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Filed under: Convertible, Coupe, Performance, Ford

Anxiously awaiting the day that you can stroll into your nearest Ford dealership, plunk down $30,000 dollars and drive away in a brand-new Mustang with an independent rear suspension? You’ve surely got a few more years to save your money, but the boys from Motor Trend are reporting that fully-independent salvation will finally show up for the Mustang’s 50th Anniversary Party in 2014.

MT projects that there are a few ways the Blue Oval could go with its next-gen pony car in order to satisfy the demand for IRS, the most likely of which appears to be a significantly revised version of the current Mustang platform with the recently unveiled 5.0-liter V8 engine as the centerpiece. Other less likely options include downsizing the Mustang and powering it with an Ecoboost V6 engine or, least likely of all, taking the car upmarket to compete with cars like the Nissan GT-R.

One thing that MT speculates won’t happen is the Mustang’s next-gen architecture being shared with any other models under Ford’s prodigious product umbrella – including the Australian Ford Falcon or a new large rear-wheel drive luxury sedan from Lincoln. Whatever happens, it seems that Ford has at least a few more years to mull it over.

[Source: Motor Trend]

Report: 2014 Mustang could be based on global platform with IRS originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 20 Jan 2010 17:26:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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On my Fox Business program this week (Thursday 8pm ET / Friday 10pm ET), we talk energy and innovation with oil billionaire T Boone Pickens. It’s also the subject of my syndicated column this week.

You probably know Pickens from all the TV ads for the “Pickens Plan”. He wants America to move towards energy independence by replacing foreign oil with natural gas and wind energy. He admits this requires tax credits and other subsidies that he prefers to call “incentives”, but he says it’s worth it because today, our energy security depends upon countries that don’t like us very much.

To that, I say:

—  “So what?” Interdependence is just fine!

Read more at John Stossel’s Take –>

Join the conversation about this story »

See Also:

• IEA Says Developed-World Oil Demand Already Looking Weaker Than Expected
• For Just $8.50 A Barrel, Exxon Made New American Oil Appear Out Of Thin Air
• Reminder: Here’s Where The US Gets Its Oil

The Financial System: More Dangerous than an Al Qaeda Attack? –  John Lounsbury – …   The quote is from a penetrating indictment of the state of the financial world, written by Frank Rich yesterday in The New York Times.   The danger that Rich refers to as greater than Al Qaeda is our financial system. This Op Ed is as good a description of the viper we call finance as I have read.  While the average man on the street is likely to recognize the name Al Qaeda, many will probably shrug their shoulders at the mention of CDO or MBS. A mention of other financial derivatives based on the aforementioned unrecognized instruments will just deepen the glaze covering the eyes of Mr. Average American … – Seeking Alpha

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Let’s Hope These 4 Things Don’t Happen – By Rick Newman – (on housing, stocks, debt, consumer) – US News Yahoo
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long and a must read – Blowing Up – How Nassim Taleb turned the inevitability of disaster into an investment strategy –  hattip John Cervarich –  Gladwell.com 

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read this – intuition is wrong – Interest Rates vs. the Stock Market: DIA, SPY, QQQQ, TBT, PST – BY Thomas H. Kee Jr. – … For example, because higher interest rates often dampen economic activity, one might argue that the Market weakens during increasing rate cycles.  Evidenced by the graph below, that is not the case.  In fact, during tightening cycles, the Market actually performs well. … – Stock Traders Daily
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Crisis chart of the day: The correlation between severity and probability – by Felix Salmon – The World Economic Forum has released its annual Global Risks report, which kicks off with this chart: … But the really scary thing, for me, is the pretty clear positive correlation between severity and likelihood: the trillion-dollar risks all have a significant probability of happening, with the most severe risk of all — a global asset price collapse — being associated with a probability of well over 20%. … – Reuters Blogs

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Government Bonds — the New Junk? – By RANDALL W. FORSYTH – That’s gold’s message, more than inflation. – FROM GREECE TO CALIFORNIA TO JAPAN, markets are beginning to worry about what traditionally is deemed a risk-free asset: government debt securities. And that arguably lies behind the rise in the price of gold. – Barron’s
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Indirect Bidders Are Fleeing The Short Bond – Submitted by Tyler Durden – … Indirect bidders (aka Foreign Investors) continue to bid up US Government securities, their interest in the short end of the curve has not only declined, but accelerated redemptions have left Indirects with a heavily weighted long bond exposure. – has curve thoughts and great graphs –  … – Zero Hedge

A&E has ordered a new reality series starring singer/actor David Hasselhoff. The still-untitled 10-episode series focuses on the ex-Baywatch star’s business ventures, his fight to stay sober, and his teenage daughters — Taylor-Ann, 19, a communications major at the University of Arizona; and Hayley, 17, an aspiring actress and model, who are both hoping to breaking into the entertainment industry.

