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You can always find weird correlations between charts, and most of the time they’re totally meaningless.

Still, we were kind of intrigued by this chart from the ShiftCTRL Group comparing the Nikkei with the S&P500 divided by the price of gold.

It might mean nothing, but we’re curious what you think.

Join the conversation about this story »

See Also:

• The Overwhelming Evidence For Peak Gold (GLD)
• SocGen: Gold Has Been Undervalued For 38 Out Of The Last 40 Years
• Richard Bernstein: Gold Prices Have Gotten Silly (GLD)

When I saw this brandy butter in Australian Gourmet Traveller‘s roundup of homemade food gifts, my jaw dropped. Brandy butter? How have I never heard of such a thing before?

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Canning Krauthammer? That’s so liberal

In Northwest Voices, Daniel A. Morgan asked that The Times drop Charles Krauthammer from its editorial pages [“Krauthammer on terrorism, Islam: an inconvenient truth,” Opinion, Nov. 28].

I assume Morgan is a liberal because the true liberal approach is if you don’t like the message, attempt to silence the messenger.

Morgan believes Krauthammer has little of value to contribute.

Let’s look at Morgan’s contributions: While admitting Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan uttered “Allahu akbar” during his murderous spree, Morgan makes the ridiculous statement that most Americans say the same thing in English under similar circumstances.

I don’t recall reading about other Americans yelling “God is great,” or “Praise God,” or “Jesus is Lord” while going around shooting innocent people.

Morgan also equates Islamic fanatics to fanatics of other religions. Again, while Islamic fanatics kill innocents almost daily, I do not know of any other religion where this happens even occasionally.

If Morgan wants to ignore the worldwide scourge of radical, militant Islam, and use the typical liberal tactic of moral relativism, then I submit that it is he who is contributing absolutely nothing of value to the discussion.

— Jack Hurley, Bellevue

Krauthammer never resorts to personal insults?

Editor’s note: This letter originally said Charles Krauthammer is a lawyer. He is not.

Not satisfied that the majority of columnists for The Seattle Times are left-wing writers, Daniel A. Morgan wants Charles Krauthammer dropped from The Times.

Krauthammer is on Fox News. He is an M.D. and is paralyzed from the neck down. He is a brilliant intellectual, seasoned and articulate.

He is forthright and careful in his analysis, and never resorts to emotions or personal insults. He is neither a fearmonger nor an extremist in his comments and views. He has received a Pulitzer Prize for writing and writes weekly for The Washington Post.

Morgan writes of Christian and Jewish fanatics. Can Morgan tell us where are the Christian and Jewish fanatics blowing themselves up, killing innocent women and children? We have heard of Krauthammer’s background, what is Morgan’s?

— Bob West, Des Moines

Hearing from both sides

I see The Times is getting some flak for running Charles Krauthammer columns, not surprising in a town that skews as liberal as Seattle.

Personally, I am a political independent, and I enjoy Krauthammer’s column. I also like Thomas Friedman and Paul Krugman.

I don’t always agree with Krauthammer’s columns on Middle Eastern questions — though often I do — but I think he provides a well-reasoned-out viewpoint that is worth stating.

I am glad to see The Times is running his column to balance out some of the other viewpoints we see. In order to form a sound point of view on any issue, we need to hear from several sides.

— Dan Hochberg, Seattle

Seconding the motion of Krauthammer’s resignation

I second the motion by Daniel A. Morgan that The Seattle Times should drop columns written by Charles Krauthammer.

Krauthammer’s suggestion that the health-care bill be scrapped is typical of his work and is laden with half-truths and outright lies. He so frequently resorts to obvious distortions of the truth that nothing he writes can be trusted to be accurate.

The only thing he got right in his most recent column “Kill the current messy bills and do health care right” [Opinion, syndicated column, Nov. 28], is that the health-care bill is a disaster, not for the reasons that he lists but because special-interest lobbyists have succeeded in blocking the needed reforms.

The current version of the bill, which will make billions for the health-insurance industry, fails to slow the rise of health-care costs, and still leaves large numbers of people with no health-care coverage. The American people deserve better.

— Gary Maxwell, Lynnwood

Good news, PixelJunk fans. You won’t have to wait too long until you get your hands on PixelJunk Shooter, the fourth entry in Q-Games’ PixelJunk serie…

The University of Alaska Anchorage seeks applications for a Director of the Center for Community Engagement and Learning (CCEL). The University of Alaska Anchorage (UAA) is an innovative and dynamic institution with national distinction in community engagement, holding a Carnegie classification for both Curricular Engagement and Outreach and Partnerships. UAA is Alaska’s largest regional university with an enrollment of 20,000 students studying in over 190 degree programs.

