Larry Sabato Sees 6 Senate ‘Toss-ups’ for GOP

Click here to view this email as a web page Insider Report from Newsmax.com Headlines (Scroll down for complete stories): 1. Average Freshman Senator Worth $4 Million 2. China's CO2 Emissions Confirm Kyoto Critics' Fears 3. Sabato: 6 Democratic Senate Seats 'Toss-ups' in 2012 4. Expert: New Light Bulbs Bring 'Deadly Poison' Into Homes 5. Regional Nuclear War Could Reverse Global Warming 6. New 'Dust Bowl' Threatens Great Plains 1. Average Freshman Senator Worth $4 Million Sixty percent of Senate freshmen and more than 40 percent of freshmen in the House are millionaires, compared to 1 percent for Americans at large, according to a new report from the Center for Responsive Politics. The median estimated wealth for Senate freshmen is $3.96 million, topped by Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a Connecticut Democrat, at $94.87 million. The median estimated wealth for House freshmen is $570,418. "Even though millions of Americans continue to struggle financially, most of the nation's newest congressional representatives are a world away from such constituents' financial realities," said Sheila Krumholz, executive director of the Center The figures are not precise because members of Congress are required to report their assets only in broad ranges. The Center, a nonpartisan research group, uses minimum and maximum asset values to arrive at an "estimated" figure. Overall, freshman members of Congress have an estimated wealth of $533.1 million and a maximum net worth of $845.2 million. Blumenthal, who married into a fortune, spent millions to defeat Republican Linda McMahon, herself a multimillionaire, in 2010's most expensive congressional campaign. After Blumenthal, the next seven wealthiest freshmen in Congress are all House members and all Republicans. They are: Diane Lynn Black of Tennessee ($49.4 million), Rick Berg of North Dakota ($39.2 million), Blake Farenthold of Texas ($35.8), Scott Rigell of Virginia ($29.9), James Renacci of Ohio ($28.4), Steve Pearce of New Mexico ($23.2), and Richard Hanna of New York ($22.1). At the other end of the scale, Rep. Joe Walsh, an Illinois Republican, has an estimated worth of minus-$317,498. Other members of Congress whose minimum worth is less than zero: Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla.; Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah; and Rep. Sean Duffy, R-Wis. Among all freshmen, "some are Democrats, some are Republicans, many are tea party conservatives while others are unabashedly liberal," said Dan Auble, manager of the Center's personal financial disclosure database. "What unites these freshmen is that, on balance, they're rich." Editor's Note: ALERT: Stop Your Sugar Addiction — Start Your Weight Loss 2. China's CO2 Emissions Confirm Kyoto Critics' Fears Here's what worries American critics of the 1997 Kyoto Protocol: Any reduction in U.S. emissions of greenhouse gases could be outweighed by increases from China and other developing nations not required to cut their emissions. A new report from the Environmental Protection Agency confirms those fears. Carbon dioxide emissions in the United States, which is not a signatory of the Kyoto Protocol, actually declined by 6 percent in 2009, and are now 8 percent below 2000 levels, according to the EPA. Global emissions, however, have risen more than 25 percent since 2000, and developing nations accounted for virtually all of the increase. China alone accounted for about half. "A closer look at global emissions trends show how futile it would be for the U.S to impose economically punitive self-restrictions on carbon dioxide," James M. Taylor, senior fellow for environmental policy at The Heartland Institute, writes in Forbes magazine. By 2009, China was the largest emitter, accounting for 24 percent of global emissions, while the United States was responsible for 17 percent. China will likely account for 26 percent when 2010 figures are released, with the U.S. contributing about 15 percent, according to Taylor. China's emissions have been increasing by nearly 10 percent a year, and in 2010 probably surpassed the emissions of the entire Western Hemisphere. "This means that even if the U.S. and the entire Western Hemisphere immediately and completely eliminated all carbon dioxide emissions, the growth in Chinese emissions alone would likely render this action moot within a decade," Taylor notes. "China, moreover, has made it very clear it will not agree to carbon dioxide restrictions." Reducing U.S. emissions by producing less power from fossil fuels would force consumers to rely on more expensive alternative sources such as wind and solar power, resulting in "very painful economic consequences," the Forbes article states. Solar thermal power, for instance, will be 208 percent more expensive than natural gas by 2016, the U.S. Energy Information Administration estimates. Taylor concludes: "Attempting to fight global warming by restricting U.S. greenhouse gas emissions is therefore both ineffective and painfully costly." Editor's Note: Investment Strategy Reaps 16% Annually — for 20 Years! 