Things Noticeable this week

[tsunamiSD]

any cuts in services is always a problem, but more so for a program like this

[Rogerbh]

https://www.fox35orlando.com/news/of...n-offended-man

Officials: Woman passed gas, then pulled knife on offended man

People fart all the time, I do wonder what the guy did that made the farter pull a knife.



I guess there was no dog nearby to blame.

[BondJmsBond]

Originally Posted by tsunamiSD

any cuts in services is always a problem, but more so for a program like this

This is a shame and as it says many will suffer as budgets are cut in California in addition to this good 50-year old program.

Of course the larger issue and the cause of this is the question why California has gone from a $100 billion surplus in 2022 to a $70 billion deficit today?

[DTravel]

Walmart and Target’s earnings pull back the curtain on an America struggling with high inflation
Fortune

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/comp...61134550&ei=51

Economists have been looking for cracks in U.S. consumer spending for years now amid persistent inflation and higher interest rates, but until recently, Americans have defied the odds at every turn. Despite consistent recession forecasts and dismal consumer sentiment numbers caused by the soaring cost of living, Americans managed to continue spending at record levels until recently. But in April, retail sales growth stopped completely. And now, major retailers' earnings reports have revealed some stark warning signs about the health of the American consumer.

First, to be clear, Walmart won the day. The retail giant topped Wall Street’s earnings and revenue forecasts in the first quarter, reporting adjusted earnings per share of $0.60, compared to the expected $0.52, and revenue of $161.5 billion, surpassing the forecasted $159.5 billion. E-commerce offerings and spending from high-income customers helped buoy the results. But the company also witnessed a key spending pattern that typically occurs when consumers are feeling financial strain: a shift from spending on wants to spending on needs.

As Walmart CFO John D. Rainey explained on an earnings call with analysts on May 16: “Many consumer pocketbooks are still stretched, and we see the effect of that in our business mix as they're spending more of their paychecks on non-discretionary categories and less on general merchandise.”

Walmart said it has increased the number of price cuts, or “rollbacks,” that it offers on key items to boost sales, partly because, as Rainey repeated on the call, “wallets have been stretched.” When asked why he declined to raise Walmart’s forward earnings guidance by Morgan Stanley analyst Simeon Gutman, Rainey also gave a telling response, emphasizing his uncertainty around consumer spending.

“I think we'd all agree that we're in far from a certain environment around the consumer. The health of the consumer is something we read about every single day, and given that we're one quarter into the year, we just want to be patient,” the CFO said.

It wasn’t just Walmart that brought up concerns about the health of the consumer in their first quarter earnings report. Target saw its net sales drop 3.1% from a year ago to $24.5 billion in the first few months of 2024, and missed earnings estimates, with diluted earnings per share coming in at $2.03, compared to the forecasted $2.05. Inflation-weary shoppers turned toward necessities during the quarter, according to Target, leading to the sales and earnings dip.

In a follow up call with reporters, chairman and CEO Brian Cornell said that Target shoppers’ “biggest challenges” are “inflation in food and household essentials,” Yahoo Finance reported. Cornell even added that there has been a “strain on the consumer wallet" in an echo of Walmart CFO John Rainey’s comments.

Target saw a comparable store sales decline of 4.8% in its physical stores in the first quarter as shoppers looked for cheaper options, and only a slight rise in comparable online sales. In a move to prevent further sales declines, the company unveiled a plan to slash prices on nearly 5,000 everyday items like groceries and diapers.

But on Target’s earnings call with analysts Wednesday, chief growth officer Christina Hennington noted that she is paying close attention to consumers’ ongoing financial strain to determine the correct path for the company, signaling the price cuts might not be enough to reignite growth.

“The sustained level of elevated prices has had a meaningful impact on budgets and savings for many families,” Hennington said. “Currently one in three Americans has maxed out or is nearing the limit on at least one of their credit cards. For these reasons and more, we remain cautious in our near-term growth outlook.”

