Deceptive Mailing by the Bush Auto Group Nissian Dealership in Pennsylvania

Car salesmen have always had an unsavory reputation. Sometimes they are more fraudulent then others.
I received a letter on Monday By the Bush Auto Group with a fantastic offer. The only problem was it was good only on the previous Saturday.

But what the hey? I was willing to give it shot to see if they would honor the letter's offers. I had no illusions in this regard. But I wanted to know what excuses they would use to alibi not paying the promised "Above market Reimbursement allowance" and the "additional $4,600." 

Last time I did this I was sure they were going to give me a great deal. But they showed me the fine print, and I cam home with a Wawa Shorti hoagie coupon.

The letter clearly states they would give me $12,300 for my 11 year old Altima, and $8,000 off on a new car and zero dollars down and zero percent interest.

From the small print on the back page. The ++ Refers to the Kelly Blue book value with a deduction of 20 cents a mile for every 10,000 miles per year. My car is 11 years old, and 105,000 miles. No problem there.

The + over the + reads, "May receive $4,620 more than the estimated Kelly Blue Book Fair Market trade-in value. But on the front, it clearly states "You Will Receive An Additional $4,620" So I have every reason to expect $12,300 as a trade in.

Then there is the line, "Plus, I Will Give You $8,000+ this Saturday. The + on the back de-references to "... Up to $8,000 of the MSRP of select new Nissan models..."

All told, about $20,000 and a Target gift card ;)

I knew this wasn't going to go my way, but I wanted go through the experience for when I do need a new car.

The first one the $8,000, that only applied to Nissan Armada's. We didn't get down to reasonable sedans. And truth to tell, that one is a legit base on the small print.

Now the $7,710. I was told that only applied to vehicles with "Sport" or "Pro" trim packages. It does not say that in the letter I received, but it did say it on the template on the desk of Chris Gassert. In pencil. I wish I had taken a picture of it. But this is what it looked like:

His note was in pencil, and where my name and car is a bracketed key words.

"My letter does not say that!"

"We have lawyers that wrote this, so it is solid", was the reply.

I don't think so Chris. Considering the template was on your desk.

He also told me he wasn't going to give me $12,000 for my Altima that was worth $4,000. Condition unknown.

"I did not write this letter! You did! Knowing full well it was 11 years old. This is just fraud!"

"And you knew it's condition, your maintenance department has been taking care of it for 11 years."

And he stated they would not honor the $4,600, because it was Monday. I pointed out that it only arrived in my mail box on Monday, and they didn't mail them out soon enough to get there earlier than Saturday. 

Things went down hill after that.

They are not going to win

I am a student of history.  And it gives me perspective of things that happened before.

The causes of inflation after a pandemic?  This is a well documented phenomenon of the Black plague and the Spanish flu.

The conquering of Iraq leading to 20 years of grief.  Everyone saw that one coming.

Parallels to the fall of Rome or the Weimar Republic to our current situation?  All too clear.

While the current administration is running with Hitler's playbook that led to the rise of Nazi Germany, there are some major differences.

The Weimar Republic was only 14 years old when Hitler was elected.  First it was a young republic.  It was severely damaged by war, plague, and economic collapse.  With few institutions that could stand in the way of fascism.

The US on the other hand has institutions that are older than the country, like Harvard.  The fascists currently in the federal government were hoping for the a win by blitzkrieg.  And just like the Germans found out, you need a strong base to operate from.  Germany had built up the largest industrial base in Europe.  However, it was not larger than the Commonwealth, by a significant amount.  Add the Russians, which had a smaller economic base, but were really, really good, or ruthless, take you pick, at optimizing what they needed to produce war materials, and let everything else be damned.

As a side note, Russia could only do that because the US sent them enough food to feed the country for 3 years, and 425,000 trucks so the Soviets could focus exclusively on tank production. 

In the US, resistance is building up.  The nonvoters in the last election are seeing that their lack of a decision, was a decision.  Some of the more moderate fanatics that voted for the pedophile-protector-in-chief have been discouraged.

