Ethos – Page 51 – Go Lean…Caribbean

Category: Ethos

Why not … a profit center?

Posted on May 3, 2014 in Ethos, Government, Strategy, Tactical

Go Lean Commentary

Most Caribbean countries have embassies, consular offices and/or trade mission offices in world capitals. These are normally cost centers, where the governments have to maintain the cost burden for these facilities. But why do they have to be cost centers, why not profit centers?

Why not … a profit center? As in one integrated, consolidated center on behalf of all the Caribbean member-states – a classic “cooperative” model. This strategy meets a basic requirement of retail design: traffic. All the embassy, consular and trade mission activities would create impactful retail traffic demands.

This vision comes into focus as a result of the emergence of the Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU), and the news article^[c] below. The book Go Lean…Caribbean serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the CU. The roadmap fully anticipated integrating and consolidating Trade Mission Offices (Page 116) to advance the causes of the Caribbean people in foreign countries; eight (8) cities are specified in details.

The resultant facility, and accompanying eco-system, would fulfill a CU mandate, global outreach to expand Caribbean trade within the source country, city and regional area.

From the outset of the roadmap, the intent to leverage Trade Mission Offices was pronounced in the Declaration of Interdependence (Page 13), as follows:

xix. Whereas our legacy in recent times is one of societal abandonment, it is imperative that incentives and encouragement be put in place to first dissuade the human flight, and then entice and welcome the return of our Diaspora back to our shores. … The right of repatriation is to be extended to any natural born citizens despite any previous naturalization to foreign sovereignties.

xx. Whereas the results of our decades of migration created a vibrant Diaspora in foreign lands, the Federation must organize interactions with this population into structured markets. Thus allowing foreign consumption of domestic products, services and media, which is a positive trade impact. These economic activities must not be exploited by others’ profiteering but rather harnessed by Federation resources for efficient repatriations.

The roadmap also urges the urban design approach for mixed-use developments; (Page 234). This dictates a structure designed as retail (ground floor), mezzanine for offices, and higher levels/floors for residences (apartments, condominiums, and hotels). See a sample site in a US Midwestern city here – Photos & VIDEO:

VIDEO Midtown Crossing Commercial – https://youtu.be/3Ua3FjWLfKk

A model of a successful mixed-use development is the Omaha-Nebraska Midtown Crossing^[a].

Consider New York City; it is one of 8 mission cities envisioned. This map below and the Appendix Table lists all the addresses of the Caribbean embassies, consulates, and outreach offices in New York City^[b] – all within a 5 mile radius. Imagine if all those facilities were in one property – a mixed-use development.

Imagine too, a climate-controlled atrium with Caribbean fauna & flora; a food court showcasing cuisines from all the participating Caribbean countries, (up to 30); art galleries, convention/banquet facilities, exhibit halls, night clubs, performing arts theaters and maybe even an indoor entertainment center (for instance, modeling the legacy of Caribbean Pirates). This vision would generate multiple streams of revenue – a profit center as opposed to 30 cost centers.

This vision would benefit a lot of Caribbean stakeholders with support and outreach services – those desiring to live, work, learn, heal and play in the Caribbean. These stakeholders include:

Visitors
Caribbean Citizens (travelling abroad)
Diaspora
Foreign Direct Investors
Students

There is the need for this manifestation right now in London, England (another designated Trade Mission Office – Page 116 ); as depicted in this referenced news story^[c]:

LONDON, England (May 1, 2014) — Overseas Territory representatives from the British Virgin Islands, Bermuda, Montserrat, the Cayman Islands and Anguilla met with United Kingdom business networking specialists, CaribDirect International Business Network (CIBN) in London last week, as the first networking session focusing on trade and investment gathers momentum.

These discussions, held at the offices of the Bermuda representative, focused on introducing the CaribDirect International Business Network (CIBN) concept; outlining its broad scope; revealing the economic and political opportunities available for the Caribbean Overseas Territories (OTs); and examining practical ways to work together for the benefit of the dependent territories of the Caribbean.

CIBN is an agency designed to facilitate and connect entrepreneurs and business people in the UK with Caribbean government and business representatives for trade and investment.

Representatives attending the meeting were Cayman Islands’ deputy director Charles Parchment, Montserrat director Janice Panton, BVI London Office director Kedrick Malone, Bermuda director Kimberley Durrant, CaribDirect director of policy Ron Belgrave and CaribDirect multi-media CEO David Roberts.

If only this profit center concept existed now … in London … and in New York.

The CU roadmap is designed to bring change to the Caribbean region. This commentary demonstrates that a lean, nimble organization structure can also be “at the corner of preparation and opportunity” and that opportunity can be made in turning a cost center into a profit center. This structure can optimize the Caribbean’s economic, security and governing engines – no matter the location. If the Trade Mission Offices were constituted as profit centers, the following details from the book Go Lean…Caribbean would manifest, with impacted community ethos, strategies, tactics, implementations and advocates; listed as follows:

Community Ethos – Lean Operations	Page 24
Community Ethos – Cooperatives	Page 25
Community Ethos – Ways to Improve Sharing	Page 37
Strategy – Repatriating Caribbean Diaspora	Page 47
Strategy – Inviting Foreign Direct Investments	Page 48
Tactical – Separation of Powers – State Department	Page 80
Tactical – Design Requirements for the Capital District	Page 110
Implementation – Trade Mission Objectives	Page 116
Implementation – Reasons to Repatriate	Page 118
Implementation – Ways to Benefit from Globalization	Page 119
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Trade	Page 128
Advocacy – Lessons from New York City	Page 137
Advocacy – Ways to Enhance Tourism	Page 190
Advocacy – Impact the Diaspora	Page 217
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Urban Living	Page 234

The Go Lean roadmap will make the outreach, and foreign support, for Caribbean stakeholders more efficient and effective. This plan would impact and change the Caribbean and the foreign world we reach out to.

All Caribbean stakeholders – citizens, businesses and governments alike – are urged to lean-in to this Go Lean roadmap.

Download the free e-Book of Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

———————

Appendix – References

a. http://www.midtowncrossing.com/about/default.aspx
b. http://michaelbenjamin2012.com/2012/06/21/caribbean-region-consulates-in-nyc/
c. http://www.caribbeannewsnow.com/topstory-Caribbean-overseas-territories-meet-with-UK-networking-specialists-20934.html

———————

Appendix – TABLE – Caribbean States Mission Offices – New York City

Member-State	Address
Anguilla	845 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10022 Phone: 212-745-0277
Antigua & Barbuda	610 Fifth Avenue, Ste 311, New York, NY 10020 Phone: 212-541-4117
Aruba	666 Third Avenue, 19th floor, New York, NY 10017 Phone 877-388-2443
Bahamas	231 East 46^th Street, New York, NY 10017 Phone: 212-421-6420
Barbados	820 Second Avenue, 5^th Fl, New York, NY 10017 Phone: 212-551-4325
Belize	675 Third Avenue, Ste 1911, New York, NY 10017 Phone: 212-593-0999
Bermuda	845 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10022 Phone: 212-745-8272
British Virgin Islands	845 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10022 Phone: 212-745-8272
Cayman Islands	845 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10022 Phone: 212-745-8272
Cuba	315 Lexington Ave 38th Street New York, NY 10016 Ph. 212-689-7215
Dominica	800 Second Ave, Ste 400H, New York, NY 10017 Phone: 212-949-0853
Dominican Republic	1500 Broadway, Ste 410, New York, NY 10036 Phone: 212-768-2480
Grenada	800 Second Ave, Ste 400K, New York, NY 10017 Phone 212-599-0301
Guadeloupe	45 W 34th Street, Suite 703, New York, NY 10001 Phone 877-203-2551
Guyana	370 Seventh Avenue, 4^th Fl, New York, NY 10001 Phone: 212-947-5110
Haiti	271 Madison Avenue, 17^th Fl, New York, NY 10016 Phone: 212-967-9767
Jamaica	767 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017 Phone: 212-935-9000
Martinique	444 Madison Avenue, 16^th Fl, New York, NY 10022 Phone: 212-838-6887
Monserrat	845 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10022 Phone: 212-745-0200
Netherland Antilles:Bonaire, Curaçao, Sint Eustatius, Saba	1 Rockefeller Plaza 11th Floor, New York, NY 10020 212-246-1429
Puerto Rico	666 5th Avenue # 15l, New York, NY, 10103-1599. Phone: 212-333-0300
St. Barthelemy	934 Fifth Ave, New York, NY 10021 Phone: 212-606-3601
St. Kitts & Nevis	414 East 75^th Street, New York, NY 10103 – 212-535-5521
St. Lucia	800 Second Avenue, 9^th Fl, New York, NY 10017 – 212-697-9360
St. Maarten	675 Third Avenue, Ste 1807, New York, NY 10017 – 800-786-2278
St. Vincent & The Grenadines	801 Second Avenue, 21^st Fl, New York, NY – 212-687-4490
Suriname	1 UN Plaza, 26^th Fl, New York, NY 10017 – 212-826-0660
Trinidad & Tobago	125 Maiden Lane, Unit 4A, 4^th Fl, New York, NY 10038 Ph. 212-682-7272
Turks & Caicos Island	845 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10022 Phone: 212-745-8272
US Virgin Islands	45 W 34th Street, Suite 703, New York, NY 10001 Phone 877-203-2551

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Turks and Caicos Premier’s disclosures raises conflict questions

Posted on May 2, 2014 in Ethos, Government, Strategy, Tactical

Go Lean Commentary

These are the lyrics of a previously popular Bahamian folk song:

Show & Tell what your family got
Show & Tell what your family got, from the top of your head to the tip of your toe.
Mr. MP, Mr. Senator…
Oh, Mr. MP, let me see your money. Show the world you ain’t no crook. Let me see your bank book.
My people, oh my people. You know I “is” your MP. But “yinna” does hardly see me, how you expect to see my money.
— Chorus –
Different strokes for different folks
Different egg got different yokes
Different man take different stand
Dog like road and cat like sand
Show & Tell – Eddie Minnis
(MP = Member of Parliament)

This above song tells the story of the introduction of a Financial Disclosure law in the Bahamas in the 1970’s. The concept of open financial disclosures, as is related in the song and below news article, encountered resistance and apprehension. The above song duly captured the public fears and scrutiny of the process.

