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A MAN WAS arrested on smuggling charges today after customs officers intercepted a shipment with three live king cobras hidden inside crisp canisters that were being mailed to his California home, US prosecutors said.
Rodrigo Franco, aged 34, was scheduled to be arraigned yesterday afternoon in Los Angeles on a charge of illegally importing merchandise. It wasn’t immediately clear if he had an attorney who could comment on the allegations.
The three king cobra snakes – each just over half a metre long – were found in March when Customs and Border Protection officers inspected a package that was mailed from Hong Kong, prosecutors said.
There were also three albino Chinese soft-shelled turtles in the package, authorities said.
Federal agents removed the cobras but delivered the turtles to Franco’s home in Monterey Park.
The agents later served a search warrant there and found tanks with a live baby Morelet’s crocodile, alligator snapping turtles, a common snapping turtle, and five diamond back terrapins.
Prosecutors say all of the reptiles are protected under US law.
Franco admitted to an agent from the US Fish and Wildlife Service that he had previously received 20 king cobras in two other shipments, but he said they all died in transit, according to court documents.
Federal agents also searched Franco’s phone and found that he exchanged messages with an individual in Asia about shipping turtles and snakes between Hong Kong and the US, prosecutors said.
Franco said in those messages that he had previously received live cobras and planned to give five of the snakes to a relative of the contact in Virginia, court papers said.
If convicted, Franco faces up to 20 years in prison.
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Whilst Facebook remove any accounts it doesn’t agree with, they are the ones changing world politics, they want to silence free speech and feed you only one narrative.
@Alan Currie: Accounts it doesn’t agree with? You mean the likes of Alex Jones who is being sued for harassment of victims of terrorist attacks and calling them liars? The man who admitted it was all an act in court. Holocaust deniers, racist groups etc… In Europe you do not have freedom to say what you like without consequences. In America they may believe in freedom of speech but most of the western world ban hate speak. Maybe their political impacts is correct given it is a new medium that the US freedom of speech makes worse
@Craic_a_tower: agreed re hate speech but they actually do make odd decisions sometimes to remove harmless stuff .. I posted a photo of a toilet bowl that had been dumped .. no pun intended .. on a picturesque pathway in Thailand and suddenly .. whoosha .. it was removed .. I complained .. just for the fun of it .. and it was restored .. lol…
@Alan Currie: they sure are changing the world. Killing hundreds – soon to be thousands – with anti-vax lies. Spreading hate. Making people paranoid about contrails. Turning the state of education back thousands of years by making people think the friggin world is flat!
@Terry Cahill: they use automated filters so remove things without human intervention. In the case of toilets people were posting pictures of toilet contents so they added the filter. Your picture just got caught by it. You queried it and they let it go. No harm no foul.
@Deirdre O’Byrne: I would be happy to see accounts removed that simply spread utter lies, I think anyone would, however they are simply removing accounts that don’t have a left-wing agenda, if society cannot accept debate and different points of view then mankind has a big problem.
@Alan Currie: can you name such a person or group banned for just a non left-wing view? Not aware of any so would like to know who you class as just a different point of view.
@Craic_a_tower: Milo Yiannopoulos would be a recent one, who would be seen as right wing
@Alan Currie: Milo is a lunatic who can do without a platform to spread his lies.
@Rob Cahill: what lies are you referring to?
@Alan Currie: He is a little more than right wing now. He is there with Alex Jones for a very good reason as a hate monger liar. He encourages violence and misinformation and has neo-nazi links. Do you really think women shouldn’t work in the gaming industry and that isn’t a sexist view? Rightly banned, any actual valid names and groups who have been banned for not have left-wing views? You spectacularly failed with that one.
@Craic_a_tower: can you list some sources for those claims?
@Alan Currie: Just go to his wiki page. Do you think suggesting killing journalists is OK? Do you think anybody suggesting murder based on occupacian should be given a forum?
A quote from him “Behind every racist joke is scientific fact” am I also to assume you are OK with his views on having sex with children? According to him a 13 year old having sex with an adult is fine.
Do you really think he should be allowed on Facebook still?
@Craic_a_tower: It is very easy to write up a wiki page or contribute to it, it is notoriously a poor source for truth, speaking of which, still waiting for some solid sources for your claims. I do remember the journalist story, which later emerged that it was a private joke sent to some journalists that were hounding him, they decided to print it like it was his serious point of view and bend it all out of context, for anyone dumb enough to believe it.
