While perusing an old Sacramento Magazine from 2017 (Johnnie Does is a big history guy) I came across an article about 30 things every Sacramentan must eat before they die. Being a simple man, I was overcome with emotion about my own mortality, I knew I had to try something from this list before I went to my eternal reward. I saw Jimboy’s ground beef tacos on the list and figured there is one near my office so let’s do it!
Some Background Jim and Margaret Knudson started Jimboy’s back in 1954 as an American spin on tacos. They started with just a taco cart and grew into a large empire. They started in Tahoe and migrating down to Sacramento in 1961. Glad we claim it as our own…..here is my review!
Ambiance: Jimboy’s gives off a relaxed fast casual vibe. The location near my office features two entrances, a main one and a take-out only entrance… both of which lead to the same counter! You place your order at a counter and you get a number on your receipt and when your order is ready you return to the counter and claim your meal. The menu is standard Mexican cuisine with an American twist; tacos, burritos, salads, fajitas…etc. However in the eyes of this professional food critic, some items are very overpriced…namely said tacos! I placed my order and found a small salsa bar offering about six salsa’s ranging from mild-to-hot, as well as ketchup (?) and Taco sauce. I grabbed the sauce, some hot salsa, and jalapenos and took my seat. The relaxed vibe and having to wait for fresh made food was a nice touch 4.1/5.
Food: As stated above, they have an American variation on Mexican food and I’m grading based on such. I ordered three ground beef tacos, they were $2.80 a piece! The tacos are corn shell, beef, lettuce, cheese, grease and a parmesan cheese dusting the outside of the shell. Did I mention grease…lots and lots of grease. 3.3/5 the taco sauce was a good addition.
Grease is the word
Overall: It was hard to get too excited about this place. The tacos were vary overpriced, by comparison there is a Taco Bell and a Del Taco nearby; both offering their spin on tacos for far cheaper. I did enjoy the relaxed laid back vibe, I loved the food was not premade, it was cooked after I ordered, and came out hot to boot. However even on taco Tuesday, $2 for these tacos are viciously overpriced. 3.3/5
I perused the list of the other “things I had to eat before I die” and was not impressed. Merlino’s Freeze I never liked and the Squeeze Inn cheeseburger only squeezed my blood vessels (plus I can’t see myself in a cheese skirt). As such, I think I can die in peace knowing I didn’t miss much other than harder arteries. I started not feeling well while writing this review…Johnnie Does diarrhea may be forthcoming. Recently, another salsa bar in Elk Grove overloaded my plate with grease as well, maybe the natives are sending a message to me?
San Francisco, it’s been referred to as cutting edge, a dump, liberal bastion, Bagdad by the Bay, home of Michael Savage, and pretty much everything that you can name, so the Blog Father deployed intern “Johnnie Does” to report back on a myriad of topics. The following is his report.
While making my final descent across the Golden Gate Bridge (it’s more of a red-orange not gold but I digress), I saw a sign advertising the bridge toll of $12. Like any other proud American, I was ready to pay said toll for the right to enter San Francisco from this historic structure but to my dismay there was no attendant in the toll booth! I passed through; fearing the worst. Would I get a ticket? Was I now a criminal? A fugitive on the run even? Would I make it out of the City alive? My passenger assuaged my fears saying they are going to send you a bill via snail mail for the $12, they got rid of the toll takers years ago. Whoa! That’s Weird! Liberal San Francisco actually shrinking government payroll? Or was this an Amazon.com esque agreement where these bills are delivered at an extra cost to Joe Taxpayer? Maybe a third-party billing service owned by the nephew of a local bigwig? I couldn’t dwell on this; I had a job to do. I was finally here, and I needed to complete my mission; cranking out decent content for this blog.
Photo via Facebook
I found a parking lot right near Fisherman’s Wharf. I was a little offended this wasn’t really anyone’s wharf; especially, considering this city believes anyone can use any place as a bathroom. Maybe if this was private there would be standards, public ownership means anything goes, talk about hypocrisy. I realized I had inadvertently selected a labor union’s parking lot, and at the rate of $20 a day I figured I did my part to re-fill their coffers which took a big hit following the Supreme Court’s Janus decision.
I then set off on my journey toward Golden Gate Park. It was a short walk, if by short, I mean the kill radius of a thermo-nuclear weapon, but I finally made it. The homeless issue had been reported on by a couple of real news stations, so I wanted to get a firsthand perspective on this. What I saw would stun everyone except maybe resident pantywaist Darrell Steinberg (idiot-Sacramento). Homeless people had taken over the park!
Darrell Steinberg
Literally every part of this once magnificent landmark was covered in trash, tents, sleeping bags, propane stoves, five-gallon buckets of…. (well, let’s call it human waste). I thought this was supposedly a tourist area. Really? Again, whoa, that’s weird! I needed to get answers, so I interviewed several characters inhabiting the park. The first, “Chief poo slinger” (no relation to “The Chief” correspondent on this blog by the way) claimed that the part of the park which he was residing in was actually his, given to him by God. Not sure I ever read that passage in the Bible, maybe it appears in Rev. Jeremiah Wright’s Authorized Version?
Jeremiah Wright no internet photo of him holding a Jewish or Christian Bible exists
Pressed for answers, he and his counterparts; Jack Meoff, and fellow sister, Coke Meup, relented and answer several tough questions. None wanted to leave the park under any circumstances claiming they had a right to life under the Constitution, I agreed. None wanted to live in a state or city sponsored shelter, saying they didn’t want to give up drinking or doing narcotics. This is understandable, many a homeless person these days just wants money for said alcohol or narcotics. In a sense, they had formed a pack or herd mentality, and as a group, they took over what was once a proud tourist destination.
Golden Gate Park–site where woman gave birth 12/13/2012
The homeless were ever present on the Embarcadero and the entire walk to Pier 39 and other tourist traps. The odd part here, was a security force shooed them off whenever one wandered into the tourist areas. I saw this firsthand several times. So, I interviewed one of the guards. He was actually quite a good interview! He said the businesses and landlord hired them to make sure the area is welcoming for visitors because the wharf is a worldwide tourist destination. I agreed but stated that the sidewalks were dirty and grimy and could use a re-vamp…more on this later. But the security force was very good at making sure the homeless knew that until after midnight, they weren’t welcome. Further on my journey, I encountered a worker in a yellow fluorescent vest picking up what I thought was trash…it was human feces.
San Francisco Poop Patrol
Apparently, San Francisco has an “open door policy” meaning you can open the back door and relieve yourself wherever you wanted, and these “poop troops” were employed to clean it up…. WEIRD! Similar poop troop squads are deployed all over the city. They even keep a log of where they pick up all the “logs.”
Gross and upsetting, more on this later.
Both when I stopped to grab a bite for lunch and later for dinner, I was able to chat with the employees and managers alike. The attitude from the employees was that the homeless have overrun the place…. but it’s San Francisco and we have a “love all, serve all” attitude. Generally, they seemed happy, as the minimum wage is higher here than most places, and they have healthcare to boot! Yes, added on as a line item to my bill was a 5% tax to pay for worker healthcare mandated by San Francisco. That was somewhat unsettling as my ticket for Fish n Chips came to over $20 after tax, tip, and healthcare costs were passed conveniently on to me–the customer.
Talking to the managers gave me a fresh prospective on the homeless situation. They lamented the rising rents and minimum wage increases. These economic factors put continuously upward pressure on costs and as such are passed on to the customer. They spoke of the nightmare of trying to hire people, and constant turnover due to rising costs. Like the employees, they didn’t seem to have much animosity toward the homeless.
I walked down the Embarcadero toward the ballpark where the San Francisco Giants play. On my walk, I encountered more of the same homeless people littering the streets. These ones took a far more aggressive pan handling tone than any others I had encountered. Harassing of patrons was not even frowned upon by law enforcement.
photo: SF Chronicle
I went into a couple of small businesses specifically to ask the owners what they thought of the situation. Predictably the business owners were fed up, the homeless create a blight, and while it’s easy for Pope Francis to say we need to take and provide for all these folks, the detriment on businesses is telling. The business owners lamented the lack of police support. The proliferation of homeless, coupled with the role-back and decriminalization of many things in the County, made business ownership in their part of the city difficult. A couple of business owners even said they would support a tax to build housing for the homeless, even knowing it won’t alleviate the problem. All in all, it painted a bleak picture of any prospect of a turnaround. I guess the City/County of San Francisco doesn’t care about the cleanliness or appearance of its streets but are more than willing to put a tax on the ballot.
Finally, I had a chance to speak to several police officers in the city. Their responses will blow you away! This is a very unhappy bunch, essentially nothing is a crime in The City anymore. Sure major violence is, but the DA has made so many crimes non-priority that enforcement is nil. It’s almost a lawless area. The police have been ordered to do nothing about public intoxication, urinating in public, or aggressive homeless people. It has created a culture of anything goes, and as a result tourism is declining. While I am sure the pay and benefits are great, it must be surreal to have gone through the academy and take an oath to uphold the laws of the land only to see them being decriminalized and make you a bystander.
Final Thoughts It was an okay, but very average trip to San Francisco. Golden Gate Park is overrun with homeless, the City has an app showing where the “poop troop” has picked up a log, and sadly the entire city is covered.
Poop Patrol map
The streets are dirty, the smell of human waste is everywhere, apathy has set in amongst the employees and police, and business owners are talking up supporting a tax to throw more money at the problem. The seafood was good but very overpriced due to high labor and benefit costs, I don’t think I will visit again anytime soon. It has become overrun by homeless and unless you visit the tourist traps it’s just not a fun experience. The politicians and local leaders don’t seem to care either as the only answer in their eyes is throw more money at the problem. Sadly more and more homeless have migrated to the city knowing full well they can get away with far more in San Francisco than any other surrounding area. I cannot say I would recommend a visit.
