Weekend Digest: The Ready For Hillary Edition

TV PREVIEW – THE READY FOR HILLARY EDITION

New Arkansas Education Commissioner Johnny Key has a series of challenges and opportunities in his new role. We’ll sit down for a one-on-one with the new commish and roll through our latest polling on the topic.

TB&P Business editor Wesley Brown has been covering the big headlines from this week’s activity. A new location for two tech firms, trouble in the Fayetteville Shale play, and Walmart gives workers a raise. We’ll discuss.

KATV’s Elicia Dover broke news this week related to $8 million spent on solar panels at the VA hospital. Was it a waste? It’s caught the attention of a U.S. Congressman and U.S. Senator.

Finally, are we ready for Hillary? The former first lady is jumping into the 2016 Presidential race. We’ve got details plus a look back at a historic night in Arkansas for Hillary Clinton.

Tune in to Talk Business & Politics with Roby Brock on Sunday at 9 a.m. on KATV Ch. 7.

AN AMERICAN ICON, THE COCA-COLA BOTTLE
Fast Company reports the Coca-Cola bottle turns 100 this year and to celebrate its centennial the High Museum of Art in Atlanta is presenting:  The Coca-Cola Bottle: An American Icon at 100.

The exhibit tracks the evolution of this universally recognizable piece of Americana, through original design sketches and prototypes; fan art by the likes of Andy Warhol; Coke bottle-inspired housewares by design firm Nendo; and photographs by greats like Walker Evans, Berenice Abbott, and William Christenberry.

“The show reveals how something as seemingly mundane as a mass-manufactured soda container became one of the 20th century’s biggest design success stories.”

Go this link to learn what inspired the original design a 100 years ago that became a “shorthand commentary on American mass culture.”

NEED A CREATIVITY BOOST?
Fast Company asks, “Think you’d generate more ideas with more time, more money, and more opportunities?”

The answer: “Think again.”

Maybe a “pressure-cooker pace” is what you need to enhance your creativity.

Or put another way, ” “The more boundaries you set, the more freedom you have.”

Fast Company challenges you to try imposing five limitations on yourself, “To free and lift creative potential.” Go to this link for the boost.

‘DESIGN A WORK-LIFE IMPROVEMENT PILOT PROJECT’
Do you overlook the role of work-life balance in driving your on-the-job performance?

Just as food fuels your body, having a life outside of work fuels on-the-job performance. But while performance goals are always top of mind for managers, many overlook the role of employee work-life balance in driving that performance.

Let’s be honest. Historically, companies have not treated work-life balance as a strategic imperative. They haven’t acknowledged the stress and overwhelm caused by increased workloads and the disappearance of the traditional boundaries between work and life. They’ve allowed the “You’re just lucky to have a job” post-recession mindset to linger and hamper innovation, and they’ve continued to marginalize anything related to flexibility as a “mother’s issue.”

Consequently Harvard Business Review says, “…many employees don’t know where to begin in terms of managing the competing demands on their time and energy – whether because their managers aren’t supporting them, or because they’ve never learned to be strategic about managing the modern all-you-can-eat reality of work and life.”

So something has to give, and usually that’s your blood pressure and stress level.

What if you could get “the skills to identify what matters the most, on and off then job, and then make those priorities happen in a way that sustained both well being and high performance?”

You can by clicking this link.

STARBUCKS MAKES A HUGE OFFER TO ITS EMPLOYEES
We’re talking a quarter-of-a billion dollar commitment here and it’s for education.

Starbucks Coffee just announced a commitment of up to $250 million to ensure that each of its U.S. employees–whether full or part-time–can go to four years of college and graduate without any tuition debt.

…the Seattle-based company has already (since June) been offering tuition coverage but until now has limited it to juniors and seniors. Starbucks is now expanding the program so that all eligible part-time or full-time can apply for and complete all four years of a bachelor’s degree through Arizona State University’s generally well-regarded online degree program.

Forbes asks, “Why is Starbucks doing this, how is it good for their business, and would a similar expansion in what I offer my own employees be a good idea for my own company?”

Answers here.

SWITCHING TO NATURAL GAS IN OHIO
The National Journal reports that Ohio is “ground zero” for a national revolution.  A revolution of switching to natural gas for energy.

The combination of horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing in the Utica and Marcellus shale plays in Ohio allows companies to tap vast reserves of natural gas that weren’t accessible before.

