In a letter to shareholders General Motors’ Chairman and CEO Porter Stansberry says he sees light at the end of the tunnel but it is a GM bankruptcy and that a company cannot suffer 40 years of bad decisions, bad ideas, and bad debts and expect to compete with the rest of the world’s automakers.

He says, “what’s killing us is a legacy of debts and obligations we cannot possibly repay.” Stansberry says, “nor do we have any pleasant way to repudiate our promises. The only answer is bankruptcy.” He likens it to promises made under Social Security saying, “we cannot make enough money selling cars to afford the service on our $33 billion debt load, ” and “or the $11 billion we owe in cash pensions. These debts are killing us.” He thinks, “we’ve finally entered the end stage – the death spiral.”

“Given our current burn rate, I estimate we will declare bankruptcy in a little more than three quarters, “he predicted.

Toyota pays workers $43 an hour to make cars in the U. S. but the United Auto Workers demand $67 an hour from GM, Ford and Chrysler. Plus, they make cars that consumers judge to be inferior. Turn out the lights the party is over in Detroit, and Dearborn.

Yes, today’s Ten Post Round-Up is as cold as the Colorado mountains:

1: thepoetryman has something to say about the FLDS Church…

KNOTTED FACE–A Poetic Justice

2: More “supporting the troops” by the Bush Administration…

Family’s Sole Surviving Son Denied GI Benefits–cbs13.com

3: A case where “what happens in Vegas…” won’t be staying in Vegas…

The Las Vegas Economic Downturn Has Started–ECONOMICROT

4: You thought your health care plan was expensive before, wait until you get sick with a serious illness…

Consumers may see higher co-pay costs–keyetv.com

5: Not able to find enough diplomats to volunteer for duty in Iraq, the State Dept. will now start drafting them to go…

State Department warns diplomats of compulsory Iraq duty–Minstrel Boy

6: Another school kid calls out the big dogs on their errors…

German schoolboy, 13, corrects NASA’s asteroid figures: paper–PHYSORG.com

7: Japan has joined in the war against fat people….

Cut Back on the Sushi–Reason Magazine

8: McCain wants to suspend the gas tax for the summer…

McCain’s fix for hard times–The Rocky Mountain News

9: There’s a problem with your cereal and it’s ten years old…

Marler Clark Sees Pattern in Malt-O-Meal Salmonella Outbreaks–Signs of the Times

10: This is so typical of our politicians, these days, it comes as no surprise that they would start off with a bill to help homeowners and end up giving the bulk of the “help” to big business, instead…

Big Tax Breaks for Businesses in Housing Bill–truthout

277 días hasta el final de un error…

Peace.

(I love the smell of hypocrisy in my morning cuppa)

MEXICO CITY — The Swedish Absolut vodka company apologized Saturday for an ad campaign depicting the southwestern U.S. as part of Mexico amid angry calls for a boycott by U.S. consumers.

The campaign, which promotes ideal scenarios under the slogan “In an Absolut World,” showed a 1830s-era map when Mexico included California, Texas and other southwestern states. Mexico still resents losing that territory in the 1848 Mexican-American War and the fight for Texas independence.

Radical groups still contend the southwestern U. S., including California and even Oregon, is territory that should be reconquered by Mexico. Pundits often cite the “invasion” of illegal Mexicans and others that have flooded across the southern U. S. border as an artifact of reconquest.

Researchers at the University of South Florida College of Public Health are calling into question some accepted science data about red light cameras and safety. In the view of lead author Barbara Langland-Orban, professor and chair of health policy and management at USF College of Public Health, “The rigorous studies clearly show red light cameras don’t work.”

“Instead they increase crashes and injuries as drivers attempt to abruptly stop at camera intersections. If used in Florida cameras could potentially create even worse outcomes die to the states high percent of elderly who are more likely to be injured or killed when a crash occurs.” This was reported in Science Daily(mar 12,2008)

The logic behind cameras at red lights is of course, to try to get people to obey the law for fear of getting a ticket in the mail. The reality, the research suggests, is less clear due to “research design flaws” like incomplete data and perhaps more importantly and more pertinent to this post the connection with funding from the insurance industry.

Now what would the insurance industry have to do with this research and why would they “slant” the evidence in a way that would in any way increase accidents? Well, while even the most jaded amongst us might not be able to believe that an industry that has been proven capable of denying rightful compensation to its insured( no, no liver for you) and has been accused of having systematic “McKinsey documents” for systematically denying compensation to victims in car crashes, it seems hard to believe they would want to cause more car crashes. Hard but not impossible.

But you don’t have to believe that “crazy” idea to believe that the insurance companies have some financial interest to gain from the cameras at red lights. Does your insurance go up if you get a citation?

And where the money interests drive the study of science and not the hunger for knowledge the outcome of that science must be questioned.

It is thought by some that these cameras may case more accidents when motorist stop when they should not in an attempt to NOT get a citation and in doing so cause an accident. In the interest of public safety more studies must be done on this before these camera become more widespread. The studies should be done by independent sources and the insurance company should not profit from any new citations from these cameras until this is resolved.

For the insurance company to make money from a creation of their own with dubious health benefits would be, dare I say it, hypocritical.

Those slobbering over the unsourced New York Times expose’ alleging SENATOR JOHN MCCAIN’s romantic affair with a woman telecommunications lobbyist and favoring her clients should recall: (1.) The New York Times cited Kitty Kelly 1991 book “Nancy Reagan: The Unauthorized Biography” alleging NANCY REAGAN had White House tryst with FRANK SINATRA and made the story big news despite no evidence, and (2.) the NYTs virtually ignored Juanita Broderick’s substantive allegations that Bill Clinton, while ARKANSAS ATTORNEY GENERAL, had raped her. Kelley was herself the subject of a highly critical book, Poison Pen (1991), by journalist George Carpozi, Jr. in September 1997. TIME magazine reported that most journalists believe Kelley “too frequently fails to bring perspective or analysis to the fruits of her reporting and at times lards her work with dollops of questionable inferences and innuendos.” This partisan New York Times “poison pen” attack is helping McCain solidify conservatives, even Rush Limbaugh. The New York Times is helping McCain and reminds me why I cancelled my NYT subscription. It may believe anything is worth staunching falling subscriptions, tumbling ad revenues, and a deflating reputation. It is still stinky, tawdry and inexcusable.