This Day in History: Workers assemble first Corvette in Flint, Michigan

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June 28: General Interest 1953 : Workers assemble first Corvette in Flint, Michigan On this day in 1953, workers at a Chevrolet plant in Flint, Michigan, assemble the first Corvette, a two-seater sports car that would become an American icon. The first completed production car rolled off the assembly line two days later, one of just 300 Corvettes made that year. The idea for the Corvette originated with General Motors' pioneering designer Harley J. Earl, who in 1951 began developing plans for a low-cost American sports car that could compete with Europe’s MGs, Jaguars and Ferraris. The project was eventually code-named "Opel." In January 1953, GM debuted the Corvette concept car at its Motorama auto show at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York City. It featured a fiberglass body and a six-cylinder engine and according to GM, was named for the "trim, fleet naval vessel that performed heroic escort and patrol duties during World War II." The Corvette was a big hit with the public at Motorama and GM soon put the roadster into production. On June 30, 1953, the first Corvette came off the production line in Flint. It was hand-assembled and featured a Polo White exterior and red interior, two-speed Powerglide automatic transmission, a wraparound windshield, whitewall tires and detachable plastic curtains instead of side windows. The earliest Corvettes were designed to be opened from the inside and lacked exterior door handles. Other components included a clock, cigarette lighter and red warning light that activated when the parking brake was applied--a new feature at the time. The car carried an initial price tag of $3,490 and could go from zero to 60 miles per hour in 11 or 12 seconds, then considered a fairly average speed. In 1954, the Corvette went into mass production at a Chevy plant in St. Louis, Missouri. Sales were lackluster in the beginning and GM considered discontinuing the line. However, rival company Ford had introduced the two-seater Thunderbird around the same time and GM did not want to be seen bowing to the competition. Another critical development in the Corvette's survival came in 1955, when it was equipped with the more powerful V-8 engine. Its performance and appeal steadily improved after that and it went on to earn the nickname "America's sports car" and become ingrained in pop culture through multiple references in movies, television and music. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

General Interest 1953 : Workers assemble first Corvette in Flint, Michigan http://www.history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihVideoCategory&id=59384 1519 : Charles elected Holy Roman emperor http://www.history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=5130 1914 : Archduke Ferdinand assassinated http://www.history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=5131 1919 : Keynes predicts economic chaos http://www.history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=6942 1969 : The Stonewall Riot http://www.history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=5132 American Revolution 1836 : Former President James Madison dies http://www.history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=735 Automotive 1914 : Ferdinand assassinated in Austro-Daimler http://www.history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=7491 Civil War 1862 : Confederates capture the St. Nicolas http://www.history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=2226 Cold War 1948 : Yugoslavia expelled from COMINFORM http://www.history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=2712 Crime 1975 : A teenage girl's boyfriend murders her parents http://www.history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=1050 1993 : A serial rapist strikes in Allentown http://www.history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=1051 Disaster 1992 : Two big quakes rock California http://www.history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=765 Entertainment 1916 : Lasky Co. and Famous Players Co. merge http://www.history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=3404 1928 : "West End Blues" recorded http://www.history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=3405 1975 : Rod Serling dies http://www.history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=3406 Literary 1888 : Robert Louis Stevenson sets sail for the South Seas http://www.history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=4016 Old West 1857 : Western writer Emerson Hough is born http://www.history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=4565 Presidential 1919 : Harry S. Truman marries Bess Wallace http://www.history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=675 Sports 1997 : Mike Tyson bites ear http://www.history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=57013 Vietnam War 1965 : U.S. forces launch first offensive http://www.history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=1935 1972 : Nixon announces draftees will not go to Vietnam http://www.history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=1936 World War I 1914 : Archduke Franz Ferdinand assassinated http://www.history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=705 World War II 1940 : Britain recognizes General Charles de Gaulle as the leader of the Free French http://www.history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=6502 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ History.com on the Go ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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No Nominee Yet for Secretary of Rustproofing By Dana Milbank

No Nominee Yet for Secretary of Rustproofing By Dana Milbank Tuesday, March 31, 2009; A02

The White House was aiming high with yesterday's announcement that President Obama was pretty much becoming CEO of the American automotive industry.

