Daimler Chrysler offered late last week a new incentive that would help buyers of their vehicles out at the pumps. The offer is that Chrysler would cap the price of fuel to new buyers at 2.99/gal for the next 3 years. There is a 12000 mile limit on this, but no matter how high the cost goes on fuel, Chrysler will flip the difference that the customer isn't paying.
Question, with a company that is more then 12 Billion dollars in debt, how can they afford to make the cars they do, hold up reliability standards (whatever they have in that respect) and make a profit? Business is about making the customer happy, but it wont be a business for long if they cannot turn a profit.
My question is, what are North American car companies doing wrong. The import companies such as Honda and Toyota have no problem selling vast amounts of cars, that are reliable and fuel efficient, and they dont have incentives at all. I own a 2006 Civic Si, my interest rate is around 6%, yet its still cheaper to own then any car GM or Chrysler could sell me. When you factor in actual fuel economy, reliability over the life of the vehicle and cost of ownership itself, you still cant beat an import.
There is no question NA companies try and offer incentives. Gas cards, upgrades, low low finance rates, and even engines that use technology such as Flex Fuel. (It doesn't even work anyways) With all these incentives, why do imports out sell almost every class of vehicle? Even if it is more expensive to own?
I put it down to bad management, false promises and the final product being rubbish. I know a guy who bought a Cobalt SS, the performance model similar to my Civic. The thing is trash, been in the shop 8 times in a year and a half. My car has been in once for a recall.
For Chrysler and GM, they need to start sinking their money into a more reliable product. It cant be impossible, their Asian and European counterparts seem to be able to do it with ease. Instead of fuel incentives such as gas cards, build an engine that is efficient. Instead of 40 year warranties, build a vehicle that will last 10 years with no major problems.
Until they stop throwing Hemi's and coolers into cars, it wont happen. But then again, this is why these companies have no pot to piss in.
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Monday, May 12, 2008
EPL end of season rant
Congratulations to the scum, once again they rode the Portuguese band wagon for the second straight year to win another title, without him they lose X amount of games and lose 33 premier league goals. Fantastic. Man Yoo then is just weak American coffee in comparison to the triple shot espresso that is Chelski. The rich scum decided that they would use some of there multi million dollar investment to good use this year, instead of whining about officiating and all sorts of other things, they showed that they don't need the special one to do something special. They were in the two pronged dog fight that was the Premier League, and somehow managed to finally beat a team with a 1/4 of the payroll of theirs to get into the CL Final. (a commendable effort) I will contest that Abromivich paid off those officials though, how could he explain his team not playing in his own backyard in that final.
Once again the best team in the premier league finished 4th, of course most will say the best team finishes first, and i guess that makes sense. Somehow they get in mixed up in the premier league and award it to the the team who gets into the pants quickest of the ref officiating their game that week. Fair enough. Sir Alex has a certain charm to him.
Liverpool made the best signing of the summer, and probably the best of the past few years. Torres scored 33 goals in his first year in the England. How many did Sheva, ballack and all the rest of that trash pile score in their first year. My calculations estimate Torres score more combined and then some. He also cost less then one of those players and had over a goal per million spent on him. Sheva has something like 1 goal for every 7 million spent on him. Pathetic.
Gerrard again had another solid year, with many goals, and inspiring performances against Inter Milan and the trumping we gave the Gunners. Pepe Reina again won the Golden Glove award, 3 years on the trot.
Im still not sure what the problem is then, we clearly have the best in all areas of the pitch. Heck, we still even dominated while we were having back room difficulties because of the two rednecks who couldn't determine who owned the crappier North American sports teams.
Other stories that made headlines: Tottenham Suck
In other news, Sven solidified his removal from his post at Man City after the gross performance his team gave against Middlesborough. The thing with Sven is he turned that team into a european contender. (They even beat Man Yoo twice in one season, which hasnt happened since before the time of Moses.) Of course, what can you expect from an owner of a team with this kind of track record:
What other stories made good headlines this year...
Well, Derby county did what everyone expected them to do, SUCK.
How did Reading get relegated? Even more so, how did Bolton and Fulham not?
Overall I guess it was a decent year, as a fan of Liverpool, we improved, and if the Premier league was capped, we would have won a championship, and probably would have last year too. But crap happens in life.
Numbers for cocky Man Gay fans to remember. 18, 5,#8 and #9.
Those are the standards, start working on them.
