Audio company Bose closes all its stores in North American, Europe, Japan and Australia

(January 16) Bose Corporation the large audio equipment manufacturer plans to close all its retail stores in North America, Europe, Japan, and Australia. Bose claims its audio products are increasingly bought through e-commerce and other retailers.

The store closures mean hundreds of employees will lose their jobs. Bose, based in Framingham Mass. is privately held and is not saying how many employees will lose their jobs because of the store closures.

Bose

Wikipedia describes Bose as follows: "Bose Corporation (/boʊz/) is a manufacturing company which predominantly sells audio equipment. The company was established by Amar Bose in 1964 and is based in Framingham, Massachusetts. Bose is best known for its home audio systems and speakers, noise-cancelling headphones, professional audio products and automobile sound systems.[3][3][4][5] Bose has a reputation for being particularly protective of its patents, trademarks, and brands. The majority owner of Bose Corporation is the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, which receives cash dividends through the non-voting shares donated by the founder in 2011. According to the company annual report in the 2019 financial year, Bose Corporation received revenue of US$4.0 billion and employed more than 9,000 people.[2]"

History of Bose retail stores

Bose opened its first retail store back in 1993. It currently has locations in many shopping centers and malls throughout the US. The stores showcase the company' products which as well as their famous noise-canceling headphones now includes smart speakers, and sunglasses that also serve as ear-buds.. The company also sets up demo areas in such outlets as Best Buy.

Colette Burke, Bose vice-president of global sales notes: “Originally, our retail stores gave people a way to experience, test, and talk to us about multi-component, CD and DVD-based home entertainment systems. At the time, it was a radical idea, but we focused on what our customers needed, and where they needed it – and we’re doing the same thing now. It’s still difficult, because the decision impacts some of our amazing store teams who make us proud every day. They take care of every person who walks through our doors – whether that’s helping with a problem, giving expert advice, or just letting someone take a break and listen to great music. Over the years, they’ve set the standard for customer service. And everyone at Bose is grateful.”

Stores in Europe, North America, Europe, Australia and Japan will close over the next few months according to the company. In total 119 stores will be closed according to a company spokesman who added: “In other parts of the world, Bose stores will remain open, including approximately 130 stores located in Greater China and the United Arab Emirates; and additional stores in India, Southeast Asia, and South Korea." The company is offering outplacement help and severance pay to employees who are losing their positions.

Many Bose products are now sold through the Amazon, Best Buy, Target, Apple stores or other third-party retailers and even the company's own website.

Other retailers are closing stores

Bose is not alone in closing stores. 2019 saw a big jump in store closings that is likely to continue as e-commerce takes an even larger bite out of the retail market: "If it has seemed like going-out-of-business sales are around every corner, there's a startling reason: Forever 21, Walgreens, Dressbarn, GameStop, Gap and other chains shut down more than 9,300 stores in 2019 — making it the biggest year ever for store closings.That's according to Coresight Research, which says closures jumped about 60% from the 5,844 the firm tracked in 2018. You think that's bad? As online shopping continues to grow, another 75,000 stores could be lost by 2026, says investment bank UBS. "

Previously published in the Digital Journal

US Defense Secretary Esper was a former top lobbyist for US defense contractor Raytheon

(Janyuary 14) After the assassination- aka euphemistically as "targeted killing"- of Iranian top general Qassem Soleimani in a US operation in Baghdad on January 3 Raytheon a large US defense contractor saw its stock shoot up and close at a record high.

US Defense Secretary Esper was for years a top lobbyist for Raytheon

Wikipedia describes Raytheon briefly: "The Raytheon Company is a major U.S. defense contractor and industrial corporation with core manufacturing concentrations in weapons and military and commercial electronics. It was previously involved in corporate and special-mission aircraft until early 2007. Raytheon is the world's largest producer of guided missiles.[4] On June 9, 2019, Raytheon announced a merger of equals with the aerospace companies of United Technologies.[5]Established in 1922, the company reincorporated in 1928 and adopted its present name in 1959. As of 2018, the company had around 67,000 employees worldwide and annual revenues of approximately US$25.35 billion.[6] More than 90% of Raytheon's revenues were obtained from military contracts and, as of 2012, it was the fifth-largest military contractor in the world.[7] As of 2015, it is the third largest defense contractor in the United States by defense revenue.[8]"

When Mark Esper was leaving his job at Raytheon to join the Trump administration he claimed that his salary and bonuses added up to $1,524,018 that year. Esper said his job was to be: “Responsible for company interactions with members of Congress and their staff at the Federal level and with all state and local elected officials and their staff.”

Now Esper does not lobby for more defense spending he is the principle defense policymaker and adviser. He is a powerful actor and is able to sign off on huge government contracts including ones that profit his former employer although he may not necessarily do so. However, one can expect that he will try to obtain the most money he can for the arms industry from which he came.

Trump administration has hired many former lobbyists

Esper has plenty of company in that according to a Pro-Publica analysis has so far hired 281 lobbyists, often to work in areas in which they had formerly been lobbyists. You would think that Esper faces a conflict of interest when he makes decisions that involve Raytheon. Even though he no longer works for them there sure could be a perception that he might favor them in decisions. However, Esper has decided that he will not recuse himself from matters involving Raytheon during the time he works for the US government. The Trump government seems not to care about avoiding the perception of bias.

