The 2009 Legatum Prosperity Index, published on Tuesday and compiled by the Legatum Institute, ranks 104 countries on a definition of prosperity that combines economic growth with the level of personal freedoms and democracy in a country as well as measures of happiness and quality of life.
1) Finland
2) Switzerland
3) Sweden
4) Denmark
5) Norway
6) Australia
7) Canada
8) Netherlands
9) United States
10) New Zealand
From: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20091027/lf_nm_life/us_prosperity_index
10.30.2009
10.29.2009
Best Kept Secrets
The Formula for Coca-Cola
The formula for Coca-Cola is so fiercely protected that the company pulled out of India in the 1970s because they would have been legally required to divulge their ingredient list to their government.
It even managed to stall a divorce case. When one of the Coke heirs ended his marriage to his wife, she demanded some of his great-grandfather's (the founder of Coca-Cola) original notes as part of her settlement. The company had to get involved and put a stop to it out of fear the notes could contain information on the formula.
Only two Coke executives know it. Urban legend says they each only know half, but that's false--that part was invented for an old ad campaign.
The original copy of the formula is kept in an undisclosed SunTrust Bank in Atlanta. To keep SunTrust on the side, Coke gave them some 48.3 million shares of stock as well as having executives from each company sit on the other's board of directors.
KFC's 11 Herbs and Spices
The secret KFC recipe dates back to the 1930s when Harland Sanders served chicken to people who stopped at his gas station in North Corbin, Kentucky. It was an amazing success.
And while he never joined the military, in 1936, he was given the title of honorary Kentucky Colonel by the governor in recognition of his contribution to the state's cuisine.
As with Coke, only two executives have access to the recipe for KFC's 11 herbs and spices.
The recipe is at KFC's headquarters. But unless you are Tom Cruise in Mission Impossible, you have no chance of getting it.
Here is security expert Bo Dietl explaining how the recipe is protected:
"The ceiling and the floor are secured with concrete bricks two feet thick. We put in motion sensors also CCTV that's hooked up to security downstairs. They have 24/7 armed guys downstairs, so in the amount of 30 seconds you'll have somebody up here. Once in here, you have to have two people with two keys and two different PIN numbers, and that's what you have to have. This safe is bolted down and there is no way anybody can get in here unauthorized without us knowing about it."
The formula for Coca-Cola is so fiercely protected that the company pulled out of India in the 1970s because they would have been legally required to divulge their ingredient list to their government.
It even managed to stall a divorce case. When one of the Coke heirs ended his marriage to his wife, she demanded some of his great-grandfather's (the founder of Coca-Cola) original notes as part of her settlement. The company had to get involved and put a stop to it out of fear the notes could contain information on the formula.
Only two Coke executives know it. Urban legend says they each only know half, but that's false--that part was invented for an old ad campaign.
The original copy of the formula is kept in an undisclosed SunTrust Bank in Atlanta. To keep SunTrust on the side, Coke gave them some 48.3 million shares of stock as well as having executives from each company sit on the other's board of directors.
KFC's 11 Herbs and Spices
The secret KFC recipe dates back to the 1930s when Harland Sanders served chicken to people who stopped at his gas station in North Corbin, Kentucky. It was an amazing success.
And while he never joined the military, in 1936, he was given the title of honorary Kentucky Colonel by the governor in recognition of his contribution to the state's cuisine.
As with Coke, only two executives have access to the recipe for KFC's 11 herbs and spices.
The recipe is at KFC's headquarters. But unless you are Tom Cruise in Mission Impossible, you have no chance of getting it.
Here is security expert Bo Dietl explaining how the recipe is protected:
"The ceiling and the floor are secured with concrete bricks two feet thick. We put in motion sensors also CCTV that's hooked up to security downstairs. They have 24/7 armed guys downstairs, so in the amount of 30 seconds you'll have somebody up here. Once in here, you have to have two people with two keys and two different PIN numbers, and that's what you have to have. This safe is bolted down and there is no way anybody can get in here unauthorized without us knowing about it."
