Eight million people at risk of ID fraud after credit card details are stolen by hotel chain hackers
An Indian hacker broke into the IT system of Best Western Hotel Group and stole personal details of everyone who has stayed there in the past 12 months. The details, which included home addresses, phone numbers, place of employment and credit card details, were sold on through an underground network controlled by the Russian Mafia.
Best Western became aware of the theft on Thursday night. It instantly disabled the log-in account from which the information was stolen, but not before the details of millions of people had been removed.
(ANSA) - Porto Rotondo, August 25 - A CD of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi singing Neapolitan love songs may still make it onto the shelves in time for Christmas, his song-writing partner said Monday.
Neapolitan musician Mariano Apicella had warned the premier at the beginning of August that he needed to take a break from politics to focus on his musical career in order to finish the CD. ''We are working hard,'' Apicella confirmed Monday from Berlusconi's villa in Sardinia. ''I'd like this CD to come out in December, but it won't be easy considering all of the premier's commitments,'' he said.
Apicella, who accompanies Berlusconi's croonings on guitar, said there will be 14 new songs on the new CD, and gave a taster of the album opener, 'There's Love', which, like the others, was penned by the premier.
Fans can thrill to lines such as 'There's love which lights up, like a star lights up, which makes you feel beautiful by the power of kisses' and 'There's love that confuses, that leaps in your chest, there's love that seeks you out only to spite you'.
''We haven't mentioned a single political theme in the whole CD,'' Apicella stressed. ''It's about lots of love stories''. Apicella complained earlier this month that even when Berlusconi was on holiday in Sardinia ''he's always working because he receives an average of 40-50 telephone calls a day''.
A former car park attendant, Apicella has made a living from playing traditional Neapolitan ballads and first met Berlusconi when the premier dined at a Naples restaurant where he was performing in 2001. The relationship soon blossomed and two years later the pair released their first album, ''Meglio Una Canzone'' (Better A Song), which sold about 45,000 copies.
The two have frequently put on mini-concerts for friends and visiting heads of state at the premier's villa. Apicella says the premier is an expert in Neapolitan music and a talented songwriter. Before his careers in business and politics, the media mogul sang on a cruise ship for holiday-makers in his youth.
SEATTLE - Only in Seattle could an event touted as a way to help the environment get washed out during what is supposed to be the driest time of the year.
Car-free days is part of Mayor Greg Nickels' campaign to encourage people to walk, bike or take mass transit. One neighborhood is closed off to car traffic during selected weekends this summer.
On Sunday it was the area around 14th and Republican on Capitol Hill, a residential area that's normally quiet anyway. "I think it promotes awareness of whatever we're promoting awareness of," said resident Thomas Hubbard. That's the absolute most stupid comment I've read all year. No wonder Seattle is in such bad shape.
"A car passes by every once in a while, just people trying to get home. And they don't know how to get home," said resident Matt O'Connor. They're out there somewhere between Mars and Jupiter trying to find their way home. Try a Garmin.
"I think most people are scratching their heads. I've seen people move the signs and drive through anyway," said Hubbard. Fleas?
With more police officers diverting traffic than actual people, the city decided to end the event two hours earlier. O'Connor said the idea was good in theory, "but in practice, it needs a little bit of work." Warp Drive is good in Theory.
Adding insult to injury, the cars owned by some residents in the neighborhood were towed because the city wanted to clear the streets. Smooth move, Bugwits. Tow peoples' cars and they HAVE to take alternate transportation.
Next weekend, car-free days moves to south Seattle. Rainier Avenue between Alaska and Orcas will be closed to car traffic during the afternoon. Sounds more like Intelligemce Free Days to me.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
08/25/2008 12:01 ||
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#1
"I think it promotes awareness of whatever we're promoting awareness of," said resident Thomas Hubbard.
#2
If you want people to use their bikes then carrot is a lot better than stick.
1. Showers at work.
2. Safe parking at work.
3. Decent (i.e. seperated) cycle lanes.
4. Look at the timings on Junctions.
5. Make "1 way" streets 2 ways for bikes only.
6. Clean Well maintained flat roads.
7. Secure monitored Bike parking at rail stations.
8. Advice on bikes.
9. Decent Bike shops.
10. Have free servicing days in spring to encourage people to get their bike out and use it safely.
#3
Next weekend, car-free days moves to south Seattle. Rainier Avenue between Alaska and Orcas will be closed to car traffic during the afternoon.
