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Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Road Walker who wrote (442670)	12/25/2008 11:46:59 PM
From: tejek	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1574809

You would think after all this time the Big three would be able to have more than 2-3 cars in the highest predicted ranking. I believe its the reason why they still have a bad rep. Too many of their cars are not that reliable, allowing people to continue complaining. This from a BMW owner? The Euro's have the most unreliable cars on earth. WTF. Are you suggesting I am lying about my experience with my Beamer vs the Reatta? Now you sound like Inode......although I admit the article is confusing. Of the 45 unreliable cars, the BMW 3 series was not one of them. And of that 45 unreliable cars, the article says that 19 or less than half of the 45 models that were rated were European. However, 4 of those 19 are the Saab, Jaguar [which now is owned by Tata], Volvo and Hummer......all four are/were owned by American companies when this report was done. If you take them out, there are only 15 true Euro cars that are unreliable vs 25 American cars and 5 Asian. While BMW 3 series may not be one of the most reliable, it looks like its better than the unreliable ones: money.cnn.com Why do you own one of the most expensive, expensive to repair, and most unreliable cars made? In spite of what the articles says, its the best car I have ever owned and not expensive at all to maintain. Maybe BMW has gone downhill since 1999 when I bought mine.

To: Road Walker who wrote (442670)	12/26/2008 1:10:25 AM
From: tejek	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1574809

Go North Young Man By JOEL KOTKIN & MARK SCHILL \| 12/19/08 4:45 PM EST With his foreign policy team now in place, President-elect Barack Obama certainly will be urged to make his first forays into high profile places like Pakistan, Israel and Palestine, as well as to greet his devoted fan base in Europe. But before heading off on the diplomatic grand tour, he might do well to turn his attention first to the country with which we have the closest political, economic and environmental ties: Canada. Although not as momentous or sexy a locale as Paris or Jerusalem, Ottawa could well hold the key to developing a bold new strategy for America in an increasingly incoherent and multi-polar world. A focus on Canada and to some extent Mexico as well, would require a reversal of the kind of wide-ranging foreign policy focus that has dominated the country since the 1940s. In that period, the United States has extended – one might increasingly say overextended — its economic and political reach ever further from its continental base. In the process, the country has become ever more intertwined with unreliable and often malicious regimes on the Asian continent and subservient to the interests of an often jealous and uncomprehending Europe. As a result, the country has sacrificed its own economic health, becoming ever more dependent on fuel, manufactured goods and even its self-esteem from countries with which we often share distressingly little. Instead, the new President should place greater emphasis on the fundamental basis of our uniqueness and economic strength: the enormous continent we share with our Canadian as well as Mexican neighbors. This would represent a return to a version of the politics – so important in our 19th Century emergence – that understood resources, natural and human, constitute the true foundation of national greatness. This shift also would help us establish significant psychological distance between the United States and Europe. Although there are segments of the country, notably in the Northeast, who would prefer America become a clone of the Old Continent, our demographic and physical realities are diverging every day from those of a rapidly aging and resource-poor Europe. In contrast, Canada shares with America a somewhat more vibrant demography. This is driven largely by immigrants who are rapidly integrating and invigorating both countries. With Australia, the two countries have emerged as the preferred location for immigrants in part because they are where they are – in sharp contrast with that of Europe - most likely to succeed. Being a country of immigrant aspiration represents just one aspect of our close cultural ties with Canada. Our northern neighbor ranks among the largest senders of immigrants as well; roughly 840,000 Canadian citizens now have established themselves south of the border. On a familial level millions of Canadians have relations with Americans; in fact, places like Los Angeles would, if current and former Canadians were accounted, would constitute among the largest cities in that country. Canada is also our country’s largest source of visitors – there are parts of Florida where French is the second language – and major players in our national real estate and financial market. Whole sections of the northern Great Plains depend on consumers coming from over the border. (Full disclosure: Joel Kotkin’s wife is a native of Montreal, Quebec and the Schills live in Grand Forks, an icy spit from the Manitoba border). Most critical our economic ties to Canada represent the largest bilateral relationship in the world while Mexico has emerged as our third largest trading partner. And unlike our chronically poor terms of engagement with countries like China and Japan, our trade with Canada and Mexico also includes healthy transactions in basic manufactured goods, technology and farm products. At the same time, Canada and United States together share a critical interest in agricultural commodities, a market where they are the undisputed world leaders. In a world that is likely to get too crowded and short of basic resources, a strong North America should be well-positioned in comparison with relatively resource poor competitors such as Western Europe and East Asia. But perhaps the most critical relationship lies in the energy arena. The globally Saudi-centered energy policy of recent years, particularly during the Bush-Cheney era, has fueled our deadliest enemies and also threatens both our environment and long-term economic viability. 1 \| 2 \| Next Page >> politico.com