June 03, 2006

Things that annoy me - number II

On NPR yesterday, a Marine complains that you can't see your attackers when you are attacked with an IED. Huh? Did the US stop dropping 500 lb bombs over suspected terrorist hideouts?

Also on NPR yesterday, continuous moaning about the demise of the Big Three, prompted by sharp downturn in auto sales in May, which was claimed to be a consequence of high gas prices.
Things wrong with it:
1) There are no "Big Three" US car companies. There's only Ford and GM. Daimler-Chrysler is a European car company with a lot of US factories (and in the process of remedying that disadvantage).
2) While sales were down for F, GM and C, they were up for Toyota and Honda, both having record months. So people didn't stop buying cars, they just bought better cars. It's not like there are no frugal GM cars around, it's that they are crappy compared to what T and H produce.
3) Gas prices continue to be ludicrously low in the US. People who worry about what they will have to shell out for gas are not buying new cars. They buy used cars.

2 Comments:

Blogger Alice said...

Endorendil: way to freak me out! I have been halfheartedly blogging in the lowest depths of the internet swamp for a couple of years now - just an online diary, usually without much point. This morning I decided to go ahead and clean up some old posts, create a new one about the Demon Bedstead (pictures currently in Photoshop awaiting tweaks), and post a link on a MySpace bulletin to see what happens. You are the first person to actually find and enjoy this blog, and you went and found it NOW?! *Hearty applause* for your timing! I have parsed a few entries of your blog, and also clicked through to Sothis - both very interesting! I will be in touch.

1:39 AM  
Blogger Sothis said...

I guess only the U.S. can use bombs as a weapon of war. What did they expect a war to be?

I'm tired about the whining about car sales and gas prices. The U.S. still doesn't pay half of what we pay in Europe. Maybe that is why American cars don't sell very well here.

10:06 AM  

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