Canada’s warrantless surveillance bill is back, and bigger than ever, with surveillance powers for US gov’t, too

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Authorities are doing their best to clamp down on the internet.

Bill C30, the sweeping Canadian warrantless Internet surveillance bill, is back from the dead. Public Safety Minister Vic Toews (who declared that opposition to his bill was tantamount to support for pedophiles) has been working behind the scenes to resurrect his legislation, joining forces with the US government in the name of “perimeter security.” This proposed deal would expand the warrantless surveillance to US authorities, who could also access Canadians’ private information…

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US ISP/copyright deal: a one-sided private law for corporations, without public interest

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Screwing the public to help corporations is pretty standard procedure
these days for people like New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo.

Last month, the major American ISPs and entertainment industry lobbyists struck a deal to limit Internet access for alleged copyright infringers. This deal, negotiated in secret with the help of New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo did not include any public interest groups or comment from the public. As a result, it’s as one-sided and stilted as you’d imagine. Corynne McSherry from the Electronic Frontier Foundation analyzes the material that these cozy corporate negotiators left out, the stuff that public interest groups would have demanded. Here’s an abbreviated list…

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San Francisco passes law requiring radiation warnings for cell phones

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Will radiation warnings curb cell phone use?

“Cell phones cause cancer.” “No they don’t!” “Yes they do.” “No they don’t!“

Back and forth it goes, like the world’s slowest game of tennis. One study spends 6 months proving that cell phones turn you into a giant walking tumor, and another pops up showing that cell phones cause nothing but an increased need to tell people what you’re doing…

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Ban on the incandescent light bulb would save consumers $12.5 billion by 2020

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The average household’s energy costs would be cut by 7% or $85 every year.

Making it’s way through the U.S. Congress is a bill that would block certain provisions from a 2007 energy law signed by George W. Bush that “effectively bans the 100-watt incandescent bulb next year and other versions subsequently”. The law simply mandates that bulbs need to be 30% more energy efficient, an improvement that could have great economic and environmental benefits.

 

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FDA unveils graphic warning labels for all cigarette packs

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One of the graphic warning labels to appear in cigarette packs.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration, in a dramatic bid to get more Americans to quit smoking, on Tuesday released nine graphic warning labels that will appear on all packs of cigarettes by no later than September 2012.

 

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San Francisco Could Become 1st U.S. City to Ban Unsolicited Phone Books

phone books

Yellow Pages distributors will be required to ask businesses and residents if they would like a copy.

San Francisco could become the first city in the country to require distributors of the Yellow Pages to ask businesses and residents if they would like a copy of the hefty tome before leaving it on the doorstep, under new legislation introduced today.

 

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Study: 129 Million Americans Under 65 Have Pre-Existing Health Conditions

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Health problems could prevent Americans from obtaining health insurance.

As many as 129 million Americans under age 65 have health problems that could hurt their ability to obtain health insurance or force them to pay higher premiums, a U.S. government study said on Tuesday.

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