December 3, 2019

Performers and artists all have music and art degrees?

October 13, 2019

Mitch Albom: Price for the NBA in China? Its soul

"It was a short tweet. Only seven words. But it ripped the façade off of two giant forces, the Chinese government and the National Basketball Association, and exposed their hypocrisies in a sobering light. If you’ve ever doubted the power of free speech, and the perils of silence, you need only to have watched the events of last week.

“Fight for freedom, stand with Hong Kong.” Those were the seven words, tweeted out by Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey, a man who, when it comes to famous names in the NBA, is on the same level as the team trainer. He’s not a player. He’s not recognizable. He deleted the tweet shortly after he posted it.

But that didn’t stop China, the most populous nation on the planet, from going berserk. The government-owned TV network canceled televising the NBA exhibition games being played there. The internet streaming was canceled as well. The Chinese Basketball Association suspended all association with the Houston Rockets. And China’s consul general in Houston demanded the team “immediately correct the mistakes.”


Billions of dollars, and 1.4 billion people. It is a marketplace that has made many an American CEO dizzy with greed, seeing all those potential customers just waiting to be served. The NBA is no different than other U.S. businesses that have raced in to capitalize on the Chinese marketplace. Never mind that China’s government is so antithetical to American ideas, it ought to give them pause. Forget it. There’s so much money to be made! They’re like drillers in a massive oil field, giddy in their digging.

But as we saw last week, there’s more than dollars at the bottom of those holes. There’s principle. Let’s remember what this NBA incident is all about. Morey’s tweet wasn’t some radical far-left or far-right statement. He mentioned “freedom” — the defining word for America — and Hong Kong, which has been under the heel of China, the Brits, then China again, and is now fighting a law that would have “dissidents” (meaning those who don’t agree with China’s iron-first government) extradited from Hong Kong to face justice in mainland China.

Which begs another question:
What will LeBron James have to say about this?

James is arguably Nike’s biggest star. He has been outspoken in supporting athletes kneeling during the national anthem, which he defends as free speech, outspoken on American police abusing power, outspoken on minorities being marginalized by government forces.

Well? How does all that not apply to those protesting in Hong Kong? You can flip to any number of videos right now and see them beaten, hosed, tear-gassed. "


[link:http://www.freep.com/story/sports/columnists/mitch-albom/2019/10/13/mitch-albom-nba-china-houston-rockets/3959602002/|

September 3, 2019

Subaru and other small carmakers squeezed by EV mandates

Subaru customers would seem to be the perfect demographic for electric vehicles. Owners of Outbacks, Legacys and Foresters generally align with the green movement: higher income, better educated, with concentrations on the coasts and in the Rocky Mountain states.

Yet, neither the all-new 2020 Subaru Outback or Legacy is offered with a battery option. Subaru says buyers aren’t interested.

But with California and 13 other states mandating that about 8% of each automaker's sales be battery-powered, zero-emission vehicles by 2025 — within the product cycle of Subaru’s current lineup — the maker of affordable, all-wheel-drive vehicles is caught in a vise.
Like other carmakers from Fiat Chrysler Automobiles to Mazda Corp., it will have to make cars that customers don’t want — or buy carbon credits for up to $8,000 for every EV they don’t sell to meet their quota.

The mandates are particularly burdensome for smaller auto companies, such as Subaru Corp. and Mazda that don’t have the vast research and development resources of a Toyota Motor Corp. or Volkswagen AG. And they don't have profitable pickup lines like Ford Motor Co. and General Motors Co. to subsidize unprofitable electric vehicles.

“We have limited manufacturing facilities, limited engineers that can work on multiple programs,” Subaru’s Tenn said. “We’re trying to launch everyday cars. It’s tough to take those people off and put them on EV programs if we want to give our customers the kind of vehicles they expect from us.”

