Ford Enjoys Best Public Perception Among Big Three Auto Companies

http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/business/auto_industry/september_2011/ford_enjoys_best_public_perception_among_big_three_auto_companies

Ford Enjoys Best Public Perception Among Big Three Auto Companies

Thursday, September 29, 2011

 Email to a FriendShareThis

Advertisement

 

Ever since General Motors and Chrysler accepted government bailouts, Ford has been the nation’s most popular auto manufacturer.

The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey shows that 73% of American adults have a favorable opinion of the Ford Motor Company. Just 51% say the same about General Motors, often derided by critics as Government Motors. Chrysler now earns positive reviews from 48%.  (To see survey question wording, click here.)

Those figures include 32% with a Very Favorable opinion of Ford, 10% with a Very Favorable opinion of GM, and 7% who think that highly of Chrysler.

Before the bailouts, General Motors received better reviews than Ford. The latest numbers show little change since June for Ford and GM. However, Chrysler’s numbers have improved nine points since then.

It is interesting to note that there is very little partisan difference in perceptions of Ford. However the same cannot be said of GM and Chrysler.

READ MORE AT LINK

I "borrowed" this link from Bakken Million Dollar Way which got it from my old friends at Powlineblog.com. Enjoy!

Atlas publisher scrambles to refreeze Greenland, skirt climate-change drama

http://www.twincities.com/ci_18971731?nclick_check=1

"Fiasco" was the word chosen by one scientist in an email to the National Snow and Ice Data Center in Boulder, Colo., alerting his colleagues to erroneous claims made by the publishers of the atlas about the speed at which Greenland's glaciers are melting.

He also feared a map in the atlas, along with news accounts repeating an error in the news release, could pull climate scientists into another vortex of damaging controversy.

The release claimed that Greenland had lost 15 percent of its permanent ice cover from 1999 to 2011. That translates to 125,000 cubic miles, which is enough melted ice to raise sea levels 3 to 5 feet, according to Etienne Berthier, a glaciologist at the University of Toulouse. The corresponding map in the atlas itself indicated that significant portions of Greenland's coastline had become ice-free.

Glaciologists, previously bruised by an exaggerated claim about the melting of Himalayan glaciers in a 2007 U.N. report that became fodder for global-warming skeptics, mobilized as a truth squad.

On blogs and radio programs and in newspaper columns, they stated emphatically that Greenland has not lost 15 percent of its ice cover in recent years. The retreat, they said, is more like one-tenth of 1 percent.

http://www.twincities.com/ci_18971731?nclick_check=1

READ MORE AT LINK   

THE EMPTY PROMISE OF GREEN JOBS

http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2011/09/the-empty-promise-of-green-jobs.php

My comment at powerlineblog.com about "shovel ready" stimulus jobs.

http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2011/09/no-shovel-ready-bureaucrats.php?fb_comment_id=fbc_10150341484143188_22994983_10150341773558188#f1cce0692c

Redrant:  Someone sent me this link targeted to my posting.  For several decades before this the starter "house doctor" weatherization jobs were a good source of "starter" jobs for those in job training programs and in "halfway houses" where the potential workers wanted to go "straight".  The work was often dirty (liquid foam sticks to skin and hair) and the starting pay was not much above minimum wage.  It also did not require many 
customer service "people" skills, let the boss do the talking.  It was perfect work for these "lost souls".


Weatherizing mostly older houses is a bit like "combat" where the squad has to assess the situation and figure out how to tackle it.  The "lost souls" were in on this analysis.  Every situation is different but in the case of old houses you start with the foundation.  If it is rock of flagstone it will continue to shift.  The house will remain structurally secure but will continue to shift.  That created the "leaky window" situation where the best option is to plug every fall and remove the leak plug in the spring.  Cost: around fifty cents in materials and half an hour of time every autumn if done by tenant or owner for each window.


In Minneapolis in the 1980's "house doctor" weatherization was mandatory for rental and optional for owner occupied housing.  I am generally against government mandates but this tightened up the rental housing a lot so heating bills throughout the city were significantly lower for rental housing.


