Too Young to Fail

17-year-old Laura Deming doesn't drive and can't vote. Is now her chance to change the world? 

Thinking ahead: Academic prodigy Laura Deming left school and moved to Silicon Valley after winning a $100,000 grant to start a business.
Jessica Leber

Laura Deming was studying for finals in a crowded MIT reading room last April when her phone rang. That's when she learned she may never again take another exam.

Deming, only 17, had just been chosen by Silicon Valley billionaire Peter Thiel for a high-profile experiment: Put $100,000 apiece in the hands of 24 entrepreneurial teenagers and give them free rein to pursue innovative ideas.

The condition? Deming had to leave her studies and classmates, and vow to stay out of college during the two-year fellowship.

Thiel, who is PayPal's co-founder and holder of two Stanford University degrees, says higher education today is in a "crazy bubble" that, like a bad mortgage, saddles students with tuition debt often for little in return. A vocal libertarian, Thiel, 44, takes the view that a college degree can be harmful to innovators because of the conservative, career-driven mindset it imparts.



"Youth have just as much intelligence and talent as older people," says James O'Neill, head of the Thiel Foundation and managing director at Thiel's investment fund, Clarium Capital. "They also haven't been beaten down into submission by operating within an institution for a long time."

Thiel has attracted critics for his anti-higher-education message. After all, not every young person is like Deming, a home-schooled prodigy who learned calculus at 11 and sought experience in a cutting-edge genetics lab at 12. That's where she first had a chance to explore the science of extending the human lifespan, an idea she's now hoping to turn into a business.

For Deming and her cohort, chosen from more than 400 applicants, the publicity around Thiel's endorsement has been followed by some quick successes. Eden Full, 19, won a $260,000 social entrepreneurship award for her efforts to improve solar energy in developing countries. Dale Stephens, 20, landed a Penguin deal for his book Hacking Your Education.

Still, the foundation embraces the startup ethic that failure is inevitable, even desirable. So does John Deming, Laura's father, an investor who moved the family to Boston when his daughter enrolled at MIT at age 14: "What I say to Laura is 'The biggest problem you have so far, kid, is you haven't failed yet.'"

After packing up her things at Sigma Kappa sorority, Deming moved across the country to a tiny room in a shared house in Palo Alto. Most days, she gets up before sunrise and heads out on foot to catch a commuter train to San Francisco, where she is talking to investors about a venture capital firm she wants to create to back research on new therapies for age-related diseases.

Because of SEC rules, Deming says she can't go into details about the firm. But she jokes that one question now is whether to wait until her 18th birthday so that she can legally sign up investors or ask her father to do it. "The cool thing about Silicon Valley is that, though people might be skeptical of youth, they don't actually know that you're not smart enough or capable enough to make it work," she says.

With startup success stories tempting undergraduates to quit, universities have raced to add entrepreneurship to their curricula. Stanford has StartX, an accelerator for student-run startups. Similarly, last year UC Berkeley created FounderSchool, which prepares students to raise venture money. James G. Boyle, managing director of the Entrepreneurial Institute at Yale University (which lost four undergraduate students to Thiel fellowships) agrees that more colleges should help kids start companies, but he says that most students benefit from an environment where they can test ideas without betting their future.

Deming doesn't know yet whether she'll ever go back to finish her college degree. "The funny part is I think I'll miss studying for exams," says Deming. "It's the sort of thing that was very fun—like a sudoku puzzle or a crossword puzzle can be fun. But I thought that I could learn a lot more about the biotech industry and business by diving right into it."

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Make money from Facebook IPO!

Tan: How I made money from Facebook

By JAGDEV SINGH SIDHU jagdev@thestar.com.my

PETALING JAYA: For a man who does not have a Facebook account, Tan Sri Vincent Tan surely knows the value of the Internet giant.

“I may have one later,” quips Tan on opening an account but he will be counting the windfall from the 3.5 million shares his company, MOL Global Bhd, owns in Facebook once the company is listed on either the New York Stock Exchange or Nasdaq.

Based on an assumption that Facebook shares start trading at US$40 post-initial public offering, Tan’s MOL Global stands to pocket RM420mil for its shares.

Speaking to StarBizWeek, Tan recollects how he came about getting his hands on a tiny but valuable stake in Facebook.

Tan: ‘We don’t want to hold them for too long.’

 

Friendster was among the first social networking websites. It preceded MySpace and Facebook. Starting operations in 2003, Friendster found the going tough and lost money for years.

The company continued to raise but spent money aggressively. In running up losses, Friendster had, nonetheless, built up a base of 140 million registered users, of which 40 million were active.

Tan said the losses then stemmed from Friendster not monetising its user base. Finding it hard to make money from its users, it was losing an average of US$10mil a year.

Eventually, the patience of the owners and investors in Friendster wore thin and they wanted to exit the business. Friendster then called for a process to sell the business and now Friendster CEO, Ganesh Kumar Bangah, who was then working with Tan, informed him that Friendster was for sale.

“I asked for the numbers and found that 140 million registered users and 40 million active users was interesting. If we could make them spend some money, maybe Friendster would be a good investment. Of course, the downside was the business will continue to lose US$10mil a year,” he said.

Tan said the owners of Friendster initially wanted US$100mil for the business but with losses mounting, he knew no one would pay that much for the company. “At that time, Facebook wanted to buy Friendster’s patents but Facebook was willing to pay US$10mil cash and later increased it to US$20mil cash.”

Tan was made to understand then that the owners felt that taking US$20mil only to lose US$10mil a year will soon see that cash vanish and then decided to accept US$40mil for Friendster but wanted a quick sale. “They gave the potential buyers about a week to decide. Many people were looking, including large firms from China and Japan, at Friendster.



“They were much larger than MOL but with the owners of Friendster needing a fast sale, I told Ganesh to do a quick due diligence on Friendster.

“We took two days for the due diligence and made a bid. We said since Friendster owed people US$2mil, we offered US$38mil.

“With other potential buyers doing their due diligence, I told them that if they accepted US$38mil, we will do the deal right away. They accepted our proposal,” said Tan.

After buying Friendster in 2008, Tan then turned his attention to Facebook, which remained interested in Friendster’s patents and whose offer of US$20mil cash for the technology rights was still on the table. “We had a conference call with the people at Facebook. I accepted their price but I wanted shares.”

Facebook officials told him that Mark Zuckerberg, the boss of Facebook, did not want to dilute the shares in the company but Tan stood firm and said “if there was no shares, forget it”.

