patrick.net

Before we get lost in all the piles of the dem on dem constructive criticism, where we discussed and critiqued dem pols, let's remind ourselves that out of the 317 Americans that make up the citizenry, only 60 Million people voted for the repub in the most recent prez election

That's 19% of the population

Good to keep in mind, when dreaming up different ways to empower the usfedgov. That if you give the gov enough power, it only takes 19% of the population to ruin everything to the point where all we can do is develop exit strategy

marcus says

Then there's prop Prop 13 (the effects kicking in).

Shudder. Just imagine how much worse California government's services, budgets and liabilities would be today if they pegged more of their tax receipts to California's volatile property values during the bubble years? Talk about Armageddon! The fuckers would be closing libraries, schools, parks, power during the crash until we agreed to pay up with unpayable bonds or higher taxes to fund them.

Thank God for prop 13, it is just about the only throttle on the totally incompetent libs running California who are intent on marching the entire State to bankruptcy.

CL says

True dat. The standard GOP trick is to accuse the Democrat of everything under the sun until there is an air about them that stinks.

Uh-huh,

Kind of like how Democrats will find some obscure Republican or primary challenger (Atkin) say something foolish about abortion or witches, or take something way out of context (47%) and make every Republican nation-wide own and apologize for it the entire campaign.

If the Democrats didn't run on girly social issues (Fluke, slut, gays, abortion, contraception) and didn't have the massive power of the media and culture to frame and brand Republicans as people who should "rot in hell" - I don't know how you guys could ever win more than 30% of the vote, ever.

Sometimes I think our CIA is ran by a group of psychopath's. The things they do, and evils they plan are the kinds of things no normal human being would even want to consider.

bgamall4 says

Bigsby says

And trying to use this vaccination ruse (because it is that rather than a conspiracy or hoax)

That is where your logic is flawed. It was a conspiracy to collect DNA without giving the required immunizations to protect the children. I know you are a hard hearted bastard, Bigsby, but children?

You are the one using this to try and prop up your moronic conspiracy theories. You are the one who baselessly accuses hundreds of parents/family/friends of lying about the deaths of their family members/friends, all to boost your meager sense of self-worth. And apparently, I am the hard hearted bastard. Go figure.

And do you notice how this DNA gathering has become public knowledge. Do you notice how few people were involved in it? How few people knew about it as it was taking place? And yet what happened has still become known. And despite all this, you still think the thousands of people caught up in Sandy Hook and Boston are all actors, and that to this day, every man, woman, and child and all the people who know them are still keeping quiet about it. You need to take a long, hard look at yourself.

Bellingham Bill says

Now the GOP's got millions of racists and southern baptists (and crypto-baptist evangelical organizations) locked up.

Ha! I forgot about the raaacist charge.

The libs got nothing but screechy rhetoric trying to scare the girls cause they got nothing to run on or brag about. I expect to hear this all they way until 2016:

"Republicans are a "vile cult" that are a bunch of "racists" who "H8 science" want women to birth "rape babies" throw gays in jail and "lied about WMDs" so we could kill Muslims, and should generally just"rot in hell"."

bgamall4 says

The point is, Fort Wayne is right. They do things like setting up a vaccine program, dispense with the 2 vaccines necessary for it to work, just to spy. They do things that most people would not contemplate because of the scope of their evil. The "parents" in the Sandy Hook Hoax were CIA without conscience and without a moral bone in their bodies.

Don't be ridiculous. Intelligence agencies around the world do far worse on a day-to-day basis. The CIA isn't some special case.

And just look at what you are doing. You couldn't help yourself, could you? Once again inserting Sandy Hook into the discussion. And now apparently the parents aren't actors, they are CIA. Get a fucking grip. They lost their children you fucking imbecile. You know nothing about them. Nothing. And yet you accuse them of being CIA and being 'without a moral bone in their bodies.' You really are a despicable excuse for a human being.

bgamall4 says

Like that makes it OK for the CIA to endanger children? What kind of a degenerate putz are you Bigsby?

