Author: Serkadis

You really need to watch this.  News to follow.

   <<< click

http://www.flixxy.com/best-christmas-lights-display.htm

Amazing Christmas display with 176 channels and 45,000 lights! The show is so popular that it requires a crew of 3 people to manage the traffic. 

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Short Sales Mitigate First-Lien Severities, BarCap Says – By DIANA GOLOBAY – Short sales may be partially responsible for the falling of first-lien severities in most non-agency sectors, according to securitization research Friday by Barclays Capital (BarCap).  Mark-to-market loan-to-value shifts and the rising share of short sales in recent liquidations can mostly explain the severity declines.  – HousingWire

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Why Didn’t Canada’s Housing Market Go Bust? – James MacGee – hattip Ira Artman – FRB Cleveland     (hint: down payment/homeowners equity)  
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House Flipping Makes a Comeback – By JAMES R. HAGERTY – … Now, a different breed of flipper is proliferating: one who seeks bargains at foreclosure auctions. Unlike the boom-time flippers, the latest generation needs cold cash, lots of local-market knowledge and strong nerves. … – Wall Street Journal

Chart du Jour: Unemployment Around the World – According to the IMF, despite early signs of an economic recovery, most countries around the world should see unemployment rates rise from 2009-2010. – Plan B Economics
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on market reaction to unemployment – … We are seeing the first signs of improvement in the jobs data and the equity market is nervous? What gives?  The now famous risk trade works on the premises that the dollar liquidity and zero rates would be around for quite some time.  The Fed is on hold for one simple reason – employment weakness. As long as the US jobs market stays weak, the “cat is away and mice can play”. – Sober Look Blog

Barney Frank’s House bill H.R. 3996 – impact on secured lending – …  It would require secured creditors, like repurchase agreement lenders and the Federal Home Loan Bank system, to bear losses of as much as 20 percent to cover the costs of a systemically significant bank failure. … – has list of 5 increased risks to financial system – Sober Look Blog

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China’s Consumption Conundrum – Tom Lindmark – looks at the question if China can increase consumer consumption from already high levels to spur further recovery – But Then What Blog
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Who in America is Paying Taxes? – great chart – 7% of the people pay 70% of income taxes and 47% pay zero federal taxes. …  – Plan B Economics

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Too many people pay no income tax – Scott Grannis – … Nuni, a very good friend of mine, made a similar comment to me this morning:  If we talk about the unfairness of those making a lot of money and not sharing enough with those who don’t make a lot of money, how about the unfairness of those who don’t pay any taxes asking to increase taxes on the rich? The fair thing to do would be to say that only those who pay taxes should be able to give an opinion about raising taxes. The rest are just going along for a free ride. And that’s definitively unfair … – Calafia Beach Pundit

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Low interest rates lure banks to take risk: study – … The study from the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) found evidence of a significant link between an extended period of low interest rates prior to the financial crisis and banks’ risk-taking.  …”It is important…that prudential authorities be especially vigilant during periods of unusually low interest rates, particularly if they are accompanied by other signs of risk-taking, such as rapid credit and asset price increases.” … – Reuters
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The Government Bubble When will it pop? – Brian S. Wesbury and Robert Stein – … In other words, loose money has created a temporary mirage in which a massive increase in government spending appears to be an easy burden to carry. In particular, the mirage of low rates colors the public’s view of legislative efforts to fully nationalize the U.S. health care system, making it seem more affordable than it is in reality.  How is this any different than the housing market from a few years back? … – Forbes

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Lending Squeeze Drags On – By LIZ RAPPAPORT and SERENA NG – 2 interesting points – …   One measure of the retreat in consumer lending: In 2005, over six billion credit-card offers flooded consumers’ mailboxes. This year just 1.4 billion have been sent out, according to Synovate, a market-research firm … and … These securitization markets provided as much as 50% of consumer lending in the years leading up to the crisis, says Tim Ryan of the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association, a financial-industry trade group. “Without [the securitization markets], it’s very difficult to replicate the amount of money moving into the economy,” he says – Wall Street Journal

Filed under: Motorsports, UK

BRDC President Damon Hill and Silvestone Managing Director Richard Phillips announce the new deal

Following months of negotiations and uncertainty, the British Racing Drivers Club has signed a deal with the FIA and Formula One Management to keep the British Grand Prix at Silverstone for the next seventeen years, starting with next year’s race.

The deal is struck for the same amount of time (with a cancellation clause after ten years) that rival circuit Donington Park had signed with Bernie Ecclestone. That deal fell through, however, and Donington has gone into bankruptcy. In order to meet Formula One’s demands, Silverstone – which first hosted the event in 1948 and has hosted it every year since 1987 – will undertake a massive renovation project.

Included in the plans are new grandstands, a new paddock area with new pits, and a potential switch to a new track layout. The Arena circuit was carved out of sections of the existing grand prix circuit for use by MotoGP, which will also be racing at Silverstone in the coming year. By containing it within the main area, the Arena circuit offers spectators a better view of the action, and the BRDC (headed by 1996 World Champion Damon Hill) has submitted the layout for FIA approval. Press release after the jump.

[Source: Silverstone]

Continue reading Silverstone secures the British Grand Prix for the next 17 years

Silverstone secures the British Grand Prix for the next 17 years originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 09 Dec 2009 17:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The New York Times revealed yesterday that the NCAA is conducting a wide-ranging investigation into recruiting practices by the University of Tennessee. Specifically, they concern the use of recruiting hostesses from the school’s Orange Pride organization, an ambassador-like club directly affiliated with the university that is comprised of both men and women . They exist on most campuses and help serve as representatives to the school for many events, and also sometimes escort potential recruits in all sports around campus. It seems that the women of Orange Pride have attracted quite a bit of attention to themselves lately for their uncanny ability to successfully land recent football recruits.

The controversy surrounds an unspecified number of visits made by these women to some potential recruits’ high school football games this fall–one over 200 miles away. In this specific incident, hostesses are reported to have brought signs that read ‘Come to Tennessee’. The NCAA is conducting interviews with four potential recruits, including Marcus Lattimore of James F. Byrnes high school in Duncan, SC, who saw the signs. “I haven’t seen no other schools do that. It’s crazy,” said Lattimore. He also described the hostesses as “real pretty, real nice and just real cool.” He said he thought they had “a lot” of influence in two of his teammates’ commitments to Tennessee. Often times, these hostesses exchange social networking information with recruits, like Myspace and Facebook, or send them text messages.

Since these hostesses are a formal part of the university, these alledged ‘off-campus’ visits could be considered secondary recruiting violations, if not more. Tennessee AD Mike Hamilton confirmed the investigation, but refused to elaborate further.

This incident marks the sixth time that secondary violations have been reported during coach Lane Kiffin’s tenure. The NCAA’s enforcement division gets involved if similar incidents continue to get reported. The investigation appears to revolve around if these visits were impromptu ones made by the hostesses, or if they may have been directed by the university in some fashion. Certainly the latter case, if true, would constitute a more serious scenario.

For me, I think the NCAA should clamp down on this pretty hard for all schools. It has the potential to get way out of hand, especially with all the electronic means of communication these days. We’ve even seen coaches themselves push that envelope. If they had the male hosts doing this, no one would care, but have pretty girls do it and the intent is pretty clear.

© fanblogs.com

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We’ve seen the ridiculous pressure that lobbyists and diplomats have been putting on Canada to put in place significantly more draconian copyright law, without any evidence that it’s needed and even though it’s opposed by the vast majority of Canadian citizens. However, now things are just getting bizarre. A totally separate issue involving Canadian and US trade is that Canada is (reasonably) upset by various “buy American” provisions that are being pushed by various local governments despite the fact that anyone with any economic knowledge at all recognizes that “Buy American” provisions do more harm to American interests. This is an important issue, and there are lots of ways to address it. But it’s flat-out ridiculous to believe that the “answer” to the Buy American issue is for Canadians to capitulate to American interests in implementing much more draconian copyright law. And yet, that’s exactly what an American lobbyist just told a Canadian Parliamentary gathering recently.

Scotty Greenwood, an American lobbyist with a history of serious conflicts of interest in her dual role as a lobbyist and as an executive director of the Canadian-American Business Council, spoke at the gathering and offered what she believed is a simple solution: Canadian politicians “could solve Buy America tomorrow,” if they just agreed to capitulate on copyright, even though the two issues have absolutely nothing to do with one another. Luckily, Canadian copyright expert Howard Knopf was on hand to ask Greenwood how that could possibly make any sense at all. Apparently, the only answer he got was that Canada should implement the copyright law demanded by American lobbyists because it’s “in Canada’s best interest.” Uh huh.

Of course, it’s pure fantasy to claim that by implementing draconian copyright law in Canada that most people want, the “Buy American” issue will go away. In most cases, Buy American is not being pushed by the federal government, but by more local politicians who have a more populist position (i.e., protecting the jobs of local workers). They couldn’t care any less about copyright in Canada. But, it does show just how low the copyright lobby has stooped to push more draconian copyright laws in Canada, when they’re now trying to tie it to a totally different trade issue.

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We wanted to find a nice mid-range HDTV we could recommend this year, and we think the LG 47LH50 is it.This is LG’s 47-inch, widget-powered television, and it brings the heat with a 1080p display, and 5.1 surround sound output. Why would you want to output sound from the display? Well, thanks to the Yahoo! widget support, you get things like Netflix, YouTube, and a bunch of other embedded media playback services, including the Vudu streaming movie service. Just connect the LG 47LH50 to your home network, and the content is right at your fingertips. The part, though, is the price. These typically sell for about $1500, but Amazon is selling it for $1,139.

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47lh50,
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For the fourth day in a row, gold continues to fall hard. Looking at this chart below, we can see that just five days ago, the SPDR Gold Trust ETF (GLD) was trading near $120 a share. Today, it closed at $110.

Join the conversation about this story »

See Also:

• Peter Thiel: Gold Is The "Anti-Investment" (GLD)
• As Gold Slides, One-By-One, The Haters Come Out Of The Woodwork
• Gold ETF Fund Flows Quadrupled In November (GLD)

Filed under: Sedan, Kia, Design/Style, Luxury, South Korea

When the Volkswagen Phaeton launched here in the States, nobody liked it. Well, that’s not true. Every journalist we know who drove the mighty VW went on and on about how it’s probably actually the greatest car in the world (especially all decked out with a W12 engine) and how the HVAC system is a full generation ahead of the competition (you can’t beat in-car radiators!) and how the seats so awesomely massaged their fat butts. That said, it was still a terrible car in terms of branding, marketing, etc. And now we have no Phaeton.

Then came the Hyundai Genesis. The big sedan version with the Tau (whatever that means) 4.6-liter V8. “Hmmm,” our motor-mouthed brethren chimed. “Hyundai might just be on to something here.” Lots of good ink got spilled in the Genesis’s general direction and the Mercedes-Benz lookalike Korean luxury car got picked as the 2009 North American Car of the Year. It even appears to be selling. How things change.

Well guess what? Kia wants in. AboutCAR caught a glimpse of the proposed Kia K9 at a design conference in Seoul. Standing next to the proposed super sedan is Peter Schreyer, best known for designing the original Audi TT, he is now Kia’s chief of design. Should the K9 show up, expect it to arrive in the U.S. with a Genesis-sourced chassis and a big fat V8. Other parts of the world will get other engines. Will it work? As Hyundai America CEO and President John Krafcik told us at the LA Auto Show when he was asked which he liked better, the new Sonata or Tucson, “I just really love my Genesis.” And there you have it.

[Source: Aboutcar.co.kr]

Kia K9 super sedan sneak peeked in Seoul originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 09 Dec 2009 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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At Monday’s excellent SF Music Tech Summit, there was a really good discussion in the final panel of the day, that crystallized in my mind why it’s hogwash when some repeat the refrain that “artists should just be artists” and not worry about business models, connecting with fans or social networking. It’s a claim that is made over and over again — sometimes by musicians themselves. In the past, we’ve pointed out that this is fine, if artists just want to be artists then they need to do one of two things: either not expect to make much money or partner with someone who can focus on the business model and social networking side of things. Dave Allen, who was on that panel, used his manifesto on why artists needed to stop whining and start taking charge as a kicking off point, and brought up his concept of why all bands needed “a fifth Beatle” to manage that side of their efforts. In many ways, it reminded me of Andrew Dubber’s recent manifesto that pointed out that if you wanted to make money as a musician, you had to become a musical entrepreneur.

But, two other comments on the panel made the point even more clear. First was Sebastien Keefe, from the band Family of the Year, who talked about how the band (more his bandmates than himself, actually) did a really good job connecting with fans online, including a special private concert that only Twitter followers found out about, and a cool postcard promotion, where people would pay $5 for a postcard, and the band would send it back to the fans from their tour. When the question came up of artists claiming that they didn’t want to spend the time on social networks to connect with fans, he noted first that it wasn’t that much time, and second that an artist unwilling to do that was “selling themselves short,” in not really building up their audience.

Though, what’s really cementing the myth of “artists should just be artists” was Tim Quirk’s comment. Quirk, of course, got a lot of publicity recently for revealing how major record label royalty statements are often total works of fiction, using his own royalty statements as an example. On this topic, however, he noted that the people who tell artists that “you should just focus on being an artist” were almost always “feeding them bullshit” in order to gain more control over the artist. That is, it’s a line you often hear from record labels or managers who want more control over a musician’s business. So all three of those musicians (Allen, Quirk and Keefe) highlighted how the claim that “musicians should just be musicians” isn’t just a myth, but it’s often used to limit the potential of musicians.

Right after that panel, there was a short (and very sparsely attended) talk given by Stephan Jenkins, of the band Third Eye Blind — and without realizing it, he put the exclamation point on this particular discussion from the previous panel. While he said he was grateful for his major label experience, he also talked about how being on a major label actually made it harder for the band to really focus on their music and artistic ideals — because the label started dictating everything that the band should be doing. From that, he felt like the band really got away from the sort of music that it wanted to create, that had helped make the band big in the first place. He talked about how piracy has given the band “a second chance” by letting a new generation of fans discover their original music, and that has resulted in the band’s most recent album, which he felt was much more true to the band’s musical roots. He noted also that, now that they were out of the major label system, they were making a lot more money, even if they were selling fewer units.

All in all, it really helped solidify the idea that the claim that “artists just need to be artists” and shouldn’t be concerned about business models or talking to fans is really just a line used by record labels to try to gain more control over artists, at their own expense. That doesn’t mean that artists shouldn’t try to find that “5th Beatle,” to help them when it becomes necessary, but that they should make sure that whoever that 5th Beatle is, he or she is really aligned with their thinking in where they want to go with their career.

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The telemetry receivers range includes products with minimum features up to the most complete which satisfy any installation requirement. The digital receivers allow the control of P&T and motorized zoom lenses up 1200 m (3900 ft) distance, by a twisted pair cable. In case of using the DTRX3 receiver with the DTCOAX optional card and DTMRX2, a coax cable, which is used for the video signal, can be used for data transmission together with Videotec matrix.

The Western Digital WD TV HD Media Player allows you to attach any external hard drive or USB flash drive to the device, which lets you watch videos, listen to music, or even create your own slideshows from your photos, right on your television. The WD TV HD Media Player can accept up to two external drives at once, and supports Dolby Digital and DTS 5.1 sound, making it ideal to play movies stored on those devices in glorious 1080p. They typically sell for $129, but Amazon has them for $99.

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Filed under: Car Buying, Marketing/Advertising, Mitsubishi, Earnings/Financials

Twin pack of bread, 36 bottles of water, 24 rolls of toilet tissue, a 64-oz. box of cereal and… a 2010 Mitsubishi Galant. That may sound a bit odd, but if you want certain 2009 and 2010 Mitsubishi models with zero percent financing or discounted lease pricing, you’ll apparently have to head over to your local Sam’s Club. Automotive News is reporting that the discount warehouse is offering special deals on select Mitsubishi models through its Auto Buying Program that could well be better than the offers you’ll get at your Mitsubishi dealer. Eligible models for zero percent financing for 60 months include the 2009 Lancer, Eclipse and Outlander and the 2010 Galant and Endeavor. Discounted leases will also be available for the 2010 Lancer Sportback and the 2010 Outlander.

The Japanese automaker reportedly struck a deal with the retail giant to display some of its models at select stores. Mitsubishi Motors Credit America will supply the special financing, which will be reserved for Sam’s Club customers with sufficient credit. The discount warehouse club will display the cars through February. With Sam’s Club’s 500 stores and over 40 million members, this could be a pretty good program for the struggling Mitsubishi, although we don’t see it doing anything to combat the brand’s discount perception.

[Source: Automotive News – subs req’d]

Mitsubishi launches big incentives through Sam’s Club originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 09 Dec 2009 15:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The centerpiece on the federal government’s holiday table may be the surprisingly fast pace of repayment of bailout funds by the big money-center banks.  There are also claims for job creation from spending the stimulus money, especially considering the initial jobs report for November showed only 11,000 jobs were eliminated in the month.  But inevitably (this is Washington DC after all) there are also charges of money slipping through the cracks and — uh-oh — disappearing.  And more than one boffin has noticed a cart-before-the-horse pattern to some stimulus programs.

The Rural Broadband stimulus package, for instance, is being administered by the RUS and the NTIA (Rural Utilities Service and National Telecommunications and Information Administration), neither of which has much experience with awarding big grants — and it may that neither of them has a MAP of which areas are underserved by current broadband suppliers.  If you can stand the boredom, there is a report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) with the revealing title: “Agencies are Addressing Broadband Program Challenges, but Actions are Needed to Improve Implementation.”  (http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-10-80).  Here is a take on the situation from The Industry Standard: http://www.thestandard.com/news/2009/12/02/groups-urge-changes-broadband-stimulus-programs?page=0%2C0

But however you look at it, there are some pretty interesting little companies in the  broadband services market, and some of them stand to find a bonanza in the RUS/NTIA sweepstakes.  It’s a fairly safe bet than any company in this sector has applied for some of the stimulus money, since there were reportedly $28 billion in requests for the $7.2 billion that was set aside by Congress.  I have read, but cannot say for sure, that there are 2,000 or more wireless broadband service providers in the US as I write this, which is why there are business plans popping up that want to “roll up” these small suppliers into a larger powerhouse company. 

Consider Rushville IN-based Omnicity Corp (OTCBB: OMCY; http://www.omnicity.net/), which is seeking to provide broadband services to rural users in the Midwest using wireless technologies.  OMCY announced last week that they have agreed to buy the assets of AAA Wireless, which will give them 39 wireless towers with “a footprint of 80,000 homes.”  OMCY says it has more than doubled its subscriber base in the last six months (they became public in February this year), and is on track to double again in the next six months.  It must be largely undiscovered if that is true, because the shares are trading at $0.30 vs a high of $0.95 on average volume of less than 40,000 shares a day.  But when you think about it, part of the problem of rural communities is that people seldom pay much attention to them, so it’s not a surprise that OMCY has a small audience, at least for now.

Or consider Reno NV-based Yonder Media* (http://www.yondermedia.com)  , which is currently private, but has signed an intent to merge with Salt Lake City-based Bayhill Capital Corp (OTCBB: BYHL) in what is commonly called a reverse merger (http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Yonder-Media-Architects-Merge-iw-3536792173.html?x=0&.v=1) .  What would happen is that Bayhill would be renamed Yonder Media, and the management of Yonder Media would take over the reins, including the current “affiliate marketing” operations of Bayhill’s Commission River subsidiary (http://commissionriver.com/) .  Together they have a run rate of about $3.5 million to $4.0 million.  BYHL shares are selling for $0.30, and it’s hard to say what the market cap is realistically, since in these reverse mergers, there is almost always a substantial “adjustment” to the ownership.  Yonder has a similar goal to Omnicity — but aims to cover more ground, serving 500-750 rural communities inside a few years from their current base in Nevada and California.  Management at Yonder are Silicon Valley vets with successes under their belts; the funding to date has come from the insiders, which is never a bad sign.  Of course the Yonder-Bayhill deal is contingent on several things, and there’s many a slip twixt the cup and the lip, so do your diligence, as you should on anything you buy, sell or trade.

The great city of Houston is home to Internet America Inc (OTCBB: GEEK; http://www.internetamerica.com/), which claims to have about 8,100 wireless subscribers, and has applied for ARRA stimulus funds to serve Southeast Texas.  They are making losses at present, at least partly because their older dial-up services are getting ditched as people move to better solutions, but they seem to be running at a revenue rate of close to $4.5 million annually, which does represent a year-over-year slight gain (http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Internet-America-Reports-bw-2418740372.html?x=0&.v=1) .  GEEK shares are changing hands at $0.32 today, vs a 52-week high of $0.52, for a market cap of a little over $5 million and almost negligible daily trading.  Their toll-free telephone is 1-800-BE-A-GEEK.  You gotta love that. 

Omaha NB-based KeyOn Communications Holdings (OTCBB: KEYO;  http://www.keyon.com/)  is probably the slickest of these rural broadband roll-up companies, which is not surprising since they are being packaged by a very slick and aggressively promotional PR firm.  KeyOn’s CEO announced this week the acquisition of a north-central Texas wireless broadband shop, SkyWi, which, according to the release dated December 7, will contribute $300,000 in annual revenues and $150,000 in EBITDA (http://finance.yahoo.com/news/KeyOn-Closes-First-bw-660239622.html?x=0&.v=1) .  If you can make 50% EBITDA margins, you probably will get asked to the Prom this spring, but one is tempted to say “Show Me.”  KEYO is trading today at $1.89, down from a 52-week high of $2.60, and in spite of all efforts to the contrary, average volume is still only about 30,000 shares per day, for a market cap of about $39 million, which by a rough count is about 5 times revenue.  KEYO has applied for $150 million in stimulus funding, by the way.

We do not recommend investments; please do your own diligence.

*Client of Allen & Caron, publisher of this blog.

You spend a lot of time in your home, even if you don’t think you do. Remember that all those sleeping hours count as well. For the most comfortable home, you may need to address humidity levels. A humidity level below 50% should be maintained in your home to prevent mold growth. However, humidity levels that are too low may also cause problems. An ideal humidity is around 45%.

Low Humidity Level Issues in the Home

• Dry skin and throat irritation could develop
• Nosebleeds result from a dry nose
• Wood floors and drywall could be damaged
• Static electricity may become an issue

High Humidity Level Issues in the Home

• Paint and wallpaper may peel
• Ceilings and walls may become stained
• Termites and roaches will love your home
• Mold may grow

Checking your home’s humidity is easy. Pick up a hygrometer. They’re typically inexpensive and resemble a thermometer, and they may tell you both the temperature and humidity level.

Solutions for Home Humidity Problems

For low humidity, invest in a humidifier. You’ll need to refill it with water, so consider how much water the humidifier holds before purchasing. Also, you’ll have to clean it regularly and change filters.

For high humidity, purchase a dehumidifier. Instead of filling it with water, you’ll be emptying it out. Most dehumidifiers have an automatic shutoff feature to prevent overflow. They should be placed away from sources of dirt or dusts. For another option to lower humidity, install and use vent fans in areas like the bathroom or kitchen. Also, make sure your clothes dryer is properly vented to the outdoors and repair any leaky faucets. For more ideas on reducing high humidity in your home, visit Energy Star.

Do you know your home’s humidity level?

(Image via Honeywell)

Post from: Blisstree

Maintaining Proper Home Humidity

Filed under: Sedan, SUV, Etc., Specialty

Warning: if reading the word “penis” over and over again makes you uncomfortable, you might want to avert your eyes. First of all, the real story here is that Russian super-SUV maker Dartz never wanted to use whale penis skin to cover the seats in their ultra-lux Prombron. They wanted to use whale foreskin. Why? Well, it’s been said that Aristotle Onassis had the bar stools on one of his yachts clothed in sperm whale foreskin. Why did Mr. Onassis do that? Sperm whale foreskin is supposedly the softest leather on earth. Now you know.

Anyhow, for some reason Dartz decided not to go with whale foreskin for their Prombron SUVulger, which would have really given new meaning to the phrase “from Russia with love.” Oh, yeah! The reason was a massive international save the whales (and their penises) outcry led by none other than Pamela Anderson. And really, what better advocate could whale wienies have than Pam? For all we know she very well might be the world’s foremost expert on cetacean penis – ever seen that video from her honeymoon? Anyhow, Dartz backpedaled, cut the whale foreskin (so to speak) and then decided to build a special Volga (above) thanking Pam Anderson for helping to save the whales. And their Johnsons.

We think. Look, at this point we’re used to babbling, incoherent ramblings from Dartz. After all, they released the world’s second most incomprehensible press release when they announced no whale members would be harmed during the construction of their gaudy, oligarchical SUV. How do we know it’s only the second most difficult to make heads or tails of? Because Dartz just released the most incomprehensible press release in the world explaining the thinking behind this here car. And you can read all of its unshaven glory after the jump. One more thing: whale penis.

[Source: James List]

Continue reading Dartz creates car to commemorate Russian SUV whale penis debacle

Dartz creates car to commemorate Russian SUV whale penis debacle originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 09 Dec 2009 15:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Kyoto, Japan | Rites and Rituals

The Sanjusangendo, or Hall of 33 Bays, in Kyoto is a 390 ft. long wooden building built in 1266. Officially known as Rengeo-in, this Tendai Buddhist temple houses 1001 carved statues of Kannon, the Buddhist goddess of mercy, each with a unique face. It is said that we can all find our own face in one of the Buddhas if we look hard enough.