Tan insisted on getting shares in Facebook because he felt the company will be big in the future. Finally, Zuckerberg agreed to a share exchange for the patents and Tan got his 700,000 shares. His shares have grown to 3.5 million following a 5-for-1 split in Facebook’s shares before the IPO process.

Tan did not leave Friendster to languish but devised a plan to get the social networking website to breakeven point. He closed the US, Singapore and Australia offices to cut cost and began rebuilding the company.

This year, Friendster has stopped the bleeding and Tan felt the company has become “quite valuable”.

“The number of active users on Friendster has fallen from 40 million to four million but these four million spend money with us. We put games and all kind of things on the website and they spend money. If they didn’t, we cannot monetise the business,” he said.

Potentially, Tan values his Internet business at around RM1bil. It does business in Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia and India and is trying to get into Vietnam and many other countries.

MOL makes money from points people buy to play online games. It is also a payments gateway and is a payment partner for Facebook and Zynga, which is the creator of the hugely popular Farmville.

Tan said business models employed by companies such as Zynga, instead of relying on advertising revenue, was how large sums of money can be made from the Internet.

“People play and buy cows and tractors for their game. It’s amazing why people pay so much for that and I cannot imagine it.

“I tell my kids ‘you don’t play Farmville. If you want to farm, you can go to Bukit Tinggi. I will give you a real farm’,” he laughs.

Will he hold or sell his Facebook shares?

“We will see where it goes,” said Tan. “We will probably sell them for our business. We don’t want to hold them for too long but will see where the shares go after the IPO.”

At any price, the Facebook shares Tan owns has been hugely rewarding and the profit from the shares means the Friendster acquisition was paid for plus a lot extra profit on the side. “We were lucky,” he said.

So where does this investment rank among the many that Tan has executed in his corporate life?

“It’s one of the good ones but none can beat DiGi,” he said. “DiGi was my best investment and I should have stayed with it. I sold when DiGi had a market capitalisation of RM5bil to RM6bil. Today, the company is worth some RM31bil.

“That’s the big one that got away,” he lamented.

Vincent Tan awaits Facebook IPO windfall

By CHOONG EN HAN han@thestar.com.my

 His stake in the social networking service company may be worth RM420m

PETALING JAYA: Tan Sri Vincent Tan is definitely going to “like” the much anticipated Facebook Inc initial public offering (IPO) as his stake in the world's largest social networking service company could be worth as much as RM420mil.

MOL Global Bhd, which is controlled by Tan, is said to have 3.5 million shares in Facebook and assuming the IPO price is set at US$40 a piece, this would translate to US$140mil (RM420mil), and even more after the listing. sources said.

However, the amount is still an estimated value as Facebook has yet to reveal its share price information and its valuation is still speculative.

Facebook has been discussing raising as much as US$10bil, making the IPO the biggest Internet or technology IPO the market has ever seen.

“With the outstanding shares of Facebook of about 1.88 billion, the stake of MOL does not even come close to 1%,” said the source.

Given the share base of Facebook, MOL Global's stake represents about 0.19% of the social networking service.

MOL Global is currently the payment partner for Facebook, as well as with game developer Zynga, which made its name through popular social games such as Farmville.

MOL Global first got its hands on the stake in Facebook in 2010 when it sold off the patents of Friendster, the world's first social networking site, to Facebook.

As part of the deal, it received 700,000 shares in Facebook which subsequently increased to 3.5 million shares last year after Facebook initiated a 5-for-1 split of the company's shares.

MOL Global made global headlines when it acquired Friendster for US$39mil in 2008, after winning the bid in an open tender against Chinese game and instant messaging company Tencent and other bidders.

According to regulatory filings for the US IPO, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg currently has a 28.4% stake in his company, with about 533.8 million shares.

The company said it conducted its own valuation of its stock at the end of each quarter, and as of Dec 31, it had determined its shares to be worth US$29.73 a piece.

In 2011, Facebook pocketed about US$1bil on a revenue of US$3.7bil with over 845 million monthly active users. In 2010, it made US$606mil.

The company's main revenue are derived from advertising, while another US$557mil came from payments, with most of the non-advertising funds coming from social-gaming partner Zynga.

M'sians to benefit from facebook IPO windfall

A FEW weeks ago, the fortunes of 70 households in an isolated farming village in Spain changed forever.
Initially the residents of Sodeto wanted to give Spain's huge Christmas lottery, known as El Gordo, a miss, because they were facing tough times due to the economic downturn and a severe drought.

But they bought tickets anyway out of loyalty to the homemakers' association and they hit the jackpot. Some of the farmers and unemployed people became instant millionaires.

Everyone in town had a share except for one man, who was apparently overlooked. Sadly, he will never find out what it takes to make a bet.

That brings me to the topic of Facebook.

Facebook is a social networking company that has changed the lives of many, and perhaps, destroyed some too. But who would have thought that Mark Zuckerberg and his college roommates could have created such a company way back in 2004 that could be raking revenues of more than US$3.7bil today.

Facebook started as a site that allowed students to interact via the Web, but later made accessible to everyone, thereby intensifying competition with sites such as MySpace and Friendster, founded two years before.

Going public: A ‘like’ sign is seen at the main entrance of Facebook’s headquarters in Menlo Park, California. Zuckerberg (inset) says the scale of the technology and infrastructure that must be built is unprecedented — AFP

Eight years later, it is going for a listing on the New York Stock Exchange or Nasdaq. The company is considering a valuation of US$75bil to US$100bil. Going forward, its biggest challenge is about keeping the advertising momentum because advertising is its key source of revenue.

Today, Facebook has over 800 million users and the numbers are growing every day because Facebook has created enough buzz that even a seven-year-old or a 60-year-old wants to get connected on Facebook.

Out of all this buzz, who would have thought that a Malaysian company MOL Global Ltd would have something to cheer about as Facebook goes for listing.

This smallish company is making headlines like never before.

MOL Global is majority owned by billionaire Tan Sri Vincent Tan and MOL group CEO Ganesh Kumar Bangah holds just over 10% in the company.

Tan is a well-known billionaire who has made a lot of bets, some have made him richer, others just fizzled out. Today, his empire spans across several sectors and several countries and he continues to make more bets to expand it further.

The story of MOL Global began in 2000, during the dot.com era.

