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Checkered Flag wants to wish all of our fans a safe and Happy 4th of July in Hampton Roads!!! We are all excited to hit the cookouts, festivals, and fireworks, but we want to help you all stay a little safer this holiday weekend. If you are going out this weekend in Hampton Roads to celebrate, please jot down the numbers below. Even if you do not think you will need them, you may run in to someone who does!
Happy 4th of July from all of us here at Checkered Flag, your favorite Hampton Roads new and used car family!
Top rated taxi service for Virginia Beach, Norfolk, Portsmouth, and Chesapeake from Yellowpages.com.
Andy's Cab Co.
Norfolk, VA
757-461-8880
Andy's Cab Co.
Virginia Beach, VA
757-495-3300
Norfolk Checker Taxi
(757)855-3333
Lola Taxis
Virginia Beach, VA 23464
(757) 777-4071
Roadrunner Taxi LLC
603 22nd St, Virginia Beach, VA 23451
(757) 216-9230 *They have coupons available online
All City Cab Co. Inc
3712 S Plaza Trl, Virginia Beach, VA 23452
(757) 428-8294
You could save you and your friends a lot of trouble ahead of time and select a designated driver. It's free and friendly!
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Right after Merdeka, around 1959 a few Penang merchants and traders had visited Europe and saw Volvo cars for the first time. Then later on, they actually organized a working visit to the Volvo HQ in Gothenburg Sweden and then floated the idea of actually selling Volvo cars in Malaysia and Singapore. A couple of years later and with a paid up capital of around half a million Ringgit, they quickly set up Federal Auto Cars Limited and it was based in Jalan Sungei Pinang, nearby to the intersection of Jalan Trusan. In those days, they were mainly importing the Volvo 122 (Amazon) and with its attractive built and smart pricing, it had very quickly become a popular brand with the senior government officials. Most Malay nobles would buy one as a symbol of their success while those higher up the ranking would go for the Borgward Big-Six P 100.In fact, in the 1962 P. Ramlee movie "Ibu Mertua Ku" evergreen leading actor, Haji Ahmad Nisfu who played the role of "Mamak"; Kassim Selamat manager, drove a white 1961 Volvo 122S. It was a very good brand marketing move for Volvo in Malaysia and Singapore really.
Federal Auto would later find good fortune supplying their cars (along with the Volvo Penta-Marine Engines and Volvo trucks) to the Malaysian government and the Malaysian military; the Angkatan Tentera Melayu DiRaja Malaysia. Later in its successful presence, Federal Auto Cars Limited would be listed publicly on the Malaysian and Singapore bourse and would ultimately turn into Federal Auto Holdings Berhad and be absorbed by the government via the Lembaga Tabung Angkatan Tentera Malaysia (LTAT).Recently I read that Volvo would be championing animal protection in the design of their vehicles. But this is really nothing new at all. You see, even back in the early 70’s some of the imported Volvo 144S that was originally meant for the Australian market, came equipped with the Kuryakyn kangaroo/deer whistle. This whistle was designed to sing along with the car at speeds above 10 MPH and it could only be heard by the animals intended for. But as the car picked up speed, it would also eventually be received by the human decibels range too. So you could hear the whistle in advance of the approaching Volvo and you make way. Driving along the “kampong roads” in those days seriously requires that device to function well. You see, in those days, you may still have to brake for stray wild water buffaloes and some occasion, even elephant herds. And yes, occasionally even the communist bandits too would know when to expect or ambush a Volvo with wealthy occupants for ransom as well.
A vintage Kuryakyn deer whistle next to a modern one.The next futuristic step along this line for Volvo Cars is the Radar Sensor Collision Avoidance System (RSCA). It is an active system that would detect animal presence within the driving range of the moving Volvo, using GPS sensors and satellite computations, calculates their movements and speed of movements and readies the car throttle inputs and braking systems for emergency deployment if needed. It would at first issue a clear audible warnings and information to the driver via infra-red cameras and display on what is happening ahead of the car even in darkness of night or blanketing fogs. If the driver fails to react to this emergency inputs, then the Volvo car would automatically takes over. All this is part of the “Volvo Vision 2020” System Development program that’s taking shape with them today. I have to say that when we talk about such technological advancements for Volvo automobiles, we must keep in mind that Volvo is owned by the Geely Automobile of China in present day economic reality. And it is natural for us to expect that someday soon and any day now, all these futuristic technologies would eventually trickle into automobiles that are made in China.
And when such day arrives, the Japanese and Koreans best buck up on quality and technologies in addition to being extremely competitive indeed to stay alive. Yes, the competition would be fierce. Someday, our future generations would read with bewilderment our arguments and reasoning’s on the Malaysian Automotive Protectionism policies of today and past. But till that day come, let them have their days still.Proton? Your guess is as good as mine.
