Month: August 2012

Anti-WikiLeaks group takes down Russian news site

 

Bear with us on this one: The group, which calls itself Anti Leaks, claims it took down RT.com while expressing support for the anti-Putin punk band Pussy Riot, whose members were arrested in March.

  August 17, 2012 8:53 AM PDT

 

An anti-WikiLeaks hacking group has taken credit for launching a distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack against the Russian news site RT.com.

The organization, which calls itself Anti Leaks, today tweetedout to followers that it was "behind the DDoS attack on RT.com." Although the organization didn't explicitly say why it decided to attack RT, it included in its tweet a "#FreePussyRiot" hashtag.

The hashtag refers to the name of a Russian, all-female punk rock band. The band members were arrested in March after performing a "punk prayer" in Moscow's main cathedral, requesting the Virgin Mary save Russia from president Vladimir Putin. A judge today sentenced all three members to two years in prison for their dissent.

The arrest and subsequent sentencing has lit a firestorm across the world over individual rights in Russia. Anti Leaks has come out in support of the band.

For its part, RT has confirmed that its site "went down for hours worldwide" today. The site is now back up and running, and the news service has posted a story pointing to Anti Leaks' admission.

Anti Leaks is one of the newer hacking groups to come on a scene popularized by Anonymous. However, unlike Anonymous, which has in the past expressed support for WikiLeaks, Anti Leaks has spoken out against the organization and launched a DDoS attack on the site earlier this month.

"Tango down wikileaks.org," the company wrote on Twitter on August 3.

WikiLeaks condemned the attack on RT today, saying that the news outlet "is an important alternative voice in the west."

Anti-WikiLeaks group takes down Russian news site

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Why do dimes and quarters have ridges on the their edges?

Many years ago, when precious metals were commonly used in (some) coins, dishonest people would sometimes shave a bit of metal off the edge of a coin. The change in the amount of metal in the coin, and therefore the value of the coin, would not be large enough to notice easily; the cheater could still spend the coin. When the cheater had gathered enough bits of metal, he could trade them in for something of value, getting more for his money (but not legally).

Why do dimes and quarters have ridges on the their edges?

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HSBC, Credit Suisse Sacrifice Employees To U.S., Lawyers Say

Swiss banks are turning over thousands of employee names to U.S. authorities as they seek leniency for their alleged role in helping American clients evade taxes, according to lawyers representing banking staff.

At least five banks supplied e-mails and telephone records containing as many as 10,000 names to the U.S. Department of Justice, according to estimates by Douglas Hornung, a Geneva- based lawyer representing 40 current and former employees of HSBC Holdings Plc (HSBA)’s Swiss unit, Credit Suisse Group AG (CSGN) and Julius Baer Group Ltd. (BAER)The data handover is illegal, said Alec Reymond, a former president of the Geneva Bar Association, who is representing two Credit Suisse staff.

“The banks are burning their own people to try and cut deals with the DoJ,” said Hornung. “This violation of personal privacy is unprecedented in the Swiss banking industry.”

Swiss banks want to settle a U.S. tax-evasion probe after the DoJ indicted Wegelin & Co. on Feb. 2 for allegedly helping customers hide money from the Internal Revenue Service. Credit Suisse, HSBC and Julius Baer, which have said they expect to pay fines to resolve the tax matter, are handing over data to mollify the U.S., according to Hornung.

Credit Suisse said the Swiss government authorized the delivery of staff names and that the “large majority” of employees have nothing to fear. Julius Baer and Zuercher Kantonalbank also said they received authorization. HSBC said it has delivered documents and is cooperating with the U.S.

HSBC, Credit Suisse Sacrifice Employees To U.S., Lawyers Say

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The U.S. is Going After Bradley Manning's Friends, So David House Trolled Them Back

The trial of U.S. Army private Bradley Manning doesn’t begin until September. But since the former intelligence analyst was placed under military detention over 800 days ago, accused of prying thousands of secret diplomatic cables and one notorious video from military servers and feeding them to WikiLeaks, Manning’s case has been mired in a swamp of controversy and secrecy.

In March of 2011, Hilary Clinton’s spokesperson called the government’s treatment of Manning “ridiculous, counterproductive and stupid,” echoing the concerns of the United Nations and Human Rights Watch, before he was forced to step down. And the case has been cloaked in a kind of secrecy that’s been compared by some observersto that around the trial of Lt. William Calley for his role in the My Lai Massacre in Vietnam. Except for scant leaks from the trial itself, all motions, briefs and transcripts of the proceedings have been kept under tight lock and key, even as the government has released transcripts from the hearing of September 11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed.

Manning’s not alone. The slew of constitutional crusaders, activists and hackers who have come publicly to Manning’s defense and questioned his treatment have also found themselves in the government’s crosshairs. And one of them is trying to fight back by hacking away at the proceedings’ unusual cloak of silence.

The U.S. is Going After Bradley Manning’s Friends, So David House Trolled Them Back

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CHART: College Degrees Cost 1,120 Percent More Than They Did 30 Years Ago

In just three decades, the price of a college degree has skyrocketed 1,120 percent, according to a report from Bloomberg News. That rate of change is higher than medical care, food, and shelter:

As costs for college rise, the number of people dropping out before they receive a degree grows, even as many of those dropouts have already accrued debt. And the problem will likely get worse, since all indications are that the cost of college will continue to climb. Indeed, a degree would cost around $422,000 for children born today, if current trends hold.

The House of Representatives’ budget, meanwhile, would slash Pell Grant funding by$170 billion, making college even less affordable for more than a million students.

CHART: College Degrees Cost 1,120 Percent More Than They Did 30 Years Ago

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