Blog

Brilliance China Automotive Holdings Ltd., BMW AG’s partner in China, has halted its car exports to Europe after its BS4 and BS6 sedan met with a cool reception, and there is no timetable for a resumption, senior executives said on Thursday.

The head of Brilliance’s former importer for Europe, Hans-Ulrich Sachs, told Automotive News Europe in March that another reason the automaker struggled is because it refused to lower the starting prices on the BS6 and BS4.

“They didn’t want to lose any money per car,” said Sachs, the former boss of the now dissolved import company HSO Motors Europe. “We told them that this is the entry fee you have to pay to get established in Europe. They told us that we should make the investment to cover the shortfall; that we would have to subsidize the brand.”

Sachs refused.

Brilliance is one of the few Chinese automakers that has managed to squeeze into the highly competitive European market, dominated by Volkswagen AG, PSA/Peugeot-Citroen SA and Fiat S.p.A.

In 2006, it secured a deal with Sachs, a former Volkswagen AG executive who also helped launch Hyundai in Germany, to ship 158,000 sedans to Europe over a five-year period, the largest auto order ever for a Chinese manufacturer from the developed world.

Weak sales

The total sales tally of the two Brilliance models from 2007 to 2009 was 502 units, according to UK-based market researcher JATO Dynamics.

Brilliance sold just 46 BS6s in 2009 and 181 BS4s, JATO’s data shows. Sales of the BS6 never recovered from poor crash test results in 2007.

Brilliance had at one point contemplated adding a BS4 wagon to its lineup, but the plan has now been postponed indefinitely, two company executives told Reuters.

“We have stopped exports to Europe. For now, we have no timetable for resuming the business,” said one of the executives with direct knowledge of the matter, blaming the poor reception for the sedans in part on the difficulty of keeping up with changing European regulations.

Both executives said the company would look to start sales again in Europe with products that could meet new EU emissions standards sometime in the future.

“The BS4 and BS6 were made with Euro 4 specifications in mind. When we resume the exports we will come up with cars and meet the Euro 5 standards,” said the second executive.

Sachs told ANE that last autumn he found out through contacts in China that Brilliance had stopped the engineering work needed to get its cars ready to meet European safety and emission standards.

“We asked some of the BMW guys working together with Brilliance in China and that is how we got the information that Brilliance stopped everything,” Sachs said.

About the same time Sachs’ relationship with Brilliance was falling apart, BMW announced that the partners would split the cost of a $740 million (560 million euros) new plant in China. The partners’ second factory is due to start production in 2012. BMW last week announced it plans to sell 120,000 BMW, Mini and Rolls-Royce brand vehicles in China this year, up 20 percent from its earlier target. BMW Group sold 90,500 cars and SUVs in China last year.

Booming China market

China, which overtook the United States as the world’s biggest auto market in 2009, has become a safe haven for General Motors Co. and other producers battered by a steep industry downturn.

Chinese automakers, from state auto group SAIC Motor Corp. to Warren Buffet-backed BYD Auto Co. are also working harder than ever to raise their domestic profiles to compete with rivals such as Volkswagen, Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co.

Rather than rushing into unfamiliar markets when economic uncertainties and rising protectionism have raised the bar for new entrants, Chinese automakers should focus more on their home turf, industry executives and observers said.

“At a time like this, the best strategy for a Chinese national brand is to step up its presence in China while while maintaining a foothold overseas,” said Huang Zherui, an analyst with CSM Worldwide, a global industry consultancy.

Brilliance, parent of Brilliance China Automotive Holdings, is China’s ninth-largest automaker with a 2.6 percent market share, compared with domestic leader SAIC’s 19.8 percent, according to official data.

Brilliance sold 348,300 vehicles in 2009, up 22 percent from a year earlier, lagging a 46 percent gain in the overall market.

For more

Source: Car news, reviews and auto show stories

LG Mobile Communications has jumped aboard the Android train in hopes that running devices on Google’s mobile operating system will help stem falling sales and market share. Google CEO Eric Schmidt recently noted that 60,000 Android devices are shipped each day, a number that doubled compared to the previous quarter.