The Center for Community Engagement and Learning (CCEL)
The Center is the primary entity promoting and supporting service-learning and community-engaged research at UAA. The CCEL enables the university to effectively carry out its community engagement mission to connect academic programs with community need, and use scholarship and action for the mutual benefit of the University and the State, its communities, and its diverse peoples. It mentors faculty as they develop courses and projects incorporating engagement between academia and the community, and evaluates the community engagement activities at UAA. The Center also provides the development and support for UAA’s Certificate in Civic Engagement, The Center for Community Engagement & Learning was established by the University of Alaska Board of Regents in 2000. It resides within the UAA Office of Academic Affairs and is accountable to the Senior Vice Provost.

CCEL Director Job Description
The Director will lead the Center in the development and expansion of its mission, provide administrative oversight of its activities, programs, and staff, and will direct activities associated with the evaluation of community engagement. Responsibilities include working with the Senior Vice Provost, faculty, and the advisory board to identify, develop, and support service-learning and community-engaged research courses, projects, and curricula; supervising personnel; managing fiscal and other resources; and working with colleagues within the university and public and private sector partners. The successful candidate will devote time to teaching, research, and service in their discipline.

Applicants must have experience with service-learning courses and/or community-engaged research in a higher education environment, as well as demonstrated experience in (1) forging and maintaining community connections, (2) program development, management and assessment, (3) successful proposal writing for external funding, and (4) faculty development, student mentoring, interdisciplinary teaching, program and curriculum development. Competitive candidates will demonstrate successful partnerships with diverse community agencies, and possess excellent oral and written communication skills.

Specific responsibilities include:

• Assist faculty through consultation, mentoring, and facilitation to integrate community-engaged learning and research into existing courses and the development of new courses;
• Develop campus awareness of principles and best practices of effective and ethical university-community partnerships and the scholarship of engagement;
• Manage, coordinate, and monitor a network of Center relationships and partnerships;
• Oversee, plan, and serve as primary representative for UAA’s community-engaged learning and research at local, national, and international levels;
• Develop, write, and administer grants from public and private sources to support the advancement of community-university partnerships and community-engaged learning;
• Allocate resources to faculty and students involved in community-engaged learning;
• Increase campus-wide community-engaged learning and research activities;
• Assess the impact of community-engaged activities on students, faculty, and community partners;
• Teach and develop curriculum within the undergraduate Certificate for Civic Engagement.

This is a ten-month appointment. Option for fixed term or tenure track faculty appointment commensurate with candidate’s qualifications.

A master’s degree is required, with terminal degree or PhD preferred (discipline open). UAA is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer. Candidates with diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds are strongly encouraged to apply.

Information about UAA may be found at www.uaa.alaska.edu. Information about the CCEL may be found at www.uaa.alaska.edu/engage. To apply, go to http://www.uaa.alaska.edu/humanresources/employment/index.cfm

Filed under: LA Auto Show, Convertible, Coupe, Performance, Dodge

The 2010 model year marks the last run of the 600-hp Dodge Viper. To keep performance (and consumer interest) high for the next 12 months, the automaker is adding new colors, enhancing performance and releasing several limited-edition models.

Standard Viper SRT10 models receive two new exterior colors: Toxic Orange Pearl Coat and Bright Silver Metallic Clear Coat. A new shorter fifth gear ratio (changing from .74 to .80) improves high speed acceleration (the 0-200 mph run drops by 14 seconds). The track-bred ACR models get a new short-throw shifter, and new aerodynamic tweaks to the rear wing lower drag while improving downforce (top speed bumps up to 184 mph on the ACR model).

As of today, the automaker has announced the first two special variants of the Viper, and they promise more will come. The Dodge Viper ACR 1:33 Edition, paying tribute to the record-setting run at Laguna Seca, is identified by its unique two-tone Black Clear Coat/Red Clear Coat exterior color (the opposite of the original Viper ACR color). Other cosmetic enhancements include piano black console bezels with red gauge highlights and red stitching on the seats. The Vooodoo-edition Viper ACR gets an all Black Clear Coat exterior with a Graphite stripe outlined in red. Talk about exclusivity – only 10 cars will be produced with the unique striping on both the exterior and steering wheel. You can check out both limited edition models in our live gallery below and read Dodge’s press release after the jump.

