Actually, I bet Sarah Palin would take them. She might turn right around and give them to the folks at Discovery channel who would give them to the dudes on Deadlist Catch. The Gitmo boys would make great crab chum at the bottom of the North Sea. Imagine the hauls of crab coming up from the bottom with just little frozen chunks of terrorist left in the pot. Or Palin could get some target practice...either one is fine by me.

On the deal w/the cars, yes, the US auto industry makes a not-so-good product. Everything is driven by COST, rarely by VALUE. But most of the reason for this gawdawful cheapness in American cars is a desperate attempt by the car companies to overcome the $1500-3K cost advantage the Japanese have by not having to use good ol' UAW labor. But it doesn't look like its gonna matter much one way or another, as GM has one foot in the grave & another on a nanner peel, Chrysler is for all intents & purposes dead, they're just arguing over what to do w/the body, & I don't have the warm fuzzies over Ford really surviving long-term.

Some random thoughts I had while in the shower this morning:

Part of the sales pitch Obama used to sell himself to voters was his promise to close Gitmo. While he was out there flapping his trap about it, did he ever really stop to think about the repercussions of the act itself? Does he even feel slightly embarrassed about his naievete? Sarah Palin did not exhibit this level of noobidity.

I noticed that the whitehouse.gov web site has been updated and some things removed. I recall there was a bit there under foreign relations or defense about how Obama and Joe Biden, the dynamic duo, were going to collect all loose nuclear materials in the world to keep them from falling into terrorist hands or being used by rogue states. I saved it somewhere, and I will find it. At the time, I thought it was a truly ridiculous claim to make. How's that whole preventing nuclear proliferation thing working out for you, Jug Ears?

Have any of you actually spent time looking at the whitehouse.gov pages? It's a really strange site. Since I have kids who have gone through the school system and they have invariably had homework assignments about government, I have visited the site a few times over the years. I don't recall it as being particularly focused on the accomplishments of the president, under either Clinton or Bush. Now ... it reads like propaganda from some third-world dictator! Perhaps this is why Obama is most comfortable when meeting with Chavez and Ahmadinejad. Between the braggadocio, the bashing of the former administration, and the lavish praise for every brain fart produced by the TOTUS, the website has become an extension of Obama's campaign circus. Most of the sentences start with "President Obama", although the words "Dear Leader" would be equally at home in the context.

Does anyone keep screen shots of the site's pages, to see what disappears from time to time? Be curious to know what other promises have been removed from the "Agenda" section.

Speaker Blinky wants to shut down Gitmo, so send the dudes to San Francisco. Actually, not a bad idea. Put them on Alcatraz and tell 'em if they can swim to San Francisco, they can go free.

Be sure and chum the waters real good first.

Why don't they just shut down Gitmo and put the terrorists on a plane back to some temporary holding site in Montana or somewhere, and then, oops!, the plane crashes. Hey, sh*t happens.

Dammit, why do I have to think of these things? This is the CIA's job.

On the subject of cars:
I have an ’02 Chevy Impala. It is a nice, comfortable vehicle that consistently does 24 mpg in town and 32 on the freeway. However…after 7 years and 114,000 miles, it leaks oil like crazy ($1000 to repair) and is starting to lose water somewhere as well. The windshield washer motor quit after 2 years. No transmission slippage as of yet. Since it is well maintained, perhaps I will avoid this for a while.
It was in the body shop last week for minor repairs and I rented an ’09 Impala for several days. I was not impressed with it, other than the fact the engine did run nice and have lots of power. However, it wandered all over the road, had a lot of wind noise, and the interior controls were ridiculous. Perhaps the driving issues were due to being a rental, but it only had 11,000 miles on it. I kept thinking “No wonder GM is in trouble”.
My wife has an ’05 Honda Odyssey. 72,000 miles and the only problem we have had is…nothing! Everything works all the time. Dang thing has twice the power the Chevy has (engine size is nearly identical). 28 mpg on the road, but it’s a bigger, taller and heavier vehicle.
I have owned 2 Ford trucks (a ’79 that was a damn good truck, and an ’82 that was a POS), an ’86 Oldsmobile ’88 (that required 2 transmissions before it had 100,000 miles on it), a ’90 Ford Aerostar that worked pretty good, a ’98 Honda Accord that we had no problem with (traded it on the Odyssey when the kids outgrew the back seat), a ’94 Buick Regal that ran good but had all kinds of other problems, and several ‘80s vintage VW diesels that ran forever. Currently have a ’93 ¾ ton Chevy Truck with a 454 that should have twice the power it does.
Aside from the ’79 truck, my experience with American cars has been a little less than stellar. The Hondas have been awesome, and the VWs proved very reliable for several years.
My Father was a mechanic all his life, with the last 20 being for a Ford shop. He retired in ’93. According to him, about 25% of a new Ford’s price was to cover anticipated warranty and recall repairs. Another 15-20% was to cover the unions.
No wonder they are in trouble.

