Parents protest radio monitoring of their children

by Bob Unruh

A rebellion is developing in Texas against a plan by a school district in San Antonio that would monitor the exact location and activities of all students at all times through RFID chips they are being ordered to wear.

Katie Deolloz, a member of Consumers Against Supermarket Privacy Invasion and Numbering, told WND today that parents and students from San Antonio’s Northside Independent School District confronted the school board last night, stating their concerns about privacy and other issues “clearly and passionately.”

School district officials did not respond to a WND request for comment, but the developing furor comes only days after a coalition of civil rights and privacy organizations publicly stated their opposition to “spychipping” the students.

A “position paper” from groups including the American Civil Liberties Union, Electronic Frontier Foundation, Big Brother Watch, Citizens’ Council for Health Freedom, Constitutional Alliance, Freedom Force International, Friends of Privacy USA, the Identity Project and Privacy Activism said no students should be subjected to the “chipping” program “unless there is sufficient evidence of its safety and effectiveness.”

“Children should never be used as test subjects for technology, no matter what their socio-economic status. If schools choose to move forward without complete information and are willing to accept the associated liability, they should have provisions in place to adhere to the principles of fair information practices and respect individuals’ rights to opt out based on their conscientious and religious objections,” the statement said.

The paper said RFID tracking is dehumanizing, since it can “monitor how long a student or teacher spends in a bathroom stall.”

The plans also violate free speech and association, since the presence of a tracking device “could dissuade individuals from exercising their rights to freedom of thought, speech and association.

For example, students might avoid seeking counsel when they know their RFID tags will document their presence at locations like counselor and School Resource Officer offices.”

It argued that the technology also violates religious freedom and could be subject to unauthorized use.

“While RFID systems may be developed for use in a school, the RFID tags may be read covertly anywhere by anyone with the right reading device. Since RFID reading devices work by silent, invisible radio waves and the reading devices can be hidden, unauthorized or covert uses can be nearly impossible to detect,” the report said.

“A student’s location could be monitored from a distance by a jealous girlfriend or boyfriend, stalker, or pedophile.”

The San Antonio plan was reported by Spychips, a website run by RFID expert Katherine Albrecht and Liz McIntyre.

“San Antonio’s Northside Independent School District plans to incorporate RFID tags into mandatory student ID cards. One school district in Brazil has incorporated the tracking tags into uniforms. In both cases, the goal is to keep students, teachers and staff under constant surveillance,” the report said.

“RFID is used to track factory inventory and monitor farm animals,” said Albrecht, director of CASPIAN and co-author of “Spychips.” “Schools, of all places, should be teaching children how to participate in a free democratic society, not conditioning them to be tracked like cattle. Districts planning to use RFID should brace themselves for a parent backlash, protests, and lawsuits.”

­According to the San Antonio newspaper, all students in the district’s John Jay High School and Anson Jones Middle School would be subject to chipping.

At that point, Supt. Brian Woods said, “We want to harness the power of (the) technology to make schools safer, know where our students are all the time in a school, and increase revenues. … Parents expect that we always know where their children are, and this technology will help us do that.”

WOAI television reported district spokesman Pasqual Gonzalez said the two schools have a high rate of truancy, and the district could gain $2 million in state funding by improving attendance.

However, student Andea Hernandez, with support from her father, has decided to challenge the district’s plan. The station reported she has decided to wear an older photo ID.

“With a smart phone you can use the option to use your locator, but this, I can’t turn it off,” she said.

Protests have been launched in front of the schools, and local stations are reporting the controversy:

Albrecht said in a statement to supporters the issue now is before the school district, and protesters are awaiting the superintendent’s response.

“We don’t give up or give in,” she said.

Valeria Fernández­

New Americ­a Media

GED classes wouldn’t be available to students under the status of the Dream Act in el estado de Arizona.

PHOENIX — Anti-immigrant legislation in Arizona is creating hurdles for undocumented youth wishing to enroll in the new federal “deferred action” program announced by the Obama Administration last June, that would defer deportation for certain undocumented immigrants and allow them to obtain work permits for a renewable period of two years.

To qualify for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), applicants need to have been younger than 16-years-old when they entered the country illegally. They must also meet other criteria, such as being enrolled in high school or having earned a diploma or General Education Development (GED) certificate, and an absence of certain criminal convictions.

But in Arizona, a state law – Proposition 300 — approved by voters in 2006, bars state-funded schools from offering free GED classes to undocumented immigrants, making the path to DACA eligibility difficult for those who may have aged out of the high school system but still wish to become eligible for the new federal program.