That’s my take on it. Trump gave the order to attack Iran and some piece of equipment necessary for the mission failed or was not ready for the job.
The US armed forces have a bad track record when it comes to military action against Iran. You can go back to the aborted hostage rescue attempt under the Carter Administration. This cluster f**** of an operation killed a bunch of good men in a mission that was doomed to failure. Carter and company wanted every branch of the military to have a part in the mission which was flown at night. People that had not trained together were thrust into a dangerous operation in an environment hostile to both men and equipment.
Operation Eagle Claw … was a United States Armed Forces operation ordered by U.S. President Jimmy Carter to attempt to end the Iran hostage crisis by rescuing 52 embassy staff held captive at the Embassy of the United States, Tehran on 24 April 1980. Its failure, and the humiliating public debacle that ensued, damaged U.S. prestige worldwide. Carter blamed his loss in the 1980 U.S. presidential election mainly on his failure to secure the release of the hostages
Fast forward to today. President Trump has inherited a sketchy military that is highly reliant on untested systems. My use of the word “untested” is a charitable term.
As documented previously on this blog, Navy’s 13 Billion Dollar Cruise Ship, we have aircraft carriers that can’t arm planes, launch them or land them because their systems don’t work. The Navy also has weapon systems that they can’t test fire because it costs too much money to test them ($1 million per shot).
The Navy is scrapping production of rounds for its newest warship, citing costs of nearly $1 million per unit.
The move comes just two weeks after the Navy commissioned the U.S.S. Zumwalt, the next generation of the Navy’s guided missile destroyer program. The scrapped Long Range Land-Attack Projectile (LRLAP) fired from the Zumwalt would be capable of hitting targets up to 80 miles away. Lockheed Martin claims the rounds are so accurate they can “defeat targets in the urban canyons of coastal cities with minimal collateral damage.”
The Zumwalt is equipped with two large guns which are only capable of firing LRLAP rounds. The guns are still slated to be mounted on two upcoming Zumwalt class ships, and are the largest weapons to be designed for a warship since World War 2.
Every branch of the military has similar stories of equipment issues.
The U.S. military, government agencies and other purchasers bought more than $20 million worth of Chinese-made counterfeit goods designed to look like domestically produced gear from a company that defrauded the government and helped to orchestrate the counterfeiting process between January 2013 and October 2018, Justice Department officials said last week.
The counterfeit gear included 200 specialized parkas designed to counter night vision goggles that would have been used by U.S. Air Force personnel stationed in Afghanistan.
But the Multicam APECS Parkas sold to an unnamed U.S. Air Force base supply center didn’t actually do that, which could have put troops’ lives at risk.
Those types of parkas use a near-infrared technology woven into the fabric that is designed to make the wearer more difficult for enemy forces to detect with equipment such as night-vision goggles, justice officials said. The counterfeit versions, however, lacked the near-infrared technology, unbeknownst to the wearer.
The sales were in violation of the Berry Amendment and the Trade Agreements Act, which require goods sold to the military and certain government buyers to be manufactured in either the United States or select countries.
In the case of Trump aborting the attack on Iran, I think the likely culprit is the F-35.
The F-35 program began in 1992. The idea was that all branches of the military would use the same aircraft thus saving that taxpayers money. The program was known as the Joint Strike Fighter. However, like the proverbial horse created by a committee, every part of the military had their own ideas about what this aircraft should do and what type of weapon systems it should have. By 2017, the commonality of function between the services was measured at 20 percent.
The F-35 in my opinion is a failure as a replacement for the F-16. It is incapable of winning a dogfight with an F-16, it cannot maintain supersonic speed without compromising its structure, and requires pristine flight conditions to operate.
I think the carrier aircraft were not up to the task of doing the mission due to an equipment readiness issue and Trump remembering the Carter fiasco, aborted the mission. It was not a last minute breakthrough of diplomacy.
That’s my read on it but we will learn soon enough because nothing stays secret in Washington for very long.
Not a day goes by where I (a millennial mind you) hear older generations crapping all over mine. You know the criticisms, they are dumb, addicted to their phones, aren’t motivated, what do they do all day? etc. etc. etc. While in most cases these denunciations are correct, you were the enabler!
This started back during school for us, when you as parents would make excuse after excuse for our misbehavior, poor productivity, or general laziness. “He is a good kid”, “She has a learning disability”, “His homework is at home we left too quickly”, etc. Sure on occasion you may have spanked us, grounded us, sent us to bed without dinner; however, these were also enabling tactics, as the following day you acted as if nothing happened. You made us play basketball, football, soccer, baseball, band, you name it, we gorged on activities year round, your enabled us by burning us out. By burning us out, we couldn’t compete on a sports team in high school, so we came right home after school, sometimes 3 hours before a parent would return from work. We never did our chores, but that’s ok because you said “homework” was more important but we usually had none so we played on the video game system you bought for us or dabbled in drugs.
