Yearly Archives: 2013

Facebook releases government surveillance data

"Several Internet companies have struck an agreement with the U.S. government to release limited information about the number of surveillance requests they receive, two sources familiar with the discussions told Reuters. Facebook became the first to release aggregate numbers of requests, saying in a blog post that it received between 9,000 and 10,000 requests for user data in the second half of 2012, covering 18,000 to 19,000 of its users’ accounts. Other Internet companies are expected to release numbers of government requests without breaking out how many originate from the National Security Agency, the sources said." Continue reading →

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Eric Holder ‘confident’ of bringing NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden ‘to justice’

"The United States is confident it will bring Edward Snowden to justice for 'extremely damaging' leaks about secret internet surveillance programmes, US Attorney General Eric Holder said on Friday. 'The national security of the United States has been damaged by those leaks. The safety of the American people and safety of people in allied nations is at risk,' he said. Holder also said that he had agreed to share details with the European Union about the so-called PRISM programme, which was exposed after Snowden spoke to British and American newspapers." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingEric Holder ‘confident’ of bringing NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden ‘to justice’

Hong Kong protesters back Edward Snowden, denounce allegations of U.S. spying

"A few hundred rights advocates and political activists marched through Hong Kong on Saturday to demand protection for Edward Snowden, who leaked revelations of U.S. electronic surveillance and is now believed to be holed up in the former British colony. 'Arrest Obama, free Snowden,' protesters shouted outside the slate grey building as police looked on. Many waved banners that said: 'Betray Snowden, betray freedom', 'Big brother is watching you' and 'Obama is checking your email'. The city reverted to Chinese rule in 1997 but enjoys far more liberal laws on dissent and freedom of expression." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingHong Kong protesters back Edward Snowden, denounce allegations of U.S. spying

Bill Gates Buys into Massive Security and Prison Management Company

"The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Trust and Cascade Investment, an asset management firm owned by Bill Gates, increased their combined holding in G4S to 3.2 percent last week. G4S is the world's largest securities firm and which runs services such as cash transportation and prison management in over 125 countries. According to their web site, they have more than 50,000 employees across the United States and Canada. alone. Worldwide, G4S has around 657,000 employee. G4S services include providing supplies security equipment and services for use at Israeli prisons, checkpoints and settlements in the West Bank." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBill Gates Buys into Massive Security and Prison Management Company

Police sued after charging girl with making up rape claim about serial rapist

"A woman has sued several police and city officials after she was accused of lying about being raped. Marc Patrick O’Leary was later sentenced to more than 300 years in prison in 2011. In 2008, when the woman was 18, she reported that O’Leary had tied her up and assaulted her. Police found physical evidence that supported her story, and doctors documented abrasions on her wrists and vagina. However, the detectives accused her of fabricating the incident and charged her with filing a false police report. Three years later, O’Leary was arrested and federal agents uncovered hundreds of photos of his victims, including the woman." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingPolice sued after charging girl with making up rape claim about serial rapist

Missouri Appeals Court Strikes Down St. Louis Red Light Camera Ordinance

"Missouri's second-highest court on Tuesday ruled the St. Louis municipal ordinance authorizing the use of red light cameras is invalid. St. Louis adopted the photo ticketing ordinance in 2005, without the permission of the state legislature. American Traffic Solutions (ATS), the private company in charge of the program, began issuing $100 red light camera tickets in 2007. The measure presumes the owner of the vehicle is always the person driving it, which allows the city to prosecute the owner through the mail with penalties of up to $500 and ninety days in jail." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingMissouri Appeals Court Strikes Down St. Louis Red Light Camera Ordinance

David Galland: Scenarios

"No one can predict the future – the world is too complex, and a big part of that complexity comes from the human species in which all traits, good and bad, are present. (Is there such a thing as an armadillo with bad character? A bunny rabbit?) When people with bad character, or even good character but suffering from delusions, backed by the full power of the state make it their business to protect you against an unforeseeable future, and approach their task with the idea that individual rights should play a distant second fiddle to the greater good, it's time to be cautious." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingDavid Galland: Scenarios

Organic growers lose decision in suit versus Monsanto over seeds

"Monsanto Co. on Monday won another round in a legal battle with U.S. organic growers as an appeals court threw out the growers’ efforts to stop the company from suing farmers if traces of its patented biotech genes are found in crops. Organic farmers and others have worried for years that they will be sued by Monsanto for patent infringement if their crops get contaminated with Monsanto biotech crops. In its ruling Monday, the appellate court said the organic growers must rely on Monsanto assurances on the company’s website that it will not sue them so long as the mix is very slight." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingOrganic growers lose decision in suit versus Monsanto over seeds

Connecticut becomes first state to pass legislation requiring genetically modified (GM) food labeling

"The small US state of Connecticut became the first to pass legislation requiring food products with genetically modified ingredients to be labeled as such. The legislation was strongly supported in a 134-3 vote in the state House, making Connecticut the first of some two dozen states mulling GM foods labeling to pass a measure. The bill said that the labeling rules will only take effect when at least four other states, including at least one of them an immediate neighbor of Connecticut such as New York, enact similar legislation, and also only when states in the northeastern region of the country with a combined population of 20 million or more do the same." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingConnecticut becomes first state to pass legislation requiring genetically modified (GM) food labeling

Study links genetically modified grain to stomach inflammation in pigs

"Pigs fed a diet of only genetically modified grain showed markedly higher stomach inflammation than pigs who dined on conventional feed, according to a new study by a team of Australian scientists and U.S. researchers. those pigs that ate the GM diet had a higher rate of severe stomach inflammation – 32 percent of GM-fed pigs compared to 12 percent of non-GM-fed pigs. The inflammation was worse in GM-fed males compared to non-GM fed males by a factor of 4.0. Critics have argued for years that the DNA changes made to the transgenic plants engineer novel proteins that can be causing the digestive problems in animals and possibly in humans." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingStudy links genetically modified grain to stomach inflammation in pigs