Anthony A
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Posts posted by Anthony A
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I found this on another forum. It's a registration to get CA Antivirus for free for one year. I remember reading here that some people really like it.
http://home3.ca.com/SubscriptCenter/MSTria...on.aspx?cid=573
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I hadn't even heard of it before. Sounds good, although I'd need more hard disk space or another hard disk just to make an image.
I don't follow. You put the image on a CD/DVD or an external HD. The images Macrium makes is only the used disk space not the whole disk and it compresses it. My images are 3 gig on one machine and 5 on another.
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I can see this thread getting locked quickley.
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There are also several tutorials on Macrium's site that are very good. http://www.macrium.com/tutorial.asp
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Brave? Watch a training video or documentary on training soldiers. There is nothing brave here. They are mindless killers. They look forward to going to war so they can kill with impunity. They also like all the flag waiving fools bowing down to them. Bravery has got nothing to do with it. They are hammers and that comes with a price as these 3 found out.
Probably one of the lowest form of scum on the planet is a military recruiter. The similarities between them and pimps is scary. They feed on the lower class. Suck them in, pump them up and use them. This flag waiving war mongering BS makes me sick.
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We all have rules to follow. That's part of life. If you don't stand behind them, feel free to stand in front of them.
How about I just stand over them when they get taken out.
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I personally don't like war, and am not a big fan. I am personally against the war in iraq (i have friends there too) and am luke warm to the operations in afghanistan (i see the arguments both sides).
But regardless, I can support the soldiers and not support the war. Most are not "mindless government goons", my friends that are there all hold degrees in various occupations. Hoping for their safe return.
I don't care what degrees they hold. You join the military you check your brains at the door. You follow orders no matter how stupid they may be. You are a hammer nothing more.
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I have had enough of this pointless discussion with you. You answer equations you weren't asked and you don't give straight answers to some questions you are asked. You behave like a politician and I don't have time for them either. All I have done is given you a platform to spout your left wing point of view which has nothing to do with the reality of the situation with the car companies. You sound like the guys who head the car unions who have a BS excuse for everything and are completely disconnected with reality. The reality is playing out right in front of you and nothing you say is going to change it. So this will be my last post in this thread. No matter what you post in response to this. No matter how provocative it may be I won't bite. I will spend the time on more pleasurable things like watching the big three disintegrate and knowing you can't do anything but watch it happen.
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Well this won't be a popular view point but since when do I care what people think? Our soldiers shouldn't be there in the first place. If you want to put on the uniform and be a mindless government goon than understand that you might get killed. The other side plays for keeps. If our soldiers were there for what I consider good reason than they would have my sympathy but they aren't and don't. I would never lower myslef to being a hammer for the government.
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I prefer facts.
Since 1996 auto IMPORTS from Japan have grown 118% in Canada. EXPORTS have declined 69%. Our auto trade deficit with Japan equals $6.3 billion. IMPORTS from Korea have increased 710%. EXPORTS have declined 75%. A 1.7 billion deficit. Both are directly related to the breaking down of trade barriers in Canada (and the same thing happened in the US) and the protectionist strategies of the Asian governments.
Auto workers pay approximately 2.2 billion in taxes each year. The big three pay close to 7 billion in taxes. 9 billion dollars in DIRECT lost taxes if they go belly up (as the asians CANNOT step in and fill the gap domestically). Obviously the 2.2 billion would be mitigated by the finding of mcjobs by the workers, but if they even make half as much at new found employment, it is over a billion dollars lost government revenue per year from the workers alone. Seems that a bailout package of a few (3.4?) billion in Canada might be not that bad of an investment for the government....in a purely dollars sort of way.
Keep in mind too (from a purely Canadian vantage point) that it is 10% cheaper labour cost wise to produce here (due to governmental health benefits, etc.). As well, most figures put the productivity of the workers in the auto industry in canada at 10-15 % more productive vs. the US (vehicles per worker, or hours per vehicle).
October Auto sales for the Big Three in the U.S. fell 41%. Suzuki down 49%, Toyota down 26%, Nissan down 36%, etc. all took a hit by the credit freeze.
Rather then "Moral Hazard" I would google "Emotional" and "Diatribe".
Um what does any of that have to do with what I said. I said the car companies were not very profitable you said they were when the economy was good. None of those stats have anything to do with how profitable the car companies are. So don't know why you posted that.
Here is some info for you. Did you know that about 80% of the vehicles manufactured in Canada get shipped to the US? You want to go on a rant about imports and exports and trade barriers. If I am the US tax payer and I'm footing the bill for a bail out. I would demand that the cars being manufactured in Canada be manufactured in the US and repatriate all the jobs. How well do you think the Canadian companies would do than?
Imports are up because we buy so may of their vehicles and why not? There better period. You advocate put barriers in place to force me to buy the crap the big three make? Give them even more reasons not to improve. If knowing they will get bailed out isn't enough now we can add forcing people to buy their cars or pay a penalty for buying foreign.
The reason the car companies are garbage is because of moral hazard. They know they can screw up all they want and they will get bailed out. They have no fear of consequences. If their bail out is in doubt resort to fear mongering like the CEO's did. I loved their horror stories of how the world would end if we didn't safe their useless asses. They should be let to fail and they will learn or die.
Emotional? Maybe. Diatribe that's your domain. Moral Hazard is very real and a major reason the stupid three are in the boat they are in. Both the management and the unions refuse to make the major changes that need to be made. Why should they? 1984 and his kind will wipe their butts for them and pat them on the head and go "there there you guys are doing your best?"
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Um, readily available information? And I don't believe that I ever said that there was no problem, things are great and they are in great shape. I just don't believe in the "shock and awe-burn everything that I don't like to the ground" kind of thinking.
Most people are less then 6 months away from the street. Believe what you will, whatever helps you sleep at night. Hating everyone and everything isn't the answer and will never bring reality to the situation. Never has been, never will be. No matter how much you debate me (as you have for the past two pages).
I have been following the car company situation for over a decade. In fact about 15 years. About the time I got into investing heavily actually. In that entire time the big three were never good companies. They were losing market share the whole time and going in and out of profitability. The Asians were gaining market share at the big three's expense the whole time. This is a fact not my opinion. Nissan ran into some trouble in the nineties got their crap together and became very profitable and well run. The big three just keep diving.
Burn to the ground shock and awe? Not what I am about. Bailing out losers who bring their problems on them selves I am against. Here is a new term for you. Perhaps you are familiar with it. If not Google it. "Moral Hazard" This is what concerns me.
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I think the bail out for wall street (and the banks) is actually a good idea. As do the majority of the commonwealth governments (right and left) as they all are doing it. Just because you don't like something doesn't mean it's a good idea to watch it fall apart. I think the government(s) see the foundation is falling apart and are doing what they can to fix it. Pumping money into the economy is probably the best thing to do at this point. It's like if my car has an oil leak. The best thing is to spend the money to fix it before it blows a gasket and I have to replace the whole engine. The pain of the cost is less then the pain of doing nothing. Same thing goes for the auto industry.
Japan does have some problems. But did you know that a LARGE proportion of their auto industry is unionized? As are the south koreans, indians, etc. Very militant unions actually. In some cases much more inflexible then the North American ones. And these countries are slowly bringing wages and benefits up, albeit much slower.
I met an Indian worker years ago from an auto plant in Asia. He was telling me that during their strikes they would stab "scabs" (replacement workers) (in the rear end as a warning) that would try to cross their picket lines. Much more vigorous in their defense of their employment then in NA.
"Even at that those sale volumes they were in financial difficulty. This is why they have no chance at survival in their current form. They will not return to those sale levels and even if they did they were still bleeding money. They were not very profitable companies that's why when things got bad they collapsed. The Asians were very profitable when things were good and now that things are bad they are still profitable just less so."
That is actually not true. They were actually quite profitable at that time. They just made poor decisions, there was a glut of vehicles in the market, and changes to the economy. You can't continue to produce more vehicles then people need/want to buy. And the flawed thinking that was more more more by the big three was also done by the other manufacturers as evidenced by their closing down for a period as well. Just to a smaller extent.
