Time for Tea!

BBC ran an article on the recent 'harsh' edicts laid down by the administration. The article finished by asking for a response from anyone affected by the content of the article. My response:

Everyone who drives and pays taxes has been affected by the continued practice of treating the symptom, not the cause.

The US, with its lack of functional mass transit due to the expanses of our work/live/play model, makes us tied to our autos. Autos continue to be tied, due to the outdated internal combustion engine, to fossil fuels. Fossil fuels are predominantly tied to Petro-Terrorist states our government continues to cowtow to. A no-win cycle for our economy and our environment.

Let us nor forget the biggest problem with US manufacturing: the union. The union continues to keep us uncompetitive with its antiquated collective bargaining (as relavent today as the electoral college!). Their tactics, nothing short of extortion, have artificially driven up costs on every product involving union trade. Like the combustion engine, it's time for unions to go the way of the Model T (Ford's orginal models were not internal combustion).Yes, it affects us all greatly.

Our hard-earned money, given with such eagerness to poorly run institutions, whilst the true backbone of the economy, the small businessperson, continues to go without.

Tea, anyone!

Idiocracy of the Week

Watching my neighbor, smug in their decision to purchase a hybrid, drive the 2 blocks from their house to the mailbox and back home again.

Why Do We Still Have Phone Books

The Phone Book. The poster child of a waste of natural resources and the base ingredient of any landfill.

When I arrived home today, I had to crack a sarcastic smile at the box on the counter. Via UPS, AT&T sent me 21 pounds of phone books. Why? So I can add to the other 40 pounds of phone books sent to me by the 'real' yellow pages (they sent us 2 sets...just to be sure!).

I realize that they do come in handy; prop a door open, replace a leg on a desk or table, kindling for the fireplace. Oh, yeah....to look up a phone number in case the power goes out and you want to wile away your time trying to figure out what catagory the listing you are looking for is under.

Granted, not everyone has access to the internet yet. I get that.

Here's an idea - Offer the ability to opt out or in. I can only imagine how many hundreds if not thousands of tons of paper, ink and glue would be saved, let alone wind up in a landfill.

Being in public relations, I realize this is advertising, sort of. Personally, I look for recommendations. I don't remember the last time I sought service from the yellow pages (real or not!). I steer all who inquire away from this shotgun approach that is quickly going the way of the wired phone line.

At any rate, I'm off to borrow a handtruck to load my 60+ pounds of yellow to be recycled.