Ethan A. Huff
NaturalNews

In order to simulate various flavors in processed foods, some food manufacturers are actually using aborted fetal cells to test and produce these artificial chemical enhancers that millions of Americans consume every single day. Concerned about the ethical and moral implications of such a process, Oklahoma Senator Ralph Shortey has introduced new legislation to prohibit this practice from occurring in his home state.

Senomyx, a California-based biotechnology company that specializes in developing food flavorings, is one such company that uses aborted embryonic cells to create “isolated human taste receptors,” which are used in the production of food chemicals. And this company has partnered with several major food manufacturers, including Kraft, PepsiCo, and Nestle (http://www.naturalnews.com/032043_human_fetal_cells_artificial_flavors.html).

“There is a potential that there are companies that are using aborted human babies in their research and development of basically enhancing flavor for artificial flavors,” Sen. Shortey is quoted as saying by KRMG News Talk Radio. “What I am saying is that if it does happen then we are not going to allow it to manufacture here.”

White House bypasses Senate to ink agreement that could allow Chinese companies to demand ISPs remove web content in US with no legal oversight

Paul Joseph Watson
Prison Planet.com

Months before the debate about Internet censorship raged as SOPA and PIPA dominated the concerns of web users, President Obama signed an international treaty that would allow companies in China or any other country in the world to demand ISPs remove web content in the US with no legal oversight whatsoever.

The Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement was signed by Obama on October 1 2011, yet is currently the subject of a White House petition demanding Senators be forced to ratify the treaty. The White House has circumvented the necessity to have the treaty confirmed by lawmakers by presenting it an as “executive agreement,” although legal scholars have highlighted the dubious nature of this characterization.

The hacktivist group Anonymous attacked and took offline the Federal Trade Commission’s website yesterday in protest against the treaty, which was also the subject of demonstrations across major cities in Poland, a country set to sign the agreement today.

Under the provisions of ACTA, copyright holders will be granted sweeping direct powers to demand ISPs remove material from the Internet on a whim. Whereas ISPs normally are only forced to remove content after a court order, all legal oversight will be abolished, a precedent that will apply globally, rendering the treaty worse in its potential scope for abuse than SOPA or PIPA.

A country known for its enforcement of harsh Internet censorship policies like China could demand under the treaty that an ISP in the United States remove content or terminate a website on its server altogether. As we have seen from the enforcement of similar copyright policies in the US, websites are sometimes targeted for no justifiable reason.

The groups pushing the treaty also want to empower copyright holders with the ability to demand that users who violate intellectual property rights (with no legal process) have their Internet connections terminated, a punishment that could only ever be properly enforced by the creation of an individual Internet ID card for every web user, a system that is already in the works.

“The same industry rightsholder groups that support the creation of ACTA have also called for mandatory network-level filtering by Internet Service Providers and for Internet Service Providers to terminate citizens’ Internet connection on repeat allegation of copyright infringement (the “Three Strikes” /Graduated Response) so there is reason to believe that ACTA will seek to increase intermediary liability and require these things of Internet Service Providers,” reports the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

The treaty will also mandate that ISPs disclose personal user information to the copyright holder, while providing authorities across the globe with broader powers to search laptops and Internet-capable devices at border checkpoints.

In presenting ACTA as an “international agreement” rather than a treaty, the Obama administration managed to circumvent the legislative process and avoid having to get Senate approval, a method questioned by Senator Wyden.

“That said, even if Obama has declared ACTA an executive agreement (while those in Europe insist that it’s a binding treaty), there is a very real Constitutional question here: can it actually be an executive agreement?” asks TechDirt. “The law is clear that the only things that can be covered by executive agreements are things that involve items that are solely under the President’s mandate. That is, you can’t sign an executive agreement that impacts the things Congress has control over. But here’s the thing: intellectual property, in Article 1, Section 8 of the Constitution, is an issue given to Congress, not the President. Thus, there’s a pretty strong argument that the president legally cannot sign any intellectual property agreements as an executive agreement and, instead, must submit them to the Senate.”.

26 European Union member states along with the EU itself are set to sign the treaty at a ceremony today in Tokyo. Other countries wishing to sign the agreement have until May 2013 to do so.

Critics are urging those concerned about Obama’s decision to sign the document with no legislative oversight to demand the Senate be forced to ratify the treaty.

Infowars.com

Alex talks with Pulitzer Prize winning journalist, author and Middle East expert Chris Hedges about his lawsuit challenging the legality of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which Obama signed at the end of 2011. Hedges is the author of The World As It Is: Dispatches on the Myth of Human Progress, Collateral Damage, American Fascists and other titles.

