Government E-Verify biometric system may not detect ID fraud

Houston Chronicle | Jul 21, 2009

By STEWART M. POWELL and SUSAN CARROLL

WASHINGTON — Some illegal immigrants with stolen Social Security numbers are able to gain clearance for employment in the United States even after being checked through the federal government’s pioneering online E-Verify system, senators and the Migration Policy Institute warned Tuesday.

The senators, led by Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and John Cornyn, R-Texas, and the well-known think tank said the loophole must be closed before Congress undertakes comprehensive immigration reform and before the Department of Homeland Security requires federal contractors and recipients of economic stimulus funds to use the federal employment verification system.

“The American public will not put faith in us again if we pass immigration reform without an effective, accurate and enforced employer verification program,” declared Cornyn, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee panel with jurisdiction over immigration, border security and citizenship.

Schumer called for 10 improvements to existing employee verification, led by requiring biometric proof of identity such as fingerprints or enhanced face-reading biometric photographs.

‘Gaping hole’ in E-Verify

The current E-Verify system is “an example of a half hearted and flawed system,” Schumer said at the subcommittee hearing, noting that it does not prevent an illegal immigrant from using the name, Social Security number and address of a U.S. citizen.

Marc Rosenblum, a senior policy analyst with the nonpartisan Migration Policy Institute, based in Washington, D.C., said a “gaping hole” in E-Verify fails to detect identity fraud.

The voluntary E-Verify system enables employers to submit the names and Social Security numbers of prospective hires to the Department of Homeland Security and the Social Security Administration to verify immigration and employment status.

A total of 137,463 employers are using E-Verify from 517,000 employment sites, including 7,043 employers in Texas.

The program is about to expand to require mandatory E-Verify employment checks by private companies awarded government contracts and firms receiving money from the $787 billion economic stimulus package.

Mike Aytes, acting deputy director of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services agency that handles E-Verify, told the committee federal authorities are working to provide prospective employers identification photographs beyond just the photographs generated by immigration agencies to help employers verify applicants’ identities.

“This would represent a significant enhancement to the system, since new hires most often present a driver’s license for (employment eligibility verification) purposes,” Aytes said.

Fort Worth firm testing swine flu vaccine on volunteers

Patients are informed that serious injury, or even death, is a possibility.

Fort Worth Star-Telegram | Aug 2, 2009

FORT WORTH – When Angela Witkamp heard that a local research company would soon be testing a swine flu vaccine, she had no reservations about signing up her two young daughters for a clinical trial.

“Any vaccination you get, there are side effects,” Witkamp said. “But the benefits of getting the vaccination definitely outweigh them. There are people dying from the swine flu.

“Some of my friends call us guinea pigs, but they are not fully informed. The vaccination that they will be studying will be the same that anyone can get at the health department [when it is approved].”

Witkamp and her girls, Baylee, 3, and Emmie, 5, are among thousands of people rolling up their sleeves for science as drug companies, doctors and government officials work to get a safe and effective swine flu vaccine on the market by October.

In June, the World Health Organization declared a global pandemic of H1N1, or the swine flu, which has killed more than 300 and sickened more than 43,000 in the U.S. In Texas, 5,373 cases have been reported, with 357 confirmed in Dallas County and 210 in Tarrant County, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services.

Officials expect to see those numbers rise when school starts, which is why large-scale clinical trials are being conducted worldwide.

In Fort Worth, Benchmark Research is conducting clinical trials for several drug companies, testing to see patients’ reactions to the experimental vaccine and whether it produces an immune response to the H1N1 virus. Benchmark, which is paying patients $200 to $600, depending on the study and its protocol, will begin administering injections next week.

“What we are doing is private and independent,” said Dr. William Seger, Benchmark’s principal investigator, who also has a private medical practice next door. “These are private companies that are developing the flu vaccine, and they need to prove to the FDA that they are acceptable. They may be the one to help bring us a vaccine that is first to the market. We are going to need them all to produce the gazillion H1N1s that we are going to need worldwide.”

Although studies are being conducted on all ages, Seger especially needs patients 6 months to 17 years old, the population that is most likely to come into contact with H1N1.

