Fast Food Nation?
Lately the fast food industry has been behaving very strangely.
First, I see this KFC TV ad the other day. It was triumphing the — yeah, hold on to your seats — diet properties of their fresh fried chicken for low carb diets! C’mon Atkiners, line up for a grease-filled bucket and watch the pounds fall off! Oh, and I bolded that fresh part because at the bottom of the screen, in the small print, was: Fresh claim may not be applicable in all areas. Um, just WTF does that mean? And how do I find which locations are “fresh” participants? *shudder*
Then I’m watching the news tonight and all asudden McDonald’s and others have decided that shoving 9 chickens in one cage was perhaps just a little bit cruel. (Apparently 7 per cage is not cruel according to “scientists.” [cbs.com]) The Mickey D’s Director of Social Responsibility (I really enjoyed that one!) was describing how the geniuses at HQ had finally figured out that their customers actually liked animals and preferred they not be treated like utter shit:
It’s a part of doing business. It’s not a fad. It’s not just a nice thing to do. It’s not a left field idea. It’s mainstream.
Oy vey.
Worst Album Covers Ever
Scary stuff. [cenedella.com]
Um, is it possible for Devastatin’ Dave… the Turntable Slave not to suck?
Wal-Mart commits voter fraud?
While most have heard about Wal-Mart’s slave labor problems [nytimes.com], today’s Chronicle spotlights a local bay area community which said “no” to Wal-Mart [alternet.org] and it’s hidden costs to taxpayers. Wal-Mart’s response was nothing short of moral bankruptcy: an underhanded campaign to purposely mislead public opinion which could very well be just downright illegal.
Not only have they disguised their campaign as a do-good government program called “CAN”, but they are participating in what may be outright voter fraud:
You also get a chance to fill out a voter registration application, which is conveniently mailed to Wal-Mart’s CAN, rather than to the registrar of voters. If you want more information, you are referred to an 800 telephone number.
But 20 calls to the number elicited the same response: “Only ‘Kathy’ knows about the program, she’s on the other line, so just leave your name and number.” Is it conceivable that Wal-Mart has hired only one person who is familiar with CAN? Or is this just a ploy to gather names and phone numbers to enlist shoppers in its political campaign?
Pretty despicable stuff. But Americans have proven over and over again they’re too stupid to tell the difference between a real bargain and a boondoggle laden with hidden costs. Just look at our current administration! Of course, Wal-Mart knows this and they also know they’ll win. And guess what? That 22 cents you saved on Scope is going to cost you $22 in taxes and community services.
San Francisco Elections
Here’s the returns [sfgate.com]. About 10% reporting.
Natch, Newsom is out in front. I personally find him and his plastic wife unpalatable, but whatever, there will most likely be a run-off between the ultra-coifed Gavin and “Angry Angela.” She’ll loose, but were this Fight Club my money’d be on her.
All the propositions are passing, with the exception of the bizarre Taxi permit “protection” for the disabled — which was nothing more than a thinly disguised extortion racket by the permit holders.
Gavin’s dimwitted Prop M — the “Aggressive Solicitation Ban” — is good example of what’s wrong with this boy. It’s a popularity ploy touted to get those 2-toothed homeless begging for quarters outta your face, but it can do real damage to organizations such as The Salvation Army and The Girl Scouts. Yes, that cute little 8-year old is “aggressively soliciting” Thin Mints to you in front of Mollie Stone’s — lock that bitch up!
I found Angela’s Prop J, which promised to provide shelter for the city’s homeless youth, seniors, and disabled to be just soooo San Francisco. The entire legal text of the proposition was no more than 3 paragraphs and offered absolutely zero implementation details. In other words, it was nothing more than sympathy vote and guilt-removal for all us who step over and ignore these people every day.
UPDATE 10:43pm: Thankfully, Matt Gonzalez will be Newsom’s opponent in the December runoff. Good for Matt.
comments