10.28.2009
Book of Odds
The "Book of Odds" describes itself as "the missing dictionary, one filled not with words, but with numbers – the odds of everyday life."
Here are some of the random things I found out on their website today:
1 in 31.52 - The odds an NFL pass will be intercepted.
1 in 16 - The odds a person 16 years or older is unemployed
1 in 3.46 - The odds an adult in a city sleeps less than 6 hours a night
1 in 1.64 - The odds an adult usually eats breakfast
The site is vast and allows you to sign up for greater access and even allows you to suggest topics for them to investigate the relevant odds statements.
http://www.bookofodds.com/
Here are some of the random things I found out on their website today:
1 in 31.52 - The odds an NFL pass will be intercepted.
1 in 16 - The odds a person 16 years or older is unemployed
1 in 3.46 - The odds an adult in a city sleeps less than 6 hours a night
1 in 1.64 - The odds an adult usually eats breakfast
The site is vast and allows you to sign up for greater access and even allows you to suggest topics for them to investigate the relevant odds statements.
http://www.bookofodds.com/
10.26.2009
Microsoft Retail Stores
Microsoft opened its first retail store last week to compete with the highly successful model Apple has employed in the retail space. The writers at PC World Magazine had some fun coming up with the ways Microsoft's stores will differ from Apple:
- Instead of Apple's sheer walls of glass, Microsoft's stores will have brushed steel walls dotted with holes -- reminiscent of Windows security.
- The store will have six different entrances: Starter, Basic, Premium, Professional, Enterprise, and Ultimate. While all six doors will lead into the same store, the Ultimate door requires a fee of $100 for no apparent reason.
- Instead of a "Genius Bar" (as Apple provides) Microsoft will offer an Excuse Bar. It will be staffed by Microsoft employees trained in the art of evading questions, directing you to complicated and obscure fixes, and explaining it's a problem with the hardware -- not a software bug.
- Store hours are undetermined. At any given time the store mysteriously shuts down instantaneously for no apparent reason. (No word yet on what happens to customers inside).
- Stores will be named Microsoft Live Retail Store with PC Services for Digital Lifestyle Enthusiasts.
http://www.pcworld.com/article/159521/10_ways_microsofts_retail_stores_will_differ_from_apple_stores.html10.21.2009
The Ink Tank
Here is a roundup of some recent editorial cartoons (the last one was added for its comedic effect):
10.20.2009
Tax on Soda
The debate over a tax on sugary soft drinks — billed as a way to fight obesity and provide billions for health care reform — is starting to fizz over.
The tax would apply to soft drinks, energy drinks, sports beverages and many juices and ice teas, but not sugar-free diet drinks.
President Obama has said it is worth considering. The chief executive of Coca-Cola calls the idea outrageous, while skeptics point to political obstacles and question how much of an impact it would really have on consumers.
But a team of prominent doctors, scientists and policy makers says it could be a powerful weapon in efforts to reduce obesity, in the same way that cigarette taxes have helped curb smoking.
The group, which includes the New York City health commissioner, Thomas Farley, and Joseph W. Thompson, Arkansas surgeon general, estimates that a tax of a penny an ounce on sugary beverages would raise $14.9 billion in its first year, which could be spent on health care initiatives.
The study cited research on price elasticity for soft drinks that has shown that for every 10 percent rise in price, consumption declines 8 to 10 percent.
The soft drink industry has adamantly resisted the notion that its products are responsible for a national increase in obesity or that a tax would help curb the problem.
What do you think????
From: http://www.cnbc.com/id/32896454/
The tax would apply to soft drinks, energy drinks, sports beverages and many juices and ice teas, but not sugar-free diet drinks.
President Obama has said it is worth considering. The chief executive of Coca-Cola calls the idea outrageous, while skeptics point to political obstacles and question how much of an impact it would really have on consumers.
But a team of prominent doctors, scientists and policy makers says it could be a powerful weapon in efforts to reduce obesity, in the same way that cigarette taxes have helped curb smoking.
