News stories the mainstream media missed 01/23/10

Here are some news stories from this week that I think the mainstream media completely missed out on. All links are from legitimate news sources and not the fringe / wacko sites.

* Kucinich says democrats have betrayed “the promise of change” and are in deep trouble in November if things don’t get back on track. Wow! Kucinich actually gets it! [RAWSTORY]

* And to emphasize Kucinich’s point, there’s apparently a tax on married couples in the new healthcare plan. So not only are we going to be fined and face possible jail time if we do not get this new mandatory no-public-option government insurance, but now the government says it’s better to not be married to save money. Great message! [MONEYCENTRAL.MSN]

* This did make some of the mainstream news, but it really is important to mention again… “the U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday struck down laws that banned corporations from using their own money to support or oppose candidates for public office.” So now, it’s perfectly legal for there to be attack ads by large corporations against Congressmen who advocate a change they do not agree with. A company with billions of dollars versus nickel and dime donations from the general public. This. Is. Not. Good. [MSNBC]

* Texas college tuition is heading up. Way up. Who needs smart people anyway? [TEXASTRIBUNE]

* The New York Times, bleeding money left and right, has decided to “charge some frequent readers for access to its Web site .” Wow. They’re going to spend serious money to put a web blocker in place that can be bypassed by either (a) deleting the cookie left on a computer or (b) visiting their site through any of the hundreds of free proxy websites out there. Brilliant job, guys! [NYTIMES]

* YouTube is getting into movie rentals! That works. $3.99 for a 48-hours is a bit high, but it’s a start. Plus, since YouTube is part of Google and Google just introduced their own phone, I think this movie rental thing is probably going to lead somewhere bigger in a few months. [MSNBC]

* Finally, some “cute” news… “Baby”, a 13 year old cat who went missing after saving his owners in Chicago from a house fire, just turned up safe and sound. A cat acting for the good of his owners? That’s a strange cat! [MSNBC]