Four stories baking Apple recently. If you needed proof that they are keeping programmers busy writing code for patches then read on…
FaceID fake-out using two dollars at the dollar store
“Some of our most sophisticated technologies — the TrueDepth camera system, the Secure Enclave and the Neural Engine — make FaceID the most secure facial authentication ever in a smartphone.” These are the words Apple use to describe their FaceID biometric authentication system.
Face ID can recognize even when the device owner put on glasses. It even works with many types of sunglasses. Also, FaceID has a feature called “liveness” detection which will prevent anyone from unlocking a device when the owner of the device is unconscious. Researchers took advantage of these two features to bypass FaceID. When a user is wearing glasses, FaceID won’t extract 3D information from the eye area.
During Black Hat USA 2019, researchers demonstrated a way to bypass FaceID and log into a locked phone by simply using a pair of modified glasses on device owner’s face.
Apple is known for its strong-arm tactics. Japan’s Fair Trade Commission has now launched an official investigation on Apple for violating anti-monopoly rules.
Silanovich worked with Project Zero member Samuel Groß to investigate whether other forms of messaging including SMS, MMS and visual voicemail were compromised. After reverse engineering and looking for flaws, she discovered multiple exploitable bugs in iMessage.
The reason is thought to be that iMessage offers such a range of communication options and features, which make mistakes and weaknesses more likely- e.g. Animojis, rendering files like photos and videos and integration with other apps, including Apple Pay, iTunes, Airbnb etc.
An interactionless bug that stood out was one that allowed hackers to extract data from a user’s messages. The bug would allow the attacker to send specifically crafted texts to the target, in exchange for the content of their SMS messages or images, for example.
While iOS usually has protections in place that would block the attack, this bug takes advantage of the system’s underlying logic, so iOS’s defences interpret it as legitimate.
Since these bugs don’t require any action from the victim, they are favoured by vendors and nation-state hackers.
Siri, Alexa, & Cortana are always listening and so are 3rd parties
An Apple contractor confirmed that there have been countless instances of recordings featuring private discussions between doctors and patients, business deals, seemingly criminal dealings, sexual encounters and so on. More serious issue is that these private recordings are accompanied by user data including location, contact details, and app data.
The City of Sacramento will implement rent control in limited circumstances in an effort to get supporters to pull a more far reaching rent control ballot measure that was scheduled to go for a vote next March. To implement this new scheme of government intrusion, of course a new tax is required to be paid by property owners who no doubt will raise tenant rents as a result. The stories that I read in the media are silent on whether all rental property owners get to subsidize this program or only the ones covered by rent control—this being California you shouldn’t make assumptions on such matters.
The Sacramento City Council is expected to approve a local rent control measure Tuesday in a compromise between city officials, labor unions and developers. The agreement – which will cap rent increases for older housing – will avoid what likely would have been a bitter, multi-million dollar political campaign next year.
In its new form, the Sacramento Tenant Protection and Relief Act, which the council will consider at its 2 p.m. meeting Tuesday, will create a set of renter protections for tenants who live in housing built prior to Feb. 1, 1995. The ordinance will cap the amount that landlords can increase rent each year; prohibit landlords from evicting tenants without a reason; and create a process where tenants can report landlords who violate the act.
The proposal is a compromise that’s the result of months of talks between city officials and advocates who gathered signatures to put a stricter rent control measure on the local ballot in 2020, said Councilman Steve Hansen, who led the negotiations.
Create reporting system so city can help tenants fight property owners
For some reason, this law will only apply to housing built before 1995…at least for the first five years then the City Council will review the ordinance for further modification.
Rent Cap
The ordinance will prohibit landlords from raising rent more than 6 percent plus the “consumer price index” percentage for the West Region per year.
Landlords will never be able to increase rent more than 10 percent, even if the CPI ever exceeds 4 percent, the ordinance says.
Eviction
The ordinance will also prohibit landlords from evicting tenants, unless tenants stop paying rent, are criminally charged, are illegally selling drugs, fail to give landlords access to the unit, or otherwise violate their leases.
