Who’s Hot… and Who’s Not in New Vehicle Customer Satisfaction

by Kurt Stolz

People would rather go to the dentist than to a new-car dealership and there’s good reason why this is the case. Some of the most revered brands in customer satisfaction seem to be slipping, this according to the 2023 J.D. Power’s U.S. Sales Satisfaction Index.
In general, most customers are satisfied and the supply-chain issues from earlier in the pandemic have increased the availability of new cars at dealerships.
The big surprise, however, …

Don’t Decorate Your Car’s Steering Wheel, Warns National Highway Transportation and Safety Administration

by Paul Riegler

A vehicle’s steering wheel is the primary interface between the driver and road and the modern steering wheel contains a number of buttons and switches to control everything from infotainment to speed control to the horn.  It also contains the driver’s side airbag.  Despite 120 years of experimentation with such “improvements” as dual rings to yokes to game controllers, the steering wheel – which supplanted the tiller in the 1903 …

Thoughts and Reflections on the Occasion of the 85th Anniversary of the Kristallnacht by a Holocaust Survivor

by S Franklin Spira

“Never again!” is a phrase strongly associated with the lessons of the Holocaust.  It was used by liberated prisoners from the Konzentrationslager Buchenwald and popularized by Rabbi Meir Kahane in his 1971 book which carried the phrase as its title. The phrase can be taken as a command to avert a second Holocaust as well as a universalist injunction against all forms of genocide.
On October 7, 2023, a series of …

How Some States Keep Coronavirus Vaccine Info on the Q.T.

by Anna Breuer

If you haven’t heard much about where to get the 2023 Covid vaccine where you live, it may be because you live in a state where health officials must keep such information on the q.t. In Texas, new regulations forbid health departments and other state-funded organizations to advertise their availability. “Clinics may inform patients that Covid-19 vaccinations are available,” the regulation reads, “if it is not being singled out from …

Friday is Veterans Day in 2023: Here’s What’s Open and What’s Closed

by Anna Breuer

Friday is Veterans Day in the United States, a holiday that honors military veterans.  The holiday coincides with Armistice Day and Remembrance Day in other countries, marking the anniversary of the end of the First World War in 1918, as an armistice ending all hostilities went into effect at the11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918.
In 1919, U.S. President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed November 11 as …

Toilet Scrolling: Here’s Why You Should Not Even Bring Your Phone Into the W.C. As It Wreaks Havoc on Your Health

by Kurt Stolz

Contrary to popular belief, toilet scrolling has little if anything to do with the excessive use of toilet paper.  Rather, it refers to the use of a smartphone whilst sitting on the toilet.
If your first thought was “how revolting,” you may be in the minority.  Multiple surveys have shown that anywhere from 50% to 90% of people use their smartphones while in the W.C.  A 2020 survey found that half …

Today Is Election Day 2023 in the U.S.: Here’s What’s Open and What’s Closed

by Anna Breuer

Today, Tuesday, is Election Day in the United States, a day set by law for the general elections of federal public officials. By statute it is “the Tuesday next after the first Monday in the month of November.”
Election Day occurs only in even-numbered years for federal offices such as president, vice president, senators, and representatives to the House.  Presidential and vice presidential elections occur every four years, in years divisible …