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No. 1 Wood

Victoria named UK's funniest woman

Victoria Wood has been voted Britain's funniest woman.

The 52-year-old topped a poll of more than 4,000 people, beating Dawn French into second place.

But very few recent stars have made the grade, with 38-year-old Caroline Aherne the youngest star on the list.

Paul O'Grady's alter-ego Lily Savage even got two votes in the nationwide poll, conducted by BMRB.

Simon Hemelryk, an editor at Reader's Digest, which commissioned the poll, said: "Comedy has traditionally been a man's world and the poll highlights how recently female comics have cracked the mainstream.

"Of the top 10, only two are not current performers, comedienne and raconteur Joyce Grenfell and Carry On star Hattie Jacques.

"There was notable lack of really new talent in the poll, even with the younger respondents - Linda Smith and Gina Yashere each scored a measly five votes and rising star Catherine Tate didn't feature at all."

The list is:

  1. Victoria Wood
  2. Dawn French
  3. Jo Brand
  4. Jennifer Saunders
  5. Julie Walters
  6.  Joyce Grenfell
  7.  Hattie Jacques
  8.  Joanna Lumley
  9. Maureen Lipman
  10. Kathy Burke
  11. Hylda Baker
  12. Patricia Routledge
  13. Barbara Windsor
  14. Marti Cane
  15. Pam Ayres
  16. Dame Thora Hird
  17.  Meera Syal
  18. Caroline Aherne
Read More

Published: 1 Aug 2005

Past Shows

Edinburgh Fringe 2006

Pam Ayres: In Her Own Words

Edinburgh Fringe 2014

Pam Ayres

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Gilbert goes to Hollywood

US sitcom pilot for Morgana character

Morgana Robinson is piloting an American sitcom, based around her awkward teenage boy character, Gilbert.

The Very Important People star revealed she was working on the project after picking up the breakthrough act gong at this week’s British Comedy Awards.

‘I’ve got a pilot in LA, we’re shooting a pilot for a sitcom, that’s really exciting,’ she said. ‘It’s starting my ultimate favourite character, Gilbert, he’s the star of the show. They love him over there and I’m unbelievably chuffed.’

The nerdy Gilbert began life on Channel 4’s The TNT Show in 2009, interviewing celebrities. He then appeared on Robinson’s own short-lived show, making a video diary.

Published: 14 Dec 2012

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Farewell to the forums | A tight 5: December 19

Farewell to the forums

A tight 5: December 19

CHORTLE's forums will be closing in the New Year. Although they have been a part of the site since our launch in 2000, they have become little-used in recent years as comedy fans turn to social media to comment and communicate. Just seven people have posted this month, compared to the 10,000 daily visits the main Chortle site receives.

TOM DEACON is quitting his radio show on Capital South Coast after 19 months to concentrate on his comedy career. The former Chortle Student Comedy Award winner joined the station in July 2015, and now his co-host Emma Real-Davies and producer Jono Holmes will continue the 6am-10am weekday show without him.

STAND-UP Brice Morton has a role in the next run of Still Game at Glasgow's SSE Hydro, creators Ford Kiernan and Greg Kemphill have revealed – although they would give no further details of the role. The rest of the team return to the venue, where they had a record-breaking 21-night run in 2014, from February 4. Tickets.

STEPHEN FRY is set to play Nazi Hermann Göring in a biopic of Wigan-born opera singer Margery Booth, a Second World War spy who performed for Hitler and British Prisoners of War. Lesley Garrett is to provide the vocals for the lead character in Margery Booth: The Spy In The Eagles' Nest, ScreenDaily reports.

BEEFEATER Gin is staging a couple of free comedy gigs at its London distillery. Daliso Chaponda and Adam Bloom will be performing beneath the giant pot stills used to distill the spirit in Kennington, South London. on January 28. There are two shows, at 1.30pm and 3.30pm, and tickets, for over-18s only, must be reserved here.

Published: 19 Dec 2016

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review star review star review star review star review blank star

John Lloyd: Liff of QI

Note: This review is from 2013

Review by Steve Bennett

His stage is set like an Oxbridge don’s study; a bust in one corner, hatstand and leather armchair in the other. How very apt for a man who, through creating QI, has helped make knowing things cool.

The inquisitive panel show is not John Lloyd’s only televisual triumph, of course. He’s produced Not The Nine O’Clock News, Spitting Image and Blackadder to name but three of the best comedy shows since 1973, when he s first became a producer (‘I’ve no idea why...’) on radio’s Just A Minute.

This is a amiable journey through those hits, created in a broadcasting landscape so different from today. But it's also so much more besides. He mixes bar-room jokes, TV anecdotes about everyone from Clement Freud to Stephen Fry, and quirky, eclectic facts. The show is on constant rotation between the different types of tidbit, while Lloyd’s well-spoken delivery lends an air of erudition to even the most expletive-riddled segment.

Complaints from the public about his shows are the richest source of drollery, from back in the day when you had to go to the trouble of putting pen to paper to call a TV executive names, not just fire off an angry tweet. Indeed, if you don’t remember those days, this might not be the show for you; you will certainly get more from it if you know who Leon Brittan is, for example. In fact, think of it as consolation for the burden of knowing who Leon Brittan is.

There’s a pleasing wit to Lloyd’s tales, which contain many priceless nuggets of information about both the landmarks in comedy history at which he was present and the wider world we live in. My favourite is that of the 100 billion galaxies estimated to exist in the universe, the number you can see with the naked eye is... four.

Lest you think this show exists only on the shoulders of the Giants of Comedy he has worked with or the QI elves who ferreted out the trivia, Lloyd showed his own comic abilities with the alternative dictionary The Meaning of Liff, which he co-wrote with Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy creator Douglas Adams in 1983.

The tome collates things that there aren't words for, but should be – and assigns place names to fill the etymological gap. And wouldn’t you just know it, a sequel, Afterliff, is out and available, signed, on the way out, containing such definitions as: Sorrento (n): The thing that goes round and round as a YouTube video loads.

And if there’s a Liff word for an eloquent raconteur of fine comic timing and varied taste, it would surely apply to Lloyd.

Review date: 6 Aug 2013
Reviewed by: Steve Bennett

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Scott Agnew: Spunk on Our Lady's Face | Edinburgh Fringe comedy review by Steve Bennett
review star review star review star review half star review blank star

Scott Agnew: Spunk on Our Lady's Face

Edinburgh Fringe comedy review by Steve Bennett

No one has anecdotes quite  like Scott Agnew. His stories of bizarre, drug-fuelled sexual excess make Russell Brand look like In The Night Garden.

The most conventional of the tales in this show has him going on the pull after a gig at Leeds Jongleurs he was drinking to forget. While wearing a Stormtrooper’s outfit.

This pre-amble, about how he became afflicted with ‘blow-job knee’ breaks the news as gently as he can that he’s gay – though you will soon be in absolutely no doubt of the fact. And if you need things broken gently, a show called Spunk On Our Lady’s Face probably isn’t for you.

It is another catalogue of the hilariously depraved scrapes he got himself into through a pattern of self-destructive, self-abasing behaviour which have defined his past few Edinburgh shows. He’s stopped that now, as being diagnosed HIV positive served as a wake-up call, making  him realise he wanted to live.

As he shares his stories from the murkier depths of the gay dating scene for our vicarious pleasure, a recurring question is whether he’s acting bravely or stupidly. The ‘spunk’ of the title refers to ‘pluck’ he argues, not very convincingly ‘Recklessly’ would probably cover both  possible motivations for his actions, for when he’s on the pull, he’s like a member of an improv troupe, saying ‘yes, and…’ to whatever bizarre sexual request is thrown his way.

For a well-established stand-up and compere, Agnew’s tone can be a little dry and rough-around-the-edges, as if he’s not entirely at ease  – at least until he settles into the substance of his stories, which draw us in with the light they thrown on an astonishing underbelly.

Perhaps its that knee injury, but all this told calmly from a stool, like a Dave Allen for the Grindr era. Especially given his routines about how the Catholic Church (who else?) messed him up, with his school’s Monsignor piling on the moral guilt for stepping on the Lord’s grass.

The issues that upbringing instilled in him came to the fore during a hook-up with a man with religious fetishes, just one encounter in a sex life that has more kinks than a concertina. And it’s not all sex, he sings the praises of crystal meth, too, lest you ever think we’re in light, breezy territory.

Whether Agnew’s former lifestyle is an advert for anything is a moot point. However, he does show the upside of airing dirty stories in public, with a shockingly entertaining and eye-opening show.

Review date: 23 Aug 2017
Reviewed by: Steve Bennett

What do you think?

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Terry Saunders: Pulp Boy

Terry Saunders: Pulp Boy

Show type: Edinburgh Fringe 2006

Starring: Terry Saunders

Nathan Cooke is that boy, he likes music and draws on his bag in biro. He should be in Glastonbury discovering women, but is in fact on holiday with his mother against his will. To exact his revenge on her for keeping him from possibly kissing a girl for a first time he takes a vow to only speak in Pulp lyrics... it works.

>> YouTube teaser

Upcoming Dates

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Terry Saunders: Pulp Boy

In Pulp Boy, young storyteller-stroke-stand-up Terry Saunders imagines a typically moody teenager who vows, for a while, only to speak in the…

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Steve Williams: Binge Thinking

Steve Williams: Binge Thinking

Show type: Edinburgh Fringe 2007

Starring: Steve Williams

The whimsical Welshman returns to Edinburgh to deliver some serious folly. Join Steve Williams for an hour of standout comedy from a wonderfully ordinary man and the overactive pleasures of his unusual mind.

