The Prius Fantasy

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says that the Toyota Prius Hybrid gets 60 miles per gallon in city driving. Truth is closer to 45. Explanation? The government agency goofed! If you are shocked, you haven't spent much time around government workers. I hope they (government workers) bought the Prius, in large numbers, so that they may enjoy their own incompetence. All of this gives new meaning to the saying, "Close enough for government work."

In the car business, if something sounds too good to be true, it probably is. BTW, don't blame Toyota for the EPA's miscalculation. You can blame Toyota for the much celebrated stalling problem and for the lofty Prius MSRP.

I am waiting for the day when all of the individual independent consumer agencies start investigating each other to see who's doing their homework...or not. Mike Wallace, are you reading this?

ROSIE & THE DOW

A few observations, today. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose to over 13,000 for the first time in history, yesterday!

Huh? What does this mean? It means that people who have money will feel comfortable spending some of it. Spending it on small things and especially larger ticket items like, gasp, cars and homes. This means that the economy picks up......at least a little. This is good for everybody! So what do we hear on the radio, this morning? Rosie is leaving "The View", nobody got tossed from "American Idol", The Indiana Pacers are looking for a new coach and Alec Baldwin wants to get out of his NBC contract after his ex leaks a tape of a private telephone conversation of his - to the internet! All this fascinating dribble takes preference over the Dow's milestone.

I think we're all bozos on this bus.....

One More Thing About Imus...

The Imus situation bothers me. I couldn't put my finger on it, until I read the attached commentary from Jason Whitlock of the Kansas City Star. If it matters to anyone, Mr. Whitlock is an Afro American.

As for Imus' future? Look for the radio Hall Of Famer to move to satellite radio......if he wants to.

Under 30? Read This!

A very self-important college freshman attending a recent football game, took it upon himself to explain to a senior citizen sitting next to him why it was impossible for the older generation to understand his generation. "You grew up in a different world, actually an almost primitive one," the student said, loud enough for many of those nearby to hear. "The young people of today grew up with television, jet planes, space travel, man walking on the moon, our spaceships have visited Mars. We have nuclear energy, electric and hydrogen cars, computers with light-speed processing and," pausing to take another drink of beer.

The Senior took advantage of the break in the student's litany and said, "You're right, son. We didn't have those things when we were young........so we invented them. Now, you arrogant little shit, what are you doing for the next generation?"

Minus Don Imus

Make no mistake about it, what Don Imus said on the air was wrong. It was hurtful to some, embarassing to others and possibly fatal to his career. Having sat behind a microphone for 16 years, I am well aware that you can say anything once. This may be the case for Don Imus. What's going to happen? Remember that Imus is big business. Big business cares about only one thing - THE BOTTOM LINE! Damage control will make sure that the least amount of money is lost due to this matter. How this is done will be most interesting. There is a second wave to this story. This wave is on the horizon and is not being addressed. This is it: Backlash. You cannot legislate respect. The FCC cannot, the legislative branch cannot, and neither Jesse Jackson nor Al Sharpton can. How will Don Imus fans react if he is fired? Should we care? Keeping Imus on the air or canning his ass...which will bring us closer together? Are Jesse and Al the ones to ask?

Teenagers

Richards Denies Snorting Pop

So the internet is all lit up with stories about Rolling Stones' guitarist Keith Richards getting high on his dad's cremated ashes. The guy is often a parody of himself, but in this case, he says he was joking when he told a reporter that he mixed his father's ashes with some cocaine and......

For the record, Richards is 63. His father, Bert, died in 2002 at age 82.

On another note, click here for a funny commercial. ..or at least I thought it was funny...