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US, California: Hackers Protest Bay Area Rapid Transit Decision to Block Cellphones

Paul Elias and John S. Marshall
The Associated Press
Mon, 15 Aug 2011 00:00 UTC
Image
© The Associated Press / myBART.org
This screen shot taken from myBART.org shows a page from the website after it was hacked by the hacker's group Anonymous on Sunday, Aug. 14, 2011. Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) district officials said they were attempting Sunday to shut down the hacker's group website that lists the names of thousands of San Francisco Bay area residents who are email subscribers of a legitimate BART website.
San Francisco's mass transit system prepared for renewed protests Monday, a day after hackers angry over blocked cell phone service at some transit stations broke into a website and posted company contact information for more than 2,000 customers.

The action by a hacker group known as Anonymous was the latest showdown between anarchists angry at perceived attempts to limit free speech and officials trying to control protests that grow out of social networking and have the potential to become violent.

Anonymous posted people's names, phone numbers, and street and email addresses on its own website, while also calling for a disruption of the Bay Area Rapid Transit's evening commute Monday.

BART officials said Sunday that they were working a strategy to try to block any efforts by protesters to try to disrupt the service.

"We have been planning for the protests that are said to be shaping up for tomorrow," BART spokesman Jim Allison said. He did not provide specifics, but said BART police will be staffing stations and trains and that the agency had already contacted San Francisco police.
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Stormtrooper

Along US-Canadian Border, Post-9/11 Security Divides Neighbours and Complicates Daily Life

Wilson Ring
The Associated Press
Mon, 15 Aug 2011 04:04 UTC
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© The Associated Press / Toby Talbot
A driver hands his passport to a border agent at the Canada / U.S. border crossing in Highgate Springs, Vt., Monday, June 1, 2009.
A restaurant owner in Vermont held a contest to help Canadians buy passports so they cross the border for a meal. A fire department can't depend on help from a few miles away. A short drive to pick up milk can bring unpredictable delays.

A decade after 9/11, tightened security measures have divided communities on the northern border, where for centuries, people crossed back and forth to shop, work or visit relatives. Where the Green Mountains of Vermont begin to give way to the broad plains of Quebec's St. Lawrence valley, residents acknowledge the need for enhanced security, yet many are frustrated. Most agree life will never be as it was, but they're adapting.

"It used to be real simple. We just went across the border. Sometimes I wouldn't even take my wallet," said Paul Martin, 59, the fire chief in Richford, a Vermont town of about 1,300 near the border.

Now, Martin said, he crosses the border two or three times a week to see his girlfriend in Quebec. He never knows how difficult it will be to come back, an uncertainty that illustrates the disruption of a small-town way of life that had pervaded even across international lines.

"If I get somebody I went to school with, I don't have a problem," he said. "If you get somebody new, they have to inspect everything. It all depends on what kind of a day the inspector is having."
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Wolf

US, California: Pregnant San Francisco Woman Killed by Pit Bull

Dan Whitcomb and Greg McCune
Reuters
Fri, 12 Aug 2011 00:00 UTC
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© Reuters / Robert Galbraith
Flowers and candles are seen at the home of a 32-year-old pregnant woman who was killed by one of her pit bulls, her mauled body found by her husband, in Pacifica, California August 12, 2011.
A pregnant San Francisco area woman was killed by one of her pit bulls, her mauled body found by her husband, police said on Friday.

The 32-year-old woman was pronounced dead on Thursday afternoon at the couple's home in the seaside village of Pacifica, south of San Francisco, Pacifica Police Capt. Dave Bertini said.

Authorities withheld the names of the victim and her husband.

Bertini said the woman's husband told police he came home from work at around noon on Thursday to find one of the couple's pit bulls standing, bloodied, over his wife's mauled body.

First responders to the scene found the woman unresponsive in a front room of the home with massive trauma to her upper body, Bertini said.

A second pit bull was found cowering in the corner.
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Pistol

Canada, British Columbia: Targeted Shooting in Kelowna Kills Alleged Gangster Jonathan Bacon

Tamsyn Burgmann
The Canadian Press
Mon, 15 Aug 2011 00:00 UTC
Image
© The Canadian Press / Chris Stanford
An RCMP member collects evidence near a bullet-riddled SUV after a masked gunman open fire on a luxury car outside an upscale hotel in a tourist area of Kelowna, B.C. on Sunday, Aug. 14, 2011. Six people were taken to hospital.
A brazen, gangland-style shooting with a machine gun in a bustling tourist area on Sunday afternoon has apparently killed a member of one of British Columbia's most notorious families.

Jonathan Bacon, the eldest of three brothers at the centre of a bloody and long-standing gang war, died of injuries suffered when at least one masked gunman sprayed a car with bullets in downtown Kelowna, according to Vancouver radio station News 1130 and other media outlets.

Five other people in the SUV at the time were rushed to hospital after the drive-by outside the luxury hotel at about 2:45 p.m. PT, according to the B.C. Ambulance Service.

RCMP say the chaos began just after a group of people, including women, were seen leaving the Delta Grand hotel and getting into a white Porsche SUV.

As the vehicle prepared to leave, a silvery-green SUV drove up and stopped behind. At least one person emerged and opened fire.