I grew up in that area. Its been a [very] long time but Rainier Ave is a major aerial of the south end of the city between Seattle and Renton. That and Empire Martin Luther King Way. Definitely not 'quiet anyway'.
Here's some news you probably hoped you wouldn't hear for another four months. The National Weather Service says areas of northeast Minnesota and northwest Wisconsin could see patchy frost this weekend. That's right, patchy frost in August.
The weather agency says clear skies could allow temperatures to dip into the low to mid-30s late tonight into early Monday.
Meteorologist Roman Berdes says an unusual cold-air mass from Canada will bring lower temperatures, but warmer air from the central Midwest should replace it by Monday. Berdes says these temperatures are uncommon but not unheard of. He says those areas saw temperatures in the 20s at this point in 2004. Also this is a common occurrence during the run-up to mini ice ages.
#1
Some of the trees up here in Vermont started turning color about 10 day ago.
Posted by: Whiskey Mike ||
08/25/2008 10:43 Comments ||
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#2
It's been rather tepid here in Hawkeye Country, too. There have been a few warm days and a couple hot ones, but nothing that would spike up the a/c bill.
Posted by: Swamp Blondie in the Cornfields ||
08/25/2008 10:54 Comments ||
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#3
Frost this morning in lots of northern Wisconsin areas. Locals are 'mixed' as it will hasten the 'Fall Colors' (great for tourism), but also indicates an early winter after a 'late' spring (only 3-1/2 months since last frost).
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
08/25/2008 10:55 Comments ||
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#4
Ely, MN was down to 33F this am. (previous record for that station was in the low 40s).
#8
We get any more global warming here, we are gonna have to break out the jackets. Much, much, much cooler here than usual in Southern Colorado. Finally will be "nice" with temps in the mid 80s with thunderstorms. Usually this is the dry and hot time with Temps in the 90s and not a drop of rain. Thursday-Friday it was in the 50s in the morning with fog.
Colder and unusual weather.
#13
Slats Glans2659, I got my propane tank filled last week at the "low Summer rates". of$3.16/gallon. It held 222 gallons. I gotta take out a second mortgage.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
08/25/2008 17:03 Comments ||
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#14
DB: I haven't had to run the air-conditioner at home in a couple of weeks now, thank heaven.
I've heard it said that air conditioners are three times as efficient as heaters per degree of temperature change. Then you have to take into account the fact that in places like Northeast, most people are cooling from 90 degrees to 75 degrees (15 degrees diff) during the peak of summer, whereas they are cooling from 32 degrees to about 70 degrees in winter (38 degrees diff). The upcoming monthly heating bills will be something to behold.
A man killed 11 people in Burundi when he hurled a grenade into his brother's wedding party in what police said on Sunday was a land dispute. Normally we just let the air of their tires in cases like that...
Police arrested a person who it said was a brother of the groom. The groom and his wife survived the attack. "Honey?"
"Yes, Dumpling?"
"It's about your brother..."
Posted by: Fred ||
08/25/2008 00:00 ||
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Four Pakistanis were killed Saturday in an accidental explosion at an airport in the country's western resort city of Taif .They were killed when a fuel tank exploded on an old plane they were dismantling. Another man was also injured. A statement from the government's civil aviation branch said.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/25/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Insh' Allah aircraft maintenance strikes again...
#1
Of course, if this had happened in Obama's Amerikkka, the baby would have been put down rather than saved. Probably would have put down the dog and her puppies too, for trying to save an unwanted fetus.
Posted by: Rambler in California ||
08/25/2008 14:43 Comments ||
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#2
The news has been all over the net. One item stated the dog quit eating after losing the baby. The photos of the dogmother after the event look really pitiful, as if she is mourning the loss of one of her pups or is worried she might be punished for what she did.
#4
I breed show/hunting dogs on a very intermittent basis. Yes - a b*tch will mourn a lost puppy IF it was alive when she last nurtured it.
OTOH I've had moms persist in pushing aside newborns. The ones I've tried to save didn't make it - she knew what she was doing and didn't mourn them at all.