Upcoming Dates

Sorry. We have no upcoming listings for Steve Williams: Binge Thinking.

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Yianni: Numb and Number

Yianni: Numb and Number

Show type: Edinburgh Fringe 2012

Starring: Yianni Agisilaou

Hyperlogical comedian obsessed by numbers gets diagnosed mildly autistic aged 33.3 (recurring) and finally understands why! An irreverent hour of number-based, logic-fuelled absurdity. Don't panic. No maths knowledge required!

Upcoming Dates

Sorry. We have no upcoming listings for Yianni: Numb and Number.

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Tuesday, October 28, 2014

Best Y.A. Series (Semifinal Poll)

What is the best young adult series??

Thanks to everyone who took part in the FANTASTIC participation of the nominations. Another poll with that many entries and I'm going to have to start doing only books with three or more nominations (1 nomination + two "seconds") in order to stay sane.  However, this time around, I embraced the madness.

I want to encourage everyone to read the directions carefully. A few of you nominated clearly adult books, stand alone books, or five or six different titles.

However the list was (again) far too massive to be included in a single poll. That means we have to do a semifinal round. I will put the first list on a poll for ONE WEEK. Everyone gets five votes and the top five series will go on to our final round poll.

Then a week from today, I will put up the second list of books for ONE WEEK and we will generate the ten titles that will end up in our final round. In the last two weeks of November we will have the final round showdown for the best Y.A. Series.

The poll itself is at the bottom of the left sidebar. It's the long black poll looking thing. Everyone gets 5 (five) votes, but please remember that there is no ranking system, so you will "dilute" a strong vote for every extra you take. Only vote twice or more if you really can't decide.

AS A REMINDER: Many of these books have been turned into movies, but we are voting on the BOOKS. If you liked the first Hunger Games book, thought the second was okay, and found the third one to be a train wreck, then you shouldn't vote for Hunger Games...no matter how awesome Donald Sutherland is making the films.

If you want to be a helper, please check my spelling and that the titles match up with authors. I cut and pasted from the nomination page without checking every title individually.

This week:

Young Wizards - Diane Duane
The Old Kingdom/Abhorsen Chronicles - Garth Nix
The Dark is Rising - Susan Cooper
The Hunger Games - Suzanne Collins
The Chronicles of Narnia - C.S. Lewis
Artemis Fowl - Eoin Colfer
Trickster series - Tamora Pierce
Percy Jackson & the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Another Fine Myth - Robert Asprin
Chronicles of Prydain by Lloyd Alexander
Harry Potter- J.K. Rowling

Next week:

Warriors - Erin Hunter
His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
A Wrinkle in Time Series - Madeleine L'Engle
Dragonriders of Pern by Anne McCaffrey
Uglies/Pretties/Specials - Scott Westerfeld
Stainless Steel Rat - Harry Harrison
Heralds of Valdemar - Mercedes Lackey
OZ -L Frank Baum
The Books of Swords - Fred Saberhagen
Death Gate Cycle - Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman
Winnie The Pooh - A.A. Milne

  1. Spelling corrections: Suzanne Collins, Robert Asprin, Anne McCaffrey, Dragonriders of Pern, the Death Gate Cycle looks like it was co-authored by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Death_Gate_Cycle), A.A. Milne.

    Awesome list!

    1. Thanks! It might take until tomorrow to clean these up. Wednesdays are crazy busy around here.


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"The Trouble With Law is Lawyers"

Caught this in a St. Paul Pioneer Press story last week: (you may need to register) A Wisconsin man pleaded no contest Monday to killing his girlfriend\’s son after becoming angry when the boy wet his pants. Kevin Rood, 42, of Hammond pleaded no contest to second-degree reckless homicide and could face up to 25 […]

Do We Need a GOP Legislature?

Many supporters of the proposed Taxpayers Protection Amendment are working off the theory that it doesn\’t matter whether we have a Democratic or Republican legislature. As Peter DiGaudio puts it: We need to go RINO-hunting. Seriously. Wisconsin\’s Republican Party and leadership needs an enema. If it means defeating RINOs in primaries or even electing Democrats […]

Exxposing Hypocrisy

A brief break from my vacation for this – I get so few things right, I am obligated to point out when I am: Kudos to Stacy Forster at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel for her blog post exposing the hypocrisy of Senate Democrats who criticize oil companies for their \”obscene\” profits. Hardcore Yorkheads might remember […]

Fun With the Kid

So this discussion took place when I was playing with my daughter: Baby York: \”I\’m going to get married, Daddy.\” Me: \”Oh yeah, who are you going to marry?\” Baby York: \”Miss Piggy.\” Me: Awkward silence…. Me: (Looking at my wife:) \”I need a ruling on this – am I allowed to say she\’s supposed […]

"Let the People Decide"

A democracy is nothing more than mob rule, where fifty-one percent of the people may take away the rights of the other forty-nine. — Thomas Jefferson While there shouldn\’t be any question about the love I have for my right wing brothers and sisters in the blogosphere, there are issues on which we occasionally depart. […]


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The Best of 1997

Ahhh…it’s the end of another year, and time for reflection on what has gone by. Well, let’s cut to the chase. Here are my picks for the best of 1997:

Runner Up – Al Pacino, Donnie Brasco
Winner – Robin Williams, Good Will Hunting
Both of these actors provided their best work in years. Pacino has been on a hot streak lately, but Williams has been in a rut. It was a close call, but the honor finally goes to Robin, whose performance in Good Will Hunting might be the best work he has ever done.

Runner Up – Debbi Morgan, Eve’s Bayou
Winner – Irma P. Hall, Soul Food, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, Nothing to Lose
Irma P. Who? That’s Irma P. Hall. You might very well recognize her if you saw her onscreen. She’s provided one excellent character turn after another, and anyone who could liven up something like Nothing to Lose deserves credit. Debbi Morgan is a close second as the cursed psychic aunt in Eve’s Bayou.

Runner Up – Aaron Eckhart, In the Company of Men
Winner – Jack Nicholson, As Good As It Gets
Aaron Eckhart was quite simply the year’s best movie villain in the little seen date movie In the Company of Men. But he pales next to the force of Nicholson at his peak. Melvin Udall will go down as one of Jack’s best characters, and that’s some good company to be in.

Runner Up – Jodie Foster, Contact
Winner – Judi Dench, Mrs. Brown
In a field as sparse as this year’s best actresses, it would be a crime to overlook Jodie Foster. It was a summer sci-fi film, but just take another look at her congressional testimony scenes, and you’ll agree that she belongs here. However, Judi Dench emerges as the clear winner, breathing exuberant life into a dusty historical figure.

TOP TEN FILMS (in reverse order)

10. Wag the Dog
Quite simply, the best political comedy in a long, long time. This was the film that had the year’s single funniest scene: when Stanley Moss’ eternal optimism nearly runs out when he witnesses the actions of Ol’ Shoe. What’s better than a returning war hero?…
9. The Sweet Hereafter
Perhaps the most lyrical film on the list. Atom Egoyan’s study of grief and a small town takes a while to build it’s impact, but it’s a lasting one.
8. Chasing Amy
Kevin Smith redeems himself for Mallrats, and shows he still has some decent writing talents left (despite that hideous Superman script). This isn’t a film for all tastes, and Kevin’s directoral style needs a bit of polish, but what a script!
7. Donnie Brasco
First the Godfather reinvented the gangster film…then Goodfellas did it all over again. Just when you thought the well had finally run dry… along comes Donnie Brasco. While not in the same league as the former two gangster sagas, this gripping tale showed what a little creativity and a killer story can do for a dying genre. And to top it off, one of Pacino’s best performances in years (and that’s no easy feat).
6. Eve’s Bayou
An entrancingly powerful debut by writer-director Kasi Lemmons. A hauntingly beautiful setting, wonderfully crafted story, realistic characters and a superb ensemble cast all make this one stand out.
5. As Good As It Gets
The year’s best comedy. Wag the Dog may have the strongest laugh, but this one has the most. That combined with a superior performance by Nicholson makes this the hands down winner.
4. Good Will Hunting
Matt Damon and Ben Affleck deserve a round of applause. Not only is their acting first rate in this film, but they banded together and created the year’s best screenplay, and nearly the year’s best film. It was a close call, but it’s overreliance on pop psychology was the only thing that kept this one from topping the list. As it is, it’s still a wonderful film.
3. L.A. Confidential
A delightfully tangled, twisted web of film noir. Smart characters, smart dialogue and a smart plot all rolled up into one. Wow.
2. Contact
The year’s most overlooked film. Released as a summer blockbuster, and thereby discounted by many. However, not only does the film have spectacular effects (most of which are wonderfully subtle), a great cast, and an exciting story…but there’s actually meaning behind the film. It may have been a summer blockbuster, but it was a smart summer blockbuster. If not for the unfortunate final James Woods-Angela Bassett conversation (which dilutes some of movie’s impact), this one would have been #1. Instead the honor goes to…
1. Titanic
What more can you say about this one. Upon hearing of this project, even before learning of the budget, I was all prepared for a disaster (of the film, not the ship). Cameron’s lucky streak has to end some day, and this period romance seemed like the film to do it. Boy, was I wrong. He has resurrected the combination of spectacle and romance that used to be a Hollywood staple. Now we’re left to wonder: how will he top this?
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Recent Posts

Video: #BBNaija 2018: Bitto gets an erection while comforting Nina (Video)

Wednesday, 31 January 2018

With today being the fourth of the reality TV show, viewers got an eyeful of a scene involving two housemates, Bitto and Nina.

