In a Major Privacy Victory, Seattle Mayor Orders Police to Dismantle Its Drone Program After Protests

n an amazing victory for privacy advocates and drone activists, yesterday, Seattle’s mayor ordered the city's police agency to cease trying use surveillance drones and dismantle its drone program. The police will return the two drones they previously purchased with a Department of Homeland Security grant to the manufacturer.

EFF has been warning of the privacy dangers surveillance drones pose to US citizens for more than a year now. In May of last year, we urged concerned citizens to take their complaints to their local governments, given Congress has been slow to act on any privacy legislation. The events of Seattle proves this strategy can work and should serve as a blueprint for local activism across the country.

Back in early 2012, the Seattle city council was told that the Seattle police agency had obtained an authorization to fly drones from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). But they did not find out from the police; they found out from a reporter who called after the council after he saw Seattle’s name on the list obtained by EFF as part of our lawsuit against the FAA.

City council was understandably not happy, and the police agency was forced to appear before the council and apologize. It then vowed to work with the ACLU of Washington and the FAA to develop guidelines to make sure drones wouldn’t violate Seattle citizens’ privacy. But as long as the guidelines weren’t passed in a binding city ordinance, there’d be no way to enforce them.

After a townhall meeting held by police, in which citizens showed up in droves and angrily denounced the city’s plans, some reporters insinuated that city counsel members’ jobs could be on the line if they did not pass strict drone legislation protecting its citizens privacy.

Documents obtained by MuckRock and EFF in October as part of our 2012 drone census showed that the Seattle police were trying to buy two more drones despite the controversy. But that ended yesterday as the Mayor put a stop to the program completely.

Critics of the privacy protests said the participants were exaggerating the capabilities of the Seattle drones, given they would only fly for less than an hour at a time and are much smaller than the Predator drones the military flies overseas and Department of Homeland Security flies at home.

But while Seattle’s potential drones may not have been able to stay in the air for long, similar drones have already been developed and advertised by drone manufacturers with the capability to stay in the air for hours or days at a time. In fact, Lockheed Martin has been bragging about a drone that weights 13.2 pounds (well within the FAA’s weight limits) that can be recharged by a laser on the ground and stay in the air indefinitely.

Since the Seattle protests have heated up, similar complaints have been heard at local city counsels and state legislatures across the country. At least thirteen states are now considering legislation to restrict drone use to protect privacy, and there are also members of Congress on both sides of the aisle pushing the same thing.

Here in the Bay Area, we’ve experienced a similar situation. The Alameda County Sheriff's Office tried to sneak through drone funding without a public hearing and told the county board of supervisors it only wanted to use the drone for emergency purposes. Yet in internal documents obtained by EFF and MuckRock as part of our 2012 drone census, the Sheriff’s Office said it wanted to use the drone for “suspicious persons” and “large crowd control disurbances.”

When EFF and ACLU held a press conference pointing out this discrepancy, the county backtracked and is now attempting to write privacy guidelines that could potentially be turned into binding law. We will keep you updated on further developments.

But regardless, it’s important that privacy advocates take the lesson from Seattle and apply it all over the country. This is an important privacy victory, and like we said back in May, local governments will listen to our concerns, so let’s make our voice heard.

Source: EFF

Did you know that your browser is geolocating you? This is how to turn it off for good.

Location aware browsing is a huge privacy issue.

Basically what it does is every time you go to a website that requests your location your browser will give it geo-locating information such as IP addresses to let the requesting site track you to wherever you are.

There is a very simple process to turn this feature off for good.

In your browser's address bar, type in about:config. There will be a box that pops up that warns about warranty info expiring blah blah blah. Ignore this warning and click I will be careful.

When you get to this page, there will be a search window at the top. What you need to do is type this in that search window exactly as written here. Just copy and paste.

geo.enabled

It will search your files and that one file will be singled out and displayed at the top of your search window.
Double click it to turn it off. You should see the value n the window change from true to false.

You're all finished. You have totally blocked access to your geo-location feature in your browser.

Just remember, anytime you update Firefox, your settings will set back to default so you will have to set the number at zero again to stop it.

Something else I wanted to discuss with you as well...

Did you know that when you visit a website on the internet, your computer deposits a cookie that lets the new website know what site you arrived there from.

So say you were looking at porn and then came to GLP, GLP would know which porn site you came from before you arrived.

