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36 minutes ago
p-- ba href="http://www.google.com/intl/en/press/pressrel/20081203_hallmarkchannel.html"
title="Google TV Ads' Hallmark moment"Google TV Ads' Hallmark moment/a/b: Google (a
href="http://finance.paidcontent.org/paidcontent?Page=QUOTETicker=GOOG" class="ticker"
title="GOOG"NSDQ: GOOG/a) TV Ads has convinced cable nets Hallmark Channel and Hallmark Movie
Channel to set aside a portion of their respective inventories for the search giant's self-serve,
targeted ads system on EchoStar (a
href="http://finance.paidcontent.org/paidcontent?Page=QUOTETicker=SATS" class="ticker"
title="SATS"NSDQ: SATS/a). The partnership comes just as the family-friendly Hallmark nets gear up
programming and promotions for the holiday season. The arrangement also shows Google TV Ads' gift
for timing: just as the financial markets cratered two months ago, Google TV Ads said it had struck
a a
href="http://www.paidcontent.org/entry/419-nbcus-digital-health-net-strikes-video-deal-with-six-distributors-googl"
title="similar addressable TV deal"similar addressable TV deal/a with Bloomberg TV. /p p -- ba
href="http://adage.com/article?article_id=132778" title="Widgets and branded fly-swatters"Widgets
and branded fly-swatters/a/b: AdAge columnist Bob Garfield loves widget as ad tools. The very idea
sends him racing to compare branded apps to the joys of receiving ballpoint pens, calendars and
refrigerator magnets with marketers' names emblazoned across them. If only advertisers shared his
ardor, as widget ads will attract a miserly $100 million in spending. The problem is, according to
Mediassociates' Ben Kunz, is that these "magical items" are being oversold to marketers who don't
understand how best to use them. /p p -- ba
href="http://www.adweek.com/aw/content_display/news/agency/e3ib1405eaa568fd52dbb52450f000f8fda"
title="Nat Geo signs up for Nielsen set-top box measurement"Nat Geo signs up for Nielsen set-top
box measurement/a/b: Nielsen Media Research has got its first customer for its set-top box audience
analysis offering, DigitalPlus. National Geographic Channel will be the first official user to
access DigitalPlus' "second-by-second ratings analyses" that promises a more detailed look at
whether consumers are switching the dial during commercials and programs. /p p -- ba
href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/03/business/media/03adco.html?ref=media" title="Creative ads
get the automated treatment"Creative ads get the automated treatment/a/b: As display ads wilt in
the face of search ads' great targetability, companies like Adisn and Tumri are creating ads that
can be changed in color and tone to better attract consumers based on behavioral and contextual
targeting. While the two companies have been working with big name brands, Madison Ave. has been
naturally slow to embrace this approach to digital creativity.nbsp; /p piCheck out the best
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 |
Pros Apologian -
2 hours and 49 minutes ago
James White
When I invest time and energy in a particular topic, I truly try to do so for reasons as
non-political as possible. And my engagement of TJ316C (The John 3:16 Conference) has been for
the very same reasons that motivated me to write The Potter's Freedom. As a result, I
really have not been looking to see what else is going on in the blogosphere concerning this. The
few things I've noted were pointed out to me by participants in my chat channel. But this morning
my RSS feed picked up Timmy Brister's timeline of events. My name appears most often, but I
followed some of the other links and found some fascinating material. I was unaware that the
chart that had been used at the Conference was actually produced by Tony Byrne, the chief source
of the false accusation against me of hyper-Calvinism. In a comment Mr. Byrne left on Brister's
blog he wrote the following:
Also, consider this: Where are the Calvinistic bloggers who are even slightly supportive or glad
that my chart was distributed to all those attending the conference (about 800)? I did it to help
them all (even the speakers) to accurately understand the theological and historical differences
among the varieties of Calvinism and Arminianism. Think of it: If the non-Calvinists read it
carefully, they will not be so prone to straw man orthodox Calvinism (whether moderate or high)
as hyper-Calvinism. They will have no grounds for portraying Calvinists as if they do not believe
1) God loves all mankind, that 2) God desires the salvation of all mankind in his revealed will,
that 3) God is gracious to all mankind, that 4) the Gospel should be offered to all mankind, that
5) some Calvinists actually believe that Christ suffered for the sins of mankind, that 6) most
Calvinists affirm some sense of ability (natural) in the unregenerate, that 7) all orthodox
Calvinists believe that men are evangelically responsible to believe.
Let's look at the points Tony posted. 1) Yes, God does, but God's love is not
monolithic, right, Tony? Can Tony Byrne affirm that the love of God for the elect, i.e.,
redemptive love, is particular? Can God, like man, have different kinds of love? And would those
at the Conference recognize the difference? Would Tony affirm, with me, that God will not be
standing on the parapets of hell for eternity mourning the loss of the object of His eternal,
redeeming love? Would those at the Conference?
