Happy New Year!

From the staff at South of 5 and 20, who are still catching up.

Government-built cars missing brake pads

Obama with Sonic in Detroit

Customers may have noticed unusually long stopping distances when driving brand new Chevrolet Sonic rental cars.  Turns out taxpayer financed GM employees shipped the tiny sedans without brakes pads!

General Motors is recalling 4,296 Chevrolet Sonic subcompact models to inspect for missing brake pads. The missing part could lengthen the stopping distance, potentially contributing to a crash, the company said today in a statement.

Of course, theses things happen in government work.  What's missing, in addition to the critical brake components, are headlines like this:

Congress blasts Toyota for not investigating sudden acceleration, focusing on legal defense instead

We remind readers that the Toyota "problem" was determined to be fiction, pushed by union-backed politicians.  The missing brakes pads, on the other hand, were actually missing.

Help Gannett name that protestor

Off to the pokey

The Des Moines Register reports that a gang of "Occupy Des Moines" "protestors" were arrested today as they banged on the locked doors of Mitt Romney's campaign HQ.  While we thank the Register for giving us the basics of the violent incident, we'd like more information.  We suspect the Register's professional staff are busy, so we're asking South of 5 and 20 readers to help out by performing web searches on the apprehended "protestors".

Use Google, Bing, Alta Vista, or whatever "web crawler" you prefer.  With the Register giving us name and town, it's easy.  Please share your results in the comments.  We'll get the ball rolling with "Jennifer Marsh, 38, of Iowa City."  Come to find out, Jennifer is a "field organizer" for a government employee union!

Kim was a Ford man - who knew?

Was that a Lincoln we saw hauling deceased North Korean dictator Kim Jong Il's coffin?  Indeed it was.  As a matter of fact, the Communist funeral procession included two three of the gas-guzzling Ford products.

Just to make sure we weren't seeing some crude third-world copy, we checked with an actual automotive expert.  Bradford Wernle confirms our observation:

As mourners wailed hysterically by the road, a procession of unmistakable luxury limos rolled past. First came the Lincoln bearing Kim's flag-draped coffin on the roof. A second Lincoln limousine bore a giant poster with a likeness of the Dear Leader; and a third, an enormous funeral wreath.

The hearses bore Lincoln's unique vertical cross design on the hood, so the cars were not knockoffs.

Upstate mayors in holiday spirit

 From Dresden:

The mayor of the Seneca Lake Village of Dresden has been arrested for drunk driving, according to the Yates County Sheriff’s Department.

Joe Gibson, 34, was stopped on Route 54 east of Penn Yan Friday, Dec. 23, by Yates County Sheriff Deputies for a routine traffic violation.

 Also, from Earlville:

The mayor of Earlville, who took over last year after the previous mayor was arrested on grand larceny charges, was arrested Christmas Eve on charges of driving while intoxicated.

Gannett catches up

We Upstate bumpkins are often called upon to help city folk adapt to CNY's sometimes uncomfortable realities.  This morning, we're happy to note that the professional journalists at old media powerhouse Gannett Corporation have belatedly acknowledged the truth about our former junior senator.

When Hillary Rodham Clinton ran for the Senate in 2000, she promised to bring 200,000 jobs to upstate New York.

But between January 2001, when Clinton was sworn in as a senator, and January 2010, when she resigned to become secretary of state, the northern suburbs and upstate region lost more than 100,000 jobs.

 From South of 5 and 20's archives, March 2, 2011:

Back in the year 2000, when Hillary Clinton was wearing a Yankee cap and running for stepping stone to the White House Senator from New York, she won hearts and minds of Upstate voters by promising to bring us 200,000 new jobs.  As you may recall, we elected Mrs. Clinton, but Upstate continued to loose another 32,400 jobs before she bailed out of New York to become Obama's Secretary of State.

Congratulations to Gannett for getting up to speed.  We're not trained in journalism, of course, but we wonder if the media giant could have deployed its massive resources to ask Hillary for a comment before running this morning's piece?

