Two of the protesters chained themselves to an oil barrel and then chained the barrel to the railing on the dealerships lot in an act of civil disobedience. They were both arrested and charged with trespassing. They were released later that afternoon. The event was organized by CodePink LA, and the Rainforest Action Network.

Alexandra Alaine is released at 4: 15 PM

Samantha Miller is released at 4:25 PM

Okay, this is odd, as I have never been on the other side of Code Pink before. I am confused by this one though.

1. Ford is the only American company that has their cars in the top ten for fuel efficient cars in the world.

2. A few years ago environmental groups pressured ford to build an SUV that was a hybrid, their response, they built it, the escape.

3. Ford discontinued their excursion because it was not fuel efficient.

4. Ford is a national leader in minority supplier development (though the future of this program may be in question with the purposed cutbacks). This means that millions of dollars are funneled to minority and woman owned business in an effort to empower them in a white male dominated world.

5. When workers in Mexico were getting robbed, and woman were being attacked going to and from work, Ford paid for buses and security to escort them from their jobs to their homes and back. (see if Coke ever did this in Columbia).

I am not going to sit here and say ford is perfect, as we all know the connection between Henry and the Nazis. We see Ford lying off workers left and right. They 'do' do things that are questionable. Nonetheless, if you are going to go after an automaker, why choose the one that has traditionally listened to environmentalists, one that works so closely with the union that there has not been a UAW strike against them in decades, one that has the most fuel efficient cars made in the USA, one that pays the highest wages and offers the best health care, one that pays millions more than it has to for parts SOLEY so they can give it to people like us. Why not go after dodge or GM. Have you heard of the Hemi (better known as Gemi all your gas and listen to me roar). I am just really confused by this one. Please enlighten this Detroit born one. I can verify any fact you give as I have friends and family on all levels from the factory in Dearborn, Canton, Livonia all the way up to World Headquarters in Dearborn.

PS, check out the new fusion while you are at it and show me one American made car the same size, with the same power, that can even come close to the fuel efficency.

PSS, ford plans on rolling out Hybrids in nearly all its cars and trucks within the next 6 to 8 years (a remarkable task if you know how much work and time it takes to redesign the factories that build these machines).

Activism is necessary for progression, but it is only as effective as the truth it uses as the foundation.

---------
Don't take my word for it, check it out for yourself
----------
http://moneycentral.msn.com/content/SavingandDebt/P132552.asp

2006's most fuel-efficient cars
By MSN Money staff and wire reports

The manual version of the hybrid Honda Insight tops the latest government auto fuel economy list, with 60 miles per gallon in the city and 66 mpg on the highway.

The competitor hybrid Toyota Prius was second with 60 mpg in the city and 51 on the highway, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Energy said Wednesday.

Ford, with its hybrid SUVs, was the only American carmaker to crack the top-10 list for 2006 vehicles.

Honda, Toyota and Volkswagen make eight of the top 10 cars, mostly hybrid electric-gas or diesel-powered. Ford Escape hybrid SUVs, two-wheel and four-wheel drive, round out the list.

The only gas-only vehicle to make the top 10 is the manual Toyota Corolla.

The best and the worst

By classes of vehicles, the most fuel-efficient SUV is the Ford Escape hybrid, with 36 mpg in the city and 31 on the highway. The most fuel efficient pickup is the Ford Ranger, 24 mpg in the city and 29 on the highway.

Among station wagons, the manual Pontiac Vibe and Toyota Corolla Matrix are tops, each with 30 mpg in the city and 36 on the highway. The most fuel efficient minivan is the Honda Odyssey, 20 mpg in the city and 28 on the highway.

Cargo and passenger vans are led by Chevrolet and GMC, each with 15 mpg in the city and 20 on the highway.

The automatic version of the Dodge Ram pickup, which gets 9 mpg in the city and 12 mpg on the highway, was the least fuel efficient vehicle in this year's survey. Luxury cars, including models from Bentley and Ferrari, completed the list of the 10 least fuel-efficient vehicles.

The Dodge Durango, which gets 12 mpg in the city and 15 mpg on the highway, had the worst fuel economy among SUVs.

The government compiles the annual list based on information from manufacturers. The fuel economy estimates are determined by averaging numbers from a specific set of tests.

The list excludes some of the largest vehicles, such as the Hummer H2 and the Ford Excursion, because the law exempts vehicles that weigh more than 8,500 pounds from fuel economy standards.

EPA Administrator Steve Johnson said the list is designed to help consumers choose more wisely. "This year's fleet offers a wider variety of cleaner, more fuel-efficient vehicles for car buyers to select from," he said

Meredith Dearborn of Code Pink, interviewed by SF-IMC:

http://sf.indymedia.org/news/2006/01/1724235.php

They make a good, cheap mini truck in the ranger.

Go after Jaguar. Their stinky ads are polluting my NPR radio time.

Hold on partner. Like I said, I am usually on their side. In a pure capitalistic market, the unions are the enemy (like GM acts). In a pure capitalistic market, the share goes to the cheapest supplier (Ford spends billions solely to empower disadvantaged business owners...I have worked for them and know this first hand). In a pure capitalistic market, people in Mexico are under paid (thus meaning there is no need to rob them) and the business couldn't care what happened to them (they would just replace them). I am pro worker, pro families, and pro good economy. This means that I am necessarily any capitalistic since only dirty pigs that hate workers and want everyone but their republican friends that own companies to be as poor as possible like capitalism.

As I said above, Ford is not the ideal. They are still capitalistic; they still do things that are not good for America. Nonetheless, they are no GM or Halliburton. I have gone to this groups website and I simply cannot comment about all of their claims (such as the pollution), but I am researching. Anyone who knows me knows that if these claims are factual, I will be the first to come forward with it. As far as saying their cars are the most inefficient, what ever study says this is flat out wrong. Dodge is by far more inefficient than Ford. GM is by far more inefficient than Ford. Ford makes the most efficient cars and trucks. But I have a feeling I know how they are coming up with these numbers:

(Example Only, NOT accurate Numbers)
Ford Truck: 12 MPG
Dodge Truck: 9 MPG

Ford Truck: Sold 15 Million
Dodge Truck: Sold 1 Million

Attack Ford because the "Fleet" sales are more (businesses by Ford), so Ford burns more gas.

Now there are trucks that burn way too much gas, the 3/4 ton truck (F-350), and the expedition. But the fact is that big trucks burn gas, and people that need big trucks for things like work are forced to buy them. The solution is to artificially raise the price of gas through taxes (like Europe does), that way people ONLY drive these trucks for work when necessary. Ford should also cancel the expedition out of its line up, but it just canceled the excursion last year, and too much at once can push this almost bankrupt company over the edge (and as a native from Detroit, we DO NOT want them to go under as it would be a deadly blow to OUR people).

If Ford was the only automaker, I would be out with you pressuring them to make more fuel efficient cars and trucks. But when there is companies like Dodge that ONLY care about horsepower and make trucks that suck gas like the old model T (and their claim that fords of today suck gas like the old model T is so misinformed that it is actually funny, kind of like the flat earth society), I see these protests as misinformed and misplaced.

I said that Ford is the most efficient; I meant that they are the most efficient AMERICAN company.