I am curious about SF jello as a snack. When hospitalized they give you jello with most of your meals. Recently after I have finshed my dinner I will eat some jello. It appears comforting especially when I get those stomach pangs. I also find frozen and non fat yogurt comforting
Dianne
Our first instinct was to think that Bloomberg has too much time on their hands, but on second thought it’s probably good marketing. Now you can track the fate of Tiger Woods’ sponsors via the Bloomberg Tiger Woods Sponsor Index (Bloomberg: TWSPON IND).
Barron’s: The nine companies in the index are Accenture (ACN), Berkshire Hathaway (BRKA), Electronic Arts (ERTS), LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton (Milan: LVMH.MI), Nike (NKE), PepsiCo (PEP), and Procter & Gamble (PG).
Not a bad collection of companies, actually. But we’d rather someone created a derivative betting on what Tiger’s total mistress count will in the end be.
Watch also: Tiger Woods’s PR Still Utterly Clueless
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Even though I’m an attorney, I don’t oppose prison time for sleazebag lawyers who cross ethical lines and ruin lives. Yet the justice system has it all backwards when it locks up defense attorney Lynne Stewart.
Stewart is a 70 year-old grandmother and criminal defense attorney who represented many unpopular clients in her long and distinguished career. Perhaps her most unpopular client was Omar Abdel Rahman, the so-called “Blind Sheikh” who was convicted of serious terrorist offenses and sentenced to life imprisonment in 1996. Based on events arising out of her representation of Abdel Rahman, Stewart was charged with providing “material support” for a terrorist organization. A federal appeals court recently upheld her subsequent conviction and Stewart now languishes in the Manhattan Correction Complex.
It’s that day of the week again, another PlayStation Store update coming up. This batch is looking at a few special offers for games and DLC, so if you’ve been putting that download off for a while
The key signs of real economic recovery include the presence of large orders for capital investment projects. Here’s one now, a $1.6B order for windmills from GE. This is a very good sign.
Now, we need a large company to begin hiring a thousand people or more in support of growth efforts.
How quickly things change. Despite entering bankruptcy on November 1st, Cit Group (CIT) is back already, with its new post-bankruptcy shares.
While the old CIT shares and taxpayers’ funds were annihilated by the bankruptcy, that hasn’t scared off a new wave of punters. CIT shares are up $2.50 on their first day so far.
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AOL finally became a publicly traded, independent company earlier today when its shares became officially available on the NYSE. And, as its CEO, Tim Armstrong, rang the opening bell at the stock market, the company’s homepage, Aol.com, introduced the new design revealed a couple of weeks ago. It’s not much of a change visually, but the symbolism behind the changes should be in line with the new company’s goals.
“AOL is proud to be trading on the most prestigious Exchange in the world and we hope to follow the many successful companies before us who have opened on the NYSE,” Tim Armstrong, AOL’s chairman and CEO, said. “As an independent company with a recognized global Internet brand, we will be competing for the future of content, communications and advertising and that is a very exciting and significant opportunity.”
The new homepage looks pretty much the same as the old one and the layout is rather similar. The things that are impossible to miss, though, are the new selectable themes, which adorn the site with backgrounds ranging from goldfish, cuddly, blue monsters, butterflies to all manners of abstract images. Along with the background, the color theme of the site changes to match.
But there’s more to the new design than what… (read more)
Filed under: Motorsports, Performance, Dodge
The Dodge Viper has never been a particularly brilliant road car. But get it out to the track, and the snake’s reason for being becomes abundantly clear. To emphasize its on-track prowess, introduce a new Viper spec series and provide a fitting send-off to the current generation coupe, Dodge and its SRT group is building a turn-key racer in the form of the 2010 Dodge Viper SRT10 ACR-X.
Priced at a cool $110,000, the ACR-X retains its 8.4-liter V10, but gains a set of racing headers and a low-restriction exhaust to increase output to 640 horsepower — an additional 40 ponies over the standard model.
The suspension has been tuned for track duty, the weight has been cut by 160 pounds and a new set of aerodynamic enhancements improve downforce, while a roll cage, fuel cell and race seat get it ready to compete in the SCCA and NASA Viper Racing League. Production begins this spring, with the Dodge Viper Spec series kicking off in July of 2010. Make the jump for the press release and a video of the ACR-X’s development.
Gallery: 2010 Dodge Viper ACR-X
Continue reading 2010 Dodge Viper ACR-X ready to fill your track-rat, spec-racing needs [w/ VIDEO]
2010 Dodge Viper ACR-X ready to fill your track-rat, spec-racing needs [w/ VIDEO] originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 10 Dec 2009 11:55:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
In an effort to attract more prior active duty servicemembers to the Air Guard, the
National Guard Bureau made the 162nd Fighter Wing the focus of a campaign photo
shoot here Nov. 30 – Dec. 3…
Steep mountain roads have been the only way to reach some of the outlying villages
around here. During inclement weather even a four-wheel drive vehicle can have
difficulty reaching some of these areas…
With more troops headed to Afghanistan, First Army Division West grabbed the reins
to prepare the 135th Expeditionary Sustainment Command of the Alabama National Guard
to support that influx of warfighters….
When Staff Sgt. Sergio Valdes saw a dog running down Interstate 95 with its leash
dragging behind it, he knew there was trouble…
As the first major winter storm of the season continues to drop snow and ice
throughout the Midwest, elements of the Iowa and Wisconsin National Guard have been
stood up to assist state and local authorities in responding to emergency
calls…
Photo- Hatay iskenderun Energy Forum on 5th December 2009
Dear Energy Professional, Dear Colleagues,
If you are the Minister of Health, then it is expected that you should have a graduate degree from a leading University Medical School. Similarly, if you are the Minister of Justice, you should have a Law degree and many years of practice in courts. An engineer is not expected nor preferred to be a minister of Justice, or in Public Health. Such assignments can be possible theoretically but not desired or expected.
It is preferred that Foreign Ministers are to be graduates of International Politics of reputable universities, with further postgraduate degrees in the same field and multi language capabilities. Our new FM is a perfect choice due to his amazing university career. His book on “Strategic Dept” is an extraordinary intellectual output which describes our new political approach as “no-problems with neighbors”.
Likewise, our Minister in charge of the Treasury is another good choice with his graduate 4.0 GPA from the METU Industrial engineering department which was further reinforced with an MBA degree from a reputable U.S. business school.
On the other hand, anyone can be chosen as Minister of Energy and Natural Resources in our country. Reputable names of our political environment with post graduate degrees from Ankara University in the Department of Political Science have been assigned as Ministers of Energy in the past. No one asks, “Why? Are they capable?”
Even a lawyer was chosen as a Minister of Energy for three consecutive terms. During his term, we had arbitration disputes, and we paid costly consequences. During their time, they learned the energy business, but it proved to be a very costly education experience of the job.
Our previous Minister had a post graduate degree from METU Metallurgy Department. He knew metals, mining, metallurgy, and he had time to consume six years of the energy business in detail during his management.
I strongly advise that the Minister of Energy should have an engineering degree. He should also speak a foreign language, preferably English, and furthermore, his knowledge in Russian, Farsi, Arabic, and/or French is a plus. It is also preferable that he have a post graduate degree in international politics and international commercial law.
The most important item is that he should have taken undergraduate coursework on Thermodynamics, earning a top grade.
Last week I was in Hatay Iskenderun to participate and deliver a speech at an Energy Forum which was organized by the local branch of the Chamber of Turkish Electrical Engineers. The speech was presented on 5th December 2009, to an audience of more than 80 professionals. Most were local electrical engineers but also from other engineering disciplines as well.
By asking interactive questions, we had the opportunity to learn the experience and educational profile of the audience. We understood that all of them had received undergraduate courses on Thermodynamics since it is compulsory.
Our new Energy Minister is also a graduate of Istanbul Technical University and has a Graduate degree from the EE department, and he too for sure had compulsory Thermodynamics courses during his undergraduate years.
