- 17 Mar 2012 01:06
#13918998
When I was a kid, we used to call the massive 4x4s that hicks drove "shit wagons." Many of these vehicles - like the Chevy Suburban and Ford Explorer - later came to become known as "SUVs" or Sport-Utility wagons.
Of course, the word "sport" means youth, and the word "utility" means massive. So these vehicles are really about trying to buy back your youth in a massive vehicle. There's nothing sporty about sitting on your ass all day. And the utility of a 5000 lb cup-holder is very small.
But the new BMW and Mercedes SUVs seem to want to rebrand these "shit-wagons" into something more urbane, more European, more sophisticated and suave. Something James Bond would drive when he isn't killing bad guys from foreign cultures.
Which is why I am pleased to report that the Mercedes M-Class SUV is made in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, while the BMW X5 is made in Greer, South Carolina.
Gentlemen, start your banjos.
Mercedes employees take an extended break outside the M-Class compound
.
Of course, the word "sport" means youth, and the word "utility" means massive. So these vehicles are really about trying to buy back your youth in a massive vehicle. There's nothing sporty about sitting on your ass all day. And the utility of a 5000 lb cup-holder is very small.
But the new BMW and Mercedes SUVs seem to want to rebrand these "shit-wagons" into something more urbane, more European, more sophisticated and suave. Something James Bond would drive when he isn't killing bad guys from foreign cultures.
Which is why I am pleased to report that the Mercedes M-Class SUV is made in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, while the BMW X5 is made in Greer, South Carolina.
Gentlemen, start your banjos.
Mercedes employees take an extended break outside the M-Class compound
.
***
The goal is to use Afghanistan to wash money out of the tax bases of the US and Europe through Afghanistan and back into the hands of a transnational security elite.
The goal is an endless war, not a successful war.
— Julian Assange
The goal is to use Afghanistan to wash money out of the tax bases of the US and Europe through Afghanistan and back into the hands of a transnational security elite.
The goal is an endless war, not a successful war.
— Julian Assange