Hollingsworth

I drove past the Lexus dealership in a nearby town today, and I saw an Enclave in the used car section. I thought "uh oh". Hopefully this is a relatively rare occurrence.

Doesn't another luxury car have this now? Mercedes-Benz S/CL-classes maybe?

Well, this was during the Clinton years. This sounds more like a cheesy porno than a Washington defense plan.

An unstable Iraq without American support = an unstable Iraq that is invaded and controlled by a neighboring country (i.e. Iran) = Iran becomes even more powerful and disruptive to the Middle East = a Middle East that is unfavorable for American foreign policy. By all accounts, a precipitate withdrawal is a bad idea. The bipartisan Iraq Study Group concurs. If we withdraw, Iraq is doomed to fail. However, if we must withdraw, at least do so gradually with a systematic transfer of power and security authority to the Iraqis. Then, when Iraq does fail, less of the blame can be placed on the United States and more placed on the Iraqi government itself.

I could care less about German unions. German unions haven't been a pain in my ass for the past ten years (like several ones affiliated with the AFL-CIO). Anyway, back on topic. Prius owners are the worst. It's amazing how often they bring up, in casual conversation, their gas mileage. Usually in comparison to your car. Prius owner: "What does your car get?" Response: "About 27" Prius owner: "Oh really. Mine gets 40/70/100 (depending on how exaggerative they're feeling that day)."

Canadian or American, it was manufactured in a UAW facility. I tend to avoid products/services from companies with organized labor wherever possible, for personal reasons. EDIT: Sorry, the Ontario Plant is organized by CAW. My mistake.

No, can't say that it does. That was 60 years ago. On the other hand, does the fact that your Pontiac is manufactured by unionized workers bother you?

My only complaint is that fugly rear end. It's an abomination. And the interior is some better. But the Audi A6 and Infiniti M45 interiors are the benchmarks in this class.

I witnessed a dirty hippie type guy in an older Jetta (complete with politically liberal bumper stickers) tell a man getting out his Land Cruiser "Global warming, sir. Global warming." It made me ashamed to be a VW owner.

I must be missing something here, because I don't understand this joke at all. Who is "the Pe**s"?

The Patriot Act actually doesn't bother me. Extraordinary circumstances call for extraordinary measures. And I think Rush Limbaugh said it best (though I usually refrain from quoting him, as he's a hypocritical neo-con): "The only people who are worried about the Patriot Act are people with stuff to hide." Now then, my thoughts on Congress. How about we quit with the "non-binding resolutions" crap? Yeah, it may look good on the front page of the NY Times and it expresses the Democratic Congress' disapproval over the President's handling of the Iraq conflict, but it lacks any substance whatsoever. Granted, I think a precipitate withdrawal of American forces in Iraq is the worst idea possible, but House concurrent res. 63 especially bothered me because it just wasted time and was a cheap and dirty way for the newly elected house to say "We're trying to end the war." Not to mention that it took away any sincerity of the "First 100 Hours" plan often spoken about by Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid. The "First 100 Days" has been a complete failure, IMO.

I like the reworked, Passat-like door handles. The old ones never cut it with me. Why is everyone eliminating bump strips? Yeah, it makes the car look cleaner and more modern, but it also made them look quintessentially European.

I liked what you were saying right up until you proposed increased taxes. The scientific research and implementation of alternative fuels should be a privately funded project, not a government/tax funded one. At most, I would agree of a ratio of up to 30/70 government/private funding. I'm especially interested in the Product(Red) campaign to fight AIDs in Africa. Though the project, overall, has been less effective than simply donating the money to charities, it does raise awareness, and it does have the benefit of being a privately, business funded endeavor. I'm sure these same companies could do something similar to promote alternative fuels, though I wonder if Hollywood liberals would be as eager to fight for American energy independence rather than other more glamorous, publicity generating causes. Oh, nationalizing oil companies only opens the door for more socialist endeavors, such as socialized healthcare and union-like controls on American companies.

The keyboard is great. The best laptop keyboard I've ever used. I have mixed feelings about the mouse. The scroll ball gets dirty very easily and stops working. It's a pain to clean it to get it working again, too.

But it is great for the stockholders of oil companies. In just one year, I'm ~$20k wealthier because of ExxonMobil's performance.

Well, someone else purchased it. Oh well. Now it gives me an excuse to make 200,000 miles my next milestone.

Last Saturday on a freeway in Asheville, a woman in a Ford Ranger truck almost veered into me. When I sped up to get out of the way, I looked over, and she was eating a chicken leg.

The bankers at the restaurant I ate at downtown were all abuzz over this. "Time to buy that Prius, James." I overheard. Of course, you're probably right about $5 a gallon gasoline. As everyone knows, oil prices are very reactionary. Just the rumor of a storm or catastrophe in a major oil producing region sends prices skyrocketing. It's actually quite extraordinary, if you're a business analyst.

The computer says I'm getting about 22 MPG driving around town and 27 MPG driving on the highway. Of course this is inaccurate, but I've yet to actually calculate it by hand.

If I got another one, maybe I could drive it for 9 years. 18 years. That must be some kind of record. People usually get rid of their after 4 or 5, when all the lights in the instrument panel start blinking and beeping.

Because I've had it for close to 9 years now. Conventional logic dictates that I should be ready for a change.

...to replace your current older, high mileage car with a newer, low mileage example of the exact same model? Do people do it? Does it speak of my reluctance to change? Because I'm seriously considering trading in the white '99 Passat for a dark blue 2005 Passat. Or I could get a less lavishly appointed 2002 Audi A4 with higher miles, and an uglier color (silver...bleh), but get more "status" for my money. Thoughts? Comments? Opinions?

The taillights are absolutely horrible. I have mixed feelings about the grille, too.

Why the Sunfire grille? I mean, any way you go about it, it's going to look crappy. But why not go for a grille from a more upscale car?

^That's a picture of a Buick LeSabre.