What's wrong with America

No, I'm not going to list all the things that are wrong with us.
But this one is a doozy. At a time when the American automobile industry is on the verge of collapse, when the Big3 have failed miserably to develop and market fuel efficient cars, what have they been developing?

Ford Motor Co. today proudly announced a new break-through technology: The Car That Parks Itself. I'm not kidding. The technology uses ultrasonic sensors on the front and rear of the vehicle, combined with electric power steering to angle and guide it into a snug parking space -- all with the push of a button.

Of course, parallel parking is a challenge, and it might be nice to have this luxury. But that's what it is, a luxury. It's not going to save Detroit, nor our economy, nor our endangered planet.

Proudly announcing this bauble for the rich, instead of some break-through in fuel efficiency, seems about as dumb as flying to Washington in a private jet to beg for money.

"Let them eat cake," she said. Remember how that story ends?

Our cherished American priority of expensive non-essentials over useful necessities reminds me of an apocryphal story from the days of the U.S.-Russia space race. It seems there was a problem of ball point pens not working in gravity-free space. So the Americans spent millions of dollars and after several years developed a ball point pen that would write in zero gravity, in all temperatures, and upside down.

Meanwhile, the Russian astronauts simply used a pencil.

Ralph

Coming Soon

The political commentary blog TwoGuysSpoutingOff, that Richard and I wrote for the last several months, has come to a natural end with Obama's transition almost complete and the countdown to his inauguration in progress.

I plan to continue an occasional blogging here under the name ShrinkRap, a fitting title for a psychoanalyst who likes to talk. And that will be the primary purpose: just to comment on whatever happens to be on my mind. Putting it in writing helps me think things out. Whether anyone reads it or not is secondary.

So I invite any readers who found our SpoutingOff blog of some interest to check back here and see what this turns into. I'm not sure myself at this point.

Ralph