I notice LettucePray is away on National Day without a gay.

President Bush yesterday urged President-elect Barack Obama to "stay on the offensive" against al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups and said his own administration had "laid a solid foundation" for meeting emerging threats around the world.

Addressing cadets at the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, N.Y., Bush vigorously defended his performance as commander in chief, arguing that the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and other operations were part of a concerted strategy to "keep unrelenting pressure" on terrorist groups and rogue states after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks

Doesn't Dubya mean "start the offensive"? Seems he's put al queda on the back burner since 2003. It's certainly no weaker now thanon 9-10.

Thanks, Rogers.

December 10, 2008
In 2007, Toyota sold 9.37 million vehicles.

In 2007, General Motors sold 9.37 million vehicles.

In 2007, Toyota made $17.1 billion.

In 2007, General Motors lost $38.7 billion.

#4 | Posted by James_Dean

Judas be damned JD! ...ya could'a warned a girl. Sheesh.

"ya could'a warned a girl. Sheesh.

Posted by kerrin57

Oops! Sorry!

I had a thought, but Kerrin caused me curiosity in James Deans photobucket, so I made the mistake of clicking. DO NOT CLICK THAT PHOTO at any time before, during, or just after lunch unless you want to revisit what you ate. Rotting testicles is hardly a pleasant sight. YOu have been warned.

Good stats on GM and Toyota, Kerrin. So what's your point? herm

Sausage Maker, you are going to get the boot for posting that on every thread.

His point is that GM has too much overhead, too many execs, or has no clue how to manage their money, but their woes cannot be blamed on poor sales. At least that is what I got from the stats.

"A few facts:

With a yen valued at 118 to the dollar, Japanese automakers enjoy an average windfall $4,000 cost advantage per vehicle more than they would if the yen traded at its true value. The overall subsidy Japanese automakers gain for the 2.2 million vehicles they import totaled $8.8 billion in 2006.
The total yen subsidy provided to Japanese automakers in 2006 was $13.4 billion $8.8 billion for car & truck exports to the U.S. and $ 4.6 billion for imported parts used in American-made Japanese cars.
More than half (52%) of all automobiles manufactured in Japan were designated for export in 2006, exceeding 50% for the first time in 19 years. In fact, even as demand within Japan for new autos is declining, Japanese companies are adding production capacity to Japan-based facilities, reactivating assembly lines, adding workers and postponing planned factory closures as they move to export ever greater numbers of vehicles."

Time magazine has a good article on how the big three fucked up.

So what's your point? herm

#9 | Posted by herm

Buy stock in AMC.

#11 | Posted by kanrei

Have you ever heard the expression about "deaf ears"?

jimmieboy:
rom the July 19, 2007 edition (csmonitor)

The release of a new report Tuesday that says Al Qaeda has reorganized to pre-9/11 strength and is preparing for a major US strike has sparked debate among government officials and observers about the Bush administration's foreign policy and counterterrorism efforts. The National Intelligence Estimate assessment indicates that the Islamic terrorist organization's rise has been bolstered by the Iraq war and the failure to counter extremism in Pakistan's tribal areas.

"The Terrorist Threat to the US Homeland" report focuses on the next three years and is the first report to review the potential for terrorist attacks exclusively in the United States, reports The Boston Globe. The nation's 16 intelligence agencies began compiling the report last October and completed their assessment in June. Though the report indicated that Hizbullah may become a threat if the US takes action against Iran or seriously threatens or attacks the Islamic organization, the majority of the report focused on the "rejuvenating effect the Iraq war has had on Al Qaeda."

For the last few years intelligence officials have suggested much of Al Qaeda's central leadership has been neutralized, and that the primary national security threat came from splinter groups [Osama] bin Laden inspired but doesn't command. Yesterday's assessment summary concludes that the same organization that meticulously planned and executed the September 11th attacks is alive and well.

"This clearly says Al Qaeda is not beaten," said Michael Scheuer , who formerly headed up the CIA's bin Laden search team.

Doesn't Dubya mean "start the offensive"? Seems he's put al queda on the back burner since 2003. It's certainly no weaker now thanon 9-10.

#2 | Posted by northguy3

and here is where your bias is really covering up common sense

there is no way that we have gone this long without another attack from them if they werent weakened in any a small way.
we have crippled thier fund raising or at least have made it a hell of a lot harder
proof...the recent verdict on the group that had sent money to hamas or one of the other groups

and all I have to do to prove my point is to remind you, kind sir, WHO ENDORSED OBAMA in the terrorists world.....and it wasnt because he was black either...

in the least.........your comment is short sided

jimmieboy:
rom the July 19, 2007 edition (csmonitor)

1 and a half years old and PRESURGE

FACT!

December 10, 2008
In 2007, Toyota sold 9.37 million vehicles.

In 2007, General Motors sold 9.37 million vehicles.

In 2007, Toyota made $17.1 billion.

In 2007, General Motors lost $38.7 billion.

