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Israeli Spy Jon Pollard To Be Released To Calm U.S., Israeli Tensions

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Israeli Spy Jon Pollard To Be Released To Calm U.S., Israeli Tensions

American spy Jonathan Pollard, jailed in 1987 for releasing classified security information to Israel, will finally be released according to sources on Tuesday. He would be granted parole on November 1 of this year, after 30 years behind bars.

Pollard was jailed for life in 1987 for espionage, the details of which included passing classified information to Israeli authorities. His release has been the subject of long negotiations between the U.S. and Israel and was even used by the U.S. as a dangling carrot during last year’s Israel – Palestine talks to end the purge on Gaza.

Analysts have suggested his release was meant to smooth U.S. – Israel relations after the signing of the Iran nuclear deal. Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has publicly criticized the deal, even claiming that Iran would not scale down on its nuclear operations. The release of Pollard, a subject of successive regime talks between the U.S. and Israel, has been viewed as an attempt to calm flaring Israeli tempers.

Officials have refuted such claims, saying that he was a candidate for parole after serving 30 years of his sentence. His lawyers reiterated the position saying, “The decision is not connected to recent developments in the Middle East.”

They added that Pollard was “looking forward to being reunited with his beloved wife Esther.”
Pollard, 60, worked as a civilian analyst in the U.S. navy intelligence in Washington DC at about 1979. It was then that he began offering sensitive materials to Israeli authorities.

The FBI got wind of his spying habits and interrogated him in 1985. He denied the allegations. He would later seek asylum in the Israeli embassy for fear of persecution and be denied. He was consequently arrested, charged and jailed.

Israel denied having any surveillance ties with him but they would later make him a citizen in 1996 before owning up to their relations two years later.

Netanyahu has stated he would welcome Pollard’s release but that would not soften his stance on the Iran nuclear deal.

Pollard will have to live for five years in the U.S. before being allowed to move to Israel, under the terms of his parole. President Barrack Obama may, however, waive that requirement.

Pollard’s release ends years of negotiations between two allies. It is doubtful whether his release will reestablish damaged relations between the two countries but it is a step in the right direction.

Copyright Troll Illegally Extorts $2 Million Per Year From Those Singing ‘Happy Birthday’

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Copyright Troll Illegally Extorts $2 Million Per Year From Those Singing ‘Happy Birthday’

Groundbreaking evidence has emerged that shows the song “Happy Birthday To You” was indeed in the public domain years before Warner /Chappell claimed copyright for it. The new evidence tips the scale in favor of the plaintiffs and the whole world from a notorious copyright troll and media giant that has been raking in over $2 million a year suing innocent people for using a public song.

Goodmorning To You Productions is the plaintiff in the case and filed a class action lawsuit in 2013 against Warner after the latter claimed compensation amounting to $1500 from the company’s director, Jennifer Nelson, for use of the song “Happy Birthday To You” in a documentary.

The new evidence was discovered under circumstances that have cast Warner in questionable light. Judicial protocol requires that evidence on a case be brought forward at the instigation of a suit. In this case, that would be in 2013. Both the plaintiffs and defendants had a burden to avail to the court and to each other all the evidence that would be vital and relevant to the case. This was not what happened, conveniently so for the defendants.

The plaintiffs only got to receive the new evidence after Warner gave them access to certain files barely three weeks ago. According to Warner, the documents had been held back “mistakenly.” Additionally, part of the page that forms the new evidence was blurred out, making it incomprehensible. The plaintiffs had actually to look for the original copy of the document to get to the truth. What they found out was earth shattering.

The document revealed that the song “Happy Birthday To You” had first been published in 1922, years before Warner claimed copyright and years before the supposed date Warner claims it was first published, 1935. Effectively, that means the song was in the public domain before Warner’s copyright.

The evidence also proves Warner did not issue a copyright notice for the song. Today, that would not matter but in 1927, which was the year Warner claims to have copyrighted the song, it mattered a whole lot. The copyright law functional at that time was the 1909 Copyright Act that strictly required a notice to be issued for any copyrights granted. Another nail in Warner’s coffin.

Warner has had this evidence and knowingly hidden it from the plaintiff and the court for over a year. The reason is quite simple, they knew the evidence went to prove that everything they alleged before the court was a falsehood. In some jurisdictions, that amounts to perjury and is punishable by law.

The new evidence has been submitted before the court. As the case approaches a close after a yearlong battle, all eyes will be on U.S. District judge George King to deliver a ruling that will determine the fate of the world’s most famous song.

How ‘Smart Cities’ Are Becoming To Ultimate Spying Tool On Innocent Americans

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How ‘Smart Cities’ Are Becoming To Ultimate Spying Tool On Innocent Americans

Widespread fear is mounting over new light bulbs being planned for installation across many cities in the U.S. The new LED light bulbs, which last longer and are more energy efficient than traditional models, come with hidden data collection ‘features’ that capture details of unaware citizens in their own homes.

This data collection, while allowing for remote control of lights and optimization of energy usage, will also allow authorities and electrical companies to track unsuspecting Americans everywhere they go. The creepy sounding planned upgrades to existing LED models are said to even include listening devices. In a quest to make the home smarter manufacturers appear willing to trade convenience for privacy.

The New York Times recently reported that a number of companies had expressed interest in “Smart Grid” projects so much that they had began investing in LED lights ahead of the planned conversion of major city public lighting systems.

Sensity, a startup that specializes in lighting technology, announced last week that it had received bids from major businesses such as General Electric, the biggest mall developer in the U.S. Simon Property Group, Cisco and top LED lighting maker Acuity Brands.

The new lighting devices have capabilities that include data collection and environmental sensing. The lights are even “smart” enough to collect data on traffic congestion, track consumers walking down the street, sense pollution, gunshots and even project oncoming vehicles. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has strongly opposed the systems and their reasons are well placed.

As it stands the National Security Agency (NSA) is under intense pressure to unravel its rampant illegal spying on American citizens and public distrust of large government technology initiatives is mounting as a result. When congress passed the Patriots Act, the NSA’s powers to listen in and even hold data on U.S. citizen’s personal phone records was ostensibly clipped but thanks to legal acrobatics, something the covert agency specializes in, the data collections largely continues unabated.

Credit cards transactions are tracked from gas stations to retail stores, internet companies stand accused of giving out client information without their consent and the federal courts can grant the government power to demand individual citizens’ phone data from phone companies. The ordinary American’s right to privacy has never been any more violated. And just when we thought it could not get any worse public LED projects, as well as in home fixtures, look set to become the next battleground.
New York City mayor Bill De Blasio announced that the city’s administration would be launching a program that would see the city strategically place 300 listening devices across the city. The listening devices will be able to use gunshot detecting microphones to better detect crime and can also record bystander conversations.

Already the listening microphones have been installed in major cities like San Francisco, Oakland, Washington D.C. and Milwaukee.

Adding up all these “security” devices, which are quickly becoming rolled into formerly simple lightening projects and the result is a complex web of spying and tracking systems that will grant authorities near unlimited powers to spy on and trace unaware civilians wherever they are.

Americans are now left wondering whether at all they have rights if the government tasked to protect these rights is the one breaching them consistently and unapologetically, even using mere lighting as a convenient excuse to eavesdrop.

Apple Cuts Rumored Low End iPhone 6 As High End Sales Remain Strong

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Several reports since late last year claimed that Apple was considering the release of a new 4-inch “iPhone 6c” as a low-cost, smaller option alongside the “iPhone 6s” and “iPhone 6s Plus.” However, analysts have recently reported that the smaller iPhone may not be released after all. Timothy Arcuri, an analyst with Cowen and Company, stated that supply-chain evidence of the rumored iPhone 6c seemed to disappear around March.

The iPhone 6c would look like the iPhone 6 series but would be smaller and ideally aimed at users who wanted a smaller phone at a lower cost. Reports from December 2015 suggest that the smaller phone was targeted to female users who were “put off” by the larger screen size of the iPhone 6 series. Arcuri believes that the iPhone 6c would be essentially iPhone 6 hardware made as small as the iPhone 5s, including an all-metal unibody, thereby differentiating itself from the plastic iPhone 5c released in 2013.

The reason for scrapping the iPhone 6c is likely due to the success of the larger iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus. Arcuri speculates that since the larger phones have sold so incredibly well, introducing a smaller phone back into the market may cut into that success. He stated that, “[Apple] [probably] said, ‘Look, why would we want to cannibalize? If we came out with an iPhone 6c, we would essentially cannibalize a price-reduced iPhone 6.”

Other analysts have reported that they could not see Apple going back to the 4-inch format after seeing the larger iPhone 6 series sell so well, but many people do say they miss the smaller-size iPhone.

