Netflix never talks audience numbers with its shows, but there’s one sure way to know when one is doing poorly. The streaming company cancelled Girlboss, the third series over the last month to get canned. The show was unpopular with critics from the…
TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan’s Takata Corp, the firm at the center of the auto industry’s biggest ever product recall, filed for bankruptcy protection in the United States and Japan, and said it would be bought for $1.6 billion by U.S.-based Key Safety Systems.
In the biggest bankruptcy of a Japanese manufacturer, Takata faces tens of billions of dollars in costs and liabilities resulting from almost a decade of recalls and lawsuits.
Its airbags have been linked to at least 17 deaths around the world.
TK Holdings, its U.S. operations, filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy in Delaware on Sunday with liabilities of $10 billion to $50 billion, while the Japanese parent filed for protection with the Tokyo District Court early on Monday.
Takata’s total liabilities stand at 1.7 trillion yen ($15 billion), Tokyo Shoko Research Ltd estimated.
Final liabilities would depend on the outcome of discussions with carmaker customers who have borne the bulk of the replacement costs, a lawyer for the company said.
The filings open the door to the financial rescue by Key Safety Systems (KSS), a Michigan-based parts supplier owned by China’s Ningbo Joyson Electronic Corp.
In a deal that took 16 months to hammer out, KSS agreed to take over Takata’s viable operations, while the remaining operations will be reorganised to continue churning out millions of replacement airbag inflators, the two firms said.
The U.S. company would keep “substantially all” of Takata’s 60,000 employees in 23 countries and maintain its factories in Japan. The agreement is meant to allow Takata to continue operating without interruptions and with minimal disruptions to its supply chain.
“We believe taking these actions in Japan and the U.S. is the best way to address the ongoing costs and liabilities of the airbag inflator issues with certainty and in an organised manner,” Takata CEO Shigehisa Takada said in a statement.
Takada said he and top management would resign “when the timing of the restructuring is set.”
His family – which still has control of the 84-year-old company – likely would cease to be shareholders.
Jason Luo, president and CEO of KSS, said in a statement the “underlying strength” of Takata’s business had not diminished despite the airbag recall, citing its skilled employee base, geographic reach and other safety products such as seat belts.
The companies expect to seal definitive agreements for the sale in coming weeks and complete the twin bankruptcy processes in the first quarter of 2018.
The filings have, however, not resolved all issues.
Honda Motor Co, Takata’s biggest customer, said it had reached no final agreement with Takata on responsibilities for the recall.
Honda said it would continue talks with the supplier but anticipated difficulties in recovering the bulk of its claims.
Takata faces billions in lawsuits and recall-related costs to its clients, including Honda, BMW, Toyota Motor Corp and others which have been paying recall costs to date.
It also faces potential liabilities stemming from class action lawsuits in the United States, Canada and other countries.
Global transport authorities have ordered about 100 million inflators to be recalled.
Industry sources have said that recall costs could climb to about $10 billion.
The ammonium nitrate compound used in the airbags was found to become volatile with age and prolonged exposure to heat, causing the devices to explode.
Costs so far have pushed the company into the red for three years, and it has been forced to sell subsidiaries to pay fines and other liabilities.
Founded as a textiles company in 1933, Takata began producing airbags in 1987 and at its peak became the world’s No.2 producer of the safety products.
It also produces one-third of all seatbelts used in vehicles sold globally, along with other components.
The Tokyo Stock Exchange said its shares would be delisted on July 27. The stock has collapsed 95 percent since January 2014 as the recalls mounted.
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It might surprise some people but almost a quarter of Canada call French their second tongue. That makes it a bit tricky to roll out products in this major market that have to straddle not only English but also French, specifically French Canadian. Google, however, as sufficiently overcome that hurdle and, starting today, users in the French-speaking quarters of the … Continue reading
Mohu has something new for all of the cord-cutters out there. The company has upgraded its indoor Leaf antenna and the new version delivers a 65-mile reception range. That’s up from the 50-mile range of the previous model. Mohu says that its SignaLif…
Police in Norway are vowing to catch the vandals who hacked off a rock formation that resembled an erect penis.
The fallen Trollpikken (loosely, the “troll dick”) was a popular destination in Eigersund for hikers and climbers. But Olav Magne Egebakken told Norway’s TV 2 that he was running past the formation on Saturday when he noticed the “troll” was no longer aroused.
“It looks like someone has used a drill on top,” Egebakken told the network. “This is vandalism, there is no doubt.”
Whoever vandalized the rock could face up to six years in prison, but so far there are no suspects. Authorities plan to further investigate on Monday.
“The evidence is there and we’ve got pictures,” Magnar Sandstøl, acting police chief in Eigersund, told NRK. He will question possible witnesses this week.
Stavanger Aftenblad, a daily newspaper in Stavanger, Norway, posted an image of the damage on Instagram:
Footage from the scene posted on Facebook also showed the damage as well as the grooves that indicated the use of a tool or tools to take down the Trollpikken:
Eigersund Mayor Odd Stangeland lamented the landmark’s loss.