The ordinance will bar landlords from evicting tenants for no reason, and require they give tenants an option to renew their lease, Hansen said
Landlords will still be able to evict tenants if they are making certain repairs or selling the unit, under certain circumstances, but will have to show proof, and will need to give the tenants an extensive 120-day notice.
The act will cover tenants who signed leases that are month-to-month or longer, those who live in apartments, mobile home parks and single room occupancy hotels, Hansen said. The act cannot legally apply to tenants renting single-family homes, though, unless they have been converted in to multiple units, such as duplexes.
New City Bureaucracy
The ordinance will require property owners to pay a fee, likely between $15 and $20 per unit per year, Hansen said. The fees will go toward running the program, enforcement, and tenant/landlord education.
Landlords will be able to apply to impose higher rent increases in front of city hearing officers, but only if they plan to make significant improvements to the units, the release said.
Remarks
As with anything Liberals do, this is a beginning and not a destination. I expect rent control to be expanded further via one of three vectors.
1 When the five years is up, the City Council will move the year 1995 up to 2000 (ahead five years) or more thus including even newer construction. 2 Via the ballot measure which is supposed to be on the Statewide November 2020 ballot. 3 Via direct Legislative action.
In spite of the claims of landlords evicting tenants with ease, this is fantasy. It takes many months and thousands of dollars to get someone to move out of your property unless they voluntarily agree to do so. In such cases, property owners spend thousands of dollars to repair the property so they can rent to someone else. Folks that refuse to move out are typically the ones that ruin floor and wall coverings, strip the place bare of appliances, plumbing fixtures, and vandalize the crap out of places.
Any time rent control is implemented, it is a de facto confiscation of private property. The property owner is then a vassal of the government and in a practical sense, the control of the property is forfeited without just compensation. In short, rent control is theft using the power of the sword. In the old days we called such government acts “tyranny”, but now it’s called “fairness” or some other innocuous name. George Orwell would call this “doublespeak”.
Apparently, when it comes to President Trump, any pretext of journalists claiming to be unbiased is replaced by commentary disguised as news. An article that appeared following the shootings in El Paso, Texas and Dayton, Ohio is all the evidence that I need to prove my point.
The shootings occurred thusly:
Late in the morning of Saturday August 3rd, a lone gunman entered a Walmart in El Paso and shot the place up for about ten minutes before fleeing the scene. Shortly thereafter, he surrendered to police.
Early in the morning of Sunday August 4th, a lone gunman in Dayton opened fire on a crowd of people. Within 30 seconds, police already in the area, shot and killed the man.
While many levels of law enforcement and several agencies responded, both incidents are local matters. However, the Associated Press didn’t see it that way.
BRIDGEWATER, N.J. (AP) — As the nation reeled from two mass shootings in less than a day, President Donald Trump spent the first hours after the tragedies out of sight at his New Jersey golf course, sending out tweets of support awkwardly mixed in with those promoting a celebrity fight and attacking his political foes.
Americans did not glimpse the Republican president in the immediate aftermath of a shooting in El Paso, Texas, that killed at least 20 people and, hours later, one in Dayton, Ohio, that claimed at least nine lives. Not until Trump and the first lady prepared to fly back to Washington in the late afternoon Sunday did he appear before cameras.
“Hate has no place in our country, and we’re going to take care of it,” Trump declared before boarding Air Force One.
Why does anyone need to see or hear from the President? Is he expected to do a Clinton and say he “feels our pain”? This is not a Federal issue so why is the first reflex to look to Washington? Trump is our President not our priest.
If the author had ended his story at this point, I wouldn’t be asking such questions. But he goes on…
While connecting “hate” and mental illness to the shootings, Trump made no direct mention of gun laws, a factor brought up by Democratic officials and those seeking their party’s nomination to challenge Trump’s reelection next year. He also ignored questions about the anti-immigration language in a manifesto written by the El Paso shooter that mirrors some of his own.
