“Rising 'Sons' - New York Post” plus 4 more

Rising 'Sons' - New York Post
No more new Buicks at Bo Williams - Star-Banner
Car Clubs, Enthusiasts Cruise In To Help Cause - Greensburg Daily News
Cash for Clunkers: A Dangerous Precedent - Newsblaze.com
Early Iron is a family event - Alamosa Valley Courier

Posted: 05 Sep 2009 12:06 PM PDT

They had me at the first gunshot.

It took roughly two min utes of Tuesday's "Sons of Anarchy" season premiere for me to become immersed in the world of this well-written, well-acted FX series encompassing an outlaw biker gang called the Sons of Anarchy.

In those two minutes, the camera pans several "Sons" members taking target practice to the (soundtrack) accompaniment of The Who's "Slip Kid." For starters, it's pretty hip to use the unheralded B-side "Slip Kid" (or a reasonable facsimile thereof -- the rights to the original were probably too expensive). But, more importantly, it sets the stage for what's going down in Charming, the northern California hamlet in which "Sons of Anarchy" unfolds.

Charming seems, well, downright charming on the surface, but it's in its seamy underbelly that you'll find the Sons of Anarchy, the tattooed, dangerous outlaw Hog riders led by Clay (Ron Perlman), his earthy wife Gemma (Katey Sagal) and Gemma's son, Jax (Charlie Hunnam). Jax's real father was an original SOA founder; his death, and pal Clay's marriage to Gemma, sets up some pretty interesting family dynamics.

Jax had just become a first-time dad at the end of last season and divorced his druggie wife, Wendy (Drea de Matteo, Adriana on "The Sopranos"), whose crystal meth addiction led to their son's premature birth. Jax is back with high school sweetheart Tara (Maggie Siff), a young doctor who loves Jax -- but doesn't really want to know what he does in his spare time.

Smart move. While Jax and crew run a semi-legitimate auto-repair shop adjacent to their hangout (a la The Bada Bing in "The Sopranos"), their main income derives from running guns up and down the California coast. In Tuesday's second-season opener, they strike a new business deal with an Irish crime syndicate, but in the "Sons of Anarchy" universe, circumstances change quickly.

Tuesday's episode also ties up some loose ends -- while at the same time spinning a whole new web of intrigue that's likely to spread in many different directions as the season progresses.

SOA member Opie (Ryan Hurst) is back from prison after a botched attempt on his life -- triggered by Clay, who suspected him of snitching. The whacking-gone-awry killed Donna, Opie's girlfriend, and he's still mourning her death -- and is hungering for revenge not knowing that Clay ordered the hit. Juicy stuff.

And there's also a new gang in town, a neo-Nazi group called LOAN (League of American Nationalists) led by dapper, silver-haired Ethan Zobelle (Adam Arkin) and his beefy, chrome-domed lackey, AJ Weston (Henry Rollins). When the Sons refuse to play ball with LOAN, it results in a game of brinksmanship that will likely have damning repercussions.

There's more, but I don't want to spoil anything. "Sons of Anarchy" fans won't be disappointed, and series newcomers will, I think, be riveted. The acting is terrific (by all concerned -- there's no weak link), the writing stays true to the spirit of the show and nothing feels forced.

That's the mark of a winner. I can't wait until next week's episode.

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No more new Buicks at Bo Williams - Star-Banner

Posted: 05 Sep 2009 12:13 PM PDT

After 40 years as a Buick franchise, the car dealership will stop selling new Buicks and is in negotiations with Sullivan Cadillac to take over the Buick brand, said Bo Williams.

Williams, owner of the dealership named for him, said the plan instead is to sell used cars at the eight-acre facility on State Road 200, continue to service vehicles there and expand the business's auto financing branch.

John McMichael, general manager, and Williams' son-in-law, said the dealership was looking to sell the property but would most likely sell only a portion and remain in business at that location.

McMichael said he and Williams discussed the feasibility of continuing to sell only new Buicks, but it made no sense financially. Forcing the move, McMichael said, was a combination of the recession, competition from foreign auto makers and the Buick line itself.

"To do business the way we were, it was scary," McMichael said. "We looked at our business hard, we looked at the economy hard and we looked at the local economy hard. We decided we didn't have to sell new cars.

"As a single-point Buick dealership, it makes it tough because Buick only has three models. A light when on and a bell went off. Buicks aren't going to lead the way they used to."

