Saudis Spend 250K; Overturn Brown v. Board of Education

Old Uncle Oil, Saudi Arabia, has used a miniscule amount of cash, in this case $246,000, to sidestep the historical civil rights decision, Brown v. Board of Education. When Brown was handed in down in 1954, it was a watershed moment that ended segregation in public education and other areas of American life. No longer was "separate, but equal" (schools, water fountains, etc.) the law of the land -- as set by Plessy v. Ferguson in 1896.

http://www.outsidethebeltway.com/archives/11604
This summer Virginia Tech University, a public university, played teacher/host to Saudi Arabian academics from King Abdulaziz University in Jeddah. The 60 Saudi Academics (30 men and 30 women) requested two sections of the web design and internet technology course they had contracted to take. Some how when classes began, they were segregated based on gender. VT Marketing Professor Eloise Coupey filed a formal complaint. "Suppose we have a situation at Virginia Tech where students said we didn't want to be [racially] integrated. Would we allow them to segregate into white classes and black classes?" asked Coupey.

While VT officials argue they had nothing to do with the class rolls (the Saudi's created them), they have admitted their discomfort with the situation and have stated that they will not host any more delegation where the students are segregated.

We all know that equal rights and civil rights do not exist in Saudi Arabia and much of the oil world. As you read this, Iraqis are fighting over the role of women in the Iraqi Constitution. If major institutions in the US will take less than 250K and ignore the laws of our land on our land, is there any chance we can ever cut ourselves free from toxic international oil entanglements.


http://www.now.org/nnt/summer-2002/gender.html

NY Times Crashes Toyota's Hybrid Party

Any goodwill that Toyota and Honda built with their hybrids over the last few years has been exhausted in the editorial offices of the NY Times. For the second week in a row, the once forward thinking paper has taken a swipe at hybrids, targetting the newer, "performance" models: the Highlander Hybrid, the Lexus 400h SUV, and the Honda Accord.

Last week's Times' slam job on hybrids via criticism of the Accord Hybrid was misleading given the limited number of cars produced and sold when compared to the Civic Hybrid and the Toyota Prius. The piece fell short on a few other items, which I discussed in a post last week.

On July 31st, in the obnoxiously priced Sunday Edition, the NY Times used 4 writers in order to tear apart Toyota's new Hybrid SUVs. The main review, with the title "2006 Lexus RX 400h: The Hybrid Emperor's New Clothes", is incredibly negative. Then, as if to really drive home the Times' displeasure with Toyota's new hybrids, three other test drivers take shots at the 400h and the Highlander Hybrid. The titles of their short reviews were, "More Thirsty Than You'd Think", "Take The Four Cylinder Instead", and "Unmet Expectations" and each offered an alternative car choice; ranging from a Subaru to an Avalon.

I checked other recent "Behind The Wheel Reviews" on the NY Times website and neither of the reviews posted (Infiniti and Mercedes) offered four different writers ripping apart the car and car maker in question.

Is the NY Times correct about the new hybrids from Toyota and Honda? Or is the paper trying to avoid the fate of the LA Times? (GM pulled $10 million in advertising earlier this year b/c they didn't like what the paper was writing about GM cars) Or, is it possible, that just maybe the NY Times editorial board now hates hybrids b/c they are going mainstream and are no longer the exclusive province of Uber-Greenies and Hollywood morons?

Sunday Night TV, Hybrids, and the Decline of Toyota?

When it comes to the world of television, no show has been as hot over the last year as Desperate Housewives. Though the sexy/violent content of the show has been protested and Time Magazine (with the help of Super hot Teri Hatcher) asks, "Has TV Gone Too Far?" its a ratings bonanza and a highlights a strategic shift in the television industry.

For much of history, Sunday was the Lord's Day. Enter HBO. By creating new expectations about Sunday night and winning boatloads of awards, HBO became a new church in America. Hits like Sex and the City, the Sopranos, Six Feet Under, The Larry David Show, Da Ali G Show, and Deadwood captured market share and watercoolers.

