I go to restaurants for the food, not the experience. In fact, I’m quite uncomfortable in any restaurant that believes other diners’ positive experience is dependent upon my appearance. I do not patronize those establishments unless I have no other choice (but I’d dress to the nines in a New York Minute to go to Paul Bocuse - we’ve yet to get to Lyon).

Also, we usually go for food that is not easily prepared at home. I can do a mean USDA Prime beef steak or roast, rack of lamb, pasta. 

So, with that in mind…

In 2003, we had an extremely memorable meal in Cancale (a 2003 Michelin Bib, perhaps Surcouf?)… the plateau de fruits de mer was spectacular. Of course, eating oysters fresh from the bay on the Rue des Parcs was memorable too, especially the sauvages - monster oysters!

Drop-dead-good pork (any cut, any preparation) at Cafe Rouge in Berkeley.

The freshest seafood and great preparations at B&G Oysters in Boston’s South End.

 I just had my 62nd birthday dinner at Hog Island Oyster Bar in the Ferry Building in SF… wonderfully fresh seafood, good beer…can’t ask for a better meal.

 When I was a high school senior, my first dining experience (there have been countless more in the past 44-years) at Frankie, Johnny, & Luigi’s Too! in Mountain View, CA sticks in my mind… wait at least an hour in line, served an expertly done crust with the freshest sauce & ingredients… ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh

FOG

The fog comes
on little cat feet.

It sits looking
over harbor and city
on silent haunches
and then moves on.

Carl Sandburg

If we have the program, then the question’s answer is "YES" IMO. As several other posters have said, a clunker is a clunker.

Re: the program - if it were mine to alter, there would be no "oldest age allowed". Get all the crappy exhausters off the roads. Also, I’d up it to $10k but with the proviso that the new car have >40mpg estimated.

We traded in our clunkers (93 Toyota pick-up, 91 Toyota MR2) many years ago. We’re now driving an 03 Honda Civic Hybrid and an 05 Toyota Prius.

If I had it to do over, I’d have bought the Honda Civic GX:

•Advanced Technology Partial-Zero-Emission Vehicle (AT-PZEV)

•Fueled by Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) for nearly zero emissions

Once again, our state government has failed to produce. Many are blaming Prop 13. Many are pointing fingers. Bottom line is that the CA government is non-functional, yet the non-producers are re-elected until they hit term limits, and then they’re elected to some other job where they do nothing. Auuugh!

BTW: I have not voted for an incumbent for many years… I haven’t seen one that’s been productive. 

I feel that universal health care is a right that all (why else call it universal???) people should have, not just U.S. citizens. Trouble is, it’s something that needs to be championed by zealots to get through, and in the U.S., those zealots come from within our myopic two-party system.

The current plan is, as usual for a semi-popular (read: zealots like it, others-in-power not so much) spending plan, the zealots are trying to pay for it 100% by taking money away from a very small sector of the U.S. population. Unfortunately for the zealots (and the potential beneficiaries of the plan), that sector also has a lot of political clout, which will most likely condemn health care reform (in the current context) to hell (or at least to a very watered-down version that doesn’t actually help the problem).

As historical evidence shows, the health care solution has to be supported by more power-possessors than zealots, or it will never get off the ground. I personally agree with the idea that every citizen should give $10.00 (hell, even $100.00) per year. Currently $10.00 would result in $3,040,597,240.00 being collected. That ain’t chump-change.

Sheesh, I wish editing was possible… My comment above was answering the original question, not a comment on any other comment(s) on this thread.

Abortion should be 100% covered IMO.