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Politics : President Barack Obama -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: nigel bates who wrote (45104)	11/19/2008 10:47:54 AM
From: tejek	Respond to of 149317

Al-Qaida No. 2 insults Obama with racial epithet By MAAMOUN YOUSSEF and LEE KEATH – 1 hour ago CAIRO, Egypt (AP) — Al-Qaida's No. 2 leader used a racial epithet to insult Barack Obama in a message posted Wednesday, using a demeaning racial term implying that the president-elect is a black American who does the bidding of whites. The message appeared chiefly aimed at persuading Muslims and Arabs that Obama does not represent a change in U.S. policies. Ayman al-Zawahri said in the message, which appeared on militant Web sites, that Obama is "the direct opposite of honorable black Americans" like Malcolm X, the 1960s African-American rights leader. In al-Qaida's first response to Obama's victory, al-Zawahri also called the president-elect — along with secretaries of state Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice — "house negroes." Speaking in Arabic, al-Zawahri uses the term "abeed al-beit," which literally translates as "house slaves." But al-Qaida supplied English subtitles of his speech that included the translation as "house negroes." The message also includes old footage of speeches by Malcolm X in which he explains the term, saying black slaves who worked in their white masters' house were more servile than those who worked in the fields. Malcolm X used the term to criticize black leaders he accused of not standing up to whites. The 11-minute 23-second video features the audio message by al-Zawahri, who appears only in a still image, along with other images, including one of Obama wearing a Jewish skullcap as he meets with Jewish leaders. In his speech, al-Zawahri refers to a Nov. 5 U.S. airstrike attack in Afghanistan, meaning the video was made after that date. Al-Zawahri said Obama's election has not changed American policies he said are aimed at oppressing Muslims and others. "America has put on a new face, but its heart full of hate, mind drowning in greed, and spirit which spreads evil, murder, repression and despotism continue to be the same as always," the deputy of al-Qaida chief Osama bin Laden said. He said Obama's plan to shift troops to Afghanistan is doomed to failure, because Afghans will resist. "Be aware that the dogs of Afghanistan have found the flesh of your soldiers to be delicious, so send thousands after thousands to them," he said. Al-Zawahri did not threaten specific attacks, but warned Obama that he was "facing a Jihadi (holy war) awakening and renaissance which is shaking the pillars of the entire Islamic world; and this is the fact which you and your government and country refuse to recognize and pretend not to see." He said Obama's victory showed Americans acknowledged that President George W. Bush's policies were a failure and that the result was an "admission of defeat in Iraq." But Obama's professions of support for Israel during the election campaign "confirmed to the Ummah (Islamic world) that you have chosen a stance of hostility to Islam and Muslims," al-Zawahri said. google.com

To: nigel bates who wrote (45104)	11/19/2008 10:55:24 AM
From: Wharf Rat	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 149317

I have no sympathy for the companies and their stockholders. The American companies have fought every mandated safety and emission standard for as long as I can remember. Probably at least seat belts, cat converters fer sure. "It'll be bad for biz, cost too much for the consumer, impact the economy. We want Madison Ave to tell the public they want SUVs." They have fought Cal's latest standards, since they correctly surmise they won't be able to sell any cars in my state. In the meantime, the foreign companies adopted all these measures as standard features, wrapped them in a package giving 10 MPG better mileage, and said "here"; so I've had VW vans and Toy pick-ups since '73. However, it ain't the fault of the workers, and they are the ones who will pay the price for bad management. And we are the ones who will pay the price when maybe 3 mil go unemployed after one of these companies go belly up. If they made plug-ins/ CNG/CA/good hybrids now, the gvt wouldn't have to bail them out; just "here's 25 Bil up front; sell us a new federal fleet." I dunno. I dealt with sick people, not sick economies.

To: nigel bates who wrote (45104)	11/19/2008 11:12:32 AM
From: Lizzie Tudor	Respond to of 149317

I don't think so... I think GM has too many divisions... they have 7 divisions including Pontiac and Buick. Japanese companies have 3 divisions. usnews.com Since I have a background in supply chain management the sheer discussion of this "ripple effect" that would happen if GM went under sounds like major inefficiency to me. They obviously have different suppliers for every model/division. Thats not good management. They should be using standard parts. I think the unions won't let them shunt these divisions, because the employees end up at job banks where they are paid not to work. So GM keeps Buick and Pontiac alive for no reason really.

To: nigel bates who wrote (45104)	11/19/2008 11:21:51 AM
From: tejek	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 149317

If we were in anything approaching normal economic conditions, I'd be tempted to say let them take their chance with Chapter 11. Given where we are now, that would be the height of foolishness. Another negative issue with Chapter 11 raised by someone....how many people will be willing to risk buying a car from a company that may or may not go out of business permanently. Its one thing to buy a microwave from a company in Chapter 11; quite another to buy a more expensive product like a car where parts may be hard to get 3 years down the road.