Apple frequently tests new products internally that are never released to the public. Therefore, it is entirely possible that the company simply considered making the iPhone 6c for test purposes. The fact that the iPhone 6c supposedly made it as far as the supply chain suggests Apple may have seriously toyed with the idea of manufacturing this phone.

10,000 Mile Chase Ends In Sinking Of World’s Most Notorious Poaching Vessel

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10,000 Mile Chase Ends In Sinking Of World’s Most Notorious Poaching Vessel

At the end of a seemingly made-for-Hollywood drama, the Thunder, a ship considered the world’s most notorious illegal fish poacher, began to sink into the ocean a couple hundred miles off the coast of Nigeria. The demise of the ship came after the Bob Barker, one of the environmental activist group Sea Shepherd’s fleet, chased it for more than 10,000 miles across multiple oceans.

Interpol had issued a Purple Notice on the Thunder, the equivalent of being on the FBI’s Most Wanted List. Only four other ships in the world have been issued a Purple Notice. Included in its long list of alleged crimes is illegal fishing. Such illegal fishing is a worldwide business estimated at $10 billion in annual sales. New technology has only increased the illicit activity. While many governments know of the atrocious illegalities committed by the crew of the Thunder, no government wished to expend the millions of dollars needed to capture the ship. That is where Sea Shepherd, owner of the Bob Barker, came in. The group is mostly funded by celebrity donations and the Bob Barker is named after the animal-loving television host who donated $5 million to purchase the ship.

In chasing the Thunder, Sea Shepherd hoped to not only protect a quickly disappearing species of fish, but also to demonstrate that these illegal fisherman can be brought to justice. Although Sea Shepherd’s ships are unarmed, they do participate in a number of legally questionable tactics. They cut fishing nets, steal buoys, block fisherman and sometimes ram whaling vessels. Both Sea Shepherd and some Interpol officials claim that such tactics are necessary.

The Bob Barker spotted the Thunder in Antarctica after only two days at sea. Once the Thunder spotted the Bob Barker, it took off, but the Bob Barker remained in hot pursuit. The Bob Barker’s partner, the Sam Simon, often refueled and gathered supplies while the Bob Barker remained on the tail of the Thunder. This enabled the Thunder to refuel several times while the Thunder had no chance to refuel. Thus it became a battle of who had more fuel and more will.

After several plays made by both the Thunder and Bob Barker in an effort to thwart each other, and after two months into the chase, it appeared one side was ready to give in. Suddenly, the Thunder radioed the Bob Barker requesting assistance. The Thunder’s captain stated it was sinking and needed help. While the Bob Barker’s crew noticed commotion on the Thunder, there was no evidence of a collision. While the Thunder’s crew boarded inflatable boats and headed toward the Bob Barker and Sam Simon, where they climbed aboard, members of the crew from the Bob Barker climbed aboard the Thunder in hopes of gathering evidence of illegal fishing before the boat sank. The crew became suspicious of the sinking, and evidence on the ship led officials to believe the boat was intentionally scuttled in hopes of destroying evidence that would assist in prosecuting the crew.

Once the Thunder’s crew was aboard the Sam Simon, Sea Shepherd contacted the nearest port officials, and upon arrival, the Thunder’s senior crew members were arrested. In July, several officers were charged with a litany of counts, including negligence, forgery and pollution. Several other governments are considering charging the Thunder’s owners for illegal fishing, money laundering and tax evasion.

The amazing chase and the sinking of the Thunder is a major victory for Sea Shepherd and environmentalists everywhere. Even though Sea Shepherd’s tactics may be legally questionable, compared to the crimes committed by the Thunder’s crew, it is very likely that governmental agencies will look the other way.

Study Finds Common Vaccinations Can Cause More Virulent Diseases

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Study Finds Common Vaccinations Can Cause More Virulent Diseases

Vaccines used today are safe and effective and are amongst the safest and most cost-effective measures used to improve public health and protect people from disease. However, in a controversial study involving only birds published by lead author Andrew Read, a biologist at Pennsylvania State University, University Park, the results suggest that vaccines could have a surprising downside. The new research suggests that, in birds, “imperfect” or “leaky” vaccines (ones that do not make their hosts totally immune to the disease) could allow deadlier pathogens to spread when they would normally kill their hosts quickly and thus “burn out.”

The study focuses on Marek’s disease, a viral infection in chickens. Farmers generally vaccinate their flocks against the disease, which keeps the chickens healthy but does not necessarily prevent them from becoming infected and spreading the disease. As the disease has become more virulent over the past thirty years, Read believes that vaccination is the cause.

As part of the study, Read and his team infected unvaccinated birds with the most virulent strains of Marek’s disease and put them with healthy birds. The infected chickens died very quickly and therefore had no chance to spread the virus to the healthy chickens. The researchers then infected vaccinated birds with the virulent strain and put them with healthy birds. The vaccinated birds lived longer, and they in turn infected the healthy birds, which then died. According to Read, the results of the study illustrate that the “vaccination enabled the onward transmission of the viruses otherwise too lethal to transmit, putting unvaccinated individuals at great risk of severe disease and death.”

Despite the study’s results, many scientists believe the research is extremely specific to Marek’s disease in birds and should not be used to draw general conclusions about vaccinations. Adrian Hill, a vaccine researcher at the university of Oxford in the United Kingdom, does not doubt that some vaccines could lead to stronger virulence in some diseases but states it is highly unlikely and should not detract people from getting themselves or their children vaccinated.

Hill stated that Read “has no more evidence that [new vaccines leading to more virulent diseases] will happen with an Ebola vaccine than it’ll happen with any other vaccine in humans.” Hill argues that the distinction between leaky and nonleaky vaccines is flawed and that “[e]very vaccine is leaky, in that some people don’t get protected by it, some people are partially protected, some people have prevention of the disease, and others prevention of infection.”

Hill further stated that hundreds of millions of people around the globe get vaccinated for various diseases every month and there is zero evidence to suggest that the vaccinations have ever led to any disease becoming deadlier.

Hill and other scientists worry that Read’s research will encourage “anti-vaccinators” to continue to not vaccinate themselves and their children. And, despite Read’s research with chickens, even he states that even if a human vaccine is ever shown to cause a virus to become more deadly, that would not be a reason not to vaccinate. The researchers stress that even a leaky vaccine is better than none for many human diseases. Because Ebola, malaria and HIV are such devastating diseases, even an imperfect vaccine would be a medical breakthrough.

New York Magazine’s Website Taken Offline Hours After Bill Cosby Feature

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In the latest twist in the recent Bill Cosby scandal, a prominent magazine’s website was taklen offline by hackers after running a story about the saga. Surprisingly, the Bill Cosby story was not the target of the hack. Rather, the New York Magazine’s website was hacked because of a disgruntled tourist’s hatred of New York.

The New York magazine published an in-depth piece on the Bill Cosby scandal, including a cover that pictured 35 women dressed in black, placed in chronological order by their alleged year of sexual assault. While the issue drew enormous Internet attention and lit up social media as soon as it was posted Sunday night, the magazine’s website went offline Monday morning until about noon. The culprit: a hacker named ThreatKing, who goes by the Twitter handle Vikingdom2016.

While many people believed the hacker was trying to silence the women pictured on the cover, the hacker’s target of the New York had nothing to do with the Bill Cosby story. The hacker, who spoke with The Daily Dot stated that, “[he] ha[d] not even seen the cover, LOL.” Rather he said that his attack was aimed at the people of New York whom he alleges offended him during his trip to New York City.

Specifically, ThreatKing stated that, “[he] went to new York 2 months ago. It was really bad. Someone pranked [him]. Everyone started laughing and sh*t. The first 10 hours being there. Some African-American tried to prank [him] with a fake gun.” He further stated that, “[he has] seen many pranks go wrong at New York. That got [him] pissed. That’s why [he] chose New York. . .[he wants] to see people die at New York.”

The seemingly off-kilter hacker then said he wanted to keep New York offline for 14 hours. His ramblings included his desire to take back the United States by hacking state websites, city websites, agency websites and court websites. “You have took away our country and its time to get it back by destroying the United States.” For fear of being identified by the FBI, the hacker refused to state what country he was from.

Clinton Unveils Dramatic Plan To Boost Renewable Energy By 700 Per Cent

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Clinton Unveils Dramatic Plan To Boost Renewable Energy By 700 Per Cent

Hillary Clinton wants to drastically increase America’s clean energy production by a jaw dropping 700 per cent, ensuring all households are powered by clean energy by 2027. Hillary’s ambitious plans have drawn a lot of admiration and criticism in equal measure as the 2016 Presidential race continues to shape up and climate change taking center stage. Rising atmospheric temperatures globally and perennial heat waves in India and Pakistan threaten to kill thousands unless government leaders are steadfast in putting an end to carbon emissions. Hillary has a plan.