This has led to cheap natural gas, and more affordable electricity from plants powered by natural gas. The costs of both types of energy have been a boon for Ohio businesses.

This is especially true for energy-hungry manufacturers, giving a serious boost to the economy of a Rust Belt state that in the past few decades as seen steel mills close and many factories move operations overseas.

The National Journal takes an in-depth look at the shale boom in Ohio. Go inside the story to see how this cheap energy source is helping businesses from McDonald’s to the NBA’s Cleveland Cavaliers at this link.

RAHM TEACHES HILLARY A LESSON
POLITICO reports, “A win by Jesús “Chuy” García in the Chicago mayor’s race this week would have sent a signal that the progressive wing of the Democratic Party would be a decisive force in 2016, and that Hillary Clinton better do what they want or get out of the way.”

But Garcia lost. Big. And Rahm Emanuel, the combative former chief of staff to President Barack Obama who spent the race being hammered for caring more about big donors from Big Business than unions or working people, will be sworn in again next month for a second term as mayor.

And the lesson in all this for Democrats and Hillary Clinton?

Go to this link to find out.

‘FIESTY BILL CLINTON’
POLITICO posts, “Bill Clinton is privately pushing back against the idea that he’s become frail and will play a more limited role on his wife’s impending 2016 campaign than he did in her 2008 bid.”

During a private Clinton Foundation fundraiser last week in Austin, Texas, Clinton rejected the premise of a March 29 New York Times story that described him as looking “older than his 68 years” and detailed efforts by Hillary Clinton advisers “to harness both the rare gifts and rash impulses” of the former president.

The piece was more appropriately characterized as “creative writing” than news, Bill Clinton told donors to his family’s foundation, according to someone with knowledge of the event.

So what could his role be in Hillary’s impending second run for the presidency and can his “rare gifts” rather than “rash impulses” be harnessed to help his wife get elected? Connect to this link for POLITICO’s take.

BOB SCHIEFFER DECIDES TO RETIRE
USA Today calls him “Old-school at its finest.” And this summer, 78-year-old Bob Schieffer is stepping down as host of CBS’ Face the Nation.

His roots go very deep into the history of network television, stretching back to and through the glory years. He joined CBS in 1969 — 46 years ago — after a stint in print at the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, where he covered the Kennedy assassination.

Talk about an analog guy in a digital era. And yet Schieffer has always seemed relevant. He embodies that seriousness of purpose that was TV news at its best. Real news. Important news. No gotcha instincts. No trash with flash. No glam.

And it worked.  Schieffer’s Face the Nation program lead its rivals and USA Today says when he was asked to fill-in as anchor for the nightly CBS news broadcast, “he did fine.”

So what is it about Schieffer’s approach that resonates with his audience? Link to this story here for all the “uncool” answers.

EXTINGUISHING A FIRE WITH SOUND
“Say that again,” you might ask. It’s true. CNN reports that after many trials, “Two engineering students developed a fire extinguisher that works with sound waves.”

Viet Tran and Seth Robertson’s new fire extinguisher looks a little like a conventional one, but instead of a compressed air tank spewing out chemicals, theirs has a loudspeaker the size of subwoofer drumming out sound waves.

But how is that possible and what do the students envision as practical uses for their new patent seeking invention?

Well, it’s  “All about that bass…’Bout that bass, no treble.”

“Flame off” at this link.

HAVE A BEER!  IT’S GOOD FOR YOU
Who says all the good stuff has to be bad for you?  Not us and we have strong backing from Everyday Health.

Everyday Health says it starts with the hops.

Hops, the female flowers of the hop plant, give beer its tangy, bitter taste. These bright green buds are also chock-full of chemicals known as bitter acids, which have an array of health-promoting effects.

Bitter acids are powerful inflammation fighters, according to a 2009 laboratory study published in Molecular Nutrition and Food Research. One type of bitter acid, humulone, offers promise for both preventing and treating viral respiratory infections in a 2013 study funded by Japanese beer manufacturer Sapporo.

So have a cold one while checking out seven other ways beer is good for you here.

THE SCIENCE BEHIND HANDSHAKES
Bet you didn’t learn this in your Physical Science class as AOL reports, “A new study suggests shaking hands is more than just a common greeting.”

Researchers at Israel’s Weizmann Institute of Science say it’s actually a way of smelling each other – much like animals do to learn more about one another. Except people are much more discreet.

How did they figure that out and what did participants do when they shook hands with the opposite sex? Connect to this link to learn.