By Zack Adams, RP Staff, on Mon Jun 27, 2011 at 3:00 PM ET
Net Neutrality has been a hot topic in the U.S. for a while now. While we have made little progress, across the pond in Europe, strides have been made. The Netherlands recently became the first European nation to adopt Net Neutrality as a law. [BBC]
Many of us have access to the latest wireless network, 4G. We know 4G is fast. How fast is it? That is something we aren’t really sure of. However, Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-Calif.) recently introduced a bill that would force wireless carriers to inform customers of their minimum 4G speeds. [Slashdot]
Are you into photography? You may be interested to know that a start-up company called Lytro is claiming that a camera they are releasing later this year “will bring the biggest change to photography since the transition from film to digital.” [All Things D]
Late last week there were leaked memos from Verizon revealing their plans to introduce tiered data plans, effectively ending the unlimited variety we are used to seeing. If you want to keep an unlimited plan hurry and sign up so you can be grandfathered in once the change occurs. [ZD Net]
By Sandra Moon, RP Staff, on Mon Jun 27, 2011 at 1:30 PM ET
New York’s same-sex marriage law protects religious organizations from lawsuits and government penalties for refusing to provide their buildings or services for same-sex marriage ceremonies. The New York Civil Liberties Union accepts the exemptions–its executive director says the legislation “respects the right of clergy, churches and religious organizations to decide for themselves which marriages they will or will not solemnize or celebrate in keeping with our country’s principles of religious freedom.” [NY Times]
92% of people surveyed in a recent gallup poll say they believe in God or a universal spirit. [Salon.com]
Can atheists play a role in the Interfaith movement? [Religion Dispatches]
U.S. engages in talks with Afghan Taliban to discuss future negotiations. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton describes this action as “not a pleasant business, but a necessary one.” [Washington Post]
Check out this blog on religion and American political culture from Trinity College’s Leonard E. Greenberg Center for the Study of Religion in Public Life. [SpiritualPolitics]
By Grant Smith, RP Staff, on Mon Jun 27, 2011 at 10:00 AM ET
Upgrade or else: In rush to release Firefox 5.0; Mozilla neglected to tell users of 4.0 that they were no longer being protected from the latest malware. [Tech News World]
Regulating the internet in our multifaceted world. [New York Times]
The Federal Trade Commission’s investigation into Google: is Google abusing its dominance? [Christian Science Monitor]
The theology of Apple’s iCloud. [Mac World]
Apple iCloud vs. Google Music vs. Amazon Cloud. [KPTV]
Hacker group “LulzSec” disbands after 50 days of high-profile hacking attacks. [TG Daily]
By Grant Smith, RP Staff, on Fri Jun 24, 2011 at 3:00 PM ET
Why did President Obama tap the strategic oil reserves now? Stock market analysts break-down the strategy behind the decision. [CNBC]
The Wealth Report: What it’s like to party like an NHL Stanley Cup winner. [Wall Street Journal]
Surprise, surprise: There are more millionaires now than there were before the recession. [MainStreet.com]
Mad Money’s Jim Cramer lists five major bank stocks that the analysts “love to hate” right now. [The Street.com]
GOP negotiators pull out from the budget talks. [WSJ Politics]
By Chris Schulz, RP Staff, on Fri Jun 24, 2011 at 1:30 PM ET
Welcome to the Anthropocene Era, dominated by humans changing the environment. [npr.org]
Wind power may be closer in the Great Lakes than in the Atlantic. [npr.org]
Oceans may be heading for a mass extinction. [msnbc.com]
New ice maps of the Antarctic can help analyze global warming. [bbc.co.uk]
By Zac Byer, on Fri Jun 24, 2011 at 12:45 PM ET The music world lost a legend on June 18 when Clarence Clemons, the “Big Man” of Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band, passed away at the all-too-young age of 69. With hips and a back that made it hard for him to even stand up on stage, it sometimes felt like Clemons was 69 going on 89. But Clemons and his prolific saxophone sounded like 69 going on 39 . . . and that was all that mattered.
Thanks to my Dad, I’ve been a Springsteen fan for as long as I can remember. I can’t recall the date or year or song it was that made me a believer, but I do know that it was because of the Big Man rather than the Boss. My Dad just calls him Clarence. “Listen to Clarence!” he’d scream with a smile on his face as we’d drive home from baseball practice, trying to teach his son about musicianship as he’d turn up the timeless Born to Run album.
The Big Man truly was larger than life, so much so that when my friend Jon sent me a text simply stating “RIP Clarence Clemons,” I just didn’t want to believe him. Some bands go on after one of their members passes away or quits or retires. Crosby, Stills, and Nash have done alright since ol’ Neil left. The Rolling Stones have managed for more than forty years without founding member Brian Jones. The Red Hot Chili Peppers pushed on without original guitarist Hillel Slovak and drummer Jack Irons. But the E Street Band will never be the same.
