Ashley Mitchell broke into Zynga’s mainframe, transferred chips from employees to himself and sold them through Facebook A British computer hacker who stole 400bn virtual gaming chips from an international gaming company has been jailed for two years. Ashley Mitchell, 29, broke into the Zynga mainframe, stole the identity of two employees and transferred chips said to be worth more than £7m to himself. Mitchell, of Paignton, Devon, sold the chips through Facebook to other gaming enthusiasts and used the money to fund his online gambling addiction. More than 50 million people a day play Zynga games , including Mafia Wars, in which players run a virtual mob business, and FarmVille, which allows users to create their dream farm. Players have to buy chips for their virtual worlds. A black market in cut-price chips has grown up on the internet. Mitchell, a former council accounts clerk, made £53,612 in two months after selling about a third of the chips. But James Taghdissian, prosecuting, told Exeter crown court that Zynga put its loss at $12m (£7m). “That is what they estimate they would have lost if all the chips were successfully sold on,” he said. He said the company became aware in August 2009 that large amounts of chips were vanishing and suspected the two employees whose identities Mitchell had adopted. However, investigators then realised the system had been hacked and narrowed the search to Paignton. Mitchell’s neighbours had their computers seized because he was “piggy-backing” on their unsecured Wi-Fi connections. Mitchell was eventually identified because he used his own Facebook profile during one of his attempts to hack into the system. Taghdissian said: “It was clear there had been a systematic approach adopted in probing and accessing Zynga. Checks on [Mitchell's] bank account showed at this time he bought items including a Rolex watch and was also spending money on online gambling.” “He made determined and repeated efforts to attack Zynga’s systems. He succeeded and transferred 400bn chips and sold them to realise a substantial profit.” Ben Darby, defending, said the loss to Zynga was impossible to quantify because the chips were virtual and the company could create as many as it wants. He said Mitchell had enjoyed little benefit and spent most of the proceeds on online gambling on other sites that use real money. He said: “Gambling had complete control of his life.” He said his client was now an internet entrepreneur with his own Facebook poker site called Gambino, which could earn him more than £100,000 a year. Mitchell admitted computer misuse and four counts of money laundering and asked for 41 similar cases to be considered. He was also sentenced to 30 weeks for breaching a 40-week suspended sentence imposed in 2008 for hacking into the computer system of Torbay council, where he once worked. Judge Philip Wassall told him: “The dishonesty in this case was substantial and protracted. Online security is a priority for everyone these days. “You deprived Zynga of income. It is quite clear you used a considerable degree of expertise and persistence to hack into the system. “It is a considerable aggravating feature that someone hacks into systems in this way when so much business and personal finance is done using electronic means. “From internet banking to major international transactions, people rely on the security of systems and anyone who comes before the courts who has gone through these security systems from their own ends can expect custody. “The sentence has to reflect the impact on public confidence in security systems and online business when someone breaches security in this way.” Hacking Games Facebook Crime Gambling Steven Morris guardian.co.uk
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Click here to view this media Boy, am I glad Ed Schultz dealt with this. It’s been a Fox theme since yesterday, beginning on Megyn Kelly’s show and continuing on all the way through tonight’s O’Reilly Factor. It goes like this: Unlike here after Katrina, and the Haiti and Chile earthquakes (translate that to where black people and Hispanics live), there has been no looting in Japan . Glenn Beck took it out to an extreme on his show today and then came on O’Reilly to tell everyone how noble the Japanese are for not looting after a disaster. Of course, the whole idea of “looting” supposes that there is a) anything left after a disaster to take; and b) those who take are doing so with the motive of enriching themselves in some way, which makes no sense in areas where dire need supplants more banal motives. The areas most heavily affected by the earthquake were virtually destroyed by the tsunami. When ships sit on top of buildings and homes are reduced to rubble, there isn’t much left to “loot.” What’s left behind is need and desperation. But if you really want to understand why you’re not seeing a whole lot of stories about looting in Japan, Slate has an excellent article explaining Japanese culture and society that will enlighten you. There’s a race-related overtone that’s really insidious here, with Beck insinuating that the Japanese people are somehow superior to Americans, Haitians and Chileans, more noble. More good. It’s quite subtle, but Ed sees it too. He also completely unwraps the idea of “no looting” and indeed, the idea of looting at all. Ed points out there is looting going on in Japan. But is it looting when there’s deep, desperate need? As Ed points out, “What is looting, when you’re trying to survive?” It’s the framing that I noticed and also what Ed picked up on. See, it always comes back to Beck’s vision of America. With Barack Obama as President, America just isn’t what it should be. We don’t have respect for our fellow man, we don’t even have respect for where we live? Glenn Beck is using false information about looting in Japan to say America isn’t good enough? Let’s remind Beck about the volunteers who went to the Gulf Coast to help clean up the BP oil spill. We should also remind him about the people who helped rescue their fellow man from the flood waters of Katrina. And Beck, let’s not forget about the first responders who ran in to the twin towers back on September 11th, 2001. Let’s remind him that yes, there are looters in America and yes, there are looters in Japan, but no matter what country they’re from, people in crisis do their best to stick together, to help one another, and to survive. Survive. Also, what IS up with that fake Oval office set Beck’s pontificating from? Is this how Fox plans to rehabilitate him? Take away the chalkboard and put him in a big desk flanked with flags? It’s offensive. Tonight Bill O’Reilly referred to him as a “Fox News Analyst.” A Fox News analyst? Really?