The group, which includes the New York City health commissioner, Thomas Farley, and Joseph W. Thompson, Arkansas surgeon general, estimates that a tax of a penny an ounce on sugary beverages would raise $14.9 billion in its first year, which could be spent on health care initiatives.
The study cited research on price elasticity for soft drinks that has shown that for every 10 percent rise in price, consumption declines 8 to 10 percent.
The soft drink industry has adamantly resisted the notion that its products are responsible for a national increase in obesity or that a tax would help curb the problem.
What do you think????
From: http://www.cnbc.com/id/32896454/
10.16.2009
A Billion Here, A Billion There
The website "Information is Beautiful" has created something they are calling the billion dollar gram. It is an extremely interesting visual representation of the cost of various expenditures:
10.14.2009
Solar Roadways
There is approximately more than 5.7 million miles of paved highway in the U.S. and a small company from Idaho has an idea that could pave the way for a greener future.
The road would also be able to heat itself when it is covered in snow and ice AND act as a power source for electric cars, which would be able to be plugged into the road at points along its length.
Their solar roadway idea received a lot of attention after The Department of Transport awarded the company a $100,000 grant to construct a prototype 12' by 12' panel.
The top layer of the solar panels contains LEDs which would "paint" the surface with light and hold the microprocessors and communications device that would make highways "intelligent", flashing messages such as 'Slow' and 'Traffic Delays' to warn drivers.
The road would also be able to heat itself when it is covered in snow and ice AND act as a power source for electric cars, which would be able to be plugged into the road at points along its length.
10.13.2009
Odd Nobel
With all the news surrounding President Obama's recent Nobel Peace Prize, here are some odd stories surrounding the Nobel Prize...
1. Robert Lucas, winner of the 1995 Nobel Prize in Economics for his work on the theory of "rational expectations," split his $1 million prize with his ex-wife. If there were a Nobel Prize for Foresight or Timing, she should be nominated, based on a clause in their divorce settlement from seven years earlier: "Wife shall receive 50 percent of any Nobel Prize." The clause expired on October 31, 1995. Had Lucas won any year after, he would have kept the whole million.
2. Physicist Lise Meitner, whose work helped lead to the discovery of nuclear fission, was reportedly nominated for the Nobel Prize 13 times without ever winning (though nominations are kept secret, so we don't know for sure). This makes her the Dynasty of the Nobel Prize scene -- that show was nominated for 24 Emmy Awards but never won. Other analogies we'd accept: The Color Purple (11 Oscar nominations in 1985, no wins), the Buffalo Bills or Minnesota Vikings (4 Super Bowl losses each without a victory) and William Jennings Bryan (three-time Democratic nominee for President, losing twice to McKinley and once to Taft.)
3. People who refused the prize:
• Le Duc Tho was awarded the 1973 Nobel Peace Prize with Henry Kissinger for their roles in brokering a Vietnam cease fire at the Paris Peace Accords. Citing the absence of actual peace in Vietnam, Tho declined to accept.
• Jean Paul Sartre waved off the 1964 Nobel Prize in Literature. His explanation: "It is not the same thing if I sign Jean-Paul Sartre or if I sign Jean-Paul Sartre, Nobel Prize winner. A writer must refuse to allow himself to be transformed into an institution, even if it takes place in the most honorable form."
http://www.cnn.com/2009/LIVING/wayoflife/10/06/mf.nobel.odd.facts/
1. Robert Lucas, winner of the 1995 Nobel Prize in Economics for his work on the theory of "rational expectations," split his $1 million prize with his ex-wife. If there were a Nobel Prize for Foresight or Timing, she should be nominated, based on a clause in their divorce settlement from seven years earlier: "Wife shall receive 50 percent of any Nobel Prize." The clause expired on October 31, 1995. Had Lucas won any year after, he would have kept the whole million.
