Tesla is making about a 25% margin on their cars now. Not great, but not bad either. Plus, because GM, Ford and Chrysler have been so lazy in dealing with the CAFE standards, they're paying Tesla about $30,000 per car that Tesla sells for CAFE credits so that they can claim their fleet mileage meets CAFE standards. Now you know how Tesla paid off their DOE loan so quickly and will have money to do R&D so when GM comes out with their (yawn) EV car, Tesla will be much farther down the road. e.g. new battery tech with higher density, their Model X crossover vehicle and other improvements.
Also, unlike Tesla, GM is (or was) losing money on each Volt it sells. But it generates CAFE credits for each Volt it sells.
Except that China is now putting more effort into building Renewables than we are even though they are still operating on diametrically opposing policies (e.g. building highways and suburbs in addition to building massive High Speed Railways; Massive wind and solar in addition to building more coal plants). Their rising standard of living is a result of decisions made in this country, on Wall Street to massively outsource our manufacturing base and the middle class jobs that went with it.
And while it is good to think globally in terms of equality, I made my arguments on the effect of policies in this country affecting the economic vitality of people in this country. There are international agreements that were signed ages ago that much of the world has agreed to, EXCEPT the United States. Can't blame China this time...
The question has been asked before. What is the consequence of we as a collective through our governmental policy of lowering human contributed GHG producing particles? It's not economic ruin. Indeed, as we are discovering, whole new industries are being born and matured that pay living wages in proximity to local and regional populations as well as contributing to our societal wealth. And yes, some people will also get rich in the process. But ecisions about land use and urbanism create more efficient cities and the prospect of continued affordability and rising equality. Decisions about how we produce food raises the prospect of better quality and healthier foods which gives rise to a healthier population. It means that we look ahead and plan for the inevitable dislocation that already observed climate change is making. It also means fewer things that unprincipled Capitalists can exploit to create human misery.
The likes of the Koch brothers are spending their billions to convince you to do nothing because their ability to exploit you and extract more billions out of you depends on your doing nothing. They salivate at the prospect of your paying them for the misery that climate change will bring to your locale. For the shortages of food, the shortages of potable water, the deluge of climate in places like Colorado are already bringing. A superstorm wipes out your town whether its on the gulf of Mexico or the Eastern Seaboard who will be there to wholesale commandeer whole cities and properties? They will. Who will control the re-construction? They will. The cycle will repeat again and again.
The problem is, libertarians make no allowances for such. They assume the market will handle all aberrations. But it is humans that suffer for this folly.
OK, it is possible that there are varieties of Libertarianism that exist TODAY that do not conform to the descriptions I've mentioned. They are certainly not common and do not hold any significant cultural or intellectual sway in our society. Those that are the firebrand of the current Libertarian movement have inculcated (quite effectively) a gut notion in the "collective psyche" of our nation the notions that government is evil, that it should be drowned in a bathtub, that there should be no regulation of the market and that we should vote for people who will instill those values. People Like Rand Paul and his father come to mind, but people like Eric Cantor, also come to mind.
Tesla's have few moving parts. Tesla has an integrated service delivery solution. There is no need for third party dealerships that complicate Tesla's relationship with its customers.
Because the basic assumptions of Libertarianism are flawed. Libertarianism as expressed by Rand, and economic theories based on or expounded by Libertarianism are flawed from the beginning because it assumes people will always act rationally and without fraud. Hence the ACposter was right, there are 2 kinds of Libertarians.
That is not to say that elements of Libertarian philosophy aren't useful in tempering over-reach by government regulators. For example, I think regulations strictly designed to limit competition such as limits on taxi vehicles should be reduced or eliminated. I think regulations that create undo barriers to entry for trades are unnecessary. For example, the state where I reside wants people who do hair weaving to be licensed as barbers which requires extensive training and apprenticeships. I think beyond the reasonable expectation that persons doing tasks that require "intimate" contact with people should be competent and not be a health hazard, the other requirements are designed as a barrier to entry and result in protected markets that do not function well.
But Libertarians these days spend their time demonizing government on all levels, and not recognizing the role that government does and should play in our society. They do not recognize economic terms like "public good" "excludability" "Rivalrous" to distinguish between markets that can only be public and non-exploitable. Everything to them should be privatized. That is a flawed understanding of economics.
United was my "hometown" airline when I lived in Chicago so flew them frequently. I generally had good experiences with them. Towards one of their bankruptcies, their planes started to get rather dirty and the incidence of cancelled or severely delayed flights went up in my experience.
