RAzOR

+1 RADICAL Islamophobe here as well. Moderate Islamists should be the biggest Radical Islamophobes of all! I wonder if suicide bombers are told they get bonus points for women and children? Seems like it. And that must be eternal hell for the seventy virgins that service those smelly, hairy, crazy bastards them for all eternity.

Becuase the current arrangement does not LET them become citizens. It does not even acknowledge that THEY ARE HERE.

Wow, really hard to read Fish. I disagree with your supposition that "The illegals know that the American political system is in total disarray and we are an easy target. ". Come on. Most of them have little or no education. They don't know anything other than they want to work and become Americans.

I suspect the reason they are NOT assimilating is that they feel (and are) neither here (in the US legally) nor there (in Mexico physically). Once they get the official open arms from Uncle Sam, I think we will begin to see a lot of change for the better.

Jena, I agree with you on everything but the deportation. It's just not realistic. Additionally, the US desperately needs an infusion (albeit of official, legal immigrants) to help with our birthrate, relative morality, and labor force. What should happen is the border gets clamped down and a 90 day window of registration for all illegals here to apply for legal status and go through the proper review procedure. After the 90 day window, if you are here illegally, deporation fast and simple. Steven

Long, but +10. Though you forgot to mention tight border security.

Government I used to be very supportive of the President and believed in the US Government as a decent system and the Two-Political Party system as sufficient. I know no longer believe much of what I did that there exists a functioning, effective federal government AND I am more and more convinced very powerful interests operate below the surface, by which the now dysfunctional mainstream media can not and will not report on. The healthcare crisis and social security needs fixing but so far no one with and spine and clout has come forward. So I feel despair, that without a third party, or a clean sweep on the hill and the White House, this country is going to continue to be leaderless and consequently, continue to slip. American Society What is it to be an American? I don't know anymore. We are apparently borderless. The middle class is straining. The rich have gotten richer by 40% over the past 15 years while the middle class grew their wealth by 7%. Kids watch more TV than ever. Parents don't seem to care in larger numbers. There is no real right and wrong. And you are not allowed to be intolerant which means your not allowed to believe what might offend others. You may not offend others. Global warming is a religeous science if you just look at most OTHER historical temperature records and CO2/temperature trends from ice cores but we are not allowed to believe otherwise and are not educated to question or be able to question anymore. We are not really educated very well which makes it harder to figure out just how F'd we are. And we are just too busy with texting, porn, movies, starbucks, work and Paris Hilton to really think about a War on Terror and how it should be run. And oh yeah, porn is political speech protected as a first amendment right. Debt Our governement has put us collectively in debt of $8,000,000,000,000. That's TRILLION. By 300 million Americans, and every man, woman, child here owes $26,500 just to pay back our governments loans, what they have already spent. And our elected leaders do not see a problem with this and continue to borrow. Meanwhile social security needs a huge bailout, healthcare looms. I'm not up for debating anyone, just wanna know... How Screwed do you think we are today?

I guess the Canadian government doesn't have anything else pressing to worry about.

QUOTE(Plan_B @ Jun 30 2007, 07:31 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>Boo whoooDid you ever think of asking the person with the avatar YOU find offensive to remove it?Mr. B Plan is correct. You can always ask. Just be a man about the answer you may get. QUOTE(Plan_B @ Jul 2 2007, 07:35 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>You guys miss my speedo avatar, coz I can bring it back if you like........I was just getting bored with it?That was a GREAT avatar.

Holy crap Pras. I've been away from civilization for a while. I just read this whole thing. Wow. I have been in your shoes with a project, major-ass deadlines, debt and things not going to plan. I have to applaud your attitude throughout. I would have probably killed people. In my cases, I regreted starting projects knowing going-in that I shouldn't be pushing my luck, but like you, I want to believe in people. In the end, I get so stressed that I end up not being able to enjoy the results of my labor the way I had thought and it just soured my whole experience. FWIW, the car looks great. I think the real thing here is your strength of character.

No, you do, like the sigs say. And me for that matter as well. And ALL OF US!!!!!

Shouldn't the "You Suck" be "I Suck" ?

Olberman is an idiot beyond many of us. So if W is this effective is he smart now? Or is he dumb like Keith has been saying all along? He can't be both Mr. Sports man. We Americans are screwed by both parties.

QUOTE(Plan_B @ Apr 24 2007, 10:39 AM) ← What's the matter Grant? You seem.... down.

You can all Go to Halal !!! :lol:

I am not a liberal or a conservative I am a person who follows common sense. I am not a conspiracy theorist but I am someone who can smell a rotting fish when there is the odor in the air as it was in this case. The car ran very well The car was good for commuting, daily daily driving, etc The car had lead acid batteries and got 60 miles guaranteed, and up to 100 if driven lightly. The car slated for NiMH but Chevron had acquired the technology and for whatever reason, did not allow the new deployment. I was wrong. The car leased for $300/month. Not bad. A first run car NEVER makes money, let alone a new powertrain. Ford sank $1,000,000,000 into develoing just the Escort in 1988(?), a simple commuter car. The electric Toyota RAV-4 are still in service and get 120-150 miles with Ni-MH batteries.