Dwight Eisenhower's Military-Industrial Complex speech

In a farewell address in 1961 then President Dwight Eisenhower, himself a former five stare general and also Supreme Commander of allied forces in Europe during the second World War warned about the dangers of what he called the military-industrial complex: "We annually spend on military security more than the net income of all United States corporations. This conjunction of an immense military establishment and a large arms industry is new in the American experience. The total influence -- economic, political, even spiritual -- is felt in every city, every State house, every office of the Federal government. We recognize the imperative need for this development. Yet we must not fail to comprehend its grave implications. Our toil, resources and livelihood are all involved; so is the very structure of our society.In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist.We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes. We should take nothing for granted. Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals, so that security and liberty may prosper together."

The appointment of Mark Esper as the US Defense Secretary is a perfect example of the government doing exactly what Eisenhower had warned Americans about. Esper's appointment gives the military industrial complex the power to have unwarranted influence over decisions of the government.

The revolving door

Lobbyists of all sorts not just from the military-industrial complex but from other important industries such as drug manufacturing move freely from industry into government. But then when they leave government, after they have formed many bonds and contacts with government officials, these former lobbyists often return to their former jobs. They then offer corporations that hire them valuable expertise in how to have influence within the complicated structures of government.

Rick Perry had been on the board of a company that control Energy Transfer LP, a pipeline company he had worked for up until 2016 after which he became Energy Secretary. However, just one month after leaving his government position he was back on the board of the company. He now has government experience promoting oil and gas deregulation and a large list of useful contacts.

Esper's predecessor Jim Mattis rejoined the board of General Dynamics just a few months after his resignation as Secretary of Defense. Esper has said that he would not rule out rejoining Raytheon.

The fox guarding the hen house

The Trump administration sometimes appoints former lobbyists to oversee agencies that were once targets for their lobbying. Some critics see this as the fox guarding the hen house. Esper being in charge of US national defense is surely a prime example in which the military-industrial complex will have an unwarranted influence on potential military actions. This influence could often be against the overall interests of the US.

The US military budget for 2019 was over $693 billion much more than any other country in the world. There is a huge opportunity cost to this expenditure as the US has many unmet needs in spending on infrastructure, education, health, the environment and many other areas. The appended video talks about the effect of military spending on the environment and other costs. Eisenhower's warning about the military-industrial complex was prescient but it seems to have fallen on deaf ears.

Previously published in the Digital Journal

US threatens Iraq with crippling sanctions if it demands that US troops withdraw

Iraqi officials warn that the country would face almost immediate economic collapse should US President Trump impose sanctions on Iraq and freeze oil revenues because Iraq demanded US troops leave.

In early January the Iraqi parliament voted 170 to 0 to expel all foreign troops.

Trump's response

Trump said that Iraq could be hit with massive sanctions and also the freezing of Iraq's New York Federal Reserve bank account where all Iraq's oil revenue is deposited.

Joe Kaeser, the chief executive of the German firm Siemens noted: "The US threat of sanctions against Iraq following the recent escalation in tensions between Washington and Tehran "was not helpful", said Siemens chief executive Joe Kaeser, who affirmed the company's commitment towards power rehabilitation in the war-torn country."We need to deal with what we need to deal with. I think putting sanctions on something just because you don't get your will is maybe also not always helpful," he told The National in an interview in Abu Dhabi."

Siemens has a $15 billion electricity development contract with Iraq. There is a risk for the company along with all others working in Iraq that US sanctions and freezing of revenues could leave Iraq with no money to pay contractors working for the government.

Oil revenue is almost all of Iraq's budget

Oil revenues are 90 percent of the Iraqi government so freezing these funds would be even more disastrous for the Iraqi economy than even severe sanctions.

A recent article says of the account: " That account holds substantially all oil trade revenue, and that is a substantial part of Iraq’s government’s entire revenue. The US is now threatening to block Iraqi access to this account, and with it virtually their entire treasury, if they expel US troops. The US froze this account very briefly in 2015 and it did major damage to the Iraqi economy, causing a panic. This freeze is a threat of a more permanent type, and would all but bankrupt Iraq overnight."

Iraqi bank officials said they doubted that the US would freeze the US Federal Reserve account as it would result in a permanent break in US-Iraqi relations. However, the US has done it before and Trump seems anxious to ensure that the US military stays in Iraq in spite of his presidential campaign promise that the would withdraw US troops from foreign wars.. But now he is threatening economic ruin on Iraq that is requesting US troops to withdraw. Trump is not even willing to discuss the issue with Iraq.

The US can hardly claim that it respected the sovereignty or Iraq when it refuses to even discuss with the Iraqis a mechanism to carry out the Iraqi parliament demand that their troops withdraw from Iraq. Earlier, a letter indicating that the US would withdraw from Iraq was said to be a draft only that was unsigned even though it was received by Iraqi authorities with a signature.

