Of the three primary indexes – the Georgia Dock, Urner Barry index, and the index compiled by the Federal Department of Agriculture (FDA) – used to help set chicken prices, two of them hovered around $0.72 a pound at the end of October. The Georgia Dock index, however, was at $1.10 a pound. This 30 percent gap recently came to the surface and has prompted investors to pose serious questions

As reported by the Washington Post, a significant portion of chicken sold to retailers is based on the Georgia Dock price. Every week Arty Shronce makes a calculation that gives big retailers – such as Walmart and Safeway – an average price for a pound of chicken.

Are chicken prices artificially high?

Where does this high diversion in price come from? It turns out that there’s a reason for this. While the Urner Barry index and the index compiled by the FDA are working to validate the information they get from chicken producers, Georgia Dock does not.

Today, the Georgia Dock index is based on data from 10 of the 11 companies that process poultry in the state. Once a week, Schronce calls facility managers to retrieve information to set the average price per pound of poultry sold.

But how correct are the calculations of a gardening blogger who, according to critics, does not do enough to verify the data he receives. Furthermore, two of the largest American chicken producers – Pilgrim’s Pride and Tyson Foods – seem to have too much sway over how the Georgia Department of Agriculture calculates the chicken price index.

So if the largest chicken producers are telling the Georgia Dock which prices they should use and the information isn’t properly verified, there is a good chance that the prices of chicken meat are artificially high.

Also, data shows that most of the chicken consumed by Americans comes from supermarkets who generally use the Georgia Dock index, so the chances are high that you are paying a lot more for your chicken then you should. (RELATED: Discover more news about fresh food ingredients at Fresh.news)

Georgia Dock doubts itself

Maybe the most remarkable thing about the whole chicken price story is that it was Arty Schronce himself to blow the whistle on his own pricing index. In a memo written to the Georgia Department of Agriculture, he said that he had come to “question the validity of some of the information provided” by local chicken producers. Furthermore, he honestly stated that his training was inadequate, inconsistent, and sometimes in error. Furthermore, he noted that the companies he was required to survey were sometimes unresponsive.

“I often received lackadaisical and rude responses to my requests for information,” Schronce wrote. Sometimes his calls were not returned, or the companies simply responded to his price questions with “just keep ’em the same.”

According to Schronce, it was not the first time he voiced these concerns. He said that he takes his job very serious. However, he noted that it is no longer in his power to do it adequately and blames the Georgia Department of Agriculture and the reporting poultry companies for the misleading prices.

In their defense, McPeake, of the Georgia Department of Agriculture, said a review process began in December 2015 after “serious concerns” emerged. She added that even though Schronce’s training “may have been abridged due to unfortunate and unforeseen circumstances, every effort was made to ensure that he was indeed trained on some level.”

As stated by The Wall Street Journal, Georgia Dock has apparently responded to their shortcomings and will require companies to submit additional data to verify the accuracy of the information.

Sources:

ZeroHedge.com

WashingtonPost.com

NYTimes.com

WSJ.com

Scribd.com

LASIK (laser in situ keratomileusis) is a surgical procedure that uses a laser to correct nearsightedness and astigmatism. In the procedure, a laser beam is used to reshape and flatten the cornea, improving the eye’s focusing power.

LASIK is the most common method of correcting vision through surgery, and clinics across the country offer the procedure at affordable rates.

In 2009, the the FDA, the National Eye Institute (NEI), and the Department of Defense (DoD) launched a collaborative effort called the LASIK Quality of Life Collaboration Project (LQOLCP), with the goal of better assessing the risks of LASIK and developing tools for accurately determining the percentage of patients who experienced problems after the procedure.

The group’s initial findings indicated that LASIK surgery was indeed quite safe, with only a tiny percentage of patients reporting any side effects.

