Amended USA Freedom Act draws questions from civil liberties groups

Sunday, May 11, 2014

The USA Freedom Act, introduced in to the US House of Representatives as HR 3361 and to the US Senate as S. 1599, on Thursday passed out of House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and on to the House floor. Foreign Policy reported the bill was “the most aggressive NSA reform bill under consideration in Congress”, however, after amendment, the bill has been questioned for extending the Patriot Act and the reduction of reform to Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.

The USA Freedom Act had the stated goal of ending the bulk collection of Americans’ metadata, ending the secret laws created by the FISA court, and introducing a “Special Advocate” to represent public and privacy matters before the FISA court.

In May 2014, the US House Judiciary Committee posted a “Manager’s Amendment” on its website. Title VII of the Amendment read “Section 102(b)(1) of the USA Patriot Improvement and Reauthorization Act of 2005 (50 U.S.C. 1805 note) is amended by striking ‘June 1, 2015’ and inserting ‘December 31, 2017′”, extending the USA PATRIOT Act through the end of 2017. A number of organizations have taken stances against the Patriot Act, for example, the American Library Association became so concerned it urged its members to defend free speech and protect patrons’ privacy against the Act.

According to Deputy Attorney General James Cole, even if the Freedom Act becomes law, the NSA could continue its bulk collection of American’s phone records. He explained that “it’s going to depend on how the [FISA] court interprets any number of the provisions” contained within the legislation. Jennifer Granick, Director of Civil Liberties at Stanford Law School, stated:

The Administration and the intelligence community believe they can do whatever they want, regardless of the laws Congress passes, so long they can convince one of the judges appointed to the secretive Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) to agree. This isn’t the rule of law. This is a coup d’etat.

Cynthia Wong of Human Rights Watch (HRW) expressed concern that “the bill does not address needed reforms to surveillance programs that affect millions of people outside US borders.” This being a key problem that plagues US surveillance activities according to HRW.

Mike Rogers, a defender of the NSA’s surveillance practices and the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, called the proposed amendments a “huge improvement”. On the other hand, USA Freedom Act co-author and Senate Committee on the Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy commented that he “remain concerned that the legislation approved today does not include some of the important reforms related to national security letters, a strong special advocate at the FISA Court, and greater transparency. I will continue to push for those reforms when the Senate Judiciary Committee considers the USA FREEDOM Act this summer.”

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23 October

Alternative Treatment For Inflammatory Bowel Disease (Ibd)

IBD or Inflammatory Bowel Disease is a term that is used to understand Crohn’s disease and Ulcerative Colitis. Both the disorders are associated with chronic inflammation in the gastrointestinal or digestive tract. Because Crohn’s disease and Ulcerative Colitis represent IBD, it is wise to understand them in brief.

According to the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation of America (CCFA), around 780,000 Americans are suffering from Crohn’s disease. The key symptoms include diarrhea, abdominal cramps, blood in your stool, fever, fatigue, loss of appetite, weight loss, and feeling a frequent need for bowel movements. Ulcerative Colitis is a condition where the lining of the large intestine develops ulcers. Cramping belly pain, sudden urge to poop, weight loss, feeling tired, fever, dehydration, joint pain or soreness, and canker sores are some of its symptoms. The difference between Crohn’s disease and Ulcerative Colitis is that while the former can affect any place on the digestive tract, the latter only affects the large intestines.

What causes IBD is still unknown. But based on the current research reports, it is a result of a poor immune system. In some cases, IBD may also be genetic. While diet and stress may aggravate the situation with inflammatory bowel disease, they are definitely not the reason for it in the first place. A person may develop IBD because of their age, race or ethnicity, family history, cigarette smoking, or nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory medications.

Symptoms and Diagnosis of IBD

There can be several symptoms associated with IBD but the most common include a combination of symptoms in Crohn’s disease and Ulcerative Colitis depending on which disorder you have. If you have already visited your doctor and know whether you have Crohn’s disease or its counterpart, you can go forward with the right treatment. If you are unsure, then doing the right diagnosis is crucial. You would need to have endoscopy and colonoscopy for Crohn’s disease and Ulcerative Colitis respectively. Other than that you may also need magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), contrast radiography, or computed tomography (CT) scan for imaging studies.

Medical Cannabis as an Alternative Treatment

Cannabis is thought to have some gastrointestinal effects such as a reduction in visceral pain, relaxation of the esophageal sphincter, and a decrease in gastric motility and secretions. In a 2014 study of the 319 Canadian patients with IBD, 91% self-reported that they had improvements in symptoms with cannabis use. One astonishing detail that was noted was that 17.6% of the patients reported lifetime use of cannabis for IBD. While 83.9% and 76.% announced an improvement in abdominal pain and cramp respectively, 48.2% saw an improvement in joint pain. Even symptoms of diarrhea improved in 28.6% of the patients.