Minutes before the president's arrival in the Grand Foyer of the White House, a technician in the back of the room tested the teleprompter for Obama's speech. "Fourscore and seven years ago," announced one of the screens in big letters, "our fathers brought on this continent a new nation . . ." In the actual event, Obama opted for a more modest text -- less Lincoln at Gettysburg than Krystal Koons cutting an ad for the family car dealerships.

"If you buy a car from Chrysler or General Motors, you will be able to get your car serviced and repaired, just like always," the president promised yesterday morning from the executive mansion.

And that's not all, folks! "Your warranty will be safe," the salesman in chief went on. "In fact, it will be safer than it's ever been, because starting today, the United States government will stand behind your warranty."

Incentives? Obama's got 'em. "If you buy a car anytime this year, you may be able to deduct the cost of any sales and excise taxes," the president offered. And nobody beats Obama on trade-ins; he wants a "generous credit to consumers who turn in old, less-fuel-efficient cars."

Perhaps the president can interest you in a Chevy Malibu? "In 2008, the North American Car of the Year was a GM," he pitched. And the Buick Lucerne is a real cream puff. "This year, Buick tied for first place as the most reliable car in the world," he declared from behind the presidential seal.

If you buy now, he may even throw in the floor mats.

Playing car salesman is an unusual role for a president of the United States -- …

Read more: No Nominee Yet for Secretary of Rustproofing By Dana Milbank Tuesday, March 31, 2009; A02

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/30/AR2009033002922.html?wpisrc=newsletter
20090331 No Nominee Yet for Secretary of Rustproofing By Dana Milbank

Kevin Dayhoff www.kevindayhoff.net http://kevindayhoff.blogspot.com/

Kevin Dayhoff Art: www.kevindayhoff.com (http://kevindayhoffart.blogspot.com/)

Do We Need the Big Three? by George Will Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Do We Need the Big Three? by George Will Tuesday, November 18, 2008

WASHINGTON -- "Nothing," said a General Motors spokesman last week, "has changed relative to the GM board's support for the GM management team during this historically difficult economic period for the U.S. auto industry." Nothing? Not even the evaporation of almost all shareholder value?

GM's statement comes as the mendicant company is threatening to collapse and make a mess unless Washington, which has already voted $25 billion for GM, Ford and Chrysler, provides up to $50 billion more -- the last subsidy until the next one.

[…]

The answer? Do nothing that will delay bankrupt companies from filing for bankruptcy protection, so that improvident labor contracts can be unraveled, allowing the companies to try to devise plausible business models. Instead, advocates of a "rescue" propose extending to Detroit the government's business model for the nation -- redistributing wealth from the successful to the failed, an implausible formula for prosperity.

[…]

Those Democrats, their rhetoric notwithstanding, really care most about the union. "Saving the planet" comes second and last comes the health of the auto companies.

{…}

Read the entire column here: Do We Need the Big Three? by George Will

20081118 Do We Need the Big Three by Will Nov18 2008

Today in the DC Examiner: An Auto Bailout is Like Sending Arsonists to Fight Fires

Today in the DC Examiner: An Auto Bailout is Like Sending Arsonists to Fight Fires

November 19, 2008

Will Obama back missile defense or back missile defense into history?

Examiner Editorial: Liberals have been saying for decades that missile defense can't work, even as the U.S. Army and Navy are repeatedly and successfully testing land and sea-based systems that destroy incoming missiles. Will Barack Obama listen to the liberals or the military?

S.J. Masty's Time Machine: Maybe Charlie Chan can solve the mystery of who shot the GOP.

Jay Ambrose: Our Denver-based Herald of the Rockies is having second thoughts about Obama's first promises.

