Greetings From Afghanistan
The following is a must read by ChrisG who is currently serving in Afghanistan. I would like to highlight Chris’ second paragraph here,
1. The Western “Mainstream” media lies so much I doubt I could trust the times they give for sunrise and sunset. In 2007 and before, everything was slanted or even made up out of thin air to slam President Bush. Now everything is roses as Obama is going to ride to the rescue. The lies of the left and the media are so vile that the sewage dumping point here smells good in comparison!
And now Chris’ post – Greetings From Afghanistan
Thank you Chris for serving your/our country.
Mumbai Attacks Update
News reports now have at least six Americans among the dead, the death toll is at 150+. At the Taj hotel about six terrorists are still holed up. Authorities are now saying that the terrorists had inside help at the hotel (that was obvious).
This does not counter my previous post. I still believe that the head of India’s anti-terrorist unit was the main target. All others are a feather in the terrorists caps.
Mumbai Attacks
As I watched the news unfold on this story I noticed two things stand out that the media has not picked up on and leads me to believe that there is more to this than meets the eye. With the FBI helping out in the investigation I am sure that the intelligence agencies have noted what I have.
Even though the attackers stated that they were after Americans and Britons, so far only two Americans (a father and daughter) have been among the casualties and one Briton (last update was an hour before this post). Five Jews were also killed including a Rabbi and his wife. This is glaring in and of itself. If they were after Americans and Britons, how come more weren’t killed? Because, in my opinion, they were not after Americans or Britons. Instead the terrorists got their real target.
Among the dead is Hemant Karkare, India’s head of the police agency’s anti-terrorist unit. Coincidence? Absolutely not. This well planned attacked occurred at just the right date and time to take the life of India’s top anti-terrorist. Follow the time line as closely as possible and one can be assured that he was a deliberate target. Shortly after the discovery of Karkare’s death, the violence began to quell. All the rest that is happening now is just a ruse by the terrorists to take attention off the real target, what they were really after.
These terrorists are more than willing to give their lives for their cause and do what it takes to cloud the real issue here. When it comes to terrorism and terror acts that take the life of someone who has dedicated his life to stopping terrorism, I do not believe in coincidence. I am sure that the investigation will conclude the same thing, although that detail may never be released for the sake of security.
Photo Buff
I am a very avid amateur photographer. I have thousands upon thousands of photos that I have taken since I was just a young puppy. Currently I own a Canon D60 with four lenses for it. The camera goes with me everywhere I go. I use Adobe Lightroom to categorize my photos and enhance the bad or poorly shot ones. I tried Apple’s Aperture, but I feel that Lightroom is a far superior product than Aperture.
My shutter bug came from my father who was also an avid amateur photographer. In the late 1960s we took a trip across the entire length of Russia from east to west by train. At one point my father was removed from the train and questioned/accused of being a spy. Fortunately he wasn’t one and they let him go. When we got to Moscow we visited Lenin’s tomb and also got to see the Kremlin. My father took pictures there and ironically, was not stopped and questioned. It was THE vacation, and though I was very young, I still remember my trip behind the Iron Curtain.
Today I rearranged my photo gallery and have started out with my Poladroid collection. Don’t you mean Polaroid you ask. Well, yes and no. Go visit my photo world to see what I am talking about. Wade’s Photo World.
Jobs Bank May Get Tanked, Carl Levin Proves His Idiocy, and Other Michigan Woes
According to the news the UAW may (might, possibly, potentially) give up the Jobs Bank. What is the jobs bank you ask? Instead of getting laid off, auto workers get paid to do NOTHING! Follow this link – UAW Jobs Bank: Organized slackers. I know auto workers who have been in the jobs bank. They think it is crazy themselves, but they have been happy to stay home and get paid to mow their own lawns. No other employers in the world have this type of “job banking” that I am aware of. What a waste of money. Let the auto workers draw unemployment like the rest of America when they get laid off.
Carl Levin, also known as Communist Carl in my circle.
This is caused by a global economic problem. And we should not allow our industry to go under, when no other country that has an automobile industry lets its industry go under.
Really Carl? When is the last time you heard that the auto industry in Germany, Japan, England, etc., went to their respective governments and asked for billions in bailouts? Anybody, please name me another country that the auto industry has done this in? Please post if you know because I can’t find anything.
Carl just proves that he is in the pocket of the auto industry. Doubt it? Well, he is from Michigan and he is a Democrat. Who do the UAW and the automakers usually support? Democrats. If Carl doesn’t fight for the UAW and the Big 3, his support would be gone overnight, literally.
As of this morning, Congress hasn’t given the Big 3 the money they are begging for. Congress wants a plan from the auto executives that provides what they are going do with the money and how they are going to change to keep themselves solvent once they get on their feet. Good. They should be held accountable so that we the taxpayers know that the execs aren’t going to go on grandiose vacations on our dollar. The execs though are still shy of giving up their perks. When Congress grilled them on that, they squirmed and provided no answers. I guess there are no Lee Iacoccas among the three who are willing to help with a turn around by making sacrifices themselves.
Speaking of Iacocca and government loans, Chrysler got one in 1979 when Iacocca approached the government. He got the money, but things were different then. Iacocca was a force of change, worked for a buck a year, and had no problems doing what it took to make good on the loan and make Chrysler profitable. Today’s auto execs aren’t willing to be Lee. They fly to Congressional hearings on expensive jets and are not willing to step up to the plate and take the hits they have coming. They are not willing to make self sacrifices. They are the new breed of leaders who only work for change if it benefits self. This is already proven in my eyes, because if they were willing to take the necessary steps, they already would have. They want taxpayer money and want to continue on with the status quo. Lee Iacocca’s title of his book, “Where have all the leaders gone” is most fitting in regards to current CEOs who’s motto is “Make no sacrifices.”