Where did I say it was OK? And what kind of 'degenerate putz' baselessly accuses parents of murdered children of being CIA agents?

bgamall4 says

Sandy Hook video shows the degeneracy of Robbie Parker.

No, it doesn't. It shows that you are a conspiracy loon.

bgamall4 says

YOu defend fraud and evil Bigsby. It is obvious that a hoax happened with the vaccines and a hoax happened with Sandy Hook. Too many hoaxes imbecile. You truly are a wasteland of human stupidity, Bigsby.

No, I don't.

You, on the other hand, latch on to monstrous conspiracy theories to try and bolster your sense of self-worth.

The vaccination programme has become common knowledge. Why not discuss the implications of that action? But oh, no, you don't actually give a toss about it. You are simply using it so you can continue to prattle on about your idiotic Sandy Hook conspiracy theory, attempting to draw some sort of parallel between the two that simply doesn't exist. The people involved in collecting the DNA samples should have completed the vaccination programme. What was obviously wrong with it, and that has had severe consequences, is not that they attempted to collect DNA but that they callously failed to complete the necessary vaccination regime.

Discuss that. You don't because you don't care. You simply want to use it so that you can post up for the millionth time that stupid fucking video.

And WTF do you mean 'too many hoaxes'? That's because you see a bloody hoax everywhere you look. Zionist conspiracy hoaxes at that.

WOW! The UNtrustworthy are certainly in control of what information is apparent to the people!

Say hey! This was in the Wall Street Journal on March 30, 1999. Note "... how much it will buy."

Holy cow/interesting/compelling ...!

And where is it up to date??? Right here ... see the first chart shown in this thread.
Recent Dow day is Tuesday, May 20, 2014 __ Level is 103.2

WOW! It is hideous that this is hidden! Is there any such "Homes, Inflation Adjusted"? Yes! This was in the New York Times on August 27, 2006:

And up to date (by me) is here:
http://patrick.net/?p=1219038&c=999083#comment-999083

WOW! The UNtrustworthy are certainly in control of what information is apparent to the people!

And "ThePublic Be Suckered"
http://patrick.net/?p=1230886

bgamall4 says

Where did you say it wasn't ok? That is your problem Bigsby. I saw this article and got mad for the children, unlike your accusing me of just wanting to prove conspiracy. Well, I do want to prove conspiracy because I want them STOPPED. They hurt too many people.

Oh, right, so apparently I have to spell out the blatantly obvious to you in order for you to understand that I don't think what they did was acceptable. It was obviously a very callous action (as I already stated). You seem to do callous given your posts on Sandy Hook, so you should be able to relate to that.

And you picked up on this programme as you saw an opportunity to start spouting off about Sandy Hook yet again. You did it here and you did it on your blog.

bgamall4 says

I did but you were too lazy to read the link.

No, I read your very brief and factually inaccurate 'article.' Why didn't you just discuss what happened in Pakistan? Instead, you got so 'mad for the children' that you said virtually nothing about what the CIA did and the consequences of that decision beyond one sentence of incorrectly referring to polio vaccines before diving headlong into your normal conspiracy nonsense.

bgamall4 says

No, what was wrong was that they had no intention of completing the vaccination program.

They failed to complete the programme. Whether they intended to do that from the start is pure speculation on your part. Either way, the failure to do so has had very severe consequences. That is what you should be discussing if you have any real interest in what happened in Pakistan, but of course, you are far more interested in promoting your ridiculous Zionist conspiracy theories.

bgamall4 says

They said they would refrain from vaccinations as a means of obtaining DNA. That was all they were interested in.They had no intention of giving more shots or collecting DNA would never have been an issue had all the shots been given.

You appear to need more practice in the use of the English language.