[Source: Dodge]

Continue reading LA 2009: Dodge Viper enters final year with tweaks and first two limited-edition models

LA 2009: Dodge Viper enters final year with tweaks and first two limited-edition models originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 02 Dec 2009 12:48:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Firefox has certainly been a success story both for open source software, but also for the web at large. But, despite its rising user numbers, it still has some catching up to do to reach Internet Explorer’s adoption worldwide. In Germany, though, it’s a different story and a new study by local consulting firm Fittkau and Maass shows that Firefox is now the most popular browser in the country, surpassing IE’s market share if only by a small margin.

All versions of the open-source web browser now add up to a 45.6-percent market share just over IE’s 44.4 percent. Firefox has seen a steady rise in the country since it was launched a little over five years ago, while Microsoft’s browsers saw a sharp decline over the same period. What’s even more interesting is that all of the other ‘popular’ browsers, Opera, Chrome, Safari, etc., combined manage to get just 9.5 percent of the market, showing just how different things are in Germany in this respect.

Things get even more clear-cut when comparing individual versions of the browser. Firefox 3 (including 3.5) leads by a very wide margin, reaching 44.2 percent of the Internet users in Germany, almost as much as all IE versions put together. Firefox 2 users and the few that are bound to still be using Firefox 1 add up to just 1.4 percent. Firefox 3 is followed by Internet Explorer 8, which gets 25.5 percent of the … (read more)

The overall delinquency rate among commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) rose 85 bps to 5.65% in November, from 4.8% a month earlier, according to a monthly report by CMBS and commercial mortgage information provider Trepp.

The share of delinquent lodging loans — including hotels — jumped from 8.67% in October to 14.09% in November.

Read the whole thing at HousingWire >>

Join the conversation about this story »

See Also:

• Albany Woman Closes Down Successful Cafe To Pursue Opportunities In Distressed Commercial Real Estate
• Fitch: Life Insurers Will Be Rocked By $16 Billion Losses On Commercial Real Estate
• Bill Ackman Has Made An $800 Million Killing On Bankrupt Commercial Real Estate (GGP)

Filed under: Performance, Etc., Videos, Lexus, Toyota

If Motor Mavens legitimately got a call from a well-placed friend and truly snuck in to fiddle with a $400,000 car that’s ostensibly in trustworthy care, we apologize, but it smells really staged from here. It doesn’t matter, though, the LFA looks fantastic in this video, and the LCD gauges are cool to watch in action. That’s the real value of this video, watching the interior come alive like the bridge of some kind of spaceship.

Damon talked about the way the gauges animate to display different information, but watching the display slide around makes us want to be the guy sitting in the driver’s seat, twiddling all the buttons with meaty, indiscriminate paws. The entirety of the car is as worthy of “dude, check this out” as you’d expect from a supercar-class vehicle. Check it out after the jump, and let us know if we’re being too suspicious.

We’re just having trouble with details like interested-looking parties reflected in the window of the opening shot, and the fact that it’s supposed to be poor quality, but looks pretty decent and apparently, when you drop everything and run out of the house, you take the time to call a cameraman. Now, if you’ll excuse us, we have to go line our winter hats with tinfoil. Thanks for the tip, Michael!

Photos copyright (C)2009 Damon Lavrinc / Weblogs, Inc.
[Source: Motor Mavens]

Continue reading VIDEO: Lexus LFA illicitly investigated by fanboy in secret warehouse

VIDEO: Lexus LFA illicitly investigated by fanboy in secret warehouse originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 02 Dec 2009 12:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Maya turns the Skruvska swivel chair into quite a stunner.   
“I bought a badly-scuffed white Skruvsta office chair in the “scratch-and-dent” section of Ikea in Israel, as well as some fabric remnants. I used these remnants to recover this chair entirely, adding some extra padding to the chair cushion. I initially covered it without batting, but the seams of the chair showed through, so I covered the entire chair with a layer of batting… and now it feels much cushier! I fitted the fabric to the chair by stapling it on and drawing the outlines of the pieces I wanted to sew, then pulling out the staples and sewing the pieces of the cover together. It’s stapled down on the bottom but the cover would not be hard to remove and wash. Now the chair makes me smile whenever I see it, and it’s more comfortable to boot.”

