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Filed under: Government/Legal , Chrysler, LLC. , Ford , GM , Celebrities While there is definitely a huge rift between those who favor a Detroit bailout and those who would rather see the Big 3 fade away, you'd think that someone like Flint-native and documentary maker Michael Moore would be all in favor of helping the Big Three succeed. After all, Moore rose to fame for his first documentary entitled "Roger and Me" that featured then-CEO of General Motors Roger Smith. According to this piece in the Detroit News , however, Moore doesn't profess unconditional support for a Big 3 bailout. It seems he has mixed feelings about the whole situation. Moore was on Larry King last night saying that the automakers ignored the wishes of consumers by continuing to build bigger vehicles just to maximize profits. Foreign automakers, on the other hand, built SUVs and more fuel-efficient vehicles in other categories. Moore elaborated by saying that the current managers don't deserve...
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Filed under: Hybrids/Alternative , Government/Legal , Green , Celebrities Rocker Neil Young has managed to create his own electric car out of an old Lincoln convertible . That's awesome, and we congratulate Young on the amazing accomplishment. But as far as his ideas on how to fix Detroit, it seems that the singer's plan has a few loose screws. Mr. Young suggests that the Feds give Detroit the money it needs to survive on the condition that the three remaining automakers stop building cars with gas-powered engines... right now. This, as you would imagine, presents a problem, considering that cars aren't all that useful if they can't provide actual transportation. Young's got a solution to that problem too: each automaker must convert one plant to assemble "re-power kits" that would allow these cars to be retrofitted as "self charging electric vehicles." That sounds nice, doesn't it? The only problem is that "self charging" EVs don't...
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Filed under: Government/Legal , Celebrities The incarceration of Nick "Hogan" Bollea has come to an end after just 166 days. Offspring of famous WWE wrestler Terry "Hulk Hogan" Bollea, the youngest Hogan had been sentenced to eight months in jail for reckless driving last May after crashing his dad's souped up yellow Toyota Supra in Florida back in August 2007. Though Bollea walked away from the crash with minor injuries, his friend, John Graziano, who was riding shotgun at the time, sustained serious injuries that will require medical care for the rest of his life. In addition to serving jail time, Bollea will also be on probation for five years and have his license suspended for three. Bollea was apparently a model inmate, getting off early on account of "good time" credit earned while in the clink. TMZ.com reports that after reuniting with his mother outside the jailhouse, the ex-con returned home to a "thumping party" complete with cops on...
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Filed under: Minivans/MPVs , China , Government/Legal , Marketing/Advertising , Videos , FIAT , Celebrities According to Olivier Francois, Chief Executive Officer of Lancia, Richard Gere was chosen for a recent ad for the Lancia Delta because he "is not merely a fine actor; not merely one of the most famous men in the world. He is a man with a great difference: the ability to combine talent, fame and style with great character. I'm talking about his commitment to peace." That affinity for peace stretches especially towards the people of Tibet, a people who's autonomy from China Gere supports. This commercial, which you can watch after the break, features Gere driving a new Lancia Delta from Hollywood to Tibet in just 30 seconds and aired in Italy. After reports of the commercial appeared in Chinese newspapers, China was apparently none too happy about it. Fiat has decided to apologize, with a company spokesman saying, "Fiat Group extends its apologies to the Government...
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Filed under: Government/Legal , Japan , Plants/Manufacturing , Safety , Toyota , UAW/Unions , Celebrities , Carsumer Advocacy The top is a tough place to be. Just ask Toyota, which is now facing charges of worker right abuses, including the use of sweat shops and human trafficking. As we've reported before, Japan even has a word for being overworked to death: karoshi . Toyota plants are not immune to this stress-related disease, as workers at its plants have indeed suffered death due to working too hard. These facts have caught the attention of The National Labor Committee, which has an entire report worked up that alleges Toyota over-works and under-pays its Japanese employees and has ties to various unsavory Dictators. It's also been well established that Toyota does not want its American workforce unionized. The report is being directly targeted at Prius-driving celebrities who see Toyota as the shining green beacon in a world of pollution-spewing car companies. Whether or not...
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Filed under: Government/Legal , Celebrities Click above for gallery of photos released by Clearwater, Florida police Today in Clearwater, Florida, a judge sentenced Nick Bollea , son of famous WWE wrestler Hulk Hogan, to eight months in jail for reckless driving. Last August Bollea crashed his father's yellow modified Toyota Supra into a palm tree while street racing. Not only did he total the car, but his friend John Graziano who was riding shotgun that night will now require lifetime medical care for his critical injuries. The young Hogan was reportedly led off to serve his sentence immediately after it was handed down by the judge. In addition to the jail time, Bollea will also be on probation for five years and lose his drivers license for three. After all the hoopla that's led us to this point in Nick Bollea's tragic story, the only thing we can say is that the roads are probably safer tonight. Gallery: Police pics of Nick Hogan's totaled Supra [Source: USA Today ]...