2) Please note Tony's own addition/modification in this, the key issue in the false accusation
made by David Allen regarding me: "in his revealed will." Is that not what I have said from day
one, indeed, for years, even in my arguments against hyper-Calvinists? "God commands men
everywhere to repent." It is part and parcel of God's revealed will that all men are to repent
and believe. Every single one, man, woman, and child. All are held accountable to this command.
So as far as "God's law reveals God's will" can take us (and it can take us only so far, as I
have explained over and over again), then "God wills the salvation of all men." Tony knows this,
and Tony knows that I believe it. So, why is my further concern not to attribute to God the
irrationality of decreeing Himself into eternal depression such a problem for him? Why is my
refusal to attribute to the heart of the Triune God an eternal contradiction the sign of
"hyper-Calvinism"? The very portion of my Dividing Line broadcast which Tony transcribed
and provided to David Allen to function as his defense for the false accusation of
hyper-Calvinism makes it painfully clear that I am addressing the idea of making unfulfilled
desires and hence eternal disappointment for God the context of my comments! I can see why
David Allen would misunderstand what I was saying, but why would Tony Byrne? What is
more, would the attendees at the Conference agree with Byrne's distinction regarding the revealed
will of God and the decree of God? Would they not accuse Byrne of the very same error they accuse
me of? I think they would. But for the last time (since you can only say the same thing so many
times), I agree with what Tony says here. Enough of the silly controversy over that!
3) He surely is, for unless I am misreading my entire world news RSS feed this morning, He could
wipe this planet clean in justice at any moment, to be sure!
4) The Gospel should be and must be not just "offered" to all mankind! The Gospel contains offer,
and pleading, yes, but all in the context of command! God command men everywhere to
repent!
5) Yes, some Calvinists do. I do not believe God the Father would pour out His wrath in
perfection upon His Son with no end or intention in sight. I see this as a violation of the
biblical teaching concerning the work of the High Priest, the perfection of His offering, and the
work of His as mediator. And I would ask Tony Byrne: does Jesus mediate for the non-elect? Does
He stand in the presence of the Father pleading the blood He shed for them, knowing full well
that in the eternal decree of the Triune God it had been decided that those individuals would
never be saved?
6) I am uncertain what this specifically means outside of the obvious fact that all Calvinists I
know of ascribe tremendous ability/capacity to the will of the unregenerate man: such a
man will always resist God's truth and will suppress that truth in rebellion. The will of man in
sin will always oppose God and delight in error. The synergists' assertion that "dead in sin"
means "inactive" has been refuted over and over again.
7) Which is why I proclaimed Christ and the necessity of faith to him to all the Muslims in
London just a few weeks ago, and have done the same with Mormons in Salt Lake City and Roman
Catholics and Jehovah's Witnesses, etc. and etc., in all sorts of places and contexts.
So, according to Tony Bryne, I'm just a plain ol' Calvinist. Maybe Tony will call up David Allen
now and we can get back to the key issue: the utter lack of meaningful biblical exegesis
presented by the speakers at TJ316C?
Finally, I read David Miller's letter to Jerry Vines (which Lumpkin very unfairly spun
against Tom Ascol). Since I was not at the conference it was interesting to read someone's take
who was, in fact, there. I was uncomfortable with some of the language used (as I'm sure some
have been with some of the analogies I've used on the DL), but it did show me some of my own
blind spots. For example, as I have been listening I have, somewhere in the back of my mind, been
making mental notes about the quality of the presentations. As I listened to Steve Lemke's
presentation I had noted that it was not very well done. Lots of pauses, disjointed, and just a
bit more than muddled. But I really don't focus on that very much, as my concern was the
substance more than the presentation. But I did find this comment from Miller describing
what I cannot hear (or even see on the DVDs) interesting:
This did however, provide a high level of entertainment as I watched Richard Land fall asleep on
at least 3 occasions during Dr. Lemke's sermon in which he departed from his assigned subject and
drudged on and on as the congregation got quieter and quieter.
I did at this point feel some compassion for yourself as I saw your rear-end at least 3 inches
off the pew giving Lemke physical signs of your discontent. I know it, you know it, and the Lord
knows it! You were sitting there wishing that he would sit down and hush.
I had to chuckle just a bit at that, especially since I have tried, over the years, to be the one
speaker who gets the whole thing back on track time wise when someone else just can't manage the
clock. And now as I think back over Lemke's presentation, I can see things in a little different
light.
