Roseanne Barr tearfully apologizes for racist tweet: 'I’ve made myself a hate magnet'
By JOI-MARIE MCKENZIE via GMA Jun 24, 2018, 4:43 PM ET
Roseanne Barr broke down in tears in a new interview during which she continued to apologize for tweeting a racist remark by comparing a former Obama adviser to an ape.
"I have to get a hold of myself," Barr, 65, said at one point through tears during her interview with her longtime friend, Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, which he put on Soundcloud.
"I horribly regret it. Are you kidding? I lost everything, and I regretted it before I lost everything," she continued. "And I said to God, 'I am willing to accept whatever consequences this brings because I know I’ve done wrong. I’m going to accept what the consequences are,' and I do, and I have."
Barr added, "And I’ve made myself a hate magnet, and as a Jew, it’s just horrible. It’s horrible."
Roseanne Barr played herself on "Roseanne."
Barr's May tweet, which has since been deleted, said that Valerie Jarrett, who is African-American, was a product of the Muslim Brotherhood and "Planet of the Apes" -- "muslim brotherhood & planet of the apes had a baby=vj." She apologized to Jarrett the same day along with the cast of her since-canceled ABC reboot, "Roseanne."
The comedian revealed during the interview that ABC asked her to leave Twitter after the incident if they were to keep working with her and she refused. She also repeated a claim that she was on sleep medication Ambien when she fired off the tweet.
Barr also revealed that she didn't realize Jarrett was African-American.
"I thought she was white," Barr said during the 35-minute conversation with Rabbi Boteach. "I didn't know she was black and I cop to it."
Barr added tearfully, "I have black children in my family. I can’t, I can’t let them say these things about that, after 30 years of my putting my family and my health and my livelihood at risk to stand up for people."
Roseanne Barr on the show.
"I’m a lot of things, a loud mouth and all that stuff. But I’m not stupid, for God’s sake," she said. "I never would have wittingly called any black person, [I would never had said] they are a monkey. I just wouldn’t do that. I didn’t do that."
Barr said even though she feels misunderstood, she apologizes and feels remorse.
"But I have to face that it hurt people," she explained. "When you hurt people, even unwillingly, there’s no excuse. I don’t want to run off and blather on with excuses. But I apologize to anyone who thought, or felt offended and who thought that I meant something that I, in fact, did not mean. It was my own ignorance, and there’s no excuse for that ignorance."
"You have to feel remorse, not just repentance," Barr continued. "You have to take an action in the world -- whether it’s through money or other things -- to correct your sin. After your heart is unfrozen and after it stops being broken from the pain you caused others, you stop being a robot and you gotta' come back to God. So it’s remorse, and I definitely feel remorse."
ABC, meanwhile, announced this week that it will launch a spin-off of "Roseanne" called "The Conners" without Barr but with the rest of the cast. The show is set to debut in the fall.
Tuesday, June 26, 2018
Does Trump's approval rating predict a 2020 re-election? - CNN
Does Trump's approval rating predict a 2020 re-election?
By Julian Zelizer, CNN Political Analyst
Updated 2352 GMT (0752 HKT) June 25, 2018
Trump GOP approval up despite immigration crisis
Trump GOP approval up despite immigration crisis 01:23
Julian Zelizer is a history and public affairs professor at Princeton University, editor of "The Presidency of Barack Obama: A First Historical Assessment" and co-host of the "Politics & Polls" podcast. Follow him on Twitter: @julianzelizer. The opinions expressed in this commentary are his own.
(CNN)When President Trump takes unimaginable steps like separating little children from their families to prove a point about how tough he is willing to be on the borders, there is a natural inclination for Democrats to predict that he finally took a step too far. He finally did something that would break the camel's back, he has given the nation a reason to believe he is not fit to serve.
But before Democrats assume that the crisis on the border will bring this President down, they might want to take a look at the recent poll numbers from Gallup. Despite everything that has happened over the last year and a half, the findings show that the President is not quite as weak as some of his opponents are hoping. Last week his job approval rating averaged 45%, the highest that it has been since his first week in office and, this week, slipped slightly to 41%.
Trump touts decline in African-American unemployment rate
Trump touts decline in African-American unemployment rate
Indeed, his job approval ratings have remained in the 40s since mid-April when unemployment rates plummeted to historically low levels. Just as notable is the political breakdown of his rating, with a 38% approval among Independents and 87% among Republicans. If one adds a grade curve to these numbers, it's clear that outside of the Democratic Party, his approval is holding steady.
His rating now is similar to Jimmy Carter (42%), Ronald Reagan (44%), Bill Clinton (44%) and Barack Obama (47%) in June of their second years. The good news for Democrats is that all four of those presidents experienced difficult midterm elections. In 1978, the conservative coalition of Republicans and Southern Democrats cut into the size of Carter's Democratic majority, with the emergence of new firebrands like Newt Gingrich of Georgia who were determined to cause the President problems.
Four years later, the Gipper lamented as House Democrats increased their majority by 26 seats, with most of the gains being liberal Democrats. And of course, Clinton saw Republicans regain control of Congress in 1994 and Obama watched as the GOP took over the House in 2010. None of this bodes well in 2018 for the Republicans, who are likely staring at a difficult midterm.
Donald Trump is as popular as he's ever been (in 1 poll)
Donald Trump is as popular as he's ever been (in 1 poll)
But the 2020 outlook, the one that really matters to President Trump -- who, we must remember, is not particularly interested in legislation anyway -- is a bit brighter. While Carter ended as a one-term president, Reagan, Clinton, and Obama all went on to be reelected and ended their presidency with strong approval ratings. They are presidents who are often seen by significant swaths of the public as successful and even transformative.
There are a number of factors clearly behind the job approval numbers for President Trump. With an unemployment rate of 3.8% as of last month, everyone in the administration will be feeling pretty good if it's true that voters pick presidents based on the health of their wallets.
The overall state of the stock market doesn't hurt matters either. For all the eye rolls and shoulder shrugs, along with the occasional statement by a Republican that things are not right in Washington, the numbers reveal that his partisan support remains very strong. This is why so few Republican politicians are running away from the President and his decisions, while more and more are embracing his leadership. Notwithstanding the horrific stories of children detained in warehouse-like facilities, a good portion of the public supports President Trump.
The message for Democrats should be clear. The political battle to come in the next few months is going to be fierce. The party is going to need to put together an awesome electoral mobilization, with exciting candidates and big ideas, a first-rate ground game, a strong-fund raising strategy, and a sophisticated plan for the media if they are going to do that one thing that would be guaranteed to bring the era of Trump to an end: defeat him in the 2020 election. The new numbers for Gallup show that this goal will not be an easy one to achieve.
By Julian Zelizer, CNN Political Analyst
Updated 2352 GMT (0752 HKT) June 25, 2018
Trump GOP approval up despite immigration crisis
Trump GOP approval up despite immigration crisis 01:23
Julian Zelizer is a history and public affairs professor at Princeton University, editor of "The Presidency of Barack Obama: A First Historical Assessment" and co-host of the "Politics & Polls" podcast. Follow him on Twitter: @julianzelizer. The opinions expressed in this commentary are his own.
(CNN)When President Trump takes unimaginable steps like separating little children from their families to prove a point about how tough he is willing to be on the borders, there is a natural inclination for Democrats to predict that he finally took a step too far. He finally did something that would break the camel's back, he has given the nation a reason to believe he is not fit to serve.
But before Democrats assume that the crisis on the border will bring this President down, they might want to take a look at the recent poll numbers from Gallup. Despite everything that has happened over the last year and a half, the findings show that the President is not quite as weak as some of his opponents are hoping. Last week his job approval rating averaged 45%, the highest that it has been since his first week in office and, this week, slipped slightly to 41%.
Trump touts decline in African-American unemployment rate
Trump touts decline in African-American unemployment rate
Indeed, his job approval ratings have remained in the 40s since mid-April when unemployment rates plummeted to historically low levels. Just as notable is the political breakdown of his rating, with a 38% approval among Independents and 87% among Republicans. If one adds a grade curve to these numbers, it's clear that outside of the Democratic Party, his approval is holding steady.
His rating now is similar to Jimmy Carter (42%), Ronald Reagan (44%), Bill Clinton (44%) and Barack Obama (47%) in June of their second years. The good news for Democrats is that all four of those presidents experienced difficult midterm elections. In 1978, the conservative coalition of Republicans and Southern Democrats cut into the size of Carter's Democratic majority, with the emergence of new firebrands like Newt Gingrich of Georgia who were determined to cause the President problems.
Four years later, the Gipper lamented as House Democrats increased their majority by 26 seats, with most of the gains being liberal Democrats. And of course, Clinton saw Republicans regain control of Congress in 1994 and Obama watched as the GOP took over the House in 2010. None of this bodes well in 2018 for the Republicans, who are likely staring at a difficult midterm.
Donald Trump is as popular as he's ever been (in 1 poll)
Donald Trump is as popular as he's ever been (in 1 poll)
But the 2020 outlook, the one that really matters to President Trump -- who, we must remember, is not particularly interested in legislation anyway -- is a bit brighter. While Carter ended as a one-term president, Reagan, Clinton, and Obama all went on to be reelected and ended their presidency with strong approval ratings. They are presidents who are often seen by significant swaths of the public as successful and even transformative.
There are a number of factors clearly behind the job approval numbers for President Trump. With an unemployment rate of 3.8% as of last month, everyone in the administration will be feeling pretty good if it's true that voters pick presidents based on the health of their wallets.
The overall state of the stock market doesn't hurt matters either. For all the eye rolls and shoulder shrugs, along with the occasional statement by a Republican that things are not right in Washington, the numbers reveal that his partisan support remains very strong. This is why so few Republican politicians are running away from the President and his decisions, while more and more are embracing his leadership. Notwithstanding the horrific stories of children detained in warehouse-like facilities, a good portion of the public supports President Trump.
The message for Democrats should be clear. The political battle to come in the next few months is going to be fierce. The party is going to need to put together an awesome electoral mobilization, with exciting candidates and big ideas, a first-rate ground game, a strong-fund raising strategy, and a sophisticated plan for the media if they are going to do that one thing that would be guaranteed to bring the era of Trump to an end: defeat him in the 2020 election. The new numbers for Gallup show that this goal will not be an easy one to achieve.
Heathrow operator to shift top company outside UK because of Brexit - Financial Times
Heathrow operator to shift top company outside UK because of Brexit
Ferrovial, an international infrastructure operator, will move its holding company out of Britain
Josh Spero - June 26, 2018
Ferrovial, the Spanish manager of Heathrow airport, has said that it will be moving its international holding company out of Britain because of Brexit.
The announcement came the morning after Heathrow’s third runway gained parliamentary approval, with the transport secretary declaring it would show Britain’s “future as a global nation” after Brexit.
The holding will move from Oxford to Amsterdam.
“The reason for the move is to maintain the group’s international companies under the umbrella of [EU] communities’ legislation,” the company said, following a report in Spanish newspaper Expansion.
Ferrovial is an infrastructure operator which runs airports, toll roads and urban services such as waste management in North America, Europe and Australia. It had revenue of €2.7bn in the first quarter of 2018, down from €2.9bn the year before.
In the UK, as well as Heathrow, it runs Glasgow, Southampton and Aberdeen airports and is helping to build the Crossrail project and the Thames tideway tunnel, a large new sewer for the capital.
Other companies in the transport sector have responded to Brexit by adding, not moving. EU airline Wizz Air has obtained UK licences, while British airline easyJet has set up a Vienna-based subsidiary, in case no agreement on aviation is reached in a “hard Brexit”.
Philippine President Duterte calls God 'stupid' - BBC News
Philippine President Duterte calls God 'stupid'
June 26, 2018
Mr Duterte is known for being outspoken in his views
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has called God "stupid", sparking anger in the largely Catholic country.
In a televised speech, he slammed the story of Adam and Eve's fall from grace in the Bible and the logic behind the Christian concept of original sin.
Mr Duterte is well known known for his outrageous statements and unfiltered attacks on his rivals.
While the church and many citizens condemned his remarks, his office said he was expressing personal beliefs.
The president has in the past also criticised the Pope in crude language and has racked up a string of other statements widely deemed as highly offensive, cruel or misogynist.
His latest comments came at a speech in Davao, the city he governed as a mayor before running as president.
Kae Suin
@kaesuin
Duterte has crossed the line when he gave that statement about God. It’s too much. He’s sick.
1:18 PM - Jun 26, 2018
Magic Man
@Magic_Poblete
Mr. President Duterte
You got some issues. You can hate us Catholics. But calling our God stupid or idiot are very painful words. If you hate us, then hate us. Just don't include God in your anger.
1:24 PM - Jun 26, 2018
End of Twitter post by @Magic_Poblete
Asking "Who is this stupid God?", Mr Duterte criticised the Biblical story of creation and Adam and Eve being thrown out of the Garden of Eden after they ate the "forbidden fruit".
"You created something perfect and then you think of an event that would tempt and destroy the quality of your work," he said.
'Our democratic way of life hangs in the balance'
Will Netflix's Amo be the Philippine Narcos?
The president also slammed the concept of original sin - whereby all humans are tainted by Adam and Eve's wrongdoing - saying: "You weren't born yet, but now you have original sin."
"What kind of religion is that? I can't accept it."
The Catholic Church called the comments 'blasphemous'
Local Catholic bishop Arturo Bastes responded by calling the president a "madman" and urging people to pray for his "blasphemous utterances and dictatorial tendencies" to end.
Mr Duterte is a known and open critic of the Catholic Church in a country where more than 90% of the population are Christian and the vast majority of those are Catholics.
His outbursts therefore triggered a predictable backlash and debate online.
ilda
@ilda_talk
Whether you think he is right or wrong, Duterte has a right to express his opinion just like everybody else. No one has a monopoly on being right. Duterte hasn’t turned his opinion about God into a policy so what’s the problem? You have your beliefs and he has his own.
9:35 AM - Jun 26, 2018
The president's spokesman Harry Roque defended Mr Duterte's comments as merely being his personal convictions. He also explained the outburst by referring to the president's claim that he was abused by a priest at a Catholic school during his childhood.
Rodrigo Duterte took office in July 2016 on a hardline platform against crime and corruption. The brutal campaign of extrajudicial killings against drug dealers and users has since though sparked mounting criticism against the strongman.
Earlier this year, the International Criminal Court opened a preliminary inquiry into crimes committed during the drugs purge.
In 2017, Mr Duterte admitted to stabbing someone to death as a teenager.
A very controversial record
His frequent rhetorical outbursts are often far beyond what's considered acceptable by his critics.
