Morning Media Summary
Tech:
Internet Explorer 9 Caught Cheating in SunSpider Benchmark?:
“A Mozilla engineer has uncovered something embarrassing for Microsoft – Internet Explorer is cheating in the SunSpider Benchmark. The SunSpider, although developed by Apple, has nowadays become a very popular choice of benchmark for the JavaScript engines of browsers.”
SilverStripe CMS the first ever open source web app to become Microsoft Certified:
“We’re excited to report that SilverStripe CMS has become Microsoft certified today. This is notable because Microsoft has certified a very small number* of web applications, and we are the first ever open source web-application to attain certification.”
Global Warming / Environment / Energy:
MSNBC’s Contessa Brewer Pleads For Government to Force Environmentalism:
Video
Insurance / Gambling:
South Carolina Baptists back resolutions against gambling, homosexuality:
“South Carolina Southern Baptists adopted resolutions defending their right to preach against homosexuality and encouraging legislators not to loosen the state’s gambling laws, as the state Baptist Convention began its 190th annual meeting Tuesday in Columbia.”
Health / Safety:
FDA Set to Move on Caffeine in Alcoholic Drink:
“U.S. regulators are poised to ban the sale of caffeine-containing alcoholic drinks amid rising safety concerns, in a blow to several small but fast-growing drinks companies.”
Cash-strapped states cut funds for anti-smoking programs:
“Many cash-strapped U.S. states are cutting budgets for tobacco-prevention programs, raising alarms among public-health groups as the nation’s progress toward getting adult smokers to quit has stalled.”
Economics:
Podesta calls on Obama to circumvent Congress:
“Former President Bill Clinton’s chief of staff John Podesta, now the head of the Center for American Progress, called on President Obama to push forward with his agenda using federal agencies and executive branch power Tuesday, even though Democrats were dealt a blow in the recent midterm elections. Podesta said the American people want the president to move forward with his agenda.”
GM boosts IPO size to reduce government stake:
“The announcement by the top U.S. automaker comes a day after it raised the price range for the IPO and increased the preferred shares on offer by a third to $4 billion.”
U.S. Sets 50 Bank Probes:
“The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. is conducting about 50 criminal investigations of former executives, directors and employees at U.S. banks that have failed since the start of the financial crisis.”
Legal:
House ethics panel convicts Rep. Rangel on 11 of 13 counts of rule violations:
“Rep. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.), once one of the most powerful members of the House, was convicted Tuesday on 11 counts of violating ethics rules and now faces punishment.”
Labor:
Crashing the big Democratic donors’ D.C. meeting:
“Some of the Democratic Party’s biggest donors met Tuesday afternoon with influential party figures such as AFL-CIO president Richard Trumka, organizer Joan Fitz-Gerald and former White House aide Van Jones to discuss the lessons and implications of the GOP’s landslide midterm election victory.”
Transportation/ Land Use:
Foreign Policy: Richard Branson’s Rail Ambitions:
“It’s conventional wisdom now that President Barack Obama’s energy program is dead. But it’s looking increasingly likely that the greatest bipartisan motivator of all, money, will preserve at least one of the program’s pillars: high-speed rail.”
This Half Million Dollar Mini House Was Built on Top of Single Parking Space:
“Tiny houses are not uncommon, especially in Tokyo. But Fuyuhito Moriya’s three-story pad (which he bravely shares with his mother) is among the most impressive I’ve ever seen. It sits atop a single parking space.”