Looking for a mid-size domestic car recommendation

I remember reading at one time that Mystique & Contour owners were lobbying Ford to fix the transmissions.

What I'd like to know is: who promised it to everyone? The Constitution sure didn't.

--Geoff

Well, I am quite a character Dan. You know _that_ by now. I'll tip my hat in salute to you as the same, brother.

I'm unaware of any utopian thinking in my views, but I'll let you point it out to me. Maybe I'm too close to see it. Regardless, my intentions are pure.

I don't mind pissing on collectivists and socialists because the world by and large has proven their ideology to be fatally flawed. (I'd sooner not piss on anyone, but experience has taught me that efforts to inform and educate, discuss politely, or even to just say, hey, there's two sides to this coin fall on deaf ears. So I console myself in the fun of pissing on 'em. It's a small hobby of mine.)

So too with the pure unrestrained capitalists. I don't advocate for unrestrained capitalism. I just advocate *against* socialism in its myriad forms. I think it's oppressive and evil and insidious. It hurts the very people it purports to help.

I don't think anybody ought to gripe about what somebody else makes. Of course, they're free to do so, because we revere the freedom of speech. But I get my back up when people start talking like it should be a matter of law, or that it's all somehow so unfair. Life is unfair. Get over it already. *Government* doesn't (or shouldn't) exist to make life more fair. 'Fairness' is a red herring, a proverbial windmill against which millions of liberal Don Quixotes tilt each and every day. It's a shame such effort goes to waste.

I'm amused at how powerless people in this NG seem to feel about their own lives. It would be sad if it wasn't so funny. Of course, it strikes me that they might all just be so damn broke and overleveraged that they've gotta have someone to blame. I dunno.

But I remain, truly yours, the same 'Geoff character' you've come to know and..uh..occasionally read in Usenet. Nice to catch a passing mention from you.

Oh, and by the way, I finally took your advice to use Pine on one of my machines. I like it. I don't love it, but it's better than Outbreak Express. Thanks. I'll be switching the others over sooner or later.

Regards,

--Geoff

That's hardly unusual in corporate America. I've seen the same thing in (*cough*) other places. Face it, we're a wasteful society. It's not limited to business--after all, the people who make bad decisions like that go home and dork around on Usenet just like you 'n me. It's everyone. It's a byproduct of being the wealthiest country that the planet has ever hosted. We have more, so more is worth less. Human nature, I guess.

That's interesting calculus. At the moment, ideas like that are putting Sweden in the poorhouse, and the Europeans had to band together (to create one *big* sinking ship, instead of several smaller ones.) But I respect your opinion, and the polite way you've delivered it, and it's been a fun exchange. Woodward Dream cruise is imminent, and so my mind is turning to other things here in God's country-for-the-automobile.

Have a great weekend.

--Geoff

That may be the case - I just don't recall reading much about it. If that is the case, it would show up in a search of the forum on

Bill Putney (to reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my address with "x")

I doubt you comprehend the history and purpose of the European Union.

DAS

Sorry but I know someone who licked leukemia and has rheumatoid arthritis. Real estate agent so self employed and earns about $60k a year. No one will sell her health insurance.

Unfortuantely those programs do not have the funds to handle the need. The money is going to Iraq.

First you argue there is no class divide. Now you argue the lower class has no rights. Are you a constitutional lawyer or Supreme Court judge? Somehow I doubt it.

I am personly surprised that Mike does not have a GT40 yet......... ;)

Bob

Human compassion ain't your strong suit, is it?

I'm curious, what percentage of you annual income do you donate to charity? ;)

mike hunt

"Daniel J. Stern" wrote:

No, the funds are there for those that seek it. Site a source that has documented that large numbers of people are being turned down their request for aid for lack of funds. Usually they're turned down because they won't meet the conditions for the aid (things like submit job applications).

If her health insurance didn't pay to the terms and conditions of the policy, then go to court. However, IF she didn't have insurance then she obviously _chose_ not to have health insurance before she got sick. That was a bad choice...a gamble taken and lost. It is not the government's fault for the choices we make. You certainly don't expect a company to say, "sure we'll insure you now for $300-$400 a month now that we have to pony-up $500,000.00...it ain't gonna happen. It's like asking a homeowners insurance company to give you a policy after your house burns down...it ain't gonna happen! Folks, get health insurance NOW before you get sick! The odds are very high you will need it!

Now that you mention it, it does have a musty odor inside. I have to check the seal. Thanks for the tip.

If you are laid off you can only keep the old insurance for a limited length of time under the law a few years ago. Not sure what the law is now. Also the rates can go sky high when you are laid off and take the plan private. Also the old company can lay off a bunch of people, discontinue the old health plan so the laid off people are not eligible to continue in the old plan. Then they start a new plan for the current employees. Or in some cases the companies go out of business leaving people without health insurance. I guess you live a sheltered life.

In the U.S., you would be taling about continuation under the COBRA Act.

True.

I believe they must make it available to continue you under the plan you were under at the time of layoff. BTW - If you get laid off and your previous employer tries to play games with your eligibility for COBRA or what's available under COBRA, call the Department of Labor - they absolutely **LOVE** to go after companies that try to skirt the law in this area. I called the DoL about something that a previous employer was telling me that didn't jive with what the COBRA Act itself seemed to say on the subject, and when I explained the question to the DoL, I had to hold the DoL off from going after them - they begged me to turn them loose on them. I was able to use that fact as leverage to get the previous employer to do what the Act required, and they changed their tune **VERY** quickly (sometimes I wish I had turned the DoL loose on them - they deserved it for several reasons - for one thing, they - a French-owned company - laid off a bunch of Americans in their U.S.-based plant in order to bring French employees over to fill the same spots - a big no-no according to U.S. federal labor laws. There were other sleeze-ball things they did too that I won't go into).

Always a risk, but you could also walk out your door and get run over by a truck too. 8^)

Bill Putney (to reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my address with "x")

Meant to type "...you would be talking about...

Bill Putney (to reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my address with "x")

Communism never truly existed, Socialism is still some of the most successful nations (i.e. Sweeden), and capitalism won't leave as long as there are the super-rich. Just out of curiousity, what is the future?