Brooklyn, New York | Musical Wonders

New York is full of classical music halls, the Metropolitan Opera House, Carnegie Hall, but perhaps the most interesting venue for chamber music is on the hull of an old barge.

BargeMusic is a unique venue moored under the Brooklyn Bridge in Dumbo, Brooklyn. Dumbo (an acronym meaning Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass) is an area of Brooklyn that in the 1880s was full of industrial buildings, most notably home to the Brillo company which made steel wool. Today Dumbo, though still dwarfed by the Manhattan and Brooklyn bridges, is home to design studios, pricey condos, and hip venues. But the 100-foot barge, built in 1899, started with a rather less chichi task then the one it occupies today. It carried hand-loaded sacks of coffee for the Erie Lackawanna Railroad.

The barge was renovated in 1977 by Olga Bloom and family. Staten Island’s maritime scrap yard helped Olga out with her ambitious project by providing paneling, mahogany stripping and benches from the retired original Staten Island Ferry, The American Legion.

Referred to as New York City’s “Floating Concert Hall”, BargeMusic features established and emerging artists and is known for its excellent acoustics, intimate setting and great view of the Manhattan skyline. Considered a must see for both music and barge aficionados alike.

Milano, Italy | Optical Oddities

Many famous architects and painters participated in creating the wonders of renaissance Italy, but it takes special kind of talent to fit a big church on a tiny plot.

Donato Bramante was such a man. In 1472 Duke Galeazzo Maria Sforza of Milan commissioned a new church for his city. His ambitions were great but the location available to him was limited by the presence of a busy street. The choir, the space behind the altar, had to be truncated, making the church awkwardly short. Undeterred by such an obstacle, Bramante devised an ingenious solution. He painted an optical illusion.

Trompe-l’œil, or architectural optical illusion was popular in late renaissance and baroque, but Bramante took the visual deception to an entirely new level. Standing at the entrance of the edifice one has an impression of a much deeper space, extending further behind the altar than is physically possible. The optical illusion is helped by the somewhat predictable light conditions inside the building. The illusion, of course, quickly disappears as one steps aside from the main axis of the church, but step back and the magic reappears. Like religious belief itself, correctly seeing Bramante’s Santa Maria presso San Satiro church is all about perspective and faith.

It’s the heart of the Primal Blueprint: understanding that our lifestyle factors direct influence the expression of our genetic code. While the DNA itself is set, the structure fixed, that’s hardly the end of the story – our story. How we live – even where we live – holds significant sway over the final picture. And by picture I mean, of course, the picture of our genes’ activity: when proteins are produced (and how much), when or whether certain genes are turned on or off. This activity, researchers are increasingly finding, is key in the development – or avoidance – of any number of conditions like Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s and cancer. Rather than a predetermined formula simply set in motion in the womb, our genes demonstrate a much more complex, nuanced interplay. The sum of all our daily choices and exposures direct our epigenetic signaling and the course laid out by that ongoing sequence of gene activity. As I’ve said many a time, our original genetic heritage doesn’t design our physiological fate. How we live determines how our genes play out their hand. No doubt a powerful concept, the comprehension can take us by surprise. The quickly expanding field of epigenetics has, indeed, rewritten old school genetics. It’s even ruffled a few feathers here and there, but isn’t that always the case with new breakthroughs?

As scientists study the physical principles (e.g. methylation, etc.) behind gene expression, they’re also able to examine what in the environment incites the switch flipping, so to speak. Of course, our bodies are in constant interaction with any number of influences in our environment. We take in air, food, and water – as well as the extraneous substances contained in them. We use medications and personal hygiene products. We lick the adhesive to seal an envelope. The list goes on and on. A few months ago members of the National Academies met for a workshop entitled “Use of Emerging Science and Technologies to Explore Epigenetic Mechanisms Underlying the Developmental Basis for Disease.” (Check out the full program online for yourself.) The workshop was part of the Emerging Science for Environmental Health Decisions initiative and standing committee within the National Academies. In a nutshell, the group focused on the demonstrated influence environmental toxins exhibit on gene expression as well as the impact this evidence should have on public education and regulation of these substances.

