Recent Rental Cars: Kia Amanti & Toyota Solara Cabrio

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First up, the Kia Amanti. Think of this car as Kia’s version of a Toyota Avalon or a Buick LeSabre. My points:

  • Styling: Not for me.
  • Interior: Not bad. My black rental had a grey leather and (fake?) wood accents. The controls were reasonable except the odd radio. Kia has adopted a display screen which monitors time, temperature and “enteertainment” options. I found it rather difficult to use. Time might solve this problem. The stereo’s sound system was reasonably good (Why don’t they add an audio in jack? iPod users would be much happier).
  • Handling: I cannot make one positive comment on the Amanti’s handling. In a word – terrible. Far too soft for my tastes.
  • Fuel Economy: I drove 76 miles, 2/3 of which were highway miles. I filled the tank prior to returning the car with over 4 gallons!
  • Quality: The car felt reasonably well made, but, the very sloppy handling left an overall bad impression, along with the poor fuel efficiency.

The bottom line: would I purchase this car? No.

Next, the Toyota Solara Cabrio. The Solara is a two dour coupe based on the best selling Camry sedan. The Cabrio is simply a convertible version of the Coupe. I’m sure Toyota’s sterling quality reputation will sell many of these. My points:

  • Styling: Not for me.
  • Interior: Straightforward, easy to use. (Disdclaimer, I’ve driven Toyota’s for years, so the controls are quite familiar). The interior looked like the plastic it was. Functional but not all that aesthetically interesting. I thought the automatic transmission’s stick shift Mercedes-like pattern was silly. Stereo sound was not bad – again no sound input jack.
  • Handling: Reasonable, but not great – a bit soft on the corners. I did have one major dislike – the cabrio has a rather large blindspot. Perhaps this is the nature of convertibles, but it’s a safety issue.
  • Fuel Economy: I did not keep track of my miles.
  • Quality: The car felt and operated like a Toyota, which is generally good. However, dropping up to $30K on a Toyota leads on to expect more. I think the Germans still have them on the fun to drive question (and styling).

Bottom line, would I purchase this car? No.

The Intersection of Traditional Media & Politics

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Dave Winer muses on the cozy relationship between traditional media companies and politicians. He’s on to something.

My view on the problem is that activists/bloggers need to use the internet to increase awareness of local races that the traditional media ignores or downplays. Wisconsin’s DPI (Department of Public Instruction) race cleanly illustrates the problem. The incumbent, Libby Burmaster – supported by our current Democratic Governer, Jim Doyle and the state teacher’s union, has apparently not been showing up for any primary debates or forums. I’ve not seen the traditional media organs call her on the carpet for this (our event moderator, The League of Women’s Voters mentioned that incubments lack of participation is a growing problem).

Libby may or may not be a great candidate. Unfortunately, it’s rather difficult to compare, given the lack of interaction with the other candidates.

In an effort to address this problem and increase public awareness of the race and the 2/15/2005 primary, a few of us put together a DPI candidate forum on 1/29/2005. Three of the four candidates appeared. In addition, several TV stations appeared to interview the candidates. This event, to my knowledge, is the only Madison pre-primary DPI candidate event. We archived the forum with video & audio clips in an effort to broadly distribute information on the candidates. This effort is a very modest beginning.

Feingold 2008?

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Craig Gilbert chats with 3 term US Senator Russ Feingold on his Presidential ambitions:

“I’m trying to be one of God knows how many Democrats who are going to get out there and try to help turn this thing around,” said Feingold, the third-term senator from Wisconsin who has sent a variety of signals that he would like to raise his national profile. He spent three days last week making appearances in Florida.

“If at some point people say, ‘Hey, we think you ought to run for president’ (and) it’s a serious thing, I’m going to listen. I would only run if I honestly believed that I was the guy that really could win, that I was the person who was the best candidate to run,” said Feingold, who sat down Wednesday at a reporter’s request to talk about the Democratic Party and the 2008 presidential contest.

Miracle-Gro’s Horace Hagedon Obituary

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Douglas Martin:

Miracle-Gro, which produced the world’s biggest cabbage, cantaloupe and dahlia, soon became as familiar a sight in the American backyard as the station wagon in the carport. The gardening business is now estimated to exceed $35 billion in annual sales, and Miracle-Gro’s share of the home fertilizer market is estimated to be about 85 percent.
Mr. Hagedorn orchestrated the growth of his product like the marketing genius he was. He hired a Norman Rockwell colleague to paint homey advertisements, and the actor James Whitmore, whose gnarled face suggested a trustworthy farmer, for television commercials. The $100,000 prize he offered for a tomato of world record size was conditional on the use of a certain plant food.

EFF: Is Big Brother Watching the Internet Without a Warrant?

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Slashdot:

The EFF filed a FOIA request yesterday with the FBI and other offices of the US DOJ regarding expanded powers granted by the USA PATRIOT Act. The EFF is making the request in an attempt to find out whether or not Section 216 is being used to monitor web browsing without a warrant. The DOJ has already stated they can collect email and IP addresses, but has not been forthcoming on the subject of URL addresses. It seems the EFF is seeking any documentation to confirm such activity is taking place. One can only hope the automated FOIA search doesn’t produce any false negatives or cost the EFF $372,999.”

SBC & AT&T: A Merger of Disappointment with Disaster?

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Kathleen Pender:

What happens if you merge a disappointment with a disaster?

You get SBC-AT&T.

In most corporate mergers, the shareholders of at least one company rejoice. But it’s hard to find a clear winner in the proposed acquisition of AT&T by SBC Communications.

AT&T, the nation’s once-proud phone monopoly, is a shadow of its former self. It lost $6.1 billion last year, and its sales have shrunk for five consecutive years as it has shed most of its operations except for business services. Its stock has fallen by almost 72 percent during the past five years.

I have a hard time seeing much good coming from this, other than a more concentrated lobby machine which ultimately works against the public…