Smile by pairadocs

The Michigan International Auto Show returns to DeVos Place January 26-29, 2012 with manufacturers from around the world setting up their finest traveling displays. The show is West Michigan’s largest consumer show and offers you a chance to view your next new car with some 300 new vehicles on display. From sedans to vans, SUVs & trucks to hybrids and sports cars. If it rolls on 4 wheels, chances are you'll see it at the factory representatives from nearly 40 different manufacturers.

“This year, visitors will find vehicles displaying increases in innovations and design, as well as energy efficiency models as the auto industry rises to the challenges placed before it,” says Terry Burns, Executive Director of the Grand Rapids New Car Dealers Association. “New models, new designs and new technologies are helping our industry bring itself back up along a path of recovery as we move into 2012 and beyond.”

A highlight of the show is the Million Dollar Motorway, which is expected to be bigger and better than ever before featuring a variety of high end cars including Bentley, Rolls Royce, Aston Martin, Maserati and Lamborghini, each valued at more than $100,000. There are also exhibits from the Gilmore Car Museum that offer you a chance to take a trip back in automobile history.

Here's a video from last year's show to give you an idea of what to expect.

Absolute Michigan is committed to helping our readers get more out of Michigan. To that end, we are adding an exciting new program featuring giveaways of products and services from all kinds of Michigan businesses. It's free, fun and all you have to do to be eligible is to be on our email list - sign up using the form below. We guarantee that we will not share your email address with anyone!

If your business is interested in participating, you can get all the information right here.

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2013 Dodge Dart by ChriKett Photography

The first Detroit Area Dealer Association (DADA)-managed Detroit Auto Show was held in December 1907 at Riverview Park. In 1987, the show was re-focused as an international event, and 2012 is their 24th annual under the new format. The center of the event are concept cars and exhibitions by car companies from Acura to Volvo and of course Detroit standards like Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, Chrysler, Dodge, Ford, GMC and Lincoln.

Blogs & Social Media from the Detroit Auto Show

Our favorite for coverage this year is mLive's Detroit Auto Show coverage. They have a look at Energy Secretary Steven Chu's visit to the show, some concept car highlights from the 2012 floor and the back and forth between Governor Snyder and a Wayne State student. After Snyder issued a call for grads to stay in Michigan, biomed engineering student Ramkumar Annamalai  asked him why if eduction was so important has Michigan seen cuts that remove a lot of what attracts top students.  It's an interesting exchange that highlights one of the real challenges manufacturing and research in Michigan are facing. You can also get comprehensive reporting from the Detroit Free Press and the Detroit News.

As usual, you can find unabashed car love with a healthy dose of humor from the  2012 Detroit Auto Show on Jalopnik.  Over at Autoblog they feature podcasts and articles including their Editor's top 5 picks from the show (spoiler: #1 is the 2013 Ford Fusion which also captured Autoweek Magazine's coveted Best of Show award). Another source that's getting more and more relevant is  Autoblog Green who has features on the frighteningly cute Tata, a sub-$19k Prius and the Smart-for-Us urban concept mini-truck pictured right. Pretty much everyone with a blog is covering it of course, from Motor Trend to Popular Mechanics.

The North American International Auto Show has gotten into the social media swing in 2012 with a Facebook page their NAIAS official Twitter. You can also of course dive right in to #NAIAS on Twitter.

Attending the North American International Auto Show

The NAIAS web site has everything you need to know about attending the public show and tomorrow night's black tie charity preview. If you do attend and take pictures or video, we'd love it if you'd share them with us in the Absolute Michigan Flickr group or shoot us the link to YouTube vids!

Detroit Auto Show Photos

The NAIAS has a nifty virtual show floor.  Christian Kettenbell took the photo at the top and he has a really nice slideshow from 2012. You can see a whole lot more by checking Detroit Auto Show and/or NAIAS on Flickr. The blogs & papers above are another great source of photos of production cars and concepts as well.    If you'd like to step back in time, check out this Detroit News Rearview Mirror feature The Detroit Auto Show: from beer gardens to tabernacles to Cobo Center.

Anything else to add or ask? Post it in the comments!

Detroit Auto Show Videos

You can watch the snarky, kind of slow and frankly down on the auto show 2012 North American International Auto Show Preview from Drive and the un-snarky and faster paced preview from Autoweek TV. Our favorite, however, is this selection of highlights from the Media Preview on the 2012 show floor by Global News ENG Cameraman Ben Jonah. Got other ones you like? Add them in the comments below!

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Eddie Rickenbacker, circa 1919. Photo from the National Archives and Records Administration holdings (ARC identifier 533720). Digital copy found on wikimediacommons.org

Ace of Aces

After shooting down twenty-two enemy aircraft and four barrage balloons in less than a year, Captain Edward “Eddie” Rickenbacker became the most celebrated Allied airman of World War I, earning him the title “Ace of Aces.” He received the Congressional Medal of Honor, the French Legion of Honor, the Croix de Guerre, the Distinguished Service Cross and seven other medals.

At the close of the war, Rickenbacker returned home to a hero’s welcome of ticker-tape parades and other events in his honor. He retreated to the seclusion of the New Mexican desert to contemplate his future. He had been a race car driver before the war, and automobiles again filled his mind. He decided to build a car bearing his name.

Building a Car

Rickenbacker teamed up with some of the best and brightest automobile entrepreneurs of the time. Harry Cunningham was a former race driver turned engineer, and Walter Flanders and Barney Everitt were two-thirds of the EMF Company of Detroit. Rickenbacker contributed engineering ideas learned from his pre-war days building, selling and driving race cars.

Rickenbacker set out to design and build a mid-priced car with many advanced features. The stylish six-cylinder model he dreamed of would have a low center of gravity, a vibration-free tandem flywheel, cabin heater, air cleaner and a locking steering wheel. A 94th Squadron “Hat in the Ring” insignia graced the radiator housing. When it came to decide where such a car would be built, there was only one choice: Detroit, the Automobile Capital of the World.

The Rickenbacker Motor Company

Rickenbacker built factory prototypes in 1920 and logged eighty thousand miles test driving the cars himself. In 1922, the Rickenbacker Motor Company (RMC) went into full production, with Rickenbacker as vice-president in charge of sales. He barnstormed across the country flying in his airplane, selling cars and dealer franchises. Eventually, the company boasted a network of twelve hundred dealers in the U.S and three hundred worldwide. Between 1922 and 1924, RMC sold fifty thousand cars with price tags ranging from $1,485.00 for the touring model to $1,995.00 for a sedan.

Sales were brisk and in 1924, the company introduced the Vertical 8 Super Fine model. A promotional brochure bragged that “almost without exception, Rickenbacker factory officials and their wives drive this coupe model…it is a type much coveted and appreciated by young ladies and dowagers. It is quite as suitable for a man as a woman driver.” Other ads claimed that the motor “improves with use. Take a look at the frame. Comparatively, the Brooklyn Bridge does not provide such a factor of rigidity and strength.”

