Alex Jones Mega-Rant

THElNFOWARRlOR
May 4, 2011
This rant is all about reality vs. illusion. As Alex Jones recently told the Washington Post, he’s not the King of Conspiracy; he’s the King of Reality.
Alex has made many appearances on the overnight UK talk show talkSPORT. This particular show Alex goes off on a programed mind controlled subject who refuses to look up the sources of Alex’s topics. Enjoy as Alex tries to insert a red pill into another sheep. Here are some of the links to the articles Alex mentions during his MEGA RANT!!!

* San Diego News, Analysis And Conversation. * Opinion Is Your Cell Phone Violating Your Rights?

: Tuesday, May 3, 2011 10:00 am | Updated: 5:03 pm, Tue May 3, 2011.

Is Your Cell Phone Violating Your Rights? Margaret Ng Thow Hing voiceofsandiego.org

To say that cell phones are widely used in the U.S. is a gross understatement.
According to CTIA - The Wireless Association, an organization representing the interests of the wireless communications industry, cell phones were used by 96% of the U.S. and territorial population (including Puerto Rico, Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands) in December 2010.
A recent Nielsen survey reported that almost one third of U.S. cell phone users are utilizing smartphones. While the growing adoption of smartphones is good news for phone manufacturers, the advanced computing capabilities and wireless connectivity of smartphones raise new concerns regarding privacy rights.
Smartphones provide users continuous mobile access to the Internet. As a result, smartphones contain a treasure trove of personal information, including banking information, travel plans and family photos. However, while use of advanced security software is commonplace on our computers, many of us are not safeguarding the personal information stored on and transmitted through our smartphones. While there is security software for smartphones including anti-virus and encryption software, it is not available for all models of cell phones and has not been widely adopted.
A recent study conducted by mobile security company AdaptiveMobile discloses that 2010 saw the highest number of Smartphone malware (short for malicious software) infections, up 33% from 2009. AdaptiveMobile expects to see an exponential increase in such attacks in the next year as the adoption of smartphones becomes more widespread. In a society well aware of computer viruses and identity theft, why are we not protecting our smartphones from such attacks?
It is not only hackers and cyber criminals who may be interested in the information stored on our cell phones. It was recently revealed to the public that Apple iPhones and Google Android smartphones are regularly tracking our locations and recording this information in a hidden file stored on our phones. Anyone able to access our phones can use the stored locational information to reconstruct our daily travels and routine. Access to such information could be of great interest to the police and the government or even an employer or suspicious spouse. Police use of such information may be of particular concern in light of the recent accusations that police officers in Michigan are using data extracting devices to secretly obtain information from cell phones during routine traffic stops.
In addition to being stored on our smartphones, this locational information is being transmitted back to Google and Apple. It is currently unclear what these companies are using this information for, although the companies have stated that this information is transmitted anonymously and that the tracking and ability to opt out by disabling location services is disclosed in the privacy policies agreed to by the users. Such policies, however, are often lengthy and confusing and it is common for users to agree to such privacy policies without actually reading them. Furthermore, a recent test conducted by The Wall Street Journal revealed that locational data continued to be collected and stored on Apple's iPhone even when the location services were turned off.
The news of smartphone tracking activity and data collection has raised a number of privacy concerns. These concerns have lead U.S. and foreign lawmakers to request further details from Apple and Google regarding these practices. In addition, representatives from both Apple and Google have been summoned to participate in a hearing of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology and the Law. The hearing is to be held in May and will be focused on mobile device privacy.
While many are concerned over the implications of such locational tracking on privacy rights, others note that tracking a person's location through their cell phone is nothing new. Some smartphone users state that they are not concerned because they have nothing to hide and note that such tracking is required for many of the useful programs on their smartphones to function. Numerous smartphone apps, such as those that can recommend a nearby restaurant, locate the nearest Starbucks or allow a user to map out travel routes, require tracking the location of the smartphone user.
Amongst the continued confusion over what information is being tracked by our cell phones and the debate over whether this tracking is helpful or harmful, what remains clear is that many of us are largely uninformed when it comes to the information that is being stored on our cell phones.
In addition to failing to protect personal information stored on cellphones from access by others, many smartphone users are also unwittingly broadcasting their personal information to the world. Geotagging is the addition of geographical information to media such as photographs or video. If geotagging is enabled on your smartphone, uploading media to the Internet simultaneously uploads your location. By uploading geotagged images you may be sharing your home address, details of your daily routine or the fact that your house is empty while you are out of town. It is easy to see how this information can be used and misused for everything from targeted marketing to targeted crime.
Most troubling is that many users have no idea that geotagging is occurring on their phone. Many smartphones come with geotagging automatically enabled. As geotags are generally invisible unless specific software is downloaded to enable visualization of the tags, many users are completely unaware that they are sharing more than pictures and videos when they upload media files to the Internet.
Even with the emerging security and privacy concerns, our cell phone usage continues to grow. Cell phones have become an integral part of everyday life and for many of us, not having a cell phone would render us incompetent employees and social pariahs. As cell phone technology continues to evolve, our reliance on these devices continues to grow.
Will our growing cell phone dependence make us even more vulnerable to potential privacy violations or will it drive us to demand more transparency, protection and control when it comes to our cell phones?
The Reuben H. Fleet Science Center and the San Diego Center for Ethics in Science and Technology will be hosting a free public forum on May 4 at 5:30 p.m. to further discuss cell phones and issues arising from our society's increasing dependency on this technology.
Margaret Ng Thow Hing is an intellectual property attorney residing in Pacific Beach and writes as a member of the San Diego Center for Ethics in Science and Technology.