On Monday, Hillary outlined her ambitious renewable energy plan to combat carbon emissions in two ways. The first would be to generate enough clean energy to have every home in the U.S. powered by clean energy 10 years after she assumes office. The second would be to install over 500 million solar panels across the nation within her first term.

Her plans, though greeted with plenty of support from environmentalists, were faulted for not being coupled with a comprehensive adoption plan. Some critics even humorously offered comparisons between her plans and John F. Kennedy’s 1960s moonshot. Hillary was not one to be ignorant of the herculian involvement her plans demanded.

The Democratic front runner said, “I know these goals will test our capacities, but I know they are within our reach.”

Climate change is shaping up to be one of the early make-or-break issues in the run up to the 2016 polls. The U.S. is powered majorly by carbon emitting fossil fuels; a staggering 85 per cent as per reports from the World Bank. Reformation of the energy sector is pivotal in ensuring continuity of the country’s eco system and future generations.

President Barrack Obama’s administration spearheaded several key energy projects that were widely criticized for their carbon footprint. They include the Keystone XL pipeline that will transport crude oil from Canada to Mexican refineries, contributing to higher levels of dirty oil distribution.

The move by her fellow Democrat cast Hillary’s position as regards climate change at the forefront and she has made her stand well known. The question now is not on where she stands but on really how she plans to go about her projects.

Hillary did not reveal where she would get the funds for her project, only choosing to say that the projects would “pay for themselves.”

Whereas her explanation does seem lacking in the fundamentals of how she would do it, Hillary is miles ahead of her Republican rivals including former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, Senators Marco Rubio, Rand Paul and Ted Cruz, who are yet to acknowledge that man is partly to blame for global warming.

Environmental activist Bill McKibben quipped Hillary was half way there but direly needed to show she got “the other half of the climate change equation” which was reserved for actions.

Hillary has stood firm to clearly state she will act to drastically cut down carbon emissions during her presidency. With over 500 million solar panels planned for installation, her project is indeed ambitious, but offers the first laid down renewable energy plan by any 2016 hopeful.

Hawking, Musk And Wozniak Petition For Global Ban On Autonomous Killing Robots

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The threat to humanity posed by autonomous war machines designed solely to kill is so grave that a petition by famous scientists is pushing the world to adopt an international treaty banning the autonomous war machines.

An open letter published by the Future of Life Institute, signed by none other than Stephen Hawking, philosopher Daniel Dennett, Apple’s Steve Wozniack and Tesla’s Elon Musk, included a petition to unite under a common cause to end the production of autonomous war weaponry.

The age of autonomous living is in sight. Driverless vehicles are heralding a new dawn on American roads, while self propelling drones can capture images and videos on their own, without humans instructing them. These technological advances have not been popularly accepted, with many people too fearful of ceding control over their lives to emotionless machines and the privacy breach issues apparent in hovering image capturing drones.

The idea of autonomous machines raises the prospect of rogue independence; that these machines, at some point, simply cannot be checked and will not be answerable to anyone. Add autonomous weaponry to the fold and what you have is a Terminator-style unrestricted license to kill.

Autonomous weapons have been described as those that “select and engage targets without human intervention.” These weapons only need to have their kill switches turned on and the consequences can be dire; utter genocide in a worst case scenario.

The scientists expressed deep rooted concern over the capabilities of such weaponry. They said, “Autonomous weapons are ideal for tasks such as assassinations, destabilizing nations, subduing populations and selectively killing a particular ethnic group.”

The experts want an international treaty signed that would see the end of autonomous weaponry manufacturing, just as other dangerous weapons including blinding lasers and chemicals were prohibited through binding treaties.

The experts added, “Just as most chemists and biologists have no interest in building chemical or biological weapons, most AI researchers have no interest in building AI weapons — and do not want others to tarnish their field by doing so, potentially creating a major public backlash against AI that curtails its future societal benefits.”

Videos of armed drones shooting moving targets have surfaced signaling a progressive movement into having machines fight for humans. These machines, devoid of human limitations, compassion and mortality, once activated and instructed to kill, can erase entire populations from the face of the planet. Governments must join hands in ensuring their immediate prohibition.

Nearly One Billion Smartphone Users Vulnerable To Text Message Attack

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Nearly One Billion Smartphone Users Vulnerable To Text Message Attack

Close to one billion Android phone users have been left at the mercy of hackers thanks to a serious flaw in Google’s Android operating system that can be exploited by a simple text message. The vulnerabilities have prompted Google to issue a prompt upgrade proposal to phone manufacturers worldwide as what is being labeled the worst Android flaw ever continues to take shape.

Joshua Drake of Zimperium zLabs is responsible for discovering the flaws. He reported the bugs to Google in April. Google responded by issuing corrective patches to phone manufacturers such as LG, Motorola, Sony, Samsung, HTC and Lenovo. However, it is not certainly known whether smartphone makers have actually upgraded their devices to safeguard end user data.

Drake attributed the flaws to a media playback operation in Android known as Stagefright. According to Drake, the tool consists of multiple “remote code execution” bugs that could be set off by malicious hackers wherever they were. The attackers would only need to send exploits packaged as Stagefright Multimedia Messages (MMS) that would allow them to write codes to the receiving device. The code would grant the hackers unlimited data from the phone’s memory, including photos, audio, video and SD card info.

With the recent wave of celebrity nude photo leaks still fresh, worry is spreading over just how much information can be accessed and just how much of personal information belonging to U.S. citizens has already been compromised. With over 950 million handsets open to access through a simple MMS, Android’s flaws have resulted in close to 15 per cent of the world’s population being exposed.

Users wary enough to block the MMS do not stand a chance. According to Drake, if the MMS were sent through Google Hangouts, it would open before the owner had an opportunity to even check the phone, triggering a massive amount of data leaks that would surely qualify as the greatest cyber crime of all time.

According to Forbes, on inquiry, only HTC had resorted to include the patchwork in upcoming models but it was not relayed whether the upgrades would be available for downloading online.

It appears at the time of writing that virtually all affected models remain unpatched, exposing almost 1 billion of the world’s smartphone users to attack.

Russia Caught Testing ‘Hunter Killer’ Satellites As It Gears Up For Space War

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Russia Caught Testing ‘Hunter Killer’ Satellites As It Gears Up For Space War

Three mysterious new satellites have raised the possibility that Russia is preparing for a potential space war, according to U.S. military analysts who have tracked the launches over the last 18 months.

The three satellites, which the Kremlin states are for communication purposes, could potentially be prototype weapons, according to U.S. military observers.

As is procedure, the United Nations was notified last year by Russia of their launching of three Ronik communications satellites, however, a fourth unexpected craft made it onto the list.

This fourth mystery vehicle is different than the unpowered Ronik satellites, appearing to move on its own into different orbits, similar to vehicles tested by China earlier this year.

After the May 2014 launch, Russia has launched two more of these mysterious spacecrafts.

The unidentified vehicles have been dubbed Kosmos-2491, -2499 and -2504 and are feared to be anti-satellite weapons, due largely to the fact that they have the ability to get very close to other satellites already in space.

Nations such as China and the U.S. have in the past developed so-called ‘hunter killer’ anti-satellite weaponry, however, similar movement by Russia could be viewed as troubling, due to space agencies such as NASA and their heavy reliance upon the Russian Soyuz spacecraft.

Presently the Soyuz is the only way astronauts have of getting to the International Space Station (ISS), which is a combined venture between the U.S., Japan, Russia and the European Space Agency.

It has recently been reported that officials at Russia’s federal space agency have insisted that these satellites are nothing but peaceful vehicles although the radical orbit changes point to only one possible purpose.

Facebook Controlled Internet.org Celebrates One Year Of Knee Capping Net Neutrality

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Concerns are being raised as Facebook’s slimey Internet.org initiative is seeking to expand and triggering fresh fears Internet neutrality is being compromised on a global scale. The service has already reached 17 countries worldwide, and the one year anniversary of the launch seems to only be the beginning for Facebook’s goal of filtering the internet for those too poor to make access commercially viable.

In honor of the one year anniversary Facebook made a blog post saying that a portal will be open through which any mobile operator can offer its service under the Internet.org platform. As of now, Facebook is partnering with specific mobile operators in launching the service within different countries despite many carriers pulling out of the initiative over neutrality concerns.

On Monday, vice president of Internet.org Chris Daniels reported that Internet.org has been able to bring over 9 million people online within the past year though the sites available are only those approved by the social networking giant. Google’s YouTube, for instance, is not on the small list of sites offered under the program.

The initial goal of Facebook and their six technology partners was to bring around 4.5 billion people online, focusing on developing areas such as Asia, Africa and Latin America.
Through this service, users receive Facebook’s messaging service as well as the social network itself as well as pared-down web services all for free.