[DTravel]

No, combustion engines won’t be supplanted by electric vehicles—and they’re critical for sustainable transport
Fortune

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/techn...afd7621&ei=112

Today, support for a sustainable future of transport is unanimous, and it is rightfully acknowledged that electric vehicles (EVs) will play a critical role in pursuing this transition. However, we also need to remember that there is no one-solution approach to sustainable mobility. Every part of the world, while heading in the same direction, needs the ability to use the solutions that are the best fit for their markets.

For several years, policymakers have experimented with legislative force to influence a complete transition away from internal combustion engines (ICEs). These include the EU’s now-downscaled ban on new ICEs from 2035 onwards, and the Glasgow Declaration commitment at COP26 to end ICE sales globally by 2040.

Legislation can influence the direction of change, but it’s ultimately consumer demand that drives its pace. And the market indicates an enduring demand for ICEs.

Hybrids on the rise

Take the European new-car market, which has seen one of the strongest legislative pushes for an ICE phaseout: Despite this, ICE-powered hybrid registrations rose by 12.6% in March, while battery-electric registrations dropped by 11.3% in the same period. In some markets, like South America, demand remains overwhelmingly in favour of ICEs: Of the 3.1 million new passenger cars sold in the region in 2023, only 90,000 of them were EVs—around 3%.

Along with ICEs enjoying robust demand, they’re also key to deploying pivotal sustainable fuel technologies at scale, such as synthetic e-fuels or green hydrogen. The successful deployment of new fuels is a critical priority for some regions, with automotive leaders like Renault Group CEO Luca de Meo—also president of the European Automobile Manufacturers Association—arguing that hydrogen leadership should be a major project for Europe, if it wishes to compete against China’s booming automotive sector.

By 2030, McKinsey estimates that investments into hydrogen alone will total $320 billion, with annual investment in other sustainable fuel categories averaging $51 billion. To be employed for transport and mobility, these zero- or low-emission fuels will require next-generation ICE powertrains. By using these fuels, hybrids and ICEs can achieve a near-identical carbon footprint to EVs, from cradle-to-grave.

ICEs have a proven track record of leveraging sustainable, alternative fuels. In fact, this is the reason ICEs continue to play a dominant role in some markets, including Brazil: There, clean bioethanol-powered ICEs make up more than 80% of the country’s new vehicle sales. Bioethanol, flex fuels, and other sustainable fuels are established fixtures in many economies, and are set to further grow in adoption as a major component of various national sustainability roadmaps. For example, India plans to roll out a new 20% bioethanol fuel standard next year.

Peak EV adoption

As a result, some industry leaders believe that ICE-powered vehicles will be in the dominant majority for decades, with Toyota chairman Akio Toyoda projecting that global EV adoption will peak at just 30%. In my opinion, the more accurate long-term estimate of EV adoption came in 2019 from S&P, which predicted that 50% of all new passenger and light-duty vehicles sold worldwide would be EVs in 2040.

Regardless of what its exact market share is, the fundamental point is that the internal combustion engine—especially when powered by low-carbon technology and alternative fuels—will remain a significant fixture of the automotive market well into the future.

An understanding as to how resilient ICEs are is spreading across the automotive supply chain, with many in the industry quietly stepping back from earlier commitments to go fully electric within the next five to 10 years. Despite the significant regulatory and investment incentives in the wake of the Glasgow Declaration, the supply chain still needs to respond to demand—and the reality is that demand for ICEs is not falling in the way many have predicted.

EVs are fantastic mobility options in dense, urbanised environments like the EU and China, which helps explain why 85% of new EVs are sold within these markets. However, consumer demand for ICEs remains strong in the global south. Along with persistent regional demand, primary sectors such as agriculture, heavy-duty transport, and energy generation still widely depend on combustion engines.

A joint effort

When considering the future importance of ICEs, we should also remember that there is more to mobility than just passenger cars. There are estimated to be over 300 million trucks and buses worldwide, with the majority using ICEs. These vehicles represent significant capital expenditure for their owners and are set to enjoy many decades of continued use. Introducing flex fuels and retrofitting combustion engines with alternative fuel systems into the existing vehicle mix, at scale, will have a transformational effect on the world’s journey toward sustainable mobility.

