Obama Controls GM Now: National Post

I'm not the only one who sees Barack Hussein Obama as the new boss of General Motors, since he sacked the old boss and effected a putsch of the Board of Directors and so on and so forth.

Terrence Corcoran of the National Post weighs in...

There can now be no mistake who's in charge of GM, despite Mr. Obama's protestations that "the United States government has no interest or intention of running GM." If that's the Obama administration's true intent, yesterday's policy moves are an odd way to express that. The president of the United States is now in de facto control of GM, with the company falling under the overall stewardship of his task force.

(If you read all of Corcoran's article, you'll learn of how worthless and incompetent this "task force" actually is, and "worthless and incompetent" isn't an exaggeration by any means, as not a single member of it knows a bloody thing about automotive stuff and the automotive industry, and it shows)

Corporate bankruptcies, while messy and often prolonged, at least have the merit of working toward business-like resolutions of complicated corporate and economic matters. But under Mr. Obama's control, the GM and Chrysler bankruptcy procedures are destined to become the first industrial strategy bankruptcies in U. S. history. In other words, the companies will be allowed to wipe out creditors and reorganize their affairs -- but only along lines dictated by the government.

"Dictated by the government". Isn't that scary? And Obama actually personally called journalists who inquired as to his socialist nature and said he was surprised and doubted they were serious. But can there be any doubt that Obama is a socialist... in fact, a National Socialist? What, then, is the definition of National Socialism, if not national government control over the economy? To control most of the U.S. auto industry, the biggest industry in America, well, what's that, then? Oh, I'm sure Obama's teleprompter will come up with a good B.S. answer that fools too many folks...

Whenever he gets to talking about the auto industry, Mr. Obama waxes lyrical about strategic and industrial dreams that cannot possibly be fulfilled without continuing extensive government management of the industry, especially GM. He's making promises that can't be kept.

No kidding. Making promises he can't keep. And one of the reasons he can't keep promises he made is because he's very busy with his hidden agenda of keeping promises he never made, if you know what I mean (regular readers of this blog are likely to know).

The auto industry, Mr. Obama said, is "like no other, an emblem of the American spirit; a once and future symbol of America's success." He talked of "a new beginning for a great American industry; an auto industry that is once more out-competing the world." It will "lead the world in building the next generation of clean cars." It will, he said, be "manufacturing the fuel-efficient cars and trucks that will carry us toward an energy independent future."

Yeah, yeah, yeah... yadda, yadda, yadda... next thing you know, he'll personally design a cute, little, grossly underpowered, barebones buglike (probably won't even have a frickin' heater!) thing of an urban runabout for the masses and call it "The Peoples' Car"...

Obamalandlied!

Obamaland, Obamaland ueber Alles...

Above and below: Obama supporters giving their Messiah an evocative salute. Evocative of what? Well, in the older photograph below, do you notice the Germanic script? Oh, yes... that was a salute given by none other than another infamous National Socialist, back in the latter part of the first half of the previous century... and those hands belong to you-know-who. Why the same salute??? Why are they imitating one of the most horrible monsters in history?

John Robson: Uncerebrally Unrealistic Saboteur, Liberals' Best Friend

Disgruntled "conservative" Liberal-enabler John Robson

So John Robson wants to help the Liberals retake power and finish their Canada-destroying jihad.

He's clearly not using his head, nor are the very, very few grumpily impatient, unrealistic, gotta-have-it-all-now-no-matter-what-the-consequences, folks who have joined him.

He's effectively on a mission to foment unjustifiable mutiny against Prime Minister Harper and within the Conservative government and aid and abet the Hard-Left/Islamofascism-infested Liberal Party of Canada, which, when it was last in power, I warned would cause one or two (or even more) provinces to hold and win separation referenda and ultimately leave Confederation, effectively ending Canada as we know her and pushing us all into the Great Unknown in a time of a rapidly, steadily increasing global threat environment.

