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Comments
I don't recall if I posted this video with my hero in it???
-Rocky
I was raised just a few miles from the NYC line, so I consider myself quite accustomed to urban life and crowding (approx 18 million people live in the tri-state area where NY, NJ and CT come together)...Kennedy and Laguardia are huge airports...I moved South and fell in love with the somewhat slower pace (it was quite slow in 1971, but by the 90s the pace had quickened substantially)...
I then moved to Michigan in 1980 and found the people generally nice but brainwashed by that UAW mentality...what amazed me was the dichotomy of the UAW and non-UAW folks...UAW folks were childishly afraid to even look over to a Honda vehicle (altho they had NO trouble literally DESTROYING the vehicles on display at the Detroit Auto Show, the actions of mindless idiots with the 2nd grade mentality that exists in those people)...
Yet folks who were not UAW were VEHEMENT in wanting the freedom to buy the foreign makes, because I was amazed at the on-UAW folks who consistently called Big 3 products "crap" and other unmentionable words...you see, rocky, even Michiganders knew the UAW cars were junk, and they were ecstatic when an alternative was FINALLY available...you can rail at me all you want, but fellow Detroiters wanted to avoid UAW cars (specifically, avoiding what they called "union crap") because they thought that imports were better...
In 1990 I moved back to Atlanta (10 years of 40 below zero in January were enough for any human to tolerate) I moved to the country, in a town of 3500 people...redneck???...sure, but I enjoyed living in a small town...I could hear the birds but could not hear the trucks on the interstate...
I made it a point to (try my best) not to come across as an arrogant New Yorker (I hope I succeeded) and I get along with folks just fine...from what you post, you cannot get along with anybody unless they are UAW from Grand Rapids and that is sad...because you are the only one here who does not see the handwriting on YOUR wall...if you expect to make a living, you will probably (weasel word) have to leave Michigan or starve...the opportunities there will get fewer and fewer, altho the people applying for the jobs will also get fewer and fewer...floorsweepers, when they find out their job is REALLY worth $5/hour (altho minimum wage laws will guarantee them more), will walk away...they actually think that pushing a broom is worth $35/hour on the open market, and reality awaits for them soon...it isn't...
But you seem to have problems with anybody different from you...maybe the problem IS you...maybe a good look in the mirror is in order, because you can't seem to tolerate anyone that isn't a Michigan UAW worker...and, considering that there will be fewer of those, you may not have anyone to talk to except Beth, and even she understands capitalism better then you...must be the cleavage...
Oh, and have you ever taken a look at a lineup of UAW workers???...and you don't think they could populate the front row in a Willie nelson concert???...(old joke...what has 100 legs and 2 teeth???...the front row in a Willie nelson concert)...so this toothless hick image ytou have of the South fairly describes the average UAW worker, at least what I saw in the 80s, so don't think you have anything up on the good ol boys down here...except the UAW folks had an easier accent for me to understand...
-Rocky
-Rocky
Easy there, I could never afford front row tickets to a Willie Nelson Concert. Got a nose bleed I was so far back in the crowd. I did luck out and get in the 3rd row for Jimmy Buffett. I'm not a Parrothead, but did enjoy the energy of the crowd. If UAW guys go to a KISS concert that says a lot about their mentality and moral character. :sick:
He said that he never said that Americans should only buy domestics, to support GM and Ford and Chrysler. He said that if they want to, if those are the rigs they pick on their own accord, well then great.
But he values the competition and welcomes it when people buy Mitsubishi's, Honda's, Hyundai's, Kia's, Subaru's, Nissans, Toyota's and on and on and on. Fancy that?
I think I like Fritz more than any CEO I've ever heard speak from GM before. He really only wants those people to buy GM products who are convinced in their heart that they're buying a better product, or at least a competitive product. And to be fair, GM products have been improving of late. Haven't they, guys?
2021 Kia Soul LX 6-speed stick
I never said things were great, no doubt the economy is severely hurting. There is quite a bit of mfg. and processing type plants around here. Peoria has Catarpillar and they've definitely had layoffs, Normal has the Mitsu plant. Kraft has a large facility in Champaign, ADM has a large facility in Decatur just to name a few. Lots of small manufacturers through out central Illinois.
And yes, lots of cornfields and jobs to support them with the likes of Pioneer seeds etc. I thought Kansas was flat, but I don't think you can get any flatter than central Illinois either.
I also recall you living in Wichita, Kansas and I assume you knew a lot of people there???
Just about everyone I knew there has moved out of state for better opportunities and the I knew a few people who worked for Cessna, but I haven't talked to them since we moved. I know Cessna has laid of a bunch.