Suit: PC renter used webcam to spy on users

By JOE MANDAK Associated Press

Story Updated: May 4, 2011 at 8:07 AM PDT

Brian and Crystal Byrd pose in front of their lawyers office on Tuesday, May 3, 2011 in Casper, Wyo.

Comments (1)

PITTSBURGH (AP) - You didn't pay your bill. We need our computer back. And here's a picture of you typing away on it, the computer rental company told a client as it tried to repossess the machine.

Those allegations appear in a federal lawsuit alleging that the firm, Atlanta-based Aaron's Inc., loaded computers with spyware to track renters' keystrokes, make screenshots and even take webcam images of them using the devices at home. The suit filed by a Wyoming couple Tuesday raises anew questions of how invasive custodians of technology should be in protecting their equipment.

Computer privacy experts said Aaron's, a major furniture rental chain, has the right to equip its computers with software it can use to shut off the devices remotely if customers stop paying their bills, but they must be told if they're being monitored.

"If I'm renting a computer ... then I have a right to know what the limitations are and I have a right to know if they're going to be collecting data from my computer," said Annie Anton, a professor and computer privacy expert with North Carolina State University.

But the couple who sued Aaron's said they had no clue the computer they rented last year was equipped with a device that could spy on them. Brian Byrd, 26, and his wife, Crystal, 24, said they didn't even realize that was possible until a store manager in Casper came to their home Dec. 22.

The manager tried to repossess the computer because he mistakenly believed the Byrds hadn't paid off their rent-to-own agreement. When Brian Byrd showed the manager a signed receipt, the manager showed Byrd a picture of Byrd using the computer - taken by the computer's webcam.

Byrd demanded to know where the picture came from, and the manager "responded that he was not supposed to disclose that Aaron's had the photograph," the lawsuit said.

Aaron's, which bills itself as the nation's leader in the sales and lease ownership of residential furniture, consumer electronics and home appliances, said the lawsuit was meritless. It said it respects its customers' privacy and hasn't authorized any of its corporate stores to install the software described in the lawsuit.

The Byrds contacted police, who, their attorney said, have determined the image was shot with the help of spying software, which the lawsuit contends is made by North East, Pa.-based Designerware LLC and is installed on all Aaron's rental computers. Designerware is also being sued in U.S. District Court in Erie.

Aaron's, with more than 1,800 company-operated and franchised stores in the United States and Canada, said the Byrds leased their computer from an independently owned and operated franchisee. Aaron's, which also manufactures furniture and bedding, said it believes that none of its more than 1,140 company-operated stores had used Designerware's product or had done any business with it.

Tim Kelly, who said he's one of the owners of Designerware, said he wasn't aware of the lawsuit and declined to comment.

