OnToMe.com

September 27, 2007

The Humane Society of the US (HSUS) is calling for jail time in a Pittsburgh dog mutilation case in a second high profile Pittsburgh case involving animal cruelty charges in recent months.

The HSUS has written to Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen Zappala Jr. today, urging strong prosecution of a shocking case in which a 30-year old Homewood man, Mr. Jamarow Trowery, is accused of shooting his newly adopted dog, severing the animal’s paw and attempting to decapitate him.

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Mr. Trowery is charged with animal cruelty and a firearms violation in connection with the dog’s horrific death earlier this month. The HSUS asked Zappala to seek meaningful jail time, mandatory psychological counseling and a ban on owning or living with animals upon any conviction in this case.

Read more …

Reported by the Associated Press, BRUSSELS, Belgium

A Belgian prosecutor on Tuesday recommended that the U.S.-based Church of Scientology stand trial for fraud and extortion, following a 10-year investigation that concluded the group should be labeled a criminal organization. Van Espen’s probe also concluded that Scientology’s Brussels-based Europe office and its Belgian missions conducted unlawful practices in medicine, violated privacy laws and used illegal business contracts, said Lieve Pellens, a spokeswoman at the Federal Prosecutors Office.

“They also face charges of being … a criminal organization,” Pellens said in a telephone interview.

Short Information on The Church of Scientology and Ron L. Hubbard:

The famous Hollywood star Tom Cruise, as well as other Hollywood stars, David Beckham and wife are all members of the Scientology group created by the American pulp fiction author L. Ron Hubbard in 1952 as an outgrowth of his earlier self-help system, Dianetics.

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According to Hubbard’s estranged son, L. Ron Hubbard Jr., when Hubbard Sr. was sixteen years old and living in D.C. he obtained a copy of the Book of the Law, by Aleister Crowley, which introduced him to the world of Occultism, black magic, and Satanism, a tradition which Hubbard Jr. claims greatly influenced his life at home and the teachings of Scientology.

Hubbard also formed a religious order known as the “Sea Organization” or “Sea Org,” with titles and uniforms. The Sea Org subsequently became the management group within Hubbard’s Scientology empire. In this group, he was attended by “Commodore’s Messengers,” teenaged girls dressed in white hot pants who waited on him hand and foot, bathing and dressing him and even catching the ash from his cigarettes.

Hubbard is reported to have had frequent screaming tantrums and instituted brutal punishments such as incarceration in the ship’s filthy chain-locker for days or weeks at a time and “overboarding,” in which errant crew members were blindfolded, bound and thrown overboard, dropping up to 40 ft. into the cold sea, hoping not to hit the side of the ship with its sharp barnacles on the way down. Some of these punishments, such as imprisonment in the chain-locker, were applied to children as well as to adults.

“In addition to violating and abusing its own members’ civil rights, the organization [Scientology] over the years with its “Fair Game” doctrine has harassed and abused those persons not in the Church whom it perceives as enemies. The organization clearly is schizophrenic and paranoid, and the bizarre combination seems to be a reflection of its founder LRH [L. Ron Hubbard]. The evidence portrays a man who has been virtually a pathological liar when it comes to his history, background, and achievements. The writings and documents in evidence additionally reflect his egoism, greed, avarice, lust for power, and vindictiveness and aggressiveness against persons perceived by him to be disloyal or hostile. At the same time it appears that he is charismatic and highly capable of motivating, organizing, controlling, manipulating, and inspiring his adherents.”

– — Superior Court Judge Paul Breckinridge, Church of Scientology of California vs. Gerald Armstrong, June 20, 1984

More on Scientology:

1. What you didn’t know about Scientology
2. Wikipedia - Scientology
3. Articles with ‘Scientology’ at the Conspiracy Archive
4. The Un-Funny Truth About Scientology

A Wyoming forensics lab is beginning the process of trying to reconstruct faces from the eight skulls of eight human skeletons found in a Florida forest in Ft. Meyers, Florida earlier this year in March 2007. The case continues to baffle police officers and investigators alike - all skeletal remains were unburied and no clothing was found on the bodies.

Even more mystifying is the fact that all the skeletons belonged to male persons between the ages of 18 and 49 years old, all except one had expensive dental work done on their teeth during the course of their life and all were white males, possibly Hispanic.

The number of theories put out by the police so far, include the possibility of a serial killer, a mass suicide, human trafficking or an unscrupulous funeral home director dumping the bodies.

Forensic expert, Dr. Heather Walsh-Haney of Wyoming, will be carrying out investigations on the skeletons. Dr. Heather Walsh-Haney has proudly helped identify victims of the 9-11 attacks, the Valujet airplane crash and Hurricane Katrina in the past years. It is hoped that the identities of the victims, even one, will help de-mystify the case as soon as possible.

