The following is a rundown of the day’s news drawn from other media sources with topics curated just for Money and Markets readers: personal security and freedom, Obama’s executive authority and the Oscars.
Personal security and freedom
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NSA Collects Millions of Text Messages Daily in ‘Untargeted’ Global Sweep
The NSA program, codenamed Dishfire, collects “pretty much everything it can,” according to GCHQ documents, rather than merely storing the communications of existing surveillance targets.
Google Accused of Violating Canadian Privacy Law
The agency said its investigation was triggered by a complaint from a man with sleep apnea, who said he was “followed” by ads for devices geared to treating the condition after conducting online searches on the illness.
Parenting Style Linked to Kids’ Internet Addiction
Young adults who recall their parents being tough or demanding without showing affection tend to be sad or to have trouble making friends, and those personality traits raise their risk of Internet addiction, the researchers say.
Target Hackers Wrote Partly in Russian, Displayed High Skill, Report Finds
The report offers some of the first details to emerge about the source of the attack that compromised 40 million credit- and debit-card accounts and personal data for 70 million people. It also provided further evidence the attack on Target was part of a concerted effort by skilled hackers.
Climate Change Disbelief Rises in America
Some research does show a slowdown in how fast temperatures are rising, if not a pause. Scientists theorize the slowdown could be the result of decades-long climate cycles playing out against a background of long-term warming.
Obama claims executive authority
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Obama to Dems: I’ll Act With or Without Congress
Obama met with senators from his own party Wednesday at the White House. The White House says Obama and Democrats discussed proposals to raise the minimum wage and efforts to pass a comprehensive immigration overhaul. Education initiatives and jobs measures were also on the agenda.
Facebook Post from Boehner: We Have the Constitution
“President Obama says he has a pen and a phone he can use to bypass Congress. Pens and phones are nice, but we have the Constitution,” House Speaker John Boehner posted.
Obama’s Path From Critic to Overseer of Spying
Barack Obama visited a center for scholars in August 2007 to give a speech on terrorism. He described a surveillance state run amok and vowed to rein it in. On Friday, he will give another speech, this time at the Justice Department defending government spying.
Senior U.K. Defense Advisor: Obama Is Clueless About ‘What He Wants to Do in The World’
Sir Hew Strachan, an advisor to the Chief of the Defense Staff, said that the United States and Britain were guilty of total strategic failure in Iraq and Afghanistan, and Obama’s attempts to intervene on behalf of the Syrian rebels “has left them in a far worse position than they were before.”
Obama Job Approval Plummets
Gallup tracks daily the percentage of Americans who approve or disapprove of the job Barack Obama is doing as president. Looking at the results, it seems that even more Americans disapprove of what president has been doing for the U.S.
Oscars
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Oscars Surprises, Snubs: Oprah, Redford, Hanks Shut Out
Shock: Oprah, Tom Hanks, Robert Redford were all shut out of this year’s Oscars. The nine Best Picture nominees are American Hustle, Captain Phillips, Dallas Buyers Club, Gravity, Her, Nebraska, Philomena, 12 Years a Slave, and Wolf of Wall Street. Only nine, not 10, films received nominations.
Meryl Streep Receives 18th Oscar Nomination
Streep, who was first nominated in 1979 for her role in “The Deer Hunter,” has won the coveted statue three times for roles in “The Iron Lady,” “The French Lieutenant’s Woman,” and “Kramer vs. Kramer.” Thursday’s nomination was best actress in her latest film, “August: Osage County”.
2014 Oscar Nominations: ‘American Hustle,’ ‘Gravity’ Lead With 10 Each
“American Hustle” and “Gravity” led nominations for the 86th Academy Awards with 10 each, followed by nine for “12 Years a Slave.” The trio will compete for best picture in a category that this year has nine entrants.
Sony Pictures’ Awards Season Takes Pressure Off Amy Pascal
Sony walked away with seven Golden Globes on Sunday — more than any other studio — and the expected Academy nominations are likely to further boost box-office receipts and burnish the reputation of Pascal, who is perhaps Hollywood’s most powerful female film executive.
Robert Redford Blames Distributor for Oscars Snub: ‘We Had No Campaign’
“There’s a lot of campaigning going on and it can be very political,” he added about the Oscars race. In our case, we suffered from little to no distribution,” Redford said. “I don’t know what they were afraid of. They didn’t want to spend money or they were incapable.”
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The Money and Markets Team
