Non Sequitur by Wiley Miller for January 09, 2019

Cable? Does this mean there is a chance that he gets — er, got — his news from a reliable source? Or is that too much to ask?

It’s hard to get actual “News” from cable anymore – you have to try to glean bits of it from the opinion whores that never shut up. Even ESPN can’t get through a Sportscenter without someone (and usually more than one) telling us what they think everything means.

We cut the cable during the 2008 campaign. Too much ugliness and meanness. My wife was a news junkie but that election cured her. Have not had cable for ten years now and have not missed it one bit.

The local newsstand could offer a benevolent helping hand.

I have seen homeless with mobile phones. I am not complaining, just observing that we are more connected than ever and yet connect less than ever.

Cable? I haven’t had cable in years.

Back in ‘74 when we got married cable came with the apartment. Back then that was a six channel universe. I’d get up Sunday morning in MARCH looking for the football games. I swore than that I would never get cable so I could sit there stupid looking at a screen. Now I have the internet.

Does that mean he wants to watch Faux News ?

It’s like he lost the ability to enjoy gum. No big deal.

Monday, my internet was crawling, sooo slow. I was in a panic. Sad state of affairs.

You are better off without it. 900 channels and 90% of them infomercial channels you pay for.

I don’t trust the “liberal media.” I trust FOX news even less and social media not at all.

I gave it (and TV news) up altogether.

I get my news from NPR.

Honest and balanced.

I confess to being a recovering news junkie. I limit the amount of time that I spend watching or reading news stories.

I weaned myself off of watching the majors years ago.

Living outside of the U.S. as I do, affords me an entirely different perspective on the news – one that, if taken in context, is refreshingly more objective than what’s being put out to the U.S. general public. The one advantage of getting my news via the internet and international satellite feed is that I have a wider variety of sources to choose from, and can easily get both sides of the story.

Another one of my pet peeves is that having cable has become a necessity like eating. I know poor people in my area, who are on food stamps and can barely put food on the table that must have cable TV, or satellite dish. I cut the cable as soon as DTV came out and installed an antenna system in my attic. I have a friend who gets free food, uses the EBT card, complains about his prescription copays, and still has cable.

For Halloween at work, I had a similar sign, “Will work for internet access”

My household will be “cutting the cord” at the end of the month, mainly because the cable company is going to jack up our rates by an additional $40 a month. Hello, streaming!

I thought that these days wastes of money were typically approached through Go Fund Me pages, as in this one from Lancet:

https://sci-hub.tw/downloads/2019-01-04/e8/10.1016@S1470-20451830950-1.pdf#view=FitH

which also reflects a reduced survival rate.

…and he lived happily ever after.

It’s a matter of perspective; you see it as a loss, I see it as a blessing. I haven’t had cable in 10 years and have not missed it once.

The MacNeil/Lehrer Report (~mid ’70s) channel 2 Knoxville. After a few upgrades. i.e. high definition, is now the PBS News hour. Cut cable a decade ago and suffered through 6 months of withdrawal (mostly at 3AM). With the advent of low-power television (FCC term) and the addition of broadband within the existing digital TV allocations, there are now 65 over-the-air channels locally. A lot of religious begathons, right-wing faux news, shop at home stations and several classic movie channels — even a sci-fi channel. PBS is still there amid the chaos and FOX nonsense.

There is the reality that an uninformed public is one way to bring down a democracy.

That said, there are many ways to get news. I personally prefer places that verify, or if in a rush at least give origin of the news item with the implication that the reader is to verify.

So, Fact Check (Annenberg, U. Penn) and Politifact (Duke), both independent and careful in correcting the lies that get out there are big on my approved list. Brookings also looks at issues and statements from a range of political stances (often in the same article) and does a fine job of it, plus gives details often missing in more standard news sources. For print news sources (due to them following our preferences for verifying or being clear of item origin and need to verify when that is not yet possible, as well as sometimes getting into depth) we often go for the Washington Post, the Hill (for rapidity on many issues complete with very subtle reminders to check, and their 5 or 10 main points pieces), the Military Times, and the New York Times, with a chaser of the Wall Street Journal.

We do use radio with NPR being downright outstanding, plus we do follow PBS and a couple of the major networks and certain specific shows on cable, aiming for a wide range of viewpoints, intelligence and depth (instead of just good looking talking heads or people who can yell loudly) so Rachel Maddow is an acceptable listen here given her penchant for getting well into a topic in thoughtful ways but that does not mean that everyone on cable is.

The plan all along? Distraction?

Best thing that could happen to ya, brah.

No cable? Tell him to stream.

Makes you really feel for him. How would Danae react?

He’s likely to start hanging out in Hotel Lobbies and Dentist Offices where they keep Faux Nooze on the TV 24/7.

We cut our cable six months ago, when the cost for basic cable was more the the gas and electric bills combined. When I mentioned this fact to the cable representative, his comment was cable brings “value” to our lifestyle. I said keeping a roof over my head brings true value to my lifestyle, not 125 channels of drivel. We bought a high-definition digital antenna which cost less than a $100, that gives us everything we want or need.