Previously published in the Digital Journal

US Defense Secretary Mark Esper denies seeing any evidence attacks were planned on US embassies contrary to Trump's statements

(January 13)On Friday President Trump said he believed that assassinated Iranian General Qassem Soleimani was plotting to attack four US embassies. However, Trump offered no evidence for his belief. The appended video contains Trump's remarks on the imminent attacks.

Esper said he had seen no evidence to back up Trump's belief

On CBS on Sunday Defense Secretary Esper said he had seen no evidence at to support the claim that US embassies were under imminent threat. Even after admitting he had no evidence Esper went on to say that he shared Trump's views that US embassies would probably have been attacked. There had been no warning to embassies that there might be an attack If there were an imminent attack feared one would think that a warning of some sort would have been issued.

When asked if he had any specific evidence of an attack on the four embassies mentioned by Trump Esper said: " “I didn’t see one with regard to four embassies.” In response to a question about whether Trump was “embellishing” the threat, Esper said, ”I don’t believe so.” "

In later appearances Esper changes his narrative

Esper's second appearance of the day was on CNN. Esper said he believed the same as Trump adding that Iran could very well have been targeting the US embassies.

Later in the day, Esper was actually bragging of the exquisite intelligence he had received. However, he claimed that everyone agreed that the US Congress should not be given access to this intelligence let alone the US populace. But if his earlier statement is true, this exquisite intelligence gave Esper no evidence of an imminent attack on US embassies.

Trump's security adviser plays down Trump's claim: "Appearing on “Fox News Sunday,” Robert O’Brien, the president’s national security adviser, played down Mr. Trump’s claim of specific, imminent threats to four American embassies in the region.“Look, it’s always difficult, even with the exquisite intelligence that we have, to know exactly what the targets are. We knew there were threats to American facilities, now whether they were bases, embassies — you know it’s always hard until the attack happens...But,” he added, “we had very strong intelligence.”

Senator complains about quality of information provided to Congress

A recent article notes: "Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) has continued to express concern about the quality of information given to Congress, and it seems that may extend to national security officials. President Trump never even suggested the four embassies belief had evidence behind it, it was just what he believes."

As noted earlier, Esper had no plan to share intelligence information on the issue with the entire US Congress: "Defense Secretary Mark Esper said Sunday that the top congressional intelligence committee members did not think that information shared with them about a potential Iranian plot to attack the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad should be shared with other members of Congress. " Esper's view was shared by all other members of the intelligence committee. Perhaps the reluctance to share the information is because there is nothing there that shows there was any imminent attack on US embassies or on any other facilities.

US officials may be changing there stories so as not to appear to be contradicting President Trump as they fear that contradicting him could very well have negative consequences for their careers.

Previously published in the Digital Journal

On January 2 US tried to assassinate a second top Iranian commander but failed

On January 2, the US launched an airstrike at the Baghdad International Airport that killed the Iranian General Qassem Suleimani and also an Iraqi militia leader but the US attempted another assassination the same day but failed.

The attempted assassination of General Abdul Reza Shahlai

A recent article reports what US officials said about the failed operation: "The officials said a military air attack targeted Abdul Reza Shahlai, a high-ranking commander in Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), but the mission was not successful. The officials spoke to the Associated Press news agency on condition of anonymity in order to discuss a classified mission."

The reason given for the attack

The Treasury Dept. claims that Shahlai has a long history of targeting the US and its allies around the world. A recent article describes two of his attacks.The first was on US soil: "Shahlai was a ringleader in the last state-sponsored attempt to carry out a terrorist attack on US soil. In 2011, he and and a small number of fellow IRGC officers tried to assassinate Saudi Arabia’s then-ambassador to the United States, Adel Al-Jubeir, at a Washington restaurant. " The attack was foiled. and a cousin of Shahlai was arrested, charged, and is serving 25 years. Soleimani was involved in the plot as well. A second attack was in Iraq: "Shahlai was also involved in the kidnapping and murder of five American soldiers outside Karbala, Iraq, on January 20, 2007."

However, these past actions do not justify the attack as self defense. The US would need to show there was an immediate threat. However, the US has failed to give any specifics or even suggest so far that there Shahlai was planning any specific attacks.

Officials are declining to offer specifics, but the Treasury Department accused him of “a long history of targeting Americans and US allies globally.” Officials are also not talking about what specifically the justification for the attack was. On the other hand in the case of the Soleimani assassination there has been a claim that he was planning imminent attacks as discussed by Trump on the appended video. However, if such an attack were planned one would think that the embassies would have been put on high alert but that was not done. No doubt the administration would claim that no detailed information could be revealed as it needed to be kept secret and classified. On Fox News Trump said: "We will tell you probably it was going to be the embassy in Baghdad. I can reveal that I believe it would have been four embassies."

Shahlai was in Yemen so he would have had to be involved in some imminent attack there but this has not even been suggested as yet let alone any evidence presented for it. The US did not reveal the failed attempt for more than a week. This makes one wonder if the US had planned to take out a number of key Iranian leaders not just Soleimani and the commander of the an Iraqi militia. It also shows that the US appears to be willing to target someone simply on the basis of what they have done in the past even though they have no evidence of the person being an immediate threat.