Continue reading …Most readers here aren't aware that Associated Press reporters began withholding their bylines this week in support of their union's “quality journalism proposals.” Participating reporters are refusing to have their name placed on AP stories. It appears to apply to stories datelined in the U.S. and not overseas ( as seen here ). It is truly a wonder that the world has gone on while AP reporters refuse to tell us who wrote the wire service's U.S. stories (/sarc). The byline strike springs from the wire service's refusal, among other things, according to the News Media Guild , the union which represents AP newsroom personnel, to accept a “fixed-cost pension plan.” The AP wants a defined-contribution plan (i.e., something similar or identical to a 401(k)). Here are some economy, business, and political “gems” appearing at AP during the past few days which can't be traced to a specific reporter: March 18, 11:33 a.m. version , “Why inflation hurts more than it did 30 years ago” — the writer asserts that “Social Security recipients have gone two straight years with no increase in benefits.” Well, yeah. That's because they got a 5.8% increase late 2008 for 2009, because the calculations were based on Consumer Price Index values reflecting sky-high energy costs. The costs came down, but Social Security benefits didn't. They may not like hearing it, but beneficiaries got artificially high payments during 2009 (to a large extent) and 2010 (to a lesser extent). The jury is out on 2011, as the year has just begun, but in the past two years Social Security recipients and a large percentage of federal, state, and local government workers have been among the relatively few to get benefits and wage payments, respectively, exceeding inflation.
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Seven years after he was ousted in rebellion, former president arrives on election eve talking of Haitians’ plight Jean-Bertrand Aristide, the pastor-turned-president last seen in his native Haiti making a rapid, undignified exit seven years ago, has returned home to a rapturous welcome, injecting another variable into a febrile election atmosphere 48 hours before a drawn-out presidential race climaxes. Aristide, the only Haitian leader to have been forced from office twice, offered an exotic mix of poetry and gratitude to the hundreds of supporters who feted him at the airport – and took a sideswipe at the troubled electoral process. The atmosphere at the airport was charged. It was here after all that Aristide was bundled on to a plane in February 2004, leaving behind a rebellion in full cry and a power vacuum. Since then the country has endured landslides, political stasis and enduring poverty – all compounded by last year’s earthquake which killed more than 300,000 people. “Since the earthquake, the humiliation of the people under tents is the humiliation of all the Haitian people,” Aristide said. For many Haitians, the former populist president who helped oust the Duvalier regime is still admired as a champion of the poor. His repatriation in defiance of US efforts to keep him away until Sunday’s election has run its course is seen by many as a restitution of dignity. “President Aristide is a strong leader who doesn’t take orders from a superpower such as the United States,” said Johnny Mazart, 36, a carpenter. “That’s why they ousted him, because he listened to the Haitian people, not foreigners,” he told Reuters. Journalists trampled over barriers to reposition themselves to film the former president as he descended from a long-range private jet accompanied by his family and black rights activist Danny Glover. His wife, Mildred, had tears of joy in her eyes as her daughters buttressed her down the steps on to the Haitian tarmac. Outside the airport, hundreds of supporters gathered with rara bands and welcoming chants. “Modern-day slavery will have to end today,” said Aristide. “The greatest richness of Haiti is Haitians. Remedy for Haiti is love.” Aristide thanked the government of South Africa, which had hosted him, and the friends who helped him return. He switched between Haitian Creole, French, English, Zulu and Spanish, and onlookers cheered at his linguistic and geological references and metaphors about Haiti’s plight and his repatriation. “You can cut off our feet but not our roots that go all the way back to Africa … This country needs education with dignity without social exclusion … The exclusion of [his party] Lavalas is exclusion of the majority. The solution is inclusion.” In the Cité Soleil slum, crowds of people were reported to be chanting for the annulment of Sunday’s election, which pits the popular musician Michel “Sweet Micky” Martelly and the former first lady Mirlande Manigat. In Solino, another neighbourhood where Aristide commanded much support, the streets were calm but people were unsure sure how to react to the arrival of such a divisive figure on the last day of campaigning. “He is not here to interrupt the elections,” said Wesly Desalan. “He is here to help Haitians