Nina who appears to be developing an interest in fellow housemate Miracle, was reduced to tears while complaining to Bitto that she feels jealous and emotional because she suspects that Miracle is playing with her emotions and wants to divert his attention to Ahneeka.

While comforting Nina, Bitto was spotted having an erection as he held her to himself.

Watch the video below.

VIDEO: Bitto gets a Hard On while consoling Nina who was crying cos Miracle moved on to Ahneeka ??? This dude baffles me #BBNaija— Anda Paul (@LazyWrita) January 31, 2018

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Located on the Roman road, Watling Street and the site of an ancient ford, for hundreds of years this historic market town has offered hospitality to the road weary traveller. Travellers today will find to their delight, many fine hostelries and restaurants and places of interest, nestling in this place of good cheer.

The Stony Stratford Classic Car Festival - now known as ‘Classic Stony’, has grown in stature over the years and now attracts an incredibly varied display of vehicles from concourse to ‘well used’.

Run in partnership with Stony Stratford Business Association, as part of ‘Stony Live week’, this is an informal gathering of classic and vintage cars and motorcycles. The Market Square stage will host Live music throughout the day.

The event runs from 9:30am until 4:30pm. Spectators are free but the event is run in aid of Willen Hospice) so there will be opportunities to donate to this incredibly worthy cause.

The event’s historic success has now drawn the good people of Stony, restaurateur, shopkeeper and publican alike to throw open their doors and join the revelry. So come and join us, wander the displays, take in the sights, have a picnic by the river and enjoy the day.

We look forward to seeing you there.

Visitor Information

Visitors to the event are requested to please use the public car parks as shown on the downloadable PDF. Please also refer to the Information leaflet which can be downloaded by clicking here.

Google Maps provides greater detail of the area and a helpful route finder. Alternatively, you can set your sat-nav destination to the Market Square, Stony Stratford, MK11 1BE (note: this is the Show Area, car parking is situated nearby so please use this location only as a guide). A warm welcome awaits you in all of Stony Stratford's restaurants, coffee shops and watering holes.

Those visitors interested in the local history may wish to take a stroll on the official Stony Stratford town walk a guide leaflet will be available on the day.

Stony in Bloom. Something for the less petrol headed - 'Stony in Bloom' volunteers will be organising two free guided walks around their RHS gold medal winning flower beds. Starting at 10.30am & 2.00pm. Meet outside The Crown in the Market Square (1.5 hrs). Please register your interest by emailing:

Once again we will be presenting awards, this year in the following categories:

  • Best of Show
  • The Best of British
  • Best Saloon
  • Best Sports car
  • Best Motorcycle
  • Best Restored Motorcycle
  • Spirit of the Show
The Judges Awards presentation will be held at 2.30pm in the Market Square.

Willan Hospice Logo

Davis Optometrists with Lesley Arkin are again supporting the event by getting their clients, friends and families to choose the 'Best Sports Car' in the show. They will award a Voucher of £200 towards a pair of Driving glasses or sunglasses for the winning owner.

At the same time, one of their Dispensing Opticians, Paul Scott, is planning a drive to Barcelona in a car which cannot cost more than £500 in aid of local “Eye” charities, so they will be running a raffle on the day and splitting the proceeds between the local “Eye” charities and Willen.

Displaying your Vehicle

The rule of thumb is that all display vehicles should be 25 years old or older i.e. 1992 or earlier.
‘Supercars' and other interesting/unusual vehicles are also welcome.
If you are uncertain as to whether or not your vehicle is ‘eligible’, please contact us at - we will be pleased to hear from you.

You can choose to Book (£10 in advance) for pre 1977 vehicles or simply Drive Up and Display on the day (£5 on the day) (Motorcycles £5 on the day - no need to Book)

Fee: £5
Park in: Cofferidge Close or the High Street
Gates open: 9.30am onwards

  1. One of our volunteer marshals will be on hand to greet and direct you on arrival. they will: present you with a Hagerty Goody bag (while stocks last), politely ask for your £5 donation (on behalf of Willen Hospice) and direct you to the available spaces.
  2. When safely parked, please fill in the registration and information cards, place the 'information card’ in a viewable position in/on your vehicle for our spectators convenience and drop your registration card into the information tent* on the Market Square (or hand to marshal)

*Perhaps a good time to consider buying a Classic Stony Limited Edition enamel - only 100 made so 'when they're gone they're gone’ - or a collectors rally plaque, potentially available after midday, again very limited numbers.

Spaces limited to 90 vehicles - pre 1977 & display vehicles - when sold out see Drive Up and Display on the day instructions.

Fee: £10 in advance, please see below
Park in: Market Square
Gates open: 9.30am -10:30, please see below

0 spaces remaining

  1. Register and pay through Car Festival Booking (all funds go directly to Willen Hospice)
  2. Your personalised Ticket/Windscreen display pass (and collectors plaque voucher a 2nd page) will be available at the end of this process - please print these out before the event.
  3. ON THE DAY, Plan to arrive between 9.30-10.30**. display/show your Ticket/Windscreen display pass to our volunteer marshals as you approach - they will direct you to a parking space (N.B. forgetting/failure to display your Ticket/Windscreen display pass may delay/prevent your access to park on the Market Square)
  4. Once safely parked, Make your way to the information tent with your collectors plaque voucher - to collect your collector’s Rally Plaque - Please Note, after 11.30am any unclaimed plaques will be sold off to the public as souvenirs (again funds benefitting Willen Hospice)*.

**N.B. To take advantage of your Booking, please arrive on the day between 9.30am and 10.30am. After this time we may be forced to release the unused bays to Drive up and Display exhibitors.

*Perhaps a good time to consider buying a Classic Stony Limited Edition enamel - only 100 made so 'when they're gone they're gone’.

Fee: £5
Park in: Market Square
Gates open: 9.30am onwards

  1. Find a parking space towards the back of the Market Square, as in previous years
  2. Make your way to the information tent in the Market Square*
  3. Fill in a simple registration card, an information card and pay your £5 (all funds go directly to Willen Hospice)
  4. Return to your bike and display your information card (if you can) for onlookers to read.

*Perhaps a good time to consider buying a Classic Stony Limited Edition enamel - only 100 made so 'when they're gone they're gone’ - or a collectors rally plaque, potentially available after midday, again very limited numbers.

If you are bringing a vehicle on a trailer please get in touch ( as an early arrival will be strongly recommend (pre 9:30) we do have an off-site trailer park, although there are other car parks in the town.

If you represent an enthusiast group or car club, please get in touch so we can ‘try' and allocate you spaces together (

Finally, (we’ve never had an issue but) as with all open and public spaces, the public could well put in an appearance, they usually do at some point, so it makes sense to keep an eye on your vehicle and possessions, as the team cannot be held liable or responsible for any claim. Thanks for your co-operation and understanding.

We look forward to seeing you all there on the day!

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text:
The Loretta Young Show [#1] (dramatic anthology)

     [aka: "Letter to Loretta"]

     (NBC Primetime, 1953 - 1961;
      Rerun NBC Primetime, 1957, some episodes under "Festival of Stars";
      Rerun NBC Daytime, 1960 - 1964
         under the title: "The Loretta Young Theatre")

     [This was the first and best known of two Loretta Young Shows;
      Screen star Miss Young usually made a dramatic entrance at the
      beginning of the show in a full length dress which whirled
      about her as she stepped forward to hos the introduction;
      she sometimes also acted in the episodes;

      On Tuesday nights in 1957, NBC re-ran episodes which did not
      feature Miss Young under the title "Festival Of Stars" which
      also see...this was a separate series hosted by Don Ameche;

      After its long and succesful Primetime run, the series was
      re-run for many years on daytime afternoons Monday - Friday
      between NBC soap operas;

      Her second series "The New Loretta Young Show" was a CBS
      effort, which see...]

Main Theme: "Dear Loretta"

    [aka: "Loretta";

     Verified as the THEME in TV Guide article "When
     The Melody Lingers On..." May 17, 1958, pp. 22-23]

     Composer: Harry Lubin (ASCAP/BMI)

     1978 Publisher: [unknown]

     1997 Publisher:  Regent Music Corp. (BMI)

     Copyright Date:
     Renewal   Date:

          LP: "Music For Loretta...from the Loretta Young TV Show"
               Decca DL 74127
               The Munich Symphony Orchestra
                          conducted by Harry Lubin

Theme for NBC Daytime Reruns: "Sequoia"

     Composers: Kermit Levinsky (ASCAP) and
                Walter ("Walt") Levinsky (ASCAP)

     1978 Publisher: Mills Music, Inc. (ASCAP)

     1997 Publisher: EMI-Mills Music, Inc./Old Acct.
                        c/o EMI Music Publishing
                        of New York, NY
     Copyright Date:
     Renewal   Date:

          LP: "A Holiday in Hi-Fi"
               Epic LN 3452
               Kermit Leslie [pseudonym of Kermit Levinsky]
                      and His Orchestra;
          CD Re-issue on:
               "The Golden Age of Light Music: Scenic Grandeur"
               Guild Light Music (British) GLCD 5145
               Kermit Leslie [pseudonym of Kermit Levinsky]
                      and His Orchestra;

Theme 3 [for Reruns / syndication]: "Park Avenue Poodle"

    [Title credit, used for "one season" of reruns
     according to library music expert Paul Mandell;

     aka: "SF1002A 7"]

     Composers: William G. ("Bill") Loose (ASCAP/BMI)

     1978 Publisher: [unknown]

     1997 Publisher:  Samfred Music Inc. (BMI)

     2002 Publishers: [for current Title, Publisher and Licensing
                       information regarding this THEME...
                       contact Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI)]

     Copyright Date: 1998, as a sound recording.
     Renewal   Date:

Return to the 1950s TV Series Title Page

Copyright 1960 - 2018 by The Media Management Group. All Rights Reserved


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Lost your password?