In the first quarter of 2010, LG’s sales fell 18.4% compared to the previous three months. Handset revenues declined 20% on a quarterly basis in the seasonally low first quarter, while operating margin rose 100 basis points to 0.7% but was down from 5.6% a year earlier.

The year-over-year decline in profitability resulted from change in product mix and ongoing investment in expansion of channel coverage in the emerging markets, according to RBC Capital Markets analyst Mark Sue.

While LG remains in third place among global handset vendors after shipping 27.1 million units in the first quarter, that figure represent a 20% quarterly decline, which is significantly higher than the 2% dip for global units as a whole.

“This market share loss is a result of decreased sales in North America due to the demand shift to smartphones,” Mr. Sue told clients.

While this was partially offset by growth in emerging markets such as China (+126% yoy) and Central and South America (+60% yoy), the company’s lack of a solid smartphone line-up continues to impact units.

Targeting double-digit sequential growth for the second quarter to 30 million units, LG is focusing on building out its smartphone lineup with the launch of two Android-based smartphones.

The LG Optimus is targeting first time smartphone users. It runs on the Android 1.6 operating system (OS), has a 3 mexapixel camera, 4 GB of expandable memory, a 3 inch touchscreen display, GPS, social networking integration and auto face-tagging. The device will initially be available in Europe around May 1st, with additional markets to follow.

The LG Aloha looks to capture consumers in the high-end market. It will run on Android 2.1 and include a 1 GHz processor, which Mr. Sue said supports initial claims that its performance will be on par with other high-end smartphone devices such as the Google Nexus One. Aloha also has a 5 MP camera, GPS and Wifi.

While Mr. Sue believes this shift to smartphones will likely support increased earnings and improved average sale prices, the analyst warned that continued investment in research and development and marketing will likely continue to pressure LG’s margins. 

Jonathan Ratner

A controversial hate group that routinely protests at the funerals and concerts of some of Hollywood’s most noted celebrities will picket at the graduation of a rural Mississippi teenager who made national headlines when she was denied the chance to go to her school’s prom because she is a lesbian.

The Kansas-based Westboro Baptist Church announced in a statement last weekend that they will be on hand to preach “the word of God” — as they see it at least — during Constance McMillen’s high school commencement ceremony next month.

Disgusting, as if this poor young woman hasn’t been through enough torment. Homophobia is so ’80s.

“[We] will picket the graduation of Itawamba Agricultural High School to remind the parents, teachers and students of this nation that God said ‘Thou shall not lie with mankind, as with womankind, it is abomination.’ This generation has been raised to believe that they can live for the devil and still go to heaven, that God has no standards and the biggest lie of all – that God loves everyone,” according to a press statement released by Westboro and obtained by PinkNews this week.

The Fulton, Mississippi teenager’s prom was cancelled after she asked to bring a same-sex date. McMillen fought a legal battle with Itawamba County Agricultural High School after administrators refused to allow her to attend the prom with her girlfriend. She won in court after the judge found that the school had violated her freedom of expression, but the court did not force the school to reinstate the prom.

McMillen eventually got to attend a privately held prom, but said afterward that the one she went to was actually a “fake,” while most of the rest of her classmates attended another prom — hosted by parents no less — that she was not told about.

The shy 18-year-old received national attention for her battle. She was presented with a $30,000 scholarship from Tonic.com, a digital media company, during an appearance on Ellen last month.

She’s also been invited to take part in New York City’s world-famous Gay Pride Parade in Greenwich Village this June.

A lingering question in the new tension on the Korean peninsula is why the emerging world power can’t stand up to its failed state neighbor.

South Korea has F-15K fighter jets, Aegis destroyers, K-9 self-propelled howitzers. It claims a mutual defense treaty with the United States. Moreover, the model economy has the world’s 15th highest GDP, right behind Australia.

But North Korea gets the edge with a strategy of asymmetrical warfare, including submarines, mines, hovercrafts, special forces, and a scary ballistics arsenal:

Chosun Ilbo:

North Korea’s nuclear, biological and chemical weapons as well as its ballistic missiles are another key component of its asymmetric strategy. The communist country is believed to have six to eight nuclear weapons similar in strength to the atomic bomb that was dropped on Hiroshima. It is also believed to have between 2,000 to 5,000 tons of chemical weapons, making it the world’s third largest arsenal. It has around 10 different types of biological weapons as well. A thousand tons of chemical weapons is believed to be enough to kill 40 million people on the Korean Peninsula.

It’s no wonder South Korea is afraid to blame the Cheonan attack on Kim Jong-il. President Lee Myung-bak is gathering evidence for the U.N. Security Council, but the only country that matters (after decades of failed U.S. and U.N. sanctions) is China. Together, Seoul and Beijing account for 80% of North Korea’s international trade.

Will China use it’s power for good?

Don’t miss: 15 Facts About China That Will Blow Your Mind

Join the conversation about this story »

Inspired by two real children in Dhaka whom Ann Malaspina met on her travels through South Asia, Yasmin’s Hammer is yet more proof for the need to educate girls throughout the world.

When a cyclone destroys their home village “by a lazy river,” two sisters – Mita and Yasmin, together with their parents – are forced to move to the big city of Dhaka, Bangladesh’s capital, in search of work. While their father tries to establish a rickshaw business and their mother works in other people’s homes, both sisters must help the family by working as brick chippers.

“‘We need your help now,’” Abba explains as gently as possible to his daughters, especially young Yasmin who wants nothing more than to go to school. Missing their extended family left behind in the home village, Yasmin and Mita work achingly long hours. Yasmin’s thoughts turn always to school: “If I could read … I would not break another brick / or wash a rich lady’s laundry like Amma / or pedal a rickshaw through crowded streets. / If I could read, I would be a shopkeeper / or maybe a teacher. I could be a doctor / or even the governor! / I could be anything at all.“

Yasmin’s hard work and ingenuity do indeed pay off … but for every success story like Yasmin’s, far too many young children will never get a similar chance to learn. At book’s end, Malaspina offers a child-friendly overview of the situation in Bangladesh, highlighting both the challenges and ongoing progress toward educating all young Bangladeshis. She also provides a welcome list of ways that readers – both the youngest and their parents – can help the children of Bangladesh … if you can read, you can also help.

Readers: Children

Published: 2010

Filed under: ..Children/Picture Books, .Fiction, Bangladeshi Tagged: Family, Girl power, Refugees

The first Russian sports car MARUSSIA is equipped with a 3.5 litre petrol engine providing 240bhp. Along with several kinds of outside appearance, the expansion of production range and creation of vehicles of other classes is planned: in particular, more popular among customers, five seats four-wheel drive SUV. A racing version of the car, which is being developed now, will be engineered with respect to contemporary auto racing technologies. At present MARUSSIA is a mid-engined vehicle, but the working on a front- and rear-engined versions of chassis has been already started.

The interior of the MARUSSIA vehicle is a product of Italian and Russian designers’ teamwork. The interior of the car is a harmonious extension to the swift beauty and completeness of the car’s exterior, being a perfect match to the colour and shape of the body. The interior decorations have been chosen carefully according to the principles of ecological compatibility and comfort to satisfy the requirements of the most sophisticated customers.

The main part of the interior is made of expensive durable material — leather, that goes together with the modern and convenient surface of plastic elements and SOFT TOUCH gear sticks. Another material used in the interior is high-tech textile with 3D plaiting. The unique designer solution is the M-shaped instrumental panel that goes well with the outline of the body and reminds of the MARUSSIA logo’s contours. The interior design unites elite style and classical comfort with sports and high technology.

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

A massive lending binge over the past couple of years has left major Chinese banks undercapitalized according to a new report from Caing, which has gone through the latest financial reports.

Sure, profits are surging, but the bottom line is that these banks are likely to need 200-300 billion yuan (up to $45 billion est.) in 2010 in fresh capital. To put that into perspective, that’s half as much as all the money raised by mainlaind Chinese public companies last year.

Specifically:

Industrial Bank’s capital adequacy ratio slipped to 10.63 percent at the end of the first quarter of this year from 10.75 percent at the end of 2009, with its core capital level dimming from 7.91 percent to 7.59 percent. The minimum capital requirement for joint-stock banks was raised to 10 percent by China Banking Regulatory Commission late last year. For six largest banks, it is 11 percent.

