Bernie Sanders Calls Out Political Corruption on The Late Show

Bernie Sanders appears on The Late Show‘s first live audience live show in two years to discuss President Biden’s State of the Union address.© Provided by Global TV
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The Late Show Wins Out Over President Biden

“I much prefer to be here,” said Sanders of being on The Late Show rather than at Joe Biden’s State of the Union address. But sadly that was as jovial as he got. “This is the most difficult moment in our lifetimes.”


Over the increasingly dour situations the world is facing – war, pestilence and wealth disparity – Sanders’ calls for the American people to rally and keep moving forward. It’s important, he reiterates; “we’re losing the struggle for a planet to leave to our kids that will be healthy and habitable.”

Watch Senator Sanders empower the viewers of The Late Show:

Sanders also shouts out to the Russian protestors, who are risking their freedom and possibly lives to have their say against the Russian aggression towards Ukraine. A man of protest and civil rights, Bernie Sanders has always supported true movements against real tyranny and threats to a safe and healthy life for all levels of society.

“The Russian people are not our enemies, it is their Autocracy and the crooks and the evil people that run that country.”

Sanders’ State of the Union

When prompted for what he would tell the country were he to give a State of the Union speech, Sanders exploded with energy and passion. For him, anyway.

His target was United States government officials themselves. Specifically, the ones who prefer to line their pockets over serving their constituents.

Political corruption has become more forefront in voters’ minds, and the veil is dropping around the ones abusing their power. Sanders has always been leading the charge against them, and by the sounds of it, will continue to do so until he no longer can.

Catch up on Stephen’s comments on the State of the Union, as well as the rest of the interview with Bernie Sanders by viewing the full episode here on GlobalTV.com or the Global TV App!

And tune in to The Late Show with Stephen Colbert airing weeknights at 11.35 et/pt on Global, and watch the latest episodes and clips online here on GlobalTV.com or the Global TV App!

The post Bernie Sanders Calls Out Political Corruption on The Late Show appeared first on globaltv.

THE IMPORTANCE OF A COMMA, 

I DID NOT KNOW THERE WAS CORRUPTION ON THE LATE SHOW!

CRIMINAL CAPITALI$M

Elon Musk and Tesla face trial over CEO's multibillion-dollar pay package from 2018

Tesla and CEO Elon Musk are facing a trial over the company's 2018 CEO pay package.

Shareholder Richard J. Tornetta sued Tesla alleging that Musk's pay was excessive and that its authorization by the board amounted to a breach of its fiduciary duty.

The trial is scheduled to begin at a Delaware Chancery court on April 18, though the date could change.

© Provided by CNBC

 Elon Musk, Tesla CEO, stands in the foundry of the Tesla Gigafactory during a press event.

Lora Kolodny 

CNBC

Tesla and Elon Musk are facing a trial over the CEO's 2018 pay package, which was worth around $2.5 billion at the time it was granted.

Shareholder Richard J. Tornetta sued Musk and the Tesla board after the package was cleared. The suit claimed it was excessive and said authorization by the electric car company's board of directors amounted to a breach of its fiduciary duty.

Musk's 2018 CEO performance award consisted of 101.3 million stock options (adjusted for the 5-for-1 stock split in 2020) in 12 milestone-based tranches. The plan said Musk would be paid only if he reached those milestones, which focused on Tesla's market value and operations. Otherwise the CEO would receive nothing.

Tesla shares skyrocketed, and payouts to Musk began in 2020, helping make him the world's richest person.

Tornetta seeks to invalidate the option grant from the 2018 plan, which has netted Musk tens of billions of dollars worth of stock at present value.

The shareholder alleged that Tesla board members had undisclosed conflicts and said Musk crafted his own pay plan with personal assistance of his former divorce attorney Todd Maron, who was also Tesla's general counsel. Tornetta claimed that Tesla's board didn't disclose all the information it should have to shareholders before a proxy vote to approve the pay plan.

Maron left the company in late 2018, and Tesla hasn't had a general counsel since December 2019.

Attorneys for Musk had asked the court for a summary judgement and sought to have the case dismissed. But in a letter dated Feb. 24, court chancellor Kathleen St. J. McCormick wrote, "I am skeptical that this litigation can be resolved based on the undisputed facts. So, I am canceling oral argument on the summary judgment motions." She added, "This case is going to trial."

A trial had been scheduled for April 18, in the Delaware chancery court, according to filings first published by legal transparency database PlainSite. That date could change. PlainSite is owned by Aaron Greenspan, who previously disclosed a Tesla short position.

Tesla didn't respond to a request for comment, and attorneys representing Tornetta declined to comment when contacted by CNBC.

