The People Triumph Over Biotech: Monsanto Protection Act Defeated in Senate

Finally, it seems like we have the attention of some of the members of Congress. As the result of an enormous outcry, the Senate voted down the rider that was recently approved by the House of Representatives. The rider would have continued Big Biotech’s immunity against prosecution resulting from their toxic farming practices and questionable crops.

As of September 30th, the so-called Monsanto Protection Act will be dead. This is a major victory for anti-GMO activists as it is the first time that Congress has decided in favor of the constituents as opposed to companies like Monsanto, Sygenta, Bayer, and Dow.

“That provision will be gone,” said Sen. Mark Pryor (D-Ark.), confirming the change to POLITICO. The Center for Food Safety, a Washington-based non-profit, welcomed the decision as “a major victory for the food movement” and “sea change in a political climate that all too often allows corporate earmarks to slide through must-pass legislation.” 

“Short-term appropriations bills are not an excuse for Congress to grandfather in bad policy,” said Colin O’Neil, director of government affairs for the Center. (source)

The Monsanto Protection Act was passed last spring as a rider sneakily put into place by Senator Roy Blunt of Missouri (Monsanto’s home base, incidentally.) It was passed by both the House and the Senate (see who voted for it HERE), and then signed into law in a final act of betrayal by President Barack Obama, despite public outcry that the rider made the biotech industry untouchable and not subject to legal action regardless of the damage caused.

The biotech rider “could override any court-mandated caution and could instead allow continued planting. Further, it forces USDA to approve permits for such continued planting immediately, putting industry completely in charge by allowing for a ‘back door approval’ mechanism,” the Center for Food Safety said earlier this month upon news the House was reviving the measure. (source)

As the rider is due to expire at the end of this month, a renewal of the policy was written in and passed by the House last week, slipped into an important bill related to the federal budget, the FY14 Continuing Resolution (CR) spending bill.

Monsanto and its allies have argued that what the company sought was no more than what some federal courts have done themselves in the past: Allow farmers to continue to use GMO seed –under environmental guidelines—while the court review continues. 

Monsanto successfully expanded support among farm groups also interested in some such stewardship program. But the language itself was unusually strong in that it directed Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack in no uncertain terms about how he should respond in future court cases impacting GMO seeds. 

The secretary “shall, notwithstanding any other provision of law… immediately grant” temporary permits to continue using the seed at the request of a farmer or producer wanting such a stewardship program, the provision reads. And while Vilsack has been a big champion of the biotech industry, he was uncomfortable with what he saw as an effort to “pre-empt judicial review.” 

“We have all known this rider’s days were numbered,” O’Neil told POLITICO. “But given the recent GMO contamination episodes of wheat and alfalfa in Oregon and Washington it is clear that our nation’s safeguards, in particular those of the federal courts, should not be under attack from policy riders like this.” (source)

Source: Activist Post

2,000 Foxconn Workers Riot in China

Activist Post

About 2,000 Chinese workers levied a riot at the notorious Foxconn Factory in Taiyuan. This is the factory that produces iPhones, as well as other electronics for the world's electronic companies. Foxconn employs over 79,000 people, and has been exposed of its poor working conditions and suicide nets, due to 9 workers committing suicide in one month back in 2010.

The authorities sent over 5,000 police, in full riot gear and batons, using orders from loud speakers to quell the ensuing riots. Officials from the Foxconn Taiwanese Headquarters said preliminary investigations point to a dispute among workers that erupted into a mass brawl.

However, many tweets and posts online point to the contrary, with workers saying guards in the factory incited violence, and started beating up the workers.

So far, reports say that about 40 people have been injured, with 3 of those injuries being critical. There were also a number of people arrested.

This incident is a testament to inequality that exists among much of the world's population, and a testament to multinational corporations exploiting the labor of impoverished nations. While Americans enjoy their freedom, even as they may be losing them, the people that assemble the First World's toys, gizmos and gadgets enjoy none of these benefits and do it to barely provide for their families.

The Foxconn Plant could be closed for several days while the investigation is under way, and damages are repaired.

Reuters - Foxconn China plant closed after 2,000 riot

First Study on 4G/LTE Cell Phone Radiation Shows It Affects Brain Activity

New peer-reviewed research finds that 30 minutes’ exposure to LTE [4G] cellphone radiation affects brain activity on both sides of the brain.

Brain images pre- and post-LTE (4G) exposure

Activist Post

The first study on the short-term effects of Long Term Evolution (LTE), the fourth generation cell phone technology, has been published online in the peer-reviewed journal, Clinical Neurophysiology. (1)

In a controlled experiment, researchers exposed the right ear of 18 participants to LTE cellphone radiation for 30 minutes. The source of the radiation was 1 centimeter from the ear, and the absorbed amount of radiation in the brain was well within international (ICNIRP) cell phone legal limits. The researchers employed a double-blind, crossover, randomized and counter-balanced design to eliminate any possible study biases.The resting state brain activity of each participant was measured by magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) at two times — after exposure to LTE microwave radiation, and after a sham exposure.

