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Luis Miguel Goitizolo

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RE: ARE WE NOW IN THE END TIMES?
5/8/2014 11:58:09 PM







  • THE REAL RACIST 9:15AM ET
North Korea calls Obama a 'crossbreed' in viciously racist attack

Reuters/Corbis
Reuters/Corbis

A North Korean state-run news agency earlier this month launchedan ugly, racist diatribe against President Obama, calling the U.S.'s first black head of state a "crossbreed with unclear blood." The agency also said that Obama "still has the figure of monkey while the human race has evolved through millions of years," and that "it would be perfect for Obama to live with a group of monkeys in the world’s largest African natural zoo and lick the bread crumbs thrown by spectators."

The screed was recently brought to light by Josh Stanton, who blogs frequently about North Korea.

The issue of race has special resonance in North Korea, where the Stalinist regime has gone to great lengths to instill a sense of racial purity in its citizens. Some background from The Washington Post:

[W]hen North Korea talks about race, it's almost always important — and telling about the state ideology.

Some academics — most notably B.R. Myers — argue that North Koreans fundamentally have a "race-based" worldview, showing more similarity to fascist Japan during World War II than Joseph Stalin's Soviet Union. Myers condenses North Korea's state orthodoxy into a sentence: "The Korean people are too pure blooded, and therefore too virtuous, to survive in this evil world without a great parental leader." [The Washington Post]

- - (The Week)






"Choose a job you love and you will not have to work a day in your life" (Confucius)

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Luis Miguel Goitizolo

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RE: ARE WE NOW IN THE END TIMES?
5/9/2014 12:07:00 AM

US voices 'concerns' at sale of French warships to Russia

AFP

A photo taken on July 23, 2006 shows a view of the French navy command ship Mistral sailing off the coast of Larnaca as it arrives in Cyprus (AFP Photo/Eric Feferberg)


Washington (AFP) - US officials on Thursday voiced concern at the sale of French warships to Moscow as they mull tougher sanctions on Russia for the political upheaval triggered by the crisis in Ukraine.

"We have regularly and consistently expressed our concerns about this sale even before we had the latest Russian actions and we will continue to do so," Assistant Secretary for Europe Victoria Nuland told US lawmakers ahead of a visit next week to Washington by French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius.

The first of two Mistral warships is not due to be delivered to Russia until October, and France has so far resisted pressure to suspend the controversial $1.2 billion contract.

The Mistral is an advanced helicopter assault ship and France's 2011 agreement to sell them to Russia already triggered protests from the United States and other NATO allies.

The first of the warships, named the Vladivostok, is due to be delivered in October, while the second, "The Sebastopol" is to be delivered in 2015 and stationed with the Russian Black Sea Fleet in the Crimea -- annexed in March by Moscow.

French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said in March that "the question" of whether to suspend the sale "will arise in October" and any decision was postponed until then.

The United States and its EU allies are mulling whether to impose deeper sectoral sanctions on Moscow for its annexation of Ukraine's southern Crimea peninsula and its interference in eastern Ukraine.

Fabius is expected to come under pressure from US officials during his visit to Washington next week. He said in late March that Paris may cancel the Mistral sale if Moscow does not change its policies towards Kiev.


Sale of French warships to Russia irks U.S.


The deal has triggered protests from Washington and other NATO allies, and lawmakers want it stopped.
'Send a clear message to Putin'


"Choose a job you love and you will not have to work a day in your life" (Confucius)

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Luis Miguel Goitizolo

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RE: ARE WE NOW IN THE END TIMES?
5/9/2014 12:14:15 AM

Sailor on US Nuclear Ship Led Hacker Ring, Prosecutor Says

ABC News

Sailor on US Nuclear Ship Led Hacker Ring, Prosecutor Says (ABC News)


A U.S. Navy sailor allegedly led a group of hackers that broke into a myriad of government and private websites in order to publicize secret or personal information – sometimes while the sailor was serving aboard on a nuclear-powered warship.

Prosecutors say that while serving as a systems administrator in the nuclear reactor department of the USS Harry S. Truman, sailor Nicholas Knight was leading a double life as a self-proclaimed “nuclear black hat” hacker and the leader of a hacking group called Team Digi7al.