3. Sabato: 6 Democratic Senate Seats 'Toss-ups' in 2012 After losing Senate seats in 2010, Democrats likely face more of the same in next year's elections, according to political pundit Larry Sabato — who says six seats now held by Democrats will be up for grabs in 2012. Sabato, director of the University of Virginia's Center for Politics, acknowledges on his Crystal Ball website that it is "premature to issue hard projections" at this point, noting that "a thousand things will change along the way to November 2012." But he is willing to issue what he calls "descriptive short-term forecasts" for the Senate races. Next year 23 Democratic seats will be up for election, as will 10 Republican seats. The six Democratic seats Sabato rates as "toss-ups" are held by Claire McCaskill (Mo.), Jon Tester (Mont.), Ben Nelson (Neb.), Sherrod Brown (Ohio), Jeff Bingaman (N.M.), and Jim Webb (Va.). He also rates the seat held by Republican John Ensign of Nevada as a toss-up. Bingaman, Webb, and Ensign are retiring. Three other Democratic incumbents are stepping down. The seat now held by Kent Conrad of North Dakota is very likely to go a Republican, Sabato says, while Democrats will probably hold on to the seats being vacated by Daniel Akaka of Hawaii and Joe Lieberman of Connecticut, an independent Democrat. Two other Republicans are also retiring, but odds favor the GOP retaining the seats now held by Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas and Jon Kyl of Arizona. "With six Democratic toss-ups to just one Republican toss-up, the GOP can obviously win the Senate in theory — but it is far too soon to say whether theory will become reality," Sabato observes. He also forecasts that Florida Democrat Bill Nelson will be "vulnerable" in 2012, with a host of Republicans being cited as potential opponents. "Without question, Florida Republicans would rather have former Gov. Jeb Bush as their nominee," Sabato adds, "but there are no signs that he is interested in the seat or a 2012 presidential run — as some national Republicans would like to see." In governorships, he predicts that Republicans will increase their lead by up to three in the 2011 and 2012 elections. Editor's Note: Special: Al Gore's Global Warming Claims Exposed! 4. Expert: New Light Bulbs Bring 'Deadly Poison' Into Homes A lighting expert has told a Senate committee that the federal government is endangering Americans by promoting new kinds of light bulbs to replace ordinary incandescent bulbs. The Energy Independence and Security Act, signed into law by President George W. Bush in 2007, requires that bulbs be about 25 percent more efficient by 2014. The act serves as a "de facto ban on traditional incandescent light bulbs," said Howard Branston, who has overseen lighting projects including the Statue of Liberty and the Petronas Towers in Malaysia. Testifying before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee on Thursday, Branston said compact fluorescent light bulbs, the most popular alternative to incandescent bulbs, pose a risk to public health. "The compact fluorescent lamp contains mercury," he said. "One gram of mercury will pollute a two-acre pond. This 2007 light bulb standard brings a deadly poison into every residence in the nation. "We do not have enough knowledge of the potential consequences of being continuously exposed to the electromagnetic field that compact fluorescent lamps emit. There are millions of people in this country with lupus, an autoimmune disease. Exposure to low doses of light from these lamps causes a severe rash." Sen. James Risch, R-Idaho, said during the committee sessions: "Has anybody looked at the EPA recommendations put out in January 2011 about what you do if one of these mercury light bulbs breaks in your home? In Idaho, we've had a number of instances where they've had a mercury spill in a science laboratory and they immediately closed the school down. "Can you imagine mercury bulbs throughout a school?" Branston also warned about the use of LED (light-emitting diode) lamps, another alternative to incandescent bulbs, CNS News reported. "The French have found that the output of these lamps is harming the vision of children," he said. "They contain arsenic and other poisonous materials. Why aren't we looking at that?" He also asserted that the Energy Independence Act would cost jobs, burden businesses with the expense of updating lighting fixtures, and be an unnecessary government intrusion on Americans' ability to choose the bulbs they want. Sen. Mike Enzi, a Wyoming Republican, is promoting a bill to repeal the 2007 law and give consumers the choice to buy any light bulbs they want. His bill has the support of 26 senators — all Republicans. Editor's Note: Olive Oil Can Act Like a Drug on Your Heart 5. Regional Nuclear War Could Reverse Global Warming Even a localized nuclear conflict could have a devastating effect on the earth's climate and reverse global warming for more than 10 years, according to a new report. To assess the impact on the climate from a regional nuclear conflict — between, for example, India and Pakistan — scientists from NASA and other scientific institutions modeled a war involving 100 Hiroshima-sized bombs — just 0.03 percent of the world's current nuclear arsenal, National Geographic reports. Fires resulting from the detonations would send about 5 million metric tons of black carbon into the lowest level of the Earth's atmosphere, the experts estimated. According to NASA climate models, the carbon would absorb solar heat, leading to global cooling and "unprecedented climate change," said research physical scientist Luke Oman of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. Following the nuclear exchanges, temperatures in the tropics, Europe, Asia, and Alaska would drop by up to 7.2 degrees F, the models predict. Even after 10 years, average global temperature would still be nearly 1 degree cooler than before the nuclear war. The climate change would also reduce precipitation by 10 percent globally for up to four years, and decreased precipitation would last more than seven years. It would also lead to a decrease in the earth's protective ozone layer, harming the environment and people, National Geographic noted. "Examples similar to the crop failures and famines experienced following the Mount Tambora [Indonesia] eruption in 1815 could be widespread and last several years," Oman said. That eruption led to the "year without a summer," a time of great famines in the Northern Hemisphere. Oman added: "The main message from our work would be that even a regional nuclear conflict would have global consequences." Editor's Note: Expert Who Predicted Last Crash Says Dollar Will See Massive Devaluation 6. New 'Dust Bowl' Threatens Great Plains For decades, the Ogallala Aquifer has provided the water needed to irrigate farms in America's semi-arid Great Plains. Now it is running dry — and that could have a devastating impact on food supplies around the world. The aquifer is a vast underground lake that stretches from South Dakota to the Texas Panhandle and is thought to be the world's largest body of fresh water. It was formed between two million and six million years ago, when tectonic shifts trapped water below the surface. It does not replenish. In the 1940s, after the Dust Bowl days, farmers and engineers began to dig wells to tap into the aquifer, turning dry plains into fertile farmland. Since then, Americans have drained enough water to half-fill Lake Erie, according to David Brauer of the Ogallala Research Service, a U.S. Agriculture Department agency. "The problem is that in a brief half-century, we have drawn the Ogallala level down from an average of 240 feet to about 80 feet," he told The Telegraph. The U.K. newspaper looked at one town in the Texas Panhandle, Happy, where the water has run out, businesses have been shuttered, and the population has plunged. The farms in the area have been turned over to the government's Conservation Reserve Program, to lie fallow, in exchange for grants. "Now Happy is the harbinger of a potential Dust Bowl unseen in America since the Great Depression," the Telegraph observes. The Great Plains account for 20 percent of U.S. grain and corn production, and a plunge in production there could lead to "starvation in Africa and anywhere else where a meal depends on cheap American exports," according to the Telegraph. The hope is that with less wasteful irrigation and seeds genetically engineered for drought conditions, farming may continue in the Plains for another 60 years. Otherwise, the report warns, "the dust will start blowing in as few as 10 years." Editor's Note: Reverse Type 2 Diabetes. New Strategies Show How. Editor's Notes: ALERT: Stop Your Sugar Addiction — Start Your Weight Loss Investment Strategy Reaps 16% Annually — for 20 Years! Special: Al Gore's Global Warming Claims Exposed! Olive Oil Can Act Like a Drug on Your Heart Expert Who Predicted Last Crash Says Dollar Will See Massive Devaluation Reverse Type 2 Diabetes. New Strategies Show How. This e-mail is never sent unsolicited. You have received this Newsmax e-mail because you subscribed to it or someone forwarded it to you. To opt out, see the links below. TO ADVERTISE For information on advertising, please contact Newsmax Advertising Sales via e-mail. TO SUBSCRIBE If this e-mail has been forwarded to you and you would like to sign up, please click here. Remove your e-mail address from our list or modify your profile. We respect your right to privacy. View our policy. 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Newser Daily Digest - Massachusetts' New Political Party: Pirates

