CHRISTIAN NEWS FROM RAY
A free service of Jesus Christ is Lord Ministries
News selected and edited by Ray Mossholder
MORNING EDITION, March 18, 2014
CHRISTIANS WORLDWIDE ARE URGENTLY ASKED TO PRAY FOR
ASISA BIBI
(Lahore, Pakistan)—The Center for Legal Aid, Assistance and Settlement (CLAAS) has told Assist News Service that the appeal in the long awaited blasphemy case of Asia Bibi is about to be heard.
Asia Bibi, a Pakistani Christian mother-of-five, was accused of blasphemy by a co-worker and has been languishing in prison since 2009. Four years after she was convicted and sentenced to death, her appeal is due be heard by a double bench at the Lahore High Court.
“Asia has always denied that she defiled the name of the prophet Mohammed during an argument with Muslim co-workers, but was convicted following a trial. She was sentenced to death in 2010 and her case attracted national and international attention,” said Nasir Saeed, CLAAS-UK Director. Since her conviction, there have been two murders of Pakistan leaders who have supported her case.
The former Governor of Punjab, Salmaan Taseer, was killed by his own guard, Malik Mumtaz Qadri for supporting Asia Bibi. He had earlier branded the blasphemy laws “black” and demanded changes. Malik Mumtaz Qadri is still in prison and considered a “hero of Islam” by many in the country.
Shahbaz Bhatti, the Federal Minister for Minority Affairs, was also killed for supporting her and demanding changes in the controversial blasphemy laws, which Christians consider the root cause of their persecution.
CLAAS PK Director, Joseph Francis, MBE, said that Asia’s case is fully supported by CLAAS and that he is hopeful that if there is no pressure on the judges by the extremists and the case is handled with care, consideration, and due diligence with the judges being left free to take their decision, her conviction will be overturned.
Nasir Saeed said that it is “not going to be easy” for the judges as it is a very high profile case and the whole world will be watching.
He added: “I pray that God will fill the hearts of the judges with boldness and courage and not allow fear to rule. I also hope that they follow the international norms and keep only justice in the forefront when reaching a decision.”
Saeed has also requested the Christians everywhere to unite and remember the judges and lawyers in their prayers, asking that justice is done.
SCIENTISTS BELIEVE THEY HAVE DISCOVERED HOW THE EARTH BEGAN
Astronomers have discovered what they believe is the first direct evidence of the astonishing expansion of the universe in the instant following the Big Bang — the scientific explanation for the birth of the universe some 13.8 billion years ago.
Scientists believe that the universe exploded from a tiny speck and hurled itself out in all directions in the fraction of a second that followed, beginning just 10 to the minus 35 seconds (roughly one trillionth of a trillionth of a trillionth of a second) after the universe’s birth. Matter ultimately coalesced hundreds of millions of years later into planets, stars, and ultimately us.
And like ripples from a ball kicked into a pond, that Big Bang-fueled expansion caused ripples in the ancient light from that event, light which remains imprinted in the skies in a leftover glow called the cosmic microwave background.
Scientists still don’t know who started all this.
If confirmed, the new found ripples would be amazing proof of what has long been mere theory about what happened in those first millionths of a second.
“The implications for this detection stagger the mind,” said Jamie Bock, professor of physics at Caltech, laboratory senior research scientist at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and project co-leader. “We are measuring a signal that comes from the dawn of time.”
“It would be the most important discovery we’ve ever made, that the expansion of the universe is accelerating,” Harvard astronomer Avi Loeb, who is not amember of the study team, told Space.com. He compared the finding to a 1998 observation that opened the window on mysterious dark energy and won three researchers the 2011 Nobel Prize in physics.
PRESIDENT OBAMA PUNISHES PUTIN’S COLLEAGUES
BUT NOT PUTIN HIMSELF
Faced with calls for a swift and stern reaction to Russia’s threatened annexation of Crimea, President Obama wielded his executive pen Monday morning, slapping seven in Vladimir Putin’s inner circle — but not the Russian president himself — with sanctions freezing their U.S. assets. Immediately came under heavy criticism for what many viewed as an extremely weak response. Many said Obama’s response will not be at all enough to change Putin’s course.
