Notations From the Grid (Weekly Edition): On @realDonaldTrump; #MSC2018 & Other Thoughts On Quite a Challenging Week...

As America celebrated President's Day this week , our team chose to feature an interview by Noam Chomsky-- one of the leading intellectual thinkers of our time.  He recently gave an interview to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation on his views on @realDonaldTrump with changes to US Nuclear Policy, the new Budget and the on-going political landscape in light of the indictments announced by the US Justice Department related to the Russia Investigation last week:





This is as The Chief New York Times Correspondent for the New York Times, Peter Baker, noted this over the week-end in the aftermath of the testimony by the heads of the Intelligence Community, the admission by General McMaster of Russian Collusion at the Munich Security Conference--even though Mr. Trump undermined General McMaster comments shortly thereafter in a Tweet:

Indictment makes clear Russia is waging a virtual war against the United States. But with Trump focused on what it means for him, the American side of the war seems to be without a commander in chief. https://t.co/pebojFQ7MC

— Peter Baker (@peterbakernyt) February 17, 2018

The tragedy in Florida also continues to resonate--This image was quite striking as the Students in Parkland have called for a March on Washington and as the President was scheduled to have a listening session later on today.  

The powerful 7 Minutes Speech by one of the Students, Emma Gonzales, gave voice to the stark choices and how the students simply, "We Don't deserve this" as The President blasted the FBI for being "distracted" By the Russia Investigation:

"They say that tougher gun laws do not decrease  gun violence. We call BS!" Florida high school shooting survivor Emma Gonzalez calls on President Trump and lawmakers to tighten gun restrictions in impassioned speech at an anti-gun rally in Fort Lauderdale https://t.co/DgnqrrVs9x

— CNN (@CNN) February 17, 2018

What we found fascinating over the weekend was the give and take between The Iranian Foreign Minister and the Israeli Prime Minister (who's under a cloud of suspicion including being recommended by Israeli Police to be indicted for Corruption.   

It will be a continued challenge.   

Notations On Our World (Special Weekly Edition): ; Out & About in #America On this President's day 2018

 On this President's Day here in the United States, Our team choose a selection of coverage on the US Domestic Scene especially in the aftermath of the Tragedy in Florida and the Mueller Indictments.: 

The Annual Gates Letter is also critical to underscore courtesy of the Fortune's Alan Murray:

Bill and Melinda Gates, who run the largest philanthropy in the world, published their annual letter this morning, and it exudes the optimism that Bill expressed when he guest-edited TIME magazine last month. In the letter, the two also make a good faith effort to answer what they say are the 10 toughest questions they get asked about their philanthropy. One that caught my attention was this: Why do you work with corporations? Is that a “tough question”? This gets back to the New York Times column I cited yesterday, which disparaged business efforts to address what have traditionally been public sector issues—like fixing the health care system, exploring space, or providing general education and training. I talked with Melinda a few days ago, and she provided some insight. “Bill and I think the private sector is vital in the equation” of addressing social problems. “We always try to have in the back of our mind: What’s the role of government, NGOs, philanthropy, the private sector?” The private sector, she says, is growing in importance. “Things are shifting. Perceptions are shifting. Companies are being pushed by their millennial workforce, which is asking them to do these things… It’s not just CSR anymore. Companies want to do the right thing for their employees and their customers.” In their letter, the Gates mentioned working with GSK, Johnson & Johnsonand Monsanto on various initiatives. In our conversation, Melinda cited work the foundation is doing with Merck and Bayer on reproductive health. “We have more and more companies approaching us, and approaching us with good ideas.” Is there a limit to the private sector’s ability to address such problems? Of course. “They aren’t very good at reaching the bottom billion,” Melinda says. But that still leaves plenty of scope for constructive action.

This is as some of the profound policy challenges remain:

'Federally Supported, State Managed, Locally Executed' Disaster Recovery DAVE NYCZEPIR  |   FEMA wants state and local governments to play a 'larger role' post-disaster while shifting those funds to mitigation. The Opioid Epidemic Has Cost the U.S. More Than $1 Trillion QUINN LIBSON  |   Most of the financial cost of the crisis came in the form of lost earning and productivity potential for those who had died.

Notations On Our World (Special Friday Edition): On President's Day W-End Here in the United States

Earlier this week, our team chose this to tweet which we wanted to feature in honor of President's Day here in the United States:  

#MondayMotivation #TuesdayThoughts #WednesdayWisdom #ThursdayMotivation #FridayMotivation #SaturdayMotivation : https://t.co/LySdCnBVc0 pic.twitter.com/en4RsDudtm

— DailyOutsider (@ordinaryfaces) February 12, 2018

This is as President Obama's Official Portrait was unveiled Monday at the Smithsonian in Washington and what was noted by the New York Times on the setting of it was telling: "...Kehinde Wiley (The Artist)  has set Mr. Obama against greenery, with flowers that have symbolic meaning: African blue lilies for Kenya, his father’s birthplace; jasmine for Hawaii, where Mr. Obama was born; chrysanthemums, the official flower of Chicago, for the city where his political career began....along with Mrs. Obama " 
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