We spent our homework hours with Master Chief
You caught us, but you remembered your own drug use, so you let it pass, rationalizing that “it’s a fad.” You caught us cutting class, cheating, etc. yet you still let us hang out with our friends, because we needed a social life. You let your daughter dress however she wanted, leaving little to the imagination, now you’re upset she has self-esteem issues. However due to your absenteeism, she has downloaded Facebook, Myspace, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, and any other app, only to see other girls half-dressed looking better than her and as a result she wants plastic surgery. Mental health anyone? As a result, we no longer talk to people like adults, we now exist only in cyberspace as an anonymous internet bully. We talk to people the same way, we tell our parent to f*** off, shut up, etc. Our own parents, those who brought us into the world…. However, you never punished us. Again, indicting your generation. We speak through emojis, texts, and emails, we have “friends” not friends.
We fell in love with TV, specifically “reality TV.” This molded our thoughts and started a sympathetic mentality. We binged on “My 600lb Life”, “Teenage and Pregnant” and “John and Kate plus 8.” As adults, you should have told us this is no way to live our lives.
Instead these people have become sympathetic figures with us wanting social justice for them. This combined with teachers who run their classroom like a courtroom, not allowing a difference of opinion, have now made two generations sympathetic and now have deeply ingrained beliefs of equality. It is no longer what you believe or think, it’s how you feel. Poor Caitlyn Jenner should use any bathroom she wants. Colin Kaepernick should be allowed to kneel during the National Anthem because that is him expressing himself. The “Octomom” is a single mother who should get all the care she needs.
Colin Kaepernick of the SF 49ers kneels during the anthem
We have been ingrained to ignore the plight of the working person, forcing them to subsidize the life of people who make horrendous life choices.
Your lack of parenting caused us to identify with a group as opposed to listening to you. We have a tribal mentality as opposed to a family or faith based mentality. We rely on the opinions of friends and close associates as opposed to thinking for ourselves or real life experiences from you. As a result, our friends and teachers have molded our thoughts, all while you looked the other way. You may try to retort, but we saw it on TV, and everyone is watching/talking about the show.
Your generation didn’t stop there, you expected us to attend college whether we were prepared or not under the guise that “no degree means no good job.” Our teachers agreed, clearly this ideal worked for them. It was almost as if the college imperative was a form of collusion amongst your generation. Our professors got in on it as well saying a salary offer of 70k a year or less is a slap in the face with a degree from our institution. We drank deep and long on this Kool-Aide offered to us. So we went to college, signing on to significant student loan debt, all the while majoring in; political science, the humanities, communication, or sports management….all worthless degrees in the real world. On freshman move in day at the dorms, you even bought booze for us, your offspring. You wanted to be the cool parent and what better way for us to meet people. Sadly, lesson learned. You taught us the rules didn’t apply. Even worse, the go-go days of easy credit and a fake economy were booming so you bought a boat, way bigger house, two big vehicles, put a pool in…everything was great, if you got it flaunt it, forget keeping up with any Jones’s you were the Jones’s.
Then things stopped, it got very ugly….your boat? Sold it to try to cover house payments. You or your spouse or both of you lost your jobs. The cars were repossessed and the house foreclosed on. Rather than blame your own splurging, you blamed the banks, or President Bush or Clinton, depending on your party of choice, they ruined everything. Those job offers we were promised? The guaranteed salaries? Nowhere to be found. Instead, we graduated with a mountain of debt and moved right back home, albeit a likely smaller version of it. You made excuses about the economy being bad and rather than implore us to get jobs, you paid our bills and looked the other way. We tried pushing the “reset button” yet this is not a video game, it didn’t work. That 70k a year? You parents aren’t clearing that anymore, if you ever really did. Oh and we just fell off our parents insurance, because Republicans. You kept paying our bills and the excuses continued. Now you want us to be independent. We balked because we enjoy you paying for everything while we live our lives like any MTV star or Kardashian did. You then realized retirement was on hold due to you still paying your adult child’s bills. It’s ok though, you moved us out of the house, but you would still cover the rent for a year; which has turned into 3 years. You also pay all utilities because we says it isn’t fair that we pay. I have customers who continue to pay expenses for their child who is now married: car, rent, phone, cable, and insurance payments.
Worse yet, the ones who are somewhat independent go right back to your old bag of tricks when they don’t get their way. “I never got a bill!” “Yeah, I did pay it!” “No you’re wrong.” Fear not, dad and mom were there to bail you out again, so it continues. Then Christmas came (or your inspired word for “the Holidays”) and you spent the time with us sad that no son-in-law (or daughter-in-law) and grandkids were present. Again you went into helicopter mode. You made a million excuses and tried to convince us to get a partner. Our response, “I am looking.” You retort that we weren’t looking hard enough so you found one for us. Predictably, it didn’t work out and you blamed us. Still barely employed, you tried to get us to find some motivation…sorry. We rebelled against you. You told us this was a land of milk and honey, it wasn’t. We abandoned any values or ethics you thought you taught us…they, like the good paying jobs, are gone forever. You tried to instill discipline, but you failed. We haven’t heard the word “NO” before and, you unprepared, did not realize that like you, we mastered the art of excuse making and rhetoric. The student has become the master. You told us the government would handle our retirement but that prospect looks very bleak. You told us hard work pays off, that didn’t translate into a job. You showed us how to live a lie; however, that lifestyle isn’t available anymore. You filed bankruptcy and got a clean slate. We can file, but our student loans aren’t dischargeable (yet). Everything we were told ended up being untrue, so we now have a jaded view of just about anything, and now we are stuck.