That was then. Desperate Housewives is now. ABC's current lineup of the heartwarming Extreme Makeover Home Edition, Desperate Housewives, and Boston Legal has become a juggernaut. So much so that the network is letting Boston Legal take a breather and bringing up a promising new medical drama called Grey's Anatomoy -- ER is tired, accept it.

Why and how HBO fell can be summed up by one word: ARROGRANCE. They took their viewers for granted and screwed with the schedule, when was Sopranos last on and when will it be back? Anyone? Bueller? When will Larry David be back?

As I considered HBO's demise and loss of Sundays, I wondered if this fate might await Toyota's humongous stranglehold on hybrid marketshare and mindshare in the US. It is possible given the early stage of the auto industry's transition towards more efficient technologies. Far more people have never been in a hybrid than have been in one, just as far more people had not seen Sex and the City than had seen it. The viewership of Desperate Housewives dwarfs the viewership Carrie Bradshaw commanded -- 20 odd million versus a few million. Business history is riddled with leaders and innovators who failed to succeed in the mass market over the long run -- IBM's PC, Netscape's browsers, Sears (now merged with KMart), etc..

Is it likely that Toyota will give up its lead anytime in the near future? No, probably not. Are they getting arrogant? Probably not, but in a recent interview, Toyota's David Hermance, the executive engineer for environmental engineering at Toyota Technical Centre USA, sounded pretty confident and not very Japanese.

INTERVIEWER: By number of hybrid vehicles sold, Toyota's far ahead. You have sold more hybrid vehicles than all other manufacturers combined. But now all your competitors are getting into hybrids. Who worries you the most?

HERMANCE: Worries us? None. We appreciate the competition because it expands the market and the awareness.

Does this one statement mean anything? No, but arrogance before a fall is commonplace. And given the massive raves and coverage the Prius has gotten and the forthcoming release of the Highlander Hybrid and the Lexus 400h are getting, there can be no doubt Toyota will continue to be crowned the King of Hybrids.

Only time will tell if Toyota's hybrid domination will end, but last Sunday, as I again accepted that the irrascible Larry David and his Prius Zippy were not on, I watched ABC. As Extreme Makeover Home Edition wrapped up, with the Leomoti-Higgins family getting a much need home makeover, Ty Pennington gave them one last gift -- a 2005 Ford Escape Hybrid. Over 16 million people (according to Nielsen) watched, though the more actually saw it because the Escape moment occurred just a few minutes before Desperate Housewives began. DH drew over 26 million viewers. Thats a lot of people potentially learning about hybrids courtesy of the Blue Oval. And yes Oprah, Ford did pick up the sales tax and license fee on the car.

Lutz Has a Blog, Does He Have A Clue?

It has been widely noted that GM Vice-Chairman Bob Lutz now has a blog online. Detroit News writer Mike Hudson opines that this once again proves Lutz is "the coolest man in Detroit." The blog, along with his other recent actions and statements are supposed to represent openness and change in Detroit.

Some have even given him credit for admitting that GM "missed the boat" on using hybrids to market itself as a tech savvy company. In a statement during last weeks auto show, Lutz said,

"We business-cased it, took a hard, analytical look and thought the engineering and investment were irresponsible vis-a-vis our shareholders. We failed to appreciate what Toyota has basically treated as an advertising expense...."

"We should have said, 'We'll lose $100 million a year on hybrids, but we'll take our advertising budget of $3 billion, make it $2.9 billion and treat it as an advertising expense.'Toyota very cleverly has used hybrids to gain an improved perception of the brand."

MARKETING EXPENSE? PERCEPTION? Is he kidding? Does he know about Toyota's Earth Charter of 1992 where they laid out aggressive goals for a low emission 21st Century car? Does he know that Takeshi Uchiyamada, an engineer, not a marketer, took over the project in early 1994 and oversaw the development and commercialization of the Prius? Over 13 years in the works Mr. Lutz.

