Adbusters.org has the true American Imperial Corporate flag. The government might as well go ahead and adopt it; it’s more true than anything else flying.

Let’s let Adbusters say it:

‘Corporate America is revelling in a Golden Age. A shrinking number of the planet’s biggest businesses—AOL Time Warner, Shell, Nike, Microsoft, McDonald’s—are the money behind presidents, the power that drives global trade rules, the voice of authority on how we live and the way we think. Corporations have all the rights of we, the people, but thousands of times more money to make the system work for them. We call this system “democracy.” But today it looks a lot like corporate rule. … The flags snapping in the wind are raising sparks. You just don’t mess with America’s Old Glory. But many would say it’s been a corporate doormat for years. And today, the question is global. What counts as “independence”? And when will we win it back?’

Couldn’t have said it better myself.

Updated 8-Feb-05_:

‘We are waking up to political reality. Even diehard Republicans now admit that corporations govern their lives. A small group of neocons has hijacked the good name of America and swapped it for dreams of empire. Opinion round the world is ranged against us. Americans of all political stripes are asking, “Is this my America anymore?”’

Good question.

Tired of living in loser countries that want to round you up in concentration camps and stone you to death based on fictional 5,000-year-old Jewish scrolls?

Well then! « The Gay Kingdom of the Coral Sea Islands » just might be for you!

‘Alone, unaided, neither seeking nor requiring help the Gay & Lesbian Kingdom rose in self defence, so long as gay & lesbian people cherish freedom & equality, so long as small states strive for the dignity of existence, the exploits of the gay & lesbian activists who first settled these islands in 2004 will be told from one gay generation to another with the deepest pride. The Australian Parliament introduced anti gay marriage & adoption legislation and we have sort to have it condemned and the gay government resent it, and the religious right who are behind these moves with all our might. By declaring our nation independent, never have freedom, equality, justice, gay national interest and international morality been so rightly protected. It may seem the Gay & Lesbian Kingdom of the Coral Sea Islands stands alone against numerous homophobic nations and religious organisations, but we have faith in our declaration of independence, and in the underlying forces in gay history which have so often given the finally victory to spirit over matter, to inner truth over mere quantity. We believe in the vigilance of history, which has guarded our steps, the guardian of the gay & lesbian kingdom neither slumbers nor sleeps.’

Sounds like a gay James Bond film.

But hurry! « You too can become a citizen with a passport and everything »

‘The Gay and Lesbian Kingdom of the Coral Sea Islands offers a policy of automatic citizenship to gays and lesbians, similar to Israel’s right of return, subject to application and verification. The Chief Justice of the High Court of the Gay Kingdom is authorized by the Goverment of the Gay Kingdom to immediately establish legal methods for members of the gay tribe, wherever dispersed in the world, to secure such documents, passports and other things by which the crown may identify it’s subjects with security and confidence.’

How very … something or other.

Fascinating stories about ‘33-’45 still crop up even today. This time, it’s from a « former Nuremberg trial guard who says he helped Goering escape hangman »

‘A former guard at the Nuremberg trials has come forward to say he believes he provided the poison that Nazi Hermann Goering used to commit suicide hours before his scheduled execution for war crimes, the Los Angeles Times reported Monday. Herbert Lee Stivers, now 78, was a 19-year-old Army private when he took notes and a capsule hidden inside a fountain pen to Goering at the request of two men who said the notorious Nazi general was “a very sick man” who needed medicine, the newspaper said. Stivers said he is now convinced the “medicine” was the cyanide that killed Goering on Oct. 15, 1946, the night before he was to be executed. The commander of the German air force had been convicted at the Nuremberg trials the previous month. “I felt very bad after his suicide. I had a funny feeling; I didn’t think there was any way he could have hidden it on his body,” Stivers said.’

Interesting story.

‘Stivers had agreed to pass on the items after being introduced to the men, who called themselves Erich and Mathias. ”(Erich) said it was medication, and that if it worked and Goering felt better, they’d send him some more,” Stivers said. “I wasn’t thinking of suicide when I took it to Goering. He was never in a bad frame of mind.”’
It’s certainly true that Hermann was never in a bad frame of mind. He dominated the trial with his insolence and his personality and his sheer bulk. That he cheated the Allies’ hangman was his last laugh.

The book, Hitler’s Lieutenants, has a thoroughly fascinating portrait of Goering, as well as the others of the inner circle. It’s an absorbing read and valuable addition to the library.

Cafe Ambrosia was Cafe Hungry Like the Wolf this afternoon. The guys behind the counter were apparently (from what I could gather) striking back at the pretense of a « rockist » critic from earlier in the day by playing what sounded like « Decade » (nothing after 1988 was on the disc, which was just as well) from beginning to end — much to the grim, seething, teeth-gritting silence of many of the customers in the joint (although a couple of customers did come up and chucklingly congratulate them on their unusual selection). The fellas behind the counter laughed and grooved along with “Rio” and “Save a Prayer” and “Union of the Snake” and “Wild Boys,” but it seems they hit their limit after “Notorious.” They cut the CD in the middle of the next song and quickly threw on a Morphine CD, much more in keeping with the usual Ambrosia (and usual hipster cafe) ethic. You could feel the rockist tension ease into a saxophone-induced reverie.

The audacity, ignorance and outrageousness of « men like this » never cease to amaze me:

‘Marcavage never uses slurs to describe homosexuals; rather, he turns the word homosexual itself into a slur, using it as a sort of branding. He is a deliberate speaker, careful as any politician. But if he is diplomatic with his words, he uses them to advance a militant agenda. “According to the Scriptures, it’s the government’s job to enforce God’s law and to uphold his law, and the Bible talks about how, I don’t want to really get into this — it’ll make me sound like I’m crazy — but it does talk about how [homosexuals] are to be put to death. The wages of sin is death. But I want to make [it] clear that I’m not advocating the [independent] killing of homosexuals. … I’m saying that the government’s duty is to uphold God’s law. … I know that’s harsh, but we have all broken the law, God’s law, and we need to be held accountable.”

By ‘held accountable,’ he means ‘kill ‘em! Kill ‘em all!!!’

Grand.