Next year, i will predict Liverpool, Chelsea, Man U and Arsenal Finish. We are one player shy of winning a title, and we wont have to ride the one trick pony that is Ronaldo. Anyone can be player of the year when your whole team backs off and he doesnt pass and all balls are passed to him and so on a so forth. Did i mention Ronaldo Likes Balls? Anyone can score 40 times when they have that many balls coming his way. Also Tevez wouldn't be half the player he was if defenders could look at him straight. He rolls like a Medusa, stopping people in their tracks with his exceptional looks.
In all seriousness though, this year had a good title race, and showed the strength and class of the premier league sides. 3 in the last 4 of the Champions league, and both pretty much dead locked when it came to playing each other. Lets just hope the best team wins this time
!
Once again the best team in the premier league finished 4th, of course most will say the best team finishes first, and i guess that makes sense. Somehow they get in mixed up in the premier league and award it to the the team who gets into the pants quickest of the ref officiating their game that week. Fair enough. Sir Alex has a certain charm to him.
Liverpool made the best signing of the summer, and probably the best of the past few years. Torres scored 33 goals in his first year in the England. How many did Sheva, ballack and all the rest of that trash pile score in their first year. My calculations estimate Torres score more combined and then some. He also cost less then one of those players and had over a goal per million spent on him. Sheva has something like 1 goal for every 7 million spent on him. Pathetic.
Gerrard again had another solid year, with many goals, and inspiring performances against Inter Milan and the trumping we gave the Gunners. Pepe Reina again won the Golden Glove award, 3 years on the trot.
Im still not sure what the problem is then, we clearly have the best in all areas of the pitch. Heck, we still even dominated while we were having back room difficulties because of the two rednecks who couldn't determine who owned the crappier North American sports teams.
Other stories that made headlines: Tottenham Suck
In other news, Sven solidified his removal from his post at Man City after the gross performance his team gave against Middlesborough. The thing with Sven is he turned that team into a european contender. (They even beat Man Yoo twice in one season, which hasnt happened since before the time of Moses.) Of course, what can you expect from an owner of a team with this kind of track record:
- his government was frequently challenged with allegations of corruption, dictatorship, demagogy, treason, conflicts of interest, acting undiplomatically, tax evasion, the use of legal loopholes and hostility towards a free press. He was accused of lèse-majesté, selling domestic assets to international investors, and religious desecration. Independent bodies, including Amnesty International, also expressed concern at Thaksin's human rights record. Human Rights Watch described Thaksin as "a human rights abuser of the worst kind", alleging that he participated in media suppression and presided over extrajudicial killings.
What other stories made good headlines this year...
Well, Derby county did what everyone expected them to do, SUCK.
How did Reading get relegated? Even more so, how did Bolton and Fulham not?
Overall I guess it was a decent year, as a fan of Liverpool, we improved, and if the Premier league was capped, we would have won a championship, and probably would have last year too. But crap happens in life.
Numbers for cocky Man Gay fans to remember. 18, 5,#8 and #9.
Those are the standards, start working on them.
Next year, i will predict Liverpool, Chelsea, Man U and Arsenal Finish. We are one player shy of winning a title, and we wont have to ride the one trick pony that is Ronaldo. Anyone can be player of the year when your whole team backs off and he doesnt pass and all balls are passed to him and so on a so forth. Did i mention Ronaldo Likes Balls? Anyone can score 40 times when they have that many balls coming his way. Also Tevez wouldn't be half the player he was if defenders could look at him straight. He rolls like a Medusa, stopping people in their tracks with his exceptional looks.
In all seriousness though, this year had a good title race, and showed the strength and class of the premier league sides. 3 in the last 4 of the Champions league, and both pretty much dead locked when it came to playing each other. Lets just hope the best team wins this time
!
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,316322,00.html
With all the crap in this world going on, its not to surprising when this stuff happens anymore.
This post isn't gonna be long, but my question is, was this avoidable? I was watching an interview where this guy that knew him said he was weird because he requested a Linkin Park song at a function they were at. The guy also said he knew at that point something was very wrong with the would-be-shooter.
This is laughable, and obviously his Christian friend didn't put much merit into at the time. I mean if he did, would he have not done what Christians are supposed to do and go and talk to the guy, see whats up, maybe even lend a helping hand?
This guy is blaming Christians for what happened. Is that entirely out in left field? Is it harsh to say he might be right? I mean who was lending him a helping hand? Who was trying to get into his life and be a real friend for him and get him out of the shit he was living with? Who was showing God's love for this gentleman? Doesn't seem like anyone. Instead they give him the boot from his school and left him for dead.
