Republicans Heart Wall Street

GOP begins to roll back Wall Street reform, college graduates are snubbing law school, and Washington’s pro-nuke consensus. These discoveries and more after the jump.

On a regular basis, Truthdig brings you the news items and odds and ends that found their way to Larry Gross, director of the USC Annenberg School for Communication. A specialist in media and culture, art and communication, visual communication and media portrayals of minorities, Gross helped found the field of gay and lesbian studies.

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GOP begins rollback of Wall St. reform House Republicans quietly took their first legislative step Wednesday at repealing Wall Street reform, exposing the difficulty of rolling back a major Barack Obama law that isn’t health care.

Students Turn Down Law School When the recession first set in, students flocked to law school thinking it was their golden ticket to a secure future. Now, they’re realizing the only thing certain about a law degree is staggering debt. Applications to law school have hit their lowest point since 2001, down 11.5 percent from last year to 66,876, reports The Wall Street Journal.

Washington’s Pro-Nuke Consensus When something big happens, Washington tends to react impulsively. The disaster unfolding at Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant has riveted everybody here, as it has around the world. But so far, the response has been measured and cautious.

Africa overtakes US in mobile phones In the mid-1990s, as the use of mobile phones started its rapid spread in much of the developed world, few thought of Africa as a potential market. Now, with more than 400 million subscribers, its market is larger than North America’s.

iPads Could Hinder Teaching, Professors Say Despite the iPad’s popularity, early studies indicate that these finger-based tablets are passive devices that have limited use in higher education. They are great for viewing media and allow students to share readings. But professors cannot use them to mark up material on the fly and show changes to students in response to their questions, a type of interactivity that has been a major thrust in pedagogy.

Wisconsin Dems get nearly half of needed recall signatures in two weeks Dems have now collected more than 45 percent of the signatures necessary to hold recall elections for eight GOP state senators, the Wisconsin Democratic Party tells me.

AT&T to Limit Internet Access and Charge Overage Fees According to Broadband Reports, DSL customers will have a 150GB monthly usage limit, while U-Verse subscribers will get 250GB. AT&T will impose the $10 fee for every 50GB over the limit a customer uses.

Tokyo Electric to Build US Nuclear Plants: The No BS Info on Japan’s Disastrous Nuclear Operators I don’t know the law in Japan, so I can’t tell you whether Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) can plead insanity to the homicides about to happen. But what will Obama plead? The administration, just months ago, asked Congress to provide a $4 billion loan guarantee for two new nuclear reactors to be built and operated on the Gulf Coast of Texas.