Posts - Americans

Apple Captures Stunning 92 Percent Of Smartphone Profits

Finance

Despite approximately 1,000 companies making smartphones worldwide seemingly just one reaps all the profits.

According to Canadian investment bank Canaccord Genuity, Apple Inc. received 92 percent of the total operating income from the world’s eight top smartphone makers in the first quarter, a stunning 50% increase year over year. Rival Samsung accounting for 15%, resulting in a total greater than 100 percent because many players in the space are actually losing money to compete on the hot selling devices.

While Apple last week asked suppliers to produce a record number of new iPhone models, Samsung forecast below expectation profits,while HTC, Microsoft and Nokia all reported losses.

What makes Apple’s share of profits especially remarkable is that it sells less than 20% of smartphones by unit sales. The vastly differing profit profile comes as it commands higher prices for its phones thanks to its strong brand and advanced ecosystem.

Rivals using Google Inc.’s Android operating system seem unable to differentiate their products from one another and are thus not able to command any sort of price premium.

The results demonstrate how fast moving the business has become as just in 2007 Finland’s Nokia owned two-thirds of smartphone-industry profits, according to Cannacord. During that time the market has also seen the rise and spectacular fall of Blackberry, which also once commanded significant market share before quickly falling off.

Yet strategies in the market mean the sales numbers are misleading. Microsoft and red-hot Chinese maker Xiaomi monetize their customers after the initial sale via paid app downloads and phone accessories.

Samsung makes a considerable amount of the components in many of the different phones, including Apple, meaning it takes a cut of the component sales across the industry.

These differences are notable, as too is that fact Canaccord’s data excludes privately held companies like Xiaomi and India’s Micromax Informatics Ltd, who increasingly command significant market share, especially in developing countries.

Its also important to remember that the smartphone market is still fast growing. As growth slows analysts think it will start to resemble the personal-computer business of the late 90s, where average PC prices plunged and nearly all manufacturers struggled to earn profits.

But the smartphone industry isn’t the same due to app-store differences and ecosystem lock-in. Own one Apple product and chances are you own a few, making switching far more difficult than in the PC era.

Despite a slew of attempts by well-funded rivals like Google, Samsung, Microsoft and others none have been able to replicate the tight, highly profitable ecosystem that Apple has carefully developed since the launch of its first iPhone in 2007.

For the moment, at least, Apple’s industry dominance looks set to continue unabated while the misfortunes of a host of rivals seem also set to continue.

Walmart Launches Massive One Day Sale To Compete With Amazon’s Prime Day

Finance

Not one to be left out of the spotlight, retail giant Walmart announced that it will launch a rival sale to Amazon Inc.’s Prime Day that will be held on the same date and include more than 2,000 online discounts.

Amazon recently announced Prime Day in celebration of its 20th anniversary, which is scheduled for July 15th. Prime Day, available to Amazon customers who are members of Amazon Prime, will include thousands of sales beginning at 12:00 a.m., with new ones available as often as every 10 minutes. This sales event is being touted as big enough to rival Black Friday.

Walmart’s lower prices on categories such as electronics, home, toys and baby will last 90 days. Additionally, starting today, Walmart is also reducing the minimum order for free shipping from $50 to $35 for a period of at least 30 days.

Walmart has called Amazon’s program of Amazon Prime membership a ripoff stating “[w]e just don’t believe you should pay a fee to get a better price.” Amazon Prime Membership presently costs $99 annually. However, Prime members usually get access to unlimited free two-day shipping, as well as access to free movies and television shows to stream on Prime Instant Video, along with other benefits. These savings could add up to well over $99 per year.

Walmart and Amazon regularly compete with each other for customers and sales. Earlier this spring, and despite Walmart’s criticism of the Prime membership program, Walmart announced that it would start a program similar to that of Amazon Prime, offering unlimited, free three-day shipping to Walmart customers for a fee of $50 annually. And, while Walmart is America’s dominant retailer for several years, putting many stores out of business and even threatening local grocery store businesses, it is a step behind Amazon when it comes to the Internet.

Amazon is considered by many the world’s biggest and best Internet retailer. Walmart, however, is struggling to generate new traffic in their stores. It is trying to gain new customers as well as show that they can compete online with Amazon.

Other retailers such as Target and Best Buy are holding summer sales to recreate Black Friday shopping. The words “Black Friday” encourage and push people to shop on days that they would not otherwise consider shopping. As the words are synonymous with major deals whether at Thanksgiving time or in the summer, people will shop and buy during that time.

Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker Becomes 15th GOP Presidential Candidate

News

On Monday, Wisconsin governor Scott Walker announced his candidacy for the upcoming 2016 Republican presidential nomination making him the 15th Republican to announce their candidacy. Walker has always ranked among the elite contenders for the GOP’s nomination in several recent polls yet joins a crowded field. Despite his success with conservatives in the past, the Wisconsin governor will have to prove his appeal to a greater range of Republicans than Iowa, the first nominating contest.

Walker’s advisers say he will portray himself as a “fighter who can win” at a campaign launch at 6:15 p.m. EDT in Waukesha, just outside of Milwaukee.

Walker and his campaign team released a video to announce his candidacy on Monday. The theme of his campaign is a “fighter who can win”. In Waukesha, a small town outside of Milwaukee, Walker will launch his campaign at 6:15 pm EDT.

The 47-year-old governor has an impressive political history with three statewide elections under his belt within four years. This includes his victory in 2012 when he spoke on behalf of the public unions in Wisconsin by challenging the collective bargaining process. Walker was re-elected as governor last November and in 2010 won a first gubernatorial election.

Several potential voters and supporters of Walker are impressed by his success in Wisconsin. The Wisconsin governor has experience, which is a huge must for any presidential candidate. Many are comparing him to a newer, more relevant Jeb Bush.

Walker’s weakness in regards to international affairs is apparent at times. Walker made a comment describing how his experience fighting for labor unions have prepared him to face groups such as the Islamic State. This comment didn’t go unnoticed by the press and Walker received much criticism on its behalf.

With the issues in the Middle East, national security and foreign policy will be huge topics in the 2016 election and ones that Walker will have to prove his competency in.

Walker has changed his political positions in the past, which may open him up to criticism from his rivals. Last year, he said that an abortion should be a decision between a doctor and the woman. After this, he supported a bill that banned abortions after 20 weeks. In addition, Walker now doesn’t support a legal option to gain citizenship for illegal immigrants.

It seems as though Walker will secure his support in Iowa. The real question is whether he can continue that trend farther down the road.

Greece’s ‘Island Of The Blind’ Highlights Public’s Responsibility For Financial Crisis

Finance

The Ionian Sea island of Zakynthos, famous for its gorgeous beaches and sparkling waters, is also home to an unabashed and shameless scam which occurred over several years, eventually costing the Greek government several millions of dollars a year. The discovery shows the extent to which the actions of Greek citizens have impacted the finances of the beleaguered mediterranean country.

This notorious and expensive scam involved as many as 700 or 1.8% of the island’s 39,000 residents claiming disability on the basis of blindness. This implausibly high number of blindness claims is around nine times the prevalence of blindness in other European countries according to a 2004 study published by the World Health Organization. These conniving Greek citizens falsely claimed that they were blind and were rewarded with more than $480 monthly in compensation. Among those who applied for the blindness benefit were a taxi driver and a bird hunter. The scam finally shut down in 2011 after one “blind” beneficiary was caught driving his Porsche.

