Dear NASCAR,â?¨â?¨We really like the way you devoured all of the excess sports dollars left available with the exit of hockey. TV, gate, licensed materials… you took it all. We really admire your work. Think you might have time to eat our lunch as well? Let us know by the end of June.â?¨â?¨– The NBA
I know, I know, Fred Phelps has been in the news before.
But there’s just not a spot in Hell that is hot enough for this guy.
My friend Liz brought this to my attention, although I am pretty sure that my take on it was different than hers. (OK, I just spoke to Liz, and I don’t think we’re that out of sync at all.)
Go watch it, then come back and read the rest of this.
http://oak.psych.gatech.edu/~epic/ols-master.html
In her entry, Liz called this video â??scary.â? And I agree. Any future where news delivery is controlled by one or two major corporations, each with their own agenda and ample opportunity to tilt delivery to suit that agenda, is scary. But how is that appreciably different than what we have today? Only in the number of corporations.
Everyone knows that CNN has a liberal bias. NPR, even more so. Fox has a strong conservative tilt. People choose to view one newscast over another (in most cases) to be in line with their own views. It’s easier that way. It’s stress free. (Of course, some choose to view the newscast most opposite their view, just to see what the other side is up to. For instance, I would guess that Liz watches Fox occasionally, and I have Aljazeera Online bookmarked. No one does this exclusively, however.)
The focus of the video is that the mainstream media (which, in the presentation, is represented by The New York Times) all but disappears by 2014. It has become a bit player in a news world dominated by Google and Microsoft.
As a side note: Does anyone believe that a plodding beast like Microsoft is capable of this? They are a victim of their own success: slow, uncreative, a monstrosity formed of attempting to be all things to all people.
Really. Does anyone use MSN as their main search engine?
There are still paid reporters and columnists, but they are paid based on popularity, not quality. Sensationalism is rewarded far more than depth in reporting. Oh wait… how is 2014 different than 2005?
Only in the delivery mechanism. Reporters have not disappeared… editors have. High profile irresponsible reporting via blog is a big player today. But that makes blogs different than the major media outlets how?
Finally, the supposedly bleak picture of the future bemoans the fact that a few intellectually gifted and organized individuals are given a summary of world events without compare in human history.
However, most, who have somewhat lower capabilities and tastes, are given a daily picture that consists of â??trivia.â? They have no bigger picture, they have no scope.
Pardon my cynicism, but yet again, how is 2014 any different that 2005? Most are not interested in what goes on any further away than the end of their block, and a Presidential election that gets half of us to even bother to vote at all is viewed as â??huge turnout.â?
A second side note: To those of you who are thinking â??Apathy and ignorance are precisely the qualities of American society that got us a President like George Bush…â?
Bullshit.
Apathy and ignorance are the qualities that got us CANDIDATES like George Bush and John Kerry. We didn’t care, so we got mediocre candidates. I don’t blame the country for voting for George Bush, because the only available alternative was John Kerry. And those candidates were chosen (depending on your level of cynicism) by a) the political parties themselves, accountable to no one. b) a minority of voters hugely smaller than the ones who actually participated in the actual election (during the primaries) or c) the centralized media we have today. Because they have the Presidential look (tall, vital, and handsome) and that’s what’s important right?
Back to the point at hand.
What I took from the above presentation that the media has a responsibility to inform and educate the lowest common denominator of society, and in 2014, they cannot do that any longer.
Wah. Cry me a river. I have news for you. The truly apathetic and ignorant are not reading The New York Times today. They won’t when it’s electronic, either. They won’t even listen when it is read to them on the way to work by a computer in their car, either. They are far too busy listening to the quality offerings of Maroon 5, Nickelback, and Lindsay Lohan.
All the while, taking their political commentary from Bono, Fred Durst, Toby Keith, and the Dixie Chicks.
If the news was a pill, they would only take it if it made them feel good, too. Or allowed them to have better sex.
I don’t really believe that the mainstream media outlets play any sort of an irreplaceable role in today’s society. They haven’t for at least ten years. The feeling that the media has a â??dutyâ? to inform the public is gone. There is no â??dutyâ? because there is no â??informingâ? going on. When are we supposed to get real news after 10 minutes of commercials, and 17 minutes of Michael Jackson trial coverage? Anyone care to compare the coverage received by Jacko vs. the amount of time spent on the EU constitution floundering? What about the amount of time spent on today’s attacks in Iraq vs. Destiny’s Child breaking up?
