Blog Posts by Liz Goodwin

Welcome to First Look, a daily roundup of early-bird news and a preview of what's to come:

• Ahead of UN's meeting on climate change in Cancun, the Obama administration has a Plan B for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. (The Washington Post)

• A record 15 million people applied for a U.S. green-card lottery this year. (Wall Street Journal)

• In a historic reversal, the Pope said using condoms is not always morally wrong. (BBC)

101951535In case you needed another reason to worry about online privacy, the Wall Street Journal reports Friday that life insurance companies are using potential customers' Internet footprint to decide whether they are "good risks" to insure or not.

It's illegal for the companies to use any of the information to turn down applicants, but insurers are excited that "online shopping details, catalog purchases, magazine subscriptions, leisure activities and information from social-networking sites" can reveal nearly as much about an applicant's health than a lab analysis of body fluids.

By using online information instead of more costly medical analysis, the companies hope they can provide life insurance more cheaply. They can fast-track applicants who look healthy based on the culled information, and have those who look risky go through the medical analysis process.

The Federal Trade Commission is expected to call for a "do not track" list that would prevent advertisers and personal-data

AP1010030114765Two New Jersey lawmakers have introduced legislation that would require colleges and universities across the nation to explicitly prohibit harassment based on sexual orientation, race and other factors.

The bill is named after Rutgers freshman Tyler Clementi, who jumped off the George Washington Bridge in September after his roommate allegedly circulated secretly recorded online footage of Clementi's private encounter with another man. Clementi's death set off a media firestorm about the problem of anti-gay bullying.

AP101102135296Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) insists he has 60 votes to end the military's ban on openly gay service, after convincing a couple of Republicans to come over to his side.

But because those Republican senators willing to cross over are demanding an open amendment process, Lieberman has to worry that his old pal Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) will push dozens of amendments on the bill, which could kill it, together with the "don't ask, don't tell" repeal that Democrats attached to it.

McCain told The Hill newspaper that he still plans to oppose repeal because he is unsatisfied with a Pentagon-commissioned survey and study that concluded (according to leaked reports) that there is "little risk" to letting gays serve openly.

AP080229044856Twenty state and federal agencies spent at least $500,000 in a counter-terrorism drill that pretended malicious pot growers had taken over the Shasta dam in Northern California.

Jeff Stein at the Washington Post has flagged the fairly hilarious local newspaper's report on the drill, entitled "Practice makes safety."

About 250 people from the federal Bureau of Reclamation (which oversees the dam) plus medical, fire, and police agencies planned the exercise for 18 months. Similar drills have taken place at other dams that authorities fear might be terrorist targets. The Bureau of Reclamation alone shelled out half a million in costs, and the other agencies covered their own (undisclosed) costs.

Here's Redding Record Searchlight reporter Dylan Darling's account of the 12-hour drill:

Welcome to First Look, a daily roundup of early-bird news and a preview of what's to come:

• In a global survey of children in poverty, kids stressed the importance of education. (Time)

• Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke hits back at critics of his stimulus tactics. (AP)

• The Transportation Safety Administration is exploring a more G-rated body scanner that would just show a "stick figure" image. (ABC News)

• Some shoppers don't care that their reusable bags may have dangerous levels of lead. (AP)

AP100920022793The California Supreme Court this week unanimously upheld a state law that grants in-state tuition regardless of immigration status. Could their decision send a message to anti-illegal-immigration groups who have brought challenges to similar state laws around the country?

Ten states — California, Illinois, Kansas, Nebraska, New Mexico, New York, Oklahoma, Texas, Utah and Washington — passed laws allowing illegal immigrants to qualify for in-state tuition if they've attended high school in state for at least three years. In two of those states, illegal immigrants are also eligible for state financial aid.

[Photos: U.S.-Mexico border issues]

The California Supreme Court decision, along with the earlier failure of a similar suit in Kansas, sends a message to opponents of the provision that it will be difficult to get these state laws knocked down. The ruling also may nudge other states into the direction of adopting similar laws. (At least three states have banned the practice altogether.)

AP101115019636Independent Sen. Joe Lieberman told reporters today that two Republican senators have pledged they will vote to end the military's ban on gay service on one condition.

Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Richard Lugar of Indiana told Lieberman they will support the defense authorization bill, which includes the repeal provision, if both Republicans and Democrats are allowed to attach amendments to the bill, Stars and Stripes reports. Republicans unanimously blocked a vote on repeal in September, with some backers of the filibuster saying they were protesting a prior vote to prevent GOP lawmakers from adding amendments.

Democrats need 60 votes to overcome a Republican filibuster and then just 50 to pass the defense bill, which has the "don't ask" repeal attached to it. Earlier this month, the Wall Street Journal reported that Michigan Democratic Sen. Carl Levin, who chairs the Senate Armed Services Committee, was in talks with Arizona Republican Sen. John McCain to remove the "don't ask" repeal from the bill. But President Obama called Levin yesterday to "reiterate his commitment on keeping the repeal of, and the need for the Senate to pass this legislation during the lame duck."