Trump tried to assure Americans he was dealing with the problem and defended his administration in light of criticism following the latest in a string of mass shootings.
“We have done much more than most administrations,” he said, without elaboration. “We have done actually a lot. But perhaps more has to be done.”
Never seemingly comfortable consoling a nation in grief, Trump will be carefully watched for his response to the attacks, again inviting comparison to his predecessors who have tried to heal the country in moments of national trauma.
Why are gun laws to blame for the shooting? This is assumed without any foundation introduced in the story.
Please note what comes next which is an attempt to blame Trump for the shooting in El Paso.” He also ignored questions about the anti-immigration language in a manifesto written by the El Paso shooter that mirrors some of his own.”
This is the good old bait and switch. The shooter is presumed to be mentally ill when he shoots people but rational when he wrote his manifesto. Yes, the shooter blames immigrants but what for? He blames illegal immigrants for being the reason that universal healthcare cannot be realized. Pop Quiz: Which political party is campaigning on Medicare for all and universal healthcare? Hint: It’s not the Party of Trump.
Achieving ambitions social projects like universal healthcare and UBI would become far more likely to succeed if tens of millions of dependents are removed.
(UBI in the above quote is universal basic income.)
The American lifestyle affords our citizens an incredible quality of life. However, our lifestyle is destroying the environment of our country. The decimation of the environment is creating a massive burden for future generations. Corporations are heading the destruction of our environment by shamelessly overharvesting resources. This has been a problem for decades. For example, this phenomenon is brilliantly portrayed in the decades old classic “The Lorax”. Water sheds around the country, especially in agricultural areas, are being depleted. Fresh water is being polluted from farming and oil drilling operations. Consumer culture is creating thousands of tons of unnecessary plastic waste and electronic waste, and recycling to help slow this down is almost non-existent. Urban sprawl creates inefficient cities which unnecessarily destroys millions of acres of land.
Yes, there are other things in the guy’s manifesto that fit the mold for white supremacy but again, why is this document supposed to be written by a rational person? Oh, he posted this manifesto just minutes before opening fire in the Walmart.
My impression of the document is that he is a National Socialist that hates International Socialists. Other than his immigration beliefs, his views are echoed by many California Liberals.
Please notice also that the AP article is completely silent on the Ohio shooter. The Ohio shooter was a registered Democrat that supported Elizabeth Warren and he called himself a Satanist.
…he described himself as a leftist, anime fan, and metalhead. He had posted tweets that opposed Donald Trump and supported Elizabeth Warren, socialism, and Satan.
Somehow Associated Press left this second shooter out of their swipe at Trump hoping that you wouldn’t notice.
AP continues with a second whack at Trump.
Never seemingly comfortable consoling a nation in grief, Trump will be carefully watched for his response to the attacks…
Again, these were a local issues. Why does Trump have to be measured by how well he performs in front of the camera? I know that he does much in private because he, contrary to the narrative, likes to do things away from the camera. This also presupposes that Trump needs the media which he does not; hence the Twitter comments.
Oh, there’s even more from AP. I could try ripping the balance of the article but most of the rest of the article is a hit piece on Trump interspersed with a few nuggets about the investigations following the shootings. I will end with this paragraph which clearly has nothing to do with the shootings.
In recent weeks, the president has issued racist tweets about four women of color who serve in Congress, and in rallies has spoken of an “invasion” at the southern border. His reelection strategy has placed racial animus at the forefront in an effort that his aides say is designed to activate his base of conservative voters, an approach not seen by an American president in the modern era.
The first thing to understand about President Trump is that he rarely starts anything on Twitter. Virtually every time he is responding to something that occurred elsewhere. If you’re not paying attention, you might miss that nugget. The media won’t allow any context to his comments. They pretend that Trump is like Zeus on Mt. Olympus randomly slinging lightning bolts hither and yon to stir-up otherwise content people.
