New rules to end the secrecy over the safety of devices such as hip replacements and breast implants are being drawn up after a series of scandals. The rules are being drawn up by the European Commission in the wake… Read More ›
Societal
Did you Know you could hurt your self with that Free Will. Here let me take that from you..
Criminals to be caught by their tattoos: Recognition software will scan Facebook for incriminating markings
By Daily Mail Reporter PUBLISHED:13:30 EST, 9 September 2012| UPDATED:14:25 EST, 9 September 2012 Police may soon be able to catch criminals by the ink they are sporting. Computer scientists are developing a new program that will be able to… Read More ›
Shell criticized for limited testing of Alaska drilling containment equipment
By Terry Macalister, The Guardian Sunday, September 9, 2012 14:38 EDT Shell has been accused of “stock-car racing recklessness” after apparently undertaking only the most limited testing of a key piece of equipment aimed at preventing a Gulf of Mexico-style… Read More ›
France’s socialist president set to unveil unprecedented austerity plan: 75-percent tax on income exceeding one million euros
By Agence France-Presse Sunday, September 9, 2012 12:09 EDT PARIS — France’s Socialist President Francois Hollande was due to announce on Sunday unprecedented belt-tightening measures of billions of euros amid mounting discontent over the flagging economy and job cuts. Hollande,… Read More ›
France’s richest man applies to become Belgian to escape 75 per cent tax rate
By Peter Allen PUBLISHED:05:13 EST, 9 September 2012| UPDATED:09:50 EST, 9 September 2012 Bernard Arnault has applied for Belgian nationality France’s richest man has applied for Belgian nationality – as the Socialist government in his home country raises the tax… Read More ›
EU funding ‘Orwellian’ artificial intelligence plan to monitor public for “abnormal behaviour”: Project Indect
Repost for Filing 2009 The European Union is spending millions of pounds developing “Orwellian” technologies designed to scour the internet and CCTV images for “abnormal behaviour”. By Ian Johnston 9:08PM BST 19 Sep 2009 A five-year research programme, called Project… Read More ›
Georgia flouts federal order, withholds lunch ladies’ unemployment benefits
By The Christian Science Monitor Saturday, September 8, 2012 8:33 EDT Scott Marshall, top, of Calhoun, Ga., files for unemployment in Dalton, Ga., in this photo from last month. (David Goldman/AP/File) Georgia has set up a showdown with the Obama… Read More ›
Indian PM says social media could spark ethnic tensions
By Agence France-Presse Saturday, September 8, 2012 17:35 EDT Indian Premier Manmohan Singh warned Saturday over the use of social media to inflame ethnic tensions after online threats and text messages sparked a mass exodus of migrants from southern cities…. Read More ›
Miracle-Gro to pay big fine for fake pesticides, poison bird feed: Falsifying pesticide registration documents, distributing pesticides with misleading and unapproved labels and distributing unregistered pesticides.
By Agence France-Presse Saturday, September 8, 2012 9:13 EDT Lawn and garden products company Scotts Miracle-Gro will pay $12.5 million in fines for poisoning bird feed and violating pesticide laws, officials said Friday. Scotts will pay record criminal and civilian… Read More ›
Pakistan Christian ‘blasphemy’ girl freed from jail on Bail
A Christian girl accused of blasphemy in Pakistan was released from jail on Saturday, a minister said, in a case that has sparked an international outcry. Rimsha Masih was arrested on August 16 for allegedly burning pages containing verses from… Read More ›
Smart drugs to ‘moral enhancement’: a chemical approach to transhumanism
By Olivia Solon 06 September 12 Steroids. Ritalin. Modafinil. Prozac. EPO. These are just a selection of drugs that could be described as boosting the cognitive or physical performance of human beings. As part of Wired.co.uk’s Transhuman Week, we take a… Read More ›
Health-care costs at end of life exceed total assets for 25 percent of Medicare population: does not cover co-payments, deductibles, homecare services, or non-rehabilitative nursing home care
Contact: Jeanne Bernard Jeanne.Bernard@mountsinai.org 212-241-9200 The Mount Sinai Hospital / Mount Sinai School of Medicine As many as a quarter of Medicare recipients spend more than the total value of their assets on out-of-pocket health care expenses during the last… Read More ›
Are restrictions to scientific research costing lives? ” doctors and researchers are denied full access “
Contact: Katie Baker katie.baker@sagepub.co.uk 020-732-48719 SAGE Publications Are restrictions to scientific research costing lives? London, UK (05 September 2012) – In ‘Censors on Campus’, Index on Censorship asks whether lives might be saved by making vital research freely available. As… Read More ›
Congressional Report: US Is Negotiating TPP as if Fast Track Authority Still Exists and its IP Provisions Go Beyond International Standards
September 7, 2012 | By Carolina Rossini On September 5th, the Congressional Research Service (CRS), a non-partisan governmental body that provides policy and legal analysis for all members and committees of US Congress, published a 55-page analysis of the Trans-Pacific… Read More ›