#5 | Posted by kerrin57 at 2008-12-1

DAMN BABY.........this should be posted on the walls all over congress and in every newspaper...WHILE there are still newspapers in business anyway

"I notice LettucePray is away on National Day without a gay.

#1 | Posted by wisgod "

Sorry, my car wouldn't start and I was late to the bath house. But thanks for waiting for me.

BLT

"there is no way that we have gone this long without another attack from them if they werent weakened in any a small way."

How many years PRIOR to 9/11/01 was their previous attack? It's not like they have ever tried to attack the US on a regular basis. That's OK, keep up those weak ass talking points. Thank God your boy only has 40 something days left in office.

But thanks for waiting for me.

#21 | Posted by LetUsPrey

No need to be a sore ass.

"No need to be a sore ass.

#23 | Posted by wisgod"

Not with your miniscule equipment, no.

Good stats on GM and Toyota, Kerrin. So what's your point? herm

#9 | Posted by herm

Are you too dumb to figure that one out?

Are you too dumb to figure that one out?

#25 | Posted by Sniper

He's just confused. All he remembers are chariots back in the day when he used to pal around with Moses.

I say give the auto companies the money, but on the condition that the board of directors for all three retire immediately and give up their parachutes. If they earned the money then they should keep it, but considernig their failures, they didn't. The money should be used to secure the worker's paychecks and future jobs and to keep the companies afloat while new CEO's are found.

Rotting Testicles sounds like the title of James Dean's biography.

FACT!

and here is where your bias is really covering up common sense

there is no way that we have gone this long without another attack from them if they werent weakened in any a small way.

Sorry to stick some reality into your rant, Rusty but Clinton kept America safer, longer. Or are you agreeing his firing a few cruise missiles into afghanistan was more effective than anything Dubya has done?

"Rotting Testicles sounds like the title of James Dean's biography.

FACT!
Posted by Corky"

They call me GIANT.

FACT!

"Rotting Testicles sounds like the title of James Dean's biography.

FACT!
Posted by Corky"

They call me GIANT.

FACT!

#30 | Posted by James_Dean at 2008-12-10 01:07 PM

Giant ROtting Testicles?

"Giant ROtting Testicles?

Posted by kanrei

Nope!

FACTOLICIOUS!!!

Detroit could not make a profit selling rubbers in a whore house, because of the UAW, wasteful spending, and in general just being dumb as hell. Tax payers should be proud our illustrious congress has passed another bullshit bill to reward Detroit's extremely high levels of stupidity and corruption.
Thanks again Congressional assholes...

Giant ROtting Testicles?

#31 | Posted by kanrei

FF...that was so darn funny...I am still laughing.
Good retort!

James Dean plays himself in Rebel Without a Clue.

Fact!

How many years PRIOR to 9/11/01 was their previous attack? It's not like they have ever tried to attack the US on a regular basis. That's OK, keep up those weak ass talking points. Thank God your boy only has 40 something days left in office.

#22 | Posted by evilpolock

NOI AMOUNT of liberal revising will change the FACT that we were hit on 9/11 like never before and through work of george bush....IT DIDNT HAPPEN AGAIN even in some small dose.........so you can wrangle the truth all you want...it wont matter to historians years from now

"Thanks again Congressional assholes..."

Yeah it would have been better to watch 3,000,000 people lose their jobs. That would be so good for the economy. BTW, why are there no posts about the banks that received billions yet are unwilling to loan????
I'll tell you why, because Rush and SEan haven't been whining about that and their fans haven't been told to think about that.

I ate a burrito last night!

FART!

BLT,
NO amount of right-wing spin will change the fact that the people who did that attack have still not been caught because of the distracting and pointless work of George Bush or that Global terrorism increased during Bush's years in office dispite his supposed War on Terror.

"...it wont matter to historians years from now"

You're right about that, the historians will mostly concern themselves with the FACT that Bushco did not read the intel they were given which warned of the 9-11 attacks. Historians will also find Bush's continuation of "The Pet Goat" interesting, as well as his reluctance to allow a 9-11 Commission and his refusal to testify before it. History will remember 9-11 as the biggest failure of an American President in history.

Sorry to stick some reality into your rant, Rusty but Clinton kept America safer, longer. Or are you agreeing his firing a few cruise missiles into afghanistan was more effective than anything Dubya has done?

#29 | Posted by northguy3

wow..........I just thought I was being nice when I called your comments shortsided earlier....LOL

dont you recall all of the incidemts during blowjob's reign of "intern terror".........( all right.......I can get THAT In anywhere, anytime, anysubject).........

he was ONE OF THE REASONS THEY THOUGHT THEY COULD GET AWAY WITH it..............and YES I KNOW....bush had a memo that alqida was up to something.............but again.

to just ignore the fact of our safety since is so...

so...liberal.....

and besides you are just jealous because he got
SOME SUGAR FROM BARBARA AND YOU CANT..........hee hee

I ate a burrito last night!

FART!

#38 | Posted by LeeAtwater

I kissed a girl and I liked it.

FF...that was so darn funny...I am still laughing.
Good retort!

