...After his company went public. I had to include that in the title. Maybe now he won't be such a cheap bastard with his GMs. I had no idea Gilbert was now the second richest owner in the league.
Which made me wonder what other owners are worth (the title of this post was almost "why is Tilman Fertitta such a cheap bastard while Joe Lacob spends money like he thinks the shit's gonna rot?").
Which brings us to this handy Forbes list from March:
1. Steve Ballmer (Los Angeles Clippers): $51.4 billion
Ballmer scored a huge win this week for his dream of building a new arena. He bought the Forum for $400 million from the Madison Square Garden Company, which tried to block a new Clippers arena near the Forum in Inglewood, California.
2. Philip Anschutz (Los Angeles Lakers): $11.2 billion
Anschutz owns one-third of the Lakers, plus the arena in which they play, the Staples Center, in addition to the NHL’s Kings. \For those wondering, it's hard to find a reliable source on Jeanie's net worth but according to unreliable sources it's in the ballpark of $500 million*
3. Stanley Kroenke (Denver Nuggets): $10 billion
The real estate and sports mogul owns teams in the NBA, the NHL, the NFL, MLS and the Premier League.
4. Joseph Tsai (Brooklyn Nets): $9.9 billion
The cofounder of Alibaba Group completed his purchase of the Nets last year for $2.3 billion and bought the Barclays Center for an additional $1 billion.
5. Robert Pera (Memphis Grizzlies): $7.1 billion
Pera owns nearly three-quarters of wireless equipment maker Ubiquiti Networks. He was the lead investor in the Grizzlies purchase in 2012.
6. Daniel Gilbert (Cleveland Cavaliers): $6.2 billion
Gilbert made his first fortune from Quicken Loans, the largest online mortgage lender, which he cofounded in 1985 at 22 years old.*List is from March, before the IPO
7. Tom Gores (Detroit Pistons): $5.7 billion
Gores and his brother Alec are both private equity billionaires. The Pistons opened a new $90 million headquarters and training facility in September.
8. Micky Arison (Miami Heat): $5.3 billion
Arison’s net worth plummeted 33% over the past six weeks with the collapse in the stock price of Carnival Corp. The world’s largest cruise ship operator was founded by Arison’s father in 1972.
9. Tilman Fertitta (Houston Rockets): $4.4 billion
Fertitta furloughed roughly 40,000 employees at his casino and restaurant empire to curb the economic impact caused by coronavirus-induced shutdowns. His fortune is derived from his ownership of the Golden Nugget Casinos and Landry’s, a Texas-based restaurant and entertainment company.
10. Mark Cuban (Dallas Mavericks): $4.3 billion
Cuban was one of the first sports team owners to commit to paying hourly arena workers for games missed during the coronavirus crisis. He’s invested more than $20 million as a “shark” on ABC’s popular Shark Tank show.
11. Joshua Harris (Philadelphia 76ers): $3.7 billion
Harris cofounded private equity powerhouse Apollo Global Management in 1990 with fellow billionaires Leon Black and Marc Rowan. He remains a managing director there.
12. Gayle Benson (New Orleans Pelicans): $3.2 billion
Benson inherited the Pelicans and the NFL’s Saints when her husband, Tom, died in 2018.
13. Glen Taylor (Minnesota Timberwolves): $2.8 billion
His printing firm, Taylor Corp., generates more than $2 billion in revenue annually. Taylor also owns stakes in Minnesota’s MLS and WNBA teams.
14. Herb Simon (Indiana Pacers): $2.6 billion
The real estate mogul bought the Pacers with his since-deceased brother, Melvin, in 1983, for $10.5 million. Simon Property Group is one of the world’s largest real estate investment trusts, with 206 properties in the U.S.
15. Antony Ressler (Atlanta Hawks): $2.4 billion
Ressler cofounded private equity firm Ares Management in 1997. He owns a small piece of the Milwaukee Brewers, in addition to his controlling stake in the Hawks.
16. Michael Jordan (Charlotte Hornets): $2.1 billion
The NBA’s GOAT sold a minority stake in the Hornets in September in a deal that valued the team at $1.5 billion. Nike pays Jordan more than $100 million annuallybased on growing sales for the company’s Jordan Brand.
17. Marc Lasry (Milwaukee Bucks): $1.8 billion
Lasry, a hedge fund titan, joined Wes Edens to buy the Bucks in 2014 for $550 million. He was born in Morocco and moved to the U.S. at age 7 with his family.
18. Gail Miller (Utah Jazz): $1.7 billion
Miller transferred ownership of the Jazz in 2017 to a family legacy trust to deter her heirs from selling or moving the team. Gail and her since-deceased husband, Larry, bought the team for $22 million in 1986.
19. Jerry Reinsdorf (Chicago Bulls): $1.5 billion
Reinsdorf led a group of investors who bought a controlling stake in the Bulls for $9.2 million in 1985. Good timing. It was one year after the team drafted Michael Jordan, who led the Bulls to six NBA titles. The team is now worth $3.2 billion.
20. Theodore Leonsis (Washington Wizards): $1.4 billion
Leonsis initially built his fortune as a senior executive at AOL, before investing in sports teams like the Wizards and the NHL’s Capitals.
*Not included on the list but googled for your edification:
DeVos Family (Magic): $5.4 billion
James Dolan (Knicks): $2 billion
Joe Lacob (Warriors): $1.2 billion
Vivek Randive (Kings): $700 million
Robert Sarver (Suns): $400 million
Jody Allen (Trail Blazers): The sister of Microsoft cofounder, Paul G. Allen, took control of the team after his death. At the time her brother was worth $20 billion though he intended to give most of his fortune away...
Boston Basketball Partners LLC (Celtics): An American local private investment group formed to purchase the Boston Celtics
Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment (Raptors): The Raptors are a subsidiary of MLSE
The Professional Basketball Club, LLC (Thunder): A group of OKC businessmen "who represent a wide variety of local and national business interests" owns the Thunder
Spurs Sports & Entertainment LLC (Spurs): An American sports & entertainment organization, based in San Antonio, Texas owns the San Antonio Spurs

Sir, this is (Literally) a Casino. This is not Advice DO YOUR OWN DD
What do WSB and LVS have in common- Autists trying to make cash and make it quick.
Now, the pandemic has slowed down Casino’s of the like due to social distance measures and lack of tourism. LVS has casinos all over the world from Vegas, to Macao to Singapore. They’ve been hit hard but there is a light of hope. Because, regardless of a recession, depression or a pandemic people will always gamble. They've got no money? They will find $10 and hope it turns into a $100.
Here we go, let's get horns-
Prelude- This is the company that owns that Huge Building in Singapore shaped like a cruise ship in the sky and charged me $40 for a bottle of water with dinner.
#1 MGM was upgraded but research houses reduced Las Vegas Sands due to their Asia exposure?
I am sorry, what? Have you seen Asia? They are literally throwing festivals in China, Japan, Singapore and Australia etc. If you have ever been to a Asian country you will find that they love to Drink, Smoke and Gamble. I feel if you are going into a Casino/gambling company you NEED Asian Exposure. I could continue for many points on Asian casino’s but I’d lose concentration.
#2- Dr Michael Burry, He is at it again, its no lie, I love him. He only has 2% of his portfolio invested in LVS but hey, he only had 4.3% in the stock that mustn't be named.
Side note- Burry tweeted during the Superbowl about Covid 19 becoming an Endemic and wonders when markets will realise this. This seems Bullish to me. But my smooth Brain could be wrong
#3 The House Always wins. People are going to come back, business will boom again and people are going to bet harder than they have before and the house always wins.
#4 Hotels, Dining, Entertainment, Conventions and Exhibitions will all be sort after activities.
Sands have a finger in each of these pies.
#5 Online Casinos- there’s been rumors about them moving into deals with online casinos- which could future proof anything along the lines of this pandemic again as well as increasing their reach to a digital level. In fact, they have targeted 888 Holdings.
https://www.casino.org/news/las-vegas-sands-could-make-run-at-888-holdings-to-move-into-igaming/
#6 Investing in themselves They aren’t afraid to spend money- they're about to invest another $10b into Macau. Quote from earnings call-
· “When the Macanese government makes its decision I think we will continue upon a rather solid capital investment which I know is how Sheldon felt, to grab that opportunity with both hands.”
· “There is just no place like Macau [and] we’re not done in Macau. We’re going to be there for many more years.
· “When all this goes away, I bet one thing that will happen is the Macau government is going to necessitate that licensees make investments in Macau and we want to be there and be ready.”
· Noting that LVS is already in the midst of a US$3.3 billion expansion of its Marina Bay Sands property in Singapore, Goldstein observed, “These are not small investments, they are in the billions of dollars, so we have to be prepared for outside investments in our best markets, which are Macau and Singapore for crazy growth.”
#7 Numbers
· Earnings forecast to grow 88% vs 70% industry/20% market
· Volatility over the past 3 months has been low compared to rest of market.
· Forecast to become profitable over the next 3 years
· Revenue forecast to grow 33% per year- which is 3 times faster than the US Market (10.6%)
· ROE forecast at 47%
Numbers are from SimplyWallSt.com
This isn’t advice, please do your own DD.
Inb4 “Ok Boomer” Still on the pokemon train
TLDR
· House always wins
· Dr Burry
· Asia most likely to be back to normal before the US
· Hotels, Casinos, Entertainment, Dining will continue to go off in Asia
· Online Casino’s partnership/acquisitions
· They are seeking growth and lots of it.
Positon- 180 Shares

