U.S. Federal Bank Internet Network uprooted

A Malaysian citizen Bag 400 Thousand Credit CardsFriday, November 19, 2010, 07:33 GMT
  A Malaysian citizen Bag 400 Thousand Credit CardsFake credit cards
REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, NEW YORK - A Malaysian citizen accused of hacking a computer network of the Federal Reserve or the Federal Reserve and a defense contractor. He is known to have 400 thousand credit cards and arrested several Secret Service agents when he sold the stolen credit card numbers with the price of 1,000 U.S. dollars at a restaurant dinner in New York.
Court documents released by U.S. prosecutors claimed the man, identified as Lin Mun Poo (32) was arrested on Oct. 21, hours after he arrived in New York. He was indicted by a board of judges on Thursday to four charges, including paved the U.S. central bank's branch system in Cleveland, Ohio."Inside pascapenangkapan statement, defendant admitted he had to break the server computer a number of companies and major financial institutions," wrote U.S. prosecutors in Brooklyn in a letter to District Judge Dora Irizarry, responsible for handling the case.
Lin, she said, admitting he took advantage of vulnerabilities that he found on the bank's computer system. "Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, Ohio, has confirmed one FRB computer network hacked around June 2010, so that the bank suffered a loss of thousands of U.S. dollars, and the act is affecting 10 computers or more," according to the letter.
The process of examination by the judge will consider the delay request of the government to continue holding Lin. No new date scheduled. Lawyer Lin, who appointed the court, was not willing to give comment.
Lin used to be Malaysians who do not have jobs or relatives in the United States, said the letter. He arrived at John F Kennedy Airport, New York, from Europe to the tickets back and forth, and plans to return on November 22.
"Within a few hours after Lin arrived at JFK, the Secret Service agents watched the defendant sells a credit card with the price of 1,000 U.S. dollars at dinner in Brooklyn and arrested him shortly after that," the letter to the judge.

Office of U.S. Attorney Loretta Lynch in Brooklyn said that all accusations against Lin involves hacking computer systems of the U.S. Defense Department contractors who help take care of military transport operations.
Another accusation against Lin includes ownership of more than 400 thousands of stolen credit cards and debit cards in a portable computer that was confiscated by Secret Service agents. "The defendant underwent a career break, among other things, the server computers of financial institutions, defense contractors, and large companies, and sell or trade the information stored there ...," Lynch said in a statement.
Lynch said the defendants allegedly planned to get more financial information from other hackers, who would she invite transaction. If found guilty, Lin faced a maximum possible prison sentence between 6.5 and eight years.

Armored car guard shoots robber

A would-be robber was shot and wounded by an armored car guard on Monday after the suspect tried to grab a money bag out of the guard's hand, a D.C. police spokeswoman said.
Officer Tisha Gant said the incident occurred about 1:15 p.m. in the 1000 block of Rhode Island Avenue NE. She said the suspect was taken to a hospital with a gunshot wound to one of his legs.
-- Paul Duggan

Clip shows soldier dancing around blindfolded prisoner in Israel

By Kevin Flower, CNN

October 5, 2010 -- Updated 1949 GMT (0349 HKT)

Video surfaced on YouTube showing what appears to be an Israeli soldier dancing around a blindfolded Palestinian prisoner.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• NEW: The IDF launches an investigation into the incident
• The video is "a disgusting illustration," says a Palestinian Authority spokesman
• Several social media controversies have engulfed the Israeli military
• In August, pictures posted online showed a soldier posing with blindfolded Palestinians

RELATED TOPICS

• Israel
• Palestinian Politics

Jerusalem (CNN) -- The Israeli military said Tuesday it is launching an investigation into a video that surfaced on YouTube that showed what appeared to be an Israeli soldier dancing around a blindfolded and bound Palestinian prisoner.
The video is the latest in a number of social media controversies that have engulfed the Israeli military. This summer, a female former Israeli soldier posted photos of herself posing in front of blindfolded Palestinian prisoners. The photos and her subsequent defense of her actions sparked international criticism of the military.
Blog: Another dancing soldier?
It was not known when the latest video was shot, but it appears to have been posted to the video-sharing website in 2008.
The clip, which first aired Monday night on Israel's Channel 10, shows a man dressed in Israeli army fatigues dancing next to a blindfolded woman.
In a statement, the Israeli military said it "denounces actions such as those depicted in the videos, and continues to make every effort to eliminate such behavior through briefings to soldiers, directives to officers, military orders, and punishment when necessary."
The statement also stressed that such incidents are "isolated cases that do not represent the IDF (Israel Defense Forces) as a whole."
Ghassan Khatib, a spokesman for the Palestinian Authority, said the video was "a disgusting illustration of the sick and hostile mentality of the Israeli soldiers serving as occupiers in the Palestinian territories."
"It should remind the whole world that it is about time to end this illegal occupation and to allow the Palestinians their basic right of freedom," he said.
In August, the pictures posted on Facebook by a female former soldier -- identified online as "Eden from Ashdod" in Israel -- prompted harsh reactions.
In one photo, she is seen smiling and sitting on a blast barrier next to a blindfolded man. In another, she is sitting in front of three blindfolded Palestinians, one with his hands tied in front of him.
The photos have since been removed from her Facebook site, but Israeli media reports the photos were labeled "IDF -- best time of my life."