See i don't particularly believe that it needs to be the big three or another brand that produces the vehicles. It is not about WHO the vehicles are produced by, it is about WHERE they are produced. If gm, chrysler, and ford were to all close down permanently right now, the other companies could not step in and meet the demand. We would be left with lots of unemployed, and tons of imports. The process has to happen slowly, with a gradual shift (as has been happening). It would just be too much of a shock to the economy to lose such a large number of jobs at once (this would go with any sector).
I would use the example of UPS vs. Fed Ex. The first unionized, the second (for the most part with a few tiny exceptions) not. Both profitable, both HUGE (approximately 200-250 k workers each). At one time Fed ex was bankrupt. But they rebounded. But imagine if one or the other were to just close completely. How many businesses would be affected? Lots. There is always a spin off effect when such large companies could/would go under. The other side just couldn't pick up the slack.
And you are right about the people over extending themselves. My wife and I have always lived well below others in our income bracket. Less trips, smaller house, not so fancy cars, etc. But I sleep well at night knowing that if things did go bad, we wouldn't have to worry for a long time. Besides, once you live like you are poor, everything else seems like luxury.
I don't know where you get your facts about the big three being "quite profitable at the time". They were losing market share by the boat load and have been for years. They may have been making money but they were not in good shape. If they were they would not be in the shape they are in now. they were barley making it and that's why this bump in the road has killed them. Continue to argue that there is no problem. Things are great. They are in great shape. They will live for ever because they are the best companies that ever existed. I will continue to live in reality and invest accordingly. I can assure all the digits in my brokerage account are very real and they wouldn't be there if I seen things like you do. You have debated me for two pages in this thread actually trying to defend the car companies and their loser ways. Completely out of touch with the reality of the situation. Just like the car companies.
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Yeah DeCloet is known for his right wing views and column writing. But I noticed a few interesting points. Only 47% of the public favored a wall street bailout as opposed to 39% for the auto industry. Not really that big of a difference really, but one gets 700 billion, the other 14 billion......
Doesn't matter which way the guy leans. He could be so far right wing that he is a Nazi doesn't change the facts or stats he was using. Those aren't his opinion.
This is the difference between reality and a debate in political science class. Doesn't matter what should be or shouldn't be. Only matters what is. The "is" is that the big three and their union are more hated than the scum on Wall Street. That's not good for their futures.
It's interesting isn't it? 700 billion (in the US) of tax dollars to be given out to banks (private corporations) and nobody blinks though....why not just let them go under too and let a new bank fill the void? Still though, 39% ain't that bad, it was enough to get our conservatives voted into a governing party in Canada.............I was totally against the bail out for Wall Street. They let several banks fail and some were taken over so not everybody got bailed out. Many didn't. They should have all been left to die.
That Bail out is known as TARP. It was originally for buying bad debt. It got passed for that purpose. Once passed and the money was in the Governments hands they changed the rules. They started buying pieces of the banks and using the money for things that had nothing to do with it's original intent. It was a 700 billion fraud of the American people. You don't hear $hit about that though. Unbelievable how badly the tax payer was ass jammed and not a squeak from them. To make matters even more ludicrous guess what money is being used to bail out the loser car companies? Yep, the TARP money. The Senate shot down a bail out for them so Bush wants to use the money that was for the bank bail out. Ha Ha Ha I am laughing myself stupid at the American public.
Another interesting point from that article shows that the companies were selling 17 million cars up until 2005 as opposed to the current 12 million or so. Not that long ago. Lots can change in an industry in 3 years.Even at that those sale volumes they were in financial difficulty. This is why they have no chance at survival in their current form. They will not return to those sale levels and even if they did they were still bleeding money. They were not very profitable companies that's why when things got bad they collapsed. The Asians were very profitable when things were good and now that things are bad they are still profitable just less so.
I was watching the news today about honda, toyota, etc. shutting plants down in the new year (temporarily) as well. And they are in pretty rough shape in Europe right now. Even the Japanese government is putting money into private industries to prop them up during the crisis. Seems it is happening everywhere....Well of course their going to take a hit. There is a huge economic down turn how can they not take a hit. They are selling less cars because people are buying less. Simple economics. They are still making money and lots of it. They are just making less than they did when things were good. When things rebound eventually they are in strong shape to pick up the lost market share of the big three. This is the difference between excellent run car companies with flexible and non unionized work forces and poorly run car companies with in flexible unionized work forces.