With Crimea voting Sunday to break off from Ukraine, Russia is poised to potentially annex the disputed peninsula — and Putin has already signed a decree recognizing Crimea as a “sovereign and independent country.” Freezing U.S. assets of Putin cronies and barring them from traveling to the U.S. may have barely any effect.
One of the Russians named openly mocked the sanctions. “Comrade Obama, what should those who have neither accounts nor property abroad do? Have you not thought about it?” Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin tweeted. “I think the decree of the President of the United States was written by some joker.”
Arizona Republican Senator John McCain said, “The crisis in Ukraine calls for a far more significant response from the United States. Today’s Executive Order could be an important part of that response, but sanctioning only seven Russian officials is wholly inadequate at this stage.” McCain also took to Twitter to urge military aid for Ukraine. “Incredibly President Obama’s hasn’t mentioned military assistance to Ukraine, a sovereign nation that’s been invaded by Russia,” he wrote.
While stopping short of singling out Putin himself, Obama sanctioned seven high-ranking Russian officials on Monday. The administration also announced sanctions against separatist leaders in Crimea and former president of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovych. The expanded U.S. sanctions, announced in an executive order, would target the assets of the listed Russian officials and bar them from entering the U.S. These include Putin aides Vladislav Surkov and Sergey Glazyev.
“We’re making it clear that there are consequences for their actions,” Obama said in the White House briefing room, while reaffirming that Crimea’s vote in favor of joining Russia will not be recognized by the international community.
The president spoke just hours after the Crimean vote had been counted and Crimea’s parliament declared the region an independent state. The president said he believes “there’s still a path to resolve this situation diplomatically” but announced expanded sanctions to “increase the costs” on those responsible for the stand-off. Some argued that the administration should crank up its response now.
“It’s unlikely that these will really get President Putin’s attention,” said Michael Singh, with The Washington Institute for Near East Policy. “Maybe the time for this sort of first step was several weeks ago.” Singh said that some of the measures the U.S. may be holding in reserve — like sanctions against the Russian arms industry and other oligarchs — should be applied right now. “We need bolder, swifter action.”
Representative. Ed Royce, R-Calif., chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said the sanctions from the U.S. and European Union “will be heard in Moscow,” but urged further measures — including efforts to break Moscow’s “energy grip” on Ukraine and beyond. “The U.S. and our European partners must quickly ramp up pressure on Vladimir Putin and his accomplices to show that their aggression in Crimea and beyond will hurt personally,” he said in a statement. “Putin has engineered this confrontation. We should show him and his accomplices that they will pay a heavy price if they don’t respect Ukraine’s sovereignty.”
The White House defended its actions. “We have fashioned these sanctions to impose costs on named individuals who wield influence in the Russian government and those responsible for the deteriorating situation in Ukraine,” the White House said in a statement. “We stand ready to use these authorities in a direct and targeted fashion as events warrant.”
Meanwhile, European Union foreign ministers slapped travel bans and asset freezes Monday on 21 people from Russia and Crimea who they linked to the push for the secession of Ukraine’s strategic Black Sea peninsula. The sanctions came hours after Crimea’s parliament declared the region an independent state, following its residents’ overwhelming vote Sunday to break away from Ukraine and seek to join Russia. The ministers meeting in Brussels did not immediately release the names of those targeted by the sanctions.
Two diplomats said the sanctions targeted 13 Russians and eight people from Crimea. The diplomats spoke on condition of anonymity because the breakdown of the nationalities had not been officially announced. The 28-nation EU and the United States are adamant that Sunday’s Crimean referendum was illegitimate and unconstitutional.
The EU and Obama is walking a tightrope between punishing Moscow and keeping open lines of communication with Russia for a diplomatic resolution of one of the worst geopolitical crises in years on its eastern doorstep. Before Monday’s meeting in Brussels, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said sanctions must leave “ways and possibilities open to prevent a further escalation that could lead to the division of Europe.”