You couldn’t understand why we voted for Obama in masse, or why we flock to Sanders, Warren or Booker, yet strayed far from Hillary. Truth is Obama represented a hope, everything you told us about, then he failed us, and he, just like you, fired up the excuses. We rebelled on Trump because he reminds us of the current you; someone angry with results and determined for to force a change. Harris, Warren and Sanders represent the values we want, no corporations, no debt, and no hard work, and the ultimate benefit, payback to your generation for the lies you told us.
For those of us who are married and with kids, you are likely still providing a roof over our heads and in most cases paying for everything else. You can’t understand why we don’t vaccinate our kids, but we point to obscure internet articles stating vaccinations cause autism, ignoring the grave history of measles, polio, and tetanus. But still you defend our position even though it is wholly without merit.
Concluding thoughts: While your descriptions and stereotypes are correct, fault lies with you. Harken back to the days of our youth when everyone was getting a trophy in their sports league, even though keeping score was looked upon unfavorably. Everyone was a winner, and even if we lacked the talent or ability, we were told how great and inspiring we were!
If you had fun, you won!
The seed was planted and later when we tried out for a high school team and inexplicitly got cut, devastation ensued. Remember when we got our first job and when told by a supervisor we made a mistake, again devastation, why is that? Because we were told our entire life how great of a job we did, and the word “no” never computed. So what if we were 20 minutes late…again. We are finding out the “real world” isn’t a TV show run on MTV when we were younger. Actions have consequences, things your parents shielded us from. You allowed us to hang out with like-minded friends, we got tattoos, we dyed our hair, we got piercings, etc. you said we were out of line but again no consequences. Remember when you went out for date night downtown, and you, act surprised that you had a waitress with pink hair, a bartender with many tattoos, and a nary a “normal looking” person to be found. Guess they has parents like you too.
I know what you’re thinking, chain restaurant? Has Johnnie gone soft on us? He literally put a store out of business…. rest in peace Side Burn BBQ. However, we saw a commercial for loaded queso fajitas and were intrigued. We found a $5 off coupon in a local newspaper, which conveniently doubles as flooring for a pet’s cage! Here is the review.
Ambiance: It’s a chain so it’s hard to quantify it, but no hostess during the height of lunch hour is a bad look. I seated myself at the high-top table near the bar and was predictably ignored by the wait staff and bartender (it’s her serving area) for about 15 minutes. They had very loud music blaring on the sound system which didn’t make for the greatest experience but at last I was helped. I ordered the loaded queso shrimp fajitas, and a water. The waitress informed me she was also the manager; I respect the hustle and won’t downgrade too many points here. Nevertheless, prior to helping me, she was seated at the bar eating lunch…. whoa that’s weird! Why are employees eating at the peak time that they should be waiting on customers? Well, like the Col Sanders ad or any hands-on manager you see on T.V., at least she eats the food produced in her kitchen! Generally, the place seemed very disorganized, with patrons approaching any crew member to ask if they could cash them out, or place and order etc. Possibly the worst and making it a lower grade was a crew member (female) bent over to pick up food scraps near the bar revealing, well let’s just say the secret is no more, Victoria! 3.2/5 on the ambiance, not bad for a chain, but man they need some work.
Menu: Again, it’s a chain so they serve a little bit of everything, burgers, steaks, fish, apps, chicken, it runs the gamut. After finally placing my order, I’m waiting about 10 minutes to score the fajitas. I’m hoping they were worth it. They came out of the kitchen piping hot very similar to a Chevy’s. They did not disappoint!
Loaded queso shrimp fajitas
A large sizzling plate with Spanish rice, peppers, onions, a bunch of shrimp, cilantro and a separate plate with 3 tortillas (not enough) pico de gallo, and cheese, accompanied by some guacamole that Johnnie is heavily allergic to, and asked to BE LEFT OFF!!!!! However, this was awesome! I felt it was a very good deal at $11 after the coupon, but its normally $16 and for lunch that hits a high price point, again understanding it’s a franchise store and increased labor costs, I’d say it’s a solid 4.2/5
Overall: Again it’s a chain, so it is what it is, I don’t know if I would take a date their but it’s a decent place, and at the end of the day it’s like any other place; you know what you’re getting and that is saying something. It has its flaws, but at least they don’t season with Franks Red Hot. 3.7/5. I got my check paid and handed over said coupon. It took about 10 minutes to get a manager to override the system to accept it, so it was like paying with EBT at a local store for food…. oh well.
