Date:         Fri, 1 Oct 2004 13:52:05 -0700
Reply-To:     Robert Fisher <refisher@MCHSI.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Robert Fisher <refisher@MCHSI.COM>
Subject:      Re: Westfalia Pop-Top Screws - Call It a Sclew
Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed; charset="iso-8859-1";
              reply-type=original

Better yet, how about we limit this to Friday.

As a registered independent and a service-disabled vet, my primary concerns
at this point are the unparalleled disaster that we've created in Iraq, and
the economic repercussions that go with it- a disaster of another kind.

I was discussing this last night with a fellow I go to law school with; we
were discussing the real possibility that people my age (I'm 38) may well
never be able to actually retire whenever our time comes because this piper
will have to be paid sooner than later.

Cynicism without accurate information is just pessimism, zolo, and, by the
way, you may be a 'mindless pawn' as you put it, but I am not, and I suspect
many others here will reject your label as well. I am realistic enough and
intelligent enough to understand where I fit in the scheme and what I may be
able to do about it. Given that, I still do what I can, when I can, to the
best of my ability and resources, and I refuse to give up the right or the
fight. I don't just accept 'what I'm told' and 'what I'm given'- I inform
myself and enable myself as best I can.

I completely refute and reject the idea that the 'decline of western
civilization' is inevitable; failure is only inevitable for people who
believe things like "On the long run we will loose this battle."

As for the CPUSA being against Bush or supporting Kerry in that effort;
White supremacists and neo-Nazis in America overwhelmingly vote Republican,
for whatever their reasons may be. It would not be ethical, fair or
reasonable to use this fact to cast the average Republican voter, or even
politician in the same light (or shadow, if you prefer). You should be
known, as the saying goes, by the company you keep, not the company that
attempts to attach to you.

And as for "Work your life away to buy stuff because it does not last long
enough to enjoy your money.  If all the things would work as well as a
fridge does, we would not spend our life buying new stuff all the time." I
find it odd that someone that would preach something like that would be a
Vanagon enthusiast. : )

Cya,
Robert

----- Original Message -----
From: "Eric Zeno" <vw4x4@FYI.NET>
To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Sent: Friday, October 01, 2004 12:42 PM
Subject: Re: Westfalia Pop-Top Screws - Call It a Sclew


> oK,
>   HOw about we limit this to one week.  I'm voting for Kerry  because
> of what has happened to the logging in upper part of PA.....
> Bush is clueless as to what he let lose up there.  My Syncro hate
> cities, and more and more the northern PA area is begining to look
> like a city.   The last 2 years it has never been so bad.
>
>
>            Eric                   86-VW4x4
>            vw4x4@fyi.net          86-SS Syncro
>            Pittsburgh, PA USA     1936-Chrysler
>                                   92-Jetta GWC
>            www.fyi.net/~vw4x4/vw4x4.htm
>
> On Fri, 1 Oct 2004, George Goff wrote:
>
>> In a message dated 10/1/04 2:09:50 AM, warmerwagen@YAHOO.COM writes:
>>
>> << You can't find metric around here and that big slotted
>> screw is an old idea- they don't even have that in
>> SAE. >>
>>
>> This is a sad time in the Land of the Free and, unfortunately, it ain't
>> gonna
>> get better.  I mourn the passing of our fastener industry just like I am
>> saddened by those long rows of boarded-up brick buildings in
>> Massachusetts which
>> used to be abuzz with the activity of shoemaking.  I didn't ask for this
>> glut
>> of cheap dreck from the Pacific Rim to clog our markets; did you?
>>
>> It's true that about all you can find anymore is Phillips head screws or
>> else
>> that wretched abomination, the combination head.  The slotted screw head
>> may
>> be an old idea, but it is a far better idea in almost any venue except an
>> assembly line.  Just compare a screw made in this country, if you still
>> have any,
>> to what the P-Rim has to offer.  The junk screw is ill-formed with soft
>> edges
>> at the head circumference and with a poorly formed driver recess.  It is
>> sorta
>> like a Play-Doh version of what a screw should be.
>>
>> I wish I could just blame those self-serving bastards in Washington for
>> this
>> sad state of affairs.  After all, they have their hands on the handwheel
>> of
>> the floodgate which controls cheap imports.  But, the merchants who saw a
>> way to
>> cash in on shoddy merchandise are also accountable.  They stocked their
>> shelves with junk that they could sell at two-for-one prices while still
>> making a
>> higher percentage on the markup, then they used the specious excuse that
>> they
>> were just yielding to the pressures of the market while they
>> incrementally
>> inflated the prices of the junk they proffered to that of quality goods.
>> I guess
>> in the end, I have to blame the dumb-ass, American consumer for
>> swallowing
>> this bill of goods just to crowd their lives with a bunch of poorly
>> wrought
>> trinkets.
>>
>> I'm voting for Kerry for a lot of reasons.  High on the list is because
>> there
>> is a chance he won't send my kid (or yours) on a pointless forced march
>> to
>> his death.  Also, because he might be speaking the truth when he says he
>> wants
>> to arouse from his coma the greatest industrial giant the world has ever
>> known.
>>  I suggest you do the same.
>>
>> George
>>