Wednesday, January 14, 2015


News Clips For The Day


http://www.cbsnews.com/news/after-arrest-florida-teen-helps-save-officers-life/

After arrest, Fla. teen helps save officer's life
By CRIMESIDER STAFF CBS NEWS
January 13, 2015

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. - Police in Florida are honoring a teenager whose quick thinking is being credited with helping to save the life of the officer who arrested him.

While Officer Franklin Foulks was booking Jamal Rutledge last September, Foulks suddenly collapsed and Rutledge began kicking the security fence and yelled to alert others to what had happened.

Officers passing by heard the noise and responded, administering CPR and using a defibrillator to electronically stimulate the officer's heart.

In a statement, Fort Lauderdale police say medical staff later said that Rutledge's actions and the officers' quick response were largely responsible for Officer Foulks surviving the incident.

The teen and the three Fort Lauderdale police officers will be commended at a ceremony next Wednesday.




Quick thinking and shouting to get attention brought help for an officer who was having a sudden heart attack. The officer was white and the teen was black, but only good came from their interaction. The photograph shown in the article shows Jamal with his father, who looks very proud of him as they stand with officials from the police department. They were also all white, but there was nothing but smiles all around. A happy article for a change.





http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2015/01/14/377230778/obama-pushes-fcc-to-expand-broadband-access

Obama Pushes FCC To Expand Broadband Access
Krishnadev Calamur
JANUARY 14, 2015

President Obama is expected to lay out plans today intended to make it easier for cities, towns and rural communities to offer their citizens fast and cheap broadband Internet.
The move would ask the Federal Communications Commission to address state laws that prevent cities from building their own municipal Internet services. But it's likely to anger major cable and Internet companies.

Obama is expected to announce his plans in Cedar Falls, Iowa, which is home to a 1 GB broadband network — 100 times faster than the national average. He says greater access to faster Internet will make the U.S. more competitive globally.

"There are real-world consequences to this, and it makes us less economically competitive," the president said in a video released before his remarks today.
Obama's message is likely to resonate with Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad, a Republican, who has been pushing for access to broadband because his state has rural communities with no access to the Internet.

"It's become a pattern that he goes to a state where there's a Republican governor that's doing something that he'd like to replicate on a national level," NPR's Mara Liasson tells our Newscast unit.

Nineteen states have laws that prevent their cities' from building their own broadband networks. Supporters of those laws say they protect taxpayers. Obama's plans would include technical know-how and financial assistance to those towns, cities and rural communities that want to improve Internet service for their residents.

The plan is likely to be opposed by companies such as Comcast and Verizon, which provide Internet services around the nation. Obama's support for net neutrality and an open Internet have already angered these firms because the president wants the Internet reclassified as a public utility.

Broadband for America, a group whose members include major telecom companies, said while it strongly agrees Obama's plan to expand broadband access, the president "is risking the success we have witnessed by advocating for the reclassification of broadband as a Title II public utility — unprecedented government interference that would stifle private investment, hinder innovation and undermine the growth of the Internet."

Chattanooga, Tenn. — Chattanooga's publicly owned electric company has already built a municipal broadband network in the city. — and Wilson, N.C., have asked the FCC to intervene against state laws that limit publicly funded Internet.

"I believe that it is in the best interests of consumers and competition that the FCC exercises its power to preempt state laws that ban or restrict competition from community broadband," FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler wrote in a blog post last year. "Given the opportunity, we will do so."

But it's unclear if the agency has the legal authority to do that. NPr's Joel Rose has previously reported on how some cities are taking high-speed Internet into their own hands.