Tesla stock has been slightly up these past two weeks but not because of earning reports or Elon Musk ginning up support on Twitter. Instead Tesla has benefitted from the algorithms that fund managers use to insure they have a sufficiently diversified portfolio. Generally, if the Dow is up, Tesla has been up and vice versa.
However, Tesla has hit another bump in the rode.
Tesla and Uber both had requests for tariff relief rejected by U.S. trade officials, a decision that will force the companies to pay a 25% tariff or seek new suppliers.
Reuters was the first to report the decision by the office of the U.S. Trade Representatives. TechCrunch previously reported on the Trump administration’s refusal to exempt the “brain” of Tesla’s Autopilot technology from punitive import tariffs.
Last year, the Trump administration imposed 25% tariffs on a range of imports, including electronics, to try to reduce the U.S. trade deficit with China. Tesla and Uber are among the U.S. companies that have requested relief on those tariffs.
Tesla warned that higher tariffs on the “brain of the vehicle” could cause economic harm to the company.
As stated here before, Musk’s fortunes have been bleak since Trump was elected. Trump has shutoff many of the taxpayer subsidies that Musk needed because he can’t compete in an open and free market. Republicans don’t tend to tamper with the market by subsidizing unproven alternatives to things that work while Democrats have the hubris to pick winners and losers (Solyndra and Tesla) claiming for political and economic reasons that “Green” is good despite any evidence that it is factual.
But there’s even more bad news for Elon and his posse.
One such stock that you may want to consider dropping is Tesla, Inc.
A key reason for this move has been the negative trend in earnings estimate revisions. For the full year, we have seen two estimates moving down in the past 30 days, compared with no upward revisions. This trend has caused the consensus estimate to trend lower, going from a loss of $1.14 a share a month ago to its current level of a loss of $1.32.
Also, for the current quarter, Tesla has seen two downward estimate revisions versus no revisions in the opposite direction, dragging the consensus estimate down to a loss of 70 cents a share from a loss of 64 cents over the past 30 days.
I’m not ready to declare Tesla dead yet but the disconnect between their perceived value and actual value is still way out of line. Barring anything else, look for a significant drop when the 90-day monster makes its appearance in July. The “tell” is when Musk goes on Twitter in mid-July to divert your attention from the impending bad news. So far we have had the flamethrower, leaf blower, underwater submarine car, and pickup truck.
Elon Musk with Tesla Flamethrower
Elon has plans for submarine better than the one driven by James Bond Disclaimer: Playboy model extra, some assembly required
Can the Tesla motorcycle be far behind?
Last year’s Tesla Model M motorcycle
Oh, wait, Elon had that last year. What will this guy think of next? He wants you to look at the new shiny thing in his hand not dollars and common sense.
I keep telling the editorial staff here at ReallyRight that the 2020 election will be American Values (i.e. Donald Trump) versus California Values (everyone else).
This is true not only culturally, socially, and politically but also because in their attempt to be relevant, California Democrats have moved our jungle primary to Super Tuesday, the earliest allowed date in March 2020. Thus giving a hyper-Liberal an early advantage in the delegate count towards their nomination.
Per an article at World Net Daily, yesterday Rush Limbaugh also seized upon this idea.
But talk-radio host Rush Limbaugh believes Donald Trump, a Republican, needs to make a bid for those votes.
“I’m talking actually making a play for people out there. Go to California and make your case. Go to California and explain your philosophy, your policies, your heart. Go to California. People out there are not hearing it. California may as well have boundaries around it where outside news doesn’t get in there, other than things like this show,” he said Wednesday.
“And not to win California. This is an unreasonable expectation. It would be great icing on the cake if Trump could actually win California for the Republicans. There just aren’t the Republican votes to do that right now. At the same time, it makes no sense to write off the state. Somebody like Trump could go there and make the case that the people of the state of California never hear made anymore, because it’s a one-party state and a different way of life as an option is really never presented,” he said.
It would be fun to see Trump campaign here, even just a little; plus it would bleed the Dems of a bunch of money just to shore-up their base. Democrats just don’t understand how toxic any ideas labeled as “California” are in the rest of the country.
If Trump defines the race as America versus California, he will sweep states in ‘flyover country” and give Democrats a much deserved black eye in the process.
Georgia has decided to break with conventional wisdom and dare to support the weakest among us and all hell has broken loose on the other side. Many media companies that find it too difficult (bureaucratic and expensive) to work in Liberal meccas like California and New York are spending big money in the Peach State to create content. Now these folks are threatening to pull-out of Georgia and other states that take a stand for life. First out of the gate was Netflix; followed by Disney et al.
Nearly half a dozen major media companies have joined Netflix in reconsidering their hundreds of millions of dollars in investments in states where so-called heartbeat bills have either been passed or are already in effect.
Netflix was the first Hollywood studio to publicly take a stand on the polarizing issue, when chief content officer Ted Sarandos said Tuesday that the company would consider pulling movie and television productions from Georgia if the state implements a controversial abortion ban, Variety reported.
