Category: Comment on News | Page 3

April 8, 2014

Is US Posturing Again Over Ukraine Unrest?

Is Kerry Posturing Over Ukraine Unrest?

Today US Secretary of State John Kerry claimed that Russian secret agents and special forces have caused the unrest in several Ukraine areas. http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/04/08/us-ukraine-crisis-idUSBREA370RU20140408 Kerry provided no evidence in support of his claims.

In Luhansk, Ukraine, separatists took temporary control of a government building and raided its armory of rifles and ammunition. Western politicians allege that those separatists also took 60 hostages and secreted bombs throughout the building. Several separatists have denied those Western claims. No proof of the politicians’ claims has been provided any reporters. http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/sns-rt-us-ukraine-crisis-20140408,0,4945134.story

Russian politicians have voiced concerns over Russian-speaking people in eastern Ukraine and the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement expressing fear over potential civil war. http://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2014/04/08/Russia-Civil-war-in-Ukraine-possible/4831396962909/

To HFS, the obvious issue concerns what Russia might do next. The US and other western politicians appear to be drumming up their domestic support for possible intervention, although to HFS that alternative should be the very last on any list of options. The Russian politicians appear to be waiting anxiously to see how the Russian speakers in Ukraine fare, fearing violence and civil war, but willing if necessary to consider additional action if necessary. None of it sounds good to HFS analysts. What do you think?

April 7, 2014

Seawater Will Fuel US Navy Planes and Ships

The US Navy announced today it has mastered the science of using seawater to fuel ships and planes. To Dr. Heather Wilhauer, a research scientist who has specialized on this problem, the success of test runs with the new tech amounts to “game-changing” advantages to the US war machine. http://news.yahoo.com/us-navy-game-changer-converting-seawater-fuel-150544958.html

Development of liquid hydrocarbon fuel from seawater has occupied the attention of scientists worldwide for decades. What is it: A gas-to-liquids process begins by separating carbon dioxide from hydrogen in sea water and then a catalytic converter generates liquid fuel from those products. http://www.afp.com/en/node/2262804 and http://www.industrytap.com/seawater-fuel-another-breakthrough-for-alternative-fuel-sources/492

Gas-to-liquids technology has been used for years in the refinery process. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gas_to_liquids To some tech news watchers, even the Navy announcement is old news leaked more than 6 months ago, and since those leaks they have ‘played’ with the gas-to-liquids fuels in remote-control airplanes. http://gizmodo.com/an-rc-plane-that-flies-on-seawater-fuel-1559941971

HFS analysts note that most Americans, as well as virtually everyone else in the world, considers the Navy’s news both amazing and troublesome. Granted, war machines like the USA’s Department of Defense have historically invented and tested a majority of new technologies, so there’s no surprise about the US Navy coming up with something game-changing, such as gas-to-liquids technology. Nonetheless, many world citizens, even many Americans, prefer to apply new science to peaceful endeavors, not better killing and breaking systems. At least, that’s the HFS view. What do you think?

April 6, 2014

LDS Women Seek Church Doctrine Change On Priesthood

Ushers at the Salt Lake Tabernacle turned away several hundred women and their few male supporters who sought admittance to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints meeting for its male members, called the annual Priesthood Meeting, last evening. http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/04/06/us-usa-mormon-women-idUSBREA340O720140406 and http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2014-04-05/news/sns-rt-us-usa-mormon-women-20140405_1_mormon-women-mormon-church-temple-square

One report of the incident described how an usher hugged a distraught young woman who was denied entrance, advising her sympathetically to watch the live Priesthood Meeting online. The Church, a worldwide organization with more than half its membership outside the USA, broadcasts via Internet, satellite, television, and radio all of its annual and semi-annual meetings as of this April’s conference. http://www.mormonnewsroom.org

Last weekend, the General Women’s Conference of the Church was held for the first time in the same location that the General Conference was held this week. The Priesthood Meeting occurred as it has for decades on the Saturday evening in the third of five 2-hour sessions associated with the annual and semi-annual General Conferences. http://www.mormonnewsroom.org/article/first-presidency-announces-new-general-womens-meeting

HFS analysts note that in the General Women’s Conference, male priesthood leaders presided over and spoke along with women leaders of the Church. Those same male leaders presided over and some spoke at the General Conference, and a few women have or will speak there too. The difference is partly symbolic, that is, who sits in the seats of honor to lead the meetings. However, the difference goes much further based on what latter-day saints proclaim is direct revelation through their prophets. Specifically, LDS prophets declare that Jesus Christ heads the church, not any mortal man or woman, and He directs that only male members should be given His authority, called Priesthood authority in the Church today. Women members of the Church pressing to enter the male-only Priesthood meeting seek to pressure the presiding prophet, Thomas S. Monson, to change the doctrine that limits priesthood ordination to males, believing less in divine revelation and more in woman-made change. To HFS analysts, the implicit clash between the Church’s leaders and a few of its women seems like a Wile E. Coyote butting its head against a large desert mountain. What do you think?

April 4, 2014

Israel Approves Controversial Jerusalem Building Permits

Israel’s Interior Ministry announced approval of building permits today for a visitor center to be built in the predominately Arab subdivision of Silwan. Currently the approved construction site has been used as a parking lot across from Dung Gate just outside Jerusalem’s Old City walls. The ministry’s primary reason given for deciding contrary to strong Palestinian objections in last week’s public permit hearing was published as supporting city development to show archaeological discoveries from the region. http://www.afp.com/en/node/2252857 and http://www.ntd.tv/en/news/world/middle-east-/-africa/20140404/122394-israel-approves-archaeological-project-in-east-jerusalem.html and http://news.yahoo.com/israel-okays-disputed-e-jerusalem-archaeology-project-092655792.html

Analysts at HFS argue that Israel’s approval of the archaeological construction project responds directly to Palestinian applications for inclusion in 15 international treaties despite strong opposition from Israel. http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=47490&Cr=palestin&Cr1=#.Uz78gLKwXrg

Those Palestinian applications arose when Israel declined to release convicted Palestinians held in prison, which Israel had earlier promised if and when ongoing peace talks succeeded. http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/04/world/middleeast/mideast-peace-talks.html?_r=0

The peace talks appear to be prematurely concluded. http://www.ntd.tv/en/news/world/middle-east-/-africa/20140331/120385-palestinians-said-israel39s-talks-proposal-is-a-39blackmail39.html

To HFS’s way of thinking, the talks never had a real chance of success, and US Secretary of Kerry simply wasted time and money attempting to push those talks into existence. What do you think?

April 4, 2014

Global Cooling Most Dependable for Serious Investors

Are Global Warming Advocates Just Full of Hot Air? Is Global Cooling a More Accurate Characterization?

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released Part 5 of its global warming warning in January 2014 to let the world know how perilous continuation on the present industrialization path should be perceived in the context of climate change. https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar5/wg1/

At just about the time that report was coming out, snow covered Cairo for the first time in 112 years. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/12/13/cairo-snow_n_4441049.html

In the United States, 2013 showed the largest one-year temperature drop ever recorded, and that year now stands as one of the coldest in history. http://iceagenow.info/2013/12/2013-ten-coldest-years-history/

The volume of Antarctic ice has reached record high levels this year. http://www.reportingclimatescience.com/news-stories/article/latest-data-shows-arctic-ice-volume-has-increased.html And new data about the level of the Antarctic land mass shows how wrong past judgments have been due to faulty data. http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-21692423

From HFS analysis, investors closely watching weather for signals on when to buy and sell stocks related directly to temperature changes, no one should depend on any IPCC reports. What can investors depend on?

One answer has been offered by http://www.accesswire.com in a three-part series of analyses based on less popular yet reliable weather data. In a recent publication of the first part, ‘global cooling’ most accurately describes how weather is now changing and how it will most likely continue to change over the next two decades. Here at HFS, we call that a trend. The trend appears to be measured almost exclusively on the basis of sun activity, not human activity on earth. Such a new and perhaps radical view of climate change, from an investor’s standpoint, deserves close watching. What do you think?

April 2, 2014

US Supreme Court Increases Campaign Finance Levels as Part of Free Speech

Free Speech Includes Big Political Money, Say Supremes

The US Supreme Court decided today that free speech includes the freedom to contribute larger amounts of money than allowed by existing campaign finance laws. The aggregate amount permitted under past law reached $123,200 per two years, the length of the federal political cycle. With today’s change to that law, the aggregate amount has climbed to $5,900,000. http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/04/02/us-usa-court-election-idUSBREA3116V20140402

How does the “aggregate amount” calculation work, exactly? Current campaign finance laws limit the amount an individual may pay for an single candidate (or that candidate’s election committee) to $2,600 in the current two-year election cycle, 2013 – 2014. In the same period, an individual may contribute no more than $32,400 to a national political party. Under today’s ruling by the Supremes, a “joint fundraising committee” controlled by an elected incumbent or a party official, may accept the aggregate amount of $5.9 M for the current cycle, with that amount inching upwards in future cycles. Such a joint fundraising committee, through either the incumbent or official, may distribute that cash to an array of candidates or their committees locally and statewide. http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/26/527 and http://www.elections.il.gov/campaigndisclosure/faq.aspx and http://www.fec.gov/ans/answers_general.shtml

