January 22, 2016

Bill Moyers: A Drone Protestor Heads to Jail

This piece originally appeared on Common Dreams.


By Bill Moyers


Mary Anne Grady Flores is in jail today and American citizens everywhere can surely breathe a sigh of relief that we are safe from her criminal behavior at least for the next six months.

That’s the length of the sentence this 59-year-old peace activist in upstate New York began on Tuesday — one day after the United States honored Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., for his commitment to nonviolent civil disobedience. If he were here today, the martyred Dr. King would surely be shaking his head that America still has a problem with peaceful dissenters of conscience.

And what exactly did Grady Flores do to warrant spending the next six months in jail? She photographed a peaceful protest outside Hancock Field Air National Guard Base near Syracuse, New York. The base is where the US trains pilots to launch drone strikes in the Middle East, particularly in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Yemen. It wasn’t a crime for her to be taking pictures of the demonstration, but when she briefly and unintentionally — yes, unintentionally — stepped onto a road that belongs to the base, she violated what authorities called “an order of protection,” which had been issued in 2012 to forbid protesters from approaching the home or workplace of Col. Earl Evans, a commander of the 174th Attack Wing of the Air National Guard. She had never met Evans, never threatened him, never showed any intention of harming him.



Nonetheless, a town justice, David Gideon, issued the order to “protect” the Colonel from the activists. That’s right — the commander of a major military operation, piloting drones on lethal missions half-way around the world, requested a court order of protection against a group of mostly gray-haired demonstrators whom he had never met. In stepping briefly on the roadway at the base, Grady Flores violated that order, despite the fact that, as she says, “We weren’t at the security gate. We were out at the roadway.” ...................(more)

http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/a_drone_protestor_heads_to_jail_20160122

January 21, 2016

Bibi is still trying to derail the Iran deal

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – –

BBC Monitoring reports that over the weekend, even as the great Powers were certifying that Iran was in compliance with the UNSC deal permitting only civilian enrichment of uranium, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, who had attempted to derail the negotiations, continued to try to derail it. El’ad Benari reported on Arut 7 Radio that

“Iran is still seeking to achieve nuclear military capabilities, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu warned Saturday [16 January] night, after Iran’s deal with world powers was implemented.

“Even after signing the nuclear deal, Iran has not relinquished its ambition to obtain nuclear weapons, and continues to act to destabilize the Middle East and spread terror throughout the world while violating its international commitments . . .”

Israel has several hundred nuclear warheads, produced at its Dimona enrichment facility, and has refused to sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty or to allow UN inspections of its arsenal. Israeli leaders have sometimes hinted around that they would nuke their neighbors under certain circumstances.

For his part Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said that “all are happy except Zionists, warmongers, sowers of discord among Islamic nations and extremists in the U.S.” ................(more)

http://www.juancole.com/2016/01/israeli-pm-netanyahu-still-trying-to-derail-iran-nuclear-deal.html

January 21, 2016

Joe Arpaio shakes down his flock

Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio is a vile creature. The 83-year-old has reigned over the Arizona county for more than twenty years, much to the dismay of the Hispanic community, and he’s running for office again. But, the way he is soliciting donations from his scared, xenophobic supporters this time around is absolutely infuriating.

In an email sent out to supporters recently, America’s Most Racist Sheriff extorts money from his ignorant voters by threatening to retire. The email’s subject line is:”Announcement: I’ve made a difficult decision” and begins by calling on his “patriots” to support him or else:

“After hours of prayer, and countless frank discussions with my wife Ava and other trusted advisors, I have decided my time as Sheriff is over, unless I can count on you to stand with me this election.”

Arpaio then goes on to blame “left-wing elites,” his immigration stance, “Obama’s political machine,” and “Hollywood leftists” for the tough road he has ahead of him should he decide to run for re-election. He tells his supporters that they need to empty their wallets and help him defeat the scary liberals who want to see him out of office:

“For some of you $5 is all you can spare today. But for others $500 or even $1,000 is a sacrificial gift you are willing to make. My team has told me that because our reserves are almost completely drained I will need to raise at least 5 million dollars to have a fighting chance, so every single dollar helps.”

