Tuesday, January 27, 2009

kf Energizes Its Automotive Vertical: Why did Honda design its new hybrid to look exactly like the Toyota Prius? I like the Prius' appearance, but a lot of people don't. This seems like a missed opportunity to create a new trademark design. Timid.** ... Meanwhile, Mercedes' styling isn't timid, it's vegetative. The new E-class looks exactly like you worried it would look, only drearier. Another reason not to be rich. ... Car & Driver 's Patti Maki offers a terse review of the Scion xB's stability in a crosswind: "Made my dog barf in his crate." ...

**--Various readers suggest that people buy hybrids in large part to advertise how environmentally conscious they are, so Honda had to make its car shout "hybrid." That's fine. But it still didn't have to ape the Prius. Come up with some freshly unconventional and distinctive shape that shouts "hybrid" and "Honda" at the same time. Why let the Prius define how hybrids have to look? ...   8:09 P.M.

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The "Dear Colleague" letter on card check reveals labor-centric Dems' newest argument for ducking secret ballot elections in the workplace: they're "divisive"!   ... So unpleasant, elections. People disagreeing with their union. Management saying nasty things. Why make all that trouble--all that ... what do they call it, "adversarialism"? That's not what today's unions are about! Why can't we just get along? Workers, organizers, employers.  We can all ... I know, we can all apply for a bailout together! ... P.S.: What's that you say--aren't strikes  "divisive"? That just shows you aren't paying attention. Under the Employee Free Choice Act, unions don't have to go on strike . If management doesn't come around, an initial agreement is simply imposed on them by an arbitrator. No fuss, no argument--and no strike. Everyone's on the same page! It's a new era. ...  6:00 P.M.

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Is Davos Dying ? Julia Allison's going . That could do it. ... Can Rex Sorgatz be far behind? ...  5:39 P.M.

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Dr. Elders, Call Your Office: I can't believe my colleague Will Saletan hasn't blogged on this yet. It's totally in his wheelhouse. Do the stats reflect just correlation or causation?  The viability of a peculiar kind of theraputic, sexually permissive liberalism--most unfortunately symbolized by Bill Clinton's Surgeon General--hangs in the balance. (What if it's healthy to keep it all bottled up?) ... Plus, the cheap, hit-grabbing headlines write themselves! ... We do still want hits, don't we? 5:25 P.M.

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