Worth a Thousand Words

Remember the political cartoons that offended so many Muslims a while back? Need I mention that several prominent Muslim leaders deny that the holocaust happened?

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Frightening Future

If you love your country, take the time to sit down and read this article, published by The August Review. Any true American proud of his or her nation and wary of government control should be scared silly.

Every nation that has attempted to build an empire has fallen. The United States is the only superpower left in the world. If we were to soak up Canada and Mexico, roughly 1/4 of the globe would be under the control of one leader. I for one have not seen enough political figures in our government that I would put that much trust in as of late. I cringe at the thought of the wars that could potentially ensue if this proposed North American Union began to spread into Europe or South America. Humanity is not ready for a global governing body. There are simply too many cultural differences.

How to Swindle Car/Motorcycle Dealerships

Recently, my wife and I purchased an almost new motorcycle at a great price. Great meaning about 30% under the average selling price for the bike. A friend of ours commented that not two years ago, I also purchased an almost new Jeep and scored a similar bargain and suggested that I share the tricks on my blog. Being that I haven't posted anything in a few days, I shall willingly spill my guts forth into the public.

Rule number one is to never buy a vehicle new unless you plan on keeping it for a very long time. A new car or motorcycle's value loses a few thousand bucks as soon as you get it off of the lot. That's a very big waste if you end up selling it in a few years. The trick is to find a nice used ride that some other sucker has bought new and only put 20 or 30 thousand miles on.

Rule number two is to shop in the off season. The end of December seems to be the best time. I know it's rough with Christmas around the corner, but it works. Why? First off, dealerships have to pay taxes on their inventory at the end of the year, so they're more willing to drop a few thousand off of the price to avoid it. Also, many salesman are rushing to meet end of the year quotas. Finally, not many people shop for vehicles (especially motorcycles) during the holidays making it a buyer's market.

Rule number three is to know what you want before you start walking through the doors of a dealership, if at all possible. The Jeep was easy for me. I've owned two before this one and will settle for nothing else. I've driven and worked on many other cars, but I prefer something that I can take the doors off of and drive through four feet of water without being concerned about messing up the interior. The bike was a little harder as there are so many good choices out there. I finally narrowed it down to two models, the BMW GS and Triumph Tiger. Beemers are too pricey for me, so the Tiger wins.

Rule number four is to never accept their first offer, or the second or third. I like to start out by calling and asking about the model I have my eye on. When they tell me the price I tell them I can't afford it. Nine out of ten times, they drop the price right there. Once the price has been lowered significantly, stop in to look at the vehicle. Don't make any offers. Tell them that there are a few more you're looking at and want to see them before making a decision. Wait several hours or even overnight and call back to make an offer well below what you're willing to pay. You'll be refused. Tell the salesman to see how close he can get to it and call you back. When he does, you'll have your price. If you get the feeling like they're really desperate to sell, tell them that you'll give them their price out the door and you'll save a few hundred bucks in taxes.

Rule five, never smile or get excited. If anything act disappointed when you see the dealer's inventory.

Finally, try to find a dealer who does not normally sell what you're looking for. I bought my Jeep from a Volkswagen lot and my Triumph from a "Big Four" (Honda, Yamaha, Suzuki, Kawasaki) dealer whose sales were mostly made up of four wheelers and metric cruisers. Doing this helps because the dealership isn't likely to sell the oddball car or bike anytime soon. The average buyer of a Beetle or Jetta isn't going to be interested in a Jeep and vice versa.

There you have it, my trade secrets. I picked up most of them through the advice of my parents and a few others. Happy hunting.

Racists are Scum

I can't believe how long it's been since the last post. I've been a very busy guy lately and just haven't had time to get fired up and angry about things.

Ryan has obviously noticed, because he makes a point of sending me links like this to keep my blood pressure up. I simply can't tolerate this garbage. The organizers of this award ceremony should be brought up on charges for discriminating against every single white child in the school.

As the article states, it's even unfair to the black children by way of "teaching them that they are different at such early age." The article doesn't mention that it prepares the white children for the real world by teaching them that minority groups will always get special treatment over them.

In other words, contrary to popular belief, caucasians are the target of racism every day. The problem is that if you say something like "I was unfairly denied a job because the employer's Human Resources department was afraid of an affirmative action lawsuit if they didn't hire the asian guy, who was under qualified and had less experience than me," people think you're a quack. Not that I'm bitter about that happening to me at some point. Nope, not bitter at all.