Record funding for Element AI shines spotlight on Canada’s artificial intelligence boom – BNN

Posted on by

Canadas fast-growing artificial intelligence industry has received another shot in the arm.Element AI, a Montreal-based startup, has raised $137.5 million in what Element is calling the largest Series A funding round for an artificial intelligence company in history.

Element has previously described itself as an artificial intelligence startup incubator, with the company hoping to build AI businesses from research being done at leading Canadian schools, including the Universit de Montral, where Element Co-Founder Yoshua Bengio teaches.

We have this lead and we have built a huge group here in Montreal thats now attracting industry, startups, new companies like Element AI its amazing how much things are moving and how much energy there is, Bengio told BNN in a recent television interview from the C2 tech conference in Montreal.

Artificial intelligence is set to outgrow every industry, says leading researcher

Will AI crown the first trillionaire? Famous investor Mark Cuban thinks so. And one of the industry's leading researchers, Yoshua Bengio of Element AI, says the industry is set to cause mass disruption.

Element plans to use some of the funds to invest in major AI projects around the world.It also says it will be creating 250 jobs in the Canadian high tech sector by January 2018.

The funding round was led by Venture Capital firm Data Collective, which, according to research firm CB Insights, has been one of the most active investors in the past five years. Data Collective has backed at least 20 AI startups since 2012.

Given the size of the funding, the investor group includes a long list of high-profile names from the worlds of finance and tech, including Fidelity Investments Canada, Intel Capital, National Bank of Canada, NVIDIA, Real Ventures and Microsoft Ventures, which previously invested in the company.

Intel, Microsoft, and NVIDIA, as pioneers and champions of AI hardware and software, likewise understand that their businesses flourish as every company is empowered with world-class AI. This is why these leaders have backed us with the worlds largest Series A round ever for an artificial intelligence company, Element AI CEO Jean-Franois Gagn said in a statement.

More here:

Record funding for Element AI shines spotlight on Canada's artificial intelligence boom - BNN

USAA inks deal for artificial intelligence – WOAI

Posted on by

SAN ANTONIO

USAA inked a deal with Austin-based Artificial Technology powered startup CognitiveScale.

The San Antonio-based financial services company is slated to integrate some of the startups artificial intelligence products within the next 10 weeks.

The goal is to generate insights about customers and predict future product and service demands allowing companies to personalize the experience.

CognitiveScale says Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a major force in banks, insurance companies and financial services organizations and is transforming how they "engage customers, deliver investment advice, manage pricing and risk, and assure regulatory compliance.

The San Antonio Business Journal reports that CognitiveScale was built by former IBM engineers who worked on the companys Watson project, which is a supercomputer that uses artificial intelligence and analytical software to answer questions that mimic the cognitive ability of the human brain.

CognitiveScale has received an additional $15 million in venture capital for product development of its augmented intelligence products from USAA and several other venture and capital groups, according to Silicon Hills News.

Some working dads, those who live in states where economic opportunity abounds and quality of life is emphasized, have it better than others.

Texas ranked 38th Best State for Working Dads.

WalletHub says the state slipped for work-life balance. It also had a high percentage of kids living in poverty who had a dad in the home.

***

Yahoo sold to Verizon

Yahoo, as we knew it, is no more.

The internet pioneer has officially been sold to Verizon. The $4.5 billion dollar deal closed Tuesday.

Once Google came onto the internet scene with a better algorithm for searching, Yahoo could never compete for eyeballs and advertising.

***

Wells Fargo analysts say the shopping mall could look a lot different in 10 years.

Their report says well see more schools, churches and doctors offices at malls instead of stores.

E-commerce is a reason, of course, but the Wells Fargo report also says retailers havent given shoppers a reason to show up.

***

Stocks bounced back to record highs. Tech stocks rebounded and even retailers were higher.

The DOW gained 92 points to 21-thousand 328.

The Federal Reserve wraps up a meeting today and is expected to raise interest rates a quarter point.

View post:

USAA inks deal for artificial intelligence - WOAI

The Optimistic Promise of Artificial Intelligence – Wall Street Journal (subscription)

Posted on by

Wall Street Journal (subscription)
The Optimistic Promise of Artificial Intelligence
Wall Street Journal (subscription)
Artificial intelligence may be one of the technology world's current obsessions, but many people find it scary, envisioning robots taking over the world. Two top experts in the field Andrew Ng, a Stanford University adjunct professor and former AI ...

Link:

The Optimistic Promise of Artificial Intelligence - Wall Street Journal (subscription)

US weighs restricting Chinese investment in artificial intelligence – Reuters

Posted on by

By Phil Stewart | WASHINGTON

WASHINGTON The United States appears poised to heighten scrutiny of Chinese investment in Silicon Valley to better shield sensitive technologies seen as vital to U.S. national security, current and former U.S. officials tell Reuters.

Of particular concern is China's interest in fields such as artificial intelligence and machine learning, which have increasingly attracted Chinese capital in recent years. The worry is that cutting-edge technologies developed in the United States could be used by China to bolster its military capabilities and perhaps even push it ahead in strategic industries.

The U.S. government is now looking to strengthen the role of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), the inter-agency committee that reviews foreign acquisitions of U.S. companies on national security grounds.

An unreleased Pentagon report, viewed by Reuters, warns that China is skirting U.S. oversight and gaining access to sensitive technology through transactions that currently don't trigger CFIUS review. Such deals would include joint ventures, minority stakes and early-stage investments in start-ups.

"We're examining CFIUS to look at the long-term health and security of the U.S. economy, given China's predatory practices" in technology, said a Trump administration official, who was not authorized to speak publicly.

Defense Secretary Jim Mattis weighed into the debate on Tuesday, calling CFIUS "outdated" and telling a Senate hearing: "It needs to be updated to deal with today's situation."

CFIUS is headed by the Treasury Department and includes nine permanent members including representatives from the departments of Defense, Justice, Homeland Security, Commerce, State and Energy. The CFIUS panel is so secretive it normally does not comment after it makes a decision on a deal.

Under former President Barack Obama, CFIUS stopped a series of attempted Chinese acquisitions of high-end chip makers.

Senator John Cornyn, the No. 2 Republican in the Senate, is now drafting legislation that would give CFIUS far more power to block some technology investments, a Cornyn aide said.

"Artificial intelligence is one of many leading-edge technologies that China seeks and that has potential military applications," said the Cornyn aide, who declined to be identified.

"These technologies are so new that our export control system has not yet figured out how to cover them, which is part of the reason they are slipping through the gaps in the existing safeguards," the aide said.

The legislation would require CFIUS to heighten scrutiny of buyers hailing from nations identified as potential threats to national security. CFIUS would maintain the list, the aide said, without specifying who would create it.

