Working Away: Reflections On #outsiders; #uselections: #Worldwatch & other thoughts....

It has been a rather interesting week in #Outsiders as the transition to the new platform is being finalized.     This is as we have been witness to the continued exciting scenes on the US Political Scene.   As part of the plan for the quarter, our team has made a decision not to release any notation on the US Political Scene until after the two major parties nominate the candidates.    The estimates on the delegate counts are preliminary and subject to further discussions.   Although polls are being done almost daily, the indications are not sufficient enough to assess status.    Talks of Supreme Court nominees and other matters the team reviewed this morning are also headline grabbers for sure.   Promises of good paying jobs, destroying the Government and unleashing creativity is fabulous.   Repealing Obamacare is headline-grabbing.  Deporting 11 Million Illegals and forcing Mexico to pay for a wall by policing remittances is also attention grabbing.  But the reality is different.    The team will do an assessment of both candidates once the dust settles.      Our first notation for #Outsider 2.x published by tomorrow will reflect further thoughts on where things are now and a window into the road ahead on the eve of the conventions. The team decided to leave the "daily punditry" to the likes of the Washington Post (with the Daily 202 & the Fix), Fox News, Real Clear Politics, Huffington Post & MSNBC

Beyond the US political scene, there is the World.    Our team has had a particular focus on the Middle East and we will be assessing this on an on-going basis.      The team will also be continuing its' focus to build upon the daily "watch" on Twitter on China and India to assess realities out there and to assess the future.   We will also be keen to assess the latest out of the leading countries in the Muslim World.     Pakistan, Indonesia and Malaysia will be of special focus to us.     These five countries--along with the Middle East--constitute almost 50% of the World Today.    As such,  CIPIM is hereby born!!!   In our view, what happens in these countries matters.       Our team was "kind of right" when it noted almost a year ago that the old "BRICS" was dead as new scholarship has been published to underscore this as epitomized by the turmoil in Brazil, Russia and South Africa.      We will be assessing the World though with our Regional Focus weekly--and yes, the features we have had will also be part and parcel of it all:  The Musical Interlude and Thought(s) for the Week because ultimately #outsiders is  about a sense of optimism and working to transform the conversation about our World.    The challenges around the World are profound--the most crucial one of all being faced with an economic slowdown.   The IMF has been warning about it for over a year now. 

As progress continues, I could not help but again be inspired by these I ran across I wanted to pass on that +Jonathan Huie  & his team compiled 

The key to happiness is not to have what you want

but to want what you have.

- Anonymous

Life isn't a matter of milestones, but of moments.

- Rose Kennedy

The most glorious moments in your life

are not the so-called days of success,

but rather those days when out of dejection and despair

you feel rise in you a challenge to life,

and the promise of future accomplishments.

- Gustave Flaubert 

Happiness depends more on how life strikes you than on what happens.

- Andy Rooney

As the team has struggled with the transformation we've been working on (and the plan is to be simple and continually focused), this from the Champ himself was worth noting as we look forward to serve:

“I hated every minute of training,
but I said, ‘Don’t quit.
Suffer now and live the rest of your life
as a champion’.”
~ Muhammad Ali

 

Onward!!!

Working Away.......

It was a busy weekend in #Outsiders as the team has begun the transition finally to "Daily Outsider 2.x".   There was a bit of a fear which is understandable--but there is a sense of excitement because change is always good fun as the team continues its' utmost to live up to the mission of #Outsiders to work to "transform the conversation about our World one notation, one tweet, one Weibo and one Instagram  at a time".

It has also been a very challenging weekend.    On my own personal Twitter Feed late last night, I was shocked as I saw the story on the +The Guardian as the deportations began from Greece to Turkey.    This is as I saw the blockbuster #PanamaPapers and how everyone seems to be involved.  I found amusing how the Law Firm at the center of it all called it a "crime".    It looks like everyone is involved.    It was also quite a story as an anonymous letter attacking the President of China was also making the news as reported by +The Guardian  as China continues to deal with profound challenges with the new normal.  I found it especially interesting how China Daily  had no mention of the revelations on the Panama Papers:  'Not fit to lead': letter attacking Xi Jinping sparks panic in Beijing | World news | The Guardian .   I also was blown away by an affirmation of the rule of law in South Africa as Jacob Zuma is facing impeachment.    Donald Trump was also just as busy as always with pronouncements on a massive recession and noting how he will make America great again.  As an "ordinary face", I have been trying to see how--I am yet to!!!