Folks like Mr. Robson, whom I honestly, believe it or not, never considered a "conservative" when I read his stuff in the paper or saw him on the boob tube, because of the way he was always grumpily bellyaching and bitching about how things were going in Reform, the Canadian Alliance and now the Conservative government. My gut instinct always told me he's no friend of a viable, ready-to-govern conservative force in Canada. Now he confirms this gut instinct with his drive to divide the Conservatives all over again, just a few years following their historic reunion and return to power.

So he wants the Conservative government to move as fast as it can and implement all the social-conservatism policies he wants in place? Dammit, doesn't he realize the folly of such a frantic, wild-eyed, Obamanian pace? Way to go to secure all over again the unjustifiable label of "extremist" and "radical" which the Big Media would again chuck at us all as monkeys chuck crap when they're mad. When you throw the MSM dogs a bone, they transform from manageable, cute little mini-weeniedoggies to fearsomely lethal rabid bull mastiffs. And we know the electoral effects of throwing them a whole lot of bones real fast! Stupid, stupid, stupid! Big brainfart, Mr. Robson's having, and he's already broken all world records for longest brainfart!

See, we only have a minority in Parliament, a vulnerable minority, and could be defeated at any time. If not, there's the unelected, unaccountable Liberal-dominated Senate which has proven to be refusenik with respect to much of what Parliament passes and passes on to them for the traditional, expected rubber-stamping (hey, that's what they did when the Liberals governed- just simply rubber stamp everything and anything like obedient dhimmis).

I could go on and on about how wrong-headed Mr. Robson is being, but time is short at the moment. If need be, I'll have more to say later, if I'm so inclined, which isn't a foregone conclusion, as I view this little, tiny group of grumpies to be irrelevant and insignificant and bound to get nowhere, as few true conservatives have any appetite for returning to the days of hopeless wandering in the wilderness surrounded by scary, malevolent Librano monsters wreaking havoc and devouring everything in their path, especially our money and hope...

I dismiss thy silly, uncerebral, unrealistic, destructive attitude, Mr. Robson. What you need is to give your head a shake and tear yourself away from the delusional grip of the matrix of unrealism.

ht: National Newswatch

Obama Tightens Control Over Means Of Production

Hot, fast and furious on the heels of abusing his awesome, and rapidly growing power to force a major private-sector corporate leader to resign without any reason given to the People as to why, Barack Hussein Obama is moving to tighten his grip upon the means of production and the economy of America.

The auto industry is just the beginning, but, boy, is it a BIG beginning... Perhaps a bigger beginning there couldn't possibly be, for what industry is bigger than the auto industry???

"Let me be clear: The United States government has no interest in running GM; we have no intention in running GM," Obama said.

But that was at the same time he was formally announcing the departure of Wagoner, whom administration officials forced into retirement on Sunday in preparation for the president's remarks.

"This is not meant as a criticism of Mr. Wagoner, who has devoted his life to this company; rather it's a recognition that it will take a new vision and new direction to create the GM of the future," Obama said.

Other changes at GM include new directors on its board. Fritz Henderson, GM's president and chief operating officer, became the new CEO. Board member Kent Kresa, the former chairman and CEO of defense contractor Northrop Grumman Corp., was named interim chairman of the GM board.

Oh, and Obama also made it clear that the state will guarantee the vehicles' warranties... why bother to do that, unless getting something in return, like... control and command, which, apparently, is being turned over to the state...

In the following photograph, notice the Volkswagen symbol behind Obama. In the last century, in Germany, another popular, charismatic National Socialist controlled the automotive industry and deemed what kind of car der Volk would drive. No wonder that to this day the old Hitler-approved Beetle design is a Left-wing cult car... By the way, do also notice the look in Obama's eyes... clearly, he has a vision, an agenda, and he is determined to see it implemented, and he's determined to let nothing stand in his way.

