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The news on TV

Visiting with an old friend, we ended up watching a stupid newscast on TV. That's the only kind of newscast on TV, of course, and in watching for half an hour, the news was nowhere to be found.

This is not a rant about how shallow and stupid television is. I already wrote that rant. This is a (slightly) different rant, about how shallow and stupid the news on TV is.

TV news is only about what the Mayor said, what the Governor said, what the President said, and about traffic jams, house fires, murders, about disasters if there's good footage, with no mention of disasters if there's not, and now here's Chip with Sports, and Sandy with the weather. Mostly, TV news is about selling commercials.

You want to know the news? Read a decent newspaper (there still are a few). If you can't find time for a newspaper, or your local paper sucks, listen to Democracy Now, or there are other options, but cripes, don't watch TV news and imagine you're watching the news.

I've said this before, but it's been a few months so I'll say it again:

News is (or ought to be) the coverage of events that affect the lives of lots of people. News ought to be skeptical, ought to understand that what politicians say is usually bullshit, and that the rich and powerful are (almost?) invariably corrupt. News ought to be about digging for evidence to expose and punish the bullshit and corruption, but if that's news, then the news on TV was canceled a long time ago. Change the channel or click it off.

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And another thing: 

If you're watching or listening to a newscast that includes a daily stock report (you know, "The S&P 500 settled at 4,175.48, gaining 20.10 points or 0.48 percent, while the Nasdaq moved up 27.74 points or 0.22 percent to 12,563.76"), that's a newscast that's not intended for you. It's intended for, shall we say, the investor class, and everything on that 'news' show is slanted toward them, not you.

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And one last thing. 

What the hell is this?

"Some viewers may find the following imagery/video/story disturbing."

What does a warning like that mean, really, when it precedes a news report? It means the show's producers try very hard to make sure the news is never disturbing, but just this once, they're letting some actual news pass through.

Bubba, if it's not disturbing, then you're not watching the news. If you're following the news but don't want to be disturbed by the news, give up and watch a sit-com.

5/19/2022  

itsdougholland.com
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8 comments:

  1. So do you remember my story about the Ani Katani, the group of folks that predate the native Americans in the Appalachian mountains? Turns out they found another pyramid around the same time, perhaps a tad earlier, but this one was located in the grand canyon. Among the artifacts included Egyptian artifacts and statues of the gods Horus and Rah. Which also predated the tribes of what we now know as Native Americans, meaning these people too were also here looooong before the native peoples. Who were they though? Where did they come from? Did they get slaughtered like the others? Damnit I need answers! Lol so that’s a weird fact I had to tell you.

    Apparently you can still see the pyramid on google earth over the grand canyon, but it also isn’t in any of the history books either. Makes me wonder if this isn’t related to the free masons or something and that’s the seret their hiding. Oh I do love a good plot twist and a mystery!

    Hope you are well Doug! Take time to just enjoy life.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. > Among the artifacts included Egyptian artifacts and statues of the gods Horus and Rah...

      Yeah, that's inexplicable unless they were sailing the oceans blue long time ago. I thus suspect they were sailing the ocean blue. Bet there are lots of things the oldtimers did that we youngsters know nothing about.

      I have found the perfect hamburger out here, and pretty good fish-n-chips, and a reasonably-priced bodega. No friends or anything, but you can't have it all.

      Delete
    2. Well I did have a thought about it after I sent that. Pangea perhaps? Maybe the Egyptians were like the happening society of the day and were everywhere. Pangea broke up and then they were divided but still everywhere. Literally never thought about boats. This is why we have these conversations! Down the rabbit hole we go!

      Fudge...the size of a slice of pizza? Are you sure you're not in paradise? Cause Im pretty sure Ive had dreams where I was on a beach after winning the lottery and they were serving fudge the size of entire pizzas!!!

      Well the way I see it, I've never seen a skinny person who looks legit happy. In fact I see far more chubby people smiling and laughing. I don’t know about you, but Id rather be happy. As long as you are happy sir, do what makes you smile sir! You have earned every seconds of it!
      Toodles!

      Cassie


      Also...how did we go from Covid to Monkey Pox? Nothing has ever made me want to become a vegetarian more in my life. Could we please stop eating all the weird things like bats and monkeys...that'd be great!

      Delete
    3. I've seen happy skinny people. And happy Christians. Happy Republicans. The world's a big place and almost everyone on it disagrees with me about almost everything, but occasionally some of them seem to be happy.

      I try not to hate 'em for it.

      Delete
  2. Ramses II is dead, my love
    He's left from Memphis for heaven
    Ptah has taken him in the solar bargue
    And walked him to Nuit's celestial shores

    Ramses II is dead, my love
    He's wandering the plains where the Blessed live
    Ptah and Ra and Sokaris too
    Are taking him on the Celestial boat

    Ramses II Ramses II Ramses II
    With the Savior
    He walked to his bier
    Where his pylons did wave
    With the flags of his victorys

    Ramses II is dead
    He died and he lies in the boat
    He's floating down those cool grey waters
    To his tomb by the Nile's surging wave

    Standing in the harsh harsh grey granite
    Standing by Ramses forever!
    With a coffin of gold and the pretty pale carvings
    Lifting you to heaven

    Heaven was waiting for Ramses II
    He's gone to great Ptahs huge side

    @ 1968 Ed Sanders

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sweet, and I know who Ed Sanders is because of you...

      Delete
  3. You have the lyrics. Now here's the music so you can dance to it. Note the 3/4 time signature as you waltz around your room. It's ageless.

    jtb

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xTMWxY4hync

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Downloaded! I usually like the Fugs so I'm guessing I'll like this. Not sure I'm up to waltzing just yet.

      Delete

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