A 22 year old “man” from the Indian city of Haryana, decided that his parents birthday present of a brand new BMW 3 Series worth $50 to $60,000 in India was just not good enough. He wanted a $75,000 Jaguar so he recorded himself pushing the new BMW into the river and sent it to his father. According to the BBC and New York Times, the police then got involved and sent first responders because they did not know if…
Google built Android from scratch in about 3 years of serious work. With China’s: penchant for stealing intellectual property unlimited budgets massive talent pool how long do you think it is will take China to develop a solid mobile OS? Not to mention that the newest copy of anything is better than the first because the developers learn from mistakes in the original. As we explained in our recent article: US President Trump Just Killed Google Android, the US China…
When China began the ‘free-marketization’ of its economy in the 1980’s it was clear that China was going to be an economic powerhouse. They had an excellent blue print to follow in capitalist British Hong Kong and a singular drive to raise its citizens from the poverty of its communist past. However, few had predicted back then that China would look so completely inward for growth as they are today. It is clear that while foreign markets like the United…
This topic is a departure from our usual focus on politics, tech and China but we thought it made an excellent point in a funny way you would like. As a… lets go with ‘gruff’ person myself, I sadly see tiny parts of Coleman Sweeney in me (pun intended!) and I have signed up for organ donation too. Be an asshole and sign up! In most countries you just have to fill our an organ donor card or sign the…
Today there are already about 60,000 Chinese manufactured vehicles entering the US and Canadian automobile market each year, some of which may surprise you; Buick Envision ($32,000) Cadillac CT6 Plug-In Hybrid ($75,000) not the standard CT6’s cancelled for US and Canada sales in 2018 Volvo S60 & S90 ($36,000 and $48,000) However, what you don’t see is a single Chinese brand like BYD (serious Telsa competitor), Chery (former Chrysler partner), or Dongfeng (sold 4.1 MILLION cars in China in 2018)…
The City of Toronto has the largest transit system in Canada that includes 2200 buses and they are now testing 10 fully electric units from each of New Flyer (Canada), BYD (China), and Proterra (US) Here are the numbers: 25% more reliable 30% few parts less items to inventory and manage saves money 25% lower maintenance costs 60% quieter which is a big deal for drivers and communities 75% reduction in energy costs $32,000 /bus /year energy savings $70 million…
It is oft said by those who disapprove of carbon taxes that: Carbon taxes are ineffective Carbon taxes target the wrong people The Canadian Federal Government does not have right to impose a carbon tax All three of these statements are demonstrably incorrect. University of Ottawa Professor of Law and Economics, Stewart Elgie, explains that the dissenting judges in the Saskatchewan and Ontario carbon tax cases are not disagreeing with the principle that the Federal Government has the right to…
People typically purchase stocks in a company for two reasons: to make money from an increase in stock price over time to make money from dividends However, there is a third way to make money with stocks… a very risky way called ‘short selling’. What is Short Selling Stocks In Simple Terms? A ‘short’ as it is called in the financial industry is a bet against a companies stock. To short a stock, you ‘borrow’ shares from someone with a…
The goal of a trade war is to increase access to some other countries markets. However, we can simplify the logic by reducing down from a country scale to an individual business scale. At the single company scale, Company A withholds a key product or increases price on that product because they want something from Company B, perhaps increased sales effort of some key line. At some point the cost becomes too much for one or both of the parties…
If you are wondering how someone like Donald Trump of the United States, Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines and Jair Bolsonaro of Brazil get elected to power watch the short video below. CNN’s Fareed Zakaria considers the 2019 Indian elections an notes that about one third of their candidates and federal officials have serious criminal charges against them. He the contrasts this to the United States with President Trump. The majority of Americans believe Trump committed crimes but large numbers…
From an American perspective, China has a strange confidence the belies and critical weakness that is just below the surface. US President Donald Trump is fond of pointing out that China sells much more to the US than the US sells to China. He believes that this trade imbalance gives him unlimited power to dictate Chinese policy and that belief has lead to the US initiating a trade war. Chinese President Xi Jinping knows that his country has an enormous…
Here are the numbers supporting what you likely already knew. George W Bush was not well liked or respected in the international community, largely because he polarized world leaders into “…those who are with (the US), or with the terrorists” Obama softened the US stance on international issues. He had been called the Consoler In Chief. Trump’s lack of foreign policy planning and his penchant for grandstanding has lead him to take hard line on almost everything. Thus far, he…
Do you remember when Health and Safety was called Common Sense? Steve Hughes explains that the Dutch don’t put railings around their canals because they assume people are not stupid. This is an excellent use of 90 seconds of your time:
In our recent short article titled Why DNA Tests Are Misleading we explained that DNA tests for racial background are far less ‘fact’ and much more ‘fiction’ than you have been led to beleive by slick ad campaigns. In this article we explain how these test can be dangerous to you and your family: How DNA Tests Can Be Dangerous DNA tests can be fun and potentially interesting but the results are questionable and you no longer control your own…
If you want to take a DNA test with 23andme.com, myheritage.com or ancestrydna.com you would be well served to think twice because these tests are much less “accurate” than you might think and they put you and your family at risk. How Are DNA Tests Misleading? DNA tests are misleading because they give your impression of scientific certainty when in fact there is a great deal of uncertainty involved because: 1 – Where You Are From OR Where People Live…
The cover of this weeks “The Atlantic” prompts a well logic’d article by David Frum (son of Barbara Frum and former speech writer for George W Bush), in which he explains two key points: the history and intent of refugee / asylum laws voters around the globe will select near fascists as a way to protect their borders As Mr. Frum correctly points out, the number of refugees (largely from Central America countries like Nicaragua) to the United States has…