Well, he did promise "change"... He wasn't specific, don't you remember?

...what kind, well, those who voted for him didn't bother to ask for an explanation of what kind of "change" he had in mind. Oh, shit.

But each day, the understanding of Barack Hussein Obama's true agenda becomes ever more apparent. Oh, would that Americans who voted for Obama had listened to my warnings not to do so!

What Obama is doing... one can't help but be reminded of another socialist dictator of recent-contemporary times...

Robert Mugabe destroyed his nation's economy by controlling it via National Socialism. He was also quite the fascist, and a bloody one, literally. The evocative, narrow mustache? One wonders why... idolatry?

One never knows how far those National Socialists will go. But one must necessarily be alert and wary...

Oh, and a message to Hard-Left "activists" and propagandists, perhaps even some of Obama's own early, pre-mandatory-national-service, de-facto Brownshirts, who would accuse me of bad stuff, attach labels to me, call me names, etc., in doing this post, well, remember all the astonishing stuff y'all said about Bush? Well, look what Obama's doing today... Bush never did stuff like this!

Besides, you know, Obama is maintaining a massive, active combat force around the world, killing, killing, killing people (and people who are "different", like, say, Arabs, Muslims...) in other countries... I thought you said that going around the world killing those who are different makes a President the equivalent of... Hitler?

(Oh, wait... there's a possible loophole that would enable Obama to avoid the "Hitler" label... if he's still a Muslim, then killing other Muslims just makes him a Communist...)

So... put that in your hash pipes and toke it, Obama followers!

Brave Actress Comes Out & Disagrees With Obama

Angie Harmon disses Obama.

Another celebrity comes out of the closet to say they don't like what Obama's doing.

And, no surprise at all, cue the violins, yep, the "Progressive" Liberal Left called her a "racist" for disagreeing with Obama's actions.

Funny- the Left disagreed with Bush, so I guess that makes the Left racist!

"Here's my problem with this, I'm just going to come out and say it. If I have anything to say against Obama it's not because I'm a racist, it's because I don't like what he's doing as President and anybody should be able to feel that way, but what I find now is that if you say anything against him you're called a racist," Harmon told Tarts at Thursday’s Los Angeles launch of the new eyelash-growing formula, Latisse. "But it has nothing to do with it, I don’t care what color he is. I’m just not crazy about what he's doing and I heard all about this, and he’s gonna do that and change and change, so okay … I'm still dressing for a recession over here buddy and we've got unemployment at an all-time high and that was his number one thing and that's the thing I really don't appreciate. If I'm going to disagree with my President, that doesn't make me a racist. If I was to disagree with W, that doesn't make me racist. It has nothing to do with it, it is ridiculous."

Exactly. It's horseshit, what the Obamites say, that anyone who doesn't worship the fecking ground Obama walks upon, then they're "racist". Horseshit, totally. Millions can't stand Obama's behavior and policies because his behavior and policies are pure horseshit! Nobody cares what color his skin is! Only assholes call people "racist" for saying they don't like what he's doing!

I don't call Leftist trolls "racist" for dissing me in the comments. I call them "stupid" and similar stuff, because they usually are, unless they're professional propagandists... But maybe I'll start calling them "racist" just 'cause they disagree with me... Apparently, as far as Leftists are concerned, the simple act of disagreement is "racist", unless, of course, it's a Leftist disagreeing with a conservative regardless of color... I'll just throw the crap back at those Leftist simian dummies when they throw it at me... tit for tat...

"I do think McCain would have done a better job, only because I think he has more experience. I also think if W or John McCain or Reagan would have gone and done a talk show, the backlash would have been so huge and in his face, and ‘What is our president doing? How unclassy!’ But Obama does it and no one says anything," Harmon said.

She also likes Sarah Palin.

