gm mfyt htd by robertcal46

SUMMARY U.S. FACTORY OUTPUT DIPS 0.1% IN JUNE ON AUTO CHIP SHORTAGE

DEVICE TAPS BRAIN WAVES TO HELP PARALYZED MAN COMMUNICATE

GM WARNS SOME BOLT OWNERS TO PARK OUTDOORS DUE TO FIRE RISK

REGULATOR SUES AMAZON TO FORCE RECALL OF HAZARDOUS PRODUCTS

THAT WAS FLEETING: TWITTER KILLS OFF EPHEMERAL MESSAGES

TAIWAN CHIPMAKER TSMC SAYS PROFIT UP 11.2% AS DEMAND RISES

TOYOTA REVS UP ITS DIGITAL MAPPING SUBSIDIARY WOVEN PLANET

US UNEMPLOYMENT CLAIMS FALL TO 360,000, A NEW PANDEMIC LOW

‘THE CROWN,’ ‘MANDALORIAN’ TOP EMMY NOMINATIONS WITH 24 EACH

ELECTRIFY AMERICA TO DOUBLE EV CHARGING STATIONS BY 2025

SPORTS: THE DIVERSIFICATION & EXPANSION OF APPLE TV+

FAA: NEW TOOL LIMITS DISRUPTIONS CAUSED BY SPACE OPERATIONS

BILLIONAIRE RICHARD BRANSON REACHES SPACE IN HIS OWN SHIP

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BEZOS’ BLUE ORIGIN GETS OK TO SEND HIM, 3 OTHERS TO SPACE

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FIRM HACKED TO SPREAD RANSOMWARE HAD PREVIOUS SECURITY FLAWS

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MUSK ON TRIAL: DEFENDS SOLARCITY, CALLS LAWYER ‘BAD HUMAN’

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G-20 FINANCE MINISTERS BACK PLAN TO STOP USE OF TAX HAVENS

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‘FOREVER PURGE’ GETS POLITICAL ON SOUTHERN BORDER

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WARNER BROS STUDIO TOUR EXPANDS WITH DC UNIVERSE, POTTER

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SKIP COLLEGE? NOT IF YOU WANT TO MAKE MORE MONEY

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ONE TRICK TO TRAVELING CHEAPLY: FLEXIBILITY

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UN CALLS FOR GLOBAL DATABASE OF HUMAN GENE EDITING RESEARCH

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EUROPE TAKES ANOTHER STEP TOWARD INTRODUCING DIGITAL EURO

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GOOGLE FINED $592 MILLION IN DISPUTE WITH FRENCH PUBLISHERS

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WHATSAPP FACES EU CONSUMER COMPLAINT OVER PRIVACY UPDATE

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CUBA’S INTERNET CUTOFF: A GO-TO TACTIC TO SUPPRESS DISSENT

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AS FEARS ABOUT CLIMATE GROW, SIEMENS CEO SEES OPPORTUNITIES

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U.S. FACTORY OUTPUT DIPS 0.1% IN JUNE ON AUTO CHIP SHORTAGE

U.S. factory output slid last month as a shortage of computer chips disrupted auto production. Manufacturing production dipped 0.1% in June — third drop in five months, the Federal Reserve reported Thursday. Overall, industrial prdouction — including output at factories, mines and utilities — rose 0.4% last month after increasing 0.7% in May. Industrial output is up 9.8% from a year earlier. The chip shortage pushed production of cars, trucks and auto parts down 6.6% in June. Excluding autos, industrial production rose 0.4% last month. “The manufacturing sector continues to be hobbled by supply constraints,”said Stephen Stanley, chief economist at Amherst Pierpont Securities. “The highest profile example is the struggle by automakers to manage through a chip shortage.” Utility output climbed 2.7% in June as Americans cranked up the air conditioning to battle a heat wave across much of the country. Mining output rose 1.4% on an uptick in oil and gas production. American industry has been bustling as the coronavirus threat recedes, despite a shortage of workers and trouble getting supplies in time. The Institute for Supply Management, an association of purchasing managers, reported that its manufacturing ticked slightly lower last month compared to May. But it still came in at 60.6 on a scale where anything above 50 signals growth. Still, factory hiring shrank, ISM found, largely because manufacturers are struggling to fill job openings as the economy rebounds with unexpected speed from the coronavirus recession.

DEVICE TAPS BRAIN WAVES TO HELP PARALYZED MAN COMMUNICATE

In a medical first, researchers harnessed the brain waves of a paralyzed man unable to speak — and turned what he intended to say into sentences on a computer screen. It will take years of additional research but the study, reported this week, marks an important step toward one day restoring more natural communication for people who can’t talk because of injury or illness. “Most of us take for granted how easily we communicate through speech,” said Dr. Edward Chang, a neurosurgeon at the University of California, San Francisco, who led the work. “It’s exciting to think we’re at the very beginning of a new chapter, a new field” to ease the devastation of patients who lost that ability. Today, people who can’t speak or write because of paralysis have very limited ways of communicating. For example, the man in the 15

experiment, who was not identified to protect his privacy, uses a pointer attached to a baseball cap that lets him move his head to touch words or letters on a screen. Other devices can pick up patients’ eye movements. But it’s a frustratingly slow and limited substitution for speech. Tapping brain signals to work around a disability is a hot field. In recent years, experiments with mind-controlled prosthetics have allowed paralyzed people to shake hands or take a drink using a robotic arm -- they imagine moving and those brain signals are relayed through a computer to the artificial limb. Chang’s team built on that work to develop a “speech neuroprosthetic” -- decoding brain waves that normally control the vocal tract, the tiny muscle movements of the lips, jaw, tongue and larynx that form each consonant and vowel. Volunteering to test the device was a man in his late 30s who 15 years ago suffered a brainstem stroke that caused widespread paralysis and robbed him of speech. The researchers implanted electrodes on the surface of the man’s brain, over the area that controls speech. A computer analyzed the patterns when he attempted to say common words such as “water” or “good,” eventually becoming able to differentiate between 50 words that could generate more than 1,000 sentences. Prompted with such questions as “How are you today?” or “Are you thirsty” the device eventually enabled the man to answer “I am very good” or “No I am not thirsty” -- not voicing the words but translating them into text, the team reported in the New England Journal of Medicine.

It takes about three to four seconds for the word to appear on the screen after the man tries to say it, said lead author David Moses, an engineer in Chang’s lab. That’s not nearly as fast as speaking but quicker than tapping out a response. In an accompanying editorial, Harvard neurologists Leigh Hochberg and Sydney Cash called the work a “pioneering demonstration.” They suggested improvements but said if the technology pans out it eventually could help people with injuries, strokes or illnesses like Lou Gehrig’s disease whose “brains prepare messages for delivery but those messages are trapped.” Chang’s lab has spent years mapping the brain activity that leads to speech. First, researchers temporarily placed electrodes in the brains of volunteers undergoing surgery for epilepsy, so they could match brain activity to spoken words. Only then was it time to try the experiment with someone unable to speak. How did they know the device interpreted his words correctly? They started by having him try to say specific sentences such as, “Please bring my glasses,” rather than answering openended questions until the machine translated accurately most of the time. Next steps include ways to improve the device’s speed, accuracy and vocabulary size — and maybe one day allow a computer-generated voice rather than text on a screen — while testing a small number of additional volunteers.

Simply Better Living

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www.sharpusa.com | simplybetterliving.sharpusa.com *Mobile Application and Home Assistant Skill available upon commercial release. © 2020 Sharp Electronics Corporation. All rights reserved. Sharp, Supersteam™ Oven and all related trademarks are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sharp Corporation and/or its affiliated entities. Product specifications and design are subject to change without notice. Internal capacity calculated by measuring maximum width, depth and height. Actual capacity for holding food is less.

