0-60 in 4.5 Seconds!!

Quote of the day:
"Here we have singing, dancing, laugh, and merriment. ... When our king goes out, they fall down and kiss the earth where he has trodden; and then they go on kissing one another. They have as much happiness in one year as an Englishman in ten."
--Thomas Jefferson, while in Paris as the Ambassador to France

Question of the day:
Whatever happened to the color-coded warning system?

A new-car review in the newspaper got me to thinking. Not about buying a car, but about how the cars we prefer tell us about ourselves.

The review was of a new Cadillac sports model with mucho macho horsepower. The reviewer made the observation that the Cadillac really took off from a standing start. In fact, it was faster out of the gate than the European sports models.

But the reviewer went on to say that in the upper RPMs--once the car was already moving--all the European cars outperformed this American model. The precise design and engineering of the European models made them better at cornering, acceleration, braking and all areas of handling once under way.

I guess what sells in the American market is a rocket takeoff from the stoplight. What happens after that is anyone’s guess.

Does this say anything about our culture, and our views of achievement, joy, and sustainability?