Weekend Digest: The debate winner, Microsoft geeks, Last Waltz edition
by October 22, 2016 9:04 am 155 views
TV PREVIEW
On this week’s TV edition of Talk Business & Politics, which airs Sundays at 9:30 a.m. on KATV Channel 7 in Central Arkansas and in Northeast Arkansas on KAIT-NBC, Sundays at 10 a.m.:
Speaker of the House
Speaker of the House Jeremy Gillam joins us. Does he expect gains or losses in his chamber in 2017? What areas of the budget are of greatest concern? And what’s his take on the Presidential race today?
Survey Says
New polling data on the topic of medical marijuana. Where does public opinion stand on the two measures headed for the November ballot? Who is more supportive, who is more opposed?
Medical marijuana
Plus, we’ll hear from all sides in the medical marijuana debate. From our town hall, State Surgeon General Greg Bledsoe opposes, former U.S. Surgeon General Joycelyn Elders is in favor. We’ll replay their conversation.
Tune in to Talk Business & Politics in Central Arkansas on KATV Channel 7, Sundays at 9:30 a.m. and in Northeast Arkansas on KAIT-NBC, Sundays at 10 a.m.
WHAT HAPPENED TO THE PEOPLE IN MICROSOFT’S ICONIC 1978 COMPANY PHOTO?
“Where are they now?”, asks Business Insider.
It’s one of the most iconic photos in American business.
A ragtag group of bearded weirdos assembled for a family portrait in Albuquerque. If you see it on Facebook or LinkedIn, there’s usually a question above the photo: “Would you have invested?”
“It’s a trick question. You’re supposed to answer no – because well, look at those people – but then you learn it’s a company portrait of Microsoft from 1978.”
With Microsoft’s stock hitting an all-time high after earnings on Thursday — higher than its previous peak in 1999, at the height of the dot-com boom — we thought it would be a good time to take another look back.
MUSICIANS MAY BE THE KEY TO THE CYBERSECURITY TALENT SHORTAGE
Companies scrambling to find cybersecurity talent may want to look toward more creative candidates, says Fast Company.
“Cybersecurity is a hot industry right now. Nearly every big company has had some breach or network scare and companies are doubling down on how to protect themselves. The industry, according to ISACA’s Cybersecurity Advisory Council, is held back because so few workers have the necessary expertise beyond the security basics typically required by corporate compliance standards.”
That’s where musicians come in.
They understand the underlying theory of a composition and are able to find and riff off sonic patterns, skills that could translate to computer development. Could they contribute to cybersecurity efforts in the future?
DO THESE 4 THINGS TO FOSTER NEW CREATIVITY
A contributor to Forbes writes, “This post on creativity is the final segment in my series on ‘How to be a Collaborative Partner.'”
He asks, “What could your company do with a little extra creative genius?”
By establishing a creativity-friendly work culture, the possibilities could be immeasurable.
Here are four ways to encourage the best creativity from your employees.
START NETWORKING WITH PEOPLE OUTSIDE YOUR INDUSTRY
“Most professionals build their network over time through proximity — people from your business school study group, or colleagues from your current company or past jobs. You may have a few outliers in the mix, but unless you’ve been deliberate about your networking, the vast majority of people you know probably work in the same field or industry as you. It may seem innocuous, but that inadvertent myopia can put you at serious professional risk,” claims Harvard Business Review.
First, if your network has become too narrow, you limit your options in case of a career change, or a downturn in your company or industry. If coworkers are the only ones you know well, and you find yourself in the midst of layoffs, there’s no one to turn to for outside assistance.
Additionally, you’re more prone to groupthink if you’re not exposed to diverse perspectives and points of view. To gain more insight, HBR has “four strategies you can follow” at this link.
WHY FOX’S CHRIS WALLACE WAS A DEBATE NIGHT WINNER
USA Today declares, “So Debate No. 3 had one clearcut winner: Fox News’ Chris Wallace.”
This has has been a challenging year indeed for presidential debate moderators, in a campaign filled with all manner of bizarre side issues and a boisterous, sometimes ungovernable debate presence named Donald J. Trump. Previous debates have been chaotic, often embarrassing affairs that did little to contribute to the nation’s civil dialogue.
On Wednesday night, Wallace put on a clinic on how to run a debate, He focused heavily on questions of substance. He largely stayed away from the distractions. And he moved quickly and forcibly to keep the debate on track, cutting off interruptions and off-subject interjections. Not perfectly, but pretty darn well.
