To Whom It May Concern:
I, like millions of other Honda customers, am in receipt of an Important Safety Recall notice dated February 2024, for defective fuel pumps that “could prevent an engine from starting, cause a vehicle to lose drive power, or stall while driving, increasing the risk of a crash or injury.” And, you know, death!
Let’s do an experiment.
In any experiment, one starts with a question or problem, forms a hypothesis as to what they think will answer the question or solve the problem, then sets about testing the soundness of that hypothesis. At least that’s what I seem to recall from my high school science classes.
So, here are my questions. Will journalistic publishers ever provide unbiased information or at the very least, present ALL the sides of an argument with descriptions of where bias my bleed into them from the participating parties? Are journalists and editors and publishers capable of delivering data and opinions in a manner that stimulates conversation, understanding, and informed decisions? Or are they just about ego and money-generating clickbait?
When the writers went on strike I really couldn’t muster a fart. Like everyone else, they gotta do what they gotta do. And in the end, it wasn’t going to amount to anything permanently worthwhile because that’s how America rolls. America is not a society of proactive action. We don’t like to prevent disaster; we like to wait for it to happen to us, bitch about it, throw around blame, and go back to regular programming without ever changing course. Sometimes we duct tape and silly string together a “new plan” to protect certain vulnerable groups from repeat disaster, but it’s always half-hearted and never well thought out. It’ll be the same for writers in Hollywood. Studios will give in a little. There will be a New Deal that’ll last a couple years and be full of loopholes, but no one will care because the big names in the Writers’ Guild will call it a win at election time and the senior writers will get theirs before retiring in a few years giving no figs for the up-and-coming writers, cuz screw them, we got ours!
October 9, 2022
By: Laura Christie
A recent poll suggested that over 80% of Americans are concerned about the economy and inflation. Given the rarity of such an occurrence – to wit, 80% of Americans agreeing on anything, I sat down with the seven members of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors and the twelve Federal Reserve Bank presidents to ask them why things are so FUBAR. Here’s what they had to say*.
JUST STOP ALREADY!
Stop with your absurdly-priced, tech-bloated, crap wagons and just build cars that work!
Humans have been making automobiles for over 200 years (using Cugnot’s fardier à vapeur as a starting point) and yet you can’t seem to figure out how to make basic transportation anymore because you’re too busy trying to make computers on wheels! STOP IT! STOP IT RIGHT NOW! I have an advanced computer in my pocket, on my desk, and on my nightstand – I DO NOT NEED ONE BUILT INTO MY CAR!
I have A LOT of questions about the housing market that no one seems willing or able to answer. Some journalists have written stories about specific problem pockets, but most just write what’s dictated to them by “sources” with (in)vested interests and agendas. Politicians are universally useless. Even if they get the gist of the desperation and depravity at the core of the issue, they offer platitudes along the lines of “I’m calling for investigations into ______.” (The same thing they do every time there’s a shooting, price increase, supply shortage, or scandal and somehow get awarded political credits they later cash in for votes.) There is job security in actively doing nothing and being able to blame the other guy for preventing action. The two institutions of accountability are deeply corrupted by the usefulness of apathy. Political leadership and the media are almost* universally complicit in reducing this country to a real-life Lord of the Flies existence.
Recently, David Lazarus wrote a column titled: Chase let an elderly customer wire more than $600,000 to an overseas scammer. While his intentions we’re probably honorable, his story was the equivalent of Biden releasing strategic oil reserves to bring down gas prices or blaming the meat packing industry for inflation – great for headlines that appeal to the sardine-like masses and spark viral social media indignation, but pretty useless at addressing or fixing the deeper problem(s).
Download a free copy of Laura Christie's novel - The Family Tree
December 17, 2021
We all woke up to news of the tornadoes that attacked Illinois, Tennessee, and Kentucky and our hearts broke for the millionth time as families searched for loved ones, as deaths were confirmed, as footage of destroyed homes and businesses were shown on a constantly expanding loop while news readers interviewed governors and mayors extolling the pride they felt in their local businesses and community – and for the millionth time we still have no answers because no one is asking the hard questions and demanding accountability.
By Hildee Baldwin
December 16, 2021
Back in the days when things were still proudly built to last and people memorized the phone numbers of friends and families; record companies sold discs the size of bread plates called “singles” – they were often, but not always, made of black vinyl and were etched with two songs, one on each side, that could be played on something called a record player which transferred the music from the single to speakers that allowed you to hear the songs. These singles had what were known as an A-side and a B-side. The A-side usually contained the song the record company bribed the DJs to play, the song they were betting on to launch the entire album or test the waters to see if the public would be interested in shelling out their cash to buy a whole album of songs and concert tickets and t-shirts and wall posters. The B-side was a gift with purchase if you will, something the record label threw on because all discs have two sides and why not give the public a song or remix that may otherwise never ride the airwaves.
By Hildee Baldwin
June 30, 2021
Snowflakes and Bubbles have one thing in common; each individual one is similar but entirely unique and both are extremely fragile.
May 11, 2021
Dead fish wrapped in newspaper donated by national media outlets have been thumping on the door sills of all registered California Democrats most mornings, a warning from the Democrat Family matriarch.
By Hildee Baldwin
May 10, 2021
Restaurant owners and managers across America are playing a symphony of tiny violins and the media is giving them a stage and fifty-foot speakers.
‘No one wants to work for us!’
By Laura Christie
May 11, 2021
In a moment of meta metaphoric tone deafness, the Federal Reserve Chairman and the CEO of The Windy City's Federal Reserve Bank threw cupcakes from their chauffeured, bullet-proof hooptie at a tent camp of homeless citizens.