"All Hail to NPR!!!"

I had to run a long errand Tuesday afternoon, in 80+ degree heat. In and of itself that's not an issue, but it starts to be one when my car's air conditioner decided to quit working on the return trip from Florida Sunday, and have had no time to have it checked/recharged just yet.

I love that ol' car, heading toward the 250,000 mile mark. Put 54,000 miles on it in the first 12 months alone, thanks to endless acting auditions and work from Philadelphia to Atlanta. The tape deck went kaput after 8 months, but by then I'd exceeded the 36,000 mile warranty so I never had it repaired. Still enjoyed a CD changer for years, but, alas, that rolled over dead over a year ago.

I guess that makes me a radio guy by default, though I can make a 5-hour trip and never turn it on...not one of those people who has to have noise. Too, mainstream radio grates on my nerves with the insidious loud, fast-talking ads, or the same old songs playing repeatedly because they use a lot of pre-taped programming...they need to bring back more live DJs and interaction with them, and quit playing strong-armed political games like not allowing the Dixie Chicks to be played for awhile. It has become quite boring to me. (NOTE: the above was edited to remove any insinuation that Clear Channel was involved in playola, which they are not.)

the station is owned by, say, Clear Channel, which allows only certain artists and labels to be played (read 'artists and labels Clear Channel has financial contracts with'). Frankly, it bores me.

But what a jewel there is in public radio (and TV)! NPR radio might not always have on a program I'm interested in hearing, but I almost always learn something from listening. The morning talk shows fit my travel schedule these days, so I get a good dose of Charlotte Talks, the Diane Rehm Show, Here and Now, and Fresh Air, to name a few.

And it was this afternoon, as I sweated like a pig in the stop and go traffic, that Fresh Air had on Harvard professor Elizabeth Warren. Only days ago I mused at the number of credit card solicitations that regularly bombard the mailbox, wondering why when so many Americans are deeply in debt and trying to get out...yet here was this major contrapuntal effort by 'lending institutions' to extend even MORE credit to people...

...and there was Ms. Warren ripping up the credit card industry up one wall and down the other, and with excellent reason and credentials: she is an internationally known expert on bankruptcy, credit law, and a staunch opponent of consumer lending organizations. She recently testified in depth on Capitol Hill about unscrupulous tactics commonly used by lenders to pull the wool over consumers' eyes, all in the (ultimate) name of raking in billions of dollars in earnings in late fees and 'hidden traps'. Everything I had been thinking of recently was addressed front and center, and the substantiated accusations would make you shake your head in disgust. It all gets back to this idea where good solid business practices spiral out of control into an unending appetite fueled by greed that many times knowingly takes advantage of consumers by duping them. With 8 BILLION credit card solicitations sent out last year, it must be a system that wallows in unfathomable profits...and comes with a lobbying arm that is equally as overwhelming.

This link is to the website where you can listen to the whole program, though it is almost 40 minutes long. You can open it and then continue to work at your computer while you listen...it is well worth your time and effort to hear all of her sage advice and knowledge. I certainly learned a lot. Or, if you just don't have time to listen, you can remember the title to yesterday's post: things aren't always what they seem. The scary details are in the fine print, in this case.