Chicago seems to be holding up well. Mine and my wife's family live in NW Indiana (where we're originally from), l have several friends and family that work at the steel mills and they are all still working. No layoffs yet, but hours have been cut big time with o/t all but gone.
We have cities that are virtually dead around here like Danville, which lost a GM plant many years ago and has never recovered except for the developing meth industry and taking the section 8 housing Chicago exported to them.
I'm just countering by stating I know many people that are doing very well, some incredibly well, and some are struggling.
FYI- I have been through central Illinois, several times and will have to stop one of these days to have a beer with you.
I'm sorry you have to drive through this boring state, but give me a heads up when your coming through and I'll have a cold one waiting. If your lucky, I might even have a keg in the kegerator. Or does that make me a redneck? LOL
That is the town my mom was born in, back in 1922. Does not sound like a place I would want to visit.
Your point about our still having a lot of manufacturing is true. Much of it specialty things. San Diego has two of the top musical instrument manufacturers. Taylor guitars and Deering Banjos. Both keep a lot of families supported in modest style. These are not high paying UAW type jobs. No Unions or strikes needed to keep people on the job. Highly skilled craftsmen doing what they love.
My nephew moved out here from Ohio when he lost his 3rd job in Ohio in less than a year. I did not think he would find work. He had 3 job offers in less than a week. He took the best offer. Finding a trade or skill that is needed and getting training is what a wise person does. Whining and complaining about currency manipulation that has been around since the beginning of time is just wasted verbal energy. Wanting the government to protect your job when the government is the one that has invited the competition to build in the USA is ridiculous.
Those that sat around in the Jobs bank watching CNN and eating jelly donuts instead of getting training in a better field deserve what ever happens. The handwriting on the wall has been clear to everyone. The US domestic auto industry has gone down hill since 1970. They have lost market share every year for nearly 40 years. The UAW has lost a million jobs for their workers. That should have been enough for the smart ones to get some training for the inevitable day that is upon them.
Also why is it that all UAW workers on TV where Canadian Tuxedos to meetings. Denim on Denim?
On a side note, my cousin goes to Georgia Tech. He could design GM vehicles on the back of his hand. :P
That is all we here from you. How does that affect your job, the UAW, the quality of GM cars. What about all the stories of UAW workers sabotaging cars:
From the Harvard Business Review:
"In the early 1970s, faced with growing worker dissatisfaction resulting in higher rates of absenteeism, grievances, and in some extreme cases wildcat strikes and sabotage on the assembly line, General Motors in cooperation with the UAW instituted a “Quality of Work Life” (QWL) program."
Those things get you fired everywhere else. No wonder why GM was making such bad cars.
I thought all beer drinkers were rednecks
You will hear Rocky coming on the latest in UAW transportation.
Rocky, is mullet part of the UAW uniform? And shouldn't you be looking for a job instead of goofing around on the net. Don't you have kids to feed, ex-wife?
Every major western government is borrowing hand over fist and the central bankers they appoint are printing money to prevent their profligacy from sending the cost of borrowing sky high. The US Congress, although by no means the only offender, is the worst. The only reason that this has not caused massive inflation is because China has so far been willing to take worthless paper in return for real goods. Like all rulers they're not acting out of the goodness of their hearts. A bout of inflation in China's number one customer would threaten Chinese prosperity and stability, and that would be bad for the communists.
The Stimulus IS currency manipulation. Printing money with NOTHING to back it up.
Bailing out the Domestic auto industry is also currency manipulation. I think our friends in the UAW would like selective currency manipulation that favors their jobs and screws everyone else.
In Layoff Epidemic Nobody is Immune
Rocky - there is industry in central Illinois - you just have to know where to look through all of the cornfields and soybean fields! ADM and Caterpillar in Decatur are some pretty good-sized plants, as is the Mitsubishi plant in Normal and the Kraft and Solo Cup plants in Champaign and Urbana. Of course, there's the home of Caterpillar in the Peoria area, but some may not perceive that as truly central. I would agree, no extensive heavy industry, especially like that north in the Chicago area, or in the Dayton area, or in many cities throughout MI and OH.
Only if the refrigerator is on the front porch. :P
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
With the cheap houses in Detroit the UAW retirees should have a low cost housing option that the rest of the USA does not enjoy.
While it is all in the eye of the beholder, Detroit is considered one of the least attractive Cities to live in by many beholders.
Houses in Michigan are going for a grand.
While it is all in the eye of the beholder, Detroit is considered one of the least attractive Cities to live in by many beholders.
Houses in Michigan are going for a grand.
No, we will NOT trade British Columbia for Michigan regardless of what you throw in! We may have been born at night, it just wasn't last night. Nice try though. :shades:
Sharp said AT&T's core landline employees do not pay health care premiums and pay 8 percent of their health care costs in contrast with AT&T wireless business employees who pay as much as 20 percent of health care costs.
