EU Court Says Google Must Delete ‘Irrelevant’ Links at the Request of Ordinary Individuals

/0 Comments/in , /by

Photo Credit: Getty

Photo Credit: Getty

By The Independent.

The European Court of Justice struck a major blow against the right of internet companies to hold unlimited information on individuals when it ordered Google to remove links that are deemed “inadequate, irrelevant or no longer relevant”.

The court’s decision will allow individuals the right to ask internet search engines to remove links to information about them that they do not want known – which could be seen either as an assertion of the right to privacy or an attack on free speech. Google and free speech activists reacted angrily to the court’s verdict which could guarantee individuals a “right to be forgotten” on the internet which is not currently available.

It is unclear exactly how the ruling will be implemented considering the sheer volume of online data and internet users. For individuals keen to erase embarrassing incidents from their past, it could prove a handy tool for re-shaping their digital footprint, while data protection advocates are calling it a victory against the all-powerful internet giants.

But for champions of free speech, the potential for misuse is deeply worrying.

“This is akin to marching into a library and forcing it to pulp books,” said Jodie Ginsberg, chief executive of Index on Censorship. “Although the ruling is intended for private individuals, it opens the door to anyone who wants to whitewash their personal history.”

Read more from this story HERE.

________________________________________________________________________________

Europe’s top court: people have right to be forgotten on Internet

By Reuters.

People can ask Google to delete sensitive information from its Internet search results, Europe’s top court said on Tuesday.

The case underlines the battle between advocates of free expression and supporters of privacy rights, who say people should have the “right to be forgotten” meaning that they should be able to remove their digital traces from the Internet.

The ruling by the Luxembourg-based European Union Court of Justice (ECJ) came after a Spanish man complained to the Spanish data protection agency that an auction notice of his repossessed home on Google’s search results infringed his privacy.

Read more from this story HERE.

Feds Spending $1.5 Million on ‘Bicycle Trains,’ ‘Walking School Buses’ to Get Kids to Lose Weight

/5 Comments/in , /by

Photo Credit: AP

Photo Credit: AP

The federal government is spending more than $1.5 million to research how “bicycle trains” and “walking school buses” can help obese children lose weight.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is currently funding two studies to a researcher at Seattle Children’s Hospital, both of which aim to get more children to stop riding the school bus.

Dr. Jason Mendoza has received $405,835 for a pilot study on “bicycle trains,” or a group of kids who bike to school with adult chaperons. The project is billed as a “low-cost, practical program to reduce risk of obesity for at-risk children.”

The study, which just got underway in two Seattle elementary schools, is focusing on “low-income and ethnic minority children,” who are at the highest risk for obesity, according to the grant.

The project first received funding in February 2013, and will continue until next January. Mendoza, a pediatrician and associate professor of pediatrics at the University of Washington School of Medicine, is following 80 fourth and fifth graders for the “pilot cluster.”

Read more from this story HERE.

Judge Nap: Idea of Chaplain for Atheist Soldiers Is ‘Political Correctness Gone Crazy’

/3 Comments/in , , /by

Photo Credit: Fox News

Photo Credit: Fox News

The Department of Defense may soon consider adding a chaplain for atheist service members. A source told Fox News that the Military Association of Atheists and Free Thinkers planned to make the request today, floating its president Jason Torpy as the proposed chaplain.

Rep. John Fleming, R-La., who last year opposed the creation of such a position, also voiced concerns about the planned request. He told FoxNews.com he’s got to wait and see how the proposal plays out, but threatened to use legislation to block it if necessary.

“We’re only finding out about this now,” he said. Fleming said the law is clear that any chaplain needs to have an “endorsing agency” and questioned whether the applicant would have that here. “We just don’t see any avenue, but you know we’ve been surprised before by the military.”

The move would come after lawmakers, including Fleming, battled over the same issue last year.

Democrats tried, unsuccessfully, to pass legislation creating such a post in 2013. In response, Republicans offered up a measure of their own to prohibit the Pentagon from naming such a chaplain. The House approved the measure in July.

Read more from this story HERE.

John Bolton: Children Are In Charge Of Obama’s Foreign Policy (+video)

/0 Comments/in , /by

When asked about the Administration’s response to the kidnapping of over 200 Christian girls by a radical Islamist group in Nigeria, Bolton told WMAL radio in Washington, DC, that the President’s “hashtag diplomacy” is “embarrassing” and merely a “way of emoting. I bet it makes the people who do it feel good, but it has no impact on what’s actually going on in Nigeria.”

Read more from this story HERE.

