CAMACOl Cordialmente los invita a un Foro-Conferencia-Documental, 19 de Abril, 2016 @ 4 pm

SpaceX Successfully Lands Rocket on Drone Ship (BW)

Elon Musk's SpaceX successfully launched a rocket from Cape Canaveral, Fla., on Friday at 4:43 p.m. EDT. The mission, officially known as CRS-8, is the company's eighth cargo resupply mission to the International Space Station. The launch itself was largely routine for SpaceX: the real excitement began when the Falcon 9 completed its burn and landed upright on the drone ship for the first time.

This was the fifth attempt to recover the rocket's first stage on a drone ship—cheekily named Of Course I Still Love You—in the Atlantic Ocean. The company webcasts each of its launches, and young engineers provide running commentary. This time, however, the screams of joy in Hawthorne, California overrode the commentary. 

Live Stream:

SpaceX made history in December by successfully landing the first stage on land but had yet to complete the same goal on a ship bobbing in the ocean. Reusable rockets that land themselves—unlike the traditional model in which the rocket is left to burn up on reentry—are a critical aspect of reducing the cost to reach orbit. Musk has said that a fully and rapidly reusable rocket is the only way to enable humans to travel to and from Mars.SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon cargo capsule will carry 7,000 pounds of supplies, science experiments, and technology demonstrations to the orbiting lab, according to NASA. The launch marks SpaceX's first mission to the ISS since last June, when Falcon 9 blew apart 139 seconds after launch. An initial investigation into that mishap pointed to a two-foot-long, inch-thick strut in a liquid oxygen tank that snapped. 

SpaceX has said it expects to complete 18 launches in 2016, an ambitious target for a company that flew just six times last year.  

Tesla Says It Received More Than 325,000 Model 3 Reservations

• Response for the $1,000 reservations tops its expectations
• Company intends to boost production plans because of demand

Tesla Motors Inc. said it has received more than 325,000 reservations for the Model 3, far exceeding its expectations as customers line up to pre-order the $35,000 electric car more than a year ahead of when the more-affordable model is slated to hit the streets.

The pre-orders represent “about $14 billion in implied future sales, making this the single biggest one-week launch of any product ever,” the company said in a blog post Thursday. After Tesla got more than a quarter-million orders in the first three days, Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk had said even that number was at least twice what he had expected.

Musk revealed the Model 3 on March 31 at an event at Tesla’s design studio in Hawthorne, California. The rush of $1,000 reservations has buoyed Tesla shares while raising questions about how the company, which delivered just 50,658 vehicles in 2015, can crank up manufacturing at its Fremont, California, factory to produce cars in much higher volumes. The company has said it’s increasing production plans for the Model 3, without giving details.

“Tesla has always talked about making half a million cars by 2020,” said Alan Baum, an auto analyst at Baum & Associates in West Bloomfield, Michigan. “They can do this? Yes. Can they do this today? Probably not. Is it going to be more difficult because expectations are running so high? Yes. But they understand that, and they’ve learned from significant missteps with the launch of the Model X.”

Tesla fell 2 percent to $260.02 at 11:55 a.m. in New York, as the broader markets also declined. The shares had gained 16 percent from March 31 through Tuesday.

The crush of orders means Tesla has now taken in more cash from the Model 3 than its June 2010 IPO, which raised $226.1 million. The number of orders doesn’t equate to number of customers, because some people reserved more than one Model 3, and Tesla and SpaceX employees also got priority. Musk said on Twitter over the weekend that the average sale price, with options, probably will be closer to $42,000.

Customer deposits are fully refundable up to when the vehicle is put into production. The cash lets the Palo Alto, California-based automaker fund research and development projects, construction of its Nevada battery factory and an expansion of retail stores, service centers and the Supercharger network. Tesla held $283.4 million in customer deposits at the end of 2015, according to its recent annual report.

Accounting Treatment

“Model 3 reservations are treated the same way as Model S and Model X reservations were previously treated,” Tesla said in a statement. “They are accounted for on our balance sheet and can clearly be seen in our financial filings. They do not qualify as revenue.”