Ethics commissioner calls for reform of Alberta lobbyist rules

Paige Parsons 

CBC

© David Bajer/CBC

 Alberta's ethics commissioner is proposing a number of changes to provincial rules for lobbyists.

The province should create a communication registry for lobbyists to address what she says is a lack of transparency, Alberta's ethics commissioner says.

Marguerite Trussler's office put forward a number of recommendations for changes to the Alberta Lobbyists Act as part of a review of the legislation currently underway by the standing committee on Alberta's economic future.

The act must be reviewed every five years, and the committee is expected to submit a report with its recommendations to the legislature by September.

"Proper transparency is not in place in Alberta," Trussler said while speaking to the committee last month.

Her top request is a public communication registry that would require lobbyists to disclose direct communications and meetings with senior public office holders.

"Not having one gives rise to people asking, 'What do you have to hide?'" Trussler said, adding that creating such a registry would cost nothing and be a simple process.

Trussler said the federal government and British Columbia already have these types of registries, and that other jurisdictions are moving in a similar direction.

Another proposed change is to narrow the exemption to lobbying rules for non-profits to apply only to groups that provide tangible public services in specific ways.

This would prevent other types of non-profits from "hiding behind" the exemption, said Alberta Lobbyist Registrar Lara Draper, who is with Trussler's office.

Draper said most Canadian jurisdictions don't have any exemption for non-profit groups and calls Alberta's broad exemption a "serious gap in accountability and transparency."

Trussler is also advocating to lowering the threshold for having to register as an organization lobbyist from 50 hours annually to 20.

She told this committee this is more in line with what other jurisdictions are doing, and said she knows from her own past work as a lobbyist that fewer hours is appropriate.

"Frankly if it takes you 50 hours to get your message across you're not very good," she said. "A really good lobbyist can do a lot of effective lobbying in way less time than even 20 hours. It's not that big of a burden."

Other proposed changes to increase transparency include:

Simplifying and closing potential loopholes around "prohibited gifts";

Requiring disclosure in lobbyist registrations of gifts, favours or benefits offered to public office holders within the last 12 months;

Removing the requirement for organization lobbyists to file semi-annual renewal returns;

And shortening the time for organization lobbyists to file initial returns.

Trussler's office also proposed several recommendations to make the rules less complicated for lobbyists, along with a number of technical amendments.

Opposition from affected groups

While dozens of organizations and individuals provided written feedback to the committee, several organizations that would be affected by the change made oral presentations — most of which urged legislators not to adopt Trussler's recommendations as proposed, or even to loosen current rules.

Alberta Chambers of Commerce president and CEO Ken Kolby said changes made to lobbying rules back in 2018 created a lot of extra work for his organization and some of its member organizations, and that he'd like to see some of those changes reversed.

Kolby said his group's advocacy efforts are non-partisan, and that it and local chambers across the province were transparent before increased reporting requirements came into effect under lobbying rules.

"It does not improve transparency or accountability. It is simply unnecessary red tape that diverts limited resources from vitally important community building activities and initiatives," he said.

Among his requests to the committee was an ask to return the lobbying time threshold to 100 hours, rather than follow through with Trussler's request to reduce it to 20 hours.

The committee also heard from non-profit umbrella organizations who worry tightening up who is exempted from lobbyist rules will mean community groups won't have the resources to continue to meet demand for public service work.

After hearing from speakers, the committee passed a motion to have all the recommendations received compiled into a list for consideration ahead of beginning deliberations and work on the report.

Edmonton police deny keeping 'list' of critics after union's complaint against city councillor

Edmonton police are denying claims they keep a “list” of critics after the officers’ union filed a complaint against a city councillor.

\

© Provided by Edmonton Journal Michael Janz speaks to supporters on election night 2021. The Ward papastew councillor recently announced a code of conduct complaint filed against him by the Edmonton Police Association has been dismissed.

Jonny Wakefield 

On Wednesday, the Edmonton Police Service issued a statement regarding city integrity commissioner Jamie Pytel’s recent investigation of Coun. Michael Janz , whose social media posts drew the ire of the Edmonton Police Association.

The association’s complaint, filed by president Michael Elliott, took issue with Janz’s online engagement with “known” critics of the police service, including defence lawyer Tom Engel. The complaint alleged those critics “(misrepresent) facts about the EPS and its members.”

Pytel’s report found none of Janz’s social media activity breached council’s code of conduct, leading Janz to call the complaint “a blatant attempt at intimidation intended to silence an elected official in the first three months in office.”

Following the release of the report, writer, podcaster and former council candidate Troy Pavlek wrote a tweet claiming Elliott’s complaint “confirmed they maintain a list of ‘critics’ of the EPS.”