Don't read too much into the Japanese bailing out their companies. That's their culture. That is why their economy is in a 2 1/2 decade slump. They are not an example of how to do things. You better hope we here in NA don't end up like the Japanese. They experienced a similar disaster in the late eighties and early nineties and have not recovered. Their stock market is at multi decade lows.
You want a good investment that you can start building a position in now gradually? Toyota. Stock is down over 40% from it's high. Making money hand over fist. Billions in cash on hand. Fast growing market share at the expense of the stupid three. You get a chance to buy a world class blue chip at cheap prices. You also know it's competition is useless. Benefit from the economic Darwinism that you are witnessing first hand.
Exciting times for those who did not have their heads shoved up their rear ends. Oh wait those clowns were buying houses they couldn't afford at prices that were unsustainable with mortgages they shouldn't have had from banks that were more stupid than they were. The moronic mary go round goes round and round ha ha.
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This is an interesting article on the the car companies and the unions. Seems the majority of people are against the bail out. Judging by the contempt people have for the big three and the unions their future is not good. No amount of bail out money will make people by your cars.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/sto...PStory/Business
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Ders sir..
My favorite web browser is mathon2.
But CCleaner doesn't support my web browser till now.
I hope it will be supported in near future.
First off Maxthon 2 runs on the IE engine so temp files, cookies, cache, etc are the same as IE. Since CCleaner supports IE it also supports Maxthon 2 and any other IE shell browser. Secondly in you install the winapp2.ini into CCleaner there is additional Maxthon 2 cleaning added to CCleaner.
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You can update from within Macrium without removing the current version, and I've double checked to make sure it isn't an update to the commercial version.
Home site for anyone new to Macrium, or if you wish to do a complete install.
Macrium Reflect V 4.2.2033: (21st Oct 2008)
The update from within Macrium was quick and painless.
Your a little late on the draw with that one Dennis
I updated that months ago 
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I think most of your ideas are good. The only thing i disagree with is when you say that the union would not agree to wage cuts. What most don't realize is that they already have done this last year. They dropped the starting wage for new hires to MUCH lower then the asian competition a year ago. The union's issue is the republican push for immediate changes to benefits for retirees. These are workers that already have fixed their incomes (and planned accordingly) while working, and then retired. The union doesn't want for them to be left in the cold (thus my eating dog food comments earlier). Future costs can be realigned, but shock and awe kind of changes can cause greater problems economically (both individually and for society) then a thought out restructuring. That was the stumbling block here, not greed. And the UAW position is that they will take cuts, but believe that all the stake holders (shareholders, etc) should share an equal proportion of the cuts, not just the assembly line workers. It's the politically motivated ideology that is stopping things from moving forward. Even Bush wants this to go through, as he sees the bigger picture.
I don't personally think there will be a merger of chrysler and gm. Possible, but i don't think it will happen. Dropping of products and shrinking of operations most likely will happen and should. And I don't think the union (s) will be broken, but will be reduced as a direct result of less employees. The problem is supply and demand. Too much supply, not enough demand. Note that its not just the big three that are closing plants for january/february. The asian competition is too, just to a smaller degree. If people don't need the cars, there is no need for the plants/employees. Scaling back will be good. Killing off competition is not. And I don't think that all the product by the big three are crap. They did make some poor decisions as to stock types, but they have some good products.
I think conditions are part of any package. In fact, the company (and unions) have already agreed to government overseeing the restructuring plans. There are even provisions that if the "car czar" doesn't like the plans he/she can nix the bailout. Heavy government oversight would be good here. At least I think so.
Couple points here.
The union concessions on new hire wages is a joke. When was the last time the big three hired anybody since that concession was made
They have been cutting workers so really how much of the big three work force is lower paid new hires if any? If they recover they have a lot of laid off people to bring back before they hire anybody. Since the companies are in such rough shape the unions need to bend more, after all it's their jobs on the line. People would be less resistant to a bail out if the unions got serious.I also think you could take a clever to the management ranks of the big three. Besides being incompetent they are top heavy. They don't need to be flying around in private jets while begging for tax payer money.