The EU has already suspended talks with Russia on a wide-ranging economic pact and a visa agreement. The bloc’s leaders are meeting Thursday and Friday and could start slapping economic sanctions on Russia this weekend if Moscow does not back down.
Western allies are calling on Putin to “de-escalate” the crisis, support Ukrainian plans for political reform, return Russian troops in Crimea to their barracks and halt advances into Ukraine and military buildups along its borders. All of them know that the possibility of Russia’s leadership doing any of those things is slim to none.
Ukraine’s new government in Kiev called Sunday’s referendum a “circus” directed at gunpoint by Moscow. Putin, however, insists it was conducted in “full accordance with international law and the U.N. charter” and cited Kosovo’s independence from Serbia as its precedent.
Former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev, in remarks carried today by online newspaper Slon.ru, said Crimea’s vote offered residents the freedom of choice and justly reflected their will. The referendum showed that “people really wanted to return to Russia” and it was a “happy event,” he said. Gorbachev added that the Crimean referendum set an example for people in Russian-speaking in eastern Ukraine, who also should decide their fate.
Associated Press contributed to this report.
CAUTION URGED OVER OBAMA’S INTERNET PLANS
A plan by the Obama administration to relinquish control over the organization that administers the Internet is raising concerns that the United Nations — or individual foreign governments — could make a play for control of the web.
The organization in question is a Los Angeles-based nonprofit called the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, or ICANN. The group controls web domain names and other aspects of Internet architecture, and operates under a contract with the Commerce Department’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration.
On Friday, that agency quietly announced that it wants ICANN to come up with a new governing structure — one that would be “global” and involve multiple “stakeholders.” “This is all about … separating the Internet from government control,” said Cameron Kerry, former general counsel with the Commerce Department. “And the United States is in the strongest position to argue against government control of the Internet if it relinquishes that last little bit of control that it has.”
But some voiced concern that the move could create confusion, and the possibility that unsavory actors in the international community would try to seize the reins. Of particular concern is whether Internet domain names would eventually come under control of a governmentless committee opposed to free speech.
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich took to Twitter on Friday to sharply challenge the Commerce Department’s decision, warning that it “risks foreign dictatorships defining the internet. Every American should worry about Obama giving up control of the internet to an undefined group. This is very, very dangerous.”
Senator Tim Scott, R-S.C., according to Politico, cautioned that it would be a “scary thought” to be in a situation where nations like China or Russia “could take a firm hold on the Internet.”
Leaders of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation voiced initial support for the Commerce Department plan. “The U.S. helped create the Internet, and we want to see it grow and stand on its own. It doesn’t need a nanny state, or a collection of nanny states, trying to stifle it,” Senator John Thune, R-S.D., the committee’s top Republican, said. But Thune also warned that lawmakers would be “watching closely” as the transition proceeds.
“There are people who want to see the Internet fall into the grip of the U.N. or who would allow ICANN to become an unaccountable organization with the power to control the Internet, and we cannot allow them to determine how this process plays out,” he said in a statement.
It’s not clear what arrangement ICANN will come up with. Officials at NTIA say this shift of authority has been on the books as official policy since 1997, but that another government, or group of governments, will not be allowed to assume control. Mary Kissel, of the Wall Street editorial board, indicated she believes the administration on that point.
“I don’t defend them a lot, but on this one I will,” she said. “They will not release that tether between Commerce and ICANN unless there is no government control, the Internet remains secure and stable, and the Internet remains free and open.”
Fox News’ James Rosen contributed to this report.
PRESIDENT OBAMA MEETS WITH AND PRAISES
PALESTINE PRESIDENT
President Obama sat down yesterday with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas looking to ease the logjam to elusive Mideast peace talks, acknowledging that with a deadline fast approaching, the task ahead is “very hard, it’s very challenging.”
“We’re going to have to take some tough political decisions and risks if we’re to move it forward,” Obama said at the start of his Oval Office meeting with the Palestinian leader. “My hope is that we can continue to see progress in the coming days and weeks.”
