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Seaworld Plans To Open More Parks With More Captive Animals To Fight Steep Revenue Decline

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Seaworld Plans To Open More Parks With More Captive Animals To Fight Steep Revenue Decline

Controversial entertainment company SeaWorld, suffering declines in both attendance at its parks and its share price, plans to double down on its current strategy and open more exhibits with more captive animals. Using more creatures in captivity to entertain patrons of its parks seems to contradict the message of animal protection and conservation that the company touts, raising a fresh round of questions for the often-protested company.

SeaWorld Entertainment Inc. received bad news this week when its stock price dropped more than 5% in premarket trading this morning. The decline follows SeaWorld’s reporting that its earnings fell 84% in the second quarter, typically one of the company’s best quarters year to year. SeaWorld officials state that heavy rains in Texas, an earlier Easter holiday and “brand images” have resulted in less attendance at its parks and therefore the drop in share price.

Despite the issuance of steep discounts, marketing campaigns and various promotions, attendance at SeaWorld parks around the country fell 2% compared to the same period last year. The brand images the company suffers is due largely to the release of the 2013 documentary Blackfish. The documentary, produced by animal rights activists, alleges cruelty by holding Orcas in activity. The film also alleges that the treatment of orcas in captivity provokes violent behavior. Park attendance fell shortly after the documentary was released to the public.

In light of the negative press, SeaWorld has spent millions trying to rebuild its image. SeaWorld chief executive Joel Manby stated that, “Early feedback on [the company’s] campaign has been positive, however [it] recognize[s] that fully resolving [the] brand challenges in California will require sustained focus and commitment to correct misinformation.” The marketing campaign stresses that SeaWorld’s animals are very well-treated and that orcas live as well and as long as those in the wild.

Despite the decrease in numbers across the board, SeaWorld indicated that most of the increased expense in marketing spending is now over and that it still expects to meet its financial goals for 2015. Manby told shareholders that a new shark-themed exhibit will open soon in the Orlando park and that the “biggest, tallest, longest, fastest coaster” is set to open in 2016. Moreover, SeaWorld will also open an exhibit at its San Antonio, Texas park that will allow park goers the opportunity to swim with dolphins in a “naturalistic” setting. Manby is confident these additions, in conjunction with its marketing campaign will boost attendance at its parks and increase its growth and revenue.

Russia Proposes 12 Year Prison Term For Those Caught Smuggling Food

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In what appears to be Russia’s latest move to stem the illegal importing of goods, one of the country’s lawmakers has proposed a 12-year prison sentence for those caught smuggling food from Western countries across its borders. The proposal, drafted by State Duma deputy Yevgeny Fyodorov, imposes the criminal penalty on those violating the current ban on the importation of Western foods which was instituted after the West imposed economic sanctions on Russia for its interference in Ukraine. Russia slapped the embargo on Western food over a year ago.

Presently, food is confiscated from those caught illegally importing Western foods into Russia, but there is no criminal sanction. The head of Moscow’s Bar Association Andrei Knyazev was quoted in Izvestia, a Russian daily newspaper, that, “The current articles of the Criminal Code regulate responsibility for smuggling narcotics, poisons and so on, but they do not cover consumer goods, including food.” Fyodorov stated that, “It would be perfectly fair to expand the punishment envisaged for smuggling cigarettes and alcohol to include people who ignore the authorities’ decisions about the food embargo.”

It is important to note that food confiscated from smugglers is set to be destroyed according to President Vladimir Putin. Authorities are set to begin incinerating the food today. This outrages many Russians who are extremely poor and need the food. A petition with more than 208,000 signatures was delivered to Moscow, questioning, “Why should we destroy food that could feed veterans, pensioners, the disabled, those with large families or those who have suffered from natural disasters?”

Even politicians and public figures who normally support the Kremlin have questioned the decision to destroy perfectly good food. Communist Party leader Gennady Zyuganov called the move an “extreme measure,” and stated that, “[he] would give this food to Orthodox Christian communities, to children’s and orphans’ homes . . . and to our friends in the Donetsk and Lugansk republics.” Television host Vladimir Solovyov wrote on his Twitter account that, “[he doesn’t] understand how a country that lived through the horrible hunger of the war and terrible years after the Revolution can destroy food.”

The proposed law to impose the 12-year prison term on smugglers of illegal foods is set to be voted on during the upcoming fall legislative session.

Chinese Giant WeChat Will Allow Its 650 Million Users To Trade Stocks Via Chat App

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Chinese Giant WeChat Will Allow Its 650 Million Users To Trade Stocks Via Chat App

Popular Chinese internet service provider Tencent, owner of dominant chat app WeChat, is set to launch the first ever online trading portal to run through a mobile chat application. The company’s online trading system, if successful, will revolutionize the way investors across the world choose to invest.

Tencent’s online trading system is in the final stages of testing and will be rolled out soon. The platform will feature a facial recognition feature that verifies user identities before allowing them to access their stocks. The facial recognition features through smart phones are a first of its kind anywhere in the world.

According to Tencent, its 650 million users will purchase stocks through mobile chat service WeChat’s e-wallet function. Already, the e-wallet function facilitates money transfers, cinema tickets purchasing, transport tickets, financial products investment and other related functions.

These features are a cut above the rest of the world’s mobile messaging platforms. Facebook’s very own, Watsapp, far behind Tencent with 500 million users, does not feature any of these functions, having only allowed mobile video chat in foreign countries recently.

According to Tencent, users will be able to access these services by first registering directly on their service and uploading a number of documents to authenticate their identities. The users will then scan their faces as a final security check before accessing the online trading services.

The system has caused a stir among global trading enthusiasts for its relieving convenience. Previously, investors had to go to their brokerage firms in person to place an order or video chat with the firms to confirm their identities.

Now all they will have to do is open an account with Tencent, or with rival online firm Alibaba.
Alibaba, China’s giant online selling company, through its payment platform Alipay, is introducing a similar online stock buying feature. The company announced the new feature last month but is yet to activate it. Currently, the feature can only be used to track indexes.

These recent service launches are just a drop in the bucket of how far Chinese tech innovation and appetite has grown in recent years. Beijing based Lenovo bought out IBM’s PC business in 2005 on its way to becoming the largest PC maker, beating the previous record holder, U.S. based HP, by number of units sold. Lenovo also bought out Google’s loss making Motorola unit, becoming the third largest smartphone maker by market share, only behind Apple and Samsung.

Another Chinese firm making big plays is Huawei. Already the second largest telecoms network provider in the world, it recently launched its P8 smart phone that’s set to compete with Apple for a piece of the premium smartphone market.

Chinese tech companies are growing fast and aggressively, eclipsing U.S. companies across mobile and PC innovation. So get ready – it’s only a matter of time before China’s tech companies become a common feature in every American home.

Cybercrime Kingpin Also Shown To Be Russian Spy

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At the Black Hat Security Conference held in Las Vegas this month, a security firm has released new details on the illegal hacking activities of cybercrime kingpin Evgeniy Mikhailovich Bogachev, better known as Slavik. Dutch firm Fox IT presented new insight into the workings the leader of one of the world’s most notorious and successful online criminal gangs. Specifically, in addition to bilking banks out of over $100 million, it appears that Bogachev also conducted espionage. Analysts suspect that his foray into spying was backed by the Russin government. To date, despite the $1 million bounty placed on Bogachev by the FBI, he has evaded capture.

Bogachev is widely believed to be leader of the uber-secretive criminal ring known as the Business Club. Members of the Club used the malware program Zeus to steal from banks from 2011-2014. Specifically, Bogachev ran the Gameover Zeus operation which infected up to 1 million machines connected over peer-to-peer networks. The malware stole bank logins and the Club’s operations resulted in the theft of over $100 million from banks all over the world. The hackers were also responsible for developing and implementing the Cryptolocker ransomware that infected and locked down more than 234,000 personal computers. The operation acquired more than $27 million in ransom payments. Both the Gameover Zeus operation and the Cryptolocker operation were shut down last spring after Bogachev was indicted.

Following that major law enforcement operation which required the collaboration of Fox IT, Dell SecureWorks and the FBI, analysts began sifting through what they had collected. They were extremely impressed by the evolution of the illegal operations. Andy Chandler, vice president of Fox IT, stated that “The maturity of how they evolved could have been an example out of a Harvard business book . . .The Business Club . . . used their criminal talents to expand from retail banking to commercial banking and branch off to new areas like espionage and ransomware.” Research reveals that the Business Club is the first entity to beat a two-pronged authentication system with “hybrid token-grabber attacks,” known in the business as The World Bank Center.