Fiat Chrysler has seen little demand for EVs such as the tiny Fiat 500e that former CEO Sergio Marchionne famously pooh-poohed as a California-compliance vehicle. So it has thus far paid millions in credits to Tesla in order to keep selling vehicles in California. Through 2023, Fiat Chrysler has committed to paying nearly $2 billion in emissions credits to operate in U.S. and European markets. It also has pledged more battery-powered vehicles.


https://www.detroitnews.com/story/business/autos/2019/09/03/subaru-other-small-carmakers-ev-mandates/2130087001/

July 8, 2019

Tiny Jag pulls out of AfroFuture Fest after learning white people would be charged a different price

Jillian Graham, aka Detroit-based rapper Tiny Jag, pulled out of a local music festival this week because she disagreed with its pay model, in which people of color would pay less for tickets than white festivalgoers.

Graham said she only found out about AfroFuture Fest's pay model when a white friend reached out to her and sent her a screenshot via Instagram that outlined the pay difference. The early bird POC ("people of color" ) ticket was $10 while the early bird "non-POC" ticket cost $20.

"I was immediately enraged just because I am biracial," Graham tells Metro Times. "I have family members that would have, under those circumstances, been subjected to something that I would not ever want them to be in ... especially not because of anything that I have going on."

While the festival organizers declined MT's request for comment, they explained their rationale behind the ticket prices on the festival's Eventbrite page:

Equality means treating everyone the same

Equity is insuring everyone has what they need to be successful

Our ticket structure was built to insure that the most marginalized communities (people of color) are provided with an equitable chance at enjoying events in their own community (Black Detroit).

Affording joy and pleasure is unfortunately still a privilege in our society for POC and we believe everyone should have access to receiving such.

We've seen too many times orgasmic events happening in Detroit and other POC populated cities and what consistently happens is people outside of the community benefiting most from affordable ticket prices because of their proximity to wealth.

This cycle disproportionately displaces Black and brown people from enjoying entertainment in their own communities.

As an Afrofuturist youth lead initiative the voices of our youth inform our resistance.

Here's what they have to say

"If you don't see my Blackness, you don't see me. Periodt!"


[link:https://www.metrotimes.com/city-slang/archives/2019/07/04/tiny-jag-pulls-out-of-afrofuture-fest-after-learning-white-people-would-be-charged-a-different-price-to-attend|

I think the organizers were trying way to hard to be edgy and create a buzz

July 1, 2019

Grand Rapids church pays off almost $2M in medical debt for Michigan families

Nearly 2,000 western Michigan families will get letters this week announcing that all of their medical debt has been paid off by a local church.

Grand Rapids First, a Wyoming, Michigan, congregation, is covering 1,899 families’ medical debts — almost $2 million in total — across four Michigan counties. Through RIP Medical Debt, a New York-based debt purchasing nonprofit, Grand Rapids First paid pennies on the dollar to purchase $1.8 million in debt for about $15,000, according to the church’s executive pastor and CFO Doug Tuttle.

Grand Rapids First is now one of more than one dozen churches throughout the nation that have worked with RIP Medical Debt to tackle medical debt, an issue that contributes to two-thirds of U.S. bankruptcies. The Michigan debt repayments cover families in Kent, Ottawa, Allegan and Ionia counties that will be notified of the gift via letter from RIP Medical Debt some time this week. Tuttle said the largest single debt the church paid off was more than $75,000 in medical charges that were spread over three debt accounts belonging to one person. The gift is covered by Grand Rapids First’s missions fund, so Tuttle said no church-wide fund-raising was necessary.

Church leaders don’t know the identities of the people they’re helping, or if any of them are part of Grand Rapids First's congregation — medical privacy laws mean only RIP Medical Debt knows the gifts’ recipients. But Tuttle said RIP is intentional about choosing recipients who will most benefit from debt forgiveness, like people whose debt is disproportionate to their income or who already live in poverty.

With the gift, Grand Rapids First also hopes to reflect the mission of Christ and echo a biblical repayment of sins. The congregation was“overwhelmed” when lead pastor Sam Rijfkogel announced the payment plan Sunday morning, Tuttle said. "Today, that $1,832,439.26 that's looming over families right now, those families that are living at poverty rates or less, has been paid in full as a result of a gift from this church," Rijfkogel told the congregation during his Sunday sermon. "Paid in full, not held against them one bit."


