Daily Archives: March 1, 2012

Obama Proposes Data Privacy Bill of Rights

March 01, 2012   Rebecca Welk   3 Comments

Photo Credit: www.princeton.edu

President Obama’s Administration has proposed a Bill of Rights for data privacy that would give consumers the right to have:

  • Control over their own personal data
  • Complete transparency on how the data will be collected and used
  • Respect for the context of the data
  • Security
  • Access and Accuracy
  • Only appropriate users accessing the information
  • Total Accountability

The idea for a Bill of Rights was first brought up last year by Obama. A similar proposal was made by Viviene Reding of the European Commission in January. If passed, this bill could be a major step toward ensuring personal privacy for Americans.

Portions of this story are from www.irishtimes.com

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High School Teacher Leaves Family for Student

March 01, 2012   Rebecca Welk   24 Comments

In Modesto, California, an Enochs High School business and computer sciences teacher, James Hooker, has left his family and his job for his former student and current high school senior, Jordan Powers.

Photo Credit: www.usnews.msnbc.msn.com

Hooker, 41, met Powers, 18, when she was a freshman at Enochs. This year, Jordan was a student in one of Hooker’s classes until his suspension on February 3rd, and then his resignation on the 22nd. After Hooker left his position, the couple moved into an apartment in Modesto together. James Hooker left his wife and children to be with Powers.

Jordan’s mother, Tammy Powers, is openly against the relationship. Tammy Powers contacted local detectives after becoming suspicious of how close her daughter had become to Hooker over the past couple of months. The police’s investigation led to Hooker’s suspension in the beginning of February.

Detectives are still investigating the pair to determine if any laws were broken and if the relationship started before Jordan’s 18th birthday this past fall. According to Tammy Powers, nearly 8,000 texts have been exchanged between her daughter and Hooker since last summer.

Read more here.

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FATCA is Moving in on Banking Privacy

March 01, 2012   Rebecca Welk   No comments

Photo Credit: www.forbes.com

The Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act, or FATCA as it is known to many people, is a piece of legislation that requires all Americans to notify the United States government about offshore accounts and any foreign assets.

This act has quickly become a global issue. By Congress passing FATCA, it requires other countries to also agree to many of these terms. If an American has an account in another country, all of the data that bank has on that client must be submitted to the IRS, according to this piece of legislation’s policies.

Countries such as France, the United Kingdom, Germany, Spain, and Italy, have all taken action in response to this act. Many of their smaller banks now must report back to their home governments, which will then pass along the necessary information to the IRS and the U.S. government. Other territores such as Bermuda and Cayman are expected to follow shortly.

Read more here.

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2012 Oscar Winners

March 01, 2012   Joanelle Navarro   No comments

Photo Credit: www.holymoly.com

On Feb. 26, the 84th Academy Awards were held.  Listed below are the winners of the major categories.

  • Best Picture: The Artist, which is the first silent film to win since the first Academy Awards were held in 1929 and first French film to ever win
  • Best Directing: Michael Hazanvicius for The Artist
  • Best Actor in a Leading Role: Jean Dujardin for The Artist, who is the first French actor to win the award
  • Best Actress in a Leading Role: Meryl Streep for The Iron Lady, only her third win and first since 1982, despite 17 nominations
  • Best Actor in a Supporting Role: Christopher Plummer for Beginners, who is now the oldest person to ever win an Oscar at 82
  • Best Actress in a Supporting Role: Octavia Spencer for The Help
  • Best Foreign Language Film: A Separation, which is the first Iranian film to win an award

For a full list of all of the winners, click here.

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Study Reveals Black Borrowers Less Likely to Get Funding

March 01, 2012   Joanelle Navarro   No comments

Photo Credit: www.newsone.com

A new study on loans has discovered that black borrowers are 25 to 35 percent less likely to get funding than a white borrower who has the same or similar credit.

The report, which is called “What’s in a Picture? Evidence of Discrimination from Prosper.com,” studied 110,000 loan applications from the peer-to-peer lending website, which encourages hopeful borrowers to post photos of themselves, between June 2006 and May 2007.  About 5,000 of the 110,000 loans studies were home finance or repair related.

Co-author and assistant professor at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business said that the main reason for the discrepancy is due to the fact that online lending markets tend to be less regulated than its real-world borrowing counterpart.

The report also revealed that white race was the largest factor in determining loan funding and while black borrowers are the highest group to not receive funding, there were others detected.  Older and overweight applicants were 5 to 10 percent less likely to get funding and people who appeared unhappy in their photos were 10 to 15 percent less likely.  In other news, female applicants were 10 to 15 percent more likely to receive funding versus males.

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Davy Jones of the Monkees Dies

March 01, 2012   Jocelyn Apodaca   No comments

 

Photo Credit: abcnews.go.com

Davy Jones, 66, heart-throb of the pop group of the 1960s, the Monkees, died Wednesday in Indiantown, Fla.

The apparent cause was a heart attack, says his publicist, Helen Kensick.

Monkees, created in 1966, was comprised of Davy Jones, Micky Dolenz, Michael Nesmith, and Peter Tork. “Daydream Believer” became a No. 1 single along with “Last Turn to Clarksville.” The bands cover of Neil Diamond’s “I’m a Believer” sold millions.

Aired on NBC, “The Monkees” lasted only two seasons. Despite the bands breakup in the early 70s, Mr. Jones turned to a solo career shortly after. One of his last performances was at B. B. King Blues Club and Grill in Manhattan, Feb. 18.

Mr. Jones’ survivors include his wife Jessica Pacheco and four daughters.

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