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WA police officers riding new unmarked motorcycles have issued 147 fines to drivers using mobile phones while driving in their first week on the road.
After successful trials over the last Christmas and Easter periods, a permanent fleet has begun patrolling Perth roads.
Inattention killed 22 people and seriously injured another 41 on WA roads this year.
Assistant Police Commissioner Nick Anticich said the problem was widespread.
“Anyone here in WA only has to drive down any given road on any given day, and almost inevitably you will see someone using a mobile phone,” he said.
“It is almost epidemic in proportion and we need to do something about it.”
He said offending drivers often see police vehicles before an officer sees them, and quickly put their devices down before they are caught.
“These [unmarked motorcycles] give our officers a tactical advantage in that often the person doesn’t realise they’re a police vehicle or a police officer until it’s too late,” said Mr Anticich.
The bikes have lights and sirens, and officers’ helmets are fitted with small cameras.
“If we see an offence, we just press the button, and this camera runs on a loop, [so]we’ve got a minute of what we actually saw prior to the offence being committed,” said First Class Constable Eri Ikhaazali.
A total of 179 people have been killed on West Australian roads this year, 26 more than the same time last year.
From Talya Lavie comes an engaging, desert-dry, feminist-minded comedy Zero Motivation that imagines the M*A*S*H*-ing of Mean Girls, Stripes and Private Benjamin.
Told cleverly in three parts, the warzone-set story stars Dana Ivgy and Nelly Tagar as a pair of pal conscripts in the Israeli Defense Forces, hopelessly stationed in a barren location.
If it’s a man’s, man’s world, it is also a man’s, man’s war, which relegates these two young women and others as paper-pushers and coffee girls in service to the ass-staring male officers.
Ivgy’s character Zohar is a slacking, video-game addicted maverick, peer-pressured into a quest to lose her virginity, while Tagar’s incapable Daffi is desperate to transfer to Tel Aviv. Overseeing them is an uptight junior officer who, while highly motivated, is up against a highly patriarchal system. Staple-gun shenanigans happen, and suicide does, too.
If Lavie is Israel’s answer to Lena Dunham, someone is asking the right questions.
BARSTOW — With Christmas approaching, the annual U.S. Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots program is in its final stages to provide children nationwide with toys.
Since the High Desert does not have a Marine Corps reserve unit, the active duty Marines at Marine Corps Logistics Base Barstow have tackled the program to make Christmas joy possible for High Desert residents, according to MCLB’s Toys for Tots assistant coordinator Chad Hildebrandt.
The program is entering its final days before the toys are distributed at the Harvey House on Dec. 19. MCLB is hosting one more event in efforts to ramp up the efforts.
The inaugural Toys for Tots Car and Motorcycle show is set to take place Saturday. Hildebrandt said he hopes it will be a success and become an annual event.
“It’s a new event — we had a successful softball tournament last week,” Hildebrandt said. “That was the second annual tournament and we are hopeful this becomes an annual event as part of Toys for Tots. So far we have 47 vendors that consist of a wide variety including arts and crafts, food and other things.”
Hildebrandt said approximately 200 cars and 100 motorcycles have verbally committed to attending Saturday’s event. Hildebrandt is hopeful the weather permits the show to go on without any hiccups.
According to the National Weather Service, Barstow is expected to see a 70-percent chance of rain Friday, but mostly sunny skies are expected Saturday.
The car and motorcycle show participants are expected to arrive at 7:30 a.m. and the show will run from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Registration is $15 for participating cars or motorcycles. The first 200 participants will received a commemorative plaque.
The event is free to the public, but identification must be provided at the MCLB front gate, Hildebrandt said. The event will feature 50/50 raffles, door prizes and music.
Hildebrandt said the MCLB Fire Department will also collect toy and cash donations at the front gate of the Nebo and Yermo annexes from 5:45 to 7 a.m. Tuesday.
For more registration information, call Hildebrandt at 760-577-7781. For more information, to donate to the program or to request a toy visit www.ToysForTots.org.
Jose Quintero can be reached at 760-256-4122 or JQuintero@DesertDispatch.com. You can also follow him on Twitter at @DD_JQuintero.
Everyone in the industry refers to it as the “Detroit Auto Show” but it is technically called NAIAS – North American International Auto Show. It is the auto industry’s most prestigious trade show.
The first two days at major auto shows are filled with back-to-back press conferences by the automakers and some other entities. Typically, a high-ranking official such as the CEO or head of sales gives a brief presentation and unveils one or more future cars.
Last year, Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) hosted a press conference at Detroit, despite not having any new product to show. If memory serves me, there were three main subjects covered in the press conference:
For those of you with good memories, Tesla announced a December quarter sales number that was stronger than the market expected at the time – 6,900 cars worldwide – and the stock skyrocketed immediately. In a month and a half, the stock basically doubled to an all-time high ($260).