As for government oversight I am generally very against it but when it's tax payers money being used to bail out a company that bail out money needs government watching over how it's used.
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I would do what the governments are doing-helping the economy by helping a strong portion of it. And I would be happy to do it as I believe it makes sense both economically and morally. I predict there will be a bailout package, there will be concessions, and the big three will end up (in as little as 3 years time, probably closer to 5) quite profitable again and will pay all borrowed money back. Money well spent. I do in fact believe the big three have been successful. Close to 100 years has shown that they have survived change. And they probably will again. I don't think it's productive to kick them while they are down, I would rather give them a helping hand up. It was a VERY short time ago that they were immensely profitable remember. And companies get subsidies, grants, free land, etc. from government all the time. This is nothing new, just on a larger and more public scale.
As for personal decisions made, that isn't the point. The current economy is excellent for a SMALL number of us. For those in my (and maybe your?) situation this is all great. Cheap property for the buying, low mortgages, cheap gasoline, cheap labour (race to the bottom economics), some of us are making a killing. I know that I am flush with the results of the current misfortune of others. But it's not good for the majority, and that is the problem. That's why I feel the loans to the big three are a good decision.
As regards to comments about "text books" anthony, I'm not sure I understand your point there. I understand the economics in the industry because I studied the industry yes. I understand the workings of it's effect on the economy because I studied that as well. I also worked with the industry, so i have formed my opinions on the matter not from news articles, friends, etc. but from involvement. I'm not one to give my two cents on let's say the telecommunications industry, because frankly, I have no knowledge of it, and haven't really followed it.
I guess only time will tell how they will fare. But I am thinking that the big three will emerge as strong players in the market once again. And I hope they do. Competition is good. Narrowing the market won't help anyone. And heads in the sand kind of thinking can't change that.
Wow you sure are optimistic about their futures. If they manage to avoid bankruptcy, and that's a big if, they will be drastically different then they are today. They will be much smaller than they are and bit players in the industry. They will kill some brands and there will probably be a merger so the big three will be two maybe one. You will not see them disappear off the map any time soon. Even if they file for bankruptcy they will restructure and survive in some form and break the union in the process.
They are far from a success. They are the opposite. They are an example of how to self destruct. Make no mistake they brought all this on them selves. A combination of bad management, crap product and a greedy union resulted in this mess they are in.
What I would do to fix the problem. Give them a helping hand with strict conditions which the Senate tried to do. If they refused the conditions let them file for bankruptcy and take their lumps. The union said they would not agree to wage cuts and other concessions and that's why the Senate did not pass the bail out. If the union doesn't want to take responsibility for their jobs why should the tax payer. It's insane they expect a handout but will not make sacrifices then selves. The sacrifices they have made are clearly not enough or they would not need a bailout and be days from bankruptcy. I would also put limits on executive compensation and have heavy government over site into what the bail money was being used for. They would not get a lump sum to do with as they pleased. I they started messing up again I would force them into bankruptcy where some serious work on restructuring could get done.
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I don't know whether to laugh or cry at your response. It's very typical of spoon fed right wing economics that are continuously fed to people over the media yet leave us in the kinds of mess that the economy is in today. It's too bad that so many believe it. It is kind of like the little critters that chase each other off of a cliff never wondering why, just knowing that it is a good idea to do.
Your argument could also be applied to the stock market. Let it crash. Let everyone loose everything. Let all pensions go in the toilet, all peoples savings become worth nothing. Let the pensioners that are out there go get jobs to support themselves. Why should the workers that are with the companies now make money that is just paid out to dividends and stock increases for people that aren't even working? If the pensioners are too lazy or old to work then they can either eat dog food or go hungry. It might be tough love, but why should they not work? Personally, wouldn't affect me. My job probably if anything would become more secure. Why should i pay into Canada Pension Plan, Employment Insurance, etc. when I will never be unemployed and don't need that pension plan?