The change in fundraising laws means that the 2012 big contributors, of whom there were 541, will likely put much more money into politics in exchange for much more influence over politicians, say HFS analysts. Of course, most people have less than a hundred dollars to contribute to political causes, if they play political fundraising games at all. Donated time tends to be the currency of choice for the majority of individuals with political passion. So the law impacts only the very rich, who already have lifestyles and connections most Americans do not understand in the least. And those very wealthy people understand the rest of us even less well. How this cultural divide might unfold in politics remains uncertain because many wealthy contributors cancel out one another in the larger picture, leaving the key influences, good ideas for our times, still in the driver’s seat of American politics. That’s what HFS analysts say, but what do you think?

March 31, 2014

More NSA Treachery Discovered By Academics

NSA Worse Than Previously Thought

Just when many believe the US National Security Agency (NSA) could not reach any lower in world judgment about NSA ethics, another report came out today shedding new light on NSA treachery and double dealing. https://www.commondreams.org/headline/2014/01/30-1

Most in the cyber security field have heard already about how RSA, a well-respected pioneer of cyber security through development of encryption tech, had developed a now-useless cryptology for NSA that became the default software used by most commercial computer programs. That cryptology used software into which NSA software engineers placed a backdoor, enabling NSA to hack the majority of computer programs and related communications worldwide just a few years ago. http://www.newsweek.com/exclusive-nsa-infiltrated-rsa-security-more-deeply-thought-study-238906

Now the picture looks worse. Several professors from different universities, including from John Hopkins, Wisconsin, and Illinois, discovered additional NSA tools in the RSA program that accelerated the hacking efficiency by a factor of more than 10,000. That means NSA had no real challenge getting around all RSA security measures very rapidly to decipher all Internet traffic of those using that predominant RSA program. http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/03/31/us-usa-security-nsa-rsa-idUSBREA2U0TY20140331

Based on HFS surveys and analysis, many today find the behavior of Edward Snowden, who disclosed and continues disclosing to the world data he illegally took from the NSA while working there as a contractor, committed unforgivable treason against his nation. At the same time, those surveyed hold the NSA equally at fault for NSA’s deceptive, abusive, illegal spying domestically and abroad. Combining the bad behavior of both Snowden and NSA, the US has lost credibility in the hearts and minds of its allies, leaving open the door to its competitors for control of the Internet.

What do you think?

March 30, 2014

Apple Litigation: Add Class Action to Conviction on Anti-trust Price Fixing Case

From early reports, no one believed Apple and its gang of merry publishers would lose a law suit over ebook price fixing. http://articles.latimes.com/2012/apr/14/business/la-fi-apple-antitrust-20120414 An early cadre of experts confidently predicted Apple victory. http://venturebeat.com/2012/04/12/apple-price-fixing/ With righteous indignation, Apple demanded its day in court. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/19/apple-trial-ebook_n_1435662.html

Most expected some relatively minor back room settlements, at the worst. http://www.wired.com/business/2012/03/justice-dept-threatens-apple-publishers-with-price-fixing-lawsuits-report/

That was, until publishers fell away paying rather hefty settlements. http://www.techradar.com/us/news/computing/apple/apple-left-alone-to-fight-ebook-price-fixing-suit-as-macmillan-settles-1130485

Then Apple and every publisher remaining in the case were found guilty of Sherman antitrust violations. Apple paid a $166 M fine. And Wiki padded its archives with rich details about Apple’s ongoing litigation. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_Inc._litigation and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_v._Apple_Inc.

Today Apple settled parallel price fixing charges in Europe. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/mediatechnologyandtelecoms/electronics/9217264/Apple-offers-to-settle-ebook-price-fixing-row-in-Europe-but-will-fight-case-in-the-US.html

But there’s still more to come in this story. The US District Court decision to place a monitor to oversee Apple’s pricing and management of publishers (read more at http://hamiltonfinanceservices.com/?p=1042) received approval from the US Court of Appeals. Now that monitor stands fully in place and at the ready to keep (untrustworthy) Apple away from more ebook price-fixing.

The result of the “radical monitoring decision” (as Apple called it, in its legal brief to appeal the monitoring decision) suggests bad news for Apple as the class action lawsuit for price fixing of its ebooks passes another legal hurdle. Instead of just the federal and numerous state attorney generals hounding Apple Inc., hundreds of angry customers have been certified to proceed with a class action case this coming July or so. http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/03/29/us-apple-ebooks-idUSBREA2R1Y120140329

The now-certified class for the big suit makes Apple’s earlier $166 M settlement for price fixing look trivial, say HFS analysts. These analysts expect Apple to fight tooth and nail over every legal inch, and no one today can predict where that combat might lead, although early indications suggest that US District Judge Denise Cote, who now sits on the class action case, has already demonstrated both her grasp of the legal complexities and her disdain for Apple’s lack of contrition. HFS will continue reporting on this ‘made for bloggers’ legal pageantry as the parade progresses.

