On Quite a Year At the Daily Outsider: Reflections

It has been quite a year at The Daily Outsider as we celebrated a year of achievement and milestones.  We purposefully decided to headline it as "The Year in Hope" that we captured from the Obama Foundation simply to underscore a sense of hope that we had about our initiatives and our roadmap for the future.     As we reflected upon the year, we hope all enjoyed our selection of one of our favorite artists, Cold Play in line with a tradition we had to periodically feature our "Artist of the Week".   2019 saw us go through a first phase of a rebranding & transformation process that saw us launch the Perspectives, Education and Visions Initiative as the Ordinary Faces initiative went through a facelift.  We also worked on laying out a transformation of our platforms.    Being named as a Google News Initiative and continuing the close collaboration with SuiteBriar and Google was among some of the achievements that we look forward to building on the 6321 published pieces we have done throughout our platforms. 2019 saw us continuing our engagement on Social Media with our Medium Corner, our Twitter Corner, periodic curation at our Facebook Corner which is an area we believe we can continue to build upon in the new year.    This is as we continued our engagements and worked to also be more focused with being a focused aggregator of the information at hand as we identified some key partners to feature including the Visual Capitalist.     We hereby present the following courtesy of the Visual Capitalist on 2019: Our Top 19 Infographics of 2019 A countdown of our top infographics from 2019, including some of our most viewed graphics and other hand-picked entries from our staff. 10 Insights Into How Global Business is Changing Every day, global trends are reshaping society and business. Here are 10 insights into how the world is changing—and where we are heading. The 20 Best-Performing Stocks of the Decade This graphic reveals the best-performing stocks over the last 10 years, and shows how much an initial $100 investment would be worth today. Breaking the Ice: Mapping a Changing Arctic The Arctic is changing. As shrinking ice cover makes this region more accessible, nations with Arctic real estate are exploring economic opportunities. The Habits of Highly Effective Leaders This infographic delves into what it takes to become an effective leader, and how those qualities can impact a company—beyond employee satisfaction. : We also continue our Social Good Efforts that culminated in the launch of the Esparanza Platform that has featured guidance from the US Federal Emergency Management Agency which we hope we can build upon as we gear up to be supportive of the MLK Day National day of Service in January 2020 and the Global Volunteer Month sponsored by the Points of Light Foundation later on in April 2020--and Climate Advocacy.    We hereby note this courtesy of the team at the Points of Light Foundation: Coming Soon: Global Volunteer Month  At Points of Light, recognizing individuals and organizations that are creating change in their communities is an important part of our mission. As we work to build a global culture of volunteering, we are excited to share plans for and invite you to join us for a new celebration of volunteer service in communities around the world: Global Volunteer Month. Taking place in April, Global Volunteer Month will be an opportunity to celebrate the impact of volunteer service and the power of volunteers to tackle society’s greatest challenges, to build stronger, more vibrant communities, and take action that changes the world. Learn More >> This was also a year of danger and challenges for Journalists around the World.   What was noted below courtesy of the Committee to Protect Journalists was of profound concern--As we went to press, Al Jazeera's Mahmoud Hussein had spent his 3rd Year in Prison in Egypt without a charge and Five Saudis were sentenced to death for the murder of Jamal Khashoogi:

This week, CPJ released its 2019 prison census, finding that China, Turkey, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia are the worst jailers of journalists worldwide. For the fourth consecutive year, at least 250 journalists are imprisoned globally. While the majority face anti-state charges, the number charged with “false news” rose to 30 compared with 28 last year. See more findings in this video. The report is available in nine languages: English, Français, Español, Portuguȇs, فارسی, Русский, Türkçe, العربية, 中文. CPJ will release two additional reports this month: “One Country, One Censor,” on Chinese influence in Hong Kong and Taiwan, will be published Monday December 16, and our annual report on journalists killed in relation to their work will be published on Wednesday, December 18. CPJ’s prison census was accompanied by several blog posts: Iranian journalist imprisoned, fired, and forced into exile over a single word ‘I could be jailed at any moment’: Turkish editor in limbo over terms of prison release For the sake of press freedom, Julian Assange must be defended Nigeria and Ethiopia jail activist-journalists amid crackdown on free expression Our team was also quite busy assessing on-going developments throughout the Middle East with a special focus on Iran, Iraq, Syria and Lebanon.   Iran saw its' biggest uprising that saw mass demonstrations in over 200 cities and 28 of the 31 provinces throughout Iran.   As we went to press, Reuters reported that some 1500 people had been killed.   The parents of one of the fallen, Pouya Bakhtiyari, called for all to join them at the graveside of their Son in the South of the Tehran at 2:00 PM Local Time on Thursday December 26--The 40th Day of his death.     We received reports that his parents were detained by Security Officials after his father refused Authorities' demands that he refrain from a public memorial for his Son.      The discourse our team captured during our assessment over social media was telling :  Uprisings in Iraq and Lebanon have continued.   This is as Syria began its' final assault on the remnants of the Opposition and Turkey began its' offensive after President Trump decided to withdraw.    There is also the matter of the impeachment of President Trump as the 2020 campaign was in full swing as the tossle continued between all the various political factions--In spite of the challenges, a Budget was passed, the new NAFTA (referred to as USMCA) was approved although many other bills were not taken up by the US Senate: Europe was also quite fascinating to be witness to as Britain finally figured out it wanted to be out of the European Union, Spain had a Government, protests in France continued, Greece stabilized and got a new Government.  It will be quite a year in Europe as the new leadership for the European Commission took charge. We have also had a special focus on China and India.   India was continuing to deal with major unrest in the aftermath of the passage of the Citizenship Law as the hold that the BJP had on power seemed to wither away as it lost 5 states.   Amit Shah, the Union Home Minister, was at the forefront of it all: World Modi’s enforcer unmoved by furious backlash to citizenship law Amit Shah is dedicated to transforming India into a Hindu nation DECEMBER 19, 2019 by Stephanie Findlay in New Delhi    China also continued its' assertive stance as the trade war with the United States continued.   As we went to press, China initiative cuts in Tariffs , hosted a summit with the leaders of Japan and South Korea and launched a new Aircraft Carrier--as it also announced aggressive plans for space exploration.     As we conclude our final thoughts for the year, we wanted to close out with one of our must reads on the future that can be possible--we agree with the ever eloquent Alan Murray on what Shideh Binah noted:

December 20, 2019 Good morning. Lots of good responses to my request for predictions for the next decade, with two issues predominating—the rapid advance of data and A.I., and the rapid deterioration of skills as a result. This from Doug Merritt, CEO of Splunk: “The world will be generating 175 zetabytes of data by 2025—10x the volume of data the world sees today. But the value of data remains trapped for most organizations. In the 2020s, I suspect that data will become a business imperative—organizations who embrace it will lead their markets, while organizations who don’t act on dark data will fall behind and falter.” IBM CEO Ginni Rometty wrote in with this thought: “When it comes to innovation, we see business leaders moving to the next chapter of using data as their most powerful source of competitive advantage. This includes scaling A.I. everywhere. …And, to enable it all, it means expanding the pathways through which students and professionals can build their skills—in what I’ve coined as ‘new collar’ jobs, where skills matter more than degrees.” And Insigniam founder Shideh Bina wrote this thoughtful response, with which I’m in full agreement: “More than any decade I can recall (in the six I have lived through), the next decade will be defined by how well we, as leaders, and as citizens, respond to challenges and threats to our foundational beliefs, structures and institutions. Will we respond with wisdom, courage, accountability and creativity to our climate, our political storms, our vast inequities, our soon-to-be obsolete skills base and our deeply engrained biases about each other and about how things “ought to be”? If we respond well we can turn these threats into glorious, transformative opportunities. If not, we will preside over tragedy. The transformation required to prevail also requires a transformation of ourselves as leaders and how we think and act. The decade has not been written, the pen is our hands.” Our mission is to use our pen to live up to Shideh Binah's admonition.    As we go dark throughout our platforms, we look forward to our continued journey of service in 2020 although our Twitter Corner will be updated and our live Broadcast Pod featuring SkyNews, We embrace the holidays with this performed during the Global Citizen Prize:

Seasons's Greetings from our team --Onward to 2020 with all its possibilities!! See you all next year!!

Notations On Our World (Special M-End Edition): On Making A Difference

As we await a new month and go dark for the Labor Day Week-End here in the United States, we decided to feature this courtesy of the Economist to provide a snapshot of the challenging times in our World as we look forward to the continued journey of service.

We wish all in the United States a Happy and joyful Labor Day Week-End as it is officially the End of Summer: 

The Economist this week Highlights from the latest issue

This week we have two connected covers. In Britain, where Boris Johnson has announced that he will suspend Parliament for five weeks from mid-September, we ask who can now stop a no-deal Brexit. The sense of inevitability about no-deal, cultivated by the hardliners advising Mr Johnson, is bogus. The European Union is against such an outcome; most Britons oppose it; Parliament has already voted against the idea. When MPs return to work next week, they will have a fleeting chance to avert an unwanted national calamity. Mr Johnson’s muzzling of Parliament has made clear why they must seize it. Mr Johnson’s ploy is legal, but it stretches the conventions of Britain’s constitution to their limits. His scheming is just one example of the cynicism that is gnawing at Western democracies—and which is the focus of our cover in the rest of the world. Democracies are generally thought to die at the barrel of a gun, in coups and revolutions. These days, however, they are more likely to be strangled slowly in the name of the people. Old-established polities, such as Britain and America, are not about to become one-party states, but their democracy is already showing signs of decay. Once the rot sets in, it is formidably hard to stop.  Zanny Minton Beddoes, Editor-in-Chief

Editor’s picks Must-reads from the current edition Pharmaceuticals Opioids Inc in the dock Companies accused of fuelling America’s opioid crisis face a legal reckoning Business India’s economy Meagre fare Narendra Modi’s government is scrambling to spice up growth Finance and economics Israel v Iran The plots thicken New fronts open up in a festering conflict, as Israel braces for an attack Middle East and Africa Chaguan Getting a grip How China might bring Hong Kong to heel without sending troops from the mainland China Banyan Wars without end A Chinese development scheme adds an extra dimension to long-running conflicts Asia Horticulture Growing brighter New ways to make vertical farming stack up Science and technology Bird life in New Zealand Cheep dates Efforts to conserve the kakapo, a pudgy parrot, are at last being rewarded Asia The world this week Italy’s centre-left Democratic Party and the populist Five Star Movement reached an agreement to form a new coalition government that would see Giuseppe Conte remain prime minister. Mr Conte recently quit his job after Matteo Salvini, the hard-right leader of the Northern League, withdrew his support from the government. The deal keeps Mr Salvini out of power. He had served as interior minister, overseeing a crackdown on migrants. More from politics this week The latest escalation of the trade war saw China announcing new tariffs on $75bn-worth of American goods from September 1st. Donald Trump responded by announcing a five-percentage-point increase on existing and planned tariffs on Chinese exports. More from business this week See full edition The world ahead Your guide to the future If Egypt collapses Pyramid scheme What might cause the country to collapse, and what would the consequences be if it did? From Economist Films Film What does a cashless future mean? Many countries are going cashless at great speed. What are the advantages of ditching hard cash and what are the dangers?