Obviously that's not the right kind of thinking in a modern society. Having been in both the classroom and the "real world" (and at work I can tell you that the whitewashed sanitized view the media gives of how bad it is out there is NOTHING like what is really going on out there and most people will never see how bad it is for some) I have formed the opinion that I would rather see a cooperative society then a "every man for himself" kind of one.
Interesting your comment on the democrats. What rubbish. The white house ( a republican white house that is already on the way out and is not making a decision for ideological reasons) agreed to the bailout with the democrats. The decision was made with compromise on both sides and made in good faith. It was the ideological opposition of the republican senate (as evidenced even by their spokesperson who admitted it was about getting all parties in caucus on side) that killed the package. They attempted to use the issue in a partisan way to attack organized labour and this is the ONLY reason why there is an issue with the package. The union and company already had agreed to make changes to their working relationship. Major concessions have been made to their working collective agreements over the past year and a half already. The major about face by the white house after the death of the deal is almost deafeningly loud in this respect. Now the white house is saying it will save the industry. Why? Because it is so very important to the economy. Interesting that the republican president and the incoming democrat president BOTH see eye to eye on this issue. The importance of the industry is huge. Once again, personal bias and emotion has entered the discussion rather then thought.
It makes me laugh that the same arguments were being used 25 years ago with chrysler as you make now. 25 years of jobs, work etc. And the same kind of arguments have been made about unions for a century. Ever look at the profits of CN (railway represented in a large part by CAW unionized members)? HUGE. Very profitable company with the SAME union. So why are they profitable? Smart practices? No competition? Can't be that, their competition (CP railway) is also represented by the CAW. hmmm.
And remember that someone paid for your education growing up, the roads you walked on growing up, everything you did or had was paid for indirectly by someone elses labour. And you took those handouts and now pay taxes so that others can benefit. None of us are self sufficient. And to be clear, if the big three were non unionized I would have the same opinion. As they are so very important to the economy. Interesting that the japanese auto makers are also cutting production soon isn't it? Seems they are also affected by the current economy though to a lesser extent.
Seems others want hand outs too. And the US government will be responding. Hmmmm.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/sto...l_gam_mostemail
You are going way off on a tangent and making some ridiculous assumptions about me and my beliefs. That says more about you than me.
Your point if you have one is not clear any more. You seem to think you are in debate class. I have grown up and left school and now live in the real world. Sum it up for me 1984. Are you seriously saying that you approve of the big three's way of doing business? Are you saying they are a success? Are you saying the Asian car makers success is an illusion? Tells us what your text books recommend to make the big three successful. Tells us what you would do? Could it be possible that you already think they are a success and the "spoon fed right wing economics that are continuously fed to people over the media" are just lying to us. The big three are really glowing success stories and an example for all to follow?
As for your comments about the markets and letting them crash. You, me, the government, Jesus Christ, Axle Rose, or Kermit the frog, don't "let" the market do anything. It will do what's right and has since it was created. Excesses get purged and that's an economic fact. The crash is not the problem. The bubble was the problem and the crash is the solution. It's creative destruction. It can't be stopped as you are seeing now. All attempts have failed simply because the markets should not have been where they were. Once the excesses are purged the markets will reflect that. It will stop when the fundamentals justify it. Not because some clown wants it. I side stepped this crash and the 2000 tech bubble crash. It wasn't luck it was living in reality. It was seeing obvious excesses and realizing it was unsustainable. I can assure you I am not "the little critters that chase each other off of a cliff never wondering why, just knowing that it is a good idea to do." I am as far from the herd as is possible. I am the walking talking example of a contrarian. I don't just talk it I put my money where my mouth is and that's why I'm not one of the millions losing there shirts right now. I didn't follow any body of any cliff.
Final point. You can debate me until the end of time. It's all irrelevant. What will happen will happen. Bad companies go under and good ones survive. The markets will crash when there are excesses and you can't do a thing about it. The big three can't side step economic Darwinism. Their future is clear. Nothing you say will change that.