The advantage of public disclosures is that it mitigates corruption and bribery temptation in the government contract bidding process. The disadvantage is that capable, competent technocrats may shy away from public service because their business – personal and family finances – is “put out there in the streets”.

Personal financial disclosure requirements are standard among the First World, but scorned in the Third World. It is what it is! See the story here:

By: Caribbean News Now contributor
PROVIDENCIALES, Turks and Caicos Islands — The recent publication of an extract from Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI) Premier Rufus Ewing’s statement of registrable interests has raised conflict of interest questions regarding a controversial healthcare contract with Interhealth Canada.

Under the heading “Income Sources”, line item number two in Ewing’s statement lists “Salaries, benefits and allowances – Interhealth Canada TCI Ltd”.

Under section 25 of the Integrity Commission Ordinance 2008, all persons in public life (including members of the House of Assembly) are required to file with the Integrity Commission declarations of their incomes, assets and liabilities and those of their spouses and dependent children once every two years. This is otherwise referred to as “Section 25 Declaration”, and it is strictly confidential and may not be divulged to any person. Any breach of this confidentiality by any member of the commission or a third party and attracts stiff criminal sanctions under the ordinance.

However, the published excerpt of the Register has nothing to do with the section 25 Declaration of Financial Affairs but relates to an additional requirement under the constitution and the ordinance for members of the House of Assembly to file with the commission, once every year, statements of registrable interests of themselves and those of their spouses and dependent children.

According to Eugene Otuonye QC, director of the Integrity Commission, the published extract of Ewing’s statement of registrable interests appears genuine. He also pointed out that the register of such interests is available in the public domain and is not therefore confidential.

Otuonye went on to say that it is common and public knowledge that Dr. Dawn Perry, a gynecologist and the spouse of Premier Ewing, is legitimately employed in her own right at the Cheshire Hall Medical Centre (Interhealth Canada). She receives salaries, allowances and benefits for being so employed and these are part of the interests that the Ewing has disclosed to the public as part of his registrable interests.

However, as one observer commented, the mere fact that Ewing’s household is receiving a financial benefit from Interhealth Canada is bound to raise presumptions of a conflict of interest and may therefore explain, amongst other things, an apparent ongoing reluctance on the part of Ewing and his government to conduct or release the findings of either a financial and/or clinical audit of the operations of Interhealth Canada.

In addressing this issue, Otuonye said that any conflict of interest (perceived or actual) this scenario may present is a matter for the premier to manage within and guided by the existing legal framework, including the standing orders of the House of the Assembly and the code of conduct for persons in public life.

“As guardian of the code of conduct, the commission is interested not only in how a conflict of interest is managed but in providing such assistance as would enable the relevant conflict of interest to be effectively managed. The commission is committed to this responsibility,” he said.

It is not clear at this time how Ewing is managing this conflict of interest, whether real or perceived, except to try to distance himself from the health portfolio, which may be ineffectual given that he is ultimately the head of the elected government.

The financial cost of the $120 million debt for building two small hospitals at a cost of $4 million dollars per bed and outsourcing secondary healthcare to Interhealth Canada that together will cost the TCI around $1 billion over the course of 20 years has been the subject of ongoing controversy and concern since the contract was signed in 2009.

In response to Ewing’s earlier attempts in 2012 to distance himself from what was described by former chief financial officer Hugh McGarel Groves as a “financial disaster”, former TCI government CEO Patrick Boyle pointed out that Ewing had a “central role in developing the policy that led to the creation of the NHIP [National Health Insurance Plan]”.

A sworn statement by former health minister Karen Delancy also confirmed that Ewing made relevant decisions without consulting her and agreed the hospital construction contract without the benefit of competitive bids.

According to earlier reports, a number of civil servants (believed to be five) received payments of as much as $20,000 each — described as an “honorarium” — for doing a “good job” in negotiating and concluding the health care contract with Interhealth Canada. As then director of medical services, Ewing was said to be one of the five civil servants that received such payments.

The opposition Peoples Democratic Movement (PDM) has called for a review of the Interhealth Canada contract and the release of the relevant audits.

What has magnified the problem is that the Ewing-led government continues to raise taxes and fees while ignoring numerous calls for renegotiating the Interhealth Canada contract at a lower cost and refinancing the hospital mortgage, which is reported to have an exceptionally high rate of interest of 12%. The potential savings from such renegotiated healthcare costs could eliminate and/or reduce the need for the increase in taxation.
Source: http://www.caribbeannewsnow.com/topstory-Turks-and-Caicos-premier%27s-statement-of-interests-raises-conflict-questions-20931.html

The book Go Lean … Caribbean focuses on economic issues, governance and optimizing the civil service administration for the Caribbean region and for the 30 member-states. This book is a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU), proffered as a super-national administration, a federal government for these states. There are 3 prime directives of the CU:

Optimize the economic engines so as to grow the regional economy to $800 Billion and create 2.2 million new jobs.
Establish a security apparatus (including persecution of economic and public integrity crimes) so as to mitigate the eventual emergence of “bad actors”.
Improve Caribbean governance.

The tactical plan for this roadmap is a separation-of-powers for this federal government versus the governmental administrations of the member-states. Based on issues and cases similar to the foregoing news story, there is the need for accountability of public integrity.

(We are not levelling any accusation of towards Mr. Rufus Ewing, the Premier of the Turks & Caicos Islands. This commentary is simply in response, and as an analysis of the foregoing news article. There is due-process and an assumption of innocence).

There is also a CU mission to marshal against encroachments of Failed-State indicators. Any allegation of corruption or appearance of conflicts-of-interest by a Head of Government may undermine faith in that jurisdiction’s government. This might dissuade Foreign Direct Investors or efforts to repatriate the Diaspora or invite empowering immigrants. There must be a continuous sentinel; this role is assumed by applicable CU agencies.

This function is paramount in the vision of the Caribbean Union Trade Federation. The specific public integrity requirement is pronounced early in the Go Lean roadmap, in the opening Declaration of Interdependence (Page 12) with these statements:

xi. Whereas all men are entitled to the benefits of good governance in a free society, “new guards” must be enacted to dissuade the emergence of incompetence, corruption, nepotism and cronyism at the peril of the people’s best interest. The Federation must guarantee the executions of a social contract between government and the governed.

xii. Whereas the legacy in recent times in individual states may be that of ineffectual governance with no redress to higher authority, the accedence of this Federation will ensure accountability and escalation of the human and civil rights of the people for good governance, justice assurances, due process and the rule of law. As such, any threats of a “failed state” status for any member state must enact emergency measures on behalf of the Federation to protect the human, civil and property rights of the citizens, residents, allies, trading partners, and visitors of the affected member state and the Federation as a whole.

The people may cry: “How dare you, Caribbean Union, get into our business here in the TCI? This is not your concern”.

This argument is true, based on the status quo, but change has come to the Caribbean. The CU treaty compels a Security Pact for all the member-states, enacted even with the legacy sovereign countries of the United Kingdom, United States of America, Kingdom of the Netherlands and the Republic of France – the CU serves as their proxy. But this CU administration is executed by the Caribbean, for the Caribbean. The pronouncement continues:

xvi. Whereas security of our homeland is inextricably linked to prosperity of the homeland, the economic and security interest of the region needs to be aligned under the same governance. Since economic crimes … can imperil the functioning of the wheels of commerce for all the citizenry, the accedence of this Federation must equip the security apparatus with the tools and techniques for predictive and proactive interdictions.

The goal of the CU is to elevate Caribbean life, culture, economy, security and governing engine. Federal authorities would therefore have jurisdiction under a Good Governance mandate to review this case in consideration of the allegations. This is new for the region. This new community ethos in this case is lean government.

The CU roadmap affects economics, security and governance. Based on the blatant needs depicted in the forgoing news article, the CU solutions will impact change in the region. These solutions are detailed in this book Go Lean … Caribbean as new community ethos, strategies, tactics, implementations and advocates; as follows:

Community Ethos – Privacy versus Public Protection	Page 23
Community Ethos – Whistleblower Protection	Page 23
Community Ethos – Witness Security & Protection	Page 23
Community Ethos – Light Up the Dark Places	Page 23
Community Ethos – Lean Operations	Page 24
Community Ethos – Ways to Improve Negotiations	Page 32
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Greater Good	Page 37
Strategy – Repatriating Caribbean Diaspora	Page 47
Strategy – Inviting Foreign Direct Investments	Page 48
Strategy – Promoting Good/Clean Government Image	Page 48
Tactical – Fostering a Technocracy	Page 64
Tactical – Separation of Powers – Justice / District Attorneys	Page 90
Implementation – Assemble – UK Territories Oversight	Page 96
Implementation – Security Initiatives at Start-up	Page 103
Implementation – Reasons to Repatriate	Page 118
Implementation – Ways to Promote Independence	Page 120
Planning – Ways to Improve Failed-State Indices	Page 134
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Healthcare	Page 156
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Governance	Page 168
Advocacy – Ways to Better Manage the Social Contract	Page 170
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Leadership	Page 171
Advocacy – 10 Ways to Impact Justice	Page 177
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Communications	Page 186
Advocacy – Ways to Impact British Territories	Page 245

The Go Lean roadmap will make the Caribbean a better place to live work, and play. The role of government is not divorced from this process, rather the member-states governing administrations are primary stakeholders, customers of the CU.

Change has come to the Caribbean. This is illustrated as a moving freight train. It cannot – must not – be stopped. Everyone must be “on board”. 🙂

Download the book Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

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Grenada accountant defeats PM in BK court motion

Posted on May 1, 2014 in Economics, Ethos, Government, Strategy, Tactical

Go Lean Commentary

“He who does nothing makes no mistakes” – Old Adage.