Greece is obviously under pressure from creditors to step up its efforts to fight corruption and cut costs. In recent years, Greece required disability claimants to register in a centralized database by appearing in person or sending a representative. The 2012 registration resulted in 36,000 fewer disability claims than in 2011 according to Greece’s health ministry.

The healthy ministry attributes the reduction to fraudulent claims such as multiple claims for the same disability or accepting payments in the name of dead beneficiaries. The ministry also alleges that doctors accepted money for false diagnoses and local politicians signed off on false disability benefits to win support. On the Island of the Blind, a leading local politician, Dionysios Gasparos, and an opthamologist, Nikolaos Varzelis, are alleged to be the ringleaders. Additionally, some of the medical documents turned in by the “blind” in order to obtain their benefits were signed by a urologist.

This scam seems to embody the attitude of some Greek citizens which includes the mentality that rules are made to be broken. One resident of Zakynthos stated that the scam was a common secret where some people tried to earn money too easily, but that such scams were prevalent among Greece. Guesses estimate that as much as $22 billion is lost by the Greek government through tax evasion and tax avoidance each year. Studies show that Greeks are grossly underreporting their incomes, and statistics illustrate that accountants are found to be the leading offenders.

Another example of undeserved entitlements is that, until a few years ago, approximately 40,000 unmarried daughters of deceased public service workers received from the Greek government about $606 million annually. The current rule is that these daughters can no longer receive a share of their deceased father’s pensions after they turn 18, a rule under consideration by Greece’s Court of Audit as to whether it discriminates based on gender.

Those fraudulently claiming blind status in Zakynthos did not do any jail time for their misdeeds. Instead, those who were caught were ordered to repay their falsely claimed benefits in installments. They are still doing so today.

Survey Finds 75 Percent Of Chinese Cities Fail To Meet Air Quality Tests

Entertainment News

China’s economic boom has come at a cost to the country’s health as despite winning some battles in its War on Pollution, fully 75 percent of its cities still fail to meet air quality standards.

The country’s environment ministry said today in a statement that an air quality survey taken in June showed air quality throughout the country had improvement compared to previous months but only 19 cities met air quality standards every day.

However the ministry said at the same last year only five cities had managed to meet daily standards.

In the capital Beijing air quality in the capital was substandard for almost 60 per cent of June.

The Chinese Government declared a War on Pollution last year starting a nationwide campaign to eliminate substandard industrial capacity and reduce coal consumption after a air quality survey found almost 90 per cent of its large cities failed to meet air quality standards.

So bad is air quality in China that its Government does not expect it to meet acceptable international standards till 2030 and has imposed heavy fines on companies and local governments that do not do all they can to cut down on pollution.

Many local authorities and companies have been found to be submitting false air quality test results.

The vice minister for environmental protection announced a two-year inspection campaign in April to root out fake air quality data and accused some local governments of manipulating the figures to meet national standards.

China’s moves to cut air pollution are not necessarily self motivated. The international community has been placing demands on China for many years to stamp out air pollution which was affecting other countries as it was carried out of China by air currents. Some international companies with manufacturing plants in China have also been passing on pressure to the Chinese Government they have felt from international environmental groups.

47 Million Americans To Be Affected By Extreme Weather Over The Next 24 Hours

News

Around the country areas already hit by heavy rains will see more rain and severe weather throughout the day Monday and into Tuesday, affecting over 47 million Americans with a chance of severe thunderstorms, tornadoes and damaging winds.

Monday forecasters are saying severe thunderstorms and potential tornadoes are threatening approximately 47 million Americans from Wisconsin, Ohio and Kentucky.

According to the Weather Channel, threats of lightning, damaging winds and heavy rains are likely for most parts of the Midwest. The Midwest has recently experienced significant rainfalls resulting in widespread flooding.

In several counties throughout Wisconsin, tornado sirens were heard, with central Illinois being at the greatest risk of tornadoes. However, the biggest threat was from localized flooding and thunderstorms in regions that were already soaked from recent heavy rains.

The Weather Channel stated that a severe thunderstorm watch had been issued for Southern Wisconsin, northwestern Indiana and northern Illinois – including the cities of Milwaukee and Chicago-until 10 a.m. CT (11 a.m. ET). There are over 47 million people residing in the areas that are in the “slight risk or worse”.

Lead forecaster for the Weather Channel, Kevin Roth stated that “the threat could stretch as far northeast as central Ohio.” He also stated, “Altogether quite a few states will be affected.”

Roth added: “We can’t rule out tornadoes but damaging winds and lightning are the main threat.”
Throughout Monday and into Tuesday, it is predicted that the severe weather will move south eastwards impacting Kentucky and Tennessee all the way into the Carolinas and the northern portion of Georgia, according to Roth.

Meanwhile, the South is currently seeing warmer summer temperatures. Dallas is likely to top 100 degrees on Monday according to Roth. Kansas City was also placed under an extreme heat warning.

Around The Nation Advanced New Software Is Beginning To Replace Lawyers, Courts

Finance

Advanced online software that eliminates the need for lawyers and courts to resolve cases is the next wave of technology, according to law experts who are already seeing the systems being used around the country.

Silicon Valley software development Company Modria has developed software already in use that allows people to bypass expensive and time consuming preliminary court procedures and arbitration.

“There is a version of the future when computers get so good that we trust them to play this role in our society, and it lets us get justice to more people because it’s cheaper and more transparent,” said Modria’s co-founder Colin Rule.

Ohio Officials already use the software for tax assessment disputes, and the Arbitration Association in New York has used it to settle medical claims arising from car crashes.

In Holland the software is used in divorce cases. It asks couples questions about parental support, custody issues and areas of agreement, making suggestions based on law and results of court arbitrated divorce cases. If the couples reach an agreement based on these suggestions, they print up divorce papers developed by the software and simply file them at the courthouse.

Modria’s chief marketing officer Larry Friedberg said “hundreds of couples have gone through the system since it launched in February.”

Oliver Goodenough, Center for Legal Innovation at Vermont Law School Director said “We’re not quite at the Google car stage in law, but there are no conceptual or technical barriers to what we’re talking about.”

He said currently the Modria software could relieve overburdened court systems of small claims cases, traffic fines, and some family law matters, but in the future it could be used for more complicated disputes.

Michigan courts are using software developed by another company, Court Innovations, to resolve traffic disputes in four court districts in the State.

American Bar Association recommended law expert and law professor at Tennessee’s Vanderbilt Law School, Larry Bridgesmith, said technology could provide legal support to those people who could not afford people lawyers and the court system.

“The technology won’t do away with attorneys, but it will require them to adapt,” he said. “If lawyers begin to understand that those are tools they can use to lower the costs of entry into the legal system … they can get back in the business of serving clients who are presently not served.”

Greece Capitulates to Creditors’ Demands in Order to Remain in the Eurozone

Finance

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras agreed to European demands in order to immediately qualify for up to $95 billion of aid Greece needs to remain in the Euro Zone. These agreements were reached at a summit taking place in Brussels lasting more than 17 hours. The summit agreement averted a worst-case outcome for Greece as Greek banks have been shut for the past two weeks and the country is quickly running out of money.

The summit was essentially Greece’s last chance to stay in the euro. Lawmakers in Athens have until Wednesday to pass into law European creditors’ demands including integrating value-added taxes, widening the tax base to increase revenue and squelching pension costs. The summit agreement established the basis for negotiations on aid to Greece which includes greater than $27.6 billion to recapitalize its stuttering financial infrastructure.

Greece’s government accepted basically every condition imposed by its creditors as it accepted all crucial points. These conditions that Tsipras grudgingly accepted include several provisions from the country’s two previous bailouts and a new demand for the Greek government to transfer $55.2 billion of state assets to a holding company. This holding company will seek to either sell or generate cash from the state assets.

Creditors rejected Tsipras’ request to reduce the face value of Greek debt by approximately $342 billion.

The terms Tsipras agreed to are much harsher than those he convinced Greek voters to reject a week ago. Last week’s vote appears to have been a huge mistake as the conditions Greece now has to meet are much tougher and will make it harder for both sides to deliver on the deal. Additionally, creditors will now return to Athens will full access to Greek ministers and a veto over current, relevant legislation, intrusions which Tsipras has long rejected.

Tsipras stated that the deal reached will prevent the banking system from collapsing but that it will inevitably harm the Greek economy. His return to Greece will likely include a political backlash that may require him to organize a nationally united government or call for new elections. This would result as Tsipras has greatly backed away from his campaign promises to lift Greek wages and enrich the Greek economy.

While Greece put up a hard fight over the past six months in order to reach an agreement which would allow the country to get back on its feet, it ultimately had to agree to the deal reached in Brussels. Nikos Filis, the parliamentary spokesman for Tsipras’ governing party stated that Greece brutally pressured during the negotiations and accused Germany of “tearing Europe apart” for the third time in the past century.

Greece’s banks remain shut and financial controls will remain as they are when the banks reopen, possibly this week, if Greek lawmakers agree to the deal.

U.S. Eyeing North African Drone Deployment To Combat Rising ISIS Threat

Entertainment News

The Wall Street Journal has reported that the United States is discussing with North African countries the possibility of placing drones in the region. The possible placement of these drones comes as the United States seeks to strengthen its ability to monitor ISIS activity in Libya. As ISIS increasingly moves into North African countries, monitoring its activities becomes crucial to ensuring the region’s safety. Locating a base near Libya would allow the United States military and intelligence officials the ability to have real-time information regarding ISIS activities taking place in Libya.

ISIS allies in Iraq and Syria have recently gained strength in Libya where two competing governments are fighting for control. Militants have taken advantage as a result of the lack of security. Since Muammar Gaddafi’s fall, Libya is the home to factional fighting. Libyan diplomats have left the country; Tripoli’s airport is a shell of itself due to bombing; and oil flow is barely existent. Tunisian newspapers print death notices of jihadists who have died in Syria, Iraq, and also Benghazi, Libya.

Earlier this year, ISIS militants in Libya assaulted the Tripoli Corinthia hotel, killing nine people. ISIS gunmen also attacked Libya’s Al-Mabrook oilfield where some victims were beheaded. The execution of 21 Egyptian Christians by ISIS militants in Libya further illustrates the dangerous reality that ISIS has successfully spread its terror to North Africa. This move has likely attracted more ISIS recruits while increasing Western fears of a new North African base for these militant fighters. As a result of this increased activity, it is understandable why the United States is eager to place drones in the region.

The Wall Street Journal has reported that as of now, no North African country has yet to agree to offer access to a base. It appears that the United States plans to seek permission from a host country to utilize an existing base to place American drones. The U.S. also plans to seek permission to accompany the drones with a limited military presence. Drones launched from the base would have the capability of conducting airstrikes against ISIS targets in Libya. The base would further serve as a launching point for special operatives to conduct missions against militants in the region.

United States allies Egypt and Tunisia border Libya, however officials have declined to identify which possible countries would host the drones.

Study Finds That Despite Bans Toxic Chemicals Still Poisoning Fragile Arctic Wildlife

Culture

Both animals and humans in Alaska and other northern arctic regions are being poisoned by industrial chemicals, pesticides and preservatives, carried on ocean and airs currents according to new reports from environmental groups.

The reports detail a steady build up of these chemicals in the northern latitudes despite the introduction of regulations and treaties banning or restricting their use.

A recent study published in the online Archive of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology, showed that liver and blubber sample analysis from northern fur seals taken over two years from the Bering Sea’s Pribilof Islands, showed the increasing presence of harmful chemicals, and not the decrease the scientists were expecting.

The environmental groups said this could be because of two reasons. Either the treaties and bans were not being observed as they should, or the chemicals stayed in the body for longer than had been expected.

Northern fur seals are found across a region stretching from the coast of Southern California to Japan with 50 percent of the total seal population having breed in the Pribilof Islands.

The poisons were being passed from the seals to other wildlife and humans through the food cycle.

The concerns of the environmental groups have been expressed in The Stockholm Convention which reads “the Arctic ecosystems and indigenous communities are particularly at risk because of the biomagnification of persistent organic pollutants and that contaminants of their traditional foods is a public health issue.”

The Convention, an ongoing work in progress, is regarded as the Bible by environmental groups as it lays down the commandments of what chemicals can and cannot be used.

The United States government signed the Stockholm Convention in 2001 along with 178 other nations but the U.S, Senate has not ratified it.

U.S. Marshals Service Joins FBI In Operating Nationwide Airborne Spying Program

News

New reports have emerged suggesting that large amounts of data are being harvested from American’s cell phones by yet another government agency. According to two informants closely associated with the activity, in an effort to catch criminals the U.S. Marshals Service is mounting cellphone tracking devices on airplanes, joining the FBI is running an air force designed to spy on law abiding citizens.

The U.S. Marshals Service, which is tasked with finding and capturing fugitives as well as to protect the federal judiciary, was revealed to have installed the tracking devices on a fleet of Cessna aircraft which then collect data from all citizens on the ground below. This can include potential criminals as well as law-abiding citizens. The aircraft with the devices operate out of at least five metro-area airports.

The Wall Street Journal was the first to report on this issue last Thursday. In their report, the devices are placed within the walls of planes and are two-foot square in size. The devices work by mimicking cell towers and tricking phones into sharing information such as registration and location with them. For their ability to gather this information inadvertently, these devices have gained the nickname “dirtboxes”.

Although these reports have been surfaced, the Justice Department had not comment on the existence or denial of such devices.

One department official, who requested anonymity, stated “Discussion of sensitive law enforcement equipment and techniques would allow criminal defendants, criminal enterprises or foreign powers to determine our capabilities and limitations in this area”. This official went on to describe how practices such as these devices are always in compliance with the federal law and complete with court approval, though it remains to be seen just how strict oversight is of the both the data collected and its use after collection.

The revelations of yet more domestic spying come as hearings are now being held within federal courts to decide if the NSA’s collection of phone data is breaching the Constitution’s right to privacy. These debates come after Edward Snowden, former National Security Agency contractor, leaked information on how the NSA was collecting phone “metadata” from millions of Americans within the United States. This practice was used to track terrorists, yet many feel it is a direct violation of privacy as comprehensive dossiers now exist on every American citizen.