The results demonstrated that LTE exposure affected brain neural activity not only in the closer brain region but also in the remote region, including the left hemisphere of the brain. The study helps explain the underlying neural mechanism for the remote effects of microwave radiation in the brain.

In 2011, Dr. Nora Volkow, Director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, published a similar study in the Journal of the American Medical Association that received worldwide news coverage. Dr. Volkow reported that a 50 minute exposure to CDMA, a second generation cell phone technology, increased brain activity in the region of the brain closest to the cell phone. (2)

The current study establishes that short-term exposure to LTE microwave radiation affects the users’ brain activity. Although LTE is too new for the long-term health consequences to have been studied, we have considerable evidence that long-term cell phone use is associated with various health risks including increased risk of head and neck cancers, sperm damage, and reproductive health consequences for offspring (i.e., ADHD).

Cell phone users, especially pregnant women and children, should limit their cell phone use. Moreover, cell phone users should not keep their phones near their head, breasts or reproductive organs when using the phone or whenever the phone is turned on unless it is in airplane mode.

For more information about the health effects of cell phone radiation see my Electromagnetic Radiation Safety Web site at http://www.saferemr.com/.

Joel M. Moskowitz, Ph.D.
School of Public Health Health
University of California, Berkeley

Electromagnetic Radiation Safety

Website: http://www.saferemr.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/SaferEMR
Twitter: @berkeleyprc

References

(1) Bin Lv, Zhiye Chen, Tongning Wu, Qing Shao, Duo Yan, Lin Ma, Ke Lu, Yi Xie. The alteration of spontaneous low frequency oscillations caused by acute electromagnetic fields exposure. Clinical Neurophysiology. Published online 4 September 2013.

Abstract

Objective The motivation of this study is to evaluate the possible alteration of regional resting state brain activity induced by the acute radiofrequency electromagnetic field (RF-EMF) exposure (30 min) of Long Term Evolution (LTE) signal.

Methods We designed a controllable near-field LTE RF-EMF exposure environment. Eighteen subjects participated in a double-blind, crossover, randomized and counterbalanced experiment including two sessions (real and sham exposure). The radiation source was close to the right ear. Then the resting state fMRI signals of human brain were collected before and after the exposure in both sessions. We measured the amplitude of low frequency fluctuation (ALFF) and fractional ALFF (fALFF) to characterize the spontaneous brain activity.

Results We found the decreased ALFF value around in left superior temporal gyrus, left middle temporal gyrus, right superior temporal gyrus, right medial frontal gyrus and right paracentral lobule after the real exposure. And the decreased fALFF value was also detected in right medial frontal gyrus and right paracentral lobule.

Conclusions The study provided the evidences that 30 min LTE RF-EMF exposure modulated the spontaneous low frequency fluctuations in some brain regions.

Significance With resting state fMRI, we found the alteration of spontaneous low frequency fluctuations induced by the acute LTE RF-EMF exposure.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24012322

(2) Volkow ND, Tomasi D, Wang GJ, Vaska P, Fowler JS, Telang F, Alexoff D, Logan J, Wong C. Effects of cell phone radiofrequency signal exposure on brain glucose metabolism. JAMA. 2011 Feb 23;305(8):808-13. doi: 10.1001/jama.2011.186.

Abstract

CONTEXT: The dramatic increase in use of cellular telephones has generated concern about possible negative effects of radiofrequency signals delivered to the brain. However, whether acute cell phone exposure affects the human brain is unclear.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate if acute cell phone exposure affects brain glucose metabolism, a marker of brain activity.

DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: Randomized crossover study conducted between January 1 and December 31, 2009, at a single US laboratory among 47 healthy participants recruited from the community. Cell phones were placed on the left and right ears and positron emission tomography with ((18)F) fluorodeoxyglucose injection was used to measure brain glucose metabolism twice, once with the right cell phone activated (sound muted) for 50 minutes (“on” condition) and once with both cell phones deactivated (“off” condition). Statistical parametric mapping was used to compare metabolism between on and off conditions using paired t tests, and Pearson linear correlations were used to verify the association of metabolism and estimated amplitude of radiofrequency-modulated electromagnetic waves emitted by the cell phone. Clusters with at least 1000 voxels (volume >8 cm(3)) and P < .05 (corrected for multiple comparisons) were considered significant.

Photo: http://www.prlog.org/12215083/1

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Brain glucose metabolism computed as absolute metabolism (μmol/100 g per minute) and as normalized metabolism (region/whole brain).

RESULTS: Whole-brain metabolism did not differ between on and off conditions. In contrast, metabolism in the region closest to the antenna (orbitofrontal cortex and temporal pole) was significantly higher for on than off conditions (35.7 vs 33.3 μmol/100 g per minute; mean difference, 2.4 [95% confidence interval, 0.67-4.2]; P = .004). The increases were significantly correlated with the estimated electromagnetic field amplitudes both for absolute metabolism (R = 0.95, P < .001) and normalized metabolism (R = 0.89; P < .001).