@Alan Currie: wikipedia has citations you can look up. He posted the message on Instagram so not a private joke as you are stating. You didn’t remember it you either made it up or believed some BS about it and remembered that.
https://www.newsweek.com/instagram-removes-milo-yiannopoulos-post-praising-pipe-bombs-eventually-1188614
I’ll believe Newsweek on this rather than you. He is quite happy not to care about the consequences of his actions. You can actually go listen to him talk about sex with 13 year olds and adults as fine too if you want. SO wikipedia is correct while you aren’t. By all means check wikipedia information is correct but dont just dismiss it when it proved you wrong.
@Craic_a_tower: So you believe he called for the killing of journalists, bearing in mind that he himself was a journalist too? LOL
Are you sure it wasn’t the National Enquirer?
Why is this news?
@Marcia Craine: next up. Poll. Do you think video is good idea.
@Marcia Craine: it is possibly related to the opinion piece today about how false news and deepfakes can be used to manipulate opinion in volatile regions, which can even lead to riots and fatalities
@Marcia Craine: for the exact reason you think it is not
@Marcia Craine: I think you’ve just illustrated why.
@Marcia Craine: Because some very disturbing videos are about to be released and those involved are getting ahead of the game by prepping the public. That’s the word on the street anyway.
@Shane Dignam: really? I’m intrigued.. tell me more.
@Marcia Craine: Always one!
@Marcia Craine: I see what you did there ha ..
@Vocal Outrage: That and it’s quite important that this is highlighted. It’s going to be a huge factor in misleading information. People need to be made aware. There’s also the other important element of the power of social media and election interference which should be of significant concern for all democracies.
Plus as always is the case with these things if you don’t want to read it you don’t have to click on the link.
Important to bring this to public attention. Deepfake media usage is rising and there’s a certain cohort who will believe everything they see because the never question validity.
Deepdake videos are already a problem for famous actresses with porn. I’ve heard of deepdake porn being produced with regular people as revenge.
All we need are a couple of deepfake “casual conversation” candid filmed videos and tails will be wagging dogs.
The camera never lies, right? Right???
Deep fakes could be a tool used to unbalance societies, look at Myanmar, fake news spread through facebook. A muslim teashop owner accused of raping a buddhist girl, chaos ensued, shops ransacked, riots on the streets, men weilding machetes, the accusation was spread by a really far right wing muslim who despises muslims. Imagine the propaganda he could produce with deep fakes
How is this AI – it’s just some video and a voice over.
@Alan McGee: because the video was manipulated so his mouth moves as per the voiceover’s words, otherwise it would be a normal video with terrible dubbing
@Vocal Outrage: There is no dubbing .. its all AI..
@Lad: that’s my point, it’s all AI, I was being asked how it was AI and was pointing out the difference. Please read comments prior to attacking, particularly when the guy your attacking actually agrees with you
@Vocal Outrage: The problem with the impersonality of the internet… He wasn’t attacking you, he was making a correction with no adverse language at all. It was a fair comment too, your statement gives the impression that only the mouth was manipulated.
This isn’t an attack either, just stating how it looks from an outside perspective to hopefully help you not overreact in future.
Social media is the biggest disease of our time. It is going to rot our minds. The next war will be on social media because even people like myself gets influenced by what we see on TV, on apps etc. There needs to be proper checks and balances put in place. Our privacy is bring eroded. Every app downloaded gives these companies access to our personal information. And I know yes it is our decision weather we use them or not. But we are weak. It allows companies to manipulate our decisions. See what we are willing to pay for things etc etc it will destroy us
@Caoimhín O’Cheallacháin: 1984 George was right .
Presume that the deepfake video of President Trump will be of him without telling a lie!
Social media is a disease. Biggest disease of our generation and I believe will be the cause of the next world war. It steals our information. Manipulates our thoughts and influences our decisions. When will world powers fight back.
@Caoimhín O’Cheallacháin: social media will be the cigarettes of our generation. Thought to be completely harmless at first…
@Jack Johnson: I totally agree. Algorithms dictating our future. What it does to young children. Increased incidence of depression. Etc etc the list goes on.
This is a really good example of it
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bPhUhypV27w
The transitions between Hader to Schwarzenegger are seamless.
I find these deep fake videos deeply unconvincing.
Delete facebook, very few people ‘need’ it, I got rid 3 years ago and thought to myself this will be tough,but after a couple of weeks I didn’t miss it one bit and i’m glad I got off it. I have twitter for news only and post nothing personal nor am I connected to any ‘real life’ friends/family on it .
g
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