These reported devices being used in airplanes are similar to ones used by the FBI, called Stingray devices. These are used in vehicles in order to determine the serial numbers of cellphones and to track them. Some judges are questioning whether or not there is enough supportive evidence to enable the use of such indiscriminate tracking devices as the Stingray has the range to penetrate homes and innocent bystanders’ cell phones nearby.

Florida Rally Highlights Deep Divisions On Meaning Of Confederate Flag

News

The Confederate flag is increasingly a big deal for many Americans with recent events being organized to keep this symbol of the South continuing to fly high. While some look at the flag as a symbol of honor and respect for an era, others view the flag as a symbol of slavery and feelings they would rather forget.

The latest pro-flag demonstration saw a convoy of vehicles eight miles long winding its way through a central Florida town on Sunday, in response to its removal from public landmarks throughout the South.

According to police, approximately 1,500 vehicles and more than 4,500 people participated in the “Florida Southern Pride Ride.” Hundreds of car horns honked along with the flying of hundreds of rebel flags. Cars from all over the South and as far as California were in the convoy.

“That flag has a lot of different meanings to a lot of different people,” according to David Stone, organizer of the event. “It doesn’t symbolize hate unless you think it’s hate – and that’s your problem, not mine.”

The event was announced as the South launched an emotional debate over the symbolism of the flag in a Charleston church massacre occurring last month in which nine blacks were killed by a white gunman. The suspect had posted on a website photos of himself posing with the Confederate flag.

Lawmakers in South Carolina have quickly moved to remove the flag from statehouse grounds in Columbia where it has long been viewed as a symbol of slavery.

Similar steps have been taken in Alabama and other municipalities since the massacre in June.
The national outcry to remove this controversial icon from store shelves and public displays is being hit by some determined resistance in portions of the United States.

Those in support of the flag, such as those who participated in Saturday’s event, insist that the flag is a symbol of honor and regional pride, a demonstration of respect for soldiers of the South who died during the American Civil War.

An administrator in Marion County, Florida had ordered the removal of the Confederate flag from the government building, however, last week the order was overruled and the flag is again flying high.

“It’s just about heritage. I’m upset they want to remove a piece of history,” said Jessica McRee, a participant in Sunday’s ride.

Residents of Hurley, Virginia demonstrate their support for the logo of the local high school, which contains the Confederate flag flying from a saber.
The state flag of Mississippi consolidates the Confederate banner and its design, is divided. Hattiesburg has removed all flags from municipal buildings, but just down the road in Petal, they voted to continue to fly the flag at all city buildings.

A special legislative session will not be called by Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant to discuss the issue, resisting urges from other leading state officials to do so. In 2001, Mississippians vigorously pushed to keep the current design of the state flag.

“A backlash is beginning,” said Ben Jones, of Sons of Confederate Veterans, a representative of the relatives of 30,000 Confederate soldiers. “We are putting flags out. Everyone time one is taken down, we put five or six of them up.”

Jones, star of the 1980s hit “The Dukes of Hazard” and former Georgia congressman, said he has been selling out of the General Lee replicas he sells at his in Tennessee and Virginia. The General Lee is an orange stock car with the Confederate flag on the roof.

The Department of Motor Vehicles in North Carolina has sold out of a specialty license plate which features the Confederate flag. More have been ordered, however, in the future, it may be discontinued.

Galina Abdelaziz, 18, stood with others in protest of the parade.

“It’s really discouraging to me to see this in my hometown,” said Abdelaziz.
Last minute changes to where the parade would end had been made in order to avoid ending in a mainly black area whose residents were opposed to the event.

Uber Of China Raises Record $1.5 Billion To Dominate Chinese Taxi Hailing Market

Finance

After a record-breaking funding campaign, hundreds of free rides are now being offered throughout Mainland China by Chinese taxi and car-hailing app Didi Kuaidi. The company has raised enough funds to offer these rides in hundreds of Chinese cities, putting pressure on American ride-sharing giant Uber, which sees China as perhaps its largest market.

Last week, Didi Kuaidi outdid social media giant Facebook when it broke the previous record of $1.5 billion in a single fundraising round. The car service, that combines previous competing apps, Didi Dache and Kuaidi Dache, raised over $2 billion during a single session. With these two companies now together since Februrary, Didi Kuaidi owns more than 90% of the taxi-hailing market in China.

The company joins a list of Chinese internet juggernauts, such as red-hot smartphone maker Xiaomi, ecommerce giant Alibaba and search engine Baidu, who are increasingly rivaling large American tech icons like Apple, Amazon and Google.

For downloading the new Didi Kuadi application, customers will have the opportunity to get a free ride of around 6 miles for about $2.50. This offer is available the 13th and 20th of July. This is being called the “Orange Monday” scheme and is being promoted by several prominent individuals. Some of these people include director Jia Zhangke, founder and chairman of Tencent, Pony Ma Huateng and angel investor Xu Xiapoing.

All of the success from the fundraising campaign leaves Didi Kuaidi with a lot of cash. The company plans to put some of that money towards promoting the “Orange Monday” concept. It is projected that this could cost the taxi-hailing app around $16.3 million, according to research firm Analysys, based on the fact Didi Kuaidi processes about $3 million daily from its rides on the app.

Before merging, both companies spent a total of $80.3 million on passenger and driver subsidies. This proves that the company is not afraid to spend money when it comes to sustaining their share of the market or when reaching for more, which is sure to not be appreciated by rival Uber, who also operates in the country.

After announcing an investment of $1 billion in the China portion of their company, Uber inadvertently placed a large target on their backs and it is thought that the latest promotion by Didi Kuaidi is in reaction to this move.
Uber did not comment on the promotions.

GOP Tires Of Trump, Looks To Ban Him From Upcoming Debates

News

Senior Republicans seem to be tiring of loudmouthed 2016 Presidential candidate Donald Trump and may even be working to ban The Donald from upcoming debates. Trump, who announced his candidacy earlier this year, has been known to speak his mind and to be very blunt in his speeches. Several of these comments, such as ones on international trade and immigration, have landed Trump in the press spotlight and earned him some harsh criticism, not to mention lost endorsement deals. Ironically, some of these critics are even from his own party.

According to an Associated Press report, “Republican donor John Jordan said Monday that GOP leaders should take steps to block Trump’s access to the first presidential debate in early August”. Talking with the Associated Press, Jordan mentioned starting a petition whose signees would refuse to join the GOP debates if Trump were allowed to participate.

With the debates on the horizon and the 2016 Presidential election just around the corner, this is a critical time for both political parties. Members of the GOP, as well as wealthy donors, feel as though the party’s chances in the race are threatened by Trump’s comments. Many members of the Republican party see removing Trump from the debates as a logical solution to the problem.

GOP donor Foster Friess, in a letter to Reince Priebus, Republican National Committee Chairman, pleaded that Trump not be banned from the debates. Friess cited Ronald Reagan’s 11th Commandment: ‘Thou shall not speak ill of a fellow Republican”. Instead of the ban, Friess suggested that the concerned members speak with Trump personally and speak about their concerns in a civil manner.

No party appreciates a candidate who is disruptive and attracts unwanted attention for their comments. With many voters already questioning Trump’s ability to be President, these issues do not bode well for his future as a candidate.

