Growth Opportunities in the Global Aerospace Radome Market … – PR Newswire (press release)

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The global aerospace radome market is expected to reach an estimated $441.3 million by 2021 and it is forecast to grow at a CAGR of 3.6% by value from 2016 to 2021.

The future of the global aerospace radome market looks good with opportunities in the commercial aircraft, regional aircraft, general aviation, helicopter, and military aircraft segments. The global aerospace radome market is expected to reach an estimated $441.3 million by 2021 and it is forecast to grow at a CAGR of 3.6% by value from 2016 to 2021.

The major drivers of growth for this market are increase in aircraft delivery and introduction of new aircraft programs.The future of the global aerospace radome market looks good with opportunities in the commercial aircraft, regional aircraft, general aviation, helicopter, and military aircraft segments. The major drivers of growth for this market are increase in aircraft delivery and introduction of new aircraft programs.

In this market, major segments include commercial aircraft, regional aircraft, general aviation, helicopter, and military aircraft. On the basis of its comprehensive research, Lucintel forecast that the military aircraft radome segment is likely to experience the highest growth during the forecast period.

Within the aerospace radome market, nose radome is expected to remain the largest market by product type over the forecast period as all the type of aircraft has a nose radome.

For business expansion, this report suggests innovation and new product development to manufacture radomes that support K, Ka and Ku tri bands for better inflight entertainment and communication. The report further suggests development of partnerships with customers to create win-win situations and development of cost effective solutions for customers.

Report Scope

Some of the features and scope of this report include the following:

- Market size estimates: Growth opportunities in the global aerospace radome market in terms of value ($ Mil) and volume (units) shipment - Trend and forecast analysis: Global aerospace radome market trend (2010-2015) and forecast (2016-2021) by region and segment - Segmentation analysis: Global aerospace radome market size from 2010 to 2021 by aircraft type, product type, and by material type as follows:

Global aerospace radome market size by aircraft type:

- Commercial Aircraft - Regional Aircraft - General Aviation - Helicopter - Military Aircraft

Global aerospace radome market size by product type:

- Nose Radome - Other Radome

Global aerospace radome market size by material type:

- Quartz - Glass Fibre - Resin - Other

Key Topics Covered:

1. Executive Summary

2. Aerospace Radome Market Background and Classifications

3. Market Analysis

4. Competitor Analysis

5. Growth Opportunities and Strategic Analysis

6. Company Profiles of Leading Players

- Airbus - General Dynamics - Jenoptik - Kaman Corporation - Kitsap Composites - Meggitt - Nordam - Orbital ATK - Saint-Gobain - Starwin Industries

For more information about this report visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/wm27q3/growth

Media Contact:

Research and Markets Laura Wood, Senior Manager press@researchandmarkets.com

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Growth Opportunities in the Global Aerospace Radome Market ... - PR Newswire (press release)

Family setbacks central focus of ‘Aerospace Folktales’ – The Columbus Dispatch

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By Peter TonguetteFor The Columbus Dispatch

Artist Allan Sekula found his earliest inspiration close to home.

A Pennsylvania native who grew up in California, Sekula who died in 2013 at age 62 launched his professional career with the mixed-media work Aerospace Folktales.

Using 142 photographs combined with audio and text elements, the ambitious piece chronicles the trials and tribulations experienced by Sekulas family especially his father, Ignace, and his mother, Evelyn in the early 1970s.

The work was created in the wake of Ignace losing his job as an aerospace engineer in the Burbank plant of the Lockheed Corp. (now Lockheed Martin).

It serves as the centerpiece of a larger exhibit of Sekula's art "Allan Sekula: Aerospace Folktales and Other Stories" on view through July 2 at the Columbus Museum of Art.

According to curator Drew Sawyer, Sekula (who from 1980 to 1985 taught at Ohio State University) referred to the work as a disassembled movie.

Cinema and film were important throughout his practice, Sawyer said.

The piece might also be said to resemble a dismantled flip book: Running horizontally across the four walls of a museum gallery is a thin strip of photographs, positioned at eye level. Like frame enlargements from a movie, a particular scene or activity is frequently depicted throughout the course of several photographs seemingly taken moments apart.

For example, one set of images shows a group of enthusiastic workers (presumably employees of Lockheed) on their own and then mingling with military brass; another set depicts Ignace in profile, grimacing behind the wheel of a car.

The photographs present a powerful study in contrasts: Ignace was a member of a profession associated with flight and forward thinking, but his unemployment brought his family crashing to Earth.

By the time the work was completed in 1973, Sawyer said, His dad had been unemployed for quite some time, so you can see theyre now living in a small apartment in San Pedro.

Several photographs show Ignace and Evelyn standing in front of a row of garages in their apartment complex; another group prefaced by a title card reading, In the evening, the engineer would write letters and straighten the lamps show Ignace laboring at a small desk barely illuminated by inadequate lamps.

What is he writing? Job applications?

Echoes of Ignaces former life are found in photographs of model planes hanging from a ceiling and rows upon rows of books; in one image, the volume The Effects of Nuclear Weapons is posed beside editions of "Grimms Fairy Tales."

Playing continuously in the gallery are audio recordings of Sekula interviewing Ignace, Evelyn and a family friend; although focusing on their voices while scrutinizing the images is difficult, the audio ultimately enriches the piece.

It becomes deeply personal and very specific, Sawyer said. With the images, we might imagine what these individuals sound like and what they think, but with the audio we really get a chance to know what theyre actually thinking.

Several of Sekulas slide-show and video works are also included in the exhibit; the most striking is Untitled Slide Sequence (1972), in which 35-mm slides depict workers and management marching wearily out of an aerospace factory.

More superficial (and dated) is Reagan Tape, a video created in 1981 by Sekula and Noel Burch. Footage of Ronald Reagan as president is juxtaposed with innocuous examples of his work as an actor; even in the clips shown here, however, Reagan displays his lasting appeal as an actor presumably not what the creators had in mind.

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Better Capital completes 326m Gardner Aerospace sale – Insider Media

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Better Capital, the turnaround investor led by venture capitalist Jon Moulton, has completed its disposal of Gardner Aerospace, which supplies the likes of Rolls-Royce and Airbus.

Ligeance Investments, a subsidiary of Chinese group Shaanxi Ligeance Mineral Resources (SLMR), agreed to buy Gardner Aerospace for an enterprise value of 326m in April 2017.

Better Capital's BECAP Fund acquired Gardner in 2010 after it failed to secure investment to fund ongoing losses. Under the firm's ownership, the components supplier has boosted turnover to 132m.

Richard Crowder, chairman of Better Capital, said: "On behalf of Better Capital, I would like to record my appreciation to all at Gardner for their contribution to this great success, and I wish Gardner and its new owner every success in its next phase of growth."

Gardner Aerospace is headquartered in Derby and has facilities in Hull, Basildon, Pershore in Worcestershire and Broughton in Flintshire. It also has sites in France, Poland and India.

SLMR is listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange. The acquisition will bolster its presence in Europe, as well as its offering in the aerospace and industrial gas turbine sectors.

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CPS draws on psychology to motivate customers to cut energy use in new program – mySanAntonio.com

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By Samantha Ehlinger, Staff Writer

Photo: Courtesy CPS Energy /Courtesy CPS Energy

CPS draws on psychology to motivate customers to cut energy use in new program

CPS Energy is using behavioral science techniques, and some high-tech data analysis, in a new program that taps on deeply rooted psychological drives to reduce energy usage during peak times.

