Comment If a corporation has to "promise"... (Score 4, Insightful) 98
Seriously, when was the last time a corporation promised you anything that they stuck to?
What’s not to like about these programs?
And this is why I debadged my A8. Except the grill, I haven't got to that yet. Or the teeny little Audi ovals on the sides. Gonna black out the grill logo shortly. I don't want it to look like I have bags of money. I don't. I bought the car cheap and I'm restoring it, which was stupid but there you have it.
I blacked out all the trim on my 7, even the BMW logo (blue/white) as black/white, the 740iL badge on the back, black - the distinctive BMW front grille, black - even turned the the trunk release button black - her exterior trim was 100% black.
When I drove it, anyone seeing the large high end sedan and wanted to know what model it was would look to the back right corner to see what model I had, and it being in black, they couldn't tell...if anything, it added to the "mystique" of the car, I had quite a few people come up to me and ask if it was a "special edition" or similar. It had no change on the types of drivers that fsk with you just for "appearing" to be Mr. Moneybags (which is great for LEO, don't forget that) - if anything, it brought more attention to the car, granted, YMMV.
Conversely, I was driving a VW Rabbit (old) with expired out of state plates, but still within the month they expired (both states - source & destination - allow you to drive the car in the month it expires) and I was pulled out of the car, by two officers *at gun point* (later, according to them, no one had reported anything, but the fact that I was in an old car, with expired plates was very suspicious) they even shouted asking if I had any tattoos, and I said "yes, on my leg" and they replied
"show us"
"I can't do that without dropping my pants officer!"
"drop 'em"
and there I was, pants around my ankles in the parking lot of a 7-11 late at night with two small town cops pointing their guns at me. I *know* they wouldn't have done that had I been driving a BMW 745i - drastically different experiences, all based on the make/model of the car.
I'd wager this has much less to do with scientists coming off as "warm/fuzzy" and more to do with most people’s innate distrust of those that deliver either information they don't agree with (or more specifically that doesn't agree with their preconceived notions) or information that makes them feel stupid - when the majority hears about something they are too ignorant to understand, they don't like/trust the person with that idea - but that's just human nature.
While "scientists" do have their problems (journals / peer review circle-jerks / et al) I fear the only way they'll come across as "warm/fuzzy" would be if they "dumb it down" even more and that's not a direction we should be going, as we're already down to -11.
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Speaking of Mustangs, Mustang Ranch will be a big winner here as they will be located just a stones throw from the new Tesla factory....
"May your future be limited only by your dreams." -- Christa McAuliffe