Tesla can now sell its vehicles in New Jersey

Tech Crunch reports that Tesla has won it's legal battle against New Jersey legislators.

Last year, New Jersey (along with four other states) infamously banned Tesla from selling the Model S inside of the state. The ban was put in place because Tesla Motors sells it's vehicles directly to consumers out of their own show rooms.

"But what about that is illegal?"

It was opposed by car dealerships because car companies selling directly to consumers would destroy their business model, of buying from the company and then selling to consumers for a profit. Thats right; an outdated group of business owners lobbied against Tesla from breaking through their monopoly on car sales.

Elon Musk posted on Tesla's official blog after the ban:

"On Tuesday, under pressure from the New Jersey auto dealer lobby to protect its monopoly, the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission, composed of political appointees of the Governor, ended your right to purchase vehicles at a manufacturer store within the state."

Thankfully the ban has been lifted, but for months it was true that New Jersey had "ended [the consumer's] right" to purchase an item that would be otherwise completely legal.

Do American consumers have the right to purchase what they want? Do American businesses have the right to sell whatever they want? At what point (if any) is it justifiable for the government to intervene?

I think intervention should only take place in the situation of danger to an American citizen. It most certainly should not be used to protect a monopoly. 

Do you think American's have the "right" to purchase/sell what they want? 

Schools dealing with cyber bullying

Watch this video from New York Times.

"Cyber bullying isn't going to stop if someone gets suspended; it's always going to be a problem. The only way to stop cyber bullying is to shut off Facebook, Instagram, Kik...all that stuff"

If it's always going to be a problem, I think school need to educate students on how to deal with these problems on their own. Of course the school needs to intervene, but like the student said, they can only do so much.

Rapper Tyler the Creator has infamously tweeted this about cyber bullying:

While explicit and immature, it is important to recognize this type of viewpoint. Bullying exists everywhere, and people need the skills to combat it independently for times after high school is over. There is bullying in college, in the workplace, and in every community. I believe that along side programs that work to stop bullying, schools should also educate students on how to "close their eyes" and "walk away from the screen."

Although it might seem like they are ignoring the real problem, it is important to teach students in a way that will assist them in the rest of their lives.

Only 30% of Google's employees are female.

An article on CNN reports that google lacks gender diversity. The women that they do manage to get jobs at the company work in lower paying, non-technical and non-leadership positions. Just 17% of Google's engineers are female, and women make up just 21% of the company's leadership. Only one of the company's top 12 executives (YouTube director Susan Wojcicki) is a woman.


Unfortunately, recent government diversity reports show that google is not alone in this issue. Cisco, Intel, Dell, Ebay, and Ingram Micro all struggle to maintain a gender diverse staff.


The article offers one popular explanation for this: that not enough women are graduating with the technical degrees required for the positions. CNN claims that the diversity problem starts in college. Intel's chief diversity officer Rosalind Hudnell states that "An engineering degree is probably the best you can get for finding a job, yet we don't have enough diverse students taking an interest." Data from the Computer Research Association backs up this statement; last year only 13.4% of those graduating with these technical degrees were women.


While this all makes sense, some might question if the problem really is women "not taking an interest," but instead the lack of opportunity for women in America.

In an article from USA Today, Coleen Carrigan, an anthropologist who researches high-tech cultures stated that "Women and underrepresented minorities have been denied access to resources and opportunities that would allow them to enter and succeed in computer science,"

However, I am skeptical about her claim. The article also offers that students coming from high schools where computer science isn't taught, are disadvantaged from those who do. But what is stopping women specifically from taking those classes along with the men at schools where they are offered? There is no proof that women specifically, in comparison to men, have been denied the opportunities to seek these degrees.

If that means the answer is that women just aren't taking enough interest, then why do you think that is? Leave a comment