Massachusetts' New Political Party: Pirates

(Newser) - Avast there, Massachusetts voters! A’fore ye register f’r some lilly-livered party like the “Democrats” or “Republicans,” ye might want to consider signin’ on with the state’s newest crew: the Massachusetts Pirate Party. That’s right, the Massachusetts Election Division has officially approved the swashbuckling... More  »

Newser located this story for you on Sunday, March 13, 2011 7:01 AM. The story matched your section(s) Politics.

 

Oops, Bachmann Fails History in New Hampshire

(Newser) - Michele Bachmann is making the rounds in New Hampshire today and said she'll probably decide in the summer whether she's running for president in 2012. But her first visit to the state didn't start well, notes Politico . "You're the state where the shot was heard around the world at... More  »

Newser located this story for you on Sunday, March 13, 2011 7:01 AM. The story matched your section(s) Politics.

 

European Politician to US: Don't Be Like Us

(Newser) - Barack Obama isn't a socialist as some of his critics like to say, but he's definitely a "Eurocrat," writes Daniel Hannan. And he should know—he's been a member of the European Parliament for 11 years. In a Wall Street Journal op-ed, he argues that Obama is trying... More  »

Newser located this story for you on Sunday, March 13, 2011 7:01 AM. The story matched your section(s) Politics.

 

Let's Stay Out of Libya

(Newser) - Retired Gen. Wesley Clark takes a long look at the pros and cons of having the US intervene in Libya and thinks the answer is clear: Stay out of it, America. Even a no-fly is too dangerous, he argues in the Washington Post . It probably wouldn't be enough to force... More  »

Newser located this story for you on Sunday, March 13, 2011 7:01 AM. The story matched your section(s) Politics.

 

Newt Gets No Credit for Monogamy: He's Old!

(Newser) - Newt Gingrich lobbed a softball this week—telling a conservative group that his extra-marital dalliances were prompted by his hard work and love of country —and Gail Collins takes a swing at it today in the New York Times . "Really, the concept explains quite a bit," she... More  »

Newser located this story for you on Sunday, March 13, 2011 7:01 AM. The story matched your section(s) Politics.

 

Rick Santorum: No Room for Sharia Here

(Newser) - Rick Santorum was in New Hampshire yesterday, reports Politico, tacking deliberately to the right. "Jihadism is evil," he told a Republican crowd. “We need to define it and say what it is. And it is evil. Sharia law is incompatible with American jurisprudence and our Constitution.”... More  »

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[Slashdot] Stories for 2011-03-13

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Slashdot Daily Newsletter

In this issue:
* Apple vs. Microsoft: a Tale of Two Mobile Updates
* Tsunami Warnings Now Faster, More Accurate
* Hacking a Car With Music
* Nuclear Emergency Declared At 2 Plants In Japan
* European Court of Justice Rejects Stem-Cell Patents
* China Switching To Home-Grown Chips For Supercomputers
* US Judge Orders Twitter To Give Up WikiLeaks Data
* Investigating the Performance of Firefox 4 and IE9
* The Emergency Internet Bunkers
* CS Profs Debate Role of Math In CS Education
* Is Daylight Saving Time Bad For You?
* TSA To Retest Full Body Scanners For Radiation
* Google Draws Fire From Congress
* Twitter Discards Client UI Community

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Apple vs. Microsoft: a Tale of Two Mobile Updates
| from the all-things-to-many-people dept.
| posted by timothy on Friday March 11, @19:03 (Cellphones)
| https://apple.slashdot.org/story/11/03/11/2334233/Apple-vs-Microsoft-a-Tale-of-Two-Mobile-Updates?from=newsletter
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[0]snydeq writes "The latest mobile updates from Apple and Microsoft
[1]provide a stark contrast, one emblematic of the differences between
the two companies, InfoWorld's Ted Samson writes. Militantly on time,
Apple's iOS 4.3 update offers significant new functionality, [2]total
disregard for what Apple considers outdated systems, and [3]mandated
silencing of user complaints. Microsoft, meanwhile, has finally managed
to push out an alleged February update to a subset of users, along with a
lamentation about having to deal with [4]handset and carrier
fragmentation."