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I believe in a society that takes care of each other. And you obviously have no clue as to how the economics in the auto industry have worked. If the costs of company A are X more then company B, and they make the same amount of money (actually company B pays MORE) and the costs associated are because of legacy costs (as mentioned by the article, and if you were to take the time to properly research it you would see that this is true) then you would see that there is an inevitable cost that will be coming to company B. The ONLY reason that they are not in the same distress as company A AT THIS TIME is because they do not have the same history (ie. length of time in the industry which creates legacy costs) with its associated costs. This is true for any company/industry. The common mantra of the right wing regonomics will not change this. Have you ever been in an auto plant? Seen how they operate? Their production lines are very very very similar.
BS. The Asians have been operating in their home countries for decades and do not have the issues the big three do here. Thats because they are responsible and don't make compensation packages that will bankrupt them. You are the one with no clue on how the economics work. You WILL NOT SEE the Asians in the same boat in the future becasue they do not have a pension plan that is as generous and irresponsible as the big three. Also they are healthy growing businesses and can afford to meet their pension liabilities which the big three are not.
You can pay your employees what you want but if you can't afford it that's your problem not societies. 1984 if you make stupid decisions and spent far more than you could afford would you expect your neighbor to foot the bill because you "believe in a society that takes care of each other" Taken care of each other doesn't mean encouraging stupidity. The big three's problems are self made and they have resisted change for years so now it's time to pay the piper. It's called consequences. You know those negative results that come from having your head up your ass.
The asians have made some great decisions. More compact cars, etc. But they have benefited by several things that are not of their own making. Parts plants that already had a large portion of set up costs completed because of the big threes current occupation of the market helped the asians enter the market cheaper. The protectionist laws that were/are in place in the orient that protect their markets from imports while the NA market has increasingly opened and failed to protect the NA residents hindered the big three.Give me a break. Any advantage the Asians had with the parts supplies already being in place is long gone. It might have helped them when they first started up here but it's a non issue now and you know it. The Asians not opening their markets as fully as we do is not what is causing the big three's problems. People right here in NA don't want to buy the big three's cars. The reasons for that are obvious.
And don't forget that these are LOANS not hand outs. Chrysler paid them all back in the past. With interest. And they would/will again. Isn't that what government is supposed to do? Help the economy, etc. in times of distress? 3 million direct and spin off jobs from the auto industry are at stake. That's a lot of people in trouble. But then mcdonalds is always hiring i guess. The costs associated with doling out EI, social assistance, the hit to the markets as spending is damaged, the loss of pension plans, etc. from the death of shares, etc. would be a big hit. But then some sheeple want to do away with any and all collaborative social programs like health care, EI, canada pension plan, etc.They are hand outs and won't be repaid if the company ends up bankrupt after receiving the bail outs. Also there are millions of people losing jobs everyday. Many different businesses that could use a handout won't get one. So why should a poorly run disaster area of a company like GM get one? Why finance failure. It's evil. These companies have no reason to change their ways as long as they get bailed out.
Anyone that has taken even rudimentary political science or labour history courses would see all this. But then it's easier to get information from google, and emotional rather then intellectual based politics are more fun.That comment makes me laugh. Most of the the experts agree with my view not yours. They live in the real world not the sheltered world of a class room where every thing just falls into place neatly on a piece of paper. In the real world it all comes down to the bottom line. The big three are finding that out.
The Democrats are in favor of the bail out simply because their states have the big three plants in them and they are bowing to the voter's to keep their jobs. If you stand back and take a big picture look letting the big three fail and restructure under bankruptcy is the best long term solution. It will definitely cause some shorter term pain but so does chemo.
I like your world you want. In that world I could start a business. Pay my workers wages and benefits I can't afford and than cry to the tax payer to pay my bills for me. When they give me the hand out I can continue being an idiot and make even dumber decisions because I know you will be there for me.
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Quote;
"Hourly wages for UAW workers at GM factories are about equal to those paid by Toyota Motor Corp. at its older U.S. factories, according to the companies. GM says the average UAW laborer makes $29.78 per hour, while Toyota says it pays about $30 per hour. But the unionized factories have far higher benefit costs.
GM says its total hourly labor costs are now $69, including wages, pensions and health care for active workers, plus the pension and health care costs of more than 432,000 retirees and spouses. Toyota says its total costs are around $48. The Japanese automaker has far fewer retirees and its pension and health care benefits are not as rich as those paid to UAW workers."