The money spent on hybrids will be earned back over time as substanstial research and development often is. Lutz apparently doesn't get it. His comments sound like he's talking to the guys on Wall Street or CNBC, trying to prove that the higher valued company (Toyota in this case) really shouldn't be valued that highly b/c they just dumped money into advertising to increase market share. I wonder if he thinks the 1,000,000 hybrids a year Toyota plans to sell in 5 years is just a marketing ploy? (Thanks Walter)

Bob Lutz may be Auto Royalty and he may have a blog, but from where I sit (in the driver's seat of a Ford Escape Hybrid), he doesn't seem to have a clue.

American Gas Money at Work in Iraq

A televised interview on Iraqi TV with the captured leader of Saddam Hussein's "Army of Muhammad" makes it clear that oil rich Iran is financing the resistance.

According to Muayed Al-Nasseri, who led the 800 man group for most of 2004, "The truth is that Iran has played a significant role in supporting the Army of Muhammad and many factions of the resistance. I have some units, especially in southern Iraq, which receive Iranian aid in the form of arms and equipment.”

Al-Nasseri then goes on to state, "According to my information, they met with him [Ayatollah Khamenei]personally, and they were given one million dollars and two cars full of weapons. They still have a very close relationship with Iran. They receive money, cars, weapons, and many things. According to my information, they even got car bombs.”

Was this guy lying to interrogators? Does anyone doubt that Iran would pay for the killing of US Troops? Did you know 50% of the Iranian Government's revenue comes from oil sold on world markets! The US consumes 25% of the world's oil.

So, as you sit in the Burger King drive thru with your combustion engine idling, wasting gas, think for a moment about the US soldier sitting at a checkpoint outside of Mosul. What paid for the RPG that is going to be fired at him or her? Don't you think its time we do something about that?

OPEC flips us the bird, as trade deficit soars...

In news that should surprise no one, OPEC is leaning towards cutting production at its January 30th meeting.

"At this moment we have a price that is comfortable, both to consumers and to us," said Venezuelan Energy and Mining Minister Rafael Ramirez. Ramirez also happens to be the President of the state run oil firm.

In related news, the US trade deficit reached a record level in November 2004. Many economists argue that running persistent and large trade deficits negatively impacts on an economy.

Much of our November trade imbalance is made up of cheap things that Walmart ordered XMAS and another large component is made up of oil.

"This caught a lot of us by surprise. We had been anticipating a pull back in the November deficit because of a decline in the price of oil," said Jason Schenker, an economist at Wachovia Bank in Charlotte, N.C.

Oddly, (or not so oddly) the consumption of oil went up in the U.S. and the overall amount of money spent on imported oil and other fossil fuels went up.

Does this mean the US is scaling back from the panic we saw over the summer? Was it all just rhetoric to throw Bush out of office?

The reality is, an economy as large as the US economy takes years to adjust structurally. As I was born in the 70s, I don't remember the oil shortages that well, but I do know that by the 80s there were fuel efficient Japanese cars everywher. So many in fact that we had ask the Japanese for voluntary export restraints on their autos and Michael Crichton wrote a best seller that was turned into a movie starring Sean Connery.

What I think is different today is that hybrids and other alternative fuels are going to be independent of body type. In the past, with just a traditional engine, super efficient cars were too small for most American consumers and business users. Ideally, we will be seeing Hummer hybrids in the next 20 years or so.

And on that day, when oil is sitting at 10 bucks a barrel, one wonders what the Venezuelan Minister will be muttering about consumer and producer comfort?

OPEC is afraid of Bill Ford Jr...

Look at this news item from the Middle East North Africa Financial Network....

US auto giant Ford expects to have five hybrid gasoline-electric vehicles on the market within three years, chairman Bill Ford said Sunday at the North American International Auto Show.

"It's only the start and it's only one of the fuel efficient technologies we're working seriously on," the company chairman, great-grandson of founder Henry Ford, said as he presented his plans to the premier US auto show.

"Our commitment is clear. We're going to be a leader in bringing our customers technologies that makes a difference in their life and in their world."

This kind of 'crazy talk' is very much discouraged in most Middle East and North African capitals. One can be sure Riyadh is making plenty of phone calls and wire transfers this very minute.