The Freedom Watch

British Politicians Aim To Ban Non-Hybrid Cars By 2040

"While some American politicians may take issue with the government’s investment in green automobiles, it pales in comparison to the debates taking place in England. There, the Liberal Democrats have proposed a bill that would outlaw all non-hybrid cars from English roads by 2040. It sounds insane, but stranger things have happened. Ambitious but left with a lot of blanks to fill, one of the key components of the Liberal Dems Britain of the future is eliminating all but ultra-low emissions non-freight vehicles from British roads. That would mean only hybrids, electric cars, or super-efficient diesels would be allowed to drive British streets." Continue reading →

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Tesla Motor’s Model S is the safest car ever tested

"Tesla Motor’s fully electric luxury sedan, the Model S, isn’t just the best car ever tested by Consumer Reports. It is also the safest car ever tested by U.S. regulators. The Tesla Model S has earned a 5-star safety rating, both overall and in each individual category, from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). The car has a Vehicle Safety Score (VSS) of 5.4 stars, a better than perfect score. The car has received glowing reviews, but with a base price of about $70,000 it is too expensive to be enjoyed by most Americans. Tesla hopes to begin selling a cheaper fully electric SUV, the Model X, in 2014." Continue reading →

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Elon Musk condemns the ‘perversion of democracy’ in Texas

"Tesla sells its cars directly to consumers, but state law currently prohibits Tesla from operating its own a dealership. Car makers are not allowed to sell vehicles directly to the public in Texas, they must sell through independently-owned franchises. 'This happens all the time,' said Bill Wolters, the president of the Texas Automobile Dealers Association, which lobbied against the bill. 'Someone wants an exception to the franchise laws. If we made an exception for everybody that showed up in the legislature, before long the integrity of the entire franchise system is in peril.'" Continue reading →

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Why Texas Bans the Sale of Tesla Cars

"Tesla CEO Elon Musk plans on opening 50 new Tesla stores in the next year. And taking a page from the Apple playbook, Musk is selling his product directly to consumers. No hard sell. No commission for employees. And uniform prices at every store. That’s a dig at the traditional middlemen in the car-buying experience: the car dealers. Musk wants to cut them out completely. So Musk is declaring war on car dealers, but car dealers are also declaring war on Musk. They have already successfully booted him out of Texas and there is anti-Tesla legislation pending in North Carolina, Colorado and Virginia." Continue reading →

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The Verdict on The World’s Fastest “Train”

"Consider the motivation behind Musk’s Hyperloop: California’s new so-called high-speed rail system, which Musk calls a 'bullet train to nowhere.' Rumored to cost $70 billion, Musk asks why California – one of the world’s largest economies, home of Silicon Valley, and with some of the world’s greatest tech companies – 'would build a bullet train that’s both one of the most expensive per mile and one of the slowest in the world.' Comparing it to the Hyperloop, he says, 'The train would be both slower, more expensive to operate (if unsubsidized) and less safe by two orders of magnitude than flying, so why would anyone use it?'" Continue reading →

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NASA begins selling shuttle launch platforms

"Nasa is selling three huge mobile platforms used to launch the Apollo moon missions and the space shuttle – adding to the list of historic facilities and equipments it wants private industry to take over, including a shuttle launchpad and its landing runway. The massive steel structures – 7.6 metres high (25ft) 49 by 41 metres on top – were originally built in 1967 for the Apollo moon programme’s Saturn rockets, then modified for the space shuttles, which flew from 1981 until 2011. The Kennedy Space Centre launchpad has attracted competing bids from the Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk, co-founder of Paypal and chief executive of electric car company Tesla Motors." Continue reading →

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Can You 3-D Print An Airplane?

"It’s a new phase in the 3-D printing revolution. 'We’re transitioning now to a stage where not only can the machine make something, but the machine can actually make its own parts,' said Gershefeld. Rather than laying down materials flatly, layer after layer, it will be possible to print stronger, interlocking parts that build into huge structures. Just as pixels of different colors come together to form a picture, 3-D pixels will come in different 'colors' or shapes. It’s incredible. If a simple 'Can you 3-D print an airplane?' leads down the road to such innovation, imagine what other inventions are stemming from other questions." Continue reading →

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3-D Print Your Own Invisibility Cloak, And More!

"The invisibility cloak that makes you undetectable to radar was the height of metamaterial capability back in 2006. Now, according to the same researchers, you can print that cloak using an off-the-shelf 3-D printer in your living room… That gives you a good idea of how long an optical invisibility cloak could follow suit. And you will be able to make it from home. Not a bad Christmas present for the kids, eh? What once was the sole domain of science labs and military bases will have the letters DIY slapped on it. This is but one example of how the Click, Print, Anything Revolution will change the world." Continue reading →

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Gold Is Rebounding, Time to Look at Franco Nevada

"Franco-Nevada isn’t your average gold miner. They don’t have regular mine costs like the big gold producers we follow. Instead, Franco-Nevada is a 'streaming' company. Meaning after they put money into getting a project off the ground they take a cut of future production. With many of those streaming deals set up over the years, Franco-Nevada can just sit back and collect checks as other companies produce metal. In other words, if you think gold is set for a rebound, this pony will provide a huge upside compared to your average cost-laden miner. Since we covered Franco Nevada in April, there are a few points to be made." Continue reading →

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The Century of Arbitration and Peace

"All of this provides a real-world example of the possibility of adjudicating disputes in a private and contractual manner. It does not take a huge leap of faith to conclude that a decentralized arbitration system could be extended to smaller and smaller segments of the population, ultimately leading to a private security environment. If it can be done between states, why not between individuals (or private insurance / security companies) in a world without states as we currently use the term? Why limit the possibilities by geographical boundaries – some form of panarchy, if you will?" Continue reading →

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