Please do note that the Energy Ministry is a public institution to serve but not a school nor a university. Any public employee, at all levels should have had sufficient graduate education. We should not reeducate the newcomers that “volt” is not “watt”, there is no such expression as “teravolt”, and “Megabyte” is not “Mega-Watt”.
We should not teach them the differences between power plants, CFB, IGCC, nor details of the Kyoto protocol. They should know that Nuclear Power plants are essentially thermal power plants with one cycle more in heat balance diagrams.
They should know that our country had no chance, no finance, no capability to build its own thermal power plants but all small East European countries have. At present, there are Far East companies appearing to build new imported coal firing thermal power plants on our shores at a fraction of international markets turnkey basis, complete with basic design, fabrication, outsourcing the key equipment, site construction, site installation, and even long-term operation.
One should know that we could not have our own nuclear power plant for the last 40 years since we could not build our own thermal power plants during the same period under our own engineering capability.
While we have unemployment complaints, how come we tolerate Far East companies bringing their own employees, mostly convicts/ soldiers, at minimum labor cost. It is not possible in Europe, Northern America, Russia, or in Arab Countries.
European countries require the foreign contractors to pay the minimum wage in European standards to their employees. That makes the competition fair. Our name is in the reference list of Far East contractors along with the least developed countries such as Sri Lanka / Bangladesh / Pakistan / Laos / Vietnam / Malaysia / Indonesia/ Central Africa / Sudan and Yemen. That is a real embarrassment to be on those lists.
If you can handle the basic design engineering and can do your own outsourcing, make the site construction in-house, use your local capabilities for site installation and external piping, under the prevailing international market figures, you can reduce your overall investment cost by about 25%.
Far East companies deliver technical drawing in their own language except the simple title block. Our engineers can not read them. Investors do not want to take operation risk. The new tendency is in making long-term operation contracts with the original contractors. It is the case now in Sirnak, KaraBiga and BeyPazari. This practice could be repeated in Catalagzi soon. Local employment will be limited to the security posts at the main entrance of the plant.
European Trade unions protect the rights of their members. They also protect the local employment capabilities. Their political parties are very sensitive in these issues since they can not risk upsetting their voters; otherwise, they pay the consequences heavily.
If local trade unions cannot voice on these issues, then it becomes the responsibility of the Chambers of Engineers to speak up on behalf of local engineering for employment protection.
When we review the Environmental Impact Assessment reports, other than flora and fauna and all those unnecessary details, we read that the investment would create so many numbers of local employments. You feel happy that our countrymen will have employment; we shall have so many families and their dependants get money to survive.
When we complete the EIA report, and accept their application, we find that the investor places the final order to a Far East originated cheap design/ cheap supplier/ cheap contractor, and that cheap contractor brings thousands of employees (or convicts/ soldiers) to our land. The power plant supply also has a short lifespan due to poor material consumed during the project just to survive in the temporary acceptance period.
We should have continuous monitoring of Environmental Impact Assessment conditions during all phases of the project as well as periodical inspections during operation. That is a very serious issue.
We now have an unnecessary number of license applications for construction imported coal firing, new thermal power plants. Do we have the capability to have all of them on our beautiful shores?? Do we need them all??
How will they control their stack emissions, CO2 emissions, fly-ash dust emissions, or slug disposal? To what standards, to EU or to Local? Shouldn’t we have some reasonable limitations in numbers and capacities? Should we approve them all?
Energy is a very serious business. It is vital for the people. We should sincerely take all of those regulating procedures starting from licensing, continued in financing, tendering, environmental controls, construction and long-term operations. We need a qualified, experienced, highly educated public staff to monitor all these serious activities.
Honestly speaking, if I would be your Editor in a leading Newspaper in nationwide circulation, I would never allow a columnist to write an article on energy if he/she had no education in Thermodynamics in his/her undergrad university education.
Your comments are always welcome. Thank you and best regards.
—
Haluk Direskeneli, Hamburg based Energy Analyst
Portland, Oregon | Rites and Rituals
The notorious doughnut shop was founded by Kenneth “Cat Daddy” Pogson and Tres Shannon to fill a void in Portland’s late night dining scene. Apparently there was a spiritual void as well as the two gentlemen also preside over Voodoo’s numerous weddings. That’s right: while the doughnuts are the main attraction, committing to eternal love is also an option thanks to several legally-binding wedding and commitment ceremony packages, replete with in-house refreshments.