get out of the current political crisis.” Later, attention turned to Aristide’s house in Tabarre where thousands had gathered and, as at the airport, disregarded the barriers to flood the yard. By contrast, the other towering figure who returned in January, Jean-Claude Duvalier, has been arrested and charged with corruption. Most people, even those who revile Aristide, think he has every right to be back, particularly as Duvalier’s return was tolerated. In front of the crumbled national palace everything was unusually quiet. Saturday is the last day of campaigning before Sunday’s run-off vote, and one of the candidates’ campaign managers said more than 50,000 people had gathered there on Friday night for a concert by Wyclef Jean, Busta Rhymes, Black Alex and Ti Vice, a group of Haitian musicians endorsing Martelly. Jean-Bertrand Aristide Haiti US foreign policy United States Isabeau Doucet guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Obama tells Gaddafi to withdraw from rebel strongholds or face air strikes
March 18, 2011 No Comment
• Libyan leader declares ceasefire after UN resolution • PM vows ‘this is not Iraq’ but does not rule out ground troops • Rebels jubilant in Benghazi but fear for a divided nation Muammar Gaddafi has been handed a “non-negotiable ultimatum” by Barack Obama to accept an immediate ceasefire, pull back from Libyan rebel strongholds and permit humanitarian assistance – or face the full onslaught of UN-endorsed air strikes. In an attempt to reassure Middle East opinion and his own domestic audience, Obama said the US would help to co-ordinate a no-fly-zone, but not lead an operation that will include French, British and Arab jets. The US president issued his warning after Gaddafi’s foreign minister, Moussa Koussa, claimed he would accept a ceasefire in the wake of the UN security council resolution passed late on Thursday night authorising “all necessary measures short of an occupation force” to protect civilians. In a stark message, Obama said: “Muammar Gaddafi has a choice. The resolution that was passed lays out very clear conditions that must be met. The United States, the United Kingdom, France and Arab states agree that a ceasefire must be implemented immediately.” He said this meant: • All attacks against civilians must stop. • Gaddafi must stop his troops from advancing on the rebel stronghold Benghazi, and pull them back from Ajdabiya, Misrata and Zawiya. • Gaddafi must establish water, electricity and gas supplies to all areas. • Humanitarian assistance must be allowed to reach the people of Libya. “Let me be clear: these terms are not negotiable. These terms are not subject to negotiation. If Gaddafi does not comply with the resolution the international community will impose consequences and the resolution will be enforced through military action.” David Cameron warned: “We will judge him [Gaddafi] by his actions and not by his words. What is absolutely clear is the UN security council resolution said he must stop what he is doing – brutalising his people. If not, all necessary measures can follow to make him stop.” The next stage of the international response will be co-ordinated at an emergency conference in Paris, including Cameron, Nicolas Sarkozy, the French president, Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, and the leading Arab states that have formed an ad hoc coalition to reverse the Gaddafi advance. It is likely French and British fighter jets will be flying over Libya by Saturday night unless Gaddafi produces more convincing evidence that he has pulled back. Some as yet unidentified Arab states will join the air enforcement. Cameron said he had already ordered British Tornado and Typhoon fighter jets to be deployed to bases in the region, along with air-refuelling equipment. The prime minister said: “This is not another Iraq. There will be no foreign occupation of Libya.” He maintained that military action would be in the national interest. “If Gaddafi’s attacks on his own people succeed, Libya will become once again a pariah state, festering on Europe’s border, a source of instability, exporting strife beyond her borders. A state from which literally hundreds of thousands of citizens could seek to escape, putting huge pressure on us in Europe. “We cannot stand back and let a dictator whose people have rejected him kill his people indiscriminately. To do so would send a chilling signal to others.” Cameron revealed that he had given his cabinet time to read legal advice from the attorney general, Dominic Grieve, setting out why a no-fly zone and other actions will be lawful. The cabinet was also addressed by the chief of the defence staff, Sir David Richards. A summary of the legal advice will be handed to MPs on Monday when they will be asked to vote on a substantive motion to support military action. Cameron won wide praise in the Commons, including support from the Labour leader, Ed Miliband, for his role in securing diplomatic support for a no-fly zone after it looked as if Britain and France were going to be left