The details surrounding Bogachev’s espionage are what lead analysts to believe he may be avoiding capture because he has the protection of the Russian government. Specifically, analysis has indicated that Bogachev or one of his clients sought out data regarding foreign governments that would have significant interest to Putin. Michael Sandee, principal security expert at Fox IT discovered commands that sought files related to foreign intelligence officials in Turkey, Ukraine and Georgia. Russia’s interest in these countries is likely due to Putin’s recent military activity in the regions.

Analysts also believe that Bogachev conducted this espionage without working with his fellow Business Club members. Sandee believes the separation between Bogachev and the other members had to do with the fact that Bogachev was spying on countries that these members were from, including Ukraine. Moreover, Bogachev was the only one who managed the back ends of the botnets responsible for gathering the sought-after information.

These factors have led to speculation that Bogachev is somehow protected by Russia as long as he does not turn against the country. In its whitepaper released at the Black Hat conference, Fox IT stated that it “could speculate that due to this part of his work he had obtained a level of protection, and was able to get away with certain crimes as long as they were not committed against Russia. This of course remains speculation, but perhaps it is one of the reasons why he has as yet not been apprehended.”

Struggling Apple Pay Now Has Fewer Subscribers Than When It Launched

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Struggling Apple Pay Now Has Fewer Subscribers Than When It Launched

Apple’s recent creation of Apple Pay, which allows consumers to purchase items from merchants using their iPhone 6, has not been the big success the company had hoped for. In fact the numbers are awful: usage has declined from when the program was launched last year according to well connected sources. Analysts across the board are not surprised by the statistics, as several conditions have to be met by the consumer and the merchant before Apple Pay will work.

There are several reasons why Wall Street analysts believe that Apple Pay has not caught on. Lack of awareness of the program is a major factor. People simply do not know that their iPhone 6 (which is the only phone that can support Apple Pay) is capable of the service. Moreover, many people just plain forget to use the application when at the store checkout counter. Typically, people have to have their phones in their hand and remember to use Apple Pay while waiting in line. With so many other things on people’s minds, using Apple Pay is likely not high on the list. Consumers who choose not to use Apple Pay also have fears about the security of their personal information. Another major reason people are not using Apple Pay is due to the fact that they are simply unaware of how the application works.

In addition to all of those factors, there is still another fundamental reason why Apple Pay has not caught on: in order to use the application, people have to have an iPhone 6 and merchants have to have an NFC terminal in order to accept payment. As merchants are anxious to purchase technology that will keep up with evolving payment methods, they are reluctant to do so until a frontrunner really takes off. That has yet to happen, with rivals including Google and PayPal having similar competing services.

Analysts also surmise that Apple Pay was created to fix a problem that does not really exist.

While people often dislike the hassle of going to a store and looking for their desired merchandise, once they find what they are looking for and make their way to the register, they simply do not mind paying with their credit/debit cards. Jared Schrieber, CEO of InfoScout, explained that, “People don’t understand why it is they would go about using Apple Pay, they are fine with what they have. And they are not familiar with how they would use Apple Pay if they wanted to.”

Karen Webster, CEO of PYMNTS.com, may have summed up the lack of success with Apple Pay in the best terms: “ . . . if all [consumers] get to do at checkout at a few of the stores they shop is use a phone instead of a card that works everywhere, what’s the point? That’s what consumers are telling us based on these results.”

Netflix Is Beginning To Kill Big Media And Its Now Showing Up In Stock Prices

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Networks across the board have suffered sharp stock drops as television viewers appear more than ready to cut the cord on traditional cable and satellite services. It appears that the dominance of Netflix and other video streaming services is truly, as measured in financial statements and viewership numbers, changing the way people watch their favorite programs. As a result of the very fast and evolving developments in media technology continue, traditional television as we know it may soon disappear.

Presently, both subscriber and distribution profits have declined for all major television networks as more and more viewers choose not to pay for the increasing costs of traditional cable and satellite services. Not only are new viewers choosing not to purchase these services, existing viewers are cancelling their subscriptions. Moreover, networks are losing millions in ad revenue as television ratings continue to decline. The reason is simple: more viewers choose to watch their favorite programs on video streaming services, with Netflix in the lead and other outlets like Amazon Prime and Hulu slowly catching up.

Additionally, Facebook is consuming time of users everywhere, which also cuts into traditional television viewing. Anthony DiClemente, a media analyst at Nomura Securities stated that Netflix and facebook “are at a scale that we really haven’t seen historically in media in terms of the number of subscribers and the number of users.” Charles W. Ergen, chairman of the Dish Network echoed this statement stating that, “[Viewership] has totally, totally shifted to Netflix. Netflix is the most powerful content aggregator in the world today, and there’s nobody that’s even close.”

The stocks of Disney, Comcast, Time Warner, 21st Century Fox, CBS, Viacom, AMC Networks and Discovery Communications all dropped in value Wednesday. Many analysts commented that if Disney, the world’s largest entertainment company can be dinged, many smaller companies might not stand a chance.

Despite the sharp stock declines, Disney fiercely defends its television programming, which include its sports juggernaut channel, ESPN. Robert A. Iger, chief executive of Walt Disney Company told CNBC on Wednesday that the company and ESPN were doing just fine. “We are very bullish about our cable business, and we are very bullish about ESPN. The [cable package bundle that includes ESPN] is not going away. Not only is it not going away, it is going to continue to grow.”

Officials from other networks had similar statements regarding their programming. Despite their positive outlook, they cannot deny the ever-increasing dominance of Netflix and online video streaming.

Researcher Shows How Millions Of GM Vehicles Can Be Completely Taken Over By Hackers

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Researcher Shows How Millions Of GM Vehicles Can Be Completely Taken Over By Hackers

A security researcher has followed up on a promise made days ago by posting a video demonstrating how he can locate, unlock and start any GM vehicle through his phone. The video, posted on YouTube, is the latest security breach publicly showcased that involves millions of vehicles being driven on America’s roads. Rival Detroit carmaker Chrysler is now facing a class action lawsuit over a similar vulnerability disclosed two weeks ago.

Samy Kamkar, a self proclaimed hacker and whistleblower, posted a video on YouTube on Wednesday that shows him hacking into a GM vehicle using a unique device he calls Ownstar.

According to Kamkar, his device intercepts wireless communications between the Onstar cloud service and GM’s OnStar RemoteLink mobile application. Through intercepting these signals, Kamkar states that he was able to remotely track the GM vehicle, unlock it and start it.

OnStar is a subscription based, vehicle service that conveniently provides vehicle security, turn-by-turn navigation, hands free calling and remote diagnostics.

RemoteLink on the other hand, forms part of OnStar’s mobile application that allows GM vehicle users to unlock and start their cars from anywhere. The application can also turn the vehicle’s lights on, blow the horn and manage the vehicle’s WiFi hotspot.

However, as Kamkar has proven, the system has glaring security gaps. Kamkar’s video revelation is just the latest in what has been a persistent round of vehicle systems hacking by cyber security researchers. Hackers recently hacked into a Fiat Chrysler’s internal operating system due to a hole in its UConnect Infotainment system. Through the UConnect gap, the hackers were able to control vehicle functions that included acceleration, braking and igniting.

Fiat Chrysler has since recalled 1.4 million vehicles after the malignant system failure and found itself on the receiving end of a lawsuit just this morning.

The good news is that GM’s OnStar is only susceptible to hacking at close range, unlike Fiat Chrysler’s which could be done remotely. Kamkar said that should a user turn on his Onstar RemoteLink next to him, he would launch his OwnStar device and intercept the signals, allowing him to take control of the vehicle.

Kamkar added, “Fortunately, the issue lies in the mobile software and is not a problem with the vehicles themselves. GM and OnStar have so far been receptive to me and are already working quickly on a resolution to protect consumers.”

In a statement, GM said it was looking into the matter and that it takes issues of user safety “very seriously.”

Kamkar said he was in talks with GM to improve the vehicles’ security and that he would be revealing further details on the OwnStar device at the oncoming Def Con Hacking conference.

