million a month, according to the report. Heroin sales bring in an estimated total of $630 million each month as well.

Comment: Traditionally, U.S. authorities haven't cared much about the drug market, as long as those involved have been their allies (or themselves). It only becomes an issue when one of their enemies is involved. Or when the competition is cutting into their profits. As CIA's Latin America operations chief Dewey Clarridge put it during Iran-Contra, the Contras' drug trafficking was simply "not a big deal". His attitude was and is fairly representative. How do you think these guys fund their black ops? The war on drugs is like the war on terror: a farce.


Star of David

Karma: Israeli athletes at Rio Olympics dealing with animosity from members of Muslim nations

Yarden Gerbi
© Soutello/AGIF/REX/ShutterstockIsrael's Yarden Gerbi reacts after winning the bronze medal of the women's 63 kg judo competition at the Rio 2016 Olympics Games in Rio de Janeiro on Tuesday.
The 2016 Olympic Games have been billed as an opportunity to put politics aside in the spirit of international camaraderie, but that's not necessarily how it's working out for Israeli athletes.

Animosity toward the 47-member delegation has triggered a reprimand from the International Olympic Committee and alarm from Jewish groups such as the Anti-Defamation League, which issued a statement this week decrying anti-Israel "hostility" in Rio de Janeiro.

"Shocking but not surprisingly, the Lebanese and Saudi delegations obviously have the wrong idea about the Olympic Games," said a statement Wednesday by Roz Rothstein, CEO of the pro-Israel group Stand With Us.

"Instead of using the events to forget animosity and promote peace between people, they have brought their brainwashed minds to Rio," she said. "How unfortunate that they could not implement the good, peaceful intentions of the Olympics, and instead have used it as a forum to spread hate and continued rejection of peace."


Comment: How come this Israeli spokesperson isn't calling out US athletes over their anti-Russian behavior and comments at the Olympics? American swimmer Lily King was lauded across the entire Western media (Huffington Post called her an American hero) for immaturely wagging her finger at Russian swimmer Yulia Efimova after one event where King took gold and Efimova silver. King later called Efimova a "drug cheat" talking to reporters after the match, behavior which was backed by American swimmer Michael Phelps. Where is the peace between people here? Where is the sportsmanship? Apparently as long as one is behaving like an idiot towards a Russian athlete, it's okay. Sorry Israelis, you've invaded, occupied and committed war crimes against an entire country. You deserve every bit of condemnation you get, whether it's at the Olympics or not.


Pirates

'Put your hands in the air and give me all your money!' US drug agents seize nearly $210 million from random profiling of travelers

US police
© Mike Segar / Reuters
In 10 years, US drug agents have seized nearly $210 million from 5,200 Americans at airports and Amtrak train stations, a USA Today report revealed. Federal agents allegedly collected private data from paid informants, but only two people were real suspects. Sources have told USA Today that Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) profiled random people at nearly every major US airline at 15 airports and Amtrak train across the country.

In most cases, people stopped for questioning fell under suspicion for travelling one-way to California, for paying for a ticket in cash or having checked luggage. According to one court filing seen by USA Today, in 2009 DEA agents took $44,010 from two people traveling on a train to Denver after picking them out during "a routine review of the computerized travel manifest for Amtrak."

In another case, Christelle Tillerson was forced to hand over $25,000 found in her suitcase after being questioned by the agents prior to boarding a flight from Detroit to Chicago. The Justice Department claimed that Tillerson turned into a suspect after the DEA "received information" that she was going to Los Angeles, but had a one-way ticket. Despite her profile of a former convict, she was not even questioned in relation to her drug trafficking case.

Comment: Civil asset forfeiture is just dressed-up language for state-sponsored, legalized robbery. The police bandy about their mission to 'protect and serve', yet they rob, torture and murder citizens day after day. This is not a result of a few bad apples. It's a blatant sign of a corrupt institution that is rotten through and through.


Red Flag

Woman claims to have been raped by Pokemon Go character after playing the game before bed

pokemon
Police say a young woman has lodged a formal complaint that she has been raped - by a Pokemon. She told officers that she had been sexually assaulted by a giant Pokemon in her apartment in the Russian capital city of Moscow.

The married woman, whose name has not been released, had reportedly been playing Pokemon GO before she fell asleep. She claimed that she woke up to find a huge Pokemon lying on top of her body and says it was raping her.

The woman says the Pokemon disappeared when she jumped out of bed - but says the Pokemon GO app on her phone could still detect the same virtual character's presence on her bed.

She woke up her husband to tell her what had happened who told police officers that he did not believe her and told her to see a psychiatrist.

Pills

Subway worker arrested for spiking cop's drink with meth and THC

Tanis Ukena
Tanis Ukena
The police officer knew something was wrong after he took three sips of the lemonade he ordered from a drive-thru sandwich shop in northern Utah.

He struggled to find the brake pedal of his patrol car at a red light. When he arrived at the police station in the city of Layton, he drifted off and couldn't answer questions.

His colleagues sent him to the hospital Monday and later found out the police sergeant's drink had been spiked with methamphetamine and THC.

Investigators believe it was done intentionally by an 18-year-old Subway employee, who was arrested on suspicion of surreptitiously giving a poisonous substance.

Fire

Power plant explosion in Dangyang, China kills over 20

Dangyang explosion map
© Google Maps
At least 21 people have reportedly been killed in a blast at a coal-fired power plant in central China, according to state broadcaster CCTV. Five other people have been injured.

The incident took place in Dangyang, in the central province of Hubei on Thursday afternoon at around 15:20 local time (07:20GMT). The injured have been taken to the hospital and three are reported to be in critical conditions.

Local authorities say that the blast was caused by a high pressure steam tube that broke at the plant, according to CCTV.

Question

Father of Arkansas shooter refutes claims they had weapons and says son was battling cancer


An alleged active shooter is currently at large and involved in a standoff with more than 100 SWAT officers, Arkansas state police, and Sebastian County Sherrif's department deputies after he allegedly shot two cops.

The suspected shooter, Billy Jones of Greenwood, is described as "anti-police" by neighbors and was allegedly known for his weapons cache and his negative feelings towards law enforcement.

The incident began Tuesday morning when the Hackett Police Chief and a deputy crossed paths with Jones and he opened fire on them. Both officers were hit and have been rushed to the hospital.

Comment: Update: deputy Cooper has been reported dead.


Pistol

More Police shootings - Arkansas cops lured to an ambush, 1 dead

Arkansas PD
© Arkansas State Police / Facebook
An early morning call led three law enforcement officers to an ambush in Sebastian County, Arkansas. The suspect opened fire, killing one officer and injuring a sheriff as well as a K-9 officer.

Billy Monroe Jones, 35, of Greenwood is believed to be responsible for the death of Sebastian County Deputy Bill Cooper, injuring Hackett Police Chief Darrell Spells and shooting a K-9 officer named Kina. The officers were responding to a call at 7 a.m. on Wednesday morning claiming that Jones had pulled a gun on his father, KFSM reported.

When police arrived about ten minutes after dispatch received the call, he greeted them by pointing a rifle at them. Sebastian County Sheriff Bill Hollenbeck told reporters that he may have also been wearing some sort of ballistic vest.

"Immediately when three officers got [to the house] they were basically ambushed," Sgt. Daniel Grubbs with the Fort Smith Police Department told KFSM. "The information we have received right now is it appears this guy was waiting for us to get here. It seems [he had] full intent to inflict violence against us."

Comment: The circumstances and history suggest this is another person 'going off', who also had military training. Over all this only contributes to further chaos in the US, more police crackdown and one step closer to a civil war. There is definitely something in the air.