syllabub dong: 2013

Sunday, June 23, 2013

Rescuers, food sent to flood-hit India shrine area

JOSHIMATH, India (AP) ? Rescuers on Friday found 40 bodies floating in the River Ganges near a Hindu holy city hit by heavy monsoon flooding that has killed more than 200 people and stranded tens of thousands, mostly pilgrims, in mountainous northern India.

The Indian air force dropped paratroopers, food and medicine for people trapped in up to 100 towns and villages cut off by monsoon rains and landslides since Sunday.

The official death toll in Uttrakhand state was 207, according to Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde, but it was expected to rise as authorities reached cut-off areas. The 40 bodies discovered in the Ganges were near the city of Haridwar, police officer Rajiv Swaroop said.

Shinde told reporters in New Delhi that 34,000 people have been evacuated so far and another 50,000 were stranded in the region. Most are Hindu pilgrims who were visiting four revered shrines.

Uttrakhand spokesman Amit Chandola said the rescue operation centered on evacuating nearly 27,000 people trapped in the worst-hit Kedarnath temple area ? one of the holiest Hindu temples dedicated to Lord Shiva, located atop the Garhwal Himalayan range. The temple escaped major damage, but debris covered the area around it and television images showed the bodies of pilgrims strewn around the area.

Soldiers and other workers reopened dozens of roads by building makeshift bridges, accelerating the evacuation, Chandola said. More than 2,000 vehicles carrying stranded Hindu pilgrims have moved out of the area since late Thursday, he said.

Thousands of soldiers continued efforts to reach the worst-hit towns and villages, Chandola said.

Thirty-six air force helicopters have been ferrying rescue workers, doctors, equipment, food and medicine to Kedarnath, the town closest to many of those stranded, said Priya Joshi, an air force spokeswoman. Another seven aircraft carried paratroopers and fuel to the region.

Hundreds of people looking for relatives demonstrated in Dehradun, the Uttrakhand state capital, where flood survivors were taken by helicopters. They complained that the government was taking too long to evacuate the survivors, with small helicopters bringing in four to five people at a time.

Jasveer Kaur, a 50-year-old housewife, said she and her family survived by taking shelter in a Sikh shrine, which withstood the flood, located in Govind Dham.

"There was destruction all around," said Kaur after she was evacuated by an air force helicopter. "It was a nightmare."

Google has launched an application, Person Finder, to help trace missing people in Uttarakhand. The version is available in both Hindi and English languages, according to a Google India blog.

Rakesh Sharma, a state official, said the death toll might run into the thousands, but the exact figure will not be known until the entire region is checked.

The annual monsoon rains sustain India's agriculture but also cause flooding that claims lives and damages property. Neighboring Uttar Pradesh state said 17 flood-related deaths occurred there since the heavy rains Sunday.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/rescuers-food-sent-flood-hit-india-shrine-area-110128508.html

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CloudUp Is A Fast, Dead-Simple Way To Share And View Files On Any Platform (Without The Folders)

In today’s world of email, social networks, SMS, chat applications and cloud services, there are plenty of ways to share share a file, folder, photo or video. And as intelligent devices and cloud computing infrastructure proliferate, and processing power and capacity improve, we expect file transfer and sharing to be speedy — and simple. Everything is about “realtime” and accessibility these days (not that we’re complaining, but thanks Twitter). Yet, file-sharing still isn’t quite there. Even with all the options — whether it be the Skypes, Facebooks, Google Drives, WeTransfers and YouSendIts of the world or the Dropboxex, etc. — we’ve still got one eye out for a better way. (Here’s xkcd putting a fine point on it.) The file sharing service to end all file sharing services. Dropbox has gotten the closest, gobbling up a ton of mindshare as a result, but its layout and presentation are more storage service than simple sharing tool. In other words, you may store your photos there, but it’s probably not where you’ll go if you want to show them off. This week, CloudUp became the latest to join a younger group of services that are pushing the conversation forward when it comes to speed and simplicity — and nibbling at the heels of the incumbents. Sharing the mantle (most closely) with services like DropLr, CloudApp, Ge.tt and perhaps biz collaboration and sharing services like Dropmark, CloudUp aims to a new spin on file-sharing by creating a tool to make sharing images, links, documents and videos as simple as humanly possible for both the sharer and the viewer. In practice, that means that CloudUp has a clean, minimalistic look that makes it feel like it’s made for designers, yet is easy enough to use that your mom could get excited about it. CloudUp enables users to share files by dragging them and dropping them into their browser, automatically generating a link which they can then share on email, Twitter, Facebook and so on. Like Dropbox, the link-centric service is available for free on the Web or as a native OSX app, the latter of which puts CloudUp in your menu bar for easier drag-and-drop sharing. However, CloudUp wants the similarities to end there. Although the service is offering up to 1,000 uploads for free — that’s the equivalent of about 200GB of storage — CloudUp doesn’t want to just be a storage locker

