Net neutrality is no more.
On Tuesday, a Washington appeals court ruled that the FCC's net neutrality rules are invalid in an 81-page document that included talk about cat videos on YouTube. To cut to the chase, the court says the FCC simply doesn't have the authority to force Internet Service Providers to act like mere dumb pipes, passing data through their tubes with a blind eye and sans preferential treatment.
Unlike phone companies, broadband providers aren't classified as "common carriers"—and therein lies the root of the appeal court's decision. From the ruling:
Appeals court strikes down FCC's net neutrality rules
North California drought threatens farmers, ag workers, cities — and you
The 20 people who work full-time for Fresno County farmer Joe Del Bosque are on winter break now. But he is not sure they will have a job to come back to, let alone the 300 temporary workers he usually hires to harvest melons.
“I’m worried about my workers,” said Del Bosque, who farms 2,000 acres in a region known as the nation’s food basket for producing almost half of the fruits, vegetables and nuts on America’s tables.
“Right now we’re not sure if we’re going to bring them back or how many … Crops are all in jeopardy right now,'' he said, adding "This is the driest year in 100 years.”
Harvard prof. embarks on 185-mile trek to battle campaign corruption
Fifteen years ago, an 88-year-old woman named Dorris Haddock sensed that something was seriously amiss with the way campaigns were financed in the United States. Affixing a sign that said simply “Campaign Finance Reform” to her chest, she embarked on a 3,200 mile walk across 12 states to rally support behind measures to rid the political system of corruption and influence.
Haddock is credited with helping to galvanize public will around the McCain-Feingold Campaign Finance Reform Act, which was signed into law in 2002. Nonetheless, two months before she died at the age of 100, the Supreme Court handed down its landmark decision in Citizens United vs. Federal Election Commission decision, which undid many of the limits put in place on campaign finance and heralded a new era in unprecedented spending by special interests and corporations.
How Fox News Chief Roger Ailes Tried To Win Republicans The White House
Around 5 p.m. on Election Day 2012, Fox News chief Roger Ailes realized that Mitt Romney would not make it to the White House. "Thank you, Chris Christie," Ailes groused.
Ailes was frustrated that the New Jersey governor appeared alongside President Barack Obama days earlier to survey the damage of Hurricane Sandy. When Ailes was told polling data suggested the incident hadn't hurt the Republican Party's chances, he responded: "Well, hugging the guy couldn't help people feel good about Romney, either."
Tap water fix in West Virginia still days away after spill
Tap water in Charleston, West Virginia, and nearby communities will remain unsafe in the coming days, an official said on Saturday as residents spent a third day unable to bathe, shower or drink from the faucet due to a chemical spill tainting the Elk River.
As much as 5,000 gallons (18,927 liters) of industrial chemical 4-methylcyclohexane methanol, or Crude MCHM, leaked into the river on Thursday, state officials said.
Duke Fracking Tests Reveal Dangers Driller’s Data Missed
When the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency declared that a group of Texas homes near a gas-drilling operation didn’t have dangerous levels of methane in their water, it relied on tests conducted by the driller itself.
Now, independent tests from Duke University researchers have found combustible levels of methane in some of the wells, and homeowners want the EPA to re-open the case.
The previously undisclosed Duke testing illustrate the complaints of critics who say the agency is reluctant to sanction a booming industry that has pushed down energy prices for consumers, created thousands of jobs and buoyed the economy.
GM announces recall of 370,000 trucks
General Motors said it would recall 370,000 2014 Silverados and GMC Sierras due to a fire risk that involves a software problem.
The company said the trucks were expected to idle with only two cylinders of the engine running. But a software problem causes more than two cylinders to continue running, the Detroit News reported Saturday.
I helped destroy Falluja in 2004. I won't be complicit again
I am having flashbacks to my time as a marine during the second siege of Falluja in 2004. Again, claims are being published that al-Qaida has taken over the city and that a heavy-handed military response is needed to take the city back from the control of terrorists.
The first time around, this claim proved to be false. The vast majority of the men we fought against in Falluja were locals, unaffiliated with al-Qaida, who were trying to expel the foreign occupiers from their country. There was a presence of al-Qaida in the city, but they played a minimal and marginal role in the fighting. The stories about Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the alleged leader of al-Qaida in Iraq who was said to be recruiting an army in Falluja, were wildly exaggerated. There is no evidence that Zarqawi ever even set foot in Falluja.
The 4 Big Dangers of Fracking
By now you’ve likely heard that the U.S. is expected to overtake Russia this year as the world’s biggest producer of oil and gas. The surge in production comes from a drilling boom enabled by using hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, along with, in many places, horizontal drilling. These technologies have made previously inaccessible pockets of oil and gas in shale formations profitable.
But at what cost? Accidents, fatalities and health concerns are mounting. Here’s a look at what we’ve learned about the dangers of fracking in the last few weeks.
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