"I admire any kind of woman like her. My whole motto is to know what I stand for and know what I don't stand for and have the courage to live my life accordingly and she does exactly that. The fact that this woman has made the decisions she's made and literally lived her life according to that and takes heat for it is absolutely disgusting to me," she added. "People cannot look at this woman. I really think they're afraid of her and her morals, ethics and values and the fact that she hangs on them. Is she the most experienced person in the world? But she was running to be the Vice President, so we then put the most inexperienced person as the President. That didn't make any sense to me."

Well, a majority of American voters, unfortunately, chose the most inexperienced person as President. Barack Hussein Obama. He's clearly in over his head and fecking stuff up faster than Mr. Bean ever could!

I think I'm in love... Now, there's a woman with a mind of her own! I just love 'em! Oh, as long as they're conservative, that is...

McCain Blasts Obama's 'Generational Theft'

Story here.

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama is hell-bent on aiding and abetting an unconscionable “generational theft," U.S. Sen. John McCain warned in an address to the Heritage Foundation this week, making it clear that he thought the country would be much better off if he had been elected president.

Well, unfortunately, it was the dude below who got elected...

If Congressional Budget Office-projected deficits prove close to accurate, McCain said, Americans will owe a debt by 2019 that is over 82 percent of the gross domestic product -- the highest level since 1948 and double the debt’s current share of the GDP.

“The nation would be bankrupt and our children and grandchildren would inherit for the first time in our history a land of limited opportunities. We will be committing a generational theft,” said McCain, R-Ariz.

Yer in...

(...)

“Why did the stimulus bill contain hundreds of billions of dollars in spending that will not take place for three years? Why does the President’s budget envision borrowing trillions of dollars for new initiatives and education, healthcare, energy, the environment, transportation and technology -- without any, not a single spending offset or discipline?”

Why? Because Obama and the Demmies are spending like drunken Communists with nary a care about the consequences, including bankrupting America. But what do these Leftist Liberals care, as long as they have fun doing so?

...the money, Barry!

Ultimate Hypocrite Al Gore Left All Lights On, Including Spotlights

...during "Earth Hour".

Al Gore's "An Inconvenient Truth" may have inspired many to participate in yesterday's "Earth Hour" by switching off their lights from 8:30 p.m. to 9 p.m., but maybe the former vice president didn't get the memo.

Drew Johnson, the president of the Tennessee Center for Policy Research, decided to drive by Gore's mansion in Nashville at 8:48 p.m. and records that floodlights were on illuminating the driveway leading up to the main quarter.

"I pulled up to Al's house, located in the posh Belle Meade section of Nashville, at 8:48 p.m. – right in the middle of Earth Hour," he wrote on his blog. "I found that the main spotlights that usually illuminate his 9,000 square foot mansion were dark, but several of the lights inside the house were on."

He added: "The kicker, though, were the dozen or so floodlights grandly highlighting several trees and illuminating the driveway entrance of Gore’s mansion. I [kid] you not, my friends, the savior of the environment couldn’t be bothered to turn off the gaudy lights that show off his goofy trees."

If Al Gore doesn't care, personally, why should we?

He says it's the ultimate catastrophe in the offing, and that it's our fault.

Oh, but he's "carbon neutral", so it's not his fault- he can do whatever he wants 'cause he claims he gave somebody else some money... Oh, my, but isn't that logical and rational and common sense? Give somebody some money, use all the dirty energy you want, have fun, live well, and save the world while you're at it. Lucky sonofabitchin' bastard... he's rich, he can afford to be "carbon neutral" and live high on the GHG-farting hog, but most of us can't afford that, so we have to suffer? I say we take his money away in the name of "fairness". Let's tell Obama to spread Al Gore's wealth around so then he can't afford to be "carbon neutral", therefore he won't be able to live like an emperor compared to us poor nobodies...

Guess what? The American taxpayers gave away their money to the Chicken-Littlist Obama regime, so they're not responsible either, for they're actually carbon-negative, so let them use as much energy from whatever sources they desire!