Warren Buffett has Given $1.2 Billion to Abortion Groups

/4 Comments/in , /by

Photo Credit: REUTERS

Photo Credit: REUTERS

May 13, 2014, marks one year since Philadelphia abortion Dr. Kermit Gosnell was convicted of first-degree murder “in the deaths of three babies who were delivered alive and then killed with scissors at his grimy, ‘house of horrors’ clinic,” according to the Associated Press. Gosnell instantly became the face of abortion in the prolife community.

But there’s another, more recognizable face pushing abortion in the U.S. – liberal billionaire Warren Buffett. The so-called “Oracle of Omaha” has donated more than $1.2 billion to abortion organizations from 2001 to 2012.

That’s equal to the cost of roughly 2.7 million first-trimester abortions – more than twice the number of abortions that occur in an entire year in the United States. Unlike Gosnell, however, everything Buffett has done has been entirely legal. But Buffett does share something else in common with the abortionist. Both their stories have been largely unreported.

Imagine the equivalent of the lives of 2.7 million children snuffed out to serve the whims of the third richest man in the world. Most people would say that’s a story, most likely several.

Oh no, supporters will cry. Planned Parenthood, NARAL and other similar groups do more than just abortions. And Buffett does more than fund the abortion industry. But that is the core of his agenda, just as it is theirs.

Read more from this story HERE.

Eric Holder: No Plans at DOJ to Investigate Secret Waiting Lists and Veteran Deaths at VA Hospitals

/10 Comments/in , /by

Photo Credit: Weekly Standard

Photo Credit: Weekly Standard

Attorney General Eric Holder said Tuesday that the Department of Justice doesn’t have any plans to investigate allegations that veterans placed on secret waiting lists at VA hospitals died while waiting for care.

“Well, obviously these reports if they’re true are unacceptable, and the allegations are being taken very seriously by the administration. But I don’t have any announcements at this time with regard to anything that the Justice Department is doing,” Holder told reporters at a press conference.

“This is something on our radar screen at this point, but there is an investigation being done by the [VA] inspector general, and we’ll see what happens as a result of that inquiry and other information that comes to light in some form or fashion,” Holder added.

Read more from this story HERE.

Russia to Ban US from Using Space Station

/3 Comments/in , /by

Photo Credit: Camera Press / Ria Novosti

Photo Credit: Camera Press / Ria Novosti

Russia is to deny the US future use of the International Space Station beyond 2020 and will also bar its rocket engines from launching US military satellites as it hits back at American sanctions imposed over Ukraine crisis.

Russia’s deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin announced a series of punitive measures on Tuesday against the US in response to sanctions imposed after Russia annexed Crimea.

The two countries have long cooperated closely on space exploration despite their clashes in foreign policy.

The Space Station is manned by both American and Russian crew, but the only way to reach it is by using Russia’s Soyuz spacecraft.

The US is keen to keep the $100 billion (£600) ISS flying until at least 2024, four years beyond its original target.

Read more from this story HERE.

This Common Core Math Problem Is So Absurdly Difficult It Stumps College Students and Teachers (+video)

/6 Comments/in , /by

College students at George Mason University were recently shown the Common Core method- being taught to many of America’s elementary school students- for solving this basic math problem: 32 – 12 = ?

Read more from this story HERE.

Former Madam Claims Hawaii ICE Agent Raped, Abused Her in Graphic Civil Suit

/0 Comments/in , /by

Photo Credit: REUTERS

Photo Credit: REUTERS

The plaintiff, Malia Arciero, outlined a string of serious allegations in the 18-page complaint filed against ICE special agent Ryan Faulkner.

The 33-year-old Arciero’s most graphic claim involves an undated incident in which he allegedly handcuffed her in an ICE storage room and forced her to perform oral sex, according to the suit filed March 27 in a Honolulu court.

Her attorney, Gary V. Dubin, told FoxNews.com that two regional officers from the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees Immigration and Customs Enforcement, are coming to Hawaii this week to interview his client and look into the allegations.

“They have to,” Dubin said. “ICE is too big. There’s lots of money, graft, corruption and self-interest.” He also said attorneys will start submitting pretrial motions in the coming weeks. Arciero’s complaint had requested a trial.

An ICE official declined to comment directly when asked about the case and about Dubin’s claim that regional officers would be visiting, saying they could not discuss pending litigation. The agency stressed that it places the “highest priority on protecting the safety of those it serves” and has “strict safeguards and protocols in place” to ensure security of agents and those they deal with.

Read more from this story HERE.

WATCH: Dem Congressman Picks His Ear, Eats The Wax On Live TV

/4 Comments/in , /by

Democratic Florida Rep. Joe Garcia appeared to pick something out of his ear and then eat it on live TV last week.

During a House Judiciary Committee markup broadcast live on C-SPAN May 7, Garcia blatantly stuck a finger in his ear, picked at it, examined his catch, and then ate it.

Read more from this story HERE.