isolated. But the prime minister has been ambiguous about the extent to which his aim is to remove Gaddafi from power, and still faces questions on how long British pilots will have to police a no-fly zone if a political impasse emerges on the ground. He said: “It is almost impossible to envisage a future for Libya that includes him [Gaddafi]. It is not in our national interest for this man to lead a pariah state on the southern banks of Europe with all the problems that that could entail.” But he also accepted that the UN resolution did not endorse regime change. “The UN resolution is not about choosing the government of Libya. That is an issue for the Libyan people.” Obama stressed that the US would not dominate this UN-backed coalition. He said: “I also want to be clear about what we will not be doing. The United States is not going to deploy ground troops into Libya. We are not going to use force to go beyond a well defined goal: specifically the protection of civilians in Libya.” The Pentagon, in a statement, said Libya has about 30 missile sites, mainly spread along the coast, and that they posed a “significant threat to US and Nato aircraft”. The French foreign minister, Alain Juppé, said everything was ready to launch military strikes, and that a ceasefire would need to cover the whole country. The announcement of a ceasefire was dismissed by a rebel commander in the anti-Gaddafi stronghold of Benghazi, who accused the Libyan leader of bluffing. Khalifa Heftir told reporters: “Gaddafi does not speak any truth … All the world knows that Muammar Gaddafi is a liar. He and his sons, and his family, and all those with him are liars.” Tripoli said it had asked Malta and Turkey to help monitor the ceasefire. Reports continued of fighting in Misrata, a key port between the capital and Benghazi. Officials in Tripoli were tight-lipped about the details of the ceasefire. The decision seemed based on hopes that it would sow division inside the UN. There was little evidence of any wish to engage in real dialogue with the Benghazi rebels. Libyan state media all but ignored the ceasefire, continuing its stream of patriotic programmes and announcements, playing clip after clip of pro-Gaddafi demonstrators declaring their support for the leader. Tripoli seemed calm but tense throughout the day, with police patrol cars visible in unusual numbers in the centre of the city as officers checked identity cards. Several explosions to the west added to an already jumpy mood. Libya Middle East Barack Obama Muammar Gaddafi United States US foreign policy United Nations Ewen MacAskill Patrick Wintour Ian Black Nicholas Watt guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Joe Biden’s a long-time union backer, and it’s good to see that he’s out showing support for labor in these ongoing battles with Republican governors : WASHINGTON — Vice President Biden gave the Obama administration’s most forceful statement of solidarity with organized labor in its current battles around the nation on Thursday, encouraging activists to continue fighting for workers’ rights. “You guys built the middle class,” said Biden in a virtual town hall conversation hosted by the AFL-CIO. “I would just emphasize what Hilda [Solis] said and say it slightly different: We don’t see the value of collective bargaining, we see the absolute positive necessity of collective bargaining. Let’s get something straight: The only people who have the capacity — organizational capacity and muscle — to keep, as they say, the barbarians from the gate, is organized labor. And make no mistake about it, the guys on the other team get it. They know if they cripple labor, the gate is open, man. The gate is wide open. And we know that too.” The e-mail announcement for the call went out to labor activists, including members of the growing advocacy group Working America, and it pitched the call as a conversation with 100,000 supporters about “Republican assaults on collective bargaining in at least a dozen states.” AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka and Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis joined Biden on the call, where listeners were also allowed to ask questions (although Biden had to leave before that portion). Biden’s comments underscored the importance of labor not only in terms of workers’ rights but also politically. He acknowledged the role that unions played in helping launch his political career, and he noted his personal identification with the activists as someone who grew up in the Rust Belt in Scranton, Penn. “I’ve got to state the obvious,” he said. “There’s an old expression: ‘You go home with them that brung you to the dance.’ You guys all brought me to the dance 36 years ago in Delaware as a United States senator. You’ve been with me, and I’ve stayed with you.” Both Biden and Solis used the opportunity to promote what the Obama administration has done for this valuable constituency, such as restoring a level “playing field” at the Labor Department and the National Labor Relations Board upon taking office.