“The move would ask the Federal Communications Commission to address state laws that prevent cities from building their own municipal Internet services. But it's likely to anger major cable and Internet companies.... 1 GB broadband network — 100 times faster than the national average. He says greater access to faster Internet will make the U.S. more competitive globally.... Obama's message is likely to resonate with Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad, a Republican, who has been pushing for access to broadband because his state has rural communities with no access to the Internet. "It's become a pattern that he goes to a state where there's a Republican governor that's doing something that he'd like to replicate on a national level," NPR's Mara Liasson tells our Newscast unit. Nineteen states have laws that prevent their cities' from building their own broadband networks. Supporters of those laws say they protect taxpayers.... Obama's support for net neutrality and an open Internet have already angered these firms because the president wants the Internet reclassified as a public utility.... Chattanooga, Tenn. — Chattanooga's publicly owned electric company has already built a municipal broadband network in the city. — and Wilson, N.C., have asked the FCC to intervene against state laws that limit publicly funded Internet. "I believe that it is in the best interests of consumers and competition that the FCC exercises its power to preempt state laws that ban or restrict competition from community broadband," FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler wrote in a blog post last year. "Given the opportunity, we will do so.".But it's unclear if the agency has the legal authority to do that....”

It seems to me that anything which breaks up the stranglehold that some of these ISPs have over the Internet as a whole is a good thing. It will probably improve prices if the city service is not controlled by the giant companies like AT&T, or at any rate some competition will be introduced to the Internet. Also if a city program can speed the Internet activity up by a hundred times, that will be great. I will clip other articles on this as I see them.





http://www.komonews.com/news/local/Seattle-dogs-rush-hour-ride-on-the-bus-by-herself-weekly-288345081.html

Seattle dog's rush hour ride: on the bus, by herself, weekly
By Lindsay Cohen 
Jan 12, 2015

SEATTLE -- Public transit in Seattle has gone to the dogs.
 
Commuters in Belltown report seeing a Black Labrador riding the bus alone in recent weeks. The 2-year old has been spotted roaming the aisles, hopping onto seats next to strangers, and even doing her part to clean the bus -- by licking her surroundings.
 
"All the bus drivers know her. She sits here just like a person does," said commuter Tiona Rainwater, as she rode the bus through downtown Monday. "She makes everybody happy. How could you not love this thing?"
 
When the dog got off the bus - without an owner - at a dog park last week, it piqued the curiosity of local radio host Miles Montgomery of KISW-FM.
 
"It doesn't really appear to have an owner. The dog gets off at the dog park. I just look out the window and I'm like, 'did that just happen?'" Montgomery asked. "She was most concerned about seeing out the window, and I couldn't figure out what that was. It was really just about seeing where her stop was."
 
Turns out the dog, Eclipse, doesn't always ride the bus alone. She visits the dog park a few times a week, sometimes with her owner.
 
The duo lives right near the bus stop at 3 Ave. W. and W. Mercer Street. Eclipse's solo rush hour ride happened one day when her owner took too long to finish a cigarette.
 
"We get separated. She gets on the bus without me, and I catch up with her at the dog park," said Jeff Young, who owns the dog. "It's not hard to get on. She gets on in front of her house and she gets off at the dog park, three or four stops later."
 
Young said the tradition has been going on for a while.
 
"She's been here the last two years, so she's been urbanized, totally. She's a bus-riding, sidewalk-walking dog," he said. "Probably once a week I get a phone call. 'Hi. I have your dog Eclipse here on 3rd and Bell,'" he recounted. "I have to tell them, 'no. She's fine.' She knows what she's doing."
 
A spokesman for Metro Transit said the agency loves that a dog appreciates public transit. 

"She would be much safer in the world if she had her owner on a leash," he joked.
 
"It makes their day," added Young. "It's a good part of their day and it works out for her so I just let it go."




“A spokesman for Metro Transit said the agency loves that a dog appreciates public transit.” This is the type of thing that makes me think an animal is really smarter than the average. She has incorporated a “concept” of a scheduled moving vehicle that goes on a specific route specifically to carry people. Of course, she has been riding it before with her master and then he gets off at the dog park, so she's probably following his lead in that. She carefully sat at a window seat so she could see her stop when it came up. I'm still surprised that she did it on her own initiative. Black labs are among the breeds that are used for training as rescue dogs and blind dogs. They're logical enough to discover the problem and solve it. They're used for sniffing accelerants at arson sites, drugs in cars, etc. They're also a gentle and loving breed – a great dog all the way around!





http://bgr.com/2015/01/08/att-unlimited-data-throttling-ftc/

AT&T says the FTC can’t do anything to stop its throttling of ‘unlimited’ data customers
By Brad Reed on Jan 8, 2015

OK, so it looks like AT&T has been throttling data speeds for customers who have “unlimited” data plans despite the fact that those plans are supposed to be, well, unlimited. Who’s going to do anything about it? The Federal Trade Commission? Well, maybe not. As Ars Technica reports, AT&T doesn’t think the FTC has the jurisdiction to stop them.