In other words, Tesla set the precedent that this was the moment to share the good news of the quarter, over a month ahead of the regularly scheduled quarterly earnings call. As it turns out, it was good news and the stock responded.
Fast-forward to this year. On its November 5 earnings call, Tesla guided full-year 2014 deliveries to 33,000 cars. This implies little over 11,000 cars in the fourth quarter. The stock traded up meaningfully the day after, despite the guide-down by 2,000 units.
Early last week, Inside Evs posted its estimate for Tesla’s November month US sales: 1,200 cars. Add 1,300 from October and you have 2,500. Even if you add something for international, the gap to fill the difference between 2,500 and 11,000 is extremely wide. This is the mother of all back-end-loaded quarters. Most likely, well over 50% of the quarter’s revenue must come from the month of December. As seasoned stock analysts know, that rarely works out well.
International sales, you say? Show me any country, any month, in the fourth quarter, where the Tesla unit sales number doesn’t read like a sports score – ranging from soccer to basketball. It’s 10 units here, 100 there – most closer to 1 or 10 than 100 or 200. No meaningful scale in a single non-U.S. country in any month in the fourth quarter thus far. Probably the only country that’s a “black hole” in terms of a meaningful uncertainty is China.
Another indicator that the December quarter isn’t shaping up very well, is that as of this writing – December 10 – you can go to Tesla’s website and order the newest flagship model – you know, the one supposedly in highest demand – for delivery by December 31. That’s three weeks from now.
If I want to order a fine leather sofa, it could take several months to take delivery. How can you even make a car in three weeks, even if there were nobody ahead of you in line? I mean, the backlog must be extremely close to zero.
Obviously, that assumes Tesla’s statement on its website that you can take delivery by December 31 is accurate. Perhaps they are just messing with us!
If you take Tesla’s website at its word, it does not take a rocket scientist to figure out that the December quarter has a high probability of being weak:
Thanks to Inside Evs, we have a good estimate for U.S. sales for October and November.
Thanks to the auto registration numbers in most relevant countries, we know what the sales were in those countries in October and November.
The lead time to order Tesla’s hottest new model – the P85D – is alarmingly short. This would appear to bode extremely bad for December month sales.
So let’s assume this theory is right – that the December quarter will be weaker than what it will take to make the 33,000 full-year unit estimate, implying little over 11,000 cars in the December month. What does that have to do with Tesla pulling out of the Detroit Auto Show’s press conference schedule?
(For the record, I have contacted Tesla’s public relations department for comment on this. If they respond, I will publish an update).
The issue here is the precedent set from last year. Seeing as Tesla so triumphantly bragged about its December sales number from the podium last year, how could it be silent this year? If it presented on another topic – such as showing a new car model – the press would still ask Tesla about December sales. Any failure to answer, referring to the quarterly earnings call a month later, would be met by the immediate interpretation that they had missed the quarter.
And then the stock would likely plummet.
Better to pull out of the trade show’s press conference schedule altogether. Lay low. Perhaps announce some other upcoming product introduction event later in the quarter.
But wait, there is more!
Tesla famously DOES have a two new products in the pipeline, the Model X and the Model 3.
The Model X was introduced in February 2012 and was supposed to ship in December 2013. After several delays, the newest revised date is now 3Q 2015. Normally, this would mean that January 2015 would be a good time to actually show the car. It’s a typical industry lead time – six to eight months. It would be the same as the Chevrolet Volt 2.0.
The Model 3 isn’t expected to enter significant volume production until sometime in 2017 at the earliest. Yet, some bulls on the stock, such as author Randy Carlson who publishes here on Seeking Alpha, commented only hours ago, “I’m going to be looking closely at the Model III due to be shown in Detroit in January…”
So there’s some expectation in the market that the Model 3 would be shown at the Detroit Auto Show. Perhaps it will still be shown in some other unusual format, other than the traditional press conference. That said, the prospects are looking bleaker now that Tesla is not listed as a participant in the press conference schedule, unlike recent years.
Actually, there is a good reason why Tesla ought not show any new models, whether the Model X or the Model 3, at the Detroit Auto Show this year. The reason is simple: If Tesla shows either an unusually attractive product (Model X) or an improved car selling for half the price of the Model S (Model 3), it would “Osbourne” itself with the consuming public.
In other words, Tesla just can’t afford right now to have customers postponing or shifting their orders away from taking delivery of Model S cars in the first half of 2015 and beyond, in favor of waiting for the Model X or Model 3 instead. The order book is shaky enough as it is. Tesla needs people to take delivery of the current model now, not to switch their deposits to a future model.