He said he would be "happy" to slaughter millions of drug addicts in the country and has responded to international criticism of his policies by calling former US President Barack Obama a "son of a whore" and slamming the EU as hypocrites.
Skip Twitter post by @chzconcepcion
Chaiz
@chzconcepcion
It's so sad how Duterte calls God stupid and now the same people (Catholics) who didn't have anything to say about the thousands who died bc of the drug war suddenly care. Yes, it's offensive but it's hardly the worst thing he's ever said or done.
12:06 PM - Jun 26, 2018
11
See Chaiz's other Tweets
In April 2016, he spoke to an election campaign rally about the 1989 murder and rape of a female Australian missionary in Davao, where he was mayor at the time.
"I was angry because she was raped," he said. "That's one thing. But she was so beautiful, the mayor should have been first, what a waste."
His office later apologised for the comments.
Earlier this year Mr Duterte told Filipino soldiers they should shoot female communist rebels in the vagina.
A few weeks ago he made headlines by making an overseas Filipina worker kiss him on stage during a live event.
June 26, 2018
Mr Duterte is known for being outspoken in his views
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has called God "stupid", sparking anger in the largely Catholic country.
In a televised speech, he slammed the story of Adam and Eve's fall from grace in the Bible and the logic behind the Christian concept of original sin.
Mr Duterte is well known known for his outrageous statements and unfiltered attacks on his rivals.
While the church and many citizens condemned his remarks, his office said he was expressing personal beliefs.
The president has in the past also criticised the Pope in crude language and has racked up a string of other statements widely deemed as highly offensive, cruel or misogynist.
His latest comments came at a speech in Davao, the city he governed as a mayor before running as president.
Kae Suin
@kaesuin
Duterte has crossed the line when he gave that statement about God. It’s too much. He’s sick.
1:18 PM - Jun 26, 2018
Magic Man
@Magic_Poblete
Mr. President Duterte
You got some issues. You can hate us Catholics. But calling our God stupid or idiot are very painful words. If you hate us, then hate us. Just don't include God in your anger.
1:24 PM - Jun 26, 2018
End of Twitter post by @Magic_Poblete
Asking "Who is this stupid God?", Mr Duterte criticised the Biblical story of creation and Adam and Eve being thrown out of the Garden of Eden after they ate the "forbidden fruit".
"You created something perfect and then you think of an event that would tempt and destroy the quality of your work," he said.
'Our democratic way of life hangs in the balance'
Will Netflix's Amo be the Philippine Narcos?
The president also slammed the concept of original sin - whereby all humans are tainted by Adam and Eve's wrongdoing - saying: "You weren't born yet, but now you have original sin."
"What kind of religion is that? I can't accept it."
The Catholic Church called the comments 'blasphemous'
Local Catholic bishop Arturo Bastes responded by calling the president a "madman" and urging people to pray for his "blasphemous utterances and dictatorial tendencies" to end.
Mr Duterte is a known and open critic of the Catholic Church in a country where more than 90% of the population are Christian and the vast majority of those are Catholics.
His outbursts therefore triggered a predictable backlash and debate online.
ilda
@ilda_talk
Whether you think he is right or wrong, Duterte has a right to express his opinion just like everybody else. No one has a monopoly on being right. Duterte hasn’t turned his opinion about God into a policy so what’s the problem? You have your beliefs and he has his own.
9:35 AM - Jun 26, 2018
The president's spokesman Harry Roque defended Mr Duterte's comments as merely being his personal convictions. He also explained the outburst by referring to the president's claim that he was abused by a priest at a Catholic school during his childhood.
Rodrigo Duterte took office in July 2016 on a hardline platform against crime and corruption. The brutal campaign of extrajudicial killings against drug dealers and users has since though sparked mounting criticism against the strongman.
Earlier this year, the International Criminal Court opened a preliminary inquiry into crimes committed during the drugs purge.
In 2017, Mr Duterte admitted to stabbing someone to death as a teenager.
A very controversial record
His frequent rhetorical outbursts are often far beyond what's considered acceptable by his critics.
He said he would be "happy" to slaughter millions of drug addicts in the country and has responded to international criticism of his policies by calling former US President Barack Obama a "son of a whore" and slamming the EU as hypocrites.
Skip Twitter post by @chzconcepcion
Chaiz
@chzconcepcion
It's so sad how Duterte calls God stupid and now the same people (Catholics) who didn't have anything to say about the thousands who died bc of the drug war suddenly care. Yes, it's offensive but it's hardly the worst thing he's ever said or done.
12:06 PM - Jun 26, 2018
11
See Chaiz's other Tweets
In April 2016, he spoke to an election campaign rally about the 1989 murder and rape of a female Australian missionary in Davao, where he was mayor at the time.
"I was angry because she was raped," he said. "That's one thing. But she was so beautiful, the mayor should have been first, what a waste."
His office later apologised for the comments.
Earlier this year Mr Duterte told Filipino soldiers they should shoot female communist rebels in the vagina.
A few weeks ago he made headlines by making an overseas Filipina worker kiss him on stage during a live event.
Narcissists 'irritating but successful' - BBC News
Narcissists 'irritating but successful'
By Sean Coughlan
BBC News education and family correspondent
26 June 2018
Narcissists might be irritating attention seekers - but they are also annoyingly likely to be successful, according to researchers.
Even though their personality traits might seem negative, psychologists say their sense of superiority gives them a "mental toughness" not to give up.
An international team of researchers says narcissists tend to come out on top in education, work and romance.
Their "heightened sense of self-worth" gives them great self-confidence.
For psychologists, narcissism is one of the "dark triad" of malevolent personality traits, along with psychopathy and Machiavellianism - with narcissists having a tendency to be self-centred, vain, grandiose and to need the admiration of others.
Narcissism 'short-lived way to popularity'
Why we should pity attention-seeking narcissists
But Dr Kostas Papageorgiou, from Queen's University Belfast, says research shows that narcissists are often socially successful and undeterred by rejection and their craving for attention can make them "charming" and highly motivated.
Narcissists can have an exaggerated view of their own importance
"If we could abandon conventional social morality - and just focus on what is successful," he says, then narcissism can look like a very "positive" trait.
"If you are a narcissist you believe strongly that you are better than anyone else and that you deserve reward," says the psychologist.
This might be unbearable for everyone else around them, but Dr Papageorgiou says this kind of boundless self-belief is also linked to being "mentally tough" and a readiness to "embrace challenges".
It's all about me
The "power" of narcissism is currently on public view, he says, in the prevalence of narcissistic behaviour in popular culture, whether on social media, reality television or in politics.
Dr Papageorgiou is part of a research team including academics from Goldsmiths, the University of London, King's College London, University of Texas at Austin and Manchester Metropolitan University, which used performance in secondary school exams to show how narcissists could overtake people who had more ability than them.
It is "all about me" for narcissists
Using a sample of more than 300 young people identified as narcissists in secondary school in Italy, the researchers found that they tended to score much better in exams than would have been expected from other tests of their intelligence.
Psychologists said that as well as traits such as egotism and the need to dominate, these narcissists had high levels of resilience and determination.
They were not cleverer, but were more confident and assertive and were able to overtake students who otherwise would have more ability.
Charming monsters
Dr Papageorgiou says this pattern of advantage at school carries through to university and work - and also in romance.
He says that narcissists are likely to attract more partners.
"They're quite charismatic. If you spend a lot of time trying to be charming and persuade other people, it might well make you more attractive, says Dr Papageorgiou.
He says there could even be an evolutionary element to what he says is a rise in narcissism, with narcissists having more sexual partners and passing on their genes to more people.
Dr Papageorgiou says about 60% of narcissism is inherited, with the rest shaped by the environment.
Narcissists can be "absolutely destructive for those around them", says the psychologist, but there is nothing inevitable about this and they can limit the impact of these character traits.
"You can control them, rather than let them control you," he says.
Dr Papageorgiou argues that such personality traits should not be seen as "either good or bad" but as "products of evolution" and "expressions of human nature".
By Sean Coughlan
BBC News education and family correspondent
26 June 2018
Narcissists might be irritating attention seekers - but they are also annoyingly likely to be successful, according to researchers.
Even though their personality traits might seem negative, psychologists say their sense of superiority gives them a "mental toughness" not to give up.
An international team of researchers says narcissists tend to come out on top in education, work and romance.
Their "heightened sense of self-worth" gives them great self-confidence.
For psychologists, narcissism is one of the "dark triad" of malevolent personality traits, along with psychopathy and Machiavellianism - with narcissists having a tendency to be self-centred, vain, grandiose and to need the admiration of others.
Narcissism 'short-lived way to popularity'
Why we should pity attention-seeking narcissists
But Dr Kostas Papageorgiou, from Queen's University Belfast, says research shows that narcissists are often socially successful and undeterred by rejection and their craving for attention can make them "charming" and highly motivated.
Narcissists can have an exaggerated view of their own importance
"If we could abandon conventional social morality - and just focus on what is successful," he says, then narcissism can look like a very "positive" trait.
"If you are a narcissist you believe strongly that you are better than anyone else and that you deserve reward," says the psychologist.
This might be unbearable for everyone else around them, but Dr Papageorgiou says this kind of boundless self-belief is also linked to being "mentally tough" and a readiness to "embrace challenges".
It's all about me
The "power" of narcissism is currently on public view, he says, in the prevalence of narcissistic behaviour in popular culture, whether on social media, reality television or in politics.
Dr Papageorgiou is part of a research team including academics from Goldsmiths, the University of London, King's College London, University of Texas at Austin and Manchester Metropolitan University, which used performance in secondary school exams to show how narcissists could overtake people who had more ability than them.
It is "all about me" for narcissists
Using a sample of more than 300 young people identified as narcissists in secondary school in Italy, the researchers found that they tended to score much better in exams than would have been expected from other tests of their intelligence.
Psychologists said that as well as traits such as egotism and the need to dominate, these narcissists had high levels of resilience and determination.
They were not cleverer, but were more confident and assertive and were able to overtake students who otherwise would have more ability.
Charming monsters
Dr Papageorgiou says this pattern of advantage at school carries through to university and work - and also in romance.
He says that narcissists are likely to attract more partners.
"They're quite charismatic. If you spend a lot of time trying to be charming and persuade other people, it might well make you more attractive, says Dr Papageorgiou.
He says there could even be an evolutionary element to what he says is a rise in narcissism, with narcissists having more sexual partners and passing on their genes to more people.
Dr Papageorgiou says about 60% of narcissism is inherited, with the rest shaped by the environment.
Narcissists can be "absolutely destructive for those around them", says the psychologist, but there is nothing inevitable about this and they can limit the impact of these character traits.
"You can control them, rather than let them control you," he says.
Dr Papageorgiou argues that such personality traits should not be seen as "either good or bad" but as "products of evolution" and "expressions of human nature".
Monday, June 25, 2018
US Supreme Court bolsters data privacy - Financial Times
June 24, 2018
US Supreme Court bolsters data privacy
Uber driver distracted, Intel’s next headache, Amazon Fire TV Cube
Data privacy advocates are welcoming the US Supreme Court's ruling that the police need a warrant to seize an individual’s historical cell phone location information.
In a 5-4 decision, the court said location data collected when devices connect to cell phone towers cannot be seized by the government without a warrant.
Chief Justice John Roberts, delivering the majority opinion, said the decision reflected the fact that modern technologies created new ways for the police to monitor citizens.
“Technology has enhanced the government’s capacity to encroach upon areas normally guarded from inquisitive eyes,” he wrote, noting later that cell phone location records allowed the government to achieve “near perfect surveillance, as if it had attached an ankle monitor to the phone’s user.”
Andrew Crocker, staff attorney at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, said the ruling was a “major victory” that recognised the power of cell phone tracking for government surveillance.
“Equally as important, they rejected the government’s tired argument that sensitive data held by third parties is automatically devoid of constitutional protection,” he added.
Friday's ruling is the court's latest attempt to grapple with the privacy issues created by new technologies. The case stems from the prosecution of Timothy Carpenter, who was jailed for over 100 years for a string of robberies in Michigan and Ohio. Cell phone location data were used to place his phone near four of the robberies. Kadhim Shubber has the full story.
Uber safety driver was "distracted"
The Uber driver behind the wheel of an autonomous car that hit and killed a pedestrian in Arizona could have avoided the collision if she had not been “distracted”, according to police investigating the incident. The driver may have been watching videos on Hulu.
Intel's next headache
Following the ouster of the US chipmaker's CEO, the company's next leader will have to address the decline of Intel's manufacturing lead. “Intel was on a roll for years — in hindsight, they took too much risk,” says one chip analyst.
AI opinion writers
IBM's demonstration of an artificial intelligence system taking on humans in a debating competition should be welcome news to editorial writers, says the FT's editorial writer. "If a computer can hold up its end in an argument, then it can take a view on the great issues of the day in 600 words of clean prose. Journalists with a grasp of economics and the history of technology will greet the robot editorialists as liberators."
Forwarded
Xiaomi more money
The Chinese smartphone maker has given its founder and chief executive a $1.5bn stock bonus, in one of the largest corporate paydays in history. It comes as Xiaomi is going public in an offering that could value it at as much as $70bn. (Wall Street Journal)
Facebook meets state AGs
Sheryl Sandberg, the social network's chief operating officer, is answering questions from state attorneys-general about the company's Cambridge Analytica scandal — behind closed doors. (Bloomberg)
Elon Musk's media war
The Tesla founder's recent rants against critical news coverage have prompted questions about his stability, but people close to him say that's just the way he's always been. (BuzzFeed News)
Tech tools you can use — Amazon Fire TV Cube
Amazon's new $120 streaming TV box blends its Fire TV stick, which allows you to stream movies and television shows, with the Alexa-enabled voice controls of its Echo smart speaker.
"Alexa turns on your TV, and it feels like magic," says CNET. The device has some mis-steps — its remote doesn't control volume — and it can't control the DVR function on your cable box, Blu-ray players or other streaming boxes, but it's a big step toward commanding your entire entertainment system with just your voice.
Not my job to sort the border, says Leo Varadkar Varadkar comment piles pressure on Theresa May - Times of London
Not my job to sort the border, says Leo Varadkar
Varadkar comment piles pressure on Theresa May
Jennifer Bray, Ireland Deputy Political Editor
June 25 2018, 12:01am,
The Times
The taoiseach said that talks would have to intensify for a deal to be struck in time
GARETH CHANEY/COLLINS
EU leaders will meet this week to decide whether to hold a special summit on the Irish border because not enough progress has been made in Brexit negotiations, Leo Varadkar has said.
Mr Varadkar said yesterday that it was “not my job” to help Theresa May, the British prime minister, find a solution to avoid a hard border.