Vehicle security has come under close scrutiny lately after consistent hacks have been performed on vehicles. With the growing technological advances, further care is needed to safeguard vehicle users in the U.S. and raises important safety questions as millions of household devices become connected to the broader internet.

Pennsylvania Will Sentence People Based On Crimes They Have Yet To Commit

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Pennsylvania is on the precipice of becoming one of the first states to base criminal sentences not only on the crimes people have been convicted (at the present and in the past), but also on the likelihood that they may commit additional crimes in the future. As soon as 2016, Pennsylvania judges could receive risk assessments on a particular convicted criminal to help the court decide how long of a prison term- if any- should be ordered.

Risk assessments try to predict if a criminal will repeat offend or break the rules of parole or probation by using statistical probabilities based on factors such as sex, age, prior criminal record and employment history. Such assessments are now used at some point in the criminal justice process in almost every state. Up until now, however, assessments have never been used in the sentencing itself. Pennsylvania aims to do just that.

Obviously, very basic philosophical questions are raised when considering whether to sentence someone based on a crime he/she has not yet committed. However, Pennsylvania has managed to largely sidestep the issue. Mark Bergstrom, the executive director of Pennsylvania’s Sentencing Commission, says it is not up to him whether the state should use a risk assessment analysis when sentencing criminals, since the legislature has already voted to do so. Bergstrom’s job, he says, is to figure out what the assessment will look like and how it will be implemented.

Pennsylvania’s Sentencing Commission is trying to stave off inevitable lawsuits filed by defense attorneys by designing its risk assessment tool to use only information that comes from databases, as opposed to interviews. Both prosecutors and defense lawyers alike can see all of the information that goes into the assessment’s scoring system and will have an opportunity to verify its accuracy and to request changes if something is incorrect.

Even many supporters of risk assessment tools believe they can be problematic in practice. Official records can contain mistakes and many tools include subjective questions that require the person filling out the questionnaire to characterize the offender’s attitudes and feelings. Such a process can introduce error.

The central debate surrounding the use of risk assessment tools in the sentencing phase is what the goal of criminal justice reform actually is. Some supporters see reducing jail time as the primary goal; others want to focus on reducing repeat offenses; and others want to reduce and eliminate racial disparities. In theory, risk assessments can accomplish these goals. However, once they are used in the real world, it is unknown how well they will actually work.

Bergstrom knows he is walking a delicate line. The commission’s research has found that prior arrests are actually a better predictor of repeat offenses rather than prior convictions. However, using arrests would almost certainly draw constitutional challenges. Public defenders will likely point to the racial disparities in arrest rates and claim that it is illegal to presume someone is guilty just because of a prior arrest.

As of now, Bergstrom says that he is leaning towards using a risk assessment tool to identify criminals on the extreme ends of the spectrum: sentence no prison for low-risk individuals and flag high-risk individuals for extra treatment or prison time. While it would be a limited approach to utilizing the assessment tool, it still would not avoid the question of whether criminals should spend a longer time in jail simply because a statistical tool says they will behave a certain way in the future.

The Real Reason The DHS Opposes CISA Snooping Bill Has Nothing To Do With Your Privacy

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The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has joined the fray in publicly opposing a bill that will sweep away privacy in America’s online communities. But why would an agency widely considered to be leading the pack in the breach of America’s privacy rights oppose a bill that actually fosters federal agency intrusion? The devil is in the details.

In a seven page letter to the Senate through outspoken privacy Senator Al Franken, Homeland Security expressed its utter condemnation of the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act (CISA) for its privacy violations. DHS said the bill would “sweep away important privacy protections.”

The stand by DHS has led to widespread surprise among many people who are questioning the agency’s legitimacy in questioning a bill that offers immunity to private companies sharing Americans’ data with federal agencies. According to analysts, DHS is not at all concerned with Americans’ privacy rights but rather bureaucratic turf.

Initially, the DHS had sole authorization to access Americans’ online data for cyber security reasons. This included the right to hoard access to this information against other federal agencies and also the right to call dibs on the budgetary cyber security allocations.

With CISA, these rights have been taken away from the agency and handed over, on a silver platter, to other federal agencies including the NSA, an agency that has been clamoring for the devolvement of online information access rights to other security agencies.

CISA’s provisions will severely weaken DHS in addition to giving away a critical blank check on budgetary cyber security allocations.

In their seven page letter to the Senate, Homeland Security said, “The Administration has consistently maintained that a civilian entity, rather than a military or intelligence agency, should lead the sharing of cyber threat indicators and defensive measures with the private sector.”

The letter went on to conveniently state, “DHS recommends limiting the provision in the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act regarding authorization to share information, notwithstanding any other provision of law, to sharing through the DHS.”

Though DHS consistently states their opposition of the bill is all because of its privacy violations potential, they have failed to distance themselves from accusations that they are only interested in calling the shots when it comes to America’s online information.

Google Is Now Officially A Car Company

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In transition from its role as a tester of autonomous vehicles, Google’s subsidiary company Google Auto has announced that it will be building 100 prototype self-driving cars. In the past Google Auto has retrofitted Audi, Toyota, and Lexus vehicles for the testing of its autonomous driving technology, but the new prototypes be built from the ground up. They will each have VIN numbers and will be registered as lightweight low-speed vehicles capable of up to 25 mph.

The new vehicles look like a cross between a Smart car and a VW Beetle and will contain up to a 40 horsepower electric motor. What they will not contain are brakes, steering wheels, or accelerator pedals.

Google’s current fleet of autonomous vehicles has logged over 1 million miles of driving while being accompanied by a human operator. Currently, driverless cars must be accompanied by a human driver and are legal for testing in California, Nevada, Michigan, and Florida.

It is uncertain whether the decision to create the Google Auto subsidiary was for the purpose of selling vehicles to the public in the future, or to protect its parent company in the event of lawsuits caused by accidents involving its autonomous vehicles. Google’s fleet of 23 self-driving cars have been involved in 14 minor traffic accidents in recent years, though the company claims that the vehicles were either being manually operated, or the fault was with other drivers. Those who have observed the vehicles in operation notice that they are quite cautious compared to the average driver.

Plans for the release of a self-driving car to the public are estimated to fall on 2017 and beyond, but other automakers have taken notice. Mercedes, Audi, and BMW each recently purchased Nokia’s digital mapping technology “HERE,” the transactions totaling to $3.1 billion. If competing car makers want to have a chance, they have to be able to contend with Google’s more than 10 year experience in digital mapping.

Apple’s Stock Dip Just Erased $113 Billion Of Wealth

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Following the closing bell on Tuesday, Apple shares have continued their downward trend for the year, falling 3.2% to $114.64. With an enormous amount of outstanding shares, this fall represents a loss of $113 billion, or more than the total value of other corporate giants such as Boeing, at $98 billion, and drug maker GlaxoSmithKline, at $106 billion. Facing a saturated smartphone market in the U.S. and a difficult road ahead in the Chinese market, Apple may see a prolonged period of tepid performance.

With China accounting for one quarter of Apple’s revenue, and 60% of that revenue coming from iPhone sales, threats to this part of the business can have a drastic effect. As the Chinese economy is showing increasing signs of strain, consumers may be forced to opt for less expensive imitations of the popular brand. Reception for the new Apple Watch has also not been great indicating that prospects for future growth may be limited.

Downward pricing pressure on the company’s $600 phones comes from the fact that computing is increasingly done in the cloud, rather than on the device’s hardware, lessening the desire to pay for next-generation improvements in that area.

Sales for the company’s new iPhone 6 may get a boost in the future, considering that only 20% of Apple customers who own one of its older phones have chosen to upgrade to the 6 as of yet. This is coupled with the fact that usage of the company’s iOS operating system is growing in Europe. This may be a break even point for the company since Android use grew in the U.S over the same period.

One positive development for the company is found in its recent collaboration with IBM in app-development, as well as the news that IBM plans on switching the majority of its workforce over to Apple devices.

Perhaps the company’s recent interest in car making may turn things around. BMW has already been in talks with Apple about a possible collaboration, but nothing has been official. The software giant has also consulted with experts from Ford, GM, and Tesla. The stock has fallen 7% in the past month and remains below its high for the year of $134.54.