The pilot program will be rolled out to up to 100,000 customers this summer and uses data culled from the companys new smart meters to influence consumer behavior. The strategy itself is relatively simple: showing customers their energy consumption compared with their neighbors and letting their competitive instincts do the rest.

Plucking on their competitive spirit, you can get them to reduce their energy use, anywhere between 1 and 3 percent over the course of a year, said Neel Gulhar, a senior director of product strategy at Oracle Utilities. CPS has contracted with the company to run the program.

Oracle Utilities draws on behavioral science techniques to motivate the change. The most-used technique, according to Gulhar, is called normative comparison.

This is where you compare the energy use of a household to households that are like them, he said, later adding, Time and time again we find that if you use these different behavioral science techniques you can actually change behavior.

Competition is a deeply rooted instinct in human nature, a biological trait that evolved along with the basic need for survival, social psychologist Sander van der Linden at Cambridge University wrote in Psychology Today.

To find out how the program works, click here on ExpressNews.com.

sehlinger@express-news.net

Twitter: @samehlinger

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Alibaba Cloud announces launch of data centres in India and Indonesia – Cloud Tech

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Alibaba Cloud has announced plans to expand to data centres in India and Indonesia, as well as a connectivity partnership with Tata Communications.

The move to Mumbai and Jakarta goes alongside the recent expansion to Malaysia, with the company saying in press materials it will significantly increase its computing resources in Asia. The Indonesian data centre will be the first such development from an international cloud company, according to Alibaba, while the expansion will take the Chinese firms total number of data centre locations to 17, including China, Australia, Germany, Japan, Hong Jong, Singapore, the UAE, and US.

I believe Alibaba Cloud, as the only global cloud services provider originating from Asia, is uniquely positioned with cultural and contextual advantages to provide innovative data intelligence and computing capabilities to customers in this region, said Simon Hu, Alibaba senior vice president and president of Alibaba Cloud in a statement.

Establishing data centres in India and Indonesia will further strengthen our position in the region and across the globe.

Elsewhere, Alibaba Cloud and Tata Communications announced a partnership to afford customers from more than 150 countries citing India in particular greater connectivity through the companies ExpressConnect and IZO Private Connect products respectively.

We are confident that the partnership between Alibaba Cloud and Tata Communications will assist both of us to become true digital transformation partners for our customers, empowering them to expand to new geographies, boost productivity, safeguard their business against threats, and take customer experience to the next level, said Genius Wong, Tata president global network cloud and data centre services. We look forward to offering more global organisations connectivity to Alibaba Cloud and to strengthening our presence in the Chinese market.

According to the most recent analysis from the Asia Cloud Computing Association (ACCA) in April last year, Indonesia and India ranked #11 and #12 out of 14 nations respectively, with both countries scoring particularly low on international connectivity (1.8 and 1.7 respectively) and data centre risk (2.7 and 1.9). The report noted Indias clear challenge in securing reliable access to cloud services and building the infrastructure for a huge population, while citing the need for Indonesia to implement a coordinated plan to tackle the needs of the digital economy for cloud readiness.

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The Risks and Perquisites of Cloud Computing – DATAQUEST

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Cloud technology is catching up in India and the considerations for adopting it have evolved too. Customers today are looking at deploying public and private cloud capabilities in one infrastructure. In fact, according to a recent Gartner report, the public cloud services market in India is estimated to grow at 38% in 2017 to $1.81 billion.

Infrastructure as a service (IaaS), projected to grow 49.2% in 2017, will be the highest growth driver, followed by software as a service (SaaS) at 33% and lastly platform as a service (PaaS) with 32.1%. This trend is a significant indicator that the migration of application and workloads from on premises data centres to the cloud, along with the development of cloud-ready and cloud-native applications, are triggering immense growth. While this may be on the rise, it also comes with some challenges and companies need to consider aspects like security, migration to new technologies, training for resources etc.

With this, the debate surrounding the security of cloud computing specifically whether data was more secure in the cloud or not has for the most part been settled. A growing number of organizations now view the cloud as secure and in many cases more so than an on-premises deployment. Beyond that, as each of the public cloud vendors point out, security in the cloud is ashared responsibility with the organization as the application owner being responsible for protecting applications, the OS, supporting infrastructure and other assets running in the cloud.

From a security standpoint, public cloud vendors management consoles are a key weak point and consequently an attractive target for an attacker, often via a phishing attempt. As such, its important to lock down and secure privileged credentials in a digital vault to secure the management console. As such, the enterprises responsibilities, specifically the functions above the hypervisor, include securing the privileged credentials used by applications and scripts accessing other applications and assets, such the enterprises customer database.

Unfortunately these credentials are all too often hardcoded. This is a particularly troubling vulnerability as there can be a large number of hardcoded credentials used throughout cloud and hybrid environments. Hard-coding and embedding credentials in the code or a script can initially make them easy to use but thisrepresents a significant vulnerabilitybecause attackers or malicious insiders can also easily access them, especially if the credentials are in clear text. But, even worse, when credentials are hard-coded or locally stored, they are nearly impossible to rotate, further making them a static and easy target for attackers.

The Risk Is Real

As part of the DevOps process developers often share source code theyve developed on code repositories such GitHub. While its part of the DevOps process, its an all too common example of how embedded passwords and credentials can become public if theyre hardcoded. Even if the code is only saved in the enterprises internal code repositories those passwords and credentials can easily be accessed by other developers and used either inadvertently or maliciously. It also becomes difficult, if not impossible, to fully identify which applications or scripts are interacting with other applications and other enterprise assets.

In the past, these mistakes might not have been so risky, exploitable and damaging within an on-premises environment. However, in a cloud environment, because of the rapid pace of change, the ability to quickly scale and the tools being used, these vulnerabilities are amplified and can pose unacceptable levels of risk.

To minimize risk and follow best practices, enterprises should avoid hardcoding passwords and credentials used by applications and scripts and instead secure credentials in a digital vault and rotate them according to policy. With this approach, just like with human users, enterprises can assign unique credentials to each application, code image or script, and then track, monitor and control access. IT administrators will know which applications access resources such as a customer database. Also, when an application or script is retired, the administrator or script can simply turn off the credentials.

A core business benefit of cloud is elasticity the ability to easily and instantaneously scale up and scale down the number of compute instances or virtual servers to meet the needs of the business at a specific point in time. With on-demand cloud computing, the business only pays for the compute, storage and other resources they use. No human intervention is required. The cloud automation tools are either built-in as a capability of the public cloud vendors offerings such as AWS Auto Scale, or as part of the orchestration and automation tools used with DevOps such as Puppet, Chef, Ansible, etc.

On-demand computing in the cloud, enabled by the automation tools, is a huge business benefit, but it also presents challenges and new potential risks when these new application instances are created and launched, they need privileges and credentials to access resources. The automation tools can provide the credentials, but these credentials also need to be secured.

Consequently, when a new application instance is created, as the compute environment dynamically scales, a best practice is to immediately secure the permissions and credentials assigned to the new instance in the secure digital vault. This ensures that the credentials can immediately be monitored, managed, secured and rotated according to policy. When the compute instances are retired, the associated credentials can also be removed. This is achieved with integrations between the various automation tools and the secure digital vault.

