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Good idea: San Francisco set to make history with law banning use of facial recognition technology

Julia Conley
Common Dreams
Mon, 13 May 2019 00:00 UTC
facial recognition
© Steffi Loos/Getty ImagesSan Francisco could become the first city to ban the use of facial recigntion technology by city agencies.
"The harms of unchecked surveillance are very real and they often impact immigrant and communities of color disproportionately."

Civil liberties advocates on Monday eagerly awaited the results of a vote by San Francisco officials on the city's use of facial recognition technology - hoping the city's Board of Supervisors would vote to ban the surveillance tool.

The board is set to vote Tuesday on the Stop Secret Surveillance Ordinance, a law that advocates say would make history and potentially encourage other cities to ban the use of facial recognition technology, which is being used increasingly by police and private companies.

Since San Francisco is the "most technologically advanced city in our country," privacy expert Alvaro Bedoya told the Associated Press, the city's rejection of cameras which can capture anyone's image for use by the police or city agencies could send a strong message to other government officials.
"The people of San Francisco and their elected representatives deserve an open and democratic process that answers critical questions before City departments acquire or use surveillance technology." -Nathan Sheard, Electronic Frontier Foundation
The technology is also unpopular with the public. A majority of respondents in a 2018 poll by the Brookings Institution said they were opposed to facial recognition being used in stores, airports, and stadiums. Last November, 60 percent of San Francisco voters approved a measure to strengthen data privacy protections in the city.

Comment: States, cities and towns across the US should take the people of San Francisco's example and let their voices be heard on this issue.

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Newspaper

'5G ties uncovered': RT America's Rick Sanchez on what's behind NY Times hit piece


RT
Tue, 14 May 2019 21:40 UTC
The New York Times vs. RT
© RT
RT America news anchor Rick Sanchez hit back at the New York Times over the paper's claim that airing any questions about the safety of 5G technology is a Russian plot. The Times has a vested interest in 5G through Verizon.
"This weekend the New York Times wrote a malicious hit piece about us, which had an impact on me personally, because I've always admired the New York Times," Sanchez said on Monday night's newscast.
Sanchez called the NY Times headline "completely biased and wrong," reminding viewers that The News With Rick Sanchez and other RT America shows have aired concerns from scientists and scholars that the radiation involved with 5G technology might pose a health hazard - something that is very much an open question still.
"Only the New York Times chose to make this about us - not even so much about our coverage, but rather about our intentions, suggesting that we only covered this story because of President Putin. The Times argues that we are conflicted and they question our integrity and our intentions," Sanchez said. "They're wrong."
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Fire

Fire hazard: Tesla electric car bursts into flames at Hong Kong parking lot

Donny Kwok and Shellin Li
Reuters
Tue, 14 May 2019 06:22 UTC
Tesla Model S 85 KWH
A Tesla Inc electric car caught fire in a parking lot in a Hong Kong shopping mall, the Apple Daily newspaper said on Tuesday, but no one was injured in the blaze, whose cause was not immediately known.

The electric car burst into flames 30 minutes after being parked in the city's San Po Kong district on Sunday, the newspaper said, with three explosions seen on CCTV footage.

Firemen took 45 minutes to douse the fire.

The vehicle was a Tesla Model S 85 KWH dual power version, added the paper, which gave no explanation of what might have caused the blaze.

Comment: See also:

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Bad Guys

Sri Lankan Easter attack suspect was under Indian surveillance for ISIS ties

Shihar Aneez, Shri Navaratnam, Sanjeev Miglani
Reuters
Tue, 14 May 2019 16:15 UTC
Shangri-La hotel
© REUTERS/Dinuka Liyanawatte/File PhotoA police officer inspects the explosion area at Shangri-La hotel in Colombo, Sri Lanka April 21, 2019.
A Sri Lankan software engineer suspected by authorities in Sri Lanka of having provided technical and logistical support to the Easter Sunday suicide bombers was monitored by Indian intelligence agencies three years ago for links with Islamic State suspects, investigators said.

Four sources in Sri Lankan investigating agencies said they believed Aadhil Ameez, a 24-year-old, was the link between two groups that carried out the attacks on churches and hotels that killed more than 250 people and wounded hundreds more.

Aadhil has been arrested and is in police custody, the sources said. His arrest has not been made public, but when asked by Reuters, Ruwan Gunasekera, the main spokesman for the Sri Lankan police, confirmed Aadhil was taken into custody on April 25, four days after the attacks.
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Cell Phone

Huawei chairman: Company willing to sign 'no-spy' agreements with world govts


RT
Tue, 14 May 2019 16:48 UTC
huawei
© Global Look Press
Huawei chairman Liang Hua has stated that his company would be willing to sign "no spy" agreements with governments, while vehemently denying any Chinese laws forcing companies to spy on foreign countries.

Hua said he has not met with any British government officials on this current trip to the UK but claimed his company has long-cooperated with Britain's National Criminal Intelligence Service (NCIS) and established good cybersecurity measures.

The businessman called for industry-wide, technical solutions to improve cybersecurity while calling on world governments to adopt an "evidence-based approach" to cybersecurity risks.
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Arrow Up

Russian LNG exports surge 20 percent, boosting revenues to $2 billion


RT
Tue, 14 May 2019 16:34 UTC
LNG carrier
© Global Look PressLNG carrier "Velikiy Novgorod"
Liquefied natural gas (LNG) shipments from Russia increased to 11.7 billion cubic meters in the first three months of this year - a 19.7 percent growth compared to the same period of 2018.