2. Physicist Lise Meitner, whose work helped lead to the discovery of nuclear fission, was reportedly nominated for the Nobel Prize 13 times without ever winning (though nominations are kept secret, so we don't know for sure). This makes her the Dynasty of the Nobel Prize scene -- that show was nominated for 24 Emmy Awards but never won. Other analogies we'd accept: The Color Purple (11 Oscar nominations in 1985, no wins), the Buffalo Bills or Minnesota Vikings (4 Super Bowl losses each without a victory) and William Jennings Bryan (three-time Democratic nominee for President, losing twice to McKinley and once to Taft.)
3. People who refused the prize:
• Le Duc Tho was awarded the 1973 Nobel Peace Prize with Henry Kissinger for their roles in brokering a Vietnam cease fire at the Paris Peace Accords. Citing the absence of actual peace in Vietnam, Tho declined to accept.
• Jean Paul Sartre waved off the 1964 Nobel Prize in Literature. His explanation: "It is not the same thing if I sign Jean-Paul Sartre or if I sign Jean-Paul Sartre, Nobel Prize winner. A writer must refuse to allow himself to be transformed into an institution, even if it takes place in the most honorable form."
http://www.cnn.com/2009/LIVING/wayoflife/10/06/mf.nobel.odd.facts/
10.12.2009
Could Not Agree More
Nicolas Kristof has been a columnist for the New York Times since 2001 and he has a great idea about how to jump start health care reform. Here are some of the highlights...
Let me offer a modest proposal: If Congress fails to pass comprehensive health reform this year, its members should surrender health insurance in proportion with the American population that is uninsured.
It may be that the lulling effect of having very fine health insurance leaves members of Congress insensitive to the dysfunction of our existing insurance system. So what better way to attune our leaders to the needs of their constituents than to put them in the same position?
About 15 percent of Americans have no health insurance, according to the Census Bureau. Another 8 percent are underinsured, according to the Commonwealth Fund, a health policy research group. So I propose that if health reform fails this year, 15 percent of members of Congress, along with their families, randomly lose all health insurance and another 8 percent receive inadequate coverage.
Congressional critics of President Obama’s efforts to achieve health reform worry that universal coverage will be expensive, while their priority is to curb social spending. So here’s their chance to save government dollars in keeping with their own priorities.
Those same critics sometimes argue that universal coverage needn’t be a top priority because anybody can get coverage at the emergency room. Let them try that with their kids.
Some members also worry that a public option (an effective way to bring competition to the insurance market) would compete unfairly with private companies and amount to a step toward socialism.
If they object so passionately to “socialized health,” why don’t they block their 911 service to socialized police and fire services, disconnect themselves from socialized sewers and avoid socialized interstate highways?
I wouldn’t wish the trauma of losing health insurance on anyone, but our politicians’ failure to assure health care for all citizens is such a longstanding and grievous breach of their responsibility that they deserve it.
In January 1917, Progressive Magazine wrote: “At present the United States has the unenviable distinction of being the only great industrial nation without universal health insurance." More than 90 years later, we still have that distinction.
Health care has often been debated as a technical or economic issue. That has been a mistake, I believe. At root, universal health care is not an economic or technical question but a moral one.
The collapse of health reform would be a political and policy failure, but it would also be a profound moral failure. Periodically, there are political questions that are fundamentally moral, including slavery in the 19th century and civil rights battles in the 1950s and ’60s. In the same way, allowing tens of thousands of Americans to die each year because they are uninsured is not simply unwise and unfortunate. It is also wrong — a moral blot on a great nation.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/08/opinion/08kristof.html?_r=1&em
Let me offer a modest proposal: If Congress fails to pass comprehensive health reform this year, its members should surrender health insurance in proportion with the American population that is uninsured.
It may be that the lulling effect of having very fine health insurance leaves members of Congress insensitive to the dysfunction of our existing insurance system. So what better way to attune our leaders to the needs of their constituents than to put them in the same position?