Cornyn's legislation would not single out specific technologies that would be subject to CFIUS scrutiny. But it would provide a mechanism for the Pentagon to lead that identification effort, with input from the U.S. technology sector, the Commerce Department, and the Energy Department, the aide said.

James Lewis, an expert on military technology at the Center for Security and International Studies, said the U.S. government is playing catch-up.

"The Chinese have found a way around our protections, our safeguards, on technology transfer in foreign investment. And they're using it to pull ahead of us, both economically and militarily," Lewis said.

"I think that's a big deal."

But some industry experts warn that stronger U.S. regulations may not succeed in halting technology transfer and might trigger retaliation by China, with economic repercussions for the United States.

In Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said Chinese investment should not be "politically overinterpreted" or "interfered with politically".

"We hope the United States can provide a good environment for Chinese companies investing in the United States," Lu told a regular news briefing on Wednesday.

China made the United States the top destination for its foreign direct investment in 2016, with $45.6 billion in completed acquisitions and greenfield investments, according to the Rhodium Group, a research firm. Investment from January to May 2017 totaled $22 billion, which represented a 100 percent increase against the same period last year, it said.

"There will be a significant pushback from the technology industry" if legislation is overly aggressive, Rhodium Group economist Thilo Hanemann said.

AI'S ROLE IN DRONE WARFARE

Concerns about Chinese inroads into advanced technology come as the U.S. military looks to incorporate elements of artificial intelligence and machine learning into its drone program.

Project Maven, as the effort is known, aims to provide some relief to military analysts who are part of the war against Islamic State.

These analysts currently spend long hours staring at big screens reviewing video feeds from drones as part of the hunt for insurgents in places like Iraq and Afghanistan.

The Pentagon is trying to develop algorithms that would sort through the material and alert analysts to important finds, according to Air Force Lieutenant General John N.T. "Jack" Shanahan, director for defense intelligence for warfighting support.

"A lot of times these things are flying around(and)... there's nothing in the scene that's of interest," he told Reuters.

Shanahan said his team is currently trying to teach the system to recognize objects such as trucks and buildings, identify people and, eventually, detect changes in patterns of daily life that could signal significant developments.

"We'll start small, show some wins," he said.

A Pentagon official said the U.S. government is requesting to spend around $30 million on the effort in 2018.

Similar image recognition technology is being developed commercially by firms in Silicon Valley, which could be adapted by adversaries for military reasons.

Shanahan said he was not surprised Chinese firms were making investments there.

"They know what they're targeting," he said.

Research firm CB Insights says it has tracked 29 investors from mainland China investing in U.S. artificial intelligence companies since the start of 2012.

The risks extend beyond technology transfer.

"When the Chinese make an investment in an early stage company developing advanced technology, there is an opportunity cost to the U.S., since that company is potentially off-limits for purposes of working with (the Department of Defense)," the report said.

CHINESE INVESTMENT

China has made no secret of its ambition to become a major player in artificial intelligence, including through foreign acquisitions.

Chinese search engine giant Baidu Inc (BIDU.O) launched an AI lab in March with China's state planner, the National Development and Reform Commission. In just one recent example, Baidu Inc agreed in April to acquire U.S. computer vision firm xPerception, which makes vision perception software and hardware with applications in robotics and virtual reality.

"China is investing massively in this space," said Peter Singer, an expert on robotic warfare at the New America Foundation.

The draft Pentagon report cautioned that one of the factors hindering U.S. government regulation was that many Chinese investments fall short of outright acquisitions that can trigger a CFIUS review. Export controls were not designed to govern early-stage technology.

It recommended that the Pentagon develop a critical technologies list and restrict Chinese investments on that list. It also proposed enhancing counterintelligence efforts.

The report also signaled the need for measures beyond the scope of the U.S. military, such as changing immigration policy to allow Chinese graduate students to stay in the United States after completing their studies, instead of returning home.

Venky Ganesan, managing director at Menlo Futures, concurred about the need to keep the best and brightest in the United States.

"The single biggest thing we can do is staple a green card to their diploma so that they stay here and build the technologies here not go back to their countries and compete against us," Ganesan said.

(Additional reporting by Michael Martina in Beijing; Editing by Marla Dickerson and Clarence Fernandez)

SAN FRANCISCO Uber Technologies Inc Chief Executive Officer Travis Kalanick told employees on Tuesday he will take time away from the company he helped to found, one of a series of measures the ride-hailing company is taking to claw its way out from under a mountain of controversies.

SAN FRANCISCO Nokia launched the world's fastest network chips on Wednesday, breaking into the Juniper and Cisco dominated core router market and giving its existing network business a boost.

More:

US weighs restricting Chinese investment in artificial intelligence - Reuters

‘US rethinks Chinese investment in AI start-ups’ – BBC News

Posted on by

Gizmodo
'US rethinks Chinese investment in AI start-ups'
BBC News
The Pentagon has raised concerns about China's access to artificial-intelligence-based technology developed in the US, according to Reuters. The news agency says a leaked report proposes that export controls be updated to stop Chinese organisations ...
US Considers Chinese Investment in Artificial Intelligence a National ...Gizmodo
US May Limit Chinese Investment in Artificial IntelligenceDaily Beast
US mulls restricting Chinese investments into artificial intelligence companiesSiliconBeat
e27 -Daily Pakistan
all 13 news articles »

Continue reading here:

'US rethinks Chinese investment in AI start-ups' - BBC News

Amazon Web Services AI exec: How cloud computing is driving artificial intelligence breakthroughs – GeekWire

Posted on by

Artificial intelligence research is still in its infancy, at least as compared to computer science in general, but the concept of unlimited computing resources is accelerating the field.

As someone with nearly unlimited computing resources at his disposal, this is something Swami Sivasubramanian, vice president of AI at Amazon Web Services, is watching play out. Last week Sivasubramanian walked GeekWire Cloud Tech Summit attendees through the array of artificial intelligence and machine-learning services that his team has developed for AWS customers and Amazons own internal services as well.

If youve been through a few tech cycles, youve already heard a lot about artificial intelligence. Much has been promised from this research field over several decades, but the enormous amount of data now moving into cloud computing services like AWS and others allows researchers like Sivasubramanian to make real breakthroughs that werent possible when data sets were scattered and siloed.

Many of these algorithms, especially like deep learning neural nets, papers were written about even two decades ago. But what has accelerated adoption of it is that we have specialized compute infrastructure, such as GPUs, specialized CPUs, FPGAs (field programmable gate arrays), you name it, he said. The combination of huge data sets and powerful computing engines is making AI concepts previously confined to science fiction a reality.

Take two AWS customers: CSPAN and the sheriffs office of Washington County in Oregon. Using the companys Rekognition image-recognition service, both were able to automate tasks that required painstaking human labor. CSPAN can now automatically identify Congresspeople speaking on the floor of the House or Senate, saving someone from having to manually annotate those videos, and Washington County is using the service to help it process photo tips when it is looking for a person of interest in an investigation.

