BUZZURRO

This morning I heard “The most dishonest professions are used car salesmen, used car salesmen and used car salesmen.’

“I don’t believe that old stereotype of the dishonest used car salesman’ I thought to myself.

This afternoon I went to several car lots and met several different salesmen, and now I changed my opinion. Perhaps who ever invented that sentence had a good point after all.

The first place we went to featured a guy who would probably be more comfortable in a Godfather mafia scene. I told him that I was interested in a USED car and he spoke about a NEW one.

My opinion is that if you work in a car lot with both new and used cars, you need to be able to differentiate between those two words. I told him what we wanted to spend and he immediately talked about cars that cost the double and then said “You’ll never find anything for the price you are looking for.”

This guy gave me the impression that he would attach 4 wheels to a fallen tree and then sell it to his mother as a luxury vehicle, for a luxury vehicle price of course. If I could rate a person on trustworthiness he would be in the negatives.

The second place we went to had a car for less than half of what we wanted to spend. When we saw it we understood why. The car was definitely on it’s last wheels, and I don’t just mean because it had 143,000 miles on it ! I really don’t want to spend a lot of money on a car, but nor do I want a Fred Flinstone type car with holes for your feet to run on the ground either.

In the third place we went to we saw 2 beautiful cars. The person we spoke to who worked at the car dealer was also nice.
‘I knew car salesmen weren’t all dishonest sleazebags.’ I thought triumphantly, but as it turns out he was not the salesman. He invited us to meet the salesman though.

When we went inside the building to meet him he wanted us to buy the car immediately and then offered to lower the price when we looked hesistant. We told him that we would like to go home and look at reviews of the particular car models we saw, but he kept on insisting that we test drive the cars and buy one (or both) that same night. He told us not even to bother looking at other people’s opinions.

“Just test drive it.’ He said again and again. He even mentioned the generous 30 day warranty on the car which is only on a very few rarely-breaking parts like it was a super deal that only he could offer.
His pushiness to make a sale definitely turned us off so we left the lot empty handed.
Why are used car salesmen so pushy ? It makes them live up to their bad reputation..

You would think that since I now live in a state so close to New York City where the twin towers were, and with a busy port to be now under the ultimate control of the United Arab Emirates, I would be against the Homeland Security deal of allowing them to control the ports, but I’m not.

There are good arguments both for and against allowing them to have ultimate control, but in the end I have decided that there will be no harm in this deal. Many people are arguing loudly either pro or con this argument, with the con argument winning I think.

For those people who have not been following US news, Dubai Ports World of the UAE will acquire Peninsular & Oriental Steam Navigation Co. (P&O), which is a British firm.
P &O Steam Navigation Company now currently run the US ports. It still will. Exactly the same unionized longshoremen will be physically operating our ports. Security will be managed by the United States Coast Guard, although they too are probably affected by the many new laws Homeland Security has created to prevent terrorism, so security might actually get tighter. The only real change is where the profits are going. Profits will now be routed to the UAE instead of England.

The UAE operates other major ports around the world, including Hong Kong, so its not like this type of arrangement is new to the international shipping industry.

I do not think the US should refuse to have any business with them because many of the terrorists who blew up the World Trade Center lived there for a time. Some of those same terrorists also lived in Florida too. Should we ban Florida companies from control of the ports too? No. I also don’t think the whole UAE government is a bunch of Islamofascists waiting to blow up the US either.

They have supported us since September 11, which is more then I can say for our European allies like France, Italy or even Britain which controls those ports now. Just because the terrorists flew into the US from Dubai does not make Dubai a terrorist haven. And just because they took in Michael Jackson doesn’t mean they want to screw everyone in the US either.

In a simple phrase: They are completely different.

I have a temporary job now. I work with many people who are Americans of Italian origin. They are of the third or fourth generation, and their grandparents (or great grandparents) originated from a different part of Italy that I lived in.
Take that, plus the difference in time from when they had a link with Italy. 2006 (for me) versus the late 1800s, early 1900s (for them), and you will find that they are indeed very different. Almost like night and day.
At first they were excited that I came to them from ‘Bell’Italia’.
Now maybe not so much.

My coworkers often say “I bet you eat a lot of ___!” and I reply “What’s that?” ” I never heard of such dishes.”
They ask me how I cook dinner. “Do you take hours to cook each meal?”, they ask. I tell them “No.” I like to cook quickly so I can eat quickly.”
“I bet your tomato sauce is nice and thick!” they say. I then tell them that I hope not, because if so I would add more cooking water. I like a nice watery sauce that can cover the pasta lightly so that you can taste both items instead of just one. I think they are disappointed with my responses, but really, who in this day and age of work can come home to spend 5 hours in front of a stove!
Then they ask me if I eat pasta with every meal. (I don’t) They don’t either, but it seems by my admission I shattered a lot of illusions. I obviously don’t give them the answers they expect. I don’t ‘act Italian’ to them.

They have said words in their Italian which I cannot understand.
One example being Malushay or something which I could not even imagine what they were talking about. (It ended up being Melanzane, which is Italian for eggplants).
They explain some of their habits and customs to me which I do not do. One example being a Sunday dinner at 2:30. We eat much later, and don’t have a special early dinner on Sunday.
Italian -American culture is not modern Italian 2006. It is it’s own culture.

A cask by losing centre-piece or cant
Was never shattered so, as I saw one
Rent from the chin to where one breaketh wind.

Between his legs were hanging down his entrails;
His heart was visible, and the dismal sack
That maketh excrement of what is eaten.

