cmattson

Cool - thanks wmj -- I owe yeah!

I guess when you have several people inside your own intelligence agency debunking a few of the claims (ahem, Niger uranium), my personal standards would say that standing in front of the country in a State of the Union address and holding it up as one of the key reasons why we need to go to war against another nation wouldn't exactly fall under "completely truthfull". Would I call it lying? Not exactly. I wouldn't call it truthfull either. Here's the complete transcript of that Jan'03 State of the Union address: http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/20...0030128-19.html Go ahead and re-read it. Pay close attention to how many references are made to "installing a democracy" and "bringing freedom to the Iraqi people (zero). Pay close attention to how many times it's mentioned that the Iraqi people need to be free'd from a horendous dictator (zero). Now look at the *absolute pile* that is presented about WMD. Meanwhile the United Nations and it's weapons inspectors were saying that there was nothing conlcusive - and that they needed more time. People within your OWN intelligence agencies had doubt and concern about the validity of some of the claims in questions. Don't forget that our military left weapon stores unguarded and Nuclear waste storage facilities unguarded in their advance on Bahgdad. Just space me the fairy tale about "keeping our country safe from terrorists", okay? You may not be able to blame Bush for "lying", but you can certainly blame him for not presenting all of the information available to him (pro-war AND con-war). You can also fault him for surrounding himself solely with "yes people". There's no room for a dissenting view (on any topic) within this admnistration. Everything is put in perspective of black or white, with-us or against us. IMO, that's very small minded -- and it's cost this country dearly.

Hey wilmanjoe; why isn't this an issue on the 2003's? Did they upgrade the part for the 2003's? I've got a kind of vested interest as I own an '03 Suburban. Thanks!

Here's my car history, in-order: 1974 Olds Cutlass Supreme (5.7l) 1979 Chevrolet Camaro (5.0l) 1983 Olds Cutlass Supreme (3.8l) 1984 Pontiac Sunbird (1.8l) NON-GM: 1988 Chrysler Lebaron 2.2l Turbo II 1990 Olds Cutlass Supreme International (3.1l) 1993 Pontiac Grand Am (2.3l) 1995 Pontiac Grand Am (3.1l) 1996 Chevrolet Blazer (4.3l) NON-GM: 2000 Dodge Stratus 2.7l 2003 Chevrolet Suburban K1500 (5.3l) 2004 Chevrolet Malibu (2.2l)

Wow.. I was suckered pretty good there. I know this is a car forum & everything; but when I see "Hot Russian Models" on a topic thread -- anywhere on the internet -- I guess I expect something different than 4 wheels & sheet metal. I'm so disappointed.

This isn't bad news - and it doesn't really affect GM any. The Dow Jones Industrial Index is a collection of stocks (weighted). Nobody knows the exact holding / formula. You can speculate that it includes the biggies from a variety of sectors - and that it probably does include GM. What this means is that the Dow Jones Index will be calc'ed with the numbers from some other stock (that would replace GM's spot in the formula).

Sorry '68 -- I'm in Minnesota; but the next time I swing out to the east coast, can we hook up? I'll buy -- as long as you give me a ride in that old F-bod, ok? It's been a dream-of-mine to own a 1st gen. I regularly drool over the pix of your ride.

Another local station (WCCO, chnl 4) seems to have picked up the story as well; here's the video: http://www.wcco.com/video/[email protected]

