Welcome to Must Read, where we single out the best stories from around the automotive universe and beyond. Today, we have reports from Fortune, Petrolicious and io9.
Mary Barra: GM's fall gal – Fortune
Allan Sloan raises a point that probably hasn't been made loudly enough. Where's Dan Akerson, Ed Whitacre and, especially, Rick Wagoner in all of this ignition recall scandal?
But beating up on Barra, which satisfies the bloodlust of Washington pols and makes for good theater and massive buzz, is absurd. Had the ignition-switch recall happened last year instead of less than 30 days after Barra took office this year, Dan Akerson, who became GM's CEO in 2010, would have been the one called in front of Congress to be tortured in the U.S. version of a show trial. Had GM or the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration or both of them been quick and competent, it might have been Akerson's predecessor, Ed Whitacre, who was tortured.
Cool And Classic Esquire Covers On Travel And Cars – Petrolicious
A must see.
Spanning over twenty years, Esquire's covers have always considered their subjects playfully as befits one of Playboy's more tasteful rivals. Obviously, however, we're partial to the ones that relate to travel and the machines that make it easier for us to do so.
What's The Purpose Of The Universe? Here's One Possible Answer – io9
Oh, and they also discovered a new "Earth-sized planet." Good times.
It's tempting to think of the universe as a meaningless repository for celestial objects like planets and stars. But an intriguing theory suggests there's much more to the cosmos than meets the eye — and that black holes play an integral role in what our universe is actually trying to achieve.
Photo: AP Images