WASHINGTON – The Obama Administration announced a blueprint for a “Privacy Bill of Rights” to Protect Consumers Online.The blueprint will guide efforts to give users more control over how their personal information is used on the Internet and that their personal informatin is safe online.

“American consumers can’t wait any longer for clear rules of the road that ensure their personal information is safe online,” said President Obama. “As the Internet evolves, consumer trust is essential for the continued growth of the digital economy. That’s why an online privacy Bill of Rights is so important. For businesses to succeed online, consumers must feel secure.”

According to the Statement, the advertising industry also committed not to release consumers’ browsing data to companies who might use it for purposes other than advertising, such as employers making hiring decisions or insurers determining coverage.

Check it. WHITE HOUSE PRESS RELEASE: We Can’t Wait: Obama Administration Unveils Blueprint for a “Privacy Bill of Rights” to Protect Consumers Online
Internet Advertising Networks Announces Commitment to “Do-Not-Track” Technology to Allow Consumers to Control Online Tracking -The White House, Office of the Press Secretary

Check it. The Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights: Are We the Consumers, Or Are We the Product?
“Yes, we want Google, Facebook, and all other online services to keep our information private. But if we want them to remain free, something’s gotta give” -Bloomberg Buisnessweek

Check it. Money Minute: Privacy ‘bill of rights’ isn’t good enough [Video]
“The White House’s privacy guidelines are just that — guidelines. They’re voluntary, and companies can still decide how much (or little) privacy protection to offer users. But the bigger issue here is the lack of an opt-in provision. As it stands, the administration’s privacy bill of rights would still require people to opt out of having their personal info used or shared by websites.” -LA Times

Not Enough

The major problem is as the LA Times David Lazarus points out, this blueprint does very little by being a voluntary program. In this age of less regulation of business, business interests come before consumers and individual privacy rights.

Scientists announce they are growing meat from stem cells, making a hamburger in a lab.

Dr. Mark Post, head of physiology at Maastricht University in the Netherlands, announced his laboratory is producing skeletal muscle tissue from cow stem cells, with the goal of assembling a complete hamburger by this fall.

The Brisbane Times reports the project is funded by a “wealthy, anonymous, individual” aiming to slash the number of cattle slaughtered for food and to reduce a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions.

“Meat demand is going to double in the next 40 years and right now we are using 70 per cent of all our agricultural capacity to grow meat through livestock,” Dr. Post said in the post.

It will be unsustainable to feed future populations with present livestock farming methods.

In addition to lab-meat being a humane alternative to slaughtering animals, “Livestock farming is responsible for an estimated 14 percent of the world’s greenhouse gases. A significant portion of these emissions come from methane, which, in terms of its contribution to global warming, is 23 times more powerful than carbon dioxide. The U.S. Food and Agriculture Organization says that agricultural methane output could increase 60 percent by 2030.” Check it.

The first step in the Reality of food replication technology has been achieved. The Daily Mail Science correspondent Fiona Macrae breaks it down, “Meats could also be made extra-healthy by boosting their content of ‘good’ fats. Far fewer animals would have to be kept to satisfy the appetite for meat. The stem cell’s extraordinary ability to grow and multiply means that a cells taken from a single cow could produce a million times more burgers than if the animal was slaughtered for meat.” Check it.

The mass-production growing of meat in the lab will provide more humane and sustainable means of food production in the future.

Check it. Scientist tries to make first laboratory hamburger.
“Scientists in Holland have been trying to grow meat that they hope could be used to create the world’s first laboratory hamburger later this year.
Food scientists are trying to find a more environmentally friendly way to get meat than rearing animals.” -BBC

Check it. First test-tube hamburger ready this autumn, say researchers.
“The world’s first “test-tube” meat, a hamburger made from a cow’s stem cells, will be produced this autumn, Dutch scientist Mark Post told a major science conference.” -The Malaysian Insider

Pumping the celeb chef spin with Heston Blumenthal, speculation begins on the first test-tube burger tasty tester:

Check it. World’s dearest hamburger at €250000 will come from a lab.
“SCIENTISTS ARE soon to unveil the dearest hamburger in the world – a €250000 special not bought from a butcher but grown in a test tube. A Dutch researcher has developed a bovine cell culturing process and hopes to have celebrity chef Heston Blumenthal fry up the first burger when it arrives this October.” -Irish Times

Check it. Soon ‘test tube’ meat on dining table.
“By generating strips of meat from stem cells, researchers believe they can create a product that is identical to a real burger.” -Times of India

With the downer dissent, FoxNews does the mindseed for distrust from the get-go:

Check it. Few foodies are fired up over test tube meat.
“While the news of the world’s first “test-tube meat” made from a cow’s stem cells may be a break through for the scientific community, the thought of a petri dish hamburger is bound to turn the stomach of many Americans.” -FoxNews

Watch it. Lab-grown meat is first step to artificial hamburger.
“At a major science meeting in Canada, Prof Mark Post said synthetic meat could reduce the environmental footprint of meat by up to 60%.” -BBC