I haven't flown them since their merger with Continental - an airline which I was not inclined to fly based on past experiences.
I've had "delayed" luggage on 2 occasions. On one occasion, I had arrived at the airport much earlier than normal and was a very early check-in. Yet, somehow, my luggage didn't make it onto MY plane. I suspect it was a weight and balance issue as I had observe them actually take luggage off the plane. (It was a regional jet)
At my destination, I was told they would deliver my luggage the next day. They did, but I had to purchase toiletries and lounge/sleepwear to tide me over.
I've been told that theft and wilful damage to luggage is not a rare thing in that industry.
Public Servants in the performance of their duties in public should not expect privacy and indeed should expect that their behavior, demeanor and performance is subject to the public's scrutiny.
Your link goes to a 404 error page. Further, Elon Musk talked at length this morning on a Google+ hangout about Hyperloop. Whether he forms a company that builds this or he inspires people to cooperate in building it, the key is to move. So far, the comments above seem to be all non-inspired negativity.
Interesting how he still calls it "Top Gear BS". Despite that fact that an independent review found that Top Gear had done nothing wrong.
Lying by implication and omission is "doing nothing wrong?" Did they or did they not push a perfectly functional car onto the set implying it was broken? Did they or did they not suggest it had a range problem? These can not be dismissed away by "independent reviews". Particularly if Top Gear's producers paid for that review. (see what I did there?)
You're underthinking this. Blacks are ARRESTED for more crimes than others. But studies have shown the arrest rate is disproportionate to the actual crimes being committed. Especially drug related crimes.
You failed to mention that your "biofuel" furnace emits massive particulates into the atmosphere and contributes to cancer, heart attacks and other health problems for mammals. Not to mention that you're releasing carbons in minutes that it took nature dozens if not hundreds of years to collect in that biofuel source.
Sorry, but you deal with Microsoft at your peril. It is in their DNA to "steal", misappropriate,, strong arm, and every other dirty trick to disadvantage technical partners and they do it to this day. Ask Nokia how they feel about their business prospects. Or the legions of companies that have experienced the same rapacious partnerships.
Ask HP how they feel about MS potentially buying Dell?
Oh, and lest we forget, the legal suits against Linux are still winding their way through the courts and it was MS chief in the background backing those suits.
Except that we've already seen in the space of 40 years, the Republicans have done exactly what you've written. They've passed all manner of laws that restrict women's rights and have moved this country very much on the path towards fascism driven by a military industrial complex.
Tyranny must be resisted whether it is political ideology or corporate bloodsucking. Ubuntu is playing into Microsoft's hands.
But, in the bigger picture, aren't we moving towards a post-pc world?
I don't know where you're from, but here in the states, we aren't (yet) required to give back doors to government lackeys. this is a good thing no matter what wanna-be tyrants like yourself say. if you want to discuss abuse of power, todays governments are a much better place to start.
You could argue that the "encrypted" file IS what is on the hard drive and the document they are looking for DOES NOT EXIST. The court is asking the defendant to transform the file into something else.
If this were a file cabinet with reams and reams of random text, are you seriously going to compel someone for the cipher to transform that into an incriminating document? It literally doesn't exist.
What is a threat to the integrity of the police IS the misconduct that has been documented by citizens. The antidote is sunshine in the form of accountability provided by these documents.
Ladies and Gentlemen: I give you the Blue Scholars track: Oskar Barnack ~ Oscar Grant -- The salient line in the lyrics is: Shoot the cops - take your camera out your pockets and shoot the cops.
In the everything you need to know you can learn from Star Trek department our gallant crew on a mission to establish diplomatic ties with a planet discover that this planet has been at war with their neighbor for 500 years. No visible damage to the planet is observed. Then the kicker is revealed that they have been fighting this war by computer game. The casualties voluntarily walk into disintegration chambers.
Kirk in his weekly quest to disregard the prime directive arranges to show his captors what real war is about. They either suffer the destruction and horror of real war or sue for peace.
The danger here is that by deploying battlefield robots like these, we take the inherent danger and horror of war down to an antiseptic alternative that is palatable.