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/dDkmiTFr4ow/

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Saturday, June 22, 2013

Nevada's governor shows GOP strength in states (The Arizona Republic)

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National GOP slow to embrace Mass. moderate Gomez

BOSTON (AP) ? Massachusetts Senate candidate Gabriel Gomez's credentials would seem to fit the gold standard for the new breed of mass-appeal Republican that the GOP called for in an exhaustive postelection autopsy.

Yet the Washington-based national party and its most powerful allies have been reluctant to rally behind the fresh-faced Republican with the all-star resume, raising questions about the GOP's commitment to candidates who might help improve its standing among women and minorities.

"I told them from the beginning I'm going to win this with or without D.C.," Gomez said this week. In a tough race in Democrat-friendly Massachusetts, he acknowledged that Democrat Ed Markey and Democratic allies have dramatically outspent him in the special election to replace former Sen. John Kerry, whom President Barack Obama chose as his secretary of state.

The election comes Tuesday, just three months after Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus released a high-profile internal report that found many voters disillusioned with the modern Republican Party. Working to recover from Obama's re-election, the report's authors determined that future GOP success would depend upon Republicans who generate stronger support from women, Hispanics and younger voters.

In particular, the study called on Republicans to embrace "comprehensive immigration reform," recruit minority candidates, and become more "inclusive and welcoming" when dealing with contentious social issues.

Gomez, 47, is a native Spanish speaker born to a first-generation Colombian immigrant family. A former Navy SEAL turned businessman, he supports gay marriage and immigration reform, and while he personally opposes abortion, he says he wouldn't spend "a single minute of any day" changing abortion law in Washington if elected ? all positions that seemingly would play well in liberal-leaning Massachusetts, where Republicans don't often win statewide races.

GOP officials say national party leaders see Gomez as exactly the type of candidate they want to broaden the party's appeal beyond its conservative base. The officials requested anonymity to describe party strategies they were not authorized to discuss by name.

For much of the campaign, Gomez was outspent by Markey and his national Democratic allies, who sent a river of money and political stars to Massachusetts ? Obama and first lady Michelle Obama among them ? on Markey's behalf.

National GOP leaders believe they did as much as they could by funneling resources through the state party, according to the party officials. And they did so under the radar, the officials said, in a careful effort not to link Gomez to an unpopular national GOP in a state Obama won by 23 points last fall. Still, pro-Republican outside groups, who poured hundreds of millions of dollars into the 2012 elections, largely ignored the race.

"He's an American hero and he was being abandoned by the Republican establishment," says John Jordan, a California-based Republican donor who was driven by frustration in recent weeks to create a super PAC that pledged to spend up to $1.3 million to help Gomez. "The Republican establishment says they want middle-of-the-road Latino candidates ? here they had one."

With Jordan's help, Gomez and his supporters have narrowed Markey's spending advantage in recent weeks. As of Friday afternoon, Democrats invested $5.2 million in television advertising compared to $3 million on the Republican side, according to the Smart Media Group, which tracks political advertising. The figures don't include hundreds of thousands of dollars more than Democratic groups have devoted to political mailings and get-out-the-vote efforts designed to defeat Gomez.

"He was just left on the beach. I couldn't live with it," said Jordan, a self-described political centrist and 41-year-old CEO of the Jordan Vineyard and Winery.

He suggested that Gomez's case would create a chilling effect on the centrist Republican candidates needed to broaden the party's appeal in other parts of the country. Indeed, it's unclear whether Republican candidates gearing up for 2014 will be rewarded or punished for embracing the RNC's recommendations.

Former Rep. Steven LaTourette, R-Ohio, is the president of the Republican Main Street Partnership, a group that promotes a centrist GOP agenda. He said Republican moderates such as West Virginia Senate candidate Rep. Shelly Moore-Capito, and former Reps. Robert Dold of Illinois and Doug Ose of California could face more conservative challengers in 2014 GOP primaries where moderation on immigration and social issues is often not rewarded.