EPS’s statement Wednesday denied that claim.

“We are aware that the contents of the association’s complaint have been misconstrued on social media to imply that the Edmonton Police Service maintains a list of police critics and actively participates in the surveillance of the alleged critics,” spokeswoman Cheryl Sheppard said in an email.

“The EPS does not participate in such activities and does not maintain a list of alleged police critics.”

Elliott, an EPS staff sergeant, is on vacation and said in a text that he would comment further Monday. However, he called claims that the police association keeps a list of critics”ludicrous.”

In an interview, Pavlek said that whether an actual list exists is a “semantic” debate.

“The intention of the complaint is very clear,” Pavlek said. “The Edmonton Police Association knows certain people to be critics of the Edmonton Police Service and they believe that it is prohibited by the councillor’s code of conduct for a city councillor to interact with those people.”

“Whether they maintain a list or whether they just instinctively dislike certain people, the intent is very clear, and the intent is what’s frightening, not whether or not they have bullet points or numbers.”

Engel, for his part, said he sent a letter to the police association demanding they provide details of cases in which he has misrepresented facts.

Michael Elliott, president of the Edmonton Police Association, speaks to media in 2021.

Policing has become ‘hyper-charged,’ former councillor says

Scott McKeen, a former city councillor and police commissioner, said the affair is an example of how “hyper-charged” Edmonton’s policing debate has become in recent years.

McKeen traced the change to the summer of 2020, when council held hearings on reducing police funding in response to the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police. That summer, council approved an $11 million reduction over two years to the police service’s annual budget increase. Another reduction came in last December , with newly elected councillors saying they wanted more funding directed to social services.

Since the budget reductions, Elliott has begun tweeting regular updates about crime and disorder in the city, including photos of seized weapons.

“There are hurt feelings on that police service right now, stemming back to those hearings,” said McKeen, who voted for the initial decrease and did not run in the 2021 election. “They feel, I’m sure, like they’ve been Edmonton’s punching bag.”

“What happens then is you see a police association getting more activist in its responses, because they’re defending their reputations,” McKeen said.

McKeen encouraged council, the police service and the police association to “dial down the rhetoric.”

The episode also comes days after University of Alberta Prof. Temitope Oriola wrote an op-ed arguing the Edmonton Police Commission has been insufficiently critical of the police service. Oriola wrote the piece in response to an op-ed by commission chairman John McDougall, who defended the police service’s response to noisy “freedom convoys” visiting downtown Edmonton.

jwakefield@postmedia.com
twitter.com/jonnywakefield

ICYMI

Alberta Is Trying To Bring In A New Law To Stop Cities Imposing Their Own Public Health Rules

Alberta Premier Jason Kenney said the province will introduce amendments to stop cities from implementing their own public health rules.

© Provided by Narcity

The move follows a decision by the City of Edmonton to keep its mask mandate in place after provincial restrictions ended on March 1.

At a news conference in Red Deer, Kenney said: “Something Albertans do not deserve right now is uncertainty and confusion.

“We can move forward safely and confidently together with clarity instead of confusion. We are concerned that a patchwork of separate policies across the province could just lead to greater division, confusion, enforcement difficulty, with no compelling public health rationale.”

Amendments will be made the to Municipal Government Act “as soon as possible,” Kenney added.

In a series of tweets, Edmonton Mayor Amarjeet Sohi criticized the premier’s decision, saying the implications of “such an overreach will go far beyond the mask bylaw.”

“If this overreach goes unchallenged, the province could, for example, restrict our smoking bylaws or affect how we build our cities by changing our zoning bylaws or decide how we manage traffic in our neighbourhoods to protect our children,” he explained.

Edmonton chose to keep its masking bylaw in place until the number of active COVID-19 cases was below 100 cases per 100,000 residents for 28 days straight. A city council meeting is scheduled to discuss the bylaw on March 8.

Sohi added that he would be consulting with the city’s legal department, the city council and other municipal organizations to “see how this overreach could be challenged”.

Calgary Mayor Jyoti Gondek also criticized the move by the premier, according to CTV News. The city had been looking to amend its mask bylaw in order to allow peace officers to enforce the provincial mask mandate that remains on transit, CTV reports.

“The city would have to enact its own bylaw, but we can’t because apparently according to the Municipal Government Act, that will be rewritten [so] we won’t have that power," Gondek said.

Kenney also called for an end to the vaccine mandate for Alberta Health Services workers.

“We saw vaccines having a powerful effect […] but that has changed and our approach to the disease has to change," he said.

“We can't just be bloody-minded about this when a policy lever that we pulled is no longer useful.”

