Morning Media Summary

Tech:

Wave Goodbye to Internet Freedom:
“The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is poised to add the Internet to its portfolio of regulated industries. The agency’s chairman, Julius Genachowski, announced Wednesday that he circulated draft rules he says will “preserve the freedom and openness of the Internet.” No statement could better reflect the gulf between the rhetoric and the reality of Obama administration policies.”

China Officials Ordered Google Hack After Finding Unflattering Search Results, Cables Show:
“Contacts told American diplomats that hacking attacks against Google were ordered by China’s top ruling body and a senior leader demanded action after finding search results that were critical of him, leaked U.S. government memos show.”

Global Warming / Environment / Energy:

Ted Turner upset that Obama didn’t do enough about Climate Change:
““We would have an energy climate change bill in the United States if President Obama had made that his top priority and brought that to the American people and Congress first rather than the health-care bill,” Turner, founder of Time Warner Inc.’s CNN, said today at a conference in Cancun, Mexico. “But he didn’t, and I think it was a big mistake.””

Al Gore’s climate group shrinking:
“One of Al Gore’s campaigns to save the planet has scaled back its field operations since climate legislation failed earlier this year in Congress. ”

What happened to the ‘warmest year on record’: The truth is global warming has halted:
“A year ago tomorrow, just before the opening of the UN Copenhagen world climate summit, the British Meteorological Office issued a confident prediction. The mean world temperature for 2010, it announced, ‘is expected to be 14.58C, the warmest on record’ – a deeply worrying 0.58C above the 19611990 average. ”

WikiLeaks cables reveal how US manipulated climate accord:
“Hidden behind the save-the-world rhetoric of the global climate change negotiations lies the mucky realpolitik: money and threats buy political support; spying and cyberwarfare are used to seek out leverage.”

Insurance / Gambling:

Social gambling up for debate again in SC:
“Some South Carolina legislators say they’ll try again to legalize games of poker between friends and church raffle tickets.”

Health / Safety:

Attorney general to sue over health care reform:
“Wisconsin’s attorney general is working on a legal challenge to the constitutionality of the federal health care reform law.”

Economics:

Do we need a “repeal amendment”?:
“A couple of months ago, Randy Barnett at Cato proposed a new amendment to the Constitution that would give the states the power to repeal acts of Congress. It’s certainly an intriguing notion, if for no other reason than to note the hysterical reaction to it. Dana Milbank, Dahlia Lithwick, and Jeff Sesol manage to ignore the fact that the same document has been amended a number of times (seventeen since its initial adoption, most recently in 1992) to accuse conservatives of hypocrisy in proposing another change. Glenn Reynolds disposed with this notion with brevity earlier in the week, noting that the amendment process is actually part of the Constitution, and a lot more legitimate than muttering about “living documents,” emanations, and penumbras. There is no need for such logic-defying rewriting of the document to absorb issues like abortion and campaign finance restrictions when (a) the document’s own brevity speaks clearly enough on the limit of federal powers, and (b) the amendment process is available to those who wish to change or add to the Constitution. All it will take is two-thirds of Congress and three-quarters of the states to pass and ratify it.”

Is Keynesianism dead?:
“Investors Business Daily titles its editorial today, “Keynesianism, RIP,” declaring the government-spending stimulus philosophy discredited in the wake of the 19th consecutive month of 9% or higher unemployment rates. IBD wants Barack Obama to put aside his “stubborn pride” (and his economic team) and start working with Republicans on policies that will truly stimulate the economy. But is the death certificate for Keynesianism premature?”

No end in sight to U.S. economic crisis as ‘scariest jobs chart ever’ shows post-recession unemployment is at its worst since WWII:
“As US unemployment jumped to 9.8 per cent, it is a chart to chill the bones of any job hunter.”

Venezuela’s Chavez blames capitalism for deluges:
“President Hugo Chavez blamed “criminal” capitalism on Sunday for global climate phenomena including incessant rains that have brought chaos to Venezuela, killing 32 people and leaving 70,000 homeless.”

Legal:

NY Sen. Seeks Bill to Deter Body Scan Image Misuse:
“A New York senator wants to make it illegal for anyone to distribute or record images produced by full-body scanners at airports.”

Your Tobacco Settlement Funds at Works:
“Who knew that thermal-pane windows and museum exhibits helped out tobacco farmers? Apparently they do, since they’ve been bankrolled by a fund that’s supposed to help rural, tobacco-dependent communities in south and southwest Virginia.”

Labor:

Proposed Rule Implements Annual Funding Notice Requirement for Pension Plans:
“The U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) announced a proposed rule to implement the annual funding notice requirement under section 101(f) of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA).”

Transportation/ Land Use:

Discussions on downtown high speed rail track begins:
“Mention the words “high speed rail” to some San Jose residents and business owners, and the image of an ugly aerial track comes to mind.”