Earlier this year, another video of Israeli soldiers in the West Bank city of Hebron dancing in unison to the Ke$ha song "Tick Tock" went viral.

Are once-happy boomers behind rise in midlife suicide?

By Madison Park, CNN

October 4, 2010 -- Updated 1223 GMT (2023 HKT)

David Sklar plays with his son in this photo from 2004. Sklar died in 2007.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• In the last 11 years, as more boomers entered midlife, the suicide rates increased
• Historically, elderly have had highest suicide rates, but now 45-64 is age group with highest rate
• Dashed expectations, economic woes, depression or medical problems may be factors

(CNN) -- "I hate him. I'm so mad. I love him. I miss him. I want him back," Christine Lopez's thoughts twisted and churned.
Questions swirled. A void swelled. And their 4-year-old son tugged at her, asking about Daddy.
Her husband committed suicide in 2007.
"It's not like he died in a traffic accident," she said. "All these thoughts were running through my head. I lost my future -- the man I was in love with, my son's father. Who do I blame?"
David Sklar, 43 and a part of the baby boomer generation, grappled with depression and chronic pain.
In the last 11 years, as more baby boomers entered midlife, the suicide rates in this age group have increased, according to an analysis in the September-October issue of the journal Public Health Reports.
The assumption was that "middle age was the most stable time of your life because you're married, you're settled, you had a job. Suicide rates are stable because their lives are stable," said Dr. Paula Clayton, the medical director for the American Foundation for the Prevention of Suicide.
But this assumption may be shifting.
Dashed expectations, economic woes, depression or chronic medical problems -- these may be factors why the suicide rates for middle-aged Americans have increased.
Surveys of baby boomers have shown a tone of disappointment.
"So many expected to be in better health and expected to be better off than they are," said Julie Phillips, lead author of the study assessing recent changes in suicide rates. "Surveys suggest they had high expectations. Things haven't worked out that way in middle age."
Richard Croker, author of "The Boomer Century, 1946-2046: How America's Most Influential Generation Changed Everything," said, "From Dr. Spock to Annette Funicello, growing up in the '50s and '60s, we grew up thinking we were special. Somehow, we metamorphosed from peace, love and happiness to a me generation."
"We started accumulating wealth and began focusing on providing for ourselves and our families. That's what we did and now, we're beginning to look around. What's it all about?" he said. "Many of us are divorced. Our families are spread to the seven winds. We're disappointed."
Baby boomers (defined in the study as born between 1945 and 1964) are in a peculiar predicament.
"Historically, the elderly have had the highest rates of suicide," said Phillips, a professor of sociology at Rutgers University. "What is so striking about these figures is that starting in 2005, suicide rates among the middle aged [45-64 years of age] are the highest of all age groups."

Suicide rates per 100,000

1990
Age 15-24: 13.2
Age 45-64: 15.3
Age 65 + : 20.5

2000
Age 15-24: 10.2
Age 45-64: 13.5
Age 65 +: 15.2

2005
Age 15-24: 10
Age 45-64: 15.4
Age 65 +: 14.7

2006
Age 15-24: 9.9
Age 45-64: 16
Age 65 +: 14.2

Source: Public Health Reports

The 45-54 age group had the highest suicide rate in 2006 and 2007, with 17.2 per 100,000. Meanwhile, suicide rates in adolescents and the elderly have begun to decline, she said.
"What's notable here is that the recent trend among boomers is opposite to what we see among other cohorts and that it's a reversal of a decades-long trend among the middle-aged," said Phillips, who along with Ellen Idler, a sociologist at Emory University, and two other authors used data from the National Vital Statistics System.
Baby boomers had higher rates of depression during their adolescence. One theory is that as they aged, this disposition followed them through the course of their lives.
"The age group as teenagers, it was identified they had higher rates of depression than people born 10 or 20 years earlier -- it's called a cohort effect," said Clayton, from the American Foundation for the Prevention of Suicide, who read the study.
But none of these factors adequately explain why one individual commits suicide.
In their suburban home near Seattle, Washington, Sklar doted on his son, Trevor, and spent time outdoors, fished on the dock and took seaside strolls with his family.
Lopez and Sklar married in 2004 after a six-year relationship.