What I'm not saying is that this isn't a terrible thing. No, its an awful situation. What I am saying though is, it was avoidable. This should be an eye-opener to these sort of situations. I'm not saying everyone that looks a little different is going to shoot up schools and churches. But if these people that were labeled "weird" were given more time in the day, we might be able to avoid this from happening, and even developing a relationship that lasts a lifetime. Most importantly, you get to show God's love in your life and get to share it with others.
With all the crap in this world going on, its not to surprising when this stuff happens anymore.
This post isn't gonna be long, but my question is, was this avoidable? I was watching an interview where this guy that knew him said he was weird because he requested a Linkin Park song at a function they were at. The guy also said he knew at that point something was very wrong with the would-be-shooter.
This is laughable, and obviously his Christian friend didn't put much merit into at the time. I mean if he did, would he have not done what Christians are supposed to do and go and talk to the guy, see whats up, maybe even lend a helping hand?
This guy is blaming Christians for what happened. Is that entirely out in left field? Is it harsh to say he might be right? I mean who was lending him a helping hand? Who was trying to get into his life and be a real friend for him and get him out of the shit he was living with? Who was showing God's love for this gentleman? Doesn't seem like anyone. Instead they give him the boot from his school and left him for dead.
What I'm not saying is that this isn't a terrible thing. No, its an awful situation. What I am saying though is, it was avoidable. This should be an eye-opener to these sort of situations. I'm not saying everyone that looks a little different is going to shoot up schools and churches. But if these people that were labeled "weird" were given more time in the day, we might be able to avoid this from happening, and even developing a relationship that lasts a lifetime. Most importantly, you get to show God's love in your life and get to share it with others.
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Part 3: Church
I will begin by saying this post could have looked a lot different, and I mean a lot. At one point my next post was going to be a scathing and demeaning view on the church, seen through my eyes. Fortunately some will say I have seen the light. Myself? I would like to think that I didn’t waste my last hour or so commenting on how shitty I am. Wondering how I came to this conclusion? Well, I am the church, so commenting on how shitty churches are, would just be an insult to myself. So I backed off, talked to a couple people and did some of my own thinking and came up with a better solution.
There is no doubt that I have problems with church, I’m sure they are well known to some, and not so well known to others, but the fact is I do, and I think it could be done in a different way.
I found this in me readings lately and it kind of put some things into perspective. The thing for me is I’m outspoken, sometimes when I should be and sometimes when I shouldn’t be. The statement is an honest assessment of how it is in churches. To me this quote seems to show the relative feeling that I have about church, I sometimes have a problem with people opposing my views.
If I am to be the church, then in a sense I do get to do things my own way. If I am to bring the kingdom of God to people on this earth however, I also have to do it God’s way. Someone asked me what the kingdom of God is this week. To me the kingdom of God is God living in me, and you and many church people. We take the kingdom of God wherever we go, because we reflect it. We reflect Jesus, or are supposed to, in every facet of life, the kingdom of God shines through our actions and our responses.
The church then, defined as an assembly of believers, is us, and we are the church. We have the responsibility to go out and do great things for God. And those great things start with the smallest of gestures that make an astounding difference too many different people. We have the responsibility to not only show the kingdom of God, but to bring it to the forefront of our lives, and into the dark world around us.
This quote intrigued me; it speaks of how I view church as being. I think most of what church should be, is done outside of Sunday from 11 – 1. Church incorporates hours, days and weeks. Church isn’t something that just happens Sunday, but something that keeps on going when the music stops. When real life starts, church shines, or at least it should. We bring the church wherever we go, something I have learned time and time again. Church is something we cannot get away from, it’s something we reflect, and greater more, we reflect God’s Kingdom and himself. While this might be a scary concept to digest, it is unavoidable; it is what we are called to do. It isn’t easy and I’m still not there, but I’ve made a commitment, and I find strength in what that commitment entailed.
Church, the way I want it to be, is more then just what I want, but what God wants. I want church to be a place where people are free to express themselves, a place where authority is used but never abused. One day I would love to see a “church” with people who question and ponder, a thinker’s paradise, if you will; A place to seek out truth, and share life together. I would like to see where church could really go. I want church to be was Jesus envisioned.
There is no doubt that I have problems with church, I’m sure they are well known to some, and not so well known to others, but the fact is I do, and I think it could be done in a different way.
