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Pizza is on weekly rotation at our house, and you can bet we’ve tried a lot of different takes on the tomato sauce base over the years! Last week we tried a new sauce from Lucini, which promised a “rich and tangy” pizza sauce made from 100% natural ingredients. We’ll be the judge of that!

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Opel experienced positive sales in 2009, reaching second place in its in local German market ahead of Mercedes and BMW. The results come despite the uncertainty over its possible sale and then reverse decision by General Motors to keep the precious European brand. While helped on the way by the German government, Opel still managed a sales increase of 31 percent.

Which begs the question of why GM was so bent on selling the brand in the first place. While we ponder that, 2010 is looking like a positive year with the new Opel Astra heading for success and new business plans on the table that should hopefully prove sensible.

Moving ahead, 2011 will see just one Opel sports model available in the range, in the form of the Opel Astra coupe. The coupe will be a true sports model, and not just a reinterpretation of the five-door version, and we could even see a possible re-birth of the Opel Calindra. Currently, the Opel Tigra and Opel GT are on stand by with no promises that they will appear on the product list next year.

Source | Auto Motor und Sport

I understand the need for male cheerleaders – someone’s got to hold the hot chicks up at football games. But it can’t feel particularly manly, especially if you’re Justin Short who cheers for the University of Missouri – Columbia.

Short was suspended from the squad recently after he was punched in the nose. By a girl. Talk about adding insult to injury.

Short and two female basketball players were celebrating Mizzou’s big 83-34 win over Texas Pan-American at Short’s apartment. Things got a little out of hand, however, and Short ended up getting assaulted by the two women, with one of them punching him in the nose.

[via Inquisitr]

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3. Cheerleader Flu Shot Girl Can Only Walk Backwards

Facial recognition software. Trace portal machines. The Total Information Awareness database. And now, body scanners.  All these new technologies have enjoyed their day in the sun, immediately following terrorist attacks, as a potential magic bullet to keep us safe while traveling. 

But repeatedly, gadget defenses have shown themselves to be costly, flawed and difficult to implement. Meanwhile, they take precious resources away from tried and true counterterrorism measures, like hiring more highly trained airline screeners or additional State Department officials.

"Our reaction has been predictably irrational," complains Bruce Schneier, author of numerous books on security, including "Beyond Fear." "We're going to spend a lot of money and it won't make us safer."

Body scanners became an immediate focus of attention the days after the failed Christmas Day plot to bring down a Northwest jetliner. There are plans to more than triple the number of scanners in U.S. airports this year.  At $150,000 each, plus operations and maintenance costs, the machines represent a significant investment. David Schanzer, director of the Triangle Center on Terrorism and Homeland Security at Duke University, says U.S. officials should think long and hard before spending that kind of money on terrorism-fighting technology.

"There's never a discussion of trade-offs,” Schanzer said. “…Everyone acts as if we can do everything. We can't. Public officials are often attracted to things that are visible, that they can point to and say, 'We're taking action to make you safer,' when instead they should be looking at the types of things that might give you more bang for your buck.”

For example, he continued, “Extra staff in State Department consular offices reviewing visa applications, people going to more interagency meetings, placing more personnel in our embassies to work with the British government so when they deny a visa we know. … These are unglamorous and can get lost in the budget. But they work."

Fighting terrorism and securing air travel involves tricky, nuanced discussions about resource allocation and risk.  But reasonable choices about risk are challenging in the emotionally charged atmosphere of terrorism, he said.

“We need to asses risk and look at limited resources and figure out where to most effectively deploy them,” he said.

'Magical thinking'
Schanzer said that, because fighting terrorism is as much about perception as reality, there is some value in taking steps simply to reassure the public.  

“Measures make people feel more secure, maybe that is a part of Homeland Security,” he said.

But Schneier said U.S. officials have fallen into the bad habit of encouraging “magical thinking,” suggesting that security technologies can make the world substantially safer.

“I wish Barack Obama would get up on stage and treat us all like adults and say, ‘We're doing our best but sometimes these things are going to get through, but we’re not going to change our way of life,’” he said.  “But politically he can’t do that. So instead he's going to respond to movie plot threats and we'll waste money. … It's very human that we fear stories, and the way to make people feel better is to secure against the story.”

While body scanners are the technology du jour, it is unclear whether they would have stopped Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab's alleged plot.  A scanner may or may not have shown a suspicious lump in his underwear, revealing the bomb-making material he allegedly secreted there. But even if it did, an airport screener may not have noticed it or deemed it a threat. 