From The Washington Post:

“At the time, there were a lot of anecdotes flying around but little scientific information about patient outcomes. The results, published in October 2014, showed that some patients developed problems that adversely affected their day-to-day lives, such as difficulty driving at night or in sunshine. But it was such a small number — less than 1 percent — of the patients in the study that it was difficult to draw any strong conclusions from that data.”

New study reveals that more than 40% of LASIK patients experience new symptoms after surgery

Now, two years later (November 2016), the group has published a follow-up report in JAMA Ophthalmology – and the results are quite different this time around:

“The study suggests that the percentage of people who undergo LASIK and wind up with new visual symptoms — such as double images, glare, halos or starbursts — may be much higher. The data was based on a questionnaire that looked at patient satisfaction with their vision and at visual and dry-eye symptoms following surgery.”

The researchers analyzed data from two groups of patients. Among the first group, which consisted of 262 active Navy personnel, 43 percent of LASIK patients reported new symptoms. Of the second group, made up of 312 civilians, 46 percent reported new symptoms. 28 percent overall experienced dry-eye symptoms for the first time, ranging from mild to severe. (RELATED: Read more news about the failures and successes of modern medicine and Medicine.news)

Most LASIK patients “satisfied,” despite postoperative symptoms

However, most of the study participants – more than 95 percent – reported being satisfied with the results of the surgery.

The new problems were reported to be relatively minor and in most cases did not affect normal function.

The researchers believe that the discrepancy between the older studies and the latest one is accounted for by the tendency of questionnaire respondents to be more forthcoming than when directly interviewed by health care professionals. The reluctance of patients to discuss “negative” events with their doctors has been well-documented, according to the team.

The authors of the study say that theirs is the first to identify new postoperative symptoms in LASIK patients. They also call for patients to be “adequately counseled” regarding the risk of developing new symptoms after the procedure.

Competition has driven the price of LASIK surgery down in recent years – you’ve probably seen the television commercials offering LASIK for as little as a few hundred dollars per eye.

At prices that low, it may be tempting to opt for the procedure – and although many believe LASIK can be considered a safe and affordable alternative to wearing eyeglasses or contact lenses, there are experts who warn that the procedure can be quite dangerous.

Potential LASIK patients should be aware that no surgery is ever “perfect,” and for many there may be some uncomfortable side effects – at least for the first few months after the surgery is performed.

It’s also important to keep in mind that this latest study focused on only a small group of patients. There are many reports of serious complications from LASIK surgery – including blindness – so it’s important to research the subject thoroughly before deciding to have it done.

Sources:

WashingtonPost.com

TechTimes.com

CBSNews.com

AOP.org

FDA.gov

That said, it is just as important now than it was before the November election to begin your transition out of the major cities, which will become hubs of medieval deprivation and horror should some sort of economic collapse or other societal game-changing incident take place. (RELATED: Read more news about societal collapse at Collapse.news)

As noted by SHTFPlan.com, we’re getting closer and closer to chaos in the 21^st century. The world has gone without global conflagration of a scale last seen during World War II, when entire continents were left in ashes and tens of millions were killed, both soldiers and civilians. The air of destruction and the stench of death, literally, were everywhere.

Any similar conflict in this century could well be fatal—for the entire planet. Nuclear weapons have become the great equalizer, and promise, if unleashed, to not simply wipe out humankind but to make the planet uninhabitable for hundreds of years, and maybe forever.

Many cities around the globe are already nearing collapse

But short of world war we also face a crisis of conscience and a betrayal of government. The election of Trump has proven that populism and nationalism has come back to America; all across Europe, thanks to the dual crises of economic stagnation and globalization, populist/nationalist movements are afoot.

There, terrorism threatens to unravel the fabric of the civil society; in the U.S., it’s political and economic turmoil. Hatred and division, sown mostly by the Left, are pervasive throughout our country. Add to that distrust, disgust and no real desire to “heal” and “get along,” and we are in as explosive a situation as perhaps at any time since our Civil War.