The so-called “racist tweets about four women of color” is such an episode. The “Broad Squad” has repeatedly attacked America; our laws, our government, our allies, and our way of life. Trump responded on Twitter to a particular set of events. He was defending our country, its borders, and in particular, Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
Here is the background. Unlike AP, I exhaustively researched the context of Trump’s comments on Twitter which I will quote shortly.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez fired two shots aimed at House Speaker Nancy Pelosi; (July 8 & 9). First, Fox News ran a story that AOC and her associates were actively running a campaign to “take-out” incumbent Democrats and replace them with likeminded socialists.
The left-wing activist group that spearheaded the political rise of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is now working to take down several incumbent Democrats who have defied the party’s freshman progressive wing, leaving some of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s loyalists on Capitol Hill anxiously wondering if they might soon fall in the crosshairs themselves.
Justice Democrats, which was co-founded by Ocasio-Cortez chief of staff Saikat Chakrabarti, has already announced it is looking to unseat seven-term pro-life Texas Democratic Rep. Henry Cuellar, who represents a conservative district and has boasted about his endorsement from the National Rifle Association. Also on the list: New York Rep. Eliot Engel, the House Foreign Affairs Committee chairman who’s currently in his 16th term.
At the same time this story broke, Pelosi was firing back at AOC & company over a vote to fund the border. AOC and the rest of the “Broad Squad” were the only four Democrat votes against this bill.
On Friday, Pelosi aired a series of grievances in The New York Times, hitting back at Ocasio-Cortez and fellow progressives, Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN), Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), and Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-MA) for failing to fall in line behind the Democratic caucus and approve a $4.5 billion emergency spending bill aimed at addressing the humanitarian crisis at the southern border, even after the quartet complained loudly of the treatment asylum seekers were receiving.
“All these people have their public whatever and their Twitter world,” Pelosi said. “But they didn’t have any following. They’re four people and that’s how many votes they got.”
Pelosi seemed particularly aggrieved by a statement, put out by the four women (among others) chastising Democrats for funding what they believe to be a murderous organization hellbent on destroying the lives of immigrants.
“These radicalized, criminal agencies are destroying families and killing innocent children,” the statement read, according to Fox News, and called on Congress to defund both Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection, ostensibly in pursuit of an “open borders” immigration policy.
July 10th, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-NY, interjected race into the discussion.
“When these comments first started, I kind of thought that she was keeping the progressive flank at more of an arm’s distance in order to protect more moderate members, which I understood,” Ocasio-Cortez said.
“But the persistent singling out .?.?. it got to a point where it was just outright disrespectful .?.?. the explicit singling out of newly elected women of color.”
This was how OAC—the gift that keeps giving to the right—accused Nancy Pelosi of being a racist.
This set the narrative that an attack on the “Broad Squad” can’t be because of their policies, only because of their race. This is a false dilemma. This is like something you’d find in Rules for Radicals.
This is a textbook example of playing the race card in an attempt to inoculate you from a serious examination of your policy ideas. This is a logical fallacy but it works much of the time.
Trump came to Pelosi’s defense a few days later (July 12).
“I deal with Nancy Pelosi a lot, and we go back and forth and it’s fine, but I think that a group of people is being very disrespectful to her,” Trump said. “I’ll tell you something about Nancy Pelosi, she is not a racist, and for them to call her a racist is a disgrace.”
In my opinion, Trump was going after Ilhan Omar without naming her. In case you missed it, she’s the one that lied to get into the country and married her biological brother for several years to perpetrate the immigration fraud.
Below are the Twitter feeds from President Trump in Chronological order.
07/14/2019 Defending Pelosi
So sad to see the Democrats sticking up for people who speak so badly of our Country and who, in addition, hate Israel with a true and unbridled passion. Whenever confronted, they call their adversaries, including Nancy Pelosi, “RACIST.” Their disgusting language and the many terrible things they say about the United States must not be allowed to go unchallenged. If the Democrat Party wants to continue to condone such disgraceful behavior, then we look even more forward to seeing you at the ballot box in 2020!