A strategic part of adapting to the current market is expanding the dealership's financing branch, McMichael said. As much as 70 percent of people wanting to buy a vehicle can't get a conventional bank loan, so part of the solution is to offer competitive in-house financing.

"I didn't want to cater to just the 30 percent [who could get a bank loan for a Buick]. I wanted to cater to the larger market," McMichael said. "We had to find a niche where we could sell to people."

Williams said financing a used car will be easier than borrowing money for a new one.

"There's a big difference in financing a $10,000 car and a $30,000 to $40,000 car," Williams said.

Selling the Buick franchise is just the latest move. The dealership sold its Suzuki franchise to Rallye Motors in July, and Rallye in turn sold its Dodge franchise to Phillips Chrysler-Jeep about the same time.

Williams said Buick had its share of problems competing against foreign car manufacturers and dealerships. He said when he bought half ownership of Ocala's Buick franchise in 1966 from Rupert Caviness, foreign-made cars were a rarity in Ocala. But then vehicles made outside the United States claimed an ever larger piece of the market.

"I think it was just a gradual thing - and let's face it, they did a good sales job," he said.

Williams moved to the State Road 200 location in the mid 1980s.

McMichael said he began working in the used car branch during the 1990s and that his experience selling used cars is helping with the shift. He said he typically had about 50 vehicles on the lot before starting negotiations to sell the franchise. The used car lot will have about 70.

"The long term goal is not to shut the company down, but to realign so it can go on and on and on," McMichael said.

He said he would not lay off any of the 30 employees now working at Bo Williams. The dealership had 100 employees in 2006.

Williams, 79, said he'll continue to work at the used car dealership after the conversion, but fewer hours.

"Everybody gets to this point. I don't see very good, and I don't hear very good," he said. "There comes a point when you want to slow down."

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Car Clubs, Enthusiasts Cruise In To Help Cause - Greensburg Daily News

Posted: 05 Sep 2009 08:53 AM PDT

Published September 05, 2009 12:29 pm - The Tree City Classics Car Club and local auto repair shop NTB (National Tire and Battery) came together last weekend for a good cause.

Car Clubs, Enthusiasts Cruise In To Help Cause

Joe Hornaday
Greensburg Daily News

The Tree City Classics Car Club and local auto repair shop NTB (National Tire and Battery) came together last weekend for a good cause.

According to John McClintic, Tree City Classics Car Club president, the organizations congregated on Sunday, Aug. 30 for a cruise-in at the NTB lot next to the Dairy Queen. Local drivers and car enthusiasts were able to show off their cars, compete for trophies and help out the national charity Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation (ALSF) For Childhood Cancer.

Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation first began in 2000, when a then 4-year-old cancer patient named Alex wanted to hold a lemonade stand to raise money to help "her doctors" find a cure for all kids with cancer. The idea was put into action when Alex held her very first lemonade stand on her family's front lawn in July of that same year.

For the next four years, despite her deteriorating health, Alex held an annual lemonade stand to raise money for childhood cancer research. Alex raised a great deal of money through her annual stands. During the weekend of her last lemonade stand in her neighborhood, thousands of volunteers of all ages from all corners of the country held lemonade stands, propelling Alex and her cause to reach $1 million. On Aug. 1, 2004 Alex ultimately lost her life to childhood cancer.

Since Alex held her first front yard lemonade stand, the foundation bearing her name, ALSF has raised more than $25 million, with nearly half of the funds originating from front-yard lemonade stands like Alex's. Help from organizations like the Tree City Classics Car Club and NTB also contribute to the burgeoning charity.

According to McClintic, there were a total of 40 winners, featuring a top 10 with special awards and another top 30 finishers. Mayor Gary Herbert was on hand to pick the car that would be known as "Best In Show." He ultimately chose a 1957 Chevy belonging to Jerry Holmes.

McClintic says he plans to keep the fundraisers and cruise-ins going. The Tree City Classics Car Club holds a similar event every summer, spring and fall to benefit charities. This year has marked the 20th anniversary for the local car club.

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Cash for Clunkers: A Dangerous Precedent - Newsblaze.com

Posted: 05 Sep 2009 04:21 AM PDT

By Allan C. Brownfeld

The so-called "cash for clunkers" program got off to such a fast start that its $l billion allotment was gone in just one week of operation. Congress quickly allocated another $2 billion before leaving for its August recess. Now that the program is history, what lessons can we learn?

