Links: 2013-10-18

Here’s why it’s legal for Google and Facebook to use your face in ads — Tech News and Analysis

“Facebook puts your profile picture in advertisements. Google is about to do the same and other sites like Twitter will likely follow one day. How exactly is this legal? Do we have any control over our image anymore?”

Yahoo promises encryption as NSA’s email and IM contact list collection is exposed — Tech News and Analysis

“This particular mass surveillance activity only takes place outside the U.S., according to a Washington Post scoop, but it does still involve the collection of many Americans’ contacts lists for services including Yahoo, Gmail, Hotmail and Facebook.”

Citi says next “hard” debt ceiling deadline is in March

“Based on press reports, the short-term debt ceiling extension expected to be passed by Congress would suspend the debt ceiling until February 7. However, Feb. 7 would only be a “soft” deadline since Treasury would then be able to engage in “extraordinary measures” to open up “headroom” under the debt ceiling. These measures may be worth around $200 billion of additional debt capacity. Based on a rough estimate, described below, we think the new “hard” debt-ceiling deadline, when Treasury is at risk of being unable to pay all its obligations, is likely to be in March 2014. “

Crisis looms as Catalan disenchantment with Spain deepens – FT.com

GOP self-harm – why we will be hearing more from Ted Cruz – FT.com

“If Harvard Business School did case studies on political incompetence, it should start with the Republican Party’s recent default brinkmanship. In the space of the 16-day government shutdown, the party’s Gallup approval rating dropped by 10 points to 28 per cent – its lowest to date. It was among the sharpest slaps in polling history. Little wonder Republican leaders dropped all conditions to reopen government and extend the debt ceiling on Wednesday night. It is hard to think of another instance of a party squandering so much in such a short time and achieving nothing.

But the self-harm was worse than that. The US public’s approval of the unpopular “Obamacare” law actually rose during the crisis. It should have been the other way round.”

ekathimerini.com | Germany’s finance ministry denies report it is preparing third bailout for Greece

It’s not true until the official denial!

“A high-ranking German official has denied reports that the country’s Finance Ministry is working on a new aid package for Greece.

Martin Kotthaus, a spokesman for Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble, on Thursday rejected the report, published in Die Zeit newspaper, as “speculation.””

Germany’s Growth Outlook Cut – WSJ.com

These numbers are weak and are being cut as well. That tells you this upturn is also weak.

“Germany’s leading economic think tanks have cut their growth forecasts for this year and next, though domestic demand and an improving global climate will spur the economy in 2014.

The institutes said Europe’s largest economy would grow only 0.4% this year and would pick up next year, expanding 1.8%. This marks a lowering of their forecasts from April when they said the German economy would grow 0.8% and 1.9%, respectively.

The official announcement confirms earlier reports in the German media.

“The German economy is on the verge of an upturn driven by domestic demand,” the institutes said. “The improving global economic climate and decreasing uncertainty are fueling investment. Private consumption is benefiting from favorable employment and income prospects,” they said. “

Sequester Spat Looms on Horizon – WSJ.com

“The deal to end the government shutdown and suspend the debt ceiling until Feb. 7 directs Congress to convene a bipartisan budget conference committee tasked with crafting a tax and spending plan. Adjusting the sequester is likely to rank high on the group’s agenda.

Democrats are particularly eager to reduce scheduled cuts on a broad range of domestic programs, including education and research, while many Republicans want to lessen the hit to defense. The cuts don’t affect most mandatory spending programs, such as Social Security.

The politics of forestalling the sequester cuts would be difficult. Despite their distaste for the defense cuts, Republicans on Wednesday were embracing the sequester as a weapon to use against Democrats in the next round of budget negotiations.”

Google’s Q3 beats as ad volume grows, stock flirts $1,000 level | Reuters

“The market reaction put Google’s stock within striking distance of $1,000, following what analysts said was a strong, but not spectacular quarter.

Shares of the world’s No.1 Internet search engine jumped 8 percent to $959.65 in after-hours trading on Thursday, after it reported a 23 percent rise in revenue from its Internet business, excluding fees paid to partners, of $10.8 billion in the third quarter.”

As U.S. averts default, Japan and China brace for next dollar drama | Reuters

Does this matter though? If the Chinese, in particular want to accumulate dollars as a matter of economic policy, those dollars must be invested somewhere. And note, the Japanese do NOT want yen to appreciate.

“Deal or no deal, the U.S. Congress’ dance with default impressed policymakers and investors in China and Japan with just how vulnerable their own economic revival plans are to the next political tantrum on Capitol Hill.”

Rejoice: the Yellen Fed will print money forever to create jobs – Telegraph Blogs

This is Ambrose-Evans Pritchard’s take from a week ago on the Yellen selection as Fed chair.