RELATED: AT&T hit with a major lawsuit for throttling its ‘unlimited’ data users
“AT&T plainly qualifies as a ‘common carrier’ for purposes of Section 5 because it provides mobile voice services subject to common-carrier regulation under Title II of the Communications Act,” AT&T argued. “The fact that AT&T’s mobile data services are not regulated as common-carrier services under the Communications Act is irrelevant… The FTC cannot rewrite the statute to expand its own jurisdiction.”

In other words, because AT&T as a whole is classified as a regulated common carrier, it’s the Federal Communications Commission’s job to oversee how it handles data on its mobile network… despite the fact that AT&T and other carriers have been howling that the FCC shouldn’t try to oversee how they handle data on their mobile networks through network neutrality rules.

The FTC this past fall sued AT&T for allegedly misleading its customers “by charging them for ‘unlimited’ data plans while reducing their data speeds, in some cases by nearly 90 percent” if they used too much of their “unlimited” data. AT&T has called the charges baseless and is vowing to fight the FTC’s suit.



http://consumerist.com/2014/10/29/why-att-is-being-sued-over-data-throttling-but-verizon-isnt-yet/

Why AT&T Is Being Sued Over Data Throttling But Verizon Isn’t (Yet)
By Kate Cox 
October 29, 2014

The glory days of unlimited mobile data plans are long behind us. For years, even the owners of “unlimited” plans have been subject to mysterious and inconsistent limits from their mobile providers. Yesterday, the poorly communicated limits of unlimited data became the core issue of a large lawsuit the FTC filed against AT&T. It’s the first time the agency has tackled data throttling at all, but if many companies are doing it, why target AT&T and not everyone else?

What You Do vs. What You Say
AT&T isn’t exactly acting out of concert with the other big three national mobile carriers here. All four have been accused of hiding or failing to disclose crucial information about data throttling from their subscribers.

The FCC regulates telecom companies and has been taking a close look at the practice of data throttling this year. Mobile data use and throttling are also part of the larger discussion about net neutrality going on at the commission this year. But it’s not the FCC that filed the lawsuit. The FTC did.

The FTC regulates advertising and the promises companies make in their marketing. If AT&T had in fact been doing exactly what they said they were doing, FTC officials contend, the lawsuit wouldn’t have been necessary. The issue, instead, is that AT&T is not clearly saying what they’re doing. Or rather, that what they’re doing actually goes contrary to what they claim they offer.

It might not be fun for wireless customers to be subject to throttling, but when it’s necessary, mobile companies are indeed allowed to do it. Network management is a real and legitimate thing.

AT&T’s Terms and Conditions specify that their wireless network “may not be used in any manner that has the effect of excessively contributing to network congestion, hindering other customers’ access to the network, or degrading network performance,” and that’s generally a good idea. Neither AT&T nor their subscribers benefit if a small handful of extremely high-demand users concentrated in one geographic area can make network speed suck for hundreds or thousands of other users.

AT&T also explicitly reserves the right to “reduce your data through put speeds at any time or place” (i.e. throttle your service) if your data usage “exceeds an applicable, identified usage threshold during any billing cycle,” but that’s where we get into trouble today. It’s easy to spot the threshold you agreed to in a 2 GB per month contract — but what is an “applicable, identified threshold” for a user with an unlimited data plan?

The Limits of “Unlimited”
AT&T stopped offering unlimited data plans to new customers way back in 2010. Crucially, however, they allowed existing contracts to continue. They began their current strategy of limiting the data “unlimited” subscribers could use by throttling them after they reached a certain threshold in 2011.