Both the taoiseach and Simon Coveney, the tánaiste, had already said that if substantial progress was not made by the EU council summit this Thursday it would be questionable whether a deal could be struck at all.
Speaking at Dublin Castle, Mr Varadkar distanced himself from that position and said “what is required is that negotiations intensify rather than setting deadlines”.
Opposition parties have called on the government to set a new deadline for the border issue to be resolved and ensure that it is not dismissed during Brexit negotiations.
Mr Varadkar said that a special summit could be held in September as he admitted that the June deadline for a new “backstop” agreement would be missed.
“The draft conclusions have now been signed off by the 27 governments,” he said.
“We are saying there has been some progress on some of the other aspects of the withdrawal agreement but there hasn’t been any progress since March on the Irish issue.
“EU countries are reaffirming their commitment to insisting that there is a backstop in the withdrawal agreement. There can be no withdrawal agreement without a backstop”.
The taoiseach said preparations were being made in ports and airports in case no deal could be struck and Britain crashed out of the European Union.
“Negotiations need to intensify in the coming weeks,” he said. “We are waiting for the British to produce their white paper on the future relationship. That is due in early July.
“It will be an intensification of negotiations rather than a stalling of negotiations. Also EU countries are going to begin preparations for the possibility of a no-deal Brexit.
“I don’t think that is likely, nobody does, but we have to think it is a possibility. And that means making preparations in our ports and airports for that eventuality”.
Pearse Doherty, the Sinn Féin finance spokesman, said that the government needed to “demand the Irish question is dealt with”.
“We need to set a new deadline. It’s obviously not met at this point in time,” he said.
“If we were to have this conversation a year ago what we’d all be saying is that the worst-case scenario for Ireland is that the Irish question is left to the last minute. That is the trajectory that this is on at the minute.”
In contrast Mr Varadkar said that negotiations were more important than deadlines as he hinted at a September gathering.
“Brexit happens in March but what we have done as the EU 27 is to say that we think October is the last time that you could realistically have a withdrawal agreement finalized because it does require parliamentary ratification both by the UK parliament and the European parliament and we would like to give the time between the end of October and the end of March to do exactly that.
“It is something that we are going to review at the summit in Brussels as to whether there is an argument for having a special summit, perhaps in September. I think really what is required is that negotiations intensify rather than setting deadlines.”
When asked about bilateral discussions between the UK and Ireland, Mr Varadkar said that he would speak to Mrs May this week but would not be offering any solutions.
“It’s not my job to help Mrs May,” he said. “The people of the United Kingdom decided on Brexit and it’s not my job to help prime minister May or the United Kingdom government. It’s my job to make sure that we don’t have a hard border on our island and make sure that whatever the new trading relationship is between the UK and the EU, that the negative effect of this is minimized.”
Paschal Donohoe, the finance minister, said that he would be in a position to outline the effect of a hard Brexit on the budget by September.
“After the summer we’ll have a far clearer idea than what we do now regarding what the British government can and cannot do,” he told The Week in Politics on RTÉ One.
“If we cannot get a backstop or better then we cannot commence discussions regarding the future relationship between the UK and the EU, we have to deliver that and stand by that view.”
Michael McGrath, the Fianna Fáil finance spokesman, said that the stakes “couldn’t be higher” for Ireland and that the backstop agreement that was put in place last December was oversold by the Irish government.
“We don’t want that to be caught up in complex negotiations that go right down to the wire, where absolutely everything is at stake for us,” he said.
Varadkar comment piles pressure on Theresa May
Jennifer Bray, Ireland Deputy Political Editor
June 25 2018, 12:01am,
The Times
The taoiseach said that talks would have to intensify for a deal to be struck in time
GARETH CHANEY/COLLINS
EU leaders will meet this week to decide whether to hold a special summit on the Irish border because not enough progress has been made in Brexit negotiations, Leo Varadkar has said.
Mr Varadkar said yesterday that it was “not my job” to help Theresa May, the British prime minister, find a solution to avoid a hard border.
Both the taoiseach and Simon Coveney, the tánaiste, had already said that if substantial progress was not made by the EU council summit this Thursday it would be questionable whether a deal could be struck at all.
Speaking at Dublin Castle, Mr Varadkar distanced himself from that position and said “what is required is that negotiations intensify rather than setting deadlines”.
Opposition parties have called on the government to set a new deadline for the border issue to be resolved and ensure that it is not dismissed during Brexit negotiations.
Mr Varadkar said that a special summit could be held in September as he admitted that the June deadline for a new “backstop” agreement would be missed.
“The draft conclusions have now been signed off by the 27 governments,” he said.
“We are saying there has been some progress on some of the other aspects of the withdrawal agreement but there hasn’t been any progress since March on the Irish issue.
“EU countries are reaffirming their commitment to insisting that there is a backstop in the withdrawal agreement. There can be no withdrawal agreement without a backstop”.
The taoiseach said preparations were being made in ports and airports in case no deal could be struck and Britain crashed out of the European Union.
“Negotiations need to intensify in the coming weeks,” he said. “We are waiting for the British to produce their white paper on the future relationship. That is due in early July.
“It will be an intensification of negotiations rather than a stalling of negotiations. Also EU countries are going to begin preparations for the possibility of a no-deal Brexit.
“I don’t think that is likely, nobody does, but we have to think it is a possibility. And that means making preparations in our ports and airports for that eventuality”.
Pearse Doherty, the Sinn Féin finance spokesman, said that the government needed to “demand the Irish question is dealt with”.
“We need to set a new deadline. It’s obviously not met at this point in time,” he said.
“If we were to have this conversation a year ago what we’d all be saying is that the worst-case scenario for Ireland is that the Irish question is left to the last minute. That is the trajectory that this is on at the minute.”
In contrast Mr Varadkar said that negotiations were more important than deadlines as he hinted at a September gathering.
“Brexit happens in March but what we have done as the EU 27 is to say that we think October is the last time that you could realistically have a withdrawal agreement finalized because it does require parliamentary ratification both by the UK parliament and the European parliament and we would like to give the time between the end of October and the end of March to do exactly that.
“It is something that we are going to review at the summit in Brussels as to whether there is an argument for having a special summit, perhaps in September. I think really what is required is that negotiations intensify rather than setting deadlines.”
When asked about bilateral discussions between the UK and Ireland, Mr Varadkar said that he would speak to Mrs May this week but would not be offering any solutions.
“It’s not my job to help Mrs May,” he said. “The people of the United Kingdom decided on Brexit and it’s not my job to help prime minister May or the United Kingdom government. It’s my job to make sure that we don’t have a hard border on our island and make sure that whatever the new trading relationship is between the UK and the EU, that the negative effect of this is minimized.”
Paschal Donohoe, the finance minister, said that he would be in a position to outline the effect of a hard Brexit on the budget by September.
“After the summer we’ll have a far clearer idea than what we do now regarding what the British government can and cannot do,” he told The Week in Politics on RTÉ One.
“If we cannot get a backstop or better then we cannot commence discussions regarding the future relationship between the UK and the EU, we have to deliver that and stand by that view.”
Michael McGrath, the Fianna Fáil finance spokesman, said that the stakes “couldn’t be higher” for Ireland and that the backstop agreement that was put in place last December was oversold by the Irish government.
“We don’t want that to be caught up in complex negotiations that go right down to the wire, where absolutely everything is at stake for us,” he said.
Trump Has New Plans to Keep China Away from U.S. Tech. Here's What You Need to Know The Truth About U.S.-China Car Trade - Fortune
June 24, 2018
LEADERSHIP U.S.-CHINA TRADE WAR
Trump Has New Plans to Keep China Away from U.S. Tech. Here's What You Need to Know
The Truth About U.S.-China Car Trade
Despite what President Trump says, America is coming out on top.
By DAVID MEYER
President Donald Trump’s administration is reportedly planning a serious fightback against China’s “Made In China 2025” policy, by blocking some technology exports to the country and stopping Chinese-controlled firms from investing in U.S. technology firms.
According to the Wall Street Journal, the White House’s new measures will be announced this week.
Here’s what you need to know.
What’s Made In China 2025?
It’s a major, government-led push that’s a bit like Germany’s “Industry 4.0” drive, intended to upgrade industry with robotics, AI, new energy technologies and lots of sensor-derived data. In short, it’s a shift from China’s current, labor-intensive model into a more high-tech future model based on automation.
However, the most controversial elements of the Made In China 2025 drive is Beijing’s intention to make China both self-sufficient and the dominant exporting force in these areas. That would severely hurt countries that want to export such technologies to China, to a degree that arguably breaks international trade rules.
How does China hope to achieve this?
Alongside domestic research and development efforts, China is widely believed to be keen on gaining intimate access to foreign technologies, in order to find inspiration for its, ahem, homegrown technology.
There are several ways to do this. One is straight-up commercial espionage. Another is to have Chinese companies—which some believe are all ultimately controlled by Beijing—invest in the foreign firms making this tech. Big examples of Chinese takeovers of U.S. firms include Lenovo buying phone-maker Motorola, Zoomlion Heavy Industry Science buying machinery firm Terex, and Tianjin Tianhai buying Ingram Micro.
And then we have China’s rules on foreign firms accessing its own market. In the automotive sector, for example, overseas manufacturers have to form 50-50 joint ventures with Chinese companies in order to sell there. This gives those local players access to the foreign firms’ intellectual property.
Why hasn’t Trump targeted this behavior before?
He has. Last year, Trump blocked a Chinese-backed investor from picking up Lattice Semiconductor (LSCC, +2.37%). And when he unveiled big tariffs on Chinese imports earlier this year, “reciprocity” was the name of the game.
Donald J. Trump
✔
@realDonaldTrump
The U.S. is acting swiftly on Intellectual Property theft. We cannot allow this to happen as it has for many years!
1:38 AM - Mar 8, 2018
So what’s new?
Firstly, the context has moved on. Trump hit China with his tariffs, and China is predictably reciprocating—as with Europe, also stung by U.S. action on steel and aluminum, the strategy appears to be to unsettle Trump’s blue-collar base with targeted, retaliatory tariffs.
So now the White House is preparing to take things up a notch or two. One element of the new offensive involves “enhanced” export controls, while another would stop companies with at least 25% Chinese ownership (or possibly even less) from buying U.S. firms dealing in “industrially significant technology.” As Chinese investment has already drastically tapered off, it’s the export controls that seem to be worrying U.S. industry.
According to the Journal, the National Security Council is working out recommendations on export blocks involving tech that is relevant to the Made In China 2025 drive, and there’s still a window of opportunity for industry to voice its concerns.
LEADERSHIP U.S.-CHINA TRADE WAR
Trump Has New Plans to Keep China Away from U.S. Tech. Here's What You Need to Know
The Truth About U.S.-China Car Trade
Despite what President Trump says, America is coming out on top.
By DAVID MEYER
President Donald Trump’s administration is reportedly planning a serious fightback against China’s “Made In China 2025” policy, by blocking some technology exports to the country and stopping Chinese-controlled firms from investing in U.S. technology firms.
According to the Wall Street Journal, the White House’s new measures will be announced this week.
Here’s what you need to know.
What’s Made In China 2025?
It’s a major, government-led push that’s a bit like Germany’s “Industry 4.0” drive, intended to upgrade industry with robotics, AI, new energy technologies and lots of sensor-derived data. In short, it’s a shift from China’s current, labor-intensive model into a more high-tech future model based on automation.
However, the most controversial elements of the Made In China 2025 drive is Beijing’s intention to make China both self-sufficient and the dominant exporting force in these areas. That would severely hurt countries that want to export such technologies to China, to a degree that arguably breaks international trade rules.
How does China hope to achieve this?
Alongside domestic research and development efforts, China is widely believed to be keen on gaining intimate access to foreign technologies, in order to find inspiration for its, ahem, homegrown technology.
There are several ways to do this. One is straight-up commercial espionage. Another is to have Chinese companies—which some believe are all ultimately controlled by Beijing—invest in the foreign firms making this tech. Big examples of Chinese takeovers of U.S. firms include Lenovo buying phone-maker Motorola, Zoomlion Heavy Industry Science buying machinery firm Terex, and Tianjin Tianhai buying Ingram Micro.
And then we have China’s rules on foreign firms accessing its own market. In the automotive sector, for example, overseas manufacturers have to form 50-50 joint ventures with Chinese companies in order to sell there. This gives those local players access to the foreign firms’ intellectual property.
Why hasn’t Trump targeted this behavior before?
He has. Last year, Trump blocked a Chinese-backed investor from picking up Lattice Semiconductor (LSCC, +2.37%). And when he unveiled big tariffs on Chinese imports earlier this year, “reciprocity” was the name of the game.
Donald J. Trump
✔
@realDonaldTrump
The U.S. is acting swiftly on Intellectual Property theft. We cannot allow this to happen as it has for many years!
1:38 AM - Mar 8, 2018
So what’s new?
Firstly, the context has moved on. Trump hit China with his tariffs, and China is predictably reciprocating—as with Europe, also stung by U.S. action on steel and aluminum, the strategy appears to be to unsettle Trump’s blue-collar base with targeted, retaliatory tariffs.
So now the White House is preparing to take things up a notch or two. One element of the new offensive involves “enhanced” export controls, while another would stop companies with at least 25% Chinese ownership (or possibly even less) from buying U.S. firms dealing in “industrially significant technology.” As Chinese investment has already drastically tapered off, it’s the export controls that seem to be worrying U.S. industry.
According to the Journal, the National Security Council is working out recommendations on export blocks involving tech that is relevant to the Made In China 2025 drive, and there’s still a window of opportunity for industry to voice its concerns.
Trump rallies Republicans in Las Vegas - CBS News
KATHRYN WATSON CBS NEWS June 23, 2018, 5:49 PM
Trump rallies Republicans in Las Vegas
President Trump spent his Saturday in Las Vegas, meeting with supporters, addressing the Nevada Republican Party Convention and hosting a roundtable discussion on tax cuts.
The trip comes as midterm election season heats up in the Silver State, where Republican Sen. Dean Heller is vulnerable as he faces re-election. Mr. Trump says he needs more Republicans in the Senate to be able to pass everything from an infrastructure package to comprehensive immigration reform.
"We have to get our friend in office. We need him there very badly," Mr. Trump said of Heller.
The president, who touched on everything from tariffs, to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, to immigration, blasted Heller's Democratic opponent Jacky Rosen, saying his nickname for her is "Wacky Jacky."
Follow along below for live updates:
Trump prepares to depart Las Vegas
Wrapping up the roundtable at 5:45 p.m. Eastern time, 2:45 p.m. local time, Mr. Trump exited the room and prepared to head back to Washington.