I'd love to take credit for this but saw it in letters to the editor in DMN yesterday. Paraphrasing, " Obama blamed Bush by saying GITMO never should have been opened in the first place. That makes the solution very easy, determine what he should have done with them instead, and do it. If you KNOW GITMO should not have been opened then you know what should have been done." beautiful.

as for cars. I am a Honda man and drive an '03 TL type s. love it. Wife has an 04 Yukon which has been very good. surprisingly better built then her 01 Suburban. My kids drive old Lexus's (Lexi?). solid as damn rocks and 10 years old.

Tried to post under a french topic...sorry, but after writing this and it not working, I have to post somewhere....

I know I'm like over a year late for this post. But I gotta have my say.

Javel seems to think Americans don't travel outside of the US. Well I am one of thousands of Americans who made the most foolish and naive decision to come check out this land of b.o. for ourselves. We are not ones to easily buy into stereotypes and wanted to see if the reputation of France really is true. I really thought the French would prove me wrong. But boy was I mistaken.

Funny thing is that France, is the worst place I've ever lived in my life. True, it's the only foreign country I've lived in, but I have lived in several US cities and states. I have visited many parts of Europe. France has been the most expensive, least friendly and least accommodating. And there are TONS of French who want to leave France as well. I'll put my top 10 list of reasons to leave France:

1. 50% income tax (including state mandated retirement). Note: French don't consider "social charges" as taxes. Though, if you never use the social system, you are paying these taxes for nothing. They are mandated and yes they are taxes.

2. LOW, LOW, LOW salaries. Engineers with masters making 35 - 40K/year - don't forget to divide that in Half and pay double for housing, electricity, gas for heating and car.

3. No Sun, Cold year-round - cold weather creates cold personalities and breeds misery.

4. Yes, Muslims, they really don't help make France seem safer. They are the majority of the town in which I live. Take a stroll one afternoon and you will see plenty of long-bearded, robed men, and women who are covered from head to toe - including face - having as MANY children as possible.

5. You buy a house in France. Guess what - you're lucky to have 1 toilette. And the kitchen is not included!! Well, a sink is considered a "kitchen" in France. Plus you pay about 20 years worth of property taxes up front, then another hefty sum annually....taxes...taxes....because France is truly a society of VICTIMES, n'est pas? We are all victims in this world of difficulties, so we must pay, pay, and pay for the day that we surely will be vitimized with unemployment or poorly planned family.

6. French people are sadistic, as has been stated by French psychoanalyst Pascal Baudry, in that they derive a sense of power and pleasure when a person enters a French administrative office or store to ask questions or make a return. 1. It must be noted that the person asking the question is in a position of vulnerability (even more so if speaking with a non-native French accent). Are they going to even try their best to be pleasant? NEVER. And let me assure you that whatever their life problems are - you're responsible!!

7. 19.6% sales tax. Need I say more? This also applies to services!!

8. Rudeness - rumors are confirmed, there are no ruder.

9. Know-it-alls. They have an answer for everything. I have learned that those who claim to "know it all" usually are suffering from a severe inferiority complex.

10.Education. The system works against the people. For example, my neighbor trying to become an elementary school teacher. 24 students in her class. End of year exams - 4 passed. Is this extraordinary? NO. In my opinion, if only 4 out of 24 students passed, that would indicated a failed teaching job. A teacher who didn't do his/her job. But in France - no - it's because the students didn't do their work - and probably because for quota reasons the teachers couldn't graduate too many students into a position where there are NO JOBS.

Plus having a child in the French education helps to understand why they grow up so harsh and sadistic. They are criticized for painting the sky orange at age 3. They should know better. The sky is fucking blue. Are you stupid? Now, stay in the lines or I'm going to pull your ear. Yes, they still really pull ears in this country of 3-year-olds - true story.

Soon I will leave and write a book about the TRUTH of France. And it's not pretty.

Sandra - Your other posts didn't take because comments close after a given time period.

Geez! All those things you say about France will prolly piss off Prosper, our resident French commenter.

Damn!!

This post is all over the place and I haven't said a word!

I feel better already!

Ford TRUCK is the way-to-go!

F ucked
O ver
R e-built
D odge

It applies more than ever now doesn't it?

I have an '83 Civic with 130K on it. It is analagous to a fork. You pick it up and it works. Every. Damn. Time. My other vehicle is a 1992 F150 pickup with a 351 and a C6 Automatic transmission, I tow a 1986 24' 5th wheel trailer with it. It, too is as reliable as an anvil. I will probably drive them until I die.

As for the Gitmo dudes, fly them to France, land on some out of the way airstrip, put them on the tarmac, then leave. What are the fwoggies gonna do about it, write a nasty note to the UN?