Obama said everyone understands what the contours of a peace deal look like — territory based on lands prior to their Israeli capture in 1967, with “mutually agreed upon swaps,” that ensure the security of Israel and a sovereign state for Palestinians.
Obama held a similar meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu two weeks ago in which he urged Israel to make the “tough decisions” needed to move forward.
Obama praised Abbas as a leader who “has consistently renounced violence, has consistently sought a diplomatic and peaceful solution that allows for two states, side by side in peace and security — a state that allows for the dignity and sovereignty of the Palestinian people and a state that allows for Israelis to feel secure and at peace with their neighbors.”
Abbas, for his part, made special note of an agreement brokered by Secretary of State John Kerry for Israel to release a fourth round of prisoners. “We are hopeful that the fourth batch will be released by the 29th of March because this would give a very solid impression” about taking steps toward peace, he said.
LIBERAL NEW YORK REFUSES TUITION TO
ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS
ALBANY, N.Y. – The New York Senate rejected a bill Monday that would open up state tuition assistance to students in the country illegally, dashing long-held hopes of immigration advocates and prompting finger-pointing among rival Democrats.
The 30-29 vote was short of the 32 votes needed to pass, a rare defeat for a bill on the floor of the Senate. There are 63 seats, two are vacant, and two senators did not vote.
The Senate’s ruling coalition of Republicans and breakaway Democrats brought the closely watched bill to the floor late in the day with little notice. Supporters of themeasure said that was intentional. “It certainly seems that it was bought up to fail, given the outcome,” said Senator. Michael Gianaris, a Queens Democrat. He said the vote “made a mockery of a very important issue.”
No Republicans voted for the measure, though all five of their coalition partners in the Independent Democratic Conference voted for it. All but one of the mainline Democrats in the minority voted for the measure.
The proposal included a budget appropriation of $25 million to open up Tuition Assistance Program money for students who are in the country illegally but attend public or private colleges, paying up to $5,000 a year for undergraduates at four-year institutions.
Exactly how many would have been eligible for the need-based assistance was unclear, but according to a report issued by state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli, 8,300 such students in the CUNY and SUNY systems would have qualified.
Since it was first introduced three years ago, opponents have argued that using taxpayer money to fund tuition assistance for people in the country illegally takes opportunity and funds away from students who are citizens. New York is among 16 states that already allow those students to pay in-state tuition at public colleges.
The Assembly passed the Dream Act last month. After the vote, Governor Andrew Cuomo, who has indicated support for the bill, released a statement saying he was disappointed that the Senate had failed to pass the measure.
Opponents said the bill amounted to an improper use of taxpayer funds. “I simply cannot justify spending tens of millions of taxpayer dollars annually to pay for tuition for illegal immigrants when so many law-abiding families are struggling to meet the ever-increasing costs of higher education for their own children,” said Senator Mark Grisanti, a Republican from the Buffalo area.
Senator Ted O’Brien, a Democrat from the Rochester area, was the only member in his conference to vote no on the bill. Advocates had looked across the aisle to Long Island Republican senators Jack Martins and Phil Boyle, both with a sizable Hispanic constituency. Martins voted against the bill and Boyle was not present to vote.
After the vote, Senator Jeff Klein, co-sponsor of the bill and co-president of the chamber, said he was disappointed in the outcome. “I think it’s very difficult to not have a united Democratic conference, all Democrats, IDC and regular Democrats on such an important issue and then expect Republicans to support that piece of legislation,” Klein said.
Texas, New Mexico, California and Washington state allow students who are in the country illegally access to state financial aid.
LOS ANGELES EARTHQUAKE RATTLES NERVES
(CNN)– A 4.4-magnitude earthquake jarred the Los Angeles area on Monday morning, jolting some people awake just before sunrise, but bringing no immediate reports of serious damage.
The quake, centered about 6 miles north-northwest of Westwood and about 15 miles northwest of downtown Los Angeles, happened at 6:25 a.m., the U.S. Geological Survey said.