At 61, Springsteen might still have the energy and showmanship that helped make him the greatest live act in music history. For his and all of our sakes, I sure hope he does, because Springsteen didn’t reach the Pantheon for his acoustic sets. He certainly didn’t make it into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for the Nebraska album. And Springsteen didn’t become the Boss because of songs like “My Hometown” and “Pony Boy.” Yes, those and other songs are plenty good and special in their own right, but they have nothing on sacred Springsteen anthems like “Jungleland,” “Badlands,” and “Spirit in the Night.” Why? No sax. No soul. No Big Man.
I’ve been fortunate enough to see the E Street Band in concert four times. I’ll never forget the first show – August 17, 2003, at Dodger Stadium. It was my first concert, and my Dad took me. We sat way up top, and each time I put the binoculars to my face, I did my best to find Clarence. Even if I couldn’t see him at all times, I could always hear him.
Read the rest of…
The Politics of Tunes: A Void Too Big to Fill
By Stephanie Doctrow, RP Staff, on Fri Jun 24, 2011 at 12:00 PM ET What’s popcorn brain? If you don’t want to find out, step away from that smart phone and get out into the world. [CNN]
New research shows that living in an urban environment can actually alter the chemical makeup of your brain, making you more anxious and stressed than you would be otherwise. [Time]
The cost of misdiagnosing children with bipolar disorder: [Newsweek]
The U.S. government just rolled out nine new designs for cigarette warning labels, coming out next year. And boy, do they do the job! [NY Times]
The next edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders is in 2013, and doctors are already considering which disorders could get the axe. [Huffington Post]
By RP Staff, on Fri Jun 24, 2011 at 10:00 AM ET
In an opinion piece in the New York Daily News yesterday, Seth Forman presented Five arguments against gay marriage: Society must brace for corrosive change. Your correspondent is still flummoxed by the fact that people put any credence into the types of arguments that were used to deny women the right to own property or vote, to deny “mixed race” marriages, to support segregation and Jim Crow laws, etc., etc. How can these arguments hold water in a country that supposedly cherishes “freedom”? What say you, dear readers?
Just a few hours later in LGBT | ThinkProgress, Zack Ford offered a rebuttal to Forman’s “ill-informed, fear-mongering talking points” in Five (Poor) Arguments Against Gay Marriage. Who has the stronger argument in your opinion? Let us know!
And in the “odd couple” story of the week, Reps. Barney Frank and Ron Paul have gotten together to work on a little legislation. After 40 years of the “war on drugs” in this country, you’d think their bill would gain a little traction and find some love. Salon
Finally, in the heterosexual column this week, a new film from Mexico (directed, interestingly, by an Aussie) explores race, class, culture and a woman’s kinky sadomasochistic love affair in Mexico City. Yeah! Check out this titillating review of “Leap Year.”
By Zack Adams, RP Staff, on Thu Jun 23, 2011 at 3:00 PM ET
This week a 7-year-old Michigan boy got behind the wheel of his stepfather’s Pontiac Sunfire and drove it for 20 miles, hitting speeds of 50 mph. He was eventually stopped by police officers. [Detroit Free Press]
Speaking of driving in Michigan, Denny Hamlin managed to do so very fast at this week’s Sprint Cup race in Michigan; securing his first win of the 2011 season. [ESPN]
After taking the #1 spot in ESPN’s NASCAR Power Rankings last week, Dale Jr. took a hard fall to #8. Replacing him, once again, is Carl Edwards. Kyle Busch and Matt Kenseth both gained spots this week to round out the top 3. [ESPN]
All Left Turns has a great post on how to prepare for a race at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, CA. Whether it’s drinking a nice Merlot at your tailgate or actually cheering for California-born drivers Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon, Sonoma provides a unique atmosphere that you cannot find anywhere else. [All Left Turns]
By RP Staff, on Thu Jun 23, 2011 at 1:30 PM ET The Politics of Immigration Jose Antonio Vargas is a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist, a documentary filmmaker and former Washington Post reporter that just “outed” himself as an undocumented immigrant. Read his remarkable story, My Life as an Undocumented Immigrant, and check out Define American, a website he founded to attempt to change the conversation on immigration reform.
Did you hear last week that immigrants were to blame for the forest fires in Arizona? Remember the dozens and dozens of Arizonans murdered and decapitated in the desert by immigrants? We’ve all heard (and far too many have bought into) urban myths related to immigrants, so, what the hell, Got A Problem? Blame It On Illegal Immigrants!
And yet even with all of the anti-immigration rhetoric, hysteria and demagoguery, Americans’ views on immigration have stayed relatively steady and relatively positive over the last two decades. Check out the latest Gallup Poll that shows that Americans for the most part manifest a slight preference for lower immigration levels, yet continue to believe that immigration is good for America. Oh, those crazy Americans!
And, finally, demographics often trump negative views of immigration and immigrants in many European countries, where aging populations and low birth rates have created a dearth of workers (i.e., a tax base). With American baby boomers beginning to retire this year, will the United States face a similar situation over the next twenty to thirty years? Wall Street Journal
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