JesseJackson
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Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr. calls out iPad as a job-killer
In March, Representative Jesse Jackson, Jr. (D-IL) pushed his idea to amend the Constitution to guarantee an iPad, Kindle or Nook for every school child in the United States. In the intervening month, something must have happened to change Rep. Jackson's mind about Apple's tablet device. According to a report from Real Clear Politics, Representative Jackson is now blaming the tablet device for "eliminating thousands of American jobs." He pins the closing of Borders and a decline in book sales at Barnes & Noble on the iPad and similar tablet devices. On the House floor on Friday, in remarks about the seeming inability of the current Congress to focus on America's unemployment problem, the congressman stated the following: "A few short weeks ago I came to the House floor after having purchased an iPad and said that I happened to believe, Mr. Speaker, that at some point in time this new device, which is now probably responsible for eliminating thousands of American jobs. Now Borders is closing stores because, why do you need to go to Borders anymore? Why do you need to go to Barnes & Noble? Buy an iPad and download your newspaper, download your book, download your magazine." As he continued his remarks, he noted (correctly) that the iPad is manufactured in China, not in the US. What say you American people, do you think the iPad is killing jobs in the US, or is the honorable gentleman off track? [Via MacDailyNews]
Jesse Jackson speaks out against the Sirius / XM merger
The proposed Sirius / XM merger has always ruffled a few feathers at the NAB (and the NAB has certainly ruffled back), but it's another thing entirely when a national political figure like Jesse Jackson comes out opposed to the deal. Jackson, who spoke at the FCC hearings on the merger yesterday, said that allowing Sirius and XM to combine would essentially create a monopoly in the satellite radio market, eliminating the potential for diverse ownership and possibly squelching minority voices on the dial. Control of the media has always been a hot-button issue for activists of all stripes, and we can certainly see why Jackson would oppose such a merger on those grounds, but another organizations with a similar agenda, the NAACP, has actually issued statements supporting the merger, saying that combined, XM / Sirius would ""strengthen its commitment to diversity." It's obviously a thorny issue with a lot of viewpoints, so please -- let's keep the comments civil, shall we?
