Activist Post – by Derrick Broze

An Israeli company has announced plans to launch new “autonomous” surveillance products which are specifically designed to monitor large metropolitan areas.

On Thursday, Israeli surveillance technology company Jenovice announced a slew of new surveillance products aimed at monitoring Wi-Fi enabled devices in order to gain intelligence on targets. The announcement was part of a presentation – “Tactical Wi-Fi Interception – Identify, Acquire, Intercept” – given at the Intelligence Support Systems for Electronic Surveillance, Social Media/DarkNet Monitoring and Cyber Crime Investigations, or ISS World Europe Conference, in Prague.  Continue reading “Israeli Company Is Selling Autonomous Surveillance Systems to Governments Around the World”

Yahoo News

For many of us, clean, drinkable water comes right out of the tap. But for billions it’s not that simple, and all over the world researchers are looking into ways to fix that. Today brings work from Berkeley, where a team is working on a water-harvesting apparatus that requires no power and can produce water even in the dry air of the desert. Hey, if a cactus can do it, why can’t we?

While there are numerous methods for collecting water from the air, many require power or parts that need to be replaced; what professor Omar Yaghi has developed needs neither.  Continue reading “This box sucks pure water out of dry desert air”

Steemit – by Carey Wedler

A group of parents in Minnesota called Stop CPS From Legally Kidnapping Children has filed a request in federal court to “shut down the state’s child protection services, stop serial abuse of families and overturn the unconstitutional laws by which the agency operates,” according to a press release published Tuesday.

The group, led by Dwight Mitchell, a father who says his son was illegally taken from him for 22 months, first filed a civil rights complaint in April, and this week they vocally publicized their call to shut down the child services agency, which they claim engages in systemic lying, withholding information, and fabricating evidence. They are asking the federal court to suspend the state’s agency from enforcing child protection laws, and according to a petition signed by almost 5,000 people, are also demanding changes to the laws themselves.   Continue reading “Over 1,200 Minnesota Parents Are Suing to Shut Down Child Protective Services”

Natural Blaze – by Heather Callaghan

Kat Von D is an internet sensation having been a reality TV star, tattoo artist, makeup guru and musician – just a few of the things on her resume. The 36-year old celebrity garners 12 million likes on Facebook and many adoring Instagramers. Her and her husband, Rafael Reyes, are newly weds about to give birth to her first child.   Continue reading “Kat Von D In Vax Shaming Firestorm After Declaring She Will Not Vaccinate Unborn Child”

Syracuse.com

A hardware store owner in East Tennessee is celebrating a new Supreme Court ruling by putting up a sign that says “No Gays Allowed.”

If that sounds familiar, it’s because he’s done it before and made national headlines for it three years ago.   Continue reading “‘No Gays Allowed’: Tennessee store owner puts sign back up after SCOTUS ruling”

NBC News

The Southern Baptist Convention, the country’s largest evangelical denomination, is headed for a showdown over its treatment of women that could not only have far-reaching ramifications for the church but also influence the broader secular #MeToo movement.

At its annual meeting next week in Dallas, delegates called “messengers” will decide whether to approve a resolution acknowledging that, throughout the church’s history, male leaders and members of the church “wronged women, abused women, silenced women, objectified women.”   Continue reading “#MeToo goes to church: Southern Baptists face a reckoning over treatment of women”

American Trucker

PORTLAND, OR. Daimler Trucks North America (DTNA) unveiled on June 6 what President and CEO Roger Nielsen said will be the “broadest [electric] truck fleet in North America by 2021.”

The unveiling of the Freightliner eCascadia heavy-duty truck and Freightliner eM2 medium-duty model took place on the same day DTNA announced the creation of the Automated Truck Research and Development Center in Portland.   Continue reading “Daimler unveils two all-electric Freightliner trucks”

The Organic Prepper

Last weekend when I wrote about the new bills that were turned into law in California by a mercifully-departing Governor Jerry Brown, I never expected a hub-bub. I did my research, came to some conclusions, and titled my article, “Now It’s Illegal to Have a Shower and Do Laundry on the Same Day.” That’s the link if you want to read it first. Fact-checkers Snopes and Politifact said I was a big fat liar, but let’s take a look at their “facts,” shall we?

Contrary to popular belief, no kittens were sacrificed to the devil in the writing of that article. I just sat down, did a little research, and came to some conclusions that in my eyes were (and still are) entirely reasonable. However, Snopes and Politifact disagreed rather vehemently. (About the conclusions, not the kittens. The kittens actually were a figment of my imagination, unlike anything in the article they “debunked.)  Continue reading “Fact-Checking the “Fact-Checkers”: Snopes & Politifact Said I’m a Big Fat Liar, But Let’s Look at THEIR “Facts””

ANH USA – by Gretchen DuBeau

So far this year, 31 people have been killed in school shootings, including 26 students. In comparison, 13 military service members have died in the line of duty in 2018. The fact that our schools are currently more dangerous than combat zones should fill us all with horror. As a mother, that is certainly my reaction.

Each time a new shooting occurs — on average, once every week — the same question arises: What warning signs did we miss?  Continue reading “Are Antidepressants to Blame For America’s Violence Epidemic?”

The Liberal – by Roibeard O’Longain

The EU will likely soon pass a new directive on copyright that will change the internet forever and this Orwellian move is getting almost no media attention.

Article 13 is being touted as the “End of Memes” in Europe and digital rights activists and policy experts have described as the most comprehensive and frightening move towards censorship of the free flow of information online in history.   Continue reading “The end of Memes – New EU directive aims to end free speech”

Vigilant Citizen

Anthony Bourdain was found dead by hanging in his hotel room in France, adding to the long and baffling list of celebrities who lost their lives in this grim fashion.

Anthony Bourdain was found dead on Friday morning by his friend and French chef Eric Ripert in his room at a luxury hotel in northern France. According to the authorities, Bourdain killed himself by hanging. The exact cause of the death is still under investigation.   Continue reading “Anthony Bourdain: Yet Another Celebrity Dead by Hanging”

Activist Post – by Qi Alfred Chen

The day when cars can talk to each other – and to traffic lights, stop signs, guardrails and even pavement markings – is rapidly approaching. Driven by the promise of reducing traffic congestion and avoiding crashes, these systems are already rolling out on roads around the U.S.

For instance, the Intelligent Traffic Signal System, developed with support from the U.S. Department of Transportation, has been tested on public roads in Arizona and California and is being installed more widely in New York City and Tampa, Florida. It allows vehicles to share their real-time location and speed with traffic lights, which can be used to effectively optimize the traffic timing in coordination with the real-time traffic demand to dramatically reduce vehicle waiting time in an intersection.  Continue reading “Connected Cars Can Lie, Posing a New Threat to Smart Cities”

Boston Herald

A mother who visited her soon-to-be kindergartner’s classroom in Somerville this week tweeted her shock over a sing-song nursery rhyme teaching kids how to respond in a lockdown — which city leaders are defending as a sober reminder of the reality in schools across the nation.

Georgy Cohen tweeted an image of the rhyme, writing that “this should not be hanging” in the classroom and added “but I, like most of you, have congressional representatives I can call to advocate for gun reform. Or we can support orgs like @Everytown and @SandyHook.”  Continue reading “Lockdown rhyme draws attention in Somerville”