Freedom // Current TV

Ron Paul, 30 years of patriotism

Ron Paul, 30 years of patriotism http://youtu.be/53A_fnNgyMc

Radical_Centrist
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If it’s good enough for a dog, it’s good enough for a kid, right? Students in Texas to be monitored with microchips

If it’s good enough for a dog, it’s good enough for a kid, right? A school district in Texas will be watching over its students a lot more closely, but not with the aid of extra teachers. Instead each pupil will be monitored with microchips.
Officials at the Northside Independent School District in rural Bexar County, Texas have approved a plan to track the whereabouts of each and every student by requiring them to walk the halls with identification cards in their pockets that are equipped with RFID microchips.
By using Radio Frequency Identification System technology, teachers and faculty will be able to monitor the move of over 6,000 students at two select schools and every pupil with special needs throughout the district as soon as next semester. If the pilot program is a success, the district intends on expanding the tracking system to all of its 112 schools, totaling nearly 100,000 students.
Backers of the program say the move is well intentioned and will actually bring the school millions of dollars in extra funding. Ghastly attendance rates in Bexar County currently keeps the district from earning around $175,000 a day in state assistance, reports KHOU News out of San Antonio, TX. Speaking to that city’s Express-News, district spokesman Pascual Gonzalez explains that the school wants “to harness the power of (the) technology to make schools safer, know where our students are all the time in a school, and increase revenue.”
When each step of the students is being watched by administrators, the district expects to see their absentee count drop drastically. But is it worth the cost of killing the privacy of thousands?
“It’s going to give us the opportunity to track our students in the building," Principal Wendy Reyes of Jones Middle School tells KHOU. “They may have been in the nurse’s office, or the counselor’s office, or vice principal’s office, but they were marked absent from the classroom because they weren't sitting in the class. It will help us have a more accurate account of our attendance.”
It will also let teachers know who is in the bathroom and for how long and monitor the group habits of students. It could also become catastrophic, of course, if the very sensitive data ends up in the wrong hands. Similar programs were pitched elsewhere in recent years, but in other instances the American Civil Liberties Union stepped up to speak out; in many cases, the programs were shot down after the ACLU intervened.
"We are urging the school board to recognize the important civil liberties concerns and safety risks implicated in RFID technology," the ACLU’s Nicole Ozer, the technology and civil Liberties policy director of their Northern California office, wrote in a statement back in 2005 . "RFID badges jeopardize the safety and security of children by broadcasting identity and location information to anyone with a chip reader and subject students to demeaning tracking of their movements. We hope the school district reconsiders this serious issue."
In that case, the ACLU was opposed to a program at Brittan Elementary School Board in Sutter, California where youngsters were being tracked with RFID chips. Even though that kind of technology has become both more advanced and commonplace in the seven years since, it doesn’t change the concerns that continue to arise.
"The monitoring of children with RFID tags is comparable to the tracking of cattle, shipment pallets, or very dangerous criminals in high-security prisons," Cédric Laurant of EPIC told the ACLU in 2005. "Compelling children to be constantly tracked with RFID-enabled identity badges breaches their right to privacy and dignity as human beings."
But, hey — how else is the school going to raise a few grand?
“I think this is overstepping our bounds and is inappropriate,” Northside school board trustee M'Lissa M. Chumbley tells other district officials this week. “I'm honestly uncomfortable about this.”
Kirsten Bokenkamp of the ACLU tells the San Antonio Express-News that her organization is once again alarmed by Northside’s plans to implement the program. They are expected to challenge the board’s decision this time around too.
http://rt.com/usa/news/texas-microchips-school-district-262/If it’s good enough for a dog, it’s good enough for a kid, right? A school... more

MotherForTruth
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4 days ago
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Kim DotCom [MegaUpload] case sees tears, claims of betrayal

Kim DotCom isn't too big to cry.