"These employees have the richest benefits," Sharp said. "That's primarily what this bargaining is about."
Sharp said the comparatively low health care costs borne by AT&T landline workers is similar to what auto workers pay "and it's clear what those sorts of unsustainable costs have done to America's auto industry."
Johnson dismissed that argument and instead pointed to the company's overall financial well-being.
"AT&T is not the auto industry," she said. "It's very successful, very profitable."
AT&T Contract Talks
http://www.southparkstudios.com/episodes/165203
We can give you a couple bucks of the stimulus to support the future welfare recipients the UAW will be trying to find Section 8 housing for. Maybe a few tons of rice to feed them. I got to tell you it will be hard finding jobs they are capable of doing. We would send them to New Orleans but they have reached their quota of warehoused votes.
boston: "Detroit is considered one of the least attractive Cities to live in by many beholders."...I do not know what Detroit was before the 1967 riots, but when I arrived 13 years later, much of it was an absolute crime-ridden slum...not all, mind you, but enough that both black and white left the city in droves due to the rising crime...they are the one city known for Devil's Night, the night before Halloween, when the city is virtually set on fire, sometimes numbering in the high hundreds of fires...
The paper would print that each year the fires were going down due to citizen vigilance, but it was all a lie...I knew many Detroit Firefighters, and they would quote numbers in the 700-900 range, depending on the year, while the paper would print numbers like 225, 175, 145 and so on...sheer publicity stunt, what the paper printed...
Detroit was a pit back then, and it can only be worse with the recent mayor making Coleman Young look good, and Young was entirely corrupt and racist...
I will give credit to Young for one thing...he was the only inner city mayor, a Democrat, that was absolutely pro-gun...he acknowledged the crime rates, and fully believed that citizens needed guns to protect themselves, since the police rarely arrived in time to prevent ANYTHING...it is a rare Democrat who has ANY respect for the 2nd Amendment, esp in a northern city...
How about we will take Montreal and Toronto, you keep the rest of Quebec, and you can have Alaska minus the oil and we keep Hawaii? Plus you can see Russia from Alaska. :shades: :shades:
"On March 19, 2009, Gettelfinger announced he intended to retire at the end of his term and would not run for reelection in 2010."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ron_Gettelfinger
Turns out my daughter was in middle school before she figured out that Alaska was in fact attached to the rest of North America and not an "island" in a separate box, as is shown in most atlas'.
Also, AT&T made 12.9 BILLION last year, so they can afford it.
However, if Google has its way and makes the air waves free, AT&T will be in a world of hurt. Besides, the IPHONE was a major mistake these past years and other mistakes such as getting out of the cell phone business, then later returning/buying Southwestern Bell. Oh yeah great CEOing there.
http://seekingalpha.com/article/4979-google-ceo-almost-confirms-nationwide-free-- wifi-plan-goog
Jesus, did you look at the date on that article, it's freakin over 4 years old and as close as Google has gotten to that is offering Skype on the Iphone which only works on WIFI and you still have to pay for WIFI coverage from the major carriers which has spotty coverage at best. I think AT&T is safe for a while.
Plus google isn't going to own the infrastructure to provide the WiFi network but will only provide the service for free based on advertising revenue. Thus, they will be paying someone for the wireless infrastructure.
dieselone: The kegerator makes you a cool redneck
gagrice: The Jobs Banks Program was a promise by the D3 to retrain the UAW workers that was never kept for the new machinery. The problem was they kept on shipping plants south of the border and oversea's and it's kinda hard to train for jobs that don't exist. I know that answer won't satisfy your hate but it's the truth.
Also just remember we went through a few major recessions under your hero Reagan.
-Rocky
-Rocky
-Rocky
Fritz Henderson, is trying to play up GM products despite all the disadvantages they have. It is amazing just how good GM cars are but some people are so blind they can't see it. :sick: If Honyota, had to go through what the Big 3 has they would of went belly up years ago. The only reason why companies like Mitsubishi, is still around is because there government bailed them out. Honyota, was living off the Japanese government nipple in the 1970's and a good portion of the 80's. Some have said they are back at it. I don't know if that is true or not???
-Rocky
You meant your wife, right??? :P
You will hear Rocky coming on the latest in UAW transportation
That is hilarious....That will be what ex UAW workerers will only be able to afford after your "Brave New World" is complete. :sick:
-Rocky
I love the kegerator except that I drink to much when I have a keg on tap. When my wife asks how many beers have I had I always answer "just one";) Plus no one is ever around to help me lift and position 130lbs or so of beer, but I never have a problem finding people to help empty it. LOL