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... GLOBAL NEWS ... NEWS source seed free from it." According to the November 2000 edition of Farmindustrynews.com: "The wide- spread adoption of GM crops in the US makes it difficult to ensure that grain is not eing contaminated with genetically modi- ied organisms (GMOs) as it is handled and transported from the field to the end cus- tomer. Industry insiders even question whether the foundation (parent) seed for non-GM varieties can meet a 1% purity level." But one should remember that organic standards have to do with production, not urity, said Annie Kirschenmann, of Farm Verified Organic. This means that testing ‘or any kind of residue, be it from pesticide or genetic drift, is not part of determining whether to certify a farm as organic. (Source: Cropchoice News, I May 2001, www.cropchoice.com/) er unit for it to work, its small size carries big implications for the future of identity technology. Chips could be implanted into all currency notes and be connected wire- lessly to the Internet, so that authorities would be able to monitor the movement of all cash. Such chips could also be embed- ded in other consumer products to track them in the event of theft. Hitachi says it is considering adding rewritable memory to the device. (Source: ZDNet, 3 July 2001, http:/ews. zdnet.co.uk/story/0,,s2090580,00. html) identity theft and driver's licence fraud, is buying cameras that will map every driver's facial characteristics like a three-dimen- sional land chart. Old driver's licence photos will be scanned into a computer database using the new technology. New mug-shots will be compared with those on file to make sure people are who they say they are when they go to get, or renew, a Colorado driver's licence. Private industries, such as casinos and check-cashing businesses, have quietly used face-recognition technology for years, but the software garnered nationwide atten- tion when it was used on more than 100,000 faces at turnstiles at the Super Bowl (dubbed "Snooper Bowl") last year without people's knowledge, though no arrests were made. (Sources: St Petersburg Times, 2 July 2001, www.sptimes.com; The Virginian-Pilot, 6 June 2001; Denver Post, 7 July 2001) FACING UP TO SURVEILLANCE lhe Tampa, Florida, Police Department has begun using software that allows people's faces, captured on video cameras, to be compared against a database of want- ed criminals and sex offenders. The software, called Face-It, is linked to dozens of cameras throughout the city's nightlife district. It can instantly capture the images of up to four to eight people and compare those images to a computer data- base, based on 80 points of a person's face in an area encompassing the eyes and nose. The Tampa Police Department is the first in the United States to adopt the system, and already others are lining up. Virginia Beach, Virginia, has used closed-circuit TV cameras to watch the oceanfront from the 2nd Police Precinct since 1993, largely for checking traffic and observing crowds. The local police pro- pose to link existing cameras to the soft- ware and monitor images of people as they stroll along the oceanfront. And in Colorado, the Department of Motor Vehicles, in an effort to prevent MICROCHIPS TO MONITOR PAPER MONEY - AND PEOPLE He has developed a microchip that could be woven into paper money to help identify counterfeit notes. However, the chip could also have widespread ramifi- cations for identification and surveillance technologies. The chip, called Mew, measures just 0.4 millimetres on a side and stores basic infor- mation such as identification and security codes. It is capable of 128 bits of read- only memory (ROM) and RF wireless cir- cuitry that allows it to transmit over a dis- tance of about 30 centimetres. When inserted into money, a reader unit is instantly able to identify authentic bills. While the chip currently requires a read- THE PROMISE OF SOCIAL INSECURITY remarkable slip of the tongue was made by US Secretary of State Colin Powell on Fox News on Sunday 17 June. Mr Powell was discussing President George W. Bush's trip to Europe, and was at a point in his recitation where he was covering certain concerns regarding Russia, and the request for Russia to cooperate with the United States to track down lost nuclear materials and scientists still unac- counted for after the break-up of the USSR and that now may be in the hands of adversaries of the USA—or, in the case of the missing scientists, working for its adversaries. "Finding the Russian scien- tists may be a problem, being that Russia does not have a Social Security system—as here in America that allows us to monitor, track down and capture an American citizen." When he realised the conse- quences of making this disclo- sure to the American public, he froze for a second, rolled back his eyes at what he had said, and then he continued without further pause for the rest of the interview. aver doe cee Bio rT Ben eet ape ‘oe SFOS ‘ie ia nl Py” A Ne Sie (Source: via Sightings web - site, http:/www.sightings.com) 8 = NEXUS www.nexusmagazine.com AUGUST - SEPTEMBER 2001