I will be going over Lemke's attempts to promote the freedom of man in resisting God's salvific
grace on tomorrow's Dividing Line.
|
TechCrunch -
3 hours and 39 minutes ago
Group-hug health site DailyStrength is
being acquired by HSW
International, which operates HowStuffWorks in China and Brazil (but is a separate company).
Terms were not disclosed, but this has all the signs of a mercy sale.
DailyStrength has zero presence in China or Brazil. HSW
International plans on keeping the site up, but it’s main interest seems to be in
integrating DailyStrength’s social media technology platform on its international
informational sites.
DailyStrength was only ever able to attract about 700,000 unique visitors a month to its 500
health communities and self-help forums covering everything from weight loss to coping with
cancer. The company raised between $5 and $7 million from
Redpoint Ventures. We
reviewed it last year.
Crunch Network: CrunchBoard
because it’s time for you to find a new Job2.0
     |
BLABBERMOUTH.NET Latest News -
10 hours and 22 minutes ago
German technical death metal maestros CENTAURUS A have inked a deal with Listenable Records.
|
paidContent.org -
14 hours and 7 minutes ago
pimg src="http://paidcontent.org/images/uploads/sixsigma_thumb.jpg" alt="image" align="right"
width="130" height="165" /Nothing says serious about cost cutting and process quite like hiring a
CFO with a black belt in Six Sigma management. With or without the tanking economy, Google (a
href="http://finance.paidcontent.org/paidcontent?Page=QUOTETicker=GOOG" class="ticker"
title="GOOG"NSDQ: GOOG/a) has been heading towards maturing growth—you can't
keep up triple-digit growth or even double-digits indefinitely—and the addition
of McKinsey vet and Bell Canada planning exec Patrick Pichette as CFO a
href="http://www.paidcontent.org/entry/419-industry-moves-google-imports-new-cfo-pichette-from-bell-canada"in
August/a was one sign that cost containment was on the way. The slowing of online ad growth coupled
with the unexpected speed of the economic downturn has only accelerated Google's need to show
maturity of a different sort. That would explain tonight's a
href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122826503489174369.html?mod=yahoo_hsru=yahoo" title="long WSJ
article"long WSJ article/a about how Google is taking the responsible approach by cutting back on
its ubiquitous product approach—along with some of the food perks and redundant
offices. CEO Eric Schmidt told the Journal Google has to "behave as though we don't know" what's
coming. That means cutting what Schmidt calls the "dark matter"—"projects that
'haven't really caught on' and 'aren't really that exciting.'" Engineers may still get their 20
percent time but staffing and resources for their projects, particularly those without signs of
real revenue potential, will be much harder to come by. Google needs hits that make money, not just
headlines. /p p -- bNarrow investment focus/b: The top priorities include display and mobile
advertising and Google Apps. Schmidt told the Journal engineers and sales resources are being
diverted to those areas. The paper reports that projects at risk include Google Notebook and Google
Audio Indexing. /p p -- bAdding ads/b: Google hasn't started selling the classic front
page—some of the most expensive real estate left online. But it has added
advertising to Google Finance and will add it in some parts of Google News. /p p -- bHiring
(firing)/b:nbsp; Hiring continues but at a much slower pace. Google execs said this fall that the
company would cut back on contract workers, then numbering about 10,000. Still no specifics.nbsp;
/p pstrongRelated/strong/p ul class="related" lia
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title="Google Q3 Call: Outside, The Larger Economy Appears Dire, But Inside Google, Continued
Optimism"Google Q3 Call: Outside, The Larger Economy Appears Dire, But Inside Google, Continued
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CNN.com -
16 hours and 21 minutes ago
Asian and Pacific stocks were marginally up in early trading Wednesday after a volatile day on Wall
Street ended with a recharged rally as investors welcomed signs that the automakers might receive a
bailout.
