Month: January 2018

Updated: North Korea Will Speak with South Korea Via Dialogue Channel

SEOUL, Jan. 3 (Yonhap) — North Korea said Wednesday that it will reopen a suspended inter-Korean communication line after leader Kim Jong-un extended an overture to Seoul in his New Year’s Day message.

The North will open the dialogue channel at the shared border village of Panmunjom at 3:00 p.m. (Pyongyang time), according to the state-run TV station.

The announcement came a day after Seoul proposed high-level inter-Korean talks to discuss North Korea’s possible participation in the PyeongChang Winter Olympics and ways to improve ties.

“By upholding a decision by the leadership, we will make close contact with South Korea in a sincere and faithful manner,” said Ri Son-gwon, the head of North Korea’s agency handling inter-Korean affairs. “We will discuss working-level issues over our potential dispatch of the delegation.”

But he did not specify whether the country would accept Seoul’s offer for high-level talks next week.

On New Year’s Day, North Korean leader Kim said that his country is willing to send a delegation to the Olympics in South Korea and is open to inter-Korean talks over the matter.

The North cut off two inter-Korean communication channels — a hotline installed at the liaison office at the truce village and a military channel — in February 2016 in protest of Seoul’s shutdown of a joint industrial complex.

Technically speaking, the hotlines are not physically severed, but the dialogue channel is not operating, as North Korea has not responded to South Korean officials’ daily contact attempts over the phone.

Kim “highly appreciated and welcomed” President Moon Jae-in’s support of his peace offer, according to Ri.

“The leader stressed that whether inter-Korean ties can be improved totally depends on North and South Korea,” the official said.

South Korea’s unification ministry welcomed the North’s restoration of the cross-border channel.

“We will consult with North Korea over working-level issues in connection to our dialogue offer through the hotline,” the ministry said.

Earlier on January 3, 2017:

SEOUL, Jan. 3 (Yonhap) — North Korea showed no reaction to South Korea’s latest offer for high-level talks, Seoul officials said Wednesday, after Pyongyang extended a rare rapprochement toward the South.
South Korea proposed to hold inter-Korean talks next Tuesday at the shared border village of Panmunjom to discuss the North’s potential participation in the PyeongChang Olympic Games and ways to improve their ties.

A South Korean liaison official attempted to contact the North through a hotline installed at the truce village, but there was no response for the second straight day, according to Seoul’s unification ministry.
The North cut off two inter-Korean communication channels, including a military hotline, in February 2016 in protest of Seoul’s shutdown of a joint industrial complex.

Technically speaking, the hotlines are not physically severed, but the dialogue channel is not operating as North Korea has not responded to South Korean officials’ daily contact over the phone.

On New Year’s Day, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un said that his country is willing to send a delegation to the Olympics to be held in the South and open to inter-Korean talks over the matter.

Cheong Seong-chang, a senior research fellow at the Sejong Institute, said that the North may not be able to accept the date proposed by the South, given that Kim Jong-un’s birthday falls on Monday.

“On top of its internal schedule, the North apparently needs time to set details that it wants to go over before the talks. It is likely to propose a different date to Seoul,” he said.

 

Iconic Photo of Woman Freeing Herself of Hijab Becomes Symbol of Iran Protests

UPDATE 1.30.18 Uncomfirmed rumors she may have been released.

UPDATE 1.24.18 Woman in photo may be incarcerated.

Update: Attempts to discredit this photo (by Buzzfeed) are addressed by Andy Ngo on Twitter.

 

While 100 percent verifiable news coming out of Iran is scarce, social media began sharing this photo on December 30, 2017, of a young woman removing her mandatory hijab and waving it as a flag. Some folks report she was soon arrested, although I doubt that is verifiable.

Next we saw this graphic, which many are using as a profile picture in support of women in Iran.

In addition, these personal photos were shared revealing the importance of this symbol.

 

To understand the cultural meaning further:

 

The Iranian government has shut down access to social media platforms and also to the Telegram App, so information continues to be scarce. On Twitter, you can search #IranProtests to gain some trusted information, as well as following the three Twitter accounts I have quoted above. All three are informative and reliable. Also, a YouTube channel called Freedom Messenger sends out short clips every few hours but without translation.

Hip Hop Group Stole $1.2 Million in Bank & Identity Theft Scheme

Charlotte, North Carolina Area Hip Hop Group Indicted On Fraud Charges

Defendants Flaunted Cash and Goods Funded by $1.2 Million Bank & Identity Theft Schemes

Courtesy Department of Justice, U.S. Attorney’s Office,  Western District of North Carolina

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – U.S. Attorney R. Andrew Murray announced  that seven members and associates of a Charlotte-area hip-hop group known as the “FreeBandz Gang” or “FBG” have been indicted on federal charges in connection with a $1.2 million bank and identity theft fraud scheme.

The indictment charges James Murray Willingham, Jr., 23, Damonte Withers, 27, Deandre Howze, 23, Jeffrey Monteith, 22, Quadarius Thomas, 23, Laerek Williams, 25 and Nemiah Davis, 25, all of Charlotte, with multiple counts of conspiracy, bank fraud, wire fraud and aggravated identity theft. Withers and Thomas are also charged with firearms related offenses.

A federal grand jury returned the 46-count indictment on December 13, 2017.

According to allegations contained in the indictment, the defendants are members or associates of the Charlotte-area group known as FBG. According to the indictment, FBG members identify themselves through Facebook groups, social media hashtags, tattoos, and clothing that includes FBG iconography.

The indictment further alleges that FBG members use social media to raise their profile by posting hip-hop music videos and images on YouTube and Facebook that depict the members with guns, large quantities of cash, jewelry, and automobiles. The indictment alleges that members of FBG, including the defendants, financed their lavish lifestyles by engaging in fraud.

Music videos posted on YouTube depict the band members handling large amounts of cash:

As alleged in the indictment, from February 2014 through September 2017, Withers, Howze, Monteith, Thomas, Williams, and Davis defrauded financial institutions through a check-cashing scheme involving worthless checks. According to the indictment, the conspirators carried out the scheme by depositing fake or stolen checks into straw bank accounts and then quickly withdrawing the funds before the banks completed the check clearing process. The indictment alleges that, in some instances, the conspirators paid individuals to open new bank accounts or to let the conspirators use their existing accounts and PIN numbers to carry out the fraud. In other cases, the indictment alleges that members of the conspiracy stole ATM cards and PINs in order to access the bank accounts.

One video posted to YouTube follows FBG on a shopping trip to the mall making purchases of jewelry, designer clothing, shoes, and more. They even bring the kids along to enjoy the day of fun.

According to the indictment, the worthless checks deposited into the bank accounts either were stolen or had been altered. According to the indictment, within days of the worthless check deposits, Withers, Howze, Monteith, Thomas, Williams, and Davis withdrew as much money as possible from the straw accounts through ATM withdrawals, money order purchases, debit card purchases, and point of sale cash withdrawals, commonly referred to as getting “cash back.” The indictment alleges that by the time the banks had finished the check clearing process and had identified the deposited checks as worthless, the members of the conspiracy had completed the fraudulent activity with the straw accounts. The indictment alleges the conspirators caused losses of more than $235,000 to the victim financial institutions.

The indictment also alleges that between October 2016 and November 2017, Willingham, Withers, Howze, and other co-conspirators engaged in an identity theft scheme. According to the indictment, the conspirators used the Internet to obtain the personal identifying information (“PII”) of victims, including social security numbers, dates of birth and home addresses. The fraudsters then used the PII to manufacture fake forms of identification (IDs) in the victims’ names, and used the fake IDs to obtain credit, goods, and services in the victims’ names, including automobile loans, cellular telephones and apartments. In many cases, the mobile devices were resold for profit. The indictment alleges that the conspirators netted more than $1,000,000 in goods and services in this manner.

The details contained in this indictment are allegations. The defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

More videos may be found at the YouTube Channel

DeuceRobinson Films

 

Julian Assange Releases Mysterious Code & Music Video: Internet Sleuths Working Overtime

Key may later be deleted so here it is again:

fb4e568623b5f8cf7e932e6ba7eddc0db9f42a712718f488bdc0bf880dd3

This is Assange’s “unverified account,” but is actually verified through its association with the Wikileaks official account, which often retweets him. Twitter has not allowed this account to have the blue check mark. Also, this is the same account that was deactivated for a few hours without explanation on December 25 (not a suspension–my guess is he deactivated himself).

Speculation is that it is a precommitment key, a decryption key or an encryption key–in other words, no one knows for sure! In 2016, Wikileaks referred to similar code as a “pre-commitment hashes… for decrypted files.”

 

Others tried to find meaning in the song lyrics:

Lyrics:

[Verse 1] I fly like paper, get high like planes
If you catch me at the border I got visas in my name
If you come around here, I make ’em all day
I get one done in a second if you wait
I fly like paper, get high like planes
If you catch me at the border I got visas in my name
If you come around here, I make ’em all day
I get one done in a second if you wait
Sometimes I think sittin’ on trains
Every stop I get to I’m clocking that game
Everyone’s a winner, we’re making our fame
Bona fide hustler making my name
Sometimes I think sittin’ on trains
Every stop I get to I’m clocking that game
Everyone’s a winner, we’re making our fame
Bona fide hustler making my name

[Chorus] All I wanna do is (gunshot, gunshot, gunshot, gunshot)
And a (click, ka-ching)
And take your money
All I wanna do is (gunshot, gunshot, gunshot, gunshot)
And a (click, ka-ching)
And take your money
All I wanna do is (gunshot, gunshot, gunshot, gunshot)
And a (click, ka-ching)
And take your money
All I wanna do is (gunshot, gunshot, gunshot, gunshot)
And a (click, ka-ching)
And take your money

[Verse 2] Pirate skulls and bones
Sticks and stones and weed and bongs
Running when we hit ’em
Lethal poison for the system
Pirate skulls and bones
Sticks and stones and weed and bongs
Running when we hit ’em
Lethal poison for the system
No one on the corner has swagger like us
Hit me on my burner prepaid wireless
We pack and deliver like UPS trucks
Already going to hell, just pumping that gas
No one on the corner has swagger like us
Hit me on my burner prepaid wireless
We pack and deliver like UPS trucks
Already going to hell, just pumping that gas

[Chorus] All I wanna do is (gunshot, gunshot, gunshot, gunshot)
And a (click, ka-ching)
And take your money
All I wanna do is (gunshot, gunshot, gunshot, gunshot)
And a (click, ka-ching)
And take your money
All I wanna do is (gunshot, gunshot, gunshot, gunshot)
And a (click, ka-ching)
And take your money
All I wanna do is (gunshot, gunshot, gunshot, gunshot)
And a (click, ka-ching)
And take your money

[Bridge] M.I.A
Third world democracy
Yeah, I’ve got more records than the K.G.B
So, uh, no funny business
Are you ready all?
Some some some I some I murder
Some I some I let go
Some some some I some I murder
Some I some I let go

[Chorus] All I wanna do is (gunshot, gunshot, gunshot, gunshot)
And a (click, ka-ching)
And take your money
All I wanna do is (gunshot, gunshot, gunshot, gunshot)
And a (click, ka-ching)
And take your money
All I wanna do is (gunshot, gunshot, gunshot, gunshot)
And a (click, ka-ching)
And take your money
All I wanna do is (gunshot, gunshot, gunshot, gunshot)
And a (click, ka-ching)
And take your money

Penis Museum: Icelandic Phallological Museum Demystifies Mysterious Organ

Photo: Scrotilla the Hun Soft Toy.

The Icelandic Phallological Museum http://phallus.is/en/  is probably the only museum in the world to contain a collection of phallic specimens belonging to all the various types of mammal found in a single country.

Phallology is an ancient science which, until recent years, has received very little attention in Iceland, except as a borderline field of study in other academic disciplines such as history, art, psychology, literature and other artistic fields like music and ballet.

Now, thanks to The Icelandic Phallological Museum, it is finally possible for individuals to undertake serious study into the field of phallology in an organized, scientific fashion.

The Icelandic Phallological Museum contains a collection of more than two hundred penises and penile parts belonging to almost all the land and sea mammals that can be found in Iceland. Visitors to the museum will encounter fifty-five specimens belonging to sixteen different kinds of whale, one specimen taken from a rogue polar bear, thirty-six specimens belonging to seven different kinds of seal and walrus, and more than one hundred fifteen specimens originating from twenty different kinds of land mammal: all in all, a total of more than two hundred specimens belonging to forty-six different kinds of mammal, including that of Homo sapiens.

Giraffe
Reindeer

Besides, there are some twenty-four folklore specimens and over almost fifty foreign ones. Altogether the collection contains 282 specimens from 93 different species of animals.

Lamp
Bar tray

In addition to the biological section of the museum, visitors can view a collection of about 350 artistic oddments and practical utensils related to the museum ́s chosen theme.

Gift Shop Samples:

 

North Korea willing to send delegation to PyeongChang Olympics

Photo: North Korean figure skaters Ryom Tae Ok and Kim Ju Sik, courtesy Yonhap.

SEOUL, Jan. 1 (Yonhap) — North Korean leader Kim Jong-un said Monday his country is willing to send its delegation to the upcoming PyeongChang Winter Olympics to be held in South Korea.

“The Winter Games to be held in South Korea will be a good occasion for the country. We sincerely hope that the Winter Olympics will be a success,” Kim said in his New Year’s Day message. “We have readiness to take various steps, including the dispatch of the delegation.”

Winter Olympics Torch Relay, Preparations Underway: Photo Highlights

The leader also said that the North is open to talks with South Korea to discuss its participation in the games.

It marked the first official announcement by North Korea over its willingness to attend the Winter Games, which will be held from Feb. 9-25.

Russia to participate in parade of athletes at 2018 Olympics opening