In their blog post, Facebook reported that within the past year, they were able to acquire new users to its social network over 50 percent faster on average, which is unsurprising given the control Facebook has over the placement of its site under the program.

Interestingly, within 30 days of being introduced to the service, more than half of Internet.org’s users became paying customers of the partner mobile phone operators, creating a perverse incentive for big telcos to market the service as real internet when in fact it is not.

While attending a summit in Nairobi, Daniels commented, “This is really a customer acquisition tool for mobile operators where the benefit to them of offering a very light amount of free data is to bring on more paying subscribers to their networks.”

After its release in India in February, the Internet.org application has received stark criticism from Internet and technology firms as they pulled out in response to activists claims about violation of a neutral Internet.

Daniels commented about the incident, “I would say India is unique in that respect and very much an outlier. In other markets, Internet.org has been embraced as a pro-connectivity initiative that has garnered a lot of support.”

The idea of providing service to those without Internet is certainly an arguably just cause. The quality of life has potential for increase as more people have access online, yet offering users a Facebook branded version of the internet as their first online experience will undoubtedly condition them to expect that experience going forward and deprive them of a free and open internet experience enjoyed by most of the world.

Profit motives and stifling of competition from rival Google have led Facebook to offer the filtered service rather than just giving users bandwidth credits and allow them to use that bandwidth as they please. Such a system would be trivial to implement and address getting people online while still saving bandwidth, which is scarce in rural areas and the oft-touted reason of the pared-down service.

Yet such a simple plan offers less commercial benefit for Facebook, which would rather crush the competition than do the right thing.

Chinese Stock Market Posts Largest One Day Drop On Record

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Chinese Stock Market Posts Largest One Day Drop On Record

In a turbulent time for the Chinese markets, Chinese shares plunged 8% on Monday, its steepest one-day drop in eight years. The main Shanghai share index dropped 8.5% while Shenzhen’s main index fell 7.5%. The steep decline comes after a few weeks of relative stability following the Chinese government’s institution of a wide range of measures to help the market. The Chinese market’s troubles have instilled fears among investors regarding the overall health of the world’s second biggest economy. If the Chinese stock market declines continue to damage consumer confidence, it could lead to a slowdown of China’s purchases from the rest of the world, which would impact the global economy.

In the 12 months ending June 12, 2015, Chinese stocks surged. In addition to the normal institutional investors, millions of working-class and middle-class Chinese families purchased stocks during this period, often borrowing money to do so and further feeding the frenzy. The average Chinese citizen’s failure to understand stock valuations and basic economic fundamentals contributed to the rise. However, with such a quick rise in the market, it prompted concerns of a bubble ready to burst. As a result, shares lost greater than $3 trillion in a matter of weeks.

The bursting bubble and the associated decline in Chinese shares prompted the Chinese government to institute unprecedented, aggressive measures in order to shore up stock prices and to assuage the fear of investors. On July 8th, China’s Ministry of Finance pledged to “adopt measures to safeguard the stability of capital markets.” Such measures included the suspension of initial public offerings, the introduction of a $120 billion stabilization fund backed by the central bank and the cutting of interest rates. It also made more loans available to stock buyers and promised to investigate anyone involved in market manipulation. It further ordered brokerage houses to pump billions of dollars into the market.

Despite these drastic measures and a brief stability period, the tumult in the market continued. Even stocks that were strong performers due to the government-backed rebound were hit hard. For example, state-owned PetroChina, the country’s largest oil producer, fell 9.6% in this latest market dive. Many analysts saw the government-induced recovery as itself contributing to the crash. Without enough money to continue the stabilization, “a renewed, sharp correction is inevitable” stated Yu Jun, a strategist at Bosera Asset Management Company.

Because investors took out huge loans to buy stocks on the rise, they are now being forced to sell the stocks in order to pay the loans back. Such selloffs contributed to Monday’s decline.

The Chinese government has pledged their willingness to continue stabilization measures if the current decline persists. Zhang Xiaojun, a spokesman for the China Securities Regulatory Commission stated on July 20th that “[t]he commission will continue to stabilize the market and provide reassurance, and will use all its resources working towards the goal of preventing systemic risk.”

As of now, the Chinese stock market remains turbulent and only time will tell if Beijing’s efforts will help in the long run.

Fiat Chrysler Hit With Record Fine Over Slow Vehicle Recalls

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Fiat Chrysler Hit With Record Fine Over Slow Vehicle Recalls

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (“NHTSA”) has just imposed its largest ever fine against a car manufacturer over allegations of misconduct in 23 recalls covering greater than 11 million vehicles. Fiat Chrysler, the Italian-American automaker, faces a civil fine of $105 million and must also offer to buy back from customers more than 500,000 Ram pickup trucks built between 2008 and 2012. In addition, owners of greater than one million older Jeeps will be able to trade them in or be paid by Chrysler to have the vehicles repaired. The record fine and buyback option is unprecedented.

Greater than half a million of the Ram pickup trucks subject to the buyback option have defective steering parts that can cause drivers to lose control. Since some previous repairs have been unsuccessful, so Fiat Chrysler agreed to the buyback. The Jeep Grand Cherokees subject to buyback have fuel tanks located behind the rear axle, leaving them vulnerable in the case of a rear crash. The tanks can rupture and spill gasoline, thereby causing a fire. Federal documents show that at least 75 people have died in such crash-related fires. For example, on April 5, 2013, Magdaleno and Raymundo Sanchez barely escaped a fire when their 1994 Jeep Cherokee exploded on a Los Angeles freeway after it was rear-ended by a drunk driver. The Sanchez brothers received their recall notice eight months after they were burned in the crash.

Under the consent agreement reached with the government, Fiat Chrysler must notify owners who are eligible for buybacks and other incentives.

Both the Ram and Jeep measures are part of a global settlement between the automaker and government. Besides the civil penalty, including the fine and buyback options, Fiat Chrysler has also agreed to an independent recall monitor approved by the NHTSA that will report on the company’s recall performance over a three year period. It has also agreed to strict federal oversight.

Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx stated that the penalties “holds Fiat Chrysler accountable for its past failures, pushes them to get unsafe vehicles repaired or off the roads and takes concrete steps to keep Americans safer going forward.” Fiat Chrysler responded to the announcement stating that “[They] . . . accept the resulting consequences with renewed resolve to improve [their] handling of recalls.”

Both parties in Congress have criticized the NHTSA for lapses in its resolving car manufacturers’ deadly defects. As a result, the NHTSA, under its new administrator, Mark Rosekind, has taken a more aggressive stance. The record Chrysler fine comes after a $70 million fine imposed against Honda in January for failure to report injury, death and other claims. Last year, the NHTSA ordered General Motors to pay $35 million for a 10 year delay in reporting defective ignition switches connected to greater than 120 deaths.

Rosekind stated that “Fiat Chrysler’s pattern of poor performance put millions of its customers and the driving public at risk. This action will provide relief to owners of defective vehicles, will help improve recall performance throughout the auto industry, and gives Fiat Chrysler the opportunity to embrace a proactive safety culture.”

Disturbing Florida Youth Jail Latest Human Rights Incident For Security Giant G4S

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Disturbing Florida Youth Jail Latest Human Rights Incident For Security Giant G4S

A juvenile detention center in Florida owned by British outsourcing company G4S has been ordered to shut down by a grand jury. The juvenile detention center is described as “disgraceful” in the jury’s report and seems to fit in well with G4S’ reputation. This is the same company that failed to provide sufficient security at the London Olympics and runs controversial detention centers in Israel that are alleged to facilitate human rights abuses.

The Highlands Youth Academy, located in Avon Park, was designed for troubled young men ages 16 to 19. G4S was projected to make around $4 million dollars from the facility in a period of 5 years. The controversial company owns and operates 28 other juvenile detention centers in Florida.

In their grueling 21-page report, the Florida grand jury accused the company of running unsanitary facilities, crumbling buildings, ill-equipped and poorly trained staff and for not reporting missing children.

The jurors commented, “What we have discovered at the Highlands Youth Academy simply cannot be what our Legislature and state leaders have intended for our juvenile justice system.”

The report found that the citizens were being “ripped off” and that the juveniles are being “poorly served.” The jurors ordered the facility to be shut down.

Pictures of the dilapidated buildings with exposed plywood and steel cots surfaced as the investigation was underway. G4S was accused of leaving roofs in the facility damaged from a 2004 hurricane without repair.

Reportedly, faculty working at the juvenile detention facility were encouraged to handle disputes within the facility by themselves without contacting police. Even more, if they were attacked or assaulted in some way, members of the staff were instructed to wait until after they finish their shift to contact police.