Discuss this story at:
https://apple.slashdot.org/story/11/03/11/2334233/Apple-vs-Microsoft-a-Tale-of-Two-Mobile-Updates?from=newsletter#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://www.infoworld.com/
1. http://www.infoworld.com/t/mobile-technology/apple-vs-microsoft-tale-two-mobile-updates-309
2. http://nakedsecurity.sophos.com/2011/03/10/update-your-apple-devices-to-ios-4-3-or-risk-malicious-code-attacks/
3. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/03/11/iphone_forum_patch_talk_verbotten/
4. http://windowsteamblog.com/windows_phone/b/windowsphone/archive/2011/03/10/phone-updates-process-and-timing.aspx

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Tsunami Warnings Now Faster, More Accurate
| from the being-rich-is-the-best-defense dept.
| posted by timothy on Friday March 11, @19:51 (Government)
| https://yro.slashdot.org/story/11/03/12/0036209/Tsunami-Warnings-Now-Faster-More-Accurate?from=newsletter
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

CWmike writes "As the deadly tsunami generated by Friday's [0]massive
earthquake off the coast of Japan headed toward the United States,
[1]scientists at NOAA's Center for Tsunami Research tracked its progress
in real-time. Dozens of deep-ocean tsunami-monitoring sensors more than
three miles beneath the surface of the Pacific Ocean picked up
information on the silent swell of water and transmitted it by way of a
satellite to the Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory in Seattle,
Wash. Here, scientists crunched the data and quickly developed real-time
predictions about how and when the tsunami would reach select locations
in Hawaii, Alaska and the US west coast. The models predicted the wave
arrival time, estimated wave height and the likely extent of inundation
for about 50 communities likely to be affected."

This story continues at:
https://yro.slashdot.org/story/11/03/12/0036209/Tsunami-Warnings-Now-Faster-More-Accurate?from=newsletter

Discuss this story at:
https://yro.slashdot.org/story/11/03/12/0036209/Tsunami-Warnings-Now-Faster-More-Accurate?from=newsletter#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9214198/Update_Major_quake_shakes_Japan
1. http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9214217/Tsunami_warnings_now_faster_more_accurate

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Hacking a Car With Music
| from the lady-gaga's-secret-plan dept.
| posted by timothy on Friday March 11, @22:54 (Security)
| https://it.slashdot.org/story/11/03/12/0114219/Hacking-a-Car-With-Music?from=newsletter
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[0]itwbennett writes "Researchers at the University of California, San
Diego, and the University of Washington have identified a handful of ways
a hacker could break into a car, including attacks over the car's
Bluetooth and cellular network systems, or through malicious software in
the diagnostic tools used in automotive repair shops. But their most
interesting attack focused on the car stereo. By adding extra code to a
digital music file, they were able to [1]turn a song burned to CD into a
Trojan horse. When played on the car's stereo, this song could alter the
firmware of the car's stereo system, giving attackers an entry point to
change other components on the car. This type of attack could be spread
on file-sharing networks without arousing suspicion, they believe. 'It's
hard to think of something more innocuous than a song,' said Stefan
Savage, a professor at the University of California."

Discuss this story at:
https://it.slashdot.org/story/11/03/12/0114219/Hacking-a-Car-With-Music?from=newsletter#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://www.itworld.com/
1. http://www.itworld.com/security/139794/with-hacking-music-can-take-control-your-car

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Nuclear Emergency Declared At 2 Plants In Japan
| from the good-place-to-avoid-the-china-syndrome dept.
| posted by timothy on Saturday March 12, @02:07 (Japan)
| https://news.slashdot.org/story/11/03/12/038218/Nuclear-Emergency-Declared-At-2-Plants-In-Japan?from=newsletter
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[0]Hugh Pickens writes "CBC reports that Japan has declared a state of
emergency and [1]called for mass evacuations near two nuclear power
plants following cooling systems failures that led to radiation escaping
from a reactor at one location. The emergency declarations, which include
five reactors at the two plants, followed Friday's 8.9-magnitude
earthquake off the country's northeast coast. In a troubling
announcement, Japan Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency official Ryohei
Shiomi said a monitoring device outside the plant detected radiation that
is eight times higher than normal and an evacuation zone has been
expanded from three kilometres around the plant to 10 kilometres."

