Morning Media Summary

Tech:

PBS Sites Hacked: Attackers Publish False News Story and Login Data:
“Late Sunday night, hackers gained access to several areas of PBS Web servers and were able publish a fake news story on a PBS news blog. The hackers also published PBS internal user login information that they were able to siphon from PBS databases. The fake story was about rapper Tupac Shakur, who died in 1996 after being shot in Las Vegas, being been found alive and well in a small resort in New Zealand. (See screenshot as the story was taken down).”

Conservative group accuses Education Dept of invading students’ privacy with new FERPA rules:
“A conservative non-profit is raising privacy concerns over a Department of Education (DoED) rule change that will allow for “personally identifiable information” about students to be shared with other government departments. Personally identifiable information that could potentially be shared includes hair color, blood type, family health history and students’ grades and other academic records.”

Cyber Combat: Act of War:
“The Pentagon has concluded that computer sabotage coming from another country can constitute an act of war, a finding that for the first time opens the door for the U.S. to respond using traditional military force.”

Global Warming / Environment / Energy:

German government wants nuclear exit by 2022 at latest:
“The coalition, sensitive to accusations it may increase dependence on highly polluting brown coal, said it planned to cut power use by 10 percent by 2020 and further expand the use of renewables such as wind and solar power.”

TV, Internet harming protection of biodiversity: UN:
“Young people’s fascination with television, the Internet, video games and other electronic entertainment is making it more difficult to protect the world’s biodiversity, a UN official warned Tuesday.”

Insurance / Gambling:

Illinois House approves bill allowing casino in Chicago:
“The Illinois House of Representatives on Monday passed a gambling expansion bill that would bring a casino to Chicago.”

Health / Safety:

Hospitals hunt substitutes as drug shortages rise:
“A growing shortage of medications for a host of illnesses – from cancer to cystic fibrosis to cardiac arrest – has hospitals scrambling for substitutes to avoid patient harm, and sometimes even delaying treatment.”

Economics:

Home-price index at lowest point since 2006 bust:
“An index of home prices in the country’s major metro areas has sunk to its lowest level since the housing bubble burst in late 2006.”

Legal:

Weiner spokesman: ‘We’ve retained counsel to explore’ possible ‘civil or criminal actions’:
“A spokesman for Rep. Anthony Weiner, New York Democrat, told The Daily Caller the congressman’s team has “retained counsel” and is exploring the “proper next steps” after his official Twitter account posted a picture of a man’s erect penis underneath gray boxer shorts. ”

Labor:

California Perspective Online: SEIU leader wants to prod GOP to the center:
“As if you needed any more evidence that California’s political scene is entering a weird new phase, get a load of the ideas rattling inside David Kieffer’s shaved head.”

Transportation/ Land Use:

State’s high-speed rail draws Spaniards’ attention:
“Despite the hammering California’s high-speed rail project has taken lately, outside players appear to be as interested in it as ever.”