Some observations from today’s business news, from the lunchtime perusal of the papers:
- From the Let’s Name The Car Nova Department: The Los Angeles Times is reporting that Shanghai Automotive officially launched its first branded car, the Roewe, on Tuesday. The high-end sedan was built by state-owned Shanghai Automotive using technology from Rover. The Chinese company owns the technology rights for two Rover models, the 25 and the 75, bought last year from Britain’s MG Rover Group Ltd. The article noted that the vehicle, which has leather seats and Goodyear tires and can go as fast as 135 mph, will be marked in China as the Rongwei, which means “glorious power.” Yup. Just what I want to buy. A car called the Wrong Way.
- From the And the Breakfast Garbage That You Throw Into The Bay / They Drink with Lunch in San Jose Department: The San Francisco Chronicle is reporting that scraps from some of the trendiest San Francisco Restaurants (Zuni Cafe, Jardiniere, Oliveto and Boulevard, among others) — a total of eight tons a week of everything that comes back on plates or is rejected by the kitchen — will be sent for use at UC Davis. No, not in the dining halls. Rather, they will go to a state-of-the-art digester where they will be transformed into valuable “biogas” — methane and hydrogen — and fertilizer. The system employs anaerobic bacteria — microbes that function in the absence of oxygen — to break down waste in large tanks, yielding copious volumes of flammable gas. According to Ruihong Zhang, a professor of biological and agricultural engineering at UC Davis, each ton of slops will produce enough gas to supply 10 homes, but for now, enthusiasts primarily see it as a way to fuel garbage trucks and other commercial vehicles while reducing landfill volume.
- From the Eats Shoots and Leaves Department: According to the New York Times, the placement (or is that misplacement) of a comma is costing a Canadian company $1 M Canadian. The issue in question is a contract for telephone poles, and the contract says (in English): “This agreement shall be effective from the date it is made and shall continue in force for a period of five (5) years from the date it is made, and thereafter for successive five (5) year terms, unless and until terminated by one year prior notice in writing by either party.” Bell Aliant is using the placement of the second comma to argue they can cancel the contract for telephone poles. Citing the “rules of punctuation,” Canada’s telecommunications regulator recently ruled that the comma allowed Bell Aliant to end its five-year agreement with Rogers at any time with notice. Rogers argues that pole contracts run for five years and automatically renew for another five years, unless a telephone company cancels the agreement before the start of the final 12 months. The regulator concluded that the second comma meant that the part of the sentence describing the one-year notice for cancellation applied to both the five-year term as well as its renewal. Therefore, the regulator found, the phone company could escape the contract after as little as one year. They are now looking at the French for clearification.
- From the Statements You Never Thought You Would Hear Department: The New York Times is reporting that the current CEO of Wal-Mart believes the company has become too trendy, too fast. Specifically, he believes that the introduction of upscale products, like silk camisoles and 300-thread-count sheets, had proved “choppier than it should be” and that the company had “moved too far too fast” with fashionable clothing. You see, Wal-Mart has been trying to appeal to style-conscious consumers who buy at rival chains. Somehow I never would put Wal-Mart and either style-conscious or trendy in the same sentence.
We now return you to your regularly scheduled broadcast…