The tiny storefront in Old Town is decorated with velvet paintings and newspaper clippings of minor stars and public figures’, lit by the one and only Cruller Chandelier of Life. In a city brimming with oddities, it’s the doughnuts that really distinguish Voodoo from the rest of the field. Popular flavors include Cap’n Crunch (raised doughnut, vanilla icing, and Captain Crunch with Crunch Berries), Ol’ Dirty Bastard (chocolate cake doughnut with chocolate icing, Oreo cookie crumbles, and peanut butter drizzled on top), the Bacon Maple Bar (take a traditional maple bar and, yes, add bacon), and the eponymous doughnut consisting of a gingerbread-man shaped doughnut covered in chocolate icing and punctured by pretzels, from whose wounds ooze raspberry filling.
The Voodoo ran into some trouble when they were confronted by the Food and Drug Administration after selling Nyquil glazed donut and the Vanilla Pepto Crushed Tums donuts to wrecked party-goers.
“With the Pepto doughnut, I honestly thought if you had that shot of tequila you shouldn’t have at 2:00 a.m., and then you got sugar, bread, Pepto, and Tums, you’d either feel better or puke your a** off and then feel better because you got it out of your system. So it was a win-win either way,” reasoned Pogson.
In addition to doubling as a wedding chapel, secular events are regularly held at the shops to enhance the communal doughnut loving. Back in the day, the store offered free Swahili lessons to visitors before the evening rush. These days, at midnight on the first Friday of every month, Voodoo holds a doughnut eating contest.
One of these very contest provided the basis for the oft-attempted “Tex-Ass Challenge” in which a participant attempts to eat the Tex-Ass doughnut (an enormous glazed doughnut equal to six of the regular doughnuts) in under 90 seconds amidst an alternately cheering or heckling crowd; rarely do folks succeed, but winnings include the price of the Tex-Ass and some hefty bragging rights. Just say the word and a (somewhat) friendly doughnut staff-member will set festivities in motion.
In 2008, Voodoo expanded to a second location on the east side of the Willamette River (which bisects Portland’s city center). Unlike the original, Voodoo Too has ample parking, seating space, and a bubble hockey game to divert patrons 21 hours of every day. The original location is open 24/7, though the shop’s interior may be closed during low-traffic hours, whence customers belly-up to the adjacent ‘doughnut window’ on the building’s exterior to be served drive-thru style.
Should the Voodoo experience have made a lasting impression, visitors are encouraged to purchase the various memorabilia for sale in the shops. After all, who doesn’t need a pair of pink briefs with “Good things come in pink boxes” scrawled over one’s rear?
The About Samsonite page throws around important sounding phrases about embodying the brand, leveraging craftsmanship, and creating unique solutions.
By identifying trends and interpreting travelers’ needs, Samsonite continues to infuse innovation and new ideas into travel, re-igniting the sophistication and experience of the past.
Yawn.
It’s a good example of the way big companies wind up talking. Bloated language is what happens when copy gets filtered through a committee.
Compare that to The Saddleback Story, the tale behind bagmaker Saddleback Leather.
It all began when I had my first bag made while living in Southern Mexico as a volunteer English teacher to kids who needed a little help. I had looked everywhere for just the right bag, but with no luck…
In my search, I walked into a little leather shop and met the fellow working leather in the back. I asked him if he could make me a bag if I were to draw it out. I told him that I wanted this bag to be made so well that my grandkids would be fighting over it while I was still warm in the grave. He said “Si” and I said “Bueno” and that’s how it all started.
And it continues from there. Now that’s copy with a pulse. A personal story like that is something a little guy can deliver that a big corp can’t. A tiny company can bring people inside the fold this way and turn a perceived weakness (small size) into a strength.
Yun Wu Tea is a weight loss product that claims it will change your life. It even offers “guaranteed results in 2 weeks” (website). This Yun Wu Tea review will explain the truth behind the bold claims made by Happy Healthy, manufacturer of Yun Wu Tea.
