Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Neanderthals everywhere mourn: G.M. to Close Hummer

DETROIT %u2014 Hummer, the brand of big sport-utility vehicles that became synonymous with the term %u201Cgas guzzler,%u201D is being shut down after a deal to sell it to a Chinese manufacturer fell apart, General Motors said Wednesday.

G.M. said only that its planned sale of Hummer to the Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machines Company %u201Ccannot be completed,%u201D without giving a reason, but the $150 million deal had been stalled as the companies awaited approval from the Chinese government. G.M. had been trying to sell Hummer for a year, and struck a preliminary deal with Tengzhong last June.

The two companies had planned to close the deal by the end of January, then delayed the deadline by a month in the hopes of getting the green light from China.

%u201CWe have since considered a number of possibilities for Hummer along the way, and we are disappointed that the deal with Tengzhong could not be completed," John Smith, G.M.%u2019s vice president of corporate planning and alliances, said in a statement. "G.M. will now work closely with Hummer employees, dealers and suppliers to wind down the business in an orderly and responsible manner."

It was the third time since G.M. emerged from bankruptcy protection last year that a deal to sell one of its unwanted brands collapsed. The company is shutting down Saturn after a sale fell through, and it began to halt operations at Saab after an agreement with Koenigsegg AB in Sweden was called off. G.M. later reached an agreement with a Dutch company, Spyker Cars; that deal closed Tuesday.

G.M. also is closing Pontiac but it never attempted to sell that brand.

G.M. said it still would honor Hummer warranties and provide service and parts to current Hummer owners worldwide. Hummer has nearly 400 dealerships globally.

The deal would have made Tengzhong the first Chinese company to sell vehicles in North America, though it planned to keep Hummer%u2019s operations in the United States.

...and people of conscience everywhere rejoice.

Posted via web from Yes, That Bob West

Friday, February 19, 2010

Fascist Pervs, Inc.: School accused of off-campus Webcam spying

The appropriate resolution to this?

Jail time.

Posted via web from Yes, That Bob West

Saturday, February 13, 2010

A Brief History of Pretty Much Everything

So it turns out that doodling in class can IMPROVE your grades! This is a great example of straight-on flipbook-style animation. Crude in some ways, but sophisticated in others. And definitely fun!

Posted via web from Yes, That Bob West

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Just for fun -- fourfour: Mirror Scare: A supercut

Cliches don't work because they're so overused. But sometimes they do work, for the same reason. (Hey, I have no answers here. Just making an observation.) Here's a bunch of cliches -- horror / thriller / suspense movie mirror scares -- cut together into a series. Which is, in itself, a cliche, which could be called a "Workman". (Hey, did I just coin that?) Regardless, enjoy!

Posted via web from Yes, That Bob West

Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Dick Cavett Meets John Wayne Meets... Noel Coward?

Dick CavettDick Cavett on his career in television.

(Warning: Good friends have refused to believe a word of what I’m about to relate. Your credulity is about to be strained.)

The setting was the Universal lot in Hollywood, and I was preparing a prime-time special to be called “Dick Cavett’s Backlot U.S.A.” We’d somehow lured Mae West out of her most recent retirement. We had Mickey Rooney and Gene Kelly. We needed another big-name guest.
Someone came in with a message and casually dropped the words, “The Duke is shooting over on the Western street.”

John Wayne during a scene from the 1976 movie “The Shootist.”Associated Press John Wayne during a scene from the 1976 movie “The Shootist.”

Astonishing, hilarious, and idol-reinforcing. A must-read for fans of any of the three celebs in the title!

Posted via web from Yes, That Bob West

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Henrietta Lacks’ ‘Immortal’ Cells | Smithsonian Magazine

An absolutely fascinating, compelling story, from both scientific and human standpoints.

The new book is "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks", by Rebecca Skloot.

Posted via web from Yes, That Bob West

Monday, February 1, 2010

The eBook Wars, Part 2 - Amazon to Macmillan: You Win (for Now)

Note Amazon's language here: "Macmillan has a monopoly over their own titles..."

A "monopoly" isn't the correct term. Macmillan simply has exclusive rights to the titles. But Amazon chose to use a word that has extremely negative connotations for consumers, in an attempt to paint Macmillan in the most negative light possible.

Now, I'm not siding with Macmillan here, and I'm certainly no lawyer, but I have to wonder if Macmillan's legal types might toy with the idea of a business libel suit. Maybe that one word's not enough, and maybe Macmillan is happy enough that they won the round... But to me, that's a little more than plain-vanilla spin.

I'm just sayin'.

Posted via web from Yes, That Bob West