July 2019 – Really Right

California Conservatives Stuck in Field of Dreams and Windmills

In the 1989 Kevin Costner movie, the lesson is that “if you build it, they will come.” Waxing nostalgic about the golden age of baseball might be magic for my grandparents—all of whom are deceased—but for the living, it’s a bygone era.

Time and time again we have seen Conservatives invoke the same belief in magic as the Costner character in this movie. A more realistic and therefore cynical view is that, for Conservatives, there is nothing left to believe in except tilting at windmills.

Background

Windmill tilting is nothing new, it has been going on for most of my adult life; especially when it comes to social issues like abortion. I remember when Reagan was President, we thought Roe was one court appointment away from being overturned. Ditto when both Presidents named Bush were in office but it never materialized. Later, we fought the battle for marriage naively believing that our votes actually mattered only to be undone by activist judges as the other two branches of government did nothing. Talk about conversations with the naïve.

All the while we were hoping for the magic silver bullet that would end the controversy and let us go home and live our lives in peace. To this end, people claiming to represent us raked in millions of dollars from the faithful with little or nothing to show. As we learned later—especially in California—many of these causes were pretexts for fundraising campaigns not serious efforts at reform or change. The poster child for this during several campaign cycles was the Capitol Resource Institute (CRI).

CRI was guilty many times of running shadow campaigns parallel with real efforts. Prop 8 to define marriage as between a man and woman was one. CRI raised money they said was to support Prop 8 but they kept the funds, they were never given to the real Prop 8 organization. Instead, CRI put their own people on the payroll of their fake Prop 8 PAC and used up all the money.

In the years following, CRI did this time and again. They created signature gathering efforts for things that never got to the ballot. CRI had no ability to finish what they started in any of these campaigns. They adopted their version of the Costner motto, “if we do it they will come.” The reality was that they hurt the causes for which they postured. Their tilting at windmills backfired and hurt us all in the long run.

I’m picking on CRI because they never had the money to get anything on the ballot let alone fund a statewide campaign to get anything passed.

Historically, it takes about 3 million dollars to qualify a ballot measure and then an additional amount of $15-20 million to run a credible campaign. Back when Republicans ran for governor, the winning campaign was spending more than $50 million.

As a Christian group, CRI seemed really averse to follow Jesus’ advice to count the cost before doing something. Jesus says don’t start something unless you have the resources to finish it. It’s not magic, its common sense.

For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it?

Lest haply, after he hath laid the foundation, and is not able to finish it, all that behold it begin to mock him,

Saying, This man began to build, and was not able to finish.
Luke 14:28-30

Jesus’ story says that to begin something that you know you can’t finish only results in others mocking you for being foolish with your resources; such a person is a dreamer not someone to take seriously.

California Conservatives’ Newest Windmill

So why bring up the past now? Because it’s happening again. Another Conservative effort with no prayer of success is underway which not only can’t succeed, it will embolden the other side to do even more crazy stuff without fear of consequences. Sadly, this is the legacy of CRI and others that tilt at windmills. They have no resources other than convincing the gullible to follow them over the political cliff. Their failure encourages the other side to double down on whatever social evil was the target of their ire.

The newest effort is recalling Governor Gavin Newsom. Yep, they want to take out the Gov. I’m not really sure why. Gavin is doing exactly what he promised and we knew he would do. Nobody is mad enough to dump him except maybe a few of his old girlfriends, yet somehow this brain trust of nuts down in San Diego thinks, if only we can get this on the ballot, people will rise up and rally to the cause.

California Governor and recall target Gavin Newsom

Here’s the details from a July 22, 2019 article:

A physician who twice lost bids for Congress is taking steps to launch a recall drive against Gov. Gavin Newsom, even signing up the treasurer of the successful effort to oust Gov. Gray Davis in 2003.

Dr. James Veltmeyer of La Jolla is using social media and email to collect “proponents” for a notice of intention to circulate a recall petition, said political consultant Andrew Russo on Monday.

“We’re in a process of setting up our committee,” said Russo, who also managed Republican Veltmeyer’s 2018 campaign against Rep. Scott Peters in the 52nd Congressional District. “We should have that by tomorrow.”

But Veltmeyer felt it was time to launch a serious effort, Russo, 54, said in a phone interview. Online petitions are of “no value in something like this.”

On Thursday, Veltmeyer announced a recall website whose FAQ says: “We’ve set a goal of 2 million signatures to ensure we have the required number of valid signatures. We expect our deadline to be approximately February 1, 2020.”
La Jolla Doctor Plots Formal Recall Drive Against Gov. Gavin Newsom

The four gripes against Newsom are these:

Healthcare for illegals
Tax increases
Homelessness
Sanctuary Sate and Cities

A copy of the petition is located here

Ok, now this guy needs 2 million signatures but he doesn’t have enough fundraising ability to successfully run for Congress. I promise you he has no funding for this effort and there is no way, even with paid signature gatherers, that he gets anywhere close to 2 million signatures.

Look at the series of things needing to happen for this recall to be successful and you tell me what the chances are.

You need to collect enough valid signatures to get this recall on the ballot, run a campaign to convince a majority of Democrats and left leaning folks that Gavin–and by extension his Party–are wrong about these policies (which are common values shared by many Californians), then you need voters to pick someone that believes like a Republican, then without any shift in the Democrat supermajorities in both houses of our legislature, get them to voluntarily overturn the policies that they enacted so the new governor can sign them into law.

Veltmeyer has no money for this effort, no candidate that is electable and willing to enact said changes, and no hope the Legislature will be so intimidated by the Governor’s recall that they will unilaterally undo all the policies enacted in these areas and give him what he wants, even if he says, “Pretty please.”

Folks, this is the mother of all windmills but that is what Conservative people have been reduced to in California. Anyone give me odds that Veltmeyer is or was a CRA member?