Relationships, IBM’s Secret to Building Strong Female Leaders

Men aren’t from Mars, and women aren’t from Venus, but they are different. IBM’s BRI program capitalizes on those differences and sets women up to successfully transition into senior leadership roles with the company.

Successful ceo businesswoman working with employeesWith globalization, technological advancement, diverse demographics and constant marketplace changes, cross-cultural management becomes vital. Leaders need to demonstrate many different competencies and skills. One of the key skills is the ability to construct effective relationships inside and outside the workplace.

This is equally true for men and women leaders. However, they have different qualities, behavioral preferences and styles of working that can affect their promotion options or their roles as leaders. “We do witness differences in the way working men and women are perceived based on societal norms,” said Anita Guha, global diversity and learning as a service portfolio leader, IBM India Limited.

To help its high potential women advance into senior executive roles, IBM has developed leadership development programs like Building Relationships and Influence, or BRI. Since its inception in 2003, BRI’s overall objective is to encourage women to reflect on their personal and professional goals and to take tangible action to drive their careers forward. BRI facilitates this by helping women to develop multiple competencies, including developing business relationships, influencing capabilities, internal confidence and inner competence.

High-potential women leaders who are two to four years away from promotion to an executive role are nominated to the program after demonstrating performance and being rated by their managers as having the potential to become executives. “This selection process is updated annually by the manager in partnership with the business and technical leadership partner as well as the diversity partner,” Guha said.

Previously, the program ran in one business unit. However, since 2008 it has been implemented across the global organization, about 20 times annually. Each workshop consists of 18 participants, and around 350 high potential women leaders are covered each year across the globe.

BRI is a three-day face-to-face workshop. However, participants are required to complete some prework. For example, they’re given reading material to learn and an online module on personal branding. The idea is to have them think about their roles and their expectations as leaders prior to the workshop.

The workshop has a range of small, medium and large interactive, group activities conducted by two or three facilitators — including program alumni — covering topics like feedback, active listening, asking for what you want, preparing an elevator pitch and strategic networking. Participants share their success and reveal some of the challenges they face professionally and personally. One of the sessions is videotaped for participants to observe their own behavior, and use this as self-awareness for further growth. An executive panel also joins participants to share their insights about their respective leadership journeys. The participants and the panel network over dinner.

During the workshop, participants complete a self-assessment using a Hay Influence Strategy Questionnaire. This helps them identify influence strategies they use most and least often. “It is a valuable tool,” Guha explained. “When participants receive personalized feedback on the influence strategies they tend to use most often, we ask them to identify a strategy they do not use so often but that could be helpful in their work and encourage them to practice in a small group activity.”

Participants also create three smaller groups of about six participants each during the workshop. “These groups usually meet once in six weeks after the workshop to provide support as needed and to challenge one another to get out of their comfort zones,” Guha said. “The groups also leverage the insights that they have garnered from BRI learning by discussing and sharing how they are applying it at the workplace.”

Simultaneously, participants become a part of an internal IBM LotusNotes Connections Community, which includes BRI alumni. The community expands participants’ opportunities to network, to find mentors, and to share their success stories. It’s also an informal space to share photos, interesting articles, links to videos, etc.

Besides a robust set of programs for management and leadership development at various stages of a leader’s career journey, a Three E approach — education, exposure and experience — ensures that high potential leaders receive a learning mix that is appropriate to their needs. “The BRI workshop has helped many women in IBM aspire to take on higher leadership roles and thereby contribute to the success of the organization,” Guha said.

BRI participants gain greater self-awareness, manage relationships more effectively and influence with impact. They develop confidence in building relationships with senior client staff, recognize barriers to progress, and learn how to respond accordingly. There is a shift in perceptions on how to systematically build and deploy business networks by mapping the landscape, identifying connectors and managing power relationships.

A 2010 global IBM study measured BRI’s long-term impact — where more than 100 women executives studied were BRI alumni — and showed a high correlation on both promotions to higher bands and retention within BRI alumni. The results revealed that in three years — since 2007 — there was a 20 percent increase in women executive roles. So, it works.

Arva Shikari is an Independent HR and management writer. Comment below, or email editor@CLOmedia.com.

Tags: , ,


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Asset Class Navigation

Soybean Meal Weekly Options Contract Specs

Contract Unit One Soybean Meal futures contract (of a specified month) of 100 short tons
Minimum Price Fluctuation 5 cents per short ton ($5.00 per contract)
Trading Hours CME Globex: Sunday – Friday, 7:00 p.m. – 7:45 a.m. CT and
Monday – Friday, 8:30 a.m. – 1:20 p.m. CT
Open Outcry: Monday – Friday, 8:30 a.m. – 1:15 p.m.
CT with Post session until 1:20 p.m. CT immediately following the close
Product Code CME Globex: ZM1,ZM2,ZM3,ZM4,ZM5
CME ClearPort: MZ1,MZ2,MZ3,MZ4,MZ5
Open Outcry: MZ1,MZ2,MZ3,MZ4,MZ5
Clearing: MZ1,MZ2,MZ3,MZ4,MZ5
Termination Of Trading Unexercised Weekly Soybean Meal futures options shall expire at 7:00 p.m. on the last day of trading.
Exchange Rulebook CBOT 13A
Block Minimum Block Minimum Thresholds
Vendor Codes Quote Vendor Symbols Listing
Strike Price Listing Procedures $5 per short ton. More details on strike price intervals are outlined in Rule 13A01.E.
Exercise Style The buyer of a futures option may exercise the option on any business day prior to expiration by giving notice to the Clearing House by 6:00 p.m. Chicago time. Option exercise results in an underlying futures market position. Options in-the-money on the last day of trading are automatically exercised.
Settlement Method Deliverable
Underlying Soybean Meal Futures


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Asset Class Navigation

Feeder Cattle Futures Contract Specs

Contract Unit 50,000 pounds (˜23 metric tons)
Price Quotation Cents per pound
Trading Hours Monday - Friday: 8:30 a.m. - 1:05 p.m. CT
Minimum Price Fluctuation $.00025 per pound ($12.50 per contract)
Product Code CME Globex: GF
CME ClearPort: 62
Clearing: 62
Listed Contracts 8 months of Jan, Mar, Apr, May, Aug, Sep, Oct, Nov
Settlement Method Financially Settled
Termination Of Trading Last Thursday of the contract month with exceptions for November and other months,
12:00 p.m. - See CME Rule 10202.H.
Trade At Marker Or Trade At Settlement Rules Settlement (TAS)Trading at settlement is available for first 2 listed futures contract months, a calendar spread between the first and second contract month, and are subject to the existing TAS rules. The Last Trade Date for CME Livestock TAS products will be the second to last business day in the month prior to the named contract month.

Trading in all CME Livestock TAS products will be 8:30 am -1:00 pm Chicago time Monday - Friday.

TAS products will trade a total of four ticks above and below the settlement price in ticks of the corresponding futures contract (0.00025), off of a "Base Price" of 0 to create a differential (plus or minus 4 ticks) versus settlement in the underlying product on a 1 to 1 basis. A trade done at the Base Price of 0 will correspond to a "traditional" TAS trade which will clear exactly at the final settlement price of the day.
Settlement Procedures Livestock Settlement Procedures
Position Limits CME Position Limits
Exchange Rulebook CME 102
Block Minimum Block Minimum Thresholds
Price Limit Or Circuit Price Limits
Vendor Codes Quote Vendor Symbols Listing


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Asset Class Navigation

Live Cattle Futures Contract Specs

    See Livestock Enhancements HERE

Contract Unit 40,000 pounds (~18 metric tons)
Price Quotation Cents per pound
Trading Hours CME ClearPort: Monday - Friday: 8:30 a.m. - 1:05 p.m. CT
Default: Monday - Friday: 8:30 a.m. - 1:05 p.m. CT
Minimum Price Fluctuation $.00025 per pound (=$10 per contract)
Product Code CME Globex: LE
CME ClearPort: 48
Clearing: 48
Listed Contracts 9 months of Feb, Apr, Jun, Aug, Oct, Dec
Settlement Method Deliverable
Termination Of Trading Last business day of the contract month, 12:00 p.m.
Trade At Marker Or Trade At Settlement Rules Trading at settlement is available for the first 3 contract months and calendar spreads between all the contract months and are subject to the existing TAS rules. The Last Trade Date for CME Livestock TAS products will be the second to last business day in the month prior to the named contract month.

Trading in all CME Livestock TAS products will be 8:30 am -1:00 pm Chicago time Monday - Friday.

TAS products will trade a total of four ticks above and below the settlement price in ticks of the corresponding futures contract (0.00025), off of a "Base Price" of 0 to create a differential (plus or minus 4 ticks) versus settlement in the underlying product on a 1 to 1 basis. A trade done at the Base Price of 0 will correspond to a "traditional" TAS trade which will clear exactly at the final settlement price of the day.
Settlement Procedures Live Cattle Settlement Procedures
Position Limits CME Position Limits
Exchange Rulebook CME 101
Block Minimum Block Minimum Thresholds
Price Limit Or Circuit Price Limits
Vendor Codes Quote Vendor Symbols Listing


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Loretta Lynn Remains Hospitalized for Pneumonia

Loretta Lynn remains in good condition in a hospital near her home in Hurricane Mills, Tenn. The Country Music Hall of Fame member was admitted Tuesday (March 20). “She is being treated for pneumonia in the right lung and as long as she continues to respond favorably to the medication, [doctors] expect a full and speedy recovery,” Lynn’s spokesperson said Friday morning (March 23). “However, they want to keep her under observation for at least the next 48 hours.” The “coal miner’s daughter” is said to be in good spirits and wants everyone to know she is getting excellent care. “She truly appreciates all the prayers and good wishes,” her publicist said. Lynn’s illness has forced her to cancel her scheduled appearance on the Grand Ole Opry tonight (March 24). Fans who wish to send get well cards and letters may send them to: Loretta Lynn, C/O Audium Records, 20 Academy Place, Nashville, TN, 37210.