On the AP wire this afternoon we see a charming story about a « Four-year-old Michigan boy who drove to the video store » (and back) in the middle of the night:

‘A boy drove his mother’s car to a video store in the middle of the night, police said — and he’s all of 4 years old. Even though he was unable to reach the accelerator, the boy managed to put the car in gear and the idling engine provided enough power to take him slowly to the store, a quarter-mile from his home, about 1:30 a.m. Friday, Police Chief Doug Heugel said. Finding the store closed, the youngster began a slow trip home. Weaving and with its headlights off, the car got the attention of police Sgt. Jay Osga, who initially thought he was following a driverless car that had taken off after being left running at a gas pump. The car turned into the boy’s apartment complex and struck two parked cars, then backed up and struck Osga’s police car.’

And, yes, you know I’m going to say it … the kid did better on his trip than most Michigan drivers I see on the streets every single day. Ppppptttttttt.

Early detection of testicular cancer is vital and being ‘body aware’ is an important part of that. Thanks to early detection, testicular cancer has a 95% cure rate, if caught early enough.

So some UK athletic lads got together and took a lovely little picture in order to boost the « Tackle Testicular Cancer Campaign* ». Very hot for a very worthy cause.

I’ve seen a few of those colored bracelets promoting causes around; I’ve even confiscated one from a fourth grader who was using it to highly annoy the girl in front of him. But there’s so many of them that it can get confusing as to who is promoting what cause.

Thank god I stumbled across « Buggery.org’s Guide to Colored Bracelets vs. Traditional Hankies » this morning; now things are much more clear!

Now if someone will just explain why twits in minivans want to put those ugly magnetic ribbons on their rear ends …

The Grand Iraqi Election Which Proves the Emperor is Always Right has passed in a putrid fog of press adulation and fawning-ness, plus some ‘Ohmigod, what if he was right?!’ spineless sniveling among some liberals we won’t link to here.

But, as is usual with anything the Boy Emperor does, reality is about to rudely intrude on his carefully constructed pyramid scheme, because « the initial voter turnout numbers appear to be way off », and « the election results aren’t going the Empire’s way »:

‘Partial results from Sunday’s election suggest that U.S.-backed Prime Minister Ayad Allawi’s coalition is being roundly defeated by a list with the backing of Iraq’s senior Shiite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, diminishing Allawi’s chances of retaining his post in the next government. Sharif Ali bin Hussein, head of the Constitutional Monarchy Party, likened the vote outcome to a “Sistani tsunami” that would shake the nation. “Americans are in for a shock,” he said, adding that one day they would realize, “We’ve got 150,000 troops here protecting a country that’s extremely friendly to Iran, and training their troops.”’

— SF Chronicle

RUH–ROH! How’d that happen?! I thought the spreading of democracy in the Middle East was the goal, not the spreading of Iranian Islamic Fundamentalism!

Sad, so very sad, that « the Emperor’s cheerleaders in the Imperial press can’t handle the truth »:

‘Like many of his U.S. press colleagues, New York Times foreign policy columnist Thomas L. Friedman has pronounced himself “unreservedly happy” about the Iraqi election of Jan. 30, adding: “you should be, too.” But there is a dark potential to those pleasing images of Iraqis voting in the face of violence. Rather than pointing toward an exit for the United States from Iraq, the election may be just another mirage leading U.S. troops deeper into Iraq’s long and bloody history of sectarian violence between Sunnis and Shiites. Indeed, if the Sunni-based insurgency doesn’t give up in the months ahead, American soldiers could find themselves enmeshed in a long and brutal civil war helping the Shiite majority crush the resistance of the Sunni minority.

The Sunnis, who have long dominated Iraq, find themselves in a tight corner and may see little choice but to fight on. … As Iraqis raised fingers stained with voting ink, American journalists scrambled over each other to climb on board George W. Bush’s bandwagon. Just as the U.S. press corps feared challenging Bush during the WMD hysteria in fall 2002 or after the toppled Saddam Hussein statue in spring 2003, the press corps treated the Iraqi election as an unquestioned success story, much as Friedman did in his New York Times column, which was entitled “A Day to Remember.” [NYT, Feb. 3, 2005]

‘But, like those earlier examples of press acquiescence, the lack of skepticism about the real meaning of the Jan. 30 election carries more potential dangers for Americans, especially if the triumphal Bush administration now starts dusting off its most ambitious plans for the Middle East. If that happens, the military disaster in Iraq — already with the deaths of more than 1,400 American soldiers and tens of thousands of Iraqis — could be just a prelude to more catastrophes to come.’

— Consortium News

But he’s just a Saddam-loving malcontent, right?

Well, one should cut him some slack, perhaps; after all, « the track record of the press isn’t great »:

‘U.S. Encouraged by Vietnam Vote: Officials Cite 83% Turnout Despite Vietcong Terror

by Peter Grose, Special to the New York Times (9/4/1967: p. 2)

WASHINGTON, Sept. 3—United States officials were surprised and heartened today at the size of turnout in South Vietnam’s presidential election despite a Vietcong terrorist campaign to disrupt the voting. According to reports from Saigon, 83 per cent of the 5.85 million registered voters cast their ballots yesterday. Many of them risked reprisals threatened by the Vietcong. The size of the popular vote and the inability of the Vietcong to destroy the election machinery were the two salient facts in a preliminary assessment of the nation election based on the incomplete returns reaching here.’

[As seen at « Daily Kos »]

Our world. Such higgledy-piggledy-ness. Now where’d I put that blasted quote? Something about those who forget history are condemned to repeat it or something … should be around here somewhere …

Fancy that. An article on Page 3 of yesterday’s New York Times arts section on, of all things, little old Ann Arbor.

Nothing laudatory or complimentary, of course; just the usual snide satisfaction the Times gets from giving the upturned-nose treatment to anything west of the Delaware River. The hed: “Sure, You Can Watch the Oscars, but Can You See All the Nominated Movies?” Oh, those poor benighted souls in Michigan: they can’t even watch all of the Oscar-nominated movies without waiting for six months for them to come out on DVD! One woman standing in line at the Michigan Theater waiting for tickets to “Hotel Rwanda” is described as though she were waiting for an organ donor. But that’s just the beginning. When the Times reporter finds out that two movies are just now coming to AA, she writes, incredulously:

“Vera Drake,” first released more than three months ago, will not play Ann Arbor until Friday, said a spokeswoman for Fine Line Features, which is distributing the film. And “The Sea Inside,” also from Fine Line, is not currently scheduled to play here, though it has been in a small number of theaters elsewhere across the country since December.

Snort! Those deprived fools won’t even see the latest Amenábar film! What pathetic creatures!