The Model 3 has a base price of $35,000 before a federal tax credit or state incentives. The $7,500 federal credit begins to phase out for a manufacturer’s vehicles when at least 200,000 are sold in the U.S. Tesla has said that when production begins, Model 3 deliveries will begin on the West Coast and move East before starting in markets outside the U.S.

“It is not possible to ship to all regions simultaneously because regulators in each part of the world have slightly different production requirements,” Tesla said in a March 21 blog post. “Staggering deliveries in this way also allows us to provide the best possible customer experience.”

Tesla said Monday that it delivered 14,820 Model S cars and Model X sport utility vehicles in the first quarter. The company reaffirmed plans to deliver 80,000 to 90,000 vehicles this year.

Who's in charge during a cyberattack? Pentagon doesn't know

A new government report criticizes the Defense Dept. for not clearly defining lead roles in the event of a cyberattack on the US.

A federal oversight agency has criticized the Defense Dept. for not spelling out exactly who takes charge in the event of a cyberattack against the US.

The report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) published earlier this week said that the Pentagon does "not clearly define its roles and responsibilities for cyber incidents."

In a situation where the US is attacked, the Defense Dept. would support Homeland Security, which would be the civilian agency leading the effort -- that much is clear.

But officials found that from there, it gets murky.

The problem stems from two sets of conflicting rules set out by two military divisions, and how they assist civil efforts to recover from a cyberattack. The US Northern Command says it would be the support civil command during an attack, whereas the US Central Command says it would be responsible.

"This absence has caused uncertainty about who in DOD would respond to support civil authorities in a cyber incident and how they would coordinate and conduct such a response," said the report.

According to the report, much of the confusion stems from the dual-status commander, who will be the ranking officer with authority over federal military and National Guard forces.

Case in point: a recent exercise "highlighted uncertainty" as to the responsibilities of the dual-status commander overseeing the response effort to a cyberattack. Officials at the US Northern Command told GAO officials that the commander didn't even have tactical control of cyber units that reported to US Cyber Command.

Because of that, the cyber units weren't even able to "log onto the network of the private entity that was used in the exercise."

The lack of clarity has the GAO concerned.

"The gap, and the uncertainty that results, could hinder the timeliness or effectiveness of critical Defense Dept. support to civil authorities during cyber-related emergencies," said the report's conclusion.

The report said that the Defense Dept. "cannot reasonably ensure" that it'll be able to effectively support civil agencies during a cyberattack, simply because of the bureaucracy involved.

Pentagon chiefs acknowledged the report but did not outline when it would fix the problems. As of January, the department didn't have an estimate to GAO officials for when the guidance will be finalized.

Panama Papers: a massive document leak reveals a global web of corruption and tax avoidance

Mossack Fonseca is not a household name, but the Panamanian law firm has long been well-known to the global financial and political elite, and thanks to a massive 2.6-terabyte leak of its confidential papers to the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists it's about to become much better known. A huge team of hundreds of journalists is poring over the documents they are calling the Panama Papers.

The firm's operations are diverse and international in scope, but they originate in a single specialty — helping foreigners set up Panamanian shell companies to hold financial assets while obscuring the identities of their real owners. Since its founding in 1977, it's expanded its interests outside of Panama to include more than 40 offices worldwide, helping a global client base work with shell companies not just in Panama but also the Bahamas, the British Virgin Islands, and other notorious tax havens around the world.

The documents provide details on some shocking acts of corruption in Russia, hint at scandalous goings-on in a range of developing nations, and may prompt a political crisis in Iceland.

But they also offer the most granular look ever at a banal reality that's long been hiding in plain sight. Even as the world's wealthiest and most powerful nations have engaged in increasingly complex and intensive efforts at international cooperation to smooth the wheels of global commerce, they have willfully chosen to allow the wealthiest members of Western society to shield their financial assets from taxation (and in many cases divorce or bankruptcy settlement) by taking advantage of shell companies and tax havens.

If Panama or the Cayman Islands were acting to undermine the integrity of the global pharmaceutical patent system, the United States would stop them. But the political elite of powerful Western nations have not acted to stop relatively puny Caribbean nations from undermining the integrity of the global tax system — largely because Western economic elites don't want them to.

What's a shell company? Why would someone want one?

Sometimes a person or a well-known company or institution wants to buy things or own assets in a way that obscures who the real buyer is.