#34 | Posted by kerrin57

well thats nice but to a man ANYTHING having to do with testicals besides....well, you know...( he said blushingly) is pretty much not appreciated....

We did get hit, Rusty.

Tim NcVeigh ring a bell?

How come Bush didn't go after white supremacists? Are they terrorists?

Answer me, RUSTY!!!!!!!!.......,,,,,

-I kissed a girl and I liked it.

Congrats! Progressives believe in experimentation. First time for everything, eh?

Now, where's San An?

I'll tell you why, because Rush and SEan haven't been whining about that and their fans haven't been told to think about that.

#37 | Posted by danni at 2008

thats just not right...SWEETY............they simply dont carry THAT much influence around all over the country..........

and of course you are using the old dittohead bias which is also VERY UNTRUE............
maybe you are LIKE NORTH>..jealous that bush got some sugar from barbara....IM TEASING>........

Boortz said today that when you kill someone you are a Murderer whether or not you're convicted of "Murder" by a Jury of your peers!

I guess that makes Laura Bush in His Mind a Murderer!

Google: Laura Bush Killed a Man

mister water..

I would answer you if you were talking to me but I am not sure who this rusty fellow is you keep conjuring up

maybe its the same striesand jealousy that has hit some of you libs here..............yuk yuk

First time for everything, eh?

Posted by Corky

No, I kissed her there before.

-No, I kissed her there before.

Did she cough?

-I kissed a girl and I liked it.

Congrats! Progressives believe in experimentation. First time for everything, eh?

Now, where's San An?

#45 | Posted by Corky

Experimented with that once back in college, but I was really drunk.

lol, SA

KERRING

Were you aware the WH did absolutely nothing between 1980-1992 to enforce our trade laws as the Japanese auto manufacturers 'dumped' cars on the American market at a loss to gain market share? The better question to ask yourself is how the Big Three were expected to compete with companies selling autos at a loss?

Our pharmaceutical firms are doing the same thing in other markets right now: They sell us drugs at highly inflated prices and 'dump' their product in other countries to gain market share.

Did she cough?

#50 | Posted by Corky

No. Choked, but that was later.

No. Choked, but that was later.

#54 | Posted by wisgod at 2008-12-10 01:39 PM

Just before dumping the body?

We just found out that our insurance premiums are *only* going up 10% this year at work. Even though it's better than the 40% increase they originally offered (we have coworker with cancer, which is forcing up our rates), it's still a lot of money.

I don't think we've had a year where our rates haven't gone up less than 8 or 9%.

Are there are any other industries with inflation even resembling these premium increases?

Just before dumping the body?

#55 | Posted by kanrei

I've never heard it referred to as "the body".

Google: Laura Bush Killed a Man

#47 | Posted by Redneckville

I just dont get it.....how can you keep posting this same old shit over and over and ...oops nevermind.....I read the name at the bottom.
its not even a nice try anymore, just pathetic

Yeah it would have been better to watch 3,000,000 people lose their jobs. That would be so good for the economy. BTW, why are there no posts about the banks that received billions yet are unwilling to loan????
I'll tell you why, because Rush and SEan haven't been whining about that and their fans haven't been told to think about that.
#37 | Posted by danni

Danni first of all not every idea comes from RUSH and SEAN sorry I know that must be a shock for you, secondly judging by your post you support rewarding an industry that has not a clue in the world as to how to compete in a global economy. The people you want to give tax money to were only last month flying around in their private leer jets wasting money as if it was already a gift from congress and you want to give them more. Why not just bypass the Auto Industry altogether and write checks out to the unemployed workers they are already used to getting 95% of their pay while out of work anyway and besides it would be cheaper than throwing money into a black hole as you propose ...

I don't think we've had a year where our rates haven't gone up less than 8 or 9%.

Are there are any other industries with inflation even resembling these premium increases?

Katie,

The universities and their tuition is about the same if not higher, I have two there and from one year to the next is over a thousand dollars a quarter.

Our power has also increased that much this year along with sewer/garbage.

and the end of another day at the retort

have a great day everyone

I will try and stay warm today as the temp is hoovering around 40..........

hasta laredo

So basically we should bankrupt 305,851,773 people so that 3,000,000 can keep their jobs for a few more months? I would be shocked that we expect the same assholes who created this mess to fix it, but then again you keep re-electing the same two parties over and over again and they have yet to change anything.

So basically we should bankrupt 305,851,773 people so that 3,000,000 can keep their jobs for a few more months?

KANREI

That job was accomplished in 6 short years by the GOP Congress/WH. It had nothing to do with protecting any industry, well, except for the Medicare Part D that protected the rights of Big Pharma to charge more to the U.S. than they would a company of 40.

-Budget increased 45%: The largest expansion of the Federal Budget in history by size

-National Debt increased $6,000,000,000,000,000 (TRILLION): Largest increase in world history

What do we have to show for it? Nada. Well, a recession and $500,000,000,000 (BILLION) a year to service the national debt, that's what.

