Year: 1964
Written by: Solomon Burke, Bert Berns, & Jerry Wexler
Billboard Hot 100: #58

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10. Massive Moisture-Driven Extreme Precipitation During Warmest Winter in the Satellite Record–and the Deniers Say It Disproves (!) Climate Science — Joseph Romm
9. The Fetishism of Morality — Jonathan Rée and Doing What Comes Supernaturally: Stanley Fish on Fact and Value — Russell Blackford
8. The Making of a Euromess — Paul Krugman and California Death Spiral — Paul Krugman
7. Child Slavery in Uzbekistan — Craig Murray
6. Questions and Answers about the Financial Crisis — Gary Gorton, Due North: Canada’s Marvelous Mortgage and Banking System — Mark J. Perry, and The Troubling Resolution Revolution — Peter J. Wallison
5. “Too Big to Fail” Is No Redemption Song — Avinash Persaud and How to Make a Bank Raise Equity — Oliver Hart & Luigi Zingales
4. Blair: Gaza’s Great Betrayer — Avi Shlaim
3. Eric Holder and the Khalid Sheikh Mohammed Trial — Jane Mayer and Susan Collins Spreads Central Myth about the Constitution — Glenn Greenwald
2. The World Needs All Kinds of Minds — Temple Gradin and How Brains Learn to See — Pawan Sinha
1. State of Denial: Searching for Peace in Israel — Robert Fisk, Arieli Is a Man with a Plan. The Trouble Is, It’s a Map of Israel — Robert Fisk, and Gaza’s Defiant Tunnellers Head Deeper Underground — Robert Fisk
BONUS: Let’s Not Create More Debris in Haiti — Anthony W. Orlando

10. Which Party Uses Reconciliation More Often? Looks Like Harry Reid Was Correct — Joshua Tucker and Health Care No Stranger to Reconciliation Process — Julie Rovner
9. Hood — Brian Mockenhaupt and Distant Wars, Constant Ghosts — Shannon P. Meehan
8. Depression’s Upside — Jonah Lehrer and Head Case — Louis Menand
7. Girls Gone Anti-Feminist — Susan J. Douglas
6. A Broken Economic Law — Louis Uchitelle, In Search of…Crowding Out — Menzie Chinn, A Stimulus Opponent Who Can Actually Find His—! — J. Bradford DeLong, and 1937, 2010 — Richard Posner
5. Latvia’s Neoliberal Madness — Michael Hudson & Jeffrey Sommers
4. Doing What Comes Supernaturally: Stanley Fish on Fact and Value — Russell Blackford
3. Child Slavery in Uzbekistan — Craig Murray
2. Questions and Answers about the Financial Crisis — Gary Gorton, Due North: Canada’s Marvelous Mortgage and Banking System — Mark J. Perry, and The Troubling Resolution Revolution — Peter J. Wallison
1. The World Needs All Kinds of Minds — Temple Gradin and How Brains Learn to See — Pawan Sinha
BONUS: Division and Its Discontents — Steven Strogatz

What to make of the departure of Bob Lutz [wiki], the septuagenarian marketing guru from General Motors, and what does the move say about the future?

Bob Lutz (second from left) examines Fisher Automotives Electrical Concept with other GM executives.

Lutz, a former Marine and jet fighter pilot has a resume encompassing nearly every major manufacturer in the North American and European segments of the industry  and a fair number of hits.  Lutz is credited as having an instrumental role in the creation of the original Dodge Viper, the Plymouth Prowler, Neon, Chrysler LH sedans, as well as “the Cadillac Sixteen Concept; Saturn Sky and Pontiac Solstice; Pontiac G8; Chevrolet Malibu; Cadillac CTS; Buick Enclave; Cadillac Converj Concept; Cadillac CTS Coupe Concept; Chevrolet Camaro Concept; Chevrolet Camaro (production version); Chevy Beat, Groove and Trax Concept Studies; and 2010 Buick Lacrosse, Chevrolet Equinox, and Cadillac SRX” (via Wikipedia).

As of last year, he was talking directly to the customer via GM’s Fastlane blog.  Lutz – who occasionally steered onto the shoulder while speaking publicly, such as his dismissal of both electric vehicles and global warming – also had a firm grasp on the wheel and a strong sense of direction.

There are two GMs – the Old GM, and the New GM.   The old GM was a manufacturing behemoth who enjoyed a period of dominance in both style and sales, which eventually culminated in the misreading and mismatch of product to consumer needs, a much lamented attempt use marketing to compensate for bland product, and a vicious spiral of legacy costs, quality deficiencies – both real and perceived – and an addiction to market share over profit, punctuated by the occasional hit.

The New GM casted off the chains of the past (as Motors Corp), shed the sick, lame, and lazy divisions (initially Oldsmobile, followed by Saturn, Pontiac, Saab, and Hummer), and shed thousands of white and blue collar jobs and unviable dealerships.

GM is enjoying somewhat of a nascent recovery with competitive offerings such as the current Chevrolet Malibu, Cadillac CTS, and Buick Lacrosse as well as forthcoming product like the Chevrolet Cruze, Buick Regal, and others.  The fear is that the bean-counters, bankers, and marketing guys of old – responsible for such ‘hits’ as the Cadillac 4-6-8 engine, the X-cars, badge-engineering, and of course, the Aztec – will have resumed control after the latest management putsch, most notably of car guy CEO Fritz Henderson by former-AT&T Executive Ed Whitacare.  GMs greatest weakness is its culture – without strong leadership – as exemplified by Lutz – it will be far too easy for the company to fall back on old habits.