Two attorneys who are experts on the relevant computer privacy laws, the Electronic Communications Privacy Act and the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, said it's difficult to tell if either was broken, though both said the company went too far.

Peter Swire, an Ohio State professor, said using a software "kill switch" is legal because companies can protect themselves from fraud and other crimes.

"But this action sounds like it's stretching the self-defense exception pretty far," Swire said, because the software "was gathering lots of data that isn't needed for self-protection."

Further, Swire said the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act "prohibits unauthorized access to my computer over the Internet. The renter here didn't authorize this kind of access."

Fred Cate, an information law professor at Indiana University agrees that consent is required but said the real question might be: "Whose consent?"

Courts have allowed employers to record employee phone calls because the employers own the phones. Similar questions arise as digital technology becomes more omnipresent, Cate said.

"Should Google let you know they store your search terms? Should Apple let you know they store your location? Should your employer let you know 'We store your e-mail'?" Cate said.

Last year, a Philadelphia-area school district agreed to pay $610,000 to settle two lawsuits over secret photos taken on school-issued laptops, admitting it captured thousands of webcam photographs and screen shots from student laptops in a misguided effort to locate missing computers.

Harriton High School student Blake Robbins, then 15, charged in an explosive civil-rights lawsuit that the Lower Merion School District used its remote tracking technology to spy on him inside his home. Evidence unearthed in the case showed that he was photographed 400 times in a two-week period, sometimes as he slept, according to his lawyer, Mark Haltzman.

The FBI investigated whether the district broke any criminal wiretap laws, but prosecutors declined to bring any charges. The district no longer uses the tracking program.

The Byrds want the court to declare their case a class action and are seeking unspecified damages and attorneys' fees. The privacy act allows for a penalty of $10,000 or $100 per day per violation, plus punitive damages and other costs, the lawsuit said.

"It feels like we were pretty much invaded, like somebody else was in our house," Byrd said. "It's a weird feeling, I can't really describe it. I had to sit down for a minute after he showed me that picture."

FDA approved Big Pharma drugs without effectiveness data

Wednesday, May 04, 2011 by: S. L. Baker, features writer

(NaturalNews) Consumers constantly are told how complicated it is to get a new drug on the market. After all, researchers have to jump through all sorts of hoops to assure safety before new therapies are approved for the public, right?

It turns out they may be missing some of those hoops or not jumping through some of the most important ones.

In fact, huge red flags are being raised about how drugs are tested and approved in two new studies, including one just published in the May 4th issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).

A case in point: it turns out that only about half of the new prescription medications pushed onto the market over the last decade had the proper data together for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration - yet the FDA approved them anyhow.

The information in question is known specifically as comparative effectiveness data. And it is - or should be - a very big deal when it comes to deciding whether a drug should be approved and sold to the public.

According to the Institute of Medicine, comparative effectiveness data is defined as the "generation and synthesis of evidence that compares the benefits and harms of alternative methods to prevent, diagnose, treat, and monitor a clinical condition or to improve the delivery of care."

In other words, how does a new drug stack up against other treatments - is it more beneficial, safer, or does it have more potential dangers?

Comparative effectiveness information on drugs is especially important when doctors are making decisions about whether to prescribe a med, and to whom, soon after a drug is approved. That's because when Big Pharma medications first hit the market, physicians are relying on what drug companies and the FDA tell them about a medication. It takes a while for real life reports to come in as people report reactions, side effects (including deaths related to a drug) to become clearer.

Also, there are usually not data from large head-to-head trials comparing multiple treatments available when a medication first hits the marketplace. "Comparative effectiveness is taking on an increasingly important role in U.S. health care, yet little is known about the availability of comparative efficacy data for drugs at the time of their approval in the United States," according to background information in the new JAMA study.

It's not like there's not money to come up with this information, either. In 2009, Congress allocated $1.1 billion of taxpayers' money to comparative effectiveness research.

For the JAMA study, researcher Nikolas H. Goldberg and colleagues from Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, investigated the proportion of recently approved drugs that had comparative efficacy data available at the time they were authorized by the FDA to be sold in the U.S. They also examined the availability of this information over time and by therapeutic indication by checking out approval packages publicly available through the online database of drug products (dubbed new molecular entities, NMEs, for short) approved by FDA between 2000 and 2010.