Iraq interested in buying Russian S-300 air defense system

(January 10) Iraq is interested in purchasing Russian S-300 air defense systems. Russia's S-300 and S-400 systems have been popular purchases as many consider them more cost-effective than US alternatives while still top of the line.

Iraq official confirms talks underway with Russia

Mohammed Reza who heads Iraq' Security and Defense Committee, has confirmed that talks have restarted between Russia and Iraq on the possible purchase of S-300 air defense systems. Top Iraqi leaders appear interested in a deal.

However Reza pointed out: “I do not know frankly the stage where the negotiations have reached, because I am not involved in them. All I know is that there is approval from the high Iraqi leadership for such negotiations.”

Russia has suggested Iraq purchase the S-400 system

Igor Kurushchenko, a member of the General Council of the Russian Ministry of Defense, claimed that Iraq could improve its air defense capabilities through purchase of the Russian S-400 missile system. Kurushchenko noted: “Iraq is a partner to Russia in the field of technical military cooperation. Russia can send the necessary means to ensure the country's sovereignty and reliable protection of its airspace, including the supply of S-400 missiles and other parts of the air defense system.”

Kurushchenko also said that the recent US assassination of General Qassem Soleimani and an Iraqi militia commander in an airstrike clearly showed the need for Iraq to improve its air defenses. However, equally significant is the ability of Iran to also fire 13 missiles into Iraqi territory aimed at US bases. Iraq needs to be able to protect itself from missiles fired from Iran as well.

Iraq has expressed interest in having some non-US equipment in their arsenal of equipment. No doubt the US will not be pleased if the Iraqis buy a Russian system. It will be interesting to see if US President Trump tweets on the issue.

Previously published in the Digital Journal

US refuses to discuss with Iraq the withdrawal of US troops

(January 11) According to a Washington Post report the Iraqi PM has asked for the US to devise a mechanism for withdrawal of its troops from the country.

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The Iraq parliament passed the motion 170 to 0 but many Kurdish and Sunni members did not attend. The non-binding resolution read: “The government commits to revoke its request for assistance from the international coalition fighting Islamic State due to the end of military operations in Iraq and the achievement of victory. The Iraqi government must work to end the presence of any foreign troops on Iraqi soil and prohibit them from using its land, airspace or water for any reason.”

US reaction

The US has quickly shown that it will not cooperate in Iraqi plans to eject US and other foreign troops The US State Dept. has signaled that it is not at all willing to discuss a mechanism for US withdrawal according to a recent report: The State Department said in a statement Friday that the U.S. will not hold discussions with Iraq regarding American troop withdrawal from the country.“At this time, any delegation sent to Iraq would be dedicated to discussing how to best recommit to our strategic partnership — not to discuss troop withdrawal, but our right, appropriate force posture in the Middle East,” State Department spokesperson Morgan Ortagus said in a statement.“There does, however, need to be a conversation between the U.S. and Iraqi governments not just regarding security, but about our financial, economic, and diplomatic partnership. We want to be a friend and partner to a sovereign, prosperous, and stable Iraq,” Ortagus added, writing that “America is a force for good in the Middle East.”"

It is hard to see how the US is a force for the good in the Middle East when it directly opposes a decision by a sovereign country. This is happening after the US assassinated a key official of neighboring Iran without getting permission from the Iraqi government. It also assassinated a key official of an Iraqi government militia group approved and financed militia. How can the US be for a sovereign Iraq when it has violated its sovereignty several times without even an apology? All the US says in its defense is that it has not received a formal request to leave. Yet it has a request to plan a mechanism for leaving that it refuses to discuss.

Letter suggesting the US would leave called a mistake

The Pentagon said that a letter sent to the Iraqi Defense Ministry saying that the US would leave Iraq was a mistake and that US troops would be remaining in the country. Joint Chiefs of Staff Chair General Mark Milley: “That letter is a draft, it was a mistake, it was unsigned, it should never have been released." Yet the Iraqi PM insists that he had received the letter with a signature and had sought and received clarification about the translation. The issue just seems to have dropped off the mainstream news media with no explanation as to the contradiction except that it is clear that the US is not intending to withdraw voluntarily.

US threatened Iraq in response to parliamentary resolution

Trump responded angrily to the Iraqi parliament resolution requesting that US troops withdraw:" We have a very extraordinarily expensive air base that’s there. It cost billions of dollars to build. We’re not leaving unless they pay us back for it.,..If they do ask us to leave, if we don’t do it in a very friendly basis, we will charge them sanctions like they’ve never seen before ever. It’ll make Iranian sanctions look somewhat tame. If there’s any hostility, that they do anything we think is inappropriate, we are going to put sanctions on Iraq, very big sanctions on Iraq."