Even China Wants The Shadowy Trans Pacific Partnership To Be More Open

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Even China Wants The Shadowy Trans Pacific Partnership To Be More Open

China has expressed strong interest in ensuring the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) will be transparent and open, raising interesting questions about the Obama administration’s insistence on unprecedented secrecy. Although it has insisted that it will not be part of the partnership, the conservative country, only learning to open itself up to regional integration, now hopes the partnership will truly foster free trade and investment.

China’s spokesperson for the Ministry of Commerce, Shen Dangyan, recently stated that the Asian nation was closely looking at the TPP negotiations and analyzing the progress made.

China’s comments are in light of recent setbacks in finalizing a deal by the TPP member states. The member states on Friday failed to reach a final deal after four days of negotiations held in the U.S.

Danyang said China stated that it had noticed the failure and hopes the partnership remains open and transparent.

There are 12 Pacific Rim countries involved in the negotiations including: Brunei, Canada, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Mexico, Singapore, Peru, Australia, Chile, The United States and Vietnam.

China initially expressed objection to the partnership that will see these 12 Pacific Rim countries integrate their trade systems to provide a free trading block. So opposed was China to the U.S. led partnership that it fronted a different partnership, the Free Trade Area of the Asia Pacific (FTAAP) as a counter measure.

The bone of contention for the country was the TPP’s strict regulations and high standards, which were seen as surpassing the development stage of some of the developing countries in the member states. Through its alternative program, it said it would promote regional integration at terms more favourable to the region’s developing countries. Their attempts were not successful.

China would soon soften its stand on the partnership, though choosing to stay on the sidelines as an observer state. Director of Department of International Economic Cooperation, Zhang Jianping, said, “We are very happy to see that those TPP members can reach a consensus – because we think the TPP will be a possible approach for promoting Asia-Pacific economic integration.”

The TPP has been acknowledged by economic analysts as one of the most important trade agreements in the region. Through its successful signing, the partnership would enhance regional trade integration, spelling numerous benefits for industries operating in the member states. It would also have permanent spill over effects in world trade and investment.

Think They’re Different? Bush And Clinton Receive Significant Backing From Same Sources

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America’s mega rich are funding both Hillary Clinton and Jeb Bush despite the glaring contrasts between the two and the now polarizing race they’re in. Statistics from the Federal Election Commission have found that of the 60 mega rich Americans, as many as 17 have donated to both Clinton and Bush.

The first major financial firm to lead the double donation pack was Wall Street’s own Goldman Sachs. The company, as early as March, contributed to both candidates’ presidential campaign kitties, something analysts claimed was typical of the financial advisory firm.

Wall Street historian Charles Geisst said, “Goldman likes to play both sides of the fence and that’s especially true of a race like this where either of these two candidates — Bush and Clinton — could ultimately be helpful to them.”

Analysts have pegged Goldman’s double donation on dwindling fortunes in light of the recent economic depression. The company hopes that a Bush or Clinton presidency would turn things around for the company through proper economic policy.

Goldman has the company of a wide pool of fence sitters. A significant fraction of influential and wealthy Americans are also ambi-supporters. The group that includes racetrack owners, media barons, chicken magnates, bankers and hedge fund owners has opted to bank on the two leading presidential contenders. “Why support just Hillary Clinton or just Jeb Bush when you can hedge your bets and donate to both?” is a common refrain.

Senior counsel for the Campaign Legal Center, Larry Noble, said the practice was good business positioning. According to Larry , “Some of them will say they believe in the process, but the truth is you usually see them giving to people who will be most helpful to them if [the politician] gets into office. They are not necessarily Republicans or Democrats they are business people first.”

An individual example of a bet hedger is David Stephens, the CEO of Mortgage Bankers Association. The chief executive donated $2700 to Clinton and another $2250 to Bush. Stephens, an avid housing economist, has said his chief priority is the housing industry in the U.S., which has taken a beating in the wake of the recession.

Stephens said, “I want to focus on candidates who best represent issues of housing.”

Another notable double funder is former Citigroup chairman Richard Parsons, who has contributed $2700 to both Clinton’s and Bush’s campaigns. Parsons is currently the senior advisor at Providence Equity partners Inc.

Another curious supporter of both candidates is the Head of Barclays business in Russia, Robert Foresman. Foresman has been tied to a Russian state owned oil company that supplies gas to over a dozen European countries. Foresman has contributed $2700 to both Clinton and Bush.

Other ambi-supporters include: Susan Evans, James Borynack, Stacey Lane, Jeffrey Levine, Thomas Flexner, Sara Morgan, James Richman, Leon Wagner and Shawn Seipler.

The act of double funding has been in existence for years. This recent data only reveals just how prevalent the habit is and just how cautious the mega rich are in protecting their business investments.

Airbus Patent Reveals Plans For Next Generation Supersonic Plane

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Airbus Patent Reveals Plans For Next Generation Supersonic Plane

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (“PTO”) has granted a patent to planemaker Airbus, also known as the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company, for an “ultra-rapid air vehicle and related method for aerial locomotion” that is designed to fly over four times the speed of sound and approximately 12 ½ miles higher than conventional aircraft. The proposed speed of Mach 4.5, or 3,418 miles per hour, would be reached in a way that eliminates the problem of the sonic boom which gave the Concorde so much trouble. The “ultra-rapid” plane could complete a journey from New York to London in one hour, a flight that normally lasts seven to eight hours.

The proposed plane would reach its extreme speed by utilizing a combination of three sets of engines: turbojets for taxiing, takeoff and landing; a single rocket motor for its rapid acceleration; and ramjets for the plane’s high-altitude cruising. The rocket motor and turbojets are designed to fold into the body of the plane when not being used. When the rocket motor fires, it sends the aircraft almost vertical in order to accelerate to supersonic speeds. The plane also has flexible fins to allow for a greater aerodynamic design and it would run on hydrogen and liquid oxygen.

The problem of the sonic boom, restrictive Federal Aviation Administration regulations and the Arab oil embargo of the 1970s made the high speed Concorde program unfeasible. It ended up as a very small fleet that only flew with British Airways and Air France before finally shutting down in 2003. The new patent granted to Airbus states that the “noise has been the main limit, if not the only one, preventing the opening of lines other than transatlantic ones for the Concorde aircraft.”

Now, Airbus claims that the sonic boom problem is all but eliminated to a new design. Because the plane flies near vertically, like a rocket, while accelerating to supersonic speed, the only noise would be directly below the plane. The sound energy would dissipate in a circle around the plane, parallel to the ground, and therefore the shockwave would not hit the ground. The patent states that the noise “is confined to the vicinity of the airport and lasts for roughly less than one minute.”

Airbus files for hundreds of patents of year, many based on research and development concepts and ideas that are in the very beginning of conceptualization. Many of the patents do not develop into fully developed technology. This is likely the case of the ultra-rapid plane, and we may never see the Airbus supersonic take flight.

Alibaba Hires Ex-Goldman Banker To Wage Global War On Amazon

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Alibaba Hires Ex-Goldman Banker To Wage Global War On Amazon

Chinese ecommerce giant Alibaba has hired ex-Goldman Sachs vice-chairman Michael Evans as its new president, charging him with leading its global strategy. Evans is a board member of the company and has known Alibaba founder Jack Ma for over a decade. Looking to cater to Chinese consumers’ growing demand for imported goods, Evan’s will be in charge of building partnerships with brands and retailers from Europe, Asia, and the Americas.

Alibaba’s end goal is to become the world’s first truly global e-commerce company. Towards that end they will need to enable consumers to buy from foreign companies with less delay and cost than has been possible in the past. Currently, it can take two weeks for products to travel from a U.S. distributor to China.

Evan’s new role of luring the business of foreign brands to Alibaba’s online platform, may be difficult with the prevalence of counterfeit goods available through the e-commerce giant. French firm Kering is currently suing Alibaba in New York to that effect, stating that Alibaba’s practices constitute “racketeering.” Kering currently owns such brands as Gucci, Puma, and Yves Saint Laurent. cosmetics firm Sephora also recently snubbed Alibaba during the opening of its first online store in China by choosing to do business with its rival, JD.com.

Alibaba has come back saying that it has revamped the process for removing counterfeit goods from online marketplaces by reducing the time it takes to review complaints, in addition to using designated representatives for each brand that signs up for the program. Alibaba currently spends $16 million a year to combat counterfeit items on its online markets.