GM WARNS SOME BOLT OWNERS TO PARK OUTDOORS DUE TO FIRE RISK

General Motors is telling owners of some older Chevrolet Bolts to park them outdoors and not to charge them overnight because two of the electric cars caught fire after recall repairs were made. The company said that the request covers 2017 through 2019 Bolts that were part of a group that was recalled earlier due to fires in the batteries. The latest request comes after two Bolts that had gotten recall repairs caught fire, one in Vermont and the other in New Jersey, GM spokesman Kevin Kelly said. Owners should take the steps “out of an abundance of caution,” he said. The steps should be continued until GM engineers investigate and develop a repair, he said. 22

The cars should be parked outdoors after charging is complete, GM said in a statement. “We are moving as quickly as we can to investigate this issue,” the company said. Vermont State Rep. Tim Briglin, whose 2019 Bolt caught fire, said he drove it to work and back home in Thetford, Vermont, on June 30, depleting the battery to around 10% of its range. He plugged it into a 240-volt outdoor charger around 8 p.m. and left the Bolt in his driveway after the car messaged that it would be fully recharged by 4 a.m. Around 6:30 a.m. the next day, he saw smoke coming from the rear of the car and called the fire department. Volunteer firefighters arrived within 10 minutes and extinguished the blaze with a lot of water, but stayed for another three hours, using an infrared camera to make sure the battery temperature didn’t increase and the fire didn’t restart, he said. Nothing other than some nearby plants were damaged, he said. Briglin said he had the recall repairs done on June 9, and charged his Bolt to 100% of its battery capacity the morning of the fire, he said. Briglin said he is happy GM is taking the action, because he’s heard from Bolt owners who didn’t know what to do because of the recent fires. “I’ve had a great experience with it, but at the same time, an unhappy ending for this Bolt,” he said. GM, he said, plans to find him a 2021 or 2022 model to replace his, which was a total loss. In April, GM announced that it had developed diagnostic software to look for anomalies in the batteries of 69,000 Bolts worldwide. If problems are found, the company will replace faulty parts of the battery. 24

Kelly said owners who haven’t had the recall repairs done should still take their cars to dealers to get the fixes. In November, GM recalled the electric vehicles after getting reports of multiple battery fires. Two people suffered smoke inhalation and a house was set ablaze. At first the company didn’t know what was causing the problem, but it determined that batteries that caught fire were near a full charge. So as a temporary fix, owners and dealers were told to make software changes to limit charging to 90% of a battery’s capacity. GM traced the fires to what it called a rare manufacturing defect in battery modules. It can cause a short in a cell, which can trigger a fire. Under the remedy, dealers were to install software designed to warn owners of problems, and any defective cells were to be replaced. Each Bolt has 288 battery cells, and engineers worked to analyze data from hundreds of thousands of cells, the company said. The recall came after the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration opened an investigation into the fires last year. The agency said in documents that the fires began under the rear seat while the cars were parked and unattended. In a statement this week, the safety agency also urged people to park the cars outdoors and away from structures. “Vehicles should be parked outside regardless of whether the interim or final recall remedies have been completed, the agency said. 26

Engineers determined the fires took place in Bolts with battery cells made at an LG Chem factory in Ochang, South Korea, from May of 2016 to May of 2019. Some 2019 Bolts and all 2020 and 2021 versions have cells made at an LG Chem plant in Holland, Michigan, and are not included in the recall. Once the final recall repairs are made, the Bolts’ full range will be restored. Older Bolts can go about 238 miles (383 kilometers) per charge.

REGULATOR SUES AMAZON TO FORCE RECALL OF HAZARDOUS PRODUCTS

Safety regulators are suing Amazon to force it to recall hazardous products sold on its site, including flammable children’s pajamas, faulty carbon monoxide detectors and hair dryers that don’t protect users from getting electrocuted. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, which filed the complaint this week, said the online shopping giant stopped selling some of the faulty products. 32

Amazon said in a statement that it was “unclear” why the safety commission filed a complaint when the company already removed the “vast majority” of the hazardous products, notified customers, gave refunds and asked shoppers to get rid of the products themselves. The safety commission said Amazon’s actions were “insufficient” and it wants the company to do more, including issue recalls with the commission and destroy any of the goods sent back by customers. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat from Connecticut who is chair of the consumer safety committee, said in a statement that the lawsuit sends a message to Amazon and other online marketplaces: “Knowingly selling dangerous and defective products that imperil Americans will not be tolerated,” he said. The safety commission said it tested the products and found thousands of them to be hazardous. Nearly 400,000 hair dryers didn’t have a device in the plug that protects users from being electrocuted when dropped in water. And 24,000 carbon monoxide detectors didn’t work when the gas was present. The safety commission didn’t say exactly how many flammable sleepwear garments it found, but it said there were “numerous” children’s pajamas, night gowns and bathrobes that violated fabric safety standards and risked burn injuries to kids.

THAT WAS FLEETING: TWITTER KILLS OFF EPHEMERAL MESSAGES

Twitter is disappearing its disappearing tweets, called fleets, after they didn’t catch on. The company began testing tweets that vanish after 24 hours last March in Brazil. Fleets were designed to allay the concerns of new users who might be turned off by the public and permanent nature of normal tweets. 38

“However, we haven’t seen an increase in the amount of new people joining the conversation with Fleets like we hoped,” Twitter said in a statement this week. “So as of August 3, Fleets will no longer be available on Twitter.” Kayvon Beykpour, head of consumer product at Twitter, stressed that this is part of how the company works. “(Big) bets are risky and speculative, so by definition a number of them won’t work,” he tweeted. “If we’re not having to wind down features every once in a while, then it would be a sign that we’re not taking big enough swings.” Fleets are reminiscent of Instagram and Facebook “stories” and Snapchat’s snaps, which let users post short-lived photos and messages. Such features are increasingly popular with social media users looking for smaller groups and and more private chats. But people use Twitter differently than Facebook, Instagram or messaging apps — it’s more of a public conversation and a way to stay up to date with what’s going on. Fleets, it turns out, did not make sense. There was also a matter of the name. Called fleets because they were fleeting, the word is also a brand name for an enema — something many people pointed out on Twitter when the feature launched. In a tweet announcing the decision, Twitter wrote “we’re sorry or you’re welcome, acknowledging mixed user reactions to the feature.

TAIWAN CHIPMAKER TSMC SAYS PROFIT UP 11.2% AS DEMAND RISES

TSMC, the biggest contract manufacturer of processor chips for Apple Inc. and other global brands, said Thursday its latest quarterly profit rose 11.2% over a year earlier to $4.8 billion as demand for smartphones and consumer electronics increased. Sales in the three months ending June 30 rose 19.8% to $13.3 billion, said the company, headquartered in Hsinchu, Taiwan. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Inc. has said it expects faster growth as next-generation telecoms and computing generates demand for chips. A shift to working remotely in response to the coronavirus pandemic helped propel demand for communications technology. The company, whose customers also include Qualcomm Inc., said in April it plans to invest $100 billion over the next three years to expand manufacturing and research and development. 44

Most semiconductors used in smartphones, medical equipment, computers and other products are made in Taiwan, South Korea and China. Shortages have cropped up as supply failed to keep up with demand. TSMC operates a semiconductor wafer fabrication facility in Camas, Washington, and design centers in San Jose, California, and Austin, Texas. It has announced plans to invest $3.5 billion in a second U.S. manufacturing site, in North Phoenix, Arizona, as concern grows over heavy American reliance on Asian sources for hightech components. TSMC: www.tsmc.com

