An #Outsider Newsflash (8/21/2015): On Markets

One of the major developments this week has been the markets.  This is the snapshot available on Bigcharts for two of the key indices in the United States as reported by http://www.bigcharts.com within the past hour: 

  

As our team reviewed the indices, it was surprising how every single index has been down. This from the Guardian of London puts it all in perspective:

http://www.theguardian.com/business/2015/aug/21/global-market-turmoil-in-six-charts

Beyond that, there is the price of Oil.    It is at its lowest since 2009.    There is some worry that the continued depressed price of Oil points to a slowdown in demand as driven by the situation in China.   Challenging times indeed.    

What is further contributing to this turmoil is the continued political turmoil that is fueling the flame.  Our team was busy w/daily Twitter curation with updates from India, Pakistan and Afghanistan.    As we went to press, we saw reports of Israel attacking Syrian positions in retaliation for missle attacks.    Syrian Army had fired anti-aircraft missiles as Israel launched retaliatory airstrikes.  

Notations On Our World: On Leadership

The Syrian White Helmets At Work

One of the daily "must reads" for our team here @ #Outsiders is Fortune Magazines' Daily Powersheet.    This is as we have been witness this morning to the desparation of migrants in Europe as Macedonia fired on migrants trying to push themselves to get into Greece and as Turkey is facing another election due to a failure in leadership.     This is also as Brazil continues to be engulfed with a widening political scandal due to a widening corruption probe. . The company at the center of it all, Petrobas, is trying to deal with a crushing debt as Oil Prices continue their downward spiral.   

There are indeed things to cheer about--as this excerpt below from Geoff Colvin Shows.  For us, though, the story of the Syrian White Hats is also worthy of mention.    As the story from Al Jazeera shows, they are the true heroes of the carnage in Syria that is one of the focal points of our team--available here by clicking on this link as we honor them here. 

As we hope all enjoy this, we could not agree more with Geoff Colvin's thoughts as he noted, "....  they’re absolutely clear about their purpose, and they’re fulfilling it. They can cheer us up...."

Daily insights on leaders and leadership By Geoff Colvin

August 21, 2015

The world is sick and tired of its leaders, or so it seems this morning. -“China Blast Corrodes Faith in Leadership,” the WSJ headlines. In China, leaders aren’t supposed to let such disasters happen, especially when they damage middle-class homes; similarly, investors thought president Xi Jinping could stop the stock market from plunging and are bitter now that they find he can’t. -Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras resigned yesterday, having done the exact opposite of everything the voters elected him to do in the economic crisis. -The U.K.’s Labor Party seems about to elect as its new leader Jeremy Corbyn, an avowed socialist and anti-leader who, as an MP, has voted against his party’s position some 500 times. -In the U.S., Republicans pondering their party’s next presidential nominee favorDonald Trump, who has never held public office. At a moment like this, it’s easy to forget there are actually plenty of admirable leaders performing excellently right now. Here are three I especially like. They’re all in business; they all run companies on Fortune’s new Change the World list of companies that are doing well by doing good; and they’re all less known than they should be. –Doug Baker runs Ecolab, a specialty chemical company that focuses on water management, hygiene, and food safety. He and Ecolab are constantly winning awards for responsibility and ethical standards; most recently, Baker was named Responsible CEO of the Year by Corporate Responsibility magazine. All of which is nice, but what makes him worth our attention is that he also runs a knockout business. The stock, near an all time high, has nearly quadrupled since he became chief 11 years ago. -Unless you have diabetes, you may not know Novo Nordisk. “We’re world famous in Denmark,” an executive once told me, wryly, at HQ in Copenhagen. Even if you know the company, you may not know the CEO, Lars Rebien Sorensen. For 15 years he has been directing the company’s longtime mission of helping people worldwide with diabetes, hemophilia, and other diseases. Independent research estimates that the company’s early efforts in China have saved 140,000 life-years from diabetes-related complications. And by the way, the stock is up by a factor of 22 during Sorensen’s tenure. -You certainly know Whole Foods Market, and let’s acknowledge right away that its stock is near a three-year low. But I don’t care—co-CEO and co-founder John Mackey, a free-spirited vegan contrarian, is as ardent a capitalist as I know while also focusing the company on health, fairness up and down the supply chain, and the social consequences of his business. He’s passionate about profit because he can’t do anything else without it. His net worth is an estimated $100 million; he pays himself $1 a year. I like all these leaders because they’re absolutely clear about their purpose, and they’re fulfilling it. They can cheer us up as we read the headlines.

The Friday Musical Interlude: Bob Baldwin Performs "Stevie" featuring Marion Meadows

It is Friday here in #outsiders and it is time for the Friday Musical Interlude.   Our team has chosen Bob Baldwin as the artist of the week and we hope all enjoy this selection: 

Notations On our World: On #Iraq & #Syria

This was an image captured in an edition of the Wall Street Journal as the chaos continues to engulf Iraq.   What we have found quite interesting is how an Iraqi Parliamentary Committee has found that Nouri Al Maliki and at least 30 other officials were directly responsible for the fall of Mosul which IS/#Daesh continues to hold even today.

