awake & linking: NPRYou always hear about fuel economy standards and that sort of thing. But, what a lot of people don't know is that the heaviest vehicles are exempt from those standards! Vehicles that weigh between 8,500 and 10,000 pounds don't really need to worry about pesky little notions like limited resources or global warming. To me, this has always seemed as insane as not having locks on death row or ramps in a nursing home.
This is still something that's only being considered, so I'm not going to hold my breath for that Hybrid Hummer (now there's a paradox) to come along anytime soon.
4 comments:
You're right! I think we do "always hear," and I guess the fog is clearing to reveal that what we hear and what is REAL are still two different things.
Honestly, that is so disheartening. Our society is so complex and vast that it is impossible to know everything. It is impossilbe to be aware of each detail that affects our lives (on our modern current scale of living, at least). So, you begin to trust those whose actual vocation is to look after those details (government, politicians, researchers, etc.) and make you aware. But what do you do when you discover that you've been made aware, but not fully aware? When you discover holes in the reports you trusted others with?
In light of Brian's comparison, I'm not sure! Are there locks on death row?
"So, you begin to trust those whose actual vocation is to look after those details (government, politicians, researchers, etc.)"
Exactly! And then when you find out they're full of it time and time again, you think, "Well, I'm not believing them anymore." So now you sort of default to thinking the opposite must be true no matter what, only to find out that they actually do tell the truth every now and then.
"Our society is so complex and vast that it is impossible to know everything."
But Wikipedia is doing it's best to make it so that we can!
Remind me and I'll let you borrow "Manufacturing Consent". It's a documentary about Noam Chomsky and it's pretty interesting. He talks about how it's impossible to fully trust news reports and politicians' stump speeches, but also it's impossible for the average citizen to have the time to research everything they hear.
So what do we do? I suppose we have to be cautious without being paranoid, and thorough without being manic.
Joe,
"An opposite reality to our own." Are we talking parallel physical universe or a potential for Utopia on this earth?
UPDATE: New Fuel Economy Rules Issued
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12063888
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