"Grave Crisis"

"The process of clarification and transparency must continue. This is the only way to win back trust. I am convinced that the Volkswagen Group and its team will overcome this grave crisis."

Martin Winterkorn

(former chief executive)

What to Get if You Can't Buy a GT4

In their April 27, 2015 video Should You Buy a Porsche Cayman GT4? Can you FIND one? the /DRIVE guys—host Mike Spinelli and regular guests Michael Prichinello and Zac Moseley of Classic Car Club Manhattan—tell us rubes what to buy if we can't buy the latest wundercar from Porsche.

1. Michael Prichinello's choice would be the BMW Z4 M coupe, which you can get for around $30-$35,000. Introduced in 2006, Car & Driver's verdict on it then was "A terrific and distinctive two-seat sports car that's the life of the party until a Cayman S shows up."
2. Zac Mosely argued for a "Hillbilly Cayman", starting with a 2010 or later Porsche Cayman S (first with direct injection). Get in for $40k and add $10k in improvements and you've got a real beast.
3. Michael Prichinello (the only one of them who's actually driven the GT4) suggests a Porsche 996 GT3.

If you can afford the new GT4, and actually take delivery on one, you'll have one of the most awaited cars in years—one likely to be an instant classic. Otherwise you can punk around with the rest of us, picking from some very nice used car options.

"Overtaken"

"Best Way to Take Control"

Right-Wing Socialists, Not Conservatives

In the first half of the 20th century, Socialists with nationalistic and militaristic tendencies were viewed as the "right wing" of the Socialist movement. Nationalism and militarism were regarded by Socialists as "conservative" tendencies.

Mussolini was a Socialist

This usage of "right" is often conflated with the earlier political meaning of "right" applied during the French Revolution when supporters of the king (monarchists and aristocrats) sat to the president's right in the French National Assembly—comprising "the party of order". Supporters of the revolution sat to his left—comprising "the party of movement".

National socialists¹ and fascists,² like other Socialists, believe in all power residing in a totalitarian state—including state command and control of industry—without regard to individual rights, which are seen as subsidiary to state needs.

Hitler was a Socialist, too

Conservatives, to the contrary, believe ultimate power resides with the Divine, by which the state is guided. Individuals are granted rights, liberties, and freedoms by this Divine power. These individual rights, liberties, and freedoms drive a free enterprise economic system and democratic government.

No matter how "conservative" a Socialist group might appear to other Socialists, Socialism remains a distinctly separate band of the social-political spectrum from actual Conservatism. Claiming all power to the state—eliminating Divine guidance and individual rights, while eradicating the institutions designed to promote and protect them—leads predictably to Nazi horrors.

Protecting and preserving the institutions that facilitate the working of Divine guidance through the state, while preserving and protecting Divinely-derived individual rights—Conservatism—is designed to protect the people from excesses of the state. Conservative commitment to an individual's right to own firearms, by itself, might have prevented national socialist evils from spilling out.³

SEE: Conserving the Core, Right from Left, Political Spectrum Redrawn, and Leftism vs. American Conservatism.

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1. The full name of the Nazi party in Germany was National Socialist German Workers' Party (NSDAP) which arose out of the German Workers' Party (which Hitler joined in 1919).
2. Mussolini was with the Italian Socialist Party (PSI) until he was expelled for his opposition to the party's neutrality in World War I. He denounced the PSI, later founding the fascist movement.
3. The Nazis disarmed the people and stripped them of their right to bear arms.

MORE: Hitler Was a Socialist by Dr. John Joseph Ray; Stalin in Power: the Revolution from Above, 1928-1941 by Robert C. Tucker; Benito Mussolini – the socialist; Leftists become incandescent when reminded of the socialist roots of Nazism.

Here she comes . .

2016 Mercedes-AMG GT

"Our Objective Is Clear"

"We are now launching the second phase of the Volkswagen campaign in the U.S. With the midsize SUV, the expansion of the Chattanooga plant and the new development center, the focus is on the wishes of the U.S. customer. Our big objective is clear: By 2018, the Volkswagen brand wants to sell about 800,000 vehicles per year in the U.S."

Martin Winterkorn, Volkswagen CEO

The Most Beautiful Mercedes-Benz Ever?

2016 Mercedes-AMG GT S

Worth Waiting For?

2016 BMW M8 Supercar

The first supercar from Bavaria, since 1981 when the last 453 BMW M1 was produced, the 2016 BMW M8 coupe arrives just in time for the carmaker's centennial year.

The M8 exploits carbon fiber, aluminum, magnesium, and titanium for a 2760-pound target weight. It's built on the platform of the i8, a futuristic carbon-fiber plug-in hybrid that uses some 5-series components. An upgraded version of the M5 direct-injected 4.4-liter TwinPower Turbo, coupled to an eight-speed dual-clutch automatic, puts down 600-650 horsepower.

A car like this should burnish the rep of BMW Motorsports as BMW downsizes its mainstream models and introduces electric power across its entire line.

Price? $330,000 at current exchange rates (if you have to ask . .)

SEE: Car and Driver

Only a Few Signatures Needed

Please sign the petition: Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe: Extradite imprisoned author Jens Soering to his native Germany . .

"As someone who has met and corresponded with German citizen Jens Soering and read numerous investigative articles on his blog and elsewhere, I believe this case cries out for justice. No DNA or other evidence links him to the crime he foolishly confessed to at age 20 (to prevent his girl friend from being convicted of murdering her parents), and he has already served 27 years of a life sentence. Outgoing Virginia Governor Kaine had agreed to return him to Germany in 2009, but incoming Governor McDonnell, in an unprecedented move, rescinded Kaine's action. Now 47, Jens doesn't deserve to die in prison."

Harvey Yoder

Mennonite Pastor and Counselor

Harrisonburg, Virginia

Alfa Romeo 4C Takes on Porsche Cayman