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Filed under: Motorsports , Government/Legal , Hirings/Firings , Celebrities June 3 is still a long way off with something like this dangling overhead. That's the date for which Max Mosley, the embattled president of the FIA, has called an exceptional general assembly of the organization's constituents to discuss his future with the governing body. In addition to four of the world's largest automobile manufacturers - all of which participate actively in Formula One - several of the 222 member organizations that make up the FIA (including AAA) have called for his resignation. However Mosley, who was videotaped performing a Nazi-themed S&M orgy with five prostitutes , plans to fight for his job. He claims that for every letter of reprimand, he received another seven letters of support. Whichever way the vote goes, however, Mosley says he'll retire at the end of his current term, which expires in October 2009. The vote will be taken via secret ballot from each of the 222...
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Filed under: Motorsports , Government/Legal , Hirings/Firings , Celebrities FIA president Max Mosley, seen above at the 2006 Bahrain Grand Prix, had a whole pack of nails hammered further into his career's coffin as the Kingdom of Bahrain asked the embattled FIA president not to come to the race in the gulf state . The letter, sent by the country's ruler Crown Prince Sheikh Salman Bin Hamad Al-Khalifa, said it would be "inappropriate" for Mosley to show up in Bahrain and hit the news around the same time as the FIA announced that Mosley - who redefined the term "auto erotic" with the revelation of his disturbing sex life - would stay in London during the race to deal with "legal matters". As if that weren't enough to end Mosley's career, several major automakers participating in Formula One have lined up to express their dismay at Mosley's behavior. BMW and Mercedes-Benz issued a joint statement calling Mosley's actions "disgraceful"...
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Filed under: Motorsports , Government/Legal , Celebrities The world of motorsports was shocked by a report of a video tape which surfaced, allegedly showing FIA president Max Mosley participating in a bizarre sadomasochistic orgy. The reports emanate from British tabloid News of the World, but have been spreading rapidly across mainstream media and the motoring press. The video reportedly depicts Mosley engaging the services of five prostitutes in London to stage a perverse reenactment of a Nazi concentration camp in which Mosley plays both victim and oppressor, alternately receiving lashes from a dominatrix and barking orders in German to the prostitutes dressed in pseudo-Auschwitz uniforms. The son of infamous wartime British fascist leader Oswald Mosley, who married Max's mother Diana in the presence of Adolf Hitler at a ceremony in the home of Nazi arch-propagandist Joseph Goebbels, Mosley had tried to help resuscitate his father's fascist political career before leaving politics...
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Filed under: Government/Legal , Celebrities Click above for gallery of photos released by Clearwater, Florida police John Graziano was riding shotgun when Nick Bollea, son of famed pro wrestler Terry Bollea, a.k.a. Hulk Hogan, lost control of his modified Toyota Supra and hit a tree in Clearwater, Florida one rainy night last August. As we all know by now, Hogan's son suffered minored injuries, but Graziano suffered massive head trauma that will likely leave him hospitalized for life. The Graziano family filed a lawsuit on Monday against Terry Bollea, which claims he bears responsibility for the accident because he was aware of his son's penchant for speed and competitive racing. Police believe Nick Bollea was racing another car that night driven by his friend, Daniel Jacobs, who is also named as a defendant in the lawsuit. Linda Bollea, who has filed for a divorce from her husband, is the third defendant named. While the lawsuit doesn't specify an amount of money that the Graziano...
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Filed under: Motorsports , Euro , Government/Legal , Videos , Ford , Citroen , Celebrities It's pretty straightforward for most of us: drive above the speed limit and risk getting in trouble with the fuzz. Racing drivers usually get away with it - if only because they're on closed circuits - which makes it all the more interesting when the same fate befalls them as applies to the rest of us. Although nothing seems to have come out of Schumacher's now-famous cab-driving incident , for example, Lewis Hamilton can't drive anymore on French roads . Now, after having almost run down a police officer on his way to a record fifth consecutive victory in Monte Carlo , we've got video footage of incumbent rally champion Sebastien Loeb getting pulled over by Swedish police in his Citroen C4 rally car. In the video after the jump, you can clearly see the same ticked-off look the rest of us get while receiving a ticket. But the discernible exasperation could be more from the results...
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Filed under: Time Warp , Convertibles , Auction Action , Government/Legal , Chevrolet , Celebrities Click to view more images of Rudy's Corvair Want to get in on the action of the 2008 presidential race? How about owning a candidate's ride? Up for auction on eBay is a 1966 Chevrolet Corvair Convertible, previously owned by former NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani. The classic American drop-top has its original aqua paint job with matching interior and contrasting white convertible top. Although listed "as is", the Corvair is claimed to be in proper working condition with all the original equipment. Giuliani bought the car from Cooper Classic Cars in New York and sold it back to the dealership with 73,650 miles on the odometer in 1996, back when he still had his comb-over, which might explain why he gave it up. (Either that or the ordeal of owning a classic convertible in Manhattan.) The car has been in storage ever since, and at the time of writing has eleven bids standing at just...
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