The typical reason for this is a kind of routine corporate secrecy. Apple, for example, appears to have created a shell company called SixtyEight Research that journalists believe to be a front for its interest in building a car. Since Apple happens to be the most covered company on the planet, this hasn't been incredible effective — and when SixtyEight Research staff showed up at an auto industry conference, everybody noticed.

But in general, companies don't like to tip their hand to what they are doing, and the use of shell companies to undertake not-ready-for-public-announcement projects can be a useful tool.

Shell companies are often used for simple privacy reasons. Real estate transactions, for example, are generally a matter of public record. So an athlete, actor, or other celebrity who wants to buy a house without his name and address ending up in the papers might want to pay a lawyer to set up a shell company to do the purchasing.

Okay, but how about the shady stuff?

As is generally the case in life, secrecy can have illegitimate purposes as well. This is particularly true for shell companies set up in international centers of banking secrecy that offer a level of anonymity and obscurity that goes beyond simply making it hard to look up the real owner's name online.

Your soon-to-be-ex-wife cannot seize half of the money in an account that she and her lawyers don't know exists and can't prove that you own, for example. Nor can your creditors seize such an account in a bankruptcy proceeding. Nor can the government levy estate taxes on it when you die and pass it on to your kids. In all those circumstances, a Panamanian company that you secretly control and that holds stocks, bonds, and other financial assets on your behalf could be the ideal vehicle.

By the same token, if you have made a bunch of money illegally (taking bribes, trafficking drugs, etc.) you need to do something with the money that won't attract the attention of the authorities or the media. A secret offshore shell company is perfect. Not only does it help you avoid scrutiny in real time, but if you are found out its assets can't be taken from you if you have to flee the jurisdiction or even serve jail time.

But even though various criminal money-laundering schemes are the sexiest possible use of shell companies, the day-to-day tax dodging is what really pays the bills. As a manager of offshore bank accounts told me years ago, "People think of banking secrecy as all about terrorists and drug smugglers, but the truth is there are a lot of rich people who don't want to pay taxes." And the system persists because there are a lot of politicians in the West who don't particularly want to make them.

What do the Panama Papers show?

As you would imagine, there is quite a lot in the 2.6 terabytes. Here are a few of the highlights the team found, with links to the full stories where you can read the details:

Vladimir Putin's inner circle appears to control about $2 billion worth of offshore assets.

The prime minister of Iceland secretly owned the debt of failed Icelandic banks while he was involved in political negotiations over their fate.

The family of Pakistan's prime minister owns millions of dollars' worth of real estate via offshore accounts.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko pledged to sell his Ukrainian business interests during his campaign, but appears instead to have transferred them to an offshore company he controls.

The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists has a full profile of political figures and their relatives named in the Panama Papers for your reading pleasure.

But though political corruption is fun and newsy, the document dump also features a leaked memorandum from a Mossack Fonseca partner revealing the more boring truth that "[n]inety-five per cent of our work coincidentally consists in selling vehicles to avoid taxes."

How much money is there in offshore tax havens?

A big part of the idea, of course, is to make it hard for anyone to know for sure.

But Gabriel Zucman, an economics professor at UC Berkley, has made the most detailed study of the question for his book The Hidden Wealth of Nations, and estimates that it totals at least $7.6 trillion. That's upward of 8 percent of all the world's financial wealth, and it's growing fast. Zucman estimates that offshore wealth has surged about 25 percent over the past five years.

Much of that reflects "new money" from China and other developing nations whose citizens to an extent have legitimate fears about political stability and the rule of law.

But some of it is simple avarice. The name of Ian Cameron, the late father of British Prime Minister David Cameron, shows up in the Panama Papers, for example. Mossack Fonseca helped him set up his investment company Blairmore Holdings (named after his family's ancestral country estate) in the British Virgin Islands, where, marketing material assured investors, the company "will not be subject to United Kingdom corporation tax or income tax on its profits."

This particular kind of move is perfectly legal and doesn't even involve any secrecy. It is entirely typical for investment companies whose employees all work or reside in New York, London, or Connecticut to be domiciled for tax purposes in someplace like the Cayman Islands. Since these companies don't own much in the way of physical assets, they can be officially located anywhere in the world and naturally choose to locate in jurisdictions where they won't need to pay taxes.