Compounds that may not appear dramatically or immediately harmful on a cellular level nonetheless trigger significant havoc on an epigenetic level, throwing off normal methylization patterns and causing the dysregulation of microRNAs, which direct gene expression. Among the implicated substances presenters highlighted were tobacco carcinogens, asbestos, ionizing radiation, arsenic, nickel, cadmium, benzene and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs – components of common air pollution). Early/in utero exposure to these chemicals appears most destructive. As one presenter noted (PDF), in utero exposure to PAHs, for example, has been identified as a significant “risk factor” for childhood asthma. Although in utero exposure has been identified as a particularly “critical period” for epigenetic impact, it doesn’t mean we’re out of the woods as soon as we’re out of the womb. Researchers are examining the possibility of other “critical periods” and emphasize (PDF) the ongoing vulnerability to epigenetic alteration throughout life. The real problem with exposure to many of these substances isn’t the immediate impact on cells but the previously unseen changes to genes’ subsequent activity throughout an individual’s lifetime. Genes are silenced and lose their ability to manage the production of proteins for ongoing cell function and repair. Others are activated when they shouldn’t be. The resulting complement of abnormal down-regulation and overexpression can set the stage for cancer, metabolic disease and neurological impairment. Researchers have already begun to identify epigenetic changes that foretell cancer development.

It will be interesting to follow how this conversation continues to unfold in the scientific and public policy arenas. Although these issues aren’t exactly at the forefront of the mainstream media or public classrooms, the information is out there. Individual knowledge is personal power. While scientists continue their research and officials from every sphere wrangle over the public implications of these findings, we can start making decisions in the here and now. Just as negative experiences and exposures have the ability to instigate damaging epigenetic changes, our positive efforts can support normal epigenetic patterns by providing the healthy conditions our bodies expect and by counteracting the environmental challenges our modern bodies encounter each day in traffic, in our food supply, in the stress of work, and so on. Eating a clean diet, minimizing emotional tension, exercising smartly, and supplementing wisely can go a long way to reducing our exposure to modern toxins and offsetting their influence.

Let me know what you think. Send your comments and questions. Thanks for reading.

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Related posts:

1. Dear Mark: Gene Expression
2. Gene Expression: Location, Location, Location
3. Epigenetics and Depression

For years we’ve all heard the stories about how bad the major labels are at accounting for royalties they owe bands. There have certainly been a large number of lawsuits from artists claiming that this rather opaque accounting system is used to hide money from musicians, with various multi-platinum selling musicians claiming they never saw a dime of royalties from their albums, thanks to major label accounting. This is, of course, rather amazing in this day and age where technology allows for amazingly accurate accounting practices — even for massively complex operations. But, then again, these are the major labels we’re talking about, and they’re often proud of their technical cluelessness.

Still, it’s quite interesting to see a blog post, sent in by Quentin Hartman and written by the singer for the band Too Much Joy, Tim Quirk. Quirk is in an interesting position. Having been a moderately successful major label artist who is now an executive at digital music company Rhapsody, he’s seen different sides of the business — and in his must-read blog post, he details the absolute fiction that is a royalty statement from Warner Music Group — leading to the flat-out false claim that Too Much Joy earned a grand total of $62.47 in digital royalties over five years across their three Warner albums. You really should read the whole thing, as it’s quite detailed about how the major labels view most bands on their roster.

Back to my ridiculous Warner Bros. statement. As I flipped through its ten pages (seriously, it took ten pages to detail the $62.47 of income), I realized that Warner wasn’t being evil, just careless and unconcerned — an impression I confirmed a few days later when I spoke to a guy in their Royalties and Licensing department I am going to call Danny.

I asked Danny why there were no royalties at all listed from iTunes, and he said, “Huh. There are no domestic downloads on here at all. Only streams. And it has international downloads, but no international streams. I have no idea why.” I asked Danny why the statement only seemed to list tracks from two of the three albums Warner had released — an entire album was missing. He said they could only report back what the digital services had provided to them, and the services must not have reported any activity for those other songs. When I suggested that seemed unlikely — that having every track from two albums listed by over a dozen different services, but zero tracks from a third album listed by any seemed more like an error on Warner’s side, he said he’d look into it. As I asked more questions (Why do we get paid 50% of the income from all the tracks on one album, but only 35.7143% of the income from all the tracks on another? Why did 29 plays of a track on the late, lamented MusicMatch earn a total of 63 cents when 1,016 plays of the exact same track on MySpace earned only 23 cents?) he eventually got to the heart of the matter: :”We don’t normally do this for unrecouped bands,” he said. “But, I was told you’d asked.”