In a second study published in 2013 by Jessica Ravikoff Allegretti, MD et al., it was observed that a significant number of patients with IBD who consumed marijuana also found it out to be effective in controlling symptoms. The researchers surveyed a total of 292 patients. Out of the 12.3% were active cannabis users; 39% consumed at some point in the past; 48.6% of the patients never had cannabis at any phase in their lives. 16.4% of the patients among those who were active users or had it in the past mentioned that they used it to control the symptoms and the majority found it out to be effective.

Conclusion

The cannabis Sativa plant has over 400 compounds and over 100 cannabinoids. Two of the most popular include tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD). Both these compounds are associated with medical benefits for chronic pain, PTSD, and Multiple Sclerosis to name a few. When it comes to IBD, more research is required to understand where cannabis stands. For more information on how cannabis can have an impact on IBD, you may refer here: Why Marijuana can be Helpful in the Treatment of IBD.

22 October

Sony faces class action lawsuits for DRM

Friday, November 11, 2005

California, Italy and New York are the first to bring litigation against Sony BMG‘s digital rights management (DRM) software found in at least 20 music discs released by Sony. The software automatically installs after the user agrees to a end user license agreement (EULA) before the music disc can be played, and includes a rootkit that can create vulnerabilities in the user’s Windows computer. One trojan horse exploiting the hole has already been discovered online.

The California lawsuit, filed on November 1, claims that the software violates the Consumer Legal Remedies Act, the Consumer Protection Against Computer Spyware Act, and the California Unfair Competition Law. The upcoming lawsuit in New York would seek restitution for consumers nationwide.

Mathew Gilliat-Smith, the CEO of First 4 Internet, the company that created the software, claims it is “benign content.” Meanwhile, in an NPR interview, a Sony BMG Music Entertainment Vice President said, “Most people, I think, don’t even know what a rootkit is, so why should they care about it?”

Sony and First 4 Internet have released “patches” and uninstall kits, after programmer Mark Russinovich discovered the hidden files from the rootkit. However, these uninstall kits are only installable online through an ActiveX application, a technology many security experts advise users to deactivate due to its high execution privileges on host computers.

In addition to questions of legality, the DRM software has come under fire from media rights activists and even artists who unwittingly found their albums more stringently protected than they approved of. Furthermore, Sony’s DRM software “phones home” each time one of their CDs is played. The license agreement does not reveal this behavior, nor does it acknowledge the existence of the rootkit itself.

Thomas Hesse of Sony BMG recently told the San Francisco Chronicle that 60 percent of Sony BMG CDs released in the United States currently have copy protection measures, and that they aim to hit 100 percent by early 2006.

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18 October

Plane crash in the Bahamas kills eight

Wednesday, October 6, 2010

A small twin-engined Cessna 402 crashed into a lake in the Bahamas shortly after take off Tuesday, killing all eight Bahamian occupants.

The Cessna crashed into Lake Killarney, located near the Lynden Pindling International Airport, after a fire broke out in one of its engines, according to assistant commissioner Hulan Hanna of the Royal Bahamas Police Force.

It is reported that several bodies were recovered from the lake and a person was pulled out alive, but later died of a broken neck. It is reported that the plane, which departed the airport at about 12:30 p.m. local time, was travelling to San Salvador in the southern Bahamas. According to police, an investigation is in progress to specify the cause of the crash.

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18 October

Events cancelled at Humber due to college strike

Wednesday, March 8, 2006

Due to the province-wide college strike, events at Humber College in Etobicoke, Ontario, Canada have been cancelled or delayed.

Latin Jazz Night, set to happen on Wednesday evening at 8:00 pm is cancelled, as is an Evening of Sketch Comedy, which was scheduled for Sunday, March 12 at 8:00 pm.

The Evening of Sketch Comedy is organized by students of the Humber School of Comedy. Humber is the only institution to offer comedy courses at a post-secondary or post-graduate level. The Evening is a part of students’ marks.

Theatre Humber’s production of The Rover has survived the axe. Set to play from Friday, March 31 – Saturday, April 8 at the Humber Theatre, it has been pre-emptively postponed.

Faculty of 24 colleges across the province went on strike as of Monday night, after no deal was made in continued collective bargaining.

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17 October

New Media, New Profit Model Builders Turn On Both Sides Jin Danuo Led Display

New media, new profit model builders turn on both sides-Jin Danuo LED display

by

carollgushee

12v led strip light Jin Danuo on both sides double LED display, it is in LED display of Foundation Shang increased has three surface double transform picture of function, both combination, disadvantages, makes its both three surface double of scale momentum, and has LED full color display of raging storm; rage tempestuously gorgeous, day for three surface double using, let which two a surface alternating flip, each motor 90 watts of power, both avoid traditional plane advertising of dull and plane of and savings has energy, solution has general electronic display day electricity volume large, Display problem of insufficient under direct sunlight. Go out in the evening and the third, becoming a full-color LED display, making the effect, more diversified forms, without air conditioning and artificial unattended, minimum 55 watts of electricity consumption per square meter, is the traditional LED display one-sixth.

G4 led bulb On both sides double LED display, day is fixed of II a plane advertising, night is full color LED display, both can Omni-directional meet Telecom, and real estate, large customer clock cover requirements, and can good to service Yu video advertising customer, day of II a fixed customer, magnificent, advertising benefit good, customer willing to long-term put, night of LED video effect, not only can play video customer, also can secondary day of customer do promotion, such as play company image tablets,, to reached more angle brand publicity, Realization of advertising effectiveness value, flexible operation mode, zero-risk, zero investment burden in the late, customers can to develop more flexible advertising model, while demand in their own profit, to better protect the interests of advertisers. led rgb controller And traditional LED display compared to, Jin Danuo on both sides double LED display investment operations more flexible, traditional LED display only play video advertising, on requirements full days Hou cover of large customer,, on only always bemoans has, large customer of loss on LED large screen operators,, not micro-vascular bleeding, but active pulse rupture, long this down, traditional LED large screen under itself investment difficult, and operations cost large, and advertising cover, limitations, will difficult to can negative global, Then unable to realize win-win situation for advertisers and customers. So-called “troops is not dynamic, stores first”, traditional LED large screen in investment zhiqian on must light screen operations, and operations of cost and extremely high, investment smooth is good, once blocked will will directly threat to operators of survival, and Jin Danuo on both sides double LED display is on limited of space for maximum degree of development and using, makes same location implementation profit times even a dozen times times of value-added. Same location, both Tri-fixed income, and LED display multiple customers, optimized portfolio will give customers more flexible business model, completely solve the customer later operations investment problems. LED display for both sides to Jin Danuo case, compared to the traditional LED display and 200 square meters, Jin Danuo LED display on both sides of annual electricity savings of more than $ 300,000! Minimizes operational costs, and tri-use during the day, LED display actual work time up to 7 hours a day, saving energy much more than these. Its unique mode of work, effectively avoid attenuation of LED display screen to work long hours to speed up electronic components age, greatly extending the life of the screen. If existing national traditional LED displays LED display on both sides be replaced by Jin Danuo, when power 4 million-kilowatt a year, equivalent to the consumption of a small town for a year, while reducing carbon dioxide emissions by about 50,000 tons, not only of the Government of low-carbon and energy-saving requirements, evasion more effectively, electricity, power cuts and shortages of electricity, etc. Jin Danuo invention patent “bomb axis 360 drive system”, Duo color image processing chip, 28 items national patent, on both sides double LED display by virtue of low, and efficient, many advantage for user save large of expenditure, makes user in investment pricing Shang more flexible; without air conditioning and hand unattended, save has operations cost, to guarantee profit space maximize; unit module of of design easy maintenance, without regularly cleaning. Jin Danuo LED display on both sides also have superior wind resistance structure, strong winds from the triangular prism gap and patented designs of Venetian-style back through, minimizing air resistance, ensuring high security. New forms of expression, very low operating costs, quality of rock solid, allowing users more flexible investment strategies, while demand in their own profit, to better protect the interests of advertisers, good cooperation to achieve win-win situation. 12v led strip lightG4 led bulbled rgb controller

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New media, new profit model builders turn on both sides-Jin Danuo LED display

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pflucFXDuCU[/youtube]
16 October

Ontario Votes 2007: Interview with Communist Party candidate Stuart Ryan, Ottawa Centre

Tuesday, October 9, 2007

Stuart Ryan is running for the Communist Party in the Ontario provincial election in Ottawa Centre. Wikinews interviewed him regarding his values, his experience, and his campaign.

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14 October

2008 TaiSPO: Interview with Ideal Bike Corporation and Gary Silva

Friday, March 28, 2008

2008 Taipei International Cycle Show (Taipei Cycle) & Taipei International Sporting Goods Show (TaiSPO) not only did a best reunion with conjunctions of the launch of Taipei World Trade Center Nangang Exhibition and the concurrent cycling race of 2008 Tour de Taiwan but also provide opportunities and benefits for sporting goods, bicycle, and athlete sports industries to establish the basis of the sourcing center in Asia and notabilities on the international cycling race.

