What we said: ‘Google and Verizon insist that what they’re working on is not a backroom deal for their own benefit but instead a legislative proposal about how Internet content should be managed. All of this may be true – but it still doesn’t look right.’ – Editorial, Aug. 9, 2010

What happened: Google has turned its back on its promise to insist on Internet neutrality – the idea that all Internet traffic should be treated the same. Its just-announced proposal with Verizon would prohibit carriers from discriminating against competitors but allow them to charge websites more for better service. It excludes wireless mobile networks, which means that websites on mobile phones wouldn’t even have safeguards against non-discrimination. Because the two companies are so huge – and because the FCC has been unable to issue its own policy on net neutrality – their proposal will shape the debate.

What’s next: Unless Washington is ready to accept an Internet that only works for the wealthiest and most-established websites, Congress needs to step in with net neutrality legislation. And the Google-Verizon pact isn’t even close. They need to go back to the drawing board and get support from consumer groups and Internet […]

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It may soon be possible to obtain a highly accurate diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease by analyzing a sample of spinal fluid. A study released Monday found that a constellation of three substances in the cerebrospinal fluid was present in 90% of people who had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s.

The test also showed the same markers were found in 72% of people with mild cognitive impairment, considered an early stage of the disease, and in one-third of adults who had no cognitive problems.

Many experts believe that biomarkers in spinal fluid may emerge as the most accurate diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease. At present, the disease is diagnosed using pencil-and-paper cognitive tests, which are subjective and may be inaccurate. The diagnosis can only be confirmed by examining brain tissue at an autopsy.

Researchers from Belgium analysed 114 older adults who were cognitively normal, 200 who had mild cognitive impairment and 102 who had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. They looked for three specific biomarkers, proteins that develop in the brain when the disease is present. A later analysis looking at brain autopsies for confirmation found the test of spinal fluid markers was correct in 64 of 68 cases.

The fact that Alzheimer’s was diagnosed in about one-third […]

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TRENTON, N.J. — Two federal agencies are probing drugmaker Merck & Co. for possibly violating anti-bribery laws in multiple foreign countries.

Merck, the world’s second-biggest drugmaker by revenue, has received inquiry letters from both the Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission, the company said in a regulatory filing.

The letters ‘seek information about activities in a number of countries and reference the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act,’ according to Merck.

The act bars U.S. companies from bribing government or corporate officials in other countries to win business, among other things.

Merck, which is based in Whitehouse Station, N.J., disclosed the investigation in a regulatory filing submitted to the SEC on Friday.

‘The company is cooperating with the agencies in their requests and believes that this inquiry is part of a broader review of pharmaceutical industry practices in foreign countries,’ Merck said in a brief statement included in its quarterly financial filing with the SEC.

Merck and most other large pharmaceutical companies for the past couple years have been hotly pursuing sales in emerging markets including China, Russia, India and Brazil. Government health programs in such countries often control the prices allowed for prescription drugs and decide which brands they will buy for millions of […]

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Greenland’s ice sheet could break up if the temperature rises by as little as 2C. Last week, the Petermann glacier lost a 100 sq mile chunk of ice.

The entire ice mass of Greenland will disappear from the world map if temperatures rise by as little as 2C, with severe consequences for the rest of the world, a panel of scientists told Congress today.

Greenland shed its largest chunk of ice in nearly half a century last week, and faces an even grimmer future, according to Richard Alley, a geosciences professor at Pennsylvania State University

‘Sometime in the next decade we may pass that tipping point which would put us warmer than temperatures that Greenland can survive,’ Alley told a briefing in Congress, adding that a rise in the range of 2C to 7C would mean the obliteration of Greenland’s ice sheet.

The fall-out would be felt thousands of miles away from the Arctic, unleashing a global sea level rise of 23ft (7 metres), Alley warned. Low-lying cities such as New Orleans would vanish.

‘What is going on in the Arctic now is the biggest and fastest thing that nature has ever done,’ he said.

Speaking by phone, Alley was addressing a briefing held by the […]

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Stephan:  Over 10 years ago I made the decision to begin Schwartzreport, and as a discipline to do it every day, seven days a week, no matter where in the world I was. With one break of two weeks two summers ago, when I cruised down from Alaska to Seattle on a dear friend's boat, and a 10 days this summer when I again was invited to go cruising, and except for one or two nights each year when the net was not available, or equipment had failed, that is what I have done. SR has been published from some very strange places. From beneath Red Square in Moscow, in an internet café that looked like something from The Matrix, all long leather coats, and those cool sunglasses. It has gone out from the back of Pakistani curry shop. From a cave in Turkey, and from numberless hotels and, for several nights, from an 18 foot open boat huddled under a tarp while in a driving rainstorm, bobbing off a Canadian island trying to stay linked to an open net from a deserted house. Through it all SR has gone out. I began it as my contribution to the good, and determined that I would not allow advertising, and would not permit myself to be influenced in that way. I couldn't think of an economic model that would work without compromise, and so just bore the costs and committed the time. Over the years a number of readers have suggested that I charge for the subscription, but I thought that would change its nature. I wanted it to be free to anybody who could use the information. Recently however, several readers have urged me to let them support SR, asking me to just put up a 'Support SR' button and let people contribute as they thought best. After meditating on this for several weeks I have decided to do this. I am going to continue to publish SR, and it will continue to be free. However, I would certainly appreciate the support and, if you would like to offer it, and to help me make SR better, I would be very happy to have your assistance. Thank you. -- Stephan

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