About 15 percent of Americans have no health insurance, according to the Census Bureau. Another 8 percent are underinsured, according to the Commonwealth Fund, a health policy research group. So I propose that if health reform fails this year, 15 percent of members of Congress, along with their families, randomly lose all health insurance and another 8 percent receive inadequate coverage.
Congressional critics of President Obama’s efforts to achieve health reform worry that universal coverage will be expensive, while their priority is to curb social spending. So here’s their chance to save government dollars in keeping with their own priorities.
Those same critics sometimes argue that universal coverage needn’t be a top priority because anybody can get coverage at the emergency room. Let them try that with their kids.
Some members also worry that a public option (an effective way to bring competition to the insurance market) would compete unfairly with private companies and amount to a step toward socialism.
If they object so passionately to “socialized health,” why don’t they block their 911 service to socialized police and fire services, disconnect themselves from socialized sewers and avoid socialized interstate highways?
I wouldn’t wish the trauma of losing health insurance on anyone, but our politicians’ failure to assure health care for all citizens is such a longstanding and grievous breach of their responsibility that they deserve it.
In January 1917, Progressive Magazine wrote: “At present the United States has the unenviable distinction of being the only great industrial nation without universal health insurance." More than 90 years later, we still have that distinction.
Health care has often been debated as a technical or economic issue. That has been a mistake, I believe. At root, universal health care is not an economic or technical question but a moral one.
The collapse of health reform would be a political and policy failure, but it would also be a profound moral failure. Periodically, there are political questions that are fundamentally moral, including slavery in the 19th century and civil rights battles in the 1950s and ’60s. In the same way, allowing tens of thousands of Americans to die each year because they are uninsured is not simply unwise and unfortunate. It is also wrong — a moral blot on a great nation.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/08/opinion/08kristof.html?_r=1&em
10.09.2009
Special Comment on Health Care
Keith Olbermann dedicated his entire show on Wednesday to the fight for the health care reform.
He is right on the mark and it was an amazing show:
There has never been a more pressing time for health care reform in this country.
We need real reform and we need it now.
He is right on the mark and it was an amazing show:
There has never been a more pressing time for health care reform in this country.
We need real reform and we need it now.
10.08.2009
Todd Harrison
Todd Harrison was the head of trading for the Hedge Fund ran by Jim Cramer from 2001 to 2003 and the youngest vice president in the history of Morgan Stanley.
He is also the founder of Minyanville Media a website that is dedicated to increasing financial literacy.
He wrote a collection of articles chronicling his life from the dot com boom and 9/11 to the current credit crisis. It is focused mostly on his personal struggles, successes, and the subsequent lessons.
It is one of the most entertaining and enlightening things I have ever read, so if you get the chance I highly recommend it:
http://www.minyanville.com/articles/index/a/23134
He is also the founder of Minyanville Media a website that is dedicated to increasing financial literacy.
He wrote a collection of articles chronicling his life from the dot com boom and 9/11 to the current credit crisis. It is focused mostly on his personal struggles, successes, and the subsequent lessons.
It is one of the most entertaining and enlightening things I have ever read, so if you get the chance I highly recommend it:
http://www.minyanville.com/articles/index/a/23134
10.07.2009
Pinball History
4 Things You Didn't Know About Pinball:
1. Pinball Was Illegal
Pinball was banned from the early 1940s to the mid-1970s in most of America's big cities, including New York, Los Angeles and Chicago, where the game was born and where virtually all of its manufacturers have historically been located. The stated reason for the bans: Pinball was a game of chance, not skill, and so it was a form of gambling. Many lawmakers also believed pinball to be a mafia-run racket and a time- and dime-waster for impressionable youth. (The machines robbed the "pockets of schoolchildren in the form of nickels and dimes given them as lunch money," New York Mayor Fiorello La Guardia wrote in a Supreme Court affidavit.)
