Archive for the ‘crime’ Category

Grammar Vigilantes Fined

Misplacing an apostrophe isn’t a federal offense, but fixing one is — at least when it involves a historic sign inside a national landmark. ABenjamin Herson, 28, of Virginia Beach and Jeff Deck, 28, of Somerville, Mass., learned that lesson the hard way. Federal officials in Arizona charged the self-described "grammar vigilantes" with defacing a nearly 70-year-old hand-painted sign in a watchtower along the Grand Canyon’s South Rim. AThe two men, Dartmouth College graduates whose friendship was forged in a creative writing class, pleaded guilty this month to one misdemeanor count of conspiracy to vandalize government property. In their plea, they acknowledged using error-correcting fluid and a marker to conceal a misplaced apostrophe, insert a new one and add a comma. AThey added an apostrophe in "women's" and added a comma in a list, both in the first paragraph of the sign’s text (see large photo). The location of the concealed apostrophe is unclear.

.:hamptonroads.com->

Are Cameras the New Guns?

The move to stop recording of police misconduct:

In response to a flood of Facebook and YouTube videos that depict police abuse, a new trend in law enforcement is gaining popularity. In at least three states (Illinois, Massachusetts, and Maryland), it is now illegal to record an on-duty police officer even if the encounter involves you and may be necessary to your defense, and even if the recording is on a public street where no expectation of privacy exists.

.:thefreemanonline.org->

Museum Security and the Thomas Crown Affair

Eric C. Michaud, writes of the allure of stolen art and goes deeper- how can museums better secure their collections whileA "dealing" with the aftermath of the embarrassment of being a part of a breach?

Over the years, I’ve daydreamed about stealing a Vermeer, a Picasso, or Rembrandt.A It tickles me, as much as watching the reboot of The Thomas Crown Affair.1A Why is it, do you suppose, so much fun (despite the obvious immorality) to think about stealing a world renowned piece off the wall of a major metropolitan museum?A Is it the romantic thoughts of getting away with it, walking past infrared detectors, and pressure sensors ala Indiana Jones with the sack of sand to remove the idol without triggering the security system?A Is it the idea of snatching items with such fantastic prices, where the romance of possessing an item of such value is less intoxicating than selling it to a private collector for it to never be seen again?A I suspect others share my daydreams as they watch theater or hear of a brazen daylight heist at museums around the world, or from private collections.

With typically 85%-99% of a museum's total holdings not being on display, most pieces stolen or legitimate are never seen by the public. Stolen art can serve as black market chips to trade and they usually involve insiders who use the museum’s closed software systems as a point of vulnerable entry. In the endgame:

By publicizing what is missing or stolen, cooperative security can take place.

.:jps.anl.gov->

Further reading on the net can be found after the break:

Read the rest of this entry »

Primary Sources: No Secrets

WikiLeaks front man Julian Paul Assange and his Icelandic transformation- how did his wish to under-serve those who hold "power without accountability" lead to the disintegration of his own orchestrated press club release? This New Yorker article by Raffi Khatchadourian due out next week explores his undoings in and out of the Bunker.

"If it feels a little bit like we're amateurs, it is because we are. Everyone is an amateur in this business."

.:newyorker.com->

The Fix Is In

With the entire Asian gambling industry, both legal and illegal, valued at $450 billion a year (four times the size of the Asian pharmaceutical industry), there is a lot at stake at fixed football matches.

Declan Hill traveled throughout Asia researching match fixing in football and writes about it inAThe Fix: Soccer and Organised Crime. Soon to be available in the UK, once libel laws relax a bit.

.:thenational.ae->

Take Notice, Men In Black of the Night

Ain’t no half-steppin…..

: from smh.com.au :

He lookedAlike an easy target: a medical student sitting alone on a late-night train.

The three men sidled up to the German student and told him to hand over his wallet. When he refused, they followed him off the train, trailing him as he walked past the hotel and pizza joint on Bringelly Road, Kingswood, in the city’s west.

When the student, who has asked not to be identified, turned down a dimly lit alley his pursuers thought their moment had come.

It had, but not in quite the way they expected.

The men tripped the 27-year-old student, kicking him as he lay on the ground and grabbing his mobile phone and iPod.

What the assailants did not realise was that they were standing outside Ninja Senshi Ryu - western Sydney’s ninja warrior school.

They also failed to notice a ninja, Nathan Smith, standing in the shadows outside the dojo. Mr Smith immediately alerted his sensei, or teacher.

Kaylan Soto, a sensei with 30 years’ Ninjutsu training, and three of his students raced out of the dojo towards the startled attackers. All five crusaders were clad in the ninja’s traditional, all black uniform.

"We would have been just a silhouette," one of the ninjas, Steve Ashley, said. "It was probably the worst place in Sydney where they could have taken him."

Mr Soto said it took the three assailants a few moments to realise what was going on. When they did, they shot off. "You should have seen their faces when they saw us in ninja gear coming towards them," he said.

The ninjas gave chase, but the men escaped. Police yesterday said they had made arrests in relation to the attack.

The medical student, who has been in Sydney for eight weeks on an exchange program, was left shaken but suffered only minor injuries.

As for the ninjas, they were back in training last night.

thanks to H for the link

Bin Ladens € Notes

The UK has banned the sale of the 500 euro note or Bin Ladens due to criminal use of the high denomination, which is an important means of reducing the bulk of cash.

.:news.bbc.co.uk->

Defining Digital Down

[Interview with Jamin Winans of Ink on piracy]

ed. note:AMNP does not condone any form of unabridged piracy, but does support rapid movements in making information free. So be careful my ninjas!

In the far away lands and home of counterfeiting and obscene film production numbers like Bollywood (India), Nollywood (Nigeria) and China, piracy has taken over a new meaning.

Instead of hurting the film industry, it is an essential part to properly promoting a film, as crowds seek an air-conditioned reward for their patronageAat "high-tech" theaters. While the cost between legitimate and pirated copies reaches parity, the only markets that are hurt in the process are the export markets, but those do not define a movie’s true success.

Digital down as it seems will be the future of Hollywood- once we realize that information can not be worth anything.

.:kk.org->

Baidu Hacked

China’s most popular search engine, Baidu, has been targeted by the same hackers that took Twitter offline in December, according to reports.

A group claiming to be the Iranian Cyber Army redirected Baidu users to a site displaying a political message.

The site was down for at least four hours on Tuesday, Chinese media said.

Last year’s attack on micro-blogging service Twitter had the same hallmarks, sending users an Iranian flag and message in Farsi.

"This morning, Baidu’s domain name registration in the United States was tampered with, leading to inaccessibility," Baidu said in a statement.

Visitors to the site were greeted with the message: "This site has been hacked by Iranian Cyber Army".

: bbc.co.uk :