This does put Tesla in a dilemma, however. Some of the competition will likely use the Detroit Auto Show to show very attractive alternatives to the late-2015 Model X and late-2017 Model 3.
For example, Audi confirmed to me that it will show an approximately 200 mile EV range R8 sports car at Detroit. More recently, Car And Driver magazine published a report saying Audi will show the plug-in hybrid electric-diesel Q7 SUV with three rows and room for seven people, at Detroit as well.
We already know that GM (NYSE:GM) will make a big deal of the Chevrolet Volt 2.0, which will be the industry’s first significant and complete redesign of an existing plug-in electric car. In the Chevrolet Volt 1.0 from 2010, GM delivered a plug-in car with long overall range (380 miles, the first 37 of whom are on electric) for $41,000, approximately seven years ahead of the expected Tesla Model 3. The Volt 2.0 will obviously be an improvement.
In the end, if one assumes Tesla’s December quarter numbers are going to be below expectations, Tesla is left in an uncomfortable position when it comes to hosting a press conference at Detroit this January. Just imagine this imaginary Q&A:
Question: How many cars did you deliver in December?
Alternative 1 answer: “Fewer than 11,000.”
Result: Tesla’s quarterly miss would be the talk of the whole auto show.
Alternative 2 answer: “We can’t tell you. You will have to wait until the earnings call.”
Result: Everyone would suspect Tesla missed the quarter.
Question: Why are you not showing us the Model X? Is it delayed again?
Answer: No, we’re getting close, but it’s just too early to show it.
Result: Many would interpret that to mean the Model S order book is too weak to withstand any Osbourneing from a more attractive car.
Question: Why are you not showing us the Model 3? Some people were expecting?
Answer: No, it’s just too early to show it.
Result: Many would interpret that to mean the Model S order book is too weak to withstand any Osbourneing from a car that will cost half.
As you can see, if Tesla did indeed miss the December quarter and doesn’t want to show any of the two new car models at the Detroit Auto Show, it would have made for a painful press conference. Better to just not host a press conference at all.
Of course, if you think that Tesla not hosting a customary Detroit Auto Show press conference is good news, you should hurry up and buy the stock. In your mind, it must mean that the December sales were better than expected, and that the order book for the first half of 2015 is stronger than expected.
For now, I’ll continue to take the other side of that bet.
Disclosure: The author is short TSLA. The author wrote this article themselves, and it expresses their own opinions. The author is not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). The author has no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.
Additional disclosure: At the time of submitting this article for publication, the author was short TSLA. However, positions can change at any time. The author regularly attends product launches with almost all automakers, and some of those trips are paid for in whole or in part by the automakers. The author also regularly test-drives cars provided by almost all automakers, to members of the press.
HOW A BEAUTIFUL SCARF DRAPED AROUND A PLAIN GIRL MADE HER LOOK GORGEOUS
ARE YOUR SCARVES AND PASHMINAS JUST HANGING AROUND IN YOUR BEDROOM OR AROUND YOUR SHOULDERS
MAYBE THEY ARE just piled over the top of old fashioned coat hangers, hanging all lopsided in your closet, or worse just stuffed in a drawer!!
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This elegant product is a smoothly finished timber panel and has 10 stainless wire holes, which WILL NOT SNAG OR CATCH your lovely scarves or ties.
Myself…I prefer to have the hangers over the bedroom door, where I can see an awesome cascade of different coloured and patterned fabulous French and Turkish silk scarves, as well as soft cottons, falling down the door. Some have been gifts or bought personally
They can be looped through the holes on this great little hanger pulled to the back, or left at the front to hang over each other. Whichever way you choose to make your display, even putting two through the hole.
This pair of scarf or tie holder pieces called “Hangin’N’Style can be shared with a friend for a gift, or with the man of the house to keep all of his silk ties in order, but if you have heaps of scarves (as we seem to do) why not use them both yourself?
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Studies now indicate that defects in a man’s sperm—within the semen—could be linked to several other kinds of health problems. These problems might include heart disease, high blood pressure, and skin and glandular disorders.
“It may be that infertility is a marker for sickness overall,” comments lead researcher Dr. Michael Eisenberg. The Stanford School of Medicine assistant professor of urology and director of male reproductive medicine and surgery, continues, “There are a lot of factors that involve a man’s overall health that turn out to impair sperm production.”
The researchers also make sure to note that it is not that sperm defects cause health problems, only that they may be indicators of them. This idea that the two may be somewhat related is simply something that may have been overlooked before.
“To the best of my knowledge,” Eisenberg continues, “there’s never been a study showing this association before. There are a lot of men who have high blood pressure, so understanding that correlation is of huge interest to us.”
He adds, “Many things we didn’t know about or think about may impact a man’s fertility. It might be treatment for high blood pressure that is causing sperm problems.”