Discuss this story at:
https://news.slashdot.org/story/11/03/12/038218/Nuclear-Emergency-Declared-At-2-Plants-In-Japan?from=newsletter#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://hughpickens.com/
1. http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/story/2011/03/11/earthquake-japan-nuclear-reactor.html

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| European Court of Justice Rejects Stem-Cell Patents
| from the but-it's-just-a-mass-of-tissue dept.
| posted by timothy on Saturday March 12, @05:03 (Patents)
| https://yro.slashdot.org/story/11/03/12/0052225/European-Court-of-Justice-Rejects-Stem-Cell-Patents?from=newsletter
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

ianare writes "The European Court of Justice Friday issued a preliminary
opinion that [0]procedures involving human embryonic stem cells are not
patentable ��� even if the process in question does not involve the direct
destruction of embryos ��� because they are tantamount to making industrial
use of human embryos, which 'would be contrary to ethics and public
policy.'"

Discuss this story at:
https://yro.slashdot.org/story/11/03/12/0052225/European-Court-of-Justice-Rejects-Stem-Cell-Patents?from=newsletter#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://www.nature.com/news/2011/110310/full/news.2011.152.html

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| China Switching To Home-Grown Chips For Supercomputers
| from the extreme-dogfooding dept.
| posted by timothy on Saturday March 12, @08:11 (Supercomputing)
| https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/11/03/12/0457245/China-Switching-To-Home-Grown-Chips-For-Supercomputers?from=newsletter
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[0]rubycodez writes "The Tianhe-1A system will be the last Chinese
supercomputer to use imported Intel and AMD processors. By years end,
China's own 64 bit MIPS-compatible 65nm 8-core 1GHz version of the
[1]Godsen (Longsoon family) processors will be used, including 10,000 of
them for the 'Dawning 6000' supercomputer. Yes, the chips can and usually
do run GNU/Linux, but also can run [2]FreeBSD, OpenBSD, and NetBSD."

Discuss this story at:
https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/11/03/12/0457245/China-Switching-To-Home-Grown-Chips-For-Supercomputers?from=newsletter#commentlisting

Links:
0. mailto:admail@rsiegler.org
1. http://www.hpcwire.com/news/China-Makes-Its-Own-Supercomputing-Cores-117562663.html
2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loongson#Supported_software

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| US Judge Orders Twitter To Give Up WikiLeaks Data
| from the they-get-to-keep-their-clothes-for-now dept.
| posted by Soulskill on Saturday March 12, @09:27 (Communications)
| https://yro.slashdot.org/story/11/03/12/1233225/US-Judge-Orders-Twitter-To-Give-Up-WikiLeaks-Data?from=newsletter
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[0]cultiv8 writes "A US judge Friday ordered Twitter to [1]hand over the
data of three users in contact with the activist site WikiLeaks. 'US
Magistrate Judge Theresa Buchanan rejected arguments raised by the ACLU,
the Electronic Frontier Foundation, and a host of private attorneys
representing the Twitter account holders, who had asserted that their
privacy was protected by federal law, the First Amendment, and the Fourth
Amendment. Buchanan rejected each of the arguments in quick succession,
[2]saying that there was no First Amendment issue because activists "have
already made their Twitter posts and associations publicly available."
The account holders have "no Fourth Amendment privacy interest in their
IP addresses," she said, and federal privacy law did not apply because
prosecutors were not seeking contents of the communications.'"

Discuss this story at:
https://yro.slashdot.org/story/11/03/12/1233225/US-Judge-Orders-Twitter-To-Give-Up-WikiLeaks-Data?from=newsletter#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://robertjtownsend.com/
1. http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=CNG.3dd45eb241c8502e6bdf77a2885cc060.771&show_article=1
2. http://news.cnet.com/8301-31921_3-20042277-281.html

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Investigating the Performance of Firefox 4 and IE9
| from the nine-is-bigger-than-four-so-it's-better-right dept.
| posted by Soulskill on Saturday March 12, @10:40 (Firefox)
| https://news.slashdot.org/story/11/03/12/1412234/Investigating-the-Performance-of-Firefox-4-and-IE9?from=newsletter
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

theweatherelectric writes "Mozilla's Robert O'Callahan has
[0]investigated the performance differences between Firefox 4 and IE9. He
writes, 'As I explained in [1]my last post, Microsoft's PR about "full
hardware acceleration" is a myth. But it's true that some graphics
benchmarks consistently report better scores for IE9 than for Firefox, so
over the last few days I've been looking into that. Below I'll explain
the details [of] what I've found about various commonly-cited benchmarks,
but the summary is that the performance differences are explained by
relatively small bugs in Firefox, bugs in IE9, and bugs in the
benchmarks, not due to any major architectural issues in Firefox (as
Microsoft would have you believe).'"