China Citic Bank’s capital adequacy dropped to 9.34 percent at the end of March, down 0.8 percentage point from the end of last year. The Bank of Ningbao had mixed performance: its core capital level dip from 9.58 percent at the end of last year to 9.07 percent at the end of the first quarter while capital adequacy ratio climbed from 10.75 percent to 10.88 percent during the time frame.

Read the whole report >

Join the conversation about this story »

The new Conquest Knight XV, a fully armored, ultra-luxurious, handcrafted sport utility vehicle comes with a new luxury upgrades and options including electronic touch handles, hand crafted billet aluminum and leather steering wheel and shifter handle, retractable custom flat screen television, TracVision satellite system, ultra suede seating and an electrostatic window tinting system, to name a few.

Conquest Vehicles has also created a new, high-level security upgrade and options platform for the Knight XV that includes a built-in oxygen survival kit, under vehicle magnetic attachment detection system, multiple armoring levels, under vehicle blast protection system and a black box system.

In addition to Conquest Vehicle’s luxury and security upgrades to the Knight XV, Conquest Vehicles has also added other production and design upgrade options including a turbo charger package; commercial grade multi link air ride suspension system; a custom made braking system consisting of 15 ½” vented 2-piece front rotors with high performance 12 piston billet calipers; carbon fiber instrument panel; Diesel engine; 24-inch vehicle extension package; right-hand drive conversion package.

Since launching at SEMA in 2008, the (US) $489,000 Knight XV has quickly gained popularity as a go-to vehicle for high-net worth individuals, professional athletes, government officials and heads of corporations around the globe. For more information, please visit the company’s website at www.conquestvehicles.com

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

Harvard University and Harvard University Press (HUP) announced recently that the Murty family of Bangalore, India, has established a new publication series, the Murty Classical Library of India, with a generous gift of $5.2 million. The dual-language series aims both to serve the needs of the general reading public and to enhance scholarship in the field.

Harvard Provost Steven E. Hyman noted that the Murty family gift will enable HUP to present the literary cultures of India to a global readership in an unprecedented manner. “The Murty Classical Library of India will make the classical heritage of India accessible worldwide for generations to come,” said Hyman. “We are truly grateful to the Murty family for their vision and leadership in making this historic initiative a reality.”

The Murty family’s endowed series will serve to bring the classical literature of India, much of which remains locked in its original language, to a global audience, making many works available for the first time in English and showcasing the contributions of Indian literature to world civilization. Narayana Murty said of the new series, “I am happy that Harvard University Press is anchoring this publishing project.” His wife, Sudha, agreed: “We are happy to participate in this exciting project of bringing the rich literary heritage of India to far corners of the world.”

Under the direction of General Editor Sheldon Pollock, William B. Ransford Professor of Sanskrit and Indian Studies at Columbia University, and aided by an international editorial board composed of distinguished scholars, translators will provide contemporary English versions of works originally composed in Bengali, Gujarati, Kannada, Marathi, Persian, Punjabi, Sanskrit, Tamil, Telugu, Urdu, and other Indian languages.

Each volume will present the English translation with the original text in the appropriate Indic script on the facing page. The books will be supplemented by scholarly introductions, expert commentary, and textual notes, all with the goal of establishing Murty Classical Library volumes as the most authoritative editions available.

The Murty family’s vision has already begun to impress notable scholars, such as Harvard’s Thomas W. Lamont University Professor and Professor of Economics and Philosophy Amartya Sen, who expressed his appreciation for the initiative. “There are few intellectual gaps in the world that are as glaring as the abysmal ignorance of Indian classics in the Western world. It is wonderful that the Murty Classical Library of India is taking up the challenge of filling this gap, through a new commitment of the Harvard University Press, backed by the discerning enthusiasm of the Murty family, and the excellent leadership of Sheldon Pollock — an outstanding Sanskritist and classical scholar. This will be a big contribution to advancing global understanding that is so much needed in the world today.”

HUP plans to make the works available in both print and digital formats. The first volumes are scheduled for publication in fall 2013. An Indian edition is being planned.

Founded in 1913, Harvard University Press is a major publisher of nonfiction, scholarly, and general interest books with offices in Cambridge (Mass.), New York, and London.

Verbatim showed off a new family of secure storage products at the London Infosecurity Show this week which will bring an indelible smile to the face of every Corporate IT manager. The ‘Secure ‘n’ Go’ range includes premium AES 256bit (Advanced Encryption Standard) hardware-encrypted USB drives, SSD ExpressCards, Solid State Drives and DVDs. In addition to the hardware security encryption and integrated password protection on an SSD ExpressCard or USB drive, the user can control the device via the internet and lock, unlock or erase all data if the drive is lost or stolen. The new Verbatim Control System (VCS) also offers the ability to lock, unlock or erase the drives of any user remotely from corporate headquarters, and can also audit, trace and view logs of any corporate Flash drive usage. The ‘Secure ‘n’ Go’ family hits stores next month…
Continue Reading Verbatim debuts game-changing corporate storage products

Tags: Data protection,
Verbatim

Related Articles:

• Aegis Padlock Secure Drive with integrated keypad for data security
• Verbatim launches TUFF-CLIP USB drives
• Verbatim launches InSight Portable USB Hard Drive
• LOK-IT USB memory with PIN entry hardware authentication
• Flash Padlock offers physical security solution for portable data storage
• Lenovo ThinkPad USB Portable Secure Hard Drive

Luke Timmerman wrote:

Vertex Pharmaceuticals was a pretty audacious place, even by biotech standards, when it was founded twenty years ago. It started when a senior chemist from Merck, Joshua Boger, quit that job and assembled a small band of chemists that aimed to beat the Big Pharma companies at their own game of making small-molecule drugs.

That grand ambition still hasn’t been fulfilled, but Vertex has certainly come a long way. Boger handed over the reins last year to a new CEO whose mission is to to transform Vertex into a big, stable, profitable anchor for biotech in Boston for years to come. Vertex (NASDAQ: VRTX) now has more than 1,100 employees in Massachusetts and 1,400 worldwide, a stock market capitalization of almost $8 billion, and a hepatitis C drug in the final phase of clinical trials that could become the elusive billion-dollar molecule. (The quest for such a drug was famously described in a 1994 book.)

While the early days of swagger, clashing egos, and intense late night lab sessions are in the past, quite a few people shaped by that experience have spread through Boston biotech. Many are still pursuing their own big dreams.

“Vertex attracted people who liked fresh ideas, and high-profile situations, and that weren’t afraid of risk,” says Roger Tung, an early chemist at Vertex who is now CEO of Lexington, MA-based Concert Pharmaceuticals.

Now as Vertex graduates from its development phase into a more mature, integrated commercial enterprise, it is also starting to take on some sure signs of age and experience. One of those is a growing network of alumni, like Tung, who gained valuable experience they took with them. I sought to track down many of them to get a better sense of the impact the Vertex network is having today.

The list includes 32 names at last count, and I expect it to grow over time. Thanks to Tung, Aldrich of RA Capital, Justine Koenigsberg of Concert Pharmaceuticals, and Kathryn Morris of The Yates Network for their help getting the ball rolling.

Now I’d like to ask you for some help. If you see any information below that’s out of date or incorrect, please let me know and I’ll fix it. If you are an alumnus yourself and would like to be added to the list, please send me a note or leave a comment at the bottom of the story. If you have any other questions, comments, or new information, ping me at [email protected] or [email protected].

Rich Aldrich, co-founder RA Capital Management, chairman of the board, Concert Pharmaceuticals

Eva-Lotta Allan, chief business officer, Ablynx

David Armistead, executive-in-residence, Oxford Bioscience Partners …Next Page »

UNDERWRITERS AND PARTNERS

GUANTANAMO BAY — I’ll be heading into the courtroom for Day 2 of Omar Khadr’s pre-trial hearing shortly, and that means I’ll be unable to provide any updates until I leave the super-secure facility (no cellphones, no computing devices of any kind, no nothing) around lunchtime. But something I wasn’t able to fit into my recap of Day 1 was a savvy move by the prosecution: They want the judge to authorize them to conduct an evaluation of Khadr’s mental health without defense counsel present — something that will delay the pre-trial hearing’s resolution by several weeks.

The legal grounds on which chief Khadr prosecutor Jeffrey Groharing seeks the exam are a bit obscure. But Groharing’s fellow prosecutor, Air Force Cpt. Christopher Eason, argued that the defense’s contention that Khadr has suffered depression and post-traumatic stress disorder consistent with surviving abuse — the basis on which the defense wants a judge to rule that Khadr’s statements to interrogators are inadmissible — obliges the government to seek its own determination. What’s more, Eason continued, the defense hadn’t made Khadr’s mental health records available to the prosecution, offering instead to let them talk with the defense’s mental health experts. Finally, Eason said that the exam the government seeks can’t occur with defense counsel present, since that might “prejudice” the outcome of the exam.

Unacceptable, said Kobie Flowers, a lawyer for Khadr, since it would entail Khadr “incriminating himself by participation” in the exam. “That’s certainly way outside the ballpark in my experience,” Barry Coburn, another of Khadr’s attorneys, told reporters after the hearing adjourned for the day. “We’re going to, I think, have a very strenuous objection.”

Army Col. Pat Parrish, the judge in the Khadr case, didn’t decide the issue today. But he appeared surprised when he asked Eason how long the prosecution anticipated it would need for the exam. “Five weeks,” Eason replied.

“That would require a recess in continuance of the suppression motion,” Parrish intoned. And that’s serious. Khadr’s actual military commission is scheduled to start July 12. It can’t get underway until the pre-trial hearing settling the suppression motion that the defense filed is resolved, since the motion cuts to the heart of what the prosecution can use as the basis of its case against Khadr. Further delays, in other words, put the trial date at risk — especially since the defense is likely to raise new procedural objections if Parrish grants the prosecution’s request.

Eason was unmoved. “The government’s contention is this is critical,” he told Parrish.

Motorola this morning announced its Q1 2010 earnings, with the manufacturer seeing total sales of $5 billion. Its mobile device arm brought in $1.6 billion and shipped 8.5 million phones, including 2.3 million smartphones, while seeing an operating loss of $192 million. That’s down 9 percent compared to the first quarter of 2009, though this quarter’s operating loss was drastically lower, compared to $545 million a year ago.

Motorola introduced six new Android smartphones in the first quarter, including three in the United States — the Backflip, Cliq XT and Devour. [Motorola]

 

I’ve just discovered the powerful story of the German psychiatrist Alice Ricciardi-von Platen. She refused to take part in the growing eugenics movement in the 1930s Germany that targeted people with mental illness for sterilisation and euthanasia, resisted the Nazi party and wrote a book documenting Nazi medical abuses of psychiatric patients after being asked to observe the Doctors Trial at Nuremberg.

As a result, she was ostracised from the German medical community and her book was repressed. It wasn’t rediscovered by German historians until thirty years after it was published in 1948.

Afterwards she became highly respected for her work developing group therapy and worked in Britain and Italy right into her late nineties.

There is surprisingly little about her online or in the academic literature although she received two glowing obituaries in the British press when she died in 2008.

We like to think that each of us would stand up to human rights abuses even if everyone else around us was involved but we know from countless social psychology experiments that it is an incredibly difficult thing to do. Consequently, I always have immense admiration for people like Ricciardi-von Platen who did so in the most difficult of circumstances.

We also like to think that the Nuremberg trials put an end to the political abuse of psychiatry but a recent article in Schizophrenia Bulletin tracked the history of these abusive practices noting that they have been regularly used throughout the 20th century and into the 21st.

From the Soviet use of sluggishly progressing schizophrenia to silence dissidents, to the Nazi’s incorporation of psychiatry into eugenics, to psychiatrists’ collaboration with torture during dictatorial regimes in Latin America, to China’s use of psychiatric hospitals to persecute Falun Gong members and to the collaboration with ‘war on terror’ torture in the US (albeit in the light of outright condemnation from the American Psychiatric Association).

Sadly, psychiatry has been co-opted many times over as a tool of oppression. Complacency is the enabler of these abuses and people like Alice Ricciardi-von Platen are a reminder that even the most powerful forces can be resisted.

Link to obituary from The Times.
Link to obituary from The Guardian.

Health insurer WellPoint sees profits surge 51%.

Join the conversation about this story »

Obama Urges Bipartisan Effort on Soaring Deficits
President Barack Obama said Tuesday Washington must urgently confront unpleasant truths about deficits. “There are few issues on which there is more vigorous bipartisan agreement than fiscal responsibility,” he said, flanked by Erskine Bowles and former Sen. Alan Simpson, R-Wyo., the two men he asked to lead efforts to reach a consensus plan for the deficit. “But in practice, this responsibility for the future is often overwhelmed by the politics of the moment.”

Late Late Night FDL: Vietnamistan
Featuring new videos by Alabama 3 and Populous.

Featuring new videos by Alabama 3 and Populous.

What’s on your mind tonight?

?

You want to see a demonstration? They’ll show you a demonstration
Thanks to Arizona, there may be some real protests this weekend, not the tightly-shot over inflated tea party variety.

Over the last year or so we’ve been treated/subjected to Tea Party rally coverage. Those ‘tight-camera shots’ have allowed their organizers to claim hundreds of thousands were in attendance, nay MILLIONS! when reality showed a few thousand.

But that doesn’t stop the media from treating them like a huge social movement.

Coverage bias was most pronounced during the Health Care Reform votes when several hundred teabaggers on the Capitol grounds got a great deal of coverage, while a pro-immigration reform march at the same time drew a much bigger crowd, well into the tens of thousands, received virtually none.

So let the teabags steep in their inflated numbers, thanks to Arizona, on very short notice, now you’ll see what a real political protest looks like.

Protest organizers said on Wednesday outrage over the Arizona law — which seeks to drive illegal immigrants out of the state bordering Mexico — has galvanized Latinos and would translate into a higher turnout for May Day rallies in more than 70 U.S. cities.

Some of these rallies, like Los Angeles alone in 2006 may (just may, remember short notice) draw half-a-million. Suck.on.that. Arizona.

Not that you’ll see much coverage. After all, some mid-50ish white woman from Knoxville is screaming and carrying a sign telling the federal government to stay out of her “soshal securitee” and demanding those socialists let her drink liquor when she’s carrying her handgun. And that’s damn-fine television.

?

S I L L Y !!

Now there's a FUN word!  Say it a couple of times.  See!!  Can you even say that word AND be grumpy at the same time?  I don't think so!

To add to the silliness around here, today I have a special guest who will share four strategies she uses to bring out the silly!  Please welcome Joy Tanksley, from Being Joy.  I've only recently gotten to know Joy…and that name, Joy, is so fitting for her!!  Just look below at that FUN picture…now doesn't that have JOY (and SILLY) written all over it!! 

Really, check out her site – it is chock-full of pure fun (like her dancing!!!). 

Today, Joy is not only wearing her bra in a different spot…she is also giving us all some great ways to get our own SILLY on!

Four Surefire Strategies for Getting Seriously Silly

 

Draw a crazy picture,
Write a nutty poem,
Sing a mumble-gumble song,
Whistle through your comb.
Do a loony-goony dance
'Cross the kitchen floor,
Put something silly in the world
That ain't been there before.
 ~ Shel Silverstein

Silliness is a virtue that is often overlooked and highly underrated. But I had the good fortune of learning its value from my incredibly silly mother. It would totally embarrass her if I told you that she would often perform the “gas ballet”, doing grande plies and dramatic leaps while making the unmistakable sounds of flatulence with her mouth. So I won’t tell you she did that. Suffice it say that silly is part of my pedigree, and, in my expert opinion, we could all benefit from being a little more absurd, foolish, and ridiculous on a regular basis.

Here are four of my personal favorite ways to get seriously silly:

1. The Jelly Butt Game
This must be done in a public place and with a person who is easily embarrassed. Without any warning, begin gently swaying back and forth and bending your knees. Exclaim, “Uh oh! Oh no! It happened! I have Jelly Butt!” At this point, move your body as if your rear end has turned into complete jelly. It’s best if you fall into your companion for support. But watch out! Jelly Butt is contagious. Your friend might someday return the favor by having a surprise attack of Jelly Butt at your expense.

2. Bark Like a Dog
If you haven’t tried this, it’s a must. I can’t tell you how good this feels. Let go of all inhibitions. Get LOUD. Try different types of barks – from yippy to bellowing. Throw your head back and bark your head off! This one is delicious when done alone but is also great with a group.

3. Foot as Telephone
The next time someone’s foot is within reach, make a ringing noise like a telephone. Then answer their foot. They will be totally caught off guard, and will likely begin laughing hysterically. Try to keep a straight face and carry on a one-sided conversation, such as, “Hello? Yes, this is she. No, I am not interested in taking a survey, thank you very much. Well, there’s no need to get snippy!”

4. Wear Underclothes on your Head
This is a classic for a reason. It’s pricelessly funny, and especially so when combined with a goofy dance. I’m a big fan of bras worn on the head, with the strap going down around the chin. Underwear works, too. And it doesn’t have to be yours.

I challenge you to try at least one of these techniques and see how it makes you feel. As the famous philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein said, “If people did not sometimes do silly things, nothing intelligent would ever get done.”

---

Joy brings the silly, and all sorts of other great stuff at her insightful and fun blog, Being Joy.  Check it out today!

Silly Alert!  This weekend I'll be in New York City, with The Levity Project, celebrating World Laughter Day!  And it's not too late to join in.  The more the merrier (and sillier!)!!  To register for this free event, click HERE, or visit the link in the sidebar. 
 

Dolphins GM Apologizes for Prostitute Question
Miami Dolphins General Manager Jeff Ireland has apologized to NFL draftee Dez Bryant for asking the footballer if his mother was a prostitute. Bryant said he was “really mad,” but didn’t say anything at the time to his perspective employer. Bryant was taken 24th overall by the Dallas Cowboys. Ireland asked him the question several weeks ago in a pre-draft interview. Bryant’s mother, Angela, is gay and her personal life has already generated more attention than is warranted for merely being the mother of someone who’s looking for a job. AP via Google: “My mom is not a prostitute,” Bryant told Yahoo! Sports. As for his reaction to Ireland’s question: “I got mad — really mad — but I didn’t show it.” NFL Players Association executive director DeMaurice Smith said Ireland’s question raised worrisome issues. “We need to make sure the men of this league are treated as businessmen,” Smith said in a statement. “During interviews, our players and prospective players should never be subjected to discrimination or degradation stemming from the biases or misconceptions held by team personnel.” Read more

Miami Dolphins General Manager Jeff Ireland has apologized to NFL draftee Dez Bryant for asking the footballer if his mother was a prostitute. Bryant said he was “really mad,” but didn’t say anything at the time to his perspective employer.

Bryant was taken 24th overall by the Dallas Cowboys. Ireland asked him the question several weeks ago in a pre-draft interview.

Bryant’s mother, Angela, is gay and her personal life has already generated more attention than is warranted for merely being the mother of someone who’s looking for a job.

AP via Google:

“My mom is not a prostitute,” Bryant told Yahoo! Sports. As for his reaction to Ireland’s question: “I got mad — really mad — but I didn’t show it.”

NFL Players Association executive director DeMaurice Smith said Ireland’s question raised worrisome issues.

“We need to make sure the men of this league are treated as businessmen,” Smith said in a statement. “During interviews, our players and prospective players should never be subjected to discrimination or degradation stemming from the biases or misconceptions held by team personnel.”

Read more

Related Entries

• April 28, 2010 Unconventional Arizona
• April 28, 2010 Raw Video: Ukraine Parliament Smoke-Bomb-Egg-Fight

Ford acaba de presentar una nueva edición elimitada de su Fiesta. Esta versión especial ha sido denominada como Ford Fiesta S1600. Esta edición ha sido enfocada al público más joven y ya esta a la venta en el Reino Unido.

Exteriormente, el S1600 cuenta con un aspecto deportivo gracias a sus llantas de 18 pulgadas y la suspensión deportivo. Sólo se pondrán a la venta 650 unidades a un precio apróximado de 19,000€ cada una.

En lo que respecta a la motorización, hará uso de un motor 1.6i 16v de 120 CV aunque de forma opcional podemos pedir la instalación de un kit de potenciación para aumentar dicha potencia hasta los 150 CV.

Related posts:

1. El nuevo Ford Fiesta es todo un éxito en Estado Unidos
2. Ford Fiesta Sedán, fotos espía
3. Ford Fiesta elegido coche del año en Castilla La Mancha