Whether the enterprise is fully in the cloud with IaaS or PaaS or is migrating to the cloud, it is critical to ensure applications, scripts and other assets use secure passwords and privileged credentials to access other applications and assets in the cloud.

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Terry Crews Is On Crackdown 3 Trailer, No Cloud Computing For Single Player – EconoTimes

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Crackdown 3.BagoGames/Flickr

Crackdown 3 is one of the most highly anticipated games on the Xbox Ones lineup, not least of all because its one of the few exclusive titles coming to the marginalized console. Microsoft released the trailer for the game that comes with the obligatory explosions and considerable selections of firearms. It also featured gaming community favorite Terry Crews. Unfortunately, its not all good news, especially on the single player front.

The last time Crackdown 3 made an official appearance was back in 2015, where Microsoft provided a demo for the game. The recent trailer did a good job of making it up to fans, which consisted of many things that went bang and boom. Retaining its cell shaded, neon theme, its still the Crackdown of old, The Verge reports.

Opening the trailer is movie star Terry Crews, the Oldspice spokesperson himself. After a brief, yet intense monolog, viewers are shown some gameplay aspects, which includes a ton of jumping using the jetpacks and blowing people away.

The game is scheduled for launch on November 7th for the Xbox One and Windows. This makes for a relatively short waiting period before gamers can start knocking down buildings in multiplayer. Speaking of which, this is where the bad news comes in.

Back in 2014, Microsoft announced that the game would feature cloud computing aspects in order to make the environment destructible. All well and good, but the company recently clarified that this was only for the multiplayer mode.

For single-player, gamers will not be able to enjoy as much of the destruction. Then again, the game might more than make up for that by absolutely slamming players with a huge amount of content and enemies to destroy as a member of the elite forces that cracks down on crime.

Whats more, the game is coming out the same time as the newly unveiled Xbox One X, Kotaku reports. Crackdown 3 would be a great testbed for bringing out the full power of the console.

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Terry Crews Is On Crackdown 3 Trailer, No Cloud Computing For Single Player - EconoTimes

China’s cloud industry moving to new era with emergence of unicorns – TechNode (blog)

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Just a few years ago, billion-level funding would be beyond the imagination of Chinese cloud computing companies. But now it is becoming more and more tangible as the market matures.

QingCloud, a leading player in the field, is announcing the largest ever funding in the industry so far. The cloud computing platform made it public that they havesecured D round funding worth RMB 1.08 billion (around US$ 158 million). The current round adds to a US$ 2 million series A in 2012, aUSD 20 million Series Bin 2013 and USD 100 million in 2016.The company confirmed with TechNode that it has IPO plans, but declined to offer more details. The firm reportedly is removing their VIE structure to prepare for a local listing.

The massive round is from a consortium of investors, including China Merchants Securities International and China Merchants Zhiyuan Capital Investment (two wholly-owned subsidiaries of Chinas top security trading and brokerage firm, China Merchants Securities), Riverhead Capital Investment Management, CICC Jiatai Fund and China Oceanwide Holdings Group. Existing investors of Lightspeed China Partners and Bluerun Ventures also participated.

QingCloud founding team (L-R): Spencer Lin, Richard Huang, Reno Gan (Image credit: QingCloud)

QingClouds funding isnt a single case. It marks the latest in a series of venture investments in this sector, which has bumped several companies in the vertical to unicorn status recently.

Two companies in the arena received similar-sized backings in June alone. Cloud and big data solution provider Dt Dream received an RMB 750 million A round led by Alibaba and Everbright Industry Capital Management. Another Alibaba-backed cloud computing startup Cloudcare received nearly a 1 billion RMB C round led by FOSUN Group and Sequoia Capital China.Tencent-backed UCloud completed an RMB 960 million series D roundearlier this year.

Among the companies that have landed billion-level RMB funding, Dt Dream is the only one that announced unicorn status with over US$ 1 billion valuation. This may shed light on the valuations of the other companies, which have received similar size or higher funding.

Behind the investment frenzy is the huge potential of this market. Areport from research institute CCID shows that Chinas cloud computing market surged 41.7% YOY to RMB 279.7 billion in 2016, forecasting that this figure would reach RMB570.64 billion by 2019 with an annual growth rate of over 20%.

The emergence of several unicorns over a relatively short period of time is signifying a deeperchange in the market. In line with the second-half era proposition proposed by Meituan-Dianping CEO Wang Xing, the cloud computing startup pointed that Chinas cloud computing market is also entering a special transition point fora new period. While cloud computing platforms only used by non-core businesses for financial clients like banks, insurance, and security companies in the first-half era, it will find wider application in the new era.

Co-founded by IBM alumni Richard Huang, Reno Gan, and Spencer Lin, the company launched the QingCloud platform in July 2013. They now operate 24 data centers, of which 10 are run independently and 14 through partnerships, providing services to over 70,000 enterprise services.

Emma Lee is Shanghai-based tech writer, covering startups and tech happenings in China and Asia in general. Reach her at lixin@technode.com

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China's cloud industry moving to new era with emergence of unicorns - TechNode (blog)

HYPRES Expands Efforts in Quantum Computing with Launch of European Subsidiary SeeQC – Business Wire (press release)

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ELMSFORD, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--HYPRES, The Digital Superconductor Company, has expanded its role and efforts in quantum information processing with the launch of the companys European-based wholly owned subsidiary SeeQC. Headquartered in Rome, Italy, SeeQC will focus on developing superconducting technologies for a variety of applications, including scalable fault-tolerant quantum computing, quantum communications, quantum simulators, etc.

As part of this effort, SeeQC which stands for Superconducting Energy Efficient Quantum Computing (www.seeqc.eu) will work closely with its technology partners, including major European university labs.

Significant research and technology development are being realized in universities and research teams throughout Europe, said Oleg Mukhanov, CTO and Sr. EVP of HYPRES and Managing Director of SeeQC. SeeQC will develop relationships with these quantum technology leaders who are on the forefront of ensuring scalable, commercially viable quantum information processing platforms are a part of the foreseeable future.

Initially, SeeQC will focus on the development of superconductor circuitry to resolve control issues in quantum processing systems. One immediate objective is the development of programmable cryogenic qubit controllers that include superconducting spintronic memory a new brand of dense, very fast, and energy-efficient memory being developed at HYPRES. Building on HYPRES vast expertise in superconducting Josephson junction circuits, SeeQC will provide the performance and scalability needed for the rapidly increasing quantum information processing market.

We have reached a critical stage with our superconductor quantum computing efforts and an entity solely focused on this technology will take it to the next level, said Richard Hitt, CEO of HYPRES and Chairman of SeeQC. It is the right time for HYPRES efforts in quantum information processing development to be connected more closely with the innovation leaders in Europe with the launch of SeeQC. Were excited at the prospect for rapid progress this opportunity creates. HYPRES has collaborated with leading universities in Europe for many years and this is a logical extension of that legacy.

About HYPRES

HYPRES develops and commercializes digital superconductor technology and integrates it into systems for customers worldwide. The company provides unparalleled economic and performance advantages for a variety of mobile network, metrology and advanced computing applications. HYPRES operates the premier commercial foundry for digital superconductor ICs and has delivered more worldwide than any other government or commercial organization. http://www.hypres.com.

