Weekend Digest: The Old Fashioned Brawl Edition

TV PREVIEW: MEET THE NEW AEDC DIRECTOR
On this week’s edition of Talk Business & Politics, which airs Sundays at 9 a.m. on KATV Ch. 7, tune in for the following:

Mike Preston was named the executive director of the Arkansas Economic Development Commission on Thursday. He’ll sit down for a one-on-one with host Roby Brock to share more about his background and what he hopes to bring to the jobs agency in Arkansas.

KATV’s Janelle Lilley rounds up the hot controversies from the state capitol. And, Democrat-Gazette columnist John Brummett discusses a variety of legislative topics.

Tune in Sunday for Talk Business & Politics at 9 a.m. on KATV Ch. 7.

STAND AGAINST BIGOTRY
And this stand is coming from Silicon Valley.

When Martin Luther King exclaimed that he had a dream, he probably didn’t expect support to come from the direction of a billionaire Silicon Valley CEO. But that is what we see today as Salesforce.com and its CEO Marc Benioff take a stand against a new piece of legislation in Indiana.

It’s called the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. What does it allow? Why has Benioff crossed state lines to take his stand? Arkansas has its own version of the controversy with Apple CEO Tim Cook weighing in.

Forbes has the complete story at this link.

THE MASTER OF RUNNING A MEETING
Well, it was Steve Jobs. This story from Inc. explores Jobs’ brilliant technique of setting the course at a meeting, but surprisingly not at Apple. This was before he returned to Apple and steered it to become one of the biggest companies in the world.

At 31 years old, Steve Jobs was ousted from Apple and started NeXT. This startup, focused on producing high-powered computers for the higher education industry. A talented team left secure positions at Apple and followed Jobs to his new endeavor – evidence of how much people believed in him.

A recently circulated video shows excerpts of a company retreat that Jobs orchestrated during the first three months of the company. For insight on Jobs’ leadership style, follow this link.

‘IF I ONLY KNEW THEN WHAT I KNOW NOW’
How many times have you asked yourself that about your career path when you were just starting out?

What are the things looking back you wish you knew? Not curriculum you blew off, but rather just everyday learning-the-ropes stuff.

A recent graduate shared with Fast Company “what she’s learned after her first year on the job.”

I was determined to graduate with a full-time position to kickstart my professional career. But I graduated unemployed, and I crafted during those two weeks between my graduation and my formal offer. I crafted a lot. But, here I am almost a year later in a first big kid job. Post-grad life is so much more than just that title on your business card. So, here are five things I wish someone had told me about living life after turning the tassel:

Find out at this link and pass it on to your grad.

THE DEATH PENALTY DEBATE AND DRUG MANUFACTURERS
Do you think we should have the death penalty? Manufacturing.Net reports, “In October 2014, Gallup reported that 63 percent of Americans were in favor of capital punishment while 33 percent were opposed.”

But when it comes to carrying out executions in recent years, the vote of one group of individuals — drug manufacturers — has begun to hold more sway.

Public pressure on drug manufacturers to stop selling the chemicals coupled with some companies’ opposition to the practice has cut off supplies, leading to shortages of the drugs used in lethal injections. Now, several states scrambling to figure out if and how they’ll be able to go ahead with scheduled executions.

…”botched executions have dispelled the idea that injections were fool-proof and peaceful.”

So now what?

“With big pharma putting the squeeze on states to reconsider their options, many have turned to smaller drug compounding companies.” But Manufacturing.Net asks, “Will the future lead to the past?”

Go inside this post for an in-depth look at the death penalty debate involving drug manufacturers and what some states are resorting to as an alternative.

COULD JEB BUSH CRASH-AND-BURN?
Even though National Journal considers Bush a formidable candidate it says, “Most strategists agree that Bush has to overcome serious hurdles to win the nomination.”

But there are signs that a worst-case, crash-and-burn scenario for Bush is more realistic than even his skeptics recognize. He’s underperforming in early public polls and is receiving a frosty reception from Republican focus groups. His entitled biography is at odds with the Republican Party’s increasing energy from working-class voters, who relate best with candidates who have struggled to make ends meet.

Also what are focus groups saying and what about that Bush name?

Connect to this link for the full story.

‘CLINTON’S ROUGH ROAD AHEAD’
National Journal isn’t too crazy about Hillary Clinton’s election chances either.

Although Clinton is the prohibitive favorite to win the Democratic nomination, National Journal says, “For Clinton to waltz uneventfully through to the nomination would defy forces of human nature. Don’t count on that happening.”

Why? Find out at this link.

A GOOD OLD FASHIONED BRAWL
POLITICO reports on what happened last week that involved four GOP senators who “are trying to gain the upper hand” in the commander-in-chief contest — Marco Rubio, Rand Paul, Ted Cruz and Lindsey Graham.

Their competition was on vivid display as the Senate took up a Rubio plan to pump tens of billions of dollars more into the Pentagon budget. Paul blasted the idea because the new spending wasn’t offset by other cuts. And caught in the middle was Cruz, who’s pitching himself as a fiscal conservative who can appeal to the hawkish and libertarian wings of the GOP but ultimately sided with Rubio and Graham.

In an interview with POLITICO, Paul lambasted his foes for engaging in “reckless” and “irresponsible” behavior, showing that they lacked the “courage” and conviction to rein in the country’s mountain of debt. He said there are now two camps in the GOP primary field: one that cares about the debt, and another that does not.

And so it goes. The gloves are officially off. For the full story and analysis, click on this link.

NOT QUITE RICH ENOUGH
You might be rich, but if you’re not richy-rich well then don’t expect “to carry platinum status” in 2016 for Republican candidates, reports The Washington Post.

This year, some are still getting the early calls — but most attention is lavished on people who can write the really big checks. Jeb Bush, for instance, is asking top supporters who want to be part of his “National Executive Committee” to contribute or raise $500,000 by April 17 — a presidential-style goal before he is even an official candidate.

“A couple of presidential elections ago, somebody who had raised, say $100,000 for a candidate was viewed as a fairly valuable asset,” said Washington lobbyist Kenneth Kies. “Today, that looks like peanuts. People like me are probably looking around saying, ‘How can I do anything that even registers on the Richter scale?’”

What has happened is that, “Many fundraisers, once treated like royalty because of their extensive donor networks, are left pining for their lost prestige.”

Read more on this shifting subject by connecting here.

KEPLER-186F
No that’s not a new protein drink you can buy at your health food store, but rather…get this, another Earth.

NASA’s Kepler Space Telescope recently discovered an Earth-like planet orbiting a nearby star within the habitable zone of our galaxy. Kepler-186f is approximately 500 light-years from Earth in the Cygnus constellation.

So asks Sharepowered, “What does this mean?”

And how many more of these earth-like planets might there be in our Milky Way galaxy? All answered by following this link.

STRANGE BEAUTY
Mexican photographer Pablo Ortiz Monasterio came to Russia looking for a particular subject to shoot and by luck he ended up with a “consolation prize.”

“I saw those first few machines, those colors – and poof,” Ortiz Monasterio told me recently. “I couldn’t believe it.”

What did he find? Take a look here.