The Big Stuff – mass arrests, openly lawless government – necessarily comes after the Little Stuff. When people tolerate the Little Stuff, or lose their capacity to be outraged by it, the Big Stuff seems to be a natural, logical progression – which is of course exactly how it’s presented to the increasingly resigned,...
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Those heavy-breathing ’60s muscle cars? Not all that muscular, really. Not compared with what you can get now, anyhow. This hit me as soon as I read the spec sheet of the Caddy CTS-V (“v” for very fast) that I test drove this week. This Cadillac – this wagon – is packing more heat...
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There’s typically 10-20 percent difference between what a dealer will give you for your old vehicle as a trade-in vs. its retail market value – i.e., what you could probably sell it for yourself. The dealer’s not being cheesy. He will have to clean/prep your trade-in for sale – and often, perform whatever work’s...
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Televangelists promise to heeea-uhl you if you put your hand up against the TV – but that (usually) doesn’t work with your car. The “check engine” light won’t go out no matter how hard you holler for deliverance. All you can do is pray you make it home. Part of the problem is the...
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Let me start by saying that I am a bicyclist. I am also a driver. I bike and drive in much the same way, vehicularly. There’s an old film for school children called “Drive Your Bike”. It is a good film to introduce people to vehicular bicycling. The PA bicycle manual is another good...
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Insurance – over-insurance, excessive insurance, really – is arguably one of the reasons why so many people are having trouble making ends meet. When you add up homeowner’s insurance, health insurance, car insurance, life insurance – that’s five types of insurance – the total tab can easily be more than $10,000 a year. The...
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There is an outfit called “Critical Mass” that seems determined to make motorists hate cyclists even more than many already do – if such a thing is possible. Like Mothers Against Drunk Driving, it started out with a not-bad idea. In the case of Critical Mass, the idea being to try to get drivers...
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One of my favorites of television is “The Rockford Files”. It has a rather libertarian view of the state and should be on some sort of list of car guy TV shows. For those that are unfamiliar with the show, Jim Rockford (played by James Garner) is a private investigator who served time for...
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VW’s Eos retractable hardtop coupe was launched about five years ago – in 2007 – when VW was ramping up an attempt to redefine itself as an upscale brand in the same league with cars from Audi, BMW and Volvo, among others. It had the content – and the price – but unfortunately, not...
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Are people who are fervently religious – cocksure that their religion is the right and only true religion – mentally ill, sloppy thinkers, or just a bit on the dumb side? I’m not being mean (not on purpose, anyhow) or deliberately sarcastic, either. It’s a serious question and deserves a serious answer. The tendency...
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