In court yesterday, the MegaUpload founder choked up when he recalled how New Zealand police in January raided the Auckland mansion where he lived and when, as his lawyer, said he was "ripped him away from his family." The U.S. Attorney's office accuses MegaUpload of being a front for a massive piracy operation and lawyers there are trying to extradite him to this country to face criminal copyright, money laundering and wire fraud charges.

MegaUpload was one of the Web's most popular cyberlocker services before U.S. authorities shut it down. The U.S. government is trying to send a message that turning a blind eye to piracy can land site operators in jail. Critics say U.S officials are overreaching and at most the case is a civil dispute.

Back in court, as DotCom was tearing up, his lawyers seethed. DotCom, who has denied being a pirate, was in a New Zealand courtroom Wednesday seeking a judicial review of the search warrants served on him and MegaUpload. His attorneys argued that New Zealand authorities illegally seized data that wasn't relevant to the case and DotCom wants some of his possessions returned, according to Ira Rothken, the U.S.-based lawyer leading DotCom's worldwide defense.

But that's only one part of the U.S. government effort that has angered the DotCom side. According to Rothken, when DotCom's lawyers asked authorities to give them a copy of the data taken from him, they learned that New Zealand officials had shipped the information to the FBI for analysis.

Paul Davison, DotCom's lead attorney in New Zealand, told the media that he was assured by authorities that none of the data seized would leave the country without warning. Without the data, DotCom can't properly defend himself, his attorneys argue, and they feel betrayed.

"The court will determine whether the United States and New Zealand had the authorization to remove data from New Zealand absent a court order," Rothken told CNET. "This is a serious international issue and we believe it requires proportional remedy... It seems as though the United States is trying to win on tactics rather than on merits."

Some of the data seized from DotCom's personal computers was also encrypted and authorities have asked him for the passwords. He has refused to hand them over.

"On certain conditions, Kim DotCom would consider supplying them," Rothken said. "But not when data was secreted away from New Zealand, away from a New Zealand court and judicial supervision. His password on some of the data is his only protection against unreasonable intrusion."

http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-57440794-93/kim-dotcom-case-sees-tears-claims-of-betrayal/
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This is going to be a significant case for the future of communication and privacy laws, if anybody cares...Kim DotCom isn't too big to cry. In court yesterday, the MegaUpload founder... more

JRBarilla
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5 days ago
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Penn Jillette Goes On Epic Obama Weed Tirade

In a recent episode of his podcast "Penn's Sunday School," comedian Penn Jillette laid his opinions on the Obama drug policies out on the table.

Jillette, who has never done drugs or drank alcohol in his life, expressed particular concern over the policies' broad-sweeping, all-inclusive nature. Namely, that people are going to prison because of marijuana use.

"Now, he has not left this to states' rights," Jillette posited. "As you know, medical marijuana... you can get in California, and the feds are coming in to try to stop this. States' rights don't mean jack sh*t to the Obama administration on anything except gay marriage."

Another point of contention for Jillette was the fact that President Obama mentioned that he had smoked "weed" and done "maybe a little blow" in his 1995 book "Dreams from my Father."

Jillette cited it as a prime example of the fact that not all drug users turn out to be menaces to society:

"What troubles me about this... I think it's beyond hypocrisy. I think it's something to do with class. A lot of people have accused Obama of class warfare, but in the wrong direction. I believe this is Obama chortling with Jimmy Fallon about lower class people. Do we believe, even for a second, that if Obama had been busted for marijuana -- under the laws that he condones -- would his life have been better? If Obama had been caught with the marijuana that he says he uses, and 'maybe a little blow'... if he had been busted under his laws, he would have done hard f*cking time. And if he had done time in prison, time in federal prison, time for his 'weed' and 'a little blow,' he would not be President of the United States of America. He would not have gone to his fancy-a** college, he would not have sold books that sold millions and millions of copies and made millions and millions of dollars, he would not have a beautiful, smart wife, he would not have a great job. He would have been in f*cking prison, and it's not a god damn joke. People who smoke marijuana must be set free. It is insane to lock people up."