Danni my company insurance premiums quadrupled this year alone, my pay has not kept pace with inflation for years and I do not make as much as the people you want to throw tax money at, these greedy pricks should be writing me a check...

The universities and their tuition is about the same if not higher, I have two there and from one year to the next is over a thousand dollars a quarter.

MONEYWAR

State schools are experiencing massive increases in students - some to the breaking point. Classes students need are full, half the professors are adjunct professors (Part Time), tuitions are rising, dorms are overfilled to the point they're housing freshman at motels.

Private Universities have increased their tuitions so much kids can't afford to go to school there anymoer unless their parents are wealthy or they take on hundreds of thousands in debt.

One problem is as the federal government increases aid, states are cutting those funds and shuffling them elsewhere. All while many of these universities hold onto multi-billion dollar endowments.

Americanunity,
If that is correct and the last six year bankrupted us, then that only further shows we cannot afford another 15 billion. Either we buy the big three and fire the CEOs or we let them crash and burn for the mistakes and greed. There is no reason the heads of the big three should have been paid what they were paid and, considering thier handling of those companies as shown through their need of massive bailouts, they should have to refund huge percents of their pay.

63 | Posted by AMERICANUNITY

No you forgot we now have the immanent introduction of OBAMANOMICS where taxes always go down and spending always goes up where does the money come from you ask you just reach over and pull it out of your ass...

Pulling a nation out of a recession has historically required deficit spending.

We had surpluses when Bush started his historical deficit spending.

What did we get for it? Can you point at thousands of new schools, roads, infrastructure, college diplomas,.... what?

Bush's tax cuts when he was planning to take us to war was irresponsible beyond belief.

No you forgot we now have the immanent introduction of OBAMANOMICS where taxes always go down and spending always goes up where does the money come from you ask you just reach over and pull it out of your ass...

We should treat you like a muon and just let you pass on through.

You are describing what has been going on for the last 7 years.

Americanunity,
Yea,Bush is the definiton of "where taxes always go down and spending always goes up." Adding on top of that the stimulus package and now 15 billion more...and people wonder why I have nothing but contempt for both parties.

KANREI

I found the $150,000,000,000 bailout of AIG - without calls for bankruptcy or breaking up the firm - an insult while Republican Senators bitch about $15,000,000,000 to loan an industry with 3,000,000 jobs at stake. Now, we find banks are using the bailout money for aquisitions rather than providing credit - its intended purpose.

Where were all these Republican Senators in 2000-2006 as we spent ourselves into the next century? $6-7 TRILLION dollars blown ... for what?

Where were all these Republican Senators in 2000-2006 as we spent ourselves into the next century? $6-7 TRILLION dollars blown ... for what?

#71 | Posted by AMERICANUNITY at 2008-12-10 02:29 PM

The same place the Dems were- blaming the other party for all the problems and trying their best to be re-elected.

OBAMANOMICS just needs a chance to bring about C H A N G E in the mean time it's a rockin party in Congress with a bail out here, and a bail out there, everywhere a bail out...

KANREI

Check this out:

Where were all these Republican Senators in 2000-2006 as we spent ourselves into the next century? $6-7 TRILLION dollars blown ... for what?
#71 | Posted by AMERICANUNITY at 2008-12-10 02:29 PM

Sitting right next to their DEMOCRATIC counter parts voting in sync to screw everyone...

Had Paulson shared the looming crisis with Congress and the American people months before we may have been able to put the fire out before the flames were shooting out of the roof. He had the 'bailout' plan (3 pages of 'we'll spend it with no limitations) months ago.

Thanks again, GOP, for another FUBAR event!!

ATAXPAYER

If you're just going to make blanket statements that are disproven easily, I"m not going to spend any more time debating with you.

Thank for ruining my country

"Danni my company insurance premiums quadrupled this year alone, my pay has not kept pace with inflation for years and I do not make as much as the people you want to throw tax money at, these greedy pricks should be writing me a check..."

Most likely they will be writing you a check in 2009 and let me just ask you....why in the hell would someone like you be opposed to national health care????
Understand too that the auto companies are asking for a loan not a gift. If all three should end up in bankruptcy the nation will fall into depression adn the money spent will be an insignifcant amount in the overall scheme of things.

Here is a quick (AND SAFE)pic of Redneckville's Daughter

Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich could auction off Obama's seat to the highest bidder that would be a start...

No you forgot we now have the immanent introduction of OBAMANOMICS where taxes always go down and spending always goes up where does the money come from you ask you just reach over and pull it out of your ass...

#67 | Posted by ATaxpayer

You described "Bush-0-nomics" to a tee!

We pulled the money out of China, Saudi Arabia, Japan

We repay them at the rate of $500,000,000,000 (BILLION) a year.

Oh, but $15 billion to help 3,000,000 American workers? Oh, no!! cry the GOP Senators. "That would be irresponsible!".

Morons.

It is not %15 billion to help 3 million autoworkers, but rather $15 billion to protect about 150 CEOs and COOs and CFOs. If anyone really believes they are not going to issue massive layoffs and plant closings in 2009 really needs to buy this bridge off me please.