Investment in and uptake of differing mobility solutions will, in part, be driven by geography and geopolitics. China, for example, may possess an overwhelming raw material advantage when it comes to EV production, yet other regions contain other resources, such as the Middle East’s natural gas and oil fields, or Europe’s larger vehicle production network. Along with different regions having their own unique demands, they also have their own unique strengths in what they can offer to the global automotive supply chain.

At the heart of the transition toward sustainable transport is continued innovation, powered by open and realistic minds. Rather than viewing this transition as a race between different solutions, we should see it as a joint effort by these solutions to create new paths towards more sustainable futures, and to power tomorrow.

[Dr Pepper]

https://www.stuff.co.nz/nz-news/3502...hem-and-murder

So a 13 year old is now facing a murder charge....no doubt the offender's family/relatives will be full of excuses ..'just a good kid'...'always nice to their mother' etc...the usual cognitive dissonance and drivel that gets trotted out on these occasions...

[Rogerbh]

Latest information update on that Columbus, Ohio shooting that left 3 dead near a Hookah business.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other...d=BingNewsSerp

Police bodycam video shows aftermath of north Columbus shooting that left 3 dead, 3 injured

Seems like a late-night drive by shooting in a predominately Black neighborhood - leaving at least 2 young Black men with criminal records dead. No info on the wounded, no idea if the shooter actually hit his/her intended targets.

[foxbat1]

Huntsville church employee accused of sending explicit messages to teenager

A now former Summit Crossing Community Church employee is behind bars after he was accused of sending inappropriate messages to a teenager.

An investigation into 49-year-old Mark Sellers began last week over reports alleging that he sent “sexually inappropriate and explicit messages to a teenager.”

https://www.waff.com/2024/05/23/hunt...ages-teenager/

[foxbat1]

Three men linked to Chi Alpha sexual assault of a minor have been arrested

COLLEGE STATION, Texas (KRHD) — Three men linked to a sexual assault of a minor lawsuit in College Station are behind bars in the Brazos County Jail Thursday morning.

William Johnson, Otto Randolph, and Ryan Hoffart are named in a lawsuit filed in January against the College Station Chi Alpha Ministries, General Council of the Assemblies of God, North Texas District Council Assemblies of God, and Mountain Valley Fellowship.

A fourth man, Alex Owens, is named in the lawsuit. He also has a warrant out for his arrest, but law enforcement have not been able to find him.

The lawsuit alleges Johnson, Randolph and Hoffart repeatedly sexually assaulted L.H., who was 13 at the time. Hoffart also drove L.H. to Houston to be sexually assaulted by Daniel Savala, a registered sex offender who was viewed as a religious leader and mentor in the Chi Alpha chapter at Texas A&M and in Mountain Valley Fellowship in College Station, where L.H. and his family were members of the congregation.

Savala was arrested at his home in Houston in May, 2023.

https://www.kxxv.com/news/local-news...-been-arrested

[jomama]

Florida priest accused of biting woman who was trying to take Communion

A Florida priest is accused of biting a woman during a dispute at Sunday Mass and could be charged with battery.

The woman attended a 10 a.m. service at St. Thomas Aquinas Church in St. Cloud on Sunday and tried to take Communion, the Diocese of Orlando said.

She had a brief discussion with the Rev. Fidel Rodriguez, who told her she hadn't taken the proper steps to secure Communion and sent her away with a blessing, the diocese said in a statement.

The woman returned for a service two hours later and again tried to take Communion, and when Rodriguez asked her whether she had performed the prerequisite of Confession required by the Catholic Church to receive the Eucharist, she told him “it was not his business,” according to the diocese.
Rodriguez, who didn't have any information or details about the woman's background, offered her Holy Communion, the church said.

"At that point, the woman forcefully placed her hand in the vessel and grabbed some sacred Communion hosts, crushing them," the diocese said. Rodriguez, who had only one free hand, struggled with the woman "as she refused to let go of the hosts."

The church said the woman then pushed Rodriguez, who "bit her hand so she would let go of the hosts she grabbed."

She was immediately asked to leave.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/fl...D=ansmsnnews11