Morning Media Summary

Tech:

Hackers find new way to cheat on Wall Street – to everyone’s peril:
“High-frequency trading networks, which complete stock market transactions in microseconds, are vulnerable to manipulation by hackers who can inject tiny amounts of latency into them. By doing so, they can subtly change the course of trading and pocket profits of millions of dollars in just a few seconds, says Rony Kay, a former IBM research fellow and founder of cPacket Networks, a Silicon Valley firm that develops chips and technologies for network monitoring and traffic analysis.”

Global Warming / Environment / Energy:

Longstanding Mystery of Sun’s Hot Outer Atmosphere Solved:
“Answer lies in jets of plasma”
Insurance / Gambling:

Game’s up for sports cheats:
“Attorney-General John Hatzistergos said the NSW Law Reform Commission would conduct a review to close a legal loophole.”

Swissvale man accused in casino thefts arrested by federal agents:
“Moments before he was to stand trial for bilking The Meadows Racetrack and Casino out of nearly a half-million dollars in fraudulent jackpots, a Swissvale man was arrested Monday by federal authorities, who say he actually may have stolen as much as $1.4 million from casinos in the U.S. and abroad.”

Health / Safety:

Heritage: Take CBO report with a grain of salt: Obamacare repeal would not increase deficits:
“Next week, the House of Representatives will vote on H.R. 2, a measure to repeal Obamacare in its entirety. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) today released a report stating that repealing the health care law would increase the deficit by $145 billion between 2012 and 2019.”

2nd person denied Ariz. Transplant coverage dies:

“A second person denied transplant coverage by Arizona under a state budget cut has died, with this death “most likely” resulting from the coverage reduction, a hospital spokeswoman said Wednesday.”
Economics:

Final Tab for Pelosi’s Speakership: $5.34 Trillion in New Debt – Or $3.66 Billion Per Day:
“In the 1,461 days that Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D.-Calif.) served as speaker of the House, the national debt increased by a total of $5.343 trillion ($5,343,452,800,321.37) or $3.66 billion per day ($3.657,394,113.84), according to official debt numbers published by the U.S. Treasury.”

Legal:

CNBC’s Santelli rants about NY Times and other critics of congressional Constitution reading:
“It’s no secret that some congressional Democrats aren’t particular thrilled that the Constitution was read on the floor of the House of Representatives on Thursday. Rep. Jerrold Nadler, a New York Democrat, objected on the grounds it was being read “like a sacred text.””

Highest Court in DC Allows Second Amendment Challenges to Long-Ago Convictions for Violating D.C. Handgun Ban:
“Magnus v. U.S., decided today, concludes that a defendant who pled guilty in 1996 to violating D.C. handgun ban can now have that plea set aside given D.C. v. Heller, assuming his conduct was indeed protected by the Second Amendment (and didn’t, for instance, involve the possession of a gun to facilitate an illegal drug transaction). “A conviction for conduct that is not criminal, but is instead constitutionally protected, is the ultimate miscarriage of justice,” and a defendant can therefore ask to have it set aside (via a petition for coram nobis relief) even many years later.”

Cross-sex strip searches ruled unconstitutional:

“A female jail guard’s strip search of a male inmate was a “humiliating event” that violated his rights, a divided federal appeals court in San Francisco ruled Wednesday.”

Labor:

KY hospital sues SEIU for harassing phone calls:
“King?s Daughters Medical Center in Ashland, KY is suing a local union that represents more than 600 of its employees, claiming it is trying to harass the hospital?s CEO. The complaint against Service Employees International Union District 1199 was filed on Dec. 29, the day before the union voted to reject KDMC?s latest contract offer. The complaint alleges the union violated federal statutes by causing hundreds of automated telephone calls to be made to KDMC, but the union claimed it was in full compliance with the law.”

New governors usher in era of labor union reform:
“The AFL-CIO, the New York Times reported, recently distributed an internal memo warning its members that in several states around the country, Republicans may pursue new laws with the goal of financially starving labor unions. This trend has public employee unions worrying that lawmakers will finally scale back the extent to which unions eat up state budgets.”

Transportation/ Land Use:

China eyes stake in California high-speed rail system:
“In the 19th century, laborers from China helped build railroads spanning California and linking the U.S. coasts. In the 21st century, the Chinese may be back — not for backbreaking labor, but with financial and technological muscle. ”