Day: June 6, 2018

States defy FCC repeal of net neutrality | TheHill

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Washington and Oregon have already passed their own laws to fill the void left by the FCC’s repeal, and California appears to be close behind after the state Senate passed a net neutrality bill on Wednesday.

A total of 29 states have proposed their own open internet legislation, according to Gigi Sohn, a fellow at Georgetown Law who’s been tracking the initiatives.

And five Democratic governors have gone with another tactic: issuing executive orders that prohibit the state from doing business with any broadband company that violates the principles of net neutrality.

Source: States defy FCC repeal of net neutrality | TheHill

How do elites manage to hijack voters’ ideas of themselves? | Aeon Essays

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Both in political science and economics, vested interests representing elites, lobbies, other pressure groups, or voters at large are the cornerstone of contemporary frameworks of political economy.

The emphasis on interests provides social scientists with a powerful tool with which to analyze the political determination of policies and institutions.

Interests help to explain why foreign trade is often restricted – so it benefits well-organized domestic producers. It helps to explain why regulation tends to favor incumbents at the expense of potential entrants – due to the influence of the regulated firms themselves (a phenomenon known as ‘regulatory capture’).

It helps to explain why elites fail to develop their economies – to preserve their own in power.

Source: How do elites manage to hijack voters’ ideas of themselves? | Aeon Essays

Suffering, not just happiness, weighs in the utilitarian calculus | Aeon Ideas

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For most of our history, we’ve seen suffering as a mystery, and dealt with it by placing it in a complex symbolic framework, often where this life is conceived as a testing ground. In the 18th century, the mystery of suffering becomes the ‘problem of evil’, in which pain and misery turn into clear-cut refutations of God’s goodness to utilitarian reformers.

As J S Mil says of his father: ‘He found it impossible to believe that a world so full of evil was the work of an Author combining infinite power with perfect goodness and righteousness.’

For a utilitarian, the idea of worshiping the creator of suffering is not only absurd, it undercuts the purpose of morality.

Source: Suffering, not just happiness, weighs in the utilitarian calculus | Aeon Ideas

Why Most CEOs Are Not Strategic Personally

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This is a mash up of ideas previously discussed in Boris Groysberg et al’s article on “The Culture Factor” and my own articles on strategic points of inflection, “Sophisticated” leadership, and aligning strategy and culture.

The outcome of that mash up is that when conditions or objectives change, CEOs must lead through points of inflection by jump-shifting strategy, organization and operations all at the same time and all synced together. And they must change the way they lead.

The problem is that CEOs see themselves as general managers.

True. Their No. 1 job is to own the vision and the values. Additionally, they must own the strategic, organizational and operating processes. Just as culture, organization and operations must be aligned with one of four over-arching strategic choices—design, produce, deliver, service—so must CEOs’ attitudes.

Source: Why Most CEOs Are Not Strategic Personally

There is no economic boom in sight | TheHill

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The new income data also show that the 2017 corporate tax cuts, thus far, have done little for average Americans. In fact, over the first four months of this year, wage and salary growth slowed to 0.275 percent on a monthly basis, compared to 0.325 percent throughout 2017.

Unless there is a real investment boom, GDP and consumer spending eventually overtake employment, and job growth slows too. If this mediocre expansion receives a nasty shock from a trade war, a crisis for the euro, or sharp increases in energy prices, which are all plausible developments today, it will be time to prepare for the coming recession.

Source: There is no economic boom in sight | TheHill

Artificial intelligence debate flares at Google | TheHill

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Google, facing internal pressure, told employees during a meeting on Friday that it would not renew its contract with the Defense Department’s flagship AI program, known as Project Maven, after it expires in 2019, according to multiple reports.

The contract sparked a public relations crisis after a handful of employees reportedly resigned in protest and thousands of employees signed a letter urging the company’s CEO not to allow Google to be drafted into the “business of war.”

Source: Artificial intelligence debate flares at Google | TheHill

‘Stingray’ spying prompts fears about surveillance | TheHill

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Fresh concerns about digital privacy and security are budding in Washington amid revelations of potential surveillance activity in the D.C. region, causing some lawmakers to demand action from the Trump administration.

Officials with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) recently disclosed signs of sophisticated technology, known colloquially as “Stingrays,” near sensitive facilities including the White House.

The devices, International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI) catchers, exploit cell towers to potentially intercept cellphone communications. The technology has historically been used by law enforcement officials to track suspects, but the new revelations have bolstered fears that foreign intelligence agencies could be using them to spy on U.S. officials.

Source: ‘Stingray’ spying prompts fears about surveillance | TheHill

It’s time to fix our cloud procurement problems | FCW

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It’s no surprise that cloud activity has escalated. For the foreseeable future, cloud computing will be the dominant modus operandi for information technology. Observers have noted that the massive migration of IT workloads to cloud is the third or fourth major disruptive shift in the history of computing, equaling in some ways the major disruption caused by the advent of the World Wide Web.

Why all the fuss? It’s simple: When properly and strategically deployed, cloud saves buckets of time and money.

Source: It’s time to fix our cloud procurement problems — FCW

A Glottalization For People, Not Business | Social Europe

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What is relevant in this debate is understanding what the term “free trade” means precisely.

In earlier times, it meant the absence of customs and tariffs as well as non-discrimination of importers.

In more recent times, the concept of free trade was extended to embrace the abolition of so-called non-tariff barriers. These are norms and regulations that are in principle different for each economy. They are based on political considerations and reflect the political preferences of each society.

From a trade perspective they can be easily interpreted as barriers to entry into a market. This opens a completely new field of thinking and of shaping global trade.

Source: A Glottalization For People, Not Business • Social Europe

Six takeaways from 2018’s Super Tuesday | TheHill

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In critical races across the country, Democrats had a good night. But so too did Republicans, who avoided a disaster that could have cost them several seats in the House.

Here are the most significant results from Tuesday’s electoral contests …

Source: Six takeaways from 2018’s Super Tuesday | TheHill