So interesting to see “Progressive” Democrat Congresswomen, who originally came from countries whose governments are a complete and total catastrophe, the worst, most corrupt and inept anywhere in the world (if they even have a functioning government at all), now loudly and viciously telling the people of the United States, the greatest and most powerful Nation on earth, how our government is to be run. Why don’t they go back and help fix the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came. Then come back and show us how it is done. These places need your help badly, you can’t leave fast enough. I’m sure that Nancy Pelosi would be very happy to quickly work out free travel arrangements!
07/15/2019 America Love It or Leave It
When will the Radical Left Congresswomen apologize to our Country, the people of Israel and even to the Office of the President, for the foul language they have used, and the terrible things they have said. So many people are angry at them & their horrible & disgusting actions!
We will never be a Socialist or Communist Country. IF YOU ARE NOT HAPPY HERE, YOU CAN LEAVE! It is your choice, and your choice alone. This is about love for America. Certain people HATE our Country. They are anti-Israel, pro Al-Qaeda, and comment on the 9/11 attack, “some people did something.” Radical Left Democrats want Open Borders, which means drugs, crime, human trafficking, and much more. Detention facilities are not Concentration Camps! America has never been stronger than it is now – rebuilt Military, highest Stock Market EVER, lowest unemployment and more people working than ever before. Keep America Great!
The Dems were trying to distance themselves from the four “progressives,” but now they are forced to embrace them. That means they are endorsing Socialism, hate of Israel and the USA! Not good for the Democrats!
07/17/2019 The below was retweeted by Trump
“In America, if you hate our Country, you are free to leave. The simple fact of the matter is, the four Congresswomen think that America is wicked in its origins, they think that America is even more wicked now, that we are all racist and evil. They’re entitled to their opinion, they’re Americans. Now I’m entitled to my opinion, & I just think they’re left wing cranks. They’re the reason there are directions on a shampoo bottle, & we should ignore them. The “squad” has moved the Democrat Party substantially LEFT, and they are destroying the Democrat Party. I’m appalled that so many of our Presidential candidates are falling all over themselves to try to agree with the four horsewomen of the apocalypse. I’m entitled to say that they’re Wack Jobs.” Louisiana Senator John Kennedy
Trump never mentions race or color in any of these tweets.Remember this, OAC was the one that interjected race to go after a member of her own party. When Trump defended Pelosi and attacked them, the Dems did a circle-the-wagons move and did just what Trump said. They endorsed, “Socialism, hate of Israel and the USA!” They could just as easily have disavowed the “Broad Squad” but that’s not how they roll. Instead, the Democrats gave Trump some great fodder for the 2020 campaign.
Meanwhile back to the AP article as quotes above.
In recent weeks, the president has issued racist tweets about four women of color who serve in Congress, and in rallies has spoken of an “invasion” at the southern border. His reelection strategy has placed racial animus at the forefront in an effort that his aides say is designed to activate his base of conservative voters, an approach not seen by an American president in the modern era.
The above paragraph is commentary and history revisionism, not what happened. Trump was neither racist nor talking about color in anything he posted. As for “invasion” even the Democrats—with four exceptions—and the Old Gray Lady herself—The New York Times—have reluctantly admitted there is an invasion at the border.
Two months before AP mocked Trump for saying there is “an ‘invasion’ at the southern border”, the NYT editorial board began an op-ed with:
President Trump is right: There is a crisis at the southern border.
There has been a surge of migrants crossing into the U.S., despite Trump’s efforts to curtail illegal immigration. Some Democrats view granting Trump’s request for emergency funds as legitimizing his immigration stances they have railed against, but denying Trump’s request also puts them in the awkward position of turning down assistance for the migrants seeking asylum.
Oh, the Democrats did pass the bill as urged by The Times and that is what led to the spat between AOC and Pelosi.
Trump is vindicated with logic and evidence, not that it matters to his opponents.