But its still very early days for AI applications: Sivasubramanian joked that this world is about where the field of databases was when btrees were invented in the early 1970s. Thats about to change, however, as we gain a greater understanding of how AI models work and develop more sophisticated ways of training these systems to accomplish real goals.

Watch the full video of Sivasubramanians GeekWire Cloud Tech Summit talk above, and stay tuned for more highlights from the event in the days ahead.

Read the original:

Amazon Web Services AI exec: How cloud computing is driving artificial intelligence breakthroughs - GeekWire

The Unknown Startups Fueling Aerospace With Fancy Tech – WIRED

Posted on by

rF.~ XyW^kT%zS*vOOEH(XDyy~Yke&Hw9K+M6OF_5M>SO)<2=M9AgI:1oN(Lyz o_PL4w>>>8C7>_-8-Ut~:q,N8o['<3cNl[5_KJU&K#Hai@,~m*jkym=`O_~Z~r-oOcc3$?gIb?Xkh]h? k%U/)C?K4zX~5*V>*iikPgX3p N]BE,,lsNGX}xFPLlhSOlV{>{=x9(9I1FN9]ficcb%1.Ia9?A!^}CYgZ93Ajz"IM Rsbi)dUo?sHkc2xd'A<>qY)c#D ;j7$=p%PY^]('(y,@DZ-_FIkDz-Vk9:-#? 1<~Zu,Wl]~-]5eh1J]<8?$!l O&+0GU/m~?1k X$&ek+tL4&i0 }Gy&rJ/.H9nz}p9d[NX lY;:;pBiswwYHB{ sN>D}~p$y/x'XEn|pq&g3^p*2<:oD1/4xwr*y|dopQ3h@v;6frR0~Hkz1SYpBy1Qi 4re9''?rN~v{-O_~IPPcaKzs?}5_#8 p%ZC# c KLs`(:oO^Ur

See the article here:

The Unknown Startups Fueling Aerospace With Fancy Tech - WIRED

Aerospace industry’s clean air problem – Aerospace Manufacturing and Design (press release)

Posted on by

Editors note: Part 1 discusses industrial air quality in the aerospace industry. Part 2 in the July 2017 issue will discuss solutions to air quality challenges.

While nearly all manufacturing industries have air quality concerns, the materials and processes used in aerospace present special challenges. From engine rework to extrusion of aluminum support components, each aerospace manufacturing process has its own set of indoor air quality (IAQ) challenges. If particulates generated by welding, blasting, grinding, or machining are not controlled, they will quickly cause problems for worker health and safety, product quality, and in some cases, regulatory compliance.

Aerospace manufacturing companies must comply with Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) regulations (or applicable regional/local regulations if outside the U.S.) for indoor air quality. Regulations set maximum permissible exposure limits (PELs) for certain compounds and elements released into the air during manufacturing. Exceeding PELs can subject companies to large fines.

However, the costs of poor air quality go beyond regulations. Failure to control fumes and particulates negatively impacts companies in a variety of ways. including:

Worker productivity Poor IAQ has been estimated to cause six additional lost workdays per year for every 10 employees. OSHA estimates that worker absences and reduced efficiency from poor air quality cost companies $15 billion annually.

Retention and recruiting In a recent survey commissioned by Advanced Technology Services (ATS), 39% of aerospace companies reported that skilled labor shortages are having an extreme impact on their businesses. For manufacturing as a whole, The Manufacturing Institute and Deloitte anticipate a shortage of 2 million skilled workers by 2025. For younger workers, the work environment matters, and that includes air quality. Aerospace companies competing to recruit welders and other skilled tradespeople will find that a clean, pleasant environment will pay dividends through lower turnover and more successful recruiting efforts for in-demand workers.

Product quality Uncontrolled particulates can product quality problems if they permeate sensitive areas such as paint lines or infiltrate electronic components.

Combustion risks Many of the dust types produced by the aerospace industry are highly combustible, including aluminum, titanium, and magnesium. These dusts have Kst ratings (a measure of combustibility) 10x larger than wood dust, making them extremely dangerous if allowed to accumulate in the air.

Of course, the most serious problem faced by companies with uncontrolled fumes and dust are the risks to worker health and safety.

Different processes produce different kinds and levels of particulates, giving each process its own exposure risk profile.

Welding Manual and robotic welding are used in the manufacture of aerospace parts, and the characteristics of fumes generated by the welding process can vary widely. The toxicity and the total volume of fumes generated depend on three variables:

Weld fumes can contain toxic elements and compounds, such as nickel, copper, vanadium, molybdenum, zinc, and beryllium. These fumes are made up of tiny particles that are inhaled deeply into the lungs, where they have both immediate and long-term impacts on worker health. Acute effects of exposure to weld fumes can include shortness of breath and respiratory irritation; eye, nose or throat irritation; or nausea. Long-term exposure to hexavalent chromium (hex chrome), manganese, and other elements can lead to chronic or deadly exposure effects.

Machining Metal processing often requires lubricants, which create fine oil mists that can be invisible. As the mists settle on surfaces, they can create slip and fall hazards for personnel, and have health impacts when inhaled. Depending on the size of the particulates and the chemistry of the lubricant, extended exposure may lead to asthma, chronic bronchitis, chronically impaired lung function, fibrosis of the lung, and cancer.

Cutting and grinding Larger particulates from cutting and grinding dont make their way as deeply into the lungs as the fumed particulates from welding, but the large volume of dust produced by these applications presents special health hazards. Fiberglass, metal, glass, plastics, and epoxy resins can all cause respiratory irritation. Some materials are also carcinogenic when inhaled. Newer materials used in the aerospace industry, including carbon fiber and composites, are associated with skin and respiratory irritation, contact dermatitis, and chronic interstitial lung disease. High-tech nanofiber materials present special risks when cutting and grinding due to the small size of the nanoparticles that have the potential to make their way deep into the lungs and cross into the bloodstream. The health impacts of inhaling nanoparticles are not yet fully understood.

Blasting One air quality hazard unique to the aerospace industry comes from the blasting processes used to clean and refurbish engine parts to meet Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) regulations. The blasting process used to clean accumulated debris off engine components commonly uses hazardous materials such as aluminum oxide. In addition to being a combustion hazard, aluminum oxide exposure is linked to eye, nose, throat, and lung irritation and central nervous system effects. Materials may contain silica, which is implicated in lung cancer, chronic bronchitis, and kidney damage. OSHA recently cut PELs for respirable crystalline silica in half, and companies using silica-based abrasives must comply with the new regulations by June 2018.

Fortunately, there are steps that you can take to ensure that a facility not only meets minimum regulatory requirements but is prepared for any changes that may come in the future. Meeting current OSHA PELs is a necessary start, and many aerospace companies are moving toward stricter internal standards for IAQ to meet productivity and sustainability goals. The American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH) has developed voluntary exposure guidelines based on rigorous science, which are rapidly becoming internationally recognized best practice for the manufacturing industry.