CONCLUSIONS: In healthy participants and compared with no exposure, 50-minute cell phone exposure was associated with increased brain glucose metabolism in the region closest to the antenna. This finding is of unknown clinical significance.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3184892/

PRLog (Press Release) – Sep. 23, 2013 – BERKELEY, Calif.  

USAF Enviromental Specialist Kristen Meghan | Blows Whistle On Air Force | Chemtrail Chemicals

A Warning Against Biometric Security: Apple’s iPhone 5 Already Hacked

The new iPhone 5′s fingerprint ID security feature lasted all of what amounts to not even five minutes in the tech world — Chaos Computer Club is already reporting that they were able to hack the new phone:

The biometrics hacking team of the Chaos Computer Club (CCC) has successfully bypassed the biometric security of Apple’s TouchID using easy everyday means. A fingerprint of the phone user, photographed from a glass surface, was enough to create a fake finger that could unlock an iPhone 5s secured with TouchID. This demonstrates – again – that fingerprint biometrics is unsuitable as access control method and should be avoided. [emphasis added]

Essentially, using the same kind of basic tricks you’d find in an old Mission: Impossible episode, these trendy new biometric systems can be easily thwarted. And don’t forget, as security measures get more and more sophisticated (read: more and more personally invasive), criminals will simply get more and more sophisticated to keep up with the times as has been the case since time immemorial.

If all the new security coming in the high-tech control grid currently building built up all around us is truly warranted because non-invasive features like passwords are so simple and passé, how come biometrics are just as easy (if not easier) to beat?

And easy-to-beat they are. At the 2012 Black Hat hackers conference, hackers were able to successfully demonstrate a program that could easily fool iris scan security systems using recreated irises from images stored in existing iris scan databases. Guess that’s a lot better than in Hollywood movies where people steal an actual person’s eyeball or other body part to get past security, although that future may be on our horizon also as biometrics takes over.

While it starts with some trendy new technology to get everyone really jazzed about biometrics, the iPhone is only the beginning. Pretty soon these kinds of security measures will be everywhere in a Big Brother dream come true. Schools across the country are already acclimating children to grow up thinking such systems are a normal part of their everyday lives, with palm scanners or fingerprint IDs as payment systems in school cafeterias; the Department of Homeland Security is even testing their new facial recognition software at a junior ice hockey game this weekend.

Here’s a video of the iPhone 5 hack:

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Source: The Daily Sheeple

Facebook wants to use artificial intelligence to better understand what you post, predict online actions

Facebook is reportedly now conducting research on “deep learning” artificial intelligence technology to allow better analysis of the data captured from the social network’s 1 billion users, though details of the experiments remain secret.

This new project is just one of many ways Facebook is on the cutting edge of technology, including a massive facial recognition database. Facebook has also most recently come under fire for privacy violations and their role in NSA spying, especially in Europe.

Ultimately, the goal of the project is to predict your actions online, show you content that is more relevant to your interests and target advertisements more accurately, according to a report published by the MIT Technology Review.

Technology Review reports that the research has only recently begun and the actual experiments being conducted behind the scenes remain secret.

The project will reportedly run by an eight-person group known only as the “AI team,” and will attempt to use deep learning to uncover the true meaning behind what people say and share on Facebook.

In other contexts, deep learning has shown potential in giving software the ability to recognize emotions behind text or events described in text, even if they’re not referred to explicitly.

Deep learning has also shown the ability to analyze photos and recognize objects and make complex predictions about the likely future behavior of individuals.

One of the likely applications of the technology in the case of Facebook will be in improving their news feed by only showing what the social network deems most relevant to the users. The technology could also help people organize photographs or help choose the best one to post online.

Google has also been delving into deep learning with Ray Kurzweil and has used the technology to recognize cats in videos without the software being told that cats exist.

The Verge points out that deep learning relies on using “a multi-layered approach to data, parsing information to build up a body of knowledge that can then be used to figure out concepts, or understand what objects sound and look like.”

Machine learning – though not nearly as complex as the type being researched by Facebook and others – is also used in facial recognition.

However, applying deep learning can offer significant improvements over the more established techniques.

“In tasks like vision or speech, we’re seeing 30 percent-plus improvements with deep learning,” Elliot Turner, founder and CEO of AlchemyAPI, said to MIT Technology Review.

The team is reportedly going to involve deep learning expert Marc’Aurelio Ranzato, who they hired away from Google, and Yaniv Taigman, the co-founder of facial recognition company Face.com. Others include vision expert Lubomir Bourdev and long-time Facebook engineer Keith Adams, according to the Technology Review.

Facebook will reportedly use some of their research, in more general machine learning areas, public. For now, all of their experiments remain secret.

Source: End the Lie

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