Morning Media Summary

Tech:

Changes to [Dropbox] policies:
“Today we revised our Terms of Service, Privacy Policy and Security Overview. We’re in the process of emailing every user to let you know about these changes. These updates are meant to make all our policies clearer and more transparent to you.”

How to visualize behavior tracking cookies with a Firefox add-on:
“While the last 18 months have marked a monumental boost in browser performance and the beginnings in earnest of the HTML5 web app era, another important story has also been weaving its way through the fabric of internet society — the increasing importance of privacy on the web. Last year, both the US and EU decided that privacy on the web in general, and tracking cookies in specific, should be taken seriously. As a result, both Chrome and Internet Explorer now have tracking protection extensions, and Mozilla has proposed and implemented a Do Not Track HTTP header.”

Global Warming / Environment / Energy:

New EPA rules to devastate coal industry:
“The coal industry is crying foul over new Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations which they say will be among the most be costly rules ever imposed by the agency on coal-fueled power plants.”

Obama’s EPA Finalizes Latest Job-Killing Policies For 26 States – Will Cost Taxpayers $1.6 Billion a Year & Thousands of Jobs:
“And after two and a half years they continue to target the American people with their job-killing radical socialist agenda. This week the extremists in the Obama EPA pushed new rules on 26 states that will kill thousands of jobs, cost billions of dollars and increase electricity rates for every family.”

Report: Obama’s oil company tax proposal would jeopardize thousands of jobs:
“Earlier today, I posted excerpts from Florida GOP Sen. Marco Rubio’s excellent floor speech about President Barack Obama’s proposal to address the deficit with tax hikes. Among other things, Rubio asked just how many jobs the president’s proposed tax on oil companies would create. Turns out, energy analysts at consulting firm Wood Mackenzie have the answer.”

Insurance / Gambling:

UPDATE: Most Internet gambling cafes closed since start of new law:
“Richmond’s short-lived role as a mecca for allegedly illegal Internet gambling cafes may be a thing of the past.”

Health / Safety:

Does Michelle Obama Know About This?:
““They warned us at first that we had to move the vegetables from the front, that no vegetables were allowed in the front yard. We didn’t move them because we didn’t think we were doing anything wrong, even according to city code we didn’t think we were doing anything wrong. So they ticketed us and charged me with a misdemeanor,” Bass said . . .”

Economics:

CNBC’s Rick Santelli Goes Bonkers In On-Air Debate Over Debt Ceiling
:
“The banner at the start of the CNBC segment reads “What’s the Deal?” And that’s a question some viewers may have asked by the end of the segment after watching CNBC’s Rick Santelli go very nearly grandma-punching crazy in a segment about spending and the debt ceiling. “I don’t believe in compromise on spending,” Santelli shouted. “There’s no compromise. Stop spending.” And from there it got weirder. Referring to a comment from Warren Buffet about the debt ceiling negotiations referring to the negotiations as a game of Russian roulette, Santelli said “there’s a bullet in the gun. If we keep spending, for sure we’re going to hit something and it’s going to bleed!”

Jobs Picture Gets Even Worse as Rate Swells to 9.2%:
“U.S. employment growth ground to a halt in June, with employers hiring the fewest number of workers in nine months, dampening hopes the economy was on the cusp of regaining momentum after stumbling in recent months.”

Mortgage Aid for Unemployed Expanded:
“The Obama administration will require mortgage companies to extend more generous mortgage relief to help certain unemployed borrowers from losing their homes to foreclosure.”

Legal:

Judge rules use of GPS to track a cheating spouse is not an invasion of privacy:
“The use of a GPS device to track your whereabouts is not an invasion of privacy in New Jersey, a state appellate court panel ruled today.”

Texas executes Mexican despite White House plea:
“The U.S. Supreme Court refused to block Texas from executing a Mexican citizen despite a White House-backed appeal that claimed the case could affect other foreigners arrested in the U.S. and Americans in legal trouble abroad.”

TSA Agent Caught With Passenger’s iPad in His Pants; Allegedly Took $50,000 in Other Goods, Cops Say:
“While most Transportation Security Administration employees are busy groping people or taking naked pictures of them, the cops say one of those employees was putting fliers’ electronics down his pants.”

Labor:

The AFL-CIO Sasses President Obama on Twitter:
“President Obama, hip person that he is, will hold a town hall today in which he’ll answer questions to him submitted on Twitter with an #AskObama hashtag. Obviously, the Republicans have been having some fun with this. Speaker of the House John Boehner asked Obama, “With 9.1% unemployment & ‘shovel ready’ jobs a bust, will you admit the ‘stimulus’ was a mistake?” Okay.”

Transportation/ Land Use:

Train Spat With Japan Heats Up:
“A war of words grew this week between China and Japanese rolling stock manufacturers, reigniting a battle over whether Chinese state-owned firms stole high-speed rail technology and are now attempting to market it themselves overseas.”