| 'GM has its product mojo back,' exec Lutz says
Legendary General Motors Corp. executive Bob Lutz grinned broadly as the green Tahoe Hybrid he was in clawed and bounced its way up a steep, sandy hill in Decatur. It was probably an apt metaphor for the battle-scarred automaker. After years of uninspired vehicles, deep losses and dramatic declines in market share, a rejuvenated GM has brought a string of strong new cars and trucks to market, and it's now shipping out its best mainstream car in decades: the 2008 Chevrolet Malibu. The 99-year-old company is elbowing its way back into the highly competitive auto game with new vehicles such as the Tahoe and GMC Yukon SUVs, the Chevy Silverado and GMC Sierra pickups, the Buick Enclave and GMC Acadia crossovers, the Saturn Vue small SUV, Cadillac CTS midsize sedan and the Malibu. "The job's not done," said Mr.
The venerable history of protectionism
President Bill Clinton fought hard to win approval of the North American Free Trade Agreement. Despite some of his campaign rhetoric, Barack Obama is careful to express qualified support for free trade, even when stumping in the industrial Midwest. Moreover, many American conservatives have opposed free trade. Jesse Helms, the most outspoken conservative in the Senate for three decades, was no free trader. Neither was Alexander Hamilton, who could be considered the founder of American conservatism. For almost 100 years after the Civil War, the Republican Party (led by men like Lincoln and McKinley) was overtly protectionist. Theodore Roosevelt, a hero of John McCain's, wrote that "pernicious indulgence in the doctrine of free trade seems inevitably to produce fatty degeneration of the moral fiber." The first significant Republican free trader was President Dwight Eisenhower.
Microsoft Researcher Jim Gray Receives Turing Award for Helping to ...
"The original question, 'Can machines think?' I believe to be too meaningless to deserve discussion. Nevertheless, I believe that at the end of the century the use of words and general educated opinion will have altered so much that one will be able to speak of machines thinking without expecting to be contradicted." Alan M. Turing, 1950 SAN FRANCISCO, May 14, 1999 — Fifty years ago, British mathematician Alan M. Turing predicted that by the turn of the century, computers would be able to "think." To measure this, he devised a simple test. Put a person and a computer in one room, and a judge in another, and have the judge ask the computer and the person questions using only a keyboard. If 30 percent of the time the judge can't tell the difference between human and computer, the machine must be somewhat intelligent.
Complimentary Tickets to the Edinburgh's Military Tattoo
BRAINTREE, Mass., Oct. 24 /PRNewswire/ -- Experience in person the sights and sounds of one world's most spectacular shows. Edinburgh's renowned Military Tattoo is recognized for its history, musical display, fireworks, international audience, magic, mystery, and mayhem. Brian Moore International Tours (BMIT) is offering complimentary tickets to take part in Edinburgh's Military Tattoo with bookings made by November 30, 2007 of either the Scottish Spree or Scotland & Ireland Adventure escorted tour package. "It is incredibly hard to get tickets to the Military Tattoo," says Sara Stanton, President of Brian Moore International Tours. "There is no substitute to experiencing this event in person, and combining the festivities with one of our tours perfectly completes any vacation." The Scottish Spree Escorted Tour from $1169 includes escorted sightseeing by luxury motor coach, professional Scottish tour director throughout, 6-night hotels accommodations in first class hotels, full Scottish breakfast daily, four dinners, 1 evening of dinner and entertainment, welcome reception hosted by the tour director, and entrance to many attractions.
6,000 free ‘granny’ bikes will bring continental success story to ...
They have helped to calm the traffic-choked streets of Paris and spawned hundreds of romances among strangers. Now the French capital’s free bicycle hire scheme is coming to Central London, where 6,000 sturdy bikes will be deployed outside Tube stations and other locations. Unlike Paris, where the cost of the bikes and docking stations is funded privately in return for advertising space, London council tax payers will have to contribute much of the £75 million cost of the scheme. That apart, Ken Livingstone, the Mayor of London, is copying almost every other aspect of "Velib", the Parisian scheme, which takes its name from a contraction of vélo (bike) and liberté. The bicycles will be free for the first half-hour to people who preregister and agree to pay an automatic penalty of about £100, deducted from their credit cards, if they fail to return the bikes.
Expedia.co.nz Launches in New Zealand
BELLEVUE, Wash. and AUCKLAND, New Zealand, Oct. 17 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Expedia, Inc. (NASDAQ: EXPE) , the world's leading online travel company, today announced the launch of its New Zealand website -- http://www.expedia.co.nz -- a full-service travel booking site designed specifically to meet the needs of New Zealand travellers. "New Zealand is a very important market in the Asia Pacific region, worth over USD$17bn in 2007(1), so we know Kiwis just love to travel," said Arthur Hoffman, managing director of Expedia.co.nz(TM). "We are very excited to help New Zealanders research, plan and book their perfect holiday with all the benefits of Expedia's global product range, competitive prices, and in-depth travel and destination information." Expedia.co.nz has an unprecedented product range including over 75,000 hotels, flights from all major airlines, car rental companies and over 3,000 activities and attractions around the world.
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