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Death toll rises as government forces start to use live rounds in increasingly violent crackdown on nationwide protests Yasir Saeed was the first casualty dragged into the mosque. Blood was still trickling from the gaping bullet wound in the back of the 32-year-old English teacher’s head as doctors lowered his mangled body on to a blanket, muttering a short prayer before closing the lids of his eyes. Gradually, his corpse was joined by others lined up in a row alongside him. One by one, miniature Qur’ans were placed on their chests as their blood soaked through the carpet beneath them. The scene was desperate and chaotic. It followed the worst day of violence in Yemen since protests against president Ali Abdullah Saleh began in earnest over a month ago. At least 45 people were killed and hundreds of others wounded as security forces and plainclothes government loyalists opened fire on protesters trying to march through the capital, Sana’a. Parliamentary opposition spokesman Mohammed al-Sabri accused the regime of a massacre and said: “These killings will not help keep Ali Abdullah Saleh in power.” Saleh responded by calling for a state of emergency, saying this meant that ordinary citizens would not be able to carry weapons. But it was not immediately clear if Saleh has the military power to impose such an order, with the Arabian peninsula nation deeply divided and wracked by weeks of civil disturbance that have left well over 70 people dead. “What happened today was very regrettable, the death of our children,” the president said. Last week he had ordered his security forces to ensure the safety of protesters. Saleh went on to describe the victims as “martyrs of democracy” and accused those responsible of trying to undermine a peace initiative backed by Saudi Arabia. Friday’s protests had started peacefully. More than 100,000 Yemenis filled a mile-long stretch of road by Sana’a University for a midday prayer ceremony mourning the loss of seven protesters killed in clashes with riot police last weekend. As the prayers came to an end, however, the sight of billowing black smoke from a burning car caught the attention of protesters who began surging en masse towards it. Witnesses say security forces fired six shots into the air before turning their weapons on those charging towards them. As violence flared, plainclothes men appeared on the roofs of nearby houses and began firing down on the demonstrators with Kalashnikovs. Sana’a University, the scene of the bloodshed, is next door to the mosque where many of the dead and dying were taken, the deafening sound of the muezzin’s call to prayer intermixed with the noise of gunfire echoing off the walls. Medics scrambled to reach the wounded as the wheels of decrepit ambulances, trying to escort them to a proper hospital, spun hopelessly in the mud. Inside the mosque a throng of veiled women wailed with grief and tried to force their way past a line of students who had linked arms to ensure only medics and those in need of their help made it over the threshold. Meanwhile injured men, most in their early 20s, writhed in agony on shabby mattresses on the ground. “The most common injuries were bullet wounds to the chest and the head, although some are suffering from exposure to teargas,” said one doctor who did not wish to be named. “They shot people in the back of the head as they were running away,” said Mohammed al-Jamil, an Indian doctor treating the wounded with specks of blood on his hands and face. “Whoever did this wanted these people to die,” he added, tearing open a box of syringes. Witnesses said children were among the dozens wounded by gunfire. “My brother is 12 years old, they shot him twice, once in the arm and once in the leg,” shouted a young man through a crackling microphone to a roaring crowd of thousands outside the mosque. “Saleh would rather shoot us all before stepping down.” Until now government forces have largely been using water cannon, rubber bullets and teargas to disperse anti-regime rallies, but live rounds were fired on Friday in what appeared be the beginning of an increasingly violent crackdown on nationwide protests. Yemen, the youngest and poorest country in the Arab world neighbouring Saudi Arabia, has been hit by weeks of protests set in motion by uprisings in north Africa that toppled long-serving leaders in Tunisia and Egypt and spread to the Gulf states of Bahrain and Oman, as well as Saudi Arabia itself. Saleh has maintained a firm grip on power for over three decades and has rejected calls to step down, saying he will only do so when his current term of office expires in 2013. “We condemn these crimes against humanity,” said Mohammed al-Qadhi, a prominent member of Yemen’s ruling party who resigned last week and has since survived two assassination attempts. “Even if it’s plainclothes men firing on the protesters it is still the government’s responsibility to protect them.” The intensification of force used against demonstrators has led to concern that protesters will retaliate, threatening the possibility of a broad war that could engulf the country. “In Yemen, violence is almost always met with more violence. If the regime does not stop these crackdowns immediately then we will soon find ourselves in the throngs of a bloody civil war,” said Mohammed al-Faqih, professor of politics at Sana’a University. Yemen Middle East Arab and Middle East protests Protest guardian.co.uk