Merry Christmas!

From all of us here at South of 5 and 20.

Hunter takes 829 pound black bear...

...in New Jersey.

A Morris County deer hunter who shot one of the biggest black bears taken in North America was disappointed.“I would have traded getting two bucks instead of the bear,” said Bruce Headley, 62, of Weldon Road, Milton. Headley’s 829-pound live weight black bear was one of fewer than a dozen over 800 pounds in 35 states and most of Canada.

The Manhattan skyline can be seen from parts of Morris County.  Click photo for larger version. 

Marketers target fast growing economy...

 

...in Brazil.

Brazil's fast-growing economy and emerging middle class are placing it squarely in the sights of global marketers, who are now starting to tap into Brazilians' appetite for online video to introduce products and drive awareness of their brands. 

Brazilians are crazy for YouTube, and American consumer products marketers are happy to oblige.

Visa is among the marketers to be making a conspicuous push with online video in Brazil. It launched a campaign earlier this month for Visa Platinum with a series of travel videos shot in Europe and used YouTube's TrueView ad formats -- where an advertiser only pays if a user opts to watch the video -- to seed them on the web and jump-start organic viewership. The first two videos generated about 3 million views, with six left to launch.

According to Luis Cassio de Oliveira, director of marketing for Visa do Brasil, there are plans in the works for four more campaigns with YouTube in 2012: one pegged to the Olympics and three tied to the idea of "conversion," or convincing customers of the merits of using credit cards, geared toward Brazil's growing "C Class" middle class.

As broadband spreads to a larger part of the Brazilian population, YouTube ad spending will increase.  At one time, marketers could serve a growing middle class right here in the USA.

For bonus points:  Can you locate a tambourine player in the Brasil 66 video at the top of this post?

EPA chief: No proof Wyoming frack pollutes

EPA chief Lisa Jackson

Earlier this month, the Finger Lakes' anti-prosperity elites got the vapors when every news outlet in the free world screamed that Obama's EPA* had determined hydraulic fracturing in Pavillion, Wyoming had polluted water wells.  Our local status quo gang assured us that this was the death knell for fracking.

Two highly outspoken local opponents predicted the Wyoming report would play a role in the regional debate.

"We had an industry running around saying there's never been a case of pollution," said Wes Gillingham, director of Catskill Mountainkeeper. "We knew they'd find chemical in ground water ... It's very significant in debunking the line that industry has been using to say it's safe."

Agreed, said Walter Hang, an Ithaca-based anti-drilling advocate.
"It's very, very useful that EPA is now urging caution about going forward without adequate safeguards," Hang said. "Similar things could happen if New York state approves drilling; groundwater could be polluted."

Hold your methane-emitting horses, pardners!  No less an authority than Obama's EPA Commisar Lisa Jackson informs us that the Wyoming report indicates no such thing.   Tracy Marisa brings us up to date.

After personally analyzing the findings, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson said that, with respect to Pavillion, "we have absolutely no indication now that drinking water is at risk." Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said that "the jury's still out" on the validity of the report. Tom Doll of the Wyoming O&GCC said "more tests are needed to rule out ... surface contamination."

We appreciate Marisa bringing Jackson's comments to our attention, and are waiting for the mainstream media to headline the story... waiting... waiting...

*EPA: Employment Prevention Agency

Yingle Bells

I can't hear my wife yell, I can't see her face
I guess I must have lost her when we turned at Yohnson's place.

Obama's "tax cut"

Professor Jacobson explains why Taxin' Barry is suddenly wanting to give you a "tax cut."

I’ve been beating the drums since before the 2008 election that Obama’s plans for revamping how FICA money is paid and used — the most recent being the “payroll tax holiday" — should have liberals screaming.

Obama almost singlehandedly is taking a sacrosanct flow of FICA money and turning it into just another “tax” to be played with a political circumstances dictate.  In this case, the political circumstance is a second year of diminished FICA payments as part of a class warfare strategy to get Obama reelected.

