Morning Media Summar
Tech:
Privacy vs. Profits:
“The threat to privacy posed by digital technology is about to take a turn for the worse. At least, that’s what we’re hearing about HTML 5, the latest version of the computer language that is used to create Web pages. In principle, HTML 5 will allow sites you visit to know your physical location and will make it easier for them to keep track of your browsing and shopping history.”
New ACLU Report Calls for FCC To Take action to Protect Openness On The Internet:
“Protecting the Internet against content discrimination by broadband carriers is crucial to protecting First Amendment rights in the age of modern technology, the American Civil Liberties Union said today in a new report on network neutrality. In the report, “Net Neutrality 101,” the ACLU urged the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to create strong policies that prevent Internet gatekeepers from exploiting their role for private gain. The report characterizes the need for “net neutrality” as a leading free speech issue of our time.”
Panda Security Launches Antivirus Software for Mac:
“Cloud based Internet security software firm, Panda Security, today launched Panda Antivirus for Mac. The new solution helps protect Mac users from malware affecting Mac OS and Mac OS X and scans files and email, detecting and eliminating or blocking many types of threats, including viruses, Trojans, spyware, keyloggers, adware, hacking tools, botnets, dialers, scareware and other threats.”
Global Warming / Environment / Energy:
French President Orders Lifting of Fuel Depot Blockade:
““Trying to reassert authority over the widespread protests against his plans to reform the pension system, President Nicolas Sarkozy said on Wednesday that he had ordered the authorities to break up blockades of fuel depots that have left a third of the country’s gas stations dry .”
China a surprise leader in clean energy: study:
“The world’s top polluter, China, is a surprise leader in clean energy efforts, a study showed Tuesday, outstripping the United States and Japan and leaving Australia lagging far behind.”
Feds Issued 600 Mine Safety Violations In September:
“Federal inspectors issued nearly 600 citations for safety violations found at 30 problem mining operations across the country in September, the Mine Safety and Health Administration said Tuesday.”
Obama Administration Says It Will Investigate China’s Green Tech Trade Policies:
“The Obama administration announced today that it is launching an investigation into China’s green technology trade policies. The investigation is in response to a lengthy petition filed last month by the United Steelworkers.”
Report: In Obama’s Chicago, stimulus weatherization money buys shoddy work, widespread fraud:
“Projects to weatherize homes are a key part of the Obama administration’s fusion of stimulus spending and the green agenda. But a new report by the Department of Energy has found serious problems in stimulus-funded weatherization work — problems so severe that they have resulted in homes that are not only not more energy efficient but are actually dangerous for people to live in.”
Insurance / Gambling:
State says friendly game of poker OK:
“The occasional game of private poker among friends does not violate the state’s anti-gambling laws, the state attorney general’s office said Tuesday, bringing a strange new twist to the kitchen-table-poker debate now before the S.C. Supreme Court.”
Health / Safety:
Study criticizes anti-smoking ads:
“An Oregon State University study suggests that anti-smoking ads by the tobacco industry targeted at youths and their parents do not work and might actually encourage some teens to smoke.”
Obama Argued The Premium Costs Will Go Down 14% – Instead, They Will Go Up 14%:
“During the White House Summit on health care, Senator Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), chairman of the Senate Republican Conference, and President Obama argued that the Democratic health care bill would cause premiums to decrease.
Obama said premiums would decrease by 14% and attacked Sen. Alexander saying:
“This is an example of where we’ve got to get our facts straight.”
Watch how angry he gets…”
Alarms over radiation from thyroid cancer patients:
“Cancer patients sent home after treatment with radioactive iodine have contaminated hotel rooms and set off alarms on public transportation, a congressional investigation has found.”
Economics:
Secretive Republican Donors Are Planning Ahead:
“A secretive network of Republican donors is heading to the Palm Springs area for a long weekend in January, but it will not be to relax after a hard-fought election — it will be to plan for the next one.”
The economic fallacy of ‘zombie’ Japan:
“Japan has been getting a raw deal from the so-called economic experts. Consider this: in the midst of the great recession, the United States is suffering through nearly 10% unemployment, rising inequality and poverty, 47 million people without health insurance, declining retirement prospects for the middle class and a general increase in economic insecurity. Various European nations also are having their difficulties, and no one knows if China is the next bubble due to explode.”
Democrats are at odds over stimulus package:
“A rift has emerged within the Democratic Party between liberal economists, who generally view the 2009 stimulus package as a success and say that Keynesian economics should remain the heart of the party’s economic policy, and elected officials, who in growing numbers have shunned affiliation with the $787 billion effort and are expressing doubts about the effectiveness of fiscal intervention.”
NASBE Study Finds Teacher Training and Evaluation are Left Behind in Scramble to Deliver 21st Century Education to Students:
“The current education model in the United States, a relic of the Industrial Age, is increasingly out of touch with the needs of society and the students it serves. In addition to the continued use of dated models of educating students, our systems for teacher training and evaluation have not kept up with the fast pace of change.”
DC Students Receive Dinner at School:
“Getting kids to eat three healthy meals a day can be a challenge, especially if money is tight. But D.C. Public Schools have found a way to take some of that burden off parents. They are now serving dinner at school.”
Officials hint Fed on the verge of more easing:
“A string of Federal Reserve officials on Tuesday indicated the central bank will soon offer further monetary stimulus to the economy, with one saying $100 billion a month in bond buys may be appropriate.”
Osborne unveils Spending Review:
“Unveiling his Spending Review in the Commons, Mr Osborne is expected to cut the budgets of Whitehall departments by an average of 25% – or £83bn in total.”
U.K. faces sharpest spending cuts since WWII:
“Britain’s Treasury chief George Osborne says the country’s government will make the largest cuts to public spending since World War II — slashing benefits and public sector jobs in a five-year austerity plan.”
Legal:
A Spray of DNA to Keep the Robbers Away:
“When the McDonald’s down from City Hall here was burglarized a few years ago, its managers decided they needed a new security system.”
Clarence Thomas’s Wife Asks Anita Hill for Apology:
“Nearly 20 years after Anita Hill accused Clarence Thomas of sexual harassment during his contentious Supreme Court confirmation hearings, Justice Thomas’s wife has called Ms. Hill, seeking an apology.”
Labor:
More Hope & Change… Democrats Punish Non-Union Workers in Obamacare Bill:
“During the White House Summit on health care, Senator Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), chairman of the Senate Republican Conference, and President Obama argued as to whether the Democratic health care bill would cause premiums to rise.”
Rioters rampage, protesters block French airports:
“Workers opposed to a higher retirement age blocked access to airports in Paris and around the country on Wednesday as hooded youths smashed store windows amid clouds of tear gas outside the capital.”
Transportation/ Land Use:
State official: Get ready Jacksonville, high speed rail is coming:
“There is no money to build a high-speed rail in Jacksonville, no plan for where it would go, and no station designated where people would be dropped off and picked up.”