GOSH THAT'S GOOD TO KNOW

Saudi crown prince: 'Khashoggi would not even be among the top 1,000 people' prioritized for assassination

Sarakshi Rai 

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said in interview with The Atlantic that it was "obvious" he had not ordered the 2018 killing of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Turkey, contrary to the conclusion of Western governments, implying that the slain journalist was not important enough to kill

.

 Getty Images Saudi crown prince: 'Khashoggi would not even be among the top 1,000 people' prioritized for assassination

"I never read a Khashoggi article in my life," Mohammed said, adding that if he were to send executioners, he would choose a more valuable target - and better assassins.

"If that's the way we did things, Khashoggi would not even be among the top 1,000 people on the list. If you're going to go for another operation like that, for another person, it's got to be professional and it's got to be one of the top 1,000," he said.

A U.S. intelligence report released last year concluded that the crown prince had personally approved the killing and dismemberment of the U.S.-based journalist, who was critical of the Riyadh government, at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul.

Before winning the 2020 election, President Biden vowed to make Saudi Arabia "pay the price" for the Khashoggi killing and turn the country into a "pariah."

Mohammed told The Atlantic that "simply, I do not care" if Biden misunderstands him, adding, "It's up to him to think about the interests of America."

He added that intelligence linking him to the Khashoggi killing "hurt me a lot."

"It hurt me and it hurt Saudi Arabia, from a feelings perspective," he added.

Tthe Khashoggi incident was the worst thing ever to happen to me, because it could have ruined all of my plans" for the country, the 36-year-old de-facto ruler of Saudi Arabia said.

"I feel that human-rights law wasn't applied to me," he added.

"Article XI of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that any person is innocent until proven guilty."

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was thanked by Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for his "leadership" against Russia.

© Provided by Narcity

After the two leaders spoke to each other on the phone on March 2, Zelenskyy tweeted about the conversation he had with Trudeau.

"Talked to [Justin Trudeau]. Thanked him for the leadership in imposing anti-Russian sanctions," the president said.

He also said that he told Trudeau about the need to expand restrictive measures against Russia following its invasion of Ukraine.

"The bombing of civilians in Ukraine must be stopped immediately," Zelenskyy said.

According to a readout of the call shared by the prime minister's office, Zelenskyy also welcomed Canada's announcement of increased military support.

On February 28, Trudeau said that Canada would supply Ukraine with anti-tank weapons systems and upgraded ammunition in addition to three previous shipments of lethal and non-lethal equipment sent to the country.

Before that, on February 24, National Defence Minister Anita Anand revealed that the Canadian Armed Forces are "ready to assist" in the region and that 3,400 military personnel have been placed on standby to deploy to the NATO Response Force if needed.

During the call with Zelenskyy, Trudeau reiterated his support for the Ukrainian people and said he will continue to work to hold Russia accountable for the invasion.

The leaders also discussed additional ways that Canada can support Ukraine in the immediate future.

After the call, Trudeau tweeted about the conversation and said he applauded Zelenskyy's leadership and the courage of Ukrainians.

"Volodymyr, Canada and the world stand with you – and call for an immediate end to President Putin's illegal attacks that have resulted in the deaths of civilians," the PM said.

Trudeau has called Russia's invasion of Ukraine the "greatest threat to European stability since World War II" and he said that the situation "is unlikely to end quickly."

ORNL, TVA to drive decarbonization, explore carbon-free technologies

The Oak Ridger
Tue, March 1, 2022

The U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the Tennessee Valley Authority are joining forces to advance decarbonization technologies from discovery through deployment through a new memorandum of understanding.

High-voltage power lines carry electricity generated by the Tennessee Valley Authority to Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

Eliminating carbon dioxide emissions in the production of U.S. electricity is essential to achieving the federal government’s goal of net-zero carbon emissions. TVA — which provides electricity for 153 local power companies serving 10 million people in Tennessee and parts of six surrounding states — is actively implementing a variety of new technologies in pursuit of this goal, according to a news release issued by both ORNL and TVA.

As DOE’s largest science and energy laboratory, ORNL offers research and development capabilities and expertise that can further accelerate the transition to a carbon-free electricity sector.


“ORNL applies a broad range of scientific capabilities to the development of clean energy solutions, and TVA is an invaluable partner for deploying these technologies for the benefit of East Tennessee and the nation," ORNL Director Thomas Zacharia said in the release.

Partnerships between TVA and ORNL date to the earliest days of the lab, with recent collaborations including the first full-scale computer simulation of a working nuclear reactor and installation of 3D-printed reactor components, all aimed at accelerating cost-effective deployment of carbon-free nuclear power.

