Commercial Intelligence – Page 107 – Public Intelligence Blog

Not all politicians are the corrupt morons we find at the Federal level in Washington. Here are six cities around the world trying to reorganize how their communities function. I take it as good news, although I think it should be noted that not one of these cities is to be found in the U.S.

6 of the Greenest Cities in the World
SARAH WOLFE – Global Post/Salon

Solar-powered buses. Carbon neutral buildings. Motion-sensitive lights and water faucets.

Sounds like something out of ‘The Jetsons.”

But cutting-edge technologies like these are already the norm in some of the world’s greenest cities, where the environment takes precedence over industry and the debate over sustainable living has long been decided in favor of it.

As the world celebrates Earth Day, GlobalPost takes a look at six cities that are among the most environmentally friendly based on their energy sources, transportation options, sustainable planning and other factors:

LIST ONLY:

Oslo, Norway
Copenhagen, Denmark
Adelaide, Australia
Masdar City within Abu Dhabi, UAE
Cape Town, South Africa

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2014/04/252014/04/25

Berto Jongman: Linking Climate, Food Prices, & Revolution

01 Agriculture, 03 Economy, 06 Family, 07 Health, 11 Society, Civil Society, Commerce, Commercial Intelligence, Corruption, Cultural Intelligence, Earth Intelligence, Government, Peace Intelligence

Chinese Drought, Wheat, and the Egyptian Uprising: How a Localized Hazard became Globalized

Did climate change play an indirect role in the political upheavals that rocked Egypt in 2011? Absolutely, says Troy Sternberg. As he sees it, a once-in-a-century drought in China dramatically reduced global wheat supplies and sent prices skyrocketing in the world’s largest wheat importer.

By Troy Sternberg for Henry L Stimson Center

This article was originally published in The Arab Spring and Climate Change, which can also be accessed here.

Chinese drought, global wheat prices, and revolution in Egypt may all appear to be unrelated, but they became linked by a series of events in the 2010–2011 winter.[1] As the world’s attention focused on protests in Egypt’s Tahrir Square, political and socioeconomic motives behind the protests were discussed abundantly, while significant indirect causes of the Arab Spring received little mention. In what could be called “hazard globalization,” a once-in-a-century winter drought in China reduced global wheat supply and contributed to global wheat shortages and skyrocketing bread prices in Egypt, the world’s largest wheat importer.[2] Government legitimacy and civil society in Egypt were upset by protests that focused on poverty, bread, and political discontent.

A tale of climate disaster, market forces, and authoritarian regimes helps to unravel the complexity surrounding public revolt in the Middle East. This essay examines the link between natural hazards, food security, and political stability in two developing countries—China and Egypt—and reflects on the links between climate events and social processes.

Continue reading “Berto Jongman: Linking Climate, Food Prices, & Revolution”

2014/04/202014/04/21

Yoda: Movement Grows to Legalize Marijuana

Commercial Intelligence, Cultural Intelligence

Wise, this is.

420 festival: How far and fast could legal marijuana spread?

The 420 festival in Denver Sunday shows how the legal marijuana cultural phenomenon is growing. But it's Colorado's success in keeping things safe and orderly that has some ‘cautiously optimistic' about the industry.

EXTRACT

A New York Times/CBS News poll found that 51 percent of Americans support legalizing marijuana. That is up from 27 percent in 1979. If that number continues its upward trend, as expected, the tax money that legal marijuana promises politicians will look more inviting. For its part, Marijuana Business Daily forecasts that industry sales nationwide will hit $8 billion in 2018.

The potential expansion of legal marijuana has already largely played out with medical marijuana. Twenty-one states currently allow marijuana for medical use. Twelve more will consider it this fall, meaning more than half of states will likely have some form of legal marijuana by the end of the year.

Read full article.

Continue reading “Yoda: Movement Grows to Legalize Marijuana”

2014/04/202014/04/20

Stephen E. Arnold: Technology Flopping – Thinking Still Out of Style

Advanced Cyber/IO, Commercial Intelligence, Cultural Intelligence, IO Impotency

Concern about the Future of Technology

I suggest you read two articles.