Also, the big three have already admitted the $15 billion is just to help them get through the year and they actually really need quite a bit more.

Most likely they will be writing you a check in 2009 and let me just ask you....why in the hell would someone like you be opposed to national health care????

I know too many Canadians who come to the United States for health care because the socialist system in Canada has most patients dying in line before it is their turn. Canadians themselves consider the system to be a disaster...

Understand too that the auto companies are asking for a loan not a gift. If all three should end up in bankruptcy the nation will fall into depression adn the money spent will be an insignifcant amount in the overall scheme of things.

It is my opinion that they should be declared insolvent the CEO's fired for gross dereliction of duty and the company sold. The new owners can hire back the workers under new contracts with less money and benefits and if the workers do not like the new wage scale seek employment elsewhere. I do not believe in rewarding corrupt companies with tax money and no accountability look at the scandal with Bank of America as soon as they received the money back to business as usual...

ATAXPAYER

I don't understand people like you who hyperfocus on one country's national health care system.

There are a plethora of countries with national health care whos systems are working just fine.

You suppose if we ever worked on a system we'd only look at one country's system for a design? Smart people would take a look at all the examples out there and pick what works and what doesn't.

BTW, the one 'national health care' plan we have in the U.S. provides excellent medical care for 2% administrative fees, lower costs, et al. - Medicare.

AMERICANUNITY
If you're just going to make blanket statements that are disproven easily, I"m not going to spend any more time debating with you.
Thank for ruining my country

Also, the big three have already admitted the $15 billion is just to help them get through the year and they actually really need quite a bit more.

#83 | Posted by kanrei

Well, thanks to assholes like Shelby of Alabama (who gave KIA and BMW huge incentives to build plants), that's all the American auto industry is going to get.

Funny how assholes like Shelby didn't utter a peep while we gave AIG and other companies $150,000,000,000 each.

For a "national healthcare plan," I would rather it be state by state instead of national. There is nothing I believe Washington can do better than local and, honestly, the only people who really care are those locally to you. Nebraska will not like having to pay for California nor would California like having to pay for Nebraska. Instead, Nebraska should provide healthcare for residents of that state and so on, much like college tuition is higher for out of state students. Comparing a coutry the size of Rhode Island to the US is not a fair comparison.

ATAXPAYER

If you're just going to piss me off with facts, I"m not going to spend any more time debating with you.

#77 | Posted by AMERICANUNITY

"I know too many Canadians who come to the United States for health care because the socialist system in Canada has most patients dying in line before it is their turn."

That is an outright lie. I live in S. Florida and we get a lot of Canadian tourists, they will tell you they think we are idiots for not having a national health care system. I bought a house from a Canadian, he continued to live in another right behind me. He returned to Canada several times a year for cancer treatments including surgery. He loved the sun here but couldn't afford our medical system.

Making up posts attributed to another poster is dishonest.

You're not posting any facts. In FACT, I'm the only one who's linked a single FACT (the deficit chart).

You're from that Rush school: "I'll pull it out of the hole where the boil in my ass used to be I used to stay out of Vietnam - but I can still question other's patriotism"

Adios

"Making up posts attributed to another poster is dishonest."

Spoofing's one thing, though it should be clear that that's what's being done. Actually making up a post and putting another poster's name to it ought to be reason for RCade to boot the perps ass right off the blog, permanently.

NOI AMOUNT of liberal revising will change the FACT that we were hit on 9/11 like never before and through work of george bush....IT DIDNT HAPPEN AGAIN

I agree that 9-11 was the biggest failure in national Security in American history, thanks to Bush and Condi.
No amount of neo-con BS will ever change the FACT that the WTC was hit in the first months of Clinton's Presidency and all suspects were arrested and NO OTHER al queda attacks occurred on American soil until 9 months and 50 warnings (work of George Bush)into the Bush FAIL Presidency. Rusty.

and if you want to bring in the Kenyan embassey bombings, remember to add in the daily Baghdad embassey bombings, the daily attacks in Iraq and afghanistan and all the other attacks on Americans throughout the world since 9-11.

"I know too many Canadians who come to the United States for health care because the socialist system in Canada has most patients dying in line before it is their turn."

That is an outright lie."

Not trying to start a fight or anything but how do you know he is lying about canadians he says he knows? I've heard great and awful things about Canada's system. Getting to see a family practice or general practioner is apparently easy in Canada from what I've heard which is great, but I've also heard if you're diagnosed with a real problem seeing a specialist could be a heck of a wait.

Going bankrupt because of health issues is a terrible thing, dying while waiting to see a doctor is even worse in my opinion. There has to be some common ground to fix the thing.

"Not trying to start a fight or anything but how do you know he is lying about canadians he says he knows?"

Fair enough, but I can find just as many Canadians who are happy with their system as he can who aren't. Canada is a democracy, if they didn't want their system they'd get rid of it.

BTW, per capita they are spending about half of what we are.