Wallace was helped in part by the fact that GOP candidate Trump wasn’t quite as rambunctious as he was in the first two debates. Nevertheless, Wallace impressed with his low-key but strong determination to keep things moving and keep interruptions and digressions to a minimum. The result was the most meaningful and least silly and off-putting of the general election debates of 2016. Setting the bar pretty low, but still.
For the complete analysis, follow this link.
TRUMP, CLINTON CLASH IN FINAL DEBATE
U.S. News reports, “In their final debate, Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton clashed sharply over long-standing issues like immigration and abortion as well as extraordinarily unique flashpoints like foreign interference in this election and allegations of sexual assault, with the Republican presidential nominee remarkably refusing to say he’d accept the results of an election now less than three weeks away.”
While Trump began the 90-minute affair at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas in a relatively subdued and disciplined fashion, his patience appeared to wear thin over time, as he increasingly became cantankerous and interrupted his opponent more frequently. He allowed himself to unravel in the final moments when he snapped, dubbing Clinton “a nasty woman.”
The Democratic nominee prosecuted a consistent substantive case against Trump on an array of issues, but did not need a knockout punch like he did. Sitting on a polling lead, Clinton picked her moments to execute, but just as often took the safe tact to grin and bear through Trump’s most blistering comments.
For a detailed recap and analysis from Dave Catanese, click here.
REPUBLICANS, TIME TO PREPARE FOR A SCORCHED-EARTH CLINTON PRESIDENCY
Steve Schmidt, former advisor to John McCain’s 2008 presidential campaign, appeared yesterday on MSNBC’s Morning Joe and suggested that it looks like Hillary Clinton is heading towards an electoral college blowout.
Asked by host Joe Scarborough how many electoral votes Clinton will claim, Schmidt opined, “I think she’s trending over 400.” Schmidt went on to say that he expects Democrats to take the Senate and to pick up 25 House seats or more,” according to The Hill.
Schmidt is hardly alone. The polls and online markets currently have Clinton running away with the contest, begging the question: If Clinton wins big, what’s it likely to mean for the country?
Well, there are two ways that a President-elect Clinton might choose to lead. Click here to read more.
WILL RYAN AND McCONNELL CONCEDE FOR TRUMP?
“The GOP leaders’ silence on Trump’s refusal to say he’ll accept election results could be tough to maintain after Nov. 8,” reports POLITICO.
Donald Trump’s refusal to say he’ll accept a loss on Election Day has raised a jarring possibility: that Paul Ryan or Mitch McConnell, the nation’s top two elected Republicans, will have to do it for him.
“Just don’t expect the House speaker or Senate majority leader to step in before they absolutely have to,” says one observer. For more on this story, go to this link.
EMMETT TILL MARKER IN MISSISSIPPI RIDDLED WITH BULLETS
Emmett Till’s tragic death was a catalyst for the civil rights movement. His brutal killing inspired Rosa Parks to board a bus in Alabama and refuse to give up her seat.
Now, the historical sign marking where Emmett Till’s body was found in the Tallahatchie River in 1955 has been riddled with bullets. Since the Emmett Till Memorial Commission put up eight markers in Tallahatchie County in 2008, the sign near the river has been a repeated target of vandals.
It’s not the only instance of vandalism against the civil rights history of Mississippi. Read more here.
THE MAKING OF THE LAST WALTZ, THE BAND’S CONCERT-FILM MASTERPIECE
Vanity Fair posts, “When the Band decided to stop touring, they asked a young director named Martin Scorsese to put their farewell concert on film. In an excerpt from his new memoir, Testimony, guitarist-songwriter Robbie Robertson recalls the night of Thanksgiving 1976, where electric performances by legends such as Bob Dylan and Joni Mitchell created rock history.”
All around us, bands we knew were imploding, trying to live what they thought was the rock ’n’ roll high life. We saw them falling by the side of the road, but through a one-way mirror. We saw everything but ourselves.
One night in 1976, I spoke to the guys about the possibility of bringing this phase of our journey to a conclusion; that we needed to look out for one another and get out of the line of fire for a while. At every concert we played, packs of destructive influences showed up like they were in the business of helping you drown. Somewhere along the way we had lost our unity and our passion to reach higher. Self-destructiveness had become the power that ruled us.
My instinct was to have a celebration of our music and then get out of the public eye.
And so they did. For a beautiful read, go to this link.
TOP FIVE SLOTH FACTS FOR INTERNATIONAL SLOTH DAY
Oct. 20 was International Sloth Day, but every day is a good day to learn more about one of the coolest animals on the planet.
So here are top five coolest facts for International Sloth Day.
(You’ll need to read these slowly.) At. This. Link.