Archive
Nevada Issues a Driver’s License to Google’s Self-Driving Car
By Paul Adams 05.08.2012 at http://www.popsci.com/
FDA Proposes Bypassing Doctors, Selling Prescription Drugs Over the Counter
Tuesday, 08 May 2012
‘When it comes to freedom of food choice, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) considers Americans to be too stupid to make their own dietary choices. But when pharmaceuticals are involved, the FDA apparently thinks individuals should be able to completely self-medicate themselves without a prescription, having recently proposed new guidelines that would make it easier than ever for patients to access high-risk prescription drugs without even having to see a doctor.
The Washington Times reports that a new four-page proposal made by the FDA suggests that cholesterol (statins), diabetes, and asthma drugs, among others, be made available over-the-counter (OTC) to patients without a prescription. And what is the reason for this? According to the agency, too many patients are not getting their prescriptions filled, and many would-be patients are not going in to receive the treatments that their medical overlords feel they should be receiving.’
Read more: FDA Proposes Bypassing Doctors, Selling Prescription Drugs Over the Counter
The US Military Wants To ‘Microchip’ Troops
Monday, 07 May 2012 
‘DARPA is at it again. This time, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency has announced plans to create nanochips for monitoring troops health on the battlefield.
Kate Knibbs at Mobiledia reports the sensors are targeted at preventing illness and disease, the two causes of most troops medical evacuations. What seems like a simple way of cutting costs and increasing efficiency has some people concerned that this is the first step in a “computer chips for all” scenario.
Bob Unruh at WND reports one of those opponents, Katherine Albrecht, co-author of Spychips says “It’s never going to happen that the government at gunpoint says, ‘You’re going to have a tracking chip. It’s always in incremental steps. If you can put a microchip in someone that doesn’t track them … everybody looks and says, ‘Come on, it’ll be interesting seeing where we go.’”’
Naked Body Scanners Could be Soon Be in All UK Airports After EU Ruled They are Safe
Saturday, 05 May 2012 10:49
‘Controversial ‘naked’ body scanners could be introduced at all UK airports after top scientists declared them safe.
Manchester Airport has been trialling the device – known as back scatter scanner – since 2009, but the European Commission halted new trials last year amid concerns there was a risk to passengers’ health from high levels of radiation.
But an EU study has decided that the risk from the scanners, which use X-rays to scan through clothing to produce images of passengers, is ‘close to zero’ and no greater than other factors.’
Read more: Naked Body Scanners Could be Soon Be in All UK Airports After EU Ruled They are Safe
US Military-Industrial Giant KBR in Bidding to Privatize British Police Forces
Friday, 04 May 2012
‘Giant US military-industrial company Kellogg Brown & Root (KBR) is in the running to win a slice of a controversial £1.5 billion (US$2.43 billion) contract to transform the West Midlands and Surrey police forces in Britain, The (London) Times reported.
Hailed as the largest police privatization scheme in the UK, it has been suggested the private companies who win the contract will be tasked to perform several police functions — including patrols, detention and criminal investigation.
KBR, a former subsidiary of the Halliburton group, has attracted its share of criticism over the large contracts it won with the US government during the recent wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. The corporation also helped to build the Guantanamo Bay detention facility.’
Read more: US Military-Industrial Giant KBR in Bidding to Privatize British Police Forces
No-Fly Zone To Be Enforced By Shoot-To-Kill Order During NATO Summit
Thursday, 03 May 2012 11:28
‘A new report reveals plans to keep residents and dignitaries safe during the NATO Summit include a no-fly zone, with a shoot-to-kill mandate for those who break the ban.
As CBS 2’s Susanna Song reports, the government is warning small plane pilots that if they enter the no-fly zone during the summit, they may be shot down.
This is no joke. It will be enforced for May 19 to May 21.’