And I have no idea what their initial intentions were. It would have made far more sense to have completed the vaccinations so as to cover their actions. But hey, you are clearly an expert on what they planned. After all, your 'article' said that they were giving polio vaccinations...

I'm surprised that they are the only ones.

Cars have never been a bigger death trap than they are right now.
Where in the hell is Ralph Nader when you need him.

I bought a Mazda 3 for my self, and a Mazda CX-5 for my Wife last year. Both cars have a 5 inch thick windshield post. Not only that, it perfectly obscures the intersection at a Stop sign for about 50 yards. If you're not 100% aware at all times, and bob your head around the Window posts several times to make damn sure there's no cars hiding behind it, then again to even be further sure. You risk pulling right out in front of a car and getting T-Boned. I have already had about 5 close calls. One just yesterday, and I thought I looked good enough.
About the time I pressed the accelerator pedal, I saw the nose of the car pull past the post. Then I immediately hit the brakes, it was just a rolling start. Had it been a yield sign and I was traveling at a greater speed, it would have been a hit for sure.

Another thing is the metal the cars are made out of is flimsier than ever, the rigid steal frames have been replaced with a Styrofoam shell to which the car makers affix the body around.

We're all barreling down the road 70mph on the interstate in a beer cooler.

bgamall4 says

Bigsby says

It would have made far more sense to have completed the vaccinations so as to cover their actions.

Not if they don't give a shit.

They may not have. But like I said, discuss what they did. Don't just pay lip service to it so that you can drag up your Sandy Hook bullshit once again.

Hummer Best car GM ever built.

bgamall4 says

And, Bigsby, why don't you defend Israel concerning the false flag Lavon Affair while you are at it. Dipshit.

Off on one of your moronic tangents again, I see. Remind me again why you think I would want to defend Israel.

bgamall4 says

There is no bullshit about Sandy Hook. You still have not and cannot rebuff my claims about Robbie Parker's behavior. That was a hoax, just like this vaccine incident was a hoax. Same damned government, Bigsby.

Same old nonsensical Gary. There is nothing in that video that is remotely strange except to a conspiracy loon like you, so I'm at a loss to know what you think I need to rebuff. You're so far out on the loony fringe that I'm sure you make your fellow 9/11 conspiracists nervous.

bgamall4 says

Bigsby says

Off on one of your moronic tangents again, I see. Remind me again why you think I would want to defend Israel.

Because you defend all Zionist conspiracies as not being conspiracies.

They are only 'Zionist conspiracies' to your befuddled mind. To most everyone else, Sandy Hook and Boston were terrible events caused by a very troubled individual and a couple of religiously motivated terrorists.

GM cars are made by unions members with no incentive to work hard.
Their only incentive is to goof off .
Garbage in....garbage out.

Strategist says

GM cars are made by unions members with no incentive to work hard.

Their only incentive is to goof off .

Garbage in....garbage out.

Way to completely miss the point. The gripe was with design flaws and cheap made-to-break parts that get used in new vehicles. These aren't union members making these decisions, they are engineers, advertisers, and most aggregious: business assholes who make cynical decisions about the durability of the products the company will produce.
It's YOUR class of asshole who is to blame, not comparatively low paid union members who actually put the cars together.

bgamall4 says

Again you lie. A Sandy Hook parent can be traced directly to a fundraiser for Mayor Bloomberg, the main guy against gun rights and how much soda you can drink in NYC.

Good grief.

bgamall4 says

You lie because a former president of Italy said 9/11 was carried out by the CIA and Mossad.

Good for him. He was a befuddled old man who managed to utterly contradict himself in the space of a few months. Proof indeed! Out of interest, how does him contradicting himself make me a liar?

bgamall4 says

Still working on the Boston bombing. Clearly they used red paint instead of blood. But Sandy Hook, the tearless, emotionless hoax, is much easier to prove at this point.

Wow, we can all rest easier at night knowing you're on the job Gary. And Sandy Hook is much easier to prove, is it? Obviously your level of proof is not equivalent to that needed by most everyone else who inhabits planet Earth.