For comparison, Verizon also killed their unlimited data offering back in 2012. Verizon users who had unlimited 3G data plans were also grandfathered in, much in the same way AT&T let old plans continue.

(Verizon tried to expand their throttling plan to include LTE (4G) users earlier this year, but walked that back after attracting oodles of negative attention and some stern feedback from the FCC.)

So what triggers “excessive” use? It’s a moving target: both AT&T and Verizon grade on a curve, throttling data from the top 5% of users.

Knowing where your absolute data usage falls is fairly straightforward; most phones and carriers have web or app usage meters a subscriber can use. But relative usage… that’s harder. Phone owners have no real way of knowing how their data use compares against anyone else’s usage — and there are a lot of variables to try to account for.

Traveling? What passes for the high side of median use in tech-heavy San Francisco might be off the charts in Tampa. Got some major event, like a wedding or a new baby, making you use more data than usual? That might put you in the top percentile this month.

There’s no real way of knowing. AT&T says that they send text messages to the highest-volume users, and in 2011 they definitely did. But since then, according to the FTC, AT&T’s communication to users has been lacking — and their numbers just don’t add up.

Redefining “Excessive”
AT&T may not be the only company throttling nominally-unlimited users, but they cast a wider net than others. Being more aggressive than they claim to be ultimately is what made them a target for the FTC.

By definition, AT&T’s and Verizon’s plans should both have an impact on roughly 5% of their remaining “unlimited” users. According to the FTC, when AT&T started with this three years ago, there were about 14 million subscribers using grandfathered unlimited plans. Five percent of 14 million is 700,000 subscribers, so that’s roughly how many you’d expect to see getting throttled, give or take.

But between 2011 and now, the FTC says in their complaint (PDF), 3.5 million unique AT&T customers have had their data throttled for the remainder of a billing cycle at least once (and 25 million times in total). That’s a solid 25% of those 14 million subscribers.

The top 5% of mobile data users tend to consume more than 4.5 GB of data in a month. (For Verizon, it’s 4.7 GB or more per billing cycle.) But AT&T isn’t cutting off the top tier of users; they’re throttling anyone who crosses a set threshold, period. For a time, the FTC says, that was as low as 2 GB per month.

AT&T’s threshold for throttling “unlimited” data is now as low as a fixed 3 GB per month. That’s not only a far cry from unlimited, but it also doesn’t have anything to do with actual network congestion, blocking other users’ access, or ruining the network for everyone else — AT&T’s justifications for the practice in the first place.

Will Verizon and Others Eventually Get Sued Too?
In a media call about the AT&T suit, FTC officials repeatedly said they could not comment on other companies’ practices, or on whether there are any other open investigations or likely future lawsuits. So it’s anyone’s guess what the FTC might have up their sleeves.

If Verizon is in fact doing only what they say they are doing — targeting the top 5% of unlimited data users when the network is congested — then there’s nothing there for the FTC to investigate. The agency’s job is to look into the discrepancies between what customers are sold and what customers get.

But the FCC currently is looking at the disclosure practices of all four national carriers. Earlier this year, consumer advocacy group Public Knowledge initiated complaints with the FCC against Verizon, AT&T, Sprint, and T-Mobile. In all cases, Public Knowledge said, the carriers fail to provide consumers with accurate, timely information about when and where they will be subject to data throttling.




“The issue, instead, is that AT&T is not clearly saying what they’re doing. Or rather, that what they’re doing actually goes contrary to what they claim they offer.... Network management is a real and legitimate thing. AT&T’s Terms and Conditions specify that their wireless network “may not be used in any manner that has the effect of excessively contributing to network congestion, hindering other customers’ access to the network, or degrading network performance.”... AT&T’s threshold for throttling “unlimited” data is now as low as a fixed 3 GB per month. That’s not only a far cry from unlimited, but it also doesn’t have anything to do with actual network congestion, blocking other users’ access, or ruining the network for everyone else — AT&T’s justifications for the practice in the first place.... But the FCC currently is looking at the disclosure practices of all four national carriers. Earlier this year, consumer advocacy group Public Knowledge initiated complaints with the FCC against Verizon, AT&T, Sprint, and T-Mobile. In all cases, Public Knowledge said, the carriers fail to provide consumers with accurate, timely information about when and where they will be subject to data throttling."