LaTourette sees signs that the Republican Party already is beginning to distance itself from its new roadmap. He was initially encouraged by the RNC recommendations, but said that Republicans have been "doubling down" recently on far-right positions on abortion, immigration and health care.

"It's depressing. I just don't see the shift, at least at the national level," LaTourette said. "In order to become a national party, not just a regional party, we have to have more guys like Gomez in Massachusetts."

To be sure, national Republicans have not ignored Gomez altogether. The National Republican Senatorial Committee, the GOP's formal Senate campaign arm, devoted four staff members to the Massachusetts Senate contest. The group also transferred more than $800,000 to the state GOP to help fuel a pro-Gomez television advertising campaign, in addition to contributing $45,800 directly to the campaign and spending another $68,400 on polling and web ads.

"We are extremely proud to have invested so heavily ? and worked so hard ? to elect a first-generation American, Latino, Navy SEAL to the U.S. Senate from Massachusetts," said NRSC spokesman Brad Dayspring. "Our efforts forced Democrats and liberal interest groups to spend millions upon millions in the bluest of blue states."

Former Sen. Olympia Snowe, a moderate Maine Republican who retired this year, says it's still unclear whether the national GOP will follow through on its plans to broaden its appeal.

"How aggressively they embrace moderate candidate across the country is the true test," Snowe said, suggesting that GOP leaders may have to experience more than one painful election cycle to commit to change. "I just don't know at what point they're going to confront the reality of the situation they're in."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/national-gop-slow-embrace-mass-moderate-gomez-192229957.html

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NSA leaker charged with espionage, theft

WASHINGTON (AP) ? The Justice Department has charged former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden with espionage and theft of government property in the NSA surveillance case.

Snowden, believed to be holed up in Hong Kong, has admitted providing information to the news media about two highly classified NSA surveillance programs.

A one-page criminal complaint unsealed Friday in federal court in Alexandria, Va., says Snowden engaged in unauthorized communication of national defense information and willful communication of classified communications intelligence information. Both are charges under the Espionage Act. Snowden also is charged with theft of government property. All three crimes carry a maximum 10-year prison penalty.

The federal court in the eastern district of Virginia where the complaint was filed is headquarters for Snowden's former employer, Booz Allen Hamilton.

The complaint will be an integral part of the U.S. government's effort to have Snowden extradited from Hong Kong, a process that could become a prolonged legal battle. Snowden could contest extradition on grounds of political persecution. In general, the extradition agreement between the U.S. and Hong Kong excepts political offenses from the obligation to surrender.

The complaint is dated June 14, five days after Snowden's name first surfaced as the leaker of information about the two programs.

Congressional reaction was swift.

"I've always thought this was a treasonous act. Apparently so does the U.S. Department of Justice," said Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla. a senior member of the Senate Armed Services Committee. "I hope Hong Kong's government will take him into custody and extradite him to the U.S."

Disclosure of the criminal complaint came as President Barack Obama held his first meeting with a privacy and civil liberties board as his intelligence chief sought ways to help Americans understand more about sweeping government surveillance efforts exposed by Snowden.

The five members of the little-known Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board met with Obama for an hour in the White House Situation Room, questioning the president on two NSA programs that have stoked controversy.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/nsa-leaker-charged-espionage-theft-001952096.html

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Doctors make progress toward 'artificial pancreas'

This October 2012 image provided by Medtronic shows the MiniMed Integrated System device, which doctors are reporting as a major step toward an "artificial pancreas." The device that would constantly monitor blood sugar in people with diabetes and automatically supply insulin as needed. According to the company-sponsored study announced Saturday, June 22, 2013 at an American Diabetes Association conference in Chicago the device worked as intended in a three-month study of 247 patients. (AP Photo/Medtronic)

Doctors are reporting a major step toward an "artificial pancreas," a device that would constantly monitor blood sugar in people with diabetes and automatically supply insulin as needed.

A key component of such a system ? an insulin pump programmed to shut down if blood-sugar dips too low while people are sleeping ? worked as intended in a three-month study of 247 patients.

This "smart pump," made by Minneapolis-based Medtronic Inc., is already sold in Europe, and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is reviewing it now. Whether it also can be programmed to mimic a real pancreas and constantly adjust insulin based on continuous readings from a blood-sugar monitor requires more testing, but doctors say the new study suggests that's a realistic goal.

"This is the first step in the development of the artificial pancreas," said Dr. Richard Bergenstal, diabetes chief at Park Nicollet, a large clinic in St. Louis Park, Minn. "Before we said it's a dream. We have the first part of it now and I really think it will be developed."

He led the company-sponsored study and gave results Saturday at an American Diabetes Association conference in Chicago. They also were published online by the New England Journal of Medicine.

The study involved people with Type 1 diabetes, the kind usually diagnosed during childhood. About 5 percent of the 26 million Americans with diabetes have this type. Their bodies don't make insulin, a hormone needed to turn food into energy. That causes high blood-sugar levels and raises the risk for heart disease and many other health problems.

Some people with the more common Type 2 diabetes, the kind linked to obesity, also need insulin and might benefit from a device like an artificial pancreas, too. For now, though, it's aimed at people with Type 1 diabetes who must inject insulin several times a day or get it through a pump with a narrow tube that goes under the skin. The pump is about the size of a cellphone and can be worn on a belt or kept in a pocket.

The pumps give a steady amount of insulin, and patients must monitor their sugar levels and give themselves more insulin at meals or whenever needed to keep blood sugar from getting too high.

A big danger is having too much insulin in the body overnight, when blood-sugar levels naturally fall. People can go into comas, suffer seizures and even die. Parents of children with diabetes often worry so much about this that they sneak into their bedrooms at night to check their child's blood-sugar monitor.

In the study, all patients had sensors that continuously monitored their blood sugar. Half of them had ordinary insulin pumps and the others had pumps programmed to stop supplying insulin for two hours when blood-sugar fell to a certain threshold.

Over three months, low-sugar episodes were reduced by about one-third in people using the pump with the shut-off feature. Importantly, these people had no cases of severely low blood sugar ? the most dangerous kind that require medical aid or help from another person. There were four cases in the group using the standard pump.

"As a first step, I think we should all be very excited that it works," an independent expert, Dr. Irl Hirsch of the University of Washington in Seattle, said of the programmable pump.

The next step is to test having it turn off sooner, before sugar falls so much, and to have it automatically supply insulin to prevent high blood sugar, too.

Dr. Anne Peters, a diabetes specialist at the University of Southern California, said the study "represents a major step forward" for an artificial pancreas.

One participant, Spears Mallis, 34, a manager for a cancer center in Gainesville, Ga., wishes these devices were available now. He typically gets low-sugar about 8 to 10 times a week, at least once a week while he's asleep.

"I would set an alarm in the middle of the night just to be sure I was OK. That will cause you to not get a good night of rest," he said.

His "smart pump" stopped giving insulin several times during the study when his sugar fell low, and he wasn't always aware of it. That's a well-known problem for people with Type 1 diabetes ? over time, "you become less and less sensitive to feeling the low blood sugars" and don't recognize symptoms in time to drink juice or do something else to raise sugar a bit, he said.

Besides Medtronic, Johnson & Johnson and several other research groups are working on artificial pancreas devices.

___

Online:

Diabetes info: http://diabetes.niddk.nih.gov/

___

Marilynn Marchione can be followed at http://twitter.com/MMarchioneAP

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/bbd825583c8542898e6fa7d440b9febc/Article_2013-06-22-Diabetes-Artificial%20Pancreas/id-c3bdaaf4f42948ba91d793ae9cf9ca62

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UFO: Britain releases documents explaining closure of military UFO desk

UFO Britain:?The National Archives has been releasing declassified Ministry of Defense files on?UFOs in the UK?for the past five years.?

By Cassandra Vinograd,?Associated Press / June 21, 2013

Stonehenge, seen here during a meteor shower, is the site of reported UFO sightings, as revealed in newly declassified files from Britain's Ministry of Defense.

Kieran Doherty/Reuters/File

Enlarge

Newly declassified files from?Britain's?Ministry of Defense shed further light on why the military shut down its?UFO?desk nearly three years ago: despite a surge in reported sightings, the expensive operation just had no defense benefit.

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The National Archives has been releasing declassified Ministry of Defense files on?UFOs?for the past five years. The 10th and final tranche released Friday covers the work carried out during the final two years of the Ministry of Defense's?UFO?desk, from late 2007 to November 2009.

The 25 files detail reports of alien abductions, sightings, offers to develop weapons to shoot?UFOs?out of the sky ? and the reason for the?UFO?desk's shutdown.