A well-designed air quality system can protect companies from legal liability and government fines while improving worker health, satisfaction, and productivity. A qualified air quality system designer can help aerospace companies find solutions that balance costs, regulations, and goals. Well take a closer look at the mitigation options in our next IAQ article.

RoboVent

http://www.robovent.com

About the author: Gordon Diener is an application specialist for RoboVent, a provider of ventilation and filtration systems for manufacturing facilities. Diener can be reached at 402.616.3574 or gordon.diener@robovent.com.

More:

Aerospace industry's clean air problem - Aerospace Manufacturing and Design (press release)

Airstar Aerospace debuts at the Paris Air Show – DefenseNews.com

Posted on by

WASHINGTON Airstar Aerospace will make its first appearance at the Paris Air Show, debuting its rarely seen tethered surveillance balloon, the Eagle Owl, according to a company announcement.

The France-based company is an industry leader in the design and production of stratospheric balloons, tethered balloons, electric airships and thermal insulation for satellites.

The Eagle Owl is predicted to be a highlight in the 2017 show, showcasing efficient day and night surveillance via optical devices and sensors, target zoom, tracking, and GPS coordinate pointing. The version Airstar Aerospace will deploy this year has never beenpubliclyseen.

Airstar Aerospace will also be announcing a major partnership with a world aerospace industry leader.

The fact that Airstar Aerospace is now exhibiting at the Paris Air Show is a strong message sent to the aerospace and aeronautical industries, Chabert said. People will find in Airstar Aerospace a unique partner, a manufacturer of complex woven fabrics and highly technical tailored films dedicated to the defence, research, telecoms and transport industries.

Go here to read the rest:

Airstar Aerospace debuts at the Paris Air Show - DefenseNews.com

Honeywell aerospace unit under review for spinoff has fared well: chairman – Reuters

Posted on by

MONTREAL Honeywell International Inc's (HON.N) aerospace business, under review as part of a spinoff proposal, has performed well and benefited from heavy investment from the U.S. technology and manufacturing company, Executive Chairman David Cote said on Monday.

Honeywell said in May it would decide by this fall whether to separate the business, its biggest with $14.75 billion in 2016 sales, which makes auxiliary power units and engines for aircraft.

"The business has actually performed pretty well," said Cote in an interview on the sidelines of the International Economic Forum of the Americas in Montreal.

"And if you take a look at margin improvement and you take a look at the wins that we've had over a long period of time since 2013. We've invested very heavily in that business."

Hedge fund investor Third Point LLC has argued in favor of the spinoff, which it said could create more than $20 billion in shareholder value.

Cote said Honeywell Chief Executive Darius Adamczyk was reviewing the unit with the company's board and discussions would be held with investors at some point.

"I can promise you that whatever Darius does, it's going to be consistent with 'how do you keep growing that overall return for our shareholders,'" he said.

Cote, Honeywell's former CEO, also said that while he would have preferred that the United States not leave the 2015 global Paris agreement to fight climate change, he did not believe the move was "catastrophic."

While the decision would erode the ability of the United States to influence other countries, it will not stop America from achieving its own emissions reductions goals, in part because of the conversion from coal to natural gas use for power generation, he said.

Cote also said he believed it was worth modernizing and updating the North American Free Trade Agreement to include technological developments.

"Twenty years ago when they were negotiating NAFTA the whole idea of cyber was not all that big a deal," he said. "It's very different today."

(Reporting By Allison Lampert; Editing by Phil Berlowitz and Richard Chang)

SEATTLE General Electric Co said on Wednesday it will combine its power and energy distribution businesses to create its largest unit by revenue as the top executive at GE Power announced his retirement after failing to win the conglomerate's CEO job.

Morgan Stanley CEO James Gorman said Saudi Arabia could be a "major opportunity" for the firm as the country unveiled plans for oil giant Saudi Aramco's $100 billion initial public offering and introduced a series of reforms to attract foreign capital in 2015.

See original here:

Honeywell aerospace unit under review for spinoff has fared well: chairman - Reuters

Can India emerge as a major contender for aerospace manufacturing? – Business Standard

Posted on by

With global aerospace worth $ 100 billion, the potential for the Indian aerospace industry is only expanding year on year. The numbers speak for themselves. The ninth largest civil aviation market in the world has witnessed 40 percent growth in passenger traffic in the past two years and the demand for commercial aircraft exists & is ever increasing. The industry is defined by its enthusiasm and demand for very high levels of technology, dragging project life cycles and high costs. Hence, India was following the perfectionist import substitution route, where the country met its demand with partnerships with imported original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) for licensed-production of aircraft. The Make in India initiative launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in September 2014 as part of a wider set of nation-building initiatives, has paved way for airframe manufacturers to increasingly use aerospace suppliers in the country. This path-breaking movement has given India great advantages on the global aerospace industry scenario. The intention is to accelerate the investments in acquisitions and infrastructure, creating a voice among the worldwide aerospace players. However for now, the momentum seems a little slow but steady. In October 2015, the Department Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) proposed to raise the FDI cap to 74 per cent allowing to manufacture defence products by private players. This initiative aims for a certain percentage of the aircraft to be produced in India. This has encouraged a lot of Indian companies to enter into joint ventures with foreign companies to launch defence subsidiaries in the country, giving them a significant role in the industry. Although the overall industry momentum is constrained, the efforts put in the defence products manufacturing is on a steady growth path, with the new government policy. India has the highest domestic air traffic among all countries, with a significant increase of 23 per cent in January 2015, according to the International Air Transport Associations (IATA) monthly air traffic report. By 2034, IATA projects India will account for 367 million air travellers. This increases the demand in the industry, thus benefiting the aerospace manufacturers in India. India primarily has to concentrate on the improvisation of the Air Traffic Management (ATM), a ground level infrastructure modernisation, for a clutter-free growth in the industry. With the support of government policy and initiatives, the manufacturing sector has boomed, with many Indian companies becoming transnational. The sector has seen the adoption of best practices and maintains international standards in quality. India must also address the need to go beyond being merely a soft power in this space, by developing more facilities that provide an end-to-end aerospace solution. This can only happen when there is cross pollination of knowledge and technologies from more advanced nations. Currently, Indias share of the global aerospace industry is only $ 250 million, but according to a joint report by IESA, Nasscom and Roland Berger, the total market opportunity for aerospace and defence (A&D) market in India will reach $70 billion by 2029. India is the seventh largest A&D market globally but with the current scenario, one can expect a lot more from the country. The demand for aerospace manufacturers is so high that competition is more than welcome. An aircraft may easily have more than 3 million parts and it is impossible to expect one or few companies to take on the challenge. The Indian aerospace industry is closer to catapulting itself into the global arena, with the support from the governments new policies, setting the industry on to a firm path to transformational change. With a steady growth in this path, there are positive signs for the Indian aerospace industry to emerge as a major factor in the countrys increasing self-reliance.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

Aravind Melligeri

http://bsmedia.business-standard.com/_media/bs/wap/images/bs_logo_amp.png 177 22

View original post here:

Can India emerge as a major contender for aerospace manufacturing? - Business Standard

JPMorgan Has 4 Aerospace and Defense Stocks to Buy for Big Upside – 24/7 Wall St.