In my case when I bought my http://searshouse.com in 1986 it leaked like a sieve.   It opted for the utility subsidized two hour intro for something like $25 which included a door fan.  Fortunately it was a cool autumn day so the door fan dramatically showed all my air leaks.  The guy did sill foam and then pinpointed other leak areas with something that looked like areasol can Christmas tree flock (easy to remove).  I let him leave a half hour early in exchange for switch and outlet foam and window weight leak stoppers.  I declined the advance work then having more time than money I did it myself.  Suffice it to say it worked and http://searshouse.com is not an energy hog.


Anyway, I have encountered quite a few of these "lost souls" who went into weatherization over the years.  They are mostly minority, mostly black inner city.  Of course the inner city has the highest percentage of old houses which tend to leak like a sieve and there is a surprisingly high percentage of home ownership.  The "fifty cent, half an hour per window" thing can make a huge difference in these older inner city owner occupied houses.  


In talking to these "lost souls" I got the sense that they developed a feeling of self worth because they could help these poor homeowners with leaky houses.  Resources were very hard to come by but I found that a lot of these people found good regular jobs.  My guess is that employers asked them about the weatherization ideas and this showed their knowledge and qualifications.


I didn't follow the stimulus closely at the time but I sort of get the idea that the stimulus money was directed to out of work union members who were out of work.  This created a situation where mostly white male suburban union members were given these "weatherization" job at two to three times the pay of the industry.


People in the skilled trades learn to do specific tasks very well and quickly.  They were operating here well outside their skill area and there was a pressure to do it fast. 


The "shoestring" weatherization industry caught onto this and complained.  


They had a legitimate complaint.  Greg Lang

Shocker: Nobel prize winner lied about radiation danger; Data suppression abetted rise of linear no-threshold model

http://junkscience.com/2011/09/20/shocker-nobel-prize-winner-lied-about-radiation-danger-data-suppression-abetted-rise-of-linear-no-threshold-model/

Al Gore's Fuzzy Logic

http://www.minnesotansforglobalwarming.com/m4gw/2011/09/gores-fuzzy-logic.html

Gore's Fuzzy Logic

By Elmer on September 17, 2011 10:25 AM | No Comments | No TrackBacks

To those of you who suffered through Al Gore's Climate Reality Project
you saw how he compared the skeptics to the tobacco companies of the
60's. Back then the Tobacco companies hired scientists to study the
health effects of cigarette smoking. He is saying because these
scientists had a vested interest in the outcome of their work, they
found that smoking wasn't harmful. Of course later we discovered that it
was indeed harmful because the evidence was overwhelming.

In a way Al Gore is right, scientists who have a vested interest in
their studies might be prejudice in their work. The problem is Al Gore
is pointing his finger the wrong way. The 97% of Climatologists who get
paid to study Global Warming have a vested interest in Global Warming
being real.

On the other hand scientists who don't have a vested interest have
overwhelmingly said that global warming isn't happening. In fact the
number is just the opposite of what Al is saying, 96% of scientists
don't believe in global warming.

The study that Al mentions came out last year saying 97% off scientists
believe in climate change, they surveyed 1,372 known working climate
researchers and found 97% of them still believe in global warming. I
think this pool is tainted because these are scientist who get paid to
study "Global Warming" which is a conflict of interest. That's like
asking tobacco company scientists if they think smoking is harmful.

On the other hand the Petition Project has 31,000 scientists who have
put their reputations on the line and have received no money and signed
a petition saying that they don't believe in man-made global warming.
Also 66% of meteorologists DON'T believe in man-made global warming.

So let's do the math 97% of 1,372 is 1,330 who still believe in global
warming compared to 31,487 who don't. That's only 1 out 24 or 4% of
scientists who still believe in global warming.

I think those of us who are on the skeptical side of the debate should
use the other side's tactic and repeat this over and over again ad
nauseum. 96% of Scientists DON'T believe in Global Warming.

Adios Walgreens

Redrant:  I grew up next door to Robert Reyer, the owner of Reyer Pharmacy in St. Paul, MN.  He was a World War II fighter pilot who had to bail out at least twice over the English Channel.


The pharmacy was located in a relatively remote area of St. Paul, Selby at Fairview.  Even in the mid 1960's Minnesota's high welfare benefits and lack of residency requirements made Minnesota a "welfare magnet".  Starting in the mid 1960's his drug store was frequently robbed.  Bob would pull his gun and detain or if they did not comply shoot back.  As I recall he killed at least two and hit a few others.  