He bought over his brother Tan Sri Danny Tan's company, Dijaya Corp, and renamed it MOL.Com Bhd. Like a venture capitalist, he invested in over 30 Internet companies, including Bangah's MOL Access. Of the 30, perhaps two or three grew.

MOL Access is involved in online games and was subsequently listed on the Mesdaq board in 2003, but privatised in 2008.

In late 2009, MOL.Com bought over Friendster for US$39mil and, in the same year, MOL Global was set up in Singapore. Today MOL Global owns Friendster and the MOL Access Portal.

In July 2010, Facebook forged a partnership with MOL Global for the patents of Friendster. For that, MOL Global received 700,000 shares in Facebook stock and that explains why it has a stake in Facebook.

Today, MOL Global's stake could be potentially worth US$140mil on assumption that Facebook may be valued at US$40 a share but any gain can only be realised if the shares are sold and there is a capital repayment or dividend payout.

Analysts are comparing Google's valuation with that of Facebook. The world's favourite search engine went public in 2004 and Google's shares were priced at US$85 at issue but are now at US$583. Can Facebook reach that level?

That aside, a question to ponder is, had Tan pushed the growth of Friendster, would Friendster's position be like Facebook today?

Whatever, only Tan knows if this was his best bet ever. Who will ever know?
Deputy news editor B.K. Sidhu hopes Zuckerberg will know how to reward the 845 million Facebook users who have helped him get his biggest break in his life and if he needs lessons on goodwill, then he should read up how Maxis Bhd rewarded some of its users when the company was listed and re-listed.

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Facebook to file US$5 billion IPO 

Facebook's CEO to keep iron grip after IPO; how to make money could change; profit tied to game giant Zynga

Facebook's log-on screen. (Reuters)

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Facebook unveiled plans for the biggest ever Internet IPO that could raise as much as $10 billion, but made it clear CEO Mark Zuckerberg will exercise almost complete control over the company, leaving investors with little say.

The Harvard dropout, who launched the social networking phenomenon from his dorm room, will control 56.9 percent of the voting shares in a company expected to be valued at up to $100 billion when it goes public. Facebook says it has 845 million active monthly users.

Wednesday's long-awaited filing kicks off a process that will culminate in Silicon Valley's biggest coming-out party since the heyday of the dotcom boom and bust.

In its filing Facebook says it is seeking to raise $5 billion, but that is a figure used to calculate registration fees among others and analysts estimate it could tap investors for $10 billion.



That would value the company at $100 billion, dwarfing storied tech giants such as Hewlett Packard Co, while validating the explosive growth worldwide of social media as communication and entertainment.

Zuckerberg's economic control of about 28 percent of the shares would be worth $28 billion at a $100 billion valuation, ranking him as the fourth-richest American.

The 27-year-old's ownership position means Facebook, a company dissected in 2010's Oscar-winning "The Social Network", will not need to appoint a majority of independent directors or set up board committees to oversee compensation and other matters.

The company's ownership structure and bylaws go against shareholder-friendly corporate governance practices put in place in the United States after years of investor activism.

As Facebook states in its prospectus, Zuckerberg will "control all matters submitted to stockholders for vote, as well as the overall management and direction of our company."

Zuckerberg struck deals with several Facebook investors that granted him voting rights over their shares in all or most situations. Those included Yuri Milner's DST Global, venture capital firm The Founders Fund, and entities affiliated with Technology Crossover Ventures, the IPO filing shows.

Google Inc's Sergey Brin and Larry Page retained control of the search giant through similar arrangements and the Sulzbergers did much the same at the New York Times.

"Zuckerberg, at the time, probably had his choice of investors," said Steven Kaplan, a professor at University of Chicago's Booth School of Business, who researches venture capital and corporate governance. "He basically had the ability to say 'my way or the highway.'"

"The downside of doing this is that the value of Facebook may be slightly lower than it would be if he were not retaining control."

Facebook could make its market debut in the middle of the year based on the usual timetable of IPOs.

Its IPO prospectus shows that Facebook generated $3.71 billion in revenue and made $1 billion in net profit last year, up 65 percent from the $606 million it made in 2010.

"We often talk about inventions like the printing press and the television," Zuckerberg said in a letter accompanying the documents. "Today, our society has reached another tipping point."

"The scale of the technology and infrastructure that must be built is unprecedented."

Facebook appointed Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan as its lead underwriters. Other bookrunners include Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Barclays Capital and Allen & Co.

Zuckerberg agreed to cut his compensation from $1.48 million last year to $1 effective January 1, 2013, following the example of Apple founder Steve Jobs.

Facebook's chief operating officer and Zuckerberg's top lieutenant, Sheryl Sandberg, earned $30.8 million in total compensation last year.



^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Overview of the company: http://link.reuters.com/rev36s

User growth over the years: http://link.reuters.com/mut36s

Bankers fees -- how low? http://link.reuters.com/fep36s

Top 10 global IPOs: http://link.reuters.com/myn36s

The Zynga factor: http://link.reuters.com/paf65s

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

DOTCOM MANIA?

Facebook's growing popularity has pressured entrenched Internet companies from Yahoo to Google Inc. In 2011, the social network overtook Yahoo to become the top provider of online display ads in the United States by revenue, industry research firm eMarketer says.

A $10 billion IPO would be the fourth-largest in U.S. history after Visa Inc, General Motors, and AT&T Wireless, Thomson Reuters data shows.

The $5 billion figure in Wednesday's prospectus was an initial, reference figure -- a basis for registration fees, among other things -- and could change based on investor demand.

The prospectus said 85 percent of Facebook's 2011 revenue was derived from advertising. Social-gaming company Zynga, creator of Farmville, accounted for 12 percent of Facebook's revenue last year.

The IPO will dwarf any recent debuts of Internet companies, such as Zynga, LinkedIn Corp, Groupon Inc and Pandora Media Inc.

Their IPOs had mixed receptions. The last debut, from Zynga, closed 5 percent below its IPO price during its first trading day in December.

Google raised just shy of $2 billion in 2004, while Groupon last year tapped $700 million and Zynga $1 billion.

THE HACKER WAY

Facebook aims to be more attractive to potential large advertisers. It has improved its ad targeting capabilities as it collects user data through new features such as the Timeline, said George John, founder of Rocket Fuel, a digital marketing company.

Advertising revenue increased 69 percent in 2011 from 2010, and its average revenue per ad increased 18 percent.

"As Facebook gathers more and more users' time and data, it makes sense for advertisers to get more serious about allocating more budget to Facebook," he said.