David Sklar enjoyed fishing and spending time outdoors wth his family.

After she had a difficult day at work, he'd draw baths for her. He prepared breakfasts in bed and cut fresh roses from the garden.
"He was just really sweet like that," she said. "He was always interested in what I liked -- he would listen to me."

RELATED TOPICS

• Suicide
• Economic Crisis
• Mental Health

Sklar also struggled with constant back pain after his car was struck by a drunken driver, then lodged under a semi in 1993. After the accident, he could no longer work in construction.
Sometimes, the act of bending down to pick up an item left him bedridden. He took Demerol, a pain medication.
"He suffered with depression all of his teen and adult life," Lopez said. "I know the back injury made it worse. He felt like he wasn't a real man -- that he couldn't support his family. That was an issue for him."
Sklar tried to make the best of it, Lopez said, starting a home laptop repair business.
In the mid-2000s, Lopez noticed a change. Sklar became sullen and withdrawn. He no longer played with his son, cooked, fished or ventured outside. When the sun rose, Sklar retreated to the garage where he kept his computer. He played a game all day, rarely getting up to eat or to acknowledge his family.
"He was checking out from life, holing up in the garage and in his world out there," she said.
He refused to get counseling and told Lopez, " 'I'm not disabled in the game. I don't have problems in the game. I can be a whole person.' "
Some say health problems could be a factor in increased suicide rates among baby boomers.
Boomers have their share of medical problems such as high blood pressure, diabetes and complications of obesity.
"There's a rise of chronic health conditions among the middle aged," Phillips said. "In the time period from 1996 to 2006, we see fairly dramatic chronic health conditions and an increase in out-of-pocket expenditures."
Some speculate that the increase in baby boomer suicides could be attributed to stress, the number of Vietnam veterans in the age group or drug use, which was higher in that generation. Boomers are also the "sandwich generation," pressed between needs of their children and their aging parents who are living longer, but have health problems like Alzheimer's or dementia.
All this is unfolding in a lagging economy, meaning boomers could be affected by the "period effect."
"One hypothesis is that the economic pressure during this period might be a driving force, with the recession in the early 2000s -- loss of jobs, instability, increases in bankruptcy rates among middle age," Phillips said.
Unemployment correlates with increased rates of suicide. People who are unmarried and have less education are also more at risk.
"Some people who've never been unemployed before, they've lost their savings during this economic trend," Clayton said. "They can't access their retirement benefits because they're not old enough. There is more stress economically on those middle-aged people than there was earlier."
While all these are possible factors, there is no clear-cut answer for survivors like Lopez.

"It's not like they're taking the easy way out," she said about people who commit suicide. "They didn't do it to punish anyone. They didn't do it to cause pain. They're not thinking of the long-term consequences. They need to escape. It's a permanent solution for a momentary problem -- they're in so much pain, emotionally or physically. They can't see past that."

Bali sacred obyects falling into Western Italian

Evidence sacred objects in Bali (Peni Widarti / VIVAnews) 
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VIVAnews - Hundreds pratima or sacred objects allegedly stolen Badung district police officer successfully secured from the hands of nationals of Italy, Roberto Gamba (50), at the Villa Marisa, Jalan Kerobokan Bumbuk Bandung.

Roberto is also a collector initially suspected by the local community who saw in the many stores pratima villa.

"Inside we found lots of antiques, especially pratima," Bandung police chief said Dwi Suseno AKBP.

In the villa are found around 110 pratima various types and sizes, along with dozens of antique keris hilt sheath, fiber or palm reading sanskrit letters allegedly hundreds of years old, a single palm is made of copper, as well as one sack of coins there are an estimated native approximately 35 thousand, there are even some gold-plated statues.

From the recognition of Roberto, he was getting those goods from local residents, among others, Nyoman of Nusa Penida, Nusa Penida Made, Komang Oka Sukawati Gianyar origin as well as sellers who hung in the art shop in Kerobokan and Gadu Tabanan. Apart from Bali, these objects also got from Ciputat area of Jakarta.

"He bought pratima with low prices, ranging between 500 thousand to Rp 1 million. Indeed strong evidence, if he was receiver, for sure we understood better still, "he said.

Roberto Gamba pratima own claim to have collected since 2006. From his confession he did not know that these things are sacred items (a statue) is in the temple. One fruit pratima estimated its value reached 200 million, so if ditotal pratima found its value reaches around Rp20 billion.

Earlier in a few months ago, there were three temples are broken into a thief, namely Khayangan Three Pura, Pura Yangapi, and Pura Dalem Samprangan in Banjar Village Samprangan Samprangan Herzliya.

Report: Peni Widarti | Bali