Morning Media Summary
Tech:
1Gbps Wi-Fi Soon Coming To a Billion Devices:
“Not only is 1Gbps heading for your Wi-Fi network by next year, it will be instantly über popular. The new 802.11ac 1G Wi-Fi standard hasn’t even been ratified by the IEEE yet and In-Stat predicts that by 2015, consumers will have bought nearly 1 billion devices that use it. 1G Wi-Fi, which will use radio spectrum in a range below 6GHz, will be embedded in mobile phones, e-readers and automotive infotainment systems, the study reports. It further predicts:”
Global Warming / Environment / Energy:
Global warming skeptics send letter to Congress urging members not give into climate ‘alarmists’:
“In response to a letter sent to members of Congress at the end of January, encouraging them to ignore global warming skeptics and “take a fresh look at climate change,” global warming skeptics sent their own letter to members Tuesday telling them not to be intimidated by claims of a “scientific consensus.””
WikiLeaks cables: Saudi Arabia cannot pump enough oil to keep a lid on prices:
“The US fears that Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest crude oil exporter, may not have enough reserves to prevent oil prices escalating, confidential cables from its embassy in Riyadh show.”
Insurance / Gambling:
Brewer files bill to require gambling costs-benefit analysis:
“Boston — Sen. Stephen Brewer, appointed to the Senate’s most powerful budget-writing post last month by Senate President Therese Murray, is backing legislation championed by anti-gambling forces that requires a detailed cost-benefit analysis as a prerequisite to the introduction of slot parlors or casinos.”
Health / Safety:
USDA: Eggs’ Cholesterol Lower Than Thought, Vitamin D Higher:
“The USDA announced today that eggs are significantly lower in cholesterol than previously thought. And, by the way, they are also quite a bit higher in vitamin D.”
Fixodent: Can Excessive Use of Popular Denture Cream Cause Nerve Damage?:
“Mark Jacoby had no idea why his body was failing. Symptoms appeared gradually, said the 41-year-old former construction worker from York, Pa.”
House seen blocking healthcare funds:
“”I expect to see one way or other the product coming out of the House to speak to that and to preclude any funding to be used for that,” Cantor said at a news conference, referring to an effort to block implementation of the health-care law.”
Economics:
White House plans phase-out of Fannie, Freddie:
“More than two years after the government seized Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the Obama administration will recommend phasing out the housing-finance giants and gradually reducing the government’s footprint in the mortgage market, according to people familiar with the matter.”
Flake Defies GOP on Cuts:
“Following a contentious vote Tuesday night, the House Appropriations Committee will move forward with a GOP proposal to cut tens of billions in federal non-security spending for the remainder of the fiscal year (through September). The move puts Republicans one step closer to bringing a continuing resolution to the floor that will replace the one that expires on March 4.”
Legal:
Move to extend Patriot Act under suspended rules fails in House: “U.S. Immigration and “An effort to quietly pass an extension of key provisions in the Patriot Act under the same rules the House uses to name Post Offices failed in a Tuesday night vote.””
Obama’s law professor: If the Supreme Court strikes down the mandate, they must be biased political hacks:
“One of the most pitiful, relentlessly irritating op-eds about O-Care that I’ve read since our long national nightmare began in summer ’09. To understand what makes it so grating, you need to know that the author, Laurence Tribe, is not only a Harvard Law prof who taught Obama but a bona fide titan of constitutional jurisprudence on the left. He wrote a famous treatise on the subject and was, in his younger days, a perennial candidate for the Supreme Court when Democrats were in the White House. You might also remember him as the guy who sneered, amusingly, in a letter to Obama that Sotomayor isn’t nearly as smart as she thinks she is, and who endorsed Kagan because he thought she’d be better able to keep Anthony Kennedy from “drifting” towards the right.”
Labor:
SEIU still plans to act on imposed contracts:
“The Service Employees International Union still is fighting contracts imposed on two of its units by McHenry County government, despite the contracts expiring later this year.”
Transportation/ Land Use:
White House announces $53B for rail:
“Speaking from Philadelphia’s 30th Street train station, Vice President Joe Biden joined by Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, announced $53 billion over six years for new high-speed rail corridors and increased speeds on existing lines.”