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- “Marshall, Will, and Holly, on a routine expedition…“
- Anyone who’s ever spent any time working on a car knows that the dropped tool or hardware magically finds the geometric center of the space under the car. That’s irritating enough. But in space, you’re way fucked, buckaroo.
- This is an unusually chilly November, which means the ground is colder than usual, which means that when some moisture and some upper 20s to low 30s show up…come on, this year? Please?
- Well, that didn’t take long. We can now say definitively that Coach Rod won’t be retiring at Michigan: “It’s amazing some of the things that people would say [on a message board] or yell at you of a personal nature. You almost want to tell them, ‘Get a life.'” – Rich Rodriguez
- There’s this conventional wisdom congealing that GM is about to go under because it greedily built huge trucks and SUVs when the masses were clamoring for fuel-efficient vehicles, and as an exclusive explanation, it’s horseshit. GM’s bankruptcy (or bailout, God forbid) has been inevitable for several years, and the UAW has considerably more to do with it than do lots full of unsold Escalades. Gasoline at $4 was an accelerant, not an initial cause. If GM is to have any real chance of taming the worst of the UAW’s parasitism (and removing the management mediocrity that does exist), it must embrace Chapter 11.
- Speaking of, my father’s got the right idea. He just sent me an article bemoaning the lack of leadership at the Big Three, and bolstered the article by reminding me that he’s considering buying a German car because there is no domestic competition for what he wants. I responded “well, clearly you hate America” (with a smiley). Dad replied “No, just Detroit and Washington. Hey, I know, let’s let the casino owners in Las Vegas take a crack at running things. At least with all the pretty girls and flashing lights, morale would improve considerably.”
- Dr. Daschle in da house! Woo woo! President-elect Obama has tapped Tom Daschle to be the Secretary of Health and Human Services. Was anyone else “saddened and disappointed” to hear this?
- I’ve always loved the mistake “personal checks not excepted” because it means exactly the opposite of what is intended. There aren’t many of those.
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BoWilliams.com
The only way I will be happy with The Land of the Lost is if it is low-budget and the Sleestack shoot wooden crochet hook ammo that bounces off of trees.
I’m not a big Will Ferrell fan, but his inclusion in the cast is excellent evidence that it won’t take itself too seriously (and yet, I don’t want it slapstick either).
Hopefully they have people working on it who understand the appeal of the original.
I don’t recall Holly being nearly that hot.
I don’t remember the masses clamoring for fuel efficient cars… most of the people around here still drive SUVs or full sized trucks. They bought them when gas was still pretty cheap and now they’re stuck with them (tough shit). Why wouldn’t the big three build what people wanted to buy, especially then they make the most profit from that product? Now that gas is cheap again, most of them will go back to their wasteful ways.
As for me, I LOVE my new Ford Focus. It’s got voice-activated sync for my phone, USB, and iPod plus sat radio. I even like the styling. On top of that, I’m getting over 37 mpg! I checked out comparable cars in imports, but it would have cost me at least 5K more. There are still good domestic brands out there worth buying.
BB_FAN: Yeah, me either. In fact, I just confirmed on YouTube that she was nowhere near that hot.
Cheryl: Yes, you’re right: there are good domestic cars. You’re driving one. The Ford Fusion is another. The Chevrolet Malibu is another. The problem is that the per-unit cost for union obligations–and I don’t mean pay, I mean things like retiree health care and idled-by-design workforces–is enormous, and might be as much as $2,500.
You love your Focus, but would you have bought it at $24,000?
On the other hand, an Expedition might have $10,000 of MSRP-based profit in it, and $6,500 of real-world deal profit. Bit easier to recover those costs with that.
I fear GM, Ford, and Chrysler are going to avoid bankruptcy, and ultimately nothing’s going to change. Chapter 11 is awfully bitter medicine, but I think it has the better chance of working.
Didn’t GM and the others AGREE to everything they are obligated to pay their hourly workers, including retirement and health benefits?
I don’t know how much, if any, less I would have paid for a Saturn Aura hybrid as compared to my Honda Civic hybrid, but I was shopping for ga mileage, and willing to pay for it. I honestly would have considered the Aura hybrid if it was even close.
Nobody forced anyone to buy an inefficient SUV. I agree. However, let’s not leave out the ability of large corporations spending billions on slick advertising to create and boost demand. I live in the land of the SUV, my ‘hood is filled with them, big ones. These people could parbly well afford the expensive gas (in hot weather many of them leave their behemoth running in the parking lot while shopping!). Is being able to afford burning excessive fuel the only issue?
I favor Ch. 11 for these guys, not extinction, but in the end, Congress will decide and one or the other president will agree,that the taxpayers should pay for those executive salaries, those union benefits, and those jets (of course, meaning the taxpayers of several generations of Americans).
Leave us not forget that in Ch. 11 the airlines dumped their pension obligations on the taxpayers, and the “Big 3” probably will, too.
And everybody wants a tax cut. We should change the name our our country to “Wonderland.”
Relax. Obama will fix it. You’ll never have to make a mortgage payment or pay for gas again. Happy days!
Gerry: Of course, you’re right. The auto manufacturers did agree to all of these terms. Jack Woltz agreed to cast Johnny Fontane, too.
Lee: Yeah, I’m looking forward to that myself. It’s the most memorable time of my life! It’s such a touching moment!
I don’t get the “deal he couldn’t refuse” analogy, sorry. Nobody held a gun to management’s head. I just haven’t caught on to why unions are the whipping boy when things turn to crap. Lots of people say it, nobody explains it.
Gerry, I think it’s because of their astonishing greed. They have a stranglehood on the auto industry. There are federal laws that protect workers rights, but for decades these unions have demanded more and more. Ironically, they were bidding themselves out of work and the industry allowed it to happen.