Dean Heller thanks Trump for visiting
Heller thanked Mr. Trump for returning to Nevada, along with everyone who attended the roundtable. Heller took every chance he had to praise Mr. Trump and his administration for the work they accomplished.
Mr. Trump, too, touted the need for Heller in office.
"We have to get our friend in office. We need him there very badly," Mr. Trump said of Heller.
Trump says Dean Heller fought for tax cuts
After business leaders around the table spoke, Mr. Trump again praised Heller's support for the tax cuts.
The president also said the economy is going to get a "lot better."
Trump calls Kim Jong Un a "smart, tough guy"
Mr. Trump, in a roundtable that is supposed to be focused on tax reform, praised the qualities of North Korean leader Kim Jong un.
The president called Kim a "smart, tough guy" and a "great negotiator."
North Korean's human rights record is considered one of the worst, if not the worst, in the world by human rights organizations. But Mr. Trump has downplayed those concerns since meeting with Kim last week.
"The bottom line is, America is open for business"
"The bottom line is, America is open for business," the president said, after praising key takeaways from the GOP tax bill.
After talking up taxes, Mr. Trump said the steel industry is coming back -- and the U.S. needs it to come back. He mentioned the tariffs on steel and aluminum he recently imposed.
Trump kicks off roundtable event
At roughly 5 p.m. EDT, 2 p.m. local time, the president kicked off his tax reform roundtable. He has done tax reform roundtables across the country in recent months.
Trump calls Dean Heller a "tough cookie"
Mr. Trump said Nevada has a great man in Heller. Mr. Trumps said he's been on both sides of Heller, and he's a "tough cookie."
The president said he'll be returning to Nevada a lot before November.
Trump blasts MS-13
Mr. Trump expressed his hatred of MS-13, as he often does when discussing immigration.
Mr. Trump reiterated a claim he made weeks ago that members of the gang are "animals."
Trump jokes about "Wacky Jacky" and "Pocahontas"
Mr. Trump played with the crowd, saying he shouldn't share his name for Democratic Senate candidate Jacky Rosen. But the crowd insisted, and Mr. Trump, seemingly happily, complied.
"Wacky Jacky," Mr. Trump said.
"Now that name didn't come from me," he claimed. "People who know her, that's what they call her, Wacky Jacky."
Then Mr. Trump brought up Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., whom Mr. Trump calls "Pocahontas."
Mr. Trump said "Wacky Jacky" and "Pocahontas" are campaigning together, which went over well with the crowd.
"Any Hispanics in the audience, perhaps?"
Mr. Trump touted low unemployment figures for various groups, including Hispanics.
"Any Hispanics in the audience, perhaps?" Mr. Trump said.
Trump casts some blame on Obama for border situation
Mr. Trump said the U.S. needs to be very strong on immigration.
Seeming to refer to the centers holding immigrant children, Mr. Trump claimed former President George W. Bush and former President Barack Obama had the same site.
He seemed to reference a photo that surfaced recently that was actually from 2014, the Obama era. Mr. Trump claimed "our people" -- seeming to refer to federal immigration authorities -- are doing a good job handling a difficult situation.
The president claimed the situation at the border should have been solved long ago by one of his predecessors.
Trump says North Korea has "tremendous" potential
Mr. Trump touted what he sees as his successes through the recent North Korean summit. He repeated his line that he and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un have great "chemistry."
He also said North Korea has "tremendous" potential, and Kim sees that.
Trump says Dean Heller is doing a great job
Mr. Trump congratulated Heller on his primary win, and said he is doing a great job, and will continue to do so.
The president joked Heller was a little "shaky" at the beginning, but is doing well now. Heller, a Republican in a purple state, has been more hesitant than some Republican senators on the president's policies. But, as the president pointed out, he did vote for the tax cuts.
Trump takes the stage at Nevada GOP convention
Mr. Trump took the stage just after 3:30 p.m., to a cheering crowd.
Trump lands in Las Vegas, where Dean Heller greets him
Mr. Trump landed in Las Vegas at 1:54 p.m. Eastern, or 10:54 a.m. local time. He was greeted by, in addition to others, Republican Sen. Dean Heller.
Mr. Trump is expected to help Heller on Saturday, as Heller tries to keep his seat.
The first event of the day is a closed-door meeting with supporters, according to his schedule. Reporters are not allowed inside.
The high in Vegas is 111 degrees Saturday.
Trump tweets about his trip
The president tweeted about his Nevada visit as he neared Las Vegas, touting the economy.
"Heading to Nevada to talk trade and immigration with supporters," the president wrote. "Country's economy is stronger than ever before with numbers that are getting better by the week. Tremendous potential, and trade deals are coming along well."
Donald J. Trump
✔
@realDonaldTrump
Heading to Nevada to talk trade and immigration with supporters. Country’s economy is stronger than ever before with numbers that are getting better by the week. Tremendous potential, and trade deals are coming along well.
2:57 AM - Jun 24, 2018
Corey Lewandowski joins Trump after saying "womp womp" about story of girl with Down syndrome
Corey Lewandowski, Mr. Trump's former top campaign aide, is joining Mr. Trump on his trip to Las Vegas, only a few days after he appeared to mock the situation of a 10-year-old girl with Down syndrome separated from her mother at the southern border.
On Fox News Tuesday night, Lewandowski responded "womp, womp," when a fellow guest mentioned the situation -- confirmed by the Mexican and U.S. government -- that a 10-year-old girl with Down syndrome had been separated from her mother.
Lewandowski later claimed on Twitter that he was mocking a liberal, not the girl.
Corey R. Lewandowski
✔
@CLewandowski_
Lots of Fake News today. I mocked a liberal who attempted to politicize children as opposed to discussing the real issue which is fixing a broken immigration system. It’s offenseive that the MSM doesn’t want to talk about the fact these policies were started under Obama.
11:32 PM - Jun 20, 2018
Trump rallies Republicans in Las Vegas
President Trump spent his Saturday in Las Vegas, meeting with supporters, addressing the Nevada Republican Party Convention and hosting a roundtable discussion on tax cuts.
The trip comes as midterm election season heats up in the Silver State, where Republican Sen. Dean Heller is vulnerable as he faces re-election. Mr. Trump says he needs more Republicans in the Senate to be able to pass everything from an infrastructure package to comprehensive immigration reform.
"We have to get our friend in office. We need him there very badly," Mr. Trump said of Heller.
The president, who touched on everything from tariffs, to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, to immigration, blasted Heller's Democratic opponent Jacky Rosen, saying his nickname for her is "Wacky Jacky."
Follow along below for live updates:
Trump prepares to depart Las Vegas
Wrapping up the roundtable at 5:45 p.m. Eastern time, 2:45 p.m. local time, Mr. Trump exited the room and prepared to head back to Washington.
Dean Heller thanks Trump for visiting
Heller thanked Mr. Trump for returning to Nevada, along with everyone who attended the roundtable. Heller took every chance he had to praise Mr. Trump and his administration for the work they accomplished.
Mr. Trump, too, touted the need for Heller in office.
"We have to get our friend in office. We need him there very badly," Mr. Trump said of Heller.
Trump says Dean Heller fought for tax cuts
After business leaders around the table spoke, Mr. Trump again praised Heller's support for the tax cuts.
The president also said the economy is going to get a "lot better."
Trump calls Kim Jong Un a "smart, tough guy"
Mr. Trump, in a roundtable that is supposed to be focused on tax reform, praised the qualities of North Korean leader Kim Jong un.
The president called Kim a "smart, tough guy" and a "great negotiator."
North Korean's human rights record is considered one of the worst, if not the worst, in the world by human rights organizations. But Mr. Trump has downplayed those concerns since meeting with Kim last week.
"The bottom line is, America is open for business"
"The bottom line is, America is open for business," the president said, after praising key takeaways from the GOP tax bill.
After talking up taxes, Mr. Trump said the steel industry is coming back -- and the U.S. needs it to come back. He mentioned the tariffs on steel and aluminum he recently imposed.
Trump kicks off roundtable event
At roughly 5 p.m. EDT, 2 p.m. local time, the president kicked off his tax reform roundtable. He has done tax reform roundtables across the country in recent months.
Trump calls Dean Heller a "tough cookie"
Mr. Trump said Nevada has a great man in Heller. Mr. Trumps said he's been on both sides of Heller, and he's a "tough cookie."
The president said he'll be returning to Nevada a lot before November.
Trump blasts MS-13
Mr. Trump expressed his hatred of MS-13, as he often does when discussing immigration.
Mr. Trump reiterated a claim he made weeks ago that members of the gang are "animals."
Trump jokes about "Wacky Jacky" and "Pocahontas"
Mr. Trump played with the crowd, saying he shouldn't share his name for Democratic Senate candidate Jacky Rosen. But the crowd insisted, and Mr. Trump, seemingly happily, complied.
"Wacky Jacky," Mr. Trump said.
"Now that name didn't come from me," he claimed. "People who know her, that's what they call her, Wacky Jacky."
Then Mr. Trump brought up Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., whom Mr. Trump calls "Pocahontas."
Mr. Trump said "Wacky Jacky" and "Pocahontas" are campaigning together, which went over well with the crowd.
"Any Hispanics in the audience, perhaps?"
Mr. Trump touted low unemployment figures for various groups, including Hispanics.
"Any Hispanics in the audience, perhaps?" Mr. Trump said.
Trump casts some blame on Obama for border situation
Mr. Trump said the U.S. needs to be very strong on immigration.
Seeming to refer to the centers holding immigrant children, Mr. Trump claimed former President George W. Bush and former President Barack Obama had the same site.
He seemed to reference a photo that surfaced recently that was actually from 2014, the Obama era. Mr. Trump claimed "our people" -- seeming to refer to federal immigration authorities -- are doing a good job handling a difficult situation.
The president claimed the situation at the border should have been solved long ago by one of his predecessors.
Trump says North Korea has "tremendous" potential
Mr. Trump touted what he sees as his successes through the recent North Korean summit. He repeated his line that he and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un have great "chemistry."
He also said North Korea has "tremendous" potential, and Kim sees that.
Trump says Dean Heller is doing a great job
Mr. Trump congratulated Heller on his primary win, and said he is doing a great job, and will continue to do so.
The president joked Heller was a little "shaky" at the beginning, but is doing well now. Heller, a Republican in a purple state, has been more hesitant than some Republican senators on the president's policies. But, as the president pointed out, he did vote for the tax cuts.
Trump takes the stage at Nevada GOP convention
Mr. Trump took the stage just after 3:30 p.m., to a cheering crowd.
Trump lands in Las Vegas, where Dean Heller greets him
Mr. Trump landed in Las Vegas at 1:54 p.m. Eastern, or 10:54 a.m. local time. He was greeted by, in addition to others, Republican Sen. Dean Heller.
Mr. Trump is expected to help Heller on Saturday, as Heller tries to keep his seat.
The first event of the day is a closed-door meeting with supporters, according to his schedule. Reporters are not allowed inside.
The high in Vegas is 111 degrees Saturday.
Trump tweets about his trip
The president tweeted about his Nevada visit as he neared Las Vegas, touting the economy.
"Heading to Nevada to talk trade and immigration with supporters," the president wrote. "Country's economy is stronger than ever before with numbers that are getting better by the week. Tremendous potential, and trade deals are coming along well."
Donald J. Trump
✔
@realDonaldTrump
Heading to Nevada to talk trade and immigration with supporters. Country’s economy is stronger than ever before with numbers that are getting better by the week. Tremendous potential, and trade deals are coming along well.
2:57 AM - Jun 24, 2018
Corey Lewandowski joins Trump after saying "womp womp" about story of girl with Down syndrome
Corey Lewandowski, Mr. Trump's former top campaign aide, is joining Mr. Trump on his trip to Las Vegas, only a few days after he appeared to mock the situation of a 10-year-old girl with Down syndrome separated from her mother at the southern border.
On Fox News Tuesday night, Lewandowski responded "womp, womp," when a fellow guest mentioned the situation -- confirmed by the Mexican and U.S. government -- that a 10-year-old girl with Down syndrome had been separated from her mother.
Lewandowski later claimed on Twitter that he was mocking a liberal, not the girl.
Corey R. Lewandowski
✔
@CLewandowski_
Lots of Fake News today. I mocked a liberal who attempted to politicize children as opposed to discussing the real issue which is fixing a broken immigration system. It’s offenseive that the MSM doesn’t want to talk about the fact these policies were started under Obama.
11:32 PM - Jun 20, 2018
Trump calls for deportations without judicial process - BBC News
Trump calls for deportations without judicial process
June 24, 2018
Mr Trump has called for "strength and security at the border" in a series of tweets
US President Donald Trump has called for speedy deportations that bypass any judicial process in a tweet on Sunday.
"When somebody comes in, we must immediately, with no Judges or Court Cases, bring them back from where they came," Mr Trump wrote.
His comments come days after Mr Trump reversed a policy to separate migrant children from their parents following fierce backlash at home and abroad.
More than 2,300 children were separated from their parents in May and June.
As of May, all migrants who cross the US border illegally face criminal prosecution under the "zero tolerance" policy.
The president did not make the distinction between economic migrants and those seeking asylum.
Mr Trump has faced criticism, including from his own Republican Party, for his choice of language on Twitter.
When he earlier said immigrants threatened "to pour into and infest our Country", Republican congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen tweeted back at him saying his "baseless rhetoric" was "repugnant" and dehumanised those looking for a better life.
The impact of Trump on illegal immigration
US 'plans migrant camps on military bases'
Child migrant photo not what it seemed
Migrant families face chaos to reunite
US immigration officials say 2,342 children were separated from 2,206 parents from 5 May to 9 June.
Zero-tolerance: The US policy dividing families and opinion
On 20 June, Mr Trump backed down from his support for the policy and signed an executive order ending the practice of separating families.
He said at the time: "I did not like the sight or feeling of families being separated."
Mr Trump's directive allows for long-term detention of immigrant children (albeit with their parents), which violates federal law that limits child detention to 20 days.
Tougher language after softened policy
Chris Buckler, BBC Washington Correspondent
A public outcry over migrant children being separated from their parents, forced Donald Trump to soften his immigration policy.
But since then, in a series of speeches, he has called for tougher laws - and claimed America's current legislation is laughed at by the rest of the world.
His latest comments on Twitter go even further.
He says that everyone found illegally trying to cross the border should be returned to their own country immediately - without involving judges or holding court cases.
Political opponents will be furious that that's even been suggested but President Trump clearly believes his supporters back his hardline stance.
Following Mr Trump's election in 2016, the numbers of migrants held or detained entry while crossing the border had dropped significantly.