In 1995 a project was mooted by a consortium to the desk of the then US President; it was about making GSM/PCN - 850/1800/1900 cell-phones cheaper, attractively priced, making it available for all regardless of demographic in order to stem the one notorious point in America: that with drive by random shootings and grand muggings and all that, a public phone has become one of the most dangerous place to be at in America. Even evergreen Bill Cosby only son was shot dead randomly and for no reason by thugs while using a pay phone to call for the AA to come and fix the flat tyre on his Mercedes 500SL by the freeway. Thus it was decided by a private consortium that cell phones in America should be made inexpensive and readily accessible to all on the cheap, and Audiovox (same folks who give you the Energizer battery) emerged as the brand that was preferred for the package. It was cheap, durable and stylish with easy parts and services across the US.
In those days, the Motorola’s and the Nokia’s could really set you back easily a few big hundreds in USD. And so paperwork was mooted, studies were taken, and it was decided that it was easier to only make the project available for the lower to middle class neighborhood. Then came the issue of actually how to go about demo-graphing the zones, how to ascertain who’s poor and poorer and qualify for the project. Then a means was used for calculation; The National Means. But the landlords in LA were not happy when there existed glaring price variations between the value of their properties as oppose to the ones in similar brackets in New York and Chicago. I mean, a slum is by any other name, still a slum but a “favela” in LA would still be priced higher in comparison to a ghetto in New York or a hole in Chicago. So to have used that demographic study would means the values of housings affecting 4 million people in LA would be grossly affected and that means 4 million people would be poorer below where they were already poor at. Then local councils too stepped in and said that if its even regional or communal, then it is downright their responsibilities and they should be tackling it instead.Then they talked about the possibility of raising the poverty line slightly nationwide and that would make more people poorer overnight and then they go back to the calculation grids.So the whole thing was scrapped and more studies were ordered. In the end, they came up with service contract packages for cheap or even downright free cell phone ownership. With them, even behind closed doors and even with a simple act of giving cheap cellular phones gets scrutinized upside down in the interest of the people they represent. The whole deal was peddled high up; maybe it was even run on some personal favors. But it was still a no-go when the big chief found out that 4 million Americans would become poorer. All scrapped and back to the drawing rooms and many quit on that. You think the cellular phone consortium had no millions to buy through the odds there? Think again. But the dandiest thing is that, you cannot buy through their conscience, the principles of knowing what’s right over what’s wrong for the people they represented in office, for people who elected them to office was thickly ingrained into them. I don’t know about the Bush era and his Republican gangs, but on some very weird and far apart days, you would be reminded again of basic business etiquette by the Washingtonian politicians. All I’m saying is that, they appeared to be having conscience (or the consortium did not hit with the right notes), and they showed the consortium some fair amount of dignity. I mean, if you are going to be making 4 millions people poorer, then I’m sorry – it just won’t happen on my watch. Sorry kid, but no-go; better luck and elsewhere you go.So what does that shows you? Well, according to a senior White House figure at the time; “it is a politician natural instinct to avoid taking any stand that may appear controversial unless and until the voters demands it OR conscience absolutely requires it”. A smart kid no doubt, but what about for moments when the voters don’t know anything about what’s going on say behind tightly closed PWTC doors, behind expensive drapes and curtains, or high up and going very fast in a private jet? What guides politicians there? Wisdom knows what is right to do and virtue is actually doing that right thing, but who’s watching? Yes God watches, but He doesn’t make noise to the Anti Corruption Commissions. So what guides a soul into doing what is right politically behind all closed doors? Character; it is character the one that’s doing the right thing when nobody's looking. There are too many people who think that the only thing that's right is to get by, and the only thing that's wrong is to get caught with what they’ve done out of sight, where right and wrong exist only in vivid paradoxes and are all convertible bonds; right may go to wrong and appear right and wrong may come over to right and appear wrong, and it is all for an end that shall justify every means taken in getting there.But a character that’s going to make that rare display of difference is one where he or she realizes that in the end, their lives may be the book others chose to go by. And needless to say, for this rare grouping; conscience is that still, small voice that is sometimes too loud for comfort and to thumping to be ignored. But these sorts of characters are as rare as finding a Siberian tiger in Africa; only place you may ever find one is on display at a zoo.We live on a fast speeding dirt ball that spins us all one whole round in 24 hours, while swimming through the darkness of space at 66,700 miles per hour, and beneath our forgetful feet, rivers of molten lava powers that very spin at a steady 7,000° Celsius and that keeps us balanced into the darkness of space we hurtle our self into. Who’s the pilot of this voyage? God is the Pilot on this one, came back at you a reply.But how do we instill the fear of God in some of our conniving corrupted politicians? We don’t. We just pray they won’t cheat us after we had voted them in and then when they did cheat upon us with their cronies and nepotisms, we just pretend to ignore that point and peddle harder in their sales