mustang84

As long as it stays civilized, I see no reason to lock a thread even if it gets redundant. If there is no longer interest it will fall to the bottom of the board on its own. I've enjoyed the viewpoints so far and hope this one stays open.

This is probably the best criticism of McCain's recent about-face I have read. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...id=opinionsbox1

I'm still trying to figure out the whole Track/Trig thing. I can see Willow as a name. But what the hell is Trig? Trigger? Trigonometry? And is track supposed to be a reference to, say, a racetrack...or maybe a track runner? Deer tracks? Talk about bizarre...

It's pretty cool they fully revealed the Volt on GM's 100th. A nice symbolic gesture to usher in another 100 years!

WOW! I'm thoroughly impressed! I looks better than the concept and the interior rocks. GM hit the mark on this one!

I'm watching the TV right now and an ad came on for McCain-Palin claiming they are mavericks against pork-barrel spending and that Palin "battled the bridge to nowhere." WTF.......Palin was for the Gravina Island Bridge! She only reversed her support two years later after public outcry against the project was so great.

I think racism will be mostly gone in a couple more generations (here in the US at least). My grandparents are/were sorta racist (mostly just my grandpa on my dad's side though). My parents aren't really racist but my mom instantly says something like "I think we're driving into a bad neighborhood" whenever she sees more than one black person on the street. For most my age, race isn't an issue anymore. We were taught to treat others equally in school, we didn't have parents that were overtly racist, and popular culture like movies and music has exposed us to a lot more diversity. I'm guessing this lady was probably older, likely above 50, and probably doesn't get out much.

Add: Close the Department of Homeland Security, or severely limit its powers. Repeal the Patriot Act, the Military Commissions Act, and anything else enacted under the Bush Administration that infringes on the Constitution. Defense: pull out of Iraq, cut the defense budget in half (even if it means closing some bases) and spend that money back home. We can't afford to police the world any longer; we are the Roman Empire of the 21st century and we will not last much longer if we keep piling up the debt. Environmental: I'm ok with CAFE as long as it is one unified standard and is reasonably attainable. However, the government should help foot some of the bill for R&D if they expect such rapid change. Trade: This one should be obvious...end the outsourcing of labor. Punish those corporations that do, whether through higher taxes or decreased federal assistance, etc. I'm generally against regulation of business and industry, but do we lose millions of jobs so that those at the peak of the corporate ladder can make a greater profit with cheap labor? At what point do the execs forego the greed and think of the millions of middle class Americans that suddenly can't support themselves because they have been laid off and there is no other work available that pays the same? I know this is a global world, but I would hope there is still some allegiance to the place you live and your fellow citizens. I'm tired, so I'll probably add more later.

Individual freedom, followed closely by the general demise of America (economic, educational, social). Britain's already pretty far down the path toward an authoritarian government and the British people don't seem to bat an eye; the US seemed to be heading that way, but hopefully a change of leadership will reverse the damage that has been done. Our government has done things that would cause the founding fathers to hang their heads in shame if they were alive today.

Iowa usually leans Democrat. I grew up in the western side of the state and it's almost entirely Republican, but the central and eastern side are where most of the people live and cities like Iowa City are heavily Democratic. I'm pretty positive Obama will win Iowa.

Billboard, Rolling Stone, etc. lists are usually crap. No different here. Any list that includes Macarena in the top ten can't be taken seriously anyway.

I've been slowly buying up Ford stock and now have 250 shares. It's not much, but I don't really have much disposable income right now either. My price average is about $4.75, so as long as it goes above that I'm happy. Quite a few are predicting $10 again soon, and maybe $20-30 by 2010...so now I just have to sit tight. I haven't jumped on GM yet...it's pricier than Ford, but I'm thinking about picking up some within the next 3 months as long as it stays under $15.

That was a really great clip Dodgefan....thanks for posting.

Not a fan. Even though the banned books thing turned out to be false, the Wasilla sports complex controversy does not bode well for her political career, or the fact that she was nearly ousted as mayor in her first year. Yeah she seems to have energy and is charismatic, but she is far too tied to her evangelical Christian values to be taken seriously as a Vice President of the United States.

Death f'in Magnetic! This album kicks ass!