Among the documents ? spread out over 4,400 pages ? was a memo to then-Defense Minister Bob Ainsworth in November 2009, saying that the?UFO?operation was "consuming increasing resource, but produces no valuable defense output."

In more than 50 years, no?UFO?sighting report "has ever revealed anything to suggest an extraterrestrial presence or military threat to the U.K.," the memo said.

The records show that 2009 saw 600?UFO?sightings and reports ? triple the number of the previous year and the largest ever number of?UFO?sighting reports since 1978, the year "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" was released in cinemas.

Whatever the reason behind the surge ? some files suggest the popularity of releasing Chinese lanterns at weddings was behind it ? the decision was taken to close the desk.

"The level of resources diverted to this task is increasing in response to a recent upsurge in reported sightings, diverting staff from more valuable defense-related activities," the documents said, with one saying the desk "merely encourages the generation of correspondence."

A great deal of that correspondence is contained in the latest release of the declassified files ? with a wide variety of examples of sighting reports and the?UFO?desk's always polite and often entertaining responses.

One child wrote in, with a drawing of an alien waving from a?UFO?? to ask if there were living things outside of Earth got a nice letter ? and bag of Royal Air Force goodies ? from the Ministry of Defense.

"It's an interesting question and we remain totally open-minded about it, but we don't know of any evidence to prove life exists in outer space," the?UFO?desk replied in 2009. "We do look at reports of 'unidentified flying objects' but only to see if the country's airspace might have been affected but we haven't had any evidence of this so far."

The files also contained letters sent to officials ranging from former Prime Minister Gordon Brown to Queen Elizabeth II voicing concerns that the government was ignoring the threat of unidentified flying objects and even offering technological guidance on how to shoot down?UFOs.

Among the sightings were reports of?UFOs?seen hovering opposite the Houses of Parliament and near Stonehenge. The files show the desk also took hotline calls about alleged contact with aliens ? from a man who claimed in 2008 that he had been "living with an alien for some time" to another saying a?UFO?had stolen his dog, car and tent while was camping in 2007.

The desk sent the man a response, explaining that the defense ministry does not investigate each sighting unless there is evidence of a potential threat to the U.K. from an external source. But the message, sent in January 2008, added: "you informed us that your dog and possessions were abducted. Abduction, kidnap and theft are criminal offences and therefore would be a matter for the civilian police."

When the?UFO?desk did check into a reported sighting, explanations varied.

In response to one email sent in August 2009, an unidentified Ministry of Defense staffer suggested that "everyone who has seen" attached photos of a reported sighting thinks that two look like stunt kites, and "the third looks like a seagull head on.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/science/~3/hZTMHqmTVwk/UFO-Britain-releases-documents-explaining-closure-of-military-UFO-desk

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Friday, June 21, 2013

More amnesty ?boob bait for the Bubbas? (Powerlineblog)

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Microsoft-Nokia Talks Recently Broke Down

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Source: http://feeds.wsjonline.com/~r/wsj/xml/rss/3_7015/~3/m0UZizVRQSg/SB10001424127887323393804578555783340654630.html

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Thursday, May 16, 2013

Watch a Caterpillar Transform Into a Butterfly From Inside the Cocoon

If you ever stared at a chrysalis as a kid, patiently waiting for a beautiful new butterfly to emerge, you were probably left wondering just what was going on inside there. Was the caterpillar reconfiguring itself like a Transformer? Was it morphing like a Terminator? Nobody knows?except now everyone does thanks to these fascinating micro-CT 3D x-ray scans of the process.

Two research teams used the cutting edge imaging technique to routinely scan a chrysalis during its metamorphosis and generate 3D models of its organs and other internal structures changing over time. Smaller details?like details of the brain?are unfortunately still left out with the limitations of the technology. But as they improve, so will our understanding of this unique process. Not to mention, kids won't have to wait weeks to see a butterfly finally emerge?they can just hit fast forward. [National Geographic via Boing Boing]

Source: http://gizmodo.com/watch-a-caterpillar-transform-into-a-butterfly-from-ins-506894053

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Sunday, May 5, 2013

Staples selling 3D Systems' Cube printer online, select retail availability starting in June

Staples is pushing its consumer printing offerings into the third dimension. The office supply chain has begun selling 3D Systems' Cube printer through its site, as of this morning. Come the end of June, the WiFi-enabled, semi-portable printer will be hitting a select number of retail locations for $1,300. The Cube's availability follows news of some higher-end 3D printing offerings at a very select number of Staples locations. Check the source link below to pick up the Cube in one of five colors -- and if you need some enthusiastic testimonies regarding the revolutionary nature of consumer 3D printing, be sure to click through to the press release below.