However, since February 2018, the number of migrants crossing the border illegally is up, with arrests last month more than double those in May 2017.
While illegal crossings cannot be accurately counted, border arrests are used as a measure of illegal border crossings.
Turkey election: Erdogan wins re-election as president - BBC News
June 25, 2018
Turkey election: Erdogan wins re-election as president
Turkey's long-standing leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan has won a new five-year term after securing outright victory in the first round of a presidential poll.
Mr Erdogan got nearly 53% with almost all votes counted. His closest rival Muharrem Ince was on 31%.
He will now assume sweeping new powers, won in a controversial referendum last year. The post of PM will be abolished.
The opposition is yet to officially concede but said it would continue its democratic fight "whatever the result".
It had earlier cast doubt on results being broadcast by state media. Final results will be announced on Friday.
The polls were the most fiercely fought in many years.
Mr Erdogan has presided over a strong economy and built up a solid support base by investing in healthcare, education and infrastructure.
But the 64-year-old has also polarised opinion, cracking down on opponents and putting some 160,000 people in jail.
How powerful will Erdogan be?
Erdogan: Turkey's pugnacious president
Turks abroad play decisive role in Erdogan vote
Mr Erdogan gave a triumphant victory speech from the balcony of his party's headquarters in the capital Ankara at 03:00 (00:00 GMT), declaring: "The winner of this election is each and every individual among my 81 million citizens."
Congratulations have come in from Islamic leaders including Iranian President Hassan Rouhani. Russian President Vladimir Putin talked of Mr Erdogan's "great political authority and mass support".
Supporters of Erdogan and the AK Party took to Istanbul's streets to celebrate
Mr Ince, from the Republican People's Party (CHP), has accused state-run news agency Anadolu of "manipulation" over its reporting of vote-share figures.
He will make a statement at 12:00 (09:00 GMT) on Monday.
There were another four candidates on the presidential ballot, all of whom fell below 10% of the vote.
What does the result mean?
President Erdogan will assume major new powers under Turkey's new constitution. The changes were endorsed in a tight referendum last year by 51% of voters, and are due to come into force after the election.
They include:
Directly appointing top public officials, including ministers and vice-presidents
The power to intervene in the country's legal system
The power to impose a state of emergency
Some critics argue the enhanced role will place too much power in one person's hands, and that Turkey's new system lacks the checks and balances of other executive presidencies like France or the US.
Mr Erdogan maintains his increased authority will empower him to address Turkey's economic woes and defeat Kurdish rebels in the country's south-east.
In his victory speech, he said Turkey would act more firmly against terrorist groups, and would continue to "liberate Syrian lands" so refugees could return to their homes there.
Mr Erdogan was prime minister for 11 years before becoming president in 2014. Under the new constitution, he could stand for a third term when his second finishes in 2023, meaning he could potentially hold power until 2028.
'Progressive values are still here'
By Mark Lowen, BBC Turkey correspondent
Despite 90% of the media being pro-government and largely shunning the opposition, the president's posters and flags dwarfing any challenge on the streets, the election being held under a state of emergency curtailing protests, and critical journalists and academics being jailed or forced into exile, Mr Erdogan only got half of the country behind him.
"We are living through a fascist regime", the opposition MP Selin Sayek Boke told the BBC. "But fascist regimes don't usually win elections with 53%, they win with 90%. So this shows that progressive values are still here and can rise up."
For now, though, this is Mr Erdogan's time. With his sweeping new powers, scrapping the post of prime minister and able to choose ministers and most senior judges, he becomes Turkey's most powerful leader since its founding father Ataturk.
He'll now hope to lead the country at least until 2023, a hundred years since Ataturk's creation. And a dejected opposition will have to pick itself up and wonder again if, and how, he can be beaten.
Who won seats in Turkey's parliament?
Mr Erdogan said the governing alliance led by his AK Party (AKP) had secured a majority, in a separate vote for the 600-member chamber.
Reality Check: The numbers behind Turkey's crackdown
Losing their religion: The young Turks rejecting Islam
State news agency Anadolu said the AKP itself had 42% of the votes for parliament with 99% counted, giving it a projected 293 seats. Its partner, the MHP, had 11% and 50 seats.
The opposition CHP won only 23% (146 seats) despite Mr Ince's popularity in the presidential vote, while its nationalist ally the Iyi (Good) party won 10% (44 seats).
In a development that will please Kurdish voters, the pro-Kurdish HDP exceeded the 10% threshold needed to enter parliament. With 67 seats, it will form the chamber's second-largest opposition faction.
Kurds in Diyarbakir celebrated the HDP's result
The party's success comes despite the fact its presidential candidate Selahattin Demirtas is in a high-security prison on terror charges, which he firmly denies.
Security was tight at polling stations. Ahead of the vote, concerns had been raised about potential voter intimidation and electoral fraud.
Voter turnout was high at almost 87%, the state broadcaster reported.
Muharrem Ince has raised concerns about the way vote-share figures were reported
Rights activists have said the press is not free to report on all sides in Turkey. It has become the world's biggest jailer of journalists under Mr Erdogan's rule, according to monitoring groups.
Mr Erdogan has already cautioned his rivals against claiming foul play, saying: "I hope nobody will try to cast a shadow on the results and harm democracy in order to hide their own failure."
What were the election issues?
The biggest was the economy. The Turkish lira has tanked and inflation stands at about 11%, though the economy has grown substantially in recent years.
The currency has suffered as Mr Erdogan has pressed the central bank not to raise interest rates and suggested before the poll that he might restrict its independence.
Terrorism was another key issue, as Turkey faces attacks from Kurdish militants and the jihadists of the Islamic State group.
Turkey's brain drain: Crackdown pushes intellectuals out
Mr Erdogan's rivals accused him of damaging civil liberties in Turkey and spearheading a slide into authoritarian rule.
Turkey has been under a state of emergency since a failed coup in July 2016, with 107,000 public servants and soldiers dismissed from their jobs. More than 50,000 people have been imprisoned pending trial since the uprising.
Muharrem Ince attracted huge crowds on the campaign trail
CHP candidate Mr Ince's fiery campaigning helped to revitalise Turkey's downtrodden opposition - but ultimately he lacked the numbers to end Mr Erdogan's dominance.
BBC Turkey correspondent Mark Lowen tweeted: "Yet again one half of #Turkey feels invincible, the other distraught."
Saturday, May 19, 2018
Donald Trump's Business Is Booming In San Francisco - Forbes
MAY 2, 2018 @ 11:40 AM 5,185 2 Free Issues of Forbes
Donald Trump's Business Is Booming In San Francisco
Chase Peterson-Withorn , FORBES STAFF
By Chase Peterson-Withorn and Dan Alexander
While several of Donald Trump’s properties—particularly those in midtown Manhattan—remain in a retail market-induced slump, things are looking pretty sunny for the president in California, where his San Francisco skyscraper continues to benefit from a strong market for office space.
Occupancy, rents and net operating income all rose in the first quarter of 2018 at 555 California Street, where Trump owns 30% of a three-building complex that includes the 52-story former Bank of America Center and two smaller buildings next door.
Now nearly fully rented, the property’s occupancy rate climbed to 97.8% in the first quarter of 2018, according to a recent filing—the highest it’s been since at least 2010.
For that Trump can thank his partner, billionaire Steven Roth, whose publicly traded REIT Vornado Realty Trust owns the remaining 70% of the property and manages its day-to-day operations. Vornado recently struck a deal with a new tenant: the Blue Shield of California Foundation. In March the charitable arm of health plan provider Blue Shield announced it will take two floors at 315 Montgomery Street, a 16-story building next door to the tower at 555 California Street in the heart of San Francisco’s financial district, beginning in the fall.
The building’s average annual rent jumped by 7%, to $67.59 per square foot, this quarter, suggesting that new tenants are paying more for space than existing tenants. According to Cushman & Wakefield, the average asking rent for Class A office space in the city was $74.55 per square foot in the first quarter.
The building at 315 Montgomery Street is now fully leased, according to the quarterly report. Nearby 345 Montgomery Street, a 64,000-square-foot retail space, remains shuttered while it undergoes a multimillion-dollar renovation. But next door at 555 California Street’s main tower, 97.4% of the skyscraper’s 1.5 million square feet are currently under lease. Tenants include Bank of America ($14 million in estimated annual rent), Goldman Sachs ($6 million), UBS ($4.6 million) and Microsoft ($3.6 million).
Those leases helped the property produce $19.3 million in quarterly net operating income—a key profitability metric in the real estate industry—up 12% from the same period a year ago. Total net operating income over the past 12 months reached $66.8 million, up from $57.8 million in the preceding 12 months.
Vornado and Trump appear to be using some of that cash to pay down the property’s debt. In the first quarter of 2018, the partners reduced their mortgage by $2.5 million; it now stands at about $567 million. When Vornado bought its 70% stake in the property in 2007, the debt totaled $1.1 billion.
Trump was cajoled into purchasing 30% of 555 California Street and 1290 Avenue of the Americas, an office building in Manhattan, in 2006 when the Hong Kong-based majority investors in his troubled Riverside South project decided to sell the property over Trump’s objections. They reinvested the proceeds into the two properties, then quickly sold their 70% stake to Vornado for $1.01 billion plus the assumption of $797 million of debt.
Today Forbes estimates that Trump’s 30% share of the 555 California Street complex, which he did not want to purchase, is worth $347 million net of debt—making it his third most valuable holding.
You can reach me via email (cpeterson-withorn@forbes.com), Twitter, or—anonymously—through tips@forbes.com or our SecureDrop site.
Donald Trump's Business Is Booming In San Francisco
Chase Peterson-Withorn , FORBES STAFF
By Chase Peterson-Withorn and Dan Alexander
While several of Donald Trump’s properties—particularly those in midtown Manhattan—remain in a retail market-induced slump, things are looking pretty sunny for the president in California, where his San Francisco skyscraper continues to benefit from a strong market for office space.
Occupancy, rents and net operating income all rose in the first quarter of 2018 at 555 California Street, where Trump owns 30% of a three-building complex that includes the 52-story former Bank of America Center and two smaller buildings next door.
Now nearly fully rented, the property’s occupancy rate climbed to 97.8% in the first quarter of 2018, according to a recent filing—the highest it’s been since at least 2010.
For that Trump can thank his partner, billionaire Steven Roth, whose publicly traded REIT Vornado Realty Trust owns the remaining 70% of the property and manages its day-to-day operations. Vornado recently struck a deal with a new tenant: the Blue Shield of California Foundation. In March the charitable arm of health plan provider Blue Shield announced it will take two floors at 315 Montgomery Street, a 16-story building next door to the tower at 555 California Street in the heart of San Francisco’s financial district, beginning in the fall.
The building’s average annual rent jumped by 7%, to $67.59 per square foot, this quarter, suggesting that new tenants are paying more for space than existing tenants. According to Cushman & Wakefield, the average asking rent for Class A office space in the city was $74.55 per square foot in the first quarter.
The building at 315 Montgomery Street is now fully leased, according to the quarterly report. Nearby 345 Montgomery Street, a 64,000-square-foot retail space, remains shuttered while it undergoes a multimillion-dollar renovation. But next door at 555 California Street’s main tower, 97.4% of the skyscraper’s 1.5 million square feet are currently under lease. Tenants include Bank of America ($14 million in estimated annual rent), Goldman Sachs ($6 million), UBS ($4.6 million) and Microsoft ($3.6 million).
Those leases helped the property produce $19.3 million in quarterly net operating income—a key profitability metric in the real estate industry—up 12% from the same period a year ago. Total net operating income over the past 12 months reached $66.8 million, up from $57.8 million in the preceding 12 months.
Vornado and Trump appear to be using some of that cash to pay down the property’s debt. In the first quarter of 2018, the partners reduced their mortgage by $2.5 million; it now stands at about $567 million. When Vornado bought its 70% stake in the property in 2007, the debt totaled $1.1 billion.
Trump was cajoled into purchasing 30% of 555 California Street and 1290 Avenue of the Americas, an office building in Manhattan, in 2006 when the Hong Kong-based majority investors in his troubled Riverside South project decided to sell the property over Trump’s objections. They reinvested the proceeds into the two properties, then quickly sold their 70% stake to Vornado for $1.01 billion plus the assumption of $797 million of debt.
Today Forbes estimates that Trump’s 30% share of the 555 California Street complex, which he did not want to purchase, is worth $347 million net of debt—making it his third most valuable holding.
You can reach me via email (cpeterson-withorn@forbes.com), Twitter, or—anonymously—through tips@forbes.com or our SecureDrop site.
“Why I Left Goldman Sachs and Wall Street Glory for Crypto” - Billboard News ( source : Entrepreneur )
May 18, 2018
“Why I Left Goldman Sachs and Wall Street Glory for Crypto”
Back in 2008, I had it all, first as a statistical arbitrage trader with Goldman Sachs and then as a senior trader at two of Asia’s top hedge funds, managing upwards of $1.5 billion. I traded equities, foreign exchange, equity derivatives and convertible bonds. I even started my own fund, which raised $20 million in assets in its first year.
Attracting clients came easily, and so did the money. It helped me acquire and rent 22 single-family homes in the southeastern United States, which generated 9 percent in revenue annually. In short, the finance industry was good to me.
Fast-forward a few years, to 2016. The second I learned about blockchain and cryptocurrency, I walked away from my earlier career. Eventually, I became the CEO of a crypto-intelligence platform, CoinFi, and we’ve just completed a $15 million ICO. I work grueling hours for no pay and use my spare time to convince everyone around me that cryptocurrency and the blockchain, together, constitute a legitimate industry that has the same potential as the internet did in the early ’90s.
To be clear, I don’t recommend this path. It’s a risky one to take, and it’s riddled with potholes. But if you’re an entrepreneur worth your salt, you should be paying attention to the crypto space. Failing to do so could be costly.
Crypto? It’s a gold rush out there.
Compared to the equities markets, the crypto markets are the Wild West. This means virtually no regulation, crazy volatility and a rapidly evolving landscape. The risk is extraordinarily high, but for those willing to venture into uncharted territory to stake their claim, it also means opportunity to sell picks and shovels in a digital gold rush.
Of all the people who have written about getting rich during a digital gold rush, few are more qualified than Marc Andreessen. At age 23, Andreessen created the Netscape browser, which was acquired by AOL for $4.2 billion in 1999 at the height of the dot-com boom. He then formed the legendary VC fund Andreessen-Horowitz, which was an early investor in transformative Web 2.0 companies like Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter.
In a 2014 op-ed for the New York Times titled “Why Bitcoin Matters”, Andreessen described a pattern of emergence for mysterious new technology, which, after decades of research and development, appeared seemingly out of nowhere. The Establishment dismissed this technology as impractical, while technologists and entrepreneurs hailed it as revolutionary. They were transfixed.
