Bloomberg Just Proclaimed Himself Your Earmommy
This guy's greatest disappointment is probably that we don't have royalty in the US and that he can't proclaim himself king.
He has to satisfy himself with acting like everybody's mommy. His latest is to campaign against too-loud headphones. Now, I hate people on public transportation with loud, leaky headphones (probably about three times) as much as the next person, but telling you not to ruin your hearing -- that's your actual mommy's job.
From Gothamist:
According to the NY Post, Bloomberg's health officials are "planning a social-media campaign to warn young people about the risk of losing their hearing from listening to music at high volume on personal MP3 players." An iPod can reportedly hit 115 decibels, even though research warns that above 85 decibels encroaches on unsafe levels.A rep for the DoH says the "public-education campaign is being developed to raise awareness about safe use of personal music players... and risks of loud and long listening." Hearing loss went up 30% amongst teens between 1988 and 2006, according to one health survey. And while hearing loss is the spin of the campaign, if it has any success it will help with Bloomberg's quality-of-life initiatives as well--he has taken on noise levels since he started out in office.
The campaign will cost $250,000 (or 1,250 pairs of Dre Beats headphones) and is being financed through a Fund for Public Health grant.
In other words, probably being paid for, at least in part, with taxpayer dollars
If only there were no sequester Bloomberg could have used a $500,000 grant from the Fund for Public Health to do nothing.
Of course if it's truly worthwhile he could put up some of his own personal fortune to fund this campaign.
JFP at March 7, 2013 4:48 AM
Call him ear-responsible.
BlogDog at March 7, 2013 5:39 AM
Of course if it's truly worthwhile he could put up some of his own personal fortune to fund this campaign.
Ding ding ding! And that, right there, is the very thing that pisses me off more than anything. He's bleeding that city dry with his over reaching mommy-ing politics while increasing his personal fortune and the sheeple continue to vote for that fucker because "he's doing it for their own good". Isn't he part of the magical 1% controlling the wealth that people bitch about so much? Apparently, it's okay though, because he's a Dem.
Does he really have nothing better to do with his time (and tax payer money)? Doubtful when you look at the mess that some of the boroughs are still in from Sandy, but hey, noise pollution and your salt intake! That's what REALLY matters.
Sabrina at March 7, 2013 6:15 AM
I dunno. I'm not generally among Bloomberg's biggest supporters, but I've been in more than one movie theater where the young people around me were complaining about the perfectly adequate volume of the film. Sustained exposure to overly loud music DOES cause permanent hearing loss. I'm not sure that an awareness campaign is THAT bad a use of public funds.
I do know that when geezers like me hear better than kid's in their 20's, there's a problem.
Lamont Cranston at March 7, 2013 6:36 AM
@JFP: "If only there were no sequester Bloomberg could have used a $500,000 grant from the Fund for Public Health to do nothing."
Isn't that a government organization already: "Fund for Public Health to Do Nothing" or FPHDN for short?
Old RPM Daddy (OldRPMDaddy at GMail dot com) at March 7, 2013 8:08 AM
JFP wrote:
If only there were no sequester Bloomberg could have used a $500,000 grant from the Fund for Public Health to do nothing.
Bloomberg expended that grant doing nothing to prepare for Hurricane Sandy.
Kevin at March 7, 2013 8:44 AM
My coworker came into my cube and was like, "damn, your earbuds are loud."
I had to explain that the volume varies with the quality of the programming. Good song, I turn it up a lot. Lame song, I turn it down a little (she's about 32, can't believe I had to explain this.)
anyway a campaign for low volume is a campaign for crappy music.
smurfy at March 7, 2013 2:15 PM
I blew out my ears for work, not pleasure. By I love music more than I love all but a fistful of people, and I gotta say that this…
> anyway a campaign for low volume is a
> campaign for crappy music.
…Is just pathetic.
I have two of these bad boys. They cost thousands. They make everything sound like maracas, and that's when they help at all. Chicks do NOT dig them. Nor do chicks dig being asked to repeat themselves, especially when they're speaking softly & bashfully because they're attracted to you.
You're a big boy and you can do what you want, but hearing loss is necrotic cilia in yo' HAYD, m'kay? It's a kind of death, and that's what it feels like.
I like Bach more than you like the loudest thing you listen to.
Crid [CridComment at gmail] at March 7, 2013 4:42 PM
None of the foregoing is meant to suggest that Bloomberg is anything but a reprehensible busybody.
But it's at least ironic that Steve Jobs did more damage to human hearing --to human sensuality-- than anyone since Sony's Akio Morita.
I once dated a woman who'd blown out her eardrums with a Walkman in her 20's. Lovely woman, but never subtle.
crid at March 7, 2013 5:32 PM
Bloomberg and the NYC city council can make any rule they want.
When everyone starts leaving the city and tourism drops, they can be a new Detroit.
Jim P. at March 7, 2013 8:10 PM
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