The contrast of this “Old Adage” is also true: “No risk, no reward”. So “he who does a lot, risks a lot”. These truisms bear to ask the questions:

• When the risky endeavors fail, who is it that pays?

• Who should be held accountable?

The answers to these questions align with the foregoing news article; this is the subject matter of bankruptcy (BK).

The book Go Lean … Caribbean delves deep into the matter of bankruptcy processing for the Caribbean region. This book is a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU), for the economic optimization of the 30 member-states constituting the Caribbean region. The CU is proffered as a super-national administration, a federal government for these states. Strategically there are 3 prime directives of the CU:

1. Optimize the economic engines so as to grow the regional economy to $800 Billion and create 2.2 million new jobs.

2. Establish a security apparatus (including emergency management) around the economic engines so as to mitigate the eventual emergence of “bad actors”.

3. Improve Caribbean governance.

The tactical plan for this roadmap is a separation-of-powers for this federal government versus the governmental administrations of the member-states. Based on anecdotes similar to the foregoing news story, there should be little objection to elevating bankruptcy processing away from local control. It is obvious that locally, there is too much temptation for favoritism, cronyism and corruption.

(We are not levelling any accusation of corruption towards Grenada’s Prime Minister Dr. Keith Mitchell. This is just an acknowledgement that bankruptcy processing exposes different vantage points and priorities).

By: Caribbean News Now contributor

ST GEORGE’S, Grenada — Prime minister of Grenada Dr. Keith Mitchell has lost his bid before the High Court in Grenada to have local chartered certified accountant Garvey Louison removed as liquidator of the Grenada Today newspaper.

Mitchell had argued before that court that Louison had failed to comply with his duties, failed to indicate the location of assets, lost interest in the matter, and had caused undue delay in bringing the matter to a close.

In his defence, Louison argued that Mitchell had no evidence to support his claim, that Mitchell hid behind the frock of a legal secretary at a law firm to bring his allegations before the court, that the legal secretary had no standing before the court and that he had complied with the duties set out in the liquidation order and that of the Companies Act.

Justice Mohammed held that to remove the liquidator the applicant must have good standing, good grounds, and provide sufficient evidence to move to court.

The judge questioned the legal standing of the secretary, one Uthlyn George, to make the accusations that she filed by way of affidavit. The law is clear regarding the production of an affidavit. An affidavit is supposed to contain facts that are within the deponent’s own knowledge and belief and where it is not, it must set out the source of the information and belief or it would be hearsay.

The deponent failed to set out who informed her or what was the source of her information and belief in making allegations that were not in her direct knowledge. In particular regarding the allegations of delay, she failed to set out the details of such delay.

In addition, Mitchell did not provide a reason why he could not file the affidavit himself and had to use Uthlyn George.

It was held that, whereas the court can remove a liquidator in the circumstances where it was satisfied that the liquidator was inefficient, lacked vigour or was biased in the discharge of his duties, there was no evidence in this case to support the removal of the liquidator.

Local observers had claimed that, at some point, Mitchell was expected to move against Louison based on several articles the business consultant and former Auditor General, Accountant General and Permanent Secretary, Finance [Ministry] had been writing in the media.

Grenada Today was put into liquidation in 2009 as a result of two charges of criminal libel brought against the managing editor, George Worme, in connection with a letter published by the newspaper accusing Mitchell of bribing voters in the 1999 general election.

Caribbean News Now – Online News Source – April 19, 2014 –http://www.caribbeannewsnow.com/topstory-Grenada-accountant-defeats-prime-minister-in-court-20784.html

The foregoing news article relates that the issue of receivership of the insolvent Grenada Today Newspaper is a “touchy” subject, requiring checks-and-balances. In this case, the Grenada High Court became involved to adjudicate the matter.

While there is already a process for bankruptcy in all Caribbean member-states, the need to elevate this processing to a federal level is undeniable; to bring balance/fairness to creditors and avoid abuse by debtors. This is alluded to in the foregoing article.

The Go Lean roadmap envisions federal bankruptcy courts, with branches throughout the region, having exclusive jurisdiction.

These CU entities will manage bankruptcies for individuals, firms (for profit & not-for-profits), election campaigns and even governmental agencies (municipalities, public-private consortiums and central/national governments).

The CU will be the relief of last resort, the bail-out provider. Also, the first responder for encroachments of Failed-State indicators.

The CU mandate for bankruptcies is to lean towards reorganization, rather than outright dismissal of legitimate debt. Creditors may have to take a “hair-cut” (minor loss). The federal courts will then appoint direct receivership to Trustees (usually accountants and/or lawyers) to facilitate the processing of the bankruptcy obligations.

An efficient process for bankruptcy is vital to attract Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) – these stakeholders require protection and accountability. The definition of FDI is risk. With risky efforts come success … and failure. This requirement is pronounced early in the book’s Declaration of Interdependence (Page 13) with these statements:

xxi. Whereas the legacy in recent times in individual states may be that of ineffectual governance with no redress to higher authority, the accedence of this Federation will ensure accountability and escalation … to protect the human, civil and property rights of the citizens, residents, allies, trading partners, and visitors of the affected member state and the Federation as a whole.

xxiii. Whereas many countries in our region are dependent Overseas Territory of imperial powers, the systems of governance can be instituted on a regional and local basis, rather than requiring oversight or accountability from distant masters far removed from their subjects of administration. The Federation must facilitate success in autonomous rule … within the geographical region.

The goal of the CU is to elevate Caribbean life, culture and economy. This requires a new community ethos: investment in our people, by our people. There will be hits-and-misses, successes and failures. The CU roadmap is to hope (and build) for the best, but also plan for the worst. We will provide support services (incubators, shared systems, “cooperatives”, angel investors) to aid the entrepreneurial hopes and dreams. But we must facilitate the failures as well. We must methodically “wine down” failed enterprises and failed endeavors, so as to dissuade any fear of failure, rather to promote the “audacity of hope”.

So the subject matter of bankruptcy affects economics, security and governance. The solutions to effect change in the region are detailed in this book Go Lean … Caribbean as community ethos, strategies, tactics, implementations and advocates; as follows:

Community Ethos – Lean Operations	Page 24
Community Ethos – Return on Investments	Page 24
Community Ethos – Ways to Help Entrepreneurship	Page 28
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact Turn-arounds	Page 33
Strategy – Inviting Foreign Direct Investments	Page 48
Tactical – Fostering a Technocracy	Page 64
Separation of Powers – Federal Bankruptcy Courts	Page 90
Implementation – Ways to Better Manage Debt	Page 114
Implementation – Ways to Impact Elections	Page 117
Implementation – Ways to Promote Independence	Page 120
Planning – Ways to Improve Failed-State Indices	Page 134
Planning – Lessons Learned from 2008	Page 136
Planning – Lessons from Detroit	Page 140
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Credit Ratings	Page 155
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Student Loans	Page 160
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Governance	Page 168
Advocacy – Reforms for Banking Regulations	Page 199
Advocacy – Ways to Preserve Caribbean Heritage	Page 218
Advocacy – Ways to ImpactBritishTerritories	Page 245
Advocacy – Ways to ImpactDutchTerritories	Page 246
Advocacy – Ways to ImpactFrenchTerritories	Page 247

The Go Lean roadmap will make the Caribbean a better place to live work, and play. Caribbean stakeholders will make mistakes; but when we fall down, we will not stay down. We will get up, turn-around, reboot and recover. Our people deserve this continuous effort.

Download the Book- Go Lean…Caribbean Now!!!

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Student debt holds back many would-be home buyers

Posted on April 30, 2014 in Economics, Ethos, Industries

Go Lean Commentary

This point from the foregoing news article is most poignant: “Of the many factors holding back young home buyers … none looms larger than the recent explosion of college debt”.

The book Go Lean … Caribbean serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU), for the economic optimization in the region. If the target of the book is the Caribbean, why does this article about American student loans weigh so heavy in a consideration of Caribbean economics?

There are lessons to be learned here! Not just for student loans, but also regarding education policy. This issue is pivotal to the economics of the Caribbean region. This point is made early in the book’s Declaration of Interdependence (Page 13):

xxi. Whereas the preparation of our labor force can foster opportunities and dictate economic progress for current and future generations, the Federation must ensure that educational and job training opportunities are fully optimized for all residents of all member-states, with no partiality towards any gender or ethnic group. The Federation must recognize and facilitate excellence in many different fields of endeavor, including sciences, languages, arts, music and sports. This responsibility should be executed without incurring the risks of further human flight, as has been the past history.

Classic economic policy promotes that education has a direct effect on a community’s economy and the standard-of-living, quantified as each increased-grade-level, raises GDP by 3 percent (Appendix C2 – Page 258). But, the Go Lean roadmap posits that this rule is not true for the Caribbean, because of the debilitating emigration rate, the brain drain in which our educated population flees for foreign shores, or worse, students that do not return after matriculating – despite using funding from their Caribbean homeland. These are all investments with no return. In short, the economy of the Caribbean can be impacted by the activity of this recent-student population, when they repatriate; but when they emigrate, they hurt the economy.

By: Tim Logan
LOS ANGELES – Sarah Luna wants to buy a home in up-and-coming northeast Los Angeles before it’s too late.

At 31, she has a master’s degree and earns more than $70,000 as a court reporter and freelance editor. She daydreams about trading the Glendale apartment she shares for a little condo, maybe in Echo Park or Highland Park….

Just one thing holds her back: The $700 she’s paid every month since 2008, after she graduated from the University of Southern California — with $75,000 in student debt. With about half that total left to pay, buying that condo seems a long way off.

“Honestly, I don’t know if it’ll ever happen,” she said. “Barring some sort of awesome miracle, a down payment is hard to wrap my head around right now.”

