| BMW X6 Invents a New Niche
BMW's new X6 pre-production concept car pushes the design innovation pedal to the metal. The X6 is making its press debut at the Frankfurt Auto Show, and will hit showrooms in 2008. It's the silhouette that causes a double-take. Huge wheels and a SUV-like body capped with a sportscar roofline. BMW's goal with the X6 was to marry the brawn and offroad qualities of an SUV with the sportiness and sleek lines of a coupe. They call it a Sports Activity Coupe. A Porsche's Cayenne may drive like a hot rod, but it doesn't pretend to be a coupe: The Cayenne really looks like an SUV. The X6 looks like nothing on the road today. "It says I've got the muscles to take on any road, any time. But at the same time, it's dressed up," says BMW Group Design Chief Chris Bangle. "It's like a powerful athlete wearing fine clothes — you can still see the muscles rippling under his shirt." Now the question is, will buyers prefer an SUV in athletic gear or one dressed to kill.
Gangs all over Snohomish County, survey finds
Gangs are here.
Gangsters are believed to be behind gunfire at an Everett park last spring that sent a Little League team scrambling for cover. They've spray-painted graffiti from Lynnwood to Index.
Some gang members in Snohomish County suburbs have started putting up Web pages advertising their presence. An all-white chapter of the Black Gangster Disciples is working the Bothell area.
Police aren't laughing.
Bona fide gangsters are settling in, and there are enough young people emulating thugs to spark a surge in gang-related violence, drug trafficking and other problems, a countywide gang assessment found.
"It's all building together to make the issue happen," Snohomish County sheriff's detective Steve Haley said.
"It's from one end of the county to the other," he said.
Brawn: No Honda deadline for success
Last season Honda suffered one of their worst campaigns to date, struggling at the back of the field with an ill-handling car and a lack of pace. It was in sharp contrast to the previous season when Jenson Button clinched the team's first grand prix win. Honda, though, have taken steps to reverse the damage, the most noteble being the appointment of former Ferrari tech guru Ross Brawn as their new team boss. But while Brawn reckons he can pull the team out of their slump, he says it will take time and that's Honda's senior management understands this. "As long as there's a sensible argument, they will support the right strategy for the future," Brawn said. "They're not interested in short-term face-saving solutions.
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Arranging one simple meeting is an exercise that captures, perfectly, why Magedson is so good at getting results and why he's infuriated the CEOs of several midsize companies to the point that they accuse him, flatly, of extortion. He overthinks every detail. And it would never occur to him to stop pushing before he gets what he wants, even if he's not sure what that is. First there's where to meet. It has to be a public place. A dog park? A restaurant? Even after Magedson decides on lunch at Chompie's, he calls back with instructions about which bank of booths to pick. He's planning to park in the handicapped spot, he says, and from the right booth, he'll be able to keep an eye on his dog. After discussing that issue for 15 minutes, he calls back to clarify: It can't be just any booth near the window.
Let's Parler Kington: Miles at his very best
For far too long we in the trolley industry, or at least we in the PR firm serving the trolley industry, have striven to counteract the insidious.... A message from Saddam Hussein. Greetings to the British people, and to Sheikh Wyatt. I am sad to note that I spotted a reference to the inevitability of the Gulf war. How can this be? What war? Who is fighting? All I have done is reclaim the so- called state of Kuwait as the part of Iraq it has always been, taken the best bits, and sold the rest for scrap. Thank you for letting me have the right to reply, a concept which, I must confess, was new to me. 31 December 1992 This year, as every year, I have tabulated a list of the top 10 boys' names of 1992 and the 10 most popular girls' names. This has not been done by reference to the births columns of the national papers, which is very unrepresentative even of top people, but by analysis of the headlines.
One reason to vote for Hillary.
When you think about it this way, a clear and somewhat surprising ranking of top three emerges. 1) Hillary Clinton would probably be the best president for anti-comprehensivists. She's cautious. She's been burned by GOP opposition before (to her 1994 health plan). Is she really going attempt both health care reform and immigration reform in her first two years? Remember, Rahm Emmanuel's swing-state Democratic congressmen typically ran tough-on-illegals campaigns. They're squeamish about voting for "amnesty." If Hillary is president (meaning John McCain isn't president) the Republicans are likely to unite against a Democratic legalization plan. Meanwhile, Hillary's political adviser James Carville is on record suggesting that legalization, like welfare, is a potential election-loser.
Struggling Motorola finds hope with new CEO
Zander's downfall can be summed up in seven words: lack of innovation and slow to market, analysts and industry watchers say. "I've followed Motorola for the past 15 years, and they've had the same underlying problems with efficiency and speed," said Paul Sagawa, an analyst with Sanford Bernstein. Motorola has struggled to find an innovative replacement for its popular ultra thin Razr. The Razr still sells fairly well for a 3-year-old phone, but rivals like Samsung and LG Electronics have rolled out their own slim, thin phones while Motorola has failed to come up with anything that has resonated with the public to the same degree. That problem was compounded by Motorola's slow entry into the 3G, or third generation, market, as Samsung and LG introduced several 3G phones early in the year for use over next generation wireless networks.
Sacked McClaren rues 'sad day'
Steve McClaren said it was "one of the saddest days of my career" after he was sacked from his job as England coach following the squad's failure to qualify for Euro 2008. McClaren was given the boot after an emergency meeting of FA chiefs in the wake of Wednesday night's miserable exit from the qualifiers. FA chief executive Brian Barwick apologised to fans as he launched a "root and branch" review of the national side and began a search for McClaren's replacement. McClaren was pushed, along with his number two Terry Venables, by unanimous vote, after he refused to walk away from the job when England lost 3-2 to Croatia at Wembley. The former Middlesbrough manager, whose 18-game tenure is the shortest of any England coach, had three years remaining on his contract.
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