Gary McKinnon - Possibly the most famous Computer Hacker Ever & What the World of UFO’s Finally Did to Him

Gary McKinnon is continuing to fight against extradition to the US on hacking offences after losing an appeal last month. Only the British Law Lords now stand between the Scot and a US trial for allegedly breaking into and damaging 97 US government computers between 2001 and 2002 and causing an estimated $700,000 worth of damage, in what US authorities have described as the “biggest military” computer hack ever.

In an interview with the UK Guardian, Gary expressed a lot of personal feelings which were a little sad to read; a few are listed here:

1. I was a man obsessed. I spent two and a half grand in dial-up charges trying to get into the US military systems, eight hours a day, every day, over the course of a year. At first it didn’t feel like addiction, but later I wouldn’t even bother washing or getting dressed.
2. Sometimes there were 70 other hackers from around the world looking at the same screen as me. I used to check them out and see IP addresses from Turkey, China, Holland, all over.
3. I’d still like to make it as a singer-songwriter even though I’m 41.
4. I was charged seven times, with 10 years’ imprisonment on each. The most serious accusation was ‘bringing down the entire military network of Washington’.
5. When I received the extradition threat it was like being eaten from the inside out.
6. Hearing that the New Jersey Authorities want to see me ‘fry’ was like having a 17-tonne hammer waiting to hit me on the head.
7. I fear going to prison for 60 years. I’m terrified of being raped, and sitting there with paedophiles and murderers. I think I’ll rely on my friendliness to get on with people in prison. I’d like to help illiterate prisoners write letters to their families.
8. I believe in UFOs. They were my reason for hacking. As a kid my stepdad would tell me stories of how he saw one in Bonnybridge, near Falkirk, the UFO capital of the world.
9. I discovered names and ranks of non-terrestrial officers. They were all very human-like - although I can’t remember the details as my hard drive was seized by the police.
10. I’m a techno-luddite now. I can’t access my own email address. Other people do it for me.
11. I’m schizophrenic emotionally at the moment. The little boy inside me is shit scared, but the adult side wants to take it on and fight them.
12. My anti-authoritarian streak started to grow when, aged 16 and working at a printer’s, I quit after the boss came down one day and said, ‘Gary you must always stand up at work, never relax, always pretend someone’s watching you.’ That awoke something in me.
13. My advice to my younger self? Don’t hack.
14. I would like to be remembered as the guy who won his court case.

McKinnon allegedly hacked into 97 US government computers, including military and Nasa systems. In total it is claimed McKinnon did around $700,000 worth of damage but McKinnon said that figure is in line with a tendency on the part of organisations to exaggerate damages.

Speaking at the InfoSecurity show in London McKinnon said of his own case: “In order for it to be an extraditable offence I was told you have to have done $5,000 worth of damage to a PC. I found out I had apparently done at least $5,000 worth of damage to every computer.”

Commenting on the high figures, he added: “Now they’re obviously not shopping in PC World, are they?”

Although McKinnon has a clear interest in claiming those damages have been exaggerated, Peter Wood, an ‘ethical hacker’ and penetration tester from First Base Technologies who took part in the InfoSecurity show’s hacker panel, supported the argument that businesses are prone to exaggerating the costs they incur and suffer around a cyber attack.

He said in part this is due to ignorance and a lack of understanding of the issues.

I personally don’t understand the damage unless it is the exposure/threat to potential loss of secret information (regarding UFO’s if Gary is truthful in saying this was all he was after); should the US require to expose the information to the public such a France did lately, or that the UK Ministry of Defence is now doing, then the information that Gary sought, if only ‘UFO’ based, should no longer count as secret information and therefore the ‘damage’, which should really be considered ‘exposure’ would be considered far less serious than if the information is kept secret. However, he would still be called to account for any other information gained in the process of seeking the information he wanted.

According to the Irish Dev site:

“The IT community can’t seem to agree about what would be an appropriate punishment in this case, quite possibly because it’s still unclear about how much damage Gary McKinnon is alleged to have caused, as well as the motivations behind the alleged crime,” said Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant at Sophos. “Irrespective of where he is tried, let’s hope that if McKinnon is found guilty, it will be based on reliable evidence, and that he will be sentenced appropriately for the offences he is alleged to have committed.” We certainly agree with this approach.

The US, it surprises me, is not thinking of hiring Gary to work for them rather than doing jail time - they did it with the Nazi scientists after WWII after all. What would be a interesting end to an obviously brilliant individual who definitely became obsessed, would be that if he stood trial in the US, serve sentence over a fair amount of years or pay a huge fine, serve community service and, if the authorities wanted to be smart, they could offer him to work for the US government in exchange for a harsher sentence. Even my suggestions sound like a royal mess really.

To get the latest in Gary’s case, go to the ‘Free Gary McKinnon’ blog.