Following its record-breaking IPO in New York last year of $25 billion, the company’s stock has had a lackluster year. With an experienced Wall Street executive such as Evans, Alibaba may be able to woo back investors that may be reconsidering. Evans’s prior experience includes 20 years at Goldman where he served as Chairman of their Asian division and head of Global Growth Markets. He will continue to serve on Alibaba’s management board.

Scientific Breakthrough Allows Farming Of Rare Sea Creature Worth More Than Gold

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Scientific Breakthrough Allows Farming Of Rare Sea Creature Worth More Than Gold

Breakthrough Chinese research has produced a way to genetically modify white sea cucumbers, one of the most rare and expensive marine animals, which will allow the fuckle animals to be grown in marine ponds. The advancement will make the currently rare and expensive delicacy a common delight.

Sea cucumbers are tiny sea creatures found at the bottom of the sea that have a leathery exterior and a distinct cylindrical appearance. They get their name because they resemble common cucumbers.

White sea cucumbers are a special breed of the marine animals. The white creatures have been a delicacy in China for thousands of years but cannot be found on dinner tables across the country very often because they are rare. So much so that only one can be found for every 200,000 sea cucumbers. The creatures are not able to camouflage themselves and thus become an easy prey for predators. Making them even more rare is the fact their white gene is not passed on to their offspring.

This rarity makes the sea creatures worth more than gold thanks to hungry Chinese buyers. Just 200 grams of the creatures sell for more than $16000, twice the value of a 200 gram gold bar.

Some people believe the white sea cucumbers have medicinal value and can cure diseases such as cancer.

But the high price tag, medical values and dining demand were not the reasons for scientists’ genetic modification of the animal. According to Yang Hongsheng, lead scientist and deputy Director of the Chinese Academy of Sciences Institute of Oceanology, “They may hold the key to solving many mysteries of marine biology.”

The creatures exhibit quite a number of unusual, almost bizarre traits: they hibernate in the summer, they can eject and regenerate their intestines and when they die, they release a chemical that dissolves their bodies, leaving behind no trace. This form of death was not found in any other known species.

Scientists who were amazed by the creatures’ properties completed their first genetic map for the marine cucumbers, modified the ‘albinism’ gene in the white cucumbers and were able to make over 150 million little white sea cucumbers.

Scientists hope the research will give more insight into the sea cucumber’s unusual traits.

Genetic modification of organisms is a widespread practice in today’s world. Through the practice, scientists are able to create new organisms and study their habits and possibly apply their findings to making life on earth easier for humans.

Citigroup Being Investigated Over Shady Consumer Lending Practices

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New reports have emerged that Citigroup Inc. is under investigation by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) regarding its student loan servicing practices. Although Citigroup did not specifically name the agency conducting the investigation, it is likely that the CFPB is leading the charge as it recently investigated Discover for similar practices. If regulators find that Citigroup conducted unlawful student loan collection practices, it could be severely penalized.

Citigroup filed a report with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) stating that federal regulators have begun an investigation into the way it conducts its student loan servicing. Citigroup’s filing states that it is cooperating fully with regulators and points out that similar loan servicing practices have been the focus of an enforcement action against “at least one other” financial institution in the recent past. The filing further states that, “In light of that action and the current regulatory focus on student loans, regulators may order that Citibank, N.A. remediate customers and/or impose penalties or other relief.”

Citigroup sold off most of its student loan accounts in September 2010. It sold its majority holding in Student Loan Corp. to Discover in a deal that offloaded $4.2 billion in private loans and $3.4 billion in securitized loans. Student Loan Corp then agreed to sell $28 billion of federal student loan accounts and related assets to Sallie Mae. Despite Citigroup’s dumping of the majority of its student loan accounts, the company still kept about $8.7 billion of both private and federal loans and planned to gradually sell those over time.

The specific loan servicing practices under investigation, at least with respect to the Discover case, have to do with lenders overstating minimum payments that a borrower must repay, confusing borrowers with respect to collections, failure to notify borrowers of their rights and general communications between lenders and borrowers. Discover was also dinged for contacting borrowers early in the morning and late at night regarding collection matters. Discover was ordered to pay $18.5 million in refunds and other fines.

The federal government has recognized that federal student loan debt, which currently totals more than $1.36 trillion, is increasingly stressful and troublesome for young people. These young adults, generally fresh out of college, are particularly vulnerable to unscrupulous loan servicing practices. In response to ever increasing student debt and other forms of debt, the government established the CFPB four years ago in an effort to increase oversight of consumer financial products.

Chrysler Facing Class Action Lawsuit Over Vehicle Hacking

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Chrysler is facing a lawsuit by vehicle owners that were affected by the 1.4 million vehicle recall last month, the largest recall in U.S. history. The recall was the result of a security flaw in the Uconnect dashboard computer that was exposed in WIRED magazine. Security researchers Chris Valasek and Charlie Miller were able to hack into the car’s computer and control the steering, braking, and transmission. The plaintiffs in the case, Brian Flynn and George and Kelly Brown, are accusing Chrysler of fraud, negligence, unjust enrichment, and breach of warranty, but the number of plaintiffs could top one million if the case is certified as a class action.

The plaintiffs’ case rests partly on the fact that Chrysler was alerted to the findings concerning the security flaw in early 2014. Although the most recent bug was remedied with the release of a software update by Chrysler, the fact remains that there is a physical connection between the internet-enabled Uconnect system, and the vehicle’s drivetrain functions. This vulnerability cannot be addressed by any number of software updates.

The plaintiff’s attorney, Michael Gras stated that the suit also seeks an injunction that would force Chrysler to address the architectural issue, “There is no good reason for the same vehicle system that runs Pandora to have the capability to talk to the brakes. This is the real defect with these vehicles.”

Chrysler is among other automakers who have been the target of cybersecurity-related class action suits, including GM, Ford, and Toyota. Hacking research by Valasek and Miller was also partly involved in those suits.

Harman International Industries Inc, which supplies software for Chyrysler’s Uconnect, as well as other manufacturers, stated that the hacking risk was isolated to that company. Chrysler collaborated with Harman in the release of its software patch for the recent security flaw.

Microsoft Makes Huge Push Into Competitive eSports

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Microsoft Makes Huge Push Into Competitive eSports

In a major play by Microsoft to keep up with and hopefully dominate the world of competitive video games and video game consoles, it has announced that it will give away a total of $1 million in prize money in its upcoming Halo competition. The competition will follow the October 27th release of Halo 5: Guardians, which is expected to be one of the videogame industry’s biggest sellers this holiday season. As the world of competitive video games, or e-sports as it known in the biz, continues to boom, Microsoft is finally focusing its attention in that direction.

When Halo was originally released, it was the choice videogame of players everywhere. However, when Halo 4 came out in 2012, many professional gamers did not like the new version of the game, claiming it was “poorly balanced” and very difficult to play. Major League Gaming, an e-sports company that brought a higher standard of organization and professionalism to game tournaments dropped Halo from its competitive tournaments following its 2012 season. Instead, it teamed up Activision to feature Call of Duty, a game attracting more buzz.

In response to competition by Call of Duty and Play Station 4, Microsoft hopes the release of Halo 5 will lead to increased sales of the console that plays the game, the XBox One.

The growing interest from companies in e-sports results from the sheer amount of money invested in the industry. There is an estimated 113 million e-sports fans worldwide. Many of these fans are considered the most loyal and committed gamers anywhere, watching the games online, playing the games, and paying large amounts of money for components that will enhance their gaming experience. To them, e-sports competitors are major celebrities. Moreover, competitions held in arenas across the globe attract hundreds of thousands of players and spectators. Hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue are generated from sales of the games, consoles and accessories. Additionally, revenue from ticket sales to e-sports competitions and corporate sponsorships is expected to grow by 30% to greater than $250 million this year, according to Newzoo, a research firm that analyzes the competitive video game market.

Frank O’Connor, the franchise development director for Halo stated that, “With Halo 5, [Microsoft] is getting back what the core of the game is.” With new technical and financial support for e-sports, including better prize money and clearer rules, professional Halo players say it will help increase Halo competition.

Leaked Price List Shows ISIS Running A Thriving Slave Market

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Leaked Price List Shows ISIS Running A Thriving Slave Market

Senior UN official, Zainab Bangura, claims Islamic State in Iraq as well as the Levant (ISIS) has such a trade in slaves that it is printing a pamphlet price list for women and children in capture. This ‘for-sale’ pamphlet has been in circulation for weeks now, enhancing the group’s growing appeal to both Jihadi fighters and wealthy sex traffickers.