Police spokesman Const. Steve Holmes told reporters this kind of incident is rare in Kelowna.
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Eagle

US Apologises for Diplomat's 'Dirty' Indians Comment


Agence France-Presse
Sat, 13 Aug 2011 00:00 UTC
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© unknown
Apology: American diplomat Maureen Chao said that a long train journey made her 'dark and dirty' like Indians
The United States has apologised for controversial remarks made by a US diplomat who spoke of "dark and dirty" Indians, calling the comments "inappropriate".

US Vice-Consul Maureen Chao told Indian students on Friday that her "skin became dirty and dark like the Tamilians" after a long train journey, according to Indian media -- referring to people from the southern state of Tamil Nadu.

During her speech in the Tamil Nadu capital, Chennai, Chao was quoted as saying: "I was on a 24-hour train trip from Delhi to (the eastern Indian state of) Orissa.

"But, after 72 hours, the train still did not reach the destination... and my skin became dirty and dark like the Tamilians."

Following her speech, the US Consulate in Chennai on Saturday issued a "statement of apology".

"During the speech Ms. Chao made an inappropriate comment. Ms. Chao deeply regrets if her unfortunate remarks offended anyone, as that was certainly not her intent," the US Consulate said on its website.

The American diplomat was describing "positive memories from her own study experiences in India 23 years ago," the US consulate said.
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Beer

Canada, Manitoba: Women Attacked with Hammer Over Beer


CBC News
Sat, 13 Aug 2011 07:10 UTC
A man in custody in Winnipeg is accused of attacking two women with a hammer in an attempt to steal their beer.

The women, aged 18 and 39, were injured in the upper body and were taken to hospital for medical treatment.

According to the Winnipeg Police Service, officers were on patrol near Dufferin Avenue and King Street around 2:15 a.m. CT on Friday when they heard screams.
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Heart - Black

Canada: Calgary Father Charged with Slashing Infant


CBC News
Sun, 14 Aug 2011 06:43 UTC
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© Meghan Grant/CBC
Calgary police found a child with slash wounds inside a home in the 1000 block of Cranston Drive SE early Saturday morning.
A 32-year-old Calgary man has been charged with attempted murder after having allegedly slashed his infant son several times Saturday morning.

Police responded to home in the 1000 block of Cranston Drive SE at approximately 4:15 a.m. MT following a 911 call.

There, officers found the seriously injured six-month-old and a man they described as "agitated."

The child was in critical condition and was transported by ambulance to Calgary's Children's Hospital. The young boy's condition was later upgraded to stable. Police said on Sunday that he is expected to make a full recovery.
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Red Flag

Tell Somebody: 10 Surprising Warning Signs You're Dating an Abusive Guy

Liz Brody
Glamour Magazine
Wed, 04 May 2011 15:31 UTC
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© n/a
You'd have to be crazy to hook up with an abuser, right? That's what I thought, but after working on our relationship violence story for six months, I was shocked by how smart and cool the women who get fooled are. The thing is, these guys are super charmers, pulling off Oscar-worthy performances of Mr. Dream Dude - at least while they're wooing you. And then, when they've got you madly in love with them, ka-bang, their violent true colors start showing.

The good news: there are definite danger sings a guy is an abuser before he ever raises a fist - and they start with you just having a funny feeling in your pit of your stomach. Because possessiveness and control are major red flags, Cindy Southworth, a VP at the National Network to End Domestic Violence, suggests this little test: "Break a date at the beginning when he's all hot and heavy, and tell him your girlfriend needs you. If he says, 'I'm disappointed but I understand,' great. But if it's, 'I can't bear to be apart,' or he makes you feel guilty, puts your friend down, or gets angry, these are not good signs!"

Comment: To understand more about the warning signs and red flags of dangerous and abusive men read How to Spot a Dangerous Man Before You Get Involved by Sandra Brown, M.A.. In addition to the excellent article by Sandra Brown in the Dot Connector Magazine: The Unexamined Victim: Women Who Love Psychopaths

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Handcuffs

35 Years of Harassment Why is Leonard Peltier in Solitary?

Jeff Armstrong
Counterpunch
Fri, 05 Aug 2011 15:21 UTC
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© N/A
Leonard Peltier
Amnesty International has called on prison authorities at the Lewisburg Federal Penitentiary to reconsider draconian sanctions against imprisoned American Indian Movement activist Leonard Peltier and to improve conditions for Peltier and other inmates held in isolation at the facility.

In an August 3 statement, the human rights organization said it "urged Warden Bledsoe to review Peltier's confinement to isolation, and to ensure that he has an opportunity to fairly contest any charges against him. It has also urged him not to confine Peltier in conditions which may be detrimental to his health, and to give him access to appropriate medical treatment he may need."

Peltier has been held in solitary confinement under oppressively hot conditions since June 27 for minor prison disciplinary violations his attorney maintains he did not commit.
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Black Cat

Norway killer returns to island


The Observer
Sun, 14 Aug 2011 15:44 UTC
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Wearing a bullet-proof vest, Anders Behring Breivik returns with police to the island of Utoeya, where he reconstructs his methodical madness.
The Norwegian man who confessed to killing 69 people at an island youth camp has reconstructed his actions for police back at the crime scene.

Police took Anders Behring Breivik back to the island of Utoya on Saturday for a hearing about the July 22 terror attacks.

He shot the victims dead on the lake island near Oslo after killing another eight people in the capital with a bomb.

The 32-year-old described the killings in close detail during an eight-hour tour on the island, prosecutor Paal-Fredrik Hjort Kraby told a news conference in Oslo.
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