I’ve watched (most of) Gangs of New York (in little pieces) on AMC this past week or so, and it’s funny how hatred of the Irish (and German and Italians and Poles) Catholics begat hatred of African-Americans begat hatred of the Mexicans begat hatred of various ‘others’, while the Protestants are still, well, Protestants, be they Mainline, Methodist, Baptist, or what have you.
If we weren’t so dumb (or scared, anxious, or greedy), you’d think we’d have recognized the pattern by now.
Jalopnik has been asserting that the rampant runaway Toyota crisis – which they tag as ‘Beige Bites Back’ – is due to the dull, isolating, appliance-like experience that the manufacturer’s products deliver. Theodore Frank in the Washington Examiner points out something else from a quick non-scientific inquiry into the demography of the drivers:
The Los Angeles Times recently did a story detailing all of the NHTSA reports of Toyota “sudden acceleration” fatalities, and, though the Times did not mention it, the ages of the drivers involved were striking.
Great article in Time by Chris Hayes titled The Twilight of the Elites:
Such figures show that the crisis of authority extends beyond narrow ideological categories: Big Business and unions, Congress and Wall Street, organized religion and science are all viewed with skepticism. So why is it that so much of the country’s leadership in so many different walks of life performed so terribly over this decade? While no single-cause theory can explain such a wide array of institutional failures, there are some themes — in particular, the concentration of power and the erosion of transparency and accountability — that extend throughout.
Last spring, we replaced our leased 2006 Toyota Sienna with a new-but-left-over 2008 Dodge Grand Caravan, purchased from Family Dodge at the Philadelphia Automall.
Since everything with the Catholic Church ultimately comes down to money, I’m having a hard time believing that the Church’s meddling in health care reform is due to their ideological and theological concerns over abortion and euthanasia. You’ll recall that Bart Stupak is obstructing reform over the issue of abortion, threatening procedural and parliamentarian shenanigans affected the Congressional calculus. I suspect that somehow it has more to do with the effect of reform on Catholic health care, given that it is one of the largest providers in the United States. At the very least, outlawing the funding of abortion with taxpayer dollars guarantees a level playing field with secular providers.
I’ve wanted to do a post on the slow motion car wreck that is the Toyota story, but I just haven’t had the time. This is a subject that satisfies several of my interests, from automobiles to politics to organizational dynamics, and I’ve followed it closely. So instead, here’s a collection of links…
I love me some Redbox. I’m ashamed to admit that I’m probably a good 5-years behind on movies I want to see. Buying any DVD (with the exception of kids’ movies) is a waste of money, in my opinion. I contemplated signing up for Netflix, but I doubt I would utilize the service enough to justify the expense. Redbox neatly fills that void by allowing me to pick up new releases at my convenience, all for the low price of $1 plus tax.
Carrying the Shamrock Shake is up to the discretion of each franchisee, much like the rest of McDonald’s menu, so some of you may be Shamrock Shakeless (sorry New York, as of 2007).
Fortunately, there is a recipe, which can be perfected with Bailey’s Irish Creme. Check out some vintage commericals on YouTube.
Guilty secret time. I listen to Howard Stern. Not even just that, but I was basically raised by the man, from the Summer of ‘89 till he left terrestrial airwaves.
We bought a Dodge Grand Caravan last year, and have had a 1-year Sirius subscription. As a result, I’ve had no problem making late-night errand running since I can time-travel back to the 1990s.
Something I’m really surprised by is the low quality advertisers. Ashley Madis0n? Third-tier eBay competitors? Late-night TV pitches? To be fair, whenever I’ve done a drive-by on FOXNEWS, I’ve seen similar caliber ads – Head-On, anyone? I understand that the content may be contentious, but I suppose given the content, that’s the best that they can do?