The Obama camp is in FULL PANIC MODE!!!

i207.photobucket.com

#98 | Posted by James_Dean

Hmmm. Kinda reminds me of the look on most Republican's faces on Nov. 4.

#53 | Posted by AMERICANUNITY ...KERRING

Q.Were you aware the WH did absolutely nothing between1980-1992 to enforce our trade laws as the Japanese auto manufacturers 'dumped' cars on the American market at a loss to gain market share?

AU...Can you show me the trade law that they could have enforced....dictating that companies must sell at a profit?Seriously...I would like to read about it.

Q. The better question to ask yourself is how the Big Three were expected to compete with companies selling autos at a loss?

AU..."compete"...they never tried.
Chrysler chairman Robert Eaton stated in 1994, "We expect to be only a niche player. . . . We don't have any volume or penetration goal [for foreign markets]."

"Until 1993, no American automobile company produced a right-hand-drive vehicle for the Japanese market. Even today, none of the Big Three firms, General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler, market models in the small two-liter-and-under class, which is the dominant class in the Japanese automobile market. In contrast, the Europeans, whose market penetration is growing rapidly, offer more than 100 right-hand-drive models and 124 models in the two-liter-and-under category. In 1993, European automobiles, mostly German, captured over one-third of the Japanese luxury auto market."

AU...Can you show me the trade law that they could have enforced....dictating that companies must sell at a profit?Seriously...I would like to read about it.

"Trade" laws are supposed to be reciprocal. We import their products and they open their markets on a quid pro quo basis. Didn't happen. No one called them on it. Not only did the Japanese 'dump' products, they also blocked their markets to ours. During that period of time, Japanese took over electronics and gained massive market share for their autos. As a result, we don't manufacture electronics anymore. GE isn't even in the business of making things anymore.

AU..."compete"...they never tried.
Chrysler chairman Robert Eaton stated in 1994, "We expect to be only a niche player. . . . We don't have any volume or penetration goal [for foreign markets]."

Just try marketing an auto in Japan and see how far you get. Ever heard of 'import quotas' or 'domestic content'? The Japanese are masters of it. China's followed suit. What technology or intellectual property they don't steal they block by whatever means necessary from import and copy for sale domestically.

That isn't 'trade'. It's called 'a one way street'. We need to reestablish tariffs for countries that don't play fair with us.

I've been to Japan several times. I've rarely seen a U.S. product for sale.

And the Big Three make cars for the British market. What do you mean they 'wouldn't make right hand steering vehicles"?

President Obama is unlikely to initiate reforms beyond schemes dictated primarily by the needs of ruling plutocracy. This is strongly implied by his economic team choices and wholehearted support for the Bush administration's criminally fraudulent bailout scheme of the Wall Street financial gamblers.

Even though the Federal Reserve is now the Largest single participant in the financial system, the myth of a "free market" still lingers on. It's mind boggling. The Fed has expanded its balance sheet by $2 trillion, guaranteed $8.3 trillion of dodgy mortgage-backed paper, provided a backstop for bank deposits, money markets, commercial paper, and created 8 separate lending facilities to ensure that underwater financial institutions can still appear to be solvent. The whole system is a state subsidized operation buoyed on a taxpayer-provided flotation device which bears no resemblance to an invisible hand. More astonishing, is the massive power grab engineered by the Fed which has taken place without the slightest protest from 535 shell-shocked congressmen and senators. Elected officials have either kept their finger in the air to see which way the political wind is blowing or timidly caved in to Treasury's every multi-billion dollar demand. It's flagrant blackmail and everyone knows it. Congressional oversight is an oxymoron.

Anyone who has followed the financial crisis from its origins knows that the Fed's bloody fingerprints are all over the crime scene. Still, that hasn't stopped well-meaning liberal economists (Krugman, Stiglitz, Reich) from supporting Bernanke's increasingly unorthodox attempts to flood the financial system with liquidity and invoke whatever radical strategy pops into his head.

Contrary to the widespread myth of the self-correcting powers of market mechanism, long cycles of economic decline cannot automatically change course from contraction to expansion; rescue policy interventions are needed to turn them around, and save capitalism from its own destructive dynamics.

Rescue plans of endangered capitalism is often shaped not so much by abstract presidential visions as they are by market or capitalist imperatives and the balance of political power of the conflicting socioeconomic interests. It follows that, depending on the outcome of the underlying class struggle, policy components of such rescue packages can be vastly different.

If the pressure from below is strong enough to threaten the established order, the interests of the grassroots will be taken into account as part of the needed rescue plans. Otherwise, business and government leaders will craft rescue plans as they deem it most beneficial to the interests vested in big capital.

Only through widespread and sustained protest demonstrations and non-violent civil disobedience that would threaten the status quo can a relatively radical change in favor of the grassroots be forced upon the ruling class.

Excerpted from Counterpunch

Getting some wicked weather out here on the rig. They say 50 MPH gusts and 17 foot seas. I haven't seen weather this bad since we were dodging hurricane Felix last year in the Yucatan strait.

