Morning Media Summary
Tech:
“At Dropbox, Even We Can’t See Your Dat – Er, Nevermind” [Update]:
“Dropbox, the online backup and file sharing service claims to have hit 25 million users in a single year. Big news for any start-up. A change in its terms and conditions received a lot less attention because it seemed like adding a common term for online services.”
Michigan: Police Search Cell Phones During Traffic Stops:
“The Michigan State Police have a high-tech mobile forensics device that can be used to extract information from cell phones belonging to motorists stopped for minor traffic violations. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Michigan last Wednesday demanded that state officials stop stonewalling freedom of information requests for information on the program.”
Global Warming / Environment / Energy:
TIME: Ice Makers Are Destroying the Planet!:
“Want to save the Earth? Easy, just buy a couple of ice trays. To the long list of human inventions that are wrecking global climate—the internal combustion engine, the industrial era factory—add the automatic ice maker.”
Insurance / Gambling:
Media decries Federal crackdown of online poker:
“The Federal crackdown of the online poker has largely come to incite frowns from the media. Several publications have decried the indictment against the owners of three of the world’s biggest poker websites. While an LATimes headline read ‘Online poker: Federal crackdown is a bad bet’, an MNDaily.com piece opined ‘Legal online poker a better bet’.”
Health / Safety:
Medicare bonuses may ease cuts for seniors:
“Millions of seniors in popular private insurance plans offered through Medicare will get a reprieve from some of the most controversial cuts in President Obama’s healthcare law.”
Economics:
Steyn: America Doesn’t Do Anything Small And If It Does Socialism:
“Sort of an interesting point from a European (Norwegian) reader who is actually surprised by the overbureaucratization and general bureaucratic decay in… America.”
I- Team: NASA losing large amounts of high-tech equipment:
“In June, NASA’s space shuttle program will take its last flight. The Action News I-Team has uncovered some problems NASA is facing on the ground.”
Gold Furtures Top $1,500 on Outlook for Escalating U.S. Debt, Dollar Slump:
“Gold futures rose to a record $1,500.50 an ounce as U.S. debt concerns weighed on the dollar, boosting demand for the precious metal as an alternative investment. Silver surged to a 1980 high.”
GM stock lower amid report of quick govt sale:
“A report that the US government plans to sell off much of its remaining stake in General Motors this year despite the firm’s lackluster share price caused investors to flee the stock Tuesday.”
Legal:
IG’s oversight and clout shrink under Obama:
“Two years after the departure of President George W. Bush, the White House has still not appointed 12 of the mandated 69 agency Inspectors General, and is leaving open slots at several scandal-plagued agencies, including the departments of justice, labor and urban development.”
Labor:
Former SEIU Official Appointed by Obama to Investigate Union Corruption, Cuts Number of Investigators:
“Has President Barack Obama been deceiving America, with his Ethics Executive Order 13490? It certainly appears that the actions of the Obama Administration are far from his recent statement that he has “put into place the toughest ethics laws of any Administration in history [pause] in history.” A host of Obama’s appointments call into question the President’s commitment to his own Ethics Order. Appointments such as U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) Sec. Hilda Solis, DOL Deputy Solicitor Deborah Greenfield, and NLRB Board member Craig Becker undermine Obama’s claim of “toughest ethics.””
Transportation/ Land Use:
Simitian Supports Running High-Speed Rail Through Palo Alto:
“California State Senator Joe Simitian (D-Palo Alto) emphasized Tuesday night at a meeting with City Council that he supports a high-speed rail project running from San Jose to San Francisco on the same tracks as Caltrain.”