2,876

(698 replies, posted in General)

was edited for the good of all

2,877

(56 replies, posted in Politics)

yikes  "commies" isnt an insult since some communists are here!

2,878

(7 replies, posted in General)

America probably killed it with dirty limericks

2,879

(4 replies, posted in Politics)

I said nothing about medicare driving up the deficit.  This is about Republicans bitching (rightly) about how godawful Obama's programs are, then, voting to pay for them instead of refusing to pay for them.

The idea that Bush tax cuts cost anything, rests on the discredited notion that there's a certain basement of profit in our economy, and either it goes to taxes or it goes to taxpayers.  The obama economic program of the past 4 years explodes this notion.  He was counting on that basement, and, it doesn't exists.

In the 1980s a Senator asked the CBO to score the 10 year earnings of a hypothetical 100% income tax, year by year.  The CBO came back showing the tax would bring in progressively more revenue assuming 2.5% annual GDP growth.  Senator Kyl did this to show the CBO has no method to assess the impact of tax hikes on economic growth, as of course nobody will continue to participate in the economy and pay 100% of their incomes as tax more than once, let alone over ten years.

They still have no such method, so, to pretend we can lose $3.5 Trillion in revenue from the economy and somehow tax $1.5 trillion in profits at the same time, is nonsense.

2,880

(58 replies, posted in General)

Blaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

2,881

(27 replies, posted in Politics)

Texas has changed a bit from 1985

still has the same attitude about capital punishment

2,882

(27 replies, posted in Politics)

Ah I see, (I love you all really)

2,883

(27 replies, posted in Politics)

How about the TianAnMen crackdown of 1989?

And how long you think Hu has been in government?  He ain't a two-year newbie

2,884

(4 replies, posted in Politics)

Flawless Victory!!!!

2,885

(56 replies, posted in Politics)

Reuters) - General Motors Co signed a sponsorship deal with Manchester United on Monday after rewording the terms negotiated with the popular English football club by the U.S. automaker's ousted global marketing chief.

Under the seven-year jersey sponsorship deal starting in 2014-2015 for the Chevrolet brand, GM will pay $60 million to $70 million a year, said a person with knowledge of the contract who asked not to be identified. GM also will pay the club a $100 million activation fee, making the deal's total value worth as much as $600 million, the person said.

By comparison, insurance broker Aon Plc pays about $31 million a year for the current jersey sponsorship, which runs through the 2013-2014 season.

On Sunday, GM ousted its global marketing chief, Joel Ewanick, without giving specifics. Sources told Reuters that Ewanick failed to properly report financial details about a recent sponsorship deal with the football club. That resulted in a rewording of the deal before it was announced on Monday, the sources said. The persons requested anonymity because they are not authorized to discuss contract details.

GM announced on May 31 that Chevy would take over as Manchester United's automotive sponsor, replacing Volkswagen's Audi brand. Terms of that deal, which runs for five years, were not disclosed, but analysts said it is likely worth at least tens of millions of dollars. It was unclear whether Ewanick's ouster was related to the first Manchester United deal, the second, or both.

GM on Monday again declined to discuss why Ewanick was fired. The automaker had previously said that Ewanick had "failed to meet the expectations that the company has for its employees." Ewanick has declined to comment.

GM and Manchester United officials did not reveal terms of the deal announced on Monday.

GM, which spent almost $4.5 billion on advertising last year, said in May it wanted to tap in to Manchester United's estimated 659 million fans around the world to boost the image of its Chevy brand, especially in Asia. The automaker also announced a four-year auto sponsorship deal last week with Manchester United rival Liverpool.

While GM would not discuss Ewanick's departure, some industry officials said a deal as big as the Manchester United sponsorship agreements would have been signed by multiple executives. They also raised the possibility that GM simply wanted to dump Ewanick as the automaker's U.S. market share has declined by nearly 2 points in the first half of 2012 compared with the year before to 18.1 percent despite a raft of new, well-received cars and trucks.

