Y2Kyoto: Caption Contest Winners!

didn't understand the canadian reference but looked it up and see. just as well, we need not worry our little heads about things. the apparatchiks know and see all and will take care of everything for us

Kate has a psychological predisposition to hate (and complain about) all things that are foreign to her, such as ever owning and operating a vehicle such as this (God, can you imagine how cranky and whiny she's going to be when she's 80?). And in this case fair enough. Given her lifestyle, it just wouldn't meet her needs. She probably also hates these vehicles because she associates Smart Cars with left leaning, environmentally conscious people and that draws inner disdain from her. Admittedly, this association likely has some merit.

But target demographic and environment aside these little cars, in many urban centers across the country (especially more congested ones), are entirely practical. You can park them in all sorts of nooks and crannies,they're easy to see out of and drive, and even with disparities in diesel and and gas pricing, the operation costs can't be beat. Even when considering the initial acquisition costs.

I could probably find a bunch of photos of tow trucks pulling Dodge trucks in a matter of minutes. But what would that prove? Nothing. It's entirely typical that Kate would issue anecdotal sightings like this as evidence. This is also how she argues her climate change stance because she really doesn't understand how to separate the concept of temperature and climate, but that's another story.

The bottom line is that Kate should be celebrating these cars. They're an amazing product of capitalism, filling a market niche. It's not as if they rolled off a government production line. They came about because of demand. And if they don't float her boat because of another psychological predisposition to drive a big vehicle because of the sense of security and power she gets out of it, then leave it alone. People driving small cars and saving money on gas (diesel) are not harming anything. Just as artists and fans of "art" that she wouldn't classify as art, are not harming anything, just as wind energy where economically viable is not harming anything, etc.

Heh, simmer Kate, simmer.

Barry: It is humour,you know laugh,tickle your funny bone humour.Now go back and get on your meds again.

barry should go back to KOS where he belongs.

Barry spends too much time reading The Toronto Star.

barry spends too much time drinking the eco-nut kool-aid.Hey barry.Where does the electricity come from to charge these Tonka Toys come from,and how is it produced???The hot air from the Goracle?? Dr.Fruit Fly and his kids in the tree house??

smart car ?..............800 cc high revving short life mill.....lumpy transmission....zero load or cargo capability....massively unsafe in a collision.....taxes in about 25,000 dollars....

Hey Barry have you ever seen accident photos involving a smart car? Legs of the victim still in the car, torso out, car cut in half. You don't stand a snowballs chance in hell of surviving a crash in one of those golf carts.

I think all Liberals should drive one.

I saw one horrible pic of a Smart ForTwo accident. The poor driver was pulverized to death in the one I saw. Not for the faint of stomach, nor for people who faint easily at the sight of people in pieces.

Whither "Unsafe at any Speed" Ralph Nader now? What, was he bribed into silence by the Chicken Littles, who could care less that the cars are deadly in crashes? I'd rather drive a Corvair ( http://tinyurl.com/7arayh ) any day!

"Just as artists and fans of "art" that she wouldn't classify as art, are not harming anything,"

Yes they are if they're getting subsidized by the tax-payer.

Barry does seem to be going overboard, I don't think Kate is denouncing the smart car, she's gonna having fun, pointing out a rather funny-looking photo.

But Barry does have a point - I think that if the costs go down (they are far too expensive at this time) then these cars have their place. They are well suited for urban driving in particular where parking matters and fitting in small spaces. If you could fit them with better tires then they would be better winter vehicles.

Glengarrian:
A passenger of a pickup does not stand a chance in hell when colliding with a bus or an 18-wheeler. A bike does not stand a chance in hell in a collision with a smart car. A scooter does not stand a chance in hell when colliding with a bike. What's your point? We should all be driving 18-wheelers? That we should have an arms race to the largest vehicle on earth?

"It's entirely typical that Kate would issue anecdotal sightings like this as evidence. "

Actually Barry, it's entirely typical that Kate would post the picture for a caption contest that was designed to entertain us readers and allow us to generate our own wiseass remarks all in the name of fun! Lighten up dude - there are far more serious things here to get on your high horse about.

Beat up on Barry Day.

I do feel sorry for liberals. Smart is the closest they can come to riding a motorcycle. Even opening the window would be just too conservative....

The point is; the Gore and Suzuki crowd are pushing this kind of vehicle as a means to head off so-called Global Warming.

A Smart Car DOES have merit in reducing Fossil Fuel consumption. It does NOT have any merit in reducing so-called Global Warming. (CO2 is an insignificant GH gas) And so Kate mocks.

(BTW, I drive a Smart Scooter. A 49cc Ruckus 4-stroke)

Oh, and about all that warming ? This brutal winter may be a harbinger of things to come - in our life times;

[ The sunspot 1009 reigned from 10th to 12th December having a sunspot number between 12-14 and had a maximum area of 50 ppm. It just overrided the sunspot numbers of August and September, but were below of all other month's sunspot number in 2008. It was only the fourth decent sunspot group from the cycle 24. The previous five ones from January 2008 had only been a 1-2 day specks and the previous cycle 23 reigned until July 2008. The Sun then hibernated in August-September.

The cycle 24 groups in October-November lasted 6 to 8 days each and had a ppm(max) of 70 or 80, so this show in December was very modest. Compare the 1799 numbers below, when Dalton had already begun. This is what to wait from 2009 to achieve at least Dalton level. If the Sun does not in 2009 achieve these levels we are on Penn-Livingston line ("sunspots will vanish in 2015") that ultimately leads to a new Maunder Minimum, an ultimate cold in the 1600's . The first part of January 2009 shows that the second solar hibernation during the on-going minimum is here.

But at the moment I still believe that the Dalton road (the minimum in 1800-1820) is more probable, but in a half year we will know. The course is still the 210 year cycle (a known solar cycle), but not for long, if the Sun will not awake. It also means, that the cycle 24 will be very low, that we can be sure about. So times will be colder regardless of the coming superminimum type. Gleissberg cycle hit bottom in 2005 which means lenghtening cycles, which in the past have ment colder times.] Timo Niroma

http://personal.inet.fi/tiede/tilmari/sunspots.html

sf.....Does your little puddle jumper car have a cute little cup holder for the latte? What's the point.....the insurance industry tracks personal injury claims and death benefits for individual vehicles and the bigger the odds of death and injury the higher the cost for insurance on that vehicle....feel that insurance bill cutting into the fuel economy savings right about now? Better get your a$$hole ready for the screwing the insurance industy will be giving it once the stats are compiled.

A car designed and built for the mild climates of Europe and its ancient and congested citys. They were a good fit for Paris nine years ago.

A not so perfect fit for a massive country that gets snow measured by the metre.

If we're having an arms race to the largest vehicle on earth, I wanna drive a Shinkansen.

And Smart cars don't have "anecdotal sightings". The sasquatch has anecdotal sightings.

Perhaps you could balance this with a photo of Harper and his limousine cavalcade driving a block or two to visit the GG.

Perhaps you could provide a balanced view by posting a photo of Harper and his cavalcade of limos driving a block or 2 to go visit the Governor General.

...i still think the tow truck is trying to mate with it.

Akin to Rhino going after an albatross.