After a detour to explain why major film distributors think that cow towns are inappropriate places to grace with the cream of the cinematic crop, the Times reporter smirkingly notes that “Sideways” is the singular exception to the rule because it’s a film that became a cult hit (like “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” in 2002 or “Amélie” in 2001). “Sideways” is playing at three theaters in Ann Arbor right now, which apparently means, according to the reporter’s take on things, that it’s stale and obsolete. You might as well have “LOTR III” or “Chicago” still playing.

At that point, the reporter interviews a Michigan Theater ticket-taker from New Jersey who can barely lower her nose long enough to whine, “It’s kind of silly to even read any of the reviews that come out because it doesn’t pertain to your life in this small part of the world.” Ending on a positive note, the reporter quotes a UM prof who says he doesn’t mind waiting for the Important Movies to come to Ann Arbor, adding, “There are probably a lot of Midwestern cities that don’t get these movies at all. What if I lived in the Upper Peninsula or something?”

I have to say that the phrase that takes the cake for me is the reporter’s own description of the UP, which she colorfully calls “the state’s northernmost wilds,” as though it were just a few miles from the Arctic Circle.

Some woman from the committee for Super Bowl XL (here in Detroit in February 2006) was just on the news saying she knew Detroit “has some image problems.” I guess she meant the cold weather, because she went on to insist that everyone from out of town will be fine in Michigan February weather “if you wear a hat and scarf.”

So, yes, it was 16 degrees when I left at 11 a.m., but I rode my bike to work today anyway. It’s only a mile-and-a-half, one-way, and I’m a big fat cow who needs to get in shape. I made it just fine, there and back, thank-you-very-much.

But just had to note: Despite Ann Arbor’s $1,000 fine for not clearing your sidewalks after a snowfall, not everyone complies.

The one section of sidewalk between our townhouse here at Stadium/Woodbury and the middle school, at Stadium/Brockman that hasn’t been cleared in the last two weeks: the one in front of a house which displayed a truly huge Bush/Cheney ‘04 sign during the late, lamented election last year.

Just sayin’.

Okay, so this layout is the last one I’ll do. I’m really happier with it. Like it?

[By the way, just a pissy note from a crotchety ol’ toot: I’m fed up with Internet Explorer and it’s ignorant inability to properly handle web standards, particularly the way it fails to add up the numbers properly to display boxes. I mean, how hard is it to add up the four sides of a box? Apparently, if you’re a Microsquash engineer, it’s impossible. So, if you’re trying to read this using IE for Windoze and you see weird pinstripes between the header image/nav and the body, you’re a victim of Microsquash’s ignorance of proper interpretation of the Box Model (Google it, if you don’t know what I’m talking about). And some free advice: Get a Mac, first of all. Second, at the very least, download Firefox and see what you’re missing, web standards-wise. Down with monopoly! End of crotchety ol’ toot’s rant.]

Yes, I changed the template again. And the header photo. Love it? Hate it? Hit the ‘Sound Off’ link below and let me know what you think.

And yes, things might look weird or something in IE for Windoze. But then … well, you use IE for Windoze and you pretty much deserve what happens to you. Switch to Firefox! Immediately! End the Evil Redmond Monopoly!

And thanks for dropping by. We’ll write more later. We haven’t gone anywhere.

I missed my opportunity (thanks to my annual January bronchitis) to comment on the fool prince’s costume party thing. Even though it’s sorta blown over, I’ll contribute with this: my version of Prince Harry’s Official Coat of Arms:

Actually, « the real one is here ». I just couldn’t resist.

Oh, lighten up! It’s a parody folks!

« Gore Vidal » is back in the Empire and telling it like it is, thank god:

‘He said that he can foresee the war going so badly that [the Emperor George II] will be forced to resign or be driven from office. “I can’t believe the speed with which the entire republic fell apart. The U.S. Bill of Rights fell apart with [inJustice Minister] John Ashcroft and the [USAPATRIOT Act],” he said of post-9/11 America. “Preventive war became our national policy, which has not been any nation’s policy since Hitler. A preventive war is about as un-American as you get. But that doesn’t mean we haven’t done it before,” he said. “The worst (previous) example was the Mexican War. That brave moralist, Ulysses S. Grant, who had been a second lieutenant just out of West Point, hated that war and said … that nations like individuals suffer for their transgressions. “I believe the Civil War was the judgment of God on us for what we did to Mexico. God knows what we are going to get for Iraq.”’

— Reuters

Amen, Brother Gore, amen!

There’s also this entertaining tidbit in the article, which unfortunately is given a more prominent place in the article.

‘As far as Vidal was concerned, “Alexander” was a breakthrough work because it treated Alexander’s bisexuality in a matter-of-fact manner rather “than a terrible sin to be punished by Our Lord.” “They are on the right track with this picture because it says bisexuality exists which is something the public already knows because they practice it,” he said. Then he described how as one of the key script doctors on “Ben Hur” he secretly wove in a homosexual subplot into what bills itself “as the world’s most honored movie.” Vidal, who along with playwrights Christopher Fry and Maxwell Anderson were uncredited writers on the film, figured that a homosexual subplot would explain the tension between first century Jewish prince Ben Hur (Charlton Heston) and Messala (Stephen Boyd), the old Roman pal who turns on him and sends him into slavery.’

(Don’t know who Cassandra was? « Look it up ». For those to lazy to follow the link, Cassandra (also called Alexandra) was the Trojan seeress who uttered true prophecies, but lacking the power of persuasion, was never believed. Sound familiar?

Here’s the REAL Pledge of Allegiance, as written by Non-Sequitor:

‘I pledge allegiance to the flag of the corporate states of America.
‘And to the Republicans for which it stands,
‘One nation, under debt, easily divisible,
‘With liberty and justice for oil.’

— Non-Sequitor

Amen.

« Our Life in Michigan – 2005 North American International Auto Show »

Here are some pics taken by Frank and by me that I’ve been meaning to post:

« Our Life in Michigan – 11- and 22-Jan-05 Miscellaneous Wintry Pics »

« Our Life in Michigan – 11&22-Jan-05 Miscellaneous Wintry Pics »

I was in Kroger last night picking up some groceries. The place was packed, and one of the checkout lines extended past the newspaper rack. I reached over one woman’s basket to grab a copy of the Ann Arbor News. First she gave me a sour look, then she chuckled and said, “Read it and weep.” Usually I’m at a loss for snappy small talk, but in this case I was able to come back with, “Yeah, that’s what I do every time I pick a newspaper up. You know what I mean?” She chuckled again and said she knew what I meant. I wished her a good weekend, she cheerily said “You too,” and that was that.

But it was a good moment. It made me feel (in a strange way) like I finally “live” here in Michigan, in a way that no other moment has. I use the word “live” because I doubt I’ll ever “belong” here; there are many things I like about Michigan 17 months after moving here, and my ability to have this exchange means (kind of) that I’m finally starting to understand the Michigan sensibility (that kind of mordant wisecrack would not be made in California), but I don’t have the feeling that I’m ever going to feel like a Michigander.

Having said that, it was good to have a moment like that to store and to remember on those far more numerous occasions when I fail to understand the personality of the typical Michigander and feel like I’m stumbling around with two left feet. (Not that there is such a person, but I’m as convinced that there’s a Michigan personality as I am that there’s a California or a New York personality.)

I added « Reality-Based Nation » to the blogroll because of wonderful, kick-the-fascists-in-the-face entries like this:

‘Earlier this week, we noted a pending appeals court case in Indiana (article) in which the state’s ban on same-sex marriage was being challenged. Yesterday, while Mr. Bush preached to the world about freedom and liberty for all people, the Indiana Court of Appeals upheld the ban. The court opinion is shocking and sad:

“An Indiana Court of Appeals decision upholding the state law banning same-sex marriage came down to the issue of natural reproduction — not morality, religious tradition or gay rights. The court ruled Thursday that the ability of heterosexual couples to procreate naturally is distinction enough to justify the law.”

‘I’m still trying to figure out how the hell gay marriage will disrupt straight marriages. If gay couples marry, will there be a decline in straight marriages? Is there, like fossil fuels which Republicans love, only a finite number of marriages available in the world? Questions, questions, questions. And the only answer is contained in the biblical book of Leviticus. Good source. Meanwhile, Stay-Puft Richard Land was on NPR’s “All Things Considered” last night and insisted that the debate over the separation of church and state is over — won by the religious right. Okay. Fine. Can we tax and regulate Land’s Southern Baptist Convention now? Tax the shit out of them? Help pay down the deficit, perhaps? These shmendricks have no clue. Don’t they realize that when you merge church and state it gives the state free reign to interfere in the church? Stupid, stupid.’

— Reality-Based Nation

Reality-Based Nation … awesome stuff!

As we slog around in the weeks of snow that have been dumped on southeast Michigan, it’s mordantly amusing to see what happens in parts of the country that aren’t as used (inured?) to snow as Michigan is:

A mere inch of snow was all it took to cripple North Carolina’s capital—and prompt plenty of finger-pointing Thursday as the city thawed from the surprise storm that caused gridlock and left 3,000 students stranded in classrooms overnight.

While a TV weatherman hung his head in shame—telling viewers his forecast of a mere dusting was “embarrassing”—the mayor vented at meteorologists for leaving Raleigh unprepared for Wednesday’s storm.

“A forecast that had given a better indication of the likely problem would have been very helpful,” Mayor Charles Meeker said.

Residents—particularly those who have lived in other parts of the country—could not believe the city was brought to its knees by just an inch of snow.

« Airbus A-380 photos at Airliners.net »

Looks like, at long last, &laquo the official rollout of the Airbus A-380 », the world’’s largest commercial aircraft, is finally at hand:

‘Airbus, which has delivered more airplanes than Boeing for the second year in a row, is about to unveil another No. 1: the world’’s largest passenger jet. The A380, a four-aisle, four-engine, double-decker “superjumbo,” will roll onto the tarmac Tuesday at Airbus headquarters in southern France, in a lavish ceremony attended by EU leaders and thousands of guests. Sales have beat expectations so far, and most of the technical problems that have dogged the program have been resolved, at a price. But the real sighs of relief won’‘t be heard in Toulouse until later — sometime before March 31, Airbus says — when the A380 hauls its 280-metric ton (308-ton) frame aloft. That’’s when the plane’’s engineers will begin to find out whether their gargantuan offspring lives up to the performance promises, as the first test-flight data streams in.’

— AP

If it all goes as scheduled and without a hitch, it will be an incredibly impressive technical achievement and will add punctuation to Boeing’’s sad state of affairs.

« Very first pics of the first A380 are up at Airliners.net ».

That is one big-ass airplane. Awesome!

Although it’’s not likely that the Emperor’’s anti-union and anti-worker administration is likely to heed it, «  ” title=”Union Calls for Urgent Meeting on Airlines”>the IAMAW union is calling on the Transportation Department to convene a major meeting regarding the sorry state of the airline industry »

‘The request came in a letter to the transportation secretary, Norman Y. Mineta, from Robert Roach Jr., vice president for transportation at the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, which represents more than 100,000 mechanics, baggage handlers and ramp workers at the major airlines. Mr. Roach noted that the department had brought officials together after the terrorist attacks in September 2001 to discuss challenges facing the industry. He called that session helpful but said that the industry had been caught in an unending slump and needed to find solutions. So far this decade, the major airlines have collectively lost $30 billion, five companies have filed for bankruptcy protection, more than 110,000 jobs have been eliminated, and workers pay and benefits have been cut or eliminated. “If we are to have a safe, efficient transportation industry,” Mr. Roach said in the letter, “it is more important than ever that everyone in management, labor and government work toward the common goal of rebuilding the transportation industry for our mutual benefit.” In an interview, Mr. Roach said he was not asking for specific moves by the government, but he said the industry’’s crisis could not continue. “We believe very strongly,” Mr. Roach said, “that the only way to get this problem resolved is to put everyone in the industry together and think about what comes next.” A spokesman for the union, Joseph Tiberi, said it had not received an answer from Mr. Mineta.’

— NY Times

And good luck on getting an answer from anyone in the great American fascist imperial administration, dude. But hey. We’‘re pulling for ya.

It seems more details have emerged about « Delta’s new pricing strategy » this weekend.

‘Under Delta’s new structure, prices for last-minute walk-up fares have been cut by as much as 50 percent, the long-unpopular Saturday night stayover requirement for lower-priced fares has been eliminated, the fee for changing nonrefundable tickets has been dropped from $100 to $50, and the airline’s menu of fares has been simplified: Now there are eight prices for each flight; before, there were dozens. These latest price cuts — for flights within the 48 contiguous states — will be more of a boon to business travelers than to vacationers. Most carriers already are offering deep discounts to their leisure customers.
So how does a “legacy carrier” with a history of fiscal mismanagement and clueless resistance to change plan to make more money by cutting it’s revenue?’