James Van Iveren is facing charges in connection to damages conflicted to property during an attempted rescue of a rape victim (he thought). The rape victim did not exist, Van Iveren mistook screams from a porn movie in his neighbor’s apartment as screams coming from a woman being raped.

OCONOMOWOC, Wisconsin (AP) — A man says he broke into an apartment with a cavalry sword because he thought he heard a woman being raped, but the sound actually was from a pornographic movie his upstairs neighbor was watching.

“Now I feel stupid,” said James Van Iveren, who has been charged in the case. “This really is nothing, nothing but a mistake.”

According to a criminal complaint, the neighbor told police that Van Iveren pounded on the door and kicked it open without warning February 12, damaging the frame and lock.

“Where is she?” Van Iveren demanded, thrusting the sword at the neighbor, the complaint said. “Where is she?

Van Iveren stated he did not have a phone to call the police so took matters into his own hands.

READ THE FULL STORY HERE

The story reminded us of the mysterious Samurai man who helped unarmed UK police fight off dangerous criminals in a similar incident in the United Kingdom recently. The mysterious Samurai swordsman appeared suddenly on the scene, fought off the criminals and disappeared as quickly as he came. UK police were calling for the man to come forward and identify himself.

That story ended on a positive note indeed, this one didn’t. As the saying goes: “Do you know what ‘thought’ made a man do?” The saying illustrates what trouble one can find oneself in if ‘thought’ and not ‘fact’ were involved in the actions of a person and is quite hilarious when you think about it. We think this case is a perfect illustration of this saying.

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Well, it seems that the last Samurai was not Tom Cruise - UK Police are hunting for a mystery Samurai swordsman who came to the aid of two unarmed policemen in South Shields, Tyneside after they tackled a vicious gang. The officers had gone to help a woman after hearing her screams. The gang, armed with a hammer, knives and a metal chain, had violently broken into her flat.

The mystery swordsman appeared out of nowhere after one of the plain-clothed detectives was assaulted with a knife; the knife-wielding suspect only managed to cut the policeman’s clothes. The swordsman attacked the man with the knife and then turned on one suspect who was running away, hitting his arm with the sword. The mystery swordsman then disappeared from the scene.

1. Read the Full article here at bbc.co.uk
2. Read the Journal Live Report - Samurai swordsman halts raid then vanishes
3. Read the UK Mirror Report - Samurai Rescues Officers

In another Samurai swordsman crime scene, a tenant of an apartment in Dallas, Fort Worth protected himself and his visitor with a Samurai sword and 10-inch knives when two armed criminals entered his apartment after dragging the tenant’s visitor inside.

The four were seriously injured after conducting a fight with guns, knives and the sword. One suspect criminal escaped and one suspect was seriously injured and is now lying in hospital. The nabbed suspect received severe lacerations to the neck and upper body and it was reported that he may not live to face charges. It was not reported whether the tenant or victims would survive their wounds.

See the report here: Man Uses Samurai Sword to Foil Robbery

Police in the Nithari village of Noida, India, are investigating whether the deaths of at least 17 people, most of them children, may have some link to the human body parts trade.

The case starts with a missing young girl named Payal and the ensuing investigation by police of a local, Mr. Moninder Singh Pandher and his cook Surendra Kohliand. The police were said to track down Payal, the missing girl, by zeroeing in on Payal’s mobile phone, using the International Mobile Equipment Identification system. They tracked Payal’s mobile phone and found the child’s SIM card was not active but that the phone was being used. Having found the seller of the mobile phone, the seller led them to Mr. Moninder Singh Pandher, a local businessman. The cook was away at the time but police organized that Mr. Moninder’s driver go for him to bring him back for questioning and without suspicion of a police investigation.

A confession by the servant. Mr. Kohliand, led to a shocking find of parts of numerous corpses, mostly in bags, discovered in a drain behind the house on Friday 29th December, 2006. Victims’ skulls and limbs, mostly of children, were discovered in a sewer.

It is said that many torsos were missing and that an organ body parts trade may be the real reason behind the murders. Mr Sharma and Home Secretary, Mr Arun Kumar Singh, who comprise the UP government’s probe committee and who had visited the area meeting the parents and kin of the victims in Nithari village, has said allegations of organ trade as being a reason behind the killings appeared to be “speculative”. The Hindustan Times reported that eight persons received compensation on Tuesday by Mr. Sharma. To quote the Hindustan Times report: “Meanwhile, eight persons received compensation on Tuesday. ADGP A C Sharma and the state Home Secretary visited the site on Tuesday.”

Mr. Sharma further stated: “We have conducted post-mortem of the remains and we have also consulted experts in the matter, who have denied any organ removal from the victims. The reports in this regard are speculative,” he said. It has been reported by the Navhind Times that 15 of the 17 skeletons recovered had been identified and that the state government today (Tuesday 2nd January, 2006) distributed Rs 2 lakh each as compensation to the families of eight of the victims.