During his campaign for the presidency, Barack Obama, touting his background as a professor who taught constitutional law, often waxed eloquent about his commitment to civil liberties and to correcting the Patriot Act's threats to basic constitutional protections.
It was part of his stump speech on the campaign trail. And in one of the presidential debates he said, "I like to think that had I been in the Senate [in 2001], I would have [voted] against the Patriot Act."
And so, it might have been expected that when the Democratic-controlled Senate judiciary committee began consideration last week of whether or not to renew some of the more controversial provisions of the Patriot Act, they would have made an effort to fulfil the president's campaign promise and that the White House would have weighed in, in favour of reform.
Three sections of the act (the so-called "library provision", the use of roving wiretaps, and the "lone wolf" provision) are due to expire, at the end of the year, and this, therefore, was the time to either let them expire or, as The New York Times advocated, "add missing civil liberties and privacy protections, address known abuses and trim excesses".
Of particular concern to civil libertarians was the fact that the three sections of the Patriot Act in question have allowed law enforcement to wiretap and to seize the records of businesses, institutions (including libraries), and individuals without judicial review or oversight, and without ever establishing evidence of suspected terrorist activity.
Civil libertarians, of the right and left, urged the Senate not to reauthorise the three provisions without providing new restraints on law enforcement and adequate protections, ensuring that rights be safeguarded. Alas, the committee voted last week, with the White House's blessing, to send to the full Senate, for its consideration, a reauthorised Patriot Act largely intact.
The debate within the committee had one comic (or tragic) moment. Dick Durbin, a Democratic senator for Illinois, attempted to amend the proposed Patriot Act reauthorisation with a provision that would have required law enforcement to demonstrate a terrorist connection before they could use the act's sweeping powers to wiretap or seize records.
In arguing against Mr Durbin's effort, Amy Klobuchar, a Democratic senator for Minnesota, said his amendment was unnecessary since she felt that the bill, as proposed, already included protection enough. To make her case, she then went on to read aloud what she thought was the bill she favoured, concluding triumphantly that what she had read provided adequate safeguards. All well and good, except as Mr Durbin then pointed out, "you just read my amendment".
Unabashed, Mrs Klobuchar voted against the Durbin amendment that she had just read aloud and praised.
And this is how American laws are made!
Everyone knows about the US's annual aid package to Israel - a combined package of around US$3 billion (Dh11bn) in economic and foreign military assistance. That it is given up front (transferred immediately into a separate bank account, with interest going to Israel), without any US government oversight, is not so well known.
What also slips under the radar are several "add-ons" that go to the government of Israel as part of other appropriation bills passed by Congress. There are "add-ons": that support Israeli foreign aid projects in Africa, arid land research, support for Israeli hospitals and universities, refugee resettlement in Israel (no, not for Palestinians) and so on.
In the past few weeks, Congress passed out a few more of these generous "add-ons". On the small side, there was $700,000 to extend the "Ohio-Israel Agricultural Institute" and $2 million for a "US-Israeli energy co-operation agreement".
On the larger side, there was: $202.4m for defence-related "research, development and testing" activity (mostly covering the cost of the Arrow missile defence programme).
With more yet to come.
A Pew Research poll, out last month, shows that while the number of Americans who get their news from the internet has doubled since 2004, and newspaper readership showing a decline of 25 per cent, still a healthy 71 per cent of Americans get their news from television.
Despite the poll's finding that viewers give most of the networks high overall positive grades, almost two thirds of the public surveyed said the networks are "often inaccurate", with three quarters accusing them of bias. What exactly, you might well ask, do they like?
Not surprisingly, Republicans favour Fox News Channel, giving it a 72 per cent favourable rating against only a 12 per cent unfavourable score. Democrats, on the other hand, give all the other networks overwhelmingly positive scores (eg CNN 75 per cent positive/ seven per cent negative).
foreign.desk@thenational.ae
Last 10 NBA champions
2017: Golden State bt Cleveland 4-1
2016: Cleveland bt Golden State 4-3
2015: Golden State bt Cleveland 4-2
2014: San Antonio bt Miami 4-1
2013: Miami bt San Antonio 4-3
2012: Miami bt Oklahoma City 4-1
2011: Dallas bt Miami 4-2
2010: Los Angeles Lakers bt Boston 4-3
2009: Los Angeles Lakers bt Orlando 4-1
2008: Boston bt Los Angeles Lakers 4-2
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Results
5pm: Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 (Turf) 1,200m. Winner: Majd Al Megirat, Sam Hitchcott (jockey), Ahmed Al Shehhi (trainer)
5.30pm: Handicap (PA) Dh80,000 (T) 1,600m. Winner: Dassan Da, Patrick Cosgrave, Helal Al Alawi
6pm: Abu Dhabi Fillies Classic Prestige (PA) Dh110,000 (T) 1,400m. Winner: Heba Al Wathba, Richard Mullen, Jean de Roualle
6.30pm: Abu Dhabi Colts Classic Prestige (PA) Dh110,000 (T) 1,400m. Winner: Hameem, Adrie de Vries, Abdallah Al Hammadi
7pm: Wathba Stallions Cup Handicap (PA) Dh70,000 (T) 2,200m. Winner: Jawal Al Reef, Richard Mullen, Ahmed Al Mehairbi
Handicap (TB) Dh100,000 (T) 2,200m. Winner: Harbour Spirit, Adrie de Vries, Jaber Ramadhan.