Democrats claim that this program was a great success, while Republicans argue that the fact the program ran out of money so quickly proves that government cannot run a health care system.

What the program really proves, argued* The Wall Street Journal*, "is that Americans aren't stupid and will let some other taxpayer buy them a free lunch if given the chance." The program, stated the* Journal*, was good for people who owned an older car or truck but were not sure they had the cash to trade it in for something new. They got a taxpayer subsidy of up to $4,500, which on some models could be 25 percent of the purchase price. Therefore, "It's hardly surprising that Peter is willing to use a donation from his neighbor Paul, midwifed by Uncle Sugar, to class up its driveway."

In the end, however, it is bad economics and sets a dangerous precedent for the future. In the* Journal's* view, "The subsidy won't add to net national wealth, since it merely transfers money to one taxpayer's pocket from someone else's, and merely pays that taxpayer to destroy a perfectly serviceable asset in return for something he might have bought anyway. By this logic, everyone should burn the sofa and dining room set and refurnish the homestead every couple of years... Since money is no object, let's give everyone a $4,500 voucher for other consumer goods. Let's have taxpayers subsidize the purchase of kitchen appliances, women's clothing... and new fishing boats."

The cash for clunkers program was more about rewarding two politically powerful industries - automakers and auto dealers - than about promoting energy efficiency or stimulating the economy.

As a way to improve mileage, the program made little sense. Individuals qualified for a $3,500 credit with trade-ins that netted just four additional miles per gallon. With 10 additional miles per gallon, they received $4,500. For light trucks and SUVs, the numbers were even smaller: two and five. All trade-ins were required to get l8 miles per gallon or less, and the program provided no incentive to buy any cars getting greater than 28 miles per gallon - perhaps because this is a segment of the market in which the foreign automakers are strong.

An editorial in* The New York Post* noted that, "As economic stimulus, the program is bogus.... The money allocated is enough to generate about 250,000 trade-ins. While that may seem like a lot, about 200,000 would have happened anyway, industry experts say. If taxpayers are spending $l billion for about 50,000 additional car purchases, that comes to about $20,000 per car. In theory, the first $l billion clears out all the people who would have traded in anyway, so any additional money could be more stimulative to the economy. That may be so. But if the best that can be said for spending another billion or two is that it won't be wasted like the first billion, it makes for a pretty weak argument."

Perhaps most destructive was the provision that the clunkers subsidy is distributed only when the old cars are destroyed. Thus, a billion dollars or more was spent to destroy automobiles that could well have been sold to those of limited income in need of cars.

Senator Jim Inhofe (R-OK) declared that, "...cash for clunkers is a perfect example of why government should not get into the business of running businesses. It just doesn't work. Unintended\ consequences abound.... It seems a little suspicious to use taxpayer dollars to prop up the now-government-owned car industry, which was purchased with 80 billion of your tax dollars.... Temporary programs become permanently entrenched interests, and the public good becomes servant to a favored constituency."

In Inhofe's view, this program could have been "the most regressive program Congress has ever enacted. Millionaires can get a few thousand dollars knocked off the price of a new car as long as the price tag is less than $45,000. Meanwhile, thousands of Americans, despite the government incentive, cannot afford a new car. These Americans must shop the market for used cars. Unfortunately for them, in order to save face on producing any environmental benefits under the program, traded-in cars must be scrapped. This reduces supply in used car and used parts markets, thereby increasing prices."

It is not only free market advocates and critics of the Obama administration who found the cash-for-clunkers program objectionable.* The Washington Post*, usually a supporter of Obama administration initiatives, noted that, "Stimulating the economy through more government spending and tax cuts is a much disputed idea. But at least a tax cut or an increase in unemployment benefits puts money into the hands of consumers generally and lets them decide how to spend it, rather than having the government choose which sectors of the economy will benefit. 'Cash-for-clunkers,' by contrast, redistributed demand as between cars and other goods, or between various models of cars. Car repair shops, parts stores, and used car dealers suffer."

Senator John McCain (R-AZ) predicted that, "Within a few weeks, we will see that this process was abused by speculators and people who took advantage of what is basically a huge government subsidy or corporations they already own."

Business has shown us once again that its interest is not in free enterprise and free markets - but in profits, however obtained. Thus, the cash for clunkers program was not only enthusiastically supported by the automakers and the National Automobile Dealers Association but also by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce - in the midst of its "Campaign for Free Enterprise" - and by the National Association of Manufacturers.