Good experiences

Sara Rix’s sons, Tyler, 8, and Nathan, 6, are among those participating in a clinical trial. The boys have participated in previous trials at Benchmark for other flu studies and meningitis.

“I have had good experiences in the past,” said Rix, 38, a part-time preschool teacher. “I think it is beneficial, not only for the general public, but for my children. I want them to be protected. … There are parents out there who do not vaccinate their kids at all. To me, I just don’t understand that. It is like getting in a car; you want to wear a seat belt.”

Tyler – a third-grader in the Lake Worth school district, which had closed down this year because of the swine flu – said he isn’t afraid to get the shot.

“I know once I get the shot, I won’t get that virus,” Tyler said. “The shot is good.”

Seger said patients who qualify for a study will be examined, have their blood drawn and receive the vaccine. For several months, they will record their temperatures, aches and pains and if there are any side effects.

In subsequent visits, their blood will be checked to see whether their immune system is building up antibodies against the H1N1 virus. The data are continuously being sent to the drug companies.

Risks involved

Seger acknowledges that there are always risks and said patients are informed that serious injury, or even death, is a possibility. In 1976, more than 500 Americans ended up with a rare neurodegenerative condition called Guillain-Barre syndrome during a mass vaccination campaign for the swine flu. Twenty-five people died.

Seger pointed out, however, that science and medicine have come a long way and that flu vaccines have been used safely for decades. He stressed that, while there is a push to get the vaccine on the market quickly, corners are not being cut.

New wide-ranging powers to quarantine, force medical exams may be tested in flu outbreak

Canadian Press | Aug 2, 2009

WINNIPEG — A resurgence of swine flu anticipated this fall could test new provincial powers that include being able to place sick people under quarantine in their homes and shut down schools.

Many provinces have passed updated public health acts in recent years to give them the right to do whatever a medical health officer feels is necessary to curb the spread of a communicable disease.

None of the powers has been used so far in the new H1N1 outbreak, but that could change if the country is hit with another wave of the flu, says Manitoba’s top health official.

“We haven’t had to quarantine or limit restrictions in the community based on our current situation,” said Dr. Bunmi Fatoye, the province’s acting chief public health officer.

“Would we have to do that in the future? We may. It all depends on how the disease evolves in the fall. That would determine what measures to take, if we think that method of quarantine would limit the spread of the disease.”

Manitoba’s revamped public health act came into effect in April, just as the H1N1 virus was emerging. When the bill to amend the act was first introduced in 2005, the chief public health officer said it was needed to stop disease from spreading “particularly in the early stages of a pandemic.”

One way of curbing the spread of a deadly, uncontrollable disease is to prevent large numbers of people from gathering, Fatoye said.

“Schools might be closed down. That’s one way of limiting it,” she said. “If you don’t have to go out, then don’t go out. But those are usually very, very severe measures. I’m not sure if we’re going to get there, but we can’t say until we see how the disease will play out in the fall.”

About five dozen people in Canada have died of swine flu and thousands more have fallen ill. Experts are concerned those numbers will rise when temperatures start to cool and the virus is transmitted more efficiently.

Arlene King, Ontario’s chief medical health officer, said Canada could be grappling with four different types of flu come fall. Up until now, it hasn’t been necessary to rely on the province’s public health legislation which was strengthened in 2007.

But if King believes people’s health is at risk, she has the power to “investigate the situation and take such action as he or she considers appropriate to prevent, eliminate or decrease the risk.” That could include closing schools, isolating the ill and forcing others to undergo medical exams.

But just because she has new wide-ranging powers, that doesn’t mean she would jump at the chance to use them, she said.

“We have to be very cautious in exercising these powers.”

Maureen Baikie, deputy chief medical health officer for Nova Scotia, said the province updated its public health act after SARS hit Canada in 2003. The top health official can now quarantine the ill, interview anyone who has been in contact with a sick person and do anything else that could help prevent the spread of a virus.

“It’s significant authority that we have that is there if we need it,” she said. “But there is a difference between having the authority and actually using it.”

Most people who are seriously ill want to do the right thing and follow the advice of public health officials, she said. People aren’t ordered into quarantine without first being given the chance to isolate themselves, she pointed out.

“We always try and balance individual rights versus the public good,” said Baikie, who added that someone who is ordered into quarantine and is unable to work may also be compensated for their loss of income.

“They’re doing something for the public good. We need to help them to do that.”

British Columbia brought in a new public health act last year which was described as giving health officials “stronger powers to protect the public against communicable diseases such as pandemic influenza.”

Under the new act, the province can order vaccinations or examinations and quarantine people. Health officials can also enforce the act using peace officers, warrants and even court orders.

Brian Emerson, medical consultant with the British Columbia government, said officials now have more authority to respond to a health emergency. But he warned that not all the weapons in the public health act’s arsenal are effective against swine flu.

“Because of the rapid spread and easy way it gets transmitted person to person, doing something like large-scale quarantine and isolation just isn’t a measure that is generally used for influenza,” he said.

“Because such large numbers of people get affected so quickly, chasing down individual cases of influenza and instituting quarantine and isolation measures … it has no effect on the spread of disease.”

Bill Gates turns his attention to controlling the weather

Good news, folks. Microsoft founder Bill Gates has turned his attention to controlling the weather.

USA TODAY | Jul 16, 2009

Hurricane-calming technology? Bill Gates has a plan

By Dan Vergano

Five U.S. Patent and Trade Office patent applications, made public on July 9, propose slowing hurricanes by pumping cold, deep-ocean water in their paths from barges. If issued, the patents offer 18 years of legal rights to the idea for Gates and co-inventors, including climate scientist Ken Caldeira of the Carnegie Institution of Washington.

Hurricanes, most famously demonstrated by the deadly intensification of Hurricane Katrina before its landfall in 2005, draw strength from warm waters on the ocean’s surface. The patents describe a system for strategically placing turbine-equipped barges in the path of storms to chill sea surfaces with cold water pumped from the depths.

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First requested by Gates and colleagues last year, the patents describe methods “not limited to atmospheric management, weather management, hurricane suppression, hurricane prevention, hurricane intensity modulation, hurricane deflection” to manage storms.

Given the scope of the applications, “I suspect these will have a lengthy stay in the examiner’s office. They are talking about some interesting issues here,” says patent expert Gene Quinn of IPWatchdog.com.

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Caldeira declined to comment on the patents.

“The bottom line here is that if enough pumps are deployed, it is reasonable to expect some diminution of hurricane power,” says hurricane expert Kerry Emanuel of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is not part of the patent effort. Cutting sea surface temperature by 4.5 degrees under the eye of a hurricane would actually kill a storm, he adds. “This would have to be done on a massive scale, but is still probably within the realm of feasibility.”

Says climate scientist Michael Mann of Pennsylvania State University in State College: “Needless to say, there is a whole lot of skepticism about this among tropical meteorologists. But it’s not so ridiculous that I would actually dismiss it out of hand. There is certainly an important role of upper ocean mixing on tropical cyclone behavior.”

Ocean water quickly grows colder with depth, reaching temperatures of 28 to 37 degrees (salty ocean water doesn’t freeze at 32 degrees) about 500 feet down. The patents envision sail-maneuvered barges, with conduits 500 feet long, pumping warm water down to the depths and bringing cold water up. The average depth of the Gulf of Mexico is 5,300 feet.

“By cooling a region in the path of a hurricane (over 60 square miles), models suggest we could knock a half-a-category in wind speed out,” says Philip Kithil of Atmocean in Santa Fe, an ocean-pumping firm mentioned in Gates’ applications. “All the models indicate the path of the storm would be unaffected.”

In the average year, six hurricanes develop in the Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean or Gulf of Mexico in a season that officially extends from June 1 to Nov. 30. Over the past century, the annual cost of hurricanes to the USA has averaged about $10 billion, according to a 2008 Natural Hazards Review study. In 2005, Hurricane Katrina killed at least 1,800 people and caused at least $81 billion in damage.

“From a scientific and political standpoint, (the Gates plan) looks fanciful,” Quinn says. “But the physics is real and like a lot of things, the question is whether the damage you prevent is worth the money you would spend to develop something so massive.”