I don't have a “smart phone,” but a simple cell phone just for making telephone calls when necessary. The term 3G, 4G appears to be uses that involve the Internet – gigabyte being a computer term. Right? I've seen people walking down the street looking down at their phone and texting, and worse still, driving. They live on their phone day in and day out. It wouldn't hurt them to slow down on their usage, but it is unfair for a company to bill them for “unlimited” coverage but not deliver it. Shame on AT&T. They didn't think they would be caught, I suppose. I took a business law course some 15 or more years ago and the term “puffery” was used. This refers to not “quite” delivering service to the extent that you claim to, and if it isn't an extreme case, it is legal. The use of an absolute term like “unlimited” is tricky. If they know they have to cut down from time to time due to heavy usage, they simply shouldn't use that term at all. That isn't puffery, but fraud. The fact that the other companies are doing it too doesn't take AT&T off the hook, apparently. The article indicates that all the others may soon be under the same scrutiny and even law suits. I wonder if those companies will all end up owing customers some money back for having charged – presumably – a higher fee for unlimited coverage. That would be good. I don't like to see bullies get away with what they do.





http://www.cbsnews.com/news/obamas-approval-rating-ticks-up-in-2015/

Obama's approval rating ticks up in 2015
CBS NEWS
By Sarah Dutton, Jennifer De Pinto, Anthony Salvanto, and Fred Backus
January 14, 2015

President Obama's overall job approval rating has risen seven points since last October, although it still remains below 50 percent. Forty-six percent of Americans now approve of the job the president is doing, while just as many disapprove. His approval rating is now at the level it was a year ago.

The bump up in his approval comes largely from his own party and independents. Forty-five percent of independents now approve of the job Mr. Obama is doing, up 11 points from October.

At the start of his seventh year in office and heading into this year's State of the Union address, President Obama's 46 percent approval rating is higher than that of his immediate predecessor, President George W. Bush (28 percent), at a similar point in his presidency. However, Mr. Obama's rating is lower than both Presidents Ronald Reagan (52 percent) and Bill Clinton (65 percent).

Obama's economic policies

Mr. Obama appears to be getting some credit for an improving economy. Forty-three percent say Mr. Obama's policies have helped the economy, while fewer -- 34 percent -- say his policies have hurt. Still, these views are colored by partisanship: most Democrats think the president's policies have helped the economy, while most Republicans say they have hurt.

Even though the recent decrease in oil prices may be triggering fluctuations in the stock market, most Americans see the drop in oil prices as positive for the economy. Fifty-seven percent think the reduction in oil prices is making the economy better; only eight percent think it is making the economy worse.

Views on terrorism

Fifty-seven percent of Americans think a terrorist attack in the U.S. is at least somewhat likely in the next few months, while 38 percent don't think that's likely to happen. Views have changed little from surveys taken before the recent terror attacks in Paris, but concerns ticked up last fall, after the killing of two American journalists and a British aid worker by the militant group ISIS.

CBS News polling has shown that concerns about a potential terrorist attack have sometimes risen after terror-related events. Just after the Boston Marathon Bombing in April 2013, 66 percent thought another terrorist attack was likely to occur, and 88 percent felt that way after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

Views on this question differ by political party. Seventy-one percent of Republicans think a terror attack in the U.S. is likely, while fewer Democrats (52 percent) and independents (54 percent) believe that.

_____________________________________________________________________
This poll was conducted by telephone January 9-12, 2015 among 1,001 adults nationwide. Data collection was conducted on behalf of CBS News by SSRS of Media, PA. Phone numbers were dialed from samples of both standard land-line and cell phones. The error due to sampling for results based on the entire sample could be plus or minus three percentage points. The error for subgroups may be higher. Interviews were conducted in English and Spanish. This poll release conforms to the Standards of Disclosure of the National Council on Public Polls.