Of the many factors holding back young home buyers — rising prices, tougher lending standards, a still-shaky job market — none looms larger than the recent explosion of college debt.

The amount owed on student loans has tripled in a decade, to nearly $1.1 trillion, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. People in their 20s and 30s — often the best-educated and highest-earning among them — owe most of that tab. That is keeping a crucial segment of home buyers on the sidelines, deferring one of the traditional markers of adult success.

The National Assn. of Realtors recently identified student debt as a key factor in soft demand for home-buying this spring. A recent study by the trade group identified student loans as the top reason many home buyers delayed their purchase. Many more didn’t buy at all.

Surveys show today’s adults value homeownership just as much as their parents did. But the shaky job market, higher debt loads, and the roller-coaster market of recent years is keeping many from pulling the trigger, said Selma Hepp, senior economist with the California Assn. of Realtors.

“They’re just postponing,” she said. “It’s the economy and the recession and what that generation has gone through.”

The share of buyers who are first-timers has dropped well below historical averages — 28% of California buyers last year, compared with 38% typically, according to CAR surveys. The absence of a new generation of customers could become a long-term problem for the industry, said Dustin Hobbs, spokesman for the California Mortgage Bankers Assn.

“You have to have that swath of first-time buyers who will eventually be your move-up buyers,” he said. “When you take that out, it damages the whole chain.”

Traditionally, student borrowers were more likely than most people to buy a house, experts say, because college graduates tend to earn more. But that’s flipped since 2008, according to researchers at the New York Fed. Today, the share of 30-year-old homeowners who have student debt is lower than that of 30-year-old homeowners without it.

It’s a sign that skilled, educated workers are getting pushed out of the housing market.

“When people have less money to commit to housing, they don’t buy a house,” Hobbs said.

Jay Stewart Samilin sees that all the time. He’s an agent at Rodeo Realty in Beverly Hills and runs a tax preparation business on the side. Many of his younger clients are skipping the house until they pay down their debt.

“They’re maxed out on student loans, and there’s nothing else they want to think about until they pay that down,” he said.

Some who do start shopping quickly realize they can’t afford as much house as their income suggests. The more they pay each month on student loans, the less the bank will lend them to buy a house, said Natalie Lohrenz, director of counseling at Consumer Credit Counseling Services of Orange County. In a pricey market such as Southern California, that can severely limit a buyer’s options.

“You have to think about your quality of life after you purchase this home,” she said. “It’s OK to rent for awhile.”

That’s not to say some people don’t make it work.

Marco Manansala is starting to shop for a house, maybe a two-bedroom in Long Beach or on the Eastside, close to a freeway. When he began to think about it, the 28-year-old got preapproved for a loan — but only for $180,000.

“That gets you a shack,” he said. “I asked, how do I get more? They said I need to pay down debt.”

So he started aggressively paying off his car, and he’s worked his student loan balance down to $6,000, from $10,000. With a good job as a creative director for a Venice marketing agency, he has cut his spending to save up for a down payment. He’s getting close.

“I have a goal of buying something by June,” Manansala said. “I’m gearing up for it.”

But many others, like Luna, are forced to take a much longer view.

She graduated into the worst job market in decades. Although she eventually found work that enabled her to keep up with loan payments, it’s been hard to save much. In six years, she’s paid down nearly half of her original tab. When she borrowed the money for a master’s in professional writing, Luna acknowledges, she was an “idealistic” 22-year-old, and the numbers didn’t seem real.

Now the reality of a $700-a-month student loan payment makes it hard to get ahead, house or no house, even with a good salary. And she’s worried she’ll get priced out of the city she loves.

“It’s frustrating,” she said. “I think by the time I get a chance to get together that money and find a house, it’ll be unattainable.”

Source: Los Angeles Times – Online News Source – April 19, 2014 –http://www.latimes.com/business/realestate/la-fi-0420-student-debt-house-2-20140420,0,7975649.story#ixzz30Iw7x8Hz

The foregoing news article relates that education funding policies adversely affect major areas of the economy, in this case home-buying. The cause-and-effect paradigm is direct, within 5 to 10 years after graduation; a former student should be planning to buy a house. Apparently the macro economy is dependent on this relationship. According to the foregoing article, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) identified student debt as a key factor in soft demand for home-buying this spring (2014).

The Go Lean roadmap also identified that the 2008 financial crisis still deeply impacts the Caribbean economy; that it was not just the housing finance dysfunction alone that contributed to the crisis, but educational loans as well. This point is declared in Appendix IH on Page 286. This foregoing news article pronounces that the US economy continues to be impacted by a defective and dysfunctional student loan policy.

In the Caribbean, we do not want to follow this American model.

The economic solutions to effect change in the region are detailed in this book Go Lean … Caribbean as community ethos, strategies, tactics, implementations and advocates; as follows:

Community Ethos – Foster Genius	Page 27
Community Ethos – Impact R & D	Page 30
Community Ethos – Valedictorian è Diaspora	Page 38
Strategy – Study: At home –vs- Abroad	Page 50
Tactical – Education for a $800 Billion Economy	Page 70
Separation of Powers – Education Department	Page 85
Separation of Powers – Labor Training Oversight	Page 89
Ways to Better Manage Debt	Page 114
Reasons to Repatriate – Educational Inducements	Page 118
Lessons Learned from 2008	Page 136
Ways to Improve Education	Page 159
Ways to Impact Student Loans	Page 160
Improve Local Government – Education Reforms	Page 169
Better Manage the Social Contract: e-Learning	Page 170
Federal Civil Service: Education Payback Schemes	Page 173
Foster Cooperatives: Mutual Education Alternative	Page 176
Ways to Improve Libraries	Page 187
Ways to Impact the Diaspora – Education Reform	Page 217
Ways to Impact Foundations – e-Learning Focus	Page 219
Battles in the War on Poverty – e-Learning Solution	Page 222
Help the Middle Class – Educational Stimuli	Page 223
Ways to Impact Youth – Education Dynamics	Page 227
Appendix C2 – Education and Economic Growth	Page 258

The goal of the Go Lean roadmap is to make the Caribbean a better place to live work, learn and play. To elevate our economy, we must continue to place a high priority on education, thus the roadmap features our own student loan solution (Page 160) and numerous reforms and optimizations. But we need to be prepared for many of the same pitfalls that have befallen the US. We especially want to learn from these American mistakes:

It’s not the cost of the loan that’s the problem; it’s the principal – the appallingly high tuition costs that have been soaring at two to three times the rate of inflation, an irrational upward trajectory eerily reminiscent of skyrocketing housing prices in the years before 2008. – Ripping Off Young America: The College – Loan Scandal By Matt Taibbi, Rolling Stones Magazine; August 15, 2013. (Appendix IH – Page 286).

For the past 40 – 50 years, we have pushed too hard on college education, just for the sake of the “best practice” in economic elevation. We have suffered as a result, with a brain drain and excessive debt.

As a region, we cannot risk losing any more of our young adults and their contribution to their communities. Plus, we do not want to saddle them with overbearing student loans; this “paints them in a corner” where they must flee to earn enough money to repay the loans; (but so often, they have simply defaulted – which imperils the next generation).

We want to learn from our past mistakes!

We want to learn from America’s mistakes!

So we must deliver quality affordable education at home, without predatory lending habits. For the Caribbean, we do not want to be America. We want to be better!

Download the free e-book of Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

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Abused wives find help by going to ‘Dona Carmen’

Posted on April 29, 2014 in Ethos, Government, Planning, Social, Strategy

Go Lean Commentary

The issue in the below news article is related more to human rights, than to feminism. This story is being brought into focus in a consideration of the book Go Lean … Caribbean. The book serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU), for the economic optimization in the region.

How does this story relate?

The roadmap posits that the economy of the Caribbean is inextricably linked to the security of the Caribbean. While the security scope of the CU is mostly focused on the “bad actors” that might emerge to exploit the new Caribbean economic engines and successes, the book is not quiet on what may be considered traditional crime-and-punishment issues. While the subject of domestic violence falls on the member-state side of the separation-of-powers divide, the CU will entail a jurisdiction of monitoring and metering (ratings, rankings, service levels, etc) local governments and their delivery of the Social Contract. For this reason, there is a 3rd focus of the CU prime directive, to optimize the region’s governing engines.

An underlying mission of the CU is to dissuade further human flight and incentivize repatriation of the far-flung Diaspora. Many who had fled previously obtained refugee status due to the abuse and persecution from domestic perpetrators. These issues must be addressed and targeted for solutions and reconciliations.

In fact, the foregoing article refers to the new enforcements introduced in Brazil in a 2006 law. That’s was just 8 years ago. (A similar Domestic Violence law was enacted in the Bahamas in 2008). A survey of other Latin American countries unveils even more new laws recently enacted in the Caribbean, Central and South America. Change has finally come.

Change has come to the Caribbean, but as the roadmap depicts, the problem of domestic violence (a human rights abuse) had persisted long before, and is thusly rooted in a community ethos. An ethos that must be uprooted and replaced with a new, progressive spirit, even within the public service entities, whose job it is to “serve & protect”. This is the new lean Caribbean!

This is reflected in the foregoing article with the principal character Dona Carmen, which is not even her real name, but more of an elevated title for her respected role in the community.

Title: Abused wives find help by going to ‘Dona Carmen’
By: Dom Phillips

CAMPINAS, Brazil — With her husband out of earshot, Queze Vicente told the story of the night he came at her with two knives in his hand.

“He was drinking,” she said outside their one-room shack in a roadside slum near an airport here. “We fought. And I had to go to Dona Carmen.”

Everyone in their community knows who Dona Carmen is and her method for getting abusive husbands in line. They call it “the discipline,” and it includes a sex strike.

For 15 days, husbands who hit their wives are also banned from drinking in the local bar and playing soccer on the local field. And any man who helps an offender violate the rules is also subject to the sex strike.

