America, you look like an Arab country right now

Having lived in the Arab World for some years I'm sympathetic to the views of many Arabs about the attitude of the West toward their countries. This article, that featured in Politico Magazine, sums up the ways in which America is similar to the Arab World.

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Joyless fantasies abound in Trump's inauguration speech

The presidential inauguration of Trump in the USA seems to be the only show in town. Every day the problems seems to get worse. Now, lies or falsehoods don't exist. There are only "alternative facts".

This article appeared in the Weekend Financial Times. I think it sums up the latest US administration well.

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Another survey finds users aren't that engaged with online video

I've had a great deal of information cross my desk saying that online video is the way to go for blogging and for dissemination of information since videos engage the readers more. This survey undertaken by the Nieman Lab says otherwise.

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Millennial Communication Professionals in the Workplace- study conducted by the IPR

Millennial communication professionals and their managers hold sharply different perceptions about millennials’ workplace factors, values and attributes

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Workplace automation: Separating fiction from fact

The future of technology and how it affects us, as companies and individuals, are important issues we ought to think about. In this article, James Manyika, Director, McKinsey Global Institute gives his opinion of what technology means for us.

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Death toll in Yemen conflict passes 10,00

UN humanitarian aid office says 40,000 people also injured in the conflict while 10 million need 'urgent assistance'.

While the war rages in Syria, it is raging in Yemen too. In case people forget about Yemen, here is one of the latest pieces on the subject, from Al Jazeera.
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CMS in 2017: Delivery & Transformation and Industry-Specific Predictions for the Year Ahead

It's always important to know what might happen in the year ahead and there are many ideas in various sectors. Here are some predictions for Customer Management Services.

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Republicans have no good reason not to impeach Donald Trump

BY ALEX PAREENE in THE CONCOURSE.deadspin.com
It’s been fun, but it’s about time for Republicans to admit that the great Donald Trump experiment isn’t going to work out—for them.One hypothetical version of President Trump—the ideal version, for Republicans, and one that many convinced themselves he would become, given practice and training—is a new Reagan: a mouthpiece for the ideas and policies inserted into his empty head by members of an ascendant conservative movement riding his television-mastery to power. Surround this version of Trump with good party men like Reince Priebus and Mike Pence, and he takes care of entertaining the masses—and distracting the opposition—while true-believing conservatives actually run the country, enacting their entire agenda too forcefully and quickly for anyone to effectively fight them.
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Jared Kushner has Trump’s trust but lacks experience for Middle East role

President-elect Trump takes over running the US on Friday. Is he up to the job? More importantly, is his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, equipped to take over the Middle East peace process?

President-elect says his son-in-law ‘knows the region, knows the people,’ but the reality appears to be somewhat different

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Meyer to step down and Yahoo to change nam to Altaba

This story has come across my desk again and again. Many will gloat at the demise of Yahoo. But is it a good thing?

Moves will come after $4.8 billion sale to Verizon.

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Top 10 UX Articles of 2016

This article was sent through to me at the end of last year. Some of the links are useful.

All the best for 2017

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From a mosque to an Arabian party, in Christchurch, New Zealand

Going to a local mosque in Christchurch was a surreal experience. But I guess that’s because I had never imagined I’d be doing it. For a start, I’d never considered that the local Muslim community, in what was always the most English of cities, would be large enough to support one.

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Private equity in the spotlight

I've been asked a lot recently whether I've covered private equity. The answer is a definitive "yes". For the six months ending February 2016 I was Asia/Pacific correspondent for Private Equity International, a London-based publication. Here's the link with a couple of articles as well. There's a paywall so it might be difficult to access all the material.

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IFSWF Conference: where should sovereign wealth funds invest?

Recently this article appeared in Fdi magazine and Fdi Intelligence (24/11/16) http://www.fdiintelligence.com/News/IFSWF-Conference-where-should-sovereign-wealth-funds-invest. Do take a look.

IFSWF Conference: where should sovereign wealth funds invest?

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What next for Israel?

One of the most intractable problems of the Middle East is the relationship between Israel and Palestine. It's always been problematic and it always will be. I doubt that the problem will be resolved, at least any time soon.

I went to Bethlehem from Jordan three years ago, travelling into the Palestinian territory via the Allenby Crossing via bus, as a journalist.  I was with several coach loads of Palestinians going to Bethlehem to attend a conference on Palestine- or at least to obtain a visa so that he/she could enter the Palestinian territory in the first place. What an experience.

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Saudi royal family is still spending in an age of austerity

We DON'T want out anymore: Shock poll reveals Express & Star readers have changed minds on Brexit

A majority of readers would now vote to REMAIN in the European Union bucking the way the region voted six months ago in the referendum, according to a new Express & Star survey.

The poll – the biggest online news questionnaire this paper has carried out – saw nearly 10,000 people respond to five questions on what readers thought of Brexit since the historic vote.

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The man who studies the spread of ignorance-

An article from the BBC-  By Georgina Kenyon

How do people or companies with vested interests spread ignorance and obfuscate knowledge? Georgina Kenyon finds there is a term which defines this phenomenon.

In 1979, a secret memo from the tobacco industry was revealed to the public. Called the Smoking and Health Proposal, and written a decade earlier by the Brown & Williamson tobacco company, it revealed many of the tactics employed by big tobacco to counter “anti-cigarette forces”.

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Mats Anderson, speaks out at IFSWF

– by Lucia Dore

Mats Anderson, former chief executive at one of Sweden’s four pension funds, AP4, said that “sustainable investments are drivers for higher returns at a lower risk” and that “there is no conflict between returns and sustainability”. He also explained that the fund has three factors that come together to produce sustainability- environment, social and governance (ESG) but that “it all starts with governance”.

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Bluff marae- enjoying the artistry and digging for toheroas

Recently, I went with my Te Reo Maori class to the marae in Bluff, rated one of the best in New Zealand for its artistry. The main artist was Cliff Whiting, who also worked on Te Papa (NZ's national museum). It was a great experience, especially appreciating the powhiri (welcoming ceremony) and learning all about Maori culture. I also loved going to Oreti Beach- on the outskirts of Invercargill- ostensibly to get toheroas (a type of shellfish you dig in the sand for) since I grew up there and we used to go the beach often, sometimes to get toheroas when it was the season. You have to dig deep and quickly for the shellfish, which are generally below the shoreline, and to avoid the tide coming in and undoing all your hard work.

Here are some photos.

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