Yearly Archives: 2011

Not that news organizations exploiting human tragedy for financial gain is anything new, but I find this distasteful.  ABC News Radio is airing segments called “Countdown to 9/11: Ten Years Ago Today” in which Brian Ross recounts what the attackers were doing that particular day, and what asleep-at-the-wheel Americans were preoccupied with instead.

The radio spots are echoed on the ABC News website.  On the page for August 26, 2001, for example, we learn that at the same time the American Flight 77 hijacker was practicing flight maneuvers, Sammy Sosa of the Chicago Cubs belted his 50th home run of the season. A photo of Sammy and his lovely wife Sonya accompany the story.

I wonder what Dick Cheney was doing August 26, 2001.  Thinking about invading Iraq?  Or looking forward to bombing Syria?  If ABC News wants to jerk a few tears (and the operative word here is jerk), they might interview some 9/11 families to see what they were doing those August days, what they had planned for the rest of the summer, and whether they trusted their leaders were protecting them from terrorists determined to strike in the U.S.

From a press release by Kimberly-Clark, the makers of Cottonelle toilet paper:

“The Cottonelle brand introduced new designer roll covers to shine a spotlight on our most care-worthy toilet paper ever…” said Matt Steele, Cottonelle associate brand manager.  “We’re thrilled that so many people are rethinking how they care for their toilet paper and want to respect the roll with a Cottonelle brand designer roll cover.”

The Cottonelle brand designer roll covers feature three fashion-forward designs inspired by the latest trends.  Marked by colorful prints and patterns and designs that look hand-sketched, the roll cover designs were inspired by feverish trends, explained Kimberly-Clark Designer Christine Mau.

“In today’s high-tech, digital world, there is a trend toward design that feels like it was touched and created by hand,” said Mau. “These roll covers, inspired by a Mid-Century Modern movement, will make people stop and take notice and, in turn, make them think about caring for their toilet paper like never before.”

Feverish trends?  Mid-Century Modern movement?  Caring for toilet paper?  I don’t want to think about toilet paper let alone care for it.  And people get paid to whip up this crap? One has to wonder: when Designer Christine Mau heads to the bathroom, does she have a Mid-Century Modern movement?

I hate marketing — a Mad Men cocktail of one part phoniness to three parts manipulation, served over ice-cold avarice.  Garnished with bullshit.

Folks in these parts, public and private, have been all-a-titter for days now, ever since our fair city “participated” in the National Go Topless Day on Sunday, August 21.  The event certainly had enough exposure — it was the lead story on the local news for three days.  Fall-out from the event is being felt throughout the community — it inspired one woman from Henderson County, 30 miles away, to write to the Asheville Citizen-Times:

REAL MOUNTAIN RESIDENTS DISGUSTED BY STRIP SHOW

I knew the city of Asheville had gone on a downhill slide as far as decency is concerned, but the strip show on Sunday was very degrading and made me glad I had moved from that area.  The real “Land of the Sky” mountain heritage folks are disgusted with all this immoral display. If everyone who is against this would stop shopping in Asheville and write letters to our senator, we might get a law against this sort of thing.  The real natives of Buncombe County would like to have a city with higher standards where we could stroll the streets with our children.

You know, I’m not even going to get into the topless thing here.  A similar event took place in Rochester, NY, 25 years ago, so this is old news to me.  And while the letter-writer offers no evidence she attended the event or was harmed by it, she is free to say what she wants.  What I do find disturbing, though, is her insistence that some people around here are more “real” than others.  I would fall into her not-real category.

This attitude is prevalent here — you hear it and experience it in various forms.   But its essence is that of bigotry, prejudice and fear of outsiders.

I was originally going to say that I hadn’t encountered anything like this while growing up in western Pennsylvania or while living in upstate New York.  True, I don’t recall hearing anyone say, “Those folks aren’t real Pennsylvanians.”  But I do know there are “outsiders” in those places too, people made to feel they don’t belong, because they are black, or poor, or Jewish, or Italian, or Mexican, or gay… the reasons are endless, aren’t they?

By accident of birth, I have always had the privilege of being part of the dominant culture, until now.  I am not about to put the prejudice and hostility shown to transplants like me on the same footing as racism, but it is part of that continuum.  It is unsettling to be on the receiving end of prejudice, and it is hard to intellectualize it away.  It eats at you, at times.

By the way, the topless story was bounced from the local news today.  Tonight’s lead story: some parents are upset that students are not saying “The Pledge of Allegiance” every day.  This is the little town I live in.