pitch for survival – not ours, but theirs. Spin doctors, get born on the alleyways of this political realm and they grew up to become grand magicians. They spin those tired wheels faster than what the bewildered oil Arabs had ever seen with all their roulette wheels in Las Vegas before parting with their billions there. These spin doctors; they easily do in 1 week what the magicians at King Arthur’s court try to do their whole life time. They hide points and facts; they swindle truth and veracity for a bikini frolic moment under the lusty sun, and it’s all in a day’s work for them. Yes sir, no more and no less; and that’s all there is to that.But then came the internet… and they can’t as conveniently and as easily hides their corruptions away from the public all so certainly and successfully anymore, for they have learned of what the www spinmeister can actually do to them in one brief second what the magician cannot do in one long lifetime of grand illusions. And so, the battle fields was laid and spread about here on the cyber realm. Infantry charged, battalions deployed, villages razed, a society plundered, counter attacks positioned and no mercy was spared as hatred grow into the new cyber gods of war and a new religion was born in Bolehland. I am here not to write for a personal image or for a future domicile in some kind of a cyber originating political destiny, but I am just here to write and remind about the simple things that makes all of us human. Sometimes I miss, but I do try hard. And surely some days ahead, all I want is to just fade away into cyber oblivion.Look at our state of greed in the economy of this capitalist survival? Market driven sentiment you think? Well I got news for you; the truth of that line is even rarer than spotting Bigfoot in the tropical rain forest of Endau Rompin. I think that what we have here today is an economy that’s being driven in overdrive by all the greed sentiments. Even cheats and liars in the market aren’t as bad as the speculators and manipulators, and then too, all those aren’t even half as stinking as a crony raccoon out wrecking the chain of good karma of a free capitalist economy for their own ill gotten political pot belly. CPI? Yes; more lies, damn lies and statistics to keep the masses lulled in big shortenings which was designed to create more confusions. Jumbled up all existence in any known realm and any fields of understandings so that in a state of mass confusion, all lines get erased and only the fittest and flashiest survives. Then what happens to truth and karma? None left, and you just make several new ones for markers. So just go ahead and sway anything you could with anything you can for that end and don’t even leave paid television out of that plan.See, when you and your crony mess with forces of the good karma, you screw things up bad, and when that happens, the karma chain gets broken, sending bad vibrations all the way across the capitalist universe and then the economy suffers and the whole nation went into a state of recession roughly on a loose schedule of say every 10 years, and you then blame the US for that. I mean that’s the trend, that’s the fad and that’s the deal with Malaysian politicians. Laws control the lesser man while right conduct controls the greater one; but has that been the case?Malaysian state of politics has received urgent celestial attention it seems. For when somebody who planned hard and yet still missed by 10 miles and then for someone who didn’t planned landed square in the eyes, I think that’s the bigger picture talking really. Anwar Ibrahim has successfully transformed the opposition leader image into an image of “a leader to a liberal left wing and in waiting” and that has never yet happened in our history. Which brings me, sometimes we worked really hard for an image that we never get. Sometimes we worked harder for an image but only to find out later that we ended up with something else that suits us better. So what’s the deal here? I think it means that there are certain things in life we can’t repudiate, no matter how hard one may try, it just won’t be denied. And leadership is one of those things which can’t be denied.The common state of politic anywhere is just like the human mind. Very seldom is it ever at stay: for, if you do not grow better, you will most undoubtedly grow worse. But what happens when people awakens? They come to the sober realization that the very thin line which separates good and evil, passes not through federations or amongst political parties either; but it passes right through every simple human heart it touches. A political character is much easier kept than recovered; even more so the final truth when one by one old pockets becomes exposed today. Malaysians have always been generous with their trust, but once given and broken it cannot be mended again. Thus all that’s left, are just the left overs to work and munch on till the next election day. And for this people, the only kind of exercise they’d get is jumping to conclusions, running down other people, side-stepping responsibility, and finally pushing their luck up that tall hill of theirs. You may find them to also be cursing and yelling at others who holds a different opinion against theirs, and then finally to actually reach out and try to sabotage others in the hope that their exploding world, boiling at over 7000° Celsius would stop over-boiling itself and convey them a feeling of safe deliverance even at this juncture in cyber wonder land. Cyber wonder land? Yes that’s when the grand old man of Sarawak is still making arrangements to stay on to power into PRU13. An expensive political necklace ornamenting BN’s silly neck for sure, and all we could say is: “hehehoho; we told you so”And sometimes in order for us to do the right thing, we must keep a promise that was never made and say hard truth in what we feel is right in the heart today, and yet was never thought of earlier in the day. That’s the present day reality on this fast spinning dirt ball on a very firm celestial autopilot going at 66,700 miles per hour into the great unknown of existence. Stray not; stay in His Love.Salam al Isra Wal’ mi’raj to all. Click here to go to surah Al Isra.Click here to read on the al Isra Wal mi’raj.