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HYPRES Expands Efforts in Quantum Computing with Launch of European Subsidiary SeeQC - Business Wire (press release)

Microsoft and Purdue work on scalable topological quantum computer – Next Big Future

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In 2016, Purdue University and Microsoft have signed a five-year agreement to develop a useable quantum computer. Purdue is one of four international universities in the collaboration. Michael Manfra, Purdue Universitys Bill and Dee OBrien Chair Professor of Physics and Astronomy, professor of materials engineering and professor of electrical and computer engineering, will lead the effort at Purdue to build a robust and scalable quantum computer by producing what scientists call a topological qubit.

The team assembled by Microsoft will work on a type of quantum computer that is expected to be especially robust against interference from its surroundings, a situation known in quantum computing as decoherence. The scalable topological quantum computer is theoretically more stable and less error-prone.

One of the challenges in quantum computing is that the qubits interact with their environment and lose their quantum information before computations can be completed, Manfra says. Topological quantum computing utilizes qubits that store information non-locally and the outside noise sources have less effect on the qubit, so we expect it to be more robust.

Purdue University and Microsoft Corp. have signed a five-year agreement to develop a useable quantum computer. Purdue is one of four international universities in the collaboration. Michael Manfra, Purdue Universitys Bill and Dee OBrien Chair Professor of Physics and Astronomy, Professor of Materials Engineering and Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, will lead the effort at Purdue to build a robust and scalable quantum computer by producing what scientists call a topological qubit. (Purdue University photo/Rebecca Wilcox)

Arxiv Topological Quantum Computation

The theory of quantum computation can be constructed from the abstract study of anyonic systems. In mathematical terms, these are unitary topological modular functors. They underlie the Jones polynomial and arise in Witten-Chern-Simons theory. The braiding and fusion of anyonic excitations in quantum Hall electron liquids and 2D-magnets are modeled by modular functors, opening a new possibility for the realization of quantum computers. The chief advantage of anyonic computation would be physical error correction: An error rate scaling like e, where is a length scale, and is some positive constant. In contrast, the presumptive qubit-model of quantum computation, which repairs errors combinatorically, requires a fantastically low initial error rate (about 10^4) before computation can be stabilized.

Manfra says that the most exciting challenge associated with building a topological quantum computer is that the Microsoft team must simultaneously solve problems of material science, condensed matter physics, electrical engineering and computer architecture.

This is why Microsoft has assembled such a diverse set of talented people to tackle this large-scale problem, Manfra says. No one person or group can be expert in all aspects.

Purdue and Microsoft entered into an agreement in April 2016 that extends their collaboration on quantum computing research, effectively establishing Station Q Purdue, one of the Station Q experimental research sites that work closely with two Station Q theory sites.

Purdues role in the project will be to grow and study ultra-pure semiconductors and hybrid systems of semiconductors and superconductors that may form the physical platform upon which a quantum computer is built. Manfras group has expertise in a technique called molecular beam epitaxy, and this technique will be used to build low dimensional electron systems that form the basis for quantum bits, or qubits.

The work at Purdue will be done in the Birck Nanotechnology Center in the universitys Discovery Park, and well as in the Department of Physics and Astronomy. The Birck facility houses the multi-chamber molecular beam epitaxy system, in which three fabrication chambers are connected under ultra-high vacuum. It also contains clean-room fabrication, and necessary materials characterization tools.

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Microsoft and Purdue work on scalable topological quantum computer - Next Big Future

Winter Haven attorney gets prison for concealing assets in … – News Chief

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Josiah E. Hutton also was ordered to pay $93,255 in restitution to the victim by U.S. District Judge James D. Whittemore.

TAMPA A 60-year-old former attorney from Winter Haven has been sentenced to six months in federal prison followed by six months of home confinementfor concealing assets from a bankruptcy estate.

Josiah E. Huttonalso was ordered to pay $93,255 in restitution to the victim by U.S. District Judge James D. Whittemore.

Hutton pled guilty in March and had faced amaximum sentence of five years in prison.

According to the plea agreement, Hutton was retained to represent a debtor who was planning to file for bankruptcy. In anticipation of filing a bankruptcy petition, Hutton received a settlement check, which was property of the debtors bankruptcy estate, and deposited it into his attorney escrow account.

Hutton later prepared and certified the debtors bankruptcy petition, yet he failed to list the settlement check as an asset, thereby concealing the asset from creditors and the Bankruptcy Court.

The Florida Bar shows he had been practicing law since 1989, most recently in Fort Myers, but the Polk County Property Appraisers Office website shows he has owned a house on Lake Otis in Winter Haven since 1991 and claims homestead exemptions on that property.

He has been disbarred, according to the Florida Bar website.

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.

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Winter Haven attorney gets prison for concealing assets in ... - News Chief

Children’s retailer Gymboree files bankruptcy, closing up to 450 stores – USA TODAY

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The Gymboree store in Ridgewood, shown in 2007, has been closed. Now the chain may be filing for bankruptcy protection.(Photo: NorthJersey.com file photo)

Children's clothing chain Gymboree filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection late Sunday, aiming to slash its debts and close hundreds of stores amid crushing pressure on retailers.

Gymboree said it plans to remain in business, hoping to regain its financial footing despite considerable challenges for physical retailers.

The company plans to close 375 to 450of its 1,281 stores, according to a court filing, putting many workers at risk of losing their jobs. Gymboree employs more than 11,000 people, including 10,500 hourly workers.

The bankruptcy was widely expected after Gymboree refused to pay certain bills in recent months, placing the retailer on a collision course with creditors. The retailer said it hopes to slash $1 billion of its $1.4 billion in debt and to win approval for its plan by Sept. 24.

"We expect to move through this process quickly and emerge as a stronger organization that is better positioned in todays evolving retail landscape, with the right size store footprint and greater financial flexibility to invest in Gymborees long-term growth," Gymboree CEO Daniel Griesemer said in a statement.

Like other retailers, Gymboree buckled amid declining mall traffic, fixed rental costs and online competition. Online sales represent only 21% of its revenue, and its web systems are "dated and unsupported," recently appointed Chief Restructuring Officer James Mesterharm said in a court filing.

Mesterharm also said Gymboree had"struggled against other established brick-and-mortar retailers," including Children's Place and GapKids.

Among other shortcomings, Gymboree failed to innovate quickly, having only recently introduced store email, analytics and tablet computers to help employees do their jobs.

The bankruptcy represents a bitter outcome for Gymboree owner Bain Capital Private Equity, which acquired the retailer for $1.8 billion in 2010 and launched a major global expansion.

Still, the company posted a profit before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization of $71 million in 2016, down from $94 million in 2015.

Founded in San Francisco in 1976 as a program devoted to nurturing child learning through playtime with parents, Gymboree started its first store in 1986 and now operates stores worldwide under three brands: Gymboree, upscale chain Janie & Jack and value-focused Crazy 8.

The company's fiscal distress is particularly problematic for mall owners Simon Property Group and GGP, formerly General Growth Properties, which collectively control 35% of Gymboree's U.S. real estate space.

Moody's: Number of distressed retailers tops total during financial crisis

Investor concern over Gymboree's future rose when the company disclosed that it had missed a June 1 payment on senior notes due in 2018.

Gymboree also was among 22 companies that a June 7 report by rating giant Moody's Investors Service characterized as distressed retailers. The Ca rating that Moody's assigned to Gymboree's debt is far below investment grade.

"When you're down there in C-a land, bankruptcy is a real possibility," Charles O'Shea, Moody's senior retail analyst, told USA TODAY last week.

