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Tesla Motors doesn't want to sell its cars the way every other car company does, and that's making a lot of traditional automobile dealers mad. And those dealers are fighting back.

Both sides insist they're only trying to protect car buyers.


What Tesla (TSLA) and its chief executive Elon Musk want to do is to sell its Model S electric sedan directly to consumers rather than using franchised car dealers. General Motors (GM, Fortune 500), Ford (F, Fortune 500), Toyota (TM) and others don't sell cars to customers. They sell cars to independently owned and operated dealers or distributors who, in turn, sell them to the public, usually after some negotiation over the final price. It's a system that dates back to the Model T.

By contrast, Tesla's showrooms, of which there are already 37 around the country, are owned and operated by Tesla Motors. Most of the showrooms are in shopping malls with only enough cars kept in inventory for display and for test drives. Also, there's no haggling. Every Tesla car sells at full sticker price. Service on the cars is performed at separate garages, also owned by Tesla.

Bill Wolters, president of the Texas Automobile Dealers Association, thinks that's a horrible idea.

"If Elon Musk wants to have a showroom in a mall, that's fine," Wolters said, "but he can't own it."

Auto sales are mostly regulated at the state level. In some states, Tesla has had little or no problem opening its stores. In other places, auto dealers and their allies in state government are resisting Tesla's plans, fearing it could ultimately undermine the system of franchised auto dealers as other automakers will try this, too.

Today, Tesla can't sell cars in Texas. Tesla has showrooms there, but employees can only show off and explain the car. They can't give test drives or take orders. They can't mention the price at all, even if customers ask.

Gallery - 11 must-have options for demanding drivers

Wolters is helping lead the fight in Texas to keep it that way. He's speaking out against Tesla's proposal to create an exception to current laws forbidding automaker-owned dealerships.

The current law doesn't stop anyone in Texas from ordering a Tesla Model S online if they want to. Tesla just can't deliver it to the customer. The buyer has to arrange for delivery through a third-party shipping company. Online ordering is currently legal in all 50 states.

In North Carolina, though, dealers are pushing to pass a law that would make it illegal for Tesla to sell cars online there. A representative for the North Carolina auto dealers group did not return a call seeking comment on that legislation.


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The traditional dealer franchise system is best for car buyers, Wolters insists, because it preserves competition between dealerships selling the same products. It would be difficult for Tesla to maintain its one-price system with competing dealers selling Model S cars.
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Tesla takes on America's car dealers - May. 20, 2013

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Scientists say the recent downturn in the rate of global warming will lead to lower temperature rises in the short-term.

Since 1998, there has been an unexplained "standstill" in the heating of the Earth's atmosphere.

Writing in Nature Geoscience, the researchers say this will reduce predicted warming in the coming decades.

But long-term, the expected temperature rises will not alter significantly.

The slowdown in the expected rate of global warming has been studied for several years now. Earlier this year, the UK Met Office lowered their five-year temperature forecast.

But this new paper gives the clearest picture yet of how any slowdown is likely to affect temperatures in both the short-term and long-term.

An international team of researchers looked at how the last decade would impact long-term, equilibrium climate sensitivity and the shorter term climate response.

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Obama administration officials who were in key positions on Sept. 11, 2012, acknowledge that a range of mistakes were made the night of the attacks on the U.S. missions in Benghazi, and in messaging to Congress and the public in the aftermath.

The officials spoke to CBS News in a series of interviews and communications under the condition of anonymity so that they could be more frank in their assessments. They do not all agree on the list of mistakes and it's important to note that they universally claim that any errors or missteps did not cost lives and reflect "incompetence rather than malice or cover up." Nonetheless, in the eight months since the attacks, this is the most sweeping and detailed discussion by key players of what might have been done differently.

"We're portrayed by Republicans as either being lying or idiots," said one Obama administration official who was part of the Benghazi response. "It's actually closer to us being idiots."

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“Well, look, it’s an interesting case study, right, because if you look at the Inspector General’s report, apparently some folks down in the, bureaucracy, ya know — we have a large government — took it upon themselves to shorthand these applications for tax exempt status in a way that, as I said, was idiotic,” Axelrod began. “Part of being president is, there is so much beneath you that you can’t know, because the government is so vast.”

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Here’s the hard thing Republicans have to do if they don’t want this crisis to go to waste: they have to ignore their id, the temptation of the sugar high of partisan point-scoring. They must willfully set aside Obama’s presence in the fray, leaving the short term personalized attacks on the table, and go after the much bigger prize. Obama isn’t running for office again. Liberalism is. Making this about him is a short term boost to the pleasure center of the conservative brain. Making this about the inherent falsehood of the progressive project will help conservatism win.

The point is that these scandals cut at the core conceit of Obama’s ideology: the healthy and enduring confidence of big government to be good government.

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A Texas judge has invoked a “morality clause” in a lesbian mother’s divorce from her husband, requiring that the woman’s current partner of three years vacate their home “in the interest and welfare” of the divorced couple’s children.

Collin County, Texas, District Court Judge John Roach Jr., enforced the “morality clause” last week in the divorce of Carolyn Lang Compton and Joshua Compton, and ruled that Carolyn Compton’s partner, Page Price, move out of the home within 30 days because the Compton’s two children live with the lesbian couple.

The Comptons were granted a divorce in 2011, but the case was reopened last month to dispute custody of their two children after Joshua Compton hired a private investigator to gather information on his ex-wife because she is gay. He wanted to bring the case before a judge “in the interest and welfare of the children.”

Under the rarely enforced clause, someone who has a “dating or intimate relationship” with the person or is not related “by blood or marriage” is not allowed in the home after 9 p.m. when the children are present.

According to Price, during the Comptons’ final divorce hearing, Roach stated that he did not like Carolyn’s “lifestyle.”

“Carolyn Lang Compton and I have been together almost three years and have a very happy and healthy home. Our children are all happy and well adjusted,” wrote Price, in a statement on her Facebook page. “By his enforcement, being that we cannot marry in this state, I have been ordered to move out of my home.”

Paige also alleged that Roach told Carolyn Compton’s attorney that if he could throw her in jail for being gay, he would.

The couple can appeal the decision, and legal observers indicate it would likely be overturned.

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Obama Serves 14-State Governors With Warnings of Arrest: And why is this not front page news?

Tuesday, May 7, 2013 11:57

by Ken Larive
Barack Hussein Obama had served 14-State Governors in the United States, National Security Letters (NSLs) warning that the Governor’s actions in attempting to form “State Defense Forces” needs to be halted “immediately” or they will face arrest for the crime of treason. The employment of NSLs was authorized by the Patriot Act introduced by George W. Bush. Contained within the section related to these letters, it is forbidden for anyone receiving a NSL warning to even acknowledge the existence of said communication.

Obama is angered by the several State Governors who have reestablished “State Defense Forces.” These forces are described as: “State Defense Forces (also known as State Guards, State Military Reserves, State Militias) in the United States are military units that operate under the sole authority of a state government; they are not regulated by the National Guard Bureau nor are they part of the Army National Guard of the United States. State Defense Forces are authorized by state and federal law and are under the command of the governor of each state. State Defense Forces are distinct from their state’s National Guard in that they cannot become federal entities.”

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Most states scored poorly. No state earned an A, and only five states received better than a B+. More than half the states received a D+ or worse. Scored from 1 to 100, eight states earned failing grades of 59 or below from the project.

24/7 Wall St. examined the eight states that received an F and the five states that scored B- or better. A review of the states with the highest and lowest scores illustrates that regular monitoring of the government by citizens, public employees and watchdog groups is essential to encourage state integrity.

Read more: America’s Most Corrupt States - 24/7 Wall St. America

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Surprisingly, most of the states that received high marks have big governments with long histories of corruption and political machinery. Connecticut and California fit this description. New Jersey, where it seems former and current officials are indicted every year on ethics charges, received the highest grade in the country. Despite its colorful political past and present, New Jersey received a perfect score in areas such as lobbying disclosure and internal auditing. According to the report, the reason states with historical problems with corruption now have high accountability scores is precisely because of their former offenses. Those past problems led to strict enforcement measures that have kept politicians honest and information readily available.

Many of the states with the worst corruption scores have not had the same public issues with corruption that trigger reform. These states, according to the report, are among the most sparsely populated in the country. Reporters sent to conduct research for the State Integrity Investigation found these smaller populations lead to a relaxed, “everybody-knows-everybody” attitude. This environment leads to a lack of reporting by elected officials, a look-the-other-way approach regarding campaign finance and lobbying, and an underfunding (or nonexistence) of political oversight groups.

Read more: America’s Most Corrupt States - 24/7 Wall St. America

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(CNN)–The Christian Broadcast Network regrets the misunderstanding. Again.

Pat Robertson, the 83-year-old founder of the network and professional putter-of-foot-in-mouth, was not condoning adultery, the network said.

Robertson appeared to shrug off adultery while answering a question on "The 700 Club" on Wednesday from a viewer who said she was having difficulty forgiving her husband for cheating and letting go of her anger. Robertson said the “secret” was to “stop talking about the cheating. He cheated on you. Well, he’s a man. OK.”

Robertson went on to suggest the woman focus on why she had married her husband and whether or not he provided for her needs and their children's, adding “Is he handsome? Start focusing on these things and essentially fall in love all over again.”

“Males have a tendency to wander a little bit. And what you want to do is make a home so wonderful he doesn’t want to wander.”

Spokesman Chris Roslan wrote in a statement for CBN that Robertson’s “intent was not to condone infidelity or to cast blame. We regret any misunderstanding."

Robertson often finds himself in the most trouble when he ad libs.

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