Let's have a nice, big coal-burning party! Let's drive around in some '50's and '60s musclecars, idling 'em in drive thrus everywhere!

Obama Makes GM Boss Step Down

Boy, when he said there'd be "change", he wasn't bullshitting. I do believe he meant it, but... The kind of change he's imposing fast and furious... I do NOT believe in!

Just watch him change the way the President operates... try not to tremble too much with dread and foreboding... must not panic... must keep a level head... two years, you can dump the Obama-worshipping Democrats in the midterm elections... and you'd better, my American friends!

Well, I belive that those who use their brains will see something wrong with that.

The President demanded someone in the private sector resign, and lo and behold, the guy resigns, just like that. WTF?!

This is strange, unprecedented.

And it reeks of National Socialism. And unmitigated arrogance and a feeling of unrestricted entitlism. On the part of Barack Hussein Obama, who's seen by many as likely a fraud, a non-American-born impostor who stole the election and the White House and is now doing all kinds of scary things every day that may very well be invalid and illegal due to the fact that, according to the requirements of the Constitution, he's actually NOT legally the President and therefore has NO authority to do anything as such.

Wonder if Obama's Brownshirts also got to the GM head? For him to just simply step down like that, no fuss made, after being "requested" to do so by the regime in power... is rather odd, unusual, question-provoking, to say the least.

Story here.

ht: Drudge Report

Things just keep getting more and more odorous under Obama's National Socialist regime, don't they?

I know that Hitler bullied the private sector, too...

Was it blackmail? Did Obama say, "No help for GM unless you quit"?

That would be bad, inappropriate, an abuse of power.

Wonder if Obama didn't like him, or if Obama owed someone who didn't like him?

On Monday, President Barack Obama is to unveil his plans for the auto industry, including a response to a request for additional funds by GM and Chrysler. The plan is based on recommendations from the Presidential Task Force on the Auto Industry, headed by the Treasury Department.

The White House confirmed Wagoner was leaving at the government's behest after The Associated Press reported his immediate departure, without giving a reason.

(...)

The surprise announcement about the classically iconic American corporation is perhaps the most vivid sign yet of the tectonic change in the relationship between business and government in this era of subsidies and bailouts.

Wagoner has been CEO for 8 years and at GM for more than 30. It is not yet clear who would replace him, or what role the administration would play in that process. GM has received $13.4 billion in government aid, and has been seeking $16.6 billion more.

The Administration should never have made any such "request". Who does Obama think he is, believing he can demand anything of anyone? WTF?

If he's going to make demands, then I suggest he make demands of the UAW, who itself is very demanding and keeps GM's costs sky high compared to those of the foreign competition which is killing the venerable automaker.

This is the cost of accepting handouts from the state. The state, in turn, makes draconian demands of one, limiting one's freedom, intimidating one into forgetting some of one's rights...

This is one of the problems with National Socialism. You lose your freedom in exchange for money confiscated from the taxpayers and used howsoever the dictator sees fit...

Every day, Obama does something else that one finds ominously disturbing. Dammit, if Bush had operated like that, he'd have been impeached! Hell, the Democrats actually tried to go there, anyway!

Ominously disturbing. And reminiscent of another National Socialist from the previous century...

Damn... Is Barack Hussein Obama mad?

State Apparatus Won't Stop Bullies, So Parents Will

All he did was help his daughter because no one else would. What else could he do? No one else cared to do anything that would stop the continuing, regular hatred, contempt and violent torment; not the school, not the police, not the justice system, etc., etc...

Ok, now I'm fecking pissed off. So... BEGIN RANT...

The schools, the police, the justice system, the Big Politically Correct Media, the legislatures and the supposedly caring, compassionate "Progressive" Liberal Leftist movement will not lift a finger to finally stop the hateful torment against innocent children by bad children.

Therefore, what shall be done?

There is ultimately, then, no choice, so one father dealt with the problem directly, all by himself.