Complicating matters further was Arizona Republican Governor Jan Brewer’s executive order last Wednesday that bans access to driver licenses and public benefits for immigrants participating in DACA.

Advocacy groups like the Arizona Dream Act Coalition (ADAC), however, are now scrambling to shatter the myth that Proposition 300 removes their right to take the GED exam altogether. Rather, say advocates, it merely bars them from taking GED classes at state institutions. One alternative, said Dulce Matuz, chairperson of ADAC, is to enroll in GED classes offered for a fee by private institutions.

“Don’t be confused, if you can’t take classes that doesn’t mean you can’t take the exam,” said Matuz, also one of TIME magazine’s 100 Most Influential People in the World.

Although one need not be a legal resident to take the GED exam, test-takers are required to present two forms of identification, which also poses a problem for undocumented youth.

Carmen Cornejo, an advocate at ADAC, said she’s been flooded with phone-calls from students who tried to take the GED exam but were turned away because they didn’t own a state issued ID. Cornejo said she has been encouraging those students to insist on taking the test, given they can provide a passport or matriculation card. For undocumented students who need to take the GED exam but can’t afford to pay for private classes, there are several other options.

Non-profits like Chicanos Por La Causa (CPLC) offer free classes through the Workforce Development Center in West Phoenix twice a week, and do not require the presentation of legal documents.

At least 75 percent of the calls the workforce center is currently receiving come from students trying to find out how they can take the GED classes. Demand for the classes, said those at the center, has already outweighed capacity. “We have a waiting list of at least 30 youth that are asking for our support (to take the classes) since President Obama made his announcement,” said Maria Jesus Cervantes, a spokesperson for CPLC. In response to the higher demand, CPLC will be expanding the number of classes they offer, said Cervantes.

Since community colleges and other learning institutions are barred from offering the GED classes for free because they receive funding from the state, some schools, like Rio Salado Community College, have found a way to circumvent the state law by offering 14-week GED courses online for $90.

“You have to be able to show (a state-issued ID card) in order to take a class in person,” said Tom Gariepy, a spokesperson for Maricopa County Community Colleges. “(But online), because you pay for it, there’s no requirement to show legal presence.” “We can’t get distracted from our goal,” said Matuz. “We need more youth to join the movement and find out what we can do to get a permanent solution.”

Immigrant rights activists and attorneys from the American Immigration Lawyers Association in Arizona say that with DACA firmly in place for the foreseeable future, Dreamers should not be rushing to file their applications; rather, they should be taking their time to make sure they get it right.

“There’s no expiration for [DACA] right now,” said Cornejo.

The silver lining for many students in Arizona is that once they obtain their GED, if they qualify for DACA, getting a college education may become more affordable.

Even though a separate provision of Proposition 300 – the same state law that prohibits undocumented youth from enrolling in free GED courses — requires undocumented students to pay out-of-state tuition for their education (regardless of how long they lived in Arizona), Obama’s plan would allow those same youth to get a work permit and obtain temporary but renewable legal residency, meaning they would be eligible to pay in-state tuition at Arizona universities, after all.

­If a student presents a legal work permit and can prove they’ve been residing in the state for at least one year, said Gariepy, they would technically qualify to pay the in-state-tuition rate.

Governor Brewer’s executive order does not specifically mention tuition costs for undocumented students, and immigration attorneys disagree as to whether or not the DACA work permit would allow those students to qualify for in-state tuition.

“Students need to be proactively looking for the information (on how to prepare for the GED). It’s time worth investing,” said Cornejo.

“This is a good step, for the student to start with the GED so they can follow that with a college education and (meet) qualifications for a future immigration process.”

by Ethan A. Huff
Natural News

A comprehensive investigation into the inner workings of the U.K.’s nationalized healthcare system has revealed a shocking legacy of corruption and lies concerning the country’s vaccine policy.

According to Dr. Lucija Tomlijenovic, Ph.D., from the University of British Columbia in Canada, the advisory and governing bodies that set vaccination policy in the U.K. have, for many decades now, hidden the truth about vaccine dangers, and deliberately pushed unsafe vaccines on the public in order to uphold the official vaccination schedule.

Official documents uncovered from secret meetings of the U.K.’s Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), an independent body that helps set vaccination schedule policy in the U.K., reveal that JCVI ignores independent data showing vaccines to be unsafe, and reinforces questionable data produced by vaccine companies claiming that vaccines are safe. The group also discourages all research that might question the safety of vaccines, and knowingly lies to parents in order to increase the overall vaccination compliance rate.

“[T]he JCVI made continuous efforts to withhold critical data on severe, adverse reactions and contraindications to vaccinations to both parents and health practitioners in order to reach overall vaccination rates which they deemed were necessary for ‘herd immunity,’ a concept which with regards to vaccination, and contrary to prevalent beliefs, does not rest on solid scientific evidence,” writes Dr. Tomljenovic in her paper.