“It’s the dream of every parent to be able to help their children succeed,” David told The Hollywood Reporter on Wednesday. “I told the girls that I would help them open the door when they are ready, but they would have to walk through it on their own. This is their time and I am excited to be a part of it.”

The series will debut later this year.

Last week, NBC confirmed that Deal Or No Deal’s Howie Mandel will replace David Hasselhoff on America’s Got Talent’s judging panel during the reality competition series’ fifth season this summer.

AJC Staff

The National Restaurant Association is forecasting substantial growth in Georgia restaurants — both in terms of restaurant sales and job growth.

The Atlanta Business Chronicle has the story here.

3D is here, whether we’re ready for it or not. But! 3D projectors cost as much as $175,000. There’s a modicum of hope, though—if you already own a 2D projector—in this neat little workaround called OculR.

The OculR system, from Oculus3D, is still too pricey for individual consumers at $20k-$25k per screen. But its compatibility with any standard 35mm projector could be a boon to smaller, local theater chains. It’s also—apparently—a simple lens installation, but I’m not expert enough in projector room shenanigans to confirm that. Not yet, anyway. [Oculus3D via SlashGear]

Last week the MPAA and RIAA submitted their comments in the FCC’s net neutrality proceeding. As anticipated in EFF’s comments, the big media companies are pushing for a copyright loophole to net neutrality. They want to be able to pressure ISPs to block, interfere with, or otherwise discriminate against your perfectly lawful activities in the course of implementing online copyright enforcement measures.

Of course, the MPAA and RIAA couch this in language intended to sound inoffensive. The RIAA says “the perfect should not be the enemy of the good” and “justice often takes too long.” The MPAA chimes in that “it is essential that government policies explicitly permit—and encourage—ISPs to work with content creators to utilize the best available tools and technologies to combat online content theft.”

But here’s how it would work in practice. The proposed FCC net neutrality principles include a loophole for “reasonable network management,” which is defined to include “reasonable practices employed by a provider of broadband Internet access service to…(iii) prevent the transfer of unlawful content; or (iv) prevent the unlawful transfer of content.” That means that so long as your ISP claims that it’s trying to prevent copyright infringement, it’s exempted from the net neutrality principles and can interfere with your ability to access lawful content, use lawful devices, run lawful applications, or access lawful services.

This is not about protecting copyright infringers—the FCC’s proposed net neutrality principles expressly do not apply to unlawful content or unlawful transmissions. So you don’t need a “reasonable network management” loophole to go after illegal conduct. The loophole that the RIAA and MPAA are after is about giving the green light to overbroad copyright enforcement measures that inflict collateral damage on innocent conduct.

The proposed copyright loophole is reminiscent of the RIAA’s response when asked about innocent people mistakenly sued for file sharing: “When you go fishing with a driftnet, sometimes you catch a dolphin.” Unlike the MPAA and RIAA, EFF doesn’t think that ISPs should get a free pass for sideswiping innocent activities if they implement shoddy copyright enforcement systems. And neither do Public Knowledge, the Consumer Electronics Association, CCIA, NetCoalition, or the Home Recording Rights Coalition.

Allowing ISPs to jeopardize perfectly legal activities in the name of “copyright enforcement” is a bad idea. Let the FCC know that you oppose any copyright loophole that would allow the RIAA and MPAA to pressure ISPs into catching your “dolphins” in their poorly designed fishing nets.

For Immediate Release: January 20, 2010
Contact: Phil Kloer; (404) 679-7125 / (404) 644-7193; [email protected]
Bonnie Strawser; [email protected]
FFS #R4AA

Roanoke Island, N.C. – Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar announced today the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has awarded a $4.9 million contract for a new Gateway Visitor Center and Headquarters at Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge on Roanoke Island, N.C. under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA).
The ARRA contract to MWH Constructors, Inc., of Broomfield, Colorado, will fund the design and construction of the new 18,000 square foot facility. The site will house the refuge’s 30-plus staff members and educate visitors about wildlife and conservation in the area. This investment will also create jobs for the local community.

“This new visitor center and headquarters will be a wonderful educational tool when it is completed,” said Secretary Salazar. “It will help spread the word about wildlife and their habitat needs along the North Carolina coast. The project will create construction jobs in the community. It will also help us connect people to nature and tell important stories about issues related to accelerating climate change.”

“We’ve waited a long time for this facility,” said Mike Bryant, project leader. “Besides providing the much-needed office space for our staff, this visitor center will become a gateway to national wildlife refuges by allowing us to introduce hundreds of thousands of Outer Banks visitors to nearby refuges. Hopefully we can show them enough to entice them to plan adventures to the national wildlife refuges in eastern North Carolina and southeastern Virginia,” Bryant added.

“This facility will be a showcase,” said Stanley Oliver, president for the Coastal Wildlife Refuge Society. “It will teach so many people about wildlife and refuges. We couldn’t be happier.”

Established on March 14, 1984, Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge comprises 154,000 acres lying on the mainland portions of Dare and Hyde Counties in North Carolina. It attracts about 45,000 visitors annually. One of the last remaining strongholds for black bear on the Eastern Seaboard, the refuge is also home to ducks, geese, swans, wading birds, shorebirds, American woodcock, raptors, American alligators, white-tailed deer, raccoons, rabbits, quail, river otters, red wolves, red-cockaded woodpeckers, and a variety of song birds.

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 gave $3 billion to the Department of the Interior. The ARRA funds represent an important component of the President’s plan to jumpstart the economy and put a down payment on addressing long-neglected challenges so the country can thrive in the 21st century. Under the ARRA, Interior is making an investment in conserving America’s timeless treasures – our stunning natural landscapes, our monuments to liberty, the icons of our culture and heritage – while helping American families and their communities prosper again. Interior is also focusing on renewable energy projects, the needs of American Indians, employing youth and promoting community service.

“With its investments of Recovery Act funds, the Department of the Interior and its bureaus are putting people to work today to make improvements that will benefit the environment and the region for many years to come,” Secretary Salazar said.

Secretary Salazar has pledged unprecedented levels of transparency and accountability in the implementation of the Department’s economic recovery projects. The public will be able to follow the progress of each project on www.recovery.gov and on www.interior.gov/recovery.

Secretary Salazar has appointed a Senior Advisor for Economic Recovery, Chris Henderson, and an Interior Economic Recovery Task Force to work closely with Interior’s Inspector General and ensure the recovery program is meeting the high standards for accountability, responsibility, and transparency set by President Obama.

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is creating approximately 3,000 jobs through the life of Recovery Act funding.

The mission of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is working with others to conserve, protect to enhance fish, wildlife, plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people. We are both a leader and trusted partner in fish and wildlife conservation, known for our scientific excellence, stewardship of lands and natural resources, dedicated professionals and commitment to public service. For questions, comments or concerns email us at [email protected]. For more information on our work and the people who make it happen, visit www.fws.gov and the Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge website.

Of all the bands experimenting with the Internet and its role in enriching their creativity and commerce, OK Go has become one of the canonical success stories, having produced two low-budget, immensely successful viral videos (“A Million Ways” and “Here It Goes Again” in 2006) that together drew more than 50 million views and broadened their fan base considerably. With their status as the de facto princes of the viral music video, imagine the fans’ surprise in seeing OK Go’s new video branded with this handy instruction to anyone interested in spreading the word: “Embedding disabled by request.”

In a revealing rant detailing the modern woes of a band under the thumb of a major label, OK Go singer Damian Kulash writes:

And, voilá: four years after we posted our first homemade videos to YouTube and they spread across the globe faster than swine flu, making our bassist’s glasses recognizable to 70-year-olds in Wichita and 5-year-olds in Seoul and eventually turning a tidy little profit for EMI, we’re – unbelievably – stuck in the position of arguing with our own label about the merits of having our videos be easily shared. It’s like the world has gone backwards.

In the letter, Kulash articulates a winding response to fans’ complaints about the inability to embed the OK Go video on their own sites, as well as complaints from some international users who simply aren’t allowed to view the video. His explanation contains threads that should be familiar to anyone paying attention to the music industry and its contortionate attempts to cope with the Internet. Labels are desperate for any opportunity to make money, and because they only make money when videos are viewed on YouTube (and not when embedded elsewhere), OK Go’s label is adamantly exerting controls to force users to view it on YouTube.

The flailing of stubborn major labels against anything associated with the Internet hurts plenty of regular people, but it’s particularly stinging to see them holding artists back — the very people whose creativity they exist to support. When Warner Music Group pulled the plug on their YouTube videos over a revenue spat, a significant body of Death Cab for Cutie’s videos hosted on the site and embedded elsewhere went dark as well — collateral damage in Warner’s crusade for a bigger piece of the pie. With drama like this, it’s no wonder that top artists like Trent Reznor, Radiohead, and other notables have made headlines for selling and distributing music sans label, and that the market for tools to help artists manage marketing and distribution independently (Topspin or Bandcamp, for example) is growing as well. These shifts are just the most up-to-date notes in a dirge for major label-artist relations that’s been sung for years.

At the end of the letter, Kulash provides the embed code for video sharing from Vimeo, then closes on a bum note, resigned to the limitations imposed by EMI:

So, for now, here’s the bottom line: EMI won’t let us let you embed our YouTube videos. It’s a decision that bums us out. We’ve argued with them a lot about it, but we also understand why they’re doing it. They’re aware that their rules make it harder for people to watch and share our videos, but, while our duty is to our music and our fans, theirs is to their shareholders, and they believe they’re doing the right thing.

So, the next time you see the music labels pressing for Internet-wide copyright filtering or three strikes laws in the name of protecting the artists, remember OK Go’s reaction to their label’s methods: “It’s like the world has gone backwards.”

If you’ve ever had a glass of cherry limemade, you know what a good combination cherry and lime can be. I used that combination as inspiration for this Cherry Lime Bread. This quickbread is sweet, and zesty, with flavors that you don’t see too often together. It is moist and tender, with a texture that hints at that of a pound cake.

There are two keys to getting a good result from this bread. The first is to use fresh lime juice. Fresh limes are going to give you the most vibrant flavor. I find that a lot of their tartness is lost when you use bottled juice, so make sure to pick up some fresh fruit to juice to make this loaf. The second is to use a good cherry preserve for the filling. I used Orchard’s finest Michigan Red Tart Cherry Preserves, an all natural cherry preserve made by Smuckers. It’s not too sweet and has a lot of big chunks of cherries it in, adding both a nice cherry flavor and a good texture to the bread. This jam is so tasty that I was tempted just to eat the whole jar on toast (and I did eat a lot of it that way, don’t get me wrong), but I’m glad I ended up putting some of it in this loaf because it went so well with the bright, zesty lime.

This loaf is equally good for breakfast and for dessert. It will keep well for a couple of days, so you can bake it on the weekend and enjoy it during the week – at least, you can enjoy it for the few days that it will last in the kitchen – or bake it a day ahead and serve it during brunch on a Sunday morning.

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Criminal justice reformers: If you were troubled by President Obama nominating then-Judge Sonia Sotomayor, the announcement of her first notable opinion for the Supreme Court offers no solace.

Sotomayor was a vigorous prosecutor before joining the federal bench. As a trial judge, she handed down more convictions and longer sentences than her colleagues. Serving on the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, Sotomayor sided with prosecutors the vast majority of the time. But as a justice, reformers still wondered, how would she adjudicate criminal cases?

Today, as the Supreme Court releases Justice Sotomayor’s majority opinion in Wood v. Allen, we have the beginning of an answer. In Wood, the defendant shot and killed his girlfriend while she slept. Before the Alabama trial for his crime, he scored below 70 on a preliminary IQ test. In other words, Wood likely was developmentally disabled, which — if introduced as evidence — might have prompted a jury to recommend a more lenient sentence. Among Wood’s three public defenders, two were veteran attorneys, and one was rookie lawyer fresh out of law school. And it was this fledgling defense attorney, having never handled a capital case, who presented Wood’s case during the sentencing phase of the trial.

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