WE TOO SOON FORGET OR MISS IT

Roaming through YouTube, I came across an interview that Crossfire did with Jon Stewart in 2004. Paul Begala and Tucker Carlson are the interviewers, Jon Stewart the interviewee. By his honesty and directness, Jon Stewart illustrated in only moments why the media is worthless today. It is shocking that a comedian shows himself the politically wiser and greater patriot while the interviewers stubbornly hear only their own voices without a perception of the reaction of their audience.. It is shocking that a comedian shows himself the wiser philosopher and patriot while the interviewers remain clueless and absurd. It is a must-view, even if you saw it and have forgotten it from 2004. He accused them of partisan hackeryand pleaded with them to stop hurting the country..

It took until January of 2005 for CNN to realize just what Jon Stewart had made apparent, that they had two ridiculous, self-serving people on view who were responsible for the speed with which viewers were jumping the CNN ship. MSNBC, who was then picking up more viewers made the mistake of hiring Tucker Carlson (whom they have also now kept more often on the bench, though he still creeps in on panels) and who finally proved himself as worthless to an audience interested in facts, not opinion. His show was canceled recently. Perhaps the powers looked at viewing numbers had noted that having Tucker Carlson on 2 hours of prime time was not productive. This viewer is trying to be patient and give David Gregory, his replacement a trial since I'm apprehensive he will also fall off his pedestal along with Matthews and Olbermann and Russert. I still have some hope for Dan Abrams.

WHAT HAPPENED TO DECENCY IN THE MEDIA

Apparently there are those who think that Howard Stern, the shock jock, is a model to emulate. They forget he is heard on a very protected venue. Do they not remember what Don Imus went through, nor the MSNBC guy, David Shuster, who is back on air again and who violated all decency with his remarks on Chelsea. I know that the Urban Dictionary allows a lot of things that John Q. Public would neither understand nor find acceptable, though some of us find it amusing. It would not be amusing at your grandmother's funeral, in church, grade school, or most state affairs. It seems that a few whose mouths are open on camera forget who is in their audience.

Randi Rhodes, an afternoon host for the progressive Air America radio network, was suspended Thursday after repeatedly insulting Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton at an event last month. Her network hadn't noticed until it was pointed out how badly she had behaved and what she had said. Then the network took action, probably in an effort to practice CYA, not because they found what had been said offensive. Michelle Obama's gaff got buried by the media, though the air is alive with tension over the negative feelings the media has for Senator Clinton and anything her spouse utters.

McCain has definitely been coddled by the media. Is it because some of them are nearing senior citizen status themselves? Bob Lobel might be a bellweather for those who are being asked to move over and make room for younger, lower paid 'stars'. "Tweety" and Russert, if you want to be remembered positively, start earning it again.

MEDIA NEWS: IT'S JUST MORE ENTERTAINMENT

While I have frequently written that I think the media has been against Hillary, the other day I was reminded just how nasty they have become. There has been much talk about how her continuing to campaign is hurting the Democratic party. I was shocked to hear (on MSNBC, Keith Olbermann), that she should be given the 'hook'. To me that proved that they are equating something as serious as our choosing a U.S. President with Vaudeville. I was as shocked as any American interested in bettering this country and correcting bad elections could have been.

Infuriated, I went to the MSNBC site. There used to be email contacts available for the major entertainers (I choke trying to call them anything else) but there is no longer anywhere I could find on the site to do so . If there is a place on their site, they have made it too obscure for me to find it. So I wrote to CNN (who still allows email to their people) and asked if Wolf Blitzer will pass on a message to the clueless Chris Matthews and MSNBC staff that there is a difference between race and ethnicity. Why Tweety has been permitted to make this error continuously for months appalls me but I am not surprised that people don't seem to speak accurately or use proper English on TV any more. I am reminded of the blue collar comedians saying, "There is no cure for stupidity!"

The station's sexism shows as women spit out the news in the daytime but the men hold fort during the prime time hours. The women, for the most part read the news. The men make more prejudicial comments with great assertion, as though their opinions mean more.

With most of the news channels on my 'do not watch' list, I spend more time running around the world for news of America. What a different view the world has of us than we, ourselves, try to convince others.

DON'T MAKE DECISIONS ON TUESDAY

My father used to advise not making decisions on Tuesday as they invariably turn out bad. He never passed papers on properties on a Tuesday. I hadn't thought about that bit of advice for many years as my life rarely allowed me a choice...whether it was Tuesday or not, things had to get done.

However, today brought it all back. I realize now that there are not only Poltergeists in my life, but they are Tuesday Poltergeists. It is not that I haven't spotted them on other days but apparently Tuesday is their day for fun and today the April Fools were partying with them.

One of my computers has the folder with the tax filed for 2006. I did not wish to use that computer this year, preferring to put TurboTax on my laptop so it could be moved around the house. Following instructions, I put the 2006 tax file on a flash drive. Each time I checked properties it read "read only". I would un-set that and put it on a flash drive only to find that it had re-set itself to "read only". This happened too many times to count until I was in complete frustration and stopped trying. That I was tired and hungry by then made me more aware that something was wrong and then I realized it was a dreaded Tuesday.