“Official documents obtained from the U.K. Department of Health (DH) and the JCVI reveal that the British health authorities have been engaging in such practice for the last 30 years, apparently for the sole purpose of protecting the national vaccination program.” The 45-page paper blows the lid off the myth that government vaccination policy is based on sound science, and instead shows that vaccine advisory committees, which help set vaccine policy, are typically padded with vaccine industry shills that specifically promote vaccines in spite of evidence showing their dangers. This has been true in the U.K. since at least the early 1980s, and it is certainly true in the U.S. as well. (http://www.naturalnews.com/033455_Institute_of_Medicine_vaccines.html).

­Dr. Tomlijenovic explains; for instance, how JCVI has known since as early as 1981 that the measles vaccine, which is part of the government’s official vaccine schedule, is linked to long-term neurological damage and death. She also outlines, with full citations, evidence showing that JCVI has long been aware that many of scheduled vaccines cause permanent brain damage in children, but have continued to promote those vaccines anyway. JCVI knew MMR vaccine was capable of causing brain damage Another stunning discovery in Dr. Tomlijenovic’s paper deals with the MMR vaccine, and how JCVI was aware that this controversial jab can cause brain damage.

The transcript from a 1990 meeting of the JCVI CSM/DH Joint Sub-Committee on Adverse Reactions notes that JCVI was aware that MMR was definitely linked to causing at least 10 known cases of both meningitis and encephalitis.

JCVI addressed the issue f MMR safety again in 1991, noting that in a follow-up review of the earlier cases of meningitis and encephalitis that were definitively linked to the vaccine, two of the children developed permanent neurological damage as a result.

One other developed behavioral problems, which are linked to autism, and another developed cerebral astrocytoma, a type of brain tumor. None of this critical information was publicly disclosed. You can read Dr. Tomlijenovic’s full 45-page paper on vaccine corruption here: http://www.ecomed.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/3-tomljenovic.pdf.

by the El Reportero’s wire services

Aminta Granera

MANAGUA (Prensa Latina) Chiefs of Police in Central America, Mexico, the Caribbean and Colombia review on Aug. 23, in this capital joint plans to combat violence caused by drug trafficking and transnational crime.

According to reports, the military institutions hope to adopt a common strategy to deal in a coordinated way with widespread phenomena like human trafficking, illegal trafficking of drugs and money laundering.

The general director of the Nicaraguan police, First Commissioner Aminta Granera, recently confirmed that the meeting’s purpose is the establishment of a system of “red alerts” in order to facilitate the capture of criminals, in coordination with the International Police Organization Criminologist (Interpol).

Transnational crime must sense it is up against a wall, from Mexico to Colombia, including the Caribbean, “with a single fist, with one goal, one action”, she said.

In late July, the regional event held in Managua moved ahead on arrangements to design a system of circulated red alerts to allow simultaneous tracking in the region.

Headquartered at the Hotel Barceló, the meeting will take place while a police court in the capital is holding a public trial against 24 alleged members of a network trafficking and laundering money for drug cartels in Mexico and Colombia.

International assessments place Central America among the most insecure areas of the planet due to drug activity, with the disadvantage of being sandwiched between the world’s largest drug market to the north, in the U.S., and drug producers in the southern part of the continent.

Colombian peace talk rumors

Senator Roy Barreras of the ruling Partido de la U (PU) read a joint statement onAug. 22 on behalf of the Senate and Lower House Peace commissions declaring that “the president [Juan Manuel Santos] is not alone in the search for peace. Congress opens the doors to the house of democracy to debate the paths to peace”, reported Latin Briefs.

Also from Latin Briefs: Graziano calls for coordinated action to head off global food price crisis

With global food prices spiraling on the back of the worst drought for generations in the US midwest, José Graziano da Silva, the Brazilian head of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), has repeated his calls on the US to waive the mandate that 10 percent of each gallon of gasoline sold in the US be mixed with ethanol, so as to free up scarce corn supplies for the food chain.

Warning that unilateral actions by governments in 2007 and 2008 proved counterproductive and exacerbated the last food price crisis, he has also called upon the world’s leaders to act “in a coherent manner” this time round so as to avoid the latest price spike becoming entrenched.

Uruguay to sign gas deal with Angola

MONTEVIDEO – (Prensa Latina) Raúl Sendic, president of Uruguay state-run oil Co. Ancap will travel next September to Angola with the mission accompanying FM Luis Almagro to sign with counterpart Sonangol a gas venture agreement, says La República daily.

