14min 40sec clip - Can bond vigilantes really hold governments to account, forcing them to dance to their tune?

The UK need stricter rules governing those with the privilege of government power - quote from Simon Kuper

 

Hydrogen powered train

 

 The Train de Charlevoix will start running in June 2023 after trial journeys in Sweden. It will be powered entirely by green hydrogen and will emit only water vapour. The train will follow a 90-minute route from the centre of Québec, stopping at 7 towns along the banks of the St Lawrence River. It was built by French rail firm Alstom. Its technology is already up and running in Europe, including the world’s first hydrogen-powered passenger train, in Germany. #hydrogen #train #transport #northamerica #hydrogentrain

12min clip - How NYC Lights Up More Than 1,000,000 Buildings - NYC Revealed

1min 14sec clip - One Simple Trick For Mounting #Power Strips

found via a digg email

3min 31sec @NASA clip - Powering Our Return to the Moon

Text from youtube "NASA announces the first partnership of its kind with MAXAR Technologies to power the future lunar orbiting station."

5min @Theeconomist clip - Is the #pope head of the world's most powerful #government ?

Text from you tube "Is the pope head of the world's most powerful government? The pope represents over one billion people, his government has a permanent presence at the United Nations and he runs the oldest diplomatic service on earth. We asked the man behind the Vatican's foreign policy to explain how the world's smallest country could house the world's most influential government" 

1min 18sec @wef clip - #Africa could produce around 9 terawatts of solar #power twice the amount of energy consumed by the US

45sec @wef clip - #Solar powered #trains are closer to reality than you might think

#infographic by @fransassetti on #LSEPower17 one day conference

LSE Power Conference
Create bar charts

8min 6sec #TEDEd clip - What are the challenges of #nuclear #power? - M. V. Ramana and Sajan Saini

Our ability to mine great amounts of energy from uranium nuclei has led some to bill nuclear power as a plentiful, utopian source of electricity. 

But rather than dominate the global electricity market, nuclear power has declined from a high of 18% in 1996 to 11% today. 

What happened to the great promise of this technology? 

 M.V. Ramana and Sajan Saini detail the challenges of nuclear power, animation by Wooden Plane Productions.

9min clip - the power of 10

found via an @kickstarter email

Powers of Ten takes us on an adventure in magnitudes. Starting at a picnic by the lakeside in Chicago, this famous film transports us to the outer edges of the universe. Every ten seconds we view the starting point from ten times farther out until our own galaxy is visible only a s a speck of light among many others. Returning to Earth with breathtaking speed, we move inward- into the hand of the sleeping picnicker- with ten times more magnification every ten seconds. Our journey ends inside a proton of a carbon atom within a DNA molecule in a white blood cell. POWERS OF TEN © 1977 EAMES OFFICE LLC (Available at www.eamesoffice.com)

Beyond Election Day: #Power, Money, Government & Responsibility - How do we get #politics & business working for the common good? #GE2015Beyond

I attended this event yesterday evening.  

It was organised by St Paul's Institute in partnership with Theos and Together for the Common Good.  

A summary of the subject, chair and speakers is in the pic to the left of this text, (the 1st page of the event's handout).

The format was some opening remarks by each speaker followed by a Q&A & then some closing remarks from each speaker.  There is a video of the event below. 

At the foot of this post are links to other posts of interest AND pics of the other pages of the handout giving a bit more detail on the chair, the speakers and the organisers of the event.

My summary of the main points I heard being made - using others tweets where available - is below the video.

1. 1. St. Paul's Institute ‏@StPaulsInst  

      *TONIGHT* Beyond Election Day: Power, Money, Government & Responsibility http://beyondelectionday.eventbrite.com  #GE2015Beyond #GE2015

      
      

      

      
      

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      Shami Chakrabarti kicked off with giving a perspective from civil society, then Conor Kehoe gave a business perspective, Loretta Minghella gave a faith inspired social action perspective and Craig Calhoun finished

If I was mega summarising what each speaker said in a couple of lines it would be:

Shami Chakrabarti - Her 3 word summary of everything she believes about human rights is dignity, equality and fairness, and the greatest of these is equality

Conor Kehoe - maximising long term shareholder is still a good guide for directors to guide what corporations do in the interests of society but assuming long term value is measured by share prices maybe leading people astray.