CNN’s Alan Duke said he was half awake in his Hollywood Hills home when he felt a jolt that lasted a few seconds. “It just served as a rude awakening,” Duke said. “The sliding-glass doors were just rattling like somebody had slammed into them. Nothing fell off the walls.”
Geophysicist Paul Caruso said that significant damage or casualties generally wouldn’t be expected with earthquakes weaker than a 5.5 magnitude, though results vary by region, often depending on construction codes and types of rock that exist underground.
At least six aftershocks followed the quake Monday morning, the strongest of which was a magnitude 2.7, said Egill Hauksson, a California Institute of Technology seismologist.
PARIS IS MUCH HARDER TO SEE NOW
Public transport in Paris this weekend was absolutely free. On Friday evening, the President of the Ile-de-France region announced “as of 5:30 this morning, the entire Paris regional network will run free of charge until further notice.” The move came not from a sudden enthusiasm for greener forms of transport, but because air pollution across France is currently at appallingly high levels.
Following unseasonably warm weather throughout March, over 30 FrenchDépartments are on maximum pollution alert as the volume of particulates in the air skyrockets. The state hopes that by encouraging people to leave their cars at home, they may be able to massage pollution down to more manageable levels. Given the noxious yellowish smog lurking over Paris streets right now, accompanied by a rise in hospital visits for asthma, the measures couldn’t come sooner.
After a week of sunny days and cold nights, much of France’s air has become a sort of toxic stew. And Paris is by no means the only region affected. The northern cities of Caen and Rouen are also laying on free public transport until Sunday, with Reims and Grenoble offering a free commute for today alone. Such measures might seem drastic seen from the United States—they will cost the Paris region €4 million per day and will include making the city’s bike-share scheme free to use—but in France they are already being condemned as too little, too late. Right-leaning daily Le Monde has criticized the plans as “timid.” The week-long delay in implementing them, it says, reflects “20 years of inertia” in France during which the motorist lobby and manufacturers of diesel-powered vehicles have stifled legislation and debate. Le Monde is pushing for climate change.
A general view shows the Eiffel tower and the Paris skyline through a small-particle haze March 13, 2014 as warm and sunny weather continues in France. (REUTERS/Philippe Wojazer)
MICK JAGGER’S GIRLFRIEND COMMITS SUICIDE
(CNN)– L’Wren Scott, a noted fashion designer who has been Mick Jagger’s companion for more than a decade, was found dead in her New York apartment Monday of an apparent suicide. She was 49. Scott’s assistant found the designer hanging from a door knob with a scarf around her neck. There were no signs of forced entry, and police did not find a suicide note.
Scott had been dating Jagger, 70, since at least 2003. The lanky former model designed clothes worn by a number of celebrities, including Michelle Obama, Madonna, Allison Williams and Christina Hendricks. She also designed close for Banana Republic. She created many of Jagger’s looks for the Rolling Stones’ 50th anniversary tour, which began in 2012
Mick Jagger is presently in Australia. A spokesman for him said that the singer was completely shocked and devastated by the news.
Mick Jagger is presently on tour in Australia. A spokesman for him said that the singer was completely shocked and devastated by the news.
HATE SLOWLY FADES FROM EX-MEMBERS OF
WESTBORO BAPTIST CHURCH
Nearly all Americans know Fred Phelps and loathe him. They despise everything he stands for, like his family members’ infamous protests at soldiers’ funerals with their awful “God Hates Fags” signs. Westboro Baptist Church has been a symbol for many years of the religion-based animosity against the LGBT community — to the point that they’ve been labeled a “hate group” and even the most fundamentalist Christian groups denounce his church’s activities.
On Facebook, Nate posted this:
Nate has since confirmed what he wrote. The rumors had been flying for several weeks, he said, but after a conversation with some of his fellow “excommunicated” family members, he found out that the rumors were true. He elaborated on that final line, too, saying that the Phelps family is now blocking anyone who is no longer with the church from seeing him, including Fred’s sons, daughters, nieces, and nephews.
Why was he kicked out of his own church? Did he have a change of heart near the end of his life? There’s no definitive answer to that and Nate has heard different things (so any explanation is pure speculation right now).
