- Social:
Salon.com
Staff writer for Salon and writer of its blog, How the World Works
PROFILE
Andrew Leonard
Guest
FROM Andrew Leonard
To the Point
Google Glass and the Digital World Many millions of people depend on Google to search, collect and organize data, for email and smart phones…and Google's found ways to turn all that information into billions of dollars. But Google has already demonstrated that what it gives it can take away. Now comes a new advance in personalized technology. Select people -- including one of today's guests -- are testing out Google Glass . Glance up and there's computer data in front of your eye. Ask a question, get an answer: Where's the bank or the restaurant? How does this price compare? Well and good, if you don't run into a door. But who am I talking to? That raises more questions than answers about privacy, social interaction and the influence of digital networks on daily life. Is Google Glass a step toward brain implants and computer control? Is Google losing its cool?
To the Point
Google Glass and the Digital World Millions of people depend on Google to search, collect and organize data, for email and smart phones; and Google has found ways to turn all that information into billions of dollars. But Google has already demonstrated that what it gives it can take away. Now comes a new advance in personalized technology, Google Glass . Glance up and there's computer data in front of your eye. Ask a question, get an answer: Where's the bank or the restaurant? How does this price compare? But who am I talking to? That raises more questions than answers about privacy, social interaction and the influence of digital networks on daily life. Is Google Glass a step toward brain implants and computer control? Is Google losing its cool?
To the Point
A Glimmer of Hope on the Employment Front Yesterday, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner said unemployment would stay at what he called "unacceptable" levels for some time to come. Today, President Obama found some good news in the latest labor statistics . Crediting "measures that were necessary even though they were sometimes unpopular," he called March's increase of 162,000 jobs "the best news we've seen on the job front in more than two years." Andrew Leonard is a staff writer for Salon.com, where he blogs at " How the World Works ."
To the Point
Does Bipartisanship Really Matter? President Obama ended his first full week in office with an appeal to America's Middle Class, appointing a task force to be headed by Vice President Biden. Will that appeal to Republicans around the country and set their Congressional leaders off stride? House members gave Obama a warm welcome on Capitol Hill, but not a single vote for his stimulus package . Will bipartisanship raise its head in the Senate? Some Democrats are complaining that the President's made too many concessions, especially on tax cuts, when GOP help isn't needed to pass a bill. We get an early progress report on emerging strategies and the prospect for action with new blood in the White House.
To the Point
Will Last Night's Debate Make a Difference? In Cleveland, Ohio Democrats Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton zeroed in on each other and the economy, with special focus on the North American Free Trade Agreement , but differences over healthcare got more time than anything else. Did Clinton do what she needed to stop Obama’s momentum? Does either one really want to re-negotiate NAFTA? One Houston paper says Obama has already won in Texas, with a week still to go. But a new, national poll says, that either one will have a tough time against John McCain in November, showing their Republican rival with an edge in experience and the war on terror, even on the economy. Although a majority said the war in Iraq was not worth waging, half said McCain was best equipped to deal with it.
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To the Point
Janesville and the American Dream Janesville, Wisconsin is the hometown of Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan. But he couldn’t prevent the closing of the General Motors factory after 100 years. On this Memorial Day rebroadcast of To the Point, we hear what’s happened to what once was a model of American middle-class unity.
To the Point
The Trump agenda: where's the beef? President Trump says big things are happening. After celebrating a House bill on health care, he doesn’t yet have Senate agreement. With James Comey’s public testimony scheduled tomorrow, the President today tweeted his selection of a new FBI Director. Is the Chief Executive all style and no substance? Later, terror attacks in Iran and conflicting claims about who’s behind them.