On Saturday, union members and their allies rallied from coast to coast. Hundreds turned out in Philadelphia's Love Park to show solidarity with the people of Wisconsin.
The speakers at this evening's panel discussion, “Covering Egypt: The Media and the Revolution,” would likely dismiss any comparison between Madison and Cairo.
The panel discussion will focus on the trending topic of digital media and the popular uprising in Egypt. The panelists will include Jeffrey Ghannam, author of a new report, “Social Media in the Arab World: Leading up to the Uprisings of 2011.”
I was at the museum to attend Digital Music Forum East, an annual gathering of music executives, content creators, thought leaders and influencers. The discussions focused on the intersection of music and technology.
Jobs were on the agenda. The speakers lamented the disruptive impact of technology and social media. Since the advent of Napster, there has been a steady decline in revenue. Although consumers are willing to pay for web-based entertainment such as Netflix and gaming, their price point for music is free.
To be sure, technology has disrupted other industries, including television, newspaper and publishing. And word up, you can “wave your hands in the air like you don't care.” But that's not a sustainable business model.
We're going to have to up our game in this newly competitive world. And that means that we've got to out-educate every other country in the world. We're going to have to out-innovate every country in the world. We've got to make sure that we've got the best infrastructure to move people and goods and services throughout the economy.
Indeed, every business will have to up their game if they want to compete in the age of Web 2.0. That includes minority-owned businesses.
Innovation and competitiveness, the cornerstones of the 21st century economy, are essential ingredients for minority businesses to achieve present and future prosperity.
As we enter the second decade of this millennium, we believe that it is time for us to acknowledge and do something about the sobering fact that our real economic and education progress is not commensurate with the new and dynamic opportunities inherent in the global “Innovation Economy.”
In the 2012 elections, there will be a higher turnout of minority and young voters than in November. Still, political analyst Charlie Cook thinks House Democrats' goose may be cooked.
For info on the redistricting process in your state, check out Tracking Change.
I disabled the comment feature on this blog years ago. I am not interested in providing a platform for folks to hide behind the anonymity of the Internet to leave snarky or profane comments. There are millions of sites where they can do that.
But I like to mix it up on Facebook. As one friend commented on my wall:
You're an awesome social engager, but I am sure you know that (lol). Just wanted to reiterate the facts.
Although I spend a lot of time online, I don't have an Internet addiction. At least not yet (LOL). In his closing remarks at Social Media Week New York, Bonin Bough, Global Director of Digital and Social Media for PepsiCo, observed:
Twitter and Facebook may be gateway drugs...Just give me 140 characters.
So when you need a fix, join the conversation on Facebook or Twitter.
Florida Gov. Rick Scott is under attack for rejecting $2.4 billion for the proposed Tampa to Orlando high-speed rail project. Scott expressed concern about potential cost overruns and inflated ridership projections. In a statement, Scott said:
Historical data shows capital cost overruns are pervasive in 9 out of 10 high speed rail projects and that 2/3 of those projects inflated ridership projections by an average of 65 percent of actual patronage.
I attended a workshop on the future of high-speed rail at the 2011 Good Jobs, Green Jobs National Conference. The presenters underscored the importance of managing expectations: high-speed rail is not a stand-alone economic development tool. One speaker observed:
You have to connect people to people. You need density. You can't connect nothing to nowhere.
I love riding Amtrak, as well as regional and light rail. I have been a member of Amtrak Guest Rewards since its inception. Also, I spent a lot of time in the Orlando region visiting my mentor. It seems to me the Tampa-Orlando corridor lacks the population density and center city-to-center city business districts required to make high-speed rail feasible.
The National Committee for America 2050 released a study of “corridors in America that are most appropriate for high-speed rail service.” The report listed the top 50 city pairs. Tampa-Orlando did not make the grade.
Sure, a lot of people live along Interstate 4, but a lot of them are retired. Residents and visitors to the region generally do not have the mindset to abandon their cars. As a practical matter, how would they get around once they left the train station? I know firsthand that public transportation is not reliable. Besides, there's a stigma attached to riding the bus.
The Washington Post editorialized that high-speed rail is a “lost cause”:
When it comes to high-speed rail, Europe, Japan and Taiwan have two natural advantages over every region of the United States, with the possible exception of the Northeast Corridor - high gas taxes and high population density. If high-speed rail turned into a money pit under relatively favorable circumstances, imagine the subsidies it would require here. Every dollar spent to subsidize high-speed rail is a dollar that cannot be spent modernizing highways, expanding the freight rail system or creating private-sector jobs. The Obama administration insists we dare not lag the rest of the world in high-speed rail. Actually, this is a race everyone loses.