The researchers found that only about half of 197 eligible approved NMEs between 2000 and 2010 had comparative efficacy data available at the time they were approved to be marketed.

Meanwhile, another recent study throws needed light on the limited data behind the safety and effectiveness of some Big Pharma drugs.

Research led jointly by Alexander Tsai of Harvard University and Nicholas Rosenlicht of the University of California San Francisco just published in PLoS Medicine zeroed in on the medication aripiprazole, which is prescribed treating bipolar disorder.

How was this powerful drug deemed safe and effective? Amazingly, the research team found the only evidence for the use of this medication came from a single trial. And, as they described in their paper, the scientists found key limitations of the drug study that clearly skewed the findings so they appear to support the use of aripiprazole for bipolar disorder.

Did this stop the FDA from approving the drug? No way. And neither did the fact that this single, poorly designed trial was sponsored by the drug manufacturer who produces aripiprazole.

Backpack to the future: The device that lets you see through walls (video)

Daniel Bates
Daily Mail
May 4, 2011
A British company has developed a backpacked-sized machine that lets you see through walls.
The Prism 200c looks through solid objects then displays an image of what is on the other side on a hand-held screen.
Fresh food that lasts from eFoods Direct (Ad)
It is the first time such a device has been manufactured small enough for just one person to use.
Makers Cambridge Consultants expect it will be used by law enforcement agencies, emergency services or soldiers in ‘high-risk and hostile situations with minimal time and very narrow margin for error’.

Read entire article

While You Were Distracted by Osama’s Corpse Fukushima Disaster Continues

Infowars.com
May 4, 2011
While we are having our collective chain yanked by the government and the corporate media in the dead Osama affair, the damaged reactors at Fukushima continue to smoke and emit radiation. News about this has all but fallen out of the massaged news cycle.
Consider the following video, posted yesterday.

Mass Arrests, Tear Gas, Sound Weapons used Against Students

RTR.org
May 4, 2011
Annual year-end block party at Western Illinois University ends with riot police. Students attending the Wheeler Block Party were met by a Multi-Jurisdictional Task Force who used tear gas, LRAD sound weapons and crowd suppression tactics to force students into their homes. Gary Franchi is joined by eyewitness and victim of the raid, Julio Rausseo to review video footage and recount the abuses against the students. Establishment media and law enforcement have begun to spin the story ignoring the rights abuses. Please spread the word of this report and help get this story out.

