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Review: 2010 Nissan Maxima SV Sport is a lot of car for a lot of coin

Despite being hobbled by front-wheel drive, the Maxima SV Sport can hold its own on the bi-ways and backroads. But at what cost?

Kepler Motors Motion supercar to debut at Dubai Motor Show

We’ve seen plenty of supercar start-ups come and go, but Kepler Motors appears to have the right stuff with its carbon fiber, Ecoboost-powered Motion coupe.

VIDEO: GM commissions Chevrolet Volt dance to go with song. Yes, really.

Following the release of the Chevrolet Volt theme song, GM tapped a handful of dancers to perform an accompanying two-step at the LA Auto Show. And yes, it’s bad.

Also of interest:

• Reader Spy: SRT-fettled Dodge Journey R/T spotted
• VIDEO: 2011 Audi A1 teased ahead of Geneva unveiling
• Detroit Preview: Toyota teases new hybrid concept vehicle
• 9ff reveals even more bonkers GT9-R – is this the world’s fastest production car?
• VIDEO: Australian Yaris ad gets banned for being raunchy

Browse our archive of Daily U-Turn posts or subscribe to the RSS feed

Daily U-Turn: What you missed on 12.14.09 originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 14 Dec 2009 19:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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This was the topic of hot discussion in the McSuderman household this morning.  If Lieberman really wants health care reform but is (as he is supposed to, I reluctantly concede) protecting his state’s insurance interests, then all the progressives need to do is say “Give us the list!  Whatever you want, you can have it!” The problem is that

a) Reid’s apparently seriously pissed off and not acting particularly rationally
b) Lieberman already knows he’s going to lose his committees the minute the Democrats don’t need him next year and
c) Since it’s not clear that he actually wants anything to pass, there’s a serious worry that he’ll just dance away and make more demands.

But it’s not just Lieberman.  I doubt Blanche Lincoln actually wants to vote for this thing, but she needs the party for reelection help in a tough race coming up, so she’s perfectly willing to let Nelson and Lieberman kill it if they can.  If they get on board, I suspect that Lincoln might develop sudden last minute doubts.  I’m not sure Landrieu wouldn’t as well.  Conservative Democrats facing tough reelections do not actually want to have to go on record as voting either before or against this.

Lieberman is in some ways in the easiest position–the party is not helping him get reelected, and he’s going to lose his committees eventually anyway, because everyone’s mad at him.  So the other weak sisters are willing to let him take the lead.  But if he gives in, will they go along, or will they just find their own reasons for saying no?

Join the conversation about this story »

See Also:

• Desperate White House Tells Harry Reid To Cut Healthcare Deal With Holdout Lieberman
• Lieberman Stuns Democrats, Now Says He’s Voting Against Healthcare Reform
• The Healthcare Polling Data That Has Democrats So Freaked Out

After the VGA 2009 trailer reveal for Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands, Ubisoft has now sent out more details about this multiplatformer game. And just in time, too, cos with its May 2010 release date drawing

The original pattern for this project was made with mittens, but I couldn’t find the right size so with a needle and thread and a couple of stitches I made this snowman pair from gloves. They really look cute, too. Now let me tell you haw to make your own Mr. and Mrs. Snowman gloves/mittens.

Kathy Zengolewicz

Here is what you will need to get started:

• 2 gloves (use a small size, they look better)
• 2 wooden balls to fit the glove size (I used 1 ¼ inch balls)
• Poly-fil or other stuffing material
• Fabric scraps
• 2 pompoms (the color of your choice)
• 4 small buttons
• Ribbon or decorative trim
• Doll hair
• Hot glue gun
• A pencil (for the face detail)
• Rice (optional)

You can do this with mittens or gloves. If you use gloves you’ll need to turn the glove inside out and stitch up the index, middle and ring finger, leaving the pinky finger and thumb to stuff.

If you plan to hang these ornaments you don’t have to use the rice, but if you want them to stand on their own fill about half of the glove/mitten bottom with rice. Fill the rest of the glove with the polyfil and make sure to push the filling into the finger and thumb. Stuff the body and fingers tightly.

Glue the wooden head to the top of the glove where the fingers are sewn. Hold it there for a few minutes until it drys. Cut a small piece of fabric to use as a hat for the Mr. and glue it to his head.

For the Mrs., glue a few tresses of doll hair to the center of her head. Glue a pompom to the sides where her ears would be, these are her earmuffs.

Glue buttons on the Mrs. and add a small Christmas tree for the Mr. to hold. If your snowman isn’t standing right you can also glue a large button to the bottom of the body, that will make it a little sturdier.

You can use a black pencil to draw the eyes and a red pencil for the mouth and cheeks. I used a little bit of acrylic paint, but you can use what you have. That’s all there is to it, now you have your own Mr. and Mrs. Snowman.  Enjoy!

Post from: Blisstree

Mr and Mrs Snowman Gloves

Filed under: Coupe, Performance, Mercedes-Benz, Electric

The Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG is nothing if not an exciting car to drive, and the German automaker is reportedly hard at work making sure that the upcoming electric version of the supercar generates the same kind of reaction from its occupants. In an interview with Autocar, AMG head Volker Mornhinweg assures that the EV super coupe is now being tested on the road and will hit all of its targeted performance objectives.

The electric M-B SLS AMG will sport four individual electric motors that spin out 525 horsepower and 649 pound-feet of torque through all four wheels. That’s enough grunt to push the gullwinged-supercar from 0 to 60 in four seconds flat. Three separate lithium ion battery packs will assure a range of 110 miles, though all those cells will push weight all the way up to a hefty 4,100 pounds – a full 500 pounds more than the gas-powered version.

If you’re worried that all those extra pounds will make for a boring drive, don’t be. “Effectively being four-wheel-drive does alter its character, but our torque vectoring systems give us opportunities to make it as good,” affirms Mornhinweg. “It’s important to get the emotional level of an EV right and we have some solutions.” We’ll have to wait until 2013 to find out for ourselves, at which time the SLS EV will hit the market, possibly for lease only with an unknown asking price.

Photos copyright (C)2009 Chris Paukert / Weblogs, Inc.
[Source: Autocar]

REPORT: Mercedes-Benz begins road-testing electric SLS supercar originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 14 Dec 2009 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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2009Dec14: “Climate change is causing accelerated sea level rise and an increase in the salinity of the southern Sundarbans,” says Professor Pranabes Sanyal of Jadavpur University in Calcutta, India. “That in turn is causing the migration of the tigers from the southern islands towards the north, close to the human habitation. That’s why we have this man-animal confrontation – and the confrontation is increasing” (BBC).

Reference: BBC http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8411225.stm

Image Description: Tiger tracks in Sundarbans National Park. Photo by Peter Andersen, 2006Dec10. Image Location: Wikimedia Commons http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sunderbans_049.jpg Image Permission: This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 3.0 License. In short: you are free to share and make derivative works of the file under the conditions that you appropriately attribute it, and that you distribute it only under a license identical to this one.

Homeowner Warning: Mortgage Payments Lost In Ginnie Mae Shuffle – Asher Hawkins – Lend America shutdown shows risks with fed-backed lenders. – When the government shuts down a federally guaranteed home lender, it leads to headaches for homeowners whose mortgage payments are at risk of getting lost in the shuffle. – Forbes
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Speech: Envisioning a Future for Housing Finance – Governor Elizabeth A. Duke – At the Mortgage Foreclosure Policy Conference, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago – FR Board of Governors

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Foreclosure relief program is stuck in first – JUST 4 PERCENT IN FINAL STAGE – By Renae Merle – Thousands now risk losing mortgage help – Washington Post

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Invisible threat to home values – By Marilyn Kennedy Melia – on spotting clusters of “underwater” homes –  Bankrate.com

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BUYING MBS SECTION:

NY Fed says bought $1.570 bln of U.S. agency debt – …  aiming to hold down mortgage rates and revive economic growth. …  – Reuters

and 

WHERE HAVE ALL THE MBS GONE? – … The Fed purchases represent roughly 12% of the market.  This begs the question:  who did they buy all of these securities from? … MBS represent a significant risk to the financial system once the Fed stops buying them.  US households were right to liquidate their holdings.  Once the Fed is gone from the market, there will be no incremental buyer and prices could collapse. …  gives answers to who the buyers are  – The Hedonic Calculus Blog

Maria Bartiromo: One On One With Jim Rogers – If you want to know what Jim Rogers is thinking comprehensively, this is the opportunity. In this 15 minutes footage, Rogers touched topics including his critical view towards Fed and US Treasury, US Dollar vs. Foreign Currency, Gold (and Silver), Commodity, Agriculture, etc.. – Gurufocus.com

