Author: Serkadis

Keen on playing UFC Undisputed 2010? Then you better make sure that you have your online activation code right with you when you do. Yep, THQ is requiring players to input a code in order for them

The captivating Cadillac enthusiasts have been waiting for, the 2011 CTS coupe, will start at $38,990 when it goes on sale in August. The coupe will be joined by a high-performance V-series version, which starts at $62,990. Prices include destination charges.

Pricing was announced on Thursday afternoon, and it is one of the final mile markers as the athletic two-door downshifts toward production.

The car was first shown as a concept at the 2008 Detroit auto show, where AutoWeek gave it our Best Concept Editors’ Choice Award.

The coupe draws power from General Motors’ 3.6-liter direct-injection V6 making 304 hp, and it can be paired with six-speed automatic or manual transmissions. It comes in two suspension levels: Performance wears 18-inch wheels and all-season tires; summer performance is shod in 19-inchers and, as the name implies, summer tires.

The fire-breathing V-series pumps out 556 hp from a 6.2-liter supercharged V8. It also gets magnetic ride control, Brembo brakes and 19-inch wheels with performance tires.

Cadillac

The 2011 Cadillac CTS coupe will start at $38,990.

Cadillac execs have long pointed to the CTS-V coupe as one of the halos–if not the halo–for the brand–and its arrival means the brand’s revival is close to complete. The coupe is the latest evolution of the CTS, which has been a bit of a subbrand for Cadillac since it launched. The edgier styling marked a departure from traditional designs at the time, and it helped spur new momentum for Cadillac. A CTS SportWagon has also joined the line.

Clay Dean, head of GM’s design studio, told AW that the design is a separating factor in modern luxury, and he pointed to the CTS line as evidence.

“It’s important–it’s almost the price of entry,” he said.

More pricing details:

– All-wheel drive bumps the price to $40,890.

– The performance collection is $43,430 for RWD and $45,330 for AWD. This trim level adds xenon headlamps, adaptive forward lighting, 10-way power leather seats, Bose 5.1 surround sound, USB integration and a 40-gig hard drive.

– The premium collection is $47,835 for RWD and $49,735 for AWD. This version has interior ambient lighting, a rearview camera, heated/vented front seats, a heated steering wheel, wood trim, Bose 5.1 surround sound with navigation and a sunroof.

For more

Source: Car news, reviews and auto show stories

One of the world’s largest social-networking services, Facebook Inc. was banned in the country of Pakistan because of its plan in inviting users to post images of Islam’s Prophet Muhammad. This raged the muslims leading to Pakistan’s government ordering every internet service providers to block Facebook.

Some countries had already banned Facebook last year like China due to political and economic issue and now, Pakistan is prohibiting its access in the country because of religion. We all know that some countries are sensitive when it comes to their religion and Facebook should understand this.

How did this started? The “Draw Mohammed Day” was set up by a Facebook user on the site, inviting other members to join and draw caricatures of the Muslim prophet. Many Pakistani saw this and were annoyed, thus they protested about this issue. About 2,000 female students rallied in the southern city of Karachi with several dozen of male students. The males were holding signs urging Islamic holy war against those who swear words against the prophet. The people in Pakistan had protested against many issues regarding Muhammad, like in the TV series “South Park” that depicted Muhammad in the bear suit during an episode earlier this year. Another issue was the Danish news paper in 2005 that published a series of cartoons of the prophet. This angered the Muslims around the world and even death threats were sent to the cartoonists. An alleged al-Qaida militant, Abdullah Azam Saleh al-Qahtani, who is in custody of Iraq said that he talked to his friends about attacking Danish and Dutch teams in the World Cup in south Africa next month.

Related posts:

1. Controversial South Park’s 200th Episode
2. Muslims Are Threatening The Makers of South Park
3. Today Is Everybody Draw Mohammed Day

Taking a page from its SEMA playbook, Ford is rolling out a top-of-the-line, semi-blinged-out people hauler for 2011, the Flex Titanium.

It’s dressed up for a night on the town, or a trip to soccer practice, and was devised by Ford product gurus who noticed most Flex customers tend to take high levels of content in their vehicles.

The Flex Titanium has a unique black chrome-finish grille with Flex badging on the edge of the hood–a cue straight from SEMA models in 2008 and 2009. There is a tuxedo-black two-tone roof, blacked-out treatments for the headlamps and tail lamps, and four choices of exterior colors.

The Titanium also has beltline moldings, fog-lamp bezels and a liftgate that’s black chrome. It rides on 20-inch, 10-spoke polished aluminum wheels. Inside is charcoal-black leather and gray suede Alcantara inserts. HD radio and one-touch, power-folding third-row seats are among the electronic goodies.

The Titanium is based off the Limited model, which accounts for 40 percent of Flex sales. Customers also tend to add on even more extras, such as the vista roof and refrigerator options.

“With the Flex Titanium, we are responding to our customers with a vehicle that reflects the unique positioning of Flex in the marketplace,” Flex marketing manager Kate Pearce said in a statement.

For more

Source: Car news, reviews and auto show stories

In two to three years, Great Wall Motor Co. will be expanding into other west European markets, according to a senior executive who asked not to be identified.

Great Wall, a Chinese automaker, has already started sales of its Hover SUVs in Italy. Very recently, Australia safety authority ANCAP gave its Hover X240 SUV a four-star rating out of five in a crash test it conducted — the highest ever global recognition for a China-made model. In an interview with Reuters, the executive said that the company is in discussions with likely partners such as Germany, France, Britain and Spain. The source added that Great Wall aims to have separate dealers for the countries but that there will be one dealer each for northern, central and eastern Europe. Great Wall entered the Australian market in June 2009 and for this year, intends to more than double its sales to 7,000 to 8,000 units. Meanwhile, sales in Italy are seen to rise to about 6,000 units from 2,700 units a year earlier. Like many Chinese automakers, Great Wall wants to follow in the worldwide success of companies such as Toyota Motor Corp., Honda Motor Co., and Hyundai Motor Co.

[via autonews – sub. required]

Source: Car news, Car reviews, Spy shots

State Governors aren’t usually the source of breaking automobile news, but California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger just let a major cat out of the bag. In a speech made earlier on Thursday, Schwarzenegger announced that Toyota is partnering with California’s Tesla Motors to produce the company’s Model S sedan – to be assembled at the former Toyota-General Motors NUMMI joint venture assembly plant.

Tesla has apparently canned plans to build its Model S in Downey, California, which has irked local officials.

“We’re shocked, appalled and disgusted,” said Downey Councilman Mario Guerra in an interview with the San Jose Mercury News. “We have been dealing in good faith with Tesla and feel stabbed in the back.”

Tesla CEO Elon Musk told Downey officials of the plan just hours before Schwarzenegger made his announcement this evening in Fremont.

Plant gets new life
Tesla purchased the NUMMI facility for an undisclosed amount and the company says it will look to hire about 1,000 workers to assemble the Model S. Curiously, NUMMI will continue to control the parking lot and an adjacent parcel, although it won’t have any say in the plant.

Previously, the NUMMI plant was operated as a joint venture between Toyota and GM until the Detroit automaker abruptly pulled out its stake last year. The last Toyota to be built at the plant rolled off the line last month.

Musk, Toyoda work out deal
Musk and Toyota chief Akio Toyoda said that they worked together on the deal, which will see a $50 million investment in Tesla from the Japanese automaker, according to Schwarzenegger.

“We look forward to learning and benefiting from Toyota’s legendary engineering, manufacturing, and production expertise,” Musk told the Los Angeles Times.

It’s unclear exactly what Toyota will get out of the deal – although a Toyota-badged version of the Model S seems possible.

References
1. ‘Toyota, Tesla…’ view
2. ‘Tesla to build…’ view
3. ‘Tesla to build…’ view

   

Source: Leftlane

We’re now hearing more word about the supposed movie adaptation of the game thriller, Heavy Rain. Back in February, it was buzzed that New Line had optioned rights for the movie version. Now, it appears that the

While General Motors’ four remaining North American brands have shown significant signs of improvement over the last several months, the Detroit automaker’s German Opel division continues to struggle. GM has been attempting to secure government financing to keep Opel alive, but a top German official has spoken out against aid to the automaker.

The debate about government aid to help Opel with its restructuring efforts has been raging in Germany for months, with Michael Fuchs, the head of Germany’s Christian Democrat party, speaking out against the measure earlier this week.

“The discussion … about financial aid for Opel must be ended once and for all,” Fuchs said. Fuchs argues that GM’s first quarter profit of $900 million is proof that the company doesn’t need government aid to save its ailing Opel division.

This isn’t the first time Fuchs has spoken out against federal aid to Opel. Fuchs previously opposed German aid to Opel as he believed at least part of the funds would be used to support GM’s North American operations.

GM is seeking about $3 billion in aid for Opel.

   

Source: Leftlane

This post is part of the Entrepreneurship series – sponsored by AcceptPay from American Express, a new online solution that lets you electronically invoice customers and accept online payments-all in one place. Offer more payment options, manage your cash flow and get paid faster with AcceptPay. Learn more here.
Of course, the content of this post consists entirely of the thoughts and opinions of the author.

BigKeithO writes in with some more followup, including some more results numbers from the Humble Indie Bundle experiment that we’ve written about a few times, involving some indie developers bundling up a bunch of PC games in a “pay what you want” pricing scheme. The program went on for two weeks, bringing in a grand total of $1,273,588. $833,630.69 went to the developers (or $166,726.14 to each), while the EFF got $183,601.47 and Child’s Play got $188,578.04. I’m sure some will knock these numbers, suggesting that they’re significantly lower than what some big name EA game would get, but you have to remember that these games were a bit older and weren’t likely to get that many new purchases. On top of that, in two weeks, that’s a pretty good sum of money for some indie developers on older games.

The other interesting tidbit, as many noted, is that despite suggestions from some that the “open source” world are folks who “just want stuff for free,” the average amount paid by Linux users ($14.52) was significantly higher than those paid by Mac ($10.18) or Windows ($8.05) users. Obviously, averages are only so useful, given that they can be skewed by outliers (anyone got the medians? standard deviations?) but it’s still information worth pointing out. All in all, a very interesting experiment, with some great results for those who participated.

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Despite the threat of spending cuts, the UK units of General Motors Co. and Nissan Motor Co. remain optimistic that the new coalition government will ensure that funding for the loans stay in place to support carmakers.

GM released a statement that with the new government coalition moving into Parliament, previous spending commitments will be assessed in view of the new government’s policies and priorities. GM also said that manufacturing in the UK is a sector expected to make a valuable contribution to the UK and hence, “deserves government support.” After the May 6 election, the center-right Conservative party entered a coalition with the Liberal Democrats. In support of GM’s Opel/Vauxhall turnaround, the previous Labour government signed off a 270 million pound ($390 million) loan guarantee as well as 20 million pounds for Nissan to support capacity adjustments and investment into new low-carbon products. A Nissan UK spokeswoman said that a deal has been made with the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) and that the new coalition government is “fully supportive” of pursuing a greener economy and zero emission transport.

[via autonews – sub. required]

Source: Car news, Car reviews, Spy shots

The Peugeot 308 GTi maximum power of 147 kW is available from 5500 to 6800 rpm, combined with a constant maximum torque of 275 Nm between 1700 and 4500 rpm, the 308 GTi also offers particularly low fuel consumption and CO2 emissions. The THP engine, fitted with a twin-Scroll turbocharger and a high pressure direct-injection system with VTi technology (variable valve and timing injection), produces 275 Nm (203 lb-ft) of torque and will come mated to a 6-speed manual gearbox. The 0 to 100 km/h sprint takes 7.7 seconds while fuel consumption will be 6.9 liters/100 km and CO2 emissions 159 g/km.

The car’s chassis has also been adapted to match the characteristics of the engine: fitted with 225/40 R18 tyres, it combines excellent stability at high speed with guaranteed comfort at low speed. 340 mm diameter brake discs at the front and 290 mm at the rear ensure high levels ofbraking performance. Inside, Peugeot 308 GTi interior features an aluminium foot rest and gear knob, leather sport steering wheel with aluminium flattened lower edge and thumb rests.

The new 308 GTi goes on sale in France on June 10 with prices starting at €26,900.

Source: Lincah.Com – New Car and Used Car Pictures

With fuel economy regulations now in place through 2016, lawmakers will turn to their attention to the 2017 and beyond regulations on Friday. However, Capitol Hill won’t be handling the new regulations on its own, with the White House inviting representatives from the major automakers to Washington to discuss the matter.

Set to take place on Friday, the fuel economy meeting will include representatives from most of the major automakers, although no CEOs will be in attendance. The White House will make part of the meetings open to the press.

“The president’s directive includes support for the development of advanced vehicle infrastructure, especially electric vehicles,” the White House said. “This announcement lays the groundwork for a more secure energy future by reducing our dependence on foreign oil, enhancing American competitiveness with a new generation of advanced electric vehicles, and protects the environment.”

In addition to representatives from the automakers, officials from the EPA and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration will be on hand for the meeting. Climate czar Carol Browner is also slated to appear at the meeting.

Although several topics will be covered during the talks, states’ abilities to regulate their own emissions standards will surely be on the docket. California – along with 13 other states – could have the ability to set their own emission standards beginning in 2017, depending on the terms of any future national standards.

References
1. ‘White House to…’ view

   

Source: Leftlane

The guys from Rockstar should have no trouble sleeping at all with the release of their cowboy-themed action title, Red Dead Redemption. As of today, it sits nicely on top of the Amazon Best Sellers list, taking

vitamin b12 deficiency vegetarian

What Groups are at Risk for Vitamin B12 Deficiency?

Vitamin B12 is essential to ensure healthy nerve and red blood cells. It is also used in the manufacture of DNA which is the genetic material found in all of our cells. You may also hear it referred to by the name of cobalamin because it contains the metal cobalt.

Vitamin B12 is essential to healthy nerve and red blood cells. It is also used in the production of DNA which is the genetic material found in all of our cells. It is also goes by the name of cobalamin because it contains the metal cobalt.

Vitamin B12 is bound to the proteins in the foods that we eat. It is found in foods derived from animals. Some common sources are meat, fish, poultry, eggs, milk and milk products. If you are a vegetarian fortified breakfast cereals can be an excellent source of B12. Hydrochloric acid releases vitamin B12 from proteins during the digestive process. It then combines with a substance called intrinsic factor (IF), it is this complex that is able to be absorbed by the intestinal tract.

B12 DEFICIENCY

The body stores several years supply of B12. It has been found that most children and adults in the United States consume the recommended daily requirement in the foods that they eat. A deficiency may develop due to an inability to absorb B12 from food or if you are a strict vegetarian that does not consume any animal products. For the most part individuals that have a B12 deficiency also have an underlining stomach or intestinal disorder that limits the absorption of the vitamin. Sometimes the symptoms of these disorders are very subtle and start with reduced cognitive function followed by anemia and dementia. These symptoms are very general in nature and can be caused by a variety of other medical conditions. You should always have a medical professional evaluate these symptoms and prescribe the appropriate medical care.

VITAMIN B12 AND PREGNANCY

During pregnancy nutrients are transferred from the mother to the fetus through the placenta. B12 is one of these nutrients that pass from mother to the fetus. Breast feed infants receive their nutrition, including vitamin B12, through breast milk. B12 deficiency is very rare condition in infants but can occur if the mother herself has deficient levels of the nutrient. An example of this would be a mother who is a strict vegetarian and has an inadequate reserve of B12 to pass on to the infant. In such cases a deficiency of vitamin B12 can develop in the infant in a matter of months after the child is born. This is something to be concerned about because if a deficiency in B12 is left undetected and untreated in infants it can lead to neurological damage. This damage can be both severe and irreversible. For this reason a mother who follows a strict vegetarian diet should consult with a pediatrician about B12 supplementation for their infants and children. They should also discuss with their own primary care professional about their own need for B12 supplements.

OTHERS THAT MAY BE AT RISK OF B12 DEFICIENCY

Individuals with pernicious anemia may be at increased risk. Anemia is a condition that occurs when there is insufficient hemoglobin in red blood cells to carry oxygen to the cells and tissues. Common symptoms are weakness and fatigue. Anemia can result in a variety of medical problems including a deficiency in vitamin B12, vitamin B6, folate and iron. Pernicious anemia is a name given more than a century ago to a then fatal B12 deficiency caused by gastric atrophy. This condition prevents the gastric cells from secreting intrinsic factor. B12 must bind with IF to be absorbed into the system. When an individual has this condition they are normally given an injection of B12 to get levels to where they need to be and then followed by supplementation to maintain them. A primary care professional must manage this treatment.

People with gastrointestinal disorders may be B12 deficient due to reduced ability for absorption. Some of these conditions may be celiac disease, Cohn’s disease, and those who have undergone surgical procedures in the gastrointestinal tract such as removal of all or part of the stomach. This can result in the loss of cells that are responsible for producing intrinsic factor.

Up to 30 percent of people over 50 years old may have atrophic gastritis, which is an increased growth of intestinal bacteria. This basically has two effects, it decreases the amount of gastric juices produced and the increased bacteria may actually compete for the available supply of vitamin B12. This causes them to be unable to absorb vitamin B12 normally. They are however able to absorb synthetic B12 such as that found in fortified foods and dietary supplements. These two sources may be the best sources of B12 for people over 50.

Strict vegetarians and vegans are at increased risk of developing B12 deficiencies. This is because B12 comes from animal products that they do not consume. Fortified cereals are a good source of B12 for this group of people.

About the Author

John Bradstreet is an experienced Biochemist with extensive knowledge in nutritional supplementation. He has more than 25 years of increasing responsibility in his field. To learn more about Vitamin B12 we have included additional links at the bottom of the page to help educate you on the subject. You are also invited to visit our Vitamin and Supplement Blog for information on this and other subjects.

Vegetarianism counter arguments help!?

hi i need one more counter argument.

i already hv if everyone becomes a vegetarian, the meat industry will collapse and people will lose their jobs.
and many vegetarians have vitamin B12 deficiency.

plz gimme another counter argument, and defend it for me as well.

thx

10 points will be given!!

Freedom of choice. People should be able to eat meat if they want to or if they need to. The human digestive system is designed to process plant and/or animal foods. Therefore, there is no reason to forbid the eating of meat as long as the animals are slaughtered in a humane way. [This does not imply that people should not be vegetarians, but only that eating meat is not morally wrong or contrary to nature.]

[phpbay]vitamin b12 deficiency vegetarian, 100[/phpbay]
raw vegan blood tests :part 2.

Vitamin B12 Deficiency Vegetarian is a post from the Vegetarian Vitamins Guide blog where you can find suggestions and advice from vegetarians and vegans on vegetarian diets, supplements, vitamins and overall nutrition.

Warner Bros. has released a brand new cinematic trailer for the upcoming horror sequel, F.E.A.R. 3. Titled “Point Man”, the new trailer mixes live-action sequences with in-game footage to give us a lil’ sneak peek on what’s

Copycense kicked off an interesting thought exercise, in questioning if, instead of trying to carefully define what qualifies as “fair use,” we might be better off trying to define what constitutes “unfair use.” Of course, some copyright system supporters might note that copyright itself defines what unfair use is — and it’s pretty much any unauthorized reproduction, distribution, performance etc. of a covered work. In that world, “fair use” are the narrow exceptions.

But there’s a strong argument to be made that that’s wrong. The purpose of copyright — as we remind folks every so often — was set about to “promote the progress” with the main focus being on better encouraging education through knowledge transfer. So, perhaps the case can be made that rather than focusing on narrow exceptions to copyright law, we should go back to realizing that copyright is the exception and the public domain is the rule. From there, the thinking is exactly right. If the goal of copyright is to promote the progress of science and the useful arts, then let’s focus on what should be considered “unfair” and build from there, rather than starting with a wall that says “everything is unfair” and here are a tiny few exceptions.

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So technically Germany isn’t banning short-selling in various financials — it’s only banning naked short-selling.

And because of this, many are wondering what the big deal is. After all, naked short-selling (shorting a stock without having borrowed it) is already against the rules in the United State. If anything, it seems, the country is just catching up to reasonable rules that exist elsewhere.

Except that’s nonsense.

If this were just about catching up with world rules it wouldn’t have been rushed in with just a few hours notice, it wouldn’t be temporary (well, kind of temporary, the regulation is due to expire at the end of March 2011) and it wouldn’t apply to just a handful of banks (at first).

It’s just very hard to take this seriously as anything but a panic move.

And if the government is panicking, the market shall as well.

The Telegraph’s Ambrose Evans-Prtichard writes about instant, post-regulation capital flight to Switzerland.

The short ban set off instant capital flight to Switzerland. BNP Paribas said €9.5bn flowed into Swiss franc deposits in a matter of hours on Wednesday morning.

The Swiss central bank intervened to hold down the franc. This caused the euro to shoot back up against the US dollar after an early plunge. The euro had already bounced off “make-or-break” technical support at $1.2135, the 50pc “retracement” of its entire rise since 2000, but any rally is likely to be short-lived.

And the line of the day…

“As a German citizen, I wish to apologise for the stupidity of my government,” said Hans Redeker, currency chief at BNP Paribas. He said the CDS ban deprives reserve managers of a crucial hedging tool for non-securitised loans and will scare away global investors needed to soak up Club Med bonds.

Read the whole thing >

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See Also:

• German Political And Financial Leaders Have Taken Incompetence To A New Level
• The 10 German Banks That Angela Merkel Thinks Need Special Protection From Speculators
• France Rejects Germany’s Naked Short-Selling Ban, Finance Minister Lagarde Slams Unilateral Move

Bill Fleckenstein was on Bloomberg today talking about the big issues of the moment: deflation, inflation, gold, Greece, and the US dollar.

It’s a great interview that shines light on some important ideas, most notably the false dichotomy between deflation and inflation.

While the CPI shows deflation, this is essentially a green light for the Fed to print money like there’s no tomorrow, and it’s that money printing (not price inflation, per se) that he’s looking to make money. Gold is just one way of doing that. And as long as we have deflationary scares, the Fed will keep printing money.

As for the US dollar, he’s not a fan, and notes the only difference between the US and Greece is that we have a printing press. (Via PragCap)

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It felt at first as though the moderate losses in the US market might signal some end to the bleeding, but actually no.

Japan is off 1% in the early hours of trading.

The euro, which had briefly broken $1.24 has fallen back to $1.23.

Other than that, it seems quiet. We have a hard time imagining that that will last.

For a recap of what happened during the US trading day, see here.

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Daily U-Turn: What you missed on 5.19.10 originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 19 May 2010 19:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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