“It is inevitable that enthusiastic members of the churches of Christ will begin to speak with members of other religious institutions, and invariably, the characteristics of what makes one church differ from the other must be discussed. Our religious friends will agree that there is one God, and that Jesus is the Head of the Body, the church, but there is a disconnect that occurs between us regarding what those things mean. While we insist vehemently that the churches of Christ (the sound ones) have the faith and practice right and everyone else has it wrong, this seems too much to swallow to our friends.” – unknown
I found this in me readings lately and it kind of put some things into perspective. The thing for me is I’m outspoken, sometimes when I should be and sometimes when I shouldn’t be. The statement is an honest assessment of how it is in churches. To me this quote seems to show the relative feeling that I have about church, I sometimes have a problem with people opposing my views.
If I am to be the church, then in a sense I do get to do things my own way. If I am to bring the kingdom of God to people on this earth however, I also have to do it God’s way. Someone asked me what the kingdom of God is this week. To me the kingdom of God is God living in me, and you and many church people. We take the kingdom of God wherever we go, because we reflect it. We reflect Jesus, or are supposed to, in every facet of life, the kingdom of God shines through our actions and our responses.
"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, To preach the acceptable year of the Lord." - Luke 4:18-19
The church then, defined as an assembly of believers, is us, and we are the church. We have the responsibility to go out and do great things for God. And those great things start with the smallest of gestures that make an astounding difference too many different people. We have the responsibility to not only show the kingdom of God, but to bring it to the forefront of our lives, and into the dark world around us.
God is more domestic than monastic. It means, too, that in coming to know God, the dinner table is more important than the theology classroom, the practice of grateful hospitality is more important than the practice of right dogma, and meeting with others to pray as a community can give us something that long hours in private meditation (or, indeed, long years spent absent from church life) cannot. Such a concept also blurs all simple distinctions between “religious” and “purely secular” experience. - Ron Rolheiser
This quote intrigued me; it speaks of how I view church as being. I think most of what church should be, is done outside of Sunday from 11 – 1. Church incorporates hours, days and weeks. Church isn’t something that just happens Sunday, but something that keeps on going when the music stops. When real life starts, church shines, or at least it should. We bring the church wherever we go, something I have learned time and time again. Church is something we cannot get away from, it’s something we reflect, and greater more, we reflect God’s Kingdom and himself. While this might be a scary concept to digest, it is unavoidable; it is what we are called to do. It isn’t easy and I’m still not there, but I’ve made a commitment, and I find strength in what that commitment entailed.
“The community of Christians springs solely from the Biblical and Reformation message of the justification of man through grace alone…Not what a man is in himself as a Christian, his spirituality and piety, constitutes the basis of our community. What determines our brotherhood is what that man is by reason of Christ. Our community with one another consists solely in what Christ has done to both of us.” (Dietrich Bonhoeffer, “Life Together”)
Church, the way I want it to be, is more then just what I want, but what God wants. I want church to be a place where people are free to express themselves, a place where authority is used but never abused. One day I would love to see a “church” with people who question and ponder, a thinker’s paradise, if you will; A place to seek out truth, and share life together. I would like to see where church could really go. I want church to be was Jesus envisioned.
"Jesus...envisaged that, scattered around Palestine, there would be small groups of people loyal to himself, who would get together to encourage one another, and would act as members of a family, sharing some sort of common life and, in particular, exercising mutual forgiveness. It was because this way of life was what it was, while reflecting the theology it did, that Jesus' whole movement was thoroughly, and dangerously, 'political'. And...the main characteristic of the cells that Jesus called into being was of course loyalty to Jesus himself." -N.T. Wright
Friday, November 9, 2007
Life Part 2: God and People
After much debate, I will be keeping up the last post that I wrote. To be honest, the post was some brutal honesty that I had to get out, like the title suggests, that is life. And this is what I am writing about. Transparency is huge, and for this I had to be transparent enough to convey the message I was trying to get across. No need to explain more,
I’m always available to chat if you want to know anything further.
Life Part 2 deals with God, and other people. Enjoy.
So I know this family (I won’t put in names, I try to stay away from that now) that are just incredible. I met them through a kid I lead at our youth group. As all relationships, I’m sure it started off slow, and I’m sure they didn’t know what to think of me. I had a lot of opinions, I was 19 and I was entrusted to look after their son. I think that’s a scary proposition for any parent, but who knows, I haven’t a kid in the twinkle of my eye yet. Anyways, over time this relationship grew into what I now view as a great friendship, not only with the youth kid, but his parents, and his other siblings.
