Patapon

Things like this are much closer to turning the US into a Marxist state than anything the government can do. It's supposed to start with the proletariat after all...

Is Mazda working on hybrid tech? I wasn't aware of it... The post mentions regenerative braking, but the press release doesn't.

A hybrid wouldn't interest me (without a lot of convincing), but a US-spec turbocharged Mazda(speed)2 with the Sky D would. Or something along those lines.

"Another thing that really hurt Detroit is the lack of proper public transportation."

Do you think the Detroit 3 lobby may have something to do with that?

Percy - thanks for the history lesson. I agree that China's govt needs to open up, but these things will happen slowly. I think one of the West's better ideas is that free(r) markets can upend authoritarian states, and I think China is a pretty good example of it.

I admit that my outlook is quite positive and I am intentionally ignoring all the short-term obstacles that the US and the rest of the world have to deal with. And I'm not educated enough or stupid enough to try to pretend like I know what the solution is in an AB comment. People have been saying the sky is falling for at least a couple thousand years already. Why do things always have to spiral down? They go in the other direction too...

"No matter how cheap stuff is, you can't enjoy the benefits if you don't have a job."

I completely agree. And that's why market forces are going to even itself out. How's China going to make money when nobody has any to buy their stuff? You assume that the trend only goes down as you approach time = infinity. But the reality is that it oscillates in the short and long term.

"Even the Japanese outsource their manufacturing to China now, and that was a big step for two cultures that don't like each other."

So what? The only thing this tells me is that an economic relationship can be very powerful and can provide good base for peace. Would you rather live in the pursuit of money or the pursuit of blood?

If you lose your job, the best thing you can do is to find another one, whether or not it's in the same profession. It's easier said than done, of course, but it's more productive than fighting the inevitable. As the saying goes, if you can't handle the heat, get out of the kitchen; not bother the chefs from making food.

Not to underestimate the severity and consequence of stealing trade secrets, but the "economics" of stealing trade secrets currently favors the Chinese more than the US. Which is why China's laws are more lax in this area. As the economies of China and the US approach parity, so will their laws and punishment.

Ideally, a strong Chinese economy will eventually be beneficial to the US in the way a rising tide will raise all boats. The West is much farther ahead of the East (mostly China and minus Japan) right now, so the scales are tipped in their favor.

Think of it this way, how much does the world get to enjoy European products (such as automobiles)? How much does the world get to enjoy Japanese products (such as electronics)? And then how much has the world benefited from the technology, products, and contributions of the US (McDonald's...Just kidding about that one)?

In the long run, the rest of the world will also benefit from China's contributions, which seems laughable to some of you. It might not happen next year, but I'm pretty sure it'll happen some time in the next generation. It might feel like never, but nobody's ever accused the US of being farsighted.

Is Ask Men also going to do an article on why real men drive Hummers too?

Why be so insecure about yourself? If you can afford the experience, whether it be for the luxury or the performance or both, then go for it. I wouldn't deprive myself of a good ownership experience because I don't want some random person on the highway to think that I think I'm better than them.

Everybody's sales are down so I don't see what's the point of the analysis. It's not so much as "who's doing better?" as it is "who's doing less worse?"

Louis brings up a good point regarding leasing. It doesn't really make sense to me that the typically higher-priced BMWs are doing as well as AB would have me believed in an economic downturn. There probably is more to the numbers than meet the eyes.

Toasty - you are a man of my own heart! I've only posted on Joystiq twice in the past, but I came just to say exactly what you just said.

Diomedes is my fav warrior as well...even Achilles doesn't get an action sequence comparable to Diomedes in Book 5.

I've wanted a DW-style game based in Troy for about 5 years already. It's great to see my dream come true.