A family with a Rickenbacker car (Click on the image to view it in a larger size)

Four Wheel Brakes

Advertising rhetoric aside, the company seemed to be doing everything right and they announced a new automotive innovation. Four-wheel brakes have been standard equipment since Rickenbacker introduced them more than eighty years ago. The announcement that the braking system would be standard on their 1924 models caused a commotion in the automobile business. Several auto companies—notably Studebaker—mounted a slander campaign, claiming that four-wheel brakes were dangerous and unpredictable.

Believing in himself and his product, Eddie Rickenbacker dismissed the adverse publicity. Rather than play down the accusations, he touted the merits of the braking system by stenciling “4-WHEEL BRAKES” on the spare tire covers. Detractors claimed that this was necessary to avoid rear-end collisions caused by Rickenbacker cars stopping too fast.

End of a Dream

Despite the company’s efforts, sales began to lag. In 1926, Rickenbacker resigned from his position, and the company struggled on until 1927, when it declared bankruptcy and halted production. Ironically, the German company Audi bought the design, tooling and spare parts and installed Rickenbacker engines in some models.

At the age of thirty-five and $250,000 in debt, Rickenbacker had to abandon his dream of building a “Car Worthy of its Name.” He vowed to pay off his creditors and changed his career course. He bought the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and later became Chairman of the Board of Eastern Airlines. A survivor in life as well as business, Eddie Rickenbacker survived two airplane crashes before passing away in 1973 at the age of eighty-two.

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For the past eight months, the 29 year old has been driving a 1930 Model A as his everyday car. His project, dubbed “365 Days of A,” has him parking his Ford Explorer and Honda Accord and, for one year – with no exceptions for weather or distance – driving the beautiful blue Model A instead.

“It’s something I wanted to do for a few years,” says Klinger, who owns a 1919 Model T and ‘a few other cars.’ “I wanted to show that an old car like this can be driven every day.”

Head over to 365 Days of A to follow Jonathan through the ins (learning to slow down) and outs (fixing what goes wrong) and saga of his Model A experiment from Day 1 (October 13, 2010) to Day 252 (and beyond). Be sure to check out the FAQs for the who, what and where.

The video below looks at how they got the A into shape, and you can see a lot more on their 365 Days of A playlist!

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5x5 Night is a monthly event in Grand Rapids that allows 5 people to pitch their ideas to a panel of judges who decide how to award $5,000 on the last Tuesday night of every month. The third 5x5 happens tomorrow night at the Grand Rapids Ballet with an afterglow at Founders Brewery. Tomorrow night's presenters and topics sound pretty interesting:

• Bruce Burgess – Mull-it-Over
• Mick Hanna – Easy Crutch
• Phil Lund - The Mars Plan
• William Stewart – Compression Beehive Frame
• Charlie Wollborg - Face-to-Face > Pixel-to-Pixel

Michigan Radio has a cool interview with Rick DeVos and Bill Holsinger Robinson of Pomegranate Studios about 5x5 Night. Learn more at 5x5night.com and Pomegranate Studios.

Last month AJ Paschka got all five votes and $5000 for his very cool Weather Collage idea, but we'll feature Landon Bartley's more locally focused call for a Grand Rapids Sister City Window Webcam Project. You can check out all the pitches on the 5x5 channel.

Photo: Prepping for the first 5x5 Night at the GRAM by pomstudios.com.

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Chrysler spokeswoman Anita Thawte explained "Mr.  Daniels has starred in numerous Hollywood films and is well known in promoting an Upper Peninsula lifestyle that meshes so well with the power and payload of the U-series."

The specs of the vehicle are indeed impressive:  a massive 177 sq. ft. hood that can hold 7 deer, a gigantic bed that is rated for 4 tons of pasties and a powerful and eco-friendly V14 diesel that can operate in zero-emission mode when burning maple syrup.

Chrysler is reportedly exploring other concepts including "Smuggled from Saginaw", "Got a Ride from Grand Rapids" and "Walked over from Washtenaw".

If you liked this...

via Leelanau.com: Donald Trump unveils "Trump Leelanau" in Maple City (many, many more there as well!)

Mar 30, 2011: Weird Wednesday: April Fool's Day - Michigan's State Holiday?

Apr 1, 2010: Tim Allen co-opts Pure Michigan, declares for Governor

Apr 1, 2009: Bank bailout "tweak" to spur auto industry

Apr 1, 2008: Canadian Freeze Ray wreaks havok on Michigan

Apr 1, 2007: Massive trade sends Legislature, Governor to Guam - things are looking up for Michigan and the Tigers

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Approaching Spring by mayerdavid1978

(sorry this update is a little late!) Our Michigan event calendar for the month of March features all kinds of signs that spring is just around the corner with some cautious reminders that objects around the corner may be further off than they appear.

Quotes

"March is a tomboy with tousled hair, a mischievous smile, mud on her shoes
and a laugh in her voice." - Hal Borland

"It was one of those March days when the sun shines hot and the wind blows cold: when it is summer in the light, and winter in the shade." - Charles Dickens

"Springtime is the land awakening. The March winds are the morning yawn." - Lewis Grizzard

"Spring is when you feel like whistling even with a shoe full of slush." - Doug Larson

"Spring is nature's way of saying, Let's party!" - Robin Williams

Fast Facts
March's birthstone is Aquamarine and Bloodstone. They symbolize courage.

Its birth flower is the Narcissus.

March in the Southern Hemisphere is the seasonal equivalent of September in the Northern Hemisphere.

Daylight-Savings time occurs on March 13, 2010, at 2:00 AM - time to spring ahead!

Think spring! The vernal equinox occurs on March 20, 2011, at 11:21  PM EDT.

Things to Do, Places to Go

March 1 - April 30
Foremost's Butterflies Are Blooming - Grand Rapids
Foremost's Butterflies Are Blooming is Meijer Gardens most popular annual exhibition and the largest temporary tropical butterfly exhibit in the nation. March 1–April 30, visitors can escape the Michigan winter and mingle with more than 6,000 tropical butterflies flying free in the 15,000-square-foot Lena Meijer Tropical Conservatory.

March 3 - 4
Kalkaska Winterfest - Kalkaska
Date changed for 2012! One of the largest races in the Midwest. Longest continuous running race in Michigan -- Since 1965. Largest purse in Michigan -- $6,000. The only race in the state with an Unlimited/Open Class.

March 11 - 12
Uptown Film Festival - Birmingham
The inaugural UFF is a two- night celebration of the Michigan film industry, and in particular, productions created entirely, or in part, within the state. It was established by leaders in the Michigan film industry and will be held annually to recognize the industry and individuals' accomplishments within the state. (visit on Facebook)

March 12
Annual Great Bear Chase Ski Marathon - Calumet
A laid-back, skier-oriented weekend in Calumet on the beautiful Keewanau Peninsula. You can choose between 26-km and 50km distances including a separate category for 26-km classic skiers. The Junior Bear Chase is a youth Nordic ski race for skiiers up to 16-years-old.

March 12
Brew-Ski Festival - Harbor Springs
Suds and snow. Is there a better combination? Our first annual Brew-Ski Festival features 100+ craft brews, entertainment and an evening of parties. We'll be pitching a big ole' tent at the base of the slopes where you and friends can purchase tickets and sample a variety of brews. The frothy samples are served up by brewery representatives while you enjoy music, brats and spring conditions.

March 11 - 13
Flushing Walleye Festival - Flushing
The event features:

• Outdoor Show Exhibits
• Fish Fry
• Trout Pond
• Outdoor Show
• Firefighter's Pancake Breakfast
• Guest Speakers
• Texas Hold'em Tournament/Poker Night
• Youth Group
• Chili Cook-off

March 17 - 20
Lansing Home & Garden Show - East Lansing
The strongest Home & Garden show in the Mid-Michigan area fills the MSU Pavilion on the campus of Michigan State University. Incredible gardens, extensive landscaping projects, a Standard Flower Show and three free seminar stages surround hundreds of exhibits featuring construction, remodeling, kitchens & baths, retail garden centers, pools and spas and home services.

March 17 - 20
Ultimate Sport and RV Show - Grand Rapids
Michigan's finest tradition for the avid fisherman, hunter or outdoor loving family! Over 350 exhibitors will be at the show with the latest outdoor gear, travel information and fishing boats. The features are famous: World Class Taxidermy, Antique Lures, Trout Pond, Woodcarvers, Pellet Range, Fishing Simulator, Rock Wall and Fly Casting Instruction. Nearly 100 fishing and hunting semainrs will be held on 4 stages, including "Lake Ultimate," the 110,000 gallon indoor lake. Michigan sportsmen never miss it!

March 18 - 20
Carnival Weekend at Boyne - Boyne Falls
It's party time once again. Boyne Mountain pulls out all the stops as Mardi Gras moves north for the weekend. How can I get some of those beads you ask, come to Boyne Mountain and find out. Bands, costume competitions, the slush cup and parties all over the resort make this a weekend to remember. You might want to plan on using a sick day for Monday.

March 19 - 20
Kalamazoo Living History Show - Kalamazoo
The largest, nationally recognized, juried show in the Midwest devoted to pre-1890 original or reproduction living history supplies, accouterments and related crafts. More than 10,000 historical re-enactors from pre-Revolutionary through the Civil War, history buffs, collectors, and the general public from 18 states and Canada come together for a festive weekend to buy, sell and trade. The event attracts over 270 of the finest craftsman and dealers of living history supplies and related crafts from throughout the United States.

March 22 - 27
Ann Arbor Film Festival - Ann Arbor
The Ann Arbor Film Festival is internationally recognized as a premiere showcase for creative, inspiring, and influential films of all types: avant-garde and experimental, story-based narratives, documentaries, and animation. As the longest-running film festival of its kind in North America, the AAFF is steeped in a rich tradition of ground-breaking cinema.

March 25 - 27
Kalamazoo Fretboard Festival - Kalamazoo
Come to the Kalamazoo Museum for a celebration of Kazoo's legacy of stringed-instrument design and manufacture. This free event invites visitors to meet instrument designers and learn about their trade, to hear live performances from area musicians, and to attend a variety of workshops for guitar, mandolin, banjo, ukulele and more!

March 25 – April 2
Royal Oak Restaurant Week - Royal Oak
A nine-day event celebrating the delicious diversity of the City's dining establishments. Held from Friday, March 25 through Saturday April 2, this annual event features special fixed price three-course dinner menus for either $15 or $25 from  almost two-dozen restaurants.

Did we get them all? Not likely!! Add ones we missed (with links) in the comments below!

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USA Today's cool Super Bowl Ad Meter has the ad in the middle of the pack in terms of response from their panel (the panel seemed to like dogs a whole lot). It did a lot better in terms of being shared on Facebook, clocking in at #3. See all the 2011 Super Bowl ads on YouTube. Detroit-born Eminem will perform at the Grammys on Sunday and is up for 10 awards, and his appearance as a champion of the city was praised by everyone from fellow rappers to Slate Magazine, who write in the best roundup I found:

An ugly missed field goal set up the night's best ad, one so strong I don't even mind that it was paid for with my taxpayer dollars. In a mesmerizing 120-second spot, Chrysler, which still owes the U.S. government $5.8 billion, sets out to introduce its new 200 model and to rehabilitate Detroit's tarnished image while they're at it. The ad's co-stars are the city itself, shot in blue-gray hues, and one of its proudest sons, Eminem, who drives a 200 around town wearing a look of defiance familiar from his turn in 8 Mile.

The rapper's impact is diminished slightly by the weak, stop-motion spot for Lipton Brisk iced tea he was featured in earlier in the evening, but the opening strains of his anthem "Lose Yourself" are the perfect accompaniment to this audacious ad. "I got a question for you," the ad's salt-of-the-earth narrator says in a voice-over. "What does this city know about luxury? What does a city that's been to hell and back know about luxury?" He goes on to offer a compelling answer, arguing that Detroit is a city whose residents have auto-making in their bones. Anyone who has driven a Sebring, the unloved model the 200 is replacing in the Chrysler fleet, might uncharitably note that Detroit's years of experience haven't always served it well. But the spell the ad casts doesn't admit such thoughts. It left me pumping my fist and pledging to buy American everything.

Anyway, here's the ad (view in HD on YouTube) - we're interested to know what you think, either in the comments or on our Facebook.

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We say Detroit Auto Show, you say..?

We're going to continue to call the 2011 North American International Auto Show the "Detroit Auto Show" until we receive a convincing argument to stop. "North American International Auto Show" is just too long and NAIAS sounds like some kind of acronym thought up to make everyone happy that doesn't. The NAIAS history page (where you can see a video from last year) doesn't explain why the Detroit Auto Show changed its name after 82 years in 1989. Concept Carz suggests that it was because Detroit Auto Show became an international event that year, but  BMW, Jaguar, Mercedes-Benz, Porsche and Volvo first joined the show way back in 1957.

Blogging the Detroit Auto Show

Once again one of your best outlets for unabashed car love with a healthy dose of humor is the  2011 Detroit Auto Show on Jalopnik.  They have a tasty feature on the best concept cars of 2011 and a great video tour of the show with ex Volvo & Ford designer Peter Horbury.

Get daily updates on mlive's Detroit Auto Show - Concept Cars, New Vehicles, Rumors, Pictures, Videos. Over at Autoblog they pile up the photos as fast as the car companies can dish them out. If you're a gamer, you might want to climb into the Call of Duty Black Ops Jeep Wrangler,    but most will probably want to see the editors' top 5 vehicles (#1 is the Hyundai Veloster). If you like your cars easy on the environment, check out  Autoblog Green where you can go inside the manufacturing of a Tesla Motors roadster. Pretty much everyone with a blog is covering it of course, from Cars.com to Motor Trend to Popular Mechanics. We were going to run down newspaper coverage as well, but it's enough to give you the links to the Detroit News Auto Show pagesand the Freep's NAIAS coverage.