Conclusion

Tilting at windmills is folly. It makes a mockery of whatever issue or perceived wrong that you are trying to correct as well as making a mockery and an object of scorn out its adherents. It emboldens those you oppose to do more of whatever you campaign against because it shows them that they have no fear of reprisal. Tilting at windmills makes things markedly worse than if you had never acted.

Tesla Class Action Suit: Hey Elon, Welcome to the Big Leagues

Previously, Elon Musk claimed that the value of his cars would appreciate over time—something heretofore impossible in the history of automobile manufacturing. Tesla does retain its value better than many other cars with 69 percent resale value after three years but there appears to be a catch, Tesla won’t honor their warrant on the car’s battery if you buy one secondhand.

Here’s the details:

Tesla will appreciate in value

Tesla Inc.’s Elon Musk is standing by a claim that the company’s electric cars will be appreciating assets once they’re capable of driving themselves.

Musk, Tesla’s chief executive officer, first made the claim in a podcast interview in April that the company’s vehicles will gain in value because they’ll eventually be capable of fully autonomous driving. He stood by this in a reply to a follower who wrote Tuesday that he was unsure if the CEO was joking or making a “really dumb” statement.

With the exception of collectors’ cars and other rare cases, depreciation has been a fact of life for automakers, dealers and rental-car companies for decades. While Kelley Blue Book has handed Tesla a best resale value award for its Model 3, for example, the car-shopping researcher estimates the sedan retains about 69% of its value after three years.
Musk Stands by His Tesla Appreciation Claim That Was Called ‘Really Dumb’

Tesla battery promises made

Tesla promises to warrant their battery for 8 years

Tesla car battery has an eight-year warranty. With this warranty, repairs and replacements are free. Such repairs may include defects in the workmanship or materials of any of the battery’s parts.

If there are any parts that are malfunctioning or if the battery is defective, Tesla will repair or replace the unit. The warranty will also be covering any damage that may happen to your vehicle in the event of a battery fire, even if this may be because of driver error.
How Much Does Tesla Battery Replacement Cost?

Tesla promises broken

Thanks to the diligent work of our staff, it has been brought to my attention that Tesla won’t uphold their promise to honor the warranty on the car’s battery. Folks this has gotten so bad that Tesla has been hit with a class action lawsuit.

Tesla is facing a class action lawsuit filed by consumers who claim that the car company does not honor battery warranties on pre-owned vehicles.

The plaintiff alleges that after his research, he decided to purchase a 2014 “certified pre-owned” (CPO) Tesla Model S 60.

“All of the marketing materials that Plaintiff saw in the news, be it Tesla.com and/or Teslamotorsclub.com and/or other car-buying and automotive websites indicated that the used CPO vehicles sold by Tesla were given a 270-point inspection and that it was customary for Tesla to take care of repairs and issues with their vehicles,” the Tesla class action lawsuit states.

The plaintiff alleges that he depended on Tesla’s “marketing, advertisements, and representations” that his vehicle would be fully inspected and certified.

After he took the vehicle home and started to charge the battery, he reportedly found out that the battery only lasted 166 miles on a full charge.

The plaintiff claims that he brought the car to a service center and they made a correction to the Battery Management System (BMS), but that didn’t fix the problems with the battery.

The Tesla class action lawsuit alleges, “Plaintiff was told to report back to the service center after driving around with the car and after ‘cycling’ the battery, which refers to the practice of charging to 100% and discharging the battery to low levels for purposes of recalibrating the battery.”

The plaintiff claims that Tesla informed him that his vehicle suffers from “normal battery degradation.”

“Despite the fact that Tesla warrantied Plaintiff’s vehicle with a 2-year, 100,000 mile limited warranty, and the fact that it provided a 8-year, unlimited mile battery warranty, Tesla has failed its duty to Plaintiff by unlawfully, improperly, and fraudulently denying proper service and repair of Plaintiff’s vehicle,” the Tesla class action lawsuit alleges.

“Tesla focuses its efforts on allaying the fears of what some drivers of electric vehicles call ‘range anxiety’ by representing to consumers nationwide that they can rely on Tesla’s promises to take care of them no matter what happens to the batteries of Tesla’s vehicles. As it turns out for many consumers who were led on to believe Tesla’s promises, the fact is that Tesla never actually meant to keep their promises and follow through on their guarantees,” the plaintiff states.

The Tesla class action lawsuit is alleging violations of the federal Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act, Federal Trade Commission Act, Used Motor Vehicle Trade Regulation Rule, and numerous California laws including the Song-Beverly Consumer Warranty Act, Consumer’s Legal Remedies Act, Unfair Competition Law, and Violation of California’s False Advertising Law.
Tesla Class Action Says Pre-Owned Warranties Aren’t Honored

Elon may regret the decision to manufacture cars in California once he gets to experience firsthand the litigious, antibusiness climate in the once Golden State.

Tesla reputation will fade

Folks this is a big deal because Tesla batteries are in more places than just their cars. Elon’s solar empire—weak as it may be—is also dependent on using Tesla batteries. In some circles, Tesla homes are a thing. The fact is Tesla batteries are just like everybody else’s, it’s just that Elon—like Apple—can charge a premium just by putting their name on something. Oh, and unlike most manufacturers, Tesla’s battery factories are built with taxpayer subsidies.

I know that replacing a battery on a hybrid car is about $3K but a Tesla is much more.

Do you need to replace your car battery? … how much will it cost to replace a Tesla battery.

Answer is between $5,000 to $7,500 and it depends on what model Tesla you drive.
How Much Does Tesla Battery Replacement Cost?

Folks, I expect this to be the beginning of a trend as more Tesla cars hit the road. It’s no secret that quality control issues have plagued these vehicles from the beginning. Elon keeps claiming the future will be better but it’s the past that he should hope never catches up with him.

A Night Out with The Boys

I did something this weekend that I rarely do, I binge watched Amazon’s new show The Boys. It was not quite what I expected. It is billed as regular people who fight superheroes run amok. Some of the plot points in it rely heavily on Evangelical Christianity and I want to comment on that part of the program. This post includes many spoilers for the show, as such you have been warned.