While I was all absorbed in seeing him,
He looked at me, and opened with his hands
His bosom, saying: “See now how I rend me;

How mutilated, see, is Mahomet;
In front of me doth Ali weeping go,
Cleft in the face from forelock unto chin;

Già veggia, per mezzul perdere o lulla,
com’io vidi un, così non si pertugia,
rotto dal mento infin dove si trulla.

Tra le gambe pendevan le minugia;
la corata pareva e ‘l tristo sacco
che merda fa di quel che si trangugia.

Mentre che tutto in lui veder m’attacco,
guardommi, e con le man s’aperse il petto,
dicendo: «Or vedi com’io mi dilacco!

Vedi come storpiato è Maometto!
Dinanzi a me sen va piangendo Alì,
fesso nel volto dal mento al ciuffetto.

(Inferno, Canto XXVIII)

(Grazie a Emile de la Penne)

I’ve seen the Mohammed cartoons and I don’t think there is anything offensive in them.
What offends Muslims is that Mohammed is portrayed in them, not how it’s portrayed.
Anyway, this has nothing to do with “religious sensibility”. Those who did this and this and this and this are animals.
This has nothing to do with respect. Respect must be mutual.

This is a blackmail: “do not publish such cartoons else we will kill you. You have to obey the sharia“. Unfortunately, we are not Muslims.

Instead, they find nothing wrong in publishing these cartoons, these cartoons are OK for Muslims, and they’re OK as well for Western media.
Islamists don’t feel the need to protest against these cartoons. Such cartoons are published every week in Muslim countries.

J.Doe and I know that not all Muslims are like that. But frankly I have very little or no hopes to see moderate Muslims openly facing and opposing extremists.

Islamists behave like a global mafia that aims to intimidate the world in order to rule it, following its long term plan, the world caliphate.

It is a totally absurd plan, yet it’s enough to read the news since September 11, 2001 to realize how serious they are. Even Nazi plans were the most absurd ones ever…
And the moderate Muslims almost vanish among extremist Muslims. Moderate Muslims theorically exist, many of us know some of them, many of us have some of them as friends, so we know they do exist…

Front page news in every European newspaper is about the cartoons originally published by a Danish newspaper and the Muslim response around the world.
In American newspapers this story is delegated to page 2 to 10, depending on how many advertisements for Women’s boots the newspaper has. HA HA, but seriously, this news story just doesn’t seem important to them, especially on a Superbowl weekend. Well, to me it’s important, so here is my opinion.
Being Jewish, I am offended by many cartoons in the Arab press, so to me whether the Muslims are upset or not by the cartoons depicting Mohammed is besides the point.. I can understand their being upset. Mohammed is not like Jesus Christ. His image should not be drawn. Misunderstandings happen. Unlike their inflammatory anti-semitic cartoons, these were not intentioned to offend. Like I said, misunderstandings happen. Apologize and move on. The apolgies happened. Now it’s time to move on. So I cannot understand, not for one second is how many Muslims justify burning buildings, burning flags, throwing rocks, calling for beheadings and bombings. Aren’t they always saying that Islam is a ‘Religion of Peace’? This doesn’t seem very peaceful to me. The Arab press has such pictures all the time. Against others, of course. You don’t see them burning buildings and doing such other violent acts. They can dish it out but can’t take it? How can this happen? Are all Muslims insane? Is there any hope for any future possible insults against Islam?
Apparently there is.
www.sorrynorwaydenmark.com is a website that was started by a group of Arab and Muslim youth. They are not happy by the cartoons depicting Mohammed like many of their Muslim bretheren, but they are disgusted by the reaction of the hardline Muslims and in some cases the governments who want their citizens to become inflamed abut a bunch of external unimportant issues instead of focusing on iternal nes, such as high unemployment, high poverty and social ills like that.
Check it out. It’s good to know in times like these that there are moderate Muslims in the world.

Overall I like American TV. It is much much better than Italian TV. The newscasters are serious and respectful. The gameshow hosts are all different (instead of the few in Italy who seem to host many shows), and here are no half naked girls dancing around on any show for no purpose other than getting male viewers interested. It’s not all great though. In the US there is trash-talk TV. Back in my day the hosts of such sleazy programs were Jerry Springer, or Geraldo Rivera, but now, I just don’t know who they are.

They talk about anything. Nothing is sacred on these shows. I’m not saying that certain subjects should be taboo and never talked about, but not as a trashy TV program, with the most sleaziest, classless people found in the US to discuss their private stories, which in my opinion should remain private.

It shocks me how people can sit on a stage in front of presumable millions of people, and share personal details. I mean, on one show a girl was telling the audience (and TV) when was the last time she had sex. The girl in question was 5 months pregnant. Obviously she had it at least once in her life, but I did not think it was appropriate to tell exactly when to the world.

Then she told everybody that her boyfriend was cheating on her with a ’skanky old whore.’ Well, whether the other woman in question is skanky or a whore is business between them both and not the world. Perhaps the other woman didn’t even know about the first girlfriend being pregnant. In`that case, the man should be the skanky person, shouldn’t he? Then she gets out of her chair on stage and parades around the room saying that she looks beautiful and nobody should cheat on her.

Then her boyfriend comes on the TV and says that he is not cheating. I didn’t stay to watch the ’skanky whore’ other woman, whom her boyfriend defines as a ‘business associate’ defend herself. Who cares anyway about such smut! Keep it amongst yourselves!