G4S said they would take the allegations seriously yet, as they usually do, still denied all accusations. They said that the bunk beds were replaced during a campus-wide renovation and the roofs were indeed repaired after the storms. They also tried to justify the strict rules against workers contacting police stating they were just following the law.

The new report raises troubling questions about the business model of the security colossus which seems to have an incentive system misaligned with ethics, human rights and the rule of law.

Ocean Mining Set To Cause New Era Of Ecological Disasters

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Ocean Mining Set To Cause New Era Of Ecological Disasters

Technological advances in robotics coupled with dwindling land-based mineral deposits is leading to what conservationists call a “marine industrial revolution.” Deep seabed mining activity has increased sharply over the past five years as there is a rising demand for cobalt, copper and gold, elements required in manufacturing smartphones. This demand has led the International Seabed Authority (“ISA”), the United Nations agency established to organize, regulate and control all mineral-related activities in the international seabed area beyond the limits of national jurisdiction, has issued 27 exploration contracts to date. The majority of these 15-year contracts were issued since 2011 and allow for mineral surveying on greater than 390,000 square miles of seabed in the Indian, Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.

Both private companies and governments recognize the lucrative opportunities available in deep sea mining. Michael Lodge, deputy secretary-general of the ISA has stated that “[t]he concentrations of minerals that [miners] find in the seabed are very much richer than what’s left on land. So demand is only going to increase.” However, despite the abundance of seabed minerals, scientists from across the globe urged the ISA to temporary halt the granting of new mining contracts until areas of “marine protected areas” are established near areas set aside for mining. Both the commercial and conservation issues related to deep sea mining were discussed at an ISA forum earlier this month.

According to Professor Richard Steiner, Conservation Biologist of Oasis Earth,“[t]he issue of deep sea mining is not just for scientists and mining companies. The debate has to be much broader and completely transparent. Presently, the ISA and sponsoring governments receive scientific advice and input primarily from companies with vested interests in a particular policy or regulatory result of the Authority. The authority’s decision making processes must be open to the participation of civil society and independent scientists.”

Douglas McCauley, an ecologist and conservation biologist at the University of California, Santa Barbara, has stated that current proposals for the world’s oceans in the near future “look uncomfortably similar to what [people] did to land in the 1700s and 1800s.” He also noted that the increase in land-based industrialization caused an increase in animal extinction rates, and that increased deep sea mining would likely do the same.

Despite scientists’ warnings, the ISA recently granted its latest exploration contract to China Minmetals Corp., sponsored by Beijing. This 28,100 square mile permit in the Pacific Ocean makes China the country with the most permits from ISA, totalling four.

The United States is not a member of ISA as Congress has argued its policies could potentially impinge on U.S. military and economic sovereignty.

Lack Of Math Skills, Not Discrimination, Keeping Women Out Of STEM Jobs

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A recent study shows that the lack of women in scientific and technical fields is not due to discrimination by men nor by the possible turn-offs experienced by women. Instead, researchers suggest that women simply don’t know enough math to be in Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) areas. For this reason, not many women find themselves working at jobs related to these areas.

Economics professor Donna Ginther and her colleague Shulamit Kahn compiled statistics of mathematical qualifications and requirements of young American women for college courses. In their research, they found that the lack of women in a particular course can directly be attributed to the fact that a majority of young women don’t know many maths.

Ginther commented, “It is all about the mathematical content of the field. Girls not taking math coursework early on in middle school and high school are set on a different college trajectory than boys.”

The purpose of the study was to negate the results of another study conducted earlier in the year that suggested that prejudices held by members of those particular areas were the reason that there weren’t high numbers of women in STEM fields.

Ginther says that the results of the previous study “didn’t add up” and that women begin moving away from STEM fields way before college by the classes that they choose.

There are countless theories as to why more women don’t reach high levels in science or tech areas. Some say that women fail to mention they are attractive during their interviews. Still, some others suggest that women are simply disgusted by nerds, sci-fi posters and empty cans of soda.

Tim Worstall of The Register suggested similarly that the simple explanation for the lack of women in STEM fields is the fact that many steer clear of math and out of fields like tech, engineering, or sciences.

Sophisticated Adware Found Draining Your Data, Costing Business Over $1 Billion This Year

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Sophisticated Adware Found Draining Your Data, Costing Business Over $1 Billion This Year

Numerous suspicious mobile apps are using an advertising technique wasting one million gigabytes a day and have the potential to cause US $1 billion of damages this year.

Around 5000 iOS and Android applications have rapidly-reloading ads that are hidden from users and are set to operate even when the aps are closed or not in use. The apps are able to do this because they simulate human interaction in a way.

Normal, legitimate applications will show an ad every one or two minutes, according to researchers Antoni Kolev, David Sendroff, Matt Vella and Mike Andrews from Forensiq, a fraud detection agency based in New York. These bugged apps serve a stunning 20 ads per minute, or about 700 per hour.

Around two gigabytes for each mobile device per day is eaten up by the ads as they affect an estimated 15 percent of applications.

The fraud detection team states, “Fraudulent apps were observed selling traffic through most major ad exchanges and networks. These apps would establish on average 1100 connections per minute and communicate with 320 ad networks, ad servers, exchanges and data providers in the course of an hour.”

The team projects that, based on the traffic observed, this hacking of mobile devices will cost advertisers around $857 this year. The annual impact projected by the group will reach about $1 billion in 2015.

The financial impact that advertisers are expected to feel this year is stunning. iOS is projected to lose $363 million while Windows Mobile ad-men will lose around $14 million. Android leads the estimated loss with a projected $480 million going out the window.

Unfortunately, this sort of advertising technique goes undetected by antivirus scanners and work similarly to botnets.

The group from Forensiq was able to flag 13.3 percent of a stunning 16.2 daily daily mobile in-app impressions as they found them to be high-risk. The group used a series of highly technical and advanced methods to reach their results.

Trump Defies Critics, Continues To Lead Tightly Packed GOP Field

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Perhaps a reflection of the public’s preference for brashness in today’s political climate, a new CNN poll places Donald Trump at the lead in the Republican presidential race at 18 per cent support among Republicans, with Jeb Bush coming in second at 15%. Despite his recent comments disparaging POW veteran John McCain, support for Trump has actually climbed by six points since June, all the while making headlines with his often controversial sound bites. No other candidates aside from Trump and Bush received double digit support in the poll, but Governor Scott Walker placed third with 9 per cent. Is all this an expression of Republicans’ actual desire for the candidate, or merely their vicarious venting of disgust with politicians in general?

With congressional approval ratings remaining near all-time lows, Trump’s lack of political experience could be seen as a positive as there is no record for anyone to criticize. His popularity among Republican voters isn’t translating to the remaining pool of registered voters because he currently trails both Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders in a hypothetical general election matchup by a wide margin. In contrast, Bush and Walker polled slightly behind Clinton and almost even with Sanders in a hypothetical matchup.

None of these polls may matter much, when in the 2012 presidential election only 28% of voters picked Mitt Romney as most likely to receive the Republican nomination, in a September 2011 CNN poll. For comparison, in the 2008 election, only 16 per cent of voters picked Obama as the most likely Democratic nominee in an October 2007 CNN poll, which would only rise to 38 per cent in a similar January 2008 poll, and finally to 57 per cent in the April 2008 poll.

Confirming this view, a majority of Republican voters currently state that they see it as too soon to decide on which candidate they prefer. Also prompting cautiousness in any attempt to forecast the chosen candidate, Trump’s unfavorable rating among all registered voters remains a very high 59 per cent, exceeding Hillary’s unfavorable rating of 49 per cent.

Part of the reason behind Trump’s higher unfavorable rating may be that he chooses to speak out when prompted on most issues, which may result in him taking unpopular positions. Hillary will frequently refrain from taking a position when first asked about an issue, perhaps to consult polling data on what her position should be.

China Lifts 14 Year Old Ban On Video Game Consoles

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With the Chinese economy showing signs of trouble, it may come as good news to citizens suffering from market malaise that the ban on sales and manufacture of video game consoles has been lifted. Interested citizens may soon be able to distract themselves from their financial worries with the entertainment offerings of Sony, Microsoft, and others. Consumers shouldn’t get too excited just yet, however, as there will be a series of negotiations and permitting processes with the Ministry of Culture that companies must first go through before being able to sell their products.

Nintendo shares were up 11% Wednesday on the news at $128, the highest level in two and a half years, as access to the world’s third largest video game market by revenue came one step closer to being opened.

Despite the absence of console games, PC and mobile games are still very popular, a fact which may pose a marketing challenge to manufacturers having to sell to a consumer base who is accustomed to accessing their games without the need of dedicated gaming hardware. In addition, many are too poor to afford the high cost of today’s video game consoles and will instead patronize one of the many internet cafes available in order to access their video entertainment. Still, perhaps the internet cafes will soon have an area set aside for console gaming for those who cannot afford to purchase one of their own.