Slashdot Mirror
Tesla is making about a 25% margin on their cars now. Not great, but not bad either. Plus, because GM, Ford and Chrysler have been so lazy in dealing with the CAFE standards, they're paying Tesla about $30,000 per car that Tesla sells for CAFE credits so that they can claim their fleet mileage meets CAFE standards. Now you know how Tesla paid off their DOE loan so quickly and will have money to do R&D so when GM comes out with their (yawn) EV car, Tesla will be much farther down the road. e.g. new battery tech with higher density, their Model X crossover vehicle and other improvements.
Also, unlike Tesla, GM is (or was) losing money on each Volt it sells. But it generates CAFE credits for each Volt it sells.
Except that China is now putting more effort into building Renewables than we are even though they are still operating on diametrically opposing policies (e.g. building highways and suburbs in addition to building massive High Speed Railways; Massive wind and solar in addition to building more coal plants). Their rising standard of living is a result of decisions made in this country, on Wall Street to massively outsource our manufacturing base and the middle class jobs that went with it.
And while it is good to think globally in terms of equality, I made my arguments on the effect of policies in this country affecting the economic vitality of people in this country. There are international agreements that were signed ages ago that much of the world has agreed to, EXCEPT the United States. Can't blame China this time...
The question has been asked before. What is the consequence of we as a collective through our governmental policy of lowering human contributed GHG producing particles? It's not economic ruin. Indeed, as we are discovering, whole new industries are being born and matured that pay living wages in proximity to local and regional populations as well as contributing to our societal wealth. And yes, some people will also get rich in the process. But ecisions about land use and urbanism create more efficient cities and the prospect of continued affordability and rising equality. Decisions about how we produce food raises the prospect of better quality and healthier foods which gives rise to a healthier population. It means that we look ahead and plan for the inevitable dislocation that already observed climate change is making. It also means fewer things that unprincipled Capitalists can exploit to create human misery.
The likes of the Koch brothers are spending their billions to convince you to do nothing because their ability to exploit you and extract more billions out of you depends on your doing nothing. They salivate at the prospect of your paying them for the misery that climate change will bring to your locale. For the shortages of food, the shortages of potable water, the deluge of climate in places like Colorado are already bringing. A superstorm wipes out your town whether its on the gulf of Mexico or the Eastern Seaboard who will be there to wholesale commandeer whole cities and properties? They will. Who will control the re-construction? They will. The cycle will repeat again and again.
The problem is, libertarians make no allowances for such. They assume the market will handle all aberrations. But it is humans that suffer for this folly.
OK, it is possible that there are varieties of Libertarianism that exist TODAY that do not conform to the descriptions I've mentioned. They are certainly not common and do not hold any significant cultural or intellectual sway in our society. Those that are the firebrand of the current Libertarian movement have inculcated (quite effectively) a gut notion in the "collective psyche" of our nation the notions that government is evil, that it should be drowned in a bathtub, that there should be no regulation of the market and that we should vote for people who will instill those values. People Like Rand Paul and his father come to mind, but people like Eric Cantor, also come to mind.
Tesla's have few moving parts. Tesla has an integrated service delivery solution. There is no need for third party dealerships that complicate Tesla's relationship with its customers.
Because the basic assumptions of Libertarianism are flawed. Libertarianism as expressed by Rand, and economic theories based on or expounded by Libertarianism are flawed from the beginning because it assumes people will always act rationally and without fraud. Hence the ACposter was right, there are 2 kinds of Libertarians.
That is not to say that elements of Libertarian philosophy aren't useful in tempering over-reach by government regulators. For example, I think regulations strictly designed to limit competition such as limits on taxi vehicles should be reduced or eliminated. I think regulations that create undo barriers to entry for trades are unnecessary. For example, the state where I reside wants people who do hair weaving to be licensed as barbers which requires extensive training and apprenticeships. I think beyond the reasonable expectation that persons doing tasks that require "intimate" contact with people should be competent and not be a health hazard, the other requirements are designed as a barrier to entry and result in protected markets that do not function well.
But Libertarians these days spend their time demonizing government on all levels, and not recognizing the role that government does and should play in our society. They do not recognize economic terms like "public good" "excludability" "Rivalrous" to distinguish between markets that can only be public and non-exploitable. Everything to them should be privatized. That is a flawed understanding of economics.
United was my "hometown" airline when I lived in Chicago so flew them frequently. I generally had good experiences with them. Towards one of their bankruptcies, their planes started to get rather dirty and the incidence of cancelled or severely delayed flights went up in my experience.
I haven't flown them since their merger with Continental - an airline which I was not inclined to fly based on past experiences.
