Wonkette
- Shorter automaker bailout: Ford is fairly screwed, while GM and Chrysler are extra screwed. [Detroit Free Press]
- Many Michigan residents have little sympathy for the Big Three automakers and their bailout request. [New York Times]
- Saab’s executives are confident that somebody will want to buy the company if GM decides to sell it. [CNN]
- Condi Rice will be meeting with Indian authorities, while Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, talks with the Pakistani government and military about what the hell happened in Mumbai. [BBC News]
- Nobody needs copper anymore, now that nobody is building houses or experiencing that “prosperity” thing that leads to growth and increased copper demand. [Wall Street Journal]
- Chinese-American activists do not like Bill Richardson, because he refuses to say he made any serious errors in the Wen Ho Lee case. Lee was a Los Alamos Lab scientist accused (and later cleared) of selling nuclear secrets to the Chinese while Richardson was Energy Secretary under Bill Clinton. [San Jose Mercury News]
Do you mean all those pennies I’ve been saving are now worth less than a penny? Damn you global recession!
That was one odd article about the people in Michigan who don’t support bailing out the auto industry. As far as I can tell, most people in Michigan do support such a plan. I don’t remember an article about those of us in NYC opposed to more financial bailouts.
Poor Richardson, always the secretary, never the boss.
America really needs to come up with better titles for our leaders. I really prefer “Minster” or titles dictatorships come up with, stuff like: Senior Arch Minister for War, Junior Assistant Minister for Cultural Standardization. In one country I met a guy who was Acting Assistant Undersecretary (if you’re going to be a secretary, you might as well be acting)
Man, this is the second time that Chrysler has come to the public trough…it’s time to let this company fail…
Borat: pennies havent been copper for quite some time,well not all copper. in 1983 pennies went from copper to copper clad zinc.so any pennies that are 1982 and earlier take about 1.50 to make a pound. when copper was at ~3 dollars a pound it makes good sense to smelt them and sell them as copper rather than face value. however the ‘new’ pennies are essentially worth 1 cent per penny. and it takes almost 2 dollars worth to make a pound. so basically what im sayin is if you want to eat your pennies or wipe your ass with hundred dollar bills, you may do so guilt free
Hahaha. Bill Richardson is the Secretary of Everything Unimportant. Sorry Hispanics! Back of the bus again! And your guy is half WASP anyhow…
monty: Good idea, I think my zinc supplements cost me more than 1 cent. Thanks for the money saving global recession tip - eat a couple pennies every day. Arbitrage that!
I can picture the Indian authorities meeting with Condi, smiling , nodding their heads and constantly looking at their watches wondering when she’s going to leave so they can get some work done.
monty: Well Zinc prices have dropped like a rock, too, from 4500 to 1000 somethings in the last two years.
http://www.lme.co.uk/zinc_graphs.asp
I’m just going to stop wiping my ass altogether.
I wonder if the automakers will text a bunch of LOLs back and forth during the extra screwing.
Bill Richardson, Secretary of the Fearmongerin’ Yellow aka “Red” Peril to make Americans forget ’bout the blacks and Mexicans? Come clean, Bill. Then choose another group to pick on. Half-literate inbred politicians maybe? We got those.
Wen Ho Lee shit.
My first car was a 1990 Saab 900 SPG just like this one. Sadly, a tree fell on it in 1999 during a thunderstorm.
Come to think of it, that’s kind of a metaphor for the current situation with the American auto industry.
So you’re saying this mountain of pennies I was going to illegally melt down for sweet, sweet copper is USELESS? Now what flourishing hobo-business can I establish?
So the automakers were told ‘no’ when they asked for $25 billion, so their response is … to ask for $34 billion.
Seems akin to the strategy of asking every girl in the bar for a kiss at 3am. If they laugh at you, ask for a blowjob. What do you have to lose, except your dignity, right?
The NY Times piece is from writers based in Saugatuck and Kalamazoo, two places that don’t really matter in MI, unless you’re into Meth (K-Zoo)or Big Gay Al’s Big Gay Paradise (The Tuck). If you’re into both, then lucky you.
mattbolt: im saying all the pennies that are 1983 and newer are useless, the 1982 and older are still 98% copper but copper is worthless anyway. just sit down with a couple of buckets and sort thru them, sure it will take a long time, but its not like you have a job or anything better to do. then take both buckets and dump them off a highway overpass onto rush hour traffic, thatll be entertaining. FYI i think it takes about 39 pennies to buy hobo beans, around here anyway.
First line of the Willy Rich article: “In a move bound to create political tension between Latinos and Asian-Americans”…
Oh hell yeah, it’s ON. California’s already got a grudge match going on between gays and Mormons, but now we’re getting to the main event, the title fight, ASIANS V. LATINOS! Man, this is gonna be sweet!
mattbolt:
Two words. Cardboard Boxes.
Saab’s executives are confident that somebody will want to buy the company if GM decides to sell it.
I got a $50 bill in my wallet.
So the automakers were told ‘no’ when they asked for $25 billion, so their response is … to ask for $34 billion.
That’s the sort of leadership that got those companies where they are today.
Seems akin to the strategy of asking every girl in the bar for a kiss at 3am. If they laugh at you, ask for a blowjob.
*takes notes*
Two conditions of Richardson appointment: he keeps the beard, and he gets to wear a cape.
Big Bill, being a “free trader”, would not be my pick for heading commerce.
Actually he has been good for New Mexico though. He is the first “high profile” governor we have had.
With him gone people will forget NM is a state (again). Guess we will sell more New Mexico passports now.
I don’t blame the Chinese Americans for beating Richardson in the shins with the Wen Ho Lee stick.