Posted on by

One sector that has been on fire since the election last November has been defense and aerospace, and with good reason. The president has made it clear that improving the nations defense capability and upgrading the armed forces is a huge priority. Toss in some billion dollar deals with Arab countries recently, and the future continues to look bright.

One area of concern is the elevated stock prices, and in a new report, while JPMorgan remains positive overall, only six companies in the firms research universe are rated Overweight. We screened those stocks for the ones with double-digit upside potential to the analysts price target and found four that look solid.

This top defense sector play is way cheaper than peers and could be an outstanding buy at current levels. Harris Corp. (NYSE: HRS) provides technology-based solutions that solve government and commercial customers mission-critical challenges.

The company designs, develops and manufactures a line of secure radio communications products and systems for manpack, handheld, vehicular, airborne, strategic fixed-site and shipboard installations that span the communications architecture from high-capacity line of site, backbone radios, small soldier personal radios and tablet computers, as well as offers assured communications systems and equipment, including Internet Protocol based voice and data communications systems.

Shareholders are paid a 1.95% dividend. The JPMorgan price objective for the stock is $120, and the Wall Street consensus target is $121.90. The shares closed most recently at $109.31.

This is one of the companies that many analysts like into the second-quarter earnings.L3 Communications Holdings Inc. (NYSE: LLL) provides aerospace systems and a range of communication and electronic systems and products used on military and commercial platforms in the United States and internationally.

The company operates in three segments: Electronic Systems, Aerospace Systems and Communication Systems. It offers a range of products and services, including components, products, subsystems and systems, as well as related services to military and commercial customers in business areas, including precision engagement and training, power and propulsion systems, aviation products and security systems, sensor systems, warrior systems, and optics, telescopes and precision optical subsystems.

Investors are paid a 1.8% dividend. JPMorgan has a $190 price objective, while the consensus target price is $184.40. The shares closed on Tuesday at $167.69.

The JPMorgan team sees this stock as one of the only pure plays on defense electronics. Mercury Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: MRCY) provides secure processing subsystems for various critical defense and intelligence programs in the United States. Its products and solutions are deployed in approximately 300 programs with 25 defense prime contractors. Its principal programs include Aegis, Patriot, Surface Electronic Warfare Improvement Program, Gorgon Stare, Predator, F-35 and Reaper.

The company also designs, markets and licenses software and middleware environments under the MultiCore Plus name to accelerate development and execution of signal and image processing applications on a range of heterogeneous and multi-computing platforms.The analysts are looking for multiple expansion and see upside to current guidance and estimates.

The $48 JPMorgan price target compares with the consensus target of $44.86. Shares closed most recently at $38.04.

Top Wall Street analysts are positive on this top aerospace player and cite the recent closure of the B/E Aerospace deal as a catalyst. Rockwell Collins Inc. (NYSE: COL) is a leader in providing design, production, integration and support of communications and aviation electronics for military and commercial customers worldwide.The companys products include avionics suites for business and commercial aircraft, radios, GPS navigation and IFE systems.

Rockwell Collins paid a total of $8.6 billion to buy B/E Aerospace in a deal that unites two of the biggest suppliers to airliner and plane makers. The arbitrage accounts that were long B/E and short Rockwell should have taken those positions off, giving Rockwell solid upside potential.

Shareholders are paid a 1.26% dividend. The JPMorgan price target is $125. The posted consensus target is $116.69. The stock closed Monday at $105.94.

With the pledge to rebuild the military and global sales remaining strong, the sector remains a solid space to stay weighted in. All four of these companies could take-off on continued good earnings, and the added catalysts may be additional fuel for the fire.

By Lee Jackson

Continue reading here:

JPMorgan Has 4 Aerospace and Defense Stocks to Buy for Big Upside - 24/7 Wall St.

Indonesia banks have yet to implement cloud computing – Jakarta Post

Posted on by

As a country that is experiencing exponential growth in data volume, Indonesia and its banking system have yet to fully implement cloud computing technologies due to regulation barriers and a lack of decent infrastructure.

"Major banks in Indonesia, most of which are our clients, have 10 to 40 million customers with hundreds of millions of transactions every day,"IT solution provider Teradata Indonesia president director Erwin Z Achir said in Jakarta on Monday.

Banking services are among the data giants who generate terabytes of data every day and has yet to move to cloud computing technology a type of Internet-based computing with which different services are delivered to an organization's computers and devices through the internet.

Under Government Regulation No. 82/2012 on the Management of Electronic Transactions and Systems, data and disaster recovery centers for public services must be located within Indonesia, meaning that Indonesian banks must store its customers' data in the country

Therefore, Indonesian banks that previously operated data centers located overseas must repatriate their information.

According to a 2014 survey by IDC Financial Insights on data centers, most Indonesian banks expect a 10 to 20 percent data volume growth rate per year.

Meanwhile, Fajar Muniandy, Teradata chief solution architect, said moving to clouds has yet to be an option for the companys clients because of their massive amounts of data.

He added that cloud computing was currently being adopted by startups and smaller companies because they had built their systems from the beginning. (dis/bbn)

Continue reading here:

Indonesia banks have yet to implement cloud computing - Jakarta Post

From the Abacus to Supercomputers to Quantum Computers – Duke Today

Posted on by

If using quantum mechanics to compute problems that are unsolvable with todays fastest supercomputers sounds outrageously ambitious, thats because it is. There are many experts who say that it cant be done.

But thats not stopping Jungsang Kim, professor of electrical and computer engineering at Duke University, from pursuing the impossible. A pioneer in translating theoretical quantum physics into physical hardware, Kim has been engineering the components for a quantum computer at Duke for more than a decade.

And hes starting to sniff the finish line.

Weve put together and demonstrated all of the individual components needed to build a large, scalable quantum computer, said Kim. We are convinced that within the next few years we could turn this technology into much more sophisticated quantum computers with the potential to solve problems considered impossible today.

Imagine a computer trying to put together a jigsaw puzzle. Because computer code is binary, either a piece fits or it doesnt, the most efficient method would be to pick a piece at random and attempt to attach every other available piece until one fits. Todays computers would then take that two-piece unit, and repeat the entire process over and over until the puzzle is completed.

Even with todays supercomputers, this process would take a long time because it must be done sequentially. Quantum computers, however, have the advantage of occupying many different states at the same time.

