Company didn't tell public of decade-old studies tying device to rat tumors
When the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved implanting microchips in humans, the manufacturer said it would save lives, letting doctors scan the tiny transponders to access patients’ medical records almost instantly. The FDA found “reasonable assurance” the device was safe, and a sub-agency even called it one of 2005’s top “innovative technologies.”
But neither the company nor the regulators publicly mentioned this: A series of veterinary and toxicology studies, dating to the mid-1990s, stated that chip implants had “induced” malignant tumors in some lab mice and rats.
“The transponders were the cause of the tumors,” said Keith Johnson, a retired toxicologic pathologist, explaining in a phone interview the findings of a 1996 study he led at the Dow Chemical Co. in Midland, Mich.
Leading cancer specialists reviewed the research for The Associated Press and, while cautioning that animal test results do not necessarily apply to humans, said the findings troubled them. Some said they would not allow family members to receive implants, and all urged further research before the glass-encased transponders are widely implanted in people.
To date, about 2,000 of the so-called radio frequency identification, or ...   more »

Dems Call for Moratorium on Program, Expressing Privacy and Legal Concerns
By JASON RYAN
Traditionally, powerful spy satellites have been used to search for strategic threats overseas ranging from nuclear weapons to terrorist training camps.
But now the Department of Homeland Security has developed a new office to use the satellites to secure U.S. borders and protect the country from natural disasters.
Department of Homeland Security officials testified Thursday before the House Homeland Security Committee about the program and faced extensive criticism about the privacy and civil liberty concerns of the new office, called the National Applications Office.
The purpose of the National Applications Office is to provide the Department of Homeland Security and civil, state and local emergency planners with imagery and data from satellites run by the National Reconnaissance Office and the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency.
Homeland Security Chief Intelligence Officer Charlie Allen said overhead imagery was used extensively after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005, and has been used by the Secret Service for security preparations for events such as the Super Bowl.
"Some Homeland Security and law enforcement users also in the past routinely accessed imagery and other technical intelligence directly from the intelligence community, especially ...   more »

Replica of the King Abdullah Economic City to be built at a pristine location off the Red Sea in the north of Jeddah. / Courtesy of Saudi Arabian Embassy
In what is considered the single largest private sector investment in Saudi Arabia, the announcement of the 'King Abdullah Economic City' to be built at a pristinelocation off the Red Sea in the north of Jeddah with an investment of $26.6 billion, is a signal of the dawn of a new era of economic prosperity for the citizens of the kingdom.
The project, which will be a New Age City being built today for tomorrow's generation of Saudi citizens, was officially launched by the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin AbdulAziz AlSaud in the presence of Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz AlSaud, Saudi Crown Prince, Minister of Defense and Aviation and Inspector General, and General Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and UAE Defense Minister and several dignitaries.
"The King Abdullah Economic City will be another jewel in the crown for Saudi Arabia and a shining example of what can be achieved for the common good when two brotherly nations get together for ever closer ...   more »