The group attacked not only high-profile U.S. government websites – including the website for the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA), a Department of Homeland Security site and a U.S. Navy site – but seemingly random targets including the websites of the Library of Congress, Harvard University, the World Health Organization, San Jose State University and Kawasaki, according to a single-count felony information document entered into court records Monday. After the attacks, the group then publicized and bragged about their accomplishments on Twitter.

Do you have information about this or a related story? CLICK HERE to confidentially send your tip in to the Investigative Unit.

Though Knight was aboard the Truman while allegedly “conduct[ing] unlawful Team Digi7al activities on the Navy’s computer network,” the filing does not accuse him of trying to hack the ship’s own protected systems. Knight was discharged in May 2013, military records show.

The Navy and the Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to request for comment. The NGA told ABC News that its “routine security measures” detected the attempted hack, and said the hack did not access employee data and “had no impact on the NGA mission.” The Wall Street Journal reported the allegations against Knight and his team Monday.

Another alleged member of Team Digi7al, who was not identified in the court filing, purportedly told investigators that some in the group were “somewhat politically inclined” to find and release secret information – perhaps a nod to the anti-secrecy movement of which former NSA contractor Edward Snowden is the current face.

But they also did it because it was “fun,” the alleged member says in the filing, “[w]hich, when you get right down to it, that’s what everyone does.”

The hacking campaign began to unravel after a June 2012 hack when the group went after the Navy’s Smart Web Move (SWM) website and database – a logistics resource for service members preparing to move that stores the personal details of some 220,000 servicemen, prosecutors say.

After another member of Team Digi7al, identified in the filing as Illinois community college student Daniel Krueger, allegedly downloaded the personal records of “thousands” of service members, the Navy shut down the SWM system. It was never restarted and service members were forced to use other online applications to aid their move.

Krueger allegedly sent the personal record information to Knight, who used Twitter to publicize information belonging to 20 of the service members and the SWM’s database “schema”.

“Through Twitter postings and links to online storage sites, Knight and Krueger boasted about the Navy-SWM hack, stating that Navy.mil had been “owned”, the team hacked “MY OWN BOAT”, and the database should be “FIRE[D],” prosecutors say in the filing.

The Navy Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) launched an investigation and in February 2013 raided Knight’s Virginia residence, the filing says. Knight allegedly admitted to “many of his Team Digi7al activities” and agreed to cooperate with authorities. He has since been discharged from the Navy and arrested, court documents say.

“The Navy quickly identified the breach and tracked down the alleged culprits through their online activity, revealing an extensive computer hacking scheme committed across the country and even abroad,” U.S. Attorney Danny C. Williams, who filed the information, said Monday.

Attorneys for Knight and Krueger did not immediately respond to requests for comment for this report. If convicted, the pair could face up to five years in prison or a $250,000 fine, according to the Justice Department.

Knight was not placed under arrest and Ryan Souders, an Assistant U.S. Attorney prosecuting the case, told ABC News that when a criminal information filing is used, such as in this case, typically that means the defense has signaled it does not plan to contest the charges.

[Editor's Note: A previous version of this report stated that Knight had been arrested. Shortly after publication, prosecutors clarified that he was not placed under arrest.]


U.S. sailor accused in hacking scheme


Nicholas Knight led a double life as a self-proclaimed “nuclear black hat” hacker, prosecutors say.
Sites reportedly targeted

"Choose a job you love and you will not have to work a day in your life" (Confucius)

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Luis Miguel Goitizolo

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RE: ARE WE NOW IN THE END TIMES?
5/9/2014 12:24:19 AM

Poll: Most Ukrainians want a unified country

Associated Press

KIEV, Ukraine (AP) — A strong majority of Ukrainians want their country to remain a single, unified state and this is true even in the largely Russian-speaking east where a pro-Russia insurgency has been fighting for autonomy, a poll released Thursday shows.

The survey results were released just hours before the pro-Russia forces in eastern Ukraine said they would go ahead with a referendum on autonomy planned for Sunday, ignoring Russian President Vladimir Putin's call to delay the vote.