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This Is Our Story – The Aron New York Commercial

“This Is Our Story” is a short advertising video for launching the brand ARON and their first product, the Grand New Yorker: the most iconic watch inspired by New York City. The film’s message is to highlight New York as the allegorical crown jewel in the ARON design universe. The 42-second commercial features vintage black and white footage from New York related documentary films and music videos. The transcript highlights the founding values of New York and the codes of the ARON company.

New York is the capital of the world and became a metaphor for the universal values of our free world.

The Statue of Liberty stands for freedom, the most important principle of democracy. New York has always been a welcoming home for hard-working immigrants and the American dream. A city of skyscrapers, symbols of infinite possibilities. New York is the city that invented self-made men and became the center of the entrepreneurial world. New York is also the home of fine journalism and the capital of the creative industry. And there’s no other city in the world where diversity is celebrated on such a large scale as in the Big Apple. The ad pays tribute to the city’s amazing music culture, the city’s complex transportation system, and its sublime cultural landmarks. The film ends with the iconic kissing scene – “make love, not war.”

Liberty is our legacy.

Hard-working is our heritage.

Infinity is our frontier.

Self-made is our tradition.

Creativity is our DNA.

Excellence is our know-how.

Diversity is our pride.

Revolution is our evolution.

This is our trademark.

Aron, New York.


text:
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Part of complete coverage on

CNN Student News Transcript: November 6, 2009

Click to play
CNN Student News - 11/6/2009

(CNN Student News) -- November 6, 2009

Download PDF maps related to today's show:

Fort Hood, Texas
Kabul, Afghanistan
University of Central Florida

CARL AZUZ, CNN STUDENT NEWS ANCHOR: We're wrapping up the first week of November, and we're glad to have you along for the ride. For CNN Student News, I'm Carl Azuz.

First Up: Fort Hood Shootings

AZUZ: "A horrific outburst of violence." That is how President Obama described yesterday's deadly shooting at a military post in Texas. A gunman opened fire on a soldier processing center at Ft. Hood, killing at least 12 people and wounding dozens of others. According to military officials, the alleged gunman is in custody. Authorities said there was no immediate information about a motive behind the attack, but the Army has asked the FBI to help look into the suspect's background. You can get the latest details on this developing story at

Health Care Debate

AZUZ: Back in the nation's capital, the debate over health care reform is ratcheting up. The House of Representatives might vote on its health care bill this weekend. And yesterday, that bill, which has been backed primarily by House Democrats, picked up the support of two big groups: AARP and the AMA.

AARP is the country's largest organization of older Americans. The group's head says the house bill meets AARP's goals when it comes to health care reform. The AMA, or American Medical Association, is one of the nation's most influential medical groups. It said the bill doesn't represent its views perfectly, but it's close enough to earn the AMA's support.

Many people, including most House Republicans, are opposed to the $1.1 trillion bill. Yesterday, they held a rally at the U.S. Capitol to speak out against it. One of their main criticisms is that the public option that's included in the bill is basically a government takeover of the country's health care system. Republicans have offered their own proposals, but they've been rejected by Democrats, who are in the majority in the House. Yesterday, leaders from both parties spoke out against each other's plans.

REP. JOHN BOEHNER, (R) HOUSE MINORITY LEADER: This weekend, the House of Representatives is likely to vote on Pelosi-care. This bill is the greatest threat to freedom that I have seen in the 19 years I have been here in Washington. Taking away your freedom to choose your doctor.

REP. NANCY PELOSI, (D) HOUSE SPEAKER: Anything you need to know about the difference between the Democratic bill and the Republican bill is that the Republicans do not end health insurance companies' discrimination against people with pre-existing conditions. Let that stand. That's scandalous, the fact that it exists. I don't understand why we have not heard the American people who have said that pre-existing conditions should not be a source of discrimination.

Benefits Extended

AZUZ: The House has passed a couple of economic measures that could help out two groups of people: the unemployed and first-time home buyers. The first part of this legislation extends the amount of time that people can collect unemployment benefits, something that millions of Americans are depending on right now. In all states, people who are out of a job could continue getting unemployment for an additional 14 weeks. But in states with an unemployment rate higher than 8.5 percent, the benefits would be extended for 20 weeks. The second measure is also an extension. This one is for an $8,000 tax credit that's available to people buying a home for the first time. The Senate passed this legislation on Wednesday, and President Obama is expected to sign it into law today.

Tribal Leaders Summit

AZUZ: Yesterday, he took part in a White House conference with Native American leaders. During his speech, the president said that the U.S. government was guilty of mistreating Native Americans in the past, but he wants to build a new relationship between tribal leaders and the government. In order to do that, he's ordered federal agencies to offer ideas on how Native American tribes can take part in government decisions. There are 564 federally recognized tribes in the U.S. About two-thirds of them were represented at yesterday's conference.

TOMEKA JONES, CNN STUDENT NEWS: Time for the Shoutout! Who is the current secretary-general of the United Nations? If you think you know it, shout it out! Is it: A) Kofi Annan, B) Kurt Waldheim, C) Ban Ki-moon or D) Boutros Boutros-Ghali? You've got three seconds -- GO! Ban Ki-moon became the 8th U.N. secretary-general on January 1, 2007. That's your answer and that's your Shoutout!

Safety Assessment

AZUZ: Last week, Ban Ki-moon said that the U.N. is determined to carry out its mission of helping the people of Afghanistan build a better future. The statement came after an attack in the Asian country which claimed the lives of five U.N. workers. The United Nations is making some changes to its security measures in Afghanistan. Sara Sidner explains how.

SARA SIDNER, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: After the targeted attack on U.N. staff members here in a guarded guest house in Kabul that left five U.N. members dead, the United Nations has decided to make some changes. They are, for right now, sending out about 600 foreign workers here, and they're going to assess right now the security situation for their staff.

They're sending those workers out for about three weeks, and then intend to bring some of them back. But first, they want to figure out how to beef up security here.

Now, we understand though that the U.N. is very, very adamant that they are not pulling out of Afghanistan. They are simply looking at the security situation, obviously, after that traumatic time where five of their colleagues died. We should also mention that U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is asking for about $85 million to beef up security here. Sara Sidner, CNN, Kabul.

Military Vaccines

AZUZ: Some U.S. forces serving in Afghanistan and Iraq may be getting their H1N1 flu shots soon. Just like with civilians, the military has a priority list that says who should get the vaccine first. But as Barbara Starr explains, there are some hang-ups in getting the doses out, even to the people at the top of that list.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: As Americans wait in lines across the country to get the H1N1 vaccine, the Pentagon this week finally began shipping limited vaccine supplies to troops fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq. Under Pentagon guidelines, tens of thousands of troops on the front line and those headed to war are the top military priority to receive the vaccine. Even so, supplies are severely limited. Only half of what is needed is now on the way.

GEOFF MORRELL, PENTAGON SPOKESMAN: Right now, we don't have enough to even take care of all of them.

STARR: The Pentagon is defending plans to offer the vaccine to detainees at Guantanamo Bay, as well as those in Iraq and Afghanistan. Prisoners are considered to be high risk, but a lower military priority than troops, health care workers and civilian personnel.

STARR (Question): I haven't heard an assurance that detainees will get it after civilians in this country.

MORRELL: Barbara, Barbara, Barbara, Barbara, you are presuming that I have the knowledge or the wherewithal to tell you the protocols that are being used for the general population. All I can do is speak to what the priorities are in this department.

STARR: Troops at home also a priority because they will be called upon to help in towns across the country if the crisis grows. The military's top homeland defense commander has teams that could move into action.

GEN. GENE RENUART, COMMANDER, U.S. NORTHERN COMMAND: It would be to provide things like potentially logistics, movement of supplies, maybe additional health care providers that could assist in immunization.

STARR: The Pentagon stopped counting the number of troops that have come down with H1N1 back in July, when world health authorities declared a global pandemic. But privately military officials say the number of cases continues to grow, and recently, Defense Secretary Robert Gates received his vaccine. Barbara Starr, CNN, the Pentagon.

AZUZ: Word to the wise: "favoriter." When your favorite gets more favorite! The grammar isn't great, but your favorite web site is: is renewed, revamped and relaunched, so rediscover it! Just type in and click on the U.S. page; you'll see us down on the right. Or, type into your browser. The site's cleaner, easier to navigate, easier to access all of our free educational materials. Guaranteed to become favoriter!

Jordan Shoes

AZUZ: It's gotta be the shoes. Marcus Jordan, son of basketball legend Michael Jordan, wanted to be like Mike. He wore Nike "Air Jordan" shoes during an exhibition game Wednesday night. Not surprising, but Marcus plays for the University of Central Florida, and that school had a deal with Adidas, getting free uniforms, equipment and shoes, but only if Central Florida players wore the Adidas brand. When Marcus wore his dad's Nikes, Adidas reportedly backed out of the contract, possibly costing central Florida as much as $3 million. A university official says they're still trying to work this out.

Before We Go

AZUZ: You know we're talking about this on our blog, we'd like you to head to our redesigned home page and share your thoughts. Finally today...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: On your mark, get set, go!

