A few things on the consumer front. The missus and I are thinking about buying a new car, probably an SUV or conceivably a station wagon. Minivans are out of the question. Any guidance on what the safest (baby on board, ‘nuf said) and best value in this department would be welcome. I’d love the Volvo, Acura or Lexus SUVs but price is an object (that was a veiled hint to you NRO-reading car executives, by the way).

Second, as of August 1, AOL is discontinuing its “Mobile Communicator” — what it calls it’s fairly dinky blackberry. So I need to get a new blackberry type device, but I understand that AOL only really works with T-Mobile Sidekick which I also hear isn’t very good. Any suggestions on this front, other than “get rid of AOL” — would be welcome as well.

Please send suggestions to — and only to — [email protected] (there’s no room at my normal address). Thanks.