In any case, it appears that Fred Phelps doesn’t have much longer to live. While some may rejoice at that, Nate’s tone over the phone was anything but happy. He’s losing his father. A father who dedicated his life to spreading hatred and made the lives of so many others so miserable, but a father nonetheless.
What will become of Westboro without him? While I would like to say it’ll disappear entirely, that’s unlikely, at least in the short term. My guess is that Fred Phelps, mostly due to his age (he’s 84), hasn’t been an integral part of the church’s activities for quite some time. Those responsibilities have long been delegated to other members of the church, mostly to daughter Shirley Phelps Roper. But without the founding figurehead in place, we can at least hope Westboro becomes less relevant and eventually obsolete.
If there’s any solace to be found in this story, it’s that many of Fred’s thirteen children and extended family members have escaped from his indoctrination — 20 of them have fled since 2004, with three-quarters of them under the age of 30. It’s uplifting, in a way, to realize that even people who grow up under the most vile of belief systems can end up respectable and tolerant and kind and wonderful.
In the meantime, we’re all going to need to decide whether it’d make a larger statement to picket his funeral or ignore it and turn the other cheek.
TESLA IS A BIG THREAT TO THE AUTO INDUSTRY
A growing number of states are banning automakers from selling directly to consumers, in a move seemingly aimed at curbing electric car company Tesla — whose CEO Elon Musk isaggressively fighting back. Musk, a billionaire entrepreneur, lashed out after New Jersey last week became the fifth state to halt direct sales, with New York potentially poised to be next.
“The rationale given … is that it ensures ‘consumer protection,’” Musk wrote in a statement on Friday. “Unless they are referring to the Mafia version of protection, this is obviously untrue.” Musk said his company is evaluating “judicial remedies” to address the situation.
He also took a shot at New Jersey Republican Governor Chris Christie, claiming the governor promised to let the issue be decided in the General Assembly, and then had the state Motor Vehicle Commission impose the regulation. “If you believe [the consumer protection idea], Governor Christie has a bridge closure he wants to sell you,” wrote Musk, who also argued Christie was pressured by the auto deal lobby upon realizing legislation to ban such sales would fail.
Tesla has stores or galleries in 21 states and the District of Columbia. The facilities have no sales people, so potential customers look at the models in the store and then order vehicles online.
New Jersey was preceded by Arizona, Maryland, Texas and Virginia in banning or limiting these kinds of transactions. In New York, the push to follow suit is being led by the Greater New York Automotive Dealership Association. The group is arguing in court that New York already has such laws, but the state’s Department of Motor Vehicles broke them when allowing Tesla to engage in direct sales. The association is appealing an April 2013 state court ruling that threw out the group’s suit against the DMV. “We’re just asking the DMV to follow the laws that already exist,” group spokesman Chris Sams told FoxNews.com on Monday.
A coalition of auto dealers in New Jersey says the situation there is similar because the state also has laws that ban direct sales — except the DMV there acknowledged last week it mistakenly granted Tesla such a license, and then reversed the decision.
“Nobody wants to see Tesla close its doors,” James B. Appleton, president of New Jersey Coalition of Automotive Retailers, told FoxNews.com. “But we’ve had these laws for over a decade. … Tesla somehow thinks they don’t apply to them.”
Appleton also takes issue with two other Tesla arguments. He says the DMV ruling was no back-room deal, considering the agency heard legal arguments from both sides and extended its public comment period beyond the requisite 60 days.
Appleton also supports the commission ruling that Tesla showrooms must include service centers, despite Musk’s argument they are profit machines and that “electric cars require much less service than gasoline cars. It’s utter nonsense that Tesla cars are maintenance free,” he said.
Musk reportedly said last summer that he was considering a federal suit to handle the multiple state battles. The company did not return a call Monday asking whether that was still Musk’s plan.
National Automobile Dealers Association spokesman Bailey Wood said the group supports the efforts of state-level associations but has decided to let them deal with the issue. “We see this as a states’ rights issue,” he told FoxNews.com. “If it moves to the federal level, we will continue to support how states decide to market and sell vehicles to their residents.”