Not exactly private but there is an easy fix.

We're going to do the same as last time by typing about:config into your browser's address bar.

Once you get in, type this into the search bar at the top.

network.http.sendRefererHeader

When the file is isolated, right click it, click modify and set the number value to 0 (zero).

That's it, you have stopped your browser from giving referrer information to the next site you visit. Again, remember that if you ever update your browser, you will have to do this over again so make a note to self.

If you have any questions, I will be glad to help.

Codex Alimentarius and GM Food Guidelines, Pt. 1

Over the last two years, I have written extensively about the Codex Alimentarius guidelines and how they relate specifically to vitamin and mineral supplements, food irradiation, and the use of Recombinant Bovine Growth Hormone (rBGH).

I have also detailed the history and workings of the international organization as well as many of the current day to day manifestations of Codex guidelines as they appear in domestic policy.

However, there is yet another area in which Codex guidelines will play a major role in the development of food policy – namely, the proliferation of Genetically Modified Food.

The Codex committee that serves as the main battleground for the consideration of GM food is the Codex Committee on Food Labeling. This committee is extremely relevant due to the fact that it can effectively reduce the power of the consumer to virtually nothing if it decides not to force companies or countries to label their GM food, thus removing the ability of the consumer to boycott and/or avoid those products. While it is well-known that public sentiment is unimportant to those at the top, governments and corporations tend to pay more attention when votes and sales reflect that sentiment. However, if Codex continues on its’ way to allowing unlabelled GM food onto the international market, the repercussions of consumer reaction will be entirely neutralized.

A brief discussion of the history of Codex in terms of GM food is necessary here to understand the direction that the organization is moving towards in regards to it.

Read more »

Twitter turning over huge amounts of user data to U.S. government

Social networking giant Twitter has released a new report outlining all subpoenaed, court ordered, and search warranted requests made by the U.S. government for private information about the site's users throughout the past year. And based on the figures, not only is the overall number of such requests steadily expanding, but Twitter is also increasingly being coerced into releasing this confidential data without legitimate probable cause or warrant.

During the first and second quarters of 2012, Twitter received a total of 849 requests for information, according to the report, about 80 percent of which came from the U.S. Roughly 12 percent of the requests made during this time came from Japan, while the remaining came from Canada, the U.K. and elsewhere. Overall, Twitter responded to 63 percent of these requests by providing some or all of the information requested, and rejected the other 37 percent.

But during the third and fourth quarters of 2012, the number of requests increased by nearly 20 percent over the previous two quarters. During Q1 and Q2, the U.S. government alone made a total of 679 requests, but during Q3 and Q4 this number jumped to 815 requests, representing a 20 percent increase. And even though Twitter's response rate to these requests decreased slightly from 63 percent to 57 percent between the first and second halves of the year, the figures suggest governments are increasingly seeking user data for internal purposes.

Private information shared with, or tracked by, Twitter could end up in the hands of Big Brother

Twitter has indicated publicly that it tries its best only to divulge information when the law permits. But according to a Wired.com report, the site and many others are sometimes strong-armed by governments into handing over private data without even a probable cause justification. The Patriot Act, for example, and other unconstitutional mandates set forth mostly in the last decade provision that government agencies can gather intelligence apart from constitutional guidelines.

"Last year ... [Twitter] was forced against its wishes to divulge the tweets and account information associated with the account of Malcolm Harris, who was arrested in an October Occupy movement march along the Brooklyn Bridge," writes David Kravets for Wired.com. "Twitter fought for harris, but in the end lost, even though no probable-cause warrant was used by New York state prosecutors."

According to Twitter policy, the company tries to notify users when requests for data occur "unless we are prohibited from doing so by law or in an emergency situation." But in practice, only about 24 percent of the requests made result in users being notified, while the other 76 percent are processed discreetly. Twitter has also indicated that it keeps a detailed and "complex" log of its users' behavior that tracks their every move, information that could also be getting released to government agencies upon request.

Source: Natural News

Genetic Roulette: Free Screening Until Feb 3rd, Vote For Best Awareness Film

No one has the right to play dice, to play roulette with the entire genetic integrity of life on the planet. - Tom Newmark, founder of Sacred Seeds

If there's only one more documentary you see in the remainder of your life: Make sure it's Genetic Roulette: The Gamble of Our Lives. World renown genetically modified organism (GMO) expert Jefferey Smith, who heads The Institute for Responsible Technology, directed and wrote the film that won Solari Best Film of the Year, 2012. Now it's up to us to vote it up so it can win the Aware Guide Top Transformational film of 2012.