The move by China puts an end to a 14 year ban on video game console sales, which was originally imposed with claims of adverse effects on its youth. With a dubious record on intellectual property and copyright, the current climate in China is illustrated by the fact that illegal consoles can be obtained in Beijing’s “Silicon Valley” region known as Zhongguancun. Furthermore, the illegal consoles are made to run pirated software, which can be had for around $1 per game, much lower than the current price of up to $50 for an official copy.

Even though all these hurdles exist, game companies are sure to press on, with the Chinese gaming market currently valued at $22.2 billion (up 23% over the previous year), it would be foolish not to.

22 Banks Hit With Class Action Lawsuit Over Treasury Bill Rate Manipulation

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In the aftermath of the LIBOR convictions in May this year, in which five global banks agreed to pay $5 billion for their manipulation of interbank interest rates, 22 banks were sued on Thursday for their suspected involvement in manipulating the interest rates on U.S. Treasury securities.

The alleged conspiracy to manipulate Treasury auctions was the first nationwide class action lawsuit of its kind and included banks such as Citigroup, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan Chase, and 17 others. If history is any guide, jail sentences are unlikely in the event of a guilty plea or conviction, with fines and the firing of the “bad apples” at the guilty institutions being the norm.

The case is being brought by the State-Boston Retirement System (SBRS), which is the public employee pension fund for Boston. The $12.5 trillion Treasury market was manipulated, the case stated, through the use of chat rooms, instant messages, and other means in an effort to coordinate strategy and exchange confidential consumer information. The end result was that prices for Treasury securities were inflated for investors in the pre-auction market, with the banks then covering their positions in the “when issued” market at a deflated price.

Suspicion arose starting in December 2012 when wide gaps were noted between the auction and “when issued” prices, which then narrowed when the U.S. Department of Justice began investigating the manipulation of the LIBOR rate. The SBRS is not alone in their suspicion as media had previously reported that the Justice Department was investigating the issue as of last month.

Injured parties include private investors, city governments, and corporations who all paid too much for their securities as a result of the manipulation. One of the lawyers at the firm representing SBRS stated, ”Even a small manipulation in Treasury rates can have enormous consequences.”

No comment could be obtained from those banks that were contacted regarding the case, including Bank of America, Citigroup, and Deutsche Bank.

If guilty of the accusations, the question remains, will we see yet more fines for the bad behavior, or will jail sentences actually be issued? Following the convictions in the LIBOR case in May, CEO of J.P. Morgan Jamie Dimon stated, “The lesson here is that the conduct of a small group of employees, or of even a single employee, can reflect badly on all of us, and have significant ramifications for the entire firm.” In light of the fact that the bank recently pled guilty to the same behavior with LIBOR that it is now being charged with regarding Treasury securities, perhaps he was implying not to get caught.

Under the tenure of Dimon, who has made over $1 billion dollars during that span, the bank has paid approximately $35 billion in fines for criminal conduct.

Military School Doctor Accused Of Performing Horrific Experiments On Students

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A former Army doctor and lecturer at the military medical college in Maryland has been accused of performing grotesque and highly unprofessional experiments on students, injecting them with hypnosis inducing drugs, performing both penile and rectal operations during class and even withdrawing students’ blood to induce shock. So shocking are the reports emanating from the class, the prosecutor in charge reported he had not seen anything like it in his 26 years on the bench.

John Henry Hagmann stands accused of conducting illegal experiments and was escorted off the premises of the Uniformed Services University campus this week in the wake of the reports on his irregular methods which included instructing students to perform penile nerve blocks and inserting catheters into the genitals of his students.

Following his arrest, the college has launched a full scale investigation into Hagmann’s conduct and is forwarding the results to law enforcement agencies. A medical examination was conducted on the students to determine if they were exposed to any diseases in the course of their lessons.

School President Charles Rice indicated they took “immediate steps” in ensuring the safety of their students and the revocation of Hagmann’s license by the Virginia Board of Medicine.
However, records accessed by Reuters indicate the school administration was indeed aware of the crude methods used by the rogue teacher. According to the reports, school officials, as early as 20 years ago, were already aware of Hagmann’s methods. Also in the report were details that three members of the school’s faculty had indeed sat in one of Hagmann’ classes but either refused to inform their superiors or neglected their duty to uphold ethical practice. Hagmann was let loose and his experiments inappropriately rubber stamped.

Even more intriguing is evidence that one of the former deans of the institution was so alarmed by the unnatural teaching methods of Hagmann, she recommended he be court martialed. However, no action was taken causing investigators to wonder if the lecturer was being protected and why no student had reported such conduct until only recently.

Meanwhile, Hagmann has denied any part in the wrong doings he is charged with and has vowed to appeal the revoking of his license by the Virginia Board. According to him, the school originally felt that none of the training methods posed any danger and even supported his research.

Hagmann said, “The same institution that is now making a complaint originally supported and encouraged the programs.” If indeed this were the position of the school, the faculty did not show it.

Colleagues in the school’s faculty described Hagmann as being an “iconoclast and a cowboy,” a man who had a “magical effect on people, almost spell-like” and one who was “impatient with government rules.” When reports on his dangerous methods were reported, his true self was brought to light. The evidence was damaging and the consequent report damning.

According to Assistant Attorney General Frank Pedrotty, “The evidence is so overwhelming and so bizarre as to almost shock the conscience of a prosecutor who’s been doing this for 26 years.”
Hagmann is being held as investigations into his unscrupulous training methods are being concluded. For a teacher who was teaching since 20 year ago, questions have been raised as to why reports are only emerging now, more than 20 years after his first class and hundreds of students later.

Explosion At Government Building Found To Be From Secret Meth Lab

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Explosion At Government Building Found To Be From Secret Meth Lab

A meth lab explosion ripped through the lab of a U.S. government building, injuring a federal security officer last Saturday, according to newly released details of the incident. Police later found traces of methamphetamines and other illegal substances used in the manufacture of meth and when investigations were launched, the federal officer injured curiously resigned forthwith. Government authorities have been accused of being reluctant on their war against drugs and in some cases found to be working in cahoots with the perpetrators. Was the meth manufacturing lab part of a broader drug related structure that has now sucked in government agencies?

The explosion on July 18th happened at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) building just outside Washington D.C. The blast reportedly threw a shield 25 feet away and injured a police officer on site. Thankfully, it occurred in a room that was devoid of equipment so no research materials were damaged.

Intrigue was piqued when reports emerged that the room where the explosion occurred was not scheduled to be hosting any experiments that day. When police stepped in after the blast, they found pseudoephedrine, some drain cleaner and a meth recipe. It was clear as daylight what was happening.

Further reports by NBC Washington indicated that the police officer involved sustained severe burns on both his arms and hands, consistent with meth cooking explosions. When he resigned over the weekend following the incident, little doubt was present as to why he had done so. The real puzzle was how a meth experiment was allowed in a government building manned even on the weekend. Could the police officer have been assisted? Was someone else involved?

Local Montgomery Police Spokesperson, Paul Starks, declined to answer whether the ingredients found were being used to manufacture meth.

Congress has taken up an active role in the explosion that occurred on taxpayer funded premises. Congressman Lamar Smith of Texas, chairman Science, Space & Technology Committee said, “The fact that this explosion took place at a taxpayer-funded NIST facility, potentially endangering NIST employees, is of great concern. I am troubled by the allegations that such dangerous and illicit activity went undetected at a federal research facility.”

Smith has demanded an explanation on the incident within seven days from the commerce secretary.

NIST is a federal agency tasked to ensure responsible standard setting for measurements. While its role as the benchmark guide to proper standards and measurements is well known, its links to meth manufacturing are undocumented and consequently unauthorized. The recent explosion thus raised more questions than answers, sparking renewed interest in the U.S. government’s commitment to fighting drug related crime.

Uber Changes Tactics As Brazil Latest To See Widespread Anti-Uber Protests

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In a scene reminiscent of those in Paris recently, a thousand Rio de Janeiro taxi drivers protested against ride-sharing company Uber, blocking major roadway and bringing traffic to almost a complete stand still.

Uber, in typical scofflaw fashion, aggressively countered the protests by giving away free rides to customers to help ease transport issues on what it termed a “difficult day for getting around.”

Uber has been attacked, literally and figuratively, around the world in recent weeks, by taxi drivers angry at Uber drivers not having to be pay huge licensing fees and therefore being able to undercut their rates. Taxi unions in several countries also claim because Uber drivers do not need to be licensed, passengers are not covered by insurance, nor are the Uber cars.

