Roberto Abraham Scaruffi

Saturday 8 August 2015

The European Union Times


Posted: 07 Aug 2015 03:48 PM PDT

A junior Australian defense staffer is on trial after he allegedly downloaded and leaked a “highly sensitive” intelligence report to an online forum. The intelligence service says there is no way of knowing now who may have seen the document.
The classified Defense Intelligence Organization (DIO) assessment report, allegedly meant for Australia’s allies, was reportedly obtained by a 21-year-old Department of Defense graduate in 2012, burned to a disc, taken home and posted to the photo-sharing portal 4chan.org in the form of images, Fairfax Media reported.
After uploading the document, Michael Scerba – now 24 – also allegedly praised Julian Assange as “hero.”
He is now being charged by Australia’s ACT Supreme Court on two counts, with no trial date set yet. Any other details pertaining to the case are also being kept strictly secret.
Australian media reports that he had indicated in court that he will be pleading guilty to at least one charge.
The breach came to light by accident, when one former member of the Defense Signals Directorate (ASD) was browsing the net. He noticed a 4chan thumbnail that said “Julian Assange is my hero.”
Upon closer inspection it was clear what the link contained. The report reportedly had a marking of ‘Secret, 5 eyes’ on each page, a reference to the intelligence-sharing agreement between Australia, New Zealand, Britain, Canada and the United States. Two out of 15 pages were posted.
If the authorities are to be believed, Australia’s current and future defense operations, as well as its relationship with its allies, could suffer as a result.
Scerba also reportedly attached a message: “I release what I feel should be in the media: bombings, civilian deaths, actions of the ‘terrorists’ that just aren’t reported in the media.”
Court documents later stated the discovery was “fortuitous.” Perhaps less fortuitous is the fact that more than five eyes have likely seen the document now, and the DIO says it has no way of knowing who exactly, or the potential scale of the damage this has wrought.
The document’s contents are not being reported, but authorities believe foreign intelligence agencies and “others” would seize the opportunity to view it. And by the time the former ASD employee had spotted the leaked report, there were reportedly comments from 14 different people below it.
Scerba did not prove as adept as Edward Snowden at evading authorities. The police traced the IP address to his exact location – his home in Richardson, southern Canberra. They raided the house and seized the equipment. The broken disc used to copy the classified report was reportedly found in the bin.
Australian media reports that a search of his computer revealed online attempts at searching information on how to hide one’s tracks, and the machine also contained traces of the classified images.
The judge, Justice Richard Refshauge, last week imposed a strict ban on disclosing the “highly sensitive” details of the document. Communication relating to them is likewise restricted.
“It is my view that the disclosure of the sensitive information may cause prejudice, in some instances very serious prejudice, to Australian national security,” the Brisbane Times quoted the judge as saying.
The documents were ordered to be destroyed within 28 days of the trial closing. The materials will be kept in a safe when they are not being used by the court.
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Posted: 07 Aug 2015 03:42 PM PDT

A Texas judge has ordered a 19-year-old to marry his girlfriend within 30 days, get counseling and write out bible verses, or go to jail after an altercation with the woman’s ex-boyfriend.
Josten Bundy, 19, was in court in July after he hit his girlfriend’s ex-boyfriend in the face twice during a fight. The man pressed charges despite lack of injury.
“[The ex-boyfriend] had been saying disrespectful things about Elizabeth, so I challenged him to a fight,” Bundy told local news station KLTV. “He stepped in and I felt like it was on and I hit him in the jaw twice.”
During sentencing, Judge Randall Rogers asked Bundy whether his girlfriend, Elizabeth Jaynes, was “worth it,” to which the young man responded that he was raised with four sisters and that if any man spoke to any woman in the manner that the ex-boyfriend had, he likely would have done the same thing.
The judge then asked Bundy whether he was married to Jaynes, which he was not.
“You know, as a part of my probation, you’re going to have to marry her…within 30 days,” Judge Rogers stated.
Bundy was left with the choice of either marrying his girlfriend or spending 15 days in jail for the fight.
“He offered me fifteen days in jail and that would have been fine and I asked if I could call my job [to let them know],” said Bundy. “The judge told me ‘nope, that’s not how this works.’”
Jaynes stated that she was embarrassed by the judge’s statements. She was also upset that the judge was trying to take away her dream wedding that they wanted, given the court’s time constraints. They were left with just 18 days to plan.
“My face was so red, people behind me were laughing,” Jaynes told KLTV. “[The judge] made me stand up in court.”
Jaynes also conveyed her dismay at the concept of having a summer courthouse wedding, as she and Bundy had began talking about weddings six months into their relationship and she already had plans in mind.
“I used to watch Say Yes to the Dress and all those shows and all the dresses and think about what kind of dress I would have,” said Jaynes. “I would have liked a spring wedding when it’s not too hot and not too cold.”
Ultimately, the couple followed the court’s orders, but say their dream day was ruined.
“My father didn’t get to go, and that really bothers me, I know he would have liked to be there,” said Bundy. “None of my sisters got to show up, it was such short notice, I couldn’t get it together.”
The father of the bride is also furious with the court order, and wants answers.
“[I felt] anger; I was mad. [The judge] can’t do this by court ordering somebody to be married,” Kenneth Jaynes, the woman’s father, told KLTV. “I contacted a couple of lawyers but they told me someone was trying to pull my leg…that judges don’t court order somebody to get married.”
While the judge declined to comment on his bizarre sentencing, attorneys agree that, had the couple appealed the sentencing, they would have won.
The couple has stated that they do not regret getting married, but they do regret not being able to have control over what is supposed to be a special and personal day.
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Posted: 07 Aug 2015 03:20 PM PDT