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Italian Vogue editor Franca Sozzani launches petition calling for law against sites promote eating disorder The Italian edition of Vogue has launched a campaign to stamp out pro-anorexia websites. “There are thousands of these sites and blogs which don’t just support this evil, but push young people into competition over their physical shape,” said Franca Sozzani, Vogue Italia’s editor-in-chief. In her blog, in which she announced a petition calling for legislation to close down such sites, she said they “provide a kind of open confessional, supporting those who are unable to carry on by themselves along a road that can only lead to death”. The tragic consequences of anorexia nervosa were highlighted last November when a French model, Isabelle Caro, died at the age of 28. Caro posed for an anti-anorexia poster, in a shock photograph taken by the Italian photographer Oliviero Toscani. The campaign is not Vogue’s first initiative in the area of eating disorders. In 2009, it emerged that the editor of the British version of Vogue, Alexandra Shulman, had written to designers accusing them of sending fashion magazines ever smaller garments for photo-shoots, thus forcing them to hire models “with jutting bones and no breasts or hips”. Her intervention prompted some commentators to criticise the publication, arguing the images it promoted were among the reasons for the spread of anorexia, bulimia and similar disorders. “I am sure they will say the same about me, but you can’t let yourself be influenced by a handful of people into not doing something about what’s going on”, Sozzani said. So-called pro-ana sites abound on the web. Many deny they promote eating disorders, maintaining that their aim is to offer support to anorexics and bulimics. “Anorexia may be a harmful activity. We do not encourage this activity”, said one. But it includes a page of do’s and don’ts, of which the first is: “You will be FAT if you eat today. Just put it off one more day.” The lexicon of the pro-ana sub-culture has frequently been criticised for personalising eating disorders, and thereby encouraging young people to think of their condition as a friend. Anorexia is “Ana” and bulimia is “Mia”. The influence exerted by the world of fashion is evident. The site quoted earlier, Ana’s Thinspiration, advises readers to “tape/tack up pictures of your favourite models and always carry one around with you. When you’re hungry, pull out the picture.” Sozzani said fashion devotees failed to understand that “models in most cases are naturally slender because they are still very young and not yet fully developed”. On the practical issue of how sites could be removed, she said: “Italy could also black out foreign sites. But what we want if for this to act as a springboard for a much wider campaign.” Magazines Italy Europe Anorexia Health Newspapers & magazines Health & wellbeing Models Fashion John Hooper guardian.co.uk
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Police must pass documents seized from Glenn Mulcaire to lawyers representing growing number of people suing paper The growing number of public figures suing the News of the World won a major high court victory when a judge said Scotland Yard must hand over a mass of phone-hacking evidence that has never before been disclosed. The ruling by Justice Geoffrey Vos, who was appointed this week to handle the 14 phone-hacking cases currently going through the courts, means the Metropolitan police will be forced to pass reams of documents seized from Glenn Mulcaire, the private investigator who worked for the News of the World, to lawyers acting for the politicians, celebrities and football figures who are suing the paper. They include Sienna Miller, Paul Gascoigne, Steve Coogan and the former culture secretary Tessa Jowell. Vos ruled on Friday that the Met must give unredacted documents – including Mulcaire’s emails, address and contacts books, and phone bills – to another hacking victim, the football agent Sky Andrew. The decision sets a precedent for the other hacking cases and has far-reaching implications for the NoW, police and other litigants. It will lead to a flood of hacking documents being released to other claimants, all of whom are seeking copies of papers seized by police in a 2006 raid on Mulcaire’s home. That could lead to more NoW journalists being named in connection with phone hacking. So far six reporters and executives have been publicly linked to the practice. One, former royal editor Clive Goodman, was convicted and jailed. A second, assistant editor (news) Ian Edmondson, has been sacked by the paper. Scotland Yard has been slow to hand over the paperwork, arguing in court that to do so would undermine a fresh investigation into hacking it began at the start of the year. It also claimed a potential suspect would be tipped off if unredacted evidence were made public. Vos rejected that argument, giving the Met 28 days to comply with his order and 21 days to appeal. Phone hacking Glenn Mulcaire News of the World Newspapers & magazines National newspapers Newspapers Police James Robinson guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Another ‘isolated incident’: California man charged with firebombing Planned Parenthood center, vandalizing mosque
