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While You Were Sleeping: January 9th, 2015
by
Derek Kreindler
(IC: employee)
Published: January 9th, 2015
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Before we delve into our daily news bulletin, TTAC is proud to announce two additional contributors. Former Autoweek Associate Editor Blake Z. Rong will be contributing to the site starting later this quarter. In addition, Doug DeMuro will be returning to TTAC as a contributor, starting later this month. We are thrilled to be publishing the work of two of the best young writers in the business.
- Nissan and NASA have inked a deal to collaborate on autonomous cars.
- Russia has banned individuals with “disorders of sexual preference” from driving.
- Land Rover is launching final editions of the Defender, including the lovely Heritage edition (above).
- Next Nissan Titan teased again.
- North Dakota’s Bakken Shale needs prices of $55 to break even. Currently, the benchmark price is $48.40
Derek Kreindler
More by Derek Kreindler
Published January 9th, 2015 10:45 AM
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Just for purposes of clarification: We didn't fire Doug, and Doug didn't quit. He just wandered off and stopped returning emails when I told him that I, not he, would determine when his stories were published. I don't personally enjoy Doug's work and I don't think I've ever managed to read all the way to the end of anything he's written. However, when I took over from Bertel as EIC pro tem I indicated that we would be customer-driven, not insane-perverted-secret-agenda-driven. There's a significant percentage of TTAC readers who would like to see Doug's work. So Derek went out and managed to come to an agreement with him. I think this represents Derek's commitment to serving the readers and even if you don't care for Doug's brand of "humor" it's a good sign that the management is listening to the demands of the readers. In a perfect world, every popular TTAC contributor would continue to publish work here, but not all of them are easy to deal with and in the case of at least of of them it's like dealing with a greased-up snake that has fangs on both ends.
Damn, that is one cool looking Defender. Sadly, no neutered "city Rover" could ever have the "crossing the plains of Africa and the Australian outback in search of adventure" spirit of the Defender.
For a site called "The Truth About Cars," regaining a writer with a steadfast commitment to avoiding facts at all costs seems to be a poor decision. Yes I'm referring to DeMuro.
DeMuro and Jack are both great, in completely different ways. Every car story does not have to take the same approach. See Consumer Reports. DeMuro could stand to expand his range a bit, and Jack should get over his school girl crush on John Mayer, but I'll read anything either of them writes. More reviews would be good, too. As mentioned frequently above, both Alex and Michael's reviews are sorely missed.