Similarly, a previous Moody's report on distressed retailers issued in March attributed Gymboree's low rating to "the company's high debt burden and weak credit metrics stemming from the 2010 acquisition of the company by affiliates of Bain Capital and subsequent weak operating performance."

Noting that Gymboree faced approaching maturities of an asset-based revolving loan in December 2017 and a secured term loan in February 2018, the report said refinancing the debts "could be challenging."

"Thus, the risk of default, including the potential for a distressed exchange-type restructuring, is very high," the March report said.

Contributing: Kevin McCoy

Follow USA TODAY reporter Nathan Bomey on Twitter @NathanBomey.

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Children's retailer Gymboree files bankruptcy, closing up to 450 stores - USA TODAY

Tax trouble firms’ most likely road to bankruptcy – Albuquerque Journal

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Bankruptcy is a specialized area of law with its own elaborate code, procedures, vocabulary and even its own judges. In every city theres a small group of attorneys who have mastered the arcana. They see each other repeatedly because every bankruptcy case involves as many parties as a debtor has creditors.

The insiders tend to treat each other with respect if only to avoid being retaliated against in next weeks case. But since their job is to divvy up a finite amount of money, they have every incentive to take advantage of outsiders. Non-specialists who blunder into bankruptcy court can cost their clients a lot of money through sheer cluelessness. They may never know what theyve done.

I asked Albuquerque bankruptcy lawyer Gerald Velarde what are the most common mistakes small-business owners make that land them in bankruptcy. Without hesitation he said, Taxes.

Especially federal payroll taxes. Any business that withholds taxes from its employees paychecks but then fails to pay the money into the Treasury is, in effect, borrowing from the IRS. Your local loanshark is more likely to be forgiving. Cheating on state gross receipts taxes is another classic spin in a companys death spiral.

Any business owner who is even tempted to hold back on taxes in order to pay current expenses needs to see a bankruptcy attorney before things get out of control. The filing of bankruptcy automatically puts a stop to most collection efforts. But, Velarde emphasized, it provides no solution to a deficient business model. If a business suffers from a lack of customers, the best course may be to wind it up.

Chapter 7 of the bankruptcy code offers straightforward liquidation. Most personal debts, including personal guarantees of corporate debt, can be discharged in Chapter 7. Discharge means the creditor has to accept whats available and cannot afterward pursue the individual for the balance. Chapter 7 wipes the slate clean, allowing society to benefit from an entrepreneurs determination to start afresh.

But if a business is a solid one suffering through a temporary slump, bankruptcy can also offer the promise of reorganization. Chapter 11 is famous because the big boys use it, from General Motors on down, but its expensive and complex. The filing fee alone is an astronomical $1,717. Any competent bankruptcy practitioner will ask for an up-front retainer in the tens of thousands of dollars. And only about half of Chapter 11 reorganization plans ever get approved, anyway. For the rest, Chapter 11 is just a toll road to liquidation. (Remember Borders?)

Small businesses can often pursue an alternative form of reorganization through Chapter 13, a much-less-cumbersome and expensive procedure. The filing fee is $310 and the typical retainer is proportionately lower, too. Chapter 13 comes with many restrictions including debt limits its not available to those in really deep but for those who qualify, it buys time to cash out illiquid assets such as real property. Also, tax debt can often be paid off over a period of years without penalty or interest. If the bankruptcy court approves a Chapter 13 reorganization plan, a sole proprietorship can continue stronger than before.

On the other side of the ledger are creditors. Banks and other moneylenders know what theyre getting into, but its common enough for small-business owners and ordinary homeowners to make an advance payment to a contractor, say, only to have the contractor declare bankruptcy. In such circumstances, the ordinary business person can unexpectedly find him or herself cast in the role of creditor, dragged willy-nilly into bankruptcy court.

If you ever receive one of those daunting bankruptcy court notices, the single most important thing is to move quickly. Bankruptcy deadlines are tight and unforgiving. You need to file a claim and pay close attention to every notice you receive from the court or the lawyers. In the end you may receive only pennies on the dollar, but the alternative is zilch. If your claim is for a sizable sum, youre almost certainly better off hiring a lawyer to steer you through the maze. Just be sure the lawyer you pick is a member of the club.

Joel Jacobsen is an author and has recently retired from a 29-year legal career. If there are topics you would like to see covered in future columns, please write him at legal.column.tips@gmail.com

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Darius Miles’ Bankruptcy Sale Includes Signed LeBron James, Larry … – Bleacher Report

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Autographed jerseys of Cleveland Cavaliers superstar LeBron James and Boston Celtics legend Larry Bird were among the items auctioned off during bankruptcy proceedings involving former NBA small forward Darius Miles.

On Sunday, TMZ Sports reported Miles received $12,780 from the sale of basketball memorabilia and other personal items. Additional basketball-related pieces included signed shoes from the Dallas Mavericks' Dirk Nowitzki and two-time NBA champion Lamar Odom.

Last September,Beth Hundsdorfer and George Pawlaczykof theBelleville News-Democratreported the third overall pick in the 2000 NBA draft listed less than $500,000 in assets and $1.57 million in liabilities on his bankruptcy paperwork.

Among his debts included $282,041 owed to the Internal Revenue Service and $20,000 in unpaid child support, according to theBelleville News-Democrat.

Miles received $1,500 for the James jersey, $100 for the Bird jersey, $375 for the Nowitzki shoe and $225 for the Odom shoe during the sale, per TMZ Sports. He also earned $900 from the sale of two guns and two bucks for his toaster, among other items.

The 35-year-old Illinois native played seven seasons in the NBA with the Los Angeles Clippers, Cleveland Cavaliers, Portland Trail Blazers and Memphis Grizzlies. He averaged 10.1 points, 4.9 rebounds and 1.9 assists across 446 appearances.

He most recently played during the 2003-04 season, appearing in 34 games with the Grizzlies.

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Darius Miles' Bankruptcy Sale Includes Signed LeBron James, Larry ... - Bleacher Report

Mesothelioma Patients Can See Improved Survival By Reporting Side Effects – MesotheliomaHelp.org (blog)

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Chemotherapy and other treatments for mesothelioma can lead to debilitating side effects such as pain, nausea and fatigue. But patients often suffer in silence with their symptoms which, when left untreated, can lead to severe complications, and even death. Now, researchers say it does not need to be that way, and, in fact, by opening up to their physicians, patients can improve their quality of life and their survival.

Researchers from Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center followed 766 advanced cancer patients undergoing care at the Center, according to a June 4 report from ABC News. Hoping to catch issues before they became severe, researchers gave some of the patients access to an online tool to report to their medical team weekly, or more often if they experienced unusual or severe symptoms. The patients self-reported information on 12 common symptoms including appetite loss, diarrhea, shortness of breath, fatigue and pain.

After just six months, the patients in the online reporting group had an improved health-related quality of life and fewer trips to the emergency room. In addition, overall, they stuck with the chemotherapy treatment two months longer, eight months as opposed to six months in the non-online group.

Surprising even the researchers, median survival of the patients in the online group was nearly six months longer at 31 months versus 26 months for the control group. Researchers believe the survival was tied to early responsiveness to patients symptoms that prevented adverse downstream consequences and increased tolerance to chemotherapy allowing them to continue on the treatment beyond usual care.

I was floored by the results, said the study lead, Dr. Ethan Basch, a researcher at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York. We are proactively catching things early.