March 18, 2011 No Comment
Click here to view this media [Video from CBS 47 ] We’ve been getting lots of confirmation lately that, contrary to the claims undergirding Rep. Peter King’s Islamophobic witch-hunt hearing, the greatest domestic-terrorism threat to average Americans is not from homegrown Islamic radicals, but from the same singular source of domestic terrorism we’ve had to deal with for more than a generation: the radical right. David Holthouse at Media Matters directs us to the most recent ‘isolated incident’: Compared to the political theater of the King hearings, these busts of accused right-wing domestic terrorists received scant media attention. Even less publicized was the arrest, also on March 9, of another accused right-wing extremist who allegedly firebombed a Planned Parenthood clinic and vandalized an Islamic center in Madera, California. The case of Donny Eugene Mower further illustrates the narrow-mindedness of Rep. King and his conservative media cheerleaders for focusing on Muslim domestic terrorists to the exclusion of all other violent extremists, including white supremacists, militia members and anti-abortion radicals. According to the federal criminal complaint against Mower, he admitted to throwing a Molotov cocktail through the window of the Planned Parenthood clinic in the middle of the night last September 2. No one was injured, but the damage was extensive. Mower left a note at the scene: “Murder our children? We have a ‘choice’ too. Let’s see if you can burn as well as your victims.” The note was signed “ANB,” short for American Nationalist Brotherhood. The same entity had claimed responsibility for menacing letters posted outside the Madera Islamic Center. The first of those messages appeared last August 18: “No temple for the God of terrorism at Ground Zero. ANB.” At the time Fox News and others were feverishly manufacturing outrage at the supposed “Ground Zero mosque” in New York City. Two days later, according to investigators, Mower threw a brick at the Islamic center, causing minor damage, and then returned his focus to the Planned Parenthood clinic, posting another threat: “Murdering children? That is your choice? Reap your reward. ANB.” On August 24, another message appeared at the Islamic center: “Wake up America. The enemy is here. ANB.” The ANB, like a number of hate groups, really is just an army of one — Mower himself. He wrote a manifesto outlining his ideology: ANB is AMERICAN nationalist, not white nationalist, black nationalist, or any other racist motivated group. The signs posted, the things to come, and yes even the brick, are not hate motivated, but rather messages. The (sic) are the voices of us who refuse to allow America to continue to be torn down brick by brick. Notice also, that the mosque was not the only target of choice. We are here to revive American pride, which has been dampened by a lot of things: The rise of Islam in America, despite 9/11; the sickening number of murdered children since 1973, hidden behind the guise of “abortion” or “choice”; the abomination of homosexuality being rewarded, while those who chose (sic) natural relationships are bigots. These and so many more are (sic) the hate crimes, they hit America with a sucker punch… isn’t it time that someone hit back? As Digby sez : Sadly, the lack of attention to this problem — or our blase acceptance of it — has even led people like Bill Maher to speciously contend that homegrown Islamic terrorism presents a much greater threat than any other kind of homegrown terrorism. I honestly don’t know why he thinks that. These are really the same kind of people except for the fact that they are being radicalized for similar purposes by Americans instead of foreigners. There are reasons why these things crop up at times of great social transition and stress. And that’s worth looking into and attempting to deal with. But those who are pretending that it’s a”foreign problem” are coming to the point of being culpable. After all, when the department of Homeland Security merely noted the potential of a problem in their annual report, the right wing didn’t distance itself from these radicals, it sprung into gear and basically shut the report down. Cui bono? Here’s our interactive map and listing of domestic-terrorism incidents involving right-wing extremists since July 2008. We’re up to 24 now — and still counting:
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