He really painted himself in a corner especially when one of the suspects was a white guy with connections and the other was an ally and major purchaser of US weapons who had a well known relationship with China on weapons deals. Hint: Starts with I.
mattbolt:
Sweet!
Like some kinda new age West Side Story…West Coast Story!
Maybe Luis Guzman as Tony…
Sharks and Jets snappin’ and swishin’ through the barrio hurling saucy epithets at each other…
Yo, ese, that do rag is soooo last summer!
American auto makers make crap that no one wants.
- Management is as visionary as Saxby Shameless.
- Workers are as greedy as New York Wal-Mart shoppers.
- Vehicles have the quality of Chinese infant formula.
After my 1972 Dodge Dart (largest investment before my house): Tool me twice and I won’t get tooled again.
Let ‘em go the way of the Studebaker, Nash, and Hudson — or for that matter, Dumont, Admiral, and Philco.
Ted Perino:
True, but who makes most of US America’s military vehicles?
What is the only non-aerospace civilian manufacturing left in US America?
Sadly that would be the Pathetic Three.
monty: Actually, they started with the zinc clad pennies in the middle of 1982. That means that pennies dated 1982 might be copper or they might be zinc. Drop them on a hard surface and you’ll notice the difference. The copper ones ring, while the zinckies kind of click. Every American penny from mid-1982 on will click.
With copper dropping in price, maybe we could go back to using copper again? In fact, with the way commodities have been dropping, I expect the U.S. Mint to switch to making gold pennies by 2012.
As the owner of a sort-of reliable 1997 Chrysler, I have to say I’m still disappointed that Daimler-Benz sold off their Chrysler division. When they bought it, that turned my old American clunker into a German luxury car, but when they sold it, it became a crummy American car again.
I took the thing in for a major overhaul of the transmission, engine and suspension last month. It set me back $1600, and the “check engine” light stays lit every time I drive. Should I worry? Or is that light merely a suggestion?
My bicycle is still in good order, but commuting by bike fifteen miles each way through the Massachusetts winter does not appeal to me.
Freeport McMoRan losing money? Boo hoo. Couldn’t happen to a nicer bunch of thieves and dictator enablers.
This is the time for Wonkette to swoop in and by Saab, rename every line of cars they make. I would love driving something like the Supertuber or the Buttsecks. The spokesperson could be former race driver Dick Trickle.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZeWvlRYGTg
Larry McAwful: gold pennies? schweet!!!!!
ManchuCandidate: Oh, I worked for years in the American textile industry. It was a great culture, though pop media — Norma Rae and 60 Minutes — kicked the hell out of it. Unlike American car manufacturers, we made the best textiles in the world. Wal-Mart shoppers were happier to buy cheap denim washed in waste water and sewn by 11-year-old Pakistani girls.
I didn’t see anyone waving us goodbye.
Does this mean that the gangbanger thugs in my neighborhood can stop stealing copper wire from telephone poles and construction sites now?
So Richardson was out of line for having Wen Ho Lee prosecuted after he met with Chinese people wanting him to help China make nuclear weapons (failing to report it as he was supposed to), and mishandling classified data? Wow, sounds like Richardson was just out of control.
hedgehog: ah, that reminds me of a guy i met in a club once. while we danced he asked if i’d kiss him, and i said no. then he asked if he could “cum in your butt”. i stood there dumbfounded until he walked away
glamourdammerung:
Wen Ho was not 100% blameless in this mess as what he did was stupid from a security point of view. However, the problem that I have (based on what I read about the mess) is that when the investigators had evidence that pointed elsewhere, Richardson and his cronies continued to pile on Wen Ho instead of moving on.
Great timing against Richardson, guys. It’s not like you “activists” had time during a primary or anything…
Borat: I agree that “Secretary” is a weak title. How about “Adminstrative Assistant”? “Administrative Assistant Clinton” has a certain delightful ring to it.
Thank God. My Revereware is finally safe from copper thieves.
ShamWow: Exactly. GM, Ford and Chrysler are asking to cum in our collective butt. Hopefully, the Congress will sit there dumbfounded until they drive away in their little hybrid vehicles.
To be fair to Detroit, one of their problems in times of extreme credit crunch like this, is not very many people need a new car. They can temporarily scrape by in their 90’s beater, because almost all cars built since, say, 1990 actually have pretty good longevity.
Say what you want about size/weight/efficiency, but automotive reliability has been at historical highs for awhile and just keeps getting better.*
*Your results may vary
(**coughvolkswagen**)
Larry McAwful: Didn’t they also make Steel pennies during WWII. Where do those stnad in asset value, since I can’t swallow them for their sweet sweet zinc?
ManchuCandidate: I agree that there were some obvious errors, but I can also see where someone meeting with foreign agents and the other nonsense Lee pulled would sort of make themselves the primary person investigators would want to be looking at. It bothers me that Lee pulled the crap he did, but then people try to go on like the feds were “picking on Lee for no reason”.
Borat: Yes, there were steel pennies made in WWII due to metal rationing. Since they tended to corrode badly and were really unpopular, I am not sure if they would be worth a whole lot. Though they were zinc coated as well (even if the coating tends to rub off), so they might fit your dietary needs.
The only good (or at least not horrible) things to come from the Wen Ho Lee case were:
The NYT, WaPo, LAT, ABC News and AP paid $150,000 each to him in order to “protect sources in the government”–meaning the case would go away before there were any more revelations of them as credulous scum rushing to print whatever the feds told them because they were pandering to fear of the yellow peril.
He got an apology from the trial judge on the case: “I sincerely apologize to you, Dr. Lee, for the unfair manner you were held in custody by the Executive Branch.” Although it is half-assed and let the judge off the hook it was pretty cool at the time.
The feds had to pay Lee’s lawyers and the taxes on the money from the media companies.
Richardson blows.
Take ‘dat, copper!