Dollar Falls to Three Year Low

* Weak U.S. jobs, services data add to dollar's woes
* Euro hits 17-month high but fades ahead of ECB meeting
* Dollar at 6-week low vs yen; high-yield FX struggles
* One-month euro/dollar implied vols rise again (Updates prices, adds more details on options)
NEW YORK, May 4 (Reuters) - The dollar slumped to a three-year low against major currencies on Wednesday and its outlook darkened further as surprisingly soft economic data underpinned expectations that U.S. interest rates will remain low this year.
The greenback also fell to a record low against the Swiss franc and against the yen fell below 80.50, the lowest level since major central banks intervened to weaken the Japanese currency on March 18.
Separate reports on Wednesday showed a sharp slowdown in the vast U.S. services sector and less hiring by private companies in April.
"U.S. data have not been strong enough for the Fed to resume raising interest rates," said Geoffrey Yu, senior currency strategist at UBS in Stamford, Connecticut. For details, see [ID:nN04209762]
"The Fed has raised the bar for a policy tightening and it's going to remain the case for some time ahead. It's just a question of, When will the Fed really signal a change in direction? Right now, that doesn't seem to be the case."
In late afternoon trading, the ICE Futures' dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of major currencies, dropped to 72.696, its weakest level since July 2008. The index has fallen in 11 of the last 12 sessions and is down 7.7 percent this year <.DXY>.
The euro, on the other hand, remained fairly well supported on expectations of higher euro zone interest rates and strong sovereign demand.
The European Central Bank is scheduled to hold a monetary policy meeting on Thursday. It raised rates in April for the first time since 2008, but may hold them steady at Thursday's meeting.
Markets, however, have already fully priced in expectations of an ECB rate hike in July, on the need to rein in inflation, and have started to factor in some probability of an increase in June.
Investors shrugged off news that Portugal had become the third euro zone country in the last year to need a bailout.
The single currency rose as high as $1.49404 on trading platform EBS, the highest level since December 2009. It was last at $1.48317, flat on the day. Traders said the euro remained hampered by options barriers at $1.4950 and $1.5000.
They said a move above $1.50 is likely but would probably have to wait until after the ECB meeting.
Implied volatility in one-month euro/dollar options gained, rising to 11.20 percent on Wednesday from 10.90 percent on Tuesday, reflecting uncertainty as to the timing of the next ECB rate increase.
Options traders were also nervous that the ECB's president, Jean-Claude Trichet, may disappoint investors and make less-hawkish comments than in his previous statements.
In addition, risk reversals, a broad measure of sentiment in the options market, on one-month euro/dollar options are still betting on a decline in the euro against the dollar. The gauge is showing a solid bias for puts despite an 11 percent surge in the single currency this year.
On Wednesday, euro/dollar risk reversals were at -1.50 vols , with a skew for puts, from -1.45 on Tuesday.
Thomas Stopler, chief currency strategist at Goldman Sachs in London, said continued concerns about euro zone debt are only partly the cause.
"It is also important to recognize that many other dollar crosses still display a similar skew," he said. "This in turn suggests FX option markets continue to be influenced by cross asset hedging flows."
In other currencies, the dollar fell to a record trough against the Swiss franc at 0.8554 franc and last changed hands at 0.8615 franc, down 0.2 percent.
Against the yen , the dollar sank to 80.44, a six-week low and last traded at 80.56 yen, down 0.5 percent.
If it falls further, analysts said it could put markets on alert for official intervention to slow the pace of yen gains.
A strong yen could hurt Japan's export-led economy as it struggles with slow growth and the aftermath of the March earthquake and tsunami.
The slide in commodities supported the greenback against commodity-linked currencies such as the Australian and Canadian dollars.
The Australian dollar fell further from a nearly three-decade high of US$1.1012; it was last at US$1.0743, down 0.9 percent .
The Canadian dollar also fell, pushing the greenback 0.5 percent higher at C$0.9573 . (Additional reporting by Steven C. Johnson; Editing by Leslie Adler)

Obama: No Osama Death Photos

CNN
May 4, 2011
President Barack Obama has decided not to release any of the photographs of “the deceased Osama bin Laden,” White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said Wednesday.

The decision came after a lengthy discussion with top Cabinet and security officials, Carney said, reiterating “there is no doubt we killed Osama bin Laden.”
Carney cited security concerns as well as the desire to avoid a perception of U.S. gloating.
“We don’t trot out this stuff as trophies,” Carney quoted Obama as saying in an interview earlier Wednesday with the CBS program “60 Minutes.”
Read entire article

Boehner: Troops Should Stay in Iraq

By Associated Press, Published: May 3

WASHINGTON — House Speaker John Boehner said Tuesday a small, residual U.S. force should remain in Iraq beyond the end of this year, the final drawdown date for the Americans.
Boehner said it was imperative for the Obama administration to talk to the Iraqi government about extending the U.S. presence beyond Dec. 31.

“It’s pretty clear to me there are gaps in the security arrangement of the Iraqi people beginning the first of next year,” said Boehner, who traveled to Iraq, Pakistan and Afghanistan last month. He said Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki “made clear to me there are gaps, that there is assistance that they’re going to need. And I would hope that our military and diplomatic officials begin serious conversations with Iraqis about identifying those gaps in security and try to come to an agreement as soon as possible.”
Boehner, R-Ohio, spoke in an hour-long interview with a handful of reporters Tuesday.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates has urged the fractious Iraqi government to decide “pretty quickly” whether it wants to extend the U.S. operation to continue training of security forces. Gates shares the view of many in the U.S. military that a longer U.S. stay would be useful in ensuring that Iraq’s security and political gains do not unravel, but publicly he has insisted that the decision is Iraq’s.
Boehner said a small, residual force would make sense.
“We have too much invested in treasury and lives to simply just walk away,” he said.
Boehner acknowledged that al-Maliki would have to make the request, which would be a hard sell with the parliament and the Iraqi people.
The presence of the U.S. military is unpopular in Iraq, even though many Iraqis say they are glad that the U.S.-led war toppled dictator Saddam Hussein. They are looking to the U.S. departure eight years after the war began.
Last month, the prime minister told Gates that he expects all U.S. troops to be out of Iraq by the end of the year as required under a 2008 security agreement between the U.S. and Iraq.
Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Police State Expands On Bin Laden Death Hype

