Comey documented 'everything he could remember' after Trump conversations; CNN, May 16, 2017

Pamela Brown, CNN; Comey documented 'everything he could remember' after Trump conversations

[Kip Currier: In my Managing and Leading Information Services course, one week's module is devoted to "Managing Legal Issues". In that module I walk students through the importance of documenting and how to do it well. Former FBI Director James Comey's documenting practices, revealed yesterday, vividly illustrate why documenting is such an important skill set and responsibility. And how documenting can potentially serve as both offensive and defensive evidence for an individual and/or organization.]

"Former FBI Director James Comey wrote in a memo that President Donald Trump asked him to end the investigation of national security adviser Michael Flynn, according to a source familiar with the matter.

Comey was so appalled by the request that he wanted to document it, the source said. Comey shared it with FBI senior officials, according to the source.

Why did he do it?

Comey would write down everything that happened -- the good and the bad.

"Everything he could remember," the source said.

"You realize something momentous has happened and memories fade so he wanted to memorialize it at the earliest time," the source said. The source said it was not common practice for Comey to document conversations with senior officials unless he thought it was significant."

Trump’s Leaky Fate; New York Times, May 16, 2017

Frank Bruni, New York Times; 

Trump’s Leaky Fate

"This much leaking this soon in an administration is a powerful indication of what kind of president we have. He is so unprepared, shows such bad judgment and has such an erratic temper that he’s not trusted by people who are paid to bolster him and who get the most intimate, unvarnished look at him. Some of them have decided that discretion isn’t always the keeping of secrets, not if it protects bad actors. They’re right. And they give me hope."

The 25th Amendment Solution to Remove Trump; New York Times, May 16, 2017

Ross Douthat, New York Times; 

The 25th Amendment Solution to Remove Trump

"One does not need to be a Marvel superhero or Nietzschean Übermensch to rise to this responsibility. But one needs some basic attributes: a reasonable level of intellectual curiosity, a certain seriousness of purpose, a basic level of managerial competence, a decent attention span, a functional moral compass, a measure of restraint and self-control. And if a president is deficient in one or more of them, you can be sure it will be exposed.

Trump is seemingly deficient in them all. Some he perhaps never had, others have presumably atrophied with age. He certainly has political talent — charisma, a raw cunning, an instinct for the jugular, a form of the common touch, a certain creativity that normal politicians lack. He would not have been elected without these qualities. But they are not enough, they cannot fill the void where other, very normal human gifts should be."

Remarks by Director Michelle K. Lee to Commemorate World IP Day 2017; U.S. Patent & Trademark Office, April 26, 2017

U.S. Patent & Trademark Office; Remarks by Director Michelle K. Lee to Commemorate World IP Day 2017

"Remarks by Director Michelle K. Lee to Commemorate World IP Day 2017

For more than two centuries, the United States of America has promoted and protected intellectual property rights. In the process, we have made revolutionary advances in science and technology. We have become a global leader in innovation, and we have helped create a strong IP system throughout the world. The USPTO is committed to continue working with the IP offices of the world to ensure that all of our IP systems continue to foster innovation.

The theme of this year’s World IP Day—improving lives through innovation—could not be more relevant. We have seen the profound impact that good ideas, protected through a world-class IP system, can have on humanity. From new and powerful technology that we can wear on our wrists and carry in our pockets, to new methods of diagnosing and treating disease, intellectual property can not only improve lives, it can save lives. It can also create new jobs and grow our economy, which is why we must always ensure that our IP system supports small businesses, startups, and individual inventors. Rewarding new ideas with IP rights guarantees that new improvements keep coming. In fact one of you may hold the next idea that could shape our lives for years to come.

So, please, get out there and invent and create. And don’t forget to protect your great ideas. Thank you for being a part of World IP Day!"

More CEOs are getting forced out for ethics violations; Washington Post, May 15, 2017

Jena McGregor, Washington Post; More CEOs are getting forced out for ethics violations

"If it seems like more CEOs are getting cast aside amid ethical blunders or corporate scandals, they are. According to a new report on CEO succession from Strategy&, PwC’s strategy consulting business, the percentage of CEOs getting pushed out for questionable behavior — lapses including environmental disasters,  insider trading, résumé fraud, accounting scandals and sexual misconduct — is up over the past five years."

The experts were right: Trump isn’t fit to be president; Washington Post, May 16, 2017

Anne Applebaum, Washington Post;

The experts were right: Trump isn’t fit to be president

"We live in an age that denigrates knowledge, dislikes expertise and demonizes experts. But now we have proof that experts are sometimes right...

At the time, Trump dismissed this letter as “nothing more than the failed Washington elite looking to hold onto their power.” But the “elites” were right. The experts were right.  Next time maybe more people will heed them."

John McCain: Why We Must Support Human Rights; New York Times, May 8, 2017

John McCain, New York Times; 

John McCain: Why We Must Support Human Rights

"In a recent address to State Department employees, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said conditioning our foreign policy too heavily on values creates obstacles to advance our national interests. With those words, Secretary Tillerson sent a message to oppressed people everywhere: Don’t look to the United States for hope. Our values make us sympathetic to your plight, and, when it’s convenient, we might officially express that sympathy. But we make policy to serve our interests, which are not related to our values. So, if you happen to be in the way of our forging relationships with your oppressors that could serve our security and economic interests, good luck to you. You’re on your own...

In the real world, as lived and experienced by real people, the demand for human rights and dignity, the longing for liberty and justice and opportunity, the hatred of oppression and corruption and cruelty is reality. By denying this experience, we deny the aspirations of billions of people, and invite their enduring resentment...

We are a country with a conscience. We have long believed moral concerns must be an essential part of our foreign policy, not a departure from it. We are the chief architect and defender of an international order governed by rules derived from our political and economic values. We have grown vastly wealthier and more powerful under those rules. More of humanity than ever before lives in freedom and out of poverty because of those rules.

Our values are our strength and greatest treasure. We are distinguished from other countries because we are not made from a land or tribe or particular race or creed, but from an ideal that liberty is the inalienable right of mankind and in accord with nature and nature’s Creator."

New Zealand Campaign Had Concerns Using Eminem-Like Song; Associated Press via New York Times, May 3, 2017

Associated Press via New York Times; 

New Zealand Campaign Had Concerns Using Eminem-Like Song

"De Joux said she sought and received assurances from music and advertising experts that using "Eminem Esque" would be acceptable because it was part of a licensed music library and was free from any copyright issue...

Under cross-examination, de Joux said she had not sought legal advice on using the song nor approached Eminem's representatives to get approval."

A Commencement Address; Reading, Archives and the Academy Blog, May 1, 2017

Richard Cox, Reading, Archives and the Academy Blog;

A Commencement Address

[Kip Currier: Dr. Richard Cox, a colleague in Pitt's Information Culture and Data Stewardship department, gave a stirring call-to-action commencement address yesterday--focused on ethics, technology, and responsibilities of information professionals.]

"On April 30th I was the speaker at the University of Pittsburgh’s School of Information Sciences commencement ceremony. This was the last commencement of the school, as it becomes the School of Computing and Information on July 1. This was a great honor, and a nice way of marking my own forthcoming retirement on December 31. I was asked to address the topic of the school’s focus on information ethics. Here is the address."