In France a few weeks ago. taxi drivers blocked streets, set Uber drivers cars on fire and attacked their drivers.These protests resulted in the French Parliament moving to ban Uber car and the company being forced to stop its car sharing services throughout the country.

In Canada this week the company was on the receiving end of a $400 million class action lawsuit against its UberX and UberXL ride sharing services.

Brazil’s lawmakers voted to ban Uber as a result of the protest but the bills have yet to be approved by both houses of Government.

In Rio, taxi drivers formed a yellow taxi chain stretching for 3 miles along a major thoroughfare connecting the well to do south zone of the city to the central business district, chanting and honking their horns.

Taxi driver Alexander Campos said “We want to combat the illegal (drivers). We are the official ones, we have a responsibility, we are professionals who have families.”

Uber released statement saying it defends customers having a choice and that “innovation is crucial” in cities like Rio which have “a population in need of more options and [that] receives millions of tourists a year,” offering people two free rides for tweeting supportive messages with the hashtag #RIONAOPARA or “Rio doesn’t stop.”

The bold campaign by Uber could be a sign that its previous strategy is fighting challenges through the courts is failing and that it now needs popular opinion to change the mind of lawmakers, who are known to have cosy relations with the powerful taxi industry.

Something’s Brewing In Online Shopping As Web Giants Start Invading Offline Retail

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Something’s Brewing In Online Shopping As Web Giants Start Invading Offline Retail

There’s a counterintuitive trend brewing in Canada, where despite e-commerce sales expected to hit $30 billion this year, some retailers who started out on-line are now moving to traditional brick-and mortar stores in an effort to take some of the near $40-billion a month of retail revenue seen in our neighbors to the north.

Custom menswear on-line retailer Indochino, which started off with online stores back in 2011, has now opened showrooms in its hometown of Vancouver, as well as Toronto, San Francisco, New York, and Philadelphia, with a Boston location opening later this month, a telltale sign that digital retail may not be the be all and end all of shopping.

Company founder and CEO Kyle Vucko said “It (on-line stores) was a big leap for us at the time but we are now bucking the trend.”

Vucko said the move to traditional retailing came after customers said they wanted to feel and see fabrics as well as get advice face-to-face from stylists.

He said there were some items that were on-line friendly – such as electronics and books – where customers were happy with descriptive specifications, but apparel wasn’t really in that category unless they were a well known brand that a customer had purchased before. He said with new brands, customers wanted to see how a product fitted and wore.

Indochino will keep its online component – an approach known as an omnichannel strategy – web, mobile and traditional retail – all being used to reach new customers.

Other Canadian retailers had a different approach to omnichannel retailing. Roy Hessel, CEO for Clearly, also based in Vancouver, said he uses a “digital first” approach for his vision correction products.

He said “When we talk about omnichannel, I think that we should look at it much more broadly than just the tension between website, mobile and the physical store. When I look at it, as a CEO of a mainly digital company, I look at it as a multidimensional approach.”

He said for his company, which launched online in 2000, the on-line store allowed for worldwide customers while his recently opened retail outlets in Toronto and Vancouver, were being used as testing grounds for new products.

“We see our retail stores as learning labs, where we get the chance to test new things, observe how people shop, and gather feedback,” he said “The biggest challenge that eyeglass customers have is finding the right fit –they always need the feedback of a friend or a professional.”

Hessel said customers now often take selfies to see how they suit new frames and also send these to friends to seek their opinions.

Chris Naidu, co-owner of Toronto based Park & Province, which sells men’s clothing and accessories, said since he opened a traditional storefront last month, on-line sales have grown, although in-store sales outpaced on-line purchases.

He said both channels seemed to be driving traffic to the other. He said customers browsing on-line often visited the stores to try on something they had seen, while similarly customers who had been in the stores often went home to purchase online what they had seen, felt and tried on.
Naidu believed the physical stores were also important in that it helped build relationships and create brand aesthetics.

“That traditional aspect of being able to introduce somebody into your own space and creating this environment for them – that will never go away,” he said. “I think that’s definitely the most important aspect to why we opened the store … for reasons like that, in person is always better.”

Despite Unknown Sales Volume Apple’s Watch Universally Liked By Buyers

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Apple appears to be able to sell just about anything and its new Apple Watch is no exception. While nobody knows the precise sales numbers thanks to Apple’s lack of disclosure, for which it cited competitive reasons, new independent analysis confirms that the Apple Watch is breaking smartwatch sales’ records thanks to a nearly perfect satisfaction rating, with users of all skill levels thrilled with the pricey device.

What determines whether or not something is a success these days in the mobile space is fiercely debated by manufacturers. Is it the profit margin or is it the overall number of items sold in comparison to the next largest competitor? Wall St. analysts seem to stand firmly in the former category judging by Apple’s stock price.

The cupertino based company has been able to consume a whopping 92% of the total net profit of its industry despite the fact that it has sold many fewer phones than Samsung. This is a phenomenal number that speaks to Apple’s ability to sell its items at prices that are far higher priced than its closest competitors.

While Apple refused to disclose the exact sales volume of its watch in its third quarter filing, estimates are ranging from a couple million to well over 10 million units. Yet those who have purchased the watch are extremely pleased with it, according to new research.

Independent wearables research company Wristly, along with Ben Bajarin of Techpinion, conducted a survey of over 800 Apple Watch owners that consisted of individuals of very particular groups of users, “App Builder”; “Tech Insider”, those that are considered early adopters, or the first to run out and buy a product; “Media/Investors”; and “Non-tech users,” consisting of those who bought the item without any particular loyalty to Apple or other items it might sell.

Two-thirds of those surveyed were “very satisfied” with the purchase, with an additional 31% being “somewhat satisfied,” a positive result that equals an almost near perfect rating for the watch. Somehow, the Apple Watch continues to succeed regardless of its many issues that are usually experienced with first-generation products along with the watch’s limitations of related hardware therein.

The Apple Watch is even surpassing satisfaction ratings of both the first generation iPhone and iPad, which have both only become more popular and reliable since their 2007 and 2010 introductions. The iPhone and iPad consistently receive ratings as two of the most “satisfying” purchases by users in the tech industry.

Wristly’s survey determined that the non-tech savvy users were more forgiving of the flaws of the watch and only main complaint was the battery life, instead of the UI aspects and quality of third-party apps, areas that tech reviewers were quite critical of.

In fact, 73% of the users surveyed who are not tech savvy individuals were “very satisfied,” with another 26% being “somewhat satisfied.” It was a very different response for developers, who were either “somewhat satisfied,” or “neither satisfied nor dissatisfied.” If you take into consideration the fact that Apple is pushing hard for developers to reevaluate the watch with watchOS 2, which allows for the feature of native apps and third party-complications, causing this number to possibly shift more towards the general consumer feelings throughout the next year.

Analysts further expect Apple’s new category to outperform the prior one, but, with the iPad having grown so quickly, the iPhone steadily growing, it will not be possible for the watch, which relies upon an iPhone to function properly.

Even at this early juncture, the watch can only be looked upon as a success, even if it only remains to be a somewhat niche product by Apple’s standards, when comparing it to the iPad and the iPhone.

Gold Hits Five Year Lows As Investors Scramble To Avoid More Losses

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Investors are reeling from losses and the opportunity costs forsaken after a shocking decline in the price of gold. The yellow metal has hit consistent lows five years running and is at its lowest price yet. Many countries and banks prefer to hoard gold over currencies which are fragile and fluctuate unevenly. With the falling price of gold, many investors, banks and even countries may be charging head first into unseen financial difficulty.

The price of the yellow metal dropped to its lowest level in five years. Futures for delivery in August fell by 1.4 per cent to $1078.50 for every ounce by 8:25am Friday, culminating a 4.6 per cent drop by the close of the week, the highest fall since October of last year.

The price drop has had catastrophic economic downturns overseas, especially for producers of the precious metal. Seven out of the 18 biggest bullion producers are making losses as a result of the dip in gold prices. AngloGold Ashanti Ltd. dropped to a 5.5 per cent record low in Johannesburg. In London, the story was similar, immediate delivery gold fell 0.6 per cent to a low of $1083.3 an ounce as at 1:34 pm. The question on everyone’s mind now is just how far will the prices drop?

Traditionally, people and governments buy gold for two reasons. One: as a hedge against increasing inflation rates. Inflation hurts the value of currency, making holding money in gold a better option in order to preserve economic position and buying power. Two: as a better return on investment. When interest rates offered by banks and government bonds are too low, gold offers a better return on investment as its value increases at a rate higher than the bank rates.

The problem with gold began in June 19, 2013, when the U.S. Federal Reserve announced its reduction of cash injections into the economy totaling $85 billion a month, starting from the close of the year. The result was a crippling low supply of money in the economy that dropped inflation and led to a rise in interest rates, holding money in gold plates suddenly seemed less attractive. The buyers turned to sellers, the market was oversupplied and a year later, the price of gold is yet to recover.

