Shutdown could last 'months and months,' says Senate Republican

A top Senate Republican warned Thursday the nearly two-week partial shutdown could go on for “months and months” as a resolution to the impasse between President Trump and congressional Democrats over border security grows more elusive. Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, said that he is not optimistic that a deal could be struck between the two sides, after a White House meeting Wednesday between Trump and congressional Democratic leaders. Congressional leaders are expected to meet with Trump again on Friday. I'm thinking we might be in for a long haul here," Shelby told reporters at the Capitol. "I'm not optimistic now." Shelby added, "If we can ever get over this, I think then you've got another week. A new week, a new day, and so forth." But that seems increasingly unlikely, he said. "If we don't get over this — if this goes on for months and months, and it could, I hope not, then that might be a preview of coming attractions."

The comments come as the president, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., continue to haggle over border wall funding, with the president holding out for $5 billion. Pelosi, however, said Wednesday the House won't give Trump any money for a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. "We can go through the back and forth," Pelosi told the "Today" show. "No. How many more times can we say no? Nothing for the wall." The House is expected to vote Thursday on a bill that would fund the government but include no money for the border wall, as the president has demanded.

Meanwhile, Senate Republicans have grown exasperated with the lack of a breakthrough. "Things have gotten so off track here in the last couple three or four years. This is our third shutdown since I've been here," Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., told reporters. "I just want to get something done on this." Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said Wednesday negotiations could continue for weeks.

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/congress/shutdown-could-last-months-and-months-says-senate-republican

ZUCKED UP Mark Zuckerberg halts Facebook stock sale as value PLUMMETS over privacy scandals

BILLIONAIRE Mark Zuckerberg has halted the sale of his Facebook stock after the company's value collapsed last year. The controversial 34-year-old has seen his company fall from grace, and failed to sell a single share in the last three months of 2018.

Back in September 2017, Zuck promised to flog between 35million and 75million of his Facebook shares over 18 months. It was part of a promise to give away most of his fortune, which requires converting stocks to hard cash. Since then, he's sold about 30.4million shares worth roughly $5.6billion (£4.4billion). But Bloomberg says that the Facebook CEO has stopped selling shares after 2018 saw Facebook's worth plummet.

In just a few days in December, Facebook's stock price slumped by nearly $10billion (£7.4billion) after sealed court documents about the firm were released to the public. The secret files – which contain emails from billionaire boss Mark Zuckerberg – revealed the inner workings of Facebook, and the company's blatant disregard for user privacy. And between July and December, Facebook lost around £172billion, as the year saw Zuck's social network become the world's most notorious tech firm. At the time, it was equivalent to losing the combined value of Netflix (£94.2billion), Twitter (£20.5billion), Snapchat (£5.78billion) and Sony (£49.6billion). Facebook has also lost £92billion in value since the beginning of 2018.

The Harvard dropout came under fire after a New York Times exposé revealed that Facebook secretly let Netflix and Spotify read your private messages. The private partnerships were exposed through leaked Facebook files that highlight the company's ongoing failure to protect user's privacy. This leak also revealed that Facebook had given user data to Yandex – Russia's equivalent to Google – despite the company's alleged "direct line" to Kremlin spies.

A separate report from Gizmodo found that Facebook was still tracking your exact location, even if users told it not to. The sinister tactic sees Facebook skirt your settings to serve you location-based advertising, helping Zuckerberg make even more money. And late last year, Facebook admitted a major cybersecurity blunder: it had given app makers access to private photos from your smartphone's camera roll. These were photos that had never been posted to Facebook, but were sent to app makers without user permission. Facebook believes that around 6.8million users were exposed by the gaffe.

Facebook's streak of bad luck largely began in March, when the company was forced to admit it had given away user info without their consent. It led to Mark Zuckerberg being confronted by useless lawmakers at the US Congress, followed by an equally confused hearing at the EU. Matters were made worse when Facebook admitted in September that it had given hackers complete access to 30million user accounts – due to three different coding cock-ups on its website. Some spectators have suggested Mark Zuckerberg has "lost control" of Facebook, including Belgian and EU politician Guy Verhofstadt.

https://www.thesun.co.uk/tech/8112733/mark-zuckerberg-facebook-stock-selloff/

Apple entering a 'dark chapter' as iPhone sales are slowing

“This is definitely the most defining period for Tim Cook in his career as CEO,” said one analyst. Apple is entering the darkest chapter the company has faced since the release of the iPhone in 2007, according to analysts, as the company grapples with slowing sales and trade tensions with China.

Shares of Apple were down 10 percent on Thursday, one day after its chief executive, Tim Cook, delivered the “bombshell” announcement on Wednesday afternoon. In a letter to investors, Cook said unexpected slowing sales in emerging markets would be reflected in Apple’s revenue for the most recent quarter. He said Apple now expected revenue of $84 billion, down from guidance issued two months ago, when the company forecast revenue from $89 billion to $93 billion. “This is Apple’s darkest day in the iPhone era and it is definitely the most defining period for Tim Cook in his career as CEO,” Daniel Ives, managing director of equity research at Wedbush Securities, told NBC News. Ives said it’s too soon to declare whether the iPhone growth story is dead, but Apple’s decisions over the next few months, particularly around the design and pricing of the next iPhone, will be crucial as the company tries to bounce back. “While last night is a bitter pill to swallow and will pressure shares, we believe going forward this is an installed base story of 750 million active iPhones worldwide with 350 million of those in the current window of an upgrade opportunity over the next 12 to 18 months,” said Ives.

Several analysts also said Apple will need to produce 5G-compatible smartphones in 2019. The new, fifth-generation mobile network promises lightning-fast internet speeds and will be available on many new Android phones in 2019. “If Apple doesn't add 5G to its iPhones before 2020, it will be missing a huge opportunity to service its customers,” said Patrick Moorhead, principal analyst at Moor Insights & Strategy. “Every single premium Android handset maker will have 5G in 2019, many in the first half of 2019.” Apple said last quarter that it would no longer share the number of units sold of each of its products, including the iPhone. However, data from previous reports shows iPhone sales have been mostly flat over the past three years as more people opt to hold on to their smartphones, especially in the U.S., after carriers stopped offering them for $200.

Rod Hall, a managing director at Goldman Sachs, compared Apple to the fallen handset maker Nokia, which relied on customer upgrades to drive its business in an overly saturated market. “Beyond China, we don’t see strong evidence of a consumer slowdown heading into 2019 but we just flag to investors that we believe Apple’s replacement rates are likely much more sensitive to the macro now that the company is approaching maximum market penetration for the iPhone,” Hall said.

Apple continued to ride a wave of growth, driven by increased prices for premium iPhones and its strong services business, which includes the App Store, Apple Care and its cloud storage offering. As the company faces critical decisions in 2019, Ives said he thinks Apple can correct course and recover from its “black eye results.” “It's a dark chapter, but the final story hasn't been written,” he said.

https://www.nbcnews.com/business/business-news/apple-entering-dark-chapter-iphone-sales-are-slowing-n954221

>>4583274

I did read reports to that affect as well, China is hurting big time. Since they worked so hard to steal tech and other manufacturing goods for their own enrichment at the expense of their customers it seems fitting they should lose in this way. On the Nissan fire, that would surprise me one bit, I chimed the bell here a couple of times about the CEO being arrested for fraudulent activity. Culture of anything starts at the top..so it is quite plausible.

>>4583360

He has a spook look about him…

>>4583440

They all look spooky…All of them!