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Peak Gold, Easier to Model than Peak Oil? – Part I – Posted by Luis de Sousa – … In a two part article, Jean analyses how gold mining is subject to depletion. od1  In this first installment, an assessment of reserves and a production model is presented for each of major gold-producing countries in the world. … – The Oil Drum: Europe
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Ten Bold Predictions and Big Trades for 2010 – RON COBY – Minyanville

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Chart of the Day    – For some perspective on the current state of the stock market, today’s chart presents the long-term trend of the Russell 2000 (small-cap stocks).  … Currently, the Russell 2000 is testing resistance (red dashed line) of its two-year downtrend channel for the second time since the financial crisis. …
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   + 

Treasury Yield Curve Steepest Since at Least 1980 After Auction – By Cordell Eddings and Susanne Walker – Treasuries fell, with the gap in yields between 2- and 30-year securities reaching the widest margin since at least 1980, after a $13 billion offering of 30- year bonds drew lower-than-forecast demand.  The so-called yield curve touched 373 basis points, the most in at least 29 years, as the bonds drew a yield of 4.52 percent, … The so-called yield curve has widened from 191 basis points at the end of 2008, … – Bloomberg

and
great counterpoint on why a steep curve is bad …  Treasury Yield Curve as Steep as Since 1980: But With a Twist – Bloomberg piece here noting a very steep treasury yield which typically signals strong growth. That’s good news right? Not so fast, it’s actually bad news. – Blind Reason Blog 
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BubbleWatch: Chinese Pop will be Global Event – Several outlier investors (and by outlier I mean non-mainstream thinkers) have put tremendous effort into articulating why China is in a bubble – has links to 3 commentaries supporting this view – Plan B Economics

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3 themes of 2009 – My Two Cents – “Closing out 2009″ – has details –
Theme #1 for 2009 – The blowout federal deficit
Theme #2 for 2009 – States Circle the Wagons for bailouts
Theme #3 for 2009 – Creative Financing to Induce Borrowing
– Andrew Sutton Associates

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Morgan Stanley’s Roach Sees ‘Great Risk’ in Fed Exit Strategy – By Simon Kennedy – The Federal Reserve may cause another crisis by botching the withdrawal of liquidity from the U.S. economy, Morgan Stanley Asia Chairman Stephen Roach said.  The Fed is the “weak link” among central banks and may fail to tighten monetary policy in time to stop asset bubbles from forming, Roach said at a conference in Berlin today –  Bloomberg
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Requiem for the Dollar – By JAMES GRANT – first rate piece on history of dollar’s decline and what must be done – Wall Street Journal Life and Style

Filed under: Motorsports, Hirings/Firings/Layoffs, Lotus

The pieces to the puzzle that is the upcoming Formula One season are coming together bit by bit. In the latest development, the upstart Lotus F1 Racing team has announced the signing of two veteran drivers: Jarno Trulli and Heikki Kovalainen.

A former Monaco Grand Prix race winner, Trulli has driven for five different teams over the course of the past twelve years on the grid. Speculation was that he could switch to NASCAR following a recent test with Michael Waltrip Racing, particularly as the Toyota team for which he’d been driving for the past six years announced its withdrawal from the series. Finnish driver Kovalainen, meanwhile, is also a former race winner, left without a ride when McLaren replaced him with reigning world champion Jenson Button. Local aspirant Fairuz Fauzy, formerly of Malaysia’s A1GP team, will serve as reserve/test driver.

The announcement was made by Malaysia’s prime minister, whose government is backing the team. Although the outfit has no direct ties with the automaker of the same name – save for mutual patronage by Malaysia’s state-run Proton – the British sportscar-maker and engineering firm could buy into the team at some point in the future as part of its comprehensive racing plan, giving Lotus the kind of operation Ferrari has run for decades.

With the Lotus drivers in place and Force India having recently confirmed the retention of Adrian Sutil and Tonio Liuzzi, the 2010 grid is rapidly taking form. The only remaining seats are with Mercedes/Brawn GP (which has yet to announce Nico Rosberg‘s team-mate as speculation intensifies over Michael Schumacher’s return), Renault (which has yet to announce a wingman for Robert Kubica as the team’s future remains in question), Sauber (which was only recently approved for next season), Toro Rosso, Campos Meta (which has announced only Bruno Senna), Virgin/Manor (which has confirmed only Timo Glock so far) and USF1.

Follow the jump for the full press release from Lotus.