“TVA is proud to partner with Oak Ridge National Laboratory to identify and scale innovative nuclear and other technologies that will create a cleaner, carbon-free future,” Jeff Lyash, TVA president and CEO, said in the release. “This is right in TVA’s wheelhouse, and our partnership will redefine what’s possible for the national and global energy industry.”

The institutions will work together to promote, pursue, evaluate and demonstrate the feasibility, operability and affordability of utility-scale decarbonization technologies. These technologies will focus on electricity, but the partners may also explore related developments such as hydrogen generation and grid modernization and security.

Thomas Zacharia

Under the new MOU, the partners intend to explore:


Direct air carbon capture from power-generating plant exhaust and from dilute sources such as the atmosphere;


Converting carbon dioxide into valuable products;


Hydrogen generation and utilization;


Static and dynamic electric vehicle, or EV, charging and applications that pair EVs and the electrical grid;


Light water small modular reactors and fourth-generation advanced nuclear reactors, building on the partners’ 2020 advanced reactor technology MOU;


Long-duration energy storage;


Electrification of parts of the economy currently fueled by fossil energy, as well as solutions related to geothermal heating and cooling along with process heating; and


Modernization of the grid to enhance reliability and resiliency, improve cybersecurity and prevent outages due to extreme weather.

Jeff Lyash

Throughout the partnership, ORNL’s campus will serve as a living laboratory to accelerate the development, demonstration and deployment of these emerging technologies.

This article originally appeared on Oakridger: ORNL, TVA to drive decarbonization, explore carbon-free technologies

Israeli GenCell achieves scientific breakthrough with zero-emission green ammonia project

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF

© (photo credit: MAX PIXEL) Spray Fertilizer Pesticide Tractor Agriculture.

Israeli company GenCell Energy has announced they've achieved a major scientific breakthrough that enables the production of green ammonia directly from water at a very low temperature and pressure in comparison to the traditional ammonia production processes typically carried out around the world today.

Following their evaluation of GenCell's scientific breakthrough, Japanese technology provider TDK Corporation announced they plan to continue investing in and developing GenCell's innovative zero-emission green ammonia synthesis project towards its next milestone.

GenCell, based in Petah Tikva, is the leading provider of hydrogen and ammonia to power solutions.

The company has developed green power solutions based on zero-emission alkaline cells and green ammonia-to-energy technology, which allow for uninterrupted power that can help the world move away from diesel and shift to clean energy.

GenCell co-founder and CEO Rami Reshef says they've developed a "novel approach to producing green ammonia, the fuel of the future, within the framework of the project [they] are carrying out together with the support of TDK."

Their hydrogen-on-demand solution provides central power for off-grid, poor-grid sites, and for rural electrification.

“We believe that the new process will expand the availability of green ammonia for diverse uses, not only as fuel for the backup and off-grid solutions used by our customers, but also for a far wider range of industrial and agricultural applications," Reshef added.

© Provided by The Jerusalem Post Rami Reshef, CEO of GenCell 

(credit: COURTESY OF GENCELL ENERGY)

The company's clean and energy efficient method for producing green ammonia offers an emission-free alternative to some 235 million tons of ammonia produced each year through traditional processes involving pollutant carbon emissions.

The success of this project could allow green ammonia to serve as a central hydrogen carrier for the energy industry and be a key component of fertilizers for agriculture.

Reshef says this breakthrough reaffirms their keen interest in pursuing the project.

Green ammonia could also serve as a key resource for maritime, aviation, semiconductors, and be implemented in many other useful ways.

"This news will certainly be of interest to the broader market seeking innovative solutions to reduce carbon emissions," Reshef said.

The project's completion may help companies meet their carbon neutrality targets.

Elon Musk Welcomes UAW To Come To Tesla And Try To Organize

Steven Loveday 

Musk has said in the past that the union has tried and failed, and he will not do anything to stop them from trying again.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk isn't a fan of unions, and he's made that clear many times in the past. However, his recent issues with President Joe Biden have, once again, amplified the situation. However, Musk made it clear that Tesla won't do anything to stop the UAW from holding a vote. In fact, Musk went so far as to invite the union to come to Tesla and attempt to organize.

© insideEvs.com Copyright elon musk lead

The tweet thread started when Gene Simmons, the lead singer of the rock band Kiss, quoted one of Musk's tweets. Simmons agreed with Musk, saying he makes a solid point, and steering the message toward President Biden.

The Musk tweet that Simmons quoted was originally a reply from Musk to Biden. The Tesla CEO was pointing out yet again that Tesla deserves credit where credit is due, and he specified precisely why.

Vocal Tesla fan and investor James Stephenson replied that Tesla employees already decided not to unionize. It wasn't Musk's choice, but the workers' choice.

As you can see, Musk replied about the situation surrounding jobs in the Bay Area. He also shared that he's officially inviting the UAW to hold a union vote at Tesla at its convenience.

