Weekend Digest: The Former Miss America Edition

For our weekend business and political readers:

STARBUCKS DEAL WITH GROUPON PAYS OFF
Starbucks says it “accepts that innovation is messy, and it is willing to suffer setbacks here and there to be a disruptive force.” That’s exactly what the retail coffeehouse giant did this past Spring when it joined forces with Groupon for a daily deal discount.

The discount wasn’t for anything crazy like bungee jumps or skydiving lessons – it was for 50% off a $10 Starbucks Card eGift – but the deal was just as risky because of how the company would be offering it. Starbucks had to integrate its eGift platform with Groupon’s system for the one-off promotion, and it was about to go live to the world.

Did the deal pay off and what glitches had to be overcome? Why did Starbucks choose to sync-up with Groupon for promotions and what are some of the other famous gambits this mega-company has made?

Fast Company has all the answers and you can too by clicking this link.

APPLE TO EXPAND ITS CALIFORNIA WORKFORCE BY HUGE NUMBER
It all happens in its Silicon Valley headquarters where one-fifth of Apple’s employees worldwide work. During the next three years that number is going to get much bigger.

Apple expects to expand its Silicon Valley workforce by nearly 50 percent during the next three years, signaling the company’s faith in its ability to keep coming up with hit products like the iPhone and iPad.

So why are so many workers being hired and won’t they need lots more space? Could this mean Apple is up to something really big? Business Insider has the “inside” scoop at this link.

THE INFLUENCE OF SOCIAL MEDIA ON POP CULTURE
It’s huge, and it’s getting bigger as it lets “fans interact with creators and stars and give them instant feedback on what they like and what they don’t.”

To get an inside look at this new convergence and the possibilities it holds, All Things Digital’s Kara Swisher spoke with Anne Sweeney, co-chair of Disney Media Networks and president of Disney/ABC Television Group, and I. Marlene King, executive producer of the programs “Pretty Little Liars” and “Ravenswood.”

For excerpts from those conversations go to this link from the Wall Street Journal.

PASSAGE OF PORK
The town is called Smithfield and it’s in southeastern Virginia. It is the home of Smithfield Foods and the birthplace of the Genuine Smithfield Ham and American icon. Or, it was.

The announcement that Smithfield Foods, the world’s biggest pork producer, had agreed to sell itself to a Chinese meat conglomerate has left many here wondering how the $4.7 billion deal will affect their lives and their town’s most important symbol.

The company’s vast facility in the middle of town draws workers from communities across this part of the commonwealth and North Carolina, and locals say they have built their own businesses — and a wider tourist economy — on the back of the hometown firm’s growth.

So how are the locals taking this foreign invasion and what do they think the effect will be on Smithfield? The Washington Post has the full story at this link.

DRUDGE WAS RIGHT
Chris Cillizza with WaPo’s The Fix looks back 15 years ago to a speech that the controversial Matt Drudge gave to the National Press Club and concludes, “Matt Drudge was right.”

Turns out, Drudge was right about where journalism was heading.

“We have entered an era vibrating with the din of small voices,” he said in the speech. “Every citizen can be a reporter.” Later, he added: “The Net gives as much voice to a 13 year old computer geek like me as to a CEO or Speaker of the House. We all become equal. And you would be amazed what the ordinary guy knows.”

Cillizza has video of the Drudge speech, which is worth a view whether you like him or not.

IS RUBIO STRADDLING THE FENCE ON IMMIGRATION REFORM?
Some think the Republican Senator from Florida is. That’s because after months of defending immigration reform to conservatives, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) said earlier this week that, as the bill stands, he won’t vote for it.

“Rubio is trying to have it both ways — be seen as a leader on behalf of both immigrants and people who are uncomfortable with immigration,” said AFL-CIO spokesman Jeff Hauser. “At some point, he’ll have to choose, and ultimately we are convinced he will recognize that choosing citizenship for the 11 million is the right political move.”

Why has Rubio become unhappy with his own bill and does his current dissent bode badly for the bill’s defeat, or is this just grandstand grumbling that will turn back to support? The Washington Post has the full story and analysis at this link.

ROUGH STRETCH FOR THE PRESIDENT
The past several weeks have been perhaps the roughest stretch for President Obama since he was elected, and it’s getting worse. With one major controversy after-another popping-up, now the administration has a new slate of sour news to deal with. A new poll shows that the majority of Americans think Obamacare is a “bad idea.”

The numbers are also up for whether Americans believe the law will make them worse off. Thirty-eight percent of respondents said they believe the law makes them worse off, the highest figure the survey has found since President Barack Obama signed the law. Nineteen percent said it would make them better off, and 39 percent responded it wouldn’t make a difference.

The NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll of 1,000 adults was conducted May 30-June 2. Go to this link from Politico for complete results of the poll.

ANOTHER BAD REPORT, THIS TIME FOR THE GOP
“Closed-minded, racist, rigid, old-fashioned,” and that’s just the beginning.

The College Republican National Committee has commissioned a report examining the party’s dim prospects with millennials, who gave Barack Obama a five-million-vote edge over Mitt Romney in the 2012 election. The focus-group reviews are in – and they are brutal.

The report is called the “Grand Old Party of a Brand New Generation” and Rolling Stone has compiled its “10 most scathing quotes.” Check out the trash talk from the millennials at this link.

HARVARD-EDUCATED FORMER MISS AMERICA RUNNING FOR CONGRESS
Her name is Erika Harold and she was selected Miss America in 2003. Now the 33-year-old single lawyer hopes Republican voters in Illinois’ 13th Congressional District will pick her in an upcoming primary.

Her opponent is incumbent freshman, Rep. Rodney Davis.

She calls her opponent, a “good person,” insists there’s no need for attacks, and says let the judges, no, make that the voters, decide.

“I view this primary process as being very healthful to the party because we will be able throughout the campaign to debate the issues that are important to the party,” newly declared candidate Erika Harold told POLITICO, referring to her challenge of Rep. Rodney Davis in the GOP primary.

How does she stand on issues like Obamacare? Learn more about Harold and her campaign platform at this link from Politico.

DRINK IT BLACK FOR GOOD HEALTH
How do you have your coffee? Cream and sugar? Not such a good idea reports Live Mint and the Wall Street Journal.

A study published in May last year in the New England Journal of Medicine suggested that frequent coffee drinkers live longer. Apparently, they have a lower risk of dying from diseases like diabetes, heart disease, etc., compared to those who drink little coffee or none at all — a good 10-15% lower.

That’s great news for coffee enthusiasts. But when experts talk about coffee being good for health (it also helps bring down blood pressure), they are usually talking about a standard cup of coffee with little milk and very little sugar, if at all.

The post deconstructs the common coffees so you can choose your next cup wisely. More here.

HEY, WHERE’S THE LENS?
It doesn’t have one. But guess what? It’s still a camera.

The traditional method of imaging, which is at least 150 years old, relies on a lens to create an image and a device for recording photons such as an array of pixels, a light-sensitive film or even a retina.
But a dramatic revolution that is currently taking the world of imaging by storm means that this could soon change.

What’s the revolution and who’s behind it?  Click here for the complete “exposure.”

EVEN IN DEATH, MAN’S BEST FRIEND
You can’t come up with words. You just have to see this picture taken at the funeral of a fallen Kentucky police officer.