When a patient reported a concerning health issue, a nurse responded immediately almost 80 percent of the time. They would get the patient prescription medications, or appropriate care, to handle their specific issues. The tool gave the patients an easy way to report issues without struggling to get through to their doctor or wait for their next appointment.

The researchers concluded, Electronic patient-reported symptom monitoring may be considered for implementation as a part of high-quality cancer care. They now plan to launch a larger study to test the online reporting system nationwide.

Mesothelioma is diagnosed in approximately 3,000 Americans each year. Although treatments increase survival, countless mesothelioma patients have said the treatment is worse than the disease. That is not necessarily the case, and patients should not hesitate to reach out to their medical team to help alleviate some of their side effects.

Results of the study were presented at the 2017 ASCO Annual Meeting in Chicago. Find the full study in the June 4 issue of Journal of the American Medical Association.

Nancy is a blog and content writer with more than 20 years of professional experience. Nancy has been writing about mesothelioma and cancer for close to eight years.

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Mesothelioma Patients Can See Improved Survival By Reporting Side Effects - MesotheliomaHelp.org (blog)

Honeywell Fails in Appeal Against Mesothelioma Verdict – Mesothelioma.net Blog (blog)

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When mesothelioma is diagnosed, the illness does not just affect the patient with the disease: it has an impact on the entire family. Spouses, parents, children, and loved ones all suffer, anticipating the loss of their friend and family member, the pain of watching them suffer through painful symptoms and treatment side effects, and the many heartbreaking decisions that need to be made throughout the rapiddecline that the disease brings. It is for this reason that so many end up filinglawsuits against those responsible for their loved ones exposure to asbestos: negligence on the part of asbestos companies causes very real pain.

A recent example of this can be seen in a case that was filed against Honeywell International. The well known company is the owner of and successor to Bendix Corporation, which used asbestos in the brakes it manufactured for cars and trucks. Honeywell has faced numerous mesothelioma lawsuits, including the case brought against them by the family of the late James Lester Phillips, who died of mesothelioma in February of 2013, less than a year after he was diagnosed with the disease. Phillips had worked installing Bendix brakes from a young age. He also had other asbestos exposures, and the companies named in lawsuits filed by the company all settled with them, providing appropriate compensation. Honeywell was found guilty and charged $3.5 million in punitive damages: the company appealed the verdict.

In their decision, the Court of Appeals of California decided against the manufacturer. One of the key points of evidence was a letter that had been written by a Bendix employee to the companys asbestos provider, making sarcastic comments about the risks of asbestos exposure and indicating that people have to die of some cause. This type of malicious carelessness has been shown repeatedly as grounds for negligence and malice. Had companies that used asbestos treated their employees lives with more care and taken the risk of asbestos exposure more seriously, many lives would have been saved, and companies would not be faced with court orders to pay multiple millions of dollars in damages.

Losing a loved one to mesothelioma takes an enormous toll. If you need assistance in dealing with the emotional, physical or economic fallout, the Patient Advocates at Mesothelioma.net can help. Contact us today at 1-800-692-8608to learn more about the support and assistance we can provide.

Terri Oppenheimer is an independent writer, editor, and proofreader. She graduated from the College of William and Mary with a degree in English. Her dreams of a writing career were diverted by a need to pay her bills. She spent a few years providing the copy for a major retailer, then landed a lucrative career in advertising sales. With college bills for all three of her kids paid, she left corporate America for a return to her original goal of writing. She specializes in providing content for websites and finds tremendous enjoyment in the things she learns while doing her research. Her specific areas of interest include health and fitness, medical research, and the law.

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Mesothelioma Victims Center Now Urges a Diagnosed Machinist to Call for Direct Access to Journeyman-Level … – PR Newswire (press release)

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NEW YORK, June 12, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The Mesothelioma Victims Center says, "We are urging a machinist who has been recently been diagnosed with mesothelioma, or their family, to call us anytime at 800-714-0303 for a conversation about why their potentially substantial financial compensation claim depends on having an extremely skilled mesothelioma attorneys working on their behalf.

"Machinists and/or mechanics with mesothelioma are very high on our list for the best possible financial compensation because they frequently had multiple exposures to asbestos at more than one workplace and-more often than not in more than one state.

"If we had one incredibly important piece of advice for a machinist or mechanic with mesothelioma it would be think nationally when it comes to hiring an attorney and focus in on hiring a journeyman level full-time mesothelioma attorney. The attorney must have references that include machinists or mechanics they have recently assisted in getting significant financial compensation, along with family members to back it up as we would like to discuss anytime at 800-714-0303." http://MesotheliomaVictimsCenter.Com

The Mesothelioma Victims Center is especially focused in on assisting a machinist or mechanic with mesothelioma who was exposed to asbestos while working for:

For the US Navy's description of what a machinist mate job description entails please review their website on this topic: https://www.navycs.com/navy-jobs/machinists-mate.html.

Each year about 3000 US citizens will be diagnosed with mesothelioma. Mesothelioma is caused by exposure to asbestos. High -risk work groups for exposure to asbestos include US Navy Veterans,power plant workers, shipyard workers, oil refinery workers, steel mill workers, miners,manufacturing workers, pulp or paper mill workers, millwrights, welders, plumbers, electricians, auto mechanics, machinists, construction workers, rail road workers, and firemen. Typically, the exposure to asbestos for these types of workers occurred in the 1950's, 1960's, 1970's, or 1980's.

The average age for a diagnosed victim of mesothelioma is about 70 years old.Frequently victims of mesothelioma are initially misdiagnosed with pneumonia. http://MesotheliomaVictimsCenter.Com

According to the CDC the states indicated with the highest incidence of mesotheliomainclude Maine, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Maryland,New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia, Virginia,Michigan, Illinois, Minnesota, Louisiana, Washington, and Oregon.

However, based on the calls the Mesothelioma Victims Center receives a machinist mesothelioma could live in any state including New York, Florida, California, Texas,Illinois, Ohio, Iowa,Indiana, Missouri, North Carolina,Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia,Alabama, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Kansas, Nebraska, North Dakota, Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, Nevada,Arizona, Idaho, or Alaska.

The Mesothelioma Victims Center says, "As we would like to explain anytime at 800-714-0303 if a person who has been diagnosed with mesothelioma wants the best possible compensation it is vital they have the nation's most skilled, and experienced mesothelioma lawyers." http://MesotheliomaVictimsCenter.Com

For more information about mesothelioma please refer to the National Institutes of Health's web site related to this rare form of cancer: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/mesothelioma.html

Media contact: Michael Thomas 161320@email4pr.com 800-714-0303

To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/mesothelioma-victims-center-now-urges-a-diagnosed-machinist-to-call-for-direct-access-to-journeyman-level-mesothelioma-attorneys-who-routinely-get-the-best-financial-compensation-300471994.html

SOURCE Mesothelioma Victims Center

http://MesotheliomaVictimsCenter.Com

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Mesothelioma Victims Center Now Urges a Diagnosed Machinist to Call for Direct Access to Journeyman-Level ... - PR Newswire (press release)

Integration and security: Estonia’s Russian-speaking minority – New Eastern Europe

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Published on Monday, 12 June 2017 10:35 Category: Articles and Commentary Written by Silviu Kondan

It is no surprise that the international community has become more preoccupied with the diplomatic relations between Estonia and Russia. While interest in the countrys political affairs is not particularly new, the increasing tensions between the Baltic states and Russia continue to alarm those who fear the possibility of conflict.