10. Letting Perfect Be the Enemy of the Good? — J. Michael McWilliams and All You Ever Wanted to Know about the Research on Health Insurance and Health–and More — Stan Dorn
9. The Origins of Religion: Evolved Adaptation or By-Product? — Ilkka Pyysiäinen & Marc Hauser
8. GSE Losses as Shadow Bailout — Mike Konczal and Dividend Restrictions as Macroprudential Regulation — Charles A. E. Goodhart, Udara Peiris, Dimitri Tsomocos, & Alexandros Vardoulakis
7. NOAA: Warmest January in Both Satellite Records — Joseph Romm, An Amazing, Though Clearly Little-Known, Scientific Fact: We Get More Snow Storms in Warm Years! — Joseph Romm, and An Ominous Warning on the Effects of Ocean Acidification — Carl Zimmer
6. The End of Obama’s Vision of a Nuke-Free World — Scott Ritter and The Best Way to Get Rid of the World’s Nukes — Barry Blechman
5. The Rape of American Prisoners — David Kaiser & Lovisa Stannow
4. Greece Should Approach the IMF — Simon Johnson and Try a European Fiscal Fund — Mark Thoma
3. Why Chuckles Greeted Hillary’s Gulf Tour — Rami G. Khouri
2. The Fetishism of Morality — Jonathan Rée
1. The Making of a Euromess — Paul Krugman and California Death Spiral — Paul Krugman
BONUS: The Enemy of My Enemy — Steven Strogatz

Album: The Clash (CBS Records)
Year: 1979
Written by: Mick Jones & Joe Strummer
Billboard Hot 100: #8

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10. Cyber Warriors — James Fallows
9. The Wonder Drug Myth — Thomas Goetz and Why Adult Cells Won’t End the Stem-Cell Wars — Sharon Begley
8. The Eurozone Debt Crisis: Facts and Myths — Charles Wyplosz
7. Republicans–Not Obama–More Often on Wrong Side of Public Opinion — Nate Silver
6. Blair, Bush, Israel and Iraq — Stephen M. Walt
5. Listen to the Iranian People — Robert Wright and Salehi: Iran Would Back Down If West Supplies LEU; Khamenei Vows Self-Defense Against “US-Backed Saboteurs” — Juan Cole
4. Yanukovych Is Back — Owen Matthews
3. Massive Moisture-Driven Extreme Precipitation During Warmest Winter in the Satellite Record–and the Deniers Say It Disproves (!) Climate Science — Joseph Romm & Jeff Masters
2. “Too Big to Fail” Is No Redemption Song — Avinash Persaud and How to Make a Bank Raise Equity — Oliver Hart & Luigi Zingales
1. State of Denial: Searching for Peace in Israel — Robert Fisk, Arieli Is a Man with a Plan. The Trouble Is, It’s a Map of Israel — Robert Fisk, and Gaza’s Defiant Tunnellers Head Deeper Underground — Robert Fisk
BONUS: Rock Groups — Steven Strogatz

Album: Rock and Rollin’ with Fats Domino (Imperial Records)
Year: 1955
Written by: Dave Bartholomew & Fats Domino
Billboard Hot 100: #10

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Album: Imagination (Buddah Records)
Year: 1973
Written by: Jim Weatherly
Billboard Hot 100: #1

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11. Is “the Process” Driving Opinion about Health Care? — John Sides and Policy Compromise Is Easy. Political Compromise Is Impossible. — Ezra Klein
10. Hottest January in UAH Satellite Record — Joseph Romm and Groundhog Decade: We’re Stuck in a Bad Movie, Where It’s Always the Hottest Decade on Record — Joseph Romm
9. Iran, China, and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization — Flynt Leverett & Hillary Mann Leverett, Analysis of Multiple Polls Find Little Evidence Iranian Public Sees Government as Illegitimate — World Public Opinion, and Regime Change in Iran Will Come from the Centre — Tony Karon
8. With Raw Recruits, Afghan Police Buildup Falters — Rod Nordland, U.S., Karzai Clash on Unconditional Talks with Taliban — Gareth Porter, Peace Talks May Follow Ex-Taliban Mediators’ Plan — Gareth Porter, Taliban Take on the U.S.’s Surge — Syed Saleem Shahzad, How to End the War in Afghanistan — Ahmed Rashid, Not for Sale — Ron Moreau, and A Look at America’s New Hope: The Afghan Tribes — Ruhullah Khapalwak & David Rohde
7. Five Myths about America’s Credit Card Debt — Robert D. Manning
6. A Very Productive Congress, Despite What the Approval Ratings Say — Norman Ornstein
5. Seeking a Safer Way to Securitization — Floyd Norris
4. All Bark, No Bite — Clay Risen
3. Finding a Better Way to Grieve — Meghan O’Rourke
2. Blair: Gaza’s Great Betrayer — Avi Shlaim
1. Eric Holder and the Khalid Sheikh Mohammed Trial — Jane Mayer and Susan Collins Spreads Central Myth about the Constitution — Glenn Greenwald
BONUS:  From Fish to Infinity — Steven Strogatz