Even the Los Angeles Times, in a roundabout way, came to Trump’s defense.
In the last week, more than 30 people have died in three separate mass shootings in Gilroy, El Paso and Dayton, Ohio. We believe that analyzing and understanding data about who commits such massacres can help prevent more lives being lost.
For two years, we’ve been studying the life histories of mass shooters in the United States for a project funded by the National Institute of Justice, the research arm of the U.S. Department of Justice. We’ve built a database dating back to 1966 of every mass shooter who shot and killed four or more people in a public place, and every shooting incident at schools, workplaces, and places of worship since 1999. We’ve interviewed incarcerated perpetrators and their families, shooting survivors and first responders. We’ve read media and social media, manifestos, suicide notes, trial transcripts and medical records.
First, the vast majority of mass shooters in our study experienced early childhood trauma and exposure to violence at a young age. The nature of their exposure included parental suicide, physical or sexual abuse, neglect, domestic violence, and/or severe bullying. The trauma was often a precursor to mental health concerns, including depression, anxiety, thought disorders or suicidality.
Second, practically every mass shooter we studied had reached an identifiable crisis point in the weeks or months leading up to the shooting. They often had become angry and despondent because of a specific grievance. For workplace shooters, a change in job status was frequently the trigger. For shooters in other contexts, relationship rejection or loss often played a role. Such crises were, in many cases, communicated to others through a marked change in behavior, an expression of suicidal thoughts or plans, or specific threats of violence.
Third, most of the shooters had studied the actions of other shooters and sought validation for their motives. People in crisis have always existed. But in the age of 24-hour rolling news and social media, there are scripts to follow that promise notoriety in death. Societal fear and fascination with mass shootings partly drives the motivation to commit them. Hence, as we have seen in the last week, mass shootings tend to come in clusters. They are socially contagious. Perpetrators study other perpetrators and model their acts after previous shootings. Many are radicalized online in their search for validation from others that their will to murder is justified.
Fourth, the shooters all had the means to carry out their plans. Once someone decides life is no longer worth living and that murdering others would be a proper revenge, only means and opportunity stand in the way of another mass shooting. Is an appropriate shooting site accessible? Can the would-be shooter obtain firearms? In 80% of school shootings, perpetrators got their weapons from family members, according to our data. Workplace shooters tended to use handguns they legally owned. Other public shooters were more likely to acquire them illegally.
The finding is that broken individuals are responsible for mass shootings. If nothing else, the Times article—which I recommend—takes a lot of ink to find common ground in the profile of such individuals and concludes by restating the age old axiom that we are our brother’s keeper.
Maybe if politicians spent more time building up our country instead of tearing each other down, we might actually solve some of the issues facing our nation. If Associated Press did their job and trusted their readers to make up their own minds, the political divide might be less divisive. Instead they resort to “fake news” and yellow journalism to score political points.
Trump is responsible for his actions and the shooters are responsible for theirs. Confusing the two and politicizing such tragic events is or should be shameful. Presidents—be they named Trump or Obama—are not responsible for mass shootings, the guys pulling the trigger are. These folks need help. Ultimately, psychology and psychiatry are unable to fix broken people, only God can do that by giving them a new heart.
The bad news from Tesla keeps piling up. Yesterday I saw this about their response to declining sales on their Model S & X cars. Free charging for life.
In a turn of events, Tesla has now announced that all new customers of the Model S and Model X can access free unlimited charging at any Tesla supercharging station.
My son-in-law (he earned the title yesterday), bought a Tesla a few months back and got free charging for the first six months of ownership. As previously documented, the difference between the Supercharge station and the other two forms of charging is huge—in terms of time.
However, the big news to me in this article was the cost of charging.
A few years ago, Tesla offered free supercharging to customers; until the offer was revoked by Musk for being unsustainable for the company in the long run. With the cost of supercharging in the US being pretty much equal to the cost of gas ($0.28 per kWh), this may have been one of the reasons Tesla customers have been abandoning this part of the product line.