Walt Disney Co. followed Wednesday night and by Thursday, NBCUniversal, WarnerMedia, Sony Pictures, CBS and its Showtime division had each issued statements saying states’ anti-abortion laws would affect the studios’ decision-making when it comes to selecting locations for production.
Other states are in the crosshairs of these liberal leaning corporations for daring to support life but please note that one player is conspicuous in their absence. Where is CNN? You know, the Liberal news network headquartered in Atlanta Georgia.
CNN has made no public statements on the topic of moving but their supporters have noticed and purport to speak for them. The following quote is from a California Democrat and Presidential hopeful telling CNN what they should do.
Rep. Eric Swalwell on Sunday said he supports the kind of economic boycott that private businesses are threatening in Georgia if a new abortion law goes into effect and suggested at a CNN town hall on Sunday that the television network might have to leave the state as well.
Meanwhile, the big studios that huffed and puffed in the article above are moderating their stance.
To be clear, each company’s statement includes the same set of caveats. None of the corporations has actually committed to boycotting Georgia, but only to reconsider their work there. Plus, they’ve only said they will potentially take action if the law survives what are expected to be significant court challenges.
It’s a far cry from the full-on boycott some activists have demanded. Yet, the various statements represent a notable shift, or at least a breaking of the silence.
Folks, I think the movie studios should take a page from Laura Ingraham’s Shut Up & Sing. Quit worrying about social issues or you risk the wrath of the other half of the country that disagrees with you.
I’m not going to cancel Netflix and Hulu yet but if they go forward with their threat then I’m pulling my money from their companies. Getting rid of Comcast as my ISP is more problematic but once 5G is deployed, I may not need them anymore. I may not be signing a bunch of online petitions about this but I will surely vote with my wallet if this posturing is turned into action.
The Chief explores another socialist step in the cradle-to-grave care provided by the almighty state of California.
In case you missed it, a new retirement program goes live in California starting July 1st. This plan was put in place because the state wants businesses who don’t offer a retirement plan to be forced to offer them. It’s very easy to enroll, actually you are automatically enrolled, unless you opt out. Starting next year, any business with over 100 employees is required to enroll, the following year, the employee number drops to 50, then by 2022, the employee threshold drops to 5.
Details on the actual program are tough to glean, so I called the Employment Development Department (EDD) and they could not answer my questions. Seriously if you want bruises on your brain by all means call them. The State Treasurer’s Office (STO) did provide some color, but not any direct answers. In fairness I totally threw him off his game, after he called me back and said a long spiel which sounded like Latin or some other generally accepted language in California. When he came up for a breath, I told him, “Sir, this is an Arby’s.” He was shaken. I continued to dig for answers, to which this guy either 1) didn’t know or 2) would get back to me about.
From what I could find out online, it looks like if you do nothing that you “opt in” resulting in 5% of your paycheck being remitted to the State and deposited in this retirement plan. The 5% increases by 1% each year until you reach 8%. Anyone can “opt out” or “opt back in” anytime. Such fluid policies seem like a strange hybrid model and an HR nightmare for a small business. If you opt in and don’t put an income level in the program it defaults to 30k a year, so if you make less than that you will be “feeling the Bern” on your paycheck. Something tells me that the paperwork won’t get corrected quickly nor will they “refund” the overage. Account changes are made with the state via internet or snail mail not your HR person so how does this state program communicate with employer to coordinate withholding amounts remain correct?
The account is an after-tax investment i.e. Roth IRA. It appears you have the choice of a mutual fund or a money market fund to deposit your money into. Investing in a money market fund makes little to no sense as they only provide about 1% interest a year. Fees run about 1% a year as well effectively destroying and rate of return on that account. The whole thing reeks of being a Ponzi scheme……
Well, actually it is.
The program was started with a loan (interest to be paid back) from both the SEIU and the CTA, two of the most powerful unions in California.
Two large public employee unions, the California Teachers and the SEIU, each contributed $100,000. Public employee unions played a major role in a national drive to create state-run savings plans for the private sector.
Public unions think improving private-sector retirement can help counter pressure to cut government pensions or, following the corporate trend, switch to 401(k)-style individual investment plans that create no long-term debt for employers.
The nine-member CalSavers board has looked at a public union-backed “pooled IRA” that could gradually, by diverting some of the investment yield in good years, build a reserve large enough to replace some of the losses in a bad year.
So, the “savers” will have to pay a fee to participate and must be enrolled automatically, or employers will be fined $750 per employee. So now an employer must complete all applicable forms for a new hire, and have them complete this paperwork? This is unfair. No wonder businesses are fleeing the state. Think of the food service industry or a minimum wage jobs where they turnover employees constantly. Another curve ball here, what if the employee doesn’t have a bank account and receives a paper check? What if the employee gets terminated and you fail to let “CalSavers” know? Do the deductions continue? Those fees are ridiculous and are literally just redistributing wealth to current retirees. For example, Vanguard offers accounts for literally a fraction of the fees. The “redistribution” I speak of is just a new way to keep current pension retirees happy. Keep this in mind, older folks (social security/pension recipient) vote in very large numbers, and it would spell the end for many a political career should said pension check bounce. Make no mistake about it, the SEIU and CTA could care less about any non-union member, they want their own taken care of first, and everyone else is a sucker and they are out of luck.
