COMMENTS - 2013/03/24

WEEKLY BLOG COMMENTS – No.56

DATES: 2013/03/17– 2013/03/24

ANALYST: Domingo Trassens

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dear Friends:

Hello! Today 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 President Obama’s trip to Middle East, Greek barriers against Syrian refugees, Israeli apology to Turkey, Montoneros against Pope Francis I, Cyprus’ crisis and other news related to politics, economy and business in United States and the rest of the world.

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

DAT, April 24, 2013

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

THEME:  United States

Story: Obama Seeks an Israeli Shift

Subject: President Obama traveled to Middle East, meeting leaders of Israel, Palestine and Jordan. It was his first trip as US president to Israel and Palestine.

My Comment: We think the President Obama’s visit to the West Bank City of Ramallah was only a symbolic demonstration of “friendship” to the Palestinians.

In reality, the possibilities of a shift in the relationships between Israel and Palestine are remote. The differences between Palestinians and Israelis continue and the “wounds” are opened on both sides.

However, the initiative of President Obama to talk directly to the youngsters in Israel is new.

If he believes the younger generations will make “change”, why didn't he begin before? In the rest of his presidency, he does not have time to lead a process of pacification through the change of the mentality of the population of both countries.

A constructive dialogue with the young people from Israel and Palestine will demand more time because today the skepticism of the youngsters is worse than four years ago.

Personally, I am skeptic too because in the Middle East nobody believes in the other. (2013/03/22) 1 Recommendation

Story: U.S., Israeli Leaders Seek to Bridge Divide

Subject: During the first day in Middle East, President Obama talked personally with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu.

My Comment: In the President Obama's first day in Israel, the dialogue between him and Prime Minister Netanyahu was friendlier than the previous meetings in Washington, but it looks like some important differences between both leaders continue. (2013/03/21) 

Opinion: Opinion: The Talented Mr. Perez

Subject: President Obama nominated Thomas Perez for the Labor Secretary.

My Comment: The news confirms that President Obama named Thomas Perez as his nominee for U.S. Labor Secretary.

According to the public biography of Mr. Perez, we can see the White House’s nominee has a complicated personality, always in the middle of legal cases.

Is this the kind of secretary the Labor Department needs?

We are afraid that the “talents” of Thomas Perez will not fix the labor problems of the country. (2013/03/19) 1 Recommendation

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

THEME:  Europe

Story: Syrians Find No Refuge in Greece

Subject: Greek immigration authorities are refusing to give asylum to Syrian refugees.

My Comment: To emigrate for political, economic or social reasons from your homeland is very painful.

In the current case of the Syrians, there are other factors that make it all more dramatic:

- The neighbors of Syria are not in condition to offer a safe and healthy home for hundreds of thousands of refugees.

- Today Europe is full of refugees from Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, Turkey and the African countries. In addition, the majority of the European countries have their own social and economic problems.

If the situation continues like now, all the Middle East and some sectors of Europe will suffer a big social collapse. (2013/03/19)

Story: Cyprus Postpones Debate on Deposit-Tax Proposal

Subject: Cyprus is working in new banking rules due to its financial crisis and the pressure from EU authorities.

My Comment: Small country, but big mess! This shows the ingenuity or “corruption” of the authorities of the European Union who opened the doors to Cyprus.

But now, we think that everybody has to respect the previous conditions of the current agreements between the banks and their customers. It is not ethical to charge the deposits with a special tax.

If the authorities of the EU force the Cyprus government to take at least one percent of the deposits of the customers, they are acting like a “banana republic”. (2013/03/18) 1 Recommendation

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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

Story: Lebanese Leader Quits Over Strains With Hezbollah

My Comment: In the gloomy panorama of the Middle East, the last news confirmed the Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati resigned and the government was dissolved due to the political uncertainty of the country.

Since decades ago, Lebanon always is the “fuse” of the problems between Palestinians and Israelis and the instability of Syria and other neighbors.

It is really bad this beautiful Mediterranean country cannot have a politically stable life for a long time. 

We have to remember that in the past, Beirut –its capital – was named as the “Paris of the Middle East”. (2013/03/24) 

Story: Israeli Apology Resets Alliance With Turkey

Subject: Prime Minister Netanyahu apologizes to Turkey for a deadly ship raid of some years ago.

My Comment: The Netanyahu’s apology to Turkey looks like a good achievement of President Obama's visit to Middle East.

Now we have to see if the normalization of the relationships between Israel and Turkey works properly. Sometimes, this kind of approaches is only words. . (2013/03/24) 1 Recommendation

Story: Bangladesh Riots Threaten Its Boom

Subject: The social unrest and violent protests threaten its political stability and business boom.

My Comment: The news says riots and violent protests are hitting Bangladesh now.

During the last five months, several times the South Asian nation was on the bad side of the headlines of newspapers.

Now, according to the reports in the press, the sentence of three Islamist leaders started a wave of violence that killed at least 60 people.

We believe behind the new unrest and violence that are killing more people in Bangladesh there are other factors.

In November and after that in January, two apparel factory fires killed 119 workers who were working under inhuman conditions.