Discuss this story at:
https://news.slashdot.org/story/11/03/12/1412234/Investigating-the-Performance-of-Firefox-4-and-IE9?from=newsletter#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://weblogs.mozillazine.org/roc/archives/2011/03/investigating_p.html
1. http://weblogs.mozillazine.org/roc/archives/2011/03/the_myth_of_ful.html

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| The Emergency Internet Bunkers
| from the porn-must-flow dept.
| posted by Soulskill on Saturday March 12, @11:57 (Security)
| https://it.slashdot.org/story/11/03/12/1521258/The-Emergency-Internet-Bunkers?from=newsletter
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[0]Barence writes "Should the Doomsday Clock ever strike midnight, we may
well discover, finally, whether or not the internet really could survive
a nuclear conflict. If it could, then a [1]handful of datacenters dotted
around the world would likely be all that remains of the
multi-billion-dollar hosting industry. These secretive, high-security
sites, tunneled out of mountains or housed behind the blast-proof doors
of one-time NATO bunkers, are home to the planet's most secure hosting
providers. This article profiles the emergency internet bunkers."

Discuss this story at:
https://it.slashdot.org/story/11/03/12/1521258/The-Emergency-Internet-Bunkers?from=newsletter#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://www.pcpro.co.uk/
1. http://www.pcpro.co.uk/features/365875/the-emergency-internet-bunkers

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| CS Profs Debate Role of Math In CS Education
| from the can-google-find-integrals-yet dept.
| posted by Soulskill on Saturday March 12, @13:13 (Education)
| https://developers.slashdot.org/story/11/03/12/1651207/CS-Profs-Debate-Role-of-Math-In-CS-Education?from=newsletter
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

theodp writes "Worried that [0]his love-hate relationship with math might
force him to give up the pursuit of computer science, CS student Dean
Chen finds comfort from an unlikely source ��� the postings of CS
professors on the SIGSE mailing list. 'I understand that discussing the
role of math in CS is [1]one of those religious war type issues,' writes
Brad Vander Zanden. 'After 30 years in the field, I still fail to see how
calculus and continuous math correlate with one's ability to succeed in
many areas of computer science...I have seen many outstanding programmers
who struggled with calculus and never really got it.' Dennis Frailey
[2]makes a distinction between CS research and applied CS: 'For too long,
we have taught computer science as an academic discipline (as though all
of our students will go on to get PhDs and then become CS faculty
members) even though for most of us, our students are overwhelmingly
seeking careers in which they apply computer science.' Frailey adds that
part of the problem may be that some CS Profs ��� math gods that they may
be ��� are ill-equipped to teach CS in a non-mathematical manner: 'Let's be
honest about another aspect of the problem ��� what can the faculty teach?
For a variety of reasons, a typical CS faculty consists mainly of
individuals who specialize in CS as a discipline, often with strong
mathematical backgrounds. How many of them could teach a good course in
cloud computing or multi-core systems or software engineering or any of
the many other topics that the graduates will find useful when they
graduate? Are such courses always relegated to instructors or adjuncts or
other non-tenure-track faculty?' So, how does this jibe with
Slashdotters' experience?"

Discuss this story at:
https://developers.slashdot.org/story/11/03/12/1651207/CS-Profs-Debate-Role-of-Math-In-CS-Education?from=newsletter#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://ocirs.com/2011/03/11/computer-science-education-and-math/
1. http://listserv.acm.org/scripts/wa.exe?A2=ind1101E&L=SIGCSE-MEMBERS&D=0&P=11674
2. http://listserv.acm.org/scripts/wa.exe?A2=ind1101E&L=SIGCSE-MEMBERS&D=0&P=14427

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Is Daylight Saving Time Bad For You?
| from the what-doesn't-kill-you-makes-you-late-for-work dept.
| posted by Soulskill on Saturday March 12, @14:34 (Medicine)
| https://science.slashdot.org/story/11/03/12/1758215/Is-Daylight-Saving-Time-Bad-For-You?from=newsletter
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[0]Hugh Pickens writes "According to experts on circadian rhythms, the
hour shift in sleep schedule from [1]Daylight Saving Time can have
serious effects on some people's health, particularly in people with
certain pre-existing health problems. One study found that men were more
likely to commit suicide during the first few weeks of Daylight Saving
Time (DST) than at any other time during the year, and another study
showed that the number of serious heart attacks jumps 6% to 10% on the
first three workdays after DST begins. Dr. Xiaoyong Yang, an assistant
professor of comparative medicine and cellular and molecular physiology
at Yale University, theorizes that shifts in biologic rhythms could
trigger harmful inflammatory or metabolic changes at the cellular level,
to which these individuals may be more susceptible."