We're rockin' and a rollin'. Good sleeping conditions

Hey, AU -- you still up?

funny you should ask. I just stopped by to see if you still were LOL

I was wondering -- have you been in touch with Johnny since I saw y'all last year?

No, but I should. With all that happened this year I kind of isolated and hung around the house working here. Time to do it though.

You coming same time this year?

Shit. just got paged. drill floor. That's never good. Maybe back later.

OK. I probably won't stay up too late.

I'm gonna leave a pic posted of my sis and I on our first Christmas with the new folks. You'll see my interest in music started early LOL

That wasn't so bad. The dynamic brake went off. Simple reset button push.

Anyway, I will not make it up for new years like I wanted. I crew change Jan 1. Even though I could easily go from Nashville to New Orleans, I would probably be too hung over to travel. *grin*

I'm gonna leave a pic ...

I'm dying to see it!

GOATMAN

The music (and my sister's baking) started at a young age. She's borrowing my side shooters and sax too.
She always baked 100's of things for Christmas. I remember her making me cookies in that oven there. You mixed up the mix and let it harden LOL.

What a cool picture! The wall paper looks so . . .50ish! My great aunt had wallpaper similiar to that.

This fire truck almost gave me a heart attack at age 4.

Mom and dad had read "The Night Before Christmas" to us, and played Christmas Carols including "Santa Claus is Coming To Town".

Well, after I went to bed (laying wide awake with excitement - it was our first Christmas ever with toys) I heard bells. Surely Santa was close! So, I 'sprang from my bed' and went to the window. When I didn't see him on the neighbor's roof, nor hoof prints in the snow, I suddenly was horror struck! "He's on OUR ROOF!! He sees you when you're sleeping. He know if you're awake!!" (cripes!!)

So, I dove for the bed, pulled the covers over my head, and hoped beyond hope Santa wouldn't know I was awake. The bells kept ringing. I hoped I hadn't blown it.

Well, long story short, Dad had been putting together the fire truck, and the bell was clanging up from the basement through the heat vent. I was SO relieved to find Santa hadn't caught me awake LOL

(that story of the bells happened on Christmas Eve. I wasn't clear about that)

And this was our dad. He died in 1980. Very funny, very kind, and a sense of humor as big as Texas too.

(He'd get dressed up like that on Christmas morning until we knew Santa didn't exist). Woke us up on Christmas morning hollering "Ho HO HOOOOOOOOOO!! up the stairs LOL

He was a great man.

I remember getting a tricycle for my 4th or 5th year Christmas. I also wanted one with a name plate tag because all the other neighborhood kids had name plates on their tricycles. As you know, I have an unusual name and I never saw it on the racks in the stores.

I got the trike -- I was so excited, but I was disappointed because it didn't have a name plate. I understood why I never saw them in the store, but I couldn't understand why Santa's elves didn't make one special for me.

Awwwwwwwwww GOATMAN

I feel your pain!

I recognize that TV! We had one just like it. I also notice the record player on top of it. The home entertainment center of the '50s. LOL

LOL Ya, heck of a tone from that record player!

We never had a color TV growing up. They were Depression Era folks who didn't see blowing money on frivolous things. They bought a new Black and White in the mid 60's when the one in the pic died.

They 'upgraded' to a Sears Silvertone portable record player about the time they got a new B & W TV.

So it was until I bought them a stereo for Christmas when I was 18. I saved up for it for 2 years. It was the first (and only) stereo they ever had. They both got a lot of enjoyment out of it. Dad would call me in L.A. and say, "I sure liked that cassette you sent me" (something I'd written and recorded).

Ah, sweet memories of Christmas .....

PS That picture was taken in the 60's. Like I said, they didn't just go out and buy stuff if they didn't absolutely need it ! LOL

Wasn't it cool people fixed their own TVs back then? I remember my dad would look at the tubes in the back and take out a couple of them and test them in the tube tester at the hardware store downtown. Same with the old radio we had.

Wasn't it cool people fixed their own TVs back then? I remember my dad would look at the tubes in the back and take out a couple of them and test them in the tube tester at the hardware store downtown. Same with the old radio we had.

Ditto. I guess that's where I got my interest in replacing a capacitor on the fuel pump relay for $.50 instead of another new fuel pump relay for $40 LOL

My dad would have enjoyed talking with you. He went through electronics school (RETS - about 2 years every weekend), but he was just too old for any company to want as a new hire, and was afraid of losing his meager pension by changing jobs. No 401K's then.

He had oscilloscopes and other electronic gear in his 'shop' behind the garage - an 8 X 20 room he had built when they built a new garage when I was a teenager. I used to love watching the scopes and lights. When I got my first synthesizer (Mini Moog), dad wired a 1/4" jack for the oscilloscope so I could see what the sound waves looked like.

I still remember getting a solid state TV. My dad marveled that there were no tubes to burn out. LOL My mom like it because it came on almost instantly -- you didn't have to wait for the tubes to warm up for 30 seconds like the old TV. I presume the element on the CRT had a heater or was on all the time for it to turn on so quickly.

