COMMENTS - 2013/03/17

WEEKLY BLOG COMMENTS – No.55

DATES: 2013/03/10– 2013/03/17

ANALYST: Domingo Trassens

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Dear Friends:

Hello! I would like to share with you a series of comments posted by myself in the WSJ Journal Community during the last seven days about news related to politics, economy and business in United States and the rest of the world.

Special themes of this issue:

- New Smart-phone in the Theater (Original story for the WBC N55)

- Michigan Mission: The Rescue of Detroit (Original story for the WBC N55)

- Revolution in the Catholic Church

- Is the Mayor of the City the “Godfather” of the People?

Next, you will find the other comments organized in the following sections: United States, Europe, The World (Asia, Africa, Middle East…), Latin America and Economy, Business and Technology.

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STORY: New Smart-phone in the Theater

On Thursday March 14, Samsung introduced its Galaxy S 4 at Radio City Music Hall in New York City.

Before the event, the manufacturer generated a wave of expectations amid the tech fanatics with similar press that when Apple introduces a new product.

In the New York’s theater, J.K. Shin – president of Samsung telecoms division – presented the hardware and software features of Galaxy S4.

The new smart-phone of the Korean electronic company like the previous one runs over the Android operating system of Google.

In the new Galaxy, Samsung customized the Android operating system to improve the hardware-software interface according to new features of the device and with the intention to differentiate its smart-phone from the rest of phones that today are running also on Android.

Now, the users expect the moment when Galaxy S4 will come to the retailers and mobile phone providers to have the opportunity to test the features of the new device for themselves.

Meanwhile, some analysts of the industry are asking two important questions?

- Will Galaxy S4 put down the “halo” that till now iPhone 5 has on the market? Days before the presentation at Radio City Music Hall, the people from Apple showed some worries about the possible impact of the new Samsung product.

- Will Samsung splits the links Galaxy – Android? During the last months, Google didn’t feel comfortable with the way that Samsung is trying to differentiate its software platform from the rest of phones running over Android.

Despite the good welcome that Galaxy S4 received, we think that the introduction of this smart-phone will not kill the Apple device.

Probably, some users after comparing both products will like more some technical features of the new Galaxy, but the real fanatics of Apple will not jump to the Samsung territory.

About the rumors that the relationships between Samsung and Google don’t run well, we believe the Android platform gives a good foundation to Galaxy and the Korean company has to think more than twice about a change of this operating system.

Samsung has a strong experience in hardware and a very aggressive marketing, but it never was expert in software. From the other side, Google is an innovative software company with also solid experience on the Internet.

SOURCES:

- www.samsung.com

- www.apple.com

- “A Galaxy Far, Far Away From Google” By ROLFE WINKLER, WSJ, 2013/03/15 

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STORY: Michigan Mission: The Rescue of Detroit

The news says that the Michigan’s governor named an emergency financial manager who has the responsibility to fix the finances of Detroit.

Through this assignment, the Republican Governor Rick Snyder is trying to fix endemic problems of the city.

Kevyn Orr - the emergency financial manager - worked before in the case of Chrysler’s bankruptcy. This implies he has experience about the Detroit’s drama.

Like everybody knows, Detroit was always associated with the American automotive industry.

Since the massive entrance of Asian and European vehicles into the U.S. market, GM, Ford and Chrysler, the three most important American car makers, suffered the impact and for extension, Detroit was hit hard.

The economic decline of the city never was reversed till now. The revenues of Detroit were down and a lot of qualified workers emigrated. The politicians failed in any way to stop the fall.

Of course, in this scenery, the pessimism of the inhabitants and business people is high. Like in similar cases, who walk every day through the “ruins” of the city don’t believe the emergency financial manager will fix the problems. But what is the right action in these circumstances?

- Do make nothing

- Demolish the city and put all the people who remain there out

- Clean the finances and wait that in 5 o 10 years all will similar or worse than now

- Define a complete plan of cleaning of the finances and rebuild the city in the right way.

The Michigan’s governor talks about the financial emergency. We think this is only part of the problem. We prefer to label the current situation like an “economic emergency”.

After previous frustrated attempts, Detroit cannot believe it will grow again tied only to the automotive industry. Authorities and business people have to open the economy of the city in different directions.

They have to fix the finances of the city and simultaneously redefine its business model: new economic sources and human resources trained to perform different activities and works.

To remove the name “Detroit” from the bad American lists, the second “job” is as important as the financial cleaning of the government institutions. Definitively, they have to revive the city as an economic center.