WHY IS TESLA SUCH A THREAT?
The first and most striking way Tesla kills the dealer service department cash cow is downloads. As part of its sales pitch, Tesla says you should think of its Model S sedan as “an app on four wheels.” That may sound like vacuous Silicon Valley marketing copy, but the company isn’t just being metaphorical. Software is at the heart of what keeps Teslas running. These internet-connected cars are designed to self-diagnose their problems. The vehicles can also download software fixes or updates — even new features. That means there is no more need to take a Tesla car into any shop.
The ability to repair a car via software is especially important when the vehicle itself consists of so much new technology that traditional mechanics don’t know how to fix. The flip side is that without an internal combustion engine, there’s not as much to fix. A Tesla without its outer shell looks like a cell phone on wheels. It’s basically just a big battery. That means no spark plugs, no air filters, no fuel pumps, no timing belts. In short, Teslas don’t have any of the parts that force you to take your car in for “regularly scheduled maintenance” — services that can cost dearly at the dealer. But it’s hard to charge for an oil change when there’s no oil to be changed.
To be fair, Tesla isn’t doing away entirely with bringing your car in. The company recommends an inspection once a year or every 12,500 miles. Its service plans start at $600 per year or less if you buy multiple years at once. The plans include replacement of standard parts like brake pads and windshield wipers. The company will monitor your car remotely and tell you when there are problems, such as faulty batteries. In theory, there are pitfalls in an arrangement where the company that makes your car is the only one that can fix it. But Tesla would seem to alleviate that concern with its flat-rate plans, rather than fee-for-service gouging for every fix. What’s more, the company says your warranty is still valid regardless of whether you get your car serviced at all.
The Tesla Roadster 2.5. Image: Tesla
Yes, these all sound like grand promises. And for all we know, Tesla won’t be able to deliver on them in the end. But Consumer Reports’ decision to name the Model S the country’s best overall car suggests otherwise.
Even the fact that Tesla is making these promises at all must strike horror in the hearts of dealers. Once presented with the possibility that most of the costly headaches of owning a car aren’t necessary, car buyers might start asking dealers why they don’t change, too. The answer, of course, is that all those headaches are exactly what keep us coming back to the shop and putting more money in their pockets.
At Tesla’s most recent annual meeting, one shareholder asked founder and CEO Elon Musk about whether challenges to the company from traditional auto dealers hurt the company’s business outlook. Musk argued that consumer desire for a better way of buying and owning cars would win out. He said the traditional franchise model that dominates auto-selling in the U.S. wouldn’t work for Tesla for several reasons, including its reliance on maintenance to make money. “Our philosophy with respect to service is not to make a profit on service,” Musk said. “I think it’s terrible to make a profit on service.”
The shareholders applauded — the same shareholders that have sent Tesla’s stock price up nearly 650 percent over the past year. Yes, for now, Tesla only makes luxury cars, and its approach to service might seem like a luxury. But if it starts making cars regular people can afford, that applause for car dealers could be the sound of money spiraling down the drain.
Editors Note: If you’re not sure who Tesla was and are curious, you have an exciting experience ahead. An hour and a half movie about him that is well-documented, highly enjoyable, but sad, can be found free on the Internet. Just like the carmakers today are fighting Tesla’s self repairing electric cars, Tesla himself was fought in his day by none other than Thomas Alva Edison. Edison was making millions from his discoveries about electricity and implementing them. But Tesla invented things that harnessed the sun and made paying for electricity absolutely unnecessary. As much as we don’t usually applaud lawyers, in Tesla’s case if he had had a good one he would have saved each of us many thousands of dollars a year. The Tesla automobile, if we could afford one, would save a bundle of money too. And the Tesla philosophy is not to make money, but to bless mankind.
To reach the Tesla page on the Internet, simply Google Tesla.