[Source: Lotus F1 Team | Image: Bongarts/Getty]

Continue reading 2010 F1 grid comes into focus as Lotus signs Trulli and Kovalainen

2010 F1 grid comes into focus as Lotus signs Trulli and Kovalainen originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 14 Dec 2009 18:27:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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If you’re planning on boarding your dog over the holidays, make sure your pet has been vaccinated for kennel cough (infectious tracheobronchitis). It’s highly contagious and your best friend may be more vulnerable when stressed.

Bordetella bacteria can cause kennel cough, or it may develop as a secondary infection with a virus. The viruses that cause kennel cough include canine distemper, canine adenovirus 2 and canine parainfluenza.

Dogs that have been exposed to kennel cough may exhibit symptoms five to 10 days later. Symptoms include a dry cough that sounds loud and may be worse after activity. Dogs infected with kennel cough sometimes gag after coughing. The cough, whether constant or periodic, is usually the only sign of kennel cough. Coughing will sound worse for the first week, but gradually get better, leaving completely within three weeks.

If kennel cough becomes very severe, dogs may suffer appetite loss and subsequent weight loss. If you suspect your dog has kennel cough, describe your dog’s symptoms to your vet, including information about the potential source of exposure.

Treatment for kennel cough often includes medicine to suppress cough. In some cases, dogs may need antibiotics to improve. To avoid complications like pneumonia or secondary infections, your dog should receive prompt treatment. Find out more about kennel cough with The Humane Society kennel cough fact sheet.

(Image via flickr/dtweney)

Post from: Blisstree

Recognizing Kennel Cough in Dogs

It’s no secret that the American criminal justice system is “grossly inefficient and morally unacceptable,” as has been documented here before. In the latest American Prospect, Adam Serwer artfully peels back the layers of failure, and surveys the landscape for change:

In the 1980s and 1990s — the “tough on crime” era — -incarceration was touted as the simple solution to our crime problem. Today, the United States imprisons 1 percent of its entire population. Including the number of people on probation and parole, one in 31 Americans is under supervision of the criminal-justice system. Mass incarceration has succeeded in reducing crime, but the strategy has diminishing returns. The offense rate of the top 20 percent of offenders is more than 10 times that of the average prisoner — a few very active criminals commit most of the crime. But under the current system, offenders who could be more cheaply deterred or rehabilitated instead incur the most expensive — and, from the perspective of its effect on the community, damaging — form of punishment possible. This is why, even as the number of incarcerated people has increased exponentially, crime hasn’t decreased at the same rate.

(more…)

One of the major reasons why Blu-ray is still struggling to catch on (despite winning the long drawn out victory over competing format HD-DVD) is that you’re extremely limited in what you can do with Blu-ray content. In an era when people are used to being able to move content and time- and place-shift it at will, Blu-ray is quite limiting. This has become a growing concern to those in Hollywood who thought Blu-ray was going to be its savior. Unfortunately, the response is being equally bungled by Hollywood. The key concept is the idea of “managed copies,” which (in theory) will let users make limited DRM’d copies for time- and place-shifting.

Of course, that assumes that the offering actually works. And right now it’s nearly impossible to tell. Jerry Leichter alerts us to a story of one small studio that’s trying to implement “managed copy” offerings and is finding it to be nearly impossible. The instructions on how to do it are not at all clear, and the studio is not getting much in the way of help from those behind the standard. Furthermore, there’s simply no way to test to see if they’re doing it right, since there’s no equipment that can handle managed copies yet. And this is from a studio, Scenic Labs, that believes DRM is pointless and “piracy is going to happen.” So why is it even bothering? It basically has no choice. If you’re creating commercial Blu-ray discs, this is the only option you get: it must include this poorly documented DRM if you want to offer a copyable version.

Of course, there is one alternative. As the head of the studio notes, if they screwed up the process, they have no interest in remastering the discs, so they’ll just ask buyers to send a cameraphone photo of the purchased DVD, and they’ll send them a digital file over the internet.

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They’re crunchy, meltable, and oh-so pair-able. We’re talking about Gruyere, Appenzeller, Comte, and Emmenthaler, to name a few. Mountain cheeses come up pretty often in our cheesemonger posts, probably because they’re some of the most delicious.

But we’ve never flushed out what exactly they are, or why they’re called mountain cheeses in the first place. If you’re interested in cheese, it’s an important style to know about.

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