Detroit and U.S.steel

[rasselasss]

I suppose we are all guilty when looking at industrial decline and the current recession of seeing only whats happening in our own "backyards"....I read an article about the demise of Detroit and the U.S.steel industry,i find it difficult to reason how in Detroit 40 square mile of industrial wasteland,huge unemployment and as the writer said "droves"of people leaving.....this was a city that came through the 1930's depression yet started collapsing 70/80's onwards to present day...like U.S. steel how the politicans can just "airbrush"over what has occured ....over here we complain about the loss of our shipyards but i remember a time when the U.S shipyards during W.W.2 built Liberty Ships at the rate (if i rem.correctlly)of one a week and America was the Industrial Giant of the world ......i'm NOT having a pop at the U.S. i'm just wondering what is going wrong over there and is there any way back....Is there no-one brought to book anymore,the blame has to lie somewhere.

[rlortie]

I blame the environmentalists ... if it makes smoke, such as refining, forging or casting metals then either get rid of it or make the pollution filtering so tight and expensive that the industrialists cannot afford it.

Detroit once started with the raw material, iron ore shipped in via the Great lakes, Here is was smelt, turned into cast iron then on to various alloys, manufactured in America meant just that.

To my knowledge ever manufacture from engine blocks, frames and differentials made of iron or aluminum have moved to other countries.

Look at the manufacture label usually found on the drivers door jam of an alleged American made automobile. Do not be surprised if it reads "assembled" in Canada or Mexico. And where was the engine block cast? Good question.

I cannot forget: The environmentalist will lay the blame on the auto industry unions for demanding more than the builder could or wished to pay.

Ralph

[Ed]

Yeah right. It's the Tree Huggers and not the Molting Vultures.

Sometimes the only way to move forward is to clear out all of the old brush...

[preoccupied]

rlortie, are we importing engineers as well? Who is designing our vehicles? Perhaps an auto boom would come in the form of advanced technology more easily available to be manufactured abroad. Some stuff might only be expensive because it is proprietary, like maybe carbon fiber (I don't know), and is therefore not available to create as many jobs as possible for its use. I think cars look pretty similar to what they were when they first were made.

[rasselasss]

In the ideal world the Kyoto Protocol was a good idea but as G.W.Bush said at the time (1997?)its not a level playing field ,with so few signing up it will eventually damage the economies of those countries that do,i would'nt always agree with his statements....but how right he was,industrialists the nature of their business to make money went to the countries that gave best profits and who can blame them,its my belief we're seeing the outcome today...China 2nd richest and in the top 10 those countries that either did'nt sign up or dragged their heels,there is no victory in this for anyone....yes the air we breathe may be cleaner but the price is causing economic turmoil....Why so fast a pace .

[jim_mich]

I think cars look pretty similar to what they were when they first were made.

So you are saying that a Corvette is pretty much like Henry Ford's first car?

[preoccupied]

haha Jim_mich

I guess they are not the same. I was wrong. But I think I read somewhere that autos are about the same as they used to be. I think if carbon fiber is cheap enough to be used in cars that manufacturing could start up in the USA depending on who owns the process. I saw a race car have a horrific crash and the guy walk out unharmed because when carbon fiber breaks it absorbs the impact. That should be used as shields for all vehicles to absorb all damage to the driver.

[terry5732]

Having lived in Michigan, I can say that the problem there is the people. The union culture that developed over the years has made a breed that expect something for nothing. The same happened at USS. These union people want five people to get paid for what should be the work of one.

The southern non-union auto plants are doing fine.

[rlortie]

Picked this up in my e-mail, thought this might be a good thread for it:

This started with Congress.
This is too possible to even be funny.

President Barack Obama and the Democratic Senate are considering sweeping legislation that will provide new benefits for many Americans. The Americans With No Abilities Act is being hailed as a major legislative goal by advocates of the millions of Americans who lack any real skills or ambition.

"Roughly 50 percent of Americans do not possess the competence and drive necessary to carve out a meaningful role for themselves in society," said California Sen. Barbara Boxer. "We can no longer stand by and allow People of Inability (POI) to be ridiculed and passed over. With this legislation, employers will no longer be able to grant special favors to a small group of workers, simply because they have some idea of what they are doing."

In a Capitol Hill press conference, House minority leader Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid pointed to the success of the U.S. Postal Service, which has a long-standing policy of providing opportunity without regard to performance. At the state government level, the Department of Motor Vehicles also has an excellent record of hiring Persons with No Ability (63 percent).