However, he also suggests that genetics may have something to do with it as ten percent of a man’s genetics are involved in sperm production.
In conclusion, however, Eisenberg attests, “A man’s health is strongly correlated with his semen quality. Given the high incidence of infertility, we need to take a broader view. As we treat men’s infertility, we should also assess their overall health.”
Finally, he adds, “This is another piece of evidence of how important not only fertility is, but overall health. There is a lot of overlap. Regardless of what your goals are, whether it’s to live forever or have a baby, it’s important to take care of yourself.”
HAVANA, Cuba – The youngest son of Cuban revolutionary Che Guevara has opened an agency offering two-wheel tours of the Caribbean island nation on Harley-Davidsons in a nod to his father’s passion for motorcycles.
The Marxist guerrilla’s storied motorbike journey through South America was immortalized in the 2004 film “Motorcycle Diaries,” directed by Brazil’s Walter Salles and starring Mexican actor Gael García Bernal.
The trip, spanning from December 1951 to July 1952, took the 23-year-old revolutionary to Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Peru and Venezuela.
Now, Che’s son Ernesto Guevara wants to honor his father’s famous ride by giving visitors to Cuba a “unique” trip through the country on Harley-Davidson motorcycles.
Prices start at $3,000 per person and go up to $5,800 for six- or nine-day trips. Airline costs are not included.
The itineraries give visitors a glimpse of “the varied landscapes of this beautiful island,” while also offering “intimate contact with a part of the history of a unique revolution,” according to the website of La Poderosa Tours, run by 49-year-old Ernesto, who is also a lawyer.
The company promises a luxury visit, including stays at five-star hotels and a visit to Che’s mausoleum.
“We will make your trip a unique experience, an unforgettable memoir. We will personally take care of every detail during your journey,” the website says.
The company’s name comes from Che’s own moniker for the British Norton 500 motorbike he rode through South America with Argentine companion Alberto Granado.
That trip left a strong impression on the young guerrilla, who was preparing to graduate from medical school at the time.
The tour company goes to lengths to emphasize its revolutionary roots. One of the guides is Camilo Sanchez — son of Cuban guerrilla Antonio Sánchez Díaz, also known as “Marcos” — a fighter killed during a 1967 battle.
The tour also includes a visit to Che’s base in colonial Havana and a trip to Santa Clara, a city 270 kilometers (168 miles) east of Havana that was the site of a key 1958 battle.
Recommended: Once Mexico’s booze of ‘drunks,’ mezcal earns respect
For vehicle proprietors that put their automobile on an upscale position, auto detailing is definitely on their listing. As automobiles are increasing, as so is the demand for better treatment. That is why automobile detailing is producing earnings of about eight billion in income. That claims that there is no earnings in the know-how of cleansing and also taking care of autos? It is all in just how points are done as well as managed. Just what are the many things that you should have when putting up a company like this?
Expertise
You should recognize something about automobiles either tiny or huge. Clients consider their vehicle as part of their household considering that they have striven just to bring in the bacon residence. That is why it is of utmost importance that you know something regarding automobiles before venturing in business. If you currently have the concept, then all you will require is some background on running the business. Money is just secondary but passion must be a must.
Parking
You should have a place to do the work. You can do it inside your garage and yet, that would certainly be quite disorganized. You could get yourself an exec car park to nest your company. You need to obtain an authorization from the city office to form business in order to acquire authorization and authority over that location. This is significantly convenient to staff members who have no time to drive their autos that would take those 2 hrs to drive simply to accomplish describing.
In this sort of mobile procedure, you will certainly need a pickup or van as well as running water access. There are business in some cities that personalize as well as convert vehicles right into car look for outlining with its own mobile generator and also water storage tank.
Million Dollar Cars
Detailers will certainly mention that the thickness of their business originates from the suppliers yet in reality, to be able to have an automobile revealed in a public auction, one should have their vehicles described first. That is exactly how competitive the marketplace is. However, the market still depends upon the autos driving via and also from every angle. These are the vehicles that needs for a detailing work for twice in each year.
Budget plan
You need to consider that for a company to rise from its steeps is to have an ample budget plan. Without cash to run the outlining task, it is impossible to expect a whole lot. You additionally need to consider the people which will certainly be helping you.
On the other hand, when you have built your business, you need to present a competitive rate that would certainly be accepted by the people that wanted a reachable cost. You have to offer exactly what various other vehicle clean services do not provide. Contrasting costs, it typically varies from $35 to $70 every describing service. These costs will likewise depend upon just how the consumer wanted your their automobile specific should turn out.
Costs that are this reachable will open a competitive market that supplies consumer’s stream. Moreover, you could give a listing of valued services for the people to understand just what they will certainly avail. If you accomplish a quota of a minimum of 5 clients a day, it’s a living.