AZUZ: Okay, a race isn't that interesting. But what these guys are racing is: hospital gurneys. It's part of homecoming week at an Alabama university. And apparently, it's one of the school's oldest traditions. We can only imagine the conversation when all this was first started. It's like one guy said to the other, you wanna race hospital beds?

AZUZ: Yeah, that would be sick! Aw yeah. Well, that raps us up for the week. We hope you have a great weekend and return with us next weekend. For CNN Student News, I'm Carl Azuz.


text:
Return to Transcripts main page

Dow Soars; Apple Announces New Product Line

Aired September 1, 2010 - 14:00:00   ET

MAX FOSTER, GUEST HOST, QUEST MEANS BUSINESS: The Dow soars on signs of economic strength, but fears of a double dip recession are still close to the surface. U.S. car sales run out of gas. Without Cash For Clunkers, Ford and GM suffer.

And a shiny new Apple: CEO Steve Jobs revamps its product range.

I'm Max Foster in for Richard Quest. This is QUEST MEANS BUSINESS.

Good evening.

It doesn't take much to send the Dow sharply higher, or lower, in fact. In a moment we'll be getting an assessment from Joseph Stiglitz, Nobel prize winner and former adviser to Bill Clinton. He believes the economy, the world economy, could be at risk of sliding back into a recession.

Well, Wall Street is starting September with a big bang. All the big three major indices are rallying. It has a lot to do with some upbeat figures on manufacturing. Alison Kosik joins us now from the New York Stock Exchange.

Hi, Alison.

Those fears of a double dip, at least here on Wall Street, definitely put aside today. All of the major averages up sharply. You know, we got a good headline from China that manufacturing rebounded in August and then we saw the Dow especially pop after we got numbers from here in the U.S. We found out that ISM manufacturing, the index, showed that manufacturing grew for the 13th month in a row. That was more than had been forecast. In fact, the head of the survey says that production actually drove the number higher and that there is no sign of a double dip. In manufacturing, of course, that is exactly what investors want to hear.

We also got word from Australia, Australia's GDP stronger than expected. So, you combine all this, the U.S. numbers, with China and Australia. It is boosting optimism that a global economic recovery is underway, Max.

FOSTER: OK, Alison, thank you very much indeed for that.

Well, it is about time the U.S. got some positive economic news because recently there has been nothing to smile about in terms of economic news. A report from the payroll firm, Automated Data Processing shows private employees cut 10,000 jobs in August. Economists were expecting 13,000 new jobs. Government jobless numbers, which include the public sector, are due on Friday. Last week revised GDP figures showed just how much America's recovery has stalled. Second quarter growth came in at 1.6 percent. And that is a drastic slowdown from the initial estimate of 2.4 percent.

In Europe the jobs market is stuck in a rut. Government figures show Euro Zone unemployment held at 10 percent for July. It has been at 10 percent for five months now, showing that Europe's economic recovery isn't yet creating new jobs.

Well, let's get some perspective from Columbia University Professor Joseph Stiglitz, who won the 2001 Nobel prize for economics. Joseph Stiglitz joins us now from CNN New York.

Thank you very much for joining us.

I know you've been touring the world recently and giving some warnings about the state of the world's economy and what you think the world economy is at risk of. Can you just summarize your latest thinking on where we are?

JOSEPH STIGLITZ, ECONOMICS PROFESSOR, COLUMBIA UNIV.: Well, I think the fundamental problem is that there is a deficiency in aggregate demand. Part of what had propped up the global economy before the crisis, was what I call, hopeful (ph) American consumption. Savings rate was zero. It is going to almost surely, ought to, go up much higher than that.

And meanwhile, the balance sheets of households in United States and much of Europe have been devastated by the fall in housing prices. What had sustained, again, the economies around the world was this real estate bubble and it is now broken. And households have to deal with the consequences and so do the banks.

The news that came out just today, for instance, in the United States showed that while the government had poured money into the big banks, it did very little for the smaller banks, which are at the center of lending small and medium-sized enterprises. So the new news is that 10 percent of American banks are on the watch list.

FOSTER: What would you say is the best solution here of putting money into the system, like the Americans are doing, or cutting costs like the Europeans are doing?

STIGLITZ: I think the American approach is far better. We've tried the tough approach repeatedly. It is what Herbert Hoover did back in the Great Depression-made the Great Depression. It is what the IMF did in East Asia and converted those downturns into recessions and depressions. So we have had ample experiments in which you might say the austerity approach has been tried, and in almost every case it has failed.

The problem with the United States is that we didn't have a big enough stimulus. It did reduce significantly unemployment from what would have been. But the stimulus was too small and it was not well designed. And the problem here in the United States is that political will to do another round of stimulus is not there. And that means that the likelihood that unemployment will remain stubbornly high is very great.

FOSTER: The appetite for more stimulus isn't there because the country can't afford it.

STIGLITZ: Well, the United States can clearly afford it. Interest rates are at a record low. Those who have funds are willing to lend to the U.S. government, and moreover, if we spend the money on high return investments it means that the long-term national debt will be lower. All you need is a return of about 5 or 6 percent and the return on that investment and the return on taxes from the growth of the economy more than pays the interest. And the national debt will be lower. Studies that have been done repeatedly show that returns on government investment, public investments in technology, infrastructure, education pay far higher returns than this, especially in the United States where we have been starved. And the same thing is true in some of the European countries.

FOSTER: The problem in Europe is that there is-the fear is that if they keep borrowing money to throw it back into the economy they are going to get in such a terrible debt situation and they're not going to be able to borrow any more money. Greece is, of course, the classic example. Europe-well, Britain and France, for example are desperate not to get into a Greek situation. There has got to be a point, hasn't there, when the stop borrowing, and start actually sorting the books out?

STIGLITZ: Well, I think the focus ought to be on the direction of the spending. Obviously, if you are spending money on wars that you are-that don't really enhance your security, you are wasting money, the debt is going-the debt is going up. If you redirected that money from those unproductive spending to more productive spending the balance sheet can actually be improved.

You know, no business ever looks at-in looking at any business, you never look just at the liability side. You always look at the assets side. And a firm that doesn't invest is doomed to die. And the same thing is true about our society, if we don't make the essential investments. So, the issue is, how should we be spending money, not how much we should we be spending?

FOSTER: Well, if Europe and America are currently doing things wrong the suggestion from that is that they could well be heading back into another recession, a double-dip recession. Are you predicting that might happen in Europe and America? And if so, when?

STIGLITZ: Well, I think it is more likely that United States and Europe may sink into what might be called a Japanese style malaise. Growth might be a little higher than in Japan. Because in Japan population, labor force growth is zero. We have a, the United States, a population labor force growth of around 1 percent. Growth in the last quarter was a little over that, 1.6 percent. But this growth is so slow that it won't be able to get the unemployment rate down. So that is where I think you are more likely to go. Slow growth, not enough to get us back into a really healthy situation.

FOSTER: OK, I just want to ask you about the broader philosophical argument here. And if you are talking about economic models you seem to be suggesting a movement away from free markets and more government intervention. Are you suggesting a new economic model for the global economy?

STIGLITZ: Well we need, you might say, a better economic model than the model that got us into this crisis. The kind of deregulation, uh, irresponsible kinds of economic policies that mark the early years of this decade-of the previous decade, where banks were lending to people who couldn't repay. That obviously is a system that cannot work.

What I do think is that there is both a restraining role for government, preventing banks from engaging in excessive risk-taking, and bailouts by governments an inevitable consequence, happen over and over again. This is not the first financial crisis. In fact, the only period when we didn't have financial crisis was the 30 years after the Great Depression where we did succeed in putting on effective regulation.

But the government not only has a restraining role, but also has a creative role. The most important innovation of the latter part of the last century was the Internet. And that was financed by government. The problem is that in the austerity measures we will be not making these essential investments in technology that will provide the basis of a robust recovery. So, there are both parts of what we need, and unfortunately we're not doing enough in regulation. We got a little bit but not enough. And the austerity is cutting us back from the kind of positive role that would really make a difference.

You know, rather than investing wasting money on housing beyond people's ability to afford, if we take just a fraction of that money and invested it in the kind of basic science and applied technology our standards of living would be so much higher today than they are.

FOSTER: I just want to take this opportunity finally to ask you a question about Iraq. This is a key week for Iraq, the end of U.S. combat operations there. I just want to take you back to a quote from a book that you wrote a couple of years ago, saying, "The true cost of the war in Iraq, according to our calculations, will be by the time America has extricated itself, exceed $3 trillion. And this is a deliberately conservative estimate."

It was a very high figure by consensus standards and certainly not what the White House would put on it. Do you still stand by that figure or do you think it will be higher or lower?

STIGLITZ: The data that has come suggests that the true cost will be a little higher than that. You know the number that the politicians focused on is the actual expenditures that goes on the books. And what we did in our study is looked at the costs that go beyond that. For instance, almost 50 percent of those who fought in Iraq are coming back disabled. We're going to be paying for health care and disability payments for the rest of their lives. And the total amount of that is, by itself, around a $0.5 trillion, or more. At the time we wrote our book we make some conservative estimates. The numbers coming back with these disabilities are significantly higher than we estimated and the cost for each is higher than we estimated. So, the numbers that have come in look like that $3 trillion was a conservative number.

FOSTER: Unbelievable to think those figures could be conservative. Thank you so much, Joseph Stiglitz for joining us on the program. As ever, really appreciate your time.

Well, the cost of the war isn't just in the big numbers. For Iraqis it is revealed on every street and in every house. One family invites our Arwa Damon behind closed doors, next, to see what they have to do just to get electricity.