Detroit Auto Show Photos

The NAIAS has a photo tour of the 2011 show and a nifty virtual show floor.  The photo at the top right is murcielago roadster by joojanta from the Absolute Michigan pool. He has a great set of photos called NAIAS 200x with more. You can see a whole lot more by checking Detroit Auto Show and/or NAIAS on Flickr. The blogs & papers above are another great source of photos of production cars and concepts as well.    If you'd like to step back in time, check out this Detroit News Rearview Mirror feature The Detroit Auto Show: from beer gardens to tabernacles to Cobo Center.

Detroit Auto Show Video

Once again, the blogs and papers above have video. For more, we turn to a YouTube search on Detroit Auto Show (see the most recently added NAIAS videos).

NAIAS Detroit 2011 Highlights - AutoMotoTV:

Attending the Detroit Auto Show

The NAIAS web site - ok, so I'll type it - has everything you need to know about attending the public show and tomorrow night's black tie charity preview. If you do attend and take pictures or video, we'd love it if you'd share them with us on Flickr and YouTube!

Anything else to add or ask? Post it in the comments!

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Hybrid by RichardDemingPhotography

West Michigan Strategic Alliance welcomes electric vehicles with charging stations in Crain's Michigan Business says that Grand Rapids, Holland, Muskegon and other West Michigan communities are laying the groundwork to support electric & plug-in hybrid cars:

By next spring, there may be as many as 75 public charging stations located in the parking lots of businesses, colleges, hospitals and other sites scattered throughout West Michigan, all paid for by federal stimulus funds.

Never mind that there are no mass-produced electric or plug-in hybrid vehicles yet on the market. They are coming soon, and West Michigan officials said they want to make the region friendly to them.

"Rather than sit back and wait, we decided to be proactive about it," said Greg Northrup, president of the West Michigan Strategic Alliance. "It's another one of those issues in which we try to see where things are going and be a part of it."

There's more information about the effort along with how buyers of these vehicles can get free home charging stations at Crain's Michigan and from the West Michigan Strategic Alliance. You can also learn about free charging stations for southern Michigan communities at ChargePoint America. Also check out this video from FOX-17 that explains how the backers of the program hope to drive demand for Michigan produced vehicles.

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The Wall Street Journal says that this week's General Motors (GM) Initial Public Offering could be the largest in history, but is complicated by the $40 billion the automaker owes the US Government, which will be seeking to sell its stock as well:

Earlier Tuesday, GM confirmed it would raise the expected price for shares sold in its IPO to a range of $32 to $33 from the previous $26 to $29. GM also plans to sell up to $4.6 billion of preferred stock, up from $3 billion previously planned. The IPO will be priced Wednesday after the U.S. stock markets close and the shares will start trading Thursday.

...At the new level, the U.S. government would raise around $13 billion, including the overallotment, at the midpoint of the higher price range. That's up from $8.3 billion at the lower price and share number.

You can Read on to make sense of the issues surrounding the IPO. One thing that will doubtless fuel the IPO is the fact that yesterday Motor Trend named the Chevy Volt 2011 Car of the Year. The award is the biggest in the auto industry, and Motor Trend says that the Volt has some of the most advanced engineering ever seen in an American car and writes:

In the 61-year history of the Car of the Year award, there have been few contenders as hyped -- or as controversial -- as the Chevrolet Volt. The Volt started life an Old GM project, then arrived fully formed as a symbol of New GM, carrying all the emotional and political baggage of that profound and painful transition. As a result, a lot of the sound and fury that has surrounded the Volt's launch has tended to obscure a simple truth: This automobile is a game-changer.

You can read much more about their decision and watch this video summarizing the selection:

Photo Credit: 2011 Chevrolet Volt in Production by ibmphoto24

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model T, by artsy T by artsy_T

Our battered Michigan auto industry still has a trick or two up its sleeve. A couple of weeks ago, Michigan Radio had a feature on inflatable rear seat belts that will be offered as an option on next year's Ford Explorer. Seat belts have saved an estimated 170,000 lives since they were introduced in 1968, and they talked with Ford's senior technical leader for safety, Steve Rouhana about the rear seat belts that inflate at a lower speed than front-seat air bags (and scroll down for a video of the belts in action):

"Because this belt inflates and increases in size to about five times the area on the chest, it reduces the pressure on the chest -- which reduces the risk of chest injury," says Rouhana.

The air bags could be of special benefit to elderly, frail people who might otherwise suffer cracked ribs or other injuries from seat belts.

Rouhana says it's expected the devices will provide even more protection for children.

"As a child is moving forward (after an accident), the tube catches the chin, in the dummy testing we've done, we've shown lower neck loads, which means lower risk of neck injury as well."

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Here's Ford's 2010 Mustang, the history of the Ford Mustang from classic pony cars and the Ford Mustang entry on Wikipedia. You can check out the first Mustang commercial or settle back and watch this video on the making of the Ford Mustang:

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Saline Summer Sunflower Super Set...Sweet by Andy Tanguay

Throughout each month we post items of Michicentric interest to our Michitwitter page. In case you missed them here is a look back at just a few of those items for the month of August. If you find these interesting there are plenty more for you to check out. We encourage you to add any news items, events, links to vids, podcasts or whatever you find interesting about the Great Lakes State!

The photo featured in this post in from the Absolute Michigan flickr pool and is by Andy Tanguay. Andy has the following to say regarding his photo "Saline Summer Sunflower Super Set":

You know, I think a monkey hopped up on PCP could take a nice shot in this location. So here's mine...Ooo Ooo ooo Oooo ah ah ah.

A sunflower farm just west of Saline Mi at sun down. Literally miles and miles of blooming sunflowers right at their peak. The farmers are nice enough to post a sign saying help yourself to pictures, just don't take any flowers. The farmer came out to greet us. I guess all these go to feed...like bird seed and such.

We'd like to draw attention to two new excellent festivals that were held at the Grand Traverse Commons. Both the Traverse City Wine & Art Festival and the Traverse City Microbrew & Music Festival were great successes and we encourage to check them out next year!

A Sampling from Michitwitter August 2009

The ongoing discussion of urban farming continues as mlive.com reports in - Food among the ruins: A compelling argument for urban farming in Detroit

Detroit may be the best positioned city in the world to become a totally self-sufficient city, according to investigative historian Mark Dowie.

In a piece this month for Guernica magazine, Dowie suggests that a combination of unique factors and opportunities make Detroit a prime location for urban farming to flourish.

With electric vehicles greatly gaining momentum as the future of the auto industry, Michigan is poised to reap big rewards and jobs. The freep.com reports - Battery grants could mean big job boost for Michigan

Michigan stands to get $1.36 billion of a $2.4-billion federal grant program designed to spur manufacturing of batteries and other components for electric vehicles in the United States, creating up to 6,800 jobs in the next 18 months and up to 40,000 in the state over the next 11 years.

The Freep also unveiled the much anticipated Chevy Volt and it's mind blowing projected m.pg. rating. Read - GM touts Volt with 230 m.p.g. city rating

The electric-drive Chevrolet Volt is expected to get a rating of at least 230 miles per gallon in city driving, General Motors Co. announced this morning.

The results come as GM pushes to bring the new technology to market in late next year. Later this week, the company is officially announcing its battery assembly pack plant in Brownstown Township.

