So I cut through the parking garage to get from the hardware store to the Container Store, and this unusually narrow, high, rear profile catches my eye. It seems out of place. Sure enough, it's a brand new Mercedes Vaneo with temporary diplomatic tags.

The Vaneo is based on the A-Class, though it's slightly wider and much longer. Before it went out of production last year, it was available in 5- or 7-seat configurations. The blacked out windows and my host country politeness prevented me from figuring out which one this was.

Still, how can the world be all up in arms over something as trivial as the US government's use of Gestapo interrogation tactics like waterboarding, when foreigners are driving among us, and torturing us with sweet, German minivans we can't buy? Where's the outrage, hmm?

Mercedes Vaneo review at Yahoo Cars [uk.cars.yahoo.com]