The main group of superheroes in “The Boys” are a twisted form of the Justice League. Instead of Superman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Flash, Aquaman, and a few others, you get twisted versions of these characters with different names.

In the Amazon series you have the big seven heroes working as employees of a large corporation called Vought, whose interest is profit not justice. Everything they do is to keep up their presence on social media and merchandize the heck out of their heroes.

The first five minutes of the show introduces you to four main characters, Queen Mauve (Wonder Woman), Homelander (Superman), A-Train (Flash), and Hughie Campbell. Hughie is on the sidewalk with his girlfriend. Both are regular—non super—people. In order,

Queen Mauve stops and armored car robbery by standing in front of the armored car and letting it hit her. This is one of the best CGI effects in the whole show.

Queen Mauve stops armored car with her body

Then Homelander shows up, confronts one of the criminals that gets out of the armored car and then casually tosses him up in the air. Seconds later, over his shoulder, you see the guy crash back to earth about a block away.

Homelander casually tosses a bad guy (circled above) that falls to earth a block away

Then the show moves to Hughie and his girlfriend, they each pledge their love to each other and then the camera switches to super slow motion and pans slowly to the girlfriend. All you see is an explosion of blood and fragments as A-Train literally runs thru the girl.

Hughie’s girlfriend shredded by A-Train
A-Train is in blue & white uniform at left side of the photo

Hughie is horrified and shocked. Following a memorial service for the girlfriend, a corporate lawyer show-up at his house to offer a cash settlement in exchange for him signing a nondisclosure agreement. He is offered money in exchange for his silence about what happened. Hughie decided to exact revenge on the corporation that shields A-Train from any wrongdoing.

As the story unfolds, Hughie meets Annie January on a park bench and starts a friendship. They like each other in the present but neither talks much of their past. Annie was raised as an Evangelical Christian in the Midwest and finds that she has superpowers. Annie is new to town because she has been recruited to join “The Seven” upon the retirement of Lamplighter (Green Lantern). Hughie likes her without knowing that Annie is really the superhero Starlight. He discloses to her that he is getting over the death of his old girlfriend but avoids the cause of her death.

Annie and Hughie’s first meeting in the park

Annie is the most important of several gateways into this alt-universe version of Christianity that is found thru the first five episodes of this eight-episode series. The show lampoons much that is wrong with our faith and, sadly, it has at least some basis in reality. No denomination is singled out as the focus of criticism. The portrayal of faith in the show will be disturbing to many and rightly so.

The overarching religious entity in the show is a charitable organization called Samaritan’s Pulse (Samaritan’s Purse). The charity itself is not depicted in a bad way but some folks that have associated themselves with the charity are clearly more than hypocrites. They fake their faith as a way to purposefully manipulate the faithful. Chief among the charlatans in the group are a televangelist named Ezekiel and Homelander. Both are wolves that don the sheep’s clothing as necessary.

Ezekiel is first introduced in the program as a guy “hooking up” with two men in a club for people with superpowers. It is later that you see him on the stage preaching. Hughie tries to blackmail Ezekiel in a later episode with a video of the encounter in the club.

Ezekiel is emblematic of megachurch clergy and televangelists that are not accountable to anyone and do and say crazy stuff in God’s name. Sadly, we can all name examples of such abuses done in God’s name like needing a fifth private jet or building a hospital or a crystal Cathedral or whatever.

We also can name examples of sexual impurity among those clergy who say one thing and do something different in their own lives. The Catholic Church may be the poster child for this, but they are not the only folks with such problems. Such abuses can be found in every religious group whether they claim to follow Christ or someone else. Men are fallen and sinful and even those redeemed by Christ can fall into sin.

One obvious issue related to this subject is that many people will apologize for something when they are caught red-handed, but “apology” and “repentance” are two very different things. We are often willing to forgive people who apologize but doing so without them first repenting is a great disservice to them and God. Letting them off the hook without acknowledging that they need a changed heart results in no change in their behavior. This leaves them still in sin and out of fellowship with both God and their neighbor. How can someone in this situation be restored to fellowship with the church? They can’t; instead, people usually just pickup and go to the church down the street and join it with “no harm” and “no foul” or just stay home and quit the church altogether.

There are several recent instances of clergy admitting that they aren’t really believers and voluntarily leaving their positions, but sadly, many such clergy are “bitter clingers” to their position, salary, and expense accounts; they like the Pharisees of old, aren’t going to make it but also work to prevent others from getting into the Kingdom of Heaven as well.

What Ezekiel preaches is not the Gospel although the Gospel is talked about by others on the show. Steve Taylor’s lyrics “in it for the money as an idol show” come to mind. Ezekiel is a bona fide celebrity that reminds me of some in the Christian Music scene that had issues with moral failings. Sadly, that is a very long list.

Christianity is portrayed in this program as an archaic set of rules that are followed to give us salvation i.e. salvations is by our works. Christ and several Christian buzzwords are mentioned but the shepherds of Christ’s flock like Ezekiel live only to fleece the faithful. They know its not true but appeal to itching ears to empower themselves. Their message is not grace alone in Christ alone.

Homelander is shown as a callous, mass murderer that kills people simply because he enjoys it. He is a psychopath. Oh and a few episodes into the series they introduce him as an ordained clergyman. By that point in the show, it’s clear that he says it for ratings and makes no real claim to believe in anything but himself.

I think in episode 5 is when the faithful that paid $10K each for a meet and greet with Ezekiel are rebaptized by Homelander. Poor Hughie is held under long enough that he really could have repented before being let up.

Homelander baptizes Hughie accompanied by Ezekiel

Also, by episode 5, Annie has experienced a series of compromises in her values and is having a real crisis of faith. Annie is at an event sponsored by Ezekiel and is meeting with a group of fans. She is asked a question about premarital sex and Annie’s handlers persuade her to lie to preserve her image instead of answer truthfully. She falsely declares that she is a virgin and that girls should wait until marriage even though that is not true of her own life.