The world lost a legend that had Michigan ties specifically in Kalamazoo. Read Legendary guitar-maker Les Paul left mark in Kalamazoo on mlive.com.

When Gibson Guitar's Parsons Street factory cranked out its last Les Paul guitar, Marvin Lamb had to have it.

Lamb started working for Gibson in 1956, at age 16.

He hand-drilled holes in the tops of early Les Pauls to screw in the stop tailpiece. He installed the first tune-o-matic bridges on the single-cutaway, solid-body guitars.

He sweated at 225 Parsons St., on Kalamazoo's north side, in the late 1960s and early 1970s, when Gibson employees made 200 to 300 Les Pauls a day.

Michigan's film incentive program is being debated and WZZM13.com brings us up to date in their article Bad for Michigan? Lawmaker wants to eliminate film incentive.

A battle over whether to keep Michigan's film incentives is about to begin at the state Capitol.

Tuesday morning, several production workers will rally in Lansing to show legislators that they believe the incentives are worth continuing.

Proponents of the film incentive program have strong views of why it needs to stay. Read Backers say talk of film credit cuts costing Michigan in the Detroit News.

Film executives and producers say talk in Lansing of reducing or eliminating Michigan's aggressive film tax incentive is causing Hollywood's bankrollers to hesitate before investing in the Great Lakes State.

Already, industry insiders say, the state has lost hundreds of millions in film spending to other states since talk of cutting or scrapping the credit surfaced late last year, a charge led by Sen. Nancy Cassis, R-Novi, chairwoman of the State Finance Committee. Others warn that cutting the credit could push business away from Michigan's fledgling industry simply because there hasn't been enough time to build a sufficient infrastructure -- studios and such -- capable of supporting long-term business.

Michigan rock-roll bad boy Kid Rock is pure Michigan and continues to put his money where his mouth is. Check out Kid Rock chips in $20K to rev up Arts, Beats & Eats in the Freep.

Kid Rock has stepped up with a crucial assist for Arts, Beats & Eats.

The Oakland County rocker has invested about $20,000 in sponsor funds via his fashion line, Made in Detroit, helping defray costs for one of the area's signature fests.

AB&E, which runs Sept. 4-7 in downtown Pontiac, had lost more than $400,000 in funding this year, mostly because of Chrysler's pullout from its title sponsor role.

Also check out the vid below, "Kid Rock: Detroit's angel?" from cnn.com.

In a move that dumbfounded local residents Peta announced that they want to commandeer Grand Haven's lighthouse to promote vegetarianism and the unethical treatment of fish. The Detroit News reports PETA wants Grand Haven lighthouses for fish empathy center.

Grand Haven's Lake Michigan lighthouses are the prime location sought by an animal rights group for its anti-fishing campaign headquarters.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) has applied through a federal program to take over the structures and lighted catwalk that are frequently photographed for dramatic sunsets, thick winter ice and crashing waves.

The area gets nearly 2 million annual visitors, including anglers casting lines into the Grand River channel and heading out in boats for Great Lakes salmon.

"We want to renovate the Grand Haven lights as a memorial to the billions of fish killed annually by sport fishermen, as well as for their flesh (commercial fishing industry)," said Lindsey Rajt, manager of PETA's campaigns department. "We also want to make it a fun and educational place."

AJ's Music Cafe in Ferndale made the Guinness Book of World Records in August. Read Ferndale cafe sets record for longest concert in the Detroit News.

A little cafe in downtown Ferndale has set a Guinness World Record.

AJ's Music Cafe was notified Wednesday that its 288-hour Assembly Line Concert, held in March to promote awareness of American automakers, set a new Guinness World Record for the longest continuous concert by multiple artists.

Automakers recently saw some positive movement which is good news for Michigan. Read J.D. Power predicts U.S. auto sales will hit 1 million in August.

A leading automotive research company is predicting that U.S. monthly auto sales will rise above the 1 million mark for the first time this year in August, due mainly to the government's Cash for Clunkers program.

If you like apples 2009 is offering up a bumper crop. Check out Michigan apple harvest quite the treat in the Detroit News.

Branches of Michigan apple trees are bowing under the weight of the healthiest crop in at least 10 years.

Ideal weather conditions -- cool temperatures and lots of rain -- have apple growers anticipating one of the state's best seasons since the 1990s, according to the Michigan Apple Committee, and that could mean lower prices at the grocery store.

The Detroit News reports some good news for the Great Lakes in their article $1 billion proposed in 2010 for Great Lakes restoration.

Congress is poised to nearly double its funding commitment to the Great Lakes, adding up to $475 million for restoration that would deter invasive species, clean up polluted sites and create jobs in Michigan and the region.

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Red, White and Chrome Dream Cruise by kelley girl

The 15th annual Woodward Dream Cruise happens this Saturday, August 15, 2009 in Detroit, Michigan. It's billed as the world's largest one-day celebration of car culture, and with more 1.7 million visitors and over than 40,000 muscle cars, street rods, custom, collector and special interest vehicles, it delivers. Be sure to check out their Woodward Dream Cruise history page!

Speaking of history, Michigan in Pictures has an excerpt from Cruisin' the Original: Woodward Avenue from Arcadia Publishing that features some excellent photos from the 1950s. Did someone say photos? Check out this Flickr slideshow of Woodward Dream Cruise photos.

The Detroit News are official sponsors of the event and are featuring extensive Woodward Dream Cruise coverage of the activities, photo galleries, live video on Cruise day and live blogging as the event unfolds. Do not miss their Interactive: Your guide to the Woodward Dream Cruise.

Absolute Michigan's video correspondents Scott Allman and Jim McClain visited the Woodward Dream Cruise in 2008 and got some great shots of the cars along with interviews with the interesting and colorful characters that make up the world's largest one-day car event:

It's definitely worth clicking over to see the high quality version.

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Chevy Volt by wizardkitten

Autotopia from WIRED reports that GM is claiming that the forthcoming Chevy Volt will get 230 MPG.

That's more than four times higher than the Toyota Prius, the current EPA fuel-efficiency champ.

The figure is based on development testing using methodology drafted by the Environmental Protection Agency for plug-in hybrid vehicles. Company CEO Fritz Henderson offered no details on how GM arrived at that figure, but he predicted the Volt will be the first mass-produced vehicle to top 100 mpg in combined city and highway driving. Coupled with the car's expected electric-only range of 40 miles, Henderson said the Volt could all but free consumers from petroleum. According to the Department of Transportation, nearly 80 percent of Americans drive less than 40 miles each day.

“From the data we've seen, many Chevy Volt drivers may be able to drive in pure electric mode on a daily basis without having to use any gas,” Henderson said. “EPA labels are a yardstick for customers to compare the fuel efficiency of vehicles. So, a vehicle like the Volt that achieves a composite triple-digit fuel economy is a game-changer.”

There's some interesting discussion about whether or not that's possible after the article and also at Slashdot, where they note that this is what's behind the cryptic "230" ad campaign that pointed to today as the date when everyone (anyone?) who has been wondering about this would finally be able to sleep at night and know what is 230? (also has a link to the Chevy Volt Facebook if you want to befriend this potentially game-changing car.