FICA, however, is not an ordinary tax, it is the funding mechanism for Democrat’s most cherished program.  Politicizing the flow of FICA contributions moving into the pipeline makes it that much easier to politicize the flow of benefits exiting the pipeline.

Moronic Republican leaders are once again jumping into the Democrats' trap with both feet.  The only thing voters who get their news from the mainstream media are hearing is "those evil Republicans won't let Obama give you free money:"

Obama to Publicly Pressure House Republicans to Pass Payroll Tax Cut

Land trust denied

 

 BREAKING NEWS: Cayugas' Land Trust Is Denied 

Update: or is it only postponed?

In its statement the Interior Department did not articulate as to why federal officials reviewing the application considered it incomplete and added the Cayugas could resubmit the application.

The nation owns more than 1,000 acres in its ancestral homeland in both counties around the north end of Cayuga Lake. The tribe needs the land placed into federal trust to open a gaming facility similar to the Oneida Indians’ Turning Stone Resort Casino in Verona.

Happy Hanukkah

Gia Scala, 1950s

SAAB bankrupt, drops warranty coverage

Swedish auto maker SAAB has been declared bankrupt.   SAAB's US dealers have been advised that warranties will no longer be honored, and all remaining new cars will be sold "as is."  Current SAAB owners are basically screwed.

According to a leaked memo to Saab dealers obtained by Autoblog, the bankrupt automaker is ceasing all warranty coverage on its vehicles in North America.

The memo was sent out Monday following a Swedish court's approval of Saab's bankruptcy petition and – as we suspected – all new vehicles will be sold "as is."

Government General Motors bought SAAB in 1989.  As GM swirled into it's own bankruptcy and socialization in 2009, it attempted to jettison the Swedish firm.  GM finally rejected an offer from Chinese automaker Zhejiang Youngman Lotus Automobile, choosing bankruptcy instead.

Sweden's only other auto manufacturer, Volvo, beloved of bumper sticker leftists, is now actually Chinese owned.

#1 Syracuse hosts Bucknell tonite

BU's Abe Badmus evades Louie McCroskie, 2005

After a solid road win at NC State, Syracuse will host Bucknell in the Dome this evening (7:00, ESPN-U).  While this could be looked at as a comfortable home event for the Orange, playing the nation's #1 team on national TV will be very big deal for the Bison.  The last time these two met was Nov. 22, 2005:

Giant-killing Bucknell added No. 19 Syracuse to its growing list of victims on Tuesday night, beating the Orange 74-69.

Last US troops exit Iraq

The last US soldiers to leave Iraq crossed the Kuwait border this morning.  

US aid workers remain in the country.  From our in-country correspondent, US forces inspect a B-7 level armored Mercedes in which three aid workers were killed by an anti-tank mine.  We hope the Iraqi people appreciate the opportunity they have been given.

I Yust Go Nuts At Christmas

Oh, I yust go nuts at Christmas
Shopping sure drives me berserk
On the day before, I rush in a store
Like a poor bewildered yerk.

I look at nightgowns for my wife
Those black ones trimmed in red
But I won't know her size and so
She'll get a carpet sveeper instead.

 Yogi Yorgesson, 1949.


Don't go berserk!  There's still time to get Amazon's Holiday Deals, with free shipping, at the top of this page.

Easier Said Than Done

In addition to having the #1 single in July, 1963, The Essex were also on active duty in the Marine Corps.

Ligh bulb ban delayed?

In a display of raw political power, Republicans may have obtained a temporary stay of  execution for the beloved 100 watt incandescent bub.

Omnibus spending legislation greenlighted by House and Senate negotiators Thursday night blocks Energy Department light bulb efficiency standards that have come under fire from conservatives in recent months.

The legislation, which would avert a government shutdown, prevents funding from being used for the implementation of certain Energy Department light bulb standards. The standards would begin phasing in next year.

We wouldn't trust the government, either, so it would still be prudent to use the link at the top of this page to order a few more cases for your closet.  If Obama gets reelected, you'll need than for barter.