Although the Taipei cycle was split from the TaiSPO since 1988, but the trends of sporting good industry in Taiwan changed rapidly and multiply because of modern people’s lifestyles and habits. After the “TaiSPO Innovation Award” was established since 2005, the fitness and leisure industries became popular stars as several international buyers respected on lifestyle and health.

For example, some participants participated Taipei Cycle and TaiSPO with different product lines to do several marketing on bicycle and fitness equipments, this also echoed the “Three New Movements” proposed by Giant Co., Ltd. to make a simple bicycle with multiple applications and functions. As of those facts above, Wikinews Journalist Rico Shen interviewed Ideal Bike Corporation and Gary Silva, designer of “3G Steeper” to find out the possibilities on the optimizations between two elements, fitness and bicycle.

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13 October

Pnb Home Loan Insurance Policy

PNB Home Loan Insurance Policy

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Loans And Credit

All of us can see that prices of real estate property are going higher and higher, not to mention out of reach. This has resulted in raised need of an individual to own a house at a young age. In this regard, home loan facility has been extended by most of the financial institutions or banks, which has enabled many to acquire their house.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KSbPt9u6YGw[/youtube]

Like any other financial solution, PNB home loan is also one of the best deals that can be availed at affordable interest rates coupled with attractive loan scheme. Have so many other beneficial factors coupled with the housing finance scheme. However, life is indefinite for any one, so anything can happen in the life. Unforeseen circumstances (either good or bad) can strike without warning, like event of death of the loan applicant, which can result in default in payment of loan. Further, if the borrower was the only bread winner of the family, then, the security will be taken in possession by the lending authority due to non-payment of installments. Such kind of situation may lead you to the biggest financial crunch to deal with, you have ever witness. In order to save this, a home insurance policy, which can provide cover against home loan on event of death of borrower, becomes a requirement. This kind of specific policy will pay off your debt to save your family from the worst fate to loss their house of comfort. Technically, availing home insurance in order to cover the borrowed loan amount in individual’s capacity often becomes an expensive affair to deal with. This decision might bring financial crunch in the life of home loan borrower, who is already incurring the expenses towards unmanageable home loan emi (equated monthly installment). This is the downside of taking a home insurance. In such kind of situation, a group insurance loan cover against death of borrower is one of the best solutions one can think of. Further, the cost of taking such cover is also reduced considerably. Punjab national banking (PNB) in association with tata aig life insurance, is offering a home loan insurance plan. In order to avail this back-up plan, you can always consult your bank in the same regard. If your lender does not offer such facility, then you can also avail this on your own. You just have to inform about this change to your lender, so this can be included into the loan agreement.

Self-owned house is a dream that fancies everyone, but everyone cannot afford to buy a home with all hard cash.

PNB home loan

are being introduced as the solutions for you finance problems. PNB home loans in India are offered at competitive rate of interest coupled with most appealing

home loan

schemes.

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ArticleRich.com

12 October

British Airways and Iberia sign merger deal

Friday, April 9, 2010

British Airways (BA) and the Spanish airline Iberia have signed a merger deal, which will create one of the largest air carrier groups in the world.

The two announced the merger yesterday, and said that the deal, which has been expected for a long time, is to be implemented by the end of 2010. The move will make a group with a market value of US$8 billion. The deal has been negotiated since July 2008.

Under the plan, both companies keep their own brands and operations, but will be owned by International Airlines Group, a new holding company. It will be listed in London, but taxed in Spain.

The airlines believe the merger will save $530 million annually. In February, BA reported a loss of $102.4 million for the final three quarters of 2009, whilst Iberia posted an operating loss of $629 million.

Meanwhile, investors in BA will receive an IAG share for every BA share they own, and stockholders in Iberia 1.0205 shares for each share in the Spanish airline; thus, BA shareholders will take 55% of IAG.

“The merged company will provide customers with a larger combined network,” commented BA chief executive Willie Walsh. “It will also have greater potential for further growth by optimising the dual hubs of London and Madrid and providing continued investment in new products and services.”

Meanwhile, Iberia chief executive Antonio Vázquez remarked: “This is an important step in creating one of the world’s leading global airlines that will be better equipped to compete with other major airlines and participate in future industry consolidation.”

Independent aviation specialist James Halstead said he believed the merger was necessary for BA to remain competitive amongst other European air carriers. “BA’s unique position at Heathrow could help it survive for a short while, but in the long run it needs more than just Heathrow. The main point of the Iberia deal is to be able to cut costs and put the combined company in the position that Air France-KLM and Lufthansa are already in,” he said, quoted by The Independent.

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12 October