Annie then is expected to get on stage and read a speech prepared for her by the corporation to maximize her ratings with the Christian community. Remember, superheroes are owned by the corporation and their purpose is to maximize profit by maximizing their social media presence and merchandizing.

Starlight (Annie) starting a speech that she never finishes

Annie begins the speech as written but departs from the script and says she is tired of the compromises and mentions that she suffered the indignity of being forced to have a certain male organ in her face. No blue dress but you get the idea. She then renounces her faith–as defined by this group–although she still believes in God. She then walks off the stage.

Nevertheless, little nuggets of Annie’s faith continue to appear in later episodes.

At one point, we find Annie in a church listening to the choir practice with a small orchestra.

In another scene, Annie encounters the Queen Mauve character in the bathroom. Queen Mauve says that I used to be like you, but I gave up my soul one piece at a time. Don’t let that happen to you. Someone here must be the goodie two shoes, and it might as well be you. Without knowing, it Mauve just rescued Annie from compromising yet again.

In the final episode, Annie finally has the backbone to do what she knows is right. Annie forgives Hughie for luring her to a meeting in a previous episode where she is shot by another character. Whether Annie does this as an expression of her faith or because she followed her heart in a Disney Princess sort of way is not fully answered. I think of forgiveness as a Christian trait not one associated with Disney Princesses.

It seems at the end that Annie retains some measure of a personal faith but without relying on the organized church that she grew-up with.

This program is way different than the comic book upon which it is based—which is probably a good thing. Take a look at these Wikipedia pages:

The Boys Comic book

The Boys Characters

Amazon’s version is tamer than the comic books, but this program is not for most people. Frankly, I found myself hitting either the mute or fast forward button several times. Violence and profanity were expected with the M rating, but this show makes Deadpool look tame.

The sexual stuff is often disgusting and gratuitous. Drug use is central to the storyline. Many innocent people are wantonly killed in horrific ways by superheroes just to protect or enhance the corporate image. This show is not your typical Hollywood trope of all corporations are evil, but Vought certainly is.

If there was a rating north of M, this program would get it. It’s not for most folks although the way Amazon is promoting it, you probably wouldn’t understand it that way.

I don’t know if this program is a full-throated rejection of Christianity or just a rejection of the excesses that Americans tolerate from the pulpit. I got the feeling that at least one of the show’s writers grew up with an evangelical background.

Again, unless you were OK watching Deadpool, avoid The Boys. It is ruder, cruder, and really in your face but at least there’s no time travel sequence at the end.

The Troll from behind the arc!

Very seldom does the Troll put in work on a weekend, but we are short some bloggers. I came across this story and couldn’t let it go without mention because you can’t miss with this one. I say behind the arc, because every so often you have to step beyond the 3-point line and fire off a jumper!

The title of today’s special edition: 9-year-old girl tossed into the air by bison at Yellowstone National Park.

Girl airborne after bison charge–full video below

What a time to be alive! So, a group from Florida–they are the worst type by the way…just search “Florida man” on Twitter–anyway, while visiting Old Faithful they decided to get up close and personal to a wild animal. According to firsthand accounts about 50-60 people approached this bull bison while it was eating, thinking it was smart to pet it. At some point the bison…hard to believe it was agitated by this, charged at a 9-year-old girl and flung her in the air like a rag doll! I am stunned no one could have seen this coming…it’s not a zoo, these are wild animals! Signs literally say stay 25 yards from elk, bison, and deer, yet I guess the laws of probability cease to exist among this group! Look at the video…what a bananas situation!

😳 Things escalated quickly when a bison spotted this 9-year-old girl at Yellowstone National Park. Luckily, she's OK! (Her parents are the ones running away in the background, according to the witness who shot this video.) https://t.co/xfieCv5iHj pic.twitter.com/Pei98hR6Rf
— Nicole Emmett (@Nicole_Emmett) July 24, 2019

Click arrow to play video

Reaction by troll: The article states a bunch of kids were crying…. yeah, I can’t find much reason to laugh at this story. The young girl thankfully had no serious injuries…. jury is still out on if either parent has medulla oblongata. I’ve gotta say, it’s how the adults took off leaving this girl to fend for herself…a sacrificial lamb perhaps? How was the girl thrown into the air if bison do not have arms or hands? I’m glad the parents got away unscathed would have been a real shame if any of them would have been struck by this beast. This is a great time to reach out to a sponsor, perhaps Trojan Condoms…. these are very important, as these adults should have never been conceived let alone allowed to reproduce themselves! What else could possibly explain the youngest being the sacrificial lamb in this situation? Sometimes a chlorine blast to the gene pool could do some good!

No word from AOC on whether this bison should be euthanized yet regarding its emissions and maybe global warming had something to do with this? No word yet from Chuck Schumer on whether this bison escaped while being hunted by Donald Trump Jr. There has to be some way to tie this to President Trump, right? Perhaps its here illegally from Canada? Black Lives Matter is still silent on this one…opting to test to see if said bison is “really black.” No word from the DOJ on whether Elizabeth “chief squaw” Warren should be charged for her people not killing this bison. Bernie Sanders wants to know why this bison was allowed into the park without paying the entrance fee! Also does it have healthcare…. if so, how is it paying?

Barack Obama is still trying to figure out why the bison wasn’t killed on the spot since all people in fly-over country cling to their guns and religion? Maybe this attack was just the bison’s coping mechanism for dealing with President Trump…I need answers!!!!! Jarrold Nadler better not bring Hope Hicks into this or I may need to call in a favor from friend of the blog, OJ Simpson!!!!!! Between him and Ray Lewis I think I’ve got the murder and coverup handled…imagine the legal team we could afford! When Obama said “Hope and Change”, I should have paid more attention…change my girlfriend and date a girl named Hope…got it….!