To be clear, this is absolutely, 100 percent extortion. The definition of which is “the practice of obtaining something, especially money, through force or threats.” He is threatening that he will retire and not bother to run again unless his faithful, immigrant-hating supporters shell out money for him. He doesn’t just tell them he’d like to be their sheriff again, he threatens them. And this isn’t the first time he has duped voters. ...............(more)

http://www.addictinginfo.org/2016/01/20/racist-joe-arpaio-extorts-money-for-re-election-by-threatening-to-retire-screenshots/

January 21, 2016

'BLOOD IN THE WATER' — 90% of the billion-dollar unicorn startups are in trouble

(Business Insider) Jim Breyer, the venture capitalist who made a fortune investing early in Facebook, is optimistic about the long-term picture for the technology industry.

He's particularly bullish on artificial intelligence, and he says his firm isn't investing in anything that doesn't have a smart data analytics piece to it. He likens the new artificial-intelligence era to the social-networking era, which changed the entire digital landscape.

But in the near term he sees pain.

We spoke with Breyer briefly at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

He says there is "blood in the water," and we are entering a 90-10 situation for the unicorn class of startups with billion-dollar valuations in which 90% of the startups will be repriced or die and 10% will make it. ..............(more)

http://www.businessinsider.com/blood-in-the-water-90-of-the-billion-dollar-unicorn-startups-are-in-trouble-2016-1

January 21, 2016

RAY DALIO: There is no longer any engine to drive global growth

(Business Insider) Ray Dalio, the leader of the world's largest hedge fund, Bridgewater Associates, is worried about growth in the global economy.

As he sees it, there is no "locomotive" to drive growth.

For the past few years, China has driven a third of all the growth in the world, but it's slowing down, which will act as a drag on global growth.

He's also worried about the effectiveness of monetary policy right now. He wonders whether it can do anything to spur growth.

.....(snip).....

Traditionally, the United States was a world locomotive. In other words when it began its growth, that would help to create exports to other countries. Since 2008, China represented a third of world growth, not only the growth in China, but their imports — countries were benefiting from that growth — that's what I mean by a locomotive. And right now, the world doesn't have a locomotive — they don't have a country that is driving world economic growth.

...............(more)

http://www.businessinsider.com/ray-dalio-global-growth-2016-1

January 21, 2016

Snyder: End of the illusion

from the Metro Times:



By Jack Lessenberry

Gov. Rick Snyder is really a moderate. Pro-business to be sure, but not one of those horrible right-wingers in the legislature.

Actually, he's a closet liberal on social issues and the environment. How could he be otherwise? After all, he lived in Ann Arbor for years.

We've been hearing that stuff for the last six years now. Remarkably, some people were able to keep believing that bilge, even in the face of all the evidence.

Well, yes, he gave businesses huge tax breaks at the expense of schools, but that was just an experiment. Tax people's pensions? Well, be patient!

Signed legislation allowing motorcyclists to ride without helmets, adding to the highway death toll and lists of the badly brain-injured?

A minor flaw, perhaps, they told us, but one of those things he had to do to get right-wingers to go along with his plan to fix the roads.

Except, of course, they never did. Then there was the little matter of going back on what he said ("not on my agenda&quot and helping ram through right-t0-work. I frankly forget what the excuse was for that one. .............(more)

http://www.metrotimes.com/detroit/politics-and-prejudices-snyder-end-of-the-illusion/Content?oid=2391480

January 21, 2016

IPOs Crash, Startup Valuations Plunge, Era Ends

IPOs Crash, Startup Valuations Plunge, Era Ends
by Wolf Richter • January 20, 2016


[font color="blue"]An ugly time for IPO stocks.[/font]

Hortonworks shares crashed 37% on Tuesday after it became known that it had filed a registration statement with the SEC last Friday for a proposed follow-on offering to raise $100 million. This will substantially dilute current stockholders.

The company, which sells big-data software based on Apache Hadoop, went public in December 2014 with great hoopla and an IPO price of $16. Shares then spiked to $29.20. Despite yesterday’s plunge, they continue to fall this morning and as I’m writing this are trading at $10.17. That’s 35% below the IPO price and 65% below their high.