Abused by her husband and saddened by the abuse all around her, Dona Carmen talked 12 local women into adopting the punishment routine. Two years later, the women and most of the men say it works.

“Everyone thinks it is good,” said Vicente’s husband, Renato. “There are no more fights.”

The abuse in this community, a corner of the slum called Menino Chorão, or Crybaby Boy, was not unlike what many Brazilian women experience. In a survey conducted by the Patrícia Galvão Institute, which works on women’s rights and communication issues, 54 percent of Brazilians said they knew a woman who had been attacked by a partner and 70 percent said they believed Brazilian women suffered more violence at home than in public spaces.

But change is slowly coming to this most macho of societies as activists such as Dona Carmen try to help women find new ways to combat domestic abuse.

“This is a theme that permeates the whole of society,” said Julio Neto, a professor at Campinas State University whose department recently sponsored a forum at which Dona Carmen spoke. “Every Brazilian knows cases of violence against women.”

Neto said the women in the group were forced to act because the state was not protecting them. “If they call the police, the police don’t go.” He said he did not condone cases in which some women had beaten up male offenders but that he supported “the discipline.”

“It is very original. I think in this sense, it is marvelous,” he said.

Dona Carmen, whose real name is Maria de Sousa, commands respect within her group: the fact that she is addressed as “Dona” — roughly equivalent to “madame” — is evidence of that.

Like most of her neighbors, she is from Brazil’s poorer, more traditional northeast. For 13 years, she was married to a man who beat her persistently. One attack when she was five months pregnant caused her to miscarry twins. “My whole body had purple bruises from the beating he gave me,” she said.

She arrived in the southeastern city of Campinas from her native Fortaleza eight years ago when a woman she had met tricked her with a promise of work and a place to live. As a result, she said, she spent 40 days in a brothel but escaped and did not have to work as a prostitute.

“I was desperate to get a job,” said de Sousa, who has four children and now works in a kitchen at an advertising agency.

‘Still a lot to do’

Before Brazil introduced a domestic violence law in 2006, some offenders were able to get off with fines or even by donating food baskets.

The law is named for Maria da Penha, a biochemist whose husband shot her while she was asleep in 1983, leaving her paraplegic, and then tried to electrocute her. After almost two decades of legal maneuvering, he was finally jailed in 2002 and served 16 months in closed prison and three more years in semi-open prison.

Da Penha fought hard for his imprisonment and campaigned for the law. “I was revolted with the sexism of the Brazilian judiciary,” she said, talking by phone from Fortaleza, where she runs an educational institute.

The law set up special courts and police departments to deal with crimes against women, and stricter punishments. A special hotline was also set up to deal with cases of domestic abuse.

Da Penha, 67, said there has been major progress, but that these resources are still lacking in smaller towns and cities.

“Women who are victims of violence are slowly losing the shame they had to talk about this,” she said. “Sexual equality is being conquered little by little, but there is still a lot to do.”

Despite the tougher punishments for offenders, rates of violence against women remain high. In the first six months of 2013 alone, the hotline received 306,201 calls, of which 12.3 percent were reports of violence

Between 2009 and 2011, 16,900 women were murdered in Brazil because of “gender conflict” — a rate of 5.8 per 100,000 women, according to government statistics. In the United States in 2011, that rate was 1.17 per 100,000, according to the Violence Policy Center, based in Washington.

Brazilian women suffer inequality in other areas as well. In the World Economic Forum’s 2013 Global Gender Gap report, Brazil placed 62nd in a list of 136 countries. In terms of wage equality, it came in 117th.

Lieli Loures, 35, an activist in São Paulo, said the Maria da Penha law was a watershed moment for Brazil, and that a grass-roots feminist movement is growing. “I perceive a change,” she said. “Feminism is only beginning to be known.”

Ongoing debate
In Crybaby Boy, the debate continued in the front yard of the small brick house where Maria Santos, 34 — one of women in Dona Carmen’s group — lives with her husband, Adelmo, 31.

“We joke that the women are in charge here,” she said.

“We have to respect the rights of women,” he said. “But in the same way, we have to respect the rights of men.”

Then he lowered his voice to a whisper: “The women here want to be the man. They can’t.”

But Geraldo da Cruz, 62, said most men back the scheme. “Everything organized is better, right? Important.”

Source: Washington Post – Online News Source – April 25, 2014 –http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/in-the-corner-of-a-brazilian-slum-abused-wives-find-help-by-going-to-dona-carmen/2014/04/25/afbb7d1a-c68d-11e3-8b9a-8e0977a24aeb_story.html

The Go Lean roadmap posits that every woman has a right to a violence-free existence, in the family and in society; it is reprehensible that in so many Caribbean/Latin countries women are still viewed as lesser beings that can be abused at the whim of men, as was evident in the foregoing news article. This type of thinking is still prevalent; not just in Brazil; (notice this related Bahamas story)

What should be done to mitigate these bad practices? How does the Go Lean roadmap address this issue?

There are strategic, tactical and operational advocacies presented in the Go Lean roadmap so as to ensure victims are protected and perpetrators are held accountable for their actions:

• The CU will therefore work with governmental and non-governmental organizations (NGO’s) to fulfill their charters to aid victims and legislate for changes.

• The CU will also fund the full vertical eco-system so that law enforcement (and/or social work) agencies can institute Special Victims Units and counseling services. The roadmap posits that even one person, an advocate, can make a difference (Page 122) in forging change in society.

• Facilitate community messaging to instill/persuade an enlightened value system for men and women; helping men curb aggressive behavior (like anger management training) and empowering women to live successful lives and seek recourse against abusers if needed.

• Oversee the internal affairs/military justice of security agencies to ensure the integrity of the justice institutions. (Deficiency in this area is a Failed–State Indicator).

While the CU does not have sovereignty (a deputized agency only), it can still provide support services to ensure compliance. In addition to monitoring and metering, the CU can also provide ratings, funding, training, intelligence gathering, and cross border (fugitive) law enforcement.

The solutions to effect change in the region are detailed in this book Go Lean … Caribbean as community ethos, strategies, tactics, implementations and advocates; as follows:

Community Ethos – Privacy –vs- Public Protection	Page 23
Community Ethos – Whistleblower Protection	Page 23
Community Ethos – Witness Security	Page 23
Community Ethos – Anti Bullying & Mitigations	Page 23
Community Ethos – Light Up the Dark Places	Page 23
Community Ethos – Minority Equalizations	Page 24
Community Ethos – Reconciliations	Page 34
Strategy – Rule of Law –vs- Vigilantism	Page 49
Separation of Powers – CariPol	Page 77
Implementation – Reason to Repatriate	Page 118
Ways to Improve Failed-State Indices	Page 134
Ways to Better Manage the Social Contract	Page 170
Ways to Impact Justice	Page 177
Ways to Remediate and Mitigate Crime	Page 178
Ways to Improve Gun Control	Page 179
Ways to Improve Intelligence Gathering	Page 182
Ways to Improve Communications	Page 186
Ways to Impact the Prison Industrial Complex	Page 211
Ways to Impact Foundations	Page 219
Ways to Protect Human Rights	Page 220
Ways to Empower Women	Page 226
Ways to Impact Youth	Page 227
Ways to Impact Persons with Disabilities	Page 228

The goal is to make the Caribbean a better place to live work and play; with justice for all, regardless of gender. This is not politics; not feminism versus traditional family values. This is just right!

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Civil Rights, Gender, Security, Transform

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eMerge conference aims to jump-start Miami tech hub

Posted on April 28, 2014 in Ethos, Industries, Strategy

Go Lean Commentary

Positive Change!

It doesn’t just happen. It takes people forging it, guiding it and fostering it. The below news article speaks of the effort in South Florida (from Miami north to West Palm Beach) to establish an economic engine of a “tech hub”.

This is a noble, yet strategic undertaking. Success in this “industry space” would mean more jobs, investment capital, and more technology students remaining in South Florida after matriculating in the area’s colleges. These 3 objectives align this story with the advocacies of the book Go Lean … Caribbean.

The book serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU). The prime directive of this organization is to optimize the economic engines of the Caribbean region. We also want to increase jobs and investment capital, plus retain more of our young people aspiring for careers in high technology fields. But the CU wants to harvest these activities in the Caribbean, for the Caribbean and by the people of the Caribbean.

South Florida is germane to the Caribbean conscience. It is the Number One destination for the Caribbean Diaspora, featuring large populations of Cubans, Jamaicans, Dominicans (DR), Puerto Ricans, Bahamians, and Haitians. The book relates this association by declaring the NBA basketball team, Miami Heat, as the “home team” of the Caribbean; (Page 42).

Right time, right place!

The eMerge Americas Techweek is this week. Also, the Miami Heat has just started the playoffs in defense of their consecutive World Championships.

By: Marcia Heroux Pounds and Doreen Hemlock

A movement to make South Florida a technology hub for the Americas kicks off its first conference this week, aiming to draw more than 3,000 people from entrepreneurs to investors to students — from Broward and Palm Beach counties and from around the world.

Organizers want to build on South Florida’s success as a gateway to Latin America for trade, banking and services, extending that prowess into technology, entrepreneurship and capital for startups. They hope the event — eMerge Americas Techweek — can do for tech what the annual Art Basel event in Miami Beach has done for art: put South Florida on the world map.

It’s an exciting chance for entrepreneurs like Boca Raton’s Dan Cane, chief executive of Boca Raton-based Modernizing Medicine, which developed an iPad application for specialty physicians. He’s among influencers named to the event’s “Techweek100” — South Florida leaders who have had a significant impact on business and technology. He will speak at the conference.

“We jumped at the opportunity,” said Cane, whose 3-year-old company had $17.5 million in sales last year. “We hope to find contacts and connections and begin to develop the right ecosystem in the Latin American market” to export south starting next year.

The eMerge push doesn’t strive to make South Florida into Silicon Valley. It aims instead for a tech center specialized in multinationals looking south, Latin American companies moving north, local startup companies, as well as universities and investors.