The surge in the country's LNG exports ensured a year-on-year growth in revenue for Russian firms in the sector. Sakhalin Energy and Yamal LNG revenues spiked by 49.8 percent, reaching $1.95 billion, the Federal Customs Service (FCS) said on Monday.

In March alone the shipments amounted to 2.6 billion cubic meters and generated $510 million.

Meanwhile, Russian exports of natural gas decreased by 0.4 percent over the indicated period to 61.5 billion cubic meters, the FCS added. However, the profits from those exports still rose to $14 billion, posting a 10.7 percent increase compared to January-March 2018.
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Stock Down

Roundup revenge: Bayer's stock continues landslide after $2 billion award in glyphosate cancer trial

Ludwig Burger
Reuters
Tue, 14 May 2019 02:46 UTC
monsanto und bayer
Shares in Bayer fell as much as 5% on Tuesday after a jury awarded more than $2 billion to a California couple in the largest U.S. jury verdict against the company over allegations its Roundup weed killer causes cancer.

That put the stock on course to close at its lowest level in almost seven years, even though the punitive damages award is likely to be reduced due to U.S. Supreme Court rulings that limit the ratio of punitive to compensatory damages to 9:1.

The jury set the total punitive damages at $2 billion and added $55 million in compensatory pay, concluding that Roundup - based on herbicide glyphosate - had been defectively designed, and that the company failed to warn of the herbicide's alleged cancer risk.

The shares were down 2.5% at 55.05 euros at 0905 GMT.

Bayer said in a statement on Monday that it was disappointed with the verdict and would appeal. A spokesman called the jury's decision "excessive and unjustifiable".

It was the third consecutive U.S. jury verdict against the company in litigation over the chemical, which Bayer acquired as part of its $63 billion purchase of Monsanto last year.

Comment: Recent Monsanto / Bayer news:

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Arrow Down

Stocks crater: 3.5 Trillion dollars in global market cap gone, US trade policy badly hurting American farmers and food production

Michael Snyder
The Economic Collapse
Mon, 13 May 2019 00:00 UTC
wall street crash
Wall Street responded to our escalating trade war with China by throwing a bit of a temper tantrum. On Monday the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 617 points, and that was the worst day for the Dow since January 3rd. But things were even worse for the Nasdaq. It had its worst day since December 4th, and overall the Nasdaq is now down 6.3 percent in just the last six trading sessions. Of course it isn't just in the United States that stocks are declining. Since last Monday, a total of approximately $3.5 trillion in market cap has been wiped out on global stock markets. And since it doesn't look like we are going to get any sort of a trade deal any time soon, this could potentially be just the beginning of our problems.

China fired a shot that was heard around the world on Monday when they announced that they would be dramatically raising tariffs on U.S. goods...
China will raise tariffs on $60 billion in U.S. goods in retaliation for the U.S. decision to hike duties on Chinese goods, the Chinese Finance Ministry said Monday.

Beijing will increase tariffs on more than 5,000 products to as high as 25%. Duties on some other goods will increase to 20%. Those rates will rise from either 10% or 5% previously.
According to CNBC, these new tariffs are going to be particularly damaging for U.S. farmers...
The duties in large part target U.S. farmers, who largely supported Trump in 2016 but suffered from previous shots in the Trump administration's trade war with China. The thousands of products include peanuts, sugar, wheat, chicken and turkey.
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Pills

'Largest cartel case in US history': Big Pharma collusion caused generic drug prices to rise by as much as 1,000%


RT
Tue, 14 May 2019 14:27 UTC
pills Big pharma money
© REUTERS/Srdjan Zivulovic
Nearly every state in the US is part of a lawsuit against leading pharmaceutical companies which colluded to raise prices on generic medications by as much as 1,000 percent.

RT's Boom Bust talks to Mollye Barrows of America's Lawyer about the case with the big pharma companies which some are referring to as "the largest cartel case in the history of the United States."

She says executives of 20 companies met with each other to fix prices and divide the market share of profits for more than 100 generic drugs.


Comment: More on the pharma drug-cartel fraud:

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Sheriff

Land of the free: Cops raid journalist's home and kidnap him after he refuses to name source for cop-damning article

Matt Agorist
The Free Thought Project
Mon, 13 May 2019 00:00 UTC
arrest of journalist
Despite multiple laws on the books protecting journalists from revealing their sources, a journalist in California was raided after refusing to reveal his.

In the land of the free, journalists are now being raided by SWAT teams in an effort to find out their sources and this is in spite of the law protecting journalists from this very act. Freelance journalist Bryan Carmody just fell victim to the police state in California as multiple San Francisco cops with sledge hammers and weapons began breaking down his door last week in an effort to find out his source for a leaked police report.

As the Society for Professional Journalists points out, California's Shield Law protects journalists from being held in contempt for refusing to disclose their sources' identities and other unpublished/unaired information obtained during the news gathering process (California Constitution, Article I, § 2(b); California Evidence Code § 1070(a)). California Penal Code section 1524(g) provides that "no warrant shall issue" for any item protected by the Shield Law.

Despite this protection under the law, police still raided Carmody's home.
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