|
Guardian Unlimited -
19 hours and 23 minutes ago
divimg alt=""
src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.15.1/88711?ns=guardianpageName=Politics%3A+Lie+detector+tests+to+catch+benefit+cheatsch=Politicsc3=The+Guardianc4=Queen%27s+speech%2CWelfare+%28Politics%29%2CLaw+%28News%29%2CState+benefits%2CMoney%2CSociety%2CSocial+exclusion+%28Society%29%2CPolitics%2CUK+newsc5=Society+Weekly%2CPersonal+Finance%2CUnclassified%2CNot+commercially+useful%2CSocial+Care+Societyc6=Patrick+Wintourc7=2008_12_03c8=1127796c9=articlec10=GUc11=Politicsc12=Queen%27s+speechc13=c14=h2=GU%2FPolitics%2FQueen%27s+speech"
width="1" height="1" //divpBenefit claimants will face lie detector tests and will lose benefits
for a month if found guilty of fiddling the system under proposals unveiled by Gordon Brown on the
eve of today's Queen's speech. /ppThe "one strike and you're out" proposal is contained in a tough
summary of the speech released yesterday by the Cabinet Office. The government is also proposing to
give the public clearer information, mainly via the internet, on how criminals are sentenced in
local courts. Communities are to be given a bigger role in deciding what form of community
punishment local criminals should be forced to undertake. /ppThe proposals mark a break by the
prime minister from his focus on the economic crisis for the past five months and suggest he knows
he needs to broaden his political agenda if he is to claw back lost votes. /ppThe introduction of a
lie detector test for benefit claimants is the most striking shift to a more populist programme,
similar to Tony Blair's respect agenda./ppSo far, 25 local councils administering housing benefit
to 500,000 claimants are using "voice risk analysis technology" to test whether a claimant is
providing false information./ppThe government introduced the technology in Harrow, north-west
London, last year, but says it plans to make the technology available nationwide. In the first
three months of using the technology Harrow saved pound;300,000, suggesting that levels of benefit
fraud may be higher than government estimates. Ministers are cracking down on benefit fraud even
though it is officially at its lowest recorded level, down 66% since 2001./ppThe government
currently withdraws 13 weeks of benefit from anyone found making a fraudulent claim twice in five
years, but said yesterday it intends to tighten this process by withdrawing four weeks' benefit for
first-time fraudsters. /ppThe benefit withdrawal will be taken against both those that suffer an
administrative penalty as well as those found guilty in a criminal court. Currently the Department
for Work and Pensions seeks court penalties only where the alleged fraud is worth more than
pound;2,000./ppIn other proposals in the Cabinet Office's paper, the power of public servants to
use force may be strengthened. The paper says: "The public looks to healthcare professionals,
neighbourhood wardens and teachers to deal with unacceptable behaviour in public places. /pp"If
they are not able to fulfil that role because they are not sure the law is on their side, or
because they do not see it as part of their job, that sends the wrong message about what we as a
society are prepared to tolerate."/ppIt also suggests most family intervention projects will grow
so they reach 20,000 families with the most severe difficulties. The paper also proposes an alcohol
code limiting "all you can drink" promotions, and setting conditions on premises in local
hotspots./ppLap dancing clubs will be reclassified as sex establishments, allowing councils greater
scope to close them./ppJames Purnell, the work and pensions secretary, was criticised yesterday for
plans disclosed on Monday night to tighten the requirements on lone parents and on disabled people
to do more to prepare themselves for work or face mounting benefit penalties./ppUnder Gordon Brown,
ministers have played down Blair's respect agenda, believing it played into the theme of a "broken
society" promoted by David Cameron. But there have been signs of a rethink over the past three
months. /ppThe Cabinet Office paper tries to put the emphasis on fair rules in the context of the
credit crunch. It says: "As everyone enters difficult economic times ... fair rules will become
more important. /pp"If people perceive that not everyone is treated equally, that some get
preferential treatment, that people who break the rules get away with it, respect for rules is
undermined."/pdiv style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"ullia
href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/queens-speech"Queen's speech/a/lilia
href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/welfare"Welfare/a/lilia
href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/law"Law/a/lilia
href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/statebenefits"State benefits/a/lilia
href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/socialexclusion"Social exclusion/a/li/ul/diva
href="http://www.guardian.co.uk"guardian.co.uk/a copy; Guardian News Media Limited 2008 | Use of
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Guardian Unlimited -
19 hours and 23 minutes ago
divimg alt=""
src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.15.1/43031?ns=guardianpageName=Business%3A+The+road+to+ruinch=Businessc3=The+Guardianc4=Automotive+industry+%28Business%29%2CGeneral+Motors%2CFord%2CBusiness%2CUS+economy+%28Business%29%2CUS+news%2CWorld+newsc5=Motoring%2CNot+commercially+useful%2CBusiness+Markets%2CUS+Economyc6=Ed+Pilkingtonc7=2008_12_03c8=1127737c9=articlec10=GUc11=Businessc12=Automotive+industryc13=c14=h2=GU%2FBusiness%2FAutomotive+industry"
width="1" height="1" //divpThe Ford plant in Highland Park, a city within the city of Detroit, is a
monument to the American automobile. It opened in 1910, and three years later pioneered the world's
first car assembly line. In 1925, it spewed out 9,000 Model Ts in a single day. The revolution that
turned America into a car-owning democracy had arrived. Today, there is ample evidence of that
revolution. The factory looks over a six-lane highway that is heavy with traffic from dawn to dusk.
