David Korten: Agenda for a New Economy: From Phantom Wealth to Real Wealth

David Korten: Agenda for a New Economy -- From Phantom Wealth to Real Wealth
Needs No Introduction



Once a "very conservative republican," David Korten holds an MBA and PhD From Stanford Business School and worked for five and a half years as a faculty member of the Harvard University Graduate School of Business. After spending a number of years working in the global South, believing that all these low-income countries needed was to adopt America's capitalist system in order to resolve poverty, his perspective changed and he began to recognize the way in which our current economic system functions (and thrives) based on inequality, environmental destruction and social conflict.

Realizing that our global economy was based on the premise that individual greed is the path to collective prosperity and that this concept was completely flawed, David Korten came full circle and became an advocate for an economic system that is life-centred and community-based.

He has since authored several books, including: When Corporations Rule the World and The Great Turning: From Empire to Earth Community. His newest book and the title of this talk is called Agenda for a New Economy: From Phantom Wealth to Real Wealth, which argues for an end to the corrupt, phantom-wealth Wall Street money system. It must be replaced by a Main Street money system that favours life values over financial values, roots power in people and community, and supports local resilience and self-organization. This talk took place on October 29, 2010 at the Bronson Centre in Ottawa.

Listen to the Presentation

John Bussey: How to Handle Employee Activism

How to Handle Employee Activism: Google Tiptoes Around Cairo's Hero
by John Bussey
Wall Street Journal

As the world marveled this week at the remarkable story of Wael Ghonim, the Google manager who helped organize a popular rebellion in Egypt, a great sigh of relief could be heard rising from much of the rest of American business:

"I'm glad," came the exhale, "the guy doesn't work for us."

Who wasn't amazed at the power Mr. Ghonim wielded against the authoritarian regime of Hosni Mubarak? An Internet geek and Google's Mideast regional marketing executive, Mr. Ghonim helped administer a group of Web pages that served as a rallying point for activists long before crowds gathered in Tahrir Square. He was detained by the police, made a martyr in the streets, and then released. A popular hero was born.

A lot of U.S. companies, which now manage millions of employees abroad, watched with trepidation. Many of them now earn more abroad than they do in America. And much of that income comes from the sale of big-ticket items—power systems, infrastructure equipment, aircraft, telecommunications—that only governments can afford to buy.

Companies may not want to be lapdogs to dictators. But they also don't want to tick off their chief customer. It's a balancing act, one that inevitably leads to a policy of corporate discretion: Best to stay off the radar screen.

Reflecting on Mr. Ghonim's extracurricular activities, an executive at one big U.S. manufacturer operating abroad was adamant: "Anything that affects the brand – we hate that," he said. "It wouldn't be allowed." Mr. Ghonim can be admired for his considerable contribution to civil liberties in Egypt, but also shunned as too great a liability to business.

Of course, that's exactly the sort of traditionalism the Google culture, and much of Silicon Valley, rebels against. Google, after all, is the company whose corporate motto is "Don't be evil" and whose co-founder, Sergey Brin, pulled operations from China because the country was censoring Google searches.

To Read the Rest of the Article

Noam Chomsky and Robert Trivers: On Deceit

Noam Chomsky and Robert Trivers
The anti-war activist and MIT linguist meets the Rutgers evolutionary biologist in the Seed Salon to discuss deceit.
Seed (September 2006)

In the 1970s, a Harvard class taught by evolutionary biologist Robert Trivers ignited a controversy that would escalate into the "sociobiology wars." His papers provided a Darwinian basis for understanding complex human activities and relationships. Across town at MIT, revolutionary linguist Noam Chomsky had earned a reputation as a leading opponent of the Vietnam War. Throughout those pivotal years, and in the following decades, the two explored similar ideas from different perspectives. Long aware of each other's work, they had never met until a couple of months ago, when they sat down to compare notes on some common interests: deceit and self-deception.

Noam Chomsky: One of the most important comments on deceit, I think, was made by Adam Smith. He pointed out that a major goal of business is to deceive and oppress the public.

And one of the striking features of the modern period is the institutionalization of that process, so that we now have huge industries deceiving the public—and they're very conscious about it, the public relations industry. Interestingly, this developed in the freest countries—in Britain and the US—roughly around time of WWI, when it was recognized that enough freedom had been won that people could no longer be controlled by force. So modes of deception and manipulation had to be developed in order to keep them under control.