China Has Secretly Arrested Dozens Of Prominent Lawyers And Activists Since Friday

Entertainment News

Over the past few days Chinese authorities have expanded a crackdown on human rights groups resulting in the detainment or questioning of more than 50 lawyers and activists, according to rights groups inside the country.

Citing the familiar excuses of ‘national security’ and ‘stability,’ Chinese president Xi Jinping’s administration continued to tighten government control over virtually every aspect of civil society, a campaign it has waged since taking office in 2012.

These draconian policies, designed to solidify the ruling elite’s grip on the country’s vast resources has resulted in dozens of detainments of Chinese dissents, Tibetans and Uighur minorities.

Human rights group Amnesty International said at least 52 lawyers and activists from Guangzhou, Beijing and Shanghai had been detained or questioned since Friday.

Prominent human rights lawyer Wang Yu and several associates at the Fengrui Law Firm were detained in the repressive crackdown. Fengrui has represented high-profile Uighur dissidents and Zhang Miao, an employee at German newspaper Die Zeit who was detained for over six months recently.

The detentions and questionings are the culmination of a months-long state media campaign to discredit human rights activists who are accused of “undermining national stability” by using social media platforms.

The Communist Party national newspaper The People’s Daily said on Saturday that the government had found Fengrui to be a “major criminal organization” that served as a coordinating “platform” for activists and dissidents.

The paper confirmed the Fengrui employees are being held under “criminal detention.”

Other prominent lawyers abducted by shadowy state police in recent days include Sui Muqing, a notable lawyer in the southern city of Guangzhou and Li Heping, who represented blind dissident Chen Guangcheng.

Over 100 Chinese lawyers released a joint statement on Friday in protest of Wang’s arrest, resulting in many of them being detained according to rights groups.

A U.S. State Department report on human rights released last month found that repression and coercion inside China were the norm and specifically targeted ethnic minorities, activists and law firms that offered legal assistance to such groups.

The Ministry of Public Security refused to comment on the latest string of arrests.

New ISIS Video Showing Hundreds Of Executions Highlights Scope Of War Crimes

Entertainment News

The Islamic State terror group released new video on Sunday of its June 2014 massacre of hundreds of mostly Shiite military recruits in Tikrit, Iraq.

Experts believe that ISIS gunmen captured 1,700 cadets at the Speicher military base near Tikrit and then executed the young soldiers at various locations around the presidential palace complex.

The 22-minute video was posted on islamic extremist web forums and included both new and previously released footage of the atrocities. It depicts hundreds of executions, providing further evidence of the war crimes committed by the group.

The industrial scale executions shown in the video are reminiscent of the Nazi regime, with victims shown falling out of dump trucks and then lying side by side in shallow mass graves while awaiting their turn to be shot.

The killings were a lengthy process that went into the night, requiring an excavator to be used to move the piles of bodies.

Thus far approximately 600 bodies have been exhumed in Tikrit since government and allied fighters retook the city in April but many of the victims were simply dumped into the Tigris river.

An unidentified ISIS leader in a military-style uniform can be seen on the video saying “This is a message I address to the whole world and especially to the Rafidha dogs, I tell them we are coming,” he said, using a derogatory term for Shiite Muslims.

The video comes four days after a court in Baghdad sentenced 24 ISIS officers to death by hanging for their involvement in the Speicher massacre.

The Speicher massacre played a pivotal role in the mass recruitment of Shiite volunteers to take up arms against ISIS and help government forces notch key victories against the violent extremists.

The new evidence also shows the scope of the war crimes committed by the terror network and raises the pressure on the international community to properly address the issue using a concerted military response. The Obama administration has openly admitted to not having a policy in place to deal with ISIS though it has increased air strikes against the terror group since early last week.

Mexican Drug Kingpin Escapes Jail With Mile Long Tunnel

Entertainment News

Mexican authorities were left red faced over the weekend as drug kingpin Joaquin ‘El Chapo’ Guzman broke out of prison yet again, according to the country’s National Security Commission on Sunday.

Mexican authorities have now launched a manhunt to find the drug lord, whom guards at the Altiplano Federal Prison discovered missing during a routine check on Saturday.

Guzman is the legendary boss of the Sinaloa cartel, one of the world’s most powerful and deadly drug trafficking syndicates.

This isn’t the first escape for the well-funded leader. He previously escaped in 2001 from a high security prison inside of a laundry cart, managing to stay out of prison and continuing to run his powerful narcotics distribution business until February, 2014, when he was apprehended at a Mexican beach resort.

The Sinaloa cartel is by far the most dominant drug trafficking organization in Mexico and is thought to be responsible for the heroin epidemic in the northeastern United States.

Also known as ‘Shorty’ for his diminutive size, Guzman has become a larger than life figure as he eluded authorities while building a global drug empire. His life story is so popular in Mexico that it has led to a number of best-selling books and is the subject of folk songs known as ‘narcocorridos’.

In the United States, he is wanted on multiple federal drug trafficking and organized crime charges.

According to the National Security Commission, Guzman was last spotted inside the jail at 8:52pm Saturday evening, where he was caught on surveillance cameras approaching a shower area where prisoners also wash their belongings.

After not seeing Guzman for some time, guards checked his cell and found it empty. According to reports there was a mile long tunnel that connected his cell to the outside world, allowing for the escape.

Officials closed Toluca International Airport, a 45-minute drive from the Altiplano Federal Prison and have launched an intensive manhunt.

Apple Under FTC Scrutiny For Antitrust Violations Related To Music Service

Finance

The United States’ antitrust regulators are investigating claims about Apple’s treatment of rival streaming music apps, according to industry sources.

The allegations surround Apple’s dominant App Store, which is used to download rival streaming music apps like Spotify, Rdio, Jango, Rhapsody and other rivals.

Because Apple takes a 30 percent share of all in-app purchases for digital goods, such as music streaming subscriptions, $9.99 charged by the industry for monthly music subscriptions means that Apple’s 30 percent cut forces them to either charge more in the App Store or be content with lower margins.

The Federal Trade Commission has confirmed they are examining the issue but have not begun a formal investigation according to well placed sources. Yet the agency has held multiple meetings with concerned parties though this is generally considered routine.

While the FTC and Apple refused to comment, rival music services were vocal about the impact of the hefty distribution tax which is unavoidable if you wish to reach Apple users. While customers are able to sign up for rival streaming services through their Web browser and avoid the Apple tax, streaming industry sources argue this is an inefficient distribution channel as Apple users are conditioned to use the App Store for virtually all purchases made on their devices.

Tyler Goldman, North American CEO of rival service Deezer,was sharply critical about the roughly one third Apple takes from his monthly subscription revenues.

“The margin in music is quite small, and the App Store diminishes the margin. It will be an issue for the industry going forward. You can either raise your prices and not be competitive with Apple’s price, or you can have no margin,” he said.

Two other industry insiders highlight that the antitrust concerns stem from restrictions Apple imposes in the App Store, specifically the banning of advertising in the app that informs users that the company is on other platforms, a ban on linking to a company’s own website from within the app and a ban on ads inside the app that show consumers how to buy directly from a company’s website. The policies effectively ban any app downloaded through the App Store from informing users about other distribution channels.