Then, finally, as mainstream companies began to emerge, the technology seemed poised to become a part of our daily lives. And some people began to look back at the events leading up to that point and wonder how early observers could have been so blind to the technology’s disruptive power.
The technology Andreesen was describing? Actually, he was describing three types of technology, as he clarified in his op ed: “Personal computers in 1975, the internet in 1993 and — I believe [Andreeesen’s words] — Bitcoin in 2014.”
Crypto has a road map.
One truly remarkable aspect of Bitcoin’s particular gold rush is that the history of equities provides valuable insights into the future of the crypto markets; and that history illustrates how great, big windows will open – but only briefly. Just as arbitrage trading — the purchase and sale of equities based on price imbalances — was ripe with reward in early equities markets, crypto is following suit.
In late 2017, I published a video showing how investors could make a profit manually arbitraging trading crypto across exchanges. As of today, pretty much all of those easy arbitrage opportunities have dried up, as crypto funds have consolidated the market. But they’ll be no shortage of future opportunities that will pop.
Crypto is creating new markets and sub-industries.
There are still major hurdles to clear for crypto to be a mainstream asset class, but for entrepreneurs this risk is creating a level of opportunity not seen in decades. Unlike equities, crypto assets are bearer assets. As a result, taking custody of cryptocurrency is all about securely storing and protecting valuable secrets; and the recent news stories surrounding data breaches indicates just how vulnerable those secrets are when they’re accessible via the internet.
Just this one problem creates hundreds of potential security and storage solutions — solutions that have yet to be fully explored and built. The opportunity doesn’t end with security, though. Here are some other areas ripe for development:
Prime services – There is still only a very limited selection of prime services available in the crypto space. They include, for example, credit (borrowing and lending crypto assets) and trading tools and products (shorting, derivatives).
Market intelligence – There is still no single canonical source that provides all of the relevant market intelligence a crypto trader needs to stay on top of the markets, the same way a Bloomberg Terminal does for equities traders.
Portfolio and order management – Investors need more robust solutions; even simple profit and loss tracking broken down by asset isn’t yet available for current portfolio-management systems.
Transactional infrastructure – The crypto market’s unorganized, shallow liquidity pools means institutional investors looking to deploy tens of millions of dollars into the cryptocurrency markets face significant difficulty executing those orders efficiently. The result? Companies like Caspian and Omniex are developing institutional level offerings to address this gap, and Coinbase is rolling out systems to cater to traditional institutional investors.
The point is that opportunity is ubiquitous, and there’s no limit to the number of sub-industries that could spin off of just this one asset class.
Image result for cryptocurrencies
Crypto is disrupting traditional finance.
In the early-to-mid decade of the 2000s, money poured into the hedge fund industry. A single trader with a big idea at a small fund could make millions. Then, after the financial crisis, the industry became more competitive and low interest rates forced institutional investors to play it safer and consolidate funds. The game was no longer about the big idea. Rather, the people who made money were an extremely small subset with inside connections. Ideas became commoditized, opportunities shrank and the market compressed (and continues to compress) to this day.
Yet even as traditional finance becomes more competitive and margins grow thinner, the crypto industry is exploding. Getting started in this industry early means getting in on the ground floor in a market that is still in high growth mode. Doing so will make it a lot easier to succeed than entering a market where the bulk of the profits already have been claimed by a handful of connected insiders.
Don’t miss the boat.
In the end, I didn’t leave Goldman Sachs and hedge fund glory for crypto because I needed the money. I didn’t even leave because I wanted to be my own boss, necessarily. I left because I didn’t want to miss the boat on something so exciting and so revolutionary that it had the potential to reshape the way our world works.
History tends to repeat itself. Right now, it indicates that once the infrastructure needed for institutional investing is built, there will be an inflow of institutional funds into the crypto markets, and that means opportunities like those seen at the dawn of the internet. Whether that map leads to a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow remains to be seen, but when the opportunity of a lifetime presents itself, my opinion is that it’s better to swing and miss than to strike out just observing.
Author: Timothy Tam
Source: Entrepreneur
“Why I Left Goldman Sachs and Wall Street Glory for Crypto”
Back in 2008, I had it all, first as a statistical arbitrage trader with Goldman Sachs and then as a senior trader at two of Asia’s top hedge funds, managing upwards of $1.5 billion. I traded equities, foreign exchange, equity derivatives and convertible bonds. I even started my own fund, which raised $20 million in assets in its first year.
Attracting clients came easily, and so did the money. It helped me acquire and rent 22 single-family homes in the southeastern United States, which generated 9 percent in revenue annually. In short, the finance industry was good to me.
Fast-forward a few years, to 2016. The second I learned about blockchain and cryptocurrency, I walked away from my earlier career. Eventually, I became the CEO of a crypto-intelligence platform, CoinFi, and we’ve just completed a $15 million ICO. I work grueling hours for no pay and use my spare time to convince everyone around me that cryptocurrency and the blockchain, together, constitute a legitimate industry that has the same potential as the internet did in the early ’90s.
To be clear, I don’t recommend this path. It’s a risky one to take, and it’s riddled with potholes. But if you’re an entrepreneur worth your salt, you should be paying attention to the crypto space. Failing to do so could be costly.
Crypto? It’s a gold rush out there.
Compared to the equities markets, the crypto markets are the Wild West. This means virtually no regulation, crazy volatility and a rapidly evolving landscape. The risk is extraordinarily high, but for those willing to venture into uncharted territory to stake their claim, it also means opportunity to sell picks and shovels in a digital gold rush.
Of all the people who have written about getting rich during a digital gold rush, few are more qualified than Marc Andreessen. At age 23, Andreessen created the Netscape browser, which was acquired by AOL for $4.2 billion in 1999 at the height of the dot-com boom. He then formed the legendary VC fund Andreessen-Horowitz, which was an early investor in transformative Web 2.0 companies like Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter.
In a 2014 op-ed for the New York Times titled “Why Bitcoin Matters”, Andreessen described a pattern of emergence for mysterious new technology, which, after decades of research and development, appeared seemingly out of nowhere. The Establishment dismissed this technology as impractical, while technologists and entrepreneurs hailed it as revolutionary. They were transfixed.
Then, finally, as mainstream companies began to emerge, the technology seemed poised to become a part of our daily lives. And some people began to look back at the events leading up to that point and wonder how early observers could have been so blind to the technology’s disruptive power.
The technology Andreesen was describing? Actually, he was describing three types of technology, as he clarified in his op ed: “Personal computers in 1975, the internet in 1993 and — I believe [Andreeesen’s words] — Bitcoin in 2014.”
Crypto has a road map.
One truly remarkable aspect of Bitcoin’s particular gold rush is that the history of equities provides valuable insights into the future of the crypto markets; and that history illustrates how great, big windows will open – but only briefly. Just as arbitrage trading — the purchase and sale of equities based on price imbalances — was ripe with reward in early equities markets, crypto is following suit.
In late 2017, I published a video showing how investors could make a profit manually arbitraging trading crypto across exchanges. As of today, pretty much all of those easy arbitrage opportunities have dried up, as crypto funds have consolidated the market. But they’ll be no shortage of future opportunities that will pop.
Crypto is creating new markets and sub-industries.
There are still major hurdles to clear for crypto to be a mainstream asset class, but for entrepreneurs this risk is creating a level of opportunity not seen in decades. Unlike equities, crypto assets are bearer assets. As a result, taking custody of cryptocurrency is all about securely storing and protecting valuable secrets; and the recent news stories surrounding data breaches indicates just how vulnerable those secrets are when they’re accessible via the internet.
Just this one problem creates hundreds of potential security and storage solutions — solutions that have yet to be fully explored and built. The opportunity doesn’t end with security, though. Here are some other areas ripe for development:
Prime services – There is still only a very limited selection of prime services available in the crypto space. They include, for example, credit (borrowing and lending crypto assets) and trading tools and products (shorting, derivatives).
Market intelligence – There is still no single canonical source that provides all of the relevant market intelligence a crypto trader needs to stay on top of the markets, the same way a Bloomberg Terminal does for equities traders.
Portfolio and order management – Investors need more robust solutions; even simple profit and loss tracking broken down by asset isn’t yet available for current portfolio-management systems.
Transactional infrastructure – The crypto market’s unorganized, shallow liquidity pools means institutional investors looking to deploy tens of millions of dollars into the cryptocurrency markets face significant difficulty executing those orders efficiently. The result? Companies like Caspian and Omniex are developing institutional level offerings to address this gap, and Coinbase is rolling out systems to cater to traditional institutional investors.
The point is that opportunity is ubiquitous, and there’s no limit to the number of sub-industries that could spin off of just this one asset class.
Image result for cryptocurrencies
Crypto is disrupting traditional finance.
In the early-to-mid decade of the 2000s, money poured into the hedge fund industry. A single trader with a big idea at a small fund could make millions. Then, after the financial crisis, the industry became more competitive and low interest rates forced institutional investors to play it safer and consolidate funds. The game was no longer about the big idea. Rather, the people who made money were an extremely small subset with inside connections. Ideas became commoditized, opportunities shrank and the market compressed (and continues to compress) to this day.
Yet even as traditional finance becomes more competitive and margins grow thinner, the crypto industry is exploding. Getting started in this industry early means getting in on the ground floor in a market that is still in high growth mode. Doing so will make it a lot easier to succeed than entering a market where the bulk of the profits already have been claimed by a handful of connected insiders.
Don’t miss the boat.
In the end, I didn’t leave Goldman Sachs and hedge fund glory for crypto because I needed the money. I didn’t even leave because I wanted to be my own boss, necessarily. I left because I didn’t want to miss the boat on something so exciting and so revolutionary that it had the potential to reshape the way our world works.
History tends to repeat itself. Right now, it indicates that once the infrastructure needed for institutional investing is built, there will be an inflow of institutional funds into the crypto markets, and that means opportunities like those seen at the dawn of the internet. Whether that map leads to a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow remains to be seen, but when the opportunity of a lifetime presents itself, my opinion is that it’s better to swing and miss than to strike out just observing.
Author: Timothy Tam
Source: Entrepreneur
Dark factories: labour exploitation in Britain’s garment industry In parts of Leicester, workers are paid as little as £3.50 an hour. Why is no one being held responsible? - Financial Times
Dark factories: labour exploitation in Britain’s garment industry
In parts of Leicester, workers are paid as little as £3.50 an hour. Why is no one being held responsible?
Sarah O’Connor MAY 17, 2018 Print this page206
When Hassan Doshi moved from India to Leicester in 1982, he had good reason to feel optimistic. He had landed in a place that was hungry for sewing skills, a city of factories whose motto was “Leicester clothes the world”. He arrived on a Friday and started work on Monday. “1982 was good timing! I miss that time,” says Doshi, who is now 60 and still makes his own trousers. He remembers 29 days of paid holiday, 12.30 finishes on Fridays, and factory owners poaching him with the promise of higher pay.
These good times ended in 2001. The factory where he had worked for a decade — a supplier to the retailer BHS — closed down because, he says, production moved to Sri Lanka. It had done well to hold out so long. Retailers had already started “chasing the cheap needle round the planet”, as one retail executive puts it, and they have continued to do so.
The garment trade in Leicester, a city in the heart of England that boomed in the industrial age, managed to cling on, fragmented and weakened, in small units in the shells of old factory buildings. Market traders and wholesalers kept sourcing clothes there, as did some high-street brands like New Look when they needed to top up stocks. Doshi spent years bouncing from struggling small factory to factory, “always moving, moving, moving”.
Now, new economic forces have started to blow on the embers of Leicester’s clothing industry. Since the financial crisis, dozens of upstart British online retailers have prospered by catering to what Boohoo, one of the biggest of these brands, calls the “aspirational thrift” of young millennials. This is the Instagram generation that wants to buy today what their favourite celebrity wore yesterday. Fulfilling these desires quickly means sourcing close to home.
“Speed is our main USP and the UK is as quick as you can get,” said Nitin Passi, founder of online retailer Missguided, in 2014. Both Boohoo and Missguided source at least half their clothes in the UK, with hubs in Leicester, Manchester and London supplying a host of brands. I bought two Boohoo dresses for £6 and £7 respectively; both turned out to have been made in Leicester. Trendy, fast and cheap has proved a winning strategy. Boohoo’s market value has more than doubled to about £2.3bn since listing on London’s Aim exchange in 2014.
A £7 Boohoo dress bought by the FT/Sarah O’Connor © Kate Peters
How is it possible to make cheap clothes in a country where the minimum wage for over-25s is £7.83 an hour? Online retailers’ nimbleness and lower overheads allow them to pay more for products while still giving consumers a good price. In addition, there are manufacturers that use technology to make clothes more efficiently. But factory owners in Leicester say some take a different route, one more reminiscent of the 19th century than the 21st. They call these places “dark factories.”
Part of Leicester’s garment industry has become detached from UK employment law, “a country within a country”, as one factory owner puts it, where “£5 an hour is considered the top wage”, even though that is illegal. Doshi (not his real name) says he has worked in places with blocked fire escapes, old machines and no holiday or sick pay. There are garment factories that follow the law, but a “perceived culture of impunity”, as a 2018 government report puts it, has created a bizarre microeconomy where larger factories using machines are outcompeted by smaller rivals using underpaid humans.
And while some retailers blame unethical factory owners, the factories say retail’s relentless push for cheap prices makes it impossible to improve. As a result, what should be a good news story for people like Doshi has become a cautionary tale about how the reshoring of manufacturing jobs can go wrong when the government fails to enforce its own laws.
Perhaps the strangest thing about this labour exploitation is that it is an open secret. Central government knows; local government knows; retailers know. “When I came to the UK and I discovered what was going on in Leicester, it was mind-blowing,” says Anders Kristiansen, who was chief executive of high-street retailer New Look from 2013 until September last year. “This is happening in front of your eyes and nobody’s doing anything?!” he remembers thinking. “How can society accept it — not even society, how can government accept it? It’s so sad, I’ve not spoken about it for a long time because it frustrated me so much.”
Saeed Khilji, the chairman of the Textile Manufacturer Association of Leicestershire, drives around the garment district pointing out old industrial complexes. This part of Leicester is crammed with factories, red-brick terraces, mosques and churches. “This Temple building — one building — there’s 100 factories in there,” he says. “Each with 10 people, 15 people, 20 people.”
Khilji is a sharp dresser, with a groomed black beard. He set up TMAL last year because he felt the local industry needed a collective voice. As we drive, he keeps stopping to shout greetings to people. Then he points out a row of doors on St Saviours Road. “You only see one door but there are three or four factories behind each one.”