In its prospectus, Facebook revealed an effective 2011 tax rate of 41 percent and warned it could climb in 2012. That rate surpasses the average corporate rate of 35 percent and far outstrips industry peers like Apple, which through offshore businesses pay far less.

Yet in his letter to investors, Zuckerberg stressed Facebook's "social mission" over the pursuit of profits.

"Facebook was not originally founded to be a company," he said. "Simply put: we don't build services to make money; we make money to build better services."

He laid out his vision for a company that remained grounded in an engineering culture, devoting several paragraphs of his letter to what he called "The Hacker Way" at Facebook.

Some of Facebook's most successful products - including Timeline, chat and video - emerged from "hackathons" where coders gathered to build out prototypes and compare notes, Zuckerberg wrote.

"Hackers believe that something can always be better, and that nothing is ever complete," he said. "There's a hacker mantra that you'll hear a lot around Facebook offices: 'Code wins arguments.'"

(Additional reporting by Alistair Barr, Poornima Gupta and Gerry Shih, Writing by Edwin Chan, Editing by Peter Lauria and Tiffany Wu)

How Facebook makes money could change  

Diversification may mean lessening dependence on online ads 

By Benjamin Pimentel, MarketWatch

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Facebook Inc.’s initial public offering filing paints a clearer picture of how the social networking giant makes money — though experts say that picture could change in the months and years ahead.

Reuters

Facebook says it makes 85% of its revenue from advertising.

A big chunk, about 85%, comes from online advertising, pitting Facebook FB 0.00%   against such industry leader Google Inc. GOOG -0.03%  as well as Yahoo Inc. YHOO +1.46%  and Microsoft MSFT +0.20%  , which together run the Bing search engine.

But increasingly, some of Facebook’s dollars are coming from payments and fees, mainly from the cut the company gets other firm’s transaction on the site. The bulk of that flow — about 12% — currently comes from Zynga Inc ZNGA +2.46%  , shares of which soared Thursday as investors realized how big a role the social gaming firm plays in Facebook’s business. Read story on Zynga's gains.

But some analysts see Facebook pushing to find other revenue streams. One argues that it’s part of the company grand ambition to become the site where most Web users hang out — and hopefully spend their money.

FACEBOOK: AN IPO MILESTONE

• Who's friending Facebook?
• Easy money's already made
• Facebook files for $5 bn IPO
• Web 2.0 valuations at a glance
• Will Web 2.0 get a boost?
• Facebook to top Google?
• Letter from Mark Zuckerberg
• Facebook boosts China
• Comb through the filing (WSJ)
• Google all over again?
• Busy IPO year led by Facebook
• Adviser is a winner (WSJ)
• MW Topics: Facebook

“Think of Facebook City,” said analyst Tim Bajarin of Creative Strategies Inc. “Ultimately, while they would never create a walled garden, they could create a community where once you come in, you pretty much have all you need there.”

Facebook’s goal, he said, is have more users making purchases, do their banking or even making dinner reservations in the site.

“Initially, everyone just figured that he would tie advertising to everybody’s front page,” Bajarin said, referring to Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg. “When Zuckerberg got up and started creating a platform, that’s when we began to realize that he was going beyond the traditional advertising model.”

Bajarin added that “it’s very clear that, to Zuckerberg and his team, this could be a platform for delivering applications.”

Payments and other fees made up only 1% of Facebook’s total revenue of $345 million in the March quarter of 2010, while 99% came from advertising, according to the filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. By the end of 2011, 17% of Facebook’s revenue came from payments and fees, while 83% flowed from advertising.

A new kind of advertising 

The company has spawned new kinds of online advertising, based on the interactions of Facebook’s 845 million users. Through sponsored stories ads, a business or group can pay to highlight certain posts from a user’s friend network or other Facebook pages. Fan ads lets users to become a fan for product or brand by clicking “become a fan.”

Click to Play

Facebook's ad business is a mystery

How exactly does Facebook's ad business work? We still don't know, Peter Kafka reports on digits.

IDC analyst Karsten Weide said advertising will probably remain Facebook’s main revenue source, saying, “The low hanging fruit is really advertising.”

And Facebook certainly has momentum in that space due largely the site’s growing attraction to brand advertisers and also small and medium-sized businesses, Weide said. In fact, Facebook overtook Yahoo in the No. 2 spot in display ad revenues in the third quarter of 2011, according to IDC data. Google was No. 1.

“It’s growing pretty fast,” Weide said. “Brand advertisers are moving a lot money into Facebook.”

And that’s mainly because of the potential that every ad will go viral through Facebook’s user networks. “That’s what they think is happening,” he said, referring to brand advertisers. “Its hot and its sexy.”

The catch, Weide said, is that the effectiveness of Facebook ads is still hard to measure. “Right now, it’s an article of faith for many brand marketers,” he added.

Finding other models

Which could be a reason why it really makes sense for Facebook to look for other revenue sources, including those beyond advertising. There’s been speculation that the company could move into the search business, a market dominated by Google.

Click to Play

Facebook’s conservative accounting 

Facebook appears to be staying conservative in its accounting choices, after several other Internet IPOs sparked questions over how they presented their financial reports this year, Emily Chasan reports on Markets Hub.

“It would be the obvious step,” Weide said. “It would hurt Google a lot.”

Giving users the ability to more easily purchase products or services on Facebook could also open up another robust stream of revenue, said Wedbush analyst Michael Pachter.

“As soon as they give users a reason to register a credit card, we’re going to see a dramatic increase in impulse purchases,” he said.

Crawford Del Prete, also of IDC, said Facebook “has an unbelievably wide view in terms of the ways they think they can make money.” But that’s where some of the risks come in, he added.

“Between here and when those other revenue streams are a significant percentage of revenue, it could be a very unpredictable business model,” he said.

In other words, Facebook City’s viability is not assured.

“Their experimenting with trying to figure out how to engage people online beyond advertising is admirable and could be cool,” Del Prete said. “But they could spend a lot of money and, you know what, people don’t engage. Those are expensive lessons to learn.”

Still, Bajarin of Creative Strategies Inc. stressed that for now, “their platform is paying off nicely.”

“And by the way, they’re just getting started,” he added.

Benjamin Pimentel is a MarketWatch reporter based in San Francisco.

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Chunk of Facebook profit tied to game company Zynga

By Alex Pham Physorg.com

Facebook Inc., whose initial public offering is slated to be one of the biggest debuts in U.S. stock market history, has disclosed its heavy reliance on a single customer - Zynga Inc.