Rival platform operators Google, which also has its own streaming music services, places far fewer restrictions on what apps can and cannot do once they have been installed on a user’s device.

The investigation is likely to center around whether Apple’s music service is actually a monopoly. Its iTunes music business dominates the digital music industry yet its share of the global smartphone market is small, with Google’s Android operating system accounting for 78.9 percent. But Apple consumers account for over 70 percent of online download revenue, providing plenty of ammunition for and against the idea that Apple is a monopoly.

As the Justice Department was successful in prosecuting Apple for colluding with publishers to prop up the prices of ebooks, the FTC may feel the need to look especially close at Apple and its aggressive business practices.

Samsung Working On Super Vivid 3D Displays For Its Mobile Phones

Finance

Korea’s Electronic Times reported late this week that Samsung is pushing for the mobile industry to skip 4K high resolution displays and go straight to 11K ones, a significant performance increase over current display technology.

According to reports Samsung started work on an 11K mobile display at the beginning of June this year, working with a team of its own researchers and those from 13 other companies along with financial support from the South Korean government. The government is investing $26.5 million dollars in the project over the next five years with the goal of creating a display that will have a pixel density of 2250 pixels per inch (ppi).

For comparison, the screen on the company’s latest phone, the Galaxy S6 edge, has a pixel density of just 557ppi, even though it is incredibly vivid. Samsung’s reason for pushing for higher pixel density on the 11K displays could be because at that resolution the displays produce a 3D-like effect, meaning the company could offer 3D displays without the need to awkward glasses.

Samsung is apparently targeting a final version to be released during the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics in 2018.

Uber Faces Off Against California Court Over Claim Its Drivers Aren’t Employees

Finance

Embattled taxi hailing app Uber argued in court this week that the 160,000 drivers who offer people rides for money via the company’s app are not actually its employees.

Uber, which claims to only provide the software to connect riders and taxis, told the California Northern District Court that its popular app was only a “lead generation” tool, and that drivers are independent contractors and not hired employees.

Uber’s central claim seems to be that drivers are a “diverse group” who use the service in different ways.

“Drivers also vary widely regarding whether they work for a transportation company; operate their own transportation companies; hire subcontractors; use competitors’ apps; use the Uber App consistently or sporadically; and use entrepreneurial profit maximization techniques, such as targeting busy areas of town or driving during periods of surge pricing,” Uber said to the court.

The stakes are high for the company as the outcome of the court case could help fend off a class-action lawsuit filed on behalf of drivers who argue that Uber doesn’t give them a fair cut of the profits and encourages riders not to tip.

Uber’s argument about drivers being “unique” in how they use the service if different ways is an attempt to show that the class-action plaintiffs don’t accurately represent all of the company’s drivers.

“Relying on outdated law and scant evidence, plaintiffs seek to certify a statewide class of over 160,000 individuals with widely varying personal interests and circumstances who have used the Uber lead generation application to connect with millions of passengers over the past six years,” Uber wrote to the court.

“They base their motion on a facially implausible theory that each and every one of these individuals had an identical relationship with Uber and has been misclassified as an independent contractor.”

The case, which could radically alter how the company does business, is just one of many lawsuits Uber continues to face over the legality of its business practices. Uber operates a fleet of private cars and also offers controversial ride-sharing services where both taxis and personal vehicles owners can share rides.

Cities around the world, most recently Paris and Sydney, have banned the ride-sharing service, known as “UberPop” or “UberX”, for being an unlicensed taxi provider.

Silicon Scammer Ellen Pao Forced Out As CEO Of Reddit

Finance

After weeks of messy protests which saw Reddit, one of the internet’s largest communities, lose users due to a string of poorly made decisions, interim CEO Ellen Pao has resigned. Former CEO and co-founder Steve Huffman will replace her.

While board member and Y Combinator president Sam Altman said “She did an incredible job, she stepped into a really messy situation,” it remains unclear why Pao was brought in to be CEO in the first place given she was obviously under-qualified and had just attempted to extort her former employer in a very public lawsuit which she eventually lost.

At the time of her hiring Pao was an underperforming lower-level associate at influential venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield Byers who had never run a large company was not particularly well regarded in the tech community.

It also remains unclear just how incredible a job she did after a recent string of policy decisions, including the firing of popular employee Victoria Taylor, led to a mass revolt against the site and spawned a host of competitors.

Pao, who became interim CEO in November 2014, claimed the decision to resign was mutual after failing to agree with the board on how fast Reddit is able to grow its user base.

Yet the decision was clearly aided by an online petition calling for Pao’s resignation which collected more than 200,000 signatures in a matter of days. The rapid push by the community to get rid of Pao underscores the frustrations about a lack of communication between the site’s owner’s and its moderators, who are critical to the site yet are unpaid volunteers.

While some of the company’s new policies, such as removing communities about fat shaming, racism and revenge porn, are clearly long needed the changes also saw many other more grey area communities shut down which threatened the site’s reputation as an influential forum for open expression.

Many Reddit users openly complained about the lack of clarity surrounding the company’s policies.

It remains to be seen if the community and its strangely acting board of directors can undo the damage of the Pao era before users flee to other competitors. For more information on Ellen Pao and her attempted extortion, check out our coverage here and here.

DOJ Pilot Project To Give Public Online Access To All Freedom Of Information Documents

News

The U.S. Department of Justice today announced a trial of a program that will publish documents online that have been successfully requested through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), a move that would vastly expand access to documents that are public records.

Called “Release-to-One Release-to-All” policy, the six month long trial will give the public online access to almost any FOIA request from many federal agencies including the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Millennium Challenge Corporation, and some areas of the Department of Homeland Security, the National Archives and Records Administration, the Department of Justice and Defense,, the Department of Justice Defense.

The media release announcing the trial noted it came just days after the July 4th 49th anniversary of the Freedom of Information Act which ” embodies the Federal
Government’s commitment to public accountability through transparency.”

The release said the Department of Justice already encouraged federal agencies to publish FOIA responses online when there had been three or more requests for the information, but the trial expands that policy allowing for the on-line publishing of FOIA responses after just one request

It said such policy “raises implementation challenges and questions” and that is why the program is only a trial at this stage to “determine the viability of implementing such a policy for all Federal agencies subject to the FOIA”.

The release invited the public to give feedback and welcomed “innovative ideas and suggestions for overcoming the implementation challenges.”

Its unclear how expansive the program would become if successful or what precisely will happen at the end of the six months. The program is likely to prove popular with users, who increasingly access all their information online and may even result in digital files being delivered, a step that would make examining public records easier as presently they must be examined manually, without the use of Find tools or digital comparison software.

NYSE Says Software Update, Not Hackers, Caused Wednesday’s Market Failure

Finance

A “software update” has been blamed for a “system shutdown” which brought trading at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) to a grinding halt on Wednesday.

Because the Stock Exchange computer crash occurred on the same day as that of the computer systems of United Airlines, causing massive air traffic disruption for several hours, and the Wall Street Journal’s (WSJ) website, there was widespread speculation that the systems had been hacked.

Although United and WSJ have not yet given precise explanations for their crashes both have denied they were the result of hackers or unauthorized use.

The NYSE however today released a statement that said a planned software update was the cause of a system shutdown that stopped trading for more than three hours.