HEAR THE ENTIRE ALBUM! http://www.metallica.com/index.asp?item=601231 I gave in and am listening to it now since I did the presale pack for my concert tickets and my Death Magnetic CD probably won't be mailed until after the release date. I've heard the first three songs so far, and IT ROCKS!

I haven't done much exploring here in Eastern Iowa since I moved from the central part of the state, but I did go on a road trip to SE Minnesota this summer and there is some great scenery along the Iowa side of the Mississippi River. Some towns I recommend seeing are Guttenberg, Marquette, McGregor, and Dubuque...all historic river towns with brick buildings dating back to the 1830s-40s. Also, the drive on Highway 84 (following the Mississippi River) from Fulton, IL to the Quad Cities is a pleasant one; Port Byron is a nice little river town.

I think that CLR Remover stuff (Calcium-Lime-Rust cleaner) does a pretty thorough job too. We used it one time in our bathroom and it made certain metal surfaces look almost new.

I agree with the above sentiments. I visit a skyscraper / urban development board occasionally where the general consensus leans strongly in one direction and it gets pretty nasty in there toward anyone on the other side of the fence. I myself don't really fit under either party; I see good and bad things in both. The problem today is that people have such short tempers and don't have the patience to listen to an opposing argument. Sometimes I wonder if it is due to the popularity of the internet, where you can be as bullheaded as you want while remaining completely anonymous. We get a lot of our news from the web these days, and much of it is unbalanced and filled with slant. These nasty attitudes then spill out into our face-to-face interactions, and suddenly people are labeled merely because they associate with a certain party (even if they don't share all of the views). The 2000 elections and the Iraq War really divided this nation, and I'm not sure if we'll ever get that unity back that we once had.

Now advertise, advertise, advertise. I was watching Spike TV today and in a two hour period Toyota showed this ad 3 times about how it was "neutralizing the negatives" of automobile environmental impact and "humanizing mobility"...PR fluff as usual, but Toyota always does a convincing job with its advertising. However, Toyota ads are usually so vague without any hard facts or figures...they just use pretty buzz words and people eat it up. If GM has 43 plants right now that are landfill-free facilities, get it in print ASAP. Use the same pretty buzz words that Toyota does, but back it up with some hard numbers. For all the positives I read about GM, it never really seems to make it beyond the car buff websites out into the general public.

Nice website, but outside of a bunch of auto enthusiasts who already know this stuff, is the general public ever going to visit it? Hopefully GM will incorporate this site into their advertising somehow, even if it's just a little "visit gmfactsandfiction.com" at the bottom of print or TV ads.

Anybody ever bought something off the TV that didn't turn out to be total crap? Maybe it was actually worth more than what you paid for it? I saw a commercial once for a product called the Perfect Pushup, and then forgot about it for a while until I saw it in Wal-Mart for $20. A buddy of mine had it and liked it, so I decided to try it out since it was on sale (usually $40). It's probably been the best twenty bucks I've spent; it's durable and I have actually seen results with it. I use it almost every day and had added about 2 or 3 inches to the circumference of my arms and my whole upper body is toned. I've been using it for about 7 months now. Even if it broke tomorrow and I had to buy another one, I feel like I've gotten more than my money's worth.

We received the remnants of Gustav here on Thursday and Friday...especially Friday. There wasn't much in the way of wind, but a solid swath of rain hung over us for most of the two days. With all this rain we have received so far, we're having our second best season for crops ever.

Hey, I'm a groomsman at my college roomate's wedding on the 20th too! Although my wedding is in Fort Dodge, IA...nothing fancy shmancy like Scotland. I generally don't mind weddings...well, I don't mind the reception afterward. The actual wedding is usually pretty boring, and it's even worse if your in the wedding party and have to get there hours early for pictures and such. But the receptions are usually pretty fun for me.

I'm doing my damn best to avoid listening to the leaked songs (listened to about 15 seconds of All Nightmare Long and then killed YouTube). Not because I'm against leaked or illegally D/Led music, but I just like being able to open the plastic and pop the disc in for the first time. I only do this for albums I'm really looking forward to, and DM is one of them. Anyway, I'm kinda annoyed with Mission Metallica right now because I've been trying to order tickets and it says my Mission Metallica presale code is not in the database. I even signed up for a new account and that code isn't available either. Guess I'll just have to wait until the 13th and get crappier seats...