Sunday, December 28, 2008

Why the racism?

Well, it seems like Mexico just made its first car. 


The Mastretta MXT is a super coupe tha
t was designed, manufactured and eventually produced in Mexico. Mexico has finally made their own vehicle and they made it in style. The Mastretta MXT is meant to be a challenger to the Lotus Elise and Exige. Small car, with a huge engine for it size. 

Mexico successfully created a car that is quick in acceleration, quick in corners and turning but slow in top speed. Mexico also is targeting the European market because there are no emission test, the car has to pass in Europe (which is why we don't so many european cars in the US.)

So, the car is fast and it looks good. Is it another car to add to our Dream Car Wish-list? 

Well, you would be surprised. 

I visited many sites that wrote articles on the car, and the comments were extremely offensive.
such as:

"mount a lawnmower blade under one of those bad boys and jose will have my lawn done in a mere seconds"

"No way they did this by themselves, they probably stole the design. Besides, it will never sell in Mexico, it can't fit 7 people in the front seat"

"I heard the exhaust is going to smell like refried beans"

"This will be a complete failure, Mexicans can't do anything good but cut lawns. It's not meant to be."

"Haha, fucken beaners attempting to be smart and civilized, nice try beaners but you will never succeed" 

Not only was I offended, but I was also shocked that the website moderator did not block or delete those comments.

I hate the internet for that reason, these people hide behind a fictitious screenames, and they begin to say things they wouldn't normally say in real life. Not just about Mexicans (although I would argue that it happens the most to them)  but also happens with Blacks and the LGBT community.

Stuff, like this just makes me sad.

Saturday, December 13, 2008

The truth behind the fall of the Big 3....

First off, for those of us who don't know who the Big 3 are, then here is a quick explanation:

Big 3: The name given to the 3 largest North American carmakers- General Motors, Ford and Chrysler. At first glance it may not be noticeable exactly how big these companies are, but the following list of brands sold under those carmakers will make it clear.

General Motors: Chevrolet, Buick, Pontiac, GMC, Saturn, Hummer, Saab and Cadillac are the brands sold in the US. GM Daewoo, Holden, Opel, Vauxhal and Wuling are brands sold 
outside the U.S. Total= 13 brands.

Ford: Ford, Lincoln, Mercury, Mazda and Volvo. They also own a small portion of Aston Martin in England. Total= 5 brands.

Chrysler: Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep and Mopar (large Auto parts brand). Total= 3 brands

Total Brands= 21. This is also excluding all other ownership that the Big 3 have, including financial institutions and small companies.

Now, looking at the Big 3... they are alot bigger then it seems.

Anyway, the future of the Big 3 seems gloomy. I honestly hope none of the Big 3 fall into bankruptcy, not only because it would worsen our economy, but because every car company I states above represents a small portion of American History. Ford gave us the Mustang and the GT, General Motors gave us the Camaro and Corvette, Chrysler gave us the Charger and Viper. American Icons. You see, these car companies mean a lot more to Americans than just a horribly mismanaged business. 

So why wasn't the Senate been able to come to a deal for rescuing the Big 3?

The United Auto Workers (UAW) is to blame, they are demanding more than what the companies can give. Remember when I posted the article on why the City of Vallejo went bankrupt? (Click Here to go to that Post) I stated that the city went bankrupt because the unions would not loosen their restrictions. The same is happening to the Big 3. The UAW is not willing to lower their compensation. According to an Article in Realclearpolitics.com, the average compensation for a worker in the Big 3 is $72.31, but the average for all other companies (excluding KIA, because they pay ridiculously little) is $44.20. The deal between Senate and UAW ended when the UAW refused to lower their compensation to that of other companies. 

Why did the UAW do this? If the Big 3 really goes bankrupt in 2 weeks, like they state, then doesn't the UAW realize that its members wont have jobs anymore? Isn't getting paid $44.20 better than getting paid nothing at all?

The answers all lie in what I stated earlier.  The UAW realizes that the US government (and the White House, specifically) would never allow the Big 3 to go into bankruptcy in a time when the economy is suffering. Beyond that, however, the US would never allow the death of such historic companies. 

I predict that the Big 3 will not fall into bankruptcy, and that the UAW will not lose compensation. The government will save them both.
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What do I think the government should do?

I believe the government should stick a Hummer up the a** of the UAW and order their compensation to be lowered to that of other companies. They should save the Big 3 but also put restriction into place that would prevent this from happening again. Compensation should stay below $50.00 and it should only rise with inflation.

Oh, and they should also build more hybrids. :)