— Washington Post

Good question. Apparently, by turning airliners in flying Costco warehouses. Instead of toilet paper by the caseload, they’re going to give the flying public … well, I’m not sure what, but it’’s probably the finger or something.

‘It was only last month that Delta’’s Grinstein stood before a group of airline professionals in New York and predicted imminent change in the financially troubled industry. The reason the major airlines have been losing market share to low-cost competitors such as Southwest, he told his audience at the elite, private-membership Wings Club, is because travelers no longer think they’re getting a good deal from the big carriers. “I recently came across the mission statement for Costco, the membership warehouse company,” Grinstein said, according to a transcript of his prepared remarks. “Their goal is to ‘’continually provide our members quality goods and services at the lowest possible prices.” The failure of major airlines to meet that standard “caused us to lose the trust of our customers,” Grinstein continued. “Passengers no longer believed they were receiving the highest quality at the lowest possible price. And they were right. “As a result, customers shifted their trust and affiliation to carriers like Southwest and JetBlue. Southwest succeeded so well that today customers flock to the airline’s Web site, even when Southwest’s prices are higher than other carriers. They simply trust Southwest to be the best value around.”

There are some grains of truth here and I’ll give good ol’ Grinstein credit for pointing them out. First, the product of the legacy carriers is complete shite, to borrow a word. We’‘ve gone from the days of Braniff’s Flying Colors and the glamour of the World’s Most Experienced Airline to crappy, dirty, jam-packed ‘planes full of dirty, rude, ignorant hillbillies. Yet, we’ve left the pricing structure intact.

Second, that second-to-last sentence is telling: Customers trust Southwest (and Wal-Mart) to be the cheapest and best around so much that, even when WN and W-M are not, those customers still spend their time and money with them because of the perception that they’re the best value around.

Kind of like the same people keep voting against their own economic and social self-interest because the Fascist Party is now perceived as being the moral values champions who are on the little peoples’ side.

Delta and the other legacies have a long, long, long way to go to overcome that perception. Delta may pull it off. USAirways, if their Christmas debacles are any indication, probably cannot. Too large and mired in bureaucratic inertia, most legacies will not survive. The Empire’’s current trajectory appears to be giving us a culture where one shops at Wal-Mart, flies Southwest, votes Fascist, etc.

If this is where that Bridge to the 21st Century has delivered us, I’‘m headed back to the (ironically) saner 20th.

Another 3-4 inches of snow fell overnight; it was soft and fluffy, with no ice. So this afternoon, we took a ride downtown.

The Grand continues to perform admirably; you have to do something really stupid to make it fishtail and it simply refuses to skid if you apply heavy brake. I’m loving the heating system and heated seats these days.

It’s getting a bit scruffy on the inside; these people are nuts with the salt around here, and there’s very little you can do to keep it out of your car. The mats are due for a scrubbing, and the seats in the rear need to be wiped down.

I remain very pleased with Jeepy 4 after a month of driving it. The only thing that keeps it from being perfect is its 13/17 gas mileage. That’s very ‘ouch’-inducing.

It should be lots of fun driving to Oklahoma in April. But I dread the gas mileage I’ll get driving a trailer-load of books and other things the 1,000 miles back home.

The weather has been abyssmal. Haven’t been able to get outside on the book since New Year’s, since the sidewalks and streets are just treacherous.

Since I want to average 5 miles per day all year, I’m already in the hole and have lots of catching up to do. Blast it all.

I love how taken aback the “old school” newsgathering operations are that blogs scooped them, and in many cases surpassed them, in covering the South Asian earthquake and tsunami catastrophe. The best quote I’ve heard in this regard was today on NPR: a “technology contributor” named Xeni Jardin said, breathlessly, that bloggers aren’t just “fat blowhards sitting on couches in the suburbs writing about what they saw on the news” anymore.

Note [1.7.05] …… In the comments, bentley points out that Xeni Jardin is actually a contributor to boingboing, which is a fantastic blog (this being a perfect example why). I have to eat some crow and revise my reflexive sarcasm above in the light of this fact, which I didn’t know beforehand. It must be that Ms. Jardin was engaging in some sarcasm herself on NPR, although it was kind of hard to discern that over the airwaves. Anyway, my belated apologies.

Details are still slightly hazy, but « United’s pilots are fighting the weird backroom maneuvering » which resulted in us taxpayers getting soaked with the responsibility of the pilots’ pension fund, thanks to United’s epic and clueless executive mismanagement:

‘Pilots at United Airlines will fight plans for an involuntary bail-out of their pension scheme, threatening to unravel agreements needed to bring the US company out of bankruptcy. Their angry reaction follows a surprise intervention last week by the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, which runs a national insurance scheme for all US companies. The group fears being held responsible for $6.4bn of unfunded pension liabilities across United’s four pension schemes and decided to minimise losses by taking pre-emptive control of the pilots’ plan. But union leaders representing this highly-paid group accuse the PBGC of singling them out for “vindictive” punishment, as the early move means they will receive $140m less than hoped.

’… The union also questioned whether the quasi-government agency was deliberately seeking to wreck union agreements with the company. “We are equally concerned about the timing of the PBGC action in the midst of a pilot membership vote over the tentative pilot agreement. “We question whether the PBGC’s action may be designed to confuse the pilot group, undermine the membership ratification process and deprive the pilots of the benefits and protections of the tentative agreement.”

’… Separately, United announced on Monday it had reached “tentative” cost-saving agreements with two other unions, although it remains unclear if these include terminating their pension schemes as well.’

Well, since the Fascists have installed their minions in almost every corner of government, purging anyone who dissents, and since, subsequently, agencies such as the National Labor Relations Board have become very anti-worker, you can bet the move was a sop to United and Fascist Party benefactors in some way.

Too bad the pilots get left holding the (now-worthless) bag and taxpayers get stuck with any bills.

Ah. Life in the reign of Emperor George II. Ain’t all the higgledy-piggledy-ness grand?

I was going to get a good start on my riding program by biking every day, but alas, it was not to be.

I biked five miles on Saturday the first, but as I was returning, I noticed the rear tire was low. So I went to the gas station at Packard/Stadium to air it up. I guess the gauge was inaccurate and I apparently over-inflated the front tire. I biked home fine, but a couple of hours later as I was making dinner, there was a very loud bang in the front of the house and I thought we were being attacked.

Turns out the innertube and tire on the front of the Bobcat pretty much exploded. It ruined the tire and put a two-inch-long shred in the innertube.