The best laid PLANs of mice and men often go awry.
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Welcome back to another effortpost by me generally on the developing arms race in East Asia, this time covering the People's Liberation Army Navy, hereafter referred to as the "PLAN", and its massive growth... and... mostly, well, its massive growth. What that means is mostly covered in other posts about how other countries are responding to it. The why is a bit difficult because, well, China is not well known for open debate, or open anything, really, which will turn up repeatedly.
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1. What you [might] need to know about South Korea's ludicrous arms buildup
2. We shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be. We shall fight on the beaches.... uh, what do we do after that again?: The Perilous Defensive Position of Taiwan
3. "You've hit another cargo ship? The Problems with the US Navy: Not all of them begin with "Seven" and end with "th Fleet"."
4. Will China's PLAN survive contact with the enemy?
5. Biden's New START and modern nuclear war
6. First And Last Stand Of The Tin Can Navies [ASEAN + Australia and the smaller adversaries China may contend with]
7. Boned: Problems in the US Air [and space!] Force
8. --Unnamed-- effortpost on Japanese military matters, mostly about how weird the JSDF status is
9. --Unnamed--effortpost on Indian military matters, and why they can't focus on China or buy anything that works
10. --Unnamed--effortpost on the rest of the PLA, mostly the air force though
11. --Unnamed--effortpost on the rest of the US Armed Forces, mostly talking about how the marines are changing and the Army's new love affair with INF-busting weapons
12. Conclusion?

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Glossary:
PLA = People's Liberation Army = the armed forces of the People's Republic of China, or China
PLAN = People's Liberation Army Navy = the naval forces of the PLA
PLANAF = People's Liberation Army Navy Air Force = the air force of the navy of the PLA
Ashm = Anti-ship missile, cruise missile unless specifically described as otherwise--there's only one anti-ship ballistic missile in existence and its efficacy and whether or not it functions is questionable
CIWS = close-in weapons system, like the Phalanx gun or Goalkeeper
VLS = vertical launch system for missiles
AEGIS = Aegis Combat System if described specifically in that context, a US naval warfare system, but we'll usually be talking about "Chinese AEGIS", which is a nomiker used by the Chinese media in particular comparing the Type 346 radar to the AN-SPY family, with which it shares numerous technical characteristics--but how comparable the "Chinese AEGIS" system is to what the US uses is a complete unknown.
SAM = Surface-to-air missile, in this case usually a S-300 derivative
First Island Chain = The islands, stretching from Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, the Philippines, Taiwan, and Japan, which keep China inside its littoral seas much as the GIUK [Greenland-Iceland-UK] gap has kept various continental powers out of the Atlantic.
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Some PLAN equipment you might see described--the nomenclature is confusing and a relic of the cultural revolution, and as a result China now has more Types than the British.
Type 003 = China's new conventionally powered supercarriers, currently under construction
Type 002 = China's first truly "operational" carrier
Type 001 = China's first carrier, built on a Soviet hull purchased from Ukraine ostensibly to make a floating casino
Type 055 = Guided-missile cruiser, though generally called a destroyer it's probably more descriptively labeled a cruiser
Type 052D = Guided-missile destroyer using "Chinese AEGIS"
Type 052/051B/052B/052C = the gradual progression of evolving Chinese naval tech, largely built as practice/demo ships like the Type 001. Some of the earlier ones are steam-powered but by the Type 052C you have something almost as advanced as the Type 052D, albeit with turbine problems
Type 054A = the standard modern frigate of the PLAN
Type 053[anything] = old PLAN frigates
Type 096 = China's newest SSBN class, under construction
Type 094 = China's first functional SSBN class, very noisy
Type 092 = China's first "SSBN", believed to have never left port with an actual nuke on board
Type 095 = China's newest SSN class, under construction
Type 093 = China's current SSN class, noisy
Type 091 = China's first SSN class, dumb dumb dumb and is at a 1950s tech level
Type 039[A] = China's new SSK class
Kilo = China's older SSK class, imported from Russia
Sovremenny = China's first capable anti-air destroyers, imported from Russia
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1. The Last Time A Rising Navy Challenged A Dominant Foe

The last time we've seen something like this was in the late 19th century. After the First World War shipbuilding was restricted by the landmark Washington Naval Treaty, one of the first great arms control treaties, and during the Cold War the Soviet Union never really had any hopes of surpassing American naval power. China, however, seems intent on replacing the US as the world's dominant naval power, or at least building a force that can stop the US Navy, even combined with the forces of Japan and other regional allies.
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The nations in question, of course, in the last naval arms race, were the United Kingdom and a newly-unified Germany. Germany never reached the level of the UK, but seriously threatened it. Previously the UK had maintained a policy of having more ships than the next two largest fleets combined, but this was no longer possible, and the UK legitimately was fearful for its naval supremacy. It didn't last too long in the end--under a decade--and a resumption was foiled by first a world war and then the Washington Naval Treaty. The impact of the arms race, though, was massive. It set Germany and the UK at odds with each other, it resulted in a general buildup of warships pretty much everywhere [South America was, believe it or not, one of the biggest offenders there], established Germany for a time as the world's second naval power, having eclipsed both France and Russia and turning a small coastal defense navy into something that was able to defeat the Royal Navy itself, though never comprehensively enough to change the course of the first world war.
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China dwells in a much different situation than Germany did at the turn of the last century, so we can only extend the analogy so far--substituting in Japan for the UK, India for Russia, and so on is possible but not, in my view, educational. However, we can see many of the same elements playing in here. China seems intent on replacing the US as a dominant power, or at least as regional hegemon--the ancient tributary system seems to lie fairly heavily on Chinese minds--and in order to do that, it must be able to have some degree of power projection and the capability to deny the US Navy access to areas within the first island chain. It remains to be seen, however, how successful that quest will be. Much as with the dreadnought battleships, I wouldn't be surprised if we never actually do find out if most of the shiny naval toys people have built actually work. But their mere existence shows the mutual hostility developing in the region and demonstrates the size of the Chinese threat.
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Another lesson learned here is that China, like Germany, may not develop a naval force capable of defeating the US comprehensively, but only partially, and that one of the powers--in this case, China--might be pressured to strike first before the US Navy can close the gap. That ~2030 gap I talked about in my last post is, I think, an especially vulnerable point, because China may look at a degraded, but rejuvenating US Navy, then at their own capable forces, and decide to strike then in Taiwan and the South China Sea, only to back down when the US Navy again eclipses them. Whether or not that will happen, we will see--but I find it a very dangerous and perhaps likely possibility.
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2. What the PLAN looked like 20 years ago

The PLAN has undergone an absolutely stunning evolution in the past two decades. In the Third Taiwan Strait Crisis the US could intimidate China with a pair of aircraft carrier strike groups and China could do pretty much nothing about it. Now the US is afraid of sending anything more than a destroyer through the strait.
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Twenty years ago, the PLAN was a bit of a joke. Even Taiwan figured it could hold the seas against the PLAN. It consisted of a few tens of outdated coastal-defense frigates, some Soviet-era diesel-electric subs, and a large number of unsophisticated missile craft. The pride of the Chinese fleet were a handful of destroyers assembled using cobbled-together Western technology--copied French missiles, American gas turbines, the lot. According to American accounts at the time, the instructions for the equipment hadn't even been translated. The most advanced ship in the fleet used steampower. There were nuclear submarines, but of 1950s quality. Of particular note was the fact that the Chinese fleet had no area air defense capabilities--their premier surface-to-air-missile was an unlicensed knockoff of the French Crotale, and couldn't shoot anything outside of visual range, at high altitudes, or really doing anything more sophisticated than trying to kill their ships with low-altitude dumb bombing runs.
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In the past twenty years, however, the PLAN has, much like the German Navy towards the end of the 19th century, gone from an afterthought to the world's second most powerful force. It began, as modern China's military capabilities almost all began, with the looting of the former Soviet Union for naval technology. While Soviet naval tech was generally lacking, it was much better than anything else China could get its hands on after the arms embargo placed on it in the 1990s by the US and Europe in response to Tienanmen and the end of the Cold War. China bought Soviet diesel submarines, Soviet air-defense destroyers, and Soviet aircraft carriers, which it promptly left lying around [and turned one of them into a theme park]. This was combined with copies of various pieces of Western, mostly European, technology for everything from sonars to surface-to-air missiles. China then began developing its first modern indigenous surface combatants, the Type 052C, but there were still problems. The engines were Ukrainian and had reliability trouble, the gun jammed, there was no VLS.
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It is really in the last ten years that things have begun to move extremely quickly, and even only in the latter portion of the decade. In 2012 the Type 001 Liaoning entered service, and although it remains more of a training ship than an operational vessel, and is held back by a poor carrier aircraft, the mere fact that China "built" a carrier was a surprise to many. In 2014 the first Type 052D destroyer came online. It had learned the lessons from the Type 052C, and in just the last six years at least ten have entered service, with a class size of about 23 expected. This rapid expansion is what has frightened competing navies the most--in a little over a decade, the PLAN is constructing more destroyers than the British, French, and Australian navies have in service combined. It is also building the Type 055, which has generally been called a "destroyer" despite being more aptly described as a cruiser in line with the Ticonderoga-class. China has also built 30 modern frigates in the past decade, which has also swelled its numbers, along with numerous smaller corvettes, submarines, and so on.
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This is why the PLAN has become such an object of concern. While it cannot challenge the US Navy yet, at least outside its littoral zones, the decline of the USN and rapid expansion of the PLAN means that it is a serious threat. And the speed at which it has developed has made many fearful. As recently as 2010, the idea of China operating an aircraft carrier or modern destroyers seemed distant, possibly preposterous. Now China speaks openly of having a six-carrier fleet in the 2030s, although, as with many of China's plans to operate full US-replicated tech and doctrine, these may have somewhat caved to realism. China is mighty, but it has already done the easy part--the last part is much harder, in economics and in military matters. Building the software, the institutional knowledge, the hardware to compete with the US Navy will prove difficult.
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3. What the PLAN looks like now--submarines

Submarines are one of the PLAN's weak spots, particularly nuclear submarines. China is, however, making some fairly rapid advances in this area.
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Their nuclear submarine program has been considered a bit of a joke for some time. In the late 1950s when all the cool kids great powers were getting nuclear submarines, China decided [or at least Mao did] that China needed nuclear submarines too. About 16 years later, the product of this effort finally emerged as the Type 091 submarine. Based on 1950s technology, with poor radiation shielding and basically nothing done in the name of noise reduction, and not even a teardrop hull, the Type 091 was probably more of a threat to the sailors who were on it than anyone else, except maybe the two Tench-class submarines that Taiwan operates, which use 1940s technology and are the world's longest-serving submarines, though they're mostly used for training nowadays. Even then, my money would be on the Tench despite the upgrades the PLAN has made to the Type 091. There's only so much you can do to put lipstick on a pig.
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China also produced an SSBN, the Type 092, which was probably the only submarine more useless than the Type 091. About the only useful thing it did for the PLAN was that it served as a test platform for SLBM launches. Reports suggest that the Type 092 is the noisiest SSBN ever made, and is thought to have only ever undertaken a single patrol. It stayed at port for so long that it was thought to have sunk in an accident. And the experience turned the PLAN off from building SSBNs for over twenty years, until the Type 094 came online in 2007.
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More recent submarines are growing in capability, though. The Type 094 is not the noisiest SSBN ever made, and may not even be the noisiest in current service--that honor going to the Delta III operated by the Russian Navy, which uses 1970s technology, and, which, according to the US Office of Naval Intelligence, is about as noisy as the Type 094. The Type 093 is also moderately capable--it actually functions and can fire anti-ship missiles. However, the Type 093 is still considered only comparable to the Soviet Victor III class, again using 1970s technology. Future submarines have not yet been seen, but expectations are that China will make another step forward to late 1980s or early 1990s tech levels, producing something on par with the Los Angeles or Akula for the first time.
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China also operates a fairly capable fleet of coastal diesel-electric submarines. While some are quite old--the Type 035--most are pretty average for the global submarine force, a mix of Kilos and domestic AIP designs. The large number of boats in operation and their anti-ship missile capability means that these should be considered a real threat, at least in the littoral waters near to China, but they aren't decisive by any means, especially since China is facing off against such threats as Japan's Soryu class, probably the most advanced diesel-electric sub in existence.
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In conclusion, the PLAN is still pretty weak on the submarine front--weaker here than on anything but its carrier force, but its capabilities are advancing rapidly and should not be underestimated.

4. What the PLAN looks like now--surface combatants

The surface fleet is definitely the most impressive and capable portion of the PLAN, no questions about it. China once had a fleet consisting mostly of coastal frigates and missile boats. As recently as 2000, its fleet had no real area-air-defense destroyers, and no SAMs that could operate outside visual range. Now, though, the PLAN operates tens of advanced guided-missile destroyers, advanced frigates, and still retains a large number of small, stealthy missile boats.
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The major focus of Chinese warships appears to be on anti-air, with anti-surface being a somewhat secondary concern for all but the smallest vessels. This makes sense when you realize that the primary focus is, at least for the moment, on using land-based aircraft to strike against hostile fleet formations using long-range anti-ship missiles, in a very Soviet sort of way--"Backfire raids" using long-range land-based aircraft with anti-ship missiles were one of the US Navy's major concerns during the Cold War, and the very reason for the F-14's existence along with the AIM-54 Phoenix it carried. However, China has been developing anti-surface capabilities as well using ashms and land-attack cruise missiles [generally the same thing, actually]. Since China has finally developed a VLS system that allows it to use the same launcher for multiple missiles, its most recent ships have become more versatile in that role.
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How effective these ships are at that task is, however, a relatively open question. Their radars at least seem to quite sophisticated, using flat-panel AESA, and have been dubbed "Chinese AEGIS" by the highly reliable Chinese domestic media. The basic platform their surface-to-air missiles are based on also seems to be fairly capable--the HQ-9 is an S-300 derivative, a respectable SAM system though, again, how capable it is against opponents in an active electronic warfare environment is questionable, and it has basically no capabilities against stealth aircraft like the F-35 as far as anyone knows. The efficacy of their CIWS, again, is open to question. Really this is true of everything about the modern PLAN, and PLA in general. The PLA is secretive, has not exported most of its hardware, and has developed largely independently of foreign militaries, though it is definitely influenced by them. Now that the PLAN has moved away from simply copying foreign hardware and patching it together, its capabilities are much harder to discern.
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However, they should be taken as a very real threat, and not written off. My guess would be that their warships are about as capable as most of their non-American counterparts, save those equipped with AEGIS, but that's all my guess is---a guess.

5. What the PLAN looks like now--carriers

The PLAN currently has two carriers in service, and two more known to be under construction, and most suspect that it will build several more. However, at the moment, the PLAN's carrier force is largely a paper tiger, designed around training. The first carrier, the Type 001, basically was a "how do you build a carrier" kit bought from Russia, possibly by accident--the "fully functional" Minsk ended up as a theme park, believe it or not. The hull was purchased from Ukraine and then completed in China years later. It is also believed that the PLAN may have learned some things about aircraft carriers from the HMAS Melbourne, which was sold to a Chinese firm for scrapping--rumor has it the PLAN had no clue this had happened and then had a field day looking at all the stuff that hadn't been taken out. This was back in the old days when nobody could imagine that China would have an aircraft carrier. The Type 002, however, is built from scratch, but isn't particularly capable especially as it's a ski-jump carrier, leaving the Type 003 the first carrier which will prove actually useful.
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The main thing holding China's carrier fleet back, though, is a lack of a suitable aircraft. Originally China was considering purchasing Su-33s from Russia, hardly a good carrier-based aircraft but functional, but after Russia discovered that China had been mucking about building a Su-27 derivative without asking the deal fell through [China tells a different story, saying that Russia demanded exorbitant amounts to reopen production which it was unwilling to pay for a nearly obsolete aircraft]. As a result China operates the J-15 as its naval fighter, with... less than stellar results. It's extremely heavy, and, if it takes off from the carrier, has minimal range if carrying anything at all--it can't take more than two short range air to air missiles into the sky to fight enemy aircraft. However, the J-15 isn't really intended for combat service--it's intended to teach China how to run carriers, and it seems to work well enough for that task, aside from the multiple fatal crashes. There is, however, thought to be a new carrier fighter in the pipeline--most say the J-31/FC-31, which has reduced RCS and a number of carrier-unique features, is being pitched as a carrier-based aircraft and will serve as China's carrier fighter in the future. China also lacks any fixed wing carrier-based airborne early warning, which could prove troublesome--a lack of AEW means that its view is limited by the horizon--and has no resupply aircraft like the C-2 Greyhound. As a result, for the moment at least, China lacks an effective carrier force, but it is likely to continue developing rapidly in the next decade and become a fairly substantial threat. Remember that as recently as 2010, a Chinese aircraft carrier seemed preposterous to many people, and now they have two.

6. Some attention to land-based aircraft

Land-based aircraft as a naval weapon are not generally used by the US, which has never had a reason to develop them as a doctrinal focus. Sure, you could potentially envision them as being used, and there even were situations where they were utilized, but it just wasn't generally a priority or how things were done. For China, though, taking influence from the Soviets, and lying on littoral seas with hostile powers in the First Island Chain, land-based aircraft and missiles are a key part of doctrine. Although this is often viewed as a new thing, called A2/AD [anti access/area denial], it's really the result of a long historical evolution of naval power, probably most refined by the Soviet Union. As a result, land-based naval aviation plays an important role, firing anti-ship missiles at standoff distances at enemy vessels, and shore-based launchers of anti-ship missiles are also an important weapon. The combination of these systems means that venturing within China's littoral seas is a dangerous proposition during war, and some waters, like those of the Taiwan Strait, are effectively considered closed at this point in the event of hostilities breaking out. For this reason air superiority is also important in this sort of naval warfare, as if either side gains air superiority it can pummel its opponents with air-launched anti-ship missiles. China's capabilities in this area are sophisticated and should not be underestimated, but they are unlikely to go through a rapid period of growth like the PLAN's fleet.
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And a brief note dedicated entirely to the DF-21D "Carrier killer" that the PLA likes to show off. It's a pretty impressive capability, on paper, using a ballistic missile to hit a carrier. The CEP [circular error probable] means that it could even happen, presuming that an aircraft carrier was good enough to sit in one place, not moving, long enough to be detected by China. Aircraft carriers look big, but the seas are huge, and they're surprisingly hard to find. They also move quite fast, in excess of of 35mph/55kph, and thus by the time the ballistic missile has launched it might well be out of range given the fact that ballistic missiles are not particularly known for their maneuverability in terminal stages, at least not in the realm of miles. The DF-21D is not a particular threat to the modern aircraft carrier. It could potentially be one if it evolves into a hypersonic boost-glide vehicle, but that's a whole additional can of worms, that I might address a different day.

7. The PLAN's plans for the future--what will it look like in 2030?

Unfortunately the PLAN is not exactly the most open of navies, as I've repeatedly mentioned. There are no public debates over acquisitions programs, no big fleet shape plans, relatively little detail.
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However, a few things are fairly sure bets or publicly announced.
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China has repeatedly announced plans to build a six-carrier force, including the Type 001 and Type 002, but also a pair of Type 003 [already under construction] conventionally powered supercarriers and a pair of Type 004 nuclear powered supercarriers. However, it seems that the Type 004 is currently on hold. Why, exactly, is unclear, but it seems to be technical difficulties, which are not particularly surprising given that China's experience with nuclear maritime propulsion seem to be rather limited and have had poor results in their submarine fleet. The costs were also expected to be too high--China does not have an unlimited quantity of money, despite what it may flaunt, and nuclear carriers are expensive to develop especially given that China has not built a nuclear-powered surface ship before.
​
A new carrier-based fighter is almost certainly in the cards because the J-15 is pretty much useless. The FC-31 seems by far the most likely candidate but it could be another aircraft we haven't seen yet. The addition of this aircraft will greatly improve the PLAN's capabilities.
​
China also has two Type 075 amphibious assault ships/LHDs under construction, and I would expect this class to be much more prolific. These ships are much more affordable than the full carriers, and focus on areas in which China is particularly concerned--amphibious assaults, say, on islands in the South China Sea or on Taiwan, and anti-submarine warfare, which is of particular importance given that submarines cannot be easily halted with land-based anti-ship missiles and air-launched cruise missiles provided for in their area denial doctrine--submarines are one of the few things that can slip through that net.
​
The surface combatant fleet is likely to continue growing, but I am not sure if it will swell much beyond the ~23 Type 052D ships planned and the 8 Type 055s. We're likely to see the retirement of the classes preceding the Type 052C destroyer and the Type 054 frigate, and they may be offloaded to Bangladesh, Myanmar, or Pakistan--there is substantial precedent here, and it seems that China is interested in expanding the naval capabilities of its partners around India.
​
The submarine fleet is likely to see rapid expansion if the PLAN is satisfied with the Type 095 and Type 096 classes, and we're likely to see more diesel-electric subs built as well. Submarines are generally quite good at fighting submarines and conducting area-denial missions, and the large and capable subsurface forces of Japan, Korea, and the United States means that this has to be an area the PLAN invests more in--and the fact that several Southeast Asian nations are also looking at acquiring submarines makes the issue more pressing.

8. Conclusion

China has in the past decade gone from a third-rate navy to perhaps the greatest threat the US Navy has faced since the Second World War. This has significant geopolitical implications, and has resulted in neighbors scrambling to overhaul their naval forces. The growth of the PLAN means that the US can no longer easily defend Taiwan or the South China Sea, or any of China's littoral waters. This, more than anything else, is what has everyone scrambling in the US talking about "great-power competition" because denying access to the US Navy and working on power projection, an inherently naval thing, is essentially a clear sign that China is looking to directly compete with the United States. Underestimate the PLAN at your own peril.
​
I hope to have more detail and citations in future posts, but unfortunately the PLAN is very secretive [yes, I've said that fifty times already] and this is a pretty big topic to discuss without going into details about all sorts of naval tidbits. Thanks for reading the fourth post in what I hope will be a fairly substantial series, probably around ~12 posts.
​

9. Citations

James Holmes, "The Danger Zone In Naval Arms Races"
USNI, Report to Congress on Chinese Naval Modernization
Hans Kristensen, China's Noisy Nuclear Submarines
Eric Wertheim, China's Type 052D Destroyer is a potent adversary
Robert Farley, Let's Talk About The Chinese Navy's Type 055 Destroyer
Ryan Pickrell, Chinese fighter jet holding China back as it builds carrier fleet
Look, much more here is based on loose speculation, more unreliable sources, and stuff I've picked up over the years, because public info is limited. So take everything I say with a grain of salt, but understand that it's the best information I know of.

Welcome to Lost in the Sauce, keeping you caught up on political and legal news that often gets buried in distractions and theater… or a global health crisis.
Title refers to: The Trump admin is blocking IGs from getting info on over $1 trillion in relief spending, including corporation bailouts. The admin is also withholding PPP info from Congress, meaning we don't know if Trump or his family took taxpayer money. Additionally, we learned that at least 4 members of Congress have benefited from PPP money, but aren't required to disclose it.
Housekeeping:

• HOW TO SUPPORT: I know we are all facing unprecedented financial hardships right now. If you are in the position to support my work, I have a patreon, venmo, and a paypal set up. No pressure though, I will keep posting these pieces no matter what.
  
• NOTIFICATIONS: You can signup to receive notifications when these posts are done.
  

Coronavirus

Inspectors general warned Congress last week that the Trump administration is blocking scrutiny of more than $1 trillion in spending related to the Covid-19 pandemic. According to the previously undisclosed letter, Department of Treasury attorneys concluded that the administration is not required to provide the watchdogs with information about the beneficiaries of programs like the $500 billion in loans for corporations.
Treasury Secretary Mnuchin refused to provide Congress with the names of recipients of the taxpayer-funded coronavirus business loans. After criticism, Mnuchin began to walk back his denial, saying he will talk to lawmakers on a bipartisan basis “to strike the appropriate balance for proper oversight” of PPP loans “and appropriate protection of small business information.”
At least 4 lawmakers have benefited in some way from the Paycheck Protection program they helped create. Politico has been told there are almost certainly more -- but there are zero disclosure rules, even for members of Congress.

• Republicans on the list include Rep. Roger Williams of Texas, a wealthy businessman who owns auto dealerships, body shops and car washes, and Rep. Vicky Hartzler of Missouri, whose family owns multiple farms and equipment suppliers across the Midwest. The Democrats count Rep. Susie Lee of Nevada, whose husband is CEO of a regional casino developer, and Rep. Debbie Mucarsel Powell of Florida, whose husband is a senior executive at a restaurant chain that has since returned the loan.

Mick Mulvaney dumped as much as $550,000 in stocks the same day Trump assured the public the US economy was 'doing fantastically' amid the COVID-19 outbreak. Mulvaney unloaded his holdings in three different mutual funds, each of which is primarily made up of US stocks. The next day, the value of the mutual funds tanked.

Cases rising in many states

Good summary: There was supposed to be a peak. But the stark turning point, when the number of daily COVID-19 cases in the U.S. finally crested and began descending sharply, never happened. Instead, America spent much of April on a disquieting plateau, with every day bringing about 30,000 new cases and about 2,000 new deaths. This pattern exists because different states have experienced the coronavirus pandemic in very different ways…The U.S. is dealing with a patchwork pandemic.
As of Friday, coronavirus cases were significantly climbing in 16 states: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nevada, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, and Washington.
Oklahoma is experiencing a massive increase in coronavirus cases just days before Trump’s planned rally in Tulsa. In Tulsa county itself, 1 in roughly 390 people have tested positive. Yet Trump plans on cramming 20,000 people in an event with voluntary face mask policy and no social distancing. Attendees must sign a waiver that absolves the president’s campaign of any liability from virus-related illnesses.

• On Monday, Pence lied saying that Oklahoma has “flattened the curve.” As you can see at any of the resources immediately below, this is not even close to true. Over the past 14 days, the state has seen a 124% increase in cases and reports 65% of ICU beds are in use.
  
• Tulsa World Editorial Board: This is the wrong time and Tulsa is the wrong place for the Trump rally. "We don't know why he chose Tulsa, but we can’t see any way that his visit will be good for the city...Again, Tulsa will be largely alone in dealing with what happens at a time when the city’s budget resources have already been stretched thin."
  
• Earlier in the day, Trump tweeted that he is a victim of double standards when it comes to perception of his decision to resume campaign rallies in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, declaring that attempts to “covid shame” his campaign “won’t work!”
  

Resources to track increases: There are many different sites with various methods of visualizing the spread of coronavirus. Here are some that may be particularly useful this summer… Topos COVID-19 compiler homepage and graphs of each state since re-opening. How we reopen Safely has stats on each state’s progress towards meeting benchmarks to reopen safely (hint: almost none have reached all the checkpoints). WaPo has a weekly national map of cases/deaths; the largest regional clusters are in the southeast.
On Monday, Trump twice said that “if we stop testing right now, we’d have very few cases, if any,” (video). Aside from the fact that cases exist even if we don’t test for them, we cannot explain the rising number of cases by increased testing capacity: In at least 14 states, the positive case rate is increasing faster than the increase in the average number of tests.

• Reminder: In March Trump told Fox News that he didn't want infected patients from a cruise ship to disembark because it would increase the number of reported cases in the US. "I like the numbers being where they are," Trump said at the time. "I don't need to have the numbers double because of one ship that wasn't our fault."

Fired scientist Rebekah Jones builds coronavirus dashboard to rival Florida’s… Her site shows thousands more people with the coronavirus, and hundreds of thousands fewer who have been tested, than the site run by the Florida Health Department.

Equipment and supplies

More studies prove wearing masks limits transmission and spread of coronavirus… One study from Britain found that routine face mask use by 50% or more of the population reduced COVID-19 spread to an R of less than 1.0. The R value measures the average number of people that one infected person will pass the disease on to. An R value above 1 can lead to exponential growth. The study found that if people wear masks whenever they are in public it is twice as effective at reducing the R value than if masks are only worn after symptoms appear.
Meanwhile, Trump officials refuse to wear masks and Trump supporters copy his behavior… VP Mike Pence, leader of the coronavirus task force, published a tweet showing himself in a room full of Trump staffers, none wearing masks or practicing social distancing. Pence deleted the tweet shortly after criticism. A poll last week showed that 66% of likely-Biden-voters “always wear a mask,” while 83% of likely-Trump-voters “neverarely wear a mask.”

• Trump’s opposition to face masks hasn’t stopped him from selling them to his supporters, though. The online Trump Store is selling $20 cotton American flag-themed face masks.
  
• Yesterday, we learned that South Carolina Republican Rep. Tom Rice and family have tested positive for the coronavirus. Just two weeks ago, Rice was on the House floor and halls of the Capitol without wearing a mask.
  

Internal FEMA data show that the government’s supply of surgical gowns has not meaningfully increased since March… The slides show FEMA’s plan to ramp up supply into June and July hinges on the reusing of N95 masks and surgical gowns, increasing the risk of contamination. Those are supposed to be disposed of after one use.
Nursing homes with urgent needs for personal protective equipment say they’re receiving defective equipment as part of Trump administration supply initiative. Officials say FEMA is sending them gowns that look more like large tarps -- with no holes for hands -- and surgical masks that are paper-thin.
More than 1,300 Chinese medical-device companies that registered to sell PPE in the U.S. during the coronavirus pandemic used bogus registration data… These companies listed as their American representative a purported Delaware entity that uses a false address and nonworking phone number.
Florida is sitting on more than 980,000 unused doses of hydroxychloroquine, but hospitals don’t want it… Gov. Ron DeSantis ordered a million doses of the drug to show support for Trump, but very few hospitals have requested it.

Native American communities struggle

The CARES Act money for Native American tribes, meant to assist people during the pandemic, came with restrictions that are impeding efforts to limit the transmission of the virus. For instance, the funds can only be used to cover expenses that are "incurred due to the public health emergency." On the Navajo Nation, the public health emergency is inherently related to some basic infrastructure problems. 30% of Navajo don’t have running water to wash their hands, but the money can’t be used to build water lines.
Federal and state health agencies are refusing to give Native American tribes and organizations representing them access to data showing how the coronavirus is spreading around their lands, potentially widening health disparities and frustrating tribal leaders already ill-equipped to contain the pandemic. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has turned down tribal epidemiologists’ requests for data that it’s making freely available to states.
A Hospital’s Secret Coronavirus Policy Separated Native American Mothers From Their Newborns… Pregnant Native American women were singled out for COVID-19 testing based on their race and ZIP code, clinicians say. While awaiting results, some mothers were separated from their newborns, depriving them of the immediate contact doctors recommend. New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham announced that state officials would investigate the allegations.

Personnel & appointees

Former IG Steve Linick told Congress he was conducting five investigations into Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and the State Department before he was fired. In addition to investigating Pompeo's potential misuse of taxpayer funds and reviewing his decision to expedite an $8 billion arms sale to Saudi Arabia, Linick’s office was conducting an audit of Special Immigrant Visas, a review of the International Women of Courage Award, and another review "involving individuals in the Office of the Protocol."

• Pompeo confidant emerges as enforcer in fight over watchdog’s firing: Linick testified that Undersecretary of State for Management Brian Bulatao, a decades-old friend of Pompeo’s, “tried to bully [him]” out of investigating Pompeo.

Trump has empowered John McEntee, director of the Presidential Personnel Office, to make significant staffing changes inside top federal agencies without the consent — and, in at least one case, without even the knowledge — of the agency head. Many senior officials in Trump's government are sounding alarms about the loss of expertise and institutional knowledge.
Trump’s nominee for under secretary of defense for policy, retired Army Brig. Gen. Anthony Tata, has a history of making Islamophobic and inflammatory remarks against prominent Democratic politicians, including falsely calling former President Barack Obama a Muslim.
Amid racial justice marches, GOP advances Trump court pick hostile to civil rights. Cory Wilson, up for a lifetime seat on the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit, has denied that restrictive voting laws lead to voter suppression and called same-sex marriage “a pander to liberal interest groups.”
Interior Secretary David Bernhardt has indefinitely extended the terms of the acting directors of the Bureau of Land Management and the National Park Service, sidestepping the typical Senate confirmation process for those posts and violating the Federal Vacancies Reform Act,

Courts and DOJ

The Supreme Court declined on Monday to take a closer look at qualified immunity, the legal doctrine that shields law enforcement and government officials from lawsuits over their conduct. Developed in recent decades by the high court, the qualified immunity doctrine, as applied to police, initially asks two questions: Did police use excessive force, and if they did, should they have known that their conduct was illegal because it violated a "clearly established" prior court ruling that barred such conduct? In practice, however, lower courts have most often dismissed police misconduct lawsuits on grounds that there is no prior court decision with nearly identical facts.
The Supreme Court ruled that federal anti-discrimination laws protect gay and transgender employees. Justice Neil M. Gorsuch and Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. joined the court’s liberals in the 6 to 3 ruling. They said Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination “because of sex,” includes LGBTQ employees.

• Alito, writing more than 100 pages in dissent for himself and Thomas, accused the court's majority of writing legislation, not law. Kavanaugh wrote separately: "We are judges, not members of Congress...Under the Constitution and laws of the United States, this court is the wrong body to change American law in that way."
  
• Just days before the SCOTUS opinion was released, the Trump administration finalized a rule that would remove nondiscrimination protections for LGBTQ people when it comes to health care and health insurance. The SCOTUS ruling may make it easier to challenge the changes made by Trump.
  

The Supreme Court also declined to take up California’s “sanctuary” law, denying the Trump administration’s appeal. This means that the lower court opinion upholding one of California's sanctuary laws is valid, limiting cooperation between law enforcement and federal immigration authorities. Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito, two of the Court's conservative members, supported taking up the case.
A federal appeals court appeared unlikely Friday to stop a judge from examining why the Justice Department sought to walk away from its prosecution of Michael Flynn. "I don't see why we don't observe regular order," said Judge Karen Henderson. "Why not hold this in abeyance and see what happens?" Judge Robert Wilkins told Flynn's lawyer that if Sullivan doesn't let the government drop the case, "then you can come back here on appeal."

Other

Good read: Fiona Hill on being mistaken as a secretary by Trump, her efforts to make sure he was not left alone with Putin, and what the US, UK and Russia have in common. “It’s spitting in Merkel’s face,” said Vladimir Frolov, a former Russian diplomat who’s now a foreign-policy analyst. “But it’s in our interests.”

• Russia’s Foreign Ministry welcomed Trump’s plan to withdraw more than a quarter of U.S. troops from Germany.
  
• Op-Ed: Why cutting American forces in Germany will harm this alliance
  

According to a new book, the Secret Service had to seek more funding to cover the cost of protecting Melania Trump while she stayed in NYC to renegotiate her prenup - taxpayers paid tens of millions of dollars to allow her to get better terms. Additionally, NYPD estimated its own costs conservatively at $125,000 a day.
Georgia election 'catastrophe' in largely minority areas sparks investigation. Long lines, lack of voting machines, and shortages of primary ballots plagued voters. As of Monday night, there were still over 200,000 uncounted votes.
Fox News runs digitally altered images in coverage of Seattle’s protests, Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone
Fox News Mocked After Mistaking Monty Python Joke for Seattle Protest Infighting
In addition to holding a rally on the day after Juneteenth (originally scheduled the day of), Trump will be accepting the GOP nomination in Jacksonville on the 60th anniversary of “Ax Handle Saturday,” a KKK attack on African Americans.
Environmental news:

• Ruling against environmentalists, the U.S. Supreme Court decided that the federal government has the authority to allow a proposed $7.5 billion natural gas pipeline to cross under the popular Appalachian Trail in rural Virginia.
  
• Trump administration has issued a new rule blocking tribes from protecting their waters from projects like pipelines, dams, and coal terminals.
  
• The EPA published a proposal in the Federal Register that critics described as an assault on minority communities coping with the public health legacy of structural racism. The rule would bar EPA from giving special consideration to individual communities that bear the brunt of environmental risks — frequently populations of color.
  
• The Trump administration is preparing to drill off Florida’s coast, but says it will wait until after the November election to avoid any backlash from Florida state leaders.
  

Immigration news

• U.S. Customs and Border Protection used emergency funding meant for migrant families and children to pay for dirt bikes, canine supplies, computer equipment and other enforcement related-expenditures… The money was meant to be spent on “consumables and medical care” for migrants at the border.
  
• ACLU files lawsuit against stringent border restrictions related to coronavirus that largely bar migrants from entering the United States.
  
• Under Trump’s leadership, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has mismanaged its finances so badly that it has sought an emergency $1.2 billion infusion from taxpayers. When Trump took office, USCIS inherited a budget surplus. A large amount of funding is drained by its deliberate creation of more busy work for immigrants and their lawyers — as well as thousands of USCIS employees. These changes are designed to make it harder for people to apply for, receive or retain lawful immigration status.
  
• Asylum-seeking migrants locked up inside an Arizona ICE detention center with one of the highest number of confirmed COVID-19 cases say they were forced to clean the facility and are 'begging' for protection from the virus
  
• ICE plans to spend $18 million on thousands of new tasers and the training to use them
  

Hello Everyone,
I hope you’re all having a green week so far! This is my first DD and I want to know how I did.
$OPTI-OTC
Per their website:
OPTEC International, Inc. is committed to providing green technologies for continued worldwide reduction of fossil fuel usage and greenhouse gas emissions. The company is focused on the distribution of the OPTEC Fuel Maximizer and third-generation OPTIMUM LED lighting solutions for a revolutionary product line designed to have substantial impact on global health.
However, the company signed an exclusive UVC LED Disinfecting Light distribution agreement with California. They have begun to sell their PPE products to capitalize on COVID-19. Here is a timeline of their business proceedings.
Timeline:
May 1st, 2020: OPTEC International, Inc. Information Statement
Key Takeaways:
· Financials for the quarter ending March 31st, 2020 were posted to the OTC markets, maintaining the company’s pink current, status.
· Revenues were less than projected due to the “hold and do not ship until further notice requests” by customers due to COVID.
· Production was at a standstill due to COVID and the company was operating remotely due to the CA “stay at home order.”
· Fuel Maximizer tests were in progress with several large fleet operators both in the USA and internationally.
· Several Solar LED prospects who are interested in purchasing large quantities of the Solar Off-Grid lighting.
Source: https://optecintl.com/optec-international-inc-information-statement-8/
May 29th, 2020: OPTEC International, Inc. Signs Exclusive UVC LED Disinfecting Light Distribution Agreement for California
Key Takeaways:
· Company signed an exclusive distribution agreement for a new line of Far UVC LED Disinfecting lighting products for distribution in California.
· As demand intensifies, company has the opportunity to expand the agreement to additional states and regions.
· In talks with several retail chains for the sale of the new PPE products.
· PPE products include: A series of UVC LED high quality brushed aluminum wands for sterilization and disinfection of bacteria and a wide range of viruses in a matter of seconds on cellphones, keyboards, gas pumps, ATM’s, casino slot machines, vehicle steering wheels, infant toys, face masks and a multitude of other applications without the use of toxic chemicals such as bleach and ozone.
· The UVC LED rays can scan an entire area of room in a single treatment whereas current wiping solutions only penetrate the actual targeted areas.
· Commercially released is in JUNE.
Source: https://optecintl.com/optec-international-inc-signs-exclusive-uvc-led-disinfecting-light-distribution-agreement-for-california/
June 3rd, 2020: OPTEC International, Inc. Projects Q3 Revenues in Excess of $4M For Company’s UVC-LED Personal Protection Products

• For the period ending September 30th, 2020 the company is expecting revenues in excess of $4M.
• The projections are calculated based on the demand the Company has already received since the product launch (UVC-LED disinfecting products) last month.
• Current capacity is 5000 units per week of the iWand.

Source: https://optecintl.com/optec-international-inc-projects-q3-revenues-in-excess-of-4m-for-companys-uvc-led-personal-protection-products/
June 11th, 2020: OPTEC International, Inc. to Launch “OPTEC Rover” Commercial UVC Disinfecting & Sanitization Products on Friday June 12th, 2020.
Key Takeaways:
· Company will be introducing the OPTEC “Rover” Commercial UVC line of Disinfecting & Sanitization products on Friday, June 12th 2020, simultaneously with the launch of the new www.optecuvc.com website.
· iWand: Personal disinfection and sterilization germicidal scanner for personal use protection equipment (PPE).
· iWand has received increased interest and requests for the company’s commercial versions of the non-chemical disinfecting and sterilization equipment.
· The OPTEC ROVER: Commercial version UVC-LED rays can disinfect and sanitize an entire room area from wall to wall and floor to ceiling entirely in a single treatment within a matter of minutes whereas current wiping and spray solutions only penetrate the actual wiped or sprayed areas.”
· OPTEC ROVER: Fast, convenient and non-chemical. Can be used at banks, gyms, schools, office buildings, retail stores, malls, hotels, cruise ships and almost any location requiring frequent cleansing.
· The OPTEC ROVER CAN SANITIZE AT A RATE OF 1000 SQUARE FEET IN 15 MINUTES.
· MODELS THAT COVER LARGER AREAS ARE CURRENTLY IN DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT.
Source: https://optecintl.com/optec-international-inc-to-launch-optec-rover-commercial-uvc-disinfecting-sanitization-products-on-friday-june-12th-2020/
June 19th, 2020: OPTEC International, Inc. Appoints David Ojeda Former Amazon Senior Executive to Optec Advisory Board
· OPTEC CEO, Roger Pawson, commented, “Mr. Ojeda’s extensive executive experience working with some of the largest US logistics companies brings a wealth of opportunity for rapid growth and development for OPTEC in several sectors, we are very fortunate to be able to have Mr. Ojeda join our advisory board.”
· Ojeda’s experience includes senior management positions with Amazon including Sr. Product Manager for Prime Now Global Solutions and fulfillment, Regional Manager, Supply Chain Senior Manager for the respective Amazon divisions. Previous positions include Senior Facility Leader for HEB and UPS Division Manager.
· OPTEC CEO further commented, “The addition of David Ojeda to the advisory board will strengthen our abilities to grow our company, streamline operations and increase our product portfolio along with strengthening our corporate management structure.”
Source: https://optecintl.com/optec-international-inc-appoints-david-ojeda-former-amazon-senior-executive-to-optec-advisory-board/
June 25th, 2020: OPTEC “iWand” Now Available Online
· The Company announces the online store opened today for purchase of the OPTEC “iWand” Portable UV-C Disinfecting Wand on the Company’s UV-C website.
· In addition to the launch of the “iWand,” the OPTEC “Rover” commercial UVC product is expected to be available for shipping by July 5th, 2020. The Company has implemented a call-center operation simultaneously with the launch of the OPTEC “Rover” for technical inquiries and bulk purchasing options for corporate and municipal organizations”.
Source: https://optecintl.com/optec-iwand-now-available-online/
How their technology works:
The source below explains how their technology works.
Source: https://optecuvc.com/uvctechnology/
After searching the company’s website for the iWand: https://optecuvc.com, it was completely sold out. Although there were only 7 review, they all seemed to have positive feedback on the product. With the addition of David Ojeda to the team, I am hoping the company can branch off into Amazon. I believe if they were able to sell their products or get some sort of partnership with Amazon, we could see the stock valuation rise.
With the launch of the iWand on June 25th, the product jumped 145% between June 25th-June 26th. The company states the OPTEC ROVER will be available for shipping on July 5th. Within the next few days we should receive another PR stating the OPTEC ROVER is now available for sale. I think it’ll cause the stock to see another surge in valuation.
Stock Analysis:
52 Week High: 0.25
52 Week Low: 0.00050
Current Price: 0.027
The stock is heavily traded.
Avg Vol 10 day: 102.64M
Avg Vol 3 day: 60.58M
The stock is low float.
Shares Outstanding: 9.62M
Float: 8.28M
With the volume traded and the low float, another good PR for instance the announcement of the ROVER OPTEC might help this stock rise in the coming days.
I added a chart highlighting the volume and daily open and close to have a better look at it.
The source below highlight the volume trade and daily open/close for a period of time. It can help give a better understanding of the stock.
Source: https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/OPTI/history?p=OPTI
I honestly think we could see this stock do well in the coming days/weeks. With a second wave of COVID looming, if OPTEC is capable of continuously putting out PPE products, we could see this stock run.
As always do your own DD.
Please let me know what you guys think of my DD. It is my first one and I’d love to hear what you have to say (even if it’s constructive crtiticsm).
Thanks, and have a green day 🤑

TLDR: This is an unbelievably long post, so feel free to scroll down to the numbered list of suggestions for future updates and read a small bit of each one.
I want to preface this post by saying that I really hope somebody from Rare reads this eventually and acknowledges that they will at least consider these ideas. Not only because a lot of the ideas are wanted by the SoT community, but also because I have been the biggest Rare fan ever since childhood and it would mean so much to me knowing that my all time favorite company on Earth (and creators of the greatest game of all time: Banjo Kazooie) have responded to my post.
With that said, I have been playing SoT since close to the beginning of the game's release and would love nothing more than to see it continue to improve. It is an astounding game that I love and enjoy playing almost every night. This game has been my #1 choice for a while now and has allowed me, my family, and my friends to come together as pirates. What a dream come true!
I have spent lots of time and energy compiling a comprehensive list of all the major suggestions that I have seen on this thread and other SoT forums, along with a handful of some original ideas. I know some of these suggestions would take a lot more manpower to execute than other suggestions, so I am simply asking that the feasible ones can be released in future updates. I am also going to make it a point not to talk about bugs or other programming/coding issues, I won't pretend to know enough about any of that. These are simply suggestions that would vastly improve every pirate's experience on the seven seas. This list was not wirtten in any particular order and does not become less interesting as it goes on, so I urge you to please take the time to read the whole post and consider each point. Here are the things we would all love to see come to your game in the near future:

1. More skins - This is the most obvious one and would probably be the least intensive of any of the suggestions on this list. Many people have already bought all the skins they want or have bought literally every skin there is to buy! Technically, the "goal" of the game is to collect gold, and as of right now, the only thing you can possibly spend gold on is skins. So why not add more? Like, LOTS more? I don't mean one more set or some exclusive drops you can get through Twitch, I mean get your design team blasting out concepts day and night and double our current options! Shoot, there are hundreds, if not thousands of incredible fan-made drawings online, you could even offer payments to those people and take the concepts that have already been provided to you! The more skins, the more incentive there is to keep playing. And by the way, Pirate Legends could use more exclusive skins as well.
   
2. More ship customization - Being able to customize your player is awesome, and being able to customize your ship is even cooler, but why can I customize so many aspects of my player, but not my ship? With my pirate, I can customize every detail down to the belt, the peg leg, the patch over the eye, and the tattoos on his chest. With my ship, I only have a few customization options available. Allow me to make my ship way more unique than I currently can. Don't make "hull" one thing, split that into 5! Let me choose my mast colors, my deck color, the color of the side of my ship, everything individually! And add other fun customization options, like your harpoons, the tip of the front of your ship (I don't know the name of it), maybe even the placement of your supply bins! And please, for the love of goodness, let me customize my rowboat. WE ALL WANT UNIQUE ROWBOATS.
   
3. Skill-based combat - I think the SoT community by now is all aware that this game is not about hand to hand combat. However, the combat as of right now is just a little robotic and stale. If there was any way to improve the sword and gun fighting, that would be incredible. It doesn't have to become some combo heavy Street Fighter game, but it would be nice to add in some new types of slashes or kicks or something of the sorts. I don't think the community is asking for a combat overhaul, but just some spice.
   
4. New weapons - The guns in this game seem diverse and balanced, but this game desperately needs more hand to hand weapons than just a sword. Let me hack with an axe, whip around a heavy chain, poke with a fencing sword, SOMETHING else. We don't need tons of new options, we just need new options. If there were maybe 3 weapons, it could turn into a game of rock paper scissors or something like that where certain weapons counter others. Variety is nice!
   
5. Axes - I know I just mentioned axes as an example for new weapons, but I've seen a lot of complaints from the community about how impossible it is to do anything once you've boarded an enemy ship and killed the players. You have very few options to put holes in their boat and sink it, and the few options that you do have are usually extremely time consuming and difficult to pull off. This is especially frustrating for solo players who put in so much time and effort to take out a whole crew and try to sink their ship and steal their loot. A weapon such as an axe would solve this problem. If a player was holding an axe, they could methodically bust holes into a ship and sink it without having a cannoneer on their own ship. Now, I can see how this sounds unfair because obviously s galleon crew will just jump on another ship and start hacking away. To avoid this issue, make is so there's only one axe per ship, so only one crew member can carry it (it would teleport back to the ship after not being used for 1 minute). This weapon would obviously have to be balanced, but I don't think it would be that difficult to do.
   
6. Cannon and harpoon variability - You know how you can go into the weapon box and choose between 3 different guns? Why can't you do that with your cannons or your harpoons? Put a new box next to the ship customization box on the dock at each outpost that allows you to change the type of cannon or harpoon you want on your ship until the next time you dock at an outpost. Make a quick reloading cannon that can shoot far but can only make tiny holes in a ship. Make an ultra powerful cannon that can shoot all the way through an entire ship and blow multiple giant holes, but takes a full 5 seconds to reload. Make a harpoon with twice the range that can only grab loot and people. Make a sturdy harpoon with half the range that will never break off an enemy boat as it turns. Also, it might be fun to be able to customize the placement of the cannons and harpoons (with limited options, so it stays fair). All of this would make sailing the seas more enjoyable to each individual crew and would give them the fighting experience they want.
   
7. Expand the map - I don't know how else to say it, but we've been playing on the same map and sailing to the same islands for a long time. I understand there have been some minor changes, but the addition of the Devil's Roar was absolutely jaw dropping and we want more! I'm sure this would entail a LOT of work and would have other implications such as upping the number of ships on each server, but it would be absolutely worth it. The more you are able to expand the map, the happier your player base would be.
   
8. New bad guys - Skeletons are cool, but not cool enough to only fight them for years. We could use other enemies like large animals (such as bears, wolves octopuses), elementals, warriors from Atlantis, etc. I also saw a really fun suggestion for giant invulnerable crabs that you have to throw a blunder bomb at them to flip them over, and then you can slash or shoot their bellies. I even saw an amazing drawing that a guy made of a monster even larger and more terrifying than the Kraken: Cthulhu!! I know that the Kraken only spawns once after completing a major event, but maybe Cthulhu could spawn only after somebody completes the FotD (or he could be the main boss of the fort). That would be an interesting idea!
   
9. New types of wood - As long as I have been playing, we have always had many types of cannonballs. About a year ago, you guys added new types of fruit. Well, the third basic component to staying alive is wood, so why do we only have one type of wood? Heck,we even have 3 types of fish bait! There should be more types of wood, like oak, maple, pine, etc. and give each of them a different boat repair time. Maybe one piece of wood could withstand one cannonball shot and be much rarer than the other woods (similar to that of a pineapple). This wouldn't drastically improve the game, but it's just one of those small things that gives the game more diversity and makes it more fun!
   
10. New types of loot - Again, this is simply to add diversity to the game. Some players seem to get bored seeing the same things over and over, so just create new types of loot with new looks and new names! Also, it would be nice to be surprised when we open up a door to a fort, kill a megalodon, finish a quest, etc. rather than know almost exactly what we're going to be rewarded with. Maybe you could make some megs randomly have WAY more gold, or maybe some forts will have like 10 stronghold chests and that's it. Just shake it up a bit to surprise us.
    
11. Add more ships to servers - Server hopping is not healthy from a server management perspective. While the emissary system is a step towards fixing server hopping, it is not having its intended effect due to the lack of players using emissaries. Increasing the ship total on a server to about 8 could help this. Also, don't allow servers to be missing ships (at least, not for a long time). Some servers feel so empty because they're not completely filled. As players log in, they should only fill into servers that need more ships rather than just starting up a new server.
    
12. Single person ship - I don't know how passionately I personally want this one because I love the sloop and believe it's perfectly suitable for one person, but I've seen a lot of threads about people wanting a ship more tailored to one pirate. It would be fun just to have a tiny little sail boat to cruise around the ocean with no cannons on it, I must admit. I've even seen some creative drawings online, so maybe check those concepts out and give this some consideration! Plus, it would make a lot of solo players very happy (I don't see how it could hurt adding this new tiny ship, it would basically be an upgraded rowboat).
    
13. New larger ships - Look, some of us have a lot of friends who really enjoy this game. Server hopping is a pain and almost never works. Locking down a server through some shady Twitch streamer breaks the game and is unethical. Rare, we love your game, but you have to allow us to play with more than 4 people. Please, please, please make larger ships that can hold 6, 8, even 10 people!! Make a battleship with tons of cannons and a massive hull that takes a full 10 seconds to run across!! Just give us something, we're begging you!! If you're worried about this becoming unfair and ruining servers, then create servers dedicated to these mega ships where only 4 or 5 of these ships can sail around and nothing else. I'm 99% positive that different servers can have different rules, so why not make this happen? Your players want it so badly and it would solve so many problems for a lot of loyal fans and their friends.
    
14. More friends in a crew - If you are absolutely unable to create a new, larger ship, then please find some creative way to create a larger crew size. Make a server where ships spawn in pairs, or something like that. I can't stress this enough, this is so important to your fan base and would allow so many more people to enjoy this game with their friends. If you ignore every other suggestion, at least make this one happen.
    
15. Remove certain emotes - Tucking was fun when it was new and silly and unexpected, but now everybody does it all the time. It's impossible to do a fort without somebody popping up at the end and wasting their own time doing nothing as you shoot them twice and walk away. Literally 50% or more players are skinny and wear all black just so they can be try-hard tuckers. It's making players paranoid and annoyed and is somewhat ruining the game. Casual players can't catch a break and it's rough for a lot of new pirates out there getting constantly tortured by far better players who know how to curl up in a ball and lay down or sit in their black clothes. So why not remove these emotes? If you simply get rid of any hiding emotes, then tuckers will still exist, but have to be much more creative. They won't be able to exploit nooks and crannies in the graphic designing of the game, and will just have to honestly find a spot to hide. These emotes seem unnecessary and, at the moment, are making the game very frustrating for a lot of players.
    
16. Gold sinks - As mentioned earlier, many players have hit what many people consider the "end game." They have all the skins (or all the skins they want) and millions of gold with nothing to spend it on. Not only should you all create many more skins, but you should also consider adding gold sinks so people can put their gold to practical use. Stocking up recourses can be grueling, so maybe allow players to buy cannonballs for 200 gold, wood for 100, etc. Maybe a player could spend 5,000 gold to make their ship look new again (take away the burn marks and jagged wooden boards) or maybe 2,000 could get you a collector's chest to help carry loot a little quicker. Maybe 10,000 gold could buy you a rowboat and 15,000 could get you one with a harpoon. These are just random numbers and random ideas, but some sort of a repetitive gold sink would be incredible for long time players. And if my gold numbers seem unfairly low, then double them! Whatever you need to do to make it fun and fair.
    
17. Add a new carrying vessel - We have collector's chests and treasure chests for small loot, but there's no love for large loot. A skull can be worth the same amount, sometimes more than a chest, so they probably shouldn't get an unfair carrying advantage. Add a new carrying vessel for large loot, such as a wheel barrel or a net that you can drag behind you to put 2 or 3 chests on it. That would make things more balanced and pirating just a little more convenient.
    
18. Slight map changes - This is a suggestions that isn't necessary, but would add a little fun to the game for new players. SoT is all about exploration, so it might be fun to only reveal parts of the map that you've previously visited (whether it's this session OR older pirating sessions). Also, it might help new players to mark where the venders are specifically on each outpost. Veterans know their locations and this gives them an advantage when selling loot. None of this is necessary, but just something to think about.
    
19. Skill tree - I've seen posts about adding a skill tree to the game so that you can improve your pirate. I know that you guys want starting players to have all the same capabilities as veterans so that everything is fair and balanced, but it might be fun to look into some customization options. Maybe even instead of a skill tree, each player could just choose one perk to add to their pirate every time they go to an outpost. Here is a quick list of ideas completely taken off the SoT suggestions forum: Bigger bucket, Carry more wood, Carry more food, Stable telescope, Fast repairer, Sprinter, Deep breath, See treasure from far away, Speedy ladder climber, etc. Some other ideas I came up with would be Shark repellent, Extra sword/gun damage, Sail/wheel turning speed, etc. These perks would be interesting to look into but I could also see how they might ruin your current vision of the game. Take this suggestion with a grain of salt!
    
20. Avoid AFK - We all hate when our stomach grumbles and we're stuck in the bathroom for 20 minutes just to come back and see Lazy Beard on our screen as our crew is selling 50,000 gold worth of loot. It would make sense that in order to avoid going AFK, your crew can just vote you into the brig. This should be a safe, AFK free zone where you are essentially removed from the game without missing out on the benefits you fought so hard for. I'm not sure if an enemy pirate can currently kill a player stuck in the brig, but this should be a completely invulnerable zone (other than the ship sinking). You could even add a 1 minute timer to being released from the brig so that crews can't abuse this invulnerability mechanic during combat.
    
21. Casinos - Pirates are dirty, rotten, money hungry thieves. Add a casino section to the tavern where you can play mini games and gamble your loot away!! This would be a fun way to pass the time and would give players something to do for a bit when they don't feel like adventuring out on the seas. Maybe even add a super shady casino in the Pirate Legend area where you can gamble doubloons!
    
22. New songs - In the same way that you can unlock and buy new skins for your pirate, you should be able to unlock songs with commendations and buy them! There are only a small handful of songs in the game, but it would be a blast if crews could show off loads of pirate tunes to other crews. This would also add a new way to spend your gold (and/or doubloons).
    
23. High and low tide - This was a very interesting idea that I read a while back from a very passionate pirate. This player came up with the idea of adding extreme tides to the game. When tides are high, you can reach cliffs on islands that would otherwise be unaccessible, and when tides are low, you can explore amazing underground cave systems. Obviously, you can also cannon yourself to the high tide areas and swim down to the low tide areas if need be (for a mission or something), but this would add so much versatility to the game. Many islands would have to be redesigned, but this would literally double the adventure without necessarily expanding the map. I thought this was one of the most unique and amazing ideas I've read on this SoT Reddit page.
    
24. Add gimmicks - This game is more silly than it is serious (from what I've experienced and read from the fan base) and it might be fun (and not too tilting) to add little annoying gimmicks to the game! What if 1/100 gunpowder barrels was a dud? Or what if your gun jammed in the middle of combat? What if you sold cursed loot and actually LOST a little bit of gold? There are endless ways to add tiny, infrequent gimmicks to the game!
    
25. Ropes/lassos - Currently, the only reasonable way to board a ship is to climb one of the side ladders. What if you added a new boarding item? I've seen suggestions for ropes or lassos that you can toss onto your ship or other ships to climb or swing across in order to make boarding easier and more discrete. Obviously, this can't break the game, so it would have to make some sort of alarming noise, or would have to be visually obvious when it happens. I could easily see how this would be incredibly overpowered when it comes to sneaking onto an enemy ship, so this would take some balancing and play testing to make sure it works properly.
    
26. Add a speedometer - This is one thing that I'm sure you guys have looked into and considered and withheld from the game for some specific reason. But because I don't know what that reason is, I'm still going to suggest it. In my opinion (and the opinion of many others), a speedometer on each ship would be very helpful. I don't know enough about pirate history to know if they had speedometers back in the day, but it would be nice just to have an idea of how fast you're sailing across the open seas directly against the wind in a giant galleon while your friend is fighting a 4 man crew by himself and screaming at you to hurry up (not like I'm speaking from experience or anything...)
    
27. Add potions and a crafting table - It would be a neat idea if you could buy potions at an outpost or craft potions out of different fruits and fish that you catch. These potions could be counters to specialty cannonballs, like a potion that you drink to cure drunkenness or a snakebite, or a potion you throw at your friend to wake them up when they're asleep, or even a shark repellent potion! These potions could have a whole new key/button assigned to them so you can quickly rotate through them in the middle of combat. Additionally, you could add a crafting table to the boat next to the frying pan. In order to craft these potions. Maybe you could even craft new, rare skins at the crafting table! Or paints for your ship. And adding a new potion shop to each outpost would be another great gold sink, which is a suggestion that I mentioned earlier.
    
28. More pet interactions - Pets were an awesome addition to SoT, but are just a little lackluster. They currently have very few interactions with the players and players tend to forget about them after a couple weeks. I think it would make everybody very happy if we could do more with our pets. Give them a different dance for each song, allow us to whistle so they hop right into our hands, maybe even let us talk to them! It would also be a fun little gimmick if every now and then, they brought you a fruit from an island while you're exploring, or they find you one doubloon from digging in a bush! These silly things wouldn't be game breaking and wouldn't give a noticeable advantage to any players.
    
29. Fix the revive system - many players are frustrated with the new revive system. The main issue is that a galleon will almost always beat a sloop in a cannon fight because the larger crew can continuously revive any fallen comrades. After reading many forums and weighing the options, I came up with an idea that I believe will solve a lot of problems. Give each player "soul charges" that have to be earned. Each time you kill an enemy player OR kill 20 AI enemies, you gain a soul charge. Each player can hold up to 1 or 2 soul charges. You must spend a soul charge to revive a fallen crewmate. This would keep the current system in place, but would not allow any player to abuse the system as they currently are. I think it would be a great idea!
    
30. Respawn immunity - This would solve an unbelievable amount of frustration for players who hate dealing with spawn killers. In my personal experience, I once played against a pirate who knew all the spawn locations and exactly where I would spawn next. Every time I came back, he was standing directly in front of my face with a blunderbuss ready, I believe he killed me 6 times while the single hole in my sloop slowly sunk me and I grasped my computer chair armrests trying to restrain myself from punching in my monitor. If players were granted just 3 seconds of immunity after respawning from the Ferry of the Damned, it would make situations like that so much more fair. This is especially relevant for new players who have no chance at all against spawn killers.
    
31. Skin presets - Adding preset ship skin and pirate skin combinations would make life a lot easier. It obviously isn't a HUGE issue to not have presets, but if it's a simple addition to code into the game, it would at least save a couple minutes of searching around your collection. Could be a nice touch!
    
32. Naming your boat - This is arguably the suggestion that I've seen more than anything else in the SoT Reddit page. It would be a fun, silly addition to an already fun and silly game. Many people have pointed out that there's already a blank wooden banner above the door on the galleon, so why not allow words to be written in it! You could also have the names written on the side of the ship, carved in all ugly and pirate-like. Plus, how fun would it be to sink an emissary ship and see their flag float up out of the water with their ship name on it?
    
33. Market the emissaries - Please add more information and incentives to put up an emissary flag. This is a great addition to the game and the community loves it, but anyone who is not immersed in the community is just confused. Outside of outside of the game research like reading patch notes or watching a YouTube video, players have no way of learning the benefits of emissaries. The only in game interaction is a brief conversation on the outpost with a emissary leader that players may or may not find and is entirely uninformative. Most servers should have 3-4 emissaries at any given time, my experience is that I usually see 1 per server, mostly due to lack of information.
    
34. Add more PVE events - Rather than just having active forts or the ship on the sky, add more events! Make a giant dig up event (symbolized by a chest in the sky) where you can uncover up to 100 chests on an island with no map whatsoever. Make a new type of raid with one of the enemies that were previously suggested in #8. Add a massive skeleton ship (thinking 16 or so cannons, 5 levels or something) that slowly sails across the server every few hours. Make it extremely difficult to bring down, but Fort of the Damned like rewarding. And make it so more than one event can show up in the sky at once. It becomes grueling and sometimes boring to have to do an event or wait for it to disappear just to do the one you sought out to do. Options would be great!
    
35. MAKE THAT MERMAID LESS BUTT UGLY - Seriously, that thing is nightmare inducing... Aren't mermaids supposed to be beautiful creatures?
    

Overall, SoT is a wonderful, constantly growing game. It has evolved so much since the time I started playing and I have enjoyed every update so far. I really hope that many of these suggestions come to fruition, I think they would vastly improve the game and make the players incredibly happy! I understand that this is a lot, but even if these changes are released gradually in future updates, I'm sure they would make every pirate quite jolly! Thanks so much for the game Rare, and I sincerely hope you read this and consider each point. Oh, and I wouldn't mind giving you my gamertage to have my name immortalized in the game if these things work out wink wink