Copyright’s Robot Wars Heat Up as Algorithms Block Live-Streams First and Ask Questions Later
September 7, 2012 | By Kurt Opsahl and Parker Higgins Copyright’s robot wars have burst onto the scene of streaming video sites, silencing live feeds with bogus infringement accusations and no human oversight. Two examples from just the past week… Read More ›
Greeks stage mock hangings in protest at austerity measures as European Central Bank riles Germans with euro debt plan: With the Support of Greek Security Forces
Nearly 2,000 members of the Greek security forces attended rally in protest at austerity measures and proposed pay cuts Took place on same day as ECB launched new plan to save the euro by buying the debt of troubled eurozone… Read More ›
National Deficit Outlook Unchanged Under Obama: UMD Policy Analysis: Fault on all sides, and a Failure to Act
For Immediate Release September 6, 2012 Contacts: Jennifer Talhelm, 301-405-4390 or jtalhelm@umd.edu Public Policy’s Philip Joyce Offers Election Policy Fact Check COLLEGE PARK, Md. – From a public policy point of view, the national debt accumulation since President Obama took… Read More ›
Family told ten rare Double Eagle gold coins worth $80 million obtained in ‘uncertain circumstances’ belong to the U.S. not them
By Daily Mail Reporter PUBLISHED:13:10 EST, 6 September 2012| UPDATED:15:47 EST, 6 September 2012 A judge has ruled that ten rare gold coins worth $80 million belong to the U.S. government and not to a family that had sued the… Read More ›
Samsung accused of exploiting younger workers in China
Workers barred from sitting during shifts and some suffer physical and verbal abuse, alleges China Labor Watch Charles Arthur and agencies guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 5 September 2012 11.04 EDT A Samsung production line in South Korea. The electronics company is… Read More ›
Homeopathic solutions for a global catastrophe: Arsenic remedy for arsenic poisoning?
Reposted at Request and debate 2003 Study Contact: Gemma Bradley press@biomedcentral.com 44-207-323-0323 BioMed Central Arsenic remedy for arsenic poisoning? A homeopathic remedy made from arsenic oxide could ease the suffering of the hundreds of millions of people at risk from… Read More ›
BP executives sought to blame “blue collar rig workers”: U.S.: “”This was a decision designed to ensure that the public and legal lines of accountability would be focused exclusively on blue collar rig workers and other contractor/defendants – but at all cost, not upon BP management and the inexplicable behaviors that coursed through the pages” of the internal BP emails.”
By David IngramPosted 2012/09/06 at 7:25 pm EDT WASHINGTON, Sep. 6, 2012 (Reuters) — BP executives wanted to concentrate blame for the Deepwater Horizon oil spill disaster on “blue collar rig workers” in order to save themselves, U.S. government lawyers… Read More ›
Pentagon escalates case that former Navy SEAL broke secrecy pledge
By Mark HosenballPosted 2012/09/06 at 7:40 pm EDT WASHINGTON, Sep. 6, 2012 (Reuters) — The Pentagon on Thursday released new details about a secrecy agreement signed by a former Navy SEAL who wrote a book about his role in the… Read More ›
IOM States ” roughly $750 billion — was wasted on unnecessary services, excessive administrative costs, fraud, and other problems” in 2009
Date: Sept. 6, 2012 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Transformation of Health System Needed to Improve Care and Reduce Costs WASHINGTON — America’s health care system has become too complex and costly to continue business as usual, says a new report from… Read More ›
Social psychologists espouse tolerance and diversity — do they walk the walk? The Answer is NO
Contact: Anna Mikulak amikulak@psychologicalscience.org 202-293-9300 Association for Psychological Science Every ten years or so, someone will make the observation that there is a lack of political diversity among psychological scientists and a discussion about what ought to be done ensues…. Read More ›
Favorite TV Reruns May Have Restorative Powers, says UB Researcher
Jaye Derrick, PhD, research scientist at UB’s Research Institute on Addictions Contact Sara Sald saldi@buffalo.edu 716-645-4593 Release Date: September 6, 2012 BUFFALO, N.Y. — We hear all the time that we need to get off the couch, stop watching… Read More ›
Applying algorithm to social networks can reveal hidden connections criminals use to commit fraud, says UAlberta researcher
Contact: Jamie Hanlon jamie.hanlon@ualberta.ca 780-492-9214 University of Alberta Math tree may help root out fraudsters Fraudsters beware: the more your social networks connect you and your accomplices to the crime, the easier it will be to shake you from the… Read More ›
Report: 15% of Americans on food stamps
Christian Science Monitor / Getty Images A record number of Americans are using this food stamp card to purchase groceries these days. By Jeff Cox, cnbc.com The number of Americans on food stamps hit a record high in June, and… Read More ›
Concerns that Britain’s motorists are paying over the odds for fuel are being investigated by the competition watchdog.
