Fuck You, Rupert Murdoch

I finally got my chance.

I was a subscriber to The Wall Street Journal for a couple of years. Then Rupert Murdoch bought the paper. It distressed me. As expected, the editorial page has gotten even more religious-righty in nature than it had been.

To protest, I decided I wasn't going to renew my subscription. Big deal, right? So, for about three months, they've kept delivering the paper while billing me to get me to renew. I just never responded.

Finally, this week, they started calling. I thought the out-of-town number was a political robo-call but after a few times I decided to answer it. The telemarketer had her schpeal down pat. I let her go on and on.

"I'm not interested," I said when she made a quick stop to take a breadth.

Then she had even more benefits she was willing to throw in at no charge. Mind you, this paper ain't cheap.

"Sorry, no."

"What can I do to change your mind," she asked.

"Nothing. I won't be back until Rupert Murdoch sells the paper and I don't expect that will happen anytime soon."

"Oh," and then she hung up. And the deliveries stopped the next day.

It won't make any difference because I'm sure that what Y|O|Y thinks isn't on Murdoch's radar. Still, I kinda hope she had a check box on the screen that she could mark next to my name to register my opinion.

Fuck you, Rupert Murdoch.

White Flight

From the Wall Street Journal:

The Census data "suggests that white flight from large cities may have bottomed out in the 1990s," says William Frey, a demographer at the Brookings Institution, a Washington think tank.

On the dead end neighborhood street where I live here in upstate NY, there are 28 homes. All are 100% white. Have been since the development was started in 1953. No black. No Latin. No Asian. Best I can tell, I'm the only homo. Most are of Irish and Italian descent and attend the local Catholic church.

So different from my experience in California where it really is a melting pot. The non-white populace in Orange County is mostly Latino and Vietnamese — a large percentage of the Vietnamese boat people were settled in Fountain Valley (along with San Jose and Plano, TX). There are large Chinese and Iranian communities as well. Not many blacks, though. Even the white folks are from foreign places — in the most recent neighborhood that I lived, we had folks from the U.K., Australia, and Texas.

I remember telling a woman that I worked with in CA back in 1985 that she was the first black person I ever knew. She couldn't believe it. Surely there were black folks where I grew up. Yes, I told her, but they were "in the city" and not in the suburbs where I lived. It's just the way things were and the way they still are...at least here in upstate NY.
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Douche Bags Of The Week: American Corporate Outsourcers

It's one thing to outsource work. It's quite another to outsource work and not have the appropriate policies and procedures in place to assure the safety of the American public.

I'm pretty familiar with this issue as my ex used to import American-branded surfwear from China and had been to China many times...mostly Shanghai.

Everyone knows that China is an environmental disaster. There are concerns that there won't even be clean drinking water for the 2008 Olympic Games and food safety could be an issue for the athletes. The Chinese public is wary of drinking anything from their tap especially in Beijing. The government is rife with corruption, bribery, and scandal.

I think the responsibililty then falls to the companies that import their products to guarantee their safety. If they are forced to put the appropriate mechanisms in place for safety, outsourcing production to China may not be as economical as they think and we can keep those jobs at home.

First it was tainted food. Then poison toothpaste and dangerous auto tires. Now it's toys.

From AP via Yahoo! News:

Mattel apologized to customers affected by a recall nearly a million toys from its Fisher-Price division and said the move will cut pretax operating income at the world's largest toymaker by $30 million.

Included in the recall were 83 types of toys based on the popular characters Big Bird, Elmo and Dora, among others.

The company said it was reviewing the procedures of all of its manufacturing partners in China.

I wonder after the cost of the recall, lawsuits, and the drop in share price, just how much cheaper those toys made in China turned out to be.

To American manufacturers, I say, "Bring those jobs home." And stop forcing me to talk with someone in India any time I need some cusotmer service. Earth to big corporations: they make things worse instead of better!
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Just Say 'No' To Murdoch

Open Letter To Richard Zannino:

As you are the CEO of Dow Jones Co, Inc., I implore you to work with the Bancroft family to reject the recent takeover bid posed by Rupert Murdoch. After watching the OUTFOXED video (link at right), we all must resist his attempt to push a radical world agenda through an ever-increasing media conglomerate. The last thing we need is war mongering on Page 1 and nude photos on Page 6 of The Wall Street Journal. It may seems like a weird proposition for you as a leader in our capitalistic system, but selling your property to him isn't worth it at any price.

Sincerely,

Y|O|Y

P.S. Look me up If you're ever upstate. I'll make it worth your while. You're hot.
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Once An Activist...

Yesterday, the Wall Street Journal reported on a 22-year-old project manager at Kaiser Permanente named Justen Deal that was a whistle blower on a massive project. Instead of celebrating this brash young man's insight, and firing the syncophants that report to the CEO, they found an excuse to fire him instead. Seems like it always works that way. Sometimes I wonder how American business survives with all the a$$holes in charge. Kinda like politics, I suppose. Those who can, do. Those that can't, ride to the top on the backs of others. The Peter Principle...everyone rises to the level of their incompetence.

But I'm off track. In the article, they mention that, "As a teen in West Virginia, he testified before the state legislature in favor of gay rights and was mentioned in a front-page Washington Post story." The article continues, "After stints performing administrative chores at a West Virginia symphony and a gay-rights group in Ottawa, he moved to Los Angeles to work for a travel agency."

If he's 'one of us', I say "Go Justen!"
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