The problem is that people are migrating to large urban areas, not away from them. That means there is a higher concentration of Americans living in fewer places in the country, thereby amplifying the social chaos to the point where most of the population will be affected.

As Wired reported, while disaster appears to be looming globally, there are some urban centers already approaching total collapse thanks to several factors. Using data on 2,100 cities worldwide, researcher Robert Muggah has found which cities are on the cusp of becoming the most violent, unsafe and fragile.

According to his graphic, none of 30 of the most at-risk cities he identified are in the United States, but that is likely due to institutional bias because the U.S. has traditionally been stable. Cities that are on the list in North America—Port-au-Prince, Haiti; Mexico City, Mexico; San Pedro Sula, Honduras; and three cities in Guatemala—have historically been tumultuous.

But in a global collapse situation, all bets are off and formerly stable cities and countries will very likely turn into cauldrons of unrest, chaos and death.

Trump win may not head off potential crisis and social chaos

Donald Trump’s victory in and of itself could bring turmoil to U.S. streets. There have been some small, but sustained, protests since he vanquished Clinton, but there have been additional reports that groups are planning major social unrest on Jan. 20, his inauguration day. As Natural News founder/editor Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, has reported, there are rumblings that Left-wing operatives are planning to severely disrupt the inauguration, forcing it out of the public’s eye and into seclusion. Also, Adams noted, there are reports that some ultra-radical elements are plotting to take over the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington, D.C.

Beyond that attempt at disruption, which of course will ultimately be unsuccessful, there are other plans in place to continue disrupting the Trump agenda and de-legitimize his presidency. Most Americans will dismiss these attempts as little more than partisan sniping; but what if the establishment and globalist forces succeed in their plan to undermine Trump with a crash of the global economy, something they would benefit from but which would be blamed squarely on the billionaire real estate developer-turned-commander in chief?

It wouldn’t necessarily matter to Americans who was responsible. What the majority would care about mostly is their loss of income, comfort, stability and future. Cities, of course, would fall first—and hardest, especially those 30 or so identified by Muggah. Keep in mind those cities are already on the brink; not much would need to happen to push them into massive death zones.

Sources:

SHTFPlan.com

NationalWW2Museum.org

NaturalNews.com

Wired.co.uk

Health Care IT News spoke with four experts regarding recent security breaches. Pam Hepp of Buchanan, Ingersoll & Rooney, Cynergis CEO and co-founder Mac McMillan, ESET Security Researcher Lysa Myers, and ICIT Senior Fellow James Scott offered their take on the most significant weaknesses, dangers, and insights gathered from the events of 2016:

1. Human error allows hackers an entrance of attack. Unconcerned and unaware persons are targeted as a prime defect in the system.

2. The Internet of Things and obsolete technology create a shortcoming. A connected device such as a digital camera can be exploited if the item is not sufficiently updated. This can become a big problem when an unprotected piece of equipment is not taken into account, because with automated tools in the hands of criminals, a single vulnerability can be uncovered.

3. Vendors and associates can be the point of entry for a breach. A thorough vetting of third parties is essential to assure security, along with having a good understanding between all parties.

4. Ransomware is malicious computer code that when superstitiously installed can render a system unusable until the entity pays a sum of money to the cyber pirates. Once successful, it’s a way introduce further attacks.

5. Cyber breaches are increasing in frequency. Medical data is a valuable for an organization to operate, as well as for a hacker to exploit.

6. Backups are key to providing continuity not only for hardware or software glitches, but also to elude the grip of a ransomer.

7. Impeccable cyber-hygiene, including improvements in infrastructure, networks, and software; and pertinent hands-on training, can eliminate nearly all pitfalls.

8. Cybercrime is big business, and the lucrative healthcare industry is a prime target.

9. Contingency planning and risk management are vitally important, to mitigate and recover from a worst case scenario.

10. Partnerships are essential as a strategy for success, for the ability to share expertise and resources.

We are all patients

One egregious shortcoming of Obamacare is the laying bare of patients’ private, personal and intimate information; things most people are reluctant to share with anyone besides their physician, if that. The ramifications go beyond possible public humiliation; the leaking of personal medical records could conceivably be a strategic threat to one’s career or personal relationships. Natural Society notes the idiocracy that reigns in Washington that has manifested as a sizable cybersecurity liability.

The Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act provided $30 billion for the medical industry to digitize patient records. At first glance, this would seem to be a good idea; the quick, accurate, and efficient storage, retrieval and portability of patient histories would save lives, one would hope. But studies suggest a cost of up to $100 billion to implement, and the undertaking does nothing to save money, nor improve patient health. The glaring problem is that the software designed by Epic Systems, the firm that stores the largest number of patient records, does not allow hospitals to share them. So the obvious question becomes, why bother? This boondoggle is not only useless, it opens up patients to the theft of their medical records…all of the risk with none of the benefit. This is not a theoretical problem; it is already happening. You can thank the inept and unresponsive federal bureaucracy for this one. And so much for the Obama ‘legacy.’ (Read more news about technology glitches and failures at Glitch.news)

Sources:

HealthcareITNews.com

NaturalSociety.com

(Article by Jon Rappoport, republished from jonrappoport.wordpress.com)

If you can’t see the coup in progress, you need to keep looking until the message comes through.

Read carefully—ABC News reports. My comments are in brackets:

“Citing increasingly sophisticated cyber bad actors and an election infrastructure that’s ‘vital to our national interests’, Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson announced Friday that he’s designating U.S. election systems critical infrastructure…”

[Also known as: “we’re taking over.”]

“’Given the vital role elections play in this country, it is clear that certain systems and assets of election infrastructure meet the definition of critical infrastructure, in fact and in law’,” Johnson said in a statement. He added: ‘Particularly in these times, this designation is simply the right and obvious thing to do’.”

[Also known as: “we’re taking over.”]

“The determination came after months of review and despite opposition from many states worried that the designation would lead to increased federal regulation or oversight on the many decentralized and locally run voting systems across the country. It was announced on the same day a declassified U.S. intelligence report said Russian President Vladimir Putin ‘ordered’ an influence campaign in 2016 aimed at the U.S. presidential election.”

[Also known as: “we needed an excuse, a fake cover story for our takeover, and Russia is it.”]

“Such a change [in who controls the US election process] does not require presidential action [or Congressional approval], and only requires the secretary [of DHS] to first consult with the assistant to the president for homeland security and counterterrorism.”

[Also known as: “this is a coup by the White House.”]

“Johnson said election infrastructure included storage facilities, polling places and vote tabulation locations, plus technology involved in the process, including voter registration databases, voting machines and other systems used to manage the election process and report and display results.”

[Also known as: “We’re taking over every significant aspect of the national election process.”]

“The designation [of US elections as critical infrastructure] allows for information to be withheld from the public when state, local and private partners meet to discuss election infrastructure security — potentially injecting secrecy into an election process that’s traditionally and expressly a transparent process. U.S. officials say such closed door conversations allow for frank discussion that would prevent bad actors from learning about vulnerabilities. DHS would also be able to grant security clearances when appropriate and provide more detailed threat information to states.”

[Also known as: “we can intercede in the election process and determine its outcome without any need to pretend we’re being transparent; only people we approve will know the details of how we run elections; secrecy works.”]

“The Obama administration has proposed international cyber rules for peacetime that would expressly note that countries shouldn’t conduct online activity targeting critical [US] infrastructure, which will now also include election systems.”

[Also known as: “in case there is any doubt, elections systems in America will be property of the federal Executive Branch.”]

This is a coup.

This is equivalent to declaring a national state of emergency, including martial law: the DHS, if it deemed it necessary, could utilize armed agents to enforce the new directive and take over states’ offices that resist.

Election-processes belong to the states. But not anymore.

And of course, with this awesome new power, the DHS could intercede, behind the scenes, in the voting process and rig elections.