Five black helicopters conduct special ops in LA

Steve Watson
Infowars.com

Video was captured last night of five military helicopters buzzing over downtown LA, conducting what the LAPD has described as a special ops urban warfare drill.

The footage, captured by CBS Los Angeles, shows a huge Black Hawk helicopter hovering over the US bank building along with four other OH-6 choppers, known as “Little Birds”.

CBS reporters noted seeing the Black Hawk conduct a drop off in a nearby park before taking to the sky above LA again.

The helicopters, staged at Dodger Stadium throughout the exercise, were later spotted flying low over the Staples Center as the LA Lakers played inside.

Watch the footage here.

Former U.S. Army aviator David Duran was told CBS affiliate KCAL9 News that the training is likely a dry run for a future mission.

“They do a lot of mockup training,” said Duran. “But it’s always best to get the closest terrain layout to what the objective is.”

“If it’s a mountainous terrain, they go to the mountains; if it’s a desert terrain, they use the desert; if they’re in a coastal terrain, they use the coast,” said Duran. “If it’s an urban terrain, you know, whatever’s needed.”

As we highlighted Wednesday, a statement issued Monday by the LAPD,  says that the exercises, closed to the public, are “designed to ensure the military’s ability to operate in urban environments, prepare forces for upcoming overseas deployments, and meet mandatory training certification requirements.”

Training sites “have been carefully selected to ensure the event does not negatively impact the citizens of Los Angeles and their daily routine,” a department spokesperson said.

The drill is set to continue through Thursday.

The exercise is yet another in a spate of recent military drills to hit heavily populated areas throughout the country.

Back in April last year, residents of Brickell, Miami witnessed at least three large Black Hawk-like helicopters conducting military exercises over their heads. Some initially believed it was a movie shoot.

Further exercises of the same nature were reported in Boston in August:

Steve Watson is the London based writer and editor for Alex Jones’ Infowars.net, and Prisonplanet.com. He has a Masters Degree in International Relations from the School of Politics at The University of Nottingham in England.

1. Do not be alarmed by Black Hawk helicopters swooping over Los Angeles
2. LA Military Exercises
3. Military Helicopters Buzz Boston Buildings
4. Helicopters To Buzz Downtown LA In Urban Warfare Drill
5. Marines to Conduct “Urban Exercises” in Kentucky, Indiana
6. Bombs, choppers during military exercises startle New Orleans residents
7. Video: Homeland Security Black Helicopters In Drill Over Downtown Miami
8. U.S. Troops In Black Helicopters Invade New Orleans, Drop Bombs
9. We Are Change Colorado Chases Black Helicopters in Denver
10. Black Helicopters Over Denver & Florida
11. NORAD conducts exercises in preparation of G8 and G20 summits
12. Citizens Cheer GWOT Helicopters in Denver

AP

Related: Museum visitors asked to scan faces in 3D

Capturing tens of thousands of people’s face, all to help the children of course.

Mail Online

Newt Gingrich promised last night to establish a permanent base on the moon by 2020 if he’s elected as U.S. president.

Gingrich, the former House speaker, told a packed room that he wanted to develop a robust commercial space industry in line with the airline boom of the 1930s, leading to a permanent base on the moon.

On a campaign stop ahead of the Florida primary next Tuesday, the GOP presidential hopeful told an audience in Cocoa, on Florida’s space coast, his plan would benefit ‘science, tourism and manufacturing’. Gingrich, a long-time space enthusiast, also said he wanted to expand exploration of Mars, saying NASA could pay for ambitious plans by teaming up with the private sector.

The claims appeared to thrill the 700-strong crowd. The region is primarily known for NASA and was still suffering from a round of federal cuts to the space program last year.

Read more

AP/Washington Post

Apple briefly surpassed Exxon as the most valuable U.S. company after an excellent quarter, though the oil company has regained the lead at the market’s close.

… Exxon Mobil Corp.’s stock closed up 4 cents at $87.22 for a market capitalization of $418 billion. Apple’s increased 6 percent to $446.66 for a market cap of about $415 billion.

… Cupertino, Calif.-based Apple first topped Exxon in August, then fell back to second place. Irving, Texas-based Exxon had held the top spot since 2005.

Apple overtook Microsoft Corp., now in the No. 3 slot, in 2010.

Read full report here

Reuters

Billionaire investor George Soros explains why there wouldn’t be much difference for Wall Street between President Obama and Mitt Romney. He also tells Chrystia Freeland why his billionaire constituents see him as a traitor to his class.