And by now these are huge industries. They not only dominate marketing of commodities, but they also control the political system. As anyone who watches a US election knows, it's marketing. It's the same techniques that are used to market toothpaste.

And, of course, there are power systems in place to facilitate this. Throughout history it's been mostly the property holders or the educated classes who've tended to support power systems. And that's a large part of what I think education is—it's a form of indoctrination. You have to reconstruct a picture of the world in order to be conducive to the interests and concerns of the educated classes, and this involves a lot of self-deceit.

Robert Trivers: So you're talking about self-deception in at least two contexts. One is intellectuals who, in a sense, go through a process of education which results in a self-deceived organism who is really working to serve the interests of the privileged few without necessarily being conscious of it at all.
The other thing is these massive industries of persuasion and deception, which, one can conceptualize, are also inducing a form of either ignorance or self-deception in listeners, where they come to believe that they know the truth when in fact they're just being manipulated.

To read the rest of the dialogue and access video of their discussion

Robert Fisk: US envoy's business link to Egypt

US envoy's business link to Egypt: Obama scrambles to limit damage after Frank Wisner makes robust call for Mubarak to remain in place as leader.
By Robert Fisk
Consortium News

Mr Wisner's astonishing remarks – "President Mubarak's continued leadership is critical: it's his opportunity to write his own legacy" – shocked the democratic opposition in Egypt and called into question Mr Obama's judgement, as well as that of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

The US State Department and Mr Wisner himself have now both claimed that his remarks were made in a "personal capacity". But there is nothing "personal" about Mr Wisner's connections with the litigation firm Patton Boggs, which openly boasts that it advises "the Egyptian military, the Egyptian Economic Development Agency, and has handled arbitrations and litigation on the [Mubarak] government's behalf in Europe and the US". Oddly, not a single journalist raised this extraordinary connection with US government officials – nor the blatant conflict of interest it appears to represent.

Mr Wisner is a retired State Department 36-year career diplomat – he served as US ambassador to Egypt, Zambia, the Philippines and India under eight American presidents. In other words, he was not a political appointee. But it is inconceivable Hillary Clinton did not know of his employment by a company that works for the very dictator which Mr Wisner now defends in the face of a massive democratic opposition in Egypt.

So why on earth was he sent to talk to Mubarak, who is in effect a client of Mr Wisner's current employers?

Patton Boggs states that its attorneys "represent some of the leading Egyptian commercial families and their companies" and "have been involved in oil and gas and telecommunications infrastructure projects on their behalf". One of its partners served as chairman of the US-Egyptian Chamber of Commerce promoting foreign investment in the Egyptian economy. The company has also managed contractor disputes in military-sales agreements arising under the US Foreign Military Sales Act. Washington gives around $1.3bn (£800m) a year to the Egyptian military.

Mr Wisner joined Patton Boggs almost two years ago – more than enough time for both the White House and the State Department to learn of his company's intimate connections with the Mubarak regime. The New York Times ran a glowing profile of Mr Wisner in its pages two weeks ago – but mysteriously did not mention his ties to Egypt.

Nicholas Noe, an American political researcher now based in Beirut, has spent weeks investigating Mr Wisner's links to Patton Boggs. Mr Noe is also a former researcher for Hillary Clinton and questions the implications of his discoveries.

"The key problem with Wisner being sent to Cairo at the behest of Hillary," he says, "is the conflict-of-interest aspect... More than this, the idea that the US is now subcontracting or 'privatising' crisis management is another problem. Do the US lack diplomats?

"Even in past examples where presidents have sent someone 'respected' or 'close' to a foreign leader in order to lubricate an exit," Mr Noe adds, "the envoys in question were not actually paid by the leader they were supposed to squeeze out!"

To Read the Rest of the Article

~Ivanka Trump: Shoe Designer? Kinda...~

Follow my blog with bloglovin´

"I make money because I have to pay for everything apart from my [Choate] school fees. My mother even makes me pay my own telephone bill." ~Ivanka Trump



Ivanka Trump has evolved into a very impressive woman. An accomplished woman. She's creative and business savvy. Not to mention gorgeous. She oozes glamour even while wearing a conservative business suit. I believe she's the woman her mother wanted to be.