So today I went back to « Ann Arbor Cyclery » and had to buy a new front tire and tube. I also got a new, accurate gauge.

The shop wasn’t open Sunday, so between that and all the rain today, I’ve lost two days of riding already.

Oh, well, I’ll just have to make up for it somehow.

While waiting on the installation, I picked up a new catalog for « Marin Bikes ». This year’s Bobcat Trail is little changed from the 2004 model I bought, with one exception: the 2005 model is matte black and totally slick looking. Almost makes me wish I’d waited, but I’m still happy with my red one.

I enjoy all the year-end lists that pop up on the WWW around this time, mostly because they demonstrate that if there’s one thing the Web’s good at, it’s making lists. I also enjoy realizing that there’s about a snowball’s chance in hell that I’ll get around to reading, seeing, and listening to all of the books, films, TV shows, and music that all of these lists tell you it’s essential to have consumed.

One movie that seems to have popped up on a lot of lists is Alexander Payne’s “Sideways,” which Steve and I saw this weekend. I wouldn’t say it’s a masterpiece or anything, but I would wager that it’s a hell of a lot better than most of the movies released this past year. Nevertheless, just as was the case with “Lost in Translation” (another excellent movie) last year, when the critical consensus starts getting too huge, the detractors have to show up to make sure the “favorite” is knocked down a couple of pegs (or two). Thus, the boring, stale dweeb AO Scott of the New York Times, whose opinion about film is about as valuable to me as that of the sponge sitting on my kitchen sink, says that “Sideways” is the “most drastically overrated film of the year.” NP Thompson says that the movie “plays like a dumb sitcom.”

I thought the film was excellent, understated, and well-observed. Few people in the showing we were at seemed to get it, though; most of the hilarious moments were greeted by silence. Maybe it’s because it’s a completely California movie — the movie’s set in San Diego and Santa Barbara County, and the characters typify a kind of California self-absorption that’s hard to understand (or to find amusing) unless you’ve lived in California or know Californians. Oh well. I still think it’s well worth seeing, even if you hate California (maybe even more worth it, in that instance).

Anyway, I’m hardly one to speak about current movies. I only saw seven new releases in the theater in 2004, which seems like a pathetically small number, but there are very few movies I’m willing to fork out the bucks and go through the public ritual of seeing anymore. “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” sounds like an intriguing premise, but I’m tired of excusing movies with the exasperatingly untalented and overrated Jim Carrey in them just because they have a good premise (e.g., “The Truman Show”). “Before Sunset” is being praised to the skies, but I thought “Before Sunrise” was uninspiring, so why should I like “Sunset”? “Bad Education” is getting a lot of raves, but I have yet to see an Almodóvar film that I’ve liked. So it goes.

As for music, well, I’m even less able to offer worthwhile comment there. My musical discovery of the year was Ella Fitzgerald’s songbook box set, the last album of which was released in 1964, so that should tell you something about my level of hipness. However, I do listen to new music on the Web once in a while, and one album that really impressed me (that I haven’t yet bought) is the Fiery Furnaces’ Blueberry Boat, which is feverish, bizarre, insane, and inspired all at once. The Strokes’ Room on Fire was released in 2003, but I didn’t hear it till 2004; I liked the instrumentation, but you have to get past the whiny, braying, processed lead vocalist to get to the instrumentation, which is too big a hurdle for me. (Also, the main riff of the leadoff track, “What Ever Happened?”, sounds too much like a ripoff of the chugging riff of Stevie Nicks’ “Edge of Seventeen” to be taken seriously.) What I’ve heard of the most overpraised album of 2004, Arcade Fire’s Funeral, didn’t set me on fire. I loved PJ Harvey’s Uh Huh Her, which is no huge leap forward, but at this point even PJ Harvey in a holding pattern is superior to most of the crap out there. I didn’t hear a single new hip-hop or R&B album that I liked, which is pretty sad.

Today comes news that « the Emperor is planning permanent gulags in a number of countries to hold persons merely suspected of … well, doing something of which the Emperor does not approve »:

‘The Bush administration is preparing plans for possible lifetime detention of suspected terrorists, including hundreds whom the government does not have enough evidence to charge in courts, The Washington Post reported Sunday. Citing intelligence, defense and diplomatic officials, the newspaper said the Pentagon and the CIA had asked the White House to decide on a more permanent approach for those it would not set free or turn over to courts at home or abroad. As part of a solution, the Defense Department, which holds 500 prisoners at Guantanamo Bay, plans to ask the U.S. Congress for $25 million to build a 200-bed prison to hold detainees who are unlikely to ever go through a military tribunal for lack of evidence, defense officials told the newspaper.’

Folks, we’re no longer living in the America into which I was born and raised. This is something very different, very ugly and very evil.

The Republic is dead. Long live the Empire, eh?

It’s 55 degrees outside ….. the snow has almost melted ….. the radio announcer just said that if this isn’t a record warm temperature for New Year’s Eve it must be close.

Sigh.

While the Emperor stubbornly sits on his ass in Crawford and turns a Norwegian official’s comments about rich countries being stingy into a fascist agit-prop campaign against the UN, « donations via Amazon to the International Red Cross are over $2.3 million and rising ».

With the death toll topping 80,000 today and climbing, every penny will be needed to make a difference. Even while the absent Emperor and his minions waste time with their propaganda campaign against the UN and the hapless Norwegian, they were shamed into raising official US aid to a total of $35 million. « They finally trotted out Caligula at Crawford today », almost a week after the disaster (and days after snarkily bitching about President Clinton’s statement days ago) for the prayer-and-piousness dog-and-pony show, along with ‘I’ve got an idea! Another coalition of the willing! Yeah! And a warning system! That’s the ticket!’

What an embarrassment.

Meanwhile, we should give and do what we can … let the world know that we’re not all ignorant, angry, mean fascists.

It’s hard for me to write anything about Christmas without coming across as cynical and bitter and old and jaded and all that stuff.

So I won’t.

I’m thankful for Frank and for Bayley and for David and all my other friends. I’m thankful for my nice, comfortable warm home and a full stomach. I’m thankful for still being alive and that some people still want to put up with me.

I’m thankful for the opportunity to have some impact on childrens’ lives in the classroom. I’m thankful for the opportunity to get my master’s degree at one of the Empire’s premiere educational institutions.

I love the snow, my new Jeep, and sitting around all weekend watching movies with Frank. I love my bicycle, my leather chair and cuddling up to a warm beagle between us on a cold wintry night.