The state apparatus, the Big Media, the Left and the political system refused to do anything, so they have only themselves to blame, so they must therefore let the father off the hook for doing what only he could do: Protect his daughter from a hateful tormentor who was being protected by the school and everyone else within the state appartus!

Why is it that the state apparatus is gung-ho about cracking down on other forms, that is, forms of hatred and tormenting that are deemed Politically Incorrect, like racism, sexual harrassment, disagreeing with/making fun of homosexuals and trannies, speaking the inconvenient, necessary truth about fundamentalist, supremacist, imperialist Muslims and illegal aliens and fraudulent refugee claimants, the list goes on...

... but couldn't care any less about taking a zero-tolerance approach to bullies, that is, say, "white" child bullies tormenting "white" child victims in schools or some other Non-Politically-Incorrect combination of hater-and-victim? Don't the rest of the People deserve equality? Or are they second-class citizens, after the first-class, favored, special groups so exalted by well-meaning-but-hurtfully-discriminatory "Progressives"?

Clarke has been in and out of meetings with the school's administration and even had a sit-down with the police to address his concerns. One of the teens involved has been suspended twice, once for lying in wait for his daughter and whipping a handful of coins at her head.

(...)

They've surrounded her, taunted her, called her a slut, blocked her way in the hallways -- the all too familiar scenario taking place in high schools everywhere. She is no shrinking violet and is quick to hurl back her own cutting insults when provoked, but inside, it's taking its toll. Her grades have plummeted, she's avoided going to class and her parents discovered a razor blade under her pillow.

But what finally set off her worried dad was a case of cyberbullying by a teen who hadn't been much involved in the school harassment, except that he is friends with his daughter's ex.

(...)

"You can do a lot of things to me but don't talk about my lady like that," he says, as he looks across at his wife Yvette in their kitchen. "I'm not trying to justify what I did but the bullying pushed me to the point that I'm fed up waiting for the school and the police to do something."

It's the state apparatus's fault for doing nothing. That includes the schools, the police, etc.

And I blame the "Progressive" movement, too, for focussing exclusively only on certain groups whilst leaving everyone else to fend for themselves. Only certain groups enjoy the caring and compassion of the powerful, results-oriented Hard-Left, its cronies in the Big Media, Leftist/Centrist politicians, etc... And if one isn't a member of one of these favored, special groups, one is on one's own, no matter what.

So who can blame the father? I don't, because I can't... AS LONG AS THE FECKING HARD-LEFT-WING-DOMINATED STATE APPARATUS REFUSES TO DO ITS JOB AND WITHOUT FAVORING/DISFAVORING ANY GROUPS OVER ANY OTHERS!

Now is the time for the state apparatus to stop discriminating on the basis of race, religion, etc... and start ensuring that all Canadians receive equal protection! It's wrong to only care about "minorities", "GLBTs", Muslims, etc... We must care about all people equally or else our society will be a failure and this failure will ultimately lead to significant consequences, and those who discriminate today will be responsible for whatever they may be.

You see, Heather Clarke suffered because she's "white", heterosexual, non-Muslim, you get the idea. In the eyes of the massive, powerful, racist, homo-normative, dhimmi "Progressive" Liberal Left which controls the entire state apparatus (save for the executive, that is, the federally-elected non-Leftist governing party of today), she is undeserving of their caring and compassion, as, after all, she's not a "minority", not a homosexual, not a Muslim... you get the idea. They, the "Progressives", just don't care about Heather because she's not "special" enough to them. They left her to fend for herself.

Does anyone think that if she was "special", like the GLBTs, the "minorities", the Muslims, that they'd have abandoned her to fend for herself against continuous, regular hatred, contempt and violence? I didn't think so. Oh, of course, one exception would be if she was a Muslim and her Muslim father was beating her up... We know full well that the "Progressives" don't care about women's rights when Islam is involved! We know.

