Morning Media Summary

Tech:

Verizon now cracking down on jailbreak tethering:
“Verizon, like AT&T has now started blocking jailbroken phones from using un-sanctioned tethering apps. Verizon will now require users to be subscribed to a mobile tethering plan to be able to use tethering at all.”

Global Warming / Environment / Energy:

Audio: Al Gore screams about global-warming skeptics:
“Via Fox Nation. Four years ago, when he won the Nobel, 71 percent said they believed that carbon emissions were causing global warming. Four years later, after a crushing recession, Climategate, and an epic failure at Copenhagen, only 44 percent say they believe it. Meanwhile, 69 percent say it’s likely that global-warming scientists have falsified climate research. What you’re hearing here, in other words, is the voice of a man who’s very, very frustrated, not merely because the science is being questioned but because the dream of a global agreement to limit industrial growth isn’t a priority in a world frantic for economic growth of any sort, industrial or otherwise.”

Severe Solar Storms Could Disrupt Earth This Decade: NOAA:
“The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), a federal agency that focuses on the condition of the oceans and atmosphere, said a severe solar storm could cause global disruptions in GPS systems, power grids, satellite communications, and airline communications.”

Insurance / Gambling:

Poker And The Law D.C. Lottery Plans Internet Poker:
“On June 29, District of Columbia officials held their first, sometimes heated, public hearing on plans to start taking money bets on poker and other games on the Internet, starting in September. Opponents did not want to hear arguments that all D.C. was doing was making legal what was already taking place, only with a local operator and local player deposits.”

Health / Safety:

Researchers: Obamacare cost estimates hide up to $50 billion per year:
“Federal payments required by President Barack Obama’s health care law are being understated by as much as $50 billion per year because official budget forecasts ignore the cost of insuring many employees’ spouses and children, according to a new analysis. The result could cost the U.S. Treasury hundreds of billions of dollars during the first ten years of the new health care law’s implementation.”

Economics:

Video: “We’ve always been, and always will be, a AAA country”:
“Ed and Tina have both written about this so here’s the vid in case you missed it. The key bit comes at 6:15. It’s a fine bipartisan bloggy tradition to goof on the president when he looks hapless at a presser, but watching this, with the market deteriorating moment by moment, all I felt was numb. This guy very clearly has run out of things to say, even with abject terror spreading in markets over Europe’s debt crisis and the possibility that America is sliding back into recession. Ironically, his big soundbite is detached from reality twice over: Not only will we not always be an AAA nation — given the scale of our debt crisis, we won’t always be an AA+ nation either — but it’s not the downgrade that drove today’s mammoth sell-off. Treasuries, as Ed noted earlier, did just fine notwithstanding S&P’s new rating. It’s broader economic fears that punished shares and that’ll keep on punishing shares for the foreseeable future. Especially since the next recession, if it happens, will be much worse than the last one.”

Legal:

Obama Administration Exempting Schools From Federal Law’s Testing Mandate:
“State and local education officials have been begging the federal government for relief from student testing mandates in the federal No Child Left Behind law, but school starts soon and Congress still hasn’t answered the call.”

Labor:

AFL-CIO Plans “Super PAC” to Boost Campaign Contributions:
“As Andy Stern pushes for tax cuts for the Fortune 500, SEIU’s trustees in California have teamed up with the Chamber of Commerce to block important health reform efforts in San Francisco. Check this out.”

Transportation/ Land Use:

AP Exclusive: Calif. High-speed rail cost soars:
“Richard Trumka, the burly president of the AFL-CIO, believes the climate for an upsurge in union organizing couldn’t be better. And just to make sure that the federation and its member unions can take advantage of opportunities to get out the pro-union vote, Trumka (see photo) and top officials are laying the groundwork for their own version of what is fast becoming the ultimate campaign fundraising tool: a political action committee (PAC) which, unlike a standard PAC, faces virtually no limits on individual contributions or requirements to disclose donor identities. These “Super PACs,” as they are known, have sprung up at warp speed in the wake of a Supreme Court ruling early last year. It’s yet another example of how unions now function as much as political as economic forces.”