So here we are, in the midst of what are reportedly the worst economic conditions since either the dawn of time or the Great Depression, depending on your pundit of choice. Irrefutably, the automobile industry globally is in something like meltdown; just last summer, Toyota was selling the Prius above sticker price and had a 6-month wait list at local dealerships, but now is even giving incentives on Priuses (Priuii?) to move them off the lot.
So doesn’t this seem like a particularly bad moment for government to impose new, more stringent regulations upon automobile manufacturers to produce more emissions-friendly vehicles? It’s not like more MPG is going to materialize out of thin air, it’s going to require some R&D, which requires monies, which none of the car companies have.
Which means that come 2011 what we’re going to get coming out of car lots is a bunch of crap that will remind all of us of the horrific Oldsmobile gas/diesels of the late Malaise Era.
The MP crew has tired of seeing their pirated content on Youtube, so they’ve decided to take matters into their own hands. Rather than start suing, they’ve just put up high quality versions of all their best stuff for free. With a plea to buy their stuff, too. So revisit some of your favorite Python scenes and buy some of their DVDs and stuff.
Still not convinced? All the cool kids are doing it:
Paglia and I, like Stevo and I, have disagreements on many things (although apparently Paglia agrees with me on “global warming.” I’m still not sure where Stevo stands on that issue other than he likes to yank my chain.). But I think we all can agree on this point from Paglia’s most recent column on Slate:
“…Harry Reid is a cadaverous horse’s ass of mammoth proportions.”
“If Barack Obama really wanted to be cagey, he could pardon Bush, Cheney and Rumsfeld for the possible commission of war crimes.”
See the genius here? He gets to flay Bush and his cronies in public while at the same time taking the high road. Sorta. You can just see Obama saying it: “Look. We aren’t going to dwell on these past crimes. We issued a pardon so that we can move forward and deal with the problems we are facing today.”
I think he’s enough a part of the establishment and really wants to get things done so that we’ll never see this, but the fireworks would be spectacular.
The Bush Administration is gettin leaky with it. If this is part of some strategy, it is itself another form of pressure on Iran. But as we’ve said before, if Iraq really has 5,000 centrifuges spinning (even older types) this cake is all but baked.
Dawg saw Gran Torino this weekend, and gives it Dawg Pound certification. Thank you Mr. Eastwood, one alpha male to another.