OK, so if the cost of charging your car is the same as gasoline, what exactly is the savings of owning the car?
Please note that the logic of electric vehicle ownership goes off the rails at this juncture. If the cost of charging is the same as gasoline, where is the cost savings when your state—or the federal government or both—introduce the dreaded mileage tax? Filling up my gasoline powered car takes less than five minutes while the Tesla supercharge station gives you only a mostly charged vehicle after 45 minutes. Don’t forget, should you resort to 110 VAC charging, you may be waiting a whole day for a charged battery.
Also, as others have documented, Tesla has made no changes to the Model S & X cars since they were introduced except some software updates. Oh, don’t forget that the designer of said cars also quit working for Tesla so there is that. Elon is selling old tech for premium prices. If Tesla goes under, he might have a future with Apple since they do the same thing.
Yes, its time for the Service Employee’s International Union (SEIU) to negotiate contracts with the State of California again. If you want to follow all the action, see it for yourself here. Bargaining Unit Updates
Four years ago, Jerry Brown showed restraint when negotiating with this union, but this time around, the union is asking for the moon and very likely to get most of it from Gavin Newsom. Look at this laundry list of goodies.
Economic Justice
21 percent salary increase over three years. This is partially because many SEIU members are making starting wages less than the magical $15 an hour that is somehow the holy grail of wages.
GoePay If union members live in high cost areas like Los Angeles or San Francisco, they want members to get extra pay due to the higher cost of living.
Housing differential If employee is paying more than 30 percent of income in housing costs then you get more loot.
Comments
A 7 percent a year wage increase on its face is ridiculous in the current environment; however, due to the stupid political endorsements of this union, 21 percent over 3 years would almost restore the relative earning power members had before the last contract was enacted. You see SEIU endorsed candidates that raised taxes and fees so much in California that their members were worse off and had less take-home pay (in real dollars) at the end of the day than before the last contract was signed. To site a few specific examples, gas taxes increased, DMV fees increased, minimum wage increased which cause things in the state to become more expensive while simultaneously reducing earning power of people represented by the union, etc.
GeoPay and regional adjustments sound good on its face but…
What does this do for retirement? Is retirement now based on base wages plus regional earnings so in equal job classifications, two people from different parts of the state get different amounts when they both retire to Arizona? How is this fair? Remember when spiking retirement was an issue?
Housing differential…
Regional housing allowance? How do you pull this off? Actual numbers reported to state and union? Median pricing in a given area? What are housing costs? Rent? Mortgage? Water, gas, electricity, sewer, garbage? Does this make cable TV or Internet a right? Wouldn’t raising the renter’s credit on California income tax returns make more sense? Currently its $60 per year for single filers.
Healthcare Justice
SEIU wants all healthcare and vision paid by the state, pay for insurance for employees living in other states, and cap contributions to retiree healthcare at current levels.
Comments
California’s state employees currently have most of their personal health insurance paid by the State—80 Percent. In addition state employees are covered by basic dental and vision plans. For an additional cost, premium versions of this insurance are offered to employees as well.
As for California paying for health insurance in other states, wow! So I can live in Oregon and work at Pelican Bay Prison and Gavin will pay my insurance in the Oregon healthcare system? Or you work for Cal Trans and live on the Nevada side of Lake Tahoe and you can get Nevada’s insurance. Arizona would have to be in this mix too but where else? Would such a move allow California politicians to deploy lobbyists to other states to influence their healthcare laws to be in compliance with our laws?
The retiree healthcare contribution was implemented in the current contract as a way to set aside money now for healthcare premiums in the future. This fund is earmarked for use when current employees retire. This currently is 3.5 percent of wages. The final 1.2 percent of this withholding is scheduled to begin with the paychecks July 1, 2020. Total tax 5.38 percent.
partial clip of current contract showing phase-in deduction
Worker and Family Justice
More flexible hours, telecommuting, 20/20 program, and long commutes.