As our team continues the long-awaited transition to 2.x, I wanted to reflect and be reminded of the "why".   What I saw from +Jonathan Huie was so timely on the "why":

You can't live a perfect day without doing something

for someone who will never be able to repay you.

- John Wooden

I expect to pass through this world but once.

Any good therefore that I can do,

or any kindness that I can show to my fellow-creature,

let me do it now.

Let me not defer or neglect it,

for I shall not pass this way again.

- William Penn  

Compassion is the universal standard of moral living.

- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

The team will be continuing the daily Twitter Curation over the course of the ensuing days as the transition project is at hand.    As I was reflecting upon this, I popped into Twitter to look out what the team at +BrainyQuote had done and picked this up that underscores why the time is right:

We must use time wisely and forever realize that the time is always ripe to do right. #brainyquote #QOTD pic.twitter.com/zx7Vo6f3XY

— BrainyQuote (@BrainyQuote) March 18, 2016

Remaining ever so optimstic as I wish all a fantastic week!!!   I will be sharing notations & updates as I also reflect upon the challenging time before us. 

On This Final Day of Q1 2016: Some Brief Final Thoughts....

It has been a very challenging 3-Months in our World.   But what was gratifying to take comfort in was a concerted effort throughout the #Outsider properties to work to live up to the Mission to "Transform the conversation about Our World One Notation, One Tweet, One Tweet at a time".    This is as a concerted effort was begun to create a Social Good component primarily through contributions to the Johnson and Johnson Donate a Good Program which I launched last year and the team has been featuring on the #Outsider Twitter Channel.     Although I was a bit shocked at some of the setbacks at Johnson & Johnson in light of the Product Liability lawsuit losses, It does not take away from what they've done with this program which I look forward to supporting and glad to see the team at #Outsiders has embraced.   .  It is also gratifying that the #outsider mission is expanding to underscore the role of Instagram in the transformation process. 

The US Presidential Campaign was one of the key focus points.    It has been exciting to be witness to it in spite of the rather unfortuante discourse at times.    It was also a watershed Quarter on the Media Front.    Al Jazeera retrenched by shutting down its' Americas' Network after having bought it for 500 Million Dollars from Al Gore to be more focused digitally and as it decided that it was going to lay off 500 People from its' headquarters.   The Independent of London went all digital and others throughout the World continued to reassess their operations.      It was also disappointing to be witness to corruption in Malaysia and South Africa--two countries that I had held out a lot of hope for.

#Outsiders will be "dark" for Quarter End though as we gear up for the new Quarter and work away o the long-awaited transition--the "SandBox" has been in what we deem "Public Alpha"--which is admittedly challenging.     But, I wanted to end these brief thoughts with once again on a high note as I feature two beautiful images courtesy of the Speaker of The House' Office as he welcomed the Boy Scouts (a cause near and dear to my heart) and he had a touching scene with his Children in his Office as I continue to support the work of #outsiders with the possibilities at hand--and continuing to be hopeful as the Nuclear Security Summit was going on in Washington.   I released my wish on the success of the Summit (the final one by President Obama) earlier on my Personal Twitter Feed.

Onward to the new quarter with all its' possibilities....

The Boy Scouts

Every year, the Boy Scouts of America present the speaker of the House with their Report to the Nation.  And this year, they came with a question too: "What's up with the lights on the clocks around the U.S. Capitol?" Click here to find out Speaker Ryan's answer.

A Special Bill Signing with Speaker Ryan's Children

It's not every day that you get to sign your own bill to send to the president's desk to become law, but that's exactly what Speaker Ryan did when he signed this anti-poverty legislation with his two oldestchildren by his sides.