[Sburn]

First, I have to say that I've been on both sides of the table when it comes to laying people off. I've had to do that to people and I've had it done to me. I'm not happy to see Detroit's trouble hit so many so hard.

I see one of the problems that Detroit has is that they are now in a world where building cars has become a commodity. Want to know what the current market value of bolting wheels on cars all day in the USA is? Ask the guy down at your local Goodyear how much he makes per hour. It's probably 1/3 or 1/2 of what Detroit pays for the same job. And there's somebody on the other side of the world who do it and be very, very happy for 10% of that.

I feel bad that somebody once thought that they could buy a house, send the kids to school, get a really nice medical package and retirement for doing the identical job the Goodyear guy does for double or triple that rate. I hate to use the word, "unsustainable", but that way of doing business in the USA is now officially over and never to return.

In world of commodity products and labor, there's always going to be somebody who can undercut on price due to their location, overhead, no benefits, lax environmental standards, etc...etc...

The way to compete in that scenario is to do either do something that nobody else does or to do what everybody else does, but do it faster, with higher quality, and with quicker and better service. And if we don't find a way to do it, somebody in Bangalore or Beijing -- who really really wants a refrigerator and a TV set like we have, will do it first.

"Every morning in Africa, a gazelle awakens. He has only one thought on his mind: To be able to run faster than the fastest lion. If he cannot, then he will be eaten.

Every morning in Africa a lion awakens. He has only one thought on his mind: To be able to run faster than the slowest gazelle. If he cannot, he will die of hunger.

Whether you choose to be a gazelle or a lion is of no consequence. It is enough to know that with the rising of the sun, you must run. And you must run faster than you did yesterday or you will die. This is the race of life."