Jillette and co-host Michael Goudeau then went on to discuss statistics from uncited sources, but with the general suggestion that the number of people currently locked up in federal prisons for marijuana-related crimes is too high. Both men posited that Obama changing his drug policies would lighten the load on the prison system and give recreational drug users a chance to contribute to society.

Watch the full clip above.

Classic rant...emotional, but measured, genuine.In a recent episode of his podcast "Penn's Sunday School," comedian... more

rodstradamus
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8 days ago
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It's Sunday: Time For A Sermon From The Past

And so we are gathered here today to remember and refresh our dedication to remain... more

crabbyoldguy
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10 days ago
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The Hot Dog Stand: How Much Would You Charge?

by Amaterasu Solar Let Us presume a world where free energy is available to all.... more

Amaterasu
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21 days ago
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Wisconsin veteran ‘pissed off’ that he couldn’t vote with Veteran ID card

By Eric W. Dolan Wednesday, April 25, 2012 21:48 EDT Gil Paar, a veteran living in... more

KB723
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1 month ago
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Michigan government unleashes armed raids on small pig farmers, forces farmer to shoot all his own pigs

Michigan government unleashes armed raids on small pig farmers, forces farmer to shoot... more

CCorsair
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1 month ago
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Homophobia: Pathos and the Culture of Fear

“Homophobia” is an intensely dramatic short film by Austrian... more

disembedded
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Doubleplusungood: Adam Smith (D-WA), indefinite detention “hero” of NDAA amendment fame pushes domestic propaganda | Scholars and Rogues

If you’re not from Washington State, you might only know of Adam Smith for... more

hoosierdaddy
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Chris Hedges discusses the NDAA and what it could mean for journalists.

This is a very important topic, and an excellent interview. It addresses what may, or... more

ClassicalGas
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New National Defense Authorization Act, old NDAA, and Waffler-in-Chief Obama on the issue of indefinite detention | Scholars and Rogues

First a whole slew of politicians and a wide swath of press fall all over themselves... more

hoosierdaddy
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13 days ago
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The Jones Plantation

One cannot change reality by changing the words you use to describe reality. Look... more

Vierotchka
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18 days ago
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Iranian Cartoonist Sentenced to Lashing for Depicting Politician As a Soccer Player

"An Iranian cartoonist has been sentenced to 25 lashes for a caricature of a... more

Truthitswhatsfordinner
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19 days ago
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Obama Publicly Endorses Gay Marriage: Same-Sex Marriage Should Be Legal

On Wednesday, President Obama publicly endorsed gay marriage in a television interview and took a definitive stand on one of the most politically charged social issues of the day. Includes photographs and a video of the interview.

“At a certain point, I’ve just concluded that for me personally it is important for me to go ahead and affirm that I think same-sex couples should be able to get married,” Mr. Obama said in an interview that came after the president faced mounting pressure to clarify his position.

Public support for same-sex marriage is growing at a pace that surprises even professional pollsters as older generations of voters who tend to be strongly opposed are supplanted by younger ones who are just as strongly in favor. Same-sex couples are featured in some of the most popular shows on television, without controversy.

Senator Kirsten E. Gillibrand, Democrat of New York, called the president’s statement “a watershed moment in American history” that would aid efforts to overturn the Defense of Marriage Act barring federal recognition of same-sex marriage. Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg of New York said, “No American president has ever supported a major expansion of civil rights that has not ultimately been adopted by the American people, and I have no doubt that this will be no exception.”

Chad Griffin, the incoming president of the Human Rights Campaign, said that, “President Obama’s words today will be celebrated by generations to come. For the millions of young gay and lesbian Americans across this nation, President Obama’s words provide genuine hope that they will be the first generation to grow up with the freedom to fully pursue the American dream. Marriage, the promise of love, companionship, and family, is basic to the pursuit of that dream.”

This piece includes photographs and video of the interview.

http://disembedded.wordpress.com/2012/05/09/obama-publicly-endorses-gay-marriage-says-same-sex-marriage-should-be-legal/On Wednesday, President Obama publicly endorsed gay marriage in a television interview... more