#5
Yep, happened right here at our house a couple of months ago. We're all trying to put it behind us though, except on Saturday mornings when we drive around looking for the real killer(s).
Posted by: George Anthony ||
08/25/2008 17:32 Comments ||
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BISHKEK - A Kyrgyz passenger plane crashed with more than 120 people on board shortly after take-off from the capital's Manas airport, an airport official said on Sunday.
It took off and reported a technical problem and tried to return to the airport, a spokeswoman for Manas airport told Reuters. She said 123 people were on board the flight to Iran run by private Kyrgyz company Itek-Air. At the moment rescue teams, fire brigades and medics are rushing to the crash site, a spokeswoman for the US air base located in Manas, 30 km (20 miles) from the capital Bishkek, told Russia's RIA news agency.
Russian news agencies said earlier the plane was a Boeing-737.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/25/2008 00:00 ||
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Don't pay anybody in advance. And don't ride in anything with a Capissen 38 engine, they fall right out of the sky.
A group of 50 animal rights activists forced a gate at the entrance to the Swedish Institute for Infectious Disease Control(SMI) in Stockholm on Monday morning. Institute staff were able to prevent the activists from entering the main buildings.
The activists damaged a gate and then tried to force their way into the main building of the institute at Karolinska University Hospital in Solna at around 8.30am on Monday.
"Staff managed to lock the main entrance so that the activists were unable to enter the building," said police spokesman Björn Engström to newspaper Dagens Nyheter.
The activists then made their way to St. Eriksplan metro station. Police followed the activists and identified the offenders who are suspected of criminal trespass on a protected site and criminal damage. Metro services were temporarily interrupted at the St.Eriksplan station to prevent the activists' escape.
#2
Someone should inform the idgits that if they become infected, they become the laboratory rats while the medicos waste their time and resourcing risking their own health to save their worthless asses.
#5
perhaps the staff was too quick to lock the doors; maybe they should have waited until the new labrats got in and all the staff got out....just sayin.
#6
I think the scientists are missing a bet, here. They could concoct the story that they were genetically engineering a shrew gene into a bacteria, to understand "what turns an ordinary shrew into a ravenous, carnivorous predator with poisonous saliva."
And the animal rights people were exposed to the bacteria when they broke in. So they should see a doctor immediately if suddenly they have an intense craving for raw meat, or if their saliva becomes poisonous to others.
Turkish police on Saturday detained 29 foreigners and three Turks during a peaceful protest against plans to build a nuclear power plant near a Black Sea port city. The police broke up the protest in front of the governor's office and took the protesters to a police station, said Niklas Hartmann of European Youth for Action, an environmentalist group. Police confirmed the detentions during what they called an unauthorized protest.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/25/2008 00:00 ||
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DENVER (Rooters) - Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama faces a challenge this week to try to heal a party rift, draw a sharp contrast between himself and Republican rival John McCain and back up his soaring oratory with specifics of what he would do if he wins the White House.
As Obama, 47, enters the Democratic party convention that will formally nominate him, he has yet to answer doubts among many Americans about where he would take the country if elected in November.
Democrats are confident the man who would be America's first black president is in a strong position to defeat Vietnam war hero McCain, who turns 72 next week.
But recent weeks have exposed Obama's vulnerabilities and many voters expect him to offer fuller, more detailed plans of what he would do as president, particularly about the troubled economy.
#4
I think WoW might be a better analogy for Obama than D&D, in the end, 'cause he seems like he's gonna start out as a Paladin, but he's gonna wind up as something else... we all know what happens to them when their ideals turn out to be insufficient.
Of course, _I_ should fricking talk, I voted for George Bush, who's probably descended from Aleister Crowley and therefore stands a good chance of being a warlock.
(And you probably thought Dick Cheney was gonna be the warlock. In truth he's a typical pet-less hunter, always saying he's gonna get the pull right this time, but always getting your party surrounded by swarms of lawyers he accidentally shot).
DENVER - A black delegate for Hillary Rodham Clinton says she was called an "Uncle Tom" by Illinois Senate President Emil Jones, one of Barack Obama's political mentors.
Chicago political consultant Delmarie Cobb says Jones made the remarks Saturday night while discussing her support for Clinton. She called the remark "fighting words" and unacceptable.