If the spending plan still demands, you can go on marketing your vehicle outlining shop locally to make sure that individuals will know and possibly, in time, you can increase it.
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Bardstown Road is one of busiest roadways in the metro, and it’s also one of the most dangerous, especially for motorcyclists.
To help change that, four “Watch for Motorcycles” signs went up Tuesday at the intersection of Bardstown and Grinstead Drive.
The Kentucky Department of Transportation says since 2006, there have 120 motorcycle crashes along Bardstown.
The signs are part of the “Once is Never Enough” program from Allstate Insurance.
Their goal is to help reduce the number of motorcycle crashes by putting up these warning signs.
“I think there’s just so many stops here, there’s bus stops at every corner, you’ve got a lot traffic and turning lanes and it’s kind of confusing for people and they are just not watching out for motorcycles,” said Larry Hatzell with Allstate.
Louisville is the 38th city to receive the permanent motorcycle warning signs.
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If you’re anywhere near as old as I am (somewhere between early retirement and keeling over while shoveling snow), you might actually remember a time when nostalgia for bygone designs was pretty much the province of steam locomotive buffs and guys like my Uncle Walter, who missed his pre-war Hudson because the sheet metal was so thick. Almost no one else in America wanted anything that looked dated or old-fashioned. Newer was always better. Give us tailfins! Now take them away!
In the world of machinery, only Morgan cars and Velocette motorcycles were able to get away with designs that were frozen in time, but they seemed to be playing to an ever-shrinking audience. You had to have a strong sense of classicism to prefer a Velo Venom to a new Honda 750 Four in 1969. Progress was the thing, and bikes just got faster and more reliable every year.
There were companies that had great continuity of design—BMW, Ducati, Harley, Guzzi, and (while they lasted) Norton, Triumph, and BSA. But nobody was consciously trying to make a new motorcycle that appeared to have rolled straight out of a time machine.
The first feint in that direction, that I can remember, was the Yamaha SR500 of 1978, whose classic paint scheme, tank shape, and simple kickstart engine architecture flushed many of us British singles lovers out of the greenwood, money in hand. I badly wanted to buy one but couldn’t afford it because I was restoring a 1968 Bonneville, so I talked my buddy John Jaeger into buying one. Fun bike, but it didn’t actually feel much like a British single, even if it was sometimes reluctant to start. It lacked the dramatic, concussive hit of a big high-compression piston flinging you down the road while the smell of hot oil wafted up under your face shield. Basically, it felt like a nice, oil-tight Japanese single with dirt bike roots. Who would have guessed?
The first full-fledged retro bike I can recall came along in 1981. That was the year Harley-Davidson rolled out the Heritage Edition of its 80-inch Electra Glide, right at the transition between AMF ownership and the new regime. The Heritage Edition FLH was among the last big Shovelheads made, and it was stridently nostalgic. It had a sprung “buddy seat,” fringed leather saddlebags with conchos, wire-spoked wheels, a big windshield, and a paint scheme in olive green and orange, classic Harley colors right out of the ’20s.
Back at our old CW office in Newport Beach, California, I was quite taken with the bike, as it was a dead ringer for the Harleys I’d grown up with, so I lobbied then-Editor Allan Girdler to let me take this apparition on a road trip.
“In a strange way, the Heritage Edition Electra Glide might be the both the first real retro bike and the last one that still had the exact character and shortcomings of the very motorcycles it was trying to evoke.
My wife Barb and I rode it all the way up the Coast Highway to Seattle and then back down through the sun-baked inland valleys of the West, and I wrote a story about the trip called “Shooting the Coast” (January ’82). The bike was quite charming and comfortable to ride, though it had a few of the traditional Shovelhead vices. Engine vibration cracked a weld in the rear crashbar and also jittered the floorboard rubbers into oblivion every few days. The spring-pillar-mounted saddle was the most comfortable motorcycle seat I’ve ever toured on—solo. Quite crowded for two, however. Also, the engine did burn some oil and I had to adjust the primary chain en route.
In a strange way, this might be both the first real retro bike and the last one that still had the exact character and shortcomings of the very motorcycles it was trying to evoke. A perfect throwback, in other words. The later Evo Road Kings and Softails would replicate much of this bike’s charm but without the vintage mechanical drawbacks.
After that, we seem to have had a nostalgia gap for a few years, and then Honda introduced its lovely 1989 GB500 Tourist Trophy single, the “GB” being code for “Great Britain.” This tribute to the classic British single had Black Green Metallic paint, gold pinstriping, humpbacked seat, clip-on bars, and many exquisite forged parts, with hints of Gold Star, Manx, and Velo Thruxton melded into a fun, light motorcycle. That didn’t leak oil. Or break your leg. The only disappointing element was the borrowed XR-based engine, which had a somewhat utilitarian look and feel, like something out of an air-conditioning unit. The GB500 was well engineered and relatively affordable though. Liberating, in other words, to those whose Anglophilia had so often been mixed with roadside despair.