Quigley says

Strategist says

GM cars are made by unions members with no incentive to work hard.

Their only incentive is to goof off .

Garbage in....garbage out.

Way to completely miss the point. The gripe was with design flaws and cheap made-to-break parts that get used in new vehicles. These aren't union members making these decisions, they are engineers, advertisers, and most aggregious: business assholes who make cynical decisions about the durability of the products the company will produce.

It's YOUR class of asshole who is to blame, not comparatively low paid union members who actually put the cars together.

Toyota certainly has no problems. What are they doing right, and why can't we do the same thing?

Strategist says

GM cars are made by unions members with no incentive to work hard.

Plenty of them are made in Mexico, not by UAW members.

Strategist says

Toyota certainly has no problems. What are they doing right, and why can't we do the same thing?

Corrected:
Ford certainly has no problems. What are they doing right, and why can't GM do the same thing?

If it matters, I do own a GM car, as well as a Ford. Both made in Michigan (Lansing and Wayne).

zzyzzx says

If it matters, I do own a GM car, as well as a Ford. Both made in Michigan (Lansing and Wayne).

It's all Obama's fault.

Strategist says

zzyzzx says

If it matters, I do own a GM car, as well as a Ford. Both made in Michigan (Lansing and Wayne).

It's all Obama's fault.

My Prius....2 years old - 50,000 miles - Just like new.
WOW.

Quigley says

GM cars are made by unions members with no incentive to work hard.

Way to completely miss the point. The gripe was with design flaws and cheap
made-to-break parts that get used in new vehicles. These aren't union members
making these decisions, they are engineers, advertisers, and most aggregious:
business assholes who make cynical decisions about the durability of the
products the company will produce.

Agreed. I've got 30 years in the auto repair business. General Motors is one of the worst offenders when it comes to pushing out crap product, and having a huge loyal "Buy American" market base. Mechanically, the designs are haphazard with no learning from past mistakes, no accounting for service needs once it leaves the factory, and right as the product has evolved to an acceptable build level, the design is thrown out the window for the "new" product to be pushed out, flaws and all.

It's almost always people who know nothing about how cars work that blame the assembly line workers and their union 100%.

For that matter, the adversarial manner in which management treats workers exemplifies the ongoing need for unions. Look at the way German factories consider and treat their workers, even in the USA.

Funny that you got so slaughtered in the previous GM thread that you had to create this one:

http://patrick.net/?p=1242993

Call it Crazy says

corntrollio says

Out of the more than 2 million cars recalled, only 1460 were designed and built during the "Government Motors" era.

Still think so????

Yes, that quote is absolutely true with reference to all GM cars recalled on May 20th, 2014. I stand completely behind it, in front of it, and to its side. For the rest, here you go:

New GM:
Jan. 13: 324,970 of the 2014 Chevrolet Silverado and 2014 GMC Sierra for overheated exhaust parts
Feb 20: 355 of the 2014 Buick Enclave, LaCrosse, Regal and Verano; 2014 Chevrolet Cruze, Impala, Malibu and Travers[sic]; 2014 GMC Acadia for transmission shift cable adjuster (not a safety issue, btw, unless you are incompetent, and not all are new GM)
March 17: 656 of the Cadillac ELR for electronic brake control
March 28: 174,046 of the 2013-14 Chevrolet Cruze for front axle shaft
March 28: 489, 936 of the 2014 Chevrolet Silverado, 2014 GMC Sierra, 2015 Chevrolet Tahoe and Suburban, 2014 GMC Yukon and Yukon XL for oil cooler fitting.
April 24: 51 of the 2015 Chevrolet Silverado HD and 2014 GMC Sierra HD for diesel transfer pump (not a safety issue)
May 7: 8,208 of the 2014 Chevrolet Malibu and 2104 Buick Lacrosse for brake rotors
May 14: 19,225 of the 2014 Cadillac CTS for windshield wipers (not a safety issue)
May 14: 140,067 of the 2014 Malibu for brake boost
May 16: 1,402 of the 2015 Cadillac Escalade for passenger air bag
May 19: 58 of the 2015 Chevrolet Silverado HD and 2015 GMC Sierra HD for loose fuse block

That's 1.16 million cars, but some of those actually overlap (the GM trucks), so it's probably actually not that many. In fact, several things on your list probably overlap. New GM is 6% of the total recall for this year.