The resistance is basically taking it's cue's from Martin Luther King.  Peaceful protests.  Maintain engagement.  Show them our numbers and that we are not going away.  Most of all, play this game BY THE RULES.  Why?  Morally, it IS because we are better than them.  Practically, because we know we are going to win.  

There's no throne, there is no version of this where this administration comes out on top... Either by impeachment, or death, or forced retirement, that sick and evil man will be gone.  And the without his vile presence, his government enabler's power will fade.

Their side is not playing by the rules.  Constantly breaking every one.  With the full consent of the republican controlled congress.  The Republicans are placing party before country, and are seeing the deal they made with the devil for what it is, but most cannot force themselves to admit it.

So they will continue to break the rules.  ICE has killed 33 that we know of in the last year.  ICE murdered Keith Porter, an American Citizen, on New Years Eve.  But that didn't seem to be visible enough, so the assassinated a white woman in a suburban setting, in broad daylight, videoed from 4 different angles.  Then followed up by assassinating a VA nurse.  While he was on the ground, held down by ICE agents.

Their murderers are still at large. 

As far as we know, ICE is responsible for well over 100 people since the pedophile in the oval office took charge.   

To be clear, this was just to provoke a response.  They are now waiting for the next traffic stop by ICE to be met with deadly force.  Or the next time ICE goes to knock a door down, and are greeted with a dozen bullets through the door.  This to give them an excuse to lock the country down.  At this point, it is going to happen.  

They think they want this to go violent.  But they really don't.  Members of ICE need to understand, that we are still playing by the rules.  We are playing nice.  What happens when the "Blue" states mobilize their national guard to disarm ICE.  Who are you going to bet on?  Experienced combat veterans, armed with tanks and other armored fighting vehicles?  Organized to fight in combat?  Or a pack of ICE agents trained only in intimidation?  12,000 out of 22,000 having only received their ill fitting Kevlar vests in the last 8 months?  

And what about the "Red" state national guard?  Surely they would...  No. Texas is not going to ship their boys to Illinois for a ground war.   Because, at best, that is a one on one situation.  And Illinois also has a very well armed citizenry.  Guns are not the exclusive prerogative of southern states.  And the "Blue" states are not going to invade the south, again.  

I have been to a number of protests, and by the honking of the horns, I am estimating that the true supporters of the most corrupt administration ever in our country, is about 1 in 16.  

ICE will murder more people before this is done.  But they are not going to win.  

 

A Measles Update

Measles Update

I'm sending this to my email list that normally is about gaming.  Mainly because most of us are of a certain age, and like me, may not be sure if they ever received a measles vaccine.

And no, I am not going to be putting out regular missives like with Covid.  The sky is not falling here.

If you are not sure you are vaccinated, you can ask your doctor for a "blood titer test", specifically Measles IgG antibody test.  This will tell you if you are immune or not.  You can proceed from there. You really do not want this.  

From what my doctor told me, the early vaccines in the early 60's may not have the life long persistence expected.  The more effective vaccine was released in 1968.

A Penn Medicine office near me was shut down because of an infected patient. Penn Medicine is now offering the test to everyone they see.

In my case, I simply did not know.  I know my mother had measles in 1962, when she was pregnant with my sister.   So I was exposed, but I do not recall if I had them or not.  The military gave me a number of injections in 1975, but I do not know if measles was among them.  I did hear there was a measles outbreak in boot camp a couple weeks later.  So again, I do not know.

But I will know in a few days.

 

Protest Experiences

Having been to a number of protests by now, I want to share some of the experiences.

Have a check list. Mine is here:  https://phil-bythenumbers.blogspot.com/2026/01/protest-preparations.html

All in all, the company is pleasant. I'll shift positions about every 20 minutes or so and have different people to talk to.

Getting feed back from the drive-bys is good and gives a good measure of where you stand. The anti-administration to supporter ration is about 16-1. There is the occasional bird flipping, motor revving, unimaginative F##k you, and the strange, "get a job!" Strange in that it is a fairly common retort. Enough where there must be a common source in their propaganda. Strange in that the protests are on Saturday, and obviously they are not working either...