The old cabinet style TV we had had it's channel knob on the side. It was a huge plastic thing. We got only 4 channels. My mom would have me change channels by saying, "1 towards the wall" to go from chanel 5 to 4 or "3 towards me" to change from channel 5 to 8. I guess I was the first remote control unit. LOL

I found it really humorous in that it shows a typical little girl dressed in pink pajamas, standing next to her little pink toy stove, and then you see this "little girl" is also wearing a pair of six shooters.

Yes, that picture could be a Norman Rockwell painting.

Thanks CHRIS :-)

She shot me with that side shooter more times than I can count. Somehow I always ended up being the desperado in the black hat and she the sheriff in the white hat that came with the side shooter. I don't know if I ever got my guns back! I remember making a big deal out of dying every time she shot me LOL

She was a little doll.

were they the cap guns with the roll of paper caps? Remember taking those and exploding a whole roll of them at once on the garage floor with a hammer?

I guess I was the first remote control unit. LOL

#128 | Posted by goatman

LMAO !!!!!!! Great story!

were they the cap guns with the roll of paper caps?

Yes.

After Bev or I 'shot' mom the 5th or 6th time our Wild West show was banished to the basement.

CHRIS

I'm grateful my mom knew well enough to dress me in blue sleepers. She wasn't too prepared to be an instant mother to two young children. Thankfully, I don't have to look at myself wearing pink in any old photos LOL

AU :-)

The esteemed Rev. Wright last Sunday, exhibiting his typical left-wing understanding of history:

"Today. Is December 7. The day that this government killed. Over 80000. Japanese civilians. At Hiroshima in 1941. Two days before giving an additional. 64000. Japanese civilians. At Nagasaki by dropping nuclear bombs on innocent. People."

The esteemed Rev. Wright last Sunday, exhibiting his typical left-wing understanding of history:

"Today. Is December 7. The day that this government killed. Over 80000. Japanese civilians. At Hiroshima in 1941. Two days before giving an additional. 64000. Japanese civilians. At Nagasaki by dropping nuclear bombs on innocent. People."

Well someone had to test the U-238 bombs the Nazi's developed and gave to us at the end of WW2 as part of the concessions for operation paperclip..

The Trinity test were all plutonium bombs..

I suppose that we ought to concentrate on "the souls of black folk," since the historical knowledge of their leadership seems lacking, and this knowledge is transmitted to "the flock." You've got to give it to Rev. Wright. He knows how to work his audience. His physical contortions. His cadence. And this audience shows a conditioned response, and applauds.

But such a response is not exclusive to the black worshipping community which does not evaluate content. Receptivity to the contentless message cuts a broader swath. Remember that Obama used this same "message without content" technique to win the Presidency.

Obama used the novelty of black gospel preaching, contortions, cadence, and lack of rational content, to secure election, while Kennedy to whom Obama has been compared by adulating idolators, used the techniques of shareholder meetings with sabotage of communications systems and the like in his successful effort to secure the Democrat Party nomination.

Obama was opposed by McCain, who shackled himself and did not focus on Obama's shady past, including radical and criminal connections, and intimate association with America-haters such as Rev. Wright. Now McCain can lull himself to sleep with "Born to Lose."

Born to lose i've lived my life in vain
all my dreams have always caused me pain.
All my life i've always been so blue
born to lose and now i'm losing you.

Born to lose it seems so hard to bear
how i always long to have you near you were all
the happiness i knew born to lose and now i'm losing you.
Born to lose i can't believe your gone it's so hard to
face that empty dawn all my life i've always been so blue
born to lose and now i'm losing you there's no use
to dream of happiness all i see is only loneliness
all my life i've always been so blue
born to lose and now im losing you.

NO amount of right-wing spin will change the fact that the people who did that attack have still not been caught because of the distracting and pointless work of George Bush or that Global terrorism increased during Bush's years in office dispite his supposed War on Terror.

#39 | Posted by kanrei

Who hasn't ben caught?

WASHINGTON (AP) - Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the suspected mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks, confessed to that attack and a chilling string of other terror plots during a military hearing at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, according to a transcript released Wednesday by the Pentagon.
"I was responsible for the 9/11 operation from A to Z," Mohammed said in a statement read during the session, which was held last Saturday.

You're right about that, the historians will mostly concern themselves with the FACT that Bushco did not read the intel they were given which warned of the 9-11 attacks. Historians will also find Bush's continuation of "The Pet Goat" interesting, as well as his reluctance to allow a 9-11 Commission and his refusal to testify before it. History will remember 9-11 as the biggest failure of an American President in history.

#40 | Posted by danni

Are you serious, Danni? Do you actually believe that My Pet Goat will make it into a single history book? Also, historians use reason and logic, something libs lack when talking about Bush, and if they record anything regarding a memo it will not be posed as a negative of Bush. We all know, except you of course, that memos like that were received all of the time and the government was well aware already that Bin Laden wanted to attack us. The only people who don't get this are libs.