2. NYPD Held Prohibition-Style Raids on Pinball In New York
The pinball ban was executed in a particularly dramatic fashion. Just weeks after Pearl Harbor was attacked, Mayor Fiorello La Guardia issued an ultimatum to the city's police force stating that their top priority would be to round up pinball machines and arrest their owners. La Guardia proceeded to spearhead massive Prohibition-style raids in which thousands of machines were rounded up in a matter of days, before being dramatically smashed with sledgehammers by the mayor and police commissioner. The machines were then dumped into the city's rivers.
3. Pinball Best-Seller
The best-selling pinball machine of all time is still "The Addams Family," which came out in 1991.
4. Pinball Is Still Illegal in Some Places
Just a few years ago, Nashville, Tenn. overturned its ban on children under 18 playing, or even standing within 10 feet of, a pinball machine. And, to this day, it is illegal to play pinball on Sundays in Ocean City, N.J.
Check out the website below for other amazing pinball facts:
http://tech.msn.com/products/slideshow.aspx?cp-documentid=21514777>1=40000
1. Pinball Was Illegal
Pinball was banned from the early 1940s to the mid-1970s in most of America's big cities, including New York, Los Angeles and Chicago, where the game was born and where virtually all of its manufacturers have historically been located. The stated reason for the bans: Pinball was a game of chance, not skill, and so it was a form of gambling. Many lawmakers also believed pinball to be a mafia-run racket and a time- and dime-waster for impressionable youth. (The machines robbed the "pockets of schoolchildren in the form of nickels and dimes given them as lunch money," New York Mayor Fiorello La Guardia wrote in a Supreme Court affidavit.)
2. NYPD Held Prohibition-Style Raids on Pinball In New York
The pinball ban was executed in a particularly dramatic fashion. Just weeks after Pearl Harbor was attacked, Mayor Fiorello La Guardia issued an ultimatum to the city's police force stating that their top priority would be to round up pinball machines and arrest their owners. La Guardia proceeded to spearhead massive Prohibition-style raids in which thousands of machines were rounded up in a matter of days, before being dramatically smashed with sledgehammers by the mayor and police commissioner. The machines were then dumped into the city's rivers.
3. Pinball Best-Seller
The best-selling pinball machine of all time is still "The Addams Family," which came out in 1991.
4. Pinball Is Still Illegal in Some Places
Just a few years ago, Nashville, Tenn. overturned its ban on children under 18 playing, or even standing within 10 feet of, a pinball machine. And, to this day, it is illegal to play pinball on Sundays in Ocean City, N.J.
Check out the website below for other amazing pinball facts:
http://tech.msn.com/products/slideshow.aspx?cp-documentid=21514777>1=40000
10.06.2009
Made in the US, Not Really
The international nature of the following companies might surprise you...
Ben & Jerry's
9 Years ago the image of happy Vermont cows faded. The company was sold to Dutch-British conglomerate Unilever for $326 million. The sale put it in the hands of the world's largest ice cream manufacturer, right beside other formerly American ice cream icons Good Humor and Breyers.
Gerber Baby Food
In 1927, Dorothy Gerber had a brilliant idea: Mass-produce the baby food that women mashed, pulped and strained in their kitchens. In 1994, Sandoz, a Swiss pharmaceutical company, bought Gerber for about $3.7 billion. The merger of Sandoz and Ciba-Geigy in 1996 created Novartis (NVS), a drug company without a place for baby food. Gerber finally got a new home in 2007, when Swiss conglomerate Nestlé (NSRGY) bought the division from Novartis for $5.5 billion.
Rawlings
The sporting goods maker was founded in St. Louis in 1887 by brothers George and Alfred Rawlings. Baseball is as American as apple pie. But baseballs themselves -- the actual leather-covered spheres hurled in the major leagues -- are only as Americanas gallo pinto, the national dish of Costa Rica, where Rawlings balls have been made since 1986.
Trader Joe's
The first Trader Joe's opened its doors in 1967 in suburban Los Angeles, and today it has more than 300 locations in the United States. So it may be a surprise to know that Trader Joe's is actually German: Since 1979, Trader Joe's has been owned by German billionaire Theo Albrecht. The grocery chain has experienced massive growth in recent years, with sales expected to hit $7.2 billion this year by one estimate, three times what they were five years ago.