Trump has made it clear that the US has no intention of leaving Iraq voluntarily. Given that the US is supposed to be in Iraq at Iraq's request the US may face a legal problem. Iraq could bring a case before the International Criminal Court(ICC). However, the US does not recognize and opposes the court. Iraq could find itself subject to further sanctions if it goes to the Court. In September of 2018 John Bolton announced a new policy toward the ICC: "In a September 2018 speech, the US national security adviser, John Bolton, announced a change in US policy toward the court and outlined several steps the US would take if ICC investigations reached US nationals or the nationals of US allies. In addition to travel bans, Bolton threatened prosecutions and financial sanctions against ICC staff, as well as against countries and companies assisting in ICC investigations of US nationals. He warned that the US would restart long-abandoned efforts to negotiate agreements with other countries against surrendering US nationals to the court and put other governments’ diplomatic, military, and intelligence ties with the US at risk if those governments cooperate with the ICC in investigations of the US or its allies."

Previously published in the Digital Journal

Huawei claims that it is selling its foldable MateX phone in China at about 100,000 per month even though cost is about $2,400 US

Huawei claims that its foldable MateX phone is selling 100,000 a month a good pace especially since the phone is for sale only in China at present and costs about $2,400 US.

Mate X sales may be close to those of Samsung's Galaxy fold

Originally Samsung said it had sold one million units of the Galaxy fold but this was later revised downwards by a large amount ask reported by Verge: Update, 12:52PM ET, December 13th, 2019: After the original publication of this article, Samsung has since clarified to Korea’s Yonhap News Agency that it hasn’t actually sold one million Galaxy Fold devices, despite what executive Young Sohn said on stage earlier this week. Yonhap says a company spokesperson “said Sohn may have confused the figure with the company’s initial sales target for the year, emphasizing that sales of the tech firm’s first foldable handset have not reached 1 million units.” The company did not clarify how many Galaxy Fold devices have been sold, but it earlier said that it targeted 500,000 units for this year." At the Consumer Electronics Show CES 2020 Samsung said it had sold 400,000 to 500,000 since its release last September. At 100,000 per month Huawei is selling quite close to the rate of the Galaxy fold last year.

Huawei and Samsung front-runners in race to make a foldable phone

At CES 2019 there were plenty of foldable prototype phones but Samsung beat most top competitors when it release the Galaxy Fold in September. Microsot's Duo and Motorola's Razr are not due out until later in 2020.

Huawei's Mate X was originally due to be launched in July last year. However after Samsung delayed its own launch following production problems, Huawei decided to refine and improve its foldable screen so put off its launch too until November.

Huawei has yet to announce a date for launching the Mate X outside of China. However, it had said previously that it was expected to begin sales in Europe in the first quarter of 2020. Half of the phone screen flips around back so when it is folded closed it has a screen on both sides of the phone. The second version of the Mate X is expected to be shown at the Mobile World Congress MWC 2020 in February.

Foldable smart phones now followed by foldable laptops

At the CES this year Lenovo revealed its foldable laptop the ThinkPad X1. Verge editors named it the best in show for CES 2020. In the coming months more such laptops are expected to be announced.

At this year’s CES, the foldable trend expanded beyond phones to laptops. The Verge’s editors named the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Fold its best in show for CES 2020, with expectations that there will be more foldable laptops in the coming months. The price will be a whopping $2,499 and it is expected to ship this summer. The appended video shows and reviews the Mate X.

Previously published in the Digital Journal

Lime the largest e-scooter sharing company lays off workers and exits some markets

Lime, the largest electric scooter-sharing company on the globe will lay off 14 percent about 100 of its workers and will exit 12 markets according to a recent report. The action comes as ridership has probably dropped during the winter.

The industry is struggling to turn a profit. A recent article lists the 12 markets that Lime is leaving: "In the US: Atlanta, Phoenix, San Diego, San Antonio.In Latin America: Bogota, Buenos Aires, Montevideo, Lima, Puerto Vallarta, Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo. In Europe: Linz (Austria)." Lime Chief Executive Officer Brad Bao said the company was leaving cities where micromobility was evolving more slowly.

Lime hopes to reach profitability in 2020

Bao was optimistic about its results in 2020: “Financial independence is our goal for 2020, and we are confident that Lime will be the first next-generation mobility company to reach profitability. We are immensely grateful for our team members, riders, Juicers and cities who supported us, and we hope to reintroduce Lime back into these communities when the time is right.”

Too many players in e-scooter sharing market

Lime, along with rivals such as Bird, Uber, and Lyft have all been struggling as they try to make their businesses profitable. Most expert analysts believe the market is oversaturated and there needs to be consolidation before anyone will make a profit. There has been a period of rapid growth but now companies must face problems that prevent them from making a profit. These include unit economics, software, batteries, and safety as well.

Lime has been joined by its competitors Bird, Skip, Scoot, and Lyft who have also laid off employees during recent months.

Lime has suffered loses recently

Lime operates in over 120 cities around the world. In 2019 it lost about $300 million on revenues of more than $420 million gross revenue. The loss could be from increased costs of depreciation of its e-scooters and its vast repairs operations.

Joe Kraus the president of Lime claimed that the company is now actually close to being profitable. He denied rumors that Lime was almost out of money and was seeking a new round of capital investment. Last October Bird had raised $275 million.

Bao remained optimistic for the future of the company even suggesting that over time it would reenter markets from which it had withdrawn: "At Lime, we remain focused on our long term goal: to play an instrumental role in reimagining and changing the way we live in and move around cities across the globe. We are immensely grateful for the partnerships we’ve enjoyed with each one of these cities and the continued support from our riders, and we remain hopeful we can reintroduce Lime back into these communities when the time is right."

