Morning Media Summary
Tech:
Canada Says Google Wi-Fi Sniffing Collected Personal Data:
“Canada’s privacy commissioner said Tuesday that Google’s recent Wi-Fi sniffing was a serious violation of Canadians’ privacy rights and included the collection of personally identifiable information.”
Google Resumes Work on Oklahoma Data Center:
“Google is resuming work on a major data center project in Pryor, Oklahoma, saying it will soon need to being additional data center capacity online. The $600 million Oklahoma project was originally scheduled for completion in 2009, but was delayed due to the slowing economy. It is now expected to be operational by the end of 2011.”
Having a ball:
“The rise in digital music-sales is scant compensation. People tend to buy tracks, not albums, from sites like Apple’s iTunes. They can obtain their favourite music much more cheaply than they could in the CD era. And even digital sales are now stalling. In Japan, mobile and online single-track sales rose only a shade during 2009. So far this year Americans have bought 841m digital tracks, mostly from Apple’s iTunes, according to Nielsen Soundscan—down from 847m at this point last year. Apple now offers plenty of other opportunities to spend money, from iPads to more than 250,000 apps. Music executives believe the company is cannibalising the musical part of its own business.”
India to build observatory to study neutrino particles:
“The environment and forests ministry gave the go-ahead for the observatory to be built in the Bodi West hills on the coast of southern Tamil Nadu state.”
Cloud Telecomputers to Exhibit Glass Platform at AstriCon 2010:
“Cloud Telecomputers, a software innovator in business applications and IP telephony, today announced that it will be exhibiting Glass, its unique Android-based platform for desktop business smartphones, at AstriCon 2010 in National Harbor, Maryland from October 26-28.”
Google: 244,000 Germans say ‘no’ to Street View:
“Internet giant Google says more than 244,000 Germans have asked that their homes be made unrecognizable in its Street View program, scheduled to launch in Germany next month.”
Global Warming / Environment / Energy:
Introducing ‘Climate Hawks’:
“On Monday I asked, “What should we call people who care about climate change and clean energy?” A fantastic discussion ensued, up to 226 comments and counting — thanks to everybody who weighed in, not only on the site, but on Facebook, Twitter, email, and “words spoken in my physical presence” (kids, ask your parents!).”
Climate Change Doubt Is Tea Party Article of Faith:
“At a candidate forum here last week, Representative Baron P. Hill, a threatened Democratic incumbent in a largely conservative southern Indiana district, was endeavoring to explain his unpopular vote for the House cap-and-trade energy bill.”
Al Gore urges California to vote no on climate initiative:
“The future of climate change legislation in the United States could rest in California, where voters will decide on Nov. 2 whether to pass Proposition 23, a ballot measure that would roll back the state’s ambitious greenhouse gas emissions targets. With some polls showing voters in California split over the issue, former Vice President Al Gore released a video today explaining his opposition.”
Spain’s Solar Deals on Edge of Bankruptcy as Subsidies Founder:
“Across the plains around Lerida, the northeastern Spanish town where they spent weekends, farmers were turning over their fields to photovoltaic panels to capitalize on government solar- energy subsidies. Vilimelis persuaded his father, Jaume, who made a living growing pears on 5 acres (2 hectares) of land in Lerida, to turn over a portion of his farm for the project, Bloomberg Markets reported in its November issue.”
EPA in crosshairs:
“On the campaign trail, Republicans have adopted the Environmental Protection Agency as a favorite symbol of the White House’s regulatory overreach. And behind the scenes in Washington, GOP staffers and K Street lobbyists who say they’ve been dissed by the EPA administrator are looking forward to getting some revenge.”
Hot air? White House takes credit for Bush-era wind farm jobs:
“The Obama administration is crediting its anti-recession stimulus plan with creating up to 50,000 jobs on dozens of wind farms, even though many of those wind farms were built before the stimulus money began to flow or even before President Barack Obama was inaugurated.”
Insurance / Gambling:
South Carolina Supreme Court Hearing Arguments in 2006 Poker Conviction (not same url from yesterday):
“The South Carolina Supreme Court heard arguments yesterday regarding a 2006 case involving a home poker tournament. The discussion centers on whether the state’s gaming laws were violated and/or whether poker is a game of skill or chance.”
