Category Archives: people

Republican NLRB Member Terence Flynn Resigns Over Ethical Violations. Romney Adviser under Criticism for Links

Flynn’s resignation as a temporary Board member is effective 24 July 2012, a laughably long time given the seriousness of the findings by the Inspector General of many instances of misconduct. In the view of many critics, Flynn should resign immediately and the Department of Justice should pursue criminal charges. For the moment, Flynn has recused himself from all agency business and has asked that the President withdraw his pending permanent nomination for Board Member of the NLRB. Continue reading

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Owner of Hawaii Car Dealerships Pleads Guilty to Tax Crimes

Alan Pflueger, the owner of multiple car dealerships and one of Hawaii’s wealthiest people, was at the head of a tax crimes fraud that paid his personal expenses, which were deducted as business expenses by Pflueger Inc, the Justice Department said. Continue reading

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Iran Auto Production Down 27% as UANI Blasts Peugeot and Nissan for Ongoing Business with Islamic Revolutionary Guard

The auto industry represents 20% of Iran’s GDP that is dominated by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. UANI has developed model legislation, The DRIVE Act, to force auto manufacturers to choose between American taxpayers and the regime. The DRIVE Act requires automakers to certify they are not engaged in any business in Iran, or engaged in the implementation of any agreement with Iranian entities in order to be eligible for U.S. government contracts or financial assistance. Continue reading

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Americans Want Highways and Bridges Fixed. So Who Pays?

A new survey from HNTB Corporation finds two-thirds of Americans “who intend to vote” during this year’s presidential election claim that a candidate’s standing on American transportation infrastructure will influence their decision. More than one in five (22%) claim this will be “extremely influential” on whom they vote for. Nearly nine in ten (89%) Americans feel it is important for the federal government to fund the maintenance and improvements of interstate highways.

Therein lays the potholes, crumbling concrete and rusting bridges in evidence all around us. Who pays? Overall, 4 in 5 (80%) of those surveyed claim they would rather increase funding and improve roads and bridges than continue current funding levels. You would never know this by observing the behavior of our ruling elites, though. Continue reading

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How Long does the Shelby Brand Survive at Ford?

The challenge going forward for both Shelby International and Ford Motor Company is how to remain relevant with a marketing proposition that grows more backward looking as time passes. Continue reading

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Harold ‘Red’ Poling – Ex CEO and Chairman of Ford – Dead

My favorite Poling story was when Ford was looking to buy Alfa Romeo. So they had a car in the executive garage for Red and other senior execs to drive. One problem, Red’s big wing tips didn’t allow him to operate the small pedals unimpeded. Therefore, he took them off and drove the car in his socks, leaving the shoes on the walkway. It is unknown if the garage staff polished the shoes while he was gone. Continue reading

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Carroll Shelby – Sports Car Racer and Builder – Dead at 89

Carroll Hall Shelby, a legendary sports car racer and builder died Thursday at age 89, his company, Carroll Shelby International, said today. The creator of the Cobra, Shelby passed away yesterday at Baylor Hospital in Dallas. Carroll Shelby is the only man to have won the 24 Hours of Le Mans race as a driver, team owner and automotive manufacturer. Shelby once told me that he “spent a ton of old man Ford’s money, and kicked Ferrari’s ass,” which his team did for successive years at the 24 Hours of Le Mans until a rule change made the brutally fast and reliable cars illegal. Continue reading

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Thirty Percent of Ford Shareholders Vote against Family Control

While a grand total of 63 people bothered to attend the Ford Motor Company annual meeting of shareholders in Wilmington, Delaware today, 29.5% of investors or 1,283,063,982 of them voted against Ford family control of the company through their holdings of Class B stock, which has 16 votes per share as opposed to one per share of common, assuming no one in the Ford family voted for losing power.
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U.S. Treasury to Sell $5 Billion of AIG Stock. Taxpayers Still Owed $39 Billion from Controversial Bailout of Company

Today’s announcement is part of Treasury’s ongoing efforts to wind down the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP). More than 81% ($338 billion) of the $415 billion funds disbursed for TARP have already been recovered to date through repayments and other income – before including any expected proceeds from today’s announcement.

Ideologues will never admit it, but TARP is looking like an effective government intervention in the failed capital markets. Little has been done to make sure that it does not happen again in the view of critics. Continue reading

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April Marks Third Straight Month of Declining U.S. Job Growth as Unemployment Remains at an Official and Understated 8%

The struggling U.S. economy added a measly 115,000 jobs last month, the third straight month of declines in job growth. More than 15 million Americans are unemployed or underemployed. This poor performance comes years after Washington declared the recession caused by the reckless and unpunished practices of Wall Street officially over. Continue reading

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California Drivers Unaware Motorcycle Lane Splitting is Legal

The California Office of Traffic Safety today released results of the first-ever survey of California motorists and motorcycle riders on the subject of lane splitting, where motorcycles travel between two lanes with other vehicles travel ling the same direction. Lane … Continue reading

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Chevrolet and Prince Fielder Give Kids a Pro Baseball Field

Prince, of course, benefited from the Tiger’s family-friendly policy of playing on the Tigers field and taking batting practice and coaching as a kid when his father, Cecil, was tearing the cover off the ball in Detroit. Sort of takes some of the fear out of it when a pitcher is trying to stare you down, if as a kid you’ve been in the cage in a big league park looking at fastballs curves, sliders and brushbacks. Continue reading

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SAE Auction of Unique Roush Mustang Coming to Ford Field

What’s said to be a unique pony car has a custom silver body and graphics, a Roush 5-liter supercharged V8 engine using Ford Racing’s “Aluminator” long block. The engine is rated at 625 horsepower and 540 ft-lbs of torque, numbers you can believe because of SAE standardized test procedures that stopped creative math calculations by performance car marketers. Continue reading

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Another DENSO Exec Guilty of Price Fixing and Bid Rigging

According to the latest charge, Hattori participated in the conspiracy from at least as early as July 2005, until at least July 2008. During the conspiracy, Hattori was an assistant manager in the Toyota Sales Division at DENSO from July 2005 until December 2006, and a manager in the Toyota Sales Division from December 2006 until at least July 2008. Continue reading

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Volvo signs MoU with China Development Bank. Plant Next?

In 2011, Volvo sold 449,000 vehicles globally, not enough to finance internally new platforms and or plants, both of which it needs to survive in the global auto business. Continue reading

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