TOYOTA REVS UP ITS DIGITAL MAPPING SUBSIDIARY WOVEN PLANET

Toyota plans to hire more people and invest heavily in its subsidiary Woven Planet to work on mobility technology so the Japanese automaker stays competitive amid the global shift to using artificial intelligence and robotics in everyday driving. “Toyota’s traditional strength in hardware is something we never want to lose. To make safe mobility we need both, great hardware and great software,” Woven Planet Holdings Chief Executive James Kuffner said. “The world is changing. The automotive industry is going through this once-in-a-hundred-year revolution. And so how do we remain relevant?” Woven Planet, fully owned by Toyota Motor Corp., announced Thursday it had acquired CARMERA Inc., based in Seattle and New York. The value of the deal was not disclosed. CARMERA specializes in sophisticated road mapping updates made cheaper and faster by using crowdsourced information obtained in real time from millions of net-connected Toyota vehicles. Winning social acceptance for such technology is as much of a challenge as perfecting the software, Kuffner said. “When a person crashes, we have empathy for that person. We all make mistakes, and we think:

That could have been me. If a computer crashes, people have no empathy,” Kuffner said in an interview from Portland, Oregon. “Making a computer system that is just as good as a human may not be good enough,” said Kuffner, who sits on Toyota’s board and is based in Tokyo. He earlier was part of the initial engineering team that built Google’s selfdriving cars. In April, Woven Planet acquired Level 5, the self-driving division of Lyft, for $550 million. That deal, once approved, will increase Woven Planet’s headcount from 860 to more than 1,000 people. Kuffner said he wants to possibly quadruple that number, while avoiding getting “too bloated or too bureaucratic.” Toyota has held up relatively well during the pandemic and has cash, while companies that did not fare as well are downsizing. That is providing investment opportunities, he added. Woven Planet’s Woven Alpha team is developing an automated mapping platform. Formerly called the Toyota Research Institute, it has been collaborating with CARMERA since 2018. All major automakers are working on similar technologies, and no one is ahead of the pack, said Koji Endo, auto analyst with SBI Securities Co. in Tokyo “We’re talking about two or three decades into the future, and so no one really knows for sure, to be honest,” Endo said. That’s why automakers are partnering or investing in several players to hedge their bets. “But one thing is clear: No one wants to fall behind.” 52

Image: Koji Sasahara

Technologies that allow cars to communicate with each other, drive themselves and slash emissions will mean improved safety, less traffic congestions and quicker parking, he said. Kuffner said he hoped to bring his Silicon Valleytype expertise to Toyota, a company known for its craftsmanship in hardware. “Some things we’re going to do are going to fail. But, as I always tell my team, it isn’t a failure if you learn. We are always going to be learning, in the spirit of ‘kaizen’ and improvement,” Kuffner said, using a long-time Toyota manufacturing term. 55

US UNEMPLOYMENT CLAIMS FALL TO 360,000, A NEW PANDEMIC LOW

The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits has reached its lowest level since the pandemic struck last year, further evidence that the U.S. economy and job market are quickly rebounding from the pandemic recession. Thursday’s report from the Labor Department showed that jobless claims fell by 26,000 last week to 360,000. The weekly tally, a proxy for layoffs, has fallen more or less steadily since topping 900,000 in early January. The U.S. recovery from the recession is proceeding so quickly that many forecasters have predicted that the economy will expand this year by roughly 7%. That would be the most robust calendar-year growth since 1984. The rollout of COVID-19 vaccines has sharply reduced new viral cases — from a seven-day average of around 250,000 in early January to roughly 25,000 recently — despite a recent uptick. As the health crisis has receded, cooped58

up Americans have increasingly emerged from their homes, eager to spend on things they had missed during pandemic lockdowns — dinners out, a round of drinks, sports and entertainment events, vacation getaways and shopping trips. In response, businesses have scrambled to meet the unexpected surge in customer demand: They are posting job openings — a record 9.2 million in May — faster than they can fill them. The worker shortage in many industries is causing employers to raise wages and in some cases to raise prices to offset their higher labor costs. The supply of potential hires is being held back by a variety of factors. Many Americans still have health concerns about working around large numbers of people. Many people, mostly women, are no longer working or looking for work because they had to care for children when schools and day care centers shut down. And roughly 2.6 million older workers took advantage of enlarged stock portfolios and home values to retire early. A temporary $300-a-week federal unemployment benefit, on top of regular state jobless aid, may be enabling some people to be more selective in looking for and taking jobs. Roughly half the states plan to stop paying the supplement by the end of July in what proponents say is an effort to nudge more of the unemployed to seek jobs. “As life normalizes and the service sector continues to gain momentum, we expect initial jobless claims to remain in a downtrend,″ said Joshua Shapiro, chief U.S. economist at the consulting firm Maria Fiorini Ramirez. Last month, employers added a hefty 850,000 jobs, and hourly pay rose a solid 3.6% compared with a year ago — faster than the pre-pandemic 61

annual pace and evidence that companies are being compelled to pay more to attract and keep workers. Even so, the United States remains about 6.8 million jobs short of the number it had in February 2020, just before the virus erupted across the country and paralyzed the economy. And weekly applications for unemployment benefits remain high by historical standards: Just before the pandemic, they amounted to about 220,000 a week. All told, 13.8 million Americans were receiving some type of unemployment aid during the week of June 26, down from 30.6 million a year earlier. 62

‘THE CROWN,’ ‘MANDALORIAN’ TOP EMMY NOMINATIONS WITH 24 EACH

“The Crown” tied with “The Mandalorian” for the most Emmy nominations Tuesday with 24 apiece, but the Marvel universe also got bragging rights with runner-up “WandaVision.” The nominations reinforced the rapid rise of streaming, with most of the top-nominated scripted shows on services that emerged in the past two years. In the top three categories — drama, comedy and limited series — broadcast networks scored only two nominations, for the NBC drama “This Is Us” and the ABC xcomedy “black-ish.”

During an oppressive pandemic in which housebound Americans relied more than ever on television for distraction, TV academy voters recognized a varied mix of storytelling and a diverse group of actors and creators. One example: Mj Rodriguez of “Pose” is the first trans woman to be nominated in a lead acting category. The show also earned a best drama series nod. Netflix’s “The Crown” received its fourth nomination for best series, and is likely the streaming service’s best chance to win its firstever top series trophy. The British royal drama moved closer to contemporary events with its version of the courtship and rocky marriage of Prince Charles and Diana Spencer, played by Josh O’Connor and Emma Corrin. O’Connor and Corrin received lead drama acting nods, as did the series’ Olivia Colman for her portrayal of Queen Elizabeth II, with a supporting bid to Gillian Anderson for her role as Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. Oprah Winfrey’s headline-making interview with the late Diana’s son Harry and his wife Meghan earned a nomination for best hosted nonfiction series or special. The showings by “The Mandalorian,” an extension of the “Star Wars” franchise, and the inventive “WandaVision” featuring the Marvel characters Wanda and Vision, put the series in the ranks of past sci-fi and fantasy Emmy favorites “Game of Thrones” and “Lost.” “The Boys,” Amazon’s comedy-tinged take on superheroes, earned a best drama nod.