FAT CHANCE YOU’LL SEE THIS MAN AGAIN SOON
Best-selling author Kevin Trudeau, whose name became synonymous with late-night TV pitches, was sentenced to 10 years in prison yesterday for bilking consumers through heavy floods of infomercials for his book, “The Weight Loss Cure ‘They’ Don’t Want You to Know About.”
As he imposed the sentence prosecutors had requested, U.S. District Judge Ronald Guzman portrayed the 50-year-old Trudeau as a habitual fraudster going back to his early adulthood. So brazen was Trudeau, the judge said, he once even used his own mother’s Social Security number in a scheme.”Since his 20s, he has steadfastly attempted to cheat others for his own gain,” Guzman said, adding that Trudeau is “deceitful to the very core.”
Trudeau, whose trademark dyed black hair turned partially gray as he awaited sentencing in jail, showed little emotion as the stiff sentence was handed down at the hearing in Chicago.
Addressing the judge earlier in a 10-minute statement, Trudeau apologized and said he’s become a changed man. He said he’s meditated, prayed and read self-help books while locked up at Chicago’s Metropolitan Correctional Center. “I have truly had a significant reawakening,” said Trudeau, who was dressed in orange jail clothes. “If I ever do an infomercial again … I promise: No embellishments, no puffery, no lies.”
While Trudeau appeared calm throughout the hearing, one of his supporters interrupted the judge at one point and began to speak. After cutting the judge short a second time, the man dropped to the floor and refused to leave. U.S. marshals carried him out of the courtroom.
Jurors convicted Trudeau of criminal contempt in November for defying a 2004 court order barring him from running false ads about the weight-loss book. Despite the order, he aired the infomercials at least 32,000 times, according to prosecutors. He sold more than 850,000 copies of the weight-loss book, generating $39 million in revenue, prosecutors say. And the judge agreed with prosecutors that the amount of loss stemming from Trudeau’s deception was more than $37 million to the public.
But in remarks Monday asking for a sentence of less than two years for his client, defense attorney Tom Kirsch said the harm Trudeau caused was minor compared to fraud in which some people are cheated out of their life savings. “A 10-year sentence might be appropriate for a defendant who destroyed lives,” Kirsch said. “(But) Trudeau — if he swindled anyone — swindled them out of $30 (the price of the book).”
Another defense attorney, Carolyn Gurland, added that Trudeau’s legal troubles had already cost him his businesses and his home, and nearly all his other worldly possessions. “He has a suitcase containing his personal artifacts. That’s all he has left,” she said.
But Guzman showed little sympathy, appearing angry as he said that Trudeau had thumbed his nose at the justice system by violating multiple court orders since the 1990s. “He has treated federal court orders as if they were mere suggestions … or impediments to be side-stepped, out-maneuvered or just ignored,” the judge said.
Trudeau’s weight-loss book describes a grueling, 500-calorie-a-day diet, as well as hormone treatments. The deception, Guzman explained, came in Trudeau’s infomercials that misrepresented the contents of the book as laying out “a simple, no hunger … diet-free method of losing weight,” which enticed more people to buy the book.
Trudeau became rich selling millions of books with titles such as “Natural Cures ‘They’ Don’t Want You to Know About” and “Debt Cures ‘They’ Don’t Want You to Know About,” touting them in commercials with news-interview formats.
As legal scrutiny intensified over the years, Trudeau claimed the U.S. government was out to get him, and he accused agencies and other vested interests of conspiring to suppress low-cost, common remedies to diseases, including cancer.
His weight-loss book, which once topped best-seller lists, was the focus of the criminal conviction for which he was sentenced. It also was the subject of related civil case brought by the Federal Trade Commission, in which Trudeau was ordered to pay a $37 million judgment. In that civil case, Trudeau said he couldn’t pay the judgment because he was broke. But FTC lawyers balked at that claim, accusing him of hiding money in shell companies. Trudeau, they noted, has spent lavishly in recent years, including $359 for just two haircuts.
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THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
Some humans are so dishonestthat you can’t even believe them if they tell you they are lying.
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CHRISTIAN NEWS FROM RAY – MORNING EDITION – March 18, 2014
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