longtooth

Deflationary pressures lend a certain 'depth' to any economic downturn. This downturn we're now experiencing will bring a new perception to those not ever having had lived through a hard times. It's not only gas, it's most commodities, housing prices and extreme pressure on wages.

Each to his own 'LS6. Even in the belly of the beast, working for a large entity, it is one man or woman against the elements, forces of nature (especially for a Landscape-Artist) and the economy. I hope collectively, that we as one Nation, proceed on a course which reinforces the integrity and humble nature of honest labor. In the economy-at-large there is an ongoing and painful recalibration of everything we thought we knew about ourselves. I pray that we have the character to preserve the best of our Nation and not sell our souls for a quick-fix. Best to you.

How about that! I see the crews down here in Northeast, MD and notice the predominance of 'latinos'/hispanics. I wouldn't presume to tell you what course to pursue, but in the construction/masonry side of my family, in watching the activities of the trade unions out of the Philly/Trenton area I see that these guys are tracking, documenting and turning in the 'interlopers' in to ICE. The union's current motto in fighting what they're perceiving as a cancer on all labor is: Charity Begins At Home. Should things become even more dire I think there'll be retribution on the part of legal citizen-wage earners seeking to remove the resource-draining agents from the equation. November Job Losses just now being reported as the worst since '74. Over 533K jobs gone. Somewhere in the neighborhood of 1.3 million on the year. Bad and growing worse.

Do you work outdoors? I likely had not been attuned to you having stated it on C 'n G. Have you noticed encroachment on your territory by companies using so-called day-laborers. Back East we/I have seen an influx of 'undocumented' laborers here. In fact, one of these darlings' squashed someone last w/e using a truck from the employer he was working for. Homicide charges after crash By BY DANNY ADLER AND MATT COUGHLIN Bucks County Courier Times BENSALEM - After being refused drinks and escorted out of a Bensalem bar Saturday night, a 35-year-old illegal immigrant slammed a pickup truck into one of the bar's employees, pinning the employee against the building and killing him. Jose Esteban Maldonado-Luzuriaga, an Ecuador native who authorities say has lived in the United States for five or six years, now faces homicide and related charges... http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/news/113...08-1630237.html Bensalem. PA is hard-by my old stomping grounds and is located between Philly and Trenton, NJ. About equidistant. Having so many of these undocumented workers abroad in our Country undermines the prevailing wages in many communities. Especially in the Southern states. That's why, in addition to touting 'advantages' of being 'Right To Work' (i.e.: anti-union states), the South lured those transplant foreign-branded auto manufacturers.

That FactoryRat is comprised of the remnant members of the 'New Directions' movement within the UAW. It reveals much about the membership. Some good & bad points. Things without a point occasionally. I post there as 'SledgeHammer'...I'm not beholden to any single faction.

And SAIC might want to go fishing. I saw an unattributed article (which is from 11-18-08) in the form of an e-mail. Not an earth-shattering, late breaking story. I Googled the headline: Chinese Automakers May Buy GM and Chrysler. Which has likely already been posted here. Anyway here's the link. http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/breaking-...m-and-chrysler/ I'm behind the curve right now. And there's this, from The FactoryRat website. About/from Janesville, Wisconsin. "...just talked with the union in janesville and he said the jobs bank is the least of there worries right now. They say GM will not be able to make payroll for the last week of dec..." Link for that FactoryRat forum: http://factoryrat.com/factoryrat/modules.p...opic&t=3854

Right you were. I'm there to verify your seeing abilities if needed. Now I'm hearing more 'noise' as to the Chinese getting involved.

Access to the lucrative North American market as (or is would that be if?) it recovers. That's globalism as it compares to say Multi-Port fuel injection. Direct-Injected Globalism would be the elimination of (the illusion of) autonomous self-governance. Essentially becoming an extension of a global entity. In a generation and one half from now, no one will know the difference in this homogenized polyglot world of ours.

"A Christmas Carol" starring Alistair Sim from 1951. This is the one that I grew up with.