Loretta Minghella - Any answer to how we address the common good must be able to address the biggest enemies of that common good - climate change, international tax dodging & gender inequality for women. 

Craig Calhoun - We no longer believe politics can be about higher purposes - that we can be more than creatures of self interest. We need a shared purpose and solidarity - common purposes - as part of our society, our country.  Politics when working well can help here

and in a bit more detail ....



Shami Chakrabarti's main points were:

She believes in fundemental human rights & freedoms - not just as a system of law but as ethical values that bind together the whole human family

Her 3 word summary of everything she believes about human rights is ....

1. 1. James Walters ‏@LSEChaplain  

      Shami Chakrabarti calls for dignity, equality and fairness #GE2015beyond

      
      

      

      
      

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Dignity = belief that every single human life is precious - just because they are alive (so not for what they've contributed or their nationality of sexuality or their "goodness" for example)

Equality = equal treatment under the law

Fairness = procedural - a fair hearing, presumption of innocence, access to justice

and the greatest of these is Equality because everybody loves human rights - their own & those like them.  We wouldn't have many of the problems we have if we treated others as we would wish to be treated ourselves.

During a General Election we need to remember that ....

Theos think tank ‏@Theosthinktank  

Chakrabarti: democracy must continue in between elections. Much more than casting a vote every 5 yrs #GE2015Beyond

and if we don't then those elected can take our freedoms away (as has happened in other parts of the world during our lifetimes).  Democracy is about fundamental rights and freedoms and the rule of law and these principles keep democracy alive and without them democracy would eat itself.

Some say rights are selfish and they don't build mutuality or responsibility.  Well ....

Together4CommonGood ‏@T4CG  

Do rights allow responsibility? Shami Chakrabarti says a bill of rights is by reciprocity a bill of responsibilities too #GE2015Beyond

Closing remarks on what individuals can do

- democracy not just a 5 year thing

- live your values in your shopping basket and your home



Conor Kehoe's main points were:

2 big ideas drive how corporations are run today 

1. 1. Myriam Zandonini ‏@MZandonini  

      Shareholder value & market efficiency keep corporations alive says @McKinsey Conor Kehoe #GE2015beyond @StPaulsInst

      
      

      

      
      

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The headline from Conor's introductory remarks is that maximising long term shareholder is still a good guide for directors to guide what corporations do in the interests of society.  Citizens need to spend £'s on social (as vs for profit) programmes thru the ballot box or their own £'s. But assuming long term value is measured by share prices maybe leading people astray.

The Background to this headline
Shareholder Value - background
A corporation is like a person can enter into contracts - people can invest in and liability is limited to that investment, after all others are paid what is left is profit for investors.  But corporations are a fiction - an imaginary personas an 18th century jurist said "Corporations have neither body's to be punished nor souls to be condemned - they therefore do what they like"

Directors - appointed by shareholders - are responsible for a corporations behaviour.  Shareholders are in the main other large corporations - e.g. pension funds.  So to direct a corporation Directors need to: a) know what is going on; b) ensure their charges adhere to the law and norms of society.

Society allows corporations to exist so how can we ensure corporations act in the best interest of society?  Adam Smith's answer was the "invisible hand" (an owner operating in their own interest to gain more profit in a competitive market).  But that is talking about real people - not the imaginary people that are corporations. 

Friedman & Jenson in 70's & 80's proposed directors should run corporations to maximise shareholder value - today's profits and those out into the future.  As shareholders are the last to be paid after all others therefore maximising their value maximises value for society (competition & search for profit are the regulators much as in Adam Smith's day)

Market Efficiency - background
Share price efficiently puts a value on all those future profit streams that will accrue to shareholders.  But problem is that there is some evidence that the market is short termist.  Even if you don't buy that there is plenty of evidence that CEOs and directors believe the stock market is short termist & so behave accordingly.

Closing remarks on what individuals can do

- get engaged as a consumer and employee and as a member of a pension fund

- use the power of social media

- encourage layers to take a broader view of stakeholder value



Loretta Minghella's main points were:

Climate change is making extreme weather events that kill people or make them homeless more likely - so what are we doing about climate change?

