September 2021 - Page 2 of 6

Ninth Circuit Says Warrantless Search of Google Files Automatically Reported to Police Violated Fourth Amendment

The Ninth Circuit announced today police violated a defendant’s Fourth Amendment rights when they warrantlessly searched files that Google automatically reported using a proprietary algorithm designed to detect child sexual abuse material (“CSAM”). Prosecutors in the case, United States v. Wilson, had argued that the police officer’s search of the defendant’s files did not violate the Fourth Amendment because Google, a private party, had conducted the initial search. The district court agreed, finding that there was a “virtual certainty” that the files Google sent to police were identical to files previously identified by a Google employee as CSAM. But no Google employee reviewed the defendant’s files before sending them to police—instead, Google automatically forwarded the files to law enforcement after a proprietary algorithm matched the files to previously-identified CSAM images. EPIC filed an amicus brief in the Ninth Circuit appeal to explain that prosecutors had failed to show that the proprietary Google algorithm reliably matched images. EPIC also urged the court to narrowly apply the private search exception. The Ninth Circuit found that the police search “allowed the government to learn new, critical information” and “expanded the scope of the antecedent private search because the government agent viewed Wilson’s email attachments even though no Google employee—or other person—had done so.” The Ninth Circuit also echoed EPIC’s amicus brief: “on the limited evidentiary record, the government has not established that what a Google employee previously viewed were exact duplicates of Wilson’s images.” The decision in this case diverges from previous federal appeals and state court decisions on the issue and may lead the Supreme Court to review the important privacy implications of mass automatic file scanning programs.

Small Farm Weeds Identifications

The Soil Learning Center is a hub of resources for farmers & growers who are on the regenerative journey. A platform created by soil lovers at Farming Secrets Media Group.

The goal of Soil Learning Center is just that: creating a central online space bringing together resources, education, content and inspiration, to better your growing practices, boost profits and product quality with an emphasis on sustainability and promote freedom from climate change.

For today’s modern farmers, you can’t afford to not know about regenerative farming and how these practices can help you succeed.

We’ll also discuss successful stories from other farmers and growers who have found their unique solutions using nature’s tools with this new form of agriculture.

Tree Propagation Through Air Layering. Passes a 100% genetic copy.

It’s summer and you find yourself in a TEOTWAWKI situation. You wish you had access to more trees or shrubs that produce food. You realize things won’t be back to normal anytime soon, so investing the energy and time now seems like a good idea for the payoff in calories of fresh fruit or nuts a few years into the future. Propagation by seed is one easy way to get more trees, but you’ll have to wait until late summer or fall to harvest seeds, and then let them cold stratify (i.e., simulate winter conditions via subjecting them to cold temperatures) over winter. Additionally, most trees and shrubs won’t breed true (i.e., meaning the seeds will not grow into the delicious food-producing nursery cultivar tree you gather seed from). So how else can you propagate a tree or shrub? This article covers one of the easiest methods for tree or shrub propagation, air layering.

Materials needed (with possible substitutions discussed in this article):
1. Clear Kitchen Wrap ~ 18 inches
2. Peat Moss ~ 1 handful
3. Aluminum foil ~ 18 inches
4. Rooting hormone (~0.8% IBA strength)

Note: Items 1-3 on the above list are be easily substituted or improvised in a TEOTWAWKI scenario. Methods for improvising rooting hormone are not easy. Air layering can be performed without rooting hormone with much lower success rates. This article does discuss how to create your own rooting hormone solution using Salix spp. (i.e., trees in the willow genus) trees.

Air layering has been practiced for thousands of years. When a node (botany term for the part of a plant where leaves or branches form) containing part of many plant species finds itself tipped down into/onto the ground, roots form. For example, if a branch is bent over to the ground and kept in place using a rock, roots may form under the rock and over time the roots can support new shoots and live independently of the original plant. This process, which clones the original plant, is known as layering. Plants can be layered using the tip of a branch or mid branch. Air layering is simply what you call it when we artificially bring the ground up to the plant. Other common names for air layering include pot layering (because a special pot with premade holes is used to hold soil next to a branch) and Chinese layering (the method is believed to have been developed by the Chinese). Air layering can be done in many ways, which will be covered below.

