balthazar

>>"...the Volt is simply the wrong car at the wrong time."<< Not neccessarily. Everyone is pretty sure gas is going to skyrocket again, but with it at 1.79 - 1.89 here for the near future, Prius inventory has rocketed from a few days to over 6 months. Volt would likewise sit right now. If gas climbs, say next year, it may just coincide with the Volt's arrival nicely, but yes; that would be but a happy accident on GM's part.

Agreed, Camino- badge-slapping may work for hyperv6, it would not for me. G8 / Impala switcheroo would not interest me in the least. And BTW hyper- not much built ANYWHERE in the '80s looks 'good' now ! The '80s; when the BMW 3-series was slower than a Beretta GTZ. Bad times, bad times.

>>"Cheaper oil and air filters (gotta love private brands-both are made by Wix)"<< While the buy-in price may be lower, WIX quality is excellent, so there- it's not 'cheaper' at all. Haven't cut back on anything, and I continue to do what work I can & have time for. Last weekend; wife's GP - new rear rotors. Oil & trans fluid change due on the 2500HD- no time right now.

A '37 Plymouth, a '55 Olds, a POS.

>>"if someone wants to be critical, keep it objective and policy-based. Starting off making personal insults shows the inherent biases and lack of respect toward the office holder of the writer, and kills whatever credibility they could have had with me."<< Are you saying writers should only write on subjects & individuals they respect ? Can one reasonably render opinion on a person they disrespect... with respect ? Yea- I guess that's possible, but respect is still earned, not guaranteed, in most instances. Inherant respect for the POTUS's office has been eroding as long as GM's marketshare. That said- I too generally abhor smarmy 'journalism', but there are still some interesting points in the op-ed.

Fed Gov officials are NO BETTER- they never get arbitrarily replaced by an overseer, never are called on the carpet to answer 'witch trial' questions, are even more out of touch that corporate executives, execute failure after failure yet still get LIFETIME salaries and 100% healthcare, PLUS they vote their own pay raises in. Where's the 'board of directors' for Congress ?? Throw them the f**k off the building too, but first and head first. >>"Just the other day there was an article where some bank exec was complaining that because he went to a fancy college he should get to collect a high salary regardless of what the economy or his company are doing."<< Just the other year Barney Frank was assuring everyone that there was no impending crisis in the housing market. He take any pay cut, face being fired, field public outcry over his job performance? Not a chance- instead he gets even more power.

(assuming, for the moment there's a future here to discuss) Ummmmm.... how long, in seconds, before detractors start linking the Town & Country with 'driving an unlettered mail truck' ??? This is NOT what I would call an aspirational association by a long shot.

Got a baby : '04 Silverado w/ 77,6xx K My brother's '81 Chevy Camper Special pickup went circa 275K, but led a hard life : original 6.2 diesel died, replaced by a Chevy 350, then replaced after that with a Pontiac 400 (power!), not to mention the truck seriously off-roaded, got lifted, snow-plowed, had a utility body dropped on it, towed equipment & cars. It was still running but was rotting out pretty bad, so it's gone to that junkyard in the sky...

>>"Wasn't there a Senator or somesuch who suggested these bank officers "follow the Japanese lead"... "<< There was such a clueless fool, yes. Irony: FM/FM are gov entities, with gov-appointed leadership- so he damned himself, in effect. Can you smell the implosion the gov is cooking??

Seems everyone is running with a rogue theory on the purpose here, and that the weights presense is even intentional. And isn't Brembo experienced enough to spot a design flaw that would generate squeal and do something about it ?? Don't they test before release?

I recall late last year that, in a radio discussion RE the current situation vs the Great Depression... that one significant difference (of many) why things now are not nearly as bad as then, was that then, people were throwing themselves out windows to their deaths.

Insurmountable, IMO. Minivans remains at the bottom of the aspiration stack.

At least on that level, the commercial would've made a lot more sense. As it is, it only comes off as trying to 'be cool' comparing a mass-produced generic family truckster to RWD customized vans that represent what people owned because they wanted to, as opposed to what they had to.

Agreed :

At this point, nothing's future is carved in stone.

You know it's junk.

They look fine stock... but they still whisper 'chop me' everytime someone with something sharp gets close.

True; I ignored minority stakes on purpose, figuring they were more 'investments' than legitimately-owned brands. Subaru has yet to build an aspirationally-styled vehicle. Just read in another thread where buyacargetacheck still thinks toyota is made up of only TWO brands.

Why would you picture someone typing something on a keyboard as also talking aloud ?? ...Unless that's how you have to type things in- by saying it, too ! Yep; It all makes sense now ... :rotflmao: :rotflmao: :rotflmao: :rotflmao:

Do you just use/understand the botanical names, or do you speak the language fluently ? -- -- -- -- -- I too like maps- I do a fair amount of amateur 'archeology' via Google Earth & others. I wish to hell we had had satellies snappin pics 50-100 years ago, tho. My buddy has a Tom-Tom Nav (or maybe it's another brand, IDK) - we were driving somewhere new and he turned it on- it was dead. I reminded him 'Map-Map never goes dead'.

'Yawn' ? 'YAWN' ?!?!? What, no :rotflmao: :rotflmao: :rotflmao: :rotflmao: ??? You mean, you were actually addressing something SERIOUSLY on this board ?? :rotflmao:

>>"I didn't think what I asked was all that outrageous..."<< And normally, it wouldn't be. But... it's you, and you've been on double secret probation since becoming a PM, and that means just one more slip up, one more mistake, and this fraternity of yours has had it !!!

Nope- your sig is still too big; I can still see the Intrepid. How about an icepick?

Would love to see a similar poll for all other nations, and the results. No doubt plenty of shocking numbers there. Of course- that'll never happen; what's the point? : 'all Americans are so hopelessly stupid no one will even come close; why bother'. More despicable, destructive, demeaning, self-hating, worthless "news". I've heard this VERY SAME POLL QUESTION repeated I don't know how many times in the last 20 years. What's amazing is the blind eye turned toward the very subject matter taught in schools... and the people behind those decisions, pushing hard to amend. Hardcore PCers thump & wail to teach PC topics like... Oh, I dunno- Muslim history, squeezing out American history, so this news is small wonder. The history books commonly used are a travesty. The education system needs more flushing than the political system. My son is in school learning frickin' Latin, the Greatest of the Dead Languages, and it's not remotely close in time to 1950 !! Does he spend even 1 week on money managament & fiscal responsibility, you know; something that everyone has to deal with for most of their entire lives ????? Nope. Idiotic... but we must make amends, starting with the children.

Spring Englishtown Swap Meet- dunno how many car are there- over a 1000 easy. Won't bother listing. Every year, however, a few more japanese sh*tboxes belly-crawl in, to the point there are dozens & dozens. I mean a stock matrix on the show field (or was it a Vibe?) ???? Does anyone really give a flying f**k ?? Don't see any value in 16 black '90s Impala SSs all lined up, either. Was some cool rod material there, tho. I primarily go to 'network' socially, and people watch. Finally... in May, there's a concerted effort to start a regular 'old-tyme' show, drags & drive-in movies at the track, cars limited to no newer than 1958 (with some exceptions for period-correct). THIS will be worthy of attending- I can't wait.