Exactly what I said earlier here. Shows that the issue is more about the big three being around longer and having more retirees then the asian competition. 20 years from now you will see the exact same problem affecting the asian automakers as their employees retire.
Nothing to do with the union it seems, more to do with the "burden" of covering the cost of the pensions of the retirees. I for one think that when someone helps the company make billions upon billions during the thirty or so years they work for the company should be taken care of in their golden years. Remember, that all a pension is is deferred wages. The toyota, honda, etc workers will be looking for their comeupance once they have put in their time in the plants and are ready to retire.
You refuse to admit the unions are a big part of the problem. You think like they do. It will get the big three no where but bankrupt or on welfare assistance from the government. The unions refusal to bend makes it crystal clear to me the big three are doomed even with a bail out. Just a matter of time now and much deserved and long over due and it will happen.
There is far more than legacy costs separating the Asians from the big three. The whole work environment and ethic is different. This is a direct result of the unions going over board. How you can continue to argue for something that has so clearly and total failed is beyond me. Next you will be arguing 1 + 1 = 3. Thats UAW/CAW logic and it's asinine.
As for being entitled to being taken care of in your golden years. Thats not my responsibility. If the company and unions created a system that can't meet it's obligation then that's their problem. The system clearly doesn't work and I and you and everybody else shouldn't be on the hook to pay these clowns. It's wrong and it's evil. I seriously doubt the Asian car companies will create a pension plan that will drive them into the ground. They have more sens than that. The Asians have been operating over in their home countries for decades why do they not have the problems there that the big three have here? The answer is obvious.
The US Senate impressed me last night. They voted it down and should have. There is no doubt Obama the retard will open every body's wallet and write blank checks for any body that needs one when he takes office for his disastrous one term. If the big three survive until then they will get some sort of welfare like the losers they are but they are going to be back for more and this game of feed the losers will continue until they die their much deserved deaths. The sooner that death happens the better.
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No surprise to me. They are self destructive. They know the situation and still will not bend. They would rather go bankrupt. Maybe now the big three will be forced into bankruptcy and then they can break the union. GM is in critical condition and is literally days away from running out of cash. They needed the bail out badly. They could file within days.
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I actually find the iphone pretty easy to type on. I played with a friends and didn't have any problems. As well, I have the ipod touch and absolutely love it. The phone is a little bigger, but the screen size is a good trade off for the extra weight that you have to carry.
Yeah I have read many reviews about the iphone and many people seem to like the touch screen QWERTY key pad. My phone also has one but I find it works much better than the iphone's. The iphone does not give you the option to use the QWERTY in landscape mode so you have more screen space and that seems stupid to me. You have to use it in portrait mode for texting so there is less screen space. You can use the QWERTY in landscape mode for entering web addresses in the browser though. It's a flaw with the iphone IMO.
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I'm really on the fence about the iphone. I'm kind of torn between switching to Rogers and getting the iphone or staying with Telus and getting the blackberry Storm. I think the iphone is the better phone/toy overall, but i really like the removable battery and micro sd card on the storm....and then there is the nokia n97 if it ever comes to canada.......now THAT looks like an all encompassing phone.
I spent a couple hours playing with the iphone and it's way over rated. I found the key pad almost unusable. I couldn't get moer than two words out with out making a typo. It's also too big.
The Storm is getting very bad reviews so I would hold off on that one.
I would love to get my hands on a phone running Goolge's Android OS. Not available yet in Canada.
In a year or two the whole phone scene will be totally different. It's changing so fast. There going to be selling iphones in Walmart very soon I just read. They have an agreement with Apple.
I just bought a LG Dare. The touch screen blows the iphone away. It's got an amazing camera for a phone. It has a HTML browser that loads pages almost as fast as my computers do and more features than I will ever use. It looks a lot like the storm but no where near as buggy. http://www.telusmobility.com/on/pcs/handset_lg_9700.shtml
I updated that months ago 
Security experts advise to stop using IE.
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Not that you need an other reason to stop using this black hole of a browser but http://lifehacker.com/5111184/security-exp...xplorer-for-now