I'm sick and tired of the racism and other forms of discrimination being arrogantly perpetuated by the Politically Correct Leftist-dominated state apparatus, including the schools. These people, these radical, brainwashed, closed-minded, intolerant Left-wing fascists, must be warned to stop their bigotry and start treating people as equals, else there will have to be serious legislative policy actions taken to reform the system in a radical manner, so they must take action now and clean up their own act if they want to keep their jobs. We can't have "Progressive" bigots and haters controlling and ruining some of our lives forever, so it must be made clear that anyone found to be hateful, racist, intolerant, mean-spirited, etc... must be let go from whatever employment they're currently enjoying... and this includes the hateful, rights-violating-with-impunity-and-arrogant-passion "Human Rights" Commissions!

In other words, if they continue to be hateful and discriminatory, then... FIRE. THEM. ALL.

It's not enough to simply obsess over stopping the badmouthing, etc., of homosexuals, Muslims, etc., like the "Progressive" movement obviously believes is all we need to do to have a "Just Society". We must crack down on bullying by anyone against anyone, regarless of whatever!

When will the gosh-darned "Progressive" movement ever get a fecking clue that they're a bunch of assholes causing problems rather than solving them? Bunch of hateful imbeciles who don't even know they're causing terrible problems for so many people! They must be re-educated!

Ok, then ...END RANT....

Don't worry; I'm perfectly cool, notwithstanding my quite strong language and small number of all-capitals passages, but, you know, sometimes we gotta rant against those gosh-darned poopheaded "Progressive" assholes who are screwing up society all the time and making our lives suck more and more and so on and so forth... We simply must not remain silent.

And those who would say that I can't say some of the above stuff, well, I'd ask them then, do they want George Galloway, the hateful anti-Semite, incitor of Islamic jihad-related assassination against his own Prime Minister and provider of huge bricks of cash (some $45,000, I understand) (seen doing so on TV!) to the hateful, murderous Hamas terrorist group? Are they the same people who stand with the hateful George Galloway and say, "Let him have his free speech rights"? Are they the same people who would file a complaint against me, for exercising MY free speech rights, with the "Human Rights" Commission so as to see me persecuted, jackbooted and lose my right to free speech and other rights, whereas they want George Galloway, a foreigner who is known to criminally, materially support terrorists and terrorism, to say anything and everything he wants, no matter how defamatorily false, hateful and contemptuous against whomever, no matter how violence-inciting it may be? Well? So, "Progressive" brain-numb fools, go ahead, make my day!

Crack down on all bullying. Period. That's the bottom line!

U.S. Automaker Tesla Unveils 2012 Model S Electric Sedan

Like I've said before, now is the time for upstart American automakers to hit the market with all they've got.

And Tesla is gearing up to so so quite shortly.

With the bloody-marvellous-looking Model S electric sedan.

Wanna see? Then see it here.

Sure looks just about production-ready to me, including the excellent, finished-looking interior.

Just yesterday, we were invited to the unveiling of Tesla's newest battery electric vehicle (BEV) at the company's design studio in Hawthorne, California. The Model S, quite unlike the Lotus Elise-based Roadster, is a 5-door chassis designed and built solely by Tesla and capable of carrying up to seven passengers (five adults plus an optional rear-facing jumpseat for two children).

Powered by a larger water-cooled electric motor, the Model S will hit 60 mph in 5.6 seconds, says Tesla, with a terminal velocity of 130 mph (a future Sport model is predicted to hit 60 in the 4s). The Model S weighs at 3825 lb. which includes the 1200 lb. of lithium-ion batteries squeezed into the floorpan for an ultra-low center of gravity. The majority of its chassis and body panels are made of lightweight aluminum.

The rear transaxle has a single speed, with forward and reverse summoned through switching the motor's polarity. And although the first Model Ss will be rear-drive, Tesla plans to offer an all-wheel-drive option somewhere down the line.

