Nice try, but you get an D- 1:03 PM

This is the new 2009 Jaguar XF. This. A Jaguar. Wait, what? It looks like a Buick. It's quite shocking sometimes what passes for a sporty luxury car in this country, but what are you to expect from a subsidiary (soon to be former subsidiary) of Ford. You know, the company that brought us sporty dynamos like the Taurus, and Taurus station wagon. What sucks even more is that the XF concept in 2007 didn't look bad, as is evident in this picture:




So what the hell happened? It's almost like they intentionally removed all the cool little details that set it apart from it's boxy counterparts. Now who wants to spend over 50k for a car that drives great, but might as well double as a coffin on wheels when considering the age that this design appeals to? Too bad Jaguar, maybe 2010 will be better.

Campaign Finance 2:29 PM

Nagourney, A. and Jeff Zeleny (2008 June 20) Obama Forgoes Public Funds in First for Major Candidate. The New York Times

Link here

I'm having a lot of trouble with this campaign finance decision that Obama recently made, mainly because I don't have enough knowledge about campaign finance. But on a more ideological level, it's upsetting because it reveals a somewhat shortsighted view on Obama's part. All too often the so called moral think that they can "handle it themselves" and make a move like this, taking finances into their own hands while reassuring Americans they won't be dishonest. While I can see myself trusting Obama, I can't say that about 4 years from now, or 8, 12, or 16. If the finance system is truly "broken," then why hasn't Obama done more to fix it, or at least offer a solution when he decided to opt out? It seems like a no-brainer to follow up "I'm opting out" with "here's my plan as president to fix it." Let's hope that this doesn't tarnish the democrats too much in the fall, because if there's one thing we need a change from right now, its the Republican mindset we've been dealing with for ahwile now.