What's it going to take to change the term "Big Three" to "Big Two" or maybe "Just Two?" Chrysler is owned by a German company and the profits go to the German company. Chrysler should not be considered an American car now. When Ford goes out of business we can then use the term "Only One" for GM.
Personally I think the Euro cars should be boycotted by any good American because of their national leaders' spineless lack of support for our efforts to combat terrorism and effort to keep Iran from nuking the free world.
Shaynes
Shaynes wrote:
"What's it going to take to change the term "Big Three" to "Big Two" or maybe "Just Two?" Chrysler is owned by a German company and the profits go to the German company. Chrysler should not be considered an American car now. When Ford goes out of business we can then use the term "Only One" for GM.
Personally I think the Euro cars should be boycotted by any good American because of their national leaders' spineless lack of support for our efforts to combat terrorism and effort to keep Iran from nuking the free world."
Well, take it easy, Shaynes... When I was a European teenager (in the Seventies), France had three major independent producers, Sweden had two, Spain had one, and the U.K. had engineered (don't laugh) one mega-producer - remember British Leyland? (I said: don't laugh). Now France has two; Sweden , Spain, and the U.K. have none, and the citizens of these countries seem to have survived the ordeal. May I point out that the U.K. economy is the best-performing among those four? This in no way contradicts the fact that 100 percent of major British auto brands are owned by American, German, or Chinese corporations, and 100 percent of major British factories are controlled by American, German, Japanese, or French corporations.
Once more: relax, Shaynes. Brits & Frogs (actually - with the Israelis - the top providers of intelligence on Islamist terrorism to the U.S. ) and Krauts actually shed blood in Afghanistan in support of U.S. efforts to combat terrorism. But Iraq is another matter, Shaynes, unrelated to terrorism, I'm afraid - a terrible mistake, which your best ally had warned you against (by "your best ally" I mean the only significant country on earth the U.S. has never been at war with: France ). In fact, the presence of U.S. troops in Iraq makes a (deserved) preventive attack on Iran much more difficult, and probably impossible.
And in case you're not convinced, Shaynes, think about this: GM and Ford are performing better in Europe, financially speaking, than on their home turf. Do you really want them to collapse ASAP? Because, Shaynes, there would certainly be a counter-boycott in Europe - we're not that spineless, you know...
Denis N. Landaret-Maubon ("SUCH a French name," our editor recalls)
Related, mainstream media
Regarding Mike Davis whining about how the "mainstream" media doesn't report drops in gas prices, what planet is he on? I've seen it on all local news shows in Dallas/Fort Worth and I know for a fact that gas prices are reported regularly on one of our all-news stations and a state-wide radio network. I work for both and we report the ups AND the downs of gas prices, The all-news station even has a bug on its Web site so listeners - or anybody else - can find the cheapest local gas. Mr. Davis ought to stick to cars and leave media criticism to those who are paying attention. Oh, and ease up on the sweeping generalizations.
Martelle
Well, I guess I can say that the good news is you guys out in Texas are reading TheCarConnection.com. And I'm really glad that your local broadcast stations are covering the ups and downs of gas prices in Texas - though I'm not surprised, since oil is THE big business of the Lone Star State .
Of course, there is no way I - or you - can possible "cover" what all the media everywhere are doing simultaneously. Without meaning to put you down, I don't think local broadcast stations fall into my definition of mainstream media, which I believe refers to national newspapers such as the New York Times, the TV networks, and news services like Associated Press.
Just this morning, the Detroit Free Press (a Gannett paper now which draws heavily on syndicated news) has discovered that gas prices in Michigan have plunged. Yesterday the Times had a long business page story about oil barrel futures with a short concluding paragraph noting that retail gas prices nationally were down "11 percent" in the last month. If the networks have covered it yet, I haven't caught them. This is despite the numerous national stories a few months ago using rising prices to hound (deservedly in my view) the public's appetite for SUVs.
So your local broadcast news outlets and TheCarConnection.com were ahead of the curve. Hurrah for us. -Mike Davis
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