Nutritionist Daniel Jarvis believes that the federal school lunch program that US first lady Michelle Obama supports causes harm to children’s nutrition.
According to a research by the National Association of Physicians of the United States, the food products used for corporate networks, including schools, are rich in carcinogens and various food additives that stimulate bowel cancer and other diseases of the digestive system.
The meat that is used for making burgers and sandwiches for school canteens is very unhealthy, the research said.
“The Physicians Committee recently reviewed advertisements in each 2014 issue of SNA’s School Nutrition magazine. While there were some ads for pasta, beans, blueberries, sweet potatoes-and even hummus and soy milk-they were outnumbered by ads for pepperoni pizza, corn dogs, and other junk foods,” states the report, infowars.com reports.
Jarvis, who works at Cabell Huntington Hospital in West Virginia, was shocked when he saw the study.
“I see pepperoni and processed meats that cause cancer, it’s like a scheme to make money,” he stated.
Parents and teachers in other school districts also told CBS-13 that processed foods were dominating menus.
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Posted: 07 Aug 2015 03:09 PM PDT

The ISIL Takfiri group has reportedly killed at least 300 members of the national electoral commission in the Iraqi city of Mosul.
The terror group executed the civilians by firing squad at the al-Ghazlani camp on Friday afternoon, Mohammad al-Suraji, the spokesman for Iraq’s volunteer forces, told the country’s al-Sumaria satellite TV network.
The ISIL took over Mosul last June and later seized swathes of land in northern and western Iraq. The terrorists have since been committing heinous crimes against the people of all faiths and communities there, including both Muslims and Christians of either Arab or Kurdish ethnicity.
In March, Iraqi government forces backed by Shia and Sunni volunteer fighters managed to retake the major city of Tikrit from the ISIL as part of their quest to wrest control of Mosul.
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Posted: 07 Aug 2015 03:01 PM PDT

NASA has released spectacular footage of the “dark side” of the moon – fully illuminated – as the Earth’s natural satellite was moving across the sunlit side of our planet. The unique shots were captured by the Deep Space Climate Observatory.
Taken by the Earth Polychromatic Imaging Camera (EPIC), the images show a unique view of our planet and the moon from one million miles away. The capture of this rare spectacle was made possible due to the orbiting trajectory of the DSCOVR satellite that is positioned between the Sun and the Earth, giving it the capability to see the far side of the moon.
“It is surprising how much brighter Earth is than the moon,” said Adam Szabo, DSCOVR project scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. “Our planet is a truly brilliant object in dark space compared to the lunar surface.”
The series of images taken on July 16 were compiled into GIF animation that depicts the moon flying over the North America and the Pacific Ocean. The images taken from the satellite’s point of view also clearly show the tilt of the Earth, with the North Pole located in the upper left corner.
DSCOVR is meant to serve as an early warning system when harmful solar activity is heading our way. From its position some 1 million miles away, DSCOVR should be able to issue a warning around 15 to 60 minutes before a geomagnetic storm reaches our Planet.
“EPIC maintains a constant view of the fully illuminated Earth as it rotates, providing scientific observations of ozone, vegetation, cloud height and aerosols in the atmosphere,” NASA said in the press release.
DSCOVR that was launched in February this year is also designed to gather a range of measurements from ozone and aerosol amounts to changes in Earth’s radiation. But one of the satellite’s strongest weapons is the EPIC which takes full-color snaps in sets of 10 images using different narrowband filters – from ultraviolet to near infrared.
“Once EPIC begins regular observations next month, the camera will provide a series of Earth images allowing study of daily variations over the entire globe. About twice a year the camera will capture the moon and Earth together as the orbit of DSCOVR crosses the orbital plane of the moon,” NASA says.
First images of the “dark side” of the moon, never seen from Earth, were taken by USSR’s Luna 3 spacecraft in 1959. Over the decades of scientific research based on images produced by NASA’s programs, scientists were able to determine that the far side lacks the large, dark, basaltic plains that are present on the side facing the Earth.
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Posted by Roberto Abraham Scaruffi at 08:28