When the poverty and the slavery conditions of the workers are extreme, the bullets of the security forces cannot stop the anger of the people. (2013/03/22)

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

THEME:  Latin America

Opinion: Opinion: Behind the Campaign to Smear the Pope

Subject: In Argentina, former Montoneros launched a campaign against Pope Francis I.

My Comment: The former Montoneros always point at others, but they don’t comment about the panic they generated in the civilian population of Argentina with their bombing attacks and other criminal actions in the 70s.

It is time to put it clearly that during the 70s, Argentina lived in a civil war where all the groups involved in the war – Montoneros, ERP, AAA and military forces - carried out atrocities.

The atrocities of the Argentina Civil War were terrible but the important point is the terrorists frequently used the civilian population as a “shield”.

As we said at different opportunities, we condemn the torture in the detention centers, but we will never put down the cruelty of the Montoneros and other terrorist groups.

The philosophy of the terrorists was to generate terror, panic and destruction, put down the “moral” of the civilian population and destroy the Christian and western culture of the country. The leaders of the Argentine terrorism were smart professionals with very clear targets.

Today the majority of the literature that the international press distributes through the newspapers ignores the serious damage that the Argentine terrorist experiment produced across Latin America. The public knows the list of generals and admirals who were involved in the detention centers and the kidnapping of babies, but the external observers don’t know about the magnitude of crimes committed by the terrorists and their philosophy.

In addition, we have to remark that during the civil war some priests were involved with the terrorists and the Catholic Church was divided. As a sample we can remember the famous cases of Padre Mujica and Fernando Abal Medina.

Mr. Abal Medina, originally involved with the youngsters of the ACA (Acción Católica Argentina), was one of founders of the hard-line of the Montoneros organization. Now, his brother Juan Manuel Abal Medina is the Chief of the Cabinet of Minister of Argentina since December 2011. (2013/03/19) 3 Recommendations

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

THEME:  Economy, Business and Technology

Story: Dell Walks Fine Line in Pitch for Buyout – Part 1

Subject: Dell Inc. is through a walk to be a “private company”

My Comment: The beginning of Michael Dell in the PC industry was great, but he didn’t think seriously about the future.

Michael never thought that in the technological industry, products have a short life cycle including the PCs.

Today we are living the cycle of smart-phones and digital tablets. In this business, the position of Dell is weak.

Also, Michael Dell never moved his company deeply into the segment of information solutions and business analysis for corporations and big companies.

This is the reason that today Michael cannot boast about his company. (2013/03/21)

Story: Michael Dell Could Lose CEO Job in Rival Buyout Bid – Part 2

My Comment: In the Dell’s case, the new subject is that Michael Dell will lose the control of his company.

The decline of the PC business is not new. Before the smart-phones and digital tablets entered in the main scenery, the revenues and incomes of the PC makers were deteriorated gradually. This was the reason that IBM sold its PC unit to Lenovo.

Since long time ago, Michael Dell knew that selling primarily hardware, he will have serious problems. However he didn’t have the imagination to redefine the business model of his company before the collapse.

I think it is normal the new owners of the company will force Michael Dell to resign and name another CEO. (2013/03/24) 2 Recommendations

Story: Oracle's Sales Stall; Stock Tumbles 8%

Subject: The financial results of Oracle produced bad reactions in Wall Street.

My Comment: During the last few days, Oracle posted the results of its last fiscal quarter with an important decline in sales.

The company led by Larry Ellison is a leading provider of technology and services for corporations, medium and small business with operations across the world.

Often, the sales of Oracle mark trends in the segment of technology for companies. Now, the weakness of its current financial results is a bad economic sign. (2013/03/21) 3 Recommendations

Story: HTC Delays Launch of New Phone

Subject: HTC shows new difficulties in the way to recover market.

My Comment: After the fast growth of Samsung in the niche of smart-phones, HTC suffered the impact.

As everybody knows, both HTC and Samsung produce and market intelligent mobile phones based on the Android platform from Google.

The delay in the new HTC One shipments is a negative point for the Taiwanese manufacturer at a moment the competition in the smart-phone market is very hard. (2012/03/20) 

Story: H-P Board Faces Critical Vote

Subject: The some HP shareholders complain against the board of the technology company.

My Comment: The annual shareholder meeting of Hewlett-Packard is a good opportunity to close the old cases and start a new cycle.

After Chief Executive Leo Apotheker left the company, all the criticism pointed against him and the acquisition of Autonomy. But Mr. Apotheker didn’t act alone during the time he was the HP CEO.

Now it is time to clean the board from all the members involved in the ill-fated cycle and renew “faces” with people who show a positive attitude for the best of HP. (2013/03/20)

Story: Hacker Sentenced to 3 Years for iPad Data Exploit

Subject: The sentence to a hacker who broke the security system of Apple iPad generated different debates in the software environment.

My Comment: I agree the iPad’s hacker broke the law like others and he has to be punished.

But from the other side, in a normal jail, if he has access to a computer of the library, he will continue working in something similar.

For this reason, I don’t believe that a normal jail is the place for a hacker. (2013/03/18)