That’s why Citi Latin America, the regional headquarters for financial giant Citi, is taking part in what is planned as an annual event. The division employs about 750 people in Miami-Dade and Broward counties and is sponsoring the event, sending speakers and bringing clients, said Jorge Ruiz, who heads digital banking.

“This event is a great example of the things we should do more of,” Ruiz said. It showcases the importance of technology to a range of industries, promotes what South Florida already offers and highlights South Florida’s ability to unite from across the Americas for tech business, he said.

“As people come together, they’re going to realize this is the space to invest in,” Ruiz said.

Universities that train talent for tech jobs are eager to participate too.

“We’re going to bring as many students as possible,” said Eric Ackerman, dean and associate professor of the Graduate School of Computer and Information Sciences at Nova Southeastern University, who also is on the Techweek100 list. Nova has more than 500 students studying information technology.

Ackerman said tech graduates often leave South Florida, figuring they will have better job opportunities in larger hubs known for innovation.

“That’s one of the things we are trying to change — to become an innovation zone for new technology, new products and new services,” Ackerman said. “An event like this says, ‘Look what’s here in our own back yard. Why should I go somewhere else?’ ”

Kimberly Gramm, assistant dean and director of FAU’s Adams Center for Entrepreneurship, is taking winners of FAU’s recent business plan competition to eMerge’s Startup Village.

Some of South Florida’s largest tech companies also will exhibit at eMerge. Those include Citrix Systems of Fort Lauderdale, C3 Cloud Computing Concepts of Delray Beach and TriNet Group of Boca Raton, said Lonnie Maier, president of the South Florida Technology Alliance, a group that promotes local tech.

Investors and consultants to startups also are heading to eMerge to network and build business.

New World Angels, a Boca Raton-based group of investors, will share a booth with the Miami Innovation Fund to offer entrepreneurs advice on launching or growing their ventures, said Rhys Williams, executive director of New World Angels and a Techweek 100 leader.

“Technology investing is a contact sport. There are few textbooks or classes of relevance, so this conference is a timely way to keep current on your knowledge base and pick up new knowledge, skills and contacts,” said Williams, who also is a judge in the eMerge Launch competition where more than 200 companies will compete for $150,000 in prizes.

Of course, South Florida faces hurdles in its quest, tech leaders said.

The area needs to overcome a long-time image based on sun and fun. And it needs to show critical mass in tech, especially success stories of entrepreneurs that grew startups to global players — much as conference organizer Manny Medina did, starting Miami-based Terremark and selling it for more than $1.4 billion to Verizon.

Enterprise Development Corp. President Rob Strandberg, whose group works with startups from Boca Raton to Miami, will be busy making introductions between entrepreneurs and potential investors at the conference. He’s also a judge in the Launch competition.

EDC executive director Linda Gove will participate with the Boca Raton incubator’s startup companies.

“Investors are taking notice of South Florida companies to a far greater extent than they were,” Strandberg said.

Joe Levy, CEO of Fort Lauderdale-based startup ClearCi and also named to the Techweek 100, said the perception of the area as a tech hub is changing.

“Folks used to ask me, ‘Why aren’t you in Silicon Valley?’ ” Levy said. “We don’t get that anymore.”

South Florida’s Sun Sentinel Daily Newspaper – April 27, 2014 – http://www.sun-sentinel.com/business/careers/fl-emerge-broward-palm-beach-20140427,0,1252077.story

The Go Lean roadmap calls for agencies within the CU to champion technological start-up endeavors, much like this week’s eMerge initiative.

There is much for the CU’s planners to glean by the observation of the planned events this week. The Go Lean/CU approach, in the absence of the actual establishment of the Trade Federation is simply to:

1. Look
2. Listen
3. Learn
4. Lend-a-hand
5. Lead

This approach is codified in the book, with details of community ethos, strategies, tactics, implementations and advocates; as follows:

Community Ethos – Impact the Future	Page 26
Community Ethos – Foster Genius	Page 27
Community Ethos – Help Entrepreneurship	Page 28
Community Ethos – Promote Intellectual Property	Page 29
Community Ethos – Impact R & D	Page 30
Community Ethos – Bridge the Digital Divide	Page 31
Strategy – Agents of Change: Technology	Page 57
Separation of Powers – Patents & Copyrights	Page 78
Implementation – Self-Governing Entities	Page 105
Implementation – Impact Social Media	Page 111
Ways to Better Manage Image	Page 133
Industries – Ways to Foster Technology	Page 197
Industries – Foster e-Commerce	Page 198

We hope for success for eMerge Americas Techweek. We hope our Caribbean brothers living and working in South Florida participate, engage in and benefit from this initiative. Then we hope that they would repatriate some of this passion, knowledge, and experience back to their Caribbean homelands.

Lastly, we cheer for further basketball dominance. Go Heat!

Download the book – Go Lean…Caribbean now!!!

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Events, ICT, Jobs, Miami, Sales, STEM, Transform

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Ghost ships – Autonomous cargo vessels without a crew

Posted on April 24, 2014 in Ethos, Industries, Planning, Strategy, Tactical

Go Lean Commentary

Life imitates art! Art imitates life!

The forgoing article gives the impression of science fiction: The Matrix movie trilogy or The Terminator movie series. Imagine an industrial development with a heavy concentration of robotic installations. This is the future that is being planned, developed and tested now. The experience of the last 100 years is that those doing the planning, developing and testing for futuristic technologies are the ones that profit most from the economic gains. This has been true for both Japan and Silicon Valley.

The book, Go Lean … Caribbean, extolls this principle that R&D (research and development) activities are necessary to profit from advantages in technology. We want to do R&D here in the Caribbean. This is a mandate for the Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU). This book serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the CU. This technocracy will assume oversight to optimize the region in the areas of:

(1) economics

(2) security

(3) lean government

This vision of an autonomous maritime eco-system, as depicted in the foregoing article, cannot be considered without a super-national infrastructure for these above 3 areas. The Go Lean roadmap presents the CU’s prime directives, which in total will provide comprehensive solutions for economic incentives, a security apparatus (Naval Authority and Intelligence Gathering), and lean governmental coordination to launch these initiatives.

*** Autonomous cargo vessels could set sail without a crew under the watchful eye of captains in shore-based simulators ***

Military drones already fly frequent missions and civilian operations using unmanned aircraft are coming. Driverless cars are clocking up thousands of test miles. So why not let remote-controlled ships set sail without a crew? Indeed, the maritime industry has started to think about what would be required to launch a latter-day Marie Céleste.

Ships, like aircraft and cars, are increasingly controlled by electronic systems, which makes automation easier. The bridges of some modern vessels are now more likely to contain computer screens and joysticks than engine telegraphs and a giant ship’s wheel. The latest supply ships serving the offshore oil and gas industry in the North Sea, for instance, use dynamic positioning systems which collect data from satellites, gyrocompasses, and wind and motion sensors to automatically hold their position when transferring cargo (also done by remote control) to and from platforms, even in the heaviest of swells.

However, as is also the case with pilotless aircraft and driverless cars, it is not so much a technological challenge that has to be overcome before autonomous ships can set sail, but regulatory and safety concerns. As in the air and on the road, robust control systems will be needed to conform to existing regulations.

The maritime industry is interested in crewless ships for two reasons. The first is safety. Most accidents at sea are the result of human error, just as they are in cars and planes. So, if human operators are replaced by sophisticated sensors and computer systems, autonomous vessels should, in theory, make shipping safer.

The second reason is, of course, cost. It is becoming increasingly difficult to sign up competent crew prepared to spend months away at sea. Moreover, some voyages are likely to get even longer for ships carrying non-urgent cargo. By some accounts, a 30% reduction in speed by a bulk carrier can save around 50% in fuel. This means slower steaming could provide big savings in fuel costs, but it would be at the expense of increased expenditure on crew for these longer voyages, both in wages and for the “hotel” facilities required on board. Removing the crew, though, also removes the need for their accommodation and its associated equipment, like heating and plumbing. And that provides room to carry more cargo.

Ahoy there!

The transition to unmanned ships could take place in steps, says Oskar Levander, head of engineering and technology for the marine division of Rolls-Royce. Crews would be reduced as some functions are moved onshore, such as monitoring machinery. (The engines on jet aircraft are already overseen by ground stations.) This could be followed by some watch-keeping and navigation duties. Experienced crew might be put on board when ships leave or enter port, just as pilots are to navigate. And a small maintenance crew could be kept for the voyage until remote-control systems prove themselves. A fleet of autonomous ships could also sail in convoy with a manned vessel in the lead (as illustrated above).

The onshore control rooms would keep an eye on ships thanks to live data transmitted from vessels, including video and infra-red images. Object-recognition software, combined with radar, would further automate the process. If an alarm was raised the skeleton crew on board could be alerted or the control room take charge, probably from a bridge in a simulator. Rolls-Royce already operates virtual ships’ bridges, with 360º views, for the training of officers and crew. These are realistic enough to make landlubbers feel seasick.

Using onshore control rooms and simulators a team of ten land-based captains could operate 100 or so ships, reckons Mr. Levander. The captains could commute from home for their shifts just as the pilots who fly military drones do. Passenger ships are likely to remain crewed, however. Trained personnel are needed to manage evacuation procedures, and in any case passengers are unlikely to want robots and vending machines attending to their needs.

The slower-sailing bulk carriers could be the first ships to be automated, according to the Maritime Unmanned Navigation through Intelligence in Networks (MUNIN) project, a European Union initiative backed by a number of industrial organisations. Like others, it says the ability of drone ships to detect other vessels and take avoiding action will be crucial, but possible with advanced technology and improved backup systems.

Rules of the sea

With a captain technically in command—even though he is based in an onshore control room—MUNIN thinks the legal and practical challenges of meeting maritime rules could be met. Radio messages from other ships, along with those from coastguards and port authorities, could be automatically routed to the shore captain. Something similar is being proposed for autonomous civil drones, with ground-based pilots responding to communications and air-traffic control instructions as if they were in the cockpit.