WWD is reporting that she can add another title to her resume: Shoe designer. Well, sort of. She apparently inked a deal with Marc Fisher Footwear, but from what I could gather it's a licensing agreement which is a bit different than signing on to be an actual shoe designer. My issue with licensing agreements is that the product is almost never the design or vision of the name attached to the product. Hopefully this will be a different situation. Ivanka Trump doesn't strike me as the kind of woman who will attach her name to any ol'thang. So what I am assuming is going to happen is that although she will most likely not design the actual shoe herself, the line will need to meet her approval and she will have alot of input. Stay tuned...


Source: WWD

Kisses Bitches...
Glamour Whore...xoxo

Victoria's Secret Biofit Uplift Bra Launched

Victoria's Secret unveiled Biofit Uplift Bra in Los Angeles March 4, 2008. The picture shows Victoria's Secret models Adriana Lima (L) and Karolina Kurkova posing at the launch event.

Warren Buffet Tops Forbes Richest 2008 List

Warren Buffett, chairman of Bershire Hathaway Inc, is now the world's richest person after topping Forbes richest men list on Thursday. Mexican tycoon Carlos Slim and Microsoft founder Bill Gates ranks 2nd and 3rd, respectively.

Buffett's wealth grew 10 billion U.S. dollars to about 62 billion dollars in the 12 months through Feb. 11, mostly from a gain in his company's shares (Berkshire Hathaway's shares climbed 25% since the middle of last July), Xinhua reported.

Keith Richards Louis Vuitton Ad Campaign

Keith Richards' billboard for Louis Vuitton seen in London (photo credit: Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg)

Keith Richards, Rolling Stones guitarist and rock-and-roll bad boy who has a rocky history of drug use, has become the new frontman for the French maker of luxury handbags and luggage Louis Vuitton.

In his first ever ad campaign for LV, Richards appears with a deeply wrinkled face holding a guitar in a hotel room with a custom-made Vuitton guitar case behind him on the bed and the lights part obscured by skull-print black drapes.

Keith Richards Louis Vuitton "Some journeys cannot be put into words" luggage ad campaign photo was shot by US photographer Annie Leibovitz and due to appear in the magazine press next month.

The 64-year-old Richards plans to donate the fee for the ad to the Climate Project, launched by Nobel-winning former US vice-president Al Gore and backed by Louis Vuitton.

Aunt Jemima Pancake & Waffle Mixs Recall

The Quaker Oats Co. has recalled three of its Aunt Jemima Pancake & Waffle Mix products because of potential salmonella contamination from raw or undercooked ingredients.

The recall includes Original, Original Complete and Buttermilk Complete products. The recalled products, packaged in 2-pound and 5-pound boxes with best before dates between Feb. 8, 2009 and Feb. 16, 2009, contain the following 10-digit UPCs: 30000 43272, 30000 05040, 30000 05070 and 30000 05300.

No other Aunt Jemima, frozen Aunt Jemima or Quaker products are affected. No illnesses have been linked to the recall so far.

Consumers who have purchased these recalled products are asked to return it to the place of purchase for a full refund or call 1-800-407-2247 to reach the consumer relations line. Click here for more information on the recall.   Link

Angelina Jolie St. John Spring Campaign Photos

Angelina Jolie looked elegant and charming at the St. John new spring campaign photos while wearing the classic little black dresses from the women's wear luxury label. The pictures were taken before the actress' baby bump confirmed that she was pregnant with twins.   Link

Rachel Marsden Auctions Jimmy Wales' T-shirt on eBay

Rachel Marsden (pictures above), the controversial Canadian columnist and right-wing TV pundit, took the revenge against the boyfriend of less than one month Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales who dumped her on March 1st in a statement on the world's largest encyclopaedia by putting his T-shirt auction on eBay. Her Wikipedia Jimmy (Jimbo) Wales T-Shirt, left at ex-g/f's message reads

Hi, my name is Rachel and my (now ex) boyfriend, Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales, just broke up with me via an announcement on Wikipedia (http://valleywag.com/362730/wikipedia-creator-jimmy-wales-dumps-girlfriend-on-wikipedia).  It was such a classy move that I was inspired to do something equally classy myself, so I'm selling a couple of items of clothing he left behind, here in my NYC apartment, on eBay.  Jimbo was supposed to come visit me in a couple of weeks and pick up some of his stuff, but obviously that won't be happening now.

