Author: Serkadis

If you enjoyed the new face of French carmaker Citroen, launched last year, and the way in which its revived DS line looks, then this is surely gonna sweep you off your feet: Citroen DS3 will get mean, bad and powerful with a hot hatch version.

Although nothing official has been confirmed yet, the rumor mill started spinning and now spits out information about the project. According to PistonHeads, an inside source confirmed a more powerful version of the DS3 is coming.

"I can’t tell… (read more)

Here’s an article from our friends over at The Toilet Paper. To subscribe to their free ball busting daily newsletter, click here.

Lots of gals enjoy the salty taste of jerked meat from time to time. The only difference between them and Julia Laack of Sheboygan is that they normally don’t steal it.

Laack, 36, was busted after drunkenly shoplifting a bag of beef jerky from a convenience store with her three kids in tow. Picked up later at her home by police, the not so ambitious criminal violently resisted then doffed her clothing claiming her nudity made her immune from arrest. Laack recently discovered that her interpretation of the law was incorrect and got six months in jail.

Number

360 – Inmates in California that are serving life sentences for shoplifting small amounts of merchandise after blowing California’s “three strikes” law.

Translation: Go big or go home.

Quote

“Don’t worry about people stealing your ideas. If your ideas are any good, you’ll have to ram them down people’s throats.”

Howard Aiken, computer engineer and mathematician

Amen, Howie! We are still trying to convince Victoria’s Secret to invest in a spin-off store for men called Ted Is Telling Everybody.

Word

shrinkage

noun. 1. Inventory recorded on a company’s books but not on hand, due to theft, loss, or accounting error. 2. See George Costanza.

Fact

Stuart T. Seidel is the patented inventor of the ink tag security device used in many retail clothing stores. The purpose of the device is to prevent theft with the idea that if you attempt to remove the tag, the ink will splatter out and ruin the garment.

Way to go, Stu. So if the store forgets to remove it, we gotta walk around looking like douchebags.

The List

The Most Shoplifted Items of 2009

Gillette Mach Series razors – So expensive they made beards popular again.
Cosmetics – Maybe it’s Maybelline? Can’t be sure; I just grabbed it and ran.
Booze – You need a really big pair of pants for that 30-rack of Natty Ice.
Baby formula – Quite possibly the second most expensive white powder out there.
Meat – We think this is where the phrase “hide the salami” came from.

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A cash-strapped Nick Lachey and Vanessa Minnillo are putting their wedding plans on hold until the size of their wallets can compare to the depth of their love. Together since 2007, the lovin’ twosome is finally ready to tie the knot — but they can’t afford the splashy dream wedding they have their hearts set on, insiders told The National Enquirer this week.

“It’s frustrating,” says a pal of the couple, who asked to remain anonymous. “They finally made the big decision to spend the rest of their lives together, and now a cash flow issue seems to be standing in the way of their dream wedding.”

Nick, 36, was expecting to pay for the ceremony with the advance he was due to take in from the release of his upcoming album, Coming Up For Air. That plan fell through after Nick’s label shelved the project indefinitely.

“He was crushed. Now almost all his money is tied up in that project.”

For now, Nick is surviving with the help of hosting gigs. (Maybe he can replace Simon on American Idol? God knows everyone else is throwing a hat in the ring…..)

The bride-to-be’s bank accounts are just as bare. The ex-Miss Teen USA quit her job as a MTV VJ to pursue a career in acting — but the big roles just haven’t been coming, says the spy. Vanessa, now 29, is said to be “desperately looking for working” and learning to “pinch pennies” in order to stay afloat financially. N&V have even taken to flying coach when they can’t afford first class seating.

(Can you imagine the horror?!)

A former MTV Newlywed, Nick turned his marriage to singer/actress Jessica Simpson into a cash-generating machine. Friends say the crooner is discouraged that he can’t give Vanessa an equally-beautiful wedding.

“It is as if neither one of them has the money to pay for an extravaganza….”

The already-popular Passat CC is again brought into the spotlights by its parent manufacturer with the help of a new upgrade. No, we’re not talking about new modifications brought to the way the car looks, but to a new option that turns the CC into a five-seater.

It apparently seems like some people complained that the original configuration, which only provide room for four people – two in the back, had reduced "utility". Although this might sound a bit kinky, Volkswagen tries to s… (read more)

Japan’s retail industry is getting destroyed from the persistent lack of consumer demand.

Latest data shows that retail sales have kept falling like a rock, touching levels not seen since the late 1980s.

AP:

Department stores and supermarkets were hit hard by the recession with department store sales falling below 7 trillion yen for the first time since 1985 while supermarket sales dropping below 13 trillion yen for the first time since 1988, data released by industry groups showed Friday.

On a same-store basis, both department store and supermarket sales fell for the 13th consecutive year, showing no sign of touching bottom in the face of declining personal consumption amid the economic slump.

Read more here >

Join the conversation about this story »

See Also:

• Japan’s New Finance Minister Wants His Staff To Have More Sex To Improve Performance
• Japan Airlines Wipe-Out Sets Off Wave Of Write-Downs Throughout Corporate Japan
• Felix Zulauf: We’re In A Secular Bear Market Like Japan, The Rally In Financials Is Over, So Here’s What To Buy

Valentino Rossi seems to have done very well during his last 2-day testing session with Ferrari. According to figures revealed to the media by the Ferrari website – which might be subject to marketing-related changes – the 7-time winner of the MotoGP title set the best time of 1:21.900 on the Barcelona race track, driving the Ferrari F2008 these past few days.

This means Rossi has really outdone himself this time, as this lap time is only 0.230 seconds slower than Kimi Raikkonen’s lap record … (read more)

Appearing on Squawk Box Europe, Mr. Gloom Boom Doom slammed Barack Obama, and said he makes George Bush look like a genius in comparison. The reason? Obama won’t let the free market work.

A little simplistic, yes, but then, Marc Faber isn’t typically known for subtlety.

Join the conversation about this story »

See Also:

• Meh, Obama’s Big Announcement Was Just A Baby Step
• Marc Faber Joins Hedge Fund Of Fellow Doomsayer Eric Sprott
• The Brilliant Thing Is, Republicans Can’t Oppose Obama’s New Banking Rule

Twitter has finally gotten around to revamping the much talked-about Suggested Users List. Until now, new Twitter users were presented with a list of 20 users from a pool of accounts picked by Twitter staff. Whoever got on the list saw a huge uptake in followers, but there were talks about the relevance and the fairness of the system. The microblo… (read more)

Ferrari.com now has a Japanese version. This is the website’s third language, learned in one year, as its current generation has been launched last year in both English and Italian.

By offering this dedicated online tool, the company is showing its respect for Japanese customers and enthusiasts. The supercar maker want to develop a direct relation to the Japanese public, as the people there have already showed great enthusiasm for the marque. This is not just a translation, as a bespoke vide… (read more)

Tata Motors, the famous creator of the world’s cheapest car, is looking into ways to bring more cars in Europe, with the very first models to make it to the Old Continent this year. According to a report by insideline.com, the Indian manufacturer is currently planning to debut a total of eight models in Europe and the United Kingdom seems to be a top priority when it comes to the European targets.

"We need to be selective, but seven or eight types of vehicle would be about right," T… (read more)

Just days after General Larry Platt brought the world the genius of Pants on the Ground to American Idol, the Minnesota Viking’s Brett Favre cemented the song as a true American anthem. Following the Viking’s thrashing of the Cowboys this past weekend, Favre sang a few verses of the song in the locker room.

Why is a white quarterback singing about young African-Americans wearing low-slung pants? I have no idea, but enjoy the randomness:

In case you missed the original, here’s Larry on American Idol:

Just try to get that song out of your head now.

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Robert Prechter, the Elliot Wave guru, is as bearish as ever according to Peter Brimelow at MarketWatch, who summarizes his latest thinking.

(Bear in mind that Prechter called the top last month and the month before, too, so wave analysis isn’t always perfect.)

What happens now could hardly be worse, according to EWFF. It says: “2010 is the year when the bear market in stocks returns in full force.” It compares the situation to the short-lived rebound after the initial break in 1929, and says that “a meaningful close” below 10,489 should see a similar collapse to new bear market lows.

EWFF also expects the spread between high and low-grade bonds to experience “a record widening” and thinks gold will fall “below $680.” It does expect a rally in the dollar, but that is merely an aspect of deflationary forces getting out of control. Prechter argues, referring readers to his recent book “Conquer The Crash,” that the yield on Treasury bills might actually become negative and for that reason advocates holding greenbacks.

So, when should you buy agaIn?

Apparently stocks will bottom in 2014, though even after that gold will still outperform.

(Via TMTGM)

Join the conversation about this story »

See Also:

• Robert Prechter: It’s A Great Time To Get Out Of The Market
• Dow Ends Down Over 200 Points, As Bloody Selloff Goes Two Days In A Row
• Prechter: The 2008 Crash Was Merely A Warmup

Just as Kathleen Merrigan, Deputy Secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), used transmitter devices to keep her audience involved in her talk last night, she hopes to use health and human welfare issues to involve the whole country in “knowing their farmer.”

“We believe there’s just too much distance between American consumers today and those who produce their food,” Merrigan said.

Speaking in Annenberg Auditorium last night, Merrigan laid out the main goals of the USDA’s new “Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food” initiative, which aims to create agricultural opportunities, support nutritional eating and foster connection between consumers and food providers.

A colorful slideshow, combined with multiple choice questions the audience could answer with transmitter devices Kathleen’s associates handed out before the talk, kept the audience engaged throughout the hour.

“People want to have that connection, they want food to have a story,” she said. “There is a thirst in this country to have a conversation about agriculture that I have never seen.”

Political science Prof. Rob Reich established high expectations for Merrigan in his introduction.

“I think we have with us tonight a rock star of the outside world, gone inside,” he said, describing the Deputy Secretary as a woman with new ideas who arrived in her current office by a non-traditional path.

Merrigan’s talk focused on how the USDA was using Facebook chat sessions, Webinars, Twitter and blogs to encourage popular participation in the initiative’s Web site. She also stressed the interdisciplinary focus of the program.

“It’s somewhat mold-breaking for the bureaucracy to try to do things across disciplines, across departments,” Merrigan said. “There’s a lot of interconnectedness in the work that needs to be done.”

One primary problem “Know Your Farmer” hopes to correct is the gap between farmers’ income and the cost of running a farm. Merrigan showed that while the net cash income of the average farmer is $70,000 per year, the estimated market value for the machinery on the farm is $136,000, while the estimated value of the land and buildings is $1.1 million. Because of this, Merrigan described a wide variety of USDA grants designed to boost the opportunities of smaller, independent farmers.

As for at the Farm, Merrigan said students can get involved at all levels of the program and shared opportunities for those looking to become farmers, a future career many Stanford students may have not considered.

Although many of her ideas met enthusiasm at the end of her talk, most of the audience’s questions directed criticism at aspects of USDA policy. Merrigan was quick to acknowledge the organization’s shortcomings and the changes that need to be made.

Todd Laurence, vice president of YottaMark, a business that traces food from the farms to the markets, enjoyed the talk, but also believes that tracing food, rather than bringing farms close to consumers, might be a more effective answer.

“The reality is that that option [of eating local] isn’t available for the overwhelming majority of people on the planet,” he said.

Matt Harnack, MFA ’08, also emerged from Annenberg with a greater understanding of the complexities of food in America—especially when compared with previous talks in the Food/Environment series.

“The USDA is vilified by [previous speakers] Joel Sullivan and Michael Pollan a little bit…This talk] makes things a lot more complicated,” he said. “It’s easy to scapegoat the USDA, but what I got out of this is that it’s why more complicated than I thought it was.”

	Volvo C30 electric vehicle uses … ethanol for heat This is the first time we’ve heard this particular strategy.		Report: GM to invest “hundreds of millions” into pickups with fuel-saving tech Electronically-operated openings in the grille, anyone?
	Metalback is a biodiesel-powered motorcycle concept with a Mazda connection A bike with a patina. Nice.	Other news: “Prius perks” ending in December; but there’s still time to make divisive statements Chicago Preview: Kia teases plug-in hybrid concept called Ray Report: Hybrid Kinetic Motors to spend $500 million for Italian styling

AutoblogGreen for 01.22.10 originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 22 Jan 2010 06:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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