Next door is a drive-thru McDonald's, where customers come to order Big Macs before rolling 50
metres to a drive-thru chemists to pick up indigestion tablets./ppThe story of the plant is told in
one of those green-and-gold heritage plaques erected by the main entrance. It says: "Mass
production soon moved from here to all phases of American industry and set the pattern of abundance
for 20th-century living." Pattern of abundance: the phrase reads like a sick joke, for the Ford
factory it describes is a shell of what it once was. Its red brick and granite walls still stand
proud, framed by decorative mosaics. But the windows are broken or boarded up, its ceilings have
gaping holes, the floor is covered in broken lumps of fallen plaster. On the roof, the flagpole
that for years flew the Stars and Stripes is rusty and bare./ppOther companies, other countries,
might have turned Henry Ford's factory of dreams into a museum rather than let it decay into the
pitiful wreck that it is today. But Ford, and its fellows in the Big Three - General Motors (GM)
and Chrysler - have enough to do staying alive without worrying about preserving the past. GM, the
giant of the three, has lost $73bn in the past three years; it is haemorrhaging $2bn a month. At
that rate it will run out of cash by the middle of next year and collapse by that year's end,
potentially bringing millions of workers down with it. Which is why the CEOs of the three giants
took their begging bowls to Washington earlier this month, pleading for a "bridging loan" of
$25bn./ppThey didn't get a warm reception. They were ridiculed by senators for having flown in
three separate corporate jets, an act that must rank among the most impressive PR disasters of the
decade. But what the senators and the largely hostile media coverage missed was that the miserable
condition of the Detroit car industry is not merely a comment on the failed leadership of its
corporate executives, though it is that. It is also a matter of personal survival for millions of
Americans who depend, directly or indirectly, on the revolution Henry Ford began 100 years
ago./ppNowhere is this more visible than in Detroit, the crucible of the Big Three. Half of GM's
100,000 workers live in the city, and they in turn support a spider's web of relatives, spin-off
industries and services. Detroit is really nothing but a company town. Hamtramckis a city within
the city that borders one of GM's main factories. When GM enjoyed good times, Hamtramck boomed. Now
GM is in the doldrums, Hamtramck is too. We walk along a stretch of shops along one of its main
streets. First in line is Anna's Beauty Salon: it's closed, but the sign on the door suggests Anna
is managing to stay open four days a week. Next, Popular Fashion and Variety Store: shut down.
Billiards and Burger Hall: abandoned. Antiques store, an oil painting portraying an autumn
landscape still in its window: deserted. Law offices: vacant. Funeral home: open. Even in a
recession, one aspect of life must go on - the ending of it./ppOn the other side of the road is the
Family Donut shop, a local institution run by a Polish family for the past 28 years. It has a
picture of Princess Diana on the wall, a gift from one of the regular clients, and another of the
Three Stooges. The owner, Vojno, is unloading a bundle of cardboard boxes used to pack the donuts.
A few years ago he would order up to 30 bundles a month; now it's 10. On Polish festive days, there
would be a line of customers out the door and round the corner, and the stools at the counter would
be loaded. Today, the line is more of a dribble and the counter is largely empty. Unless GM
recovers, and money starts flowing again, he will have to close in a few months. "It's not just me.
Everybody around here is going to shut down," he says. What will he do if he does have to close?
"I'll stay home and sleep. I'm hungry for sleep," he says./ppOne of the few clients, dressed in a
bomber jacket with Detroit written across the back, shouts over at him. "You only work one job, so
why do you need to sleep?"/pp"Shut up, Eddie," Vojno replies./pp"I work three jobs to make my
money," Eddie Fabiszak says, prompting the only other customer in the bakery to say, under his
breath: "Lucky man."/ppThe other customer is Melis Lejlic, 27, a naturalised American originally
from Bosnia. His father and mother, two uncles and a cousin all work in the car business. All now
fear redundancy. Lejlic works in construction, but that is no better. Car workers are no longer
spending on home improvements, so demand for his work has fallen by half. Of 10 builders he knows,
seven are unemployed. "Everybody in a small town like this is looking to the car industry, and
there's no hope there," he says. "Drive around, you'll see. Detroit is worse right now than
Baghdad."/ppThe comparison sounds far-fetched, but in the streets around the GM plant you can see
what he means. Several houses have no glazing in their rickety wooden walls. Front lawns have
turned into littered pasture. Walls are lined with barbed wire. A mural of a Stars and Stripes has
been graffitied. And though it is nothing like Baghdad, there is clearly a market in lawlessness. A
poster advertising the services of a lawyer says: "Aggressive criminal defence. Drugs CCW [carrying
a concealed weapon] Theft Murder All felonies misdemeanours." That is how Henry Ford's dream looks
in November 2008./ppGM's headquarters in downtown Detroit dominate the city's skyline. The seven
cylindrical glass towers of the Renaissance Centre were built in 1977 as a statement of the
company's untouchable status as the then unquestioned king of the auto world. Inside the main
tower, there is an exhibition of some of GM's most memorable models, dating back to the 1950s. It
is almost shocking to see how beautiful and exhilarating those cars were. There is a 1953 Chevrolet
Corvette Roadster, built largely by hand, its white, sensuous curves set off by red leather seats.