__________

Further Reading

‘Flying syringe’ mosquitos get Bill Gates funding
Bill Gates Unleashes Swarm of Mosquitoes on Crowd
The victims of Gates Foundation generosity
Antiviral tomatoes, sick mosquitoes and laser vaccinations: bizarre projects receive Gates Foundation grants
Billionaires Try to Shrink World’s Population

FDA says mercury dental fillings not harmful

Reuters | Jul 28, 2009

By Susan Heavey

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said on Tuesday silver-colored dental fillings that contain mercury are safe for patients, reversing an earlier caution against their use in certain patients, including pregnant women and children.

“While elemental mercury has been associated with adverse health effects at high exposures, the levels released by dental amalgam fillings are not high enough to cause harm in patients,” the FDA said, citing an agency review of roughly 200 scientific studies.

Still, in final regulations issued on Tuesday as part of an earlier legal settlement, it said the fillings were now considered “moderate risk” devices and will include details about the risks and benefits of the products. They will also carry warnings against their use in patients with mercury allergies or in poorly ventilated areas.

Millions of Americans have such fillings to patch cavities in their teeth and the FDA said it does not recommend patients have them removed. The fillings, also known as amalgams, are a combination of other metals and mercury, which at certain levels has been linked to brain and kidney damage.

In 2006, Moms Against Mercury and three other groups sued the FDA to have mercury fillings removed from the U.S. market. Later that year, an FDA panel of outside experts said most people would not be harmed but that more information was needed.

Mercury — whether in dental, vaccines, fish or other products — has generated much controversy. Some consumer groups contend the fillings can trigger a range of health problems such as multiple sclerosis and Alzheimer’s disease.

Part of the problem is that while much is known about high exposures to heavy metals, questions remain about “what is happening at chronic low-level exposure over a lifetime,” said Urvashi Rangan, the director of technical policy for Consumer Reports, whose group was not part of the initial lawsuit.

But Susan Runner, acting director for the FDA division that oversees dental devices, said there was no “causal link” between amalgam fillings and health problems.

“The best available scientific evidence supports the conclusion that patients with dental amalgam fillings are not at risk,” she told reporters on a conference call.

Over the past 20 years, the agency has received just 141 reports of problems in patients with the fillings, she added.

That conclusion counters a statement the agency made last June that the fillings may cause health problems in pregnant women, children and fetuses.

The FDA’s decision could impact makers of metal fillings, which include Dentsply International Inc and Danaher Corp’s unit Kerr, as well as distributors such as Henry Schein Inc and Patterson Cos Inc.

Shares of Dentsply closed up than 21 cents at $30.80 on the Nasdaq while shares of Danaher closed down $1.18 at a $60.66 on the New York Stock Exchange. Shares of Henry Schein closed down 18 cents at $50.24 and Patterson closed up 4 cents at $24.41.

According to the American Dental Association (ADA), about 30 percent of fillings given to patients are mercury-filled, with a growing number of patients instead opting for lighter, tooth-colored options such as resin composites.

Alternative products include glass cement and porcelain as well as other metals such as gold, but they are more expensive. and considered less durable.

Continued…

School installs CCTV cameras in pupil toilets

The director of the human rights organisation Liberty, said that the measure would serve only to prepare children for a lifetime of intrusive surveillance.

London Times | Jul 22, 2009

by Joanna Sugden

A head teacher has defended using CCTV to monitor the lavatories at his junior school.

Len Holman, the head of Angel Road Junior School in Norwich, said that pupils had requested the cameras, which cover the sink area, to protect the newly refurbished toilet blocks from vandalism.

Shami Chakrabarti, the director of the human rights organisation Liberty, said that the measure would serve only to prepare children for a lifetime of intrusive surveillance.

The cameras were installed at the request of the pupils’ school council, Mr Holman said. “There were some isolated incidents of vandalism, occurring mainly because pupils of course can’t be monitored by adults in toilet areas.

“The pupils saw that there was available space on the security system operating in the school and asked whether TV cameras could be installed to prevent further vandalism.”

Ms Chakrabarti told the BBC’s Today programme on Radio 4 that the state of privacy in Britain had reached a new low “if we now believe that the only way to teach 7 to 11-year-olds to respect property, to behave well, is to put closed-circuit television in the toilets”.