I’m thankful to start a new year and have more adventures.

I hope to get a handle on the arthritis in ‘05. I hope to lose 20 pounds and be in better shape so I can be a bike stud next summer. I hope to make it through my April sojourn in Oklahoma more or less intact. I hope to be able to get my grad program successfully underway and halfway done by this time next year. And I hope to not get creamed by a Michigan driver in ‘05.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

Looks like « USAirways’ CWA unit is the latest union to cave to bankruptcy/liquidation threats »

‘Reservations and gate agents at US Airways approved a new contract Thursday that cuts pay by 13 percent and provides the airline some of the relief it says it needs to avoid imminent liquidation. The Communications Workers of America, which represents nearly 6,000 passenger service employees at the bankrupt airline, said that 60 percent of members who cast ballots voted to approve the deal, which runs though 2011. The deal is expected to save the airline $137 million a year. “This ratification is very important to our future success as it shows our ability to work collaboratively with our employees toward common goals and solutions. Today, we have drawn much closer to becoming a stronger, more competitive airline,” said Jerrold Glass, the airline’s senior vice president of employee relations. Thursday’s vote gives the airline ratified deals with two of its four major unions: the CWA and the pilots’ union. It still needs ratified deals from its flight attendants and its machinists’ union. CWA leaders had urged approval of the deal. They said the pay cuts, while steep, are much less than the 34 percent cuts initially sought by the airline. The contract cuts pay for most CWA employees by 13 percent, with top scale now at $18 an hour. Employees would not receive pay raises until at least 2008.’

I love that quote from the Sr. VP of ‘Employee Relations’: ’… our ability to work collaboratively with our employees toward common goals and solutions.’

Whatta loada horse hockey.

What actually happened, ‘Jerrold’, was that your airline threatened its employees with the complete loss of their jobs via liquidation; instead of standing firm and unemployed, the workers voted to take a big ol’ pay cut and keep a paycheck that will be marginally better than unemployment compensation and might last marginally longer. And they’ll do it again and again every time you ask them to or you’ll have the judge ram it down their throats.

And if USAirways does liquidate, as an ‘executive’ Jerrold will land pretty soft pretty much anywhere; the workers will land … in not so good circumstances.

I’ll add USAirways to my list of sucky airlines that need to join Eastern in the great airline graveyard in the sky. Sorry, USAirways employees, but your executives (and hence your airline) are irredeemably amoral.

Looks like United wins another one; « Independence Air is about to scuttle its independence »:

‘Independence Air, which has struggled since its launch six months ago as an independent low-fare carrier, has been asked by bankrupt United Airlines to return as a feeder carrier, a company spokesman said on Thursday. Rick DeLisi, a spokesman for Independence Air’s Dulles-based corporate parent, Flyi Inc., said the company received an unsolicited request from UAL Corp.’s United to bid on the regional feeder routes. He said that the company has discussed the issue with United, but declined to confirm that the company actually submitted a bid. “We have always said that we would be open to listening to any idea,” DeLisi said. Flyi executives had previously stated they would consider a return to flying as a regional carrier. … Flyi, formerly known as Atlantic Coast Airlines, embarked on the Independence Air experiment after United Airlines filed for bankruptcy and sought to sharply curtail the profit margins of its regional carriers. Though some analysts questioned the wisdom of trying to run a low-fare airline with regional jets, which generally have higher unit costs, Flyi executives said the potential rewards of establishing a successful independent carrier outweighed the risks.’

Basically what we have here, then, is that badly mismanaged and fiscally irresponsible United, operating under the guise of bankruptcy, has royally screwed over its unions and its regional carrier ‘partners,’ yet again.

Lesson: If you’re too stupid to run your airline properly even during tough times, just run screaming to a judge and you’ll get what you want anyway.

I’m sorry, but United needs to join Pan American, Braniff, Eastern, etc., in the graveyard of once-proud, once-great, but now ridiculously awful airlines. If you’re a United employee, I’m sorry for that sentiment, but … well … take it up with the idiots at the home office in Elk Grove.

2004-12-26 01:04:59

We spent quite a bit of time driving around in the Jeep today. The seven inches of snow and hard-packed ice on side streets were quite fun.

The Grand was rock-solid and never slipped or slid unless I forced it to. In some ways, it’’s a bit boring. But I’‘ve never been accused of being a live-on-the-edge kinda guy anyway.

The heater and heated seats are awesome; you build up a sweat pretty quick. I hate driving in a coat anyway, so that comes off, even though the temp gauge reads 10 degrees.

Almost a month, 550 miles and counting, and I’‘m still very, very happy. (Well, mostly. We won’‘t talk about the gas mileage.)

Well, I see that, on a day which is supposed to be the holiest to ‘Jesus is my hero’ types like himself, the « Emperor delivers his most hypocritical Christmas message ever »

’[The Emperor] on Saturday urged Americans to help the neediest among them by volunteering to care for the sick, the elderly and the poor in a Christmas day call for compassion. “Many of our fellow Americans still suffer from the effects of illness or poverty, others fight cruel addictions, or cope with division in their families, or grieve the loss of a loved one,” he said in his weekly radio address. “Christmastime reminds each of us that we have a duty to our fellow citizens, that we are called to love our neighbor just as we would like to be loved ourselves,” Bush added. “By volunteering our time and talents where they are needed most, we help heal the sick, comfort those who suffer, and bring hope to those who despair, one heart and one soul at a time.”’

Pardon me while I retch violently.

That was the Emperor’s words. Lest we forget, here are the Emperor’s actions:

’‘In one of the first signs of the effects of the ever tightening federal budget, in the past two months the Bush administration has reduced its contributions to global food aid programs aimed at helping millions of people climb out of poverty. With the budget deficit growing and [the Emperor] promising to reduce spending, the administration has told representatives of several charities that it was unable to honor some earlier promises and would have money to pay for food only in emergency crises like that in Darfur, in western Sudan. The cutbacks, estimated by some charities at up to $100 million, come at a time when the number of hungry in the world is rising for the first time in years and all food programs are being stretched.

‘As a result, Save the Children, Catholic Relief Services and other charities have suspended or eliminated programs that were intended to help the poor feed themselves through improvements in farming, education and health. “We have between five and seven million people who have been affected by these cuts,” said Lisa Kuennen, a food aid expert at Catholic Relief Services. “We had approval for all of these programs, often a year in advance. We hired staff, signed agreements with governments and with local partners, and now we have had to delay everything.” Ms. Kuennen said Catholic Relief Services had to cut back programs in Indonesia, Malawi and Madagascar, among other countries.’