There was always something about these people that drew me in, at the time I couldn’t place a finger on it, but it was great. Over time I have figured it out more and more. These people were REAL. So transparent, so lax, it was a great place to be, and still is. As time went on, I got to know them more, and it was apparent that they were more then just the regular people you would meet. They had opinions, they shocked me by their intelligence on issues I only though I cared about. They could hold a conversation, and could even teach me things I was unaware of. These people had something that a lot of people lack, Honesty, transparency and they were just Real. They also had everything I was looking for at the time in people of the church. Conversations that would last for sometimes an hour or two just about life are some of the best experiences I have had.
It’s been almost a couple years now, and things I’ve been through a lot. Support has never been far away however, even when I was in the thick of it at youth and was going through all that, I was supported. It would have been easy for them to just say no to me and their son hanging out and what not, but they seemed to see something I even couldn’t. I have never felt looked down on, or sensed ridicule. For this I am indebted and extremely thankful.
Before I get too carried away, the point I’m trying to make is, some people see through all the crap, and make a decision. Even though I’ve messed up, and will probably do so again, they still loved, supported and were real with me.
God puts people into our lives for whatever reason. I would have never dreamed of meeting such people, but God does that. Its almost as if I was given an outlet, someone who I could also be just as transparent and not be ridiculed or looked down upon (which I know can be hard, I mean come on, its me for goodness sake) But the trust that they have put in me is amazing. God has crazy ways of doing things. I’m just glad to know he was thinking good things when he chose these people. I’m ecstatic about being able to do life with them, I have learned so much, and I hope to continue to grow this friendship and learn more and more.
More people should be this way however, these people reek of what church is supposed to be about, and that’s a compliment. Church to me is about communication, connection, being real, being raw and supporting and loving in a way that resembles Jesus. When you can find church and God in others in a real way, there is no better feeling.
Next time, my views on what church should look like.
I’m always available to chat if you want to know anything further.
Life Part 2 deals with God, and other people. Enjoy.
So I know this family (I won’t put in names, I try to stay away from that now) that are just incredible. I met them through a kid I lead at our youth group. As all relationships, I’m sure it started off slow, and I’m sure they didn’t know what to think of me. I had a lot of opinions, I was 19 and I was entrusted to look after their son. I think that’s a scary proposition for any parent, but who knows, I haven’t a kid in the twinkle of my eye yet. Anyways, over time this relationship grew into what I now view as a great friendship, not only with the youth kid, but his parents, and his other siblings.
There was always something about these people that drew me in, at the time I couldn’t place a finger on it, but it was great. Over time I have figured it out more and more. These people were REAL. So transparent, so lax, it was a great place to be, and still is. As time went on, I got to know them more, and it was apparent that they were more then just the regular people you would meet. They had opinions, they shocked me by their intelligence on issues I only though I cared about. They could hold a conversation, and could even teach me things I was unaware of. These people had something that a lot of people lack, Honesty, transparency and they were just Real. They also had everything I was looking for at the time in people of the church. Conversations that would last for sometimes an hour or two just about life are some of the best experiences I have had.
It’s been almost a couple years now, and things I’ve been through a lot. Support has never been far away however, even when I was in the thick of it at youth and was going through all that, I was supported. It would have been easy for them to just say no to me and their son hanging out and what not, but they seemed to see something I even couldn’t. I have never felt looked down on, or sensed ridicule. For this I am indebted and extremely thankful.
Before I get too carried away, the point I’m trying to make is, some people see through all the crap, and make a decision. Even though I’ve messed up, and will probably do so again, they still loved, supported and were real with me.
God puts people into our lives for whatever reason. I would have never dreamed of meeting such people, but God does that. Its almost as if I was given an outlet, someone who I could also be just as transparent and not be ridiculed or looked down upon (which I know can be hard, I mean come on, its me for goodness sake) But the trust that they have put in me is amazing. God has crazy ways of doing things. I’m just glad to know he was thinking good things when he chose these people. I’m ecstatic about being able to do life with them, I have learned so much, and I hope to continue to grow this friendship and learn more and more.
More people should be this way however, these people reek of what church is supposed to be about, and that’s a compliment. Church to me is about communication, connection, being real, being raw and supporting and loving in a way that resembles Jesus. When you can find church and God in others in a real way, there is no better feeling.
Next time, my views on what church should look like.
Wednesday, November 7, 2007
Sunday, November 4, 2007
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