Under the Americans With No Abilities Act, more than 25 million mid-level positions will be created, with important-sounding titles but little real responsibility, thus providing an illusory sense of purpose and performance.

Mandatory non-performance-based raises and promotions will be given to guarantee upward mobility for even the most unremarkable employees. The legislation provides substantial tax breaks to corporations that promote a significant number of Persons of Inability (POI) into middle-management positions, and give a tax credit to small and medium-sized businesses that agree to hire one clueless worker for every two talented hires.

Finally, the Americans With No Abilities Act contains tough new measures to make it more difficult to discriminate against the non-abled, banning, for example, discriminatory interview questions such as, "Do you have any skills or experience that relate to this job?"

"As a non-abled person, I can 't be expected to keep up with people who have something going for them," said Mary Lou Gertz, who lost her position as a lug-nut twister at the GM plant in Flint, Mich., due to her inability to remember righty tighty, lefty loosey. "This new law should be real good for people like me. I’ll finally have job security." With the passage of this bill, Gertz and millions of other untalented citizens will finally see a light at the end of the tunnel.

Said Sen. Dick Durbin: "As a senator with no abilities, I believe the same privileges that elected officials enjoy ought to be extended to every American with no abilities. It is our duty as lawmakers to provide each and every American citizen, regardless of his or her inadequacy, with some sort of space to take up in this great nation and a good salary for doing so."

*******************************

And where do we plant them? Detroit, where else!

[Ed]

EUGENE, OR—Now synonymous with controversial uniforms, the Oregon Ducks reached a new level of contentiousness Saturday when they took the field to play Stanford wearing helmets, jerseys, pants, socks, and shoes made entirely of rotting, feather-strewn duck flesh. “Christ, the smell and all those damn flies,� said Stanford head coach David Shaw, who pleaded with officials to suspend the game when a nauseous Cardinal defense started vomiting on the field, and again when slippery footballs covered in duck blood limited his team’s passing game. “I’ve said before that their uniforms can be overly distracting, but the way the sun glints off those slimy duck entrails wrapped around the waist clearly has to be some kind of violation. Plus I’ve got a halfback receiving stitches from the duck bill that snapped off a tackler’s shoulder pads and lacerated his forearm.� According to NCAA officials, an investigation into Oregon’s controversial uniforms will be conducted as soon as health officials deem the sweaty, festering duck carcasses now strewn in a sopping pile on the floor of the Autzen Stadium locker room safe enough for inspection.

[getterdone]

The Sugarman's point of view on Detroit

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AjRAprz5fq8

[rasselasss]

http://www.usdebtclock.org/index.html

[getterdone]

Ooooch, that's gonna hurt

[Ed]

......i'm NOT having a pop at the U.S. i'm just wondering what is going wrong over there and is there any way back....

We used to be able to work together... now there's all these idjits... putting their fingers in pencil sharpeners... not to mention idjit galoots.

[rlortie]

The Afghan Quarterback

The coach had put together the perfect team for the Chicago Bears. The only thing that was missing was a good quarterback. He had scouted all the colleges and even the Canadian and European Leagues, but he couldn't find a ringer who could ensure a Super Bowl win.

Then one night while watching CNN he saw a war-zone scene in Afghanistan . In one corner of the background, he spotted a young Afghan Muslim soldier with a truly incredible arm. He threw a hand-grenade straight into a 15th story window 100 yards away.

KABOOM!

He threw another hand-grenade 75 yards away, right into a chimney.

KA-BLOOEY!

Then he threw another at a passing car going 90 mph.

BULLS-EYE!

"I've got to get this guy!" Coach said to himself. "He has the perfect arm!"

So, he brings him to the States, teaches him the great game of football and the Bears go on to win the Super Bowl.

The young Afghan is hailed as the great hero of football, and when the coach asks him what he wants, all the young man wants is to call his mother.

"Mom," he says into the phone, "I just won the Super Bowl!"

"I don't want to talk to you, says the old Muslim woman."You are not my son!"

"I don't think you understand, Mother," the young man pleads. "I've won the greatest sporting event in the world. I'm here among thousands of adoring fans."

"No! Let me tell you!" his mother retorts. "At this very moment, there are gunshots all around us. The neighborhood is a pile of rubble. Your two brothers were beaten within an inch of their lives last week, and I have to keep your sister in the house so she doesn't get raped!" The old lady pauses, and then tearfully says,

"I will never forgive you for making us move to Chicago ".