Tapscott's Copy Desk: Harry Reid and Robert Byrd falsified government data on job creation. Will the Mainstream Media call them on it?

And don't miss a former GM manager's explanation for why she opposes a federal bailout for Detroit's Big Three: You will find Lori Roman's Op-Ed here: “An Auto Bailout is Like Sending Arsonists to Fight Fires”

20081119 Today in the DC Examiner: An Auto Bailout is Like Sending Arsonists to Fight Fires

This week in The Tentacle

This week in The Tentacle

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Rewarding Bad Behavior

Kevin E. Dayhoff

Instead of tooling down the highway in the fast lane, two months after General Motors celebrated its 100th Birthday on September 16, it found itself huddled over at an intersection with fate, harassing passers-by with a tin pan in hand.

William C. Durant formed General Motors (GM) as a holding company in 1908 for Buick. He subsequently took on overwhelming debt by purchasing the manufacturers of Oldsmobile, Cadillac, Elmore and Oakland. After a dramatic drop in automobile sales, Mr. Durant lost control of the company two years later to one of the many powerful bankers’ trusts of the time.

A hundred years later, the “Detroit Three,” – Ford, GM and Chrysler – have lost control of their companies to the United Auto Workers (UAW.)

After decades of being blackmailed with the threat of crippling union strikes, the Detroit Three finds themselves with uncompetitive work rules. It manufactures products which continue to languish with the perception that they lack the quality of their competitors. They offer numerous models, in which the American consumer has little or no interest. They make these automobiles with enormously uncompetitive salaries and benefits; and now the American taxpayers are being asked to bail them out.

Read the entire column here: Rewarding Bad Behavior


Fulfilling A Dream
Tom McLaughlin
“What has possessed you, Tom,” many have asked. “Leaving the country for Borneo Island for a year,” they wonder. “And what about your health?”


Baltimore Hippodrome's "Grinch"
Roy Meachum
What a delightful idea! Baltimore's Hippodrome Theatre decided to bring in for the holidays "Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas! The Musical."


Tuesday, November 18, 2008
New Terms and Limits in Iraq
Roy Meachum
While George W. Bush's order to invade Iraq made headline news, the several papers I read cast the real outcome somewhere in the back pages.


A Once-A-Year Happening
Farrell Keough


“[A]m I my brother’s keeper?” This was the statement Cain gave to God when questioned about the location of Abel, whom Cain murdered. It has become part of our cultural colloquialisms – generally applied when asking about our responsibility to help others.


Walkersville’s Welcome Wagon
Joe Charlebois
Well, the ugly head of unforeseen consequences has reared its ugly head. The Town of Walkersville, in its determination to keep the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community from building their worship and conference facilities, has ultimately broken the back – if not the pocketbook – of the Banner School family.


Monday, November 17, 2008
Avoiding The Temptation
Richard B. Weldon Jr.
I supported John McCain throughout the recent presidential election. Having written an entire column about why, there's no reason to re-plow that field.


Befuddled in Frederick
Steven R. Berryman
What strange days we are living in. My sympathy goes out to those whose intellectual process it is to attempt to make sense of the world around them.


Landfill & Waste-to-Energy Q & A
Joan McIntyre
My last column (from November 6) generated many questions. Trash in Frederick County certainly seems to be the hot topic. Trash is a given and we need to get out of our holding pattern. So, here I've done my best to address many of your questions.


Friday, November 14, 2008
Newly "Dis-Organized" Party
Roy Meachum
Three months after Franklin Delano Roosevelt was sworn in as the first Democratic president since Woodrow Wilson, Oklahoma-born comedian Will Rogers said on his weekly radio show: "You've got to be optimist to be a Democrat and you've got to be a humorist to stay one." Mr. Rogers was also quoted: "I belong to no organized political party – I’m a Democrat."


Thursday, November 13, 2008
Onward and Upward, Not Backwards
Tony Soltero
Now that the election is behind us, there's no shortage of analyses being offered by pundits left, right, and center about “What It All Means.” So here are a few bullet points of my own as a contribution to the discussion.