Perhaps President Biden isn't aware that there were earlier attempts to organize Tesla, but we have no way of knowing for sure. It seems someone of his caliber in politics would be made aware, but clearly, there are many more important situations a president has to deal with.

At any rate, the interesting part here will be the aftermath. If the UAW takes Musk up on his offer, this should appease President Biden. It shows an attempt to try to unionize. However, if the attempt fails due to Tesla's employees voting it down, then what will Biden say? He can't really blame Tesla and hold it accountable for not being part of the UAW if its workers don't want to unionize.

Going along with what James tweeted above, the President can't tell those workers that their vote doesn't count or that they voted "wrong." And, the UAW can't force or coerce Tesla to unionize if its workers don't support it. You'd better bet that people will also be keeping a close eye on Tesla and Musk, since the company and its executives also can't work to "convince" employees of how they should vote.

Read These Related Tesla Stories:

Elon Musk Believes Biden's EV Policy Is "Controlled By Unions"

Tesla Giga Berlin Workers Reportedly Planning To Organize A Union

It will be even more interesting if Tesla's workers end up deciding to unionize, as that would come as a huge surprise. What say you?

Source: Elon Musk (Twitter)

Elon Musk challenges UAW to hold a union vote at Tesla's California factory

Mariella Moon 

Elon Musk says Tesla will do nothing to stop United Auto Workers (UAW) from holding a union vote at the company's Fremont, California factory. In a tweet, the company chief said Tesla's real challenge in the Bay Area is negative unemployment, so it treats and compensates its "(awesome) people well" or they'd just leave otherwise.

  

Getty Images An aerial view shows the Tesla Fremont Factory in Fremont, California on February 10, 2022. - Tesla can hardly make enough electric vehicles to meet booming demand, but behind the world's most valuable auto brand is its troubled California factory that makes most of those cars. The Fremont plant near San Francisco has seen a spate of sexual harassment lawsuits, years of racism allegations -- including a California civil rights agency complaint this week -- and even a murder last year

 (Photo by JOSH EDELSON / AFP) (Photo by JOSH EDELSON/AFP via Getty Images)

Musk posted the tweet in response to Kiss co-lead singer Gene Simmons who sided with the executive when he called out the President for not mentioning Tesla in his State of the Union Address. The President only praised Ford and General Motors for investing billions of dollars in their efforts to release electric vehicles, thereby generating thousands of jobs in the process. As Bloomberg notes, Biden is a labor union supporter and often snubs Tesla, which has a non-unionized workforce, in his speeches and interviews.

In a follow-up tweet, Musk claimed that Tesla factory workers have the highest compensation in the auto industry, posting an interview of GM CEO Mary Barra as his source. In the interview, news anchor and journalist Andrew Sorkin said Tesla's non-unionized workers were earning more than their unionized counterparts. Barra said she'd have to see more information, since one must also take benefits and not just wages into account, but that what Sorkin said wasn't the case last time she checked.



The UAW has been working to unionize Tesla for years, and Musk has criticized those efforts from the start. When a Fremont production worker claimed poor working conditions and low pay in 2017, Musk reportedly sent out a letter to employees with a point-by-point takedown while also slamming UAW. He said the union's true allegiance is to the "giant car companies, where the money they take from employees in dues is vastly more than they could ever make from Tesla."

In the same year, the National Labor Relations Board filed a complaint against the automaker after investigating complaints of unfair labor practices. According to the NLRB, workers said Tesla "coerces and intimidates" them with a confidentiality agreement that prevents them from discussing unionization. In 2018, the NLRB found that the company violated labor laws when it fired union activist Richard Ortiz and ordered it to compensate him for loss of earnings and benefits.

The labor board also ordered Musk to delete a tweet that might sound like a threat to employees. In the tweet, Musk similarly invited efforts to unionize. "Nothing stopping Tesla team at our car plant from voting union. Could do so [tomorrow] if they wanted," he wrote. However, he also said: "But why pay union dues & give up stock options for nothing?" NLRB chair Wilma Liebman explained at the time that to an employee, that may sound like they'll no longer have stock options if they vote to unionize.

 As Electrek notes, Tesla offers its stock compensation program to most of its employees, and the company's rising stock prices makes it a very valuable benefit.

Pangaea: Facts about an ancient supercontinent

Tia Ghose 

About 300 million years ago, Earth didn't have seven continents, but instead one massive supercontinent called Pangaea, which was surrounded by a single ocean called Panthalassa.

© Provided by Live Science null

The explanation for Pangaea's formation ushered in the modern theory of plate tectonics, which posits that the Earth's outer shell is broken up into several plates that slide over Earth's rocky shell, the mantle.

