Today’s Links: October 26, 2012

OPINION

DEVIN LEONARD: “The Plot to Destroy America’s Beer”
“He examined the label. It said the beer was no longer brewed in Bremen. He looked more closely at the fine print: ‘Product of the USA.’ This was profoundly unsettling for a guy who had been a Beck’s drinker for more than half his life. He was also miffed to have paid the full import price for the 12-pack.”

HARDY GREEN: “Americans Misdirect Their Blame for Decline of Industry”
“Coal miners lining up behind the Republican presidential nominee, Mitt Romney; auto workers praising President Barack Obama for saving the U.S. car industry. You don’t have to look far to see signs of Americans’ deep anxiety over deindustrialization, and of a profound nostalgia for a more toilsome past. Yet a closer look at bygone days shows that the decline of U.S. industry isn’t only the result of unfair Chinese trade practices or the low wages of Asian workers.”

RUSTY WEISS: “Drilling for Jobs? Yes We Can!”
“These unconventional means require larger initial investments compared to their conventional counterparts, but the future payoffs are tremendous.  IHS estimates that $2.1 trillion in capital will be spent on unconventional oil and gas extraction in the U.S. by the year 2035.  That activity equates to 1.7 million jobs this year, 3 million by 2020, and 3.5 million by 2035.”

NEWS

SECURITY – Boarding pass barcodes ‘can be read by smartphones’
“A vulnerability in US domestic airline boarding pass barcodes could allow travellers to bring unauthorised items on board, says a security expert. The codes reveal what kind of airport checks a passenger will face and can be read by smartphones, he says.”

INNOVATION – Oregon Scientists Make Embryo With 2 Women, 1 Man
“Scientists in Oregon have created embryos with genes from one man and two women, using a provocative technique that could someday be used to prevent babies from inheriting certain rare incurable diseases.”

PRIVACY – Microsoft internet changes examined by EU privacy regulators
“Microsoft Corp. is facing a preliminary investigation by European data protection regulators into potential t privacy issues with changes to policies for Internet products including Hotmail and Bing.”