As far as you can tell, who will prevail in the end? Customers, Apple, US and European governments? What do you think?

March 28, 2014

Journalists Targets of Government-Sponsored Cyber Attacks

Journalists, Unite! Government-Sponsored Hackers Are Out to Get You

Google security engineers presented a paper on cyber attack priorities worldwide at a Black Hat conference of hackers in Singapore late last week, and the content of that paper has recently been elaborated upon through interviews with two of those engineers. http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/03/28/us-media-cybercrime-idUSBREA2R0EU20140328

If you’re a regular blogger or you work in a journalist organization, take note! You have become the number 1 target of government-sponsored hackers from Syria, Russia, China, and dozens of similar sources. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EL7RH_GA9FA

Many hack attacks go unreported, but according to the Google gurus, already reports from the most prominent news centers have hit, including reports from Forbes, the Financial Times, and the New York Times. http://www.dnaindia.com/world/report-journalists-media-under-attack-from-hackers-google-researchers-1972976

Reasons for non-reporting go beyond protection of reputation to include simply lacking sophistication to recognize the attack. http://www.zdnet.com/unreported-cyberattacks-not-just-due-to-reputation-concerns-2062304140/

Reasons for targeting journalists of all ilks take no great leaps of logic to discern. The New York Times, for example, spent journalistic capital reporting on Anonymous over the past two years. http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/a/anonymous_internet_group/ And the Times also took time to cover extensively the discovery of long-term Chinese hacking. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/31/technology/chinese-hackers-infiltrate-new-york-times-computers.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

Journalists obviously stand among other targets already known in security circles, such as Yahoo, which suffered a massive attack against a wide array of email accounts recently. http://arstechnica.com/security/2014/01/mass-hack-attack-on-yahoo-mail-accounts-prompts-password-reset/ Or NSA system administrators. http://www.matthewaid.com/post/80250413134/nsas-computer-hackers-have-designated-system

HFS analysts note that Google’s engineers, well respected in cyber security circles, spend their careers learning about the latest cyber threats, so bloggers, including HFS itself, must learn quickly to incorporate security habits in daily journalistic routines. All cyber citizens will face new threats to security as the infant Internet learns to walk.

What do you think?

March 27, 2014

YouTube Next Internet Shutdown in Turkey

Turkey’s Telecom Authority Blocks YouTube

After Turkey’s telecommunications authority TIB blocked Twitter last week, many Turkey watchers have wondered when the next TIB block might hit. Today YouTube in Turkey reports that its users there cannot access the service. TIB confirms that it took “an administrative measure” against YouTube. http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/03/27/us-turkey-youtube-idUSBREA2Q1A420140327

Google, the owner of YouTube, began yesterday to investigate user complaints of no access to YouTube and today the company confirmed that YouTube is down in Turkey. http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/03/27/us-turkey-youtube-google-idUSBREA2Q1GF20140327

Google has assured all of its users in Turkey that from the company’s perspective, they have done all that they can do to provide user access and the problem has nothing to do with their technology. However, late last week Google refused to cooperate with Turkish authorities requesting that it voluntarily take down YouTube videos critical of Turkish government corruption. So Google likely expected the TIB action. http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304756104579453701510620372

Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan claimed yesterday that micro-blogging constitutes “the worst menace to society.” In particular, he chastises the “robot army” for launching cyber attacks against him for political reasons. https://www.vocativ.com/world/turkey-world/turkeys-leader-nearly-banned-twitter-bot-army/

HFS analysts opine that more Internet offenders will likely face future government sanctions, not only in Turkey, but in other political enclaves where free expression faces government controls and censorship. Turkey demonstrates the Internet’s dependency on political connections.

To further illustrate HFS’s point, its analysts note the rapidly disintegrating Ukraine outsourcing business based around computer program developers and project managers. Political unrest tied to Russian military actions has destroyed the economic boom just last year identified as the fourth largest outsourcing operation on the planet. http://www.vocativ.com/world/ukraine-world/ukraines-booming-sector-jeopardy-amid-political-instability-war/

HFS analysts argue that without true economic, political, cultural, and technical independence from all governments, the Internet must evolve into a planet-wide patchwork ultimately controlled by political factions.

What do you think?