#7
Not at all surprising...coming from a former Chicago Sewer Inspector and pal of Governor Rod Blagojevich. Maybe his successor, Emil Jones III will be a bit more charitable.
A bit more on the Governor.
Tony Rezko indictment and trial
On October 11, 2006, Blagojevich fundraisers and businessmen Antonin "Tony" Rezko and Stuart Levine were indicted for participation in a scheme to obtain kickbacks from investment firms seeking business from two state boards. Levine pleaded guilty two weeks later and agreed to testify against Rezko.[23][24]
The governor's wife, Patricia Blagojevich, was a business partner of Rezko's for at least a decade. In 2004, she received over $38,000 in real estate commissions from him.[25]
In October 2006, it was revealed that Mrs. Blagojevich, a licensed real estate broker, earned $113,700 in commissions from Anita and Amrish Mahajan. These were the only commissions earned by Mrs. Blagojevich this year. Anita Mahajan owns a urinalysis company that holds a no-bid contract with the state Department of Children and Family Services. Amrish Mahajan is president of a bank that has two requests pending before state regulators to acquire two out-of-state banks.[26]
On November 27, 2006, a day after the indictment of lawyer Melvyn I. Weiss, "Friends of Blagojevich" returned a $10,000 contribution his campaign received from Milberg Weiss, records show that Blagojevich has not returned another $40,000 from Melvyn Weiss and other lawyers in Weiss' firm. Weiss paid $5,000 toward lodging, meals and entertainment for Blagojevich and others with him during the December 2003 trip to New York.[27]
In December 2007, Blagojevich campaign boss Chris Kelly was indicted on federal charges of tax fraud.[28] The charges against Kelly were not related to the governor or any political work. However, Kelly has been listed as a "co-schemer" in court filings related to the Rezko case. According to prosecutors, Kelly was involved in pressuring prospective state contractors for "finder's fees" or political contributions.[29] At the time of Rezko's indictment, Blagojevich described his relationship with Kelly: "They're two different people, by the way, and it's a different relationship. Chris and I are much closer. Chris is the head of my political campaign. That's someone I talk to a lot more frequently."[30]
Blagojevich was widely rumored to be the unnamed "Public Official A" mentioned in the Rezko indictment.
Beginning at 7:30 p.m. on Monday, August 25, 2008, Archbishop Charles Chaput, O.F.M. Cap. will join Dr. Alveda C. King, niece of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., for a peaceful prayer vigil near the new Planned Parenthood Clinic in Stapleton. The event will take place in Martin Luther King Park (E. 38th St.), just one block west of the clinic. Dr. King, Archbishop Chaput, and pastors from churches in the neighborhood will all speak.
A candlelight procession will follow the rally, proceeding from the park and around the perimeter of the Planned Parenthood Clinic. For more information, please call the Respect Life Office of the Archdiocese of Denver (303)715-3205.
#1
Have a good day y'all - I'm outta here in a bit. I got a call from my brother knights (Knights of Columbus), and will be busy helping set up for this and then attending it.
#4
The difference between the leftist thugs and the quiet pro-life vigils near abortion factories is that the leftist thugs are protected by the first amendment, whereas the pro-life vigils were effectively outlawed by Roe v Wade.
In case you didn't get it, that is sarcasm.
Posted by: Rambler in California ||
08/25/2008 13:35 Comments ||
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the pro-life vigils were effectively outlawed by Roe v Wade
#6
Once Roe vs Wade made abortion a fundamental constitutional right (unlike freedom of religion, speech and peaceful assembly), anyone who dared to protest against abortion was considered anathema. The pro-abortionists used RICO and other tools to punish them. I believe that there is also some kind of "Protection of Abortion Factories Act" or something like that which keeps anyone from protesting (or even handing out literature) within several hundred feet of an abortatorium.
Posted by: Rambler in California ||
08/25/2008 14:41 Comments ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
Here's some news you probably hoped you wouldn't hear for another four months. The National Weather Service says areas of northeast Minnesota and northwest Wisconsin could see patchy frost this weekend. That's right, patchy frost in August.
A man killed 11 people in Burundi when he hurled a grenade into his brother's wedding party in what police said on Sunday was a land dispute. 
BISHKEK - A Kyrgyz passenger plane crashed with more than 120 people on board shortly after take-off from the capital's Manas airport, an airport official said on Sunday.