The first is from folks who make their living cheerleading technology. The article “What Does the Recent Tech Stock Downturn Meant? The Truth Is Nobody Knows.” is an admission that the future of technology is—well—not too clear. With increasing class tension in the City by the Bay, I suppose some reflection is warranted. I sort of knew this when I was a wee lad. Apparently for those surfing technology, the notion that the fancy analytics systems with their clever predictive methods are clueless is interesting. I assume not even insider information is illuminating the dark corners of what seems to be a somewhat trivial issue compared with some of the national and international news.

The second is “We got Bookies to Predict the Future of Tech.” Crowdsourcing the future is not too interesting. I checked out the investment and threat markets and concluded that the Ivory Tower folks had time on their hands. This article contains a quote I noted. The comment is about Google Glass. Few items of headgear trigger assaults, so I was intrigued:

Continue reading “Stephen E. Arnold: Technology Flopping – Thinking Still Out of Style”

2014/04/172014/04/17

Stephen E. Arnold: Imagine the Internet Without Search Engines — or Google — or IBM

Advanced Cyber/IO, Commercial Intelligence

PART I Imagine the Internet without Search Engines

Centrifuge Systems proposes an interesting idea in “Big Data Discovery Without Link Analysis Is Like The Web Without Google.” Centrifuge Systems asks readers of the short article to imagine using the Internet without a search engine. How would we locate information? It would be similar to the librarian’s favorite description of the Internet all the contents of a library spilled on the floor. The article continues to explain that big data without link analysis works the same as the Internet without a search engine.

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PART II Google and IBM Struggle

At my age, I don’t own stocks. I don’t own anything because life in rural Kentucky is simple. The news about Google’s and IBM’s most recent financial results struck me as an MBA discussion group problem.

IBM issued “IBM Reports 2014 First Quarter Results.” What surprises did the $100 billion giant sprint on me? In a nutshell, declining revenues and profits. The bright spots were IBM’s consulting revenues and the company’s cloud computing. Other parts of the business were less robust. Overall IBM faces major challenges in hardware where no easy fix seems evident. Search as manifested in the Watson initiative will have to deliver.

In “Google Inc. Announces First Quarter 2014 Results” made clear that the Google was able to pump up its revenue. I noted the word “great” as Google’s way of describing the last 12 weeks’ financial performance. I noted that profit was down. Explanations included accountants being accountants and acquisitions. For me, the shift to mobile and the now-familiar dependence on one major revenue stream were important. Google may have to do more to keep up the appearance that it is the same super star that burst upon the scene more than a decade ago. Aging pro athletes and Hollywood starlets know the drill well. More effort goes into staying young at an increasingly higher cost. Is search as Google defines it up to the task of paying for personal trainers and plastic surgeons?

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2014/04/162014/04/16

Michel Bauwens: redefining value within and beyond the money form

Commercial Intelligence, Cultural Intelligence, Gift Intelligence

The priority after MoneyLab (2): redefining value within and beyond the money form

How can we arrive at common decisions on what is to be valued? Do we value personal bonds or do we value anonymity? Do we value community or do we value individuality? Is there a way to bridge these apparent opposites or dissolve their inherent contradictions, or will they forever be in conflict? What do we value about ourselves? What do we value about others? What do we value in nature, in work, in leisure? And how can we embed these values — both moral and economic — in the very money-form? Ultimately, if we are talking about creating a radically different society, the question of value will have to somehow be detached from money.

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2014/04/152014/04/15

SchwartzReport: Average American Pulling Out of US Stock Market

03 Economy, Commercial Intelligence, Cultural Intelligence

This is a major trend that has received almost no attention. Long term it has significant implications: a market without citizen investors has a very different dynamic. For myself, I gave up on the stock market in 2008 believing small investors had become basically just road kill. That view is spreading, as this report makes clear. Click through to see the graphics.

Americans Increasingly Rejecting the Stock Market, Cuts Wall Street Profits
Daily Kos

The stock market is at all-time highs, but trading volume on the New York Stock Exchange is at 15 year lows.

Quite simply, the mom-and-pop investor has had enough and is leaving the market.

Category: Commercial Intelligence

SchwartzReport: 6 Greenest Cities in World (None in USA)

Berto Jongman: Linking Climate, Food Prices, & Revolution

Yoda: Movement Grows to Legalize Marijuana

Stephen E. Arnold: Technology Flopping – Thinking Still Out of Style

Stephen E. Arnold: Imagine the Internet Without Search Engines — or Google — or IBM

Michel Bauwens: redefining value within and beyond the money form

SchwartzReport: Average American Pulling Out of US Stock Market