Both of these items have been washed, twice, with Tide extra-strength liquid detergent.  Otherwise, they would not be in salable condition.  I took them out of GitMo style isolation from a plastic bag in my closet (where they were placed to prevent the ongoing terrorism of my olfactory senses) and washed them out for the purposes of this auction.  Even so, this particular item -- a medium sized, black "Starter" brand shirt -- has two white stains (one on the sleeve, as shown in the photo, and one in the back) which I have been unable to remove.

At the time of publish this post, there were total 35 bids and the bid price is at US $301.00. With more than 8 days 14 hours left (ended at Mar-12-08 02:02:26 PDT), we guess the highest bid would be more than $1000.

Huckleberry Toys' Ashley Tisdale Doll

About the nose of Ashley Tisdale doll from Huckleberry Toys, Perez Hilton sez, "They need to make her nose more jacked up than that!" Duh! The doll looks like Carrie Underwood more than Ashley Tisdale!

Ellen DeGeneres Pet Dog Food Announced

 

Ellen DeGeneres is to launch her own brand of pet dog food, according to the interview of the animal-loving talkshow comic done on Parade.com. Partnering with pets food manufacturer Halo, DeGeneres said the food (possibly called Ellen's Own), can even be consumed by humans.

"Ours is all human grade. It's all natural. And yes, you can eat it. People love their animals so much so that they put little clothes on them and necklaces and booties and things like that. And if you love your animal, then you should feed them something that's not dangerous for them. There's a lot of poisonous stuff that they’re putting in a lot of that food, those by-products."

The picture of Ellen DeGeneres and her pet dogs is found at RGJ.com

MyFreeImplants.com Offers Free Breast Implants

It's not joke, Foxnews.com reports:

For those women whose cups do not runneth over, there is a Web site that promises to pay for a new pair, free of charge.

Women who sign up on MyFreeImplants.com earn the money for their breast augmentation surgery through donations from men who peruse their MySpace-like profiles.

Jason Grunstra, a Web developer in Los Angeles, founded the site in July 2005 after brainstorming the idea during a bachelor party in Las Vegas.

MyFreeImplants.com operates much like a social-networking site. Women 18 and over can sign up for free and create a profile with photos and the type of implant they desire: silicone or saline. Men — they're called "benefactors" — can also sign up for free, but then they must purchase credits, which can be used to send messages to the women.

For each message a woman receives, she gets a dollar toward her new chest.

Grunstra estimates that thousands of women have signed up for the site and tens of thousands of men have contributed.

Lindsay, who declined to give her last name, signed up in February 2007, and by June she had the $4,000 she needed to transform from a 34A to a 34D-DD. She is one of 103 women who have had new implants courtesy of the site's benefactors.

Jessica Levine, a 27-year-old marketer from Tampa, Fla., got her new silicone breasts on Nov. 13, 2007 after raising $7,500 online.

Cara (picture above) is one of Free Breast Implants receivers. But of course, there is no free lunch, to successfully receive the money sufficient to a plastic surgery, one may have to put a lot of time and energy into the Web site — contacting friends, writing the people on the site, don't forget, MyFreeImplants.com is a social network site.

Halle Berry Coty Fragrance

Beauty giant Coty has just added Academy Award-winning actress Halle Berry into its extensive celebrity portfolio including Jennifer Lopez, David and Victoria Beckham, Sarah Jessica Parker, Kimora Lee Simmons, Gwen Stefani, Celine Dion, Kate Moss and Tim McGraw, to develop a new fragrance, according to a report on Women's Wear Daily (WWD).

“Halle is an iconic actress and symbolizes beauty to many generations. She adds another dimension to the celebrity fragrance market. Halle has always been a little more mysterious, not quite as open with her personal life as some other stars. Her fragrances will allow her to present another facet of her personality to her fans.” Steve Mormoris, senior vice president of global marketing at Coty Beauty US, told the website.