Any answer to how we address the common good must be able to address the biggest enemies of that common good - climate change, international tax dodging & gender inequality for women (Christian Aid's big 3 causes of poverty)

Together4CommonGood ‏@T4CG  

"To promote the common good we must dismantle the environment where poverty can exist" @LMinghella #GE2015Beyond

Christian Aid starts from the position that each person is made in the image of God and so is of inherent dignity and infinite worth.  

Poverty is incompatible with the common good so need to put in place building blocks so personal, social, political and economic power are truly shared and a world n which true charity flourishes

Individual charity = sympathy & giving for anothers plight & is really needed but only creates a temporary sense of connection. Less charitable is the small donation to escape a person asking for charity or some business' CSR programmes so NGOs don't disrupt the AGM.  

True charity = transformational.  Building relationships of integrity which pivot on the idea that we are all equal and all deserve a place at the table.  In a christian sense a full hearted and demanding love, a relentless commitment to what is good for the other manifested in right and just and loving relationships.

To achieve this business and politicians and civil society need to work together.  Of course in all of this we have personal responsibilities (e.g for what we buy from where) but we also need to hold government and businesses to account. 

Examples of such an approach? Dismantling of apartheid or US civil rights movement. Dropping of poor country debt.  These e.gs bear witness to the power of people of like mind coming together in a common cause.  And also, to some extent, to the power of vulnerability - how awesome it is when people put themselves on the line for the freedom of others. 

Business & government find vulnerability difficult to show and change difficult & often get stuck in defensive postures.  Often civil actors can give them the cover to be vulnerable.

Closing remarks on what individuals can do

- we have choices we have to make about the type of world we want to live in - as citizens of the world.  As part of that comes responsibility about connecting and speaking out and taking risks of failure and vulnerability


Craig Calhoun's main points were:

We no longer believe politics can be about higher purposes - that we can be more than creatures of self interest

Simca Simpson ‏@SimcaSimpson  

Politics should be about education and choice: a deeper kind of politics. @craigjcalhoun @LSEnews #GE2015beyond

Public life should be about - individually and collectively  - an awareness of how we need to grow in awareness and understanding

We need a shared purpose and solidarity - common purposes - as part of our society, our country - politics when working well can help here

We shouldn't accept the premise that the market is a perfectly self regulating system. That is a device by which we analyse it.  Its a partial truth. Markets are interwoven in all of our lives

Government isn't just those in Westminster, through politics it should be something we are all part of.

Politics should enable conditions for engagement.

James Walters ‏@LSEChaplain  

LSE Director: Social responsibility not just what you do with the money you make but how you make it #GE2015Beyond

Shareholder value shouldn't blind us to all other stakeholders in a business

We should look at market failures - production of bad stuff in production of wealth.

Love isn't just equality it is also connectionClosing remarks on what individuals can do

- gave an e.g. of a single student coming to him and saying LSE should be paying minimum wage

- our society is structured around getting not giving so giving can be sacrificial  - but worth it to embrace a different concept of the good



Soundbites from the Q&A

Shami 

- what links all 4 speaker's contributions is internationalism - this is a shrinking interconnected planet

- the level of information gathering now going on via big data is ripe for abuse

- identity cards invariably become a mechanism for racial discrimination

- voting - a right paid for in courage and blood

Elizabeth Oldfield ‏@TheosElizabeth  

Chakrabarti says women have had the vote for less than 100 yrs, so if you can't decide who to vote for vote for a woman (!) #GE2015beyond

- christian role - more attention to poverty and less to sexuality



Conor 

- big companies are very powerful so we need to hold them accountable



Loretta

- legislation designed to affect danger of business impacting politics seems to have instead focused on charities "sticking to their knitting"

- much more transparency needed on where businesses are making their profits where and how and how and what tax they are paying where and how and how they are using their money to create purchase on the political landscape.  Longer term businesses are at risk from each others excesses (where governments aren't equal to the task)

- if you do not make a contribution to the debate then your voice is missing and nobody else can replace that

- corporations are global but regulation of them isn't - and in short term we won't see global regulation and why transparency is so important

- christianity can speak truth to power



Craig

- often we let our discourse be dominated by how we can prevent the bad rather than what we can do accomplish for the good together

- there are always alternatives to current arrangements - and these alternatives change themselves

- firms should see employees as stakeholders in the firms

- doing business and forming a corporation is a gift from the state 

- political campaigning needs to be reformed to avoid undue influence on politicians of those with money

- land is a big issue for our national output

Elizabeth Oldfield ‏@TheosElizabeth  

Q:what does relig bring?@craigjcalhoun says he's a Christian and Christianity offers a willingness to speak about values #GE2015Beyond

- and how to talk about values





other posts on RSA, TED, other lectures, conferences, others blog posts

2015
10 tips on how to use twitter to build a learning community

The 10 problems which mean the process to allocate scientific funding is broken
where does creativity come from? - a @RSAEvents lecture by mathematician @Cedric_Villani @alexbellos 
how to innovate & survive - by @markf212  (Mark Payne)

18 top tips and thoughts about using #social media to enable #community source = an article by  Anatoliy Gruzd PhD & Caroline Haythornthwaite PhD 

thinking straight in the age of information overload - by @danlevitin 

how to become a soulful organisation - by @fred_laloux 

2014

thoughts & headlines from a conference on social media and images 

Data Protection & Privacy - 8 issues from an International Conference

escape your social horizon limit & understand more - source = a blog post summarising the work of  Jeffrey A. Smith, Miller McPherson & Lynn Smith-Lovin

OECD - challenges for the next 50 years - in an OECD report 

Want to help somebody - shut up and listen - by ermesto sirolli 

social media & death - 10 things you may not have thought about - #DORS conference

persuasion and power in the modern world and the rise of soft power - UK House of Lords 

2013

UK Government Policy Blunders & their common causes - by Anthony King & Ivor Crewe

the development of the U2 spyplane - source = CIA historians Gregory Pedlow & Donald Welzenbach

Guide to Comments (esp. #YouTube) for creators - by @vihartvihart

considering culture and business process improvement  - source = an article by Schmiedel, Theresa, vom Brocke, Jan, & Recker 

ideas for your organisation from the 2013 99U conference 

ideas that may help you attract older volunteers - source = a paper by Brayley, Nadine, Obst, Patricia L., White, Katherine M., Lewis, Ioni M.,Warburton, Jeni, & Spencer, Nancy

physical factors which help people get better quicker - source = a paper by Salonen, Heidi & Morawska, Lidia 

a new approach to school and education - by Geetha Narayanan 

principles for software to encourage participation - by Gerhard Fischer

guiding principles on designing construction kits - by Mitchel Resnick & Brian Silverman

how to identify the #culture of an organisation

signs of overparenting - source = an article by Locke, Judith, Campbell, Marilyn A., & Kavanagh, David J

making ideas happen - source = a 99U conference

2012

how to spot a liar - by pamela myer 

the related world of cyber crime, warfare and industrial espionage - by @mishaglenny 

ambiguity, irreverence, commentary & judgement - by lauren zalaznick

measuring happiness - source = talk by jim clifton, jim harter, ben leedle

Other pages from the event's handout

how to be a #google #power user

Source: WhoIsHostingThis.com found via churchmag

10 useful links (no.1) - on advent, group activities, encouraging & unlocking sharing, soft power, baptism prayers, kid bible app

advent animations from @WordLive which you can view on youtube or download

celebrate advent using your camera phone 

advent wreath making http://www.buildfaith.org/2014/11/17/advent-wreath-making-survival-guide-btdt

peacemakers manual - which has some group exercises/handouts at the end of each module that maybe useful for other activities - by @iamcaritas

ways of encouraging people to share their time, skills and resources, as well as their money - by Helen Goulder at @nesta_uk

unlocking the sharing economy - an independent review by @DebbieWossk 

soft power report - by House of Lords

pressed for time: the acceleration of life in digital capitalism - 92 minute video with Judy Wajcman, Genevieve Bell (@feraldata) & Anthony Giddens via @LSEsociology

praying at christenings – two ideas to involve the family & friends - by @reverendally

reading the bible with children app - by @biblesociety