My brother in law is a state trooper. Last Friday, he was working a DWI shift (overtime). Basically, the Fed gov't has provided block-grants to the states so the states can provide troopers overtime to work extra shifts and crack down on DWI's. Last Friday, my brother-in-law had a drunk run a red light and smash into the front fender/driver's door of his squad at an estimated speed of 50mph. My brother in law had a broken clavicle and was knocked out by the blow. The Crown Vic's don't have side airbags - so he likely hit his head on the side of the door. The radio in his squad was damaged by the blow, so he had to use his sholder radio. He was a halfway out of it when he mumbled to dispatch that he'd been hit by something (& then he passed out). He woke up to squads, ambulances, and a helicopter. Nice you know you've got some support, huh? The Crown Vic is totalled - and his unit was only 6 months old. Bummer, huh? The guy apparantly has a whole laundry list of offenses. His previous DWI is an "escalator" + him hitting a law enforcement officer is another escalator, which means that this one is a federal offense -- minimum one year in jail if convicted. 2 Witnesses stuck around to say that the drunk ran a red light.. so the likely outcome is a conviction. Anyways, one of the local channels picked it up. I'll try and tape the segment with the my tuner card & make it available sometime shortly after that. You'll get to see my wife's brother + his mangled squad. If I can swing it, I'll try and get some of his video footage of some other action -- everytime they turn on the lights, the camera starts rolling. He's got some great crash scenes & some excellent chases as well. This is the 2nd person close to me that's been injured by a drunk driver (I had a friend that was run over by a drunk when I was younger; fortunately he survived - and still has a limp to this day as a reminder). Just a reminder to everyone out there reading this to NOT DRINK AND DRIVE this holiday season, ok? People care about you and want to make sure you arrive safely. Other people's loved ones are out and about as well. Do your best and try to be considerate, ok?

That doesn't make much sense to me unless the Malibu name is being retired (or put into an exclusive fleet service role). Would this "new Malibu" feature a new/different nameplate?

Small 2-seater? Saturn Sky Coupe? Corvette Z06 Sedan? Cad. CTS Wagon/Hatchback? Dodge Magnum, 2nd choice: HHR SUV? GMT-9xx Cad. Escalade Van? Dodge Caravan Truck? Sierra 2500 w/6.0l, 2nd choice: same truck w/Duramax diesel Used? 1968 Camaro RS/SS. Black, tinted windows, and a cutout in the hood for the blower on a 396 rat. A *big* blower. If I want to see the passenger side of the hood, let me crawl over to the passenger seat.

I had a '93 Grand Am that had the same symptoms. The fan was working, but the flow of heat/air was next-to-non-existent from the dash vents. You have the feeling that you'd need to sit on top of the dash to feel any heat what-so-ever. Annoying as hell. Anyways, I have a mechanic buddy of mine that knew exactly what the issue was: You have an evaporator core up near the firewall; and it's probably got a slow leak & is now collecting dust & crap (from the moisture). You can replace the evap core (pricey) & that's what most shops will want to do: (1) they won't have you comming back next week/next month/next year, and (2) it's a costlier repair -> more profit for them. My mechanic buddy took the bolts holding the blower motor out, removed the blower motor and shoved a power sprayer into the cavity and blew everything out. I believe there was some sort of resister thats mounted into that cowling/assembly that you want to remove as well -- something like 2 bolts to it -- just unbolt it, and pull it out of the way so it doesn't get wet. You can probably get by with just a hose as well. Disassembly, spraying, and assembly took all of 10 minutes. Best of all, this is a rather simple repair that you can perform yourself at the cost of only your time. I had heat/air flow like crazy after that. Best of luck!

All I want for Christmas is a Ho-Ho-Ho. (Bad pun intended). Seriously? I'd like 30-45 minutes with Josh's Solstice -- just to help him break it in of course.

Those looking @ savings accounts should checkout ingdirect. You can electronically transfer funds to any other account (i.e. checking account) at any time. The interest rates are better than you'd find at a bank.

Nobody said we'd be making any payments on those bills. :blink:

Progressive dings me about $500/6 months for full-coverage (+ glass) on the '03 Suburban and my '04 Malibu. Seems pretty fair to me. In the short time I've had Progressive, I've used them to repair hail damage on my 'bu, storm damage on the Suburban (damn tornado whipped a cart corall at the grocery store into one of the rear quarters..made a helluva dent), and replace the windshield on the Suburban (rock). All in all, they've been very easy to work with, and very, very responsive -- even making follow-up calls to verify that all of the repairs have been to my satisfaction.

Not yet, but I am thinking that my kid should treat us all to a trip to Disney World next year -- hehe.