[link:https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2019/07/01/grand-rapids-first-church-medical-debt/1617429001/|

June 23, 2019

Twins charged in shooting at Detroit coney shop that didn't serve mushrooms

Detroit — Two Detroit men, twins age 61, face multiple felony charges in a Wednesday morning shooting at a coney shop on Detroit's west side that authorities say was provoked by the restaurant not selling fried mushrooms.

Arraignments are expected Sunday morning for Dwight and Duane Samuels at 34th District Court in Romulus, which handles weekend arraignments for all of Wayne County, said Maria Miller, a spokeswoman for Prosecutor Kym Worthy.

It was about 2 a.m. Wednesday, at Nicky D's coney shop on the 15700 block of West Seven Mile, when a 40-year-old man was beaten with a pipe and shot on his face, in an attack that was caught on camera.

The twins face an identical slate of eight charges: assault with intent to murder, assault with intent to do great bodily harm less than murder, firearm possession by a felon, carrying a concealed weapon, and four counts of felony firearm.

Police say the twins had been told that the restaurant does not sell fried mushrooms. One of them had been carrying a metal pipe; the other, a gun. Both, authorities say, allegedly used their weapons of choice to maim the victim, before fleeing from the scene in a vehicle.


https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/detroit-city/2019/06/23/twins-charged-shooting-detroit-coney-shop-didnt-serve-mushrooms/1540659001/

June 15, 2019

VW union vote: Chattanooga workers decide against joining UAW

Volkswagen workers in Tennessee have voted against joining the United Auto Workers, sending a strong rebuke to the country's largest industrial union.

Employees voted 833 to 776 to reject unionization, amid concerns that unionization could temper the German automaker's interest in Tennessee, according to the automaker. Volkswagen employs about 1,700 workers and 3,200 temporary workers at its Chattanooga plant.

“Our employees have spoken," said Frank Fischer, president and CEO of Volkswagen Chattanooga in an emailed statement. "Volkswagen will respect the decision of the majority."

The election, limited to full-time employees, began June 12 and ended June 14. A total of 1,609 votes were cast in the election conducted by the National Labor Relations Board, according to Volkswagen. The NLRB will need to certify the results and there will be a legal review, Fischer said.


[link:https://www.freep.com/story/money/2019/06/14/volkswagen-vw-uaw-union-vote-chattanooga-result/1409136001/|

May 23, 2019

Howes: Tesla growth story giving way to tale of distress, restructuring

Tesla Inc.’s credibility is crumbling on Wall Street.

Shares in the Silicon Valley electric-car maker are down more than 42% so far this year. It’s cutting prices on its high-end Model S and Model X, suggesting the first quarter's sales slump of nearly one-third is no fluke. Consumer Reports says the automatic lane-change feature on its misnamed "Autopilot" driving system lags "far behind a human driver's skill set" and "could create potential safety risks for drivers."

One prominent analyst, Morgan Stanley’s Adam Jonas, this week said the shares could plunge to $10 from Wednesday’s close of roughly $192 under his so-called “bear” scenario. Insiders are selling their shares at the fastest rate since 2013, Bloomberg reports. And Chairman Elon Musk is warning employees that its losses so far this year are not sustainable.

"That is a lot of money, but actually only gives us approximately ten months at the first-quarter burn rate to achieve break-even,” he continued, urging employees to tightly control spending. "This is hardcore, but it is the only way for Tesla to become financially sustainable and succeed in our goal of helping make the world environmentally sustainable."

The continuing sell-off is no coincidence. It represents realistic investors replacing hope with experience and a dollop of instinct: quasi-frantic warnings about slowing the cash burn and squeezing expenses, coupled with softening demand, are the definition of a downward spiral.

In a follow-on conference call Wednesday to explain his $10-a-share scenario, a recording of which was obtained by Bloomberg, Morgan Stanley's Jonas said: "Tesla was seen as a growth story. Today, supply exceeds demand, they are burning cash, nobody cares about the Model Y, they raise capital and there’s no strategic buy-in.