I've had "delayed" luggage on 2 occasions. On one occasion, I had arrived at the airport much earlier than normal and was a very early check-in. Yet, somehow, my luggage didn't make it onto MY plane. I suspect it was a weight and balance issue as I had observe them actually take luggage off the plane. (It was a regional jet)
At my destination, I was told they would deliver my luggage the next day. They did, but I had to purchase toiletries and lounge/sleepwear to tide me over.
I've been told that theft and wilful damage to luggage is not a rare thing in that industry.
Public Servants in the performance of their duties in public should not expect privacy and indeed should expect that their behavior, demeanor and performance is subject to the public's scrutiny.
Your link goes to a 404 error page. Further, Elon Musk talked at length this morning on a Google+ hangout about Hyperloop. Whether he forms a company that builds this or he inspires people to cooperate in building it, the key is to move. So far, the comments above seem to be all non-inspired negativity.
Iowa has huge amounts of wind energy to power those servers.
Interesting how he still calls it "Top Gear BS". Despite that fact that an independent review found that Top Gear had done nothing wrong.
Lying by implication and omission is "doing nothing wrong?" Did they or did they not push a perfectly functional car onto the set implying it was broken? Did they or did they not suggest it had a range problem? These can not be dismissed away by "independent reviews". Particularly if Top Gear's producers paid for that review. (see what I did there?)
You're underthinking this. Blacks are ARRESTED for more crimes than others. But studies have shown the arrest rate is disproportionate to the actual crimes being committed. Especially drug related crimes.
You failed to mention that your "biofuel" furnace emits massive particulates into the atmosphere and contributes to cancer, heart attacks and other health problems for mammals. Not to mention that you're releasing carbons in minutes that it took nature dozens if not hundreds of years to collect in that biofuel source.
Sorry, but you deal with Microsoft at your peril. It is in their DNA to "steal", misappropriate,, strong arm, and every other dirty trick to disadvantage technical partners and they do it to this day. Ask Nokia how they feel about their business prospects. Or the legions of companies that have experienced the same rapacious partnerships.
Ask HP how they feel about MS potentially buying Dell?
Oh, and lest we forget, the legal suits against Linux are still winding their way through the courts and it was MS chief in the background backing those suits.
I am in agreement with Admiral Akbar.
Except that we've already seen in the space of 40 years, the Republicans have done exactly what you've written. They've passed all manner of laws that restrict women's rights and have moved this country very much on the path towards fascism driven by a military industrial complex.
Tyranny must be resisted whether it is political ideology or corporate bloodsucking. Ubuntu is playing into Microsoft's hands.
But, in the bigger picture, aren't we moving towards a post-pc world?
yes, considering that property is a creation of the state. It can't exist except for some governing authority. Randians never seem to get that...
I don't know where you're from, but here in the states, we aren't (yet) required to give back doors to government lackeys. this is a good thing no matter what wanna-be tyrants like yourself say. if you want to discuss abuse of power, todays governments are a much better place to start.
I wouldn't be too sure about that...
You could argue that the "encrypted" file IS what is on the hard drive and the document they are looking for DOES NOT EXIST. The court is asking the defendant to transform the file into something else.
If this were a file cabinet with reams and reams of random text, are you seriously going to compel someone for the cipher to transform that into an incriminating document? It literally doesn't exist.
What is a threat to the integrity of the police IS the misconduct that has been documented by citizens. The antidote is sunshine in the form of accountability provided by these documents.
Ladies and Gentlemen: I give you the Blue Scholars track: Oskar Barnack ~ Oscar Grant -- The salient line in the lyrics is: Shoot the cops - take your camera out your pockets and shoot the cops.
http://bluescholars.bandcamp.com/track/oskar-barnack-oscar-grant
In the everything you need to know you can learn from Star Trek department our gallant crew on a mission to establish diplomatic ties with a planet discover that this planet has been at war with their neighbor for 500 years. No visible damage to the planet is observed. Then the kicker is revealed that they have been fighting this war by computer game. The casualties voluntarily walk into disintegration chambers.
Kirk in his weekly quest to disregard the prime directive arranges to show his captors what real war is about. They either suffer the destruction and horror of real war or sue for peace.
The danger here is that by deploying battlefield robots like these, we take the inherent danger and horror of war down to an antiseptic alternative that is palatable.
you can also be detained without charge for a period of time. I think its 72 hours. They need to have some probably cause however.
An Explosion you say. Well at least Pullman Washington is in the middle of no where. :-p