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Source: Staples

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/05/03/3d-systems-staples/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=Engadget

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Friday, May 3, 2013

PROMISES, PROMISES: Obama $4T deficit cut plan (The Arizona Republic)

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PFT: Lacy says injuries won't hold him back

Nineteen undrafted rookies will try out at the Jaguars? minicamp this weekend, the club said Thursday.

Alcorn State wide receiver Terrance Lewis, who returned 10 kickoffs for touchdowns in four collegiate seasons, is among the invitees to the Jaguars? rookie minicamp, as is Nebraska defensive end Cameron Meredith, who had five sacks in each of his two seasons with the Cornhuskers. Lewis was graded as the top return specialist in Pro Football Weekly?s 2013 Draft Preview.

Other players invited are Missouri Western State offensive tackle Macon Allen, Louisville center Mario Benavides, Tulsa fullback Willie Carter, Harvard punter Jacob Dombrowski, San Jose State running back De?Leon Eskridge, Ole Miss defensive tackle Uriah Grant, Akron defensive end J.D. Griggs, UCF running back Brynn Harvey, Western Kentucky quarterback Kawaun Jakes, Arkansas defensive tackle DeQuinta Jones, Jackson State linebacker Joseph LeBeau, Colorado linebacker Jon Major, Washington center Drew Schaefer, Purdue center Rick Schmeig, Stanford defensive tackle Terrence Stephens, South Carolina placekicker Adam Yates and Kansas guard Duane Zlatnik.

The Jaguars are slated to have 50 rookies at the minicamp, with 23 signed undrafted free agents and eight drafted rookies also attending. The minicamp runs from Friday, May 10 through Sunday, May 12.

Source: http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2013/05/02/eddie-lacy-says-injuries-wont-hold-him-back/related/

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Communications Giants in Good Hands with Tom Wheeler

Communications Giants in Good Hands with Tom Wheeler

by Stephen Lendman

Obama's expected to pick Tom Wheeler as new Federal Communications Commission (FCC) chairman. More on him below.

In March, former FCC chairman Julius Genachowski stepped down. At the time, Free Press.net president Craig Aaron said the following:

"When Julius Genachowski took office, there were high hopes that he would use his powerful position to promote the public interest."?

"But instead of acting as the people's champion, he?s catered to corporate interests. His tenure has been marked by wavering and caving rather than the strong leadership so needed at this crucial agency."

"Though President Obama promised his FCC chairman would not continue the Bush administration?s failed media ownership policies, Genachowski offered the exact same broken ideas that Bush's two chairmen pushed."?

"He never faced the public and ignored the overwhelming opposition to his plans."

"Genachowski claimed broadband was his agency's top priority, but he stood by as prices rose and competition dwindled."?

"He claimed to be a staunch defender of the open Internet, but his Net Neutrality policies are full of loopholes and offer no guarantee that the FCC will be able to protect consumers from corporate abuse in the future."

"While there were a few bright moments during the Genachowski years - including the agency?s opposition to the AT&T/T-Mobile merger and the push for more online transparency from broadcasters - the chairman squandered many more opportunities at critical junctures.

"We urge President Obama to nominate a successor who will enact policies that foster real competition, protect diversity and amplify local voices."

On March 27, Free Press.net headlined "Why the New Boss at the FCC Should Be Nothing Like the Old Boss," saying:

FCC policies are crucial. They're "at the heart of our ability to communicate. The agency oversees sectors of the economy responsible for hundreds of billions of dollars in economic activity and millions of jobs."

Earlier FCC decisions helped create the Internet. Current ones threaten its future.

In 2008, candidate Obama promised to "support the principle of network neutrality to preserve the benefits of open competition on the Internet."?

He failed to deliver. Corporate giants control things. The digital revolution's promise hasn't been fulfilled. Its future is threatened. It's been compromised by industry exploitation. Obama sold out to corporate interests like he always does.

In June 2009, he appointed industry insider Julius Genachowski FCC chairman. He's a technology and media industries executive, investor and board member.

He scrapped Net Neutrality protections. He opted for loophole-ridden half measures. He failed to reestablish FCC authority over broadband. Free Press.net called it "his most significant policy blunder."?