My parting shots: keep your head on a swivel kid! The angel of death is always hovering about, looking for his next victim…I’m assuming gender here but bear with me…or should I say bison with me LOL. Keep your head on a swivel!!!!!!!!!!

Tesla Should Fire Elon Musk

Corporate America—especially now that we’re in the 90-day life cycle—has a habit of being ruthless in the pursuit of profit and struggle for survival. When they miss their numbers, there’s hell to pay—usually for those at the lowest pay levels and occasionally in middle management or higher.

This week, Tesla missed their numbers badly even with the market expecting them to report a second quarter loss. Elon not only missed the reported target but the entire side of the barn; hence, all Musk’s recent media stories about dreams of a better future leading up to release of said report. Can you blame him? Who’d want his track record at Tesla?

Tesla plunged 10% in extended trading after posting a larger-than-expected loss on Wednesday in a second quarter earnings update.

Here’s what Tesla reported, versus what analysts expected based on average estimates compiled by Refinitiv:
* Loss per share on an adjusted basis: $1.12 vs. 40 cents expected
* Revenue: $6.35 billion versus $6.41 billion expected
Tesla falls after posting wider-than-expected loss

In the wake of this report, some on Wall Street are saying that Musk needs to step down.

When asked if Tesla was worth buying after an ugly quarter, Paul Schatz, president and chief investment officer at Heritage Capital, told Yahoo Finance, “It has very idiosyncratic behavior, but no, [Musk] is not a future leader.”

“You’re going to have Mercedes and BMW and all the real car companies competing with them in the next five years, and I think they are much more well-positioned financially,” compared to Tesla.

Schatz pointed out that while Tesla may have had a head start out of the gate, the company is not taking full advantage of that position. Management is a major concern – the latest example in a series of departures is the company announcing on its earnings call that Chief Technology Officer JB Straubel was stepping down from his position and transitioning to an advisory role.

Schatz compared Musk to Microsoft founder Bill Gates – or at least suggested the Tesla leader should aspire to be like Gates in one particular way. “All great entrepreneurs eventually, like Bill Gates, all step back and say, ‘I’ve taken my company as far as I can go and need to bring in somebody that has a corporate backbone to it,’” he said. “The wrong guy is running the company.”

As for whether investors should bet on the car maker, “unless you’re a nimble trader, I think it’s lunacy to go near Tesla,” Schatz said, adding that he doesn’t see it “as a sustainable long-term business model.”

“I still think it’s going sub-$100,” Schatz said.
Elon Musk should be like Bill Gates – but not in a good way

Lest you think calls for Musk’s head are unusual, think again. Here are a few examples.

George Zimmer was kicked off the board of the company that he founded, The Men’s Warehouse.

Source: Fired From the Company That Made Him Famous, an Entrepreneur Seeks Payback

Carl Karcher—who founded Carl’s Jr hamburger restaurants was fired from his own company.

Source: Karcher’s Fateful Hiring Began His Own Demise: Corporations: Carl’s Jr. founder’s own star started dimming the day he ordered out for a new president

Roy Disney—brother and partner to his more famous brother, Walt, was fired by Disney’s Board of Directors.

Source: Roy Disney forced out, wants Eisner to do the same

While firing Elon, might make sense in a saner world, given his volatility and the turnover of his executive staff, I don’t see that ever happening. Musk is his own worst enemy much of the time. I think it likely that he gets to ride Tesla to the bottom—which many define as a stock value south of $100 per share.

Tesla’s only hope for salvation is periodic infusions of government directed money. With the phasing-out of American tax credits and today’s economic reports about Germany’s manufacturing decline—something that will ripple thru Europe, the future cash expected from the EU and other places may be less than promised which will make Tesla’s finances even more dire. If the economy catches a cold, Tesla will suffer a severe case of pneumonia.

Hope Hicks is Being Framed

Editor’s Note: the following article by Troll discusses, in passing, Bill Clinton’s conduct while in the White House and therefore may be offensive to Liberals and is definitely inappropriate for small children.

House Judiciary Committee Chair and resident idiot, Jarrold Nadler–who honestly has nothing better to do with his pathetic existence on this earth–has decided Hope Hicks needs to return to Congress and testify yet again about hush money payments by “Trump” to Stormy Daniels.

Allegedly Hicks was involved in a three way phone call with Michael Cohen and Donald Trump, regarding payments to Daniels, and Hicks may have “misled” Congress in her testimony. First of all, why is a women on a call when discussing payments to another women for…let’s call it “services rendered?” It literally makes no sense…that being said, is it a wonder Hicks forget or couldn’t remember what was being discussed? I mean really, what girl wants to know what you did with a stripper, and on top of that (pun intended) how much you paid for the deed? (Allegedly) Then I found out Stormy’s real name is Stephanie Clifford….and get this, she is not related to that big red dog from my childhood….big letdown!

In case you missed it, back in the Clinton era I’ve been told first-hand accounts there was more sex going on in the Oval Office than in some brothels. Guess what? Aside from Joe Lieberman nary a Democrat cared! What a difference a couple decades makes. Clinton stuck his pepperoni in all kinds of women’s tomato patches, got a blowie while on the phone with dignitaries, and no one in his party had an issue.

Now because a very wealthy, non-politician and a crooked lawyer made couple hush money payments the world stops? Hardly the crime of the century…also why does the country suddenly believe a crooked lawyer who is in jail right now looking for a way to reduce his sentence?

The truth of the matter is that both Michaels–Cohen and Avenatti–both of whom are going to spend a while in jail–stayed true to form this entire time. Both were more than happy to collect retainers and high billable hours from their clients, but when the ship started taking on water it was too late for them to bail. Both thought for sure they knew where the skeletons were buried, however that didn’t work out so well. This is because the GOP insiders, the Democrats, and these two idiots under estimated Trump as a person. Trump may be morally bankrupt (allegedly) however he is very bright, and always kept an arm’s length between him and any wrong doing….sorry folks he is here to stay.

