Category: News

by Kit Stolz

The columnist George Will recently wrote about the new movie Up in the Air.

While breezily discoursing on the emotional pain of the worst unemployment record in decades,  Will happened to mention that the “opening soundtrack” to the movie, featuring a new version of Woody Guthrie’s classic This Land is Your Land, was (and I quote) “weird.”

Check out the song for yourself, via the interesting free music site LaLa:

Will, the bow-tied baseball-ed embodiment of white-bread conservatism, is about as stuffy as a man can be, so it’s no surprise that he completely misses the point of this funkified classic by Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings.

Jones sounds like a young Aretha unleashed. She and the Dap-Kings turn out to be a fascinating story in their own right, a collective devoted to the classic funk of the James Brown style.

Their sound is brassy and tight, but without synthesizers or digital gear, giving their songs an analog funkiness that’s timeless, sexy, and in your face. They even turn out to be the secret weapon behind the huge success of Amy Winehouse and her hits “Back to Black” and “You Know I’m No Good.”

But the truth is, of course, that George Will could never in a million years say anything good about this greatest of all American folk songs, funkified or not, because the lyrics challenge the unbounded faith in private property espoused by him and other American conservatives.

In the glossy, funny, but not phony movie, we only hear the first of Guthrie’s words. and then an up-dated fade-out of the song from the band, mentioning locales such as Houston and L.A.

Is it possible that after all these decades, the lyrics are still too radical for most movie-going Americans? Take a look or a listen, and decide for yourself …

As I went walking, I saw a sign there
And on that sign it said “Private Property”
But on the other side it didn’t say nothin’
That side was made for you and me !

Filed under: Etc., Videos

Only ten days ago Jonny Greaves jumped his closed-course race truck from one dirt ramp to another — those ramps being separated by close to 300 feet. Greaves ended up going 301 feet, and set the record for the longest ever jump in a 2WD truck. It’s even more fun to watch than to read about, if only because his engine makes his Toyota sound like it’s powered by demons and banshees. Follow the jump for the vid. The only thing it’s missing is Waylon Jennings…

[Source: Monster Energy]

Continue reading VIDEO: Johnny Greaves jumps stadium truck over 300′ to set world record

VIDEO: Johnny Greaves jumps stadium truck over 300′ to set world record originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 29 Dec 2009 13:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Car Buying, Concept Cars, Marketing/Advertising, Aston Martin, Toyota, Design/Style

There are few automakers on earth as exclusive as Aston Martin, so we were more than a little surprised when the English exoticmaker announced it was going to build the Cygnet, a city car based on the prosaic Toyota iQ. After all, we chastise automakers for rebadging all the time, but Ford, Honda and General Motors products don’t have anywhere near the exclusivity of Aston Martin. Then there is the Cygnet’s reported $35,000 price tag. Some Aston purists were a little taken back by the “modest” $120,000 price tag of the V8 Vantage, so a $35,000 Toyota with a Rapide grille probably won’t go over well with more than a few loyalists.

The New York Times has shed a little light on the subject, reporting that only owners of full-sized Astons will be eligible to purchase the Cygnet. Aston Martin CEO Ulrich Bez said in the winter issue of Aston Martin magazine that “this concept is akin to an exclusive tender for a luxury yacht.” If that doesn’t make sense to you non-yacht owners, think of it as a 105 mph golf cart for Aston owners.

To further help the Cygnet stay exclusive, Aston only plans to build 2,000 copies of the iQ-based city car and there are no current plans to sell the mini car in the U.S. market, so it might be fair to say this is a bit of a commuter special for Londonites. Even still, while this novel sales plan may help to mitigate potential brand degredation that Cygnet skeptics suggest it may bring about, we can’t help but wonder how the thousands of non-Cygnet toting Aston owners will feel about their favored brand dipping a foot into the House of Toyota.

[Source: The New York Times]

REPORT: Want an Aston Martin Cygnet? You’ll need to have a big boy Aston first originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 29 Dec 2009 13:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Petfinder.com, one of my favorite pet sites online (it’s how we found our sweet Honey, after all!), has released their list of the top names for pets for 2009.

Petfinder points out the interesting trend of Americans veering away from “traditional” pet names like Fido and Fluffy, and are instead opting for either more “human” names or going all out wacky (there’s an “oddest names” list too).

Buddy, Max, Daisy and Lucy are the top names for for dogs, and cats don’t stray too far with Lucy, Smokey, Midnight and Bella leading the feline list.

The unusual names list is the one I find most interesting, though. It makes me want to know how these people came up with them, at the very least (my favorite is “Angry Donut”):

~ Shyanne Thailand Moo Goo Guy Pan
~ Mr. Tomfoolery Scardeycat Eliot
~ Rusty Buckets
~ KeelHaul
~ Too Fancy for You
~ Angry Donut
~ Maple Syrup
~ Hoseclamp
~ Prince Xavier Binxley
~ Hoku-ho’okele-wa’a

What the most interesting pet name you’ve heard this year?

[image: flickr]

Post from: Blisstree

Petfinder’s Top Pet Names of 2009

Coinciding with the recent Nexus One news out there and pulling a page out of Apple’s playbook, Google has scheduled a press conference in Mountain View, CA on January 5th, 2010.  The text reads:

“With the launch of the first Android-powered device just over a year ago, we’ve seen how a powerful, open platform can spur mobile product innovation. And this is just the beginning of what’s possible.

Please join us in Mountain View on January 5, for an Android press gathering.”

I’d be very surprised if it wasn’t directly related to the Nexus One device.  Stay tuned for more information as we get it!

Via: Engadget Mobile

The founder of Dr. Siegal’s Cookie Diet has slapped Kim Kardashian and her famous caboose with a hefty lawsuit after the buxom reality star slammed the lifestyle fad as “unhealthy” in a post on her Twitter account this month.

Siegal is seeking an unspecified amount in damages.

If the sources that Digitimes is reporting are correct, then China can expect to see a few more customized, 3G phones in the coming year. The sources are saying that both Acer and Asustek are planning models for 2010, and that Acer is working with China Mobile and China Unicom to produce TD-SCDMA and WCDMA models while Asustek is reportedly set to release a China-specific Garmin-Asus branded handset for both carriers in 2010 as well. Now, keep in mind of course that none of this has been confirmed by either company as of yet, but the move certainly wouldn’t surprise us, either.

Acer, Asustek working on custom 3G phones for China? originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 29 Dec 2009 13:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Unibody MacBook dips to $728 educational pricing originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 29 Dec 2009 13:06:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Well well. Look at this. Taking a page from the CES-challenging Apple / Macworld playbook, Google has announced a press event on January 5th (just like we told you) in Mountain View, stating:

With the launch of the first Android-powered device just over a year ago, we’ve seen how a powerful, open platform can spur mobile product innovation. And this is just the beginning of what’s possible.

Please join us in Mountain View on January 5, for an Android press gathering.

If this lines up with the news we’ve seen recently, it’s likely a Nexus One announcement will be the order of the day, and most (if not all) of your nagging questions will get answered. You know we’ll be there live… so hang on to your hats, and mark down the date!

Google announces Android press conference for January 5th originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 29 Dec 2009 12:33:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Article Tags: Climate Protest, ClimateGate, WeAreChange, YouTube

H/T TomNelson.BlogSpot

CHICAGO IL On Tuesday, November 24th 2009, We Are Change Chicago attended a book signing with former vice president Al Gore, at the Borders Bookstore on 150 N. State Street.

Source: wearechangechicago.com

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Filed under: Etc., Videos

Only ten days ago Jonny Greaves jumped his closed-course race truck from one dirt ramp to another — those ramps being separated by close to 300 feet. Greaves ended up going 301 feet, and set the record for the longest ever jump in a 2WD truck. It’s even more fun to watch than to read about, if only because his engine makes his Toyota sound like it’s powered by demons and banshees. Follow the jump for the vid. The only thing it’s missing is Waylon Jennings…

[Source: Monster Energy]

Continue reading VIDEO: Johnny Greaves jumps stadium truck over 300′ to set world record

VIDEO: Johnny Greaves jumps stadium truck over 300′ to set world record originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 29 Dec 2009 13:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

The record $42 billion issuance seems to have gone through decently, the high yield of 2.665% was only slightly higher than pre-auction. Find the full official release here.

Join the conversation about this story »

See Also:

• Treasuries Are King Ever Since The Crisis Started
• Japan Denies Reports About It Dumping Treasuries
• Traders Freaking Out Over Rumors That Japan May Dump $100 Billion In Treasuries

by Todd Woody

‘Tis the season for the annual year-in-review column,
beloved by writers and editors desperate to fill pages and screens of blank
space during these slow news weeks. 

I’m going to forgo that annual holiday journalism tradition—sort of. While perusing various year-end and year-ahead trend story pitches
that had popped into my in-box since Thanksgiving, I came across one from the
United States Environmental Protection Agency that caught my attention.

The EPA was releasing its annual enforcement stats for 2009.
Usually that’s a big yawn, given that for most of the past decade prosecuting
polluters was not high on the must-do list of the former administration. But in
2009 not only was there a much more enforcement-minded EPA administrator in
Washington (in the person of Lisa Jackson), the agency for the first time created a Google
map mashup of its enforcement actions for the year.

The map lets you zoom in on your city, county, or state and see the civil and
criminal cases filed by the EPA for violations of its clean air and water laws and other
environmental statutes. Click on the air, water, land, and criminal buttons and
colored markers start to populate the map showing you the location of various violations.
When you click on a marker a link to detailed information about the case pops
up. You can also review any past violations.

The EPA’s new interactive enforcement map could launch a new era of digital transparency.

“EPA mapped the locations of more than 90 percent of the
facilities that were the subject of enforcement actions last year,” the agency
said in a statement. (Note that you won’t find any drinking water treatment
facilities hit with lawsuits or complaints; the EPA did not map them “due to
potential security concerns.”)

Clicking around the EPA map, I learned that in Alameda County, Calif., where
I live, an Oakland recycling company called California Waste Solutions paid
fines totaling $172,200 for failing to comply with storm water permits at two of
its local facilities. (The Bay Area was relatively law-abiding compared to,
say, greater Seattle, where the map was purple with environmental violations.)

Okay, so why does this matter? Knowledge, as the saying
goes, is power and the average citizen is unlikely to sift through thousands of
pages of government data to find out if local companies or government
facilities have been polluting their air and water in violation of
environmental laws. And as metropolitan newspapers continue to gut their staffs
and environmental reporters become an endangered species, you’re unlikely to
read about such transgressions unless they reach oil-spill proportions or
involve big money.

In contrast, the EPA’s new map and its successors will allow a quick visual
comparison of the government’s enforcement actions from year to year. In fiscal
2009, the EPA said it filed 387 new criminal cases—the most in five years—and reached settlements that require polluters to spend $5.4 billion to comply
with environmental laws.

Still, the new interactive map is a work in progress. First, it is not comprehensive. “While these large cases are a vital part of our work to
protect public health and improve compliance, they do not reflect the totality
of the annual environmental enforcement activities,” the agency said.

Second, the information that is available on
violations is inconsistent, ranging from detailed to sketchy. Click on a big enforcement action
or high-profile case, and you’ll get plenty of data. But many other cases just offer
cryptic references to violations of environmental statutes, making it difficult
to ascertain if a company is guilty of dumping toxins into a local waterway or just bad record-keeping. I couldn’t tell, for example, what that Oakland recycling
company had done to violate its storm water permit.

I had a similar experience when I came across an air
violation by an Alameda County Trader Joe’s, that Costco for the bobo set. When I tried to get details on the violation I came up short. Clicking on the map marker took
me to an “Enforcement Case Report” that listed the violation as “Air Emissions
Not Otherwise Specified.”

After a few minutes of clicking around the EPA database I
found that the violation was deemed “minor” but no other information was
available.  (The EPA could take some cues
from The New York Times’ ongoing investigative series on water pollution that features an
interactive database that lets readers identify polluters near their
homes.)

Making the map a real-time snapshot of environmental cases
as they are filed rather than a static end-of-year review would make good on the
EPA’s promise to “increase transparency, improve access to data, and provide the
public with the bigger picture of enforcement activity occurring in communities
around the country.”

The ‘09 map mashup could just be the start of a new era of digital
transparency. One can imagine an app that would tap the iPhone’s GPS to geotag
polluters or issue alerts of enforcement actions.

Better yet, if the EPA really wants to tap the power of social media in the new year, let people create their own mashups. Just imagine an army of iPhone-toting citizen enforcers geotagging and reporting suspected environmental violations to a database monitored by their local EPA office.

Related Links:

Broken promises follow Tennessee coal ash disaster

Why the Copenhagen Accord boosts the odds for Senate passage of bipartisan climate legislation

Could AlertMe be the Apple of energy efficiency?

Time for part two in my ‘better late than never’ series.

This time I will be looking at Miami (FL) versus Wisconsin.

Miami FL (9-3, 5-3 ACC) vs. Wisconsin (9-3, 5-3 Big Ten)

December 29th, 2009 8:00 PM ET

Florida Citrus Bowl, Orlando, Florida

Hooray! A bowl that I have more than a passing interest in.

This game represents the first time a Big Ten team will take the field this bowl season, so it is relatively important as far as the whole ‘image’ thing goes for the conference.

It is beyond dispute that the Big Ten has a generally unfavorable reputation amongst the national media at the moment, so winning bowl games becomes that much more important.

This also represents the first game this bowl season that I am actually excited to watch. Maybe that makes me a bad fan, but whatever, I can deal with that. Let’s just say that I am a Buckeye fan first, second, and third, a Big Ten fan fourth, and then a college football fan fifth.

This game also represents a match-up (according to ESPN) between a lightning quick Florida school and a slow plodding Big Ten school which we get to hear so much about every time a Big Ten team loses, but not so much when they win, which happens from time to time as well.

So this game is important for the Big Ten’s reputation, important for at least making ESPN look stupid (I have given up on actually changing ESPN’s talking points) for continuously peddling the southern speed BS that they never seem to get sick of, and important because it is actually a match up between two top 25 teams, which (I think) is the first ranked pairing.

This is also the first time that Miami (FL) will play a Big Ten team since they lost to Ohio State in the 2003 Fiesta Bowl. Good times.

So grab a six pack and enjoy the show tonight.

Wisconsin

Wisconsin comes into the bowl winners in 5 of their last 6 games. However, the loss was to Northwestern in the second to last game of the year. Take from that what you will.

On offense, Wisconsin is Wisconsin.

The key to Wisconsin's offense.

Big, bruising back running behind a good to great offensive line. This year that back goes by the name of John Clay who was the Big Ten Offensive POTY after rushing for 1396 yards, good for 116.3 per game.

Miami (FL) has a respectable rush defense (28th, 118.33 per game) so it should be interesting to see if Wisconsin can establish the run early. If they can, that will obviously go a long way towards a Wisconsin win.

On the flip side, Wisconsin fields a (somewhat) surprisingly good defense that is ranked 19th nationally in total defense and 8th against the run. If Wisconsin can pressure Jacory Harris early and often with their defense front (it helps that Miami’s LT is out with an injury) and establish the run on offense, they will be in good shape.

That is pretty much their game plan every week for the Badgers, like I said, Wisconsin is Wisconsin.

Miami

Miami is a young team with lots of talent (they should be a lot of fun to play in The Shoe next year, but more on that in the summer) who is having their best year in quite some time.

The key to Miami's offense, with a little less blind side protection.

They boast a 9-3 record but when I look at their schedule, I really don’t see an impressive win since week 4 when they beat an injured Oklahoma team 21-20.

Since then they have lost to Clemson and North Carolina, and have had a close call against Wake Forest, narrowly edging out the victory 28-27.

What does this all mean? probably not much, but the Hurricanes haven’t really beat a good team in a long time, and they will be without the starting left tackle Jason Fox, leading me to believe that Wisconsin has a decent shot in this game.

Based on my record at picking bowls, however, I could very well be wrong.

Regardless, I will be rooting for Wisconsin.

Who Are We Picking?

Mali (8-3): Miami

Eric (6-5): Miami

Jeff (4-7): Miami

Jim (4-7): Wisconsin

Thanks to A&M (hey, at least I was right about them having a terrible defense) Jeff and I have fallen a bit further behind the pack.

Since I am the only one to choose Wisconsin in the game, I can either solidify my last place position or finally make a move. The funny thing is, we chose these games well in advance of the first bowl way back when, so my knack for picking the underdog has hurt me thus far, but could allow me to climb back into contention.

More than likely I will just fall further back, but hey, one game at a time. Hopefully Wisconsin can get the W tonight.

Back in May, we wrote about the effort to get a Right to Repair bill passed for automobiles:

There is no legitimate basis for this at all. It’s a clear misuse of intellectual property laws — which were never designed for this sort of thing — to prevent independent auto mechanics from repairing newer cars. But it’s the end result of the increasing creep of intellectual property rights, and the growing computerization of everything. It allows manufacturers to extend “IP” rights to physical goods, and create all sorts of new monopolies. In a perfect world, this wouldn’t need a separate law. It would be a clear violation of antitrust laws. But, we don’t live in a perfect world, and for the time being you’re probably paying a lot more money to repair your car because of it.

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I admit I am fascinated by the Monster Garage tv show. Those garages are usually nicer than the houses they are beside! Unfortunately, for normal people with normal budgets, a garage that is that fancy and sleek is a dream that isn’t likely to come true. That doesn’t mean you can’t do some renovations and reorganization to make your garage a nice place to visit, though.

• Stop letting the garage by the dumping ground. If you don’t want something enough to keep it in the prime storage space in your home, you probably just want to take it to your local thrift store instead of piling it in the garage. If you do have things to store in the garage, such as holiday decorations, relegate them to one corner and make sure everything is in a neatly labeled storage bin placed on a shelving unit or in a cupboard.
• Consider painting your concrete floor. If your floor is cracked and stained, you can patch your cracks, clean the floor and then apply a coat of epoxy paint. (From experience, I can tell you that this is a smelly, kind of messy project and not for the faint of heart, but the end result can really look nice.)
• Paint the walls. I have seen so many garages with the original unpainted drywall. A nice deep blue or gray blue color would improve the room’s appearance a lot. Use glossy paint so you can wipe off dirt more easily. You should expect to have to repaint more frequently than you do in the house because a garage can be a greasy, grimy place when you’re messing around with your car or motorcycle.
• Add a seating area, even if it is just a stool in front of the cabinets along one wall, so someone who is visiting while you are working can hang out. If you have a one and a half or two and a half car garage, you should have enough space to add a vinyl upholstered chair or two. Have some extra cash? Shop around for a good deal on a flat screen tv, mount it on the opposite wall and you’ll never want to leave.
• Use car or motorcycle parts as wall art. A group of steering wheels, license plates, or filters can add plenty of interest.

Do you have any tips for sprucing up a garage without spending too much cash?

Photo: SXC

Post from: Blisstree

Garage Renovations for Normal Budgets

The Tax Man has cometh for former ‘N Sync singer J.C. Chasez.

The state of Mississippi has filed a lien against the America’s Best Dance Crew judge. State tax officials claim the ex-crooner, now 33, has defaulted on a $206,965 tab for delinquent taxes.

The Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, Ed Miliband, has confirmed his attendance to The Climate Revolution on Tuesday 12th January.
 
Just weeks after the Copenhagen Summit, this is your opportunity to hear exactly what this Government will commit to and question these promises.
 
The free tickets are running out fast, book here; http://www.ukyouthparliament.org.uk/264379/index.html
 
For more info contact 020 7553 9895 or email [email protected].

This event is being organised by the UK Youth Parliament. The UK Youth Climate Coalition will be there to run some workshops and it would be great to see you too!

Students at the University of Colorado at Boulder will soon be constructing a tiny spacecraft to observe space weather in the near-Earth orbit. The project is funded by a $840k grant from the National Science Foundation and is just the latest project in a long line of student-built spacecraft over the last 50 years for LASP, Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics.

This device will be about the size of a loaf of bread and weighing in at 5 lbs and will be designed to to measure energetic particles that have been known to damage spacecraft’s instruments. The data collected from this spacecraft will be combined with findings from other missions with the hope of better understanding electrons trapped in the Earth’s magnetosphere. See, who says you can’t do anything fun and educational at college these days? Building spacethings is damn fun in my book.

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