Morning Media Summary
The following is a roundup of the morning’s media. We hope you will make a daily stop at Open Market to read the latest updates.
Tech
BT seeks moratorium on internet piracy cases
“The firm outlined its stance following a high-profile data breach at London law firm ACS:Law last week.”
It’s Steve Jobs’ world – we just live in it
“In case you missed it, Apple is already the second biggest corporation in the world in terms of capitalization and is poised to pass Exxon as number one, possibly this winter with the iPad this year’s most coveted Xmas gift. The Silicon Valley company is sitting on some 50 billion in cash, pretty well positioned to do whatever it takes to maintain their technological/aesthetic edge. That’s one helluva long way from two young guys in a garage, tinkering with a computer. It’s close to the most extraordinary business story of all time.”
Study Finds Many iPhone Users are Tea Party Supporters (Really)
“We certainly wouldn’t have seen this one coming. A poll released today by the tech policy group CALinnovates.org reveals that iPhone users — whom we would have firmly placed in the same consumer class as those who sip lattes and munch arugula — are twice as likely to be influenced by Tea Party ideology as other smartphone customers.”
The encryption pioneer who was written out of history
“In the early 1970s, three men working for the British Government developed an encryption system that – almost 40 years later – underpins every transaction on the internet. There was only one problem: they couldn’t tell anyone about it.”
Tech CEOs tell gov’t how to cut $1 trillion from deficit
“The U.S. government can save more than $1 trillion over the next 10 years by consolidating its IT infrastructure, reducing its energy use and moving to more Web-based citizen services, a group of tech CEOs said in a report released Wednesday.”
Download Your Facebook Photos, Posts, and More
“This new feature allows you to “quickly download to your computer everything you’ve ever posted on Facebook and all your correspondences with friends: your messages, Wall posts, photos, status updates and profile information.””
Videos of Robot Controlled by Rat Brain – Amazing Technology Still Moving Forward
“Some technologies are so cool they make you do a double take. Case in point: robots being controlled by rat brains. Kevin Warwick, once a cyborg and still a researcher in cybernetics at the University of Reading, has been working on creating neural networks that can control machines. He and his team have taken the brain cells from rats, cultured them, and used them as the guidance control circuit for simple wheeled robots. Electrical impulses from the bot enter the batch of neurons, and responses from the cells are turned into commands for the device. The cells can form new connections, making the system a true learning machine. Warwick hasn’t released any new videos of the rat brain robot for the past few years, but the three older clips we have for you below are still awesome. He and his competitors continue to move this technology forward – animal cyborgs are real.”
Global Warming / Environment
Edward Norton: The US must show leadership on biodiversity
“Our failure to act might be attributed, in part, to the misperception that preserving the world’s biodiversity is a legacy issue, one to be addressed in the future. But the conclusions of the third edition of the Global Biodiversity Outlook (GBO3), a major assessment report issued this May under the Convention of Biological Diversity, put that misapprehension to rest. Drawing on 120 national reports from parties to this unique legal treaty aimed at protecting life on earth, it soberly warns that without collective action, our ecosystems will approach tipping-points, putting human lives and livelihoods, as well as such irreplaceable services as air and water purification, the renewal of soil fertility, and climate stabilisation at risk of irreversible degradation and collapse.”
Panel: Gov’t blocked scientists on spill estimate
“The Obama administration blocked efforts by government scientists to tell the public just how bad the Gulf oil spill could become and committed other missteps that raised questions about its competence and candor during the crisis, according to a commission appointed by the president to investigate the disaster.”
Interview-U.S. gets off lightly in active hurricane season
“The 2010 Atlantic hurricane season has been very active in the number of storms but is likely to go down as a non-event for most people in the United States, which has so far dodged a major landfall, the top official U.S. hurricane forecaster said on Tuesday.”
Panel: Gov’t thwarted worst-case scenario on spill
“The White House blocked efforts by federal scientists to tell the public just how bad the Gulf oil spill could have been.”
Hungarian chemical sludge spill ‘threatens Danube’
“”Hungary is strong enough to be able to combat the effects of such a catastrophe. But we’re still open to any expertise which will help us combat the pollution effects,” he added.”
Nightmares of the Global Warmists
“Part the First: Why They Are “Alarmed” — In which we learn how guilt breeds a quasi-religious global movement.”
Insurance / Gambling
Chicago City Clerk Calls For Vote On Gambling Prohibition
“Gambling prohibition may soon come to an end in Chicago, Illinois, and if it does, it will be largely at the request of voters. The Chicago City Council is entertaining changing the city’s gambling laws, and they want the public to weigh in with their position.”
Health / Safety
Sebelius threat heightens concerns over Obamacare price control regulation
“When President Obama’s top health care official, Health and Human Services Secretary (HHS) Kathleen Sebelius, sent an aggressive letter to the health insurance industry threatening “zero intolerance” for “unjustified rate increases” in early September, it was no empty posturing.”