As you hopefully know, with a major record label, the band gets an advance to record the album. From then on, the label no longer pays the band anything. Even though the band accrues royalties on albums sold, those royalties simply go towards repaying the advance. Most label bands never fully repay the advance, and are thus considered “unrecouped.” This does not mean (as record label defenders will claim) that such bands were money losers for the label. The labels still take their own hefty cut from any album sales. They just also hang onto the tiny fraction of album sales that are officially designated for the actual musicians.

Basically, what Quirk notes, is that whether through malice or indifference (or a combination of both), the general major label attitude towards “unrecouped” bands is that the accounting is meaningless, so they don’t even bother. That means they make massive mistakes — such as the time Warner just happened to make a $10,000 mistake in Warner’s favor, and then mocked Quirk for even caring about such a measly sum.

Now, when it came to digital revenue, for most artists, Warner apparently doesn’t even bother to tell artists what their digital royalties are. They’re unrecouped, so it doesn’t matter in the minds of Warner execs. Quirk, by nature of also being an industry exec was able to (thanks to a chance meeting at a conference and 13 months of waiting) get Warner to agree to detail his digital earnings. But, because the band is unlikely to pay off the nearly $400,000 in “unrecouped” advance money, basically Warner did a slipshod job of it all. What this tells you is that Warner either has no serious accounting system to track this sort of thing or has mastered the art of obfuscating everything and purposely acting like their accounting department is run by six-year-olds. I’m not sure which is scarier.

Now, Quirk is reasonably clear that he’s just as likely to attribute all of this to a combination of indifference and incompetence than to malice — and there’s nothing to indicate otherwise. But, you do have to ask how seriously anyone can take any of the ridiculous numbers that Warner Music Group or the RIAA toss around concerning the music industry and “losses” due to “piracy” and such, when it can’t even put together an accounting system that can track (let alone accurately count) the most basic information that it is contractually obligated to both track and report. It also should highlight, for any bands who still actually think signing a major record label contract makes sense, how little regard major labels like Warner Music Group actually have for most of the artists on their label. As Quirk notes in discussing the $10,000 error:

When I caught this mistake, and brought it to the attention of someone with the power to correct it, he wasn’t just befuddled by my anger — he laughed at it. “$10,000 is nothing!” he chuckled.

If you’re like most people — especially people in unrecouped bands — “nothing” is not a word you ever use in conjunction with a figure like “$10,000,” but he seemed oblivious to that. “It’s a rounding error. It happens all the time. Why are you so worked up?”

So, perhaps, the next time that Warner Music claims that it deserves $22,500 for a “pirated” song, someone will point out that according to Warner Music’s own accountants, such numbers are really just a “rounding error” and there’s no need to pay them. Somehow, I get the feeling that Warner Music will take a different view on such numbers about then.

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Filed under: Europe, Saab, Earnings/Financials, Rumormill

As General Motors suddenly finds itself in search for a new CEO to replace Fritz Henderson, it is also looking to secure a buyer for perennially troubled Saab. GM originally thought it had a new parent for the brand in Koenigsegg, but after that deal went sour, Detroit officials confirmed that it they would give themselves up until the end of the year to find a new buyer instead of simply shutting Saab down.

A number of parties have expressed interest in purchasing the brand since that time, and it has now been confirmed that the Swedish marque has another supercar-building pursuer: Spyker. The Netherlands-based exotic manufacturer has just issued a brief statement confirming that it – along with its shareholders at the Convers Group – has indeed “expressed an interest in Saab Automobile AB” (text available after the jump). Spyker has never been a brand short of ambition (remember its ill-fated Formula One effort?), but taking on Saab would be its most ambitious undertaking yet.

In related news, marque website Saab History is reporting that the US-based Merbanco group has not been chosen by GM as a possible purchaser. According to the SH, Merbanco CEO Christopher Johnston released a statement to the enthusiast group that says:

“As most of you know, we ride with the brand, the fit was good, and were up to the challenges ahead. It is now time for us to depart the field and support the company and its outstanding people.

We are grateful to all of you, fellow Saab enthusiasts and the Saab team for the support you have us. It will never be forgotten. Heartfelt thanks, Ryan and friends for your support.”

(Saab History had previously conducted an interview with Johnston, the contents of which you can find here.)

Interestingly, UK buff book Autocar is reporting that yesterday’s ousting of Fritz Henderson could stem from the exec’s apparent desire to close Saab, a viewpoint that was evidently not shared by the rest of GM’s board. We suspect there were a whole host of issues that led to Henderson’s resignation, but it’s likely that GM’s trustees would prefer to offload the brand rather than incur substantial shutdown costs. Call it a “potential contributing factor,” if you will.