"Today, Tesla is not really seen as a growth story. It’s seen more as a distressed credit and restructuring story. At the heart of this is demand. What is changed is demand. That is the first domino.”

Few places know that sickening feeling better than Detroit, whose market share plummeted as Japanese, German and later South Korean rivals ultimately claimed a majority of the rich U.S. market. A growth story-turned-massively distressed restructuring, the Motor City was an eyewitness to the unwinding of the American auto industry, its employment base and the wealth generation that helped build the modern middle class as we know it.

[link:https://www.detroitnews.com/story/business/columnists/daniel-howes/2019/05/22/tesla-growth-story-gives-way-distress/3770785002/|

March 30, 2019

Accused Mexican drug smuggler skips court after posting $200 bond

Detroit — A Mexican citizen facing life in prison for allegedly trying to smuggle more than 6 kilos of cocaine and heroin into Detroit has absconded after a Wayne County visiting magistrate freed him on $200 bond.

Jose Antonio Lopez, 24, is wanted by police after he skipped a March 12 probable cause hearing in 36th District Court, following his March 2 arraignment in 34th District Court in Romulus. He had confessed to the crime, police said.

Despite the confession, the severity of the charges and Lopez's status as a non-U.S. resident, visiting magistrate Vesta Swenson set bond at $2,000/10 percent. The defendant posted the $200 needed to get out of jail and fled.

"I’m deeply disappointed that someone who commits a crime of this magnitude, in addition to being a foreign national, which makes him a tremendous flight risk, is allowed back on the street for $200," Detroit police Chief James Craig said. "It's an outrage."


[link:https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/detroit-city/2019/03/28/accused-mexican-drug-smuggler-skips-court-after-posting-200-bond/3287945002/|

February 26, 2019

Would-be Tesla customers wait, wait for their cash back

Detroit News -Daniel Howes

How long could Detroit’s automakers get away with sitting on $1,000 deposits from customers tired of waiting, waiting, waiting for their new electric car?

Not very long. The likes of General Motors Co., Ford Motor Co. and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV would be accused of using the cash as interest-free financing to fuel their operations. And the allegations would be directionally, if not literally, correct.
They would be pilloried — by investors, by regulators, by the news media, especially by would-be customers. Any constituency accustomed to calling BS on sketchy tactics would smell more of a money grab by a financially stressed startup than the defensible actions of a crisply run company.

But not Tesla Inc.
The Silicon Valley-based automaker controlled by Elon Musk is slow-walking requests for refunds, Bloomberg News reports. Customers tired of waiting for the company to deliver a legit $35,000 Model 3 compact as promised several years ago say they are being forced to wait as long as six months to get their cash back.

Starting in 2016, Tesla booked hundreds of millions in individual $1,000 deposits eager to get their hands on an affordable Tesla intended for the masses. But the folks who can't afford the upscale versions of the Model 3, much less the flagship Model S, mostly are left to wait, wait, wait because Tesla needed the cash, cash, cash it could book from building higher-priced Model 3s first.
The double standard is stunning, if entirely predictable by now. Flouting common business sense is a core principle of Musk, whose iconoclasm attracts investors, boosts the company's market value and raises a simple question: How long can this kind of stuff go on in one of the country's most regulated industries?

It's yet another example showing how the rules are different for the global auto industry's pre-eminent startup. Its CEO regularly spurns industry convention; its senior management churns repeatedly; its manufacturing quality evokes more Detroit circa 1980 than Silicon Valley 2019. And Tesla mostly gets away with it.

When Tesla sits on nearly $800 million in customer deposits at the end of last year, according to Bloomberg, and continues to assemble a record of customer-service complaints, how long before regulators start asking about what's going on? Customers already are.

What they may lack in brand cachet could be offset by the quaint notions of dependability, the ability to more easily get parts and timely service, and the assurance that it wouldn't take six months to get a customer deposit returned because the automaker couldn't keep its end of the bargain.
Doing what you say you're gonna do still matters — and it should.

[link:https://www.detroitnews.com/story/business/columnists/daniel-howes/2019/02/26/tesla-customers-wait-wait-cash-back/2982332002/|