Fraught relations between the European Union and Russia have emerged at a time of increasing uncertainty regarding the EUs collective capacity to protect both its citizens and its borders from hybrid security threats. In Europe, a number of occurrences involving cyber attacks and disinformation campaigns have alarmed policymakers who must now broaden their activities to include the deterrence of hybrid threats. For some, this now includes addressing cyber vulnerabilities and prioritising ethnic inclusion as measures to impede the exploitation of existing societal cleavages.

Within Estonia, minority rights and security become the defining themes that influence integration policy. The separation of diplomatic and constructive agreements between Estonia and Russia means that the Russian-speaking minorities are centralised in discussions relating to security and integration. Estonian policy-makers must therefore consider how to effectively balance increased security concerns with the need to respect the autonomy and rights of the Russian-speaking minority.

The Russian speaking minority*

Soviet occupation of Estonia between 1940 and 1991 left major demographic legacies. While a small number of Russian-speaking minorities were present in the country prior to 1940, by 1991 roughly one-third of the population was of Russian-speaking decent.

Upon independence, Estonia established language and citizenship laws that were foundationally based off the jus sanguinis, or right of blood principle. Those who did not reside in Estonia prior to 1940, which encompassed most of the Russian speakers, were left without citizenship and were required to either claim Russian citizenship or to naturalise as Estonian citizens.

Showing a clear desire to join the EU from the onset of their independence, Estonia soon began to adopt revisions to their citizenship and language policy in order to conform to European Union accession requirements and to stabilise its geopolitical security. For Europe and the West, moderating Estonias integration policy has become a geopolitical investment for the continent, with the aim to achieve this through the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europes (OSCE), the EU accession requirements and through the NATO security goals.

Minority rights and integration

Over the last few decades, the Estonian government has promoted quicker and more accommodating naturalisation processes, specifically for newborns and children. However, the fact that the naturalisation process still exists has dissatisfied many who question the disproportionate investment of time, effort, and money needed to acquire the same citizenship that an Estonian equal is granted by birth. For others, acquiring a Russian citizenship or remaining with undetermined citizenship has proven to have certain financial and travel benefits and has been more practical compared to the completion of the Estonian language tests required to naturalise.

Similar sentiments have surrounded the implementation of the 60/40 education policy which mandates the increase of Estonian language teaching to 60 per cent of the curriculum for Russian schools beginning in grade ten. Some parents have publicly objected to this policy, believing that the shift would hinder their childrens educational development and their Russian fluency; many believing that without adequate staffing and resources, their children would be unable to professionally function in either Russian or Estonian. Russian teachers have also felt pressured to comply to curriculum standards while also teaching enough Estonian to pass the required language inspections.

Estonian integration policies, despite making large strides, continue to drive debate and discourse surrounding nation-state policies and minority rights.

Societal discontent

Traditionally, the integration of Central and Eastern European (CEE) states into European bodies was an effective method for the inclusion of ethnic minorities. However, as these processes induced institutional adoption, they did not necessarily build societal and ideological foundations that would translate into an equal socio-economic footing and the respect for the autonomy of minorities.

The Estonian governments Integrating Estonia 2020 outline points to figures showing less trust in state institutions for Russian speakers, as well as higher rates of unemployment. The outline also indicates a general absence of regular contact between the various ethno-nationalities in the country. Similarly, the 2016 Mapping Statelessness in Estonia report by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) reveals highly pessimistic views amongst Russian speakers with undetermined citizenship towards the labour market, their inclusion in society, their political involvement and their freedom of movement.

It is important to note that Russian speakers in Estonia, for the most part, enjoy living in the country and position themselves closer to Europe than to Russia. This, alongside better opportunities for a stable livelihood, does indicate a differentiation of context between the Russian speakers in the Baltics and those in Ukraine, regardless of discontent towards integration policies.

However, some still accuse the Estonian government of implementing a creeping assimilationist agenda. This agenda, with further geopolitical motivations, places integration as the responsibility of the minority with the partial support of the government. It does not promote mutual effort towards integration amongst the residing citizens of the state but facilitates assimilation into a dominant society. Policies become standardised through Russian speakers identifying with the Estonian nation-state, their abilities to comprehend the Estonian language, and their attainment of Estonian citizenship. These policies, considered as progressive by some, continue to be questioned by others who see them as discriminatory.

The steps taken by the government to promote integration must also be understood in relation to Estonias history as a state that was left with major demographic divisions following its independence and re-integration into Europe. Contemporarily, Estonia continues to pursue the integration of its minorities amidst a hard-pressed relationship with Russia. More so, during a time of frequent global uncertainty across the worldcaused by cyber-attacks and disinformation, it is understandable that states must consider ethnic grievances as an entry point for foreign interference.

Security threats

Contemporary political research on Estonia is becoming synonymous with discussions surrounding securitisation, geopolitics and the Russian threat. Estonia has been deemed the most economically successful Baltic country, boasting an impressive 2.2 per cent GDP expenditure on defence this year. Alongside its Baltic neighbours, Estonia has pressed NATO to prioritise their security concerns surrounding Russia using the 2008 Russo-Georgian conflict, the intervention in Eastern Ukraine and the annexation of Crimea as examples of the potential results of Russian aggression.

Security experts are now urging NATO and the Baltic governments to approach securitisation beyond traditional understandings of conflict. Instances of hybrid security threats have brought new challenges for militaries which now require the integration of multiple sectors and industries. In fact, it has been a decade since Estonia faced its own widespread cyber attacks propelled by the Bronze Solider Crisis. This incident caused the collapse of multiple websites, banking systems and online communication platforms.

More recently, reports on Baltic power grids and hacking have shown that the Baltic states are particularly susceptible to Russian interference. At the same time, Estonia continues to discover instances of Russian espionage, which raises questions regarding the intention of Russian intelligence operations.

Unsurprisingly, the Trump administrations murky relationship with NATO member states and the continuous inquiries into the administrations possible ties and sympathy towards Russia, has undoubtedly contributed to further scepticism amongst European security experts. While the NATO alliance will continue despite uncertainty surrounding the United States security guarantee, the vulnerability of the Baltics without US support is considerable.

Disinformation

Russia has been accused of perpetuating disinformation to legitimise its own military actions on several occasions. The use of disinformation is one strategy that continues to be of concern due to its ability to cause internal disruption and mistrust amongst citizens.

The invasion of Crimea, which exemplified Russias ability to instigate pro-Russian demonstrations beyond its borders and to garner local support for annexation, has caused large-scale tensions and distrust between the Russian-speaking minorities and the Ukrainian government. Official Russian media reports, using disinformation tactics, were accused of falsely portraying the Ukrainian people as aggressive, violent and immoral.

The methods of disinformation used during the Bronze Solider Crisis have also been reported as part of Russias strategic exploitation of ethnic divisions. Following demonstrations spurred on by the removal of a Soviet-era statue, Russian media reports portrayed the Estonian state as a re-emergent fascist government that infringed upon the Russian-speaking minority.

In Estonia, a country with a rocky history between the ethno-national majority and the Russian-speaking minorities, the psychosocial effects caused by such attacks can have dire outcomes on the state of ethnic relations in the country. While the situation in Estonia is distinct from that of Eastern Ukraine and Crimea, many are still wondering if Russias disinformation campaigns will trigger a similar irredentist movement in the future. As such, it is understandable that the government is being urged to implement stronger policies that deflect Russian disinformation flowing into Estonia and that facilitate a stronger Estonian affiliation amongst the minorities.