 

In its S-1 regulatory filing Wednesday, Facebook reported that it received 12 percent of its revenue in 2011 from Zynga, whose social games such as "CityVille" and "Mafia Wars" have drawn several hundred million players to Facebook over the years. Zynga launched its own IPO in December.

With $3.7 billion in total annual revenue for Facebook, that translates to roughly $444 million in direct payments from Zynga.

That figure does not include the revenue Facebook receives from displaying advertising around Zynga's games, which accounted for a "significant number of pages," according to the social network's public filing. Zynga's games pull in 56 million players a day, according to AppData.com, a site that tracks Facebook traffic.

For Facebook, Zynga is both an asset and a potential liability: "We currently generate significant revenue as a result of our relationship with Zynga, and, if we are unable to successfully maintain this relationship, our financial results could be harmed," the Silicon Valley social network giant wrote among its "Risk Factors."

Facebook has reason for its unease. While Zynga's fortunes are now tightly entwined with Facebook and the social network's 845 million active users, the San Francisco social gaming company has made it clear that it wants to expand its games beyond Facebook. Part of the reason is that Facebook charges a 30 percent levy on the sale of all virtual goods sold via applications on its platform - including games from Zynga.

In October, Zynga unveiled a new online destination where its players can congregate outside of Facebook. It's also pushing heavily into mobile games, both on Apple's iOS platform and Google's Android Marketplace.

(c)2012 the Los Angeles Times
Distributed by MCT Information Services

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 Related post:

Make money from Facebook IPO!

Racial tint to golf club membership!

Kelab Golf Negara Subang is allegedly offering racially-different membership rates, although some say that this is merely a move to fill up the club's racial balance.

PETALING JAYA: A golf club in Subang is accused of charging new members according to race. The accusation is making the rounds on the Internet.

The membership price list first appeared on Facebook over the weekend. It showed differences in Kelab Golf Negara Subang (Subang National Golf Club – KGNS) membership rates, with RM35,000 to RM65,000 for Malays, RM45,000 to RM80,000 for Chinese, RM60,000 to RM80,000 for Indians and RM40,000 to RM50,000 for “Others”.

According to a source who took the photo, the membership price list came from a copy of KGNS’s official newsletter, Berita Subang, printed for the October to December 2011 period.

The source told FMT that he found it very “peculiar” that KGNS would practice racial policies in admitting members to the club.

“It is hard to believe that the club, being established by an Act of Parliament still practices somewhat offensive racial discriminatory policies in admitting members. This admission policy somewhat offends my ideology of what Malaysia is.”



“I would like to stress that I have no malice towards the club when posting the picture,” he told FMT.

Predictably the photo caused an outcry over Facebook, with many reacting in disappointment and anger over the racially-charged prices.

“Where goes the 1Malaysia concept (Where has the 1Malaysia concept gone)?” said a Md Farhad Rahman.

Another, only known as PuiSee Ch, said: “What’s in the minds of these pepps (people)? Now ‘race’ can be purchased? They gotta be kidding.”

Other comments were tinged with sarcasm. One Calvin Wong said: “Wow. I never knew Chinese and Indian (were) worth so much more.”

Aiman Baharum said: “Ahh, so good to be the cheapest one lol.”

Janson Chen said: “One day petrol is going to be like that too lol.”

Balancing the racial imbalance

One Facebook user claiming to be a KGNS club member said that the price list had little to do with racism, and more to do with the racial mix in the club.

“This isn’t racism. They’re trying to balance the number of races (there). Currently, there’s lots of Chinese and Indians but very little Malay club members. I know (this) because I’m a club member myself,” said Norman Zakaria.

“So in order to balance it, they charge higher for the Chinese and Indians so not many will apply, and charge less for Malays in order to promote membership to the Malays and increase the number of Malay club members.”

One of the names listed on the photo – who requested to be anonymous- told FMT that the membership payment was part of a United Overseas Bank (UOB) move to finance loans for potential KGNS members.

According to her, UOB had nothing to do with the price list.

“The price was fixed by KGNS according to their quota. We are not selling this (the membership) on their behalf … As a bank, we are running a campaign for the payment,” she said, refusing to elaborate further.

When contacted, KGNS refused to comment.

Source: Patrick Lee Free Malaysia Today

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Hang-ups over Malaysian history

Hang-ups over history

Along The Watchtower By M. Veera Pandiyan

It’s time to correct the inaccuracies and skewed viewpoints of historical events that have been ingrained as part of lessons in schools.

AS the furore over the status of Hang Tuah — historical warrior or mere myth — rages on, a notorious mob is conspicuously missing from the action.



It’s a surprise that the Benteng Demokrasi Rakyat (Bendera) hasn’t joined the fray by claiming him as an Indonesian icon and accuse us of stealing yet another piece of their heritage.

Hang Tuah and his sworn brother warriors (Hang Jebat, Hang Kasturi, Hang Lekir and Hang Lekiu) are also exalted in Indonesia.

While our hero purportedly hails from Kampung Duyung, Malacca, Indonesians believe that he was from Bintan in Riau or various parts of Sumatra.

There are roads named after him in almost every Indonesian city and town, along with universities and hotels. The Indonesian navy even has a frigate named KRI Hang Tuah.

Perhaps, Bendera, which gained infamy for throwing human faeces at the Malaysian Embassy in Jakarta two years ago, is too occupied with internal troubles these days.

Its leaders, Mustar Bonaventura and Ferdy Simawun, are being sued for claiming that members of Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s inner circle took 1.8 trillion rupiahs (about RM608mil) in kickbacks from the bailout of Bank Century in 2009.

As critics rebuked Prof Emeritus Tan Sri Dr Khoo Kay Kim — who sparked the debate in saying that Hang Tuah and princess Hang Li Po are purely the stuff of folklore — the Bendera bunch were reportedly busy creating a ruckus in a Jakarta courthouse.



But let’s not digress from the ongoing hullabaloo over our mythical or otherwise hulubalang (commander).

In spite of the lack of studies as proof, a host of experts and academics are defending the existence of Hang Tuah,

Archaeologist Prof Emeritus Datuk Dr Nik Hassan Shuhaimi Nik Abdul Rahman, for instance, pointed out the existence of Hang Tuah’s tomb in Tanjung Kling, Malacca.

“We can’t deny that it is not. Although there is no specific name written on it, it is from the 15th century,” he said last week.