I don’t normally agree with Rochelle Riley of the Detroit Free Press, but she hits the nail on the head today,
For decades Detroit has been so insular — it owned its own industry, made its own middle class, set its own rules — that it didn’t have to care about what anyone else in the rest of the country thought. Why else would it allow the nation to believe that Devil’s Night was a time when children burned down houses when it was actually a night of adult insurance scams? Detroit has lived in its own snow globe, unaffected by global events, unwilling to change with the tide and unable to understand the environmental train that the rest of the world has climbed on.
She goes on with more,
But what is clearest from the Ultimate Fight between Congress and the Detroit Three this week was that Detroit must now begin seeing itself through the nation’s eyes. The city, the industry and its leaders can no longer lead the insular, isolated, mostly incredulous lives they’ve continued to live as if times are still good.
Right on the money Rochelle, but I don’t see any change forthcoming from these guys. They are ostriches. They want to bury their heads in the sand so they can continue with their own extravagant lifestyles at the expense of the auto companies. The real tell in all this is the fact that even when the auto companies are failing, the execs still get bonuses. For what? And why? When a company is bleeding green so badly that they are all red, the thing to do is take away all the extras the execs get until the companies are in the black. With no incentives, the execs have no desire to initiate change and sacrifice.
When it comes to the US auto industry, they must follow Barack Obama’s campaign motto, “It’s time for Change.” But I just don’t see that happening.
Even if there is change and the Big 3 get their money, it will take time for a turn around. The Michigan outlook is bleak with predictions for another 100,000 + jobs lost for the state. To add insult to injury, The Michigan Infrastructure and Transportation Association wants the state legislature to add another 19 cents to the gas tax. Just as we are seeing relief from record high prices, someone wants us to pay more. Are these people hanging with Carl Levin? When your state is in an economic funk, when jobs are being lost at record rates and when unemployment is at an all time high, you don’t ask to raise the taxes! In the world of economics, even the real young understand this simple concept, you don’t raise costs when everyone has less. Oh but wait, the same group has another proposal would raise vehicle registration fees by 50 percent. WHAT? 50%. Are they kidding? That is as cold as a Northern Michigan winter. The more we bleed, the more they want to cut us. The last thing we need is more of the same, increased costs and taxes. What part of this do people in this state not get. The worse we do the worse they make it by making our dollar worth less. We need relief from high costs, not more high costs. The arrogance, ugh.
Make People Snort Coffee Out Their Nose
I forgot about this episode from my life until a friend reminded me of this.
Last winter while enjoying a hot cup of coffee at my favorite cafe before sliding off to work, a person sitting next to me at the counter commented on the weather forecast. “Looks like we got a Canadian cold front.” “No, two,” I said. He looked at me puzzled. I explained, “Da one on tv is in da UP, da udder one is in Lansing, we call her da guvner, eh?” The guy on the other side of me snorted coffee out his nose. It was a mess. He ran to the restroom where it sounded like he was coughing and laughing at the same time. He came out with tears running down his cheeks. He said it was the most hysterical thing he ever heard.
Big 3 Big News Day in Michigan
On my iPhone news app, the Big 3 before Congress. On my laptop news reader, Big 3 want bailout. On the cafe’s big screen tv, Big 3 + Gettelfinger begging for money. On the front page of the Detroit News – Big 3 CEOs plead for aid. On the radio, all of the above.
I think Republican Senator Richard Shelby from Alabama said it best,
Your model has failed.
Democrat Senator Christopher Dodd said,
Automakers are seeking treatment for wounds that I believe to a large extent were self inflicted.
As the Big 3 and the UAW squirm before Congress, Michigan’s unemployment rate hit 9.3%. Skepticism ruled among those in Congress grilling the auto kings, yet the prevailing wind still appears to have cash floating around in it and is blowing towards the automakers. But what about the CEOs themselves? If Congress gives them money will the 3 Stooges still get their bonuses, perks, and all those other millions they get annually? I think that one of the conditions should be knocking their pay back down to the 6 digit level until the automakers are solvent for at least a couple years in a row with the same outlook for the next couple of years. Give them an incentive to actually change rather than just hand them cash every time they want it.
But will they get the job done? Probably not. The biggest hurdle is the cost of the products. In the same Detroit News in section F is a review of the ‘09 line up of pickup trucks from the Big 3 plus Nissan and Toyota. All are four door models. If anyone has been following the news about the new trucks most would know how all the auto experts are raving over the ‘09 Ford F-150. So am I. But I will never own one. The base price is $37,990 and the model tested for the article is $43,425. For an F-150. A half-ton truck for $43,425? Are they kidding?
The equivalent Chevy Silverado is $45,930, the Dodge Ram is $47,765, the GMC Sierra is $49,780, the Nissan Titan is $40,785, and the Toyota Tundra is $41,820. The lowest base price was the Toyota Tundra at $33,985, the highest was the Dodge Ram at $43,240. The F-150 got the best fuel mileage at 14/18 and the Titan got the worst at 12/17. So, tell me why now that the automakers can’t make money? BECAUSE YOU AND I CANNOT AFFORD TO BUY THESE VEHICLES OR DRIVE THEM!
$40,000 dollars and up for half-ton pickup trucks by the Big 3? The last time I bought an F-150 (1992 new) it cost me $18,000, was a very nice truck and lasted me 10 years. I don’t care if they are four door models. This is why the automakers are hurting. Average American Joe and Joanne cannot afford them just as they cannot afford the ridiculous prices of homes or the taxes for the cars and homes. Americans are being priced out of the very things that were once affordable. Yet Congress can’t figure that out and neither can the automakers and those who sell homes.
No wonder we are in trouble, and all our wonderful Michigan State Legislature can do is raise our taxes.
Duh.
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