She added: “In other words, to teach them ‘behave well for fear of being caught’ and to prepare them for a lifetime of pretty intrusive surveillance.”

It emerged yesterday that a school in South London has installed CCTV in classrooms to avoid disputes between teachers and pupils and to prevent theft. The films will also be used in teacher training.

Stockwell Park High School is being rebuilt and as part of the overhaul a hi-tech surveillance system has been put in place. There are cameras in 28 classrooms as well as corridors and stairwells, and there are 40 more outside.

Mike Rush, the deputy head teacher, said that he envisaged the number of cameras doubling when the rest of the building was complete.

India pays couples to put off having children

Vivek Baid, president of the Mission for Population Control, said India could no longer sustain large families, and that it should now aim for zero population growth.

First cash payouts to families who delay having a child as India’s population threatens to overtake China’s

Observer | Aug 2, 2009

by Gethin Chamberlain

Thousands of couples in India who agreed to put off having babies for at least two years after their wedding will collect cash payments this month as health officials attempt to curb the country’s rapidly growing population.

While neighbouring China shows the first signs of relaxing its strict policy of one child per couple in the face of an ageing population, India is searching for a way of restricting the size of families as the battle over scarce resources grows.

The country’s population stands at 1.2 billion and is expected to reach 1.53 billion by 2050. But increasing pressure on resources means that there is barely enough water and food to go round.

A pilot project in the Satara district of Maharashtra has proved a success and other states, including Delhi and Assam, are now considering cash incentives.

Satara, funded by the National Rural Health Mission, is offering couples a reward of 5,000 rupees (£62) if they delay having a child for two years (70 rupees a day is a good wage in rural areas). If they wait another year, they receive a further 2,500 rupees.

The birthrate in the district rose from 16.5 births a thousand people in 2005 to 17 in 2007. The project initially attracted 977 couples, but that figure has risen to 2,366.

Satara has about 25,000 marriages a year and 80% result in the birth of a child within the first year. Only 155 couples on the programme left to have children.

The first cheques are to be issued on 15 August, with officials cautiously optimistic about a reversal in the birthrate, which is now down to 16.1 per thousand. Couples who take part are also eligible for family planning advice and free condoms.

In China, officials in Shanghai told couples last week that they could take advantage of exceptions to the one-child policy. The move was seen as a reaction to the city’s ageing population and to years of population decline.

Indian health officials could be forgiven for feeling envious of Shanghai. More than 27 million children are born in India every year and half the population is below the age of 25. If the projections are correct, India will overtake China to become the world’s most populous nation by 2050.

Vivek Baid, president of the Mission for Population Control, said India could no longer sustain large families, and that it should now aim for zero population growth. “We feel that two children is a necessity, but that a third is not required. It is better for families to control their family size,” he said.

“People’s economic situation is not improved by having more children. It places them under greater financial pressure and exposes them to malnutrition and disease and they do not have the money for education and clothes.”

Indians have traditionally had large families, partly to counter the effects of high infant mortality. The preference for a male child has also led to large families as couples continue to try for a boy.

Falling infant mortality rates and better education meant many families were now prepared to subscribe to the two-child solution, Baid said. But India was never likely to adopt the Chinese model. “Family is a must among villagers. People would break the rule,” he said.

India’s health minister, Ghulam Nabi Azad, raised eyebrows last month when he suggested that the best way to curb population growth was to provide electricity to rural areas. Couples would spend more time watching television and less time making babies, he suggested.

Although his suggestion was regarded as frivolous in some quarters, Azad was making a serious point. With the country’s population increasing by 18 million a year, he urged couples to wait until they were 30 before they married and started a family.

“It’s a great concern. We need to work at supersonic speed to curb population growth,” he said.

Other politicians have taken a harder line. The health secretary of Karnataka state – population, 64 million – used the recent World Population Day to call for couples who had more than two children to be jailed.

India’s approach to population control has been anything but consistent. Jawaharlal Nehru, the country’s first prime minister after independence, considered a large population to be an asset for a poor country. That did not stop India introducing its first family planning programme in 1952, promoting the use of contraceptives, although it was not a great success.