Read more: No-Fly Zone To Be Enforced By Shoot-To-Kill Order During NATO Summit
No Jab, No education: New CA Law Requires Middle Schoolers to Provide Proof of Tdap Vaccination in Order to Receive Education
Thursday, 03 May 2012 09:03
‘A new amendment to California’s Health and Safety Code as it relates to vaccinations will take effect this fall for the 2012-2013 school year, and will require all incoming seventh graders, as well as eighth and twelfth graders for the first year, to get a Tdap booster vaccination for pertussis (whooping cough) before being admitted to school. The website of the Marin County School District, which includes the city of San Francisco, literally states “No shot, No School!” in an apparent attempt to strong-arm parents into complying with the new provision.
Even though students in California can be exempted from any and all vaccinations for medical or personal reasons, most parents are largely unaware of this fact. And because of the 2010 whooping cough outbreak in California, many parents will likely just comply with the new Tdap requirement simply out of fear that their child could be the next victim of the disease, even though the Tdap vaccine itself has been shown to be ineffective at protecting against whooping cough.’
1200 Pelicans, 900 dolphins Dead on beach In Peru
The bodies of hundreds of pelicans have been found in Peru on the same beaches where almost 900 dead dolphins have washed up over the last month.
The government said they will investigate the deaths of almost 600 birds found along a 70km stretch of northern coastline – the majority of which are pelicans, but also include gannets.
The fisherman’s association in Puerto Eten, north Peru , said it found around 1,200 dead pelicans last week along a 170km string of beaches.
Peru’s Institute of the Sea’s regional chief, Edward Barriga, described a similar event in the area from 1997 when a lack of anchovies resulted in the deaths of pelicans and cormorants.
At the time, the El Nino meteorological phenomenon was blamed for the lack of food. It occurs in the Pacific Ocean around every five years and results in variations in the temperature and pressure of the sea.
Over the last month the bodies of as many as 877 dolphins have also washed up in the region, which is approximately 700km northwest of the capital, Lima.
Officials are looking into whether a virus or seismic tests that have been carried out nearby could be the cause of the deaths.
But the government’s fisheries minister said that based on the evidence available they had not found a relationship between the animal bodies and tests related to the exploration of oil.
Who owns your stuff in the cloud?
By Michelle Maltais, Los Angeles Times, April 26, 2012
Google’s recently unveiled Google Drive is among the cloud-based data storage services available. Google says you retain ownership of any intellectual property rights that you hold in that content. But where the Google policy may read a bit murky is what you entitle Google to do with your stuff. Above, at the company’s headquarters in Mountain View, Calif. (Paul Sakuma, Associated Press / April 12, 2012)
As more people look to the cloud for digital storage, such as the recently unveiled Google Drive, the era of being able to mindlessly click “OK” or “Agree” may be over.
When your stuff is stored on your computer at home, you alone are responsible for keeping it safe, secure and backed up. Your roof, your rules. But when you shift from local storage to remote, you live by terms set by someone else — and it’s best to read them.
Read more: http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-tech-savvy-cloud-services-20120426,0,3241271.story
‘500 Kiloton Nuke Bomb…And Sub…Go Missing From Germany’
Wednesday, 02 May 2012 11:43
‘A nuclear weapon that wasn’t supposed to exist, a single 500 kiloton hydrogen bomb, one of four being tracked, was seen being loaded at the German port of Bemerhaven, Germany.
The groups assisting in what we were informed was a counter-terrorism surveillance operation were the American NSA, British MI 6, the Office of Naval Intelligence and the British Royal Navy. The “device” was loaded onto a Germany built “Dolphin” submarine and left the harbour doing 7.5 knots.
The submarine disappeared while being tracked by every sophisticated device NATO seems to be able to own or borrow. At least one of those from among the listed agencies was arrested by the local police force in Oxford, their electronic surveillance gear siezed, were confined for 12 hours despite being above arrest and detention as a senior NATO intelligence officer.’
Read more: 500 Kiloton Nuke Bomb…And Sub…Go Missing From Germany?
Believe nothing 