Again, recalls are good -- it means that a problem was detected and a fix was made available. The other good news is that no fatalities actually occurred due to these problems, and very few injuries have occurred.

GM is much better than the numerous car makers that do not issue formal recalls. In addition, as you can see from the list, several of them caught a bad part or bad process on the assembly line, which means that the rest of the production year will not have that problem -- again, a very good thing.

People who trash recalls don't really understand manufacturing. Other manufacturers don't admit problems for years and years (see Toyota with engine sludging, for example), and manufacturing problems are bound to happen. You are bound to get a bad part from a supplier every so often, which is what happened in some of these cases.

Call it Crazy says

Once again, cherry picking ONE DATE to make a point..... Oh boy...

You took my quote out of context -- I was specifically talking about yesterday's recalls, and you know that.

In addition, you didn't read my previous posts -- look above where I pointed out that only 6% of the recalls are new GM, and many of those are overlapping probably anyway.

New GM is anything where the design cycle occurred under new GM. A 2012 Malibu is old GM because the design occurred well before 2008-2009.

You very clearly don't understand the auto business, and you don't really have anything of substance to say.

Strategist says

zzyzzx says

If it matters, I do own a GM car, as well as a Ford. Both made in Michigan (Lansing and Wayne).

It's all Obama's fault.

Both cars were made well before Obama was even in the senate.

corntrollio says

Please name all GM cars sold in the US that are made in Mexico.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_General_Motors_factories

Chevrolet Aveo
Pontiac G3
Pontiac Wave

http://www.businessinsider.com/gm-invests-691-million-in-mexico-plants-2013-6

The U.S. automaker builds the Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra pickup trucks in Silao; Chevy Sonic and Captiva, and Cadillac SRX vehicles in Ramos Arizpe; and the Chevy Aveo, Trax and Tracker vehicles in San Luis Potosi.

I am still trying to determine exactly what is made in Silao since that may have changed last December. Several references to just engine and transmissions were made as well.

Call it Crazy says

GM is recalling 58 2015 Chevy Silverado and GMC Sierra being recalled due to a fire risk.

I stand behind my quote -- some of these recalls do not make the car unsafe right away. Even for this truck recall, the fire risk is if you leave the car idling for long periods of time unattended and don't pay attention to warning lights that indicate a problem. The only people affected have been those who start up the car in their driveway in cold weather and leave it there for an extended period of time. Note that this is unlikely to happen for the next several months in most of the United States because winter is over. Fire risk doesn't generally mean your car is going to be in flames if you drive it for a mile to the dealership.

The reality is that people who know nothing about cars, like you, shit their pants when there is a recall. Manufacturing problems happen. I've had recalls on Japanese cars and German cars I've owned too. Most of them were inconsequential, and some were silent (i.e. engine reprogram they did automatically at the next service interval).

One recall was for replacing the headlights to make sure they met the DOT cut-off. I did not rush into the dealership for that one. Another was because they didn't provide a warning in the manual that you need to keep the sunroof drains clear, so they gave me a supplemental page for my manual. Woohoo!

The ignition switch, that was old GM's bad, for sure. But most of the rest can be fixed quite quickly and aren't going to cause many problems.

Call it Crazy says

corntrollio says

The other good news is that no fatalities actually occurred due to these problems, and very few injuries have occurred.

REALLY???

