Tuesday, February 24, 2009
GOP Makeover
Bobby Jindall, governor of Louisiana, will be delivering the republican response to President Obama's State of the Union address tonight. This seems to be part of a larger republican strategy of making the GOP minorities highly visible in the media. This trend began earlier when Michael Steele was made chairman of the republican party. While republicans might see this as catching up after an african-american democrat was elected president. I believe that this is not very productive if the diverse faces represent the same GOP ideas. Republicans would do well to embrace ideologically diversity instead of putting token minorities in visible positions.
Time's top 25 blogs
Time's blog list seemed to encompass a wide array of websites. It showcased the diversity of blogs in content and presentation. some, like The Huffington Post, use a layout similar to news websites, while others retain a simpler layout.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Stealing Our Lives
Millions of people use Facebook.com daily to keep in touch with old friends and update it their pages with new content. Originally, this content always belonged to the user that uploads it. Last Wednesday, Facebook changed its Terms of Service to say that Facebook controls all content uploaded and posted, even after a profile is deleted, would belong to Facebook.
The vocal Facebook users would not have this.
Groups formed to protest this change, which Facebook made without alerting its users. Facebook eventually reverted to TOS to its original form, but this does n ot disregard that fact that this event occurred.
Rights are a huge issue in the digital era. Everything from professionally made MP3 files to amateur news blogs want their right to ownership protected.
As someone who has posted a lot of content to Facebook, it makes me angry that the site did not even alert its users until after the change happened. A site like this should take more personal responsibility and be up front about changes. Facebook often calls itself a community, and it should at least take the community's views into consideration, especially when altering policy.
Story info taken from an article on CNN.com
http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/02/17/facebook.terms.service/index.html#cnnSTCText
The vocal Facebook users would not have this.
Groups formed to protest this change, which Facebook made without alerting its users. Facebook eventually reverted to TOS to its original form, but this does n ot disregard that fact that this event occurred.
Rights are a huge issue in the digital era. Everything from professionally made MP3 files to amateur news blogs want their right to ownership protected.
As someone who has posted a lot of content to Facebook, it makes me angry that the site did not even alert its users until after the change happened. A site like this should take more personal responsibility and be up front about changes. Facebook often calls itself a community, and it should at least take the community's views into consideration, especially when altering policy.
Story info taken from an article on CNN.com
http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/02/17/facebook.terms.service/index.html#cnnSTCText
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Executive pay caps
I came to a startling and great realization today- I can get past party lines and election loyalty to truly disagree with the person I voted for to be President.
On one hand, it makes sense that companies receiving TARP money should not be allowed to squander it on excessive bonuses to CEOs. My issue is when this restriction will be lifted. How many quarters must a company be in the black to regain full autonomy of itself?
Although we gave the companies money because they need it, we also need them. if it weren't for the billions generated by these companies annually, many people the world over and in the United States would without a job. If these companies went bankrupt and laid off more workers, that would increase the number of people applying for unemployment benefits and decrease government revenue from income taxes.
I agree with Obama's plan to curb executive pay, I just want to be sure that one day these companies may be allowed their autonomy back as well as lessons learned about how to run a company responsibly.
On one hand, it makes sense that companies receiving TARP money should not be allowed to squander it on excessive bonuses to CEOs. My issue is when this restriction will be lifted. How many quarters must a company be in the black to regain full autonomy of itself?
Although we gave the companies money because they need it, we also need them. if it weren't for the billions generated by these companies annually, many people the world over and in the United States would without a job. If these companies went bankrupt and laid off more workers, that would increase the number of people applying for unemployment benefits and decrease government revenue from income taxes.
I agree with Obama's plan to curb executive pay, I just want to be sure that one day these companies may be allowed their autonomy back as well as lessons learned about how to run a company responsibly.
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Accident
A tanker carrying 19,000 gallons of oil overturned onto an SUV, leaving a 61-year-old Manitou Beach man dead and two others injured.
The accident occurred at 1:15 PM on US-127 N near I-496. The Great Lakes Petroleum oil tanker was heading toward Grand Rapids when an unknown cause resulted in the tanker overturning onto a nearby SUV. Among the injured is the 54-year-old wife of the deceased SUV driver. She is at Sparrow Hospital and has life threatening injuries.
The driver of the tanker was a 58-year-old Lansing resident. Police have no reason to believe that drugs or alcohol caused this accident. The driver of the tanker was injured and has been hospitalized with serious injuries at Sparrow Hospital.
US-127 is closed from I-496 to the Lake Lansing Rd. exit. Police expect it US-127 to be open again by 10 PM tonight.
If there are any witnesses to the accident, contact the Lansing Police Department at (517)319-6852.
The accident occurred at 1:15 PM on US-127 N near I-496. The Great Lakes Petroleum oil tanker was heading toward Grand Rapids when an unknown cause resulted in the tanker overturning onto a nearby SUV. Among the injured is the 54-year-old wife of the deceased SUV driver. She is at Sparrow Hospital and has life threatening injuries.
The driver of the tanker was a 58-year-old Lansing resident. Police have no reason to believe that drugs or alcohol caused this accident. The driver of the tanker was injured and has been hospitalized with serious injuries at Sparrow Hospital.
US-127 is closed from I-496 to the Lake Lansing Rd. exit. Police expect it US-127 to be open again by 10 PM tonight.
If there are any witnesses to the accident, contact the Lansing Police Department at (517)319-6852.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)