A lot of people agree that always when a city declines for any reason, the authorities have to drive the events in a way to make possible the rescue for the health and security of its inhabitants and the respect for all the people who contributed to build it. However, in the case of Detroit the opinions are divided. Some comments say that it will be useless. We have to observe if the efforts of the Governor Rick Snyder and Mr. Orr will end successfully. 

SOURCES:.

- “New Detroit Manager Is Optimistic on Turnaround” By MATTHEW DOLAN and JEFF BENNETT – DETROIT, WSJ, 2013/03/14

- “Michigan Gov. Puts Detroit Under Emergency Fiscal Management”, PBS, 2013/03/14

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THEME: Revolution in the Catholic Church

Story: Church Looks to the New World

Subject: The election of a non-European pope surprised to everybody in the world.

My Comment: The election of Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio as the new pope of the Catholic Church has different readings:

- First, it is a “revolution” against the traditional Roman Church. However, this change has pros and cons. A Pope who comes from South America implies an important opening of an institution that during centuries was always ruled by Italian and European popes. Will the Roman establishment accept this new reality?

- Second, it is also a “revolution” of the church by the poor people against the church of richness. Till now, across Europe from Italy to Spain, France or Germany we see a kind of Catholicism that it is not sensitive to the original “roots” of Christianity. In some European countries, to be considered “Catholic”, you have to pay the religion-tax. This was not the doctrine of Jesus.

- Third, Pope Francis comes from a country where frequently the Catholic Church confronts the political authorities about social justice issues on the ground where politics and religion have serious differences. This perspective in a global context could change dramatically the role of the Vatican in its relationships with countries where till now slavery is something normal.

We will not see with the new Pope important changes in issues like abortion and homosexuality. The Catholic Church will never say: “Cheers! Abortion up! But the social function of the Catholic Church will be different. It will be more compassionate and closer to the real world than before. (2013/03/14) 1 Recommendation

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THEME: Is the Mayor of the City the “Godfather” of the People?

Story: Judge Cans Soda Ban

Subject: The initiative of the New York’s mayor to ban the sale of soda in restaurants of the city produced a series of negative reactions and a judge determined that he exceeded his authority.

My Comment: Who is the mayor of a city to act like the “godfather” of all the population?

From my point of view, the ban of the “large sugary drinks” in restaurants and other places is something that is going against the freedom of consumers.

I think the health authorities can make discrete suggestions about food and beverage that could produce health problems, but only in a discrete and professional way.

The abuse of the terms “ban”, “prohibit” and “forbid” are against our foundation as a country.

The authorities have to understand that according to our constitution, the United States is a democratic country where we have to be very careful when somebody wants to “ban” something. (2013/03/12) 5 Recommendations

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THEME:  United States

Opinion: Opinion: The Road to Republican Revival

Subject: Former Florida Governor, Jeb Bush, spoke at the Conservative Political Action Conference about the road to revival the Republican Party.

My Comment: After a long silence, Jeb Bush – who was Republican governor of Florida from 1997 to 2007 – returned to the political scene.

His speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference showed a positive view of some ideas and principles that helped to build the country during centuries.

Personally, I would like to retake the statement of Mr. Bush where he said: “The central mission of conservatives is to reignite social mobility in this country—restoring the right to rise.”

The “social mobility” is the movement of individuals or groups to different social positions. Normally, the “social mobility” is like a “mechanic staircase” to rise. During the last few years, since the 2008/2009 financial crisis, in a lot of environments, this “staircase” didn’t work properly.

We need government apparatus that allows the people to rise in the way they make the correct efforts to go up. A positive attitude from everybody will start a new renaissance in the country. (2013/03/16)

Story: U.S. Boosts Defense From North Korea

Subject: The Pentagon announced that will strengthen the defense systems of the west coast due to the threat of North Korea.

My Comment: North Korea is only one of the threats against the United States… We have to redefine all our defense systems according to the hostility of more than one “devil” including the cyber-attackers. (2013/03/15)

Story: Obama Sets Timeline on Iran Nuclear Bomb

Subject: President Obama minimized the threat of a possible Iran nuclear bomb before his trip to Middle East.

My Comment: Now before his trip to Israel and Palestine, President Barack Obama said approximately these words: “Don’t worry be happy, Iran needs one year or more to build an atomic weapon.”

Before, during the past months, the White House always was pointing against Tehran for the continuous advances in its nuclear program.

While our foreign politics goes from side to another, the Iranians have only one goal: to be members of the Atomic Club.