Now, I’m not supposed to judge my fellow man. So I’ll just have to take comfort in the hope that someday, God will judge this man for BOTH his words and actions.

Small comfort, but it’ll have to suffice in order for us to get through the next four years of hell the Emperor will unleash.

Merry Christmas, my ass.

On Christmas Day, the one day of the year when ‘Goodwill Toward Men’ is supposed to prevail, comes news that « our post-retirement future is in the hands of a buncha nuts and partisan political hacks »:

‘Nearly everyone agrees that it will be hard, perhaps impossible, for [the Emperor] to overhaul Social Security without bipartisan support. But the parties have not been this far apart ideologically on Capitol Hill for decades, some analysts say. And many Democrats assert that the last four years under Mr. Bush have only deepened the division and mistrust. Democratic leaders are careful to say they are willing to engage in bipartisan discussions about the problems facing Social Security, with “no preconditions on either side,” as Representative Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic leader in the House, put it last week. The [emperor] himself said Thursday that he understood that “I have a responsibility to reach out to members of both political parties and I will meet that responsibility.” But leading Democrats say [the Emperor] is beginning his Social Security drive with some unacceptable preconditions. Indeed, Democratic leaders dispute the Republicans’ central assertions: that the problems facing Social Security constitute a crisis, and that diverting payroll taxes to private investment accounts is the way to solve it. Social Security trustees have estimated that without changes, the system will start running short of money to pay full benefits in 38 years. “If we allow them to frame it that way — that there is a crisis, therefore we must go to private accounts — if we allow them to frame it that way, the fact is, we’ve perpetrated a huge fraud,” said Senator Byron L. Dorgan, Democrat of North Dakota and chairman of the Democratic Policy Committee. Moreover, any serious effort to build a bipartisan coalition is bucking some powerful trends. The latest analysis of roll-call votes by Congressional Quarterly showed that 2003 was the most partisan year of the past five decades studied, and 2004 was only slightly less so.’

Good lord. We are SO screwed when we hit retirement age.

I switched the tires on the Bobcat today from the smooth good-weather ones to the knobby snow/mountain tires for winter. It’s time to go try the thing out on the snow and ice. I’m eager to get back in shape and get things going so I can be ready to do some serious riding this summer.

I’ll probably do myself an injury.

« Our Life in Michigan – Christmas Day 2004 »

« Our Life in Michigan – Christmas Day 2004 »

« Our Life in Michigan – First Big Snowfall of Winter »

It’s really grand out there, but this stuff is so dry and fluffy, one cannot make a decent snowman [sniff]. Still, it’s about time we had something fluffy and white on the ground.

The beagle, however, much prefers the couch …

It took a while … a very long while … but finally a « Florida appeals court has upheld an award to a flight attendant who blamed secondhand smoke on airliners for bronchitis and sinus disease »:

‘A state appeals court upheld a $500,000 award to a flight attendant who blamed secondhand smoke on airliners for her bronchitis and sinus trouble—a decision Wednesday that could clear the way for damage trials on up to 3,000 similar claims. The ruling for former TWA attendant Lynn French was a test case interpreting a $349 million settlement reached in 1997 between the tobacco industry and nonsmoking attendants. The flight attendants blamed their illnesses on smoke in the cabin before smoking was banned on domestic flights in 1990. … After the tobacco industry agreed to settle, a system of mini-trials was set up for each flight attendant to decide whether he or she deserved compensatory damages. Under the ground rules, each jury was to presume that secondhand smoke causes several diseases; the attendants had to prove only that they suffered from one of those diseases and that their exposure to smoke occurred on the job.’

Justice moves slow. VERY slow. But good for Lynn French.

The weather today was sunny and it got up to 40 degrees, which is actually the warmest it’s been in at least 5 or 6 days. We’ve had a run of blustery, chilly weather here in southeast Michigan. On Monday night the temperature went down to 1 degree below zero, which is probably the coldest I’ve ever seen it (including last year).

So far the amount of snow has been underwhelming, but I enjoyed walking around in the flurries yesterday afternoon. I had turned in my final paper and just gotten off work and the walk from campus to the Ann Arbor District Library was strangely exhilarating. I will still be working during the break, but the respite from schoolwork is welcome.

‘From The Observer comes a great article about the « one man who remembers the 1914 Christmas Truce »:

‘The words drifted across the frozen battlefield: ‘Stille Nacht. Heilige Nacht. Alles Schlaft, einsam wacht’. To the ears of the British troops peering over their trench, the lyrics may have been unfamiliar but the haunting tune was unmistakable. After the last note a lone German infantryman appeared holding a small tree glowing with light. ‘Merry Christmas. We not shoot, you not shoot.’ It was just after dawn on a bitingly cold Christmas Day in 1914, 90 years ago on Saturday, and one of the most extraordinary incidents of the Great War was about to unfold. Weary men climbed hesitantly at first out of trenches and stumbled into no man’s land. They shook hands, sang carols, lit each other’s cigarettes, swapped tunic buttons and addresses and, most famously, played football, kicking around empty bully-beef cans and using their caps or steel helmets as goalposts. The unauthorised Christmas truce spread across much of the 500-mile Western Front where more than a million men were encamped.

‘According to records held by the World War One Veterans’ Association, there is only one man in the world still alive who spent 25 December 1914 serving in a conflict that left 31 million people dead, wounded or missing. Alfred Anderson was 18 at the time. Speaking to The Observer, Anderson has revealed remarkable new details of the day etched on history, including pictures of Christmas gifts sent to the troops.’

Fascinating. That’s a man I’d love to meet and interview.

I had to run over to Auburn Hills this evening and the Jeep passed the 500-mile mark with no problems.

The biggest shock has been the abominable gas mileage: 13.4 on the first tank, which was just driving around Ann Arbor.

This evening driving home, the monitor said I was getting 18. 13 and 18 are a far cry from the 17 and 21 on the sticker.

Still, other than contributing to the slaughter of the environment, which does disturb me, I’m very happy with the Grand. It’s rock-steady in the snow and slush, the heated seats are fabulous and it’s so smooth and easy to drive. I miss very little about the Wrangler, even though I would like to have kept it as a fun second car.

I still am not thrilled about the rear blind spots; a couple of times on the freeway this evening, there were cars there that I wasn’t aware of at all. It will take extra vigilance.

I’m liking the color better this week.