Previously published in the Digital Journal

Warner Bros has contract with a firm to provide algorithms to predict the success of films

(January 9) The giant film company Warner Bros. has a contract with Cinelytic a Los Angeles AI startup uses AI algorithms to predict a film's success. This will help guide Warner Bros. Pictures International decision-making in marketing and distribution.

AI is only a helpful tool

Cinelytic's Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Tobias Queisser emphasized that AI was only a helpful tool to assist in making decisions saying: “Artificial intelligence sounds scary. But right now, an AI cannot make any creative decisions. What it is good at is crunching numbers and breaking down huge data sets and showing patterns that would not be visible to humans. But for creative decision-making, you still need experience and gut instinct.”

Hollywood starting to use AI

The deal is a step forward in Hollywood finally beginning to use AI and machine learning.

A recent article describes the deal: "Resistance is futile. Warner Bros. has become the latest studio to publicly embrace artificial intelligence.The movie division has signed a deal with Cinelytic to use the latter’s AI-driven project management system that was launched last year.Under the new deal, Warners will leverage the system’s comprehensive data and predictive analytics to guide decision-making at the greenlight stage. The integrated online platform can assess the value of a star in any territory and how much a film is expected to make in theaters and on other ancillary streams."

Cinelytic already has several competitors: "Cinelytic isn’t the only company hoping to apply AI to the business of film. In recent years, a bevy of firms has sprung up promising similar insights. Belgium’s ScriptBook, founded in 2015, says its algorithms can predict a movie’s success just by analyzing its script. Israeli startup Vault, founded the same year, promises clients that it can predict which demographics will watch their films by tracking (among other things) how its trailers are received online. Another company called Pilot offers similar analyses, promising it can forecast box office revenues up to 18 months before a film’s launch with “unrivaled accuracy.” " However, the film industry historically has been skeptical about the claims of AI prnmoters.

Industry is cautious

Andrea Scarso a film investor as well as a customer of Cinelytic said the new startups had not really changed his mind but was initiating a conversation about new approaches. Scarso said: “You can see how, sometimes, just one or two different elements around the same project could have a massive impact on the commercial performance.”

Even many AI experts believe algorithms have limited predictive ability about filmmaking

Machine learning is based on historical data and thus tends to be conservative and not capture new creative elements that could be popular. It in effect is based upon past successes. As such it will miss new trends. Studies show that the algorithms often produce obvious insights that competent analysts would discover without AI,

Possible use of machine learning in the film industry

The AI algorithms can produce uncomplicated analysis faster than humans. As such, they could be useful at events such as film festivals. Studios are forced into bidding wars for distribution rights with only a few hours to decide how much a film is worth. The AI might be able to help make decisions in such scenarios.

Tony Kiis Warner's senior vice-president of distribution said: “We make tough decisions every day that affect what — and how — we produce and deliver films to theaters around the world, and the more precise our data is, the better we will be able to engage our audiences."

Previously published in the Digital Journal

Sony introduces new electric concept car the Vision-S at recent Consumer Electronics Show

(January 6) At the CES show this year Sony announced the Sony Vision-S a concept all electric sedan that is intended to show the company's many different technological strengths. Sony products range from entertainment products to camera sensors and much more.

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The Consumer Electronics Show (CES) is described by Wikipedia: "CES (formerly an acronym for Consumer Electronics Show[1]) is an annual trade show organized by the Consumer Technology Association (CTA). Held in January at the Las Vegas Convention Center in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States, the event typically hosts presentations of new products and technologies in the consumer electronics industry." This year the Las Vegas show will be held January 7th to the 10th. There is an Asian version later on in the year June 10 to 12 in Shanghai China.

Endgadget reports on the new vehicle announcement: "Sony has unveiled an electric car -- yes, an actual car -- at CES today. It's the first prototype vehicle under Sony's mobility efforts called the Vision-S initiative, and based on what the tech giant said during its press event, it was built to showcase the automotive technologies it developed and can offer. Sony teamed up with a number of companies such as Bosch, Continental, NVIDIA and Qualcomm, to create the prototype sedan."

The Vision-S is packed with new technology

A recent Verge article notes: "In fact, the Vision-S features 33 different sensors inside and outside of the car, multiple widescreen displays, 360 audio, and always-on connectivity, with some pieces coming from industry players like BlackBerry and Bosch. It’s also powered by a “newly-designed EV platform” — which appears to have been engineered by automotive supplier Magna — that Sony says will be able to power other vehicle types, like SUVs."

The outside of the car looks similar to some aspects of Porsche vehicles especially around the headlights. A side profile shows some resemblance to the Air of Lucid Motors. Inside the dashboard spanning screen is much like that of the Chinese EV startup Byton has in its cars with screens for rear seat passengers built into the front headrests. Many photos of the vehicle are available here.

Brief Sony announcement leaves many questions unanswered

Sony announced the new car at the tail end of its CES press conference. Sony spent at most a couple of minutes discussing the new vehicles before ending their conference. Does Sony or perhaps Magna intend to put this concept car into production or is it just a reference car. Will Magna let other companies companies build their own prototypes on the platform?