But I suppose the same could be said of the only retro bike currently in my own small stable, a 2008 Triumph TT100 Bonneville in scarlet and silver—a useful, handsome, and agile bike that I ride all the time, though it’s not exactly a carbon copy of the 1968 Bonneville I once owned. That bike had a purity and sculpted beauty that seems impossible to replicate in the modern era, but it also vibrated more, needed more maintenance, and wore itself out at regular intervals. The new Bonneville is a much better machine for someone who actually expects to go somewhere—especially at night—but it does lack the dangerous and heroic aura of the old Bonnie.
“The Honda GB500 was well engineered and relatively affordable, though. Liberating, in other words, to those whose Anglophilia had so often been mixed with roadside repair.
And there’s the rub. No one (in my opinion) has yet succeeded in perfectly combining genuine advances in modern engineering with the unaffected beauty and serious intent of an older masterpiece. Maybe it can’t be done. Or we don’t really want it done. That was then; this is now.
Nevertheless, it’s still nice to see motorcycle manufacturers who bring back styling elements of their best and most timeless designs, as Honda did not long ago with its CB1100—and BMW now has with its new R nineT. While I admit being among the target customers for these bikes, I also get a little uncomfortable when I hear people say that retro designs are popular because this or that generation is trying to “recapture its youth” or that we’re all trying to buy the bike we wanted when we were in high school. Seems to me this misses the point.
I don’t think most of us buy old motorcycles—or bikes that are styled to look like old motorcycles—out of nostalgia. I think we do it simply because a few designs in every generation are worth keeping. Or worth reinterpreting, with headlights that work and brakes that stop.
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Tesla passed on Texas as the site of its new $5 billion battery factory, but the company still hopes to sell its electric cars directly to Texans over the Internet, instead of through dealerships, and it is dangling the carrot of future investment projects as an incentive.
The automaker doesn’t use outside salesmen or franchised dealers to sell its cars because it says they have too much invested in promoting traditional, gasoline-powered vehicles. The practice is prohibited in Texas and at least somewhat restricted by many other states’ laws on new vehicle sales.
Proposals to allow direct car sales in Texas stalled during the 2013 legislative session, but the Pala Alto, California-based automaker appears poised to rev up efforts to revive the issue as lawmakers head back to work next month.
“We’re not asking to blow up the franchise dealer system,” said Diarmuid O’Connell, Tesla’s vice president for business development. “We are looking for a narrow and reasonable window to be able to promote this new technology ourselves.”
No one has pre-filed a bill promoting direct sales yet, and few in the Legislature have publicly supported the idea. But outgoing Gov. Rick Perry in March called the state’s laws “antiquated” and said it was time for “Texas to have an open conversation about this.”
Of course, Perry said that when Texas was still one of four states in the running to get Tesla’s new battery factory, which eventually went to Nevada. Perry prides himself on being able to woo job creators, and at the height of his Tesla charm offense during a June visit to California, he even drove the company’s Model S around Sacramento.
An op-ed signed by four economics and law professors from Texas universities appeared this week in the Austin American Statesman, and a longer letter signed by those four and eight other academics was sent to every member of the Legislature. They urged lawmakers to “modernize” vehicle distribution rules and scrap existing regulation that hurts competition via “protectionism for auto dealers.”
Calls seeking comment from spokesmen for Gov.-elect Greg Abbott and Dan Patrick, who will oversee the Texas Senate when he becomes lieutenant governor in January, were not returned.
Texas Automobile Dealers Association lobbyist Robert Brazie said he believes bills promoting direct car sales will likely be filed before the end of the 2015 legislative session, but that he expects them to garner little support. He said an offer of future Tesla investments would carry little weight in the state, because “when they had a chance to come to Texas, they didn’t.”
Brazie added that Tesla explained its choosing Nevada by pointing to “geography, cost and speed of development,” reasons that had “nothing to do” with either state’s car sales laws.
O’Connell admits that getting the law changed won’t be easy.
“Does the fact that we didn’t site the factory there complicate things? Absolutely,” O’Connell said. “But we’re going to be doing a number of big battery factories in the coming years and we’re going to need new vehicle factories as well, and there’s a certain logic to doing those in Texas.”
He didn’t elaborate, but added that the state may not be so attractive if current sales regulations stand.
“If we’re banned in Texas, why are we investing billions of dollars here?,” O’Connell asked.
In October, Michigan became the fifth state to effectively ban Tesla’s direct-sales model, along with Texas, New Jersey, Arizona and Maryland. But O’Connell said the company has successfully worked with courts and Legislatures in other states to stop more-restrictive sales rules from taking effect elsewhere.