In many ways automating a ship should be a lot easier than automating aircraft, Mr. Levander believes. For a start, if something did go wrong, instead of falling out of the sky a drone ship could be set by default to cut its engines and drop anchor without harming anyone. As for piracy, with no crew to be taken hostage it would be much easier for the armed forces to intervene. Of course, more modern pirates might try to hack their way into the controls of an autonomous ship to take command. Which is why encrypted data communication is high on the maritime industry’s list of things to do before ghostly vessels ply the trade routes.

Firstly, the Caribbean Sea is 1,063,000 square miles. This landscape, except for forecasted tropical storms, allows for the perfect testing grounds. The geography of the CU’s 30 member-states thereby includes thousands of islands, (the Bahamas alone advertises 700 islands in their archipelago). The Go Lean roadmap calls for establishing an Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) for these seas.

Secondly, the CU has the human capital to engage this type of endeavor. There are many well-trained professionals in the maritime arts and sciences. Plus, this endeavor transmits the “siren call” to youthful aspirants, empowering immigrants and, skilled repatriates. This will grow the labor pool for this industry.

Thirdly, the CU already envisions a massive deployment of ship-building prowess with its incubation of shipyards and related industries (Page 209). Plus, with federally regulated ferry boats, part of the Union Atlantic Turnpike system, the required model (funding/investments/capital) and eco-system will be in place.

Though not written with this particular initiative in mind, the Go Lean roadmap anticipates such opportunities, as pronounced in the Declaration of Interdependence, (Pages 12 & 14):

xvi. Whereas security of our homeland is inextricably linked to prosperity of the homeland, the economic and security interest of the region needs to be aligned under the same governance. Since economic crimes, including piracy and other forms of terrorism, can imperil the functioning of the wheels of commerce for all the citizenry, the accedence of this Federation must equip the security apparatus with the tools and techniques for predictive and proactive interdictions.

xxvii. Whereas the region has endured a spectator status during the Industrial Revolution, we cannot stand on the sidelines of this new economy, the Information Revolution. Rather, the Federation must embrace all the tenets of Internet Communications Technology (ICT) to serve as an equalizing element in competition with the rest of the world. The Federation must bridge the digital divide and promote the community ethos that research/development is valuable and must be promoted and incentivized for adoption.

xxx. Whereas the effects of globalization can be felt in every aspect of Caribbean life, from the acquisition of food and clothing, to the ubiquity of ICT, the region cannot only consume, it is imperative that our lands also produce and add to the international community, even if doing so requires some sacrifice and subsidy.

The CU mission is to implement the complete eco-system to deliver on market opportunities as sampled in the foregoing article. There are many strategies, tactics, implementations and advocacies that will facilitate this readiness; detailed here:

Community Ethos – Money Multiplier	Page 22
Community Ethos – Job Multiplier	Page 22
Community Ethos – Lean Operations	Page 24
Community Ethos – Return on Investments	Page 24
Impact the Future	Page 26
Help Entrepreneurship	Page 28
Promote Intellectual Property	Page 29
Impact Research and Development	Page 30
Ways to Improve Negotiations	Page 32
Separation of Powers – Naval Authority	Page 75
Separation of Powers – Emergency Mgmt.	Page 76
Security Initiatives at Start-up	Page 103
Start-up Benefits from the EEZ	Page 104
Steps to Implement Self-Governing Entities	Page 105
Reasons to Repatriate to the Caribbean	Page 118
Ways to Benefit from Globalization	Page 119
Ways to Improve Trade	Page 128
Ways to Create Jobs	Page 152
Ways to Improve Governance	Page 168
Foster Empowering Immigration	Page 174
Foster Cooperatives	Page 176
Improve Homeland Security	Page 180
Ways to Mitigate Terrorism	Page 181
Improve Intelligence Gathering & Analysis	Page 182
Better Manage Natural Resources	Page 183
Ways to Improve for Natural Disasters	Page 184
Ways to Foster Technology	Page 197
Ways to Improve Transportation	Page 205
Ways to Develop Ship-Building	Page 209

The world is preparing for the change of more autonomous systems to do the heavy-lifting of industrial engagements. A new ethos to prepare for change has now come to the Caribbean. The people of the region are urged to “lean-in” for this change. As described in the book Go Lean … Caribbean, the benefits of this roadmap are too alluring to miss out: emergence of an $800 Billion single market economy, 2.2 million new jobs and relevance on the world scene for R&D.

Download the Book- Go Lean…Caribbean Now!!!

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Real Estate Investment Trusts explained

Posted on April 23, 2014 in Economics, Ethos, Industries

Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) are one way you can invest in real estate while enjoying a level of liquidity synonymous with the stock market^[a]. Learn more here, from this VIDEO:

VIDEO – Real Estate Investment Trust REIT Definition Investopedia – https://youtu.be/UnKqUKZ1K1A

The book Go Lean … Caribbean serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU) and the Caribbean Central Bank (CCB). One prime directive of the roadmap is facilitating the return of the far-flung Diaspora to their Caribbean homelands. This does not mean returning to the same houses they may have abandoned decades ago. Thusly, there is the need for new housing solutions; and new housing financing schemes. The CU is proffered to provide economic optimizations to better manage the region’s basic needs: food, clothing, energy and shelter.

REITs are prominent in the Go Lean roadmap to satisfy the shelter mandate for Caribbean repatriates; (Page 217).

This mandate is detailed early on in the book’s Declaration of Interdependence (DOI), as follows (Page 13):

xxiv. Whereas a free market economy can be induced and spurred for continuous progress, the Federation must install the controls to better manage aspects of the economy: jobs, inflation, savings rate, investments and other economic principles. Thereby attracting direct foreign investment because of the stability and vibrancy of our economy.

The roadmap posits that there are no capital/security markets in the Caribbean that offer the liquidity options of Wall Street – Page 200. (Wall Street is #1 globally). However the book describes an optimization of the existing financial markets that can still take place with the introduction of the Caribbean Dollar – managed by a technocratic Caribbean Central Bank – and elevation of the current 9 Stock Exchanges.

The “dominoes” thusly begin to fall. So with the liquidity of a vibrant capitals market, comes funding, with funding comes housing “starts”, followed by construction activity. All of this creates market kinetics.

So facilitating this eco-system of the CU/CCB will ultimately create … jobs. This is the rallying cry in the US for the National Association of Realtors®. They estimate that one job is generated for every two home sales. Using that ratio, 1,000 home sales generate 500 jobs ^[b]. So after the basic need of food, clothing, energy and shelter, the next mandate is … jobs, (DOI – Page 14).

xxvi. Whereas the Caribbean region must have new jobs to empower the engines of the economy and create the income sources for prosperity, and encourage the next generation to forge their dreams right at home, the Federation must therefore foster the development of new industries, like that of ship-building, automobile manufacturing, pre-fabricated housing, frozen foods, pipelines, call centers, and the prison industrial complex. In addition, the Federation must invigorate the enterprises related to existing industries like tourism, fisheries and lotteries – impacting the region with more jobs.

The Go Lean roadmap portrays the community ethos to encourage savings/investments. The roadmap also calls for stronger oversight from an institutional perspective, with economic principles in place to increase the money multiplier; (Page 21 & 22).

This constitutes change for the Caribbean: a new plan, new products, services, opportunities oversight. In truth, a new future!

Download the book Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

————

References

a. Investopedia – http://www.investopedia.com/video/play/real-estate-investment-trust/

b. National Association of Realtors: http://www.realtor.org/topics/home-ownership-matters/jobs-impact-of-an-existing-home-purchase

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Advocates push for junk-food tax

Posted on April 22, 2014 in Economics, Ethos, Government

Go Lean Commentary

The forgoing article focuses on an important issue for the Caribbean. Diabetes is a scourge to the region; it is among the leading causes of death. Though death is the final destination of all humans, quality of life is a fitting goal for optimization. Diabetes is a degenerative disease; it grievously affects the quality of life; over time, its sufferers are afflicted with ailments like kidney failures, amputations and blindness. In addition to the personal discomforts, these treatments exact a huge toll on a community’s economics. For this matter, this subject is in scope for the Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU).

The book, Go Lean … Caribbean, serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the CU. This technocratic agency will assume oversight to optimize the region’s:

(1) economy,

(2) security apparatus, and

(3) governing engines.

The subject of diabetes disease management is in scope for all 3 of these prime directives. The importance and linkage of the topics for diabetes, healthcare and economics are undeniable. But there are security threats as well, as advanced diabetes dispositions increase the need for organ transplantations, inducing many to venture into the illegal organ trade markets. Finally, the strain on governments to service this population and develop mitigation plans is a constant priority – or should be.

By: FELICIA FONSECA

Flagstaff, Arizona — Facing a high prevalence of diabetes, many American Indian tribes are returning to their roots with community and home gardens, cooking classes that incorporate traditional foods, and running programs to encourage healthy lifestyles.

The latest effort on the Navajo Nation, the country’s largest reservation, is to use the tax system to push people to ditch junk food.

Navajo President Ben Shelly earlier this year vetoed measures to enact a 2 percent sales tax on tax on chips, cookies and sodas, and to eliminate the tax on fresh fruit and vegetables. This week, tribal lawmakers have a chance to resurrect the proposals, and supporters are optimistic they’ll be among the first in the country to succeed.

Elected officials across the U.S. have taken aim at sugary drinks with proposed bans, size limits, tax hikes and warning labels, though their efforts have not gained widespread traction. In Mexico, lawmakers approved a junk food tax and a tax on soft drinks last year as part of that government’s campaign to fight obesity.

Shelly said he supports the intent of the proposals on the Navajo Nation but questioned how the higher tax on snacks high in fat, sugar and salt would be enacted and regulated. Supporters of the tax say it is another tool in their fight for the health of the people.