Now imagine a quantum computer with enough qubitsindividual pieces of memory analogous to todays transistorsto assign one to each puzzle piece. Thanks to quantum mechanics, all possible configurations are stored into a quantum memory, which is manipulated in a very careful way so that all the non-answers fade away very quickly and all the real answers emerge in a systematic way. This allows the quantum computer to converge on a solution much more efficiently than a classical computer.

Nobel Laureate Bill Phillips said that using quantum principles to compute is as different from classical computing as a classical supercomputer is from an abacus, said Kim. There are, however, several different ways that one might achieve this. Our group has focused on approaches using individually trapped ions.

The qubits in Kims quantum computer are individually trapped ionsatoms with electrons stripped away to give it a positive electric charge. That charge allows researchers to suspend the atoms using an electromagnetic field in an ultra-high vacuum. Kim and his colleagues then use precise lasers to manipulate their quantum states.

The method is promising. Kim and colleague Christopher Monroe at the University of Maryland have secured more than $60 million in grants to transition these ideas into large, scalable quantum computers. And theyre not alonemany other big companies like Google, IBM, Microsoft and Intel are starting to make big investments as well.

With the potential to revolutionize industries such as materials design, pharmaceutical discovery and security encryption, the race is on. And Kim and his colleagues are the only ones betting on trapped ions, having started a company called IonQ to pursue commercialization of the technology.

Our collaboration actually has a small qubit quantum computer that's very generally programmable, said Kim. We think we know how to take this system and turn it into a much bigger system that is reliable, stable and much more scalable. We've come to a point where we believe that even commercially viable systems can be put together.

See the original post:

From the Abacus to Supercomputers to Quantum Computers - Duke Today

Donald Trump just held the weirdest Cabinet meeting ever – CNN

Posted on by

The public portion of these gatherings of all of the president's top advisers are usually staid affairs. Photographers are let in to take pictures. The president makes a very brief statement. A reporter shouts a question, unanswered. The end.

Donald Trump did something very different in his Cabinet meeting Monday.

First, he reviewed the various alleged successes of his first 143 days and made this remarkable claim: "Never has there been a president....with few exceptions...who's passed more legislation, who's done more things than I have."

(Nota bene: You can't say "never has" something happened and then say "with few exceptions." Either it's never happened or it, well, has.)

But, that wasn't even close to the weirdest part of the Cabinet meeting!

Once Trump finished touting his administration's accomplishments, he turned to several of his newly-minted Cabinet secretaries like Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue. Each of those Cabinet secretaries lavished praise on Trump, which he accepted without comment but with a broad smile.

At first, I thought Trump was just going to have the new members of the Cabinet spend a few minutes praising him. NOPE! It soon became clear that Trump planned to have every Cabinet member speak. And when I say "speak" what I really mean is "praise Trump for his accomplishments, his foresight, his just being awesome."

I mean, WHAT?!?

The whole thing reminded me of a scene directly from the boardroom of "The Apprentice." A group of supplicants all desperately trying to hold on to their spots on the show by effusively praising Trump -- each one trying to take it a step further than the last. And Trump in the middle of it all, totally and completely pleased with himself. (Reminder: Around that Cabinet table are hugely accomplished generals, billionaires and political people with long track records of success.)

What those contestants knew is the same thing Trump's Cabinet has now realized: Flattery will get you everywhere. Donald Trump's favorite topic of conversation is Donald Trump. The best way to talk about Donald Trump, if you want to keep working for Donald Trump, is to praise Donald Trump. The more over-the-top, the better.

Chuck Schumer was quick off the line to mock Trump with this re-creation of the Cabinet meeting:

There's a tendency in Trump's presidency to overlook or dismiss these smaller sorts of things. "Keep focused on the stuff that really matters," people tweet at me every day, all day. (For liberals sending those tweets, it's about Russia and Trump's finances. For conservatives, it's Trump's many accomplishments that are being allegedly ignored.)

My contention is that things like this Cabinet meeting -- while totally inconsequential in terms of actual policy -- are deeply revealing about who Trump is and how he views himself, the people who work for him and the world. And how he views all of those things is this: With Trump at the center and everyone a spoke emanating from his hub.

Follow this link:

Donald Trump just held the weirdest Cabinet meeting ever - CNN

Donald Trump’s Approval Rating Sinks Further As Disapproval Hits Record High – Newsweek

Posted on by

Considering former FBI Director James Comey testified lastThursdaythat the president was a liar, last weekwasn't particularly great for Donald Trump. And this week isn't off to a great start for the president, either.

Trump's approval rating sunk to just 36 percent in the latest Gallup daily tracking pollreleased Monday. That's nearly the lowest point for Trump in the Gallup survey. Trump previously hit 35 percent approval on March 28shortly after the Republican Obamacare replacement, the American Health Care Act,failed before the House of Representatives could even take a vote.

Trump's disapproval rating, meanwhile, has ticked upward to tie the president'srecord-high of 59 percent, according to Monday's Gallup survey. He previously hit 59 percent disapproval in the Gallup tracking pollon March 28.

Subscribe to Newsweek from $1 per week

Gallup tracks Americans feelings on the president daily, measuring approval and disapproval through telephone interviews of 1,500 national adults. The survey hada margin of error of plus or minus three percentage points.

Trump's approval rating has steadily trended downward since he took office and most recently took a dipafterthe president's decision to fire Comey and anud continued revelations related to the investigation into his administration's potential connections with Russia. FiveThirtyEight's weighted average of Trump's approval had him at just 38 percent Monday, the lowest mark of his presidency. His disapproval average in the FiveThirtyEight tracker hit56 percent, thehighest mark yet.

The beginning of Trump's tenure in the White House has proven historically unpopular. Typically speaking, presidents are given a grace period of sorts during which Americans typically gift them a good approval rating. At this point in his first term, for instance, Obama's approval rating stoop at about 61 percent, according to Gallup. While Trump did briefly rise above former President Bill Clinton'sapproval rating at the same point in his first term, thatvictory proved to be short-lived. According to FiveThirtyEight's tracker, Clinton's approval rating in 1993 on day 144where Trump is nowwas2.1 percentage points better than theformer reality star's approval.

Trump also hit a new lowlast week inQuinnipiac University's survey, his approval rating coming in at just34 percent. The poll was full of bad resultsfor Trump, including the fact that 40 percent of voters thought his advisers had done something illegal in their interactions with Russia.

"There is zero good news for President Donald Trump in this survey, just a continual slide into a chasm of doubt about his policies and his very fitness to serve,"Tim Malloy, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Poll, said in a statement at the time. "If this were a prizefight, some in his corner might be thinking about throwing in the towel. This is counterpuncher Donald Trump's pivotal moment to get up off the mat."