There is an additional aligned factor at work in this op: the proposed elimination of the Electoral College—yet another measure designed to “federalize” the election process.

Most people are entirely ignorant of the fact that the Constitution was a pact among states. With reluctance, the independent states agreed to relinquish certain specified powers to the newly created central government, while retaining all other powers.

The Electoral College was, therefore, a natural invention, because the states would maintain crucial influence in determining the outcome of presidential elections. State Electors would cast their presidential votes based on which candidate won in their state.

Eliminating the Electoral College now would add one more layer of federal control over the whole country, and take control from the states. More centralization.

Imagine it. Only the popular vote counts. The states are dumped. And on top of it all, the Dept. of Homeland Security has the power to run the election process as a piece of “critical infrastructure.”

Rigging the vote in New York and California, plus a few other populous states, would decide the election. And in time, no one would think about “New York” or “California” as separate entities—because they wouldn’t be. They would just be “more land and people” that are part of “wholly unified” America.

This is perfect for the “unity politicians” who spout empty rhetoric every chance they get—“we’re all in this together.” As I tirelessly point out, such slogans are nothing less than covert ops, and their goal is roping in as many dullards as possible under a messianic banner of A Better Life for All under a Beneficent Government.

Also known as: we the rulers decree, you the people submit; your survival depends on us; we give and take as we will, and that shall be the whole of the law.

Eventually, why have presidential elections at all? Just allow the DHS to determine which candidate will best serve the needs and desires of the controllers.

It’s cleaner, simpler, and more direct.

It’s a coup.

Will Trump cancel it?

Obama is basically challenging him to do it—which would create one more firestorm in the press directed at Trump.

“See, the new president just stopped the DHS from protecting our sacred free elections. Trump is exhibiting more treasonous cooperation with his Russian masters…he’s leaving the door wide open for their secret invasion against our liberties…”

The timeline is clear. One: Hillary will surely win the election. Two: Trump won the election. Three: Trump won because Russia “hacked the election” in his favor. Four: We must protect our national election process from foreign hacking. Five: Homeland Security must put itself in charge of national elections.

Stay tuned.

A coup just occurred.

Jon Rappoport

The author of three explosive collections, THE MATRIX REVEALED, EXIT FROM THE MATRIX, and POWER OUTSIDE THE MATRIX, Jon was a candidate for a US Congressional seat in the 29^th District of California. He maintains a consulting practice for private clients, the purpose of which is the expansion of personal creative power. Nominated for a Pulitzer Prize, he has worked as an investigative reporter for 30 years, writing articles on politics, medicine, and health for CBS Healthwatch, LA Weekly, Spin Magazine, Stern, and other newspapers and magazines in the US and Europe. Jon has delivered lectures and seminars on global politics, health, logic, and creative power to audiences around the world. You can sign up for his free emails at NoMoreFakeNews.com or OutsideTheRealityMachine.

Read more at: jonrappoport.wordpress.com

Iran is scheduled to receive 116 metric tonnes, which is nearly 130 US tons of natural uranium. Approval is still required from the UN Security Council as a formality, but shouldn’t be an issue considering the other five powers are permanent members of the Security Council.

Uranium can be enriched to serve several different purposes. It can be used as reactor fuel, for medical and research purposes; or to form the core of an atomic bomb. Iran insists they have no intentions of weaponizing the uranium, but their activities will be closely monitored under the nuclear pact, which should keep them peaceful.

Tehran received a similar shipment of natural uranium back in 2015. That batch was part of the negotiations that led to the nuclear deal. That shipment was also a trade with Russia, who received enriched uranium in return. The new shipment will be the first since the inception of the Iran nuclear deal one year ago.

The two senior diplomats demanded anonymity regarding the news because they are not allowed to discuss confidential details of Iran’s nuclear program. They spoke before a scheduled meeting in Vienna, which consisted of representatives from Iran, the US, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany. The purpose of that meeting was to review complaints from Iran alleging that the US is reneging on sanctioned relief pledges, which were included in the Iran nuclear deal.