He sent many a robber to prison and became a local "Dirty Harry" of sorts.  He was never charged with any crime any never had a civil lawsuit against him.  He finally closed the place and worked for a different pharmacy because of insurance costs.  Greg Lang

http://www.shotinthedark.info/wp/?p=22986

Who should foot the bill for electric car charging?

http://www.startribune.com/blogs/129896438.html?uccb=1316162212072&cr=1
MY SUBMITTED COMMENT AS A REDRANT: 
"The charging stations are a silly "symbolic" measure.  Also, what happens if you have an electric car and someone gets to the space first?    


Also, are public "electric cars only" parking spaces legal?  ........ What constitutes electric vehicle and how can the enforcement people tell?  The most popular electric vehicle is currently a Ford Ranger conversion.  It looks just like a regular Ranger except for a plug where the gas filler pipe used to be.


My $15 "Kill-A-Watt" can act as an electric meter  You would need something a bit more sophisticated but a card read electric meter could easily be incorporated into the charging stations. 


The logical time to use the "free" charging is during the business day when electric demand is highest.  Users would "top-off" at home at night when they are paying for the electricity themselves.  ........  I recently checked and there are road use taxes for propane and natural gas based on energy equivalent.  If we get enough electric cars for them to be relevant there will be a road use tax on the electricity.   ....In the early 1970's the Twin Cities got it first (35W and Crosstown).  This is still the only one.

From an email I recieved from the National Republican Congressional Committee

Dear Supporter,
I wanted to send you a quick note to follow up on Tuesday's special elections.
First, let me say thank you. Because of your support, Republicans won NV-02 and NY-09 by historic margins.
While there is a long way to go until next November, Tuesday's results paint an incredibly bleak picture for National Democrats.
These contests were a referendum on the President. To put it simply, after this week's elections, Democrats are very concerned that Obama and his failed policies will drag them down next fall.
Now, Democrats are attempting to spin these losses in various ways - going so far as to claim that NY-09 is a "difficult" seat for them.
Here are a few facts you should know about how "difficult" NY-09 is for Democrats:

• This is the first time a Republican has held this seat since 1923
• Three of the district's previous Representatives were Geraldine Ferraro, Chuck Schumer and Anthony Weiner
• There are 130,000 more registered Democrats than Republicans

Finally, if Democrats believe that NY-09 is a "difficult" seat then they need to explain how they plan to defend the 50 other seats they hold that are similar to, or more Republican, than this district - including DCCC Chairman Steve Israel's district. Will he be forced to spend $500,000 to defend his own seat next fall?

Danger! Union tugs are in the area.

The left leaning "Nation" Magazine story on the New York Times frontpage 09-11-01 before the attacks.

REDRANT:
THE FIRST COMMENT IS A DOOZIE.  THE NYT FRONT PAGE HAD A FAWNING REVIEW OF 
WEATHER UNDERGROUND BOOK "FUGITIVE DAYS' BY BARACK OBAMA'S "PAL" AND ALLEDGED BOOK GHOSTWRITER BILL AYERS.  AYERS BOASTED IN THE BOOK "I BOMBED THE PENTAGON (ACTUALLY AIDED AND ABETTED), MAYBE I DIDN'T BOMB ENOUGH".


AS THE FIRST COMMENT NOTED, THIS WAS SELECTIVELY OMITTED FROM THE STORY.  THE COMMENT IS PASTED BELOW FOLLOWED BY STORY LINK.  GREG LANG


"You omit a Page 1 review by Dinitia Smith of Bill Ayers' "Fugitive Days" with the headline "No Regrets for a Love Of Explosives; In a Memoir of Sorts, a War Protester Talks of Life With the Weathermen." I've kept a copy all these years. "I don't regret setting bombs," Bill Ayers said. "I feel we didn't do enough." No fluff there"
http://www.thenation.com/blog/163308/everything-changed-nyt-front-page-morning-september-11-2001

My posting in another blog of mine the day after 9-11

If you want to view it directly go to http://TheDailyDigital.com and select September 12, 2001 from calendar on left sidebar.  As far as I can tell I was the only person to post the"The Lone Gunman" episode details right after 9-11.  Try http://thedailydigital.xanga.com/356418/item/
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Wednesday, September 12, 2001