End of 2013: GM determines that the faulty ignition switch is to blame for at least 31 crashes and 13 death

Iif you take my quote out of context, then yes, it might be wrong when you apply it to stuff I wasn't talking about. I listed several specific recalls, and absolutely no fatalities occurred from them as far as I can tell. I already acknowledged the ignition switch thing in the other thread where you got destroyed.

zzyzzx says

Pontiac Wave

Not sold in the US. That was Canada only and it was later renamed the G3.

zzyzzx says

Trax and Tracker

Not US either. They are the same car, actually. The Trax will come to the US in 2015, I believe, but is currently Mexico, Canada, Korea, and Australia (as the Holden Trax). The Tracker is the same car, but the badging used for Brazil and Russia, if I remember correctly.

bgamall4 says

Francine Wheeler was employed by DNC fundraiser, White. White has close connections to Bloomberg and Obama: http://memoryholeblog.com/2013/10/13/sandy-hook-actors-elite-political-connections/

I love it when you say "good grief". It shows how dumb you really are.

You don't get it, do you? Every single person on the planet has connections with other people. Even you. Probably. The connections you've just listed are totally and utterly irrelevant to your claims of Sandy Hook being a hoax. Your arguments are just fucking moronic. Seriously, what do you think you are demonstrating with this? What kind of proof of your hoax claims do you think this represents? I swear you inhabit a parallel universe, one where logic and common sense don't exist.

Call it Crazy says

You just wanted to "spin" it a different way because you're a GM rah rah.... We already got that part...

I am not a GM rah rah. I am an auto enthusiast. GM makes some very good cars right now. I would never defend a company that makes pieces of shit, like Mitsubishi.

In any case, you've never disputed *anything* I've said -- you've just tried to take quotes out of context and use a non sequitur to make a different point.

Call it Crazy says

Funny... I haven't had a SINGLE recall on my Honda....

Lucky you, there have been plenty of recalls on late model Hondas -- here is merely a sampling:

http://www.motortrend.com/used_cars/01/honda/recalls/

bgamall4 says

And if you cannot debunk the fact that these people were actors, and were acting a part, you have to accept that these connections mean something.

Debunk what? Your logic is so fucking screwed up it would embarrass a four year-old. You have my sympathy. Inhabiting your screwed up little world must be a pitifully sad state to end up in your few remaining years.

socal2 says

Just imagine how much worse California government's services, budgets and liabilities would be today if they pegged more of their tax receipts to California's volatile property values during the bubble years? Talk about Armageddon! The fuckers would be closing libraries, schools, parks, power during the crash until we agreed to pay up with unpayable bonds or higher taxes to fund them.

You are mixing up state government vs. local government.

Prop 13 starves local government and gives control to the state. The state government is the incompetent (and unaccountable) one, and ergo California has become more incompetent over time. I would be very happy with more local control of things like schools -- it would make them much better overall than under the current state domination.

bgamall4 says

Debunk the fact that he is an actor on a stage at that press conference. Are you mad? Crazy? Debunk it or don't post.

Oh, right, how am I supposed to debunk something that is purely a creation of your infantile and fact free imagination?

Anyway, as you've started resorting to deleting posts and spouting off your all too predictable acting nonsense, I may as well call it a day. A person can only take so much of your incoherent, fact and logic free arguments.

corntrollio says

Call it Crazy says

Funny... I haven't had a SINGLE recall on my Honda....

Lucky you, there have been plenty of recalls on late model Hondas -- here is merely a sampling:

http://www.motortrend.com/used_cars/01/honda/recalls/

No cars are perfect, and all manufactures can have recalls. Granted.
Now look at GM 50 years ago, when GM said they would drive the Japanese cars into the ocean, and look at them today.....completely dependent on government handouts and patriotism.
Even on a clear day you will not see GM again.
This company can only be described as a loser. I hope, and it may well, make a come back with cars like the Volt. The Volt is a technological marvel with both beauty and brains. Ofcourse, Tesla is better, but most people like me cannot afford one.