Health / Safety:
As Injuries Rise, Scant Oversight of Helmet Safety:
“Moments after her son finished practicing with his fifth-grade tackle football team, Beth Sparks examined his scuffed and battered helmet for what she admitted was the first time. She looked at the polycarbonate shell and felt the foam inside before noticing a small emblem on the back that read, “MEETS NOCSAE STANDARD.””
Economics:
Toyota Recall 2010: Avalon, Lexus Among 1.53 Million Recalled Cars:
“Toyota is recalling 1.53 million Lexus, Avalon and other models, mostly in the U.S. and Japan, for brake fluid and fuel pump problems, the latest in a string of quality lapses for the world’s No. 1 automaker.”
Obama economic report focuses on women, ignores ‘Great Mancession’:
“While the recession has hit men far harder than women — so much so that some pundits have dubbed this economic downturn
a “mancession” — the Obama administration is focusing on the struggles women are facing during these tough economic times.”
Gov’t tax panel agrees to end tax break for stock investments:
“An expert panel of the government’s Tax Commission agreed Thursday to abolish a reduced tax rate for stock investments from January 2012 as scheduled, participants said.”
Shocker. George Soros Dumps $1 Million Into Media Matters Sinkhole:
“Media Matters, the liberal activist group that wages a rhetorical war against Fox News Channel and others in the conservative press, will announce on Wednesday the receipt of a $1 million donation from the philanthropist George Soros.”
Geithner’s Goal: Rebalance World Economy:
“Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said he would use weekend meetings of G-20 finance ministers to advance efforts to “rebalance” the world economy so it is less reliant on U.S. consumers, to move toward establishing “norms” on exchange-rate policy, and to persuade others the U.S. doesn’t aim to devalue its way to prosperity.”
Legal:
NPR fires Juan Williams:
“NPR fired political analyst Juan Williams Wednesday night over his statement on Fox News that he gets “nervous” whenever he sees people in “Muslim garb” boarding a plane. ”
Video: So You Want to Go to Law School:
“A young woman meets with an attorney to discuss her decision to go to law school.”
National Politically-correct Radio:
“Do the powers-that-be at NPR think Juan Williams is a bigot? Do they think a traveler who has a reaction (fair or unfair) like the one Juan describes, in our age of terror in the name of Islam, is a bigot?”
Tobacco Settlement Dollars Go Up In Smoke in Latest Government Scam:
“For the latest example of governmental bait-and-switch, look no further than your ashtray. Attorneys general from 46 states sold the public on the 1998 “Master Settlement Agreement” as a way to collect “damages” from the major tobacco companies and spend these sums to rescue teenagers from nicotine addiction.”
Labor:
Video: French throw national tantrum over small reduction to pension “birthright”:
“For Gilly and many other Frenchmen and women, social benefits such as long vacations, state-subsidized health care and early retirement are more than just luxuries: They’re seen as a birthright — an essential part of the identity of today’s France…”
Clashes, protest in French tensions over pensions:
“Protesters blockaded Marseille’s airport, Lady Gaga canceled concerts in Paris and rioting youths attacked police in Lyon on Thursday ahead of a tense Senate vote on raising the retirement age.”
No secrets surrounding SEIU’s political contributions:
“I’ll give the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and their allies, including opinion writer Marc Thiessen, credit. Despite living in a glass house of secrecy and unwillingness to disclose where their own money comes from, they have no qualms about throwing stones [“Are foreign and illegal workers funding Democrats’ attack ads?,” op-ed, Oct. 18].”
SEIU Local 1000 exec argues for contract ratification:
“Jim Hard, former president of SEIU Local 1000 and the union’s current vice president for organizing and representation, sent an e-mail to members on Tuesday that passionately argues for ratifying the local’s tentative agreement with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.”
SEIU blasts Angle in new ad:
“The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) launched a new television ad Thursday blasting Nevada Republican Sharron Angle.”
Transportation/ Land Use:
High-Speed Rail: The Wrong Road for America:
“In the face of high energy prices and concerns about global warming, environmentalists and planners offer high-speed rail as an environmentally friendly alternative to driving and air travel. California, Florida, the Midwest, and other parts of the country are actively considering specific high-speed rail plans.