In last Sunday's New York Times, the front page story in its SundayBusiness Section addresses the burgeoning "fourth sector".
What is this so-called fourth sector, you ask?
Well, if there are the public, private and non-profit (or "independent") sectors, then this new breed of socially responsible hybrid entities makes up the fourth sector.
Why is it that some innovations score a home run, whereas others leave the field almost as soon as they walk on? Two culprits are timing and the irrational behavior of human beings.
With every downside, there is a corresponding upside: Get an expert's take on how technology, connectedness, globalization and ageing will affect us in the future.
On the news last night I saw this commercial which criticizes Fidelity for making investments that indirectly fuel the genocide in Darfur. According to those that created the commercial, the ubiquitous SaveDarfur.org and Get Fidelity Out of Sudan, Fidelity invests in two Chinese oil companies that do business in the Sudan -- PetroChina and Sinopec.
I was watching a program on The Learning Network, one of those educational reality shows that focuses on helping people become financially responsible.
The woman featured on the program, we'll call her Bertha, was a serious shopaholic. The host of the show tracked her down in a store and said "Bertha, we need to talk."
Regular FC readers are familiar with our recurring feature, "Open Debate"--which is basically two smart, compelling people debating an urgent topic entirely by email. Past debates have taken on design for the masses, the future of China, and the upside (or not) for Google.
Wal-Mart unveiled plans to purchase solar power for 22 Wal-Mart stores, including Sam's Clubs and a distribution center in Hawaii and California (as part of a pilot project to determine solar power viability for Wal-Mart). The total solar power production from the 22 sites is estimated to be as much as 20 million kWh per year, and the aggregate purchase could be one of the U.S., if not the world's, top-10 largest solar power initiatives.
Let's give Apple a global high-five following Steve Jobs' announcement Wednesday that the company will go greener. After increased pressure from environmental groups, such as Greepeace, Apple pledged it will remove arsenic -- you heard me, arsenic -- from its displays by 2008 and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and brominated flame retardant (BFR) by the end of 2008. As Greenpeace says, "Way to go Steve!"