“I would never have thought in a million years that playing a witch in a Marvel show would lead to this. It’s like a dream,” said “WandaVision” co-star Kathryn Hahn. The show’s total of 23 nominations was especially sweet. “I’m so moved that the whole of it has been recognized,” Hahn said. “It was incredibly difficult. It was a hard, hard shoot. But ... the experience of making this meant so much to me and it was so unexpectedly deep.” The nominations haul by Disney+, which launched in late 2019, was impressive, but the triumph of streaming was predictable, said Eric Deggans, TV critic for National Public Radio. “Disney+ came out of nowhere and got the third-most nominations of any platform at 71. ... We’re a point now where this is this is increasingly becoming a streamers’ game and the Emmy nominations reflect it,” Deggans said. HBO and streaming service HBO Max edged into lead with 130 total nominations, with Netflix close on its heels with 129. The frontrunner on the comedy side is the goodhearted “Ted Lasso,” about a middling American football coach imported to England to handle a soccer team. The Apple TV+ series received 20 nominations, including for top comedy, star Jason Sudeikis and six cast members. “Hacks,” starring Jean Smart as a stand-up comedian who resists getting aged out of Las Vegas and life, was next with 15 nods, including a lead actor award for Smart and a supporting bid for Hannah Einbinder. Smart, who some have said is enjoying a career “Jeannaisance,” earned a second nomination for 68

her supporting role in “Mare of Easttown.” The limited series received 16 nods, including for star Kate Winslet. Among the others who doubled down on nominations: “Saturday Night Live” stars Kenan Thompson and Aidy Bryant, who received supporting acting bids for the variety show as well as lead comedy series acting nods for, respectively, “”Kenan” and “Shrill.” Other top nominees include previous best drama series winner “The Handmaid’s Tale,” with 21 nods, tied with “Saturday Night Live”; “The Queen’s Gambit,” 18; the costume-drama romp “Bridgerton” and “Hamilton,” with 12 each. “Lovecraft Country,” a horror-infused drama set in 1950s segregated America, earned an impressive 18 nominations — but was canceled by HBO after one season. “The Flight Attendant” earned nine nominations, including a best comedy actress nod for Kaley Cuoco and a supporting actress bid for Rosie Perez — who becomes the second Latina nominated in the category, after Sofia Vergara for “Modern Family.” There were surprises, as usual. Nicole Kidman failed to receive a nomination for limited series “The Undoing,” while co-star Hugh Grant was recognized. But the critically acclaimed miniseries “I May Destroy You” and its star and creator, Michaela Coel, grabbed nine Emmy nods after being snubbed by the Golden Globes. One blast from the past getting new respect: “Cobra Kai,” set 30 years after the events of the “Karate Kid” film, earned a best comedy nod and four nominations in all. 70

The other nominees for best drama series are

(“Blindspotting”) and TV Academy head

“The Handmaid’s Tale” and “Lovecraft Country.”

Frank Scherma announced the nominees. There were awkward moments when the

Other comedy series nominees are “Emily in Paris”; “The Flight Attendant”; “The Kominsky Method” and “PEN15.” The nominees for best miniseries are: “The Queen’s Gambit”; “I May Destroy You”; “Mare of Easttown”; “The Underground Railroad”; “WandaVision.” Father-and-daughter actors Ron Cephas Jones (“This Is Us”) and Jasmine Cephas Jones

pair mispronounced some nominees’ names, including referring to Anya Taylor-Joy as “Anna.” The Sept. 19 ceremony, which last year was held virtually because of the COVID-19 pandemic, will air live on CBS from a theater and include a limited in-person audience of nominees and guests. Cedric the Entertainer is the host.

ELECTRIFY AMERICA TO DOUBLE EV CHARGING STATIONS BY 2025

Electrify America, an electric vehicle charging network funded with money paid by Volkswagen as punishment for its emissions cheating scandal, says it plans to more than double its number of charging stations throughout the United States and Canada. The expansion will include 1,800 fast-charging stations and 10,000 individual chargers to be installed by 2025 and is part of Electrify America’s previous commitment to invest $2 billion over 10 years on EV infrastructure, education and access in the U.S. 75

Automakers have ramped up production of electric vehicles that can go farther and charge faster, but are concerned that consumers interested in EVs may wait to buy until there’s better, faster charging infrastructure. The latest generation of EVs, many with ranges around 300 miles (480 kilometers) per charge, can accept electricity at a much faster rate than previous models could, but most charging stations can’t keep up with the vehicles’ advanced technology. There are about 42,000 public charging stations in the U.S., but only about 5,000 are considered direct-current fast chargers, according to the Department of Energy. The rest require roughly eight hours to fully charge longer-range batteries. The higher cost of fast-charging stations is an issue President Joe Biden’s administration will have to take into account as it develops incentives to encourage companies and governments to build more charging stations. The administration’s goal is to have 500,000 charging stations nationwide by 2030. Electrify America’s expansion plan increases its presence in established U.S. regions as well as adding new states such as Hawaii, North Dakota, South Dakota, West Virginia, Wyoming and Vermont. The additions bring its network to 49 states and the District of Columbia, Electrify America said. It also plans to add a new electric vehicle charging highway to the “upper Midwest” but did not say specifically where it would be. Since its first charging station opened in May 2018, the Reston, Virginia-based company said it has installed an average of four stations per week. 76

Image: Shutterstock

SPORTS

THE DIVERSIFICATION & EXPANSION OF APPLE TV+

With Apple reportedly expressing an interest in streaming rights for the National Football League’s “Sunday Ticket” package, there’s never been a better time to sign up for Apple’s streaming service. With a raft of award-winning TV shows and movies, and perhaps soon live sporting events available to stream from your iPhone, Apple TV+ is coming into its own.

A TURBULENT START FOR APPLE TV+ Whether you’re an Apple die-hard with shares in the company or you’re a casual fan of the firm and its hardware, there’s no denying that the Cupertino company’s foray into services has been challenging at best. Although Tim Cook and Co have found great success in some services like Apple Music (which recently launched its new lossless streaming feature, much to the concern of Spotify) and iCloud (which will launch a raft of new features in September like Private Relay and Email Open Track disabling), other services have struggled to attract much attention or praise. Apple News+, for instance, has been met with widespread criticism from journalists and publishers on the platform, with The New York Times being one of the most high-profile companies to admit defeat and leave the platform citing low revenue. Apple Arcade, despite offering users a series of games from some of the world’s biggest developers and studios, has also struggled to generate much of interest amongst consumers, with Apple reportedly canceling deals it had with studios. The success of Apple Fitness+ remains to be seen, but it has received positive feedback and reviews from fitness enthusiasts 81

and technology fans, calling it a “must-have” for users, but it’s perhaps the biggest service of all - Apple TV+ - that is still struggling to find its feet. According to data from Justwatch, Apple TV+ has a market share of three percent in the US, which places it in seventh place on the list of the most popular streaming video services. It’s natural that the company would struggle to compete with giants like Netflix and Amazon Prime in the short time it’s been around, or Disney+ for that matter, which has an impressive back catalog of content that even the biggest streaming services couldn’t compete with. But it’s the fact that almost two years on from its launch, Apple TV+ is yet to make a serious dent or launch a roster of shows that capture the general public’s attention. Sure, it’s had some success stories like The Morning Show, See, and Ted Lasso, but considering that Netflix and Amazon pump out dozens of new television shows, movies, and secure distribution deals with some of the biggest entertainment studios in the world, Apple has a long way to go to make its service a compelling subscription. What’s more, the company is set to start charging for Apple TV+ after offering the service for free for the past 18 months, and it’s then when we’ll see exactly how successful Apple wants its streaming service to become. The easiest way for Apple to drive subscribers would be to start buying content from other parties to fill out its back catalog. The company still only offers a handful of (albeit high-quality) shows, compared with Netflix and Amazon’s thousands of titles, and though it has shown 84

some interest in acquiring studios like MGM, it’s failed to do so, with Amazon coming out front and center and taking over the rights to the iconic studio.