If you have other questions, maybe Chevy Volt Co-Creator Jon Lauckner can answer them in this video below.

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I read the news today, oh boy. by Alana M. Layer

Like many in Michigan, I felt a profound sense of shock and unreality at yesterday's filing by GM for bankruptcy. It will probably come as a surprise to no one that Michigan will feel the brunt of the effects:

In the latest round of cutbacks, announced Monday as part of GM's historic move to file for bankruptcy, an estimated 8,900 jobs will be lost at GM facilities in Pontiac, Orion Township, Livonia, Flint, and Ypsilanti Township. The cuts will follow the closure of a Grand Rapids stamping plant on Friday that employed hundreds more. Nationwide, GM plans to eliminate 21,000 jobs at 14 plants, plus three warehouses, in eight states.

Michigan's share of the total job loss: 42 percent. And that doesn't count the trickle-down impact on suppliers, stores, real estate and other segments of the state's economy.

descent by b.plus

Your source for information on the Carpocalypse, Jalopnik, has a map of GM plant closures and a list of the 10 vehicles they think bankrupted GM. The Detroit Free Press lists what we know and what we don't, and Tom Walsh looks at the GM that might emerge from bankruptcy. Bloomberg looks at how little the nation appears to care about GM's bankruptcy and says that although the 2 month strike on GM in 1970 had major impacts, the nationwide effect of this filing will probably be a lot less:

...GM has been reducing payrolls for three decades. Its U.S. employment peaked in 1979 at 618,365, when it was the nation's largest private employer and auto manufacturing accounted for 4.1 percent of GDP. At the end of this year's first quarter, autos were 1.5 percent of the economy, and GM had 88,000 U.S. workers.

In Requiem for the General, Jack Lessenberry muses about General Motors' Albert Sloan and his slogan "a car for every purse and purpose" and that he doesn't think that any of GM's most vocal critics like Ralph Nader and Michael Moore ever through they'd see this. Of course Raph Nader and Michael Moore have something to say that I think you will find interesting and perhaps a little unexpected.

The Wall Street Journal headline blares GM Collapses Into Government's Arms and notes that General Motors will be removed from the Dow Jones Industrial Average (to be replaced by Cisco). The New York Times looks ahead with the ad campaign for the "new" GM which is already under way. They had a link to a YouTube video which appears to have been removed. You can see the video (replete with iconic imagery) and also read GM's FAQ on their bankruptcy at GMreinvention.com.

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Boing Boing

...Stereoptic movies go back to 1922, but the early 3-D methods did not work well and were never use in studio films.The 1950's golden age of the 3-D movie began with the release of Bwana Devil in 1952, and was made possible by Polaroid's polarization process and the associated 3-D glasses (captured by this memorable Life Magazine photo). From what I can discern, the Chrysler Pavilion's movie was the very first commercial example of the Polaroid method -- and in Technicolor to boot! It would take another 13 years for it to see reach movie theaters because of the interruption of the war, and high production cost.

And here, through the magic of YouTube, is Chrysler's Worlds Fair feature presentation "In Tune With Tomorrow"...

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Geithner then went on to lay out an innovative plan wherein all bonuses and pay for financial companies would now be paid in autos from the struggling Big Three. "We recognize that the major problem facing the car companies is that too few people are buying cars right now, both due to economic uncertainty and the fact that it's pretty much impossible to get a loan right now, at least until we give the banks another couple hundred billion. That's the beauty of this plan: the Government will buy cars from the Big Three which we will then turn around and give to financial companies, spurring demand and sales of pent-up inventory."

Recently ousted General Motors CEO Rick Wagoner expressed support for the plan and remided everyone to come on down this Saturday & Sunday for their 'Buy one, get one free' Sales Event.

AIG CEO Edward Liddy, reached at his private island fortress, responded "This is an outrage. We're trying to untangle the largest financial mess in history here and now the government is stepping in and trying to tell us how to pay the people who created this mess. Do you have any idea what kind of mind it takes to fritter away $173 billion? There's a lot more coming and can't just pull in any schmuck off the street and expect them to be able to blow it."

The office of Citibank's Vikram Pandit responded that while Pandit was unable to offer comment because he was busy deciding between "the red yacht or the blue one," he did feel that a partial payment in Hummers might be acceptable, especially if they could be charged to Citi's new Ratejacker line of credit cards.

If you liked this....

Jeff Daniels to star in Chrysler Emigrated from Escanaba commercials

Canadian Freeze Ray Wreaks Havok - weird science from our Northern neighbors

Massive trade sends Legislature, Governor to Guam - things are looking up for Michigan and the Tigers

Five Things You Need to Know for Friday, April 1st, 2005 (Google, Izzo, Michael Moore & more)

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***The contest is now over*** Even if you were not one of the winners we strongly encourage you to go check out the show and start thinking summer!

About the Grand Rapids Boat Show
More than 300 new power boats, pontoons, ski boats, deck boats, runabouts and other family-fun boats from 16 to 50 feet long are coming to DeVos Place in downtown Grand Rapids. Over 35 dealers will unveil the newest and best watercraft from more than 100 manufacturers at Michigan's longest running boat show, now in its 64th year. Also, many brokers, ships stores, marinas and other boating services will be at the show. Current boat owners will find a broad selection of accessories, including new advances in lifts, hoists and docks. It is one of the finest watersports expos in the country!

Enjoy this slideshow of the Grand Rapids Boat Show from years past courtesy of flickr.

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About the Michigan International Auto Show
This is the greatest annual opportunity to view your "next new car!" More than 35 car manufacturers from around the world will bring their finest traveling displays with 300 + new vehicles - including sedans, vans, SUV's, trucks, hybrids and sports cars. Not only is the Auto Show the BEST place to shop and compare options for every day vehicles, it is also the first opportunity for West Michigan residents to see many of the most recently released or "soon to be released" models!

Check out all the Features & Attractions that await you at the show including the 'Million Dollar Motorway' featured in the video below. Also, take a look at Absolute Michigan's multimedia production from the 2007 event.

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327 Chevy Volt by mikeh5856

The Michigan Messenger asks: Will batteries recharge Michigan's economy? To answer it, they turn to science writer Howard Lovy, one of the founders of Ann Arbor-based nanotechnology and microsystems publication Small Times. Lovy has covered science, technology and business for Michigan and national media including Wired and the New York Times and provides the best analysis of what over $350 million in tax credits for battery manufacture will mean for Michigan.

Lovy notes that while lithium-ion battery manufacturing for electric hybrid vehicles will not in and of itself be a huge employer for Michigan, the issue is vitally important for one reason:

Infrastructure.

It's even coming out of the mouths of GM, which appears to be ahead of the other U.S. automakers when it comes to reading the proverbial writing on the wall. Larry Burns, vice president for research and development for GM, has called for “sharing the public/private risks and rewards — possibly creating a partnership between the U.S. government, auto manufacturers and suppliers, the energy and infrastructure industries …”

What many in the U.S. Congress — and Detroit's critics across the country — failed to grasp is that the auto industry is infrastructure and just as important to our national health and future as rebuilding crumbling bridges. And, a key part of that infrastructure involves batteries. An investment in the auto industry, in batteries, is akin Eisenhower's launch of the Interstate Highway System. Old Dwight pictured the system as being used for national defense. Civilian use, of course, completely overshadowed the need to move missiles around.

