Why Obama wants Congress to allow him to merge federal agencies

what President Obama plans to ask Congress for the right to merge together a number of sprawling trade and commerce agencies with somewhat similar purposes.
why It’s an effort to cut resources and minimize overlap, and the move would save $3 billion over 10 years. The election-year timing is also a consideration for Obama. source

Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

Where does haiti stand after the deadly 2010 quake? While about $15 billion of aid money is still missing in Haiti, progress is still being made. “Recovery is here. It is painfully slow, it is agonizing to watch, but it is recovery,” said Harvard professor Paul Farmer. He has spent three decades in Haiti and is opening a new hospital. Big factories could also stimulate the country’s economy, creating 20,000 jobs at just one plant. Progress can also be measured somewhat superficially; HuffPo “Good News” writer Cameron Sinclair finds the silver lining in other ways. He noted the lesser-but-still-positive positives of Haiti, such as its fast WiFi and rich history. (Perhaps that’s looking too hard in the forest to see trees, but y’know.) So, while recovery is still being sought after, it is still coming. And in some ways, it is already here. (Photo by Ken Cedeno / The Washington Post) source

Posted by samimain • 0 Comments • Permalink

downtime To demonstrate what Internet life might be like with SOPA/PIPA in the mix, Reddit will be shut down on Jan. 18. Instead, users can watch a livestream of a House Oversight and Government Reform Committee meeting on DNS and search engine blocking, where the site’s co-founder, Alexis Ohanian, will offer remarks to Congress.
backup Wikipedia co-founder, Jimmy Wales, has expressed his support of Reddit’s move, and may even work with the site, potentially creating a similar shutdown of Wikipedia. With big websites explicitly showing users what a life with SOPA/PIPA is like, could public outrage crop up? And will Google or Facebook join in? source

Posted by samimain • 0 Comments • Permalink

13 Jan 2012 10:33