The philosophy embodied in this program is the opposite of what we have always known as the free market. Where will it end? "I hope one of my colleagues will propose cash for golf clubs," suggested Senator John McCain. "I've had many calls from people who have old golf clubs and they'd like to have some cash for them." Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK) asked, "Why not dishwashers? Why not washing machines? Why not boats? Why not RVs?"

Sadly, when it comes to getting something for nothing with taxpayer dollars, everyone seems to line up. Both the Obama administration and the business community, it appears, are co-conspirators in this effort. It sets a dangerous precedent for the future.

Read at fgfBooks.com http://www.fgfbooks.com/AllanBrownfeld/2009/Brownfeld090903.html

Allan C. Brownfeld is the author of five books, the latest of which is THE REVOLUTION LOBBY (Council for Inter-American Security). He has been a staff aide to a U.S. Vice President, Members of Congress, and the U.S. Senate Internal Security Subcommittee. He is associate editor of* The Lincoln Review* and a contributing editor to such publications as* Human Events, The St. Croix Review,* and* The Washington Report on Middle East Affairs.

* The views of Opinion writers do not necessarily reflect the views of NewsBlaze

_ _

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Early Iron is a family event - Alamosa Valley Courier

Posted: 05 Sep 2009 12:46 AM PDT

ALAMOSA Motor oil may be in the Clark familys blood.

The son of an auto shop owner who has carried on the family business, Ronnie Clark, 65, was one of the original San Luis Valley Early Iron Club members who started the Early Iron Festival 29 years ago.

His son Chris, 33, is now one of the club members and organizers who make the event successful every year, and his daughter Mysta Lynne, 5, is already an Early Iron fan and volunteer.

Shes going to help judge this year, her dad said. She also helps sell T-shirts at the club booth.

Ronnies wife Debbie and Chris wife Melissa are also integral and able volunteers to help wherever they are needed during the event. Even at eight months pregnant, Melissa is likely to be in Cole Park in Alamosa today to help the club pull off another successful festival.

The family atmosphere of the festival is one of its attractions. Many families, into the second and now third generations, participate in the show, and many more families just come to look at the spruced-up, revved up vehicles.

Its something you can do together, Ronnie said.

Its fun, something to do with your friends, Chris said. You make more friends going to shows. Its a good hobby. Its gotten me into some trouble and kept me out of a lot of trouble. I never started drinking or doing drugs because every time I got money I spent it on my truck or my car.

The show has grown to around 400 entries and could easily welcome more if space allowed, as Alamosas festival is one of the rodders favorites.

Ronnie recalled how it all started with six local men - Ronnie, Joe Boos, Johnny Rodriguez, Red Vigil, Craig Janda and Al Ballard - chipping in $100 to get the festival going.

Ronnie is less active in the planning stages now, leaving that to the youthful energy of his son Chris, but he still helps out where he can. This year, for example, he will be one of the judges.

Ronnies father started Clark Auto Service, and Ronnie began working for his dad in 1959 when he was just a teenager. Chris has worked with his father since he was a teenager as well.

The father-and-son business handles a variety of auto repair jobs, but their favorite is working on the old vehicles. They are building an old truck for one customer, a VW for another.

Their own vintage vehicles are always nearby as well. Ronnies 500-horsepower bronze fire metallic-colored 1969 Plymouth Roadster is his pride and joy. A single-owner car, it was purchased new by Ronnie 30 years ago.

I like the cars, Ronnie said. I like the old cars.

Chris early iron is a 1926 Model T that he often drives to pick up his daughter from school. Of course she is the envy of the other students when she rides off with dad in his T bucket.

That is our car, Chris said. She will stand there and tell everybody about it. She remembers everything we told her about it ... Shes a hot rodder, born that way. Shes a good kid.

The Clarks, like the other Early Iron Club members, are always grateful for the communitys support of the annual festival. They are grateful for their friends, families and other volunteers who helped with whatever task is at hand. They are grateful to the police department and city for their support. They are grateful for the merchants support, and they are grateful for the warm welcome the community provides each year.

Everybody in town is pretty awesome, Ronnie said.

Early Iron is a good thing, Chris added. There are a lot of fun things about it. Theres a lot of good people associated with cars, and its a great hobby.

He said some participants and visitors havent missed a year in the nearly three decades of Early Iron history. One couple drives three hours from New Mexico every year to participate.

I think Early Iron is one of the better things that ever came to Alamosa, Ronnie said. Everybody in the Valley looks forward to it.