On the Prowl w/thoughts on US Politics, AI & Other Thoughts (with a Brief Update)

What a week it has been!!

As I have been tending to commitments in the @DailyOutsider, I saw this from the Washington Examiner:

NRA endorses Trump: 'We have to unite'

The National Rifle Association endorsed presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump on Friday, after months of declining to support a candidate in the GOP primary race.

"In all of history there's always been a time and a place when patriots stand up and rise up against the decree of the elites and shout, 'No more. Get your hands off my freedom,'" NRA president Wayne LaPierre told a roomful of gun owners on Friday. "That time and place is now."

Read the full story here.


What is unfortunate is that anyone who does not seem to agree with the NRA is not a patriot and not an American.     I also can't help but wonder why the NRA epitomizes such a culture of fear.

Beyond the NRA itself, I could not help but be shocked at how Trump has continued to dominate the airwaves.    CBSN, the online App by CBS News, was slated to carry his remarks live.   He was on Megyn Kelly.     Yet, he complained about "Media Bias".   He also went after Bill Clinton in regards to rape allegations--this is as he immediately sent out a tweet about the potential terrorism on the EgyptAir Flight #MS804 as Greece, Egypt and France scrambled to find the wreckage.    Although terrorism is certainly a possibility, it was a failure of leadership.  I got into a twitter give and take with a few of Mr. Trump's fans on it.      This is as the conservative media continues its' onslaught on Hillary Clinton with Karl Rove's latest comments about the "FBI Primary" as he speculated about a Hillary Clinton indictment.     In the meantime, the Democratic Side is just as nasty--but what was interesting to note was the daily notations from the Fortune's Geoff Colvin as former Massachutes Governor William Weld entering the Libertarian Party Presidential contest:

Former Massachusetts Governor William Weld said yesterday that he wants to run for vice president on the Libertarian Party ticket alongside former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson, the Libertarian presidential nominee in 2012, who is running again. What’s intriguing is that amid rampant talk about the hope and hopelessness of a third-party challenge to Donald Trump, one is actually taking shape under the radar. A Johnson-Weld ticket, should it be chosen at the party’s convention over Memorial Day weekend, would have no chance of winning – Johnson got 1% of the vote in 2012 – but in a year of surprises it could prove surprisingly attractive to voters already seeking an alternative to Trump and Hillary Clinton. A Fox News poll conducted earlier this week, before Weld’s announcement, showed that in a Trump-Clinton-Johnson race, Johnson drew 10% support.

I agree with him in this regard:  They have no chance of winning.    However, they can potentially be a spoiler.     It seems as if those who are perceived "outsiders" are prevailing--as epitomized by the election of the new President of the Phillipines who has promised to kill off all the criminals.

Beyond the political scene, though, this truly blew me away:  

Artificially Intelligent Lawyer 'Ross' Has Been Hired By Its First Official Law Firm

What it is: Baker & Hostetler has just announced a new hire: Ross, the world's first artificially intelligent lawyer. Ross is the brainchild of IBM Watson, and it's been designed to "read and understand language, postulate hypotheses when asked questions, research, and then generate responses (along with references and citations) to back up its conclusions," as Futurism describes. "Ross also learns from experience, gaining speed and knowledge the more you interact with it."

Why it's important: A powerful glimpse into the future of professional services. Currently, even the most diehard legal assistants need time off for human needs. Ross doesn't have that problem -- and as a result, Ross can parse case law, secondary sources, legislation, and new court decisions around the clock, even delivering its curated results in natural language.

Spotted by Darryl Kraemer

 I picked this up as I read thru Abundance Insider that is published by Peter Diamandis of the X-Prize Foundation.   This is a window into the future that no one seems to be talking about--or wants to talk about.     This is as Google is continuing its' march with the development of Tensor Processing Unit and IBM is pushing ahead with True North which is helping to power on Watson.    One of the reasons #Outsiders was conceived was to help change the conversation.   

This has also been a week that the World has  been witness to unprecedented turmoil in the Retail Space as traditional retail players have been losing ground, shutting stores and trying to see what the future holds.    Target missed its' numbers, Macy's is shuttering stores and GAP is considering creating a store on Amazon.com--as Amazon continues to dominate ever more.   Walmart seems to be holding its' own as groceries seems to have been its' savior--although that will not apparently last long as Amazon is moving aggressively in that space as well.      It is also of note how two of the early stalwarts are apparently on the verge of withering away:  Yahoo and Pandora.   Yahoo is apparently getting lowball offers and Pandora is trying to sell itself.    

   

What will the future bring...a question to ponder as the weekend looms.....


(Update:  It is quite ironic how the White House Went on lockdown right after the Trump speech and endorsement:

White House on lockdown after shots fired

The White House was reportedly on lockdown Friday afternoon after shots were fired right outside the building.

