Facebook PAC Gives More Money to Republicans Than to Democrats

Facebook PAC Gives More Money to Republicans Than to Democrats
07/05/2012 by Alex Fitzpatrick on Mashable

Bucking the tide for technology companies, Facebook’s Political Action Committee FB PAC contributed to slightly more Republican politicians than Democrats during the first quarter of 2012.

Republican members of Congress, including Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-Ohio) and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnel (R-Ky.), were on the receiving end of $65,000 from Facebook’s PAC. Congressional Democrats, including House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on the other hand, received slightly less: $53,500.

The minor lean to the right is unusual for a technology company, which tend to favor Democrats. For example, Microsoft has contributed $694,284 to Democrats and $477,706 to Republicans via its PAC this year, while Google has given $101,800 to Democrats and $100,000 to Republicans.

A look at technology companies’ contributions to presidential campaigns reveals a wider split. Microsoft has given $289,088 to President Obama’s re-election effort this year, compared to $71,990 for Republican challenger Mitt Romney. Comcast’s contributions offer a similar example: $157,962 to Obama and $13,750 for Romney.

The traditional logic suggests that Democrats are the more technology-friendly of the two major American political parties, but Facebook’s mostly bipartisan congressional contributions could be interpreted as the early sign of a changing tide.

Facebook also gave to several leading members of the House and Senate Judiciary Committees, which oversee the U.S. court system. That may reveal some of Facebook’s political strategy, as it routinely finds itself either on attack or defense in the courtroom.

The disclosure forms also revealed the top contributors to Facebook’s PAC: CEO Mark Zuckerberg, COO Sheryl Sandberg, founder of LinkedIn Reid Hoffman and venture capitalist Marc Andreessen all chipped in the maximum allowable amount of $5,000.

Does the Democrat-Republican split of Facebook’s PAC surprise you? Sound off in the comments below.




Source: Mashable

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Black Eyed Peas game launched ahead of Christmas

Black Eyed Peas game launched ahead of Christmas period

The Black Eyed Peas are taking
 a break after a Miami concert this week

A video game featuring The Black Eyed Peas has been launched for the Xbox 360 Kinect and Nintendo Wii.

The title was produced using the group's music and motion-captured dance moves from their live gigs.

The Black Eyed Peas Experience is a follow-up to last year's The Michael Jackson Experience game, which sold more than three million copies.

The group say they gave developers their input and their choreographer helped with the dance routines.

The costumes in the game are based on gear worn on stage in the past.

Fergie says she was a big video gamer when she was young and is amazed that she is now appearing in a game as herself.

"I love it," she said. "It's such a dream come true to have your own avatar in a video game, let alone have it wear your costumes and look like you and do your moves.

"It's really crazy. Just remembering playing video games as a little girl; Commodore 64, ZORK, Zelda, Super Mario Bros, Atari, Pac-Man, Frogger, all of that.

"To think that kids are actually going to see us as these video game characters is cool. It's trippy at the same time.

"My legs are a little longer, I would say. They gave me a few inches, so that's nice. Hey, it's fantasy."

The group, which is set to take a break after a concert this week in Miami, say they consider the game a bit of a trip down memory lane.

"A lot of our costumes are from The END and The Beginning tours, which was overseen by B. Akerlund," added Fergie.

"A lot of the other ones are from Monkey Business and Elephunk.

"The costumes are really reminiscent of that time period and of those albums.

"So it kind of takes you back a little bit from when I joined the band, when I joined the Peas, to now, to that evolution. It's nostalgic for us. It's like a photo album."