The Off Topic Topic

[CountDeMoney]

As part of GM selling their European operations to PSA, I read this: "In the five years from 2012 to 2016, GM spent $16.8 billion on stock buybacks.  Just to give you some perspective, that cash represents 30 percent of the value of the company, assuming GM's current market cap of $56 billion." And that they want spend the money they get from selling Opel on further stock buybacks. This comes at a time when the entire automotive industry is looking for money to finance the transistion from combustion engines to electric, to progress on autonomous cars and on connectivity and new disruptive business models like Uber. I guess it may somehow help their shareholder value a bit, but if there is ever a market situation again where those big trucks on the US market don't sell well anymore (higher fuel prices or stricter emission guidelines or a new recession), GM will be fucked.

Selling Vauxhall / opel sounded insane when I first heard it.  When you put it that way, it sounds even worse.

Why?

Saying the US truck market

[Maladict]

For 70-100GW that's not that expensive.  And why wasn't this posted in the Green Energy thread?

Not to mention we get to claim the entire North Sea, China style 

[Ed Anger]

For 70-100GW that's not that expensive.  And why wasn't this posted in the Green Energy thread?

Not to mention we get to claim the entire North Sea, China style 

Until the armies of the Sultan flow over your borders. Inshallah.

[Maladict]

For 70-100GW that's not that expensive.  And why wasn't this posted in the Green Energy thread?

Not to mention we get to claim the entire North Sea, China style 

Until the armies of the Sultan flow over your borders. Inshallah.

What are these borders you speak of?

[Razgovory]

There has never been an American named Frodo. I'm surprised.

http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2017/03/14/the_hidden_connection_between_popular_books_and_baby_names.html

Thankfully, mom put her foot down on that one.  Dog wasn't so lucky, her name was Bilbo.

[Ed Anger]

For 70-100GW that's not that expensive.  And why wasn't this posted in the Green Energy thread?

Not to mention we get to claim the entire North Sea, China style 

Until the armies of the Sultan flow over your borders. Inshallah.

What are these borders you speak of?

SAD!

[grumbler]

There has never been an American named Frodo. I'm surprised.

http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2017/03/14/the_hidden_connection_between_popular_books_and_baby_names.html

  Even for Slate, that's a dumb article.  The author essentially ignores the data in the graphs to make vague hypotheses about names.  The argument that baby names are influenced by current culture is too trite to even merit discussion, isn't it?

[Ed Anger]

I should have named a kid Raistlin.

[Eddie Teach]

I should have named a kid Raistlin.

There's always the next one.

[grumbler]

I should have named a kid Raistlin Sauron.

That would be a happy kid!

[Grey Fox]

GM doesn't innovate, it will just replicate the offering from the other manufacturer & buy Tesla when their product is ready.

http://www.chevrolet.com/bolt-ev-electric-vehicle.html

http://www.nissan.ca/en/electric-cars/leaf/?next=header.vehicles.postcard.vlp.image&dcp=ppn.114962390.&dcc=0.287977853.71700000009912277

[Barrister]

GM doesn't innovate, it will just replicate the offering from the other manufacturer & buy Tesla when their product is ready.

http://www.chevrolet.com/bolt-ev-electric-vehicle.html

http://www.nissan.ca/en/electric-cars/leaf/?next=header.vehicles.postcard.vlp.image&dcp=ppn.114962390.&dcc=0.287977853.71700000009912277

The range on the Bolt is substantially larger than the Leaf, and more on par with Tesla.

[Ed Anger]

I'm gonna eat those electric pansies with my new Alfa.

I'm even gonna take the safeties off my torps.

[CountDeMoney]

Ed just made a Kursk in his pants.

[Ed Anger]

 

Also acceptable: "you killed us you fool!"