BRINGING SPORT INTO THE FOLD One area where Apple hopes to capture the attention of consumers and turn Apple TV+ into a hub worth subscribing to is with sport. Amazon has shown that streamers can handle live sporting events like tennis and the Premier League, and now Apple wants a bite of the same pie. The company is reportedly bidding for streaming rights for the National Football League’s “Sunday Ticket” package, and is in with discussions with NFL executives, though it’s thought that NFL is also speaking to other television networks and technology firms, so there’s no guarantee that Apple will come out victorious. Right now, Sunday Ticket streams on DirecTV, but if Apple was to acquire the rights, users would be able to watch non-prime time games from all 32 NFL teams on Apple TV+. It’s believed that DirecTV pays around $1.5 billion for rights to Sunday Ticket games, but with a bidding war afoot, Apple might need to open its purse a little wider than that. It’s worth noting that Apple acquired MGM for $8.4 billion, but that offered the company more than 4,000 films and 17,000 hours of TV - if Apple paid $2 billion for Sunday Ticket games, it’d be a seriously expensive commitment and the firm would need to work hard to encourage consumers to make the leap over to the platform. It’s believed that Disney is also interested in acquiring the rights for its ESPN streaming 87

service, and Apple has yet to be seen as a serious contender for the rights as it’s failed to invest big money in entertainment programming thus far. However, it’s worth noting that the company has a relationship with the National Football League, hiring James DeLorenzo to run a sports division for the company back in 2020. DeLorenzo was previously responsible for negotiating Amazon’s deal with the NFL to stream live games, so it could be that Apple finally wants to spend some money and give Apple TV+ the content and attention it needs. And talks over Sunday Ticket aren’t the first sporting excursions Apple has made: the firm had previously expressed an interest in live streaming college sports, but nothing came of those talks and there’s still very little sports-related content on Apple TV+, which right now focuses more on dramas, documentaries, and comedies. Introducing sports content makes a great deal of sense for the United States market, and as reported by Jacob Feldman of Sportico, “Apple has the theoretical means to do just about anything it wants regarding sports content. Nearly $200 billion in available cash alone would be, on paper, more than enough to purchase every NFL team—twice. And yet, years since Apple CEO Tim Cook announced the company’s Apple TV+ streaming service, he has not yet landed exclusive rights to any sports activity.” He revealed that the company has been expressing interest in sports content since 2018 when Apple was reportedly bidding for The Match, a “head-to-head match play contest between golfers Tiger Woods and Image: Sam Greenwood

Phil Mickelson,” but the firm added that it was “not yet ready to wade into live rights.” With a dedicated Sports tab in the Apple TV app and dozens of deep integrations, like sports results inside of Siri, Apple offers the perfect sports fan’s platform. Others have pointed out that the COVID-19 pandemic has slowed down the production of new shows like The Morning Show, See, Foundation, and Ted Lasso, and thus adding sports into the mix would encourage users to give Apple TV+ another chance, especially if it was pushed with a major marketing campaign. Add in multiple streaming tiers that offer more access to games and behind-the-scenes sporting content and analysis, and Apple could easily make Apple TV+ the home of live sporting entertainment around the world - whilst still building its portfolio of quality, poignant television shows and movies for the whole family.

THE FUTURE IS IN SPORT If Apple is serious about sport, the company would need to secure global rights that solve the problems of international digitalfirst distribution. For example, if Apple only acquired rights to games in the United States, the rest of its subscribers on the other three corners of the globe would suffer, and perhaps even retreat from the service entirely. But soccer isn’t the only sport that Apple could engage with. Last year, it bought virtual reality streaming specialist and NBA partner NextVR for a reported US$100 million, and so even without any formal relationship with sports organizations, Apple could still make a serious 93

influence over health and wellbeing through Apple TV+, bringing together the power of Apple Watch and its new fitness service Apple Fitness+. Apple’s mantra has always been to “think different,” and so instead of blowing billions of rights to short-term wins, Apple could instead be refining a sporting strategy that changes the way we work out and consume sports entertainment.

In recent years, as Apple expands and diversifies into new areas, it’s becoming harder than ever to work out what moves the firm will make. For an investor, that can be challenging, but for Apple fans, it’s never been more exciting. Although not every venture will prove to be as fruitful as the iPad or Apple Watch, the future of sport and Apple is certainly very bright, and whatever form or relationship it takes, we can’t wait to see what comes next!

FAA: NEW TOOL LIMITS DISRUPTIONS CAUSED BY SPACE OPERATIONS

Federal regulators said they now can better track rocket launches and space vehicles returning to Earth, which could cut the amount of time that airplanes must be routed around space operations. The Federal Aviation Administration said a new tool automates the near-instantaneous delivery of data about a space vehicle’s flight path to the nation’s air traffic control system. The tool, called the Space Data Integrator, will replace a system in which much of the work of giving telemetry data about space vehicles to air traffic control managers is done manually.

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Elon Musk’s SpaceX was the first company to share flight telemetry data with the FAA, and others including Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin have since joined the program, according to the FAA. The FAA said the new technology was first used on June 30 for the launch of SpaceX’s Transporter 2, which lifted off from Cape Canaveral, Florida, carrying dozens of satellites into orbit. It will be used again with the pending return of a SpaceX cargo ship from the International Space Station, the agency said. “With this capability, we will be able to safely reopen the airspace more quickly and reduce the number of aircraft and other airspace users affected by a launch or reentry,” FAA Administrator Stephen Dickson said. During space operations, the FAA shuts down a huge section of airspace for hours in case the rocket or the space vehicle breaks apart. Airlines must reroute flights, which causes them to burn more fuel and fall behind schedule. A single launch can affect hundreds of flights. The growth of the commercial space industry, and with it the number of launches and reentries, has raised concern among airlines that disruptions will become more frequent. According to the FAA, there were 45 space launches and reentries last year, a record, and that could rise to more than 70 this year. The FAA said other changes it has already made have reduced airspace closures from an average of more than four hours to a little more than two hours for a launch. The agency said the Space Data Integrator will reduce that further, but didn’t give a precise time.

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BILLIONAIRE RICHARD BRANSON REACHES SPACE IN HIS OWN SHIP

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Swashbuckling billionaire Richard Branson hurtled into space aboard his own winged rocket ship last Sunday, bringing astro-tourism a step closer to reality and beating out his exceedingly richer rival Jeff Bezos. The nearly 71-year-old Branson and five crewmates from his Virgin Galactic spacetourism company reached an altitude of 53.5 miles (86 kilometers) over the New Mexico desert — enough to experience three to four minutes of weightlessness and witness the curvature of the Earth — and then glided back home to a runway landing. “The whole thing, it was just magical,” a jubilant Branson said on his return aboard the gleaming white space plane, named Unity. The brief, up-and-down flight — the space plane’s portion took only about 15 minutes, or about as long as Alan Shepard’s first U.S. spaceflight in 1961 — was a splashy and unabashedly commercial plug for Virgin Galactic, which plans to start taking paying customers on joyrides next year. Branson became the first person to blast off in his own spaceship, beating Bezos, the richest person on the planet, by nine days. He also became the second septuagenarian to go into space. Astronaut John Glenn flew on the shuttle at age 77 in 1998. Bezos sent his congratulations, adding: “Can’t wait to join the club!” — though he also took to Twitter a couple of days earlier to enumerate the ways in which be believes his company’s tourist rides will be better. With about 500 people watching, including Branson’s family, Unity was carried aloft 103