Bangura, while visiting Iraq in late spring, said she was handed a reprint of an Islamic State supported pamphlet which incorporated the price list of women and children. The pamphlet was printed proof of a robust slave trading system, including children as infantile as one years old warranting the highest price.

“One girl can be sold and bought by five or six different men,” she said last week in an interview in New York. “The girls get peddled like barrels of petrol.” What matters in terms of price for ISIS fighters is age and sex of persons being bought and sold. Bangura reported prices in Dinars, Iraq’s national currency, for boys as well as girls ranging from ages 1 to 9 equivalent to roughly $165, whereas prices for teen girls are $124 and range even less less for women over the age of 20.

Rich ‘outsiders’ feed the slave business financially after the militia’s top men get first pick at those for ‘sale’, Bangura said. Slaves who remain are then offered to the ISIS fighters in a human bartering system for the pamphlets listed prices.

ISIS range of influence spans roughly 80,000 square miles of Iraq and Syria. With a combination of a traditional military and a well-oiled organized state, former Sierra Leone foreign prime minister Bangura, warns of ISIS ‘uniqueness’ from other insurgent groups.

“It’s not an ordinary rebel group,” Bangura said. “When you dismiss them as such, then you are using the tools you are used to. This is different.”

The truth is, the Islamic State has broken all the known rules officials and scholars find to be true for insurgents. Professor at James Madison University, Kerry Crawford said that by making public the violations committed, the press is actually working to the group’s advantage.

Sexual abuse in conflict proves to have a long history, noted Crawford. From the ‘rape camps’ in 1990’s in previously known Yugoslavia, sexual violence is just another avenue for fear as well as a bond shared amongst insurgents.

With the driving force of the Islamic State’s conquest being ‘God’s work’, religious communities outside of Sunni Muslims are targeted and continuously enslaved. This global recruiting has shocked international communities and even the UN because of the distinct and unfathomable practices in comparison to smaller community militias from other nations.

Claiming the sale of women as ‘marriages’ in print, Bangura argues it’s much more than that. “They have a machinery, they have a program,” she said. “They have a manual on how you treat these women. They have a price list.”

Poll Finds Widespread Dissatisfaction With Obamacare

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Satisfaction rates for Obamacare customers are not reaching the highs that were hoped when the signature legislation passed. Just 30 percent of customers are satisfied with the coverage they are receiving, according to research firm Deloitte. In addition, only one quarter were confident in their ability to receive care when they needed, dissatisfaction with costs was also a complaint.

Reasons for the dissatisfaction are not clear yet, but the Obamacare website has dealt with poor functionality in addition to its problematic rollout.

The recent poll contradicts findings from other polling that showed higher levels of satisfaction, such as the Kaiser Family Foundation poll that found 75 percent of people rating their coverage as “good.”

More than 3,800 adults were questioned in the recent poll, including 406 exchange enrollees. More than half rated their opinion as “somewhat satisfied,” with 14 percent stating they were dissatisfied. Comparison to Medicaid, Medicare, or employer provided insurance was unfavorable, with those respondents having dissatisfaction ratings in the single digits.

One positive outcome seems to be taking hold as Obamacare customers twice as likely to see primary care doctors as those who were uninsured, potentially leading to an overall increase in the health of Americans.

Officially named the Affordable Care Act, the legislation has provided an insurance marketplace for those too wealthy to qualify for Medicaid, as well as providing enrollees with tax credits in most cases.

Frequently challenged by the Republican party through mostly rhetoric, Supreme Court rulings regarding the law have bolstered its position, the most recent being a June ruling that tax credits can be paid nationwide.

As insurers calculate the true economics of the healthcare law, it remains to be seen whether rising healthcare spending will start to slow, one of the primary claims made by those advocating for the law’s passage. Currently, healthcare spending makes up one fifth of consumer spending.

Idaho Strikes Down Controversial ‘Ag-Gag’ Law

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Idaho Strikes Down Controversial ‘Ag-Gag’ Law

In a major victory for animal welfare activists and proponents of free speech alike, an Idaho federal judge ruled that Idaho’s “ag-gag” law is unconstitutional. Ag-gag laws prohibit the undercover filming of agricultural operations. In Idaho, the ag-gag law provides that people caught surreptitiously videotaping agricultural operations face up to one year in jail and a $5,000 fine. Conversely, an animal cruelty conviction, first offense, is punishable by up to only six months in jail with a $5,000 fine. As of now, Idaho attorneys have not yet decided if they are going to appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in San Francisco.

Activists consider the ruling the first step in hopefully successfully challenging the ag-gag laws which are on the books in seven other states. Attorney Justin Marceau, who represented the Animal Legal Defense Fund, stated that “Ag-gag laws violate the First Amendment and Equal Protection Clause. This means that these laws all over the country are in real danger.”

Idaho’s ag-gag law was instituted in 2014 after videos showing animal cruelty at the Bettencourt Dairy were aired to the public. The videos were taken by animal welfare group Mercy For Animals and were very disturbing and graphic, showing dairy workers punching, kicking and otherwise abusing cows. In response, the state’s $2.5 billion dairy industry complained that the videos unfairly hurt their business. Idaho Governor Butch Otter then signed an ag-gag law, which was heavily influenced by the dairy industry. The Idaho Dairymen’s Association lobbyists even helped to draft the bill and testified before the state legislature.

Supporters of the law, including the dairy industry, argued in court that the secret videos were highly edited and unfairly damaged their reputation. The court was unconvinced. It determined that food and worker safety are matters of public concern, not just private matters.

In his ruling, U.S. District Court Judge B. Lynn Winmill found the ag-gag law unconstitutional for criminalizing certain speech. He stated that, “Although the State may not agree with the message certain groups seek to convey about Idaho’s agricultural production facilities, such as releasing secretly recorded videos of animal abuse to the Internet and calling for boycotts, it cannot deny such groups equal protection of the laws in their exercise of their right to free speech.”

Winmill further stated that, “Audio and visual evidence is a uniquely persuasive means of conveying a message, and it can vindicate an undercover investigator or whistleblower who is otherwise disbelieved or ignored. Prohibiting undercover investigators or whistleblowers from recording an agricultural facility’s operations inevitably suppresses a key type of speech because it limits the information that might later published or broadcast.”

Maybe most importantly, Judge Winmill noted that, “The remedy for misleading speech, or speech we do not like, is more speech, not enforced silence.”

Healthy Nurse Being Euthanized Raises Fresh Questions About Right To Die

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A perfectly healthy British nurse ended her life abruptly through medically assisted suicide because she was afraid of ageing and lacking the physical capacity to kill herself, sparking debate on the ethics and legality of assisted suicide. The retired nurse had cared for the elderly for the most part of her final years and simply decided she no longer wished to live.

Gill Pharoah, a 75-year-old healthy Briton who was still active and lacked any debilitative illnesses, died by lethal injection on July 21 in a Swiss clinic.

Pharoah was accompanied from her home in Britain to the clinic by her partner for many years, John Southall, 70. Pharoah said she wanted to do the procedure because she was terrified of suffering a stroke and becoming a liability as her friend had done.

Southall reported that the two went to Switzerland where they met a doctor in a hotel. The doctor proceeded to give them a doctor’s interview and when that was over, they went out for dinner together. The next morning, Pharoah reported to the clinic where she was given the fatal injection. Southall reported that even after the injection, Pharoah was sober enough to joke with the doctor.

In an interview with Sunday Times before her death, Pharoah had said, “I have looked after people who are old, on and off, all my life. I have always said, ‘I am not getting old. I do not think old age is fun.’ so many friends with partners who, plainly, are a liability. I know you shouldn’t say that but I have this mental picture in my head of all you need to do, at my age, is break a hip and you are likely to go very much downhill from that.”

The issue of self assisted suicide has raised international debate for a long time. In Switzerland, where euthanasia is legal, a study in 2014 by Zurich University revealed that between 2008 and 2012, 611 people had travelled to the country to take the injection.

In the U.S., the practice is gaining traction albeit amidst widespread opposition. Oregon just recently legalized physician-assisted suicide. In the state of Washington, Montana physician assisted suicide is perfectly legal. In May 20, 2013 in Vermont, doctor prescribed suicide was declared legal as a “medical treatment.”