Though not a historian, I beg to differ. For generations, locals only referred to it as makam tua (old grave).

Based on stories handed down, it was the tomb of a revered Gujerati Muslim who preached Islam in the area.

But in the early 1990s, an overzealous museum curator suggested that it could be the grave of Hang Tuah. Among the grounds cited was, it dates back to the era and a grave facing the sea is fitting for a laksamana (admiral).

He succeeded in convincing the then Chief Minister, who was actively promoting tourism as Malacca’s main industry.

But this is not the only grave of Hang Tuah. The man, said to have vanished after failing to bring back the princess of Gunung Ledang for his Sultan, has “graves” in several places in Sumatra.

Hang Tuah is also famous for wells and footprints embedded in various places.

The most recognised well is, of course, in Kampung Duyung, a thriving tourist site, now set to undergo a RM132mil makeover.

Another legendary well is located in Cape Rachado or Tanjung Tuan, a promontory near Port Dickson, Negri Sembilan.

Along a trek below the oldest lighthouse in the country, is a well reputedly dug by Hang Tuah. Close to it is his supposed footprint embedded in rock.

There was once also another footprint next to Batu Menyabong (cockfighting rock), near Kuala Sungai Baru.

Legend has it that Hang Tuah stomped his foot in joy, leaving an imprint, after his gamecock won. Alas, the area was quarried in the late 1880s, leaving only a village to bear the name.

Many academics believe that the 1537 version Sejarah Melayu (Malay Annals) offers proof of Hang Tuah’s existence.

But the problem is the people’s perception of him has been coloured by the fictional Hikayat Hang Tuah.
But it still won’t be a big deal if Hang Tuah turns out to just a myth because his legend has grown too big to be wished away.

The bigger issue is the many inaccuracies and skewed viewpoints of historical events that have been included as part of lessons in schools since the 1980s.

The Education Ministry’s 10-member panel to review the History syllabus, set up in May last year, has a crucial role to set things right.

If nation-building is the agenda, the syllabus must be based on veracity and fairness with regard to the contributions of all races and cultures.

The panel should also consider the findings of Kempen Sejarah Malaysia Sebenar (KemSMS), the alternate group comprising parents, academics and non-governmental organisations.

As Datuk Thasleem Mohamed Ibrahim, who chairs the group said, our textbooks should portray an inclusive picture of Malaysia’s past and there should not be over-emphasis on Islamic civilisation at the expense of information about other religions.

A glaring example of down- playing important history is the scant attention paid to highlighting Bujang Valley in Kedah — arguably the richest archaeological place in the region.

Researchers believe that there may have been a Hindu-Buddhist kingdom here possibly as early as 110 CE.

Kedah’s name comes from the ancient Hindu kingdom of Kedaram (Tamil), which was also known as Kataha Nagara (Sanskrit). The valley was also called Bhujanga (Dragon or King of Serpents).

History has to be rewritten to give Kedah its rightful place as the oldest civilisation in the Malay Peninsula.

The Kedah Sultanate, dating from the first Hindu ruler Maharaja Derba Raja, also known as Merong Maha Wangsa, is perhaps the oldest monarchy from the same family line in the world.

There were eight successive Hindu Maharajahs of Kedah before the ninth, Maharaja Derba Raja XI or Phra Ong Mahawangsa (1136 to 1179) converted to Islam and changed his title to Sultan Muzaffar Shah.

The Yang diPertuan Agong, Sultan Abdul Halim Mu’adzam Shah, is the 27th Sultan and the 35th ruler of Kedah, counting the Hindu predecessors.

> Associate Editor M. Veera Pandiyan likes this quote by Oscar Wilde: Anybody can make history. Only a great man can write it.

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The Malay rights group, Perkasa’s white packets to corrupt or ignorance of ethnic culture?

Perkasa President, Ibrahim Ali (picture) is  a MP. 

Young leaders see red over Perkasa’s white packets

By LEE YEN MUN and SIRA HABIBU newsdesk@thestar.com.my 

PETALING JAYA: No excuse.

That’s the reaction from several young MCA leaders over Perkasa’s white ‘ang pow’ distributed at its Chinese New Year gathering on Sunday.

Money given out in white packets is traditionally associated with the pak kam (white gold), which are donations given at a funeral.

MCA Young Professionals Bureau chief Datuk Chua Tee Yong said there was no excuse for what Perkasa did.

“Perkasa should have been aware. They should have learnt the practices of another race before organising such an event, so that they did not upset anyone,” said Chua.

MCA Youth secretary-general Datuk Chai Kim Sen described Perkasa’s white ‘ang pows’ as disrespectful and not knowing this was not an excuse.

“(Perkasa president) Datuk Ibrahim Ali should act in the people’s interest by understanding our multi-cultural society which he represents as a Member of Parliament,” Chai said in a statement.



On his Twitter handle @weekasiongmp, MCA Youth chief Datuk Dr Wee Ka Siong slammed “some people” for not understanding the meaning of ang pow.

“Ang pow, in the Hokkien dialect, means red packet. If you want give an ang pow to your friends, make sure the colour is RED,” Dr Wee wrote.

Perkasa deputy president Datuk Rahman Bakar had said on Sun- day that the white packets were the only mini envelopes they had and that they did not know if some may be offended by the colour.

Meanwhile, Perkasa secretary-general Syed Hassan Syed Ali said they had no idea that white packets was taboo among the Chinese community.

“To us, white symbolises purity and sincerity. If we had known that it is wrong to give out white packets, we would not have done it,” he said.

Syed Hassan said the media should have highlighted Perkasa’s attempt to forge greater harmony, rather than harping on an honest mistake.

Perkasa's 'white envelope' ang pow nothing to do with govt

KUALA LUMPUR: The use of white envelopes along with the customary ang pow red packets at Perkasa's Chinese New Year gathering last Sunday has nothing to do with the Government, said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.

He said the leader of the non-governmental organisation (NGO), Datuk Ibrahim Ali, is an independent member of parliament. Perkasa is a Malay right-wing group.

"As such, the white packet distributed at the Chinese New Year function should not be construed to be acceptance by the Government," Najib said in a posting on his Chinese-language 'Ah Jib Gor' Facebook page.

"I think that as long as we can have a better understanding of Chinese culture and promote sensitivity to cultural taboos, such controversial events can be avoided.

"We all know that ang pow means a red envelope, dominated by red rather than other colours," he said, adding that the incident can be used as a social experience.