Over the course of the planet's 4.5 billion-year history, several supercontinents have formed and broken up, a result of churning and circulation in the Earth's mantle, which makes up 84% of the planet's volume, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. This breakup and formation of supercontinents has dramatically altered the planet's history.

"This is what's driven the entire evolution of the planet through time. This is the major backbeat of the planet," said Brendan Murphy, a geology professor at the St. Francis Xavier University, in Antigonish, Nova Scotia.
Pangaea's history

More than a century ago, the scientist Alfred Wegener proposed the notion of an ancient supercontinent, which he named Pangaea (sometimes spelled Pangea), after putting together several lines of evidence.

The first and most obvious was that the "continents fit together like a tongue and groove," something that was quite noticeable on any accurate map, Murphy said. Another telltale hint that Earth's continents were all one land mass comes from the geologic record. Coal deposits found in Pennsylvania have a similar composition to those spanning across Poland, Great Britain and Germany from the same time period. That indicates that North America and Europe must have once been a single landmass. And the orientation of magnetic minerals in geologic sediments reveals how Earth's magnetic poles migrated over geologic time, Murphy said.

In the fossil record, identical plants, such as the extinct seed fern Glossopteris, are found on now widely disparate continents. And mountain chains that now lie on different continents, such as the Appalachians in the United States and the Atlas Mountains spanning Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia were all part of the Central Pangaea Mountains, formed through the collision of the supercontinents Gondwana and Laurussia.

The word "Pangaea" comes from the Greek "pan," which means "all," and "gaia" or "Earth," according to the Online Etymology Dictionary. The supercontinent formed through a gradual process spanning a few hundred million years.

In the early Phanerozoic eon (541 million years ago to now), almost all of the continents were in the Southern Hemisphere, with Gondwana, the largest continent, spanning from the South Pole to the equator, according to a chapter in the scientific book "Ancient Supercontinents and the Paleogeography of Earth" (Elsevier, 2021). The Northern Hemisphere was largely covered by the Panthalassic Ocean. Another ocean — called Iapetus, after a mythical Greek titan — between the paleo-continents Laurentia, Baltica and Gondwana, began to close during the Ordovician period (485 million to 444 million years ago) and then disappeared during the Silurian period (444 million to 419 million years ago), when Baltica and Avalonia collided with Laurentia to form Laurussia, according to the chapter, "Phanerozoic paleogeography and Pangea."

Finally, about 320 million years ago, there was a major collision, geologically speaking, "when Gondwana, Laurussia, and intervening terranes collided to form the Pangea supercontinent," according to the chapter, written by Earth scientists Trond Torsvik, Mathew Domeier and Robin Cocks.

However, Pangaea wasn't the megalithe most people think it is. "Pangea never included all the continents at any one time," according to the chapter. For instance, "the Paleotethys Ocean to the east of Pangea remained wide throughout the Carboniferous [359 million to 299 million years ago] and presented something of a barrier between the supercontinent and a number of large, independent Asian terranes, including Tarim, North China, South China, and Annamia."

Later, during the Permian period (299 million to 251 million years ago), "many former peri-Gondwanan terranes drifted off the north-east Gondwana margin, commencing the opening of the Neotethys Ocean," according to the chapter.
When did Pangaea break apart?

Pangaea broke up in several phases between 195 million and 170 million years ago. The breakup began about 195 million years ago in the early Jurassic period, when the Central Atlantic Ocean opened, according to the chapter. The supercontinent fractured largely along previous sutures.

Gondwana (what is now Africa, South America, Antarctica, India and Australia) first split from Laurasia (Eurasia and North America). Then about 150 million years ago, Gondwana broke up. India peeled off from Antarctica, and Africa and South America rifted, according to a 1970 article in the Journal of Geophysical Research. Around 60 million years ago, North America split off from Eurasia.
Pangaea's climate

Having one massive landmass made for very different climatic cycles. For instance, the interior of the continent may have been utterly dry, as it was locked behind massive mountain chains that blocked all moisture or rainfall, Murphy said.

But the coal deposits found in the United States and Europe reveal that parts of the ancient supercontinent near the equator must have been a lush, tropical rainforest, similar to the Amazonian jungle, Murphy said. (Coal forms when dead plants and animals sink into swampy water, where pressure and water transform the material into peat, then coal.)

"The coal deposits are essentially telling us that there was plentiful life on land," Murphy told Live Science.