Discuss this story at:
https://science.slashdot.org/story/11/03/12/1758215/Is-Daylight-Saving-Time-Bad-For-You?from=newsletter#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://hughpickens.com/
1. http://healthland.time.com/2011/03/12/is-daylight-saving-time-bad-for-your-health/

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| TSA To Retest Full Body Scanners For Radiation
| from the it's-ok-guys-they're-just-bad-at-math dept.
| posted by Soulskill on Saturday March 12, @15:46 (Privacy)
| https://yro.slashdot.org/story/11/03/12/1813218/TSA-To-Retest-Full-Body-Scanners-For-Radiation?from=newsletter
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[0]cultiv8 writes with this excerpt from USA Today: "The Transportation
Security Administration announced Friday that it would retest every
full-body X-ray scanner that emits ionizing radiation ��� 247 machines at
38 airports ��� after maintenance records on some of the devices showed
[1]radiation levels 10 times higher than expected. The TSA says that the
records reflect math mistakes and that all the machines are safe. Indeed,
even the highest readings listed on some of the records ��� the numbers
that the TSA says were mistakes ��� appear to be many times less than what
the agency says a person absorbs through one day of natural background
radiation. Even so, the TSA has ordered the new tests out of 'an
abundance of caution to reassure the public,' spokesman Nicholas Kimball
says. The tests will be finished by the end of the month, and the results
will be released 'as they are completed,' the agency said on its
website."

Discuss this story at:
https://yro.slashdot.org/story/11/03/12/1813218/TSA-To-Retest-Full-Body-Scanners-For-Radiation?from=newsletter#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://robertjtownsend.com/
1. http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2011-03-11-tsa-scans_N.htm

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Google Draws Fire From Congress
| from the careful-congress,-they-might-delist-you dept.
| posted by Soulskill on Saturday March 12, @16:59 (Google)
| https://tech.slashdot.org/story/11/03/12/2117217/Google-Draws-Fire-From-Congress?from=newsletter
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

bonch writes "Democrat Herb Kohl, the Senate's leading antitrust
legislator, has [0]vowed an antitrust probe into Google as one of his top
priorities. Others in Congress are [1]criticizing the search giant over
several flubs, including scanning personal data over neighborhood WiFi,
collecting Social Security information from children in a doodling
contest, and sidestepping net neutrality rules through a deal with
Verizon. They're also concerned over ties with the administration ��� Eric
Schmidt is a technology adviser to President Obama, Andrew McLaughlin
serves as Obama's deputy chief technology officer, and Sonal Shah leads
the White House Office of Social Innovation. Google spent $5.2 million
last year on federal lobbying, but critics say their increased Washington
presence has made more enemies than friends." Reader walterbyrd
contributes an article that suggests [2]this is all just a fund-raising
ploy.

Discuss this story at:
https://tech.slashdot.org/story/11/03/12/2117217/Google-Draws-Fire-From-Congress?from=newsletter#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0311/51079.html
1. http://nationaljournal.com/magazine/google-s-tarnished-chrome-20110311
2. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2011/03/11/businessinsider-the-real-reason-dc-wants-to-hold-google-hearings-2011-3.DTL

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Twitter Discards Client UI Community
| from the pack-your-junk dept.
| posted by Soulskill on Saturday March 12, @18:17 (Twitter)
| https://developers.slashdot.org/story/11/03/12/2224229/Twitter-Discards-Client-UI-Community?from=newsletter
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Antique Geekmeister writes "Twitter has just decided to [0]discard the
community of developers who've created interesting and innovative UI
applications. The announcement shows that they intend to switch from the
'bazaar' model of development to the 'cathedral,' with much tighter
control of user interfaces for 'security' and 'consistency.'"

Discuss this story at:
https://developers.slashdot.org/story/11/03/12/2224229/Twitter-Discards-Client-UI-Community?from=newsletter#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://groups.google.com/group/twitter-api-announce/browse_thread/thread/c82cd59c7a87216a?hl=en

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