In a statement said “there were communication issues between customer gateways and the trading unit with the new release:. It said the gateways were “not loaded with the proper configuration compatible with the new release.”

The statement said once trading was stopped it “began the process of canceling all open orders, working with customers to reconcile orders and trades, restarting all customer gateways and failing [sic] over to back-up trading units located in our Mahwah, NJ datacenter so trading could be resumed in a normal state. ”

Some experts are saying the WSJ website crashed because of a sudden rush of traffic caused by people looking for answers as to why the NYSE had stopped trading.

The WSJ site came back on a few hours after crashing in a very basic and bare bones format.

Computer and cybersecurity experts said all three organizations affected on Wednesday relied on massive computer systems with complex automated software with millions of lines of computer code. They said it would only take one error such as misplaced test to bring them crashing down.

Cybersecurity expert Joshua Corman summed it up by saying “Increased dependence on undependable things allows for cascading failures”.

Plan To Ban Encryption Would Leave Door Open For Hackers

News

The United Kingdom’s quest to ban strong encryption, and reduce the privacy rights of internet users, has gotten so extreme that it could even result in popular apps like Whatsapp being banned in the country. James Comey, FBI Director, and David Cameron, the British Prime Minister have encouraged tech companies to end the use of end-to-end encryption despite the technology being key to protecting users from hackers and widely used in popular consumer products like Whatsapp. According to a group of leading computer experts, the government efforts to weaken online security are causing “extreme economic harm” and are frankly “unworkable”.

In response to the proposals the world’s most prominent computing experts argue that lessening security “will open doors through which criminals and malicious nation states can attack the very individuals law enforcement seeks to defend.” Tech companies argue that leaving vulnerabilities in for surveillance agencies is risky as others will take advantage and exploit the weaknesses too.

A group of noted computer scientists wrote a 26-page report entitled “Keys Under Doormats.” The title is a mockery of the vulnerability they feel the new legislation will cause. In the report, they argue that the challenge is “even greater today than it would have been 20 years ago”. Another report helped to prevent the passing of similar legislation in the past.

Publishers of the report argue that any legislation that seeks to alter online security should be “approached with caution”. They also argue that deliberately inserting or leaving a vulnerability inside popular software could yield unintended and unpredictable consequences due to the interconnectedness of today’s technology.

Prominent figures of several tech companies are beginning to weigh in on the issue. Tim Cook, current CEO of Apple, is a strong supporter of people’s right to privacy online and strong encryption. Facebook commented that the decision to weaken encryption could result in a host of different security problems. This proves to be a critical decision with regards to people’s’ online privacy and the protection of their information and is yet another example of ‘lazy policing’, where law enforcement seeks legal end-arounds to laws, regulations and procedures that make policing more challenging yet serve a vital purpose.

South Carolina Removes Confederate Flag From Civil War Memorial

News

South Carolina removed a confederate flag over a confederate war memorial in a ceremony that didn’t at all suggest that the Confederate Flag flying in the grounds of the South Carolina State House for the last 50 years was a pariah.

The ceremony was nearly as much of a pageant as one would expect for the laying to rest of a Southern hero, highlighting the deep cultural significance of the issue on both sides of the debate.

The flag’s removal follows days of emotional debate in the South Carolina State Legislature and across the nation, sparked by events following the gunning down last month of nine black members of Charleston’s Emmanuel Africa Methodist Church during a bible study class. The shooting was allegedly carried out by 21 year old self confessed white supremacist Dylann Roof, who had posed with a Confederate flag in on-line photos.

Since the Civil War the flag was seen by many as a symbol of racism and slavery while others viewed it as a symbol of Southern Pride. Polls taken after the June shooting showed that overall the flag divide was fairly even and had been that way for the last 15 years.

The flag will now be housed at the Confederate Relic Room and Military Museum which more than likely means it will now be seen by more people than it would have had it been allowed to fly at the State House.

For those that supported the removal of the flag, today’s ceremony was an emotive event.

Emeritus professor of social sciences and humanities at the College of Charleston Jack Bass said “This is a high moment for South Carolina. It’s significant. It could be a turning point.”

Professor Bass said it was not clear if the flag lowering and removal, a rare win for liberalism in a conservative Republican state, would result in other policy changes favored by Civil Rights activists and liberals

Theresa Burgess, a south Carolina native said the flags removal would bring to a close “decades of racism, decades of what this flag symbolizes”.

“I thought about all of the African-Americans that lost their lives because of the flag, because of the hatred that this flag symbolizes,” she said . “I knew that a lot of Americans would have loved to be here today.”

Ironically Ms Burgess and Professor Bass along with others at the flag lowering today sat near the statue of Ben Tillman, a former governor of South Carolina and a white supremacist. “

America’s Four Largest Airlines Under Investigation For Keeping Ticket Prices High

Finance

Ever wonder why airline ticket prices always seem so close regardless of which airline you’re looking at? A group flyers is curious too and has sued the nation’s four largest airline carriers, alleging they are colluding to intentionally keep ticket prices high. The flyers allege that with the decrease in fuel costs, airline tickets should have gone down as well, however, they have not. Ticket prices have remained high and the carriers, in addition to the civil suit, are under investigation by the Department of Justice.

America’s four biggest carriers-United, Southwest, Delta and American-are being sued by a group of flyers who allege that the carriers have been working together to keep the price of tickets high. Last week, America’s Department of Justice announced it was going to investigate the airline carriers about the same issue. The issue is the fact that despite the decrease in fuel costs, the prices have not decreased. As explained by the Wall Street Journal:

The U.S. airline industry is enjoying some of its strongest profits ever, after years of consolidation and the past year’s plunge in the price of fuel, which had been the industry’s biggest cost. U.S. carriers have earned nearly $25 billion since the start of 2013, after a $33 billion loss the previous decade, according to government data.

Meanwhile, airfares have risen, though slightly. Government data shows that from 2007 to 2014, the average U.S. domestic fare increased 5% to $391, adjusted for inflation. Still, inflation-adjusted fares are down 16.3% from their peak in 2000. Other data from Airlines Reporting Corp., an aviation data firm, show domestic fares have generally decreased so far this year.

Making the charges stick might not be very easy. It is unlikely that the airlines have been intentionally trying to cheat customers; few expect a paper trail to be found. If a scam has in fact happened, it is more likely the airlines have quietly shied away from the competition for certain routes, giving incumbents the ability to set prices.

Even if it is determined to be true, it is not proof of price gouging. The mantra of “capacity discipline” is being repeated by airline leaders in an attempt to not expand their services too quickly because they are making money again. This is being looked at by some as an indication of corruption. The issue is the fact that airlines for years were losing billions and were criticized for not trimming back enough on their routes. “Capacity discipline” does not prove tacit collusion; it may just prove good management. Airlines need to attempt to make profit; for years airlines sold tickets for less than what it cost them to fly their planes.

The bigger problem is the number of competitors. American regulators allowed the consolidation of the seven major carriers into four carriers for well-known reasons: they were poorly run, and many were forced to gain Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection from their creditors. But, with the mergers having been approved, for officials to complain about a lack of big airlines in order to guarantee competition, would be slightly inappropriate.