“The bump up in his approval comes largely from his own party and independents. Forty-five percent of independents now approve of the job Mr. Obama is doing, up 11 points from October. At the start of his seventh year in office and heading into this year's State of the Union address, President Obama's 46 percent approval rating is higher than that of his immediate predecessor, President George W. Bush (28 percent), at a similar point in his presidency. However, Mr. Obama's rating is lower than both Presidents Ronald Reagan (52 percent) and Bill Clinton (65 percent).”

I always read these statistics, but what an anonymous group of people “think” is too vague for me. It's like the wild gyrations of the stock market. When pollsters ask the question “Do you think the nation is going in the right direction,” I'm always annoyed because that doesn't describe any particular behavior on the part of the president or congress or whoever, and to me it means nothing. Yet the press always makes a to do over it. It is possible that many people who are really into following the leader will use such a piece of data to actually decided whether or not to vote for the President. I hope most will not. Whatever it means, however, his ratings are up right now. After another nut job climbs the White House fence again, his ratings will be down again. You can't win for losing!





http://www.cbsnews.com/news/charlie-hebdo-sells-out-paris-prophet-muhammad-cover-2-million-more/

New Charlie Hebdo flies off the shelves
CBS/AP
January 14, 2015

Photograph – Customers wait in line at Pigalle newstand, where the new edition of Charlie Hebdo magazine was on sale, Jan. 14, 2015, in Paris, France.

PARIS -- Charlie Hebdo's defiant new issue sold out before dawn around Paris, and still people were lining up at kiosks in case of a spare copy of the paper fronting the Prophet Muhammad.

The core of the irreverent newspaper's staff perished a week ago when Islamic extremists linked to al Qaeda's Yemen branch stormed its offices, killing 12. Those who survived put out the issue that appeared on newsstands Wednesday, working out of borrowed offices, with a print run of 3 million -- more than 50 times the usual circulation.

As the newspapers went on sale, a new video statement released by al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) claimed the group had planned and funded the attackas revenge for the publication of images of the Prophet.

One newsstand just off Paris' Champs Elysee sold out at 6:05 a.m. -- five minutes after opening. At Saint-Lazare, people hoping to buy a copy scuffled when they realized there weren't enough to go around.

Charlie Hebdo announced that it would print an additional 2 million copies of the latest edition for distribution by Thursday to meet the huge demand, reports CBS News' Elizabeth Palmer.

Copies of the paper were already getting bids Wednesday morning on eBay into the hundreds of dollars.

The newspaper appeared as France's government prepared strict new anti-terror measures, and as the search continued for as many as six people thought to be linked to the suspects, French-Algerian brothers Said and Cherif Kouachi, who were killed on Friday in a police raid on a business northeast of Paris.




“The core of the irreverent newspaper's staff perished a week ago when Islamic extremists linked to al Qaeda's Yemen branch stormed its offices, killing 12. Those who survived put out the issue that appeared on newsstands Wednesday, working out of borrowed offices, with a print run of 3 million -- more than 50 times the usual circulation. As the newspapers went on sale, a new video statement released by al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) claimed the group had planned and funded the attackas revenge for the publication of images of the Prophet. One newsstand just off Paris' Champs Elysee sold out at 6:05 a.m. -- five minutes after opening. At Saint-Lazare, people hoping to buy a copy scuffled when they realized there weren't enough to go around.... Copies of the paper were already getting bids Wednesday morning on eBay into the hundreds of dollars. The newspaper appeared as France's government prepared strict new anti-terror measures, and as the search continued for as many as six people thought to be linked to the suspects...”

I hope France's anti-terror measures (and ours here at home) will identify and incarcerate other terrorists who are planning attacks before they manage to carry them out. It would be nice to get ahead of the problem. I wouldn't want to see anti-Islamic attacks on Mosques or individuals as they go about their business, but it wouldn't surprise me. This looks too much like Ralph Waldo Emerson's “the shot heard round the world” before the American Revolution. There surely are a huge number of people reading these newspapers now. I am not only angry about this atrocity, but am afraid for our future.