My President
Patricia A. Kelly
I’ve lived a pretty long time. I was alive and conscious during the civil rights movement. In fact, during that time, my mom drove my brother and me through the South every summer to visit my grandparents.


Wednesday, November 12, 2008
The Incredibly Shrinking Republican Party
Kevin E. Dayhoff
The ink is hardly dry on the “historic” election of Illinois Sen. Barack Obama and already those with 20/20 hindsight are dissecting and revising the two-year ordeal, known as the 2008 presidential election, with the conviction of someone who has just seen a flying saucer land in the backyard.


Just Bustin’ Out All Over
Tom McLaughlin
It was as if a massive salt water wave swept over the country and washed away all of the hate and intolerance. I felt cleansed, jubilant and am still high from the November 4 election results. No more African-Americans, or Chinese-Americans, or Native Americans. We are all Americans.


Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Please, Jennifer, Not Again
Roy Meachum
Jennifer Dougherty's loss record for elections stands four-to-one after Tuesday's drubbing by Rep. Roscoe Bartlett. The only time she won, incumbent Mayor Jim Grimes shot himself in the foot. Repeatedly. When she tried for a second term, her own party dumped her; the first mayor in modern times to be defeated in a primary.


“It’s Good To Be A Teacher…”
Nick Diaz
Work-to-rule, teachers’ contract, planning time, Board of Education, FCTA, negotiated agreement – these topics, and more, have surfaced recently in Frederick concerning local education issues.

Monday, November 10, 2008
Election Post Mortem
Steven R. Berryman
Election 2008 is over. America now has a new president-elect, and an opportunity to evaluate just what Barack Obama’s victory means. Here are some lessons learned along with some 20/20 hindsight.

20081119 This week in The Tentacle

20080606 A lesson to be learned from Ford versus Toyota

A lesson to be learned from Ford versus Toyota

Hat Tip: Grammy June 6, 2008

I received this allegory in an email. It was simply too true to not pass on and post…

A Japanese company (Toyota) and an American company (Ford) decided to have a canoe race on the Missouri River. Both teams practiced long and hard to reach their peak performance before the race.

On the big day, the Japanese won by a mile.

The Americans, very discouraged and depressed, decided to investigate the reason for the crushing defeat. A management team made up of senior management was formed to investigate and recommend appropriate action.

Their conclusion was the Japanese had 8 people rowing and 1 person steering, while the American team had 8 people steering and 1 person rowing.

Feeling a deeper study was in order, Ford management hired a consulting company and paid them a large amount of money for a second opinion.

They advised, of course, that too many people were steering the boat, while not enough people were rowing.

Not sure of how to utilize that information, but wanting to prevent another loss to Toyota, the Ford rowing team's management structure was totally reorganized to 4 steering supervisors, 3 area steering superintendents, and 1 assistant superintendent steering manager.

They also implemented a new performance system that would give the 1 person rowing the boat greater incentive to work harder. It was called the' Rowing Team Quality First Program,' with meetings, dinners, and free pens for the rower. There was discussion of getting new paddles, canoes, and other equipment, extra vacation days for practices and bonuses.

The next year the Japanese won by two miles.

Humiliated, the American management laid off the rower for po or performance, halted development of a new canoe, sold the paddles, and canceled all capital investments for new equipment. The money saved was distributed to the Senior Executives as bonuses and the next year's racing team was out-sourced to India.

Sadly, The End

Here's something else to think about:

Ford has spent the last thirty years moving all its factories out of the US , claiming they can't make money paying American wages.

TOYOTA has spent the last thirty years building more than a dozen plants inside the US The last quarter's results for 2007:

TOYOTA makes 4 billion in profits while Ford racked up 9 billion in losses.

Ford folks are still scratching their heads.

IF THIS WEREN'T TRUE, IT MIGHT BE FUNNY

(I drive a Prius.)

####

20080606 A lesson to be learned from Ford versus Toyota