Walter Cronkite was irreplaceable. Because there was no alternate method. Now there is, and I am not sure that the alternate method is all that bad, either. If the media of the future allows me to get a bigger, better view of what is going on and leaves some people in the dust, then bring it on.
It’s been a while since someone has really pissed me off with an overwhelming sense of â??I don’t really care what you are saying, now where’s my money?â?
But Nationwide Insurance has done it. They suck. Yep. Nationwide Insurance sucks. That should help the search engine placement a bit.
Specifically, the David Stidham Agency of Carrollton, TX sucks. I would make this post about David and his agency in specific, but when I called Nationwide to have my policy changed to another agency, no one ever called back. Ever. So I really have no choice but to assume that suckage is one of Nationwide’s founding principles, and their goal of complete suckage is enshrined in their mission statement.
All that said… I have no reason to believe that my claim will not be paid. Hell, I don’t even have a claim yet. I can’t get them to do anything for me, AND I’M NOT EVEN ASKING THEM TO PAY ME ANYTHING.
I go months, if not years, without talking to my insurance agent. When I have, he’s been short, somewhat rude, and in general radiating a vibe of â??why are you talking to me, you annoy me.â? I went with him when I very first purchased my house because he was the cheapest at the time, and, at the time, that was very important to me. So, let’s set the stage for today’s story… it’s been at least two years since I called this guy about anything. Of course, the draw from my checking account is always serviced promptly.
As you see from the last post, I purchased a new car. I called to have the coverage updated. On Saturday. Tuesday comes, and I still have not heard from anyone. So I call again. At 8:15 am. â??David is not here, he does not get here until 8:30, I’ll have him call you.â?
No one ever calls.
I end up calling the Nationwide 800 number and getting my coverage updated. On Wednesday. During the course of this call, I ask that I be switched to another agent, and that I need to place a homeowner’s claim (my roof is leaking). â??Oh, you can expect a call from your new agent in 1-2 days, and make the homeowner’s claim with them, it’ll give you a chance to work with them.â?
Seemed reasonable.
Except the NEW agent never called. I waited a week.
So today I call the David Stidham agency, which sucks, who represents Nationwide Insurance, who also sucks. Someone actually answered. I could not believe my ears. It wasn’t a machine. I actually teared up. It was a special moment.
â??I need to have someone come out and look at my roof.â?
â??What?â?
Maybe I didn’t speak clearly… â??I need to have someone come out to look at my roof.â?
â??Oh. You have a [number omitted, but it was more than $1K] deductible.â? Yes, this really was the first thing out of her mouth.
â??I’m aware of that. I need someone to come out and look at my roof.â?
â??Oh. Have you had a roofing company out to look at it?â?
â??Uh, no, I figured you guys would want to look at it first.â?
â??If we do, even if the repairs are below the deductible amount, it counts as a claim.â?
â??So?â? Obviously I am clueless.
â??Well, if you claim 3 times in a three year period, we’ll cancel you.â? Yes, this really was what she said, and it really is true that the very first two things she said were:
â??Ah, so if I actually make a claim, you cancel me. Gotcha. I’ll have a roofing company come out and look, and I’ll call back with more complete information.â?
We proceeded to have a conversation about her (I was speaking to David’s assistant, or secretary, or something, he could not be disturbed. I assume he was in his chamber of solitude with his helmet off, communing with the Emperor or something) not returning calls very promptly, and the fact that she never did transfer my new car onto the account, I had to call the 800 number to do so.
â??I did transfer your car.â?
This is a direct lie. I was on the phone with the woman who did it, via the 800 number, and the assistant (who I’m not naming, and I can’t figure out why) called me with a question about 5 DAYS after I had it done via a phone call. I had verified that my coverage had been updated by reviewing my policy on the website days before.
I got off the phone as soon as possible, to avoid dropping a f-bomb on her from my work desk (I get away with a lot at work, but loudly hurling obscene sexual epithets is probably a bit rough, even for my workplace), and called Phillips Roofing.
In less than 2 minutes they had someone scheduled to come out, tomorrow, and they didn’t even require that I be there.
Maybe I should place a call to Nationwide now, so I can get a call back sometime in July.