The appended video is of Sony's press conference. Most of it is about the Sony PlayStation but discussion of the new car starts at minute 4.

Previously published in the Digital Journal

Assassinated Iranian general Soleimani was on a diplomatic mission

(January 6) According to the caretaker Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi assassinated Iranian General Qassam Soleimani was on a diplomatic mission that was part of ongoing diplomatic efforts to reduce tension between Iran and Saudi Arabia.

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The US assassinated the top Iranian general on Thursday night.

Iraq PM's statement

A recent article reports: "Iraq's Caretaker Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi has said that Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani was set to deliver Tehran's reply to an earlier Saudi message regarding de-escalation talks mediated by Baghdad when he was assassinated."

The Iraqi PM made his remarks during an emergency session of the Iraqi parliament that passed a non-binding resolution the expels US troops from Iraq. The PM said he was due to meet Soleimani at 8:30 AM local time on Friday but Soleimani had been assassinated a few hours earlier.

US assassination hurts peace efforts

The US action undercuts efforts by Iran and Saudi Arabia to lessen tensions between them. It seems that the US wants tensions to increase rather than decrease as it claims. While the peace effort may not be totally stopped it appears difficult for Iran to safely deliver its messages without its messengers being targeted. Surely the US knew about the ongoing process and deliberately chose to disrupt it.

Saudi peace overtures were part of the country's plan B after the US did not attack Iran. Given the US escalation of the situation the Saudis may now simply sit back and await an eventual attack by the US on Iran. This could come as retaliation for any Iranian or its supporters strikes on US interests as a response to the assassination of Soleimani. The US has openly threatened more assassinations, and attacks on Iranian cultural sites as a response to any attacks on US interests.

While US supporters such as NATO have asked Iran not to retaliate, there is little criticism of the US action with NATO saying that it stands with the US. However, even if Iran wants to prevent any retaliation it is unlikely to be able to control many of its supporters. Tensions and conflict are most likely to increase and this in large part is the responsibility of the US. It not only assassinated Soleimani it also deliberately sabotaged diplomatic processes that could have lessened tensions.

There have been contradictory reports as to whether the US will actually withdraw from Iraq. The Iraqi parliament actually needs to pass a law cancelling the mandate and ejecting US troops from Iraq. It has not done that yet. We await Trump tweets to further confuse us as to what is happening.

Previously published in the Digital Journal

Iraqi parliament passes resolution to expel all foreign troops from Iraq

(January 5) Today the Iraqi parliament passed a resolution to expel all foreign troops from the country as tensions are escalating between Iran and the US but between Iraq and the US as well after a US attack that killed Iranian commander Qassem Soleimani.

The US attack in Baghdad

A recent Bloomberg article reports: "General Soleimani, who led the Revolutionary Guards’ Quds force, was killed in a car late Thursday by a Reaper drone capable of firing laser-guided weapons as he was leaving a Baghdad airport access road, a U.S. official said. The strike also killed the deputy commander of an Iraqi militia group, the Shiite-dominated Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), who was with Soleimani."

An NPR article focuses on Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis the deputy leader of PMF: "Maj. Gen. Qassem Soleimani, killed in a drone strike early Friday, is getting the vast majority of the media attention. But several others were also killed in the attack, including militia leader Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis. For years, Muhandis has been one of the most important military figures in Iraq, as the deputy commander of Iraq's Popular Mobilization Forces."

Note that not only Soleimani was killed but the deputy commander of the PMF an Iraq group of militias that is approved and paid for by the Iraqi government and regarded as part of its forces. It is this action as much as the killing of Soleimani that will fuel Iraqi anger. Most news reports hardly mention this killing, as if it did not matter.

US earlier attacked Iraqi militia that is part of PMC

About a week ago a BBC article noted: "Weapons caches and command and control centres at five sites associated with Kataib Hezbollah were hit on Sunday, the defence department said. An Iraqi paramilitary force said 25 fighters were killed and 51 injured." At the time Kataib Hezbollah leader Jamal Jaafar Ibrahimi, who is also known as Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, warned that the response of the group would be very tough on US forces in Iraq."

Kataib Hezbollah(KH) is an Iraq government approved and financed militia

Mainstream media often refer to the predominantly Shia militia within the Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces(PMF) as Iran-backed. However, they usually fail to note that they are Iraqi government approved and financed, and indeed are regarded much like regular forces. Wikipedia describes the PMF as follows: "The Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), also known as the People's Mobilization Committee (PMC) and the Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) (Arabic: الحشد الشعبي‎ al-Ḥashd ash-Shaʿbī),[22] is an Iraqi state-sponsored umbrella organization composed of some 40 militias that are mostly Shia Muslim groups, but also include Sunni Muslim, Christian, and Yazidi groups.[23][24] The popular mobilization units as a group was formed in 2014 and have fought in nearly every major battle against ISIL.[25] It has been called the new Iraqi Republican Guard after it was fully reorganized in early 2018 by its then-Commander in Chief Haider al-Abadi. Former Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi issued "regulations to adapt the situation of the Popular Mobilization fighters," giving them ranks and salaries equivalent to other branches of the Iraqi military.[3]" KH is brigade 45 of the PMF.

