GOOGLE'S "NO MUSLIM REGISTRY" PLEDGE

A group of Silicon Valley tech figures have announced their pledge to reduce gathering of personal data that could be used to build an identity database to target Muslims. The “Never Again” pledge was assembled by Wave software engineer and former Google employee Ka-Ping Yee, as well as Leigh Honeywell, a Slack security engineering manager. The signees include engineers and execs from Slack, IBM, Stripe, and now Google, all of whom have roles involving personal data gathering and management. The pledge comes one day before a tech summit at Trump Tower in NYC, set to be attended by some of the industry’s most influential CEOs/COOs. Among the execs expected to attend are Tesla’s Elon Musk, Apple’s Tim Cook, Microsoft’s Satya Nadella, Facebook’s Sheryl Sandberg and Larry Page of Google, all of whom were personally invited by President-elect Donald Trump.

Trump Says Muslim Database Will Happen

#NoDiscrimination #OneLove #SafeData

OH, TO BE A FLY ON A WALL...KANYE MEETS TRUMP

After last month’s public meltdown, Kanye West has kept completely silent and out of the spotlight, though yesterday he made the highest profile reappearance possible. During an unannounced visit to Trump Tower in Manhattan, West posed for photos with the President-elect, ignoring multiple press questions before saying, “I just want to take a picture.”  Many have speculated the meeting was related a possible performance at Trump’s January 20 inauguration. No musical guests have been announced, though reports have emerged that Trump himself plans to personally invite Italian opera tenor Andrea Bocelli. Last month, days before West canceled his national tour and was detained for medical care, he announced during a concert, “I told y’all I didn’t vote, right…but…I would’ve voted for Trump.”

Trump Tower Lobby Appearance

#Donye #TrumpTower #PabloPower

RICK PERRY WILL HEAD THE DEPARTMENT HE ONCE VOWED TO ABOLISH

The latest of President-elect Donald Trump’s surprise cabinet nominees is Rick Perry, who is now poised to serve as the country’s Energy Secretary. This nomination finds Perry set to head the Energy Department, an organization he once forgot existed, then suggested should be completely eliminated. During a 2012 run for the GOP presidential nomination, Perry commented, “The third agency of government I would — I would do away with Education, the —Commerce…Commerce and, let’s see. I can’t. The third one, I can’t. Sorry — oops.” He later clarified his statement, explaining that he meant to say “Energy Department.” Last year, Perry claimed to be “defending conservatism against the cancer of Trump-ism,” before going on to criticize Trump’s campaign as a “barking carnival act.”

CNBC and Rick Perry Discuss His “Oops” Moment

#DonaldsCabinet #SurpriseGuys #Oops

MCCONNELL BACKS RUSSIA HACKING INVESTIGATION

Last Sunday, a group of powerful senators, including senior Republican John McCain, called for a full-scale investigation into Russian hacking that may have affected the recent presidential election. Now, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has announced that he too believes a probe is necessary. "It defies belief that somehow Republicans in the Senate are reluctant to either review Russian tactics or ignore them…the Russians are not our friends," said McConnell. He went on to endorse a “bipartisan” probe that would be part of a new American effort to hold Russia accountable on a number of issues. McConnell did not indicate however that he believed Russia had aided Trump’s campaign.

Obama Orders Review Of Election Season Hacking

#RussianHackAttack #Investigation #DisputinPutin

WHO IS REX TILLERSON?

After weeks of heavy speculation, Donald Trump named Rex Tillerson his secretary of state, leaving favorites Rudy Giuliani, Mitt Romney and David Petraeus scrambling to explain the decision. After the announcement, Giuliani commented, “the Tillerson thing, I’m sort of in a fog about…I don’t know a lot about him.” What is known about Tillerson is that when it comes to business, the former ExxonMobil CEO is very much like Trump, having steered his company through billion-dollar international deals, and like Trump, he has no political experience. After the announcement, concerns have emerged regarding Tillerson’s ties to Russia—his company bio mentions that “in 2013, he was awarded the Order of Friendship by Vladimir Putin, president of the Russian Federation.”

Charlie Rose 2013 Rex Tillerson Interview

#RexWhatsNext #SecOfState #TrumpCabinet