GM’s Lutz On Hybrids, Global Warming And Cars As Art

Bob Lutz, General Motors’ vice chairman and chief car guru, says what really turns him on is “doing the unexpected”–acting “contrary to the conventional wisdom, forcing people to re-think their beliefs.” Maybe that’s why Lutz, who made his name developing behemoths like the V-10 Dodge Viper, is so sold on the fuel-efficient new Chevrolet Volt, which will run on a lithium-ion battery and could go on sale by 2010. “The Volt thrills me because it’s the last thing anybody expected from GM,” the ex-Marine said at a private lunch in Arlington today. If you’re into cars or the car business, jump to read more of Lutz’s contrarian beliefs. (more…)

Sarah Eveans Throws a Huckabee at Tom Brady

I don’t quite understand why Brady just showed up in our offices. But the girls seem happy.

Central Is a Wreck

Be advised, northward traveling FBvians: Adam just called from the field to say Central Expressway is a nightmare from downtown all the way to Mockingbird (at least). Go here to see more.

Columnist Prompts Lunchtime Navel-Gazing

Agree or not with what he types, Rod Dreher is a good writer. A scold? Sure. Talented, nonetheless. But this passage from his Sunday column (read the whole thing here) has been niggling at me since I read it three days ago, and I need to spout off to exorcise it from my brain.

Today’s child-men have been formed by a culture that has lost – or, rather, thrown away – a relatively fixed standard of manhood … That’s mostly gone, replaced by a therapeutic model in which the autonomous self is its own judge, and personal satisfaction is the measure of a life well lived.

I reckon I’m left wondering why I need to contract out my own judgment. If my judgment is fatally flawed, how can I use it to pick someone else to do my judging for me? What makes their judgment of my “autonomous self” superior? And how is achieving personal satisfaction not the “measure of a life well lived”? When did the pursuit of happiness become morally suspect? Isn’t a person’s life an end to itself, or are you saying a person’s life is only worthy if it’s the means to other people’s ends? If I don’t take care of pursuing my own happiness and satisfaction, who is supposed to? (Yes, I’m procrastinating from my duties to the print version of FrontBurner. And yes, I own a PlayStation 3.)

To Reiterate: Mark Cuban Will Appear in Anything Involving a Camera

Yahoo! has posted a new featurette promoting the forthcoming Will Ferrell vehicle, Semi-Pro. As I alluded to, Cubes is in it. And he’s actually pretty funny. Creepy, yes, but funny.

Re: Leading Off, DNA Business

Trey: We all want to see justice done, but I think you’ve succumbed to the Craig Watkins spin machine. First, the use of DNA testing in criminal trials is a fairly recent phenomenon, as I understand it. Second, to portray tough but effective former prosecutors (like Henry Wade) as renegades who were out for “conviction at all costs” is neither fair nor accurate. But it does burnish the current D.A.’s heroic storyline.

The Second Double Life of Lauren Baumann

Awhile back, we received a call from a woman named Faith Pyka in California. She’d found a story in our archives, “The Double Life of Lauren Baumann,” from November 1998, that confirmed her worst fears. Pyka had fallen victim to a real estate scam. A decade ago, in Plano, Baumann had created a Ponzi scheme, cheating 80 investors out of $2.7 million, spending it on extravagant parties and Neiman Marcus shopping sprees. Her husband, Ed, turned her in to the SEC, but she has re-emerged with another real estate and loan scheme.

Intern Alexandra Millard picks up the story from there:

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Bet Y’All Didn’t Know

This. That sound.

Kidd in Play (Part II)

Just ran a quick errand and heard Norm talking about the possible Jason Kidd trade (for Devin Harris and Jerry Stackhouse). It’s not news, but I was all excited to post that headline. Bummer that someone beat me to it. (But it’s in Canada, so does it count?)

Leading Off

1) Aren’t we all glad that previous Dallas County district attorneys didn’t bother with all that DNA business so they could say they were “tough on crime.” After all, justice is about conviction rates. And besides, the jury’s still out on that whole “science” thing.

2) Thanks, Highland Park, for getting the ball rolling on cell phone bans. Sure, you have existing traffic laws, but passing new ones makes it look like you’re doing something, right?

3) This doesn’t really fit with the “everybody panic!” economic news election-year script, but foreclosures are already slowing in Texas.