Weekend Digest: A Ten Trillion Dollar Company
by December 6, 2014 12:15 am 151 views
TV PREVIEW: GENERAL WESLEY CLARK + THE ETHICS & TERM LIMITS AMENDMENT
General Wesley Clark is our guest on Talk Business & Politics this Sunday. He has a new book discussing the need for American leadership in an unstable, changing world. Military might, energy independence – How does General Clark say we should be answering the world’s strategic challenges?
We begin a look at the recently passed amendments from the November election. This week, what’s in Issue No. 3? It includes significant ethics reforms and it extends term limits. KATV’s Elicia Dover reports.
Plus, we’ll talk politics with the co-authors of this new constitutional amendment to find out what comes next? We’ll explore the confusion over the details and the need for legislative and regulatory guidance. Sen. Jon Woods, R-Springdale, and Rep. Warwick Sabin, D-Little Rock, are our roundtable guests.
We’ll also run through the latest business and political headlines of the week. Tune in to Talk Business & Politics on Sunday morning at 9 a.m. on KATV Ch. 7.
For our weekend business and political readers:
THE FIRST TEN-TRILLION DOLLAR COMPANY
Who are we taking about here? Apple of course and that staggering look into the future can only be preceded with the question, “How might it get there?”
Through “assumptions” and “converging trends” posts Medium.
Trends…are you ready for this… that could turn Apple into a bank with its own cryptocurrency.
If Apple starts acting like a bank (which many have already assumed is happening), what will that look like? Will mortgages of the future take place via Apple Watch? Will Apple currency be backed by shares in the company (gives an interesting flavor to the company’s current share buyback)? Honestly I have no idea. But the hold that the idea of cryptocurrency has on the technology industry — and the fact that many large companies are moving towards payment technology both in the cloud, and using NFC-type-technologies, means that as these companies expand their reach I think there are bound to be internal arguments about creating currency-like tools.
Apple creating its own currency? Crazy idea?
But assuming it isn’t, what will leading indicators be as Apple prepares to focus on this new market?
With an open mind, go to this link to find out.
VANITY MAGIC TRICKS
You know the ones Hollywood stars have always used to make themselves appear younger and more handsome and beautiful. Most of those are commonly known, but Mashable reports on a vanity secret that is magic. Movie magic that “has stayed underground for more than a decade.”
In some cases, it’s for pure vanity. In others it’s because the film requires it.
This is the version of on-screen stars that we, the audience, see. And if this comes as any surprise, it’s because the first rule of beauty work is: Don’t talk about beauty work.
But Mashable has found out, and reveals it all, in-depth. It’s a process where, “Nobody looks like what you see on TV and in the movies. Everybody is altered.”
Get the entire scoop here.
AVOID FAKE WORK
A contributor to Forbes was recently asked the question, “How should we respond when we’re constantly asked to do more with less?”
The good news, I told him, is that the “do more with less” challenge presents a golden opportunity for smart, proactive people.
Most anyone can do less with more. That’s a no-brainer. Doing more with less requires strategic sorting of priorities. It’s fairly common for business people to tell me that in their organizations “everything is a priority so, therefore, nothing is a real priority.” That’s the equivalent of saying you’re too busy driving to stop and get gas.
One of the most useful ways to sort priorities is to launch a relentless search for fake work.
What is “fake work” and how do you avoid it? And does it mean people aren’t working hard?
“…working hard is not a barometer, because you can work very hard and still be building a road to nowhere.”
For the full story, follow this link.
THE TWO MOST INNOVATION-FRIENDLY STATES
What is it these two states have in common? Harvard Business Review reports it is about creating clusters of innovation.
So if clusters are the product of innovative firms rather than the cause, and if universities aren’t the key to determining where innovative firms are likely to locate, what, if anything, does create clusters of innovation?
…what sets these two states apart from the other states? It’s clearly not geography — it’s hard to imagine two states being more different in climate (sun versus snow), location (coastal versus mid-western) or culture. It’s not industry specific; the firms in both states span a wide set of industries and no single industry comprises more that 15% of firms in either state, so the explanation is unlikely to come from Porter’s four-diamond framework of regional advantage.
For the surprising answer and a look at how all 50 states rank, connect to this link.