My son received his first credit card offer in the mail this week. Imagine that! His first credit card -- at only age 6! It's from Citicorp -- one of the biggies. Since I moved within the last 8 months & this had our current, correct address - their records must be somewhat accurate. You can't tell me that they do ANY amount of background checking before sending out credit card offers what-so-ever. As a lender, wouldn't you want to, oh I don't know, check out income, credit report, etc before sending out a credit card offer? How can they say (with a straight face) that they are even halfway-serious about credit card security when they mail an offer out to a 6-year old? BTW, I've already had this little speech on several phone calls - one to their customer service line & once to their security line. Both of them get you next-to-no-where. They can't tell you how they obtained the name (hello again -- security issues) & they cannot do anything but give you the credit reporting services phone numbers so you can verify that there isn't some sort of identify-theft issue occuring. So -- if you are following all of this: a large financial company can get names from anonymous sources, can willy-nilly send out financial offers, and YOU are responsible for calling & verifying your credit information -- because of their negligence & their fast-and-loose offer-anything-that-moves-a-credit-card policies. I can tell you this: I will never knowingly be a Citicorp customer in the remainder of my lifetime.

[insert crude but witty joke about "golden globes" here]

I believe there is an ecotec variant with direct injection available in Europe already.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/sto...ecialGlobeAuto/

The key to their rating is the part where they say that "if they have repeated quarters like the previous 2". The previous 2 quarters were bad of historic proportions. It's not like every two quarters is going to have another Fiat fiasco. Another 'sky is falling' article. One might note that GM filing bankrupcy would allow GM to escape some of their contractual obligations & perhaps shed a portion of their pension debt. What investor wouldn't like to hear that?

Your car already has software -- I'm just saying that you let people tune some parameters (within limits of course). Allow the software to be reset by a mechanic if needed. Software is a part of your car, no different from any other part. I can take a wrench or a socket to my car and wreck things too -- but I can also make changes and improvements with that wrench and socket.

Ok, time to move outside the bounds of conservative, automotive engineering: 1) Isn't it time we have a 802.11b wireless card built-in to your vehicle? I'd say 802.11g - but the b standard, being outdated is ridiculously cheap. I should be able to connect with a laptop/home computer and pull up a configuration page - similar to a router's configuration page. Of course, you'd want the connection secure -- but routers have already worked within this confine w/o a problem. I should be able to connect & change simple things from radio presets to the clock. The car should also have a small hard drive. Record driving patterns, temp, oil changes, etc. I should be able to pull up full history from my browser. Be nice when it comes time to sell the car too: you'd have gas mileage info for all time! Want to really push the envelop? Let owners download "adjustments" for their car. You want your car a bit sportier? Perhaps gas mileage is more your thing? No more "tuned for a happy medium for all people" approach. Perhaps people could upload their info to GM. GM could incent people to upload their vehicle information--provide them with a token discount on their next GM purchase. GM could get useful info on how their vehicles are used & maintained. 2) Back to the hard drive. I should be able to connect & upload mp3's to my car. Keep the mp3 plug in; but expand upon the idea. I should be able to upload mp3's via a wireless or a wired connection. 3) Rid yourself of some of the proprietary bs. Let people have access to tweaking their car. They want to change the shift point? Fine. They want to change the idle speed - fine; what's the big deal? It's their damn car. Of course, record the info -- so that come shop time, the mechanic has info available to them. 4) No need for a scan tool. I should be able to see all metrics from a browser. Check engine light? I should be able to see why from my browser. It should explain what triggered the light and possible reasons why. Why should customers spend tens of thousands of dollars and be kept in the dark on how's, where's and why's of how their vehicle operates? Keep any kind of proprietary algorithms locked away. Security is tight enough today to ensure it's feasibility. Sure, it would *iss off the garages: but who is it more important to keep happy: the buying public or the auto garages? 5) Digital dashes/LCD's are becomming cheaper and cheaper. You are seeing them in more and more vehicles. If you had access to your car's configuration, perhaps you could change the layout to your dash display? Download skins? 6) An IPOD docking station. Why not build in an IPOD docking station? Let people just slide the IPOD in. Instant pluged in -- no wires. Use your radio to control it. Doesn't slide around. Perhaps you make the slot large enough that you can buy "adjustment sleeves" - you could make an adjustment sleeve for a RIO, for an IPOD, for an XM unit, etc. It'd be more of a universal dock. Of course -- that sleeve would cost you extra. Accessories = profit. Now, I'm not saying you'd want to implement any or all of these on your vehicles -- but if you want to get the next generation of buyers, here's a couple of steps that would put you out front. Perhaps give you an image of being forward-thinking and/or technologically advanced.

Yeah -- we speculate too much.. Did he use two "T" 's on the word "butt"? Hmm.. I wonder...