In closing, Nadler you grease ball, you’re so fat you should roll up a hill! Lay off the cold cuts you blowhard!

And quit calling my girlfriend back so you can ogle her or ask about her dating life. She isn’t going to date you, she is attracted to people who actually have intellectual abilities. By the way scum bag, she is a model, the only thing you’re a model for is what not to aspire to be! She didn’t lie, or misspeak, maybe…just maybe, she like other women does not give a flying rip about other people’s sex lives or hush money.

Keep in mind, you idiots took control of the House due to Republicans not wanting to work with Trump, and you’re wasting everyone’s time on this. Look at the multitude of problems facing our country, we have high debt, student loans, cost of healthcare, tuition, homelessness, and I’m just naming a few, pick a couple, pass decent legislation, and brand yourselves the problem solvers. Go away you lard tub! So Trump did the dirty with someone and paid them off, look at those bolt-on’s Daniels bought herself? Talk about stimulating more than just the economy! But in the meantime I will continue to investigate Ms. Hicks and try to stay on top of her…I will update as necessary.

I wish I could have had a three way with Hope Hicks and Jennifer Aniston that woulda been great!

UPDATE: It has come to the attention of this blogger the “Broad Squad” (h/t Blog Father) is trying to get a primary challenge to Nadler for not being liberal enough…maybe you and Trump have something in common after all?

Troll

PS thoughts and prayers for “The Chief” as his Twitter account was suspended for 20 hours for engaging in a beef with OJ Simpson in regards to him finding the “real killer.” Also pray for the Blog Father, apparently there is a FBI Surveillance Van on his street, so says a potential Wi-Fi connection, did the Blog Father commit a heinous crime? Or did Karen England give the FBI the wrong address for Aaron Park?

We will update when info is passed along.

With two regular contributors to this blog potentially sidelined, we must plan for a future of just myself and that food blogger Johnnie Does being the only bloggers left here.

Johnnie Does Jersey Mikes

So I took a break from the chain restaurants and decided for a more regional sandwich chain that is fairly new to the area Jersey Mike’s. You guessed it, they are from Jersey and are embarking on a huge nationwide expansion. Here is my review.

Jersey Mike’s traces its history back to 1956 when a young Mike Cancro (17), on advice from his mother, decided to buy Mike’s Submarines. He rebranded it as Jersey Mike’s in 1987. And today there are more than 1,000 locations, with a bunch more to come.

Locally, Jersey Mike’s is located at the Elk Grove Mall, oh, I mean Delta Shores by I-5. Like many regional chains that go nationwide, you are always worried about expanding too fast or the concept not catching on, let’s see how they do.

Ambiance: Typical sub sandwich place, limited seating, you order at the counter. That being said, I really enjoyed the maps and pictures on the wall of New Jersey; they even had a surf board on the wall, pretty nice touch. It has a very relaxed vibe, think like Starbucks, but with quick serve sandwiches as opposed to coffee. You place your order with a server, he writes it on his pad, and hands you the ticket to take to the other end of the counter to pay. It’s similar to Subway as far as the order process goes, I will get into this later. 4.1/5 on the ambiance, had some nice touches.

Food: Here is the biggest difference from Subway and Firehouse Subs, Jersey Mikes, takes the hunks of meat out deli-style and cuts them in front of you. They do this with the cheese as well, yup, right on the sub, directly in front of you. That is the definition of fresh. If you ordered a hot sub they place the meat on a hot grill and prepare separately and bring it out later. That being said the condiment choices are pretty standard, and you can order “Mike’s way” which is lettuce, tomato, onion, mayo, and “the juice” which is oil and red wine vinegar. You can add jalapeño, but I have grown to appreciate limited choices. I don’t know why but Jersey Mike’s gives off a fresher vibe. The bread choices were limited too; white, wheat, and rosemary parmesan, you also could have it gluten free. I ordered a chicken bacon ranch hot sub Mike’s way and it was fantastic. 4.7/5, very fresh and not skimpy at all on the meats, and toppings.

Overall: This was a thoroughly enjoyable experience. The fresh cut meat and cheese was a great touch. Limiting the bread and toppings was a smart move also. They had a signature way of having your toppings, and a streamlined approach conducive to both freshness and speed. The key is that I never felt rushed, and found out later the very nice man at the front taking orders….that was the franchisee. It wasn’t an absentee owner collecting his money while leaving the shop to be minded by kids. The price point was perfect for a 9 inch hot sub about $9. Quality was great and again, I never felt rushed or hurried. As an added bonus, they had a nice selection of chips, your typical ones, but also some specialty one’s and had some special root beer options as well. This was a nice break from your typical limited selection. They also had Tastykake (pronounced “tasty cake”) as a dessert option which traces its roots to Jersey as well. 4.6 overall

Comparing to Firehouse Subs: Firehouse is more of a grab a bite and a seat with your co-workers, where Mikes is more of a grab n’ go about your day place. Firehouse has more sub options and more exotic ones, whereas Mike’s is more of an old school deli shop. Firehouse is made behind a counter out of site, Mikes is made right in front of you. I think both are great. You cannot go wrong ordering from or owning either, so much so if I had the $$$ I would become a franchisee because I love the product.

Johnnie Does

There Really Is a Homeless Olympics

Back when he was first starting out, Rush Limbaugh used to joke that the perfect place to hold the Homeless Olympics would be in Rio Linda, California. Rio Linda was often described as a place with cars on blocks in the front yard, random televisions and shopping carts strewn about, along with other assorted debris. In short, the place was a mess. Rush wanted the people there to clear the place up and take some pride and ownership of their neighborhood. Rush offered to leave them alone if they renamed the place Rio Limbaugh which they never did.

Concerning the Homeless Olympics, Rush envisioned various events while taking well-earned shots at homeless advocate Mitch Snyder.

Proposed events would be things like dumpster diving, races carrying a televisions (simulating their theft), relays pushing shopping carts, etc. Here’s an example from 1989.

