Updates from Organizations - Government agencies - Advertise Various Artists

Sen. Lee Statement on European Commission Google Decision

WASHINGTON – Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) issued the following statement Wednesday responding to the European Commission’s Google decision.

“Today’s decision by the European Commission to fine Google over $5 billion and require significant changes to its business model to satisfy EC bureaucrats has the potential to undermine competition and innovation in the United States,” Sen. Lee said. “Moreover, the decision further demonstrates the different approaches to competition policy between U.S. and EC antitrust enforcers. As discussed at the hearing held last December before the Senate’s Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy & Consumer Rights, U.S. antitrust agencies analyze business practices based on the consumer welfare standard. This analytical framework seeks to protect consumers rather than competitors. A competitive marketplace requires strong antitrust enforcement.  However, appropriate competition policy should serve the interests of consumers and not be used as a vehicle by competitors to punish their successful rivals.”

An online version of this release can be found here.

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   Happy Wednesday. I hope you're having a great week so far. I just left a message at the number listed on the website but thought email might be better. 

I am working with the one-of-a-kind songwriting festival featuring songwriting loyalty, the 1st Annual Troubeliever Festival taking place in Snowbasin, UT August 3 & 4 in partnership with Live Nation and Habitat for Humanity International featuring headlining Americana legends Emmylou Harris and Rodney Crowell. This festival will eventually become a festival traveling across the country. 

I would love to work with you on ticket giveaways and a feature story. We can schedule an interview with the founders and/or co-headliner Rodney Crowell. He just released his new album Acoustic Classics on Friday so he has a lot going on and a lot to talk about. 

Let me know your thoughts and I'll work to schedule it. Looking forward to hearing back soon. 

With roots steeped in Nashville’s songwriting tradition, hitmakers and TrouBeliever Fest founders Monty Powell and Anna Wilson had a deep desire to create a festival where the songs themselves would be the stars.  

With a love for the mountains (where they enjoy spending downtime), the pair chose picturesque Snowbasin Resort as the backdrop for the first annual festival.  Powell is a Golden Globe and Critics Choice Award nominee who is best known for penning chart-topping hits for Keith Urban, Lady Antebellum, Rascal Flatts, Tim McGraw and Brooks & Dunn among others. Wilson is a critically acclaimed artist who has recorded and performed with the likes of Keith Urban, Lady Antebellum, Kenny Rogers, Larry Carlton, Ray Price and Connie Smith.  She has also penned songs for artists ranging from Lady Antebellum to Reba McEntire.

Snowbasin Resort is an all-season recreation resort located in Huntsville, Utah, less than 35 miles North of Salt Lake City. It is considered one of the finest ski resorts on the west coast. Anna Wilson and Monty Powell have a home there and couldn’t think of a better place to host this festival.

In addition to headliners Harris and Crowell, the lineup will include performances by:

David Pack’s Legends Live featuring David Pack, former lead singer of Ambrosia and best known for writing “Biggest Part of Me” and “You’re the Only Woman,” Richard Page, formerly of Mr. Mister/Ringo’s All Starr Band and writer of “Kyrie” and “Broken Wings,” Jim Peterik, founder/singer of Ides of March/formerly of Survivor and who is also best known for co-writing “Eye of the Tiger,” John Elefante, former lead singer of Kansas; Shawn Colvin;  Billy Dean; Troubadour 77; Monty Powell; Anna Wilson; Middleman Burr; Sammy Brue; The Tim Daniels Band and Viviena & Leisina.

Rodney is an icon with magnificent stories who has written songs for an unending list of artists—from Norah Jones to The Grateful Dead to his one-time father-in-law, the great Johnny Cash (he was married to Rosanne Cash). He recently recorded in LA with Ringo Starr for an upcoming project— just to give you an idea of his caliber.

In case you wanted some background on Emmylou and Rodney— this is a great Vanity Fair piece done on them for their duet album a few years back:
https://www.vanityfair.com/culture/2015/05/emmylou-harris-rodney-crowell-traveling-kind-interview

Habitat for Humanity International will be onsite during the festival building houses for local families. The performers will also "pick on the porch" of a Habitat House. 

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5 Ways Businesses Can Avoid Becoming Ensnared In An Ethical Lapse 

Major brands such as Facebook, Volkswagen, Starbucks, and most recently Papa John’s have endured controversies that called into question their ethical practices.

Those companies are only the latest to be exposed for problems that consumers and those knowledgeable about corporate culture often link with a lack of ethical standards at the highest executive level. This can cause an erosion in the public’s trust, which in turn eats away at a company’s bottom line. Research by Mintel revealed 56 percent of U.S. consumers stop buying from companies they believe are unethical, and it also showed that more than 60 percent of consumers think ethical issues are becoming more important. 

There’s an opportunity here, says an international ethics expert, for companies to get ahead of the curve by incorporating better ethics before damage control forces it upon them.

“Controversies and scandals in corporations have the power to shift them from moral autopilot to an energized manual control, where they are acutely aware of their actions and their impact,” says Dr. Christopher Gilbert, author of There’s No Right Way To Do the Wrong Thing and senior consultant/speaker at NobleEdge Consulting (www.nobleedgeconsulting.com). “But it doesn’t and shouldn’t require misfortune to switch things up.

“As powerful public figures and corporate executives are switched to the truths of equality and justice, the costs of their unethical decision-making become crystal clear to everyone. The dominoes are still falling daily. But never doubt that a rising cry for equity and opportunity can change hearts and grow into a global mind shift.”

Gilbert offers five steps for business leaders to help their companies avoid ethical problems and elevate ethical development.

• Be your own guru. A good leader asks questions of those he most trusts. In helping shape a stronger ethical foundation, how do they view the leader’s own views of right and wrong? “Your decisions are yours, and every step up the moral ladder is yours,” says Gilbert. “Make those choices wisely and while knowing every tier of your organization will be well-supported with a well-thought-out ethical foundation.”
• Practice “behindism.” Leave the old “isms” behind. “Your actions, justifications, rationalizations and explanations should always be worthy of the trust of others,” Gilbert says. “Concentrate on the question, ‘Is this action going to create more trust with the others, or erode it?’ ”
• Pass around your decoder ring. Share your codes liberally. “Let people know what you’re saying and what you mean,” Gilbert says. “Be forthright, transparent. Hiding behind words or the true meaning of your words is part of an unethical action.”
• Trustworthiness is as trustworthiness does. “Transformation is a challenging process ensuring incredible and life-changing possibilities,” he says. “The opportunities in building trust are limitless, so concentrate your actions around those that build up your trustworthiness.”
• Watch what you “eat.” Gilbert calls these ethical acid tests, or EATs: “Does your decision stand up to public scrutiny? What if it appeared on the cover of the local newspaper or was broadcast? Do you want your significant other, children, colleagues or bosses to do this same thing? Does this decision advance the long-term common good?”

 “What you think about ethics becomes your ethics,” Gilbert says. “If you believe ethics are grey, you will find yourself in greyer and greyer situations where the choices get blurrier. Where you see, know and act with the assurance that ethics are there to tell us right from wrong, you will be put into more and more situations where the answer is obvious – despite the complexity of the circumstances.”

About Christopher Gilbert, Ph.D.

Dr. Christopher Gilbert, the author of There’s No Right Way To Do the Wrong Thing, is an international ethics consultant and senior consultant/speaker at NobleEdge Consulting (www.nobleedgeconsulting.com). Having spent much of his career focused on the study of human moral development, Dr. Gilbert has over 30 years of experience in organizational development as a strategic facilitator and leadership and operations consultant. He has served an international clientele, including Fortune 1000 companies and government agencies in the U.S., Canada, Asia and Africa. Dr. Gilbert completed work for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation on a sustainable food-security program across four nations of sub-Saharan Africa, and he has been a professor of business ethics who taught at universities on four continents. He earned his doctorate in Organization, Management and Leadership Ethics at Capella University.