Thus the US is attacking what are in effect security forces of the Iraqi government not Iran or simply Iran proxies. You would never know this from reading typical mainstream accounts.

The Iraqi parliament resolution

The resolution read:"The government commits to revoke its request for assistance from the international coalition fighting Islamic State due to the end of military operations in Iraq and the achievement of victory. The Iraqi government must work to end the presence of any foreign troops on Iraqi soil and prohibit them from using its land, airspace or water for any reason."

Note the resolution contains no direct condemnation of the US attack nor does it even specifically mention the attack. The resolution is not a law and not binding so unless further legislation is passed the US can simply ignore it. The Iraqi PM Adel Mahdi had earlier called for an end to foreign troop presence. Mahdi had said that Iraq could immediately end the presence of foreign troops or reconsider a draft resolution that would tie the presence of US troops to training Iraqi security forces in the fight against ISIL.

Analyst Tareq Harb told Al Jazeera that the PM's call to eject US troops was in anticipation of a strong reaction and condemnation of the attack from the public and pro-Iran political and militia groups which have been calling for expulsion of US troops for days now. Harb said: "Abdul Mahdi had no option but to take a strong stance against the presence of US troops in Iraq. He was also been shrewd in taking such a stance as he leaves the decision in the hands of the parliament."

The resolution in itself does not order US troops expelled and critics regard it as weak.

Muqtadada al-Sadr's response

The Iraq Shia leader al-Sadr who heads the largest bloc in parliament was critical of the response: "I consider this a weak response insufficient against American violation of Iraqi sovereignty and regional escalation....Finally, I call specifically on the Iraqi resistance groups and the groups outside Iraq more generally to meet immediately and announce the formation of the International Resistance Legions." Al-Sadr demanded the immediate cancellation of the security agreement with the US, closure of the US embassy and the expulsion of US troops in a humiliating manner.

The Iraqi government will no doubt be subject to demonstrations against it demanding more actions against the US in Iraq. Meanwhile, the mainstream media seem to be fixated on the Iranian reaction to the US attack while completely ignoring the situation in Iraq. This is no doubt because the US official narrative considers the PMF , part of Iraq's own security forces simply as proxies for Iran. The mainstream media simply goes along with this narrative. The appended video is from a Turkish channel.

It appears unlikely that there will be any concrete move to remove US troops from Iraq and the US can safely ignore the Iraqi parliamentary resolution.

Previously published in the Digital Journal

New Google-developed AI could help in diagnosing breast cancer

(January 2) Google is developing artificial Intelligence (AI) that will help doctors identify breast cancer according to a research paper published in Nature Today. The AI model which scans X-ray images known as mammograms reduces false negatives by 9.4 percent.

The current tests miss 20 percent of breast cancers. While as reported by the Wall Street Journal the AI does better than doctors, it nevertheless misses some cancers that radiologists find: "Google’s health research unit said it has developed an artificial-intelligence system that can match or outperform radiologists at detecting breast cancer, according to new research. But doctors still beat the machines in some cases."

Mammograms effective but have problems

Breast cancer is the second leading cause of cancer deaths in women, only lung cancer is more deadly and prevalent. Even though mammagrams are an effective common detection tool they nevertheless miss a large number of positive cases. Shravya Shetty a Google researcher and co-author of the paper said: “Mammograms are very effective but there’s still a significant problem with false negatives and false positives."

The study

The Google-financed study used anonymized mammograms from more than 25,000 women from both the UK and another 3,000 from the US. Shetty said that researchers attempted to follow the same principles as those of radiologists. The research team first trained AI to scan X-ray imagines to look for signs of breast cancer by identifying changes to the breasts of the 28,000 women and they then checked the AI program's analyses against that of the actual medical outcomes of the women.

The results

The researchers were ultimately able to reduce false negatives by 9.4 percent and false positives by 5.7 percent in the US. In the UK where two radiologists typically double-check the results the results were still positive but not by nearly the same degree. False negatives were cut by 2.7 percent but false positives by only 1.2 percent.

A recent Wired article notes: "The study claims the DeepMind algorithm performs better than a single radiologist, and is "non inferior" versus two."The model performs better than an individual radiologist in both the UK and the US," Kelly says. "In the UK we have this double reading system, where two radiologists or maybe three or four look at each scan… we're statistically the same as that, but not better than that." " However, the article notes that the UK is facing a shortage of radiologists.

The AI program called Deep Mind was not perfect. In some cases radiologists flagged cases which the AI system missed even though Deep Mind outperformed examinations by single cardiologists,

Google hopes AI system can be used in clinical settings

Daniel Tse a Google product manager and co-author of the paper said the research team was working to make sure the findings could be generalized across populations: “We’re very excited and encouraged by these results. There’s obviously quite a bit of nuance when you put this into clinical practice."

Shetty said that the AI system would help radiologists rather than replace them: “They each bring their own strength, it’s complementary. There are a number of cases where the radiologists catch something that the model misses, and vice versa. Bringing the two together could strengthen the overall results.”

Previously published in the Digital Journal