Joe Dirt would cringe.

Hmmm. I get an e-mail everyday from the Atlanta Journal Constitution. They're hurting pretty bad in general down there in 'the Dirty South'. The boundless expansion that was in full-effect as recently when I left just over two years ago is grinding to a standstill. Theirs is an an economy based on continuing expansion, growth, growth and more growth. There'll be more than a few seasons of fallow there as here as things recalibrate. If we're lucky. The Atlanta Journal Constitution: http://www.ajc.com/?cxntnid=biz062708e

Dunwoody, on Peachford Road, practically within the shadow of that venerable assembly plant. 2.4 miles to my parking spot on the plant property from my driveway. Sadly (imo) their last day of production was on Friday, September 26, 2008. They were last building the Pontiac version of the van for Canada. I miss that place, the area, the hustle and bustle.

So long as the monkeys dance as they're bidden for Congress.

The 7 Worst Ways to Rescue Detroit December 02, 2008 11:57 AM ET | Rick Newman [quoting from the article] "Commence Kabuki. With the Detroit automakers in the late stages of supplication, a predictable ritual will now take place. The CEOs of GM, Ford, and Chrysler will do as instructed: travel like common men from Detroit to Washington and present the government with new-and-improved..." http://www.usnews.com/blogs/flowchart/2008...ue-detroit.html

Breeding. Upbringing.

Toyo-Ford Sales Report: http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/ford...mp;siteid=yhoof

"GM studies killing Saab, Saturn, Pontiac" They may practice a bit of vivisection. Some grafting.

I for one resent the transparency of the UAW-GM 'relationship'. Of course I have derived my income from this symbiosis over the span of 33 years. I'm not ashamed of that. It's the airing of dirty laundry ad nauseum that cloys and causes my revulsion. I for one also think that a great, good scare and a scaling back of things would do wonders as to putting things in a truer perspective. Both sides get to experience diminution and being taken down a peg or two or three. Especially against the humbling backdrop of Economic Armageddon.

Thank you. My prayers (even ones I scarcely recall) have been answered as of 8:12 am EST. Today's a very memorable day. Now that I do not squander it.

Truly nice 'work' if you could get it it. Never had the honor myself. Was conceived in theory to protect lower seniority from the cyclical ravages of the Industry. Also considered a political tool internally when things weren't quite as bad as now. Service to the Community was one option that many chose while in the 'Bank'. I know these f*cks personally. [see link below] They're actually very good friends of mine. I didn't go to Linden, NJ Assembly as they did. I went to Georgia at Doraville just before these guys went to Linden Volunteer Spotlight: General Motors Employees General Motors Employees Offer Time to the Preserve http://www.bhwp.org/volunteers/feature.htm

The picture in general seems very ugly indeed. Yet on a personal basis things seem oddly in harmony pending tomorrow's outcome.

Untold 'goodies' for the hourly staff. I.E.: The next generation of worker, beginning in theory when the likes of me retire, will earn $14 an hour, and an a la carte menu of scarce bennies from which to choose. No pension as per the 2007 National Agreement between GM and it's UAW-repped workforce. 401ks only. To make this even more cost effective they'd have a longer length of service hurdle to get over before they could be made permanent employees. Up to 180 days instead of the current 90. GM wants a revolving workforce of 30% temporary employees. No bennies. $12 to $14 an hour. Things like this the UAW plans to pitch Congress. Much of it off-the-record so as not to inflame the hold-over regular hourly workers. And of course the infamous JOBs Bank shall be an historical artifact very soon.

It's Kabuki theater designed for mass consumption.

That's ironic 'LS6. There's a convergence of events of an intensely personal nature tomorrow. When I refreshed the comments page, the Topic Reading: "Tomorrow Should Tell The Tale" was sitting right there as though in confirmation. You're a soothsayer.

The Government bulked up the Financial sector with assistance. The Market was dictating rioting in the streets along the lines of 'The Great Depression Meets The Road Warrior'. Maybe still. You never know.