The Yun Wu Tea website is very vague about the ingredients it contains. The only ingredient they admit to is green tea. Green tea does actually contribute to weight loss. Studies have shown that when taken in doses of at least 300 mg per day, green tea does cause weight loss. Unfortunately, there is no mention of how much green tea is contained in Yun Wu Tea. Therefore, there is no way to determine if Yun Wu Tea will actually cause weight loss.
You can get a 2 week free trial of Yun Wu Tea. You simply enter your age, weight, height, and zip code. Then they tell you that you are eligible for the trial but that there are only 10 packages left for the zip code you entered. Think you have nothing to lose? Better read the fine print. If you don’t cancel the trial before the 2 weeks are up, you are enrolled in autoship, which means they send you more product every month and automatically charge your credit card for it.
So what is the cost for Yun Wu Tea? You won’t find it unless you search the fine print. The monthly cost for Yun Wu Tea is $87 per month. This is outrageous. You can buy green tea at your supermarket for a few bucks. There is no reason to believe that Yun Wu Tea will do anything more than a supermarket tea will do.
The Yun Wu Tea website is packed with testimonials and photos. You probably won’t be surprised to learn that many (if not most) testimonials and photos on diet product websites are fabricated or doctored, so don’t be too impressed. The website also shows “Hollywood celebrities that drink green tea,” with photos of those celebrities. While it may be true that these celebrities drink green tea, there is no proof that they use Yun Wu Tea.
In addition to the free trial, the Yun Wu website offers a free upgrade. You can get Acai Slim Flush for free (but after the trial you will be paying $47 per month). There is no scientific evidence to show that acai actually contributes to weight loss.
This Yun Wu Tea review finds Yun Wu Tea might contribute to weight loss, but it certainly isn’t worth the $87 it would most likely take to find out. If you want to try green tea for weight loss, go with a product that contains the appropriate amount of green tea.
Filed under: Car Buying, Marketing/Advertising, Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep
Spend any time in the advertising business, and you’ll see this kind of struggle. So called “high-concept” advertising is what tends to be what consumers emotionally engage with and remember. Usually, only big brands with a national presence and lots of money can pull off advertising that is more about the spot than the product it’s hawking. Running with the big boys requires vision on the part of decision makers. While big companies have marketing specialists with high falutin’ degrees and summat, the retailers that close sales and take the money from your hand focus much more on product.
According to Bloomberg, Chrysler and its dealer body are playing out this very struggle. Dealers are unhappy with the company’s new advertising efforts and budget changes that have been made as part of the recently enacted five year business plan. Facing sales that were down twenty five percent in November, dealers have asked that the new ads focusing on lifestyle and brand-building, such as the latest Jeep spots, be stopped. Advertising that shows vehicles and their features, along with a harder sell on the price and incentive front would be preferable to the dealers.
Cash on the hood is down, however, and Chrysler has some vehicles that are challenging to sell. Regional advertising budgets have been readjusted, as well, siphoning off funds from some higher-volume dealers to regions without enough volume to get any help in the fourth quarter otherwise. The plan in Auburn Hills is to aggressively rebuild its brands over the next five years, which is an image-building operation where the new campaign makes sense. In the meantime, however, the company needs to sell cars to stay solvent until its touchy-feely advertising takes root; an effort that may be better served by the product-centric advertising the dealers want. While everyone loves clever advertisements, sometimes it’s just best to scream about the deals on Sunday, Sunday, SUNDAY!
Hit the jump to see an example of the new commercials.
[Source: Bloomberg]
REPORT: Chrysler dealers unhappy over new ads, want regional marketing spending restored [w/VIDEO] originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 10 Dec 2009 11:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Published Dec. 9, 2009
Bob Brawdy, Tri-City Herald Photographer
Fourth grade students at Bethlehem Lutheran School launch their tissue paper hot air balloons outside the Kennewick school. Paige Wyatt, an associate professor of Engineering Technology at Columbia Basin College, helps teacher Elizabeth Robinson with the science project.
Photo Gallery: Bethlehem hot air balloons