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underneath a twin-fuselage aircraft. Then, at an altitude of about 8 1/2 miles (13 kilometers), Unity detached from the mother ship and fired its engine, reaching more than Mach 3, or three times the speed of sound, as it pierced the edge of space. Spectators cheered, jumped into the air and embraced as the rocket plane touched down on Earth. Branson pumped his fists as he stepped out onto the runway and ran toward his family, bear-hugging his wife and children and scooping up his grandchildren in his arms. Mike Moses, a top executive at Virgin Galactic, said that apart from some problems with the transmission of video images from inside the cabin, the flight was perfect, and the ship looked pristine. “That was an amazing accomplishment,” former Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield, a one-time commander of the International Space Station, said from the sidelines. “I’m just so delighted at what this open door is going to lead to now. It’s a great moment.” Virgin Galactic conducted three previous test flights into space with crews of just two or three. The flamboyant, London-born founder of Virgin Atlantic Airways wasn’t supposed to fly until later this summer. But he assigned himself to an earlier flight after Bezos announced plans to ride his own rocket into space from Texas on July 20, the 52nd anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing. Branson denied he was trying to outdo Bezos. Branson’s other chief rival in the spacetourism race among the world’s richest men,

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SpaceX’s Elon Musk, came to New Mexico to watch and congratulated Branson for a “beautiful flight.” Bezos’ Blue Origin company intends to send tourists past the so-called Karman line 62 miles (100 kilometers) above Earth, which is recognized by international aviation and aerospace federations as the threshold of space. But NASA, the Air Force, the Federal Aviation Administration and some astrophysicists consider the boundary between the atmosphere and space to begin 50 miles (80 kilometers) up. The risks to Branson and his crew were underscored in 2007, when a rocket motor test in California’s Mojave Desert left three workers dead, and in 2014, when a Virgin Galactic rocket plane broke apart during a test flight, killing one pilot and seriously injuring the other. Ever the showman, Branson insisted on a global livestream of the Sunday morning flight and invited celebrities and former space station astronauts to the company’s Spaceport America base in New Mexico. R&B singer Khalid performed his new single “New Normal” — a nod to the dawning of space tourism — while CBS “Late Show” host Stephen Colbert served as master of ceremonies. Before climbing aboard, Branson, who has kitesurfed the English Channel and attempted to circle the world in a hot-air balloon, signed the astronaut log book and wisecracked: “The name’s Branson. Sir Richard Branson. Astronaut Double-oh-one. License to thrill.” But asked afterward whether he is planning any more adventures, Branson said he will “definitely 106

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give it a rest for the time being” because “I’m not sure it would be fair to put my family through another one.” He said he thinks he holds the record for being pulled out of the sea five times by helicopter. Virgin Galactic already has more than 600 reservations from would-be space tourists, with tickets initially costing $250,000 apiece. And upon his return to Earth, Branson announced a sweepstakes drawing for two seats on a Virgin Galactic jaunt. Blue Origin is waiting for Bezos’ flight before announcing its ticket prices. Kerianne Flynn, who signed up in 2011 to fly with Virgin Galactic, had butterflies ahead of the launch Sunday. “I think there’s going to be nothing like going up there and looking back down on the Earth, which is what I think I’m most excited about,” she said. She added: “Hopefully the next generations will be able to explore what’s up there.” Blue Origin and Musk’s SpaceX both fly Apollostyle, using capsules atop rockets, instead of an air-launched, reusable space plane. SpaceX, which is already launching astronauts to the space station for NASA and building moon and Mars ships, plans to take tourists on more than just brief, up-and-down trips. Customers will instead go into orbit around the Earth for days, with seats costing well into the millions. The company’s first private flight is set for September. Musk himself has not committed to going into space anytime soon.

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BEZOS’ BLUE ORIGIN GETS OK TO SEND HIM, 3 OTHERS TO SPACE

Jeff Bezos’ rocket company has gotten government approval to launch people into space, himself included. The Amazon founder will climb atop his New Shepard rocket next Tuesday in West Texas, joined by his brother, an 82-year-old female aviation pioneer and a $28 million auction winner. It will be the first launch with passengers for Blue Origin, which like Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic plans to start flying paying customers in the months ahead. The Federal Aviation Administration issued its OK. The license is good through August. 111

On Sunday, Virgin Galactic’s billionaire founder Richard Branson rode his own rocket plane to space, accompanied by five company employees. A specially designed aircraft carried the winged ship aloft over New Mexico. The space plane dropped away, fired its rocket motor and soared to 53.5 miles (86 kilometers), before gliding to a runway touchdown. Blue Origin’s flight — featuring an automated capsule launched atop a reusable booster — should reach a maximum altitude of roughly 66 miles (106 kilometers) before parachuting into the desert. Joining Blue Origin and Virgin Galactic in the chase for space tourists is Elon Musk’s SpaceX. But SpaceX plans to send its customers into orbit, not on brief up-and-down hops. Musk has yet to commit to a launch himself. Bezos, 57, stepped down last week as Amazon’s CEO. He founded Blue Origin in 2000. 112

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FIRM HACKED TO SPREAD RANSOMWARE HAD PREVIOUS SECURITY FLAWS

For 21 years, the software company Kaseya labored in relative obscurity — at least until cybercriminals exploited it in early July for a massive ransomware attack that snarled businesses around the world and escalated U.S.Russia diplomatic tensions. But it turns out that the recent hack wasn’t the first major cybersecurity problem to hit the Miamibased company and its core product, which IT teams use to remotely monitor and administer workplace computer systems and other devices. “It feels a little like déjà vu,” said Allie Mellen, a security analyst at Forrester Research. In 2018, for instance, hackers managed to infiltrate Kaseya’s tool in 2018 to run a “cryptojacking” operation, which channels the power of afflicted computers to mine cryptocurrency — often without its victims noticing. It was a less harmful breach than the recent ransomware attack, which was impossible to miss since it crippled affected 115

systems until their owners paid up. But it similarly relied on Kaseya’s Virtual System Administrator product, or VSA, as a vehicle to get access to the companies that rely on it. A 2019 ransomware attack also rode into computers through another company’s add-on software component to the Kaseya VSA, causing more limited damage than the recent attack. Some experts have tied that earlier assault to some of the same hackers who later formed REvil, the Russian-language syndicate blamed for the latest attack. And in 2014, Kaseya’s own founders sued the company in a dispute over responsibility for a VSA security flaw that allowed hackers to launch a separate cryptocurrency scheme. The court case does not appear to have been previously reported outside of a brief 2015 mention in a technical blog post. At the time, the founders denied responsibility for the vulnerability, calling the company’s charges against them a “bogus assertion.” Nearly all of Kaseya’s security problems have as their root cause well-understood coding vulnerabilities that should have been addressed earlier, said cybersecurity expert Katie Moussouris, the founder and CEO of Luta Security. “Kaseya needs to shape up, as does the entire software industry,” she said. “This is a failure to incorporate the lessons the bugs were teaching you. Kaseya, like a lot of companies, is failing to learn those lessons.” Many of the attacks relied at least in part on what’s known as a SQL injection, a technique hackers use to inject malicious code into web 116

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queries. It’s an old technique that Mellen said has been considered a “solved problem” in the cybersecurity world for a decade. “It points to a chronic product security issue in Kaseya’s software that remains unaddressed seven years later,” she said. “When organizations choose to brush over security challenges, the incidents continue, and, as in this case, get worse.” Kaseya has noted that it’s long been a target because many of its direct customers are “managed-services providers” that host IT infrastructure for hundreds, if not thousands, of other businesses. “In the business we’re in, and the number of endpoints we manage around the world, as you might expect, we take security extremely seriously,” Ronan Kirby, president of the company’s European operations, said at a Belgian cybersecurity conference. “You attack a company, you get into the company. You attack a service provider, you get into all their customers. You get into Kaseya, that’s a very different proposition. So obviously we’re an attractive target.” Kaseya declined to answer questions from the press about the previous hacks or the legal dispute involving its founders. Mark Sutherland and Paul Wong co-founded Kaseya in California in 2000. They had previously worked together on a project protecting the email accounts of U.S. intelligence workers at the National Security Agency, according to an account on the company’s website. But more than a year after selling Kaseya in June 2013, court records show that Sutherland, Wong and two other former top executives sued 118

