other dog

Hey Paul,I heard about this letter on the radio, WLW out of Cincinnati, and I copied and pasted the whole thing from their website. The first one is from the president of GM to all their suppliers, asking them to support the bailout. The next is the reply of one of their suppliers, and he pretty much hits the nail on the head. AN ANSWER TO THE BAILOUT... Friday 12-19-2008 9:15am ET Dear Employees & Suppliers, Congress and the current Administration will soon determine whether to provide immediate support to the domestic auto industry to help it through one of the most difficult economic times in our nation's history. Your elected officials must hear from all of us now on why this support is critical to our continuing the progress we began prior to the global financial crisis......................As an employee or supplier, you have a lot at stake and continue to be one of our most effective and passionate voices. I know GM can count on you to have your voice heard. Thank you for your urgent action and ongoing support. Troy Clarke President General Motors North America Response from: Gregory Knox, Pres. Knox Machinery Company Franklin, Ohio Gentlemen: In response to your request to contact legislators and ask for a bailout for the Big Three automakers please consider the following, and please pass my thoughts on to Troy Clarke, President of General Motors North America. Politicians and Management of the Big 3 are both infected with the same entitlement mentality that has spread like cancerous germs in UAW halls for the last countless decades, and whose plague is now sweeping this nation, awaiting our new "messiah", Pres-elect Obama, to wave his magic wand and make all our problems go away, while at the same time allowing our once great nation to keep "living the dream"… Believe me folks, The dream is over! This dream where we can ignore the consumer for years while management myopically focuses on its personal rewards packages at the same time that our factories have been filled with the worlds most overpaid, arrogant, ignorant and laziest entitlement minded "laborers" without paying the price for these atrocities…this dream where you still think the masses will line up to buy our products for ever and ever. Don't even think about telling me I'm wrong. Don't accuse me of not knowing of what I speak. I have called on Ford, GM, Chrysler, TRW, Delphi, Kelsey Hayes, American Axle and countless other automotive OEM's throughout the Midwest during the past 30 years and what I've seen over those years in these union shops can only be described as disgusting. Troy Clarke, President of General Motors North America, states: "There is widespread sentiment throughout this country, and our government, and especially via the news media, that the current crisis is completely the result of bad management which it certainly is not." You're right Mr. Clarke, it's not JUST management…how about the electricians who walk around the plants like lords in feudal times, making people wait on them for countless hours while they drag ass…so they can come in on the weekend and make double and triple time…for a job they easily could have done within their normal 40 hour work week. How about the line workers who threaten newbies with all kinds of scare tactics…for putting out too many parts on a shift…and for being too productive (We certainly must not expose those lazy bums who have been getting overpaid for decades for their horrific underproduction, must we?!?) Do you folks really not know about this stuff?!? How about this great sentiment abridged from Mr. Clarke's sad plea: "over the last few years …we have closed the quality and efficiency gaps with our competitors." What the hell has Detroit been doing for the last 40 years?!? Did we really JUST wake up to the gaps in quality and efficiency between us and them? The K car vs. the Accord? The Pinto vs. the Civic?!? Do I need to go on? What a joke!< /span> We are living through the inevitable outcome of the actions of the United States auto industry for decades. It's time to pay for your sins, Detroit. I attended an economic summit last week where brilliant economist, Alan Beaulieu, from the Institute of Trend Research, surprised the crowd when he said he would not have given the banks a penny of "bailout money". "Yes, he said, this would cause short term problems," but despite what people like politicians and corporate magnates would have us believe, the sun would in fact rise the next day… and the following very important thing would happen…where there had been greedy and sloppy banks, new efficient ones would pop up…that is how a free market system works…it does work…if we would only let it work…" But for some nondescript reason we are now deciding that the rest of the world is right and that capitalism doesn't work - that we need the government to step in and "save us"…Save us my ass, Hell - we're nationalizing…and unfortunately too many of our once fine nation's citizens don't even have a clue that this is what is really happening…But, they sure can tell you the stats on their favorite sports teams…yeah - THAT'S really important, isn't it… Does it ever occur to ANYONE that the "competition" has been producing vehicles, EXTREMELY PROFITABLY, for decades in this country?... How can that be??? Let's see… Fuel efficient… Listening to customers… Investing in the proper tooling and automation for the long haul… Not being too complacent or arrogant to listen to Dr. W. Edwards Deming four decades ago when he taught that by adopting appropriate principles of management, organizations could increase quality and simultaneously=2 0reduce costs. Ever increased productivity through quality and intelligent planning… Treating vendors like strategic partners, rather than like "the enemy"… Efficient front and back offices… Non union environment… Again, I could go on and on, but I really wouldn't be telling anyone anything they really don't already know down deep in their hearts. I have six children, so I am not unfamiliar with the concept of wanting someone to bail you out of a mess that you have gotten yourself into - my children do this on a weekly, if not daily basis, as I did when I was their age. I do for them what my parents did for me (one of their greatest gifts, by the way) - I make them stand on their own two feet and accept the consequences of their actions and work through it. Radical concept, huh… Am I there for them in the wings? Of course - but only until such time as they need to be fully on their own as adults. I don't want to oversimplify a complex situation, but there certainly are unmistakable parallels here between the proper role of parenting and government. Detroit and the United States need to pay for their sins. Bad news people - it's coming whether we like it or not. The newly elected Messiah really doesn't have a magic wand big enough to "make it all go away." I laughed as I heard Obama "reeling it back in" almost immediately after the final vote count was tallied…"we really might not do it in a year…or in four…" Where the Hell was that kind of talk when he was RUNNING for office. Stop trying to put off the inevitable folks … That house in Florida really isn't worth $750,000… People who jump across a border really don't deserve free health care benefits… That job driving that forklift for the Big 3 really isn't worth $85,000 a year… We really shouldn't allow Wal-Mart to stock their shelves with products acquired from a country that unfairly manipulates their currency and has the most atrocious human rights infractions on the face of the globe… That couple whose combined inc ome is less than $50,000 really shouldn't be living in that $485,000 home… Let the market correct itself folks - it will. Yes it will be painful, but it's gonna' be painful either way, and the bright side of my proposal is that on the other side of it all, is a nation that appreciates what it has…and doesn't live beyond its means…and gets back to basics…and redevelops the patriotic work ethic that made it the greatest nation in the history of the world…and probably turns back to God. Sorry - don't cut my head off, I'm just the messenger sharing with you the "bad news". I hope you take it to heart. Gregory J. Knox, President Knox Machinery, Inc. Franklin, Ohio 45005