On Monday, Perkasa was asked to apologise for insulting the Chinese community by using white envelopes as ang pow packets at its first Chinese New Year open house. White envelopes are reserved for funerals in Chinese custom.

Gerakan vice-president Datuk Mah Siew Keong had said that giving cash in white envelopes during Chinese New Year, which is meant to be a prosperous and joyful festival, showed that Perkasa chief Ibrahim Ali was "greatly insensitive and insincere".

MCA Youth secretary-general Chai Kim Sen said Perkasa's action was disrespectful to Chinese culture and custom.

He said Ibrahim should act in the people's interests and understand the multi-cultural society and the taboos and prohibitions of each ethnic group and religion.

Perkasa deputy president Datuk Abdul Rahman Bakar had explained that due to the large turnout at the open house at the Sultan Sulaiman Club in Kampung Baru, the red ang pow packets ran out and white envelopes were used instead. - Bernama

Eurozone unemployment hits new record

Unemployment is at the highest rate since the euro was launched in 1999

The jobless rate in the 17 countries that use the single currency was 10.4% in December, unchanged from November's figure which was revised up from 10.3%.

Some 16.5 million people were out of work in the eurozone in December, up 751,000 on the year before.

The highest unemployment rate remains in Spain (22.9%), while the lowest is in Austria (4.1%).

Unemployment has been rising throughout 2011, as the debt crisis in the region has continued. In December 2010, the unemployment rate in the euro area was 10%.



Investment delays
 
Guillaume Menuet, economist at Citigroup, said he expected the number of people out of work to increase throughout 2012.

"If you think about the direction of employment expectations that you see across various business surveys, the outlook for employment doesn't look particularly enticing, simply because the uncertainty is very high.

“Start Quote

Much energy and argument has been spent on this agreement. It is questionable, however, whether it will have much influence on the immediate crisis. ”

Gavin Hewitt BBC Europe editor

 

"In many cases you find firms continuing to delay investment projects. For those that are still making profits, hiring is being frozen, and for those which are under pressure to hit results or losing money, job losses are becoming the only solution that they have," he said. 

In the 27 EU countries, the unemployment rate was 9.9% in December, with 23.8 million people out of work. November's figure was also revised up from 9.8% to 9.9%.

The biggest increases over the past year were seen in Greece, Cyprus and Spain.

The largest falls took place in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.

Deteriorating situation

  The issue of jobs and economic growth was a key area for discussion at this week's summit of EU leaders in Brussels.

On Monday, figures showed that the Spanish economy shrank by 0.3% in the last quarter of 2011. It is now widely expected that Spain will enter recession in the first quarter of this year.

Also on Monday, France cut its growth forecast for this year to 0.5% from 1% "to take into account the deterioration of the economic situation".

At the Brussels summit, 25 of the 27 member states agreed to join a fiscal treaty, aimed at much closer co-ordination of budget policy across the EU to prevent excessive debts accumulating.

The UK and the Czech Republic did not sign up to it. UK Prime Minister David Cameron said he had "legal concerns" about the use of EU institutions in enforcing the treaty, while the Czechs cited "constitutional reasons" for their refusal.

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How American Consumers Handle an Ever-Growing Heap of Personal Debt?

Source: Cornell University Newswise — ITHACA, N.Y. – Got debt?

Probably. Most Americans do. Bombarded by home mortgages, college loans, credit card payments and car loans, the typical American consumer faces a mountain of financial obligations. Louis Hyman, Cornell assistant professor in the College of Industrial and Labor Relations, will speak to journalists about debt in his new book, “Borrow: The American Way of Debt,” on Friday, Feb. 10, 2012 at 10 a.m. at Cornell’s ILR Conference Center, sixth floor, 16 E. 34th St., Manhattan.



“Borrow: The American Way of Debt” is a lively, historical account of consumer debt in America, published by Vintage/Random House on Jan. 24, 2012.

In this society, debt is pervasive. Hyman says the average American owes more than $15,000 in credit card debt alone, and he provides a fresh look at the financial mess in which millions of Americans wallow. “Today’s problems are not as new as we think,” Hyman says.

“Borrow” examines how the rise of consumer credit – virtually unknown before the twentieth century – and how it has altered our culture and economy.

“My book puts today’s economy in context and helps explain how we got here, and then offers some novel solutions for today's troubles,” Hyman says

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Get set for Malaysian politics of the young!

Get set for a generational political shift

CERITALAH By KARIM RASLAN

The UKEC’s Projek Amanat Negara (PAN) shows how much young people can achieve without the straitjacket of thought control. Open debate events like the PAN will do Malaysia a world of good.



I’M in London and it’s late at night. Having arrived from Davos only yesterday I’m also exhausted but I can’t sleep. I’m too excited.

In fact, I’ve just returned to my hotel from the United Kingdom & Eire Council of Malaysian Students (UKEC) Projek Amanat Negara (PAN) conference and I feel as if I’ve seen – if not participated – in the future.

Whilst the World Economic Forum was an overwhelming event, the PAN conference was altogether more enthralling and meaningful for me - as a Malaysian.

What can I say? A small if well-organised group of Malaysian students in Britain – full of enthusiasm and determination – has set out to bring the best Malaysian minds and voices together.

In short, they succeeded and in doing so have shamed their nervous, narrow-minded elders back home in Kuala Lumpur – those who mumble that Malaysians aren’t ready for or need democracy and/or debate.

Instead, and with great confidence, they have proved that Malaysians are ready for change and that dialogue – open, frank and at times, heated – is well within our capacity.



Whilst I wasn’t much of an expert in the topic of my session (religion, of all things), I was glad and grateful to have contributed to the PAN along with my fellow panellists: Dr Carool Kersten, Zainah Anwar and PAS’ Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad.

Nonetheless, the highlight of the conference was undoubtedly the debate on public policy between PKR’s Rafizi Ramli and Umno’s Khairy Jamaluddin.

The anticipation in the lead-up was almost unbearable.

Taking a front row seat and sitting alongside fellow columnist Marina Mahathir, I prepared myself for the encounter. Behind me, the room was seething with activity.

Would the session degenerate into a nasty, partisan session between the two prominent young lions? Both men are renowned as passionate voices for their party’s causes and Rafizi has recently assumed a very high national profile with his attacks on Government mismanagement (especially the NFC).

What we got, however, was a total surprise. The session was gracious and very statesman-like as two very smart young men squared off.

