Net Monster,

It is hilarious to see that SUV drivers are still trying to make people believe that there is nothing wrong with SUVs. I agree with everything you say, and it kills me to see that Porsche has released their own version of the SUV just so they can be in the SUV market. Granted...one of them costs 90K and goes 0-60 in 5.4 seconds but they still gave in under the pressure. With the amount of SUVs on the road today it scares me to think that someday there will be no such thing as sedans.
Best Regards,

Dukefrukem

Regarding Porsche, Mercedes, etc.: I can understand why these companies offer SUVs - they're compelled to by market pressures. They can't afford to allow their competitors an unchallenged foothold in such a lucrative market. Manufacturers such as Ford derive the lion's share of their profits from their SUV division, and if they or another company suddenly grew a conscience and decided not to make SUVs, they'd be out of business in a flash. This is why it's up to an outside party (i.e., the government) to protect the interests of its citizens from the excesses of the free market. Establish standards which eliminate the danger SUVs pose to other vehicles, and make them more energy efficient. Unfortunately, our representatives have shirked their responsibilities in these areas. And those advocating laissez faire policies are either incredibly naive, or they don't have the public's interests at heart.

Unfortunately, this reality of commerce results in the existence of such beasts as the Cadillac Escalade, which flies directly in the face of the SUV owners' mantra of "necessity, not status symbol." "Why does this thing even exist?" might be a good essay question for an economics final exam.

-- N-M

Net Monster,

Okay, I figured it out! At first when i said no one should buy an SUV, i started to think. Maybe there are certain conditions you need to meet before purchasing one. You can purchase an SUV under three conditions...1) You live on top of a 3000 ft mountain without a paved road and and a 45 degree vertical drop ... or 2) you need to transport your 4 ton bulldozer up and down your 3000 ft dirt road 45 degree vertical drop or....3) you need to transport your 30 ft boat up and down your 3000 ft dirt road 45 degree vertical drop...But then I thought....I don't know too much about boats...maybe you're supposed to keep them at a boat house or something...but then I thought, maybe those people who transport their boats around don't want to pay for the boat house...and then I thought...maybe the money they would save from not paying for a full tank of gas in an SUV would allow them to pay to keep their boat in a boat house ....anyway...other than those three conditions ... if you are just a soccer mom with 5 kids and a Canyonero...in the words of Chris Rock..."You're gonna die."

Later

Dukefrukem

Yeah, but as soon as we get a law passed with your conditions, the Republicans will stick a loophole in which will make it only apply to the poor.

-- N-M

Net-monster,

It might have been the fact that Kevin Spacey himself came to my school to promote his movie LIFE OF DAVID GALE that caused me to like the movie so much. The movie itself dragged and I felt wasn't the most interesting to watch (except that scene in the bathroom)... but I felt the ending made the movie. I was expecting a twist of some sort, but the last 5, 10 minutes of the movie really grabbed me. I wouldn't give it a C, maybe a high B, but clearly a movie that people should see. Do you believe that if that moron (whom i would have punched in the face) in the parking lot hadn't given away the ending you would have liked it more? I think it would have. Keep up the good work.

Dukefrukem

I asked myself the same question - did having the ending spoiled ahead of time damage my appreciation of the movie? I'd have to say it did not. Most of my complaints about the film were independent of the final twist.

One thing I found curious is that other reviews I read after the fact categorize this film as anti-death-penalty propaganda. I cannot, with any stretch of the imagination, see how the plot could ever be intended to change anyone's mind on the subject. The details are so artificial and so deliberately manipulated that no one would view them as representative of a true death penalty case.

-- N-M