Other existing technologies, such as the trace portal or "puffer" machine, may have also detected the presence of explosives on Abdulmutallab's skin or clothes.  Chemical swabbing — more commonly used today — might also have detected elements. But they can also be circumvented.

Regardless, the cat-and-mouse game of implementing technology and screening tactics to defeat already-used terrorist attack techniques is largely ineffective. After nearly 10 years of removing shoes while entering security lines, it is still highly doubtful another attacker will attempt a shoe bomb.  Explosives hid in body cavities will not be detected by new body scanners.

"All these strategies require that we guess the plot. Security that requires us to guess the plot correctly doesn't work," Schneier said.  "If we spend money on technology that protects against liquid explosives and they use solids then we've wasted our money.  If we spend money to protect the Olympics and they attack the Super Bowl we wasted our money. “

The sudden focus on body scanner technology is also misplaced, Schanzer said, because the attack technique used on Christmas Day wasn't new.

"Nothing changed the other day,” he said. “We knew about the threat (of a passenger carrying an explosive combination of chemicals onto a plane). Everyone was aware this was a possibility and the potential path of attack and yet we were not devoting extraordinary new resources into full body scanners. What's changed is the perception of the threat."

List is ignored
While even expensive new technology may have been ineffective against the failed attack or similar future attacks, existing tools might produce better results, Schanzer said.  Abdulmutallab had left plenty of red flags in his wake, including his father’s warning to U.S. officials. But that warning, and other intelligence, wasn't enough to place Abdulmutallab on the "no-fly" list that would have prevented him from boarding the plane to Detroit.  On Tuesday, President Obama placed the blame on a "failure to connect the dots." In the future, similar suspects will not be allowed to board flights headed for the U.S., he promised.

But Abdulmutallab was on a list – a government database called the Terrorist Identities Datamart Environment, or TIDE. While there may not have been enough information to permanently ban him from entering the U.S., clearly there was enough to flag him for additional, intense screening. It's unclear why all travelers in TIDE aren't always subjected to increased scrutiny, but lack of resources is a likely explanation. Atlantic magazine reported this week that the National Counterterrorism Center, which maintains the database, was slated for budget cuts in 2010 – and workers who maintain TIDE were slated for layoffs.

It's hard to understand the lack of added screening, given how easily the list might be narrowed on a daily basis, Schanzer said.

 “How many on that list have a visa? How many have international airline tickets? How many are paying in cash? There's lots of information out there," he said. "I don't think data mining is a dirty word to narrow down the people who present the greatest risk and should get far greater scrutiny. … Doing so is far more effective them applying expensive technology to everyone."

In fact, Schneier argues, some steps taken since the Christmas attack have made U.S. travelers less safe.  Profiling large groups of people — such as travelers from the 14 nations that are now subject to additional scrutiny — creates a dangerous two-tiered security system.

"Once you profile, you invite the bad guys to get around the profile," he said. "When you create a hard way and an easy way through security, you invite the bad buys to figure out how to take the easy way."

In the end, while the Christmas Day plot failed, terrorists may ultimately gain if substantial money is wasted on new technologies and Americans are subjected to longer airport lines and more hassles.

"Even after he failed, he succeeded,” Schneier said. “But if we didn't react with all this fear and panic, he would have failed even if he succeeded. Terrorism requires us to be accomplices. And we're really good at terrifying ourselves."

At the end of January I am going to Los Angeles for a long weekend. (Average temps in the 60’s! Lunch at the Ivy! Increased chances of running into Leonardo DiCaprio!)

I am reading and ready to deal with the new flight regulations put into place by TSA. I plan on giving myself plenty of time to get through increased security measures and searches. One thing I WON’T be doing is: eating at the airport.

My Dad warned me last week about a report he had read regarding the cleanliness of airport restaurants and kitchens. From what he told me, I’d be better eating off the floor of a fraternity house. My Dad tends to be the messenger of all things doom and gloom, so I kind of took what he said with a grain of salt.

Then I read it with my own eyes. "FDA Finds Roaches, Listeria at Airline Caterer."

EWWWWWWW!! According to this report, the FDA found not only live and dead roaches and listeria, but workers handling food with bare hands.

That’s enough for me. While it is reported that the FDA’s findings are being taken seriously and being corrected, I prefer to keep my gambling to the blackjack tables in Vegas, thank you very much.

What I can do is prepare. From now on I plan to keep a granola bar or two in my carry-on bag for layovers or unforseen delays. If nothing else, maybe this will help get me skinny, or save a few bucks.

Have you seen any shady food handling practices? Contact FDA to make a report.

All six crew on board the Ady Gil, Sea Shepherd Conservation Society’s high-speed intercepting vessel, are safe, but the fate of the boat is in doubt after a collision with a Japanese harpoon vessel left it disabled off the coast of Antarctica.

Anti-whaling activists, the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, made famous in the Animal Planet television program, Whale Wars, have requested the Australian Navy send a vessel to their location in the Southern Ocean after the Japanese whaling vessel Shonan Maru 2 reportedly struck and sunk the radical conservation group’s new $2 million speed boat, the Ady Gil.

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While the majority of the Formula One big guns have already confirmed their presence in the first test of the winter with their brand new challengers (at Valencia, 1st thru 3rd of February), none have so far announced any launch dates for their 2010 cars. The first outfit to break the ice was BMW Sauber, headed by new Swiss owner Peter Sauber.

The team has now confirmed that it will launch the 2010 challenger on January 31st, the very last day before the testing ban imposed by the… (read more)

Actress-turned-fashion designer Lindsay Lohan is livid after reportedly catching one of her longtime friends stealing designs she created for her forthcoming clothing line.

The starlet is set to expand her leggings label, 6126, to a full-fledged contemporary apparel line for fall 2010, with more lifestyle brand extensions planned for 2011. This will be in addition to her role as artistic adviser at French brand Ungaro. Lohan was devastated to discover old pal Patrick ‘Pootie’ Aufdenkamp – who accompanied her to many meetings related to her new fashion line – has been stealing copies of her sketches in hopes of creating a fashion empire of his own.

“He is now running off trying to do his own line… And telling people he’s going to fashion market week in NYC on February 18 to debut his line,” a source tells UsMagazine.com.

“I should’ve known better. But new year for me and a new beginning! Health, happiness, success and love!” Lindsay replied when asked to confirm the reports.

Tal y como reza este titular, el tribuanl parisino donde el propio Flavio Briatore presentó la apelación contra su sanción por parte de la FIA le ha dado la razón. La sanción impuesta por la FIA es ilegal. El italiano defendió que su sanción fué impuesta por Max Mosley para echarle fuera de la Fórmula 1, y para ello se había ayudado de su poder en la FIA.

Además, la propia FIA tendrá que informar a todos sus miembros que se anula la sanción a Flavio Briatore. En caso de no hacerlo, deberá pagar 10.000€ por cada día de retraso. Por otro lado, tendrá que indemnizar a Briatore con 15.000€ por daños y perjuicio.

Aunque ya se rumorea que la FIA recurrirá esta sentencia, a falta de ser confirmado esto podría suponer el regreso de Briatore a la máxima categoría del motor.

Related posts:

1. Flavio Briatore no tiene prisa por volver a la Fórmula 1
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A year ago this week we had our food predictions for 2009 (how did we do, in hindsight?) as well as what to do with leftover citrus peels, recipes for yummy and lighter things like turkey meatballs over greens, and a whole roundup of bright orange kitchens. Read on for these posts and more from this time last year.

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Having concluded a troubled year, American manufacturer Chrysler announced its sales result for the last month of 2009. Unlike what happened almost all year long, Chrysler posted a 36 percent increase in sales for the last month of the year, compared to November, as well as improved market share.

In the US, Chrysler sold 86,523 units in December, but didn’t manage to save a disastrous year and posted an overall 36 percent decline compared to 2008 (931,402 units sold) – the worst… (read more)

(This guest post originally appeared at the author’s blog)

No market has suffered more during the Fed’s boom bust cycle than Japan.  The timing of their own credit crisis in the early 90’s couldn’t have come at a worse time – just before the great innovative boom of the internet age.  To make matters worse, they didn’t begin to grasp the complexity of their problems until the U.S. and the rest of the world was slipping into a great recession of their own (please see here for our opinion on the current outlook for the U.S. deflationary battle).  And then there is the great recession of 2008.   But after years of abysmal market returns Japan might be the contrarian of all contrarian bets.  Here’s why:

• Japan is hands down the most hated market in the globe.   The consensus in our 2010 investment guide was underweight Japan.  If there is no one left to dislike Japan then there is a strong likelihood that Japan’s market will melt higher as the sellers have already positioned themselves accordingly.

• The Japanese market is cheap on a relative basis.  It now sells at just 1.4 times book value compared to 2.2 times emerging markets and 3.2 times China.

• Contrary to popular opinion, the debt problems in Japan could continue to serve as a near-term positive catalyst.  Any potential problems funding their deficit is likely to result in further quantitative easing which would be highly beneficial to stocks in the short-term.

• Perhaps most importantly, the Yen now looks overvalued compared to the dollar and the Euro.  In Japan’s export driven economy this could continue to benefit the Japanese economy.  The risk likely remains to the upside as we believe the Fed will be forced to act in H2 and could result in a much more robust dollar than many currently presume.  Any downside in the Yen would be positive for stocks.

Read more market commentary at The Pragmatic Capitalist — >

Join the conversation about this story »

See Also:

• Marc Faber: Avoid The US Disaster, Buy Wheat, Sugar, Natural Gas, And Japan In 2010
• Japan Finally Lets Its Sick Finance Minister Resign
• Global Bear Rally Of 2009 Will End As Japan’s Hyperinflation Rips Economy To Pieces

Oh. Dear. The Ady Gil trimaran, used by the Sea Shepherd organization to hunt down whalers, got itself an unexpected rhinoplasty yesterday, while buzzing around Japanese whaling vessel, the Shonan Maru, in the Antarctic waters of Commonwealth Bay.

One crew member suffered a couple of cracked ribs, but the rest of them were unharmed, and taken to the organization’s support boat, the Steve Irwin. Let’s hope there are no gigamuntic sting rays patrolling the seas at the moment.

[Daily Mail]

Another month, another record for online video. The Americans, along with the rest of the world, just can’t seem to get enough of small-screened and many times poor-quality videos. November saw another increase in viewers and streams and passed the 30 billion views mark for the first time in history, albeit the rather short one of online video. No use wondering what the top looks like, YouTube dominated yet again with a solid lead in the number of streams, visitors and videos per user.

“Google Sites continued to rank as the top U.S. video property in November as it delivered 12.2 billion videos viewed with YouTube.com accounting for nearly 99 percent of all videos viewed at the property. Hulu ranked second with 924 million videos viewed (3.0 percent) followed by Viacom Digital with 500 million (1.6 percent) and Microsoft Sites with 480 million (1.5 percent),” comScore announced.

On the face of it, just under 40 percent of the market doesn’t really sound like that much, Google has 80 percent and even more of the search market in some countries. But considering that the runner up, Hulu, managed to get just 3 percent, 12 billion videos versus a little over 900 million, it’s pretty clear that everyone else is taking a pounding from the Google behemoth. What it does show, however, is that, despi… (read more)

Charles Barkley will host Saturday Night Live when the long-running sketch comedy series returns to NBC after holiday hiatus this weekend. The Jan. 9 broadcast — SNL’s first of 2010 — will feature musical guest Alicia Keys.

This isn’t the first time the NBA legend-turned-sports commentator has hosted SNL: Barkley helmed the 19th season premiere of the series on September 25, 1993. He was joined by musical guest Nirvana! This time around, we’re almost certain Barkley will appear in a sketch with Kenan Thompson doing his best CB impersonation.

(This guest post originally appeared at the author’s blog, Matrix)

NAR released their November 2009 Pending Home Sales Index which ended a 9 month string of increases.

The Pending Home Sales Index, a forward-looking indicator based on contracts signed in November, fell 16.0 percent to 96.0 from an upwardly revised 114.3 in October, but is 15.5 percent higher than November 2008 when it was 83.1.

NAR attributes the drop as a pullback during November related to the uncertainty surrounding the extension of the first time home buyers tax credit which expired November 30th. However it was subsequently extended and expanded to include existing home buyers who have until the end of this April to sign a bonafide contract. We may trivialize the tax credit’s success in the NYC metro area because of the higher housing costs relative to $8,000 and $6,500 tax credits respectively but from my discussions with real estate agents around the country, it did appear to trigger a large portion of home sales in 2009.

What does the 16% drop suggest? More weakness to come?

Yes, but not in the coming months (remember this is a seasonally adjusted stat).

It signifies that the US Housing market doesn’t yet have its own set of legs. No credit = drop in sales.

The credit extension ends in April, the Fed begins their pullout from the purchasing of Fannie Mae mortgage paper, perhaps influencing mortgage rates higher.

The combination of high unemployment, rising mortgage rates and the expiring tax credit in the spring, combined with the elixir of rising foreclosures causes by sustained unemployment at high levels suggests housing sales will fall in second half 2009.

Housing in 2010: Stability in the first half, with more concern for the second half.

Read more real estate analysis from Jonathan Miller at Matrix — >

Join the conversation about this story »

See Also:

• Why Pending Home Sales Are A Bigger Disaster Than You Realize
• How The Housing Bubble Destroyed Our Future
• Rosenberg’s Themes For 2010: The Consumer Is Still Toast, Housing Is Down, And Everyone Is Delinquent On Everything