Texas, though, is a game changer. Brazie said the state should notch more than 1.5 million new car deliveries this year — accounting for nearly 10 percent of all sales nationwide. The only larger market in America is Tesla’s home state of California.
Tesla already operates “galleries,” in Dallas, Austin and Houston, but can’t sell cars or even offer consumers test drives or pricing information there. O’Connell said that if the state’s laws were changed, Tesla would like to open what it calls stores, its answer to traditional dealerships, in those three cities plus San Antonio to start, but how many it would eventually expand statewide is an open question.
“We don’t want to blanket the state,” he said.
The fat has fallen off them, they are feeling fitter and they’re fuelled up with knowledge on nutrition and health.
Our four volunteers have finished their six-week-long Men’s Health: Small Change, Big Gain challenge. In their final posting, they tell us how their lives have changed after training with Lee-Anne Wann and following a controversial high-fat, low-carb diet.
Chris Reed
Herald deputy editor
I’ve learned loads about nutrition and loads about exercise. I’ve learned some proper boxing techniques and that there are many ways you can be in pain while using a Swiss ball. I’ve also learned that humans have an amazing capacity for self-delusion.
Seven weeks ago, I thought I was a bit overweight. Looking back at the pale, puffy face in my “before” pic, I realise I looked like Darth Vader without his helmet in Return of the Jedi.
I’m far from perfect now, but at least my body fat level has gone from signifying morbid obesity to approaching decent.
It’s been a remarkable experience. I’d go as far as to say life-changing.
I’m leaner, sharper and have been better able to cope with some challenging situations. I’ll carry through the good habits. Sayonara sugar, ciao carbs.
I’m going to keep up the boxing, and enjoy being more mobile on my mountain bike. I still hate running, though. My enduring thanks to Lee-Anne and to Gus Lam, my boxing trainer.
And special thanks to Winston. He put a packet of cookies on my desk in week one. They’re still there. Untouched. He thought he was testing my willpower but ended up cementing my motivation.
Jason Winstanley
The Hits radio content director
It’s all over – 6 weeks and I’m done. Well, not really. This is more of a beginning for me.
I was quite nervous for my final measurements, even though I knew I had improved. Had it made a big enough improvement? I think so.
I have dropped 6.5kg, and 3.6% body fat – I’m really proud of myself. I am feeling so much better, and these results explain why.
Now the key is to continue balancing my lifestyle. While I am never going to be a high-performing athlete, I do need to look after myself. This process has helped me to identify a few things I need to focus on.
The first one is making sure I eat the right foods. That means as little sugar as possible, a big reduction in carbs, and much less alcohol than I was used to. The second is around work – keeping my stress levels down, and making sure I get enough sleep at night. And the final big one is actually the easiest: making sure I drink enough water.
I have more weight and body fat to lose, but now I know how simple it is to do. It just takes some focus, a little bit of time, and changing a few bad habits. Lee-Anne, thank you for all your guidance and belief.
You have shown me that it isn’t as hard as I thought to make meaningful changes to improve my health and life.
Winston Aldworth
Herald travel editor
The most telling thing about my weight loss over the past six weeks is that my first reaction when I saw I had dropped 7.1kg in 42 days – a helluva drop in a short period – was one of disappointment. I thought I had dropped even more.
I had two basic aims – to get healthier by carrying less excess weight and to be more likely to get mistaken for Sonny Bill Williams than Bilbo Baggins when I’m out jogging. We ticked the first box, the second is a work in progress.
At the start, I thought it’d be great to be 5kg lighter and on track to losing more. Ultimately, I dropped from 109.2kg to 102.1kg – and it was easy. Well, kind of easy. Here are the key changes I’ll keep:
•Processed carbs are gone. It’s arrivederci to bread, pasta, noodles and cereal. I might have muesli once a week, just to break up the eggs-for-breakfast routine.
•Sugary snacks are gone. In their place are whey protein shakes and a nut-and-seed mixture.
•I had two days a week with alcohol during the project – down from pretty much seven. I’ll aim to keep it at three days.
•Long runs are out. I’m doing more interval training. And, whenever possible, I’m exercising first thing in the morning.
Now then, I think I’ve earned a couple of Christmas drinks …
Nigel Morrison
SkyCity chief executive
Well, the weigh-in! 6.2kg of fat gone, muscle mass up 1.2kg, net weight loss down 5.1kg – from 112.3kg to 107.2kg.
Body fat down from 27 per cent to 22 per cent – nearly a 20 per cent reduction; all in six weeks and really all without too much pain!
Long blacks with cream; breakfast of poached eggs, spinach and avocado (at Gusto); salmon sashimi, broccoli and asparagus for lunch (at Masu); lots of water plus the zinc tabs. Oh … and a little exercise (probably should have done a bit more) and a little less wine (actually … a lot less!)
