Morning Media Summary

Tech:

Google in new partnership with the Post:
“We live in an evolving market and is going from being a letter to the distributor to become a communications operator with both digital and physical services.”

U.S. Government Prepares to Regulate Internet Privacy:
“There are at least five U.S. government efforts to regulate data and online privacy, according to a new U.S. government internet policy official, who said that some kind of privacy regulation appears likely.”

Google testing high-speed fiber network at Stanford:
“Google has reached an agreement to build its first ultra-high-speed broadband network near Stanford University, the search giant announced on Thursday.”

After news of Google tax dodges, Obama raises money with Google execs:
“On the day it was reported that Google uses income shifting techniques known by such arcane names as the “Double Irish” and the “Dutch Sandwich” to avoid paying taxes on its foreign profits, President Obama attended an intimate, high-dollar fundraiser at the Palo Alto, California home of a top Google executive. He didn’t mention Google’s tax tricks, according to a White House transcript of his remarks.”

Google 2.4% Rate Shows How $60 Billion Lost to Tax Loopholes:
“Google Inc. cut its taxes by $3.1 billion in the last three years using a technique that moves most of its foreign profits through Ireland and the Netherlands to Bermuda.”

Global Warming / Environment / Energy:

Building a Giant Lab to Test Disasters:
“On Tuesday, the industry-funded Institute for Business & Home Safety will open a facility that breaks new ground in the world of disaster labs: replicating hurricane conditions on a large scale.”

Why Silicon Valley Won’t Be Detroit For Green Carmakers:
“We’ve thought about it for a year, and discussed it with many people. And we don’t believe it. Silicon Valley is the wrong place to build an auto industry, for three main reasons.”

Chinese Freeze Before Gov’t Turns on the Heat:
“Since the Communists came to power, November 15 has been circled in red on many Beijing calendars. It’s not Mao Zedong’s birthday. November 15 is the day when city officials dutifully flick the switch to turn on the capital’s centrally-controlled heating system, supplying warmth to most of Beijing’s 22 million residents.”

Insurance / Gambling:

Manitoba: Another Canadian Province Not Ready for Online Gambling:
“Because of the way Canadian gambling laws are structured, regulation of internet gambling does not happen at a national level. Instead, each individual province can choose to either regulate and license internet gambling sites, or just stay away entirely. The Canadian province of Manitoba has become the second province in the last week to announce they are not ready to dive into the world of internet gambling, following a similar announcement a few days ago by Nova Scotia.”

Health / Safety:

Horror disease hits Uganda:
“A disease whose progression and symptoms seem straight out of a horror movie but which can be easily treated has killed at least 20 Ugandans and sickened more than 20,000 in just two months.”

Diabetes to double or triple in U.S. by 2050: government:

“”We project that, over the next 40 years, the prevalence of total diabetes (diagnosed and undiagnosed) in the United States will increase from its current level of about one in 10 adults to between one in five and one in three adults in 2050,” the CDC’s James Boyle and colleagues wrote in their report.”

Dozens dead in Haiti from suspected cholera outbreak:
“The victims suffered diarrhoea, acute fever and vomiting. More than 1,500 people were infected, officials said.”

Hormone Found In Rich People Linked To Longer Life:
“A hormone found predominantly in wealthy people was linked to a longer life, according to British research published Thursday.”

Economics:

Tax Audits Are No Laughing Matter:
“Barack Obama owes his presidency in no small part to the power of rhetoric. It’s too bad he doesn’t appreciate the damage that loose talk can do to America’s tax system, even as exploding federal deficits make revenues more important than ever.”

Juan Williams calls for the government to defund NPR:
“Juan Williams, the former National Public Radio news analyst who was abruptly fired this week for expressing a personal view on Fox News, called for the federal government to stop funding the radio organization.”

Obama stump speech: Car still in ditch, no Slurpees:
“You’ve heard it a lot. Barack Obama describes the economic crisis by accusing Republicans of driving the nation’s economy into the ditch and then sitting back and watching — “sippin’ on a Slurpee” — while Obama and the Democrats did the dirty, exhausting work of pulling the car out of the ditch.”

Brutal new ad: “The Chinese professor”:
“Too good to be dumped into Headlines and forgotten about. So effective is it, in fact — note the Hollywood-quality production values — that it leaves me wondering why a more high-profile outfit didn’t think of it first. Surely Rove’s group or some other mega-PAC is capable of stuff this sharp. Maybe they’re afraid of the inevitable racism charge? Can’t blame ‘em if so: Members of a racial minority saying or doing something contrary to progressive interests is, after all, pretty much the textbook definition of racism.”

REID: ‘But for me, we’d be in world-wide depression’:
VIDEO

In wake of Williams firing, Republicans want NPR funding examined:
“Three potential 2012 Republican presidential candidates chimed in Thursday on the firing of NPR news analyst Juan Williams, with two of them calling on Congress to scrutinize NPR’s federal funding.”

Credit Cards Soon to Get Makeover:
“Next month, Citibank will begin testing a card that has two buttons and tiny lights that allow users to choose at the register whether they want to pay with rewards points or credit, at most any merchant they please.”

Legal:

Would you Like Fries with that lawsuit:
“You won’t be able to get fries with your order, but you can use the drive-thru at Manchester’s newest law office.”

Niche Lawyers Spawned Housing Fracas:
“The paperwork mess muddying home foreclosures erupted last month. But the legal strategy behind it traces to a lawyer’s gambit in 2006 that has helped keep one couple in their home six years beyond their last mortgage payment.”

Colgate Accused of Stealing Thousand-Year-Old Toothpaste:
“A legal dispute between the U.S. and India over a herbal toothpaste was leaving a bitter aftertaste between the two countries Thursday, with Colgate Palmolive accused of filing a bogus patent.”

Labor:

The Democrats and the Union Label:
“Republican and Tea Party candidates have directed a lot of their attacks on the public sector unions, which have been bulwarks of support for the Democrats. These unions have been big financial contributors and get-out-the-vote engines for the mostly Democratic candidates they support. But this year, voters who are angry about stories of big pension payouts and government spending are putting public employees on the defensive.”

SEIU Blasts Indiana GOP Challenger Todd Young over “FairTax” stance:

“Dan Mitchell, a tax policy specialist at the libertarian Cato Institute, criticized the ad for leaving out the notion that the Fair Tax would replace the income tax. But he acknowledged that “there is potentially an element of truth to the secondary point about taxing seniors who earned money while young, paid income tax, saved some of the after-tax money, and now want to spend that money.” Mitchell added that not all seniors would be affected equally — it would more heavily affect seniors who had substantial savings outside of 401(k)s or other plans in which income is not taxed initially.”

Transportation/ Land Use:

Committee blasts Palo Alto bullet train station:
“Planners for California’s proposed $43 billion San Francisco-to-Los Angeles bullet train might want to dodge Palo Alto.”