In a bit of Marcus Foster election day assasination redux I slept late, was doing stuff in the basement (dirty) and finally took a shower and went to vote around 4 P.M. On the way to the polls a group of teenagers had a newspaper that seemed to read (upside down) "TERROR". Max size type so I figured something went down. (old Toyota pickup doesn't have a working radio). I voted, (for Mark of the gunstore) did a bit of grocery shopping then got home and fired up the computor, flipped on the TV and quickly figured out the basics. Then I went on a 19 mile bicycle ride in the Fort Snelling bottomlands near the airport. Not a sound from the airport for more than an hour and a half. It was an election day but it was such a minor election that a few days ago a national media story mentioned the Twin Cites mayoral primaries so I suspect the airplane terrorists didn't know (as I suspect the SLA didn't know when they assassinated Marcus Foster on election day). Note:I just found out that New York City had an election primary Tuesday.  The election was suspended in New York. I haven't verified this but I read a claim in a chat posting that "The Turner Diaries" has a jetliner crashing into the Penagon. "The Turner Diaries" was written by Dr. William Pierce of the National Alliance and is linked to Timothy McViegh and the Oklahoma City bombing.  I've done only minor checking on this http://www.wired.com/news/print/0,1294,42135,00.html (search "world") but apparently the short lived Fox show "The Lone Gunman" had an episode about a jetliner crashing into the World Trade Center where they backed off at the last minute (but how do you explain it to the FAA? Here is an independent resident report with new independent picters of the World Trade Center Towers report. http://www.spies.com/~gus/ran/0109/010911.htm For another bit of trivia in 1945 a B-25 flew into the them world's tallest building the Empire State Building http://www.infoplease.com/askeds/9-21- 99askeds.html  Here is the book on the Empire State Biulding B-25 crash THE SKY IS FALLING (half.com cheap)

2:16 PM - 10 views - email it

Tuesday, September 11, 2001

Apparently the Hearst Corporstion has lost it's one "toehold" in the Twin Cites, MN media market: This story is totally irrevavent to Soliah beyond the fact that "Rebecca's Garden" is the only Hearst production ever in the Twin Cities, MN area."  Now that Hearst Arglyle has merged with NBC Hearstcorp.com lost it's only toehold here.  I flipped on the TV one morning and saw Martha Steward with some kids in a garden.  Nice wholesome stuff, it took me a couple of minutes to figure out it was Martha Steward.  Kohls is a real nice person.  ABC-WCCO-TV got a new Minneapolis downtown building with a roof garden.  That was Rebecca's start.  Again, nice wholesome stuff. http://www.startribune.com/stories/462/683639.html

6:14 AM - 1 view - email it

Which word was missing from Obama’s speech (ENERGY)

http://hotair.com/archives/2011/09/09/which-word-was-missing-from-obamas-speech-last-night/

24% Consider Al Gore An Expert On Global Warming

http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/current_events/environment_energy/24_consider_al_gore_an_expert_on_global_warming

Thursday, September 08, 2011

Despite winning a Nobel Prize and an Oscar for his work in the global warming area, most voters don’t consider former Vice President Al Gore an expert on the subject.

The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey of Likely Voters shows that just 24% of voters consider Gore an expert on global warming. Fifty-nine percent (59%) do not think Gore is an expert on the subject, an increase in skepticism of 12 points sinceMarch 2007.  Another 18% are not sure. (To see survey question wording, click here.)

While a plurality of Democrats (43%) considers Gore an expert on global warming, most Republicans (80%) and voters not affiliated with either major political party (65%) disagree.

Gore may disagree, but most voters believe solar activity has an impact on global cooling and warming. A narrow plurality gives human activity the edge over sun activity, though, when it comes to which one has a bigger impact on the problem.

Gore is viewed at least somewhat favorably by 40% of voters, with 14% holding a Very Favorable opinion of him. Fifty-three percent (53%) regard him at least somewhat unfavorably, including 38% with a Very Unfavorable view.

Video: Classical (union) Gas

So how did that pipeline protest work out?

http://hotair.com/archives/2011/09/04/so-how-did-that-pipeline-protest-work-out/