Samba Pa Ti

Santana on Beat-Club, German TV, 1971

Schumer pops a cold one

Schumer with his former intern

With a no end for our national depression in sight, a real unemployment rate around 16%, our yet-unborn grandchildren facing a life of crippling debt, and the Middle East being overrun with US taxpayer-supported Islamist regimes, what's on New York's senior senator's to-do list?  Beer.

Sen. Chuck Schumer wants his constituents to drink more beer this holiday season — as long as it's brewed in New York.

Schumer unveiled a campaign on Wednesday to sell more New York beers in restaurants, bars and convenience stores throughout the state. He said the initiative will boost the growing micro-brew industry in New York, which supported nearly 60,000 jobs and produced more than a million barrels of beer last year.

New York already produces some classic brews - we're enjoying one as we write this.  In our experience, Upstaters are actually capable of producing and consuming beer without federal assistance.  None the less, every minute this putz spends bothering brewers is another minute he's not driving our country further down the road to serfdom.

We like the cut of this West fellow's jib

Col. West greets Gov. Palin, Rolling Thunder, Washington, 5/29/11

Now that Finger Lakes lawn mowers are in the barn for the winter and our snow blowers aren't out yet, let's get caught up on another real American, Lt. Col. Alan West (Ret.), now congressman from Florida's 22nd district.  From West's official website, his point of view on Obama's May call for Israel to return to "Auschwitz borders:"

Today's endorsement by President Barack Obama of the creation of a Hamas-led Palestinian state based on the pre-1967 borders, signals the most egregious foreign policy decision his administration has made to date, and could be the beginning of the end as we know it for the Jewish state.

While we're bombarded with mainstream media's daily Newt/Mitt/Rick/Rick/Michelle/Ron crapola, let's not forget that we have real leaders on the sidelines.  Jim Boeheim is not the only one with a deep bench.

 Title used with apologies to Iowahawk.

Union shill thinks your money belongs to the state

Ron Deutsch hobnobbing with the rich at Mohonk

Sentient New Yorkers should agree with Bill Nojay that Andy Cuomos' three-men-in-a-room "tax cut" or "tax code reform" is actually the biggest tax increase in New York in forty years.  Lonely Conservative expects her "middle class tax" cut to amount to less that a buck a week, and links to a quote from union-funded political operative Ron Deutsch:

“The average taxpayer will get a night out at the movies, courtesy of the state Legislature, without popcorn, I suppose,” said Ron Deutsch, of New Yorkers for Fiscal Fairness, a liberal tax policy watchdog group in Albany.

Bold added.  We need to remind Deutsch, paid servant of New York's powerful public employee unions, that said night out will not be "courtesy of the state legislature."  That's our money, confiscated at gunpoint by our state government, operating as bag man for those three men in that room.

Ever been to the Mohonk Mountain House?  Neither have we.

SU #1 in both polls

Undefeated Orange voted #1 in both ESPN and AP Polls:

Jim Boeheim and the Syracuse Orange have emerged from a pack of previously unbeatens and a season of unprecedented controversy to become the No. 1 team in the country.

Syracuse gained a near-unanimous vote at the top of the ESPN/USA Today Coaches' Poll released Monday.

Coach Boeheim explains one of the advantages of youth:

It's a great thing about kids, that older people tend to get caught up or get unfocused, get caught up more in outside influences and can't separate them. Kids aren't like that. They focus on what they control and go forward. It's a good thing about being young.

It's finals week on the hill, so no action until Saturday: a road test at NC State.

Terrorists will cook for five

Oops, too late to bid on this:

For the low, low price of $2,500, one lucky bidder and five friends are set to have dinner cooked for them by Weather Underground leaders Bill Ayers and Bernadine Dohrn. The auction was hosted by the Illinois Humanities Council (IHC), a non-profit founded — and still funded — by the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Bidders were invited to “[e]njoy an unforgettable and scintillating dinner for a party of six cooked by veteran activists and educators Bill Ayers and Bernardine Dohrn.

Ayers and Dohrn will have do the cooking because this guy is no longer available. 