The first Berry fragrance is expected to launch in spring 2009. It's be that Halle possibly was paid $3-5 million up front, with a royalty of about 5 percent. Link

Neverland Ranch May Be Auctioned In March

Neverland Ranch, the sprawling 2,800 acre property in Santa Barbara County, California, owned by Michael Jackson, will be put up for sale at a public auction on 19 March unless the former pop king pay up the $23 million loan.

Jackson bought the estate in 1988 for $30 million as his private amusement park and home, naming it Neverland after the whimsical land where children never grow up in J.M. Barrie's classic Peter Pan story.

But is no longer in operation since his June 2005 acquittal of child molestation charges. In March 2006, Jackson was fined for failing to pay his Ranch employees' salaries and insurance payments since December 2005.

Source:Daily mail

Starbucks Closing for Barista Re-training

Starbucks is closing the doors for 3 hours at its 7,100 stores across America for a brief barista re-education. The Starbucks closing starts at 5:30 p.m. local time today February 26 to energize 135,000 employees.  As part of his refocusing on the coffee customer experience,  Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz wants baristas to share their passion for making espresso. Link

Nisreen Swedberg and Sarah Williams: We're Too Pretty To Fly

Still remember Kyla Ebbert & Setara Qassim? The two ladies were deemed too sexy to fly in two flights by Southwest Airlines. Now two students from University of South Florida, Nisreen Swedberg and friend Sarah Williams, claimed they were too pretty to fly on the Southwest Airlines plane. What did the bizarre they meet? Read the story below:

Tampa, Florida – Prejudice against pretty?

That's the claim from a pair of 18-year-old best friends from Oldsmar who were escorted off a Southwest Airlines plane.

USF student Nisreen Swedberg and friend Sarah Williams claim the flight crew was rude to them from the moment they stepped onto the plane at Tampa International Airport on February 14.

Swedberg said she asked a flight attendant for a bottle of water and was told she could wait until the rest of the flight was served.

“And I patiently waited and then when they came around with water, they skipped me,” Swedberg said.

At one point, Williams had to use the plane's bathroom. She saw another passenger in it, and when he hadn't come out 15 minutes later, she knocked on the door.

When he came out, Williams says the man came over to her seat and yelled a profanity at her. Williams admits she yelled a profanity back at him but was puzzled when she says the flight crew only questioned her.

“I think they were just discriminating against because we were young decent-looking girls. I mean, nobody else on the plane looked like us except us,” she said. “[The flight attendants] were like older ladies. We were younger. Who knows, they could have been just jealous of us because we were younger.”

Southwest defends the incident, saying the women caused a disruption on the flight.

When the plane landed in Los Angeles, the women were escorted off by four uniformed police officers and later questioned by the FBI.

Nearly two hours later, the women were released. No charges were filed.

Still, Williams and Swedberg say they were banned from all future Southwest Airlines flights, including their scheduled flight home to Tampa.

Source: Tampabays10.com

Splinter: World's First Wooden Car

Splinter, the world’s first wooden car, was created by the U.S. design company, Joe Harmon Design. It can sprint from 0 to 60mph in just over three seconds and run with a top speed of 240mph. 

The 4.6 meter-long, two-seater vehicle, made from maple, plywood and MDF, has a 4.6 litre V8 petrol engine and a six-speed gearbox.

It weighs 1,134kg – 240kg less than the lightweight Porsche 911 GT3. Despite its power, it will achieve 20mpg, according to its designer, Joe Harmon, 27.  Source: Xinhua; Times

GoDaddy.com Danica Patrick 'Exposure' Super Bowl Ad

GoDaddy.com, the famous online hosting company, gets IRL star Danica Patrick 'exposed' in this ad aired on FOX Super Bowl commercial slot. "It is ...definitely very smart. GoDaddy.com ... used it as a way to direct people to their website...Genius!" GaySocialites commended. Wow, Danica Patrick's too-hot-for-TV beaver joke Super Bowl commercial rejected by FOX is here. Before leaving this site to watch 'beaver', you can have a sneak-peek from Morning Buzz's post

Red carpet entrance, and two models in the other car are carrying a beaver. No lie, an actual beaver of the rodent variety. So Danica’s unzipping her jacket and one of the paparazzi says, “Where’s the beaver?”

Sayeth Danica: “A domain name and a Web site from GoDaddy.com give me all the exposure I need, so I can keep my beaver safe and out of site.”