THE MONEY MAJORITY
Politico reports, “Mitch McConnell has a plan to stay in control of the Senate. It has dollar signs attached.”
Mitch McConnell is moving swiftly to consolidate political power — and cash.
Before he even takes the reins as Senate majority leader, McConnell and his allies are quietly trying to engineer a bold plan that would enable party leaders to rely more on major contributions to independent groups while also removing restrictions on the ability of the National Republican Senatorial Committee and other party committees to interact with candidates.
But who would raise all this cash? Politico calls it a “two-pronged campaign finance initiative.”
“He’s trying to create Mitch McConnell, Inc.,” said David Donnelly, executive director of a group called Every Voice.
Can McConnell’s efforts succeed and what are those opposed to this action doing to try and stop him?
Go to this link for the full story.
REINVENTING JEB BUSH
Politico poses this rhetorical assessment. “Jeb Bush. Not conservative enough.”
Try as I might, it remains impossible to see these two concepts as even remotely related. John Ellis Bush, the second son of George Herbert Walker Bush and Barbara Bush, who during his first run for Florida governor in 1994 cheerfully called himself a head-banging conservative, a hang-’em-by-the-neck conservative … who during his second run for Florida governor in 1998 had to craft for himself a more compassionate persona so as not to scare off independent voters … that Jeb Bush has come to be viewed with suspicion by the uber-conservative, Tea Party wing of his Republican Party?
Politico takes a pop at all the hot-button issues and the conservative approaches Mr. Bush took for each.
Things like: Anti-tax, anti-spending, law-and-order, small-government, pro-gun and religion.
Let’s just say Bush certainly is no moderate as some have implied, at least on these and other lynch-pin conservative positions.
So how did this “Jeb-as-a-moderate” theme evolve and what is the easy solution to it? Click on this link for the complete story and analysis.
FACEBOOK DATA AND 2016
The Washington Post says, “It is not yet proven that what’s being talked about and shared on Facebook correlates to electoral outcomes.”
That hasn’t prevented several recent stories (using exclusive data from Facebook) that imply there’s some predictive knowledge to be extracted from Facebook’s numbers.
On Thursday, Hadas Gold outlined numbers from Facebook that detailed how frequently potential 2016 candidates had been discussed on the site between late August and late November.
There is also another set of Facebook data analyzed. “Sentiment about candidates.”
That is: How positive or negative the comments about each candidate were.
Take a look here at the results and what it possibly may all mean.
SCARY FACTS ABOUT NOT SLEEPING ENOUGH
The Washington Post reports on the findings revealed in a recent National Geographic Channel documentary called “Sleepless in America.”
The gist: Everyone is tired. No one gets enough sleep. And then this: Chronic sleep deprivation could have irreparable damage to your health.
Need more sleep? You may want to start getting more after learning these 15 scary facts about the problems associated with sleep deprivation. Click on this link.
BOOZE IN A COLLEGE TOWN
Athens is the home to the University of Georgia. And like a lot of college towns, there are many bars catering to and tempting its students.
This college town, like many others, celebrates touchdowns, serves early-morning cheeseburgers, and pours many flavors of vodka. When the sun goes down, some students get hammered, just as they do in Chapel Hill, Ann Arbor, and Eugene.
But here in Athens, everything is amplified. The temptations for young drinkers are plentiful, and the penalties can be severe. Enforcement is vigorous, and so, too, is the university’s commitment to prevention. Alcohol is a big business in town, with costs and benefits. Each bottle delivered on the eve of another weekend represents a love-hate affair, an abiding ambivalence about drinking.
The Chronicle of Education says, “It’s an uneasy equilibrium, with competing interests.”
There are determined police officers and resourceful entrepreneurs, business owners and health educators, students who reject drinking and alumni who embrace it.
“Each one has a hand on the valve.”
Go inside this story to learn about the stakeholders from the police chief to the fake ID maker at this link.
WANDERERS
Wanderers is a must see. It won’t take long.
Stop what you’re doing, set aside four minutes of your time, and bask in the inspirational spectacle that is Wanderers, an electrifying short film by animator Erik Wernquist that seamlessly merges breathtaking visions of humanity’s future in deep space with stirring narration by Carl Sagan. Trust us – you don’t want to miss this.