Reporters said they were asked to shelter in place just before 3:30 p.m. Eastern time.

Read the full story here.)

Wishing all a fab & joyous weekend.

On the Prowl w/Brief Thoughts 4 the Week.....

 It is a day of retrospection of sorts personally and for the #outsiders team.   This was as one of our long-term friends suffered a profound tragedy this week  .       The team @ #released a "thought 4 the week" they picked up from my Facebook Feed.    I also  picked this up while On the "Grid" which underscores a simple art of the possible as I wish all a fabulous rest of the Week: 

On A Very Interesting Week.....

I don't mind noting how "Virtually Breathless" I've been as I have been assessing our World and continuing to assess the on-going roadmap for #Outsiders.    As the Obama Adminstration is coming to an end, it has been quite a journey to say the least.    

One extra ordinary event that happened this week was a win by the US House on a lawsuit they filed against the President regarding Obamacare which Professor Turley reflected upon in his blog after the victory:   

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES WINS HISTORIC RULING IN CONSTITUTIONAL CHALLENGE UNDER THE ACA by jonathanturley

This afternoon, Judge Rosemary Collyer issued a final ruling in United States House of Representatives v. Burwell, the challenge to unilateral actions taken by the Administration under the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Judge Collyer ruled in favor of the House of Representatives and found that the Administration violated the Constitution in committing billions of dollars from the United States Treasury without the approval of Congress. The historic ruling reaffirms the foundational “power of the purse” that was given to the legislative branch by the Framers.
Read more of this post

It was also interesting how the office of the House Speaker also celebrated the ruling as the Speaker ws also trying to make "nice" with Donald Trump:

A big win for our Constitution

May 12, 2016 | http://spkrryan.us/1WtmIiM

Today, we had a big win in our fight to restore the separation of powers under our Constitution. I wanted to tell you a bit about it.
A federal court sided with the House in ruling that the administration unlawfully funded parts of Obamacare without a congressional approval.
Time and again, this White House has gone too far. So we took up this fight to defend Article I of the Constitution. The fact is this: President’s don’t write laws. Congress does.
We The People cannot accept an executive branch that acts outside the consent of the governed.
Now our fight continues. Click here to learn more about this critical legal action.
Sincerely,

 What is critical to observe is that this battle is not over by any stretch of the imagination--with the faith of millions on Obamacare hanging in the balance.  

The environment was also of concern that the team released a notation on it and the Secretary of State spoke to it:  

Kerry warns: 'Entire countries swallowed by the sea' Secretary of State John Kerry warned Wednesday that climate change is "the greatest threat that our planet has faced in modern history, in all of our history." Speaking at the University of Oxford in the UK, he said, "If you think current conflicts are all-consuming, imagine what happens when we add food shortages, water shortages, stronger storms, longer droughts, steady rises in sea levels, which are already being predicted, and entire countries swallowed by the sea." INSANE HYPERBOLE, THE ONLY EFFECTIVE WEAPON AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE

The Washington Examiner inserted its' own "take" on John Kerry's Speech which I found quite amusing.    What I was not amused by is when I saw the reporting out of Afghanistan as one of the key roads was taken over by the Taliban.   I found it further chilling as the Stretch of the so-called "Ring Road" between Kabul and Kandahar was known as Highway 1--Vietnam came to mind!!

Beyond politics and the Environment, there were two areas of concern that was notable.   One had to do with what Facebook is doing with determining what is "Trending" or "Not Trending" as it continues ot evolve into the true "World Town Square". Facebook's founder rejected the accusations--but the question of Facebook's dominance continues to be of concern.    What I found interesting in my periodic forays is how I am not seeing some of the so-called "New Media" Players like Vox in my Personal Feeds.   Vox, for instance, launched an exclusive Facebook-centric channel within the past few weeks.      This is also as I have been assessing the State of the BBC as it continues onward with the White Paper that was uneviled by the British Culture Secretary--I am at a loss to explain how they could consider tinkering with a distinct British Institution that we here @ #Outsiders have featured periodically in our on-going development.     

I have been assessing the on-going state of the Tech Space this week as well--as I saw Symanteic, Autodesk and a number of other leading players initiate layoff proceedings.  The anemic nature of earnings season (with the exception of Amazon) is a potential harbinger of challenging times before us especially as Europe continues to muddle through.    I was quite amused when I saw this comment on the plight of Francois Hollande as he continue to languish in the polls, "....Mr. Hollande's smile is all that's left ..."    What Emmanuel Marcon, the Economy Minister, is doing is also quite interesting as a third force in French politics since there is somewhat of a view that there is no left in France.  Some may even contend that there is no Real Right in the United States.

Despite a challenging week, I thought to end these thoughts with this "oldie" but "goodie" as I am reminded of Saint Junipero Serra's admonition: Sempre Adelante (Always Forward);

Onward to the new week w/all its' possiblities