According to financial analysis firm Macquarie, “Gold has always had a dual nature as a currency and a commodity. At present, it is not desired in either form.”

Investors are now selling the yellow metal at the fastest rate since the beginning of the year. Bloomberg reported that holdings in products traded at the exchange decreased 17.6 metric tons in one week, the lowest level since 2009.

The price of gold has been declining steadily after a great rally in the 2008 recession. While the fall in prices is being closely monitored by analysts, it remains to be seen whether it can be arrested before more damage is done to the economy.

Automotive First: Chrysler Recalls 1.4 Million Jeeps Vulnerable To Hacking Attack

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Automotive First: Chrysler Recalls 1.4 Million Jeeps Vulnerable To Hacking Attack

After heightened pressure from the U.S. government, Fiat Chrysler has recalled 1.4 million vehicles over eye popping system gaps which leave the vehicles exposed to hacking attacks. The news comes after just this week two hackers remotely hacked into a Jeep Cherokee, fully taking control of the vehicle’s functions, completely locking out the driver. Worry over increased possibilities of random car hacking have led to a renewed vigor in ensuring drivers are safe from criminal hacking that will compromise their safety.

The Fiat Chrysler call back is the first of its kind. The government had increased pressure on the car manufacturer after system gaps were located in the vehicle, rendering it susceptible to cyber crime. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NTSHA) said it would open an investigation to ensure that all vehicles that could be affected by the system gap are covered. In a statement, the NTSHA said the recall “meets the critical responsibility of manufacturers to assure the American public that vehicles are secure from such threats, and that when vulnerabilities are discovered, there will be a swift and strong response.”

Only recently did a Wired report chronicle how to hackers took control of a Cherokee Jeep while stationed in a room miles away from the vehicle. The hackers were able to effortlessly penetrate the vehicle’s firewall and take full charge of the vehicle’s operations including radio, seat belts, wipers and air conditioning. The hackers then killed the acceleration pedal, slowed the vehicle and cut out the brakes before steering the car into a ditch as the driver sat terrified and helpless. The hackers revealed that they could even remotely trace vehicles using their IP addresses from anywhere in the U.S. and take full control of them. The potential breach in security is of galactic proportions. A recall was inevitable.

Fiat Chrysler recall will include the adding of software updates to safeguard radios that are vulnerable to remote cyber hacks. The auto manufacturer said in a statement, “The recall aligns with an ongoing software distribution that insulates connected vehicles from remote manipulation which, if unauthorized, constitutes criminal action.”

Fiat revealed that it first got wind of the hacking news through a researcher who revealed that the vehicle communications port, the window to all its’ systems operations, was inadvertently left wide open; a hacker’s dream. The updates would serve to completely close these gaps, making the car’s systems air tight and cyber proof.

It remains to be seen whether other car manufacturers will follow in the footsteps of Fiat Chrysler through the recall.

Cyber crime has dominated security debates this last decade. From remote hacks traced to Chinese assailants, to cyber breaches in Sony Pictures traced back to North Korea, to unauthorized confidential data leaks from U.S. agencies and celebrity phone hacks, no one is safe. Lines have got to be drawn and people, including companies, have got to be answerable. The security of America’s 250 million road users has to be treated as a top priority and where gaps are realized, they should be arrested promptly.

Apple And Three Chinese Brands Now Dominate Smartphone Growth

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Chinese smartphone manufacturers continue their push for world domination and have finally, thanks to Hauwei Technologies, been able to beat out Samsung in sales growth. The large yet relatively unknown company to westerners also managed to outsell Lenovo, the third largest smartphone supplier in the world.

Huawei, known for its smartphones, has gone unfazed by a recent slowdown in the market in China, while both Xiaomi and Lenovo have shown solid growth globally throughout the second quarter highlighting the different strategies of China’s tech titans.

IDC, a research firm, has recently shown data reflecting that Huawei, who is China’s largest manufacturer of telecom equipment, showed an increase in its shipments of smartphones throughout the quarter by 48.1 percent to 29.9 million units, an increase of 20.2 million units for the same period last year.

Huawei, which is based in Shenzhen, was able to last quarter move past Lenovo in rank as the third largest smartphone supplier in the world, consuming an astonishing 8.9 percent of the worldwide market share, behind strong sales throughout Europe, according to the IDC report.

Xiaomi, a quickly growing smartphone start-up run by an ex-Googler saw an increase in its shipments of 29.4 percent to 17.9 million units, an increase of 13.8 million from this time last year.

It was able to burst into the top-five ranking last quarter, as well as fly past Lenovo, all while obtaining 5.3 percent share as the fourth-largest supplier of smartphones in the world.

IDC also stated that Xiaomi was able to continue selling well throughout mainland China, all while still increasing its presence throughout Singapore, Indonesia and India.

Lenovo, after acquiring Motorola Mobility last year, was able to increase its global shipments of smartphones by 2.4 percent throughout the second quarter to 16.2 million units, up 15.8 million from this time last year.

This was a significant enough increase for Lenovo to grab 4.8 percent of the global market share and become fifth in ranks of the leading smartphone brands in the world. Lenovo had been ranked third last year at the same time.

IDC stated that Lenovo’s Motorola brand has been able to grow in countries throughout North America and Europe regardless of tough competition.

The company’s Lenovo-brand of smartphones have seen an increase in demand on online sites in newer markets such as India.

“While the Chinese players are clearly making gains this quarter, every quarter sees new brands joining the market,” according to senior research manager of IDC’s mobile phone team, Melissa Chau.

“IDC now tracks over 200 different smartphone brands globally, many of them focused on entry level and mid-range models, and most with a regional or even single-country focus.”

IDC also says all smartphone shipments throughout the second quarter increased by 11.6 percent to 337.2 million units, an increase from 302.1 million the year prior year.

Last quarter saw Samsung Electronics remaining the worldwide market leader; however, its shipments of smartphones dropped 2.3 percent to 73.2 units, a decrease from 74.9 the same time the prior year.

Apple was able to see an increase in demand because of its larger screened iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, with its second quarter shipments increasing 34.9 percent to 47.5 million units, an increase from 35.2 million the same time last year.

“The overall growth of the smartphone market was not only driven by the success of premium flagship devices from Samsung, Apple, and others, but more importantly by the abundance of affordable handsets that continue to drive shipments in many key markets,” according to Anthony Scarsella, IDC research manager.

Fact: A Majority Of Americans Will Be Poor At Some Point In Their Lives

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Fact: A Majority Of Americans Will Be Poor At Some Point In Their Lives

The face of America’s poor is far from constant with new research confirming earlier studies that that every year, a different class of people live in poverty and by the time a majority of Americans get to age 60, up to four in every five of them have been poor at some point in their lives. As economic position is the principal determinant for the value people’s and families’ lives, while many manage to get back on their feet after this period, its effects can have far reaching consequences.

According to research conducted by Mark Rank, a Washington University Sociologist, and a team of fellow sociologists, an incredible number of Americans will be dependent on welfare at some point in their lives. Rank reveals that by age 60, a staggering majority of Americans will have been unemployed, living below the poverty index, at the bottom 20% of income distribution and reliant on government programs including food stamps for a year or more.

The survey, the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, spoke volumes of the volatility of income in the U.S. Rank said, “Rather than an uncommon event, poverty was much more common than many people had assumed once you looked over a long period of time.”

Interestingly, the survey also found that the reverse for income affluence holds. As many as 11 per cent of U.S. citizens will spend time at the top one per cent of income distribution for a time before they get to 60. A far greater number will reach the top 20 per cent, however, their stay will be short lived. It is this sort of volatility that has plagued the American economy for decades.

Rank said, “The story of the American life course is marked by a surprising degree of economic movement and volatility.”

Census figures indicate that up to 46.2 million Americans are poor. That’s approximately 15 per cent of the population. What this study indicates is that every year, the people in that 15 per cent change and sooner or later, a vast majority of us will form that statistic. Effectively, there are as many people moving out of poverty as there are moving into it. The cycle just doesn’t stop and as research indicates, it only gets worse.

An Associated Press-GkF research put forward that by 2030, the volatility of income distribution will grow to engulf 85 per cent of Americans. That’s a five per cent growth from the current 80 per cent.

President Barrack Obama’s administration has been faulted repeatedly over the spiraling economic hardships facing the country. With joblessness on the rise, the number of American families on welfare is increasing and life expectancy gradually decreasing. 80 per cent of Americans will know poverty at one point in their lives. Those who recover may never get back to their former selves and for those who don’t, their struggles will continue to haunt the nation’s economic recovery for years to come.

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