Then there's a 1955 Chevrolet Bel Air in black, the quintessential car of the American dream, big
enough to carry a family to its suburban home but sufficiently powerful and sleek to avoid any
sense of frumpiness. Pride of place goes to a 1959 Cadillac series 62 convertible, which is an
outrageously attractive work of art. This was the baby of Harley Earl, GM's legendary designer.
Inspired by the tail of a second world war fighter plane, he placed fins on the back of the car,
with rear brake lights the shape of rockets and exhausts mimicking those of a jet. The 59 Cadillac
summed up an entire generation - young, dangerous, fast, unstoppable./ppPeter DeLorenzo spent 22
years working in the car business as an advertising and marketing consultant and now runs an
influential website called Autoextremist. He explains that when the explosion of creativity burst
out in the 50s, Detroit had just emerged from the crucial role it had played as the manufacturing
backbone of the war effort, churning out tanks and missiles at extraordinary rate, and confidence
was riding high. "Coming out of the second world war, the automobile was the symbol of American
might. GM was the symbol of American might, and most Americans were proud that GM was a successful
corporation that turned out magnificent cars people wanted."/ppThe design-led strategy not only
generated exquisite cars, it worked handsomely for GM. In 1955, four out of every five cars around
the world were US-produced and half of those came from GM. The Big Three monopolised around 95% of
the domestic market, and between them they transformed the US. They provided the stimulus for the
biggest construction project in world history - the laying of the US interstate highways - and gave
birth to the suburbs and to urban sprawl. Think Los Angeles. Think Phoenix rising out of the desert
of Arizona./ppHow you get from the invincibility of those days to the verge of bankruptcy is a
cautionary tale for the whole of America as its dominance wanes in an increasingly globalised
economy. DeLorenzo, who has written a book called The United States of Toyota, dates the start of
the rot to 1979 - just after GM had moved into its monolithic new headquarters in the Renaissance
Centre. By then Japanese car companies were already snapping at the heels of the Big Three, but
Detroit ignored the threat, steeped in complacency that the good times would last for ever.
Leadership within the business also crucially changed hands, from the designers to what DeLorenzo
calls the "bean counters". /ppBy the 1990s, the Big Three's reputation for innovation and beauty
had withered, replaced by a reputation for faulty products. "People started to associate Detroit
with cars coming off the assembly line and their doors falling off," says Micheline Maynard, a New
York Times business reporter and author of The End of Detroit: How the Big Three Lost Their Grip.
She recounts how in 2002 GM's vice-chairman, Bob Lutz, declared that their vehicles were every bit
as reliable as Honda's and Toyota's; that same afternoon GM recalled 1.5m minivans./ppFrom the
sleek elegance of the 1959 Cadillac to the lumpen brutality of the Hummer: what was in the mind of
the GM executive who conceived putting a machine modelled on armoured vehicles on to the civilian
streets of US cities, at barely 13 miles per gallon? But then Lutz has argued that that hybrids
like the Toyota Prius "make no economic sense" and once called global warming "a total crock of
shit"./ppThe other key element in the demise of Detroit concerns the staple of the American auto
industry - the car worker. Ron Nidiffer is drinking beer in the New Dodge Lounge in Hamtramck,
temporarily off work as the GM plant has suspended production for want of sales. He has worked in
car factories for 36 years, 10 of them on the assembly line. He is one of a dying breed of car
workers who had their pay and conditions set back in the heyday. His union, the United Auto
Workers, negotiated a series of deals in the 1970s and 80s that have become the albatross around
the industry's neck. He makes $29 an hour - substantially more than American workers in Japanese
plants that have been transplanted to the non-unionised south, from Alabama to Texas. /ppBut the
trouble really starts when you include the so-called "legacy costs", the generous terms agreed for
pensions and health care that allowed workers to retire as young as 48. GM now carries about
470,000 retirees and spouses on benefits - more than four times its productive workforce - adding a
total of about $2,000 for every car it makes, a terrible burden in the face of fierce foreign
competition./ppThe symbol of excess that the UAW's critics like to point to is the "jobs banks", by
which workers are paid 95% of their salaries for doing nothing. The scheme was introduced as a way
of ensuring minimum employment levels, but billowed uncontrollably until it included about 40,000
workers. Nidiffer concedes that looking back, the jobs bank was indefensible. "Yes, it was a bad
idea. And I understand why some people are jealous of what we've had. We had good conditions, even
to excess."/ppBut what annoys him is the assumption that the largesse and complacency that
epitomised the attitude of both unions and management is still prevalent today. The job banks have
been whittled down to 3,500 workers, and wages have been cut in half for all new employees. He is
one of the last at the GM plant in Hamtramck to enjoy the old $29 an hour rate, the others having
taken redundancy. A deal has also been struck to lift the burden of legacy costs from GM's
shoulders by transferring health insurance into an independent fund administered by the union.