Why doesn't anyone do anything about this?

To an extent, things have been done.

First the war on drugs and then, more recently, the war on terror led to meaningful political pressure on countries around the world to alter their banking practices so as to reduce global money laundering. More recently, the European Union has successfully pressured Switzerland to change its laws to make it easier for the EU to catch people engaged in criminal tax evasion.

But there's a big difference between tax evasion — illegally refusing to pay taxes you owe, and then taking advantage of secret accounts to try to hide the money and get away with it — and tax avoidance, which is hiring clever people to help you find and exploit legal loopholes to minimize your tax bill.

Incorporating your hedge fund in a country with no corporate income tax even though all your fund's employees and investors live in the United States is perfectly legal. So is, in most cases, setting up a Panamanian shell company to own and manage most of your family's fortune.

Tax avoidance is an inevitable feature of any tax system, but the reason this particular form of avoidance grows and grows without bounds is that powerful politicians in powerful countries have chosen to let it happen. As the global economy has become more and more deeply integrated, powerful countries have created economic "rules of the road" that foreign countries and multinational corporations must follow in order to gain lucrative market access.

Establishing some kind of minimum global standard of taxation of corporate and investment income hasn't been done, because it hasn't been a political priority. In the United States, in particular, the Republican Party fights quite hard for the view that high levels of taxation on rich people and investment income are economically ruinous, so there isn't the kind of institutional mobilization that exists around drug trafficking or possible terrorism financing.

The leak of the Panama Papers is significant in part because of the specific information the documents contain, but more broadly because they draw attention to what "everyone knows" and may put public pressure on the powers that be to do something about it.

¿Qué sabemos de la Moral y la Ética? (Maestro Edwin Conrado Rivera, MPH )

Mestrio Plutarco fue un historiador, biógrafo y ensayista griego.

Más moralista que filósofo e historiador,  fue uno de los últimos grandes representantes del helenismo, cuando ya tocaba a su fin, y uno de los grandes de la literatura helénica de todos los tiempos.

Los restos supervivientes de su trabajo se recopilan bajo el título de Moralia  (traducidos como Obras morales y de costumbres). El título no se lo dio el propio Plutarco, sino el monje bizantino Máximo Planudes, que recogió en el siglo XIII diversos trabajos dispersos del autor. Es ésta una colección diversa de setenta y ocho capítulos sobre ética.

Moral y ética

Varios autores consideran como sinónimos a estos términos debido a que sus orígenes etimológicos son similares, aunque otros no consideran a la moral y la ética como lo mismo, como es el caso del filósofo español Gustavo Bueno.

Algunas posturas conciben la ética como el conjunto de normas sugeridas por un filósofo o proveniente de una religión. En tanto que a la «moral» se le designa el grado de aceptación que los individuos le otorgan a las normas existentes en el grupo social.  

No todos acuerdan con dicha distinción, y por eso es que en un sentido práctico, ambos términos se usan indistintamente, y a menudo no se distingue entre los dos conceptos, haciéndolos equivalentes.

En este escrito nos vamos a concentrar en los diferentes significados de la ética y como aplica a nuestros tiempos.

Ramas de la ética

Meta ética - La meta ética es una rama de la ética cuyo centro de interés es el análisis del lenguaje moral.

Ética normativa - Las teorías de la filosofía ética o moral se pueden distinguir de acuerdo a los criterios de sus bases para la determinación del bien moral. El bien moral puede ser determinado por:

•      Las consecuencias (ética teleológica) consecuencialismo;
•     Disposiciones de comportamiento, rasgos de carácter y virtudes   (ética de la    virtud);
• ·     La intención del actor (ética disposición);
• ·     Objetivos hacia hechos morales, como objetivo de las evaluaciones morales           sobre la propiedad o la acción (ética deontológica);
• ·    Optimización de los intereses o de las partes interesadas (de preferencia),   la  ética utilitarista, de la felicidad (eudaimonía), o del bienestar.