As we have been assessing this, it is also of interest to note that Malaki and the current Prime Minister are both members of the Al Dawa which is a Shitte based party that is strongly supported by Iran.  It must also be noted that Iran is currently on the frontlines of the fight against IS/#Daesh.  It is also of note how the current Prime Minister has made some major decisions on Government reorganization.   Such decisions have included the elimination ofthe post of Vice President and a considerable streamlining of the Government in response to nationwide protests.   Our team will continue to monitor this major development.

Beyond Iraq is Syria.   We here @ #Outsiders join many around the World as we mourn the brutal execution of the head of antiquities in Palyrmia, Khaled al-Asaad.        This 82-year Old Scholar dedicated over 50 years of his life to preservi ng the heritage of our World.     As we went to press with this latest edition of "Notations",  we reviewed reporting by the Guardian of London that he refused to disclose the hidden treasures in that city which led to his execution. 

As we mourned this hero, we were also horrifed as we saw this image captured so beautifully by the New York Times on the true face of the misery of Syria :

Laith Majid from Syria, holding his son and daughter, cried for joy after arriving safely in Kos from nearby Bodrum,...
Posted by The New York Times on Tuesday, August 18, 2015

A tough 24 hours yet again.....

Notations From the Grid: ON #theIranDeal (with Brief late breaking developments)

The debate over the Iran Deal has continued at a fast and furious pace as Members of Congress have been declaring their intentions over the past few weeks.  The latest to oppose is Senator Jeff Flake of Arizona who expressed his reservations over the weekend.  This is as nuclear experts signed a letter in support of the agreement and as 36 retired high ranking officers came out in support of the deal.    This is as MoveOn has spreaheaded a campaign in support of the deal.    

The opposition has been hard at work.   Our team has seen estimates of upward of $ 40 Million Dollars spent by AIPAC and its' allied organizations trying to scuttle the deal.     It is interesting how similar strands of arguments have been made by   more conservative elements within #Iran as well.   Such organizations have included JINSA, UANI  and a number of others.   What is clear, though, that it is going to be a struggle to the finish.

One very interesting sentiment on the true reality was expressed by Professor Dabashi of Columbia as the Supreme Leader continues his stance on how there were be no further compromise beyond the nuclear deal: 

the Ayatollah protests too much --on every occasion he has he wants to assure himself --more than he does anyone else...
Posted by Hamid Dabashi on Tuesday, August 18, 2015

Change is in the air--and it is evident as Iran is opening up and the World is opening up to Iran.   The Economist reminded the World that the Revolution is over--we could not agree more:




As we went to press with this latest edition of "Notations", one leading Republican came out in favor of the deal:  Richard Lugar, the Former Senator from Indiana and a long time Chairman of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee.     This is as Senator Menendez came out against the deal--as two additional Democratic Senators came out in Support.    @POTUS (which is Twitter speak for President Obama) needs 11 more Democrats to hold the line--and as all now, we are "twitter freaks" here @ #Outsiders.

This is ever so a developing story...and fun to comment on.....

Notations On Our World (Special Edition): The Death of Julian Bond

Julian Bond has passed away.   He was a co-founder of the Student Non-Violence Coordinating Committee and the Southern Poverty Law Center and served as a long-time Board Chairman of the NAACP.    This image depicts him as he was barred from taking the oath of Office in the Georgia House in 1966 after he endorsed a statement on opposition to the war in Vietnam by the head of Student Non-Violence Coordinating Committee, John Lewis (Now a Congressman).     

Tributes have been coming in fast and furious over the "Social Grid" and our Founder shared this over his personal twitter feed earlier:

May the soul of this noble soul #JulianBond RIP....@POTUS spoke for all Americans this day..... https://t.co/NVzDTzOwTz

— Mike Pouraryan (@mikepouraryan) August 16, 2015

He made a difference and we here at #Outsiders salute him and pray that his soul RIP.

Notations On Our World (weekend edition): A potential earthquake across the "Pond"

The United Kingdom's "official opposition" in Parliament, the Labor Party, is having a leadership election and Jeremy Corbyn has counfounded all the sceptics and has a real shot at winning.   He's from the so-called "left wing" of the party which prompted an intervention from the former Prime Minister, Tony Blair that it faces annihilation.    This is as Mr. Corbyn has said taht Mr. Blair may be facing a trial over the Iraq War as Mr Blair has made quite a lucrative career in private life.      

Our time found it quite onpointe as The Guardian , was ever so direct in explaninng why no one seems to be listening to Mr. Blair:



The Iraq War looms large as Labor tries a new path.

It is a developing story--but a fascinating one.