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FEBRUARY 2003 / ISSUE #2 |
3.9¢
Long Distance - No
Gimmicks. If you think this
sounds like a good (or bad) idea, we'd like to hear from you. Send
us email  South
of Puerto Vallarta, in
a remote, unspoiled location, this resort is solar-powered and is illuminated
at night by more than 1,000 candles.
More
Save $100/night on the Eco Floor at San Francisco's Hotel Triton. More
In our past newsletter, Robert T. pointed out the fact that our Dead Celebrity Endorsements were "lame". Well, Robert, we've done our research. Only one of our Dead Celebrities (FDR) was, in fact, lame. However, we don't believe that a handicap justifies exclusion from Dead Celebrity status. --Editor
Better
World Club
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It’s All Downhill From Here: Announcing First Bicycle Road Service. Introductory offer just $39.95--or add on to existing automobile service Better World Club,
Aside from the mention in Salon.com (see AAA Watch one column over), Better World has been featured in the following: New
York Times -- Offsetting Environmental Damage by Planes. New American Dream -- See their campaign to get AAA to recognize the environmental impact of its policies. Sierra Club featured Better World in the Good News Section of its Home Page. Gristmagazine.com: We're the Main Dish... Tom and Ray from Cartalk have us featured as one of their top picks for "Things To Do Before You Leave" on a roadtrip. OK, Not Everybody Loves Us: In its November issue, Consumer Reports compared motor clubs and concluded that AAA had the edge because of its market power to obtain discounts, its network of local offices, and its printed material. We're not seeking to have the offices--or the printed material--of AAA. With the Internet, we don't believe that our members need them. (CR doesn't detail the extent to which AAA's printed materials reflect the paid advertising of vendors.) The good news is that they didn't rate AAA's roadside assistance any better than Better World's. But the worst thing was that CR called us "politically correct". Hey, we thought Consumer Union (the publisher of Consumer Reports) was "politically correct", so maybe it was a compliment. |
AAA Membership To Be a Sin (Salon.com) In its New Year's edition, Salon Magazine predicts that during the upcoming year, environmentalists will view being a member of AAA to be a sin equivalent to driving a Hummer to a global-warming teach-in. Salon.com also links to the Harper's Magazine article located on the Better World site regressive lobbying which describes AAA's asphaltphilic lobbying efforts We're not into Sharing...AAA disses bicyclists (Washington Post) "We'd like to see bicycles used not just for recreation but as transportation," Michael Farrell, bicycle and pedestrian coordinator for the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments is quoted as saying to the Washington Post. "There's not enough room on the streets for the cars," said Mahlon G. "Lon" Anderson, a spokesman for Mid-Atlantic AAA, who said he commutes in his 1992 Chevrolet Cavalier because he lives 35 miles from his Chantilly office. "And now we're taking some of that space for bicycles."
You can pick a date in the future to start your Better World Club Membership, so don't worry about being without roadside assistance. When your other club membership expires, we'll have you covered. More
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Dead Celebrity Endorsements
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You know the jealously
among celebrities--live or dead. We published a few Dead Celebrity Quotes
in our Sigmund Freud says: AAA members suffer from "Travel Cool!" envy. Better World Club members lead sexually healthier lives due to reduction in guilt-related stresses. Albert Einstein says: Me +BW > AAA2. Of course everything is relative. Take my mother-in-law. Please. Groucho Marx says: Say the magic word and win $100.00! The Better World Club? Those are the magic words, but we still only pay for one. WIN A FREE ONE-YEAR MEMBERSHIP: Do you have a Dead Celebrity Endorsement or Quote that you'd like to share? If we like it -- and publish it in Kicking Asphalt! your next year's membership is on us. Send it to us |
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the
environmental auto club alternative, announced the first nationwide bicycle
“pick-up” service today. Bicyclists have been interested for
years in a service that would assist them when they breakdown far from
home. Better World will now supply this service, getting a bicyclist to
the nearest repair facility-or home-within 30 miles. Introductory offer
starts at $39.95. 
last
newsletter. Now
we're deluged with them. After careful screening, here are a few more: