David Duke and his dog, in happier times. (Photo: YouTube)

Former Ku Klux Klan Grand Wizard David Duke may hate the Jews, but he sure loved his dog, Torri. When the seventeen-year-old, all-white (naturally!) Maltese died a few months back, Mr. Duke did what any of us would do after the loss of a beloved pet--he filmed a nearly fifteen minute video tribute to the dog and uploaded it to YouTube complete with an emotional folk soundtrack, photos of Torri exploring the great outdoors and musings on the nature of life, death and grief.

Mr. Duke initially made his "Tribute to Torri" private, but he has since relaxed the clip's privacy settings at "the urging of those who met Torri over the last 17 years." We're so glad Mr. Duke chose to share his video, because it's all kinds of incredible. Despite how amazing this video it is, it somehow seems to have escaped the attention of the internet, so we present it to you now. 

"It's been two weeks since Torri died....It still hurts," Mr. Duke explains as the video begins. "Grief actually can be quite wonderful. It heals the soul and it's such a tribute to the spirit that has passed on....I want to express my heart while these feelings flood over me like warm waves. We all, once upon a time long ago, came from the water and the tears that fill our blurry eyes, even against our will, wash us and heal us."

According to Mr. Duke, Torri was an invaluable companion in his crusade against "Zionist-driven Globalism."

"The eternal struggle for our peoples' heritage and our freedom is so hard sometimes. There are so many difficulties on this high, rough road," said Mr. Duke. "Torri would sit by me the countless hours as I wrote books and articles. And it seemed she was always telling me, 'Keep doing your job, I'm doing mine staying by your side.'"

The small dog didn't simply help Mr. Duke by sitting near him. He also credits Torri with being a sounding board as he created his 1998 "masterpiece," My Awakening: A Path to Racial Understanding, in which he purports to provide "compelling evidence that belief in racial equality is the modern scientific equivalent of believing that the earth is flat."

"She truly helped me write my seven hundred page book My Awakening. She was there to listen to me read aloud what I had just written to make sure it had the rhythm and eloquence that I sought. And Torri always looked at me intently when I spoke to her," Mr. Duke said.

Though Torri clearly spent a great deal of time with Mr. Duke in front of a keyboard, she also traveled the globe with him. In his video, Mr. Duke claims he and the dog "explored ancient European ruins" and "climbed at least 500 mountains and hills" together.

"She even secretly made her way in her shoulder bag into places like the Sistine Chapel, and the Louvre and a number of places that her kind were banned," explained Mr. Duke.

Torri's portability was a key part of her appeal to Mr. Duke. In his video he said he chose to get a Maltese, a toy dog breed, because he needed an animal that was "small enough to easily go wherever I went." This apparently raised eyebrows with his friends as carrying a small, toy dog in a man-purse was incongruous with his image as a white nationalist firebrand.

"A few times my friends told me, 'How can you carry around that little, quote, 'fag' dog?' I told them that I was a man secure enough in my heterosexuality that I sure was not going to worry about what people might think," Mr. Duke said.

Indeed, Mr. Duke's life isn't all angry racist rhetoric. His love for animals is just one aspect of his softer side. Mr. Duke also moonlights in "PhotoArt," a discipline he seemingly created himself that involves taking pictures of landscapes and then  using a computer to add "artistic flourish in color, brightness, contrast, composition, line and form to make a truly beautiful photo-artwork that will captivate and inspire you." According to Mr. Duke's website, some of his "PhotoArt" has even "been quietly displayed in European showings and galleries under a nom de plume."

Apparently, in this internet-dominated age, the White Nationalist world, much like the rest of society, is being taken over by Instagram-style digitally-manipulated nature photos and cute animal videos.

Watch Mr. Duke's "Tribute to Torri" video below.

Luka Magnotta posing as James Dean in Los Angeles. (Photo: Luka-Magnotta.Deviantart.com)

Last Chance for Animals, an organization "dedicated to eliminating animal exploitation" has taken responsibility for posting a series of YouTube pages "glorifying" accused Canadian killer Luka Magnotta and referencing the case of a severed head found by the Hollywood sign in Los Angeles earlier this year. According to an LCA press release, these videos were made by their "special investigations unit" in an attempt to "lure in the killer, or his companions, using covert tactics often reserved for law enforcement and intelligence agencies."

"SIU investigators immediately got to work and posted a video glorifying Magnotta, dubbing him 'The James Dean Killer,'" the press release said.  "A second video titled '1 Man 1 Icon' was produced to continue the façade using family photos of Magnotta that had not yet been featured in the press."

LCA was founded by a former soap opera actor named Chris DeRose in the 1980's. In addition to Mr. Magnotta's family photos, the YouTube videos posted by LCA also featured pictures of the Hollywood sign, references to the Satanic Bible and a description calling Mr. Magnotta “the sexiest serial killer ever to walk the earth.”

Mr. Magnotta was arrested in Berlin on Monday after an international manhunt after he allegedly killed and dismembered a man named Lin Jun in Montreal. Mr. Magnotta allegedly posted a gruesome video of the crime online and mailed the body parts to the headquarters of Canadian political parties. When he was caught, Mr. Magnotta was in an internet cafe reading news articles about himself. Prior to the Jun killing, Mr. Magnotta earned the ire of animal rights activists after he was linked to a series of videos that allegedly showed him killing kittens.

According to the LCA, their videos caused them to make contact "with several individuals who may have been Luka, or close associates of Luka" and "that information was turned over to Law Enforcement."

The Observer previously alerted police in Montreal and Los Angeles to the videos posted by LCA in light of other potential links between Mr. Magnotta and the Hollywood sign killing. Along with the videos, there are similarities in the methodology of the Jun killing and the Hollywood Sign murder, which both involved severed body parts placed in prominent locations, as well as Facebook postings on one of the many accounts attributed to Mr. Magnotta that indicate he was in Los Angeles less than one month after the Hollywood Sign killing.

On Monday, a police detective in Montreal told us they planned to communicate with the LAPD to discuss the possibility Mr. Magnotta was involved in that case. At the time, we noted, "it’s impossible to say for sure whether the HollywoodLoveLetters account belongs to Mr. Magnotta and whether he actually had anything to do with the Hollywood Sign killing. The only thing that’s certain is that someone out there is going to great lengths to associate him with it."

Apparently, that someone was the LCA.

We were made aware of the LCA's press release after receiving an email from an anonymous member of the organization. We asked them whether they were concerned about potentially wasting the time and energy of law enforcement officials who were looking into the videos and why they chose to reference the Hollywood sign killing in their postings.

"I'm really sorry, but I will need to clear any further comments with LCA's president," they said.

Luka Magnotta posing in front of the Hollywood Sign in a picture dated to 2007. (Photo: Flickr)

Could Canadian killer and infamous internet villain Luka Magnotta be behind a Hollywood murder mystery? After an international manhunt, German police say they have arrested Luka Magnotta in Berlin over ten days after he allegedly killed and dismembered a man named Lin Jun, posted a gruesome video of the crime online and mailed the body parts to the headquarters of Canadian political parties. However, The Observer has uncovered information that could potentially link Mr. Magnotta to an infamous case from earlier this year where the severed head and hands of a man were found on a wooded trail near the Hollywood Sign.

Update (6/8/12 8:37 A.M.): The LAPD has confirmed they are investigating the possibility Mr. Magnotta was involved in the Hollywood Sign killing.

Mr. Magnotta is a self-described male model and sometime escort who became infamous on the internet in late 2010 after online sleuths tied him to a series of videos showing a man killing kittens by drowning them and suffocating them in a vacuum bag. Over the past few years, Mr. Magnotta has used a series of online accounts and aliases to promote himself and discuss his alleged participation in the kitten killings. Immediately after the video of the Canadian murder, which includes footage of necrophilia and potential cannibalism, was posted online, Mr. Magnotta disappeared and law enforcement began an international manhunt saying they believed he fled to Europe.

Luka Magnotta posing as James Dean in Los Angeles. (Photo: Luka-Magnotta.Deviantart.com)

While Mr. Magnotta was on the lam, a series of YouTube accounts appeared commenting on the case. Experts have said at least one of the accounts, which used the user name "Beavis Butthead," "sounds exactly like" it was being operated by Mr. Magnotta himself. An online gaming account that had been used by Mr. Magnotta in the past also showed activity following his disappearance. When the German police arrested Mr. Magnotta, they found him at an internet cafe, further indicating he was accessing the web while on the run. Detective Sergeant Antonio Paradiso of the Montreal Police Service told us Mr. Magnotta "most probably" made online postings while he was on the lam, but it is very difficult to confirm for certain.

"That's very difficult to verify, we're still making verifications. There are all these sites anyone can access, it's incredible how difficult and complicated it could get," Mr. Paradiso said of the YouTube accounts potentially belonging to Mr. Magnotta.

One suspicious account that emerged while Mr. Magnotta evaded capture used the name HollywoodLoveLetters.

Update (6/6/12 3:31 A.M.): A group of activists affiliated with the organization Last Chance For Animals has taken responsibility for creating the HollywoodLoveLetters account on YouTube. They claim it was part of an "investigation" into Mr. Magnotta.

The account opened on Friday and its first action was"liking" footage of an interview with Mr. Magnotta. HollywoodLoveLetters followed that up soon afterward by posting a video entitled "The James Dean Killer - Luka Rocco Magnotta." Prior to the video's being posted, no public accounts attributed the "James Dean Killer" moniker to Mr. Magnotta, but the alleged killer himself has a documented interest in the late movie star. He once named Dean as one of his idols, has claimed to have undergone cosmetic surgery to look more like the actor and has posed for photo shoots dressed as Dean.

The "James Dean Killer" video featured a description calling Mr. Magnotta "the sexiest serial killer ever to walk the earth." Many of the online sleuths who have been following Mr. Magnotta commented on the video claiming the poster must be the alleged killer himself, but HollywoodLoveLetters never directly responded to these comments.

Purported family photos of Luka Magnotta that appeared in the YouTube video entitled "The James Dean Killer - 1 Man 1 Icon - Luka Rocco Magnotta." (Photo: YouTube)

Originally, the avatar used on the HollywoodLoveLetters profile was a mashup of the gay pride flag and the U.S. flag. Over the weekend, HollywoodLoveLetters switched the picture to a shot of the Hollywood sign. On Sunday, HollywoodLoveLetters began directly referring to the Hollywood Sign killing by "liking" a video news report on the case. That day, HollywoodLoveLetters also posted another video about Mr. Magnotta entitled "The James Dean Killer - 1 Man 1 Icon - Luka Rocco Magnotta." This second video features several purported personal photos of Mr. Magnotta including pictures described as showing his parents in the 1980's and him at five months old that do not seem to have appeared online prior to the video's release. In the purported photo of his parents, his mother is scrawled out. A distorted voice in the video also utters the words "The Nine Satanic Statements," which come from the bible of the Church of Satan. Last April, a post titled "The Nine Satanic Statements, Sins and Rules Of The Earth" appeared on one of the many blog sites that seem to have been maintained by Mr. Magnotta. The naming convention of the newest HollywoodLoveLetters video also matches the title of the gruesome video of the Canadian killing that was posted online, which was "1 Lunatic 1 Icepick." The account has shown no new activity since Mr. Magnotta's capture this morning and the user did not respond to a request for comment last night.

In addition to the YouTube activity and the obvious similarities in the methodology of the Jun killing and the Hollywood Sign murder, which both involved severed body parts placed in prominent locations, Facebook postings on one of the many accounts attributed to Mr. Magnotta indicate he was in Los Angeles less than one month after the Hollywood Sign killing. In the postings, which were dated February 19, the Facebook user who identifies themselves as Mr. Magnotta tries to arrange a meeting with a friend and informs them he is "doing massages" in Los Angeles. He lists a phone number that traces to an L.A. escort agency as the best way to contact him.

Facebook posting showing a user who identifies themselves as Luka Magnotta claiming to be in Los Angeles in February.

The severed head and hands were found by the Hollywood Sign by two women who were walking their dogs on January 17. Police later identified the victim as Hervey Medellin, 66. Mr. Medellin was reported missing by his boyfriend on January 9.

We have given this information to police in both Montreal and Los Angeles. Both agencies have told us they are reviewing our tip.

"For the moment we're still working on what we have here. We have a lot of things to do on that," Mr. Paradiso said. "Maybe tomorrow, or sometime this week, I'm going to call LAPD or speak with someone there to see if there's a link between our file and their file."

With the online information being difficult to quickly verify, Mr. Paradiso said the only confirmed links between Mr. Magnotta's case and the Hollywood Sign killing are "there's a body that's cut up, that the guy was gay and that our guy may have frequented Los Angeles."

At this stage, it's impossible to say for sure whether the HollywoodLoveLetters account belongs to Mr. Magnotta and whether he actually had anything to do with the Hollywood Sign killing. The only thing that's certain is that someone out there is going to great lengths to associate him with it.

Cook.

Warm as a cashmere muffler, relaxed as a happy kitten, and ready for an attack of total perfection, Barbara Cook’s new show at Feinstein’s at Loew’s Regency shows off the legendary singer in a more intimate light than ever. She calls this appearance “Let’s Fall in Love,” and for good reason. Spring is a time for love songs, so through April 21, she’s up to her Easter bonnet brim with them. And this is the first time she has ever selected the song list on her own, without the aid of a musical “boss,” and done the layouts and interpolations herself. The result is fresh and as personal as if you were spending an evening in her own living room while she pulled favorite tunes from her piano bench. I have never heard that magical voice more mercurial or sparkling with so much musical magic. 

The material is mostly new (she’s singing 11 of the 16 songs for the first time) and it ranges widely in mood and text, from a bouncy “Let’s Fall in Love” to a pensive “I Hadn’t Anyone Till You” to a tender, thoughtful reading of Hoagy Carmichael’s “The Nearness of You.” I don’t know why she hasn’t spent more time investigating the pastoral splendors of country boy Hoagy. His songs fit her voice so elegantly. She takes his “Georgia on My Mind” and gives it a down-home, gingham-skirt quality Ray Charles never thought about. Small wonder. You can take the girl out of Atlanta, but ... Even the overdone Eddie Cantor evergreen, “Makin’ Whoopee,” is delicate, lightly swinging, and highly listenable. The silver sparkle of midnight neon mixed with the violet tinges of unrequited love makes “When Sunny Gets Blue” a special favorite. This is a stunning song so goosebumpy that it’s a shame more singers don’t do it. Singing the subtext, she moves into the lyrics like a sinuous masseuse, reaching for notes that make you hold your breath with fear—and always landing them squarely in the middle. Carefully supported by Ted Rosenthal on piano, Warren Odze on drums and the polished, unpredictable Jay Leonhart on bass, she’s got a hazy, lazy musical hammock to swing in. Still, she never abandons her sense of humor. Confessing an addiction to YouTube that keeps her up until 4 a.m., she reduces the audience to roars sharing some of the country-western songs she’s discovered. Are you ready for “If My Nose Was Runnin’ Money, I’d Blow it All on You?” That’s an actual song title, not a Henny Youngman joke. One highlight in an eclectic, harmonically integrated repertoire is a new tune by Dan Hicks (say who?) called “I Don’t Want Love.” The antithesis of the overall mood in an evening that includes “Lover Man” and the gorgeous, forgotten 1933 classic “If I Love Again,” “I Don’t Want Love” is about food and passion and priorities. It’s also Babs’s way of spoofing her own girth: “If love makes you give up ham and greens/Chicken pot pie and lima beans/If love makes you give up onion rings ... Then I don’t want love.” The audience was in stitches.

Don’t let this one slip away. Pensive, her eyes full of pain and joy and wisdom and loss, this is Barbara Cook in a sweet new light. She’s always as good as it gets, but this time she’s better than ever.

rreed@observer.com

Who speaks for Anonymous?

Update: It looks like some members of Anonymous were able to take the  website for the New York Stock Exchange offline for approximately two minutes. No trading was affected. A compromise, or just a failed mission? Also, what about the "no hacking on a holiday" rule??

Watch out, New York Stock Exchange! You are the next target of the hacker group Anonymous, according to a YouTube video that went up October 5th. That would be the day of Occupy Wall Street's Megamarch, though the latter group has tried to distance itself from the hacktivist community.

Oh wait: Scratch that. A video appeared this weekend, from the same YouTube account as the first message, claiming that the NYSE would not be getting hacked after all...or at least not on a holiday. But now there's an even newer video, claiming that some of Anonymous is going through with the NYSE attack. Huh?

As it turns out, different factions of Anonymous are having trouble getting together on this whole "take down the entire stock market" idea.

So is Anonymous breaking up?

This whole issue stems from one YouTube account, AnonMessage, that is apparently only owned by one individual. (It gets tricky to tell how many people are involved with Anonymous accounts, since all their messages come out in the same computerized voice.)

Nevertheless, an October 7th update apologized: they were  "mistaken" to have posted the past two videos - "Operation Invade Wall Street: A Message to the Media" and "Operation Invade Wall Street: A Message to the People" - since the messages  did not come from the "official" AnonOps headquarters.

Transcript:

Hello, citizens of the world. My name is TheAnonMessage. I speak on behalf of myself and the Anonymous collective. I would like to point out a few things regarding my channel, my mission, and the two notorious videos that were posted by me almost a week ago.

My mission is very simple: To bring viewers of YouTube easy access to documents made by fellow An ons from AnonOps in a creative yet simple form of video. I am a messenger of Anonymous just as it says in my name. I aknowledge that I am NOT the messenger of the ENTIRE collective, but I represent the majority. The documents I choose to make videos out of involve several announcements of operations, new factions, and general news and information on Anonymous. Apparently, this time, I have not been entirely successful in completing my mandate, which is to bring the people of the world general news and information on Anonymous.

The last two videos up loaded "Operation Invade Wall Street: A Message to the Media" and "Operation Invade Wall Street: A Message to the People" were part of an operation formed by a group of An ons in AnonOps which was officially called hashtag operation invade wall street.

I did not support that particular message. But as a messenger, I had to address it, thinking it was justified by AnonOps.

I was mistaken.

Therefore, I would like to state my sincere apologies to anyone who was misinformed or dismayed by any of the two videos. I am sorry if any of the two videos caused any shaken trust in either me, this channel, or the Anonymous collective. I should have known the following:

-Anonymous would never tell the people to use LOIC after it has created consequences during our attacks of Operation Payback.
-Anonymous would never issue an attack on N Y S E during a holiday, as it is completely irrelevant.
-Anonymous would find it completely unnecessary to use a Distributed Denial Of Service attack on N Y S E dot com as it does not control or contribute to any stock trade or exchange of bonds within the one percent.
-Anonymous would find it plainly stupid to announce the attack 10 days before the attack takes effect. We do usual attacks quickly and swiftly.

As of now, operation invade wall street has been terminated. Many people could still proceed with attacking N Y S E. They will do it at their own risk. I do not support this because it is dangerous and a call for massive arrests. If you wish to proceed, remember to take the necessary precautions to hide yourself. If you are not an experienced hacker, do not, and I mean this, do not get involved. You will be putting yourself into trouble. Be ware. I will keep the existing two videos as they contain annotated information that will spread throughout the embedded videos.

Then yesterday another video appeared, just to clarify that there are indeed different factions of Anonymous that might have separate goals:

Transcript:

There's been some con flict, as always. Many people refuse to accept that Operation Invade Wall Street is a reality. Some say it is a COINTELPRO agent tactic to set the map for a false flag operation.

I am here to say that I am the messenger. As the messenger, I cannot take sides. I am not supporting or opposing invade wall street, and it was wrong of me to say that the operation has been terminated.

I am here to state the message.

I am here to clarify that factions of Anonymous are going with the operation. Other factions are opposing it....

I immediately follow this information with an important message. Do not use this tool if you are easily traceable, such as when using a house router or any other personal form of internet connection.

Earlier today there was a short hack on N Y S E dot com. I am not authorized to reveal any other information other than that it was down for 30 minutes in a matter of seconds.

Those who are going to be part of the attack have a message to the N Y S E: We hack you because we don't like you.

We are all Anonymous.
We are all one Legion.
We do not forgive.
We do not forget.
N Y S E, expect those of us who plan to destroy you.

So essentially the AnonMessage account has been dealing with faulty information. Or possibly real information that it does not agree with, and some other Anonymous members might not agree with.

And this is what it looks like when a decentralized collective of Internet hackers start having organizational issues. Anonymous doesn't really work as a faceless entity to be feared if its members start airing their group's problems with the world.

Though on the plus side, the NYSE seems to be doing fine right now. Thank God for Columbus Day.

Indeed, nothing caps off a Saturday afternoon at the Brooklyn Flea like a round of Brazilian ground wrestling. Or so we gather given that Williamsburg Brazilian Jiu Jitsu has just signed a 2,800-square-foot lease at 42 Dobbin Street, between Nassau and Norman avenues. The studio is run by professional fighter Roger Mamedov, who, judging by this YouTube video, enjoys a good grapple. 

Grant Dolgin of Kalmon Dolgin Affiliates represented the tenant and the landlord, Flour and Sugar LLC. The tenant is relocating from North 11th Street, also in Williamsburg, to the three-story, 88,000-square-foot building, where Vespa, Mariebelle Chocolates, SBK Florists, Blenderbox, City Aquarium and a new restaurant/bar by restaurateur Robert Shamliam are also located.

lkusisto@observer.com 

It also has one Twitter account and one YouTube account. That's how stuff works in a crazy, despotic dictatorship.

Anyways, this past weekend marked the birthday of Kim Jong-Un, scion of the increasingly unhinged Kim Jong-il and closely watched heir to the throne.

Jong-Un was probably expecting the same old thing, a bunch of parades in his honor and maybe a stadium full of rhythmic gymnasts.

Instead, the official Twitter and YouTube accounts of North Korea were hacked, most likely by South Koreans. The results are strange, hilarious and disturbing. Check out the video:

YouTube is rumored to be in talks to buy NNN, but TechCrunch is reporting something that suggests the startup may not be interested: NNN just raised $1.2 million in debt financing from Goldman Sachs and Saban Capital Group, as well as investors at Fuse Capital and Spark Capital.

NNN helps YouTube artists with branding and site design, advises on audience development, and helps with advertising and sponsorship. NNN also works directly with YouTube, iTunes and other distributors to get artist content promoted and featured so it can get a bajillion views.

NNN has raised more than $29 million since 2007, according to CrunchBase. Below, an early episode of Autotune the News.

ajeffries [at] observer.com | @adrjeffries

YouTube is handing out $1,000 vouchers for video equipment to 5,000 lucky YouTube stars as it mulls buying New York's mememaking video production group Next New Networks. Peter Kafka at Media Memo has sources who tell him NNN--from whence came the Bed Intruder song, the top YouTube hit of the year--is worth $50 million or more.

People watched 700 billion videos on YouTube this year, which might make you think we couldn't possibly have time for more. But with video growing in popularity, especially among mobile users and the arrival of fourth generation wireless networks, YouTube is thinking better, less shaky, more high definition video content production will be its new niche.

YouTube is no longer just about you. Viral videos are going pro with outfits like NNN and College Humor employing writers and producing video content that approaches the quality of what's on TV.

But YouTube has also been working with amateur producers through its Partners Program, which helps top video-makers like makeup coach Michelle Phan and musician Mystery Guitar Man (his proposal video is below), monetize their videos.

"It's clear that we want to see YouTube partners continue to create great video and further push the boundaries of what's possible online," YouTube said in a blog post.

In other words, equipping its users with better video tech is more than just a PR move.

ajeffries [at] observer.com | @adrjeffries