Making official what many Democrats have expected for weeks, President Obama plans to nominate Chicago business executive Penny Pritzker, a longtime political supporter and heavyweight fundraiser, as his new Commerce secretary on May 2.
Pritzker’s nomination could prove controversial. She is on the board of Hyatt Hotels Corp., which was founded by her family and has had rocky relations with labor unions, and she could face questions about the failure of a bank partly owned by her family. With a personal fortune estimated at $1.85 billion, Pritzker is listed by Forbes magazine among the 300 wealthiest Americans. She is the founder, chair and chief executive of PSP Capital Partners, a private equity firm, and its affiliated real estate investment firm, Pritzker Realty Group. She played an influential role in Obama’s rise from Illinois state senator to the nation’s 44th president, serving as his national finance chairwoman in his 2008 campaign for the White House and as co-chairwoman of his reelection campaign.
<p>The Federal Communications Commission's Lifeline program is a government benefit program that provides discounts on monthly telephone service for eligible low-income consumers to help ensure they have the opportunities and security that telephone service affords, including being able to connect to jobs, family, and 911 services. Lifeline is supported by the federal Universal Service Fund (USF).</p>
Mark Zuckerberg is being unfriended by progressives angered by television ads from his political advocacy group Fwd.us that praise lawmakers for supporting the expansion of the Keystone XL oil pipeline and drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Their ire is being directed at the billionaire founder and chief executive of Facebook with a protest planned for May 1 at the company's Menlo Park (CA) headquarters shortly before the company releases its first-quarter earnings.
The TV ad campaign is designed to give political cover to vulnerable conservatives back home to rally support for comprehensive immigration reform. But controversy generated by the ads could become a problem for Zuckerberg and Facebook. Though none of the ads suggest that Zuckerberg or Facebook support these policies, that distinction may be lost on the general public. "Years and years ago, Michael Jordan was asked why he was not endorsing a Democratic candidate for senator in North Carolina. He said: 'Republicans buy shoes, too.' One of the biggest obstacles for a business leader considering political involvement is the potential impact it would have on his client base," said Dan Schnur, director of the Jesse M. Unruh Institute of Politics at USC. "Zuckerberg’s primary goal is to have immigration reform, and this is a very savvy way of making that happen. But invariably there is going to be people who don’t understand and the inevitable result is going to be this type of press fire."
It doesn't sound like the smartest strategy for success. Despite all the travails in the newspaper business today, a not particularly distinguished paper with a circulation under 100,000 decides to compete in a market 80 miles away. But that's what is happening in southern Louisiana, where The Advocate in Baton Rouge, under new ownership and new leadership, seems poised to significantly expand its foray into New Orleans.
Of course, this is New Orleans, where the rules are different. So the audacious game plan might not be so crazy. The Newhouse family's Advance Publications, which owns New Orleans' Times-Picayune, opened the door to this unlikely newspaper war last May when it announced that it was adopting a digital-first strategy and that the paper would only come out three days a week, laying off a third of its staff in the process. Sensing an opening, The Advocate opened up a New Orleans bureau and last October launched a New Orleans edition. It now sells about 20,000 copies a day there, a remarkable number in such a short time. And the stakes are about to be raised, big time.
Violence, gore and gunplay were staples on prime-time television even in the most sensitive period directly following the Newtown school shooting.
Our government collects a lot of information about us. Tax records, legal records, license records, records of government services received-- it's all in databases that are increasingly linked and correlated. Still, there's a lot of personal information the government can't collect. Either they're prohibited by law from asking without probable cause and a judicial order, or they simply have no cost-effective way to collect it. But the government has figured out how to get around the laws, and collect personal data that has been historically denied to them: ask corporate America for it. Soon, governments won't have to bother collecting personal data. We're willingly giving it to a vast network of for-profit data collectors, and they're more than happy to pass it on to the government without our knowledge or consent.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation released a report, Who Has Your Back?, which asks a probing question: What does the company do to keep customers' personal information out of the government's hands?
The examined companies could receive a gold star in each of six categories:
Of the companies surveyed, only Twitter and Sonic.net lit up the boards with six stars, and Dropbox, LinkedIn, and SpiderOak fell short only in the "fought a request" category -- quite possibly through no fault of their own.
Privacy groups are denouncing a federal government move to force Internet companies like Facebook and Google to build backdoors that would let the FBI and other agencies snoop on real time online communications.
Privacy advocates say the plan could bankrupt smaller Internet companies and increase chances that hackers can access user data. I n the past, the Federal Bureau of Investigation has complained about a growing inability to collect evidence against online criminals, drug traffickers and terrorism suspects that use Internet-based communications services to communicate. Such concerns are valid said Joshua Hall, senior staff technologist at the Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT). However, threatening Internet companies with financial penalties is wrong, Hall said. Alan Butler appellate advocacy counsel at the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC), said the FBI proposal would force companies to build unsecured backdoors into otherwise secure communications services.
The Department of Agriculture announced funding for two rural telecommunications companies that will expand broadband service in rural Nebraska and Montana. More than $26 million will be provided from USDA's Rural Utilities Service (RUS) to install fiber networks to improve telecommunications services in these areas.
InterBel Telephone Cooperative, Inc., in Montana, will receive a $20.8 million loan to complete a Fiber-to-the-Premises network to help meet future growth requirements. In Nebraska, Hartington Telecommunications Co., Inc., will use a $5.2 million loan to replace copper with Fiber-to-the-Home technology. USDA funding is contingent upon the recipient meeting the terms of the loan agreement.
San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee signed into law the Citywide Coordination of Open Data Policy and Procedures legislation introduced jointly with Board of Supervisors President David Chiu.
This new landmark Open Data law establishes the position and duties of a new chief data officer to be appointed by the mayor, and orders that departmental data coordinators assist in the implementation of the Open Data Policy. The ordinance also establishes rules and procedures for making open data available through the city’s open data Web portal. Among the expected benefits to citizens are increased government efficiency and civic engagement, leading to social and economic benefits: (1) fostering citizen participation in city projects; (2) increased citizen interaction with municipal government; (3) supporting early state entrepreneurship; (4) workforce development and job creation; and (5) fostering a positive business environment and promoting public-private partnerships.
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