The incoming Trump administration and many US lawmakers are already skeptical about the deal’s effectiveness at keeping Iran’s nuclear program peaceful in the long term. They might view this new natural uranium trade with Russia as more evidence that the Tehran have received too many concessions.

Starting from the date when the Iran nuke deal was implemented, any natural uranium transferred to Iran will be under strict surveillance by the UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency for 25 years. Tehran has not disclosed what they will do with the uranium, but could store it, or could export it as low-enriched uranium.

The shipment could be enriched to make ten or more simple nuclear bombs worth of weapons grande uranium. White House spokesman Josh Earnest said the arrangements are “subject to the careful monitoring and inspections that are included in the deal to ensure that Iran is living up to the commitments that they made.”

Sources:

Yahoo.com

IbTimes.com

On Tuesday, Scientists will present their additional findings from the rover’s mission. Curiosity landed on the Martian surface four years ago to explore sediments rising from a massive crater impact area. The primary goal of the Curiosity rover was to determine if the planet, which has the most similarities to Earth in our solar system, contained the chemical ingredients and suitable environments to support microbial life.

There is strong evidence that Mars was once inhabitable, and still might be today. Scientists are using the rover to learn more about what is, or what was alive at one point. They are searching for any preserved evidence of life. Organics were a key focus of the search, which has led to the discovery of a wide distribution of organic matter across the planet.

Scientists don’t yet know the source of the organics, or how they managed to survive in a harsh radioactive environment. The samples that were drilled out from Martian rocks by the Curiosity rover were chemically analyzed. They are either biological or geologic in origin, but their existence has implications in both discovering prior life forms, and supporting future life sustainability.

At the California Institute of Technology, geologist John Grotzinger was conducting related research and found multiple examples of primary igneous minerals being altered during Curiosity’s slow climb up Mount Sharp. Grotzinger believes the sedimentary basin is a chemical reactor, converting primary igneous minerals, under different circumstances, into different minerals. At the National Academy of Sciences workshop, Grotzinger said “We’re not sure what all this means, but it’s pretty exciting for habitability.”

Scientists have also progressed on locating potential rock types that could preserve evidence of past life. Grotzinger believes the most promising find was a silica-rich rock that is chemically similar to early rocks on Earth, which contained fossil cells. Silica has been the great mineral of the Earth, surviving everything. Silica has strong preservation capabilities — and is apparently being made on Mars.

The Curiosity rover, while climbing up Mount Sharp, also uncovered increasingly enriched concentrations of boron inside of rock fractures. Scientists will present new results from Curiosity’s mission at the American Geophysical Union conference, which is scheduled to take place this week in San Francisco.

Sources:

Seeker.com

DailyCaller.com

After the immediate backlash, however, the federal government has continued to spy on United States citizens. As bad as it has been, things have the potential to get even worse on that end, though. The NSA is currently pushing to destroy any semblance of email privacy within the United States. The organization hopes to completely change the U.S. Constitution – particularly the Fourth Amendment – in order to allow unreasonable searches and seizures of information stored in people’s emails.

Of course, there has been some serious outcry over such an attempt. Joseph Menn of Reuters reports, “Civil liberties groups and some other legal experts said the attempt to expand the ability of law enforcement agencies and intelligence services to sift through vast amounts of online data, in some cases without a court order, was in conflict with the Fourth Amendment because many innocent messages are included in the initial sweep.”

This is why the American people can no longer trust the federal government to have our best interests at heart. All they want is to help themselves and the massive corporations that pay them to make fascistic decisions. This is a dangerous situation. The Obama administration has been trying to slowly strip the rights of American citizens away, and this is just the latest example of that. Since the brainwashed masses refuse to acknowledge the truth of the situation, the federal government has gotten away with this; now is the point where we all have to demand that it be stopped.

