Morning Media Summary

Tech:

Sony Comes Clean: PlayStation Network Hackers Have Stolen Personal Data:
“A security breach in the Playstation Network by still unidentified hackers resulted in stolen personal information, Sony confirmed today.”

Global Warming / Environment / Energy:

Funnel Forms Live on Air:
Video

Insurance / Gambling:

$5bn industry’s high-stakes battle with US authorities:

“The online poker industry is thought to be worth about $5.1bn (€3.5bn), or 17pc of the gambling industry on the web.”

Health / Safety:

Number of 100-year-olds is boombing in US
:
“Not too long ago, Lonny Fried’s achievement would have dropped jaws. TV and newspaper reporters would have showed up at her door. She would have been fussed over and given a big party.”

Economics:

US Banks Warn Obama on Soaring Debt:
“A group of the largest US banks and fund managers stepped up the pressure on Congress and the Obama administration to reach a deal to increase the country’s debt limit, saying that even a short default could be devastating for the financial markets and economy.”

Legal:

Did Coca-Cola pressure law firm out of DOMA defense?:
“What made King & Spalding beat a cowardly retreat from their client, the House of Representatives, and abandon their defense of DOMA? According to TPMDC, the Left may not have scored a scalp after all, at least not directly. Brian Beutler reports that the law firm’s corporate clients objected to the decision to represent the defense, including the Atlanta firm’s most high-profile customer, Coca-Cola:”

Labor:

Wisconsin Watch: Partisan calls from…a hospital?; Plus: UW fake sick-note doctors to “face penalties:”
“Somehow, calls are being placed in the name of “Bay Care Aurora” — a local hospital — by left-wing activists targeting voters who signed petitions to recall fleebagger state Sen. Hansen.”

Firefighters’ union money goes local:

“As newly elected Republican state legislatures aggressively push a slew of anti-union measures, the International Association of Fire Fighters is freezing its federal political spending and shifting all resources toward its beleaguered state and local colleagues.”

Transportation/ Land Use:

The Problem With China’s High-Speed Rail:
“What a happy place the U.S. would be if we could zip from state to state on high-speed trains, never even considering taking short plane rides or spending hours in traffic just for a trip between neighboring big cities. This is, we’re told, how it is in China, where a utopian network of trains carries people across the landscape in minutes. Reality check: China’s growing network of high-speed trains is riddled with safety problems and corruption concerns.” ”

It’s Your Land: Enormous Pipeline Impacts Thousands of Homeowners in Six States:
“Walking along with Eleanor Fairchild, it’s easy to see why she and her late husband fell in love with their property in East Texas. It’s more than 300 acres of wooded hills and wide open grassy meadows now dotted with wildflowers. It also has a 4-acre lake where Fairchild, in her 70s, still loves to fish. “This was our dream place,” says Fairchild, “it really was.””