Kurt Nimmo
Infowars.com
May 4, 2011
The Department of Homeland Security and police departments around the country are taking full advantage of the unverified assassination of the late CIA asset, Osama bin Laden.

In New York, the police “super-sized” security by dispatching a bevy of cops in elite, military style gear, according to the Examiner. Militarized cops were spotted with machine guns and large trained German Shepherds throughout major hubs like Grand Central Station, the Port Authority, Herald Square, and even in New York landmarks.
Dodger Stadium and Staples Center in LA received a fresh influx of cops. “The city remains in contact with the FBI and Homeland Security on a daily basis,” reports ABC 7. “But officials say security is a shared responsibility. They are calling on everyone to report anything unusual, and they’re reminding residents that if they see something, say something.”
Public rail systems in Florida added uniformed and plain-clothes security officers on platforms and on trains, authorities told the Sun-Sentinel. At Miami International Airport, “we’ve ratcheted things up a notch,” with increased police and K-9 patrols as well as random vehicle checks, said security director Lauren Stover. Florida’s major commercial airports, like those around the nation, plan to remain on high alert indefinitely with stepped up but mostly unseen security measures, according to the newspaper.
In Portland, Oregon, the Osama fiasco was exploited to put more cops and inspectors on mass transit in that city. “What we have done is, working with the TSA, increased our presence and visibility on the system,” said Bekki Witt, spokeswoman for TriMet, the public transportation system for the metropolitan area. The added security is typical after a U.S. military action or an elevated national threat level, notes The Oregonian.
Department of Homeland Security officers were performing warrantless searches at the Palm Springs International Airport on Monday. Transportation Security Administration spokesman Nico Melendez told KPSP Local 2 that officers from the Department of Homeland Security had been scheduled prior to Osama’s alleged assassination to perform searches at the airport in conjunction with TSA. Melendez said Viper teams will be working out of the airport this week.

So-called counter terrorism experts warn that followers of Osama bin Laden will strike in retaliation for the reported assassination of the former CIA operative who died in late 2001. “Terrorists are expected to aim for more vulnerable soft targets like shopping malls or museums,” CBS New York reports.
Security consultant David Boehm told CBS the future may include security check points entering all soft targets — like the local department store. “The reason they’re called ‘soft’ is because it’s so easily accessible to anyone. There has to be security checks for the safety of all people,” Broehm said.
The increased presence of militarized cops working with the Department of Homeland Security dovetails with action on Capitol Hill. The House Homeland Security Committee examined possible terrorist threats posed to mass transit systems around the country today.
“Especially now in the wake of bin Laden’s death, we have to assume that al-Qaida or its affiliates, al-Qaida in the Arabian peninsula, any of the others, any of the radicalized terrorists here at home, self-starters, if you will, loan wolves or organized terrorist operations in this country will launch a domestic attack,” said House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Peter King, who recently held hearings on the supposed threat posed by radical Muslims.





Najibullah Zazi, the Oregon peroxide bleach would-be bomber, served as a centerpiece for King’s hearing today.
Stock up with Fresh Food that lasts with eFoodsDirect (Ad)
Zazi, a U.S. resident from Afghanistan, entered a guilty plea on conspiracy charges in early 2010. The government accused him of plotting to use weapons of mass destruction against the United States. It was said Zazi bought hydrogen peroxide at a beauty supply store and learned explosives techniques at a Pakistani al-Qaeda training camp.
During Zazi’s trial, the Department of Justice admitted that no operational bomb existed and veteran counterterrorism investigators said that important facts remained unknown, including whether Zazi selected a specific target, date, and recruited others to help.