But first, let’s understand why air layering is a good idea for a novice in plant propagation and well suited for a TEOTWAWKI situation. Note, several other plant propagation methods will be mentioned briefly, not as a how-to-guide, but to contrast them with air layering.

Why I prefer air layering over propagation by seed: Air layering can be performed in the spring or early to mid-summer, a huge window of time compared to the few weeks…

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NJ Court Denies Dog Owners’ Privacy Rights (But Appears to Recognize Privacy Rights of Dogs)

EPIC Amicus Filing Bozzi

NJ Court Denies Dog Owners’ Privacy Rights (But Appears to Recognize Privacy Rights of Dogs)

The New Jersey Supreme Court today decided that dog owners in the state do not have a colorable claim to privacy in their names and addresses—but there may be a privacy interest in the names and breeds of their dogs. The case, Bozzi v. City of Jersey City, asked whether the privacy exemption to the state’s freedom of information law required government agencies to withhold the names and addresses of dog license holders when the only justification for disclosure was commercial interest in selling dog paraphernalia. EPIC filed an amicus brief and presented oral argument in the case, arguing that the privacy interests in names and addresses in government documents is well established under federal law and the state should follow the federal example. The court’s majority found no colorable claim to privacy for dog owners because “owning a dog is, inherently, a public endeavor”—owners take their dogs on “daily walks, grooming sessions, veterinarian visits,” “celebrate their animals on social media or bumper stickers” and “enter their dogs into public shows.” But, as the two dissenting justices retorted, “dog owners appearing in public with their dogs do not do so while simultaneously advertising their full names and addresses.” Further undermining the majority’s reasoning was the court’s recognition that other information in the dog license record—such as the name and breed of the dog, which is exposed to the public to the same degree as dog ownership, and moreso than the names and addresses of owners—may need to be redacted because of the privacy interests at stake. EPIC routinely participates as amicus in cases involving involuntary disclosure of personal information to third parties.

BIO and LFA Corrective Action

The Soil Learning Center is a hub of resources for farmers & growers who are on the regenerative journey. A platform created by soil lovers at Farming Secrets Media Group.

For today’s modern farmers, you can’t afford to not know about regenerative farming and how these practices can help you succeed.

We’ll also discuss successful stories from other farmers and growers who have found their unique solutions using nature’s tools with this new form of agriculture.

Processing Chickens on Our Homestead, by Ozark Redneck

Growing up, we had chickens and I dreaded butcher day. Momma would get a fire going and put a huge pot of water on for scalding the chickens to remove the feathers. Dad had two cord loops one for their feet, which I held and one for the neck, which he held while he used a hatchet & a chopping block to dispatch the bird. If you have butchered chickens this way you know where the saying “she is running ‘round like a chicken with it’s head cut off” comes from. That scene and the smell of scalding chickens in hot water is enough to turn the stomach of any 9-year-old.

Fortunately, there is a better way. Somebody invented a chicken killing cone, that I have used for many years.
This device inverts the chicken. Be sure to get their feet out of the cone at the top, I have had a few chickens actually push themselves out of the cone. I grab the beak/head, stretch the neck and quickly cut the head off with a sharp knife. One could use pliers to hold the beak/head if needed. After the blood drains move the bird to your butcher table. I use a folding white one from Sam’s Club.

I have used these fish cleaning stations, basically a folding white plastic table with a sink and faucet, so your garden hose just hooks up to the sink, makes everything handy and easier, especially if you are dealing with a large volume of animals to butcher.

I set up a large 39-gallon trash can with liner under the lip of the table, and as I work I put the waste into the trash can. I use a large stainless-steel bowl and stainless steel deep serving trays to put the clean birds into.
I use poultry shears like these Fiskars. They make good products.

Here is another brand of poultry shears I have used, Gerior Poultry Shears out of Sheridan, Wyoming.