COMPANY PROFILE
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Total funding: Self funded
Name: Colm McLoughlin
Country: Galway, Ireland
Job: Executive vice chairman and chief executive of Dubai Duty Free
Favourite golf course: Dubai Creek Golf and Yacht Club
Favourite part of Dubai: Palm Jumeirah
How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
ENGLAND TEAM
Alastair Cook, Mark Stoneman, James Vince, Joe Root (captain), Dawid Malan, Jonny Bairstow, Moeen Ali, Chris Woakes, Craig Overton, Stuart Broad, James Anderson
Read more from Aya Iskandarani
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
Started: 2020
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Entertainment
Number of staff: 210
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
WHAT IS A BLACK HOLE?
1. Black holes are objects whose gravity is so strong not even light can escape their pull
2. They can be created when massive stars collapse under their own weight
3. Large black holes can also be formed when smaller ones collide and merge
4. The biggest black holes lurk at the centre of many galaxies, including our own
5. Astronomers believe that when the universe was very young, black holes affected how galaxies formed
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How Tesla’s price correction has hit fund managers
Investing in disruptive technology can be a bumpy ride, as investors in Tesla were reminded on Friday, when its stock dropped 7.5 per cent in early trading to $575.
It recovered slightly but still ended the week 15 per cent lower and is down a third from its all-time high of $883 on January 26. The electric car maker’s market cap fell from $834 billion to about $567bn in that time, a drop of an astonishing $267bn, and a blow for those who bought Tesla stock late.
The collapse also hit fund managers that have gone big on Tesla, notably the UK-based Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust and Cathie Wood’s ARK Innovation ETF.
Tesla is the top holding in both funds, making up a hefty 10 per cent of total assets under management. Both funds have fallen by a quarter in the past month.
Matt Weller, global head of market research at GAIN Capital, recently warned that Tesla founder Elon Musk had “flown a bit too close to the sun”, after getting carried away by investing $1.5bn of the company’s money in Bitcoin.
He also predicted Tesla’s sales could struggle as traditional auto manufacturers ramp up electric car production, destroying its first mover advantage.
AJ Bell’s Russ Mould warns that many investors buy tech stocks when earnings forecasts are rising, almost regardless of valuation. “When it works, it really works. But when it goes wrong, elevated valuations leave little or no downside protection.”
A Tesla correction was probably baked in after last year’s astonishing share price surge, and many investors will see this as an opportunity to load up at a reduced price.
Dramatic swings are to be expected when investing in disruptive technology, as Ms Wood at ARK makes clear.
Every week, she sends subscribers a commentary listing “stocks in our strategies that have appreciated or dropped more than 15 per cent in a day” during the week.
Her latest commentary, issued on Friday, showed seven stocks displaying extreme volatility, led by ExOne, a leader in binder jetting 3D printing technology. It jumped 24 per cent, boosted by news that fellow 3D printing specialist Stratasys had beaten fourth-quarter revenues and earnings expectations, seen as good news for the sector.
By contrast, computational drug and material discovery company Schrödinger fell 27 per cent after quarterly and full-year results showed its core software sales and drug development pipeline slowing.
Despite that setback, Ms Wood remains positive, arguing that its “medicinal chemistry platform offers a powerful and unique view into chemical space”.
In her weekly video view, she remains bullish, stating that: “We are on the right side of change, and disruptive innovation is going to deliver exponential growth trajectories for many of our companies, in fact, most of them.”
Ms Wood remains committed to Tesla as she expects global electric car sales to compound at an average annual rate of 82 per cent for the next five years.
She said these are so “enormous that some people find them unbelievable”, and argues that this scepticism, especially among institutional investors, “festers” and creates a great opportunity for ARK.
Only you can decide whether you are a believer or a festering sceptic. If it’s the former, then buckle up.
Company%20Profile
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The specs: 2019 Chevrolet Bolt EV
Price, base: Dh138,000 (estimate)
Engine: 60kWh battery
Transmission: Single-speed Electronic Precision Shift
Power: 204hp
Torque: 360Nm
Range: 520km (claimed)
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Company%20Profile
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