What will be the White House’s message in one or two years? “Iranians welcome to the Club!”  (2013/03/15) 2 Recommendations

Story: Senate Panel Passes Assault Weapons Ban

Subject: Democrat Senators – members of special panel – passed a bill banning the assault weapons.

My Comment: The statement: "Senate Panel passed assault weapons ban" doesn’t look accurate after a voting that ended 10-8 and where all the Republican voted “no”. The reality is the Democrat Senate Panel passed the assault weapons ban. (2013/03/14) 4 Recommendations

Story: U.S. Fighters Warned Off Iranian Jet

Subject: U.S. fighters escorted American drones due to previous incidents with Iranian fighter jets.

My Comment: The incidents among US drones and Iranian fighter jets are growing. One day in error or intentionally, an American drone will shoot an Iranian jet. (2013/03/14)

Story: Karzai Persists With Anti-U.S. Remarks

Subject: Afghan President persists with anti-U.S. remarks due to secret talks among Taliban leaders and Western nations.

My Comment: In only 3 days, in 2 speeches, Afghan President Hamid Karzai attacked the U.S. in a tone that exceeds a reasonable exchange of words between two “friendly” countries.

Some observers say the provocative words are Karzai’s reaction against “secret” talks between Taliban leaders and Western nations.

Probably, somebody has to put the Afghan President in the “right place” before he damages completely the relationships between both countries. His game is very dangerous. (2013/03/13)

Story: Job Numbers Are Good, but Some Perils Loom

Subject: After the February report of the U.S. Labor Department, some analysts remarked the perils of economy continue.

My Comment: A lot of people celebrate the job numbers of February. The press has a new positive argument to write stories “but”…

But from my perspective they are only a good “draw” of figures generated by statistic formulas that only show a partial view of the reality.

We know that the construction and retail sectors hire workers for very low wages and frequently these jobs are only temporary positions. Meanwhile, the mergers of big companies continue cutting payroll and outsourcing work. In other words, since the 2008/2009 crisis we are losing permanent qualified jobs and earning the temporary low-rate workforce.

With this landscape, it is very difficult to determine the consistency of the figures that our labor authorities are handling today. (2013/03/11) 1 Recommendation

Story: Karzai Inflames U.S. Tensions

Subject: A new verbal attack of Afghan President again the allied troops.

My Comment: After all that we saw during the last years, we have to conclude that Karzai is our worse enemy in Afghanistan.

He came to power with our support and the help of the American and allied troops. He used all our resources and money for his benefit.

He never cut the rotten roots of the Afghan government institutions.

And for more than two years he is always pointing against us for each problem that he is not able to solve from his side or for the chaos and crime of his country. (2013/03/11) 4 Recommendations

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THEME:  Europe

Story: IMF Says EU Banks Face Further Losses

Subject: The International Monetary Fund warned about the weak situation of the EU banks.

My Comment: The report from the International Monetary Fund about the anemic economic growth of the European Union looks gloomy but it is true that the EU is living in a very critical moment.

After approximately 10 years of euphoria, the fantastic world of the Europeans leaks across different points of the geography of the community.

Every week, the TV and newspapers publish news that reflects economic, financial and social problems, plus new cases of corruption.

According to the facts that we see, since the start of the euro-zone in 2002, the leaders of the EU failed in the building of the foundation of the group due to the anxiety to grow fast in population and territory. All this shows that they didn’t pay enough attention to the “quality” of the each addition.

With 27 members in the whole EU and 17 in the euro-zone, the task of repairing the banking systems of the countries with problems is complicated because for a national pride, nobody likes others to make suggestions about their internal issues. In the middle of this scenery, we have doubts that the European Stability Mechanism will work properly. (2013/03/16) 1 Recommendation

Opinion: Opinion: 'Go and Repair My House'

Subject: In here weekly column, the journalist Peggy Noonan talks about the humility of the new pope as a main distinction with the classic attitude of the Vatican authorities.

My Comment: It is good that the New Pope thinks about the people first. The Catholic Church doesn’t need a pharaoh. It needs a “shepherd” who returns to the “roots” of Christianity.

During centuries the popes lived like pharaohs surrounded by legions of courtiers. With Pope Francis, the "courtiers" will have to help the poor people. Surely they will resist their new job. (2013/03/15) 6 Recommendations

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THEME:  The World: Asia, Africa, Middle East…

Story: Elected, Xi Moves to Mend Rifts

Subject: Xi Jinping, General Secretary of the Communist Party of China, was appointed as a new Chinese president.