197 against the current administration, 12 for.  A 16-1 ratio.

At 16-1. That means 6.25% of the drive bys are for the illegal acts of the corrupt-leader-in-chief. You know what 6.25% is on a bell curve? A very vocal minority, approaching the lunatic fringe.

Some post protest comments about a bunch of old people on the lines. And there some much older than me. Now think about it. How bad must the situation be to get a 75 year old out in the rain and cold to protest? Look to your elders folks, they know their mind. And they are not doing it for themselves, but for you.

The birth of an Urban Legend:

I have been to a number of locations. With a group of 300 in Swathmore, Pa, we were being harassed by initially 3 cars with loud engines and way over done with the pedophile-in-chief's paraphernalia. They went through the intersection several times before two cars got bord and drove away. The largest truck made a couple of passes and then decided to park catty-corner to our group. Putting up a sign, "Honk if you love T###p". There was some grumbling and anger from our corner, but cooler heads were prevailing.


My opinion was we needed him. The number of honks he received was minimal, see 50-1 above.
I told someone I think I'll go over there and give him a bottle of water. It was hot, and it would not due to have him pass out from heat stroke.

6 months later, another location. I had related this story a number of times. And someone this morning told me the same story, only it happened in Pottsgrove. How many times has this story been repeated now? Who knows? But it is interesting to witness an urban legend being made.

Protest Preparations

Let someone know where you are.
Hat
First aid kit
Dress for weather

Protest list
Name Tag
Sunblock
water
swim goggles
n95 mask
Cash

Hearing Aids
List with emergency contacts
484 ### ####
610 ### ####
Hotel/car location

writing implement
disable bio-metrics on phone.
reading glasses
snack bars
pills

ACLU Lawyer list
intake@acludc.org
202-601-4269
(202) 457-0800

Public Defender
(202) 824-2463

Tariff Caused Bankruptcies in 2025

Tariffs were a contributing factor to a significant surge in U.S. corporate bankruptcies in 2025, which reached their highest level since 2010. Over 717 companies filed for bankruptcy through November 2025, a 14% increase from 2024, with many citing tariffs as a primary cause.

 

In contrast to previous patterns that were dominated by retail bankruptcies, this year’s impacted industries were primarily industrial, manufacturing and transportation.  

First Brand, a 2.5 billion dollar company that provides parts to the auto industry.

iRobot, maker of Rhomba.  Now owned by a Chinese company, Picea.

Spirit Airlines.

Wolfspeed, a 7.5 billion dollar company that makes semiconductors.

Ligado Networks.  A telecommunications and satellite company.  But with 7.5 billion dollars of debt, this one may have been in the works regardless.

2U, valued at 1.2 billion, builds and supports educational programs.

Tyson foods shuttering a beef processing plant in Nebraska.  This was caused by other countries no longer accepting American beef due to tariffs on their products.

Osage and Justice, both beef processing, also  "exited", cattle operations.

 

 

 

Infra-Man

True story. I saw Infra-man in the theater in 1977. Freshly out of Navy radar school, laughed my ass off at the blueprints.

Years go by. I saw a copy of the movie on VHS tape in a discount bin.

After watching it with more jaded eyes, it was still a riot.
My wife, however, was seriously reconsidering her life choices.

Decades go by.

I'm at "Blobfest". Phoenixville, Pa, honors the making of the movie, "The Blob", by closing main street in front of the movie theater the Blob attacks. There is a lot of kitchy stands put up, cos-players, and...
a young man sporting an Infra-man tee shirt????
40 years after this one shot wonder and someone made a fresh tee shirt?
We talked....
I could see his girl friend's eyes glaze over and with the thought, "Oh my god, he found a friend."

Another decade goes by.

I'm at a gaming event, "OttoDotCon", Née "The Weekend", where the evening is spent "MST3000ing" a truly bad movie.
One of the choices was Infra-man!
Totally worthy of MST3000.
If anything, the movie has improved with age.

The movie can be seen on YouTube here.