“One of the things I want to do before I die is conduct the homeless Olympics,” he told his audience. Events would include “the 10-meter Shopping Cart Relay, the Dumpster Dig and the Hop, Skip and Trip,” he said as the audience erupted into laughter and applause.
Rush Limbaugh Gives Liberals the Business, Gets Plenty Himself : Radio: The conservative talk-show host, whose program is nationally syndicated, is a major commercial enterprise.

This quote above was from Limbaugh’s Rush to Excellence Tour.

At the time, one person wrote the Los Angeles Times concerning the above article and said:

Making fun of homeless people is a “traditional value”? Well, excuse me, but where I come from, that is nothing more than nastiness and meanness–behavior befitting a bully.
Limbaugh Olympics

If you thought this was nonsense, insensitive, and mocking the homeless, then guess what? You were wrong.

There really is a Homeless Olympics. However, it’s not called that lest Rush get some of the credit for the idea, the official name is the Homeless World Cup. It began in 2003 and represents 70 nations.

To be a player you must meet the following qualifications:

Be at least 16 years old at the time of the tournament
Have not taken part in previous Homeless World Cup tournaments

Also, must be any of the following:

Have been homeless at some point after the previous year’s tournament in accordance with the national definition of homelessness
Make their main living income as a streetpaper vendor
Be asylum seekers currently without positive asylum status or who were previously asylum seekers but obtained residency status a year before the event
Currently be in drug or alcohol rehabilitation and also have been homeless at some point in the past two years

Source: Homeless World Cup

California has one third of the homeless population in the United States due to its great weather and even better benefits. It’s no surprise to me that from the shadows of Rio Linda comes three athletes making the trip to England to compete in this year’s events.

Rio Linda is on north side of Sacramento metro area

Three Sacramento women will soon be representing Team USA in this year’s Homeless World Cup.

Now, she and two other women will be representing the U.S. in the sporting spectacle known as the Homeless World Cup where 500 players will be representing 50 proud nations.
Three Sacramento Women Representing Team USA At The Homeless World Cup

So thirty years after the prediction, Rio Linda folks are participating in a worldwide homeless competition to see who brings home (if they had one) the gold medal.

Tesla 2019 Q2 Tomorrow

Elon Musk’s second quarter report card is due tomorrow (07/24/2019). As such, he dropped a few more nuggets for the faithful about what he might be able to do in the future, probably because the present is such a miserable place to be right now.

Future performance not indicated by past results

Elon is touting patents of technology that might become a reality at some future date, whether he’s the one still alive to do it or not is a debatable point. One involves automobile wiring harnesses and the other stamping body panels. Neither is anything other than a concept right now.

Elon Musk doesn’t want past performance to be used as indicator of Tesla’s future

Please note the tone of the opening paragraphs.

Elon Musk believes the way to usher in a new age of EVs is by going back to square one and tackling the fundamental issues with production.

Tesla just designed and patented revolutionary new wiring architecture, which will enable robots to build the upcoming Model Y.

Now another patent has revealed that Tesla is also moving to a new, full body aluminum casting design; rather than a series of stamped steel and aluminum pieces.
Tesla introduces giant casting machine to mass-produce Model Y Compact SUV

Oh, the headline is deceptive because Tesla has no such casting machine, only a patent on a concept for one which is a very different proposition. All that’s missing from the above article is Billy Crystal’s line from City Slickers that “Life is a do over.”

Apparently, Elon is signaling that he blew it with what he’s done at Tesla and needs another paradigm. Translation: give me yet more time. Like a stopped clock, the faithful hope that he eventually will get it right.

Next nugget, Apple hired Tesla’s VP in charge of design.

Apple Inc. has hired Steve MacManus, at least the third Tesla Inc. engineering executive to join the Cupertino, California-based technology giant in the last year.

MacManus, a Tesla vice president in charge of engineering for car interiors and exteriors, left the carmaker recently and has since joined Apple as a senior director, according to his LinkedIn profile. He worked at Tesla from 2015, after stints at Jaguar Land Rover, Bentley Motors and Aston Martin. His interior-design skills may be applicable at Apple beyond the development of a car.
Apple Hires Tesla Engineer With Interior Design Experience

This should fuel even more rumors about the mythical “Apple Car.”

Sales data sliding

The last nugget which is related to the previous one is that Tesla sales are tanking on their high end vehicles.

The luxury sedan that put Tesla Inc. on the map is starting to show its age, with new registrations of the company’s Model S plummeting 54 percent in the second quarter in California, The Wall Street Journal reports.

Similarly, new California registrations of the Tesla Model X fell by about 40 percent in the second quarter, the Journal reports, citing data from the Dominion Cross-Sell Report.

California is Tesla’s single largest market in the U.S., accounting for about 40 percent of Model S sales last year alone.

The Palo Alto-based automaker has shifted its focus to the Model 3, which is half the price of the Model S.

Meanwhile, the company itself says production and sales of the Model S and X have plummeted.

This time last year, Tesla built 24,761 Model S and X cars — a number that fell 41 percent to 14,517 cars in its most recent quarter.

Analysts say that’s partly due to Tesla’s decision not to update either car.
Registration data suggests Tesla Model S and Model X sales are plummeting in California

Conclusion

So the chief car designer for Tesla leaves and goes to Apple and then surprise; a story emerges that Tesla hasn’t updated their higher priced cars since they were introduced and as a result their sales are tanking. Sounds like Elon is lightening the payroll to me.

Maybe those rumors of Apple buying Tesla should be given another look. Tim Cook could do it with his lunch money and still have enough to buy Intel’s mobile chip business.

Wiping Out Toilet Paper

First they banned plastic bags, then straws, and now the environmental wackos want to ban toilet paper. The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) has declared war on toilet paper—at least if it is soft and squeezable—and especially if it is sold at Costco.

