Monday, May 12, 2003
np: radiohead - "there there."
an alarming update (thanks to tom tomorrow) on the FCC's continuing erosion of deregulation. this time, it seems that what's at stake is something even scarier than the ongoing clear channel juggernaut that has slowly eroded what once made radio good. this time, we look at opening up nearly all media to ownership by one company. television, newspapers, cable companies, radio, etc. all able to be owned by one company if the FCC passes this law on june 2nd. so, please head on over to moveon.org (already a site worth checking out) and sign the petition to stop the FCC in its tracks before our media landscape becomes one big desert of controlled interest.
also, funny. j.d. powers and associates released their 90-day customer satisfaction ratings for cars recently. and last in the suv class in number of complaints was the hummer, with 200+ complaints per 100 cars. the number one complaint? as if you guys really couldn't have seen this coming. excessive fuel consumption. that story is really interesting as it reveals the fact that the hummer's immense size means it falls outside of the government's regulations on fuel economy. which also means that when you buy one, they don't have to put the mpg listing on the car. in short, these people got what they paid for.
absolutely everytime i see someone driving a hummer i get really angry. really, really angry. i want to stop them and ask them just what the hell they think they're doing. and why do they think we were in iraq in the first place? no, the war wasn't simply for oil, but if you'll notice, we don't seem to rush so quickly into places where our interests are not as strongly focused. look at how we've virtually ignored the mass violence that has plagued africa for so long now. why? because africa doesn't matter.