The NSA and the federal government in general have been abusing their power for far too long. The people of this country need to be reminded that they are the ones who should be in charge of their own destinies. Big Brother’s control over us is finite as long as we continue to fight back against the establishment, the globalists and the feds.

Sources:

Reuters.com

News.AntiWar.com

TheIntercept.com

For those 34 employees and many people worldwide, this is not seen as a good thing. Nobody wants to be made obsolete by robotic technology, and as we advance at such a fast pace, this will become more common than we would like. According to Nomura Research Institute in a report done in 2015, nearly half of the jobs in Japan could be taken over by artificial intelligence by 2035. This does not bode well for the future employment prospects for today’s youth.

Next month, the Japanese economy, trade and industry ministry is looking to introduce AI on a trial basis to assist civil servants in drafting answers for ministers during parliamentary sessions and cabinet meetings. They are hoping to use this to relieve the punishing hours bureaucrats spend preparing written answers for ministers. Again, while this could potentially help relieve the large workload, where is the evidence of accuracy in translation from human to artificial intelligence? Many errors could go without being caught by removing humans from the equation, leading to potentially disastrous results. As of right now, they are planning to only use them to pull up recorded data to use as debating points according to past discussions of the same topics. In a report to The Guardian, “AI is not good at answering the type of questions that require an ability to grasp meanings across a broad spectrum,” Noriko Arai, a professor at the National Institute of Informatics, told Kyodo news agency.

As the robotic age looms before us, what does this have in store for us as humans moving into the future? Will we become obsolete in the fields of our studies or will we grow even more advanced with the additional time we are afforded? Only time will tell.

Sources:

TheGuardian.Com

TheNextWeb.Com

WeForum.Org

As reported by The Verge, new technology from Verizon called “Hum”—an aftermarket connected car add-on—is set to become a teen driver’s worst nightmare, potentially. An update coming this month to the device will enable what is called “geofencing,” or technology that allows a parent to monitor their kids’ location, car speed and other features. The owner of the car—the parent—will be able to receive real time speed warnings or location changes on their smart phones.

That will mean kids can’t hot rod the family roadster or head to the mall to meet someone when they say they’re going to a friend’s house without mom and dad knowing about it.

Besides location and speed alert services, the upgrades coming in this month include location tracking as well as a driver log measuring travel times, engine idle times and average speeds.

Nice for the parent, huh?

Do we want our children to become accustomed to 24/7/365 ‘monitoring’?

Not really, reports Free Range Kids:

…[T]he idea that once we trust our kids to drive we do not trust them to go where they say they’re going, drive the way they tell us they’re driving, or stay where they agreed to stay means a basic bond of trust is gone. We are treating them like toddlers who need direct oversight, even though we make this happen electronically.

Kids will be kids, sure, and teenage driving kids will be teenage driving kids, sure, but the site makes a good point about trust. Further, the Hum device appears to make the assumption that parents must always be in control of their children’s ability to make informed decisions.

Like parents being able to set a car’s maximum speed. What happens if the teen driver finds himself or herself in an emergency situation they need to get out of in a hurry? What happens if the car is “set” at 35-50 mph but the child needed to drive faster in order to reach safety? How will a parent feel if they lose a child to a criminal who could drive faster?

Then there is the issue of the alerts when kids drive beyond parent-established boundaries—is allowing them to push boundaries somewhat while exploring and learning on their own always a bad thing?

And of course, there is the conditioning thing. Once kids grow up under constant parental monitoring, they will be far more likely to find constant government monitoring or monitoring by an insurance company or private employer normal too, when clearly those are Fourth Amendment privacy violations. After all, when we want to block criminals from monitoring us and stealing our information, why would we want our kids to think it’s okay for parents and others to track them constantly?

J.D. Heyes is a senior writer for Natural News and News Target, as well as editor of The National Sentinel.

Sources:

FreeRangeKids.com

TheVerge.com

Glitch.news