Still not ready to believe that the unrepentant traitor Ayers is best friends with Obama?  Don't take our word for it, ask our fellow New Yorker and former junior senator, she of the "200,00 jobs for Upstate:"

The truth about gasoline

Billy Beck has had all he can take of the "alternative energy" myth:

What's also backwards are public estimations of internal combustion vs. all other energies: there is still nothing available that even approaches the energy-density per-pound of gasoline. This is a fact (you know: physics & stuff), and it has enormous implications for an economy on the scale of ours: one that delivers what ours does. I keep asking people to look around the rooms they're sitting in right now, and realize that almost nothing in them arrives without petro-fuels or petro-chemicals in one way or another. I keep waiting for the light to go on, when they understand that we simply cannot live anything like 21st-century lives without these materials, and that to condemn them in all the terms which are popular now goes quite beyond senseless: it's madness.

Bold added.  Beck's use of the term "madness" is accurate.

John Lennon's first car

 John Lennon didn't get his driver's license until he was 24 years old, in 1965.  By then he was rich, so his first car was what any 24 year old would have wanted in 1965, if he had the 2,000 pounds stirling available - a 1965 Ferrari 330 GT 2+2, with room for four Beatles.

The Pinnfarina-built, V-12 powered coupe was scheduled to be sold last February.  The owner came to his senses at the last minute, however, and withdrew the car from the auction.

Corzine? Who's Corzine?

Jet setters Obama, Corzine

Listening to the news yesterday, Finger Lakes taxpayers couldn't avoid hearing about thieving Wall Street tycoon Jon Corzine and his "disappearing" 1.2 billion bucks.  Why, this scheming charlatan personifies the "richest 1% millionaire billionaires" that Obama and his henchmen have been vilifying all year.

We're all suitably outraged, especially after hearing nonstop media coverage all day and evening.  One little detail of the story, however, seems to have been overlooked by the hard working newshounds of the mainstream press.  We listened to the radio all day and did not hear a single word about the fact that Criminal Corzine is a registered Democrat, much less the leading financial adviser to Obama and his administration.  In fact, one must dive 8 paragraphs deep into in to the CBS News story linked above to learn of the New Jersey gangster's political affiliation.

Those ink stained wretches must have a short term memory problem, because only a few weeks ago the very same former governor and senator was in line to be Obama's next secretary of the treasury!

Media tycoons may refresh their memories here and here.

Shop South of 5 and 20

She's got all her shopping done!

Do your Christmas shoppping from the comfort of your desktop, while supporting South of 5 and 20.  Use our Amazon holiday shopping links to get this year's best deals delivered directly to you home, office, farm, or alternative living arrangement.  Click here today to Shop Amazon's Holiday Flurry Deals.  

Shopping at South of 5 and 20 won't cost you anything extra, but will help keep this Finger Lakes blog operating in the new year.

Coach of the Year

Coach Scatton

Trumansburg, NY resident Sally Scatton, long time head field hockey coach at William Smith College in Geneva, has been voted North Atlantic Regional Coach of the Year.  The three time NCAA national championship coach received the award from the National Field Hockey Coaches Association

In her 24 years as head of the Herons' field hockey  program, Coach Scatton has never had a loosing season.

Coach at work

Harry Morgan, 1915-2011

Paul Stewart, Harry Morgan, Jack Webb - Appointment with Danger, 1951

Harry Morgan, who may have appeared in more movies and TV shows than any other actor, passed away this morning in Los Angeles.  

Morgan, the king of supporting roles, was best known for playing "Colonel Sherman T. Potter" in 179 episodes of the TV series MASH.

December 7, 1941

Japan made a big mistake, seventy years ago today. 

UPI has photos.

An Upstate Pearl Harbor survivor is known as "the man who saved the West Virginia." 

Pearl Harbor Anniversary Update:

The President of the United States' official schedule for today: 

2:15 pm

The President holds a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Harper of Canada

Oval Office

3:00 pm

The President and Prime Minister Harper of Canada deliver statements

South Court Auditorium

4:35 pm

The President attends a campaign event

DC, The Jefferson Hotel, Washington

Dodge Dart resurrected!