Measuring success

Measuring the success of integration policies in Estonia depends on the way in which success is understood. For some, success can be measured by advancement in socio-economic well-being and the autonomy of minorities. For others, success is measured by a decrease in exposure to propaganda and through an increase in the naturalisation and language proficiency of the Russian speakers.

At a time of uncertainty, the government must balance these approaches and decide what path it hopes to take in protecting all of its citizens from potential instability. It is conceivable that the guise of integration is being used as a securitisation technique to minimise the potential eruption of conflict, rather than serving as genuine progress toward inclusivity, but the threat of hybrid attacks, especially those involving disinformation, should not be underestimated. Estonias history and its proximity to Russia will undoubtedly continue to influence all aspects of government decision-making and policy implementation.

*The term Russian-speaking minority refers to the minority groups from across the Soviet Union who settled in Estonia during migratory flows. This includes ethnic Russians, Ukrainians, Belarussians, Georgians, etc.

Silviu Kondan is a student at the Centre for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies at the University of Toronto.

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‘War on drugs’ is costing thousands of lives – Manhattan Mercury (subscription)

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While American foreign policy has for years fixated on the conflict in Syria and the Middle East, just across the border in Mexico and throughout Central America tens of thousands of people lost their lives last year because of the conflict between drug cartels competing to deliver illicit drugs into the United States.

According to a recent report from the International Institute for Strategic Studies, whereas approximately 50,000 lives were lost in Syria last year, approximately 39,000 were killed in Mexico, Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador, much of which is attributable to drug-war violence.

Mexicos homicide total of 23,000 for 2016 is second only to Syrias, and is only the latest development in a conflict that stretches back to 2006, when President Felipe Calderon deployed the military to combat drug cartels.

Although the exact number of people killed because of the drug war in Mexico is unlikely to ever be known, a recent report from the Congressional Research Service cited estimates from 80,000 to more than 100,000 in that country alone.

The cause of this violence is obvious, and it is a direct, predictable consequence of our failed policy of drug prohibition. In the near-half century since President Richard Nixon declared a war on drugs, hundreds of thousands of Latin Americans have been killed in conflicts fueled by a lucrative illicit drug trade made possible by our prohibition of drugs.

This is an insight a certain New York developer possessed 27 years ago. Were losing badly the war on drugs, Donald Trump said in 1990. You have to legalize drugs to win that war. You have to take the profit away from these drug czars.

While Trump may have since lost this insight, the fact remains that the war on drugs does more harm than drugs themselves.

Rather than squander more lives and resources fighting a War on Drugs that cannot be won including in our inner cities the United States must recognize the futility and harm of its drug policies.

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'War on drugs' is costing thousands of lives - Manhattan Mercury (subscription)

The Uncomfortable Link Between the War on Drugs and Violent Crime – Observer

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On May 31, Ross Ulbricht lost his appeal with the Second Circuit appellate court. He will serve out the remainder of his life sentence, a sentence passed down in part due to allegations that he commissioned multiple murders-for-hire. Whether or not Ulbricht ordered these hits, his case illustrates how, by criminalizing drugs, the United States government has created an institution that incentives violence.

Ulbricht did not begin with violent intentions. He was an Eagle Scout who founded The Silk Road as a beacon of freedom. He agonized over the idea of a hit: As Wired reports, He had talked to Inigo [an employee] about how he just wishes the best for people, and loves them in the libertarian spiriteven Green [Ulbrichts first alleged target], in flagrante delicto. But for Ulbricht and others involved in the drug industry, violence was in his self interest.

Opponents of drug prohibition argue that the drug industry is by nature violent. However, buying and selling drugs isnt inherently more violent than is buying and selling alcohol. Rather, its black markets that create incentives for violence.

Black markets naturally attract criminals, in part because its difficult for convicted felons to find a career aboveboard. The black market for drugs offers lucrative opportunities that are especially attractive to those who have already committed violent crimes and are thus unlikely to find legal work.

Black markets also attract violent individuals because the crimes associated with selling drugs are proportionately less costly for those who already have a rap sheet. Legitimate businessmen are unlikely to sell drugs, because if they are caught they could face decades in prison. But for hardened criminals, the primary danger is in being caught, not in one more charge being added to an existing long list.

Additionally, black markets incentivize criminals to protect their secrecy. For many drug sellers, the most effective way to do so is to silence potential leaks. This was the context for Ulbrichts first alleged hit: He feared that if his victim (an employee of The Silk Road) werent silenced, the employee might report Ulbrichts crimes to the FBI. The difference between serving 10 years for drug trafficking and serving life for murder was a relatively small one compared to the difference between going to prison or remaining free.

Finally, black markets require violent dispute resolution. As Attorney General Jeff Sessions correctly argues, You cant sue somebody for drug debt; the only way to get your money is through strong-arm tactics, and violence tends to follow that. Faced with employees he suspected were cheating him, Ulbricht resorted to a seemingly violent resolution.

Ulbricht wasnt attracted to illicit sales by his background, but once in the industry, his incentives pointed towards violence.

Violence is inherent in black markets, not theoretical: History makes a strong case that prohibition encourages aggression. When the 18th Amendment was passed, alcohol transitioned from a legitimate business to a funding source for organized crime. Violent crime increased dramatically as sellers went to extreme lengths to protect themselves and their stake. The 18th Amendment was passed in 1919, and homicides rose steadily from 1920 to 1933. Writing in American Law and Economics Review, Harvard Professor of Economics Jeffrey Miron argues that drug and alcohol prohibition have substantially raised the homicide rate in the U.S. over much of the past 100 years.

By contrast, when goods are legalized, crime declines. Legitimate businessmen replace Mafia gangsters, and entrepreneurs lose their incentive to kill in order to protect themselves. After the 21st Amendment ended Prohibition in 1933, homicides diminished for 11 years straight. Part of this was due to improving economic conditions, but part was likely also due to the fact that legal markets discourage violence.

The same trend can be seen with regards to medical marijuana. Writing in the Journal of Drug Issues, researchers analyzed violent and property crime in 11 Western states and found, Significant drops in rates of violent crime associated with state MMLs [medical marijuana laws]. When drugs are legalized, violent crime declines.

Prohibition advocates argue that legalizing drugs might increase violent crime, as criminals move from the drug market into other illicit enterprises. This movement is plausible, but the net effect is still likely to be less crime. Prohibited substances fund criminal enterprises, and strangling this funding also strangles the organizations other activities.

Ulbricht began The Silk Road as a beacon of freedom and non-violence, but if reports about his activities are true, then he eventually embodied the violence of prohibition. Prohibition creates an incentive structure that encourages aggression. Black markets attract violent individuals, and move even decent people to brutality. If we want a safer and more peaceful world, we should learn a lesson from Ross Ulbricht and end the war on drugs.

Julian Adorney is a Young Voices Advocate and a FEE 2016 Thorpe Fellow. He currently works at Colorado SEO Pros. Hes written for a number of outlets, including National Review, the Federalist, the Hill, FEE, and Lawrence Reeds latest anthology Excuse Me, Professor.

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The Uncomfortable Link Between the War on Drugs and Violent Crime - Observer