Amen to that! And thanks Paul, hope you have a happy new year yourself.

yeah, pretty much just a repeat. Your nephew's about the right age, they seem to know everything about all kinds of electronic gadgets at that age.

now Rob, no you're not! Don't be so hard on yourself.

yes we are!..I must be off now, i'm training for the olympics.

It's easy-if I can do it, it has to be. Down at the bottom of your post, or your reply to a post, you'll see a box that says ''browse''. Just click on it then find your picture, from pictures,documents,desktop-where ever it might be. Right click on the picture, a window will open, then click ''select'', then click ''upload'' at the bottom of your post. When it's finished you should see a green check mark saying ''upload successful''. Then go all the way down and click ''add reply'' and you're done. When I post pictures I usually resize them first, in case they're too big, and I usually right click on the picture and where the window pops up and says ''send to'' i'll send it to the desktop, just so I can find it easy when I post it...but you don't have to.

oh

what is that? looks like the top of a 55 gallon drum. what was in it?

actually this is the ''slow'' group

what I do is-like the picture from Hank's-right click on it, then click on ''save picture'' and it'll go to your saved pictures.then when you post a reply,click on ''browse'' and you should see desktop,documents,pictures,etc. find the picture you want and right click on it then left click ''select''. then click ''upload'' on your post and it should post your picture. I'll usually right click on the picture and where it says ''send to'' I send it to the desktop first so I can find it easily.

...your point being?

Yeah, too bad my scanner doesn't work

I still can't program a remote...or a VCR

ok, thanks-that might be why the monkey grip patch failed on Deanna, I didn't clean it properly first. Shame too, she was my favorite.

indeed you do, cain't argy wit dat

can't be done-he's finished already...right? I think he finished 2 laps while I was finishing one. But it doesnt matter-i'll have another one too.

guess i'll inflate Monique-need to check her to see if the monkey grip held anyway. Belt buckle punched a hole in-never mind.

I saw this picture on Hank's Truck Pictures, no details, the caption just said it was a B-model on a 4x4 chassis.

good answer, good answer! ...and the survey said- sorry, been watching WAY too much TV

I went to Midland City, Alabama Sunday...sorta-kinda. I made it all the way to Cowpens, S.C. before I took a nap. The after Christmas traffic was bumper to bumper so I stopped about 5:30 at Cowpens and got a bite to eat and laid down until about midnight. Then I got a super-size Red Bull and hammered down. Came all the way back to Atlanta and picked up a load going to Scherr, West Virginia Monday- a whopping 6,000 lbs. I unloaded at Scherr Tuesday morning-good little ride from Midland City. Scherr is near Mount Storm, at the junction of rt. 42 and 93. It's right at the bottom of the big mountain with all the windmills at the top. The Mount Storm power plant is at the top of the mountain too. That would be the 5 or 6 mile 10% grade mountain. Tons of fun in winter. These pictures are of where I unloaded in Midland City-you can see this same spot on street view on Google Earth,on rt. 134 just west of Midland City. And the view from the top of the mountain on rt. 55 before you get to Moorefield-you can see the smoke from the Mt. Storm power plant way off in the distance, and just barely the windmills. An old bridge on rt. 220 in W.V. View from the top of Afton mtn. on rt. 64 in Va. Alf ...and lots of trucks at the yard.

yeah, mega millions would be better, but still-not bad, congratulations!

hey, pretty neat- that's the exact same question. i'd never heard it before except that night on the cb many years ago. still, 9x3 is 27,plus the 2...looks like it should...i mean...it...i understand the logic...but they're saying the 2 dollars was actually paid as a tip to make the price $27 instead of $25-what if they tore up the $2 and flushed it-the actual bill was $25 then, 9x3 is still 27, plus the 2 in the toilet makes 29...it still don't make no sense! just depends on how ya look at it.

I didn't make this up, i'm not that smart. I first heard this on the CB radio one night years ago, and it got a discussion going pretty much like this one. The driver that first told it said there was no answer and not even a computer could figure it out-I think he was right.

but-what if they took back a dollar each,and gave the clerk the other 2 back so they didn't have to divide it,and he could get a coke and a pack of snack crackers out of the vending machine on the way back to the lobby? that's 9x3 again,plus the 2

yeah, but-they paid ten each but a dollar refund each means they actually paid nine each, regardless of what happened to the two dollars. and 9x3 is 27,plus those other 2 dollars is 29 total,so...so...I just don't know