When I came to the UK and I discovered what was going on in Leicester, it was mind-blowing
Anders Kristiansen, former chief executive of New Look
Having been inside some, “factory” does not feel like the right word. In its heyday, Leicester garment manufacturer Corah employed more than 6,000 people. Now the average UK garment factory employs fewer than 10, according to University of Leicester research.
In the ones I was allowed into, there were workers at sewing machines listening to the radio, big ironing boards, and tables where people folded and packed clothes. One was doing a run for PrettyLittleThing, an online “fast fashion” brand owned by Boohoo. Another was making trousers for an over-40s catalogue.
Saeed Khilji in his office in Leicester last month © Kate Peters
Khilji parks outside the Imperial Typewriter Building, where Leicester’s famous typewriters were once made. Now the 1930s building is old and dirty. A broken window is patched up with a cardboard box. It too is home to garment factories. Khilji and I only get as far as the stairwell, where a spaghetti of wires dangles from the ceiling. One person who has visited said he was “frightened to be in the building. There’s just so many small units, there’s fabric stacked high.” He worried about potential fire risk. Khilji says many factories are now moving out because they see it as unsafe. “The condition of that building is very bad, but it’s not representative.”
How did the industry get here? When big manufacturers started to leave, some workers spent their redundancy money on buying the machines left behind. They set up small units, but clothing prices kept falling and working conditions worsened as they tried to stay competitive. As successive UK governments pushed up the legal minimum wage, parts of this bit of Leicester seem to have simply moved into a twilight world. It is not the only place where this has happened: New York and Los Angeles have grappled with poor conditions in garment factories as has Prato in Italy.
Today, people in Leicester earning £5 an hour “walk out of factories with their heads held high”, says Mick Cheema, who runs a garment factory called Basic Premier that pays legal wages. He says the average wage in dark factories, as he calls them, is about £4.25 an hour. Factories often under-record hours, so people’s payslips look as if they have been paid the minimum wage. “Say you’re working 40 hours for £4 [an hour], but legally you should get almost £8 — so these people are showing 20 hours at £8 an hour,” explains Khilji.
The Imperial Typewriter Building in Leicester, now home to small garment factories © Kate Peters
Doshi has experienced both the good and the bad when it comes to pay. Once he worked for three weeks without wages, then the factory suddenly shut down, giving him just £100. About 18 months ago, he was working in a factory in Cobden House, a six-storey building with razor wire on its wall, earning the minimum wage. Then the company went bankrupt. “I’m crying now [it’s] closed down.”
He went upstairs where a “fast fashion” factory had vacancies. They said his wage would be £4 an hour. When I went to look for it, it appeared to no longer exist. One manufacturer in Cobden House told me factories don’t always last long. Someone opened in the unit next to him “working all sorts of hours” for online retailers, he says, but then disappeared three months later.
As ever with illegality, pinning down its scale is tough. A study by the University of Leicester in 2015, commissioned by the Ethical Trading Initiative, an alliance of major retailers and unions, concluded the majority of the city’s garment workers were paid less than the minimum wage. When politician Harriet Harman led a group here last year from the joint committee on human rights, she estimated it was between a third and three-quarters. Khilji disagrees. “I should say 99 per cent,” he says. “I’m saying openly, these are the problems and we need to address them.” The root cause, he argues, is the way retailers treat suppliers.
The courtyard at the Imperial Typewriter Building © Kate Peters
Enforcement agencies uncover illegal migrant workers in occasional raids, but life goes on. Cheema remembers people fleeing from a factory on the other side of the street as it was raided. Nearby, he says, was another dark factory. “The boss of that factory was looking out of his door and down the street and letting two people out at a time,” he says. When raids happen, word spreads quickly and the streets fill with people as factories empty out.
Workers do not necessarily have better options, Khilji explains. Many are either from Doshi’s generation and have never learnt good English, or are more recent arrivals from eastern Europe or India. “They don’t have any skill, so manufacturers are actually taking them and training them and giving them something.” Lately, people have been coming from Daman in India on Portuguese passports because the place used to be a colony. “Some of the people is struggling, you know — so, £3? £4? OK,” says Doshi. He knows of a three-bedroom house with three or four families living in it.
Some factory owners say that workers believe they are better off with lower pay and fewer hours on the books, because they will receive more help from the state in tax credits and housing benefit. If that is what workers think — and I did not hear it from any directly — they are mistaken.
Calculations by the Resolution Foundation show that in every scenario it is better to be paid the minimum wage for 40 hours than for 20. But it is certainly true that taxpayers are losing money because workers are illegally underpaid, both because the government has to pay more benefits, and because HMRC loses about £1,000 in tax from the employer per worker.
Trade unions lack a strong presence here. Community organisations do their best but funding has been squeezed. The local Highfields Centre lost all its council funding in 2015. Its chief executive, Priya Thamotheram, who says he took a 65 per cent pay cut at that time, is keen to run an advice service for workers and provide more education programmes, but he cannot do it without money. “It’s got to be about building up their confidence and opening their horizons to other things,” he says. “If you walk the streets in the early mornings in the St Saviours area, you’ll see people . . . who are youngish, well into their sixties, and everything in between . . . It’s sad to see some of them . . . going into these factories, dingy little places, some of them.”
Retailers audit their suppliers in Leicester and say they do not work with any that break the law. But unauthorised subcontracting is a problem and factories can present books that look clean because they under-record hours.
One of the many vacancy signs in Leicester’s garment district © Kate Peters
Dispatches, a Channel 4 programme, sent a worker undercover into various factories in 2010 and again in 2017. Both times they were paid well below the minimum wage. In the most recent one, they were making clothes for New Look, River Island, Boohoo and Missguided. All retailers said their orders had been subcontracted to those factories without their permission or knowledge.
Last year, Kristiansen, while still chief executive of New Look, and Asos’s chief executive Nick Beighton, wrote to parliament’s human rights committee to say they wanted to source more in the UK, and Leicester could be the “driving force” behind the industry’s resurgence, but that “serious underlying concerns . . . could fatally derail any such success story”. They called for better law enforcement.
Manufacturers, meanwhile, are sick of retailers saying everything is their fault. When Khilji called a meeting last year, he says about 300 people turned up, many of them factory owners. They complained retailers offered such low prices per garment that they simply “cannot be manufactured ethically”, according to meeting minutes. “They’re asking cheap, cheap, cheap,” Khilji says. “Where last year they paid £8, now they’re asking £7 for same garment . . . So I don’t think they have any right to shout about ethics.”
Santoshan Sangha, who has spent 30 years working in and running factories in Leicester, says: “I can put the retailers to shame — ‘You know full well this is not a price you’re able to buy for, so how are you looking to buy?’” Many retailers employ ethical trade teams, then a separate team of “buyers” who negotiate orders and prices. Sangha said the former understand the manufacturers’ concerns, “but the buyers just say, ‘We’re under pressure.’” Several suppliers said young buyers often had no idea how to cost material and labour. When asked why they wouldn’t just refuse an order, they said they had to keep their factories busy to cover their costs. If they said no, the person next door would say yes.
Helen Russell, a former senior buyer for high-street retailers who became a lecturer in fashion at De Montfort University, has seen inexperienced buyers “that see it as a little bit of a game to play suppliers off against each other at a very late stage” because of “margin” pressures from managers. She said best practice was to treat suppliers with respect and keep their samples confidential.
[Retailers] are asking cheap, cheap, cheap. If last year they paid £8, now they’re asking £7 for the same garment
Saeed Khilji, chairman of the Textile Manufacturer Association of Leicestershire
Suppliers also say the retailers give them no commitments, forcing them to live from order to order. Because speed is so important, they risk penalties if they deliver late, which can incentivise them to subcontract. Khilji reserves his strongest criticism for the high-street retailers that source in Leicester but who, he says, have “no connection” with factories. Online brands like Boohoo grew out of family-owned wholesaler businesses so they understand the supply base better, he says, and would, for example, help a struggling factory with a loan.
But others say the online brands are particularly aggressive on price. Boohoo holds weekly meetings at its Manchester head office, where suppliers bring samples to the product teams in a single room with 10 to 12 large tables. “It’s like a cattle market,” says one person from a supplier who did not want to be named. “Say I’m the buyer, and [you’ve] just given me the price of this [dress] for £5. I will literally hold it up to the next table and say, ‘How much for that?’ and he’ll tell you £4. It’s ruthless.”
Boohoo said suppliers appreciated having “regular, open contact” and offered private discussions in separate rooms if they preferred. “Buying a garment is a negotiation and Boohoo would never force a supplier into selling something against their wishes,” merchandising director Paul Horsfield said in a statement.
Earlier this year, Jenny Holloway, owner of London factory Fashion Enter, went to Leicester at the request of the council to give a workshop to other owners. Fashion Enter has an ongoing order commitment from Asos and uses technology to monitor tasks and ensure decent wages.
After hearing from the manufacturers, she fired off a letter to Peter McAllister, executive director of the ETI. “Have you been to review the cost prices given to these factories by certain retailers and etailers? Any person in the industry would know that these cost prices are totally unobtainable,” she wrote. “The onshoring of production back to the UK is happening here and now but it’s fragile. The mighty retailers have clout and financial resources and factories don’t . . . [Retailers should] work with carefully selected manufacturers and support them.”
Inside the Basic Premier factory © Kate Peters
To be fair to the ETI, this is the approach it has been advocating in Leicester. “We want to see UK manufacturing thrive, but it mustn’t be based on a 19th-century model of exploitation and poor working conditions, where profit comes at the expense of workers,” McAllister said in a statement. “Clothing brands hold a lot of power over their suppliers and need to recognise that unreasonable demands are likely to drive poor working conditions for the women and men who actually make the clothes. At the same time, suppliers mustn’t use brand-buying practices as an excuse for exploiting their workers and breaking the law. Both are wrong.”
It has got worse. Because nothing has happened, people have seen they can get away with breaking the law
Mick Cheema, general manager of the Leicester-based clothing manufacturer Basic Premier
ETI-member brands such as New Look, River Island and Asos created a forensic auditing system for UK suppliers called Fast Forward several years ago, and have cut the number of Leicester factories they use from about 130 to just 30. New Look alone reduced its UK suppliers by 80 per cent “due to concerns regarding working practices”, a spokesman said. He said working “ethically and sustainably” was “fundamental” to its business, and that it used suppliers’ feedback to “support them whilst ensuring alignment with our ethical requirements”.
Asos currently only uses 16 factories in the UK, seven of which are in Leicester, and says it gives them regular orders. Sourcing director Simon Platts says the sector needs investment in infrastructure and training, as well as enforcement and legislation, all of which require a joint effort. Missguided has recently joined the ETI too and Khilji says it has cut its Leicester-based suppliers. (It declined requests for comment.) The ETI has arranged for a consultant and specialist from Acas, the workplace relations advice service, to help factories set up ways to give workers a voice.
Khilji says that as these brands have partially retreated, more Leicester factory owners are reliant on Boohoo and the host of wholesalers and other brands that do not use Fast Forward. Boohoo confirmed it was not a member of the ETI but said its ethical trade policy was “based on the ETI base code, which sets out worldwide standards of labour practice”. Boohoo’s Paul Horsfield said it used the Sedex Members Ethical Trade Audit to govern relations with suppliers, and that Boohoo also had a sourcing and compliance team based in Leicester which pays “regular unannounced visits” and helps suppliers “work towards best-in-class working conditions”.
But some manufacturers who chose the high road say that, far from being rewarded with more business, they are struggling to survive. Mick Cheema and his wife Rajinder thought they were on to a winner when they opened Basic Premier in 2012 with the idea of appealing to retailers as a compliant factory. The Cheemas knew that to compete with factories paying below the minimum wage they would need to be more productive, so they planned a big operation and bought two £100,000 machines to cut fabric in the most efficient way. The factory is bright and clean, humming to the clatter of the sewing machinists.
Clothing on rails at Basic Premier © Kate Peters
To begin with, workers flocked to them. “My wife and I would get so excited,” says Cheema. After interviewing candidates, he would say, “‘Before you start, just bring over your P45 or a National Insurance number and your right-to-work documentation . . . ’ and you would never see them again.” Eventually they managed to recruit people — though not as many as hoped. The culture was a shock for some. “We need an efficient workforce to be competitive [so we were telling them] when you’re on your machine you can’t be talking on your mobile phone . . . You can’t eat your food on the machine . . . You have to clock in.” The new recruits weren’t used to any of this. “If you’re working in Tesco’s or for an engineering facility outside of this square mile, it’s the norm,” Cheema says. But in the Leicester microeconomy, it was odd, and not everyone stuck it out.
Then there was the problem of securing orders. The factory has successfully passed a slew of audits, including Fast Forward, but it is still seen as one of the most expensive factories in Leicester. “It’s so frustrating,” he says. “Because you’re not on a level playing field. No matter how hard we try to achieve efficiencies . . . you’re still going to be in a place where you’re commercially in no-man’s-land.”
Mick Cheema preparing costings © Kate Peters
I took Cheema four dresses with “made in the UK” labels — the two that cost £6 and £7 from Boohoo, one for £12.99 from TK Maxx and a New Look one for £15.99 — and asked him to cost them. He and a colleague spread them out on a table, rubbing their fingers over the seams, drawing an outline of each and filling out a costing sheet.
Retailers do not disclose their “buying-in margins”, which can vary based on business model, but Cheema says retailers typically charge customers three times what they paid to suppliers. A competitive price to make these dresses would thus be just £2 and £2.33 for the Boohoo dresses, £4.33 for the TK Maxx dress and £5.33 for the New Look.
Cheema and his colleague say that Basic Premier would have to charge Boohoo £6.45 to make the dress it is selling for £6, and £5.65 for the £7 one. They would charge £8.22 for the TK Maxx dress and £5.65 for the New Look one. They said the Boohoo and TK Maxx dresses were out of reach even if they made zero margin themselves.
I gave the costings to Boohoo, which said the dresses had been made by Leicester suppliers but did “not reflect the norm for our business” because they were from a core collection “where we take a view on the cost price and absorb margin loss in order to offer the products at the best price possible”. TK Maxx said it was “committed to operating our business with high standards of ethics” in its vendor code of conduct, which requires its “vendors” and subcontractors to follow all laws and regulations.
Mick Cheema’s costing of the £7 Boohoo dress. He would charge £5.65 to make this item, but suppliers typically get paid one-third of the retail price, ie just £2.33 in this case © Kate Peters
According to Cheema, retailers banging the drum about the importance of ethical production in Leicester have not followed through. “[We thought] we’ll pass the audits and we’ll get orders from all these retailers, [but] we reached that goal years ago and there’s no pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. ” Basic Premier does get orders — on one of my visits the workers were making tops for Sainsbury’s — but far fewer than it expected and with no ongoing commitment.