"They were angling for Joel to be gone for several months," said Peter DeLorenzo, editor in chief of the auto website Autoextremist.com. "He turned a lot of people off. He's so 180 degrees from the staid GM system.

"The moment he got in there, you could count the days until he was going to get exited from the company," DeLorenzo added.

AGENT OF CHANGE

However, sources said GM was committed to Ewanick and his efforts to shake up the automaker's image. Ewanick, 52, was named vice president and head of GM's U.S. marketing in May 2010, about seven months before the automaker's blockbuster initial public offering in November of that year.

Brought in by former GM chairman Ed Whitacre, former vice chairman Robert Lutz and current North American chief Mark Reuss, the high-energy Ewanick was given free rein to shake up GM's marketing, which had been perceived as stale.

The first major effort under his watch was the "Chevy Runs Deep" campaign that launched at the start of the Major League Baseball's World Series in 2010. Critics said the campaign has failed to connect well with consumers.

When he was promoted to global marketing chief in December 2010, Ewanick said the move was intended to give marketing a seat at the executive conference table and a say in planning and budgeting for new GM vehicles.

Ewanick, who was credited with helping to drive Hyundai Motor Co's fast growth in the U.S. market, steered GM back to sponsorship of high-profile events like the Super Bowl.

In May, he announced GM would pull its paid ads from Facebook days before the highly anticipated initial public stock offering for the social networking website, and said GM would not advertise on CBS during the 2013 Super Bowl because they were both overpriced.

Ewanick also led GM's effort to drive down the ad fees paid to broadcast TV networks during the advanced selling season that ended in June, said Brad Adgate, senior vice president of research at Horizon Media. The big four U.S. TV networks garnered single-digit increases from advertisers.

With his aggressive cost-cutting and a hyper personality some found off-putting, Ewanick clearly made enemies. One former GM executive, who asked not to be identified, received an email about the marketing chief's ouster with the subject line "Ding Dong, the witch is dead."

GM Chief Executive Dan Akerson previously said the automaker needed to focus more on marketing.

The "Chevy Runs Deep" campaign, which features the voice of actor Tim Allen, has aimed to focus buyers on the positive association many Americans had with GM before the long decline that culminated in its bankruptcy and $50 billion bailout by the Obama administration in 2009.

In April 2010, GM's Whitacre ordered the ouster of Campbell-Ewald, which had handled advertising for Chevy for over 90 years in favor of San Francisco-based Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, which is owned by Omnicom Group Inc and best-known for the "Got Milk?" ad campaign. Goodby worked with Ewanick at Hyundai.

Campbell-Ewald created some of the most memorable advertising campaigns in U.S. auto history for Chevrolet, including the "Baseball, hot dogs, apple pie and Chevrolet" ads of the 1970s and "See the USA in your Chevrolet" in the 1950s. Industry officials said agencies that were cut may see Ewanick's ouster as a chance to get back in the door with GM.

Earlier this year, GM announced efforts to save $2 billion over five years by pruning the number of ad agencies it uses.

Chevrolet sold 2.48 million cars and trucks in the first six months of the year, and the U.S. market accounted for 42 percent of that total. GM is pushing to boost demand for the mass-market brand in China, Brazil and Eastern Europe, and other regions.

Appealing to consumers overseas was a big reason for the sponsorship deals with Manchester United, which set terms for its initial public offering on Monday. The football club's current jersey sponsorship deal is with Aon, which pays for the right to put its name on the front of jerseys worn by players during games. That practice is quite lucrative for football clubs around the world, but is not allowed by most U.S. sports leagues.

Alan Batey, GM's North American vice president of sales, was named the interim head of GM's marketing. The automaker declined to make him available for comment.

******************************************************

Meanwhile the Japanese build cars that don't suck

2,886

(27 replies, posted in Politics)

but they promise not to any more! Swear!

yeah to pretend China isn't trigger happy is nuts

2,887

(698 replies, posted in General)

has a boyfriend named Wilf

2,888

(27 replies, posted in Politics)

Spock the highest authority in China double dog swears cross its heart the fundamental law prohibits that kind of thing.