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the company to recoup $5.5 million in stock buybacks they said they were unfairly denied. At the heart of the dispute was an attack by hackers who used Kaseya’s VSA as a conduit to deploy “Litecoin” mining malware, which secretly hijacks a victim computer’s power to make money for the hacker by processing new cryptocurrency payments. Kaseya publicly disclosed the attacks in a March 2014 notice to customers. Privately, it was blaming the company’s previous leadership for not warning about “serious vulnerabilities” in Kaseya’s software. It sought to deprive them of the final $5.5 million of the acquisition price to compensate for the loss of business and damaged reputation. The founders, in turn, blamed the new leadership for scaling back on coding expertise and eliminating a “hotfix” system for rapidly fixing bugs, according to the lawsuit from Sutherland, Wong, former CEO Gerald Blackie and former Chief Operating Officer Timothy McMullen. They also argued that the SQL injection technique used by the hackers was highly common and “inherent in any computer code” that uses the SQL programming language. “Ensuring that each and every piece of database access code is immune to SQL injection is essentially impossible,” said their lawsuit. Mellen and Moussouris both rejected that assertion. “That is a bold statement and provably false,” Moussouris said. “It highlights the fact they lacked the security knowledge and sophistication to protect their users.” None of the plaintiffs or their lawyers responded to requests for comment. They agreed to dismiss 121

the case in December 2013, just a month after they filed it. It’s not clear how it was settled. Kaseya is privately held. LinkedIn profiles for Sutherland and Wong list them as retired, with Sutherland also growing wine grapes. Blackie went on to become CEO of another Miami-based provider of remote-control software, Pilixo, where he was joined by McMullen. Pilixo didn’t return a request for comment. New vulnerabilities affecting Kaseya’s VSA — including the one exploited by the REvil ransomware gang — were discovered this year by a Dutch cybersecurity research group that says it confidentially warned Kaseya in early April. “In the wrong hands, these vulnerabilities could lead to the compromise of large numbers of computers managed by Kaseya VSA,” the Dutch Institute for Vulnerability Disclosure said in a blog post last week explaining the timeline of its actions. Some of those Kaseya fixed by May, including another SQL injection flaw, but the Dutch group said others were still unpatched when ransomware started hitting hundreds of businesses in early July. Kaseya has said up to 1,500 businesses have been compromised as a result of the attack. Kaseya rolled out patches to the vulnerabilities used in the REvil attack. Moussouris said there’s a pattern of ransomware syndicates going after easily detectable software flaws. “It’s collective technical debt around the world and the ransomware gangs are technical debt collectors,” she said. “They’re coming after organizations like Kaseya” and others that haven’t invested in better security.

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MUSK ON TRIAL: DEFENDS SOLARCITY, CALLS LAWYER ‘BAD HUMAN’

Tesla founder Elon Musk took to a witness stand to defend his company’s 2016 acquisition of a troubled company called SolarCity against a lawsuit that claims he’s to blame for a deal that was rife with conflicts of interest and never delivered the profits he’d promised. And to the surprise of no one, the famously colorful billionaire did so in the most personally combative terms. “I think you are a bad human being,” Musk told Randall Baron, a lawyer for shareholders who was pressing Musk to acknowledge his mistakes in helping engineer the acquisition of SolarCity, a manufacturer of solar panels. “I have great respect for the court,” Musk later added, “but not for you, sir.” 125

The long-running shareholder lawsuit asserts that Musk, who was SolarCity’s largest stakeholder and its chairman, and other Tesla directors breached their fiduciary duties in bowing to Musk’s wishes and agreeing to buy the company. In what the plaintiffs call a clear conflict of interest, SolarCity had been founded by Musk and two of his cousins, Lyndon and Peter Rive. In the Delaware Court of Chancery on Monday, Baron sought to establish that Musk has sought to run Tesla without interference and therefore bears responsibility for any failures. The lawyer showed a video clip in which Musk said he liked running his own companies because he doesn’t want anyone to make him do what he doesn’t want to do. As an example of what he characterized as Musk’s imperious management style, Baron mentioned that the CEO once declared himself “Technoking of Tesla” and gave his chief financial officer the title “master of coin’’ — a reference to HBO’s “Game of Thrones” — in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The hostility between the billionaire CEO and the plaintiffs’ lawyer dates to at least 2019 and a deposition in which Musk insulted Baron and questioned his professionalism. Baron played clips from that deposition to try to portray Musk’s stance toward what he might regard as criticism. Pushing back, Musk insisted that “I don’t want to be the boss of anything.” “I prefer to spend my time on design and engineering,” he said.

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Musk, who is well-known for rejecting skepticism of himself or his company, insisted that he welcomes criticism: “If I’m mistaken,” he said on the witness stand, “I view critical feedback as a gift.” Musk said his off-beat titles and other quips simply reflect his sense of humor. “I think I’m funny,” he offered. What’s more, he said, the resulting media attention often plays to Tesla’s benefit. “If we’re entertaining, people will write stories about us,” and the company can save on advertising.” Regarding Tesla’s all-stock acquisition of SolarCity, Musk asserted that he had nothing to gain financially from it because he owned shares of both companies. Musk also argued that SolarCity’s failure to meet aggressive sales forecasts and its loss of market share were only temporary setbacks. He said they reflected his decision to divert Tesla resources toward salvaging production of the Tesla Model 3 electric car — and then running “headlong into a pandemic.” The effort to salvage Tesla 3 was “all-hands-ondeck” operation — so desperate that even the company’s lawyers were enlisted in the effort, Musk said, drawing laughter in the court. Musk’s defense noted that SolarCity had been in Tesla’s plans as early as his 2006 master plan for the electric carmaker. In saying so, he asserted that the joining of the companies 10 years later wasn’t an emergency bailout as the plaintiffs have alleged. 129

But Baron pointed out that the 2006 document mentioned only a potential marketing arrangement, not a full-fledged merger or acquisition, between Tesla and SolarCity. Baron repeatedly pressed Musk about evidence that SolarCity had been in trouble — short of cash, unable to obtain financing, in danger of violating the terms of an existing loan agreement — before the Tesla buyout. Musk conceded nothing. He argued that SolarCity could have raised money, if it wanted to, by issuing shares of stock. And he noted that fast-growing young companies, including Amazon and Tesla itself, often bleed cash in their early years before achieving success later. Why, Baron asked, did another Musk company, Space X, waive its own investment guidelines to buy risky SolarCity bonds? Musk replied that those bonds offered a better payout than did bank accounts that paid little more than zero.

