Morning Media Summary

Tech:

200GB to 25GB: Canada gets first, bitter does of metered Internet:
“Metered Internet usage (also called “Usage-Based Billing”) is coming to Canada, and it’s going to cost Internet users. While an advance guard of Canadians are expressing creative outrage at the prospect of having to pay inflated prices for Internet use charged by the gigabyte, the consequences probably haven’t set in for most consumers. Now, however, independent Canadian ISPs are publishing their revised data plans, and they aren’t pretty.”

Wired: How to Communicate If Your Government Shuts Off Your Internet:

Egypt’s Web blockade raises concerns about ‘kill switch’ for Internet:
“The news of Egypt’s crackdown on Web access is raising new concerns over a comprehensive cybersecurity bill that critics claim gives the president a “kill switch” for the Internet.”

Show trials? Schultz, Sharpton propose FCC review board, public hearings to keep radio talkers in line:
“Some have insisted the chance for the renewal of the Fairness Doctrine is a straw man argument perpetrated by conservatives to stir emotions so that they are able to exploit it politically and that this really isn’t a threat from legislators.”

Google tries to close mobile apps gap with Apple:
“Online search giant Google is in the process of assembling an in-house braintrust to crank out applications for the exploding mobile device market.”

Global Warming / Environment / Energy:

Oil over $100 as Egypt protests intensify:
“Oil prices broke through the $100 a barrel level for the first time in more than two years, amid market fears that Egypt’s turmoil will hit oil flows.”

Mad Meat Making Scientists Proves Climate Doomsayers Wrong:
“Here at my rural retreat in the rolling Dutchess County hunt country in scenic upstate New York, I’m facing a dilemma. I need to get back to New York City for a meeting tomorrow, but the series of monstrous winter snowstorms has made parking scarce in the purlieus of the stately Mead manor in glamorous Queens. I may end up driving and hoping, or I may take the train; either way I won’t be thinking very much about global warming here at the tail end of the snowiest January in the known history of New York.”

Insurance / Gambling:

Va. Senate panel endorses Internet sweepstakes ban:
“A Virginia Senate committee voted Monday to ban computer-based sweepstakes games some legislators said are illegal gambling in disguise.”

Health / Safety:

South Carolina scientist works to grow meat in lab:
“In a small laboratory on an upper floor of the basic science building at the Medical University of South Carolina, Vladimir Mironov, M.D., Ph.D., has been working for a decade to grow meat.”

Hormones In Food: Should You Worry?:
“A salmon that grows to market size twice as fast as normal. Dairy cows that produce 15 percent more milk. Beef cows that grow 20 percent faster.”

Economics:

Nearly 11 Percent of US Houses Empty:
“I usually find the quarterly homeowner vacancy and homeownership report from Census pretty lackluster, but the latest one released this morning was anything but.”

House GOP freshmen poised to push immediate spending cuts above leadership’s goals:
“The massive House Republican freshman class is poised to make their presence felt for the first time in the next few weeks, and will likely push immediate spending cuts above the goal set by House Speaker John Boehner.”

Legal:

Quotes of the day (regarding the Healthcare Ruling):

Federal judge rules Obamacare is unconstitutional in its entirety:
“Here’s a PDF of the opinion. The judge, Roger Vinson, is a Reagan appointee who didn’t hide his skepticism about the law during oral arguments, so the baseline ruling isn’t surprising. A fun hypothetical about the government’s power to force citizens to buy things they don’t want to:”

Labor:

HCA Has Neutrality Agreement With SEIU, California Nurses Association to Allow Union Organization Efforts:
“Hospital chain HCA signed a neutrality agreement with the Service Employees International Union and the California Nurses Association last April allowing the unions to organize workers at 20 HCA hospitals, according to a recent Wall Street Journal report.”

Transportation/ Land Use:

China plans to spend big on nuclear power, high-speed rail:
“State-owned enterprises, rather than the government, will play the main role of channeling the investment, said one source with ties to the leadership.”