Office of Fair Trading investigates UK’s £32bn petrol industry When it costs more to fill your tank than to fly to Rome, something is seriously wrong Photo: ALAMY By Martin Beckford, Home Affairs Editor 10:30PM BST 05 Sep 2012 The… Read More ›
Neuroscientists successfully control the dreams of rats. Could humans be next?
George Dvorsky Researchers working at MIT have successfully manipulated the content of a rat’s dream by replaying an audio cue that was associated with the previous day’s events, namely running through a maze (what else). The breakthrough furthers our… Read More ›
Baffling supermarket prices and poor labelling and could be hiking up your shopping bill
Baffling supermarket prices and poor labelling and could be hiking up your shopping bill By Sean Poulter PUBLISHED:18:50 EST, 5 September 2012| UPDATED:19:27 EST, 5 September 2012 Supermarkets are confusing shoppers and pocketing extra profits at their expense by labelling… Read More ›
Harvard psychology professor ‘faked data and fudged results in monkey experiments’
Marc Hauser, 52, researched evolutionary roots of human abilities Probe by Office of Research Integrity found Hauser responsible for six cases of scientific misconduct Allegedly fabricated data in a paper on monkeys’ ability to learn syllables Currently works with at-risk… Read More ›
World’s richest woman suggests $2 a day wages for Australian miners
By David Edwards Wednesday, September 5, 2012 9:35 EDT Topics: Australian miners ♦ Gina Rinehart ♦ mining in Australia The world’s most wealthy woman is warning that firms are in danger of having to abandon iron-ore mining in Australia if… Read More ›
Banks plan outside spending group to influence elections
By Alina SelyukhPosted 2012/09/05 at 4:54 pm EDT WASHINGTON, Sep. 5, 2012 (Reuters) — A major banking industry trade group is planning a foray into the U.S. elections by creating a tax-exempt organization capable of raising unlimited anonymous funds, the… Read More ›
Briton who launched first web page in 1990 reiterates opposition to extending government control of internet
Tim Berners-Lee: the internet has no off switch Charles Arthur and agencies guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 5 September 2012 12.02 EDT Sir Tim Berners-Lee at the launch of the World Wide Web Foundation in London, where he said the internet ‘has no… Read More ›
Jeremy Hunt under fire for stance on NHS tribute, homeopathy and abortion:” Leading scientists have also questioned Hunt’s suitability to be responsible for the NHS because he endorses homeopathy”
Labour claims health secretary’s apparent attempt to exclude NHS scenes from Olympic ceremony shows lack of support Denis Campbell, health correspondent guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 4 September 2012 13.48 EDT Jeremy Hunt reportedly tried to remove the NHS tribute from Danny… Read More ›
Report: Liberian forests sold off in secret logging contracts
By Agence France-Presse Wednesday, September 5, 2012 8:04 EDT Forty percent of Liberia’s forests have been sold off in secretive and often illegal contracts, Global Witness said Tuesday, just days after the country’s president announced a probe into the issuing… Read More ›
Concern about plans to close unique Canadian environmental project
Contact: Michael Bernstein m_bernstein@acs.org 202-872-6042 American Chemical Society The Canadian government’s plans to discontinue in 2013 a unique environmental research project that has yielded insights into water pollution, climate change and other topics for almost 40 years would be a… Read More ›
Hackers steal details of a MILLION Apple users… but why did the FBI have the information anyway?: Includes FBI’s response below in Post
Questions raised over why the FBI had the data, which is believed to include user names, device names and phone numbers Antisec group claims to have over 12 million IDs – but has not released the most personal data By… Read More ›
Eurozone demands six-day work week for Greece, set the minimum daily rest to 11 hours
Eurozone demands six-day week for Greece Government in Athens under pressure to introduce a six-day working week as part of the terms for a second bailout Ian Traynor in Brussel guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 4 September 2012 15.37 EDT Terms for… Read More ›