He served industry interests instead. He did so across the board. He endorsed toothless, voluntary codes. He did nothing to make providers accountable. He ignored rising consumer costs. He supported media consolidation. He turned a blind eye to its lack of diversity.

According to Free Press.net, his "only real priority (was) getting good press, though that didn't really happen either."

"If (he) spent half as much time earning support for his actions as he did trying to line up photo ops and balloon drops, then maybe he'd have an actual legacy."

He "left his successor a real mess." Conditions now are worse than ever. Industry giants control things. Consumers lost out. The FCC needs leadership "absolutely nothing like Julius Genachowski," said Free Press.

He's now an Aspen Institute (AI) Communications and Society Program senior fellow. He'll join his four immediate predecessors there - Reed Hundt, Bill Kennard, Michael Powell and Kevin Martin.

AI is an elitist organization. It's international and influential. It's members include businessmen, politicians, bureaucrats, and likeminded figures.?

Its board of trustees includes Robert Steel (chairman), Walter Isaacson (president and CEO), Madeleine Albright, Michael Eisner, David Koch, Jordan's Queen Noor, Condoleeza Rice, and Vin Weber among others.

On March 27, the Free Press Action Fund and 27 other organizations wrote Obama. They urged him to choose an FCC chairman willing to "protect the future of communications for all."

They said they'll hold him accountable if he fails to do so.

Tom Wheeler's not what they had in mind. He's a former top Obama fundraiser. He's an entrepreur and venture capitalist. He's a former cable and wireless industries lobbyist.

Candidate Obama pledged "to tell the corporate lobbyists that their days of setting the agenda in Washington are over."

President Obama benefits handsomely from millions they contribute and raise on his behalf. On October 27, 2011, The New York Times headlined "Obama Backers Tied to Lobbies Raise Millions," saying:

"Despite a pledge not to take money from lobbyists, President Obama has relied on prominent supporters who are active in the lobbying industry to raise millions of dollars for his re-election bid."

At least 15 of his so-called "bundlers" aren't registered lobbyists.

"But registered or not, (they're) in many ways indistinguishable from people who fit the technical definition of a lobbyist. They glide easily through the corridors of power?"

They host Obama fundraisers. They visit the White House often. They got the FCC chairman they wanted. The Los Angeles Times once called Wheeler "the rock star of telecom." He's a longtime communications industry insider.

He was credited with fueling a major mobile phone industry spectrum expansion. He was an Obama's 2008 transition team member. He served on his Intelligence Advisory Board.

Clinton and Bush appointed him a John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts trustee. He's a former Foundation for the National Archives chairman and Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) board member.

He previously headed the National Cable Television and Cellular Telecommunications and Internet (lobbying) associations.

He's Core Capital Partners' managing director. He previously founded cable, wireless and video communication services companies.

He's connected to 16 board members in 16 organizations representing 21 communications-related industries. He's Component Repair Technologies, Inc. president. Formerly he headed new technology company start-ups.

He co-founded SmartBrief. It's an online news service. He served on the FCC's Technology Advisory Council. He recently chaired the State Department's communication policy committee. He held other government advisory positions.

His wife, Carol, formerly was a National Association of Broadcasters government affairs official.

Cablevision magazine named him one of the 20 most influential industry executives. On the cellular telecommunications 25th anniversary, he was called one of its 10 top innovators. His resume includes many other industry related associations and activities.?

An unnamed White House official called him "an experienced leader in the communications technology field who shares the president's commitment to protecting consumers, promoting innovation, enhancing competition and encouraging investment."

According to Free Press President Craig Aaron:

"The Federal Communications Commission needs a strong leader - someone who will use this powerful position to stand up to industry giants and protect the public interest."?

"On paper, Tom Wheeler does not appear to be that person."

Parents Television Council President Tim Winter said it would be "hard to know whether Mr. Wheeler will be truly focused on serving the interests of the American people."

Other critics fear his ties to lobbying groups and other industry interests. They have good reason for concerns. It's hard imagining a longtime insider changing spots. He won't likely become a responsible consumer advocate.?

Women's Media Center co-founder, Gloria Steinem, expressed misgivings, saying:

"The president missed an opportunity to make history and make the FCC more democratic."

His entire tenure reflects anti-democratic/anti-populist policies. Expect no positive change ahead.

Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago. He can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.?

His new book is titled "Banker Occupation: Waging Financial War on Humanity."

http://www.claritypress.com/LendmanII.html

Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com.?

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