The issue could easily be dealt with if America really was serious. They could simply allow entry to the domestic aviation market, allowing foreign competitors such as Emirates, Ryanair and others to fly any route they wanted. Both the European Union and the Middle East to offer airlines outside their regions the same courtesy. Of course, that will not happen. It is far easier for the incumbents to be reprimanded.

George W. Bush Under Fire For Charging $100K To Speak To Wounded Vets

News

George W. Bush is facing harsh criticism after he charged $100,000 to give a speech to a group of wounded veterans, a majority of which were injured in the two wars that Bush started while holding office. The criticism that Bush is facing comes at a time when there is much discussion about members from both parties and the money they make from public speeches.

In a report by ABC News members of the Helping a Hero, a Texas-based charity, admitted that it cost them $100,000 to have Bush speak back in 2012. The speech was made to a group of veterans who had lost limbs in the wars of Iraq and Afghanistan. It doesn’t help Bush’s situation to know that he spent $20,000 to make it to the event. In addition, former First Lady Laura Bush charged $50,000 to speak to the same group the year prior.

A Marine wounded in the war, Eddie Wright, commented on the fees from Bush, “The point here is that a leader should not charge to speak on behalf of the men that he sent into combat, at any level, let alone the commander in chief.” One board member made a statement to CNN saying that Bush should have denied the payment.

The Helping a Hero charity was involved in a lawsuit that was eventually settled out of court. The Texas charity reportedly was coercing veteran’s wives into selling beauty products as well as illegally siphoning money from the charity.

Despite negative attention from the press, leading members of Helping a Hero have come forth to support former President Bush for his speech. This speech alone helped the charity make over $3 million. Previous speeches in the past featuring Bush have been just as lucrative for the charity.

In a comment at the U.S. Chambers of Commerce event, Bush made a statement about dedicating the rest of his life to support the veterans and the problems they face when returning home from battle.

French Company Patents Awful Sounding Face To Face Airline Seats

Finance

There is a theory about flying economy class that suggests airlines deliberately make it such a horrible experience that next time a passenger books a flight they will pay to be upgraded to business class, or at least economy plus.

That theory has become even more plausible with news that some airlines are looking into a new economy seating configuration called “Economy Class Cabin Hexagon.” Travel and design experts are calling the configuration a “truly nightmarish idea” that falls between something “between Saw and The Twilight Zone”.

The idea is the brainchild of French manufacturer Zodiac Seats and involves ripping out the already much dreaded and to be avoided middle seat in economy class seating rows, and turning it 180 degrees so that it virtually faces backwards.

The idea is to create maximum space which obviously means airlines can introduce more seats in cabins that already resemble sardine packed jars, or those packed hen houses which animal rights activists love to point to, but Zodiac obviously thinks their “Economy Class Cabin Hexagon” is a great idea. The company has patented the configuration with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).

In the patent application documents, Zodiac explained the seating configuration would “increase cabin density while also creating seat units that increase the space available at the shoulder and arm area.”.

Critics of the move although agreeing more shoulder space was a possibility, said that in reality there were many more cons than pros.

These included more created space allowing airlines to increase the number of seats, the joy of the distraction from looking at the “in-flight entertainment screen being supplemented with persistent eye contact from your neighbors” , more unavoidable hand and knee contact, more possibility of your neighbor “accidently” groping your thigh, and the big one – having your crotch in and at your neighbor’s face and eye level when you stood up to go to the bathroom.

There have been other cooky suggestions made to increase on-board space – standing only short haul flights, introduction of virtual reality helmets for privacy – but thankfully these have remained just suggestions which is what critics of “Economy Class Cabin Hexagon” hope is its future.

Coke Drops Can Labels To Promote Tolerance

Finance

No more labels on Coca-Cola? That is just what Coca-Cola wants everyone to imagine: A life without labels. Partly in honor of the Muslim holiday of Ramadan, which comes to an end on July 17th, Coke has introduced the latest version of its iconic red and white can featuring Coke’s signature ribbon but no “Coca-Cola.”

This was intentional in an effort to promote drinkers to be more open-minded and tolerant. The message “Labels are for cans, not people” will be found on the backs of cans.

A video, released by the beverage giant, outlines the idea behind the company’s campaign.

Prejudices can be developed in a matter of seconds, so the company decided to bring six men together in a dark room to talk about their lives. As the men talked, they shared their thoughts about how the others looked, just to have those assumptions smashed – one man had tattoos covering his face and was a cognitive psychologist, another was a well-dressed heavy metal musician – when lights were turned on.

This is all part of Coca-Cola’s “Let’s take an extra second” campaign.

While what Coke is doing is creative, it is not the first time a company has tried something like this.

Coke is just one of many companies to join forces with marketing and social activities, the results have been somewhat mixed. Starbucks suffered from backlash when they asked their baristas to talk about race relations with its customers as a part of its “Race Together” movement.

Dove and Nike are just two examples of companies that have been able to capitalize on social advocacy. In 2013 Dove’s “Real Beauty Sketches” addressed self-esteem issues in women and went viral. Two pictures were drawn of one woman by a forensic artist, one using the description giving from someone else and the other from the woman’s own description of herself, to show women they are more attractive than they think. In an ad with a young boy running to be healthy, Nike was able to employer others to “Find Your Greatness.”

“Dumb Ways to Die,” a campaign in Australia linked to increasing railway safety in Melbourne, Australia, is an animated musical video about a variety different preventable ways individuals put their lives at risk and is one of the best-known social-good advertisements.

The 2015 Super Bowl was no exception, where ad space is usually reserved for comedic ads, became an advocacy platform with an onslaught of “dad-vertising” commercials showing their appreciation for fathers.

China Working On 125 Mile Undersea Tunnel To The U.S.

Entertainment News

China’s rise as a global superpower has resulted in no shortage of ambition. The country has a rapidly evolving space program, wants to construct its own version of the Panama Canal and is now seriously exploring a railway route from Beijing to the United States.

The route would see passengers travel under the Bering Strait to Alaska, Canada and eventually America.

The 8,000 mile journey would require two undersea tunnels. One would run from Russia to the Big Diomede Island, and one from Little Diomede Island to Alaska. The three miles that separate the two islands would either be crossed by a bridge or tunnel.

The Diomede Islands are the only land masses between Russia and Alaska.

While the idea of connecting Russia to Alaska has been around for over 100 years, advances in technology and China’s huge appetite for mega-scale infrastructure projects mean such an idea is no longer the realm of science fiction.

Leading the effort complete the ambitious project is Wang Meng-shu, one of China’s top railway construction engineers and a scholar with the Chinese Academy of Engineering specializing in tunnel and underground projects.

According to Chinese website Sina, Meng-shu has developed the plans for a route from northeast China through the Bering Strait. The plan, which he has been working on for nearly a decade, would have over 140 miles of tunnels, though constructed in at least two segments.

While the proposed project is breathtakingly ambitious it is also technically feasible, according to analysts who follow the Chinese infrastructure sector.

The 8,000 mile journey would take two days of travel at about yet as the international date line splits the islands it would only ‘take’ one day.

While it is easy to dismiss the idea its important to remember that China has a number of ambitions train projects in the works, including a massive rail network to connect it with Russia and eventually the middle east.

It is also experimenting with a Hyperloop-style enclosed system which could see speeds of 1,800 miles per hour.