Better batteries, stand-alone fuel cells, for our automobiles will eventually translate to better, smarter power for our homes and offices. It is directly related to new smart grid technologies that will replace our creaking, old 20th century electric power infrastructure.

This is a great article and I really hope you can take a moment to read it. You might also want to hear GM CEO Rick Wagoner discuss the lithium ion battery pack that powers the Volt and other hybrids:

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The R.E. Olds Transportation Museum in Lansing is a great place to learn about Olds and about the automotive industry in Lansing. The page on the Reo Motor Car Company Plant from the National Historic Landmark program says that:

By 1907 Reo had gross sales of four million dollars and the company was one of the top four automobile manufacturers in the US. After 1908 however, despite the introduction of improved cars designed by Olds, Reo's share of the automobile market shrank due in part to the development of giants like Ford and General Motors. Reo's stagnation must be attributed in large part to Olds himself, who was talented mechanically but not administratively.

The Reo Motor Company did moderately well into the 1920's, but REO struggled during the Great Depression, ultimately ending car production in 1936. Here is a look at the Image of the Month from January 2007 at the Archives of Michigan featuring a set of blueprints of the R.E. Olds Mansion in Lansing.

Having featured many Michigan Notable Books on Absolute Michigan it seemed appropriate to dig up the 2005 notable book - "The Story of Reo Joe: Work, Kin, and Community in Autotown U.S.A." by Lisa M. Fine (You can read excerpts from the book by following the link)

"The Reo Motor Car Company operated in Lansing, Michigan, for seventy years, and encouraged its thousands of workers to think of themselves as part of a factory family. Reo workers, most typically white, rural, native-born Protestant men, were dubbed Reo Joes. These ordinary fellows had ordinary aspirations: job security, decent working conditions, and sufficient pay to support a family. They treasured leisure time for family activities (many sponsored by the company), hunting, and their fraternal organizations. Even after joining a union, Reo Joes remained loyal to the company and proud of the community built around it.

Lisa M. Fine tells the Reo story from the workers' perspective on the vast social, economic, and political changes that took place in the first three quarters of the twentieth century. Lisa Fine explores their understanding of the city where they lived, the industry that employed them, and the ideas about work, manhood, race, and family that shaped their identities."

R.E. Olds: The Man Behind the Wheel

Matt writes: This is a VERY early cut of a documentary I am producing on R.E. Olds, founder of the Oldsmobile and REO car companies. This was played in 2004 at the REO Car Company Centennial celebration (my first big premiere!) and I am currently recutting it for the R.E. Olds Museum in Lansing, MI. (direct link to video)

Additional Resources:
Photos of the REO Motor Plant - Library of Congress

Reo Motor Company - Michigan.gov (History, Arts & Libraries)

An exhaustive compilation of Oldsmobile links - Automotive World Magazine

THE REMARKABLE STORY OF A BABY REO; 1905 TO 2008 - The Auto Channel

At 102, Baby Car Goes Home Again - The New York Times

Oldsmobile was America's oldest nameplate - The Detroit News

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MSU College of Human Medicine by Eridony

Going up

The New York Times reports that in the midst of the darkest economic times Michigan has seen in decades, the University of Michigan is spending billions to grow with nearly three million square feet new buildings for science, medicine, health, art, business, sports, food service and student housing under construction and five others   in the design stage.

wizardkitten at Blogging for Michigan packed a lot of positive economic stories for Michigan into a post about how Obama's "Green New Deal" can create jobs, ease global warming and lessen our dependence on foreign oil all at the same time. She links to a nice article about Michigan-based Hemlock Semiconductor and also to related stories in the Freep and LA Times and notes that when added to our burgeoning movie industry, those folks out on the west coast might start to think that we are OK after all. Especially if - as she reports elsewhere - Gov. Granholm is tapped for the post of Queen of England.

Fallen by jnhkrawczyk

Going down

Unfortunately, it's not all (or even mostly) good news. Comerica Bank's preliminary November Michigan Business Activity Index (28k PDF) fell 4 points to 79 - the lowest level in 16 years. The November reading was down 13 points from November 2007 and 27% from its October 2003 peak of 108. That decline rivals the largest previous peak- to-trough decline of 33% between September 1978 and June 1980.

Michigan Radio's Jack Lessenberry notes that while Washington doesn't have to live within its means and can borrow and borrow and borrow - hello $11,000,000,000,000 national debt - state governments are not so lucky (also check out his interview with Chris Christoff, the Freep's Lansing Bureau chief). Jack notes that every few months, Michigan has a "revenue estimating conference" wherein budget controllers assess expected revenues as compared to budgeted expenditures. When revenues fall short, it's time for cuts. A round of cuts is expected this month, and it likely won't be the last. He says that our elected officials can go to their usual strategy of blaming each other (and solving nothing) or steal a page from the past:

Back in the 1970s, Governor Milliken used to convene regular weekly meetings of what he called the “quadrant,” the majority and minority leaders in the House and Senate. They would get together and discuss how best to solve state problems.

Governor Jennifer Granholm should try that. She is in a position to serve as an honest broker. She can't run again. These are desperate times, and saving the state needs to take top priority.

In a move that seems oddly desperate, General Motors is selling about 200 vehicles from its collection of 1000 vintage GM cars & trucks. They will be sold at Barrett-Jackson's 2009 Scottsdale Auction and could raise as little as $5 million.

And speaking of roller coasters...

Reports suggest that the Tigers are no closer to filling the roll of closer. Rollercoaster Jones, where are you?

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The contest is now over and the winners have been posted below.

About the Grand Rapids Camper, Travel & RV Show show:

A dozen West Michigan RV dealers representing more than 125 RV lines will pack DeVos Place in downtown Grand Rapids with more motor homes, travel trailers, fifth wheels, and folding camping trailers than have ever been exhibited before under one roof in Michigan. All 200,000+ square feet has been reserved for the biggest RV Show in the state. RV accessories, campgrounds and travel destinations will share exhibit space with the fleet of new RVs.

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The teeny photo above is V8 by Ralph Krawczyk Jr. It needs to be seen bigger, so go look!

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Big Bright Light Show Rochester 2006 by eric.whalen81

In Detroit Rarely Misses a Chance to Miss a Chance in Wired, they list 5   ways the Big 3 have missed the boat ... their ride ... whatever. My favorite:

2. Electric vehicles - All of the automakers — including Honda (the EV+) and Toyota (the RAV4 EV) — are guilty of pulling the plug on EVs prematurely in the late 1990s, arguing the technology was too expensive, the batteries unproven and the demand for such cars nonexistent. But GM lost the most with the EV1 debacle. You can argue the car was entirely too expensive and way too advanced for its time — "The EV1 was a work of art," one EV advocate told us. "And that was the problem." — but the fact remains GM held the future in its hands and threw it away.