After all that, to hear Congress turn away the plea for $25bn from the Big Three CEOs makes
Nidiffer see red. "I'm extremely mad. We've made all these concessions, taken the hit, and yet
we're still accused of being lazy and greedy."/ppIt has not made him any happier that while
Congress rebuffed Detroit, it has bailed out the banks with apparent alacrity, including Citibank
which was last week handed the exact amount requested by the Big Three. "We're looking for a
pittance compared with what they've given the banks," Nidiffer says. His anger is echoed in the
front-page headline in the Detroit Free Press: "$85 billion for AIG. $700 billion for financial
firms. $25 billion for Citigroup. Why is the bar so high for $25 billion to Detroit?"/ppNidiffer's
frustration is heightened by his belief that if Detroit can see it through another 18 months it
will have turned the corner. His GM plant is poised to produce the Volt, a new plug-in electric
hybrid that will run for 40 miles on one full battery before a tiny petrol motor recharges it. The
cutting-edge model, which goes into production in 2010, has been spearheaded by Bob Lutz, the
global warming sceptic - a sign of how dramatically the outlook has changed at GM./ppBut none of
the new ideas being scrambled out by the Big Three will matter if they fail to make it to 2010.
Will the Volt go down in history as a great idea that GM carried with it to its grave? "There used
to be a saying, so goes GM, so goes the country," Nidiffer says. "That was in happy days. But the
same is true now. If GM goes under, the ripple effect will be felt throughout America."/ppA car
worker desperate to hold on to his job would say that, wouldn't he? But economists agree. Susan
Helper, a professor at Case Western university, says if GM went into bankruptcy next year, it could
set in train a knock-on effect that would hit not just the 240,000 employees of the Big Three, but
also 730,000 suppliers and about 1 million people working in dealerships across the country. Harder
to quantify, but potentially even more devastating, would be the loss of social capital - the
knowledge that is imbedded in a generation. "The idea that you can just liquidate Detroit and start
again is crazy. Knowledge is not held by any one person, but comes from how people in a company
interact."/ppCrunch time is coming. The tragedy of the American car is approaching its climax. You
can feel it, palpably, on the lot of Galeana's Dodge dealership, a short drive away from Nidiffer's
watering hole. Balloons in red, white and blue festoon the long line of cars, but who are they
fooling? A more accurate reflection of the mood are the signs propped up under a succession of
bonnets that spell the word S-A-L-E. Inside, a query about how things are going is met with the
reply: "Look at the board." The board in question has just one car handwritten on it - the extent
of today's business. Two years ago, the daily average was 15 cars./ppChrysler, which owns the Dodge
brand, used to offer huge discounts on the price of the cars disguised as leasing agreements. But
in July it announced it was suspending all leasing, and business went through the floor. The Big
Three can no longer afford to lower their prices, so instead the cars sit on the lot, looking
cheerful beneath the balloons. There is one small cause for hope for Galeana's dealers. A local
Chrysler plant has just announced 5,000 job losses, and each worker made redundant will be given a
voucher to buy a new Dodge car. It's come to this: the only chink of light for the dealers are the
redundancy packages of the workers who make the cars they sell./ppThis week, the CEOs of the Big
Three have one last shot at saving Detroit. They are travelling back to Washington to plead their
case again. And this time, they won't be going by private jet - Ford's Alan Mulally will drive a
Ford hybrid, and GM chief executive Rick Wagoner and Chrysler CEO Bob Nardelli will fly on
commercial planes. Tomorrow and on Friday, they will present Congress committees with a new
business plan that is expected to include a cap on top bosses' pay, concessions from the UAW and
the death of the most loss-making brands. Less certain is the outcome. Will they get their $25bn
and, if they do, will it be anywhere like enough? Or will this once great institution, this
embodiment of American might and ingenuity - and with it the livelihood of millions - go the way of
Henry Ford's factory of dreams./pdiv style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom:
10px;"ullia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/automotive"Automotive industry/a/lilia
href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/generalmotors"General Motors/a/lilia
href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/ford"Ford/a/lilia
href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/useconomy"US economy/a/lilia
href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/usa"United States/a/li/ul/diva
href="http://www.guardian.co.uk"guardian.co.uk/a copy; Guardian News Media Limited 2008 | Use of
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19 hours and 23 minutes ago