My Comment answering another member who said the new government of Mr. Xi will help to the United States: The Chinese work for the Chinese. They will not work for us. If we want to solve our problems, we have to solve them by ourselves. (2013/03/14) 1 Recommendation

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THEME: Latin America

Story: Argentina Debates Pope's Political Past

Subject: In Argentina, some groups and press debate about the political past of the new pope.

My Comment: In Argentina there are political groups that always criticize the past with a partial view of the reality, but they don’t see their own mistakes.

How many bombing attacks the Montoneros, ERP and other terrorist groups made during the 1970s killing innocent people and destroying private assets? This is a picture from the Argentine Civil War of the 70s that some people try to hide.

Pope Francis never put bombs, but the same people who today criticize him were directly or indirectly connected with the bombing attacks of the 1970s. And some of these people are linked with the current government and making “propaganda” against everybody who is not in their side. (2013/03/17) 2 Recommendations

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THEME:  Economy, Business and Technology

Story: Google's Schmidt to Visit Myanmar

Subject: Google Chairman - Eric Schmidt - who visited North Korea a month ago, now plans new business links with Myanmar.

My Comment: The initiative of Google, Intel, HP, Microsoft, Cisco and others to visit Myanmar for business is good, but I believe the American companies will find a lot of Chinese competitors that came before them.

During the times that Myanmar was banned by the U.S. companies, the Chinese were the main technology provider of this South Asian country. (2013/03/15)

Story: Apple, on Defense, Slams Samsung

Subject: Phil Schiller from Apple reacted on defense when the market began to talk about the new smart-phone of Samsung.

My Comment: The attitude of Phil Schiller - responsible of marketing of Apple - doesn’t look appropriate to face the Samsung’s attack.

From the beginning of the smart-phone war, the people of Apple knew that one the day the competition will be hard.

Samsung is not Nokia, it is not BlackBerry. When the Korean dragon attacks, it hits its rivals if they are in a defensive position. (2013/03/14)

Story: Smartphones Are Reinventing—And Ditching—the Keyboard

Subject: Researchers and developers say the keyboard of the next generation of smart-phones will be more intelligent than the current devices.

My Comment: The new keyboard technology of the smart-phones is a good help for writing better and faster, but sometimes it cuts the ‘freedom’ of the user who wants to decide for himself what he wants to express in a determined moment.

Personally, I like the assistance that the new software offers us, but don’t like the technology dictatorship. (2013/03/14) 4 Recommendations

Story: Google Android Chief Andy Rubin Steps Aside

Subject: Google is making an important internal reorganization. The Android Chief received a new mission that till now is secret.

My Comment: Google is a lab of surprises. If Andy Rubin – co-creator of Android – is leaving the Android to take another project inside the company, it is because something very important is in the “incubator” of the search engine company. (2013/03/13) 7 Recommendations

Story: Game Makers Console Themselves in Smartphone Era

Subject: The game makers have to look for more innovative consoles due to the new smart-phones compete with the basic game consoles.

My Comment: We are in the beginning of a new technological cycle. The new smart-phone era will change a lot of the concepts related to the videogame world.

The PC era was very important for the evolution of the videogame machines because the technology of the personal computers helped in the development of the videogame systems with their own consoles.

But the smart-phones and digital tablets have the possibility to integrate a lot of functions in only one device and they have the technical resources needed to run videogame applications better than in the first generations of videogame consoles.

Like in the case of the digital camera manufacturers, the videogame makers have to think about very innovative features to retain their users. For the casual users of videogames or digital cameras, the smart-phones give them the basic functions they need all in one device.

A similar evolution happened before in the copy machines industry. Today in the all-in-one printers, the users have together the functions of print, copy, scan and fax also working wireless and without a PC connection.

The smart-phones can give more through cloud computing and all the power they can down load from the Internet. (2013/03/11)

Story: Amazon's Quest for Web Names Draws Foes

Subject: Amazon tries to take control over Internet addresses with generic domains.

My Comment: The news says Amazon is taking control over Internet addresses like ".book," ".author" and ".read".

Personally, I agree with the institutions and competitors who complain against this case. Generic domains in private hands will create an unfair competition.

Probably, today some observers don’t realize the advantage that implies to have easy addresses in the Internet jungle.

However, in a short or long future the “virtual world” of Internet will be the “main street” of all the consumer and enterprise businesses.

In that moment, the “owners” of the “easy addresses” (generic domains) of the new main street will be the real “regulators” of the economy. (2013/03/11) 4 Recommendations