Historical Context

Folks, I would argue that the mass production of toilet paper is one of the greatest feats of human civilization. Think about it, what did people do before it was invented? Commercial toilet paper was not invented until the 19th century and the first rolled toilet paper was patented in 1883.

If you recall, under Islam, a thief will have his right hand amputated. Why? Because thru most of history, the right hand was used to eat and the left to wipe your butt.

Press play to watch a guy go “old school” in Italy

Next time you read about Jesus judging mankind at the final judgment remember this. Verses like below have just a bit more meaning when you read:

When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:

Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:
Matthew 25:31-34, 41

NRDC Truth Claim

Here’s the meat of the article against T.P. (Oh, can I say the word “meat” when talking about environmental wackos?)

The manufacture of bathroom tissue — particularly the soft, fluffy kind marketed for American bottoms — is one of the most “environmentally destructive” processes on the planet, according to the NRDC.

“Future generations are going to look at the way we make toilet paper as one of the greatest excesses of our age,” NRDC scientist Allen Hershkowitz told the Guardian in 2009. “Making toilet paper from virgin wood is a lot worse than driving Hummers in terms of global warming pollution.”
The fluffy toilet paper you are buying is helping kill Canada’s ancient forest, study says

Folks saying anything is worse than a Hummer—especially since they succeeded in getting them outlawed—is really fighting words. It communicates just how serious these guys are to outlaw toilet paper.

Toilet Paper by the Numbers

The article then goes on to introduce the math portion of this article.

The boreal forest is a vast landscape of aspen, evergreen and birch trees covering more than half of Canada, but since 1996, 22 million acres — an area roughly the size of Indiana — have been cut down to produce virgin fiber pulp, the key ingredient in premium toilet paper and hand tissues. With the exception of China, no country uses more tissue products than the U.S. despite the latter having only about 4 percent of the world’s population.

From 1996 to 2019 is 23 years. Since they can’t have complied statistics for this year yet, it is safe to say that we are talking about 1 million acres per year going to toilet paper production for sale in the U.S. market.

And of course, loggers—not having any interest in the sustainability of the forest since they work for evil corporations—would never think to replant trees to replace the ones they harvested.

Per the Canadian government, their country has 347,069,000 hectares of forest land.

Using a conversion tool found on the Internet this equals 857,626,176 acres of forest land in Canada.

Microsoft Excel icon

Plugging these two numbers into my handy copy of Microsoft Excel yield a whopping 2.56522 percent of Canadian forest has been harvested in 22 years for toilet paper production.

Put another way, if 1milion acres a year is harvested for toilet paper and there are 857,626,176 acres of forest land then the forest will all be converted to toilet paper in a mere 857 years—assuming nothing is planted to replace the harvested trees!

Oh, the Hypocrisy

Please note that this article which is critical of Canadian forest management is from San Francisco. Yes, a California based environmentalist is criticizing folks in other countries that may actually know what they are doing.

So how is forest management doing in California? California has 33,000,000 acres of forest land.

Last year, 2018, California lost 1,893,913 acres —much of it forest land—to wildfires. I don’t know about you, but the thought of wiping my back side with smoldering ashes or Charmin is a stark and clear choice for me.

California has the worst managed forest land on the planet and they want to impose their values not only on other states but other countries. Oh the hubris.

But the article yields even more nuggets of wisdom.

The boreal forest is critically important because it serves as an effective check on climate change, according to the NRDC-Stand.earth study, dubbed “The Issue with Tissue.” Cutting down millions of trees each year erodes the forest’s ability to absorb man-made greenhouse gas emissions. In addition, logging releases immense quantities of carbon safely stored in forests’ soil and vegetation.

“Most Americans probably do not know that the toilet paper they flush away comes from ancient forests, but clear-cutting those forests is costing the planet a great deal,” Anthony Swift, director of the NRDC’s Canada Project, said in a news release. “Maintaining the Canadian boreal forest is vital to avoiding the worst impacts of climate change.”

Toilet paper creation caused the release of greenhouse gases while wildfires in California have no detrimental effect on the release of carbon.

Carbon by the way is an essential element of all life on the planet except maybe a few bacteria (Unless you believe in silicon based lifeforms as found in Danish brothels or movie characters named Commander Data, Terminator, or Alien.)

The Bottom Line

The American way of life is somehow destroying the planet just so our butts can be clean and fresh.

In 2012, CNBC reported that toilet paper was Costco’s top-selling product, its “crown jewel,” with more than a billion rolls sold per year.

The three companies with the largest market shares in the tissue business — Procter & Gamble, Kimberly-Clark and Georgia-Pacific — use virgin pulp almost exclusively for at-home tissue brands. In 2017, those brands made up 80 percent of all toilet paper sales in the U.S, a study published in Statista found.

Oh, let’s consider the so-called virgin forests. Words have meaning so I guess the virgin forests are raped by the evil corporations. The virgin forest is defenseless and thus needs to be protected by guilty Western Liberals that have benefitted from the progress afforded them by Christianity and its economic engine, Capitalism.

Oh, if nature is so superior, sacrosanct, and needing to be followed, why do us humans put out the fires that nature starts that burn her own forests? Aren’t forest fires part of the natural order? Why should we not bow at the power of nature? Who are we to interfere with this goddess? Isn’t this the lesson; nature knows, man interferes?

Conclusion

Most of the world does not enjoy the luxury of toilet paper and those that do rarely get as good a quality as we can buy. When I was in Europe many years ago, all you could buy was stuff that looked like the crape paper used here to decorate for parties and felt like sandpaper.

These attacks are yet another attempt to limit people’s freedom, take our way of life down a few notches, and give more power to the State. If people in California really cared about the forest they would allow timber to be harvested and properly managed. Much of what passes as old growth or virgin wilderness in various parts of the world really is not, but once cultivated land that has gone feral from neglect.

This issue is very much a religious one. If you believe the Bible then you can’t be a rabid environmentalist or statist. God commanded man to make the whole world into The Garden. This mandates us to manage the planet and its resources not neglect them and let them burn.