1963 Dart

Slant six?  Push button automatic? 13 inch wheels?  Highland Park Hummingbird?

American car lovers haven't been able to buy a new Dodge Dart since the seventies, but that's about to change.  Chrysler/Fiat/Obama Motors is ready to re-introduce the venerable nameplate with an Italian accent.

Chrysler Group is tapping its history, resurrecting the Dodge Dart name for a new small car being unveiled at next month's Detroit Auto Show.
 
The Dodge Dart name was last used on a small car sold in the mid-1970s.

The car will be based on engineering shared with Italy's Fiat, Chrysler's parent company.

2013 Dart

Autoblog, being an auto blog, has the details.

The 2013 Dodge Dart makes use of the same bones as the beautiful Alfa Romeo Giulietta, though the chassis has been both stretched and widened to accommodate the wider britches of American buyers. Chrysler says that a full 68 percent of the vehicle's architecture is comprised of high-strength steel, which means the 2013 Dart should retain much of the rigidity that's made the Giulietta a favorite among buyers and critics alike in the EU.

 For those who prefer the original, this 1963 Dart 2-door sedan looks like a bargain at only $4,990:

SDL buys remains of Alterian

British software house SDL has finalized its takeover of floundering marketing services provider Alterian.  The acquisition follows the closing of Alterian's Chicago office last month. 

Sucessful entrepreneur Al Swearengen  offers some advice to the 75 former Alterian Chicago staffers:

Another shooting death in Ithaca

Another shooting death has occurred in Ithaca, NY, home of Cornell University and hotbed of progressive dogma.  This time, a suspected drug dealer took a round in the back in the middle of the night.

Police are looking for three suspects in connection with the robbery and fatal shooting of a Bronx man early Thursday morning.

Officers responded to a report of the shooting at Chestnut Hill Apartments about 12:08 a.m. and found Francisco Santiago, 25, with a gunshot wound in his back, Ithaca police officials said. He was taken to Cayuga Medical Center where he was pronounced dead, they added.

Chestnut Hill Apartments?  Why does that ring a bell?

Ithaca police have responded to the Chestnut Hill Apartments -- for a variety of reasons -- 112 times from the beginning of the year to Nov. 30, county emergency management officials said. These included noise, disorderly conduct, domestic violence, disputes, shots fired, trespassing, unspecified civil complaint, agency assistance and medical assistance calls, they added.

In a city of only 30,014 residents, how many police calls to the same address, in less than one year, does it take to raise a red flag - 25?  50?  75?  100?  What does a single police call cost taxpayers?  We suggest Ithaca's mayor-elect  Svante Myrick plan to have sit-down with Chestnut Hill's owners on inauguration day.

Chestnut Hill update:

Police charged an Ithaca man with a stabbing related to an ongoing dispute on Sunday...

At about 11:30 a.m., police were called to an apartment at 157 Chestnut St. for a reported stabbing, according to the Ithaca Police Department...

 The apartment complex was the site of a fatal shooting early Thursday.

If you did it, you'd go to jail

Gillibrand and Clinton, new faces of Tammany Hall?

One of Nine is reading Peter Schweizer's new book, Throw Them All Out, and reminds us that...

"Lyndon Johnson was born into absolute poverty, spent a lifetime in public service and died a multimlllionaire."

Schweizer's book is causing our rulers to run around like cockroaches caught in a flashlight's beam.  Read the entire post to learn how our junior senator, Kirsten Gillibrand, wants you to think she's fighting congressional corruption, while offering a bill that ensures the well-connected swells of our ruling class, like Kirsten, will continue to rake in the swag at your expense.

For more on Harry Reid's "hottest senator," check out our previous coverage:

Who is Kirsten Gillibrand?

On the wrong track and headed for you 

Amity Shlaes for US Senate 

New York's senators: on the job 

Amity Shlaes: Repeating 1937?