How would this plan even be enforced? The Treasurer’s Office representative said the state has a data base on all eligible business…. where? Even the Secretary of State’s Office can’t possibly have every business on record! Even if they did, how can they screen based on how many employees you have? Is their info really up to the minute? How can that be verified? This would be a nightmare to enforce!
Which parlays into my next point, the real point of this program is to create a brand-new layer of government workers, and a separate group of folks 100% dependent on government. While this may just be a pilot program initially, it will eventually expand to include 7.5 million workers in California… Why is what you may ask?
Low income citizens will opt out of said program (think about it $13 an hour with 8% of pretax paycheck deducted) doesn’t leave much room for food each month. Actually, it amounts to a salary cut…with rising fuel, food and housing costs retirement won’t be an option.
As a result, they will want to lure people like me into this scheme. If you earn around 80k that’s $6,400 a year that goes under state run control each year. By opting out and staying at Vanguard they lose out on that “revenue.” Trust us folks, there is a plan for this, and eventually I will be forced into the account or assessed a penalty for opting out.
As I consider this, I can think of many other questions. What if you leave the state while still working age? Can you roll it into another private account? Or is it heavily penalized and forced to remain in CA? I feel this will become a defined benefit scheme similar to current pension funds used by our state workers, where they are “funded” until they aren’t anymore and the last ones in are wiped out. What makes me skeptical is that the program was known as “Secure Choice retirement investing” prior to a name change. Is it just me or is using the word “secure” in regards to retirement plans just inviting a major lawsuit?
In addition, how does shareholder voting work? Obviously, these funds are going to hold a bunch of companies (more on this in a minute) and as a shareholder you have a right to vote but I don’t see this being allowed. Is Big Brother casting shareholder votes on my behalf so they can steer the market in a way more in line with their political ideology? What companies are being invested in? Something tells me Phillip Morris, Raytheon, Pepsico and other “sin/bad for you companies” will be passed over. Want to take bets Tesla, and other “green” startups will be preferred? Politics over investment return is part of the governing documents of this scheme.
ESG/Socially Responsible Investments: Responsible social, environmental, and governance investing is an issue important to some Participants, and an Investment Option reflecting that belief should be offered.
I noticed a bond fund is available, I assume any state with policies/laws we don’t agree with here in CA will be passed over in favor of CA junk bonds! This is just a new way to put a hand on the scale to get a desired outcome, no question it bothers some in this state Tesla is literally going up in smoke. Or is this a way to load up on company stock and push for policy changes? If this program goes the way of MYRA at the federal level what happens to the government workers? I have a feeling they won’t be laid off just folded into an existing bureaucracy.
Worst of all workers will be screwed. You will find yourself laid off and working the same job as an independent contractor or a “temporary staffing worker.” All in the name of your employer avoiding this new program.
While the CRA and Koch Brothers may be glad to hear this prediction, it’s sad for the rest of us. Why? Because Republicans have failed in their duty to defend and uphold the Constitution while the Democrats never believed in the Constitution to start with. Democrats view the Constitution as an obstacle to overcome (or thwart) to get what they want. No news with that claim.
Koch Brothers promise to support Democrats in 2020 elections
Basically, my prediction is just simple math. Democrats allow illegal aliens to vote and ditto for felons (see Florida, Virginia, California). Anyone they can create into a group dependent on them gets the franchise. Also they have no problem with letting people vote more than once and even beyond the grave. In short, any and all means they can use to game the system to get the outcome they want are allowed.
Only a national voter I.D. program that is part of a comprehensive voter reform and integrity program could change this from happening but the Republicans failed to do this when they controlled Congress so I think that ship sailed. There is an outside chance to do this in 2020 if they retake the House but I wouldn’t bet the farm on it.
We live in a country where there are millions more voters than people and the ruling party in these states likes it that way. And if by some miracle we should prevail at the ballot box they then go to their buddies in the courts to get an injunction to stop what they don’t like.
Also, the indoctrination of our youth via government schools is creating dependency on government programs and solutions, a trend which is unfavorable for freedom as well.
Folks the Republic is over and nothing but divine intervention can fix that fact. You can call it oligarchy or rule by elites, but the idea of rags-to-riches as described years ago by Horatio Alger and more recently by Rush Limbaugh is a world of opportunity that is going the way of the T-Rex and coal powered trains.
The old saying that “as California goes, so goes the nation” is proving more true that we’d like to believe. The question is not “if” but “when”. The only alternative left for “flyover country” is exit the republic. Me? I’d rather cling to my guns and religion than be led by these “leaders.”
Like him or hate him, Donald Trump is the last Republican President we will ever have. I hope I’m proven wrong but sadly I see no evidence to contradict this assertion.
Here are a few supporting links for my prediction:
