balthazar

My G3 is running behind me as I type. It's 10 yrs old this yr- good for a few games & graphics programs & PageMaker (which I still use for business).

Well this absolutely SUCKS (tho I understand completely). If you pop back in, shoot me a PM, HE. If not, anyways; thanks for some great conversation from the Same Page.

>>"They're an everyman brand, 1/2 a step up from Chevy and you could buy a couple of them with really big motors that the Chevy's didn't get. With the exception of some varieties of F-body and the Fiero, there was nothing at Pontiac that you couldn't buy at your local Chevy/Olds/Buick dealer with the same or better performance."<< This has been true at a certain time (like recent memory fading back into the mists of time), and completely false at another. Since you mentioned 'big motors Chevy didn't get', it sure sounds like you are referring to a time when there was divisional engineering & proprietory engines, which would indicate the latter for the most part. The Beginning of the End for Pontiac was, really, 1979.

>>"but rather questioning that liberal radio has failed for the reason you gave."<< Ahh. Like I said- it was another's theory, not mine (at this point, I disremember who said it). Not sure of the validity, but beyond ratings/sales, it is true that it's pretty difficult to give disapproving feedback to your TV or newspaper... When Air America started up, it had some names, Al Franken among them, and ratings initially were not great but decent, but they quickly nosedived to a best of the low single digits. 2 years later the network filed for bankruptcy. Of course- there could well be a host of reasons behind that, and it takes time for ANY new format to grow, but given the 'support' of the other venues, plus the groundswell of hatred for Bush, it's surprising to me it failed so quickly. >>"People listen to the radio? Seriously? Have we time-warped back to 1943? "<< Surprisingly, not many jobs or vehicles at all are that condusive to watching TV while doing it / operating them. Unless your a congressman...

>>"...could you provide an argument for how it is... true?"<< How what is true- that a form of the 'fairness doctrine' is coming? Because the clamor for it's return (discontinued circa '82) is gaining in volume. Why are liberal voices rising? Why are they concerned? - after all- they currently control politics. Because they want to continue to control politics and they're in the position to do something about it. 'Fairness Doctrine' (or whatever it ends up being called) is NOT and will not be aimed at television or newspapers, only radio; the single place where 'conservative' opinion outpaces 'liberal' opinion. With 'talk radio', the market has spoken, and soundly, yet that's not good enough.

Heard something very interesting today. Apparently, the CEO of US Bank Corp is talking. Said he was told USB had to take the TARP money, and that it was NOT to free up the loan dept, but to buy up smaller banks.... some of which USB in fact did. CEO of Wells Fargo is already on record saying basically the same thing- they initially refused TARP money because they had little exposure to sub-prime morgages, and did not need any bailout money. He was sat down and told he had to agree to taking it before he left that meeting, and once again that the money was to be using firstly to buy up smaller banks. If true, there is an obvious agenda to consolidate the financial industry, meanwhile bringing it under direct governmental control. Is there another entity more crooked and at the same time, more grossly inefficient ?? May I recommend stockpiling Mason jars for future investment ?

It's going to be a pretty thin line separating 'politics' from GM when politics is now so deeply ingrained into GM in 2009. Perhaps a clear definition of what constitutes 'politics' as perceived by the mods is in order, to avoid spot administrative editing of member's posts. Just a suggestion.

>>"The CTS is pretty good looking, but is it going to steal sales from the 3er coupe, 6er coupe or E-Class coupe?"<< Why not- the CTS sedan stole from the 3-series sedan & the e-class sedan.

Oh no; I am totally on board with pinning the blame where it belongs- and that's government as the primary. I'm just saying, IF a bank was using 20% of bailout money just to track that money, they didn't deserve any bailout to begin with. I'm not up on what 'compliance' entails from a corporate financial standpoint, but I cannot see how running more of what they already run (money) thru their various investments & programs would cost much of anything more to track except a little time. It's not like the individual bank splits up the bailout billions into $5s and $10s....

Like I said : The Censorshop Doctrine will fix that nasty, troubling, opposing viewpoint problem, so we can all be coddled in unending governmental bliss. BTW- IIRC, it was a "blue state scumbag" that made that comment, but he was probably being facetious. :wink:

20% to track it ?? BS. Any financial entity that runs that inefficiently deserves to die. They have to track their dollars as a matter of course- how else do they file taxes & compile annual reports ?? -- -- -- -- -- Watch & see how much is 'lost' of the $787B approved today. I would not be surprised if HALF simply disappears, and the scope of tracking it this time is how many times larger ??? We're f**ked, our kids are f**ked, and their kids are f**ked.

Porkulous package previous version was $925B, current bill plus interest is a minimum of $1.5 TRILLION, and that's just to start; who's going to blink at a mere $30B... or more accurately; $16B more ??? Few of these guys (& gals) have any earthly idea where the brake is.