I see this very much as an education – a course I’ve just completed in Understanding Men’s Health. I can’t believe how ignorant I was. Armed with this knowledge, I’ll keep going.
I still want to achieve 20 per cent body fat by Christmas and have another weigh-in with Lee-Anne just prior – and, going forward, an aim of reducing body fat to less than 18 per cent.
And the other benefits – my energy lasts longer and is more even throughout the day, I’m happier, stronger, more active and want to ride more.
I’m really looking forward to the New Year. 2015’s going to be fantastic! Thanks, Lee-Anne!
Six weeks and we come to the end of the programme but the beginning of a whole new way of living for these men. The results have been great but what I’m most excited about are the small changes they have incorporated into their lives as part of their routines now. Many of us don’t start programmes or health regimes simply because they seem too challenging or we don’t have the time to commit to them, so this was really about incorporating small things into our daily lives that really, truly have a big positive impact on how we feel, look and manage the challenges day-to-day life can throw at us – never underestimate the power of the small things.
Jason
Weight change 116kg to 109.5kg
Body fat change 24.1% to 20.5%
Muscle change 88kg to 87.1kg
A great result for Jason considering he is still not a fan of exercise and likes to indulge on occasion. It’s about knowing where his equilibrium is and how much he can get away with and what he needs to do to make sure he doesn’t get on that slippery slope.
Chris
Weight change 97.2kg to 91.9kg
Body fat change 24.6% to 19.7%
Muscle change 73.3kg to 73.8kg
Fantastic – Chris has had great focus and commitment the entire programme and his results speak for themselves. It’s about starting to be creative with real foods and finding new options to create masterpieces. As he’s armed with a whole new bunch of recipes, I’m hoping I get a dinner invitation from the family soon. Something Chris is going to focus on is snacks. As we discussed, it really is hard finding “real” food for snacks and again this is about looking at new ideas and combining foods for different options. I can’t wait to see where he is in three months.
His abs were already showing at the end of his programme.
Nigel
Weight change 112.3kg to 107.2kg
Body fat change 26.9% to 22.3%
Muscle change 82.1kg to 83.3kg
Age is no barrier as he has gained the most muscle in the group – no easy feat! This is not the end for Nigel but just the beginning. The change in just six weeks has been inspiring and his enthusiasm to get back out road cycling and find ways to eat great foods while travelling and at events is amazing. Nigel has taken everything on board and found ways to work small things into his routine, and the payback is obvious.
Winston
Weight change 109.2kg to 102.1kg
Body fat change 20.9% to 16.6%
Muscle change 86.4kg to 85.2kg
Winston looks so healthy and fit now. Forty-two days, as he says, and the changes he made were not overwhelming or difficult, even for a travel editor. I’ll be super excited to see how his training progresses, as he’s a demon in the gym and enjoys a good outdoor run, which can be done anytime. I’m really impressed with his ability to stay with the changes while travelling and looking at simply finding the best worst choice rather than stressing about being perfect.
nzherald.co.nz
Read previous stories in this series here: tinyurl.com/nzmenshealth
6 Tips to stay healthy through Christmas
1) Make your best worst choices
Don’t fret about being perfect. Often we’re in situations or at events where we can’t make great choices of food and drink so just make your best worst choice. Choose a glass of red wine over cocktails, add a sneaky sparkly water and lemon in the mix so it looks like a drink, and choose foods high in protein, such as prawns, nuts and eggs, when having canapes.
2) Water, water, water
We often underestimate the importance of water and around the merry season it’s even more important for us. Keeping well hydrated can help minimise cravings, reduce appetite, help burn fat and reduce the impact of hangovers. Aim for 39ml per kg of bodyweight a day.
3) The first three hours of the day
Get this sorted and the rest is much more likely to fall into place. It’s been known for years the first thing you eat in the morning will determine your behaviour and food choices for the rest of the day. Start with good protein and natural fats such as eggs, avocado, nuts, salmon and chia seeds.
4) Go for short, sharp exercise
Keep it simple and intense: we want to break a sweat and we don’t want to spend all day exercising. Aim for three to four 15-20 minute effective sessions a week to keep in shape. That makes it easier to fit in and is more effective for fat burning and managing mood and energy.
5) Sleep
Take time over the break to get extra sleep and let the body catch up. Sleep is imperative to function optimally, lose body fat, manage stress and recover. Doing less is sometimes doing more for body and mind.
6) Hangover option
If we overindulge, a favourite of an American nutritionist is to suck on an umeboshi (Japanese pickled plum) the morning after for an hour or so. Works a treat combined with extra water and a short – yes, probably challenging – run or walk.
- NZ Herald
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