“If we can encourage our people to make healthier choices and work on the prevention side, we increase the life span of our children, we improve their quality of life,” said professional golfer Notah Begay III, who is among supporters.

American Indians and Alaska Natives as a whole have the highest age-adjusted prevalence of diabetes among U.S. racial and ethnic groups, according to the American Diabetes Association. They are more than twice as likely as non-Hispanic whites to have the disease that was the fourth leading cause of death in the Navajo area from 2003 to 2005, according to the Indian Health Service.

Native children ages 10 to 19 are nine times as likely to be diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes, the IHS said.

The proposed Navajo Nation tax wouldn’t add significantly to the price of junk food, but buying food on the reservation presents obstacles that don’t exist in most of urban America. The reservation is a vast 27,000 square miles with few grocery stores and a population with an unemployment rate of around 50 percent. Thousands of people live without electricity and have no way of storing perishable food items for too long.

“They have a tendency to purchase what’s available, and it’s not always the best food,” said Leslie Wheelock, director of tribal relations for the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Wheelock said the diabetes issue in tribal communities is one that has been overlooked in the past or not taken as seriously as it could be. It has roots in the federal government taking over American Indian lands and introducing food that tribal members weren’t used to, she said.

To help remedy that, the USDA runs a program that distributes nutritional food to 276 tribes. Grants from the agency have gone toward gardening lessons for children within the Seneca Nation of Indians in New York, culturally relevant exercise programs for the Spirit Lake Tribe in North Dakota and food demonstrations using fresh fruit and vegetables on the Zuni reservations in New Mexico.

The Dine Community Advocacy Alliance, which has been pushing for the Navajo Nation junk food tax, estimates it will result in at least $1 million a year in revenue that could go toward wellness centers, community parks, walking trails and picnic grounds in tribal communities in Utah, New Mexico and Arizona. It would expire at the end of 2018.

Tribal lawmakers will vote this week on overturning Shelly’s vetoes. Regardless of whether that legislation passes, “we have to keep stepping up to the plate,” alliance member Gloria Begay said.

No other sales tax on the Navajo Nation specifically targets the spending habits of consumers. Alcohol is sold in a few places on the reservation but isn’t taxed. Retailers and distributors pay a tobacco tax.

Opponents of the junk food tax argue it would burden customers and drive revenue off the reservation. Mike Gardner, executive director of the Arizona Beverage Association, said the lack of specifics in the legislation as to what exactly will be taxed could mean fruit juice and nutritional shakes would be lumped in the same category as sodas.

“I don’t think they mean that, but that’s what will happen,” Gardner said. “It’s a little loose, a little vague. It’s going to create problems for retailers and … it doesn’t solve the problem.”

a. By the numbers:

Total population of Navajo Nation: 250,000

Unemployment rate: 44%

Families living in poverty: 30.5%

People living with diabetes: 55,000

Source: Partners In Health (PIH), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts. (http://www.pih.org/country/navajo-nation/about)

Associated Press (AP) News Wire Service (Retrieved 04/22/2014) –
http://news.yahoo.com/advocates-push-junk-food-tax-navajo-nation-155642994.html

The roadmap commences with a Declaration of Interdependence. In Verse IX (Page 11) it pronounces:

Whereas the realities of healthcare and an aging population cannot be ignored and cannot be afforded without some advanced mitigation, the Federation must arrange for health plans to consolidate premiums of both healthy and sickly people across the wider base of the entire Caribbean population. The mitigation should extend further to disease management, wellness, obesity and smoking cessation programs. The Federation must proactively anticipate the demand and supply of organ transplantation as developing countries are often exploited by richer neighbors for illicit organ trade.

The foregoing article highlights diabetes disease management in the controlled population of the Native American Reservation for the Navajo Nation in Arizona [a]. In fact, Go Lean posits that the Caribbean can benefit greatly from a consideration of the examples, samples and lessons from Native American tribes and their experiences. This is included in the book as “10 Lessons from Indian Reservations” (Page 141). As for this issue, Go Lean also recognizes that food choices and the preponderance of junk food could imperil community wellness; (Page 162). We must therefore take heed to these lessons.

The CU mission is to implement the complete eco-system to re-boot health delivery in the region. Applying strategies to win the battles of globalization, the Go Lean roadmap urges the Caribbean region to not only consume; we must create and contribute as well. In that vein, there are many tactics, implementations and advocacies to facilitate the vision for R&D, incubation, entrepreneurship and many other areas related to medical tourism. These are detailed here:

Community Ethos – Deferred Gratification	Page 21
Community Ethos – Intelligence Gathering	Page 23
Community Ethos – “Bad Things” Happen	Page 23
Community Ethos – Lean Operations	Page 24
Community Ethos – Return on Investments	Page 24
Community Ethos – Non-Government Org’s.	Page 25
Help Entrepreneurship	Page 28
Impact Research and Development	Page 30
Promote Happiness	Page 36
Impact the Greater Good	Page 37
Separation of Powers – Health Department	Page 86
Steps to Implement Self-Governing Entities	Page 105
Ways to Benefit from Globalization	Page 119
Improve Healthcare	Page 155
Impact Entitlements	Page 158
Better Manage Food Consumption	Page 162
Better Manage the Social Contract	Page 170
Foster Cooperatives	Page 176
Ways to Improve Organ Transplantations	Page 214
Impact Foundations	Page 219
Improve Elder-Care	Page 225
Impact Persons with Disabilities	Page 228

The roadmap addresses the obstacles for full implementation of the CU objectives. Like most communities, there are cost constraints, as the foregoing article reports on a special tax to fund junk food mitigations. How will the CU pay for its strategic and tactical initiatives?

The book addresses this issue in full detail in these advocacies:

Ways to Pay for Change	Page 101
10 Revenue Sources for Administration	Page 172

Change has come to the Caribbean. Both the people and institutions of the region are urged to “lean-in” for this change. As described in the book Go Lean … Caribbean, the benefits of this roadmap are too important; improving health deliveries is not just economic, more important, it’s about saving lives.

Download the Book- Go Lean…Caribbean Now!!!

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‘Only at the precipice, do they change’

Posted on April 21, 2014 in Economics, Ethos, Social

Go Lean Commentary

“Life imitating Art”; “Art imitating life”.

This is more than a cliché; it is also factual for describing how people finally get the will to change.

The movie The Day the Earth Stood Still (2008) – demonstrates “Art imitating Life” – is a remake of the classic 1951 sci-fi film of the same name; see Trailer VIDEO in the Appendix below. These films are about an alien visitor and his giant robot counterpart who visit Earth.

The character Professor Jacob Barnhardt, in the 2008 version, was played by John Cleese, the English actor of some repute, known for his start with the Mighty Python players.

The counter character in this dialogue, Klaatu, was played by American mega-star Keanu Reeves.

The storyline proceeds that the character Klaatu is a spokesman that preceded the robot sent to destroy human life on earth. And thus this quotation from the Movie Dialogue:

Professor Barnhardt: There must be alternatives. You must have some technology that could solve our problem.

Klaatu: Your problem is not technology. The problem is you. You lack the will to change.

Professor Barnhardt: Then help us change.

Klaatu: I cannot change your nature. You treat the world as you treat each other.

Professor Barnhardt: But every civilization reaches a crisis point eventually.

Klaatu: Most of them don’t make it.

Professor Barnhardt: Yours did. How?

Klaatu: Our sun was dying. We had to evolve in order to survive.

Professor Barnhardt: So it was only when your world was threatened with destruction that you became what you are now.

Klaatu: Yes.

Professor Barnhardt: Well that’s where we are. You say we’re on the brink of destruction and you’re right. But it’s only on the brink that people find the will to change. Only at the precipice do we evolve. This is our moment. Don’t take it from us. We are close to an answer.

(Source: Internet Movie Database – Movie: The Day the Earth Stood Still (2008). Retrieved 04/21/2014 – http://www.imdb.com/character/ch0012790/quotes)

This foregoing dialogue from the movie The Day the Earth Stood Still (2008) is symbolic of the crisis facing the Caribbean. The problem in the Caribbean is not technology, but rather the will to change. This is a consistent theme in the book Go Lean … Caribbean, it asserts that the changes necessary to preserve Caribbean heritage, culture and economies must first be preceded by an evolution in the community ethos. This pronouncement is as follows from Page 20:

The people of the Caribbean must change their feelings about elements of their society – elements that are in place and elements missing. This is referred to as “Community Ethos”, defined as:

“the fundamental character or spirit of a culture; the underlying sentiment that informs the beliefs, customs, or practices of a group or society; dominant assumptions of a people or period.

This book serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU), a technocratic agency seen as the Caribbean’s best hope to avert the current path of disaster, human flight and brain drain, and grant the Caribbean a meaningful future for its youth.

This movie dialogue synchronizes with the exact details of the book. On Page 21, Go Lean presents a series of community ethos that must be adapted to forge change in the Caribbean. In addition, there are specific advocacies to:

Impact the Future (Page 26)
Impact Turn-Around (Page 33)
Impact the Greater Good (Page 37)
Grow the Economy (Page 151)
Preserve Caribbean Heritage (Page 218)

As a roadmap, this book provides the turn-by-turn guidance to optimize the Caribbean economy, security apparatus and governing engines.

With the assessment that many Caribbean states have lost more than 50% of their population to foreign shores (Pages 18 & 303), the region is now at that “precipice”.

“It is only at the precipice, do they change!”

Now is the time to lean-in to this roadmap for change, the book Go Lean … Caribbean, and the Caribbean Union Trade Federation. Our society/civilization is at the crisis point.

Download the book Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

————-

Appendix VIDEO – The Day The Earth Stood Still 2008 Official Trailer – https://youtu.be/rcSJ-6354-A

Published on Aug 5, 2012 – A remake of the 1951 classic sci-fi film about an alien visitor and his giant robot counterpart who visit Earth.
Keanu Reeves & Jennifer Connelly http://www.keanureeves.us/movie/the-d…

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