Both of them explained their respective political positions. Rafizi argued for political change whilst Khairy called for the status quo (plus reform).

When I thought about their responses later, I had to acknowledge that they held remarkably similar positions.

Calm and reasonable, the two men discussed a wide range of issues: from media access to freedom of assembly, race relations and Government tax policy.

Throughout the hour-and-half debate, the two men eschewed personal attacks. Neither was crude or vulgar: their points were well-argued and professional.

Moreover, instead of trying to score personal political points, they remained above the mere partisan.

The organisers had obviously spent time thinking through the format of the session to achieve the maximum impact and I congratulate them on the dramatic US Presidential-style format.

As I looked on, it struck me that I was a witness to a critical generational shift in Malaysian politics – as leaders stepped forward to discuss their differences openly in a manner that rose above mere political pettiness.

Glancing at my Twitter feed throughout the conference, another thing I noted was how many people shared my contention – which was published a few weeks ago – that it was a real tragedy that such an event like the PAN could not take place in Malaysia.

Many people have claimed that such debates are not part of the “Malaysian culture”.

Well, the historic exchange between Rafizi and Khairy showed how wrong they are.

The UKEC shows how much our young people can achieve without the straightjacket of thought control.

Open debate events like the PAN will do Malaysia a world of good and I call on all Malaysians to go online and watch the debate.

As Rafizi so pointedly said in his debate: “It doesn’t matter which side you get involved with. The important thing is that you go home – go home and make a difference.” One can only hope that they take his advice.

Western war on Iran soon?

Rising risk of Western war on Iran

GLOBAL TRENDS BY MARTIN KHOR

The new year is witnessing an escalation of a Western economic blockade against Iran while it has been claimed that Israel is preparing for a military strike. Can a war against Iran be avoided? 



THE risk of the world being engulfed in a new and dangerous war is increasing. In recent weeks, Iran has come under greater pressure over its nuclear programme, and the chances of this leading to military conflict have escalated.

A recent article in New York Times magazine revealed that senior Israeli leaders were preparing for a strike on Iranian nuclear facilities in 2012.

The United States has intensified its initiative on trade and financial sanctions on Iran.

Republican candidates for the Presidency have been using high anti-Iran rhetoric.

And there is the possibility in a Presidential election year that the incumbent President may start a war to gain popularity.



In his State of the Union speech last week, President Barack Obama said he would take no option off the table to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon.

Europe recently announced an embargo on Iranian oil. The European Union foreign ministers decided there would be no further oil contracts between its member states and Iran, and that existing oil delivery deals would be allowed to run only until July.

These actions are purportedly aimed at preventing Iran from developing nuclear weapons. But Iran has insisted its research programme is for developing nuclear power, not weapons.

And there is no evidence that it is in fact developing, or intending to develop, weapons.



There is a danger of dramatic escalation of the present conflict through one of various scenarios, such as an Israeli attack on Iran (with or without United States assistance or approval) or an incident in the Persian Gulf involving Western and Iranian ships.

The US has doubled the number of aircraft carriers near the Persian Gulf, while French and British warships recently accompanied the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln into the Gulf.

These developments are creating the conditions for a slide into a catastrophic war.

On Jan 25, the New York Times carried an article – “Will Israel attack Iran?”– by Israeli journalist Ronen Bergman, an analyst who interviewed Israel’s Defence Minister Ehud Barak, vice-premier Moshe Ya’alon and others.

“After speaking with many senior Israeli leaders and chiefs of the military and the intelligence, I have come to believe that Israel will indeed strike Iran in 2012,” wrote Bergman.

This determination to strike comes despite many difficulties, listed by Bergman.

Iran has dispersed its nuclear installations throughout its vast territory, and Israel has limited air power and no aircraft carrier.

Even if an attack were successful, Iran would be able to rebuild the damaged or wrecked sites. And Iran had declared that it would strike back if attacked.

There is of course irony and double standards in this situation.

While Israel and the West decry the consequences if Iran obtains nuclear weapons capability, it is well known that Israel itself owns many nuclear weapons.

And while Iran is often accused by the same countries of sponsoring terrorism, Iran itself has been the victim of terrorist attacks and economic and technological sabotage.

Bergman’s article provides many details of many of the covert actions taken by Israel against Iran.

The Israeli secret service Mossad was given “virtually unlimited funds and powers” to stop the Iranian bomb through a five-front strategy that involved “political pressure, covert measures, counter-proliferation, sanctions and re­­gime change”.



The moves against Iran include boycotting of financial institutions, the use of computer viruses to disrupt the operations of the nuclear project, tampering with components and the supply of faulty parts and raw materials, explosions at various facilities, and the assassination of several Iranian nuclear scientists.

The article implies that Israel has been involved in, or approves of, these actions, although it does not explicitly admit to them.

Meanwhile, Iran insists it is not intending to develop nuclear weapons, and there has been no evidence that it is doing so.

Iran’s enemies are fearful it will develop a technical capability for developing weapons as it pursues its nuclear energy programme.

Nuclear physicist Yousaf Butt, a former Fellow in the Committee on International Security and Arms Control at the US National Academy of Sciences, and scientific consultant for the Federation of American Scientists, has said Iran was not doing anything that violated its legal right to develop nuclear technology.

Under the Non-Proliferation Treaty, it is not illegal for a member state to have a nuclear weapons capability or option.



If a nation has a fully developed civilian nuclear sector, it, by default, already has a fairly solid nuclear weapons capability, and several countries that do not have weapons, do have this capability.

Meanwhile, Jim Lobe of Inter Press Service reported that several influential foreign policy figures in the US (who used to be Iraq war hawks) were speaking up against military action on Iran.

“We’re doing this terrible thing all over again,” wrote Leslie Gelb, the president emeritus of the Council on Foreign Relations and previously a Iraq-war hawk.

Kenneth Pollack, whose 2002 book on Iraq was cited frequently by hawks before the Iraq invasion, argued not only against any further escalation, but also suggested that the US-EU sanctions were proving counterproductive.

Princeton University professor Anne-Marie Slaughter argued that the West and Iran were playing a “dangerous game of chicken” and that the West’s current course “leaves Iran’s government no alternative between publicly backing down, which it will not do, and escalating its provocations”.

“The more publicly the West threatens Iran, the more easily Iranian leaders can portray America as the Great Satan,” wrote Slaughter, formerly director of policy planning under Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

It remains to be seen if cooler heads will indeed prevail so that a new war against Iran is avoided.