Meanwhile, Cheema says, many competitors carry on breaking the law. “It has got worse. Because nothing has happened, people have physically seen [they] can get away with it.” He and his wife have decided to cut the factory in half to reduce overheads. “It’s a bit scary. Us, the workforce . . . have got so much to lose.”
Santoshan Sangha says his factory committed to Fast Forward for three years, lost £100,000 and went out of business. He says the retailers gave him no commitment in return. “They said, ‘OK, we want to work with you,’ give you a couple of orders, then go back to Turkey or wherever, and six or eight months later they return when the pound’s in their favour and expect to find you’re still here.”
Other manufacturers have taken note. Fast Forward was “made by retailers, for retailers” with “nothing for manufacturers”, says Khilji. David Camp, its founder, responded that it was an “effective” way for manufacturers to “demonstrate they were compliant with the law.
Cheema thinks there is a two-pronged solution: first, retailers should put their money where their mouths are, committing to sourcing a percentage from the good factories. “What’s a couple of thousand garments a week from two or three retailers? These companies sell hundreds of thousands of garments a week.” Second, the government should enforce the law. “[Leicester’s] got its own rules, its own laws, its own ways of doing things,” he says. “We’ve lost faith in the government stepping in.” Workers seem to feel the same way. “The government knows what’s happening in Leicester,” says a friend of Doshi’s, who did not want to be named, “and that’s it. They don’t do anything.”
The enforcement agencies can hardly claim to be unaware of what is happening. Representatives from UK Visas and Immigration, the Health & Safety Executive (HSE) and the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority all attended a meeting hosted by Leicester mayor Sir Peter Soulsby last October, where the problems were discussed in detail. But a comb through freedom-of-information requests, MPs questions and public records does not reveal a state that has done much to sort this out.
Over the five years to 2016-17, HM Revenue & Customs, which has recently had its enforcement budget doubled, has identified about £33m of arrears for almost 232,000 people who have been paid under minimum wage nationwide. Of that total, it found underpayment in just 19 employers in the textile sector, owing £44,371 to 83 workers. A government spokesperson said: “Short-changing workers is a red line for this government and employers who cross it will have to pay back every penny and could face fines of up to twice the wages owed.”
HSE, meanwhile, was told by the government in 2011 to cut the number of proactive workplace inspections it makes by one-third. In 2012, Chris Grayling, then employment minister, said: “If we try to legislate out all risk, we will lose jobs to other places.” For textiles manufacturing, the enforcement approach has been “principally reactive”. There were 187 inspections of garment and textile factories last year, an increase on 103 inspections five years ago. But there were 136 workplace injuries reported in the sector last year — reportable injuries are those that necessitate more than a week off work or involve damage such as amputations, the crushing of internal organs or burns covering more than 10 per cent of the body. HSE investigated just five.
A spokesperson said the criteria for when HSE would investigate a reported injury included “prima facie evidence of a serious breach of the law”, and that the agency still inspected businesses in “non-higher-risk” sectors if there was evidence of poor health-and-safety risk control.
© Kate Peters
As for Leicester council, it has held meetings and workshops but points out that central, not local, government has jurisdiction to enforce health and safety in factories and the minimum wage. However, it does have a responsibility to enforce building safety, and an FOI request shows the last time it inspected the Imperial Typewriter building was in 2004. The council says it has not received any complaints about the building since then. The Leicestershire fire and rescue service last inspected the building in February 2017 in response to “concern from fire service crew” and the outcome was deemed “satisfactory”.
Last year, the government appointed Sir David Metcalf to a newly created post: director of labour market enforcement. He published his first strategy last week, devoting a page to Leicester’s garment sector. “While some enforcement action has been undertaken in this sector and city over the last few years, this has clearly not had an effective impact on overall compliance,” the report said.
We want to see UK manufacturing thrive, but it mustn’t be based on a 19th-century model of exploitation and poor working conditions
Peter McAllister, executive director of the Ethical Trading Initiative
Metcalf recommended a pilot to test whether “joint working” between enforcement agencies, the council, industry bodies and suppliers “can help change the perceived culture of impunity”. He said this should involve “highly visible targeting of non-compliant garment businesses in Leicester”. Phil Coyne, the council’s director of city development and neighbourhoods, said the problems “relating to ethical practice within the industry are an issue nationally, not just in Leicester”. But he added the council wanted Leicester workers to be “properly paid, well trained, and work in safe environments”, and was “very pleased” with the recommendation.
Metcalf tells me the UK government enforces labour law too lightly overall: “The amazing thing is how many firms comply, because you haven’t got enough enforcement resources and the fines are too low.” He says the average employer can expect an HMRC inspection once every 500 years, based on current statistics. He has recommended higher fines and new “joint responsibility” rules, where companies would be named if they failed to sort out non-compliance in their supply base.
The next step could be to impose “joint liability”. For the British economy, already held back by poor productivity, it makes no sense to allow the good to be undercut by the bad, he adds. “It’s those good firms being more productive which will boost our productivity, not the ones that are very labour-intensive and working fiddles on tax credits.”
This is a moment of opportunity for Leicester. If retailers were able to truly collaborate with manufacturers, they could create decent jobs for a community that needs them while enjoying the benefits of sourcing close to home. But, if anything, they are splitting apart. Some factories are looking for other solutions entirely. Khilji has launched a website, mesheme.com, to help manufacturers sell direct to consumers. This way, he says, they will be able to make reasonable profits and pay their workers properly. Cheema is also planning to sell to smaller operations or direct to consumers.
Windows of the Imperial Typewriter Building © Kate Peters
Retailers are on different paths too. McAllister said the ETI would continue to work with brands and suppliers to tackle Leicester’s problems, but added: “Unfortunately, many of the companies, especially some etailers, who source in larger volumes from Leicester, are not ETI member companies and have failed to engage with this process.”
Boohoo declined to be interviewed but Horsfield’s statement said the company was “delighted” to be supporting the “creation of employment opportunities in the UK”. He said Boohoo recognised its “duty of care to all its stakeholders” and was “putting increasing effort and resource into leading the way in sustainable change for the industry”. Boohoo’s full-year results showed revenues almost doubled to more than £500m with pre-tax profit up 40 per cent to £43m. Co-founder Mahmud Kamani and his family have joined the ranks of UK billionaires, according to last week’s Sunday Times Rich List.
In Leicester, life carries on. Doshi can’t sew any more, as his eyes are bad with cataracts and his back hurts. He applied for jobs at Tesco and Asda but they said his English was too poor. He has been going to college at night to study English but he failed his exam and was told there was no more government money to take it again. He went to see a sandwich factory but it was “all day stand up, it’s very fast, everything cold, cold”.
Finally, the week before we met, a friend told him about a new garment factory that could give him a packing job. He went to the interview and asked about pay. The boss told him they would see how fast he could work. Maximum? £4.50 an hour. And if he was slow? £3.50.
Sarah O’Connor is an FT investigations correspondent
sarah.oconnor@ft.com
EU fights back to neutralize US sanctions against Iran - CNN Money
EU fights back to neutralize US sanctions against Iran
by Alanna Petroff @AlannaPetroff
May 18, 2018: 1:42 PM ET
Bolton: European countries could be sanctioned
Europe is fighting back against President Donald Trump's attempt to isolate Iran with new rules aimed at protecting European companies from US sanctions.
The European Commission said Friday it is planning to shield EU-based companies that continue to trade with Iran despite Trump's decision to quit an international nuclear agreement and reintroduce sanctions.
The move, which has the support of all 28 EU states, is part of an effort by Germany, France and the United Kingdom to salvage the 2015 deal that promised Iran economic benefits in return for a promise that it would limit its nuclear program. If the EU can't guarantee continued trade and investment, Iran has little incentive to play ball.
The EU is also encouraging its member states to explore the possibility of making one-off payments to Iran's central bank to underpin the OPEC country's oil trade, which is vital to its economic prospects.
The most significant measure announced Friday is a "blocking statute." It would protect European companies from US sanctions, but could expose them to European penalties if they choose to cut ties with Iran.
"It's a significant escalation of tensions between the US and the EU," said Judith Lee, an international trade lawyer at Gibson Dunn in Washington, DC. "They're moving really fast... to stake out a position on this."
Iran's deputy foreign minister Abbas Araqchi on Sunday gave France, Germany and the UK 60 days to guarantee that business ties between the countries will continue, according to the state-run Islamic Republic News Agency.
"I think [today's move is] definitely a signal to the Iranians that the EU will not give up without a fight with the US," said Thomas Gratowski, an Iran expert at the advisory firm Global Counsel.
The European Union exported nearly €11 billion ($13 billion) in goods to Iran in 2017, roughly 100 times larger than US exports to the country.
Related: What is the perfect price for oil?
'Unresolvable conflict'
Friday's announcement puts companies in a difficult spot, creating an "unresolvable conflict of law," said Lee.
They would have a choice: Stop doing business with Iran to comply with US law, but break EU rules. Or continue business with Iran to comply with EU rules, but face harsh US sanctions.
"There's no way you can get around it," Lee added
Large European companies with big US operations will likely feel compelled to break EU rules by winding down their Iranian business. Companies with more limited ties to the US may try to continue trading with Iran, she said.
"I don't think we're going to see uniformity" in corporate reactions, said Lee.
Related: Total halts $2 billion gas project in Iran
'Limited' practical value
Experts are skeptical about how far Europe will ultimately go to enforce such a rule, and therefore how much comfort it will provide to Iran.
France, for example, wouldn't want to issue penalties against a firm such as Renault (RNSDF), since it owns a stake in the company, Gratowski said.
"You might end up shooting yourself in the foot," said Gratowski. "The practical value ... [of this rule] is very limited."
Additionally, the "blocking statute" states that companies that endure financial losses due to US sanctions can later recover damages "from the person causing them."
Gratowski believes it would be next to impossible recover damages from the US.
Big companies react cautiously
France's Total (TOT) said on Wednesday it was unable to proceed with a $2 billion project to develop Iran's giant South Pars gas field due to the reimposition of US sanctions. It did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Friday about the EU measures.
Siemens (SI), whose CEO told CNN this week that the company could not accept new Iranian business, told CNN its position had not changed.
"We will ... very carefully analyze the sanction-related steps announced by the US and the EU. We have strictly complied with all relevant export control restrictions in the past and will continue to do so in the future," it said in a statement.
PSA (PUGOY), which sells Peugeot cars, said it would "follow the evolution of this subject, including the official and singular position expressed by the European Union on this issue."
Airbus (EADSY) reiterated on Friday that it would act "in full compliance with sanctions and export control regulations." But the aircraft manufacturer said it would not be able to export commercial planes to Iran without a license from the US Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control.
CNNMoney (London)
First published May 18, 2018: 1:42 PM ET
by Alanna Petroff @AlannaPetroff
May 18, 2018: 1:42 PM ET
Bolton: European countries could be sanctioned
Europe is fighting back against President Donald Trump's attempt to isolate Iran with new rules aimed at protecting European companies from US sanctions.
The European Commission said Friday it is planning to shield EU-based companies that continue to trade with Iran despite Trump's decision to quit an international nuclear agreement and reintroduce sanctions.
The move, which has the support of all 28 EU states, is part of an effort by Germany, France and the United Kingdom to salvage the 2015 deal that promised Iran economic benefits in return for a promise that it would limit its nuclear program. If the EU can't guarantee continued trade and investment, Iran has little incentive to play ball.
The EU is also encouraging its member states to explore the possibility of making one-off payments to Iran's central bank to underpin the OPEC country's oil trade, which is vital to its economic prospects.
The most significant measure announced Friday is a "blocking statute." It would protect European companies from US sanctions, but could expose them to European penalties if they choose to cut ties with Iran.
"It's a significant escalation of tensions between the US and the EU," said Judith Lee, an international trade lawyer at Gibson Dunn in Washington, DC. "They're moving really fast... to stake out a position on this."
Iran's deputy foreign minister Abbas Araqchi on Sunday gave France, Germany and the UK 60 days to guarantee that business ties between the countries will continue, according to the state-run Islamic Republic News Agency.
"I think [today's move is] definitely a signal to the Iranians that the EU will not give up without a fight with the US," said Thomas Gratowski, an Iran expert at the advisory firm Global Counsel.
The European Union exported nearly €11 billion ($13 billion) in goods to Iran in 2017, roughly 100 times larger than US exports to the country.
Related: What is the perfect price for oil?
'Unresolvable conflict'
Friday's announcement puts companies in a difficult spot, creating an "unresolvable conflict of law," said Lee.
They would have a choice: Stop doing business with Iran to comply with US law, but break EU rules. Or continue business with Iran to comply with EU rules, but face harsh US sanctions.
"There's no way you can get around it," Lee added
Large European companies with big US operations will likely feel compelled to break EU rules by winding down their Iranian business. Companies with more limited ties to the US may try to continue trading with Iran, she said.
"I don't think we're going to see uniformity" in corporate reactions, said Lee.
Related: Total halts $2 billion gas project in Iran
'Limited' practical value
Experts are skeptical about how far Europe will ultimately go to enforce such a rule, and therefore how much comfort it will provide to Iran.
France, for example, wouldn't want to issue penalties against a firm such as Renault (RNSDF), since it owns a stake in the company, Gratowski said.
"You might end up shooting yourself in the foot," said Gratowski. "The practical value ... [of this rule] is very limited."
Additionally, the "blocking statute" states that companies that endure financial losses due to US sanctions can later recover damages "from the person causing them."
Gratowski believes it would be next to impossible recover damages from the US.
Big companies react cautiously
France's Total (TOT) said on Wednesday it was unable to proceed with a $2 billion project to develop Iran's giant South Pars gas field due to the reimposition of US sanctions. It did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Friday about the EU measures.
Siemens (SI), whose CEO told CNN this week that the company could not accept new Iranian business, told CNN its position had not changed.
"We will ... very carefully analyze the sanction-related steps announced by the US and the EU. We have strictly complied with all relevant export control restrictions in the past and will continue to do so in the future," it said in a statement.
PSA (PUGOY), which sells Peugeot cars, said it would "follow the evolution of this subject, including the official and singular position expressed by the European Union on this issue."
Airbus (EADSY) reiterated on Friday that it would act "in full compliance with sanctions and export control regulations." But the aircraft manufacturer said it would not be able to export commercial planes to Iran without a license from the US Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control.
CNNMoney (London)
First published May 18, 2018: 1:42 PM ET
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