Consecuencialismo - El consecuencialismo sostiene que la moralidad de una acción depende sólo de sus consecuencias (el fin justifica los medios). El consecuencialismo no se aplica sólo a las acciones, pero éstas son el ejemplo más prominente. Creer que la moralidad se trata sólo de generar la mayor cantidad de felicidad posible, o de aumentar la libertad  lo más posible, o de promover la supervivencia de nuestra especie.                      

Una manera de clasificar a los distintos tipos de consecuencialismos es a partir de las situaciones que se deben tener en cuenta cuando se consideran las consecuencias de las acciones.

Esto da lugar a tres tipos de consecuencialismo:

• ·       Egoísmo moral: una acción es moralmente correcta si produce consecuencias        positivas para las personas.
• ·       Altruismo moral: una buena acción es aquella que produce el bien de los demás,    sin considerar a la persona.
• ·    Utilitarismo: una acción es moralmente correcta si predominan los resultados      favorables sobre los indeseables para todos. Por tanto, la mejor acción posible es  aquella que produce el mayor  bien para el mayor número de personas.

 Las éticas teleológicas es un grupo de teorías éticas que emana deberes u obligaciones morales que buscan lograr un fin último, que presume bueno o deseable.                           También, se le conoce como ética consecutiva, ya que se basa el juicio de los actos y sus consecuencias, y se opone a las éticas deontológicas, que sostienen que la moralidad de una acción es independiente del bien o mal generado a partir de ella.

La deontología es la teoría normativa según la cual existen ciertas acciones que deben ser realizadas, y otras que no deben ser realizadas, más allá de las consecuencias positivas o negativas que puedan traer. Es decir, hay ciertos deberes, u obligaciones, que deben ser cumplidos más allá de sus consecuencias.

Ética de la virtud- La ética de la virtud es una teoría de Platón y, de modo más articulado, a Aristóteles, según la cual una acción es éticamente correcta.

Por ejemplo, para el utilitarismo hay que ayudar a los necesitados porque eso aumenta el bienestar general, para la deontología hay que hacerlo porque es nuestro deber, para la ética de virtudes, hay que ayudar a los necesitados porque hacerlo sería caritativo y benevolente.

Ética aplicada - La ética aplicada es la parte de la ética que se ocupa de estudiar cuestiones morales concretas y controversiales. Por ejemplo, algunos objetos de estudio de la ética aplicada son el aborto inducido, la eutanasia y los derechos de los animales.    

Algunas de estas cuestiones se agrupan por similitudes y son estudiadas por sub-disciplinas:

• ·         La bioética estudia las controversias morales que son producto de los avances     en la biología y la medicina.
• ·         La deontología profesional se ocupa tanto de buscar justificación para valores        morales que deberían guiar a los profesionales, como de estudiar los valores          que de hecho guían a los profesionales.

En el primer sentido la deontología profesional es una disciplina normativa y filosófica. En el segundo sentido, se trata más bien de una disciplina descriptiva y por lo tanto científica. La deontología profesional también cuenta con sub-disciplinas como la ética médica, la ética de negocios y la ética de la ingeniería.

 La ética ambiental se ocupa de la relación ética entre los seres humanos y                el medio ambiente.

Quizás las dos preguntas fundamentales de esta disciplina sean: ¿Qué deberes tienen los seres humanos hacia el medio ambiente, y por qué? En general, la respuesta a la primera pregunta es una consecuencia de la respuesta a la segunda.  Distintas respuestas o aproximaciones a respuestas han dado lugar a distintas   éticas ambientales.

·         La ética militar es un conjunto de prácticas y discursos que sirven para orientar a las fuerzas armadas y a sus integrantes para que actúen conforme a unos valores y unas normas determinadas, y para mostrar  al conjunto de la ciudadanía esos valores de referencia.

·     La ética económica se ocupa de las relaciones éticas que deberían guiar las relaciones económicas entre los seres humanos y el efecto que tales normas tendrían sobre la economía de nuestras sociedades. De hecho, gran parte de los economistas que desarrollaron la teoría moderna de la economía partieron de bases éticas.                    

El ejemplo más cercano es el utilitarismo desarrollado primero como doctrina moral y luego usado para la teoría del valor neoclásica.

La Ética de los Negocios - La ética de los negocios (a veces denominada ética corporativa o ética empresarial ) es un tipo de ética aplicada o ética profesional   o de los negocios. Comprende todos los aspectos de la conducta de los negocios y es relevante en cuanto a las conductas individuales de las personas como la de las organizaciones en su conjunto.

