bartkat

This sent from a friend off of a blog run by some career foreign service types (foreign service officers or FSOs). ( see the source at http://diplomadic.blogspot.com/ ) "...Subject: Report from Indonesia, no United Nations to be found Saturday, January 01, 2005 UN Death Watch . . . Well, we're heading into Day 7 of the Asian quake/tsunami crisis. And the UN relief effort? Nowhere to be seen except at some meetings and on CNN and BBC as talking heads. In this corner of the Far Abroad, it's Yanks and Aussies doing the hard, sweaty work of saving lives. Check out this interview (on the UN's official website) with SecGen Annan and Under SecGen Egeland shows, "Mr. Egeland: Our main problems now are in northern Sumatra and Aceh. <...> In Aceh, today 50 trucks of relief supplies are arriving. <...> Tomorrow, we will have eight full airplanes arriving. I discussed today with Washington whether we can draw on some assets on their side, after consultations with the Indonesian Government, to set up what we call an “air-freight handling centre” in Aceh. Tomorrow, we will have to set up a camp for relief workers – 90 of them – which is fully self-contained, with kitchen, food, lodging, everything, because they have nowhere to stay and we don't want them to be an additional burden on the people there." I provided this to some USAID colleagues working in Indonesia and their heads nearly exploded. The first paragraph is quite simply a lie. The UN is taking credit for things that hard-working, street savvy USAID folks have done. It was USAID working with their amazing network of local contacts who scrounged up trucks, drivers, and fuel; organized the convoy and sent it off to deliver critical supplies. A UN “air-freight handling centre” in Aceh? Bull! It's the Aussies and the Yanks who are running the air ops into Aceh. We have people working and sleeping on the tarmac in Aceh, surrounded by bugs, mud, stench and death, who every day bring in the US and Aussie C-130s and the US choppers; unload, load, send them off. We have no fancy aid workers' retreat -- notice the priorities of the UN? People are dying and what's the first thing the UN wants to do? Set up "a camp for relief workers" one that would be "fully self-contained, with kitchen, food, lodging, everything." The UN is lying." Just a little news from the "other side" as it were. Take it for what you feel it's worth. Probably won't see such from NYT or The Guardian.

What the heck? He says he only works an hour a day. :D

Well, the guy got his 20 posts and got his ad posted. No harm done.

I'm impressed :D

Road Test: 1999 Lexus RX 300 http://motortrend.com/roadtests/suv/112_9905_suvs_lexus/

That's like saying "I have to wonder if Toyota/Lexus doesn't trust their 60k mile platinum spark plug, then why are they shooting for a longer life spark plug (iridium)?" or "I have to wonder if Toyota/Lexus doesn't trust their 60k mile timing belt, then why are they shooting for a longer life 90K belt?" or "I have to wonder if Toyota/Lexus doesn't trust their 60k mile Type T-IV transmission fluid, then why are they shooting for a longer life fluid (the World Standard fluid used in the 2004 on up LS430)? ← What are you saying?

Here's one. http://us.lexusownersclub.com/forums/index...=0entry102491

Not really. I can only speak in general terms for anything besides the IS300. I think this has been mentioned in some threads here recently though. Maybe try a search.

Usually it's the inside wheel that spins because the weight it off that wheel and transferred to the outsiide wheel.

If you drive really hard and do lots of burnouts, you can wear the tires down so it will slip and slide for you again. :D

Based on previous threads, all I can say is put on your flame suit. People have strong feelings both ways on these filters. Pesonally I've used K&N on other brand cars and I use TRD on my IS300 and I like them.

We're against the killing of 250,000 people and counting mainly to be assurred there is no interruption in the supply of crude oil flowing out of the Middle East to our shores in the years ahead. Ask yourself this: If a space alien came to our planet and transported all the Middle East oil over to their own planet would the American military establishment still want to occupy Iraq? Of course not because their would be no future return on our investment (in terms of lives and dollars). So the "war" is primarily about oil, not to free politically oppressed people. For the same reason - a lack of a return on investment - the American military doesn't go into Rowanda and other politically oppressed areas around the world where the people are poor, uneducated and have no valuable resources that we could ever use like crude oil, rare minerals, etc. ← Please stop trying to make political hay on a thread that ain't intended for such. If you want, there's probably already a thread for that *BLEEP* or you can *BLEEP*ing start one of your own. Thanks.

You might want to do a search here on extended warranty. Some of the companies have to be fought with to get them to approve repairs sometimes. Or plug the names of some of the companies into Google and look for customer reviews. ← Cool and thanks for your help! Aside from the warranty, It looks good? Thanks and help appreciated! ← If you look around this message board, you should find some posts by owners of that model and year pertaining to maintenance. I have an IS300 so I can't really advise on that.

Try Ebay. There are usually some emblems for sale there. You might even be able to buy yours back there. :D

Try it again now that you have 20 posts. You're not a noob anymore. Not to rush off in a huff.

You might want to do a search here on extended warranty. Some of the companies have to be fought with to get them to approve repairs sometimes. Or plug the names of some of the companies into Google and look for customer reviews.

The price seems ok. The warranty depends on what warranty company. Is this a Lexus or Toyota dealer?

Noises aren't always where they seem to be. Try taking everything out of the trunk, including the spare tire, test drive and see if the noise goes away.

Your car has gone into "limp" mode because there is something sensed wrong, which the ECU thinks may be detrimental to the engine. It's reduced the power via the track system to prevent damage. One thing you could try is to reset the ECU and see if the reset will allow the car to run in normal mode. To so this, disconnect the negative battery cable (black) for about 20 minutes, then reconnect the cable and start the car and see if it drives ok then. Otherwise, you''ll almost have to get a reading for the check engine code to find out what the perceived problem may be. It might also be wise to post this in a more general forum, as not so many people read the IS300 forum on the US site.

That's not what the problem was with the Pinto.

You're kidding about the racing, right? Maybe get an adult to teach you about the car and give some driving lessons first.

When I go through Virginia, I just put my Escort in the trunk and drive real reasonable.

I believe the confusion arose from the word last, which means nothing. :D

I treated mine with "must for rust" and the painted them with "rust bullet". You could probably use the rust bullet alone. This company has whatever you need for this type application. http://www.tinmantech.com/html/must_for_ru...ver_inhibi.html The calipers are painted with G-2