mafbear

I have been a fan of bowling all my life.  As a kid, it was my sport.  As such, I'm a huge fan of the PBA and PWBA.  This past Sunday, the PWBA Series Showdown was on and featured Wendy MacPherson.  For the telecast, Wendy MacPherson had a custom bowling shirt on that had yellow, green, and red puzzle pieces on it.  The commentators did not mention this, but her shirt showed her support for Autism awareness.  April is Autism Awareness Month and I as happy to see her showing support for a very worthy cause.  Wendy only earned more of my respect for wearing that shirt.

Props to ya Wendy for calling attention to a very worthy cause!

I was really impressed with Trace Adkins performance last night at the ACM's.  The song he sang is called "When the Last Shot's Fired", and it was fantastic.  I am unsure as to who wrote it, but the performance of it was amazing with the military choir behind him.  I thought it was a nice tribute for those who fight for our country.   It was especially touching when he turned around, took off his hat, and put it on his heart.   It was an amazing sign of trust and respect that I think we all should feel towards the protectors of our country.

 

When I hear someone say, "I will never. . . ."; I always think, "Oh yes you will."

When I was a child, I would frequently say, "I would never. . ." my mother would look at me and say, "Never say never, because you never know what you will do in the future."  I never believed her, but she was right.  I never thought I would ever do some of the things I have done in my life.  It's rather humbling.  It's never a good idea to go against your code of ethics, but I have learned from my mistakes and its humbled me, and hopefully made me a better person.  

I guess the trouble with never is that never never works.

The takeover of GM by the government makes me a bit nervous.  My eyebrows raised when I learned last night that Obama asked GM CEO Wagoner to retire.  I understand that the company has not been successful.  The problems with GM are very complex.  Here are a few things I have thought regarding the situation:

Many bash the American automakers for continually losing market share.  Back in the 60's, GM had the largest market share of any automaker.  Today, GM has less than a quarter of the total market share.  The reason for this is not necessary  a lack of quality products.  The reason for this is that back in the 1960's there were far fewer automakers in the marketplace than there are today.  The competition in the American marketplace has increased exponentially over the last 40 years.   When people have more choice, the carmakers that have been in the American market the longest experience a marked decline in market share.

The statistical quality of American vehicles is higher than the public perceives.  Consumer Reports, The Wall Street Journal, and "rags" have put down the American automakers due to higher advertising dollars from automakers from Asia.  Unfortunately, the American consumers believe the hype.  Consumer Reports has been the worst offender.  Toyota paid Consumer Reports a large sum of money to tout their vehicles as best buys and tops in reliable.  Consumer Reports AND Toyota were outed in their little scheme.  Consumer Reports then adjusted their ratings once this story broke into the press.  Toyota, of course, did not comment.  Consumer Reports is not a reliable source for information regarding reliability of vehicles.  The best source of information on vehicle reliability is and always will be J.D. Power.    By the way, J.D. Power says the most reliable brand is Buick and Jaguar for 2009. 

With Obama asking Wagoner to retire, I wonder if he chose Henderson himself to lead GM into the future.  If so, I scares me to think of GM being run in a puppet regime.  I don't think the government belongs in big business in a free market economy.  I believe that GM should file
for bankruptcy and reorganize themselves into a much smaller company that can be more successful in the future.