View post:

Donald Trump's Approval Rating Sinks Further As Disapproval Hits Record High - Newsweek

When Jeff Sessions met Donald Trump: The origins of an alliance now strained – Washington Post

Posted on by

Could this be the end of a beautiful friendship?

It started more than a decade ago in a Senate hearing room, blossomed last spring with apresidentialendorsement, and reached a high point this year when one man tapped theother for his long-awaited dream job.

But now, if someaccountsare to be believed, the once unshakable bond between Attorney General Jeff Sessions and President Donald Trump has been showing strain.

Tensions have boiled over between Sessions and Trump in recent months, as The Washington Post and other outlets have reported.

[Sessions offered in recent months to resign as attorney general]

Thingstook a bad turn in March, less than two months into the young administration,whenSessions recused himself from the probe into Russian meddling in the 2016 election, reportedly infuriating the president. Last week, The Post reported that the relationship had become so tense that Sessions at one point hadoffered to resign.

On Tuesday, Sessions is set to testify in an open hearing before the Senate Intelligence Committee, where he is expected to face tough questions from lawmakers about the Russia scandal and the firing of former FBI director James B. Comey.

Thoughpublicly Trump and Sessions have remained cordial Sessionstold the president in a cabinet meeting Monday that he was honored to serve him the hearing couldweigh heavily on their sagging alliance. Just last week, Trump vented his frustrations with the Department of Justice in an string of angry tweets.

[Sessions will testify in open hearing Tuesday before Senate Intelligence Committee]

Wind the clock back a dozen years, however, and youll find a senator and a business mogul who had nothing but kind things to say about one another.

The year was 2005, and Sessions, then the junior senator from Alabama, had stumbled across a news articleabouta planned $1.2 billion renovation of the United Nations headquarters in New York. The headline of the New York Suns story read,Trump Scoffs at U.N.s Plan For New H.Q., andquoted Trump, then the head of Trump Organization, saying the U.N. waswasting hundreds of millions of dollars on the project.

Sessions seized on the report, citing Trumps remarks in a Senate floor speech that spring. The cost was outrageous, he said. Shortly after, he and then-Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) invitedTrump to be their star witness at a subcommittee hearing on the U.N. renovation.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions gave President Trump glowing remarks about his real estate expertise during a United Nations Headquarters renovation hearing in 2005. It was the first time the then-senator and business mogul met in person. (C-SPAN)

The July 2005 hearing was the first time the two men ever met in person, Sessions wouldlater say. Seated before the senators and news cameras, Trump testified that he had constructed Trump World Tower, a mammoth residential building across the street from the U.N. headquarters, for a fraction of the anticipated cost of the renovation project.

Anybody that says that a building of renovation is more expensive than building a new building does not know the business, Trump told the subcommittee. He said he agreed with Sessions that the cost could come down dramatically.

He went on to discuss how he met with Kofi Annan, then the U.N. secretary general, using language that sounds prescient in 2017:

When I went to see Kofi Annan, I was actually quite excited because I thought that I could save this country, this world, everybody including myself, a lot of money just by sitting down and having a meeting. They did not really care. It got a lot of press. I walked into the room and I sat down. I felt like a head of State. I was sitting with Kofi Annan, and a door opened, and there were literally hundreds of reporters taking my picture. I said, What are we doing? I just want to tell you I can build a building a lot cheaper. And that was the end of it.

To say Sessions was impressed by the testimony is an understatement. The senator praised what he called Trumps expertise and competence as a real estate developer, and thanked him for bringing the issue to the subcommittees attention. If Trump could build a brand new top-of-the-line, state-of-the-art 90-story residential tower for $350 million, why did the U.N. need four times as much for repairs, he asked.

In closing remarks, he called Trump a breath of fresh air for this Senate.

You have given us a tutorial on reconstruction and renovation and construction in big projects, he said. I hope people were listening, and I think the main point is you have got to know what you are doing in this city and this kind of construction project or you can be taken to the cleaners.

Your contributions are going to help us save money, and I believe help us have a better U.N. building, and you would not have said that if you did not believe in the institution and want it to be better, Sessions added. Again, I want to thank you for your courage, your willingness to speak out on an issue that a lot of people would have avoided, but you brought your expertise to bear and I believe it will help the U.N. do a better job.

After the hearing, there was an impromptu news conference. Trump, standing at a podium, fielded questions from reporters, flanked by Sessions on his right and Coburn on his left.Hesaid he wanted to help these great gentlemen who are working so hard to really do something with the United Nationsand to spend the money more wisely. From there, Trump and his wife, Melania Trump, stopped by Sessionss Senate office to pose for photographs, as the Boston Globe reported.

Years passed beforeSessions and Trump met publicly again, but theres no doubt they remained kindred spirits, sharing hard-line views on immigration and criminal justice. In 2015, they held a conference call on immigration policy, as The Post reported, and around that time, then-candidate Trump started courting Sessionss endorsement.Sessions gave it enthusiastically, one of the first sitting senators to do so. In turn,Sessions was confirmed as Trumps attorney general in February.

Allthese years, Trumps testimony in 2005seems to have stuck with Sessions, who raved about it to The Post last spring.

He was fabulous, Sessions recalled. He told Yellowhammer Radio around the same time last year that Trumps appearance wasthe most impressivecongressional testimony Ive ever heard.

On Tuesday, it will be Sessionss turn in the hot seat. His boss will surely be listening.

More from Morning Mix

Megyn Kelly dropped as host for Sandy Hook groups gala over Alex Jones interview

Florida man who tried hacking into Clinton Foundation sentenced to 18 months in prison

Congressman-elect Gianforte gets anger management but no jail time for assaulting reporter

Trump-like Julius Caesar assassinated in New York play. Delta, Bank of America pull funding.

Read more from the original source:

When Jeff Sessions met Donald Trump: The origins of an alliance now strained - Washington Post

Donald Trump Is Turning Young Voters Off the GOPand Maybe Forever – Daily Beast

Posted on by

A recent Quinnipiac poll contained an under-examined finding: A scant 19 percent of respondents between the ages of 18 and 34 approve of Donald Trumps presidency, while 67 percent disapprove. Even among self-described Republicans of this age range, a mere 35 percent approve.

Obviously, this is a problem.

There is a theorypopularized by conservative anti-tax guru Grover Norquistthat says people get locked into political parties when they turn 18 years old and cast their first vote. Republicans had better hope that it isnt true. My guess is this was more prevalent in the olden days. Casting your first vote for Franklin Rooseveltor even Ronald Reaganprobably did mean something. It meant you were signing up to be a part of something greata movement. You were a New Dealer or a Reaganite. You were part of the New Deal coalition or the Reagan Revolution. Young people werent just casting a ballot, they were signing up for a cause.

Im not so sure if people are as loyal today. We change our minds about all sorts of things over a long lifetime. Having said that, it stands to reason there might be psychological reasons why humans would want to avoid giving up on sunk costs. Who wants to admit they were wrongadmit they voted for the wrong person?

