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December 19, 2009

RIP, SAAB (or not? See update)

Despite my earlier hopes, it looks like SAAB is dead:

Auto enthusiasts across the country were dismayed by the news Friday that General Motors was planning to shut down Saab, the Swedish carmaker it bought two decades ago, after a deal to sell it fell apart.
Some of the technology has been sold to a Chinese company while various other companies are considering picking over the pieces.

Check Jalopnik for a list of the seven cars that killed Saab.

UPDATE: Dutch supercar maker Spyker makes another offer to GM in an effort to buy Saab.

Posted by Dean at 11:36 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

December 2, 2009

The Rudolph the Rednose Reindeer TV Special: Bad for Children


Willing Tool of the Oppressors

I've touched on this before in reference to offensive Christmas songs, but this applies even moreso when it comes to TV special which will be playing over and over again this month. We need to face some facts here: Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer is a story of how an object of oppression and abuse will willingly serve his own abusers once he can be found useful in service to the machine. The appropriate response to the other reindeer who used to laugh and call him names is to tell then to go stuff themselves-- and Santa, too -- both of whom didn't care too much for Rudolph because of his physical deformity until his red nose was necessary to bail Santa out of a jam.

And is this what the misfit toys should learn? That they must remain in exile on their island unless they, too, are deemed to have some attribute worthy of the very system that has rejected them?

Posted by Dean at 11:34 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack