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Thursday’s update includes notes on injuries to notables such as Chauncey Billups(notes), Rudy Gay(notes), Derrick Rose(notes), Joakim Noah(notes), Allen Iverson(notes), and… Mikki Moore(notes)?

• Chauncey Billups could be out "a couple games" after suffering a strained left groin on Wednesday. He’ll have an MRI Thursday to determine the extent of the injury. Anthony Carter(notes), not Ty Lawson(notes), is expected to get starts if Billups does miss time, but Lawson should play plenty and would be the preferable roster add. In 15 games where Lawson has seen at least 20 minutes of playing time, he’s averaged 9.9 points on 51-percent shooting, 0.5 threes, 4.2 assists, 1.3 turnovers, and 0.9 steals. He’s worth the deep-league look through the weekend (Friday @NOR, Saturday @MEM) and would gain standard league relevance in the unlikely event that Billups needs extended time off.

• Rudy Gay left Wednesday’s blowout loss to the Hawks with a sprained ankle, but said that he could have returned if the score were closer. Keep tabs here but he should be good to go Friday (IND). 

• A few Bulls injuries to monitor: Derrick Rose is laboring with a strained right rib cage and Joakim Noah has been playing with rotator cuff tendinitis for a couple of weeks. Both players recently received cortisone shots to help them play through the pain.

• Marreese Speights(notes) returned Wednesday after a month off to deal with a partial tear of his left MCL, turning in a fairly standard line (22 minutes, 14 points, 4 boards, 1 steal). As for the other bigs: Elton Brand(notes) got plenty of run as the team’s sixth man (33 points, 11 points, 7 boards, 2 assists, 1 steal, 1 block), while starter Samuel Dalembert(notes) played just 14 minutes (0 points, 8 boards, 2 blocks). The only expectation I have for this trio moving forward is inconsistency in minutes and production, as Eddie Jordan is going to continue to mix things up generally (big vs small) and specifically (as in, specific players). Their current per-game numbers are actually a pretty good guage of where I expect things to balance out overall.

• Elsewhere in Philly: Louis Williams(notes) had the wires removed from his broken jaw Wednesday and could practice with the team as soon as Thursday. Williams has been out three weeks and could be ahead of schedule, as he was expected to be out for up to two months. Williams has been projecting a Christmas return, although the team has yet to agree … Allen Iverson will not play Friday after an MRI revealed that he has arthritis in his left knee, and he’s also dealing with a bruised left shoulder. AI is expected to be in the lineup for the 76ers on Saturday, however. 

• The Warriors have lost another big, as Mikki Moore will have surgery to remove bone spurs from his right heel and is out indefinitely. Valdimir Radmanovic got the start at center(!?) for the Warriors on Wednesday and managed one point (0-of-8 shooting) and one rebound in 25 minutes. Anthony Randolph(notes) had 11 points (3-of-10), four blocks, and three boards in 25 minutes off the bench. Andris Biedrins(notes) and Ronny Turiaf(notes) both seem to be another week or so away – I know, I know – and the team’s upcoming matchups feature Brendan Haywood(notes), Marc Gasol(notes), and Emeka Okafor(notes) at center, so things aren’t going to be easy for whoever Don Nelson annoints as his starting frontcourt over the next few games. I’d like to think that the reason Nelson continues to bring Randolph off the bench is to spare him a pounding against opposing starting centers, but that may be giving him too much credit.

• Larry Hughes(notes) could be out for a game or two with a left groin strain, but Mike D’Antoni has no plans to end Nate Robinson’s(notes) run of DNP-CDs. Speculation is that Robinson’s agent will issue a public trade demand in the coming days, but it’s hard to see a potential deal here with the Knicks showing no interest in playing him and only wanting expiring contracts in return.

• Mario Chalmers(notes) came off the bench Tuesday after arriving late to the team’s morning shootaround, but the demotion may last for more than the one game. Chalmers will be asked to earn his way back into the starting spot, with Erik Spoelstra and Pat Riley both speaking of point guards needing to own something of a leadership role. It’s doubtful that Carlos Arroyo(notes) will play well enough to hold Chalmers off, so you may want to give this a few games and see how he responds to the challenge before cutting him loose in your league.

• T.J. Ford(notes) notched his first double-double of the season Wednesday (15 points, 13 assists) and has been showing some signs of life lately (12.5 points on 48-percent shooting, 6.8 assists, 2 steals over the past four games). He’s been a massive disappointment overall thus far, but could really be a fantasy difference-maker if he can start putting up some numbers consistently. And it’d be nice if he could do something to help get Dahntay Jones(notes) untracked – over the past seven games, Jones has averaged 7.7 points on 34-percent shooting, 3.3 boards, 1.7 assists, and 0.6 steals-plus-blocks in 29 minutes.

• Mike Dunleavy has played 26, 33, and 27 minutes over the past three games and, while he’s showing no ill effects, will have his playing time monitored as the Pacers play two sets of back-to-backs over the next five days. Jim O’Brien said he’ll give Dunleavy no more than 24 minutes in those games.

• Richard Hamilton(notes) did not play Wednesday after straining his right hamstring during Tuesday’s game. He’s currently day-to-day, as is Ben Gordon(notes), who missed his fifth straight game Wednesday because of a left ankle sprain. 

• Some good news for Jameer Nelson’s(notes) fantasy owners: he’s expected to start practicing this coming weekend and his return to the active roster will be based on how his knee responds.

• Before you get too excited about Maurice Evans’(notes) recent numbers (17 points, 3.5 threes over the past four games), be sure to consider the context. His role has also expanded while Marvin Williams(notes) has been slowed by flu-like symptoms and the Hawks have blown out four straight opponents, winning by an average of 23 points and giving Evans some tasty garbage-time looks (he’s made 66% of 21 threes over the past four games).

• Still nothing new out of Toronto regarding Jose Calderon’s(notes) hip flexor injury.  It’s very frustrating and I can’t help but assume that no news is not good news in this case. At this point, he remains very questionable for Friday’s game.

• Andrew Bynum’s(notes) certainly has had no negative effect on Pau Gasol’s(notes) numbers, and it’s actually been quite the opposite. Wednesday was more of the same, as Gasol was huge (26 points, 22 boards, 4 assists, 4 blocks) and Bynum was pedestrian (8 points, 3 boards, 2 blocks). Bynum has averaged 13.1 points, 5.8 boards, and 1.6 blocks over the past 10 games, while Gasol has averaged 18 points, 12.8 boards, 4.1 assists, and 1.6 blocks over the same stretch, and their respective per-game ranks over the past month are 75th (Bynum) and sixth (Gasol).

• Jason Richardson(notes) is questionable for Thursday’s game because of a sprained right hand. J-Rich played through the injury Tuesday, but was just 1-for-7 from the floor in 22 minutes.

• Omri Casspi(notes) got the start at power forward Wednesday for the Kings, pushing Jason Thompson(notes) to center and Spencer Hawes(notes) to the bench, with Paul Westphal explaining the move as a better way to match up with Antawn Jamison(notes). Jamison went for 30 in 41 minutes, but the Kings did win 112-109, so technically the move "worked". Casspi put together a solid line in 38 minutes (22 points, 2 threes, 5 boards, 3 assists, 1 steal, 1 block). For what it’s worth, Hawes (2 points, 2 boards) was second on the team with a +9 rating in just eight minutes of action.

But the bigger picture here is that the Kings are growing more confident in Casspi’s skills by the day, while the disappointing Hawes is moving down the organization’s list of priorities. Over his past 12 games, Casspi has averaged 14.2 points on 50-percent shooting, 1.5 threes, and 4.6 boards in 27 minutes – the line hasn’t run much deeper than that, however, with 67-percent foul shooting, 1.3 assists, 1.3 turnovers, 0.4 steals, and 0.3 blocks. It’s not news that Hawes has been up and down all season, and a move like this only serves to continue the trend (and could expedite Thompson’s center eligibility).

—

Photos via Getty Images

Filed under: Europe, Opel, Vauxhall, UK

Interim Opel CEO Nick Reilly has been overseeing the German firm for all of six weeks. And over that scant month and a half, he’s conjured the way forward for Opel and Vauxhall and seems determined to leave nothing undone. Chatting with Auto Motor und Sport, Reilly intends to give Opel a little SUV on the Corsa platform, an Opel version of the Mini, a continuation of the Agila and an all-new electric car.

Opel would also be greater master of its own fate: Opel’s tie with Suzuki will continue even with VW’s recent move, but other Opels like the next Corsa would be developed in Germany. Such a vision, along with his already avowed hybrid push, would keep Opel exceedingly busy over the next five years. If his plans are achieved, it could put them in a very good spot come 2013. But there’s a long way to go before all of that happens — in the short-term GM first has to sort out the funds to keep the company running properly at all.

[Source: Autocar | Image: Thomas Lohnes/Getty]

REPORT: Opel/Vauxhall CEO plans five-year product offensive originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 17 Dec 2009 17:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Great day in history, ironic photo of past

Editor, The Times:

It was a great day for Boeing with the successful launch of the new Boeing 787 Dreamliner’s first flight.

I could not help but react to the picture on page A17 that so illuminated the reason for the two- year manufacturing delay [“Building the 787,” News, Dec. 15], as well the long strike by the Machinists union.

The photo of June Trubshaw holding a picket sign that reads, “Fair Contract Now,” says all that needs to be said about the 787 delay.

Every three years the union complains that the contract is unfair and then the negotiations begin on a new agreement. Three years later, the previously agreed to agreement is unfair and new negotiations begin again.

The “Fair Contract Now” sign is a symbol of the overall malaise that has taken over the production of new aircraft in the Puget Sound.

The opportunity was available during the recent showdown between the union and Boeing for the union to eliminate a second production line in South Carolina. The union refused to believe that Boeing would relocate production out of the Pacific Northwest, and now there is a new 787 production line being established in South Carolina.

I hope Trubshaw is satisfied that her effort, on behalf of her union, helped Boeing to make the decision it did.

The picture says more than a thousand words.

— James M. Clark, Edmonds

Big whoop — enjoy your flight

It’s a new plane with new innovations and improvements, which hasn’t made its way to the airline industry yet [“Spirits soar on 787’s wings,” page one, Dec. 16].

When the new Boeing 787 Dreamliner does make it to the airline industry, chances are it will take to the bank whatever cost-effective money-saving measures were invented, and innovative designs will either not be passed on to customers or be considered luxuries worth charging more for.

By the time the airlines are done picking it apart and parsing the extra tiers of cost, there will be so many layers of haves and have nots that those in the bottom half of the bottom tiers will feel more like outcasts than valued passengers.

And for all the gee-whiz improvements, passengers at the gate, delayed, denied and frustrated will be in no mood to care.

Boeing’s engineering feats will be wasted by airlines more interested in salvaging profit at the expense of customer satisfaction.

Enjoy your flight.

— Mike Moore, Kent

Making Washington a right-to-work state

Indeed “Strike history colors Boeing decisions,” [Opinion, editorial, Dec. 9], and the Pacific Northwest lost, as The Times noted.

Consider this only the latest in a series of Boeing decisions. The International Association of Machinists leadership still considers this move to South Carolina a company error and no fault of theirs.

Don’t expect a change in attitude.

Unions have a history of escalating behavior, and kill or cripple industries (coal, railroads, airlines), companies (Ford, GM and Chrysler), even countries (France and Germany). To avoid a similar fate, the Pacific Northwest needs community action to preserve aerospace jobs.

It will take determined political leadership, but changing Washington to a right-to-work state would have the desired effect. It would also give the governor options, which Gov. Chris Gregoire currently lacks, to deal with the state budget crises in a logical fashion.

— Lionel C. Bohrer, Federal Way

Editorial ignores historical outsourcing facts

The recent editorial claiming that Boeing’s moves to the South was not outsourcing ignores the historical facts.

In the 1950s, long before jobs were being sent to Mexico or Asia, the Southern states, determined to preserve their low-wage economies and make sure that unions would not force blacks and whites to work side-by-side for the same wage, instituted so-called right-to-work laws.

Corporations, particularly the auto industry, moved jobs to the low-wage South, devastating much of the Northern auto industry.

This was the original outsourcing, and we are feeling its effects even today.

— David Echols, Kirkland

Not all Laurelhurst residents oppose Seattle Children’s

The Laurelhurst Community Club (LCC), through its president, Jeannie Hale, continues to voice criticism of the proposed expansion plan by Seattle Children’s Hospital [“Not that they’re self-absorbed or anything,” Ron Judd column, Nov. 22].

As a resident of Laurelhurst, I have become increasingly concerned that Hale is perceived as a representative of the entire Laurelhurst neighborhood.

This is far from the truth.

After a review of the expansion plan by all neighboring communities and many revisions by Children’s, a recommendation for approval was submitted to the Seattle City Council and a response is expected in 2010. Yet Hale continues her criticism, requesting contributions from Laurelhurst residents to cover LCC’s legal fees.

While Children’s has agreed to millions of dollars in enhancements to mitigate impacts on Laurelhurst, Hale persists in her opposition.

As a longtime supporter of Children’s, I’d recommend to Hale and her fellow naysayers: Let the hospital do its job in creating a future where no child is turned away for lack of room. Consider the voices of people like me who live in Laurelhurst and thank our lucky stars for this remarkable pediatric facility.

My family has been blessed more than once by care received at Children’s. No emergency helicopter noise or traffic congestion on Sand Point Way has ever led me to bemoan the hospital’s presence in my neighborhood.

Those sights and sounds are manna from heaven — just ask any family whose child has been treated there.

— Linda Wold, Seattle

Madison Valley flooding and a lame-duck mayor

What strange coincidental fate that Nicole Brodeur’s column “Mayor takes a few last questions” [NWTuesday, Dec. 15] on the exit of Mayor Greg Nickels was next to the story on the Madison Valley flooding lawsuit [“Suit: City allowed flooding,” NWTuesday, Dec. 15].

In the flooding story, one can find all the rotten underbelly of incompetence, waste and political management found throughout Seattle because, in my opinion, Mayor Nickels was far more interested in his personal federal and national audience, than he was in the efficient operation of Seattle.

The city’s response to the flooding in Madison Valley was to remove the most vulnerable homes, dig a big expensive hole where those homes once stood, and next year waste taxpayer money installing a large drainage pipeline that will not be able to alleviate flooding.

Was this solution engineered or politically engineered by spin and legal wrangling over the drowning of a Madison Valley resident in her basement due to flooding?

The present city attorney was also thankfully replaced by voters, so Mike McGinn, here is your first opportunity to save all the city residents and taxpayers substantial amounts of money, prevent significant and needless project disruption and solve several other legal problems at the same time, all while demonstrating you are true to your election campaign statements and promises.

— Geoffrey K. Willson, Seattle

Nickels’ lasting gun ban

It is a fine thing to have a watchdog monitoring our constitutional rights. Bob Warden is to be commended for ensuring that our right to carry our concealed weapons everywhere is protected [“Pistol-packing attorney files challenge to Nickels’ gun ban,” NWSaturday, Nov. 28].

The audacity of Mayor Greg Nickels in trying to keep guns out of city parks and recreational areas has to be condemned and overturned. How can our children and grandchildren’s safety be guaranteed on the playfields and in the swimming areas in the city unless anyone who chooses to carry a gun there has that right?

No one should have their Second Amendment rights infringed at any time. It would be like limiting someone’s freedom of speech to yell “fire” in a crowded theater as a joke — Oh, right. You can limit the right of free speech in cases like that.

Well, thank goodness the state doesn’t allow such limitations on guns. Way to go Bob.

— Bruce Colwell, Burien

The paper reviewed here is ‘Toward Defining the Scope of Psychosomatic Medicine Practice: Psychosomatic Medicine in an Outpatient, Tertiary-Care Practice Setting’ by Rundell and colleagues and freely available here. This is an article on a Mayo Clinic study in which a comparison was made between consecutive patients seen by Liaison services on the inpatient unit, consecutive patients seen in a psychosomatic medicine clinic and consecutive patients seen in a community outpatient clinic. As the services were being characterised, I classed this as an exploratory analysis. For categorical data and depending on cell sizes, the authors used Fisher’s exact test or the Chi Squared test and for continuous data they used the t-test.

The data are clearly displayed. Several tables efficiently display odds ratios with p-values of the comparisons between the three settings. What I found particularly interesting were the differences in the diagnoses between the three settings. Alcohol and drug dependence as well as delirium were significantly more likely (with meaningful differences in referral rates) in the inpatient Liaison setting than in the psychosomatic clinic setting. From the data the primary anxiety disorders and depressive disorders were significantly more likely in the psychosomatic setting than in the inpatient setting. Depressive disorders were more likely in the psychosomatic outpatient setting than in the community outpatient clinic setting. Interestingly the patients in the Liaison inpatient and psychsomatic outpatient settings were significantly older than in the community outpatient settings (the means differed by 11 years). Those seen in the Liaison inpatient were more likely to be separated than in the other two settings.

In terms of treatments psychotherapy referral rates increased in the following order:-

Inpatient Liaison < Psychosomatic Outpatient < Community Outpatient

Antidepressant prescriptions were more likely in the psychosomatic outpatient setting than in the liaison inpatient setting which might be accounted for by the differences in primary anxiety and depressive disorders in those settings. The reverse held for antipsychotic prescriptions.

In the discussion, the authors discuss their findings. They suggest that the psychosomatic outpatient clinic as a useful training setting, supporting this with data from the Academy of Psychosomatic Medicine. I thought the methodology and results section were clearly presented and the discussion focused on practical implications of these findings. I found the differences between psychotherapy referrals in the different settings as well as the prevalence of anxiety and depressive disorders across the settings particularly interesting.

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And getting out of billions of dollars in taxes

Citigroup getting out of billions of dollars of taxes as part of repaying TARP funds is appalling and disgusting [“Citigroup’s payback milestone for industry,” News, Dec. 15].

Should someone be going to jail for corruption?

Citigroup gets legislation after they purchase traveler’s insurance, which after the fact legalizes the deal. Through expensive bailouts, Citigroup was kept from failing last year — almost failing because of inept management, lack of prudence in making loans and disregard of risk in making investments.

Special legislation is not enough. Accounting standards have to be weakened so the bank doesn’t appear to be insolvent. Still we go further and the government agrees to forgo billions of dollars in tax.

This situation calls for jail time, not tax breaks.

Meanwhile, I represent clients facing audits by the IRS. Although occasionally my clients’ records aren’t perfect, they may be down on their luck or near the end of their rope. What can I tell them? You’re just a small guy, a peon who has to go with the flow?

My previous strong support for the Obama administration is eroding fast. Corruption is coming out of hiding into the daily headlines.

— Norman H. Roberts, Seattle

Few things are more important to a good economic recovery than positive international trade trends. And on this front, we’ve seen substantial improvement in North American seaborne container trade most recently.

Based on port data compiled by Citi’s Mathey Troy in his latest ‘Port Report’, North American loaded container volumes fell only 0.3% year over year during the current fourth quarter to date. (Shown as ‘4QTD’ below)

This is a huge reversal from the double digit volume declines experienced previously, and indicates that container volumes could deliver year over year growth by the first quarter of 2010.

Many would argue that the trade rebound shown below is supported by government stimulus of titanic proportions. If so, let’s hope it stays afloat on its own.

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See Also:

• If You Thought The Economy Was Being Inflated By The Stimulus, You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet
• Get Ready For Epic Stimulus Spending Out Of China In The Final Couple Weeks Of December
• Japan Unveils New $80 Billion Stimulus

Lots of people got a good ironic laugh from the news that Microsoft, which has repeatedly complained about “piracy” in China, got caught blatantly copying code from a small startup named Plurk. Microsoft blamed a vendor and shut down the service. Plurk, for its part, got a ton of free publicity, and apparently it doesn’t want to give it up. It’s sent out a statement to lots of media folks (and us) with absolutely nothing of substance, but which says that the company is still considering legal action, while going on and on about how its just a small company that can’t even afford sales people or a marketing person to write this email. And yet, it thinks it wants to distract itself with a lawsuit against Microsoft? If it can’t afford sales people, those lawyers might be a bit costly. Yes, Microsoft copied your code. Time to use that to your advantage, and whining about the legal action you might take doesn’t get anyone else to actually care about your product.

Meanwhile, another provider of similar software (though open sourced), Status.net took a smarter approach. Blaise points out that Status.net put up a blog post telling Microsoft to go right ahead and take its code. After all, it’s open source (and they have a Chinese translation already). That’s what you’re supposed to do.

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A panel of the Food and Drug Administration said that the cholesterol-lowering drug Crestor ought to be offered to more people because it could help save lives and prevent heart attacks and strokes even among people who don’t have high cholesterol.

That recommendation is based on the findings of a study funded by drugmaker AstraZeneca involving almost 18,000 people, which found that patients with normal or slightly elevated cholesterol and high levels of C-reactive protein could benefit from taking the drug. C-reactive protein is a marker of inflammation in the body, which could indicate an increased risk of heart disease.

What the study showed

The study found that, among those patients who got the pill instead of a placebo, there was a 44 percent reduction in adverse incidents including death, heart attack and stroke. The research showed a 20 percent reduction in deaths from heart attacks among those who took the pill.

The drug company wants the FDA to approve marketing the drug to a much wider segment of the population. An estimated six million people would fall into the category of having normal cholesterol levels but high C-reactive protein measures. The drug, one of the most expensive in the category of statin drugs on the market — already reached $3.6 billion in sales last year. It’s thought adding these new patients would boost sales by about $500 million a year.

Crestor caveats

The FDA noted, however, that the increase in the number of study participants on the drug who developed diabetes was statistically significant, and 13 people in the study died from gastrointestinal ailments while on the drug. In addition, 18 patients reported being in a confused state while on the drug, compared to four taking the placebo, but it wasn’t thought that was connected to the drug.

Another potential problem with giving people with high C-reactive protein levels but healthy cholesterol a cholesterol-lowering drug is that C-reactive protein is a general measure of inflammation in the body, not a specific measure of heart disease risk. Inflammation could be caused by a host of other health problems. It’s not now a commonly used test, either, but that’s likely to change if the FDA goes ahead with the panel’s recommendation.

(By Sarah E. White for CalorieLab Calorie Counter News)

From the RSS feed of CalorieLab News (REF3076322B7)

Panel says cholesterol drug could help more people

Filed under: Etc., Europe, Videos, Humor

In the beginning, there was a yellow Yugo GV. And when the folks at Vprache Racing cast their eyes over it, they thought it was missing something. So they gave it an 3.5-liter BMW inline six-cylinder transplant and added a turbo besides. And an intercooler mounted on the grille. And a high-rise lift job. Then they took it hooning. And that was the end of the first day.

When that wasn’t enough, they added another turbo and fashioned arches to cover the exposed rubber. And then they took it drag racing. And that was the end of the second day. You can check out videos of the car in both iterations after the jump. It’s fast. And in a yellow Yugo, you’d want to be.

[Sources: Tampa Sports Car Examiner; YouTube]

Continue reading VIDEO: Turbocharged BMW-powered Yugo highboy has us reconsidering the GV

VIDEO: Turbocharged BMW-powered Yugo highboy has us reconsidering the GV originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 17 Dec 2009 16:55:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The WSJ is reporting that Sony is implementing RealD’s technology in its desire to bring 3D to the mainstream consumer electronics industry in 2010. So as you read that you probably fret and think its going to be some proprietary system only owned by Sony. Fortunately, their agreement isn’t exclusive so other manufacturers can use RealD when they respond and bring competition to Sony’s 3D TV next year. Sony really surprised a lot of people with its bold words for a big 3D product line – they now have a beautifully designed website dedicated to it called “3D Home.”

Don’t worry ladies and gentlemen – the glasses are actually decent looking (at least the ones I have used at trade shows), heavier than the movie theater version and in wraparound style, but I have heard that it won’t be long till designers start making 3D glasses too. Gucci 3D glasses? It’s not as far off as you think.

3D is really a bold gamble by Sony, a company that has been winding a curvy path these last few years, but it could pay off. We have been impressed with RealD’s efforts, and our general short sentence impression is “This is really something that could be incredible for the home.” I must reinforce there is a big difference between it and the plastic glasses most of you have used at the theaters – this is an active shutter system. To read more, check out our various RealD 3D impressions – or our direct, very informative review “Hands On With RealD’s CrystalEyes 4 Active Shutter 3D Glasses, And The Framework For Sony’s 3D Movement.”

Filed under: Car Buying, Crossover, Kia

Pricing for the 2011 Kia Sorento has popped up unannounced on the automaker’s consumer website, and as it turns out, you can drive a base model off the lot with money to spare for a Subway footlong – minus taxes and all that. At $19,995 for the starter model (*plus $795 in destination charges), you’ll get a five-seat unibody crossover with a 2.4-liter four-cylinder and a manual transmission standard. That engine puts out 175 horsepower and 169 pound-feet of torque and is also standard fitment for the uplevel LX and EX models, but the latter two get automatic transmissions.

The top tier model is the EX V6, with a 3.5-liter V6 proffering 276 hp and 248 ft-lb. All of the variants except the base also come in either front-drive or all-wheel drive variants, and there is also a seven-seat version. By the time you get to the grips-at-all-fours EX V6, you’re looking at $28,895.

The Sorento is meant to “significantly increase [Kia’s] share of the utility vehicle market,” and with pricing like that, a good ride and healthy tech specs, it’s got a good shot.

Gallery photos by Jeremy Korzeniewski/ Copyright (C)2009 Weblogs, Inc.
[Source: Kia]

2011 Kia Sorento pricing pops up, starts under $20k* originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 17 Dec 2009 16:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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iPhoneWho?

BlackBerry maker Research In Motion just crushed Street expectations for Q3 — the quarter ending in November — and issued strong guidance for Q4. Shares are up 9% after hours.

RIM shipped its 75 millionth BlackBerry during the quarter.

The real test will be December, where RIM will have to increasingly compete with Google Android devices at Verizon. But in general, it looks like RIM is thriving despite increased competition in the smartphone industry.

Key stats:

• Revenue: $3.92 billion vs. $3.78 billion consensus.
• EPS: $1.10 vs. $1.04 consensus.
• Subscriber additions: 4.4 million, vs. 4.1 million RBC est.
• Devices: 10.1 million shipped, including 75 millionth BlackBerry

Guidance:

• Revenue: $4.3 billion midpoint vs. $4.11 billion consensus
• EPS: $1.27 vs. $1.12 consensus
• Subscriber additions: 4.55 million midpoint vs. 4.45 million midpoint RBC est.

Don’t miss: 15 gadgets that changed everything this decade >

Join the conversation about this story »

See Also:

• RIM Should Sell Now Before It’s Too Late
• Motorola Blows CLIQ Pricing, Lets Apple And RIM Win Again
• RIM’s Secret Growth Plan For The BlackBerry

Palm, Inc. today reported that total revenues in the second quarter of fiscal year 2010, ended Nov. 27, 2009, were $78.1 million. Gross profit was $5.5 million, and gross margin was 7.0 percent. These results include the effects of subscription accounting applied to Palm webOS products as required by GAAP. In accordance with this methodology, revenues and direct cost of revenues for Palm webOS products (currently Palm Pre and Palm Pixi smartphones) are deferred and recognized over the products’ estimated economic lives.

“We are continuing to execute strongly against our long-term strategy with the delivery of Palm Pixi, the new carrier launches completed this quarter, and the upcoming opening of Palm’s full developer program,” said Jon Rubinstein, Palm’s chairman and chief executive officer. “We’re still in the early stages of a long race, and we’re energized by the opportunity to compete in this exciting market. We remain confident that Palm’s innovative product design capabilities, integrated cloud services and the differentiated and delightful Palm webOS experience will provide the foundation for our sustained success.”

Last week, the university of Texas’ regents decided to make Mack Brown the highest paid coach in college athletics by bumping his salary $2M a year to $5M total, running through 2016. This week, the Texas faculty council voted for a resolution declaring the move to be “unseemly and inappropriate” given the current state of the school’s budget. The vote was informal, as not enough members were present for a quorum. Not that it made an ounce of difference.

It goes without saying that Brown’s salary is paid for out of athletic department funds, which is separate from the academic side, and Texas’ department is the highest earning in the nation with over $87M in revenues last year alone. In addition, the department has also donated $6.6M in funds to academics since 2005. Indeed, things are looking up for Mack Brown, and his successor in waiting, Will Mushamp.

But David Hillis, past chair of the council, believes that athletics are “destroying higher education in America”. The amount that it donates to academics is far less than the proportion that research grants donate, by comparison. Hillis believes that this arms race of athletic spending cannot be sustained and that schools like UT are responsible for driving up costs nationwide, and that they can either be part of the problem, or part of the reformation.

Look. Athletics are their own little fiefdom on most campuses. As the old saying goes, basketball pays for itself and football pays for everything else. Is it fair for sport to hold so much sway over these large academic institutions? Probably not, but sway they do hold. Another old saying: “it’s hard to rally around a chemistry exam”. It’s probably best to think of athletics as a little side family business–a profitable one, especially considering that most FBS schools are heavily subsidized by state legislatures.

Would Texas be as successful now under the helm of a coach only compensated half as much as Mack Daddy? That’s debatable, but is it not the same scenario as a CEO of a Fortune 500 company? Maybe the whole boardroom is on auto-pilot or maybe the president is flying the whole ship solo–albeit by the seat of his pants. The important thing is that his ass is on the line. Coaches live and die by performance–unlike so many of these tenured professors sitting in their ivory towers. When was the last time someone reviewed their compensation package as it pertains to how much they actually produce, teach or manage. Hmmmm.

If you believe in free markets, you have to trust that the market will correct itself eventually–assuming that it’s even off. Yes, I think some of these salaries are obscene, but I vote with my wallet. I have chosen not to donate one dime to the athletic department of my alma mater. That doesn’t mean I’m less of a fan, but it does means that their defintion of fiduciaries no longer matches mine.

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