Morning Media Summary
Tech:
Sony “rebuilding” PlayStation Network after attack:
“The outage of Sony’s PlayStation Network and Qriocity service, now in its fourth day, looks set to continue after the company said on Sunday that it is “rebuilding” its system to better guard against attacks.”
AT&T starts selling ‘cell tower in a suitcase’:
“For the first time, AT&T is selling small, portable cellular antennas that will allow corporate and government customers to provide their own wireless coverage in remote or disaster-struck areas.”
Global Warming / Environment / Energy:
World’s largest atom smasher may have detected ‘God particle’:
“A rumor is floating around the physics community that the world’s largest atom smasher may have detected a long-sought subatomic particle called the Higgs boson, also known as the “God particle.””
Fukushima Residents Seek Answers Amid Mixed Signals From Media TEPCO and Government. Report from Radiation Exclusion Zone:
“Mistrust of the media has surged among the people of Fukushima Prefecture. In part this is due to reports filed by mainstream journalists who are unwilling to visit the area near the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. But above all it is the result of contradictory reportsreleased by the media, TEPCO and the government.”
Wash. Considers annual flat fee for electric cars:
“Drivers of electric cars may have left the gas pump behind, but there’s one expense they may not be able to shake: paying to maintain the roads.”
Insurance / Gambling:
Cracking down on online gambling or preparing to legalize it?:
“‘‘Foreign firms that choose to operate in the United States are not free to flout the laws they don’t like simply because they can’t bear to be parted from their profits.” Preet Bharara, the U.S. attorney in Manhattan, did not mince his words on April 15 as he indicted PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker and Absolute Poker, three of the world’s biggest online gambling companies, on charges of operating illegal gambling businesses, concocting an “elaborate criminal fraud scheme,” involving tricking and bribing banks, and “massive money laundering.” At the same time, America’s Department of Justice seized and shut down the firms’ main websites and filed a civil suit for penalties of $3 billion.”
Health / Safety:
Tenet rejects new Community Health Systems bid:
“Tenet Healthcare Corp. said Friday that its board is rejecting Community Health Systems Inc.’s latest offer, which values Tenet at about $3 billion in cash.”
Economics:
Gasoline Prices In Chicago Are Highest In Nation:
“The price for a gallon of gasoline in Chicago is now the highest in the nation.”
IMF bombshell: Age of America nears end:
“For the first time, the international organization has set a date for the moment when the “Age of America” will end and the U.S. economy will be overtaken by that of China.”
Legal:
NY case underscores Wi-Fi privacy dangers:
“Law enforcement officials say the case is a cautionary tale. Their advice: Password-protect your wireless router.”
Labor:
SEIU’s new plan:
“In a major strategic shift, the Service Employees International Union plans to use its giant political operation to try to build a grassroots movement of public protest and organization similar to the massive show of pro-labor support that overran Madison, Wis. last month.”
Transportation/ Land Use:
About China’s high-speed rail edge…:
“Barack Obama has spent the past two years scolding Americans on our lack of progress on high-speed rail, using China as a yardstick — or more appropriately, a ruler with which to rap our knuckles. Almost exactly two years ago, Obama announced his intention to spend tens of billions of dollars in catching up to China and Europe in subsidizing the rail lines and systems for high-speed transport. “My high-speed rail proposal will lead to innovations that change the way we travel in America,” Obama said in April 2009, saying of China that it “may have more miles of high-speed rail service than any other country just five years from now.””