divimg alt=""
src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.15.1/60279?ns=guardianpageName=Art+and+design%3A+Architect+slams+%27dismal%27+UK+designch=Art+and+designc3=The+Guardianc4=Architecture%2CArt+and+design%2CCulture+section%2CUK+news%2CCommunities+%28Society%29%2CSocietyc5=Society+Weekly%2CArt%2CNot+commercially+useful%2CCommunities+Society%2CArchitecturec6=Robert+Boothc7=2008_12_03c8=1127808c9=articlec10=GUc11=Art+and+designc12=Architecturec13=c14=h2=GU%2FArt+and+design%2FArchitecture"
width="1" height="1" //divpOne of Prince Charles's allies in his battle against modern architecture
has attacked the "disappointing to dismal" design of British postwar towns./ppSparking anger among
architects, Andres Duany flew in from America and yesterday unveiled a 64-point litany of mistakes
made by British architects and planners over the last 50 years. /ppHe accused architects of being
"infantile" in pursuing ego-driven visions and said they were "heedless of technical and social
dysfunction and widespread lack of popularity" caused by their designs./ppDuany is one of the
original designers of Poundbury, the prince's new town in Dorset, and said the leading lights of
modernist architecture including Richard Rogers, Frank Gehry, Zaha Hadid and Peter Eisenman were
"increasingly irrelevant"./ppHe called on architects and planners to step aside and allow a new
generation of amateurs to lead development in the 21st century. /ppThe broadside was met by a
vociferous response from leading modern architects who have become used to regular disputes with
the prince and his allies. Sunand Prasad, president of the Royal Institute of British Architects,
said Duany was "living in another world"./ppHe conceded that architects' craft skills and
traditional knowledge had been swept aside too easily between the 1950s and 1970s, but said
architects were now building the "highest performance" buildings ever./ppDuany's outburst, will
reignite a battle between architects who believe in modernism and his own "church" of new urbanism,
which argues that towns should be built to strict codes, often based on traditional design./ppDuany
used new urbanism to design Seaside, the Florida community which provided the backdrop to the film
The Truman Show, and Charles has embraced the principles of new urbanism on projects to design new
settlements from Newquay, Cornwall to Llandarcy, near Neath. /ppHis intervention was timed to
coincide with the unveiling of a masterplan for Hertfordshire, his most ambitious UK scheme yet. In
it he advocates a new town and a series of garden villages built on open land in which residents
would be obliged to grow fruit and vegetables for market./pp"It is inexplicable why architects and
planners continue to pursue radical innovation as if it were 1945 every morning," he said./pp"Only
architecture, confusing itself with fashion as a platform for cultural expression, continues to be
avant garde, heedless of its cost overruns, social and technical dysfunction and widespread lack of
popularity."/ppHe cited "gratuitous shapes" in buildings such as winged roofs which quickly go out
of fashion, "amazingly rude" colours on shop signs which "are just a vulgar way to attract
attention" and civic buildings that "look common" when they should be grand./ppOut-of-town retail
parks, excessive road signage and "placeless architecture that could be anywhere in the world" were
also criticised. Duany advocates a return to "matter of fact architecture" as exemplified by the
traditional English village. /ppPrasad said it was "obviously untrue" that the majority of
architects want to express themselves regardless of context. "It is not so much the innovation and
the ego that is causing the problem," he said. /pp"It is the commercial pressure to build large on
sites which can't take it; it is the haphazard development of towns and the widespread confusion
over our democratic planning process."/ppPrasad said many of Duany's complaints seemed to stem from
the decision to build a car-based society, and the way highways engineers took control of urban
design./pp"It was wrong to aim for a society dominated by cars," he said. /pp"But most architects
and planners have moved on, so he is really railing against a problem that doesn't exist
anymore."/ph2What not to do/h2p· Avoid fashionable architecture - buildings that are
obsessively of our time will be out of date too soon/pp· Civic buildings should be grand and
private buildings should recede into the background/pp· Avoid overly transparent facades -
mess inside a building looks like an unkempt yard/pp· Avoid many buildings by one designer -
diversity is the hallmark of a great place/pp· Avoid meandering streets - excessive curves
confuse and aggravate/pp· Avoid gated-off estates - they undermine social
interaction/pp· Avoid businesses in the suburbs - every job means one less person to enliven
a town centre/pdiv style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"ullia
href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/architecture"Architecture/a/lilia
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