This is a pretty unusual site for anyone to see. It’s a flock of geese running through a neighborhood. Wings all broken?
One Truly Exceptional CEO
26 Feb
Things are really different over in Japan. Well, at least at Japan Airlines. Company CEO Haruka Nishimatsu has taken some rather unusual steps in the wake of the recession, hoping to keep the world’s tenth largest airline profitable and operating.
He takes the bus to work, eliminated his office so that anyone can walk in, waits in line at the cafeteria to pay for his food in line, doesn’t have any private transportation, and slashed his salary three years running to the equivalent of $90,000. Why the brash moves? He wants to show everyone at the company that everyone must bear the weight of the recession. Since many people of his age were forced into early retirement during a wave of job cuts at the company, he thought it was only fair that his salary would decrease as well.
His is a rare example of leadership in today’s world. More CEOs should look to Mr. Nishimatsu for models to follow.
Uganda’s President Drops Huge Rap Hit
26 FebJust weeks after saying “Today these young people taught me about this ‘rap.’ I was not following what they were saying. Well, I can even give you some rap myself,” the president of Uganda’s words were transformed into a smash hit in the country’s nightclubs and radio stations. Here’s the finished product:
Immediately after making the comments about not understanding today’s musical trend, Yoweri Museveni chanted “Naatema akati” (I cut a stick) and “Mp’enkoni” (Give me the stick) before thousands at an election rally in Western Uganda. He also shouted “you want another rap?” which became the title for the song. Record producers added the hip-hop beats, and mixed in audio from rallies across the country.
Released along with heavily doctored photos of President Museveni, the track exploded and became a huge hit. Word is that Museveni may record a full album of “rap hits” (traditional chants, etc.) after the election. I, for one, can’t wait.
South Korea Tries to Incite Unrest in North Korea
25 Feb
Hot on the heels of the unrest in the Middle East, South Korea wants North Korean citizens to begin their own uprising. They’ve employed a low tech solution to provoke them. In the past couple of days, members of the South Korean military began to fly balloons filled with leaflets on the unrest in the Middle East over the border and into North Korea.
The messages contain news of the uprisings in Egypt and Libya, suggesting “a dictatorial regime is destined to collapse.” More than 3 million leaflets have been sent to North Korea. When the balloons burst, the leaflets scatter.
There is no word on whether any protests have occurred in North Korea to date. The official news channel in North Korea has not reported on the situation in the Middle East. Earlier this week, China blocked phone access and the internet to prevent uprisings similar to those in the Middle East from occurring in their country.
A documentary about the situation in North Korea:
Wisconsin Sneak Vote Should Not Happen in America
25 Feb
In case you’ve been buried under a shell for the last week… legislators in Wisconsin, led by Republican Governor Scott Walker, have championed a bill that would trim the state’s budget deficit but also eliminate collective bargaining rights for public, unionized employees of the state. Walker claims removing the collective bargaining rights is necessary to help alleviate the deficit, but opponents doubt that.
Two days ago, Walker suffered a huge public embarrassment when it was revealed that a 20-minute conversation he thought he had with “David Koch”— a Republican billionaire who supported Walker during last fall’s election— was actually with liberal blogger.
Which leads us to last night. You may recall that the State Senate Democrats have fled the state to prevent that body from voting on the bill. Members of the Democratic Assembly remained, though, and passionately debated the bill for well over 72 hours. Last night, just after 1 a.m., the President Pro Tempore announced a voice vote. Seconds later, using the digital voting system, 51 ayes had been registered. Even though 28 assembly members (mostly democrats) had not cast their ballots, the voting ended.
Democrats now claim the vote was illegal and may pursue legal challenges in court. Immediately after the Speaker Pro Tempore announced the results Democratic legislators rose and chanted, “Shame! Shame! Shame!” See below for that video.
The video below from about a week ago shows similar frustation from Democratic assemblyman Gordon Hintz. It has not been seen by enough people.
We’ll see what happens next.
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