Climate models confirm that the continental interior of Pangaea was extremely seasonal, according to a 2016 article in the journal Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology. The researchers in this study used biological and physical data from the Moradi Formation, a region of layered paleosols (fossil soils) in northern Niger, to reconstruct the ecosystem and climate during the time period when Pangaea existed. Comparable with the modern-day African Namib Desert and the Lake Eyre Basin in Australia, the climate was generally arid with short, recurring wet periods that occasionally included catastrophic flash floods.

The climate also influenced where animals lived. During the late Triassic, Reptile-like animals in the family Procolophonidae lived in one region, while mammal relatives, known as cynodonts, lived in another, a 2011 study in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found. Cynodonts inhabited one tropical area of Pangaea, where monsoon-like rains fell twice a year. Up north, procolophonids lived in temperate regions where it only rained once a year. It's likely that the cynodonts needed a water-rich area, which restricted their movements on Pangaea, the researchers said.

"It's interesting that something as basic as how the body deals with waste can restrict the movement of an entire group," Whiteside said in a statement. In drier areas, "the reptiles had a competitive advantage over mammals," which is likely why they stayed there, Whiteside said.
Pangaea animals

Pangaea existed for more than 100 million years, and during that time many animal groups thrived. During the Permian period, insects such as beetles and dragonflies flourished, as did the predecessors of mammals: the synapsids. But the existence of Pangaea overlapped with the worst mass extinction in history, the Permian-Triassic (P-TR) extinction event. Also called the Great Dying, it occurred around 252 million years ago and caused 96% of all marine species and around 70% of terrestrial species to go extinct, according to the Geological Society of America.

The early Triassic period saw the rise of archosaurs, a group of animals that eventually gave rise to crocodiles, birds and a plethora of reptiles, including pterosaurs. And about 230 million years ago some of the earliest dinosaurs emerged on Pangaea, including theropods, largely carnivorous dinosaurs that mostly had air-filled bones and feathers similar to birds.
Cycle in history

The current configuration of continents is unlikely to be the last. Supercontinents have formed several times in Earth's history, only to be split off into new continents. Right now for instance, Australia is inching toward Asia, and the eastern portion of Africa is slowly peeling off from the rest of the continent.

Based on the emergence of other supercontinents in the Precambrian supereon (4.5 billion to 541 million years ago), it appears that supercontinents occur periodically every 750 million years, according to a 2012 study in the journal Gondwana Research.

Most scientists believe that the supercontinent cycle is largely driven by circulation dynamics in the mantle, according to a 2010 article in the Journal of Geodynamics.

Beyond that, the details get fuzzy. While the heat formed in the mantle likely comes from the radioactive decay of unstable elements, such as uranium, scientists don't agree on whether there are mini-pockets of heat flow within the mantle, or if the entire shell is one big heat conveyor belt, Murphy said.
Current research on Pangaea

Scientists have created mathematical, 3D simulations to better understand the mechanisms behind continental movement. In a 2018 article in the journal Geoscience Frontiers, Earth scientists Masaki Yoshida and M. Santosh explained how they produced simulations of large-scale continental movements since the breakup of Pangaea about 200 million years ago. The models show how tectonic plate motion and mantle convection forces worked together to break apart and move large land masses. For example, Pangaea's large mass insulated the mantle underneath, causing mantle flows that triggered the initial breakup of the supercontinent. Radioactive decay of the upper mantle also raised the temperature, causing upward mantle flows that broke off the Indian subcontinent and initiated its northern movement.

Yoshida and Santos created additional geological models to predict mantle convection and continental movement patterns 250 million years in the future. These models suggest that over millions of years, the Pacific Ocean will close as Australia, North America, Africa, and Eurasia come together in the Northern Hemisphere. Eventually, these continents will merge, forming a supercontinent called "Amasia." The two remaining continents, Antarctica and South America, are predicted to remain relatively immobile and separate from the new supercontinent.

Additional reporting by Carol Stoll, Live Science contributor
Additional resources
Enroll in the free online Cousera course "Our Earth: Its Climate, History, and Processes" offered by the University of Manchester in the U.K.
U.S. Geological Survey: This Dynamic Earth: The Story of Plate Tectonics
Check out this interactive map that shows where modern countries could have sat on the Pangaea supercontinent.
Bibliography

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U.S. Geological Survey. "The Interior of the Earth." Last modified Jan. 14, 2011.

Online Etymology Dictionary. "Pangaea."

Torsvik, T.H., et al. "Chapter 18 - Phanerozoic paleogeography and Pangea. 2021.

Robert S. Dietz,John C. Holden. Journal of Geophysical Research. 1970.

Looy, C.V. et al. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology. 2016.

Jun Liu and Fernando Abdala. "Early Evolutionary History of the Synapsida." Sept. 21, 2013.

Geological Society of America. "The “Great Dying." May 19, 2021.

Whiteside, J.H., et al. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 2011.

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