So what's the range on this puppy you ask? Well, that's up to you. The entry model, which starts at $49,900 (after you subtract the $7500 tax credit) will come with a 42 kW-hr battery storage system designed for up to 160 miles. But you'll have the option of upgrading to a 70 kW-hr battery storage system that'll get you as far as 300 miles on a single charge. This increased range capability over the smaller Roadster's 244-mile maximum is due to improved battery chemistry, better drag coefficient (approx. 0.26 versus the Roadster's 0.35) and a greater overall number of cells (8000 versus 6800).

Well, we'll see soon enough how far Tesla goes. The best part of it? It's all-American.

The big question: Is pure electric the way of the automotive future, or does Chevrolet have the right idea with its plug-in hybrid Volt sedan?

Whatever happens now, one thing's for certain, and that's that the automotive industry is undergoing massive transformation the likes of which it's not seen in a really long time.

And the auto market landscape will look significantly different from what we're used to.

Chrysler Bringing Jobs Back To U.S.

Hopefully, this will begin a new trend towards bringing jobs back to where they used to be... at home!

AUBURN HILLS, Michigan — Chrysler has confirmed that it is in the process of moving its customer assistance center from India back to the United States. Customers with questions or complaints about their Dodge Challenger or other Chrysler vehicle will now talk to someone in Rochester Hills, Michigan, or Salt Lake City.

Word of the transition came in the posting of a memo by Paul Alcala, Chrysler customer satisfaction director, on the corporate Red Letter Dodge blog. He wrote, "In these difficult times, we all must view each customer as a keeper."

(...)

Globally, many businesses are making such a switch. The Royal Bank of Scotland has run ads saying it uses only call centers based in Britain.

(...)

Inside Line says: A politically correct move by Chrysler that undoubtedly will be copied by others.

"Copied by others". Let's hope so. It'd be nice to communicate with folks who really, really have a solid grasp of your language and really, really understand the way you, as a North American, think, and what you expect from customer service and customer service associates... It's a cultural thing, and one must admit that there's no substitiute for customer service that's fully understanding of the customer, how they think and what they expect.

Besides, keeping the jobs here... obviously an excellent idea.

Hmm... I'm beginning to see Chrysler in a better light than I have for quite awhile. Their new deal with Fiat can only help with this perception.

Maybe Chrysler is serious about being a continuing going concern after all. And apparently is serious about staying in America (and hopefully Canada, too, but, well, with the likes of the militant Communist dumbass Ken Lewenza of the Canadian Auto Workers making it virtually impossible to make a business case for continuing to operate in Canada, it appears that we can forget about that. Damn Soviet Canuckistani Commie bastards!).

Right now, I believe I may purchase a Jeep Wrangler as my next vehicle, perhaps in 2010 or somewhat later, though admittedly the fuel economy rating is a bit of a concern, which, hopefully will be addressed soon enough by Mopar engineers, as certainly there's tweaks they can effect to boost efficiency, as GM did with the Cobalt XFE. But compensating for the relatively high fuel consumption of the Wrangler, the price is right, at about $20,000 US/CDN to start, plus it does come with a lifetime powertrain warranty, and is famously built to last, owing to its rugged construction, notwithstanding some reliability complaints with respect to older examples. Plus it can definitely handle the sometimes-horrible, worse-than-ever, condition of the roads these days. And ability to handle all road conditions is an important concern, perhaps even more so than fuel economy, neck-snapping acceleration and extreme cornering grip.

ht: Automobile Magazine

As a reward to Chrysler for wisely reversing their call-center outsourcing, I'll post a picture of their Wrangler Ultimate concept, which is a tastefully, extra-usefully pimped version of the regular four-door Wrangler Unlimited, which goes for some $5K over the basic two-door Wrangler. Those are 35-inch tires (20 frigging inches bigger than those on my Cobalt!), there's a three-inch increase in ground clearance, plus, most importantly, underhood is a Hemi V8!