FOSTER: New Dawn, that is what the U.S. military is calling its new mission in Iraq. But is it a new economic dawn for the war-ravaged country? Well, no one is promising any miracles but Washington points to oil as the key to Iraq's post-war future. Iraq relies on oil for 90 percent of government revenues, would you believe. But oil production slipped to zero after the 2003 invasion. True, it has rebounded. Estimates put it back around pre-war levels. And Iraqi wells are now producing around 2.5 million barrels of oil a day. Iraq has the world's third biggest proven reserve. So it is, by far, its biggest asset.

The World Bank's 2010 Ease of Doing Business Report ranks Iraq 153 out of 183 countries though. Iraq is hampered, of course, by all of the security issues cumbersome regulations and 44 foreign firms have been allowed to bid for contracts to develop a chunk of Iraq's oil resources and those contracts are expected to bring billion of dollars in foreign, direct investment to the country.

Now the vast majority of Iraqi households get around three hours of public electricity a day. This is how it affects them. Demand is around one and a half times the available power capacity. Baghdad had hoped to provide 12 hours of power a day by this year, but a lack of money means new power plants can't be built or old ones fixed. Iraq says it needs $5 billion a year to keep the power on and it gets around $1 billion. Just what does that power problem mean for people then. Well, Arwa Damon follows the tangle on the streets to the frustrations inside.

ARWA DAMON, CNN BAGHDAD CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Check out this spider web of cables. This is how Iraqis get reliable power. The city grid just that bad. That tangled mess leads a generator and then the cables cut across streets, they snake into various windows of the apartments here. We are going to go inside to try to understand just how hard it is to live like this.

These are the electricity meters that are reading city power, which we were just told comes on for an hour every four hours. But of course that is on a good day. And then we have all these cables snaking throughout the staircase. That is the generator power.

This is Amfiras's (ph) household. We have just arrived here and because they have switched on all the lights and are running the fans they had to turn off their refrigerator. But Tanya was just showing us the cables.

(Speaking Foreign Language)

So this is the street generator. And this is the water pump, right here.

(Voice over): The city power box is on the wall.

(On camera): OK, so basically they have their own small generator in the house. There is a street generator and then there is city power. So depending on which one is available, and city power isn't really available all that often.

(Speaking Foreign Language)

DAMON (voice over): Only for an hour or two a day they tell us.

(On camera): Oh, so this is the air conditioning unit.

(Speaking Foreign Language)

It's not working right now. They can only run that when they have city power.

(Voice over): Temperatures have been running close to 50 degree Centigrade, or 120 Fahrenheit. Keeping the house powered costs about $250 a month. And expense they can just barely afford.

Before our clothes were nice, expensive," Tanya says. "Now, no. We used to wear gold jewelry, now not any more. We used to go out a lot, travel."

Everything is a careful calculation. If they want to turn on the TV they have to dim the lights. It is so dismal outside that they have tried to create an oasis indoors.

(On camera): This has to be one of the best decorated apartments, at least, I've ever seen in Iraq. And they've really paid attention to every single detail. Even here in the bathroom, its own unique decor. And it is what this family says they do to stay sane, to occupy themselves, to at least in the house try to create a non-war zone atmosphere.

"Our personalities have changed. We have no tolerance anymore," Tanya says. "We get aggravated quickly, from the heat, from the lack of power, there is no way to relax."

These are Tanya's nephews. She says she no longer wants kids of her own. Not if they have to live like this.

FOSTER: I talked to Arwa a little earlier about how Iraq is going to untangle the mess, not just those wires, but the whole economy.

DAMON (on camera): It is going to be a huge challenge. The problem is that the electricity grid in Iraq is very antiquated, so while it is generating more power than it used to, it is nowhere near enough. So what we have is throughout the country, in all of these neighborhoods. This tangled mess of wires and that is how Iraqis have managed to come up with a solution to the lack of reliable national power.

FOSTER: That is quite an attractive prospect, isn't it, for a foreign electricity company, for example, to look at that tangled mess and say, I can come in and sort this out. There is lots of demand there. How easy is it for those companies to come in and are they likely to come in?

DAMON: Well, when it comes to foreign investment, I mean, Iraq has always been a challenging environment to operate in. First we had, of course, the security concerns. Now that we have seen security improve, relatively speaking, we are seeing some foreign companies coming in. But when it comes to the power grid it is not just about being willing to take up the challenge and the risk of operating in a place like Iraq, it is also the fact that a lot of the times these power grids, the electricity infrastructure itself, does end up being an insurgent target. They do realize that by keeping power at a bare minimum they continue to agitate the Iraqi people. They continue to put forward the point that they are the ones that are in fact in control. So that is one challenge.

The other challenge, of course, is corruption. It is still rampant, which causes some foreign investors to pause and think that perhaps Iraq should sort that out first. And then there is also the issue that Iraq doesn't have a new government just yet. So some investors might hesitate trying to wait and see what kind of government is formed, what sort of ministries are formed. At the end of the day you are not going to want to sign a contract with a ministry if its entire structure itself is going to change as well, Max.

FOSTER: Yes, you want to know that you are going into a safe legal system to operate in, I guess. So any contracts that you do sign are going to be secure. But companies can't do that right now?

DAMON: No. I mean, a company wouldn't necessarily want to do that right now. I mean, if you are going to come in here as a foreign investor you are also going to have to take into calculation things like securing your own personnel on the ground. And things like that. That does come at a fairly significant cost. You are also going to want to know that the contracts that you are signing are going to be airtight. You are going to want to know that at the end of the day the investment is worth it.

That being said, we are seeing some foreign investment in some parts of the country. For example, Iraq's Kurdish north is booming. Construction there is everywhere. That is largely because the area is considered to be fairly stable. It was not plagued by the sectarian violence that really tore the rest of the country apart. We are seeing some smaller businesses coming in. We're seeing restaurants opening up. We're seeing a fair amount of foreign investment from the United Arab Emirates, from countries like Turkey and Iran.

But again, it is not as if foreign investors are flooding Iraq at this stage. Most people are waiting, sitting back, trying to figure out exactly how the politics here are going to come together, because the politics do have a direct impact on the violence.

FOSTER: Arwa speaking to me a little earlier. We want to bring you some breaking news now. It is a story outside Washington, D.C. in the U.S. And it is happening in Silver Spring, in Maryland, at the headquarters of the cable television channel, Discovery Channel. A man, believed to be armed, is in there with apparently at least one hostage. And he may have explosives, as we understand. FBI bomb technicians and ATF agents have been sent to the scene of that hostage situation. It is unfolding. But a man, believed to have explosives, and a hostage is inside that building you see, coming to us live in Maryland, U.S.

We will continue to monitor that for you. We'll be back after the break.

Apple boss Steve Jobs has just finished unveiling the company's latest gadget. The entire iPod music player range is getting an update. The iTunes software that goes with it is also getting a refresh, also a new smaller version of Apple TV. That gadget streams video to your TV. Getting films from Netflix and Clips from YouTube. The operating system that runs iPhones, the iPod Touch and iPads will get new features. A free update in November will bring multitasking to the iPad, apparently, so that you can run more than one application at a time.

Steve Jobs revealed just how popular those gadgets have been so far. We'll hear from him a little later on CNN. Right now we are going to look at the latest from Wall Street because there has been a surge in stocks, thanks to some better than expected manufacturing figures. As you can see, still pretty high, up 2.3 percent, the Dow.

Singled out and denied assistance Dick Fuld, the ex head of Lehman Brothers is crying foul about the U.S. government's failing to come to its company's aid during the credit crisis. We'll get an insider's take on the world's biggest ever corporate bankruptcy, next.

FOSTER: Welcome back. I'm Max Foster in London. An update on that breaking news story for you, coming from the U.S. just outside Washington, D.C., in Silver Spring, Maryland. A man is believed to be armed with at least one hostage inside that building you see there. It is happening at the headquarters of the cable television channel, Discovery Channel. These are live pictures for you. The man may have explosives, as we say, the FBI bomb technicians and ATF agents have been sent to the seen of the hostage situation as a result. We are watching the situation for you, but it's pretty calm from what we can see outside right now. We'll see how this scene unfolds live here on CNN.

Now, at least 28 people are dead and more than 200 were wounded in an attack during a Shiite Muslim procession in Lahore in Pakistan. There were three explosions in a 600 meter radius. At least one of the blasts is believed to be the work of a suicide bomber. Officials say security may be lax, because the attack took place as people were breaking their fast for the ongoing Ramadan holy month.

On the eve of formal Israeli-Palestinian talks at the U.S. State Department, President Barack Obama is holding a series of separate White House meetings today. He's seeing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as well as Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, the president of Egypt and the kind of Jordan.

Those miners trapped underground in Chile are getting their first solid food in weeks. Many have also shaved and they're wearing clean clothes that were sent down to them. It could take months to drill a rescue shaft to rescue the men stranded 700 meters underground.

Comments by the head of Ireland's Catholic Church about the abuse scandal there are angering some activists. Tonight, on "CONNECT THE WORLD," we hear from Cardinal Sean Brady in a rare sit-down interview and look at what Ireland and other countries are doing to restore the trust of the faithful. That's tonight on "CONNECT THE WORLD," 21:00 in London, 22:00 Central Europe, about an hour-and-a-half from now.

Dick Fuld is pointing a finger at the U.S. government. The former Lehman Brothers CEO charges the government didn't ride to the rescue and financial world -- and the financial world then lost confidence in the investment bank. Lehman Brothers collapsed in September, 2008, taking the global financial crisis to a new level when the credit markets basically froze.

