Author: Serkadis

While the concept pictured above sports a Tesla Motors logo in the front, the concept has nothing to do with the company’s California design team. Tesla actually commissioned a group of eleven L ‘Istituto Europeo di Design (IED) of Turin students studying for their Master of Arts in Transportation Design, to come up with a concept that could one day become a future full-scale model.

The main idea behind the Eye concept was to create a “2 +2 sports car set to become a status-symbol, a car whose features captivating and sporty performance that addresses accomplice an affordable price, to target young, cosmopolitan, still connected with the world through the net and digital technologies.”

No technical details of the car have been provided, but like all Teslas, it will be fully electric.

IED Tesla Eye Concept:

– By: Kap Shah

Source: WCF

Ah, for the love of puffery. A few years ago, we were among those who noticed that pretty much every mobile operator in the US had commercials making some sort of claim about how they were the “best” network out there, whether it was “most reliable,” “most powerful,” or “fewest dropped calls.” The whole thing is a joke and I doubt anyone takes those sorts of claims very seriously. But soon afterwards, the lawyers got involved, and lawsuits were filed over who could claim what about their networks in commercials. Even the Better Business Bureau felt the need to weigh in.

Now, it looks like a similar battle is playing out up north. Rob Hyndman points us to the news that there are a series of lawsuits in Canada over similar claims concerning broadband internet access, with one company being upset that another company has commercials claiming to have the “fastest and most reliable” broadband offering.

Here’s an idea: rather than wasting money suing each other over these sorts of claims, why not invest some money into actually improving the network?

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Chicago — An alderman who’s been leading the charge for a new Walmart says he’s got the votes to move ahead.

Alderman Anthony Beale wants the City Council to vote on a Walmart in Pullman Park.

For years, another alderman has been pushing for a Walmart in Chatham, but that plan is trapped in a committee.

The Sun-Times says Beale is predicting the City Council could vote on a Pullman Park Walmart in April.

Read the original article from FOX Chicago News.

Distributed via Chicago Press Release Services

CHICAGO — Aldermen approved sweeping cuts in Calumet City, but the mayor says the city may have to slash deeper and even layoff police officers.

Michelle Qualkinbush says cutting 11 police officers would save the city $581,000.

The head of the police union there says they’ve offered to help trim $800,000 by deferring bonuses, raises and vacation pay.

The mayor says that’s just delaying the inevitable.

Aldermen did agree Thursday night to cut $260,000 from the budget by cutting staff and salaries for city workers.

Read the original article from FOX Chicago News.

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CHICAGO — Many Cubs fans got up extra early Friday morning to snap up regular season tickets.

Also Friday morning, the new owners of the Cubs, the Ricketts family was meeting with fans at Wrigley Field.

Sales opened at the Wrigley box office at 8 a.m. for fans with wristbands.

Lucky fans were happy to meet the new owners, and the feeling was mutual.

“I don’t have to sleep out for tickets anymore, that’s true, but we’re just excited to be here to hand out donuts and coffee and say hello,” Tom Ricketts said.

If you can’t make it to the stadium Friday, you can buy tickets online or over the phone starting at 10 a.m.

Read the original article from FOX Chicago News.

Distributed via Chicago Press Release Services

Friday’s early-morning shooting at Northern Illinois University appears to be an isolated incident involving the victim and the alleged shooter, the university president said today.

The shooting occurred as part of an “altercation” at 3:29 a.m. outside Stevenson Towers North dormitory on the DeKalb campus, President John Peters said.

The victim lives in the dormitory; the alleged shooter lives off-campus.

Both are men in their 20s and students at NIU. Neither was identified.

The victim was shot above the knee and his injury is “not life-threatening,” according to Peters. He is being treated at Kishwaukee Community Hospital.

An NIU police officer stationed at Stevenson North responded immediately to the incident, Peters said. The suspect, who had run off toward a lagoon near the dorm was apprehended five minutes later.

The name of the shooter was not released on the request of the DeKalb County State’s Attorney, Peters said.

One person witnessed the shooting, and five others were present, he said.

A text alert about the shooting, and lockdown of the campus, was sent to 12,000 subscribers at 3:48 a.m., and posted on the university’s Web site. The lockdown was lifted at 5:03 a.m.

“Unfortunately, we have learned how to do this from our previous experience,” said Peters, referring to the Feb. 14, 2008 shooting at Cole Hall that took the lives of five students, including the gunman.

“Violence continues to plague college campuses and society across this country. It is important we continue to be vigilant in providing a safe learning environment for our students and faculty,” Peters said.

The handgun has been recovered, but Peter did not know the make, model or caliber.

He also said he did not know the motive behind the shooting.

Peters, notified by the text alert, went over to Stevenson immediately. “Quite frankly, every

one was asleep,” he said.

“These events are occurring too often at schools and churches.”

Cali Gannon, a 19-year-old student from Chicago, said she feels safe on the campus, but “the fact it is practically in our backyard is just a little too close for comfort.” The sophomore lives in an off-campus apartment near the dormitory.

Roommate Christina Aguilera, 20, of Mount Prospect, said “we were actually surprised” the school decided to go ahead with classes. “I feel (classes should have been canceled) especially because of the students who were here for the first shooting.”

“It is such a sensitive situation,” Gannon said.

Gannon said she did not receive the university’s text message, but learned about the shooting when she checked her Facebook page upon awakening Friday.

Bus service near the dormitory was canceled while the investigation proceeds, but otherwise the campus remains open.

Read the original article on DailyHerald.com.

Distributed via Chicago Press Release Services

Valparaiso, Ind. — A Chicago woman was arrested for reportedly leaving her 14-month-old son alone in a car while shopping Wednesday afternoon.

A witness called police to the parking lot at Bethesda Resale Shop, 50 Marks Road, after sitting for more than 10 minutes next to a black 1998 Chevrolet Malibu with an unattended infant inside around 12:40 p.m., according to the police report.

The Chevy’s doors were locked and its windows were up, but the car was not parked in a way that a parent could be watching it from inside the store, the report noted. The child’s mother, Diamond McAlister, 34, returned about a minute after police arrived.

McAlister initially insisted she took the child, whose father lives in Valparaiso, inside shopping with her and only left him in the car when she stepped back inside to search for her missing remote start key fob.

However, police eventually learned McAlister had been shopping alone for about 15 to 20 minutes, according to witnesses, and while she apparently had started the car — and its heater — with her key fob after locking the vehicle, the engine automatically shut off at some point while she was gone.

She was arrested on a preliminary charge of felony neglect of a dependent.

Read the original article from FOX Chicago News.

Distributed via Chicago Press Release Services

If she spoke in English, and if she had a more sympathetic American President, Germany’s Angela Merkel would easily join Margaret Thatcher on the very-short list of European conservative heroes.

But as it is, the German leader will have to settle for the fact that in this world she’s the last conservative left standing.

In the dark days of Spring 2009, Merkel resisted the alluring siren song of stimulus, despite the desperate pleas from the rest of the world that without German participation there could be no global economic recovery.

And now even as European leaders waffle over a bailout for Greece, she’s the one yelling “STOP” while demanding that if Greece does get bailed out, that it must come with severe limitations on its voting rights and its ability to spend money.

As crisis pushes other world leaders to abandon principle for the sake of political expediency, Merkel shows she’s got bigger balls than any of them.

Join the conversation about this story »

See Also:

• Dennis Gartman: Germany And Greece Are Just A Couple Of Five-Year Olds
• Greek Politicians Want Germany To Pay War Reparations In Order To Make Up For Their Debt Disaster
• Germany: Greece Should Lose Its EU Membership Rights While It Is In "Receivership"

Article Tags: ClimateGate

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Source: guardian.co.uk

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Filed under: Aftermarket, Government/Legal

Granted, we’re a little weird around here, but we’ve been dreaming of a multi-stage nitrous system since the sixth grade. We saw our friend’s big brother lay down some fat rubber marks all around the cul-de-sac in his primer’d and blown ’72 El Camino and BAM!, we were sold on the idea that increasing the air part of the air/fuel equation was the smart, righteous thing to do.

Sadly, nitrous ain’t all that legal in most places. Mississippi was one of the dozen remaining hold outs until some idiots in a blown car decided to take some police on a high speed chase that ended in the death of Trooper Steve Hood. As such, NOS is now illegal in Mississippi street cars, and is the 39th state to pass such a law.

As far as the specifics go, no one’s sure exactly how the law is written. We know (for instance) that in California you can have a nitrous oxide system in your car and the bottle can even be hooked up, however said bottle must be 100% empty. In other states you’re not allowed to have the bottle screwed in. Still, in others, a NOS system is illegal period.

Our pals at Bangshift.com (who know a whole heck of a lot more about this subject than we do ) are telling Mississippi residents, “Seeing as though this is a law fresh in the minds of law enforcement and represents an emotional event for the Mississippi State Troopers, we’d stow our bottle well away from the mount when headed to the race track.” Sage advice, and much wiser than our hide-a-NOS-system in a fake battery ala Smokey Yunick suggestion.

[Source: Bangshift]

No Laughing (Gas) Matter: Mississippi becomes 39th state to ban nitrous in street cars? originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 19 Feb 2010 12:32:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It’s now well known that Eurostat accounting rules allowed Greece to keep billions in debt-like obligations off its books. But just how much debt does Greece have?

The official estimate is €270 billion or $366 billion now that the hidden debt has been brought back on to the books. But a management consultant in Greece says there a huge liabilities not yet accounted for.

His jaw dropping estimate: Greece may have as much as €55 billion that remains “off-the-books.”

He says that this number has been widely discussed in the Greek press, although it hasn’t gotten much attention in the English language media.

From Philip Atticus’s blog:

• Interest rate swaps generate an additional EUR 5.5 bln in debt to Ethniki;

• It is estimated that there are at least a further EUR 6 bln in debt to public healthcare organisations beyond the EUR 6.3 bln already added to the debt in the debt revision of October 2009 (which lead to Greece’s deficit rising to over 12%);

• The Central Government has guaranteed a further EUR 26.2 bln in debt from various semi-government organisations and local authorities which should be stated on the government balance sheet, but is not.

• The Commission also points out that it is impossible to estimate current debt due to two additional points:

a. Most social security funds have not yet published accounts for 2008 and 2009. Many other semi-governmental organisations are equally in arrears.

b. The precise level of government expenditure obligations under the raft of public-private partnerships signed during the Karamanlis years cannot be established.

All this means that there is at least EUR 37.7 bln in “known” debt which is not currently recorded. I suspect that there is far more. For instance, the Hellenic Railway Organisation (OSE) has recently been recording annual loses in excess of EUR 500 mln in recent years. The state aid that was to be repaid by Olympic Airways was estimated at EUR 650 mln, while the Karamanlis government also agreed to absorb a further EUR 700 mln in early retirement costs for Olympic staff (which the Papandreou government has recently repudiated).

I would say that a conservative estimate of “off-the-books” debt is at least EUR 40 bln, and quite possibly EUR 50-55 bln, as has been stated in a number of press reports in Greece.

Join the conversation about this story »

See Also:

• Get Your Tinfoil Hats On: Greece’s New Debt Czar Used To Work For Goldman’s Derivatives Team
• The Olympic Dream Wrecked Greece, And Next It’s Going To Wreck The UK
• Greece Replaces Its Debt Management Boss

All the tension built up in the Google Books case over the years is not going to be dispelled as the judge presiding has delayed a ruling claiming that the matter is too complex and he wanted to hear the opinions and complaints of all the parties involved in the issue. As such, the settlement deal between Google and publishers is still in limbo as Judge De… (read more)

CHICAGO — The Illinois Supreme Court says former Gov. George Ryan must forfeit all of his state pension for crimes he committed as secretary of state and governor.

Ryan is currently serving a 6 1/2-year racketeering and fraud sentence. He had been hoping to salvage a $60,000-a-year pension, based on his years as a state lawmaker and lieutenant governor.

Ryan wasn’t convicted of committing any crimes when he held those offices.

But the high court ruled 6-1 on Friday that he’s ineligible for any state pension.

Before his conviction, Ryan had been due to draw a pension of more than $197,000.

Meanwhile, there’s a new campaign to get Ryan out of prison. Ryan’s wife and lawyer are asking President Barack Obama to grant the former governor clemency.

His lawyer said Ryan has already been punished: he’s broke and his wife has a life-threatening illness.

Lura Lynn Ryan has terminal lung disease and is on oxygen 24 hours a day.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Read the original article from WBBM News Radio.

Distributed via Chicago Press Release Services

Goldman Sachs issued a report this week called “The Labor Market: Crawling Out Of A Deep Hole.”

It chronicles the plight of the US labor market and how unemployment is truly affecting the US. Job growth is weak, but after months (and years) of economic downturn, Goldman believes that we could be on the cusp of a rebound in both the economic and labor markets.

The report presents both sides of the story. There are indeed many reasons to be optimistic about recovery and lower unemployment rates. But we are also reminded that this will not be easy and there are many challenges ahead of us and will be for quite some time.

See why they’re hopeful >

Join the conversation about this story »

See Also:

• The Heartbreaking Beijing Slums That Are Filled With Young College Graduates
• CHART OF THE DAY: Ohio’s Unemployed Masses Are Getting Hammered Like Never Before
• David Goldman: Here’s Why Unemployment Will Remain In Nosebleed Territory FOREVER

Professional endurance athlete Jonas Colting knows a little bit about tapping into his own power and energy. Most of us don’t push our bodies to the limit in the same way an endurance athlete does. For some of us, just getting through a regular day at the office is a test of endurance. Still, power and energy are attractive qualities. Which is probably why a marketing genius attached these terms to almost every product in the constantly expanding protein bar aisle at the grocery store. Energy Bar. Power Bar. Whatever you call it, they often aren’t very healthy and won’t supply you with any enduring power or energy.

Jonas’ solution was to make his own protein-packed snack using whole, healthy ingredients. He doesn’t provide exact measurements for Colting’s Cocoa and Coconut Snacks – this is one of those “throw everything together” recipes that make cooking easy and fun. In fact, we think Jonas’ advice for this recipe is a good motto for all cooking endeavors: “Experiment to find your perfect mix of taste and texture. It really doesn’t matter, it’s all good and healthy!”

Seriously, you can’t get this one wrong. Any way you make them, Colting’s Cocoa and Coconut Snacks are better, in terms of both taste and nutrients, than most store bought energy bars out there. The texture is rich and crumbly, not unnaturally gooey and chewy. The flavor is intensely nutty and a little savory with a hint of sweetness. Each one of these little balls packs in loads of protein and fats. Unlike store bought energy bars, the ingredient list is short and simple, and can be modified to your own taste. Use more ground coffee or none at all. Try dark chocolate chips instead of cocoa powder. Cut back on one type of nut and add more of another. Use more shredded coconut, or less. Part of the fun is coming up with your own perfect blend.

As a general guideline for your first batch, using a 1/2 cup of each nut will yield more than a dozen little balls. Dates add the sweetness but also help hold the balls together so if you can’t get the paste to hold its shape, try adding a few more. Coconut oil also helps with this. If you don’t have the patience to roll a dozen or more little balls, simply spread the paste out evenly in a baking pan and sprinkle with coconut. Whether you eat them as balls or bars, Colting’s Cocoa and Coconut Snacks are a good solution to afternoon hunger pangs. They can even satisfy a craving for dessert – Jonas sometimes enjoys them with an espresso, which sounds quite civilized and delicious.

Try out his recipe for Colting’s Cocoa and Coconut Snacks this week and check back next week for more on how Jonas lives Primal while training as a triathlete.

Ingredients:

We’ve included measurements to get you started, but as mentioned above, these ingredients can be used in any amounts.

1/2 cup each:

• Almonds
• Walnuts
• Pecan nuts
• Hazel nuts
• Pumpkin seeds
• 3-6 dates
• 2-4 tablespoons virgin coconut oil

To taste:

• Unsweetened cocoa powder
• Freshly ground coffee
• Shredded coconut

Instructions:

Run the nuts and pumpkin seeds in a food processor until ground into a fine flour.

Remove the nut flour and grind the dates and shredded coconut in the food processor until smooth.

Mix these ingredients together with coffee and cocoa powder according to taste.

Finally, add the coconut oil and mix it all together by hand. Roll the paste into small nibbly balls and sprinkle them in shredded coconut.

These snacks should be refrigerated to become firm.

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Related posts:

1. Smart Fuel: Coconut
2. The Many Uses of Coconut Flour
3. Coconut Shrimp and Chive Mayonnaise

In this morning’s Breakfast With Dave newsletter, Rosie discusses offers his doubts on the “recovery” in light of blatantly weak data.

Breakfast With Dave: The economy continues to pull a rabbit out of the hat and expand even with contracting employment and bank credit. As we stated above with respect to Wal-Mart’s weak sales data, how did Mr. Market manage to ignore the labour market news yesterday. All we hear from bullish strategists is that jobless claims are the key, and while they have been improving in recent months, yesterday’s data was disappointing in that claims rose 31,000 in the February 13 week, to 473,000. Unfortunately, that was the nonfarm payroll survey week.

While the number of continuing claims was unchanged at 4.56 million that understates the situation because when all the emergency benefit programs are included, the backlog of total unemployment claimants jumped 280k in the January 30 week to a whopping 11.7 million.

Join the conversation about this story »

See Also:

• Rosenberg: This Is A Real Correction, S&P Headed To 912
• Rosenberg: Sorry, The Government Won’t Be Propping Up The Economy This Year
• Rosenberg: Even With The Government Throwing Money At The Problem, Home Sales Collapse

For a while now, we’ve been discussing how the pricing on ebooks doesn’t make much sense, and almost certainly needs to fall. Like many industries, the book business could learn a lot from other businesses that have realized that drastically lowering the price on digital goods can massively increase sales, and better maximize profits. But, instead, book publishers seem to be pushing in the opposite direction, and trying to push the price of digital books up. We recently wrote about a NY Times article that suggested consumers might revolt if the publishers keep moving in this direction, which is actually supported by reports of how consumers are reacting to publishers’ anti-consumer activities with regards to ebooks.

Given all that, I was amused when a friend “in the business” forwarded me an email message sent to a mailing list of book publishers in response to that NY Times article about consumers’ potential revolt, that encourages publishers to get out there and fight back against such perceptions. The email contains a list of “myths and potential talking points.” Some of which are amusing. It starts out by saying $9.99 doesn’t need to be the price for ebooks, which is true, but they don’t even seem to consider the notion that the price could be less (or even free), focusing only on examples of people paying more for ebooks. It then suggests that publishers start blaming the ebook device makers for “the implicit, false promise” that ebooks can be cheap. That’s ridiculous. The idea isn’t “false,” it’s just basic economics, and we’ve already seen it playing out in music. Why wouldn’t the same economics play in the ebook space as well?

The talking points also tries to attack the claim that Amazon is losing money on every ebook sold by not actually responding to that (mostly accurate) claim, but instead directing your attention elsewhere, by pointing out that Amazon has a $50 billion market cap and can sell products like ebooks at a loss and still make massive profits. Yes, this is true. And it’s true because Amazon seems to understand the basic economics of where the money is made: which is in scarce goods, not in infinite ones.

Among the other talking points is the claim that people who buy ebook readers for hundreds of dollars shouldn’t bitch about ebook prices, because they’re obviously rich enough to afford whatever publishers think the books should be priced at (again, ignoring basic economics). Also there’s a claim that publishers are really lowering the prices on ebooks even as consumers see higher prices. While this is technically true in cases like Macmillan, where the company is lowering its wholesale price in order to get Amazon to raise its retail price, it misses the fact that this doesn’t matter to consumers. Consumers don’t care about the wholesale price. The talking points also included one about how publishers’ deals with Apple might actually price books lower anyways — and it seems like that particular talking point has been “anonymously” pushed into a NY Times article already.

The list goes on in this nature, but it’s worrisome that publishers are thinking this way. Just as we were recently discussing, they’re acting like the recording industry ten years ago: hunkering down for a “war” of words, rather than actually focusing on new business models or figuring out what consumers actually want. Instead, they’re trying to dictate what consumers want and hoping for some sort of magic bullet in the form of ebook readers. This is a dangerous move by publishers that can only come back to haunt them. Instead of focusing on “countering” what consumers are saying, why not actually listen to them, and look for ways to provide what they want?

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Zouch! Punters on Intrade who figured — like everyone else — that Tiger was definitely coming back for the Masters are getting spanked today.

Odds of a pre-May 10 return are plunging after his announcement.

Join the conversation about this story »

See Also:

• THANK YOU TIGER! MARKET RETRACES AS TIGER APOLOGIZES
• Tiger Woods: Elin Never Hit Me
• Tiger Apologizes, Has No Immediate Comeback Plans