Either way, do you think Saab will survive this tumult? Drop us a line in ‘Comments.’

[Sources: Spyker; Saab History; Autocar; Automotive News]

Continue reading Merbanco out, Spyker in as Saab bidding heats up. Was Fritz axed because he wanted Saab closed?

Merbanco out, Spyker in as Saab bidding heats up. Was Fritz axed because he wanted Saab closed? originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 02 Dec 2009 12:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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One of the two leading countries in greenhouse gas producers, along with the United States, China is vowing to slow the growth of its carbon emissions.


The two countries account for roughly 40% of worldwide emissions.


Only a day after President Obama promised to attend the Copenhagen summit where he is expected to propose substantial U.S.
greenhouse gas cuts, the Chinese government announced it would reduce its “carbon intensity” – the amount of greenhouse gas it emits relative to its gross domestic product – by 40 to 45% below 2005 levels by 2020.



Obama announced last week the U.S. would propose cutting emissions 17% below 2005 levels by 2020 – a plan in line with the Waxman-Markey climate bill which passed the House in June. A Senate bill would slash emissions by 20 % but it is still in committee and will likely be amended before reaching the floor.


The European Union has agreed to cut emissions 24% from 2005 levels by 2020, as long as other countries outside the 27-nation bloc make substantial cuts of their own.


China’s plan differs from those offered by the U.S. and the E.U. in that it doesn’t pledge to reduce emissions, but rather slow their growth rate.


Environmental experts welcomed the news, but were still cautious.


“There’s no question their (China) carbon emissions would continue to grow under this scenario” said Charlie McElwee, and international and energy lawyer based in Shanghai. “This isn’t by any means an agreement by China to either cap, much less reduce, the amount of their carbon emissions. It’s only slowing down the rate at which emissions are growing” he added.

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related.posts:

1. World Growth International: Forestry Reduces Emissions and Promotes Economic Growth
2. China Tops List of Worldwide Polluters
3. Copenhagen Climate Conference: Day 3

During the holidays it’s easy to get caught up in all the hustle and bustle, and forget about the world going on around you and the impact you might have. This holiday season challenge yourself to find some simple ways to make a positive difference in the world around you.

There are many ways you can make a positive impact. Think about how the small and simple changes in your life you can make to make a difference. Here are a few I came up with, feel free to add to yours to the list by adding them to the comment section.

• Focus more on the local. In a global economy it can be easy to order whatever your heart desires from the other side of the globe, but why not try to buy locally? Food is one big thing you can purchase locally whenever possible. We have a local turkey farm that raises their turkeys free range and organic, so we make sure we support that farmer, especially around the holidays. Local crafters and artisans would also benefit from your support when you shop for your gifts locally.
• Volunteer to help out those that are less fortunate than you. If you seem to be struggling yourself with bills, or being able to purchase all the gifts you’d like to, put it all into perspective by volunteering to help at your local food or clothing bank. Spending just a few hours is a good example of simple things you can do to make a positive difference. The experience can put things in perspective and help you be thankful for the things you do have.
• Remember it’s the thought that counts when you’re selecting gifts. You don’t have to spend big money on a gift for it to be appreciated. You can select a smaller thoughtful gift, or make something yourself that will be cherished by the receiver just as much (maybe more) than that high priced gadget you have your eye on.
• Give back to your community. Besides volunteering, you can also give back to your community by donating your extras. If you have unused, or gently used toys, or clothing, or extra food in your pantry, why not donate it to someone who needs it?
• Change your attitude. A positive attitude can go a long way. You’ll be surprised at the changes you can make in others just by using a positive attitude. The next time a store clerk is rubbing you the wrong way on a bad day, just smile and wish them a great day. Just maybe their day is going worse than yours and they could use the well wishes.
• Remember what you have and what you’re thankful for. Sometimes it’s easier to focus on what we want, and we don’t take the time to focus on the wonderful things we already have. Slow down and think about what you have. This is a good time of the year to sit down and take a minute to write down all the things you’re thankful for.

Be more conscious of the world around you and the impact you have on them. Sometimes small and simple changes in your own behavior can make a positive difference in the world around you.

Image (c) L Gerlach

This post is sponsored by Tom’s of Maine.

Post from: Blisstree

Simple Ways To Make A Positive Difference

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