>>"You won't bro because the ratings would be crap for it."<< Only place to find it is college radio. WSOU out of Seton Hall U is a metal station- I enjoy tuning in when I'm not too far south, because 75% of the time, I scrunch up one eye & wonder 'who'szat?' >>"Why not something more lesser known off the Fly On the Wall album or Blow Up Your Video? There's some great songs on there, but they never get airplay."<< Or Let There Be Rock - one of the best. But agreed: FAR too much of the popular songs, while much better material just gathers dust. >>"I'd also like to hear more moderate and liberal/progressive talk radio--way too many conservatives on the air... I miss the Air America stations"<< 'Progressive' talk radio has been tried (& heavily-funded) more than once, but it continues to fail. Of the 3 outlets (print, TV, radio), only 1 is subject to direct feedback/ interaction with the public, and that's obviously the call-in radio talk show. I've heard it theorized thusly : liberalism just doesn't hold up to factual analysis/ challenge, and having to deal with the opposing viewpoint undermines the station's credibility to the point they fail. I suppose liberal stations could just screen out ALL opposing viewpoints and survive..... or just wait until the 'Censorship Doctrine' passes and all 3 outlets are primarily liberal.

>>"Now GM is burning through 3 or 4 billion per month. "<< What happened to GM's statement of spending $1B/month by the end of '08? Where did you hear the so-specific "3 or 4 billion" number ?? They are continuing to close plants, lay off more workers AND hold or cancel future projects - how are their expenditures quadrupling as a result? They should OPEN plants & hire more if that's the case.

Anyone know the mix of ARMs to fixed ? -- -- -- -- -- Both my morgage broker, and a professional accountant advised against me pre-paying on my morgage. If I had gotten a 30-yr fixed morgage, I'd have 14 more years to go. If I had merely run the course on my bi-weekly, I'd have 6 more years to go. Instead I pre-paid regularly, and have been morgage-free since 2004. I am very thankful for my innate fiscal conservatism.

>>"I guess I'm just enthusiastic when it comes to mercedes in general"<< You could've left it at the above, you know.

Still on the honeymoon, eh?

My B-59 hardtops quarter glass retracts 100% into the quarter with a thinner C-pillar than that - Buick engineered an S-track which first draws the glass rearward, then pivots & drops the front edge down until it's all gone. Fixed pane in the mercedes makes it look like a 4-dr greenhouse on a 2-dr. Slightly unsettling. Frankly- the car would look notably sportier if the greenhouse wasn't so lengthy, then the quick-fix of the quarter window problem would remedy itself. Is it just me or is the frontal overhang continuing to grow? Interior is generic and not all that stylistically inspired or cohesive.

There is no way in hell this is going to work like supporters of the Corp would hope it would.

The 'LS' names have widespread recognition, but those are a code rather than a marketing name. Other than that, you would have to go back in history to find well-known names... and some there are nicknames rather than official, such as 'Nailhead'. The general 'Rocket V-8' comes readily to mind. Not sure how much 'Blue Flame Six' was pushed. Nothing else springing to mind at 6AM but there have to be others...

>>"Uhh, 180 is just an average four-cylinder. A high performance 4 cylinder (with FI) gets in the 250-300 HP range... or at least the same power as a base LT1. "<< Question is- at what level of power capacity is a 300 HP 4-banger, vs, the same for a 180 HP 350 ?? Don't we have a descendant of the SBC at 638 HP on the showroom floor now? The 180-HP version is trotted out ehre as if that's all it could possibly do.

How come the '38 German car looks like a '32 American car ?? ;P -- -- -- -- -- 12WD '15 Packard : Rides like it's on rails, '29 Packard :

It's not so much about money when it comes to most pre-war eruopean makes- most of them just don't place that much significance on the little details.

Phoenix has been in the news lately- the new #1 kidnap-for-ransom city in the U.S., coutesy of illegal immigrants & the Mexican drug cartels. 1 per day plus lots of the chopping off of hands & feet for slow payment. It's already in TX & CA, too - unless the gov't gets serious about border control, it's only going to get worse and more widespread.

The 57C is very crude, it's true. All that could & probably should be excused when the vehicle in question is a purpose-built race car... just don't hold it up as a thing of beauty (which it wasn't). That wasn't asked for in the opening post. I for one don't find the 57C either beautiful or interesting, even among race cars. I recall the early '60s Pontiac stock cars- they wrapped the acrylic steering wheel rims with electrical tape and fashioned a crude upholstered bolster mounted on a bent metal tube, coming up on the inside of the factory bucket seat, to keep the driver in place. Factory stuff was beautiful, but the race car modifications were, yes, crude. 2 different purposes, tho.