...Tata

The Tata Nano is the Indian version of the Ford Model T. It is the "People's Car". It cost $3,000, has 2 doors and is the world's cheapest production car, not the safest, but the cheapest. Apparently Tata is having problems selling the car. Originally launched in 2008 with a 100,000-customer waiting list, the Nano has been plagued by Ford Pinto-like incidents of spontaneous combustion, the result of which were electrical system and exhaust safety upgrades for 70,000 owners. Sales have flagged markedly since that launch; August saw 1,200 sales, an 88 percent drop from 10,000 in April. Some analysts argue that the reason for the Nano’s sales decline may have less to do with safety issues and more to do with Indian consumers not taking well to the notion of owning the world’s least expensive vehicle. I find this hard to believe. How hard is it to sell a $3,000 car in a country where a 3rd of its citizens live on 50 cents a day... Also there is well over a billion people in India so doing the math... about 400 million people. Well to boost sales of the mini car Tata has decided to, wait for this, cover a Tata Nano in gold and jewels. Artisans associated with the company’s chain of GoldPlus jewelry stores lavished the automobile with 194 pounds of hard-crafted 22-karat gold, 33 pounds of silver and 10,000 precious and semi-precious stones. The car cost 1,533 Tata Nanos or $4.6 million. I like lavish things. I like some gaudy things. But this car is ugly! It might sell in India though, but I doubt it. It is more of an investment in gold if anything. Tata also owns Jaguar and Land Rover/Range Rover, they bought them from Ford in 2006, money hole... Instead of doing ridiculous stunts like this to draw attention to your cars, why not invest in making the car better. This is not going to make anyone want to buy your car more than they already did, or did not, want to in the 1st place. I am giving Tata a Digit Down for having such poor business skills.

...Alcohol

It appears that alcohol kills more than AIDS, tuberculosis and violence around the world, says the World Health Organization (WHO). With more drinking in heavily populated area in Africa, Asia and India, the risk is growing greater every year. last year 2.5 million people died from alcohol related deaths around the world, roughly 4% of the world's total deaths, and yet alcohol control policies are always low on the list of most government priority list. Males lead the pack with most of them dying between the age of 15-59. 30% of the alcohol consumed is illegal or homemade, which can be more toxic than store bought alcohol. In Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), every fifth death is due to harmful drinking, the highest rate. Binge drinking, which often leads to risky behavior, is now prevalent in Brazil, Kazakhstan, Mexico, Russia, South Africa and Ukraine, and rising in other places. There are about 60 illnesses linked to alcohol including cirrhosis of the liver, epilepsy, poisonings, road traffic accidents, violence, and several types of cancer, including cancers of the colorectum, breast, larynx and liver. I am not an alcohol drinking, never have been, probably never will be. This does not surprise me. Asians and Indians are not large people so I am sure it does not take a lot to get them drunk and impaired, and if they decide to binge then poisoning could happen very easily. High school kids binge drink because they just want to have a "good time" or because they do not want to stick out from the crowd and their bodies are not built to handle the large amounts of alcohol they tend to consume at house parties. You cannot really regulate alcohol, because you can always buy in advance and have it stored for a later date. We tried Prohibition in America and we lost billions, in today's dollars, in tax money, and there was also the rise of the mafia, bootleggers, and many many many deaths. So what can we do? Nothing. All we can do is hope people will learn responsibility and self control other than that, just hope you do not get hit by a drunk driver. Digit Down.

...Keep A Child Alive Campaign

It seems as if fans or "fans" do not mind if their celebrities are off Facebook and Twitter. What am I talking about? The Keep A Child Alive charity founded by Alicia Keys promised that some celebrities such as: Ryan Seacrest, Kim Kardashian, Lady Gaga, Serena Williams, Justin Timberlake, and Elijah Wood would not post updates on the popular social sites until $1 million was raised. It actually said this, "The world's top celebrities are sacrificing their digital lives to give real life to millions of people affected by HIV/AIDS in Africa and India," the campaign states. "That means no more Twitter or Facebook updates from any of them. No more knowing where they are, what they had for dinner, or what interesting things are happening in their lives. From here on out, they're dead. Kaput. Finished." This campaign start Wednesday on World AIDS Day. While the cause is serious, the outcome is somewhat funny. It seems as if fans or "fans" just do not care to hear from these overexposed celebrities anymore. As of 7:30PM Thursday they raised just under $181,000. A lot of these celebs get paid to Tweet and are on TV all day everyday, I can only imagine what it is like to have a break from these people. I am sure the money will be raised, even if the celebs have to throw in their own money, not a Kardashian though. Some might say that this is due to the bad economy and the $10 minimum donation that was set up, which is not a good idea. I think that would be the most minor of the problems. Second would be the fact that no one really knew about this, the celebs forgot to tweet about it I guess. Number one, no one but tweens, teens and the people paid to follow them care that much about celebrities anymore. We see them too often, much too often. There is no mystery thus there is no interest. Like an exposed whore on the street corner, we will pass. I am giving this whole thing a Digit Down.