If you've been following GMO news for years, you are still sure to learn new, shocking information in this recent release. What's unique is that even if you've never heard of a GMO, the movie is easy to digest without losing its informed audience.Watch it free here and definitely read and share the following review with your loved ones:

Wal-Mart, Pepsi and 20 Major Food Companies Consider Lobbying for GMO Labeling?

A lot of events are converging to create a tipping point to finally allow the labeling of genetically modified (GM) foods.

The FDA is likely to approve GM salmon and apples against the people's will. Many big food companies have received massive social media backlash from consumers, particularly parent companies to organic ones that heavily funded campaigns against GMO labeling. For instance, Ben & Jerry's ice cream got shrapnel from some of these "Traitor's Boycotts" because its parent company Unilever funded to prevent labeling. Ben & Jerry's will remove its GM ingredients by the end of 2013.

The funded and questionable failure of California's Proposition 37 has stoked the flames since last September. Consumers have even themselves begun labeling grocery products with a passionate drive to bring awareness to others. Wal-mart got flak last summer for selling unlabeled and possibly dangerous GM sweet corn.

Most recently, Washington state introduced a labeling initiative for the 2013 ballot. Their concern is not only about "right to know" but surrounds fears that unlabeled genetic salmon and apples could seriously damage the economy by getting their exports blocked - especially from countries that require labeled GM food. It is estimated that at least 20 other states are considering labeling initiatives.

Read more »

Black Seed: the Remedy for Everything But Death

This humble but immensely powerful seed kills MRSA, heals the chemical weapon poisoned body, stimulates regeneration of the dying beta cells within the diabetic’s pancreas, and yet too few even know it exists.

The seeds of the annual flowering plant, Nigella Sativa, have been prized for their healing properties since time immemorial.  While frequently referred to among English-speaking cultures as Roman coriander, black sesame, black cumin, black caraway and onion seed, it is known today primarily as black seed, which is at the very least an accurate description of its physical appearance.

The earliest record of its cultivation and use come from ancient Egypt. Black seed oil, in fact, was found in Egyptian pharoah Tutankhamun’s tomb, dating back to approximately 3,300 years ago.[i]  In Arabic cultures, black cumin is so known as Habbatul barakah, meaning the “seed of blessing.” It is also believed that the Islamic prophet Mohammed said of it that it is “a remedy for all diseases except death.”

Many of black cumin’s traditionally ascribed health benefits have been thoroughly confirmed in the biomedical literature. In fact, since 1964, there have been 458 published, peer-reviewed studies referencing it.

We have indexed salient research, available to view on GreenMedInfo.com on our Black Seed (Nigella Sativa) page, on well over 40 health conditions that may be benefited from the use of the herb, including over 20 distinct pharmacological actions it expresses, such as:

• Analgesic (Pain-Killing)
• Anti-Bacterial
• Anti-Inflammatory
• Anti-Ulcer
• Anti-Cholinergic
• Anti-Fungal
• Ant-Hypertensive
• Antioxidant
• Antispasmodic
• Antiviral
• Bronchodilator
• Gluconeogenesis Inhibitor (Anti-Diabetic)
• Hepatoprotective (Liver Protecting)
• Hypotensive
• Insulin Sensitizing
• Interferon Inducer
• Leukotriene Antagonist
• Renoprotective (Kidney Protecting)
• Tumor Necrosis Factor Alpha Inhibitor

These 22 pharmacological actions are only a subset of a far wider number of beneficial properties intrinsic to the black seed. While it is remarkable that this seed has the ability to positively modulate so many different biological pathways, this is actually a rather common occurrence among traditional plant medicines.

Our project has identified over 1600 natural compounds with a wide range of health benefits, and we are only in our first 5 years of casual indexing. There are tens of thousands of other substances that have already been researched, with hundreds of thousands of studies supporting their medicinal value (MEDLINE, whence our study abstracts come, has over 600,000 studies classified as related to Complementary and Alternative Medicine).

