Juggling Dynamite

Internal combustion engines (“ICE”) are headed for the recycling pile whether naysayers believe it or not. We would be wise to recall that the horseless carriage was also widely derided by mainstream thinkers in 1909…

Check out the striking relationship between the sales trajectories of Elon Musk’s Tesla and Henry Ford’s early Model T. It’s enough to give hope to the dreamers.Here is a direct video link.

One of the many amazing advantages of Tesla, is that routine upgrades and maintenance can be done over the internet, directly to plugged in vehicles, while their owners sleep.

The Tesla Model S is the world’s most connected car, and it’s also one of the most secure. But after two years of in depth hacking, Marc Rogers, Principle Security Researcher for CloudFlare, and Kevin Mahaffey, CTO of Lookout Inc, have finally hacked the Tesla. Rogers and Mahaffey tell Bloomberg Television about their findings from the Def Con hacker conference in Las Vegas.Here is a direct video link.

There is a standing joke in our home that our kids can do anything they like so long as they don’t become or marry bankers…today’s Dilbert is on point.

Dilbert.com

Awareness in popular culture is an important part of the change needed.  Still lacking is enough outrage to demand personal prosecutions and claw backs of the proceeds of crime that have unjustly enrich the executives at offending institutions. Goldman Sach’s Lloyd Blankfein and JP Morgan’s Jamie Dimon both became billionaires this year.  Textbook.

And right on point, Wall Street Journal’s Liam Denning comes up with another insightful article.  See  Oil’s $4.4 trillion hole:

A year ago, futures indicated an average Brent crude-oil price in 2016 through 2018 of about $101 a barrel. Today, that is just under $60.[DP note: actually today under $45] Estimates of future demand have also been marked down slightly. [more of that to come]

The implied hit to oil producers’ revenue is about $4.4 trillion spread across those three years.

The unifying theme: deflation. As so often the case with commodity industries, a cyclical boom—this time aided by ultralow interest rates—fueled massive expansion. This extra capacity and associated obligations to shareholders, creditors and suppliers has now run into a suddenly more austere environment.