By the 1970s, under Indira Gandhi, India was pursuing an aggressive policy of forced sterilisation for men with two children or more. That was abandoned when Gandhi was forced out and a more moderate policy of “Hum do, hamare do” (one family, two children) was adopted.

Smart CCTV cameras spot suspicious moves

“Active awareness” systems can detect when someone raises their hand suddenly, runs along a street or takes an unusual route.

London Times | Aug 2, 2009

by Roger Waite

A NEW generation of “intelligent” CCTV is being developed which can spot violent gestures or suspicious movements.

“Active awareness” systems can detect when someone raises their hand suddenly, runs along a street or takes an unusual route around a car park.

The computerised controls zoom the camera in on the target and alert the CCTV operator.

Portsmouth council has installed 152 cameras around its city centre equipped with an early version of the American Perceptrak system and other councils are considering doing the same. Future versions may be able to recognise sounds such as screaming or glass breaking and could integrate face-recognition software to pick known criminals out of crowds.

David Brown, an industrial scientist at Portsmouth University, is one of those developing the technology.

“Our work fits a skeleton over the person,” he said. “We look at that skeleton’s movement and speed so if someone’s arm moves quickly or their heels are off the floor it can alert the control room.”

Graeme Gerrard, assistant chief constable of Cheshire and lead officer on CCTV at the Association of Chief Police Officers, said: “Anything that assists the operator to target cameras on behaviour that might be criminal will be of assistance. [Currently], we are reliant on someone monitoring it live and telling us an incident has occurred.”

Isabella Sankey, director of policy at Liberty, said: “Smart techniques demonstrate how much more intrusive CCTV has become. It is becoming akin to targeted surveillance.”

Lancaster, CA Mayor Wants 24 Hour Aerial Surveillance Over the City

KTLA News | Jul 21, 2009

LANCASTER — The mayor of Lancaster is working to develop a 24-hour surveillance in the sky to help fight crime in the city.

Mayor R. Rex Parris says the system consists of a camera attached to a small airplane that could capture images from as far as five miles away and instantly relay footage to deputies on the ground.

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Parris has tested the “eye in the sky” system and says he’s very excited about Lancaster possibly becoming the first in the nation to use it for general public safety.

The surveillance technology is currently used by the military, NASA and a limited number of other federal agencies.

But, there are concerns over whether the system would violate the privacy rights of residents.

For instance, if someone wants to sunbathe in the nude on their own property, which is legal, do they have to worry about being captured on camera?

Great Britain has more than four million public cameras, according to the American Civil Liberties Union, and in London the average person is captured on video camera 300 times a day.

Critics say the cameras have not shown a significant effect on stopping crime.

The city of Lancaster has some 120 cameras along streets and sidewalks. Some residents want the installation of new cameras to stop until more laws can be put in place to govern the surveillance.

Israeli rabbis to U.S. Jews: Sway Obama administration in our favor

Rabbi Shlomo Amar, the Sephardi Chief Rabbi of Israel

Haaretz Service | Jul 22, 2009

A group of Israeli rabbis, headed by Chief Rabbi Shlomo Amar, have sent a letter to U.S. rabbis and the President’s Conference, urging them to exert political leverage in Israel’s favor, Israel Radio reported on Wednesday.

“The American government pressures Israel to prevent Jews from building houses in extensive areas in the Land of Israel, which is very unfortunate,” the rabbis wrote. “We ask you to make use of your political power to lobby the American authorities to reconsider this policy in the spirit of truly democratic justice, and give weight to halakhic considerations that are binding for the Jews.”

Israel’s previously cordial relations with the U.S. have been damaged by the Israeli government’s insistence, in the face of U.S. opposition, that it can continue building within existing settlements.

The signatories stressed that although it is an unusual declaration coming from religious figures, they have no intention to make a political statement.

“We would like to express our deepest regret, not from a political point of view, but rather a religious one, as the Torah stipulates the settlement and population of Eretz Israel,” they said.

“While a person is allowed to reside wherever he wishes, Jews will not be allowed to reside in the territory of the future state,” the rabbis also wrote, referring to the future of the settlement once a Palestinian state is established.