Struck a nerve? You made completely false statements. I am glad you've read about EV-1s. Hell, I heard Rush say once that EV's don't have air conditioning. I couldn't believe he was so misinformed. I was involved in the deployment program in Los Angeles. I drove them and other EVs on many occassions. I was peripherally involved when the first hybrid came out in 1992. That's right- 1992. You won't hear about it but it was displayed on the steps of Los Angeles City Hall. It worked great, mid-sized four seater by the startup manufacturer Clean Air Concepts. It was killed a few months later with no explanation. Not since the current hybrids, nearly 15 years later, has the concept existed. Where was it? Suppressed by low gas prices is my suspicion. The GM EV-1 was far superioir to the Toyota RAV-4s and Nissan "mini-vans" (I forgot the name). So why did they crush it first? Why did they smash every single one? Beats me. Why did they SMASH them? There were lotsa advanced parts in there. The EV RAV's still run today, and run well. You wanna know what I think? I think Toyota and Honda don't play golf with Ford, GM, Chevron, Texaco, etc. That's why they came out with the hybrids, and NOT GM, Ford, Chrysler. I have been a Republican my whole life. I grew up in a corporate environment. I have seen first hand and truly believe that most corporations are harmless and usually well intentioned. But at the same time big money is smart- very smart. And free to strategize and execute. I am also not a big believer in coincidence. It takes quite a bit for me to accept a theory, let alone take it to my preception of reality. But in this case, the years of experience as a watchful observer and a devil's advocate has left me very, very suspicious.

Thank you but unfortunately the very fact that I do even write them proves that I, in fact, should get a life!!! :lol:

You are categorically wrong on every point you make- do you just make this stuff up? The cars were not sold but leased at $500/month. The EV-1 could be driven anywhere but initially was deployed only in a few citities where the was more than enough demand for the entire limited run and the local governments supported the project with local infrastructure improvements (such as charging stations). The EV-1 was wildly popular amongst its owners and the public. So much so that they held a mock funeral at the end, staked out the holding facility where their cars had been taken and sued GM to force them to sell the cars to them. As far as your parts statement, I do not know about that, my guess is that GM had no obligation to meet the 10-year parts requirement as these were "lease-only". Which is partly why they did it this way. It was understood by all that although these were production units, they were not intended for full release. And there was no recession in the late 90's, actually a very good economy and the midst of the most bullish stock market ever. So quite the opposite. On top of that, demand for gas was breaking records due to SUV popularity. So if anything, this is when prices should have spiked. Where are you getting your information? You may want to question it. I strongly encourage you to watch Who Killed the Electric car. It is well done and fair. You can draw your yor own conclusions.

You are technically correct. The reason oil was $10 a barrel (IMHO) was becuase the EV-1, Toyota RAV4, and other electrics were out making a huge impact with the public. And the California ARB Zero emmission vehicle mandate was in force and threatening. The oil companies took a hit to kill off the future. Makes gas cheap and no one wants to change-up. Funny how once the EV's were smashed (literally) and the ZEV madate was rescinded, the prices started to creep up again. Sure seems suspicious to me........

The End of Days approaches!!!

+1 Collusion all the way. Evidence = Record profits. Fish, Bush is an oil-man. No sincere Renewable energy efforts, no sincere electric vehicle support, no support for even plug-in hybrids (which is the beginning of the end for big oil).

IMHO the lobbies that are behind the "status quo" and the connection. 1. Mexican Government - direct - seeks to maintian number one flow of revenue into the country. 2. Business - direct - Owners profit from low wages while the taxpayer, society, and local government covers the social burdens 3. DNC - direct - Radical elements render impotency, party sees potential future voters, afraid of political fallout, and potential national chaos. 4. GOP - direct - Business constituencies inside render them impotent, afraid of political fallout, and potential national chaos. 5. American Public - indirect - Lazy, distracted, confused and hindered by soft and inneffectively general main stream media information and analysis. Suspected: 6. Imported Illegal Drug Industry - Direct - Would be greatly affected if border enforcement were to begin in earnest. Has a lot of cash to hire lobbying resources for unrelated but legitimate immigration and "open border" activist causes. 7. Catholic Church - Direct - "Safe Haven" crapola, "bordeless" philosophy, mainstream religeous influence on many politicians.

Hah! Kaliforneeyah already offers in-State tuition to illegals. NOw we give them credit cards, and there's another stab at driver's licenses. My point is that it is not fair to them or good for our country. Let's shit or get off the pot. Either formally allow them to be here using the existing laws or get them out. We are creating a slave class from our own greed. I'll pay another $1 or $2 for strawberries as long as the guy picking them is legally allowed to be here, counted, taxed, and represented.

And who's fault is it that he was here in the first place and probably been here for a few months to a year or two? Hmmmm?