Levi's
Nearly a century ago Levi's invented the modern bluejeans, hand-stitching each pair in San Francisco. Levi's has since responded to the global marketplace by opening more than 50 plants and offices in 35 countries. Today it sells its products in 60,000 retail outlets around the world and derives nearly half its revenue from operations in Europe and the Asia-Pacific region.
From: http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Investing/Extra/made-in-america-no-longer.aspx
Ben & Jerry's
9 Years ago the image of happy Vermont cows faded. The company was sold to Dutch-British conglomerate Unilever for $326 million. The sale put it in the hands of the world's largest ice cream manufacturer, right beside other formerly American ice cream icons Good Humor and Breyers.
Gerber Baby Food
In 1927, Dorothy Gerber had a brilliant idea: Mass-produce the baby food that women mashed, pulped and strained in their kitchens. In 1994, Sandoz, a Swiss pharmaceutical company, bought Gerber for about $3.7 billion. The merger of Sandoz and Ciba-Geigy in 1996 created Novartis (NVS), a drug company without a place for baby food. Gerber finally got a new home in 2007, when Swiss conglomerate Nestlé (NSRGY) bought the division from Novartis for $5.5 billion.
Rawlings
The sporting goods maker was founded in St. Louis in 1887 by brothers George and Alfred Rawlings. Baseball is as American as apple pie. But baseballs themselves -- the actual leather-covered spheres hurled in the major leagues -- are only as Americanas gallo pinto, the national dish of Costa Rica, where Rawlings balls have been made since 1986.
Trader Joe's
The first Trader Joe's opened its doors in 1967 in suburban Los Angeles, and today it has more than 300 locations in the United States. So it may be a surprise to know that Trader Joe's is actually German: Since 1979, Trader Joe's has been owned by German billionaire Theo Albrecht. The grocery chain has experienced massive growth in recent years, with sales expected to hit $7.2 billion this year by one estimate, three times what they were five years ago.
Levi's
Nearly a century ago Levi's invented the modern bluejeans, hand-stitching each pair in San Francisco. Levi's has since responded to the global marketplace by opening more than 50 plants and offices in 35 countries. Today it sells its products in 60,000 retail outlets around the world and derives nearly half its revenue from operations in Europe and the Asia-Pacific region.
From: http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Investing/Extra/made-in-america-no-longer.aspx
10.05.2009
School Answering Machine
I'm sure there are many schools around the country that would love to use this message on their answering machine:
10.02.2009
Plug in Hybrid Concept Car
BMW has put a lot of work into its Vision EfficientDynamics Concept Car.
The Vision concept is powered by three sources: two electric motors (one at each axle, giving the car all-wheel drive in electric mode) and a turbodiesel engine (in front of the rear axle).
The Vision EfficientDynamics also features a plug-in solution where the batteries can be recharged in 2.5 hours.
Running in full electric mode, the car can travel up to 31 miles.
With only the turbodiesel providing power, an approximate 400-mile range can be obtained using a 6.6-gallon tank.
In the European Union test cycle, the car achieved a fuel economy rating 62.5 miles per gallon.
http://autos.yahoo.com/auto-shows/frankfurt_auto_show_2009/1070/BMW-Vision-EfficientDynamics-Concept
The Vision concept is powered by three sources: two electric motors (one at each axle, giving the car all-wheel drive in electric mode) and a turbodiesel engine (in front of the rear axle).
The Vision EfficientDynamics also features a plug-in solution where the batteries can be recharged in 2.5 hours.
Running in full electric mode, the car can travel up to 31 miles.
With only the turbodiesel providing power, an approximate 400-mile range can be obtained using a 6.6-gallon tank.
In the European Union test cycle, the car achieved a fuel economy rating 62.5 miles per gallon.
http://autos.yahoo.com/auto-shows/frankfurt_auto_show_2009/1070/BMW-Vision-EfficientDynamics-Concept