I like to use a boning knife, like this one from Chicago Cutlery.

I never used to wear gloves, but in a past butchering session I cut my palm on a bone that I had cut with the shears. Now I wear a ‘no-cut’ glove like these.

So, to recap what tools I set up for a butcher session:

White plastic table
Water source, garden hose or fish cleaning station with hose attached.
Killing cone (I hang mine on an Oak tree near the butcher station.
Large trash can with liner
Stainless steel bowls or deep pans
Poultry shears
Boning knife
Gloves (either nitrile or ‘no-cut’)

Once I have all my tools and set-up is ready, I start the process.

Dispatch the bird in the killing cone. Toss the head in the trash can and move the bird to the table, after the blood has drained from the bird. Use the poultry shears to remove the…

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Senators Call on FTC to Conduct Privacy Rulemaking

consumer FTC

Senators Call on FTC to Conduct Privacy Rulemaking

Nine Democratic Senators led by Senator Richard Blumenthal have called on the Federal Trade Commission to conduct a rulemaking process to “protect consumer privacy, promote civil rights, and set clear safeguards on the collection and use of personal data in the digital economy.” “Americans’ identities have become the currency in an unregulated, hidden economy of data brokers that buy and sell sensitive information about their families, religious beliefs, healthcare needs, and every movement to shadowy interests, often without their awareness and consent,” the Senators said. Senators Schatz, Wyden, Warren, Coons, Luján, Klobuchar, Booker, and Markey joined Senator Blumenthal on the letter. EPIC has long urged the FTC to impose clear privacy obligations on companies that collect and use personal data, including by exercising the Commission’s underused rulemaking power. In 2020, EPIC filed a petition with the FTC calling on the Commission to conduct a rulemaking on the use of artificial intelligence in commercial settings. “By defining unfair and deceptive practices ex ante, and with specificity, a trade regulation rule would make it easier for the FTC to take action against parties that harm consumers,” EPIC explained.

Pasture Cropping

The Soil Learning Center is a hub of resources for farmers & growers who are on the regenerative journey. A platform created by soil lovers at Farming Secrets Media Group.

For today’s modern farmers, you can’t afford to not know about regenerative farming and how these practices can help you succeed.

We’ll also discuss successful stories from other farmers and growers who have found their unique solutions using nature’s tools with this new form of agriculture.

Homemade Cheap Chicken Watering System Project

This step by step tutorial of how to make a homemade cheap chicken watering system project is helpful to chicken flock owners.

This irrigation project is the perfect solution to watering issues and costs under $40. The project is designed to provide a simple and easy to follow blueprint that can be easily completed in an afternoon and potentially save hundreds of dollars over commercially available systems.

Homesteading can be one of the most rewarding ways of life for those who have what it takes to get the most that they can out of what the land and life gives them. Your typical homesteaders live very simple lives and look to make what they have stretch as far as they can.

This includes being able to raise farm animals which they use both for food and livelihood for many. Being able to provide their chickens with adequate water is very important, but commercial water systems can be very expensive.

Here is a chicken watering system that you can buy:

RentACoop 5 Gallon/ 4 Automatic Chicken Nipple Water Cup Chicken Waterer (Corner Placement):

Benefits of following the Do It Yourself Project – Chicken Watering System for Under $40

● Project includes a complete list of all necessary supplies, materials and tools

● Includes suggestions on where to acquire the items if necessary

● Includes a very detailed step by step instruction guide to help out the beginner DIY’er

● Has numerous full color images and diagrams to help illustrate some of the steps

Click here to read about how to make Homemade Cheap Chicken Watering System DIY Project.

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Immune Boosting Recipes

The Soil Learning Center is a hub of resources for farmers & growers who are on the regenerative journey. A platform created by soil lovers at Farming Secrets Media Group.

For today’s modern farmers, you can’t afford to not know about regenerative farming and how these practices can help you succeed.

We’ll also discuss successful stories from other farmers and growers who have found their unique solutions using nature’s tools with this new form of agriculture.