View photo

.

Graphic shows results of a poll of Ukrainians about the future of their country.

The poll by the Pew Research Center in Washington found that 77 percent of people nationwide want Ukraine to maintain its current borders, and even in the east the figure is 70 percent. Only among Russian speakers does the percentage drop significantly, but it is still over half at 58 percent.

The central government in Kiev has the confidence of only about 41 percent of Ukrainians, with a sharp divide between the west of the country, where support is 60 percent, and the east, where it is 24 percent, according to the poll.

Russia, however, is viewed with great suspicion, with three times as many Ukrainians surveyed saying Russia is having a bad influence on their country as saying its impact is positive.

The poll of 1,659 adults, conducted April 5-23, has a margin of error of about 3.3 percentage points.

Related video



Most Ukrainians want unified country, poll finds



Even those in the Russian-speaking eastern part of the country agree, according to a Pew survey.
Comes amid referendum




"Choose a job you love and you will not have to work a day in your life" (Confucius)

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Luis Miguel Goitizolo

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RE: ARE WE NOW IN THE END TIMES?
5/9/2014 12:57:41 AM
Putin challenged

Pro-Russia insurgents to hold vote in east Ukraine

Associated Press
6 hours ago

An election worker at the Donetsk self-proclaimed republic's election commission arranges referendum materials inside the commission headquarters in Donetsk, eastern Ukraine May 8, 2014. Pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine ignored a public call by Russian President Vladimir Putin to postpone a referendum on independence, declaring they would go ahead on May 11 with a vote that could lead to war. (REUTERS/Marko Djurica)


DONETSK, Ukraine (AP) — The photocopy machines churning out the ballots for eastern Ukraine's sovereignty referendum have been clattering around the clock for days. Even the powerful Vladimir Putin can't stop them.

Despite the Kremlin leader's plea to postpone Sunday's vote, the pro-Russia rebels in Ukraine who call themselves the Donetsk People's Republic said they'll go ahead with the referendum.

Ukraine has in recent weeks grown perilously polarized — with the west looking toward Europe and the east favoring closer ties with Russia. Insurgents who detest the central government in Kiev that took power amid chaos in February have seized police stations and government buildings in more than a dozen cities in the east. Ukrainian forces have mounted an offensive to drive them out, an operation that has left several dozen dead.

Support for the referendum is most pronounced among eastern Ukraine's proudly Russian-speaking working class. Rage against the central government that came to power after months of Ukrainian nationalist-tinged protests is blended with despair at Ukraine's dire economic straits and corruption.

The occasionally violent protests that culminated in President Viktor Yanukovych's fleeing to Russia were for many in the east seen as a putsch and a portent of repression against the region's Russian-speakers.

"This isn't our government. It's the government of those that destroyed everything," said construction laborer Galina Lukash, 48.

Along with the vote in the eastern Donetsk region, a similar and even more hastily improvised referendum is due to take place Sunday in the neighboring Luhansk region. Together they have about 6.5 million people.

The referenda are similar to the one in Crimea in March that preceded Russia's annexation of that strategic Ukrainian Black Sea peninsula. Like the one in Crimea, they are regarded as illegitimate both by Kiev and the West.

But unlike the Crimean vote, which was held as Russian soldiers and affiliated local militias held control of the peninsula, the eastern referenda take place amid armed conflict. And, critically, unlike Crimea, whose majority Russian-speaking population made approval a foregone conclusion, the Donetsk and Luhansk regions have a more mixed population.

A poll by the Washington-based Pew Research center released on Thursday found that 70 percent of the residents of Ukraine's east want Ukraine to maintain its current borders. That suggests the referenda have a chance of failing, if opponents turn out in force and the count is honest.

However those opposed to the referendum seem likely to ignore it. Some have grown desperate at the anarchy in eastern Ukraine.

"This is a madhouse. That isn't a particularly literary word, I know, but there is no better way to put it. People are killing one another and we don't know why," said 58-year-old retiree Svetlana Amitina.