For now.

2,889

(27 replies, posted in Politics)

so if they DID shoot the parents, the kids could have a big lawsuit, if they were told about it by the State.

2,890

(27 replies, posted in Politics)

Yeah it turns out Spock is wrong

http://en.chinacourt.org/public/detail.php?id=5

Article 105 Among those who organize, plot or carry out the scheme of subverting the State power or overthrowing the socialist system, the ringleaders and the others who commit major crimes shall be sentenced to life imprisonment or fixed-term imprisonment of not less than 10 years; the ones who take an active part in it shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than three years but not more than 10 years; and the other participants shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than three years, criminal detention, public surveillance or deprivation of political rights.

Whoever incites others by spreading rumors or slanders or any other means to subvert the State power or overthrow the socialist system shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than five years, criminal detention, public surveillance or deprivation of political rights; and the ringleaders and the others who commit major crimes shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than five years.

Article 290 Where people are gathered to disturb public order to such a serious extent that work in general, production, business operation, teaching or scientific research cannot go on and heavy losses are caused, the ringleaders shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than three years but not more than seven years; the active participants shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than three years, criminal detention, public surveillance or deprivation of political rights.

Article 293 Whoever commits any of the following acts of creating disturbances, thus disrupting public order, shall be sentenced to fixed- term imprisonment of not more than five years, criminal detention or public surveillance:

(1) beating another person at will and to a flagrant extent;

(2) chasing, intercepting or hurling insults to another person to a flagrant extent;

(3) forcibly taking or demanding, willfully damaging, destroying or occupying public or private money or property to a serious extent; or

(4) creating disturbances in a public place, thus causing serious disorder in such place.

Article 296 Where an assembly, a procession or a demonstration is held with no application made in accordance with the provisions of law or no permission granted for the application or where it is held not in accordance with the time for start and stop, venue and routes permitted by the competent authorities, and the order of dismission is disobeyed and public order seriously disrupted, the persons who are in charge and the persons who are directly responsible for the assembly, procession or demonstration shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than five years, criminal detention, public surveillance or deprivation of political rights.

See? If you stop your kid from being taken to camp and drugged, and call on neighbors to help you, the penalty is not death; it is 28 years

per occurrence...if it happens again Wednesday, that's another 28 years

2,891

(58 replies, posted in General)

fine I'll go with a more global approach

/gets vuvuzela

BLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

2,892

(58 replies, posted in General)

yikes

all I'm doing is showing positive Olympic vibes sad  helping Britain host the most awesomest global funfest ever

usa. sad

2,893

(698 replies, posted in General)

thinks people should learn to mind their manners

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVFPBQgDOFI

2,894

(27 replies, posted in Politics)

1 down 3 to go!

2,895

(27 replies, posted in Politics)

And now, Mr. Phelps will sound off on illegal doping in the Olympics!

"Oh shit...hahahaha...hold on....lemme kill this...<gurrgglle> hahahahhahahhahaa....ok...ok...what?"

2,896

(698 replies, posted in General)

likes jenna marbles

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYpwAtnywTk&feature=relmfu

2,897

(103 replies, posted in Politics)

after the necessary inevitable transition by big government  ofc

2,898

(4 replies, posted in Politics)

Deal to Avert Government Shutdown Appears Imminent

By Niels Lesniewski, Kerry Young
Roll Call Staff
July 31, 2012, 1:39 p.m.

The announcement of a House-Senate deal to fund the government for the six months after Sept. 30 appeared imminent this afternoon.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has said that any spending agreement would have to be at the $1.047 trillion level established by last year

2,899

(698 replies, posted in General)

is now being tracked by cat assassins

2,900

(13 replies, posted in General)

i propose you find out if mating mammals care if there's gravity


actually on I'd seriously try is take samples of known alloys, melt them with thermite in 0g and then see how they cool in brine, air, oil or water - I bet they crystallize differently


yes I envy DYT sad