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“I had faith,” Musk said, “in the future of SolarCity.” Baron tried to pin down whether Musk had recused himself from Tesla-SolarCity negotiations to avoid a conflict of interest. “I had no material role,” Musk said. “What’s is a ‘material role?’ ” Baron fired back. ”That sounds like a wiggle word to me.” “You’re the expert in wiggle words,” Musk countered. The trial marks the culmination of seven shareholder lawsuits, consolidated into one, that alleged that Tesla directors breached their fiduciary duties in bowing to Musk’s wishes and agreeing to buy SolarCity. Last August, a judge approved a $60 million settlement that resolved claims made against all the directors on Tesla’s board except Musk without any admission of fault. That left Musk, who refused to settle, as the sole remaining defendant. The trial had been scheduled for March of last year but was postponed because of the viral pandemic. Daniel Ives, an analyst at Wedbush Securities, has called the acquisition a “clear black eye” for Musk and Tesla, in large part because SolarCity has failed to turn a profit. “It basically was putting good money after bad,” Ives said. “For all the successes and all of the unimaginable heights Musk has achieved, this is one of the lowlights.” Even if the trial ends with Musk having to pay personally for the whole SolarCity deal, $2.5 billion won’t much hurt the world’s third-wealthiest person. Forbes magazine has estimated that Musk is worth roughly $163 billion. 132

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G-20 FINANCE MINISTERS BACK PLAN TO STOP USE OF TAX HAVENS

Top finance officials representing most of the world’s economy have backed a sweeping revision of international taxation that includes a 15% global minimum corporate levy to deter big companies from resorting to low-rate tax havens. Finance ministers from the Group of 20 countries endorsed the plan at a meeting last weekend in Venice. U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said the proposal would end a “self-defeating international tax competition” in which countries have for years lowered their rates to attract companies. She said that had been “a race that nobody has won. What it has done instead is to deprive us of the resources we need to invest in our people, our workforces, our infrastructure.” 135

The next steps include more work on key details at the Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and then a final decision at the Group of 20 meeting of presidents and prime ministers on Oct. 30-31 in Rome. Implementation, expected as early as 2023, would depend on action at the national level. Countries would enact the minimum tax requirement into their own laws. Other parts could require a formal treaty. The draft proposal was approved July 1 in talks among more than 130 countries convened by the OECD. Italy hosted the finance minister’s meeting in Venice because it holds the rotating chair of the G-20, which makes up more than 80% of the world economy. The event also attracted around 1,000 protesters under the banner “We Are The Tide,” an umbrella group of environmental and social justice activists, including opponents of large cruise ships and the hordes of tourists they bring to the lagoon city. A small group scuffled with police after breaking away from an approved demonstration area. The U.S. already has a minimum tax on overseas earnings, but President Joe Biden has proposed roughly doubling the rate to 21%, which would more than comply with the proposed global minimum. Raising the rate is part of a broader proposal to fund Biden’s jobs and infrastructure plan by raising the domestic corporate tax rate to 28% from 21%. Yellen said she was “very optimistic” that Biden’s infrastructure and tax legislation “will include what we need for the United States to come into compliance” with the minimum tax proposal.

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Republicans in the Congress have expressed opposition to the measure. Rep. Kevin Brady of Texas, the top Republican on the tax-writing Ways and Means Committee, has blasted the OECD deal, saying, “This is an economic surrender to China, Europe and the world that Congress will reject.” The international tax proposal aims to deter the world’s biggest firms from using accounting and legal schemes to shift their profits to countries where little or no tax is due — and where the company may do little or no actual business. Under the minimum, companies that escape taxes abroad would pay them at home. That would eliminate incentives for using tax havens or for setting them up. From 2000-2018, U.S. companies booked half of all foreign profits in seven low-tax jurisdictions: Bermuda, the Cayman Islands, Ireland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Singapore and Switzerland. A second part of the tax plan is to permit countries to tax a portion of the profits of companies that earn profits without a physical presence, such as through online retailing or digital advertising. That part arose after France, followed by other countries, imposed a digital service tax on U.S. tech giants such as Amazon and Google. The U.S. government regards those national taxes as unfair trade practices and is holding out the threat of retaliation against those countries’ imports into the U.S. through higher import taxes. Under the tax deal, those countries would have to drop or refrain from national taxes in favor of a single global approach, in theory ending the trade disputes with the U.S. U.S. tech companies would then face only the one tax regime, instead of a multitude of different national digital taxes. 138

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‘FOREVER PURGE’ GETS POLITICAL ON SOUTHERN BORDER

The dystopian action-horror “Purge” franchise has previously made stops in New York City, Los Angeles and Washington, DC. Now it’s time to pull on cowboy boots and get ready for a little twangy Purge. “The Forever Purge” is set along the U.S.-Mexican border and it’s perhaps the most overtly political of the series, portraying a ragtag group of Americans trying to flee the anarchy and white supremacy of Texas for the safety of Mexico as the annual U.S. bloodlust event turns into an everyday abomination. The film jettisons its horror roots for an aggressive — some may call it ham-fisted — social critique of modern America. But watching video of real insurrectionists on Jan. 6 try to violently take over the U.S. Capitol makes portions of “The Forever Purge” seem like a documentary. 141

“We are the real patriots of America,” announce a group of the mask-wearing white supremacists during the latest fictional bloodletting, hoping to exterminate anyone Black or brown. “America will be America once again.” There’s no escaping the feeling that “The Forever Purge” is a poison pen letter to Trumpism. For those just joining creator James DeMonaco’s “Purge” series, here’s how it works: In a nearfuture, the government, led by a nefarious party called the New Founding Fathers of America, allows an annual 12-hour period of lawlessness without recriminations. Over the course of a single night, rape, murder, robbery and everything else is permitted across the nation as a way to release anger but also a way to cull from an overpopulated nation and lower crime. The last chronological film in the series — 2016’s “The Purge: Election Year” — seemed to end with an outlawing of the purge, but that clearly didn’t last. The New Founding Fathers are back in charge as “The Forever Purge” opens and their annual horror shows have been reinstalled. There’s also a wall established along the southern border. “It’s starting, y’all,” one main character in a Texas town announces as the purge countdown begins. She is protected by wealth in her ranching compound but her immigrant employees must huddle for safety in a makeshift shelter. This time, the annual purge time passes without anyone we care about ending up dead, but then the event doesn’t end. The film cracks open at this point, adding class resentment to the mix. 142

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Groups of poor disenfranchised whites across the country begin targeting their white bosses and vowing that the purge won’t stop. “Ever After!” is their war cry. That makes strange allies of the Tucker ranching family and a pair of newly arrived immigrants from Mexico: Adela (Ana de la Reguera) and her husband Juan (Tenoch Huerta). Up until then, the Tucker’s son, Dylan, (Josh Lucas) was flirting with outright white supremacy, not wanting Spanish to be heard in his house and not believing that cowboys could be anything but white Americans. Now, he and his family are being kept alive by the very people he disdained. Martial law is declared but the Army can’t stop the lawlessness. A potential escape may come from America’s neighbors: Canada and Mexico, who have opened their borders for six hours to any refugees from the madness. The film under Everardo Gout’s direction then becomes a quest as the Tuckers — including Dylan Tucker’s pregnant wife — together with Adela and Juan fight their way to El Paso, hunted by masked men demanding purification of the white race. DeMonaco is not at all subtle with his script and maybe that’s for the best. In one scene, a crazed white supremacist with a swastika face tattoo listens to various gunfire cracking outside, identifying each weapon by its blast — AK-47, Glock, AR-15. He calls it a very American sound: “Homegrown music from the American heartland.”

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The Forever Purge - Official Trailer

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The First Purge – Official Trailer

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Over the past films, DeMonaco has explored all kinds of different facets to this rich and complex purge notion, from gun control to the behavior of predatory corporations, to government brutality against people of color and class wars. They have hardly felt like sci-fi when neo-Nazis really have marched openly in U.S. streets. Here DeMonaco finds richness in flipping the script on traditional right-wing notions of the border and immigration. In the film, it is people of color who are kind, resourceful and brave, saving a well-off white family from white horrors, with one refugee hoping to give birth in a place better than America — the reverse of the so-called traditional anchor baby notion. They are all led to safety to Mexico — and this is a genius move by DeMonaco — by a Native American guide and fighter. “This is not your fight,” he is told. But he responds: “We’ve been fighting this fight for 500 years.” Happy Independence Day, y’all! “The Forever Purge,” a Universal Pictures release, is rated R for “strong/bloody violence and language throughout.” Running time: 103 minutes. Three stars out of four. Online: www.theforeverpurge.com

MPAA definition of R: Restricted. Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian.

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