What's new?

Well, that’s certainly different! 53 degrees at 4 in the morning… I suppose it’s the storm that was blown in yesterday that’s causing it this ‘heat wave’. Or is it, dare I say the words; global warming?

I’ve been looking at the headlines this morning and I read that, in Russia, Putin’s political party was going to be in power, elected in a landslide. Critics are saying that the election was rigged and I’m sure there were abuses. No country seems immune from that kind of thing. But, I’ve been reading over the years that the majority of Russians are opposed to democracy and want a return to being told what to do by a powerful and charismatic leader and Putin fills that role perfectly. “Allegations of ballot fraud are unlikely to strike a chord with the majority of Russians who, opinion polls show, want Putin to stay on as a “national leader.” The opposition parties most critical of Putin have marginal support.”

The story in Russia demonstrates just how fragile democracy really is. We say we love it, but we really don’t like ‘free speech’ or any idea that differs from what the collective ‘we, the people’ thinks. Critical thinking is demonized by the anti-intellectuals. Sadly, most people would rather be led; and told what to do.

On a different note; we’re in the market for a new car next year and so I look at the ads and dream of what might be. A Mini-Cooper? Cute, but impractical; I think? And then I ran across an ad for an Aura. Aura? Isn’t that something that is, somewhat, ephemeral? And the mileage is only 24/32. And since we know that those figures are lies, the actual numbers will be closer to 20/28. And to be honest, I’m afraid that GM will drop Saturn whenever it pleases them, just as they did with Oldsmobile. GM hasn’t spent a lot of money promoting the Saturn name and that has me suspicious.

I’ve also been looking at the Nissan Altima hybrid. It has a 35/33 mileage rating and a lot of standard ‘extra’s’ for your money. The design, the overall look, of the car leaves me disappointed, but it does look better than the Prius or the Honda hybrid. And the Altima uses the Prius hybrid engine and transmission, so you get the best of both worlds.

But… I hesitate. What if a better car with better mileage comes out just as soon as we buy? I know, I know; it’s the chance you have to take. Back in the good old days, it would take a full year or more before any new models would show up. In fact, we could depend on seeing all of the new models in October. Every year. Same time. And there would be a car show to go to where you could see and sit in every model of every manufacturer. The air just reeked of ‘new car’.

Being a vocal proponent of change, I really can’t complain that much. Change is good, even when it confuses me. And the good old days were simply the old days, not necessarily all that good.