Take turmeric, for example. We have identified research indicating its value in over 600 health conditions, while also expressing over 160 different potentially beneficial pharmacological actions. You can view the quick summary of over 1500 studies we have summarized on our Turmeric Research page, which includes an explorative video on turmeric. Professional database members are further empowered to manipulate the results according to their search criteria, i.e. pull up and print to PDF the 61 studies on turmeric and breast cancer.  This, of course, should help folks realize how voluminous the supportive literature indicating the medicinal value of natural substances, such as turmeric and black seed, really is.

Black seed has been researched for very specific health conditions. Some of the most compelling applications include:

• Type 2 Diabetes: Two grams of black seed a day resulted in reduced fasting glucose, decreased insulin resistance, increased beta-cell function, and reduced glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c) in human subjects.[ii]
• Helicobacter Pylori Infection: Black seeds possess clinically useful anti-H. pylori activity, comparable to triple eradication therapy.[iii]
• Epilepsy: Black seeds were traditionally known to have anticonvulsive properties. A 2007 study with epileptic children, whose condition was refractory to conventional drug treatment, found that a water extract significantly reduced seizure activity.[iv]
• High Blood pressure: The daily use of 100 and 200 mg of black seed extract, twice daily, for 2 months, was found to have a blood pressure-lowering effect in patients with mild hypertension.[v]
• Asthma: Thymoquinone, one of the main active constituents within Nigella sativa (black cumin), is superior to the drug fluticasone in an animal model of asthma.[vi] Another study, this time in human subjects, found that boiled water extracts of black seed have relatively potent antiasthmatic effect on asthmatic airways.[vii]
• Acute tonsillopharyngitis: characterized by tonsil or pharyngeal inflammation (i.e. sore throat), mostly viral in origin, black seed capsules (in combination with Phyllanthus niruri) have been found to significantly alleviate throat pain, and reduce the need for pain-killers, in human subjects.[viii]
• Chemical Weapons Injury: A randomized, placebo-controlled human study of chemical weapons injured patients found that boiled water extracts of black seed reduced respiratory symptoms, chest wheezing, and pulmonary function test values, as well as reduced the need for drug treatment.[ix]
• Colon Cancer: Cell studies have found that black seed extract compares favorably to the chemoagent 5-fluoruracil in the suppression of colon cancer growth, but with a far higher safety profile.[x] Animal research has found that black seed oil has significant inhibitory effects against colon cancer in rats, without observable side effects.[xi]
• MRSA: Black seed has anti-bacterial activity against clinical isolates of methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus.[xii]
• Opiate Addiction/Withdrawal: A study on 35 opiate addicts found black seed as an effective therapy in long-term treatment of opioid dependence.[xiii]

Sometimes the biblical reference to ‘faith the size of a mustard seed moving mountains’ comes to mind in connection with natural substances like black seeds. After all, do seeds not contain within them the very hope for continuance of the entire species that bore it?  This super-saturated state of the seed, where life condenses itself down into an intensely miniaturized holographic fragment of itself, promising the formation of future worlds within itself, is the very emblem of life’s immense and immortal power.

If we understand the true nature of the seed, how much life (past, present and future) is contained within it, it will not seem so far-fetched that it is capable of conquering antibiotic resistant bacteria, healing the body from chemical weapons poisoning, or stimulate the regeneration of dying insulin-producing beta cells in the diabetic, to name but only a fraction of black seed’s experimentally-confirmed powers.

Moving the mountain of inertia and falsity associated with the conventional concept of disease, is a task well-suited for seeds and not chemicals. The greatest difference, of course, between a seed and a patented synthetic chemical (i.e. pharmaceutical drug), is that Nature (God) made the former, and men with profit-motives and a deranged understanding of the nature of the body made the latter.

The time, no doubt, has come for food, seeds, herbs, plants, sunlight, air, clean water, and yes, love, to assume once again their central place in medicine, which is to say, the art and science of facilitating self-healing within the human body. Failing this, the conventional medical system will crumble under the growing weight of its own corruption, ineptitude, and iatrogenic suffering (and subsequent financial liability) it causes. To the degree that it reforms itself, utilizing non-patented and non-patentable natural compounds with actual healing properties, a brighter future awaits on the horizon. To the degree that it fails, folks will learn to take back control over their health themselves, which is why black seed, and other food-medicines, hold the key to self-empowerment.

Source: Wakeup World