Comments
Many SEIU employees work in offices with set business hours. SEIU wants flexibility of hours and schedules but for many people this is just not practical. Other than not offering a work schedule of four ten, hour days, the state offers many options where I work including lots of time off without using their generous vacation and sick policies. Apparently the union wants even more.
Telecommuting is not practical for many people represented by SEIU. Imaging allowing someone in the accounting department to work from home. The state will insist on supplying a secure laptop to such employees that have access to names, addresses, and social security numbers, plus info on wages and benefits; all from the comfort of home or Starbucks or Panera Bread, or … What could possibly go wrong with this? Note: if this idea doesn’t bother you, ask a high school kid how secure he thinks your personal info–and everyone else’s that you have access to–will be in this scenario and whatever dire things he says, triple the severity and you’ll be close.
The 20/20 plan is getting paid up to 20 hours a week while you attend college and then work the other 20 hours. This does not appear to be limited to improving your knowledge to better perform your job for the State but for the sake of self-improvement.
Below is standard language for an existing program:
Employees interested in pursuing this opportunity shall develop an education plan and/or Individual Development Plan with supervisor input. The 20/20 program endeavors to provide the opportunity for employees to participate in state sponsored, college or university courses for up to twenty (20) hours per week without loss of compensation when employees would otherwise be scheduled for work. At the request of the Union, individual department(s) shall meet to explore the development of a 20/20 program(s).
MOU Page 311
Oh, applications for this program are sent up the department’s chain of command as well as carbon copied to the union.
Conclusion
Dear taxpayers, thanks for generously volunteering to pay for all these wonderful benefits for government workers. It’s too bad your employer doesn’t have any money left to give you the same deal.
I’ll keep you updated as our political class negotiates goodies for the unions that keep them in power. After all, it’s the least I can do for you.
The company built by Steve Jobs continues to unravel slowly under caretaker Tim Cook. Apple is poised to fall to the #4 smartphone maker in the world. Here’s the details:
Going by the IDC’s numbers, Apple may have single-handedly been responsible for the smartphone market tanking, with the quarterly numbers down 8 million units, suspiciously similar to Apple’s drop in sales between Q2 2018 and Q2 2019.
Apple shipped 33.8 million new iPhones during 2Q19, which was down significantly from the same quarter one year ago.
The numbers show that now 3rd placed Apple may soon drop into 4th, with Xiaomi only 1.5 million handsets behind Apple.
In other Apple news, they finally announced some 5G phones late in 2020.
Apple may not be joining the Android world with 5G this year – expect the first iPhone 5G to show up in September 2020 – but yesterday’s purchase of Intel’s modem business by Cupertino offers Tim Cook a way out of Qualcomm’s dominance in the smartphone modem space.
Concerning Apple’s purchase of Intel’s 5G business…
Apple made the move in order to develop its own in-house 5G modems rather than rely on Qualcomm, a company with which the iPhone maker has had a fraught history.
But the move is also a positive for Intel, according to CEO Bob Swan, who said the company can now focus on 5G in other areas.
Speaking with CNBC, Swan explained the rationale behind selling off the modem business: 5G modems, he said, were not an area that would differentiate growth for the industry. And with only one customer — Apple — retaining the business would not provide attractive returns, he added.
Apple’s smartphone business is shrinking but after doing a head fake earlier this year to dump Intel and go with QUALCOMM, they were able to come to terms with Intel. The problem is that the Intel modems are slower and more power intensive than QUALCOMM. This means less data transfer and lower battery life with Intel modems. Coupled with Apple’s habit of overstating battery life per charge, this may be interesting to see. I think Apple will have a steep learning curve to be competitive with 5G technology. Their first generation of 5G devices might do for them what Vista did for Microsoft. Mr. Cook may be creating a perfect storm for some class action litigation if this goes sideways on him.
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.”
James Veltmeyer
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.”
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Classic Justice League members
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.
Televangelist Ezekiel
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:
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.
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
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.”
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.