­Sendic assured Ancap and the local UTE Electricity Co. are speeding the construction of a gas plant two kilometers from the coast in Puntas de Sayago, Montevideo, adding that having better sales prices demand having good contracts while La Republica daily highlights Sonangol’s excellent reserves and facilities to become a supplier.

The official, at once, denied the existence of set prices on the sales of futures to Argentina for the latter must invest in building the plant first to know of the exact expenses and payoff.

by Paul Craig Roberts
Infowars.com

A coward dies many deaths; a brave man dies but once.

The once proud British government, now reduced to Washington’s servile whore, put on its Gestapo Jackboots and declared that if the Ecuadorean Embassy in London did not hand over WikiLeaks’ Julian Assange, British storm troopers would invade the embassy with military force and drag Assange out. Ecuador stood its ground. “We want to be very clear, we are not a British colony,” declared Ecuador’s Foreign Minister. Far from being intimidated the President of Ecuador, Rafael Correa, replied to the threat by granting Assange political asylum. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/17/world/americas/ecuador-to-let-assange-stay-in-its-embassy.html?pagewanted=2&_r=1&emc=na.

The once law-abiding British government had no shame in announcing that it would violate the Vienna Convention and assault the Ecuadorean Embassy, just as the Islamic students in the 1979 Khomeini Revolution in Iran took over the US Embassy and held the diplomatic staff captive. Pushed by their Washington overlords, the Brits have resorted to the tactics of a pariah state. Maybe we should be worried about British nuclear weapons.

Let’s be clear, Assange is not a fugitive from justice. He has not been charged with any crime in any country. He has not raped any women. There are no indictments pending in any court, and as no charges have been brought against him, there is no validity to the swedish extradition request. It is not normal for people to be extradited for questioning, especially when, as in Assange’s case, he expressed his complete cooperation with being questioned a second time by Swedish officials in London.

What is this all about? First, according to news reports, Assange was picked up by two celebrity-hunting Swedish women who took him home to their beds. Later for reasons unknown, one complained that he had not used a condom, and the other complained that she had offered one helping, but he had taken two. A Swedish prosecutor looked into the case, found that there was nothing to it, and dismissed the case.

Assange left for England. Then another Swedish prosecutor, a woman, claiming what authority I do not know, reopened the case and issued an extradition order for Assange. This is such an unusual procedure that it worked its way through the entire British court system to the Supreme Court and then back to the Supreme Court on appeal. In the end British “justice” did what the Washington overlord ordered and came down on the side of the strange extradition request.

Assange, realizing that the Swedish government was going to turn him over to Washington to be held in indefinite detention, tortured, and framed as a spy, sought protection from the Ecuadorean Embassy in London. As corrupt as the British are, the UK government was unwilling to release Assange directly to Washington. By turning him over to Sweden, the British could feel that their hands were clean.

Sweden, formerly an honorable country like Canada once was where American war resisters could seek asylum, has been suborned and brought under Washington’s thumb. Recently, Swedish diplomats were expelled from Belarus where they seem to have been involved in helping Washington orchestrate a “color revolution” as Washington keeps attempting to extend its bases and puppet states deeper into traditional Russia.

The entire world, including Washington’s servile puppet states, understands that once Assange is in Swedish hands, Washington will deliver an extradition order, with which Sweden, unlike the British, would comply. Regardless, Ecuador understands this. The Foreign Minister Ricardo Patino announced that Ecuador granted Assange asylum because “there are indications to presume that there could be political persecution.” In the US, Patino acknowledged, Assange would not get a fair trial and could face the death penalty in a trumped up case.

­The US.. Puppet State of Great (sic) Britain announced that Assange would not be permitted to leave Britain. So much for the British government’s defense of law and human rights. If the British do not invade the Ecuadorean Embassy and drag Assange out dead or in chains, the British position is that Assange will live out his life inside the London Embassy of Ecuador. According to the New York Times, Assange’s asylum leaves him “with protection from arrest only on Ecuadorean territory (which includes the embassy). To leave the embassy for Ecuador, he would need cooperation that Britain has said it will not offer.” When it comes to Washington’s money or behaving honorably in accordance with international law, the British government comes down on the side of money.

The Anglo-American world, which pretends to be the moral face of humanity has now revealed for all to see that under the mask is the face of the Gestapo.

This article first appeared at Paul Craig Roberts’ new website Institute For Political Economy. Paul Craig Roberts was Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Economic Policy and associate editor of the Wall Street Journal. He was columnist for Business Week, Scripps Howard News Service, and Creators Syndicate. He has had many university appointments. His Internet columns have attracted a worldwide following.