Data suggest that if your favorite baseball team wins a World Series when you are 8 years old, you will basically be a fan for life. Is it absurd to think that casting your first vote for president might essentially lock you into a political team for the next few decades?

And if its true that the first politician you vote for might have a positive enduring impact, its probably also true that the first politician you hate might also stick with you. This is true long before we turn 18. I never got to vote for Ronald Reagan, but he shaped me far more than any of the Bushes. But what if instead of Reagan, my political worldview had been formed during the downfall of a President Richard Nixon?

First impressions matter, writes conservative Bill Kristol. Most people dont change their political views radically from the ones they first hold. For young Americans today, Donald Trump is the face of Republicanism and conservatism.

There is a danger that Trump will tarnish the brandnot just for himselfbut for all the other Republicans who are carrying his water. If he is indeed permitted to embody the party and the movement without challenge, the fortunes of both will be at the mercy of President Trumps own fortunes, Kristol continues.

One of the problems with Trump has always been that he doubles down on all the demographics that are shrinking. Trump performs pretty well among married, white, college-educated old people who live in rural areas. Those of us who urged the GOP to go in a different direction were at least partly anticipating a future where there wont be enough of these people to elect a president.

This raises a question. In 20 years, will a new crop of old people simply tune into Fox News and replace them? Or will the Fox News Trump voter (for lack of a better term) simply go extinct? The old line that says a person who is not a liberal at 20 has no heart and a person who is not a conservative at 40 has no head became a clich for a reason. Its probably not a surprise that young people skew more liberal. The question here is whether a party can long endure when its standard bearer has the support of just 19 percent of young voters.

We are seeing a microcosm of this play out in the special election taking place in Georgias 6th Congressional District. According to a recent Atlanta Journal-Constitution survey, Republican Karen Handle is crushing Democrat John Osoff among voters over the age of 65. Ossoff is winning everybody else, with younger voters seemingly more inclined to back the 30-year-old Democrat.

It would be easy to dismiss this race as anecdotal. After all, there are 435 House seats; this is merely one of them. But it could turn out to be an important surrogate battle within the Democratic party. If Ossoff prevails, it might persuade Democrats that the key to defeating Republicans (in the House, at least) is to eschew Bernie Sanders populism that might resonate in places like the Rust Belt, and instead focus on suburban areas with young, tech-savvy voters.

Get The Beast In Your Inbox!

Start and finish your day with the top stories from The Daily Beast.

A speedy, smart summary of all the news you need to know (and nothing you don't).

Subscribe

Thank You!

You are now subscribed to the Daily Digest and Cheat Sheet. We will not share your email with anyone for any reason.

Ossoff is 30 and Donald Trump is about to turn 71, and it is tempting to draw conclusions about thisto suggest that the candidates age matters. But it doesnt. The aforementioned Sanders is 75, yet he is wildly popular with millennials. Likewise, Reagan, the oldest president, performed well with the youths of America.

A 1984 Time magazine article noted that Ronald Reagans popularity rating is highest of all among those who are 18 to 24 years old. What is more, members of this age group are registering as Republicans rather than as Democrats or independents, by ratios of 2 to 1 and 3 to 1, reversing a trend that began more than 40 years ago. The article also quotes Republican pollster Robert Teeters observation that for the first time since Roosevelt there is a significant group in the electorate who are Republican in greater overall numbers than Democrat. If these people stay loyal, you may have a much stronger Republican Party.

For years, the GOP ran on the borrowed capital of Ronald Reagan. Grover Norquist, it seems, had a point about young voters sticking with the Gipper. Could Donald Trump be the anti-Reagan? For the GOPs sake, heres hoping this phenomenon doesnt work in reverse.

Continued here:

Donald Trump Is Turning Young Voters Off the GOPand Maybe Forever - Daily Beast

Trump’s Own Tweets Help Kill His Government’s Travel Ban, Again – Fortune

Posted on by

President Donald Trump speaks during a news conference with Romanian President Klaus Werner Iohannis in the Rose Garden at the White House, Friday, June 9, 2017, in Washington. Andrew HarnikAP

As a number of legal experts warned, Donald Trump's tweets about his "travel ban" helped convince an appeals court to block the controversial plan. It's the second time his own comments have helped the courts knock down the executive order.

The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals issued a decision on Monday, ruling that Trump's attempt to block immigration from six predominantly Muslim countries "exceeded the scope of the authority delegated to him by Congress."

In their ruling, the judges cited a tweet from the president that was posted after the recent terrorist attack in London, in which Trump argued that the U.S. needed a travel ban "for certain dangerous countries."

The Trump tweet was cited in a footnote in the decision, at a point where the court questioned the justification for the ban.

"The Order seeks to ban people from specific countries, but it does not provide any link between an individuals nationality and their propensity to commit terrorism or their inherent dangerousness," the judges said. "In short, the Order does not provide a rationale explaining why permitting entry of nationals from the six designated countries... would be detrimental."

Get Data Sheet , Fortunes technology newsletter.

The court also noted that press secretary Sean Spicer recently confirmed that Trump sees his tweets as official statements from the White House.

Immediately after the president posted his thoughts on the travel ban in the wake of the London attacks, a number of people were quick to respond that this was probably unwise, given the fact that the immigration order was still before the courts.

The American Civil Liberties Union, for example, warned in a tweet that it was planning to use Trump's tweets as evidence in its ongoing fight against the order.

Even someone fairly close to TrumpGeorge Conway, a New York lawyer and husband of Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway suggested that posting such comments was unwise. "These tweets may make some ppl feel better, but they certainly won't help OSG get 5 votes in SCOTUS, which is what actually matters," he said.

Conway went on to say that he was a big supporter of Trump and of the immigration ban, but added that tweets from the administration on legal matters "seriously undermine Admin agenda and POTUS."

To make matters worse, Trump didn't stop at one tweet about the ban (which his own administration had previously argued was not actually a ban, and shouldn't be referred to as such). The president said that he supported his original order, not the "watered down, politically correct version" that his own advisers had convinced him to sign.

That earlier version of the law was struck down by two lower courts because it was targeted at Muslims, and blocking travel based on a person's religion is unconstitutional.

"I think he shot himself in the legal foot," Cornell Law School immigration professor Stephen Yale-Loehr said of Trump's comments about his preference for the original version of the ban.

One would think that the Trump administration or the president himself may be more careful with posts on Twitter about a legal case, since this isn't the first time that his tweets have been used against him in a court decision blocking his immigration order.

A lower court in Hawaii that blocked the most recent version of the order, in the case that led to the current ruling by the court of appeal, also cited tweets from the president, as did an earlier 9th Circuit decision on the previous version.

Original post:

Trump's Own Tweets Help Kill His Government's Travel Ban, Again - Fortune