DanS......

Hey! Allright.....I drive a 2008 Ford F250 super duty crew cab.

CharlieDelta....Dodge Trucks.....When my friend who lives near my Hunting camp bought a new Dodge truck, I told him to park it next to the creek in back of my camp where the bank is washing out.....I told him I would use it for fill.

He also helps out at the Volunteer Fire Department when they have various events at the hall.His Truck is fire engine red "same color as the the trash dumpster". His friends there filled the bed of his truck with trash bags .....said it was an honest mistake. When he got ticked off & bitched, they made up sign`s for the parking area....Sign #1 stated " Place Dumpster Here "......Sign #2 stated "Park Truck Which Looks Like A Dumpster Here".

CharlieDelta - I thought it was:

Fixed
Or
Reparied
Daily

and

Found
On
Road
Dead

Sandra is almost right on almost all point dealing with "facts".

1. 50% income tax.
It's the highest level, and it's 40% in reality.
In 2009, your income tax is 5.5% for your income between 5853€ and 11673€, 14% between 11674 and 25926€, 30% between 25927€ and 69505€, and 40% above.
So if your income is 70000€, your income tax really really is 22%

2. Low salaries
apparently Sandra speaks about gross salary. You must substract 20-25% for social security, unemployment and retirement.
and not 50%.

3. No sun
Must be a joke from Sandra. Or maybe he never heard of Cote d'Azur. Didn't you watch Festival de Cannes ?

4. A majority of muslims
That must explain point 3 : Sandra lived in a Parisian suburb!

5. Small houses
According to your standards : must be true. But only if you live near Paris (see point 4).
6000€ for a square meter in Paris.
a square meter is 10 square feet.

6. French are sadistics.
Sade was french, true.
But masochists too, because I keep coming here! ;-)

7. 19.6% sales tax
absolutely true.
it's 25% in Norway, Denmark or Sweden

8. Rudeness
see point 4

9. Know-it-all
sad but must be true : everybody agrees on that on earth.

10. Education
You think your system is better?
no comment

Prosper.....

You seem to be a little upset, here is a few points to make you feel better........

1. When the Messiah get`s done here , our tax burden will make yours look small.
2. With few exceptions our educational system is the worst in the civilized world.
3.A majority of Muslim`s....As bad as it is in France, when we add up all the deadbeats & free loaders here it dwarf`s France`s problem`s & under the Messiah is is going to get worse.
4.Small houses....We are going to get small cars, you can always add on to a small house, it is a bit difficult to accept a small car.
5. 19.5% Sales Tax....The Messiah is proposing a value added tax at each point of sale ,this means multiple taxation for the same unit of sale . This is needed to fund his Wealth Redistribution schemes.
6. Low salaries...see #1
7. French are Sadist`s....You admit to being a Masochist, many other French are Queer`s. Bwahahaha!
8. French Know it all`s....The folly of self analyzation....The French actually comprehend very little.When you cross your border`s into the rest of the world, this opinion changes quickly.
9.No sun in France....Global Warming`s fault, ask Pope Algore.
10.The French are Rude.....Alas , this is surely true!
That ought to clear things up a bit for you!

Prosper: the first lady of your country is a known whore. Discuss.

Denny!!! Not Chicago - my kids are there! No send them to DC - that's where JHE is now residing. And that's where all the bleeding heart libs are who want Gitmo closed. They want it closed, they can take care of the aftermath!

As for cars - I LOVE my Audi A4 - love it. We also have a 1998 Dodge Caravan with 100K + miles on it. It's great for hauling stuff around no reason to trade it in as it's a back up vehicle and it's exactly what we need.

I'm sure there will be nothing worth buying from GM ever again. Good grief what a fiasco - JHE running a car company. So when the Board of Directors heads to the White House for a meeting, will JHE vote "present" when it comes to major company decisions so no one can say it's his fault when the entire thing finally does go belly up? Hmmmmmm....

fubar : you're right, she is. Only the bus didn't hit her. Too bad I was in.

http://www.drugpolicy.org/global/drugpolicyby/westerneurop/thenetherlan/

Possession of small amounts of cannabis for personal use has been decriminalized in the Netherlands. The sale of cannabis is technically an offence under the Opium Act, but prosecutorial guidelines provide that proceedings will only be instituted in certain situations. An operator or owner of a coffee shop (which is not permitted to sell alcohol) will avoid prosecution if he/she meets the following criteria:

* no more than 5 grams per person may be sold in any one transaction;
* no hard drugs may be sold;
* drugs may not be advertised;
* the coffee shop must not cause any nuisance;
* no drugs can be sold to minors (under age 18), nor may minors enter the premises; and
* the municipality has not ordered the establishment closed.

sorry, wrong thread ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^