Jalopnik has the complete draft text of the bill plus discussion that is better - though a bit more rambunctious - than the bill. Seems ambitious enough:

LONG-TERM RESTRUCTURING PLAN ENSURING VIABILITY, INTERNATIONAL COMPETITIVENESS, AND ENERGY EFFICIENCY.—Not later than March 31, 2009, each eligible automobile manufacturer (1) shall submit to the President's designee (2) a long-term restructuring plan to achieve and sustain the long-term viability and international competitiveness of the domestic automobile industry (3)...

From a quick scan of the bill and an even quicker read of this and this, it seems that the bailout will likely have lots and lots of strings and put the auto industry at center stage for at least a little while.

Good.

It seems to me that after years of practicing our one state recession that we should have an opportunity to perform it on the national stage.

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“We put all our chips on a poker hand called durable goods manufacturing, particularly the autos,” said Charles L. Ballard, a professor of economics at Michigan State University. “In the middle of the 20th century, every time we turned over the hand it was four aces, a straight flush. If you have an undiversified economy based on a sector that's booming, great.”
~ New Fears Arise in Michigan in Sunday's New York Times (the old fears weren't bad enough?)

The innards of the abandoned Packard Plant in
Detroit by Derek Farr ( DetroitDerek )

You can read more about Michigan's feelings of freefall at that link or (courtesy Blogging for Michigan) pursue the more practical question of why we would bail out Citibank over the auto industry (which seems to be the case) with former Clinton Treasury Secretary Robert Reich:

Viewed from Wall Street, Citi is too big and important to be allowed to fail while GM is simply a big, clunky old manufacturing company that can go into chapter 11 and reorganize itself. The newly conventional wisdom on the Street is that the failure of the Treasury and the Fed to save Lehman Brothers was a grave mistake because Lehman's demise caused creditors and investors to panic, which turned the sub-prime loan mess into a financial catastrophe -- a mistake that must not occur again. So, by this view, the government must do everything and anything to keep Citi alive. But GM? GM is just ... jobs and communities.

The Street's view of the world is fundamentally flawed. Banks are important to the economy because they're financial "intermediaries." They connect savers with investors and borrowers. This is a vital function, but there's nothing magical about it. At any given time the world contains a vast pool of money that can be put to all sorts of uses. Financial intermediaries simply link the pool to the uses.

March of the Compacts by E.Peoples

I don't think there are too many people who dispute that the looming Carpocalypse is driven in large measure by startlingly inappropriate vehicles that have been advanced by The Big Three over the last few decades. And while foreign automakers are in better shape right now because they don't have the same health care or pension load, shots of port authorities turned parking lot and diminished sales worldwide say that they may be next off the cliff.

Former Secretary of Transportation and Michigan Senator Spencer Abraham says that For Detroit, Chapter 11 would be the Final Chapter:

Just as financial institutions depend on the confidence of those with whom they do business (as Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers discovered), automakers depend on the confidence of car buyers. To purchase a car is to make a multiyear commitment: the buyer must have confidence that the manufacturer will survive to provide parts and service under warranty. With a declaration of bankruptcy, that confidence evaporates. Eighty percent of consumers would not even consider buying a car or truck from a bankrupt manufacturer, one recent survey indicates.

One thing is clear: at a time that requires decisiveness, there's precious little to be found.

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6 seater Model T - b&w by LindaB.

Jerald Mitchell calls the Ford Motor Company's Piquette Avenue Plant in Detroit "a fulcrum point of human history [where] the balance of history shifted." It was at this factory in Detroit that Henry Ford and his cohorts conceived the Model T automobile. For nine months, these men labored through fifteen-hour days, scrawled rough diagrams on the blackboards, fiddled with auto parts and patterns, argued and probably repeated the words "what if" a thousand times. When they were done, they had created the design for one of the most revolutionary automobiles ever built.

The Model T was the car Ford designed for the world's first automobile assembly line, which he perfected at his next plant in Highland Park a few years later. But the first Model T was built at Piquette on September 27, 1908. About twelve thousand more followed before Ford moved to his new plant in 1910. The car was much more affordable than any before because it was mass-produced. It started a "revolution in personal transportation" that is ongoing, says Mitchell, who is director of the former factory that is now a museum.

Mitchell is among a dedicated group of preservationists, auto historians and car buffs who saved the plant in April 2000. Their aim was to keep the plant from demolition, which was probably just a matter of months away. The place had stood empty and unrecognized at the corner of Piquette and Beaubien for decades. There were no historic markers and no apparent appreciation of the building's inherent historic value.

The nonprofit group has been careful not to overdo exhibits, because the real charm is the building itself. Since it was used mainly for warehouse space after Ford left, the factory is almost unchanged from its Model T days. The wood floor is worn and bears scratches and scrapes made by workers 100 years ago. There will be no polishing of those floors, Mitchell says. "You're walking up and down the same floorboards as many automotive pioneers did."

The story of where Henry Ford revolutionized an industry and changed the face of Michigan is featured in the November/December 2008 issue of Michigan History magazine. For this and more fascinating stories about Michigan's past, pick up the latest issue of Michigan History at newsstands, subscribe at michiganhistorymagazine.com or call   (800) 366-3703.

More about the Model T & Ford Motor Company from Absolute Michigan and visit tplex.org for more about the Model T Automotive Heritage Complex.

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Tom's Vision by G0Da

From the Pistons changing point guards and changing Tayshaun Prince to "point forward" to a Presidential campaign in which change was the overwhelming theme, "change" has been very much in the air of late.

One part of Michigan that is certain to see change is the auto industry. The Globe & Mail notes that it was no accident that Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm was positioned to appear in photos at President-elect Obama's first press conference (links are ours):

Granholm was there to send a message, the message being that Obama knows he owes Michigan and the payoff is coming. Fast. Just in case anyone missed the visuals on Friday, Obama and the Democrats went to work on the weekend, too.

Obama's incoming chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, called the Detroit auto companies “essential” to the U.S. economy in interviews Sunday. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (Democrats, of course) sent a letter Saturday to President Bush, calling on him to release some of U.S. Government's $700 billion in aid paid to help the auto companies, too.

I Said Don't You Want to go for a Drive by chinkon

While it sounds as if Obama is going to create an "auto czar" and there is definitely a strong case for bailout, there are those who wonder if an auto industry bailout is a wise move. Tom "The World is Flat but my book sales are rising" Friedman spends most of his editorial How to Fix a Flat burying Michigan's politicians and auto industry leaders before tepidly endorsing some form of government takeover of the industry coupled with forced innovation. Other voices are calling for unplugging the car companies and letting them fail - something that will be pretty hard to do in the wake of the financial bailout and as GM mobilizes a half million current and former employees. What do you think? Post it below!

While it's unclear exactly what the right road to take with the car companies, the Associated Press reports that a new study by the Alliance for the Great Lakes finds that the only way to keep invasive species like the eat-everything-in-its-path Asian carp (now within 50 miles of Lake Michigan) out of the Great Lakes is to eliminate the engineered connection between the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River watersheds.

...now if we could just get the Lions to change.

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