Author: Serkadis

Harrison Ford is in hot water with Chicago’s Mayor Daley…..

First Lady Michelle Obama resumed her visits to federal agencies to thank employees this morning when she stopped by the Department of Labor. She even made time to stop by a day care center to read Dr Seuss’ Green Eggs & Ham.

Oh, and she has a new haircut too…

Here are the First Lady’s remarks courtesy of WhiteHouse.gov…

REMARKS BY THE FIRST LADY

DURING VISIT TO THE DEPARMTENT OF LABOR

U.S. Department of Labor

Washington, D.C.

 11:09 A.M. EST

MRS. OBAMA: Thanks, everybody. (Applause.) Now, remember, you weren’t supposed to get out of your seats — (laughter) — until the program was over. And you all agreed. I heard it. (Laughter.) But that’s okay. (Laughter.)

Good morning, everyone. I am as thrilled to be here as you all seem to be. (Laughter.) But before we begin, I do want to take a moment just to express my profound heartbreak and our nation’s deepest support for the people of Haiti in the wake of this just devastating disaster that they have suffered.

The destruction and the suffering that we see, the images that are coming out of that country are just overwhelming, and it is important for the people of Haiti to know that we are keeping the victims of this tragedy and their loved ones in our thoughts and our prayers. And that also includes prayers going out to all of the Haitian Americans who have families and friends there, and they’re worried about them back home. It’s difficult to get word. People don’t know where folks are. This is a tough time for Haitian American citizens here, as well. And we also want to send our thoughts and prayers out to the American citizens who are working and living in Haiti, as well.

Right now my husband and the administration are focused on moving as many resources as possible into Haiti as quickly as possible so that we can save as many lives as we can. And later today I’ll be taping a public service announcement for the Red Cross, which is providing on-the-ground support — food, water, medicine — that’s desperately needed right now, particularly in this short period of 48, 72 hours after the disaster.

So for those Americans who are watching this, who are listening, who want to help — and everyone’s help and resources and energy at this time are critically important — you can go to the White House Web site at www.whitehouse.gov to see what you can do to support our friends in Haiti in this time of urgent need.

And as you know, it’s not just in the weeks and months ahead. This is going to be something that we’re going to have to put our attention to for many years to come. So again, our thoughts and prayers go out to the country of Haiti.

But I’d like to start by first thanking your wonderful Secretary, Secretary Solis, not just for that very kind introduction but for all of her work that she’s doing in this department. She is doing a fabulous job in so many areas. And all of you know — (applause) — and she’s not just working here, but she has taken the time to travel with me on my special projects. We’ve spent a wonderful day in Denver, participating in a mentorship and leadership program there for young girls. And Secretary Solis was right there, the first one to sign up to go, as a busy Secretary, still never too busy to give back to an amazing group of girls — and I will be grateful to her for a very long time for her outstanding work and willingness to step up and outside of her role. So we are grateful to you.

I also want to thank all of you here today and all your colleagues here in Washington who may not be in this room or across the country for all of your work. As you all know, I have spent a lot of time in the first year — yes, it’s been a year — (laughter) — since we’ve arrived in Washington, visiting agencies. And it’s been wonderful for me to use these visits — it’s a way to learn more about the work that you do, to listen, to observe, to hear your concerns, and then to bring that information back to the White House so that my husband is getting even more feedback on how things are going.

So these visits have been so very important to me getting to better understand how this place works, and getting to know all of you.

 And I know that some of you have been working in these departments for a very long time, for decades. And we have some of those long-term workers standing behind me. We have some of the longest-serving employees here at the department right behind me.

But something that the Secretary chose to do uniquely is to also recognize the many folks here who are just beginning their careers. And we can’t forget those — a lot of young people who are stepping into new roles and a lot of not-so-young people stepping into roles. (Laughter.) So also on the stage with us today are some of the very newest employees here at the Department, as well.

 But I know that whether you all have worked here for decades or for days, you’ve been working very hard for the American people, and one of my primary reasons for being here is to express on behalf of not just myself and my family and the President, but the entire nation, our gratitude for the service that you have put in. We often forget about the work that you do to make things happen for this nation. And it’s important that we shed this light on each and every one of you over the course of this year.

I am also looking forward to visiting some little people here. (Laughter.) After I speak here I’m going to go down to the childcare center, and as you know, I’m a sucker for kids. (Laughter.) I told the Secretary if I can come to the childcare center, I’ll be here every week. (Laughter and applause.)

But I’m going to get to read one of my favorite books, “Green Eggs and Ham” — (laughter) — Dr. Seuss. And I’m also going to get to meet — although I see some of you here — some of the culinary students, young people who are working in the training program. (Applause.)

And I’ve heard that you have prepared a delicious and, hopefully, healthy snack for our children. (Laughter.) But we’re grateful for you, and I’m looking forward to meeting you all.

I was pleased to hear that there was a childcare center here at the Department of Labor that not just serves the employees of the department, but working families throughout the area. And, as a parent, I know centers like this one create a great deal of peace of mind, so that people know that their kids are being taken care of. And that means that you can focus on your work and not worry about whether your kids are doing okay.

And that’s actually what I’d like to just spend a few brief moments talking about today, an issue that I’ve talked a lot about, and that’s the issue of work-life balance. You know it: the constant struggle to meet our responsibilities both as employees, but also as breadwinners, and mothers and fathers. It’s one of those issues that we, as a society, still haven’t quite figured out yet. We’re still working on it. And as the mother of two young girls — who are doing just fine, by the way — (laughter) — it’s an issue that is particularly near and dear to my heart, as I have spoken about.

In my current life as the First Lady of the United States, I am incredibly blessed and I know that, because I have more support than I could have ever asked for and ever imagined, including my mother, who has moved here to help us sort through all the challenges.

But I didn’t always live in the White House, as you know. For many years — just a few years ago, we came to Washington, I was a part of that work-family struggle to balance that full-time job, plus being an around-the-clock role — that role you play as mom, particularly when you have a spouse who is traveling a lot.

And I’ve said this before, but probably like many of you, I consider myself one of those 120-percenters, which essentially means that if you are not doing everything at 120 percent, you think you’re failing. I suffer from that malady. So when I was at work during these times, I always felt like I was shortchanging my girls. But then when I was at home, I was worried that I was letting people at work down. And with that kind of anxiety, comes a lot of additional stress and a whole lot of guilt. So I know all of us are walking around with a whole lot of guilt, just carrying it around. (Laughter.)

And I was lucky even back then, because I had understanding bosses, people like Secretary Solis, who shared my same values for the importance of doing a good job but also raising a good family. And I was also fortunate to work in jobs that were reasonably accommodating, with people who understood that if you left a little early for — to get in the car line, that that wasn’t some huge definition of your dedication to your job.

And while there’s certainly plenty of employers out there who recognize the value of good work-life policies, many people in this country just aren’t as fortunate to work with those employers. And with the job market the way it is right now, many folks can’t afford to be picky. You just can’t. When you have a job, you keep it; and you settle for the terms that you have because you know you’re blessed to even have a job. And many don’t have access, as a result, to good family leave policies or any kind of flexibility in the workplace at all. It’s just not possible. So they struggle to find affordable childcare and emergency childcare when their usual arrangements fall through, which they always do — right?

And believe it or not, today roughly 40 percent of private-sector employees work at companies that don’t offer a single day of paid sick leave. Not a single day. And I think that reflects a larger problem, that for too long we as a society have viewed policies that help people balance work and family as somehow a special benefit maybe to women who shoulder that, rather than an essential part of a workplace that can benefit everyone in the workplace.

To this day there’s still the perception that workers who need time off to care for a sick parent, or who want a more flexible schedule so they can go to the potluck or the play or the parent-teacher conference, are somehow less committed or less desirable. There’s this idea that workplaces that accommodate these needs are destined to be less profitable, less productive somehow.

But we now know that that’s just simply not the case. There’s a lot of evidence out there from companies who’ve implemented really innovative processes to help families. We now know that these kind of policies can actually make employees more productive. We all know this, right? Because instead of spending all day at work worrying about what’s happening at home, they have the support that they need to concentrate on their jobs. And it makes a huge difference in terms of productivity. Just mental health comfort and stability helps workers be better. We know that.

And that’s why we need to change the way we look at these issues so that our workplaces can catch up to the realities of our lives. It’s time we viewed family-friendly policies as not just niceties for women but as necessities for every single working American — men and women — because more and more men are shouldering that same kind of burden. And that’s good, but that’s new. (Laughter and applause.)

Staying home to care for a sick child or taking an elderly parent to a doctor’s appointment shouldn’t mean risking one’s job. That shouldn’t be the tradeoff. People shouldn’t have to choose between taking the time they need after giving birth, for example, or adopting a child, and keeping that job that they need to support the child they just had. That shouldn’t be the choice.

Things like paid family leave and sick days and affordable childcare should be the norm, not the exception. That’s why we think it’s important to highlight companies that are embracing these policies, ones that are experimenting with things like flex time and telecommuting and focusing on performance and output rather than face time. That’s why the President and Secretary Solis have spoken out in favor of the Healthy Families Act, which would let millions more working Americans earn up to seven days a year of paid sick time to care for themselves and their families. That would be innovative and new. But we are happy that we have a President and a Secretary of the Department of Labor who had the vision and the foresight to see that this now needs to happen. (Applause.)

But the administration also knows that we essentially have to put our money where our mouths are, so the administration is working to practice what we preach and make the federal government a model of what we’re asking others to do. From expanding telework options to providing emergency childcare and affordable day care, we need to be implementing all of those ideas throughout the federal government. I was particularly pleased to learn that the childcare center here at the Department of Labor actually provides financial aid to help employees afford excellent care regardless of the size of their paychecks, and those are the kind of things that we need to be doing all across the government. (Applause.)

So these are just a few examples of the kind of concrete steps that we can take to restore some semblance of balance and sanity into the lives of people that you all know, because it’s probably you. (Laughter.) And this is just the beginning. And there’s a lot of work to do — as we all know, as the President has said. He said it before he took the oath of office — change is important, change is hard, and change takes time. I remember him saying that. (Laughter.) So we all know that we have a long way to go, again, and it won’t be easy. But as one of Secretary Solis’s predecessors, President Roosevelt’s Labor Secretary Frances Perkins once pointed out that most of our problems — and this is a quote — “have been met and solved either partially or as a whole by experiment based on common sense and carried out with courage.”

That’s what we need today as well. We need all of you to take the lead — or continue to take the lead in this effort. And all of us, in both government and the private sector, will need to come up with new ideas, try out new approaches, and rely on our courage and our common sense to guide us along the way.

But as I say in all my visits, we’re going to need all of you maintaining some level of energy and optimism through the tough days, because we know you all are working hard — many people staying late, putting in overtime, going the extra mile to make sure that the Department of Labor is strong and it continues to be a source of pride, not just for the administration but for the entire country. And we are grateful to all of you for that, and oftentimes you don’t hear it, but we are grateful. We are a grateful First Family, and we are a grateful nation for the work that you do. We couldn’t do it without you.

So hang in there. If we have all of you continuing to work as you do, I am confident that we will meet these challenges. So thank you all so much. And with that, I’m going to shake some hands and then read “Green Eggs and Ham.” (Applause.)

 END 11:28 A.M. EST

2009 has gone down as the year in which the Chinese market purchased more automobiles than the American market, and a top GM executive thinks that soon will be the day when the company sells more cars in China than at home. Tim Lee, GM’s president of international operations, based out of Shanghai, says that that point could very well come sooner than later, as domestic sales continually drop and Chinese sales increase year after year.

With 1.83 million vehicles sold in China last year, and 2.07 million sold in the U.S., the gap is rapidly closing, as GM leads the Chinese market with a 13.4% market share, up from 11.3% in 2008.

To perform better in a foreign market than in ones own home market is not uncommon in the auto industry; Toyota and Honda do it every year.

With a greater population than the United States and booming pace of economic growth, China is an extremely dynamic and robust market, and will remain so regardless of the state of the U.S. market, and GM needs to focus on the long-term, which inevitably includes China as the top auto market.

Despite these elements, it will still be a shocking day when GM outsells China than the U.S.; five years ago GM sold less than 500,000 cars in China while selling 4.6 million in the U.S.

– By: Stephen Calogera

Source: CNNMoney

Is Jurassic Park coming back from extinction to take another bite out of the box office? Nine years after Jurassic Park III hit theaters in 2001, Hollywood producers are planning to invite dinosaurs to roam the earth once again.

Joe Johnston, who directed the third installment, reveals a new movie will be closely followed by two more.

“There is going to be a Jurassic Park IV. And it’s going to be unlike anything you’ve seen. It breaks away from the first three – it’s essentially the beginning of the second Jurassic Park trilogy. It’s going to be done in a completely different way,” Johnson tells BoxOffice.com

“If you think of the first three as a trilogy, number four would be the beginning of a second trilogy. We just want to make them justified in their own right. We don’t want to make sequel after sequel just because there’s a market for it. We want to tell different, interesting stories.”

The original 1993 film starred Sam Neill and Jeff Goldblum. It was a mega hit at the box office, grossing $914 million worldwide.

Do we want to see Jurassic Park return to the big screen?

Chipmaker Intel (INTC) just delivered a huge positive surprise on earnings ($.40 vs. expected $.30) and a killer top line ($10.6 billion vs $10.2 billion).

The stock is soaring after hours.

Guidance is looking strong as well.

Its Q1 guidance of $9.7 billion blows past consensus of $9.3 billion.

Giddy up!

Join the conversation about this story »

See Also:

• American Regulators Turn European, As FTC Opens New Case Against Intel
• Intel CEO: PC Sales Poised For Resurgence
• Intel To Pay AMD $1.25 Billion

The brass over at General Motors has suspended any further production of Hummer vehicles pending approval from the Chinese government with regards to its deal to sell the brand to Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industry Machinery Co., said a GM spokesperson today.

The Louisiana factory that produces the H3 and H3T – the last two Hummer models still in production – will remain open however, as the GMC Canyon and Chevrolet Colorado pick-ups are also produced there. As for now, there are no plans to lay off any of the 1,120 plant employees.

With sales of 325 units last month and 2,100 units in dealer inventories, the company feels that there is enough stock to get the brand through to the point when the deal will be approved, though there is no indication at this time of exactly when that point will come. It is assumed however, that the deal should be completed within the early part of 2010.

GM finalized the deal in October whereby the Chinese company will purchase 80% of the brand, with the other 20% being sold to private investors.

– By: Stephen Calogera

Source: CNNMoney

Last week, we heard that the Mercedes-Benz C-Class Coupe has been given the green light for production with a possible hybrid variant in the works. According to Inside Line, the C-Class Coupe will be joined by a C-Class Cabriolet as a 2011 model early next year.

The C-Class Cabriolet will compete with the BMW 3-Series Convertible, Lexus IS C and the Infiniti G37 Convertible.

Like the C-Class Coupe, the soft-top C-Class Cabriolet will be powered by a new family of direct-injected V6 engines including a 3.5L V6 and a twin-turbocharged version that will take on the 335i Convertible. A hybrid version of the convertible is apparently unlikely.

Of course at this point many of you are wondering whether or not there will be an AMG version. We wouldn’t totally disregard the possibility, but nothing is confirmed.

– By: Kap Shah

Source: Inside Line

Early estimates for fourth-quarter PC sales are in, painting a much rosier picture than the past several quarters. Even Dell, which had a significant drop in market share for 2009, managed to turn in a slight increase in unit shipments for the fourth quarter. Meanwhile, HP moves into the top spot in the US, while Apple, despite showing an increase in units shipped, moved down to number five. Dell also took a hit worldwide, being bumped from the number two spot by Acer.

In the US, PC shipments were up 25 percent for the quarter, and about 6 percent overall for the entire year. That contrasts sharply with the doom and gloom expected for the year as an effect of the recession, with huge holiday sales preventing the year from ending on a sour note.

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In amongst the (quite useful) Windows Phone training materials available online, there are numerous reasons why Windows Phone is still the best business solution.

So, which manufacturer is using a standardised design, with no options for the way you work?

A second slide also highlights the limited Exchange support on most platforms, if your business uses a Microsoft Exchange server, you’re best off using Windows Phone!

If you want to get certified for Windows Phone related things, you can do so here, and at the end, you get a shiny certificate!

Lets just hope that WM7 doesn’t break the business end of Windows Phone!

The Boeing Company (NYSE: BA) will release its financial results for the fourth quarter and full-year 2009 at 7:30 a.m. Eastern Time on Wednesday, Jan. 27.

Boeing Capital Corp. results will also be released at that time.

Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer Jim McNerney and Corporate President and Chief Financial Officer James Bell will discuss the results and company outlook during a conference that day at 10:30 a.m. Eastern Time.

That call will be broadcast live at boeing.com.

A Boeing news release will also be available on Chicago Press Release Services.

Individuals should check the website prior to the session to ensure their computers can access the audio stream and slide presentation.

Instructions for obtaining the required free downloadable software will be posted on the site.

MEDIA CONTACT:

Boeing Communications, 312-544-2002

Yes! Our prayers have been answered: OK! Magazine has confirmed that General Larry Platt, 63, will bring his musical platform to daytime TV with a live performance of his hit single “Pants On The Ground” on ABC’s The View next Monday!

Not only will Platt perform his now-famous track, the Southern Gentleman will also chat with the ladies about his life and role in the Civil Rights Movement. Get your DVRs ready…..

Though he exceeded the age limit to win a Golden Ticket to Hollywood, things are looking up The General. He’s created a phenomenon with his catchy anti-saggin’ anthem, “Pants On The Ground!” A Facebook fan page created in his honor already has more than 70,000 members and covers of his song are popping up all over the Interwebs!

Credible intelligence has emerged that a branch of Al Qaeda Yemen is plotting another attack against the United States and U.S. interests abroad.

A senior U.S. counterterrorism official confirmed the terror plot to a number of news outlets, including the Daily News and Fox News.

The intelligence doesn’t provides specifics about time, place or method of attack. But officials are taking the threat seriously. The Yemeni group is said to have been emboldened by the Christmas Day attack.

“Our concerns have intensified,” the official told The News.

Frighteningly, Fox reports that some of the suspected terrorists may have US passports.

From Fox:

Al Qaeda in Yemen and the Al Qaeda affiliate in Somalia, known as Al Shabaab — translated as Mujahadeen Youth — are described as having “shared interests and shared goals.”

U.S. counterterrorism officials say clear connections now can be traced between the two terrorist groups and they are not ruling out the possibility that they are working together to attack U.S. interests.

U.S. officials also remain concerned about two dozen Somali Americans who disappeared into the Al Shabaab training camps in Somalia in the last 18 months. Their American passports would allow them to reenter the United States.

Join the conversation about this story »

See Also:

• REPORT: US Officials Hunting Two Islamic Militants Who May Already Be In US Planning Attack
• Terror Prosecution Could Give Detroit’s US Attorney’s Office Chance To Redeem Itself
• Terror And The Law: 10 Must-Read Books

If you still haven’t gotten a copy of Rocksteady’s awesome Batman: Arkham Asylum, you may want to hold off for a bit longer. According to the BBFC, there’s a Game of the Year edition in the works.

By Josh Beckerman, Reporter, The Wall Street Journal

We skim hundreds of press releases that include tie-ins to current events and pop culture, entries with headlines like “Aviation Expert Available To Discuss Flight 27 Fire” and “What Does Avatar Mean For Cloud Computing?” (These are fictional but plausible examples.) Yesterday’s effort from venture-backed job search and outplacement company RiseSmart Inc. is way better than most, partly because of its intelligent critique of “Up In The Air.”

Since we like business movies (yet never got around to seeing the Renee Zellweger-fires-people epic “New In Town”) we’re glad that RiseSmart got into the discussion with its missive, entitled “RiseSmart CEO Sanjay Sathe Exposes Five HR Myths in ‘Up in the Air.’”

(Note: For some reason this movie brings out violations of spoiler etiquette–with the relatively dissimilar George Will and Rex Reed both giving away far too much. So, SPOILER ALERT!!! We won’t disclose the ending but will address a plot point or two, so you may wish to click the back button, or better yet, the previous post conveniently located on the top right of your screen.)

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Article Tags: ClimateGate, Dexter Wright

The Climategate crowd successfully worked to obscure the connection between solar activity and climate. The leaked CRU e-mails reveal how.

In 2003, two Harvard-Smithsonian Professors, Willie Soon and Sallie Baliunas, published a peer-reviewed paper in the scientific journal Climate Research which identified solar activity as a major influence on Earth’s climate. This paper also concluded that the twentieth century was not the warmest, nor was it the century with the most extreme weather over the past thousand years. These two scientists reviewed more than two hundred sources of data. The paper specifically examined climate variations observed to coincide with solar variations. One of the more notable correlations cited in this paper is the well-documented coincidence of the Little Ice Age and a solar quiet period, known as the Maunder Minimum, from A.D. 1300 to A.D. 1900. Soon and Baliunas asserted that the lack of solar activity resulted in cooler temperatures across the globe. The evidence they compiled also indicated that as the sun became more active global temperatures began to rise and the Little Ice Age ended.

In the past, the issue of the solar connection has always fallen down on one question; what is it about sunspots that cause a change in the climate? Soon and Baliunas identified the physical connection as solar wind, which varies on an eleven-year cycle similar to sunspots’. The solar wind is made up of high-energy particulate radiation and when strong enough, it has a visible effect upon the atmosphere in the form of auroral displays in the polar regions (e.g., the Northern Lights). Some instances of solar wind were so powerful that the aurora was seen even in lower latitude, as happened during the Battle of Fredericksburg, Virginia during the War Between the States (Civil War). Both armies were so distracted by the intensity of the display that the battle actually paused as the soldiers, North and South, watched in awe.

Source: americanthinker.com

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General Motors Company’s line of pickups have not been upgraded since 2006. Looking to become more competitive in the segment, the Detroit automaker has approved a major overhaul of its full-size pickups, a move that had been delayed during the company’s financial crisis.

The move is expected cost GM several hundred million dollars and will take about two to three years to complete. Both, the Chevrolet Silverado and the GMC Sierra, will receive brand new exteriors and interiors. Both pickups will also feature better aerodynamics and better fuel-efficiency.

GM sold a total of 1.2 million trucks last year, about 30 percent less than it sold in 2008.

The update was initially approved in November by Chairman and acting CEO Ed Whitacre Jr.

– By: Omar Rana

Source: Detroit News

Regina Hackett poses some provocative questions on her blog Another Bouncing Ball at Arts Journal:

When is a quote a steal? When is it an homage? Are the rules different in writing and in visual art? Bill Eppridge, the photographer who caught this terrific aerial shot in 1971 (it’s called Barstow to Vegas Motorcycle Race) is steamed because Seattle artist Deborah Faye Lawrence appropriated it to use as the sky image in her 2008 collage The Mysterious Allure of Rural America. Click on Another Bouncing Ball to see Lawrence’s work and compare for yourself.

I won’t repeat Eppridge’s argument, or Hackett’s response to it. (Lawrence isn’t quoted). The post is short, and you can get it all there — plus an interesting string of comments. I’ll just say, this is tricky ground. Nothing’s original, but some things are more original than others.

***************

Also worth checking out: Theatrical luminaries Mr. Mead at Blogorrhea and Steve Patterson at Splattworks have hooked into the release of the new book Outrageous Fortune: The Life and Times of the New American Play, which gets down to some of the deep dark issues of how … well, plays fit into the contemporary American theater scene. Well worth reading, and also the followups at Parabasis. (And don’t miss Chicago Trib critic Chris Jones’s review of the book.)

Filed under: Truck, Chevrolet, GMC, Design/Style

While the current economic forecast includes much wailing and gnashing of teeth, it will eventually turn around. When it does, truck sales are likely to increase as truck-dependent industries look to replace their wares. General Motors wants to be right there on the tip of the spear with the most recently updated product. To that end, GM Chairman and CEO Ed Whitacre has given a McMahon-sized YES to redesigning the Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra pickup trucks. The effort is likely to ring up a $1 billion price tag.

While the Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra aren’t exactly old (they were thoroughly redone in 2006), Ford and Dodge have revised their trucks in the ensuing time. While domestic rivals are the biggest competition for the Sierra and Silverado, Toyota’s latest Tundra debuted in 2007, intent on mounting a serious challenge, as well. Only the Nissan Titan, enjoying a precipitous drop in sales lately, is longer in tooth. Things happen fast in truck-land. Full-size SUV sales are down and not likely to bounce back strongly, and new fuel economy provisos are coming on strong, too, but the need for working vehicles has merely waned, and General Motors is anticipating that a turnaround in industries like housing will spike truck sales. This proactive funding of a redesign will put GM’s new wares in showrooms for 2012-2013.

[Source: Wall Street Journal]

Report: GM to shell out $1B to update Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 14 Jan 2010 15:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Hybrid, Sedan, Videos, Hatchback, Chevrolet, GM, Electric

Having just returned from the frigid Motor City for our ongoing coverage of the 2010 Detroit Auto Show, the idea of hot-weather testing the 2011 Chevrolet Volt seems like an oddly foreign concept. But there are quite a few areas in the United States where the sun beats down with a vengeance year round – like, for instance, in Phoenix, where this particular writer happens to live.

This being the case, General Motors needs to make sure that the Volt doesn’t melt when left out in the hot sun. No, really – every automaker tests its products to make sure that no individual parts show any signs of warping or sagging when subjected to high temperatures. How high? According to GM, up to 200 degrees Fahrenheit.

So, while it may not be the most interesting minute-and-a-half of footage you’ve ever laid eyes on, this video still represents an important test of one of the most important cars scheduled to debut in November of this year. Click past the jump to see for yourself.

[Source: Chevrolet VoltAge]

Continue reading Video: Chevrolet Volt baked at over 200 degrees in durability test

Video: Chevrolet Volt baked at over 200 degrees in durability test originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 14 Jan 2010 14:55:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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