Fuld is testifying on Capitol Hill before a Congressional panel investigating so-called too big to fail phenomenon that emerged during the meltdown.

DICK FULD, FORMER LEHMAN BROTHERS CEO: Lehman was forced into bankruptcy and not because it neglected to act responsibly or seek solutions to the crisis, but because of a decision based on flawed information not to provide Lehman with the support given to each of its competitors. In retrospect, there is no question we made some poorly timed business decisions and investments. But we addressed those mistakes and got ourselves back to a strong equity position with a tier one capital ratio of 11 percent. We also had financeable collateral and we also had solidly performing businesses.

FOSTER: Federal Reserve chief, Ben Bernanke, is set to go before the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission on Thursday, so you know.

Now, Larry McDonald was one of Lehman's most successful traders in distressed debt. Last year, he wrote "A Colossal Failure of Common Sense: The Inside Story of the Collapse of Lehman Brothers".

He joins us live now from CNN New York.

Thank you so much for joining us.

You're an insider on this story.

What did you make of what your former boss had to say today?

LARRY MCDONALD, AUTHOR, "A COLOSSAL FAILURE OF COMMON SENSE": Well, Max, I mean this man gives the word denial new meaning. You know, many people -- many experts, including myself, many authors and also the examiner of the U.S. bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers, they looked at Lehman Brothers' assets and they saw a value of X. And Lehman Brothers was marking their assets at Y.

And I think throughout the testimony today, Dick Fuld is the same old hubris, arrogant self. And I really think this is the crime of the century. It never, ever should have happened.

FOSTER: Are you saying that he wasn't humble enough in his testimony today, because this was largely his fault, although some people would say you would say that, because you were there and it was partly your fault, as well, wasn't it, as a result?

MCDONALD: Well, the management team at Lehman Brothers, I mean this was gross negligence at the highest level. And so many people out there watching us right now have been absolutely crushed by this bankruptcy. 401(k)s have become 201(k)s. Credit lines were slashed on credit cards. And all the problems emanate from one of the most mysterious places on Wall Street, that 31st floor executive suite at Lehman Brothers.

FOSTER: Yes, and you have spoken out against Fuld in the past before. You eventually got sacked from the bank, didn't you?

I'm just wondering what you think we've learned since then, since that time, when the bank went down?

Because I know that you do have a -- an agreement with him in the sense that you think they should have been bailed out, the bank.

MCDONALD: Well, I've been a -- I've been on a global lecture tour. I've spoken all over the U.K., all over Europe and all over Canada and the United States.

And the biggest question I get is why did they let Lehman go, why were they singled out?

And I think the big lesson we've learned is that I hate bailouts. I despise bailouts. But to let Lehman go, as badly mismanaged as -- as they were -- and then bailout everybody else afterwards was really a bad decision, because the Lehman bailout made all the other bailouts after that much, much more expensive and it hurt the U.S. taxpayer.

FOSTER: So what do you think we need to get out of these hearings at the moment, as an insider, someone that saw what went wrong?

What do you think the conclusion -- what do you think we need to learn from this?

Because you know as well as I do, that most people think, actually, the financial sector has got back to how it was.

MCDONALD: Well, so many people watching us right now really feel they -- you know, they want accountability. If you look at all the grossly mismanaged companies, from Merrill Lynch to AIG, Countrywide, Lehman Brothers, not one charge has been brought up by the SEC. The only thing the SEC has done is gone after Goldman Sachs. And, quite frankly, Goldman Sachs wasn't responsible for the financial crisis the way all the other people -- all the other firms had been that I just mentioned.

So I -- I think what we have to get out of this is action. We need the SEC to do their job and file charges against the people that were responsible for driving Lehman Brothers into that iceberg at 167 miles an hour. I mean even the Titanic swerved.

FOSTER: OK. Larry McDonald, thank you very much, indeed, for joining us.

Now, U.S. consumers concerned about the economy and jobs aren't only shying away from the housing market. It appears that they're now also turning their backs on the car industry. We'll be back with details, next.

FOSTER: The U.S. is facing this worse -- its worst August industry- wide auto sales in more than a generation. A 26-year high in unemployment in July, a 27 percent plunge in existing home sales are keeping consumers away from showrooms. GM's sales tumbled 25 percent last month from the same period a year ago. Sales fell short of analysts' forecasts. Actually, sales at GM's volume branch, Chevrolet, slid 22 percent.

Now, Ford reported an 11 percent drop from a year ago. It also missed forecasts. Ford has trimmed its fourth quarter target ever so slightly -- a sign that its strong sales gains for the last two years may be starting to fall off there.

A plunge for Toyota. It's U.S. auto sales sank 34 -- 31.4 percent in August compared with a year earlier. And last year, the Japanese car makers' sales had been boosted by a government-funded incentive program.

Now, Geoffrey Pohanka is the president of Pohanka Automotive Group in Washington, where he sells both new and used cars.

And let's get his views now on the current state of the market straight from CNN Washington.

Thank you so much for joining us.

We're really interested in hearing from you, because you're dealing with consumers, buyers every day. And the concern is that, actually, the appetite from car buyers is down and that's going to have this knock on effect on the whole industry.

GEOFFREY POHANKA, PRESIDENT, POHANKA AUTOMOTIVE GROUP: Well, I obviously agree with that. We have to look at this in context, August sales. Last August, sales increased about 50 percent because of the government stimulus, Cash for Clunkers, which was wildly successful. That started at the end of July and went through the month of August. So it's really unfair to compare this August's sales with last August.

You know, car sales in the United States are in recovery. They have improved. They are averaging around 11.5 million sales rate annually. And but the normal is about 16 to 17 million. So it's going to take us a while to crawl back. But I think it's kind of unfair to compare August with last August. That was a one time event.

Now, September sales last year were not very good because dealers' inventories were basically depleted because of the rush of -- to come buy cars -- to buy cars in the month of August.

So I think we'll recover somewhat next month and we'll see last September's car sales, because of that, one reason.

FOSTER: But surely buyers are going to be put off by all the bad economic news if they were thinking about buying a car. Perhaps they're going to delay it at least a couple of months, seeing as they've got the -- the money in the bank.

Aren't you worried about that?

POHANKA: Yes. I think the past two weeks, there's been a lot of bad news, which I think has had some kind of a ripple effect on the market. We saw a slight reduction mid-month. But I think overall, people are -- you know, they -- they want to be optimistic. There are some really good opportunities, good sales, rebates, low interest financing. The banks are more willing to finance customers than last year.

So I think overall, there's a -- a lot of good things with the car business, with the understanding that we have a long way to go to get back to where we were three years ago.

FOSTER: And just give us some insight into the different models and different brands, because you sell the full range of U.S. and foreign brands.

Are they all suffering at the moment across the board or are some brands doing particularly well?

POHANKA: Some brands are doing very well. Now, I don't have all our dealerships' data. We sell about 22,000 new and used cars per year retail in -- in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. Our new car sales are up 32 percent through the month of July. Our used car sales are only up a few percent. And those are same store sales. We lost a couple of dealerships last year in the reorganization.

So we're seeing some pretty healthy increases in new car sales. Luxury sales, Acura and Lexus, are doing quite well. Hyundai is doing extraordinarily well. One of our dealership's sales are up -- new car Hyundai sales are up 163 percent from the same period last year.

So, you know, some brands are not doing that well or are doing about the same as last year. Some brands -- brands are doing much better.

Now one thing that really makes it difficult to determine consumer buying is that sales in the United States include fleet and corporate sales. So if avis or hertz or Enterprise goes and buys a huge -- or the government, per se, go buy extraordinarily large blocs of cars, that gets put in the numbers. But those aren't retail sales.

When you take fleet and corporate sales out of the numbers, that really tells a different picture.

FOSTER: Geoffrey Pohanka, thank you very much, indeed...

POHANKA: And that's a more important...

POHANKA: There's a more important number to look at is consumer -- consumer sales. And some brands, like General Motors and Chrysler, have not performed that well. And in -- in July, Chrysler was actually selling fewer consumer sales than last year. And GM's retail sales to consumers are only up 1 percent through July. Now, they're doing a lot more fleet sales this year, which makes their overall numbers look better.

So you've got to peel away the layers of the onion a little bit and look at consumer purchases. They show a little bit different story.

FOSTER: OK, thank you very much, indeed, for joining us then, Geoffrey Pohanka, with your insight there into the car industry.

And for some insight into the tech industry, we're joined by Dan Simon.

He's at the Apple event we were talking about a little earlier in San Francisco.

What can you tell us about any announcements that were made today -- Dan?

A number of announcements. You and our viewers probably are not thinking about the holiday season right now, but Apple certainly is. They're unleashing their new products that will -- they hope will be huge hits this Christmas season. We're talking about new iPods -- a whole new slate of iPods and Apple's biggest announcement today, a new version of their Apple TV, which had not been really successful in the past. Today they -- they're unleashing their new Apple TV, only $99. And this is Apple's attempt to really make a dent in the living room, if you will.

Their previous version was -- was not very successful. They didn't -- they didn't sell it to anybody. They, in fact, called it a hobby.

What this new Apple TV is, is it's really small. It's about a fourth of the old one. Again, $99. And there -- there's no more purchases. In other words, if you want to get a TV show or a movie, you're going to rent them. And the prices are -- are very cheap -- $4.99 for a movie, $.99 for a TV show. And this is what they hope will be their big seller this holiday season -- Max.

FOSTER: Dan Simon in San Francisco.

Thank you very much.

That's it.

"MARKETPLACE AFRICA" starts right now.