La ética en los negocios es una rama de la filosofía que estudia lo que es moralmente correcto o incorrecto, y de cómo se aplican estos estándares en las instituciones, las organizaciones y el comportamiento en los negocios.

Pasos para tomar una decisión ética

1.                  Describa la situación sobre la decisión a tomar

·         ¿Sería esta decisión o situación dañina hacia una persona o grupo de personas?

·         ¿Esta decisión involucra una elección entre una buena y una mala opción, o quizás entre dos “buenas” o dos “malas”?

·         ¿Éste problema es ilegal o ineficiente, y en qué forma?

2.                  Obtenga los hechos: Obtenga la evidencia correcta y real

·¿Cuáles son los hechos relevantes del caso?   ¿Cuáles hechos no se conocen

¿Puedo aprender más de la situación?  ¿Conozco lo suficiente para tomar una decisión?

· ¿Cuáles individuos y grupos han contribuido en el resultado? ¿Existen otras consideraciones?                                                                                  

¿Por qué?

·¿Cuáles son las opciones para actuar?                                                                                    

¿Se ha consultado con todas las personas o grupos relevantes? ¿He identificado opciones creativas?

3.                  Evalué las diferentes acciones y sus alternativas:

·     ¿Cuál opción producirá más bien y menos daño?

·    ¿Cuál de las opciones respeta mejor los derechos de todos los involucrados?

·     ¿Cuál de las opciones trata a las personas con igualdad y oportunidad?

·     ¿Cuál de las opciones ayuda mejor a la comunidad como una unidad,     y no solo a algunos miembros?

·    ¿Cuál de las opciones me permite actuar como la persona que deseo          y quiero ser?

4.                  Tome la decisión

·   Basado en la mejor alternativa, haga un plan de acción para poner en función su decisión.

  5.                  Reflexione sobre los resultados

·    Una vez implementado el plan de acción, lleve un registro de los resultados para luego poder evaluarlos sistemáticamente.

El Maestro Edwin Conrado Rivera, MPH – “Tu Amigo del Conocimiento” es Adiestrador Internacional, Coach y Autor del libro:  La Diabetes: El Árbol de las Enfermedades”.   Comuníquese con él en: EdwinConradoRivera@gmail.com

 Marzo 31, 2016

FTC sues VW over false clean diesel claims

• Vea esta página en español

Being green isn’t always easy. So when Volkswagen (VW) said it developed technology that greatly reduces emissions of harmful nitrogen oxides (NOx) in its TDI “Clean Diesel” vehicles, environmentally-conscious consumers responded favorably, and sales of TDI vehicles in the U.S. increased substantially.

VW extensively promoted its “Clean Diesel” vehicles as environmentally friendly, having low emissions, and being legally compliant. Here’s a small sampling:

• The Volkswagen Jetta’s clean diesel technology “reduces nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions by up to 90% by making internal engine modifications and implementing a NOx storage catalytic converter.”
• Audi TDI “Clean Diesel” vehicles offer "fewer NOx emissions than comparable gasoline engines."
• “Clean Diesel” vehicles “meet the strictest EPA standards in the U.S.”

The FTC is challenging a number of claims VW made about its diesel engine automobiles. Specifically, under its Volkswagen and Audi brands, Volkswagen sold or leased more than 550,000 vehicles containing concealed, illegal “defeat devices.” The devices contained software that hid the fact that the vehicles’ emissions greatly exceeded government emissions standards. The devices were programmed to turn on pollution controls during emissions testing and then turn them off when the cars were on the road. The government alleges that the cars emit as much as 40 times the allowable amount of NOx, which contributes to smog, acid rain, water quality deterioration, childhood asthma, respiratory ailments, and premature death.

So even though Volkswagen extensively marketed these vehicles as “clean” and legally compliant, the truth is, they are neither. The FTC says that widespread deception violated the FTC Act.

In addition to the FTC’s action, EPA and DOJ have sued VW for violations of the Clean Air Act, and, along with the FTC, are working on solutions for consumers. As soon as we know more, we’ll be right here to tell you more. So stay tuned for updates.