Opposition for the treatment has been strong. The U.S. Supreme Court in Washington V. Glucksberg declared there was no federal constitutional right to assisted suicide. In the states of California, Maine and Michigan, where the right has gone to the ballot in a referendum, it was rejected overwhelmingly.

Pharoah’s death by assisted suicide is the latest reported incident of practiced euthanasia. Pharoah leaves behind her partner and two kids.

Euthanasia has been condemned because it is plain suicide. The U.S. constitution stands for the right to life thereby precluding anyone from taking life, including their own. However that seemingly simple stance is increasingly being questioned by a more clinical and pragmatic attitude surrounding ageing and death.

Sex Offender Laws Failing Teens In The Age Of Online Dating

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At age 19, Indiana teen Zach Anderson has a rough future ahead of him. His plight is due to unknowingly sleeping with a 14 year old Michigan girl he met online. Anderson’s troubles began when he visited the popular dating website, “Hot or Not.” In December, he began flirting with a girl and asked how old she was. She told Anderson that she was 17. The age of consent in Michigan is 16. However, in reality, the girl was 14.

After meeting online, Anderson suggested that the girl take revealing pictures of herself to send to him. After two days, Anderson drove 20 miles, just across the Michigan-Indiana border, and picked the girl up near her home. They bought condoms and drove to a nearby church playground where they had sex. Meanwhile, the girl’s mother panicked because the girl was late and had not yet taken her evening epilepsy medicine. While the girl did not have a phone, she did tell her older sister that she was meeting Anderson for a tryst. The mother called 911; a sheriff’s deputy arrived; and the girl arrived soon thereafter.

While the ordeal almost ended right there and then, the deputy spotted the username, “Zach Guy,” on the girl’s computer. As the Berrien County Sheriff’s Office was looking into several cases where someone named Zach was inappropriately contacting underage girls, the deputy probed further. The investigation determined that Anderson was completely unrelated to the other cases, but the damage was done. He was charged with a misdemeanor charge of criminal sexual conduct.

The fact that the girl lied about her age is not a defense under current sex offender laws. Despite the pleas of the girl and her mother to be lenient of Anderson, Judge Dennis Wiley rejected their arguments and handed Anderson a 90-day jail sentence, five years probation and he was placed on the sex offenders registry lists in both Indiana and Michigan for the next 25 years. His probation imposed 61 restrictions upon Anderson, including but not limited to an 8:00 P.M. curfew, no Internet access for five years and he cannot go to restaurants that serve alcohol.

While Anderson’s lawyers claimed that Anderson was a victim of the current culture and that the dating websites made it hard to determine the true age of someone, the judge refuted the lawyer’s argument and stated that the same culture allows for unacceptable behavior. In his decision, he stated that “[Anderson] went online, to use a fisherman’s expression, trolling for women to meet and have sex with . . . That seems to be part of our culture now – meet, hook up, have sex, sayonara. Totally inappropriate behavior. There is excuse for this whatsoever.”

Despite Anderson’s actions, he has drawn support from people across the nation that do not feel his actions constitute his inclusion on a sex offender registry. They claim that the registry is supposed to focus on true sex offenders who must be watched vigilantly and not supposed to be used to label teenagers who have made the mistake of having sex with younger girls. They propose that the one-size-fits-all structure of the registry should be abolished. An online petition requesting that Anderson’s judge reconsider his order has received over 156,000 signatures and several newspapers have published editorials that support Anderson.

Despite the pleas of Anderson’s supporters, it is unlikely that sex offender registries will change anytime soon. Even though Former Michigan Judge William Buhl believes that “If we caught every teenager that violated our current law, we’d lock up 30 or 40 percent of the high school. We’re kidding ourselves,” he predicts that changes to state sex offender registries will not soon occur because few lawmakers would be willing to support a provision that lessens the seriousness and severity of sex crime laws.

Uber Offering Hong Kong Helicopter Service As It Battles With Didi Kuaidi For Control Of China

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In its latest effort to promote and expand its business world wide, Uber is offering helicopter rides in Hong Kong from noon until 5:00 P.M. on August 8th for the “reasonable” fare of only $232. The 15-minute tour of Hong Kong Island is available on a first-come, first-served basis. Obviously, Uber cars will transport the travellers from their homes to the Peninsula Hotel, where the Helliservices Aviation helicopters will be waiting. Uber has partnered with both Helliserves and carmaker Infinity for the promotion.

The Hong Kong venture follows Uber’s helicopter promotion in mainland China, where customers could reserve a 30-minute flight for $490. With respect to the rest of the world, Uber offered its first helicopter service a year ago when it combined forces with Blade, an application providing helicopter transport from New York City to the Hamptons and Montauk. Uber also provides helicopter service in the South African city of Cape Town, the Australian city of Melbourne and Los Angeles.

In China, Uber is in a fierce battle with homegrown entrepreneur, Didi Kuaidi, to gain ride-hailing dominance. While Uber has a very strong presence in the country, Didi Kuaidi has expanded so much that Uber is currently in second place. China’s two top ride-hailing companies, Didi Dache and Kuaidi Dache, merged in February, completing a $6 billion deal. Didi Kuaidi is valued at about $15 billion while Uber’s present value is about $50 billion.

Despite Uber’s higher valuation, Didi Kuaidi chief executive Cheng Wei told shareholders that the company is processing three million ride requests every day, or 80% of the market. Uber officials claim that it is handling greater than one million rides per day in China, or 50% of the market. Although the numbers do not exactly jive, it is clear that Didi Kuaidi is pointing out to Uber that the ride-hailing industry is bigger than expected and that Didi Kuaidi has all of the market not occupied by Uber.

Study Finds Battery Level Can Be Used To Track Web Surfers

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A new study by conducted by European privacy and security experts has shown that a little known feature of the HTML5 specification, called the battery status API (application programming interface), can be used to track the web browsing habits of people. The battery status API is currently supported in the Chrome, Opera and Firefox web browsers and was originally developed to help websites conserve users’ energy. However, there are “side effects” of the API. The study is published in a paper entitled, “The Leaking Battery: A Privacy Analysis of The HTML5 Battery Status API,” and was reported by The Guardian earlier this week.

The highly technical study concludes “that websites can discover the capacity of users’ batteries by exploiting the high precision readouts provided by Firefox on Linux. The capacity of the battery, as well as its level, expose a fingerprintable surface that can be used to track web users in short time intervals. [Their] analysis shows that the risk is much higher for old or used batteries with reduced capacities, as the battery capacity may potentially serve as a tracking identifier.”

Basically, the API can determine the remaining capacity of a website user’s battery, in addition to its current charge level and the amount of time it will take to run out of juice. When these values are combined, a unique identifier is created which can be used to track a user’s browsing activity.

The researchers point out another worrying fact regarding battery status API. As it stands now, websites do not need to ask users’ permission to discover their battery life as “the information disclosed has minimal impact on privacy or fingerprinting, and therefore is exposed without permission grants.” The researchers state this “allows website and third-party scripts to access the battery information transparently – without users’ awareness.”

In addition to the findings reached in the study, the authors propose a solution to the problem. They suggest that the readings gathered by the battery status API be rounded rather than be exact values. This would apparently not interfere with the API’s functionality, but would eliminate the problem of website tracking. The authors additionally propose that permission to use the API should be sought from users, rather than making it automatic. This would increase transparency surrounding these developing technologies.

New CISA Legislation Is So Flawed Even Homeland Security Is Warning Of Privacy Invasion

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The proposed Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act (“CISA”) has supporters and opponents on both sides of the political aisle. However, in a new wrinkle, the Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”), an agency not generally concerned with privacy protection, has come out against the proposed legislation as written. In a letter to Minnesota democrat Senator Al Franken, the DHS has outlined its perceived problems with the CISA, stating that the bill is riddled with flaws and “could sweep away important privacy protections.”

One of the main points of contention that the DHS has with the CISA is the proposed means of private companies communicating customers’ private data to several, various government agencies. While the DHS presumably does not have an issue with customers handing over such data, it does have a serious problem with companies handing it over to other agencies rather than delivering it directly to the DHS.

