Stop Exporting Jobs....to Texas

GAF shingles

We first became aware of solar shingles (not solar panels) when we visited a Tesla showroom in 2017.

Tesla’s basic premise is to make solar ownership more attractive and affordable by eliminating the need to install both a roof and solar panels. Tesla says it will manage the entire process of solar roof installation, including removal of existing roofs, design, permits, installation, and maintenance. The company estimates that each installation will take about a week.

We will seriously consider installing solar shingles when it comes time to replace our 30-year-old roof. Tesla isn't the only vendor, of course, which is why it's disappointing that one of its competitors is moving its headquarters from San Jose to Texas.

GAF Energy, which sells solar panels embedded in roof shingles, will shut down its San Jose headquarters on Dec. 13, it announced in a Thursday WARN document, filed with California officials. The company uses the facility for researching, developing and manufacturing its solar shingles — a whole green energy factory at San Jose’s southeastern corner, operational since 2021. But now, GAF Energy will lay off local workers and shift its official headquarters to Georgetown, Texas...

Compared with California, Texas is building housing at a rapid rate, potentially making the state a more appealing market for a solar provider like GAF Energy that aims to grab customers as they’re adding or replacing a roof. A Realtor.com report from February — published alongside that company’s move to Texas — said the Lone Star State accounted for 15% of the country’s new house permits in 2024.

California's exodus of large companies (Tesla, Oracle, HP) gets the publicity, but the loss of hundreds of smaller businesses is damaging, especially since smaller companies are the engines of future growth.

It's discouraging that we will have to buy a newish technology from a company in Texas instead of from the state that invented it.

SF Bay Area: the IncredibleTalent is Still Here

Using 192 laser beams, this Lawrence-Livermore apparatus ignited
a hydrogen fuel pellet the size of a peppercorn in 2022. The experiment
produced more energy than it consumed and showed fusion
energy was possible. (DOE/Chronicle)

In a man-bites-dog story an Austin tech startup is moving to the San Francisco Bay Area. [bold added]

Focused Energy, a startup specializing in laser fusion for clean energy, is relocating its U.S. headquarters from Austin to the Bay Area.

The German company announced plans on Wednesday to establish a state-of-the-art facility in the region, with an investment of $65 million. The facility will house some of the world’s most advanced lasers, crucial for developing commercially viable fusion energy, according to a press release.

Scott Mercer, CEO of Focused Energy, said that the move aims to leverage the “incredible pool of talent” in the Bay Area and benefit from established methodologies developed by scientists at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, which achieved net energy gain for the first time in December 2022...

With over $175 million in private and public funding, Focused Energy is one of eight fusion companies selected by the U.S. Department of Energy for support under its Milestone-Based Fusion Development Program.

The company has also received significant grants from the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research to further its research and development initiatives.

Although numerous California companies such as Oracle, Tesla and Chevron have relocated their headquarters to Texas in recent years, this case illustrates the opposite trend.

The new Bay Area facility will enhance laser efficiency and establish a global supply chain necessary for scaling commercial fusion operations.

Once fully operational, fusion fuel equivalent to “three soda cans” will be capable of powering a city the size of San Francisco for an entire day, Focused Energy said.

Startups' main objective is to demonstrate their proof-of-concept. Cutting costs and red tape will be prioritized later, and the company can then decide if California is where it wishes to be planted.

Meanwhile, it's nice to know that the Bay Area hasn't yet dissipated its “incredible pool of talent” that attracts tech companies around the world. Your humble blogger still holds out hope that we can undo California's status as the worst-taxed, most woke, and most over-regulated State in the Union.

Right Before Our Eyes

This happened on Sunday and was widely reported on all media channels. Your humble blogger had nothing to add, so initially refrained from comment.

Upon reconsideration, I thought that, of all the important events that have happened or likely will happen this October in a Presidential Election year, this is the one that will be remembered centuries from now.

WSJ: SpaceX Catches Huge Booster Back at Launchpad [bold added]

SpaceX caught a towering booster rocket back at its launchpad in south Texas, an engineering milestone for the Starship vehicle at the center of Elon Musk’s plans for deep-space exploration.

The Super Heavy booster, the first stage of Starship, lifted off from south Texas on Sunday morning and propelled the Starship craft into space. Shortly after the launch, SpaceX made the call to return the booster back to the pad from which it had launched.

A livestream from SpaceX showed the device zipping back toward the facility, and, as it approached a tower, its engines slowed the enormous device down, allowing for the catch around 8:30 a.m. ET. The vehicle latched down on mechanical arms sticking out of the tower.

It was SpaceX’s first attempt at the catch, a feat that the company and Musk, its chief executive, have said is key to reducing the cost of rocket launches...

Starship, which consists of the Super Heavy booster and Starship spacecraft, stands about 400 feet tall when it is launched.

Elon Musk is that rarest of technological pioneers who prioritizes the economic viability of his product. After the Apollo missions NASA lost its funding because its programs were always viewed as nice-to-have, not got-to-have. Reusability of boosters will drive down the cost sufficiently to make space travel more accessible and perhaps even profitable in its own right.

Twitter Be Gone

After moving Tesla and SpaceX to Texas, Elon Musk has completed his divorce from California by moving X (Twitter) headquarters to Austin:

The light goes out on Market Street

Twitter, now known as X, is expected to close its San Francisco headquarters this month, leaving behind the Mid-Market neighborhood it has called home since 2012. The company is reportedly moving its headquarters to Austin, Texas, but plans to relocate its San Francisco employees to San José and Palo Alto, where it has already listed job openings.

The departure is another blow to a city that has been buffeted by high-profile business departures and that once held up Twitter as a key part of its revival. Downtown San Francisco’s vacancy rates have ballooned as tech companies slashed their real estate expenses and halted office expansion plans as the pandemic has relented.

Confronted with a falloff in foot traffic, major retailers such as Nordstrom and Anthropologie also shut their stores amid heightened concerns about crime, theft, vandalism, drug use and homelessness.

X is the second-largest tenant in the Mid-Market neighborhood, leasing 457,793 square feet, according to CoStar, which tracks real estate trends. Vacancy rates in Mid-Market are at their highest in decades at 62%, according to CBRE.

California is so invested in its Progressive politics that it rather let megabillion employers like Tesla depart than change its ways.

(In an infamous exchange, California Progressive Congresswoman Lorena Gonzalez tweeted “F—k Elon Musk” in 2020 when Musk threatened to move Tesla because of California's COVID lockdown rules.) He responded "exactly" and Tesla departed for Texas.

IMHO, the biggest loss to California is privately held SpaceX, which is the leading American space exploration company. Its current valuation is estimated to be $210 billion, and $1 trillion is well within reach after it goes public.

On the other hand Twitter's valuation has fallen from $44 billion to an estimated $19 billion. (He can't admit this to the bankers and investors, but IMHO Elon Musk's primary objective wasn't to make money from the purchase but to make Twitter a free-speech platform.)

Although the Musk family of companies retains substantial operations in California, the loss of their headquarters is a blow to the tax base. Not only do headquarters support a host of ancillary businesses (hotels, printers, law firms, banks, etc. etc.) repatriated international income and intangible income such as royalties and licenses are attributable to the state of the company's residence.

Progressives rather lose the tax base upon which their carbon-free equality-of-result dreams depend than admit they are wrong. Unfortunately, when the majority of the people of California realize that, it will be too late.

Making Nice in Palo Alto

(Mercury News photo)

It's not as noteworthy as the lion lying down with the lamb, but the most prominent businessman and one of the most prominent politicians in the U.S. made nice today:

Tesla has decided to base its engineering headquarters in Palo Alto at a former Hewlett-Packard site, the company’s top boss Elon Musk announced on Wednesday.

Musk made the announcement in Palo Alto during an unusual joint appearance with Gov. Gavin Newsom. The pair have sparred in the past over California’s business climate...California and its political establishment...were jolted in 2021 when Tesla decided to decamp its headquarters from the Golden State and move the company’s corporate offices to Texas.

Both men have attracted attention by making public statements that inflame political activists on the left and right. But they didn't get to where they were by passing up opportunities to make a win-win deal.

IMHO, the "real" Gavin Newsom and the "real" Elon Musk are both shrewd, calculating individuals who measure both the short- and long-term consequences of their actions. The next time they issue a provocative tweet that makes you cheer or sputter, that's exactly what they wanted you to do.

The Ride is Bumpy, so What?

I'll take "Things People do in Texas that I Can't Imagine Them Doing in California," Alex.

----Guadalupe River, New Braunfels, TX via Vacation Secrets on Facebook

By the way, Californians, Texas has a drought, too.

Tesla Departs

The exodus of talented people and first-class companies from California continues.

Headline: Tesla to Move Headquarters From California to Texas, Elon Musk Says

Tesla is following in the footsteps of companies including Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co. —a descendant of what Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard started in a Palo Alto, Calif., garage—and Oracle Corp. , which moved their corporate headquarters to Texas earlier in the Covid-19 pandemic.

Tech companies were among the earliest to send employees home at the start of the pandemic, and a number of prominent players in the industry have allowed their employees to work remotely on a permanent basis. That shift has prompted many Silicon Valley employees and startup CEOs to relocate to other parts of the country for cheaper housing, less traffic and a better quality of living.

Mr. Musk nodded to some of those challenges, saying of the Bay Area, “It’s tough for people to afford houses, and a lot of people have to come in from far away.”

Comments:

1) Moving the corporate headquarters of a large public company is expensive because of the legal and financial complexity and goes beyond the obvious cost of relocating highly-paid staff and acquiring real estate. That Oracle, HP, and Tesla have chosen to bite the bullet, IMHO, says more about the undesirability of California than the appeal of Texas.

2) Losing an innovative company is an especially severe blow, because its new ventures usually originate close to the headquarters and stay there during the startup phase. Furthermore, because of its roadblocks to business, California is very unlikely to be considered as a location for expansion.

3) The future economic effects of losing a corporate headquarters are huge. Legal, accounting, banking, consulting, human resources, electronic data processing, and other services will all be purchased in Texas instead of California. Taxable "intangible" income (interest, dividends, royalties, licenses) attributable to the corporation will no longer be taxed by California.

4) Silicon Valley may still be the place to start a business because of the cross-fertilization of tech and venture capital know-how, but the examples of Tesla, HP, and Oracle show that the business should move out of California as soon as practicable.

5) Despite the devastation of its dining, travel, agriculture, retail and other high-touch industries, California has weathered the coronavirus' storm well, IMHO, because of the presence of high-market-cap companies in the Bay Area. The loss of Tesla alone is not fatal, but cracks have appeared in the foundation, I fear the collapse will be sudden, and I hope I'm wrong.

Charity: It's Not Only Business that Government Gets in the Way Of

Asylum seekers arrive at the Catholic Charities
Humanitarian Respite Center in McAllen, TX (WSJ)

It is a 2,000-year-old conundrum: how to be a Christian in a secular world.

Not only must individuals wrestle with their own demons (or angels) they must also comply with both the laws of society and of God, which are sometimes in conflict.

One contemporary American example is rendering certain kinds of assistance to illegal immigrants (I prefer that term to "undocumented" because most people, citizens or not, don't lug around documents in the digital age) when it is forbidden by law.

Catholic Bishop Daniel Flores cites problems with a new Texas executive order:

We can’t provide long-term shelter, but we do offer hot showers, clean clothes, fresh food and water, baby supplies, urgent care from doctors and nurses, and volunteer legal help. These families—already processed and released into the U.S. by federal agents—stay with us for about 24 hours. Then they continue on their journeys. That usually means a bus or plane trip to family members in other parts of the country. Later, an immigration judge will consider their asylum claim.

But our work has been threatened by the Texas state government. Gov. Greg Abbott recently issued an executive order that would prohibit us from transporting those we serve beyond our walls. We filed a friend-of-the-court brief Aug. 12 explaining our ministry’s needs, and a federal court in El Paso temporarily blocked the order from going into effect.

If the order goes into effect, it would forbid our organization to drive a pregnant woman to a doctor’s office or take a child to a hospital for care. It would forbid us to drive a migrant family to a bus station or airport so they could continue their journey to waiting family members. Unable to help move migrant families, we would quickly run out of room to receive new ones in desperate need of help. We would have to tell federal agents that we have no more room. Where would they then leave these families? On the streets of local towns?

We have a religious obligation to serve the poor who are suffering in front of us.

Bishop Flores has an answer to a major concern of Governor Abbott's:

Mr. Abbott says that this is about reducing the transmission of Covid-19, and keeping our staff, volunteers, migrants and the surrounding community safe is critical to our mission. While the U.S. Border Patrol does not test those we serve for Covid, we do. Anyone who tests positive is required to quarantine—sometimes at a site organized with the help of local city and county governments, sometimes at a modest local motel.

The governor’s order would even forbid us to transport families who have tested positive for Covid-19 to the quarantine spaces. Under the order, if someone from our center attempts to drive a migrant anywhere, the Department of Public Safety could stop them and force them to return to the Center—possibly impounding the vehicle. How does that protect Texans from the virus?

I understand and even share Governor Abbott's concern about spreading COVID-19. Another reason for his executive order, perhaps, is that Governor Abbott's party also believes that many migrant families don't show up for immigration court hearings and simply disappear into American society, often aided by people who provide them transportation (note: the no-show claim is disputed).

Solving the problems at the border is way above my pay grade, but so far I have had no trouble differentiating what to render to Ceasar and God.

I work at several charities that supply basic needs (food, clothing, shelter, etc.); I never inquire about recipients' backgrounds or ask what they are doing now or where they are going next. Providing legal aid is ok, but I draw the line at political advocacy, which IMHO weakens the purity of charity and rives the organizations that supply it.

Lately we have seen ideologues who, once placed in power, prefer to destroy businesses and charities for reasons having nothing to do with health and safety. It is my hope and expectation that Gov. Abbott, a Christian, will modify his executive order so that Catholic Charities can continue its good works.

Texas Eyes Hurricanes

Big swinging gates (WSJ graphic)

One of the overarching themes of history is how humankind battled and overcame the vicissitudes of nature. But some phenomena, like hurricanes, seemed too daunting to be resisted...until now.

Texas is considering a $26 billion barrier system to protect against hurricane storm surge.

The plan calls for 43 miles of new dunes and beaches and man-made fortifications designed to weather storm surges of up to 21 feet, including a gate system across the main entrance to Galveston Bay.

A complex gate system stretching between Bolivar Peninsula and Galveston Island would reduce storm surge while maintaining about 90% of current water flows when gates are open.

Three newly constructed man-made islands would anchor and house two pairs of large fan-shaped sector gates.

Comments:

The engineering mentality that built much of America--its cities, superhighways, hydroelectric dams, railroads, and the space program--is still alive.

Much of this spirit and skill used to be in California and has moved to Texas.

The above is the type of real infrastructure spending that your humble blogger can support. Note: this is mostly not "infrastructure":

Mr. Biden’s proposal includes $621 billion to modernize transportation infrastructure, $400 billion to help care for the aging and those with disabilities, $300 billion to boost the manufacturing industry, $213 billion on retrofitting and building affordable housing and $100 billion to expand broadband access, among other investments.

While the technology may never exist to stop a hurricane, earthquake, or volcano, the worst damage from these natural phenomena is being reduced through projects like these.

California: Number One No Longer

Steve Breen/San Diego Union-Tribune

All the signs were there, now it's confirmed: California is not the best place to start a business. [bold added]

Washington, Texas and Florida are the best states to launch a technology startup, beating California’s Silicon Valley, according to a new index that ranks the vitality of national and global innovation hubs...

The Draper Innovation Index grades U.S. states and countries world-wide based on a range of local factors that its developers say support a healthy startup ecosystem. They include regulatory, economic, investment and workforce trends, along with less common indicators, such as openness to cryptocurrencies. Sources of data include the World Bank, the United Nations, the Nasdaq Stock Market and dozens of other private- and public-sector organizations.

The grades are then distilled into three broad categories, each with a separate rank. They include trust and transparency in local governments, the potential for development opportunities, and an overall rank based on the balance of all factors combined.

China, for instance, ranks second for emerging opportunities, but drops to 51 for government quality, according to the index. Its overall rank is 13. The U.S. tops the rankings in all three categories...

Although California scores high for its thriving tech sector, the state’s overall grade is weighed down by red tape, high taxes and other state regulations, [venture capitalist Tim] Draper said.

For decades Silicon Valley companies have expanded in other States for the reasons cited above--lower taxes, regulations, and labor costs--but the dam started to break when venerable California enterprises like Hewlett-Packard and Oracle undertook the costly process of moving their headquarters.

There is no credible challenge to the progressive politics that have caused talent and wealth to flee, so look for California's downward slide to continue.

Texas Beats California

The Omni Hotel in Dallas recognized the Astros' World Series
victory, the first ever by a Texas team. (Houston Chronicle)

California can be separated into at least three distinct geographic regions ("six Californias" has achieved some traction) that have little in common with each other---I couldn't see San Franciscans rejoicing if the Dodgers had won the World Series last night.

It appears that the entire State of Texas is celebrating the Houston Astros' game 7 win last night.

After the $100+ billion--one-third to one-half in Houston--of damage experienced from Hurricane Harvey nine weeks ago, the Astros' victory is a much-needed feel-good story in professional sports.

Dimanche Gras

The future Episcopal Church of the Bay Area has a South Asian look.

The church used to host pancake suppers, but it's increasingly difficult to attract enough people to make the effort worthwhile. This Sunday, as they did last year, Liz and Brian hosted a mardi gras spread, complete with king cakes flown in from Louisiana.

They made a lot of food, but we were up to the task....

Not 1968 Yet

This week's fatal police shootings of Philando Castile in Minnesota and Alton Sterling in Louisiana brought the issue of "blue on black" violence to a boiling point, culminating in widespread demonstrations. Tonight's headline, Snipers open fire on officers during Dallas protest, killing 4, is shocking, but not surprising, given the inflamed emotions of the current day.

[Update - 7/9: the final casualty count is 5 officers killed, 7 officers wounded, 2 civilians wounded, and 1 shooter killed.]

The zeitgeist of the times has evoked memories of a Presidential election year a half-century ago, but we have a long way to go, thankfully, before 2016 will be as tumultuous as 1968, which had two assassinations and hundreds of American troops dying each month in a far-off war. True, there are protest movements that threaten to disrupt the major parties' conventions, there's a cloud of uncertainty over Europe as Russia and China are ascendant, and neither of the leading Presidential candidates excites the majority of the country, but 2016 is not 1968, and we'll pull through.

In one respect the past was much better than today. Here are 1968's top 20 songs, many of which are still played. (50 years from now I doubt that we'll have more than a couple from 2016.)

1. Hey Jude, The Beatles
2. Love is Blue, Paul Mauriat
3. Honey, Bobby Goldsboro
4. (Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay, Otis Redding
5. People Got to Be Free, The Rascals
6. Sunshine of Your Love, Cream
7. This Guy's In Love With You, Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass
8. The Good, The Bad and the Ugly, Hugo Montenegro
9. Mrs. Robinson, Simon and Garfunkel
10. Tighten Up, Pt. 1, Archie Bell and The Drells
11. Harper Valley P.T.A., Jeannie C. Riley
12. Little Green Apples, O.C. Smith
13. Mony Mony, Tommy James and The Shondells
14. Hello, I Love You, The Doors
15. Young Girl, Gary Puckett and The Union Gap
16. Cry Like a Baby, The Box Tops
17. Stoned Soul Picnic, The Fifth Dimension
18. Grazing In the Grass, Hugh Masekela
19. Midnight Confessions, The Grass Roots
20. Dance to the Music, Sly and The Family Stone

A Story of Two Victims

(AP photo via NY Daily News)

USA Today headline: A man named Bear killed an alligator to avenge the death of his friend.

First take: how could the vengeful friend be sure?

A man who identified himself to the Houston Chronicle as Bear shot and killed an 11-foot alligator he believed had killed his friend on Friday. “He had to go,” Bear said. “That’s what happens when you kill someone.”

Second take: maybe it was justifiable gator-cide.

game wardens cut open the alligator Monday night – after Bear killed it – and found remains of [Tommie] Woodward inside.

Third take: the alligator was just being an alligator and the 28-year-old Woodward's death, while undeserved and sad, may be a candidate for a Darwin Award.

Woodward went to the marina on Thursday, and despite pleas from the staff and a posted warning sign reading, “No Swimming. Alligators”, jumped in and was “almost immediately attacked.”

From an earlier report:

"The female that was with him saw the alligator come from underneath the dock here in the marina and said 'hey, there's an alligator," said Orange police Capt. Robert Enmon. "And, he acknowledged it and jumped in anyway." [snip]

Woodward was drinking before the attack, but police said they can't confirm alcohol was a factor until they receive autopsy results, which are pending.

In Similar Straits

Two scholars at Oxford University present sobering evidence that evil deeds and natural calamities cast a long shadow that spans generations.

(Graphic from eastchestermhs.wikispaces.com)

Regarding the violent act known as lynching, Cornelius Christian [bold added]

found that the higher an area’s lynching rate before 1930, the wider the income gap between blacks and whites remained in 2008-12, even when adjusted for factors such as the education and employment levels of a local area. A high rate of lynching widens this gap by as much as 15% in some cases.

(Graphic from english.illinois.edu)

Analyzing the effects of the 1930's Dust Bowl, Vellore Arthi :

found that those who were born or were children during the disaster had a lower fertility rate than their peers from elsewhere in the country, were less likely to attend college and were more likely to suffer disability and poverty when they became older....some of these disadvantages, in turn, are likely to have affected the life chances of their children.

One wishes that these reports looked beyond the gloomy averages to show how some black- and Dust-Bowl descendants successfully overcame the injuries that they and their families suffered.

Their stories, perhaps, can show us how best to help children in similar straits today.

Room-sized Time Capsule

Survival crackers: canned before the food pyramid.

44-year-old Texas home purchaser Craig Denham restores a fallout shelter that had been sealed before he was born:

Among the vintage gear neatly laid out in the shelter: A Geiger counter to test ambient radiation levels, a short-wave radio to monitor war news and a pen-like dosimeter to test radiation on one's person. Stacked nearby are crisp civil defense manuals, gas masks, heavy tools and first aid supplies.

The air crank next to the cots comes with an automatic alarm so shelterers didn't sleep through the periodic oxygen refreshment process.

Whimsical products — such as paper plates decorated with images of the cartoon character Dennis the Menace and a can of Florient Spice Hair Deodorant — contrast with the pitiless cans of MPF Multi-Purpose Food and a tin of 434 Survival Crackers.

Decaffinated Sanka, Coffeemate, Lipton Instant Tea and Instant Maxwell House Coffee sit side by side with Sterno, matches, candles and batteries.

Some of the products, such as Metrecal diet food, Bondware wax paper dishes and Lifebuoy Coral bar soap, are blasts from the retail past for anyone over a certain age.

The creator of the fallout shelter probably lost his taste for it in WWII, but Spam would have been a good and tasty choice to have stocked his larder. We know from first-hand experience that it lasts a lifetime.

One Banker Whom I Respect

The Texas Monthly runs a profile of Dick Fisher, the CEO of the Dallas Federal Reserve bank. Known for his hawkishness on interest rates, he may be taken for a dyed-in-the-wool Republican, but in 1994 he ran as the Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate against Kay Bailey Hutchinson.

By all accounts, including his own, Fisher didn’t make much of an impression on the people of Texas. Hutchison was reelected in a twenty-point landslide

Dick Fisher has surprises sprinkled throughout his resume. His father struggled to make ends meet, moving the family to China, California, Mexico and Florida during Richard's childhood. As a child, Richard spoke Spanish better than he did English. He worked summers at a greasy spoon, got a scholarship to prep school, and ended up in the Ivy League.

By the time I met him in the 1970's--we were in the same study group--the transformation was complete. Always preppily dressed, he didn't have to tell anyone that he went to Harvard, he looked it. He was more "Ivy" than the other Ivy graduates in our class and was a straight arrow in appearance, attitude, and behavior when, frankly, most of us weren't.

His classmates are honing their golf swings, but Richard appears to be working harder than ever.