It was as though everything without a mind had suddenly developed one that worked independently of any previous rule or precedent. The CD/DVD drive refused to recognize either disk placed in it and would only spit it out if I rebooted. After 2 very frustrating hours, nothing worked, Square One remained Square One and I realized that two more hours of my life had been used up unproductively never to be lived again.

At last, the end of the day was near and I had not written a blog for the day. Anyone reading this will never get to see the blog-that-got-away. It was funny, brilliantly written, and would have been tremendously enjoyed by any reader! However, after another frustrating time, it neared midnight. I had deleted two attempts because blogspot would not take a single instruction from me. Fonts were gigantic, boxes of color framed paragraphs, Fonts changed size between conversion from draft to published; the whole program was mad! At midnight, after I deleted two attempts (both of which would not give up their impossible format, I am able to write this one, easily, then realize the reason. It is past midnight and no longer Tuesday!) Even the torrential rain outside has stopped............

LEDs

When it is dark, my house is lit-up like Times Square by all the glowing LEDs. Between the LEDs and the digital clocks on the stove, microwave, and all the other appliances that have them, it doesn't 'light up my life' but sure saves me turning on any when I get up during the night. Even my toothbrush and ladies shaver in the bathroom have LED's to prove they are charging themselves; I never need a night light there either.

I don't need one in my bedroom because my clock radio throws almost enough light from the digital readout to let me read the Oxford Dictionary in bed. Across this small room I have a binary clock (a gift to me) that uses LEDs to indicate (in binary number lighting) what the time is. It was a gift a few years ago and is as useful in my knowing the time as the sun dial my husband had on our cabin. As soon as he looked at the sundial, he would immediately check his watch! The DVR has an LED clock when it is off and more lights when it is on!

In front of my most used computer, it is as though I won an LED jackpot. My cable modem (with built-in router) has 8 yellow LEDs, most constantly in blink. Beside it is a red LED on the phone which also blinks when there is a message. A USB hub on the floor beside me has two more and each of my computers, when on, have a couple of lights. The two monitors have an LED to indicate they are on, as do external hard drives. A couple of AC adapters have them and the AC strips (I think there are two or three on the floor as well as grounded plug on the wall with lights).

My conclusion is that it is no wonder that I get less done than I would wish. I feel like a deer caught in the headlights in my house much of the time. Being fortunate enough to have a plethora of toys and tech goodies around makes for fun but adds a lot of responsibility and maintenance. Would I give them up? Absolutely not! I will keep them all and just rant about the time, cost and energy it takes to have my toys. I will feel self-satisfied though I am no longer up on the latest technologies though I am more so than most of my friends. I will know that most of my tech toys will become totally obsolete before I do.

Lights out at bedtime is now only a euphemism.

CHANGING CABLE

As if the hours involved in changing my email address weren't enough, the hours just spent in the cable provider part of it put me over the top. The learning curve is not easy. I have 5 TVs in the house. (I don't touch the 6th as it is my daughter's and I don't have to figure that one out). I had a TV card in each of my two desktop computers that will now work with a few analog stations only, and that for not too much longer, at which point I need to buy two new cards that will be digital and handle HD.

Two of my TVs have DVRs (video recorders and machines that will copy VHS and Hard Drive content to DVD) . One will now require 2 remotes and a button pushing license to operate. Two TVs have cable boxes and three have converters. The two with DVRs work somewhat similarly but not totally. One has a cable box and a DVR, the other has a DVD and VHS player as well, no cable box, but a converter. This last one will now require 3 remotes. A third has a cable box and a DVD/VHS player. This requires still different button punching to operate and two remotes. One of the TVs with a DVR needs the recorder to be set on Channel 3. The TV set has to be set on Video 2 for me to see regular TV programs. One DVR that used to have its own TV Guide, is forced to rely on the Cable provided Guide.

I never would have imagined that it would take me a couple of days of practice to be able to learn how to just turn a TV set on, let alone a different way for each of 5 TVs. I long for the days when all I had to do was find the power button! Now let me see....first I have to turn on the LG DVR, tune it to channel 3 then grab the cable remote to turn on the converter. I turn it on by pressing power and the stb button. With the cable converter box on, I then press the A/V input button to video 2 showing on the TV screen. This next step is not down pat yet. Somehow I also have to get the screen to give me a TV picture but, so far, I have only gotten there through trial and error and I'm never quite sure what I did on that last, successful step. I hesitate turning it off because I am not sure I can get a picture back. I think I have to press TV on the cable remote.

Oh well, where would we be if we didn't keep up with technology? I'll tell you where...reading a good book in a huge leather chair, getting lots more sleep, and being far less frustrated...that's where! Otherwise it is back to school for a degree in sound engineering, computer programming and maintenance, problem solving, anger management, improving frustration tolerance lessons, and how to survive in today's world with yesterday's education.

POLITICS IN ALABAMA

Did Alabama catch their manner of doing political business from Florida or was the infection already rampant in the South and elsewhere in the country?

This story should be read by the first author and not to be paraphrased by me. Enjoy It was in Cliff Shecter's blog, Gotta Laff..