Defeat has bitter taste for Tea Party – FT.com

“The standing of Washington’s leaders, including Mr Obama, has fallen over the two weeks that the government has been closed. But Republicans have suffered most, which may damage their chances in next year’s midterm congressional elections, especially in the Senate.

The Republican civil war undermines the party’s standing with voters and increases the chances of damaging pre-election primary contests engineered by the Tea Party, something that helped derail their Senate campaigns in 2010 and 2012.”

Fed needs ‘couple of meetings’ before cutting QE3: Evans | Reuters

“”We need more information about how the economy is proceeding, how we are going to weather the most recent government shutdown,” Chicago Fed President Charles Evans said in Madison, Wisconsin. “I think the most likely outcome is one where we continue to go for a couple of meetings to assess this.”

The Fed meets every six weeks to discuss policy, and next meets October 29-30 and December 17-18.”

UK retail sales hit five year high – Telegraph

“Pound climbs as official data shows best quarterly growth in retail sales since the recession struck in 2008. “

U.S. failure to fix fiscal ‘mess’ undermines Fed on jobs: Fisher | Reuters

“”As long as inflationary expectations are held at bay, we can fully open the monetary throttle in an effort to deliver on the mandate Congress gave us to help achieve full employment,” Dallas Fed President Richard Fisher said in remarks prepared for delivery to the Economic Club of New York.

“But it is for naught as long as the fiscal authorities are slamming on the brakes and leaving everyone in the dark as to how they will cure the fiscal mess they have wrought.””

Jobless Claims in U.S. Fall Less Than Forecast on California – Bloomberg

“Jobless claims decreased by 15,000 to 358,000 in the week ended Oct. 12 from a revised 373,000 in the prior period, a Labor Department report showed today in Washington.”

Fed’s Fisher warns of potential U.S. housing bubble, MBS buys | Reuters

“I’m beginning to see signs not just in my district but across the country that we are entering, once again, a housing bubble,” Dallas Fed President Richard Fisher told reporters after a speech in New York. “So that leads me … to be very cautious about our mortgage-backed securities purchase program.””

Americans Report Worse Hiring Situation During Shutdown

“Prior to Wednesday’s agreement to end the federal shutdown, an average of 35% of U.S. workers in October said their employer was hiring workers and expanding the size of its workforce, compared with 17% who said their employer was letting workers go and reducing the size of its workforce. The resulting +18 Gallup Job Creation Index score is down three points from September.”

Government Shutdown Cost $24 Billion, According to Standard & Poor’s | TIME.com

I think 2.4% GDP growth is a really optimistic number.

“$24 billion.

That’s according to an estimate from Standard & Poor’s. The financial services company said the shutdown, which ended with a deal late Wednesday night after 16 days, took $24 billion out of the U.S. economy, and reduced projected fourth-quarter GDP growth from 3 percent to 2.4 percent.”

How to Design — And Defend Against — The Perfect Security Backdoor | Wired Opinion | Wired.com

“he NSA decided to get its backdoors through subterfuge: by asking nicely, pressuring, threatening, bribing, or mandating through secret order. The general name for this program is BULLRUN.

Defending against these attacks is difficult. We know from subliminal channel and kleptography research that it’s pretty much impossible to guarantee that a complex piece of software isn’t leaking secret information. We know from Ken Thompson’s famous talk on “trusting trust” (first delivered in the ACM Turing Award Lectures) that you can never be totally sure if there’s a security flaw in your software.”

Feds Sued for Hiding NSA Spying From Terror Defendants | Threat Level | Wired.com

“Five years after Congress authorized warrantless electronic spying, the Obama administration has never divulged to a single defendant that they were the target of this type of phone or email surveillance — despite lawmakers’ claims the snooping has stopped terrorist plots and resulted in arrests.

The reason federal prosecutors are keeping mum, and perhaps violating federal rules requiring the government to tell defendants where evidence was obtained, is because such a concession would pave the way for a challenge to the constitutionality of the surveillance tactics, which Congress approved in 2008 and then again in December.

Against that backdrop, the American Civil Liberties Union filed a new lawsuit today in New York federal court against the Justice Department, demanding an accounting of the defendants ensnared under the law, known as the FISA Amendments Act, which codified President George W. Bush’s once-secret spy program adopted in the wake of the September 11, 2001 terror attacks. The suit is in response to the government not answering the civil rights group’s Freedom of Information Act request in March.”

Contrary to public claims, Apple can read your iMessages | Ars Technica

“”Apple’s claim that they can’t read end-to-end encrypted iMessage[s] is definitely not true,” researchers from QuarksLab wrote in a white paper summarizing their findings. “As everyone suspected: yes they can!””

Comments are closed.

This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. Accept Read More