Waivers Address Talk of Dropping Health Coverage
“As Obama administration officials put into place the first major wave of changes under the health care legislation, they have tried to defuse stiffening resistance — from companies like McDonald’s and some insurers — by granting dozens of waivers to maintain even minimal coverage far below the new law’s standards.”
Economics
Food Stamp Recipients at Record 41.8 Million Americans in July, U.S. Says
“The number of Americans receiving food stamps rose to a record 41.8 million in July as the jobless rate hovered near a 27-year high, the government said.”
New Yorkers’ Income Falls for 1st Time in 70 Years
“Paychecks or net earnings tumbled 5.4 percent, while dividends, interest and rent slid 8.4 percent, to a grand total of nearly $908 billion, the state comptroller’s report said.”
Fed Officials Mull Inflation as a Fix
“The Federal Reserve spent the past three decades getting inflation low and keeping it there. But as the U.S. economy struggles and flirts with the prospect of deflation, some central bank officials are publicly broaching a controversial idea: lifting inflation above the Fed’s informal target.”
Greek debt and deficit figures to shoot up: EU
“Increased figures for Greek national debt and deficits covering contested data from 2006 to 2009 will be published this month, the EU said on Wednesday after conducting its first invasive audit.”
Move to delay UK spending cuts
“Labour politicians would surely accuse the government of backsliding and the political pain of the cuts would be pushed close to the next general election. But ministers are also weighing the dangers of cutting the wrong items if pushed to do so early and the risk that deep deficit reduction in 2011-12 could undermine the fragile recovery.”
Legal
Schools installs 9,000 pound facial recognition cameras to stop students tuning up late…and teachers could be next target
“Cutting-edge cameras are being used to scan children’s faces as they enter school.”
Federal subpoenas issued in John Edwards investigation
“The ABC11 Eyewitness News I-Team has learned federal prosecutors in Raleigh have issued a new round of subpoenas in their investigation of former NC Senator John Edwards.”
Cleveland County Coalition receives $340,000 to fight tobacco use: http://newsok.com/cleveland-county-coalition-receives-340000-to-fight-tobacco-use/article/3501917
“Tobacco Free Cleveland County-Cleveland County Turning Point received $340,000 from the Oklahoma Tobacco Settlement Endowment Trust.”
Labor
Facebook founder’s $100 million for Newark schools lends support to union foe Gov. Christie
“The buzz around Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg’s $100 million gift to the Newark public schools has focused on whether he is trying to offset bad publicity caused by a new feature-length film about him.”
LA teachers union will challenge layoff pact
“The Los Angeles teachers union is promising to challenge a proposed agreement that would change how teachers are laid off in the nation’s second-largest school district, while education experts hail it as a landmark that could pave the way for changes in urban districts across the nation.”
SEIU Faces Reckoning on Eve of Kaiser Election Results
“As SEIU awaits the results of its Kaiser election contest with NUHW, the union faces a reckoning regardless of the outcome. If SEIU loses, it will likely have no workers under contract at major California hospitals within three years. If it wins, SEIU will be forced to reconcile the split personality it has displayed since the early months of the Obama Administration, when it placed its UHW local in trusteeship and sought to take over UNITE HERE. SEIU’s good side invests in progressive electoral campaigns, promotes comprehensive immigration reform, and funds progressive institutions. SEIU’s darker side spends millions of dollars in members’ dues on false and misleading advertising campaigns, and relies on thuggery, intimidation, and out of state staff and temp workers with no history in health care unionism to maintain worker loyalty. The union’s split personality was on display last week, as SEIU President Mary Kay Henry denounced “corporate greed” at the giant October 2 labor rally in Washington D.C. while her SEIU-UHW political director joined the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce in a mailer promoting corporate-backed local candidates opposed by other progressive unions, including other SEIU locals.”
Transportation/ Land Use
Christie’s Silence Spurs Worry for Train Tunnel
“In his first several months as New Jersey’s governor, Chris Christie made it clear that he intended to cut the state’s budget in ways that might surprise and upset some residents. But one big project — a train tunnel to Manhattan projected to cost $8.7 billion — appeared safe.”
Council approves eminent domain option to land West Oakland grocery store
“Members of the public burst into applause at the Oakland City Council]s Tuesday meeting when council members unanimously agreed to allow use of eminent domain to bring a large grocery store to West Oakland.”
Eminent Domain An Imminent Threat To Homes On Rail Corridor
“Dozens of concerned, anxious residents packed into Palo Alto City Hall Tuesday night to pepper a legal expert with questions about eminent domain and the high-speed rail project–which some realtors say is already hurting home values.”
Photo via: Alex Barth