The company has an unbroken record of net losses exceeding its revenues. And so far, the more it sells, the more it loses. Its $33 million in sales in the third quarter generated $44.5 million in losses. With cash going up in flames at this pace, it was time to raise new cash at the expense of current investors.

Digital payments company Square plunged 7.8% on Tuesday and another 9.5% this morning, to $8.57, plunging right through its $9 IPO price. When it went public last November, the startup exuberance of 2013 and 2014 had already curdled. To push the deal out the door, it had to cut its IPO price below its valuation established during the last funding round. When shares popped to $13.07 on the first day and then rose to their peak of $14.78, everyone breathed a sigh of relief. It just didn’t last long. .....................(more)

http://wolfstreet.com/2016/01/20/ipos-crash-startup-valuations-plunge-era-ends/

January 20, 2016

2015 Was the Hottest Year on Record, by a Stunning Margin

from Bloomberg:


2015 Was the Hottest Year on Record, by a Stunning Margin
We actually broke the record for breaking records.


To say that 2015 was hot is an understatement. The average recorded temperature across the surface of the planet was so far above normal that it set a record for setting records.

The year was more than a quarter of a degree Fahrenheit warmer than the last global heat record—set all the way back in 2014—according to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration figures released on Wednesday. A quarter of a degree may not sound like much, but on a planetary scale it's a huge leap. Most previous records were measured by hundredths of a degree.

A powerful El Niño is largely responsible for the year’s extremes, but make no mistake: This is what global warming looks like. Temperatures are rising 10 times faster than during the bounce back from the last ice age. Fifteen of the hottest 16 years on record have come in the 21st century. This animation shows earth’s warming climate, recorded in monthly measurements from land and sea dating back to 1880. Temperatures are displayed in degrees above or below the 20th century average.

The heat during 2015 was relentless. Monthly records were broken for every month except January (second hottest) and April (third hottest), according to data from NOAA. The year ended with an exclamation point in December, recording the most extreme departure for any month on record.

Results from the world’s top monitoring agencies vary slightly, but NASA, NOAA, the Japan Meteorological Agency, and the U.K.'s Met Office all agree: 2015 was unprecedented. The heat was experienced differently around the world, but most regions were unusually warm to downright scorching for much of the year. .................(more)

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2016-01-20/2015-was-the-hottest-year-on-record-by-a-stunning-margin

January 20, 2016

Small Businesses in Europe Fear Getting Trampled by TTIP

Small Businesses in Europe Fear Getting Trampled by TTIP
by Don Quijones • January 20, 2016


[font color="blue"]The powers behind it are multinationals.[/font]

By Don Quijones, Spain & Mexico, editor at WOLF STREET.


At this moment, 3,382,680 people have signed a European Citizens’ Initiative calling for an immediate end to the negotiations of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP). “Stop these sinister trade deals,” is the site’s motto. It’s by far and away the highest number of signatures ever achieved by such a petition. Mass demonstrations, meetings, and rallies have been held in towns and cities across the continent as well as coordinated international days of action against TTIP.

While protests from anti-globalization groups and labor unions have hogged what little limelight there has been, the depth of European skepticism goes much deeper. Thousands of local councils and municipalities have preemptively declared themselves to be TTIP-free zones, including Spain’s second biggest city, Barcelona.

Now, despite the European Commission’s increasingly desperate efforts to paint TTIP as SME-friendly, growing ranks of small businesses are beginning to question the wisdom of signing the so-called free trade agreement, which has little to do with actual “trade,” and everything to do with expanding the rights and powers of large corporations.

A new Business Against TTIP platform has just been launched in Britain, fronted by UK Entrepreneur of the Year Titus Sharpe. “The small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) sector is critical to the UK economy,” Sharpe writes in the UK Independent. “We account for more than 99% of the private sector and we provide jobs for more than 15 million people. Our gross value add to the British economy is £339 billion.” ................(more)

http://wolfstreet.com/2016/01/20/small-businesses-in-europe-fear-getting-trampled-by-ttip/

January 20, 2016

Oscars (cartoon)

http://www.truthdig.com/cartoon/item/oscars_20160120