As it stands now, the DHS is responsible for obtaining, handling and then distributing this type of information. Alejandro N. Mayorkas, deputy secretary of the DHS, stated in his letter to Franken that distributing cyberthreat information to multiple agencies instead of initially providing it to the DHS will “limit the ability of DHS to connect the dots and proactively recognize emerging risks and help private and public organizations implement effective mitigations to reduce the likelihood of damaging incidents.” He further stated that information sharing directly to various agencies would mean that the “inefficiency of any information sharing program will markedly increase; developing a single, comprehensive picture of the range of cyber threats faced daily will become more difficult.”

Another issue that the DHS has with the proposed legislation involves restrictions in sharing the collected private information. Specifically, there is a provision in the bill that would permit companies to label information provided to the government as “proprietary.” This restrictive label could be read to limit the DHS’s ability to disseminate the information to other non-federal entities such as state and local law enforcement.

Privacy advocates and some technology firms believe CISA, as currently drafted, will make it easier for the federal government to obtain both corporate and personal information that has very little to do with cybersecurity. In response to these concerns, Republican Senator Richard Burr and Democrat Senator Dianne Feinstein proposed on Monday a bundle of changes that would put express limits on the bill, including the prevention of the government from using the information provided from companies to prosecute felonies among other things. Feinstein stated that, “It takes out any subsidiary use of the data- it means you can’t use it for violent crime or anything else. You can only use it strictly for cybersecurity purposes.” Burr pointed out that information sharing by companies is voluntary, a very important point for many companies hesitant to participate.

As many senators wish to debate the CISA, there is little time to do so as the summer recess begins later this week. Once Congress resumes their duties in September, several other, more immediate issues will be on its agenda, including government funding legislation and the Iran nuclear deal. It is likely that discussion and voting on the CISA will get pushed back.

Former UBS Trader Given 14 Year Sentence For Manipulating Interest Rates

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Former UBS trader Tom Hayes has been found guilty of rigging global interest rates by a London court. The 35-year-old has been sentenced to jail in the first ever trial of an individual for Libor rate fraud.

After a trial that lasted nine weeks, a jury made up of seven men and five women held seven day negotiations before pronouncing Hayes guilty of eight counts of fraud. The former trader was sentenced to nine and a half years for fraud committed during his time in UBS and four and a half years for fraud during his time at City. The two sentences will run concurrently. Hayes will have to serve seven years before being eligible for parole.

Hayes is the first individual to be sentenced for the manipulation of the London Interbank Offered Rates (Libor). The rate is used by banks to set the prices for financial products worth over $450 trillion. Reports indicate a tiny manipulation of the rate can result in handsome profits for fraudsters.

The sentence marks a new era in investigations into Libor rates manipulation, which have led to 21 people being formally charged and up to $9 billion in regulatory settlements.

During the sentencing, presiding Justice Jeremy Cooke said a stern message had to be sent to the world on dishonest financial conduct. “Probity and honesty are essential as is trust … The Libor activities of which you took part puts all that in jeopardy.”

Cooke proceeded to call Hooke a “center and hub” of manipulation. He said, “You succumbed to temptation because you could… To gain status, seniority and remuneration.”

During the reading of the verdict, Hayes repeatedly shook his head and stole a few glances toward his wife, mother and relatives. When the sentence was being read, he had his face buried deep in his hands.

Britain’s Serious Fraud Office alleged that Hayes had set up a long network of traders and brokers from 10 leading financial institutions, helping him rig for profits.

Hayes initially pled guilty to the charges levelled against him in December 2012. However, in December 2013, he changed his legal team and leaded not guilty, saying he had only pleaded guilty to avoid being extradited to the U.S. where he faces different fraud charges.

Citigroup said it has no comment on the verdicts while UBS said it was not a party to them.

Hayes’ sentencing will mark an age of stricter controls over Libor rate manipulations which have been growing in recent years to unprecedented levels, destroying proper economic policy for the benefit of a greedy few.

Second American Wanted In Zimbabwe For Illegal Trophy Hunting

Tiffany
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Second American Wanted In Zimbabwe For Illegal Trophy Hunting

A second American doctor has been accused of illegally hunting and killing lions in Zimbabwe. The South African country is now seeking the extradition of the two U.S. citizens for illegal poaching, a vice that is threatening to endanger lions in Africa.

Jan Casimir Seski from Murrysville, Pennsylvania, shot a lion in Zimbabwe, near Hwange National Park. According to a statement from Zimbabwe’s National Park and Wildlife Management Authority, the land was not demarcated as a hunting ground, making the kill illegal.

Seski managed to leave the country before he was formally charged for the incident. Zimbabwe is now requesting the extradition of Seski by the, U.S. government, to stand trial for illegal hunting.

Seski is the director at the Center for Bloodless Medicine and Surgery at the Allegheny General Hospital in Pittsburgh. The gynocological oncologist has been described as an avid game hunter by bow-hunting sites and safari outfitters. So much so that his pictures appear in several game hunting sites alongside his many kills that include hippos, elephants, antelopes, ostriches and impalas.

Another U.S. citizen is also being sought by Zimbabwean authorities for illegal hunting. Walter James Palmer, a Minnesota dentist, is accused of killing “Cecil”, a popular lion in the south African country. Palmer allegedly slayed the animal after luring it out of Hwange Park, according to infuriated conservationists.

Palmer too was not authorized to make the kill.

In Zimbabwe, before hunters go on hunting expeditions, they are legally required to first seek the mandate of the country’s wildlife authority.

Zimbabwe Parks spokeswoman Caroline Washaya Moyo said, “When hunters come into the country they fill a document stating their personal details, the amount they have paid for the hunt, the number of animals to be hunted, the species to be hunted and the area and period where that hunt is supposed to take place. The American conducted his hunt in an area where lion hunting is outlawed. The landowner who helped him with the hunt also did not have a have a quota for lion hunting.”

There were two other illegal hunts reported in Zimbabwe last year. Seski’s kill is the most recent unauthorised hunt.

On the Facebook page of Melorani Safaris, an image was posted of Seski posing next to a dead antelope he had hunted down in 2012. The image has since been removed.

Another image, in Alaska Bowhunting Supply, shows the doctor posing next to the body of a dead elephant. The image even shares horrific details of the elephant’s brutal killing.

“The arrow was shot quartering into the elephant, penetrated a rib and one lung, lacerated the heart and liver, and was recovered in the gut. The elephant went a short distance and died.”

The U.S. government has issued a statement saying that it is investigating the two incidents and will take swift action should the two be found culpable. It remains to be seen whether the U.S. government will extradite two of its citizens, even for horrendous crimes such as illegal killing of wildlife.

Indian Rainforest Glows Spectacular Shade Of Green Thanks To Tiny Mushrooms

Tiffany
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Indian Rainforest Glows Spectacular Shade Of Green Thanks To Tiny Mushrooms

India is home to a highly popular tourist destination boasting one of the world’s rarest natural phenomena: glowing rainforests. In the dark, the plush rainforest comes to life with fields of glowing green flora.

When the sun sets, deep in the forests of the Western Ghats, the trees and the ground emit a rare green glow that leaves tourists spellbound. The conspicuous green glowing trees and ground have been photographed by numerous tourists, wondering how the rare phenomenon occurs.

Scientists have attributed the fascinating spectacle to the forest’s growing bioluminescent fungus. During the monsoon season, which lasts from June through October, rainfall soaks the bioluminescent fungus growing on rotting stems, bark and twigs on the forest floor. This offers the fungus the right mix of humidity and moisture to thrive, resulting in the fields of glowing green.

Other parts of the world have been found to host handfuls of the bioluminescent fungus, though not widespread, making the phenomenon very tough to spot and the forests of Western Ghats truly unique.

While glowing marine organisms and bioluminescent waters are common, terrestrial bioluminescence is a far less reported phenomenon. There are only 70 known species of bioluminescent fungi, out of nearly 100,000 species of the fungus.

The glowing fungus in the Western Ghats belong to the Mycena genus, tiny mushrooms existing in groups that look like moss.

The earliest known report on bioluminescence was made by Pliny the Elder, a known Roman naturalist, early in the 1st century. Some Scandinavian tribes were reported to having used the fluorescent fungus to mark their routes and paths during long distance travel.

The Western Ghats has been declared a Unesco World Heritage Site and also one of only eight World biodiversity hotspots. Stretching close to 995 miles across India’s west coast, the Ghats, as they are popularly known, are home to the largest recorded population of Asian elephants, the rare black panther, tigers and leopards alike.

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