“This is simply sad!” Stangeland wrote on Facebook, adding that the community had hoped the formation could be used to draw more tourists to the region. He said it had been “created by nature,” but was now “sadly destroyed by humans.”
However, all may not be lost.
Contractor Sverre Garpestad told TV 2 that with the aid of helicopters, it would take about an hour to drill new supports, add bolts and mortar, and replace the rock.
“We have the Viagra it takes,” he was quoted as saying.
Now, presumably, all Garpestad needs is the money for the job. To that end, a crowdfunding site in Norway has raised about $20,000, nearly two-thirds of a goal set by activists to repair the formation.
(h/t Mashable)
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There are good insects, and then there are bad bugs. And the folks at Seattle-based Intellectual Ventures Lab (IVL) have been working on a device that will only kill pests and leave the others unharmed. It’s called the Photonic Fence, and has been in…
Solange Knowles helped BET and My Black Is Beautiful honor Women’s March organizer and civil rights activist Tamika D. Mallory at the 2017 BET Awards on Sunday.
The “Cranes in the Sky” singer presented the Shine A Light Award to Mallory with $10,000 to continue her women’s advocacy work.
“Tonight, I am honored to share the stage with a sister who does everything to use her voice to advocate for issues that impact [people of color and women]. A social justice leader and activist, Tamika Mallory works tirelessly to give a voice to minority groups and is championing for correcting social injustices,” Solange said.
“This past week, we have been reminded of just how much work needs to be done,” she continued, referring to both the black lives taken recently and the black victims of state violence who were denied justice. She asked the audience to take a moment of silence to reflect on their lives.
The artist went on to highlight Mallory’s background in activism, passed down from her parents, who were founding members of the National Action Network. Solange then went into Mallory’s present-day work.
“Her efforts in helping to organize the Women’s March was, as she states, ′to ensure that black women’s voices were upheld, uplifted and that our issues were addressed and heard.′ Tamika ensured just that,” Solange said.
“I am so pleased and honored to honor Tamika, who works daily to highlight the many contributions that women continue to make around the world,” she continued. “To help further her initiatives, Black is Beautiful will be providing her with a gift to continue her outstanding work on women’s issues. Tamika Mallory, on behalf of My Black is Beautiful and BET, we shine a light on you because your black is truly beautiful.”
After Solange’s speech, Mallory powerfully raised her fist in the air.
Before Sunday’s ceremony, Mallory thanked BET and My Black is Beautiful for presenting her with the award.
Watch Solange’s full speech in the video above.
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It’s one (rather humbling) thing to be honored with BET’s Humanitarian Award ― it’s another to be praised by Michelle Obama and to have her call you a friend. But leave it to Chance The Rapper to accomplish both by the age of 24.
In addition to taking home the award for Best New Artist during the 2017 BET Awards, which aired Sunday, the rapper and activist became the youngest person to receive its Humanitarian Award.
Chance donated $1 million to public schools in his hometown of Chicago in March, led campaigns to give outerwear to Chicago’s homeless and even led a march to Chicago voting polls on Election Day 2016.
His list of social deeds can go on for days, which is probably why he was able to get a shoutout from our favorite first lady.
“We are so incredibly proud of you, Chance,” the former FLOTUS began. “We have known Chance and his family since he was a wee little baby rapper and it has been a thrill watching him come into his own in so many ways.”
“In addition to making some really amazing music, Chance has been taking that big bright spotlight that follows him around and shining it on our hometown of Chicago,” she continued. “Chance is showing our young people that they matter, they have something inside of them that is worthy of being expressed.”
After the first lady’s touching words, cameras caught Chance with tears in his eyes.
His acceptance speech, which he said was impromptu because he wanted to “speak from the heart,” proved his accolades from Mrs. Obama were well deserved.
After declaring a love for black people, Chance went into a spiel about how this country can start making things right.
“I had plans originally to try to tell the world and everybody watching how to make it a better place,” he said.
“To tell everybody in this government that y’all need to let everybody out of jail for selling weed before y’all start making it legal for people to sell it and make capital off it,” he continued, making pointed eye contact with the camera.
“I was going to tell the Chicago public school system not to take out a loan from Chase Bank when they know that our schools are planning on failing in our district,” he said to increasing applause.
Before ending his speech, Chance declared that he also wants to work on himself and become a better father, cousin, etc.
He then had the nerve to say he doesn’t yet feel the award is deserved. Let the humbleness take a seat for one night, Chano.
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How discouraged should Democrats be after failing to win any of the four recent House special elections to fill vacancies? The losses, most recently of Jon Ossoff, in Georgia’s 6th district, triggered a blame game, directed against House leader Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic National Committee, the tacticians of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, and candidate Ossoff himself.
For starters, consider the numbers. Every one of these races was a long shot, and in every case the Democrat did notably better than his counterpart in 2014 or 2016.
Ossoff lost by 3.7 points. In 2016, the Democrat lost the seat by 16.2 points. In other words, Ossoff improved the Democratic performance by more than 12 points.
Likewise in the Kansas 4th district election of April 11, Democrat James Thompson lost by 6.8 points. But in the 2016 election, the Democrat lost by a massive 24.6 percent. The swing was 17.8 points to the Democrat.
In South Carolina’s 5th district election June 20, a sleeper race which did not compete seriously for national funding, Democrat Archie Parnell lost by just 3.2 points—less than 3,000 votes―and benefited from a swing of over 10 points compared to 2016. Even in the May contest for Montana’s at large seat, Democrat Rob Quist gained 2.7 points relative to the 2016 House race, and did almost 11 points better than Trump.
The average Democratic gain in these four long-shot races was about ten points. If that average were to hold nationwide in 2018, Democrats would comfortably take back the House.
But what about the charge that House leader Nancy Pelosi, at 77 and representing liberal San Francisco, presents the wrong image for the national party? Republican Karen Handel, who won the Georgia seat, made Pelosi her target. Her first ad declared:
Nancy Pelosi’s hand-picked candidate, Jon Ossoff, who doesn’t even live in the district, is not one of us and cannot be trusted to stand up for Georgia’s 6th District. It is clear by the overwhelming support from D.C. liberals, Ossoff would be nothing more than another Pelosi lackey in Congress falling in line with House Democrats and out of touch with Georgia values.
In the wake of Ossoff’s defeat, Ohio’s Congressman Tim Ryan, who challenged Pelosi for the leadership last November (and was trounced in the House Democratic Caucus, 134-63), resumed his drumbeat of criticism of the leadership, saying that the Democratic brand was “toxic” in much of the country where Democrats were seen as “not being able to connect with the issues they care about.”
“Our brand is worse than Trump,” he said flatly.
It’s certainly true that Hillary Clinton in 2016 failed to connect to working class voters on the issue of economic distress. But it’s a bit much to pin that on Pelosi.
Throughout the Obama years, Pelosi was much more of an economic progressive than either Obama or Clinton, opposing trade deals like the Trans Pacific Partnership, and pushing hard for increased stimulus spending. She has also been superb at holding the House Democratic caucus together.
Ryan, for his part, is trying to carve out a role as more conservative on social issues but populist on economic issues like reviving manufacturing. He opposed abortion, but then flipped in 2015 and announced his support for reproductive choice. He also has interesting views for a social conservative, being a big supporter of the local food revolution and an active practitioner of meditation.
Ryan may well have a future as a national Democratic leader, but Nancy Pelosi is the wrong scapegoat. And if you listen to the adjectives tossed around, there is whiff of sexism in the air. Search the words: Pelosi, shrill, woman of a certain age, and hectoring, and you’ll get the drift.
Republicans have been running against Nancy Pelosi and the “San Francisco Democrats” since at least 1988. That didn’t stop Barack Obama from being elected—twice—on a message of hope. And if Hillary Clinton paid too little attention to the working class in between picking up checks from Goldman Sachs, that was hardly Nancy Pelosi’s fault.
Ossoff himself did not run a great campaign, but in an affluent suburban district of Atlanta, it’s not clear that he would have done better as an economic populist. (He might have done better had he lived in the district.)
What is clear is that the campaign professionals at the Democratic National Committee and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee were asleep at the switch, with the obsessive focus on the Ossoff race. The races in Kansas and South Carolina, it turned out, were more winnable, but got almost no attention or resources.
Bottom line: Even though there were no gains of seats, there was an impressive swing to the Democrats in these four races that portends major pickups in 2018. Georgia’s 6th district was number 71 on the list of likely Democratic gains based on its recent voting history. The Democrats need only 24 to take back the House. That said, the Democrats do need to pick up their game and become a lot more strategic about their campaigns.
Robert Kuttner is co-editor of The American Prospect and professor at Brandeis University’s Heller School. His latest book is Debtors’ Prison: The Politics of Austerity Versus Possibility.
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When NFL players Martellus and Michael Bennett were recognized at Sunday’s BET Awards, it wasn’t for their on-the-field talents.
The two football players have established quite the track record for their philanthropy, which they were honored for with the Shine Your Light award.
Martellus, a former New England Patriot who now plays for the Green Bay Packers, pledged to donate all of the sales from his jersey to after-school programs. He also founded a children’s book company called The Imagination Agency.
Martellus’ announcement came not long after his brother Michael said he’d be giving all of the money from his 2017 endorsement deals to charities that cater to minorities and the empowerment of black women.
Martellus and Michael also don’t shy away from voicing their opinions. Marcellus was one of several players to sit out the Patriots’ visit to the Trump White House after their 2016 Super Bowl win.
Last September, Michael called on white NFL players to speak up against the injustices taking place in America as black players did during the season.
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