Putin's surprise call on Wednesday for the referendum to be put off appears to reflect Russia's desire to distance itself from the separatists. The West and the Ukrainian government accuse Russia of supporting or outright directing the unrest in the east, while Moscow denies involvement.

"Russia has made it clear it doesn't want the referendum, so it has no obligation to recognize its results, especially if it fails," said Alexei Makarkin, deputy head of the Moscow-based Center for Political Technologies think-tank.

The decision Thursday by the insurgents' councils to go ahead with the votes reinforces Russia's claim it is not in league with the separatists.

"Putin is seeking a way out of the situation. We are grateful to him for this, but we are just a bullhorn for the people. We just voice what the people want," said Donetsk People's Republic co-chairman Denis Pushilin.

The Donetsk People's Republic, which arose in chaotic and murky circumstances in early April, claims to want full autonomy from Ukraine, which they say has been led by a "fascist junta" since Donetsk region native Yanukovych was toppled.

To that end, insurgent election officials say some 3 million ballot papers have been printed for the vote that asks one question: "Do you support the act of proclamation of independent sovereignty for the Donetsk People's Republic?"

Despite the phrasing, organizers say they decide only after the vote whether they want independence, greater autonomy within Ukraine or annexation by Russia.

Russian state media describe the Donetsk People's Republic movement as "supporters of federalization," reflecting Moscow's official line that it would like Ukraine's government to devolve some powers to the regions. But many in Donetsk say they would like their would-be republic to one day join their eastern neighbor. The Russian tricolor often flutters over the several dozen government offices seized and occupied by anti-government groups.

If Putin chooses to dash the hopes of those in his own country and in eastern Ukraine who crave another Crimea-style annexation, his now sky-high approval ratings could suffer. But pursuing expansionist goals, or even tacitly supporting anti-government movements in Ukraine, will likely prompt new and substantially more punitive Western sanctions against Russia.

Donetsk People's Republic elections chief Roman Lyagin said there will be around 1,200 polling stations and he expects a turnout of 70 percent.

"Preparations are going according to schedule. Almost the entire run of ballots has been prepared," said Lyagin told The Associated Press.

Campaigning for the referendum has been negligible, largely relying on crude graffiti. Many sidewalks bear spray-painted stencil images of the word "referendum" next to a crossed-out swastika.

The Donetsk People's Republic has its own radio and television stations and a fledgling online presence, all of which have churned out a steady diet of anti-Kiev invective.

The Donetsk People's Republic was formed April 7 by pro-Russia activists after the storming of a regional administrative building. In subsequent days, heavily armed men began storming police stations and city halls. Journalists, activists and politicians sympathetic to the government started to go missing. Horlivka city council representative Volodymyr Rybak turned up dead, bearing signs of torture.

A climate of fear has grown, fueled by the now-common sight of gunmen roaming even the regional capital, Donetsk.

"We are remaining quiet, because we are simply afraid for our lives," said Diana Dekatiryova, a university student. "The thought I have is to stay away from the referendum, because nothing will depend on our vote anyway."

The resolve of many pro-Russians has been emboldened by Ukrainian government operations to militarily recapture Slovyansk, a city 110 kilometers (70 miles) north of Donetsk and under the control of the armed Donetsk People's Republic.

A view shared by many anti-government activists — and eagerly promoted by Kremlin-backed television — is that Ukrainian authorities are shooting people who just want closer relations with Russia.

"They can't kill everybody. We must cry out. The whole world must learn about this," said Tamara Soynikova, 59, member of a Donetsk People's Republic election panel in the city of Kostiantynivka.

In contrast, pro-Ukrainian sentiments are especially pronounced among the younger generation, those with no memory of living in the Soviet Union.

"We were born in Ukraine, we live in Ukraine. What does it matter that we're Russian?" said first-year law student Arkady Sabronov, 18.

___

Vladimir Isachenkov in Moscow contributed to this report.

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Pro-Russia separatists defy Putin on vote


Insurgents in eastern Ukraine disregard a request from Russia's president to delay a referendum on autonomy.
Unanimous decision


"Choose a job you love and you will not have to work a day in your life" (Confucius)

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