Mass. judge approves sex-change for transgender prison inmate: Serving life in prison for murder
By Eric W. Dolan Tuesday, September 4, 2012 17:00 EDT A federal judge in Massachusetts on Tuesday ordered the state’s Department of Correction to provide a transgender inmate serving life in prison for murder with sex-change surgery. U.S. District Judge… Read More ›
Former Navy SEAL’s book on Osama bin Laden raid contains classified info that may be dangerous insight into U.S. operations, Pentagon say
By Associated Press PUBLISHED:16:09 EST, 4 September 2012| UPDATED:16:54 EST, 4 September 2012 A former Navy SEAL’s insider account of the raid that killed Osama bin Laden contains classified information and may provide enemies with dangerous insight into secretive U.S…. Read More ›
Facebook has lost more than $50bn in share value – MORE than Lehman Brothers did in year before meltdown
By Daily Mail Reporter PUBLISHED:20:23 EST, 4 September 2012| UPDATED:22:45 EST, 4 September 2012 The botched initial public stock offering of Facebook shares has seen over $50 billion wiped off the tech-giants share price in a little over three months… Read More ›
Only 2 percent of child drug trials have independent safety checks
Repost from 2008 Contact: Dr. Helen Sammons helen.sammons@nottingham.ac.uk University of Nottingham Only two per cent of paediatric drug trials reported using independent safety monitoring committees that can help lead to the early detection of adverse drug reactions, according to a… Read More ›
Little evidence of health benefits from organic foods,…Stanford Institution Fails to List Conflict of Interest (COI) in Meta analysis: Claimed Pesticide Laden Crops are Organic
Contact: Michelle Brandt mbrandt@stanford.edu 650-723-0272 Stanford University Medical Center STANFORD, Calif. — You’re in the supermarket eyeing a basket of sweet, juicy plums. You reach for the conventionally grown stone fruit, then decide to spring the extra $1/pound for its… Read More ›
Healthcare costs hit the elderly hard, diminish financial well being
New York, 4 September 2012 Study finds out-of-pocket spending on healthcare in old age puts significant strain on finances The protection of the savings of the elderly—one of the primary goals of Medicare—is under threat from a combination of spiraling… Read More ›
Christians should ‘leave their beliefs at home or get another job’:” such as wearing a cross, means they might have to resign and get another job, government lawyers have said”
Christians should leave their religious beliefs at home or accept that a personal expression of faith at work, such as wearing a cross, means they might have to resign and get another job, government lawyers have said. Nadia Eweida Photo:… Read More ›
Witch hunts targeted by grassroots women’s groups: Yes, Actual Witch Hunts ( India )
Contact: Andy Henion, Media Communications, Office: (517) 355-3294, Cell: (517) 281-6949, Andy.Henion@cabs.msu.edu; Soma Chaudhuri, Sociology, Office: (517) 353-0874, chaudh30@msu.edu Published: Sept. 04, 2012 EAST LANSING, Mich. — Witch hunts are common and sometimes deadly in the tea plantations… Read More ›
Smoking and natural disasters: Christchurch residents increase tobacco consumption post-earthquake
Contact: Lauren Anderson lauren.anderson@europeanlung.org European Lung Foundation Vienna, Austria: The prevalence of smoking in Christchurch, New Zealand, increased following the 2010 earthquake, according to a new study. The results of the study will be presented today (4 September 2012) at… Read More ›
Now TSA agents are testing drinks purchased INSIDE the airport
By Daily Mail Reporter PUBLISHED:23:18 EST, 3 September 2012| UPDATED:23:23 EST, 3 September 2012 Travelers’ angst is being taken up a notch now that TSA agents are adding yet another seemingly arbitrary security check at airports. The federal agency is… Read More ›
Outrage as top Democrat official compares Paul Ryan to Nazi propagandist Joseph Goebbels
By Daily Mail Reporter PUBLISHED:20:39 EST, 3 September 2012| UPDATED:20:43 EST, 3 September 2012 A top Democrat is taking heat after he likened GOP Vice Presidential candidate Paul Ryan (R-Wisc.) to a Nazi. The Chairman of the California Democratic Party,… Read More ›
Engineering Evil 